Kagome's Song and Inuyasha's Love
Ok, aren't you happy that I posted the latest chappie?!?!?!?!
I dedicate this chapter to my boyfriend, who has no idea that I am obsessed with anime, or Sesshoumaru...I love him and his ignorance. (Go Kurt!!! I love you!!!)
Alright, I promised info on Kachie, so here goes:
Kachie Runa has been my best friend since the fifth grade, (now we are in the ninth.) It was she that introduced me to the wonderful world of anime. She is a very skilled artist and I am her manager, meaning I show off her work, promote her skills, and threaten teachers who loose or allow her valuable, (in my opinion and theirs as well,) artwork to be stolen. I am not kidding, I scared the art teacher when I discovered that one of her pictures had been stolen, we never did find it........-_- Well, I had better get on to the story....
Disclaimer: I own nothing, zip, zilch, nada, so don't go suing me you thieving lawyers you!!!!!!!!!!!
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Roses and Salt
Feudal Era:
Hekele woke up to bickering. *Damn....why can't I ever be woken up peacefully???* she thought as she saw Sango and Miroku arguing. Well, Sango was arguing and Miroku was backing away quickly. Hekele quietly lifted the children off of her lap and walked over to Miroku and Sango. Seeing Hekele awake, Sango immediately smiled. Miroku looked at her oddly before getting one hell of a hit upside the head and falling over. Hekele gritted her teeth and walked back over to where she had been sleeping and curled up on the ground. She was muttering about how stupid the world was and how she could never get any sleep.
Sango looked at her new friend's retreating figure and laughed. Hekele looked like one board short of a shipwreck in the morning. Kagome was smiling knowingly and Inuyasha was laughing openly. Sesshoumaru's face didn't hold a smile but he too was amused. Jakken was trying to enjoy his time away from Rin while it lasted and couldn't help but snicker. Eventually, everyone but Sesshoumaru lost it and started laughing their heads off, Jakken included. Hekele opened one eye and stared at them all. She looked positively evil. Everyone shut up as she stood up and walked back over to them. Rin and Shippo woke up in all the commotion and were looking at everyone cutely, not fully realizing what was about to happen.
Hekele stopped a good meter in front of them, getting into as many faces at once as she could. Suddenly Inuyasha remembered what happened to the last thing that woke her up...complete destruction. He edged away from the group knowingly and was followed by Kagome, whom had also caught on to what was going to happen. Sesshoumaru eyed the two suspiciously. Inuyasha decided to show some compassion for once for his half-brother. He took his finger and made a slicing motion across his own throat to signify death. Sesshoumaru wasn't afraid, however, and didn't heed his younger sibling's warning. Suddenly, all hell broke loose.
"I WAS JUST TRYING TO SLEEP GODDAMN IT!!! I HAVEN'T SLEPT FOR MORE THAN TWO FRIGGIN' HOURS A NIGHT IN THE PAST MONTH LET ALONE THE PAST THREE DAYS!!!!!! ALL I WANT TO DO IS GET SOME DECENT SLEEP FOR A CHANGE!!!!!!!!!! AND ALL I HAVE HEARD IN THE PAST THREE DAYS WAS A VERY ANNOYING ALARM CLOCK, A HELL OF A LOT OF BICKERING, AND LOTS AND LOTS OF LAUGHTER...DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THE POOR, DEFENCLESS, NON-LIVING ALARM CLOCK?!?!?!?! IT IS A PILE OF TRASH RIGHT NOW, AND IF YOU PEOPLE WAKE ME UP THIS EARLY TOMORROW, YOU WILL BE TOO!!!!!" she yelled so loud that Inuyasha swore the entire country would hear her.
Sesshoumaru was in a small state of shock after her outburst, and it showed. He kept blinking in a very confused, stunned way that would normally have made Inuyasha laugh, but now wasn't the time. Sesshoumaru regained his composure quickly, still a bit surprised and noticed how quiet it had gotten. He looked around, hearing whispers, but seeing people talking openly. At first he was confused then the ringing in his ears stopped and he heard everything loud and clear. His eyes got a hint wider. *That bitch almost made me go deaf! Me! Sesshoumaru! A dog demon with outstanding hearing nearly made deaf by a little girl!!!* Sesshoumaru growled low in his throat, causing Inuyasha to snicker, for he could tell what was going on. Suddenly, the group heard a shout and a slap. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and Sesshoumaru looked at the now semi-conscious monk with disgust.
*Men of status should not act so indecently, especially when they know they can't get away with it...What is that wench doing?* Sesshoumaru asked himself as he saw Hekele walk up to Miroku with some silver stuff on a roll.
"Sango, hold Miroku's wrists, I have an idea..." she said as she pulled part of the silver off the roll. Sango complied and saw with joy as Miroku's hands were bound together in one giant ball covered in the silver, sticky stuff. Sango released his wrists as Hekele bound them for insurance. Miroku looked at them oddly and tried to get the wrapping off but couldn't.
"What is this stuff??? I can't get out of it!" he became frantic, not being able to move his hands. Hekele wrapped a single, long band of the stuff around his ankles so he couldn't walk.
"What gives?!? Hey! Get this stuff off!!!" his usually calm composure now gone. Inuyasha laughed.
"Now you know why stuff from their time scares me!!!" he said. Miroku continued to plead until Hekele got sick of hearing him and put one smaller band of the stuff over his mouth. He was silent. Everyone looked at Hekele fondly and questioningly, Sesshoumaru just questioningly.
"Duck tape. You can fix, immobilize, or shut-up anything with duck tape! Duck tape holds the world together...quack..." she said happily. "Now, I saw a hot spring about a quarter of a mile back and am going to take a dip, Sango, Kagome, you want to come?" The two girls nodded and Rin ran up.
"Rin wants to know if Rin can come too!" she pleaded cutely.
"I don't mind Rin, but you should ask Sesshoumaru first..." she said. Rin ran up to Sesshoumaru and asked him the same question. He looked at Hekele oddly, wondering if she wanted him to bail her out of dealing with Rin or was truly asking permission first. Hekele smiled warmly at him and nodded. He understood and gave Rin consent to go. She jumped with joy and ran after Hekele, Sango, and Kagome.
The boys looked around for a moment, wondering what to do. Sesshoumaru actually felt out of place, he didn't know how to deal with being alone with his half-brother and not killing him. He saw Inuyasha and Shippo gather firewood so that breakfast could be made when the girls got back, and Jakken was staring at Miroku, wondering if Sesshoumaru would do the same thing to him next time he lost Rin. Sesshoumaru decided to go sit under a tree and wait for something to happen, he was quite bored. When Inuyasha returned perhaps he would strike a conversation, just to relieve his boredom.
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At the spring:
Hekele was feeling much better, the warm water was waking her up and she was feeling more refreshed. She washed her arms with the sponge and tossed another one to Sango. Sango looked at Hekele oddly.
"It's a sponge, you wash yourself with it and it exfoliates your skin." Kagome interjected, scrubbing a day's worth of dirt and dead skin off with another of Hekele's sponges. Sango pretended to know what exfoliating was and just scrubbed her arms, knowing that should she ask she wouldn't understand the explanation anyway. She happily noticed that her skin was scrubbing cleaner than usual, she guessed that it had to do with the 'exfoliating'.
Hekele tossed Sango the rose scented shower gel, "Here, I think you'll like this stuff!" Sango opened the container and inhaled the gel's scent.
"Wow Hekele, it smells just like roses!!! And this 'sponge' really makes your skin shine more!!!" she said as she scrubbed her arms and legs longer.
"Let Rin try next, let Rin try next!!!" said Rin as she splashed around joyously, causing Hekele, Kagome, and Sango to laugh. Sango handed Rin the sponge and rose-scented product and Rin washed her arms and laughed as the scent reached her nose. Hekele scrubbed her back and smiled, it was nice to play the older sister again, she remembered taking care of her younger brother when he was young, and she had missed it. She washed the last of the lather from Rin's back and was about to get out of the hot spring when she heard Kagome and Sango gasp.
"What is it? What's wrong?" she asked them.
"W-where did you get all of those scars?!? You are worse than Sango and me! What happened?" Kagome questioned in a motherly tone. Sango nodded anxiously. Rin looked at Hekele's back and winced, as if an imaginary pain was hitting her. Hekele grimaced but recovered quickly with a fake smile.
