InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sesshoumaru's Flame ❯ The First Night Home ( Chapter 6 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Water Sprite 
Kagome has to get used to Sesshoumaru's way of living... and InuYasha and Kouga have to get it together period.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.10.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.6K | Visits: 1.6K | Status: Completed
Kagome has to get used to Sesshoumaru's way of living... and InuYasha and Kouga have to get it together period.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.10.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.6K | Visits: 1.6K | Status: Completed
A/N: Before we start I'd like to apologize for the inordinately large amount of time that it took for me to post this chapter. It's been a long holiday season that lasted long after the actual season was over... Oh well, it's over and I am now able to post my chapter... Happy, happy, joy, joy!!! ^-^ Please enjoy...
Disclaimer: Hello there! This is Agent Hyatt (mah real code name... my other one is Condor Butterfly ^_^) reporting, and by Il Palazzo's orders Hyatt regrets to inform you that Operation Takeover Viz and Steal all Characters of Our Pleasing (AKA Operation TVASACOOP) has failed. We still only own our little basement here.
No it isn't Ha-chan! *Excel has suddenly burst into Hyatt's fic... this can't be good -_-V* This is Across HQ and that *points to Il Palazzo-sama's Lazy Boy* is THE chair... *DROOL*
This fic's experiment... failed... horribly.
...I don't own Excel Saga either... or their basement... I have an attic though!
Chapter Five- The First Night Home
Kagome stood there, wondering what she was supposed to do, as she watched the shadow of the intimidating taiyoukai retreat behind the rice paper. All she was able to do was stand in the same spot staring at the remnants of the shadow as it completely disappeared. She didn't move, there really was nothing for her to do until someone came to show her around, and since she had nothing to do her thoughts returned to the youkai lord. Thoughts of grace, poise, and perfection raced through her mind (unwillingly might one add) when she heard a loud thump right outside the door.
"D**n, what the-" was all she heard as the voice lowered into mumbles that were obviously curses directed at what ever had tripped him-- she had already recognized the voice as Sesshoumaru's-- be it the ground or merely his own two feet. The next audible thing that came to her was the sound of claws being dug into the floor and something substantial being drug across it. A slight clamoring noise could be heard and soon the same shadow that had been there moments before was back again. The door slowly slid open and Sesshoumaru looked at Kagome.
"On second thought, perhaps I shall give you a personal tour," he stated without any voice infliction what so ever as he slid the door shut behind him. He walked passed her, obviously intending that she follow him, though she didn't. Turning he looked to her, "Are you coming?" She nodded and came to his side to follow his lead.
He brought her passed certain things, each with a small narration-- she caught none of it, but was still able to smile and nod at the right times, this was sufficient for Sesshoumaru. They finally came to a door, Sesshoumaru slid it open and walked inside, feeling a bit timid Kagome merely peered in through the door way. Stunned at what she saw, all she was able to do was gasp. It was a room, not a closet, a full fledged room, full of kimono and other various articles of extremely beautiful clothing. Flowing reds and whites mostly, also a lot of purples and yellows, they were very popular colors for the people that resided on the lands it seemed. She had spied several servants wearing the exact same colors.
Her thoughts turned again to the room before her as she noticed that Sesshoumaru was no longer visible. Slowly entering the room she looked around, attempting vainly to find her guide, when he appeared suddenly out of nowhere holding the most beautiful kimono she had ever seen. It was an astounding mix of deep purple and the darkest blue, with small amounts of wine red shot through every so often, it looked like the later end of a sunset. He held it up for her to see, as though showing it off.
"They were my mother's," he stated simply with a wide sweep of his arm, motioning towards the rest of the room also. "You may use any of them that you wish. I have no use for them myself, so they will be your wardrobe during your stay." With that he handed her the outfit that he was holding and exited the room, Kagome hurried to catch up, though there was quite a bit of cloth in her arms.
He led her to another room, this time though, he did not enter it. Instead he merely held the door open and motioned for Kagome to go in. 'I don't know what to expect from him anymore. Do I go in or what?' She silently decided to stay where she was and await some sort of response, which didn't take too long.
"What is it, miko?" he asked a bit irritably.
"Well, it's just that I really don't know what's- well, you know, I don't know what to-"
"You don't trust me, is this what you are getting at?" he looked at her, his eyebrow raised only a little higher than usual. Kagome was silent and Sesshoumaru sighed, "Think, would I have actually brought you this far, would I have gone to all the trouble of transporting you, would I have done any of this-- just so I could kill you in some obscure room of my house? It is an utterly absurd thought, I wouldn't have the servants waste their time cleaning up your blood when they have other, more important things to do."
Kagome glared at the cocky demon and looked into the room that he was showing her into, it was a washroom. She could take a bath!! An honest to goodness bath!! She turned her head so that her eyes could bore into his, although his happened to be glimmering with amusement at seeing her eat her own thoughts, even privately. "Just so you know, I'm beyond clumsy, if I'm not careful, you might just find blood on your floor anyway," she stated and twirled into the room, nearly closing the door behind her but poking her head out a bit before doing so. "Hey, and no peeking." Sesshoumaru merely scoffed at the command and muttered something about having no reason to. 'Amazing,' Kagome thought dryly, 'I think I've heard that one before,' she thought as she proceeded into the room to bathe.
Sesshoumaru watched her disappear behind the door and was relatively relived when he realized that there was very little chance of any shooting pains because the wash room was extremely small. Taking advantage of the moment alone, he wandered to the table in the middle of the room. As he sat down his thoughts went to the girl in the next room-- though that was not exactly where he had wanted them to go. He was in the middle of pondering sleeping arrangements, though this did not seem to be going very easily considering she /was/ naked in the next room and he /was/ very aware of the fact, when he heard an ear piercing scream and caught the scent of smoke. He was up in no time flat and in the washroom the next moment.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" Kagome was opposite the blaze in the room as it slowly crept towards her (a/n: just so ya know, I am very aware that the fire started in the bathroom where there happens to be a lot of water... please just bear with me... tee-hee, it is kinda ironic though ^-^). Sesshoumaru quickly grabbed the nearest pale of water and doused the fire, effectively smothering it.
He stood there for a moment staring at where the flame had been and let out an exaggerated sigh stating "My guest is a pyromaniac." It seemed though, that breaking the silence was not the best choice that Sesshoumaru could have made, for as soon as he had, Kagome was snapped from the trance she had been in.
"What are you doing in here? There's no reason for you to be here, now get out!" she promptly grabbed a towel to cover her nude frame, fortunately for Sesshoumaru-- or unfortunately, depending on which way one looks at these things-- she was not too quick in finding it. He was able to catch a glimpse of nearly all that she had to offer. Cocking his head to the side unconsciously didn't help much either, because as soon as Kagome saw him doing it the towel was wrapped and tucked immediately and she was behind him pushing as hard as she could to get him out into the main room. "Thank you for the help, but I don't need it any more so GET OUT!!!"
He stilled her movements by turning around and getting a hold on her wrists. "How did this happen?" he asked calmly.
"This really does not seem like the time or the place that I really want to talk about this, so here's what's gonna happen. First you're going to let go of me," she glared pointedly at his hands. Upon seeing a familiar spark in her eyes he promptly dropped them. She continued as soon as he did so, "Second, it can wait for a few minutes. I was done anyway, just let me get dressed."
