DISCLAIMER: All Inuyasha characters are the creation of, and © to Rumiko Takahashi, and subsequent parties. Full Circle is the creation of my demented mind, and © to Shun'u Hanashiro 2000-2001.
Author's Notes: Italicized text can indicate private/unvoiced thoughts – or – flashback sequences. There are long segments in this chapter that are flashbacks of Kagome's life. Please bear with me. ^^; They're necessary to the story even if you – the reader – might already know about what has happened. Be forewarned that all of the events prior to tankouban 14 of the manga are up for grabs in this story.
Sesshoumaru: Isn't this a little late to be warning them about spoilers?
Shun'u: Who asked you, pretty-boy?
Sesshoumaru: …
Kagome: Sesshoumaru-san, how come you're letting her talk to you like that?
Sesshoumaru: Believe me. You don't want to get the author upset. She might end up putting you into compromising positions.
Shun'u: … insert evil grin Well, now, all you had to do was ask, Maru-chan. Did you want a special scene with Kagome-chan?
Sesshoumaru & Kagome: NO!
Shun'u: Oho! Methinks the lord and lady doth protest too much.
Sesshoumaru: Great going, idiot. Now look at what you've done.
Kagome: Me? It was you who had strange ideas about compromising positions. Just what were you thinking about anyhow?
Shun'u: all ears
Sesshoumaru: vein throbbing Don't you have anything better to do?
August 2001
F U L L
An Inuyasha Fanfiction
Part 8: The Threads
That Bind Us
Few people in the world were capable of unsettling Sesshoumaru. Less than a month ago he and all who knew him would have contested that there were none with the ability to do so. Then again, a month ago was before extenuating circumstances had led him to make the acquaintance of one Higurashi Kagome. Had things been different, had Rin not taken ill, or had he been able to handle a small human child's sickness on his own, he and Kagome would never have gotten beyond the point of mutual enmity. Truth be told, there were days when he still wished that life were only so simple. But the days would not have been interesting had they been simple. Instead, Sesshoumaru found that every sunrise brought with it twists and turns that threatened to leave him dizzy in its wake. Any weaker person might have given in to convention and lived the sedate existence more in keeping with his station. He had never been weak.
And he absolutely hated being bored. Which accounted for why he learned to appreciate Kagome's utterly confounding logic. As irrational as the woman-child was, she kept him on his toes with her leaps of insight – which was unfortunately reflected in the maze that was her mind. He swore once again as he made a turn only to come nose to wall with yet another dead end.
"…I am going to kill that girl…"
"Um, I think I'll come back later."
In the blink of an eye, before she could even take that initial step towards escape, a pale, masculine hand snaked out to catch Kagome by the back of her collar and drag her towards the man who had just calmly stated that he was going to kill her. Needless to say, Kagome was not a happy camper. Past experience taught her that struggling would be ineffectual, but that didn't stop the alarms from clamored in her ears. Kagome applied another surefire defense tactic.
"Sesshoumaru-san!" she complained. "You're choking me."
"I'd like to do more than choke you," he said. "What the hell is this place?"
"It's my mind, dummy." Kagome wanted to hit herself for saying that last so impertinently. Common sense had evidently taken leave at some point between waking and dreaming.
He glared at her and the hold on her collar tightened. Kagome grabbed his fingers with hers and tried to pry them off before her own clothing choked her. When his claws extended in retaliation, Sesshoumaru could practically taste the heightening of Kagome's anxiety. Point made, he released her. Kagome stumbled a bit before regaining her balance and turning about to face him as she rubbed her neck.
"I know that I'm in your mind, Kagome. My question is why do I run into a wall every time I turn around?" He watched as Kagome tipped her head to the side and thought about his question, and had to question his good sense as he wondered at what point he had come to consider that expression of profound concentration as cute. He wasn't supposed to think in terms of cuteness.
Kagome shrugged after a while of deliberation without results and said, "I don't know."
