InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Gone With the Wind. ❯ What do I smell like? ( Chapter 11 )

Gone With the Wind

Chapter 11

 

 

“Time flies when you're having fun.”

 

Or in the case of reticent, sulky hanyou with extremely poor judgment, it dragged on to seemingly immeasurable lengths as he wallowed in a self imposed purgatory.

 

It had been a week since a certain young miko had jumped down the ancient portal, fuming and sputtering as she declared, quite angrily, that she was never coming back. It had been exactly seven days since the confused puppy-eared boy had been oswarri-ed repeatedly for stealing a kiss from flustered woman who often drove him mercilessly into the earth. It had been one hundred and sixty eight hours since…

 

`Stealing?' Inu Yasha huffed as he narrowed his eyes into the depths of the well. She had been the one who insisted such things were romantic. She had been the one who swore up and down that, in her time, books like that weren't considered perverted. How was he supposed to know Kagome's heaving bosom and trembling lips weren't a silent plea for a kiss? That's how it worked in those fucking romantic books of hers!

 

Inu Yasha huffed again as his excuses sounded lame even to him. Kagome was right. He was a baka. He had gotten so caught up in the story of Tiffany and Drake that he had completely lost touch with reality. As much as he hated to admit it, after a weeks worth of contemplation, he now understood why he enjoyed Kagome's book so much.

 

It may have started out as a retelling of a couple torn apart by war, but, at least to Inu Yasha, it could have just as easily been a couple torn apart by time. So what if Tiffany never really helped Drake fight and Drake never once fought a demon, all those things were simply minor details as far as he was concerned. The important part, the part that he identified with, was the couple's feelings for each other, and the way they struggled to express those feelings.

 

Why did things always have to blow up in his face when he thought he finally had them figured out?

 

“Stupid book.” Inu Yasha muttered as he crouched next to the well and rested his elbows on the ancient wood. He knew, despite Kagome's insistence that she was `never coming back' that she would be returning any day now. As often as he pissed off the miko of the future, which was very often, he could always tell how long she planned to leave him in limbo.

 

Hell, he could practically calculate the girl's cool off period by the circumference of her flared nostrils at this point, and unless he miscounted somewhere, she should be returning any day now.

 

Assuming he didn't have to tack on extra time for the egregious nature of his most recent offense, of course.

 

Probably the most humiliating thing about the whole situation, Inu Yasha recalled as he dug his claws into the wood, was what happened after he had been slammed into the earth multiple times. Kagome had apparently decided to catch her breath after chewing him out for kissing her `without her permission' when she had suddenly fallen quiet.

 

That's when she had asked him about the lotion, causing Inu Yasha to silently plead the fang necklace would somehow malfunction and drag him several feet beneath the earth. It would be painful, of course, but it was easier then listening to his friend's shameful accusations.

 

“And you called ME a hentai?!” Kagome had screamed before stomping off in the direction of the well.

 

It had been the most embarrassing moment in the young hanyou's life; outshining the time she had seen him naked. He never actually confirmed her suspicions, but the look on her face suggested he didn't have to.

 

“Dammit.” Inu Yasha barked. This was all her damn fault for sending mixed signals! He should have known she was full of shit when she told him the book was romantic. Now things were going to be weird between them and it was all her fault!

 

Actually, Inu Yasha groused, now that he thought about it, it was that Tiffany's fault too! All that wench did was think about kissing …and…..and…other stuff. That book was just one great big perverted lie! And, surprise-surprise, it was written by… a woman!

 

Inu Yasha expression tightened into a glower as he stared into the empty depths of the well. If he didn't see another woman as long as he lived he could die a VERY happy half-demon!

 

“Feh.” Inu Yasha snorted loudly as the silence surrounding the well finally got to him. `I'm gonna have to get her.' The hanyou groused internally as he jumped up on the edge of the well and prepared to pass through the slip. `Kami…if she makes me apologize again…' He left his statement unfinished as he jumped into the well and, after a short freefall, landed in a familiar well house.

