An Unlikely Mating
Chapter 5: Friends
I imagined his voice. I simply rationalized my own inner musings by conjuring up his voice. At least, this is what I told myself. Still, I couldn't will myself to believe that the pulsing of his aura came from my imagination.
I whirled around and sure enough, Sesshomaru stood behind me looking like Adonis in the pale morning light. As he leaned against a tree, I gazed at him and wondered why he came in the first place. As far as I knew, he hated my guts. He'd probably come to finish me off, and I had just made it really easy for him. I was alone in the middle of nowhere; the water from the hot spring would probably wash away Sesshomaru's scent, and my friends would never know who killed me.
Thinking about my death, I suddenly remembered my state of nakedness; I felt my body flushing bright red as I covered myself and frantically searched for my towel. When I finally spotted the darned thing, I realized that It was right next to Sesshomaru. I shrieked in aggravation before plunging down into the water to better hide my lady bits from the cold demon in front of me. I'm sure he'd seen many women before, but he wasn't going to see me naked, especially when I probably couldn't compete with any of those women.
"Sesshomaru, I didn't take you to be a pervert like Miroku! Have some decency and turn around! What are you even doing here?" I demanded.
Much to my surprise, and relief, Sesshomaru obliged with only a slight roll of the eyes. The fact he hadn't decapitated me for ordering him around was a miracle in itself. I was lucky to be alive (see scenario above). I would take alive and embarrassed over dead and naked any day.
"Miko, you have nothing that I haven't already seen," he said, confirming my fears. I bet he was used to naked women throwing themselves at his feet— that stupid Adonis lookalike.
"Yea, well, that doesn't mean that many men have seen me naked! You still didn't answer my question. Why are you here?" I blushed, feeling embarrassed at the thought of Sesshomaru seeing… things.
"I woke to find you missing, so I followed your scent here for lack of anything better to do. Based on your tears and sound barrier, I assumed you didn't want the half-wit to follow you," he admitted in a bored sounding voice. The concept threw me off, and I wasn't sure whether to be flattered, or offended. I decided to feel flattered since this powerful demon decided to find me.
"Umm, I guess you're right. Thanks." The silence that followed was awkward to say the least. With a bit of surprise, I realized that Sesshomaru's calling InuYasha a half-wit really hadn't bothered me until I started thinking about the insult. Then again, this sort of exchange seemed common between the two brothers. My head would pop if I had to act indignant every time they insulted each other.
"What propelled you to run through the forest miko?" he suddenly asked.
"I had a nightmare about Kikyo; it was nothing out of the ordinary. Why do you want to know?"
"You are more valuable to this Sesshomaru alive than you are dead. You happen to be crucial in defeating Naraku, and I need you as an ally," he said, sounding bored. His bored tone set something off inside me.
"I thought you hated humans. Aren't we just filth compared to you demons?" I laced my words with so much venom that it surprised me. If I didn't know any better, I would say that Sesshomaru flinched at my icy tone.
"If I were a lesser being, I would accuse you of sounding like this Sesshomaru. Being cold does not suit you, miko. My reasons for disliking humans are simple; most of them are beneath my notice because they are all the same and a good number of them have an aversion to bathing." He did have a point there; nobody in this era seemed to understand the importance of hygiene.
"So what if I'm a little bitter; I think that I've done a good job of not being bitter up until now. Not everyone can hide behind an impenetrable mask of ice as you do. I don't even think that I would want to live like that," I spat out at him, taking all of my anger out on him. "You just hide all of your emotions and bottle everything up inside. It's not healthy and it's certainly not the way that I want to live." I shot out of the water and marched over to my towel. I wrapped it around my body angrily and Sesshomaru turned towards me, his eyebrow raised.
"Emotions make you weak, Miko. You should know this. That I had to come and retrieve you is proof enough," he said giving me a distasteful look.
"Forgive me, your highness! I can't help that I have emotions. I had a horrible dream and want a little time away from the group, so what? And just for your information, emotions don't make you weak. Hiding everything makes you a coward. You know what, I don't have to stand here, soaking wet, naked, and shivering while you call me weak. I'm going to leave and put on my clothes. If you want to kill me, then you can do it after I'm dressed. There's no way in hell that I'm dying naked."
Bending over, started digging around in my bag, mumbling curses at the stupid demon behind me while making sure that I kept myself, erm, covered. After a little bit of digging I pulled out some clean clothes and a plastic bag to hold my ruined ones. I shoved the tattered pajamas in there and then proceeded to shove the bundle into my bag roughly. I marched away from Sesshomaru and got dressed where he couldn't see me. When I finished, I walked back to where I left him.
"Okay, you can kill me now. Well, at least you can try," I said, defiantly crossing my arms over my chest.
Sesshomaru looked at me and smirked. He seemed entirely too smug; as if he knew a secret that I didn't
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I growled.
