A/N: Almost Christmas! I'm looking forward to the holidays and it's time for my weekly update^^. This chapter contains a bit more of Sesshōmaru and Chiharu
Enjoy!
InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
o.O.o
Chapter Sixteen, West
When they returned to Edo it was raining. Chiharu's hands slipped a bit on the damp edge of the well before hoisting herself up and over. The leaves overhead rustled in a soft wind and Chiharu sits on the ledge, chin propped up on one hand as she gazed at the naked branches of the trees surrounding her.
"Chiharu-chan?" Kagome Higurashi asked, fingers twisted into thick creepers and face flushed with colour as she attempted to pull herself out of the well.
"Right, hold on," Chiharu answered, ignoring the soft mutterings from the elder Higurashi.
With a hand tightly wrapped around her sister's wrist, Chiharu helped Kagome up and dropped her heavy, yellow backpack to the ground. As Kagome puffed, readjusting the buttons on her coat, the younger Higurashi sister stood still in the drizzling rain, letting it numbing her body until she was trembling slightly. Nothing could calm her more than breathing in the clean, crisp, silent air of the Sengoku-jidai. There was no tainted air, apart from the metallic scent coming from the bloodbaths that were quite normal in this era, and the silence, the serenity of it all, calmed her heightened senses. She sighed before suddenly she noticed something weird. She looked up into the trees, eyebrows scrunched up together. She knew in an instant he was there.
"Chiharu-chan?"
"I'm sorry," she answered her older sister slowly, peering at the other girl, "I was preoccupied with something else."
"Right," Kagome answered putting up an umbrella. They slowly started down the path towards the village, the clouds overhead already gone when they reached the marketplace.
The sun had already set and the only light that shone into the darkness, except the flickering light of the moon was from the campfires. They waited for a moment, Kagome hoping Inuyasha would meet them, but after several minutes, Chiharu's constantly flitting through the trees, they cross the marketplace towards Kaede's hut.
"He's not in a good mood." Kagome muttered angrily and Chiharu rolled her eyes.
"Why were you fighting with him anyway?" Chiharu asked softly. After 'the episode at Christmas Eve' — as Souta called it — Kagome had reluctantly returned to Sengoku jidai. They had stayed only for a few hours when a new argument ensured. The argument had quickly escalated into a yelling match which ended with an 'Osuwari' followed by an 'I'm going home', before the older Higurashi sister ran out of Kaede's hut and returned home.
"I mean most of your squabbles are silly to even begin with," Chiharu said when Kagome didn't answer and frowned. "You should stop being childish with him."
"Don't pick his side!" she huffed.
"Who else is going to pick his side?" she asked softly. Wincing when leaves and twigs snapped under her feet and against the large yellow bag. It was rather dark and the moonlight failed to properly penetrate the thick canopy of leaves above their heads. "No one in our group ever does and in my opinion the both of you are childish. Considering I'm your sister, I don't have to protect your feelings."
"You should," Kagome grumbled. "You are supposed to be on my side, exactly because you are my twin sister."
"I sort of am." Chiharu nodded. Kagome glowered at her. "You know, I am on your side when someone else talks to me, but I don't have to be on your side when talking to you. Yes, that's the beauty of being your sister, I always win."
"There are times, I hate you," Kagome told her darkly and Chiharu shrugged, pushing one of her hands in the pocket of her coat. She had left her Miko garbs at Kaede's and now wore a heavy trench-coat, dark blue jeans and simple loafers. Some villagers were still up and about, most of them eyeing her warily when passed. Chiharu narrowed her eyes. She still remembered how easily they had turned on her and as one of the farmers peered at her with that cold, creepy look in his eyes, she glared.
When they passed the washing line, Chiharu took her Miko clothes off and took them with her into Kaede's hut. Sango and Miroku were deep in conversation when they entered and Chiharu kicked off her shoes, before stepping into a pair of sandals. Inuyasha sat against the wooden wall, eyes closed and Shippō the Kitsune was playing happily in a corner with the small fire-cat yōkai until he caught their scent. His eyes went wide and his smile huge.
"Kagome-chan, Chiharu-chan!" he hollered, the other occupants smiled as the little boy bounded towards the two girls. "Welcome back!"
"Hey, Shippō-chan. Have you been enjoying yourself?"
