InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Rock, Paper, Scissors: Love Beats All ❯ Trust ( Chapter 15 )

She was awake now. It had taken several minutes after Inuyasha's "eviction" from Naraku's tentacle hotel for her to return to consciousness, but Kikyo had eventually reawakened. And Naraku was smiling one of those horrible smiles that endeared him so much to the rest of the world...but Kikyo had always been immune to his charm.

"What have you done with Inuyasha?" she demanded, her eyes steely. Naraku followed her example and ditched the smile.

"Hard and cold again? Strange. Tell me, what happened to the gooey mess you were a moment ago, mm?" Her eyes flashed dangerously, forcing Naraku's smile to return. He loved to torment her... "You seemed quite infatuated with him. It's almost a shame that he would break your heart in such a way."

"What are you talking about?" Naraku's face became serious again as he made a vague gesture at the far "wall" of his inner tentacles. Kikyo shakily propped herself up on her elbows to look. Half of her body had been reduced to a fine powder of clay around her. It was due to the barrier that he'd erected outside of himself that her body was disintegrating; it warded off her Soul Collectors. He looked back to the wall that he'd waved a hand towards and smiled again at the image that had been created there. "Look upon your beloved Inuyasha..."

The picture, projected onto the tentacles by the extracted memory of his saimyousho, was fuzzy to start out but was growing clearer by the moment. And the sharper the image grew, the wider Kikyo's eyes became. Soon the incriminating scene was vividly displayed and Naraku allowed the sneer to dominate his face. Inuyasha was holding the human wench - Kikyo's reincarnation - to his chest and resting his head atop hers.

"Very familiar, wouldn't you agree? Even cozy..." he trailed off, turning his head to regard Kikyo. Then something sort of struck him as her face became pale and lifeless - or more so, considering that she had died over fifty years ago. She was crushed, which had been his aim, but he wasn't entirely satisfied with that. She wouldn't even look at him with the usual contempt. She just went on acting as she had when she'd been lying alongside Inuyasha a few moments ago. Why was she showing such...feeling? It was as though she retained some part of her humanity.

And something inside him was responding to that.

Naraku scowled at himself. The strong didn't allow themselves to go soft with silly emotion - towards anything, much less a clay-pot woman. Yet, when he stood there and watched the suffering that crossed Kikyo's face, he couldn't help but feel something snap inside of him. It was that blasted Onigumo! That stupid, worthless heart of that greedy human! No matter how many demons he invited into his body, they could not overcome that despicable heart of his past life. And it was threatening to compromise him once again. Just as the small portion of her reincarnation's soul had left Kikyo with a small measure of humanity, Onigumo's heart had done the same for Naraku.

"What, are you going to cry now, Kikyo? Is that the sort of person that you've become?" he jibed, hoping to suppress the loathsome swell that had begun in his chest. She looked up at him, her eyes glinting with malice. "Much better."

It had been less than an hour since Inuyasha had been separated from her, but already he was...well, take a look at that damned picture! She snapped her eyes to it, willing the tentacles that it was presented upon to burst into agonizing, Hell-flames of suffering. But, after several moments of sincere effort, she resignedly concluded that there would be no such luck. She turned the death-glare onto Naraku instead.

“Presumptuous half-breed,” she deadpanned, her features as empty as her tone. She applied severe effort to hide her deep disgust when he grinned at the insult as though she'd complimented him. “You never knew who I was to begin with, much less what I have ‘become.’ You retain no right to assume anything of me.” Her brow lowered defiantly as his expression slackened, stepping towards her before promptly turning his back to her completely. Kikyo suspected that he was using a golem to hold this talk with her in “person,” although she'd like to have known why they were having a discussion at all.

"Would you be interested to know why I killed you?" he asked airily, as though he were commenting on the weather. Kikyo's eyes narrowed in vague distrust.

"And you wonder why people avoid conversations with you," she scoffed lightly. "You have the uncanny ability to choose the most tasteless of subjects..." Naraku had turned slightly to regard her from the corner of his eye, a small ember of flame peering out at her from behind a curtain of untidy hair. He wasn't pleased at her reply, obviously. Well, that was just too bad. Kikyo wasn't up to talking to her murderer about his motives at the moment, if it was all the same to him. If Kikyo had to admit one trait that she shared with Kagome, it would be her impeccable stubborn streak.

