InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Absolution's Pursuit ❯ Bokusenou's Forest ( Chapter 18 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Lady Sianna 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Drama / Adventure | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 06.11.2012 | Updated On: 06.11.2012 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 212 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Drama / Adventure | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 06.11.2012 | Updated On: 06.11.2012 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 212 | Status: Work In Progress
Absolution’s Pursuit
Bokusenou’s Forest
___________________________________________________________ __________
The first wisps of dawn found the odd pair, untrained miko and inu youkai, in a small valley near the stream. The morning breeze gently stirred the flowers and grasses that surrounded them, as the first rays of sunlight began to chase away the chill of the previous night.
Sesshoumaru was the first to greet the day, his eyes opening gradually as he roused from the light doze to which he‘d surrendered some time ago. As the world came more sharply into focus, he registered the warm body pressed tightly against him. Her breathing was soft and steady, her dark tresses woven between his fingers.
The woman was thinly dressed, damp and sleeping contentedly in his arms... in his lap no less.
The daiyoukai was acutely aware of how intimate their current position appeared, but simply could not find it within himself to care. Intellectually he knew it should feel wrong, objectionable on so many levels, yet it seemed strangely natural. So much so, that even now he did not find it necessary to put her down.
Her scent was intermingled with his…
She began to stir, and the inu looked down on her, his focus centered on her face. He found himself rather curious to see how she’d react to waking in his arms.
Rising into the conscious world once again, Kagome attempted to stretch her muscles but found her movements severely hampered. ‘Wha--’ she wondered vaguely, her tired eyes slowly peeling open. She looked up, her heart skipping a handful of beats when she found a pair of narrow golden eyes staring down at her.
“H-hi!” she said nervously, blurting out the first thing that came to mind. She’d spoke quite a bit louder than she’d intended, which in turn jolted her more fully into consciousness. This of course turned out to be far more interesting, and at least somewhat more awkward than the previous times she’d awakened in Sesshoumaru’s presence.
For one thing, she was graced with the opportunity to observe him much more closely than usual. He looked… almost curious as he stared down at her; as if he were expecting something from her, though she had no idea what. For a moment, she couldn’t, for the life of her fathom why she found herself waking in Sesshoumaru’s arms, then, in a flash, she remembered icy waves rushing over her head. The memory took her breath away.
‘That’s right’ she thought, ‘Sesshoumaru saved me. I almost drowned.’
She wanted to say something to him, to thank him for saving her life, to tell him--
“Ow!” she cried suddenly, her right hand moving toward the small lump at the back of her head. Oddly, she hadn’t noticed the pain until now.
“No.” she heard him say, his hand grasping her wrist before she could touch the aching spot. When she turned her puzzled gaze upon him he quietly answered her unspoken question. “You will exacerbate your injury.”
“I bumped my head?” she asked needlessly, the pain and his words telling her what she’d apparently forgotten.
For a moment she just sat there, her mind clouded with confusion, jumbled, half-formed thoughts, and an overall sense that something wasn‘t quite right. Whatever it was, not only could she not figure it out, but even if she could, she doubted she’d find the resolve to do anything about it anyway.
After giving a light shrug, she turned her attention back to her apparent savior. “Thank you...” the miko said softly, a small, nervous smile gracing her lips. “Thank you for saving me.”
“I offered you my protection.” he said almost tonelessly. “I could do nothing less.”
“Well,” she smiled again, fighting the urge to rub the aching lump on her head, “I’m still grateful for your help. I’ve really got to be more careful though.”
The inu lord didn’t seem to have anything to say to that. Instead, he drew a deep breath, his gaze shifting somewhere over her head. It was around this time that Kagome became more acutely aware that she was still wrapped, rather securely, in his arms. The sensation was odd to say the least, and she surreptitiously gazed between herself and him, taking stock of how close they really were. She was actually seated in his lap, wearing only her under kimono, with her bare legs draped over the covered silk of his. ‘If someone were to see us like this,’ she mused, ‘there’s a slight chance that they just might get the wrong idea!’ The thought brought both a smile and a light blush to her face, which she hid by turning her face away from him. Though she was beginning to grasp the surreal and flat out weirdness of her current situation, the miko just couldn’t manage to conjure the feelings of embarrassment and maidenly encroachment that should have come with it. Though neither of them seemed to be acknowledging it, an invisible line of intimacy had definitely been crossed here.
