Mirrored Future
by Amazonian 21
Rated M
Recap:
Both demon and miko halted in their motions, each with a hand on one side of the mirror, as the third and most controversial image from the mirror presented itself for their joined viewing pleasure...
Chapter 3
Kagome gaped at what she saw before her. She'd expected another outcome of the battle, one featuring her grisly death at the hands of an annoyed Sesshoumaru. If his expression after viewing the other alternate future was any indication, he would be only too happy to prove he didn't consort with disgusting humans.
Instead, what met her eyes was of a completely different nature.
The battle played out as it had in every other situation with a couple of notable exceptions.
Sesshoumaru was present on the field much earlier than he had been, and it seemed as if all the warriors were fresher and more energetic. His presence had probably shortened the fighting time considerably. The two brothers wore out Naraku much more quickly, with fewer injuries, when they agreed upon a temporary truce earlier than they had before. InuYasha still gave the crucial blow and Kagome still purified the evil hanyou of all his demon flesh, leaving an easily defeated human body behind. InuYasha disposed of it without pause. Naraku went to his end yelling and vowing vengeance instead of anticipating one final moment of vengeance.
Kikyou was nowhere to be seen. This time around she was not present to make her underhanded attempt on Kagome's life. It was curious and would definitely bear thinking about at a future date, but as moments passed it became the least of the oddities in the scene.
Sesshoumaru's actions won the award for most surprising decisions made by a minor character with a bullet.
After the evil had been defeated, Sesshoumaru seemed to pause for a short moment. Hesitation was written on his battle worn and blood covered face. He stood tall and proud, barely breathing heavily after all his exertion. He appeared as if slaughtering countless lower youkai and one near-immortal evil hanyou were part of his morning work out. Sweat dripped from his brow and his usually impeccable clothes were wrinkled and torn in spots several spots. They too sported large quantities of blood, none of it his own.
He'd come out of this important battle completely unscathed. There was nothing before him to cause him such pause and no physical emergencies requiring his immediate attentions, and yet there he was, struggling with a great decision.
Slowly and deliberately he began to move across the field to where Kagome stood. She was jumping up and down, even in her fatigue, hugging her friends wildly. She too showed signs of wear after her battles. She had several minor cuts and bruises, but nothing to worry about. InuYasha was stooped over to retrieve the unpurified half of the jewel on the other side of the field and could only watch in confusion and suspicion as his brother stopped in front of her.
Sesshoumaru's unexpected presence caused the monk, kitsune, and slayer to pause in their celebrations to look at him in fearful questioning. They were glad for his help and cooperation, but unsure about his continued presence on the field. All of them had expected him to depart as suddenly as he had come, now that his enemy was defeated.
They gaped like idiots, completely surprised out of their wits, when the usually stoic demon lord looked only at Kagome. Without a word he quickly gathered the young miko into his arms. He pulled her in, close to his chest, and looked down at her pleasantly surprised expression. The bystanders' shock only grew as Sesshoumaru slowly raised his hand to her soft cheek, caressing it gently.
The after affects of the great battle surrounded everyone. The littering of demon corpses served to prove what all knew; it was a miracle they'd all survived unscathed. Sesshoumaru's control seemed to slip as it appeared the instinct to celebrate survival would overpower him.
He suddenly swooped in to place a passionate and relieved kiss upon Kagome' upturned mouth, oblivious to the upset his actions were causing.
Kagome appeared perfectly content with the heartfelt and searing kiss, participating and reciprocating enthusiastically. Her hands came up to grasp around his head, her fingers locked into his cascading hair. All dirt, blood, and sweat were ignored in that desperate, life affirming kiss.
The scene ended with Kagome resting against Sesshoumaru, hiding her face against his chest in embarrassment once their lips parted and she remembered where they were. Sango and Miroku, having recovered their senses remarkably quickly, were keeping an irate InuYasha at bay while the demon lord smirked at the effect he'd had on all present.
When Kagome blinked and looked away from the mirror, hands shaking with shock and other conflicting emotions, she could see that the demon at her side did not share his counterpart's sentiment. He was scowling fiercely and looked as if the slightest thing would cause him to vent his frustrations in a brutal manner.
