THE HACK IS A LIAR: I suck, I know. Blame my crap-tastic laptop and college. And yes, the "crap-tastic" adjective extends to my college. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Chpts One through Nine, people
Words To Know:
None this time…lucky you. : ).
Chapter Sixteen: Declaration of Intent
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You tried so hard to be someone,
That you forgot who you are;
You tried to fill some emptiness,
'Til all you had spilled over;
Now everything's so far away,
That you don't know where you are, you are.
"Hold On"/ Jet
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Kagome had been at Sesshoumaru's shiro for a full week when she decided that, just for a change of scenery, she should travel to the human village not too far away.
She had discovered the existence of this village through Kohaku, whom she'd begun spending an hour a day with in the garden, usually helping him with the upkeep of the vegetation. They spoke mostly of trivial things, because Kagome couldn't bring herself to ask him about Sango and Miroku, or even worse, Rin. She'd listened to him tell her how he'd come to be in Sesshoumaru's shiro in silence, listening to his voice cracking with pain and regret and guilt, watching tears leak from the dead eyes—that sight had been one of the worst she'd ever witnessed. And in Kagome's opinion, the man had suffered enough. Never mind that she was the reincarnation of his wife; she had no right to stir up painful memories just because she wanted to know more.
It was during one of these hours in the garden that Kagome asked him how he managed among demons.
Kohaku paused, his wrinkled, callused hands in the dirt; he was replanting a small bush that he'd been nursing in his hut, waiting for it to mature enough that he could introduce it into the garden without worry.
"Well Kagome-sama," he said slowly, going back to his work, "every other week, Sesshoumaru-sama allows me to visit a village not too far from here so that I can gather more supplies. It usually takes me the whole day—"
"There's a village near here?" Kagome interrupted, stunned by the news. "A human village?"
"Hai," was the reply.
"How is that possible?" Kagome asked. "I mean, Sesshoumaru hating humans the way he does, I'd think he wouldn't want a human village within walking distance of his shiro."
Kohaku pursed his lips and paused again.
"I can't say why Sesshoumaru-sama would leave the village be, but he has. In fact, he's been known to occasionally provide them with protection, but then, I've heard he's extended that courtesy to all humans within his realm."
"Bi-zaaar-ro," Kagome drawled. She was shaking her head when it occurred to her that she might be able to join Kohaku on one of these visits and get the hell away from the shiro and its suspicious, animosity-ridden inhabitants. "Oi Kohaku-kun, when're you going back to the village?"
"Two days from now," the old man answered, sitting back on his heels and inspecting his careful, meticulous work. He jerked his head in approval, then rose. "I'm running low on food. Usually I only get vegetables, though I've brought back pork and chicken a few times. Every few months, Sesshoumaru-sama allows me to go to the sea and do a little fishing."
"'The sea'?" Kagome echoed. "What sea? Where?"
Kohaku sent her a faint smile, and Kagome couldn't help but return it—gods, it was a pathetic smile, but it was the best a broken old man could do.
"We're only a mile from the sea, Kagome-sama—can't you smell the salt on the air?"
Kagome sent him a puzzled look.
"Are you serious?" she asked. "A mile?"
Kohaku nodded and began walking. Kagome fell into step behind him, and absently noticed that she seemed to spend a lot of her time lately following extremely old men—Sesshoumaru just wore his advanced years better than Kohaku did.
"There's a beach just a ways west from here. There's another village there, a fishing village, and I go there every…oh, I suppose every three months and buy enough to last me a week."
"You only eat fish three times a year?" Kagome asked after doing the math in her head.
Kohaku shrugged. "It's enough," he replied, crouching down to weed a bed of silver grass.
Kagome watched Kohaku's bowed back, then nodded and crouched down next to him to help:
"I suppose when you're bound to someone else, just having the chance to do what you'd like to do every once in a while is enough." she murmured.
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She approached Sesshoumaru about joining Kohaku on his journey to the village that night in the dojo as he wiped the floor with her:
"No," he said, and without missing a step he nearly took her head off with the practice sword; he'd moved her up to live swords in an effort to impress upon her the importance of being alert, and Kagome had found that the more the demon lord nicked her with his sword, the more closely she watched him. When she could catch the movements, that is.
Kagome ducked and brought her sword up, blocking his downward swing.
"You didn't even consider it," she returned, blocking another swing.
"There was nothing to consider—I did not bring you here to visit villages, Miko, your purpose is to destroy the threat." he coolly returned, swinging at her again.
Kagome couldn't get her sword up in time to block it, so she shot to the right and tried to get away from him. Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough (which didn't surprise her, of course, considering who she was up against), and Sesshoumaru's blade caught the sleeve of her gi and cleanly sliced a good hunk of it off.
"Damn it Sesshoumaru!" Kagome wailed. "Why do you keep doing that!"
"If you'd pay attention it wouldn't happen," was the reply, accompanied by another swipe, this one around her stomach.
She brought her sword up quickly to protect her middle, and steel sang against steel from the force of the block. Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow.
"Very good—however…." He reached out, grabbed her by the throat and squeezed just enough to make her nervous. "I win."
Kagome rolled her eyes and sent him a bad-tempered look.
"Like I have any chance against the 'Killing Perfection'," she muttered sourly.
"You might try to challenge me a little," Sesshoumaru replied, releasing her.