"Welcome back, Miko," he said before walking back in the direction that he came.
A smile broke out on my face when I realized what he accomplished. He must have known that if he pushed my buttons, I would get angry and return to my normal self. Well played Sesshomaru, well played.
I followed him back to camp, amazed at how far I ran earlier. When I could see the fire from camp, I stopped Sesshomaru. I wanted to say this before InuYasha caught my scent and started screaming.
"Hey, thanks for bringing me back to my senses. If I start to act like that again don't be afraid to be slightly abusive," I smiled.
"Hn."
"I guess we better go deal with InuYasha," I sighed. We started walking again, and all too soon, we were back at camp.
Everyone looked up at me almost immediately. Five pairs of eyes contained worry and one set blazed with anger. One hundred dollars says you guess correctly who the angry eyes belonged to.
"Where were you, Miss Kagome? Rin was worried that monsters had eaten you! InuYasha said that you were with Sesshomaru doing 'things.' He wouldn't tell me what those things were, because Miss Sango wouldn't let him!" the adorable little girl gushed at me with wide brown eyes.
"Yea, are you okay?" Shippou asked, giving Sesshomaru a suspicious look.
"Yea guys, I'm fine. I just went for a trip to the hot springs because I couldn't sleep. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry anyone," I said, leaving out just a little bit of the story. Like the part where Sesshomaru saw me naked. Then again, I bet InuYasha would love to hear all about that…
"So you ditched us to go whore it up with Sesshomaru at the hot springs, didn't ya? I bet you loved bedding with a real demon, huh? I know that you fell in love with me quick, but I never expected you to keep things in the family," InuYasha said with a gleam of jealousy in his eyes.
I heard an audible gasp as he flung the last round of hateful words at me. No one in the group expected him to be this cruel to me. I had grown used to his insults, but as he accused me of being a whore, every word felt like a slap to the face. From the way my friends acted around me, I could sense they felt the same way. I watched as Miroku held Sango back so that she didn't kill the insensitive hanyou. InuYasha acted like a jerk sometimes, but never before had he been this cruel to me, and certainly not in front for my adopted family.
I felt tears welling up in my eyes, and then I changed my mind and decided to get very angry. Sure his words hurt me, but there was no way in hell I would allow InuYasha the satisfaction of winning.
"I cannot believe you have the nerve to speak to me as if I am some common whore. What gives you the right to judge me? I haven't done anything wrong. Even if I had decided to sleep with Sesshomaru, that would be none of your business! You are the one that decided to sneak off last night to meet up with Kikyo! I had a horrible dream and I woke up wanting to do nothing more than take a bath. What's wrong with that? If I hadn't gone, you'd just be complaining at me right now to get the smell of hear off my disgusting human body! So do you know what? I don't want to hear anything from you!" By the time I finished my speech, I ended up screaming in InuYasha's face.
"I didn't sneak off to sleep around behind your back! If you're gonna act like a slut, then don't get pissy when I call you out—just admit it! I never expected you would become a cheap whore!" InuYasha screamed right back in my face.
In a second of white-hot fury, I reached out and slapped InuYasha across the face. The slap rang out across the camp as the impact forced InuYasha's face to the left side. I noticed my hand left a bright red mark glowing across his cheek. As he slowly turned his head back towards me, the glint in his eyes made me panic. For a second I believed he'd hit me back.
Suddenly a blur of silver and white rushed between InuYasha and me. Before any of us truly comprehended what happened, InuYasha was sailing through the tress as Sesshomaru alone stood in the space before me. After a second he followed InuYasha into the woods and we heard the impact of flesh on flesh. I winced as InuYasha flew back into the camp to land near my feet for barely a second before Sesshomaru dangled him by his neck in midair.
"You show respect to your pack mate and alpha. Do not taint this family more than you already have. If you used your nose, maybe you would realize the miko speaks only the truth. You are wrong and I suggest you show respect to those more powerful than you in the future."
When he finished with the lesson, Sesshomaru threw InuYasha to the side as if he was nothing but an old stuffed animal before he took up his customary pose under a tree. I don't know if it was accidental or aimed, but InuYasha hit a tree and the impact rendered him unconscious. This left the rest of my friends staring at Sesshomaru in a mixture of awe, gratitude, and even a hint of fear. I felt a grin break out across my face—Sesshomaru managed to pull me out of my negative mood earlier, and now he tried to teach InuYasha some manners. This day was getting better and better.
"Did you guys hear that? I'm the Alpha," I said knowing my revelation would break the tension. The rest of the group laughed at my smugness.
"Kagome, I think you're the only one that didn't know this to begin with. Well, you and InuYasha that is," Miroku laughed. I couldn't help but beam when the rest of my friends joined in on the laughter.