"Oh, those? You know I skateboard Kagome, AND you know how clumsy I am, they're nothing more than past injuries from falling and stuff," she said quickly as she got out of the hot spring and dressed herself. Kagome looked at Sango skeptically, as if asking a question. Sango nodded.
"It looks more like a beating to me..." Sango prodded. Hekele flinched, they knew they had her.
"Who did it?" Kagome asked softly. Hekele sighed sadly; all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball in a fifty-foot hole at this moment and not crawl back out...EVER.
"Who else?" she whispered quietly, not wanting the tears that were threatening her eyes to fall, "My father..."
Sango gasped, "Your father? But why would he do such a thing? You are such a good person and-" she was cut off by Kagome.
"I didn't know this was an ongoing thing...I thought what happened last time was the first sign of violence from him..." she asked soothingly, (referring to Hekele's family's death,) as she got out and dressed. Sango and Rin did the same.
"No...it wasn't, but no one believed me when I told them about the hitting, and the cutting..." she said as her tears finally fell at her dark memories. Sango gave Hekele a small hug and let her cry, and Kagome did the same. When they let go Rin ran up and hugged her around her neck. Rin was never abused, except for that one time from the villagers, but she had been deprived of a family, and she had also died, but her Lord Sesshoumaru had brought her back to life with his sword and he took care of her too. Then Rin got her first brilliant idea, well, besides all her ways of tormenting Jakken, (which are also brilliant...just more subtle.)
*Maybe Sesshoumaru-sama can make Rin's friend Hekele happy too!* Rin thought to herself with a small smile wanting to tug at her lips. But how to do it? Sesshoumaru-sama wasn't one to just be nice, but Rin was sure that she could find a way to make him be nice to Hekele. Hekele was still sobbing, however, so now wasn't the time to be thinking of that, Rin would need to find a way to make Hekele a little happier for now until she could form a plan.
Kagome was hugging Hekele again and letting her sob. She had had no idea that her friend had withheld so much pain and sadness inside of herself, but since it was there, she was going to let her friend pour it out. It wasn't the best thing to keep everything bottled up inside, so she let her friend's tears flow.
Sango was looking helpless, not knowing whether to hug Hekele as well or take Rin back to the camp and give the two some time to talk. *Wait...* she thought, somewhat frantically as she looked around, *Where's Rin!!!*
Suddenly the small girl ran out of the bushes with a huge bouquet of flowers for Hekele. They were all very lovely, long stemmed wild flowers, which, unbeknownst to her, were some of Hekele's favorites. She held the bouquet out in front of Hekele and smiled at her warmly.
"Rin has a present for you!" she said sweetly as she handed her the flowers, Hekele couldn't help but smile at the thoughtful girl as she accepted them and inhaled their fresh, sweet scent. Rin smiled happily as she did so.
"Why don't we head back now? I'm sure the boys are hungry..." Hekele stated, regaining her composure. Kagome and Sango exchanged worried looks for the second time that morning.
"Are you sure?" Sango asked. Hekele nodded. Kagome and Sango gave up and gathered the rest of their supplies and started heading back to camp. Hekele and Rin followed, Rin not letting go of Hekele's hand.
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Camp:
Miroku was still trapped in duck tape, but was also now bound to a tree due to Inuyasha and Shippo's own boredom. Jakken had started the fire and Sesshoumaru was staring into it with a bemused expression. Suddenly an out of place scent reached his nose. Salt. Tears. He glanced at Inuyasha and Shippo, they had smelled it as well. Sesshoumaru's expression darkened. If anyone had made Rin cry, there would be more than hell to pay. What he saw when the girls rounded the bend into camp surprised him. The human Hekele was the source of the scent. The proof of tears was evident on her face, but only to one who could smell the salt of her tears and notice the slight puffiness of her eyes. Yes, she was good at hiding it. She was smiling and talking to Rin as though nothing had happened, and had he not been a demon, he would have fallen for her ruse. The girl was holding a bouquet of wild flowers, he guessed that Rin was responsible for that, she loved picking flowers. Something inside urged him to find the cause of Hekele's tears, but he quickly diminished that thought.
*Damn, interacting with these humans has made me go soft.* he thought as Hekele sat down with Rin on her lap by the fire. Hekele looked as though she were holding onto Rin for dear life, as if should she let go her world would crumble. Everyone seemed to notice her negative feelings now...even the bound monk. Kagome decided to untie him, which proved to be a bit painful, due to the stickiness of the tape. His yelps of pain were a cheerful diversion for the group, as Hekele's emotions were becoming more and more readable as time passed.
They decided not to travel that day, but they merely hung around doing useless tasks. Rin wanted to play with Shippo a while longer so Sesshoumaru used it as an excuse to stay another night with the group. The more and more he thought about it, the odder Hekele's sadness appeared to him. The girls had only been gone for no longer than an hour, they weren't attacked, no one was harmed in any way, and yet she had cried, and her sadness still tainted the air. Sesshoumaru saw Inuyasha pull the girl Kagome aside and assumed it was to find out what had happened. Sesshoumaru wasn't sure if she would reveal the incident or not, but he knew that Rin would if he told her to, so he called her over.
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With Inuyasha and Kagome:
Inuyasha pulled Kagome aside from the rest of the group and led her into a secluded part of the forest where they were out of even Sesshoumaru's earshot. Kagome knew what he was going to say, and braced herself for it.
"What the hell happened today? First Hekele was pissed and then she was sad, what happened while you guys were gone?" Inuyasha asked in a demanding tone. Kagome flinched a little, she hadn't expected him to be so mean about it. She looked him dead in the eye.
"She was reminiscing. Happy?" she asked, not wanting to go into a full assault on Hekele's secret, after all, she obviously didn't want anyone knowing. Inuyasha wasn't satisfied.
"Reminiscing? About what?" he said in a calmer tone, knowing that Hekele had lots to reminisce about. Kagome shrugged, acting as if she didn't know, which caused Inuyasha to growl at her a bit.
"Kagome, you know I hate it when people cry, and she smelled of tears so much that I could smell it pretty far away, Sesshoumaru and Shippo could smell it too. Now what bothered her so much?" he asked, getting a little impatient. Kagome crying was one thing, he could comfort and try to apologize, (repeat, try...something always goes wrong though...) her, but Hekele was still a new person to him, he didn't a) know how to comfort her and, b) didn't really want to, he just wanted to be sure that he hadn't done something to make her cry like he always did with Kagome. He wanted Hekele happy again, but he wasn't going to go out of his way to help if he wasn't the cause. Now that he had seen how tough she was, he understood that she didn't need his pity, so he treated her just like everyone else, arrogantly.
"Her family..." Kagome said truthfully. This seemed to satisfy Inuyasha, who nodded. The two stayed put for a while, enjoying the other's company, but neither admitting it. Kagome was too busy thinking of how to brighten Hekele's mood, and Inuyasha was just itching to ditch Sesshoumaru and go shard hunting.
Inuyasha wouldn't admit it, but being around Sesshoumaru hadn't been that bad, since Sesshoumaru had yet to try and kill him again. It was kind of nice to be around his older brother on descent terms for a change. Inuyasha snickered when he recalled his brother's shocked face when Hekele had had her outburst that morning. It had been satisfying to see him loose most of his hearing for even those few seconds. Inuyasha was deep in thought about what would happen if he and his brother actually...talked to one another for once. They hadn't said much of anything to each other while they had been together the past day and night. What was there to say? But still, Inuyasha didn't want to hate his brother forever. He kind of wished they could be more civil, like other brothers, but he knew that it could never happen.
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With the rest of the group:
Sesshoumaru called Rin over to where he sat under the tree. She bounded over to him curiously and sat in front of him politely.
"What happened today at the hot springs? The girl Hekele has been acting oddly and it is not understood why," he said passively, not wanting to let the little girl in front of him to know that he was actually interested. Rin smiled inwardly at her Sesshoumaru-sama's concern. She could tell that he really wanted to know, but it still surprised her a bit that he asked.
