The Days of Destruction

Chapter Three:

Sesshoumaru and Miss Midori

By: fairsphinx

fairysphinx: Hi! Thank you all for reviewing! I absolutely enjoy reading them! Now, I'm warning you before we begin, the majority of the chapter will be somewhat confusing. Okay, it will be VERY confusing, but the end will straighten everything out. So, just hang on until the end, please! And, please review! Arigato!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, so please don't sue me.

Sesshoumaru walked quietly through the vast forest. Jaken was by his side, rambling as usual. The demon sighed, and rolled his eyes. He'd give anything to have some company other than the annoying…thing. But, unbeknownst to him, his wish would come true.

A scream rang through the woods. There was the sound of crashing trees, and roars from some unseen demon. Sesshoumaru turned, and pulled out his whip, in case the demon came that way. And, it did. Soon, a girl with strait, fire-colored hair came flying into the clearing that the dog-demon was in. Close at her heels was a giant (and very ugly) demon. Its fangs were dripping saliva and blood. Its tongue lulled out of his mouth.

The girl ran up to Sesshoumaru, sank to her knees, grabbed his hand, tears streaming down her face, and spoke. "Please," she said. "Please!" The words weren't even needed. He pulled his hand free of her grip, and lashed his whip at the beast. It reared, and tried to dodge, but it wasn't fast enough, and the whip slashed him into pieces. The whip was put away, and Sesshoumaru returned to Jaken and the girl. She had stopped crying, now, and had a grateful look in her eyes. "Oh, thank you so much! It is obvious that you are a STRONG demon!" He just frowned.

"And now, it's your turn to die!" He pulled out his whip, and Jaken was looking on in anticipation.

"No, wait!" the girl called. "I want to speak with you! Please!" He frowned again, but the whip was put away. "I am alone. I have to get to a town on the other side of his forest. For three days straight, I have been lost, dodging demons, and running for my life. It is urgent that I get to the village by the end of the week! But, I'm afraid that I can't do it…not with being chased by demons all of the time… and loosing my way. But, maybe, if you're willing, you could be my guide." Sesshoumaru scoffed.

"I'd rather taste your blood, measly human!" He raised his whip again.

"Wait! I'll pay you for your services! I don't have much-."

"You can give me nothing that will make me agree!" She cleared her throat, signaling for him to be quiet.

"As I was saying, I don't have much. But, my one thing of value, I am willing to give you." She pulled out a small vial, with a large pink shard in it. "I will give you this in exchange for a safe journey through the forest." Sesshoumaru looked at the large jewel shard. It was three fragments put together, at least!

"What could be so important," he asked her, "that you'd give up such a large piece of the Sacred Jewel?"

"My business is my own. Now, do we have a deal?" She stuck her head out for him to shake in the closing deal.

"Don't do it, Lord Sesshoumaru!" Jaken warned. "I don't like the feel of this girl! She seems to have an extraordinary aura about her!"

"Why do you trust me with this? I could take the shards from you now, kill you, and not have to take you to that village. Why do you trust me?"

"Because," she said. "If you do, you will just be sealing your own fate."

"What do you mean?"

"I am a priestess. I am going to that village to stop an uprising power that could destroy even Naraku! And that means that, you being so near to he village, you would be one of the first targets." Sesshoumaru didn't think much on it. To kill a priestess was to be cursed for life. To die a painful death. To be covered with a priestess's blood which came from a wound that you yourself had created was to die, and to forever be haunted by that priestess- never to find peace, even in death.

"Alright," he muttered, finally. "I will take you there, and make sure nothing harms you…in exchange for the pieces of the Sacred Jewel. And no trickery!"

"I give you my word," she promised.

"Then let's not waste anymore time here. The end of the week approaches, and we are far from the borders."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Lord Sesshoumaru! I demand that you get rid of that girl at once! She's trouble! With a capital 'T'! Are you even listening to me?!?!"

"No," he said, "I'm not." Frustrated, Jaken marched away from the dog-demon.

