^____^ Why hello again, my fellow readers/reviewers! Time for another update! As always, know that I don't own Inuyasha…*sigh*. Anyways, this chappy is the lime of the story! So get ready! ^_____^ hehehe. Enjoy:
~~~***~~~
Dinner that night was rather quiet. Kikyo served us a type of soup. Shippo didn't appreciate it too much, since it was mainly made of vegetables. Regardless, everyone ate it. After the meal we retired to our respective beds. Sesshoumaru was supposed to sleep in the room with Miroku, and I with Sango, but somehow he agreed to swap with her and we stayed with our respective spouses. I was brushing my hair gently when I saw him open and shut the door quietly. I was surprised. "Sesshoumaru?" His eyes glazed over softly in the dark and he looked at me for the longest time, not saying anything. After awhile I continued to brush again. What was he up to? From the window I could see the full moon up in the sky. This light filled the room.
"…You're very beautiful, Kagome." He commented suddenly. I jumped a little at the break he made of the silence, then turned to him and smiled. "I cannot really describe it," he continued, "but when the moonlight shines down on you, you seem to glow radiantly. I am…at loss of words."
I blushed a little—I wasn't used to being complimented upon so much. Not looking at him, I stood up from my chair, set it down, and walked to the bed, brushing softly against his body…very slightly, in a tantalizing way. I could hear him breathe in my scent that he loved so much. I sat on the bed and pulled back the covers, burying myself in them.
For a few moments I rested in there by myself quietly, and then I felt a hand gently pull back the sheets and a body climbed in with me. I sensed his lips on the back of my neck, tracing the sensitive area. Sesshoumaru's arms crept around me and rested against my waist. He inhaled again and sucked tenderly on the skin before my face. He kissed around again and again.
I turned around lazily to face him. His eyes burned quietly with love. With one hand I caressed his cheek and with the other I patted down his long hair. Sesshoumaru's tail lifted up and pulled me closer. "Kagome…" He whispered. "You are more beautiful than all the demonesses in the Western Lands. I…" But I put my finger to his mouth, smiling. I shifted my body, and my hair fell to either side of him, shielding us from the outside world. My lips fell on Sesshoumaru's, and his eyes widened a little, then closed. He began to kiss me back little by little. I rested my hand on his shoulder and he pulled me closer.
~~~***~~~
The next morning everyone moved around quickly, getting ready for the day ahead. Kikyo fed us a light breakfast of homemade bread with honey and cinnamon. She smiled at me. "Inuyasha is outside, Kagome. Go to him after your meal…he's waiting for you."
I looked at her in surprise. "He…is? Really?" She nodded.
Sesshoumaru growled a little from hearing this. "Kagome, I'll go with you to talk to him."
I shook my head. "No, let me, Sesshoumaru. It might be best if I talk to him alone." He looked disappointed, but finally assented nonetheless.
"If he has decided to join us, Inuyasha might want some sort of compromise." Sesshoumaru frowned. "Don't let him convince you of anything, Kagome." I promised him I wouldn't and headed outside after finishing breakfast.
~~~***~~~
I looked around for a little bit, and then saw him motioning me over from the top of the hill. I nodded and walked over.
When I sat down, he immediately stared at the ground and began to make patterns in the dirt with a stick. Finally he glanced at me. "Lady Kagome?"
I looked at him. "Um, yes?"
"Do you…do you like that name? Kikyo told me that people simply call you 'Kagome' in your real world. Is that true?"
I nodded. "Yeah, that's what I'm used to, I guess…you can just call me Kagome—I don't mind."
"Fine…Kagome, then." He looked out to the sunset. "Tell me something…what am I like? In your world, I mean."
I thought for a few moments. How to answer? I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I said, "You're very, um, brave…and the Inuyasha I know would always help one of his friends in need." I smiled a little.
He scoffed. "You are NOT my friend…just an acquaintance at present…"
I chuckled. "I disagree."
Inuyasha growled. "Kagome, I know what you're trying to do…but I'm not completely convinced. If I were to help you out with the use of my Wind Scar…then I must ask for a favor in return." He looked at me.
I wasn't expecting this. "A…favor?"
He nodded. "In exchange for my help…I need you and your friends to help me defeat Emperor Naraku so the demon throne can be restored to my family, like it was meant to be…always. It's important that we do this, or else this land may fall into complete darkness."
Oh. "Inuyasha, I don't know if we're capable…he has one half of the Shikon Jewel-"
"-Don't worry, we can handle him, I'm sure of it. Listen, I've been thinking. With the power of the Tensegia and Tetsusaiga combined, plus the strength of you and your friends, well…victory will practically be assured. Besides, you know him in the world you live in, correct? You should understand a lot of his traps. He won't be as hard as you might think." Inuyasha glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. "Well, what do you say?"
I thought to myself, and then something occurred to me. "Inuyasha, if the throne is restored to your family, does that mean you'll be the ruler? Sesshoumaru, after all, is already the king of my land…the human territory."
He smiled and did a sort of wink. "That's the beauty of it."
