.:All of My Tomorrows:.
chapter nine : contrast
The kitsune cub tried to keep Sesshoumaru away from the unconscious girl, using every spell and trick he knew to no avail. When the youkai lord grew tired of the cub's constant protests, he flung the child away, completely unconcerned about his welfare before turning his attention to the fallen girl.
Turning her over onto her back, Sesshoumaru inspected her for injuries. The only wound he could find was the diagonal cut along her cheekbone. The cut he could smell long before he gave her a brief examination. The woman-child was fine otherwise. Impatient to return home, Sesshoumaru decided not to wait for the girl to come back to her senses. He bent down to gather her up in his arms when her most delicate fragrance washed over him, causing him to pause suddenly.
The girl was in the first stages of being in heat. The scent was so faint and soft that he almost doubted he smelled it at all.
Leaning closer to her, he scented her again, deeper, causing his body to react against his will. A quiet growl sounded from deep within his throat, expressing his frustration and annoyance. He very suddenly did not want to carry her anywhere, let alone touch her, but regardless of her cycle, he could not leave her. Grasping her small wrists in one hand, he started to drag her instead, tearing part of her kimono and scraping her exposed knees in the process. Instantly enjoying his impromptu dose of petty revenge, a smug smile appeared on his face as he glanced down at the girl.
Yes, he would drag her, and he would take the long and muddy way back.
The kitsune cub was a persistent little pest. As soon as Sesshoumaru started to drag the girl away, he immediately began to follow them. The cub's increasing proximity to the girl coupled with the scent of youkai adrenaline emanating from him was a nuisance that threatened to boil over. Sesshoumaru reached his limit when the child was just a few yards from the girl. Fueled by his vexation, raw instinct took over as Sesshoumaru paused and turned toward the kitsune child. His lips curled back slightly as he let a low growl vibrate from his throat.
The boy immediately froze in his tracks, understanding the menacing growl and look of warning reflecting in Sesshoumaru's amber eyes. Shippou remained frozen in place even after the youkai lord turned his back to him and started to walk away. Stupefied, the kitsune cub could only gawk as he tried to make sense of what his gut instinct was telling him. Surely, that growl didn't mean what he thought it meant... though it did sound vaguely familiar to a growl he once heard his own father make when he was very small. Shippou smacked the side of his head, trying to knock the preposterous thoughts from his mind.
The stress and strangeness of the situation must be affecting his mind. Satisfied with his ascertain and shaking his head in disbelief once more, Shippou bounded after them, careful to maintain a safe distance from the easily provoked youkai.
As they reached the bottom of a gently sloping hill, soft groans sounded from the girl as she began to wake. Sesshoumaru ignored her as he gripped her wrists harder, eliciting a moan of pain from the rousing female. She lifted her head and looked around slowly, feeling disoriented and confused as she watched the muddy earth move beneath her. Her eyes widened as she realized her situation. Her head shot up to glare at Sesshoumaru's profile angrily, her struggles becoming more frantic.
"Let me go!"
Without so much as a glance in her direction, Sesshoumaru released her hands and continued forward. The sudden loss of support caused her upper body to flop into the mud splashing the moist dirt all over her face and hair.
"Kagome!" Shippou yelled, rushing forward to meet her, instantly forgetting the implied treat he had received from Sesshoumaru earlier. Shippou helped push her up onto her knees, "Are you okay, Kagome?"
Shaking the mud from her hands and wiping it off her face she nodded, "Yeah... fine." A dark welt caught Kagome's attention and she grabbed Shippou's chin, tilting his head to one side to inspect the wound.
"Did he do this?"
"Y-yes..."
Without a word, Kagome was on her feet and stumbling after Sesshoumaru as quickly as she could, her movements hampered by her soiled kimono.
"Sesshoumaru!"
The youkai paused and turned toward the girl, a look of amusement in his eyes. The entire front side of her body caked in mud. It clung to her hair and skin and smeared across the fabric of her kimono. A lovely dark bruise was starting to form on her cheekbone and the scent of dried blood tickled at his nose pleasurably. On top of that, she was glaring at him angrily, her eyes sparkling with rage and her hands clenched at her sides. Even in her disheveled state, she still had a quality about her that, had she been youkai, Sesshoumaru would have called it beauty. But she was just a lowly human.
He almost smiled in satisfaction at the sight of her. The bothersome bitch got far less than what she deserved.
"Don't you ever touch Shippou," she demanded. "Ever!"
