Thanks go to: Celyia for Beta-reading and kicking
my ass in certain areas while cackling over others, all the while being
supportive. ^^ Also for letting me use the name she chose for
Kagome's mother in her fic, Blood Ties. It just seemed to fit
her. Zanne for prereading, being supportive, and promptly yelling at
me for being a cruel person for ending it where I did. And then promptly
threatening me with bodily harm and even death if I didn't continue. ^^;;
Chapter Three
Fevered Dreams
Sesshoumaru dipped a cloth into a bowl of lavender scented water, squeezed the excess out, and gently placed it on Kagome's feverish forehead. It had been three days since the fever had begun raging in her slight body, and it had taken every ounce of Yurika's healing knowledge to keep it from going completely out of control. The old kitsune healer hadn't seemed surprised over the presence of another human in Sesshoumaru's house, and he hadn't offered her an explanation. Rin, on the other hand, hadn't been quite so silent. Sesshoumaru heard the little girl telling Yurika some of her story while Yurika brewed a fever reducing tea in the kitchen area, which was punctuated by Jaken's derisive comments whenever he felt that the little girl was embellishing something that didn't need it. Shippou's additions to the story had finally given Sesshoumaru a more clear knowledge of the events that lead up to finding Rin in Inu Yasha's wench's company.
When Yurika had first walked into the room that currently housed the ill Kagome, she had let out a small sound of distress at what she had seen, thankful for the moment that Sesshoumaru-sama had been called away by Rin and the kitsune child. She didn't want him to know just how out of her depth she felt by the sight of girl on the futon. Kagome was curled on her side, shivering with chills while her lungs labored to empty themselves of the liquid that was building up in them. Her fever had spiked, and she was barely conscious, eyeing the old healer in such a way that she knew the girl had retreated to a different place in her mind. She made sympathetic noises as she turned Kagome's protesting body onto its back, and then lifted her head with her left arm, holding the bowl with the fever tea to the girl's lips. At first she didn't respond, but then her body took over and demanded some form of relief from the fire that had turned her throat dry, and she had swallowed the potion in three gulps despite the heat and bitter taste. Gently setting the girl's head back onto her pillow, Yurika had then drawn the blanket over her and watched as she fell into an uneasy sleep. Turning, she spotted Jaken standing in the doorway, an ill look upon his face and a bandage adorning the large bump on his head..
"She needs a clean yukata, it's not good that she's still in her wet kimono," Yurika ordered, knowing that Jaken had no choice but to do as she said. When it concerned the ill of the household, Yurika had final say in the matter. Not even Sesshoumaru went against her instructions, unless they pertained to himself. Then Sesshoumaru did whatever Sesshoumaru wanted to do, regardless of her instructions.
Jaken glared at the old healer, but knew better than to argue with her, and he went off in search of a clean yukata while Yurika turned her attention back to her patient. With quick, economical movements, she stripped Kagome of her wet clothing and tucked her back underneath the blanket. She then sat patiently and listened to the sounds Kagome's lungs were making, wincing slightly in sympathy when the deep, bone jarring coughing began again. It sounded like the girl's lungs were trying to crawl their way up her throat and out of her mouth, but the only thing that escaped was some yellow gunk, which caused the youkai to frown in concern. She quickly began to mentally run through her list of herbs and medicines, trying to come up with something that would ease the cough and sooth the throat that was no doubt going to be raw and painful when the girl woke up again.
She had just settled for a soothing mint tea with honey when the door slid open and Jaken appeared, a clean white yukatA folded in his arms. Without a word, she took it from him before shooing the toad youkai out the door, shutting it in his face and effectively cutting off his protests. The old retainer may have had a low opinion of humans, but Yurika was not about to have him standing in the room while she got the girl into the garment. For one thing, it wasn't gentlemanly to watch a young woman changing clothes, for another, the girl was sick and shouldn't have to deal with visitors of the small, warty, and annoying type in the first place.
With some gentle, and then not quite so gentle, prodding, Yurika managed to wake Kagome up enough to make getting her into the yukata easier, but it was obvious from the way the girl's eyes were unfocused that she hadn't completely woken up, and as soon as she was back on the futon she returned to her feverish dreams, muttering something about her head hurting. Shortly there after Sesshoumaru had entered the room again, and Yurika had left telling him she was going to get a cold compress and brew some mint tea for Kagome's cough. He had barely nodded his acknowledgement, and stood looking down at the girl until the old healer had returned. He watched in silence as she sat a large bowl of cold water that smelled faintly of lavender on the ground, and dropped a clean cloth into it. She once again lifted Kagome's head and got her to drink down the honey laced tea, telling the girl in an undertone that it would help to ease her cough a bit and grant her throat a little relief from the rawness the coughing instilled in it. She also told the girl that she needed to drink the liquid to help replenish the moisture she was losing because of the fever. Whether or not Kagome heard her, Sesshoumaru couldn't tell, but she did drain the smaller bowl of it's content before moaning and turning her head away.
Yurika reached over and pulled out the now wet cloth, wrung out the excess water, and placed it on Kagome's hot forehead. The girl moaned again, but this time she turned her head in the direction that the cool relief had come from, before sighing and seeming to sink deeper into her dreams.
"She will need this compress replaced ever thirty minutes with a fresh one. I also brought in some clean cloths for her to cough into when she can," Yurika told her lord, knowing that he would want to be kept updated about the girl's condition and what she was doing for her. "I'm going to keep a good supply of the mint tea brewed, and honey should be added whenever she drinks it. That will help sooth her throat and ease some of her coughing. I'll give her the fever reducing tea every four hours, but other than trying to keep her comfortable, I'm at a loss. I've never seen an illness like this before, and other than trying to treat the symptoms, I don't know how to cure it."
Sesshoumaru made a soft sound of acknowledgement, and Yurika continued, "I'll keep an eye on her during the day, get her used to the treatments. There's a chance she could become delirious if the fever gets too high, and I don't know if she could become violent. At night . . ."
"I will tend to her at night," Sesshoumaru said, the tone of his voice clearly stating that arguments would not be tolerated. Yurika simply nodded, not expecting any different from her lord. Sesshoumaru, like all other great youkai lords and even, she had heard, human lords, considered anyone who walked through his door as being under his protection. It could be his greatest enemy, or it could be a small human child, but he would treat them equally and see to their every need while they were under his roof. So the fact that he would willingly take over Kagome's care at night as opposed to sending a servant to do the task wasn't surprising, especially since she had saved Rin's life. Sesshoumaru now owed the girl a life debt, and the other youkai lords would agree that he was certainly one to honor all debts he felt he owed.
He reached out and removed the warmed compress, dipping it once again into the cooler water before replacing it on Kagome's forehead. He then sat back and eyed her face for a long moment, noticing the wrinkle between her eyebrows that signaled either extreme pain, or extreme concentration. Considering the girl in front of him, Sesshoumaru figured it was probably both. Kagome was fighting this internal battle the same way she did all her other ones, with everything she had. It really was a shame that she was so loyal to his idiot half brother. Loyalty was to be admired, but loyalty to an idiot was just foolish. Especially considering what she had told him of her travels with the hanyou.
It really had been interesting to see the change in her once the sun went down.
During the day, while Yurika looked after her, Kagome was quiet, sleeping peacefully but occasionally waking up enough to be able to reassure Shippou, who would sneak into her room with very little urging from Rin, that she would be all right and to not worry. She also asked Yurika to get her a small bottle of something she called Asprin out of her large bag, and explained to the older healer that the small round objects she swallowed with the help of the mint tea were fever reducing pills. Once the old healer had been convinced of the pills effectiveness, she stopped brewing the fever reducing tea and let Kagome continue taking her Asprin.
When the sun went down, however, it was a completely different story.
It almost appeared that Kagome's fever was somehow connected to the sun. While it was shining and gently illuminating the room through the paper walls, her fever would go down. She would wake up enough to take care of herself regarding personal matters with very little help from Yurika - though there was the one time Kagome had convinced Yurika to let her take a bath and she had nearly drowned, her legs being too weak to hold her up in the water when she had first got in. One of the female servants had been assigned to keep an eye on her while she was in the bath, and she had pulled the floundering Kagome to the side where smooth benches had been carved out of the natural stone. Once settled, Kagome had relaxed, only to have her relaxation cut short by Yurika marching in and making her get out of the hot water, stating that it wasn't good for her fever. After that, Kagome had pretty much spent most of the days sleeping, her body exhausted from the continuous coughing.
Night, however, was a completely different story. As soon as the sun would go down, Sesshoumaru would take up his position close to her head, settling down and relaxing as much as he ever allowed himself to relax. He would listen as Yurika left last minute instructions, along with a voiced worry regarding the almost never ending cough, before leaving her lord to his vigil. Sesshoumaru never slept, but he would relax his body and rest his muscles while leaving his mind clear and alert in case danger should make it's way to his home. The chances of that were rare, he had concealed this place so well that even Jaken had been unable to find it upon occasion, but it was a rash idiot who let his guard down, and Sesshoumaru was anything but rash, and he certainly wasn't an idiot.
The change in Kagome, though, would have been surprising if it hadn't been for Yurika's warnings regarding high fevers before she left for the night. About an hour into the darkness, Kagome's fever would spike and she would begin to toss and turn on the futon. He always wanted to give her more of her pills when this happened, but Yurika had strictly forbidden excess use of them, stating that Kagome had said they needed to follow the directions for their use to the letter, otherwise it could make her even more sick. So he was forced to sit back and watch the girl battle whatever inner demons tormented her during the nightly hours. This had been going on for the past two nights, and the third night was proving to be no different.
If she continued in the same pattern that she had followed the two previous nights, then sometime during the earliest hours of the morning, when the sky outside was its blackest, she would open her eyes, turn to look at him, and begin to talk. He found himself amazed at how clearly she spoke, pausing only to cough into one of the cloths that Yurika had brought her. It had been his understanding that delirious people usually didn't make much sense, tending to babble about anything and everything. But Kagome had been an exception. From the first night when she had looked him squarely in the eyes and announced in a determined voice that her name was Kagome (which he already knew from her original announcement of her name earlier in the day), she had made complete sense, and seemed to be telling him, in almost chronological order, everything that had happened to her ever since she first met up with his bastard of a half brother.
The first night had been a retelling of some of her story that he already knew, her first meeting with Inu Yasha while he was still sealed against the tree, along with her meetings with him, Sesshoumaru. He learned how they had met up with the kitsune cub, and how the Monk, and then the Demon Slayer had joined their little group. She told him about the surprise she had felt when the Centipede youkai had first attacked her, and how she had somehow managed to repel the monster by some sort of power that came through her hands. Sesshoumaru didn't doubt this, ever since she had first succumbed to the fever and her guard had been let down, he had been able to sense a deep pool of raw power, so far untapped and seeming to be in a state of sleep.
Not really interested in her story, Sesshoumaru had continued to keep a cold compress on her forehead, tuning out her coughing chatter until she mentioned the name Kikyou.
That caught his attention as nothing she had said before had. He well knew the name of the woman that had sealed Inu Yasha fifty years ago, several of the other lesser youkai that had been after the Shikon Jewel hadn't hesitated in telling the mighty Sesshoumaru the tale of how his brother had been defeated by a mere human, and a female one at that. The story went that the woman herself had died of wounds inflicted by his brother, so to hear Kagome mention her name as if she were still alive had been startling.
"I don't remember it, you know," she said, her voice already starting to sound hoarse from the constant barrage of coughs.
"Hmmm?" Sesshoumaru wasn't paying attention. It was nearly time for the girl to take those strange white pills again, and he was thankful she was awake and he wouldn't have to prod her to take them.
"Having my soul taken from my body. Shippou said it was the scariest thing he had ever seen, but I don't remember a single part of it happening. But it really must have happened, otherwise Kikyou wouldn't be walking around right now."
"Kikyou?" Sesshoumaru asked, his head snapping up at the sound of his brother's sealer.
"Yeah. She was brought back by an old yokai witch who forged her a new body out of clay and Kikyou's burial ashes. The witch dragged my soul from my body and managed to place it inside Kikyou, but somehow I was able to take it back. Now, the only thing that really keeps her alive is the souls of other dead people. She's constantly showing up where ever we go and Inu Yasha just . . .," Kagome paused, and furrowed her brow, her eyes glazing over.
Sesshoumaru didn't want to prod her, he really wasn't all that interested, but something sad had seemed to flash in Kagome's eyes, but before he could say anything, and what would he have said, anyway?, she had closed her eyes and fallen asleep again.
After the first night, her stories got a little more in depth and descriptive. In a way it was like she was telling a story, once the introductions were over she was able to get onto the battles and Naraku's appearance in their lives. Sesshoumaru knew that all she was telling him were true, she was in no state mentally to be able to fabricate such stories off the top of her head. She had baffled him a few times when she had said his brother's name, followed by an angry "sit", but had filed it away for later exploration.
The more she told, the more he found himself giving her something he had never given to a single human in his entire life, including his father's second wife, Inu Yasha's mother. He gave Kagome his respect. Granted it was grudging and he wouldn't admit to the fact even if his very life depended upon that confession, but his respect she had won. And if he were honest with himself, and most of the time he was unless he really didn't want to think about something he considered inconsequential, she had held a small grudging amount of his respect from the first time they had clashed eyes and words over the Tetsusaiga. She had stood toe to toe with him and dared him try and injure her, holding the untransformed Tetsusaiga in her inexperienced hands, determination written throughout every muscle in her body.
