InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Remnants of the Spider ❯ Girls Will Be... ( Chapter 37 )

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

Remnants of the Spider
Girls Will Be… __________________________________________________________________ ______
An indifferent expression on his flawless face, the demon lord watched as Kagome momentarily strained under the heavy weight of her overstuffed traveling pack. Once it was settled to her satisfaction, she, the huntress and the fire-cat began an unhurried stroll toward the edge of the clearing. Chattering softly to one another, they soon they passed through the circle of light projected by the small fire. He continued to watch as their forms were swallowed up by the darkness of the forest.
When he was no longer able to detect them visually, Sesshoumaru turned his attention to the other maps. As he carefully shuffled through the delicate pages, one in particular caught his attention; the Northern map. In small writing at the bottom of the parchment, there was additional writing which he had not noticed before.
Narrowing his eyes, he tilted the paper toward the light so that he could better decipher the slightly weathered kanji. In a short time he discovered that the information pertained to the keys themselves. It indicated, as he already knew, that there was one key hidden in each province of the land. As he read on, he found that embedded in each key was a small jewel. The color of the jewel would correspond to one of the four locks that secured the dragon’s heavy chains.
According to this, the key they were currently looking for would contain an aquamarine. It was therefore dubbed the Blue Key. The key in the Northern region was embedded with a diamond and was labeled the White Key. The Eastern Key contained a citrine and was labeled the Yellow Key, while the Southern key contained a garnet and was called the Red Key.
Having come to the end of the short passage, Sesshoumaru neatly rolled the maps before rebinding them with the small red cord with which they had previously been tied. He leaned back against his tree to briefly consider what he had just read. It did not seem to be of particular importance at the moment, but he could not dismiss it entirely. He could not imagine that someone would have taken the time to write it unless it was of some significance.
“Hn.” he breathed quietly. Perhaps the use of this newly discovered information would manifest itself as they progressed with the mission. Deciding that he had given enough of his attention to this matter, the demon lord allowed his eyes to stray to the edge of the clearing; the path which Kagome and the demon huntress had taken. How long had they been gone? Probably not very long, he decided after a moment. Looking around the clearing, Sesshoumaru noted that the monk appeared to be meditating while his pathetic Halfling of a brother was apparently still sulking in his selected tree.
Exhaling quietly, Sesshoumaru focused on the light crackle of burning wood along with the distant chirps of crickets. Normally the sounds of night were quite lulling, but at the moment the demon lord was finding little contentment in them.
He was unsure how much time had passed before his eyes drifted toward the edge of the clearing again. Without actually realizing it, he began to tap his claws against the roll of maps he was still holding. An owl hooted somewhere behind him. Curiously, the creature’s guileless call grated at the very edges of his nerves, though he could begin to understand why.
Tap, tap, tap, tap…
Where was that sound coming…?
Looking down, Sesshoumaru was mildly surprised to see his own claws very lightly tapping against the scrolls on which Kagome’s scent still clung. Immediately stilling his movements, he looked to the sky seeking distraction in the stars. Everything around him, the sounds of nocturnal creatures, the smell of burning wood, even the very air, which brushed against him to gently caressed his skin, it was all beginning to grate on his nerves.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, the demon lord was becoming increasingly aware of… something; a feeling. It was not a pleasant feeling either, if he had to describe it, he would say he was becoming… not anxious but… restless. Yes, he was becoming restless… and bored.
As he, Sesshoumaru did not enjoy the sensation of either restlessness or boredom; it did not take long for him to come to a decision. Standing, he made his way toward the monk. Started from his inner musings, the human male gasped lightly and opened his eyes.
Unfolding his legs from their previous lotus position, Miroku was preparing to stand when a roll of parchment was thrust in his direction.
“Keep these until the miko returns.” the demon lord instructed evenly. Accepting the maps, the monk nodded his agreement and before he could think to respond, Sesshoumaru was already walking away.
