AN: I had never expected to receive such wonderful reviews from the last chapter. To my dear readers/reviewers, thank you very much.
Note: Also, I apologize for the wrong information I gave last chapter. As most, if not all of you, pointed out. Kanna isn't Kikyo's sister/the village healer but Kaede. I am truly sorry for the mix-up but as I already explained earlier; my memory of the series isn't just as good enough as it once was.
Special Thanks to everyone who reviewed:
Lady J of moon's hallow; Sesshomaru's mistress; Jay FicLover; Raine of Darkness Clan; koldy; Shadow Nightress; Flame Ivy Moon; WolfchildBlazer; shayne/malfoy; raine84; moon-n-Universe-Goddess; angel313; confusingsoulgirl; Moony92; Demongirl09
Agony for Happiness
Chapter Three: Collision
Serenity hummed a song she knew back home in her time as she folded another piece of clothing and placed it atop the growing pile of dried laundry inside the basket.
A cooling breeze picked up, bellowing the loose ends of her kimono. Her silvery hair, which Serenity had tied up into a high ponytail, gleam a pale amber shine beneath the rays of the sun.
"It's such a beautiful day." Serenity commented; her silver-blue eyes fixed on the cloudless sapphire sky.
Serenity smiled faintly as she recalled the events that had happened after Kaede-sensei had taken her in. Serenity had been in this world for a few months now and, unknowingly, she had become a favorite of the villagers, especially the children.
Serenity hadn't forgotten the vow she made and took up martial arts and even swordplay as well as archery from a couple of the village's most experienced fighters. When Serenity wasn't sparring, doing her chores or interacting with the people; she was busy either practicing the art of healing from Kaede or learning about the history of this world.
Serenity was amazed. In this world, Kaede had said that there were demons abound as well. Not like the 'youma' in her own world as Serenity had initially thought. No, the 'youkai' are different as Kaede had explained to her.
But so far, Serenity hadn't seen a youkai and she wasn't sure if she should be thankful or not.
Though the villagers seem to fear the youkai, Serenity was not. To be honest, she was curious about them and even wanted to get to know them.
"Sere-nee! Sere-nee!" shouted a pair of familiar high-pitched voices, disrupting Serenity from her thoughts.
Serenity felt her lips twitch to a knowing smile as she heard the soft stomp of footsteps drawing closer towards her direction. Twisting her shoulders slightly, Serenity craned her neck to look back.
"Hello Toshi, Hello Keira." She greeted the two children when they appeared in her line of sight.
"Hello Sere-nee." Toshi was the first to reply; followed soon by his younger sister Keira.
Serenity nodded her head in a sign of acceptance before she turned to face her front and continue her task. She didn't need to see that, judging by the shadows cast upon the blankets hanging in the clothing line, the pair had moved to sit on the vacant grass at each side of her.
"So what are you two pranksters doing out here?" Serenity asked. "Shouldn't you be playing with your friends?"
Toshi scratched his head, ruffling his dark locks in the process. "Yeah, but we want to play with you instead." He replied.
Serenity cocked a silver eyebrow. "Is that so?" She murmured. "And this has nothing to do with the fact that you and Keira dumped a basket full of rotten tomatoes on top of Zeisuke-san's head?"
Serenity craned her neck and saw that both siblings' green-colored eyes had widened to a fraction.
"How did you know that?" Toshi asked.
The young woman's silver-blue eyes twinkled with mirth. "Word travels fast in these parts of the forest. You should know that by now, Toshi-kun." She answered.
Keira gave a somewhat guilty look while Toshi merely puffed and crossed his arms.
"Humph. That jerk of an old man deserves it and, besides, it was an accident!" He defended.
Serenity's other eyebrow rose. "Oh? Is that so?"
Keira blushed in shame. "We're sorry Sere-nee."
Serenity's scolding frown morphed into a gentle smile. "It's alright Keira. But the one you should be apologizing to is Zeisuke-san and not me."
"Even if he is a jerk." Serenity added as an afterthought, remembering the time when the elderly man tried to grope her.
Serenity mentally frowned. He was lucky that she has a respect for the elders. Otherwise Zeisuke-san would've been so badly beaten up that people would think his skin had turned black and blue.
Keira giggled while Toshi gave a roguish-smile that would have the girls swooning for him when he grows up.
"Anyway, I can't play with you two right now." Serenity continued. "I still have a lot of chores to do."
Keira smiled brightly. "We know Sere-nee. That's why we came here to help so that you can play with us."
Toshi nod his head feverishly in agreement.
Serenity gave a soft laugh. "Do you now? Well then…"
Serenity turned to pick up the over-flow laundry basket. "You two can help me by bringing this inside the cottage."
"Careful now." She warned when the two children scrambled to take the basket from her arms.
"We can handle it Sere-nee." Keira said confidently as she grabbed one side of the handle while Toshi grabbed the other. A stray of black hair clouded her vision and the little girl gave a huff, trying to blow away the annoying strand.
Serenity laughed again as she bended over to tuck the unruly lock behind Keira's ear.
"There now; off with you two then. Just put it down outside the door, if you don't mind. Thank you."
Turning her back once more, Serenity concentrated on finishing her chores. Focusing her attention every now and then on the children. She was too busy to notice a pair of eyes staring at her not too far from Kaede's cottage.
x-o-X-o-x
Kirara's two tails flickered behind her as she watched the scene with vivid interest, particularly at the silver-haired woman before her. Kirara had been separated from her mistress when they had fought yet another rogue demon. During her journey, Kirara had found her way here and instantly felt a powerful but dormant aura along with a strangely familiar scent engulfing her senses though she couldn't comprehend to whom it came from.
Until now.
Kirara's pink cat-like eyes gleamed with interest and slight suspicion. Kirara wasn't sure if the woman is a youkai or not for she had extraordinary beauty and power that is rare for a human. And yet, she didn't seem to have the pointed ears and other animal-like features of a youkai.
Her furry ears perked up when the silver-haired woman suddenly began to sing and was instantly taken back by the human's soft melodious voice.
Unconsciously, Kirara stepped forward and her front paw planted itself against a twig and snapped it.
x-o-X-o-x
Serenity snapped her head up from her work when she heard a cracking sound. Her silver-blue eyes darkened as she narrowed them into slits.
Quietly, she ordered Toshi and Keira to enter the cottage. Not moving from her spot until she heard the 'click' of a door closing before she made her way towards the bushes north of the cottage.
x-o-X-o-x
Kirara's eyes widened when the young woman began to advance. So, she did what any creature that rely purely on their instincts do when faced with a stronger potential enemy.
She turned back and ran.
x-o-X-o-x
Serenity heard the sharp rustle of dried leaves and knew that whatever had watched them before is running.
The silver in her eyes brightened a dangerous hue as Serenity picked up her sword lying innocently against a boulder.
Getting down to a slight crouch, Serenity stopped to get her energy focused and bolted out of sight so fast she was a mere blur to Toshi and Keira who had watched her apprehensively from the blinds of the cottage window.
"I hope Sere-nee will be alright." Keira confessed to her brother.
Toshi shook his head. "She'll be fine. The one you should be worrying about is the intruder."
x-o-X-o-x
"Get back here you little human!" yelled a frog demon as he chased a young human girl with black hair.
Rin merely looked back at Jaken and stuck her tongue at him. "Catch me if you can Jaken-sama." She teased.
Jaken fumed; his frog-like face turning a shade of dull purple.
Sesshomaru closed his eyes as he massaged his aching temples. What had he ever done to deserve this?
"Rin, stop running." He ordered; eyes still closed.
The little girl pouted stubbornly but obeyed nonetheless. She didn't want to disappoint Sesshomaru-sama.
x-o-X-o-x
Kirara ran as fast as her four legs could. She was panting, her tongue slipping out of her mouth in an attempt to regulate her body's increasing temperature.
She knew that the young woman she saw earlier was still behind her, gradually gaining speed and catching up to her.
Somewhere in the back of Kirara's mind, something told her to stop; that the human following her isn't hostile.
Another part of Kirara's instinct wanted her to fight back. Surely, no human is that strong as compared to her larger form?
But still Kirara kept running up to when she came to a clearing blocked by tall wild grass. The tiny white fox jumped over almost instantly to get away and bumped into something else.
x-o-X-o-x
Suddenly, Sesshomaru's ears picked up the sound of something heading towards them, more specifically at his young 'charge' who was picking up flowers alongside the forest edge. He snapped his eyes open and fixed his gaze at Rin.
"Rin, get away from there." He barked. Even with his speed, he was too far from Rin to reach her in time.
Rin made a move to get away but it was too late. Something jumped from the wild grass and pounced at the human girl.
Rin shut her eyes tight and gave a little scream but it soon turned to giggles when something white and fluffy ('Like Sesshomaru-sama's tail.' Rin thought ruefully.) tickled her by the neck.
The little girl peeked one brown eye open and a wide smile etched on her face as she took a good look at the cute animal that had pounced on her.
"Aww…You're so cute!" She gushed as she held out a hand to pat the small white fox on the head.
"But you look so familiar." The little girl's nose scrunched up in confusion. It wasn't long though before a bright smile lighted her whole face.
"Ah! I remember you now. You're the lady with the large boomerang's pet! What was your name again?...Oh yeah! It's Kirara!"
The white fox didn't seem to pay attention to what Rin was saying. Rather focusing its energy on trying to struggle out of the young human girl's arms.
By now, Sesshomaru had managed to catch up with Rin; Jaken following form behind.
"Rin! What are you doing?" Sesshomaru demanded, his golden-amber eyes gazing at his young charge and cocking an eyebrow when he saw the struggling fox in her arms.
Just then, something else jumped from where the fox had appeared and all Sesshomaru had as a warning was a silvery blur before it collided with him.
x-o-X-o-x
Serenity was literally seeing stars and spots before her eyes.
She shook her head in an attempt to get rid of the imaginary images from her mind but it only served to make it worse and immediately stopped.
Serenity clutched her head to steady herself, letting out a groan in the process.
'Dang! Could somebody get the number of the truck that hit me?' She thought.
A deep growl broke Serenity out of her reverie. Fighting back a gulp, Serenity slowly opened her eyes and looked up. She bit back a yelp of surprise when her silver-blue eyes stared into golden-amber orbs and a face so handsome it seemed unreal.
'Oh-la-la. Had I finally die and gone to heaven?'
to be continued
AN: So they finally meet…Mwahahaha! This could be fun… (smirks)
Anyways, some of you are wondering if I plan to make this story have a Sesshomaru/Serenity pairing. To be honest, the idea is intriguing but I'm still not sure as of now about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm an S/S(U) fanatic myself with the pairing only topped by my love for Battousai/Kaoru and Aoshi/Kaoru pairings for RK. But, sad to say, I don't know if I can 'capture' Sesshomaru's whole character without being too OOCish. He's a pretty hard character to describe but I, then again, I do enjoy a good challenge. Hohoho! (cackles evilly)
Well, that's all for now. Until then. Pa-alam!
Daemon: Please do review as Sapphire and I love to hear what you guys have to say.