"Everything was ok until Hekele-chan decided to get out. Sango-san and Kagome-san saw a bunch of scars on her back and asked her what they were from. Hekele-chan got kinda sad and said it was from her being clumsy," she said. Sesshoumaru nodded for her to continue. "And then Sango-san said that it looked like a beating to her. Hekele-chan's face got real sad and Kagome-san asked who did it and Hekele-chan said that it was her father..." Rin continued, her face faltering at the memory of her sad friend. Sesshoumaru's passive face was still plastered on, but Rin could tell that he had heard and was pondering everything that she had said. She may be very young, but Rin could tell when Sesshoumaru-sama was thinking something over, or when he was trying not to show an emotion. She had known him long enough to decipher his many moods from his always- emotionless face. Rin proceeded to tell Sesshoumaru when she had started crying and everything that was said up until Hekele decided to come back. When she finished her tale Sesshoumaru's face was very different from when the story had first began. She could see a bit of compassion in his eyes, but being the young girl she was she didn't know what exactly that meant.
The story puzzled Sesshoumaru. He had not seen Hekele fight, however, in order to defeat Kohaku, or any of Naraku's subjects; you needed to be cunning and skilled. Kohaku true was a human, but he was also a demon slayer, and a threat to any demon. When controlled by Naraku he was an even larger threat. For Hekele to defeat him the way she did, she would have had to be a very skilled fighter, not necessarily strong, but skilled, even more so than some demons. So, the question lay in Sesshoumaru's mind, why had such abuse been allowed, even if from her father? The question still resided in Sesshoumaru after he dismissed Rin and even after sighting Inuyasha's return to the camp.
Soon after Inuyasha and Kagome's return everyone sat down to dinner. Hekele had a knack for cooking when she was upset, so she made dinner, despite Kagome and Sango's offers to do so themselves. When she was done cooking, everyone cautiously looked into the pot at a soupy mixture. Inuyasha thought it smelled good, but it looked weirder than Kagome's cooking. Hekele got out a bunch of plastic bowls that she had packed and filled them with the soup. She handed a cup to everyone and also handed out spoons. Inuyasha sniffed the food cautiously, not trusting the scent one bit, despite its enticing composure.
"What is it?" he asked as he poked it with the spoon, waiting for it to try and bite him. Hekele glared at him.
"It is chicken dumpling soup. It's really good!!! I thought it looked weird when I first ate it too, so don't worry." she said as she took a bite, happy that she hadn't over cooked the canned food for once. Rin, being the polite little girl she was, took a bite and squealed in delight.
"It's really yummy Hekele-chan!" she said as she took another bite. Everyone decided to trust Rin's judgment and they tried it. They all loved it.
"Wow Hekele-san! This is really good!" Miroku said cheerfully. Hekele scooted closer to Sango, just in case he had alternative motives, and nodded happily. After getting some applause for her cooking of canned food, (which Hekele and Kagome thought was quite funny,) Hekele ate some more of her food. Now that she had done something to get her mind off of her troubles, she was quite happy. She looked to the side of her and noticed Sesshoumaru still sitting under the tree, not making any movement to join them. Hekele sighed, grabbed a bowl and filled it with soup for him. She knew he had his dignity, but this was ridiculous. Even demons needed to eat.
*Why is he being so anti-social? He's just as bad as Inuyasha is!* she thought as she walked over to him. He looked at her oddly as she approached, and when he saw what was in her hand.
Hekele held out the bowl for him to take, "Either we are going to do this the easy way and you take the food and eat, or we are going to do it the fun way and I shove it in your face, your choice." Sesshoumaru glared at her.
"Are you threatening me human?" he asked in an acidic tone. Hekele glared at him back, but then smiled sweetly, which caused him to get a little edgy.
"Yes, I am threatening you, Sesshoumaru, now eat the damn food, even demons are capable of starvation baka-sama!" she raised her voice a little. So what if he was the Lord of the Western lands? He still wasn't too good to eat the only decent food available to him. She watched as his demonic features grew threateningly visible, his eyes held a tinge of anger in them. How dare she threaten him, insult him with a nickname, AND not give him enough respect to add his title to his name.
"What did you call me, filthy human?!" he growled at her. Hekele merely stared him down as she had done the day before, not giving an inch to his frightening features.
"I called you baka-sama, idiot king, you wanna make something of it?" she said as passively as he did when talking to Rin earlier. Sesshoumaru was mildly surprised by her response, usually humans wouldn't dare even speak to a demon, let alone insult one of status! This girl was capable of many surprises, he realized, but he wouldn't give in quite yet, he wanted to see just how deep her bravery ran.
"If I were you I would turn around and leave my sight at once if you want to live wench."
"And who is going to make me?" Hekele persisted.
"I am warning you wench..."
"You seem to forget that I am the one with the bowl of food here, now, I said to myself earlier, 'Hekele, all these people eat are Ramen, maybe they would like something else to eat for once.' So, I thought I'd cook everyone, INCLUDING YOU, something more filling and tasty, but if you are going to be a jerk when all I am trying to do is be nice, then maybe I should throw this in your face!" she said as she watched his eyes widen a bit. No one had ever spoken to him in that fashion before, ever, and here this human was scolding him, HIM! Sesshoumaru! Lord of the Western lands! He made a move to speak but she beat him to it.
"If you think the fact that you are a demon, OR the Lord of the Western lands has any affect on the way I will treat you, you have another thing coming baka-sama!" she said as she set the bowl at his feet and walked away with a humph. Sesshoumaru stared at her with his mouth open in shock.
It was all everyone else could do, (minus Jakken and Rin,) not to laugh at the demon lord, whom had just been insulted multiple times by a human girl quite effectively. She had looked him in the eye, stared him down, and silenced him. It was truly a sight to be seen. Now his mouth was hanging open in pure shock, he couldn't even hide his surprise. He watched as Hekele refilled her bowl and ate more of the soup. Everyone turned back to what they were doing before the incident, leaving the demon lord to his now confused thoughts.
*How the hell did that happen? That WENCH just insulted me, despite my title, despite my demon heritage, despite my counter threats, and then LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!* He ran through the argument in his head, trying to figure out where he had lost the upper hand, only to find that he had never possessed it to begin with. He couldn't help but smile inwardly when he realized this, her ability to catch him off guard and take advantage of the moment appealed to him in an odd way. No one had ever been able to that before, and he was pleasantly surprised that it was indeed possible. He couldn't help but admire her apparently limitless bravery, both on and off the battlefield. He eyed the food that had been given to him, picked it up, and took a small bite. He was a bit surprised when it actually tasted good, even though it was beginning to cool a bit. He kept taking small bites, making sure that no one was looking at him.
Hekele glanced at Sesshoumaru through the corner of her eye and saw him eating the food. She smiled a bit and walked to a tree that was near his and climbed in, listening to her CD player again. She relaxed, her previous anxiety leaving her for the night. After about an hour or so she was feeling sleepy, so she turned off the player and let herself fall asleep in the tree. Miroku happened to walk by when he noticed her up there. He shook his head and motioned for Sango to come over. She smiled when she saw Hekele's sleeping face, which was calm and at peace.
"Great, now we have two idiots sleeping in trees..." Miroku said jokingly, referring to Inuyasha, who was sitting in his own tree staring out into nothingness. Sango nodded.
"Let's just hope no one wakes her up wrong tomorrow morning eh?" she said, eyeing Miroku suspiciously. He chuckled and walked back over to the fire to get some sleep. Sango did the same a few minutes later. Kagome, Shippo, Rin, and Jakken were all already sleeping peacefully. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had their eyes closed but couldn't have been farther from sleep. For the next few hours everything was peaceful, then trouble began.
It was probably around two o'clock in the morning when suddenly a very large noise woke everyone up. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru exchanged glances, neither had sensed nor smelled a demon. Hekele jumped out of her tree and joined everyone else by the fire as they wondered what could have caused the noise. Suddenly they heard it again and it was definitely closer. Hekele drew her sword as Inuyasha drew his, Sango was holding her boomerang at ready, Miroku was fingering the prayer beads on his wrist, and Kagome was holding her bow, with a miko arrow notched and ready. Sesshoumaru held his Tokijin menacingly; ready to slice anything that came from the surrounding forest to bits. For a moment nothing happened. Then a large beam of light hit everyone from behind as another noise was heard. Everyone lay on the ground and was trying to painfully pry themselves up and stand. But there were no signs of a demon. Inuyasha growled as Miroku realized what the noise was.
