InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Escape ❯ Distractions ( Chapter 8 )

just a note, I've noticed my italics don't come out on chapters when they are put up, so I'm putting ** for when the characters are thinking.

Distractions

Kagome laid in the dark, thinking. Rin was sleeping soundly against her. Dinner

was...interesting. Rin kept bugging Jaken, Sesshoumaru just quietly ate his meal, and Kagome

tried to calm things between Jaken and Rin. But everything felt, normal. A word Kagome had

not been able to associate with for weeks. She smiled as sleep overcame her eyes.

Sesshoumaru looked up at the ceiling. He had already sent the message but he still couldn't

push away a feeling of guilt. The girl had cleaned up quite nicely when she had walked into the

dining room with a kimono on. That foreign clothing barely covered what she had and was

extremely indecent. With the kimono on, she could have passed for a hime. And she had

gotten Rin to take a bath without Sesshoumaru ordering her. She was different. She was one of

the few women that daily cleaned herself and Sesshoumaru found her scent pleasing; jasmine,

night, and sorrow. Sorrow again, would that scent ever go away from her? It seemed like it

had become a part of her now. Yet she still remained strong. Sesshoumaru snorted. Strong?

Where did that come from? A human could never be as strong as a youkai. Especially one as

powerful as himself. But it made Sesshoumaru wonder even more about the miko.

Kagome opened her eyes to Rin staring down at her.

"Rin?"

"Onee-chan finally woke up! Rin wants to go and pick flowers for the breakfast table! Onee-

chan come with Rin to pick flowers?"

Kagome couldn't resist, even early in the morning, Rin never failed to shine and smile.

"Alright. Come on."

Putting on a yukata, Kagome followed Rin to the gardens. With the morning dew settled on

the flowers, it made them glitter like jewels. With a stretch, Kagome helped Rin pick flowers,

er, well, at least weeds. When Rin pronounced that the bouquet was perfect they walked hand

in hand to the dining room. When breakfast was over Kagome took Rin under the shade of a

tree outside and told her western stories. From Aladdin to Cinderella to Beauty and the Beast.

When Rin fell asleep, Kagome leaned against the tree and sighed. Finally, time to think. Or

not, she looked up to see Sesshoumaru gracefully walking toward her.

"Yes?"

"I sent your message."

"Ah! Arigato! I'm relieved, now Inuyasha won't barge in or anything. Though, come to think

of it, will he really trust your word? He does hate you.... why do-"

"Don't pry into something that doesn't have to do with you. And I gave Inuyasha my full

assurance that you would come to no harm."

"Ok, um, do you have a dojo around? And maybe a bow and some arrows?"

"A servant will show you."

He turned to leave.

"Thank you, again."

Kagome felt something tug at her yukata. Looking around she saw the faint glow of a servant.

Carrying Rin in her arms, she followed it to a dojo. It was a skillfully built dojo. It had large

windows that overlooked the garden, and there was a field to shoot arrows with. Kagome

layed Rin gently on a shaded part of grass. Grabbing a bow and some arrows, Kagome started

practicing. Running away from youkai and being constantly on the lookout for shards didn't

give Kagome much time to practice her shooting. Shooting arrows helped her mentally, she

imagined that on each arrow was a bit of stress. And every time she let go, the stress would

leave. It was relaxing and soon Kagome was feeling tranquil. Her aim was even getting a little

better.

"You don't follow through when you let go. It's one of the reasons you don't hit where you

aim."

Kagome whirled around and saw Sesshoumaru casually leaning against the dojo building.

"How long have you been there?"

"For a while, enough to watch. I'm surprised you didn't sense me. You are weak, miko."

"I only sense youkai that have evil intentions. You don't apply, well, at least right now."

Kagome walked to the target and pulled out the arrows. When she got back, he was still there,

and still watching. Kagome pulled the bow string, aiming carefully at the center.

"You're making me uncomfortable."

"At the height of battle, you must be ready for all kinds of distractions."

*Good grief*

She aimed again. This time she followed through and the arrow hit closer to the middle than

before.

"Oh."

"Next time, hold the arrow closer to your jawbone. It will help your aim."

Kagome aimed again using Sesshoumaru's advice.

THWACK. Dead center.

"Impressive miko, you learn quite quickly. Maybe you aren't as weak as you look."

Saying that, the lord turned and left. Kagome leaned lightly against the bow, furrowing her

eyebrows.

*As weak as I look?! Not all females are weak, you baka!*

~Don't worry, more exciting/sad stuff is gonna come later.