InuYasha Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Through your Heart ❯ Anata no namae wa nan desuka? ( Chapter 3 )

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Through your Heart

Chapter 3: Anata no namae wa nan desuka?

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Birds were already chirping their song outside when Sesshoumaru awoke. He stiffened when he felt himself leaning into an unusual warmth and he mentally berated himself for being so careless as to fall asleep so easily, leaving himself vulnerable to attacks.

Odd, he usually never let himself relax as much as he did and never ever woke up after the birds had started to sing. His eyes finally opened when he remembered the events from the day before. The first thing he saw was the sleeping face of the human woman above him who had tended to his ward and he sat up stiffly when he saw on what he had actually leaned on as a pillow.

She had set him on her lap! No human had ever dared to do such a thing before! She couldn't just do as she pleased and touch him like that! He frowned and got up, deciding he would spare the human for the moment, since she could still tend to Rin's needs. And anyway, Jaken seemed to be pretty tired himself. He stared at the toad who was still hunched in a corner far away from the 2 girls, sleeping with his mouth wide opened and snoring.

He sneered faintly and went outside, the sun hitting his face instantly and making him close his eyes for a moment. Since everyone was still sleeping, he decided to check out his entourage. He took a sniff of the surroundings and was almost surprised when he smelled no demons around, as if they had never set foot in this part of the woods.

Surely, there had to be a spell placed somewhere or somebody strong enough to repel them. Maybe someone from the village? The Taiyoukai grimaced. No human from this pathetic village could ever be strong enough to do that, and the human woman, although a real mystery to him and the other villagers, didn't have an ounce of hate in her eyes. Her stance didn't indicate any power, only peacefulness, which he found curious.

Normally, with all that was happening now with Naraku and the stupid jewel shards, everybody was scared or distrustful of one another. He frowned and shook his head to clear his thoughts. The damn girl was still invading his head even if she was absent! He growled in irritation and sped off into the woods to get his mind off of everything. If they weren't so corrupt these days, one would almost pity the poor demon that would cross the silent Taiyoukai's way.

*~*

She watched as the tall demon departed in a rush and sighed, turning to the sleeping little girl. "Looks like we'll be alone for a while."

Usagi sat near the child and checked her wounds delicately. She would still need to rest for a few days but she was out of trouble. When Usagi finished, she took out a basket and, looking back one last time at the kid and toad, she exited the clearing and went towards the village at the end of the woods, leaving the area unattended.

"Usagi-sama! Usagi-sama!" A couple of children ran to her as she entered their line of vision and almost jumped on her, laughing and giggling happily. Usagi chuckled and hugged them lightly, before stepping back and continuing her way towards the small market situated in the middle of the village. The children followed her obediently and they just kept asking questions to her with their big curious eyes.

"Say, Usagi-sama? Did the mean demon find you?"

"Is it true he had a little girl with him? I heard she was hurt!"

"Ne, ne! Can we go to your house today? Can we?"

Usagi laughed out loud as they continued to babble nonsense but she stopped when a couple of men made their way to her, including Ajime, the old village leader. "Children, leave us." He ordered as gently as he could, making the kids whine.

"You are early for your market, Tsukino-sama. I was afraid we would never see you again after yesterday's events. But if you're here, this must mean that the demon who came yesterday didn't find you. It's a relief."

Usagi raised an eyebrow. "Actually, he did find me."

The men gasped and Ajime frowned. "Did he threaten you? Where is he now?" he asked with all the seriousness in the world.

The blond haired girl shrugged. "He wasn't very charming yesterday but I guess he had a rough day. Plus he's a demon, so they're all like that, I guess. Still, his attitude was very detached and cold at times. Right now, I don't know where he is. He left in a hurry this morning, probably to clear his thoughts. I hope he'll be ok, though, and not reopen his wound. I took extra time to get the damned blood off of him! The little girl he brought with him is currently resting in my bed and the toad…well, probably still sleeping with his mouth wide opened in one of the corners of my house."

This brought many flaggerbasted arguments to come forth.

"You let 2 youkai into your home?!"

"You actually *helped* the Inu Youkai that threatened us?!"

"How can you be so careless, woman?!"

The last statement made her glare openly at the loud mouthed man, who was one of the village guards, so a real 'macho' for loss of better words. "If I recall, you're the ones who told them where I was! I don't have to explain my actions to you, as I am not under the protection of this village! The demons will be kept out of your way and I better not see one arrow lifted in the direction of my house, is that clear?"

The men backed away slightly as she snapped at them with impatience. They did not like this arrangement, but she did have a point; at least the demon wasn't directly *in* their village. They bowed stiffly and left without another word, leaving her frowning at their backs. She went to the market silently and picked up fresh fruits and vegetables for her extra guests.

Usually, she always did her provisions at the beginning of the week, but she needed more than the usual to feed 2 demons and a recovering little girl. She sweatdropped internally. 'Make this 1 demon and a kid if the tall one won't eat what I prepare for him!' she thought amusedly. 'Tis really a strange world!'

