Enchanted Orbs
Chapter 32 Falling
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Kagome once again turned her back to the demon lord and gazed out over the city. From her vantage on the skyscraper's roof, she felt she could see everything. But her watch was disturbed. She could feel Sesshoumaru's eyes boring into her back; she had felt his eyes ever since her confession and it left her raw.
Her emotions were exposed and her soul tormented by his intrusive eyes, but she refused to turn and face those golden spies. Kagome didn't know what she would see in them.
She had learned to read some emotions through his eyes, but those few times were probably only when he allowed it. When he truly wished her ignorant of his emotions, he seemed to have little trouble masking them. But now? What would she see now? The mask? She doubted it; she would actually welcome it.
Right now, the only thing she could think of ruling his eyes was his condescending thoughts about her and her confession. She feared his idea of her being the filth that he considered all of humanity when she had, at one time, considered him a friend and thought his feelings paralleled her own.
That had to be what he was thinking, right? Why else would he stay silent at such a sincere emotion from someone close to him? There was no other explanation to her; no other reason for his actions other than a pure disgust felt for her.
She blinked several times in attempt to prevent tears from reappearing. Kagome refused to show him how much it hurt for him to consider her in that manner. He would only see her as weak; another thing he despised about her race.
Kagome refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
She summoned every happy memory she could think of and banished all thoughts of the demon behind her. A sickeningly sweet smile slithered across her face, and she turned to Sesshoumaru.
"I know you must have some questions about what you've seen. Do you wish to ask me here, or would you prefer to resume your flight?" She asked as a waitress would feign concern over a customer with an empty glass.
Sesshoumaru's eyes widened at her sudden change. He had been watching her every shift, trying to discern her thoughts. He pondered the right course of action, and was deciding when it would be best to try to appease the pain he had obviously caused her.
When did his concern for the feelings of an insignificant human evolve? He could not place the time, but he knew that the scent of her tears was more disturbing than the toxins surrounding him. He knew it unsettled him to know that she was in pain. And he felt grief that he was the one that spurred that pain.
But before he could attempt to pacify the anguish radiating through her sloughing posture, cracking voice, and impending tears, she again broke his concentration.
Her posture went uncomfortably stiff, and her head took an arrogant position; Kagome turned with a radiant smile and cheery eyes and asked him a petty question. It was an obvious attempt to distract him from everything just spoken.
"Inconsequential. You are hiding from me." He asked with little inflection.
Kagome's eyes shadowed for a second before she smiled even bigger and replying. "Why would I hide from you?"
Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed at her. "You expect me to believe your previous statements when you deceive me now?" His voice was harsh.
Her smile melted from her face, and her eyes became dull and hollow. As if struck by lightning, she snapped out of her melancholy and blue eyes sharpened on his. "Mine is only a temporary mask. You wear a permanent one, Lord Sesshoumaru. Should I believe, then, that you deceive me constantly?" Usually her voice carried a sweet melody, but now only the hard edge of a threat was heard in her tone.
Kagome's earlier feelings drastically fled, and in their place remained anger. It burned through her at his comment, and she could do nothing but vent her frustration on the youkai, after all, he was the cause. Why not take it out on him?
Eyes flared, shoulders tensed, and the muscles in her neck bulged slightly with the strain of keeping her anger in check. She was trying to look so fierce in the face of the demon, but in his eyes, she looked similar to a kitten that had just gotten tossed into a pool of cold water.
He knew she was able to physically hurt him with some of her attacks, but he could never honestly admit she would be a threat to his life. Even if she did somehow manage to pin him in a lethal position, he doubted she could kill him.
And now? Now she was attempting to challenge him, attempting to intimidate him, and he found her very amusing. He decided to see if she was capable of challenging him.
"Is that a challenge?" His voice reflected none of his amusement.
Her neck pulled back, her head tilted to the side, and one eyebrow furrowed in confusion. "Huh?"
Her anger vanished and in its place stood vast confusion. Here she was venting her rage on him; turning his accusation back onto him. And yet, he changed the subject entirely with one sentence.
Her face was too much. She went from angry kitten to dazed puppy.
For the first time he could ever recall, Sesshoumaru let his emotions get the better of him, and he laughed. Its not like he didn't try to contain them, but her expressions, her body language, everything about her made his control more slack than he could ever recall.
It wasn't a huge exhale of emotion, only a slight rumble of a chuckle escaped his lips, but to Kagome, it shook her foundations like an earthquake.
