CG: VI
Sesshoumaru had willed himself to return to the misty void after his disturbing dream. He wanted some answers and he wanted them now. "RIN!" He called out for the umpteenth time. Where was that little brat?
"RIN!" He shouted, his voice was growing dangerously aggravated.
"RIN!"
"Calm down, she's obviously not here," An arrogant, masculine voice answered.
Sesshoumaru faced the origins of the voice, not surprised to find the blue eyed, dark haired man. Currently, he was examining his fingernails, an expression of absolutely boredom donning his features. "You!" Sesshoumaru accused pointing his finger towards the man.
Blue eyes looked up for a moment before shifting back to his fingernails. "Yes, I'm me. What did you want?"
"I want some answers." Sesshoumaru replied, standing right before the man. Normally he would tower over people, but this man was nearly his height, perhaps an inch or two shorter than him.
"I suppose you want them from Rin?" The man asked with a grin, a fanged tooth peeked over his lip.
"I don't care who I get them from, but I want them now." Sesshoumaru snarled, frustration causing his voice to take on a deadly edge.
"That's too bad. If you wanted them from me specifically I could have helped you, but since any ol' chap will do I suppose you should look around for someone who cares." The man turned in a complete circle and shrugged before walking towards a tree that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
He hopped into the lowest branch and relaxed against the trunk, closing his eyes lazily. "It's really too bad that I'm the only one here."
Sesshoumaru made his way towards the tree and punched the trunk with all his might, hoping to take out some of his anger. He didn't expect for the tree to split in two, depositing his only companion onto the ground.
The man who fell off the branch in a less than dignified manner, casually stood and dusted himself off. He observed the damaged tree before shaking his head and snapping his fingers. The tree uprighted itself and heeled it's damage. "Do not make it your new habit to destroy my trees. It really is quite annoying to have it fix itself."
Sesshoumaru was too busy staring at his fist to acknowledge what the man said. "How did I do that?"
"It's not like this is reality as you know it. You should be able to be as strong as you'd like here." The man replied easily. "Damn, I wasn't going to tell you anything. Oh well."
"Who are you?" Sesshoumaru demanded, annoyed with these games.
"I think you know who I am." The man replied.
"Give me a name."
"Didn't your parents already name you Sesshoumaru?" The difficult man rejoined. A fist wrapped itself around his white throat, squeezing off the air supply. The man sputtered surprised for a bit before relaxing and moving through the hand as if it wasn't anything more than a phantom. "I suppose you'd like to know my name."
Sesshoumaru let his empty fist fall to his side before answering. "That would be ideal."
The blue eyed man held his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, I suppose that would be ideal. I'd rather give you another name though. A name of someone else that is a bit more pertinent to your situation. I'll leave you with the name Kagewaki."
"Fine, why is Kagewaki important to my situation?" Sesshoumaru asked, growing exasperated and flopping down to the ground and sitting Indian style.
The blue eyed man smiled at him again and cast him a confused look. "Which situation of yours are you addressing?"
Cold, golden eyes were the response. Sesshoumaru had decided to no longer participate in these riddles. He was just going to sit there until the man spoke or until he left the misty void.
The blue eyed man moved to sit across from him on the ground. "Would you like to discuss the dream?" He asked, his voice no longer playful. Sesshoumaru nodded mutely. "Very well, you were dreaming about the demon lord Sesshoumaru and the miko he loved, Kagome."
"That much I already knew." Sesshoumaru butt in annoyed with the lack of progress he was getting from this meeting.
"Of course you do! I'll just be going then, nice talking." The blue eyed man began to rise, but was stopped as Sesshoumaru roughly yanked his long high ponytail. The man looked down at him, a grimace on his face as he rubbed his abused scalp when Sesshoumaru released his hair. "Fine, he wanted to become human for her so that they could be together. This I'm sure you already know as well."
Sesshoumaru nodded, encouraging him to continue.
The blue eyed man looked at him sadly for a moment before laying a hand upon Sesshoumaru's shoulder for a moment, regret evident in his eyes. "Sometimes fate is not kind and things do not work out as they should. You and I have both suffered from that inequality I'm afraid." He turned to leave then.
"Wait, you didn't tell me anything of use you worthless human!" Sesshoumaru roared.
The man turned back towards him, an amused half-smile present. "It's funny how such sayings come back to us so easily isn't it? I'm sorry Sesshoumaru, I really can't tell you anything right now. You'll have to discover it on your own." Then the blue eyed man disappeared leaving Sesshoumaru alone in his confusion once again.
