InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ My Hatred, My Obsession ❯ How I Save You ( Chapter 5 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

By: raven91

Disclamer: this should be obvious…I mean…its not like I'm making money off of Inuyasha and its characters…but I do have to say that I do not own them or any other major work or reference that I use in any part of my story…

My Hated, My Obsession

Chapter 5 - How I Save You

The illness was stubborn.

A day had passed since the incident in the river, and still the fever did not ease. She was hiding it well; so well that even he had had trouble noticing it at first.

It had been night when he'd carried her soaked body to what remained of the fire, and had turned into day by the time she regained consciousness. He had to admit that it was annoying to watch her fear of him, even after he had taken the time to explain to her at the river that he would do her no harm. Didn't she trust his word? It was absurd to think that she would not, since doing so would be implying that she thought him a liar. She would not be foolish enough to dub him such a thing, would she?

As the day progressed, her apprehensions seemed to ease, although her barefaced discomfort and wariness of him did not. She was presently cooking, her movements clean and experienced, and he hypothesized that she was the one responsible for preparing the meals for her companions. His nose picked up the smell of something heavy and artificial and he concluded that whatever she was preparing would not appeal to his taste. He had eaten in the past several days and did not feel a particular pull to feast again, as youkai did not require daily meals. He was curious, however, as to the ingredients of the strange yellow concoction in the pathetic excuse for what she called a pot. She suddenly turned her head to look at him, her hair moving to accommodate the action. Her blue eyes blazed with a new fire he hadn't expected.

“Are you hungry? There's enough for both of us to have some.” The question was also unpredicted. He took a moment to respond, finding her unease at the length of time it was taking him to do so amusing.

“I do not stomach human food.” He could tell that he had chosen his words well, for the blue in her eyes darkened in annoyance.

“Fine then, Oh Great Lord of the Western Lands…” he heard her mutter. He was tempted to smile at her ignorance. Did she not realize that he could hear what she uttered? Just like he could hear her breathing and her heartbeat - the heart that beat sluggishly with illness.

He didn't know what it was that kept him here, but he knew that her determination and strength of character were somewhat responsible. He watched her fight her illness to start a fire, prepare a repast, and even watched as she washed her garments and braved the frigid water to bathe. He had been right about her hygiene. She was cleaner than most nobility he had seen.

While she ate, his thoughts returned to his home and he folded his arms together on his chest as he did when he was mulling over something important. He knew that he was needed there, since there were many tasks that he had yet to complete. His original intent for coming out this far into his lands was to investigate a suspicious rebel group that was rumored to be terrorizing the countryside. It was said that they possessed shards of the Sacred Jewel and were unstoppable; they had already destroyed several villages on their exploits and Sesshoumaru wanted to put a stop to it. He did not care so much for the annoying human residents as he cared for the destruction of the valuable resources those villages provided. Their wheat and rice fields were the most important sources of nourishment for his troops. If they were harmed -

“What are you planning to do with me, Sesshoumaru?” His name brought her back into his focus. He was annoyed at having his train of though deterred. But she had asked him something that he did not know the answer to, and he quickly realized that she would be more trouble than she was worth. He, himself, wasn't certain why he had stayed to help her, but he knew that he could not make that known. She had to think that his coming had a purpose -

“You will come with me, woman. Your abilities may prove of use to me.” For a second, he thought that he could see a flicker of disappointment in her eyes, but it was quickly overpowered by anger.

“I'm not going anywhere with you, Sesshoumaru. And I won't be used like some tool.” The tone of command in her voice irritated him, and his response was edged with sharp warning.

“I have decided.” Didn't she realize that his decisions were final? Didn't she understand that he was honoring her by raising her low status enough to allow her to accompany him?

“So what?” He decided that since she had provided him some amusement in the past several days, he would make an exception and explain his intentions patiently.

“You will come with me, woman. You may prove a useful hireling in my service.” She stood up, put her hands on her waist and dared to raise her voice to him.

“Hireling? How dare you?!”

“No fee, of course, will be provided, since you should consider it an honor to be useful to this Sesshoumaru.” He wasn't certain himself why he was getting so worked up over such a pointless issue. He supposed it stemmed from the fact that she was challenging his authority. For some reason, however, it was important that she bow to his will.

“I am not some object you can just use at your whim!”

“Do not flatter yourself. You have not proven your worth - not as priestess, and especially not as a source of auxiliary power.” He instantly knew that he had somehow hit a sensitive nerve. She was a long time in answering, and he smelled a familiar saltiness in the air.

