AN: Okay, I know in this story Sesshoumaru calls Kagome a bitch, a lot. I
figure since he's a dog demon he'd call all females bitches, regardless of her
personality, so rather then being insulting use the tone of someone saying
'woman' or 'girl.' Oh, and please, please, please review. All comments are
welcome.
Trade
By Oniko
Created by Rumiko
Takahashi
Kagome ran through the woods at breakneck speed. With Shippo
distracting Inu Yasha she might actually make it home without a hassle. Her mind
registered the rustle of bushes behind her. "Sit!"
"Bitch!" She felt a
hand grasp her ankle and she crashed to the ground.
"Damnit, Inu Yasha I
have to go home. Now LET GO!" she yelled and tried kicking at him with her other
foot.
"No! We have to finish looking for the shards I am not going to let
you run away again." His claws started to dig into her skin.
"Oww! Let
go. Let go. Let go. SIT!" She yelled pulling on her leg, much to her surprise
his grasp did slip a little, enough for her to reach a tree branch to use as
leverage. "Let go. Let go. Let go. SIT!"
"Shit! Damn! You get back here!"
he yelled slashing his claws through the empty air as his grasp slipped from her
ankle completely and sent her tumbling back to the ground. Out of his reach. She
sat stunned for a few moments from the impact but soon leapt to her feet and was
running again for the well to get home before Inu Yasha could stand again. Two
demons watched her enter the well unobserved.
"Lord, do you wish to
follow her?" Jaken asked distain clear in his voice.
"Not now."
Sesshoumaru said looking down into the well, "My Brother must be taken care of
first."
Kagome stared blindly out her dark window and yawned. She had way
too much stuff to catch up on. Even with all the notes her friends let her
borrow she still fell further and further behind the rest of the
class.
"And it's all Inu Yasha's fault." She griped to no one in
particular. She noticed that she had been staring at golden eyes in the darkness
for several long moments. "Speak of the devil."
Opening the window she
stuck her head and shoulders out into the cool night air.
"Inu Yasha, I
told." She trailed off as she came face to face with Sesshoumaru. "You're not
Inu Yasha."
He smiled at her, a crooked half-smile that caused some small
voice in that back of her head to start babbling like the girls at school. Damn,
but he's cute. "I should hope not."
"I don't suppose you could come back
later if I told you that I can't come out and play right now?"
"I beg you
pardon?" Sesshoumaru looked at her in confusion.
"You're going to kidnap
me and trade me to Inu Yasha for the tetsusaiga."
He smiled at her again,
setting of another round of internal babbling Shut UP!! "Very good, you are much
more perceptive then my useless excuse for a brother."
She ducked back
inside her room and watched Sesshoumaru climb in after her.
"Look, can I
get a few things together?" You, girl, are warped; worrying about studying at a
time like this. She told herself.
He looked around her room before
turning to face her directly. "You're taking this surprisingly well."
She
shrugged. "I'm just too tired right now to scream, anyways, nobody's
home."
He looked at her in surprise. She threw her books and a spare set
of clothing into her schoolbag without waiting for a response. Her rucksack was
still being loaded down in the kitchen and she was damned if she was going to
haul that thing around for Sesshoumaru and Jaken. Sesshoumaru watched her pack
with an unreadable expression on his face.
"What?" she asked.
He
started a bit at her question, "Are you ready yet?"
"Are we in a hurry?"
she asked.
"Jaken is distracting my brother, I wish to be away from the
area before the fool realizes that Jaken and the oni are only a distraction. If
he ever does."
She winced at the barb but really couldn't come up with
anything to refute Sesshoumaru's statement. Subtle just wasn't in Inu Yasha's
vocabulary. So, she changed subjects. "Inu Yasha will come and rescue
me."
"I should hope so." Sesshoumaru agreed. "Otherwise this endeavor
would be quite useless."
