Author: Nefertili
Fandom: Inuyasha
Rating: PG13
Pairing(s): Sesshoumaru/Kikyou, Sesshoumaru/OC
Genre(s): Romance, Angst, Adventure, AU
Warning(s): Battle scenes, betrayal, over-anger (if there is such a word), fluff... What more can I say?
Disclaimer: None of the characters, except perhaps some, are mine. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
Summary: Kikyou, being saved from peril by Sesshoumaru, joins him in a quest against Naraku and one of his allies, who happened to share a past one-sided relationship with the Demon Lord. SesshKik!
A/N: Hello again! It seems something is already starting to develop between our favorite youkai and miko, eh? Um, I actually had insomnia three nights ago just thinking of this chapter; I lay awake for a quite a number of hours even with the lights turned off... o.o Anyway, I hope you like it!
...o0o...
Kikyou remained unconscious for three more days, blind to all the events that are happening around her. Rin almost never left the miko's side and regularly dampened the cloth on her forehead to somehow alleviate the fever. But when she had to leave, it was only to accompany Jaken outside the cave to hunt. Rin was very grateful to Sesshoumaru-sama, for he had instructed his retainer to help Rin secure her food, which in the bleak winter, was very scarce.
There were hardly any plants that are edible in the snow, therefore Rin had to depend on whatsoever animal, mostly birds, Jaken could find for her food. Though the child could barely tolerate the thought of hunting an innocent bird to fill her stomach, she had to eat or how would she tend Kikyou-sama or even live out the winter?
That particular morning started with Jaken helping a reluctant Rin prepare a magpie they had caught the other day for roasting on the fire.
"Come on, Rin," Jaken hissed at her while feeding dry twigs on the dying fire to keep it ablaze. "Just finish plucking those last feathers off that bird!"
Rin did not answer, but she did finish her task. She pulled out the last feathers off the tail of the dead magpie and she gave the dressed carcass, still quite red from its blood, to the little demon to cook over the blaze on a stick. The sooner spring comes, the better, for she does not know how she will survive winter skinning rabbits or dressing birds for her meals, which might have an interval of two days or so between one and the next due to the harsh weather conditions.
Sighing, Rin went over to Kikyou's supine form and placed her hand on the Priestess' temples to feel her temperature. To her happiness and surprise, Kikyou's skin was cool to the touch, and most of the color had returned to her face. Smiling, Rin removed the piece of cloth on her forehead and patted Sesshoumaru's soft pelt that was wrapped around the miko's shoulders before she went back to Jaken.
"Kikyou-sama's fever had gone down," she said excitedly to the toady demon, who was turning the magpie-laden stick on the fire to cook the meat evenly.
"Well, thank the heavens!" Jaken said more of sarcasm than of relief. "She is slowing our progress; if not for her, we could have gone a many good miles by now. And are we to wait for her to awake? How long does she have to slumber, for the sake of Lord Sesshoumaru?"
Rin sighed once more. She knew that Jaken had become bored from their inactivity the past days, and she knew that he would have wanted to leave the dreary cave as soon as the blizzard had died two days ago, covering the landscape with a fresh blanket of white snow. But Sesshoumaru had declared that they would not leave the miko for as long as her eyes remained closed, and though he would be gone for several hours outside the cave for reasons that are sorely his own, he always came back to check on Kikyou. The normally cold taiyoukai's concern for the unconscious Priestess was touching, at least for Rin.
"Do you think Sesshoumaru-sama loves Kikyou-sama?" Rin asked Jaken, kneeling beside the fire and becoming absorbed in the gentle crackling sound it made. The silver-haired youkai was not around. He was out of the cave in yet another of his mystery strolls.
Jaken nearly dropped Rin's meal for the day, his already large eyes becoming larger and becoming as round as saucers. "Where did you get such a far-fetched idea, Rin?" he admonished the little girl. "Lord Sesshoumaru is too powerful for that lowly miko, and a human miko at that! You are an astounding exception, Rin, for Sesshoumaru-sama tolerates your presence amidst your human heritage. And besides, that woman loves his hated half-brother Inuyasha. He would not waste his time and feelings for her, that is, if he will waste precious time to love."
"Then why is Sesshoumaru-sama so concerned about Kikyou-sama? Rin can see that he looks at her differently. And Rin had seen Kikyou-sama gazing at Sesshoumaru-sama with a dreamy look in her eyes about a week ago. He really cares about her, Jaken-sama! Isn't it marvelous, Jaken-sama? If they marry, we will all live happily ever after!"