From a short distance away, a pair of amber eyes watched as the demon’s pale form was absorbed into the darkness of the forest. Without a word, Inuyasha leapt from his tree. Even though Sesshoumaru did not leave in the direction of the spring, the hanyou did not trust him, and he’d be dammed if he let him wander off alone!
“Inu…?” was all the monk could say before the hanyou sped by him in a flurry of red and white. The half demon did not even acknowledge his presence as he too vanished into the forest.
Miroku glanced around the now empty campsite. ‘Hmm… what a strange night.’ he mused to himself. ‘Oh well,’ he decided, ‘I do hope the women will be the first to return!’ The thought elicited a small smile.
Cool grass and small twigs crunching lightly beneath his feet, Inuyasha raced through the forest. Although the daiyoukai had not been terribly far ahead of him, it still took a few moments for him to catch up. When he finally did, the hanyou skidded to a stop ahead and to the left of the demon, the excess momentum causing his hair to dance wildly around him before it settled back into place.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
Not appearing the least bit surprised at the whelp‘s presence, the demon merely glanced at him and kept walking.
“Hey!! I asked you a--”
“Hunting.” the inu lord answered as he passed his sibling by.
“Hunting...?” Inuyasha repeated quizzically, clearly caught off guard by the other male’s answer. He stared blankly at the spot where Sesshoumaru had been standing as he attempted to process his thoughts. Sesshoumaru was going hunting? Now that he thought of it, the snobbish jerk surely would hunt at some point or another; he just had never really imagined him doing so. To his surprise, the half demon found the idea vaguely intriguing. I might be interesting to watch his brother fight something that wasn’t him for a change.
Suddenly realizing his thoughts were disturbingly close to what could be considered a compliment to his elder sibling, the hanyou dismissed them with an air of mild annoyance. When he looked up again, Inuyasha finally noticed that he was being left behind. He regained the lost distance quickly and was soon keeping stride with the elder inu. “Hunting, eh? Well I’m going with you!”
Something about the glance his brother sent him made Inuyasha feel as if Sesshoumaru was fully prepared for this eventuality.
“Do as you wish,” the demon intoned blandly, “But know that you will be granted no benevolence should you get in my way.”
“Humph,” Inuyasha snorted as he turned away from the other male. “Like I didn’t already know that,” Then almost as an afterthought he added, “You just make sure to stay of mine too!” __________________________________________________________________ ______
Her fascination of the shimmering barrier which surrounded their small basin finally beginning to taper off, Sango turned her attention to the tangles in her wet hair. Rarely did the demon huntress get to see her friend create such a barrier, but she had most certainly never been inside of one! It was breathtaking, especially since they were in the water. The endless swirls of pink hinted with the barest traces of lavender glowed and reflected off the water’s surface creating one of the most captivating sights she had ever seen! She knew that Kagome had become a lot more powerful, and with the training she had received from Kaede, she knew a lot more about how to use those powers, but sometimes she forgot just how amazing the young priestess really was. All around her, she could feel the barrier’s power as it brushed warmly against her skin. This was probably the first bath she had ever taken in which she felt truly and utterly safe.
A light splash caught her attention, and Sango looked up to see the young priestess frantically brushing wet hair away from her eyes, a startled expression on her face. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?!” the slayer asked worriedly.
Coughing to clear water from her throat, Kagome could only nod in an effort to reassure her friend. “I’m fine… I just slipped on a rock.” she managed as she finally gathered her bearings.
Sweeping her long thick hair over her shoulder, Kagome began the arduous task of combing through it with her fingers. The unruly tresses seemed to tangle with the barest hint of moisture and now that she’d gone so long without a haircut, the problem seemed worse than ever. “I really need a haircut.” she blandly voiced her thoughts as she gave the tangled mane a dirty look.
“Why?” Asked Sango as she bided her time to bring up the subject which was even now begging to be discussed, “It looks nice long.”