That was the first time he had ever stood so close to a human and not had them quake with fear at knowing who he was. Then she had stood up to him a second time, destroying part of his armor with one of her arrows, and undoing Tetsusiaga's transformation with another. That was when he had realized that he had been dealing with someone who wasn't an ordinary human, though what exactly she was he couldn't tell. He discounted the rumors that she was the reincarnation of his brother's sealer, and after having spent some time in close proximity to her, he could say with authority that she was no one's reincarnation. Her soul, which had come to the surface when her fever had caused the guard on her power to lower briefly, just didn't feel old. In fact, he was pretty sure that she was harboring two souls, her own, and another that was much older and preferred to stay asleep inside its safe house. What it was waiting for, he didn't know, and quite frankly he didn't care. It was none of his business.
What was his business at the moment was his sick guest, and with a sigh of resignation he prodded her until she opened her unfocused eyes and looked at him. He leaned forward, and placed the pills in her limp hand. She blinked at it for a few seconds, before placing the pills in her mouth, making a face at their bitter taste. She then lifted her head to the bowl of water he held for her, and swallowed, letting her head fall back against the pillow. Sesshoumaru didn't like the fact that such a simple action exhausted her so much. He knew, as did Yurika, that she was progressively getting worse. The watery sounds in her lungs increased every day, and despite the constant coughing, which was gradually getting weaker, she was expelling very little of the liquid. If this continued, and if her fever kept fluctuating, then she could very easily be in big trouble - especially since youkai medicine was doing nothing to help her other than to ease the symptoms a bit. For someone who was used to being in complete control of everything in his surroundings, this feeling that there was something out there that he couldn't control was enough to make him pause and think. And some of those thoughts were rather unpleasant.
Kagome stared up at him, trying to get her fuzzy mind to connect with a body that felt as if it were weighted down with lead. Everything ached from the fever, her bones, her joints, and especially her head. Her throat felt raw, and she felt like Inu Yasha and the rest of the gang were all sitting on her chest. Breathing was difficult; breathing without coughing was near impossible. The honey laced tea she had been fed since she first was brought to Sesshoumaru's mansion helped a little bit, but she knew that what she really needed were some heavy duty antibiotics. But in order to get those antibiotics, she needed to get back to the well and return to her own time. Considering that the act of lifting her hand to her mouth or raising her head a mere inch off of her pillow exhausted her to the point where she felt like she couldn't move, she knew the chances of her returning home on her own were practically non-existent.
Despite the rather gruff kindness that he had shown her, and it was kindness because he hadn't killed her yet, Kagome was still hesitant to trust Sesshoumaru with the secret of the well. She was amazed that she had managed to keep it secret even during her babble sessions, where she had told him quite a lot about her travels with his brother. Ordinarily she wouldn't have been so open with him, but the fever was making her a bit crazy, and she didn't have complete control over what she said or when she said it. She was aware of what she was saying, she just didn't have the mental powers to keep the words inside her head. Or maybe it was something else that allowed her words to flow more freely than they ever had with anyone who wasn't her mother, and even at that she didn't tell her mother everything that happened. If she had told her mother everything, Asako Higurashi would have forbid her daughter from ever returning to the Sengoku Jidai.
Maybe, just maybe, it was the fact that Sesshoumaru was something of a complete stranger; someone who probably didn't care at all about everything she had been telling him. He would sit next to her, watching her with golden eyes that were bright and alert despite the lateness of the hour, occasionally prompting her when she seemed to falter over her words, but that was the extent of any interest he showed in her chatter. If she were completely honest with herself, it was most likely his lack of interest that spurred her on in her confessions. Here was someone she could talk to, it didn't matter if he responded or not. Ever since she had seen Kikyou and Inu Yasha embracing, ever since she had heard what could easily be interpreted as his confession of his feelings for Kikyou, she had needed someone to talk to. Oh, her mother had been wonderful, giving her advice to follow her heart in her quiet, gentle way, but that still didn't ease the hurt and, yes, betrayal that she had felt. Not only that, but she wanted to tell her story to someone, it didn't matter who. She always got rather morbid whenever she suffered from a fever, thinking about how she'd like to write her adventures down as some sort of story before she really did die of one thing or another. Maybe she'd even turn it into a manga, but she'd have to find the right artist for that. After all, no one other than those that were closest to her knew and accepted the truth. Everyone would treat it either as an over active imagination, or as a mental disorder, and quite frankly neither prospect sounded very appealing.
She turned her head on her pillow and glanced at her host, marveling once again over the very fact that she was alive and able to feel the misery of the disease that was raging through her body. I thought he'd rather kill a human than to look at one, she thought, but already that belief had been shattered when she had first realized that he was caring for a human girl like she were his own child. Granted, it was a rather affectionless seeming relationship, but she hadn't seen the two interacting any since Rin had been banned from her room.
Her thoughts were brought back to the present when she felt the cool compress touch her forehead again. She glanced over at her nurse (she mentally giggled at that passing thought) and wondered once again at the change he underwent by simply removing his armor and shoulder ornament. In a way, it almost seemed like he was a completely different person. Unbidden, and in a sense unwelcome, her mouth opened of its own accord and she began to speak, mentally wincing at just how little of a voice she had left, the coughing having worn down her vocal cords and exhausted her throat.
"She tried to kill me once," she croaked. Sesshoumaru paused and cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Kikyou. She tried to kill me once," she clarified. And with those words Kagome felt such a deep sense of relief that she wondered why she didn't just melt on the spot from the sensation. It felt wonderful to say those words, to confess something that she hadn't told anyone else. She suspected that Miroku and Sango had picked up on the fact that something had been wrong after they all escaped from Naraku's Illusionary Death trap, but Inu Yasha was, as always, completely oblivious; preferring to believe Kikyou's lie about the Shikon shard she had stolen rather than dwell on what could have been the real reason Kagome had been dangling over the large pit filled with Naraku's miasma.
"We had been chasing after Naraku, who had been trying to gain a replacement body by having all sorts of youkai fight each other in this large pit. Sango-chan, Shippou-chan and I were waiting outside the cave that led to the pit, Inu Yasha saying that he didn't think we all needed to go in, since he felt it was probably just an ordinary youkai. So I stayed behind with Sango-chan, as Inu Yasha had asked, and waited for Miroku-sama and him to return from the cave. They took so long that we began to get worried, and I had decided it was time to go in after them when Kikyou appeared behind us. She asked us about Inu Yasha, and then went inside the cave. I told Shippou-chan to stay with Sango-chan because the evil aura coming from the cave was making her sick, and I followed. It wasn't too long before I caught up with Miroku-sama. We managed to make our way to a ledge that over looked the pit the youkai were fighting in, and saw that Kikyou had either fallen unconscious on the arena floor, or was unable to move from losing the dead souls that were powering her body. Inu Yasha . . . ," here, Kagome broke off for a second, and gazed up at the ceiling.
"The idiot was fighting the remaining youkai in the pit," Sesshoumaru said, sounding bored.
"Yes. He was fighting to keep the youkai from absorbing Kikyou into its body. I managed to get to here and pulled her out of the way, and she woke up and fired an arrow that pierced the seal that had surrounded the cave. She did it to save Inu Yasha."
"Are you trying to delude yourself about that fact, or do you truly believe it?" Now he sounded bored AND slightly irritated, but Kagome couldn't tell anything from his poker face.
Gamblers should take lessons from him, Kagome thought.
"She did it," Kagome said, her voice determined despite its hoarseness and the occasional cough, "To save Inu Yasha. He would have become a part of Naraku's replacement body if she hadn't fired that arrow. But she used all her power to do so, or so I thought at the time, and Naraku grabbed her and carried her off. Inu Yasha nearly went crazy with worry, and when I told him we should go save Kikyou, he tried to brush it off, saying he would go by himself. The others weren't going to have anything to do with that plan, and I think Inu Yasha realized that the fight against Naraku isn't his alone; it really belongs to all of us."
Replacement body? That's the second time she's mentioned it. I wonder what she means. Sesshoumaru knew that Naraku was currently trying to dispel the human portion of his hanyou body, but this was the first he'd heard of him having a replacement body. With patience learned over years and years of living and battling to stay alive, he contained his curiosity and continued to listen to her story while keeping his face neutral. He certainly didn't want to let her know that he was interested in what she had to say.
Great, he's got that look again, Kagome thought. But I'm sick and it's good to finally tell SOMEONE about what happened that day. He's just going to have to deal with it.
Sesshoumaru turned back to the lavender water in order to hide the slight smile that had crept over his face. The girl obviously had no idea that she had just spoken her thoughts aloud.
"Naraku's Saimyoushou showed up, and instead of letting Inu Yasha go alone, we all followed after them. On the way we ran into some of Kikyou's Dead-Soul-Insects, so we knew the Saimyoushou were leading us correctly, and most likely they were leading us into a trap. All of the insects vanished into a wall of mist, and as soon as everyone entered the general area, they all vanished. Later, Miroku-sama told me that they all had been caught in Naraku's Illusionary Death, where their worst fears and darkest memories were brought to life for them. I don't know why I wasn't affected, but I made it to where Naraku and Kikyou were. I shot an arrow at him, and it hit, but it wasn't the real Naraku, just another one of his puppets. He opened up a fissure underneath me, and nearly dropped me into a pool of his miasma. I grabbed onto some vines and part of the ledge, and knowing I couldn't hold on for very long, I called for help. I never expected Kikyou to be the one who came to the ledge. I thought she was unable to move, but she told me otherwise," Kagome paused again, trying to catch some of the breath she'd lost through both talking and coughing.
"Apparently, she had been able to move the entire time, she just wanted to see what Naraku was up to. She lifted me up using her Death-Soul-Insects. I thought . . . I thought she was going to help me, that she was going to lift me out of the fissure and set me on the solid ground. I was a fool."
"Obviously," Sesshoumaru commented, earning a dark look from Kagome.
"Kikyou reached out and took the Shikon shard I had from around my neck, then ordered her youkai servants to drop me. I managed to grab the ledge again, and that was when Inu Yasha showed up. He hadn't seen Kikyou try to drop me into the pool of miasma, and when he asked what had happened Kikyou told him that she had taken the shard from me because apparently that was why Naraku was after me. She deliberately made it sound like she was trying to save me from Naraku by taking the shard," Kagome's hands clenched into fists, grabbing a small handful of the blanket that covered her, "And of course she didn't say a thing about trying to kill me."
"….." Sesshoumaru didn't seem inclined to say anything to that comment, then asked, "Did you tell Inu Yasha the truth?"
"….." It was Kagome's turn to be silent for a moment, but that silence was all the answer Sesshoumaru needed.
"You are an idiot."
"Hey," Kagome shot back, pausing for a second to cough. "I couldn't tell him because it would have sounded like I was making it up because I was unable to protect the jewel. Or worse, that I was jealous and making up tales. Either way, Inu Yasha seemed to believe her."
"Then he's more of an idiot than I originally thought," he commented, reaching out to take the cloth and rewet it.
"Hey!" Kagome began again, only to be cut off by Sesshoumaru asking, "You said Naraku had been creating a replacement body. Why did he need to replace it?"
"Because I destroyed the other one," Kagome answered. Sesshoumaru looked at her, prompting Kagome to think, Whoa, I thought he only had a limited number of facial expressions! Smirk, smirk, smirk, cold glare, smirk, death glare, neutral look, smirk, and curious. I guess I can add incredulous to that list.
"It wasn't intentional, I didn't even know I could project any sort of spiritual power into an arrow," Kagome said.
She really has no idea of the power that sleeps within her, Sesshoumaru thought with some surprise. Kagome took his contemplative air as a signal to continue with her story.
"Naraku had tricked Sango-chan into stealing the Tetsusaiga and giving it to him," Kagome's head jerked over to glare at Sesshoumaru when she thought she heard him give a snort of disgust. Determinedly, she continued, "He tried to make her and Kohaku-kun fight against each other to the death, but Sango-chan refused and got hurt pretty badly by Kohaku-kun. When we arrived, Naraku went into full taunting mode. Inu Yasha attacked him. But every time he cut one of those tendrils Naraku sent towards us, the more his miasma was loosed to surround us. Inu Yasha tossed part of his fire-rat haori over Sango-chan, Shippou-chan and myself in an effort to protect us, but it was obvious that Naraku was winning. And then he started to taunt Inu Yasha about how he was failing at protecting his friends, how he was useless, worthless. I snapped. After what he had done to Kohaku-kun and Sango-chan, and then to listen to him taunt Inu Yasha was more than I could take."
Sesshoumaru blinked when he noticed that Kagome was starting to glow faintly. Her broken voice had gained strength from the anger that was resurfacing at the memory of what had happened that day, and with every word she spoke the glow around her intensified.
"Naraku really is. The. WORST!" Kagome growled, and the light that was surrounding her exploded outwards so fast that Sesshoumaru didn't have time to raise a hand to defend himself. He felt a brush of heat followed by a tingling sensation against his face, before the light was suddenly retracted back into Kagome's body as she curled on her side, coughing. She was able to pull her power back inside without being aware of it, he mused. Interesting.
