Theft Through Seduction - Double Trouble

She did her best to speak to him only when necessary. She was determined to forget what had happened, what he had allowed to happen. She had almost forgotten that all demons were horrible creatures who wanted nothing more than to inflict pain on the weak. Isn't that the reason why Sesshoumaru wanted Tetsuaiga? He would steal his hanyou brother's sword and kill him with it because of his inferiority to him. Yes, demons were indeed horrible creatures. But she was wasting time dwelling on the obvious so she put her mind back on the task at hand and continued to walk. She wanted to get this next jewel shard before sunset so she had to hurry as it was quickly moving north. Sesshoumaru and Jaken were not far behind her but she pretended they weren't there.

Sesshoumaru said nothing as Asami increased her pace. The girl's mood had been changing more often than he would have liked. She may not have directed it toward him, as it was obvious she didn't care to speak to him, but he could sense the changes in her mood. Just now he was reminded of what he sensed the day she emmitted that horrible smell. For a moment he thought that she might explode again until he sensed her calm down. Her behavior had become more and more strange since the day she met Kizuna. He knew that she was not pleased with him and he did not care. He felt she deserved what she got for her actions. Still, he could not forget the way her fear wrapped around him as he watched or the way her voice sounded when she learned he hadn't saved her on purpose. The thought of it now made him regret his actions for a fraction of a second before he let it go.

When they approached a river he stood in the distance under a tree and watched as Asami refreshed her thirst. She had said that she wanted to retrieve the jewel shards she sensed before sundown but he doubted they would. He wished that she would hurry for the more time he spent with her, the less he minded that she was there. Human company was something he could live without and was looking forward to parting ways.

"Sesshoumaru. Do you sense anything different about this area?"

He remained silent as he scanned the area, cursing himself for letting her distract him. The area appeared fine, but he could sense the slight smell of freshly dug dirt in the air. "I don't suggest that you move."

Asami nodded in agreement. "I believe whatever we have been trailing is undergound and has caught on to your scent and thinks you pose a threat. In our current position, he is more of a threat to us than we are to him."

With a great explosion from underground, the threat revealed itself. She was thrown to the ground by the force as dirt rose up and littered the ground. Through the dirt cloud she could not see what it was but could see the glimmer of the jewel shard. She stayed down as the dirt cleared and hoped that Sesshoumaru would take care of it. But when she could completely see, her mouth fell open in astonishment and she quickly rose to her feet. Sesshoumaru's entire upper body was full of needles. But he stood there as if he felt nothing and sent a deep glare into the eyes of the porcupine demon. It took a cautious step back, suprised that his enemy had not fallen immediately from the poison in his needles.

Asami took a step foward and was about to speak when Sesshoumaru's whip lashed out. The porcupine quickly fell to pieces before her. She rushed forward, gathering up the jewel shard she had sensed, and stood in front of Sesshoumaru. She quickly looked up into his face, forgetting that he would never show any type of emotion, to see if he was alright. "We must quickly remove the needles my Lord. Come, come, have a drink of water."

His vision wavered, as did the rest of his senses, but he was able to register what he saw and heard from her. "Asami...could it be that there is still some soft affection behind the cold treatment you have been giving me?"

She froze at the question as she was about to help lead him to the water. She stared up at him as his empty eyes pierced through her. "I.." She knew not what to say to the question. She watched for a moment as he walked to the river bank, then quickly followed, taking a spot next to him as he sat. She quickly leaned over, raising one hand in an attempt to remove some of the needles from Sesshoumaru's chest. But before she could get close, he grabbed her hand and pushed it away.

"Your assitance is not needed." In silence he began to remove the needles.

Seeing that he was not in a happy mood from being attacked, Asami gave orders for Jaken to gather herbs that could make an antidote. She did not doubt Sesshoumaru's ability to fight the poison but with the obviously large amount injected into his body, she thought it would be best to take something to fight it. She watched in silence as he removed the needles, noting that his hand began to tremble. Saying nothing, she gathered some flowers and recited a spell. The flowers took shape in the form of a pot. She filled it halfway up with water and began to make a fire. As she placed the water of the fire, Jaken returned and quickly handed the herbs over to her. As he fussed over his master, Asami ground the herbs and placed them in the water. Rising, she picked some berries she spotted when they first arrived and squeezed their juices into the pot. For a final touch, she added a drop of the porcupine's blood.

"I hope you do not think that Sesshoumaru-sama will drink that! How dare you try to give something so disgusting to him."