Kagome gave a halfhearted smile. “Thanks, I’m just not used to it being this long.”
Concluding that her efforts were futile, the young miko flipped the uncooperative strands back over her shoulder and made a face as the plopped heavily against her back. Beneath the comfortably balmy water, she could feel them brushing ticklishly against her backside.
“If you want, I could trim it for you.” Sango offered.
An image of herself with neatly trimmed bangs entered Kagome’s mind and she was startled to see how much it made her look like Kikyou. “Umm… no offence but on second thought, maybe I’ll leave it the way it is.”
The other woman just shrugged and returned to the task of bathing. A few moments of silence passed between them before Sango finally decided broach the topic that had already been plaguing her mind for far too long. There were so many questions just begging to be asked and she was NOT letting Kagome leave this spring before she got her answers!
“So…” the huntress began with less than plausible nonchalance.
‘Here it comes.’ Kagome thought as she gave the young woman a sidelong glance. “Hmm?” she murmured leadingly.
“Miroku and I couldn’t help but notice that you seem… friendlier with Lord Sesshoumaru than you used to be.”
Kagome just smiled. “Yeah, we’re umm… friend’s now.” she said as if it wasn’t particularly important.
Unable to take the suspense a moment longer the elder woman blurted out, “Did he really spend the night with you?!” Blushing in mortification of her bluntness, she almost wanted to cover her mouth and retract what she’d said. However, now that the question had been voiced, she just HAD to know the answer.
“Sango!” the priestess yelled as she looked through the barrier to the surrounding area to see if anyone was around to hear what they were discussing.
Moving a bit closer, the huntress asked in a lower voice, “Well did he?”
Though the miko was prepared for this question, she had not anticipated the giddy sensation it would bring. “Yeah, he did.” she admitted in a small shy voice. “But nothing happened!” she amended quickly. “Well, nothing aside from the kiss, but that was before he followed me back to the hut, and then I hurt my hand, and then…”
Cutting the priestess off in mid ramble, Sango incredulously asked, “He kissed you??!!”
Her eyes widening with the woman’s overly loud voice, Kagome convulsively splashed her with water. “Not so loud!! We’re not THAT far from the camp, and there are two people there with supernatural hearing!!”
Laughing, the slayer wiped the water from her face. “Sorry Kagome!” she apologized in a more subdued tone. “I just can’t believe what I just heard. Do you mean to tell me that Sesshoumaru actually kissed you?”
If nothing else, the heavy blush gave away the woman’s answer before she could voice it. “Twice.” the miko admitted coyly, surprising the slayer again.
Forcing herself to remain as calm as she could, Sango took a deep breath before exhaling very slowly.
“Tell… me… everything!” she finally demanded making sure to stress each word. The elder female’s barely concealed excitement left no doubt in Kagome’s mind that she didn’t care if they both turned into prunes from staying in the water too long, she was not leaving until she heard every detail.
Starting from when she took over as Rin’s caregiver and mentor, Kagome explained how she and Sesshoumaru gradually became friends. The other female listened with rapt interest practically holding her breath when Kagome got to the night the demon lord had kissed her.
“…It was really unexpected.” Kagome explained quietly. “I was mad at him, and I wasn’t even expecting him to come back after he took Rin and Shippou to his castle. I had gone to the well to think and he suddenly showed up. We kinda got into an argument, and I ended up telling him to go back to the west and forget about me.” she smiled with recollection as she continued, “He said he wouldn’t leave me, but I didn’t believe him. He was holding my arm and… I tried to pull away from him but he wouldn’t let go. I was gonna yell at him some more, but he suddenly…” she hid an oversized smile behind her hand, “He pulled me into his arms and kissed me, right on the lips.”
An equally large smile on her face, Sango sighed contently as she sank further into the water. “That was probably the most romantic story I have ever heard.” she said dreamily.
Kagome’s blush deepened. “You really think so?”