Is she serious? He wanted to clarify what he had just heard. "You don't… know?" Kagome smiled and nodded. Which only served to aggravate Sesshoumaru's already frayed temper and made him speak more harshly than he was wont. "What do you mean, you 'don't know', you idiot? This is *your* mind. If you don't understand what's happening in it, how am I supposed to make sense of it?"
Indignation rippled through her. Kagome went on the offensive with questions of her own. "You're the one who has experience traipsing through people's heads. How come you don't know what we're doing here?"
The problem was that he did know why they were intruding in each other's space. Sesshoumaru glared down his nose at her and had every intention of giving her a piece of his mind – hopefully one that she hadn't already invaded – or he would have, if he hadn't noticed in that moment that her appearance had changed. As had his. Instead of the fine kimonos, they were now in foreign clothing of thicker, woven material that clung to their bodies. Sesshoumaru's gaze narrowed on Kagome's flowing white dress with tiny yellow chrysanthemums embroidered along the edges. It was reminiscent of things he had seen her wear before, but much more refined.
"What happened to your clothes?"
"What?"
Kagome looked down to see what he was so irritated about now. As with the time when she had been in Sesshoumaru's mind, her clothes had changed without her volition. Come to think of it… Kagome raised her eyes to take in Sesshoumaru's appearance. Oh… Aiming for subtlety, she took inventory of his attire: ankle boots, charcoal slacks, leather belt, a dove-gray dress-shirt with an open collar, and a loosened silk tie. By some miracle his fluffy, moon-white tail was still able to peep through the modern clothes and drape over his shoulder. Oh my…
"Well?" Cold anger licked at the edges of his consciousness; there were too many variables that he had no control over.
Kagome couldn't seem to grasp his question. She took a step back and swayed a little on her feet. "What did you just say?"
The faint whisper barely made its way to him while she stared with unfocused eyes in the vicinity of his neck. Sesshoumaru frowned. This wasn't like Kagome in the slightest. He stepped towards her and placed the tips of his fingers along the underside of her jaw. Tipping her chin up, he saw a fine flush creep up her neck to tint otherwise pale skin.
"I said," he spoke slow and precisely, "what happened to your clothes?"
"Clothes?" She blinked but offered no other signs of having processed his words.
Now she was really starting to worry him. Sesshoumaru had never seen Kagome truly at a loss for words. The girl had a way about her. Something strange and courageous that allowed her to face adversity and overcome it even in the direst of situations. He above all was familiar with this singular trait, for he had often been the one to pose threat to her life. For her to behave in this manner… His other hand came up to cup her cheek.
He asked, "Kagome, are you all right?"
Warm… heat radiated from him. Distantly she could hear herself say that she was fine, and no she wasn't ill or hurt anywhere. But all of that was removed from her. She could only focus on that sense of safety that Sesshoumaru had come to symbolize in her life. Kagome leaned into his warmth and allowed her eyelids to flutter shut. It would be so incredibly easy to yield to that strength and let someone else take care of her for a change. Her arms came up to wrap about his torso. With her ear pressed against his chest, Kagome listened to the steady drumming of his heart.
When did I come to depend on you?
That brought her down to earth with bone jarring impact. She could hear the thump that her metaphorical fall made. Kami-sama. Kagome slipped away and wrapped her arms about her waist in a useless gesture.
Sesshoumaru watched her from beneath lowered lids, slowly coming out of the frozen state that her actions had put him in. A smile that was growing more comfortable everyday tugged at the corners of his lips. He answered her unvoiced question as if it were the most natural thing in the world to be able to hear her deepest thoughts.
"It was probably when we ran across that Houshi."
**********
"How long will you be giving me this silent treatment?"
Silence was intermittently disrupted with the occasional stomp of angry feet. Sesshoumaru ambled along after the fuming girl and took in his surroundings. He hadn't really expected an answer. Given enough reason to, Kagome was rather good at holding a grudge. He squinted against a particularly bright spray of light. Since her temper had been riled, their environment had begun to rumble and spark. It was a beautiful phenomenon to behold. White walls gave off flashes of brilliant color in random intervals.
