InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Cross of Blades ❯ ART ( Chapter 12 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don’t own it. Oh, and I’m really sorry about being away for so long. I’ve had the flu (or the croop if you ask my mother) and haven’t been able to get near the computer for the past couple of days. Anyway, here’s the newest update, one of the firsts since felling better.
I
Aquamarine orbs opened slowly, confusion and weariness shimmering deep within as their owner struggled toward consciousness and the memory of her surroundings. Kagome sat up, yawned and stretched lazily, her hand coming up to wipe at her mouth before she sniffed, lightly scratched the back of her neck and searched the room for Sesshoumaru.
“Now why am I not surprised,” Kagome grumbled as she stared at an otherwise empty room. “Why can’t he just be still for once? Would it kill him?” She struggled to stand, rising first to her hands and knees before bracing herself on her good leg to jerk herself upright. She stumbled to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face, deciding for the moment to leave the various dirt smudges on her face and neck for another time. She left both rooms and began to venture down the hallway toward what she thought was another room.
Kagome jumped back when a slight ‘ding!’ went off in the hallway then watched as the pristine white doors opened and Sesshoumaru stepped out of the elevator.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked, a dark brow cocked curiously at her.
“Well you weren’t there when I woke up so I decided to try and find you.”
“Not very smart,” Sesshoumaru quipped as he leaned against the elevator doors. “You are injured after all.”
“Yeah but I’m not a cripple!” Kagome huffed and angrily stomped her injured foot. She gasped at the blinding pain that shot up her leg and in her hurry to relieve it lost her balance and toppled backward. She waited for the impact and the pain that would come with it but was surprised when she stopped falling...without the pain. Kagome opened her eyes and found Sesshoumaru hovering inches above her, one arm firmly around her waist with the other bracing them on the wall.
“You were saying?” Sesshoumaru asked when Kagome’s cheeks darkened to a cherry pink. She grumbled in embarrassment and aggravation, the urge to strike him growing in her breast as he hoisted them up. He waited until she was sure of her footing before picking her up again, this time with one arm at her waist and another hooked underneath her knees.
“What are you doing?” Kagome demanded as he walked past the elevator to the other side of the circle. “Put me down!”
“This way is faster,” Sesshoumaru reasoned calmly before changing the subject. “I have restored the main plumbing controls.”
“Really?” Kagome responded. “Does that mean I can take a shower now?”
“Not now,” Sesshoumaru replied and almost laughed at her little pout. “But soon. First I want to show you something.”
He raised the hand at Kagome’s waist to a panel beside a set of double doors and stepped back as they rumbled open. The room they entered was shaped in an octagon, with a sturdy coffee brown padding on the floor with beige panels on the wall edged in black stained wood. “What is this room?”
“Oh, um...it’s called an octagon,” Kagome responded. “It’s kinda like a dojo.”
“I see.” Sesshoumaru nodded in understanding, a stray thought holding his attentions for a moment before he shook it free and continued toward another set of doors. The doors were separated by a single beige panel with the word ‘fusah’ on the left one and ‘sah’ on the right. Sesshoumaru opened the right hand door and walked into what looked to be a locker room.
“The showers are back here,” he told Kagome as they walked past rows and rows of gray metal lockers to the back of the expansive room. They walked past a wall made of glass to the washroom itself. Little gray square tiles lined the walls and the floor, metal grates dotted the floors and eight shower heads were evenly spaced on the walls above them. There were six sinks on the opposite side of the room and what looked to be three small metal doors at the end of the row of sinks. “What are they?” Sesshoumaru asked as he approached the doors.
Kagome read over the little signs above them and gave a tiny squeak of excitement. “The first one,” Kagome said as she pointed toward the one on the far left. “Is sort of like a dirty clothes hamper.” She opened the door and stared down the empty chute with a smile. “Dirty clothes go down there, but you kinda figured that out huh?”
“Indeed,” Sesshoumaru muttered before setting her down in front of the chute. “Now what are the other two?”
“Um...Oh!” Kagome exclaimed after a few moments. “This chute is kind of a soap dispenser,” she said as she tapped the middle door. “The control buttons on the top are for scents and stuff like that. The third blue button from the right is marked unscented. Thought you might want to remember that, you know, with your nose and all.”
“Quite.”
“Are you going to say more than one word during this discussion?” Kagome remarked with a teasing smile. Sesshoumaru cast his eyes heavenward, tapped a single digit against his bottom lip and shrugged.
“Maybe.”
“Oh for the love of Cripe,” Kagome exclaimed with a roll of her eyes. “Anyway, before I get frustrated,” she growled as she tapped the third and final chute. “This chute is for other supplies, like towels, toothbrushes and underwear.”
“Underwear?” Sesshoumaru repeated as he gave the chute a queer glance. “Why would that be a part of the supplies?”
“Well what do you know,” Kagome mumbled. “He can say more than one word at a time.”
“You sorely test my patience,” Sesshoumaru warned her with slightly narrowed eyes. “Do get on with it.”
“OK fine,” Kagome huffed. “Jeez, so emotional. Anywayz, I don’t know why underwear are in this chute. I don’t care either. But the buttons here are for the underwear sizes. They go all the way from small to extra large, not that I care what you wear.”
