Disclaimer~ Me no own Inu~
A/N~ A very long chapter for me. It came out to about 6 pages! Although most of it is fluff to delay while I think of a plot! ^_^ PS: I love fireflies, don't you? I remember chasing fireflies when I was little. I still do! ^_^;
~~~~~Reviewer Replies~~~~~
jade-inu~ Glad you liked it!
Ms.Pan Son~ Thanks!
Kawaii Kokkei Tsuita no Neko~ ^_^
Ronna~ Yep, I'm hoping to stick with it to the end since I've already gotten this far!
mkitty-chan~ I'm stubborn so I'll try to finish it although it might be a little longer than the 20 chapters I planned since its already at chapter 16. 3 chars I hate? Hmm, Naraku and Jaken for sure. And Kikyou. Although she's actually important to the plot I still don't like her. But she does add some very juicy moments...still, Kagome and Inuyasha! (except when I'm going through my little M/S phases)
~~~~~
Thanks to all my reviewers! I know I've said that before, but you are the reason I write and you're my inspiration and you guys rule! ^_^
~~~~~~~~~~
Seeing Can Be Deceiving
Chapter 16
~~~~~~~~~~
"Kagura."
The wind youkai appeared instantly and stood awaiting her orders. Naraku's dark profile was easily discernable against the darkening sky outside as the sun set. He sat on the window sill facing away from her and staring outside. After a few moments of silence, Naraku spoke,
"Kikyou has informed me that after her...'talk' with her reincarnation, she simply left the girl there."
Kagura waited patiently for Naraku to continue, knowing that he would do so when he felt it was right to.
Naraku could be such a dramatic, but all these 'suspenseful' silences did was annoy the heck out of her.
So Kagura amused herself by looking around the room. Her gaze fell upon a wooden figure-another puppet of Naraku. She was wondering what this one was set out to accomplish when Naraku continued,
"I want you to bring her back here."
Kagura was puzzled and cautiously asked,
"Sir, we already have their Shikon shards. And that hanyou already thinks we have the girl. Surely we don't need her?"
Naraku slowly turned from the window, his eyes seemingly glowing red and invisible miasma streaming off his to form a dark aura around him,
"Are you questioning my orders, Kagura?"
His tone made it perfectly clear what would happen to her if she said yes.
"No."
"Good. Leave immediately." Without another word, Naraku turned back to the window.
Dismissed, Kagura rushed out of the room.
~*~
"Come on, Kohaku-kun!" Rin pleaded, beckoning to him, but Kohaku shook his head, almost sadly.
"No, Rin. I can't!"
But Rin just ran back to him and latched onto his arm, trying to pull him.
Blushing, Kohaku tried to get her off without hurting her, but Rin wouldn't let go.
"Please?" Rin asked, looking up to him with large, watery brown eyes.
Kohaku turned away, not wanting to make her cry, but he couldn't go with her!
"But Kohaku, if you're Sango-san's brother she'll be so happy if you come!" Rin reasoned.
They had spent the whole afternoon chatting like old friends about everything. Except Kohaku's past.
The boy really didn't want to talk about it, but Rin got that little bit of information when she mentioned Sango waiting for her back in the cave.
It was then that Kohaku realized that Rin somehow wound up travelling with his sister's group. The group he had tried to kill many times.
His guilt had sunk in again, the guilt that he almost managed to forget while romping around a bright, sunny meadow chasing butterflies with Rin.
Now the sky was beginning to darken and Rin was trying to convince him to go back to the cave with her.
But Kohaku was decided. He stayed sat on the ground. Rin sighed, then came to sit next to him, waiting for him to explain.
"My sister...no, she wouldn't want to see me." Kohaku muttered, his soft, sad voice coming from under his bangs that covered his lowered face.
Rin, although just a little kid, somehow knew that Kohaku didn't want to talk about it, so she crawled behind him and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his back.
Kohaku stiffened and a blush crept up on his cheeks. Rin didn't notice.
