My Saviour is My Enemy
Hello again, another long awaited chapter, and this one has once again allowed me to create another change to this story, a change that I feel will fully benefit the final product of the story. This change will not be evident for a few chapters, but… when it does come I will tell you all about it and why I decided to change my mind. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I would love if after reading this latest chapter, that maybe just maybe you could tell me how you liked it…
Milana Despana,
Disclaimer: Sigh, I wish… but yeah I don't own them… if I did this would be in a manga format, and I would be rich…
Warning: This is M rated, and reading it may cause you to have nightmares… or in this chapters' case, break out laughing…
Chapter Nine: Healing.
Hikari smiled as he stood outside Kagome's room, it had been a long night, and he was preparing himself for the battle of waking, and bathing the Miko.
Now Hikari knew he had to be delicate with the Miko. She was badly injured, not only physically but emotionally, and he did not wish to further the damage. However he also did not want to acquire his own set of injuries from failing to follow his Lord's orders.
So with a look of sheer determination etched into his face Hikari opened the door and approached the foot of Kagome's bed.
The Miko was still asleep, and Hikari had been expecting this. It was after all just a few minutes after dawn; and her body was using all of its energy to fight off a deadly poison, not to mention that her Miko powers were also focusing on healing her body. With this knowledge in mind Hikari put aside his feelings and attempted to awaken his charge.
"Lady Miko, you must wake up… it is time for you to bathe…"
At first he was met with no response, so he repeated himself.
"Lady Miko, you must awaken from your slumber..."
He was then answered with her curling up into a ball and sighing in her sleep.
Hikari stood still for a moment, his foot tapping grumpily as he contemplated his next step. A perfectly wicked grin spread across his face seconds later as he sighed and replied,
"Oh well, I am truly sorry for what I must do… but you have forced my hand…" He then reached forward and whisked the blankets off of her sleeping body.
His achieved result was her curling up even tighter and saying, "five more minutes mom…" At this Hikari rolled his eyes and reached forward fully prepared to tickle her feet into oblivion, or until she woke up, whichever came first.
The second his hand touched her feet a bright pink aura appeared around her body and flew at him with a blinding speed.
And the poor wolf attendant soon found himself flying through the wall directly across from the bed, and he did not stop until he hit the brick wall across the hall from the slumbering Miko's room. A deep groan emanated from Hikari's chest as he allowed his youkai blood to soothe the pain in his back and limbs. He then glanced up and noticed that he was receiving a wide array of looks from the Western servants.
Ignoring their looks he stood up and walked proudly back into the room through the freshly created hole. A smirk gracing his face as he heard the servants begin scrambling to clean up the mess before their Lord should see it.
Upon entering the room he returned his attention back to his sleeping charge; and his pastille green eyes came upon a sad sight.
From what Hikari could fathom, his rapid departure via the wall had finally succeeded in awakening the sleeping Miko, only to have her revert back into a state of distress and tears.
Hikari shook his head and approached the distraught Miko.
From what he already knew, (thanks to Sesshomaru), the Miko was completely impossible to communicate with while she was in this state of mind, and yet he still had a task to complete…
Suddenly a thought entered Hikari's mind, an idea that would allow him to kill two birds with one stone.
So, with a soft humm, Hikari reached down and gingerly picked up Kagome, he then turned and walked towards the door that led to the royal hot springs. With the aid of his tail he was able to open the door, and he soon found himself descending a spiraling staircase with the Miko still sobbing in his arms.
Upon his arrival at the hot springs Hikari walked over to the hot spring and proceeded to drop his bundle into the deepest portion of the water. Immersing his distraught charge, clothing and all, he then stood by patiently and waited for her to surface from the water.
Instantly upon hitting the water Kagome snapped out of her state of mind.
Instead of feeling despaired, depressed, and distraught; she found herself dampened, drenched, and dumbfounded as to her whereabouts and circumstances.
"What the hell did you do that for?" she sputtered as glared at the wolf standing on the shore, his arms crossed and mild amusement written across his face.
"I attempted to awaken you thrice Lady Miko; however you refused. And when you did awake you were unreachable due to your mental state. So I took it upon myself to awaken you from your mental state."
"Well, why did you go and drop me in the water?" Kagome asked grumpily as she continued to glare at the man through her drenched bangs.
"My Lord had ordered me to ensure that you were bathed, after failing to bring you willingly to the hot spring. I decided to bring you to the hot spring myself. Achieving both of my desired goals; not only did I shake you from you despaired state, but I also got you into the water." Hikari explained with a shrug.
"Well congratulations, now how the hell am I supposed to wash myself? Both my wrists are broken."
"The answer to that is quite simple Miss Miko, your wrists have healed to the point where you should be able to use them when they are reinforced by a splint… as they are now. You will be able to will be able to wash your more private areas with little problem. Then I will aid you in washing off the rest of your body, as well as your hair." Hikari explained casually as he began to remove his robe.
"What? Oh hell no, there is no way I am going to allow you to get into this water and touch my body. If you take even a single step towards me wolf, I will purify you until you are nothing more then a pile of ash and fur…" Kagome threatened as a light pink aura surrounded her body menacingly.
Hikari ceased his actions immediately, leaving him shirtless, and his lower body covered by the lower portion of his monk's robes. He then very slowly lowered himself to a sitting position before addressing Kagome.
"Lady Miko, I understand your apprehension towards a strange male entering the water with you; however I would like to inform you of two vital pieces of information. Primarily, I would never intentionally cause you any amount of pain. Not only is that my nature, but I also do not wish to die slowly and painfully at my Lord's hands."
