Disclaimer: Inuyasha characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. Other characters are property of Kidoairaku.
Rating: PG-13: for possible language and just in case
Summary: [Sess/Kag] What if Sesshoumaru was the one that met Kagome on the other side of the well?
Genre: Romance/Drama
A/N: Hello, hello. =) How are we all today? Well, I hope. Pathetic chapter, not too important in terms of the big idea, I don't think…um…so if you're totally uninterested, I won't mind if you skip it. =) Big point, though: we introduce our first villain (whoohoo!). ^_^ Happy reading!
Sesshoumaru
Chapter Twelve
September 2003
Needless to say, they went traveling in random directions from that point on. Kagome could tell Sesshoumaru was definitely frustrated with her just by the way he seemed to look at her every so often. Other than that, his facial muscles seemed immovable.
"Why don't we ever cut through villages?" she questioned impatiently, pouting at his side.
"There is no need."
Okay, so maybe he moved his mouth every so often just to offer the briefest answer possible, but aside from that, you'd figure his face was always lax. "What's your purpose, man?" she huffed, crossing her arms. "You can't be along just for the ride. I mean, aside from the fact that I literally dragged you into this, you must have a purpose of your own…what are you trying to do?"
"That is no business of yours."
"Well, High-And-Mighty, it might help us get somewhere. Are you, perhaps, looking for something?"
He offered her a sideward glance. "Sesshoumaru searches for nothing he cannot attain himself."
"I'm sure, mister, but can you at least tell me that you're looking for something?"
"Yes, I am looking to attain something of mine."
"Alrighty," she ejaculated, kicking a wayward twig, "now we're getting somewhere. What is it that you're 'looking to attain' then?"
"Should you have adequate reason to hold that information, I will entertain your inquiry," he stated flatly. "For now, as I have stated before, it is no business of yours."
Kagome put a finger to her lips thoughtfully. "Buried treasure?" she jested, "Long-lost relatives? A twin brother, perhaps? Come to think of it, if he's any nicer than you are and talkative to boot, then point me in his direction!" A laugh trickled through her lips.
His head swiveled in her direction. Did she know something of his past? Brusquely, he reached for her throat, his fingers unintentionally brushing against the glowing Shikon Jewel. A dizziness overcame him, and he took an involuntary step back. Twin brother… For a moment, he visualized tree branches, swaying in the wind as their leaves rustled softly…"Pretty, aren't they, Sesshoumaru-kun?" "Un!" The young Sesshoumaru didn't have to look to his other side to see the black hair that bobbed in agreement; his voice was softer than the kid demon's. "Un."
Sesshoumaru blinked, warding away his fogginess. For a moment, he had felt so utterly weak…so unprotected that he'd faltered in his steps. He found himself leaning against the supportive trunk of a tree, Kagome's hand on his forehead. Oddly enough, the warmth of her hand on his cool skin comforted him in the slightest way. He brushed her hand away briskly, rising to stand.
"Are you alright?" she asked belatedly, also straightening.
The subtle incline of his head affirmed her question. He still felt weak.
"That was really weird," Kagome pointed out, brushing herself off. "You know you really scared me for a second; I thought you fainted or something because I felt really lightheaded." Shrugging, she started off on the trail again, motioning him to follow. "We've got progress to make, you know, so if you're fine, then we should get moving again."
He stared after her, casting his gaze briefly to the thin line of warmth where the Shikon had touched his hand. Black hair…
~*~*~*~
He was leading the way now. She wasn't sure why, or when he had actually figured out in what direction they were headed, but there he was—in front and at least twenty feet ahead. Kagome couldn't help but remind him every so often that they were bound by thirty feet.
