Psycho Demon-Witch: Thank you for all the reviews… again! I had no idea this fic would be so popular! Anyway, I got my G.C.S.E results back, and I passed everything. I am so happy, because I can get into 6th form now! I have just have to get my mum to fill that damn EMA form out. Sorry again for the characters who OOC, but I need to change things for the fic.
Chapter Three
"WHAT?" Kagome yelled. This was her response when Inuyasha and Sango told her of their idea. She was clearly unhappy with this plan, because Sesshoumaru had tried to kill them in the past and she didn't trust him, even though he did appear to have changed a little. Inuyasha and Sango sighed.
"When we find Sesshoumaru's companions, we're considering letting them travel with us. We need to see what the rest of you think" Sango said.
"And what was it that you decided?" Kagome asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"We're not telling you. We want this to be completely unbiased" Sango said, looking pointedly at Miroku. Miroku feigned an innocent look, to which he received a glare from the demon slayer.
"Will Rin be there?" Shippo asked Sesshoumaru timidly, yet curiously.
"Yes, providing Jaken looked after her" Sesshoumaru said.
"It will be fun to have someone around my own age to play with" Shippo mused.
"Does that mean you agree to let them travel with us?" Sango asked.
"Yes, the only other person who is any fun to tease is Inuyasha, and I always end up getting hit" Shippo said. Inuyasha growled at the little kitsune, who squeaked and hid behind Miroku's robes. Inuyasha turned back to the rest of the group, a brief look of happiness on his face, but it was gone before anyone could notice it. Sesshoumaru also cheered up a little, but didn't show it.
"What about you two Miroku, Kagome?" Sango asked.
"Well, I don't know how demons will react to this but I'm willing to bet that they would still want to kill any Ukiyo demons that still live. Sesshoumaru won't be able to defend himself as the pregnancy progresses. I say we let them travel with us" Miroku answered.
Kagome couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sesshoumaru had tried to kill them without remorse in the past, and now her friends wanted him to travel with them? She thought that they should just leave Sesshoumaru with his companions and leave him to his fate. Sure she felt sorry that he had been raped, but she couldn't forgive or trust him.
"Well, I guess I'll have to let him travel with us. I bet you and Sango have said he can stay" Kagome said to Inuyasha angrily.
"Yes, we did. It's decided then, we find Sesshoumaru's companions and we travel with them" Sango said. Kagome huffed and went into Kaede's hut to retrieve her bag.
"Well that went better than expected" Sango joked to break the tension that fallen over the company. Inuyasha was unhappy that Kagome was being difficult. It made the others unhappy as well, plus it meant she would be rather temperamental and that meant more 'sits'. Sesshoumaru sat alone while they waited for Kagome to finish… whatever it was she was doing. He was thinking how his companions would react. Rin would obviously be a little upset he hadn't told her, but she would be over it in five minutes and be thrilled that a baby was on the way, Jaken wouldn't say anything against it though Sesshoumaru knew he would be mad about it and Ah-Un wouldn't care either way. He was interrupted when Inuyasha sat down next to him. Sango, Miroku and Shippo were stood outside the hut.
"Hey, don't let Kagome bother you" he said comfortingly.
"You know she will never accept this. Why do you not leave me once I return to my companions?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"You already know why, besides, she won't be like that all the time. She'll get used to the idea, she managed to get used to Miroku's groping after all" Inuyasha joked. Sesshoumaru laughed slightly and Inuyasha laughed with him. "You know, I remember a time when you weren't trying to kill me. Before father died, and I was still a little kid you were pretty nice to me back then. Did you mean that, or were you only nice because of father?" Inuyasha asked.
"I meant it… I will explain it to you at another time, I know this is another attempt to ask me why I tried to kill you all those times" Sesshoumaru said, slightly teasingly.
"Damn, how are you so smart" Inuyasha asked.
"I'm older than you" Sesshoumaru said.
"Only by a few decades" Inuyasha shot back.