“You’re blushing Kagome,” Sesshoumaru noted as he watched the feint pink rise to her cheeks. “Why is that?”
“Maybe I’m not,” Kagome grumbled as she fanned her face. “Maybe it’s hot in here. Ever thought about that?”
“No,” he admitted as he picked her up and began to leave the shower area. “It never crossed my mind.”
“You know, not every female thinks you’re the stuff,” she griped.
“Right,” Sesshoumaru nodded as he left the first locker room and entered the second one. “And you just so happen to be one of those females?”
“Right.” She scowled when he laughed, the dark chuckle that echoed off the walls felt as if it vibrated throughout her chest to spark at her toes. He set her down in the middle of the shower area, noting for once that the tile in this particular bathroom was a dull pink instead of gray. “Take a shower Kagome. Does that watch of yours still work?”
“Um...” Kagome lightly tapped on the face of her wristwatch and held it up to his ear. “Yup, it works.”
“Good. I’ll come back for you in an hour.” Kagome gawked as he walked away, suddenly affronted that he would leave her on her own so easily. ‘Oh come on Kagome,’ she scolded herself as she hobbled across the shower floor to inspect one of the shower heads. ‘It’s not like it’s the end of the world. It’s not exactly the best idea to get attached to him anyway. If I do, then I’ll never be strong enough to walk on my own.’
She tinkered with the shower a few moments more before figuring out how to turn it on. She recognized this as something from Esthar too and wondered why it took her so long to figure it out. ‘Duh Kagome,’ she said before she lightly slapped her forehead. ‘It’s been a while since you were last...home.’
“Home...” she sighed wistfully. Kagome shook free the onslaught of depressing thoughts and moved to a nearby bench to shed her clothes, grimacing slightly at the grime and filth that stuck to her clothing. ‘How did I get sand in my underwear?’ Kagome griped as she tossed the entire ball of ruined clothes in the designated chute. She wondered if she should go back and get her jacket, then shrugged when she figured it too late.
Operating the next two chutes was easy enough, with jasmine scented tubes of shampoo, lotion and soap coming from the middle tube and a large parcel wrapped in plastic coming from the one on the left. Kagome left the parcel on the bench underneath it, turned on the nearest shower head and stepped into the water. Her eyes closed in sheer bliss as the warmth rained down on her sore muscles, unaware of how injured she was until the first couple of droplets beat against her skin. She didn’t turn down the water pressure however, but stood there and welcomed the onslaught.
‘It’s worth it to be clean,’ she decided before reaching for the soap. Twenty minutes (and two empty bottles) later Kagome turned off the water, her skin pink from the hot water and her vigorous scrubbing. She ripped open the parcel and tossed it and the empty bottles of soap and shampoo down the middle chute. Inside she found the panties she requested along with a pair of large towels, a toothbrush, toothpaste and a pair of socks. She dried off quickly, using one towel to wrap around herself and the other to make a makeshift turban for her hair.
Kagome sat by the lockers ten minutes later in her socks, nervously twiddling her thumbs as she waited for Sesshoumaru to return. She growled and glanced at her watch, then decided enough was enough and left the room to look for him. She pushed the locker room door open with her shoulder, stood in the threshold and cautiously eyed the room before her before entering.
She reached the middle of the octagon and stopped when a funny tingling began at the back of her neck. Kagome focused on her senses and calmed her breathing and calmed her senses, some inner instinct telling her to be alert as she prepared herself for whatever was to come. She felt the presence of something powerful behind her and waited for it to approach her while she steeled her nerve.
A clawed hand touched her naked shoulder and Kagome grabbed it’s wrist, knocked it aside and used the momentum of her assailant and herself to shove him backward and onto the padded floor. The force wrenched her good foot from underneath her and she yelped in agony as she sank to the floor beside him.
“Well,” Sesshoumaru coughed from his place on the floor. “It would seem that you’re not as helpless as I thought you were.”
“What’s the big idea you jerk!” Kagome yelled as she cradled her ankle. “You could have scared me half to death!”
“Silence woman,” he grumbled as he sat up and shook out his tail. “I come to retrieve you and this is the thanks I get. Humans.”
“Hey, I could have hurt you you jacka-“ Kagome stopped and gaped when he finally stood, noticing for the first time the towel tightly wrapped around his waist. “Wh-where are your clothes?” she stammered nervously.
Sesshoumaru curiously quirked a brow at her. “Surely you didn’t expect me to remain filthy. I needed a bath almost as badly as you did.”
“Are you trying to say that I stink?” Kagome demanded while he helped her stand. Sesshoumaru sighed in aggravation, wrapped his tail around her waist and picked her up before leaving the dojo. “You never answered me!”
“I know. Now be still before I drop you.” He smirked when she relented, her arms crossing over the fluffy towel material covering her chest as she glowered at a nearby wall. He directed the elevator back to the fifth floor and entered Kagome’s room. “Now,” he thought aloud as he set her on the bed. “To find some clothes-“
“You haven’t found any clothes?”
‘Oh boy,’ Sesshoumaru complained as Kagome scowled at him. ‘Here she goes.’ “No, not exactly. I have been more concerned with the plumbing controls than th-“
“So what, you just decided that we’d run around in nothing but towels?” Kagome frowned. “Wow, and I thought Miroku was a pervert.”
