WALKING IN MOONLIGHT
Chapter 1: Beginning of it All
"I'm going home!"
Her loud voice, full of frustration and annoyance obvious to any listeners, rang clearly through the village in the late hours of the morning. The villagers tending the fields paused to take in the sight of the reincarnated miko with the strange bag of hers slung over her shoulders and the enraged hanyou as they argued heatedly with him stalking angrily after her. It had become a somewhat familiar sight in the recent past, almost like a routine part of their regular lives. The villagers kept silent and watchful, awed at the power of the miko that allowed her to talk so freely to such a destructive force while keeping a distrustful eye on the hanyou that had wreaked such destruction on their village 50 years ago.
"Bitch! You can't leave yet!"
"Just watch me!"
"No! You have to tell me the secret of Testusaiga's transformation!" Inuyasha howled, the front of his clothes covered with dirt from already having been told to 'sit' just minutes before. "I'm not letting you leave until you do!"
"Inuyasha!"
Kagome paused and turned around, giving him such a look that had the violent hanyou halting and taking a half step back in fear. It was an expression that clearly stated that her temper was at its limits and had him holding out a hand as if to ward off what he knew was to come. Alas, to no avail.
"Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit!"
Leaving the growling Inuyasha flat on the ground, she continued to stride angrily into the forest as thoughts whirled in her head. She didn't know why she was so irritated; his reactions were nothing less than to be expected after all with his dislike of humans well known to any who could hear him yammer on about how much he hated them. Still, she thought he'd be nicer after hearing him proclaim, to his own brother no less, that he'd protect her. She sighed heavily as she recalled the battle that had ended just hours earlier between Inuyasha and his older brother, Sesshoumaru. It all seemed surreal, everything that had happened since she'd first been sucked into this era little more than a week ago when she'd met Inuyasha. He'd tried to kill her but, after having met his brother, the hanyou didn't seem quite as bad anymore despite his argumentative and violent tendencies. Perhaps it was the comfort of the spell that gave her power over him with one little word but, deep down, she didn't think that was all. No, she'd seen a softer side of him when he'd tried so desperately to free the youkai with his deceased mother's appearance until Sesshoumaru's charade had been discovered. She hoped to see more of that side in the future but, judging from their recent argument, it seemed very far away.
With a sigh, she continued to trudge through the forest, coming to a halt when she realized that she seemed to have strayed from her intended destination while her mind had been lost in thought. Nervously, she looked around, wondering what direction she should take. Perhaps she should backtrack, she thought as she turned back the way she thought she had come. Unfortunately, the way back look very much like any other direction, overgrown with plants and no path in sight. Growing more worried, she pondered what to do. Well, she thought, she could call for help. After all, Inuyasha's keen hearing would undoubtedly pick up her cry and he'd come immediately, not wanting to lose his only means to detect more Shikon shards. But that thought only served to irritate her even more and she became determined to find her own way out of this newest mess she'd gotten herself into.
She stumbled through the forest, not sure if she was even close to heading the right way, relying only on her instincts to guide her through this. A flash of white between the dense green of leafy bushes caught her attention and had her approaching closer in relief at the thought that, despite how irritated Inuyasha may be at her, he had still followed her and would definitely lead her back to civilization and safety. But she went still as she caught full sight of the figure owning that long hair of a beautiful shade of paleness that she admired as a gasp lodged in her throat, not one of admiration but of fear.
Sesshoumaru.
Her mind became chaotic as she was held frozen in place in fear while she kept her gaze trained on that seated figure with his eyes closed as he leaned against a tree trunk directly across from her position. What was he doing here so close to the village? How could Inuyasha's last attack have blasted him here of all places? Was he dead or only wounded? Why had she been the one to stumble across him? What should she do now? Run? Scream for Inuyasha?
"You'll be dead before you can scream."
She couldn't stifle her shocked gasp this time when she heard his coolly voiced words. As she watched, those eyes that she had thought to be closed in unconsciousness slowly opened as more and more of the golden color of those orbs were revealed. And fully fixed on her. Like a deer caught in headlights, she could only stand there staring back at him, frozen, not wanting movement of any sort to draw anymore of his attention than she already had. How much time passed while they remained like that, she didn't know. She was only aware of when those golden eyes slipped shut once more, releasing her from the trap of his gaze as if in dismissal, telling her to go.
And that was exactly what she intended to do, what she intended to do but failed to. She stilled when her gaze fell on one sleeve of his clothes that was drenched in red and lay flat against his body when it should have been rounded with a limb lying beneath it. Should, but wasn't. At that moment, with all her survival instincts screaming at her to run as fast as she could away from him while she had the chance, something she couldn't name seemed to possess her and had her moving hesitantly towards him, heart racing madly in her chest. She halted suddenly when those eyes opened again, fixated on her, and continued the journey to his side, a brief distance made longer by her fear and the weight of that golden gaze.
When she finally reached his side, she drew in a breath and dropped down, kneeling beside him. From this close, even the weak power of her human nose could pick up the metallic coppery smell of blood. The good thing was that it took her mind off of her fear of the youkai lord. However, the scent, combined with the sight of that blood soaked sleeve had her stomach lurching as her face paled, none of it lost on the youkai before her.
"Tell me what you hope to accomplish, human," came the expressionless command.