Kagome's coughing gradually subsided, and she rested for a moment by taking shallow breaths that wouldn't irritate her lungs or her throat. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a clawed hand gently run through her hair, but she relaxed when she felt him turning her over onto her back. A few seconds later she gratefully drank the lukewarm honey laced tea he held out for her. With a sigh she settled back down and gazed at the ceiling again, wrinkling her nose when she felt her leg begin to itch. Ugh, if I feel this itchy, I don't even want to know what I smell like.
That alarming thought prompted her to struggle to sit up, while muscles that were exhausted from the fever screamed that they didn't want to move an inch. Sesshoumaru watched her movements with a lifted eyebrow, before moving forward to place his hand on her back, helping her to move into an upright position.
"What do you think you are doing?" he asked.
"I'm going to take a bath," she announced.
"You are in no condition to take a bath, Kagome. I heard about your near drowning incident."
He would have, she sulked. And when did he start calling me by my name? I've always been Inu Yasha's wench, human, witch, bitch, or just plain you.
"I really REALLY need to take a bath," Kagome grumbled, shifting on her futon. "I feel gross, and I probably smell gross, too."
He wasn't about to agree with her, even though there was a sickly smell that was part of her illness. He knew he should probably let her take her bath, he remembered hearing from other youkai that she was partial to them, but he knew she was in no state to take one by herself. All of his servants were asleep at this time of morning, most of them worn out by Yurika's constant demands regarding the young woman in front of him. He wasn't about to go wake them up for something as minor as a bath, despite the fact that the task really was menial and below him. She was a guest, sort of, and he owed her something akin to a life debt for her saving Rin. Still . . . .
"You can have a bath," he said, watching her face light up as she smiled, "Only if you can make it there yourself. Without my help."
"Why would I need your help?" she asked curiously. "What about one of your servants?"
"My servants are all asleep in preparation for their tasks tomorrow, and most of them have been doing Yurika's bidding while she attempts to heal you. I will not awaken them at this hour when it might interfere with their routine tasks tomorrow," he replied, glancing down his nose at her. He had to fight back a smirk at the look of surprise on her face. The surprise quickly melted away to annoyance, and then determination.
Both eyebrows hit his hair line when Kagome began to scramble around on the futon. Within a few seconds she was standing, albeit on very shaky legs. Her eyebrows drew together into a frown of concentration as she adjusted her yukata slightly, drew in a deep breath, coughed, and took a step forward. Sesshoumaru figured it was a good sign that the girl didn't immediately fall onto her face. He got to his feet, as well, and stood back, giving her room to make her way to the door, but staying close enough to be able to catch her should she fall.
Kagome shot him a look. "I'm not going to fall," she said huffily, reaching for the door and sliding it open. She made her way slowly into the hallway, then turned in the direction of the bath. Exhaustion warred with determination, but Kagome had been going head to head with one of the most stubborn creatures on the earth for a while now, and she wasn't about to let a little fever get the better of her. Right.
She leaned against the wall, using it for support and thanked whoever built the house that aside from the rice paper doors, the walls were thick and sturdy. She panted a bit, willing herself not to cough while shooting a dark look over the shoulder at the youkai lord who dogged her steps. Now that's an accurate way to put it, she mused.
Sesshoumaru had to admit, the girl was stubborn and, even though it was tempered by the illness, she had spunk. Not to mention determination. She was half way to the bathhouse, and despite the sweat that dotted her brow and the fever red cheeks, she showed no signs of giving in and letting him help her back to the room.
"Shouldn't you be *doing* something?" she griped as she paused again, more than a little irritated with him watching her struggle to the bath.
"Oh? And what should I be doing, pray tell?" he asked, sardonic amusement lacing his voice.
Oh great, I'm entertaining him, she thought grumpily. "I don't know, check to make sure that the bathing instruments are in the bath? See if there are clean drying cloths?"
"My servants always keep the bathing area in impeccable order," he replied, more than a hint of pride showing. "There is no need to check on their work, they are well trained."
Most likely scared out of their minds that he would kill them should they let even a speck of dust settle onto his floor, she thought sourly. Guess being a powerful and feared youkai lord has its benefits.
Finally, oh finally, she was standing in front of the bathhouse door. She couldn't help but shoot Sesshoumaru a triumphant grin as she slid the door open and stepped over the threshold into the waiting steam. She felt as if she had just crossed a major hurdle both physically and mentally, and she wanted to savor the moment. Her body, on the other hand, had other ideas, and her legs buckled. She would have sprawled inelegantly on the smooth stone floor if it hadn't been for a swift clawed hand catching the back collar of her yukata. She found herself immensely glad that she had double knotted the sash when Sesshoumaru hefted her off her feet by said collar, and carried her over to the bathing stool next to the hot spring.
"You will use the warmed water to rinse with, the last thing I need is for you to make your condition worse than what it already is," he ordered. "When you are ready to soak in the hot spring, call me." With that, he turned and vanished out the door, shutting it gently behind him.
Huh. Kagome sat in thought for a moment, once again trying to come up with a reason as to why Sesshoumaru was taking care of her, but she quickly shook off her brooding and disrobed. She knew Sesshoumaru would keep his word and stay out of the bathing area while she washed, so she didn't feel rushed. Which turned out to be a good thing, because she could barely lift enough water to even rinse off a small portion of the soap suds that clung to her skin. She was very grateful that he had let her use the warmed water for rinsing as opposed to the usual chilled water. That would not have been pleasant.
She was so exhausted by the time she finished rinsing her hair that her hands shook as she wrapped one of the longer drying cloths around her body, tucking the ends in. She didn't think she had the strength to handle wrapping her hair in a towel, as well, so she simply left her hair down. Having finished her task, she sat and stared at the inviting hot spring. She knew that Sesshoumaru had told her to call him when she was ready to sit in the spring, but her pride told her that she had been able to make her way to the bath house without his help, and she should be able to make her way into the hot spring without his help, as well. Besides, that little bout of being carried around like a baby kitten in its mother's mouth had been embarrassing.
Having made up her mind, Kagome resolutely stood . . .and instantly regretted her move as her weakened legs gave out from underneath her, and she sat down hard onto the edge of the washing stool. This caused the small sitting instrument to tip over and dump her onto the stony ground with a loud clatter. She sat there, stunned, for all of a second when a large shadow appeared on the ground in front of her, and she looked up into her reluctant care taker's face. Add exasperated to that growing list of facial expressions, Kagome, she thought.
"You really are an idiot," he said as he gazed down his nose at her.
"What makes you say that?" Kagome replied huffily, wanting to rub her sore rear but not daring to while the youkai lord was standing over her, and also ignoring the fact that the tipped over stool and her position on said floor had warranted Sesshoumaru's comment. She just felt like being contrary.
"……" He just looked at her, and she bit her lower lip and glanced away. "Yeah, all right, I'm sorry. I thought I could make it safely into the water on my own."
Sesshoumaru suppressed a sigh. "Most likely you would have drowned had you made it that far, and saved me the trouble of taking care of you."
"Hey!" Kagome protested, turning her eyes back to his tall form, only to have them bug out when she noticed that he had changed his attire. She immediately put her hands to her already flushed cheeks, feeling how the heat increased as a blush intensified their bright pink color to an almost glow-in-the-dark crimson color. She couldn't stop her eyes from tracing the hard planes of his chest, shoulders, and abdomen, noting how his missing arm ending in a clean cut as opposed to the type of injury she was used to seeing on late night television, where bits and pieces of flesh would have been used to close the wounds, leaving the edges looking rough and unfinished.
He stood before her, glaring down his nose with his hand on his hip, the only thing protecting his modesty (or was it her modesty he was protecting?) was a rokushaku fundoshi. And THOSE left little to the imagination to begin with. It was one thing when the sumo wrestlers wore them; it was something completely different when Sesshoumaru wore it. Oh my god, just DON'T turn around!
Sesshoumaru turned his back on her, ignoring her sudden squeak in favor of scanning the night air that surrounded his home. Good, there was no hint of danger approaching from any direction. Not that he expected it would, but one could never be too careful.
For her part, Kagome was trying desperately to get her breathing under control. The front of the fundoshi offered some form of coverage, but the back . . .the back was more like a large thong than anything else. And she had just been graced with quite an eyeful of the youkai lord's nicely shaped rear before his hair swung into place and covered it. What am I THINKING?! she mentally wailed This is SESSHOUMARU! You know, the guy that would be voted most likely to kill you rather than look at you?! Get a grip! Aurgh!
Sesshoumaru turned back to his ill guest, wondering when she'd realize she had been voicing her thoughts aloud. Her most recent commentary had been muttered so low that even he had been unable to catch her words, but most of the time she made her thoughts known loud and clear. He also wondered if her eyes were supposed to be that large. She better be careful, they might just pop out of her head.
Kagome gave another surprised squeak when Sesshoumaru reached down and grabbed her arm, hauling her to her feet. She staggered and he steadied her, moving her towards the inviting water of the hot spring. For her part, she was trying to ignore the tall figure beside her. Once she was settled on the stony bench that ran along the rim of the bath, she could put some distance between them. This fever is making me crazy!
At last they reached the edge of the natural bath, and Kagome found herself thankful for Sesshoumaru's steadying hand as she lowered herself to the rim, and then slid into the inviting warmth, letting it surround her. She relaxed, and smiled slightly as she felt him slide into the water beside her. There was nothing quite like a good bath when you weren't feeling your best, and since she was close to feeling her worst the bath was pure bliss, even if her companion was a blood thirsty youkai who had allowed her to live in his home for the past three and a half days for reasons unknown. At the moment, Kagome didn't care about the why's, how's and what's that had been spinning in her head ever since she first woke up. She was going to enjoy this bath, damnit, frosty youkai or not.
Sesshoumaru leaned back against the wall of the spring, keeping half an eye on the girl who sat next to him. Little by little he began to relax, soaking up the silence that had been lacking in his home since he had obtained his very sick, and rather vocal, guest. It certainly didn't help that Rin and the kitsune cub were constantly hounding either him or Yurika over how Kagome was doing and when she'd get well. He was thankful, though, that the kit was proving to be a good companion for Rin. He would often see the two playing outside as long as it was safe, and had listened once to Jaken's complaining about a trick the two had pulled on the old retainer involving the Staff of Heads. Much to Jaken's further annoyance, Shippou had also joined in on Rin's daily lessons, and even Sesshoumaru had been hard pressed to not crack a smile when the kids had taken advantage of Jaken's nap during one of their writing lessons, and had painted all sorts of symbols all over the toad's face and head. Shippou had later told Kagome the story when he had come to visit her, and the girl had coughed so hard from laughing that she turned blue in the face.
Speaking of Kagome . . . He turned his attention back to her, in time to catch her as she began to slide underneath the water. She gave a half choked screech, which wasn't near as effective as it would have been had she been healthy and not hoarse from coughing, and stiffened when he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. She then began to kick her legs and pulled a bit on his arm. "If you want to drown yourself," he said sardonically, "Then tell me, otherwise stop thrashing."
Kagome instantly stilled at his words. She had fallen into a half sleep, lulled by the warmth and sense of safety that had invaded her senses, exhausted from the coughing and the constant internal battle as her system fought to rid her of her illness. She hadn't realized that her weakened muscles had decided to give up in their battle to keep her sitting up right and in place, and the smooth bench hadn't offered anything for her towel to snag and help hold her onto the seat. She hadn't been aware of the gradual slide into the water until she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist. It had startled her so badly that she had reacted without thinking, and it was only Sesshoumaru's voice that had finally gotten her to calm down.
She had begun to relax again when he decided he didn't like her sitting on the rock bench, period, and swiftly moved her onto his lap. THAT garnered quite a reaction.
"What are you DOING?!" she tried to yell, but it only came off as a half croaked whisper. Every muscle in her body tensed when she felt his thighs underneath her, and when he pulled her back against his chest she thought her heart would stop, as well. The arm wrapped snugly around her was similar to a band of steel that had been sheathed in velvet, gentle yet unrelenting. She tried to struggle, but froze when she felt the slightest pinprick of his claws against her side.
"Hold still," he growled. "Do you think I like having a human in my lap? This is the only way I can keep you from falling victim to your own stupidity."
Why that! Kagome was very tempted to snap her head back into the arrogant youkai's face, but the thought of the headache that would cause, not to mention the claw tips that were just barely touching her skin, made her rethink her actions. Instead she kept herself as stiff as possible, which was rather hard when your muscles were aching from fever and screaming to be allowed to rest. She fought the urge to thrash some more when she felt him nuzzling into her hair. What the hell?
"Move your hair over your shoulder," came the demand.
"Eh?"
"Unlike some youkai, human hair is not what I would consider to be something worth eating."
Oh. He couldn't move her hair out of his face on his own since his arm was currently busy holding her onto his lap. Hah, maybe I'll just ignore him and let him choke on my hair.
"I wouldn't recommend ignoring me," he said. The comment caused her to jump slightly, and she tried to whip her head around to look at him, but the best she could do was to stare out of the corner of her eye since his hold on her didn't allow for any movement of her body.
"What?!"