Kagome rubbed her neck where he'd squeezed, wondering what the deal was with his always grabbing her by the neck. Was it a dog thing? Because she knew that was how dogs carried their pups around, by the neck, but she doubted very much that Sesshoumaru thought of her as anything at all like a pup—chances were good he thought of her as a parasite on a pup.
It took a moment for his words to get through to her.
She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow, wondering.
"If I gave you a challenge, would you let me go with Kohaku-kun?" she asked slowly.
Sesshoumaru raised his own eyebrow.
"Trying to strike a bargain?" he inquired.
"Interested?" she asked, and by the gleam in his eye immediately knew that she'd sounded too hopeful.
"No."
Kagome frowned. "Jerk."
He looked very unconcerned by this pronouncement.
"Assume your stance, Miko—you're wasting time."
Kagome did as she was told. Ordinarily, she preferred not to give Sesshoumaru the satisfaction of ordering her around, but he'd given her a good whack with the flat of his blade a few nights prior when she'd refused to follow one of his usual commands that she do one thing or another, Kagome couldn't remember which. What she did remember was the pain the blow had caused, and the fact that she'd lost her breath for several seconds…and he hadn't even hit her as hard as he could have. That blow had been a warning, and what a warning, too.
As Sesshoumaru maneuvered her into a corner, Kagome blocked his sword and tried to find a spot where she could get in a blow. It didn't even have to be something big—all she wanted to do was touch him with the blade. She didn't have to draw blood (she preferred not to, actually, since she was reasonably sure he wouldn't appreciate that), just touch him with her sword. It was something she'd been unable to do in all their lessons.
The old "Oh my arm!" or something similar wasn't going to get her anywhere, because Sesshoumaru had made it abundantly clear that he didn't care if he hurt her, so long as she was still able to purify. Nor would the "What's that over there?" routine be acceptable, as Sesshoumaru would know there was no one else in the dojo but them; his people stayed very far away from the dojo when their lord and his "guest" were locked in grueling practice, and besides that, Sesshoumaru had very good senses—he'd know she was lying through her teeth, and the stunt would likely as not result in another whack. No, landing a blow would take a level of clever Kagome wasn't entirely sure she possessed. It would have been easier if his senses had been blunted somehow…or if he weren't quite so fast…or quite so frighteningly cunning….
...Basically, her odds would have been better if he weren't, well, Sesshoumaru.
Perhaps Sesshoumaru took pity on her, though Kagome couldn't really see that happening, either in this universe or any other one. Most likely, it was the gods who took pity on her and allowed her the opportunity to strike: Sesshoumaru swiped at her head, looking for all intents and purposes as if he wanted to lop it off (and he probably did, Kagome silently lamented) and the young miko had the presence of mind to duck just in time for his blade to cut through the air where her neck had been a few seconds ago, and also slice some of her hair, but Kagome wouldn't realize that particular loss until much later. The demon lord used so much force his blade lodged rather deeply into the wall, something which very much alarmed Kagome with its implications—when she'd told him the kenjutsu lessons could be used as a way of venting their frustrations with each other, she hadn't given him permission to eliminate said frustrations permanently….
She looked up to judge how long it would take her to run, saw his sword was still stuck and realized this was her opportunity. Kagome immediately surged to her feet, her sword ending up under Sesshoumaru's jaw, the blade pressing against his skin ever so slightly; she wasn't sure if his skin was thicker than hers, but she wasn't taking any chances—no way would she cut him and give him a legitimate excuse to prematurely end her life. Her eyes met his, determined blue-gray to icy amber. They stared at each other, motionless, in heavy silence for some time, and then Kagome murmured,
"I win."
To her shock, she saw a vague sort of approval flicker through his gaze before it disappeared.
"And so you have," he intoned. "It would appear you aren't quite so stupid as I thought."
He really did have the most amazing talent for left-handed compliments.
"I'm gonna cut you," she snapped, glaring at him.
He cracked his knuckles behind her head, and then his hand wrapped around the back of her neck, the long, elegant fingers with their deadly claws glowing green.
"Really?" His expression never changed, but the message was clear: if she so much as pressed the blade into his skin, she'd be dead before she could finish the job.
Neither one moved, and after a while, Kagome began to shift from foot to foot.
"Okay, could we just call a truce or something?" she asked. "My neck's starting to hurt from all the craning back to look at you and all the abuse."
He didn't say anything, but he did let go of her, and Kagome lowered her sword and rubbed the back of her neck, then quickly cracked it. She sent Sesshoumaru a bad-tempered look.
"Why'd you have to be so tall, anyway?" she complained.
"A more intelligent question would be why you insist on wasting my time with annoying, brainless chatter," was the demon lord's dry, monotone reply.
Kagome muttered under her breath about hubris and men, but assumed her stance and waited for an attack that never came.
Instead, Sesshoumaru clasped his hands behind his back and asked,
"Why do you wish to go to this human village, Miko?"
Kagome stared at him owlishly for several seconds, wondering what he was talking about, then remembered her request to go to the village with Kohaku, his refusal…her attempt to bargain an agreement out of him and his refusal—whoa! Was he going to reconsider?
"I want to," she said, dropping her stance, her sword limp in her hand.
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow.
"That is not an acceptable reason, Miko."
"I don't have a reason, Sesshoumaru," she said in exasperation, "I just want to. I'm surrounded by youkai who hate me, and the only human company I have is Kohaku-kun, and he's nice to me and everything, but it's not…enough."