Sesshoumaru stared at the sleeping woman. She
was not at all like he expected. He had planned on simply dumping her into one
of the dungeons until his brother showed up but something about her demanded
courtesy, and at the last minute placed her in one of his guestrooms. Most
humans screamed and ran when they realized what he was, sometimes the males
would attempt to fight him, but not for long. Granted his experience with humans
was somewhat limited and human bitches even less so. Yet his brother's bitch did
neither, instead she talked back at him with a blatant audacity that surprised
him. "Can I pack a few things" indeed. He snorted. No she was definitely not
what he expected.
He summoned a servant. A white lady coalesced beside
him. She was a silent spirit of some long ago living woman. "Change her out of
those clothes." He said as he pulled out the other uniform he saw her pack. He
frowned over the short skirt, how could his brother let his bitch run around in
practically nothing like this, it was shameful, an embarrassment to the family.
She was going have to wear something else, especially with Rin here. The pup was
just not old enough to be exposed to something like that. "Then burn these. And
tell me when Jaken returns."
The white lady bowed as he swept out of the
room.
Kagome awoke with the morning sun in her eyes. She groaned
and rolled over pulling the thick blankets over her face before she realized
that something was very wrong. For one thing she never got the morning sun in
her eyes at home, and she was supposed to be up all night anyways. Sitting up
she looked around an ornately decorated room. Her schoolbag was on a table next
to the door. She shivered and realized that she wasn't wearing anything.
Blushing furiously she dove for the bag and the uniform inside. Only to find it
gone, she dumped out the entire contents of the bag on the table in the vague
hopes that it got shoved to the bottom of the bag, but no it was gone
completely. Looking around again she noticed that a lady's kimono was draped
across the foot of the bed. The blue-green silk was richly embroidered with
birds and flowers. Without any other options available she dressed in the formal
clothing. She jumped when a knock came at the door just as she finished
dressing. "Yes?"
She backed up as a pale woman walked through the door. A
ghostly voice whispered, "Breakfast is served in the informal dining hall,
mistress."
"Uh, th-thank you." Kagome stuttered. The woman bowed deeply
and vanished. Kagome sat on the bed for a few moments and worked up the courage
to face Sesshoumaru and who ever else would be coming to breakfast. She was not
going to let that bastard have the satisfaction of seeing her freaked out, and
then there was the matter of stealing her clothes, where does he get off doing
that to her, she needed those uniforms for school. Resolutely she stood up and
walked out the door. Focusing on being angry would help her survive ordeal this
more then being scared would. She was sure of that.
The White Lady was
waiting for Kagome outside her room. The ghost bowed again and whispered, "This
way please."
Kagome fought to shove her heart back down her throat and
into its proper place. "Th-thank you." She followed the ghost pausing to open
doors where the ghost simply floated through them. This is beyond
weird.
A final door slid open and the ghost was gone. The room she walked
into was a small dining room with a table was set for four people. Only two of
which were already there. A cute little girl in a grass stained yukata sat
frowning at Jaken. At the sound of the door sliding shut the girl jumped up and
ran to Kagome looking her up and down with wide eyes. "Who're you? I'm Rin. I
like your dress. Do you like mine? Jaken said I had to look nice cause we have
guests. Are you our guest? You're pretty. Are you going to be Sesshoumaru's
girlfriend? I think he-"
"Rin, that's enough." Kagome was so absorbed in
Rin's rapid-fire questions that she completely missed Sesshoumaru's entrance.
Rin smiled beatifically at both of them and plopped down at her place dragging
Kagome with her "Sit next to me."
Sesshoumaru smiled at Kagome's slightly
panicked expression as he took his place at the head of the table. She in turn
glared at him over Rin's head. Rin rattled on about her day cheerfully
unperturbed by Sesshoumaru's stern tone. Eventually the food was gone and
breakfast was over. Rin was guided away by a suffering Jaken to her 'writing
lessons' leaving Kagome and Sesshoumaru sitting alone over an empty
table.