Sesshoumaru nodded at this and said, "You may have a moment to collect-" he took a second to look her up and down, "your clothing, I suppose, is most needed. But as soon as you are through, we will speak of this matter." This all came out very sternly, and the look that she was given only served to back the great lord up-- so Kagome huffed and slammed the door in his face. The sharp snap was the cue for him to break from his regular unmoving visage. Covering his mouth with a striped hand, he stifled a chuckle that had been threatening to burst forth from the moment that he had realized what had happened. 'I made her angry with my comment about not having a reason to peek at her,' the low bass chuckle continued to bubble up from deep within his chest until he heard Kagome approach the door, in which case, he put an immediate stop to the laughter. When he turned, his face was as stoic as ever... excluding his eyes.
Kagome was able to see that he had been quite amused by something, she easily guessed at the cause. Leaning in the doorway she raised an eyebrow in Sesshoumaru's direction, he merely stared back. "Something funny? Is it anything that you'd wanna let me in on?" she asked dryly.
'Not a chance, miko' were Sesshoumaru's thoughts as his eyes glimmered with the amusement that he was experiencing, but all he said aloud was, "Sit, we need to speak of this matter."
She approached the table that Sesshoumaru had seated himself by and took her own seat right across from him. She continued to look at him as she would her grandfather when he had decided to tell her some story about a random "authentic/replica" antique as she set her elbows on the table and set her face in her hands. Sesshoumaru mentally scoffed at the look but in the back of his mind he was grateful that it was not, instead, the gaze that was forcing them to have a conversation that was necessary so immediately.
"So, whatchya wanna know," Kagome asked lazily, she really didn't fit the image that the kimono she was presently in was supposed to give.
Ignoring the obvious attempt to annoy him, he answered, "I need to know if you can learn to control your kabalistic urges, I don't think that they are any better than the blood that was mentioned earlier." He was, of course, referring to the damage that could be done to the house.
Kagome caught this instantly, she her temper flared (ah-ha, please excuse the pun... ^_^V gomen ne). Who was he to tell her that she needed to learn to control something that she hadn't even been aware of until so recently? "Please forgive my inability to control this, it has only been a few days though, surely you understand," she was really trying hard to control her anger.
Sesshoumaru merely looked at her with stern eyes, any trace of entertainment gone-- and it obviously was not going to come back soon. "I believe you should begin to practice controlling your anger then. It seems to be a skill that will be required later on at the very least. Of course now would indeed be appreciated," he leaned his own elbow onto the tabletop, setting his face into his palm, raising his own brow.
"It does sound like something I will need in the future," Kagome began, her anger had not subsided at all, and Sesshoumaru was doing nothing at all to help it either. To vent a bit she added with a broad smile, "Of course we can't all be quite as cold and unmoving as you, Lord Sesshoumaru."
"True, true," he said closing his eyes and shaking his head, hands now gone from the table top and in his lap. "Humans do seem to have difficulty controlling their emotions, don't they," his eyes now on hers. He knew it was meant to be a jab at him, and he couldn't help but to antagonize her just a bit.
Kagome's eyebrow had begun to twitch a bit in frustration as a scowl replaced her previous smile. 'He's really starting to tick me off,' she thought angrily. At that precise moment a small spark lit under the leg of the table that was at Sesshoumaru's right. Seeing that this had started a tiny fire, he quickly patted the flame out of existence.
"That is all the answer I require. Come along, it is time for dinner, we will finish fixing this later," Sesshoumaru stood and began to walk from the room. Only when he got to the door did he realize that Kagome was not following him. He mentally rolled his eyes, but went back to retrieve her. Holding his hand out impatiently was all that was going to happen of course. When she didn't make a move to take his hand or to get up he sighed, "You do realize that I can go without nourishment for sometime, you on the other hand would do well to eat something other than whatever it is that you keep pulling from your pocket. Something that smells so unappetizing and looks even worse than that cannot be healthy for you."
Kagome glared at him and shouted, "They're called power bars and they have the same nutrients as one square meal! They happen to be just fine!" She was breathing heavily, it seemed that he had made her angrier than he had originally intended, he didn't wish for his entire house to become one giant bonfire. "I could live off of those things if I needed to!" she yelled, jumping from her sitting position. Sesshoumaru decided that it would be better for him not to respond to her, knowing that anything coming from him would only prove to make things worse. Instead, he just watched her twirl on her heel and disappear into the washroom once again.
Kagome snatched up her folded and soaked uniform and began to rummage through the pockets in her skirt. "Ah-ha! Here it is!" she came out holding a power bar in her hands victoriously. "And there's plenty more where that came from, heh." She unwrapped her spoils and took a large bite, and promptly began to gag. "Mmmm, peanu-cough-t butter and cho-gag-colate chips," she swallowed what she could, "my favorite." She tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace instead. 'Man, what I wouldn't give for a tall glass of water and some real food right now,' she thought whilst attempting to get the rest of her bite down.
Sesshoumaru leaned back against the wall right next to the door and smirked, "Well then, I suppose you shan't want this." Sliding the door open, he let the sweet smells of the dinner that awaited them come floating into the room, filling it with the pleasant aroma of real food. Kagome could feel her body begin to instantly react, she was, in short, salivating. The taiyoukai nearly laughed aloud when he heard Kagome's stomach begin to complain about the quality of food that it had been receiving. "But then again, you have your--" he stopped a moment to try to remember what she had referred to her meal as. "You have your 'power bar.' Mmm, and it does indeed smell delicious," he scrunched his nose as he said this sarcastically.
Looking down at the bar of evil in her hand (she had so deemed it as soon as the heavenly smells of dinner came wafting in through the door) she unconsciously sniffed at it a bit. 'Whew, these really do smell pretty rancid,' she sighed to herself, and admitting defeat she set the power bar on the table and walked to the door. "I will eat dinner with you, so as not to disappoint Rin. She will be joining us, won't she?" Sesshoumaru nodded in response and led her down to the dining room.
~*~ (Meanwhile, back at the ranch... sorry, couldn't help mahself...)
"InuYasha, over here, I think I found something. Get over here, quick!" InuYasha and Kouga hadn't exactly reached an agreement over where to start, they had instead just compromised to the fact that it had to start somewhere, anywhere, just so long as they started.
"Really?! Where?" InuYasha came up behind the wolf demon, anxiously shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"Calm down, it's up there," Kouga said pointing to a tree.
InuYasha looked Kouga up and down incredulously, "What are you talking about? She marked a tree?"
"No you stupid mutt! I mean that her scent is coming from that tree, and not that kind of scent!"
"Well what part of the tree does it seem like it's comin' from?" InuYasha questioned.
"I can't really tell, you're gonna have to climb it until you find the exact point though," Kouga just looked up to the tree that they had been standing in front of as though searching for something at the top.
"Whaddaya mean 'you're gonna have to climb it?' I don't think so, you're the one who said that you could smell it, meaning you're the one who's gonna do any climbin' that has to be done," InuYasha snapped. Sure he was used to sleeping in trees, jumping from this one to that to get somewhere, and even just taking refuge in them, but-- well this was one heck of a good sized tree.
"Fine then, if you're too afraid to climb one silly little tree then-"
Kouga was cut off by InuYasha yelling in his own defense, "I'm not scared of a tree, stupid." Then of course he realized that it really didn't matter what Kouga thought-- he was just a half-witted wolf after all. "Whatever, you can think what you want, ya idjit, just climb the d**n tree already."
