In this chapter, Sesshoumaru is - driving! Clear the sidewalks! Oh, and a tender moment for Kag and Sessy-chan! As always, Inuyasha and co belong to Takahashi Rumiko ::bows:: et al.)
Five Days In Tokyo - or - Sesshoumaru's Unlikely Visit -Eleven
Down, down they plunged towards the streets of Tokyo, with Kagome screaming the whole way, and Sesshoumaru's fluffy tail streaming behind him.
"Shut up!" Sesshoumaru snarled as his eyes scanned the street below. In a burst of energy, he flew sideways, slowing their fall and then they landed outside the Hadori building as a crowd of people pointed at them and screamed.
"You there! Stop!" Kagome whirled as she saw Hadori's security guards. How could Hadori had gotten people down all those floors that fast unless -
"Youkai..." Sesshoumaru hissed, drawing his sword. Kagome, however heard the sirens of police.
"No, Sesshoumaru! If you kill them, the police will arrest us!"
"I fear no 'police.' Sesshoumaru advanced on the security guards who had their weapons drawn. Sesshoumaru gracefully leaped through the air intending to slice them in half when he felt something pass through his shoulder. He grunted with the pain and although it didn't stop his descent it did change it to where he landed hard on the sidewalk.
"Sesshoumaru!!" Kagome shrieked as she ran towards the fallen youkai, who was already getting up. The security guards had been joined by more security police and Kagome gulped as she felt the guns pointed at them. If they were dragged back to Hadori, she knew he'd try every way to coerce her to tell him about the shards and the time traveling.
"Get - away!" Kagome warned as she held out her hand. The shard clenched in her hand glowed and with force pushed the security guards away from them and knocked them down to the ground. Sesshoumaru watched, his eyes wide with surprise. The witch did indeed have power!
"Come on!" Kagome grabbed Sesshoumaru as they ran through the crowd that had parted for them.
"Wench! What are you doing!" Sesshoumaru ignored the pain in his shoulder and the blood that stained his kimono.
"If you fly, they'll spot us! We've got to get lost!" Kagome said.
"Bah.." Sesshoumaru growled. He would not run through the damned humans like a fool. He did agree though - they needed to flee the weapons of those demented humans and that half-breed hanyou offspring. He, Sesshoumaru would kill him eventually, but for now..
They ran to the front of the building and Sesshoumaru saw the black carriage he had seen earlier. His keen ears heard the engine running and so he decided that would be the best way to merge out of sight and away from the hanyou Hadori. Abruptly he yanked Kagome off her feet and sprinted to the limosine.
He promptly tossed the driver out, pushed Kagome in before him and then followed her where he shut the door.
"Go." Sesshoumaru said flatly.
"WHAT in the HELL are you DOING!!" Kagome screamed at him.
"Defective carriage.." Sesshoumaru growled.
"It's not defective and - aiiie! Here they come!" Kagome yelped as she quickly glanced back at the security guards. With an air of desperation, Kagome put the car into gear.
"Drive, Sesshoumaru!!" She yelled, but the car slooowly moved forward instead.
"AAAHH!" Kagome cried out in frustration. "The pedals!" Sesshoumaru actually looked confused.
"The pedals! Down there at your feet! Stomp the right one! The right one!"
Sesshoumaru looked down at the pedals and promptly stepped on the right pedal. Actually he floored it and the car zoomed forward!
"Aaaaaaeeee!" Kagome was thrown back in her seat. Sesshoumaru was NOT gripping the wheel and when they narrowly missed clipping some cars in pulling away, Kagome grabbed the wheel.
"You - got to steer this thing!!" Kagome's eyes were wide. That they hadn't hit anything yet was a miracle!
"Don't tell me how to drive a carriage wench!" Sesshomaru barked as he grabbed the wheel.
"I took driver's ed, Fluffy, so don't YELL at me!" Kagome looked angry but she was actually scared!
The car was veering back and forth as Kagome kept yelling at Sesshoumaru to let up on the gas and watch out. Cars honked and veered away from the Mercedes as Sesshoumaru grimly strived to maintain control of the metal beast. If mere humans could do it, then he could too.