'Childish fairy tales,' Jaken thought with disgust. He turned the fowl, browned and cooked through, over the fire for one last time before he handed the stick to the little girl, saying, "I guess that's done. Eat well, for it seems your imagination is running wild out of the rumblings of an empty stomach..."
...o0o...
Sesshoumaru had ascended the steep rock face that housed his companions for the time being. At its very snowcapped pinnacle, he stood straight and still, his amber eyes quietly surveying the white wilderness. He let the cold breeze play at his platinum locks as he once more sought to clarify his mind from the confusion. Though his face was calm and collected, a wild storm was seething inside him.
He had closely monitored Kikyou's condition the past days, and he was deeply relieved to feel her aura steadily recovering. But once she is completely healed, what was he to do with her? Would he drive her away again, or would he try to convince her to come with them again? Would he...?
'Enough,' he told himself heatedly. 'I, Sesshoumaru, am getting nowhere if I keep on hovering in questions. I ought to come up with a concrete answer if I wish to carry on. What am I to do with the miko once she completely recovers?'
The memories of the night when he had tried to kill her were still fresh in his mind, and it both encouraged and discouraged him to let Kikyou join his company again. She did not harbor any evil thoughts for him, apparently. He had seen it in her eyes, unreadable as they might seem. But she had decided not to trouble him further, and he knew that she was a woman true to her words. Will he allow her to leave him again?
But if she would leave...Rin, who was so fond of her, would once more, be unhappy. Sesshoumaru, though he refused to let it show, did not wish that to happen to the child. And besides, all his and Jaken's companionship could never give her the womanly influence she needed. Kikyou would somehow help in molding Rin into a person she should be. And, for the sake of the heavens, Kikumo...
Sesshoumaru's eyes flickered with anger and they narrowed into thin slits at the mere thought of the Demoness, his past love. She had attacked Kikyou, and look at what damage she had done to the Priestess... He recalled that he whispered a promise to the Tragic Priestess to protect her from the Deer youkai when he rescued her from the tree. Was he to break that? No; he, Sesshoumaru, does not turn back from his words.
With a snort, the great Lord of the Western Lands swiftly turned and leaped down the rock face in a single graceful bound and touched down on the snow-blanketed ground soundlessly, his mind set on what path to take. He knew that his reasons reach deeper than those just mentioned. Sesshoumaru's heart seemed to whisper to him for the first time, and for the first time, he listened and let himself be guided by the voice inside him.
...o0o...
Behind Kikyou's seemingly peaceful, unperturbed slumber, a nightmare waged at her soul. Had she the power, she would have wakened and freed herself from the horror of the terrible visions she saw in her mind's eye, but Kikyou had temporarily lost all control of her body, and she could not move, she could not open her eyes, amidst her wishes.
When she lost consciousness in Sesshoumaru's embrace, her weakened soul had been trapped in the realm of dreams, or accurately, nightmares. Kikyou felt as though she was being torn from Sesshoumaru and she saw herself in the middle of a dark forest, where the trees are bare and blacker than ebony. A dull grey mist obscured her vision, and dark shapes loomed about her, surrounding her, driving her deeper into their lair...
"Where am I? Where is Sesshoumaru?"
Kikyou managed to contain her fear for the first few moments, but as she walked through the forest of gloom, searching for a way out, the shadows that followed her began to emerge from the mist. They were demons of a monstrous form, with distorted faces and bodies gnarled like the branches of an old tree, evil and frightening.
The Priestess shrank beneath the shadow of a tree, but the tree's form melted into yet another of the fearsome demons, and Kikyou found herself surrounded by a whole demon horde. She hadn't her bow and arrows, so she tried to use her supernatural miko powers. She pressed the palms of her hands together and a blue holy flame erupted from her hands, which she drove towards the demons.
But the blue flame, instead of consuming the evil youkai, wrapped around her slender form and Kikyou felt her brain numb with shock and pain as the flame began to consume her. Around her, the demons began to tear towards her, and when she waited for the final blow to come, the dark world began to dissolve in a whirl of color, and Kikyou found herself walking in a grassy field that looked rather familiar, and her hands clasped the glassy purplish Shikon jewel.
