To Live Again
By Rurouni Star
Profiler120: Nope. He's still semi-unaware of her presence. The rest of the gang are probably going to kick his butt into gear soon, though.
SailorPanda: Hmm… good idea. ^_~ Just kidding.
StDogbert: That they are! The cogs in my mind are turning double time now. By the way… would you happen to be a distinguished member of the DNRC? I am!
Mala Valvah: I like torturing poor fluffy. He's so easy to do it to!
Tidus: Far be it for me to keep you from reading… *gulp* Your name reminds me of Final Fantasy 10, by the way.
Lilserenity: *glows with pride* Well!
SilverQuick: Sesshoumaru's still fighting his losing battle. He's stubborn like that.
Ladyofthedragons: I'm afraid I can't make myself wait too long on that. You're going to have to judge by the story…
Chapter 15 – WhirlwindKouga was agitated. No, not just agitated, like he might be were Inu Yasha around. He was furious.
Not only had Inu Yasha fought him for a woman that he was too wussy to lay claim to himself, not only had Kouga had to follow him for three days just to discover that her scent was not just masked by his but completely gone, but Kagura was in the area and he'd lost her again.
No, that wasn't even the worst part.
Kagome's scent was mingled with Kagura's. And there was a hint of that jackass of a guy Inu Yasha called a brother in there too. Had the two demons plotted together to steal his woman?
Probably. He was going to find out. And if they'd laid a claw on her...he would kill them.
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"Mou...it's freezing in here. At least we stopped by a river this time, I haven't had a bath in days!" Kagome rubbed her bare arms to get the circulation started again. Not only was it nearly full winter, they'd slowly been progressing North this whole time.
Where was a hot springs when you needed one? Did they only pop up when you had a perverted monk with you?
Kagome held her breath and readied herself to go under. Her hair was positively slimy. The girl dunked herself quickly and scrubbed at it for all that she was worth.
At least, she reflected, their cold overseer had allowed them a hot fire tonight. She thought of an icy Sesshoumaru melting by the fire and had to stifle a giggle as she came up again.
But then, a shiver went down her spine as she remembered the way he'd looked at her before.
Melt indeed...but that was absurd.
Kagome stiffened as she felt the unmistakable presence of two Shikon shards headed her way.
Not now. Not now. Not now.
"KAGOME! Are you all right, Kagome!" A small tornado whisked toward her, and Kagome went down into the water with a squeak as Kouga tried to stop but rammed into her.
They both came up at once. Kouga hugged her tightly, looking for all of the world as if she was his only lifeline. "K-Kouga-kun..." He inhaled her scent deeply.
"I thought they'd gotten you. How did you manage to escape?"
Not only was she not wearing a stitch of clothing, Kagome had no idea what he was talking about. It made for a rather flustered miko.
"Ano...Kouga-kun..." he blinked.
"K-Kagome..." he looked into her eyes, and she sucked in her breath as she saw the same emotion Sesshoumaru had unwittingly let loose before. Kouga leaned forward...
The girl's body seized up, and she pushed him away roughly, running for her towel.
"Do you have no decency? I swear, if I had another rosary, I- I- you wouldn't like it!" Kouga's eyes widened as he realized the situation. He turned his back quickly, hiding his beet red face.
"I'm sorry," he said in a choked voice. "I thought they'd gotten you." Kagome sighed, pulling on her clothes hurriedly.
"Who got me? Kouga, you're making no sense!" He turned back around when he heard the last of her clothing come on.
"Kagura and Sesshoumaru. I smelled them with you, and there was your blood too, a lot of it..." he trailed off when he saw her clothing. Kagome tried to relax herself, despite the fact that she'd just gotten her clothes sopping wet and it was freezing outside. The wolf looked completely amazed by her transformation to a miko. And now that he saw more of her… a miko with rather short hair.
"Kagura did try to kill me, but Sesshoumaru stopped her. He cut her fan up before she got too far, and she went running back to Naraku," Kagome explained patiently. Kouga was still staring at her, but the name seemed to spark a memory.
"This is the same Sesshoumaru that I met, right? The one that wants you and Inu-koro dead? The one with the evil sword?" Kagome blinked.
"Oh...things have changed..." she scratched her head nervously. "Why don't you, um, sit down for a while. I wonder..." she gazed at the fire up the hill, silently wondering whether Sesshoumaru would kill him on sight. "To tell the truth, I don't know whether or not Sesshoumaru would-"
"He may come if he wishes."
The voice behind her made her stifle a scream. As it was, Kagome turned around to glare at the offending demon.
"Don't sneak up on me like that! I swear that just shortened my life by about a decade!" Sesshoumaru snorted.
"Humans don't have very long life spans in the first place." He turned to walk back to the encampment, and an arm sliding around her waist surprised Kagome. She looked back at Kouga with surprise, and he grinned.
