Seeing Eye
II
The Lord's Entourage, Minus the Lord Himself
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Disclaimer
I do not own any of the publicly recognized figures in this Fanfiction. Inuyasha is owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Sunrise TV.
Content Warning
This fanfiction is filled with the fuckery of my mind. This fanfiction is explicit and M rated.
Chapter Warning
Injury to the eyes.
Kagome was shrouded in darkness.
It was so off-putting- She could feel the shroud of her bandage over her eyes and could feel the tattered skin bisecting them. But- there was nothing. Not even the floating light spots invaded her vision-
It was hard to come to terms with. It has only been...minutes since it happened. But she still, under the wrappings, tried to blink. It stung, it hurt-
And it did nothing.
Shippo, who was still faint from his illness, nuzzled into the underside of her breast and latched his claws into the sensitive skin of her ribcage. Despite the discomfort, Kagome pressed her hand to his lower back, keeping him pinned to that area.
With her arm stuck out in front of her and her feet unsure, Kagome had continued to make her way through the woods. It was slow, it was hot, and she couldn't fucking see, but she refused to stop.
The fire would spread and eat away the land. She would need to find shelter or water to spare her from burns and asphyxiation, a task most daunting when the roar of blood and fire drowned out the sounds of water- if any was around.
Taking a breath from the safety of her sweater, Kagome ducked up and screamed: "Inuyasha!"
It was short, one breath before she ducked back in- a cinder brushing her nose and smoke dusting her tongue.
But she needed him. Needed him to get here quickly, as he had always done, and save Shippo and herself.
After getting another breath of air, Kagome shouted again. And again. And again.
As she shuffled and stumbled, the smell and heat of fire choking her, Kagome screamed into the sky for her beloved savior- each time getting hoarser and hoarser until she was left to just cough pitifully from inside her sweater shield.
She was going to die here. And Shippo too-
It wasn't as terrifying as she thought it would be. She'd been faced with the option of death so many times that this one simply seemed unreal. Burnt to death.
It wasn't Naraku. It wasn't a human or demon under the influence of the jewel-shard. It wasn't even Kikyou.
For everything it was- Kagome didn't know what to think.
It was so anti-climatic.
Still, Kagome moved. Her feet moving over roots and between rocks as she shuffled along. She didn't want it to end. She didn't want to give up.
"Lady Kagome!"
Behind the fuzz of her dizziness, just realized as she tried to turn her head, she could have sworn she heard something. The crackle of trees and underbrush aflame had echoed over it, and for a second Kagome had thought that she was making it up- something to comfort her as she died. But she didn't- It wasn't-
No, she wasn't that far gone, was she? A little dizzy, disorientated from being unable to see her surroundings, and throat sore from screaming.
But she wasn't dying. Was she?
"H-hello!?" Kagome's voice was hissing and cracked, her lips peeking out of her sweater for just a second-
Then something grabbed her- well, her backpack. Like a deus ex machina out of the void.
Kagome's legs and arms locked- unable to see she felt herself get lifted higher- into the choking rising smoke and smog and then beyond. Shippo, if he had been awake, would have been uncomfortable with how tightly she was holding him to her stomach.
But oh gods-
"Lady Kagome!" The voice said again, sounding clearer and childlike. "Are you alright?!"
Rin. Oh, thank god it was Rin.
As if to answer her question on who was holding her, the scaled face of the two-headed dragon brushed against her cheek- letting a huff of hot air shift her hair.
Kagome had never been close to the dragon before- she stayed far away from the group per Inuyasha's incessant dislike of anything Sesshoumaru. But she was also uncertain about the dragon too- clearly being someone of the Lord's illustrious company before the company of Rin.
Well, if he was anything like Jaken she wanted nothing to do with him. And if he was as...fierce, she'd call it fierce, as Sesshoumaru- she didn't want any trouble.
But here, it seemed to have its own distinctive personality as it held tight to her backpack, the other head hooking itself under her spare arm so her fingers could wrap into his dense mane. With Shippo, however, she dared not move more than that in fear of the space between the ground and her feet.