The sun was about to set, though, and the day wavered between dusk and full light. Their path wasn't as obscured anymore, an indication that it was well-traveled. The canopy of branches that had hung over them before were now more spread out, allowing sunlight to illuminate the trail. Grass was not in abundance, rather replaced by sandy dirt sprinkled with sparse wildflowers. Kagome paused to pluck a said flower from the ground, admiring the light purple blossom. Skipping ahead to fall in step with her companion, she reached up and laced it into his hair. He just as soon moved to extricate it from behind his ear, but her small hand stopped him.
"Leave it there," she demanded cheerfully. "It smells nice!"
Indeed, Sesshoumaru silently admitted, its scent was pleasant, but the thought of having any sort of plant in his hair repulsed him. He made to remove it again.
"Didn't you hear me?" she huffed irritably, again blocking him, "Why can't you leave the flower in your hair…do that for me, just this once?" Her frown turned into a hopeful smile, her grip loosening on his wrist.
At this, the taiyoukai paused thoughtfully. It was, after all, a small request, and this delay was inhibiting further progress. But, their destination was not so far off; it could be reached within a few hours, and day had not yet waned. They could get there before the day's end.
"If you don't keep it in, I'm gonna stand right here and not move."
His resolve was broken. Jerking his hand from her grip, Sesshoumaru withdrew the blossom from his hair, tore it in half, and tossed it to the wayside in one fluid movement. If she wanted to stand here all day, then so be it. They would stop.
"I'm not moving," Kagome announced self-importantly.
"Nor am I. We rest here."
She blinked. "That's it? We are?" Her lips protruded in a pout. "That's cheap!"
The demon lord alighted on a tree branch, taking a startled Kagome with him. Quite frankly, he didn't see anything "cheap" about it. This girl was actually quite an expensive waste of his precious time.
```
Her power, her energy, it was fleeing her rapidly now. Every day, it was a struggle to open her eyes, to join those of the waking world. Kikyo no longer rose with the birds at the dim shining of dawn. Instead, she lingered in an unconscious sleep, nearly dead to everything around her. The Shikon still glimmered darkly with a growing malevolence that strengthened each day. Why? Why was it undergoing this radical transformation?
The priestess inhaled a labored breath, slowly opening her eyes to the world around her. Her back was settled neatly into the trunk of the God Tree with an omnipresent bow at her side. If only she could locate the source of her energy strain…if only she could reach the girl…
All doubts were disposed, and Kikyo no longer questioned whether the bond had been broken. It must have been. Why else would she feel so drained? So powerless? She sighed tiredly. It didn't explain the Shikon no Tama's strange behavior, though.
"Inuyasha," she called softly, firmly. He was only in the branches above her, watching her in quiet concern. "I am going to a spring. Do not follow."
It was a meaningless endeavor, she knew. The hanyou would trail after her whether or not he received permission, but she had warned him that she was going to bathe, or at least made an allusion to it. He would respect her wishes to an extent, but he would be there—just in case she needed protection.
She moved as casually as possible to the nearby spring, clutching her bow and arrows. Glancing around first to where she knew Inuyasha was crouching, her slender hands moved to slide the cloth of her chihaya from her shoulders, and then the hakama from her hips. Swiftly, she slipped into the hot water, sighing as the liquid lapped over her cool skin. As she adjusted to the temperature, the priestess gazed down at her reflection, surprised when it was so hazy. Thoughtful, she tapped the water with her fingers, sending smooth ripples across the water's surface. Strangely enough, the tree branches above her were crystal-clear.
But her reflection still remained dim and blurred.
```
Her stomach was protesting angrily, but she refused to feed it. Knowing Sesshoumaru, the sound was probably quite unbearable to his ears, so she wanted to keep him as uncomfortable as possible. It was childish, she realized, but the whole ordeal had been on the immature side, so she was entitled to her share of immaturity. To eat would mean to request Sesshoumaru get down from the tree and follow her through the forest for whatever fodder she could find, and she would NOT allow that. No, Kagome was content just floating in the air, as far from him as possible, trying to get to sleep.