Demon and human considered each other in silence for a long while, and then Sesshoumaru's lips twitched ever so slightly.
"If I were to grant your request, would you shut up and concentrate on your lesson?"
Kagome immediately nodded her head vigorously, and Sesshoumaru sighed quietly, obviously weary.
"Fine then—go with the old shit if you so desire."
"Arigatou," she murmured, bobbing her head demurely; inside, however, she was screaming and jumping with joy.
"Do remember the provisions of my agreement, Miko: so long as you pay attention and concentrate, you will be allowed to accompany the old shit," Sesshoumaru warned. "If you should so much as misstep, I will not hesitate to rescind my generous offer."
Again, Kagome nodded vigorously—so vigorously, in fact, that she made her head throb dully with pain. She clutched a hand to the side of her head and groaned, and Sesshoumaru's eyes rolled heavenward.
"Gods above," he muttered. He sent her a look that plainly told her he thought she was an idiot (which she was now used to, sadly enough), then slipped into his stance. "All right you twit, the lesson isn't over yet. Stop wasting my time."
And with those words of encouragement, Kagome's sensei leapt at her and tried to slice her head off.
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Two mornings later, Kagome and Kohaku set out for the human village, Kohaku with a bamboo basket strapped to his back, and Kagome armed with her bow and arrows and her sword…and a freshly wounded forearm.
"However did you do that, Kagome-sama?" Kohaku had asked her upon seeing the brilliant white bandage on her left arm.
Kagome sent him a thin smile:
"I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count."
The old man sent her a knowing look.
"Ah: Sesshoumaru-sama."
"Mr. Personality himself," she agreed with a nod, then sent a suspicious look over her shoulder, obviously looking for the demon lord. Upon not finding him, she jerked her head in satisfaction, then turned back to Kohaku and whispered conspiratorially, "He hates it when I call him that, and he whacks me good when he hears it."
"Perhaps you should stop calling him that," Kohaku advised as they left the shiro and the heavy doors shut loudly and heavily behind them.
"And miss that weird muscle in his jaw that starts jumping like crazy when I piss him off? No way!" Kagome returned. "It's fun. And definitely worth the pain. I didn't even notice that weird little muscle until last night, either. I wonder how long it's been jumping like that and I haven't noticed it?"
They journeyed down the mountain, conversing companionably about the village and its inhabitants.
"I still can't wrap my mind around why Chuckles let them build it so close to his shiro," she said, shaking her head. "He's so weird! I mean, you think you've got a handle on him, you know? Human-hating, cold-hearted ass—and then he does something like let humans build a village at the base of the mountain he lives on."
Kohaku's lips twitched faintly.
"I have never tried to understand Sesshoumaru-sama," he commented.
Kagome snorted.
"You're a smarter person than I," she returned and Kohaku's smile became a little more visible.
They reached the village three hours later, the hike down the mountain taking a lot longer than it should have because Kohaku was so old. He was in pretty good shape for an old man, but the fact remained that climbing down mountains was something more suited to a person Kagome's age.
Their appearance was greeted by people who waved in a manner most welcoming, and a lot of these people were smiling too.
"Hm," Kohaku grunted as they walked through the village; he was thoughtfully watching the people.
"What?" Kagome asked, pausing in her cheerful return of the greeting to look over at the old man.
"I've never been greeted quite this eagerly," he noted.
"Oh?" Kagome looked surprised by the news.
Kohaku nodded.
"They're friendly enough, of course, but not like this, usually." He glanced at Kagome out of the corner of his eye. "Must be my company—this village isn't graced with a miko."
Now that made a little more sense to the young woman—she was very sure that Sesshoumaru would have violently objected to having a miko so close to him. He didn't mind her because he knew she wasn't going to purify his arrogant hide unless he had sufficiently pissed her off, and he was smart enough to stop before the idea occurred to her at a moment when she would have seriously considered it.
Kagome and Kohaku ended up at the head man's hut, a squat, sour-looking man who, upon seeing Kohaku, smiled slightly, but, upon seeing Kagome, looked suspicious.
Kohaku bowed lowly to the head man.
"Akira-san," he greeted.
"Kohaku-san," was the squat man's reply, his eyes on Kagome.
"The young lady is an old friend of my family, Akira-san. Kagome-sama recently came to Sesshoumaru-sama's shiro to assist with that trouble we've been having."
Akira looked her up and down, then grunted.
"I suppose a miko would be a good idea at this point in the business," he said, a comment that mystified Kagome to no end. Akira didn't elaborate on it, however, and so Kagome was left to try and figure out what exactly the man's words were supposed to mean, and whether or not the implication was of a complimentary nature.
They entered the headman's hut and sat down with him by the fire pit. His wife gave them tea, which Kagome and Kohaku politely thanked her for. Akira's wife settled down at her husband's side after serving him, and Kagome was struck by the docility of the woman's manner. She decided that she would never have been able to pull that off, not even under pain of death, because she really wasn't the submissive type.
"So then, Kohaku-san," Akira said, setting his tea down. "I suppose you've come for your supplies?"
Kohaku nodded. "Hai," he murmured with a faint smile.
"You're late," Akira commented. "By about a month, I'd say. We were beginning to wonder what had happened to you. Even with all the trouble plaguing us recently, you've always kept to a schedule."
Kohaku shrugged and bobbed his head, still smiling ever so slightly.