Kagome had her hands over her face, peering between her fingers. "We're gonna die..we're gonna die.."
"Be quiet, wench!! Move you fools!" Sesshoumaru gunned the Mercedes down the winding streets of Tokyo, uncaring if they were one way, two way or no way. He, Sesshoumaru, had the right of way. However, the several police cars that were behind them begged to differ.
"Oh no..." Kagome groaned.
"MOVE you cursed humans!!" Sesshoumaru had discovered the horn and was honking it furiously, despite the fact that it somewhat hurt his ears.
"Eeeeyyyiiii!!!" TWUMP!
"Oh my god!" Kagome saw the startled face of the Domino's pizza delivery guy that was now on their windshield. They had evidently ran over his delivery scooter.
"Gomen!" Kagome grinned like a maniac.
"GET OFF HUMAN!!" Sesshoumaru pressed every button on the carriage, activating the windshield wipers, sunroof and the radio.
FWAP! FWAP! The man on top of the windshield grimaced as the wipers hit him in the face. He had decided right then that he'd get a safer job!
"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome yelled at the youkai-lord. "Slow down!!!"
"This is your fault wench!"
"MY fault! You're the one who pushed me in here and - aaaaa! Watch OUT!"
Sesshoumaru promptly plowed into a fish market and immediately a rain of flounders, squid and other sea creatures fell upon the Mercedes, peltiing the poor Dominoe's man and their car with fish. Several fell into the sunroof onto Kagome's lap, but Sesshoumaru ignored the chaos. He had mastered the driving of this metal beast and making the humans scared witless to boot! The police cars behind them lost their traction and spun around like a child's toy top. Yes, this WAS fun! He would enjoy taking one of these metal carriages home with him - perhaps chase Jaken with it.
Sesshoumaru chuckled lowly at the thought.
He turned the corner practically on two wheels, having caught the familar scent that was the wench's home, and they promptly lost their reluctant guest, who tumbled into a sidewalk and into a gaggle of visiting nuns from Switzerland.
"I'm going to be sick!" Kagome held her hand to her stomach.
"Fah.." Sesshoumaru growled in his throat, sensing that the ones who had been following them had lost their trail. "I've had enough of this.." He let go of the wheel, grabbed Kagome, and flew out of the sunroof, sending the car careening down a hill, where it crashed into an old pre-war factory. It exploded into flames but by then Kagome and Sesshoumaru were far away from it. They hitched a ride once more on a vehicle headed back into the direction of where Kagome's house lay..
****
It was night, and Kagome was still seated by Sesshoumaru's side as he rested. She was grateful that the bullet that had gone through him had not lodged within his shoulder. Even though she knew from Inuyasha that youkai and hanyou healed quickly, they had never had to contend with a bullet, and that had worried her.
She watched him as he slept and marveled at the beauty of his face. How could someone like him be so cold and hateful toward humans?
And yet he wasn't so cold. After all, he was raising a little human girl back in his time wasn't he? Kagome daringly swept back a lock of hair that had fallen over the cresent moon mark upon his forehead and Sesshoumaru's eyes opened as he caught her wrist in a hard grip.
"Why do you do that wench?" He asked, his gold eyes surveying hers.
"I - I don't know. I guess I - " Kagome flushed a little. "Are you feeling better?"
Sesshoumaru's grip on her wrist slackened but he did not let go. "Do not concern yourself."
"I asked you a question, Sesshoumaru.." Kagome said quietly. "Please - I want to know."
"Why?"
"Because - because..I care, okay?" Kagome looked flustered.
~Like Rin, she cares - for me?~ Sesshoumaru thought, amazed at the woman before him. His nose caught her scent and he unthinkingly brought her wrist closer to his face in order to inhale it's fragrance.
"N - nani? What are you doing?" Kagome felt a thrill run through her.
Sesshoumaru abruptly let go as if he had touched fire itself. He sat up, a scowl on his face.
