Review Replies
lunarcat12 : Thank you for your support :) and yes, her jichan was acting strange.. I didn't get a chance to include that in this chapter, but I'll try to incorporate it soon :)
llebreknit : Yes there does have to be a bit OOC in Sesshy, given their current situation. And yes, her Grandfather, explanation coming soon. :P
Chapter 20 - Unexpected Events
Night had fallen and the four weary travellers had stopped for the night. Since they'd stopped for lunch, they'd passed several more villages. They'd found most of the villages in the same demolished state as the village they'd stopped at earlier. They did not know why, but the air in this village seemed laden with anticipation and that was what had compelled the group to spend the night in this particular village.
The villagers had heard the news and had begged the group to stay for the night. They'd offered food and lodgings as bribes to convince the group to stay. It was an offer that they couldn't refuse.
Miroku sat in the corner of the medium sized hut that they'd been offered. Sango and Kayo had bathed in a nearby hot spring and then returned to the hut and fallen asleep after a bit of quiet chatter amongst themselves. Inu Yasha had eaten and then abruptly left the cabin, sitting outside the door, glaring ferociously at anyone who dared get too close.
Miroku stroked Kirara methodically until he too drifted off. Minutes after he had, he was rudely awakened.
Inu Yasha burst into the hut on the defensive and wasted no time in waking up his teammates. His hand gripped Tetsusaiga's hilt tightly as he hurriedly explained the situation to his fellow travellers. "I smell them. Naraku's men are on their way here. They'll reach the far end of the village very soon."
That said, the group prepared for battle and were off in minutes.
They reached the specified area just in time. They could see a handful of men ambling leisurely toward the village.
Miroku glanced quizzically at Inu Yasha, but Inu Yasha just growled and tightened his grip on Tetsusaiga.
The men approached the group and stopped in front of them. "Move," one of them commanded.
"Feh," Inu Yasha scoffed, "As if."
The youngest of the five stepped forward, his clothes were less rugged than those of his crew and he had an air of authority about him that implied that he was the leader of these men. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the foursome. His eyes lingered on the women, but finally came to a rest on Inu Yasha. "We're not here to hurt anyone," he began in a smooth voice, "all we want is to borrow some of this village's horses. So give us the horses and we'll be gone."
"Are you the ones who destroyed the other villages and killed everyone?" Inu Yasha demanded.
The man frowned, "No, we have no reason to kill everyone. We are just in need of some horses."
Inu Yasha scowled, "Why do you need horses?"
"We were not informed of anything. All we were told was to gather horses. My guess is that there is an impending battle."
Miroku's brow furrowed, "So you're not aware of Naraku's plans?"
The leader shook his head no and his expression darkened at the evil hanyou's name, "If a group fails to obtain horses, they will be fed to the demons."
Sango glanced at Inu Yasha's expression. He didn't look like he believed the man's tale. "Inu Yasha…"
"How do we know that you're not lying to us?" Inu Yasha challenged.
"You don't, you just have to take my word for it."
Inu Yasha glowered at the group of humans, "Well then, you aren't getting any horses."
The man chuckled, "Can you live with it in your conscience? That you caused the death of five healthy men?"
"Don't worry, I'll save you the trouble of disappointing Naraku," Inu Yasha began to unsheathe Tetsusaiga when a small voice stopped him.
"He's not lying."
Everyone turned to the sound of the voice.
"There's no trace of deceit tainting his aura… allow them to take horses."
"Kayo…" Sango murmured, glancing at Inu Yasha's incredulous expression.
She turned to face the man, "Before we allow you the horses, what is your name?"
"My name is Haru."
"How old are you Haru?"
"…Eighteen."
"Haru, if you were to hear the cause of this battle, would you still fight for that demon?"
Haru frowned at the odd question, "I… don't know."
Kayo glanced at Inu Yasha before continuing, "Naraku is waging war on Sesshomaru-sama's castle because he wants a female who is currently residing there. He is going to attack and attempt to kidnap this girl."
Haru's eyes widened.
Kayo saw confusion and righteous horror flare up in every man's aura, "So… do you still insist on fighting for him?"
Haru clenched his teeth, "Are you certain? How do you know this?"
Miroku glanced between the two groups, "He told us. This girl is our friend."
Haru scowled, "Men?"
"We won't do it."
"I refuse to fight for so vile a creature."
"I'm with you."
"I agree with you, Haru-sama."
"So it's settled? You and your men won't fight for Naraku?"
Inu Yasha released Tetsusaiga and crossed his arms moodily. He turned and began walking back in the direction of the hut, "Come on."
The eight humans followed Inu Yasha back to the hut and soon enough everyone was crammed into the tiny shelter with bowls full of food in front of them.