The extended silence was beginning to make Kagome uncomfortable.
She shifted nervously and stared at the fascinating wood grain patterns in the
table. She was so focused at not looking at anything that she nearly jumped a
foot when Sesshoumaru cleared his throat. He was watching her with that little
half smile again; she tried to shift her eyes back to the table but his golden
eyes held her captive. "I believe you will be our guest here for several
days."
"Oh? Why is that? Isn't Inu Yasha coming?" she asked not really
sure if she wanted him to answer the question.
His smile widened "Oh he
will. I just decided to let him suffer for a few days before alerting him to
your presence in my home. Until then, the grounds are open to you. If you need
anything, simply ask the White Lady she will be your lady-in-waiting during your
stay here."
"Thank you." Kagome bowed again when she looked up
Sesshoumaru was gone. She turned to find the White Lady waiting patiently behind
her. "Um, how do I get back to my room?"
The White Lady bowed and led her
out of the room.
"Do you have a name?" Kagome asked as she trotted ahead
a few steps to walk beside the ghostly figure. The white lady walked down the
hall silently. Kagome had to sidestep around a lamp and walked through the
lady's dress, a cold chill shot up Kagome's spine "Oh, sorry about
that."
Kagome fell back behind the spirit rubbing her arms trying to keep
warm in the sudden chill. They continued on to her room in silence. Kagome stood
in the doorway wondering how to dismiss a servant "well, um, thank you. I, uh,
don't think I'll be needing anything. Um."
The White Lady bowed deeply
and began to fade away. Before she was gone completely her ghostly voice
whispered "Minako, Mistress."
Kagome jumped. "What? Oh! Your name! Is
that your name?" But she was gone.
On the fifth day of her 'capture,'
Kagome gazed out at the starry sky from the balcony attached to her suite. Her
days set into a simple routine. She marveled at how much studying she managed to
cram into the past several days, even with Rin all too thrilled to be a
distraction. She might actually pass her next test, Kagome smiled at the
thought.
"What are you grinning at?" a voice growled from next to her.
She turned and looked at Sesshoumaru without jumping out of her skin. Between
the two of them the brothers were desensitizing her to that trick.
"Oh,
I'm thinking I might actually be able to pass my tests next week. Keeping up
with school is just so difficult what with Inu Yasha constantly dragging me
around Japan kicking and screaming."
"You don't like being with my
brother?" She could hear the surprise in his voice.
"Would anyone?" she
asked sarcastically, but then corrected herself. "No, I do. But God! I used to
have a life once upon a time. Your brother is just so demanding, I can't do
anything but be with him. He's worse then a two-year old."
Sesshoumaru
sat down next to her on the balcony's small bench, his body warm against hers
through the thin silk. She shifted down the bench as far as she could but there
was not enough room to go anywhere. She'd be damned if she'd let him know he'd
made her uncomfortable. The bastard would probably just enjoy that she though
sourly.
As he shifted to look at her his hand brushed hers. "You're
cold." He raised his hand to brush at her cheek before wrapping his arm around
her shoulder. She could feel the blush rising in her cheeks and her eyes
widening in shock as she stared resolutely out at the stars. His warm body
wrapped around hers.
I am not going to let him get to me. I am not going
to let him get to me. I am not going to let.oh, forget it. She leapt up and
dashed into her room, slamming and locking the balcony door "Bastard can find
his own way down. Minako?"
The ghost coalesced in front of her, "Yes
mistress?"
"Well, um." Kagome looked nervously out the balcony door and
considered how to put it, "Um, I just don't want to be alone right now,
o.k?"
