InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Gambling Your Way to Freedom ❯ Avoidance ( Chapter 8 )

Gambling Your Way to Freedom

Chapter 8: Avoidance

Sesshoumaru didn't believe it. He'd offered to take her away and she'd refused. He admired bravery in the face of danger, but at some point one had to admit, it was just foolishness. However, he also understood you can't help someone unless they want help. He'd offered to take her in. Now it was up to Sango to decide to accept it or not. He just hoped she didn't wait too long. Given the smells emanating from her apartment, the sooner the better.

Shaking his head, he glanced once final time at the apartment before setting off for the grocery store. Miroku had texted earlier that while Kagome was still happily ensconced in the world of romantic comedies, however she was running low on snacks if he cared to pick some up on his way home.

Picking up his phone, he dialed Miroku. He picked up on the second ring.

“Yeeeeeeeess?”

“Get her to make a list of things she likes to eat.”

“Nah, that'd be too much on her mind right now. Just get some cokes, chips, and cookies for now.”

“Alright.”

When he returned home, it was all he could do not to rush straight to her. Miroku had warned him to take it slowly. Let her feel his youki first and get used to his presence in the house. Then, he could visit her. So, instead, he cooked. Miroku had mentioned cookies and he knew exactly what to make. So, while he waited for Kagome's aura to relax again, he gathered his ingredients and started to work.

He started with chocolate chip cookies, hoping a classic would go over well. Then, once those were in the oven, he started on his personal favorite, chocolate oatmeal cookies. He just hoped they cooperated. It was still pretty early; summer's heat hadn't fully taken hold so hopefully they would set properly. Well, if not, they'd have chocolate oatmeal soup.

By the time Kagome finally entered the kitchen, Sesshoumaru was scooping the finished cookies onto parchment paper to set.

“Hi,” she said cautiously, taking a seat at the table.

“Hello,” Sesshoumaru replied, hoping his voice came out calmer than he felt. It was taking everything in his power not to rush to her side. Searching for something safe to say, he motioned to the chocolate chip cookies cooling behind him. “Would you like a cookie?”

“No thanks,”

Well that worked, he thought, wracking his brain for something else to say. Not for the first time, he wished he were a more conversational youkai. Even his brother, brash and idiotic as he was, somehow seemed to say the right thing at the right time when it really mattered. And yet, he who was superior to Inuyasha in every way, was floored by a mere slip of a woman.

“I'm sorry,” he said abruptly. “I didn't mean to hurt you.”

She frowned, her brows drawing together in confusion. Miroku must be right; She had no memory of the fight.

He cleared his throat. “I uh, I know you've been through a lot. I just wanted you to know you're safe here. You don't ever have to be afraid.”

She nodded awkwardly and he hoped she believed him.

“Do you remember anything?”

She shook her head. “The last thing I remember is firing the arrow. Did I get hurt?”

He couldn't look her in the eye. He couldn't tell her. Never mind that Miroku had told him not to, he could not look her in the eye and tell her what he had done. Finally, he mumbled, “Not physically.”

A glimmer of recognition flashed in her eyes, causing him to flinch. Deciding it would be best to change the subject, he said “So, uh, what would you like for dinner?”

She shrugged, not meeting his eyes. “Doesn't matter.”

He resisted the urge the sigh. He knew it was most likely her abuse talking, but he wished she would let him in a little more. Yeah, because you've given her soooo many reasons to trust you, moron. Forcing a smile onto his face, he nodded slightly. “Well, we still have a bit of time before dinner, so if you think of something just let me know.”

“Ok,”