“Oh spare me,” Sesshoumaru growled before throwing open her clothes cabinet. He mentally frowned when he found it empty and shut the door. “You would not be the first female I’ve seen.” ‘Though you would be the most developed,’ his inner conscious whispered as his eyes roved over the curves hidden underneath the towel.
‘Now where the hell did that come from?’ he asked himself and rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. ‘Must be stress.’ “I do have an idea as to where to find some so-“
“Then hop to it!” Kagome interrupted and tossed a bed pillow at him. “Don’t just stand there gawking!” She grinned when he walked out, his narrowed eyes signs of his aggravation and anger as she waved. She braided her hair while she waited, using a small pocket comb she found wedged between bullet casings inside her train case and a spare hair tie she had previously wrapped around it.
He returned a few moments later with an enormous heap of clothing grasped in his arms. He dumped them on her bed (and on her), then grunted something about fishing out what she could wear before quitting the room. “How rude,” Kagome mumbled and shook her head before she began the task of shifting through the clothes. She separated the things she could wear from the things she couldn’t, then dove into the pile of clothes that she could wear for an outfit. Kagome quickly donned a plum colored halter top with a high collar and a white heart splayed on the front. A little more digging produced a skirt that reached her feet that was the same plum. A set of robin’s egg blue stripes ran from her left hip where the skirt had a high slit. She decided against wearing the boots, figuring her ankle too sensitive for something as constrictive. Kagome glanced at her watch again and yawned, then figured that maybe she could sneak in a quick nap when her door opened and Sesshoumaru stepped inside.
Kagome couldn’t help but snicker at his less than happy face, the pout that was too undignified to grace his face with bloody murder practically screaming in his eyes as he glared at her. “What’s wrong Sesshoumaru?” she asked with a giggle. Her giggle died a quick death when she finally glanced down at the rest of him, her eyes blinking rapidly as she barely noticed the loose yellow pants or the brown boots on his feet. Her eyes were practically glued to the example of male perfection as he stood before her without a shirt, a good fifteen minutes of silence spawning between them before good sense found her and she turned her head.
“Where’s your shirt?” she asked with her hands covering her eyes. “Why are you prancing around her half naked?”
“This Sesshoumaru does not ‘prance’,” Sesshoumaru growled, obviously affronted by what he felt was an insult. “As for not having a shirt,” He gave and gave her a predatory smile. “You don’t seem to mind.”
“Yeah well, whatever,” Kagome blushed. “I’m-“ Her stomach interrupted with an angry growl, her embarrassment only deepening as her stomach seemed to cave in on itself. She pouted at Sesshoumaru’s chuckle, ignoring him and his tail as he wound around it’s normal place on her person and quit the room
“We are going to the cafeteria,” he told her as he opened the elevator doors. “You’re going to eat, then your going to help me get into the control room.”
II
A week had passed since they first fell and Sesshoumaru was still no closer to gaining access inside the control room. He grumbled a long string of curses from his place beside the control room door, with the electronic lock console beside it wide open and the wires spilling down the rest of the wall. Sesshoumaru growled something nasty under his breathe and leaned over to pick up the case of miniature tools on the floor, exchanged a pair of pliers with a Phillips screwdriver and returned to poking around the lock box.
‘This is just frustrating,’ he grumbled and jumped back when a blue spark flew from one of the wires. ‘Why is this so difficult? I’ve had no trouble with everything else, including one of the food processors with it decided to shut down, but this is almost impossible.’ In truth, there were many things that frustrated them, and not all of them had to do with the control room door. One of those problems consisted with the exit, which he couldn’t find. If he were any other youkai, he would have concluded that the place was built with imprisonment in mind and that one actually had to escape from this ‘gilded cage’. However, Sesshoumaru was a youkai of logic and logic stated that if you could get in it, then you could get out. All one had to do was find the way and the way was what was escaping him for the moment.
The second, and most pressing, was Kagome herself. She was almost an indispensable asset with her explanations and translations in this language that Sesshoumaru felt was familiar but still foreign to him. It was her ankle that still presented the problem. He expected it to take it’s time healing. “After all,” he said to her one evening as she floated along behind him. “Humans heal so much slower than youkai.” His problem were the agonizing shots of pain that would occasionally paralyze her. These bouts with her ankle would leave her breathless afterward, with the pain slowly becoming worse as the days passed.
‘Perhaps I’m wrong,’ Sesshoumaru mused as he continued to tinker with the lock console. ‘Perhaps her foot is actually broken. No.’ He shook his head and frowned thoughtfully. ‘She would not be able to stand if it were broken. But there must be somethin-‘
“Hey Captain.”
Sesshoumaru blinked out of his musings and looked up at a nearby speaker. He shook his head in amusement at Kagome’s frustration and listened as the young private berated the recently repaired P. A. System. ‘She’d better not break that,’ he said to himself.
“Hey Cap, I don’t know where you are but could you please come to the first floor of the library. I...I think I found something.”
Now that got his attention. Sesshoumaru quit the control room but decided to take the tool set with him just in case. He walked down the hallway toward the library and mentally went over everything that Kagome could have found as he held his hand against the control panel and stepped into the library.
The library entrance was on the third floor, but it actually had two floors with the lower floor located but not accessible to the fourth floor. The entire library was made of more glass than actual wall, with rows and rows of enormous windows lined around the circular room. The third floor entrance opened to a wide iron walkway that ran around the perimeter of the room with a high rail embellished with iron vines and leaves.
