Kagura was feeling very proud of herself and actually somewhat giddy. Perhaps this was not as impossible as she'd first thought.
She'd risked her life annoying Sesshoumaru, moving away whenever he approached her in the woods; there had been the possibility she might push it too far and end up impaled on Tokijin or a set of deadly claws…but in the end, her hunch had been right, and the risk had paid off. She had had a hunch that his feral instincts would enjoy a chase; though in this too she ran the risk of being viewed as prey. She'd spent the entire time purposely thinking the most deliciously lewd thoughts she could come up with in an attempt to leak desire into her scent. It seemed to have worked perfectly. When she'd pressed herself against him, she'd been perfectly able to feel his arousal; and as if that undeniable fact wasn't enough, the hilariously out-of-character way he'd reacted, jumping away like a nervous adolescent and nearly falling from the tree, clearly showed that he was affected by the whole thing.
Naraku's order was nearly forgotten by now. She was too delighted by the possibility that she might actually be capable of making Sesshoumaru feel to think much about the original cause of this venture. Still, the hovering insects Naraku had sent kept pulling her to remember her job. Nevertheless…she was enjoying this, and enjoying anything Naraku told her to do was rare indeed. She supposed she ought to savor it while she could, before he changed his mind and sent her off to do something more distasteful.
She was surprised by the thrill she got at having Sesshoumaru almost chasing her. It was an interesting mix of almost-fear and excitement. It was like standing on a cliff, looking over the edge, delighting at the view and yet well aware of the danger. She wanted to do it again, to see the strange mixture of confusion and anger and lust brewing in those normally unreadable golden eyes.
She was considering things now that she hadn't really thought of before, hoping where before she hadn't dared. She had been well aware of Sesshoumaru's good attributes from their first meeting; his utterly beautiful features, his immense power, his deep, smooth voice…she'd been attracted to him from the beginning, but it never would have truly even crossed her mind that she might have a chance for anything with him. He was too cold, too dignified, too…well, too snobbish, really. Now, she felt like she had a chance, and the knowledge was elating. She'd caught the barest glimpse of another Sesshoumaru, one affected by instinct and emotion…and she wanted to see more of that other side...
………
InuYasha and his misfit group of companions were nearby, and Sesshoumaru was not in the mood to torment his brother, so he headed the opposite direction. Rin was singing quietly, something about Jaken looking like a frog, which was rather amusing. He could practically feel the imp seething; undoubtedly building up to a fit of screeching that would have Rin in peals of childish laughter.
It was strange how much affection Sesshoumaru bore towards his companions, though he would never admit to it. Jaken was something like a pet…and Rin...Rin was special. Rin had taken his ice-coated heart and melted out a spot just big enough for her to fit in, and strangely, he didn't hate himself for loving her. The only problem was that loving one thing made it easier to love others, as though warmth spread out from her place in his heart and began slowly thawing the rest of it. He didn't like that, didn't like the new reactions, didn't like the way he hesitated to kill InuYasha, or the way his heartbeat insisted on speeding up when Kagura smiled. Loving Rin was not inconvenient, except for the times when he needed to rescue her from one thing or another. Loving Rin was not troublesome, like beginning to feel brotherly affection towards the hanyou he'd spent years trying to kill, or feeling attracted to the offspring of his enemy. Loving Rin was like loving a child of his own; a warm, pleasant feeling with no particular repercussions. Loving others was not so simple and certainly not something he welcomed the thought of.
It had been three days since that irritating woman showed up, for whatever obscure purpose, apparently simply to annoy him. It aggravated him that he kept half-hoping she'd come again. She'd been so strange and tempting…He sighed, deriding himself for such thoughts, such weaknesses. Such inner turmoil was nothing new, though this was a new topic for it. He was actually a very emotional being; it was simply in his nature as an Inu. He sometimes watched dogs follow their masters around, panting and adoring and begging and whining, and inwardly cringed at his relation to them. His icy veneer was carefully constructed and difficult to maintain, and beneath it swirled a great deal of feeling, which could occasionally slip through his control and become visible to others, something he privately dreaded. He'd felt a lot of things behind his wall of ice; anger, sorrow, lust, the father-to-child love he felt for Rin…but Kagura was the first to evoke this strange, unwelcome new emotion. Simple lust, he could handle; ignore, or perhaps even satisfy, if it were only that. But there was more to it, and he was uncomfortable with that knowledge. He'd reacted like a clumsy teenager when she'd pressed herself against him; his heart seemingly in his throat, his body excited, his mind rushing with a million different thoughts. No woman he'd ever shared a bed with had made him react that way, not since his first some several hundred years back. He didn't like how he felt concerned for her, worried that Naraku would harm her. He didn't like how he wanted to see her again. He didn't like feeling anything for her, period.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, Jaken tripped."
He turned and found his imp retainer sprawled out on the ground sporting a sizeable lump on his forehead. The sight made a tiny smirk touch Sesshoumaru's lips. Jaken was an endless source of amusement, not that he'd admit to the secret laughter the creature provided.
"Get up, Jaken. You're slowing us down."
Jaken leapt up immediately, bowing profusely and apologizing while Sesshoumaru internally snickered. He turned away and began walking again, wondering where Naraku had hidden himself.