InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Paradigm Shift ❯ Moments ( Chapter 6 )

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

AN: Poor poor Kagome.

Paradigm Shift

Chapter Six: Moments

… … …

The days passed over the next two weeks in a relatively mundane blur, aside from the occasional heated or confusing or strange… moments. At least… they might be mundane if she compared them to the whirlwind of unusual that had preceded this leg of Kagome's adventures in wonderland.

Moments of…

Some days that ended with Inuyasha pushing them all to go further than they could handle, even as darkness was beginning to set upon them.

Inuyasha talking quietly to Sango as they prepared rabbits that Inuyasha had hunted for dinner one night. Sesshomaru ignoring him and announcing that he would not force Rin any further on those days. Sango thanking Sesshomaru quietly for the relief.

Rin riding on Kouga's shoulders one day when she was exhausted from nightmares. Sesshomaru's intently watching of them. Kouga's terrified expression as Rin tells him of her nightmares. Wolves. Rin's unexpected insight as she looks behind her at Sesshomaru, and her quiet whisper of, "Everyone changes, you know." As she wrapped her thin arms around his head from her spot on his shoulders and squeezed.

The broken wheel of a traveler's cart and Kouga's glance to Kagome before he lifts it up to inspect the broken rod that held the wheels together. Miroku's gaze and his calmly explaining that it would be a simple fix. His hand on the old farmer's shoulder; offering some sort of reassurance. Inuyasha bounding off to find a suitable replacement. Miroku securing the new axle and testing it for the man. The blood on one hand from a sharp piece of wood. How he refused to call attention to the wound even though she knew that he knew that they all knew about it.

Kouga's regrowing confidence in her presence, and his small, hesitant touches on her elbow or shoulder. Him walking closer to her again.

All of the small things that spoke of how they were all becoming accustomed to each other. The newness of the group expanding wearing off as they settled into a fresh comradery.

… … …

On one rather miserable spring morning, rain persistently falling around them in a lazy manner, A small contingent of human soldiers marched toward them on the wide road that they were traveling.

It seemed significant, somehow, to Kagome that the whole group moved off to one side of the road instead of parting down the middle to make way for the men.

The youkai of the group all tensed when the men ground to a halt before them. Even little Shippou stood a step before Kagome in warning, and tiny flames licked at Kirara's small paws where she stood vigilant at Sango's side; threatening to reveal her larger form in Sango's defense. The little flames grew as the men all faced Sango and knelt.

"Are you the Taijiya, Sango and her traveling companions?" One man at the head of the soldiers inquired of her. Sango only blinked owlishly at the man.

Kagome bent at the waist and peered around Inuyasha's body at the scene. She saw how Miroku lingered over Sango's astonished expression, and how his fist clenched tightly on the shaft of his Shakujo before he stepped toward the kneeling man.

"We are indeed Sango's comrades."

"We have come on behalf of our clan lord to secure the services of the Taijiya Sango."

"Perhaps we should speak of this in a more comfortable setting, then?" Miroku proposed, looking over them all and bringing attention to the rain and mud. He caught Kagome's eye as she watched him and shot her a smirk and a wink.

'He's definitely up to his normal tricks.' Kagome thought. 'I suppose it's a pleasant change from ominous clouds and exorcisms in convenient villages.'

The men stood and, at a gesture from the man who spoke to them, began marching back the way they had come from.

"If you follow us, our compound isn't far ahead." Sango followed them with a curious look, her eyes silently asking the rest of them to go along with this. Kagome didn't miss how Miroku took up the post at Sango's elbow.

The trek was silent, but the man wasn't lying when he said that their compound wasn't far. They reached tall wooden gates around the next sharp curve of the road. A small path curved off to one side; presumably leading around the girth of the compound and it's imposing walls. The main road led right up to the great doors.

A rope was tugged, and a head was poked over the top of the gates, and the gates were heaved open from inside.

Ah-Un was housed in the stables- near the end and safely away from the horses, where the soldiers assured themselves that their mounts wouldn't be devoured. The rest of them were lead to a long, low building. It was the largest of the small array of structures inside the walls. They were shown around a covered walkway and into a side door, where they entered the building into what was obviously a receiving room for guests.