Sesshoumaru grasped one of the ladders and slid down, avoiding the steps altogether for this dangerous, but faster, way to the lower floor. The windows around him were the same as on the upper floor but without the railways. The bookshelves on both floors were made of the same iron jungle design as the upstairs railing. He gracefully landed on the mirrored floor below, the slight breeze from the climate control system lifting his bangs from his forehead. He glanced out of a nearby window at the holographic scenery beyond which consisted of the same forest that was painted on the walls of his room. Birds and other wildlife moved in and out of the windowpanes and the songs of the birds filtered in through hidden speakers. The simple, light furnishings of the room reflected the world around them. Desks made of light pine were against the windows and chaise lounges in creamy white were clustered in the center of the room.
Kagome waited for him at the opposite side of the circle, her arms folded underneath her breast and standing on one foot. ‘It must be bothering her again,’ Sesshoumaru determined as he read her body language and aura. ‘Why doesn’t she just sit down?’ “Kagome.”
“Oh, hey,” she greeted him with a smile when she turned around. “When did you get here?”
“What did you want?” he asked instead. He mentally smirked when she frowned, her arms tightening against her crimson top. “I do hope it was something important.”
“It is,” she huffed irritably. “Look.” He followed her finger to a large portrait hanging on one of the few walls in the room. He gave it a passive glance, his eyes roving over the almost endearing painting of a little girl and her father watching a shooting star as they sat in a field of sheep, then turned to her and shrugged. “I’ve seen better pictures to be honest.”
“Not the picture,” Kagome replied. “This.” She grasped the lower right hand corner and pulled, both feet firmly planted on the ground as she tugged. The pain in her scent increased rapidly and Sesshoumaru responded in kind. Kagome was tossed to a nearby couch before either of them could blink and the picture pushed aside to reveal what was hidden underneath.
“Do not do that again,” Sesshoumaru growled irritably. “Understand?”
“Y-y-yeah,” Kagome nodded weakly, her world still shaken from his brutal treatment. “How about I stay right here?” She sighed in relief at his nod and watched as he turned to the control panel hidden in the wall. The niche in the wall was no bigger than a shoe box, with a small lever on one side and three red buttons lined up vertically on the left. “What is it?”
“I don’t know exactly,” Sesshoumaru distantly replied as he studied the panel. “It looks like some sort of mediocre recharging system.”
“A what?” Kagome asked as she situated herself on the couch and her skirt from being wrapped around her waist. “What’s that?”
“It’s something that I wouldn’t have expected to find in a place like this,” he responded before tracing one of the four labels. “It’s like a generator for the main power systems. When the power runs low you do...something to this so the power cells recharge.” Kagome nodded at his explanation and looked on as he continued to study the technology before them. “But I would never have expected anything so...primitive.”
“But you’ve said all week that everything here is ‘so advanced’,” Kagome said with a grand wave of her arms. “‘Everything here is so much more advanced than anything at Balamb and Deling. Everything here is sooooo shiny!’”
“Woman, you will cease your prattling and read these inscriptions.”
Kagome huffed, mumbled something about ‘spoilsport youkai’ and walked over to him. “Um...” She read over the markings, then gave Sesshoumaru an expectant glance.
“What?”
“You can read some of that,” Kagome replied. “Or do you just drown me out when I try to teach you this stuff?”
Sesshoumaru mentally groaned, remembered their nightly Al Bhed lessons, and gave the labels one last glance over. He only understood one word which was stamped out above the lever. “I don’t know what the rest of it says,” he admitted. “But one of the words above the lever is ‘three’.”
“Not bad,” Kagome complimented. “You are paying attention to me. The label above the lever says to ‘Pump three times, then press the program buttons simultaneously.”
“I see,” Sesshoumaru muttered. “And those three?” he asked as he pointed toward the red buttons. “They’re the program buttons?”
“Yup,” Kagome nodded. “But they’re labeled weird. The first one is ‘audio’-“
“Normal,” Sesshoumaru determined.
“The second is ‘visual’-“
“Again, normal.”
“And the last is ‘sensory’.”
‘Sensory?’ “How odd.”
“Like I said,” Kagome nodded in agreement. “Weird. What do you want to do?”
“I don’t believe we have much of a choice. You press the visual and sensory buttons and I’ll do the rest.”
“Alright.” Kagome squeezed between the limited space between Sesshoumaru and the console, the lack of distance between them somewhat comforting to her after spending so much time in each other’s company. “I’m ready,” she said when she looked up at him. “Fire away.”
Sesshoumaru quickly flicked the lever, with the last flick substantially harder than the first before the sound of gears winding and churning. They watched as a light beneath the red buttons lit up one at a time, with the sensory button the last to come to life before the gears stopped. The red buttons were the next to be pushed and the two SeeDs stepped back when a loud, booming voice sounded above the birds’ songs and the normal sounds of wildlife.
“Ihetahdeveat bancuhham. Cdyda ouin hysa yht cdydeuh.”
“What is that?” Sesshoumaru demanded as Kagome released her hold on his forearm. “What is it saying?” Kagome ignored him, her focus more intent on the system around her as the voice repeated it’s demand.