"Contrary to what you think, I would not choke on your hair. I could simply just release my hold on you and allow you to drown," he said.
"You've been reading my thoughts?!" The hoarseness in Kagome's voice didn't lessen her vehemence any, and Sesshoumaru almost wished she were facing him. Her face was the most animated thing he had ever seen, every emotion she felt visible for all to see.
"Reading your thoughts had nothing to do with it," he informed her. "You've been quite vocal about what you were thinking for quite some time now. You especially seem interested in listing all of my facial expressions."
"Oh my god," Kagome moaned, looking forward again and covering her face with her hands. She was mortified, and was quite tempted to tell him to just simply release his hold and put her out of her misery. Instead, she reached around with one hand, gathered her hair, and swung it forward over her right shoulder. "What else have I babbled about?"
"My servants are not afraid that I will kill them should the floor get a little dusty," he commented, echoing one of her earlier thoughts about how well trained his servants were. "Each knows their job, and if they can't perform it to my expectation, they are found a position in another household."
"I don't think I want to know what else you heard me say," Kagome muttered through gritted teeth. She felt his chest vibrate slightly against her back. What the? The sensation came again, and she was shocked to realize that he was laughing. Silently, yes, and she couldn't get a good look to see if he was smiling, but he was defiantly laughing. Once again, I'm his entertainment, she thought. I need to find a way to distract him.
"Um, Sesshoumaru, do you think you could tell me a little about the Western lands?" she asked, mentally going over topics that might be considered taboo with the frosty youkai. The list was staggering.
For a few moments she thought he wasn't going to answer, then, "What would you like to know?"
"How long has your family been the ruling youkai?" she asked, eager to get a little familial background on both Inu Yasha and him.
"Since before the humans existed here," he said. "Youkai roamed these lands long before the first humans arrived. Back then there were no boundaries, no taking of human form. It was survive or be killed so another could survive. It was lawless and wild, drifting from one day to the next without knowing who would live or who would die. Eventually four great warriors arose from the constant fighting, and they wanted to enforce some form of law upon the land. For a hundred years it worked, until the first human set foot upon this land. It did not take long for them to reproduce and crowd the area, and many youkai were forced into closer contact than what they had ever been in since the crude laws were first created. Fighting broke out again, and this time the four warriors were not immune to it. They quarreled, the laws were broken and scattered to the winds. Eventually the four broke with each other and went to the four directions of the land. The Inuyoukai claimed the Western lands, the Wolf Youkai claimed the north, while the Eastern lands are held by the Nekoyoukai, and the Southern lands are held by the Kitsune and other shape shifting youkai."
"And the rule now is basically survival of the fittest," Kagome murmured. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice when he rested his chin on her exposed shoulder.
"There are a few who still adhere to one of the old rules. Mostly it's other youkai lords or older, more traditional youkai families."
"The old rule?" she asked, curious.
"Only one. Whenever someone crosses the threshold of your home, they are considered to be under your protection. As such, you do anything in your power to see that they obtain what they want, and that they are taken care of as one of your own."
"That explains a bit about why you haven't killed me yet," Kagome said, surprised that youkai even had an unspoken rule dictating conduct towards a guest.
"Yet. The week is still young," he replied.
Is he teasing me? she wondered. A vibration behind her back confirmed her suspicion. Sesshoumaru is TEASING me!
"There's no need to get worked up, contrary to popular opinion I do have a sense of humor."
"Hah, at the expense of another person," Kagome snorted, ignoring his unspoken comment about her voicing her thoughts aloud again. "I'm sorry, but you and a sense of humor go hand in hand as much as someone telling me a porcupine makes a cuddly pet."
He made a soft "hmming" sound, then, "You're not getting better."
It was a statement that didn't merit a reply, but she said, "No, I'm not."
"Youkai medicine is proving to be ineffectual against this disease, and your Asprin is not doing anything to help, either. You are getting worse," he stated.
Again, she replied, even though she knew she didn't need to. "Yes."
"You saved Rin," he said, finally giving her another piece of the puzzle as to why she was still alive and under his roof. He does care for her, she thought, this time managing to not voice her opinion aloud. "I would never hear the end of it if I let her 'oneechan' die while under my care. You are hiding something, you have been ever since you arrived here. I could order to you to tell me what it is you are hiding, but you have proven to be quite stubborn." There was grudging admiration in his voice.
Kagome's eyes widened. Through all their talks, or rather, through all her of babbling her story to him, she hadn't once mentioned the Bone Eater's Well. She knew that was her only chance to be healed, but she still hesitated at giving Sesshoumaru that knowledge, and thus, that power over her. What would happen to her family? Would he go on a killing rampage when he found out there were no more youkai in existence in the future? Or would he just drop her off and leave, not taking time to assess the world he would, quite literally, be dropped in. It was enough to cause her head to start aching. He seemed to sense this, for he stood up in the water, keeping his arm wrapped around her, and lifted both of them out onto the stone floor. Kagome hung there, her feet a good inch and a half off the ground as he walked towards the tipped over bathing stool. He quickly set it back to rights with his foot, before depositing his soggy bundle onto it. She stared at him as he tossed a clean drying cloth to her with orders to "dry off and get dressed" before he left the bathing area. His long white hair obscured most of her view of his bare back, but the thought of it caused her to blush anyway, and she quickly set about doing what he had ordered.
She was relatively dry and back in her warm yukata when he came back through the door. He was wearing his normal outfit, complete with the shoulder fur. The only thing missing was his spiky armor. She briefly wondered why he was wearing the fur again when he hadn't worn it the past few nights, when he leaned down and picked her up. He used the fur as an extension of his missing arm, curling it underneath and around her knees, while his arm supported her back. She quickly wrapped an arm around his neck, gazing up at his profile. Another question bubbled to the surface.
"What is it?" she asked, indicating the fur that was wrapped around her knees.
"It is a sentient being," he answered. "The lowest form of youkai in existence. It can perform simple tasks such as the one it's doing now."
"That makes sense," she commented. "Hey, it needs a name!"
"What?" he glanced down at her.
"I'm going to call it Fluffy!" she announced.
He felt his eye start to twitch. "It does not need a name," he growled.
"Of course it does," she argued. "It's a bit like a pet, and all pets need names."
He glared down at her. "It is not a pet," he growled.
"Whatever you say," she said with a wave of her hand, causing him to fight the urge to just drop her and let her get back to her bed on her own. Infuriating girl!
They reached her room without further comment, and he swiftly sat her onto her futon, backing away as she adjusted the blanket over her. It was close to dawn, and soon Yurika would be waking to check on her. He watched her with hooded eyes as she scooched further under her blanket, regarding him sleepily.
"Thank you," she said, causing his eyebrows to raise slightly. "For allowing me the bath. I know it didn't really make me feel better physically, but it made me feel better mentally. I hate feeling dirty when I'm sick."
He regarded her for a moment, bent down to pick up the now warmed bowl of lavender water, then, "You're welcome."
He turned to go, intending to fill up the bowl with cold, fresh water, when her voice stopped him again. "Let me think about it. I have to think about it before I tell you. You have to promise . .," her voice drifted off, and he turned to find that she had fallen asleep.
He left, knowing that she would tell him what it was she was hiding. He passed the old healer in the hallway, and gave her a brief update on Kagome's condition. He didn't tell her that he had allowed Kagome to bathe. Yurika wouldn't have said anything to him, but he didn't feel like Kagome needed a lecture at the moment. And the bath had seemed to do her some good. It had gotten her to relax a bit and let her body take care of itself for a few moments.
He filled the bowl with fresh lavender water, then returned to Kagome's room. He handed it to Yurika without comment, then left the house to check around the immediate area. For a brief moment he felt a strange presence near his home, something alien, but it was gone so fast that a lesser youkai would have brushed it off. Not Sesshoumaru. He filed that strange, fleeting feeling away. If it came again, he would recognize it, and find out if it were friend or foe. He returned to his home and reentered it just as the sun peeked over the horizon.
*******
Kagome felt the sunlight touch her eyelids, and she opened them to find Yurika in Sesshoumaru's place. She took a moment to study the old healer. She was a kitsune, very advanced in her years, but age had not taken away from her beauty. Rather, it had enhanced it. Gentle wrinkles could not hide the high cheekbones, the strong tilt of the chin, and the wise, stubborn light in her blue eyes. Instead of looking weathered by life, she looked refined by it, the wrinkles she bore proudly had not been scoured deep into her skin by grief, pain, or regret. Rather, they looked like the wrinkles of someone who laughed often, accepted things for what they were, and managed to find the bright side of everything. Her dark gray hair had been pulled into a high pony tail, and bangs swept gently across her forehead. Her tail was long, it nearly swept the floor behind her as she walked, and matched her hair in shade and tone. She gazed at Kagome now, worry evident in her eyes and she listened to the young girl's labored attempts to breath.
"You're not getting better," she stated, unknowingly echoing her lord's earlier words.
"Yurika, may I ask you something?" Kagome asked, causing the healer to frown at the state of her voice.
"You may," she answered.
"I'm under Sesshoumaru's protection, correct?"
"Yes."
"Does that protection extend to outside his house, or just while I'm here?"
"Sesshoumaru-sama owes you a debt for Rin's life," Yurika answered. "His protection extends past the boundaries of this house, and even past the boundaries of the Western lands themselves."
Kagome fidgeted a little, then blurted out, "Would that protection extend to my family?"
"Yes."
Kagome heaved a sigh of relief. Her mind had been decided. There was no other way to heal her, and Yurika had said Sesshoumaru would not harm her family. Still . . .
"Please, will you call him for me? I must ask him something."
The kitsune gave her a curious look, then rose from her position and left. Kagome rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, telling herself that she wasn't crazy for doing what she was about to do. It was her only chance to survive the illness that was probably turning into pneumonia at that very minute. The thought caused her to shudder, and her eyes were more than a little apprehensive when the door slid open and Sesshoumaru entered her room. She slowly sat up as he took a seat on the floor next to her futon, and regarded her quietly, his face closed off and watchful.
"I need you to promise that you will not harm my family," Kagome said, not beating around the bush, but a little afraid she might have insulted him. She saw his eyes twitch slightly in surprise, before he said, "You have my word."
She breathed a sigh of relief. Oh good, I didn't insult him.
"I wouldn't expect you to trust that my protection would extend to your family as well," he commented, making her wince when she realized she was thinking out loud again.
"You don't have the best reputation, you know," she grumbled.
That comment didn't cause for a response, and he gave her none. He simply sat and watched her with amber eyes that seemed a little warmer than what she was used to seeing. She fidgeted, then sighed.
"I need you to take me home," she said. "That's the only chance I have of getting better. I need you to take me through the Bone Eater's Well."
To Be Continued . . .
Notes:
Most of the words in here are pretty much the same ones used throughout, hanyou, miko, kitsune, baka, and the honorifics. Though I do need to explain a fundoshi, I think. ^^ Or rather, I'll tell you how to find the link that I used as a reference, that might be easier. Go to the google search engine (this wouldn't be such a pain if the links weren't taken out of the fic, I"m so sorry about the pictures and what not in the opening notes of this fic) and type in rokushaku funoshi. The VERY first link will be "Untitled" but underneath it should say How to tie a Rokushaku Funoshi. It's a pictorial showing you how to tie the particular garment in place. Now I will warn you, you get to see a guys bare backside, but there's nothing perverted or pornographic about it unless you consider looking at someone who's wearing the equivilant of a male thong offensive. If you do, I suggest you don't view that page and imagine Sess in something similar to what Sumo Wrestler's wear. ^_^
Replies:
Dumdeedum - I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! I figured it would probably be difficult to get readers since not many people are familiar with Blue Seed, which I think is a shame. I really appreciate you reading it despite not being familiar with what will soon be about half of the main cast. I hope you enjoy Blue Seed, I know it's a tad slow to start with, but it's a fun series even with the serious under tone. ^^
Cryptiic Muse - Thanks! I intend to, even though I do tend to write at a snail's pace at times. ^_^
Sailor Panda - Yay! I'm glad you weren't weirded out and gave it a try, too! Thank you so much for your praise, I'm always paranoid about characterization, and this being a cross over adds its own dimension of difficult regarding the different characters interacting with each other (which is coming up). One of the highest compliments for me is that the characters are IC. Thank you so much!
Silver Dragonfly - *grin* Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed, I will admit I had a lot of perverse pleasure in writing the first Omake. I figured I could get away with a lot of things with the little shorts, help take away from the eventual seriousness of the story. I also ADORE your site, and have become a regular visitor. ^^
Vorsith - Thanks! This chapter didn't have any of Kus or IY, but they will defiantly make an appearance in the next chapter. I'm glad you're enjoying the story! ^^
Queen - Thank you so so much! Yep, the rest of IY-tachi are going to be along for the ride, but for right now they're going to be a bit in the background, though they WILL be making an apperance in the next chapter, along with Kusanaig and company. I'm hoping to bring the two shows together in chapter five without screwing up their characters. ^^;; *crosses fingers* And thanks for the wish for the muses, they're much needed!
Astra M. - Thanks, Astra, I always appreciate your comments, especially since I know how you feel about what I'm going to be working towards in regards to Kagome and her significant other. ^_~ As well as the ICness of the characters, you KNOW how paranoid I am about that. You're welcome for the notes, if you want, I'd be more than happy to give you Blue Seed so you can watch it. Despite it's slow start, I think it's a wonderful series and I love all the characters in it. ^^
Thank you so much, everyone!
