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: /Runs around on a horse a la cowboy style swinging a lasso around/ I AM GOING AFTER YA, YOU RUNAWAY MUSE/Lasso closes around running muse's head/ WHAAA, GOTCHA! Ahem...sorry 'bout that. -.-'' I am constantly chasing my muses around lately. For those people who thought that a lemon was going to come around last chapter, THINK AGAIN! I can't let them do the 'thing' yet (that is, if I have the courage to type it)... o/o
P.S. I will adapt bits and pieces from the happenings in Episodes 79-80 for the upcoming chapters and this one. And since many of you are asking questions about that wallpaper I made, the pic of Kikyou comes from Episode 23 (and, um, she's kissing Inuyasha in the original one -.-); if I am not mistaken, that pic of Sesshoumaru is simply one of his 'posing' shots, if you get what I mean. And, amazingly, the hands I used came from a pic of Kaoru and Kenshin of RK. ;)
...o0o...
Rin stepped out onto the melting snow. The sun shone brighter than it had the rest of the winter, and pounds of snow had begun to melt under the newly found heat. She stooped and brushed some snowdrift off a portion of the ground, and her eyes widened in childlike awe to see fresh blades of grass growing underneath the snow.
"What are you doing, Rin-chan?" Kikyou's melodious voice echoed from among the trees at the borders of the plain.
The little girl immediately turned around and ran towards the figure of the Priestess, who was stepping out of the shadows of the trees onto the sunlit flatland beyond. Excitedly, Rin took hold of Kikyou's hand and led her to the spot where she had been. She half-knelt once more and brushed more snow off the ground, revealing more greens that had begun to grow.
"Look, Kikyou-sama!" Rin said, pointing a stubby finger at the plants. "Grass!"
"Yes, indeed," Kikyou replied, letting her hand rub Rin's hair affectionately.
"Why are they out now?" the child further asked the miko, looking up at the beautiful woman with curious chocolate brown eyes.
"It's because spring had come, little darling," Kikyou explained, smiling at the Rin's innocence. Rin then let out a cry of happiness and she began to skirt among the melting piles of snow, uncovering more grasses in the process. Kikyou knew that Rin had anticipated the coming of spring. The little girl had laughingly told her that once the new season comes, she wouldn't have to live off on animals again.
A woodsy smell mixed with a subtle fragrance then reached her nose, and Kikyou inhaled the compulsive aroma which she had grown used to throughout the winter. She looked beside her and her eyes met briefly with her beloved's amber orbs before she looked out towards Rin again.
"What is she doing?" Sesshoumaru asked in a puzzled voice, observing the little girl as she frolicked among the watery snow and newly grown grass.
"She's simply welcoming spring, that's all," Kikyou replied quickly, still smiling. Rin had extended her arms and let herself fall back on a pile of still intact snow. With a giggle, the little girl sat up, brushed away the few clumps of snow that stuck to her raven hair, and carried on running around the snowy field as far as her own little legs could go.
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at Rin's playing. "She does have an unusual way to welcome the incoming season."
Kikyou let out a single laugh and shook her head with amusement at Sesshoumaru's stupefaction. She lightly brushed away a dead twig from his shoulder as she said, "For a taiyoukai, you're incredibly slow with matters concerning children sometimes."
Had anyone but Kikyou told such a thing to him, Sesshoumaru would have snuffed out the life of that person right then and there. But Kikyou was different; Kikyou was his beloved, and he only smirked at her statement.
As they watched Rin playing around in the field, Kikyou could not help but be amazed that she had actually lived through the winter, and in an unusual company at that. She had grown to love Rin's childish ways and she knew that the little girl already looked up to her as a mother figure the way she revered Sesshoumaru nearly as a father figure. Jaken was another matter. Though Kikyou had spoken several civilized conversations with Sesshoumaru's retainer, she still wonders how his master could tolerate such an annoying toad. And of course, Sesshoumaru...
Kikyou's heart smiled recalling the first time their lips met. And not just their lips, but also their hearts and their very souls. Though she and Sesshoumaru had lived another life since then, they had put together their efforts to hide their relationship. To Rin and Jaken, they were only acquaintances, but once their companions have fallen asleep or when they found themselves alone, only then did Sesshoumaru and Kikyou leave their masks behind them and showed each other their true feelings. Many a night they had strolled under the moonlight or simply sat under a tree enjoying one another's company; but to Kikyou, the memory of the sunrise that was like no other was the most vivid reminiscence of them all.