Exhaling slowly, Kagome decided not to worry about it. Apparently she had slept like this the whole night, so what was the point of throwing a hissy fit over it now?
Besides, Sesshoumaru didn’t seem too bothered by it.
In fact, he seemed… so unbothered by it, that even though there was really no reason to continue doing so, he was still holding her. She wondered why.
‘I should say something.’ the miko thought sensibly, though the idea of getting up didn’t really appeal to her at the moment. The morning hadn’t quite warmed up yet, and she’d definitely feel it if she were to suddenly lose the no doubt rarely bestowed gift of his body heat.
She felt herself repress another smile. Sharing body heat with Sesshoumaru, the Great and Terrible Killing Perfection himself. The idea was both outlandish and ridiculous, and yet here she was.
‘It doesn’t mean anything.’ the miko thought, not really sure why she suddenly felt the need to rationalize. ‘He did offer to protect me. I’m sure he was just trying to keep me from catching cold during the night. And here I am taking advantage of his thoughtfulness.’ Well, knowing Sesshoumaru, his decision was probably something less sentimental, and more cold hard logic. Either way, it worked to her own benefit. She should get up. Cradling a weak, pathetic human in his arms all night couldn’t have been pleasant for the proud, stoic demon lord. She rolled her eyes at the thought. Besides, she found that she’d rather decide on her own instead of having him toss her out of his arms like yesterday’s garbage, something he was bound to do very soon if she didn’t remove herself first.
“Well,” she announced suddenly, her features needlessly cheery. “Thanks again… for well, everything!”
And with that, she began to move, preparing to lift herself from the cradle of his arms and body. Only, he made no noticeable effort to release her. When she noticed the resistance, Kagome looked up at him, gasping softly when her eyes locked with his. “I should… get ready to…” she trailed off, her train of thought leaving the station without her when she saw the intense look he seemed to be giving her.
There was no way to describe it really. It wasn’t his normal, icy stoicism, and it wasn’t quite boredom either. There was, a slight heaviness to his eyelids, and something shimmering in their golden depths. It was, both oddly familiar, yet entirely foreign. Distantly, she thought she felt his fingers convulse lightly against her ribs.
Then, he blinked and the trance was broken. His normal, stoic façade snapped back into place and he gradually released her. She stood slowly, wondering what, if anything just happened between them.
It all started with the morning she’d awakened in Sesshoumaru’s arms.
The miko stole a glance at her companion.
If anything, she might have expected things to become awkward between them after that day, but, that wasn’t exactly the case. Feeling a faint blush rise to her cheeks, Kagome recalled a few memorable moments that had transpired since then. Maybe she was imagining it, or making a bigger deal of it than it really was, but since that day it seemed that Sesshoumaru was going out of his way to be near her.
That same day, he’d brought her a new kimono and hakama, seeing as how she’d lost her original clothing in the river. When he’d handed the parcel over to her, it seemed that he’d deliberately touched her hands, his fingers lingering along her wrists, and down the backs of her hands just a moment longer than was necessary.
She’d looked up at him, her cheeks heavily flushed. Not surprisingly, he didn’t say a word, just stared down at her, that strange look in his eyes again. It was as if he wanted something from her, yet he would never say what it was. She thought he’d smirked before turning away and leaving her to get dressed.
That night, she’d built a campfire, which, as she understood, would keep away animals and most youkai, yet the daiyoukai insisted that she sleep near to him.
“You want me to sleep here?” she’d asked, pointing dubiously to the makeshift futon spread out in the grass beside him. At first he was silent, and she’d taken the opportunity to ponder just where he’d even gotten the materials to create the futon to begin with.
