Disclaimer: Inuyasha characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. Other characters are property of Dark Star.
Rating: PG-13; possible language, just in case
Summary: What if Sesshoumaru was the one that met Kagome on the other side of the well? Sess/Kag
Genre: Romance/Drama
A/N: Okay, so I HAD my little 'moment' in the last chapter about the reviews. ^^' Well, anyways, continuing on. I'm really sorry for the late update (as usual). I just wasn't inspired to write! ^^' Oh yeah, on another note, I am HIGHLY CONSIDERING starting two more stories…tell me what you think! (I know, I already have five going…^^') Onto the story!
S e s s h o u m a r uChapter Five
October 2002
Two days, it seems, had come and gone in a flash. Before Sesshoumaru knew it, he was gliding towards Inuyasha's so-called territory. The warm afternoon air played over his face, basking him in comforting warmth. Below him, the world was spread out in a blanket of green and blue, embroidered with sandy brown. Humans were specks, water glittered with the golden reflection of the golden disk called the sun. He sighed. If only his life were as peaceful as the scene portrayed underneath him... Alas, it was not to be. Recognizing the familiar surroundings of Inuyasha's Forest, Sesshoumaru silently landed in a clearing with a well in the center. A light scent hung in the air, the scent of fresh roses and light rain. He recognized it as the scent of the strange girl he had met on first attempt at coming to Inuyasha. Scowling, he recalled the events of that day, causing him a minor wound. To say the least, it disgraced him to be harmed in any way by that pathetic brother of his. Muttering something about incompetent half-breeds, he made his way briskly to his brother's location.
~*~*~*~*~
Inuyasha could smell him before anything else. He quietly noted to himself that Sesshoumaru would be here to discuss the matters of land ownership. After all, Inuyasha was promised a portion of the vast kingdom known as the Western Lands. Gazing down from his perch in a tree, he looked across to Kagome. For a while now, he had been keeping watch over her. It seemed he owed something to her, felt that he had to apologize in some way for Kikyou's actions. A plan formed in his mischievous mind, and he leaped quietly from his tree to the one Kagome had been stuck to. This better work… Going over his predictions in his mind, he waited for Sesshoumaru to emerge.
~*~*~*~*~
Alarmed by the sudden shock of something, Kagome's eyes snapped open, greeted by the strange sensation of waning afternoon light. Where am I? She looked dazedly around at her surroundings. Pinned to a tree, she was set in the center of a clearing, surrounded then by dense forest. Snorting, she remembered the grim events leading up to her current state. But wait… Kagome thought for a moment, truly puzzled. Why am I awake??? Glancing over at her shoulder, she noted she still had the arrow lodged where it had always been. Forever, it seemed. She mentally groaned. What now?!
Sesshoumaru drew closer to his brother's location, the hanyou's scent slightly altered by someone else's. Curious, he focused his senses on the other smell, the distinct aroma of roses invading his mind. She's still here? As he cleared the boundary of trees, he was caught by surprise at the girl there. She was dangling, quite strange to see, on a tree, held up by a single arrow. Curiosity getting the better of him, he walked closer and was startled by the sound of her sharp voice. He hadn't realized she was alive…
"Hey!" she called sternly. Time away from society wasn't the best thing for her manners.
Raising an eyebrow at the daring call, he walked steadily closer. "What are you doing here, wench?" he questioned coolly.
"I don't have the time," she answered, glaring malevolently at him. If he wants the Shikon, then screw him. For a moment, she pondered asking him whether he did want the jewel or not. Then again, being bonded to him doesn't sound too appealing. Of course, she didn't want to spend the rest of her life stuck to a tree…one or the other…Kagome sighed.
Inside the walls of her mind, she heard a melodious voice call out to her.
"You will be leaving us shortly," Seisho admonished.
"No!" Kagome argued, unaware that she was yelling aloud. "I don't know what to do!"
"You know, you just have not come to know as of yet…"
Kagome, desperately confused called out one last time. "Seisho!"
Sesshoumaru was clearly confused. Had she just said 'Seisho'? The name seemed familiar to him…in the distant corners of his mind. Yet…it sounded a lot like his name. Looking for some sort of explanation, he observed the girl, her face contorted in a desperate plea.
Creeping carefully to the tip of the branch, behind Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha carefully planned his movements…
~*~*~*~*~
Kikyou jerked from her nap. Nestled in the arms of a tree, she had been peacefully slumbering until…something…had brought her back to reality. She could feel it in her bones. Something was amiss. It was strange. The feeling was like that of when Inuyasha's brother had been so close, on that day that she had been killed. All of it was an oddity, really. She was unsure of how she was brought back to life, but here she was; that was undeniable. Kikyou closed her eyes and shuddered at the fearful memory of Sesshoumaru, the heartless prince of the Western Lands. She remembered everything with startling clarity.