"I studied a lot as a child" Sesshoumaru said.
"So?"
"You're an idiot. When you study, you learn things, strangely enough" Sesshoumaru said sarcastically.
"Bastard"
"My parents were mated, sorry" Sesshoumaru returned. Inuyasha was unable to retort and settled for glaring at Sesshoumaru, who smirked in victory at Inuyasha's silence. They turned their heads to the rest of the group, who had walked over to them during their bickering. Kagome was with them, with her bag on her shoulders. Apart from Sango, they all had stunned looks on their faces.
"Are you two feeling alright?" Kagome asked. Sesshoumaru ignored her.
"Yes, we're fine. Why do you ask?" Inuyasha asked, trying to be polite, but failing with the snappy tone in his voice.
"I'm just curious, you and Sesshoumaru have never bickered like this before" Kagome snapped back.
"Yes we have"
"Yes they have" was heard from Inuyasha and Sango at the same time.
"When?" Kagome asked.
"We bickered like this as kids and Sango caught us bickering outside the village" Inuyasha said.
"What changed to make him want to kill you?" Kagome shot back. Inuyasha faltered, and Kagome smiled in triumph.
"That is none or your business miko. Keep your nose out of things which are not your concern" Sesshoumaru said coldly. It was the first thing he had said to her in two days.
"Yes it is, he's my friend. I want to know why you kept trying to kill him, emphasis on trying; you always got your ass kicked" Kagome shot back. She completely forgot all the times Sesshoumaru had defeated Inuyasha and had not killed him, she focused on all the times Inuyasha had defeated Sesshoumaru, especially when his left arm had been chopped off.
"Miko, you are trying my patience. You forget I have also defeated Inuyasha, yet I have not killed him. Figure it out, if you can" Sesshoumaru said coolly. Kagome fell silent, which was a relief to Sesshoumaru, who was beginning to get a headache.
"Can we just get going now? This is getting annoying" Inuyasha said impatiently and stood to get going. Sesshoumaru joined him. They went back to Kaede's hut to say good bye to Kaede.
"We'll see you soon Kaede" said Kagome.
"Good bye child, take care" Kaede replied. They (apart from Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha) waved and headed in the direction that Sesshoumaru's companions were in.
They walked quite slowly, enjoying the morning sun. Shippo was bouncing along happily. He was thrilled at the prospect of another child joining them, he hoped that Rin liked pranking people and he could teach the games that Kagome had taught them, such as 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' or 'Hide and Seek'. Sesshoumaru was amused at the kitune's enthusiasm and it showed only in his eyes.
They had been walking far a few hours and so far, they had encountered no danger, but they were continuously on guard because they had no idea how react to Sesshoumaru. Suddenly a load roar was heard. A large demon was approaching. The company scattered as the demon burst through trees at them. It was around ten feet in height, with evil red eyes and massive fangs and claws. It said only two words, "Ukiyo demon". Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru drew their swords, Sango got her Hiraikotsu and Kagome got her bow ready. "What are you doing Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha yelled.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I will not stand by and watch you fight, stop treating me like an invalid" Sesshoumaru yelled back.
"Fine, don't blame me if you get killed" Inuyasha snapped. Their arguing was cut short as the demon lunged at Sesshoumaru, who swiftly dodged the attack. He appeared behind the demon and cut at it with his sword. The demon howled in pain and turned around to find the source of the attack. It was met by the Tetsusaiga, which Inuyasha slammed down on its head while Kagome fired an arrow at it and Sango threw her Hiraikotsu at it. The demon continued to roar in pain and began to blindly attack everyone, no longer concerned with Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha attacked it again with his sword, hitting it dead on the back of its neck. The head rolled off towards Kagome, who shrieked and ran out of the way.
"Is this how we're going to be living with Sesshoumaru now?" she panted.
"Guess so" Inuyasha said, seemingly unconcerned. He was currently glaring at Sesshoumaru, who returned the glare with as much anger. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Inuyasha hissed.
