"Lord Sesshoumaru" Kei said as he came running up to him.
"Kei I have no time for your impertinent tongue."
"As you never do, but it's Naraku he's been spotted heading towards the castle."
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at his general and issued his order. "You will take up guard in the girl's room." He then began walking down the hall and threw over his shoulder. "I do not need to inform you of your fate should something happen to her." Then he was gone using his youkai speed to head out of the castle.
Kei glared at the spot where his lord was standing. He was a general who suddenly found his self babysitter to a worthless ningen female. He knew that Sesshoumaru kept the girl around for the simple fact that Naraku seemed to have an interest in her, but was she really so important that he had to guard her? Obviously his lord thought so, and now was his chance to find out what exactly was so special about the girl.
Entering the room Kei took one look at the female on the bed and immediately knew she wasn't well. Her skin was pale, dark circles were under her eyes, and her eyes were as blank as the wall she was staring at. Not to mention the untouched food sitting on the table next to the bed, causing him to wonder as to when the last time she had eaten. As he looked at her looking so small and frail, he had an overwhelming urge to want to protect her with his life.
He walked up to the bed and looked her over and his copper cat eyes locked onto her ankle which was bruised yellow, indicating that her injury wasn't too long ago and was only recently healing. "So what happened to your foot?" He asked as he drew his eyes back up to her face. Silence was her response. He took a seat on the side of the bed and stared at her. "I know that you are not mute for when you first arrived here I could hear you yelling at Sesshoumaru from clear across the court yard." He eyed her critically then continued. "Unless he cut your tongue out."
He dragged his claws across his chin in thought. "No, I do not think that he cut your tongue out. That kind of behavior is beneath him." He gently grabbed her chin between his thumb and forefinger bringing her face to look at him. "You know ever since your arrival here, Sesshoumaru hasn't quite been his self. It seems that you bring out a side of him none knew existed, and most of us would prefer to have never known it existed. I have never seen our Lord so on edge until your arrival. Even Zinan who was the calmest being within these walls has been on edge due to you; yelling for no apparent reason and even cursing. How can such a small thing like you cause so much stir up within a being?" He searched her eyes trying to find an ounce of emotion within them and found nothing. Releasing her chin he watched as she slowly turned her head back towards the wall.
Turning he sat next to her leaning up against the headboard and stared at the wall across the room. "Perhaps what is causing you to be so withdrawn is the plainness of that wall." He stated with wave of his hand towards the snow white wall. "If I had nothing but that to stare at everyday I think I too would retreat into my own mind as well." He looked at her from the corner of his eye, and still didn't see any emotion on her face. "No it's not the wall is it? I believe what is causing you to hide away is something more annoying than a plain white wall. Something with silver hair and gold eyes maybe?" He gave a grunt. "Do not think yourself to be the only being in existence to want to kill the Lord of the West just because of his infuriating way of dealing with those around him." He leaned over and whispered to her like someone was listening and he didn't want them to hear. "I will tell you how I deal with the ice prince's 'everything and everyone is beneath me' attitude.
He leaned in a little closer to her and dropped his voice into a very low whisper. "I picture him lying on the floor chewing on his father's boot. He did that when he was a young pup you know." He grinned at the image. "You see Sesshoumaru and I have known each other since our births, being I was brought into being in the morning and that same evening Sesshoumaru made his grand appearance." He straightened back up, placed his arms behind his head and continued.
"You know youkai and humans age differently; a year in your life is only a blink of an eye to ours. Sesshoumaru would have looked about the age of eight or nine in human years when he had three of his teeth knocked out during a training session. Several weeks later they began to grow back in, paining him tremendously." He looked over at her. "Did you know that no matter how many times a youkai has its teeth knocked out they grow back?" Looking at her he nodded his head vigorously as if she was disputing what he had said, and pointed to his right fang. "I have had this knocked out twenty seven times and look its grown back every time." He finished with a tap to the fang.
Seeing no response from the girl, he waved his hand in the air dismissing the side tour of the conversation and continued on where he left off. "One day one of the servants returned from market with Sesshoumaru's father's new boots, boots he had custom made and cost two pouches of gold. When his father returned from training he found his son on the floor with one boot chewed beyond recognition and the other being worked over like a deer bone. I have never laughed so hard as I did that day." He wiggled his toes in his own boots to make sure they were still intact. "Inu no Taishou was furious, but also understood his son's pain, being he too was suffering from new teeth growing in. So he grabbed Sesshoumaru by the neck, dragged him out to the surrounding forest and told him the next time he needs to gnaw on something that there was a forest full of trees that won't cost a single piece of copper to replace and he could chew the forest bare if he needed to; but if he were to ever sink a single fang into one of his boots again he would make a pair of boots out of his hide."
An evil smirk crossed his lips at the memory. "So you see, the perfect Sesshoumaru isn't so perfect after all; and if you ever need to be reminded of that just come find me, I have tons of stories like that one that will make the great Sesshoumaru not seem so great." He looked at her and could almost swear she was attempting to smile, but couldn't quite tell.
After several minutes of silence he looked over at her. "So how about you? Any interesting stories to tell?" He was received with silence but saw her slightly move her eyes towards him. "Well perhaps another time." He sat up and turned towards her. "How about we start with something simple like your name. Unless you would prefer me to call you ningen or girl?"