He turned to the young miko and growled lowly, snatching the mirror completely from her hand. The action and growl, more vibration than sound, caused the hairs on her arms and neck to rise in warning. She took a slow step backwards to distance herself from this menacing presence. She desperately wanted to be anywhere but here. After seeing him get defeated three times, even Naraku felt like a preferable companion.
Sesshoumaru pulled himself up to his full, imposing height and looked at her with the weight of all his years of life in his eyes. He pinned her with a glance so visceral he might as well have her in chains. She couldn't move if she wanted to and the feeling was terrifying.
"What is the meaning of this trickery?" he growled, eyes flashing red and violence soaking his every word. He was furious with the presumptuousness of the girl and wanted immediate answers. "How have you tainted and controlled an heirloom of the Taisho family?"
Kagome was finding it very difficult to speak but knew that this was one time when her naturally talkative nature could save her life.
"I am not controlling it," she insisted, desperately hoping he would choose to believe him. "It just shows me different possible outcomes when I ask it a question. I've done nothing to influence it, honest!" She was shaking slightly with the adrenalin coursing through her veins. Standing so still was wreaking havoc on her system. She didn't understand it; she'd faced down countless demons, including this one, with more threat of bodily injury apparent. What made this situation so hard?
'It could be the fact that he was kissing you in the future and that you both liked it,' a helpful little voice supplied in her mind. She ruthlessly told it to mind its own business if it wanted her to make it out of this confrontation alive. It obeyed her wishes for the present.
"This mirror works for no one," Sesshoumaru insisted, glaring at the offending item he now had sole possession of. "It has been inactive to all requests for information for hundreds of years." He narrowed his eyes and fixed them back on her.
"You will tell me what spell you used to reawaken this artifact," he stated, making it clear he was not making requests.
"I did nothing to it!" Kagome yelled. She was panicking and thought desperately how to improve her situation. She decided on full honesty and complete disclosure.
"I found the mirror, made an innocent comment about wanting to see what would happen to my friends in battle, and it showed me three different outcomes!" she said, trying not to shriek in her agitation and eagerness to explain. "One of them showed me struggling over to help my friends and showed me how the demon could be defeated. I did what it showed, and the prediction came true just the way I'd seen it."
"I took the mirror and brought it out tonight to ask some more questions," she continued, relieved that the TaiYoukai seemed interested in listening without interruption. He definitely wasn't his brother. "I was about to ask it to tell about the future with…" she paused, not wanting to tell that part. She could see that Sesshoumaru knew what she'd been about to confess anyway, even though the words hadn't been formed. He looked a little disgusted, but largely indifferent.
"When you came and surprised me, and I said your name on accident. The mirror must have thought I'd been asking about you. You saw the rest. I didn't do anything!" she protested again, hoping this would be enough for him. She was just as upset about the vision as he was, but had the disadvantage of not even knowing what the mirror was to begin with.
"You would have heard me if I'd said any spells," she finished, waiting for his response. He just watched her for a moment longer.
She could see his nose twitch discreetly. She had a feeling he was trying to sniff out any evidence of deceit. InuYasha would do the same. Their heightened demon senses would alert them to any change in her normal behavior. She doubted he'd smell anything aside from her nerves and fear right now.
For the space of many, many long moments the demon lord looked at her coldly, his expression one of boredom and perplexed disgust. He knew that the mirror was reported to show three true and possible outcomes for each situation requested of it. But if that were right, the situation was even more complex than he'd thought. There was no way Sesshoumaru would ever protect and grow possessive of a human female, especially not the loud and abrasive traveling companion of his brother. He certainly would never, under any circumstance in any universe, hold and kiss this same female. It was impossible and deeply insulting.
But the mirror did not lie. Its reflections did not always come to pass, since only one result could come from each sequence of events on this timeline, but it did not make false predictions. Everything it showed was a possible outcome for the future, based on events in a cause and effect relationship like everything else in life.