She was leaving the village borders when the children showed up again, clinging on her arms. "Usagi-sama! Can we come to your house with you? We wanna see the little girl!"

Usagi smiled gently at them and pried their hands off gently, bending down at their level. "I'm sorry everyone, but not today. The little girl will be sleeping for a while and I doubt the demon would be very happy to see many humans around him. I sensed his impatience and irritation this morning when he went away, and he must be very tired, even if he doesn't show it."

She patted their heads and got up. A little girl of about 7 years old, Aya was her name, gripped her hand and smiled widely. "You always take care of everyone even if they're mean, Usagi-sama! You're so nice! Maybe we can come another day when the little girl is ok?"

Usagi smiled and nodded. The kids whooped and ran back to the village where their parents were calling for them. She watched them retreat and followed the trail back to her house humming a soft tune under her breath. Those kids were nice and understanding, she couldn't be more grateful for that. A great contrast to modern kids.

*~*

What was her surprise when she got into the clearing. The silver haired youkai was outside and gripping the toad's neck in a death grip. He was snarling something too low for her to comprehend but she understood what, or rather whom, he was talking about when he turned to her with golden eyes rimmed with a blood red color.

He was fast! The second he inhaled her scent, he appeared in front of her and gripped her neck instead. She didn't flinch, having seeing him move, and didn't show the need to get out of his grasp. She let him calm down and he regained his senses enough for the red to disappear. "Where were you, human? You left my ward alone and any youkai would've been able to get her!"

She didn't want to anger him any more than he already was, so she didn't protest when his grip tightened slightly. She closed her eyes and waited. He started to growl menacingly until he understood why she was waiting. He let go of her neck and she stepped back, looking at him in the eyes with compassion, which troubled him.

'Why isn't she afraid of me? I just threatened her and she just looks at me like that.' Sesshoumaru asked himself.

She rasped her throat to shake him out of his thoughts and smiled gently. "You didn't have to brutalize your servant, you know. He didn't do anything wrong."

Jaken just gaped in the background. Why was this lowly human girl defending him?!

She lifted a basket in front of Sesshoumaru and he glanced at it rapidly.

"You see? I wasn't very far away from here! I just went to the village to get us more food. That little girl will be hungry when she wakes up, you know! And I certainly intend to make you eat something!" She giggled and went back to her house, leaving the toad to gape even more.

'She just dismissed my master without a second thought!' was all Jaken could say to himself.

Sesshoumaru was pissed but didn't show it visibly. That human was confusing him, and something sure was clear to him; he wasn't going to be fed by this girl! He intended to get back at her for talking to him like that, but for now, he was going to study her from afar. Her personality reminded him of his half brother's wench. He sneered at the thought.

He went back into the house to see what she was doing now and kicked Jaken aside to let out some steam. The toad yelped and the golden haired girl whirled around at the noise. She raised an eyebrow at the Taiyoukai. "Why do you always hurt him? Don't you have a heart?"

Sesshoumaru looked at her emptily. "I don't have a heart" he deadpanned.

She smiled mysteriously and got up from her kneeling position beside Rin and made him stare as she put a digit on his chest, smiling widely. "If you don't have a heart, as you said, then why would you care about this little girl's wellbeing?" She smiled again and sat down in her previous position.

Sesshoumaru looked at her back. "You are confusing me, human." He said silently.

Usagi smiled to herself and answered a short and satisfied; "Good."

The Taiyoukai couldn't take the sudden silence, for once being uncomfortable in the presence of people. He exited the house and jumped in a tree not too far away, but far enough as to not lure attention over himself.

*~*

The afternoon passed smoothly. Jaken just made sure Usagi didn't do anything wrong with Rin and glared at her all the time without blinking. That was just fine with her; at least the silence wasn't uncomfortable.

But even -she- was beginning to feel the effect of being up for the girl all day. She was getting tired and yawned, getting Jaken out of his glaring state. She wanted to prepare the futon to go to sleep, but she gazed at the now empty bucket of water, deciding that she should at least prepare for tomorrow, and fetched the bucket.

"Hey there, mister Toad! I'm going to refill this bucket so we'll have water tomorrow, so don't throw a fit, alright?" Usagi teased, and decided to take another one, just in case. She was using a lot of water anyway.

Jaken stuttered and glowered, before relenting and watching the floor as if it was interesting. He muttered; "Mister Toad! Humph! At least call me by my name! It's Jaken…stupid human…"

Usagi blinked, and then smiled. "All right Jaken!"

And the toad glared and specified; "Jaken-sama!"

Usagi dismissed it with the wave of a hand. "Yes, yes! Jaken-sama! I'll see you soon! You can always prepare the futons if you wish. They're in the other corner." Then, she was out the door, leaving a grumbling toad behind.

