Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha… Maybe in 5 years, but not now…
Bum bum bum bum! This is the chapter where Naraku enters! The one we've all been waiting for! It's the start of the plot I'm been working out for months! Yay! Oh, and it's long! An added bonus!
Chapter 5: The Dog and the Cat
Sango slowly dipped her bare feet in the shallow water, enjoying the gentle coolness on her skin, the salty breeze that whipped her long hair all over her face like some kind of soft curtain, and the occasional squeal from the seagulls overhead, casting shadows on her face from their oversized wings. She had a peaceful look on her pretty face that hid the turmoil within her from her recent encounter with the dog demon. Why didn't he kill me? She wondered, amused by Sesshomaru's reaction. The way he had let her go immediately after he realized how close they were still brought a smile to the taijiya's face. Still, the question of why she was still alive hung in the air.
And she was not the only one confused by that. Kirara hung beside her, not being able to fully enjoy the beautiful seawater for, like Sango, her mind was also somewhere else. Kirara had firmly believed that Sesshomaru was no good; no good at all. He was a hazard to her owner's life. He was dangerous. He was evil. He was a monster… So why did he save Sango? Could there be something more to the cold, marble statue of a demon? Kirara snorted at the very idea. Of course not! He was a dog. That explained everything. Still, was there something more between him and Sango? The feline snorted even louder at that idea, shaking her head out of those thoughts.
The monk, Miroku, flirted with Sango day and night without rest and still, Kirara could tell that her owner did not love him. She did not come to love people that easily. She did care for the monk a whole lot, Kirara could see that much, but there was a big difference between simply caring for someone and loving them. This much was for sure: Sango loved her father. Sango loved Kohaku. Sango loved her mother. Sango did not love Miroku nor Sesshomaru for that matter. She was simply curious about the icy lord. She probably had never met anyone as arrogant as him. Satisfied by the reason she got for Sango's odd behavior, Kirara leapt onto her owner's shoulder and curled up into a ball around her neck.
Sango grinned at the feline, "Ready to go?" she asked, slipping her feet out of the water that was starting to chill her toes and slipping them into her sandals. "We can't stay here all day. We have to move on." She absentmindedly said, stroking the soft scarf of fur Kirara made around her neck as she started to walk back to the inn they had stayed in.
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Sesshomaru ambled down the path, deliberately slow so that he wouldn't pass through his territory too quickly. He wanted to stay in the Western Lands, to… um… check up on some things. Yes, that was the truth, he did. But they weren't somethings, they were someones. Two someones who obviously disliked him… well, he wasn't sure about the girl, but the neko hated him and she let that show.
"Say it!" A little feminine voice hollered.
"I will not say something as utterly ridiculous as that!" Came the annoying croak in reply.
"Do it!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"NO!"
"YES!"
"N-" Jaken started to say, but Sesshomaru interrupted him.
"Jaken," All the demon lord had to do was breathe the imp's name and suddenly the warm spring day became so much more cold and scary.
Jaken gulped loudly, "Yes, milord?" He nervously squeaked.
"Entertain Rin," The inuyoukai tersely said. Though his words were light and without emotion, intimidation was etched into every syllable.
"Y-yes, milord," the imp repeated, his ugly little face scrunched up in worry.
Rin squealed in delight, "Now, repeat after me; Sally sells seashells by the seashore!"
"Um, Sally sees shells at the salting place?" Jaken attempted, frowning slightly.
Rin's brows knitted together in a glare, "No! Say it right! Sally sells seashells by the seashore!"
"Sally sold seashells near the shore…" Jaken tried again getting a bit better.
Rin was getting really frustrated now, "It's Sally sells seashells by the seashore!!!"
"Sally sells seashells by the seashore," Jaken repeated slowly to not mess up. He was a bit irritated himself, but didn't let it show in case Sesshomaru was listening and there was a great possibility he was.
