The Prettiest Lie
Chapter 4: Coming Home.
She woke up a few hours later, Sesshoumaru still sleeping in her lap. She looked at the moon and sighed. They'd have to go soon, before anymore rabid demons decided to try and chop them to pieces.
Apparently, Naraku made it public knowledge that they were chained together and very dependant on each other for survival. If they could kill her, Sesshoumaru would die as well, so now that there was a weakness on a chain following him around, demons that previously didn't stand a chance decided to try it out.
Looking down at Sesshoumaru, she decided they could both catch up on their beauty sleep on the other side of the well. Making up her mind, she shook him slightly.
His eyes slid open, that peculiar shade of gold. "We have to go." She told him quietly. He blinked, eyes sliding from her face to the moon. Slowly, he nodded. Looking down at his ripped shirt, he frowned. "I had to rip it when I healed you." She told him, pushing against the tree and getting ready to stand up. "Come on, we're almost there. I just hope no one else attacks…" she frowned this time, looking around carefully.
He got up, pulling the tatters of his shirt off and discarding them to the ground. It was useless now that it was damaged.
Kagome swallowed, staring at the shirtless Sesshoumaru. She had to admit, he could've passed for a supermodel back in her time. With a body like that, even the scars couldn't ruin him.
Shaking her head lightly, she turned towards the direction of the well. Now was no time to fantasize about the basket case on the other end of the chain.
She would do that once they got on the other side of the well.
Sesshoumaru followed after the miko. He could smell her anxiety, mixed into her natural apple-rosy scent. But he refused to ask.
Looking around more carefully, he recognized the surroundings. "Miko, are we going to the village behind Inuyasha's forest?" he asked her.
She looked back, curly mess of black hair flying around her. "Not exactly." She smiled semi-nervously.
He looked around once more before stopping abruptly. She stumbled to a stop a few steps ahead of him. "You're dragging us to my brother aren't you?" he questioned, expression stoic, but eyes angry.
"Inuyasha?" she questioned. "God, no. Are you kidding?" Flipping her hair over her shoulders, she looked up into the sky. "We aren't friends anymore, I'm afraid." Giving him another half empty smile she gestured back towards the road. He followed quietly behind her.
They walked for a while more, the moon shinning down on them from the dark sky. He rubbed his chest, were a wound should've been and looked back at the miko. He didn't have to thank her. If he died, she would as well. But still…
"Here we are!" she chirped brightly, looking around the clearing towards the well. Sesshoumaru gave her a look.
"Here…?" he asked her.
"Yup!" she started towards the well, only to be yanked back by her chain. She turned, about to scream at him but froze. "Demon." Whipping back, she turned just in time to see the trees fly to splinters in front of a lizard demon.
He wasn't big, just slightly bigger then a human. But despite that, everything about him screamed power. The speed with which he'd arrived, the strength to break huge trees to splinters, the glowing red eyes, the razor sharp talons, the scales that looked rock hard even from this far away.
One thing was for sure.
They were in trouble.
Looking back at Sesshoumaru from her place on the forest floor, she prayed he had a plan. He pulled her closer to him by the chain, extending his hand. She grabbed it, climbing to her feet.
The demon wasn't attacking them, just watching from the other side of the clearing, but his eyes held madness. There was no doubt about why he was here.
The demon gave a smirk and started to move.
Kagome's eyes widened and she looked pleadingly back up to Sesshoumaru. "Don't let him destroy the well." She begged. "It's my only way home."
He looked at her, before nodding once. He would let her have this one thing.
"Get on my back." He told her. She didn't hesitate this time, hooking her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. She tried to ignore the fact that he was still shirtless. His hair mingled with hers behind her in a cascade of the opposites.
The demon stopped ten feet away, its smirk ugly on its inhuman face.
Kagome watched the scales move, barely noticeable light leaking from under them. Keeping her eyes on the demon, she turned her face slightly. "Four shards. Two in the right leg, one in the stomach, one in the left arm."
He nodded slightly, pulling the sword out of its sheath. She could feel the muscles in his chest contracting, and her legs wound tighter around his waist as he got ready to spring.