"You ARE feeling better." Kagome smiled. "You're scowling."
"Pah.." Sesshoumaru scoffed.
"We've got the shard.." Kagome ventured as she watched Sesshoumaru's face. "I can send you back."
Sesshoumaru nodded. Yes, that she could now. But he did have one question that had bothered him since Hadori had mentioned it before.
"Is this the future?" Sesshoumaru asked, his voice oddly soft to Kagome.
Kagome nodded sadly and Sesshoumaru visibly sighed.
"What has happened?" Sesshoumaru swept back his errant hair with a clawed hand. "Where has the world gone?"
"I don't know, Sess-chan.." Kagome placed a hand on his clawed one. "Maybe - maybe the youkai are not dead or gone, just hiding."
"Why should they hide from humans?" Sesshoumaru's eyes were odd and to Kagome at that moment they looked a lot like Inuyasha's - no like a lost child. Kagome's heart turned over in a mixture of pity and sadness for the youkai-lord.
"Maybe it's not so much hiding in fear as it is preserving their own way of life." Kagome said softly. "Humans have supassed the destructiveness of any youkai..we are able to destoy this entire world with nuclear weapons or destroy a population in seconds with chemical weapons. We don't need the swords and bows and arrows of the Sengoku-Jidal. The small villages are now teaming cities and there's light where there was once darkness. Humans are not afraid anymore and I guess that's a dangerous thing for any being, be it human or youkai to not fear anything."
Sesshoumaru was silent as he digested the facts that Kagome had presented to him. He could not imagine attributing the ability to destoy things so completely to humans but he had seen the pictures in the squawking box to realize that perhaps what she said was true.
"You will come back with me." Sesshoumaru said firmly as he felt Kagome's hand draw away from his.
Kagome smiled. "Yes, I know. I need to gather more of the shards.." Her look was suddenly worried. "But Hadori - he worries me."
"Is he your son, Kagome?" Sesshoumaru suddenly grabbed the back of her head and drew her very close.
"No!" Kagome yelped and tried to draw away. "At - least I don't think so! Inuyasha and I, we never - "
"Never what?" Sesshoumaru's eyes were intent on Kagome.
"Never slept together."
Sesshoumaru's brows furrowed. Just what did sleeping together have to do with conceiving pups? Kagome saw his confusion and said with a blush, "We've never been together - not like that."
Sesshoumaru felt a smirk creep to his lips but he supressed it. So the stupid hanyou couldn't even do that! How pathetic!
"It wasn't like he hadn't tried to a few times.." Kagome said distantly. "He turned demon a few times..he was uncontrollable. If it weren't for the Shikon no Tama, he would have taken me. The other times - " She sighed. "He only saw Kikyou."
"Do you - " Sesshoumaru disliked this word, but he said it anyway. "Love him?"
"Love?" Kagome's eyes were wide as she took in the narrowed gold ones. "I - thought I did once, but then I knew that it was useless, that he wouldn't love me for myself. Now I regard him as a friend only."
So her loyalty to the hanyou was not tied to the bonds of mating. Sesshoumaru felt an odd sense of relief in knowing that for some reason. Without thinking he used his hand to draw her face closer and before they both knew it, they were kissing. Sesshoumaru felt almost giddy with the way her scent suddenly flared up at him. She tasted sweet and the fact that she was untouched sent a dark thrill through his being. Almost reluctantly, a picture went through his mind of how she looked in the shower.
Kagome felt him kiss her and the clawed hand in her hair but she did not protest, nor did she struggle. It felt so - natural with him. So natural that it was almost scary. She didn't feel any shadow between them at all. It was just she and Sesshoumaru.
She and Sesshoumaru! Kagome suddenly jerked away wide-eyed as she stared into the youkai-lord's face. His beautiful eyes regarded her with a look that wasn't cold at all and his lips were parted slightly as if he were surprised himself.
The quiet moment was lost however, when Kagome heard a knock at the door. Flustered she got up, adjusting her skirt and looked through the peephole.