“You bastard.” Her voice was quivering and it hit a chord in him that he thought was dead. “I truly thought…I dared to believe…that you and Inuyasha were different.” Any pity he might have felt for her was suddenly buried in outrage. “But you are just as disgustingly rude and lacking in manners, consideration, and decency.”

It took nearly all of the control he had not to lash out at her. Doing so would prove that her words affected him. He would not give her such a satisfaction. But he would make her learn her place.

“If you are finished with your babbling, human, we will move on. Then again…perhaps I have no use for your after all. I could simply fetch the dead priestess. What use do I have for the reincarnation, when I could have the original?” The musky scent of salt intensified, but when she spoke her voice was resilient.

“I will go nowhere with such a pompous beast. You think you are so great, Sesshoumaru, but if you are, then why have you not been able to defeat a hanyou that you claim to be unworthy? Or perhaps your words are nothing but attempted reassurances to your cowardly, self-loving, arrogant - ”

She never finished.

She was slammed forcefully against a tree, his hand on her throat, in seconds. The fear was back in her eyes and he felt pleased that he was still in control. But her fire hadn't cooled.

“You will show respect to your superior, bitch.”

“Or what, Sesshoumaru? Will you kill me?”

“I will not hesitate.”

“I won't be used!”

“You will be, and you will consider it a fealty.”

“Make me!” He couldn't resist a deadly smirk.

“Have it your way, woman.” She screamed when he roughly pulled her to him and turned her so her so her back was facing his chest. He grasped both of her wrists and held them in one hand, putting his arm under her chin and hyper-extending her neck sideways until it was vulnerable.

“Let me go, Sesshoumaru or I swear to Kami I'll purify your ass to hell!”

“Again, you flatter yourself.” He pressed his fingers to the sleeping nerve on her neck and caught her as she fell limply into his arms. He was angry…so angry, that he felt tempted to simply rip her to shreds for daring to show such flippancy in his presence. But then, when he shifted her in his hold, he felt her burning body and once again that cord of pity in him was struck. He supposed that she had done only what her instinct told her. He had jabbed at her own integrity by comparing her to Inuyasha's dead bitch, and such a call to arms could not be ignored. But his fury at her daring still burned fresh.

He put his arms beneath hers and held her up while he fingered her hands. Her wrists were so small, that he wondered how it was he hadn't broken them with his strong grip. His suspicion about their size ratio had been correct; even now as he held her up, her feet did not reach the floor. She was a child - her twenty some years to his six hundred - and knew that children were often rash and impudent; but even that knowledge could not force the outrage in his abdomen down. No one had ever made him this angry. Not even his bastard brother, who possessed what should have rightfully been his, had ever driven him to this sort of heated inferno of emotion; and none had especially arisen such a fiery passion to quell their rebellion.

Turning her head so he could see her face, he marveled at how such a slip of girl could hold such a flame as hers. Her cheeks were still flushed from her animosity and her lips were swollen with the blood that must have thundered through her with the feeling.

“I will not hurt you…”

Were those not his very words? Yet he could even now see the bruises - the result of his roughness - forming on her delicate skin. Snapping himself out of such sentimental thoughts, he tossed her over his shoulder - wary of his armor - formed his youki cloud, and took to the air.

(……………………R 30;……)

Kagome awoke to the desire of vomiting. The ground beneath her was moving, rocking, dipping, until she wanted nothing but to find a nice big toilet to accommodate her need to puke up her breakfast. Her mind was muddled, memories of the argument between her and Sesshoumaru resurfacing slowly - not to mention she had a terrible headache -

Sesshoumaru!

She was suddenly tense and looked around wildly, searching to understand where she was. She screeched when she realized that he was carrying her on his shoulder, the embarrassment of such an undignified position making her face turn as red as the blood that had rushed to her head upon awakening. He jostled her roughly, making his shoulder dig into her stomach, and letting her know that he did not appreciate her loud protest.

Painful was an understatement.

“Damnit! Put me down!” He obliged.

The world spun out of control and she landed painfully on her side, feeling like the blow was hard enough to break her arm. She bit her lip to keep from screaming and felt her eyes watering from the effort.

“Are you trying to kill me?!” he didn't even turn around - just continued walking. Her displeasure was renewed all too soon at his callous attitude.

“I am simply being considerate and humoring you in your request.” His jab at her earlier insult of him made her blush in embarrassment. She still could not believe that she had said those things to him and lived.