They passed another alcove in the wall that looked like a potential turn, but yet again was nothing more than a small niche of space. Sesshoumaru withheld a sigh. Endless white. He began to appreciate the dark colors of his unusual clothing. And that brought to mind another problem that he had to thank Naraku for. He imagined ripping the hanyou apart with his claws, his poison dripping onto that deceitful face until nothing was left but oozing pools of disintegrating flesh.
In a lighter mood, Sesshoumaru extended his awareness to the girl ahead of him. He had never walked behind another person before. It was a novel experience, but one that he was unlikely to ever repeat awake. There was just something about being with her and away from prying eyes that relaxed his guard. If only he could pinpoint exactly why that was so.
"Sesshoumaru-san." Kagome waved him over to another turnoff of the hallway. "Come look at this."
What they found was a room. Not just any room, Sesshoumaru recognized, but the one in which he had first found her when they had been pulled into the Air Rip. Plants crawled across the walls and flowers blossomed beneath soft constant light. Critters watched them with unblinking eyes. And he realized that in this place wildlife was tamed. He felt an odd, unwelcome affinity to the scurrying creatures. Fingers dug into his sleeve, stealing his attention.
"What is it?"
"Is this really inside me?" Kagome asked.
How was it possible? Kagome couldn't recall ever seeing a place like this fairy tale setting. Shouldn't everything in her mind have a base in the familiar? Hadn't she read somewhere that dreams and subconscious thoughts were a reflection of one's life? She might not have led a very orthodox one in the last few months, but she had certainly not seen anything this magical before.
"Do you remember the first time I found you?"
Kagome didn't know what he was talking about. "You mean the first time we met?"
"No." He walked about the circular chamber, touching a green leaf here and there, breathing in the aroma of flowers in full bloom. "When we were pulled into the Air Rip," he said, "I found you here, in this room."
"I don't remember," she said.
"No… I suppose not. You weren't expecting me. It's probably a buried memory." He stopped in the middle of the chamber. "You were standing right here, beneath the light."
She followed his winding path, touched what he touched. "What was I doing?"
"Waiting."
She traced the ivory petal of a camellia. "Waiting?" She echoed. "What was I waiting for?"
"I don't know." And it didn't matter that he was admitting to ignorance.
**********
"Why do I always feel so funny whenever we're like this?" she asked.
"'Like this'?" He prodded a doorway they found hidden beneath the ivy, fingering its edges to find a latch or crevice that he could use to open it.
Kagome hoped that he wasn't opening a Pandora's box. She made an expansive gesture with her hands to include their surroundings. "In my mind, in your mind, whichever we're in."
"Funny in what way?" he asked cautiously. There was a small blue ring embedded into the door. A slight pull and the door unlocked.
"Like I'm having an out-of-body experience," she said. "I can't focus; everything is blurry. My thoughts are fuzzy." He prepared to make a snappy rejoinder. Kagome glared at him. "Don't say it."
He smirked. "What makes you think that I know any more than you do?" The door opened, and Sesshoumaru stepped through.
**********
"…I want to go by myself…"
Why? Kagome wanted to know. Why did Inuyasha insist on going
off by himself instead of having them there for backup? She had improved in her
archery. Miroku was always able to help them. Even little Shippou was an asset
in a battle. So why was Inuyasha so insistent?
She sighed and pushed her bicycle along the path.
Miroku said, "Do you think that it's all right for Inuyasha
to have gone alone?"
Shippou's ears twitched and he sat up a little straighter in
the bike's basket. Kagome didn't know what to say.
"It's better this way. Inuyasha… still loves Kikyou, so he
probably wants to be alone right now."
In another one of those moments when Shippou showed that he
wasn't just a kid, but in reality a kitsune in his own right, he dexterously
hopped onto Kagome's shoulder from his previous perch. Shippou was distraught
and it showed. "Wasn't Inuyasha going to exterminate the youkai?"
