A/N: Weee.
As It Starts to Sink In
"Hey," Katsumi poked the girl who was huddled on the corner, crouching with her hands on her hair in a frozen attempt to pull it out. She had remained in that same position for almost an hour now, and it worried the Northern Daiyoukai to no end.
"Go away." Kagome mumbled, "you are just a figment of my imagination... you are not real. The voices in my head I can conquer... with determination and positivity everything is possible."
"Err..." Katsumi stepped back and directed a hesitant look towards the group, "I think we broke her."
"Tsk!" Nobume exclaimed, his white fox-ears twitching on top of his short, snow-hued hair, "No wonder you're single, you don't know how to console a woman, loser!" The Eastern Daiyoukai brushed past an offended Katsumi, his tails trailing behind his wake. He stopped in front of the girl and stood, equally unmoving.
They waited for long moments.
Katsumi fidgeted. "See, you can't even-"
Nobume cut Katsumi's tirade mid-sentence when he said one word. "Kagome."
The girl lifted her head up to the fox youkai, and her focus connected to his equally blue eyes. He held out his hand.
Kagome sat still, momentarily distracted by the six white tails swishing behind him. The gigantic, fluffy appendage had black tips, as if it were dipped in a giant vat of ink. Somehow the sight of his black-tipped ears and tails seemed to comfort her.
Maybe because it looked so soft and fluffy?
She took his hand and he pulled her on her feet. Katsumi's jaw fell on the floor.
Haruka whistled. "Well, the boy does have talent."
Kagome let out a sigh. "Listen, I'm tired and I don't have the energy to even rebuke what I just saw, so for now I'll leave it at that and go home, get some shut-eye, you know, 'things seem clearer after a good night's rest'? Maybe wake up and find out this is all a nightmare?"
"Denying things won't help you." Nobume said, and Kagome fell silent. "I do admit it was careless of me to act out of petty anger, writing down that stupid condition. For that I apologize. But I can't reverse it, Kagome. I'm sorry. What we could do now is start from what we have and work from there, whatever solution we could find."
Haruka gasped. "I didn't know you were so deep."
Nobume's ears twitched. "I'm a six hundred year old daiyoukai, you dolt! Not a three-year old snot-faced moppet!"
"Okay," Kagome said, finally conceding, "So it really happened... that... weird, bizarre, retarded thing happened." She breathed deep as she closed her eyes. "Can I at least go home now, and we'll continue tomorrow?"
"Home?" Haruka said, "As far as you're concerned, darling, as long as you are engaged to our youngest daiyoukai here, the Western Castle IS your home."
Kagome reeled, and the world seemed to dwindle around her. She swore she could hear the Twilight Zone theme song playing in the background. "Are you telling me... that I can't leave?!" She scanned her cautious audience.
"Alright..." Kagome smiled nervously, and slowly, oh so subtly, inched her right leg away from the group. "Did I mention, that... uh... this is such a nice place?" She laughed, so fake it could make a bad actor in a campy b-rated movie cringe, and suddenly, "Oh my! Is that a giant dog or what?!" She pointed behind them and the Daiyoukais turned away.
Gathering years of endurance she supercharged her legs and bolted off with the speed of a bejeweled Kouga, desperate in her escape.
"Catch her!" Katsumi exclaimed. As Kagome hightailed her ass off, a giant Snake Youkai suddenly appeared before her, and it lunged. But the miko smirked, already having extensive experience and dodged, stepping on the snake's face, leaving a burn mark from her shoe.
"Good one!" the snake hissed, and Kagome realized it was Haruka. Feeling confident she looked back and stuck her tongue out childishly. She let out a laugh of victory and turned back to where she was going-
and crashed into a brick wall.
"Good job, Nobume." Haruka morphed back into humanoid form, rubbing away the ugly battle scar. Nobume merely stood beside a kneeling Kagome, who was crouched in tortured pain.
"I actually didn't have to do anything," The fox informed. "That wasn't one of my illusions. That was a real wall." He stepped forward to the moaning girl. "Are you okay?"
"I think I broke my nose," Kagome murmured pathetically.
"Watch where you're going next time." He strode towards her and picked her up and slung her on his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. The girl with a bleeding nose struggled.
"Stop moving or your panties will show." Nobume said flatly.
Kagome gasped.
"That's enough play for today." he turned to his companions. "I'll bring her to her room. See you guys tomorrow." Katsumi and Haruka nodded and they turned away from each other.
