"Why did I come here?" Kagome asked herself.
"I feel weird," she announced to nobody in particular.
The forest was filling with a deadly miasma, and it was starting to affect her. She had been walking in a spiral for about an hour, at first because Naraku was bribed an old tree demon to separate Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo, but now the miasma would take care of any ability to find the path.
She probably would have died right there, if she had walked right into the Old Tree Demon right there. Even if she was thinking straight, she probably couldn't tell it from any other gnarled willow, if Sesshoumaru wasn't talking to it.
"Regardless of what happened, this forest is my forest, and you do not have my permission to let loose anything upon it," said Sesshoumaru who then removes Tokijin from his belt and slashes.
This would not have been a significant fact, if Kagome hadn't been right behind the tree. She wasn't as really hurt as much her dying brain told her she was brain told her she was, but does that really matter? She shouts, jumps around, and then collapses.
"Lord Sesshoumaru?" Rin said.
Sesshoumaru had not smelt Rin walk up because of all the poison in the air. Now both of his retainers were being poisoned, his brother's wench had collapsed in front of them, and an old ally had tried to betray him. Sesshoumaru did not worry. There was no problem in this situation that he could not solve with his Tenseiga.
"I told you not to come." Sesshoumaru said without turning.
"Ah Un fell down. I don't think I can walk anymore. Who's that?" Rin asked in rapid succession.
Sesshoumaru didn't say anything. He merely lifted the collapsed schoolgirl with his right (only) hand, and slung her over the remains of his left shoulder. He then lifted Rin and started walking out. Jaken, still holding his breath, chases after him.
Kagome wakes up in a hilly field. She looks around and sees Rin and Jaken. She didn't know who the little girl was, but she recognized Sesshoumaru's servant. She picks up and shakes the sleeping toad and shouts-
"What am I doing here?"
Jaken was in the midst of a beautiful when he was forcefully awakened. Even if he had been fully conscious, he wouldn't have told her out of spite. As it was the only thing he could say was the odd warbling exhalation people make when they are shook.
Sesshoumaru didn't make any physical noise. He almost never did. He was raised by a family of hunters and could easily walk straight up to herd of deer without alerting them. It was how he naturally walked. But, nonetheless (and perhaps even because of), she knew he had emerged. She turned around, Jaken still in her hands, and again shouts-
"You kidnap young girls often?"
"He saved you, wench, and I knew that we would regret that he did the moment you slammed into the ground like a drunken harlot-"
Jaken was cut off by more violent shaking from Kagome. To all this, Sesshoumaru didn't react at all. If you only stared at his face, you couldn't tell at all that he had just been called a foolish pedophile. Kagome would have given a pretty penny to figure out what he was thinking behind that constant inscrutable gaze. Not that she thought that. She hadn't heard the phrase "pretty penny" for years and would have to spend half a second in thought to decipher its meaning. But the gist would be the same.
While Kagome busied herself shaking Jaken, Ah Un leapt out majestically from behind a hill. As she watched the horse demon fly, Jaken seized the opportunity to worm out of her grasp. Jaken ran behind Sesshoumaru, his natural position. Ah Un landed closer to the little girl. Ah Un prodded the young human with its muzzle-covered nose. She sits up, rubs her eyes, yawns, stretches, and gets up.
"Good Morning, Lord Sesshoumaru," she says with a little curtsy.
"And Good Morning Jaken-sama," she say with a smaller curtsy.
"Oh, and Good Morning Ah Un" she says, almost poking Ah's eye when she hugged its face.
"Um, Lord Sesshoumaru, who is that?" she asked looking and pointing at Kagome, who was standing still.
Sesshoumaru ignored this question.
"Um, my lady? What is your name and family crest?" Rin said to Kagome, obviously trying to imitate a half-ignored lesson of etiquette, not even making eye contact but looking up as if the lesson was badly rewritten on the sky.
Kagome had to suppress giggling. As far as she knew, her life was in grave danger of ending. Sesshoumaru was a powerful, murderous, demon apparently willing to kill his own brother in order to become more powerful. But seeing a 6 year old try to act as a courtesan was funny, and there's no funny like life threatening funny.
"My name is Kagome Higurashi," said Kagome.
Sesshoumaru walked past them.
"Lord Sesshoumaru, is Lady Kagome coming with us?" Rin asked. This time it was not a nearly-forgotten lesson in courtesan-ship, but a real and natural gesture of respect that the lesson was supposed to stimulate.
Sesshoumaru said nothing.
Rin turned and beckoned Kagome to follow. Having no other choice but to be stranded in a sea of hills, she did.
Next time on the Kill Chiba show, the happy harmonious fate of The Others, plus what happened to the rest of the cast of Inuyasha.
Coming up next, Face-off! On this episode Godot and guest commentator Management discuss similarities and differences between X-men and Inuyasha and the pros and cons of breaking the fourth wall.