"Onigumo desired something that he feared you would refuse to grant him," he began, giving her a pointed look. Kikyo openly offered him her sincerest look of revulsion. He smiled again, making her stomach churn nauseatingly. "Onigumo - he feared, but Naraku does not. When I was born within Onigumo, I decided that I would take you by force if need be. But you became so much attached to the dog hanyou that I simply felt you weren't worth the effort. I decided that I would toy with you and your pet Inuyasha before I ultimately killed you both, alleviating Onigumo's desire. And then you both decided to spring back to life on me. Like weeds, the two of you are..." He smiled as if he were admonishing a small child. She didn't take kindly to patronizing tones.

"You failed miserably in a task that you appear to regard as quite clear-cut. You've just the same as called yourself a simpleton." And then Kikyo allowed her arms to fall to her sides as she plopped herself back down as though preparing to take a nap - though, in truth, she was actually more likely to disappear from the face of the earth, given the state of her clay vessel. She let her eyes fall half-closed, but didn't fancy being entirely blind to Naraku's antics when he was so close to her. Not that she'd have been able to defend herself when she was such a wreck, anyway. He leaned back against the nearest wall of tentacles and tilted his face into the general direction of where the sky might be if they weren't buried in five thousand tons of Naraku-gunk.

"Ah, Onigumo is a simpleton, though, Kikyo. His heart still reaches for you, even as I attempt to destroy it." Kikyo fought fiercely to hide her surprise, knowing that letting her guard down even so much as with an expression would be a mistake in the presence of Naraku. He continued, none the wiser of Kikyo's resolve. "It's such an exhausting obstacle, Onigumo's desire for you. Though I want nothing more than to erase you from existence, Onigumo wishes to keep you for himself for all eternity. It's sheer madness, for one man to both love and despise a person at the same time. Almost as mad as it is having two men in one body." He smiled, but this time Kikyo caught the bitterness - which made her smile.

"Interesting...yet I loathe both of you. One of you is a murderer and the other is a greedy coward." Naraku gave her a wooden look that told her, plainly, that he couldn't have cared less. She supposed that Onigumo's heart was recessive at the moment. "But, I can relate to the insanity. I both hate and love Inuyasha in the exact same way. I have no reason for the hate I feel for him, just as you have no true reason for despising me. I love him because I still possess a meager piece of myself - a piece of Kagome's soul. A piece of our soul, I should say." Naraku's blazing scarlet eyes narrowed as Kikyo pressed on. "But we aren't the same sort of people, you and I. The difference between us is that you have easily given in to the greedy, evil side of yourself while I fight to hold on to the love I still have for Inuyasha..." Naraku stepped forward, obviously intending to deliver her a humbling blow (not that Kikyo would ever be humbled by scum like Naraku) when a bright flash from the far wall overcame the room before any response could be made. Perhaps Naraku and Kikyo would have been less confused if sound had accompanied the blast, but as it was, the tentacles were deathly silent.

When the blindingly white light dissipated from the room, leaving the two highly dumbfounded figures to come back to their senses, Kikyo looked to where the light had emitted.

It had come from the now-moving images on the projection that Naraku had summoned.

"The difference between us is that you have easily given in to the greedy, evil side of yourself while I fight to hold on to the love I still have for Inuyasha..." For some reason, it infuriated Naraku that Kikyo would confess her "love" for Inuyasha so boldly. He hated to hear it and he hated that he hadn't kept them entirely apart. He stepped forward, intending to (quite frankly) knock the cat piss out of the arrogant mud-pie, when a bright flash left him dazed and in a panic as to what was occurring. Surely Kikyo couldn't access her miko powers in such a state?! But, as the light dimmed away to the comfortable gloom that he'd grown so accustomed to, he realized that it had come from the spell that he'd casted with his saimyousho.

More news had been brought to him.

Inuyasha and Kagome had found a way to infiltrate his barrier while he wasn't looking...and Kohaku had been brought back to life? Naraku's eyebrows knit, enraged, and saw that Sesshomaru had played a part in the battle as well. As a result, Kagura and Kanna's corpses had been blown to smithereens with the Tokijin. It had been his plan to re-absorb his incarnations and give them new life. Now those parts of him were destroyed forever!

He growled low in his throat and decided to move the smug-looking Kikyo and himself to the battlefield by way of transportation. There was no way he was going to let these imbeciles get away with ruining his plans. He'd had nothing but interference from the whole lot of them ever since that Kagome wench had mysteriously appeared about a year ago! He smirked devilishly as he reappeared at the battlefield, in person, with Kikyo lying at his feet.

Kagome was the real problem here.

He was taking her out.

