"A tie, I suppose," Kagome said through her helmet.
"I suppose," Sesshoumaru answered, defeated.
They stood extremely close to each other. Both had their shinai inches away from the other's throat, their arms crossed over each other as they held their swords. They backed away and took off their helmets. Holding them under their arms, they bowed, as they would in tradition. Their audience clapped as they moved off the, now, slightly tattered mat. Kagome blushed slightly, totally unaware that they had spectators. Sesshoumaru wore his bored mask. Replacing the borrowed school shinai in the rack near the exit of the room, they both parted ways to dress in the locker rooms.
The unfamiliar stranger followed Kagome, his long, black, wavy hair flowing behind him as he walked. He chose to be either oblivious or to ignore the sign that said 'Women's locker room' and walked in after Kagome. The stranger walked down the aisles of lockers, slowing his pace to listen to Kagome's current position. By the time he got to her, she was fully dressed. She turned around, sensing another's aura.
"EH?!" she exclaimed, pointing at him, "This is the WOMEN'S LOCKERS!" She paused for a moment. "Are you a girl? If you are, then I'm really sorry. But, you don't…you…NO! You're a man!"
Kagome backed up a little, fearing what he could do. He looked young, with long raven black hair, standing maybe an inch shorter than Fluffy.
"What do you want, pervert?" she asked coolly, returning to her locker and replacing the kendo attire.
When he didn't answer, she slammed the locker shut and brushed past him. He, however, caught her wrist and held her.
"I apologize, miss. I just wanted to know your name. After watching you fight so well, I wanted to discuss a few things with you," he said calmly.
"Apology accepted. Please release my wrist," she replied harshly.
The stranger released it, still holding her in his gaze.
"What would you like to discuss?" she asked, turning her body to face him.
"I heard that you were going to Yue High School. Is that true?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied, losing patience.
"Mmm. I am the president of the student council there," he said.
"So I see," her face changed expressions, so he's a senior, eh? "Nice to meet you, Mr.…."
"Naraku," he replied tipping his head, "Takeshi Naraku."
Kagome started at the name. No. No way. We killed him. It's just coincidence. Nothing to worry about.
She bowed in return, "Higurashi Kagome. What is it you would like to discuss?"
"Absolutely nothing," he said, swiftly pushing her into the wall.
Naraku pinned her wrists against the wall, forcing his lips onto hers. She gave a soft cry of surprise, opening her mouth slightly. He took the chance to slide his tongue into her mouth. A tear slid down Kagome's cheek. She bit down hard on his lips. Naraku pulled back, not releasing his hold on her.
"B****!" he screamed, pulling down on her shirt, causing the first few buttons to snap. His mouth was bleeding a little.
Outside of the locker room, Sesshoumaru stood waiting impatiently for Kagome.
"Females," he sighed.
From inside the confines of the room, he could hear a male voice distinctly scream 'b****.' Panicking, he pushed open the door and sped to where Kagome was. What he saw horrified him.
"Sesshoumaru," she called pleadingly, still pinned to the wall.
He gave a feral growl, grabbing the person that pinned her to the wall and throwing him into one of the lockers. The resilient human rose off the floor.
"Sesshoumaru, eh?" he said mockingly.
The youkai was surprised that this human had not been injured. He could, though, sense some demon energy coming from him.
"I heard of him in legends," Naraku continued.
"And who are you?" Sesshoumaru asked harshly.
"I am called Naraku, after my great ancestor," he said, smirking. "Also, I am the head of the student council at your school. This will not go unheard of."
"And what about what you did?" Sesshoumaru asked coolly.
"No one will believe you," he answered, still smirking.
Naraku walked away, out of the locker room. Sesshoumaru was livid. In spite of this, he did not want to make a scene. Then, he remembered Kagome. He turned around and rushed to her side. The poor girl had her knees up to her chest, her arms resting on her knees. She sat against the wall, head in her arms. Sesshoumaru approached her cautiously, afraid that he might scare her. He sensed that she wasn't crying but very close to it.