“Of course, I mean don’t take this the wrong way, but I didn’t even think Sesshoumaru knew what a kiss was! I had always thought he was nothing but a pompous self-centered jerk!”
“None taken! I thought the same thing, and as far as him being a pompous jerk, well he still kinda is!” the miko laughed lightly. Sobering after a moment she continued, “But there’s more to him than that, you know. He’s not really as self-centered as he seems. There’s something about him that’s just so… I don’t know… He’s a really interesting person once you get to know him. He’s so mysterious, but sometimes I can get him to talk to me, I mean really talk to me. Not just that, but he listens to me too. I never thought I’d feel so comfortable talking to him.” she finished, staring absentmindedly into the distance.
Sango’s quiet gasp drew her attention and Kagome looked up to see her friend staring at her with wide disbelieving eyes. “What?” the miko asked.
“You’re… you’re in love with him!!”
It was a statement not a question and Kagome was quick to dismiss it. “I am not!!” she denied vehemently.
“Yes you are!” Sango insisted. “You should have seen the look on your face when you were talking about him just now!”
Kagome shook her head causing water to fly from her hair. “You’re jumping to conclusions! I like him… a lot.” the priestess admitted, “But that doesn’t mean I’m in love with him! And keep your voice down!”
Sango gave her friend a look which clearly displayed her denial. “I am not jumping to conclusions. I can’t believe you don’t see it.” she said with a small laugh. When the miko seemed on the brink of refuting her further, Sango headed her off by saying, “Anyway, so what happened after he kissed you?”
Quickly forgetting her previous agitation, Kagome blushed again and averted her gaze, “I umm… kinda ran away.”
“You ran away from him? Why?”
The miko shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know! I was just so surprised and overwhelmed and my heart was beating so fast! It was too much! I just needed to get away from him at the moment. Not that it really did any good. All he did was follow me anyway.”
Sango chuckled lightly. “Well of course he followed you! He’s a dog demon. You can’t run away from a dog demon and not expect him to chase you!”
‘Hmm…’ Kagome thought distantly, that made perfect sense. ‘Why didn’t I realize that before?’
“So how’d he end up spending the night with you?” the slayer pressed on.
The priestess narrowed her eyes at her friend. “You know, I remember you being a lot more reserved about this kind of subject matter. What happened to you anyway?”
Sango raised a brow. “Do you even have to ask? I’m married to Miroku! Some things are bound to wear off after a while.”
Kagome burst into laughter. “Oh right! How could I have forgotten?!”
“So?” the huntress prompted when the other woman’s laugher began to subside.
“Well, after I ran away, I tripped near the edge of the forest and hurt my hand. He caught up to me, and… we had a little talk.”
“About what?! What did he say?!”
Thinking back, Kagome tried to recall their moonlit conversation. What had they talked about? She could hardly remember now. To her left, Sango was reaching the very edge of her patience when a particular portion of their conversation resurfaced in her mind.
“Oh yeah,” she said quietly. “Well, at first I tried to get him to go away. I told him that I’d take care of the wound myself, but since he’s stubborn just like someone else I know, he insisted on looking at it anyway.” her eyes straying to look off into the distance she continued, “We didn’t really talk that much about the kiss, but I did ask him what was going to happen between us.”
Her eyes widening, Sango’s heart begin to race. “Well…?” she asked impatiently.
Kagome smiled at her. “He said he didn’t know.”
Sango’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. “He doesn’t know?! What’s that supposed to mean? He’s the one who kissed you and now he suddenly doesn’t know where you stand with him?”
“It’s okay because I know we‘re still friends. That‘s good enough for me.” the miko said lightheartedly. “He said that he didn’t know what the future held, but he did make me a promise. He asked me to promise that I wouldn’t run away again, that I would accept whatever happened between us, and he promised to do the same.” When she was finished speaking, Kagome looked over to see the pleased smile on Sango’s face.