"It's okay, Kohaku-kun. Rin will stay with you for a little bit longer, then." she told him in a cheerful voice.
Kohaku relaxed, closing his eyes for a moment, reveling in the peace as the sky darkened considerably and the stars began to show up.
Suddenly, he heard a delightful gasp from behind him and the warm arms slid away. Kohaku was a bit disappointed, but looked up at her when she held her hand out for him.
"Fireflies!" she pointed at the swarm of fireflies that had surrounded them. Kohaku saw the grin that lit her face and he slowly held up his hand to hers. Rin grabbed it with her smaller one and hauled him up. But she didn't let go.
Pulling him with her, she began to run around trying to catch a firefly. A while later, when Kohaku felt secure enough again, they let go of each other's hands to run around more freely.
Rin jumped up, trying to grab at a firefly that hovered above her, but couldn't reach it. Kohaku, seeing her dilemma, ran over and his hands darted out to cup around the little firefly. Bringing it down to eye level, he slowly opened his hands and revealed the bright insect.
Rin clapped her hands, then held out a finger for the firefly, who slowly walked forward to rest on her hand. She giggled, the little feet of the firefly tickled her palm.
Kohaku began to laugh too and they both laughed until Rin was shaking with so much laughter that the terrified firefly opened its wings and flew up.
Finally quieting, they both turned their heads up to watch their firefly fly up and up until its little dot was silhouetted against the moon.
~*~
Outside the cave, Miroku blinked the sleep out of his eyes and yawned. About to raise his arms to stretch, he noticed the warmth against his side and turned a sleep-fogged head to investigate.
He awakened instantly.
Sango?!
...Sango.
His face softened into a sincere, love-filled smile at the woman he had fallen in love with. She was so beautiful, so peaceful...unlike her violent attitude towards him when she was awake.
Of course, the thought of his violent Sango lead his thoughts to why she often hit him over the head or threatened him: because he couldn't resist her.
Now a hentai grin spread over Miroku's face.
The arm that had been innocently wrapped around Sango's shoulders shifted just a bit so his hand could creep lower...and lower...and...
~*~
Back in the cave, Sesshomaru was not pleased. Finally his little bout of sickness was diminishing, but Rin still wasn't back.
A pointed ear twitched and Sesshomaru knew the humans were finally finished with their little nap.
"Hentai!" the female shouted, obviously at the male who had given in to his sultry desires again.
Sesshomaru shook his head. Humans in love; what a pathetic sight.
Humans were despicable in every way, he thought to himself, but then his heart twinged. A part of his heart Sesshomaru was sure he never had. A part that was beginning to thaw.
But why?
An image of a chipped-toothed, grinning Rin appeared to him and he sighed, remembering the orphan girl he had unknowingly come to love and adopt.
Finally Sesshomaru, the demon prince with a heart of stone and ice, admitted to loving the little human girl who was like a daughter.
And the most puzzling part of it all was that he didn't mind.
But now that he accepted it, his mind was filled with worry. Like a cracking dam that finally broke, Sesshomaru let out all his feelings for Rin.
Standing, he began to stride towards the exit of the cave.
"M-m'lord!" Jaken called and scrambled up, blocking Sesshomaru's way,
"You must not get up Sesshomaru-sama! You're still healing!" the little toad cried, flinging himself at his lord's feet and trying to push him back.
But too bad for Jaken, Sesshomaru was not in a patient mood.
Spinning around wordlessly, Sesshomaru faced the fire at the back of the cave. Jaken hung on, not knowing what was going on. With a quick kick, Jaken flew off Sesshomaru's foot and hit the stone wall at the back of the cave. Stunned, he slid off and fell to the ground. Unfortunately, he was half in the fire.
Screeching, Jaken leapt away to a safer place and yanked off his burning cap, throwing it to the ground and stamping on it, burning his feet in the process. When he finally calmed, Sesshomaru was gone.