The Eastern Daiyoukai walked through tortuous hallways and winding stairs, a silent Kagome slung on his shoulder. She remained quiet for the rest of the trip, trying to distract herself with the swish of his six white tails with distinctive black tips. Her thoughts drifted to Inuyasha, and Shippo, and the rest of the group, and her heart dropped.
It all seemed like a joke, a stupid joke, but at the same time a cruel one, and she could hardly believe this was really happening. How in all coincidences had she struck his heart with her arrow?
How in Kami's humor did the events all add up to the creation of that mistake of a contract?
Nobume stopped in front of towering double doors and gently placed Kagome on her feet. "How is your nose?" He asked, and Kagome grimaced.
"Still throbbing."
Nobume swatted her hand away and hovered his hand over the swollen appendage. "You have to be more careful with yourself. If I, a fox youkai, is fussy and overprotective, how much more an Inu?" he warned, a gentle light washing on her sore nose. He was healing her, and much to her surprise, the throbbing disappeared. "This is your room." he said, and Kagome cast her head down, her eyes glued to the floor.
"What's wrong?" he peered, his tails swishing.
"My fiance, I'm sure he's worried sick..." she trailed off.
"Sesshomaru?" Nobume tilted his head in curiosity, his blue eyes genuinely concerned.
"No," Kagome answered, "His half-brother... Inuyasha."
Nobume fell silent for long moments and sighed. "I will go. I'll find him and tell him-"
"No!" Kagome grabbed his hand, "Don't... at least not the 'engaged to his brother' part." She bit her lip. "Tell him the Four Daiyoukais need my help in something, and I will be away for a few days. Make something up..."
After a long silence, Nobume sighed. "Fine. I will lie for you only this once... but remember, Kagome, it was a blood contract the four of us signed. Only death can nullify it. Unless you want Sesshomaru to lose the Western Lands."
Kagome let go of his hand. "I understand." She said quietly. In the silence of the hallway, the fox youkai with snow-hued hair reached out and ruffled her own black hair, messing it up playfully.
"Get some rest."
Kagome nodded, and entered the double doors.
When the petite girl with ebony hair disappeared, Nobume was left to the silence of the hallway, moonlight striking the palm of his hand. He was holding it up, the hand that just ruffled Kagome's hair, and stared at it for a long time.
Gathering his thoughts he let in a deep breath and turned to head to the village. He had a promise to fulfill.
He stopped when he noticed the hidden form of Katsumi, leaning on a pillar. He had watched the whole interaction.
Katsumi cleared his throat. "Well, well well... should I be worried for our youngest Daiyoukai, fox?"
Nobume chuckled, turning away to start his short trip. "No such need. The notion itself is ridiculous."
"Oh?" Katsumi pulled away from the pillar. "Then what just happened? did I just hallucinate, then? Or was it one of your illusions?" He smirked. Nobume paused, his ears twitching.
"It's nothing, phoenix. The girl," he stared at his hand. "She reminds me of my little sister." With that the fox youkai walked away.
It was then that Katsumi recalled with his impeccable memory, and a certain sadness came to him. The Eastern Lands was established with a rocky start, and it was believed that the daughter of then-Daiyoukai of the East Kyoshiro perished in one of the castle raids.
He thought of the striking similarities between the future Western Lady and the blue-eyed pup from long ago, and wondered if it was possible.
Kagome somehow trusted the fox's promise, and she tried to think of wonderful sleep to keep her from griping on her current situation. She tossed and turned on the large bed trying to get some shut-eye but she couldn't. She settled on scanning the room around her.
It was lavish and luxiorious,
Man this is the size of our living room back in modern Tokyo!
She burrowed under the poofy sheets, from underneath the covers, her feet hit something warm and fuzzy. Feeling comforted, Kagome rubbed her sore heels and toes on the wonderful little thing.
She swore it moved.
She stiffened, but allowed herself a little laugh. She was going crazy. Sheets moving? Hah! She caught the elusive fluff between her two feet and rubbed harder.
"In case you don't know, that is my tail you are fondling so freely."
Kagome spun around, and smack on her face were a pair of golden eyes piercing straight through her. "Gah!" She screamed dumbly, her soul shooting out of her nose and she propelled backwards in shock, tangled on the sheets.
She landed on the floor ungracefully on her head with a loud crash.