"We won't fight and I'm sure that most of those other men won't want to either. No one would want to fight for so unjust a cause. If you don't mind my asking… who are you four?" Haru inquired cautiously.
"My name is Miroku; this is Sango, Inu Yasha and Kayo. Naraku has affected us all in some way… except for Kayo. We are going to Sesshomaru's castle to battle against him. The miko he wants is very close to us and we won't let her fall into his hands."
"…But how will just you four fight against such a large army? There must be hundreds of thousands of humans and demons fighting for Naraku. How can you possibly expect to complete such a task?" Haru questioned quizzically.
"Well, I'm sure that Sesshomaru has an army of his own," Sango said, glancing at Inu Yasha for confirmation.
"Hai, the Western Army is enormous. It will be enough to defeat Naraku," Inu Yasha muttered.
"If you have such confidence in the Western Army, then why do you bother go to Sesshomaru-sama's castle?"
"None of your business," Inu Yasha snapped.
"So what will you do now? Do you plan on returning home?" Miroku questioned, attempting to change the subject.
Haru's expression tightened, he gestured around to the other men and said, "This is all that remains of my home." Seeing four puzzled faces, he explained, "My home… my entire village in fact, was destroyed by demons. At that time I was but a child and these four were only a little older than me.
"A man in a baboon pelt came to us and offered us a home. A village that he'd built solely for refugees. He offered food and shelter and it was an offer that we could not resist.
"The refugees poured in, day after day and soon the village was sprawling. Overnight, new huts would appear for people to stay in. it was the strangest thing, but no one questioned it as long as there was food on the table.
"As the village grew…"
Kayo had noted the steady rise of blue in Haru's aura and how his sentence sparked a storm of blue. Reaching for him, she touched his knee, "It's okay, you don't have to share if you don't want to."
Haru shook his head, "Iie, I'm fine. As the village grew, certain people disappeared."
"What do you mean disappeared?" Sango asked curiously.
"I mean that they were there one day and gone the next. Usually it was the quiet ones, the ones in the background, it was very well hidden, but they got sloppy. Those people were never seen again."
"That's not all," Kayo said, sensing that there was more "what happened Haru?"
Haru's eyes seemed hollow as he eyed Kayo, "Soon, they were taking anyone, not caring about the effect it had on the community. A few years ago, I was welcoming the new arrivals when a girl came in. She was all alone and she stopped in front of me. She was around my age and her name was Hitomi…" Haru paused to wipe a tear from his face. "She told me her story and we became friends. We were always together. We were the best of friends until, inevitably, we became more than that.
"She was pregnant with my child when they took her. I never saw her again." Haru's voice cracked as he said it and tears rolled down his cheeks. He didn't bother to wipe them away this time.
"Haru…" Kayo murmured.
Everyone in the hut was silent for a while as they thought of Haru's story, one mutual question arose and Sango was the first to ask.
"How did you end up working for Naraku?"
"One day, Naraku himself made an appearance and he gathered all the able bodied men. He talked to us and convinced us to fight for him. Saying that after all he'd done for us, the least we could do was this. We all felt obliged to help the man and well… here we are."
"So what are you going to do now?" Miroku questioned.
Haru sniffed before answering, "I don't know… what can we do?"
Again the group plunged into silence.
An idea came to Miroku and he spoke up, "A while ago, you said that you were sure that other men wouldn't want to fight for so corrupt a cause, correct?"
"Hai, I did… why?"
"Well, I was thinking perhaps you could take some horses and return, then maybe you could convince some of the other men not to fight with Naraku either. You could tell them to pass around the message as well, and then, during the battle, you could all turn against Naraku."
Haru's eyes brightened, "That's a brilliant idea! Then you would stand a bigger chance of winning the battle."
Miroku nodded, "Make sure that you are very careful though. If Naraku or one of your superiors finds out, you don't stand a chance. He will kill you."
"Worry not, my men and I will be extra vigilant."
As soon as everyone finished eating, Haru and his men stood up. "Alright, we'll be on our way now."
"Farewell, we hope to see you soon," Kayo said with a small smile.
The others muttered their consent and waved goodbye to the men.
As the four sat there, they could hear the hoof beats of several horses fading away into the distance.
"What do you think?" Sango asked.
"I think that they'll succeed, if they can convince enough of the men, it will benefit us in two major ways. We'll have more people to help us stop Naraku and he will have less."
"If we're lucky, Naraku didn't have his insects following them and he won't know of this meeting and our plan," Inu Yasha said. After a moment's thought, he added darkly, "We haven't been very lucky lately."
Without another word, the group went back to sleep, painfully aware that they may never see Haru again.
After they'd eaten, they'd returned to the television and watched late into the night. Thoughts of her grandfather's strange behaviour troubled Kagome but she pushed them to the back of her mind for later contemplation and yawning, she decided that that was enough TV for the day.