“Ihetahdeveat bancuhham. Cdyda ouin hysa yht cdydeuh.”
“Ahkmecr bnuknys!” Kagome shouted suddenly, startling Sesshoumaru into letting her be for a moment. “English program, activated at 1535 hours.”
The voice fell silent for a second then, “Unidentified personnel. State your name and station.”
“How did you know to do that?” Sesshoumaru wondered aloud as Kagome huffed angrily.
“I don’t know,” she replied. “Um...We’re SeeDs from Balamb. We’re stranded.”
“Oh yes,” Sesshoumaru mumbled to himself. “That will work wonders.” He growled when she nudged him with her elbow and received a weak one in return.
“Oh great!” she exclaimed. “Now you’re rubbing off on me. I swear-“
“Station and Town unknown,” the voice suddenly announced. “Prepare to meet the artificial hospitality program.”
“Oh great,” Kagome said. “I think we’re going to get shot.”
“It would be your fault,” Sesshoumaru told her before glancing toward movement on the console. They watched as a drawer opened on the recharge console. He reached inside and pulled free two sets of thin metallic discs the size of nickels, then glanced at the illustration below for directions.
“Here,” he said as he handed her a pair of discs. “You’re to put these on your temples and press a little button in the center of them.” Kagome nodded in understanding and waited for Sesshoumaru to put his on before putting on hers, more aware now of his nuances after a week’s worth of ‘Don’t do this unless I tell you to’s from the taiyoukai beside her. A little green slip of what appeared to be plastic popped out of the sides of the little discs and before Kagome could ask what it was she gasped and stepped away from the recharge console.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” she whispered as the control panel slid up and away to reveal a swirling vortex of gray magic. Her answer was Sesshoumaru’s growl, this one more guttural than the ones she was normally used to. The unsheathing of his gunblade was expected as he stepped a little ahead of her, but the weapon was lowered slightly as a figure stepped out of the vortex and into the library.
“Oh wow,” Kagome gasped, the hand that covered her mouth slowly returning to her side. “Dude, is he real?”
Sesshoumaru sniffed the air around the creature, then searched for an aura before shaking his head. “No, it’s some kind of illusion. “
“Not it, he,” the creature, or youkai, said with a laugh. “I’m a he and it is a pleasure to meet you.”
‘Yeah, I’ll say,’ Kagome quipped to herself as she drank in the new youkai. He and Sesshoumaru were the same height, but this youkai had golden blonde hair that fell behind him to his knees from a ponytail at the back of his head. Lavender eyes sparkled back at her with silver markings gracing his eyelids, cheeks and wrists. He wore a pair of loose red pants similar to the gray ones Sesshoumaru wore with a sleeveless yellow jacket with white piping along the edges.
“And who are you?” he inquired in a voice that reminded her of silk, royal purple robes and luxury. Sesshoumaru frowned at how foolish she was being, completely ignoring the little part of him that demanded her attention be returned to him as a light blush stained her cheeks.
“I’m Kagome,” she said with a slight bow. “Um, are you really there?”
“That is the question isn’t it?” he replied and gave her a light laugh. “I assure you, I’m real in a sense. And you are?” He turned to Sesshoumaru and gaped, his eyes wide and disbelieving as he stared. “Lord Toga? How good it is to see you.”
“No.” Sesshoumaru sheathed Shikyo and shook his head. “I’m not Toga. I’m his grandson, Sesshoumaru.”
“Oh, I see that now,” the youkai replied. “You have your grandfather’s presence. You confused me for a moment. So that means little Lord Sugumi grew up huh?” He laughed again, this time with his hand covering his mouth and an arm draped across his toned stomach. “How is that little furball anyway?”
“You know Ambassador Endo?” Kagome interrupted before Sesshoumaru could answer. “How?”
“Oh no, I don’t know him exactly,” the youkai answered. “But I do remember the way Lord Toga would speak of his only son. He was quite the spitfire you know.”
“And when are you going to tell us your name?” Sesshoumaru asked.
“Yes, who are you?” Kagome chirped as she turned toward the youkai. “And how come you didn’t come out when we first arrived? And why didn’t you show up on the scanners? And have you been the one that-“
“Woah,” the youkai interrupted. “Now just hold on Kagome. I don’t think my processors can handle so many questions at once.”
“Processors?” Kagome repeated with an unhappy sigh. “Then you’re not real.”
“Not exactly. I’m what you would call an interactive part of the hospitality program. My name,” he bowed deeply, his left arm draped over his stomach and his right extended at his side. “Is Art and I’m in charge of many things.”
“Are you over the control room for the third floor?” Sesshoumaru asked and mentally growled in frustration when Art shook his head.
“Then what are you in charge of?” Kagome wondered.
“I’m in charge of the laundry room, the library’s holographic and the shelter’s environment controls, and the infirmary among other things,” Art answered, then gave a thoughtful glance to her leg. “Speaking of which, I believe you might need to be looked at.”
“Oh, we did that when we first arrived,” Kagome said with a wave of her hand. “So we know it’s sprained and-“ She gasped sharply and sank to the mirrored floor, her hands instantly reaching for her ankle as Sesshoumaru and Art moved to her side.
“I believe it may take more than just a quick looking at,” Art said and shook his head. “If you would take her to the infirmary then I will check on her there.”