"Kagome"
He leaned into her for she whispered it so quietly he wasn't exactly sure if she had said anything or not. "I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear you."
"Kagome"
"Kagome hmm? Well that's a nice name, mine is Kei. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand to her and wasn't surprised when she made no move to grab it. "Perhaps some other time. So Kagome what shall we do until the ice prince returns?" He looked over at the food on the table then back at the girl and decided he'd try to get her to eat, seeing as how she looked like she hadn't eaten in days. "Now that we're friends might I ask a favor of you?" He watched her closely to see if she would make a move any move at all and not seeing one he continued. "Do you think you could find it in your heart to eat something... anything? As your friend it would make me happy if you did."
He reached over grabbing the tray with the food on it, set it on her lap and grabbed a rice ball holding it up in front of her face. "If you're worried about it being poisoned I can assure you that it isn't see..." He took a big bite out of it then held the rest out to her. "See? Now you." He held the remainder of the ball in front of her mouth. "I know you're hungry and I'm not asking you to eat the entire tray of food; all I'm asking is that you at the very least take a bite. Please?"
He smiled lightly as her eyes slowly looked up at his face and her lips parted slightly so that she could take a bite. "You don't know how happy that makes me." He stated as he watched her slowly chew.
"Why do you care?"
His eyes widened ever so slightly when her whispered voice hit his ears; and instead of being shocked that she spoke he acted like they had been talking all day. "Well we're friends, no? And as such it is my duty to care about you and your well being." He gave her another bite of the rice ball and continued. "Besides it's either you eat freely of your own will or the brat of the west comes in here and forces it down your throat." He smirked at her when she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Do not doubt that he would attempt to force you to eat whether you wanted to or not. You are under his care and as such it is in his nature to make sure that you are well taken care of."
Kagome looked up at him with an expression that said he was full of it. "If that were true I wouldn't be injured." She stated just above a whisper as she pointed to her ankle.
Kei looked down at the unsightly appendage and was tempted to question her as to the cause of the sprain, but seeing as she looked as if she hadn't slept in days he opted for trying get her to relax enough to let sleep claim her. With a deep sigh he looked into her eyes. "The hour grows late, how about you get some sleep and when you're good and rested you can tell me everything that has happened and what has caused you to end up in such a state." He finished with a wave of his hand over her body. "It would give me an excuse to come and visit you again. Deal?" He smiled a large grin baring his fangs at her; it was a smile she couldn't refuse.
She gave him a small smile with a nod then slid down into the bed; he then covered her with the thin sheet. Once he was sure she was comfortable he watched as her heavy eyelids fell closed and not long after her breathing evened out informing him that she was walking the land of dreams.
Kei rose from the bed and went to stand in front of the open window. It was late in the summer, fall was less than two moon cycles away, and he could already smell the change in the air. His curiosity was eating away at him in regards to the relationship between the girl and Sesshoumaru, and how she ended up in the state she was currently in. It wasn't like Sesshoumaru to let a being, even if they were a ningen, to end up in this terrible of a state for any reason.
He turned towards the shoji door when he heard footsteps heading towards the room and from the lightness of the steps he knew the being to be Sesshoumaru. "Hmm... that was fast. The bastard must've escaped." He whispered to his self and just as he finished the door silently slid open revealing a slightly angered Sesshoumaru.
Sesshoumaru looked from his general to the girl and back to the neko youkai then narrowed his eyes at the cat.
"Do not even think it." Kei hissed out in a whisper.
He kept his eyes narrowed on the cat, for it didn't escape his attention that the food on the table had been eaten, and the girl was sleeping comfortably. Not to mention the scent of the cat coming from the bed the girl was sleeping in. "You have overstepped your bounds." He quietly growled out.
Kei curled his lip baring a single fang and walked towards the demon lord; then when they were face to face he smirked and responded. "Jealous are we?" He then pushed passed the youkai and walked down the hall towards his own quarters. He really didn't expect to get far, and wasn't surprised in the least when Sesshoumaru issued his order.
"Kei you will come to the study so that we may discuss your actions and the consequences of such." Sesshoumaru watched as his general stopped, took three overly large steps backwards, and entered the door to his left. A small growl passed his lips at the action of the neko, and for what seemed the umpteenth time since his birth he wondered why he tolerated Kei's behavior and continued to allow the cat to live.
Sesshoumaru sat at his desk staring at the cat waiting for him to tell him what had occurred in the girl's room, but realized rather quickly that the cat was going to keep his tongue behind his teeth.
Kei sat there holding his claws up in front of his eyes, eyeing them like they were the most interesting thing in the world. He knew that Sesshoumaru was on the edge of madness with wanting to know what had transpired between him and the girl during his absence, but would never show it. He knew the demon lord as well as he knew his self and knew without a doubt the exact moment Sesshoumaru would loose his patience. When he felt Sesshoumaru's aura change to one of pure annoyance he opened his mouth and began at the same moment Sesshoumaru opened his to issue his command.
Sesshoumaru was tempted to growl at the neko, always the cat waited until the second he was going to speak before he began telling him what he wanted to know.
"I know what you think Sesshoumaru." Kei started as he eyed his lord carefully. "I have known you for far too long and what you think is not what happened." He finished with a long stroke of his claws through his reddish black hair.
Just as Sesshoumaru opened his mouth to respond a loud female scream sounded throughout the castle, and in an instant both youkai were out of the study and in the girl's room.