I regretted not listening to my conscious once again. I'd made a large error, mistaking the battle with Shishinki for the battle against the evil incarnate of the Shikon jewel. After realizing my mistake, I let out a groan before fighting the desire to bang my head against the nearest rock. I would attempt to at least have the words of my conscious in the back of my head next time instead of completely disregarding them. Fortunately, my foolish mistake did not alter the fight itself, but that didn't keep Sesshomaru from struggling. It wasn't an easy task to accomplish, fighting the single entity of thousands of demons from hundreds of years prior. Everyone was present, even the free minded Kohaku. A plot hole I would not point out verbally. I stared at the boy, wondering how and why he was here along with how InuYasha would obtain the Meido if Sesshomaru gave up the Tenseiga here instead of while against Shishinki. How could I even be sure he would draw the sword of life instead of his own when fighting the lilac haired man, IF he fought the man at all?
My attention snapped back to the battle in time to avoid being hit with one of jewel incarnate's vicious attacks that would have sent me tumbling through the dirt without a doubt.
"Ah, a fine catch, Sesshomaru." The pure evil voice commented as he watched me return to my contemplative form. "I wonder how she would look by my side."
"That's quite the assumption you are making there." I replied as I stared, unamused, at the man.
When he returned my gaze, I was out cold.
'Maybe I shouldn't have stared straight into his eyes.' [Me]
Oh no, it's fine to stare down pure malice. [I]
Well, we all slip up at some point. [Myself]
'I think it was an act of pure stupidity. I knew what was coming.' [Me]
We all did, but it just slipped our mind. [Myself]
Tsk. We're going to miss the part when Sesshomaru gets the sword! [I]
'I have a feeling that man was alluding to more than just my looks, can demons just tell what I am?' [Me]
Only the stronger and more informed ones, but yes. [Beast]
'I'm sure Naraku knows by now with all the public displays of affection Sesshomaru's had with me and the two ladies who hang around him, never at the same time.' [Me]
I'm sure he's made you a target, regardless of whether he understands what you are or not. [Beast]
'Is there anything I can plan to avoid getting into trouble with him?' [Me]
I doubt it. [I]
He's quite conniving. [Myself]
'There's no way to plan on how to help myself if I have no idea about the circumstances.' [Me]
Then I guess we'll just have to wait and see. [I]
'Wing it?' [Me]
Wing it. [Myself]
It was utter silence until I the shouts of a peeved InuYasha and a gentle wind woke me up. I wasn't surprised the daiyokai had picked me up and attempted to simply leave, and at my patting of his shoulder, he let me down. I looked around to see what I had missed, and noticed that the ground held a bit of electricity that jumped between rocks, looking to destroy anything it could grab a hold of. My eyes quickly darted to Sesshomaru's swords and was excited to see it sporting a new, indigo, sheath. Without much thought, I reached out and traced it with my right hand, watching with physical excitement as short electric shocks bounded through my arms, but refused to harm me. With my left, I took notice of Tokijin and Tenseiga, giving both swords a similar caress. Tokijin was a bit more hostile toward me before ignoring me completely while Tenseiga seemed more than happy to have a woman's touch grace it. It was strange how the swords reminded me of the personalities in my head: Tokijin, sassy like I, Tenseiga tender like Myself, and Bakusaiga, the newest addition, level headed like Beast.
With the new sword on my mind, my eyes then flew to Sesshomaru's right side. Initially confused by the sleeve that hid his lost limb, a smile quickly grew on my face as a new set of claws greeted me for the first time.
"Your arm." I said with relief written in my face.
Was it a smile I saw, a genuine smile? Doth my eyes deceive me? Surely not! For on Sesshomaru's lips sat a small smile, showing affection toward my reaction. Tis' a shame that such a sight lasted but a second.
I pulled away Sesshomaru's sleeve to get a better look at the new limb, tracing my fingers over it to make sure it was real and not some cruel joke being played on me. I was ecstatic to find that the arm was seamed perfectly onto his body, showing no sign of ever being lost. I rolled his sleeve back down and patted it smooth before noticing the stares Miroku and the others gave me and Sesshomaru. The guys seemed oh, so confused, but the girls (even Kirara!) gave me sly smiles as, Kagome and Sango even turning to whisper to each other.