Kagome groaned as she took another step following Souta into the woods behind the plantation. He had begged and pleaded that she go out walking with him. Now that she had crutches she thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to get out of the house.
However, now underneath her arms where the top of the crutches rested she could feel her skin rubbed raw. Her hands were sore as well from gripping the hand bars so tightly on the crutches.
"Hurry up Kagome!" Souta called from about twenty feet in front of her.
"I'm trying, have pity on the cripple okay. This is harder than it looks," she informed him as she made her steady way towards him. She wouldn't have minded having Naraku carry her around right about now.
Souta came running back and stood beside her, walking slowly along with her. "I'm sorry, I forgot you couldn't go very fast."
A few feet later and Kagome felt her heart leapt out of her chest. Souta looked back at her concerned but she assured him that she was all right. Under her very nose was the creek from her dream. She could picture herself and the mysterious young man swimming in those crystal clear waters.
"Isn't it beautiful Kagome?" Souta asked in awe. "This is what I wanted to show you. I saw it on Friday when I was stuck here all day with Naraku."
"It is," Kagome agreed. Her eyes drifted towards a large tree with branches that hung over the stream. "Maybe we should put a rope on that branch. It looks perfect to swing from don't you think?"
Souta whole-heartedly agreed. The idea of a rope swing brought a strange sense of nostalgia washing over Kagome. It was as if there once was a rope there and that she had spent great amounts of time playing with it. And the stream was identical to the one from her dream.
"I'm going swimming do you want to come?" Souta asked hopefully.
Kagome frowned and pointed out her cast. "I can't get it wet dear."
His face fell at the revelation. "I forgot," he replied as he stripped down to his bathing suit trunks and dived right into the stream.
When he broke the surface he had a glowering sister standing over him. "Don't ever do something so foolish! You had no idea how deep that water was! You could have broken your neck and drowned!"
"I'll be more careful, chill out." Souta replied as he skillfully swam backwards, arm over arm parting the water easily.
Kagome shook her head at his irresponsibility. His answer too many times was 'I forgot.' She found a comfortable place to rest against that large tree she spotted earlier that would be prime rope swing material.
She allowed her head to rest against it and allowed her weary sapphire orbs to close. She could already feel the density of a dream forming in her mind as she fell into unconsciousness.
He smiled at her again from his perch in their tree. He had a long twine rope in his hand. He had been working on weaving it for the past week. "What do you think Kagome? Isn't this the perfect place for a swing?"
She frowned up at him. "But Kouga, this isn't our property. If that plantation owner finds out he'll probably have us lynched with this same rope."
"Where's your sense of adventure? That's not going to happen so long as I'm around." He smiled at her reassuringly as he started to walk along the branch with perfect balance. He leaned down and began to tie the rope tight with a series of knots that would make a sailor proud. Probably because he had been learning how to tie thanks to a few sailors.
"Say Kouga, you haven't been to the city lately have you?" Kagome inquired, worrying on her bottom lip a bit.
Kouga finished pulling the rope taunt as he then jumped with the rope in his hand. He hung like a monkey suspended in air before looking back at her. "Why do you ask?"
"I just don't think it's a good idea for you to hang out with those people." Kagome answered as she started to climb their tree. Kouga began climbing back up the rope to pull himself back onto the great branch.
Kagome sat with her back against the trunk and Kouga sat in front of her. Both had their legs dangling over each side as they faced one another. "Don't worry Kagome, you know I wouldn't hang out with trouble."
"How can you be so sure? You're too trusting. Some pirate is going to take advantage of your skills, strength, and innocence. You're going to be abused somehow." Kagome told him as her hands clenched in fists at her sides. She looked to the West, the setting sun always somehow calmed her in moments of stress.
There was just something about the West that soothed her soul. Perhaps that was why when her father had been offered the position of governor over this parish she had begged that he accept. They had been living on the East coast and the idea of moving West thrilled her beyond belief.
"I don't like the way you worded that. But, I'm smarter than I look," Kouga winked at her as he took her hands within his, gaining her attention. It always bothered him for some unknown reason that she was so fascinated with anything that had to deal with that cardinal direction.
"You just can't trust pirates, Kouga. I want you to remember that." Kagome told him seriously, squeezing his hands before removing hers from within his.