Kouga muttered a few curses under his breath before looking to see exactly where the first branch was located, "Aww s**t, you've got to be kidding me. Hey, dog-turd, get over here and give me a boost."
"Wha-?? You want me to what?!" InuYasha asked incredulously.
"I said give me a boost! Are you deaf or what? Gah, I'm surrounded by idiots," Kouga said as he approached the formidable tree. Looking behind him he questioned the hanyou, "Ya gonna help me or what?"
"I-I think that you could get up there yourself, I mean, ya gonna let a little ol' tree get the best of ya?"
"Don't get smart with me, puppy, I used that one on you just a second ago and it didn't work. You think that I'm gonna fall for my own trick? Now get over here before I pound ya down just enough to use you as a foot stool," Kouga replied.
"Grrr, fine, you get your wish," InuYasha stomped up behind the wolf demon and lowered himself enough to let him step into his hands.
"Woah, steady yourself ya maniac!" Kouga complained loudly as he began to hoist himself to the tree trunk.
"Just shut up and finish what you gotta do!" InuYasha reprimanded.
"Yah, yah, whatever, you just hold still!"
~*~
Kagome sat herself at the table that was nearly bowed in the middle from the enormous amount of food that graced it. Her eyes grew at the sight-- so did her appetite. She was able to tear her transfixed gaze from the mouth watering food to see her host taking a seat directly to her right.
"Wow, this looks amazing! You must be blessed with amazing cooks," Kagome commented.
"Yes, they are indeed amazing," he turned to a corner of the room and began to address it. "Jaken, why is Rin not present?"
Out of the shadows came a green wrinkled mass of what could be perceived as flesh, it even had the ability to speak, "Well mi Lord, I believe Rin is still playing in the gardens, shall I go fetch her for you?"
"Weren't you already supposed to have done that? Really, you become more and more worthless everyday," Sesshoumaru stated casually.
"Forgive me Lord Sesshoumaru, I will do so right away," Jaken squeaked and scurried off.
"Yes, you do that. One of these days I will finally be rid of him," Sesshoumaru mumbled under his breath.
"Well that's a tad bit rude if you ask me!" Kagome exclaimed as she watched the pitiful creature hobble off.
"Fortunately, I didn't ask you. Personally, I feel that it was quite warranted, and if you think hard enough, I'm sure you will too," he stated with an air of truthfulness.
"What are you talking about? It doesn't really matter what he's done, no one deserves to be treated like that," she countered with defiance.
"Hmm, if you insist. Of course he was the one who came up with the scheme to have an impersonation of InuYasha's mother, and he was the one you yourself called a 'little bastard' if I remember correctly."
"You mean that, /he/" she pointed towards where the toad-like man had exited, "is the same thing that you seem to drag everywhere with you?"
"Well I don't really drag him with me, he just sort of follows me wherever I go, but in any event, yes, they are one in the same."
"Oh, well then, open mouth and firmly insert foot, right?" she chuckled a bit.
"I suppose so, but then agai-" Sesshoumaru was interrupted by flying ball of energy plopping itself in Rin's spot at the table. As soon as the blur had subsided Rin could be seen making herself comfortable on her little mat.
"Hi Kagome-chan! How are you? Are you having fun here? Just tell me if you aren't. I know that, even though he tries real hard sometimes, he's not very entertaining. But Rin loves him anyway! Doesn't Kagome-chan? Anyway, Rin really wants Kagome-chan to have fun here so that she'll stay longer! Kagome-chan wants to stay, right?" this was where the child finally stopped to breathe, and let Kagome answer any of the numerous questions that she had asked. Luckily, Sesshoumaru saved her from having to do so.
"I believe that it is time to eat," Sesshoumaru interjected.
Kagome nodded as they all said in unison, "Thank you for this food," and began to eat.
Mid-way through the nearly silent meal-- Rin didn't seem to be very talkative as long as she had food in her mouth-- Sesshoumaru addressed Kagome. She looked to him and waited for him to continue.
"You do remember the talk that we had before coming down to dinner, do you not?"
Kagome nodded again, "Good, I believe that I have a temporary solution to our little problem."
"And what would that be?" Kagome questioned.
"From here on out, you shall carry a bucket of water with you everywhere we go until you are able to master your powers, do I make myself clear?"
Kagome looked at the demon lord with eyes the size of dinner platters, "You're kidding, right?"
"No, I happen to be very serious about this. If a fire were to get out of hand many things could go wrong," Sesshoumaru pointed out.
"Yah, I'm sorry if I burnt a bit of your house, but isn't this a bit extreme? I mean you're gonna be right next to me everywhere I go, you said so yourself, so can't you carry the bucket? And I'm really serious, I do not think that this is something that we really need to do!"
"I for one, do. I will take any precautions I deem necessary to protect my lands and my Rin," Sesshoumaru said, completely deadpan.
At the mention of her name, Rin stopped shoveling food into her mouth long enough to see if the grown-ups were talking to her or about her. When they didn't seem to request her attention again she continued to shove soba noodles into her already stuffed cheeks.
Kagome was in shock when she heard Sesshoumaru, Mr. Endearment himself, call Rin his. It was really kind of sweet. She smiled at the mere thought of Sesshoumaru being even close to what anyone could call "cute" and picked up another bite of food.
Through out the entire meal Sesshoumaru just sat at the table and observed the two girls eating. He did not need to partake of human food, but he did enjoy the smell of it. He went from watching Rin eat, shoving as much food as she was able into her mouth, and swallowing it, sometimes forgetting to chew in between the two steps. He then turned to view Kagome, who, strangely enough, was eating exactly like Rin was. Setting his elbow on the table and laying his head into it, he watched Kagome shove the food into her mouth at breakneck speed. She gagged a bit and went to take a drink of her tea, Sesshoumaru couldn't help but laugh, as inaudible as it was, Kagome caught it. She chugged a glass of tea to help her swallow what was in her mouth-- and partly her throat-- and looked at him questioningly.
"Is there something wrong?"
Sesshoumaru continued to laugh but shook his head; his hand now instead of holding his head up was covering his mouth to hold his laughter in. The girl was just too much, first she forces herself to eat something that looked like the neighbor's dog had puked up, and then she proceeds to attempt to choke herself to death with actual food. He wondered where she would go from here.
"Well if you're laughing at my table etiquette, I defend myself by saying that this truly is the best food I've had in ages," she said haughtily, even though the statement didn't call for haughtiness at all.
He continued to laugh, Kagome looked as though she were about to chew Sesshoumaru's head off, of course that would involve chewing, which didn't exactly seem like her forte today. This was all stopped when they heard a small yawn come from the opposite side of the table.
Rin rubbed her eyes and started to jump up and down on her knees, although this was seriously lacking in energy, and began to chant with attempted zeal, "Bedtime, bedtime, bedtime! It's bedtime for Rin!"
Sesshoumaru turned an adoring smile to the little girl and rose to take her to bed, Kagome followed suit since she had been told not to leave his side, sure, he had been nearly civil this entire time, but she wasn't about to start pushing her luck too far. Before she knew it Sesshoumaru had taken Rin into his arms and was carrying her to her room. Also in the blink of an eye a maid was at her side with a bucket of water, she nearly growled at the woman before snatching it away from her. She proceeded to walk to the room with Rin and Sesshoumaru.