"No. I am no invalid, I am not so far along I have to be completely reliant on you" Sesshoumaru snarled. Anger came off him in fumes and his eyes were tinged red. He turned and started to walk again. The others soon followed him.
Inuyasha was deep in thought. Sesshoumaru was right, he wasn't completely defenceless. But he couldn't help it. He felt so protective of Sesshoumaru. Sango came up next to Inuyasha. "Don't worry; he's not really angry you know. I remember when the women were expecting in my village. They had mood swings much worse than this" she said comfortingly.
"I know, for some reason I can't help but ant to protect him. He did so for me as a child" Inuyasha said. "You should have seen him; I doubt you would recognize him. He beat up anyone who hurt me" he finished with a slight laugh.
"Maybe you want to protect him because of that, or because he is your last living relative. That is the reason I fight so hard to save Kohaku, he is the only family I have. No matter what he has done, he is still my brother and I will not rest until he is free of Naraku" Sango said. Unknown to them, Sesshoumaru could hear everything they said. He had trained from a very early age to get revenge on those who hurt him as a child, and his senses were very sharp, sharper than most demons, which was part of the reason he was such an effective fighter. His anger slowly melted and he felt bad for snapping at Inuyasha. He was not used to someone caring for him so much and he was unsure of how to react. He sniffed the wind again, he had been doing it every few minutes to locate his companions, and he smelt them approaching them. He stopped and turned to the others.
"My companions are heading this way. They will reach us in a few minutes" he told the others. They were happy to hear this, and they couldn't wait to see Jaken's reaction, they thought the imp was amusing. They continued to follow Sesshoumaru and shortly the arguing of a small girl and an imp was heard. Sesshoumaru smiled to himself. It had been too long since he had last seen them. He had found it odd that he missed them when he was with Inuyasha. To the bemusement of the others, he picked up a couple of stones. He waited a few seconds as the yelling got louder and he threw one. A loud 'ow' then a 'thump' was heard past the trees. A small voice said
"Are you alright, Master Jaken?"
"I think we've found Lord Sesshoumaru, my poor head" Jaken mumbled as he emerged from the trees, only to be hit with another stone.
"You're making up for lost time with that, aren't you" Inuyasha said.
"Of course I am" Sesshoumaru said with a small smile. "I've missed doing that". They all laughed.
"Lord Sesshoumaru!" came a cry as a two-headed dragon flew over the trees. Once the dragon had landed, a small black and orange figure ran over to Sesshoumaru and wrapped itself around his legs. "Where have you been Lord Sesshoumaru, we were so worried when you didn't return" Rin cried. Sesshoumaru placed a hand on her head gently.
"I told you he would be fine, you stupid human" Jaken squawked.
"Jaken" Sesshoumaru said.
"Yes milord?" Jaken said warily.
"Shut up" Sesshoumaru ordered.
"Yes milord" Jaken repeated, relieved that was all Sesshoumaru did. Then Jaken noticed Inuyasha and his friends. "My Lord, what are you doing with the half-breed and his companions? I thought you hated them".
"We will be travelling with them from now on, and do not think to question me about it" Sesshoumaru said dismissively. Jaken was instantly silent.
"We will really be travelling with them Lord Sesshoumaru?" Rin asked peering up at Sesshoumaru.
"Yes" was the short reply.
"YAY, now I have someone other than Jaken to play with" Rin said and ran over to Shippo, who instantly started talking to her.
"You do realize you won't be able to hide the reason for long" Inuyasha said. Sesshoumaru sighed.
"I know". Jaken listened, confused. What reason? What did Inuyasha know about Lord Sesshoumaru that he didn't? He was determined to find out.
Psycho Demon-Witch: again, sorry for the OOC. Although I am a complete spelling freak, I rushed to finish this, so if there are any spelling mistakes I missed, please tell me, OK? Pease review!