Kouga ran his unoccupied hands through his long dark hair. In the shadows it appeared dark as obsidian, when the sun shined on it, it was a sun kissed brown shade. "Look, the only pirate I trust is Lafitte and that's only because he's above lying. So don't worry about it. Besides I'm not getting into anything illegal. I just am curious is all."
Kagome leaned across the branch and cupped either side of his face, touching foreheads with his. "I know Kouga, you would never do anything like that. I trust you."
That confident, fanged grin reappeared in full force. "That's right, because I'm the trustworthy, upright guy that's going to be the center of your universe. As soon as we get married I'll know enough about ships so that we can go sailing across the world." He locked eyes with hers. "We'll sail West until we reach the setting sun itself."
Kagome laughed gaily at his words. He was so full of adventure, just like she was. They were both however confined to the boring lives that came with the politics of her father. She was eternally grateful to her mother for convincing both their fathers to allow them to become engaged.
Kouga laughed along with her as he stood up on the branch, arms spread out wide to center his balance. He extended a hand down to help her rise. "Will you grant me the pleasure of this dance?"
"On this branch?" Kagome asked in disbelief as she glanced on either side of the branch to see nothing but crystal clear water, several feet deep no doubt.
"Of course!"
"But we could fall!" Kagome argued as she found herself in Kouga's arms as he began to walk them smoothly up and down the branch.
"Exactly!" He agreed as he purposely lost his balance taking Kagome with him to land with a splash into the deep stream. He continued to hold her tight as he treaded water for the both of them. He kissed her cheek as he moved his lips towards her ear. "Life is so much better when you're willing to take risks."
"Kagome! Kagome! Wake up!" Souta cried, roughly shaking his sister. Sapphire eyes popped open in a flash and searched for the danger that was surely in the area. Seeing only her little brother Kagome yawned wide.
"What is it?" She asked, the images of her dream man fading from her fuzzy mind. At least he had a name now though.
"It's getting late, the sun is already setting. We better get back to the house. Besides I'm really cold now." Souta replied shivering as goosebumps rose all along his bare flesh.
Kagome laughed at the boy. "Silly, didn't you bring a towel?"
He shook his head and helped Kagome to her feet, handing her the crutches. "Let's hurry back, okay?"
The snapping of twigs drew their attention towards the direction of the house. Naraku stood just within the corpse of trees watching the two curiously. "What were you guys doing back here? I've been looking for you all day." He told them quietly, his eyes flickering between Kagome and the tree she was laying against earlier.
"I found this cool stream and wanted to go swimming. I knew you would say it was pointless and would probably not let me, so I just brought Kagome," Souta answered.
Naraku looked down at his hands for a moment in introspection. "I'm sorry you felt that way Souta. I would have loved to accompany you two out here. I rather enjoy swimming myself." Naraku answered.
"I'm sorry! I didn't know!" Souta cried out clearly upset and feeling guilty.
Naraku looked up and gave him a small smile as the two reached where he was standing. He placed his hand behind Souta's neck and gave it a brief squeeze of comfort. "No hard feelings. But no one likes to be left out."
"We'll remember that next time," Kagome assured him.
Naraku looked at her for a moment in silence. Then at Souta whose teeth were chattering loudly. Wordlessly he pulled off his shirt and handed it to the young boy, who gratefully accepted it.
Now Naraku's attention became focused on Kagome's blistered hands. He shook his head at her before walking behind her and lifting her in his arms without any notice. "Souta will you get her crutches? No need for her to tear her body up more than necessary."
"Sure!" Souta agreed, as he took the crutches that had fallen to the ground when Naraku picked up Kagome.
"Why don't you run on ahead, we'll be there shortly," Naraku told him. He watched with amusement as the boy took off, Naraku's shirt was billowing out from him like a parachute. "You think he'll grow into it eventually?" Naraku asked Kagome.
"Hm, probably. Aren't you cold?" She asked, she could see the goosebumps starting to form on his flesh. Naraku smiled at her faintly before pulling her closer to his chest.
"Why do you think I had volunteered to carry you?" He teased as he started walking back towards the mansion. Kagome didn't say anything and Naraku seemed unwilling to make small talk so she amused herself by braiding strands of this thick, silky hair.
By the time they reached her third floor bed room he had at least twenty long, thin braids mixed in with his beautiful hair. Naraku kicked open her door and walked her to the bed and deposited her there before sitting beside her and looking at her expectantly.
Kagome suddenly felt nervous. Why was he looking at her that way? He wasn't going to try anything was he? "What?"