"Kagome?" he called softly, sitting down next to her.
The girl looked up to him, eyes shining with tears. Then, she threw her arms around his neck and held him tightly. The move surprised Sesshoumaru.
"Thank you," she sobbed into his shoulder.
Unsure of what to do, he stiffly held her, stroking her hair.
"It's okay," he soothed.
Gradually, her sobbing subsided, and she sat there in his lap. Suddenly aware of her position, she pulled back from him, turning away.
"Gomen nasai," she said softly, rising to stand.
He didn't say anything as he, too, rose. I am definitely getting too soft. Sesshoumaru looked down at the girl walking beside him. But I don't quite mind around her. Kagome felt him staring at her so she looked up at him. For the first time in her life, she actually saw an emotion on his stoic face. In addition to that, he was smiling. It was a warm, small smile. She forcefully smiled back, then turned away. They walked across the campus grounds, through the lush green summer grass. The sun blazed high in the air, covered slightly by clouds. A warm, summer breeze blew threw the air, lifting their hair lightly. Not a word was uttered as they walked home. Sesshoumaru felt slightly uncomfortable about this but didn't bother Kagome, who seemed to be in a sea of thoughts.
Once they got home, Sesshoumaru went upstairs to take a shower. Kagome disappeared around the shrine. She slipped on the traditional miko garb and grabbed her bow and arrows. I need to shoot at something. She trudged through the verdant green grasses to the target area. Some distance away from her targets stood. Relaxing her body, she drew the bow up in front of her, pulling out an arrow. Gracefully, she brought the bow up with the arrow, pulling it back halfway as she raised it above her head. Then, she lowered the bow so that the arrow was almost eye level and pulled it back further. Concentrating on the tip of the arrow, she half-closed her eyes as she aimed, then let fly. The arrow whizzed through the air, resembling a comet as a blue aura swirled around it. It hit dead in the center, the wooden shaft trembling slightly from the impact. Kagome repeated this process a couple of times, splitting the arrows in half as she kept hitting the center.
Sesshoumaru had finished his shower and was wondering where Kagome went. Using his sense of smell, he followed her scent to the back of the shrine. He watched as she shot arrows continuously, hitting the center every time. She had a look of determination on her face as she strung another arrow and let it fly. After watching her for a minute, he saw her pause, sensing his familiar aura. Kagome turned to him.
"Sesshou…"
"You're good at this," he answered, walking over to her.
"You've seen me in your battles," she replied, walking over to put away the equipment.
"I didn't pay much attention to you," he said carefully, turning around so she could change to her normal clothes.
"I know," she said, slipping into her former outfit, which was missing a few buttons on her top.
"Hmm, but now I do," he said almost happily, turning to face her again.
Kagome turned to him and smiled.
"Arigatoo," she said, smirking, "Fluffy-chan."
His eyes glinted mischievously, he growled.
"What did you call me?!" he said, mocking anger.
"What I normally call you, Fluffy-chan," she answered innocently.
He began to advance on her. "Say that again, and you'll meet a painful death."
"You would never kill me, Fluffy-chan," she shot back, turning on her heel and running.
Sesshoumaru ran after her, not at top speed of course. He chased her around the target area and into the house.
"Come back here, wench!" he yelled playfully.
"In…your…dreams," she gasped between breaths.
Then, she stopped suddenly, causing him to run into her. They both tumbled into the living room. Sesshoumaru ended up lying down on his back. Kagome sat on his stomach with a triumphant look on her face. Pinning his arms to the ground, she leaned down so they were nose-to-nose.
"Such a painful death I have suffered, Fluffy-chan," she said in mock terror.
"Quite," he said, glaring up at her.
"Aww," she pouted, "don't be angry with me. You have to lose sometimes."
"To a wench like you? How disgraceful."
"You brought it upon yourself," she said, smiling down at him.
