Disclaimer I don't own Inuyasha! --
Here are the people I HAVE to thank! LOL I love you all! Thank you so much for reviewing!
PlayingWithDemons: I am soo glad that you liked it! Squeels I'll make you some more brownies due to your comments...thank you so much! Reviews like that really help me keep going!
Blue fire angel: Thanks, and yes, this will be a Kag/Sess fic .
Megan Consoer: Yes, LOL, the pairing can be Sess/Kag and I will write a lot more chapters for you because you reviewed my story for me. . I am also really happy that you liked it a lot.
Mai: Meh, I tried to make it longer but I didn't want to take too long in updating my story for you guys. See, it was either put up what I currently had typed up (which I obviously did) or wait another week and half to put up this chapter because I had some EXAMS and two English papers due. You wouldn't want that now would you? LOL I made this one longer to make up for the shortness of the other one. Enjoy!Call death today: Yeah, I am very glad that you liked it.
SweetScentofRoses: I am glad that you like my work! Thank you! LOL Here's the next chapter!
Cutie in the hood: Hey you! LOL How are you? Good I hope. . Thanks for reviewing and I will have a lot of surprises…or at least I hope they will be surprises.
Butterfly heaven: Hey Sarah, I am glad that you like my story and thanks a lot for reviewing. . Here is the next chap so please enjoy and review. (That goes for everyone reading this by the way.)
Chapter 2: A Troublesome Prophecy
Staring at him, she tried not to wince in pain. Somehow thinking that he didn't want to hurt her, she also tired to make it seem like he was powerless against her. Breathing in slowly, she looked into his eyes more deeply, and noticed something that she never thought to have seen before. "I put up a barrier so that Inuyasha will not be ab;e to know you are here and that way i can avoid you two fighting against each other."
She was relived when Sesshoumaru relesed her her wrist and instinctively cradled her wrist with her left hand. Her face said that his hold on her wrist did not hurt her in the least but her hands betrayed her as she lightly rubbed her wrist with her right hand. She bowed her head a little as a wave of disappointment hit her.
'Sesshoumaru called me miko. He did not even bother to use my name.' She wanted to cry outin frustration but the thought of crying quickly passed as anger took her over, 'Just like everyone else,' she thought bitterly. 'It feels like i do not even have a real name anymore.'
Sesshoumaru blinked as he felt her sudden sadness change to anger in a mere second. He could clearly feel all of her emotions, she was hurting so bad that it made him wonder why it was that she was hurting the way she was. 'What could have possibly caused her this much pain?' Sesshoumaru mentally slapped himself, 'Stop thinking about the damn miko. she is a mortal ningen!' A sudden thought hit him; she was not afraid of him. In all of her emotions, fear was the one that was not even felt. Why? Why was she not afraid of him?
"Are you not afraid that I might kill you, miko?" he asked, trying to intimidate her at least a little.
Kagome shrugged, 'Hell yeah i am scared! I am scared that you are going to kill me because you hate me!' "If you had come to kill me then you would have probably killed me by now. Unless of course, you needed something from me. So, Sesshoumaru, what is it that you want from me?" sheasked fearlessly as she walked closer to him and crossed her arms over her chest as she awaited his answer.
'Why is this miko so upset? She does have a backbone to be acting that way around me, but she is frustrated. Was it Inuyasha that frustrated her before i came?' Sesshoumaru stared into her eyes, his eyes burning with confusion for a moment before they returned to their normal expressionless way.
Kagome lost herself in his bright amber eyes as she thought about what she had told him ans the quick look of cinfusion that had crossed his eyes a moment ago. 'I did not want Sesshoumaru to know how I felt. i was trying so hard not to let him see through my facade and see my emotions but...he saw through me anyways without the slightest bit of effort. I have been keeping my frustrations to myself, not telling anyone how i really felt but...Sesshoumaru seems to understand my pain. Why is that?'
Sesshoumaru saw the sad and confused look in her eyes even though her face was calm and she still had her arms crossed over her chest. "I could help you strengthen your abilities; teach you how to defend yourself." His came out a little softer then he had intended it to; he silently hoped that she had not noticed the change in his voice.
Kagome was a little taken back by his sudden interest to help her and the softness that it carried, almost understanding, but another small wave of sadness hit her and she inched closer to him. "Do you think that I am weak as well, Sesshoumaru?"
