Chapter 6: Something

"Sesshomaru…" Naraku cursed under his breath.

It hadn't been that long before when Naraku had attacked Sesshomaru, in hopes to kill him off right away, but he had fought back so well that they both left injured. Now, Naraku laid in his bed in his castle, waiting long, dragged on days for himself to heal completely.

Hanako… Where are you now…? He wondered. "Kanna!" he yelled, "Bring me your mirror. Show me Hanako's whereabouts."

A little girl in white rushed over to him with her mirror. She let it rest in her hands before him. A smoky image of Hanako sharpening a stick appeared. How pathetic it is that you have been enslaved… He thought as he watched her work under the hot sun. How is it that you have no idea what you are? What flaw was there in your creation that caused you to forget everything? Is there any small piece of you that still remains? He had been watching her ever since he had gotten rid of her. Most of the time he watched from Kanna's mirror, but other times he watched from a safe distance, cleverly disguising his demonic aura so that Sesshomaru would not notice. He had seen everything about her: and he also watched with amusement as her and Sesshomaru's relationship grew more and more vast. He plotted to use her to get to him, since obviously directly attacking him did not work. And perhaps afterwards he would use her for his original plan, before hers and Sesshomaru's eyes had locked on that day. He could make her do whatever he pleased. He owned her life after all…

Hanako had finished sharpening her spear when she noticed there were no fish at that part of the stream. Her eyes darted around, looking for a possible place where they could be hiding. She stood still quietly, not wanting to startle them away, but none of them came. She shrugged to herself and stepped out of the water. She would try again later.

Sesshomaru approached her near the stream again. He felt the strange urge to start a conversation with her. What Rin had told him about her earlier had puzzled him, and he wanted to interrogate her. He sat down by a tree close by her. She turned her head and saw him there. She bowed.

"Good Afternoon," she said politely, "What do you wish of me?"

"Nothing. Just work."

"Kay…"

She went back to work gathering fruits she could find around her. She felt herself being stared at. She peered behind her shoulder to see Sesshomaru gaping at her. He knew he was doing this. He couldn't stop himself.

"Yes?" she said.

"Don't mind me," he said, almost questioning his own presence here. He decided to get straight to the point.

"Rin tells me that you don't remember anything past the day you were enslaved. Is that true?"

"Yes." She said simply, "Yes it is…"

"Stop working. Sit down."

She sat.

"What is it? Is that so bad?"

He looked her up and down once more; her perfect figure kneeling before him.

"Well…?" she asked, "Would you like me to do something for you or not Lord Sesshomaru?" She cocked her head to one side.

He erased the strange thoughts going through his head. "Why do you suppose that is?"

She stood up. "I do not know myself. Maybe I bumped my head?" the topic had been something so often talked about that she didn't even care about it anymore. "If you don't mind, Rin ordered me to get her medicine for her cough…" she went back to picking the herbs when she noticed the stream went up further. She let them go and followed it to a small waterfall where salmon were jumping upstream. She went over and attempted to grab some for herself, but failed a few times and fell in the water. Sesshomaru had followed her out towards the stream and had seen this. "Heh…" he said, almost laughing at her clumsiness.

She got up right away and tried to squeeze the water out of her clothes. It was no use. She was soaked. She turned to see him standing there. "You didn't see that, did you?"

"I did."

She blushed from embarrassment, but ignored it and this time successfully grabbed a fish out of the air.

He began to question her again. "What is the last thing you remember?"

"Well…" she began, "I am not sure if this was just some dream I had, but, I remember being in a dark room with a man with long black hair. There were lots of vines too. And he was talking to me."

"I see," he said, "And then you were forced into slavery?"

"Somewhat. I didn't really know what was going on. I had to learn everything on my own." She still continued to wring out her frock. The wind was blowing, and she was shivering, even on this hot sunny day.

He stood silently for a few moments, taking in what had just been said. How strange it must have been to have to learn everything without guidance. "Did you know how to speak?"

"Yes."

"How long ago do you believe this was?"

She let her wrinkled damp clothes fall back down. "Two years perhaps?"

Two years. She only remembered two years of her life.

He watched her go back to work, even though she was completely soaked. Didn't she have any dignity at all?

"Does it please you to be a slave?"

This question had never been asked of her before. Who cares if it pleased her? "Why do you ask this? Is it really that important? Not to question your authority my lord, but are such questions necessary?"

"No they are not." He didn't know why he had asked that himself. He just strangely wanted to talk to her. There really was no reason; he just wanted to interact with her.