Kagome paused mid-step, Shippou's words giving her food for
thought.
Miroku said, "I think I understand what he's going through."
He looked to the side and said softly, "If Kikyou has changed completely from
the woman that he loved so long ago, he probably doesn't want others to see her
like that…"
"What are we? Strangers?" Shippou demanded. His auburn tail
was flicking back and forth with the magnitude of his emotion. "And what if
things are worse than he thinks and he needs our help?"
Kagome picked up her pace. Shippou was voicing some of her
worries that she didn't want to dwell on. Even ahead of them as she was, she
could still hear Miroku speaking.
"If I was him, I'd want to get back together with her again."
A twig snapped beneath her foot. Kagome felt a coldness enter
her heart. She turned about to look at Miroku. "Oh really?"
No response was forthcoming from Miroku, who was impaled by
her tone and the blue aura that flared about her slight form. Shippou clung to
him silently.
Once she was out of sight, Miroku said, "Somehow I feel as
though I've been shot through with an icy arrow."
Shippou shivered. "I don't think that it was your imagination."
**********
How did one feel jealous of a memory?
**********
Sesshoumaru closed the door with a soft click. Kagome refused to look at him although his unwavering stare must have been burning a hole through her back. Well, fine. If she didn't want to face him, then he would seek the answers on his own. He felt his way along the curving wall, in search of another ring of that cerulean blue.
What he found was a door with a ring of pulsating yellow ochre. Curiosity tempted him to open it, but his determination was stronger than that, and he bypassed it for the next door hidden by glossy ivy leaves. This one contained exactly what he was looking for.
**********
Mist… there was so much mist covering the ground. Kagome
clutched her bow and arrows closer to herself as she tried in vain to quell her
nerves. The forest was eerily quiet, unnaturally so, and she didn't like it one
bit.
"Where has everyone gone?" Something snapped at her feet. "
What?"
Kagome looked down at the vine-like things that she was
walking over. For a moment she could have sworn that they had moved. She was
going to reach down to get a closer look, when an out of place presence made
her duck behind a tree. She peered around to see what had given her such a
sinister feeling.
"Kikyou… and Naraku?"
The thumping of her heartbeat was loud in her own ears.
Kagome hoped that no one else could hear it. She could see Kikyou lying in
front of Naraku, with her eyes closed and seemingly unconscious. The
distinctive baboon pelt adorned Naraku's shoulders, making him stand out in the
forest.
"He hasn't noticed me… maybe I can…"
Kagome drew an arrow against her bow, took a deep breath, and
before doubts could overwhelm her, she jumped out from behind her hiding place
to fire. The feather tipped arrow flew unerringly for Naraku, leaving a glowing
path in its wake. Even so, Kagome was surprised when it hit him. She fought her
automatic gag reflex when his head fell to the ground. Then elation hit her as
she realized success.
Naraku's evil laugh carried through the air. "I knew that you
would be the only one to make it this far…"
Kagome didn't get much more warning. As the shock of his
words wore off, Kagome felt an undulation in once solid ground. She tipped and
tried to regain her balance, but everything was moving too fast. Feet slipped
and she fell through the fissure with Naraku's taunting promise ringing in her
ears.
"If I can't break your spirit, then I will break your body."
Kagome screamed. Instinct and the strong will to live had her
reaching out blindly with her hands to grab onto something, anything that would
save her from falling to her death. People said that flashes of their lives
passed before their eyes in life-or-death moments. Kagome did not have this
experience. All she could think about was living. Vines tangled into her
outstretched hands. She didn't need another cue. She grabbed them and held on
for dear life.
The burning in her palms was enough to make tears come to
Kagome's eyes, but she tried desperately to not think about the pain. To
distract herself she looked down, immediately regretting the action as she took
in the view of Naraku's miasma bubbling beneath her. She held onto the vines
tighter and prepared to shout for help.
"Somebody!" she yelled. "Anybody… help!"