Shelves lined one wall and were filled with a selection of shoes; some drenched, others damp, and some enticingly dry. The man took his leave of them to fetch the man who had summoned them all, and they were left alone in the hall to divest themselves of wet footwear and muddy socks.

A small wooden tub was filled with water on the wall opposite the shelves of footwear with a stack of towels beside it, a bin of overflowing dirty towels was on the other side of the tub. They took their time ridding their feet, ankles, and calves of caked, half-dried mud. They were grateful for it.

When the soldier returned, he led them to yet another room. This one contained a single, long, low table and they knelt together at it along one side.

"What the hell is going on, Sango?" Inuyasha asked testily.

"How should I know!?"

"Well, they asked for you! By name!"

Sango huffed, but any reply she may have given was forgotten as the door slid open to admit a tall, handsome man dressed in fine cloth. He only had eyes for Sango, and the smile he gave her was wide and genuine.

"Sango. It's been far too long."

"Uhm…"

"You don't know him?" Kagome's tone was part incredulous and part teasing as she knocked her elbow against Sango's side.

"Uhm…" The man looked slightly irritated, but it gave way to weary acceptance in no time.

"I suppose you ought not to remember me. After all; it was nearly six years ago, and we were both children then." He knelt across from them with almost as much grace as Sesshomaru possessed. "My father employed yours… and you." His eyes looked far away as he spoke. "There was a youkai giving us much trouble at the time."

"I do remember! The boy with the runny nose! Kuranosuke!" That same irritation and the same acceptance of Sango's manner.

"Well. Yes. I suppose I was much different, back then." Sango hummed an agreement. "I never forgot you though. So confident, so sure, so deadly… so beautiful." Sango's cheeks colored prettily at the compliment." I knew at once that it should be you that I called upon when we were threatened once again."

"You've called us to exterminate a youkai?"

"Yes. I hope your…" He glanced at the rest of them. "…Friends… don't take offense?"

Inuyasha closed his eyes and put his nose in the air. Sesshomaru lifted one brow at the man. Kouga chuckled. If Shippou and Kirara had been listening to the conversation then they didn't acknowledge the backhanded welcome.

'Are the formal motions of this man's false politeness so alluring to Sango that's she's being taken in by him so easily? Surely she hears the insults he offers?' Miroku's eye twitched as Sango answered; skipping over his mentions of the powerful youkai in their party without pause.

"We've defended many villages from attacks in our travels, I'm sure that we could help you out with little inconvenience."

"You will be compensated generously, I assure you." He set a bursting pouch of gold coins halfway between them. Everyone's expressions mirrored each other in disbelief. It was a large sum that this clan lord offered them. Perhaps more than they had received from other villages in months, combined. Sango waved her hands wildly.

"That's far too much!"

"You cannot refuse, my dear Sango. Your time is easily worth much more than this." She folded her hands on the table and fixed her eyes on them to hide another flush.

Kuranosuke rose and opened the door, gesturing for them to follow him out of the room. Two servants waited demurely in the hall to greet them. They bowed as they waited for instructions.

"Aki," He gestured the smaller of the two women closer. "Will show the women and children to one of the guest rooms on the northern side of the house. Chiyo," The other woman stepped around him and settled near Inuyasha's side without looking from the floor. "Will show the men to a room on the eastern side."

"This is unacceptable." Sesshomaru's deep voice rang clear and commanding in the enclosed space. The two servant girls startled at it.

"Oh?" Kuranosuke's tone betrayed his insulted demeanor at the announcement. Sesshomaru was a lord himself, and wouldn't be intimidated by anyone, they all knew. Kagome's fingers grazed his elbow and stayed there, from where she was completely dwarfed and hidden from sight behind him. They lingered softly, pressing the silk of his sleeve onto his skin with the barest hint of pressure. Sesshomaru's elbow bent into her palm and across her wrist. He reached up to casually move his long hair behind him to cover the action and the strands tickled across Kagome's nose.

"I will not have my ward separated from my side at night in such an unfamiliar place."

Kuranosuke skimmed over Sango and lingered on Kagome from where she had peeked her head around Sesshomaru's bicep. The crisp coolness of his garb felt pleasant on her cheek. She tried to ignore it. The agitation in his powerful aura caused his hair to curl some adventurous strands across her neck and arms, wrapping themselves around her back to tickle at her skin. She tried to ignore that too. She tried very hard, she really did. She was aware that Sesshomaru wouldn't miss the shiver that ran through her.

