InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bravery Without Love ❯ Changing Heart ( Chapter 6 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Changing Heart

He couldn't sleep. Another night would pass by with him still tangled in his thoughts. She

shouldn't be doing this to him, stirring up buried feelings that should only rise with Kikyo. But

comfort.....comfort was a feeling he had forgotten altogether since their parting. The

knowledge that though he ached inside, someone would always be there to help. Was she

some enchantress, putting him under a spell in less than a week? Still, he could see her smile

and her glittering eyes even from his quarters far above. Images of Kikyo in his restless

dreams were replaced by the overflowing happiness in a pair of cerulean eyes. Was it

love...or was it the vain act of a heart trying to heal a scar? He had promised himself with iron

will that there would be no more dinners. No more staring at her face, desperately wishing

that it was someone else in her place. But he could still hear her laughter floating above the

crowd on odd moments. Laughter that made sudden twinges in his chest occur. And when he

would be perched on his balcony somehow he would be able to pick her face out among

dozens in the courtyard below. She would boldly hold his gaze, almost daring him to come

down and show his face. And then he would turn away in shame that a worthless girl like her

had forced him into hiding in his own domain. There was a knock at his door and he opened

them without a thought. They closed with a gentle click and suddenly, his senses caught the

scent of jasmine. His body stiffened and he turned his back toward her, looking out his

window.

"Ano....I don't mean to intrude but-" she said softly, as if unsure.

"You did intrude." he replied, a little more harsher than he wanted.

"My apologies but-" she said, still in that soft tone of hers.

"What is so important that you have come up here?"

Silence reigned, and he wondered why he sounded so annoyed when she had done nothing at

all. Maybe it was because he was fighting a loosing battle every time he heard her voice.

"If you are too preoccupied at the moment, then I understand. But I just wanted you to know

that you can't stay up here forever. Your people haven't seen you for days and they are

getting uneasy. They lose confidence because they feel that you lose confidence in this war.

Unless you intend to give up on your plans, I suggest that you at least go downstairs and

make a few visits to your men. Good night, Sesshoumaru-sama." she bowed perfectly, not an

inch below or above what she was suppose to give. Testimony to Sesshoumari of her position,

a human to be kept from Naraku's hands and perhaps his own.

"Why should you care?" he whispered while she opened the door.

"Why shouldn't I?" she whispered back and she left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dream after dream followed as each night passed. And tonight was no different. She couldn't

remember anything except the horrible feeling of dread every time she woke up. Something

bad was going to happen soon, she could feel it in the pit of her stomach. The vague snatches

she could remember was looking into a mirror and seeing her image smiling sweetly back. But

what did that mean? Was she perhaps the danger that was soon to come? She mulled over this

during breakfast as she passed the trays to the hungry people that walked in. A waving hand

came into her vision and she blinked.

"Hey, are you alright?" Inuyasha asked, his hand falling back to his side.

"Yes, just....it's nothing." she answered absentmindedly, still trying to pick apart her dreams.

"You seemed kind of lost." Inuyasha took the tray from her hands but remained where he was.

"Don't worry about me, go and eat." Kagome gave her brightest smile and Inuyasha's

expression suddenly turned very much like his brother's, calculating and suspicious.

"Look, if any guy is bothering you or-"

"No no, it's nothing, honest."

He gave a shrug and started to walk towards a table.

"But thanks for caring." she said quietly to herself.

There was a loud hush in the room and several people stood up in their seats. Kagome looked

behind her to see who it was. Sesshoumaru stood there in all his glory. That strained man she

had seen last night was no more, but in his place was the haughty and demanding leader. He

strode down to his usual place as if it was just any other normal morning. Kagome hid her

smile and nudged a tray into the next person's hands. Never had she been more aware of how

much the people of the fortress depended on this enigmatic leader. By the time she was done

with the kitchen duty Sesshoumaru had already left. Everybody had already hurried off to do

their own business and she was suddenly very alone. She sat under a tree by the hall entrance

and tucked her knees under her chin. Silently watching the others she didn't notice

Sesshoumaru until he stood right beside her. She jerked her head up and gazed at his face.

"Sesshoumaru-sama." She bowed her head in greeting.

"So you help in the kitchen." he said, helplessly trying to start an innocent conversation.

"I was wondering if you could teach me self defense." Kagome blurted out, nearly startled by

her own bold words. "I-I might not be here forever and and there won't always be people

there to protect me. I want to learn how to be brave on my own in case.....in case I'm alone

one day." She demurely tucked her hands into her kimono sleeves and looked down. A large

hand with calluses grabbed hers and pulled her up. He gruffly motioned her to follow him and

began to lead her up to his quarters.