Usagi hummed to herself, happy that one of her guests had finally introduced himself on his own. She didn't want them to feel as if she pried into their business, she knew her place. Treading with demons was a little harder than with youma, because most demons actually had a brain and knew how to use it.

She smiled to herself as she felt a presence following her in the trees. It was subtle, but it was there nonetheless. She wanted to surprise him, wanted to get a reaction from him, and it made her squirm in anticipation. 'Why?' she kept asking herself, but shrugged the question off.

She filled the buckets with crystalline water, and with her back still turned to the intruder whom she sensed to be out of the trees and a couple meters behind her, she started; "Don't you know it's rude to spy on people? At least your servant Jaken is more straightforward then you."

She turned just in time to see him freeze in his step and gaze at her with slightly surprised eyes. Seeing that he had been caught, he shook off the surprised look as soon as he could. "How did you know I was there and how do you know the toad's name?" He asked stoically.

The rabbit fully turned, placing the heavy buckets of water beside her. "You know, anyone can have the feeling of being spied on if someone follows them from so near. And when those woods at night are still as noisy as when they are in the day, you made every sound stop as to not be sensed. That's what gave you away. But I must say; your tracking skills are perfect! As to how I know your servant's name, well, he's the one who told me."

The Taiyoukai stared. She was very intelligent and cunning for a human. She possessed the qualities of a good demon; it was simply that she missed the demon part. And he couldn't just believe Jaken would give his name so freely to a non-demon. If he did so fast, she must've done something good to get on his trusting side. He almost rolled his eyes. Of course, she was healing Rin after all.

He got out of his daze when he felt a gaze locked on him and grunted silently. "Well, you can call this Taiyoukai by his name, then. You must feel privileged as to know it, girl. It isn't every day that this Lord Sesshoumaru gives his name to a human."

'Well, he surely is confident' Usagi thought, but smiled as she tried the name. "Se-sshou-ma-ru? Very well, then! Lord Sesshoumaru-sama!" she chirped happily, surprising him.

She knew respect and that pleased him greatly, though he wasn't sure why the 'sama' sounded almost foreign from her mouth, that luscious, pink mouth…He shook his head to clear his thoughts and added, as an afterthought; "You can also call the human-child by her name. You won't always have to call her 'child'. Her name is Rin."

Usagi digested the information and was pleased that she got a couple of phrases out of him. "Alright then, Sesshoumaru-sama! Now, why don't you come back with me to the house? I'll make you something to eat since you missed supper. Jaken-sama has already eaten and I'm sure he must be sleeping by now. It's getting late anyway, and you can't just sleep in a tree!"

She took the heavy buckets with no effort and motioned for him to follow her. He just looked at her for a moment, assessing the situation, until he reluctantly followed a couple of steps behind her. Half-way there, he could see her hold on the heavy containers wavering. 'She *did* take care of Rin all day without complaining…and she still doesn't complain' thought Sesshoumaru, and he cursed his weakness once again.

Without even looking at her, he accelerated his steps and took the buckets with one hand with no difficulty, making her stop her stride for a second. She stared at his rapidly retreating back and smiled. He wasn't so bad after all! She just had to be careful about his ego.

*~*

She stirred the soup a couple more times and put out the small fire of the burner. Pouring some to herself, she made sure no vegetables went into the Taiyoukai's bowl, only leaving the morsels of meat. She wasn't going to feed vegetables to a carnivore!

"Here, just eat a little." Usagi handed him the bowl but he looked elsewhere. Instead of acting offended, she simply set the bowl beside him and sat down farther to give him some space. He snubbed his bowl all the way through dinner, lost in his thoughts, and soon she bid him goodnight and fell asleep on a small futon.

He gazed at her, and then at the bowl beside him. He took it in his hand and brought it to eye level, taking a sniff. 'Weren't there vegetables in this? Did she take them off for me?'

He took a small sip and surprisingly liked the taste. While he silently finished the soup, he contemplated on how she had taken the smallest futon and left him the biggest and most comfortable. Setting the now empty bowl aside, Sesshoumaru leaned down and gazed at her still form. She looked like an angel, with that ethereal beauty and all. She wasn't bad to look at for a human, even pleasing to the eye, he had to admit. Though he never would say it aloud.

He fell asleep after taking one last sniff in the air, making sure no youkai were wandering in the area. He didn't feel it, but sometime in his sleep his long and luscious tail searched for her warmth and wrapped around her sleeping body like a blanket.

Jaken would've gagged to see his usually stoic master purr contentedly the moment the tip of his tail touched her. And unconsciously, Usagi snuggled deeper into the warm fluff.

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*snickers* Sesshoumaru got himself into an embarrassing predicament without even knowing it! Let's see how he reacts to see his tail elsewhere than on him when he wakes up the next day! ^_^;

R&R!!!

PS: Just for the record, this chapter's title (Anata no namae wa nan desuka?) means: What is your name?

Eternal Cosmos ^_~