He was laughing; she was falling apart in front of him. And he laughed. Her hands shook; shock set in. Everything she had thought about his feelings towards her at this time were true. He saw her weakness through her guise and took sadistic pleasure in it.
Kagome took a step away from him. She felt naked, exposed in a most brutal way to those cold, calculating eyes that were burned into her memory.
Sesshoumaru opened his eyes; he had not even been aware that he had closed them. When he did, his laughter abruptly stopped.
She stood staring up at him in horror, lips parted, eyes moist, hands shaking violently. All of her challenge was gone, and she took a step backwards, away from him.
Her voice was so quiet, even his exceptional hearing, he struggled to hear and comprehend her words.
"You don't care at all." Her head shook as in denial as she tried to escape the pull of his eyes.
The wind whipped her soft voice across him, and it was the same effect of her slapping him.
This was not what he expected; how had things gone so wrong so quickly? But his thoughts were interrupted when he saw her take another step backwards.
Her surroundings had been completely forgotten in favor of escaping the callous monster in front of her. But when she felt only the ball of her foot hit solid ground behind her, reality snapped back in place. She was on the roof of a skyscraper, and her balance was diminishing.
Wind whipped around her, and she realized she was falling.
Sesshoumaru stood as if frozen, watching her fall over the edge of the building. Panic, fear, no...not fear, shear terror overwhelmed him. Before even thinking of the consequences, he leapt off the edge after her.
Kagome watched as the air pressure surrounding her lifted her unknown tears into the air. They seamed to float as she fell. It was peaceful in a way, the wind wrapping around her, soothing her; she couldn't even force herself to scream. It didn't matter that she couldn't breathe. Air was all around her, but she couldn't breathe in, whether it was the rapid pass of air as she fell, the low pressure around her, or maybe she just didn't have the will to breathe in. Whatever it was, she found herself in a drowsy haze.
The lights of the city below her reflected off her tears, now coming faster. The combination of sensations mesmerized her. She was in a trance as she fell to her death, until a white form dove over the edge she fell from.
"Sesshoumaru." She whispered as she closed her eyes. 'Maybe he does care.' She thought as she succumbed to the sleep that hovered at the edge of consciousness.
The demon lord saw her below him, and he could honestly say that he had never seen a more beautiful sight in his extended life. 'Striking,' was the only way to describe her. Onyx hair floated around her, waving to him, beckoning him. Unfocused blue eyes fluttered and shined as prismatic crystals rose from their depths. Her slender arms were extended towards him, fingers curled slightly with light reflecting from her nails. She had such a peaceful look on her face, not terrified as most would, like she was content with her life thus far. Moist pink lips were positioned in a serene smile.
He almost gasped at the vision. Sesshoumaru tried to memorize every detail as she fell, never wanting the image to fade.
He felt her tears splash against his face as his greater weight allowed him to gain on the falling angel in front of him. His hearing allowed him to hear her whisper his name, and something gripped him inside almost violently.
His quick descent allowed him to catch up with her after what seemed like eternity to him. The ground was closing quickly. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and brought her body to his chest. After securing her to him, one hand rose and tucked her head to his neck for her protection from the impending impact.
Tucking his head, he flipped in the air so as to land feet first. His youkai abilities allowed him to slow his drop, but with the height from which they had jumped, even he was somewhat weary of the landing.
He landed gracefully, as always; with his abrupt stop, he felt the bones in his lower legs fracture, cracking up the shaft. But the shattered concrete below his feet was in much worse condition than him.
Sesshoumaru could felt the bones split upon landing, but he knew it was not a major injury. His powerful muscles would hold the weakened bones together until he was capable of allowing the time to heal properly.
He let Kagome's head dip backwards so he could peer down at her face. She was unconscious.
"Kagome." He tried to rouse her with her name, but she only stirred.
He shifted her body to press fully against his, cradled her neck in his hand, and tried again.
She was limp in his arms. His eyes shifted to his surroundings. There were two people openly gawking at them and a few others trying to be discrete in their observations.
Sliding one arm under her legs, he walked into a dark alley until he could no longer feel any eyes on him. Wordlessly, he called his cloud to him again, and started back towards her home.
Sesshoumaru could feel her heartbeat strengthening, and her breathing became shallower. She was waking.
Kagome came into consciousness feeling strong arms around her back and under her legs. Her check was against something cold and firm. Fluttering her eyes open, she saw Sesshoumaru carrying her. His head was characteristically high, but his eyes were focused on her.