She sprang up the stairs with Sesshomaru following close behind her. She entered her room and stopped walking. Glancing at the clock she said, "Well, I guess it's time to go to bed."
Sesshomaru eyed her, "And where do you suppose that I will sleep?"
Kagome looked at Sesshomaru as if he were kidding, "On the bed of course, where else?"
"But is that not where you sleep?"
"Hai, but you are my guest, so you get to sleep on the bed."
"Where will you sleep?"
"On the sofa of course," Kagome smiled at his inquiry. "Now, I'll go and you go to sleep. Tomorrow, I'll show you some more new stuff." Yawning, Kagome backed out of the room and calling, "Goodnight," returned downstairs and plopped onto the sofa.
Sleep came quickly and claimed her consciousness. For Sesshomaru though, it was not so easy.
He lay on Kagome's small bed and stared at the ceiling. The bed was comfortable enough and even the scent of the room was passable, what kept him awake was her. She'd claimed his thoughts for so long and now, alone with her scent all around him, he could think.
'I don't understand this. Why does she not step out of my thoughts? I am fine without her company, but my thoughts linger on her. This is not right! I am a demon and she a human! I should not feel this way about her! It is wrong!'
A tiny voice in the back of his head disagreed though. 'Father thought it was alright.'
Sesshomaru scowled visibly, 'Father was wrong!'
However as the night dragged on, Sesshomaru couldn't help but try to understand the reasoning behind his father's decision. 'If it is valid then perhaps…'
Refusing to argue with himself further, Sesshomaru ran a frustrated hand through his hair. Turning on his side, he closed his eyes and relaxed until finally, he felt the sharp focus of his mind dull and he was able to drown in the depths of sleep.
Kagome woke up to a quiet house the next morning; everyone else was either gone or still asleep. Stretching, she quietly walked into the bathroom to wash up.
An hour later, she'd taken a shower and changed into dark-blue jeans and a tight pink top with a grey sweater pulled over top. Ambling into her room and expecting to find Sesshomaru sitting up waiting for her, she was surprised to see him sprawled over her bed, still asleep.
Kagome pulled open the curtains and was satisfied to see pouring rain. Turning away from the window, she went to stand beside his pillow. Looking down at him, she was pleasantly surprised to see how peaceful he looked. It warmed her heart to see him so calm. Colour rose to her face and she smiled to herself as she reached down to brush strands of silvery hair away from his face.
She jumped when he caught her wrist and his eyes opened slowly. Sparkling amber orbs stared up at her inquisitorially.
"And what, might I ask, do you think you're doing?" he questioned softly, his voice sounding distant with sleep.
Kagome's heart raced as she blushed and glanced away, "I was… there was… something in your hair. I was just going to take it out."
"Really?" Sesshomaru had picked up on the sudden increase of her heart rate and he knew that she was lying. He smirked at her when he finally caught her gaze.
Kagome melted under his gaze. "H-hai…" she nodded frantically, hoping that he wouldn't catch sight of her burning cheeks.
Sesshomaru scoffed lightly and let go of her wrist. Running his fingers through his hair, he sat up and gazed at her, "Hai?"
"Let's go."
Sesshomaru frowned, "Go where?"
"Didn't you want to go see a computer?"
The demon lord eyed the window warily, he didn't want to punish his sensitive nose any further, but seeing the rain washed away all his doubt and he nodded, standing.
"Hmm… there's only one thing… what are you going to wear?"
Sesshomaru looked down at his clothing, "What seems to be the problem with my clothes?"
"…Nothing, but not many people walk around in that anymore. They're just not modern enough and it'll look strange to see me wearing this and you wearing traditional garbs. So, we're going to have to find you some clothes."
"I refuse to change my clothing for your sake."
"But…"
"If it would look odd, then why don't you change?"
"…" not willing to argue so soon after waking up, Kagome agreed and walked to her dresser. Pulling open the drawer, she picked up a soft blue kimono with black music notes printed on it. Walking to the bathroom, she dressed and tied her hair up in a high ponytail. She admired herself in the mirror before stepping out of the bathroom and back into her room.
Sesshomaru was seated on her bed waiting patiently for her, when she entered; he rose and walked up to her, "Shall we?" he asked softly.
Kagome blushed when she felt his eyes roaming over her. Nodding, she quickly turned and led the way downstairs.
She stopped in front of the door and opened the closet looking for an umbrella. She flushed when she saw that there was only one left, her family must have taken them because of the rain.
Kagome silently stepped outside and opened the umbrella, she gestured for Sesshomaru to join her.
The demon's eyes narrowed, "What's that supposed to be?"