 

As awkward as it would be to see Kagome again, the hanyou internalized while stomping off toward the tree outside her window, the only way he was going to make things not-weird between them was to at least seem apologetic. She didn't always make him say the words but it was always implied that whatever passed between them was his fault.

 

“Keh.” Inu Yasha snorted as he jumped into the bough of the tree and skittered toward the window. “Wome…”

 

Inu Yasha's claw froze just as he was about to pry open the window, the way he had done a million times before, when something inside caught his eye. Quickly, as if he thought the frame would somehow burn him, he pulled back the appendage and stared through the plate glass with large, bewildered eyes.

 

There, on Kagome's bed, was….Kagome, reading another one of her `romantic novels' with her hand….

 

Inu Yasha blinked repeatedly as he attempted to verify the impossible image before him. Kagome was touching herself, and not in the good I-have-an-itch sort of way. She was pleasuring herself, and despite the fact that she still had her pajamas on, and that her body and hand were obscured by the fabric of her pants, she seemed to know exactly what she was doing.

 

Inu Yasha blushed all the way to his hair as an extremely quiet moan somehow found a way to his sensitive puppy ears through the thick walls and plate glass of Kagome's home.

 

`I really shouldn't be watching this.' The hanyou whimpered internally before back peddling away from the window. Didn't she care that her family was only a couple rooms away? Sure they probably couldn't hear or smell her like he could, but wasn't she afraid of being walked in on? She could have locked her door, he supposed, but what if someone else had decided to climb up to this window?!

 

Inu Yasha calmed himself by running a clawed palm against the back of his neck. He was overreacting again. What were the odds someone would climb this tree, other then himself, without Kagome noticing? He was letting the image of another male witnessing such an intimate moment get the better of him.

 

Another soft moan found its way to the hanyou's sensitive ears and he narrowed his eyes at the wall that separated them. Hadn't she called him a hentai for doing the exact same thing? Sure, he had almost called her a whore, but…

 

Damn…. he almost called her a whore.

 

Somehow he managed to forget about that.

 

`Well,' the hanyou decided as he rested his back against the upper trunk of the tree and folded his arms into his sleeves. `I'll let her …finish,' he blushed, `and then I'm dragging her back through the well.'

 

As far as Inu Yasha was concerned they were even now, which meant he wouldn't mention …what she was doing unless she started pestering him about the lotion again.

 

One thing was for certain, he had no intention of apologizing now.

 

Another moan escaped Kagome's room and Inu Yasha rolled his eyes despairingly while placing a hand against his overeager organ.

 

`Please Kami…don't let her bring another book.' He whimpered before silently narrowing his eyes at his manhood.

 

`Down boy.'

 

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

 

A soft and sleepy smile sprouted against Keiko's face as she opened her eyes to find herself staring into a set of beautiful golden irises. “Did I fall?” She smirked as she noted that the demon lord's thigh, over the course of the night, had somehow become her pillow. Her hand quickly moved to cover her mouth as she contemplated the horrors of morning breath. A few days back she had learned inu-youkai had an extremely strong sense of smell; something that had totally shocked her when the taiyoukai insisted he could smell her fear. She could only imagine just how awful everyday things, like morning breath, were to Mr. Super Sniffer.

 

Add in the fact that she hadn't seen a tooth brush, deodorant, or a change of clothes in over a week and she was more then a little concerned with her odor.

 

“Hn.” Sesshoumaru retorted noncommittally as he raised an eyebrow at the woman beneath him. She often made gestures that made little or no sense to him, some of which she explained and some she didn't, so why now was she covering her mouth? “You were dreaming.” He explained.

 

“Oh.” Keiko smiled briefly while keeping her hand over her mouth. All though they had never formally made an agreement regarding the matter, over the course of the last week it had become routine for the demon lord to allow her to sleep against him. The arrangement kept the taiyoukai at arms length so that he could wake her if he scented she was having yet another distressful dream. This, of course, kept her quiet so the rest of the group could sleep in peace and saved the taiyoukai the repeated torture of having to scent the woman's terror every night.