Sesshomaru lifted his sword from the ground, where it had been forgotten by the ignorant humans, and replaced it to its sheathe. He would have expected them to take better care of his possessions when he lent them out. After all, he didn't do so often.

Miroku was still looking rather green around the gills and immensely distracted by something far in the distance that only he appeared to be able to see. I just can't stand to see my friends in pain like that...! Kagome’s tear-stained face was presented before Sesshomaru's steadily narrowing eyes as the memory crossed his mind. Why? She'd looked to him as though he'd asked why the sky was blue. He was intelligent and he asked questions when he didn't know the answers to something. He would accept the truth, regardless of what favor he took to it. But Kagome hadn't been able to answer him because she'd been interrupted by more pressing issues. It was unnerving, to not understand something that a mere human took as second nature. Why was she so afflicted by her friends' pain? Why was he afflicted by Rin's pain? Why did anyone care so much as they did?

And was it only a passing sentiment? Would it be tossed aside the moment a more important person came along, just as had happened with his father?

Sesshomaru allowed himself to glance out of the corner of his eye at Kagome, but found that she wasn't looking his way. She was staring down at Miroku and Sango with great discomfort, visibly worried about their well-being. What if Inuyasha was injured in the exact same way at the exact same time as the monk? Who would she aid first in the event that only she could help them? That was simple: Inuyasha. So perhaps she feels stronger for one person than she does another? Whom might she choose if it were Sango or Miroku, then? If it were Miroku or Shippo? Shippo or Rin?

...Sesshomaru or Inuyasha?

He suddenly felt something boil up inside him as he darted a glower at Inuyasha. Inuyasha looked back at him with blatant confusion, making Sesshomaru realize what he was doing and turn away hastily. What was this feeling? So familiar... It was similar to how he felt on the matter of Inuyasha's inheritance of Tetsusaiga, only different somehow. Stronger. His brows knit as he tried to pinpoint the emotion. Then he gave himself a sharp mental shake, forcing himself to ignore the feeling completely.

He was doing it again.

He was dwelling on how he felt again.

He grunted before lifting his head straight, determined to focus on the matter at hand. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure what the matter at hand was, exactly. All that seemed to be left to do was aid Miroku back to health - and go after Naraku, if he hadn't already fled the scene once the Chained Ones had been taken down. A whiff of the disgusting half-thing invaded his nostrils, confirming that the battle had not yet ended.

He turned to face what would soon lay behind him.

'What the Hell is that look for?!' thought Inuyasha as he stared back at his severely-ticked older brother. He'd just all of a sudden decided to snap a scowl on him for no apparent reason! Jeez, did everyone hate his guts today or what? But before he could form his annoyance into a suitably vulgar insult, his brother stopped glaring at him just as quickly as he'd started.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and brooded over his brother's unusual mood swings. What was going on with him lately? It was like he was a whole other person anymore! Inuyasha watched him with severe intensity before deciding that staring much longer would entail his brother's wrath again and stole a look at Kagome, who was pretty torn up about Miroku.

The guy had never looked worse.

His skin was papery and clammy, bearing a sickening resemblance to Naraku's pale complexion, and his eyes were hooded and dull as they stared into deep space. Miroku was critically traumatized.

The monk must have really had a thing for Sango to let himself go through the pain of hacking his soul into pieces. Inuyasha smirked, thinking about how obvious it was that the two should end up together. It was funny how the people involved in a relationship couldn't see it straight off. It was like how Inuyasha and Kagome used to be, having feelings for each other but distancing themselves. He wondered now if Sango and Miroku had been thinking this way about him all those times.

The thought left him peeved, somehow.

Inuyasha was dragged out of his assessing thoughts about his lecherous friend by a stiff grunt from Sesshomaru. Thinking that he was getting another vague and meaningful stare from the taiyoukai, Inuyasha looked up at him - but then Sesshomaru turned around to face the black smudge of earth where the Chained Ones had once hovered. He seemed expectant so Inuyasha followed his example, resting a hand over the hilt of Tetsusaiga.

A bright sphere appeared in the distant afternoon sky, where the sun was now beginning to set, and Inuyasha watched it through suspicious, narrowed eyes. How many times had he received unwelcome visits from his older brother in this same way? Somehow he knew that this, too, would be another disagreeable guest; maybe it was the rotten, sour smell that forced itself on him that had stirred his intuition.

Naraku had landed, in his humanoid form, and stood to block their way from the half-disintegrated body of Kikyo that lay behind him. Inuyasha felt a growl rumble through his chest and throat, instantly mobilizing his body for battle.