Kagome's sadness was radiating off of her like the waves of an ocean and Sesshoumaru could feel it as if it were his own. He had never guessed that any human could harbor such great sadness. He knew what it was like to be shunned, to be used, even feared for what you were.
His voice came out a little understanding to her situation, but at this point it did not matter all that much. For a second he thought about lying to her, to tell her that she was defenseless and worthless…but that was far from the truth. Aside from that, Sesshoumaru had never told a lie in his entire life and he took pride in that.
Did she even know that Naraku wanted her dead? Did she even have the slightest idea of what she was truly capable of? "No, I do not think that you are defenseless, however, you still have a lot more to learn. If you were as defenseless as everyone seems to think you are, then Naraku would not be wanting your life."
"He wants me dead? Why does Naraku want me dead for?" she asked in complete confusion as her arms unfolded and fell to her sides. Kagome stared into Sesshoumaru's golden orbs, somehow trying to find the answer to her question within them. As Kagome continued up into his eyes, she had to fight off a small blush as she suddenly realized just how close she was to Sesshoumaru.
Sesshoumaru could see just how confused she was about the situation that she found herself in, and he had to admit that the situation had stirred up something deep within himself, but he did not know what it was. He decided to relieve her of her confusion and answer her question. "Naraku want you dead because he fears you, or so I have been told. Naraku is afraid…" Sesshoumaru's voice trailed off as his nose picked up Inuyasha's scent and he quickly looked down at Kagome.
"I will find you again, miko," he said in his usual icy tone and with that, he vanished along with the wind.
Kagome sighed as she let down the barrier she had made assuming that Sesshoumaru had left because he had sensed Inuyasha coming in their direction and, as if on cue, she heard Inuyasha call out her name.
"Kagome?" she turned around to face Inuyasha as she saw him walking towards her. "What are you doing here all by yourself?"
"Nothing much, Inuyasha. I was just…thinking was all," she said with a smile.
"Thinking? Thinking about what? Is something wrong?" he asked with concern as he put his hand on her shoulder. He was really worried about Kagome.
"Oh, n-nothing is wrong, Inuyasha," she said as she out up her hands to convince him that she was telling the truth when in reality, it was nothing but a lie. Everything that was ever anything was wrong.
Kagome found herself wishing that Inuyasha would had stayed asleep until she and Sesshoumaru had finished up their conversation. "Inuyasha, is it okay if I stayed out here by myself for a while longer?"
Inuyasha stared at her quizzically as he thought about her request for a moment. What was wrong with letting her stay up here all by herself a while longer?
Nothing.
He would be close enough to save her if anything happened to go wrong. He did not want to take that chance though. He was about to say 'no' when he looked into her chocolate-green eyes. 'Damn it,' he thought to himself before he nodded his head.
"Just while longer. Don't take that long, alright?" Inuyasha turned around and started walking down the hill, leaving a smiling Kagome standing by her self.
Kagome walked back up to the spot she had been sitting earlier before Sesshoumaru showed up and sat back down to look up at the star filled sky. 'I really wonder what Sesshoumaru would have told me about Naraku if Inuyasha had not decided to wake up. I mean, for Sesshoumaru, the Great Lord of the Western Lands, to actually come up to me and start talking about anything must have been really important. I only wish…'
'I only wish that Sesshoumaru had stayed a little longer. Just so that the two of us could talk for a while.' Kagome stood up and headed back down the grass-covered hill towards Inuyasha and the camp as she dusted her self off.
Wishing is what Kagome had been doing a lot lately. Wishing for things to happen and wishing for things to go away. She even wished that she had never come across the Bone Eater's Well.
'That was all I needed. An unexpected visit from Sesshoumaru to add onto my already long list of troubles and worries.' Kagome sighed as she reached the camp; she once again tiptoed her way to her sleeping bag and slowly crawled inside of it. She thought that she was in the clear but inwardly groaned when she heard Inuyasha's voice.
"Kagome?" he asked softly, careful not to wake Miroku and Sango.
Kagome resisted the urge to sigh and turned on her side to see Inuyasha resting against a tree trunk. "Yeah, what is it, Inuyasha?" she asked, sounding like nothing was bothering her.
"Are you sure you're okay? You've been acting kinda weird lately, Kagome."