"It's an umbrella," seeing his cocked eyebrow, Kagome explained, "It shelters you from the rain."
"I see," Sesshomaru stepped under the umbrella.
Silently the two walked with Kagome guiding him toward their destination. Kagome glanced at Sesshomaru who was looking around at the area; he seemed to be on the defensive.
"Where are all the demons?"
Kagome laughed before answering simply, "There are no demons in my time."
Sesshomaru was so shocked that he stopped walking, "No demons?"
Kagome stopped too and faced him quizzically, "What's wrong?"
Sesshomaru shook himself mentally, "Nothing," and he continued walking.
The rest of the trip was spent in silence until finally they reached their destination.
"This is the library," Kagome said as she pushed open the door and entered the building after Sesshomaru. She closed the umbrella and smiled widely at the familiar surroundings. It had been a long time since she'd been here and it hadn't changed a bit. It was still the small, cozy, old building. She motioned for Sesshomaru to follow her and they sat down at a computer.
For a while she just explained what everything was and showed him functions, but then she decided to introduce him to the Internet. "There's something about everyone on this!" she cried excitedly.
"Really?" he asked dryly.
"Yup," Kagome typed her name into the Google search engine and excitedly showing him when she showed up. "See?"
"Would I be on this?" Sesshomaru asked, hiding his curiosity well.
"Hmm… I'm not sure about you… You're from the past… so unless there's a story or a legend or something…" Kagome typed his name into the Google search bar and skimmed through the pages of titles until she saw one that looked promising. She clicked on it and a small paragraph appeared. Her smile turned forced until finally she dropped it and her face became a mask of horror.
Sesshomaru noticed and asked her what the article read.
Kagome eyed him before finally turning back and reading the small paragraph aloud.
"The Legendary Sesshomaru
The legendary Sesshomaru was the lord of the Western Lands in the feudal era. Local legends say that he was a revered dog demon who possessed great power and that his downfall was because of his soft spot for human women. What led storytellers to this assumption were the female, human bones that were found cradled in his remains. It seemed he died protecting a human girl. He died a very untimely death in a war that was waged against his castle. Some claim that this war was waged against the Western Manor because of a priestess that Sesshomaru held dear. It is said that he would not have died had the priestess not abandoned him in the final battle."
Kagome's voice faded away as she watched Sesshomaru's face harden in contempt. Not knowing what to say, she said the only thing that seemed fit to such a situation, "Gomen…"
Kagome turned away in shame and when she turned back, he was gone. She looked for him all around the library, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Kagome hurried home through the rain not bothering to open her umbrella. 'That article must be wrong! I would never leave you like that!' She ran into her house and up the stairs. Bursting into her room, she found that it was untouched; everything was the way they'd left it. Scouring the house, she found no trace of him.
'I've got to find him!' Returning to her room, she changed back into the clothes that she'd first chosen for the trip. Frantically packing supplies, she ran out and exploded into the well house. She bumped into something warm and hard, effectively stopping her. Rough hands tightened around her upper arms and held her at arm's length.
Kagome looked up and into the face of a fuming dog demon. His eyes were red and a fierce scowl coloured his features.
"You will be the cause of my death, wench."
It was not a question; it was a statement, "Iie! Iie, I swear I won't! I won't leave you!" Kagome cried, tears streamed down her cheeks and she squeezed her eyes shut. An image of Inu Yasha writhing in pain assaulted her and shaking her head violently, she cried out, "I wouldn't—I couldn't leave you! I love you!"
The hands binding her arms loosened and she opened her eyes cautiously. She looked up and she didn't see Sesshomaru, she saw Inu Yasha, pain evident in his beautiful golden eyes. Without thinking Kagome tipped her head upwards and pressed her lips softly to his. Pulling away, she hugged him tightly and whispered, "Never… I would never, ever leave you…"
Sesshomaru was shocked to say the least, his stoic mask had completely disappeared and he was at a loss. He disregarded his stunned mind and did what his body told him to; he hugged her back. He leapt backwards and into the well. A soft blue light engulfed the two and as soon as they were out, he summoned his youkai cloud and flew at breakneck speed to his castle, all the while holding her tightly to his chest.
Kagome opened her eyes when she felt air rushing through her hair. Her vision cleared and where she expected to see Inu Yasha, she saw his brother instead. Her heart pounded faster and faster until she thought that it would break through her ribs. 'I just told Sesshomaru that I love him…' Afraid to see his reaction, she gazed out at the passing landscape far below them.
Sesshomaru looked down at the miko, from what he could tell, her heart was thundering and her face burned. Her arms were still tight around him. In Sesshomaru's head, her words repeated over and over again, 'I wouldn't—I couldn't leave you! I love you!'
A/N) Ouuu, the L word!