~*~*~*~*~
The feeling of foreboding was nearly overwhelming. Yet, she took no heed, ignoring her instincts and continuing to collect the herbs she sought. As the seconds ticked by, the instinctual warning would not wane, and it was then that she noticed there must have been someone there. Kikyou ignored the presence, deciding to attack only if it were the one to attack. Perhaps, this was her first mistake. She blinked and found the figure of Inuyasha's half-brother in front of her, glaring down condescendingly at her. The youkai said nothing for a while, letting silence weave its spell between them. Inuyasha's wench seemed not to fear him, something that angered him slightly.
"Where is Inuyasha?" he demanded softly, golden eyes boring into her gray ones.
"I don't think I need to tell you that," Kikyou answered, equally as soft.
"Tell me, or you will regret it," the regal youkai threatened, eyes flashing dangerously.
Kikyou raised her hand, her palm facing outwards towards him. Mistake number two. Her hand glowed eerily. "I will say nothing," she said coldly.
Sesshoumaru chuckled harshly. Caught off guard, Kikyou lowered her hand slightly, and then, she was pinned to a tree. Poisonous claws were set strategically in front of her face and golden eyes stared uncaring at her. Kikyou paled ever so slightly.
"I will ask again," Sesshoumaru said calmly, threateningly, "Where is Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha, help me… Kikyou shook her head as much as she could, her throat being grasped tightly by the beautiful youkai. She could feel Inuyasha's presence somewhere in the near-distance. Maybe, Sesshoumaru would leave her alone now… No. She couldn't ever think that way. Sesshoumaru was a danger to Inuyasha, her loved, her most dear. She would not allow him to harm Inuyasha. Kikyou raised her chin arrogantly to him. All fear disappeared. Momentarily.
Sesshoumaru glared at her. "You are making this more difficult than I intended for it to be, wench."
Still, Kikyou kept her chin raised stubbornly, daring him to kill her. Strike three, you're out. Without so much as a blink, Sesshoumaru allowed the poison to drip from his claws. He knew Inuyasha was fast approaching, and he waited until his half-brother could see him fully. Then, right there, in his presence, Sesshoumaru swiped his deadly claws, and Kikyou lay in a bloody heap at the base of a tree. The basket of herbs she had been collecting was strewn at her feet. No one crossed Sesshoumaru and lived. That done, he smirked at his brother's shocked face and leapt off through the cover of the forest.
Kikyou was dimly aware of what was going on. She could faintly see Inuyasha's intent golden eyes on her. Those golden eyes…so much like that of her killer… Visibly, she winced at his touch. Now, she was scared. And there, she died, fear evident in her clouded gray eyes. If anything, she wanted revenge for her death. She would teach that arrogant youkai…if she ever lost the fear of those golden eyes…
~*~*~*~*~
Kikyou snapped out of her reverie. Inuyasha could be in danger. After all, her instincts had warned her once. Maybe they were warning her again. Hurting her was one thing but hurting Inuyasha…Kikyou's fists clenched. The un-dead priestess pushed herself out of the cradling arms of the tree and allowed her intuition to guide her to the danger. Inuyasha was hers. No one would hurt him as long as she walked this Earth.
~*~*~*~*~
Kagome lost touch with Seisho, frowning deeply as she missed the warmth of his presence in her mind. She was so confused! Clenching her fists at her sides, she was surprised she could move…her left arm at least, the right arm was immobile because of the damn arrow.
"You!" she shouted at Sesshoumaru, glaring him down. "Do you wish to use the Shikon no Tama?"
Again, Sesshoumaru raised a brow.
Inuyasha, knowing his brother, in fact, did not need the Shikon, quickly leaped down, left unnoticed by Sesshoumaru until the last minute. Aggressively, he shoved his half brother into Kagome. The youkai stumbled and fell into Kagome, catching her off guard. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Sesshoumaru's lips just…dare I say…fell into Kagome's? For a split second in the flowing river of time, their lips were locked together, and Inuyasha smirked. Now, if everything would go as planned…
Kagome, livid and irritated, shoved the youkai off her. In an attempt to regain balance, Sesshoumaru reached out, trying to grab something, her arm, her wrist, her hair, he didn't care, to steady himself. His fingers closed around the enchanted arrow and with a light tug, it came out, evaporating in his hand. Luckily for his ego, he steadied himself and glared at the girl. It wasn't like he meant to fall into her.
With the elimination of the arrow, Kagome fell out of her spot with a thud, landing on her rear. She, in return, glared at him. It took a full ten seconds to realize she was no longer stuck to that wretched tree. Smiling brightly, she quickly got up and kicked a root protruding from the ground. Take that you dumb tree! However, her smile quickly faded as she recalled the conditions of her broken spell. Her face pale, she turned to Sesshoumaru, whom she would get to know extremely well.
He, in turn, gazed back in confusion. Everything had happened so fast! Growling, he spun around to face a madly grinning Inuyasha.
"YOU…" his voice shook with quiet menace. The events so far had been humiliating to say the least.