"Inuyasha has been a tool." He pouted.
"What were the two of you fighting about?" Chiharu asked.
"Unimportant, really!" Sango told them dryly and Miroku the Hōshi nodded in agreement. Chiharu sat down next to Kaede's sleeping form, silently dropping Kagome's heavy backpack on the floor next to her. Shippō whispered excitedly to himself and jumped on the backpack, rummaging through its contents. His smile grew when he pulled out the box of crayons, a new sketchbook and a box of sugary peach candy.
"What are those?"
"New candy," Kagome answered.
"We thought you would like it," Chiharu answered, scratching the kit behind his ears.
"Kagome," the elderly Miko slowly sat up, her hair slightly in disarray, "Ah, Chiharu too. It's so good to see ya both, children."
Kagome smiled at the older woman and sat down too. Chiharu watched the two exchange words of love and curled her toes in her sandals, pushing them closer to the fire-pit. Her bow and quiver full of arrows laying on the dirt next to the hut's entrance. She smiled as she let Shippō snuggle into her and watched the fire create never-ending shapes. Her friends and her sister were softly conversing and after a few hours, the moon at the height of his zenith, they unrolled their mats and sleeping bags. Chiharu ran her fingers through Shippō's hair as he settled down next to her. Their sleeping material covered every inch of Kaede's floor space and hummed a soft lullaby until Shippō dozed off. She didn't have to wait long before the others were sleeping as well. He was still there.
I-I. ⌡. Γ┐
Silver hair blew gently in the wind and the chilly shadows of winter stretched out over the forest floor. Sesshōmaru\s posture was straight, his gait easy and his face a mask of apathy. He black boots moved silently through the forest, his eyes shuttered with long silver eyelashes as he glanced through the foliage. The girl appeared just as he knew she would. He did not know how she managed to conceal herself so well, but she suddenly appeared. She and that strange sister of hers.
Sesshōmaru watched as both girls climbed out of the old water well in the centre of what the humans called 'Inuyasha's forest', both strangely dressed in clothes he'd only seen the man in the West wear. And even they didn't wear such inadequate footwear. His Miko was wearing a long blue coat and the usually scathingly dressed one — who liked to wear clothes not even the lowest of concubines in his lands dared to wear — wore a slim-fitting coat. She was still wearing too little, with bare legs and high socks. He wondered idly if she did that to please his fool of a half-brother. Sesshōmaru almost snorted out loud, it wasn't like Inuyasha noticed, nor cared. The fool was still not over the resurrected Miko.
The youngest girl rubbed her hands together, helped her sister out of the well and slung an ugly yellow pack over her shoulders. Small jewel pieces shone in the pale light of the moon. He squinted his eyes, peering at the Shikon shards in a small glass jar dangling from a fine silver chain on her neck. He knew, of course, they had been collecting them, but he had never sensed them on her. The girl briefly glanced up at the sky. He stood quite a distance above from her on the uprooting branches of a large oak tree and yet her eyes gazed straight at him.
The eldest of the two opened up a strange rain shield and he frowned. The rain had already ceased its constant dinging against the metallic surface of his armour and, as he inhaled deeply, he suspected it would not continue much longer, yet the girl still needed the shelter of an inadequate rain shield. He would have snorted, but right now he only wanted to speak to the Miko and not have his half-brother shouting obscenities. He could do without the fool right now.
So he chose to abide his time, watching the two girls go towards the village, watched the girl get into the hut and he stayed gazing out over the village. Slowly he peered at the dried-up well again. There was an echo of magic he had no knowledge of and that grated him.
With a crack of his knuckles, he sat back on a branch, his senses extended outward. If she hadn't already sensed him, then she should sense him now. He peered up at the black sky above, riddled with stars. The weather was chilly and the temperature had dropped with the sun going down.
His half-brother was the first one to get out of the hut. For a second Sesshōmaru thought the half-breed had sensed him, but the boy merely jumped up on the roof of the elderly Miko's home, gazing up at the sky. He was as oblivious to his presence as usual. It was rather pathetic.
The girl got out of the hut not long after. She was once again dressed in her normal clothes, except for that strange long coat of hers, and was making her way into the forest. A quiver with arrows and a bow hung over her shoulder.