Asami merely stirred her concoction, knowing both demons were staring her down. "He will drink it, if he wishes to heal faster."

"It is your fault this happened in the first place, stupid girl."

"You are annoying me Jaken." As she spoke, she brought the pot to Sesshoumaru.

He stared at it and her, his breathing abnormal. He could feel his body fighting the poison but it was taking longer than he would have liked. Still, he did not care for her assitance. But she stayed where she was when he turned his head in rejection. He could almost hear her silent plea for him to drink it.

"Please my Lord, drink this and you will at least be well enough to continue to walk. Your own body will do the rest. Trust me for once, as I trust you." She sat the pot next to him and rose to put out the fire. She took one last drink from the river and walked to the tree where he had stood to wait.

As he walked past her, he handed her an empty pot.



It was dark but for the small candles that were hanging in the halls. A man in front of her led her down the quiet hall as another walked behind her incase she tried to run. She wore a white kimono, tied with a loose sash. A traditional outfit she learned the Lord of the castle requested of his women. She was being led to the disgusting creature now to be his for the night. When they reached his door, the man in front of her slid it open. Her body froze when she was told to enter and the man behind her pushed her in. She fell to her knees and bowed before the Lord, trembling.

"Lord Shenlong, your woman for the night."

"Leave us." Shenlong walked to the girl, knealt before her. She jumped when his hand came down to her shoulder. "I will not hurt you if you obey me." He placed a finger under her chin and lifted her head up so he could see her face. She was perhaps the most beautiful woman that had been sent to him in some time. Certainly this woman would satisfy his tastes. Pleased, he rose and went to sit on his futon. "Undress and let us begin. If I am pleased with your performance, I will make you my wife."

The girl rose slowly, keeping her eyes locked on his. She made her way towards him as she spoke. "My Lord, I can garuntee you will be pleased with my performance. Your best will be your last." Asami let a wicked smile spread across her face as the man collapsed. She knealt down before him and recited a spell to repel the demon that had taken over the humans body. Then she was gone with the jewel shard in hand.



Miroku turned to Kagome in question. "Are you sure you sensed a jewel shard here?"

Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku and Shippou hid in the bushes near the castle where the shard apparently was. But strangely, when they approached the shard disappeared. Inuyasha tried to contain his anger while Kagome tried to figure what had happened.

"I'm sure of it. It just suddenly vanished. This isn't the first time something like this has happened."

"This is very strange. Do you think we should go investigate?"

"Yeah." Inuyasha rose. "I'll make someone in there explain."

"Wait Inuyasha, look." Kagome pointed to a figure that slipped quietly from one of the rooms and made its way to the forest.

"Something ain't right about that." Inuyasha made his deeper into the forest, intending to cut the person off. What was a girl doing running off into the forest alone at night? If his nose was correct, this girl didn't spend too much of her time inside. She smelled of thousands of wild flowers. So what would she be doing inside a room where Kagome had sensed a jewel shard? He smirked, determined to find out as he landed in front of her. "Hey, you got a minute?"

Asami stopped as Inuyasha landed before her. Shit! How could she be so careless? She had almost completely forgotten about Sesshoumaru's brother and his jewel shard seeing girlfriend. Remain cool, she told herself. Sesshoumaru would not come for her now and reveal to his brother that he was aiding a female human. She would have to escape on her own.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yeah, tell me what happened to the jewel shard. And don't lie to me, I saw you sneaking out of the room where it was."

She glanced behind Inuyasha as his friends appeared behind him. So a confrontation could not be avoided. Well, she could at least try to warn them against another. "Oh, you mean these?" She removed her pouch from her kimono and dumped the shards into her palm.

Kagome gasped loudly along with her other friends. "All those jewel shards, I didn't sense them before!"

"I made this pouch to hide the aura of the fragments. Now, I've admitted to you that I have a few jewel shards so-"

"A few! There are at least 10!"

"Don't be rude, I was speaking. Just forget we ever met. This is your first and last warning, do not come after me again."

Inuyasha pushed Kagome down to the ground and covered her head as they were bombarded with flower petals. When they cleared, Inuyasha quickly got up and scanned for the girl. She was gone and so was her scent, but if he sniffed around carefully...

"Shippou sniff around for her. Having all those shards is dangerous, especially if Naraku gets his hands on all of them."

"Didn't seem like she was using them for herself. What if she is collecting them for Naraku?"

Inuyasha turned back to glance at Miroku. "Let's hope that isn't the case."