More tears gathered at the building frustration of having no
one respond to her calls for rescue. Where was Inuyasha? Kagome gasped and
sucked in much needed air. Her arms were trembling and felt like they would pop
out of their sockets any moment. Her dangling feet found some support out of a
jutting rock. If someone didn't come soon, she wouldn't be able to hold up.
Kagome didn't want to linger on what would happen if she were to fall. Above
her Naraku's voice continued to laugh and jeer at her desperation.
"Nobody will come. Inuyasha and your other friends are caught
up in illusions. They will go to their deaths soon. No one will be left alive
to save you."
A pebble skittered over the sheer rock side and into the
miasma. Kagome swallowed the lump that formed in her throat when she saw that
the pebble dissolved. Her screams resumed with more strength.
"INUYASHA!"
A footstep alerted Kagome to the presence of another person.
Hope swelled in her chest, but when she looked up that hope was dampened by
surprise.
"Kikyou?!"
Indeed, it was the priestess herself in traditional robes of
white and red. Within her grasp was the wooden puppet that Naraku must have
used in his place. Kikyou smiled as she held it up for Kagome's inspection.
"For Naraku to use this mannequin," she said. "He must not
have wanted to get close to you."
Kikyou proceeded to break the puppet apart, letting its
pieces fall down. A few tumbled over the edge to plummet past Kagome and into
the miasma with a plop and sizzle. Kagome found her voice at last.
"You were able to move?"
"I could have moved at any time, had I the wish. However, I
wanted to determine Naraku's objective." Kikyou assessed the girl who was her
reincarnation. "It appears that you are the most troublesome obstacle for us
both, Kagome."
Fear stabbed Kagome's heart. She could read the intent in
Kikyou's cold gray eyes. "Kikyou…"
Imagined fear became reality when Kikyou called forth her
insect-like minions. Kagome wanted to swat them away but her hands were
occupied clinging to the vines. The insects took advantage of her helplessness
to coil about her. Were they going to pull her down? Kagome tensed for the
inevitable – but she was surprised when they lifted her up instead. Was Kikyou
saving her?
No.
Kagome's eyes grew large as Kikyou reached out to extricate
the Shikon no Tama from where it was tucked inside her shirt. No… something within
Kagome wanted to weep at the betrayal.
"What are you doing?"
Kikyou looked straight at her. Lifeless gray clashed with
vibrant slate blue. "The Shikon no Tama was purified and protected by me. It is
not meant for you who are my reincarnation. There cannot be two of us in the
world." Kikyou walked away from her with finality.
A simple command from Kikyou and the insects that had been
holding Kagome up suddenly rose only to release her. Kagome felt the rush of
air as she plummeted through the crevice created by Naraku. She grabbed onto
the ledge at the last possible moment, dangling precariously over the miasma.
She was going to die. No…
"Kagome!"
Was she reliving a memory of Inuyasha? Kagome strained to
hold onto the ledge. She was hallucinating. Right?
"Kagome!"
There must have been a deep and bottomless well of hope
within her because Kagome turned to look despite her helpless situation. She
almost cried when she saw Inuyasha on the other side of the pit.
"Inuyasha!" she called out.
Inuyasha landed next to her, easily able to gain balance
where she had not been able to with her weaker human limbs. She let him take
hold of her arm and her shoulders were grateful for the reprieve.
"Are you okay?" He was worried by Kagome's continued look of
shock. She was barely able to speak, and when she did it made little sense to
him.
"I… Kikyou was…"
Inuyasha brought Kagome out of the pit and looked to Kikyou
for some answers. She was as unruffled as ever.
"I took the Shikon no Tama back."
What? Déjà vu washed over Inuyasha. "Kikyou, you…"
"Kagome was targeted because she had possession of the jewel.
In all probability Naraku planned to dissolve Kagome's body in the miasma so
that he could get the Shikon no Tama."