"Oh." I understood now. Inuyasha still wanted to rule this kingdom, with Kikyo probably. With Sesshoumaru out of the way in the human land it wouldn't be too hard. "If that's what it will take for you to help us, then yes."
"Good!" He grinned and stood up. "Thank you, Kagome. My brother married a kind woman indeed...it's too bad I couldn't be there for the ceremony. I also hear that you two have a child?"
I blushed a little. "Well, yes—but not really...we adopted her."
"I see." Inuyasha looked back to his home. "Well, we should-"
A sudden explosion cut his sentence short, however. We stumbled down a little in great surprise and dust fell upon us. "What the hell was that!? Get down!" I heard him say. We ducked just in time to see chunks of rocks fly above our heads.
~~~***~~~
When the smoke cleared we stood up little by little and looked around wildly. "Where the hell did that come from!?" He shouted.
"I-I don't know..." I glanced into the air and gasped. "Inuyasha! Look up!" I saw there the thing I least wanted to see—a man, wearing fur, with a mask. Even from here I could see his evil smirk. The air suddenly seemed to feel poisonous.
"Lady Kagome of the human land...we meet at last."
Inuyasha recognized that voice immediately. His eyes widened with rage. "Naraku!! So it is you!! What the hell are you doing here!?"
And indeed, it was the infamous Naraku. He chuckled. "Just here to see an old friend, that's all."
Inuyasha clenched his fist. "Dammit! What do you want from us, Naraku!? Or do I need to ask with my claws?"
He ignored this and turned to me. "Lady Kagome, I presume? You seemed to dispose of Kagura easier than I thought...she told me you knew she was a Wind Sorceress before even having met her...curious, would you agree?"
The enraged half demon growled angrily, in a sort of annoyed tone. "HEY! Stop ignoring me! I'm going to settle this once and for all!" He leapt at the Emperor floating in the air, with his claws raised.
He smiled. "Stop." Inuyasha rushed to him, then suddenly crashed, falling backwards. "Fool." Naraku spat.
I ran to him. Are you okay, Inuyasha!?"
He grimaced. "Damn…a barrier, that bastard…"
"…I didn't come here to waste my time with this fool." The Emperor shouted down to us. "I came here to test the strength and knowledge of my enemies. Now…behold!"
Another crash came to us suddenly, and dust flew. Naraku smiled evilly. "Allow me to present…Goshinki."
We gasped and saw him emerge from the forest. Apparently those explosions were really just his footsteps, beating down hard on the ground. "…Damn!!" Inuyasha shouted again.
Goshinki roared a ferocious roar. "I'm hungry…I smell human flesh! Where is it!? Where!?"
"Leave the girl alive, Goshinki…she might be useful. Kill the half demon, and eat him if you wish." The big demon roared again happily and raised a claw. Inuyasha, hearing this, stood tall and extended his Tetsusaiga quickly. "I will be watching you from afar. I bid you farewell." Naraku disappeared in the sky.
"Damn that bastard!" Inuyasha shouted one last time before avoiding Goshinki's first blow.
Goshinki straightened up and smiled evilly. "The second move…is yours."
Inuyasha scoffed. "You want to DIE so quickly? Fine then, I'll grant you that wish!" He lunged at him. Goshinki saw his strategy and easily dodged the attack, rendering Inuyasha momentarily defenseless in the air. He took this opportunity to swing an uppercut to him, sending Inuyasha to the ground.
Fortunately he managed to recover from this quickly and was once again on his feet. "He saw my attack…but how?"
"Inuyasha!" I shouted. "Goshinki has the power to read your mind and thoughts! He can predict exactly how you're going to attack! You need to be really careful with this fight!"
Goshinki roared upon hearing this. "How did that wench know? Emperor Naraku was right—there's something different about her…"
"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted to me. "Get out of here! Run and tell the others! It isn't safe!"
"I…I can't go and leave you alone here!"
But it was too late—Goshinki turned his head to me. "Going somewhere, Kagome?" I backed away slowly. He growled at me. "Not so fast, wench." He lunged at me, and I screamed. The explosions of each of his steps echoed throughout the forest. Seeing this Inuyasha sprinted towards me as fast as he could…but Goshinki had the upper hand.
Suddenly from within the depths of the trees Sesshoumaru sprinted out like lightning and swiftly scooped me out of the way, just in time to avoid Goshinki's blow. He growled in rage and straightened up again. Soon after Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Kirara, and Kikyo ran to us.
Sesshoumaru landed gracefully on the ground and set me down carefully. "Kagome, wait here." He whispered. "I will take care of that beast…" His voice hinted of an extreme anger.
"Be careful, Sesshoumaru…he has the ability to read your mind—already Goshinki knows all of your cards."
He nodded in comprehension and turned to the monster. "I will show you no mercy. Die…now." He leapt into the sky and slashed Goshinki. Sesshoumaru only touched air, however, as the monster dodged out of the way.