Finally you have no need to worry about me harming you sexually; because I have absolutely no sexual attraction to you." Hikari paused when he noticed Kagome bristling with rage because of his former comment.
"Not to say that you are not beautiful. No your beauty could very well easily rival that of the great goddesses; however I personally have no sexual attraction to female kind. Instead my fancies are more focused on men…" Hikari explained calmly and coolly as he gazed at Kagome respectfully.
Meanwhile Kagome was staring at him in shock. This mere wolf, in just a few short moments had caused her to feel, frightened, furious, frustrated, fazed, flustered, and al over flushed.
And yet she knew he was telling the truth, his aura spoke of no hostility, of no lust, it only spoke of relaxation, and reverence.
So with a reluctant sigh Kagome spoke, "Fine you may help in bathing, but only if you stop calling me miko… my name is Kagome… and if you touch me inappropriately…"
Hikari smiled and stood with a bow. "It is an honour to meet you Lady Kagome, my name is Hikari. I am Lord Sesshomaru's chief healer, and your personal attendant." Hikari explained with a smile,
"Also there is no need to fear… if I do touch you inappropriately then you have my complete and total permission to purify my tail." Hikari explained as he removed his lower robes revealing a dark blue loincloth covering his… lower extremities, which he did not remove, (just to reassure Kagome of her safety in her presence.)
Within moments he had entered the water and aided Kagome in removing her soaked silk Kimono and undergarments in the hot spring. After giving her the necessary cleaning materials, he turned away and gave her privacy.
"Lady Kagome," Hikari asked slowly after a few moments of silence.
"Yes Hikari," Kagome responded.
"May I ask where you are from? Your speech is different from that of the other humans."
Kagome gave a small smile as she slowly and painfully washed her body.
"Well, you see Hikari; I'm not from this time…" Kagome then proceeded to explain to Hikari about her journey, ending with the night Naraku kidnapped her.
"That is simply amazing. So it seems to me, that you and your comrades have truly had to fight for your survival; not to mention the task of completing the Shikon jewel." Hikari concluded as he turned around and began to help her with the task of washing her hair.
"Yes, and for that very fact I wish I had never came to this era. My arrival only aided in hurting those that I care for." Kagome whispered quietly as Hikari began to massage sweet scented oil into her scalp.
"Oh, and who told you that Lady Kagome?"
"Naraku, he opened my eyes to just how much my arrival here has affected everyone. Sango and Shippou lost their families, InuYasha has to go through the pain of Kikyo hating him. Kouga died and Lord Sesshomaru lost his arm. All because I brought back the stupid jewel." Kagome explained sadly as a solitary tear slid down her cheek.
"I see, so Naraku told you all of this… so if he had told you it was your fault that he deceived InuYasha and Kikyo all those years ago; or your fault that he cursed the young monk's family. Or maybe that it is your fault that Sango's family chose to become demon exterminators. Would you have believed him then Lady Kagome?" Hikari asked as he continued his ministrations on Kagome's head.
"Well… no, but."
"Lady Kagome, while it may be true that you returned the jewel to this era. It was not your fault you were dragged down the well by the centipede youkai. It was not your fault Naraku grew with power; he is the kind of youkai that grows stronger with every demon he absorbs. You are no more to blame for the casualties of your allies then I am. You should know that you are not the only Miko to suffer because of the Shikon-no-Tama. Miko's have been suffering for centuries because of that cursed jewel. And by sitting here and distressing over the consequences of the jewel, you are only aiding Naraku."
"Because without you the Shikon will never be purified, and the souls within it will never be placed at rest." Hikari explained as he began to massage soap into her scalp, using his long nimble fingers to work away at the dirt, disease, and distress.
"I don't quite understand what you mean Hikari," Kagome said in a relaxed tone, a sigh escaping her lips as the wolf youkai continued his ministrations.
"In the two hundred years that the Shikon-no-Tama has existed there have been 16 keepers of the jewel, with Kikyo and yourself being the last. You see there has never been a miko to last more than ten years as a Shikon Miko. Most of them died in their quests, and the others merely gave up after a disastrous event of some sort. You are the only Miko who has remained strong. And would you like to know why?"
"It is because you are stubborn, headstrong, ferocious, and strong willed, determined, hard headed, unrelenting, and finally the most important reason of all… because you are not alone."
"What?" Kagome asked in confusion as Hikari began to rinse her hair slowly and carefully.
"Every Shikon Miko before you has been alone. They never had as many lives defending them as you. Not only do you have your group consisting of two youkai, an extremely powerful hanyou, and two powerful humans; but you also have the support of Lord Sesshomaru, not to mention the support you had in my cousin."
"Your cousin?"
"Yes, Kouga, he and I were related through our mothers; they were sisters you see. But you see Kagome, Naraku realized that you draw strength from the people around you. Just as he realized that Lord Sesshomaru cares for Rin."
At the mention of Rin Kagome tensed, an action that caused her to wince in pain.
"Rin, Oh my God, is she okay?" Kagome asked as she turned her head and gazed at Hikari.
"My ward is well; however it is This Sesshomaru that should be asking if you are well Miko."
Kagome froze in shock as she turned to see Sesshomaru standing at a large oak door, her mind only going to one fact… SHE WAS NUDE!
Ahem… yeah crappy chappy. Read Review while I go hack cough sneeze and all that other stuff you do when you are sick as a dog…
Milana Despana