"Rin! You insufferable child!" Kagome flinched- her ears tender as they made up for her lost sight as Jaken made his existence known to her. "Drop her! It's Inuyasha's wench!"
There was a harsh sound, like something being struck before the head under her hand moved away from her, shaking her dangling body.
"No, stop! That's mine you ill-fated lizard!"
Kagome wasn't listening, just tucked into herself and around Shippo, her armpits aching where the straps dug in. It was just- too fucking much right now. She was happy that she hadn't burned to death- but was she being tossed from the fire back into the frying pan? Sesshoumaru wasn't what she would call 'friendly' and she wouldn't expect much mercy from him, despite Rin's step in.
No, that was fine. When they landed, she would leave.
The kappa was still shouting, the dragon was still flying, and for now, Kagome was still alive. And so was Shippo.
Suddenly, Kagome's stomach did flips and the feeling of rapid descent roused her body anxiously. She had no idea where they were landing.
"Rin?" Kagome spoke above the sound of wind and Jaken, her voice still rough. "Rin did you see my group anywhere?"
"Rin hasn't seen anyone but Master Jaken, Ah-Un, and Lady Kagome today!" Rin shouted over the noise that the dragon and the kappa made. Great. Just great-
"Stop, you damnable thing!" Suddenly, the dragon shifted positions in the sky, rocking to the side with a growl. "You listen to ME in the great Lord Sesshoumaru's absence! ME!"
Her teeth dug slightly into her lip, holding back a groan as vertigo struck her as her body was tossed about by gravity. Internally, she was worried about the straps to her backpack- it was old, and she wasn't the lightest thing on earth- especially seeing as she put the damn bag through hell and back every time she went home.
The dragon rolled back the other way and kicked off faster, making Kagome squeak in alarm as the wind rushed past her ears and her ankles brushed the chest of Ah-Un. Her anxiety doubled, and she was feeling sick, a type of adrenaline bubbling through her that tossed her gut and brain around.
Then, they were descending again. And the Kappa still screamed- albeit incoherently.
A branch brushed her foot and she flinched, the smell of leaf litter filling the air as they entered back into the woods again- however, no smell of burning and smoke filled the air and the sound of a river trickled by.
When the dragon landed, Kagome was still curled in on herself and Shippo as the head sat them down.
And she just sat there.
Now, without the absolute need to run, it was setting in a little more greatly. She had run from her friends. She was now somewhere.
And she was blind.
Kagome touched the bandage she had wrapped around her eyes, ashy and slightly moist on the side of one eye.
She was sure if she pulled her hand away, it would have been bloody.
With shaking hands, she pulled Shippo out from under her sweater- feeling his face and fur, slicking his mop of hair back with a hand. He mumbled something and grabbed her other hand, tucking it close to his chest in sleep as he rested on her folded legs.
How bad was it that he slept through that?
"What is wrong with Shippo, Lady Kagome?"
She didn't know where Rin was, her voice coming from somewhere beside her. "He is ill. Please don't get too close, it could be contagious."
"Cont-a-gee-ous?" It was over-pronounced but otherwise correct.
Kagome nodded shakily, as she shuffled the pack from her shoulders and drugged it next to her with her free hand as she responded: "It means that you could get sick if you touch him."
Fumbling around, Kagome finally got the pack open so she could dig through its contents in search of her water bottle. She could still feel Rin's eyes on her, and the shuffle of one foot as it shifted through the dirt.
"What is wrong with Lady Kagome?" Then a hand touched the side of her face, small and plump and right beneath her bandage. Without the warning of her approach, Kagome hadto lock herself in place so as to not flinch wholeheartedly at the unforeseen touch.
"I-uh- I got injured." the hand slipped away.
Then, there was a very still pause... She couldn't even hear the kappa-
"Haha! The wench is blind!" The noise startled her, coming from somewhere to her left. "Inuyasha is clearing incapable of taking care of a mere wench! One more win for Lord Sesshoumaru!"
It was...not as humorous as he made it sound to be. It was harsh and cruel. And Kagome could feel her heart shift unhappily in her chest. Her left eye burned and her right eye throbbed.