Sighing, she looked up the freshly starlit sky. It was keeping her up, she thought sullenly. Now that she had adjusted somewhat to the celestial lamp, it resembled a nightlight too large for her tastes. Often, she thought the relative silence of the Sengoku Jidai rather deafening, making it hard for her to fall asleep. Kagome watched nonchalantly as thick clouds rolled across her star-spangled sky, blinking as a fat drop of water shattered on the bridge of her nose. Rain? It soon began to pour, and she scrambled for the cover of the tree, regretful that she had to approach Sesshoumaru.
Taking an exasperated sigh, her lips curled into a pout as she scooted as far as possible from the demon lord. He was ignoring her, so she would ignore him. Kagome sighed once again and settled herself to sleep. Since the sky was blanketed and the silence broken, it did not take long for her to drop into sleep.
~*~*~*~
He felt it first, the odd sensation of cloaking. Like a bolt of fine, fine silk was suddenly draped over his surroundings—a bolt of fine, transparent silk that gave the impression of becoming the sky itself. And then, the strange aura that floated around this cloak—a lurking, boorishly alluring presence that radiated seduction. The scent of fragrant spring blossoms wrapped around his senses, seemingly warning him that danger was near—a beautiful kind of danger that promised sweet torture. The senses this all-around barrier seemed to arouse were numerous and ambiguous. Run, it whispered. Stay, it lilted. Sesshoumaru's golden eyes snapped open, quietly taking in the dusty twilight proceeding the rain.
He ducked.
With a startling creak and the rattling of branches, the tree behind him seemingly split and crashed downward. What was this? Then, it felt as if an invisible being cut a sharpened stiletto down his cheek. There was a sharp curse behind him, and he swiveled around. Seeing nothing, he resorted to meticulously sifting through the plethora of smells emanating from the forest. Snagging one in particular, he moved to catch Kagome in his arms as his instincts propelled him through a complicated series of twists.
"Kagome."
She stirred in his arms, staring up at him blearily. "Would five minutes more be too much to ask?" she queried sleepily.
Silently, he affirmed her question, checking her face for signs of the cut he'd felt. Surely enough, plain in scarlet was the needle-thin scar sliced down her face. She seemed to follow his gaze, tracing a delicate line with her finger where he was so earnestly staring. When the digit came away with blood, she gasped before her expression turned sour.
"Did you scratch me?" Kagome demanded.
Again, his instincts pushed him upwards, and it spared him, most likely, another cut.
"You can run, but you cannot hide, Western Lord…" Sesshoumaru's eyes averted to a scantily clad figure sitting leisurely, seemingly on thin air. She continued before he had time to cut in. "My, my…what's this now? Have we a female companion, Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"I'm more like a servant than anything," Kagome snorted. Pulling herself up with arms coiled around the demon's neck, she attempted to catch a glimpse of their predator. Her large eyes narrowed for a moment, squinting up at the girl. "Yuka…?"
The woman smirked. "Yura, my dear. Yura of the Hair. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Yura swept into a mock bow, exposing more of her body than was absolutely necessary, probably, on first meetings.
Kagome noticed, in one hand, the woman held a comb of bone, run through with long, straight strands of hair. She puzzled over this. How in the world did the comb have hair if, in fact, it was not combing anything? The strands, though, seemed to twist into a single string that was too thin to see. By this time, Yura had come out of her bow and turned admiring eyes to Sesshoumaru.
"I finally have the chance to meet the notorious Lord of the Western Lands," she commented idly, tugging at the comb held loosely in her fingers. "And oh, the rumors were so true!" Her bare feet lifted from whatever platform they'd been residing on to transport her through the air. "How beautiful you are, Sesshoumaru-sama! What pretty hair you have…" she drawled out. "That head of yours would be well worth capturing, yes?"
Sesshoumaru seemed unfazed by her flattery. "You dare threaten I, Sesshoumaru?"
Kagome snorted, peeking around his sleeve to see what was going on.