"It's teleporting. That noise we hear is where it is going to come out next!" Everyone tensed; it would be hard to fight an enemy that could vanish, VERY hard. Rin and Shippo were whimpering and Hekele stood by them and hushed them. Another noise was heard and a beam of light, this one more painful than the last, hit them. Again everyone was knocked to the ground, Kagome was knocked out from the force of the blast, and Inuyasha looked more than just a little winded. Miroku was trying to help Sango stand, Jakken was made to stay in front to offer his fire as a barrier if needed, Sesshoumaru was standing in front of Rin, Hekele, and Shippo to keep Rin safe. Hekele wrapped her arms around Rin as Shippo ran over to Kagome. Inuyasha was already by the girl's side as she came to painfully.
"Kagome? Are you ok?" the two boys asked at the same time. It was then that the attacking demon appeared before the group, laughing. It was a white tiger demon. Its body was built like a human's but with fur, a tail, fangs, and cat ears. The demon was wearing a black fighting kimono. His laugh was eerie.
"The Shikon no Tama, give it to me!" the demon demanded. Inuyasha growled and stood in front of Kagome to offer protection. The demon licked his lips as he scanned the group. His eyes fell on Hekele and a trembling Rin.
"Maybe I'll have a snack while I'm here...the fear radiating in the air is so tasty..." he said as he continued to eye the group. Hekele picked up her sword but stayed next to Rin. She wasn't as afraid as she should have been, but that was Hekele's nature. When her survival depended on her wits and skill, she was brave, other than that and she would be a bit mousy and hide. Rin clung to her pant leg for dear life; she had to be brave, so that Rin could be safe. She watched as the demon took a step towards the group and vanished with another bang. All eyes fell on Hekele and Rin. Hekele readied herself as Sesshoumaru back up closer to them, ready to lend his sword. When the demon didn't appear he whispered to Hekele, just loud enough for her human ears to pick up.
"Take Rin and leave, we'll find you when this is over..." he said. Hekele looked to Inuyasha, knowing that he could hear what his brother had requested. When he nodded Hekele didn't hesitate to grab her backpack, (as a minor shield in case of a blow from behind,) pick up Rin, and run. When she and Rin were out of sight the demon reappeared, hitting everyone with an energy ball the size of Texas, (yeah...a little sarcastic...but close enough,) which sent them flying into the woods in pretty much every direction. Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippo were sent far into the eastern part of the forest while Sango and Miroku were sent flying into the southern part. Jakken and Sesshoumaru were sent westward, Jakken screaming the whole while.
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With Rin and Hekele:
Hekele ran as fast as she could from the battle with Rin in her arms, not knowing that it was what the demon had wanted. Naraku, his master, had told him that a young girl with black hair possessed the shards that he was to get. He assumed that the girl was Rin, for she was younger than other black haired females that he had seen there. He had waited for the girl to be ushered away as he was sure a young one would be, then he struck down her companions and came after her. A perfect ruse, except that Rin wasn't the girl with the shards.
Hekele continued to run until she heard the demon's signature bang and froze as she saw him standing before her, not five feet from her own face. She put Rin down, handed her the backpack, and drew her sword, eyeing the demon dangerously, finding her courage again in her anger.
"We wouldn't happen to be running away with my shards now would we?" the demon asked menacingly. Hekele then understood why he had come.
"We don't have your shards..." she said, as if willing the demon to leave. The demon grew angry and took a step forward.
"Do not lie filthy humans..." he growled. Hekele shook her head and took a step back.
"We aren't lying...we aren't the ones with the shards." At this the demon charged at them, his own sword drawn.
He and Hekele locked into a battle that seemed would not end until one of them were dead. He lunged, Hekele dodged, Hekele swung, the demon ducked. They only made contact with each other's flesh a few times before the demon decided to stop playing fair. The demon stabbed Hekele in her right shoulder, causing her to drop her sword and scream in pain. Rin shrieked and dropped the bag, and the demon remembered what he had been sent for in the first place and decided to end the battle with a lethal energy blast. The energy the demon had used before was mostly for taunting the other demons and humans, as if showing his superiority to them before the actual battle, but this one was meant to kill.
The demon launched a ball of energy sailing at Rin. Hekele ran to the girl's rescue and held her tightly as the energy ball hit her and launched the two farther into the forest. Rin was badly scratched and bruised, but nothing like Hekele, whose back was burnt and bleeding badly. Combined with her shoulder wound she was too weak to stand or even move. All she could do was hold Rin as tightly as her now failing body would allow. She screamed in pain as the demon placed a foot on her back and pressed down on it. The pain was too much to bear. Rin was crying out of fear and mild pain as the demon was squashing her as well. Hekele continued to hold onto her tightly, but was aware that her own life was rapidly ending. She was loosing too much blood too quickly and the pain was only quickening the process. The last thing she heard and saw was Rin's horrified face as she closed her eyes. She was dead.
Rin screamed for Hekele to wake up but she would not. Suddenly, just when the demon was about to give Rin the final blow, a swoosh was heard and fire was seen burning the demon's upper body. Rin screamed in horror until she saw Sesshoumaru grab the demon and growl something fierce. Jakken ran up to Rin and helped her from under Hekele's body. Sesshoumaru sliced the dazed and now badly injured demon with his poison claws attack, killing him instantly.
Sesshoumaru turned to find Rin shaking Hekele franticly to awaken her. He looked at Jakken who shook his head sadly, signifying the girl's death. Rin ran up to Sesshoumaru crying, wanting him to tell her that Hekele would be alright. The demon lord took Rin in his arms and stroked her back in order to calm her.
"I will revive her Rin...don't worry..." he said in the most soothing voice ever heard from his own lips. This calmed Rin a bit and she held Sesshoumaru's kimono tighter, as if afraid he'd disappear as well.
"She will be alright Rin, go back with Jakken and retrieve her pack, she will be awake when you return." he said truthfully. Rin nodded and let Jakken walk her back to where she had dropped Hekele's backpack.
Sesshoumaru walked back over to where Hekele lay. A bit of remorse crossed over his face as he drew his Tenseiga. She had protected Rin with her life, literally, and both would have been safe if he had known of the demon's ruse. He had lost the demon's scent when but had distinctly heard the screams of pain. He and Jakken had come as fast as they could move, which for Sesshoumaru was very fast, considering he was a dog demon, and much faster than most demons were. He had been able to get there in mere moments, but was still too late. He felt responsible for the incident, even if he would never admit it. Even though he could easily bring her back, he felt a surge of pain at her demise, which he could not explain. He raised his sword over her body and the messenger demons that were to take her soul became visible to him alone. He swung the sword at the normally invisible demons and they vaporized.
Sesshoumaru re-sheathed the Tenseiga, knelt over Hekele, and propped her up on his arm, much like he had done Rin when he had revived her. Slowly Hekele's injuries healed and her blood flowed back into her body. Her pale face regained its color and her heart jolted to life. She opened her eyes as she took her redeemed life's first breath. Hekele was pleasantly surprised to see Sesshoumaru holding her up, and even more so that she was even alive.
"What...happened? I thought I was dying..." she said in a slightly awed voice. It was then that she saw a hint of a smile on Sesshoumaru's face, and not an evil smile either, but a content one. She gave him a confused look and sat up completely with his help. The pain from her injuries hadn't yet fully subsided, but she noticed that they had disappeared. The look on Sesshoumaru's face easily told of his amusement at her awe and confusion.
"You did die, but I brought you back with the Tenseiga..." he said calmly. It was then that Hekele remembered Rin.
"What about Rin? Is she ok? That demon..."
"Rin is retrieving your pack, she is fine, your death upset her quite a bit but I assured her that you'd be awake when she and Jakken returned." Sesshoumaru interrupted her. Hekele nodded as she heard small, rapid steps heading their way. She smiled a bit as a joyous Rin came into view.
"Thank you Sesshoumaru." she said sweetly as the young girl jumped into her arms. Sesshoumaru looked at her oddly for a moment before nodding. He hadn't expected a thank you, but smiled at the gesture's significance anyway. Too bad Hekele's face was buried in Rin's ruffled hair to see the historic sight of Sesshoumaru's the open smile.
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*Me* Well...you like? If so then please review, I only got one review on my last chapter, and that was from my loyal best friend, so please, if you have a heart, review.