'Then I'll just have to take care of her myself! She may think she's all that! And she may think that she can mesmerize Lord Sesshoumaru with her beauty! But, she can't! I will make sure that she goes!' Jaken snuck up to the hot spring nearby, where the girl, whose name, they had found, was Midori, was bathing. She was humming to herself, as she stepped into the warm water. Throwing her towel onto a bush nearby, she quickly ducked into the water. She looked over her shoulder, where Jaken was hiding, as she popped up.

"No one had better be there!" she exclaimed, sensing a presence nearby. After a quick scan of the area with her eyes, Midori swam over to a large rock in the deepest part of the hot spring (only her head and shoulders are showing), and rested against it, closing her eyes, enjoying the warmth.

As soon as he was sure that she was dozing, Jaken crawled over to a bank nearest to the large rock, and poked his two-headed staff (no idea what it's called) above the long grass. One of the mouths opened, and fire spat at Midori.

Midori screamed, and ducked as she saw the flames come at her. With a piece of bent metal she had found near the rock (hm, that just seems a little suspicious, don't you think?), and turn the blast towards a bunch of bushes, which caught fire. In the flash of an eye, Sesshoumaru was at the bank. He had hear the scream, and went to check on Midori. After a scan of the water, he found her by a rock in the middle of the hot spring, only her head and shoulders above the water. "What?"

"Something attacked me!" she said, frightened.

"Can you describe it?"

"It shot fire at me and had two heads and a long, skinny neck!" she shouted, going into hysterics.

"You're not very brave, are you?" She shook her head, no. "Two heads," he muttered to himself. "Two heads." A frown crossed his face. "JAKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sesshoumaru quickly leapt to the bank where Midori had pointed to. He reached down, and grabbed the green…demon…thing…and brought up his claws, ready to kill him.

"Wait!" Midori called. "Don't kill him!"

"Right, forgot, you hate for creatures to die, no matter how foul." With a scowl, he balled Jaken up, and chucked him into another land (yes! Goodbye, you creepy thing!) Midori sighed.

"Thank you." Sesshoumaru turned to go. "Um, Mr., Sesshoumaru, sir," she said He turned to her.

"What now?" Midori was blushing red.

"Um, my towel burned up in the fire blast…I think my clothes did, too." Sesshoumaru's eyes were wide, and, if you looked hard enough, he was blushing slightly as well.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The two, Sesshoumaru and Midori, sat cozily by a roaring fire. The former was shirtless, and the latter was wearing it (more like swimming in it. It's too big for her!). Midori took out two cups, and poured a tea into them both, handing one to the dog-demon, and keeping the other for herself. Both began to thoughtfully sip the hot liquid. "You're so strong," Midori said, trying to make conversation. "I'm glad I found you, instead of some other demon. They wouldn't have taken care of me near so well!"

"Well, most would have killed you on the spot." He shrugged. "Me, I still have some scores to settle. So, killing you isn't an option."

"It's not just that," she said, setting down her cup and hugging her knees. "Most demons that I've run across have looked rather appalling. You, you're eye candy." Sesshoumaru tried to ignore her comments, and pretend that he wasn't paying attention, but, in the end, he ended up listening intently, hanging on every word. "…and when my clothes were destroyed by that…Jaken, most demons would have make me roam naked. But, you gave me your shirt, instead! That was kind of you. I- I never properly thanked you." Sesshoumaru waved his hand.

"It was nothing."

"There must be something that I can do to show my gratitude!"

"Nothing." Midori yawned.

"If you think of anything," she said, as she moved to where she was sitting right next to him, "just tell me. I'll do it…as long as it isn't anything too rash, like murdering, or committing suicide!" With that, she laid her head down on his shoulder, and fell sleep, listening to his heartbeat.

How Sesshoumaru longed for his left arm (that was the arm that Inuyasha destroyed, wasn't it?) at that moment! To be able to stroke her red hair, shining in the light of the fire. To be able to stroke a cheek, or trace lines on her face! 'What am I thinking?! She's a human! And I can't stand humans!' But, it was too late. His emotions had run wild, ignoring everything that his head told them. Maybe he was more like his dad and half-brother than he thought….