"Good job Jaken!" Rin exclaimed, "Now say it faster!"
"What? I'm not going to-"
"Do it!" the little girl menacingly growled at him, "Or else I'll tell Sesshomaru-sama!"
"Ok, ok!" Jaken quickly agreed, "Sally-sells-seashells-by-the-seashore!"
"Faster!"
"Sallysellsseashellsbytheseashore!"
"FASTER!"
Jaken took a deep breath and was going to begin, but Sesshomaru quickly cut him off, "She's here," He muttered, his golden eyes narrowing.
Rin frowned. She had no knowledge of what had happened to her master when he had left them, "Who's here?" She questioned.
The answer came to her as a twosome suddenly popped out from a dense part of forest that covered much of the path. It was a pretty girl in a funny black outfit with a little kitty on her shoulder. Well, she had a little kitty on her shoulder. In one fluid movement, the kitty jumped off the girl and with a threatening flash of red fire, a prodigious feline replace the cute kitty. The neko growled at them –well, actually, only at Sesshomaru- flashing it's long dangerous fangs.
The pretty girl didn't even seem to notice that her pet had changed into something so horrifying and she kept on walking in a leisurely pace, humming a soft tune and completely ignoring them. To Rin's surprise, Sesshomaru did the exact same, ignoring the twosome, and walking away, not even sparing a look in their direction. Even when the fire neko growled straight in the inuyoukai's face, he disregarded her and continued to walk. If any other demon had done just that to the taiyoukai, Rin could bet that they would not live to see the light of another day. However, he had just let this demon slide. What was with that?
Sango looked very carefree with her humming and laid-back strolling, but that just hid what was going on in her brain. The slayer snuck a very hidden peek at Rin from beneath her thick eyelashes, surprised at the results. The human who Kagome had told her about that was traveling with Sesshomaru was nothing like Sango had expected. Well, actually she hadn't even been expecting a human. She had thought that perhaps Kagome had gotten it wrong and somehow it wasn't a human. She had thought that it might have been a demon in disguise; maybe even Sesshomaru's own daughter or something. Sango frowned. For some reason, the thought of Sesshomaru having a daughter discontented her. For, in order to have a child, he would have had to have it with some woman and the idea of Sesshomaru being with some woman made Sango feel sick in the stomach.
Sesshomaru cocked an eyebrow, having caught Sango's sneaked look, as incognito as she tried to make it be. So she's curious about Rin? He silently mused, well, why wouldn't she be? It's not everyday you find a demon traveling with a human. Sesshomaru briefly glanced at Kirara from the corner of his eye, or perhaps it is… He almost formed his perfect lips into a smile right then, but quickly stopped himself. If she's curious, then I might as well quench her thirst. He looked at Kirara once again, not bothering to be sneaky with it. Kirara caught his gaze and snarled at once. We'll do an exchange…
Quick as lightning, Sesshomaru made up an excuse, "Rin," He whispered softly. The girl's head jerked up at once to listen to his instructions, "Stay here with the slayer," At the very mention of her, the humming stopped as Sango turned to listen.
"Wha-" She started to question, but Sesshomaru interrupted her.
"Jaken, you go to the Hiyaterin Bridge," he said, authority obvious in his voice, "and fetch me-" He paused to make something up, "the report of the area Lord Natnami promised me." Sango frowned at his request. She could also see Jaken's confusion as well, but he did not dare disobey his lord and scurried away as fast as his stubby little legs would allow.
Sesshomaru then took a step forward. Sango took a step back instinctively, but to her shock, he wasn't going toward her, he was slowly advancing toward Kirara. The feline snarled loudly, her fur bristling around her like a lion's mane. Sango was just about to snap out the Hiraikotsu to defend her pet, but then she noted something new. Sesshomaru wasn't progressing toward the feline like a dog was to his prey, but in a different way… Sango couldn't place her finger on what that looked like, but it didn't look threatening. So, instead, she stood there with Rin, both intrigued by the demon's actions.