Ok, aren't you happy that I posted the latest chappie?!?!?!?!
I dedicate this chapter to my boyfriend, who has no idea that I am obsessed with anime, or Sesshoumaru...I love him and his ignorance. (Go Kurt!!! I love you!!!)
Alright, I promised info on Kachie, so here goes:
Kachie Runa has been my best friend since the fifth grade, (now we are in the ninth.) It was she that introduced me to the wonderful world of anime. She is a very skilled artist and I am her manager, meaning I show off her work, promote her skills, and threaten teachers who loose or allow her valuable, (in my opinion and theirs as well,) artwork to be stolen. I am not kidding, I scared the art teacher when I discovered that one of her pictures had been stolen, we never did find it........-_- Well, I had better get on to the story....
Disclaimer: I own nothing, zip, zilch, nada, so don't go suing me you thieving lawyers you!!!!!!!!!!!
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Roses and Salt
Feudal Era:
Hekele woke up to bickering. *Damn....why can't I ever be woken up peacefully???* she thought as she saw Sango and Miroku arguing. Well, Sango was arguing and Miroku was backing away quickly. Hekele quietly lifted the children off of her lap and walked over to Miroku and Sango. Seeing Hekele awake, Sango immediately smiled. Miroku looked at her oddly before getting one hell of a hit upside the head and falling over. Hekele gritted her teeth and walked back over to where she had been sleeping and curled up on the ground. She was muttering about how stupid the world was and how she could never get any sleep.
Sango looked at her new friend's retreating figure and laughed. Hekele looked like one board short of a shipwreck in the morning. Kagome was smiling knowingly and Inuyasha was laughing openly. Sesshoumaru's face didn't hold a smile but he too was amused. Jakken was trying to enjoy his time away from Rin while it lasted and couldn't help but snicker. Eventually, everyone but Sesshoumaru lost it and started laughing their heads off, Jakken included. Hekele opened one eye and stared at them all. She looked positively evil. Everyone shut up as she stood up and walked back over to them. Rin and Shippo woke up in all the commotion and were looking at everyone cutely, not fully realizing what was about to happen.
Hekele stopped a good meter in front of them, getting into as many faces at once as she could. Suddenly Inuyasha remembered what happened to the last thing that woke her up...complete destruction. He edged away from the group knowingly and was followed by Kagome, whom had also caught on to what was going to happen. Sesshoumaru eyed the two suspiciously. Inuyasha decided to show some compassion for once for his half-brother. He took his finger and made a slicing motion across his own throat to signify death. Sesshoumaru wasn't afraid, however, and didn't heed his younger sibling's warning. Suddenly, all hell broke loose.
"I WAS JUST TRYING TO SLEEP GODDAMN IT!!! I HAVEN'T SLEPT FOR MORE THAN TWO FRIGGIN' HOURS A NIGHT IN THE PAST MONTH LET ALONE THE PAST THREE DAYS!!!!!! ALL I WANT TO DO IS GET SOME DECENT SLEEP FOR A CHANGE!!!!!!!!!! AND ALL I HAVE HEARD IN THE PAST THREE DAYS WAS A VERY ANNOYING ALARM CLOCK, A HELL OF A LOT OF BICKERING, AND LOTS AND LOTS OF LAUGHTER...DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THE POOR, DEFENCLESS, NON-LIVING ALARM CLOCK?!?!?!?! IT IS A PILE OF TRASH RIGHT NOW, AND IF YOU PEOPLE WAKE ME UP THIS EARLY TOMORROW, YOU WILL BE TOO!!!!!" she yelled so loud that Inuyasha swore the entire country would hear her.
Sesshoumaru was in a small state of shock after her outburst, and it showed. He kept blinking in a very confused, stunned way that would normally have made Inuyasha laugh, but now wasn't the time. Sesshoumaru regained his composure quickly, still a bit surprised and noticed how quiet it had gotten. He looked around, hearing whispers, but seeing people talking openly. At first he was confused then the ringing in his ears stopped and he heard everything loud and clear. His eyes got a hint wider. *That bitch almost made me go deaf! Me! Sesshoumaru! A dog demon with outstanding hearing nearly made deaf by a little girl!!!* Sesshoumaru growled low in his throat, causing Inuyasha to snicker, for he could tell what was going on. Suddenly, the group heard a shout and a slap. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and Sesshoumaru looked at the now semi-conscious monk with disgust.
*Men of status should not act so indecently, especially when they know they can't get away with it...What is that wench doing?* Sesshoumaru asked himself as he saw Hekele walk up to Miroku with some silver stuff on a roll.
"Sango, hold Miroku's wrists, I have an idea..." she said as she pulled part of the silver off the roll. Sango complied and saw with joy as Miroku's hands were bound together in one giant ball covered in the silver, sticky stuff. Sango released his wrists as Hekele bound them for insurance. Miroku looked at them oddly and tried to get the wrapping off but couldn't.
"What is this stuff??? I can't get out of it!" he became frantic, not being able to move his hands. Hekele wrapped a single, long band of the stuff around his ankles so he couldn't walk.
"What gives?!? Hey! Get this stuff off!!!" his usually calm composure now gone. Inuyasha laughed.
"Now you know why stuff from their time scares me!!!" he said. Miroku continued to plead until Hekele got sick of hearing him and put one smaller band of the stuff over his mouth. He was silent. Everyone looked at Hekele fondly and questioningly, Sesshoumaru just questioningly.
"Duck tape. You can fix, immobilize, or shut-up anything with duck tape! Duck tape holds the world together...quack..." she said happily. "Now, I saw a hot spring about a quarter of a mile back and am going to take a dip, Sango, Kagome, you want to come?" The two girls nodded and Rin ran up.
"Rin wants to know if Rin can come too!" she pleaded cutely.
"I don't mind Rin, but you should ask Sesshoumaru first..." she said. Rin ran up to Sesshoumaru and asked him the same question. He looked at Hekele oddly, wondering if she wanted him to bail her out of dealing with Rin or was truly asking permission first. Hekele smiled warmly at him and nodded. He understood and gave Rin consent to go. She jumped with joy and ran after Hekele, Sango, and Kagome.
The boys looked around for a moment, wondering what to do. Sesshoumaru actually felt out of place, he didn't know how to deal with being alone with his half-brother and not killing him. He saw Inuyasha and Shippo gather firewood so that breakfast could be made when the girls got back, and Jakken was staring at Miroku, wondering if Sesshoumaru would do the same thing to him next time he lost Rin. Sesshoumaru decided to go sit under a tree and wait for something to happen, he was quite bored. When Inuyasha returned perhaps he would strike a conversation, just to relieve his boredom.
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At the spring:
Hekele was feeling much better, the warm water was waking her up and she was feeling more refreshed. She washed her arms with the sponge and tossed another one to Sango. Sango looked at Hekele oddly.
"It's a sponge, you wash yourself with it and it exfoliates your skin." Kagome interjected, scrubbing a day's worth of dirt and dead skin off with another of Hekele's sponges. Sango pretended to know what exfoliating was and just scrubbed her arms, knowing that should she ask she wouldn't understand the explanation anyway. She happily noticed that her skin was scrubbing cleaner than usual, she guessed that it had to do with the 'exfoliating'.
Hekele tossed Sango the rose scented shower gel, "Here, I think you'll like this stuff!" Sango opened the container and inhaled the gel's scent.
"Wow Hekele, it smells just like roses!!! And this 'sponge' really makes your skin shine more!!!" she said as she scrubbed her arms and legs longer.
"Let Rin try next, let Rin try next!!!" said Rin as she splashed around joyously, causing Hekele, Kagome, and Sango to laugh. Sango handed Rin the sponge and rose-scented product and Rin washed her arms and laughed as the scent reached her nose. Hekele scrubbed her back and smiled, it was nice to play the older sister again, she remembered taking care of her younger brother when he was young, and she had missed it. She washed the last of the lather from Rin's back and was about to get out of the hot spring when she heard Kagome and Sango gasp.
"What is it? What's wrong?" she asked them.
"W-where did you get all of those scars?!? You are worse than Sango and me! What happened?" Kagome questioned in a motherly tone. Sango nodded anxiously. Rin looked at Hekele's back and winced, as if an imaginary pain was hitting her. Hekele grimaced but recovered quickly with a fake smile.