"To help." Another whiff of blood had her stomach rolling again. "I think."
"To aid one who tried to take your life? Not just a human but an extremely foolish one."
"You think so too, huh?" She shrugged philosophically. "Oh, well. Wouldn't be the first time," she said as she removed her backpack under his observant eyes. "Your brother-"
"Half-brother," he said in distaste.
"Your half-brother," she amended, "tried to kill me, too, and I haven't known him much longer than you."
Despite the interest that statement provoked, he remained silent, keeping his features schooled in a blank mask. Admitting curiosity about such a trivial matter to himself was one thing, revealing it to someone else was another case entirely. Still, he couldn't keep himself from examining her face more carefully, searching for a sign that would explain what had caused his hanyou of a half-brother to refrain from doing away with her and had them helping each other instead. It remained a mystery as he could detect no special powers that would enable her to subdue a hanyou or enabled her to pull out his father's sword when neither his brother or himself had been able to. To his refined senses, she was merely another mortal and a weak one at that, he thought when he saw her expression as she looked at the empty sleeve where an arm had once resided. It was a sight that in no way inspired any confidence that she'd be able to follow through with the purpose she had stated.
"I, Sesshoumaru, need no human aid."
It was said in his best dismissive tone given the current situation. Despite his injured state, it should have been enough to send a cowardly human girl running for her life. And yet she remained, giving no response to his words as she stared fixedly at the empty sleeve, to all intents and purposes ignoring him. That irritated him, he who was unused to being ignored no matter what condition his body may be in, and he was tempted to reach out his remaining claw and slice open her throat. However, whatever his desire may be, truly his body was in no condition for such unnecessary movement. It was in his best interests to wait until his youkai powers healed the wound a little more before moving about. As long as the wench remained silent and refrained from calling that hanyou who was no doubt somewhere near, he could tolerate her presence for as long as it took her to leave since he sensed no threat from her. But leaving meant she actually had to make at least some movement.
"Did you not hear me, bitch? I do not require your presence."
"I heard you the first time," she snapped as she gave him an annoyed glare. "And don't call me that. You sound just like your brother."
Shock and rage warred equally within him at those words as he was sorely tempted to slash and spill her blood despite his earlier resolve to remain still. No one, be it youkai or human, outside of battle dared to speak to him like that and those that had were dead. And it was the most insulting thing, to be compared to his detested half-brother, no less. Just when he decided to throw away his earlier intention and kill her anyway, she spoke up.
"I'm sorry," she said contritely. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."
It was good, he thought as his anger seemed to leak away, that she seemed to realize her place and recanted in speaking to him so. It was a brief sentiment that fled with her next words.
"You're injured and shouldn't have things like that said to you, even when you deserve it."
Just like that, his temper was stoked again and would have been unleashed if not for the confusion that also whirled within him about the oddity of having his mood shift back and forth from calmness to anger so soon. Normally, he remained cool and levelheaded, even in a rage. But, somehow, this human seemed to prick his temper effortlessly which was a curiosity in itself. Even more mysterious was that she didn't seem to do it intentionally as she appeared more preoccupied with the missing arm, which he felt she was bothered more by than him at the moment, rather than being deliberately insulting. Though he still quivered in anger at the double insult implying that he needed to be coddled and that he was in the wrong, he stayed silent and watching, waiting to see what she would do next. It was not long in coming.
"Can I see?" she asked, voice wavering as she flapped a hand toward the empty sleeve.
"You may," he consented, thinking that it would be a joy to watch her weak soul crumble before the reality of the bloody sight that awaited. That would be his revenge, he thought, since he had told himself not to move and kill the girl.
He kept his eyes on her, saw her face pale even more than he thought possible when she pried to sides of the sleeves apart and heard the wet sucking sounds as parts of the cloth that were still freshly damp were separated. When the material was pulled up, revealing the bloody stump that remained of the limb, her skin seemed to take on a greenish cast as she dropped the sleeve and quickly turned away with a sharp gasp. Her breath came out in shallow pants, obviously distressed. It was odd, he vaguely noted, how he didn't derive as much pleasure from the sight as he thought he would. In any case, it was apparent that she wouldn't be able to accomplish anything. Not for the first time, he wondered where Jaken had gone. He had no doubt that the toad-like vassal was searching for him but he didn't think it would take so long. Then again, Jaken had proved inept on more than one occasion so perhaps it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. As usual, he had no one to rely on but himself in the end and would undoubtedly have to leave by his own power if he wanted to move from this spot.
But he needed to heal himself more first.
It was a thought that had exhaustion winding itself through him once more as his injured body called for rest and his eyes began to close. He was about to slip back into a healing half-conscious state when rustling sounds reached his ears. His eyes snapped open again, locking onto the figure that he couldn't believe he had almost forgotten the presence of. It was unheard of for a great youkai lord such as himself with all the decades of battle experience behind him to allow himself to slip into such a vulnerable condition before the enemy, a stranger, one who had every reason to want him dead. So why had he? Was he in even more dire straits than he first imagined?
No answers were in coming. He could only watch and observe the human as she opened that strange bag of hers and take out an white rectangular box with a red cross emblazoned on it. He'd never seen the like before and it had his gaze narrowing in suspicion even though his instincts kept telling him that she meant no harm.
