InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Truth Hurts...in a good sorta way. ❯ Squeaky clean. ( Chapter 9 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

If anyone ever had the audacity to ask Kagome what the best part about traveling with Sesshoumaru was, assuming they wouldn't just simply rip her head off (as she suspected a certain puppy hanyou would when she got back), she undoubtedly had her answer.

"Baths." Kagome cooed as she quickly pushed away the reflex to hum and keep her thoughts to herself.

Sesshoumaru insisted she take one at least once a day, sometimes twice, all though even SHE couldn't bring herself to bathe quite that often.

They had been traveling together for "Almost three weeks?" Kagome noted as she attempted to add up the days in her head and received a curt nod from the Taiyoukai beside her as he seemed to affirm her unfinished thought.

It was nice, Kagome decided, to have someone take such care regarding her well being.

When traveling with Inu Yasha she always had to BEG him to stop somewhere with a hot spring, eliciting a string of curses when he finally agreed, but Sesshoumaru seemed to make sure she had one every time they camped.

Kagome found herself smiling most of the time, and not just because she had such easy access to warm water.

The atmosphere around them had become, almost nice, practically comfortable, since the night she explained she couldn't control EVERYTHING she thought and that most of the time, she didn't mean anything by what she said. They barely fought anymore, and her humming was kept to a minimum, partly because she didn't see the point, but also because the Taiyoukai seemed genuinely concerned with her well being.

Lately Sesshoumaru always seemed to make sure she was well fed, whether they were on ~speaking terms~ or not. She always talked of course, it was practically uncontrollable, but sometimes ...she called Sesshoumaru names that...well...were not that nice, yet he never really took offense anymore; instead opting to fall silence until she eventually apologized and once again feel back on the convenient 'human nature' defense. He'd even been letting her sleep in lately, which of course slowed them down, but did marvelous things for her mood when they finally began trekking through the forest again.

"Maybe we're becoming friends?" Kagome wondered out loud as she walked beside the soundless demon lord.

"Maybe not." Kagome croaked reproachfully as the Taiyoukai beside her snorted almost comically, suggesting her mind's wanderings were once again grating on his nerves.

"Sorry." Kagome apologized for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"I guess I forgot you were there." She smirked in explanation as she finally caught the demon lord's eye.

Sesshoumaru simply stared at her, arching one delicate eyebrow as if to say, 'How could you miss me?'

"You're so quiet." Kagome offered as she felt the need to explain further. "It's almost like you're a figment of my imagination sometimes."

Sesshoumaru snorted again at her statement. Just exactly how many of these ~figments~ were there? He eyed her curiously as he once again, humorously, pondered her sanity while looking her over through the corner of his eyes as they continued to trek ahead.

'It would explain the constant grin on her face.' Sesshoumaru quipped to himself once more as he allowed his eyes to linger for some unknown reason.

"The trees here are so beautiful." Kagome whispered as her mind once again took to rambling.

"Almost makes me wish I never had to leave." She sighed softly.

Sesshoumaru pulled his eyes from the girl beside him as her words caused an unfamiliar and somewhat unpleasant feeling to flutter within the confines of his ancient heart.
He allowed himself to fall quiet as he too inspected the trees in the area; something Kagome decided he did when he agreed with her.

"I guess YOU never have to." Kagome grinned softly as she turned to the demon lord. "Leave I mean.... Must be nice." She pondered out loud causing the ache within the youkai's heart to simmer.

"It can be." Sesshoumaru answered mysteriously; insinuating there was probably more to that statement but refusing to elaborate.


"Can I ask a stupid question?" Kagome queried as the air around them took on an uncomfortable feel and she attempted to change the subject.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes momentarily in a motion that was too long to be a casual eye flutter but too fast to be noticed; he knew she wouldn't wait for his response.

"Why don't you smell?" Kagome questioned with the innocence of a five year old.

Sesshoumaru halted momentarily as he made eye contact with the woman and pondered just which ~figment~ he was talking to and where ~Kagome~ had gone.