She turned her head to her side to steal another glance at Sesshoumaru, but she frowned slightly to see that there was a troubled look in his eyes. He had been like that for most of the day.
"What's wrong, Sesshoumaru?" Kikyou asked, concerned as to what was disturbing her beloved.
The Demon Prince blinked once to see that the miko was looking his way. "What do you mean, Kikyou?"
Kikyou let out a sigh. "Your eyes have a troubled look glazing them. You have been like this since morning; something's bothering you."
Sesshoumaru hastily shook his head. He did not wish Kikyou to worry. "I am fine," he said in a little bit more than a whisper.
But Kikyou was determined to find out what was worrying him. "Don't you trust me with your thoughts, Sesshoumaru?" she asked in a quiet tone.
"You know that you have my trust, Kikyou."
"Then please tell me what is troubling you."
The tone that Kikyou used in her words disarmed the taiyoukai completely. How could he ever resist her intoxicating voice? Sighing, he told her, "Something is tugging at my mind, all right. I have received this uncanny feeling that the enemy is going to cause some disturbance among us soon."
A stunned silence followed between them. Kikyou knew that Sesshoumaru hardly paid attention to such things before, but now that he was expressing worry out of an inner warning, Kikyou knew better than to doubt him.
"What could this mean?" she asked, a deeper frown creasing her face.
"I don't know, Kikyou," Sesshoumaru replied, his eyes no less troubled. "But at least we have a chance to cross our paths once more with those evil fiends and by then we are ready."
The Priestess nodded, but their conversation refused to fade from her mind even as she resumed watching Rin, who by this time was pulling Jaken for a hilarious dance on the melting snow.
...o0o...
"Where are you going, Rin?" Kikyou called after the departing figure of the little girl who had mounted Ah-Un and took hold of his reins. The springtime sun had fully sunk in the horizon, and a moon, close to being a full disk, had risen to take its place.
"Rin is going to find something to eat!" Rin called back, looking over her shoulders as she guided the two-headed dragon over the partially frost-covered ground. Nature was putting forth its wonderful power of renewal as numerous plants had already begun to show their heads up from the snow. Even the trees are beginning to unfold new leaves for a new year.
Kikyou, who was then sitting under a young tree, was about to get up and array herself in her weapons, but to her surprise, Sesshoumaru, who sat under a tree opposite her, stilled her with a grunt.
"I am only going to accompany Rin..." she tried to say, but he shook his head and his amber eyes glanced at Jaken, who was by then dozing off with his head resting against the Staff of Heads.
"Jaken," Sesshoumaru called out in his deep voice. At once, his retainer awoke to hear his name called. Sesshoumaru's eyes then made their way to Rin and Ah-Un, who were by then disappearing around a bend of trees, giving Jaken the unsaid order that he follow the little girl and make sure no harm befalls her.
Though the toady demon cast a confused glance at Kikyou, for he had gotten used to the routine that the Priestess was the one accompanying Rin whenever she had to secure her food, he said nothing to counter Lord Sesshoumaru's order and he walked off after the little girl and the dragon. When Jaken's short and stumpy body frame was out of sight, only then did Sesshoumaru shed his cold demeanor and motioned for Kikyou to sit beside him.
Kikyou willingly stood up and bridged the distance between them, but all her wishes to be alone with her beloved did not drive away her care for little Rin.
"Are you sending them away simply because you wished us to be alone?" Kikyou asked Sesshoumaru softly, wrapping her arms around her legs as she did so. "I don't think that would be wise..."
"It's not that, Kikyou," Sesshoumaru replied in a whisper. His amber orbs met Kikyou's mahogany eyes and she immediately read the same worried look she had seen in them earlier. "I cannot have you face Kikumo or Naraku alone in case this inner warning of mine proves to be true."
"But our companions, Sesshoumaru," Kikyou pressed him on. "If they are the ones in danger..."
"Rin has Ah-Un and Jaken," he answered her. "She will be safe with them."
