Chapter 30:
"No...Inuyasha…!"
Their conversation was cut as they all turned to Kagome, who shouted out of intense worry. Then, they shifted their attention to the brothers, and saw that Inuyasha was indeed knocked down, and couldn't even stand up anymore. And yet, Sesshomaru continued to walk towards him, seemingly with a harmful intention.
Kagome immediately ran towards Inuyasha in an attempt to protect him, to which Miroku and Sango followed, both worried that he might just strike her down.
"Stop right there! Or else…!" Kagome warned as she glared at Sesshomaru.
At the same time, Arisa went on her way and quickly stood in front of Sesshomaru, stopping him from going further. She faced him with a somber expression.
"Enough, Sesshomaru…! He's your brother, for goodness' sake! Are you really going to kill him!?"
"I will not." Sesshomaru replied, his face deadpan.
He then looked at Kagome, Miroku and Sango, who were still beside the unconscious Inuyasha. They quickly prepared themselves in a defensive position.
"Give the Tetsusaiga to him before he wakes up. It will make him revert back to his half-demon self." He instructed to them, and started walking away after.
They all gave him a quizzical look, and Arisa's eyes widened at his response.
"Wait. Why did you not kill him instantly when you had the chance? We all know your hatred towards Inuyasha…" Miroku suddenly asked, making Sesshomaru halt.
"I will spare him this time, as he is nothing but a mindless killing machine."
Later, Shippo and Kirara quickly came and gave Inuyasha his Tetsusaiga, while Arisa still stood there, watching him go.
It almost seemed like…he came to calm his brother down.
As her heart warmed at that thought, she shifted her attention to Kagome and the others, who were busy tending to Inuyasha. Apparently, he was now awake, and back to normal.
Inuyasha looked around, his expression sad and confused.
"Did I…do all these?" he softly asked, and they all glanced worriedly at each other.
He doesn't know…?
"…Inuyasha, are you hurt somewhere? I could at least alleviate the pain."
However, he was quick to object. "I don't need it."
"Arisa."
A deep voice called out to her, and to her surprise, it came from Sesshomaru. He was still standing at a distance with Ah-un beside him, apparently waiting for her.
"Please don't let Inuyasha be separated from his Tetsusaiga again, no matter what. It's the only effective way of suppressing his demon blood." Arisa softly reminded.
"How did you know about this?" Kagome curiously asked.
"It's all thanks to Sesshomaru and his connections." Arisa replied with a soft smile.
"I see..."
Arisa waved them goodbye, and they waved back as well, smiling at her.
Silence came between the two as they walked, and this time, it was Sesshomaru who broke it.
"What were you doing there?"
"I only followed you. And then I saw that."
"Hmph."
Grabbing the opportunity, Arisa brought out the topic she wanted to talk about from the moment they left the village.
"Why in the world did you have to fight Inuyasha!?"
"You should be thankful that I was there to gauge on his desire to kill."
"What…?"
"Did you not hear what I said earlier? His demon form is nothing but a murderous creature that will slay everything until his body gives up."
"In other words, you were there to…stop him? And prevent him from getting devoured?"
He didn't reply, but she instantly took it as a yes.
"So you really do care for him…" Arisa continued, smiling at him.
"I do not. I will kill that half-demon at a more appropriate time." Sesshomaru answered apathetically.
"Whatever you say." Arisa replied, amused at his not-so-honest attitude.
"At any rate, you're not hurt, are you…?" she asked carefully right after, and Sesshomaru's expression turned sour.
"Do you really think that half-demon would be able to wound me?"
"Technically, yes. Twice, in fact."
He gave Arisa a stern look. "Are you mocking me?"
"No, I'm not. I just told you the truth. But since you confronted his demon side, I thought you might've had a hard time."
"There was no difference. He was just troublesome."
"See?" she uttered with a mischievous smile.
Sesshomaru didn't retort, but glared at her instead. But soon after, his expression softened a little.
"…I am fine."
"Okay then, that's good to hear." she answered as she grabbed his arm, smiling charmingly.
His brows knitted. "Let go of my arm."
"I will, but later."
"You…" Sesshomaru said insultingly, but it didn't make her falter. Rather, it even made Arisa tighten her grip on his arm. He sighed inwardly and let Arisa off the hook.
But deep inside, it actually gladdened him that she was still concerned about him; and her initiating a chummy gesture was not at all disgusting.
They found Jaken right at the spot they left him, and the little creature's face brightened as he saw them.
"Sesshomaru-sama! Arisa! You're finally back…!"
"Sorry Jaken, I left you out of the blue…"
"Damn right you are, young woman!"
Arisa laughed nervously, and then turned to face the dog demon.
"Uh, Sesshomaru… I'm going back for a while."
"Go ahead." He replied with a stoic visage, but his voice sounded a bit tremulous.
"But…I will need to borrow Ah-un…" she requested, smiling cheekily.
"No. I will take you to the well."
Arisa's eyes went round, and Jaken's mouth fell.
"For real…?"
"Let's go." He bluntly said, ignoring her surprised question.
"Does that mean I will wait for you here once again…?" Jaken asked.
"Come if you want." Sesshomaru answered, much to his happiness.
"Certainly, sire!"
Arisa sat on the edge of the well, with Sesshomaru and Jaken in front of her.
"I'll be back after 5 days. I just…need to attend classes." She said as she lightly scratched her temple.
"To that place with tall, oddly cemented structures? Whatever you call it." Sesshomaru rarely commented that she almost wanted to laugh. She then gave him a lopsided grin instead as she recalled what happened when he went there.
"Oh, you mean the university compound."
He glanced side-wards for a moment, trying to hide his own embarrassment.
"You should go."
"Hold on…how am I supposed to meet you by then?"
"Ah-un will come and wait for you here after 5 days to get you to us."
"Okay, sounds good!" she said, and then went off to jumping into the well.
Jaken climbed into it, and took a peek. "Interesting. But how come I can't even go into that world where Arisa is…?"
Realizing that there was no answer, he looked back at once and saw Sesshomaru, already on his way.
"W-wait for me, Sesshomaru-sama!"
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