"Sesshoumaru-sama was gone for some time, and only he can give me my leave to come and gather my supplies."
"Ah," Akira said, then turned his gaze on Kagome. "And I take it you were the reason the youkai lord was gone so long?"
Kagome pursed her lips, trying to keep from disliking this man, though he was making it very difficult. She did not take to his manner at all, and she didn't appreciate the tone he'd taken with Kohaku—condescending, as if the elderly man were little better than a child.
"Hai," she replied. "Sesshoumaru-sama came to ask if I'd be willing to assist him, and I was happy to. I knew his brother."
Akira raised an eyebrow.
"The youkai lord has a brother?" he asked, voice skeptical.
"Hai," Kagome returned, voice beginning to frost over. "Or rather, he had a brother. Inuyasha died some time ago, but he mentioned me often to his elder brother. That's how Sesshoumaru-sama knew where to find me."
Akira pursed his lips and eyed her, but said nothing, and after a tense pause, Kohaku quietly cleared his throat and began informing Akira of what supplies he meant to collect. Kagome, fuming, sat silent and glared into the fire.
So much for trying to like the man.
They left the headman's hut an hour later, and Kagome was glad to be away from Akira. She hadn't paid close attention, but it appeared Kohaku had made some sort of agreement with Akira, something involving herbs with medicinal properties and herbs for use against unfriendly demons. Once the herb price had been agreed upon and Akira had them in his palm, Kohaku was free to venture out into the village and gather his supplies.
"Kagome-sama?" Kohaku queried as they walked in the direction of the rice fields.
"Yeah?" Kagome returned.
"Why did you call Sesshoumaru-sama…well, Sesshoumaru-sama?" the old man asked, obviously curious.
Kagome stopped walking and frowned. "What?" she asked.
Kohaku nodded his head.
"You called him Sesshoumaru-sama. I've never heard you speak so respectfully of my lord."
"I didn't even realize I called him that," Kagome admitted. She began walking again, slowly, and Kohaku waited for her to reach his side before beginning to walk again. "I guess I didn't like the way Akira kept calling him 'the youkai lord'."
"It is appropriate," Kohaku pointed out.
"I'm not saying it isn't," Kagome said quickly. "I just…I didn't like the way he said it. I mean, he should be kissing the ground Sesshoumaru walks on—the only reason he's alive is because Lord Superior lets him stay that way. He seems ungrateful, I guess is what I'm getting at."
Kohaku nodded.
"I see," he said. "Perhaps, Akira-san is a little ungrateful. I've never heard him speak of Sesshoumaru-sama, much less refer to him. He's quite prejudiced against youkai." Kohaku sent her a wise look. "Remember, Kagome-sama, not everyone has had the luck with youkai that you've had."
Kagome shrugged, a little repentant. "Yeah," she muttered in agreement, frowning. "Still though, I'd like to see who wins a fight between him and Sesshoumaru—I bet he'll be a lot more grateful then!"
Kohaku smiled slyly.
"Perhaps you've grown fond of Sesshoumaru-sama?"
Kagome sent the old man a deeply affronted look:
"Nothing but a sharp blow to the head would make me "fond" of that mutt." She paused, thought over what she'd said and sent Kohaku a wary look. "By the way, I never said that, okay?"
"Never said what? That Sesshoumaru-sama was a mutt?"
"Uh…how about I never said anything? That's safer."
Kohaku chuckled, and they continued on to the rice fields.
Kagome helped Kohaku load up his basket with bags of rice, vegetables of various kinds, and ended up carrying two cages bearing two fat hens.
"You're gonna be eatin' real good for a while, ne Kohaku-kun?" she commented as they left the hut of the old woman who'd given Kohaku the hens in exchange for a powder of some kind—Kagome couldn't identify it for the life of her.
"For a time," he allowed. "I don't think I'll eat the hens. I'll keep them, see if I can get a rooster out of her next time. Then I won't have to depend on her to supply me."
Kagome sent Kohaku a wicked look.
"And deprive her of the absolute killing she makes off you?"
"'Killing'?"
Kagome pursed her lips.
"Yeah—you must have given her eight packets of that powder. She's set for the next year at least, and if you always pay her like that, she should be set for life by now," she explained with a mischievous grin, and Kohaku returned her grin with a faint one of his own.
"I suppose I am her best customer," he allowed, and Kagome smiled at him.
"She probably wishes you were her only customer—you over-pay like crazy."
While they were walking through the village to go back to Akira's hut and say their good-byes—though Kagome would have rather left without seeing the headman again—a timid-looking young man stepped out into the road, just ahead of Kagome and Kohaku, who paused, surprised.
"Yes?" Kagome asked after a beat of nervous and puzzled silence.
"You're a miko?" he asked.
Kagome cocked her head and wondered what to say. Technically, she wasn't a miko, just the reincarnation of one. But no one seemed especially interested in technicalities, so Kagome decided to do as the Romans did, so to speak.
"Hai," she said, and the man swallowed and shifted from foot to foot. Then he bowed down very low before Kagome.
"Miko-sama, please help my sister."
Kagome sent Kohaku a surprised look.
"Uh…."
She looked back down at the man, who had raised his head to send her a pleading look. Kagome watched him for several seconds, trying not to notice the desperation in his face or the pleading in his eyes. But it was impossible for Kagome, who had never been able to ignore another's suffering, and even as she cursed herself for a hopeless, incurable sap, she sighed and said,
"I can't promise anything, but I will do what I can."