Chapter Three
Fevered Dreams
Sesshoumaru dipped a cloth into a bowl of lavender scented water, squeezed the excess out, and gently placed it on Kagome's feverish forehead. It had been three days since the fever had begun raging in her slight body, and it had taken every ounce of Yurika's healing knowledge to keep it from going completely out of control. The old kitsune healer hadn't seemed surprised over the presence of another human in Sesshoumaru's house, and he hadn't offered her an explanation. Rin, on the other hand, hadn't been quite so silent. Sesshoumaru heard the little girl telling Yurika some of her story while Yurika brewed a fever reducing tea in the kitchen area, which was punctuated by Jaken's derisive comments whenever he felt that the little girl was embellishing something that didn't need it. Shippou's additions to the story had finally given Sesshoumaru a more clear knowledge of the events that lead up to finding Rin in Inu Yasha's wench's company.
When Yurika had first walked into the room that currently housed the ill Kagome, she had let out a small sound of distress at what she had seen, thankful for the moment that Sesshoumaru-sama had been called away by Rin and the kitsune child. She didn't want him to know just how out of her depth she felt by the sight of girl on the futon. Kagome was curled on her side, shivering with chills while her lungs labored to empty themselves of the liquid that was building up in them. Her fever had spiked, and she was barely conscious, eyeing the old healer in such a way that she knew the girl had retreated to a different place in her mind. She made sympathetic noises as she turned Kagome's protesting body onto its back, and then lifted her head with her left arm, holding the bowl with the fever tea to the girl's lips. At first she didn't respond, but then her body took over and demanded some form of relief from the fire that had turned her throat dry, and she had swallowed the potion in three gulps despite the heat and bitter taste. Gently setting the girl's head back onto her pillow, Yurika had then drawn the blanket over her and watched as she fell into an uneasy sleep. Turning, she spotted Jaken standing in the doorway, an ill look upon his face and a bandage adorning the large bump on his head..
"She needs a clean yukata, it's not good that she's still in her wet kimono," Yurika ordered, knowing that Jaken had no choice but to do as she said. When it concerned the ill of the household, Yurika had final say in the matter. Not even Sesshoumaru went against her instructions, unless they pertained to himself. Then Sesshoumaru did whatever Sesshoumaru wanted to do, regardless of her instructions.
Jaken glared at the old healer, but knew better than to argue with her, and he went off in search of a clean yukata while Yurika turned her attention back to her patient. With quick, economical movements, she stripped Kagome of her wet clothing and tucked her back underneath the blanket. She then sat patiently and listened to the sounds Kagome's lungs were making, wincing slightly in sympathy when the deep, bone jarring coughing began again. It sounded like the girl's lungs were trying to crawl their way up her throat and out of her mouth, but the only thing that escaped was some yellow gunk, which caused the youkai to frown in concern. She quickly began to mentally run through her list of herbs and medicines, trying to come up with something that would ease the cough and sooth the throat that was no doubt going to be raw and painful when the girl woke up again.
She had just settled for a soothing mint tea with honey when the door slid open and Jaken appeared, a clean white yukatA folded in his arms. Without a word, she took it from him before shooing the toad youkai out the door, shutting it in his face and effectively cutting off his protests. The old retainer may have had a low opinion of humans, but Yurika was not about to have him standing in the room while she got the girl into the garment. For one thing, it wasn't gentlemanly to watch a young woman changing clothes, for another, the girl was sick and shouldn't have to deal with visitors of the small, warty, and annoying type in the first place.
With some gentle, and then not quite so gentle, prodding, Yurika managed to wake Kagome up enough to make getting her into the yukata easier, but it was obvious from the way the girl's eyes were unfocused that she hadn't completely woken up, and as soon as she was back on the futon she returned to her feverish dreams, muttering something about her head hurting. Shortly there after Sesshoumaru had entered the room again, and Yurika had left telling him she was going to get a cold compress and brew some mint tea for Kagome's cough. He had barely nodded his acknowledgement, and stood looking down at the girl until the old healer had returned. He watched in silence as she sat a large bowl of cold water that smelled faintly of lavender on the ground, and dropped a clean cloth into it. She once again lifted Kagome's head and got her to drink down the honey laced tea, telling the girl in an undertone that it would help to ease her cough a bit and grant her throat a little relief from the rawness the coughing instilled in it. She also told the girl that she needed to drink the liquid to help replenish the moisture she was losing because of the fever. Whether or not Kagome heard her, Sesshoumaru couldn't tell, but she did drain the smaller bowl of it's content before moaning and turning her head away.
Yurika reached over and pulled out the now wet cloth, wrung out the excess water, and placed it on Kagome's hot forehead. The girl moaned again, but this time she turned her head in the direction that the cool relief had come from, before sighing and seeming to sink deeper into her dreams.
"She will need this compress replaced ever thirty minutes with a fresh one. I also brought in some clean cloths for her to cough into when she can," Yurika told her lord, knowing that he would want to be kept updated about the girl's condition and what she was doing for her. "I'm going to keep a good supply of the mint tea brewed, and honey should be added whenever she drinks it. That will help sooth her throat and ease some of her coughing. I'll give her the fever reducing tea every four hours, but other than trying to keep her comfortable, I'm at a loss. I've never seen an illness like this before, and other than trying to treat the symptoms, I don't know how to cure it."
Sesshoumaru made a soft sound of acknowledgement, and Yurika continued, "I'll keep an eye on her during the day, get her used to the treatments. There's a chance she could become delirious if the fever gets too high, and I don't know if she could become violent. At night . . ."
"I will tend to her at night," Sesshoumaru said, the tone of his voice clearly stating that arguments would not be tolerated. Yurika simply nodded, not expecting any different from her lord. Sesshoumaru, like all other great youkai lords and even, she had heard, human lords, considered anyone who walked through his door as being under his protection. It could be his greatest enemy, or it could be a small human child, but he would treat them equally and see to their every need while they were under his roof. So the fact that he would willingly take over Kagome's care at night as opposed to sending a servant to do the task wasn't surprising, especially since she had saved Rin's life. Sesshoumaru now owed the girl a life debt, and the other youkai lords would agree that he was certainly one to honor all debts he felt he owed.
He reached out and removed the warmed compress, dipping it once again into the cooler water before replacing it on Kagome's forehead. He then sat back and eyed her face for a long moment, noticing the wrinkle between her eyebrows that signaled either extreme pain, or extreme concentration. Considering the girl in front of him, Sesshoumaru figured it was probably both. Kagome was fighting this internal battle the same way she did all her other ones, with everything she had. It really was a shame that she was so loyal to his idiot half brother. Loyalty was to be admired, but loyalty to an idiot was just foolish. Especially considering what she had told him of her travels with the hanyou.
It really had been interesting to see the change in her once the sun went down.
During the day, while Yurika looked after her, Kagome was quiet, sleeping peacefully but occasionally waking up enough to be able to reassure Shippou, who would sneak into her room with very little urging from Rin, that she would be all right and to not worry. She also asked Yurika to get her a small bottle of something she called Asprin out of her large bag, and explained to the older healer that the small round objects she swallowed with the help of the mint tea were fever reducing pills. Once the old healer had been convinced of the pills effectiveness, she stopped brewing the fever reducing tea and let Kagome continue taking her Asprin.
When the sun went down, however, it was a completely different story.
It almost appeared that Kagome's fever was somehow connected to the sun. While it was shining and gently illuminating the room through the paper walls, her fever would go down. She would wake up enough to take care of herself regarding personal matters with very little help from Yurika - though there was the one time Kagome had convinced Yurika to let her take a bath and she had nearly drowned, her legs being too weak to hold her up in the water when she had first got in. One of the female servants had been assigned to keep an eye on her while she was in the bath, and she had pulled the floundering Kagome to the side where smooth benches had been carved out of the natural stone. Once settled, Kagome had relaxed, only to have her relaxation cut short by Yurika marching in and making her get out of the hot water, stating that it wasn't good for her fever. After that, Kagome had pretty much spent most of the days sleeping, her body exhausted from the continuous coughing.
Night, however, was a completely different story. As soon as the sun would go down, Sesshoumaru would take up his position close to her head, settling down and relaxing as much as he ever allowed himself to relax. He would listen as Yurika left last minute instructions, along with a voiced worry regarding the almost never ending cough, before leaving her lord to his vigil. Sesshoumaru never slept, but he would relax his body and rest his muscles while leaving his mind clear and alert in case danger should make it's way to his home. The chances of that were rare, he had concealed this place so well that even Jaken had been unable to find it upon occasion, but it was a rash idiot who let his guard down, and Sesshoumaru was anything but rash, and he certainly wasn't an idiot.
The change in Kagome, though, would have been surprising if it hadn't been for Yurika's warnings regarding high fevers before she left for the night. About an hour into the darkness, Kagome's fever would spike and she would begin to toss and turn on the futon. He always wanted to give her more of her pills when this happened, but Yurika had strictly forbidden excess use of them, stating that Kagome had said they needed to follow the directions for their use to the letter, otherwise it could make her even more sick. So he was forced to sit back and watch the girl battle whatever inner demons tormented her during the nightly hours. This had been going on for the past two nights, and the third night was proving to be no different.
If she continued in the same pattern that she had followed the two previous nights, then sometime during the earliest hours of the morning, when the sky outside was its blackest, she would open her eyes, turn to look at him, and begin to talk. He found himself amazed at how clearly she spoke, pausing only to cough into one of the cloths that Yurika had brought her. It had been his understanding that delirious people usually didn't make much sense, tending to babble about anything and everything. But Kagome had been an exception. From the first night when she had looked him squarely in the eyes and announced in a determined voice that her name was Kagome (which he already knew from her original announcement of her name earlier in the day), she had made complete sense, and seemed to be telling him, in almost chronological order, everything that had happened to her ever since she first met up with his bastard of a half brother.
The first night had been a retelling of some of her story that he already knew, her first meeting with Inu Yasha while he was still sealed against the tree, along with her meetings with him, Sesshoumaru. He learned how they had met up with the kitsune cub, and how the Monk, and then the Demon Slayer had joined their little group. She told him about the surprise she had felt when the Centipede youkai had first attacked her, and how she had somehow managed to repel the monster by some sort of power that came through her hands. Sesshoumaru didn't doubt this, ever since she had first succumbed to the fever and her guard had been let down, he had been able to sense a deep pool of raw power, so far untapped and seeming to be in a state of sleep.
Not really interested in her story, Sesshoumaru had continued to keep a cold compress on her forehead, tuning out her coughing chatter until she mentioned the name Kikyou.
That caught his attention as nothing she had said before had. He well knew the name of the woman that had sealed Inu Yasha fifty years ago, several of the other lesser youkai that had been after the Shikon Jewel hadn't hesitated in telling the mighty Sesshoumaru the tale of how his brother had been defeated by a mere human, and a female one at that. The story went that the woman herself had died of wounds inflicted by his brother, so to hear Kagome mention her name as if she were still alive had been startling.
"I don't remember it, you know," she said, her voice already starting to sound hoarse from the constant barrage of coughs.
"Hmmm?" Sesshoumaru wasn't paying attention. It was nearly time for the girl to take those strange white pills again, and he was thankful she was awake and he wouldn't have to prod her to take them.
"Having my soul taken from my body. Shippou said it was the scariest thing he had ever seen, but I don't remember a single part of it happening. But it really must have happened, otherwise Kikyou wouldn't be walking around right now."
"Kikyou?" Sesshoumaru asked, his head snapping up at the sound of his brother's sealer.
"Yeah. She was brought back by an old yokai witch who forged her a new body out of clay and Kikyou's burial ashes. The witch dragged my soul from my body and managed to place it inside Kikyou, but somehow I was able to take it back. Now, the only thing that really keeps her alive is the souls of other dead people. She's constantly showing up where ever we go and Inu Yasha just . . .," Kagome paused, and furrowed her brow, her eyes glazing over.
Sesshoumaru didn't want to prod her, he really wasn't all that interested, but something sad had seemed to flash in Kagome's eyes, but before he could say anything, and what would he have said, anyway?, she had closed her eyes and fallen asleep again.
After the first night, her stories got a little more in depth and descriptive. In a way it was like she was telling a story, once the introductions were over she was able to get onto the battles and Naraku's appearance in their lives. Sesshoumaru knew that all she was telling him were true, she was in no state mentally to be able to fabricate such stories off the top of her head. She had baffled him a few times when she had said his brother's name, followed by an angry "sit", but had filed it away for later exploration.
The more she told, the more he found himself giving her something he had never given to a single human in his entire life, including his father's second wife, Inu Yasha's mother. He gave Kagome his respect. Granted it was grudging and he wouldn't admit to the fact even if his very life depended upon that confession, but his respect she had won. And if he were honest with himself, and most of the time he was unless he really didn't want to think about something he considered inconsequential, she had held a small grudging amount of his respect from the first time they had clashed eyes and words over the Tetsusaiga. She had stood toe to toe with him and dared him try and injure her, holding the untransformed Tetsusaiga in her inexperienced hands, determination written throughout every muscle in her body.