In the time that Kikyou was speaking to Inuyasha, Kagome had
recovered some of her balance. But that was quickly falling apart as she
digested what Kikyou implied. Anger stirred. Kikyou had just been trying to
kill her, and now she was turning things around to fit into the mold of what
she wanted Inuyasha to believe. Kagome's arms trembled and she curved her nails
into the earth.
"Kikyou!" Inuyasha's yell drew Kagome's attention. "What are
you doing?!"
Kagome flinched. She's taking the jewel, Kagome wanted to
say. However, she remained silent and downcast as the priestess escaped in the
swirling power of her youkai-minions.
Inuyasha said, "Kagome, did something happen with Kikyou?"
The Shikon fragment's taken, and all he can think about is
Kikyou. Kagome hurt. If she had lost the jewel on her own then he would be blaming
her and chasing after it instead of standing there and asking questions.
She said, "I'm sorry."
"I'm not asking about that!" Inuyasha yelled.
I know… Kagome shut out his voice as he continued to speak. I
can't tell you, can I, Inuyasha? Who would believe that she almost killed me?
I'm in an impossible situation. I can't say anything. It would sound like I'm
making things up out of spite.
**********
At the center of the circular chamber, Kagome sat atop a stone pedestal with her heels tucked into a groove within the stone and elbows propped on her knees. Her chin rested in the cup of her palms. It had been a short while since Sesshoumaru had disappeared into that second door, and she was anxiously awaiting his return. When he had stepped through, she had been able to catch a glimpse of which memory was contained beyond the doorway. That particular one was not something that she wanted to relive, so she had opted to stay outside and wait for him instead.
There was no telling what Sesshoumaru would think of the events on that spring day, when she had learned that Kikyou had every intention of killing her should the opportunity arise. What would he think? Would he think her weak for not fighting back? But… she had been caught in a lose-lose situation. To tell Inuyasha would have been to risk alienating him, and not telling meant that she could never go to him with problems concerning Kikyou. Kagome traced the tiny flowers embroidered into her dress with restless fingers.
What should she have done?
She sighed and slipped her sandals off to get more comfortable.
**********
When he returned, Kagome was precariously sitting on a stool with both arms wrapped about her legs and forehead pressed against her knees. He paused to take in the pretty picture she made with her dark waves contrasting against a pure white backdrop.
"You're back already." She glanced at him surreptitiously. "What did you see?"
"…" The base of the stone pedestal looked like a comfortable place to sit.
"Sesshoumaru…san?"
"My brother's an idiot," he said.
"What?" She peered over her feet to catch sight of moon-white hair. Though it was incongruous with his nature, he was literally sitting at her feet. "You've already established your opinion of Inuyasha, I think."
"Well, he's even more of an idiot than I had thought."
Now she was curious. "Why do you say that?"
Kagome's left foot slipped from its niche when she leaned over, landing on his shoulder. She gasped in dismay and jerked backwards. Only… her foot wasn't cooperating with the rest of her body. Kagome had a sickening feeling that it was stuck. A few experimental tugs proved her suspicions to be sound. Kagome covered her face. She didn't want to see. Truly.
"I was right, you know," he said from below. "You really are clumsy."
Why was it always with this man that she lost her composure? "It isn't very gallant of you to point that out, you know."
"Un…" Chivalry wasn't anywhere close to being on his list of priorities. He palmed her captured foot and measured it against his hand. It was tiny. The fragile bones that composed its structure were barely sufficient to support and balance her human body. And yet it did. Nature worked in wondrous ways, thus making the crime more atrocious when unnatural things marred its beauty.
He said quietly, "You're nothing like her."
Kagome didn't pretend to misunderstand. "I look almost exactly like Kikyou."
"No," he disagreed with surety. "There are many differences."
Sesshoumaru was silent for so long after his statement that Kagome almost demanded to know what he saw that Inuyasha didn't. Stubborn pride kept her from blurting out her question. Her ego had already been bruised quite a bit lately by encounters with Kikyou. Inuyasha's less than tactful behavior and his indecision regarding the resurrected priestess hadn't helped matters in the least. Quite frankly, Kagome didn't know if she could handle another person pointing out her inferiority to the priestess or, worse, saying that she was only a reincarnation.