The man immediately brightened, and Kagome tried and failed to smile.
"Arigatou, Miko-sama, arigatou!" he cried.
I wouldn't thank me yet, she thought darkly. My best is nearly as bad as nothing at all.
She knew better, of course, than to say so, and instead followed the man to his hut, Kohaku trailing along behind her.
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"He's gonna be so pissed off," Kagome said two hours later as she and Kohaku climbed up the mountain towards the House of the Moon.
Kagome had managed to help the young man and his little sister…and had then allowed herself to be talked into helping a dozen other people with their various problems.
It had been some time since she had dealt with actual people in this era for more than an hour—most of her time had been spent in the company of demons, foul-tempered and otherwise—so she had forgotten that the concept of germs was still beyond people here. The young man's sister had simply been sick, not possessed by a demon, as her brother had assumed. Kagome had recognized that nearly immediately, when upon walking into the hut after hearing the girl had been possessed, she felt no demonic aura coming from the girl. Further inspection revealed her initial thought to be correct, and after a little thought, Kagome had announced that the girl only needed care and a few medicinal herbs—she was extremely pleased now that she'd continued her education in herbs and their various uses after being thrown back in her own time.
Unfortunately, her "treating" the girl had opened the door to a whole slew of sick people asking for her help, and because she was cursed with a soft heart, she had attended to each and every one of them. She was not looking forward to telling Sesshoumaru that it was her fault that she and Kohaku were so very late coming back, and she was going to have to, because she was going to be very very late for her kenjutsu lesson tonight, which was going to piss him off already. Kagome sighed; why did she have a knack for attracting ill-tempered demons to her side?
She helped Kohaku as they hiked up the mountain, he carrying one of the hens and shouldering the bamboo basket, and she carrying the other hen propped on her hip, her bow looped over her shoulder with her quiver, her other hand holding onto his arm. They chatted about this and that—mostly Kagome complained some more about how much she had disliked Akira, and Kohaku smiled in a patient, rather grandfatherly way while he humored her and listened to her ranting—as they went, and it was nearly sun down when Kagome felt a swell of youki that made her stop. Kohaku, feeling it as well, also stopped and they stood in absolute silence and waited, wondering if they were simply mistaken.
The youki swelled again, and Kagome realized that it wasn't a youki but several. With this realization came two more: there was a battle going on up ahead, and up ahead was Sesshoumaru's shiro.
"Kohaku-kun," she said urgently, "I want you to stay here."
"Kagome-sama," he said immediately, obviously not at all keen on the idea.
"No, listen," Kagome cut in, meeting his eyes with her own worried gaze. "You haven't got any weapons on you, and besides, I wouldn't be able to concentrate if I was worrying about you."
"But you said so yourself, Kagome-sama, I have no weapon. How am I to protect myself should the battle move in my direction?" the old man pointed out.
In answer, Kagome set down the hen and drew her sword, which began glowing purple.
"Kohaku-kun, once you're under my barrier, you won't be able to get out and nothing will be able to get in unless I say so," she said, and with that plunged the blade into the dirt.
Immediately he was consumed by the sword's magic, the barrier semi-transparent to his gaze.
"I'll come back, I promise!" Kagome yelled over her shoulder as she ran towards the fight, whipping her bow off her shoulder and grabbing an arrow from her quiver.
Kohaku watched her go, helpless to do anything else, and tried to ignore the twisting in his gut at her words; one should never promise something that was uncertain.
He, of all people, would know the folly of that.
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Kagome ran up the path, the muscles in her legs aching, her side beginning to pinch, her breathing labored and her heart pounding. She was getting closer and closer to the swelling youki, and was beginning to discern between different energies. Sesshoumaru's was the first one she recognized, something which didn't surprise her at all, given the amount of contact she'd had with it over the last month and a half or so. What did surprise her was the feel of his energy, since she had gotten used to its being relatively placid. It never failed to make her own ki a little nervous, but that never lasted more than a few seconds before everything smoothed out between the opposite energies. But as it was now, it would be nothing short of idiocy to think it remotely tranquil.
She leapt over a particularly steep bit of the trail and landed with a grunt, the impact a little harder than she had been anticipating.
"Note to self," she panted as she ran on, "Self: that was a stupid idea, and don't ever do it again."
She nearly tripped no less than three times, and despite the twisting of her gut and the terror slowly creeping over her, her clumsiness was beginning to annoy her. When she nearly landed on her face for the fourth time she growled in frustration and stamped her foot, then sighed, shut her eyes and very firmly told herself that getting angry over her tripping feet was just a manifestation of her fear, and it would not do to give into this feeling, because if she showed up to this battle hysterical, Sesshoumaru might rip her head off and to hell with needing her help. He was just cranky enough and just belligerent enough to be that completely irrational.
So, with a deep intake of breath, Kagome set off once more, this time at a pace that would not end with her kissing the dirt, and her ability to stay upright was greatly improved.
She reached the slope that marked the easy part of the path to the shiro, and broke into a run again, confident in her ability to not kill herself. Either that confidence was well-founded, or the gods decided to throw her a bone, because Kagome didn't trip once.