It was Hadori Takeieo - along with a few of his men. Kagome whirled around to Sesshoumaru, but he was already up, his sword drawn.
Five Days In Tokyo - or - Sesshoumaru's Unlikely Visit -Eleven
Down, down they plunged towards the streets of Tokyo, with Kagome screaming the whole way, and Sesshoumaru's fluffy tail streaming behind him.
"Shut up!" Sesshoumaru snarled as his eyes scanned the street below. In a burst of energy, he flew sideways, slowing their fall and then they landed outside the Hadori building as a crowd of people pointed at them and screamed.
"You there! Stop!" Kagome whirled as she saw Hadori's security guards. How could Hadori had gotten people down all those floors that fast unless -
"Youkai..." Sesshoumaru hissed, drawing his sword. Kagome, however heard the sirens of police.
"No, Sesshoumaru! If you kill them, the police will arrest us!"
"I fear no 'police.' Sesshoumaru advanced on the security guards who had their weapons drawn. Sesshoumaru gracefully leaped through the air intending to slice them in half when he felt something pass through his shoulder. He grunted with the pain and although it didn't stop his descent it did change it to where he landed hard on the sidewalk.
"Sesshoumaru!!" Kagome shrieked as she ran towards the fallen youkai, who was already getting up. The security guards had been joined by more security police and Kagome gulped as she felt the guns pointed at them. If they were dragged back to Hadori, she knew he'd try every way to coerce her to tell him about the shards and the time traveling.
"Get - away!" Kagome warned as she held out her hand. The shard clenched in her hand glowed and with force pushed the security guards away from them and knocked them down to the ground. Sesshoumaru watched, his eyes wide with surprise. The witch did indeed have power!
"Come on!" Kagome grabbed Sesshoumaru as they ran through the crowd that had parted for them.
"Wench! What are you doing!" Sesshoumaru ignored the pain in his shoulder and the blood that stained his kimono.
"If you fly, they'll spot us! We've got to get lost!" Kagome said.
"Bah.." Sesshoumaru growled. He would not run through the damned humans like a fool. He did agree though - they needed to flee the weapons of those demented humans and that half-breed hanyou offspring. He, Sesshoumaru would kill him eventually, but for now..
They ran to the front of the building and Sesshoumaru saw the black carriage he had seen earlier. His keen ears heard the engine running and so he decided that would be the best way to merge out of sight and away from the hanyou Hadori. Abruptly he yanked Kagome off her feet and sprinted to the limosine.
He promptly tossed the driver out, pushed Kagome in before him and then followed her where he shut the door.
"Go." Sesshoumaru said flatly.
"WHAT in the HELL are you DOING!!" Kagome screamed at him.
"Defective carriage.." Sesshoumaru growled.
"It's not defective and - aiiie! Here they come!" Kagome yelped as she quickly glanced back at the security guards. With an air of desperation, Kagome put the car into gear.
"Drive, Sesshoumaru!!" She yelled, but the car slooowly moved forward instead.
"AAAHH!" Kagome cried out in frustration. "The pedals!" Sesshoumaru actually looked confused.
"The pedals! Down there at your feet! Stomp the right one! The right one!"
Sesshoumaru looked down at the pedals and promptly stepped on the right pedal. Actually he floored it and the car zoomed forward!
"Aaaaaaeeee!" Kagome was thrown back in her seat. Sesshoumaru was NOT gripping the wheel and when they narrowly missed clipping some cars in pulling away, Kagome grabbed the wheel.
"You - got to steer this thing!!" Kagome's eyes were wide. That they hadn't hit anything yet was a miracle!
"Don't tell me how to drive a carriage wench!" Sesshomaru barked as he grabbed the wheel.
"I took driver's ed, Fluffy, so don't YELL at me!" Kagome looked angry but she was actually scared!
The car was veering back and forth as Kagome kept yelling at Sesshoumaru to let up on the gas and watch out. Cars honked and veered away from the Mercedes as Sesshoumaru grimly strived to maintain control of the metal beast. If mere humans could do it, then he could too.