"Oh, those? You know I skateboard Kagome, AND you know how clumsy I am, they're nothing more than past injuries from falling and stuff," she said quickly as she got out of the hot spring and dressed herself. Kagome looked at Sango skeptically, as if asking a question. Sango nodded.
"It looks more like a beating to me..." Sango prodded. Hekele flinched, they knew they had her.
"Who did it?" Kagome asked softly. Hekele sighed sadly; all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball in a fifty-foot hole at this moment and not crawl back out...EVER.
"Who else?" she whispered quietly, not wanting the tears that were threatening her eyes to fall, "My father..."
Sango gasped, "Your father? But why would he do such a thing? You are such a good person and-" she was cut off by Kagome.
"I didn't know this was an ongoing thing...I thought what happened last time was the first sign of violence from him..." she asked soothingly, (referring to Hekele's family's death,) as she got out and dressed. Sango and Rin did the same.
"No...it wasn't, but no one believed me when I told them about the hitting, and the cutting..." she said as her tears finally fell at her dark memories. Sango gave Hekele a small hug and let her cry, and Kagome did the same. When they let go Rin ran up and hugged her around her neck. Rin was never abused, except for that one time from the villagers, but she had been deprived of a family, and she had also died, but her Lord Sesshoumaru had brought her back to life with his sword and he took care of her too. Then Rin got her first brilliant idea, well, besides all her ways of tormenting Jakken, (which are also brilliant...just more subtle.)
*Maybe Sesshoumaru-sama can make Rin's friend Hekele happy too!* Rin thought to herself with a small smile wanting to tug at her lips. But how to do it? Sesshoumaru-sama wasn't one to just be nice, but Rin was sure that she could find a way to make him be nice to Hekele. Hekele was still sobbing, however, so now wasn't the time to be thinking of that, Rin would need to find a way to make Hekele a little happier for now until she could form a plan.
Kagome was hugging Hekele again and letting her sob. She had had no idea that her friend had withheld so much pain and sadness inside of herself, but since it was there, she was going to let her friend pour it out. It wasn't the best thing to keep everything bottled up inside, so she let her friend's tears flow.
Sango was looking helpless, not knowing whether to hug Hekele as well or take Rin back to the camp and give the two some time to talk. *Wait...* she thought, somewhat frantically as she looked around, *Where's Rin!!!*
Suddenly the small girl ran out of the bushes with a huge bouquet of flowers for Hekele. They were all very lovely, long stemmed wild flowers, which, unbeknownst to her, were some of Hekele's favorites. She held the bouquet out in front of Hekele and smiled at her warmly.
"Rin has a present for you!" she said sweetly as she handed her the flowers, Hekele couldn't help but smile at the thoughtful girl as she accepted them and inhaled their fresh, sweet scent. Rin smiled happily as she did so.
"Why don't we head back now? I'm sure the boys are hungry..." Hekele stated, regaining her composure. Kagome and Sango exchanged worried looks for the second time that morning.
"Are you sure?" Sango asked. Hekele nodded. Kagome and Sango gave up and gathered the rest of their supplies and started heading back to camp. Hekele and Rin followed, Rin not letting go of Hekele's hand.
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Camp:
Miroku was still trapped in duck tape, but was also now bound to a tree due to Inuyasha and Shippo's own boredom. Jakken had started the fire and Sesshoumaru was staring into it with a bemused expression. Suddenly an out of place scent reached his nose. Salt. Tears. He glanced at Inuyasha and Shippo, they had smelled it as well. Sesshoumaru's expression darkened. If anyone had made Rin cry, there would be more than hell to pay. What he saw when the girls rounded the bend into camp surprised him. The human Hekele was the source of the scent. The proof of tears was evident on her face, but only to one who could smell the salt of her tears and notice the slight puffiness of her eyes. Yes, she was good at hiding it. She was smiling and talking to Rin as though nothing had happened, and had he not been a demon, he would have fallen for her ruse. The girl was holding a bouquet of wild flowers, he guessed that Rin was responsible for that, she loved picking flowers. Something inside urged him to find the cause of Hekele's tears, but he quickly diminished that thought.
*Damn, interacting with these humans has made me go soft.* he thought as Hekele sat down with Rin on her lap by the fire. Hekele looked as though she were holding onto Rin for dear life, as if should she let go her world would crumble. Everyone seemed to notice her negative feelings now...even the bound monk. Kagome decided to untie him, which proved to be a bit painful, due to the stickiness of the tape. His yelps of pain were a cheerful diversion for the group, as Hekele's emotions were becoming more and more readable as time passed.
They decided not to travel that day, but they merely hung around doing useless tasks. Rin wanted to play with Shippo a while longer so Sesshoumaru used it as an excuse to stay another night with the group. The more and more he thought about it, the odder Hekele's sadness appeared to him. The girls had only been gone for no longer than an hour, they weren't attacked, no one was harmed in any way, and yet she had cried, and her sadness still tainted the air. Sesshoumaru saw Inuyasha pull the girl Kagome aside and assumed it was to find out what had happened. Sesshoumaru wasn't sure if she would reveal the incident or not, but he knew that Rin would if he told her to, so he called her over.
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With Inuyasha and Kagome:
Inuyasha pulled Kagome aside from the rest of the group and led her into a secluded part of the forest where they were out of even Sesshoumaru's earshot. Kagome knew what he was going to say, and braced herself for it.
"What the hell happened today? First Hekele was pissed and then she was sad, what happened while you guys were gone?" Inuyasha asked in a demanding tone. Kagome flinched a little, she hadn't expected him to be so mean about it. She looked him dead in the eye.
"She was reminiscing. Happy?" she asked, not wanting to go into a full assault on Hekele's secret, after all, she obviously didn't want anyone knowing. Inuyasha wasn't satisfied.
"Reminiscing? About what?" he said in a calmer tone, knowing that Hekele had lots to reminisce about. Kagome shrugged, acting as if she didn't know, which caused Inuyasha to growl at her a bit.
"Kagome, you know I hate it when people cry, and she smelled of tears so much that I could smell it pretty far away, Sesshoumaru and Shippo could smell it too. Now what bothered her so much?" he asked, getting a little impatient. Kagome crying was one thing, he could comfort and try to apologize, (repeat, try...something always goes wrong though...) her, but Hekele was still a new person to him, he didn't a) know how to comfort her and, b) didn't really want to, he just wanted to be sure that he hadn't done something to make her cry like he always did with Kagome. He wanted Hekele happy again, but he wasn't going to go out of his way to help if he wasn't the cause. Now that he had seen how tough she was, he understood that she didn't need his pity, so he treated her just like everyone else, arrogantly.
"Her family..." Kagome said truthfully. This seemed to satisfy Inuyasha, who nodded. The two stayed put for a while, enjoying the other's company, but neither admitting it. Kagome was too busy thinking of how to brighten Hekele's mood, and Inuyasha was just itching to ditch Sesshoumaru and go shard hunting.
Inuyasha wouldn't admit it, but being around Sesshoumaru hadn't been that bad, since Sesshoumaru had yet to try and kill him again. It was kind of nice to be around his older brother on descent terms for a change. Inuyasha snickered when he recalled his brother's shocked face when Hekele had had her outburst that morning. It had been satisfying to see him loose most of his hearing for even those few seconds. Inuyasha was deep in thought about what would happen if he and his brother actually...talked to one another for once. They hadn't said much of anything to each other while they had been together the past day and night. What was there to say? But still, Inuyasha didn't want to hate his brother forever. He kind of wished they could be more civil, like other brothers, but he knew that it could never happen.
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With the rest of the group:
Sesshoumaru called Rin over to where he sat under the tree. She bounded over to him curiously and sat in front of him politely.
"What happened today at the hot springs? The girl Hekele has been acting oddly and it is not understood why," he said passively, not wanting to let the little girl in front of him to know that he was actually interested. Rin smiled inwardly at her Sesshoumaru-sama's concern. She could tell that he really wanted to know, but it still surprised her a bit that he asked.