Without wasting a second, Sesshoumaru leapt forward, sword swinging. The lizard stood still until the last second, then he leapt, almost seeming to vanish, and reappeared across the clearing. It cocked its head to the side mockingly, blinking its red eyes.
A growl vibrated in Sesshoumaru's chest and Kagome gulped. She hasn't seen anything move that fast before. This wasn't a lower-class youkai. This has been something powerful BEFORE it got the added power of Shikon shards.
Again, Sesshoumaru lunged, going full tilt at the demon, leaping off the well, and trying an attack from above. The demon stood still, blinking childishly. It appeared as though it wouldn't move at all, and Kagome held her breath, hoping it has somehow given up.
A second from landing, it grinned, showing double rows of awfully sharp teeth. Then it jumped to the side, and using all off Sesshoumaru's momentum, pushed them to the side.
Kagome screamed as his nails dug into her briefly. She let go of Sesshoumaru immediately, clutching at her side as they flew through mid air. Her eyes widened as she saw Sesshoumaru crash into a tree a second before she crashed into him.
It took her a moment to come to, and shaking her head, she lifted it off wherever it was lying. Looking more closely, she realized it had been Sesshoumaru's chest. Her side was still bleeding, four ugly claw marks adorning her skin. Taking a slow, deep breath, she looked up.
The demon was still looking at them mockingly, and Sesshoumaru was making no attempt to move. Her eyes widened as the demon took slow, precise steps towards them.
"Sesshoumaru!" she glanced back down at the fallen demon lord. The tree into which they had landed had been cracked, and pieces of debris littered the ground. His back was raw, and a gash on one of his temples was bleeding. His stomach had the same four gashes that were in her side. His eyes remained closed.
She looked back up, panicked to see the demon has cleared half the clearing during her inspection. Without further thought, she grabbed Sesshoumaru and leaned him against her, then closed her eyes and brought up a shield, wincing as it started to sap her energy almost immediately. She didn't have enough strength to be pulling these tricks now.
"Wake up, Sesshoumaru, wake up!!" she whispered frantically, trying to wake him up and hold the shield up at the same time. "You can sleep after you kill this thing!"
With a groan, he rolled his head into the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply. She looked up to see the demon almost in front of them and shivered as his aura clashed with her shield. He wasn't even touching it, and already the shield was fizzing.
"Please, Sesshoumaru!! Get up!" She was beyond scared at this point. The demon was almost close enough to break the shield with his aura alone and she knew she couldn't fight that thing alone. "For the love of God, out of all the time in the world, you have to take a nap now?" she whispered fiercely.
Sesshoumaru slipped ff her shoulder, landing on the ground with a low thud, breaking the shield.
"Well, a lot of help you are." With shaking hands, she pulled his sword out of his clawed hands and tested the weight. It was heavier then the one she practiced with, but she didn't have much of a choice. Breathing deep, she climbed to her feet and looked up. The demon was watching her curiously, an almost sincere expression on its face.
Moving so she stood in front of the demon lord, she took the one stance she remembered from her practices. Sword in front of her, she locked eyes with the lizard. "Come and get it, you ugly bastard." Flicking the sword lightly, she willed her miko energy into the blade. It whirled with whatever was left of the demon magic from when Sesshoumaru was using it.
The demon watched it before leaping. With a yell, she swung the sword. Nothing made contact and she whipped her head to see where he had gone. He stood to the left, loftily leaning on a tree.
Sesshoumaru groaned from the floor again, and she almost ignored it before he started to try and get up.
"Well it's about time you woke up!" She told him, dropping the sword to the ground, and kneeling in front of him. "What's broken?"
"Just my ego." He growled, before he almost collapsed back on the ground.
"Here, hang onto me." Lifting one of his hands, she wrapped it around her neck, and wrapped her other arm around his back, trying not to grimace at the contact of his raw skin against hers. That probably didn't feel much better for him.
With a grimace from him, she pulled them both up. His eyes found the demon right away, studying them intensely. "Get on." He told her. She opened her mouth to protest, and he glared. "Get. On."
Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and closed her eyes as she pressed herself to his back. Instantly she felt his blood soak into her tank top. Trying not to gag, she wrapped her legs around his waist and told herself to stop comparing herself to a giant human Band-Aid.
He picked up the dropped sword and scowled. "Could you make any MORE disgusted noises back there?"
"I can try if you really want me to." She answered before wincing. She probably wasn't helping. "Sorry."
He flicked his sword and purple energy swirled around the sword. The demon watched in amusement as they assembled themselves.
"Sesshoumaru?" she questioned quietly. "Can you lift up the sword for a second?" He gave her a look over the shoulder, but did as she asked. She put her hands over his claws, and inhaling deeply, pushed her energy in. The sword shone bright for a second before the two different powers mixed. It faded to a dark blue swirling over the metal.
The demons expression of amusement dropped in an instant, and flexing its claws, it attacked.
Swinging the sword, Sesshoumaru send a wave of energy at him. And while the other demon ducked out of the way, it grazed his shoulder, cracking the stone like skin and created a gash. In a second he whirled back around and slashed at Sesshoumaru.
Three deep gashed appeared on his chest, and he stumbled. Kagome whimpered quietly as she waited for him to fall. She wasn't letting him go and fall on his back. She was his band-aid after all.
She opened her eyes just in time to see the demon take another shot at them, and while she prepared to stick her hand out and try to do as much damage as she could, he altered course.
He was heading straight for her.
She screamed as his claws grazed her thigh, ripping off the material of her pants and leaving more gashes under the ones he already made.
It took her a few seconds to realize she was still alive. It took her a few more to realize what he had just done.
Her head snapped up and she gulped. In horrified fascination, she watched as he opened his claw and took out his treasure. "Oh look, he got two more jewel shards…"
The demon smiled briefly, before looking up into the sky. Kagome looked too, though she didn't see anything. When she looked back down, she saw him disappear in a flash of lizard skin.
Sesshoumaru made a sound deep in his chest before collapsing to his knees. She jumped off him quickly, trying to ignore the sticky noise his back made when she unattached herself from him.
"Its okay, its okay, I can fix it…" she murmured as she dropped down in front of him. He looked at her through half lidded eyes before he started tilting forward. "Uhm! Okay! Just put your arms around me." She took his arms and wound them around her neck. His head collapsed on her shoulder, Each one of his breaths echoing in her ear. She forced herself not to shake as she put her hand on his chest, closing her eyes and pushing whatever was left of her energy into the gashes. He hissed, his claws fisting in her tank top, and she arched her back as his claws scraped against her skin.
Her chest against his, she moved her hand from between them. He leaned on her more heavily, his breathing more laboured as she melded his skin. She circled her hands around him, letting them touch the his back just barely, and pushing more energy out. He hissed again, drawing his back away from her hands and closer to her. Flush against him, she closed her eyes and tried to keep her hands steady.
Once the lower back was done, she pulled her hands back and pushed them over his shoulders to do the same to his upper back. His hands fell from around her shoulders and landed around her waist. His head remained on her shoulder. Concentrating again, she let the remainder of her energy flow, and he growled low in his throat, hands tightening around her waist and pulling her in close. His head turned in to the crook of her neck as he fought not to rip her to shreds for hurting him.
Seconds later, the pain dulled, and her hands felt warm on his back. She went temporarily slack in his grasp as she caught her breath. Pushing back from him weakly, she gave a drawn smile. "Just one more." She reached her fingers to his face and the gash on his temple. It burned for a few seconds before her hand fell away and she blinked sleepily. "All done."
Without seeming to notice just how close they were, she rose from his hold and looked around. "We have to go before someone else comes. I have no energy left to fight." As if to prove her point, she swayed on her feet. "To the well!" she announced, like a captain to her crew.
"What's in the well?" he asked as he followed the swaying female. She looked like she was about to fall over any second. What on earth did she need in the well?
"Home." She answered simply. One hand on the rail, she looked back at him and smiled. Then, before he had a chance to grab her, she tipped over and fell.
Ta-da!! Hope you like, plz R&R!