Once Sesshomaru was less than five feet away, Kirara let out a truly terrifying snarl in warning that chilled Sango to the bone. She had never heard that sound before. No matter what situation they were in, no matter how bad it was, Kirara had always managed to keep her cool. So why was she like this now? Was she really full of that much enmity for this demon?
Suddenly, a second noise joined Kirara's snarl; a deep rumbling sound much like the one that had come out of the feline's throat, but different somehow… Much less menacing. Sango frowned. She was completely astounded to find it coming out of Sesshomaru.
Sango watched as Kirara blinked. The neko looked even more confused than she, if that were possible. A few more seconds of somewhat genial growling was exchanged between the two before Kirara reverted to her smaller form. "Kirara?" Sango questioned, her head feeling like her brain had been deflated. Nothing made sense right then.
Kirara gave her a reassuring meow and then… Sango rubbed her eyes, not believing this… the neko then bounced onto Sesshomaru and twisted around his neck the same way she always did with her owner. Sesshomaru turned to stare at Sango with the full intensity of his molten eyes, "Do not be concerned, your pet will be returned." And with that, he disappeared with Kirara into the depths of the forest with astounding speed.
Sango tapped her head, surprised to find that it did not crumple under the force of her fingers. It felt like it might explode at any moment. Forgetting that she wasn't alone, the taijiya sank down to the ground and sat, then pulled up her knees to her chest and buried her face in her knees. A small voice startled her, "Are you ok?"
The slayer looked up to find a pair of bright eyes staring directly at her, slightly clouded with worry. Sango gave Rin a smile, slightly embarrassed about being caught like that, "Yes, I'm fine… I just think better this way."
"Oh," Rin said, drawing her own knees to her chest and burying her face within, "Well, what were you thinking about?" She asked, her voice slightly muffled.
"You know, everything." The young woman said with a shrug. Then, Sango stared intently at the girl. She seemed so much like an ordinary child…
"Oh, that's cool… Are you done thinking about everything, now?"
The slayer couldn't help but smile at the girl, "Yes, Rin, I am."
The little girl smiled a toothy grin, "How did you know my name? I don't know yours."
"My name is Sango. I've heard so much about you, Rin!"
Rin frowned, "From who?"
Sango couldn't tell her that she had been gossiping about Sesshomaru with her friends. That would just be rude and quite embarrassing to admit. So instead she said, "From everywhere. Everyone knows who you are!"
Rin put her small hands on her hips, "From who?" She repeated, trying to look tough.
"Why, um, Sesshomaru, of course!"
"He told you about me?" Rin questioned looking baffled.
"Yes. He told me what a sweet, charming little girl you are and I doubted him at first, but now that I've seen you, I believe everything he's told me!"
"Wow!" The cheery girl's face seemed to light up with joy. "Wait," Rin suddenly said, looking at Sango from head to toe. A smile popped into her face as she finished her examination of the slayer, "You're pretty," She said, making Sango blush in pleasure, "Are you going to marry Sesshomaru-sama and become my new mother?"
Sango's blush quickly faded away, leaving her face pale with shock, "Um, Rin-"
"That's so great!" Rin continued, not listening, "I lost my real mama when she got killed by bandits, so I'm so glad to have you, Sango!" She happily said, giving the taijiya a hug, but only reaching her leg. "We'll be so happy together, right?"
Sango bit her lip. Rin seemed so happy. She couldn't disappoint her. It would break her little heart. "Yes, Rin. We will all be happy," She said, though a little shiver ran through her body at the thought of marrying Sesshomaru. She liked to pretend that it was a shiver of disgust, but she knew, deep inside, that it was something much different. It was actually…
"Come on, let's go swimming!" Rin giggled, pleased at the idea of Sango being her mother. The little girl gently took her hand and skipped to the right.