Kagome got off of him, releasing his arms. He sat up and stared at her.
"Now what?" he asked, bored again.
"Oh, Sesshou," she scolded, "You get bored so easily."
"So I do. Now what?" he asked again.
"How about lunch?" she asked, smiling.
"Out?" he asked.
"Sure, why not. I don't feel like cooking," she said. "I'll go take a shower."
Kagome started up the stairs. "Don't peek," she added as an afterthought.
"Feh," he said, "like I would."
"Well, you walk in while I'm dressing, don't you?" he heard her answer distantly.
He snorted unceremoniously and turned on the TV. About half an hour later, Kagome came back down in a new outfit. After a slight disagreement about where to go, the two headed to a small café down the street.
Proceeding lunch, Kagome dragged Sesshoumaru to a couple stores for shopping. He reluctantly followed, sighing as she dove into one of the clothes racks. Little did he notice, she had dragged him into a men's clothing store. From previous shopping experiences, she knew his sizes and was now throwing various garments towards him. Lucky for him, he caught them all and draped them over his arm, finally aware that they were in a men's store.
"Kagome," he said, catching a shirt from mid-air, "Don't you think I have enough clothes?"
"You can never have enough," she shot back, throwing a pair of jeans at him.
He sighed. Human females are so strange.
"Go try those on!" Kagome commanded happily, pushing him into the men's dressing rooms.
Sighing, defeated, Sesshoumaru ventured into the rooms and locked the stall.
"You don't have to model for me, this time," Kagome called to him.
Good. One less thing to do. He quickly tried on garment after garment, all of which fit perfectly. All of them looked pretty good, too. He had to hand it to her; girls did know what looked good. Draping everything back over his arm, he walked out of the stall.
"Everything fits," he said monotonously to the waiting Kagome.
"Good!" she cheered, taking the clothes from him.
He watched as she scurried over to the register. So energetic. Soon, they were out of the shop and heading back home, Sesshoumaru carrying a bag over his shoulder.
"Did you ever consider where I'm going to put this stuff?" he asked, turning to the happily skipping Kagome.
"No," she said, "but I'll figure it out!"
Sesshoumaru sighed, turning his attention back to the sidewalk.
"Oh! Look!" Kagome called, pointing to a charm store.
Sesshoumaru turned, bored to death. Inside a window were bracelets, necklaces, charms, key chains, etc. She once again dragged the poor puppy into the interesting store. Kagome jumped around, exclaiming.
"Look! This is cute!"
Moving around to another rack…
"Oh! This looks cool!"
Hopping up and down in the corner…
"Ooooo! Look at this!"
Sesshoumaru stood in the center of the store, patiently waiting for her to finish. Kagome noticed this and dragged him over to where she had been.
"Look at these!" she exclaimed, holding up two necklaces.
Sesshoumaru glanced at the necklaces dangling from her fingers. On one of them, a Yin symbol dangled from a silver chain. On the other, the Yang hung from a similar silver chain. They were quite nice.
"They're nice," he offered.
"Mmmhmm! One for you, one for me!" she piped, hurrying over to the register.
I wonder where she gets all the money for this stuff? He shook his head, deciding not to think about it. Once back home, Kagome removed the necklaces from the bag. She clasped the white one around her neck and the black around Sesshoumaru's.
"Best friends!" she said happily, wrapping her arms around his waist.
Not sure of how to respond, he hesitantly complied, folding his arms around her shoulders. He found comfort in her embrace, finding that he did not want to let her go. Kagome nuzzled her head against his neck.
"What would I do without you?" she mused, pulling away.
"Die a very painful death," he answered, smirking at her.
"Mmm, like I did last time," she said, placing her hands on her hips.
"Very much so," he replied, smiling playfully.
"Hmph! I'd like to see you try," she huffed, turning around and starting to walk away.
"Very well, as you wish," he said, tackling her to the ground.
She yelped, pinned to the ground, much like the position she had put him in before.