About a mile later-- or so Kagome estimated-- Rin was tucked in. Sesshoumaru was done with his little smile and turned to face Kagome. "Follow me," was mouthed before quickly exiting the room. Kagome rolled her eyes, isn't that exactly what she had been doing?
They were back at the room that she had previously been told that she would be staying in... with Sesshoumaru. Oddly enough, as long as it seemed to take to get to Rin's room, this room was placed a mere three doors down from it. Kagome nearly laughed at how sentimental it all seemed to her, but she was caught by a pair of piercing golden eyes before she was even able to react.
"You will rest now, I'll set out the futon," with that he turned and set to his own task. As he went about his chore Kagome noticed that it looked as though he was only setting out one place to sleep. She had taken a breath to ask about it when he said while laying everything out, "You will sleep here, do not fret, I will be elsewhere in the room."
'Well at least that's settled,' she thought as she headed towards the closet that had been shown to her earlier. She pulled off the kimono she had on and pulled on a silken sleeping gown, which fit like a glove, much to her liking.
As Kagome waked out she immediately looked to where Sesshoumaru had been working on laying out a place for her to sleep-- he wasn't there. She had to let her eyes stray about four feet to the left, and sure enough there he was, sitting in the corner of the room, eyes closed and head bowed as though he were already fast asleep. Of course, Kagome knew better, there was no way that Sesshoumaru was asleep, not only because that was way too fast, but because she doubted the guy even slept.
Stifling an exaggerated yawn, Kagome headed to lie down and get some well deserved rest. As soon as she had gotten comfortable there was a knock at the door. Giving no time for either of them to answer it, the door swung open to reveal a very sleepy looking Rin.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, Kagome-chan, Rin had a nightmare, could Rin sleep with you guys tonight?" Rin rubbed her eyes incessantly as she entered the room not waiting for an invitation (phth, as though she really needed one! Who could resist a face like that?!). She took a spot by Kagome and snuggled as close as she was able. As every one settled back into their comfortable positions all was silent- for about three seconds.
Sesshoumaru-sama? Why aren't you sleeping under the covers with us? Rin asked innocently.
Sesshoumaru's eyes flew open and Kagome began to giggle a little hiding her head under the covers. "W-well, Rin I-I," Sesshoumaru struggled to give the child an answer that would appease her. "I was, well- I was keeping an eye open for any dangers," he said saying the first thing that came to mind.
"But Sesshoumaru-sama's eyes were closed when Rin walked in, plus Sesshoumaru-sama just got back from a trip, he's probably tired," Rin stated very matter-of-factly for a child of her age, but then proceeded to add, "and Rin wants to sleep next to both Sesshoumaru-sama and Kagome-chan! Please Sesshoumaru-sama? Please?"
Being the strong and unmovable youkai he was-- he melted at the sight of Rin's doleful puppy-dog look and sweet demeanor and moved to crawl under the covers with them, right next to Rin of course. "Yay!!" Rin exclaimed excitedly, "Sesshoumaru-sama's gonna sleep with us!!" Within seconds soft even breathing could be heard coming from the little girl signaling the deep peaceful slumber that she was currently experiencing .
This particular sound seemed to be a lullaby to the demon lord, and accompanied by Kagome's soothing scent he found himself unable to stay awake amidst the comfortable surroundings. As his eyes fluttered shut for the night Rin began to snuggle a little closer to him, and he fell asleep contentedly, his arms embracing his little savior.
~*~(Not long before dawn)
Sesshoumaru found himself a little colder than he had been the rest of the night, and being half awake it took him awhile to figure out that it was because of a sudden loss of body heat from his human space heater. He felt more heat emanating from the body next to him, the sound of the soft even breathing that had lulled him to sleep that night pulling him ever closer. He once again embraced the tiny waist and pulled her into him, fitting so perfectly next to his chest. He inhaled the wonderful scent of his dear Rin and his eyes shot open-- this was not Rin.
"Um, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Kagome said, a little timidly, " Do you think that you could let me go? I mean this is a little sudden, don't ya think?"
Sesshoumaru's mind raced, and the only thing that he could come up with was 'Oh, s**t.'
~*~
"Aww man! Kouga, why the heck do ya wear a skirt anyway? That's just way beyond wrong!" InuYasha complained to the wolf demon presently standing on his shoulders, attempting to reach the first branch on the tree.
"Well if there's somethin' there that you don't wanna see, don't look!" Kouga shot back.
"How could I not? Your on freakin' top of me, man, I think I've been scarred for life!! Just get up there, will ya? My shoulders are killin' me! You're not as light as you think you are."
"It's all muscle, it's all muscle..." Kouga said absent mindedly trying to figure a way up.
"Yah, well it could be a thousand cups of ramen for all I care, I just don't wanna hold it anymore (although we all know that he would if it had actually been ramen)," InuYasha whined as he dropped Kouga, who landed firmly on his butt (or was it on his firm butt?? Sorry, couldn't help mahself >_<).
"OWCH! What the h**l was that for dog-turd? And what the h**l is ramen?" Kouga asked as he rubbed his sore backside.
"Forget about the ramen and face the facts, you can't get up there by climbing on me, so we gotta find another way up!"
"Yah, your right."
"I-I am?" InuYasha was stunned at the confession. That was until his ego realized it, "Yah, well, when you're right, you're right," he said confidently crossing his arms and giving an all knowing nod of his head.
" Awe , get over yourself, once does not make a habit. Now let's see about this- Ah-ha!" Kouga had an idea, and it had only taken the two of them the better part of a day to come up with something that might actually work!
"What is it?" InuYasha asked, curious to know what the wolf had in mind.
"Just stand back and observe the master at work," Kouga said backing away from the tree. When he figured that he was far enough away he began to run towards it, picking up enough speed to run up to the top.
InuYasha smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand, why hadn't they figured that out sooner?
"Hey, dork! I got somethin'! There's that other scent up here too, it's like they brushed the tip of this tree. By any chance can your brother take to the air?"
"Crap, he did take her," InuYasha muttered under his breath.
"Oy, I heard that! Did you already have an idea of who might have her?! You idiot!! That could have saved us so much time! When I get down there I'm gonna pound you into the ground!" Kouga yelled down to InuYasha.
He just smirked up and said in his cockiest tone, "Okay then, why don't ya get down from there and pound me?"
Kouga looked around him as he grasped the tree, "How am I supposed to get down?" he asked himself. "Hey, why don't ya help me get down? You helped get me up here, you can help me get down! Hey, don't just stand there and laugh! Get me down!"
"Not if my life depended on it," InuYasha said with an evil chuckle.
All of this was viewed by a certain monk, who, after seeing such a scene, had deemed the search and rescue mission, a total failure before it had even started. "Oh well, time to go see what the village girls are up to..."
~*~
A/N: Okay, so it started out a little slow but my sister seemed to really like it by the end (she was attempting to glomp me saying that I had to start the next chapter immediately -- even though it was like three in the morning. Don't worry, I did ^_^).
I know there are some people out there who don't actually read these little notes, so I'll just inform those of you who do! Okay, so after further review by people who didn't actually read this but have heard the basic story line so far, it has been decided that the InuYasha Kikyou thing was just /way/ to freakin' cliché . So after much deliberation (which lasted all of three seconds) it was decided that it was time to throw Kouga and InuYasha together... what do you guys think? I wanna know, 'cause hey, face it, why the heck should I listen to them? They're my friends, psh, yah right...(^_^ teehee). Anywho, you can tell me in the review that you were just about to write... right? Of COURSE you were just about to write a review, why wouldn't you? Seriously people, it takes a total of five seconds, so...DO IT!!!!!!