He was perplexed and angry. He knew the outcome showing him raising the slain miko back from the dead so she could complete her duty was the right one, but that was not the issue. If she had truly done nothing to influence the mirror's actions, there should never have been the possibility for the actions of his counterparts in the second and third visions.
Yet he did not sense any falsehood coming from the girl. He could smell her fear and apprehension, but her own confusion was so strong it was practically tangible. He believed that she did not know why the mirror showed what it did, and that she didn't even know how it came to grant her wish for insight into the future.
He snorted in disgust. Trust a human female to mess with mystical items they didn't understand. Yet another reason why humans were so miserably short lived.
He regarded the mirror in his hand. Traditionally only the women of his family had been able to work the mirror. It responded to their closeness to the blood of his family. The mirror was forever linked to the Taisho line, either through blood or through marriage. It had been dormant these last centuries, unused after the death of his mother.
Sesshoumaru considered the girl before him. She was unmarked, so his idiot half brother hadn't claimed her as a mate. However, she reeked of him. His stench clung to her purposefully, a clear indication that she was under his less than impressive protection. If they'd been promised to each other or intimate in any way, it might be enough to satisfy the mirror.
Sesshoumaru told himself that he was upset at the thought only because he was upset at every thought of his pathetic, weak brother. It had nothing to do with the female slowly trying to inch away from him.
He tucked the mirror into his satchel and turned to walk away from her. He wouldn't spare her any more words this evening. She was lucky he'd decided to spare her life. He left without a backwards glance, taking to the skies.
Kagome was left a pool of emotions. Shock, relief, confusion and frustration rambled around in her mind making her alternately feel like fainting bonelessly or kicking a big rock in anger.
She didn't know what had just happened, but was really glad he was gone. And she was happy to be rid of that cursed mirror. It had saved the lives of her friends but its other revelations had almost counteracted that. What a headache.
Kagome sighed pensively and sat down on the edge of the well. What was she supposed to think now Thanks to the prophetic mirror she knew what might happen in the future and saw how the battle with Naraku could end. In spite of differences where she was concerned, each situation had shown them victorious with the help of Sesshoumaru. Naraku was always defeated and her friends all lived, and that in itself was extremely comforting.
But now she was faced with the knowledge that in two out of three futures Sesshoumaru was tender. That went over in her mind about the same way thinking about snogging alligators did. She had to suppress shudders and slight gags.
It didn't add up. She never saw the demon unless the brothers were fighting. When that happened she was usually concerned about the lives of her friends and herself, not building relationships with her attacker.
She shook it off and decided not to think about it ever again. She knew what the future would bring. Kikyou would kill her, Sesshoumaru would bring her back to life, she would purify the shard, and he would disappear forever. It was the only possibility.
The next few days passed in a blur of distraction. Kagome functioned as she always did. None of her friends had any reason to suspect anything unusual because she didn't act or feel any differently. She stayed busy and happy, trying to bring her friends cheer however she could. It was only her thoughts when alone that wandered over to her new puzzle.
It was a little bewildering. She'd never even thought about him in a romantic light, yet she was supposedly capable of allowing him to kiss her.
And it looked like it had been quite a kiss, at that.
Kagome was more sensible than many girls; she found it hard to notice physical features first. It was true that Sesshoumaru was stunningly beautiful. But his beauty was the like a sleek, deadly viper. Every line could be in place, every color and texture perfect, but there was no way you wanted to spend any length of time in its presence. Beauty turned into something more factual and less emotional. It was always there but didn't have the power to attract.
Kagome paused in her line of reasoning, content that she'd turned her thoughts away from the demon lord and all of his dubious charms. She wouldn't be wasting her time thinking about a being that would never be capable of loving her, and who held no appeal or attraction.
Unfortunately, Kagome was about to learn the power of suggestion. Never entertain a thought unless you want it to stay over for dinner.
The germ had entered her mind. She'd admitted that Sesshoumaru had beauty, even if dismissing it for being cold and unapproachable. She'd admitted to herself, even if derogatorily, that someone might find him appealing if they didn't know what he was really like. From there it was a small step towards dissecting each aspect of him.