There was a dual snarl and the soft sound of something being hit- the shrill sound of Jaken as he screeched through the air before hitting the ground meters away. The dragon, in turn, refocused on her. She could feel his eyes on her and then the slow meander of footsteps as it came to settle beside her.
Part of her, something deep and instinctual, knew he was being intentionally loud. Shuffling his feet and breathing in her general direction so she knew where he was. It sobered her, just a little. Small comfort in the slowly dissipating shock.
"Rin is sorry for Master Jaken." There was a smallness to Rin's voice, a guilty noise.
Kagome's hand finally made it around the water bottle, the inside sloshing pleasantly. She took no time in pulling out and biting open the plug top; taking a long and deep sip that soothed the insides of her throat until she was refreshed enough to turn the nozzle to Shippo- in a weird, baby-bottle way.
"It's not your fault Rin," Kagome soothed after a moment, slouching her body in a way to support Shippo as her free hand tilted his mouth open. "Jaken is just mean to be mean."
"Mm.." It was sad and she heard and felt it when Rin settled into her back. Kagome wanted to tell her that it might be dangerous, but she couldn't tell her no. They were both upset and Kagome needed something to ground her, and an unconscious kit was not going to sooth her frayed nerves.
So instead, Kagome changed the subject.
"Where is Lord Sesshoumaru?"
It was an attempt at light conversation, something that would clearly get Rin to talk.
"Oh!" A clear change sparked through the air, and for a second, Kagome was waylaid with a strange sense of knowledge of the intricacies of Rin's emotions toward Sesshoumaru. Love, admiration, affection, idolism, pride…
As soon as it came, it went. And Kagome tried to ignore it.
"Lord Sesshoumaru will be back by nightfall! He went to the-"
"No! Foolish human child! Do not tell the enemy of Lord Sesshoumaru's business." There was the slap of webbed feet against the ground and Jaken's voice hurt her ears.
Kagome was worn- tired beyond her own existence. Her eyes burned, her lungs ached, and her head throbbed. Her skin was bruised and she was missing a pant leg. The only thing keeping her from raging or crying, was the fact Shippo was drinking: his mouth and throat moving as he sucked down water.
Thank the gods.
When he was done, she cuddled him- holding him so dearly and tucking her head into him. She needed to focus on him- not Jaken. Not herself.
Not herself. She would be fine if she just-
If she just…
If she..
She didn't know. Kagome didn't know what would happen. To her, to Shippo, to her friends-
Oh god. Her friends She left them. She had turned and run.
And Rin had said she hadn't seen them-
They had Kirara. They had Kirara. They could see and they had Kirara. They didn't burn up and die. They didn't.
She felt Shippo move against her, pressing his nose into the curve of her neck and took a large inhale. Kagome, in turn, patted his back and smoothed the soft fur of his tail. Her baby.
"R-rin. Sweetheart? How much of the day is left?" Her voice was hoarse again, laced with unshed tears and panic. She may not be able to see, but she had memorized her friends- and their burning corpses haunted the sightless void.
"Uhm- Rin thinks the sun is close to the edge. They almost touch."
Kagome slouched more- it had been past midday when she had left, meaning that it was getting closer to what she would call '5 pm'. And that meant it was going to get darker a lot sooner.
Fuck you, Autumn.
Kagome sighed and shifted her backpack to her shoulders. "Can you point me in the direction we came from? I need to get back to my friends."
It was stupid- surely. It was very stupid. But she didn't want to face the daiyoukai- no no. It was a mix of fear and anxiety when she was around him- She'd seen his power. It wasn't something she was prone to forget. Not since the Inu no Taisho's tomb.
No.
She'd take her chances with the wilds and unknown- but not Lord Sesshoumaru.
Just as she was about to stand one of Ah-Un's heads snatched her backpack and the other caught the frayed edge of her pant leg and subsequently pulled her back into the cleft between the two of them. Kagome froze against their actions, a spear of fear cutting her deeply as one of them rested their head across her knees- the weight holding her still.
"No- I need to go." Kagome squirmed for a second before a thrum of yokai curled over her.