"Get away from Kikyo before I move you away!" he threatened, and not idly. Anyone could see he was entirely serious. You could see it in his face as it contorted and disfigured in unbridled rage, in his constant and boorish snarling which escaped him with every breath, and in the way that the bones of his hands jutted out against the skin as he flexed his lethal claws. All that was missing was the blood-red eyes and he would be unmistakable as a savage full-demon. He'd had enough of this gag-worthy mound of phlegm. "NOW!" Naraku laughed out loud, his terrible face moving into a nauseating grin that seemed to work muscles that weren't used often. Inuyasha took a step forward and prepared to throw himself at the mocking hanyou. His brother was at his side in moments, holding an arm out before Inuyasha as if that was all it took to hold him in his place.

"Inuyasha. Do not be lured out like game to a novice hunter. Hold your ground." Inuyasha's expression flickered with surprise for a moment before he snapped his hand out and grabbed hold of his brother's arm. That pissed him off, too. Because Sesshomaru could have easily snatched his arm away in the moment that Inuyasha twitched, but had allowed his younger brother to assault him. He began to dig his claws into his brother's arm.

"I'm not prey! Not for Naraku, not for you, and not for anyone! Got it?! So stop taking it so easy on me and show me a little respect!" Sesshomaru snatched his arm away from Inuyasha as Naraku's laughter died away. Inuyasha had held on for a few moment's longer so that small, deep scratches had been left on his brother's arm. They'd disappear quickly, of course, as he was full-demon - but it did not deny Inuyasha the satisfaction of making his brother, who'd always underestimated him, bleed. His brother whirled on him, but did not reach out to retaliate. He glared straight into his face and said,

"You'll receive my respect when you earn it. As for this argument," he trailed off as he turned to face Naraku. "We'd best concentrate our energy against our opponent, rather than each other." Inuyasha growled again, but relented his aggressive stance slightly.

"Maybe I don't need your respect, ever think of that?" he spat back, eyes swiveling back to Naraku. It didn't spare him the sight from the corner of his eye, however. His brother's lips had turned up, just slightly, in a knowing smile at Inuyasha's comment. He chose to ignore this event.

"Naraku..." came a boy's voice from the general vicinity of around Inuyasha's waist. He looked down in surprise, thinking of Kagome's younger brother, Souta, for some weird reason. It was Kohaku, however, which left him doubly surprised until he remembered he'd been resurrected a while ago. It was easy to see why Inuyasha had thought it might have been Souta standing there, considering that they were about the same age and height. Kohaku was wearing an expression that had never crossed Souta's face, though. Looking out at Naraku's dark figure, Kohaku openly displayed his resentment and anxiety. "I may have asked to forget, but I never asked for anyone to get hurt. He's despicable..." Kohaku looked up at Inuyasha, but Inuyasha looked away before their eyes met.

"You aren't battling." Looks of incredulous surprise ambushed him from either side - from Kohaku and Sesshomaru.

"What?! I am to! I have to! After everything that I've done, I'm not about to just play the victim!" shouted a furious Kohaku, eyes wide with horror at the prospect of being banished from the battlefield. Inuyasha looked down at him, an expression of stony resilience plaguing his features, before he smirked slightly. The kid had some guts...

"Look, Sango's really relieved to finally get you back, so what d'you think would happen if you got popped off by Naraku after all of this?" Kohaku's face began to take on a note of understanding as Inuyasha determinedly looked back at Naraku. "Sometimes it takes more courage to stand down from a fight than it does to stand up for one." He even surprised himself with that, actually, and started to half-heartedly wonder about it. Just when had he come to think that way, exactly? As far as he could tell, nothing had ever happened in his life where it was more beneficial to abandon a fight than to tough it out. Maybe he was just learning from Kohaku's life experiences. Whatever the reasoning for his new perspective towards battle, he could see how it made sense. And that was really all that mattered.

"Okay," Kohaku answered. Inuyasha snapped his gaze back to the boy, who was looking out at Naraku with real longing. "I won't fight this time. But don't think that it means I'm not going to lend a hand!" When Inuyasha gave him a pressing look, Kohaku sensed it and looked up with equal determination. "I'll keep Miroku from getting attacked until he recovers enough to get back in. I'll evade attacks by keeping the two of us in the air on Kilala." Inuyasha smirked.

"Good thinking. We'll probably need Miroku's Wind Tunnel for this one, so that'd be a lot of help. Get over there and tell Sango and Kagome to get their guards up and stop messing around."