"This youkai girl is your ward?" Kuranosuke looked amused.

"She must be quite powerful to appear so human. Only her attire and her eyes give her away."

Kagome could hear the jingle of the rings as they bounced around the finial of his staff. She could just imagine him snickering into his hand. Inuyasha was sputtering and Kagome gaped at him.

Sesshomaru just stepped sideways to shield her from view again and his response startled her.

"Yes. As is the human child, Rin." She scurried to his side and latched to the fabric of his hakama.

"Two wards, then." The sarcasm was apparent to them all, but Sesshomaru chose not to raise the tension any further. "Very well, then. I will show you to a third room, personally."

"Hang on. You can't just-" Inuyasha's yell of outrage probably should have been expected, really.

"Silence, whelp."

"You bastard! There's no way-"

"Inuyasha," The smooth tenor of Miroku's voice interjected, hoping to stall whatever explosive fight that this was quickly escalating into. "Surely you wouldn't object to Lord Sesshomaru keeping his wards with him. He placed himself at an angle in front of the hanyou, effectively cutting him off from both Sesshomaru and Kuranosuke. "After all. In our travels, it is no different from when we make camp for the night. He protects them, and it's only right that he do what he thinks best for their safety here too. He's always a perfect gentleman to them and I'm sure that it will be no different than our sleeping arrangements in the elements. There's no need to fret just because walls are separating them from us instead of trees."

Inuyasha only grunted and turned to walk away.

"Fine. They're his problem. I'll find you all later." Inuyasha removing himself from their company was becoming an increasingly common occurrence. Miroku gave Kagome a sly, suggestive waggle of his brows before smoothing his countenance and pivoting to smile calmly into the silence.

… … …

Kagome's heart was pounding so hard against her chest so frantically that her throat felt like it was rhythmically constricting. Like she was being choked by it. Her knees felt weak, and the only thought that she could manage was a timid, 'what' She didn't see the worried look that Sango gave her. Nor did she catch the hard line of Kouga's mouth. Miroku's lurid playfulness hovered in her mind, though. 'what'

She was still fairly numb as they all arrived at Sango, Kirara, and Shippou's room. The little fox hopped to her shoulder and whispered in her ear. "I'll be fine with Sango! Don't worry, Kagome!" Sango squeezed her in a tight hug, probably trying to reassure her.

'Things are getting weird again. Really weird. Just when I thought the weirdness was over. Really weird. Very weird. This is weird. And uncomfortable.' Kagome avoided looking at Miroku again as he was shown to the room that he would share with Inuyasha on a different side of the building. Only a few doors down from that one is where Kuranosuke gestured that she would be sleeping with Sesshomaru. 'No! Staying. Staying with Sesshomaru. And Rin!" She was grateful to have a place to lay her bow and quiver. Even more grateful to have a cushion to plant herself on heavily.

Until Sesshomaru took the one next to her and just sat there watching her.

Rin had wandered to a window in the room and was going on about the gardens that she could see outside, but the chatter of what the flowers looked like and their pretty color descriptions faded from Kagome's attention as she turned her head. She fixed her eyes somewhere in the middle of his chest.

The silence between them only amplified the rushing sound of her blood in her ears.

"Kagome?" His voice only made her even more nervous.

'What happened? What's happening?'

"Kagome." His voice was more forceful this time. When she still didn't say anything, he turned more fully to her and gripped her cushion to make her face him as well. She blushed as she let out an undignified squeak.

"Lord Sesshomaru…" She trailed off, not really knowing what to say. He sighed.

"Surely if you were so adamant about me using your name those weeks ago, you can do me the same favor?" This line of conversation wasn't doing anything to dispel her nervousness. She could feel that she was almost vibrating with it. "In private." He amended. 'Private.' She gave a single laugh at that, strangled though it was as her nervousness clashed with a tinge of amusement.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin bounded to him and tugged on his collar. The sight was now familiar to Kagome, but it never failed to seem out of place, considering how he normally presented himself. Her amusement did rise some.

He unfolded himself and let Rin tug him to the window, pointing her arm and index finger through it and at the garden beyond.

"May I go to walk in the garden?"