"What are you doing?"
The words came out much more harshly than he'd intended but she never even flinched. Instead she proceeded to place the box on the ground and, with a flick of a finger, seemed to unlock the strangle latch that had the lid opening up with a tiny popping sound. As she regarded the contents within the box, she answered him absently.
"Looking."
"Looking for what?" he bit out.
He was infuriated once more with that simple answer which explained nothing. He could see for himself that she was 'looking' and anyone of reasonable intelligence could see that his question required more explanation than that. She had to be mocking him. Moreover, it appeared as if she weren't paying attention to him again. If all humans were this aggravating, the seethed to himself, then he'd have to kill them all once he was in full health again. An aggrieved sigh told him that, although impossible to imagine, she seemed to find him, the Great Lord of the Western Lands, as irritating as he found her. The idea was confirmed at the irritated look she shot him before returning to her contemplation of that box of hers and plucking something out.
"This is what I wanted," she told him, holding some sort of cylindrical metal canister out. Seeing his narrow-eyed gaze, she hastened to explain. "It's a spray disinfectant, a type of medicine where I'm from." Remembering that it probably wasn't a word anyone from the feudal era would understand, she elaborated. "It will stop infection from setting into the wound and draw out impurities. I hope. In any case, I'm sure it'll help. But it'll be painful. Do you think you can handle it?"
He'd been about to protest having such a strange object administering aid to him but those last words, implying that he would balk at any puny amount of pain that she might inflict on him found him giving her a withering glare. As if he, a full youkai with powers and strength greater than her tiny human mind could possibly comprehend, would cower before the threat of any small agony that came with the administering of medicine.
"I take that as a 'yes.'"
She couldn't stop as a corner of her lips twitched in amusement and was only further amused when she got the impression that the sight seemed to vex him even more. But any humor dissipated when she was faced with having to do what she had to do. Blood and broken bits of limbs and flesh she could deal with when she was struggling to survive with her life intact in the midst of a fight but having to deal with it when she was trying to do something about healing such a mess was a different matter. Despite her desire to avoid dealing with this, she couldn't just leave him and she couldn't go back to the village where she knew Inuyasha would pick up his half-brother's scent and come back here to finish him off. Or at least try to. In spite of the injury, she had a feeling that Sesshoumaru would do anything it took to survive and that one missing arm made him no less dangerous than he was with two.
So then why was she helping him? What she'd seen him do so far, she heartily disapproved of. No one, youkai, human or anything in between had the right to play so viciously with someone else's emotions as he had when he'd toyed with Inuyasha's emotions for his deceased mother. But, still, she felt stirrings of pity for him since, to her, the Great Lord seemed to have lost something too. He'd lost the sword that he had searched so long for to the younger brother who hadn't even known it existed. And, unlike Inuyasha who still had all his body parts, he had also lost an arm. Which brought her back to her current situation as she had to bring herself to do what she didn't want to. She looked up into his impassive features.
"I have to lift the sleeve up again," she told him.
"Then do so."
It was galling, she thought, how he turned consent into command. But there were bigger matters to attend to and the task at hand was dealing with the red mess in front of her. Staring at it, she really, really didn't want look at it again. There was only so much oozing blood a modern Japanese girl could take in a short amount of time, after all. Still, she reached out to place her fingers on the sleeve and then paused. And waited. She really didn't want to do this, a job a doctor should be doing, not a schoolgirl whose best medical experience up to this point was bandaging paper cuts. Even Inuyasha's wounds so far had either been taken care of by Kaede or his own supernatural healing powers, not her. But she had the feeling that that would change if the recent past was anything to judge the future by. However, thinking of the experience she'd have in the future wasn't helping her now. She had to do something and get over her squeamishness. She looked up into golden eyes staring levelly back at her.
That did it.
She began peeling back the sleeve once more, lips thinning to a stubborn line. Though the youkai lord had schooled his face into an expressionless mask, a gut feeling told her that he was taking great pleasure at witnessing her fumbling in this situation and that he'd derive a good deal of disdainful amusement at seeing her fail to accomplish what she had said she'd do. There was no way she would give him further proof to fuel his wrongful belief that humans were beneath youkai. God help her, she'd do it even if it killed her.
Of course, if she screwed up, he might do it for her.
It was not a comforting thought and she gave him an uncertain glance as the stub of flesh was brought into view. The appearance didn't improve a second time around. It was caked in dried blood and a closer look, if she cared to take one, which she didn't, saw a few raw patches where fresh blood still trickled. The rest seemed to have scabbed over. Although it was a terrible sight, she imagined that it looked better than she pictured a human limb were it to suffer the same damage. But the raw patches of flesh concerned her most as she knew the disinfectant would bring pain to those areas the most once it made contact.
"Umm," she started hesitantly. "You're not going to kill me if this causes you pain, are you?"
Gold eyes narrowed. "Surely you cannot mean to imply that I, Sesshoumaru, lack the control to restrain myself from lashing out at a little pain?"
"Of course not," she lied.
Those eyes narrowed even more as he could smell the lie. Her doubt was irritating and the idea that it bothered him, a human's opinion, made him even more annoyed. Obviously he must be very sick indeed. He barely restrained himself from heaving an extremely put upon sigh.
"I, Sesshoumaru, swear not to kill you this day. Is that not good enough?"