Thank you for reading the fic so far, I'll have the next chapter posted as soon as I'm able. If we're lucky, it'll take a lot less time than this one did. Reviewers will be personally thanked in the next chapter!!
Disclaimer: Hello there! This is Agent Hyatt (mah real code name... my other one is Condor Butterfly ^_^) reporting, and by Il Palazzo's orders Hyatt regrets to inform you that Operation Takeover Viz and Steal all Characters of Our Pleasing (AKA Operation TVASACOOP) has failed. We still only own our little basement here.
No it isn't Ha-chan! *Excel has suddenly burst into Hyatt's fic... this can't be good -_-V* This is Across HQ and that *points to Il Palazzo-sama's Lazy Boy* is THE chair... *DROOL*
This fic's experiment... failed... horribly.
...I don't own Excel Saga either... or their basement... I have an attic though!
Chapter Five- The First Night Home
Kagome stood there, wondering what she was supposed to do, as she watched the shadow of the intimidating taiyoukai retreat behind the rice paper. All she was able to do was stand in the same spot staring at the remnants of the shadow as it completely disappeared. She didn't move, there really was nothing for her to do until someone came to show her around, and since she had nothing to do her thoughts returned to the youkai lord. Thoughts of grace, poise, and perfection raced through her mind (unwillingly might one add) when she heard a loud thump right outside the door.
"D**n, what the-" was all she heard as the voice lowered into mumbles that were obviously curses directed at what ever had tripped him-- she had already recognized the voice as Sesshoumaru's-- be it the ground or merely his own two feet. The next audible thing that came to her was the sound of claws being dug into the floor and something substantial being drug across it. A slight clamoring noise could be heard and soon the same shadow that had been there moments before was back again. The door slowly slid open and Sesshoumaru looked at Kagome.
"On second thought, perhaps I shall give you a personal tour," he stated without any voice infliction what so ever as he slid the door shut behind him. He walked passed her, obviously intending that she follow him, though she didn't. Turning he looked to her, "Are you coming?" She nodded and came to his side to follow his lead.
He brought her passed certain things, each with a small narration-- she caught none of it, but was still able to smile and nod at the right times, this was sufficient for Sesshoumaru. They finally came to a door, Sesshoumaru slid it open and walked inside, feeling a bit timid Kagome merely peered in through the door way. Stunned at what she saw, all she was able to do was gasp. It was a room, not a closet, a full fledged room, full of kimono and other various articles of extremely beautiful clothing. Flowing reds and whites mostly, also a lot of purples and yellows, they were very popular colors for the people that resided on the lands it seemed. She had spied several servants wearing the exact same colors.
Her thoughts turned again to the room before her as she noticed that Sesshoumaru was no longer visible. Slowly entering the room she looked around, attempting vainly to find her guide, when he appeared suddenly out of nowhere holding the most beautiful kimono she had ever seen. It was an astounding mix of deep purple and the darkest blue, with small amounts of wine red shot through every so often, it looked like the later end of a sunset. He held it up for her to see, as though showing it off.
"They were my mother's," he stated simply with a wide sweep of his arm, motioning towards the rest of the room also. "You may use any of them that you wish. I have no use for them myself, so they will be your wardrobe during your stay." With that he handed her the outfit that he was holding and exited the room, Kagome hurried to catch up, though there was quite a bit of cloth in her arms.
He led her to another room, this time though, he did not enter it. Instead he merely held the door open and motioned for Kagome to go in. 'I don't know what to expect from him anymore. Do I go in or what?' She silently decided to stay where she was and await some sort of response, which didn't take too long.
"What is it, miko?" he asked a bit irritably.
"Well, it's just that I really don't know what's- well, you know, I don't know what to-"
"You don't trust me, is this what you are getting at?" he looked at her, his eyebrow raised only a little higher than usual. Kagome was silent and Sesshoumaru sighed, "Think, would I have actually brought you this far, would I have gone to all the trouble of transporting you, would I have done any of this-- just so I could kill you in some obscure room of my house? It is an utterly absurd thought, I wouldn't have the servants waste their time cleaning up your blood when they have other, more important things to do."
Kagome glared at the cocky demon and looked into the room that he was showing her into, it was a washroom. She could take a bath!! An honest to goodness bath!! She turned her head so that her eyes could bore into his, although his happened to be glimmering with amusement at seeing her eat her own thoughts, even privately. "Just so you know, I'm beyond clumsy, if I'm not careful, you might just find blood on your floor anyway," she stated and twirled into the room, nearly closing the door behind her but poking her head out a bit before doing so. "Hey, and no peeking." Sesshoumaru merely scoffed at the command and muttered something about having no reason to. 'Amazing,' Kagome thought dryly, 'I think I've heard that one before,' she thought as she proceeded into the room to bathe.
Sesshoumaru watched her disappear behind the door and was relatively relived when he realized that there was very little chance of any shooting pains because the wash room was extremely small. Taking advantage of the moment alone, he wandered to the table in the middle of the room. As he sat down his thoughts went to the girl in the next room-- though that was not exactly where he had wanted them to go. He was in the middle of pondering sleeping arrangements, though this did not seem to be going very easily considering she /was/ naked in the next room and he /was/ very aware of the fact, when he heard an ear piercing scream and caught the scent of smoke. He was up in no time flat and in the washroom the next moment.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" Kagome was opposite the blaze in the room as it slowly crept towards her (a/n: just so ya know, I am very aware that the fire started in the bathroom where there happens to be a lot of water... please just bear with me... tee-hee, it is kinda ironic though ^-^). Sesshoumaru quickly grabbed the nearest pale of water and doused the fire, effectively smothering it.
He stood there for a moment staring at where the flame had been and let out an exaggerated sigh stating "My guest is a pyromaniac." It seemed though, that breaking the silence was not the best choice that Sesshoumaru could have made, for as soon as he had, Kagome was snapped from the trance she had been in.
"What are you doing in here? There's no reason for you to be here, now get out!" she promptly grabbed a towel to cover her nude frame, fortunately for Sesshoumaru-- or unfortunately, depending on which way one looks at these things-- she was not too quick in finding it. He was able to catch a glimpse of nearly all that she had to offer. Cocking his head to the side unconsciously didn't help much either, because as soon as Kagome saw him doing it the towel was wrapped and tucked immediately and she was behind him pushing as hard as she could to get him out into the main room. "Thank you for the help, but I don't need it any more so GET OUT!!!"
He stilled her movements by turning around and getting a hold on her wrists. "How did this happen?" he asked calmly.
"This really does not seem like the time or the place that I really want to talk about this, so here's what's gonna happen. First you're going to let go of me," she glared pointedly at his hands. Upon seeing a familiar spark in her eyes he promptly dropped them. She continued as soon as he did so, "Second, it can wait for a few minutes. I was done anyway, just let me get dressed."
Sesshoumaru nodded at this and said, "You may have a moment to collect-" he took a second to look her up and down, "your clothing, I suppose, is most needed. But as soon as you are through, we will speak of this matter." This all came out very sternly, and the look that she was given only served to back the great lord up-- so Kagome huffed and slammed the door in his face. The sharp snap was the cue for him to break from his regular unmoving visage. Covering his mouth with a striped hand, he stifled a chuckle that had been threatening to burst forth from the moment that he had realized what had happened. 'I made her angry with my comment about not having a reason to peek at her,' the low bass chuckle continued to bubble up from deep within his chest until he heard Kagome approach the door, in which case, he put an immediate stop to the laughter. When he turned, his face was as stoic as ever... excluding his eyes.