"Right." And then the kid rushed off to relay the message to the girls and half-conscious monk. Now that he thought about it, though, he was pretty much stating the obvious by telling them to get ready for battle. Oh well. Inuyasha had wanted to get the boy out of the way as quickly as possible, so he'd used the first excuse that came to mind. It didn't really matter the importance of what he'd sent the kid to do.

"Do you know what you have to do to become the sort of man that doesn't have to prove anything to anyone?" Inuyasha looked over to Sesshomaru as he spoke, at a loss as to where this was coming from. His older brother glanced to him from the corner of his eye, still facing the enemy who was watching them with vague interest. "Prove everything to yourself first." Inuyasha thought about that. He wasn't sure why Sesshomaru was telling him this now, but it sounded sensible. If he was entirely sure about something then who could shake his state of mind about it? If he were secure about his strength, if he truly believed that he was invincible, would he even be fazed in the moment before death? He would believe that there would be some miraculous turn of events and he would spring back to perfect health or something. If he was secure about it, of course...

"So, what are you trying to say? What does being sure of myself have to do with anything that's happening now?" he asked, in a near-daze at this new idea.

"..." But Sesshomaru didn't seem up to talking anymore. It was time to get the battle fired up!

"Inuyasha says to stop messing around and get ready to fight, okay?" the young boy said to her and Sango as he approached. Kagome was glaring at Naraku and had barely heard her friend's brother. "Hey, are you all right?" he asked when she continued to stare down the ominously dark figure that stood in place of the former Chained Ones. She knit her brows as she spared the boy a brief glance and a forced smile, her eyes quickly returning to their opponent.

"I'm fine," she replied darkly. "I'm only thinking about Kikyo and the battle. That's all..." She stared at the maimed remnants of the woman she had been reincarnated from. She was just barely clinging to life…and it was Kagome’s fault. If she’d only finished off Naraku at some earlier opportunity, then this would never have happened. All of those times that she had fired off her arrows at him, his survival only being owed to her poor aim; if only she had been as skilled with a bow as Kikyo! If only Kikyo would have fought at Inuyasha’s side instead of her! Then, maybe, Kikyo would not be in such a precarious predicament. Maybe all of her friends would be unscathed today, had Kagome’s presence this last year been replaced with Kikyo’s. Kagome looked away from Kikyo’s pale form with a sudden jerk, willing another thought, any thought to overcome the painful realizations she was allowing entrance to.

But none came.

Instead, the same hurtful ideas poured into her, charring her morale and confidence. If only it had been Kikyo; if only her friends had been with Kikyo all along; if only she had never met any of them, they would be so much better off. They would be unharmed and free from this pain. She was sure of it.

“Kagome? Are you okay?” It was Sango. Kagome looked over to her with a smile, ignoring her friend’s concerned look.

“I’m fine,” she repeated, using the same dark tone she had employed with her brother. When Sango did not seem convinced, Kagome opened her mouth to put more effort into reassuring her. But she did not have the chance.

“ARGH!” With a sound between a gasp and a shrill shriek, Kagome and Sango leapt out of the way as Inuyasha soared past them. Naraku had sent an unexpected explosive attack at Inuyasha and Sesshomaru but everyone, it seemed, had been too distracted by their individual conversations to take any notice. It had cost them.

“Kagome,” said Sesshomaru as he scooped her up to replace her next to Inuyasha. “Check Inuyasha while I put Miroku and Kohaku to safety.” And then he was gone, snatching up Miroku, who had been lying next to Inuyasha, as he went. Kagome watched him go for only a moment before looking back to Inuyasha. He was bleeding copiously from a shallow, but spacious, wound over his right arm. Burnt, Kagome guessed, by the charred appearance of the surrounding skin. She winced. However, it looked as if he would still be fit to battle. He sat up, staring at his arm. There was already a clear, sticky substance forming over the wound, effectively clotting the bleeding.

“Damn. We all talk too much,” he said, gently pulling the sleeve of his fire-rat kimono over his damaged arm. He drew his sword as he stood up, Kagome following as she got to her feet as well. He gripped it tightly. “Well, at least it doesn’t look like he messed up the muscle. I can still hold my sword all right.” He smirked self-confidently, but Kagome knew that the sudden attack had made him more cautious. Maybe, Kagome guiltily found herself thinking, that was what he needed. Better a wound than a death for his inattention.