An eyebrow arched at his wording but she wisely refrained from testing the limits of his patience any further. Besides, oddly enough, despite his choice of words, she was reassured. After shaking it, she tilted the nozzle of the spray can towards his arm an paused to shoot him another glance.
"This will hurt," she warned him.
"Proceed."
And she did. Though he made no sound as she made sure to spray the disinfectant over the wound, she felt the tensing of muscles beneath the hand resting against his shoulder, holding the material of the sleeve out of the way. She knew it had to hurt a great deal but still he remained stoically silent, a feat she was absolutely sure she'd never be able to accomplish had their positions been reversed. Relieved when it was over, she reached back into the first-aid kit, exchanging the spray can for a roll of gauze.
"Human, what are you doing?"
"Geez, do you have to question everything I do? It's something to bandage your arm."
"That is not to what I was referring."
She stared back at him confused. "Then what?"
As he continued to gaze back steadily, she became aware of a damp coolness on her cheeks as a faint breeze wafted over the wet tracks left by her tears. An embarrassed flush crawled over her cheeks as the uncomfortable sensation had her going on the defensive.
"I was crying. So what? Humans tend to do that when they're feeling happy or sad."
"So," he said dryly, "you take joy in this?"
"Absolutely not!" She was immediately incensed. "I don't feel happy with anyone's pain. I don't care if you're youkai or not, how dare you imply that I do?"
"Then you are sad for I, Sesshoumaru?"
She pursed her lips at his mild tone. Somehow admitting to that didn't sound any better. Actually, it sounded pretty stupid, a human feeling sad because the youkai that tried to kill her was in pain, but it was still an improvement over having someone think that she took pleasure in seeing another being in distress. She tilted her chin in defiance as she glared back at him proudly.
"So what if I am? You got a problem with that?"
A moment of silence stretched on as they took each other's measure. In the end, he merely uttered a single word.
"Proceed."
Made uneasy for some reason by what had occurred, she went as fast as she could while still be efficient. It didn't take much long for her to finish bandaging the youkai's arm and smoothing the sleeve back down over it when she was done. Silently, under his observant eye, she replaced the gauze back into the first-aid kit, keeping a small bottle before she closed its lid and returned the box to her backpack. Then she turned back toward him and held the bottle out.
"Keep this. It's called aspirin," she explained, "medicine from my world to dull the pain. Although," she said with a thoughtful frown, "I'm not sure just how effective it will be on youkai since I've only known humans to take them. But swallow two tablets twice a day, once in the day and once at night. Hopefully, it'll lessen the pain you feel for as long as the pills last. Here, take them."
When he remained unmoving, she sighed in exasperation at his stubbornness. She set the bottle on the ground instead and then stood up, shrugging her backpack over her shoulders as she turned to go. But then she paused to look back.
"I'm sorry," she said softly, "about your arm."
He returned her gaze. "You were not the one who cut it off."
"True," she said with a wince at the image those words evoked. "But I'm still sorry."
"I do not need a human's pity."
Okay, she was irritated again. But, knowing she couldn't argue with his narrow-mindedness, she refrained from commenting. "Then this human will be going now," was all she said as she turned to go, only to halt abruptly at his sharp voice.
"Human."
"What?" Her voice was clearly annoyed at being addressed in such a way.
"What you've done here means nothing. It's foolishness for a human to help a youkai and I did not ask for it."
"Your point being?"
His eyes narrowed at her flippant tone. "I owe you nothing. The next time we meet, if you get in the way again, I shall kill you."
He watched as she observed him, whatever thoughts that ran through that mind of hers remaining a mystery as she seemed to weigh the truth of his words. Amazingly, he saw her lips curve in the first full smile he'd ever seen her face. And it was directed at him.
"Guess I didn't expect anything else," she told him.
Giving him a last glimpse of that smile, she turned around to continue her search for the way back to her time, unaware of the gold eyes that remained on her figure until it was lost from sight, hidden by nature's concealing foliage.
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
On the outskirts of the forest, Inuyasha tilted his head up as a breeze wafted through the village. It was strange he thought, how the wind seemed to carry the faint scent of his brother's mingled with Kagome's. He shrugged it off, thinking it merely the traces of his scent that lingered on her body as the battle that had placed them in such close contact with each other had been but hours before.
After all, the idea of Sesshoumaru located near the village and with Kagome was ridiculous.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ``````````````````````````
AN: I'm really sorry it took so long to get this chapter out to those who wanted more of this fic. It took me a while to get started on it, but once I did, it practically wrote itself all in one very long sitting. I hope you're satisfied with it so far and there aren't too many problems with it.
Also, I'm still not sure who Kagome will end up with. Although my plans for this story are to have the chapters set in between scenes of the Inuyasha anime/manga, sort of like additional episodes that puts a IY/K versus S/K twist on the actual series. I don't know how long I can wind the story in this way but, a warning just in case, it may take a while before I get around to finally resolving who she does end up with. This is an experiment on my part since I've never done anything like it before so please tell me how well you think I'm doing and let me know if I'm on the right track. Also, if anyone else is doing a fic like this, I apologize if I'm stepping on your toes. And someone direct me to the story if anyone else is doing one since I'm curious and would like to see it as I haven't come across one yet.