I guess he does have a use for me after all.

She tried to forget the painful comparison he used between her and Kikyo, but the shock of his words hit home. She sighed, reminding herself that she should be used to it by now - since both brothers were so alike - and did her best to derail her train of thought into another direction.

Man do I feel sick. I guess the fever isn't gone yet.

She looked around with confusion. None of the surroundings were familiar. They were in a more heavily wooded area than before, and there was no sign of the river. The tops of the giant trees blocked out most of the light, and Kagome thought that their current environment reminded her of the enchanted woods she used to read about in her old picture books. The light that did break through the heavy canopy was strong, a telling sign that it was still early in the day.

“Where are we?” When she didn't hear an answer, she turned, only to find that her captor was almost out of sight. The thought of escape was strong but short-lived. She knew that if he really wanted to, he could outrun her. So, she resigned herself to running after him and things settled into an uncomfortable silence.

(……………………R 30;.)

I never really appreciated modern technology until I came here…how I miss my big bed…

Night settled in too slowly, making Kagome wonder if Apollo had some sort of a personal vendetta against her. To say that Kagome was tired was like saying that air was important instead of necessary for the body. She wasn't just tired; she was incoherent. She could barely light the matches to start the fire - an attempt that ended with a burned finger and a good number of matches gone to waste; she had trouble handling the weight of the pot to make Ramen - but that was before she realized that she had no way of making it since there was no river nearby; and she was too tired by the time the fire actually roared to life, that she could barely manage to collapse on the ground, prepared to sleep without even opening her sleeping bag.

It was all his fault, of course. They had been hiking all day without stopping to make camp once! What did he think she was? Made of steel?

Considerate, my ass. If I thought Inuyasha was a rude jerk, then I must have been blind.

Morning saw Kagome gingerly moving around and collecting everything to put her stuff back into her yellow bag. Apparently, Sesshoumaru had taken it after he had knocked her out. She had trouble imagining Sesshoumaru doing such a thing, but he was a practical one, and she supposed that he had a good reason behind his actions.

She found that her jeans were dirty and smelly, and knew that it was probably due to her sleeping position on the ground that night. After some rummaging, she found only her torn uniform - with a slit in her skirt - and her pajamas. Neither was acceptable for wearing on the hike she knew was coming, so she grudgingly settled for what she had on.

And all the while, her captor was silent.

(…………………….)

“Can you at least tell me where we're going? I deserve that much, don't I?”

Didn't she ever stop talking? He was quickly growing tired of her annoying questioning, hoping that by ignoring her, she would cease. He was wrong. It seemed that the quieter he was, the more fretful she became. He settled into a slower pace, hearing her labored breathing. He didn't want her dropping senseless, for the thought of carrying her again was not too pleasant.

“Men,” he heard her grumble under her breath, and was tempted to smile. He heard her stop abruptly and sensed her tensing up. He turned to her, knowing that she sensed something out of place.

“Sesshoumaru.” Her eyes were serious, deep, guarded…they were the eyes that had always caught his attention in battle. “I sense a jewel shard…no…more than one.” They had left the forest several hours ago, and were now passing through a region that was mostly farmland. He had suspected that the rebels would be here, since the village that tilled this land was the one subsequent in line to the ones that had been decimated. Reaching out with his own senses, he felt a strong jaki that could not possibly belong to a human.

“Youkai…” he heard the woman whisper. “…if only I had my arrows.” The grudging respect was back for her. He suddenly felt that same jaki, but it was close and surrounded them. His eyes narrowed, and he lowered his hand, preparing to use his poison in case of attack. He flinched when the woman screamed -

“Behind you! Look out!” He whirled around, letting loose his whip. It clashed with something solid, even though he could see nothing but air. “Sesshoumaru! Look out!” He felt a disturbance in the atmosphere and quickly blocked what he assumed was an attack from his right. “From the front!” He spun around, sending his whip flying in an arc. This time, he felt it hit several times.

Damn…how many are there?

He heard running footsteps -

“Up above! Look out!” Tokijin was out in a flash and he was blocking yet another attack. “From the right!” He moved his sword sideways, pushing the force from above away and quickly lashing out at the new attacker.

Why can she seem them and I cannot?

The running came closer and the woman was suddenly throwing herself on top of him. He was so shocked, he stumbled backwards, but managed to remain standing.

“What is the meaning of this, woman?” He heard clattering and banging - obvious signs that something was clashing with something solid. He looked up -

That was when he realized that the girl had erected a barrier.