Kilala flew by, stooping low with Miroku and Kohaku on her back, before gaining height and flying high overhead. They flew in wide circles, much like a buzzard or vulture, as they encased the entire battlefield. Sesshomaru stood before Sango, talking rather rapidly and gesturing towards Inuyasha and Kagome with elegant sweeps of the hand every now and then. Kagome wondered what they were talking about. Inuyasha had been watching the two talking as well and suddenly growled, making Kagome realize that Inuyasha must have been able to hear them with his heightened sense of hearing.

“What are they saying?” Kagome asked, looking at him curiously. Inuyasha continued to stare at his brother and Kagome’s best friend.

“Sesshomaru’s telling Sango to stick with me so that we can watch out for each other.” Kagome blinked.

“So?” She didn’t see the problem.

“So,” he parroted, a dangerous tone about his voice, “that means that he thinks I need to be watched over! And not only that, why the hell is he marshalling all of us like we’re his own personal army for anyway?!” Ah, now she understood.

“Inuyasha,” she tested gently, “I don’t think he means it like that at all. I think that he just wants us to have a support buddy, you know? In case one of us gets ganged up on or something like that; Naraku’s snake demons are still swarming the place and everything. And, as for him ‘marshalling’ us, I think that that’s just his natural instincts to lead and all. I mean, your guys’ father was a Great Dog Demon, remember? He must have inherited something from him that makes him more suited to be a leader. It’s just something he feels like he needs to do, probably.” Kagome didn’t really know how she knew any of this, but she was near certain that everything she had professed to know was concrete fact. Inuyasha was looking at her with a look that may have been brought about by an invisible slap to the face.

“What’s up with you two, anyway? You were gone for four little days and all of a sudden you guys show up all chummy with each other. I don’t get it.” Kagome thought about it for a moment before turning back around to look towards Sesshomaru, who was looking straight back at them. She sighed.

“I don’t get it, either.” Inuyasha was silent for a moment.

“You’re…friends, then?” Kagome’s eyebrows knit.

“I don’t know.” She heard Inuyasha’s feet shift positions as he turned to look towards Sesshomaru, too.

“How can you not know? Is he nice to you? Does he protect you?”

“Well…yeah, he’s sorta nice to me. I guess. And he does seem like he protects me, but it’s still a little complicated. I think he’s only doing those things because I treat Rin well.” Inuyasha snorted and Kagome gave him an indignant look. She’d thought they were being serious! “What?” He smirked, eyes shifting to Naraku.

“Nothing. It just seems like it’s one big, confusing loop with my brother when it comes to who he cares about. We’re sitting here trying to figure out if he’s friends with you or if he’s only treating you well because you’re nice to Rin, but does he really care about Rin? Maybe he treats Rin well for some other reason too. Sesshomaru’s just the kind of guy that nobody can be sure about. I think it’s safer to assume that he thinks of everybody as his own personal puppets and leave it at that. It’s a lot less complicated that way.” Kagome sighed and looked away from Inuyasha. Maybe the two brothers didn’t get along as well as they could simply because they were too prepared to label the other “simple.” It seemed to Kagome that they were both a lot more complex than either brother gave the other credit for.

Sesshomaru suddenly appeared in their midst with Sango held firmly by the arm. She didn’t seem to take any opposition to it. Kagome guessed that she felt more favorably towards him after helping her bring her brother back from the dead.

“Inuyasha, I expect you to know what to do, considering that you were eavesdropping on my conversation.” Inuyasha didn’t show a flicker of remorse as he hitched Sango up on his back and took off towards Naraku. Sesshomaru, alone with Kagome, reached out his hand without expression. “You have a job ahead of you. Do you trust me?” Kagome had thought it would come to this.

“Have you given me a reason not to?” she replied, extending her hand to him. He looked grimly towards his swords.

“Besides killing you, you mean…?” Kagome laughed. Sesshomaru looked back at her, incredulous.

“Sorry, it’s just funny to speak lightly of it.” He soundlessly flicked his eyes towards Naraku, hoisting Kagome up onto his back with his one arm. They ran at Naraku and Kagome knew if Inuyasha or any of her friends had been told of what Sesshomaru was proposing that she do, there would be a great uprising and argument concerning it. Sesshomaru must have kept it a silent plan all along. Kagome trusted him, however. He would rescue her. “Killing me may have caused me to distrust you – but bringing me back has made me trust you all the more. More than anyone. Despite your reasons…I trust you as a friend.” There was a pause before Sesshomaru spoke to her.