Thanks for reading! (^^)
Chapter 1: Beginning of it All
"I'm going home!"
Her loud voice, full of frustration and annoyance obvious to any listeners, rang clearly through the village in the late hours of the morning. The villagers tending the fields paused to take in the sight of the reincarnated miko with the strange bag of hers slung over her shoulders and the enraged hanyou as they argued heatedly with him stalking angrily after her. It had become a somewhat familiar sight in the recent past, almost like a routine part of their regular lives. The villagers kept silent and watchful, awed at the power of the miko that allowed her to talk so freely to such a destructive force while keeping a distrustful eye on the hanyou that had wreaked such destruction on their village 50 years ago.
"Bitch! You can't leave yet!"
"Just watch me!"
"No! You have to tell me the secret of Testusaiga's transformation!" Inuyasha howled, the front of his clothes covered with dirt from already having been told to 'sit' just minutes before. "I'm not letting you leave until you do!"
"Inuyasha!"
Kagome paused and turned around, giving him such a look that had the violent hanyou halting and taking a half step back in fear. It was an expression that clearly stated that her temper was at its limits and had him holding out a hand as if to ward off what he knew was to come. Alas, to no avail.
"Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit!"
Leaving the growling Inuyasha flat on the ground, she continued to stride angrily into the forest as thoughts whirled in her head. She didn't know why she was so irritated; his reactions were nothing less than to be expected after all with his dislike of humans well known to any who could hear him yammer on about how much he hated them. Still, she thought he'd be nicer after hearing him proclaim, to his own brother no less, that he'd protect her. She sighed heavily as she recalled the battle that had ended just hours earlier between Inuyasha and his older brother, Sesshoumaru. It all seemed surreal, everything that had happened since she'd first been sucked into this era little more than a week ago when she'd met Inuyasha. He'd tried to kill her but, after having met his brother, the hanyou didn't seem quite as bad anymore despite his argumentative and violent tendencies. Perhaps it was the comfort of the spell that gave her power over him with one little word but, deep down, she didn't think that was all. No, she'd seen a softer side of him when he'd tried so desperately to free the youkai with his deceased mother's appearance until Sesshoumaru's charade had been discovered. She hoped to see more of that side in the future but, judging from their recent argument, it seemed very far away.
With a sigh, she continued to trudge through the forest, coming to a halt when she realized that she seemed to have strayed from her intended destination while her mind had been lost in thought. Nervously, she looked around, wondering what direction she should take. Perhaps she should backtrack, she thought as she turned back the way she thought she had come. Unfortunately, the way back look very much like any other direction, overgrown with plants and no path in sight. Growing more worried, she pondered what to do. Well, she thought, she could call for help. After all, Inuyasha's keen hearing would undoubtedly pick up her cry and he'd come immediately, not wanting to lose his only means to detect more Shikon shards. But that thought only served to irritate her even more and she became determined to find her own way out of this newest mess she'd gotten herself into.
She stumbled through the forest, not sure if she was even close to heading the right way, relying only on her instincts to guide her through this. A flash of white between the dense green of leafy bushes caught her attention and had her approaching closer in relief at the thought that, despite how irritated Inuyasha may be at her, he had still followed her and would definitely lead her back to civilization and safety. But she went still as she caught full sight of the figure owning that long hair of a beautiful shade of paleness that she admired as a gasp lodged in her throat, not one of admiration but of fear.
Sesshoumaru.
Her mind became chaotic as she was held frozen in place in fear while she kept her gaze trained on that seated figure with his eyes closed as he leaned against a tree trunk directly across from her position. What was he doing here so close to the village? How could Inuyasha's last attack have blasted him here of all places? Was he dead or only wounded? Why had she been the one to stumble across him? What should she do now? Run? Scream for Inuyasha?
"You'll be dead before you can scream."
She couldn't stifle her shocked gasp this time when she heard his coolly voiced words. As she watched, those eyes that she had thought to be closed in unconsciousness slowly opened as more and more of the golden color of those orbs were revealed. And fully fixed on her. Like a deer caught in headlights, she could only stand there staring back at him, frozen, not wanting movement of any sort to draw anymore of his attention than she already had. How much time passed while they remained like that, she didn't know. She was only aware of when those golden eyes slipped shut once more, releasing her from the trap of his gaze as if in dismissal, telling her to go.
And that was exactly what she intended to do, what she intended to do but failed to. She stilled when her gaze fell on one sleeve of his clothes that was drenched in red and lay flat against his body when it should have been rounded with a limb lying beneath it. Should, but wasn't. At that moment, with all her survival instincts screaming at her to run as fast as she could away from him while she had the chance, something she couldn't name seemed to possess her and had her moving hesitantly towards him, heart racing madly in her chest. She halted suddenly when those eyes opened again, fixated on her, and continued the journey to his side, a brief distance made longer by her fear and the weight of that golden gaze.
When she finally reached his side, she drew in a breath and dropped down, kneeling beside him. From this close, even the weak power of her human nose could pick up the metallic coppery smell of blood. The good thing was that it took her mind off of her fear of the youkai lord. However, the scent, combined with the sight of that blood soaked sleeve had her stomach lurching as her face paled, none of it lost on the youkai before her.
"Tell me what you hope to accomplish, human," came the expressionless command.