Out of a sudden, pain, deadly and mortal, cut through her right shoulder, and she fell to the ground, the Shikon jewel falling out of the grasp of her hand. Trying to recover her senses, Kikyou saw clawed hands grab the jewel and her eyes met an all-too-familiar face and dog ears. It was Inuyasha, and he was smiling a twisted smile of triumph at having taken the Jewel of the Four Souls from the hands of its Guardian.
Kikyou at once remembered the scheme of Naraku, and she knew that the hanyou wasn't her past love, but rather, the evil Naraku. But what she was experiencing was but a replay of what had come to pass, and the surroundings shifted themselves to the ancient tree in her village, where the real Inuyasha stood, tricked by Naraku into stealing the Shikon jewel. Kikyou saw that she clasped her bow and an arrow, and she recognized the memory: it was when she sealed Inuyasha to a tree, and her heart unconsciously clenched.
"Inuyasha!" Her aim was perfect, and Inuyasha, with the jewel in his hand, was at once pinned to the tree and his eyes closed in the sealing sleep. Her strength was spent, and she fell to the ground, blackness once more enveloping her vision.
"What's happening to me?" Kikyou tried to ask, but the words were flung back to her throat, and the blackness gave way to a craggy cliff which was engulfed in a white mist. Confused, the Priestess cautiously probed the barrier, which was bright and filled with enchantment.
Gradually, through the bright haze of mist, she made out the forms of Sesshoumaru and Kikumo. They were standing close to one another, and their eyes were gazing at one another with loving candor. The Demoness then flung her arms around Sesshoumaru, and his single arm went about her as their lips met in a kiss.
Too lost for words, Kikyou just stood there with her mouth open in shock and hurt to see her worst fear being reenacted before her very eyes. Though she knew that the vision she was seeing had never happened in reality, it stabbed at her heart just as painfully.
"She's a traitor, Sesshoumaru!" she found herself screaming as she ran towards them, her hair slipping out of its loose ponytail as she did so.
Sesshoumaru broke the kiss to face the figure of the miko. His eyes were cold, colder than anything she had ever seen. His words were spoken in a whisper, but it reverberated in Kikyou's mind as though he shouted them with all his might.
"You are the one I hate, miko," he said coldly, and Kikumo tightened her hold around him as she rested her head against his neck and smiled at Kikyou with a twisted smile, which was very similar to the smile of the fake Inuyasha in the past vision.
Kikyou felt as though she was being torn apart upon hearing the words which she most feared, and at once, the forms of the two youkai began to melt and form a new figure, a man-form that had raven hair and was clad in robes of black and violet. This new figure lunged at the stationary form of the Priestess who stood still out of utter shock, and Kikyou felt herself falling over the crag as Naraku pushed her by her shoulders with a vengeful laugh.
Behind him, she heard many voices, which seemed to have come from underground, and saw many faces of women, gaunt and filled with the pallor of death. They were all chanting as one voice, "You stole our souls. You shall pay for imprisoning our souls." Kikyou's face filled with fear upon seeing the living corpses of the souls that she had taken to keep her clay body moving, and their voices haunted her long after as she fell deeper into the cliff.
Down she fell, into the darkness impenetrable and cold, and seemingly endless. Kikyou closed her eyes against the darkness, which was so thick that she could feel it pressing against her, forcing the air out of her lungs and she struggled to breathe. When she thought she could no longer endure the torment, a warm, comforting hand found its way to her, and she felt an arm wrapping across her back and pulling her towards a strong chest.
Kikyou immediately clutched at her unseen savior, and the darkness around her slowly began to fade, and she once more felt the rays of the sun. She opened her eyes and looked up at the one who pulled her from the dark void, and her mahogany orbs met with amber. Kikyou immediately recognized the mark of the crescent moon on his forehead as Sesshoumaru returned her gaze with a gentle gleam. He was smiling at her, and she felt her own lips breaking into a smile amidst the horrors of the earlier vision. This was the Sesshoumaru she so longed for.
"Whenever you're in peril, my Kikyou," said he in the kindest voice she had ever heard in years. "I won't abandon you, or ever will..."
Kikyou felt tears of joy breaking out of her eyes as she buried her face in the hollow of his neck, and he gently nuzzled the crown of her head as she did so.
'He does not hate me... Sesshoumaru does not hate me...'
...o0o...
Silently, the Demon Lord stepped into the stone chamber of their lodging. He spared a momentary look at Rin and Jaken, the former nibbling on the roasted magpie that was her meal, eating the little meat clean off the bones. Jaken was sitting on Ah-Un, his hand pillowing his drooping head as a gesture of boredom.
