To 'Guest' who reviewed on Chapter 57: I am happy and thankful to know that you enjoy this story :) This next chapter will answer your question as to what happens to Arisa ^^

Chapter 58:

Arisa was expecting to be hit by Oni's weapon by now, but she felt nothing. Instead, she felt a gust of wind pass by and the sound of metal as if it had been thrown away. She then opened her eyes, and was stunned to see a familiar footing right in front of her face. She figured that he bare-handedly swatted Oni's weapon away, wounding his arm. It was done with such force though, as the spear flew quite a distance.

S-Sesshomaru…

Tears of joy and relief naturally flowed from her eyes, and she began sobbing. She then clenched her fists and bit her lip to stop the annoying sound she was making. How badly she wanted to do something about the slash in his arm, if she could.

I can't believe he really came...

As blood trickled to the ground, Sesshomaru raised his arm like usual and wiped it off like nothing. Certainly, within a few minutes, his arm started healing.

Oni watched his arm heal by itself for a while, but he wasn't mesmerized by it. Instead, he carelessly switched his gaze at Arisa, who is his only objective.

"Please move away. You are not my goal."

Sesshomaru glowered at him.

"Foolish degenerate. You dare command me?"

Oni ignored his overwhelming presence and his vicious words. Instead, he continued to charge towards Arisa. But, he was quickly blocked by the angered dog demon.

"I assume that Naraku sent you to kill her." Sesshomaru commented coldly.

"Yes." Oni replied matter-of-factly, then moved away from him and attempted to attack Arisa again at a different angle. Sesshomaru was already fast enough to be at par with his movement, as he repelled him for quite some time.

However, he was getting fed up with his antics, and he deemed that he was really intent on ending Arisa's life. For his next move, he quickly thrust his arm on Oni's chest which glowed with green light, releasing large amounts of poison which spread throughout the latter's system.

Oni was rendered immobile, and was ultimately coughing up blood. His eyes widened in shock as he excruciated in pain.

"Must…kill…the…woman..."

He continued to murmur, and crawled to where Arisa was, but Sesshomaru finished him promptly with Tokijin, stabbing him in the head.

After putting his sword back on his hip, he slowly approached Arisa, who was helplessly lying on the ground. He then helped her sit up, and had her back rest against the wall of the wooden well. He then crouched down and was about to put his hand on her cheek, but he hesitated. His eyes flickered with sadness and relief as he stared at her.

"…I see you're still doing fine. This is unexpectedly promising."

Arisa looked at him with mixed feelings, her eyes still wet from crying. She couldn't find the right words to say at that moment, and just took him by surprise as she threw her arms around him. Sesshomaru stiffened as he didn't know what to do, and he felt her tighten her embrace.

"…thank…you." She finally managed to say in a wobbly voice.

It seemed to spark a connection as he relaxed and closed his eyes for a second. Then, he responded by hugging her back half-way.

As if she was granted permission, she let her tears freely stream down her face and sought the comfort she was looking for from Sesshomaru.

He felt his shoulders getting drenched by her tears, and he suddenly remembered the first time he saw her cry, back when he went to the modern world for the first time – and rejected her mother's food. He only felt awful at that time, but today, he didn't want to see her cry as much as possible. He hated witnessing signs of weakness especially if it was her. It was suffocating for him.

"Do something about those tears."

"I'm trying…" she said weakly, to which he sighed inwardly and decided to let her be.

When Arisa finally calmed down, she pulled away from Sesshomaru. She was blushing fiercely though, realizing what she just did.

"Your face is red. Are you having a fever again?" the dog demon asked, clueless about what she was feeling.

"N-no! This is nothing…!" she quickly defended, and looked away.

He is sharp with everything else, except when it comes to feelings.

She was extracted from her thoughts when she felt the sliding away of the fluff on her shoulder. It was being pulled by the owner itself.

"Oh…"

"Quite impudent of you to make a mess on this and on my garment."

"I'm sorry…I got carried away and—"

"Not that I am complaining."

She was rendered speechless at his words, her face flushing a little as she looked at him hang his fluff back on his shoulder.

"…I see."

Several intervals later, Jaken and Ah-un came to their senses; but Jaken was surprised to see Sesshomaru staring pensively down him.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" he happily shouted anyways, and was back to his feet in no time.

"I thought I told you do a proper job."

"Forgive me, milord! I was careless…!"

He immediately bowed down at his feet, expecting to be hit. But, his master only bonked at his head with lesser force, and went to check on Ah-un right after.

He was rather surprised at his behavior, and saw Arisa quietly chuckle at the background.

"Arisa…! You're alright….!" He called out in concern, to which she nodded.

"It's all thanks to Sesshomaru." She said in a sincere tone, and they both glanced at him in admiration.

Sesshomaru considered Arisa's well-being, and so they rested for a few days. Still, there were times that he occasionally left to probably wind up, but he never went too far. He was being wary of Naraku, who might suddenly attack out of nowhere. He swore not to let that happen again. On top of it all, it bothered him to see her weep like that.

Once she had recovered, they resumed their quest to find Naraku and hopefully put him to an end. However, Arisa started having doubts about being with Sesshomaru. She recalled all of the recent happenings, and she felt sullen and guilty at the same time.

All I ever did lately was cause him trouble…and I get the feeling that he might've just been forced to worry for me or save me.

She gazed at him, who was walking ahead with composure as always.

I never thought about it until now…but are my feelings for him enough? Am I really worthy of being with him…?

He must've felt her penetrating gaze and faced her sideways.

"What?" he asked in a dismissive tone, and she shook her head vigorously. He narrowed his eyes at her, finding her response quite weird.

"You do not feel well enough yet?"

"No, I feel perfectly fine. It's just…"

He continued to peer at her, waiting for her next words.

"…never mind."

Is what she said in the end, and then gave him a troubled grin. He felt that something was definitely wrong, but he chose to brush it off and pondered that it was just one of those human complexities.

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