She only did it to find flaws, naturally.
She knew that the way he fought took great deals of energy and strength, so he must be very well built. This led her to, scientifically- of course, wonder what sort of muscle he would have. His speed and agility led her to imagine he'd be lean and long, instead of dense and bulky. She knew he'd be well-proportioned. He was tall, and though he wore loose battle clothing, it didn't take form fitting t-shirts to see that his shoulders were broad. He moved with a grace that would be fascinating to watch if it weren't usually demonstrated with deadly intent.
She was soon spending unusual amounts of time thinking about the cold TaiYoukai, drawn into his world without even realizing how much time she spent there. She told herself it was natural to think about someone like him. You can't protect yourself if you're not educated about your opponent, and he'd proven himself her opponent on several occasions.
So it was that Kagome's mind accepted the possible futures, even if her consciousness rejected it completely.
Sesshoumaru fared a little better than Kagome. He was a creature of control. All his life he'd been motivated by a great desire to be powerful and strong, purely on his own merit. He was used to long hours of training, meditation, and reflection, all geared towards making his body and intellect unmatchable without the aid of outside sources of power.
His features were inscrutable. His facade of indifference was a great tool for intimidation because he gave his opponents no clue about his real thoughts or feelings. He'd found long ago that people always give away more when you give away less. They can't stand an unfilled silence.
He let nothing penetrate his defenses. InuYasha's insults and erratic behavior often came close to destroying his control, but nothing beyond that had the power to affect him.
It was almost unnatural for a youkai as relatively young as he was to exert such effort on discipline, but he didn't mind being an oddity. There were many instances in his life where he'd been unable to control the situations he found himself in, and he hated that feeling. He would do all he could to minimize any feelings of powerlessness.
That was one of the reasons the mirror's prophecies had annoyed him so greatly. The mirror was telling him that at some point in the future all of his control and opinions on humanity would be completely disregarded. It told him he'd soon act without his usual amount of cool control and distance and could possibly go as far as to kiss a human. In public. With no intention of killing any witnesses afterwards.
It wasn't like the disgusting girl had any redeeming qualities. Sure she was pretty, if you found big eyes, shiny hair, pouty lips, and a graceful figure pretty. If you were in to that sort of thing, which he was emphatically not.
She must have been powerful to pull that stunt with Tessaiga the night he'd lost his arm to his bastard brother. She had survived all these years and several severely dangerous battle situations, but he knew it was not on her own merit. She always had the help of friends. Several times when they'd fought it seemed as if she were doomed to die, only saved at the last moment by fate' interference. So she wasn't powerful, merely lucky in her natural gift and ability to make strong friends.
His mind wanted to explore her merits as a friend, for the loyalty she showed her small band of shard hunters, but his will clamped down on any further consideration. He would not think about her kindness and protection of the small kitsune she'd practically adopted. He would not think of her dedication to her cause, something she'd pursued for the four years since he'd first become aware of her. He would not think of her ability to handle high stress situations, and how she hadn't run from him, even when he looked scary enough to freeze stone. He would not think about how pretty she'd looked at the well, moonlight glinting off her hair, eyes wide with anticipation, scent spiking sharply with her anxiety.
No, he would not think of any of those things at all.
With that resolution, Sesshoumaru continued on his way, reclaimed mirror in his satchel. He'd gotten what he'd come for and would patrol his lands and do all the duties the Lord of the Western Lands was required to do.
As he always did, Sesshoumaru let his instincts guide him and set his course. He traveled as usual; slaughtering any violent lower youkai he stumbled across if they approached him or looked to make trouble in any other way. He was busy and content to fall back into his old routine, traveling as his inner demon instructed.
He never seemed to realize that he traveled parallel to the shard hunters, staying only far enough away to avoid detecting their scents or being detected in return.
He would have been horrified had he known.
A/N: Well, finally a demonstration of manners withoutleaving you all annoyed with me for cliff hangers. Plus, you guys got a future kiss, and that should make everyone happy.
I think you guys will get spoiled if I keep updating so quickly. I am a working woman, you know.