Noticing that the taiyoukai had returned, Rin temporarily took a break from her meal to tell Sesshoumaru the good news, her eyes dancing merrily as she gestured towards Kikyou.
"Kikyou-sama is still unconscious," she said excitedly. "But the fever had broken, Sesshoumaru-sama!"
"Had it, now, Rin?" Sesshoumaru asked calmly, making a great effort to hide his glee and relief at Kikyou's recovery beneath his cold exterior as he crouched beside the Priestess to examine her features. He could not help but smile slightly to see her face almost completely restored. Her cheeks were no longer flushed, and amidst the faded lines that marked where Kikumo had wounded her, even Sesshoumaru had to admit that Kikyou looked undoubtedly beautiful in her deep sleep.
Out of a sudden, Kikyou's lips broke into a truly sweet smile that surprised even the taiyoukai, himself. He felt as though his heart lost its rhythmic timing for beating for a second before the miko began to show signs of movement. Her head tilted ever so slightly to the left, and after a few more seconds, her mahogany eyes, radiant and relaxed, slowly opened.
Sesshoumaru still had a trace of a smile on his lips just when Kikyou's gaze, half-awake as they might seem, met and locked with his golden eyes.
...o0o...
Kikyou did not expect to see what her eyes were seeing, especially just after waking from her horrible ordeal on the realm of nightmares. There he was, looking at her and smiling ever so slightly, as though hiding a secret within. This can't be another dream...could it?
But to Kikyou's disappointment, Sesshoumaru tensed upon seeing that she had wakened. Immediately after a flash of surprise came over his amber orbs, he lost the smile on his lips and his eyes turned away, breaking their eye contact and becoming cold once more. He looked rather embarrassed, but he maintained his regal composure.
"So, you're awake, miko?" he said softly, but loudly enough for the rest of his companions to hear. Rin's and Jaken's eyes immediately flew to their direction, and saw that Kikyou had indeed awakened, and was now trying to sit up.
"Priestess Kikyou!" Rin exclaimed happily. She stuck the bony remains of the roasted magpie stick in between two rocks and ran towards the Priestess, colliding with Kikyou's form in a tight hug. Amidst her half-awareness, Kikyou smiled and returned the child's hug, gently stroking Rin's hair.
"Hello, Rin," Kikyou replied in a melodic voice, looking into the little girl's eyes and reading the joy and relief clearly written in them.
"We thought you'd never wake again, Kikyou-sama," Rin said, her voice being laced with anxiousness. "You slept for four days, and you were so sick with fever, Kikyou-sama." Rin's voice regained their vigor. "But Rin took good care of Kikyou-sama! Rin wants Kikyou-sama to get well!"
Kikyou was touched by the little girl's words, and she hugged Rin tighter as she said, "Then Kikyou-sama thanks you, Rin. She is glad that someone cares for her at least a bit..."
"And now that you're awake, miko, I presume you wouldn't mind returning to me that fur wrapped on your shoulders," Sesshoumaru's authorative voice rang in the chamber, making Rin and Kikyou look at him as one. "We have to start our journey; we have a lot of ground to cover." His amber eyes pierced Kikyou, and she felt as though he was reading her soul by the mere glance.
Kikyou's eyes fell on the creamy fur resting on her shoulders. Though it was stained by blood, no doubt hers, she recognized it as Sesshoumaru's pelt. It was only now that she noticed that there was no fur slung on his right shoulder. Hesitatingly, Kikyou removed her arms from around Rin's form and unwrapped the fur, soft and silky to her touch, from her shoulders and held it out to Sesshoumaru with her both hands and with outmost deference.
"I thank you, Sesshoumaru," she whispered softly, her dark eyes once more making eye contact with his amber orbs to prove her sincerity.
Though Sesshoumaru did not formulate a reply, he did not break the gaze as his hand took hold of the cream-colored pelt and slowly lifted it from the miko's hands as though in a dream. Positioning the soft material once more around his right shoulder as he usually would, the taiyoukai stood up loftily and made for the entrance of the cave.
Jaken shed his silence and went down from Ah-Un and motioned to Rin, saying, "Come on, Rin, it's time for us to go!"
But Rin refused to let go of her hold around Kikyou's waist and she looked up hopefully at Kikyou, saying, "Are you not coming with us, Kikyou-sama?"