That was the first time he had ever stood so close to a human and not had them quake with fear at knowing who he was. Then she had stood up to him a second time, destroying part of his armor with one of her arrows, and undoing Tetsusiaga's transformation with another. That was when he had realized that he had been dealing with someone who wasn't an ordinary human, though what exactly she was he couldn't tell. He discounted the rumors that she was the reincarnation of his brother's sealer, and after having spent some time in close proximity to her, he could say with authority that she was no one's reincarnation. Her soul, which had come to the surface when her fever had caused the guard on her power to lower briefly, just didn't feel old. In fact, he was pretty sure that she was harboring two souls, her own, and another that was much older and preferred to stay asleep inside its safe house. What it was waiting for, he didn't know, and quite frankly he didn't care. It was none of his business.
What was his business at the moment was his sick guest, and with a sigh of resignation he prodded her until she opened her unfocused eyes and looked at him. He leaned forward, and placed the pills in her limp hand. She blinked at it for a few seconds, before placing the pills in her mouth, making a face at their bitter taste. She then lifted her head to the bowl of water he held for her, and swallowed, letting her head fall back against the pillow. Sesshoumaru didn't like the fact that such a simple action exhausted her so much. He knew, as did Yurika, that she was progressively getting worse. The watery sounds in her lungs increased every day, and despite the constant coughing, which was gradually getting weaker, she was expelling very little of the liquid. If this continued, and if her fever kept fluctuating, then she could very easily be in big trouble - especially since youkai medicine was doing nothing to help her other than to ease the symptoms a bit. For someone who was used to being in complete control of everything in his surroundings, this feeling that there was something out there that he couldn't control was enough to make him pause and think. And some of those thoughts were rather unpleasant.
Kagome stared up at him, trying to get her fuzzy mind to connect with a body that felt as if it were weighted down with lead. Everything ached from the fever, her bones, her joints, and especially her head. Her throat felt raw, and she felt like Inu Yasha and the rest of the gang were all sitting on her chest. Breathing was difficult; breathing without coughing was near impossible. The honey laced tea she had been fed since she first was brought to Sesshoumaru's mansion helped a little bit, but she knew that what she really needed were some heavy duty antibiotics. But in order to get those antibiotics, she needed to get back to the well and return to her own time. Considering that the act of lifting her hand to her mouth or raising her head a mere inch off of her pillow exhausted her to the point where she felt like she couldn't move, she knew the chances of her returning home on her own were practically non-existent.
Despite the rather gruff kindness that he had shown her, and it was kindness because he hadn't killed her yet, Kagome was still hesitant to trust Sesshoumaru with the secret of the well. She was amazed that she had managed to keep it secret even during her babble sessions, where she had told him quite a lot about her travels with his brother. Ordinarily she wouldn't have been so open with him, but the fever was making her a bit crazy, and she didn't have complete control over what she said or when she said it. She was aware of what she was saying, she just didn't have the mental powers to keep the words inside her head. Or maybe it was something else that allowed her words to flow more freely than they ever had with anyone who wasn't her mother, and even at that she didn't tell her mother everything that happened. If she had told her mother everything, Asako Higurashi would have forbid her daughter from ever returning to the Sengoku Jidai.
Maybe, just maybe, it was the fact that Sesshoumaru was something of a complete stranger; someone who probably didn't care at all about everything she had been telling him. He would sit next to her, watching her with golden eyes that were bright and alert despite the lateness of the hour, occasionally prompting her when she seemed to falter over her words, but that was the extent of any interest he showed in her chatter. If she were completely honest with herself, it was most likely his lack of interest that spurred her on in her confessions. Here was someone she could talk to, it didn't matter if he responded or not. Ever since she had seen Kikyou and Inu Yasha embracing, ever since she had heard what could easily be interpreted as his confession of his feelings for Kikyou, she had needed someone to talk to. Oh, her mother had been wonderful, giving her advice to follow her heart in her quiet, gentle way, but that still didn't ease the hurt and, yes, betrayal that she had felt. Not only that, but she wanted to tell her story to someone, it didn't matter who. She always got rather morbid whenever she suffered from a fever, thinking about how she'd like to write her adventures down as some sort of story before she really did die of one thing or another. Maybe she'd even turn it into a manga, but she'd have to find the right artist for that. After all, no one other than those that were closest to her knew and accepted the truth. Everyone would treat it either as an over active imagination, or as a mental disorder, and quite frankly neither prospect sounded very appealing.
She turned her head on her pillow and glanced at her host, marveling once again over the very fact that she was alive and able to feel the misery of the disease that was raging through her body. I thought he'd rather kill a human than to look at one, she thought, but already that belief had been shattered when she had first realized that he was caring for a human girl like she were his own child. Granted, it was a rather affectionless seeming relationship, but she hadn't seen the two interacting any since Rin had been banned from her room.
Her thoughts were brought back to the present when she felt the cool compress touch her forehead again. She glanced over at her nurse (she mentally giggled at that passing thought) and wondered once again at the change he underwent by simply removing his armor and shoulder ornament. In a way, it almost seemed like he was a completely different person. Unbidden, and in a sense unwelcome, her mouth opened of its own accord and she began to speak, mentally wincing at just how little of a voice she had left, the coughing having worn down her vocal cords and exhausted her throat.
"She tried to kill me once," she croaked. Sesshoumaru paused and cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Kikyou. She tried to kill me once," she clarified. And with those words Kagome felt such a deep sense of relief that she wondered why she didn't just melt on the spot from the sensation. It felt wonderful to say those words, to confess something that she hadn't told anyone else. She suspected that Miroku and Sango had picked up on the fact that something had been wrong after they all escaped from Naraku's Illusionary Death trap, but Inu Yasha was, as always, completely oblivious; preferring to believe Kikyou's lie about the Shikon shard she had stolen rather than dwell on what could have been the real reason Kagome had been dangling over the large pit filled with Naraku's miasma.
"We had been chasing after Naraku, who had been trying to gain a replacement body by having all sorts of youkai fight each other in this large pit. Sango-chan, Shippou-chan and I were waiting outside the cave that led to the pit, Inu Yasha saying that he didn't think we all needed to go in, since he felt it was probably just an ordinary youkai. So I stayed behind with Sango-chan, as Inu Yasha had asked, and waited for Miroku-sama and him to return from the cave. They took so long that we began to get worried, and I had decided it was time to go in after them when Kikyou appeared behind us. She asked us about Inu Yasha, and then went inside the cave. I told Shippou-chan to stay with Sango-chan because the evil aura coming from the cave was making her sick, and I followed. It wasn't too long before I caught up with Miroku-sama. We managed to make our way to a ledge that over looked the pit the youkai were fighting in, and saw that Kikyou had either fallen unconscious on the arena floor, or was unable to move from losing the dead souls that were powering her body. Inu Yasha . . . ," here, Kagome broke off for a second, and gazed up at the ceiling.
"The idiot was fighting the remaining youkai in the pit," Sesshoumaru said, sounding bored.
"Yes. He was fighting to keep the youkai from absorbing Kikyou into its body. I managed to get to here and pulled her out of the way, and she woke up and fired an arrow that pierced the seal that had surrounded the cave. She did it to save Inu Yasha."
"Are you trying to delude yourself about that fact, or do you truly believe it?" Now he sounded bored AND slightly irritated, but Kagome couldn't tell anything from his poker face.
Gamblers should take lessons from him, Kagome thought.
"She did it," Kagome said, her voice determined despite its hoarseness and the occasional cough, "To save Inu Yasha. He would have become a part of Naraku's replacement body if she hadn't fired that arrow. But she used all her power to do so, or so I thought at the time, and Naraku grabbed her and carried her off. Inu Yasha nearly went crazy with worry, and when I told him we should go save Kikyou, he tried to brush it off, saying he would go by himself. The others weren't going to have anything to do with that plan, and I think Inu Yasha realized that the fight against Naraku isn't his alone; it really belongs to all of us."
Replacement body? That's the second time she's mentioned it. I wonder what she means. Sesshoumaru knew that Naraku was currently trying to dispel the human portion of his hanyou body, but this was the first he'd heard of him having a replacement body. With patience learned over years and years of living and battling to stay alive, he contained his curiosity and continued to listen to her story while keeping his face neutral. He certainly didn't want to let her know that he was interested in what she had to say.
Great, he's got that look again, Kagome thought. But I'm sick and it's good to finally tell SOMEONE about what happened that day. He's just going to have to deal with it.
Sesshoumaru turned back to the lavender water in order to hide the slight smile that had crept over his face. The girl obviously had no idea that she had just spoken her thoughts aloud.
"Naraku's Saimyoushou showed up, and instead of letting Inu Yasha go alone, we all followed after them. On the way we ran into some of Kikyou's Dead-Soul-Insects, so we knew the Saimyoushou were leading us correctly, and most likely they were leading us into a trap. All of the insects vanished into a wall of mist, and as soon as everyone entered the general area, they all vanished. Later, Miroku-sama told me that they all had been caught in Naraku's Illusionary Death, where their worst fears and darkest memories were brought to life for them. I don't know why I wasn't affected, but I made it to where Naraku and Kikyou were. I shot an arrow at him, and it hit, but it wasn't the real Naraku, just another one of his puppets. He opened up a fissure underneath me, and nearly dropped me into a pool of his miasma. I grabbed onto some vines and part of the ledge, and knowing I couldn't hold on for very long, I called for help. I never expected Kikyou to be the one who came to the ledge. I thought she was unable to move, but she told me otherwise," Kagome paused again, trying to catch some of the breath she'd lost through both talking and coughing.
"Apparently, she had been able to move the entire time, she just wanted to see what Naraku was up to. She lifted me up using her Death-Soul-Insects. I thought . . . I thought she was going to help me, that she was going to lift me out of the fissure and set me on the solid ground. I was a fool."
"Obviously," Sesshoumaru commented, earning a dark look from Kagome.
"Kikyou reached out and took the Shikon shard I had from around my neck, then ordered her youkai servants to drop me. I managed to grab the ledge again, and that was when Inu Yasha showed up. He hadn't seen Kikyou try to drop me into the pool of miasma, and when he asked what had happened Kikyou told him that she had taken the shard from me because apparently that was why Naraku was after me. She deliberately made it sound like she was trying to save me from Naraku by taking the shard," Kagome's hands clenched into fists, grabbing a small handful of the blanket that covered her, "And of course she didn't say a thing about trying to kill me."
"….." Sesshoumaru didn't seem inclined to say anything to that comment, then asked, "Did you tell Inu Yasha the truth?"
"….." It was Kagome's turn to be silent for a moment, but that silence was all the answer Sesshoumaru needed.
"You are an idiot."
"Hey," Kagome shot back, pausing for a second to cough. "I couldn't tell him because it would have sounded like I was making it up because I was unable to protect the jewel. Or worse, that I was jealous and making up tales. Either way, Inu Yasha seemed to believe her."
"Then he's more of an idiot than I originally thought," he commented, reaching out to take the cloth and rewet it.
"Hey!" Kagome began again, only to be cut off by Sesshoumaru asking, "You said Naraku had been creating a replacement body. Why did he need to replace it?"
"Because I destroyed the other one," Kagome answered. Sesshoumaru looked at her, prompting Kagome to think, Whoa, I thought he only had a limited number of facial expressions! Smirk, smirk, smirk, cold glare, smirk, death glare, neutral look, smirk, and curious. I guess I can add incredulous to that list.
"It wasn't intentional, I didn't even know I could project any sort of spiritual power into an arrow," Kagome said.
She really has no idea of the power that sleeps within her, Sesshoumaru thought with some surprise. Kagome took his contemplative air as a signal to continue with her story.
"Naraku had tricked Sango-chan into stealing the Tetsusaiga and giving it to him," Kagome's head jerked over to glare at Sesshoumaru when she thought she heard him give a snort of disgust. Determinedly, she continued, "He tried to make her and Kohaku-kun fight against each other to the death, but Sango-chan refused and got hurt pretty badly by Kohaku-kun. When we arrived, Naraku went into full taunting mode. Inu Yasha attacked him. But every time he cut one of those tendrils Naraku sent towards us, the more his miasma was loosed to surround us. Inu Yasha tossed part of his fire-rat haori over Sango-chan, Shippou-chan and myself in an effort to protect us, but it was obvious that Naraku was winning. And then he started to taunt Inu Yasha about how he was failing at protecting his friends, how he was useless, worthless. I snapped. After what he had done to Kohaku-kun and Sango-chan, and then to listen to him taunt Inu Yasha was more than I could take."
Sesshoumaru blinked when he noticed that Kagome was starting to glow faintly. Her broken voice had gained strength from the anger that was resurfacing at the memory of what had happened that day, and with every word she spoke the glow around her intensified.
"Naraku really is. The. WORST!" Kagome growled, and the light that was surrounding her exploded outwards so fast that Sesshoumaru didn't have time to raise a hand to defend himself. He felt a brush of heat followed by a tingling sensation against his face, before the light was suddenly retracted back into Kagome's body as she curled on her side, coughing. She was able to pull her power back inside without being aware of it, he mused. Interesting.