There, see, I can have patience. He turned back to the now cooling cookies and began cleaning up, smirking when he saw her reach over for a chocolate chip cookie. Progress.

~~~

Over the next couple weeks, Kagome began to settle into life on the ranch. Sesshoumaru thankfully seemed to be leaving her alone, which she figured was Miroku's doing. She only saw him at mealtimes and when they went to sleep, which unfortunately was still in the same bed, but he made no move to touch her. She'd wanted to insist on getting her own room, but Miroku had explained the mating mark to her, which had brought up memories of what had happened in the dojo and she'd dropped the issue not wanting to reveal how much she remembered. So now, they slept on opposite sides of the bed, a wall of pillows between them.

She didn't know if she should tell him that she remembered their fight or not. As it was, she didn't remember everything. Her mind seemed to be blocking some of it from her, but she remembered enough to know she'd threatened to leave and he hadn't reacted well. At first, she'd been scared, every instinct screaming that if someone was capable of that kind of anger, she should be running far away. But, she also knew that she was partly to blame for his reaction. She'd known when she'd threatened to leave that it would upset him; that's why she'd said it. She'd wanted to hurt him, and that seemed like the simplest way. Inuyoukai were pretty much the most possessive youkai in existence, and therefore threatening to leave him, particularly so soon after their mating, seemed the best way to punish him.

It had been so long since she'd been free; to be able to go where she wanted when she wanted and to be able to do whatever she wished. She hadn't wanted to accept that she'd traded one owner for another, even if her new master had been kinder to her than she could believe possible. So, she'd hurt him, hoping he'd give her what she wanted, and now he would barely even look at her. She figured she should just give him time, and that he was most likely staying away for her benefit, giving her time to heal and adjust to her new life. But she had to admit, it was really boring.

She spent her days either reading or trying to learn how to crochet, which was a lot harder than she'd expected. There was a whole slew of terms to learn and techniques to master, but she was determined to get it. She had to hand it to the woman they'd met in Joann's, YouTube videos were definitely the way to go. She'd looked up several videos with tips for beginners, and most seemed to suggest either diving right in and making a project, or by making swatches of different stitches to learn tensioning. However, all seemed to agree that tension was the most important factor in crochet. It was also apparently the hardest.

She'd tried the swatch thing, but since there wasn't really an end goal, she couldn't motivate herself to keep going. Therefore, she'd decided it was time to try making something. She'd spent all morning looking at different hat patterns until she found a simple hat done in the single crochet stitch. It started with a small circle and with each row and stitches were added until it was large enough to cover the top of her head. At that point, she would just need to do one stitch in each stitch to make it turn down until it was the length she liked.

Now, the question was which yarn to use. She resisted the urge to use the fluffy specialty yarns she'd purchased, which apparently were harder to work with, and reached instead for a simple yarn in a solid turquoise color. The tag said it was a worsted weight yarn, not that she really understood what that meant.

“Oh well, best to just dive in I guess…”

However, she'd barely gotten started when a knock on the door made her look up.

“Come in,”

Miroku's head poked around the corner. “Good morning!” He said, waving a hand in greeting.

“Oh, Miroku, hi.”

“I just wanted to check in, see how you're doing,” He said, hopping down on her bed and motioning to her crochet project. “You know, make sure you hadn't sewn your fingers together or anything.”

She chuckled. “Not yet. And it's crochet by the way, not sewing.”

“Ah, well I'm sure that makes all the difference.”

She grinned, unable to help but feel at ease in his presence. “I guess. It's something to do at any rate.”

He nodded. “Guess so. So, how are you feeling?”

“Ok, I guess,” she mumbled, her gaze falling to the yarn in her lap.

“Just ok?”

She shrugged. “I little lonely I guess.”

Miroku nodded. “That's understandable. Have you thought about maybe, talking to him?”

Her head jerked up, glaring at him with all she had and he held his hands up.

“Sorry, force of habit.” He stood up, walking to the door. He stopped just inside, looking back at her over his shoulder. “But you should know, he's lonely too.”

She scoffed, shaking her head as he shut the door. Like she would ever want to talk to him.

As if on cue, an explosion vibrated through the room, echoing around her. She screamed, flattening herself on the bed. “What the fuck?!”

Staying as low to the ground as she could, she slide from the bed and crossed to the window, peering over the sill to look down into the grounds below. Sesshoumaru stood at the edge of the forest, his back to her, standing next to a pile of what looked like dust. She frowned, unsure what to make of the image until a moment later when the tree right next to him exploded in a shower of splinters.

“Wow,” she murmured, unable to believe what she was seeing. She hadn't even seen him move. He suddenly turned and glanced towards the window and she squeaked, jerking down out of sight. There's no way he heard me, she thought, shaking her head and peeking back out the window. But he was gone.

“Shit!”

She jumped back into the bed, trying to appear completely enthralled with her crochet project in case he came upstairs. However, her solitude remained uninterrupted and she tried to ignore the slight pang that welled up as she set aside her yarn and reached for one of the books on the nightstand. She was not disappointed. After all, it wasn't as if she wanted his company.

~~~

“Congratulations,” Miroku said, quirking his eyebrows at the destruction behind his friend. “I think they're dead.”

Sesshoumaru leveled an icy glare at his friend. “Your sarcasm is neither requested or needed.”

Miroku ignored this statement, lifting an arm to motion to the splinters. “So, what caused this sudden desire to redo the landscaping? Not feeling on edge are we?”

He growled in response and Miroku had to resist the urge to laugh. It was just too easy to rile his friend up.

“She's lonely too you know.”

“I know,”

“So, wanna tell me why you're down here and she's up there? You guys won't ever get anywhere if you don't spend time together.”

“I'm well aware of that monk. Thank you.”

Miroku noted the tai's hands were clenched into fists at his sides. He was definitely pushing his luck, but he couldn't resist one final jab. “Well then, maybe you should do something about it?”

He turned to leave, unsurprised when another tree exploded behind him. His friend really was too easy to annoy sometimes.