"Not fair," she pouted, sticking her tongue out at him.
"As fair as you were," he said, leaning down nose-to-nose.
"I suppose," she said, unnoticeably moving her legs out from under him. "Considering that I always win."
"Is that so?" he asked, amused.
"Yes," she answered, using her leg to flip him off of her. Quickly, she pinned him down to the ground. "Always."
They continued wrestling for a couple hours. Kagome sometimes managed to run away before getting caught again. They had had lunch at about 3:00 pm, returned home at 6:00 pm, and then 'played' until 9:00 pm. By that time, Kagome was totally exhausted. They lie in the soft carpet of the living room, side-by-side. The girl was breathing heavily.
"I…always…win," she gasped between breaths.
Sesshoumaru pushed himself up and rested his head on his hand. He hadn't even broken a sweat.
"Tired already?" he asked, smiling smugly.
"Maybe. A. Little." She answered tiredly.
"Mmm, I see," he said, standing.
"I'll. Get. You." Kagome panted.
"I'm sure," he answered in amusement. "Are you going to get up?"
"Uggghhhhh," she groaned, "I want to stay on the floor."
"That tired, huh?" he asked.
"Shut up."
"Oh fine," he said, scooping her up in his arms.
She gave a soft yelp of surprise but settled down in his arms as he proceeded up the stairs.
"So pathetic," he muttered.
"I heard that," she said sleepily.
"I know."
"That's not very nice."
"Exactly."
"Mmm."
He looked down and smiled at her sleeping form. So pathetic. She stirred slightly as he stopped to open the door. Involuntarily, she snuggled closer to him. I am definitely getting way too soft. Wonder how that idiot brother of mine is faring without his wench? Sesshoumaru set the sleeping girl down on her bed, on which he usually slept. Oh well. Let the wench sleep here, tonight. He pulled the covers over her and waltzed into the closet to change. How long will I have to stay here? He sighed, which he seemed to be doing a lot lately.
Walking back down the steps to where Kagome usually slept, he pulled the light blanket over him. Her scent totally swallowed him, relaxing his tense nerves and body. Staring up through the skylight, he watched as the moon emitted it's bright, silvery light through the glass. He fingered the chain and the black charm around his neck. Feh. Humans and their stupid whims. He looked up thoughtfully through the window again. Actually, she's not so bad. Memories of the day's events came back to him. Naraku, eh? I'll have to teach him a lesson sometime. He'll pay dearly for what he did. Sesshoumaru sighed. Best friends! He remembered Kagome said that happily after clasping the charm around his neck.
He frowned, remembering that he had forgotten to brush his hair. The grumbling youkai leaped back upstairs and quietly crept into Kagome's room. As he was passing the sleeping girl, he heard her whimper in her sleep. Sesshoumaru turned around, concerned.
"Kagome?" he whispered.
The girl whimpered again, clawing at the sheets. Sesshoumaru sat at the edge of the bed, shaking her gently.
"Kagome! Wake up!" he called.
She opened her eyes hesitantly.
"Sesshou?" she called.
"Right here," he answered.
"Ehehehe," she laughed nervously, "bad dream."
"I'm sure," he answered, folding her in his arms.
"Mmm," she purred, relaxing in his embrace.
He gently rocked her back and forth, liking how she felt in his arms. Soon, she fell back to sleep, and Sesshoumaru once again laid her down. Before he could leave, however, she caught his wrist.
"Stay," she mumbled in her sleep.
Sesshoumaru sighed and kneeled next to her bed. He held her hand, resting his arms on the bed and laying his head down on his arms. I'll just wait until the wench falls asleep totally. With this thought in mind, he let sleep take hold of him.
Kagome cracked one eye open, spying Sesshoumaru sleeping peacefully at the edge of the bed, holding her hand. Awwww. How sweet! She closed her eyes, her lids getting heavy.
"What would I do without you?" she murmured before sleep completely took over her.