She arrived at the shiro to a gruesome sight: a party of six of Sesshoumaru's soldiers were locked in deadly combat with a much larger party of demons Kagome had never seen before. All around her the youki collided and swelled as the opponents attacked each other, and she controlled the urge to be sick, grumpily thinking to herself that this side effect to youki was most inconvenient for a miko, which probably meant Fate thought it a very funny joke indeed. Her life, she reminded herself, was not fair. It was also not normal, whatever the hell that was.
Kagome watched the scene, frowning; there was a niggling feeling somewhere inside her that kept insisting something wasn't right, though she wasn't sure what it could be—she knew it was something less obvious than the inherent unfairness of being outnumbered ten-to-one.
She found Sesshoumaru almost immediately: he was standing on the wall, arms crossed over his chest. She couldn't see his face, but she would have bet her life savings that he looked quite bored by the battle raging before him.
"Guess it's hard to impress a guy who's been around about four hundred years," Kagome muttered, snorting.
She returned her attention to the battle before her in time to avoid being cleaved in two by a sword.
"Sesshoumaru-sama," Rai said out of the blue, and Sesshoumaru frowned faintly, wondering why his commander sounded nervous all of a sudden. They were both watching the battle after all, and Sesshoumaru knew he hadn't missed anything.
"Speak."
"The miko," Rai said.
Sesshoumaru snorted and turned his attention back to the battle.
"Never mind her," the taiyoukai said idly. "She's a very stupid woman, but not so stupid that she'd walk right into this. Not as concerned as she was about the old shit."
"No, my lord," Rai said, and this time it was horror Sesshoumaru heard in his commander's voice, "the miko—she's there."
Sesshoumaru's narrowed eyes found her two seconds later—as she dove out of the way of one of the attackers' swords.
"Of course," Sesshoumaru snarled, irritated to no end. He nearly growled when he noticed her empty sheath. "And the stupid bitch doesn't have her katana! What in the seven hells am I giving up my nights for if she isn't going to use the damn thing!"
"I'll fetch her my lord," Rai said, bowing.
Sesshoumaru let out a disgusted sigh.
"Better than to leave her there," he agreed. "She's useless to me dead."
Rai jerked his head, then left his lord's side. Sesshoumaru, in the mean time, returned his attention to the battle below.
"Baka wench," he muttered. "More a nuisance than an asset. No wonder you loved the hanyou—you were perfect for each other!"
Kagome finally managed to properly nock her arrow and let it fly, with the desired results, happily.
"Oh gods," she said, looking skyward for a moment, "I really hate this crap."
"Miko-sama!"
Kagome looked around, searching for the rough voice that had yelled her name. She saw Sesshoumaru's commander Rai running for her, dodging the fighting demons and quickly and efficiently dispatching—with his bare hands, she couldn't help but notice—those he couldn't avoid. Kagome pursed her lips, wondering where he'd come from, then decided that he probably did the same thing Sesshoumaru did, which was to magically appear in places he didn't belong so as to freak her out.
"Rai-sama!" she called back, waving, to let him know she'd heard him. She then turned her attention to a demon whose notice she'd drawn and quickly disposed of him with another arrow. Half of her hoped Sesshoumaru was still watching—after this, there was no way he could accuse her of being useless.
The wolf demon made it to her side, looking more than a little irritated and slightly frantic.
"Miko-sama it isn't safe for you to be out here," he said firmly.
"I kinda figured that," she returned, letting another arrow fly. She jerked her head when it hit its mark and reduced the demon to ash.
"Sesshoumaru-sama insists you come into the shiro immediately," Rai said.
"I dunno, I think I'd be an asset out here right about now," Kagome returned, hand going to her quiver for a new arrow.
"My men can handle it," Rai replied, and there was a stiffness to his tone that Kagome recognized as a bruised male ego.
"I know they can," she said quickly, lips quirking as she looked up at him. "But I want to help."
Rai didn't seem to have a reply for that, and Kagome took advantage of his speechlessness to take out—with an efficiency that surprised her—three more demons before he shook himself out of his state of shock.
"Miko-sama, we appreciate the offer, but you're useless to us dead," he said, echoing his lord.
"Then I won't die, right?" Kagome cheerfully returned.
"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Rai said, then turned as he sensed approaching danger. He cut down his enemy with that frightening quickness of movement that made him one of Sesshoumaru's greatest assets, then looked back at Kagome.
"You'd be amazed, Rai-sama," Kagome said to him with a grin, "how simple not dying is for me."
Rai's eyes narrowed.
"A very strange human," he murmured, then turned back to protecting his lord's investment from harm, since she was being stubborn.
(A/N: Crap, I forgot to warn you guys earlier, things get a little gross. The squeamish among you may not want to read the next paragraph. Warned you.)
Kagome looked around again, quite pleased with her aim today; she hadn't failed to hit her mark once, and she thought this might be a new record. Yes, today she was on a roll, and she only hoped it kept up, because it would suck to peak this early in the game. She glanced around and checked on Rai. She was just in time to see the wolf demon shove his sword into his opponent to the hilt, then rip upwards. Blood spattered everywhere, including on Kagome, and she managed to scrunch her eyes shut before any of the blood flew into her eyes. The impact of the warm liquid against her face, however, was nearly as bad as what she'd prevented, and Kagome had to work very hard at not throwing up. With difficulty, she mastered the impulse and opened her eyes. Rai had turned away from the enemy he'd partially ripped in half to face off with another, and that was why he didn't see the archer aiming for him. But Kagome did and in true Kagome fashion, she didn't think but acted:
She ran forward and shoved Rai out of the way of the arrow's path. She was not quick enough, however, to avoid it herself, and the shaft slammed into her right shoulder and through it, stopping short of actually breaking through to the other side, though through the excruciating pain that made her gasp instead of scream like she wanted to, she felt the metal point straining against her skin.