“That was probably a really big step for him.” she said quietly, although as she replayed the last words Kagome said again and again in her mind something about them kept calling for closer inspection. “Kagome, do you remember his exact words?”
Kagome gave the slayer an odd look but decided to humor her anyway. “He said: ‘I do not know what the future will bring, however if you promise not to fight against it, then neither will I.’” the miko finished in her less than passable imitation of Sesshoumaru’s voice.
Sango frowned thoughtfully. Something about his choice of words, the way they were strung together kept prodding at her mind. ‘If you promise not to fight against it then neither will I.’
“I think…” the elder female began slowly, “He’s already reached a decision… For him to have said something like that, he must have already have accepted the notion that something definitely WILL happen between the two of you.” Sango pinned he with an intense stare. “ I think he just said that because he wanted you to accept it too.”
Kagome’s lips parted but the gasp she would have been expecting was oddly lacking. She didn’t know whether she wanted to believe her friends words or not. Could her assessment really be true?”
“And,” the huntress added, slicing through Kagome’s thoughts, “he also spent the night with you. I think he’s already… asserting his claim on you.”
“What?!” Kagome asked in disbelief. “Asserting his claim?! I’m not some piece of property to be claimed!”
Sango just waved her off. “Don’t take it that way,” she said calmly, “It’s a demon thing. It just means that he’s becoming more attached to you.”
“Hmm…” Kagome said as she absently resumed her bathing. Suddenly she was reminded of when she had asked Sesshoumaru if it would be okay for her to visit his castle one day. Her mind replayed his cryptic response and the knowing glance he had sent her. Maybe Sango was right. Maybe he was already thinking that they were going to become more than just friends. She couldn’t deny that the idea was appealing, but it was a little scary too. Was she really ready for something like that? Was it even okay to have THAT kind of relationship with him when not so long ago she had been in love with his only brother?
“So…” the nosey demon slayer started up again. “Where did he sleep?”
Caught completely off guard by the question, Kagome tried to buy herself some time by pretending she hadn’t heard the question. “Whoops, got water in my ear!” she said as she made a show of tapping her hand against her ear as if to dislodge the errant water.
“I know you can hear me Kagome!”
‘Should’ve known that wouldn’t work.’ she thought with a sigh. “He umm… he slept on my futon… where I also slept… together. But nothing happened! We were just sleeping!” Looking through her thick lashes, the miko noted that Sango did not seem terribly surprised by this, instead she just took on a thoughtful expression. “What?” she finally asked when the woman didn’t seem inclined to share her thoughts.
“Kagome,” she began slowly, “What are you planning on doing once we’re finished with this mission?”
The miko’s eyes saddened at the question. “I was planning on going home. The well’s magic is beginning to fade. I don’t know how much longer it’ll last, but hopefully I have enough time to collect and destroy the keys before it closes.”
The other woman nodded but still said nothing. Kagome could tell she was thinking about something, but now she was too distracted to question her about it. Thinking about the well and her family beyond it made her feel so torn. She wished the well would stay open forever so she never had to chose, but really, she had always known she would eventually be forced to stay in on one side or the other. ‘I should count myself lucky that I even still have a choice at this point.’
“We should head back.” said Sango as she looked to the small fire-cat who lay dozing just inside the wall of Kagome’s barrier.
“Yeah,” Kagome agreed distractedly. “We’ve been out here for a while, look how wrinkled my fingers are.”
Sango just smiled at her and Kagome took down her barrier. The women then exited the pool and dried themselves before they each dressed in silence. Seeing that Kagome had become absorbed in her own thoughts, Sango decided not to press her for anymore information… for now. Besides, she’d have plenty of time to talk to her later, because if her deduction of Sesshoumaru’s behavior was correct, and it more than likely was, Kagome would not be going home at the conclusion of this journey. __________________________________________________________________ ______
Alright, you guys another chapter is completed. Hope you all enjoyed!