“Yes.” he’d finally told her, not bothering to look up. At the time, he’d been seated on the ground, his back propped against a large boulder.
“O-Kay.” she’d hesitated, “but isn’t this kind of… I mean I don’t want to intrude on your personal spa--”
He’d interrupted her flustered ramblings by reminding her that she’d lost her weapon, and that it was necessary for her to remain close to him while she slept.
There was logic to his reasoning, she had to admit, but she couldn’t help but feel that there was more to it than he was saying.
The bad thing though, the really, really bad thing was that all this extra attention, the seeming concern and copious protectiveness was causing her to become attached to him in a way that could end no way but badly.
She’d thought it over many, many, MANY times, and could come up with no other logical conclusion.
Kagome was developing a crush on Sesshoumaru.
This, she knew, was bad, and she had to figure out a way to stop it before she managed to get her feelings hurt… again! She’d puzzled it over, mentally berated herself and through stanch denial tried to convince herself that it wasn’t true.
All to no avail.
The miko sighed. ‘How am I going to get myself out of this one?’ she lamented mentally. Her head was downcast, so she didn’t see him stop, and almost ran right into the object of her detrimental, and no doubt unrequited desire.
“We have arrived.” Sesshoumaru announced, causing her to look around her. They stood in a small clearing, circled by trees, thick grasses, and flowering plants of various size, shape and color. At it’s center, stood a large tree, which, aside from being larger than the others, looked no different than any other tree she’d ever seen.
Moving to stand beside her traveling companion, Kagome turned a puzzled look on the him. Before she could say anything, however, a booming voice wrenched her attention back to the tree.
“So, Sesshoumaru, you have finally arrived.”
Gasping, Kagome looked on as an ancient face began forming near the base of the tree. Though its features were aged and weathered, it wore a slight smile on its face.
Slowly, the eyes opened, focusing on the demon lord who stood beside her.
“It’s about time you arrived.” he said, his smile broadening slightly. “We have much to discuss.”
Bokusenou’s Forest
___________________________________________________________ __________
The first wisps of dawn found the odd pair, untrained miko and inu youkai, in a small valley near the stream. The morning breeze gently stirred the flowers and grasses that surrounded them, as the first rays of sunlight began to chase away the chill of the previous night.
Sesshoumaru was the first to greet the day, his eyes opening gradually as he roused from the light doze to which he‘d surrendered some time ago. As the world came more sharply into focus, he registered the warm body pressed tightly against him. Her breathing was soft and steady, her dark tresses woven between his fingers.
The woman was thinly dressed, damp and sleeping contentedly in his arms... in his lap no less.
The daiyoukai was acutely aware of how intimate their current position appeared, but simply could not find it within himself to care. Intellectually he knew it should feel wrong, objectionable on so many levels, yet it seemed strangely natural. So much so, that even now he did not find it necessary to put her down.
Her scent was intermingled with his…
She began to stir, and the inu looked down on her, his focus centered on her face. He found himself rather curious to see how she’d react to waking in his arms.
Rising into the conscious world once again, Kagome attempted to stretch her muscles but found her movements severely hampered. ‘Wha--’ she wondered vaguely, her tired eyes slowly peeling open. She looked up, her heart skipping a handful of beats when she found a pair of narrow golden eyes staring down at her.
“H-hi!” she said nervously, blurting out the first thing that came to mind. She’d spoke quite a bit louder than she’d intended, which in turn jolted her more fully into consciousness. This of course turned out to be far more interesting, and at least somewhat more awkward than the previous times she’d awakened in Sesshoumaru’s presence.
For one thing, she was graced with the opportunity to observe him much more closely than usual. He looked… almost curious as he stared down at her; as if he were expecting something from her, though she had no idea what. For a moment, she couldn’t, for the life of her fathom why she found herself waking in Sesshoumaru’s arms, then, in a flash, she remembered icy waves rushing over her head. The memory took her breath away.
‘That’s right’ she thought, ‘Sesshoumaru saved me. I almost drowned.’