Kagome fell forward onto her hands and knees, panting shallowly, her mind unable to focus on anything but the white-hot bite of pain. She couldn't bring herself to look at her shoulder, feeling the blood slide down her back, warm and wet, and that scared her more than the fact that she was now vulnerable. The sounds of combat dimmed all around her, and she felt herself getting faint, her vision misting. Someone grabbed her and jerked her to her feet, and the mist cleared from her vision and the strange, muted sound to the world abruptly fell away, and Kagome looked up dazedly and saw Rai holding her upright by her good arm, demanding to know if she was all right. Kagome faintly decided he must want to know if she was all right aside from the very much visible arrow sticking out of her shoulder. She felt the bile backing up in her throat, so she didn't trust an actual verbal response to his query to not end badly. She nodded her head, and while he sent her a disbelieving look, he didn't have the luxury of calling her on it; they were still in the middle of defending the shiro, and with obvious reluctance, he let go of her and turned back to his job.
Kagome was still drawing shallow breaths, and the pain was still screaming through her. She saw her bow laying on the ground a few feet away, where she'd fallen to her knees, and she drew in a steadying breath and went to it, picking it up carefully with her left hand, whimpering the whole while because any little movement made the arrow in her shoulder twitch, and every twitch felt like her arm was being ripped off, ligament by ligament, nerve by nerve. She heard a shout and looked up, eyes glassy, and saw more of Sesshoumaru's men coming. She swallowed with difficulty, then looked around, saw there was still some rubbish to get rid of, and moaned softly. Gods, it'd be so much easier on her if she let Sesshoumaru's men finish them off…but she had wanted to help, and so far she'd only taken down six. That didn't feel like enough of a contribution, not now, not when she'd been working so hard to improve, and for a moment Kagome wished desperately that she had her sword with her. It would have made finishing things much simpler for her.
The young miko forced herself to draw another arrow from her quiver, forced herself to nock the arrow and forced herself to sight along the shaft through the tears clouding her vision, through the pain howling through her. She let it fly and it smashed into one demon and instantly purified him…and the one next to him, much to her relief. She didn't know how she'd done it, but she was so glad she had, because that was one less arrow she had to nock with an injured shoulder. She drew arrow after arrow, tears running down her cheeks with every excruciating movement, but Kagome gritted her teeth and forced herself to breathe, even if it was unsteady, hitching breaths.
"Miko-sama!" Rai yelled, and Kagome paused, her hand closing over nothing. She groped empty air for a moment before she realized she had run out of arrows, and then she really wished she had her sword with her.
The wolf demon appeared at her side and grabbed her by the good arm.
"Miko-sama," he said again, his face very worried.
"I'm all right," she said faintly, making a conscious effort to keep a tight grip on her bow; it wouldn't do to lose it again.
"You're very pale," Rai returned.
Kagome's lips quirked into a ghost of a smile:
"I just look that way because of the blood, Rai-sama," she returned, then grunted in surprise when her knees failed her and she fell forward. Only Rai's grip on her arm saved her from falling on her face.
"That needs to come out, Miko-sama," Rai said seriously, and Kagome felt the blood drain from her face.
Come out?
"No!" she yelped, jerking back, away from him. "I like it there!"
"Miko-sama, be reasonable," Rai chided.
"She's incapable of it," came Sesshoumaru's voice, and the miko and the demon looked up to see the taiyoukai striding toward them, his soldiers following him at a distance.
Sesshoumaru did not like the feeling that had risen in him when he'd watched the stupid woman get hit by the arrow. His first reaction had been, predictably, irritation. Seeing her fall to her knees, however, had made his hackles rise unpleasantly. He had been very close to going out there himself to fetch her when Rai had reached her and dragged her out of harm's way, more or less. He had not stayed to see the rest: he'd leapt down, picked two men at random and had ordered the gate opened, with the warning that any man who let the enemy breach the walls would answer to Sesshoumaru.
They had joined in the fray, Sesshoumaru working his way ever closer to Kagome. He had immediately picked up on the unique tang of her blood, and had been alarmed to find the air around her thick with it. Humans couldn't lose so much blood—this was something he knew for a fact. Despite the unwilling concern he'd felt, he had been inordinately pleased by the miko's grit. She was in pain and losing more blood every second, but she set her chin and did her part. She might yet convince him she was the right miko for the job.
The taiyoukai reached Kagome's side, and Rai rose and stepped back from the miko with a bow for his lord. Sesshoumaru knelt down before the miko and eyed her critically. She was ghastly white, and there was blood spattered all over her face and neck and haori—most of it on the haori was hers. Her eyes had a glassy look to them, and she was shaking. He took firm hold of her good shoulder and drew her forward, over his arm.
"Sesshoumaru," she choked out, voice edged with panic and the beginnings of hysteria.
"The arrow comes out now Miko," the demon lord intoned, voice brooking no argument.
He snapped off the end—she whimpered and grabbed his arm through his haori sleeve—then sat her upright and gently tugged her haori and underkimono off the injured shoulder. There were mutterings from the men, but a poisonous look from Sesshoumaru shut them up.