Kagome's coughing gradually subsided, and she rested for a moment by taking shallow breaths that wouldn't irritate her lungs or her throat. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a clawed hand gently run through her hair, but she relaxed when she felt him turning her over onto her back. A few seconds later she gratefully drank the lukewarm honey laced tea he held out for her. With a sigh she settled back down and gazed at the ceiling again, wrinkling her nose when she felt her leg begin to itch. Ugh, if I feel this itchy, I don't even want to know what I smell like.
That alarming thought prompted her to struggle to sit up, while muscles that were exhausted from the fever screamed that they didn't want to move an inch. Sesshoumaru watched her movements with a lifted eyebrow, before moving forward to place his hand on her back, helping her to move into an upright position.
"What do you think you are doing?" he asked.
"I'm going to take a bath," she announced.
"You are in no condition to take a bath, Kagome. I heard about your near drowning incident."
He would have, she sulked. And when did he start calling me by my name? I've always been Inu Yasha's wench, human, witch, bitch, or just plain you.
"I really REALLY need to take a bath," Kagome grumbled, shifting on her futon. "I feel gross, and I probably smell gross, too."
He wasn't about to agree with her, even though there was a sickly smell that was part of her illness. He knew he should probably let her take her bath, he remembered hearing from other youkai that she was partial to them, but he knew she was in no state to take one by herself. All of his servants were asleep at this time of morning, most of them worn out by Yurika's constant demands regarding the young woman in front of him. He wasn't about to go wake them up for something as minor as a bath, despite the fact that the task really was menial and below him. She was a guest, sort of, and he owed her something akin to a life debt for her saving Rin. Still . . . .
"You can have a bath," he said, watching her face light up as she smiled, "Only if you can make it there yourself. Without my help."
"Why would I need your help?" she asked curiously. "What about one of your servants?"
"My servants are all asleep in preparation for their tasks tomorrow, and most of them have been doing Yurika's bidding while she attempts to heal you. I will not awaken them at this hour when it might interfere with their routine tasks tomorrow," he replied, glancing down his nose at her. He had to fight back a smirk at the look of surprise on her face. The surprise quickly melted away to annoyance, and then determination.
Both eyebrows hit his hair line when Kagome began to scramble around on the futon. Within a few seconds she was standing, albeit on very shaky legs. Her eyebrows drew together into a frown of concentration as she adjusted her yukata slightly, drew in a deep breath, coughed, and took a step forward. Sesshoumaru figured it was a good sign that the girl didn't immediately fall onto her face. He got to his feet, as well, and stood back, giving her room to make her way to the door, but staying close enough to be able to catch her should she fall.
Kagome shot him a look. "I'm not going to fall," she said huffily, reaching for the door and sliding it open. She made her way slowly into the hallway, then turned in the direction of the bath. Exhaustion warred with determination, but Kagome had been going head to head with one of the most stubborn creatures on the earth for a while now, and she wasn't about to let a little fever get the better of her. Right.
She leaned against the wall, using it for support and thanked whoever built the house that aside from the rice paper doors, the walls were thick and sturdy. She panted a bit, willing herself not to cough while shooting a dark look over the shoulder at the youkai lord who dogged her steps. Now that's an accurate way to put it, she mused.
Sesshoumaru had to admit, the girl was stubborn and, even though it was tempered by the illness, she had spunk. Not to mention determination. She was half way to the bathhouse, and despite the sweat that dotted her brow and the fever red cheeks, she showed no signs of giving in and letting him help her back to the room.
"Shouldn't you be *doing* something?" she griped as she paused again, more than a little irritated with him watching her struggle to the bath.
"Oh? And what should I be doing, pray tell?" he asked, sardonic amusement lacing his voice.
Oh great, I'm entertaining him, she thought grumpily. "I don't know, check to make sure that the bathing instruments are in the bath? See if there are clean drying cloths?"
"My servants always keep the bathing area in impeccable order," he replied, more than a hint of pride showing. "There is no need to check on their work, they are well trained."
Most likely scared out of their minds that he would kill them should they let even a speck of dust settle onto his floor, she thought sourly. Guess being a powerful and feared youkai lord has its benefits.
Finally, oh finally, she was standing in front of the bathhouse door. She couldn't help but shoot Sesshoumaru a triumphant grin as she slid the door open and stepped over the threshold into the waiting steam. She felt as if she had just crossed a major hurdle both physically and mentally, and she wanted to savor the moment. Her body, on the other hand, had other ideas, and her legs buckled. She would have sprawled inelegantly on the smooth stone floor if it hadn't been for a swift clawed hand catching the back collar of her yukata. She found herself immensely glad that she had double knotted the sash when Sesshoumaru hefted her off her feet by said collar, and carried her over to the bathing stool next to the hot spring.
"You will use the warmed water to rinse with, the last thing I need is for you to make your condition worse than what it already is," he ordered. "When you are ready to soak in the hot spring, call me." With that, he turned and vanished out the door, shutting it gently behind him.
Huh. Kagome sat in thought for a moment, once again trying to come up with a reason as to why Sesshoumaru was taking care of her, but she quickly shook off her brooding and disrobed. She knew Sesshoumaru would keep his word and stay out of the bathing area while she washed, so she didn't feel rushed. Which turned out to be a good thing, because she could barely lift enough water to even rinse off a small portion of the soap suds that clung to her skin. She was very grateful that he had let her use the warmed water for rinsing as opposed to the usual chilled water. That would not have been pleasant.
She was so exhausted by the time she finished rinsing her hair that her hands shook as she wrapped one of the longer drying cloths around her body, tucking the ends in. She didn't think she had the strength to handle wrapping her hair in a towel, as well, so she simply left her hair down. Having finished her task, she sat and stared at the inviting hot spring. She knew that Sesshoumaru had told her to call him when she was ready to sit in the spring, but her pride told her that she had been able to make her way to the bath house without his help, and she should be able to make her way into the hot spring without his help, as well. Besides, that little bout of being carried around like a baby kitten in its mother's mouth had been embarrassing.
Having made up her mind, Kagome resolutely stood . . .and instantly regretted her move as her weakened legs gave out from underneath her, and she sat down hard onto the edge of the washing stool. This caused the small sitting instrument to tip over and dump her onto the stony ground with a loud clatter. She sat there, stunned, for all of a second when a large shadow appeared on the ground in front of her, and she looked up into her reluctant care taker's face. Add exasperated to that growing list of facial expressions, Kagome, she thought.
"You really are an idiot," he said as he gazed down his nose at her.
"What makes you say that?" Kagome replied huffily, wanting to rub her sore rear but not daring to while the youkai lord was standing over her, and also ignoring the fact that the tipped over stool and her position on said floor had warranted Sesshoumaru's comment. She just felt like being contrary.
"……" He just looked at her, and she bit her lower lip and glanced away. "Yeah, all right, I'm sorry. I thought I could make it safely into the water on my own."
Sesshoumaru suppressed a sigh. "Most likely you would have drowned had you made it that far, and saved me the trouble of taking care of you."
"Hey!" Kagome protested, turning her eyes back to his tall form, only to have them bug out when she noticed that he had changed his attire. She immediately put her hands to her already flushed cheeks, feeling how the heat increased as a blush intensified their bright pink color to an almost glow-in-the-dark crimson color. She couldn't stop her eyes from tracing the hard planes of his chest, shoulders, and abdomen, noting how his missing arm ending in a clean cut as opposed to the type of injury she was used to seeing on late night television, where bits and pieces of flesh would have been used to close the wounds, leaving the edges looking rough and unfinished.
He stood before her, glaring down his nose with his hand on his hip, the only thing protecting his modesty (or was it her modesty he was protecting?) was a rokushaku fundoshi. And THOSE left little to the imagination to begin with. It was one thing when the sumo wrestlers wore them; it was something completely different when Sesshoumaru wore it. Oh my god, just DON'T turn around!
Sesshoumaru turned his back on her, ignoring her sudden squeak in favor of scanning the night air that surrounded his home. Good, there was no hint of danger approaching from any direction. Not that he expected it would, but one could never be too careful.
For her part, Kagome was trying desperately to get her breathing under control. The front of the fundoshi offered some form of coverage, but the back . . .the back was more like a large thong than anything else. And she had just been graced with quite an eyeful of the youkai lord's nicely shaped rear before his hair swung into place and covered it. What am I THINKING?! she mentally wailed This is SESSHOUMARU! You know, the guy that would be voted most likely to kill you rather than look at you?! Get a grip! Aurgh!
Sesshoumaru turned back to his ill guest, wondering when she'd realize she had been voicing her thoughts aloud. Her most recent commentary had been muttered so low that even he had been unable to catch her words, but most of the time she made her thoughts known loud and clear. He also wondered if her eyes were supposed to be that large. She better be careful, they might just pop out of her head.
Kagome gave another surprised squeak when Sesshoumaru reached down and grabbed her arm, hauling her to her feet. She staggered and he steadied her, moving her towards the inviting water of the hot spring. For her part, she was trying to ignore the tall figure beside her. Once she was settled on the stony bench that ran along the rim of the bath, she could put some distance between them. This fever is making me crazy!
At last they reached the edge of the natural bath, and Kagome found herself thankful for Sesshoumaru's steadying hand as she lowered herself to the rim, and then slid into the inviting warmth, letting it surround her. She relaxed, and smiled slightly as she felt him slide into the water beside her. There was nothing quite like a good bath when you weren't feeling your best, and since she was close to feeling her worst the bath was pure bliss, even if her companion was a blood thirsty youkai who had allowed her to live in his home for the past three and a half days for reasons unknown. At the moment, Kagome didn't care about the why's, how's and what's that had been spinning in her head ever since she first woke up. She was going to enjoy this bath, damnit, frosty youkai or not.
Sesshoumaru leaned back against the wall of the spring, keeping half an eye on the girl who sat next to him. Little by little he began to relax, soaking up the silence that had been lacking in his home since he had obtained his very sick, and rather vocal, guest. It certainly didn't help that Rin and the kitsune cub were constantly hounding either him or Yurika over how Kagome was doing and when she'd get well. He was thankful, though, that the kit was proving to be a good companion for Rin. He would often see the two playing outside as long as it was safe, and had listened once to Jaken's complaining about a trick the two had pulled on the old retainer involving the Staff of Heads. Much to Jaken's further annoyance, Shippou had also joined in on Rin's daily lessons, and even Sesshoumaru had been hard pressed to not crack a smile when the kids had taken advantage of Jaken's nap during one of their writing lessons, and had painted all sorts of symbols all over the toad's face and head. Shippou had later told Kagome the story when he had come to visit her, and the girl had coughed so hard from laughing that she turned blue in the face.
Speaking of Kagome . . . He turned his attention back to her, in time to catch her as she began to slide underneath the water. She gave a half choked screech, which wasn't near as effective as it would have been had she been healthy and not hoarse from coughing, and stiffened when he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. She then began to kick her legs and pulled a bit on his arm. "If you want to drown yourself," he said sardonically, "Then tell me, otherwise stop thrashing."
Kagome instantly stilled at his words. She had fallen into a half sleep, lulled by the warmth and sense of safety that had invaded her senses, exhausted from the coughing and the constant internal battle as her system fought to rid her of her illness. She hadn't realized that her weakened muscles had decided to give up in their battle to keep her sitting up right and in place, and the smooth bench hadn't offered anything for her towel to snag and help hold her onto the seat. She hadn't been aware of the gradual slide into the water until she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist. It had startled her so badly that she had reacted without thinking, and it was only Sesshoumaru's voice that had finally gotten her to calm down.
She had begun to relax again when he decided he didn't like her sitting on the rock bench, period, and swiftly moved her onto his lap. THAT garnered quite a reaction.
"What are you DOING?!" she tried to yell, but it only came off as a half croaked whisper. Every muscle in her body tensed when she felt his thighs underneath her, and when he pulled her back against his chest she thought her heart would stop, as well. The arm wrapped snugly around her was similar to a band of steel that had been sheathed in velvet, gentle yet unrelenting. She tried to struggle, but froze when she felt the slightest pinprick of his claws against her side.
"Hold still," he growled. "Do you think I like having a human in my lap? This is the only way I can keep you from falling victim to your own stupidity."
Why that! Kagome was very tempted to snap her head back into the arrogant youkai's face, but the thought of the headache that would cause, not to mention the claw tips that were just barely touching her skin, made her rethink her actions. Instead she kept herself as stiff as possible, which was rather hard when your muscles were aching from fever and screaming to be allowed to rest. She fought the urge to thrash some more when she felt him nuzzling into her hair. What the hell?
"Move your hair over your shoulder," came the demand.
"Eh?"
"Unlike some youkai, human hair is not what I would consider to be something worth eating."
Oh. He couldn't move her hair out of his face on his own since his arm was currently busy holding her onto his lap. Hah, maybe I'll just ignore him and let him choke on my hair.
"I wouldn't recommend ignoring me," he said. The comment caused her to jump slightly, and she tried to whip her head around to look at him, but the best she could do was to stare out of the corner of her eye since his hold on her didn't allow for any movement of her body.
"What?!"
"Contrary to what you think, I would not choke on your hair. I could simply just release my hold on you and allow you to drown," he said.
"You've been reading my thoughts?!" The hoarseness in Kagome's voice didn't lessen her vehemence any, and Sesshoumaru almost wished she were facing him. Her face was the most animated thing he had ever seen, every emotion she felt visible for all to see.