Kagome was able to see that he had been quite amused by something, she easily guessed at the cause. Leaning in the doorway she raised an eyebrow in Sesshoumaru's direction, he merely stared back. "Something funny? Is it anything that you'd wanna let me in on?" she asked dryly.
'Not a chance, miko' were Sesshoumaru's thoughts as his eyes glimmered with the amusement that he was experiencing, but all he said aloud was, "Sit, we need to speak of this matter."
She approached the table that Sesshoumaru had seated himself by and took her own seat right across from him. She continued to look at him as she would her grandfather when he had decided to tell her some story about a random "authentic/replica" antique as she set her elbows on the table and set her face in her hands. Sesshoumaru mentally scoffed at the look but in the back of his mind he was grateful that it was not, instead, the gaze that was forcing them to have a conversation that was necessary so immediately.
"So, whatchya wanna know," Kagome asked lazily, she really didn't fit the image that the kimono she was presently in was supposed to give.
Ignoring the obvious attempt to annoy him, he answered, "I need to know if you can learn to control your kabalistic urges, I don't think that they are any better than the blood that was mentioned earlier." He was, of course, referring to the damage that could be done to the house.
Kagome caught this instantly, she her temper flared (ah-ha, please excuse the pun... ^_^V gomen ne). Who was he to tell her that she needed to learn to control something that she hadn't even been aware of until so recently? "Please forgive my inability to control this, it has only been a few days though, surely you understand," she was really trying hard to control her anger.
Sesshoumaru merely looked at her with stern eyes, any trace of entertainment gone-- and it obviously was not going to come back soon. "I believe you should begin to practice controlling your anger then. It seems to be a skill that will be required later on at the very least. Of course now would indeed be appreciated," he leaned his own elbow onto the tabletop, setting his face into his palm, raising his own brow.
"It does sound like something I will need in the future," Kagome began, her anger had not subsided at all, and Sesshoumaru was doing nothing at all to help it either. To vent a bit she added with a broad smile, "Of course we can't all be quite as cold and unmoving as you, Lord Sesshoumaru."
"True, true," he said closing his eyes and shaking his head, hands now gone from the table top and in his lap. "Humans do seem to have difficulty controlling their emotions, don't they," his eyes now on hers. He knew it was meant to be a jab at him, and he couldn't help but to antagonize her just a bit.
Kagome's eyebrow had begun to twitch a bit in frustration as a scowl replaced her previous smile. 'He's really starting to tick me off,' she thought angrily. At that precise moment a small spark lit under the leg of the table that was at Sesshoumaru's right. Seeing that this had started a tiny fire, he quickly patted the flame out of existence.
"That is all the answer I require. Come along, it is time for dinner, we will finish fixing this later," Sesshoumaru stood and began to walk from the room. Only when he got to the door did he realize that Kagome was not following him. He mentally rolled his eyes, but went back to retrieve her. Holding his hand out impatiently was all that was going to happen of course. When she didn't make a move to take his hand or to get up he sighed, "You do realize that I can go without nourishment for sometime, you on the other hand would do well to eat something other than whatever it is that you keep pulling from your pocket. Something that smells so unappetizing and looks even worse than that cannot be healthy for you."
Kagome glared at him and shouted, "They're called power bars and they have the same nutrients as one square meal! They happen to be just fine!" She was breathing heavily, it seemed that he had made her angrier than he had originally intended, he didn't wish for his entire house to become one giant bonfire. "I could live off of those things if I needed to!" she yelled, jumping from her sitting position. Sesshoumaru decided that it would be better for him not to respond to her, knowing that anything coming from him would only prove to make things worse. Instead, he just watched her twirl on her heel and disappear into the washroom once again.
Kagome snatched up her folded and soaked uniform and began to rummage through the pockets in her skirt. "Ah-ha! Here it is!" she came out holding a power bar in her hands victoriously. "And there's plenty more where that came from, heh." She unwrapped her spoils and took a large bite, and promptly began to gag. "Mmmm, peanu-cough-t butter and cho-gag-colate chips," she swallowed what she could, "my favorite." She tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace instead. 'Man, what I wouldn't give for a tall glass of water and some real food right now,' she thought whilst attempting to get the rest of her bite down.
Sesshoumaru leaned back against the wall right next to the door and smirked, "Well then, I suppose you shan't want this." Sliding the door open, he let the sweet smells of the dinner that awaited them come floating into the room, filling it with the pleasant aroma of real food. Kagome could feel her body begin to instantly react, she was, in short, salivating. The taiyoukai nearly laughed aloud when he heard Kagome's stomach begin to complain about the quality of food that it had been receiving. "But then again, you have your--" he stopped a moment to try to remember what she had referred to her meal as. "You have your 'power bar.' Mmm, and it does indeed smell delicious," he scrunched his nose as he said this sarcastically.
Looking down at the bar of evil in her hand (she had so deemed it as soon as the heavenly smells of dinner came wafting in through the door) she unconsciously sniffed at it a bit. 'Whew, these really do smell pretty rancid,' she sighed to herself, and admitting defeat she set the power bar on the table and walked to the door. "I will eat dinner with you, so as not to disappoint Rin. She will be joining us, won't she?" Sesshoumaru nodded in response and led her down to the dining room.
~*~ (Meanwhile, back at the ranch... sorry, couldn't help mahself...)
"InuYasha, over here, I think I found something. Get over here, quick!" InuYasha and Kouga hadn't exactly reached an agreement over where to start, they had instead just compromised to the fact that it had to start somewhere, anywhere, just so long as they started.
"Really?! Where?" InuYasha came up behind the wolf demon, anxiously shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"Calm down, it's up there," Kouga said pointing to a tree.
InuYasha looked Kouga up and down incredulously, "What are you talking about? She marked a tree?"
"No you stupid mutt! I mean that her scent is coming from that tree, and not that kind of scent!"
"Well what part of the tree does it seem like it's comin' from?" InuYasha questioned.
"I can't really tell, you're gonna have to climb it until you find the exact point though," Kouga just looked up to the tree that they had been standing in front of as though searching for something at the top.
"Whaddaya mean 'you're gonna have to climb it?' I don't think so, you're the one who said that you could smell it, meaning you're the one who's gonna do any climbin' that has to be done," InuYasha snapped. Sure he was used to sleeping in trees, jumping from this one to that to get somewhere, and even just taking refuge in them, but-- well this was one heck of a good sized tree.
"Fine then, if you're too afraid to climb one silly little tree then-"
Kouga was cut off by InuYasha yelling in his own defense, "I'm not scared of a tree, stupid." Then of course he realized that it really didn't matter what Kouga thought-- he was just a half-witted wolf after all. "Whatever, you can think what you want, ya idjit, just climb the d**n tree already."
Kouga muttered a few curses under his breath before looking to see exactly where the first branch was located, "Aww s**t, you've got to be kidding me. Hey, dog-turd, get over here and give me a boost."
"Wha-?? You want me to what?!" InuYasha asked incredulously.
"I said give me a boost! Are you deaf or what? Gah, I'm surrounded by idiots," Kouga said as he approached the formidable tree. Looking behind him he questioned the hanyou, "Ya gonna help me or what?"