Sesshoumaru nodded once then picked Kagome up, jumped onto the upper floor railing and exited the library.
)-(
“Well now, let’s see what we have here,” Art commented as he picked up a little cell phone-like machine and began to move it over Kagome’s leg. Kagome rested on one of the three cots inside the infirmary, her eyes firmly set on Art while Sesshoumaru casually leaned against the wall beside her. They waited patiently for Art to do whatever it was he was doing with Kagome openly curious as to the device in his hands.
“What’s that?” she asked when Art snapped the little machine closed. “Can I see it?”
“Of course you can. Here.” He handed her the little device without protest, his cool hands lingering with hers a bit longer than necessary while he explained. “It’s an automated diagnostic and x-ray. It reads your body temperature and other external readings to find exactly what is wrong with you.”
“Like a mechanical doctor?” Kagome asked and smiled when he nodded with a pat to her head.
“Exactly like that. Now we wait and-“ Art stopped suddenly, his back straightening almost painfully as his eyes flashed between various hues of purple. “Oh dear,” he muttered once the episode passed. “It would seem that your injury is more serious than we thought.”
“Really?” Kagome gasped as Sesshoumaru pondered Art’s odd behavior. ‘It must be what happens when information is downloaded into his program, though it is a rather disturbing image.’
“What’s wrong?” Kagome’s voice broke through his musings while Art answered her question.
“What did you do to injure yourself?”
“Oh, I remember that!” Kagome chirped, then glared accusingly at Sesshoumaru. “It was his half-melted doorframe that did it.”
“I’m starting to believe that she would rather have stayed on the ship,” Sesshoumaru quipped dryly. He growled when she wacked him upside the arm but Art interrupted before an argument could begin.
“I don’t mean to interrupt this valuable moment my lord,” he said with a tap on Kagome’s exposed knee. “But we have a serious problem here.”
“We do?” Kagome squeaked nervously.
“How so?” Sesshoumaru asked next. “It is just a simple sprain, is it not?”
“Well yes...and no. You see, right here-“ Art paused and spread his hand across the free air between them. A holographic image of Kagome’s x-ray instantly appeared and Art began explaining what was in front of them before either could marvel at the technology. “Are you an acid youkai Lord Sesshoumaru?”
Sesshoumaru nodded. “That’s how I melted the door.”
“That is what I was afraid of,” Art sighed. “Apparently Kagome, you sustained some sort of scrape in the fall that twisted your ankle. You most likely didn’t notice it and it scabbed over before you arrived, but I’m afraid some of Lord Sesshoumaru’s acid made it through your bloodstream and is attacking the tissues of your ankle.”
“ARE YOU SERIOUS!” Kagome shrieked in a full blown panic. “Oh my God! Wait a sec...what are we gonna do!”
“It’s a simple thing to remedy,” Art assured her as he wiped the hologram away. “Lord Sesshoumaru has an antidote handy, so-“
“You do?” Kagome asked as she quickly turned to him. Sesshoumaru, who was previously standing in a mild state of shock, nodded, reached inside one of the two pouches on his gunblade holster and pulled free two vials of clear fluid. “Oh thank God,” Kagome wheezed and flopped back to the cot.
“What about the pain she’s been in?” Sesshoumaru asked. “It’s not a continuous burning, but one that fluctuates. My acid is much stronger.”
“Well there are two reasons for that,” Art offered as he waved up another chart. “One is that Kagome’s body is actually attempting to fight it on it’s own. There’s an amazing about of..something there that acts like white blood cells, but it either isn’t strong enough or there’s not enough of it to completely protect her from your poison. Another reason is that Kagome’s body is adjusting to the pain. It only seems to fluctuate when in fact the waves of pain she’s experiencing is proof that the damage caused by the acid is only becoming worse.”
“Soooo...what happens now?” Kagome asked. “Will I loose my leg?”
“No little one,” Art replied before resting his hand on the crown of her head and smiling gently. “It’s a simple thing to fix. Lord Sesshoumaru will give you a vial of his antidote then I will administer some antibiotics. Lord Sesshoumaru if you please.”
“Here.” Sesshoumaru handed Kagome one of the vials as Art disappeared behind a nearby curtain. “Swallow this.”
“What is it?” Kagome asked and held the vial up to the light skeptically. “I mean, what’s it made of?”
“It’s perfectly harmless,” Art said from behind the screen. “All it is is Lord Sesshoumaru’s sa-“
Sesshoumaru interrupted with a well timed clearing of his throat. “That does not matter,” Sesshoumaru told her. “Just take it. It will stop my poison.” Kagome shrugged then and downed the vial’s contents, determining whatever it was that she swallowed to be rather...bland in taste. ‘Better than it taste like pee,’ she grimaced and frowned at Sesshoumaru’s chuckle. “What? What’s so funny?”
“You are,” he said as he sat down beside her head. “To think that this Sesshoumaru would stoop so low as to urinate in a vial.”
“Oh EWWWWW!” Kagome complained, her face scrunched up in disgust. “That’s so gross! How could you say that!”
“I said I didn’t do it,” Sesshoumaru huffed. “So what are you complaining abo-“ He looked up at Art when he stepped toward them, then at the needle in his hand before asking what it was.