"If you want to learn how to be brave, I can't teach you that. But I can teach you how to

defend yourself. You are given no answers to your questions and you will do exactly as I

say." He opened his doors and led her to a small hallway to the left. He pushed aside a hanging

curtain of Japan's mountains that hid a room. It revealed a hidden dojo that was spacious

enough for two people to practice. Swords of every kind and size hung on the walls along with

other sorts of weapons she had never seen before. Three, however, caught her eye. They

hung as centerpieces on the wall directly in front of the door. One was well kept and had a

beautiful scabbard of black with diamonds going down. The other was the complete opposite,

appearing to be a rusty old thing that was falling apart. The last one made her shiver down to

the bone. The evil aura coming off of it was incredible. Kagome had never displayed a 6th

sense of auras and such and even she could feel it coming off in waves.

"Swords passed down to my brother and I from our father." Sesshoumaru stated, noticing her

carefully observe the swords.

"Why don't you use them?" she lifted a finger to touch not the family heirlooms but the sword

that Sesshoumaru had conveniently left out. Before she could even get close something

shocked the tip of her fingers, making her jump.

"We haven't figured out how to use them." he said flatly. "Come. Today, I'll start you on basic

hand to hand combat. First, take your clothes off."

"Nani?!" Kagome crossed her arms in defiance. What had happened to this man of honor?

He held up a hakama and gi which she took with a furious blush. He just stood there watching

and she stood there watching him back.

"Ahem, if you could leave the room so I could change?"

His expression didn't change at all and he just turned his back. Kagome glared at his figure,

changing as quickly as she could. She tapped his shoulder when she was done. In a fast

movement he turned around and his fist came within a centimeter of her nose. She squeeked

and moved back as he gave a sigh.

"Rule number one, never let your guard down."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was amazing how fast the girl learned in a few days, it was at an unnatural speed he had

never seen before in a human. Or perhaps it was the burning desire to be able to defend

herself. She mastered hand to hand combat in six days and was adding weapons on to her list

today. She chose twin swords as her first weapon. They were brilliantly carved by the

strongest metal and the black handles were decorated with golden dragons. She silently held

them, trying to remember the proper grip.

"You're learning fast." he reluctantly said, picking a katana from his wall of weapons.

She looked up and gave a grin. His heart suddenly sped up for no reason and he quickly

turned his head away before she could read the look in his eyes.

"It feels right, somehow. As if I'm suppose to know it." she said, looking down at her new

weapons. With a slow swing he brought his katana down at her head. She blocked it and

jumped back. He continued with slow swings, attacking at all sides and she blocked every one

of them with the same slow moves. He could see the puzzlement in her eyes at their speed but

she kept to her word and asked no questions. After a period of time he began to speed up his

hits, bit by bit. Sweat dripped down her forehead as all her concentration was pinpointed on

the movements of the swords. She was getting tired, he could tell, from the increased

breathing. He raised his katana and brought it crashing down on her swords, making her lose

her balance and fall. The swords clattered on the ground and she winced from the fall. She

continued to sit on the ground and he was walking up to her when she kicked out her legs and

made him jump to avoid contact. In a blurry movement she grabbed her swords and made a

quick cut at his abdomen. He broke through her attack and rested his sword on her neck. She

gave a smile and pointed down at his spotless hakama. There was a 6 inch tear that had even

gone through his own underclothes, stopping just above his skin. Her smile grew wider and

he dropped his sword to the ground. This little girl had managed to get through his

impeccable defenses on her first day. This lady-like maiden who appeared to no sooner touch

a sword than to work for a living. When had she gotten that glint of confidence in her eyes?

And when had she grown so important in his life? Without even knowing it, he lifted a hand to

touch her cheek. The softness of her skin was incredible and he was contemplating the taste of

those lips when he remembered who he was touching. His hand moved back but was stopped

by a smaller hand that grasped his fingers.

"Why do you do that? Why do you keep on turning from me?" her steady eyes pleaded for an

answer.

*Ahh, finally, I finished this chapter. I don't know why but this chapter was just dragging along. Hehehe, isn't amazing how the heart can change? I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I've been doing some further writing for the next few chapters and I'm starting to get into this story. And are you guys still wondering about the real reason to Naraku's marriage proposal and Sesshoumaru's kidnapping? Hint: they both tie into Kagome (duh) and a secret that even she doesn't know. heehee, I can't wait till you guys find out. meanwhile, keep on reading!! and now that i'm finally getting some quality writing time, I'll be able to answer some questions that you guys are always throwing at me. ^^