Yeah, I struggled a little with this chapter. Mainly because it divides into several distinct parts, and yet all of them are connected. Next chapter we begin the countdown to the full moon. Oh, and expect periods of funny followed by periods of un-funny. With this plot, there is the potential for both drama and comedy. And I intend to explore both. ^.~
Thanks to those who have reviewed! You make this story come to life.
It Changes Everything
Chapter Six:
Peace Talks
A lot of people thought night fell from the sky and settled over the world like a blanket, but in truth it started from beneath the trees and in the shadows of mountains. It snaked along the ground and spilled upwards into the sky, where the moon, on its celestial path, would add hues of blue and violet, and sometimes amber. The night was rarely ever true black.
At this last edge of day, the sky was all those colours and more.
"So, what do you think they're doing out there?" Sango remarked nonchalantly, leaning her weight forward onto the fence and staring out into the distant woods.
Miroku leaned back against the fence from the other side, his feet crossed at the ankles and his arms crossed over his chest. His staff was nestled in the crook between his shoulder and his neck, the wind lightly playing over the metal rings. Hearing Sango, he lifted his chin and observed the distant trees as well.
"Something completely innocent, I'm sure," he answered her, though his slightly envious tone suggested another matter all-together.
The demon hunter didn't react. She cradled her cheek in her hand and watched full twighlight creep over the world. A long minute of silence stretched. The comfortable silence of companions.
"Houshi-sama?" Sango whispered quietly, folding her arms atop the wooden railing and resting her chin on her wrist.
Miroku leaned toward her, his violet-blue eyes soft in the new darkness. "Yes, dear Sango?"
"Would you kindly stop molesting my cat?"
Miroku blinked in confusion, then drew back to see that he had placed his hand not on the youkai hunter's back, but on the youkai that was curled up on her back.
Kirara narrowed her wide crimson eyes and lifted a dainty paw, smacking it down on his 'wandering' hand in warning. The monk blinked. Did he just get rejected? BY A CAT?! With a sigh he retreated back into the boredom of his own personal bubble. He didn't know why he bothered anymore; it all seemed to go so badly these days.
Sango smirked, looking in the other direction in hopes that he wouldn't see the amused curling of her pretty mouth. Seeing it, he was suddenly reminded of his 'why'. Miroku crossed his arms again and smiled out at Inuyasha's Forest, pleased with himself in a way he hadn't been in a long time.
Kirara hopped down from Sango, glanced at the lecherous monk, then thrust her tiny black nose up haughtily as she stalked off to the other side of her mistress. Humph, stupid monk.
Sango was back to expressionlessly watching the distance. "You think it's safe for her to be out there in the dark?"
There was no need to elaborate on the 'her'. They were both fiercely protective of their time-hopping friend.
The monk tilted his head in consideration, but it didn't seem to be of her words. Sango's hand instantly fluttered up to make sure the collar of her yukata was still in place. She gripped it closed with tight fingers.
Miroku pouted. "She is with Sesshoumaru. As long as the curse holds, she is probably in the safest place she could possibly be."
It didn't exactly make sense to her, but at the same time it did. It was just hard to think of Sesshoumaru as a 'safe place'.
Another moment passed as they listened to the night-creatures rouse from their daytime rest. The wind came, stirring glittering black strands from Sango's bound hair and moving lightly across Miroku's bangs.
"So, what do you think they're doing out there," she repeated tediously.
"Something completely innocent," Miroku answered again. This time the envy was a little more than slight.
"Houshi-sama?"
"Yes, Sango?"
"Remove. Your. Hand."
Sigh. "Yes, Sango."
They both paused.
A warning shudder tightened Sango's shoulders. She stood, her fingers sliding up to Hiraikotsu's handle as the boomerang's weight balanced habitually on her back.
Miroku straightened completely from the fence. He held his staff before him in both hands, but not as if for battle. He glanced at Sango, and she glanced at him, and they shared a look of pure understanding.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Kagome stomped right into the village, completely bypassing Miroku and Sango without a stray glance. A few seconds later Inuyasha followed, that anxious anger about him that said he had, yet again, upset the girl, and he still wasn't sure how.
"We weren't doing anything!" Kagome hissed, the tone hinting that this was something she had said before. More than once.