When I turned around to look at Sesshomaru, he had already started on his descent off the mountain with Rin close behind. I took his distancing of himself as a green light to reacquaint myself with the group. I went and hugged Kagome and Sango, letting them know they had been missed. Miroku stretched out his arms to hug me as well but Sango hit him so hard that he fell down and slid in the dirt floor. I turned my head while hugging Kagome to stare at his twitching form, wondering what he was expecting.
"Would you care to explain what the hell just happened?" InuYasha asked
"I don't like your tone Mr. Loud Mouth." I shot back.
"Ignore him, how are you?" Kagome asked.
"Eh, not bad, not wonderful."
"I'm surprised you aren't dead yet." InuYasha added in quickly.
"Funny! I was about to say the same thing to you! After all, you don't learn from your mistakes." I snapped back. I was getting the hang of this.
"You're getting the hand of this." Sango stated.
"It took a lot of practice" I replied as I let go of the raven.
"Who have you been practicing on?" Kagome asked.
"The occasional trouble I run into, but Sesshomaru and I have battles in rhetoric every now and then." I admitted.
"You talk back to Sesshomaru?" Sango asked, more than surprised.
"Don't get me wrong, I know when to keep my mouth shut. But when he's in more of a hospitable mood, he's willing to humor me."
"Humor? The man couldn't tell a joke for the life of him." InuYasha commented.
"I'd be dead by now if he didn't have the slightest sense of humor." I noted, getting InuYasha to concede that much at the least.
"That means he speaks to you on occasion." Sango deducted.
"Of course he does. He's not mute, you know."
"What do you talk about?" Kagome asked, bringing me into a closed circle with Sango.
"Just about things that happened and the little insight I can give him." I responded, well-guarded.
"Is that all you talk about?" Sango asked.
"No…"
"Then what else?" Kagome insisted.
"InuYasha, are you still interested in what just happened?" I asked.
"I'd like to know what you talk about with the ice prince myself." He replied.
I gave an awkward chuckle before pulling away from the circle and expounding on the battle that had just occurred, informing the group of Sesshomaru's ordeal, and newly acquired mind set. He wasn't obsessed with Tetsaiga, though I didn't talk about the extent of his loss of desire for the sword, since I didn't know myself. I was also glad to inform them on Sesshomaru's increased strength. They seemed to be more interested in his sword to my slight dismay.
"So, if the lightning that comes from Sesshomaru's sword touches something, it will disintegrate?" Miroku asked.
"Yup, and that thing wouldn't be able to regenerate."
Sango's eyes widened, the first to understand what I hinted at. "So if Naraku gets hit by it, he won't be able to regenerate!"
"Not only that, but his body will continue to decay until there is nothing left." I whispered. "No running away from it."
"Then all he has to do is hit him!" InuYasha said.
I nodded. They all let out a cheer, Kagome and Sango smiling and having small side comments to each other while InuYasha and Miroku grabbed each other's hands, taking an arm wrestling position to express their brotherhood and manliness.
I found myself staring off in the direction Sesshomaru had walked off in. Was it really okay for me to hang back like this? I knew he would want me to fawn over his swords, his signs of power, and arms, and I know I wanted to fawn over them, but I need some time to myself though. The man is obstinate about having me for his wife for the wrong reason, and it was worry some. I couldn't say that I only appreciated Sesshomaru as a character any more, not with all the times he's helped me out of a sticky situation and the genuine kindness he's shown me. I could even consider myself lucky with how open he was being to me for someone he met maybe a month or two ago.
I couldn't fight my urge and told the gang to wait for me before heading toward where I knew Sesshomaru waited. Once I was out of earshot from the group, I saw Sesshomaru. He looked up from his seat by a tree that overlooked the edge of the mountain, wondering why my talk with the group had been so short.
"I'm going with Kagome for a little while." I told him. "I won't be long."
He stood, stopping Rin's playing as she turned to face the both of us. I stood as straight as I could, adamant on my decision, and letting him see as much in my resolute stare. He gave me his own amber filled gaze, before smoothly wrapping his arms around me. I said nothing as I realized that this was the first time he was holding me with both of his arms. I let him pull me closer, choosing to keep my own hands still as his right hand held my head to his shoulder. We stood like that for God knows how long before he let me go. I held my head, trying to familiarize the feeling of having two hands wrap around me instead of one. It was completely new to me, and would remain as foreign until I spent enough time with the man and his two arms.
"I will meet you at the well within three days" he said before leaving me behind.
The image disturbed me, so I turned around and went my own way.