The woman's lips flirted with a smirk. "I daresay, my lord, that your hands are, literally, full right now." A slender finger lifted to stroke her red mouth. "I wonder why you won't put the little girl down?"
The taiyoukai did not respond to this prodding; it would only be unwise to do so.
His silence seemed to please her. "Oh now, is that the case?" she laughed. "To protect your mate, eh? Have you not marked her?"
"Hey now," Kagome interrupted scathingly. "Who said anything about me being this jerk's mate? Just because we're physically bound doesn't mean it has anything to do with something emotional. Are we clear?"
A look of surprise flitted over her red-marked features. "Physically bound, now?" She looked thoughtful again. "Would that entail having intimate physical contact at all times?" she asked innocently, eying the pair of them over.
Kagome blushed, turning away and mumbling, "Something like that…"
"Oh, so much fun!" Yura neared them, taking a lock of Kagome's hair into scrutiny. "I guess that'll do," she murmured to herself. She dropped the bunch of hair to draw a smooth blade, smiling down at them. "Off with their heads, then!"
Damn it all. Sesshoumaru kicked back in the air, earning Yura a sharp bruise in her upper chest region. How was he supposed to fight with both arms occupied? Looking out for someone else's safety, no less? Oh, this Kagome girl was the bane of his existence. Speaking of whom, said girl sucked in a sharp breath, staring in shocked awe at the oni who attacked them. What was it now?
"Sexual abuse, and we've only just met, Sesshoumaru-sama!"
"How can you hurt her?" Kagome said at the same time, looking away. "She looks exactly like Yuka!"
"Yuka."
"Yeah! I've been friends with Yuka for ages! I could never hurt her!"
He glanced at her skeptically before focusing his attention back on the oni, whose body was newly scarred with a fresh chunk missing from her chest cavity. The damage hadn't been as great as he'd expected, but he wondered why she was still breathing evenly.
"I cannot defend us properly if you refuse to cooperate, Kagome," Sesshoumaru stated pointedly. "You are, as always, in my way."
"Sorry Superman, you're stuck with me."
He ignored the odd "Superman" she'd called him. "Of that, Sesshoumaru has been aware."
"Well, Kagome's glad to know that."
"Oh!" Yura squealed, swinging her sword, "a lover's spat!"
Kagome sent a fierce glare in her direction, dislodging herself from her companion's hold and slipping her hand swiftly into his. "Problem solved," she declared triumphantly. "You lead, and I follow."
Yura's lips twisted into a frown, her crimson eyes watching in apprehension as the taiyoukai approached. "How cute," she scoffed.
The oni barreled towards them, moving with a feline grace that seemed to rival Sesshoumaru's. As she came on, each millisecond drawing her closer, Kagome winced, hoping she would not have to make any blows against the demon. The way she smirked was an eerie doppelganger to Yuka's "I've-got-something-planned" look and, with the number of times Kagome had seen that, it was impossible that she'd ever hurt Yura. She took a shuddering breath, unconsciously tightening her grip on Sesshoumaru's hand. A single thought fluttered in her mind, and her lips quirked at it, finding humor in its audacity. Bring it on.
A/N: *sticks tongue out* Cheesy! LOL. Wow, that was horrible. ^^;; Kai, you got your Kikyo, although not much of it. I might still wait to put a disclaimer on one of the ideas running through the fic…I'll leave an unofficial one here for now: Celyia's got credit for one of the side-plots going; I'm not quite sure how to develop it right now, but I'm working on it…and it's a kind of spin-off from the original idea; not sure if it'll work out in the end. *sigh* Well, well, we introduced Yura, couldn't forget her, and she's the first humanoid demon Sesshou and Kago face—how sweet! Tell me if my characterization of Yura is totally off, if this chapter was totally bogus, because I'm honestly not too happy with it. =( And Amreld, again, if you're reading, my dear, I couldn't care less whether I'm taken off your favorites list or not; I'll update whenever I please, thank you. ^_^
-kidoairaku