“It’s just the antibiotics I talked about earlier,” Art assured him as he removed the tiny air bubbles from the needle’s tip. “Now Kagome, if you could just lie still-“ Kagome jumped up and, despite the pain in her ankle, somehow managed to scramble behind Sesshoumaru. She grasped his shoulders instantly, her fingers completely unbiased as she gripped both hair and skin and cowered away from Art.
“Kagome,” Sesshoumaru began as she began to tremble behind him. “Kagome what is it? Stop and tell us what’s wrong.”
“It’s the needle,” she muttered softly. “I hate needles. I don’t want a shot!”
“But Kagome, it’s only a little needle,” Art replied softly. He held the needle up for her to see and frowned when she squeaked and disappeared behind Sesshoumaru’s shoulder. “Now this is ridiculous,” Art sighed. “It will only hurt for a moment and even then-“
“I said no!” Kagome growled at the program. “Keep that away from me! I hate needles!”
“Look,” Art sighed in frustration. “It will only hurt for a moment.” He reached for Kagome’s foot and somewhere between Kagome’s whimper and Art’s outstretched hand Sesshoumaru’s inner youkai protested. It howled angrily at the terror coming from behind him in waves, it protesting it and the object causing it.
“No.”
Art blinked in surprise when the clawed hand covered her ankle and looked up into piercing golden eyes. “Excuse me my lord?”
“You will find another way,” Sesshoumaru ordered calmly, though his inu was less that calm. It battered against the restraints of his control like a wild, feral thing, it’s eyes red and it’s howling echoing throughout Sesshoumaru’s consciousness. “There is no need to scare her.”
“But-“
“I said no.”
Art glanced from Sesshoumaru to Kagome and back again before sighing. “Alright,” he said and finally backed away from the pair. “I will find another way Lord Sesshoumaru. Please calm down.”
“I am calm,” Sesshoumaru told him as Art disappeared once again behind the curtain. He growled at the program’s audacity and patted Kagome’s hand. “It is alright,” he told her. “You should calm down now.”
“Ehehe,” Kagome laughed nervously. “Um...sorry about that. How embarrassing.”
“No need to be sorry,” Sesshoumaru told her. “Humans are naturally afraid of something.”
“Oh yeah,” Kagome pouted. “That’s a comfort.”
“Well that’s what it was meant to be.” He ignored her frustrated groan as Art returned to them, this time with a glass of water and a single white pill.
“Here you are Kagome,” he said as he handed her the pill and the glass. “Take this. It will help you relax.” Kagome readily agreed and placed the pill in her mouth, then retrieved the glass of water from Art’s hand. She downed the medicine quickly, a little too quickly as she gagged slightly from where the pill was briefly stuck in her throat. She raised her hand and returned the glass to Art, who quickly put it away.
Art sat down at the foot of Kagome’s cot and for a while the three of them enjoyed a light conversation about unimportant things. There were questions about the outside world from Art, and questions about the shelter and the world it was once surrounded by from Kagome and Sesshoumaru. They quickly learned what they guessed at all along; that the shelter they were in was a part of a bigger research and development center but of what Art had no real clue toward.
“Forgive me,” he apologized sincerely. “I wish I could be of more help.”
“That’s all (yawn) right Art,” Kagome muttered sleepily. “You can only do what you’re programed too. No one’s blaming you.”
‘I wouldn’t say that,’ Sesshoumaru said to himself as Kagome yawned again. He watched with mild surprise as she lowered her head to his lap, the ebony hair in her ponytail spilling over his left thigh to stream onto the cot’s white sheets. “Kagome?”
“I’m alright,” she mumbled with a smile. “I’m just a little tired.” Sesshoumaru grasped her wrist and held up her watch, noted the early time and gave her a questioning glance. “Do you realize what time it is?” he asked her.
“It’s perfectly alright,” Art assured him. “It’s the effects of the little pill I gave her. She should be relaxed fairly soon.”
Sesshoumaru raised his brow, but ignored him when Kagome curled in on herself. Her head remaining where it was but her hands tucked themselves underneath her chin and her legs folded against each other. The crimson and violet stripes of her dress draped against the bed, leaving both legs exposed but her privacy intact. Sesshoumaru looked up and away from her when Art stood up, then back down when Kagome sighed.
“Have I told you-” she yawned, then looked up at him with sleepy blue-green eyes.
“Told me what?” Sesshoumaru coaxed. “Do continue, because this might just be worth waiting for.”
Kagome frowned and shifted in his lap. “I was going to say (yawn) thank you, but since you want to be a je-“
“Thank you for what?” Sesshoumaru interrupted.
“For looking after me. I know I’ve been a perfect pest-“
‘Which may be the only thing your perfect at.’
“But you stuck with me. I totally appreciate it so, you know,” Kagome shrugged and yawned yet again. “Thanks.”
“I believe,” Sesshoumaru said as Art returned from behind the curtain. “That is the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“Yeah well don’t get used to i-“ She yipped at a sharp pain in her thigh and whimpered, a single tear falling from her eye and over her nose. Sesshoumaru looked up just as Art removed the needle from her and tossed it into a nearby trash drawer.
“She should rest now,” Art told him at Sesshoumaru’s glare. “Could you return her to her room?”