"Oh-kaay." Minako repeated the new phrase slowly. They had become
friends during the past couple of days and talked about everything. The girl's
image had really improved since Kagome first met her, literally. What had been a
hazy indistinct white light was now an image that could almost be mistaken for a
live person. Except for that really annoying habit of taking shortcuts through
the walls. Minako sat down gracefully, temporarily distracted from her paranoia,
Kagome watched her enviously. Minako did everything gracefully, oh the virtues
of being dead. Minako looked at Kagome, looked at the balcony door, then back to
Kagome. "Is there someone out there?"
"NO!"
"Really?" She asked
then got to her feet "then you wont mind me opening the door will
you?"
"Well, uh." Kagome said intelligently "Why?"
"Because it's
stuffy in here."
"How can you tell?" Kagome asked desperately looking for
a way out.
"You appear at bit flushed."
Kagome raised her hands to
her cheeks and, if possible, blushed harder. "I think it's burned
in."
The balcony door swung open and Minako peered outside "There's no
one here."
"Thank god." Kagome sighed.
"So now, perhaps you'll
tell me what happened." Minako appeared beside her with curiosity etched on her
pale features.
"Um, well, I'm not exactly sure." Kagome started but fell
silent.
"Tell me or I'll.I'll haunt you." The ghost girl smiled at her,
Kagome groaned and threw a pillow through her. The two girls laughed and settled
down together.
Sesshoumaru watched the girls talk from across the
interior gardens that separated the balcony he now stood on from the other.
Kagome's scent lingered on his skin. He closed his eyes remembering the soft
feel of her cool skin and warm breath. Lifting his hand to his mouth he could
taste her lingering presence. He smiled to himself as a plan began to form in
the back of his mind.
Kagome kept Minako with her until late into the
night when she was too tired to stay awake any longer. "I'm so sorry for taking
up your time like this Mina-chan."
The ghost looked at her with a wistful
expression on her pale face. "I don't mind at all, it's so nice having someone
to talk to. I get so lonely here in the castle. I'm the one who should be
apologizing to you, keeping you up like this. The living need to sleep.
Goodnight, Kagome-chan."
"Goodnight, Mina-." Kagome murmured as she
drifted off. Mina smiled down at her and tucked the blankets around the sleeping
girl as she faded away into the darkness.
As soon as the ghost girl
vanished Kagome moaned and thrashed as her dreams headed down into a nightmare.
She was wading through a river of blood. It was warm, living blood that flowed
across her skin, burning hot. The ground suddenly gave way beneah her and she
sank into the hot liquid. She fought her way to the surface but couldn't find
it. Her lungs burned for air, she opened her mouth to scream, and hot blood
filled her mouth and seared her lungs. She felt strong arms grab her and held
her, the blood was gone and she could breath again. She blinked away tears and
looked up into soft golden eyes. She snuggled closer to Inu Yasha's warm body
and wished she could stay like this forever.
She woke up cuddle next to
somebody. As the dream faded, Kagome's mind began to register details in the
waking world. In the darkened room she could make out very little few details.
But she could tell that, other then the covers, there was not a stitch of
clothing between them. She looked up into Sessoumaru's face and felt panic
freeze her body.
He reached up with his hand to gently tuck a strand of
hair behind her ears, his claws brushing lightly across her skin sending shivers
down her spine. In a soft, almost inaudible voice he said, "You're in
heat."
It took her a few moments for the meaning of the words to sink in.
Her eyes widened "No!"
He moved faster then her shocked and tired mind
could register, She found herself pinned beneath him with his mouth clamped over
hers. Her, somewhat belated, reactions finally set in. She bit down on his lip
and worked one hand free; as her arm came loose from under his weight her palm
shot up and cracked him hard on the jaw. He reared back in surprise. She took
the opportunity to roll over, out of bed. She didn't get very far when he
grabbed her from be hind and pulled her against his body. He buried his face in
the crook of her neck, licking her sweaty skin. "Why do you fight? Don't' you
want this?"