She wanted to say something to him, to thank him for saving her life, to tell him--
“Ow!” she cried suddenly, her right hand moving toward the small lump at the back of her head. Oddly, she hadn’t noticed the pain until now.
“No.” she heard him say, his hand grasping her wrist before she could touch the aching spot. When she turned her puzzled gaze upon him he quietly answered her unspoken question. “You will exacerbate your injury.”
“I bumped my head?” she asked needlessly, the pain and his words telling her what she’d apparently forgotten.
For a moment she just sat there, her mind clouded with confusion, jumbled, half-formed thoughts, and an overall sense that something wasn‘t quite right. Whatever it was, not only could she not figure it out, but even if she could, she doubted she’d find the resolve to do anything about it anyway.
After giving a light shrug, she turned her attention back to her apparent savior. “Thank you...” the miko said softly, a small, nervous smile gracing her lips. “Thank you for saving me.”
“I offered you my protection.” he said almost tonelessly. “I could do nothing less.”
“Well,” she smiled again, fighting the urge to rub the aching lump on her head, “I’m still grateful for your help. I’ve really got to be more careful though.”
The inu lord didn’t seem to have anything to say to that. Instead, he drew a deep breath, his gaze shifting somewhere over her head. It was around this time that Kagome became more acutely aware that she was still wrapped, rather securely, in his arms. The sensation was odd to say the least, and she surreptitiously gazed between herself and him, taking stock of how close they really were. She was actually seated in his lap, wearing only her under kimono, with her bare legs draped over the covered silk of his. ‘If someone were to see us like this,’ she mused, ‘there’s a slight chance that they just might get the wrong idea!’ The thought brought both a smile and a light blush to her face, which she hid by turning her face away from him. Though she was beginning to grasp the surreal and flat out weirdness of her current situation, the miko just couldn’t manage to conjure the feelings of embarrassment and maidenly encroachment that should have come with it. Though neither of them seemed to be acknowledging it, an invisible line of intimacy had definitely been crossed here.
Exhaling slowly, Kagome decided not to worry about it. Apparently she had slept like this the whole night, so what was the point of throwing a hissy fit over it now?
Besides, Sesshoumaru didn’t seem too bothered by it.
In fact, he seemed… so unbothered by it, that even though there was really no reason to continue doing so, he was still holding her. She wondered why.
‘I should say something.’ the miko thought sensibly, though the idea of getting up didn’t really appeal to her at the moment. The morning hadn’t quite warmed up yet, and she’d definitely feel it if she were to suddenly lose the no doubt rarely bestowed gift of his body heat.
She felt herself repress another smile. Sharing body heat with Sesshoumaru, the Great and Terrible Killing Perfection himself. The idea was both outlandish and ridiculous, and yet here she was.
‘It doesn’t mean anything.’ the miko thought, not really sure why she suddenly felt the need to rationalize. ‘He did offer to protect me. I’m sure he was just trying to keep me from catching cold during the night. And here I am taking advantage of his thoughtfulness.’ Well, knowing Sesshoumaru, his decision was probably something less sentimental, and more cold hard logic. Either way, it worked to her own benefit. She should get up. Cradling a weak, pathetic human in his arms all night couldn’t have been pleasant for the proud, stoic demon lord. She rolled her eyes at the thought. Besides, she found that she’d rather decide on her own instead of having him toss her out of his arms like yesterday’s garbage, something he was bound to do very soon if she didn’t remove herself first.
“Well,” she announced suddenly, her features needlessly cheery. “Thanks again… for well, everything!”
And with that, she began to move, preparing to lift herself from the cradle of his arms and body. Only, he made no noticeable effort to release her. When she noticed the resistance, Kagome looked up at him, gasping softly when her eyes locked with his. “I should… get ready to…” she trailed off, her train of thought leaving the station without her when she saw the intense look he seemed to be giving her.
There was no way to describe it really. It wasn’t his normal, icy stoicism, and it wasn’t quite boredom either. There was, a slight heaviness to his eyelids, and something shimmering in their golden depths. It was, both oddly familiar, yet entirely foreign. Distantly, she thought she felt his fingers convulse lightly against her ribs.