Kagome needn't have worried. Hadn't it already been noted that Sesshoumaru did not react or think like other people?
"Your resemblance to that priestess is only superficial."
"Everyone keeps telling me that I'm her reincarnation," Kagome said. "The villagers, Kaede-baasan, Inuyasha, and even Naraku. Then there's the indisputable fact that the Shikon no Tama was burned with Kikyou's remains so long ago, and yet, by some means, it reappeared inside of me. What am I supposed to think? Was it only through coincidence and circumstance that I was the one to free Inuyasha from Kikyou's spell?"
Sesshoumaru leaned into her extended leg, resting his head against her. "Maybe not. That would be fate playing its course." He memorized the arch of her foot. "But I know that you aren't the same person as she was or is. Eyes, hair, height, and voice are all different." He inhaled. "Your scent, too."
"That-" She coughed. "That's nice to know." She bashfully ducked her head when he looked over his shoulder. Kagome stared at her toes. "She said that I'm nothing but her replacement."
"Did you believe her?" He ran fingers against the vulnerable skin of her calf, felt the reflexive convulsion of a muscle when he hit a sensitive spot. Kagome was wrapped up in her thoughts.
"Yes, no- I don't know," she whispered truthfully, "Maybe A little."
"Inuyasha still doesn't know about her attempt to kill you, does he?"
Kagome stiffened imperceptibly. "No, he doesn't. I would appreciate it if you don't mention the subject to him either."
"…"
"Sesshoumaru-san." There was warning in her tone, but since when had he ever done anything not to his liking?
"I don't make promises I have no intention on keeping." He cut off further protest. "The sun is rising. Do you think you're ready?"
Kagome released a frustrated sigh at his change of subject. She asked, "What am I supposed to be ready for?"
"Inuyasha." He stood and helped her down. "He is coming."
Really? Kagome smiled brilliantly. Then a terrible thought occurred to her.
"You…" Kagome bit her lip. "You won't pick a fight with him, will you, Sesshoumaru-san?"
He smiled.
Her shoulders slumped. Impending doom wasn't so bad was it? Maybe she'd get lucky and die first, before the end of the world came.
"Kagome."
She turned. "Yes?"
"It would probably be better if you didn't sleep with me while Inuyasha's around. Knowing him, he would probably attack first and ask questions later. I won't be held responsible for the consequences if he misunderstands."
A bead of perspiration rolled down her neck. "Who said that I'd be sleeping with you again, Sesshoumaru?"
She stomped away with the last word.
Sesshoumaru leaned down to pick up her discarded shoes. She would need them later. He had a nagging suspicion that they would once again retain their change of clothing once they woke from their dreams. He exhaled a pent up breath. There was another problem that they would be avoiding by not sleeping together: there would be less chance of invading each other's minds. At least with Inuyasha around, they would stay away from each other. There would be no more episodes of nocturnal confessions.
[End Chapter 8]
Author's Notes:
Ano… for those of you who were expecting a confrontation between Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru in this chapter, I'm afraid that was pushed off once more. As you can see, I wanted to develop Sesshoumaru's character (and his relationship in regards to Kagome) more before I had him come face-to-face with Inuyasha. There was also the fact that Kagome knew a lot about Sesshoumaru, therefore understanding him better, and yet he hadn't had the chance to learn more about her. So I thought that it was only fair to return the favor. O ho ho ho ho ho~
Definitions:
Youkai: demons
Hanyou: half-demon (the other half? Well… that depends ^_^, but it's usually human)
Kami-sama: God (actually, not literally meaning God – but it's as close of an approximation as you're likely to get in Japanese). The way I have Kagome saying it, it's like she's saying "dear God". The poor thing was simply overwhelmed by the image Sesshoumaru presented. ^_~