Sesshoumaru complied, but only because he felt he would rip the simulation apart if he stayed any longer. He quickly left the room, his anger flaring at Art’s trickery as Kagome continued her pitiful noise from his arms. ‘She has never been so...frightened,’ he thought to himself as he entered the blue room and crossed the floor to her bed. ‘Even when she faced the remains of the Galbadian troops she destroyed did she behave so.’
“I bet you think I’m a coward,” Kagome mumbled as he pushed the covers on her bed down. Her eyes briefly closed when he placed her on the sheets and opened again, this time with less clarity than the last. “I know I feel like one.”
“Do not concern yourself with what I think,” Sesshoumaru reprimanded. “You should rest instead.”
“I just don’t like needles,” she continued. “My first memory is about needles. They’re sticking out of me from everywhere and I’m just screaming my head off.” She yawned and turned over, unaware of the clawed fingers that brushed aside her bang as she clutched her pillow. “No one seemed to listen and the needles hurt so much...so...(yawn) much...” She slipped away quietly, a slight moan coming from her otherwise silent form while Art and Sesshoumaru looked on.
“My lord, we should leave her,” Art suggested. “That way she can heal uninterrupted.”
“Art, did we not agree on the needle’s uselessness?” Sesshoumaru asked. Art blinked in confusion, lavender eyes narrowed slightly as he nodded. “Yes my lord but-“
“Then what was the purpose of ignoring me?”
“My lord, it was the only way,” Art replied with an apologetic bow. “Forgive me for the disrespect but I felt it necessary.”
“Is it possible for you to help me with the control room lock?” Sesshoumaru asked as he quickly changed subjects. Art nodded. “Good. Then we shall do so once she wakes up.”
“That isn’t necessary,” Art told him. “I can watch over her.”
“You can watch her and help me at the same time?”
“Yes,” Art nodded. “My program is highly adaptable.”
“Fine. Do it then.” He and Art made their way toward the door, the discussion seemingly over when Sesshoumaru stopped just at the metal entranceway. “Oh, and Art?”
“Yes my lord?”
Sesshoumaru turned around, blood red eyes narrowed dangerously in the program’s direction as his claws glowed a neon green. “The next time you disobey me, or cause her any discomfort of any kind, I will take you apart and melt your motherboard. Is that understood?”
“Quite Lord Sesshoumaru,” Art answered with a deep bow. He followed Sesshoumaru out of the room, but a wall panel near the food processor opened and he stepped out, this time dressed in the same blues as the room. He approached Kagome quietly, her back still to him as he leaned over her to touch her forehead.
“Her temperature is the normal,” Art determined with a smile. “That’s good. I don’t believe the inu youkai is pleased with me at the moment.” He chuckled lightly, thinking to himself how cute the two were when Kagome’s necklace fell from underneath her shirt. He picked it up thoughtfully, his clawed thumb tracing over the sapphire star and the links in the silver chain. “How interesting,” he whispered aloud. “What a pretty trinket.” He returned it to the sheets, sat down in a nearby chair and watched over her, his thoughts roving over random ideas and commands while Kagome slept on.
(End Chapter)
Kagome’s outfits (both the blue/purple from the beginning of the chapter and the red/violet near the end): Yuna at www (dot) ffx2 (dot) com (slash) newdresses (slash) darkgunner (dot) jpg
SF: OH CRAP! I totally forgot something!
Inu-chan: And that’s a surprise? (High fives Miroku)
SF: Oh, ahahahahaha. Buttmunch.
Inu-chan: Birdbrain
SF: Pencildick.
Inu-chan: Hey! If she can say that, how come I can’t say bitch-
ZAP!
SF: It really is too easy to egg him. Anyway, someone asked me something and I totally spaced out and forgot to answer. It smacked me a couple of days prior to this chapter and I thought I’d better answer it, even though I don’t remember who asked (sorry!) The question was about chapter ten, where Shippou and the others are watching Sesshoumaru and Kagome’s names scroll across the MIA screen. Here’s what the symbols mean:
G. Class D Spe. Rnk 29 AP Rnk 13 En Tec 5: These are Sesshoumaru’s listings. Um...let’s see...oh! Ok! Gunner class D (rank going from A to F with F being the highest) Specialist Rank 29 (Gunblade) Airship Pilot Rank 13 Electronic Engineering Technician 5 (another sort of rank and class)
G. Class A Spe. Rnk 19 Neg/CR : These are Kagome’s listings
Gunner class A (she just got hers remember?) Specialist Rank 19 Negotiation/ Car Repair
SF: Well, there it is. I hope it helps. Oh, um...who’s doing the thing this time?
Shippou: Me! Let me do it SF! Please!
SF: Oh Shippou I’m sorry, but Inuyasha’s doing it this time. You can do the next one OK?
Shippou: Ok... (pouts)
Inuyasha: Yeah! Now I get to say what I want to say!
SF: Over your dead body Dog Boy. Get to work!
Inuyasha: Grrrr. Whatever. Anyway (reads script) It’s actually hard to be without Kagome, if you can believe it. Shippou’s a major party pooper, Sango and Kikyou can’t stop crying and Miroku hasn’t been a pervert in well...forever. Shippou swears that Kagome’s alive and despite everyone saying otherwise...I believe him. You see, Shippou says he has proof. What he doesn’t know is that I kinda have proof too...
Chapter 13: Juromaru’s Destruction

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