He was somewhat amused and somewhat irritated. So the little thing had indeed sensed him, had she? He cloaked his scent and aura until there was no way she could sense him anymore. Not even with the advantage, she didn't even know she had. He waited until she stepped through the foliage, eyes flitting over the treetops. He appeared behind her, she was halfway done turning around, but he already had her pinned against a tree, hand clasped over her mouth.
"Miko,"
She mumbled something in his hand, anger radiating from her small form and he smirked when she foolishly tried the elbow him. With one swipe, he pushed the girl off her balance and pulled her up. Her feet kicked in the empty air and he jumped up, one arm wrapped around her waist. She shrieked, eyes growing wide when he took to the sky. When he landed on a thick branch he heard her audible exhale. Once again he peered at her. He had seen his half-brother hauling her up on his back when following after the wolf-yōkai. Had seen her soaring through the air, going up to great heights, yet she seemed somewhat worried.
The readily way she exposed her emotions was something he was unfamiliar with. She was blunt and talkative, not unlike Rin, and as her heart-rate calmed she glared at him.
I-I. ⌡. Γ┐
Chiharu waited until everyone was asleep. Sango laying motionlessly on a sleeping mat, Miroku sitting against the wooden wall of the hut, Kagome rolled up in her sleeping bag, like a worm and Shippō cuddled into Chiharu's sleeping bag. She slipped into her winter coat and swung her quiver with arrows and her bow over her shoulder. She knew he was still there, but she just couldn't figure out why. What could he possibly still want that made him stalk them?
She stomped through the foliage, moving towards the well, but as her aura searched the air she could no longer sense him. She knew he was there. Knew it with a certainty she didn't know she had, but as she peered around, she did not know where he was. She peered through the darkened forest, brows furrowed, the light of the moon barely penetrating enough through leaves of the trees.
Leaves from above her rustled and she tried turning around, but suddenly a hand clamped over her mouth, muffling her scream and another hand wrapped around her waist. He slammed her harshly against a tree and she cursed — not that he could tell —. She kicked her legs, trying to get him to loosen his grip and as a last resort tried to elbow him. Chiharu tried peering over her shoulder, but she only saw a lock of silver hair. He didn't budge even a centimetre and she felt his breath fanning out over her ear.
"Miko,"
She tried telling him that he was an arsehole, but with his hand still firmly clasped around her mouth, her words were muffled. Maybe it was better than they were and suddenly he jumped up. Chiharu screamed, although she might have jumped up trees and climbed a few mountains, that was a bit different from flying up in the air. Watching the ground below her become smaller and smaller she almost had a heart attack. The wind rustled through her clothes and suddenly they landed on a thick branch of the large Go-Shin-Boku tree. When their feet landed on a rough bark he let her go. She exhaled loudly her face quickly reddening and peered at the ground. They were at least sixty feet up, but at least now she was standing on her own feet again.
"When you leave, where do you go Miko?"
"That's what you want to ask me?" she asked, glaring at the ground below. She had let her bow drop to the forest floor and she felt a flicker of anger and reiki charge through her.
"Where do you go when you disappear into that well?" He asked again.
She glared at him, his long silver hair tousling in the wind and his golden eyes looking down at her. He was quite handsome, although more annoying than anything else and she sighed softly. No matter what she did, he would want an answer anyway. "That's hard to explain."
He gave her a curious look and she wondered when she stopped being a pest that should be dispatched off and started to become somewhat of an enigma. Chiharu slowly sunk to her knees, settling more comfortable on the thick branch and let one of her legs dangle.
His expression got slightly more irritated when she failed to answer him and, considering Sesshōmaru being in a tolerable mood was rare, she sighed again. "I don't come from here." She admitted. "There's a special sort of magic in and around the well that allows me and my sister— you know who my sister is, right?— to travel back and forth."
He was silent for a moment and Chiharu wondered if he was buying her somewhat lame explanation at all.
"The barely dressed one."
"What?"
"Your sister."
"Oh," Chiharu lamely muttered, "right, yes, that's my sister."