“Why are you talking like this now?” He stopped talking abruptly, as though he were corking anything more from escaping his thoughts. It seemed to Kagome that he did that most of the time – but she didn’t think that he’d ever had a more difficult time of it than now. And she couldn’t understand why. She had a theory, but felt it was nonsensical. He hadn’t shown more than a few simple gestures of friendship and even those could be explained away easily enough if she thought on them. It didn’t seem realistic of her to assume that he was trying to keep warm words held back from her now. It couldn’t be. Why would it be?

“Because if it gets out of your hands, then – ”

“It won’t.” Kagome was taken aback slightly by the absolute certainty of his statement. When she recovered, she began again.

“I hadn’t meant to say that you were incapable or anything. It’s just…” She didn’t have long to get her meaning across. She knew by the fury with which the wind was ripping her hair behind her that they were traveling as fast as humanly – erm, demonly – possible. Her moment to act was nearly upon her. “Sesshomaru, I just wanted to let you know that if something happens and you can’t get to me in time, then…then I won’t think that you did it because you didn’t think enough of me or something. I mean – um, I’ll know that you did your best, is what I’m trying to say.”

“…” Kagome was unnerved by the silence and rushed to disguise her words.

“Not that…I thought that…you know…we were friends or anything. I just assume that you’ll uphold your word as a demon and – ”

“Stop.” She obeyed. “…”

Between them, the silence was like a canyon that stretched over the seven seas twice over. Kagome was about to open the conversation again, despite Sesshomaru’s command, when she realized that they were less than fifty feet away from Naraku, who had already erupted with tentacles and slime. Time to do her thing.

As she moved to throw herself into action from atop Sesshomaru’s back, the taiyoukai touched his hand to her arm. Kagome paused to look at him. He didn’t look up, but did not move his hand, either. She took another breath and prepared herself for her launch again. Sesshomaru had considerably slowed his pace.

“Don’t do it. I change my mind.” And he came to a dead stop, a mere ten feet from Naraku.

Kagome’s eyes darted down to him as her mouth hung agape, but Sesshomaru was already doing a sort of backwards pounce so as to remove them from Naraku’s perilous presence. She clung to the armor that covered his shoulders to keep from falling off of him and soon he stopped, a good fifteen yards from Naraku. He took a moment before turning his head to face her. She was still on his back, so he had to look over his shoulder to see her.

“What are you doing?!” Kagome demanded after a full minute of getting the silent treatment from Mr. Tall, Cold, and Creepy. “Naraku is right over there! You’re throwing the whole thing? We don’t have time to come up with another plan!” Sesshomaru whipped around suddenly and the next thing that Kagome knew, she was standing upright in front of a towering Sesshomaru. The towering individual mentioned did not appear to be in the best of moods.

“You…” he began, growling the word. His eyes were fiery, though still amber, and they were eerily darkened with shadow. Evening was approaching fast. Kagome was stiff with terror at the strange new rage that had overtaken her companion. “You constantly behave as though we are close friends, as though you trust me, but it is all lies! You cannot trust me where I have not trusted you! You cannot believe I will protect you without fail, when it has been my aim to destroy you and all you have cared for! I am your enemy, yet you call me ‘friend!’” Kagome remained still for a moment. Then, her body reanimating itself of its own accord, she cocked her head with a look of angry confusion.

“You’re angry at me because I’m saying that you’re my friend? You’re angry at me because I say that I trust you?” She paused, absorbing his stony, furious expression. Then she started nodding, whirling around on heel to turn her body away from him. “You think I’m a liar, then. You think that I don’t mean any of it, do you?” She paused, waiting for a reply. She received nothing.

All at once, she had thumped him on the chest with all her might, hair flying wildly and a sound of agonized frustration emitting from her screwed-up face. Sesshomaru had seized her by the elbows at once. She looked up at him; he looked down at her. Each matched the other’s fury and it was a rage infused with frustration and bewilderment towards the very people whose eyes they bore into.

“You really are an ice lord,” Kagome suddenly blurted out. It was unlikely that the demon lord’s feelings would be stabbed by this comment. Sesshomaru’s countenance looked quite amused as he lifted a delicate eyebrow. “I’ve been nothing short of a friend to you this past week, but you’re still going around with that pessimistic attitude of yours!” Sesshomaru still hadn’t let go of her elbows and, as his face returned to indifference, he left them there as he spoke.

“As you’ve mentioned, we’ve only known each other for a short time. Naturally, I’m skeptical…” Kagome took upon herself a look of genuine puzzlement.

“Well, what about me has made you skeptical?” Sesshomaru froze. It was a simple enough question - a small thing that required only a small answer. If only he could come up with one… Kagome seemed to catch on to his hesitation.