Kagome looked into the flames of the fire, watching it as it crackled and danced slowly, as she answered Inuyasha. "I am fine, Inuyasha, really. I am just really tired right now from our long walk today, aren't you?"
Inuyasha nodded his head as he answered Kagome, "Yeah, I'm tired too, Kagome. Let's get some sleep."
Kagome sighed in relief as Inuyasha closed his eyes. She could finally just relax and try to catch up on some of the sleep that she had missed durring the last month.
Inuyasha walked ahead of the gang as he thought about the night before. 'Kagome's been acting pretty damn strange for the past few weeks but…she hasn't said anything to me about it. She acts like nothin's botherin' her but…'
He looked back at Kagome from the corner of his golden eye and saw that she had a distant look in her eyes as she looked at the large forest trees as if she were waiting for someone to come for her and take her away.
Inuyasha returned his gaze to the front so he could observe what was in front of him as he continued with his train of thought, trying not to look worried or concerned about anything. ' If she needs my help then I'll be there to give it to her. Just like I always have. I won't have Kagome die like Kikyo; Kagome will not die for as long as I live. I promise you, Kagome, I won't let you down.'
Inuyasha stared at Kagome from the corner of his eye and noticed that her expression had not changed. She was still looking at the passing scenery as if she were looking for something…or someone and she also looked slightly confused; she was deep in thought.
Inuyasha noticed that, as of late, she wore that sad, confused, and worried expression on her face almost all the time and he did not like her to be troubled the way that she was. He wanted to see her smile happily and have that pure hearted kindness that would radiate off of her like fire. He missed her usual attitude and he wanted her to return to him.
Inuyasha knew that Kagome would get annoyed when he would ask her about the Shikon jewel shards so he did just that; hoping that it would get her back to her normal self if only for a short period of time. "Hey Kagome, do you sense any jewel shards anywhere?" he asked, trying to sound annoyed.
Kagome instantly snapped out of her daze and shook her head as she answered Inuyasha's question, "No. I don't sense anything." She gave Inuyasha a small smile and looked up at the clear blue skies. A light breeze blew her hair lightly around her face and over her shoulders.
Inuyasha felt a little disappointed with the simple answer that she gave him. Usually, that question would get her annoyed and she would tell him that if she did sense something that she would have told him and not to ask her that anymore. This time all he got was a simple answer in a lazy tone of voice.
He decided to give it another try as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Keh, we've been walking around forests and villages for three days straight and you haven't even sensed a single fucking jewel shard yet!" he complained as he walked along side Kagome.
"Well, there are only two shards of the Shikon no Tama left sense Kouga still won't give his up. He can be so stubborn sometimes; he kinda reminds me of you, Inuyasha." Kagome looked up and smiled at Inuyasha.
"Keh, I'm nothing like that mangy wolf! How can you even think to compare me to him? Next time I see him I'm going to rip off his legs just to get the jewel shards." He saw Kagome wave him off and he held in a growl.
"Well, you do act like Kouga sometimes," said Sango, "your ego and attitude are almost exactly the same. Did you really think that tracking down the last two jewel shards were going to be easy? There are only two and they could be anywhere and in anyone's hands for that matter." Sango walked along side Miroku as she carried Kirara in her arms.
Miroku nodded, "Sango is right. That is why we must search everywhere for the sacred jewel shards."
Sango stiffened and blushed a bright crimson as Miroku's lecherous right hand cupped her buttocks and squeezed them gently. A loud bang was heard as Sango hit Miroku across the head with her hirakous. "Keep your hands to yourself you lecherous monk!"
"Yes ma'am," said Miroku as he rubbed his aching head softly with his hands. Miroku sighed in defeat as he looked over at Sango and then looked at Kagome and Inuyasha, " Just be patient, Inuyasha. We will find them eventually. It will just take a bit more effort on our side, right Kagome?" said Miroku with a smile.
Kagome turned her head to the lecherous monk and nodded in agreement, "You guys are both right. We all just have to be patient. The jewel shards will pop up eventually." Kagome resided back into her thoughts and replayed her conversation with the Taiyoukai of the West. She was still very puzzled about his sudden appearance and everything that he had said to her. Kagome blinked sadly when she suddenly realized something.