"Bad...I mean..." Kagome sputtered as she realized perhaps her question required a little more elaboration. "It's just...we've been traveling for ...you know...three weeks...and I just realized I haven't seen you bathe once."

Kagome frowned as the strangeness of her question became more apparent upon uttering the words.

"You wish to see me bathe?" Sesshoumaru baited as he once again turned to walk on, eyeing the girl beside him as the corner of his lip threatened to twitch.

"No." Kagome offered in a flat tone that suggested he was hinting toward an old game while pushing on his unmoving shoulder in a teasing way.

"I was just curious..." She sighed as she predicted he would more then likely not answer her question. "Like I said...it was a stupid question...never mind."

"What do you suppose I do while you are sleep?" Sesshoumaru posed, shocking the woman beside him, as he answered her in the way he often did when Rin seemed curious about something.

Despite the front the Taiyoukai continuously presented, the female beside him had somehow burrowed her way past his defenses, something he decided that made her worthy of some sort of answer. The admission that she could mean as much to him as his ward was both unsettling and distrubing, but he admitted it none-the-less, at least to himself.

"Okay." Kagome accepted with a smile as his decision to answer lightly caressed her self esteem. "But what about your hair?" She questioned as she eyed his white mane speculatively. "It's massive...it must take you all night to comb it out."

Sesshoumaru fell silent again as they continued their hurried pace through the forest; suggesting she was stating the obvious.

Kagome hastened her steps to catch up with his, yet again, as her mind quietly recalled a couple times in their journey she had woken up in the middle of the night to find him preening to the light of the moon.

At the time she chalked it up to his belief that he was, in fact, ~Kami's gift to women~, but now, she noted, things where starting to make a little more sense.

Maybe not EVERYTHING he did was an exercise in stroking his ego?

Stranger things have happened....right?

"I could help..."Kagome offered before she really had a chance to think her words through.

"If you wanted..." She faltered "I mean... My brush would probably work better then claws...and well my hair dryer wouldn't work...but it would probably dry faster...that is...if you wouldn't mind."

Sesshoumaru seemed to mull over her words as they continued. What was it with the women in his life and their preoccupation with his hair? He supposed, considering she wasn't asking if she could braid it, or worse, tie flowers into it, he could accept her assistance begrudgingly.

After all, whether Kagome realized it or not, the level of intimacy they shared was well beyond that which his young ward and himself shared, and he had allowed Rin to BRAID his hair, if somewhat reluctantly.

Sesshoumaru allowed his irises to sneak to the corner of his eyes again as he contemplated what the young miko's reaction would be to finding out that he pleasured himself while she bathed. Would she scream? Possibly turn a deep shade of red as all the blood in her body pooled into her soft features in the delightful way it did on occasion?

It had taken Sesshoumaru the better part of an afternoon to accept and come to terms with what-he-had-done, before it once again became what-he-was-doing. So...it might have been a slight lapse in judgement, or several lapses.....that he could no longer count on one hand. As long as it was controlled, and contained, what did it matter? There were, after all, so few things in this world that truly gave him pleasure. A hidden indulgence here and there, provided it remained hidden, seemed perfectly harmless.
It was just a matter of keeping quiet so the girl didn't find out.....

Sesshoumaru shook his head as the more logical part of his brain intervened.

'She would quit bathing and insist you stop watching her.' Sesshoumaru's brain pointed out to a disappointed youkai as it offered only truth.

Afterall, it wasn't like she would simply turn and wave before continuing on; the way Rin sometimes did when she caught him spying on her...would she?

"Kami!" Kagome screamed as she froze to the spot and once again interrupted the Taiyoukai's thought process.

He paused momentarily and turned back to look at her as she seemed rooted to the spot in...

'Surprise?' Sesshoumaru questioned, 'Perhaps excitement?' He huffed internally as he tried to decipher the mixture of emotion reflected in her face. When had her expression become so hard to read?

"I have cramps!" Kagome screamed far too enthusiastically as she practically gleamed at the demon lord, before turning in a little circle and performing a childish dance of joy.

Sesshoumaru blinked several time in succession. Had she lost her mind?