"Lord Sesshoumaru is here!" Both Run and Jaken announced it as one- a cacophony of a sweet child's voice and the shuddering belch of an overgrown toad.
Kagome froze- her breath caught as she slid further back into the dragon. She was inches away from a full mental breakdown- inches. Ah-Un gave a low keen, the head not laying on her legs coming to nuzzle the crown of her head and Kagome could feel their intentions.
A strange stretch of foreign emotions, both animalistic and distinctly sentient, and most of them angled at her comfort. Which, beyond everything else, was strange to her- she'd just met the dragon. There should have been no feelings of protectiveness or sympathy coming from them. She didn't even know which head was who-
Kagome didn't hear it when Sesshoumaru landed- but she could feel it. Internally, somewhere instinctual and scared, could feel him- center stage, just off to her side, in front of Rin and Jaken.
Ah-Un shifted, both heads coming up to look at their master, which allowed for Kagome to curl back up- to come around Shippo with what little armor her body could give. Within her mind she could see red eyes, clashing swords and claws, and teeth bigger than her entire body.
Shippo moaned in his sleep and without thinking, Kagome cooed to him.
She felt Sesshoumaru finally turned his attention to her- Of course, she knew that he knew that she was there. And she knew that he was...for lack of a better word, displeased.
It was as if her blindness had let her tap into a strange sensory of the people around her- Rin, Ah-Un, and now Sesshoumaru. It wasn't understood- she had hardly enough to understand her own disability, let alone the strangeness of her powers-
-a map yokai passed through her memory, stretching for miles, lighting up with all the different life sources...including a dragon, a kappa, and a child. Somewhere in the other direction a dog-boy. Next to her two humans and a nekomata-
And countless others.
Kagome didn't want that power. It was like being spread too thin- all beings breathing and exhaling, the death of some and the birth of others- No! No, no no... That had been. So overwhelming. Like a kick in the face.
And this strange brevity to people's emotions felt like a sour intrusion. Voyeuristic.
And now she was faced with Sesshoumaru's emotions. A vicious strain of territorial instinct, dislike, disgust- and a sharp, morbid curiosity. His eyes were on her- a few shades darker than Inuyasha's warm honey for a sharp, cold gold color.
She would never unsee them.
Ah-Un curled back around her, one of their heads resting on her feet and the other on the bony arches of her knee-caps as if hiding her from their master. Tenderly, as she did not know what to do, she reached out and touched the edge of Ah's face. Yes- yes she was certain this head was named 'Ah', suddenly and with some kind of deflection from the beast's youkai.
"Please calm down-"
"You'll be ok-"
And suddenly, Sesshoumaru's attention was off of her. Disregarded, ignored, as he walked to a tree. Rin was saying something to him, stuff about a burning forest and how she was happy to see him.
Kagome continued to coo softly to Shippo, holding his body close to hers as he shivered deeply; his skin clammy and hot. Despite this, she pressed her lips to his forehead; hoping dearly he would break his fever soon. She could smell smoke in his hair...
This was her fault. This was all her fucking fault. If she had just told Inuyasha- forced him to stop so she could focus all her energy on Shippo they wouldn't have been in the dodder forest. Or, better yet, she should have sat him when he tried leaving them behind.
God- when did she become so meek?
The answer was there- somewhere behind the endless journey for Jewel Shards, maybe. Or maybe it was depression.
One hand slipped up, brushing against the heavy wrappings around her eyes as if to brush the sting of tears away.
It just made her eyes sting more.
Kagome sighed. It was simple- just a fluttering sigh, as her sore heart ached. She could have a breakdown later, she could cry and sob and be angry later. But for now, her hand made its way through Shippo's sweaty hair, humming an old lullaby as he shifted into her embrace.
She would leave tomorrow; request Ah-Un to take her to her friends and hope that no more shit happened until then.
Shifting, Kagome pressed the side of her face into Un's neck, ignoring the inconsistencies of how exactly she knew that, and silently thanked them both. She wasn't dead, of course, she couldn't see, but she wasn't dead. And that's all she needed right now.