 

Sesshoumaru had actually become so proficient in his task that Keiko barely had time to offer the ominous apparition, apparently named Naraku, a sheepish wave before she once again found herself in the arms of the taiyoukai.

 

The odd thing, Keiko noted, was the fact that her slumber land specter never made a repeat performance if she accidentally drifted off again. Apparently his appearances were a once a night thing.

 

Keiko smiled again, against the palm of her hand, as she realized the taiyoukai was simply staring down at her. The fact that the demon lord seemed so comfortable making eye contact or sitting in silence had bothered her at first, considering the only other people she knew who exhibited similar social quirks were either peddling religion or drunk off their asses, but now…it just seemed to be part of his personality.

 

Kami help her, he was growing on her.

 

“What are you looking at?” Keiko finally teased as she narrowed her eyes in a mock show of annoyance.

 

Sesshoumaru's eyebrow rose as he eyed the woman curiously. “Your hand apparently.”

 

The corner of the young woman's lip twitched as she attempted to maintain her annoyed countenance. He was funny now. Somehow over the week and a half they had been together he had developed a sense of humor. Sure, he wasn't two- drink-minimum-comedy-club funny, but he got in a quip now and then.

 

Usually at her expense… of course.

 

“Mou,” Keiko lamented as she held her hand over her mouth and noted the taiyoukai's good mood this morning. To be honest, she had no idea what kind of mood he was in. The guy was freaking unreadable. Sure. being around him for a little less than two weeks made him easier to understand, but was he really in a good mood or was she simply in a good mood and mirroring her emotions off him? She simply had no clue. Perhaps one of these days she should ask him?

 

“I don't wanna kill you with my dragon breath.” Keiko finally explained.

 

Sesshoumaru snorted loudly before tilting his head back so he could glare at her over the bridge of his nose; something Keiko noticed he did, when he felt she was being stupid.

 

“Woman,” he questioned as his posture remained rigid, “have you ever smelled the breath of a dragon?”

 

Now it was Keiko's turn to snort. “Yes,” she lied flatly, “all the time….every chance I get…it's my favorite thing to do.”

 

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed and she laughed.

 

“You asked.” Keiko shrugged; knowing just how much it irritated him when she lied for the sake of lying. “Fine.” The young woman caved as the taiyoukai remained silent. He was about as fun as a kitchen sponge when he refused to talk to her.

 

“No,” Keiko amended. “Never….I don't think I'd want to if I could…and…I imagine such things are unpleasant.” She punctuated her statement with a small toothless smile as she moved her hand away from her mouth momentarily

 

A silence seemed to linger in the air between them as she caught his eyes again and he inclined his head so that he was no longer turning his nose up at her.

 

“Fuck!” Keiko cursed suddenly.

 

Sesshoumaru's eyebrow rose into his hairline.

 

“Rent was due yesterday!” Keiko exclaimed.

 

The taiyoukai simply stared.

 

“Fuck!” Keiko cursed again as she covered her face with her hands. “If I don't pay it soon…. it's my ass!” She explained while removing her hand from her face to actually point at her ass.

 

Sesshoumaru's eyes moved down to the woman's backside and then back up to her face. He hadn't a clue what `rent' was but supposed it was some sort of tariff? `A tax on her posterior?' The demon lord questioned internally. `Interesting..'

 

The young reincarnation felt the need to elaborate when the demon lord simply stared down at her. “Uh…where I live…in my time,” She faltered as she attempted to explain without using the word `apartment.' “It's like a large building with many rooms…and …I pay the owner to let me stay there.”

 

`Ah.' The taiyoukai noted, `her youkai master no doubt.' His gaze remained neutral as he waited for the explanation to continue.

 

“And we have an agreement,' She conceded, deciding to sidestep the word `lease', “and that agreement says that I have to pay them on the same day of each month.”

 

Sesshoumaru blinked as he let this information sink in. Was it the agreement that was keeping her virginity intact?

 

“And if I don't pay in the next five days,” Keiko groaned as her hands covered her face again, “I am totally….screwed.”