"He got in my way," Sesshoumaru said, resisting a mocking smile. "If he does it again, I will not hesitate to reprimand him."
"I don't care what your reasons are for striking Shippou. Don't you touch him! I won't forgive you."
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at her, noting her speech had returned to normal before turning back around and proceeding down the path, no longer needing to suppress his smile.
"I did not kill him nor did I break any bones," he called back to them. "The child is youkai. You worry over nothing."
• • •
Sesshoumaru's home was guarded by magic and hidden by dense forest. Kagome could see two main structures from her vantage point. One looked to be the living quarters, with several rows of windows and balconies. It was constructed out of stones of varying size and Kagome suspected that the home was several hundred years old. It looked very well cared for with little or no signs of erosion. Thick vines of ivy clutched at the stony exterior with tall trees surrounding the castle casting swaying shadows across grounds.
Next to the castle was an even larger structure, several stories tall. Immediately Kagome guessed that the building must be a youkai version of a dojo. She imagined Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's father in that dojo, fully transformed and training themselves for battle, sharpening their skills to become more effective killers. The dojo was more than ample enough to accommodate a fully transformed Sesshoumaru, and from what Kagome recalled Inuyasha having told her once, Sesshoumaru was not yet fully grown.
The beauty of the terrain stood out sharply in Kagome's mind. Some distant part of her memory clicked to life as she gazed at the manor. She had seen this all before, most likely in a history book, though she could not recall of ever hearing of such a castle and dojo existing in the 21st century. Nevertheless, the memory was there.
As they continued to approach the grounds, Kagome felt her sense of awe steadily increasing. Sesshoumaru had always been such a dark and shadowy character in her mind that she never even considered him capable of living in such a beautiful place. She expected it to be dark and foreboding with torture devices hanging from the walls and wails of pain echoing from some dungeon hidden in the bowls of the castle. Yet, as her eyes took in her surroundings she felt slightly numb with surprise. She knew Sesshoumaru was not the evil villain that Inuyasha tended to make him out to be, not when he cared for Rin as he did. Somewhere within Sesshoumaru was a heart capable of feeling love and compassion; it was just hidden under several layers of arrogance, pride and anger.
Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome as she stepped through the threshold of his home, his eyes scanning her critically.
"You need to bathe," he said to her simply as though he were not the one responsible for the dirt coating the front of her body. "Jaken, take them to the bath and bring them some fresh clothes."
Jaken stepped forward and looked at the pair disgustedly, Kagome in particular. "Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama."
"And prepare a room for them in the west wing as well."
"Sesshoumaru-sama, wouldn't it be better if they stayed in the—"
"Just do as I say, Jaken," Sesshoumaru said as he disappeared from the room, leaving without so much as a nod.
The toad grumbled, "Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama."
As Jaken lead the pair to the bath, Kagome felt an odd sense of déjà vu come over her, sparking the tired presence within her to stir. She knew she had never been in Sesshoumaru's home before, but she felt she had an unnatural grasp of the layout of the house. The feeling was unnerving and it continued to gnaw at her even as she lowered her freshly scrubbed body into the bath.
She pushed aside her uneasy feelings and tried to force herself to relax and enjoy the moment. It had been almost a year since she had taken a hot bath and it felt wonderful. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, feeling her muscles respond to the warmth.
A flutter from within caught her attention and a familiar voice filled her mind, 'He is fixing to killing us once he gets what he wants.'
A woman slowly began to materialize in Kagome's mind. Her long, black hair fell gracefully past her waist, she wore the combined armor of a general and miko. On her hip was a sheathed sword. She looked to be much older than she actually was because of the unusual wisdom reflecting in her dark, brown eyes.
Kagome smiled at her warmly, and Midoriko smiled back -- both recognizing each as an extension of the other.
'I figured as much.'
Midoriko gave a short laugh; 'You see him as well as I. He is not a bad fellow, as far as youkai go. The center of his heart is more pure than he would like to admit; unfortunately, he is as stubborn as he is proud. That could be the death of us all.'
'Is there no other another way?' Kagome sunk deeper into the bath, her movements reflecting her discouragement. 'He scares me sometimes.'
The woman in her mind smiled at her gently. 'No, we need pure and powerful youkai blood. We need him.'
Kagome sighed, 'I wish things didn't have to be this way. I wish Shippou hadn't followed us here.'
Midoriko nodded, 'I do, too.'
The older woman regarded her descendent carefully, noting the sadness and worry that was settling in her soul.
'Fight your hopelessness and take heart, little one. Kami-sama is watching out for us.'