"Well…" she thought out loud, "I never really thought of it before. I suppose it's okay, much better under your rule." She smiled at him. His heart beat faster.

"I see…" he said, slightly surprised by her compliment. He had been flattered many times before but he craved it more from her. Why?

"Why do you enjoy me ordering you around all day?" he asked, thinking of more reasons to talk to her. This is getting really stupid. Do I really need to talk to her like this? Why this casual conversation with my own slave?

She understood that he was just curious about her, for some odd reason. "It gives me something to do everyday. A duty to fulfill. A reason to wake up every morning. Without my orders, I would probably not go on. Besides, without someone else to keep me in line, what would I do?"

He could not understand her way of thinking. He knew he would loathe being under someone's control all of the time. That was the difference between her and him. She was simply a slave and he was simply a lord. Both in two opposite classes. He was disgracing himself now by having this talk with her. It all began to dawn onto him that she was merely a thing, not truly someone. She was merely his property, not his companion. She would never be anymore than that. She was permanently enslaved.

But then why don't I think of her that way? I only feel content when she is with me. It's almost as if I… want her or something… That was truly the most disgraceful thing he had ever thought. It was a terrible sin and dishonor for that to take place in the relationship between a lord and his slave, which was not a very deep relationship at all, and never would be. But whenever he looked at her…

His head was spinning around in complete chaos. He remembered the first time he had ever seen her back at where those merchants were selling her, when her song compelled him to do something he would've never normally done. Then when their eyes had met, they had locked in place, and both of them were unable to look away. Could it be that…?

No. It was too much to believe.

Hanako had noticed how silent he was. "Lord Sesshomaru? Are you okay?" she saw him so deep in thought. She tapped on his shoulder lightly.

He turned to her, his eyes having the most intense look she had ever seen. So intense that she could not look away. Something was keeping their eyes aimed at each other.

It was all happening again… their eyes were locked.

There was no doubt about it. Compassion, desperation, yearning… all of these things were so new to Sesshomaru. And Hanako was their source. All of these things were aimed at her. But what did that mean?

His breath was gone, and his heart was beating quickly. He was completely lost in her gaze, and she felt the same way. Huh…? HUH? She thought to herself. What was happening here? What is this energy between them?

At that moment, she found herself having a small crush on him; despite her knowledge of right and wrong… she was now a sinner.

Her eyes softened and were quivering slightly. She never wanted to look away. This new affection that had suddenly risen up from the bottom of her heart was too great. Why was this happening? And even after telling Rin that she didn't like him in that way? It was as if luck had cursed her, her falling for the one man she couldn't have. But it was somewhat normal for the one being protected to like her protector…right? She would get over it eventually…right? Maybe it wasn't even that: just a strong, friendlier liking… not that kind of liking… just a simple liking…

Who am I kidding…? She thought mournfully. It was also best to keep it a secret. Most slaves were killed for this… or sold… and that to her would be worse…

They both noticed they had been staring at each other that entire time. They both looked away at the same moment. He stood up, almost out of fear of getting lost in her gaze again. He removed his shirt and threw it at her. She caught it and stared at it. His shirt! she thought, her mind throbbing with some sort of girlish excitement.

"Where that until your clothes dry." He threw his sash at her as well. He walked away at a faster pace than usual. This was all becoming too weird.

She looked down at the shirt and sash. She hovered over them for a few moments, then held them close to her. They had his warmth all over them, the same warmth she had felt when she rode on his back on the day he found out about her old lord. She put them on quickly, trying to savor some of the warmth around her. The clothes were much too big on her, but she didn't mind.

She then realized what she was doing and began laughing hysterically at herself.

What am I doing! I really am naive! Him and me? She laughed to herself. But in a way, being naïve was not so bad. She began once again making Rin's medicine, feeling slightly bad that she had been sidetracked.

Naraku watched it all through the mirror, laughing while he read all of Hanako's thoughts. "I see my little plot has turned on you as well!" he grinned. "This is all becoming too good…" he thought of all of the things he was beginning to be able to do with new options opened. He cackled to himself. "Sesshomaru… how it amuses me that you are losing your heart to your own slave…" He knew from the time they had been staring at each other that there was definitely something between them. And that would be their demise…

Just wait… he thought… just wait…

Jaken came running up to Sesshomaru. "Lord Sesshomaru!"

Sesshomaru turned around from his deep thinking to see the imp running frantically toward him.

"Lord Sesshomaru! I bring terrible news!"

"What is it?"

TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 7 (haha)