"Everything was ok until Hekele-chan decided to get out. Sango-san and Kagome-san saw a bunch of scars on her back and asked her what they were from. Hekele-chan got kinda sad and said it was from her being clumsy," she said. Sesshoumaru nodded for her to continue. "And then Sango-san said that it looked like a beating to her. Hekele-chan's face got real sad and Kagome-san asked who did it and Hekele-chan said that it was her father..." Rin continued, her face faltering at the memory of her sad friend. Sesshoumaru's passive face was still plastered on, but Rin could tell that he had heard and was pondering everything that she had said. She may be very young, but Rin could tell when Sesshoumaru-sama was thinking something over, or when he was trying not to show an emotion. She had known him long enough to decipher his many moods from his always- emotionless face. Rin proceeded to tell Sesshoumaru when she had started crying and everything that was said up until Hekele decided to come back. When she finished her tale Sesshoumaru's face was very different from when the story had first began. She could see a bit of compassion in his eyes, but being the young girl she was she didn't know what exactly that meant.
The story puzzled Sesshoumaru. He had not seen Hekele fight, however, in order to defeat Kohaku, or any of Naraku's subjects; you needed to be cunning and skilled. Kohaku true was a human, but he was also a demon slayer, and a threat to any demon. When controlled by Naraku he was an even larger threat. For Hekele to defeat him the way she did, she would have had to be a very skilled fighter, not necessarily strong, but skilled, even more so than some demons. So, the question lay in Sesshoumaru's mind, why had such abuse been allowed, even if from her father? The question still resided in Sesshoumaru after he dismissed Rin and even after sighting Inuyasha's return to the camp.
Soon after Inuyasha and Kagome's return everyone sat down to dinner. Hekele had a knack for cooking when she was upset, so she made dinner, despite Kagome and Sango's offers to do so themselves. When she was done cooking, everyone cautiously looked into the pot at a soupy mixture. Inuyasha thought it smelled good, but it looked weirder than Kagome's cooking. Hekele got out a bunch of plastic bowls that she had packed and filled them with the soup. She handed a cup to everyone and also handed out spoons. Inuyasha sniffed the food cautiously, not trusting the scent one bit, despite its enticing composure.
"What is it?" he asked as he poked it with the spoon, waiting for it to try and bite him. Hekele glared at him.
"It is chicken dumpling soup. It's really good!!! I thought it looked weird when I first ate it too, so don't worry." she said as she took a bite, happy that she hadn't over cooked the canned food for once. Rin, being the polite little girl she was, took a bite and squealed in delight.
"It's really yummy Hekele-chan!" she said as she took another bite. Everyone decided to trust Rin's judgment and they tried it. They all loved it.
"Wow Hekele-san! This is really good!" Miroku said cheerfully. Hekele scooted closer to Sango, just in case he had alternative motives, and nodded happily. After getting some applause for her cooking of canned food, (which Hekele and Kagome thought was quite funny,) Hekele ate some more of her food. Now that she had done something to get her mind off of her troubles, she was quite happy. She looked to the side of her and noticed Sesshoumaru still sitting under the tree, not making any movement to join them. Hekele sighed, grabbed a bowl and filled it with soup for him. She knew he had his dignity, but this was ridiculous. Even demons needed to eat.
*Why is he being so anti-social? He's just as bad as Inuyasha is!* she thought as she walked over to him. He looked at her oddly as she approached, and when he saw what was in her hand.
Hekele held out the bowl for him to take, "Either we are going to do this the easy way and you take the food and eat, or we are going to do it the fun way and I shove it in your face, your choice." Sesshoumaru glared at her.
"Are you threatening me human?" he asked in an acidic tone. Hekele glared at him back, but then smiled sweetly, which caused him to get a little edgy.
"Yes, I am threatening you, Sesshoumaru, now eat the damn food, even demons are capable of starvation baka-sama!" she raised her voice a little. So what if he was the Lord of the Western lands? He still wasn't too good to eat the only decent food available to him. She watched as his demonic features grew threateningly visible, his eyes held a tinge of anger in them. How dare she threaten him, insult him with a nickname, AND not give him enough respect to add his title to his name.
"What did you call me, filthy human?!" he growled at her. Hekele merely stared him down as she had done the day before, not giving an inch to his frightening features.
"I called you baka-sama, idiot king, you wanna make something of it?" she said as passively as he did when talking to Rin earlier. Sesshoumaru was mildly surprised by her response, usually humans wouldn't dare even speak to a demon, let alone insult one of status! This girl was capable of many surprises, he realized, but he wouldn't give in quite yet, he wanted to see just how deep her bravery ran.
"If I were you I would turn around and leave my sight at once if you want to live wench."
"And who is going to make me?" Hekele persisted.
"I am warning you wench..."
"You seem to forget that I am the one with the bowl of food here, now, I said to myself earlier, 'Hekele, all these people eat are Ramen, maybe they would like something else to eat for once.' So, I thought I'd cook everyone, INCLUDING YOU, something more filling and tasty, but if you are going to be a jerk when all I am trying to do is be nice, then maybe I should throw this in your face!" she said as she watched his eyes widen a bit. No one had ever spoken to him in that fashion before, ever, and here this human was scolding him, HIM! Sesshoumaru! Lord of the Western lands! He made a move to speak but she beat him to it.
"If you think the fact that you are a demon, OR the Lord of the Western lands has any affect on the way I will treat you, you have another thing coming baka-sama!" she said as she set the bowl at his feet and walked away with a humph. Sesshoumaru stared at her with his mouth open in shock.
It was all everyone else could do, (minus Jakken and Rin,) not to laugh at the demon lord, whom had just been insulted multiple times by a human girl quite effectively. She had looked him in the eye, stared him down, and silenced him. It was truly a sight to be seen. Now his mouth was hanging open in pure shock, he couldn't even hide his surprise. He watched as Hekele refilled her bowl and ate more of the soup. Everyone turned back to what they were doing before the incident, leaving the demon lord to his now confused thoughts.
*How the hell did that happen? That WENCH just insulted me, despite my title, despite my demon heritage, despite my counter threats, and then LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!* He ran through the argument in his head, trying to figure out where he had lost the upper hand, only to find that he had never possessed it to begin with. He couldn't help but smile inwardly when he realized this, her ability to catch him off guard and take advantage of the moment appealed to him in an odd way. No one had ever been able to that before, and he was pleasantly surprised that it was indeed possible. He couldn't help but admire her apparently limitless bravery, both on and off the battlefield. He eyed the food that had been given to him, picked it up, and took a small bite. He was a bit surprised when it actually tasted good, even though it was beginning to cool a bit. He kept taking small bites, making sure that no one was looking at him.
Hekele glanced at Sesshoumaru through the corner of her eye and saw him eating the food. She smiled a bit and walked to a tree that was near his and climbed in, listening to her CD player again. She relaxed, her previous anxiety leaving her for the night. After about an hour or so she was feeling sleepy, so she turned off the player and let herself fall asleep in the tree. Miroku happened to walk by when he noticed her up there. He shook his head and motioned for Sango to come over. She smiled when she saw Hekele's sleeping face, which was calm and at peace.
"Great, now we have two idiots sleeping in trees..." Miroku said jokingly, referring to Inuyasha, who was sitting in his own tree staring out into nothingness. Sango nodded.
"Let's just hope no one wakes her up wrong tomorrow morning eh?" she said, eyeing Miroku suspiciously. He chuckled and walked back over to the fire to get some sleep. Sango did the same a few minutes later. Kagome, Shippo, Rin, and Jakken were all already sleeping peacefully. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had their eyes closed but couldn't have been farther from sleep. For the next few hours everything was peaceful, then trouble began.
It was probably around two o'clock in the morning when suddenly a very large noise woke everyone up. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru exchanged glances, neither had sensed nor smelled a demon. Hekele jumped out of her tree and joined everyone else by the fire as they wondered what could have caused the noise. Suddenly they heard it again and it was definitely closer. Hekele drew her sword as Inuyasha drew his, Sango was holding her boomerang at ready, Miroku was fingering the prayer beads on his wrist, and Kagome was holding her bow, with a miko arrow notched and ready. Sesshoumaru held his Tokijin menacingly; ready to slice anything that came from the surrounding forest to bits. For a moment nothing happened. Then a large beam of light hit everyone from behind as another noise was heard. Everyone lay on the ground and was trying to painfully pry themselves up and stand. But there were no signs of a demon. Inuyasha growled as Miroku realized what the noise was.
