Chapter 11: Enter Sesshomaru
It took us, well mainly me anyway, another two days to reach the outskirts of the West. My thighs burned. I rode my bike nonstop for as long as I could. Day and night, tiring myself out. Now, I just walked slowly, rolling my bike along. While Shippo sat quietly in the basket. He had been acting differently these last few days. Using my name, being nice, and being less of a jerk. It was nice, but a little strange. Was he finally warming up to me? Or, was it because I had given him chocolate these past couple of nights? Well, I guess it was better than nothing. It was a start.
"Stop." I heard him say. "There is someone here."
I stopped and looked around. I heard a rustling and my head snapped in the direction of the scuffling. A face I knew all too well emerged from the thicket of trees. My shoulders sank in relief. I leaned my bike against the tree and Shippo jumped from the basket. I limped over to him and basically threw myself onto him.
"Sesshomaru thank God you're here. Please save me," I said all dramatic, throwing myself into his arms.
He caught me with ease and tossed me over his shoulder. Grabbing my pack with the other. I never thought that I would ever be happy to be manhandled like this again, but my legs needed the rest, and I was grateful that he was carrying me off like this. I didn't even care that my bike was being left behind. It wouldn't have been the first one that I had lost here.
"Are you coming Shippo?" I happily called from over Sesshomaru's shoulder.
I walked behind them a few paces away. I knew this demon. He was there the day that I killed those three demons. He did not step in and he did not cast any judgment when he watched me kill a child. Taking a closer look he must have been related to the half breed somehow. The resemblance was too great. How could I not notice until now? That must be how Kagome knew him. She seemed very comfortable with him. More than she did the half-breed, which I found very strange.
Just what was their relationship?
We walked in silence. I could tell Kagome had fallen asleep, her breathing had evened out. She was now cradled against his chest as he carried her and her things.
"How do you know Kagome?" I heard him ask.
"She happened upon me one day, and has refused to leave me alone since then."
"Hn. She is asleep at this moment. If you wish to leave do so now. "
I stayed silent.
"If not, either there is another reason for you clinging to her, or you do not wish to leave her."
Again I said nothing.
He was searching for answers, but why?
"You are related to the halfbreed."
"That much is obvious." He'd said.
"Will you tell her? Will you tell Kagome what you saw that day?"
He looked over his shoulder. "Are you worried that I might?"
I could see the smirk on his face from behind. He turned around and that was the last of our conversation.
He had won this round.
I sat there watching them closely. Slightly irritated and I was not sure why. She slept on the futon by his side, while he read scrolls. I had suggested that he go do his work elsewhere and let her sleep peacefully. However, he refused to say that he would wait until she woke up. He would look down at her at the slightest noise she would make in her sleep. His gaze lingered on her each and every time. I wondered why he looked at her the way he did. I mulled it over, and then it finally made sense. He and the halfbreed, were smitten with her and she was oblivious to this brother apparently. Or she would not have been so comfortable with him.
"You love her."
He looked up at me from his scroll. It was the first time that he had looked at me since we had arrived at his palace. He looked at me for a long while before finally saying something.
"Be careful boy. You are overstepping."
So I keep hearing.
"I am no boy."
"You are not a child, despite your size, that much is obvious to someone such as me. You cannot be more than two hundred years old. I have lived for over half a millennia. So yes, to me you are a boy, and I will treat you as such. This is my home and you are here only because I am assuming Kagome wants you to be. Watch your tongue. You do not know what you speak of." he said.
He spoke with no emotion, but the threat was there.
"I know exactly what I am talking about. She may be too oblivious to notice something like this, but I am not. She is too kind and too trusting. Something most humans are plagued with."
I could feel his yokai flaring. I knew he could kill me if it came to a physical fight, but I would not let it get that far.
"If you harm me she will not forgive you."
I too held no emotion in what I said, but the threat was there and it was imminent. I could feel his yokai slowly reeling in; good.
How deeply did he care for her?
"You know my secret. Now, I know yours. We are on equal footing now."
Kagome began to stir in her sleep. She stretched, waking up. Looking back and forth between the both of us.
"Is everything alright?" She asked.
He looked at her, giving her a small smile.
"Everything is fine." he'd said.
She looked over at me and I nodded.
She smiled. "Great. I'm going to go freshen up a bit. I will be right back."
She grabbed her pack and left, leaving the two of us behind. He was giving me a threatening look, but it did not matter.
I won this round.