"I'd like you to take out all those ridiculous braids. I'd rather not deal with them when I take my shower tonight," Naraku answered simply, finding amusement in her obvious discomfort. Her eyes kept falling upon his chest and abdomen. Silently he prided himself on his body, but to see someone else of such beauty appreciate it made all the hours he spent in the gym worth it.
She was lucky that his father had taken her mother out for the day or else her and Souta's little adventure would have had a much more unpleasant ending.
"Sorry," Kagome muttered as she began to unbraid the mess she made of his hair. The creased hair that she unbound only added to the natural glory of his dark locks. She was so caught up in admiring the dark tresses that she didn't realize that her hand had frozen in mid-air, one of the braids wrapped around her finger.
Naraku's hand circling her wrist drew her out of her daze. "Kagome? Are you finished?"
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Kagome frowned. "Almost, just a few more to go."
Naraku sat patiently as she finished freeing the strands of his hair and tugged at his scalp in a softly teasing manner that relaxed him to the core. When she was done he turned to face her. He hooked his index finger around her chin and bent down to kiss her forehead. "Good night, I'll see you in the morning. Call if you need anything." Then he was gone. He was like a breeze, blowing in and out of her life at ease.
Kagome collapsed against her bed. It had been a long day. She was glad that she had allowed Souta to drag her outside. She felt as if she'd been trapped inside for weeks, even though it had only been a few days.
Naraku was a mystery. He was acting so sincere. It was nothing like how he acted when they had first met. All those months ago all she could picture were his eyes watching her with nothing short of lust in them. Now, he seemed so gentle and caring. She sorely misjudged the guy.
She was starting to refer to him as a friend now, one whom she cared about. She really needed to see her old friends. She needed to be reassured that she wasn't going crazy. As thoughts of her losing her mind ran through her head she noticed her guardian had crashed her solitude.
"You must be bored," Kagome greeted the silent being. She wondered how long he had been standing there. There was no telling really; he could be so quiet when he wanted to be.
"On the contrary, I am recovering from a most trying day." Sesshoumaru replied as he drifted to sit on her window seat again. The moon would rise sometime in the next hour, the sun wasn't even set yet.
"Do you enjoy watching sunsets as well?" Kagome inquired, noticing his gaze was transfixed to the West. Memories of her vision that afternoon came flooding back to her. Was there a connection? Doubtful, it was just a coincidence. Everyone liked to watch the sunset.
"I have yet to meet one who does not enjoy watching the sunset." Sesshoumaru answered. He heard her sigh of defeat and rolled his eyes before turning towards her. "It is meeting those that make the time to enjoy watching it that are the true rarity."
"Good point." Kagome conceded. She brought her eyes back to focus on the ceiling.
She heard the rustling of fabric and was faintly surprised to see Sesshoumaru sitting beside her on the bed. She thought he couldn't stand being near her after his attitude the night before.
"Tell me what troubles you," Sesshoumaru told her softly. He had to start somewhere. Maybe if she unloaded all her girly problems on him then she would smile and he would finally wake up. Since he wasn't getting any other suggestions he'd have to try all routes at his disposal.
Kagome looked at him skeptically from her peripheral vision. "You actually want to listen to what I have to say?"
Sesshoumaru leaned back and crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared straight ahead. "I seem to have all the time in the world."
"Things are just weird okay. For one thing, I think I'm actually starting to like Naraku. He's not a bad guy or anything which totally goes against my first couple of impressions of him." Kagome began.
Sesshoumaru was listening to her and trying to match what she said to what he had learned from the blue eyed enigma, which was hardly anything of salvageable value. He interrupted. "Do you know anyone by the name of Kagewaki?"
Kagome frowned at the name. "It sounds familiar, but I can't place it. Why?"
"It's nothing. Do proceed." Sesshoumaru stored the name away for later contemplation.
"I know the name of my mystery man." Kagome told him, closing her eyes and picturing the object of her fantasies.
Sesshoumaru felt an eye twitch at the comment. "What mystery man might this be?"
"You know, the one I told you about last night? The one with the long dark hair and icy blue eyes?" Kagome elaborated.
Sesshoumaru turned to face her fully. "I'm listening, what's his name?" He asked, trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice. It had to be the same son-of-a-bitch he'd been dealing with in that void.
He tried to ignore the dreamy expression on her face. The name was the important thing. "His name is Kouga."
TBC