At this, Kikyou let out a laugh. "You trust Rin with that toad of yours?"
Sesshoumaru chose to overlook her rather derisive laugh and he instead gave her a knowing smirk to combat her previous reaction. "In fact, I do," he replied. "I have left Rin with at least Ah-Un for numerous times even before you came with us, Kikyou, and she has not even lost a finger yet."
Kikyou's face frowned for a moment, but she did not bother to argue with Sesshoumaru any longer. She knew that he would not turn back from his own decisions, and she respected his choices the way he respected hers. Kikyou smiled slightly as she rested her head against Sesshoumaru's shoulder. His single arm went about her shoulders in turn, and she sighed contentedly to herself and closed her eyes.
But as she went over Sesshoumaru's last statement, Kikyou opened her mahogany orbs and she gently held his remaining hand as she thought of one thing.
"Are you particularly bothered when your brother severed your left limb?" she asked him.
Sesshoumaru snorted, but he returned her hold on his hand with a soft squeeze. "As long as I can still wield a sword and deliver my Dokkasou with what I have left, I can live off with being one-armed." He then tilted his head and tickled Kikyou's ear with his nose as he added, "And as long as I can hold you with what I have, I shall live."
Kikyou suppressed a giggle at the ticklish sensation, and she good-humoredly kissed his nose to stop his tickling tricks.
"Of course," she said, rubbing her face against his soft pelt and encircling her arms around his waist. "Of course." And they were able to overlook their worries, at least for the time being.
...o0o...
"Come on, Jaken-sama, catch up!" Rin said as she encouraged Ah-Un in a gallop, leaving Jaken, who was desperately running to catch up behind them. The little girl already had in her hands numerous plant stalks that are laden with nuts that developed in the early spring, and she was playing a game with Sesshoumaru's retainer as to who will make it back to Kikyou-sama and Sesshoumaru-sama first.
Rin was so engrossed in winning that she did not realize that Jaken was already left too far behind. But when she realized this, she pulled Ah-Un to a stop and began to nibble on the nuts as she waited for Jaken-sama.
Suddenly, the sound of soft weeping reached the child's ears. Torn between curiosity and concern, Rin dismounted from Ah-Un and followed the sound. Squeezing between two bushes, she found herself inside a thicket. Squinting, Rin made out a stooped figure with long brown hair that was loosely braided. Though she couldn't quite see her face, as the woman hid it behind her hands, Rin was intrigued by the graceful snakelike brown markings on her arms. Nearby was a black koto with silver strings, but Rin couldn't grasp the reason behind the presence of the instrument.
She took a step forward, and a few twigs broke under her weight. The woman's ears, which resembled deer's ears, twitched when she heard the sound. Pale hands left her face, and Rin's chocolate brown eyes soon came face-to-face with deep green orbs as the fair, gentle-looking woman looked her way.
...o0o...
Jaken was quietly cursing as he struggled to recover his breath. Can't Rin see that she would automatically win their little game because she had a mount? Grasping the Staff of Heads determinedly, the toady demon ran on, desperate to catch up with Ah-Un and Rin.
Suddenly, he felt another youki nearby. Jaken stopped short. It was such a powerful demon energy, but it couldn't be Lord Sesshoumaru, could it? No demon could equal his Lord Sesshoumaru in power, and if his senses served him correctly, he was still quite a distance from where they left the taiyoukai and the miko, that is, if they remained where they were.
His round eyes made out the stationary form of Ah-Un among some trees, but Jaken couldn't see Rin. Where had she gone?
A burst of demon aura further alerted him, and it occurred to his toady mind that the little girl might have gone to wherever that aura was coming from. Using the youki as his tracking device, Jaken peeked inside a gap between two bushes, and he felt fear chill his very bones when his eyes saw what was happening.
...o0o...
Rin simply stared at the woman, no doubt a demon because of her looks. Her eyes were swollen due to crying, and tears were still running down her smooth pale cheeks even as she faced the child.
"Are you crying because you're hungry?" Rin innocently asked, kneeling beside the Demoness and holding out the nuts to her. "Here, eat this; you'll be all right."
The brown-haired woman smiled slightly and she delicately rubbed her tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. "I do not need food, little girl," she said kindly. "Why are you so concerned about me, anyhow? Don't you know who I am?"