Sesshoumaru sighed, as he wrapped his right arm around her, and fell asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Midori awoke, she was at the entrance of a large town. "Where are we?" she mumbled rubbing her eyes, and looking at Sesshoumaru, who was leaning against a tree.

"That one town you wanted to go to. That's where I said I'd take you. I held up my part of the bargain."

"Now it's time to hold up my part." She brought out of her pocket the large jewel shard, and handed it to him. "Here." He gingerly took he bottle. "I guess you have to go now?"

"Yeah. I don't like big towns." Midori's face fell. Then, it slightly brightened.

"If you'll wait a minute, I can quickly buy some clothes, and you can have your shirt back." He shook his head.

"Keep it." There was silence between the two.

"This is goodbye, then. Goodbye, Sesshoumaru."

"Goodbye, Miss Midori." He turned to leave.

"Wait!" Midori ran over to him, and, after a moments hesitation, go on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek. "Goodbye," she whispered in his ear, and turned and walked into the town. Sesshoumaru placed his hand on the place that she had kissed him, before he, too, turned and walked away.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rayne watched painfully as Sesshoumaru walked away from the wasteland. It was what he had seen as a magnificent town. She turned toward Inuyasha, Miroku, Kagome, Shippo. "Did you get the jewel shards?" Inuyasha asked. She dug in her pockets, and brought out six pieces of the jewel. Handing them over to Kagome, she walked away, tears stinging her eyes. Kagome watched, sympathetically, and followed her.

"Why?" Rayne asked her, as she approached. "Why did they make me do this?!" Tears were flowing steadily down her cheeks. "I hurt another soul! Just for some lousy jewel shards!" Rayne banged a fist in the dirt. "Why?" Kagome sighed.

"I don't know why those two do half of what they do. But, hey, not all of the outcomes were bad! I saw the way Sesshoumaru looked at you! The way you two were talking! You brought the part of him that cares for humans out! Maybe he'll be nicer from now on!" Rayne's tears didn't let up. "I do have some questions, though. Like, how did you make him see things that weren't there? And how'd you change your appearance? How'd you get the jewel shards without him noticing? And what was the jewel shard you gave him?" Rayne dried her eyes, wanting to tell Kagome with a level head.

"I've learned to create illusions…that's how Sesshoumaru saw things that weren't there. And people never see me with the same appearance. I can change how I look. Before I gave him his tea, I administered a sleeping potion and buffer potion to it, so he wouldn't feel the difference in power, and so I could take the jewels out while he slept, without him waking up. The jewel shard he received was just a rock, an illusion, just as everything else was." After she finished explaining, Rayne pulled out a fan, with a forest, waterfall, and unicorn painted on it. After mumbling something, it grew bigger than she was, and she jumped from one side of the fan to the other. Rayne was now back to the way she looked before- white/albino hair, dark, expressionless eyes. The fan shrunk, and she put it back in her pocket. For, not only had she changed appearances, but also she had received new clothes, although she still wore Sesshoumaru's shirt over her old clothes.

"Are you ready to go?" Inuyasha called. Shippo ran over to the two girls, and grabbed there hands.

"Come on! Let's go! A bird just delivered us a note from Kaede (spell check?)! She wants us to meet her at her village! Come on! Let's go!"

"You'll like Kaede," Kagome reassured her. "She's nice, and has a neat way of talking…kind of like a Quaker, actually…." Rayne yielded to the pulling of he young fox and Kagome.

'I won't do it again. I won't. I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru, for hurting you. The first human that you cared about. I'm sorry.'

END OF CHAPTER THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fairysphinx: Well, that's the end of the chapter! I hope that you enjoyed it, and that it wasn't too confusing. * sigh * Why did I do that to poor Sesshoumaru? People seem to pick on him so. * sigh * Oh, well. I hope that you liked the chapter, and please review! See you next chapter! Ja ne!