He understood to what she was referring, of course, the scent of her fast approaching heat had all ready made it more then a little obvious as it invaded his senses several days ago. It had been the reason he ceased his little ego boosting double entendre escapade and insisted the woman eat well and get plenty of rest, but were such things cause for celebration?

"No no!" Kagome corrected with elation. "You don't understand!" She practically cooed as she swayed happily on her tip-toes.

"Obviously." The Taiyoukai offered as an eyebrow shot into his hair line.

"I HAD cramps." Kagome corrected as she attempted to explain her reaction to the demon lord who now looked at her like a crazy person. "This whole time.... And all I could think about was...I HAVE CRAMPS."

Kagome paused momentarily to see if the Taiyoukai was getting what she was saying but continued when it became apparently he had no idea.

"I didn't say anything!" She offered enthusiastically again as she almost giggled.

"Didn't you just?" Sesshoumaru questioned quizzically as they stood in the middle of the forest and continued, what he considered, the strangest conversation he would ever have with a human.

"Well yeah...NOW." Kagome pointed out as her grin slightly grew. "But I was thinking it this whole time. The whole time we were talking...I was wondering if you were going to answer my question...and then I thought...damn..I have cramps..and I didn't SAY anything!"

"Fasinating." Sesshoumaru drawled as he turned to once again resume his pace through the forest.

"Couldn't you be just a little excited about it?" Kagome slightly pouted as she hurriedly caught up with the Taiyoukai and hoped to gain his attention.


"You have cramps." Sesshoumaru responded in a sarcasitic and tedious tone. "Congratulations."

Sesshoumaru sighed internally as another strange feeling twisted in his gut in a most unwelcome way. Why wouldn't he be elated, as she seemed to be, that the flower's spell was finally starting to wear off? Wasn't this experience supposed to be his own version of a living hell? He huffed audibly; barely loud enough to register to his own ears, as the confliction within himself once again bared its teeth.

Why would the departure of his half-brother's wench cause him such...discomfort?

After all, the woman wasn't part of his pack.

Not that he had a pack of course.

Just a human child who had a tendency to follow him around,

And a toad youkai who would possibly spend the rest of his miserable existence locked in a closet.

No, Sesshoumaru noted as he once again struggled with the odd feelings these people evoked, these were not pack. A demon lord such as himself lived a life of solidarity, and therefore could not get emotionally attached.

Sesshoumaru huffed silently again as the thought that even after this wench departed Rin would surly continue to follow him and possibly fill the void that she left.

Perhaps he would even let Jaken out of his 'cage', if only to beat him soundly upside the head.

Yes, Sesshoumaru noted with a new found assurance, that WOULD be entertaining.


"So..." Kagome questioned as the demon lord seemed to fall silent once more.

"Can I?" She questioned as she urged him to answer her previous question.


"Very well." Sesshoumaru answered reluctantly with a hint of annoyance weaved within his words.

Kagome narrowed her eyes at the annoyance conveyed in his tone. He didn't have to be so such a jerk about it, after all, she was offering to do him a favor. It wasn't like she asked if he would carry her the rest of the way or anything (something Kagome decided sounded very appealing considering how sore the small of her back was getting).

"Bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard." Kagome whispered quickly as she attempted to keep her thoughts to herself again, only to realize she was failing miserably once more.

Sesshoumaru turned to stare at her, once again raising an eyebrow as he continued to regard her with annoyance.

"Just checking." Kagome half giggled as she waved her hand in a dismissive way that suggested she didn't mean anything by it.

'So it didn't work every time.' Kagome noted with some apprehension as her words once again seemed to stay inside her skull. It was a start at least.

"One step closer to sweet silence!" Kagome exclaimed as the influence of the flowers had an effect on her body.

Sesshoumaru scowled softly at her words, as once again, they caused an uneasiness within the confines of his chest; forcing him to ponder how her silence had become the source of his trepidation and WHY, in the name of Kami, he just agreed to let the over enthusiastic cheerleader of his half-brother's, assist him with his hair.