"No. Please, don't" She whimpered as his hand slid down her
stomach. When she felt his fingers probing between her legs she tried to fight,
kicking and squirming ineffectually. He held her too tight. Suddenly, he let go
and backed off; the fight was over as quickly as it had begun.
He smirked
"So, my useless brother can't even get it up for his bitch. Doesn't surprise
me."
She gaped at him in shock for a few moments, and then realized that
she wasn't wearing anything and scrambled to cover herself with torn blankets.
When did that happen? When she looked back he was gone.
Inu Yasha sulked
in his tree; he'd already been kicked out of Kaede's house for pacing too much.
They were all worried about Kagome's disappearance but that was no excuse for
the old hag to be so cranky.
"Greetings brother." Shesshoumaru said from
across a small opening between the trees. Inu Yasha drew the tetsusaiga. The
rusty blade shifted into the glowing white fang in his hands. "Impeccable
timing. I need to kill something right now."
"Put the blade away, we have
something else to discuss."
"The only thing I wish to 'discuss' with you
is your funeral arrangements." Inu Yasha leapt forward across the small gulf,
sword raised high. Sesshoumaru also leapt forward they met midway though the
trees. Sesshoumaru's shoulder slammed into Inu Yasha's stomach throwing him back
against the tree. The thick trunk cracked audibly from the impact. Sesshoumaru
lifted his brother's face by the chin and gently traced two fingers down Inu
Yasha's cheek. His claws raised welts on the boy's face but Sesshoumaru was
careful not to break the skin. The scent of blood might interfere with the more
delicate scents on his skin. Inu Yasha's eyes grew wide. "You bastard. You
didn't."
Sesshoumaru smirked. "Poor little mongrel lost your panting
bitch to someone else."
"Liar. She wouldn't." Inu Yasha could here the
desperation in his voice. He knew more about humans then his brother and knew
human girls didn't do THAT when they were in heat. But Kagome was so very
different from other human girls and they had never been alone during that time
so he really couldn't be sure. The doubt ate at his heart.
Sesshoumaru
smiled wider at his brother's obvious agony, and brushed his fingers across Inu
Yasha's mouth. "She begged."
"No!" Inu Yasha pushed himself away from
Sesshoumaru and the tree, loosing his balance he fell to the
ground.
"Tomorrow night by the well, you and my father's sword, no one
else, nothing else. Or else."
"Or else what? Or else what, you bastard?"
But Sesshoumaru was already gone.
Inu Yasha crumpled into a ball at the
base of the tree. He could taste both Kagome and Sesshoumaru on his lips. A
whimper escaped his throat.
It was just past sunset the next day when Inu
Yasha caught Kagome's scent on the night wind. Inu Yasha ran off to the Bone
Gobbling Well Tetsusaiga in hand. Sesshoumaru would not survive this
time.
Inu Yasha arrived in the clearing bare moments after smelling
Kagome's scent. She lay unconscious in the ground dressed in lady's clothing of
the finest silk. It was a striking silvery-blue color, just like her
eyes.
"Kagome!" He yelled and ran to her side. Only to slam into some
force that surrounded her. He knelt on the ground and pounded on the shield.
"Kagome! Wake up!"
"She can't hear you, mongrel. The magic that keeps her
imprisoned keeps her asleep." Sesshoumaru said from behind him. "You will give
me the katana and in turn I will give you the key to the enchantment that holds
your bitch."
"I have a better idea." Inu Yasha said turning around and
drawing the tetsusaiga. "You die, and I take the key from your dead
body."
Sesshoumaru easily avoided Inu Yasha's attack. "You are so
predictable."
A slash to the stomach had Inu Yasha staggering back. "Kill
me and you'll never get the key. No food and no water, it should take your human
bitch several days to die."
"You bastard." Inu Yasha
growled.
"Drop my fathers sword, mongrel. Good, back away from it,
further. Now, go stand over there, good boy." Inu Yasha stood several meters
away from the sword and trembled in suppressed anger. Sesshoumaru turned away
from him and called into the trees "Rin! Child, come here."