"It's teleporting. That noise we hear is where it is going to come out next!" Everyone tensed; it would be hard to fight an enemy that could vanish, VERY hard. Rin and Shippo were whimpering and Hekele stood by them and hushed them. Another noise was heard and a beam of light, this one more painful than the last, hit them. Again everyone was knocked to the ground, Kagome was knocked out from the force of the blast, and Inuyasha looked more than just a little winded. Miroku was trying to help Sango stand, Jakken was made to stay in front to offer his fire as a barrier if needed, Sesshoumaru was standing in front of Rin, Hekele, and Shippo to keep Rin safe. Hekele wrapped her arms around Rin as Shippo ran over to Kagome. Inuyasha was already by the girl's side as she came to painfully.
"Kagome? Are you ok?" the two boys asked at the same time. It was then that the attacking demon appeared before the group, laughing. It was a white tiger demon. Its body was built like a human's but with fur, a tail, fangs, and cat ears. The demon was wearing a black fighting kimono. His laugh was eerie.
"The Shikon no Tama, give it to me!" the demon demanded. Inuyasha growled and stood in front of Kagome to offer protection. The demon licked his lips as he scanned the group. His eyes fell on Hekele and a trembling Rin.
"Maybe I'll have a snack while I'm here...the fear radiating in the air is so tasty..." he said as he continued to eye the group. Hekele picked up her sword but stayed next to Rin. She wasn't as afraid as she should have been, but that was Hekele's nature. When her survival depended on her wits and skill, she was brave, other than that and she would be a bit mousy and hide. Rin clung to her pant leg for dear life; she had to be brave, so that Rin could be safe. She watched as the demon took a step towards the group and vanished with another bang. All eyes fell on Hekele and Rin. Hekele readied herself as Sesshoumaru back up closer to them, ready to lend his sword. When the demon didn't appear he whispered to Hekele, just loud enough for her human ears to pick up.
"Take Rin and leave, we'll find you when this is over..." he said. Hekele looked to Inuyasha, knowing that he could hear what his brother had requested. When he nodded Hekele didn't hesitate to grab her backpack, (as a minor shield in case of a blow from behind,) pick up Rin, and run. When she and Rin were out of sight the demon reappeared, hitting everyone with an energy ball the size of Texas, (yeah...a little sarcastic...but close enough,) which sent them flying into the woods in pretty much every direction. Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippo were sent far into the eastern part of the forest while Sango and Miroku were sent flying into the southern part. Jakken and Sesshoumaru were sent westward, Jakken screaming the whole while.
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With Rin and Hekele:
Hekele ran as fast as she could from the battle with Rin in her arms, not knowing that it was what the demon had wanted. Naraku, his master, had told him that a young girl with black hair possessed the shards that he was to get. He assumed that the girl was Rin, for she was younger than other black haired females that he had seen there. He had waited for the girl to be ushered away as he was sure a young one would be, then he struck down her companions and came after her. A perfect ruse, except that Rin wasn't the girl with the shards.
Hekele continued to run until she heard the demon's signature bang and froze as she saw him standing before her, not five feet from her own face. She put Rin down, handed her the backpack, and drew her sword, eyeing the demon dangerously, finding her courage again in her anger.
"We wouldn't happen to be running away with my shards now would we?" the demon asked menacingly. Hekele then understood why he had come.
"We don't have your shards..." she said, as if willing the demon to leave. The demon grew angry and took a step forward.
"Do not lie filthy humans..." he growled. Hekele shook her head and took a step back.
"We aren't lying...we aren't the ones with the shards." At this the demon charged at them, his own sword drawn.
He and Hekele locked into a battle that seemed would not end until one of them were dead. He lunged, Hekele dodged, Hekele swung, the demon ducked. They only made contact with each other's flesh a few times before the demon decided to stop playing fair. The demon stabbed Hekele in her right shoulder, causing her to drop her sword and scream in pain. Rin shrieked and dropped the bag, and the demon remembered what he had been sent for in the first place and decided to end the battle with a lethal energy blast. The energy the demon had used before was mostly for taunting the other demons and humans, as if showing his superiority to them before the actual battle, but this one was meant to kill.
The demon launched a ball of energy sailing at Rin. Hekele ran to the girl's rescue and held her tightly as the energy ball hit her and launched the two farther into the forest. Rin was badly scratched and bruised, but nothing like Hekele, whose back was burnt and bleeding badly. Combined with her shoulder wound she was too weak to stand or even move. All she could do was hold Rin as tightly as her now failing body would allow. She screamed in pain as the demon placed a foot on her back and pressed down on it. The pain was too much to bear. Rin was crying out of fear and mild pain as the demon was squashing her as well. Hekele continued to hold onto her tightly, but was aware that her own life was rapidly ending. She was loosing too much blood too quickly and the pain was only quickening the process. The last thing she heard and saw was Rin's horrified face as she closed her eyes. She was dead.
Rin screamed for Hekele to wake up but she would not. Suddenly, just when the demon was about to give Rin the final blow, a swoosh was heard and fire was seen burning the demon's upper body. Rin screamed in horror until she saw Sesshoumaru grab the demon and growl something fierce. Jakken ran up to Rin and helped her from under Hekele's body. Sesshoumaru sliced the dazed and now badly injured demon with his poison claws attack, killing him instantly.
Sesshoumaru turned to find Rin shaking Hekele franticly to awaken her. He looked at Jakken who shook his head sadly, signifying the girl's death. Rin ran up to Sesshoumaru crying, wanting him to tell her that Hekele would be alright. The demon lord took Rin in his arms and stroked her back in order to calm her.
"I will revive her Rin...don't worry..." he said in the most soothing voice ever heard from his own lips. This calmed Rin a bit and she held Sesshoumaru's kimono tighter, as if afraid he'd disappear as well.
"She will be alright Rin, go back with Jakken and retrieve her pack, she will be awake when you return." he said truthfully. Rin nodded and let Jakken walk her back to where she had dropped Hekele's backpack.
Sesshoumaru walked back over to where Hekele lay. A bit of remorse crossed over his face as he drew his Tenseiga. She had protected Rin with her life, literally, and both would have been safe if he had known of the demon's ruse. He had lost the demon's scent when but had distinctly heard the screams of pain. He and Jakken had come as fast as they could move, which for Sesshoumaru was very fast, considering he was a dog demon, and much faster than most demons were. He had been able to get there in mere moments, but was still too late. He felt responsible for the incident, even if he would never admit it. Even though he could easily bring her back, he felt a surge of pain at her demise, which he could not explain. He raised his sword over her body and the messenger demons that were to take her soul became visible to him alone. He swung the sword at the normally invisible demons and they vaporized.
Sesshoumaru re-sheathed the Tenseiga, knelt over Hekele, and propped her up on his arm, much like he had done Rin when he had revived her. Slowly Hekele's injuries healed and her blood flowed back into her body. Her pale face regained its color and her heart jolted to life. She opened her eyes as she took her redeemed life's first breath. Hekele was pleasantly surprised to see Sesshoumaru holding her up, and even more so that she was even alive.
"What...happened? I thought I was dying..." she said in a slightly awed voice. It was then that she saw a hint of a smile on Sesshoumaru's face, and not an evil smile either, but a content one. She gave him a confused look and sat up completely with his help. The pain from her injuries hadn't yet fully subsided, but she noticed that they had disappeared. The look on Sesshoumaru's face easily told of his amusement at her awe and confusion.
"You did die, but I brought you back with the Tenseiga..." he said calmly. It was then that Hekele remembered Rin.
"What about Rin? Is she ok? That demon..."
"Rin is retrieving your pack, she is fine, your death upset her quite a bit but I assured her that you'd be awake when she and Jakken returned." Sesshoumaru interrupted her. Hekele nodded as she heard small, rapid steps heading their way. She smiled a bit as a joyous Rin came into view.
"Thank you Sesshoumaru." she said sweetly as the young girl jumped into her arms. Sesshoumaru looked at her oddly for a moment before nodding. He hadn't expected a thank you, but smiled at the gesture's significance anyway. Too bad Hekele's face was buried in Rin's ruffled hair to see the historic sight of Sesshoumaru's the open smile.
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*Me* Well...you like? If so then please review, I only got one review on my last chapter, and that was from my loyal best friend, so please, if you have a heart, review.