"To help." Another whiff of blood had her stomach rolling again. "I think."
"To aid one who tried to take your life? Not just a human but an extremely foolish one."
"You think so too, huh?" She shrugged philosophically. "Oh, well. Wouldn't be the first time," she said as she removed her backpack under his observant eyes. "Your brother-"
"Half-brother," he said in distaste.
"Your half-brother," she amended, "tried to kill me, too, and I haven't known him much longer than you."
Despite the interest that statement provoked, he remained silent, keeping his features schooled in a blank mask. Admitting curiosity about such a trivial matter to himself was one thing, revealing it to someone else was another case entirely. Still, he couldn't keep himself from examining her face more carefully, searching for a sign that would explain what had caused his hanyou of a half-brother to refrain from doing away with her and had them helping each other instead. It remained a mystery as he could detect no special powers that would enable her to subdue a hanyou or enabled her to pull out his father's sword when neither his brother or himself had been able to. To his refined senses, she was merely another mortal and a weak one at that, he thought when he saw her expression as she looked at the empty sleeve where an arm had once resided. It was a sight that in no way inspired any confidence that she'd be able to follow through with the purpose she had stated.
"I, Sesshoumaru, need no human aid."
It was said in his best dismissive tone given the current situation. Despite his injured state, it should have been enough to send a cowardly human girl running for her life. And yet she remained, giving no response to his words as she stared fixedly at the empty sleeve, to all intents and purposes ignoring him. That irritated him, he who was unused to being ignored no matter what condition his body may be in, and he was tempted to reach out his remaining claw and slice open her throat. However, whatever his desire may be, truly his body was in no condition for such unnecessary movement. It was in his best interests to wait until his youkai powers healed the wound a little more before moving about. As long as the wench remained silent and refrained from calling that hanyou who was no doubt somewhere near, he could tolerate her presence for as long as it took her to leave since he sensed no threat from her. But leaving meant she actually had to make at least some movement.
"Did you not hear me, bitch? I do not require your presence."
"I heard you the first time," she snapped as she gave him an annoyed glare. "And don't call me that. You sound just like your brother."
Shock and rage warred equally within him at those words as he was sorely tempted to slash and spill her blood despite his earlier resolve to remain still. No one, be it youkai or human, outside of battle dared to speak to him like that and those that had were dead. And it was the most insulting thing, to be compared to his detested half-brother, no less. Just when he decided to throw away his earlier intention and kill her anyway, she spoke up.
"I'm sorry," she said contritely. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."
It was good, he thought as his anger seemed to leak away, that she seemed to realize her place and recanted in speaking to him so. It was a brief sentiment that fled with her next words.
"You're injured and shouldn't have things like that said to you, even when you deserve it."
Just like that, his temper was stoked again and would have been unleashed if not for the confusion that also whirled within him about the oddity of having his mood shift back and forth from calmness to anger so soon. Normally, he remained cool and levelheaded, even in a rage. But, somehow, this human seemed to prick his temper effortlessly which was a curiosity in itself. Even more mysterious was that she didn't seem to do it intentionally as she appeared more preoccupied with the missing arm, which he felt she was bothered more by than him at the moment, rather than being deliberately insulting. Though he still quivered in anger at the double insult implying that he needed to be coddled and that he was in the wrong, he stayed silent and watching, waiting to see what she would do next. It was not long in coming.
"Can I see?" she asked, voice wavering as she flapped a hand toward the empty sleeve.
"You may," he consented, thinking that it would be a joy to watch her weak soul crumble before the reality of the bloody sight that awaited. That would be his revenge, he thought, since he had told himself not to move and kill the girl.
He kept his eyes on her, saw her face pale even more than he thought possible when she pried to sides of the sleeves apart and heard the wet sucking sounds as parts of the cloth that were still freshly damp were separated. When the material was pulled up, revealing the bloody stump that remained of the limb, her skin seemed to take on a greenish cast as she dropped the sleeve and quickly turned away with a sharp gasp. Her breath came out in shallow pants, obviously distressed. It was odd, he vaguely noted, how he didn't derive as much pleasure from the sight as he thought he would. In any case, it was apparent that she wouldn't be able to accomplish anything. Not for the first time, he wondered where Jaken had gone. He had no doubt that the toad-like vassal was searching for him but he didn't think it would take so long. Then again, Jaken had proved inept on more than one occasion so perhaps it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. As usual, he had no one to rely on but himself in the end and would undoubtedly have to leave by his own power if he wanted to move from this spot.
But he needed to heal himself more first.
It was a thought that had exhaustion winding itself through him once more as his injured body called for rest and his eyes began to close. He was about to slip back into a healing half-conscious state when rustling sounds reached his ears. His eyes snapped open again, locking onto the figure that he couldn't believe he had almost forgotten the presence of. It was unheard of for a great youkai lord such as himself with all the decades of battle experience behind him to allow himself to slip into such a vulnerable condition before the enemy, a stranger, one who had every reason to want him dead. So why had he? Was he in even more dire straits than he first imagined?
No answers were in coming. He could only watch and observe the human as she opened that strange bag of hers and take out an white rectangular box with a red cross emblazoned on it. He'd never seen the like before and it had his gaze narrowing in suspicion even though his instincts kept telling him that she meant no harm.
"What are you doing?"
