SESSHOMARU BOUND
By Lady JenDragon
Disclaimer: Don't own it.
Author's Notes: Hope you're enjoying this little brainstorm of mine so far. Still coming up with ideas in addition to updating all my other stories. Been away for a while with finishing school and a death in the family to take care of and all. Hope you've had a good Holiday Season.
CHAPTER 4
The Human Factor
Kagome ate in silence under the tree, the campfire. She fumed at having to spend the evening practically alone with a demon. Not that he wanted her hanging around anyway. She certainly was not Rin who followed him without question. No, she wanted to just find the remaining part of the Shikon Jewel and then go home. Leave all of this chaos behind.
"I could've just stayed an hour." Kagome mumbled to herself.
Sesshomaru remained quiet.
"I wouldn't have to eat alone." Kagome continued mumbling. "I hate eating alone."
Still he said nothing nor did he attempt to move from his tree. In fact, he remained so quiet at times she forgot he was there. Even in the rustling breeze, he appeared unphased by the heat and humidity. How could he wear all that armor and kimono and not be hot? Kagome wished she could go for a nice swim before bed. Still, something was bugging her.
"How do you do it?" Kagome set her face on Sesshomaru who lifted his eyes to her. "Traveling alone all the time? No friends, no family. Is there someone who gives a damn about you? Don't you care? Doesn't it bother you? No home to go to?"
"Few necessities are required." Came his simple answer. "This Sesshomaru needs no one."
"That's a lie." Kagome said defiantly.
Sesshomaru lifted his head more to look at the woman.
"Everyone needs someone." She shrugged. "We are incapable of doing everything ourselves. We depend on others to help us get to where we want to be. That is the way it is. If no one needed anyone, we wouldn't be people, a species, on this planet. If that were true progress would never happen."
"You speak of Human progress?"
"All progress." Kagome lifted her chin.
"All you know is Human." Sesshomaru returned. "Demons are…"
"Are just the same." Kagome cut him off. "You act like demons are so much better than Humans and yet all of you act just like us. So you have magic power. So what you have more abilities than us. What makes you so damn great? You kill for no reason, you kill for power, you kill for possession of lands and peoples. How does that make you any different from us?"
Kagome blinked, Sesshomaru's left hand was at her throat. He knelt before her, barely lifting her from the ground but she felt no pain. His hand was large, but lacked the dual purple stripes she had seen before. This must be the replacement hand mentioned before. Her eyes darted around it and deemed it well made. The Demon Witch knew what she was doing. The offer of a hand to replace one lost was certainly appealing to a demon of his stature.
"Never compare demons to humans." His tone was dangerous.
Kagome groped around in the air searching for the tether then yanked on it rather hard. She hoped that the Bounder behaved as it had done before. And it did not disappoint her this time either. Sesshomaru fell onto the ground face first before her, his grip around her throat gone. Reminded her how Inuyasha used to hit the ground whenever she yelled 'Sit'. A small fact that made her smile.
"Drop the superiority act, Sesshomaru." Kagome retorted. "Personally, I'm tired of it."
Sesshomaru only growled at her as he gained his feet once more. He needed to put a stop to her handling of him immediately. The fact she possessed the ability annoyed him, nearly driving him into a rage. But the Bounder would not allow him to transform. His demon form required his taking on a larger body compared to his human appearance. The Bounder changed size for no one. A fact that severely irritated him.
Then she did what no other living being did. She got to her feet and stood toe to toe with him. Albeit much shorter than he, she looked up at him with such an expression of anger he never witnessed before in a human. And she did not appear to fear him.
"Where I come from, your kind doesn't exist!" Kagome added vehemently.
With that, she folded her arms and walked away with her chin lifted in the air. If he wanted to cause her harm, it did not come. Then again, Kagome had not expected the slight look of surprise in his eyes as he got to his feet again.
Sesshomaru stared at the woman for a moment then walked off into the darkness. Had she found a way to hurt him? No one touched this Sesshomaru. Certainly no Human.
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Hours passed slowly for him.
But it gave him time to think. He returned to camp shortly before the human went to 'sleep', taking up position under a tall tree. Rest did wonders except for the mind.
The miko claimed she came from a time when no demons existed. Impossible. He never once gave thought to her presence among humans. Her unusual style of dress, how she behaved differently from the other humans indicated that she did not belong here. His reasoning told him she lived in a place where women were given more freedoms.
This might be a problem.
Worse, his own mind told him that time was too short. If he were to find a method to remove the Bounder, he needed it deciphered. Jaken and Rin were waiting for him near the edge of his lands between Humans and Demons. They would wait for his return. Still, that might be some time.
Now, there was another consideration to be made. Sesshomaru cursed himself and the Demon Witch silently at the idea. Yet he had to know if the Bounder might respond to the possibility. Even if it were unlikely. He shifted his seat against the tree then got to his feet. Taking a deep breath, he neared where Kagome rested on a 'sleeping bag'. It was a warm night and she chose to sleep on the top, not in it.