"I-I think that you could get up there yourself, I mean, ya gonna let a little ol' tree get the best of ya?"
"Don't get smart with me, puppy, I used that one on you just a second ago and it didn't work. You think that I'm gonna fall for my own trick? Now get over here before I pound ya down just enough to use you as a foot stool," Kouga replied.
"Grrr, fine, you get your wish," InuYasha stomped up behind the wolf demon and lowered himself enough to let him step into his hands.
"Woah, steady yourself ya maniac!" Kouga complained loudly as he began to hoist himself to the tree trunk.
"Just shut up and finish what you gotta do!" InuYasha reprimanded.
"Yah, yah, whatever, you just hold still!"
~*~
Kagome sat herself at the table that was nearly bowed in the middle from the enormous amount of food that graced it. Her eyes grew at the sight-- so did her appetite. She was able to tear her transfixed gaze from the mouth watering food to see her host taking a seat directly to her right.
"Wow, this looks amazing! You must be blessed with amazing cooks," Kagome commented.
"Yes, they are indeed amazing," he turned to a corner of the room and began to address it. "Jaken, why is Rin not present?"
Out of the shadows came a green wrinkled mass of what could be perceived as flesh, it even had the ability to speak, "Well mi Lord, I believe Rin is still playing in the gardens, shall I go fetch her for you?"
"Weren't you already supposed to have done that? Really, you become more and more worthless everyday," Sesshoumaru stated casually.
"Forgive me Lord Sesshoumaru, I will do so right away," Jaken squeaked and scurried off.
"Yes, you do that. One of these days I will finally be rid of him," Sesshoumaru mumbled under his breath.
"Well that's a tad bit rude if you ask me!" Kagome exclaimed as she watched the pitiful creature hobble off.
"Fortunately, I didn't ask you. Personally, I feel that it was quite warranted, and if you think hard enough, I'm sure you will too," he stated with an air of truthfulness.
"What are you talking about? It doesn't really matter what he's done, no one deserves to be treated like that," she countered with defiance.
"Hmm, if you insist. Of course he was the one who came up with the scheme to have an impersonation of InuYasha's mother, and he was the one you yourself called a 'little bastard' if I remember correctly."
"You mean that, /he/" she pointed towards where the toad-like man had exited, "is the same thing that you seem to drag everywhere with you?"
"Well I don't really drag him with me, he just sort of follows me wherever I go, but in any event, yes, they are one in the same."
"Oh, well then, open mouth and firmly insert foot, right?" she chuckled a bit.
"I suppose so, but then agai-" Sesshoumaru was interrupted by flying ball of energy plopping itself in Rin's spot at the table. As soon as the blur had subsided Rin could be seen making herself comfortable on her little mat.
"Hi Kagome-chan! How are you? Are you having fun here? Just tell me if you aren't. I know that, even though he tries real hard sometimes, he's not very entertaining. But Rin loves him anyway! Doesn't Kagome-chan? Anyway, Rin really wants Kagome-chan to have fun here so that she'll stay longer! Kagome-chan wants to stay, right?" this was where the child finally stopped to breathe, and let Kagome answer any of the numerous questions that she had asked. Luckily, Sesshoumaru saved her from having to do so.
"I believe that it is time to eat," Sesshoumaru interjected.
Kagome nodded as they all said in unison, "Thank you for this food," and began to eat.
Mid-way through the nearly silent meal-- Rin didn't seem to be very talkative as long as she had food in her mouth-- Sesshoumaru addressed Kagome. She looked to him and waited for him to continue.
"You do remember the talk that we had before coming down to dinner, do you not?"
Kagome nodded again, "Good, I believe that I have a temporary solution to our little problem."
"And what would that be?" Kagome questioned.
"From here on out, you shall carry a bucket of water with you everywhere we go until you are able to master your powers, do I make myself clear?"
Kagome looked at the demon lord with eyes the size of dinner platters, "You're kidding, right?"
"No, I happen to be very serious about this. If a fire were to get out of hand many things could go wrong," Sesshoumaru pointed out.
"Yah, I'm sorry if I burnt a bit of your house, but isn't this a bit extreme? I mean you're gonna be right next to me everywhere I go, you said so yourself, so can't you carry the bucket? And I'm really serious, I do not think that this is something that we really need to do!"
"I for one, do. I will take any precautions I deem necessary to protect my lands and my Rin," Sesshoumaru said, completely deadpan.
At the mention of her name, Rin stopped shoveling food into her mouth long enough to see if the grown-ups were talking to her or about her. When they didn't seem to request her attention again she continued to shove soba noodles into her already stuffed cheeks.
Kagome was in shock when she heard Sesshoumaru, Mr. Endearment himself, call Rin his. It was really kind of sweet. She smiled at the mere thought of Sesshoumaru being even close to what anyone could call "cute" and picked up another bite of food.
Through out the entire meal Sesshoumaru just sat at the table and observed the two girls eating. He did not need to partake of human food, but he did enjoy the smell of it. He went from watching Rin eat, shoving as much food as she was able into her mouth, and swallowing it, sometimes forgetting to chew in between the two steps. He then turned to view Kagome, who, strangely enough, was eating exactly like Rin was. Setting his elbow on the table and laying his head into it, he watched Kagome shove the food into her mouth at breakneck speed. She gagged a bit and went to take a drink of her tea, Sesshoumaru couldn't help but laugh, as inaudible as it was, Kagome caught it. She chugged a glass of tea to help her swallow what was in her mouth-- and partly her throat-- and looked at him questioningly.
"Is there something wrong?"
Sesshoumaru continued to laugh but shook his head; his hand now instead of holding his head up was covering his mouth to hold his laughter in. The girl was just too much, first she forces herself to eat something that looked like the neighbor's dog had puked up, and then she proceeds to attempt to choke herself to death with actual food. He wondered where she would go from here.
"Well if you're laughing at my table etiquette, I defend myself by saying that this truly is the best food I've had in ages," she said haughtily, even though the statement didn't call for haughtiness at all.
He continued to laugh, Kagome looked as though she were about to chew Sesshoumaru's head off, of course that would involve chewing, which didn't exactly seem like her forte today. This was all stopped when they heard a small yawn come from the opposite side of the table.
Rin rubbed her eyes and started to jump up and down on her knees, although this was seriously lacking in energy, and began to chant with attempted zeal, "Bedtime, bedtime, bedtime! It's bedtime for Rin!"
Sesshoumaru turned an adoring smile to the little girl and rose to take her to bed, Kagome followed suit since she had been told not to leave his side, sure, he had been nearly civil this entire time, but she wasn't about to start pushing her luck too far. Before she knew it Sesshoumaru had taken Rin into his arms and was carrying her to her room. Also in the blink of an eye a maid was at her side with a bucket of water, she nearly growled at the woman before snatching it away from her. She proceeded to walk to the room with Rin and Sesshoumaru.
About a mile later-- or so Kagome estimated-- Rin was tucked in. Sesshoumaru was done with his little smile and turned to face Kagome. "Follow me," was mouthed before quickly exiting the room. Kagome rolled her eyes, isn't that exactly what she had been doing?
They were back at the room that she had previously been told that she would be staying in... with Sesshoumaru. Oddly enough, as long as it seemed to take to get to Rin's room, this room was placed a mere three doors down from it. Kagome nearly laughed at how sentimental it all seemed to her, but she was caught by a pair of piercing golden eyes before she was even able to react.