 

His eyes remained emotionless as the woman beneath him seemed to verify that which he all ready suspected.

 

“You don't really care… do you?” Keiko deadpanned as she stared at the youkai who continued to stare at her blankly without uttering a word.

 

“No.” Sesshoumaru answer back flatly. In truth he did care, but not in the way the young woman inferred. The thing that seemed to be escaping her at the moment was that in order for her master to reach her, she would have to go through the well, and he simply didn't see that happening any time soon. If her master somehow tracked her through the well, then he would simply dispatch him. It was as simple as that.

 

“Mou,” Keiko huffed as she turned away from the demon lord; unwittingly baring her throat to him. “My land lord is a pig too.UGH! If I don't get back soon he'll probably sell all my stuff.”

 

The taiyoukai's ear twitched reflexively as pulled his eyes from the expanse of creamy skin scandalously flashed in his direction and reaffirmed what he had just heard. The lord she served was a pig youkai? Of all the youkai he expected to prosper over the years….pig youkai had not made the list.

 

“What is the name of this Lord? Sesshoumaru questioned; emphasizing the word lord to insinuate the title was undeserved. Perhaps from the name he could discern the blood line of the youkai that `owned' her and destroy the bastard before he was even born? Such things, of course, were riddled with temporal consequences and self-fulfilling prophecies but he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. Surely the timeline would forgive him for destroying such a foul beast.

 

“Uh….” Keiko paused as she attempted to recall her land lord's name. “Bob… Steve?” She shrugged. “Some… strange…. American… name.”

 

Sesshoumaru sighed inwardly as the name failed to ring any bells. Perhaps her Lord had not descended from the established youkai lord's he knew? Such things were possible, he supposed, a lot could change in five hundred years. It really didn't matter anyways. The woman was under his protection now and, until tensaiga revealed her purpose, he wouldn't let this BobSteve lay so much as a hoof on her.

 

`Such things could take years.' The taiyoukai reaffirmed; his blood calming at the admission. After all, Rin had traveled with him for several years now and the sword remained reluctant towards the explanation of her purpose.

 

`Such things are acceptable.' He noted as the thought of understanding Rin's purpose hinted toward her departure. Somehow, never knowing became the preferable scenario.

 

“You know…” Keiko began as the taiyoukai seemed to be lost in thought.

 

“No.” He retorted flatly as he could all ready make out the subtle hint of deceit rising off of her.

 

“You didn't know what I was going to say.” She frowned.

 

“You wish to return to the well.” The taiyoukai pointed out.

 

Keiko blinked. Okay, that…that was creepy. “I'll come back…” She offered; flinching when the demon lord narrowed his eyes in her direction.

 

“You are lying.” Sesshoumaru spat hotly as the scent of her bold faced lie practically attacked his nose. She had started this game a few days ago when she attempted to negotiate for her freedom under the pretense of retrieving clothes and bath supplies. Even if she wasn't a terrible liar, the taiyoukai noted, no fool in his right mind would have believed she would return of her own free will.

 

Well, possibly his half brother, but he was always the exception to the rule.

 

“but…” Keiko began to argue.

 

“Another lie.” He cut her off.

 

“I wasn't…” She countered.

 

Sesshoumaru snorted and she finally closed her mouth.

 

“So I can't even talk now?” Keiko questioned as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the demon above her. “Should I just stink in your general direction from now on?”

 

“You may continue to do so.” He offered dismissively; emphasizing the word `continue' as he suggested stinking in his general direction would not be a new thing.

 

Keiko's eyes grew large as she suddenly sat up and crawled away from the taiyoukai. “I do not.” She huffed in an affronted tone. “And… if I do…” she added as she remembered all this was his fault anyways, “then you should just throw me back into the well so I can at least get a proper bath.” Her tone was now loud enough to wake the toad and the child and she groaned when she saw them stirring.

 

Jaken was never pleasant when woken too early.

 

The taiyoukai snorted at her presumption and the two fell quiet.

