Hi hi everyone ^_^
*Xiaome sweatdrops
as she sees various fruits and vegetables chucked at her.
Ano… I know, I know,
it was a crazy cliffhanger I left last chapter. Hehe. My bad. ~_~
And, yeah, I’m not
very good with titles. ^^;;;
Kagome’s eyes were wide with shock as she
stood with Sesshoumaru’s lips over hers. His lips were warm on hers and she
thought inanely that Sesshoumaru had nice lips. Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru felt
Kagome’s small puffs of breath on his lips and was shocked at his lack of
revulsion. It was, of course, a plan to enrage Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru had
intended only to cause the hanyou pain for nearly killing Sesshoumaru’s charge.
Instead, what had merely been a means to an end had turned into something
unpredictable. She tasted good.
Sango, Miroku, and the two young ones,
Shippo and Rin, stared wide-eyed at the scene before them. Inuyasha gripped the
hilt of Tetsusaiga helplessly. His heart clenched painfully as he watched what
was going on right in front of him. Is this how Kagome felt when she saw me
in the forest with Kikyo? Unable to look away, Inuyasha berated himself for
letting this happen to Kagome, for not be able to prevent Sesshoumaru take
advantage of her. Inuyasha growled in angry frustration as the kiss seemed to
last forever. Finally, Sesshoumaru broke the kiss only to brush his lips
against Kagome’s ear. Then he pushed her forward, causing her to stumble
slightly. Sango rushed forward as Kagome quickly spun around, inexplicably
wanting to see the expression in Sesshoumaru’s eyes. The youkai was nowhere to
be seen and neither was Rin.
So it happened that Kagome ended up
traveling with Inuyasha once again as they continued their quest for the Shikon
shards. Along the way, Inuyasha learned that without Tetsusaiga he would lose
control of his youkai blood when threatened by mortal danger. With repeated
transformations, the uncontrollable flow of the strong youkai blood would cause
him to lose his sanity and become a beast that knew only battle. And so time
passed and what happened with Sesshoumaru faded from the minds of everyone,
except for three. To these three, the incident remained fresh in their minds,
haunting their daily lives with the feelings and thoughts invoked by what had
passed on that day.
How had things turned out the way they had?
Kagome treated everyone as though nothing had happened; her relationships with
them remained the same as before. All remained the same except Kagome and Inuyasha.
Inuyasha was his usual rude self and Kagome got mad at him like before. But it
didn’t go unnoticed by the hanyou that the anger seemed a bit forced at times. It was the same way with
his efforts to make Kagome lose her temper in attempt to have things the way
they were before. Kagome seemed reluctant to touch him and it made them all
awkward when it became obvious. Where before she often rode on Inuyasha’s back,
lately Kagome preferred riding with Sango on Kirara. That meant he had to carry
the houshi on his back, of course, the new arrangement was not welcomed by neither
Miroku nor Inuyasha.
Inuyasha
watched as Kagome seemed to slip further and further from him with each passing
day. He frowned, unable to pinpoint what made him so dissatisfied with the
relationship between Kagome and him. Ever since that incident with Sesshoumaru,
and the scene with Kikyo, something seemed to be missing in his relationship
with Kagome. Of their little group, Kagome was the first he had met. She was
the one who drew out the good in him and in many ways she helped him accept his
identity as a hanyou. She was the first to find out the date when he turned
human and he trusted her to keep that secret safe. Inuyasha shook his head in
annoyance, the garbled mess of thoughts confusing him. Inuyasha wondered idly
what Kagome had felt when Sesshoumaru had kissed her.
Lingering further behind, Kagome was
walking with Sango while Inuyasha lead the group. Ever since she had seen
Inuyasha with Kikyo she found that the comfortable relationship they had before
had become awkward. At times, Kagome found her resolve weakening but held to
her decision of having Inuyasha only as a friend. Late at night, when no one
was watching, Kagome would softly touch her fingertips to her lips and
remember. At that time, when Sesshoumaru had kissed her, he had whispered
something in her ear, something confusing.
* * * * *
“Sesshoumaru-sama, Sesshoumaru-sama. Ne,
when is Kagome-neechan coming to visit?”
“….”
“Ne ne, Kagome-neechan daisuki! We had fun
when she came with us last time. I hope she visits soon!”
“She doesn’t know where we are, Rin.”
Sesshoumaru watched Rin’s mood deflate a bit, inexplicably tugging at his heartstrings.
“She is probably with the hanyou somewhere, searching for the Shikon shards.”
“Oh, she too busy for us then?” The youkai
watched in alarm as Rin’s face fell. Refusing to let his alarm show, the youkai
adopted an expression of faint curiousity, as if waiting for her next words. Don’t
start crying, don’t start crying, do not start crying. After witnessing Rin’s
tears for the first time, Sesshoumaru found that he did not like to see his
young charge crying. Sesshoumaru almost sighed with relief as the child tilted
her head to one side and smiled brightly without warning, eyeing Sesshoumaru
expectantly. “Ne, Sesshoumaru-sama, if we helped Kagome-neechan find the Shikon
shards she would have time to see us, right?”
“Rin, the Shikon no Tama, and now its
shards, are dangerous. The Shikon draws evil towards it like moths to a flame.
Those wanting to possess the Shikon would stop at nothing to get what they
wanted.”
“But that means that Kagome-neechan is in
danger! What if she gets hurt? Then she won’t be able to come play with Rin and
Sesshoumaru-sama.”
“….”
It had been over two months since
Sesshoumaru had left Kagome by his ancestral home. Thoughts of the young miko
had continued to haunt him in her absence. Something had happened when he had
used his psychic powers on Kagome, something different. Somehow, a link had
been established between Kagome and himself. Sesshoumaru pondered the
possibility of such an occurrence. He had never heard any mention from his
okaasan of such a possibility through the use of their psychic powers. There
was also no other answer as to why he felt Kagome’s feelings so keenly, with
little effort.