"Now that you don't have Inu-koro trying to start a bunch of fights, you're free to be my woman, right?" Kagome swallowed. She wasn't ready to be anyone's woman. But she doubted Kouga would understand that. They'd reached the camp, and the other two inhabitants were looking at them with confusion.
Kagome looked pleadingly to Sesshoumaru to give her an excuse, but he was carefully avoiding her gaze. He may not have known that she noticed it, but it was fairly obvious to her after traveling with him for so long.
"Kagome-nee-san has a friend?" Rin asked quizzically. Kouga smiled, and Rin sucked in her breath. Her face went sheet white.
"What is it, Rin-chan?" Kagome asked concernedly, breaking away from Kouga. Rin was shaking and staring at the wolf, her small fingers curled into fists.
"Rin is scared, Kagome-nee-san," the girl whispered. "W-wolves...wolves scare Rin." Sesshoumaru's gaze had snapped up to Kouga, and he was looking very menacing at the moment.
"Wolves, hmm?" the demon lord questioned quietly. "Tell me, wolf. Do you attack human villages?" Kouga shook his head vehemently, still looking at Kagome.
"Not since I met Kagome. It wouldn't be right to attack humans when my woman is one." If possible, Sesshoumaru's face grew even cloudier.
"Interesting," was all that he said, though Kagome could swear he was sneering. She bit her lip as she comforted the small girl. Her reason came to her.
"Kouga-kun..." she said quietly. "I have things I need to do before I can give you an answer. I know you'll understand because you're hunting Naraku too. I still have to finish the jewel as well." He nodded seriously, looking as though he wanted to take her hands in his, but held back by the trembling girl in her arms.
"I understand. I'll wait for you, Kagome." He looked at Sesshoumaru once more before taking off in a swirl of dust, a bit disturbed by the little girl's odd fear of him.
"You're that thing's mate?" Jaken asked with a sniff once he was gone. "He smells terrible." Obviously, he hesitated to say anything good about a demon other than his master. And oddly enough, the toad seemed almost disturbed by her proximity to the wolf. Jaken was, in some twisted way, beginning to remind her of Inu Yasha with his reaction to Kouga.
Kagome's face darkened as she processed the question. "I am not! And don't say bad things about people that can't defend themselves! Kouga is a nice person!" As Jaken 'hmmphed' and turned his face to his master with a strange look, Rin hugged her tightly.
"Rin's sorry," she whispered to her surrogate sister. Kagome knelt down beside her, stroking her hair.
"It's not your fault, Rin. A lot of people get scared. Just remember that I won't let anything hurt you, okay?" Rin nodded miserably.
"Thank you." The toad sat down quietly with his staff, and Kagome's thoughts strayed from the present.
Since when had this group become so dear to her? And since when had Jaken begun to be as protective of her as of Rin? It was almost as though he was thinking that Kouga wasn't good enough for her! But that was… completely insane! Kouga was a prince… who could possibly compete with that? Kagome had the sneaking suspicion that if Jaken ended up having his way, she would be a spinster for the rest of her life.
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Kagome sneezed quietly from beneath her customary spot beneath Sesshoumaru's tree. She'd never been to North Japan during the winter months before. It was something of a shock.
I wonder if it will snow...Souta always loved the snow...
She hugged her knees to her chest and blew hot air onto her hands, ignoring the hurt that still ached, even after weeks of being refused.
Sesshoumaru's voice disturbed her.
"You are that wolf's woman?" he said the word with distaste. Kagome made an offended noise.
"He declared it without consulting me. He's a nice guy, it's sort of hard to tell him straight out...and even if I don't love him, I think I could grow to love him. No one else will want me once the jewel's done, after all..."
Sesshoumaru shifted on his tree branch.
"You should know something about him, then. He is most likely the cause of Rin's death." Kagome's brows knitted together as she tried to work this out.
"Rin is...still alive," she said in a confused voice. Sesshoumaru was silent a moment.
"She was dead at some point. My sword is the one that raised her." Kagome looked up at him in surprise, but he did not look back.
Is he inferring what I think... He did say it was his sword. And no one but him had ever used it.
"I can't believe that Kouga-kun would kill a little girl," she said quietly. Sesshoumaru snorted.
"Believe what you like. Demons are not the tame beings you believe them to be. You've been rather sheltered, I'm afraid." Kagome sat in shocked silence.
"He- he would know, though, wouldn't he?" she asked desperately.
"Not if it were his wolves." Sesshoumaru remembered the state in which he had found Rin, and a growl managed to escape his throat. He could feel the girl's surprise faintly, but it was hard to smell her from above.
"That's right..." Kagome murmured sadly. "I remember how we first met him. He'd left his wolves to feed..." she shivered, but it wasn't from the cold.
Regardless of whether she had more stories to tell or not, Sesshoumaru did not ask her any questions that night. It took her a while, but she did fall asleep. And her dreams were not good.