"Hm." He looked outside, bending slightly to do so. "Wait." He said. He strode past where Kagome still sat stiffly and then through the door. Soon after, he reappeared with Sango and Shippou in tow. Rin's eyes lit up and she hurried to Sango's side, clasping her hand. Sango gave her a gentle look and nodded to Sesshomaru, glanced at Kagome's back with worry, and walked off with both of the children.

Sesshomaru reclaimed his seat near her. Kagome cleared her throat before finally finding her voice.

"Is Sango taking them to the gardens, then?"

"Hm."

"That's nice. They'll like that."

"She has my permission to take Rin to bathe, as well."

"Ah. That's good."

"Hm."

Silence again. She took long, deep breaths to try to steady herself. She was not calm enough to be ready for it when the pads of his fingers under her chin forced her head to tilt upwards. Though her face was in the right positing, her eyes stared defiantly off to one side. His fingers shifted to grasp the sides of her jaw.

"Surely you understand that I would do nothing inappropriate or untoward to you." She stubbornly kept on denying eye-contact. She couldn't stop the heat in her body from rising, though. "Think!" He demanded. His grip tightened. "Surely you heard the Monk's words?" She didn't realize that she had any blood left in her body that wasn't already residing in her face and ears, but she felt faint when she discovered how wrong she was. To her utter mortification, a groan snuck its way past her lips.

Sesshomaru laughed and dropped his hand to his knee.

"His words, girl. Not his insinuations." All of the breath left her at once. 'What was it that he said? Something about sleeping arrangements? No! No…safety. Oh. Protection. Oh."

"I see that you are beginning to grasp the meaning behind my actions?" She was still horribly warm, and the heat that had settled in her refused to abate even as embarrassment replaced her previous nervousness.

"You want to… protect me?"

"Of course. Did you believe me to have other intentions?" He extracted one leg from under him and stretched it out beside her. His knee was bent near her shoulder and her head whipped sideways to look at it without her consent. As her eyes followed his leg slowly back to its origin, she swore to punish them. "No no no. Bad eyes. Bad. I should carve you right out and find better… behaved… ones… …yeah" She redirected her scrutiny from his lap, back to his face. 'Oh..my... He. He's smirking at me.'

Sesshomaru made for quite a picture, his leg in that position, his mouth curved on one side into that smirk, leaning back on his arm like that.

"Uh."

He shifted himself and moved his face very near hers, running his thumb down one side of her face. Another one of those groans stole out of her.

"Uh."

He stood and moved away from her, deftly removing the armor and placing it in one corner of the room; next to her bow, she noted absently.

"No need to fear for your purity, Kagome. I have no plans to take advantage of" He looked over his shoulder to her. "your" His gaze swept across her. "attributes."

"Oh." He sat with his back to the wall under the window.

"I must admit to being gratified with your reactions to me. I may not wish to partake of your body but I am a man, after all, and the smell of you is welcome to my senses. I don't mind coaxing it from you, do you?"

'Am I actually having this conversation with Sesshomaru? I'd have to do more than make a noise or two for it to be considered a conversation, I guess… Oh crap. I can't believe I made those noises. Embarrassing!'

Sesshomaru's eyes mercifully closed, and he rested the back of his head against the wooden panels behind him.

"You should find the bath house, Kagome, I'm sure you're still feeling rather… dirty."

She scrambled up and nearly stumbled in her haste to flee.

"Of course!" She hated how high her voice sounded.

"Of course." She hated how deep his voice sounded, too.

… … …

With the door closed behind her, and a few steps away from it, and him, she braced herself against the wall with one hand; the other clutching the fabric of her shirt over her pounding heart. Too late, she caught a glimpse of purple and black in the frame of a door near her. She moved away from the wall and clasped her hands behind her back. She tried very hard to pretend that nothing strange had happened.

Miroku, however, was grinning in a way that reminded her of the Cheshire Cat. The full force of that grin was directed at her as he openly observed her from his post with one arm resting on the wood above his head. The thumb of his free hand pushed his bottom lip up over his grin, and his ankles were crossed. Overall, he looked entirely smug.

"Mhhmmm." He hummed at her and turned to re-enter his own room. He closed the door softly and slowly behind himself, and she could hear his amused rumbles from behind it.

'Kami help me, I don't know which one of them is worse. I'm not sure if me and Sango can handle so much of that kind of behavior."

The bath house was blessedly warm, and blessedly empty when she stepped into it.