Kagome had her hands over her face, peering between her fingers. "We're gonna die..we're gonna die.."
"Be quiet, wench!! Move you fools!" Sesshoumaru gunned the Mercedes down the winding streets of Tokyo, uncaring if they were one way, two way or no way. He, Sesshoumaru, had the right of way. However, the several police cars that were behind them begged to differ.
"Oh no..." Kagome groaned.
"MOVE you cursed humans!!" Sesshoumaru had discovered the horn and was honking it furiously, despite the fact that it somewhat hurt his ears.
"Eeeeyyyiiii!!!" TWUMP!
"Oh my god!" Kagome saw the startled face of the Domino's pizza delivery guy that was now on their windshield. They had evidently ran over his delivery scooter.
"Gomen!" Kagome grinned like a maniac.
"GET OFF HUMAN!!" Sesshoumaru pressed every button on the carriage, activating the windshield wipers, sunroof and the radio.
FWAP! FWAP! The man on top of the windshield grimaced as the wipers hit him in the face. He had decided right then that he'd get a safer job!
"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome yelled at the youkai-lord. "Slow down!!!"
"This is your fault wench!"
"MY fault! You're the one who pushed me in here and - aaaaa! Watch OUT!"
Sesshoumaru promptly plowed into a fish market and immediately a rain of flounders, squid and other sea creatures fell upon the Mercedes, peltiing the poor Dominoe's man and their car with fish. Several fell into the sunroof onto Kagome's lap, but Sesshoumaru ignored the chaos. He had mastered the driving of this metal beast and making the humans scared witless to boot! The police cars behind them lost their traction and spun around like a child's toy top. Yes, this WAS fun! He would enjoy taking one of these metal carriages home with him - perhaps chase Jaken with it.
Sesshoumaru chuckled lowly at the thought.
He turned the corner practically on two wheels, having caught the familar scent that was the wench's home, and they promptly lost their reluctant guest, who tumbled into a sidewalk and into a gaggle of visiting nuns from Switzerland.
"I'm going to be sick!" Kagome held her hand to her stomach.
"Fah.." Sesshoumaru growled in his throat, sensing that the ones who had been following them had lost their trail. "I've had enough of this.." He let go of the wheel, grabbed Kagome, and flew out of the sunroof, sending the car careening down a hill, where it crashed into an old pre-war factory. It exploded into flames but by then Kagome and Sesshoumaru were far away from it. They hitched a ride once more on a vehicle headed back into the direction of where Kagome's house lay..
****
It was night, and Kagome was still seated by Sesshoumaru's side as he rested. She was grateful that the bullet that had gone through him had not lodged within his shoulder. Even though she knew from Inuyasha that youkai and hanyou healed quickly, they had never had to contend with a bullet, and that had worried her.
She watched him as he slept and marveled at the beauty of his face. How could someone like him be so cold and hateful toward humans?
And yet he wasn't so cold. After all, he was raising a little human girl back in his time wasn't he? Kagome daringly swept back a lock of hair that had fallen over the cresent moon mark upon his forehead and Sesshoumaru's eyes opened as he caught her wrist in a hard grip.
"Why do you do that wench?" He asked, his gold eyes surveying hers.
"I - I don't know. I guess I - " Kagome flushed a little. "Are you feeling better?"
Sesshoumaru's grip on her wrist slackened but he did not let go. "Do not concern yourself."
"I asked you a question, Sesshoumaru.." Kagome said quietly. "Please - I want to know."
"Why?"
"Because - because..I care, okay?" Kagome looked flustered.
~Like Rin, she cares - for me?~ Sesshoumaru thought, amazed at the woman before him. His nose caught her scent and he unthinkingly brought her wrist closer to his face in order to inhale it's fragrance.
"N - nani? What are you doing?" Kagome felt a thrill run through her.
Sesshoumaru abruptly let go as if he had touched fire itself. He sat up, a scowl on his face.
"You ARE feeling better." Kagome smiled. "You're scowling."
"Pah.." Sesshoumaru scoffed.