Sesshoumaru brooded. A mere human should
not affect him so, after, he was the lord of the Western Lands. But, he
reasoned, I have not yet discovered for myself the source of the warmth
radiated from that girl’s soul. Touching it had brought back feelings I thought
were long dead. It had been comforting and I felt… joy? Any warm feelings
had long since been banished by long years as sole ruler of the Western Lands.
In order to rule absolutely required that he instill fear in the hearts’ of his
enemies. It was weakness to show softness for with his great power came great
responsibility. The thought that he was becoming soft troubled him.
Gazing at the stars, their light calmed the
troubled youkai, reminding Sesshoumaru of his okaasan. Okaasan had said that if
ever he was troubled, look to the stars. There was much he had forgotten in the
many years that had passed but some memories of his okaasan stayed with him.
She had said that each shining star held a dream. When his okaasan had been
near death, she had told Sesshoumaru to watch for her star. When she left this
world, she would join the stars above and shine down on him. She would give him
hope to achieve his dreams for only she truly understood him.
His dream. Sesshoumaru himself did not know
what his dream was. Once he had dreamed to have what his otousan and okaasan
had together, that one true soul mate. But apparently, that had not been real,
as his otousan had mated with another after the death of Sesshoumaru’s birth
mother. His okaasan, Sesshoumaru recognized, was different from other female
youkai. Often, the female youkai, more often than not, was the more vicious in
comparison with the male youkai. Sesshoumaru’s okaasan was compassionate and loyal
mate to his father. A powerful youkai in her own right, it was from his okaasan
that Sesshoumaru inherited his psychic powers. And it was his okaasan that
taught his otousan compassion for humans.
Sesshoumaru’s thoughts strayed to a certain
human at that thought. That Kagome was different from every other human he had
ever encountered. From his observations, the wench showed more intelligence
than the humans he usually encountered. She had managed to somehow gain
Inuyasha’s protection and cooperation after all. Although Sesshoumaru did not
think much of the hanyou, he knew of Inuyasha’s rash and stubborn behavior and
the fact that Kagome could control the hanyou was impressive. Also surprising
the youkai was the miko’s scent. Sesshoumaru delicate sense of smell was often
offended by the odors given off by humans but the Kagome was different. Her
scent was enticing. Altogether, Kagome was a different type of being than those
Sesshoumaru was used to. Where exactly Kagome came from was unknown as he had
never been interested enough to find out. The question bothered the youkai now.
Sesshoumaru sensed intuitively that the answer would prove quite interesting
indeed.
* * * * *
Kagome tried desperately to calm her harsh
breathing. Although she had managed to place a fair distance between Kikyo and
herself, Kagome didn’t hold any false hope to the dark miko giving up the
chase. Remembering the look of hatred in Kikyo’s eyes, Kagome shivered. She did
not understand why Kikyo hated her and wanted to kill her so much. Was it just
for the reason that Kikyo couldn’t stand there being two of her or was it
because she wished to possess the rest of her soul?
Kagome and the others had been searching
for a Shikon shard she had sensed nearby when Naraku’s poisonous bees had
appeared. As usual when dealing with Naraku, the situation soon became chaotic
as many youkai attacked their close-knit group. Kagome had been standing off to
a side with Shippo while Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku battled the waves of
youkai. Suddenly, her upper armed had burned with pain. Surprised, she had
looked up to find Kikyo, eyes glowing with hatred for the injured girl. Shippo,
watching the battle intently, had not realized the drama taking place right
behind his back.
Seeing Kikyo reach back to notch another
arrow, Kagome had panicked. She knew Kiko had no reservations as to whether the
kitsune was hurt in the crossfire as she tried to kill Kagome. Deciding
quickly, she had turned and ran away from her friends. That hadn’t been the
brightest idea, she reflected as she listened intently for Kikyo. Now she
was too far away for Inuyasha to reach them in time. Kagome had known the dark
miko meant to kill her but had not realized how badly Kikyo had wanted her
dead. It seemed too much of a coincidence that Kikyo’s attempt to take her life
happened when Naraku attacked.
Kagome gave a muffled gasp of surprise as a
clawed hand suddenly covered her mouth and she was pulled away from the tree
she was hiding behind. A split second later, her eyes widened further as an
arrow imbedded itself into the tree. Horrified, Kagome realized that the arrow
would have pierced her heart if she hadn’t been pulled away. Kagome tried to
see who held her but stopped her struggles as the hold tightened in warning.
The hand over her mouth was removed after a slight pause, as if her captor was
gauging if she would scream when released. Next thing she knew, Kagome felt
herself being lifted into her savior’s arms and flying through the air. Kagome
cracked open her tightly closed eyes, catching a glimpse of long white hair
flying through the air. Inuyasha? But how’d he get here so quickly…
Blinking in an attempt to see more clearly with the wind blowing into her eyes
Kagome caught a glimpse of white cloth flapping wildly. White clothing?!
Kagome’s eyes snapped open in shock to find herself faced with Sesshoumaru’s
profile. Looking down, she found Kikyo watching her with cold eyes.
* * * * *
Phew. Finally
another chapter. ^_^
Just a few things
about this chapter
Is
a girl oneechan or neechan??
Is
Sesshoumaru too OOC?
Is
this considered a cliff-hanger? I hope not.
As usual, I would
love to hear some feedback.
And to all those
Inuyasha/Kagome based people, I respect your view but this fic is really
leaning to Sesshoumaru/kagome. To all those that argued that point with me I’m
grateful that you cared enough to email me and that you were all so nice in the
way you argued your points. ^_^
Xiaome