The taijiya couldn't help but smile a bit as Rin's good mood spread some warmth into her heart. No wonder Sesshomaru kept her around.
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Rin watched intently as Sango continued to polish her Hiraikotsu with extreme care. "You see," The taijiya was explaining, "I get this wax from a special place on Mt. Katoraru. It can't be found anywhere else in the world. That's because they make it from the unique insects that live there."
The little girl nodded, brushing a sopping wet lock of hair out of her eyes. They had recently gone swimming and before they could have even dried off in the warm sun, Rin had demanded that Sango show her the weapon she always carried on her back. So, the two girls with soaking wet clothes that hung on their bodies in an uncomfortable way, sat by the little river as Sango idly rambled about her Hiraikotsu, her mind somewhere else.
Naturally, Sango had questioned the girl about her relationship to Sesshomaru, but even though Rin told her very little, the taijiya had gained a bit of insight as to why she was traveling with a heartless ice statue…
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The two girls laughed as they splashed each other with water. Sango wrapped an arm around the child and lifted her up, giggling at her screams of delight as she twirled the little girl around. The water was very cool and clung to their clothes, but they both ignored that and continued to laugh and play…
Finally, Sango set Rin down and they both sat on the shore with a sigh, "Rin, aren't we having fun?"
"Yes!" the child said, gazing at Sango with sparkling eyes, "I never get to laugh this much with Lord Sesshomaru and Jaken."
"Oh?" The taijiya questioned, eager to learn more about her, "Why is that?"
"Well, Jaken is always, grumpy and Sesshomaru-sama is…" Rin paused to find the right word, "well, he's him, you know? He just doesn't say much…"
"They don't sound very fun to be around," Sango sympathetically said, "Hey, I know, why don't you come to live with me and Kirara?" She suggested, waiting for the girl's reaction.
Rin's face scrunched up in an emotion Sango could really decipher, "Oh, no, I couldn't. You're nice and all, Miss Sango, but I couldn't ever leave Sesshomaru-sama!"
"Why not? He doesn't seem to be the right type of person for a little girl like you to be around." But Rin still shook her head. A new thought popped into Sango's head, "Wait, is this because you don't like me? Oh, well, I understand…"
"No! I like you a whole bunch, Sango. It's just that… I couldn't survive without Lord Sesshomaru…"
"You still haven't told me why not." Sango reminded her, utterly confused now from the shocking amount of devotion this little girl showed to her lord.
"Don't you understand?" Rin asked, staring right at her with her large doe-like eyes, "I love Sesshomaru-sama!"
"Oh my," Sango gasped the wind suddenly knocked out of her. She curled her knees up to her chest as she strained to breathe, but Rin just kept on going.
"My real parents died from bad guys and Sesshomaru-sama has been here from me ever since… He's like a father to me, though I don't really remember my really daddy… I really do love him, Miss Sango, and that's why I can never let him go…"
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Sango sighed as she was snapped out of her reminiscence by Rin who was asking her a question. "What is your weapon made out of, Sango?"
The taijiya opened her mouth to answer, but then the overpowering dark demonic aura followed by the fresh, crisp, almost indescribable scent of a familiar person made her close her mouth again. It was actually quite hard to explain. Yes, it was fresh and crisp, but it also smelt like something different than other beings. If it were possible, this scent smelt cold. But, it wasn't a good type of cold. It was a frightening cold coated with darkness and evil. At the same time, it was mouth-watering and very inviting… Sesshomaru had returned.
Sango almost turned her head to look at him, but remembered that she was still angry at him for not explaining his business with Kirara. Instead of telling Rin her Hiraikotsu was made out of centipede bones, Sango quickly changed course.
"Are you asking what the Hiraikotsu is made out of?" The taijiya asked, her voice unnaturally sweet, "Why, it's made of demon bones of course!" She turned to glare at Sesshomaru, "Dog demon bones," Her voice was edgy as she empathized that word.