"I don't mind if it stays," Kagome blurted, staring at him with huge, terrified eyes.
"Be quiet," he ordered, leaned her back over his arm and without warning her pushed the arrow through her shoulder, finally breaking through the skin. Kagome was only able to draw in a sharp, choked breath. The arrow fell to the grass and dirt, gory with blood, and the new wound dripped dark blood over it slowly.
"Breathe, Miko," Sesshoumaru ordered, pressing his palms over the entry and exit wounds.
She let out a pained, anguished sound, not quite a scream but loud nonetheless. His hand contracted, squeezed viciously, and she did scream this time.
"Breathe," he snapped, voice vicious.
She did as he ordered, her breaths shallow and hitching, but she did it, and he allowed her to lean against his upper arm, allowed her to force her weight on him. It was no great chore, simply uncomfortable and annoying. He lifted his eyes to his commander, who was watching the miko with solemn expression.
"Rai," he said quietly, but there was no mistaking his displeasure, and Rai's gray eyes went to his lord's face.
The wolf demon bowed lowly.
"I beg you forgive me, Sesshoumaru-sama, for not bringing in the miko when you ordered it."
"It was my fault," Kagome piped up, her voice muffled because she was pretty much bent over on Sesshoumaru's arm.
"I told you to be quiet," Sesshoumaru snapped irritably.
"Yeah," she returned, "but you didn't say for how long." She struggled to sit up, but Sesshoumaru wouldn't let her, so she reached up his sleeve and zapped him. He flinched and hissed, letting up just enough that she could sit up. She landed hard on her rear, but she seemed less concerned with her graceless landing than with making Sesshoumaru understand that her injury had not been any fault of Rai's.
"Rai-sama told me to go in, but I wouldn't. I wanted to help," Kagome said.
Sesshoumaru raised his eyebrow.
"And wasn't that a smashing success." he dryly observed, licking her blood off the palm of his hand pointedly.
She glared at him.
"I did help," she insisted. "I just got hit because I didn't move out of the way quick enough."
"She took an arrow intended for me, my lord," Rai said. He flushed slightly as he admitted, "I was not paying attention, Sesshoumaru-sama, and that is unforgivable. If not for my carelessness, Kagome-sama would not be injured."
"It's not bad, Rai-sama," Kagome said with a smile.
As a rejoinder to that obviously untrue statement, Sesshoumaru lightly tapped her wound and she let out a strangled sound and sent him a killing look.
"Sadist," she spat.
"Moron." he replied.
Rai and Sesshoumaru helped her to her feet, Kagome insisting the whole time that it was all her fault and Rai equally vehement in insisting it was all his fault. Sesshoumaru quickly grew irritated with both of them:
"You're both incompetent twits," he snapped. "Now shut up and get into the shiro, stupid woman, you've caused me enough frustration for one day."
"What did I ever do to you?" Kagome demanded, deeply offended by his tone and accusation.
"Exist," was the cool reply, and Kagome rolled her eyes.
"And he wonders why I call him 'Mr. Personality'," she muttered, gingerly pulling her underkimono and haori back into order. She paused as saying "Mr. Personality" made her remember something, and her eyes widened:
"Kohaku-kun!" she yelped, then turned, leaned over and grabbed her bow and began running back down the mountain.
Sesshoumaru, Rai and the House of the Moon's soldiers watched her departure, and then Sesshoumaru sighed wearily and looked up at the sky.
"I've been cursed," he muttered before he followed in the miko's wake.
Rai pursed his lips, then began walking after his lord, and after exchanging unsure glances, the soldiers followed their commander.
Yes, a very strange human indeed.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
Kagome was starting to feel sick and light-headed again by the time she reached Kohaku. The old man was anxiously standing under the barrier of her glowing sword, watching the road leading to the shiro with worry etched into his creased face. He looked intensely relieved to see her…until he noticed the blood staining nearly her entire right sleeve, that is.
"Kagome-sama!" he yelled, alarmed.
She stumbled to a stop before the barrier, nearly pitching forward on her face. Her vision was blurring, and the mist was back. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear it even though she was fairly sure blinking wasn't going to do a lick of good, considering that she'd been doing that for the last ten minutes with no discernable results.
"I'm okay Kohaku-kun, it's just a scratch," she assured him, then realized he hadn't heard her when he continued to stare at her blood-soaked shoulder in horror. She waved a hand in front of his face to get his attention, which she did when his eyes flew up to her face.
"Are you all right?" he asked anxiously, and Kagome felt a stab of guilt.
"I'm fine," she assured. "It just looks bad. Here, let me get you out of there, okay?"
She reached forward, hand sliding into the barrier. She grabbed hold of the handle, and jerked. Nothing happened. She jerked harder, and the sword loosened in the dirt a little, but the barrier didn't disappear. Disgruntled now, Kagome brought her injured right arm into play, despite the pain movement caused—not to mention that it made the blood begin to leak out again and slide down her arm to drip drip drip onto the dirt below—and jerked back with all her might. The sword slipped out of the dirt, the barrier dissipated, and Kagome managed to keep from falling on her rear end.
"Kagome-sama," Kohaku murmured, face pale. "What happened?"
"I helped," she said faintly, weaving. The world tilted and narrowed and then darkened, and Kagome's eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fell to the dirt unconscious.