'Even Sesshoumaru called me miko. Well, it is not like I expected him to be all nice to me to begin with or anything. After all, it was because of me and Inuyasha that he lost his left arm. It seemed like Sesshoumaru understood everything I felt and was going through. How is that? Maybe I was right about Sesshoumaru all along.' Kagome looked over at Inuyasha and stared at his back as his hair swayed from side to side in a pattern and then returned her eyes to the forest at her side again.
'He may act all heartless all the time and pretend that he does not give a damn about anyone but on the inside…on the inside he has a warm beating heart and emotions that he does not want to let out. Maybe all Sesshoumaru needs to open up is a second chance. What other explanation could there be if he has Rin following him everywhere he goes and he protects her?'
Kagome tore her gaze from the forest trees to Inuyasha who kept on walking up ahead. Kagome smiled warmly when Inuyasha turned to look at her. 'I wonder what Inuyasha would say if he found out that I was all by myself with Sesshoumaru?'
Kagome looked up at the blue sky and imagined what Inuyasha would say. 'What the hell where you thinking, Kagome? Sesshoumaru could have killed you in cold blood you fucking idiot!'
Kagome sweat dropped, 'Yep, that certainly sounds like something that Inuyasha would say. I am going to give someone who tried to kill me on more than one occasion a second chance. Not to mention that Inuyasha hates Sesshoumaru. Sango's voice called Kagome back to Earth.
"Hey, there is a hot spring here. Can we stop for a while? I want to take a long bath." Kagome stopped waking and looked to her left to find a hot spring a few yards away. She could not believe that she missed it, she was usually the one who spotted a hot spring and would ask to stop. She silently thanked Sango for paying attention.
"A bath sounds really ice right now, come to think of it," she said with a smile as she looked at Sango and then at Inuyasha. "Could we stop?" she asked, her eyes pleading and hopeful.
Her face was all Inuyasha needed to see in order to say 'yes.' How could he possibly tell her no when her face looked like that? If a bath was what made her happy then why not let her take a bath? Inuyasha 'kehd' her, "Whatever. If you guys have to then I guess we can stop for a while, but not too long. We should be able to walk some more before it starts to get dark."
Sango took Kagome by the hand and jogged over to the hot spring while yelling back, "Don't you even dare about thinking about peeking at us while we bathe!" Sango and Kagome quickly charged into the hot spring and relaxed into the hot water.
Inuyasha and Miroku sat against a tree nearby the hot spring, but not too close, and waited patiently for the two girls to finish taking their bath. Inuyasha looked over at Miroku, "Hey, have you noticed anything strange about Kagome lately?"
Miroku looked up for a moment as he thought about Kagome, "Hmmm…she seems to be more in thought than usual, other than that, no. Why?"
Inuyasha closed his eyes; "She just seems a little distant sense her powers…you know, grew."
"Do you think that she is trying to hide her feelings from us? Maybe she does not want us to know something? Or perhaps it is that she still feels responsible for the death of the villagers?"
"But that's crazy! I told her a million times that it wasn't her damn fault. She wasn't even conscious during the whole thing!"
"But you know how Kagome is, Inuyasha. She does blame her self for their deaths and some part of her will never forgive killing anyone. She is a warrior and she does not even like to kill demons even though they kill people. Her heart is just to pure to actually hate anything."
"But that's ma point, Miroku. She's acting weird because of something and she won't tell me why no matter how many goddamn times I ask her."
"Just let her come to you, Inuyasha. Be patient. Perhaps she had some troubles in her own era when she went to visit her family last week. It could also be that her powers are still growing and she is in a bad mood. Remember what happened last time?"
Inuyasha shuddered at the memory and nodded, "Yeah, I do. She said so many 'sit' commands that I couldn't get up for a whole damn week."
"You do not want that to happen again, do you?"
Inuyasha quickly shook his head comically, "Nuhuh!"
"Then I suggest you let her be."
"Aaahhh," sighed Kagome contently, "this is sooo great. We really needed to relax for a little bit."
Sango smiled at Kagome, "I thought that you would like a break. You were looking a little spaced out earlier when we were walking, so I thought that you were tired."
Kagome sat up a little more, "Was I really spacing out?"
Sango nodded her head, "Yeah, it looked like you were waiting for someone to walk out of the forest brush or something."
Kagome let out a surprised 'heeh?' and sweat dropped.
