Disclaimer: I am a poor college student who owns nothing but the clothes on her back. If I owned the Inuyasha gang I wouldn't be poor now would I? *sniffle*
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Chapter 7: Opposites Attract
"You look awful," Yukari said, wrinkling her nose at him. "What in the world happened to you?" She stepped closer to him to inspect the stains on his kimono. "Is that blood?" She took an involuntary step backwards, her brown eyes widening.
"It's nothing," he said gruffly.
She narrowed her eyes and stared at him for a moment longer, then turned around and went into her house. She came back out carrying an armful of towels.
"Well, I was just going to cook something to eat. You're welcome to join me if you like, but not looking like that. There are heated water pools behind the house that you can bathe in," she said.
Sesshomaru's eyes widened in surprise. How dare she speak to me like that? he thought. I do not look awful. He looked down at himself. Maybe I do need a bath, he admitted.
He accepted the towels she shoved into his arms and stared in stunned silence. After a few moments he turned to walk away.
"Do not think I'm doing this because you told me to. I am doing this because I want to bathe," he said over his shoulder. He stalked off towards the back of the house.
Yukari watched his retreating back, trying to hide a self-satisfied smile. She walked slowly back into the house, thinking.
I wonder why he came back. Not for my good looks and charming personality, that's for certain, she thought to herself wryly. She recalled the last time they had been together. I was throwing things at him, she remembered. She sighed, and began rummaging for something to cook.
Sesshomaru stripped off his filthy kimono and the sword belt containing the useless Tenseiga, and waded out until the water reached his waist. He splashed water onto his face, and rubbed at the bloodstains on his chest and arms. He dipped his hair in the warm water to rinse out the blood and dirt. He raked his claws through the tangles in his hair, trying to smooth out the silver mess. Hearing soft footsteps approaching from behind, he turned to see the miko coming towards him with an armful of clothing. She blushed, and his keen demon ears could hear her pulse quicken; he could smell the heat of her blood.
As the youkai turned to face her, Yukari watched the smooth ripple of muscles flow along his back and shoulders. He was standing waist-deep in the water, and she could see the red streaks that curved around his wrists and forearms. She paused for a moment, admiring the well-defined musculature of his body. Actually, she was more aware of him than she liked to be. Yukari bit her lip and blushed. Without a word she laid the armful of clothes she was carrying on the ground and walked quickly back to the house.
As soon as she was out of sight around the house, she ran inside. Still shocked, she leaned up against the wall. Just like in my dream, she realized. She sighed. There is no way I'm going to be able to forget about him now.
Sesshomaru was surprised at the miko's reaction to him. She seemed excited by me. But why? he wondered. Is she attracted to me? He rubbed the back of his head in memory. Not likely, he thought, remembering the rock she had hit him with.
He bent to examine the clothes she had brought him to wear; they were definitely not what he was accustomed to. He looked upon them with undisguised distaste, and then decided to put them on. At least they're clean, he thought, eyeing his filthy silk kimono. I suppose they will do until I find something more suitable to wear. He slipped the soft white cotton kimono over his head, and pulled the red haori over it. He then pulled on the black hakama she had given him and put on his own black shoes. The last thing he did was buckle the Tenseiga over everything.
By the time he finished dressing, Sesshomaru could smell food cooking from inside the house. He followed his nose around to the front of the house, where he found that the door had been left open. He walked inside to stand in the doorway, curious but cautious. The miko was kneeling by a fire she had built in the middle of the room. She had swept her hair back, and it was tied with a thin red ribbon at the base of her neck. Her skin was flushed with the heat, and she was stirring a small pot over the fire.
Beautiful. It was the first thought that came into his head, and this time he didn't try to banish it as soon as it came. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, lost in thought. She makes me feel strange, he mused. She is beautiful, certainly, but there is something else about her that I find fascinating. She is a human, but I have never met a human with such powers.
Yukari noticed him when he entered, but she didn't bother to look up from her cooking. He leaned against the wall, and she got up to fetch cups and bowls from a cupboard on the wall behind her. She arranged them neatly on the floor, and poured some soup in each of the bowls. Gesturing for Sesshomaru to join her, she sat down carefully and poured tea into two cups. He simply stared at her. She narrowed her eyes and stared back until he capitulated and gracefully sat down to join her.
She handed him a bowl of soup, which he took and delicately sniffed. He could smell a variety of vegetables, some kind of fish, and another substance he couldn't identify. Wrinkling his nose, he handed the bowl back to her.
"I do not eat your pathetic human food," he told her arrogantly.
"Fine," she snapped.
He did, however, accept a cup of tea from her. He sniffed that as well, and took a small sip. She began to eat, and as she did Sesshomaru watched her closely, seemingly fascinated by her every move. Yukari flushed a deep red that matched his haori, and ducked her head to avoid his scrutiny.
After a few more minutes of him staring at her as she ate, she was too uncomfortable to bear it any longer. "Do you have to stare at me like that?" she demanded. "It makes me really nervous."
He snorted and looked away. Yukari sighed. "How did you find me?" she asked.