"Fool! Can't you see it's useless?" Again Sesshoumaru set to attack him, and again he moved to the side. The others quickly followed in the fight, but to no avail. Goshinki threw all of their weapons and attacks aside easily. He chuckled in glee.
"Stop." A voice suddenly commanded from the left. An arrow was shot and pierced part of his arm. He cried out in pain and turned angrily to the one who shot it, Kikyo. "The next time…will be straight at your heart."
Goshinki let out a roar of laughter. "You think you can defeat me so easily, wench? How foolish indeed!" But suddenly, he stopped laughing and his eyes widened in surprise. Kikyo chuckled and raised her bow again. Goshinki stepped backwards a little as he continued to stare at her. "Wha…What's this!?"
"You have discovered it, I see." She said in a mocking manner. "You are unable to read my mind, are you not?"
"What!?" Shippo cried.
"Kikyo!" Inuyasha shouted. "What's going on?"
"I see now." Miroku said. "Goshinki isn't able to read Kikyo's mind because of what she is…"
"But—this isn't possible! I can read the minds of all things! I don't understand—how are you doing this!?"
She smiled a cruel smile. "But I am nothing—my mind is not here…or anywhere." Kikyo chuckled again, "It's too bad you rely so much on your psychic powers—and although I am not real, my arrow certainly is." Without further hesitation she shot it. The arrow was straight and true, and pierced Goshinki's chest. With one last angry roar he stumbled momentarily, then crumpled to the ground.
~~~***~~~
Back at the cottage, Inuyasha had his wounds tended to, who was the only one that received much of an injury. Sesshoumaru insisted over and over again that Kikyo would examine me for any injuries as well. After everyone was patched up we began to gather our things.
"Naraku will surely strike again." Miroku said.
"It was an open invitation…" Inuyasha explained cryptically. "He's waiting for us in his castle. Naraku wants to lure us in his own lair and take care of his enemies once and for all. We need to defeat him now…or never." Everyone nodded.
Kikyo rose. "Lady Kagome…and Lord Sesshoumaru, allow me to travel with you to defeat that foul emperor. I will be of some assistance and you will need all the help you can muster. Let me come."
Sesshoumaru and I glanced at each other. "You have proven yourself on the battlefield, Kikyo. You may join us."
"Thank you, kind King and Queen. Then let me gather a few medicinal things for the rest of the journey."
Before she left, Sesshoumaru gave her a lingering that I knew said, 'That you for saving Kagome.' She smiled warmly and nodded 'you're welcome.' Sesshoumaru nodded back to her and she left.
~~~***~~~
A little later Sesshoumaru pulled me aside. "Kagome-"
"-I already know what you're going to say to me, Sesshoumaru. And it's okay, you have nothing to be sorry for."
"But, Kagome—I left you in the hands of danger."
I smiled. "You can't always watch over me, right? That's an impossible thing to do. Besides…" I rested my head against his chest. "I think you did a very fine job rescuing me from Goshinki's attack. Thank you."
He sighed a little. "I can't always look after you…but, Kagome, I want to. Something might happen."
I gave him a gentle and grateful kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry Sesshoumaru, everything will work out okay. We'll get through this together, right? In the end, no matter what, we'll still be by each other's sides…trust me…" He took my hand and we went outside to wait for the others. Sesshoumaru looked didn't look quite reassured, however…
Review Responses:
Hoshi-chan1: Kouga? Err…who knows? Who cares? Lol
Vegetas4Life: Nope, just a good ol' lime! Besides, three of the chapters in this story have lemons on my website, so you should be covered in that area, ne?
RoguesHeart: LOL!! Go Sesshoumaru!! =D w00t!!!
fluffy sama 13: No prob! Here ya go!
fluffys_sidekick: *horrible blush* aww…you're just saying that…*blush again*
Sihara: Bah, as you can see he does, hehehe.
Rabid-Inu-Girl: =D Well in this instance, as seen with Goshinki, she can be nice when she wants to. Kinda like Sesshoumaru. ^____^
Guardiun Angel15: Ummmm…is this fast enough? ^___^
Skitzoflame: Lol yeah that doesn't seem TOO bad…=D
bloodbunny: Oh crap! *hands over some tape* maybe that'll be enough…?
kitsune-chan3: Hehehe! ^____^ Will do!
puffin: Nah, not really…they've just been…momentarily replaced. Lol
sakurapetal13: Hmm, really? Did it seem kinda empty? Hm, well I'll make a note to re-read my chapters again once more before updating. Thanks!
mandyfanforevr: O_O AHHH!!! You're still reading this!?!? AHH!!!!!!!!! *covers her eyes* _
Satu-Chan: Lol, wow that was short…well thank you! Hope you can read this one!
Hyo-Neko: Good to hear! ^__^ Well read the rest, and then this one too! =D
zeddy200: Arigato! That's what a lot of people say, it seems…
PeachesDani: lol, no it's not…but there's no need to worry, I'm sure it lives up to your expectations (hopefully…)
Well that's all!!! Hope you guys can ready the next chappy! We're almost done!! ^____^ Enter, the old rival! Hehe. Arigato! Ja ne!!