"Are you okay, Kagome?" Sango asked with concern.
"Yeah, I am fine, Sango. I have just…been thinking a lot lately." A small blush crawled to her cheeks as an image of how close she was standing next to Sesshoumaru entered her mind. She lowered her head as an effort to make the image of the Taiyoukai go away and at the same time to try and cover her blush from Sango.
Sango noticed it anyway. "What are you thinking about?" she asked suspiciously and inched closer to Kagome.
"N-nothing, Sango." Kagome put her hands out in front of her.
"Then why are you blushing?"
"I am not blushing! I-It's just a little hot." Kagome kept on making excuses, she was not sure if she wanted Sango to know about Sesshoumaru's visit yet.
"You know I won't tell anyone your secret, right?"
"Of course I know, Sango…but nothing is wrong. Honestly."
Sango wrinkled her nose a little bit; "You are lying to me, Kagome. What is wrong?" Sango put her arm around Kagome's shoulders and gave her a small hug, just like an older sister would.
Kagome sighed, "It is nothing, Sango. I will tell you later, okay?"
Sango nodded her head slowly as she gave Kagome a light squeeze; "I will be there for you, Kagome. You can always count on me for anything."
Kagome smiled and hugged Sango back, "Thank you so much, Sango."
"No problem." Sango and Kagome sat there hugging each other for a little while before Sango spoke up, "We should get going, Inuyasha will throw a fit if we stay here any longer."
Kagome smiled and giggled lightly, "Yeah, you are right. Let's go."
Dozens of half-read books and scrolls lay scattered on top of a large black desk. An enraged and frustrated growl filled the room as a small book was hurled across the room and landed on top of the black desk to join the countless others.
"Damn it, every one of these say the exact same thing." Sesshoumaru looked at his book-covered desk and glared at them. "'A great tragedy will consume the pure heart of the great priestess and her soul will be consumed by darkness. Evil shall take control of the land and all will perish while the priestess slowly dies."' Sesshoumaru quoted the reached prophecy with bitterness.
'The prophecy is clearly about my half-brother's wench, Kagome. She is the only pure priestess. If this prophecy comes true, then Naraku might never be destroyed. …The miko's incredible powers come from her emotions and her pureness. If her spirit is shattered, then she will no longer pose a threat to anyone.'
Sesshoumaru took another book off of its place on the shelf and was about to flip through it' pages when he suddenly decided not to. If every other book he had read and examined all said the same thing, why should this book, or any other book for that matter, say any different? Sesshoumaru sighed and tossed the pearl colored book on the floor and then walked over to his large window that over saw part of his garden.
'Why is that girl so different from any other mortal? What makes her so special? Why does the prophecy revolve around her?' There were so many questions that rung through his head about the young maiden. So many, in fact, that it was making his head hurt; he shook it off.
Sesshoumaru opened the door to his study and walked into the hallway; no one knew he was there…or so he thought. "Lord Sesshoumaru!" cried Rin happily as she clung to his leg tightly. "Why did you not come back to Rin last night? Rin thought you got lost."
Sesshoumaru gently pried the girl from his leg and ruffled her hair a little bit. "Go to bed, Rin. We are leaving tomorrow."
Rin's face lit up like a small Christmas tree; "You are taking Rin on another adventure?"
Sesshoumaru nodded at her words, "Yes, tomorrow. Now you need to rest."
Rin smiled again and turned to walk back u the hall the way she came while yelling, "Good night, Lord Sesshoumaru!"
Sesshoumaru turned around and headed towards his room, but then he turned back around and headed for the large door that led outside into his garden. He opened the door and stepped on fresh grass and stared into the setting sun, 'Kagome…why you? Of all the mortals in this planet…why you?'
Yaay! I got this up and done! LOL . I hope that this was at least a good-sized chapter. I mean it is eight pages long…at least that is what my computer said. XD If you want me to make them longer than go ahead and tell me so in your review or email me at K?
Oh! Before I forget…if you haven't watched Inuyasha the Movie3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler then I suggest that you do because I will have some scenes where it mentions some of the things that Kagome and Sesshoumaru went through in the movie. Just to let you know so that you don't freak out and be all 'OMG! What episode was that from?' LOL It's from that movie. I have it by the way Sarah…if you want to watch it. .
Owari!