~*~
"Shit." Inuyasha muttered. The sky had darkened too much to keep travelling. Normally, he would've kept going by scent but Naraku's miasma covered the area and dampened his senses. Not to mention the fact that they were far behind since last night had to be his human night. They were getting left far behind.
"Wha?" Shippo asked sleepily from his place on Inuyasha's shoulder,
"Where are we?"
Inuyasha kept silent. From his convenient spot on Inuyasha's shoulder, Shippo easily reached up and grabbed an ear, tugging on it and yelling into it,
"I said, where are we!"
Inuyasha snarled, shaking his head so the kitsune would lose his grip.
"We're stopping for the night."
"Oh." Shippo said, then his weariness overcame him and he fell back asleep.
Inuyasha shook his head and muttered incomprehensible sounds including some growls and sighs.
Truth was, he was a little guilty for pushing the kit so much. He could take the hard travelling, but Shippo couldn't. He should've known and stopped.
Still, he snorted, it wasn't like the kit was actually running or anything. Nope, Shippo just sat on a shoulder.
Glancing up, he jumped and came down on a branch high up a tree. Taking Shippo off his shoulder, Inuyasha settled the kitsune in his lap protectively and leaned his head back to rest.
Not sleep. He was too anxious to sleep and it was a dangerous forest.
As if to prove his point, a youkai on the ground grunted to get his attention, the gestured at the kit in his arms, smacking its lips.
Inuyasha just tightened his arms and growled warningly at the youkai, who was confused at this dog demon who seemed to have adopted a kitsune. It was unheard of, usually demons just ate orphans; infants were such a rare treat.
Shrugging, the simple youkai decided not to mess with the protective hanyou and left on its way.
Inuyasha loosened his arms around Shippo and leaned his head back again.
Well, maybe he did care about the kit...just a little. Plus, Kagome seemed to like Shippo a lot. Yeah, that's it, he's protecting Shippo for Kagome.
Yep.
With that, he nodded off to sleep.
~~~~~
Review! Please?
A/N~ A very long chapter for me. It came out to about 6 pages! Although most of it is fluff to delay while I think of a plot! ^_^ PS: I love fireflies, don't you? I remember chasing fireflies when I was little. I still do! ^_^;
~~~~~Reviewer Replies~~~~~
jade-inu~ Glad you liked it!
Ms.Pan Son~ Thanks!
Kawaii Kokkei Tsuita no Neko~ ^_^
Ronna~ Yep, I'm hoping to stick with it to the end since I've already gotten this far!
mkitty-chan~ I'm stubborn so I'll try to finish it although it might be a little longer than the 20 chapters I planned since its already at chapter 16. 3 chars I hate? Hmm, Naraku and Jaken for sure. And Kikyou. Although she's actually important to the plot I still don't like her. But she does add some very juicy moments...still, Kagome and Inuyasha! (except when I'm going through my little M/S phases)
~~~~~
Thanks to all my reviewers! I know I've said that before, but you are the reason I write and you're my inspiration and you guys rule! ^_^
~~~~~~~~~~
Seeing Can Be Deceiving
Chapter 16
~~~~~~~~~~
"Kagura."
The wind youkai appeared instantly and stood awaiting her orders. Naraku's dark profile was easily discernable against the darkening sky outside as the sun set. He sat on the window sill facing away from her and staring outside. After a few moments of silence, Naraku spoke,
"Kikyou has informed me that after her...'talk' with her reincarnation, she simply left the girl there."
Kagura waited patiently for Naraku to continue, knowing that he would do so when he felt it was right to.
Naraku could be such a dramatic, but all these 'suspenseful' silences did was annoy the heck out of her.
So Kagura amused herself by looking around the room. Her gaze fell upon a wooden figure-another puppet of Naraku. She was wondering what this one was set out to accomplish when Naraku continued,
"I want you to bring her back here."
Kagura was puzzled and cautiously asked,
"Sir, we already have their Shikon shards. And that hanyou already thinks we have the girl. Surely we don't need her?"