 

Both Rin and Jaken slowly pulled themselves free of the ground as they attempted to rub the sleep from their eyes. As expected the toad demon mumbled a few pointed curses at the young reincarnation, which she let slide since she felt bad about waking them up as was. They began their typical morning routines and Keiko sat by the fire and huffed; as much as she hated sitting around and doing nothing, she was still technically a hostage, which made pitching in seem strange.

 

Jaken of course started the fire while Rin went about collecting nuts and berries. Sesshoumaru disappeared briefly only to return with the morning kill.

 

Keiko typically couldn't discern, from the mangled corpse the demon returned with, what it was they were eating, and for that, at least, she was grateful.

 

It was so much easier to eat Bambi's mom when you didn't have to look her in the eyes.

 

“Sesshoumaru…” The young woman finally questioned; deciding she could be angry at the taiyoukai later. “What do lies smell like?”

 

Sesshoumaru's eyebrows rose as he contemplated how to describe the stench of deceit to someone whose nose was practically dead. It was a little like trying to explain the color red to a blind man, the taiyoukai supposed, there was simply no way to describe it without some form of…

 

“What do I smell like?” The young woman amended as she realized what she really wanted to know was whether or not she stank. The taiyoukai had all ready explained, when he informed her of inu-youkai's ability to scent fear and other emotions, that each individual had an underlying scent to them. This scent was undetectable to the human nose and served to identify the person more then anything. It was the contrast of the being's natural scent and the scent of their emotions that allowed an inu to sniff out a person's mood and intentions amidst all the other scents that typically clung to one's body.

 

Keiko grimaced as she recalled the taiyoukai's declaration. Just how many of her emotions could he detect? She had practically panicked when he initially relayed all the things he could pick up off a person. `What about all those times on his shoulder?' She had questioned herself horrifically. `Wouldn't he have said something if that were the case?' Her logical mind had questioned. It simply didn't add up. Obviously his nose must not catch everything. There was no way he could miss that emotion with her…area…so close to his nose.

 

`Unless I stink so bad he hold's his breath around me.' Keiko huffed. If it turned out a lie was actually an improvement to her current smell then maybe she'd lie more often. After all, deceit could smell like gummi bears for all she knew. Hell, she could smell like gummi bears for all she knew.

 

`eh.' Keiko blushed as the thought stirred up all kinds of interesting and disturbing possibilities. Smelling like candy was definitely not something she'd want or get over quickly.

 

Sesshoumaru quietly contemplated the woman's question as he thought about the best way to describe her natural scent.

 

`Intoxicating,' was the first word that came to the taiyoukai's mind; `Enticing' being the second.

 

Her scent was unique for a human, Sesshoumaru noted, much in the same way his brother's wench had a unique scent but with a heady aroma that he felt almost didn't suit her. She smelled passionate, serious, sometimes playful, aggressive, and often stubborn. While he had seen the woman from the future display these qualities at one time or another, the strength in which they permeated her person was almost staggering. He now understood why she had been coated in a foul smelling herb. If the `lord of the land', or another, possibly more powerful youkai had caught wind of her…

 

`She must have chosen to cover herself in the herb.' The taiyoukai mused thoughtfully. Either to keep her lord from breaking their agreement or increasing his tariff she must have covered her natural scent. That would, of course, suggest a youkai had somehow informed her of the plight that awaited her.

 

`Could she be testing me?' He questioned himself. Why would she ask about her natural scent when she was well aware of the effect her scent had on youkai? `Yes,' he mused, `a test.'

 

“Like a liar.” Sesshoumaru answered matter-of-factly before snuffing out the fire with his boot.

 

Keiko's brow furrowed as she tentatively sniffed at her arm; half expecting to smell different somehow. Her confused expression quickly melted into a pout as she didn't pick up anything unusual. She sighed softly as she stared at the taiyoukai briefly and pondered what his natural scent might be.

 

`Sweaty boots.' Keiko remarked internally while canting her head to the side; suddenly feeling a million times better regarding the whole `smelling like a liar' thing.