The words came out much more harshly than he'd intended but she never even flinched. Instead she proceeded to place the box on the ground and, with a flick of a finger, seemed to unlock the strangle latch that had the lid opening up with a tiny popping sound. As she regarded the contents within the box, she answered him absently.
"Looking."
"Looking for what?" he bit out.
He was infuriated once more with that simple answer which explained nothing. He could see for himself that she was 'looking' and anyone of reasonable intelligence could see that his question required more explanation than that. She had to be mocking him. Moreover, it appeared as if she weren't paying attention to him again. If all humans were this aggravating, the seethed to himself, then he'd have to kill them all once he was in full health again. An aggrieved sigh told him that, although impossible to imagine, she seemed to find him, the Great Lord of the Western Lands, as irritating as he found her. The idea was confirmed at the irritated look she shot him before returning to her contemplation of that box of hers and plucking something out.
"This is what I wanted," she told him, holding some sort of cylindrical metal canister out. Seeing his narrow-eyed gaze, she hastened to explain. "It's a spray disinfectant, a type of medicine where I'm from." Remembering that it probably wasn't a word anyone from the feudal era would understand, she elaborated. "It will stop infection from setting into the wound and draw out impurities. I hope. In any case, I'm sure it'll help. But it'll be painful. Do you think you can handle it?"
He'd been about to protest having such a strange object administering aid to him but those last words, implying that he would balk at any puny amount of pain that she might inflict on him found him giving her a withering glare. As if he, a full youkai with powers and strength greater than her tiny human mind could possibly comprehend, would cower before the threat of any small agony that came with the administering of medicine.
"I take that as a 'yes.'"
She couldn't stop as a corner of her lips twitched in amusement and was only further amused when she got the impression that the sight seemed to vex him even more. But any humor dissipated when she was faced with having to do what she had to do. Blood and broken bits of limbs and flesh she could deal with when she was struggling to survive with her life intact in the midst of a fight but having to deal with it when she was trying to do something about healing such a mess was a different matter. Despite her desire to avoid dealing with this, she couldn't just leave him and she couldn't go back to the village where she knew Inuyasha would pick up his half-brother's scent and come back here to finish him off. Or at least try to. In spite of the injury, she had a feeling that Sesshoumaru would do anything it took to survive and that one missing arm made him no less dangerous than he was with two.
So then why was she helping him? What she'd seen him do so far, she heartily disapproved of. No one, youkai, human or anything in between had the right to play so viciously with someone else's emotions as he had when he'd toyed with Inuyasha's emotions for his deceased mother. But, still, she felt stirrings of pity for him since, to her, the Great Lord seemed to have lost something too. He'd lost the sword that he had searched so long for to the younger brother who hadn't even known it existed. And, unlike Inuyasha who still had all his body parts, he had also lost an arm. Which brought her back to her current situation as she had to bring herself to do what she didn't want to. She looked up into his impassive features.
"I have to lift the sleeve up again," she told him.
"Then do so."
It was galling, she thought, how he turned consent into command. But there were bigger matters to attend to and the task at hand was dealing with the red mess in front of her. Staring at it, she really, really didn't want look at it again. There was only so much oozing blood a modern Japanese girl could take in a short amount of time, after all. Still, she reached out to place her fingers on the sleeve and then paused. And waited. She really didn't want to do this, a job a doctor should be doing, not a schoolgirl whose best medical experience up to this point was bandaging paper cuts. Even Inuyasha's wounds so far had either been taken care of by Kaede or his own supernatural healing powers, not her. But she had the feeling that that would change if the recent past was anything to judge the future by. However, thinking of the experience she'd have in the future wasn't helping her now. She had to do something and get over her squeamishness. She looked up into golden eyes staring levelly back at her.
That did it.
She began peeling back the sleeve once more, lips thinning to a stubborn line. Though the youkai lord had schooled his face into an expressionless mask, a gut feeling told her that he was taking great pleasure at witnessing her fumbling in this situation and that he'd derive a good deal of disdainful amusement at seeing her fail to accomplish what she had said she'd do. There was no way she would give him further proof to fuel his wrongful belief that humans were beneath youkai. God help her, she'd do it even if it killed her.
Of course, if she screwed up, he might do it for her.
It was not a comforting thought and she gave him an uncertain glance as the stub of flesh was brought into view. The appearance didn't improve a second time around. It was caked in dried blood and a closer look, if she cared to take one, which she didn't, saw a few raw patches where fresh blood still trickled. The rest seemed to have scabbed over. Although it was a terrible sight, she imagined that it looked better than she pictured a human limb were it to suffer the same damage. But the raw patches of flesh concerned her most as she knew the disinfectant would bring pain to those areas the most once it made contact.
"Umm," she started hesitantly. "You're not going to kill me if this causes you pain, are you?"
Gold eyes narrowed. "Surely you cannot mean to imply that I, Sesshoumaru, lack the control to restrain myself from lashing out at a little pain?"
"Of course not," she lied.
Those eyes narrowed even more as he could smell the lie. Her doubt was irritating and the idea that it bothered him, a human's opinion, made him even more annoyed. Obviously he must be very sick indeed. He barely restrained himself from heaving an extremely put upon sigh.
"I, Sesshoumaru, swear not to kill you this day. Is that not good enough?"