Naraku slowly turned from the window, his eyes seemingly glowing red and invisible miasma streaming off his to form a dark aura around him,
"Are you questioning my orders, Kagura?"
His tone made it perfectly clear what would happen to her if she said yes.
"No."
"Good. Leave immediately." Without another word, Naraku turned back to the window.
Dismissed, Kagura rushed out of the room.
~*~
"Come on, Kohaku-kun!" Rin pleaded, beckoning to him, but Kohaku shook his head, almost sadly.
"No, Rin. I can't!"
But Rin just ran back to him and latched onto his arm, trying to pull him.
Blushing, Kohaku tried to get her off without hurting her, but Rin wouldn't let go.
"Please?" Rin asked, looking up to him with large, watery brown eyes.
Kohaku turned away, not wanting to make her cry, but he couldn't go with her!
"But Kohaku, if you're Sango-san's brother she'll be so happy if you come!" Rin reasoned.
They had spent the whole afternoon chatting like old friends about everything. Except Kohaku's past.
The boy really didn't want to talk about it, but Rin got that little bit of information when she mentioned Sango waiting for her back in the cave.
It was then that Kohaku realized that Rin somehow wound up travelling with his sister's group. The group he had tried to kill many times.
His guilt had sunk in again, the guilt that he almost managed to forget while romping around a bright, sunny meadow chasing butterflies with Rin.
Now the sky was beginning to darken and Rin was trying to convince him to go back to the cave with her.
But Kohaku was decided. He stayed sat on the ground. Rin sighed, then came to sit next to him, waiting for him to explain.
"My sister...no, she wouldn't want to see me." Kohaku muttered, his soft, sad voice coming from under his bangs that covered his lowered face.
Rin, although just a little kid, somehow knew that Kohaku didn't want to talk about it, so she crawled behind him and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his back.
Kohaku stiffened and a blush crept up on his cheeks. Rin didn't notice.
"It's okay, Kohaku-kun. Rin will stay with you for a little bit longer, then." she told him in a cheerful voice.
Kohaku relaxed, closing his eyes for a moment, reveling in the peace as the sky darkened considerably and the stars began to show up.
Suddenly, he heard a delightful gasp from behind him and the warm arms slid away. Kohaku was a bit disappointed, but looked up at her when she held her hand out for him.
"Fireflies!" she pointed at the swarm of fireflies that had surrounded them. Kohaku saw the grin that lit her face and he slowly held up his hand to hers. Rin grabbed it with her smaller one and hauled him up. But she didn't let go.
Pulling him with her, she began to run around trying to catch a firefly. A while later, when Kohaku felt secure enough again, they let go of each other's hands to run around more freely.
Rin jumped up, trying to grab at a firefly that hovered above her, but couldn't reach it. Kohaku, seeing her dilemma, ran over and his hands darted out to cup around the little firefly. Bringing it down to eye level, he slowly opened his hands and revealed the bright insect.
Rin clapped her hands, then held out a finger for the firefly, who slowly walked forward to rest on her hand. She giggled, the little feet of the firefly tickled her palm.
Kohaku began to laugh too and they both laughed until Rin was shaking with so much laughter that the terrified firefly opened its wings and flew up.
Finally quieting, they both turned their heads up to watch their firefly fly up and up until its little dot was silhouetted against the moon.
~*~
Outside the cave, Miroku blinked the sleep out of his eyes and yawned. About to raise his arms to stretch, he noticed the warmth against his side and turned a sleep-fogged head to investigate.
He awakened instantly.
Sango?!
...Sango.
His face softened into a sincere, love-filled smile at the woman he had fallen in love with. She was so beautiful, so peaceful...unlike her violent attitude towards him when she was awake.
Of course, the thought of his violent Sango lead his thoughts to why she often hit him over the head or threatened him: because he couldn't resist her.
Now a hentai grin spread over Miroku's face.