Kikyou resumed stroking Rin's raven hair and looked in her eyes once more, hoping that she would understand. "I am very sorry, Rin. I would very much like to come with you, but I don't think your Sesshoumaru-sama would agree on my presence..."
"What makes you think I won't?" Sesshoumaru's voice once more rang out as he looked at the two females from over his shoulder. His eyes were unreadable as the expression on his face, as always; therefore, Kikyou couldn't grasp his intentions.
"But you said..." Kikyou said, uncertain of what to say.
"Never mind that, miko," Sesshoumaru cut her off. Jaken and Rin exchanged curious glances. What were their master and the Priestess talking about? "If my sense of comprehension has not failed me, Naraku and Kikumo are on the move, and we can't be left too far behind, can we? You ought to realize how critical our alliance is by now."
Kikyou nodded with understanding. He needed her in defeating Naraku, for she remains to be the evil hanyou's only anathema. She needed him to overcome Kikumo's demonic force, for he was one of the few, if not the only one, whose power exceeded hers. But is this the only reason for Sesshoumaru's sudden and unforeseen decision to overlook their misunderstanding? Or was there something more? Does she have to wait until they defeat the Demoness and the hanyou before she could know? But these thoughts, Kikyou kept to herself.
Sesshoumaru gave a brief nod and did not elaborate the conversation further. He turned once more and went out of the cave into the weak sunlight with Jaken at his heels. Taking this as a gesture of acceptance, Kikyou stood up, gently pulling Rin up with her and gestured for her to mount Ah-Un. In a swift moment, they were out of the cave and following the figures of Sesshoumaru and Jaken. Kikyou took in her surroundings, which were transformed by the white snow that covered the landscape like a white robe.
"Isn't the snow pretty, Kikyou-sama?" Rin asked the miko, excitedly tugging at her sleeve, which was still bloodstained by her earlier encounter with Kikumo. Kikyou's untied hair glinted in the weak sunlight, cascading down her back like a waterfall at midnight.
"Yes, Rin," Kikyou smiled and placed her right arm around Rin. "I thought I would never have the chance to gaze at snow again."
Rin looked up at Kikyou's face. "Sesshoumaru-sama was very worried about you, Priestess Kikyou."
Kikyou could hardly contain her surprise at this statement. She could only stare blankly at Rin as she muttered, "He was?"
Rin looked impatient at Kikyou's apparent confusion. "Sesshoumaru-sama did not wish to leave you sick, Kikyou-sama. He even lent you his fur. He cares about you, Priestess Kikyou!"
Kikyou did not know how to react, so she just kept silent and looked at Sesshoumaru. She hardly saw his face when they walked, as he would walk ahead of them and rarely spared a look behind. Kikyou remembered the ghost of a smile she saw on his face when she woke up. And it was not a smile that was usually seen in his face, either. It only spoke of warmth and consolation, two things that are hardly seen in Sesshoumaru's outer facade.
'So, he somehow worries about me, after all?' Kikyou thought to herself, smiling inwardly with satisfaction. 'It seems he is more than a dream after all...'
...o0o...
Beneath his neutral expression, Sesshoumaru was thinking of Kikyou. He was, of course, embarrassed when Kikyou caught him once more in the act, this time, smiling. Did she waken out of her own will, or did she waken because she knew that he was looking at her? No matter, she smiled sweetly for a brief time before her eyes opened, and Sesshoumaru once more found himself becoming drawn to the Priestess.
'Are you playing your game again, miko?' he asked no one in particular. He felt as though he was being driven from his sanity by that simple gesture of Kikyou. Though Sesshoumaru was resisting inwardly his longing for the miko, such feelings were already beginning to overpower his dislike for her. If before, he saw Kikyou as a sneaky, headstrong human, he was now beginning to see her as a woman, a maiden deprived and in need of love, a love which he was unsure he could give.
The Demon Lord's remaining hand went up to the furry wrap slung around his shoulder and he absentmindedly ran his fingers over the soft fur. Strangely, for all the years he had it on his shoulder, the fur felt different to his touch, assuming a softer and silkier texture. He didn't know if it was only his imagination or the doing of the miko, but he paid no attention. His keen nose caught Kikyou's scent which had clung on to his pelt, and he breathed it in deeply, rejoicing in her saccharine perfume.
'Kikyou, are you but a dream?'
...o0o...
Hmmm, so, Sesshy's slowly losing the war against his feelings, eh? And Kikyou's worst fear is that he will hate her and love Kikumo instead, eh? Doesn't the suspense kill? ;)