"Oh whatever, bitch! Taking off clothes and kissing is certainly something!" came Inuyasha's not so delicate bark.
Miroku's eyebrow rose. Both of Sango's did. They glanced at each other. Sango's eyes instantly narrowed. She stepped back away from the monk and he sighed, keeping both his hands firmly wrapped around his staff, where the demon hunter could see them and know where they weren't. Golly, he didn't know how she could possibly be thinking about such things at a time like this.
"HE took off HIS clothes! And there was definitely NO KISSING! And...and---"
"And I didn't see you complaining!"
"You didn't see everything!"
"Thank the gods!"
"Ohhhh! OSUWARI!" With that the enraged girl stomped into the village miko's hut, leaving Inuyasha to twitch on the ground.
Miroku and Sango blinked.
"What was that about?"
"Well, isn't it obvious," Miroku said a few seconds later, looking fully recovered from Hurricane Kagome the Second.
Sango glanced at him curiously.
"Kagome is going to bear Sesshoumaru's child, and Inuyasha is jealous."
A muffled growl came from the nearly broken form that was Inuyasha. He pushed up onto his hands and knees, and then his feet. He turned very slowly to glare at the two annoying humans that had somehow come to be traveling with him. "What. Did. You. Say?"
"Oh, so sorry Inuyasha," Miroku replied, pleasantly helpful, "I'm sure that being crushed to the ground by a string of magic prayer beads is quite disorienting. What I said was..." Miroku paused, noticing that the half-breed's unusually wide eyes had narrowed down to thin gold slits. Then it occurred to him what he was saying, and to whom.
"Uh...what I mean is..."
Inuyasha grasped Tetsusaiga's scabbard in his left hand, close to the hilt. With his thumb he flicked the sword out, and gave the monk three seconds to realize the full scope of what he had just got himself into.
Oh, for Buddha's sake, Miroku thought. With Sesshoumaru around Inuyasha is even more unmanageable. It's getting so you can't even speak a word. The monk conveniently forgot what all his recent words had been, and usually were.
Inuyasha took one step, then bounced off his toes, lunging at the monk as he attempted to sidestep. Sango brought Hiraikotsu down as a sort of temporary shield, grabbed Miroku and jerked him onto Kirara as the neko youkai transformed and took to the sky. All her movements seemed habitual.
"Why don't you ever learn, houshi!"
Miroku blinked, securing his hold on the exterminator as they climbed a little higher. Inuyasha waved Tetsusaiga from the ground and screamed out curses. "Dear Sango, were you worried about me?"
"It's not like--" Sango's annoyed sentence cut-short with a startled squeak. Kirara rolled her eyes, then used one of her tails to gracefully sweep Miroku off her back. She really had had enough of THAT for one day.
Inuyasha grinned evilly. Lifting Tetsusaiga high above his head, he charged at the dazed monk.
"Osuwari!"
Inuyasha went skidding across the ground face-first. Miroku gasped and managed to roll to the side in time to avoid the suddenly dulled point of Tetsusaiga.
Using his staff to steady himself as he climbed to his feet, the monk sent a quick prayer of thanks, not to any god, but to Kagome and her most perfect mouth. He nodded to her his gratitude, and she nodded back, though her stance remained rigid and her arms stayed crossed angrily over her chest. She surveyed the scene from Kaede's doorway with something like disdain.
Inuyasha began to stir on the ground and Miroku instantly stepped back, deciding it was time to go. Sesshoumaru really was bringing chaos into their already unstable group.
Kagome glared at Inuyasha, then her eyes narrowed. With that she turned her nose up purposefully and stomped back into the hut.
Inuyasha climbed slowly to his feet, as if each of the bones in his body were grinding together all at once. He stared at the empty door, his ears flattening against his head. "What the hell was that?"
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Sesshoumaru, a fully clothed Sesshoumaru, watched from a high branch as his brother was yet again subjugated by the petite miko. He still marveled at the pure beauty of the act, but his appreciation was soon drowned out by questions...
Like, why was she treated as one of the weaker parts of their stupid group, when she was clearly the strongest? Without attack, or even a look, she had bested his half-brother. So Inuyasha was a hanyou and weak by nature, she was human and supposed to be weaker.
His chin suddenly lifted, the curiosity wiped out of his eyes by sheer force of will alone. But I, Sesshoumaru, am a full-blooded youkai and not so easily defeated.
Except that he had been. On three separate occasions. In one day, no less.
A bird landed in a branch only inches above him. Sesshoumaru froze. Well, he somehow became motionless when moments before he had merely been 'unmoved'. He lifted his head, a slight breeze ruffling the clusters of leaves around him, and blowing silky strands of his hair across his face. He looked up at the bird. It looked down at him, tilting its head curiously to the side.
Sesshoumaru blinked.
The bird blinked.
Shaking his head imperceptibly, Sesshoumaru returned his attention to the girl once more, visually following her as she turned back into the small hut. The surface of his gold eyes remained still, though his mind picked over a thousand thoughts. His most prominent one being that it was absurd to think such a thing. Her little spell couldn't work on him...
Right?
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Kagome stared at the curved line of wounds. Roughly four pointed crescents crossing over the soft underside of her arm, and a single one on the outer-edge. Beneath the dried blood, her skin flared with heat, signifying the possibility of swelling. But despite that, they were minor injuries. Very minor compared to what could have happened. She frowned.
Kaede wordlessly set down a fresh earthen-bowl of water and began dipping a clean rag over the wounds. Kagome watched just as quietly as the clear liquid began to take on a ruddy brown tint.
The repetition of Kaede's ministrations seemed to draw the younger miko more out of her aggravation. She relaxed back a little and sighed, wincing every so often as the rough texture of the rag scratched directly over one of the shallow abrasions.
She was glad for Kaede's silent presence. The difference in their age was enough to make Kagome look up to her, but she saw her more as an older sister, rather than an adult to her seventeen years. And though it didn't seem like much, it made it easier for her to say what was on her mind.
"You think I should give into him, don't you?"
Kaede glanced up, her one eye shining with patient wisdom. A wisdom that had demanded some heavy price, and seemed to give an even heavier burden. Sometimes Kagome wondered what had happened after Kikyou had died, leaving the village and all its vulnerabilities to Kaede at such a young age. But she never asked, because Kaede never seemed one to dwell in the past. Besides the literal sense.
"I think it's your choice," Kaede replied, her age-worn voice neutral.
Kagome cast her eyes to the floor beside her, her frown becoming more pronounced. It seemed whichever way she turned on this problem was the wrong way.
"But if I don't he'll die."
"Is that your answer?" Kaede draped the soiled rag over the rim of the bowl and picked up another at her side. She pressed the dry cloth gently against Kagome's arm, dabbing it over the wounds.
"No...I don't know." Kagome shook her head minutely, feeling helpless and trapped beneath the gravity of the situation. Almost instantly the aggravation began to bubble up within her again. She watched with narrowed eyes as the old miko lifted a pinch of ground herbs from a mortar and sprinkled them over the scratches.
"You have time," Kaede began, wrapping her wrist and forearm. "Whatever you decide, you should be certain."
Kagome sighed. "I really don't have THAT kind of time."
"You have three and a half weeks, don't you?"
Kagome nodded. "What should we do?"
"You should try to change the bandages at least twice a day. That said, I suggest you carry on as normal while you think, and see where it leads you." Kaede pushed a box into the younger miko's hands. Kagome looked down at it curiously.
"Huh?"
"You said you injured him as well."
Understanding lit up her eyes, then embarrassment clouded them. Kagome took the small white box tighter between her hands and nodded.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Sesshoumaru stared up at the black horizon. The moon was pale and distant, just beginning to make its nightly path through the sky. It was entering its last quarter, and after that it would slowly be waning away until the New Moon.
"You hurt her. I can smell her blood on your hand," came Inuyasha's voice, quiet, but still simmering with anger and accusation.
Sesshoumaru did not turn, though he was finding this particular situation increasingly tedious. "As you can smell mine on hers. I did not hurt her and you know it. Quite the contrary."
Inuyasha growled. Talking! He just kept talking! Hearing his voice was like grinding burning glass into a wound!
Sesshoumaru finally turned, his hand casually draped across Toukijin's hilt. It wasn't quite a threat yet, more of a warning of purpose. "I am willing to overlook your presence for now, but do not press me on this half-breed."
Inuyasha's mouth opened, then closed. Unfortunately, it opened again. "You are in my territory, messing with my bitch, and you warn ME not to start something?!"
"You forget, she is my mate."
"And what the hell did you hope to gain by mating her?! That I don't get!"
"It had to be done."
Inuyasha stopped dead, forgetting completely his anger for the less comforting caress of confusion. "Huh?"
"She bested this Sesshoumaru in combat three times, to do otherwise would have been dishonor. But, being the disgrace that you are, I do not expect you to understand the gravity of such matters."
Inuyasha blinked. He still didn't get how little Kagome had beaten his brother, alone. And not once, but three times! It was like a direct blow to his ego, to think that his elder brother was more wary of a girl who squealed with delight when little bunnies hopped across their path, than him. And he couldn't very well ask why, because that would be stepping out of the tough-guy character he had worked so hard to build up. So ignorance and annoying questions it was.
Unless Sesshoumaru suddenly felt loquacious.
Fat chance, that.
Both brothers stopped. Inuyasha raised his chin and sniffed at the air, while Sesshoumaru simply turned his eyes. There was a dainty cough, and then the girl in question stepped out from behind a tree. She clutched something to her breast that was so white it screamed 'target' in the deep darkness of the forest.
Sesshoumaru remained quiet, knowing that his brother would not.
As expected, Inuyasha instantly leaped to block her path. "What the hell are you doing out here?"
Kagome glared at the hanyou. What she wanted was to go back and crawl into her sleeping bag, maybe dare to hope for a better day. But that wasn't happening any time soon. She was scraping the bottom of the barrel when it came to patience, and Inuyasha was about to find that out the hard way. "I have just as much right to be out here as you do. Now shut up and get out of my way!"
Inuyasha's mouth snapped shut as his eyes widened. He actually took a step back before realizing what he was doing. By then it was too late to re-take the step. The miko had brushed past him and was well on her way to Sesshoumaru.
Kagome didn't know how stupid she was going to look with this, but the generous soul in her forced her to persist. After all, she was a miko. Though she was more used to warding off youkai, rather than helping them.
Inuyasha watched her from the side, an angry presence. She couldn't give him so much attention since it was a general temperament for him. And at the moment she didn't particularly care.
Stopping before Sesshoumaru, she put on her 'don't even' face and glared at him through slitted blue eyes.
"Give me your hand," she gritted. She held out her own.
Sesshoumaru stared at her. He did not blink, nor did he move. Her waiting hand hung empty between them.
Kagome sighed, wishing she didn't have to go through this with both moronic brothers. "Give me—"
He placed his clawed hand in hers, and she completely freaked, jumping so that she actually fell back on her butt, painfully. Sesshoumaru was now the one holding out his hand in empty air. He knelt at her side as she rubbed pitifully at her lower back, and one of his eyebrows rose. There was a spark of amusement in his gold eyes, definitely at her expense.
Amused you, did I, she wanted to snap back, then bash him over the head with her first aid kit. Though she was pretty sure that wasn't what it was intended for.
Kagome pursed her lips together in a decidedly sour expression, then got to her knees. Instead of hitting him with the kit, she set it gently down before her and opened it. Taking out some disinfectant wet-wipes, she held her hand out to him once more. He placed his larger hand in hers without having to be prompted again. She would have marveled had she not been so damn embarrassed.
Sesshoumaru had decided that the quickest way to gain the girl's favour was to do the exact opposite of his beloved half-brother. And the exact opposite was actually listening to her from time to time. Or, at least, pretending to. Not an easy task by any means, the way she prattled on sometimes, but he'd faced more difficult battles before. That last part was slowly becoming a mantra to him.
Tracing a light finger over the path of wounds on his wrist, Kagome raised her eyes to him. "Why haven't these healed," she asked, "Shouldn't they have at least partially healed by now?"
"I inflicted the same damage on you, now my wounds will heal just as slow."
"Oh..." That was all she could really think to say to that. Or maybe 'sorry', but she didn't think she was sorry. So she busied herself with the task at hand, letting her mind wander as her body moved through the motions that were practically clockwork to her now.
She wondered if maybe she should steer toward nursing as a profession, or pediatrics. She grinned as she thought of how the gang would react if she were to bring a stethoscope back with her one day. Shippou-chan would love it, and Sango-chan would marvel and compliment her on the amazing treasures of her world. Inuyasha would snort and say something to the affect that her time was noisy or it smelled. Then Miroku would use the small listening device in some inane plot to...
"Hey!"
Inuyasha impatiently knocked them apart, jerking Kagome out of some of the most pleasant thoughts she had had all day. The miko responded in kind, letting 'the word' fall from her lips in a gesture that was almost automatic.
Sesshoumaru stared down at his brother and imagined how amusing battles with him would be if the miko were truly on his side. Now that he was fairly certain that her immediate threat to him had been neutralized, he could appreciate her power, and the precision with which she wielded it. He had also concluded that, had she the ability to use that particular spell on him, she would have done so by now. He had no reason to be uneasy, he need only sit back and enjoy the show.
After all, if his brother was good for one thing, it was entertainment.
Kagome reached out and once again claimed Sesshoumaru's hand, then abruptly dropped it when she realized she had finished bandaging it some time ago. Heat rose into her cheeks. How long had she been fiddling with the gauze while lost in one of her silly daydreams? The answer was definitely 'too long'.
Inuyasha pushed to his feet slowly, letting the subduing spell wear off completely before he moved. He stood over Kagome, and instead of looking furious or sullen, he folded his arms over his chest and looked downright thoughtful.
Kagome very nearly swallowed at this new and scary change.
"I can believe that what happened back there was not your fault," he began calmly, "but you are going to have to stay away from him, Kagome. Don't believe he won't try it again. Sesshoumaru-sama just loves to repeat himself, doesn't he?"
"What..."
"Did you not hear me the first time? You are going to stay far, far away from this bastard!" Inuyasha had his face on that said he had all the answers and was willing to enforce them if needs be.
Kagome stood up, very slowly. "In case you failed to notice, there is a life on the line here. I will not walk away from this until we've exhausted all possibilities!"
At the sudden look of horror on Inuyasha's face, Kagome blanched. "Except for that one, you BAKA!"
"I will not let you walk away," Sesshoumaru stood up behind her, placing a claw on her shoulder to emphasize his point. The contact seemed to burn heat through her clothes.
Inuyasha immediately growled. He grasped Tetsusaiga by the hilt and took one step forward.
Kagome stopped him instantly with an upturned palm. She ducked her shoulder and shrugged Sesshoumaru's hand off. She couldn't help the shudder that passed through her as his fingers slid down the sleeve of her fuku. His nearness and touchy-feely mannerisms where she was concerned were seriously beginning to creep her out.
She moved away from him, turning slightly to keep both the dogs in sight. Only then, when she was standing as an island unto herself, did she become aware of the fact that she had physically stepped between the two. The realization made her aggravation come sweeping in again, eating away at her like the tide crashing against the shore.
"I'm going to bed," she suddenly announced, causing both brothers to blink. She pointed at Sesshoumaru, then Inuyasha meaningfully, "And you both better stay away from me for awhile! Or I will kiss you," her finger pivoted back to Inuyasha, "then I will say 'the word' until you become dust in the ground. Understood?" She didn't wait for an answer, she lifted the first aid kit and headed back the way she had come, at a steady, unhurried pace.
Inuyasha stood quietly by and hissed under his breath, completely forgetting for the moment that his older brother was standing not three feet away from him. "Damn, she's scary," he muttered, not for the first time.
Sesshoumaru would never say it aloud, but at that moment he fully agreed.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Sesshoumaru claimed the tree closest to the old miko's hut as his own, and Inuyasha claimed the roof. They silently glared across at each other as they settled down to rest.
They glared at each other well into the night.
Once a field mouse passed under Sesshoumaru's tree and they glared at him, too. But only for a little while. An owl swooped down and took care of that.
TBC...
Next chapter we test the boundaries of everyone's sanity. Hum. Actually, we seem to be doing that every chapter. :-D How far will sibling rivalry go? And exactly how far will Kagome go? All these questions and more tackled...
when y'all answer one little question for me:
WHO WANTS MORE?!
^_^