He looked at her again. "You forget that I am not a mere human. I am a taiyoukai, and it was a simple matter to pick up your scent and follow you here."
"But why did you want to?" she asked softly.
His golden eyes met her deep brown ones, and their gazes locked. He didn't answer her question, but in truth she had never expected him to. Uncomfortable once again, she rose to gather the dishes and to pour another cup of tea. When she sat down again, she noticed that Sesshomaru had turned his gaze to the window. She looked in the same direction, noticing that the sun was setting.
It lit up the whole sky in a blaze of colors: first a gold the color of honey, then amber to match Sesshomaru's eyes. Pink next, followed by a red deepening to the color of blood, then a violet the color of nothing on the earth. Once the sun had sunk beyond the horizon, the brilliance ended: midnight blue sky, and everything around them took on the dusky hue of the nighttime. Yukari sighed at the beauty of it all, and glanced over at Sesshomaru. He too seemed bemused, and had finally relaxed a little.
I might as well take advantage of his relaxation while I get the chance, she thought to herself. She opened her mouth to speak. "Sesshomaru, I…"
He held up a clawed hand, silencing her. "Someone is coming," he said shortly, rising to his feet.
Yukari leapt up and ran out the door after him, pausing to grab her katana from the sword rack above the door.
When she reached him, Sesshomaru already had the intruder dangling in midair from the front of his threadbare haori. Yukari ran to help him, but stopped when she noticed the youth of the intruder. Instinctively she grabbed Sesshomaru's arm.
"For goodness sake, put the boy down. He's only a child," she yelled. He obeyed after a moment's hesitation, dropping the gasping boy onto the ground. Yukari noticed that her hand was still resting on Sesshomaru's arm, and that he was staring down at it. She yanked her hand away as if he had burned her.
Sesshomaru absently rubbed the spot on his arm where she had placed her hand. When he looked back at the girl, she had knelt beside the boy and was speaking to him.
"Where did you come from?" she asked. "Why are you here?"
"Are you the miko Yukari?" the small boy asked her.
"I am," she replied.
The boy nervously eyed the demon on Yukari's left before he continued. "My village sent me to find you," he said. "We are troubled by a terrible demon, and you are our only hope."
"What about your miko?" she asked. "Doesn't your village have a priestess to help you defeat this demon?"
"We did," the boy answered, frowning. "But our miko Tachiana was the first person to be killed by the demon. Now it tortures the entire village, killing us one by one." Tears ran down the small boy's dirty cheeks, leaving smudgy clean trails. The child sniffled and rubbed the back of his hands across his eyes. "Just before she was killed Lady Tachiana helped me to escape and sent me to find you."
Without another word Yukari walked into the house and came back wearing a sword belt and carrying a sack of healing herbs. She slung the sack over her shoulder and slipped her sword into the scabbard of the belt. The boy leapt up and ran down the path to the edge of the woods, where he stopped to wait for Yukari to follow him. Yukari glanced at Sesshomaru, who, she realized, was watching her.
"I have to go help those poor people," she said softly.
"Why?" he asked her coldly.
"Because it is what I do," she replied. "I'm a priestess, and it's my duty to help any who ask."
"You would risk your life for people who have never done anything for you and who would probably never return your consideration?" he asked, honestly curious.
"Of course," she answered with a grin. "You could come, if you wish."
Sesshomaru snorted in disgust. "I do not think it is fitting for a demon lord to engage in aiding pitiful humans."
Yukari sighed. I'll never understand demons. "That's fine." I was kind of hoping he would want to come with me. She sighed again. Oh well. She gave Sesshomaru a quirky grin, and ran off after the young village boy.
Sesshomaru watched the miko run away into the dark woods. He waited until he could no longer see her, then streaked after her. When he reached the woods he leapt up into the trees. I do not want her to see that I am following her, he thought to himself. I'll keep her out of sight but within my scent range. He told himself that he was following her out of mere curiosity; he wanted to see how she would handle this situation. However, the annoying little voice inside his head told him otherwise…
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A/N: If this chapter is confusing in any way please let me know. I wrote it before I wrote chapter 6, so there might be something weird about it. Please review! Thanks to all those who did!!! I really want to know what all of you out there think about my lil story. Good or bad, doesn't matter, I can take it. (I have water buckets all ready for the flames!!)
Responses: (my favorite part! Yay!!)
Serenity971: Hooray! I have a reader who keeps reading! I'm glad you like it so far… I'm luck to have dedicated fans like you and theMaven.
Mourning Fox: Hmmmm. Who is Yukari? That would take some explanation I can't give right now. But I promise everything will be explained by the end of the story. Time frame: This story takes place after Sesshomaru and Inuyasha's father died, and after Inuyasha's mother died as well. Sesshomaru is Lord of the Western lands, but the whole Inuyasha – Kikyou - Shikon no Tama thing hasn't happened yet. There's like a 9-10 year period between the time when Inuyasha's mom dies and he tries to get the Shikon no Tama (I think) and that's the time in which my story would occur. Thanks for the review!!
theMaven: You're my new hero. Thanks for the encouragement for my dumb transitional chapters. I really did not like them, but you made me feel better. Yay! Thanks!!!
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