Both Rin and Jaken, who had just returned, snapped their heads to stare at Sesshomaru, worrying what he was going to do. No one said anything offense like that to their lord and got away with it… However, Sesshomaru merely did as little as blink and no more. His cool mien did not suggest that he had heard a word the slayer had said, though with his sharp senses, he must have. Instead, his eyes continued to search Sango, an eyebrow lifted oh so slightly at the sight of their soaking-wet clothing. A light blush covered the taijiya's face as she recalled how her clothes clung to her body in all the wrong places when she was wet. She didn't let that stop her, though because she wasn't done with the demon lord yet.
"Have you had your fun with my pet?" She demanded, "Well, can I have her back now, Sesshomaru?" She stretched out a hand beckoning toward Kirara who bounced at the demon lord's feet.
Jaken's eyes bulged so big that they might burst at anytime. "Why you insolent wench! That's Sesshomaru-sama for you!"
To the imp's amazement, Sango did not start groveling and begging for forgiveness. "Let's go now," She muttered to Kirara who leaped eagerly from Sesshomaru's side into her arms. "We shall take our leave now, Sesshomaru," She said, stressing his name, "Hope to run into you again," the slayer amiably told him, strolling away from them. "Not!" She added under her breath, knowing that Sesshomaru could very well hear her.
And with that, Kirara transformed into her fierce neko form. Sango willingly got on and within a second, they were in the air flying away from Jaken's loud vocal outrage from below…
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Naraku watched the five exchange words, his face just barely able to hide his immense shock. Luckily for him, he was in his usual whereabouts in his usual castle in the darkest room there. Kagura and Kanna were not around so he was all by himself. That was good so no one could see that the infamous Naraku had expressed an emotion other that malice. He was just too shocked. It was just too unbelievable on so many different levels. First of all, why was Sesshomaru with the slayer's pet neko? Cats and dogs never got along and there they were, sauntering around like they were lifelong friends… What was that about?
Secondly, why was the taijiya with the dog's precious little girl? Did he trust the woman well enough with his beloved child? If so, why? Had some kind of truce formed between the two without his knowledge? Naraku shook his head. That couldn't be. He had been watching every single one of the slayer's moves ever since the minute she had decided to leave Inuyasha and the other wimpy humans. Naraku had decided that Sango might be useful to him in the future…
Last and most important of all, when the slayer had insulted Sesshomaru so, why hadn't he done anything to her? He just stood there and watched like the usual lifeless lump he was. Naraku remembered that Sesshomaru was also after his head. Why was that? He had barely done anything to the inuyoukai's high pride, but yet the dog desired his blood. And here, a human woman scorns everything about Sesshomaru and he lets it slide… Why? Why? Why? Could this do with the fire neko and his precious little girl? Suddenly, it hit him.
Oh, I see what kind of truce they're in, Naraku thought, like father, like son. Sesshomaru desires after human bitches just as much as his pathetic father did. How sweet. A deep chuckle radiated through the darkness where Naraku resided. No wonder Sesshomaru had gone off with the neko! He was probably asking her for her permission for the slayer… And that's why the slayer was with the child; to gain her trust when she takes over as her mother. How incredibly lovely. I would hate to break this up… A flash of bright white gleamed from the darkness as Naraku smiled, actually, I wouldn't…
A booming laugh chilled the souls of every living creature around as Naraku continued to watch the taijiya zip through the sky on her mount through the dark glass of the crystal he used to look through the eyes of his puppet, a plan forming in that mechanical brain of his...
Ok, that was pretty creepy, right? Oh, and just so you know, nothing that Naraku assumed was true… Sesshomaru was not asking Kirara's permission for Sango's hand. That would be just completely wrong! –shakes head- poor dumb old Naraku. Anyways, I'm kind of fond of this chapter. Yes, odd, but this is the first of this story that I actually like. Well, how do you feel? The plot is actually way more in depth than just this. I think I'm in the right direction, right?