"We've got the shard.." Kagome ventured as she watched Sesshoumaru's face. "I can send you back."
Sesshoumaru nodded. Yes, that she could now. But he did have one question that had bothered him since Hadori had mentioned it before.
"Is this the future?" Sesshoumaru asked, his voice oddly soft to Kagome.
Kagome nodded sadly and Sesshoumaru visibly sighed.
"What has happened?" Sesshoumaru swept back his errant hair with a clawed hand. "Where has the world gone?"
"I don't know, Sess-chan.." Kagome placed a hand on his clawed one. "Maybe - maybe the youkai are not dead or gone, just hiding."
"Why should they hide from humans?" Sesshoumaru's eyes were odd and to Kagome at that moment they looked a lot like Inuyasha's - no like a lost child. Kagome's heart turned over in a mixture of pity and sadness for the youkai-lord.
"Maybe it's not so much hiding in fear as it is preserving their own way of life." Kagome said softly. "Humans have supassed the destructiveness of any youkai..we are able to destoy this entire world with nuclear weapons or destroy a population in seconds with chemical weapons. We don't need the swords and bows and arrows of the Sengoku-Jidal. The small villages are now teaming cities and there's light where there was once darkness. Humans are not afraid anymore and I guess that's a dangerous thing for any being, be it human or youkai to not fear anything."
Sesshoumaru was silent as he digested the facts that Kagome had presented to him. He could not imagine attributing the ability to destoy things so completely to humans but he had seen the pictures in the squawking box to realize that perhaps what she said was true.
"You will come back with me." Sesshoumaru said firmly as he felt Kagome's hand draw away from his.
Kagome smiled. "Yes, I know. I need to gather more of the shards.." Her look was suddenly worried. "But Hadori - he worries me."
"Is he your son, Kagome?" Sesshoumaru suddenly grabbed the back of her head and drew her very close.
"No!" Kagome yelped and tried to draw away. "At - least I don't think so! Inuyasha and I, we never - "
"Never what?" Sesshoumaru's eyes were intent on Kagome.
"Never slept together."
Sesshoumaru's brows furrowed. Just what did sleeping together have to do with conceiving pups? Kagome saw his confusion and said with a blush, "We've never been together - not like that."
Sesshoumaru felt a smirk creep to his lips but he supressed it. So the stupid hanyou couldn't even do that! How pathetic!
"It wasn't like he hadn't tried to a few times.." Kagome said distantly. "He turned demon a few times..he was uncontrollable. If it weren't for the Shikon no Tama, he would have taken me. The other times - " She sighed. "He only saw Kikyou."
"Do you - " Sesshoumaru disliked this word, but he said it anyway. "Love him?"
"Love?" Kagome's eyes were wide as she took in the narrowed gold ones. "I - thought I did once, but then I knew that it was useless, that he wouldn't love me for myself. Now I regard him as a friend only."
So her loyalty to the hanyou was not tied to the bonds of mating. Sesshoumaru felt an odd sense of relief in knowing that for some reason. Without thinking he used his hand to draw her face closer and before they both knew it, they were kissing. Sesshoumaru felt almost giddy with the way her scent suddenly flared up at him. She tasted sweet and the fact that she was untouched sent a dark thrill through his being. Almost reluctantly, a picture went through his mind of how she looked in the shower.
Kagome felt him kiss her and the clawed hand in her hair but she did not protest, nor did she struggle. It felt so - natural with him. So natural that it was almost scary. She didn't feel any shadow between them at all. It was just she and Sesshoumaru.
She and Sesshoumaru! Kagome suddenly jerked away wide-eyed as she stared into the youkai-lord's face. His beautiful eyes regarded her with a look that wasn't cold at all and his lips were parted slightly as if he were surprised himself.
The quiet moment was lost however, when Kagome heard a knock at the door. Flustered she got up, adjusting her skirt and looked through the peephole.
It was Hadori Takeieo - along with a few of his men. Kagome whirled around to Sesshoumaru, but he was already up, his sword drawn.