The arm that had been innocently wrapped around Sango's shoulders shifted just a bit so his hand could creep lower...and lower...and...
~*~
Back in the cave, Sesshomaru was not pleased. Finally his little bout of sickness was diminishing, but Rin still wasn't back.
A pointed ear twitched and Sesshomaru knew the humans were finally finished with their little nap.
"Hentai!" the female shouted, obviously at the male who had given in to his sultry desires again.
Sesshomaru shook his head. Humans in love; what a pathetic sight.
Humans were despicable in every way, he thought to himself, but then his heart twinged. A part of his heart Sesshomaru was sure he never had. A part that was beginning to thaw.
But why?
An image of a chipped-toothed, grinning Rin appeared to him and he sighed, remembering the orphan girl he had unknowingly come to love and adopt.
Finally Sesshomaru, the demon prince with a heart of stone and ice, admitted to loving the little human girl who was like a daughter.
And the most puzzling part of it all was that he didn't mind.
But now that he accepted it, his mind was filled with worry. Like a cracking dam that finally broke, Sesshomaru let out all his feelings for Rin.
Standing, he began to stride towards the exit of the cave.
"M-m'lord!" Jaken called and scrambled up, blocking Sesshomaru's way,
"You must not get up Sesshomaru-sama! You're still healing!" the little toad cried, flinging himself at his lord's feet and trying to push him back.
But too bad for Jaken, Sesshomaru was not in a patient mood.
Spinning around wordlessly, Sesshomaru faced the fire at the back of the cave. Jaken hung on, not knowing what was going on. With a quick kick, Jaken flew off Sesshomaru's foot and hit the stone wall at the back of the cave. Stunned, he slid off and fell to the ground. Unfortunately, he was half in the fire.
Screeching, Jaken leapt away to a safer place and yanked off his burning cap, throwing it to the ground and stamping on it, burning his feet in the process. When he finally calmed, Sesshomaru was gone.
~*~
"Shit." Inuyasha muttered. The sky had darkened too much to keep travelling. Normally, he would've kept going by scent but Naraku's miasma covered the area and dampened his senses. Not to mention the fact that they were far behind since last night had to be his human night. They were getting left far behind.
"Wha?" Shippo asked sleepily from his place on Inuyasha's shoulder,
"Where are we?"
Inuyasha kept silent. From his convenient spot on Inuyasha's shoulder, Shippo easily reached up and grabbed an ear, tugging on it and yelling into it,
"I said, where are we!"
Inuyasha snarled, shaking his head so the kitsune would lose his grip.
"We're stopping for the night."
"Oh." Shippo said, then his weariness overcame him and he fell back asleep.
Inuyasha shook his head and muttered incomprehensible sounds including some growls and sighs.
Truth was, he was a little guilty for pushing the kit so much. He could take the hard travelling, but Shippo couldn't. He should've known and stopped.
Still, he snorted, it wasn't like the kit was actually running or anything. Nope, Shippo just sat on a shoulder.
Glancing up, he jumped and came down on a branch high up a tree. Taking Shippo off his shoulder, Inuyasha settled the kitsune in his lap protectively and leaned his head back to rest.
Not sleep. He was too anxious to sleep and it was a dangerous forest.
As if to prove his point, a youkai on the ground grunted to get his attention, the gestured at the kit in his arms, smacking its lips.
Inuyasha just tightened his arms and growled warningly at the youkai, who was confused at this dog demon who seemed to have adopted a kitsune. It was unheard of, usually demons just ate orphans; infants were such a rare treat.
Shrugging, the simple youkai decided not to mess with the protective hanyou and left on its way.
Inuyasha loosened his arms around Shippo and leaned his head back again.
Well, maybe he did care about the kit...just a little. Plus, Kagome seemed to like Shippo a lot. Yeah, that's it, he's protecting Shippo for Kagome.
Yep.
With that, he nodded off to sleep.
~~~~~
Review! Please?