"You will rest now, I'll set out the futon," with that he turned and set to his own task. As he went about his chore Kagome noticed that it looked as though he was only setting out one place to sleep. She had taken a breath to ask about it when he said while laying everything out, "You will sleep here, do not fret, I will be elsewhere in the room."
'Well at least that's settled,' she thought as she headed towards the closet that had been shown to her earlier. She pulled off the kimono she had on and pulled on a silken sleeping gown, which fit like a glove, much to her liking.
As Kagome waked out she immediately looked to where Sesshoumaru had been working on laying out a place for her to sleep-- he wasn't there. She had to let her eyes stray about four feet to the left, and sure enough there he was, sitting in the corner of the room, eyes closed and head bowed as though he were already fast asleep. Of course, Kagome knew better, there was no way that Sesshoumaru was asleep, not only because that was way too fast, but because she doubted the guy even slept.
Stifling an exaggerated yawn, Kagome headed to lie down and get some well deserved rest. As soon as she had gotten comfortable there was a knock at the door. Giving no time for either of them to answer it, the door swung open to reveal a very sleepy looking Rin.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, Kagome-chan, Rin had a nightmare, could Rin sleep with you guys tonight?" Rin rubbed her eyes incessantly as she entered the room not waiting for an invitation (phth, as though she really needed one! Who could resist a face like that?!). She took a spot by Kagome and snuggled as close as she was able. As every one settled back into their comfortable positions all was silent- for about three seconds.
Sesshoumaru-sama? Why aren't you sleeping under the covers with us? Rin asked innocently.
Sesshoumaru's eyes flew open and Kagome began to giggle a little hiding her head under the covers. "W-well, Rin I-I," Sesshoumaru struggled to give the child an answer that would appease her. "I was, well- I was keeping an eye open for any dangers," he said saying the first thing that came to mind.
"But Sesshoumaru-sama's eyes were closed when Rin walked in, plus Sesshoumaru-sama just got back from a trip, he's probably tired," Rin stated very matter-of-factly for a child of her age, but then proceeded to add, "and Rin wants to sleep next to both Sesshoumaru-sama and Kagome-chan! Please Sesshoumaru-sama? Please?"
Being the strong and unmovable youkai he was-- he melted at the sight of Rin's doleful puppy-dog look and sweet demeanor and moved to crawl under the covers with them, right next to Rin of course. "Yay!!" Rin exclaimed excitedly, "Sesshoumaru-sama's gonna sleep with us!!" Within seconds soft even breathing could be heard coming from the little girl signaling the deep peaceful slumber that she was currently experiencing .
This particular sound seemed to be a lullaby to the demon lord, and accompanied by Kagome's soothing scent he found himself unable to stay awake amidst the comfortable surroundings. As his eyes fluttered shut for the night Rin began to snuggle a little closer to him, and he fell asleep contentedly, his arms embracing his little savior.
~*~(Not long before dawn)
Sesshoumaru found himself a little colder than he had been the rest of the night, and being half awake it took him awhile to figure out that it was because of a sudden loss of body heat from his human space heater. He felt more heat emanating from the body next to him, the sound of the soft even breathing that had lulled him to sleep that night pulling him ever closer. He once again embraced the tiny waist and pulled her into him, fitting so perfectly next to his chest. He inhaled the wonderful scent of his dear Rin and his eyes shot open-- this was not Rin.
"Um, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Kagome said, a little timidly, " Do you think that you could let me go? I mean this is a little sudden, don't ya think?"
Sesshoumaru's mind raced, and the only thing that he could come up with was 'Oh, s**t.'
~*~
"Aww man! Kouga, why the heck do ya wear a skirt anyway? That's just way beyond wrong!" InuYasha complained to the wolf demon presently standing on his shoulders, attempting to reach the first branch on the tree.
"Well if there's somethin' there that you don't wanna see, don't look!" Kouga shot back.
"How could I not? Your on freakin' top of me, man, I think I've been scarred for life!! Just get up there, will ya? My shoulders are killin' me! You're not as light as you think you are."
"It's all muscle, it's all muscle..." Kouga said absent mindedly trying to figure a way up.
"Yah, well it could be a thousand cups of ramen for all I care, I just don't wanna hold it anymore (although we all know that he would if it had actually been ramen)," InuYasha whined as he dropped Kouga, who landed firmly on his butt (or was it on his firm butt?? Sorry, couldn't help mahself >_<).
"OWCH! What the h**l was that for dog-turd? And what the h**l is ramen?" Kouga asked as he rubbed his sore backside.
"Forget about the ramen and face the facts, you can't get up there by climbing on me, so we gotta find another way up!"
"Yah, your right."
"I-I am?" InuYasha was stunned at the confession. That was until his ego realized it, "Yah, well, when you're right, you're right," he said confidently crossing his arms and giving an all knowing nod of his head.
" Awe , get over yourself, once does not make a habit. Now let's see about this- Ah-ha!" Kouga had an idea, and it had only taken the two of them the better part of a day to come up with something that might actually work!
"What is it?" InuYasha asked, curious to know what the wolf had in mind.
"Just stand back and observe the master at work," Kouga said backing away from the tree. When he figured that he was far enough away he began to run towards it, picking up enough speed to run up to the top.
InuYasha smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand, why hadn't they figured that out sooner?
"Hey, dork! I got somethin'! There's that other scent up here too, it's like they brushed the tip of this tree. By any chance can your brother take to the air?"
"Crap, he did take her," InuYasha muttered under his breath.
"Oy, I heard that! Did you already have an idea of who might have her?! You idiot!! That could have saved us so much time! When I get down there I'm gonna pound you into the ground!" Kouga yelled down to InuYasha.
He just smirked up and said in his cockiest tone, "Okay then, why don't ya get down from there and pound me?"
Kouga looked around him as he grasped the tree, "How am I supposed to get down?" he asked himself. "Hey, why don't ya help me get down? You helped get me up here, you can help me get down! Hey, don't just stand there and laugh! Get me down!"
"Not if my life depended on it," InuYasha said with an evil chuckle.
All of this was viewed by a certain monk, who, after seeing such a scene, had deemed the search and rescue mission, a total failure before it had even started. "Oh well, time to go see what the village girls are up to..."
~*~
A/N: Okay, so it started out a little slow but my sister seemed to really like it by the end (she was attempting to glomp me saying that I had to start the next chapter immediately -- even though it was like three in the morning. Don't worry, I did ^_^).
I know there are some people out there who don't actually read these little notes, so I'll just inform those of you who do! Okay, so after further review by people who didn't actually read this but have heard the basic story line so far, it has been decided that the InuYasha Kikyou thing was just /way/ to freakin' cliché . So after much deliberation (which lasted all of three seconds) it was decided that it was time to throw Kouga and InuYasha together... what do you guys think? I wanna know, 'cause hey, face it, why the heck should I listen to them? They're my friends, psh, yah right...(^_^ teehee). Anywho, you can tell me in the review that you were just about to write... right? Of COURSE you were just about to write a review, why wouldn't you? Seriously people, it takes a total of five seconds, so...DO IT!!!!!!
Thank you for reading the fic so far, I'll have the next chapter posted as soon as I'm able. If we're lucky, it'll take a lot less time than this one did. Reviewers will be personally thanked in the next chapter!!