“So it isn’t even about me?!” she yelled, incredulous. “Are you really like this to everyone?!” Sesshomaru stopped, thinking about it for a moment. Kagome hadn’t ever done anything to make him mistrust her and, as far as he’d known, he’d never treated anyone else with complete unwariness either. Sesshomaru could see that Kagome was waiting for his reply.

“Yes. I’m suspicious of everyone, Kagome.” It wasn’t something he was used to saying, really, and it felt rather strange to confess. It was like telling someone that bird flew or the sun shone. It was commonplace to Sesshomaru. He expected it was the same for everyone who knew him.

Kagome looked to him sadly, staring at him with undivided interest. He released her elbows.

“Would you stop that, already?! What is it with you and looking at me like that all of the time?” Kagome started, then crossed her arms in a huff as she looked away from him defiantly.

“Hmph! Don’t be such a narcissist!” Sesshomaru blinked.

“Narcissist?” This girl had a pretty decent vocabulary on her. “I’m not assuming that you’re looking at me because you find me attractive…” She blushed, her face twisting up in anger again.

“Then why are you asking me why I look at you?!” Sesshomaru gave her a strange look, confused as to why the girl would blush at being pointed towards his appearance. Certainly…it hadn’t been true? She couldn’t be infatuated with him! ‘What is this? She’s known me little more than a week…’ Sesshomaru continued to watch her, pondering…but Kagome didn’t want to let him alone now. “WHAT?!” she shouted suddenly. Sesshomaru very nearly jumped in surprise as Kagome glared at him for all she was worth.

“…” He looked off to the side at Naraku, who was receiving the bare minimum of his “attackers’” attention. Sango and Inuyasha were only half-fighting the guy; the other half of their efforts were obviously turned to Kagome and himself. “Why are you shouting? You’re distracting our friends.” Whoops. That slipped.

“I’m shouting because you’re giving me that weird look again!” Sesshomaru was so thankful that she’d overlooked his usage of the word ‘friends,’ that he virtually forgot to pay mind to what she was saying. He’d caught it well enough, though.

“I’m giving you a weird look?! I’ve been getting nothing but weird looks from you from the very start of all this!”

“Oh, really? Name one time! I can name fifty!”

“How about after you woke up in my castle, huh? How about that time when you were talking to the doll Rin made you? How about everything you said at that campfire when I brought Kaede up to take care of you? That smile when you realized I’d left my mokomoko around you as you slept? Should I go on?” Kagome was in a near-daze, it seemed, as Sesshomaru watched her face form various looks of understanding as she visited each memory. Then she snapped back to herself.

“Well, how about you when I was having trouble walking that first day, looking for Rin? How about the look you gave me when Rin joined our hands together? And after Kanna…” she trailed off, looking thoughtful. “And after I got so upset over Kanna killing you like that…” Her face formed a peaceful, almost vacant look before warming into a smile.

“You’re doing it again,” Sesshomaru deadpanned. Kagome came back to herself and smiled at him.

“We’re friends whether you like it or not.” She stepped up to him and put a hand to his blank face. She smiled warmly. “Now, let’s get going.”

“Get going where?” he said defiantly. He knew she was talking about the plan from earlier, but he also knew that he’d made up his mind against it.

“Look, it has to be done and it has to be done by me. It’s too dangerous for demons like you and Inuyasha and it’s too deadly for humans like Sango or Miroku. It has to be me.”

“No.”

“Why not?” She seemed to consider this herself for a moment. Then, more thoughtfully, “No, really, why did you call it off to begin with?” Sesshomaru turned to look at her. This was it. He was right on the same path as his father now. There were forks in the road every two feet, but he kept going straight. So many chances to avoid this mistake and he was, like his father, choosing to bring destruction upon himself…

“Because, I…” He could stop himself now. He knew he could. He just had to say something – anything - noncommittal. “Because, I didn’t want to place my friend in danger.” Kagome looked surprised for a moment, then overjoyed.

“Sesshomaru!” she shouted. Then she was latched to his midsection, squeezing him with more strength than he thought possible from her tiny form.

“What…why are you so happy for?” He didn’t see it. They were friends. Okay. It wasn’t like they’d defeated Naraku or achieved world peace or something! But she was still so happy… He reached down and rested his hand on her head, a smile creeping into his immovable features.

When she’d dislodged herself, she looked up at him with solid determination.

“Let’s fight.” He looked at her uneasily. Then,

“You trust me?” He offered her his hand for a second time. She smiled, the sincerity clear in her voice as she said,

“With my life.”