"Reading your thoughts had nothing to do with it," he informed her. "You've been quite vocal about what you were thinking for quite some time now. You especially seem interested in listing all of my facial expressions."
"Oh my god," Kagome moaned, looking forward again and covering her face with her hands. She was mortified, and was quite tempted to tell him to just simply release his hold and put her out of her misery. Instead, she reached around with one hand, gathered her hair, and swung it forward over her right shoulder. "What else have I babbled about?"
"My servants are not afraid that I will kill them should the floor get a little dusty," he commented, echoing one of her earlier thoughts about how well trained his servants were. "Each knows their job, and if they can't perform it to my expectation, they are found a position in another household."
"I don't think I want to know what else you heard me say," Kagome muttered through gritted teeth. She felt his chest vibrate slightly against her back. What the? The sensation came again, and she was shocked to realize that he was laughing. Silently, yes, and she couldn't get a good look to see if he was smiling, but he was defiantly laughing. Once again, I'm his entertainment, she thought. I need to find a way to distract him.
"Um, Sesshoumaru, do you think you could tell me a little about the Western lands?" she asked, mentally going over topics that might be considered taboo with the frosty youkai. The list was staggering.
For a few moments she thought he wasn't going to answer, then, "What would you like to know?"
"How long has your family been the ruling youkai?" she asked, eager to get a little familial background on both Inu Yasha and him.
"Since before the humans existed here," he said. "Youkai roamed these lands long before the first humans arrived. Back then there were no boundaries, no taking of human form. It was survive or be killed so another could survive. It was lawless and wild, drifting from one day to the next without knowing who would live or who would die. Eventually four great warriors arose from the constant fighting, and they wanted to enforce some form of law upon the land. For a hundred years it worked, until the first human set foot upon this land. It did not take long for them to reproduce and crowd the area, and many youkai were forced into closer contact than what they had ever been in since the crude laws were first created. Fighting broke out again, and this time the four warriors were not immune to it. They quarreled, the laws were broken and scattered to the winds. Eventually the four broke with each other and went to the four directions of the land. The Inuyoukai claimed the Western lands, the Wolf Youkai claimed the north, while the Eastern lands are held by the Nekoyoukai, and the Southern lands are held by the Kitsune and other shape shifting youkai."
"And the rule now is basically survival of the fittest," Kagome murmured. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice when he rested his chin on her exposed shoulder.
"There are a few who still adhere to one of the old rules. Mostly it's other youkai lords or older, more traditional youkai families."
"The old rule?" she asked, curious.
"Only one. Whenever someone crosses the threshold of your home, they are considered to be under your protection. As such, you do anything in your power to see that they obtain what they want, and that they are taken care of as one of your own."
"That explains a bit about why you haven't killed me yet," Kagome said, surprised that youkai even had an unspoken rule dictating conduct towards a guest.
"Yet. The week is still young," he replied.
Is he teasing me? she wondered. A vibration behind her back confirmed her suspicion. Sesshoumaru is TEASING me!
"There's no need to get worked up, contrary to popular opinion I do have a sense of humor."
"Hah, at the expense of another person," Kagome snorted, ignoring his unspoken comment about her voicing her thoughts aloud again. "I'm sorry, but you and a sense of humor go hand in hand as much as someone telling me a porcupine makes a cuddly pet."
He made a soft "hmming" sound, then, "You're not getting better."
It was a statement that didn't merit a reply, but she said, "No, I'm not."
"Youkai medicine is proving to be ineffectual against this disease, and your Asprin is not doing anything to help, either. You are getting worse," he stated.
Again, she replied, even though she knew she didn't need to. "Yes."
"You saved Rin," he said, finally giving her another piece of the puzzle as to why she was still alive and under his roof. He does care for her, she thought, this time managing to not voice her opinion aloud. "I would never hear the end of it if I let her 'oneechan' die while under my care. You are hiding something, you have been ever since you arrived here. I could order to you to tell me what it is you are hiding, but you have proven to be quite stubborn." There was grudging admiration in his voice.
Kagome's eyes widened. Through all their talks, or rather, through all her of babbling her story to him, she hadn't once mentioned the Bone Eater's Well. She knew that was her only chance to be healed, but she still hesitated at giving Sesshoumaru that knowledge, and thus, that power over her. What would happen to her family? Would he go on a killing rampage when he found out there were no more youkai in existence in the future? Or would he just drop her off and leave, not taking time to assess the world he would, quite literally, be dropped in. It was enough to cause her head to start aching. He seemed to sense this, for he stood up in the water, keeping his arm wrapped around her, and lifted both of them out onto the stone floor. Kagome hung there, her feet a good inch and a half off the ground as he walked towards the tipped over bathing stool. He quickly set it back to rights with his foot, before depositing his soggy bundle onto it. She stared at him as he tossed a clean drying cloth to her with orders to "dry off and get dressed" before he left the bathing area. His long white hair obscured most of her view of his bare back, but the thought of it caused her to blush anyway, and she quickly set about doing what he had ordered.
She was relatively dry and back in her warm yukata when he came back through the door. He was wearing his normal outfit, complete with the shoulder fur. The only thing missing was his spiky armor. She briefly wondered why he was wearing the fur again when he hadn't worn it the past few nights, when he leaned down and picked her up. He used the fur as an extension of his missing arm, curling it underneath and around her knees, while his arm supported her back. She quickly wrapped an arm around his neck, gazing up at his profile. Another question bubbled to the surface.
"What is it?" she asked, indicating the fur that was wrapped around her knees.
"It is a sentient being," he answered. "The lowest form of youkai in existence. It can perform simple tasks such as the one it's doing now."
"That makes sense," she commented. "Hey, it needs a name!"
"What?" he glanced down at her.
"I'm going to call it Fluffy!" she announced.
He felt his eye start to twitch. "It does not need a name," he growled.
"Of course it does," she argued. "It's a bit like a pet, and all pets need names."
He glared down at her. "It is not a pet," he growled.
"Whatever you say," she said with a wave of her hand, causing him to fight the urge to just drop her and let her get back to her bed on her own. Infuriating girl!
They reached her room without further comment, and he swiftly sat her onto her futon, backing away as she adjusted the blanket over her. It was close to dawn, and soon Yurika would be waking to check on her. He watched her with hooded eyes as she scooched further under her blanket, regarding him sleepily.
"Thank you," she said, causing his eyebrows to raise slightly. "For allowing me the bath. I know it didn't really make me feel better physically, but it made me feel better mentally. I hate feeling dirty when I'm sick."
He regarded her for a moment, bent down to pick up the now warmed bowl of lavender water, then, "You're welcome."
He turned to go, intending to fill up the bowl with cold, fresh water, when her voice stopped him again. "Let me think about it. I have to think about it before I tell you. You have to promise . .," her voice drifted off, and he turned to find that she had fallen asleep.
He left, knowing that she would tell him what it was she was hiding. He passed the old healer in the hallway, and gave her a brief update on Kagome's condition. He didn't tell her that he had allowed Kagome to bathe. Yurika wouldn't have said anything to him, but he didn't feel like Kagome needed a lecture at the moment. And the bath had seemed to do her some good. It had gotten her to relax a bit and let her body take care of itself for a few moments.
He filled the bowl with fresh lavender water, then returned to Kagome's room. He handed it to Yurika without comment, then left the house to check around the immediate area. For a brief moment he felt a strange presence near his home, something alien, but it was gone so fast that a lesser youkai would have brushed it off. Not Sesshoumaru. He filed that strange, fleeting feeling away. If it came again, he would recognize it, and find out if it were friend or foe. He returned to his home and reentered it just as the sun peeked over the horizon.
*******
Kagome felt the sunlight touch her eyelids, and she opened them to find Yurika in Sesshoumaru's place. She took a moment to study the old healer. She was a kitsune, very advanced in her years, but age had not taken away from her beauty. Rather, it had enhanced it. Gentle wrinkles could not hide the high cheekbones, the strong tilt of the chin, and the wise, stubborn light in her blue eyes. Instead of looking weathered by life, she looked refined by it, the wrinkles she bore proudly had not been scoured deep into her skin by grief, pain, or regret. Rather, they looked like the wrinkles of someone who laughed often, accepted things for what they were, and managed to find the bright side of everything. Her dark gray hair had been pulled into a high pony tail, and bangs swept gently across her forehead. Her tail was long, it nearly swept the floor behind her as she walked, and matched her hair in shade and tone. She gazed at Kagome now, worry evident in her eyes and she listened to the young girl's labored attempts to breath.
"You're not getting better," she stated, unknowingly echoing her lord's earlier words.
"Yurika, may I ask you something?" Kagome asked, causing the healer to frown at the state of her voice.
"You may," she answered.
"I'm under Sesshoumaru's protection, correct?"
"Yes."
"Does that protection extend to outside his house, or just while I'm here?"
"Sesshoumaru-sama owes you a debt for Rin's life," Yurika answered. "His protection extends past the boundaries of this house, and even past the boundaries of the Western lands themselves."
Kagome fidgeted a little, then blurted out, "Would that protection extend to my family?"
"Yes."
Kagome heaved a sigh of relief. Her mind had been decided. There was no other way to heal her, and Yurika had said Sesshoumaru would not harm her family. Still . . .
"Please, will you call him for me? I must ask him something."
The kitsune gave her a curious look, then rose from her position and left. Kagome rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, telling herself that she wasn't crazy for doing what she was about to do. It was her only chance to survive the illness that was probably turning into pneumonia at that very minute. The thought caused her to shudder, and her eyes were more than a little apprehensive when the door slid open and Sesshoumaru entered her room. She slowly sat up as he took a seat on the floor next to her futon, and regarded her quietly, his face closed off and watchful.
"I need you to promise that you will not harm my family," Kagome said, not beating around the bush, but a little afraid she might have insulted him. She saw his eyes twitch slightly in surprise, before he said, "You have my word."
She breathed a sigh of relief. Oh good, I didn't insult him.
"I wouldn't expect you to trust that my protection would extend to your family as well," he commented, making her wince when she realized she was thinking out loud again.
"You don't have the best reputation, you know," she grumbled.
That comment didn't cause for a response, and he gave her none. He simply sat and watched her with amber eyes that seemed a little warmer than what she was used to seeing. She fidgeted, then sighed.
"I need you to take me home," she said. "That's the only chance I have of getting better. I need you to take me through the Bone Eater's Well."
To Be Continued . . .
Notes:
Most of the words in here are pretty much the same ones used throughout, hanyou, miko, kitsune, baka, and the honorifics. Though I do need to explain a fundoshi, I think. ^^ Or rather, I'll tell you how to find the link that I used as a reference, that might be easier. Go to the google search engine (this wouldn't be such a pain if the links weren't taken out of the fic, I"m so sorry about the pictures and what not in the opening notes of this fic) and type in rokushaku funoshi. The VERY first link will be "Untitled" but underneath it should say How to tie a Rokushaku Funoshi. It's a pictorial showing you how to tie the particular garment in place. Now I will warn you, you get to see a guys bare backside, but there's nothing perverted or pornographic about it unless you consider looking at someone who's wearing the equivilant of a male thong offensive. If you do, I suggest you don't view that page and imagine Sess in something similar to what Sumo Wrestler's wear. ^_^
Replies:
Dumdeedum - I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! I figured it would probably be difficult to get readers since not many people are familiar with Blue Seed, which I think is a shame. I really appreciate you reading it despite not being familiar with what will soon be about half of the main cast. I hope you enjoy Blue Seed, I know it's a tad slow to start with, but it's a fun series even with the serious under tone. ^^
Cryptiic Muse - Thanks! I intend to, even though I do tend to write at a snail's pace at times. ^_^
Sailor Panda - Yay! I'm glad you weren't weirded out and gave it a try, too! Thank you so much for your praise, I'm always paranoid about characterization, and this being a cross over adds its own dimension of difficult regarding the different characters interacting with each other (which is coming up). One of the highest compliments for me is that the characters are IC. Thank you so much!
Silver Dragonfly - *grin* Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed, I will admit I had a lot of perverse pleasure in writing the first Omake. I figured I could get away with a lot of things with the little shorts, help take away from the eventual seriousness of the story. I also ADORE your site, and have become a regular visitor. ^^
Vorsith - Thanks! This chapter didn't have any of Kus or IY, but they will defiantly make an appearance in the next chapter. I'm glad you're enjoying the story! ^^
Queen - Thank you so so much! Yep, the rest of IY-tachi are going to be along for the ride, but for right now they're going to be a bit in the background, though they WILL be making an apperance in the next chapter, along with Kusanaig and company. I'm hoping to bring the two shows together in chapter five without screwing up their characters. ^^;; *crosses fingers* And thanks for the wish for the muses, they're much needed!
Astra M. - Thanks, Astra, I always appreciate your comments, especially since I know how you feel about what I'm going to be working towards in regards to Kagome and her significant other. ^_~ As well as the ICness of the characters, you KNOW how paranoid I am about that. You're welcome for the notes, if you want, I'd be more than happy to give you Blue Seed so you can watch it. Despite it's slow start, I think it's a wonderful series and I love all the characters in it. ^^
Thank you so much, everyone!