Then, he blinked and the trance was broken. His normal, stoic façade snapped back into place and he gradually released her. She stood slowly, wondering what, if anything just happened between them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They were closing in on Bokusenou’s forest now. The daiyoukai had assured her that they would arrive no later than dusk today. Though ordinarily, she might have been excited about the prospect of meeting a 2,000 year old magnolia tree youkai, Kagome found that she wasn’t really sure how she felt about arriving at their destination, or at least this part of it. Really, she was having trouble deciding how she felt about… pretty much everything.It all started with the morning she’d awakened in Sesshoumaru’s arms.
The miko stole a glance at her companion.
If anything, she might have expected things to become awkward between them after that day, but, that wasn’t exactly the case. Feeling a faint blush rise to her cheeks, Kagome recalled a few memorable moments that had transpired since then. Maybe she was imagining it, or making a bigger deal of it than it really was, but since that day it seemed that Sesshoumaru was going out of his way to be near her.
That same day, he’d brought her a new kimono and hakama, seeing as how she’d lost her original clothing in the river. When he’d handed the parcel over to her, it seemed that he’d deliberately touched her hands, his fingers lingering along her wrists, and down the backs of her hands just a moment longer than was necessary.
She’d looked up at him, her cheeks heavily flushed. Not surprisingly, he didn’t say a word, just stared down at her, that strange look in his eyes again. It was as if he wanted something from her, yet he would never say what it was. She thought he’d smirked before turning away and leaving her to get dressed.
That night, she’d built a campfire, which, as she understood, would keep away animals and most youkai, yet the daiyoukai insisted that she sleep near to him.
“You want me to sleep here?” she’d asked, pointing dubiously to the makeshift futon spread out in the grass beside him. At first he was silent, and she’d taken the opportunity to ponder just where he’d even gotten the materials to create the futon to begin with.
“Yes.” he’d finally told her, not bothering to look up. At the time, he’d been seated on the ground, his back propped against a large boulder.
“O-Kay.” she’d hesitated, “but isn’t this kind of… I mean I don’t want to intrude on your personal spa--”
He’d interrupted her flustered ramblings by reminding her that she’d lost her weapon, and that it was necessary for her to remain close to him while she slept.
There was logic to his reasoning, she had to admit, but she couldn’t help but feel that there was more to it than he was saying.
The bad thing though, the really, really bad thing was that all this extra attention, the seeming concern and copious protectiveness was causing her to become attached to him in a way that could end no way but badly.
She’d thought it over many, many, MANY times, and could come up with no other logical conclusion.
Kagome was developing a crush on Sesshoumaru.
This, she knew, was bad, and she had to figure out a way to stop it before she managed to get her feelings hurt… again! She’d puzzled it over, mentally berated herself and through stanch denial tried to convince herself that it wasn’t true.
All to no avail.
The miko sighed. ‘How am I going to get myself out of this one?’ she lamented mentally. Her head was downcast, so she didn’t see him stop, and almost ran right into the object of her detrimental, and no doubt unrequited desire.
“We have arrived.” Sesshoumaru announced, causing her to look around her. They stood in a small clearing, circled by trees, thick grasses, and flowering plants of various size, shape and color. At it’s center, stood a large tree, which, aside from being larger than the others, looked no different than any other tree she’d ever seen.
Moving to stand beside her traveling companion, Kagome turned a puzzled look on the him. Before she could say anything, however, a booming voice wrenched her attention back to the tree.
“So, Sesshoumaru, you have finally arrived.”
Gasping, Kagome looked on as an ancient face began forming near the base of the tree. Though its features were aged and weathered, it wore a slight smile on its face.
Slowly, the eyes opened, focusing on the demon lord who stood beside her.
“It’s about time you arrived.” he said, his smile broadening slightly. “We have much to discuss.”
~*~*~*~*~*
I know it’s been a long time since I updated, but at least the new chapter is out. Just a few more to go before the end of this little story. Hang in there with me people! We’re almost done!