He didn't comment anymore and Chiharu glanced around. From this point, she had a fantastic point of view. She had known Kagome stood out with the strange way she dressed — considering the way Sesshōmaru eyed her winter coat Chiharu was pretty sure she herself stood out as well right now — but she had never considered that was what she would be known for. Admittedly, since Kagome had Inuyasha to protect her from the very beginning she had hardly any reason to adapt herself to the Sengoku period. Not only that but the older Higurashi girl hadn't had any real reason to hone her Miko abilities either. It was a luxury Chiharu hadn't had when she first came to Sengoku jidai, and honing the wild power that ran through her veins seemed necessary, instead of the waste of time Kagome seemed to think it was.
"Was that all you wanted of me?" Chiharu asked slowly. The river up north sparkled in the cast of the moonlight and the smooth rocks surrounding the river bank were covered in soft green moss.
"You are letting my brother train you." It wasn't a question.
Chiharu peered at him through her lashes. His face looked rather put out and she almost smiled. What had he expected? She trailed her fingers over the deep grooves on the bark of the branch and shrugged. "I needed to learn, didn't I?"
He narrowed his eyes at her and she shrugged.
"My brother won't teach you a thing. He uses brute force and doesn't think before he acts." Sesshōmaru muttered and Chiharu wondered exactly to what extent he had tried to straighten him out. When Inuyasha taught her, he had been determined for her to use her senses. He'd taught her basic hand-to-hand combat, which he admittedly rarely used in fights with enemies, and taught her to track rather effectively. He arched a brow at her mystified expression.
"He does rather well," she answered stiffly.
"You did sense me." He told her, it almost sounded like a compliment, but
"That I did."
"Even though my brother did not."
"Am I not special?" She muttered sarcastically, clamping her jaws together when she realised he might find her tone offensive. She had done so well surviving, pushing his buttons now might not be her best idea.
"Humans are weak."
She had no idea where that came from and she frowned at him, peering up at him through her lashes. Personally, she didn't see it that way. True, humans could easily die from the elements. From the cold or even from too much heat. From sickness and wounds that didn't even make the Daiyōkai twitch yet…
"I don't agree." She told him evenly. He probably didn't care a lick if she agreed or not, but at least they were passed the part where he threatened and she feared for her life. "True, yōkai are stronger. But we adapt. No matter what it takes, we adapt."
He peered at her, eyes unreadable. "Adapt?"
"For instance, we built houses." She told him dryly, he raised an eyebrow. This was the weirdest conversation she'd ever had with him until now. "We're smart. We use material that can protect us against the weather, yet it can also hold warmth."
"And what does one human need besides a house?"
"Erm," Chiharu shifted, unsure where his questions came from. "Besides clothes and food? Gee, warmth, enough sleep and a healthy rhythm, I suppose."
"Shelter is necessary?"
"Yes," she nodded, "although, I suppose staying warm by building fires and finding shelter when it rains and snows works too."
"Hn,"
"Why do you want to know?"
He didn't answer. Chiharu almost rolled her eyes before getting up to her feet. It was cold and as the chilly wind pulled at her hair, she pushed her hands into the pockets of her coat. Above, a large cloud floated in front of the moon, casting large shadows over them. She peered at him through her lashes. He was no longer looking at her, seemingly engrossed in his own thoughts a slight beam of light falling over his forehead. The purple crescent moon in stark contrast to his pale skin and she chewed on her lower-lip. The moon and the stripes on his cheeks were they actually symbols of his family. She wanted to ask, but then again, he might take offence. He took offence at the smallest things.
"You are staring."
"Right," she muttered, "I'm going back."
He didn't stop her. She massaged her temples before jumping down. The forest-floor was damp beneath the soles of her sandals and she almost slipped. She felt his stare on her back and quickened her pace. Inuyasha was awake, sitting back against the roof of Kaede's hut and shifted to a sitting position when he saw her.
"What did he want?" He demanded softly. At least he had the sense not to make a scene. Then again, he might have understood that she did not answer if he was his unreasonable short-tempered self and she shrugged.
"Talk to me about houses…"
"What?" Inuyasha asked, his irritation slightly falling away.
"You shouldn't ask, I don't really know." She told him, unbuttoning her coat and slipping into the hut. It had been a weird conversation. Even by Sesshōmaru's standards. The embers of the hearth still glowed and after dropping her coat next to her sandals she crawled towards her sleeping bag and crept under the cover. Shippō sighed contently and Chiharu slept evenly that night.
To be continued…
A/N: Next update will be around Thursday next week. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and let me know what you think.^^
Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi