I do not own Inu-yasha, no matter what the mob tells you.

Chapter Seven

Could I Be Your Memory? (Go Sugarcult!)

Artemis blinked her eyes open to see the face of Sessho-maru in her view. Had she ever finished that fall? She looked around her to see utter white and sat up, feeling the mask on her face. She took it off and saw she was in Tomoko's emergency room. "What happened?" she mumbled.

"Kotane Curse Poison," Sessho-maru said blankly.

Artemis thought for a second. "Yeah, that'd be about right." She looked down at blushed as she could see that her kimono was revealing more than it was concealing. ((Yay! That rhymed! Sorta...)) She pulled the wrappings up and stood up. "Do you mind turning around?" she asked.

Sessho-maru looked at her passively, but turned.

Artemis took off her obi and readjusted her kimono so it was concealing all that needed to be. She tied her obi back on and tried to comb her hair a little with her fingers. "Okay, all done."

Sessho-maru was more concerned about the pain in the arm that he had lost to his brother though.

Artemis walked in front of him and tilted her head. "Something wrong?"

Sessho-maru didn't reply and Artemis frowned.

"What's that...magic?" she said. She reached out to him and took a hold of his sleeve. He brushed her hand off though, anger lightly written on his face. "Sorry," she said, backing off with her hands up in a motion of peace.

The door opened and Tomoko came in. "There you are. Oh, Artemis, you're awake."

Artemis smiled and ran to Tomoko, throwing her arms around his neck and burrying her face in his chest. "Hi Mokoie-ku-a-un!" she said in a sing-song voice.

He smiled at her. "Hello Arie-chan," he said, wrapping his arms around her lower back.

Sessho-maru glared a little at the scene, but managed to not growl. He didn't like the picture in front of him though. Made him feel something that he wasn't really sure what it was...

"So what'd ya use this time?" Artemis asked.

"The usual," Tomoko said.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "You never change."

Tomoko rolled his eyes too. "You could come in once in a while to get healed you know. Self-healing isn't going to heal everything and you know that."

Artemis stuck out her tongue. "Bleh! Well fine then! Since I'm here, we can check out the Fire Stone."

Inu-yasha and Kagome walked in on the little PDA and stopped in their tracks.

"Wow Artemis! He said he was your friend, but I didn't know that meant boyfriend!" Kagome said.

"He's/She's not my girl/boyfriend!" The two shouted together and they stepped away from each other, glaring at the startled miko.

"Well, I just thought...," Kagome said hopelessly.

"We're just really good friends!" Artemis said. "Who happen to save each other, whether it be me saving his ass from getting eaten, or him saving me from some kind of magical or any kind of damage that I can't heal myself."

Tomoko nodded his agreement. "We're not dating."

Inu-yasha looked lost, Sessho-maru looked passive, and Kagome looked like she had just had someone yell in her face with a bullhorn.

"Girlfriend? Boyfriend? Dating?" Inu-yasha said.

Sessho-maru said nothing, already figuring out what it meant. Something inside of him was glad that they were not 'dating' as the miko had said. He didn't know why though.

---

"We'll catch up with ya later!" Kagome said as she and Inu-yasha went through the well. Artemis waved as they disappeared into the dark depths.

Tomoko and Sessho-maru stood behind her, since Tomoko couldn't go through and wouldn't go through, and Sessho-maru couldn't go through and wouldn't go through either. He wasn't going to leave without Rin's babysitter.

That's what he had been telling himself-She's only Rin's babysitter. That's why I want to protect her. The only reason.

"Artemis, I want to talk to you about something," Tomoko said.

Artemis looked back at him and nodded. "Can you wait here for a second while I talk to Tomoko?" she asked Sessho-maru. He didn't say or do anything, but she took it as a yes. She had been getting good at understanding him.

Tomoko took her hand-much to Sesshy-sama's annoyance-and led her away, far from the reach of the dog youkai's hearing ability. "Are you sure you should be doing this? If it wasn't for Sessho-maru, Radaus would of killed you. I'm worried Arie-chan."

Artemis shook her head. "It's okay Tomoko. I have my friends and I have Alejandra to help me. You know I never fail at what I do. I am not going to give up on revenge, even if my life is forfeited because of it. I'm not going to give up on Momma, or Papa, or Jace, or Kaseko. They died because of Radaus' greed and I'm going to do all I can to avenge their loss."

Tomoko sighed. "I don't want you to do something stupid and get yourself killed like what happened today. Radaus is a lot stronger than you think he is and he has strong allies and people working underneath him. Take that Lorelei woman for example. And don't forget he has Naraku working with him as well."

Artemis sighed and smiled at him. "Mokoie-kun, you worry way too much about me! I'll be alright, promise!"

"If you die, I'll kill you," Tomoko said.

Artemis laughed, while still trying to figure out where that line came from. ((I can't remember where I heard it...)) "Don't worry! I'll be extra-careful now and I'll make sure to always have a trained adult with me at all times."

He glared at her. "Artemis! This is no laughing matter! Do you hear me?" He grabbed the sides of her arms and brought her close to his face. "This is dangerous work! More dangerous than anything you've ever done! I don't want to lose you again!" He held her close to him in an embrace, his voice soft on the last sentence.

Meanwhile, Sessho-maru was staring at them with a ticked-off expression on his face. Like this--- I.I Why was he hugging her? Again? And he had that look on his face that his younger brother sometimes had when he was looking at the miko girl. And no, not the blank expression because Kagome asked him a math question, but one of affection. But this look was deeper than the one that Inu-yasha would give Kagome when he thought she couldn't see, this one was a lot deeper.

Sessho-maru could already tell that the computer-dork, as Artemis called him, loved the before mentioned girl. For some reason that got under his skin.

((Hmm. Wonder why. :looks at the summery: Hmm, wonder why? Oh! What's this::points to something on summery: OCxSessho-maru? Hmm. Wonder why? pokepoo: That's only on your computer, not ff.n. candysweet: So I put more stuff in the summaries on my computer! IS THAT A CRIME?))

Tomoko held her at arm's length. "Promise me you will not, under any circumstance, not even if it would mean the death of Radaus, do something utterly stupid and/or dangerous."

Artemis glared at him. "Are you crazy? Trying to kill Radaus is dangerous! Being in Feudal Japan is dangerous! Watching a six-year-old kid in the feudal era is DANGEROUS! I'm going to be in danger almost every second, so if you don't want our people to be avenged and have all those years we spent looking for him just for that exact reason, then yes, I will make you that promise and stay here with you, being a waitress while I go through college!"

Tomoko sighed. "Do you know what I would do if you got hurt again? Like you did today?"

"I don't know, tell me."

"I would kill myself probably, because I would know it was myself who let you go through with this."

Artemis smiled at him and ruffled some of his hair. "Don't worry about it Mokoie-kun! I got it covered!" She turned to leave, knowing that Sessho-maru was probably fed up with waiting.

Tomoko took her forearm. "Artemis, one last thing before you go."

She turned toward him. "Yeah?"

His face got soft. "When this thing is all over... Let's go-"

Sessho-maru loomed next to Artemis, glaring at the two of them slightly.

"Oh, Lord Sesshy-sama!" Artemis said. "I was just about to come back!"

Sessho-maru's gaze turned to Tomoko. He had heard the last part of that conversation and knew exactly what the computer-dork was going to say.

Artemis turned her head back to Tomoko, still a little confused about why they were looking each other dead on. "Hey Tomoko? Can we finish this later? Sessho-maru-kun here probably forgot Rin-chan all by herself! OOOH Sessho-maru-sama are you going to get your ass kicked!"

Something in Sessho-maru made him want to cringe. He controlled himself though.

"Yeah," Tomoko said, looking to the side. "Yeah, we can finish this later. Well, uh, bye."

"Bye!" Artemis said with a smile. She ran off over Sessho-maru, leaving Tomoko standing on the Higurashi estate.

He watched as she ran out of his everyday life again. Once again with a different man. How long had he loved her really?

---

"You're taking forever Tomoko!" A five-year-old Artemis skipped ahead in front of him.

"Well maybe you should slow down!" he said stubbornly. He was lagging a couple of yards behind her. It was a rough, rocky terrain part of the planet and he wasn't used to it. Artemis however, training to be an Honoured Fighter already, had mastered the terrain in her lessons. She really was a quick learner.

He himself, was trying out technology as well as fighting. He didn't want to be a male Honoured Fighter, called a Honoured Warrior though. He was taking some of those lessons as well as his other classes even so.

Tomoko lagged behind some more, until he rolled over onto a flat area after some steep climbing to take a deep breath. He laid on his back, gazing up at the clouds.

Artemis' face popped into his view and he jumped a little, but calmed down after that. "You are so slow! What if a monster comes? How am I going to protect you?"

The seven-year-old scoffed at her. "You got it all wrong! The boy is suppose to protect the girl!"

She sat down with a 'hmmp!' "Well, I don't see you taking any Honoured Fighter classes."

"Because I'm a boy!" Tomoko said, sitting up as well. "We take Honoured Warrior classes, which I am taking!"

"Well, Honoured Fighter classes teach you better than Honoured Warrior classes. Since we're girls, we have to learn how to beat up really big guys and be extremely light on our feet and add-gi-all," Artemis said, struggling to pronounce the last word.

"You mean agile?" Tomoko said perfectly. He smirked at her. Since he was two years older, he was so much smarter than she was!

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Whatever!" Her gaze turned slightly to the left of his head though, her eyes wide with fear. She stood up quickly and unsheathed her daggers, running towards him with a determined look on her face.

Tomoko turned his head only to be smacked across the flat land by a fist that belonged to none other than a monster. A really ugly one too. Probably hungry, yep, yep!

Artemis attacked it with her little daggers and her beginner's Honoured Fighter's techniques.

He knew she couldn't win this one. Not yet. He had been taking classes longer than her and would fare better. He took his sword out of the scabbard on his back and joined her. A few estimates in his head and then he attacked its weak point-its knee. The creature went down and Artemis finished the job with a quick slash to the neck.

There stood there a second with the monster in front of them, its blood caking their miniature weapons.

Then Artemis looked at him and buried her head in his chest, her small arms around his waist. "I don't want to look at it Mokoie-kun! Make it go away!"

He was a little shocked at the usage of his name. He was a servant to the Spides Alatontion Son family, so he was called only Tomoko by them. He put his arms around her back and held her close, the top of her head fitting perfectly into the curve of his neck and chin. "It's okay Princess Artemis."

Artemis only cried and cried and cried.

---

Seven Years Later

Artemis twirled around in her room, showing Tomoko her new dress. "See?" she said. "It's perfect for the dance tomorrow!"

Tomoko sat on her bed and nodded. "It's alright..." He looked around to make sure no one was there. "Arie-chan."

Artemis sighed. "I don't see why you still refer to me like that only when no one's around! We don't think of you as a servant Tomoko! You're like family! And you're coming to the dance tonight! Don't try to say that you've got lessons or something! You're always training or studying lately!" She jumped onto the bed, kneeling while leaning over towards him, supporting herself on her two hands. "I never get to hang around with you anymore!"

Tomoko looked away from her. "Of course you do," he muttered.

"I do not!" she said and poked his nose. "So you're coming to this dance. There's someone I want you to meet anyways!"

He looked at her. "Who?" He didn't like the tone in her voice.

"Someone cool," she said simply with a roll of her eyes. "You'll like him, I'm sure!"

"Oh," he said, noticing the 'him', "another one of your boyfriends."

"Something wrong with that?" Artemis asked.

"Of course not!"

Artemis smiled warmly at him, sitting on her behind next to him. She laid her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed and the smile still on her face. "That's good. Because you'll always be my best friend, and I want to make sure that you like them."

She didn't notice that he was blushing. "Uh, sure."

Artemis just sat there, enjoying the moment. "It'll be fun, I promise."

---

The boy that she had chosen was a lord's son. Tomoko watched as she twirled around and around the ballroom with him. He glared at the boy every time they went by, insults going through his head every time they danced past him.

She was too good for him. He was a horrible dancer. He could never protect her.

He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

There was a gentle touch on his crossed arms and he opened them to see Artemis smiling up at him.

"Hey," she said, "come dance with me."

"Aren't you dancing with Lord Atreale?"

Artemis wrinkled her nose. "I don't really like him."

Tomoko smiled a little. "So you danced with him all that time why?"

Artemis shrugged. "Because I wanted to dance. Besides, you're a way better dancer, come on." She tugged on his arms slightly and he walked along with her, sighing and rolling his eyes for her benefit, conveying the emotion 'I was waiting FOREVER for you to ask, but I'll pretend that I wasn't.'

Artemis smiled at him and put a hand on his shoulder and one in his other hand. "Don't tell me you're scared of a little dancing."

Tomoko rolled his eyes and smirked. "Arie-chan, I could out dance you in an instant."

Artemis smirked. "Is that a challenge?"

"Of course not," he said with an eye roll.

"I think it was," she said.

"Well then you'd be right for once," Tomoko teased.

They danced around the ballroom. Eventually, the music slowed to more of a middle-school-dance-slow-song-number. Only teenagers were left on the dance floor and the lights dimmed. All of the teenagers got closer together, the girls' hands on the boys' shoulders and the boys' hands on the girls' lower back.

Artemis laid her head on Tomoko's chest and sighed. "Thank you," she murmured, a slight smile on her face.

Tomoko blushed, knowing she couldn't see it, but he did all the same.

---

And that was the moment when he realized that he loved her.

Tomoko looked back at Artemis disappearing. She had never said anything about loving him though. She always had some kind of a boyfriend, so he was sure she thought nothing of him but her best friend, or so she had said all those years ago.

And so she was disappearing again, just when he was going to ask her that important question...

------

candysweet: Yay! Cliffie...ish...kinda...

pokepoo: Nice memories.

candysweet: I know! Aren't they?

pokepoo: --;; Anyways, that chapter was kind of long, wasn't it?

candysweet::scrolls through it: Yeps. But I like it all the same. -

pokepoo: What was with the five-year-old Artemis memory though? What did that have to do with Tomoko falling in love with her?

candysweet: \/# You idiot! You mean, mean idiot!

pokepoo: So?

candysweet: ... ... Well...nothing really. It was just something I wanted to write.

pokepoo::facefaults: .+

candysweet::laughs sheepishly and scratches the back of her head: Oh yes! The rest of the shoulder clan group will not be joining our talks here. It's just me and pokepoo-kun-ne-ne!

pokepoo: Isn't that a bit long?

candysweet: Would you rather me call you popo-kun?

pokepoo: No.

candysweet: Well, it's my cute way of saying your name. pokepoo-kun-ne-ne!

pokepoo: --;; Okay, how much crack did you smoke today?

candysweet: Um... none? I take happy pills, remember? I don't need expensive stuff like crack.

pokepoo: So basically, you just couldn't afford it.

candysweet: Cause I'm broke... T-T