An eyebrow arched at his wording but she wisely refrained from testing the limits of his patience any further. Besides, oddly enough, despite his choice of words, she was reassured. After shaking it, she tilted the nozzle of the spray can towards his arm an paused to shoot him another glance.
"This will hurt," she warned him.
"Proceed."
And she did. Though he made no sound as she made sure to spray the disinfectant over the wound, she felt the tensing of muscles beneath the hand resting against his shoulder, holding the material of the sleeve out of the way. She knew it had to hurt a great deal but still he remained stoically silent, a feat she was absolutely sure she'd never be able to accomplish had their positions been reversed. Relieved when it was over, she reached back into the first-aid kit, exchanging the spray can for a roll of gauze.
"Human, what are you doing?"
"Geez, do you have to question everything I do? It's something to bandage your arm."
"That is not to what I was referring."
She stared back at him confused. "Then what?"
As he continued to gaze back steadily, she became aware of a damp coolness on her cheeks as a faint breeze wafted over the wet tracks left by her tears. An embarrassed flush crawled over her cheeks as the uncomfortable sensation had her going on the defensive.
"I was crying. So what? Humans tend to do that when they're feeling happy or sad."
"So," he said dryly, "you take joy in this?"
"Absolutely not!" She was immediately incensed. "I don't feel happy with anyone's pain. I don't care if you're youkai or not, how dare you imply that I do?"
"Then you are sad for I, Sesshoumaru?"
She pursed her lips at his mild tone. Somehow admitting to that didn't sound any better. Actually, it sounded pretty stupid, a human feeling sad because the youkai that tried to kill her was in pain, but it was still an improvement over having someone think that she took pleasure in seeing another being in distress. She tilted her chin in defiance as she glared back at him proudly.
"So what if I am? You got a problem with that?"
A moment of silence stretched on as they took each other's measure. In the end, he merely uttered a single word.
"Proceed."
Made uneasy for some reason by what had occurred, she went as fast as she could while still be efficient. It didn't take much long for her to finish bandaging the youkai's arm and smoothing the sleeve back down over it when she was done. Silently, under his observant eye, she replaced the gauze back into the first-aid kit, keeping a small bottle before she closed its lid and returned the box to her backpack. Then she turned back toward him and held the bottle out.
"Keep this. It's called aspirin," she explained, "medicine from my world to dull the pain. Although," she said with a thoughtful frown, "I'm not sure just how effective it will be on youkai since I've only known humans to take them. But swallow two tablets twice a day, once in the day and once at night. Hopefully, it'll lessen the pain you feel for as long as the pills last. Here, take them."
When he remained unmoving, she sighed in exasperation at his stubbornness. She set the bottle on the ground instead and then stood up, shrugging her backpack over her shoulders as she turned to go. But then she paused to look back.
"I'm sorry," she said softly, "about your arm."
He returned her gaze. "You were not the one who cut it off."
"True," she said with a wince at the image those words evoked. "But I'm still sorry."
"I do not need a human's pity."
Okay, she was irritated again. But, knowing she couldn't argue with his narrow-mindedness, she refrained from commenting. "Then this human will be going now," was all she said as she turned to go, only to halt abruptly at his sharp voice.
"Human."
"What?" Her voice was clearly annoyed at being addressed in such a way.
"What you've done here means nothing. It's foolishness for a human to help a youkai and I did not ask for it."
"Your point being?"
His eyes narrowed at her flippant tone. "I owe you nothing. The next time we meet, if you get in the way again, I shall kill you."
He watched as she observed him, whatever thoughts that ran through that mind of hers remaining a mystery as she seemed to weigh the truth of his words. Amazingly, he saw her lips curve in the first full smile he'd ever seen her face. And it was directed at him.
"Guess I didn't expect anything else," she told him.
Giving him a last glimpse of that smile, she turned around to continue her search for the way back to her time, unaware of the gold eyes that remained on her figure until it was lost from sight, hidden by nature's concealing foliage.
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
On the outskirts of the forest, Inuyasha tilted his head up as a breeze wafted through the village. It was strange he thought, how the wind seemed to carry the faint scent of his brother's mingled with Kagome's. He shrugged it off, thinking it merely the traces of his scent that lingered on her body as the battle that had placed them in such close contact with each other had been but hours before.
After all, the idea of Sesshoumaru located near the village and with Kagome was ridiculous.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ``````````````````````````
AN: I'm really sorry it took so long to get this chapter out to those who wanted more of this fic. It took me a while to get started on it, but once I did, it practically wrote itself all in one very long sitting. I hope you're satisfied with it so far and there aren't too many problems with it.
Also, I'm still not sure who Kagome will end up with. Although my plans for this story are to have the chapters set in between scenes of the Inuyasha anime/manga, sort of like additional episodes that puts a IY/K versus S/K twist on the actual series. I don't know how long I can wind the story in this way but, a warning just in case, it may take a while before I get around to finally resolving who she does end up with. This is an experiment on my part since I've never done anything like it before so please tell me how well you think I'm doing and let me know if I'm on the right track. Also, if anyone else is doing a fic like this, I apologize if I'm stepping on your toes. And someone direct me to the story if anyone else is doing one since I'm curious and would like to see it as I haven't come across one yet.
Thanks for reading! (^^)