'Maybe he does care.' Kagome's thought echoed earlier sentiments before she fainted earlier.
They just watched each other, trying to read the thoughts of the other, trying to pierce the soul. Moments of silence passed as they drowned in each other. But a gust of wind brought Kagome out of the trance.
Sesshoumaru felt her body stiffen and watched her eyes slide to the side. When no ground was found under his feet, her eyes closed tightly and her fingernails dug into his flesh.
"Calm yourself, Kagome. I will not let you fall again." He spoke quietly as if his shame was a secret just between the two of them. He was ashamed that there was trust lost between them, ashamed that he had to reassure her of his support.
But there was another feeling present. It was nothing describable, but it felt good, nice. He liked reassuring her, and, though he didn't enjoy her pain, soothing her, calming her with his presence and words touched him in a way nothing had ever done.
The tension slipped from her frame, and she melted against him once again. Now he almost wished he had let her convince him to remove his weapons and armor. He wanted to know how she fit against him when he held her this way.
That treacherous thought made him tense. Never had his thoughts taken him be surprise, but the path that thought was taking...when had he begun to see her in that manner? Did he see her in that manner? 'Obviously, if the idea came unbidden and unprovoked.'
Had he suppressed more than just a friendly feeling towards the woman in his arms? It would explain why he was so protective of her.
Kagome felt him tense. She sought his eyes for an explanation but only found them vacant. He had become introverted, delving into his mind and thoughts, and they seemed to be somewhat troubling if his creased brow was any indication.
He tensed again, and his eyes widened with realization. Gold was suddenly focused on her, and Kagome felt wary of him. Insecure all of a sudden, she realized that she was still in his arms.
Her lord was carrying her, and she no longer needed his assistance. She wondered if that was what troubled him. A human was pressed against him. Was that what bothered him so? It didn't sound right to her thinking, but she still needed to rectify the situation.
"Lord Sesshoumaru, I can stand on my own if you wish." She tried to force firmness into her voice, but for some reason, it only came out as a whisper, another secret to hold between them.
A brief glance at his surroundings reassured his thoughts that they were still quite a ways from her home, but they were safely out of the city limits. Sesshoumaru allowed his altitude to drop, and soon landed in a quiet area several miles from the glaring lights.
Kagome looked around as they landed. 'Why would he choose a park?' She questioned mentally. He lowered her legs to the ground but kept a firm hold onto her until both were assured of her balance.
Her eyes expressed her gratitude, and he nodded to her in confirmation. Sesshoumaru walked a few paces and sat himself down at the base of a nearby tree. His legs were extended in front of him to allow his fractured bones time to seal themselves.
Looking at him right now brought her pain. Why? She didn't know; quite frankly, she felt as dumb as any person could be. Everything that had happened since entering her time came crashing back to her, and she felt Sesshoumaru must be completely appalled with her.
She led the practically blind Sesshoumaru to a staircase without warning, she manipulated him into a nighttime flight, then, when he remained silent at her confession, she threw herself off the top of a building. Granted she didn't purposely fall, but she doubted he knew that. With all the events that happened, Kagome thought she was acting like a psychotic ex-girlfriend hell bent on revenge. Again, nothing was intentional, but again, he probably didn't know that.
Kagome tore her eyes from him as walked towards a swing set. She could feel his eyes on her, but she didn't want to think about it. Wondering what he thought about her was what got her into trouble in the first place.
She was tired. Emotions had wreaked havoc on her in an extremely short span of time, and she was anything but comfortable with the demon a few yards from her. Kagome sent a cautious glance to him, and confirmed her suspicions.
He was still following her with his eyes. She was about to start swinging, hoping the motion would either force him to stop watching her or make him dizzy, but the sound of his voice stopped her.
"You were wrong." The tone was strong and it echoed through the air around them.
Kagome blinked a few times. She really wasn't sure what he was talking about; she opened her mouth to ask, but he was speaking again.
"Before you fell, your words were false." He clarified.
Her eyes widened when she realized of what he was speaking. Then what he said made sense. A smile tapered her lips as she began to swing her legs underneath her and lean back in the swing.
'He does care.' She thought contentedly.
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A/N: Short, yes I know...but I HATE conversational dialogue, and I don't think I'm very good at it. So, this chapter ends now! Plus, I want Sess to stew a bit, we'll stick a fork in him later. Two chapters posted...so what are you still reading this note for? GO!!