Rin shook her head incredulously. She had never met this pretty lady all her life; how could she ask if she knew her?
The lady's smile then turned mysterious. "So, Sesshoumaru hasn't told you about me yet, eh?"
Rin's eyes began to widen. This woman knew her Lord Sesshoumaru? And why was she addressing him without his title? Sesshoumaru-sama permitted only Kikyou-sama to do so.
"No, Sesshoumaru-sama never told me anything about you, Lady," Rin muttered. "How do you know about Sesshoumaru-sama?"
The lady, however, simply held out one of her hands and let her fingers pass over the girl child's eyes. At once, Rin felt a drowsiness overwhelming her body, and she collapsed in the waiting arms of Kikumo as the Demoness smiled a twisted smile, saying, "You will know soon enough, little girl."
...o0o...
Jaken at once broke out from his hiding place and confronted the Demoness, though greater she may be.
"You...you're Kikumo, aren't you?" he demanded more than asked, holding up the Staff of Heads defensively in front of him. Rin was asleep in Kikumo's arms, and she was smirking evilly.
"Yes," was her reply, "and don't I know you?" As she looked down on the stumpy figure challenging her, she recalled the same toady demon who was at Sesshoumaru's heels during the war against the cat youkai fifty years ago.
"For your information, I am Jaken," he said proudly, though his voice was shaking out of pure fear. "I am Lord Sesshoumaru's retainer."
Kikumo laughed mockingly, and she unhurriedly ran one of her claw like nails over Rin's cheek. Though she did not make any effort to scratch the tender skin, Jaken knew that she was threatening him. His hands, however, worked against the will of his mind, and all because of terror, he made fire shoot out of his staff at the Demoness.
But numerous vines suddenly sprang out of the ground and formed a protective cage around Kikumo and Rin, and the plants were reduced to ashes instead of the Demoness. With a flick of her fingers, more vines shot out from the soil and wrapped themselves around Jaken, preventing him from making a single move against the other youkai.
Kikumo, carrying Rin in one hand, then touched the nearby koto which immediately transformed into the Hiroko Kama. She pressed the blade of the naginata forbiddingly against the toady demon's neck, and Jaken was unable to shout out or even screech because fright had rendered his vocal cords useless.
"Tell that master of yours and his Priestess that if they want their little girl," Kikumo said ominously, her green eyes flashing dangerously, "they ought to come to Naraku first." In a flash of pure speed, Kikumo was gone, and Rin as well. Gradually, the vines loosened their grasp on him, and Jaken immediately wriggled out of the plants' grip and ran out of the thicket to alert Sesshoumaru and Kikyou about what had just happened.
...o0o...
The pupils of Sesshoumaru's amber eyes dilated, and Kikyou easily felt his body going tense. She let go of her grasp on him, and he stood up, his hand on the handle of the Toukijin.
"Sesshoumaru?" Kikyou mouthed out, becoming alarmed as well.
"The scent of the wind had changed," he whispered as Kikyou stood up after him.
Kikyou wondered about this cryptic statement. She hadn't the sharp senses of a youkai; therefore she couldn't smell what he was smelling.
"Sesshoumaru-sama! Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken's frantic voice echoed. The bushes shook as Ah-Un thudded his way towards them, the lesser demon on its back. The Demon Prince and the Priestess noted that his face was as frantic as his voice.
"What's happening?" Kikyou asked. "Where is Rin?" His answer froze her right then and there on the spot.
"Kikumo, m' Lord!" Jaken said hurriedly, sweat drops breaking all over his forehead. "She has got Rin, and she said that we would have to face Naraku before we could get her!"
...o0o...
In the little village where Kikyou lived her first life, a silver-haired boy with dog ears ran out of their abode for the night, to be followed by a fifteen-year old girl in a modern schoolgirl's uniform.
"What's wrong, Inuyasha?" the raven-haired girl implored her companion.
"I can smell Naraku," he replied, and a strong breeze began to blow among the trees as the face of the gibbous moon began to be obscured among dark clouds.
...o0o...
Wee-hee! Suspense, suspense! You want Inuyasha's reaction at Sesshoumaru and Kikyou's relationship, eh? Don't worry; we're going near that part! ;)