The rest of the day I watched as my friends tiptoed around Sesshomaru—they were treating him as if he were a ticking time bomb. I found something extremely hysterical while watching Miroku trying to make conversation without offending Sesshomaru. When I couldn't contain my laughter, Miroku gave and settled for talking to Sango in hushed whispers.
Taking a chance to enjoy the rare quiet, we left InuYasha asleep against the tree, only making sure he was breathing. A few hours later when he awoke, he only shook his head a few times before glaring at Sesshomaru. I saw it as a blessing he didn't try to start anything up with his brother. My feelings toward InuYasha may be jumbled at the moment, but I didn't want to see him get hurt. If he pushed his brother into another fight, Sesshomaru would give him more than a bump on the head.
When InuYasha started moving around, the position of the sun signaled it was already past noon. Seeing the time, I knew it would be pointless to pack up the group for travel, so I made the executive decision to stay at the camp another night. The promise of resting for an entire day seemed to great to pass up—not to mention this gave Shippou and Rin the opportunity to play and actually behave as children should.
We all spent the day napping in the sunshine or relaxing against the trees. With the sun shining and the gentle breeze passing over us, the day seemed perfect for relaxing. I relished in the sound of Rin and Shippou's laughter as they played tag, hide and seek, and many other games. I watched as Sango and Miroku lounged against Kirara, practically cuddling all day. The pair both sported content smiles and I made a mental not to drill Sango for details later. My heart warmed as I watched the majority of my friends seeming so happy.
I spent the majority of the day stretched under the shade of a tree. Sometimes Rin and Shippou managed to draw me into a game, but mostly I took advantage of the time to relax. When I wasn't busy, I allowed my mind to wander; I thought about everything and nothing at all. Idly, I wondered when I would have the chance to go visit my mother. Probably a month had passed since I last saw her, and I felt the ache of her absence. In addition to missing my mother, I pondered when I could approach InuYasha without fear of him biting off my head.
As for the demons of the group, InuYasha and Sesshomaru chose to be anti-social. Sesshomaru sat against the base of a tree with his arm propped up on his knee as he stared blankly into space. InuYasha still seemed mad as he perched in a tree at the edge of camp and sulked. He looked so dejected I felt a little bad for him—but not bad enough seeing as I still felt the sharp pangs of annoyance towards what he said to me earlier.
Closing my eyes, I tired to clear my mind. I refused to think of InuYasha—I wouldn't ruin my day by thinking how his words hurt earlier. I ignored my thoughts about Sesshomaru and his strangely warm behavior earlier. I was just going to sit there and allow the rays of sun filtering through the leaves wash over me until I was warm and floating in the land of pleasant nothings. I had almost achieved this when someone decided to plop down in the spot next to me.
"Kagome," someone said softly—so softly I wasn't sure I heard my hand in the first place. I cracked my eyes and saw that InuYasha was sitting next to me. I blinked furiously as I pushed myself off the ground and then rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't imagining things. When InuYasha stayed firmly in place, I pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming.
"Oi, stupid, you're awake. I'm really here," he said, shifting uncomfortably.
"Okay, I see that now. So what do you want, InuYasha?" I asked, still angry and hurt.
"I'm sorry Kagome," he said so quickly and quietly that his words sounded like I'msorry'Gome.
My eyes widened in disbelief and I realized he had just apologized to me. With his ears pressed flat against his head and his refusal to meet my gaze, he looked every bit like a whipped puppy. As he peeked up at me, he misread my disbelief as anger.
"I mean it too. I shouldn't have called you those things or accused you of doing that stuff with Sesshomaru. I know that you would never do that, I just don't think," he said gruffly. "If I ever do that again, just sit me to hell and I'll stop. I'll try to be better, I swear. Please forgive me," he begged.
He words registered, and before I could think otherwise I threw myself at InuYasha in a bone-crushing hug. "Of course I'll forgive you!" I laughed into his ears. I didn't care if my actions seemed crazy; I couldn't help it. InuYasha apologized and now I had my friend back.
He sighted in relief and wrapped his arms around me to return my hug. He buried his nose in my hair and whispers, "Thanks, Kagome."
After our hug InuYasha took me up into a tree so we could watch everything from the perspective of the Gods. The action was uncomplicated—just like before I fell in love with him and Naraku hadn't come along to mess up everything. I loved spending that time with him just as his friend, and for the first time in a long time I felt some of my heartache ease away.
We descended after the sun set, but I still felt like I was soaring on cloud nine. I cooked dinner and everything seemed good. As I settled down for bed, I did so with a smile on my face, not noticing the death glares Sesshomaru had been sending at InuYasha all night long.
A/N: Hello my lovelies! I hope that you enjoy my story so far! I've been working really hard to polish this up and republish it :) For those of you that have been on board since the very beginning, what do you think of this revision. For you newcomers, are you enjoying my little story so far? Leave a review and let me know what you think! I try to respond to all of them!