Kagome slept on her stomach at the moment. The thought of attempting this on a woman, let alone a human disgusted him. Yet, it would make getting the Bounder off that much sooner if the legend were true. Conceding to his action, Sesshomaru placed his hand where her legs parted. He pressed his long fingers where the heat radiated out of the miko. She moaned softly then shifted, her one leg moving farther out.
'The human is ready to mate.'
More than that, her body wished to feel the touch of a willing male. She would go into her cycle shortly, within the week if her scent were any indication. Her purity remained hers at such an older age compared to other equivalent human females. He caught her scent during their visit to Grimmick. This was why Grimmick mentioned the copulation between the two creatures forced and bounded.
While not completely eliminating the Bounder, it would severely weaken the holding spell was his suspicion. If the Demonslayer knew her lore, then the Bounder would no doubt be time sensitive. A fact he had not considered. The visit to Kagome's friends had not been completely useless after all.
The Bounder shimmered, giving off light even though he could not see it without the aid of the Jewel. A blue light sparkled then turned green and swirled with white. He had his answer. And it bothered him. Sesshomaru lifted his eyes to the sky.
Kagome moaned again. Sesshomaru bent his head, finding his new left hand beneath the fabric of the tight clothing she wore over her hips. He touched the wetness where the heat escaped her body, enticing him only slightly. A woman ready to mate often lured many demons to explore. However, he was above such low breeding. He took his hand back, brushing against her on the way out. She responded accordingly.
Sesshomaru fisted his hand tightly, drawing blood where his nails dug into his own flesh.
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The next morning, Kagome woke feeling a bit…jittery. Last night proved to be very odd, her dreams of men hanging around her as her own personal harem. Even one of the men trying to take her to bed threw her off. She did dream of this stuff generally as a rule. She half woke last night, finding Sesshomaru sitting closer to her than when she had gone to bed. The demon disappeared this morning despite being bounded.
"The Bounder has reduced by a pace." Sesshomaru appeared from behind the tree.
Kagome sat straight up, alarmed. Then she took a deep breath, Sango said it was better to have the Bounder reduce its length than stay the same length. Still, that did not do much to quell her fear of something bad happening anyway.
"What do we do?" Kagome wanted to panic all the same. "It's only been four days since we've been bounded."
Sesshomaru stood waiting for Kagome to clear up camp. He would not aid her in such daily chores she insisted upon creating. He was patient. Sesshomaru knew he could nothing about this waste of time. However, the human appeared to be more agreeable this morning.
"Increase the speed of the search." Came his simple response.
"What do you suggest?" Kagome asked as she packed her stuff up.
"Totosai must be found." Sesshomaru felt no reason to keep it secret. "You know him."
"He's not at his home?" Kagome stopped for a moment. "He won't be happy to see you."
Sesshomaru withheld his anger. She had the ability to point out the simplest observations. Totosai always avoided dealing with him on every occasion running to Inuyasha and this miko for protection. Perhaps the demon sword maker would stay put for once and answer his questions with her in his company.
"Where's Rin?" Kagome lifted her pack onto her back.
"Under Jaken's care." Sesshomaru responded evenly.
Kagome stopped to stare at him.
"So, you really don't have a problem with all Humans, just a majority of them?" Kagome watched him closely but found his expression blank.
"Silence." Sesshomaru wanted no further communication.
The scent of her increased since last night. She was close to beginning her cycle. Sesshomaru turned to walk towards the path they traveled the night before, dismissing her physical state as mere conclusion based on her scent. They would need to cover much ground today to catch up with the target.
"Listen, we both know you probably can't kill me while we're Bounded." Kagome took a deep breath. "If I'm going to travel with you, you're just gonna have to get used to the idea of me asking questions."
Sesshomaru began walking the trail they left behind the previous night. It would be wise to maintain his distance. She could easily irritate him, rousing his anger needlessly. The simple of solution was killing the Bounder. With the task completed, the Boundee could be free.
However, Sesshomaru knew the Demon Witch must have accounted for this logic. She was not one to miss a single detail. Taking years to create a replacement arm to lure him to her residence, she planned this revenge over some time. The Bounder was created with a specific purpose. The simple solution would not work.
Killing the miko meant killing himself.
But that was if he was the Boundee. He had little proof that the Human was the Bounder, the creature used to bound the other into controlled behavior. Still, he deduced the miko was indeed the Bounder based on her ability to take him off his feet with a single shake of the tether between them. His own anger roused at the idea of being the Boundee.
'This Sesshomaru obeys no one.'
His best course of action would be to find the Swordmaker. With some reasoning, he could discover the true purpose of the Bounder.
He stopped when several auras came within range of his senses. Demons? A pack of demons were coming his way? Traveling or searching for him? Had the news of the Bounder spread quickly? Grimmick died before he could get the word out.
Perhaps a spy?