"I love you, too, Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha responded, smirking. His arms were crossed over his chest.
Kagome groaned. "And I suppose you know the conditions of the spell as well?" she asked Inuyasha.
Still smirking, he nodded. "Just look at the happy couple!"
Sesshoumaru, in a flash, had him pinned to a tree. Sesshoumaru missed nothing. "What conditions of what spell?" he demanded, his voice a low growl.
"My spell," Kikyou answered hesitantly, stepping gracefully into the clearing. She eyed Inuyasha disdainfully.
"What spell, may I ask, is that?" Sesshoumaru asked, turning to her coldly.
Sesshoumaru liked to know what was going on, after all, he was usually the one in control. But it seemed, to his distaste, that the tables had turned.
"Well, Sesshoumaru," Kagome spat, walking towards him with determined steps. "This bitch enchanted an arrow that would put me to sleep until someone," she said, ticking a list off on her fingers, "who is youkai, male, and holds no desires for the Shikon no Tama comes to pull the arrow out. In case you haven't noticed, you fit the bill perfectly. And she did this, may I add, with the selfish desire of her survival over mine."
At this point, Kagome glared at Kikyou, who in turn, turned an icy gaze back.
"When I was freed," Kagome continued, staring deliberately at Sesshoumaru, "I would be bonded to this person through an invisible link. We, now, thanks to Inuyasha," she said, whipping her gaze to the hanyou for a moment, "are bonded physically. We may not move more than thirty feet apart. For the rest, you will have to ask our favorite bitch here." With that, her icy glare turned to Kikyou.
Kikyou was, in a way, afraid to speak. She didn't want to even spare a glance at the youkai lord. Looking to Inuyasha for help, she made no indication to answer. Too bad for her, Sesshoumaru was getting impatient.
"Well?"
Kikyou stuttered for a moment, deciding it was best to answer and not be killed. She did not know the extent of her re-living abilities. Gathering up her courage, she acted as if absolutely nothing had happened between them. "You must be on the same level," she said simply, quietly. "In a way, you will mirror each other. No object or person can come between you physically; they would receive a…punishment…simply put." Inside, she was terrified. Outside, the trembling of her hands inside her sleeve verified her fear masked by her cold visage. She paused, adding as an afterthought, "You cannot harm me," she said to Kagome. "Occasionally, we each should pass out, but other than that, your existence is no longer a threat to me. It is, however, a flaw in time."
"And why can't you just perform the spell again to save yourself the trouble?" Kagome asked venomously. Actually, she wouldn't quite mind if she went back to Seisho.
"Spells don't work twice," Kikyou responded bleakly.
Sesshoumaru, taking all of this in, smirked slightly before moving away from Kagome and putting Inuyasha's body between them. The hanyou was quickly rewarded with unconsciousness and a nice, long nap. So, the punishment wasn't so dire…too bad for Sesshoumaru.
"You're taking this quite well," Kagome hissed at him.
"You're sure that all of this is true? Taking it from a walking corpse?" he responded monotonously.
"Go ahead and try to move more than thirty feet," Kagome answered, crossing her arms.
"Very well."
Sesshoumaru jumped once and was ready to leap off a second time when he found he couldn't. Growling, he jumped upwards and heard a terrified shriek behind him. Kagome moved with him, though she had no control over any of it. She was just floating dangerously in the air. When Sesshoumaru landed, Kagome fell through the branches of the God Tree, the tree she had been pinned to. She landed quite forcefully on her feet, standing upright, but when plummeting through the tree branches, she received a cut on her cheek. A thin stream of blood flowed from it, and she winced. Similarly, a cut appeared on Sesshoumaru's flawless face. They both turned to glare at Kikyou.
Kikyou fidgeted under the youkai lord's gaze. "Y-you mirror each other. If one gets injured in any way, the other will as well," she explained. I'm not afraid of him. I'm not. Her posture straightened slightly. I will have my revenge. "Therefore, if one dies, the other does as well."
Kagome and Sesshoumaru were both shocked to say the least. The girl glanced desperately around, wishing this were a dream. "Is there any way to break this bond?" Sesshoumaru demanded.
Kikyou looked thoughtful for a moment. This was going to be a great revenge. She didn't even have to kill him directly. An imperceptible smirk graced her features. "No."
A/N: Okay, I re-posted. I'll start responding to reviews in the next chapter. Hopefully, this is improved slightly. And there's more of a twist on it. ^^' It's all very irrational right now, I know, and I apologize. Suggestions appreciated! ^_^
IMPORTANT! This [notice] was posted in "Merged Souls" as well. Please, if you wish to receive e-mail updates from me and don't already, then please give me your e-mail address in your review somewhere. I will not, I repeat, I will not go looking for an e-mail address in a signed review. If you do submit a signed review, include your e-mail in the review somewhere. ^_^ Everyone will receive a review response unless specified otherwise by the reviewer. ^_^ Thanks for reading!
~*~*~Dark Star~*~*~