Rin ran out
from behind the cover of bushed she was hiding in, gave Inu Yasha a wide berth
as she scooted around him and stopped in font of Sesshoumaru. "The ring I told
you to hold for me. I need it now."
"But I likes the ring." She whined,
hiding her hands behind her back.
"Now, Rin!" Sesshoumaru barked, the
girl pouted but took a ring from her finger and gave it to him. "Now, child, I
need you to do one more thing. Pick up that sword on the ground
there."
Rin nodded and trotted over to the sword. Inu Yasha reached out
to stop her "No!"
She paused and looked at him then back at Sesshoumaru,
"Brother, it's your choice, our father's sword or your bitch's
life."
"No." Inu Yasha moaned softly and looked over at Kagome's sleeping
form. She looked like a lady with her inky black hair artfully arranged around
her face and a delicate gold chain at her throat. I'm sorry father. "The
key."
"Here." Sesshoumaru held up the small ring and slowly stepped
forward towards Inu Yasha. He stopped at arms length away holding out the ring.
It was carved from a single piece of blue jade into the form of a dragon eating
it's own tail. With shaking hands Inu Yasha took the ring from his brother. "If
this is a lie, I will kill you."
"No lies, brother. Not this time."
Sesshoumaru leapt past him to land next to the little girl holding the
tetsusaiga awkwardly. He picked her up and looked back at his brother "If I
never see you again it will only be too soon."
"I will kill you for this,
you bastard." Inu Yasha growled at him but Sesshoumaru made no indication that
he had heard as he leapt with the girl and the sword into the night
sky.
Inu Yasha approached Kagome trembling with apprehension. He placed
the ring on his finger, the cool stone shifted slightly as it adjusted to fit
his finger. He stepped through the barrier slowly, ready for some sign of
betrayal. He knelt down and lifted Kagome's head to rest in his lap and patted
her cheek gently. "Kagome?"
"Damnit, wake up already." Inu Yasha felt
tears burning in his eyes "Please, wake up you stupid bitch."
He lifted
her hand to his face, closing his eyes he placed her palm against his cheek. He
gradually became aware of Sesshoumaru's lingering scent on her skin. He felt a
familiar rage begin to replace the panic. His eyes snapped open and he found
himself staring at a blue dragon. He pulled his head up and looked again at her
wrist
A bangle carved from a single piece of blue jade was wrapped around
her wrist, carved into a shape of a dragon eating it's own tail. He grabbed hold
of the bracelet and ripped it off. The thing twisted in his grip and wrapped
itself around his wrist. He stared at it a moment and shrugged, Kaede could look
at it later.
"Kagome?" He looked back down at the girl, her eyes
flickered and opened.
"Inu Yasha? What happened?" she sat up and swayed a
little, he pulled her back to lean against his chest.
"I was hoping you'd
tell me." He said into her hair and wrapped his arms around her to keep her from
pushing away.
"Well, Sesshoumaru came to my side of the well. . . Oh Inu
Yasha! The Tetsusaiga!" She twisted around to look up at him. "He was after the
tetsusaiga."
"I know."
"He didn't get it, did he?" She looked
around before looking back at him with tears in her eyes. "Inu Yasha I'm so
sorry."
"It'll be alright." He said stoking her hair gently.
"I
know how much the sword meant to you. I'm sorry. This is all my fault." She
continued apologizing profusely with tears streaming down her cheeks. He pulled
her chin up and forced her to look at him.
"Will you shut up. It's not
your fault."
"But without the sword- "
"Damnit, the sword is not
what I was worried about."
"No you were worried about the Shikon no
Tama." She said a touch bitterly.
He lowered his face to almost against
hers "No, I don't care about the Jewel."
"What?" she asked breathlessly.
He leaned forward the last fraction of an inch and kissed her gently "I was
worried about you, you idiot."