InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sesshoumaru's Flame ❯ Practice Makes Perfect ( Chapter 7 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Water Sprite 
Kagome needs to practice using her new powers... now how do we all think that's gonna turn out??
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 02.15.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 7.7K | Visits: 1.4K | Status: Work In Progress
Kagome needs to practice using her new powers... now how do we all think that's gonna turn out??
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 02.15.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 7.7K | Visits: 1.4K | Status: Work In Progress
A/N: Okay, I promised to thank all of you wonderful people who have reviewed for me, it has always meant sooooo much to me! Thank you all... I apologize because some of these were written waaay back in October but I still want to thank the people who did review!
MediaMiner
akikotakara: I'm really happy that you liked the fic and as always I promise to update as soon as I get off my lazy butt and think of something to write! ^-^
jman303: Better than the show, really?? That's so nice! Thank you, yes, you do get brownie points for said comment! >^-^<
Mystic Hanyou: Thank you for always reviewing when I post! I've come to look forward to your insight and I value your comments so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! =^-^= You really don't know how often I've used your commentary in my fic ideas, or how often they have sparked something in this lil' empty head! Once again, thanks! And I hope you continue to read, enjoy, and... <_<...>_>...^_^ review!
Mirokus Wench: Were you having trouble logging in? 'Cause that's how you're supposed to spell it when you log in!! Anywho, I'm glad that your finally getting over some of your fear but remember... she's watching you!!! Oh and the next chapter will be up as soon as... well... you know I don't know when!
parsnip: Thanks much for answering the Kouga/InuYasha question... even if you didn't understand it ^^! Yah, sometimes I'm not exactly clear with what I wrote either... that didn't even really sound clear, but it's okay!! Nice Kouga image... he probably /could/ out-dance him!! It'd be fun to watch anyway.
Megan Consoer: Yay! It makes me happy to think that you like the story! I'm trying on that whole chapters thing, sometimes they just don't come out as quickly as I want them to... but I'll try my best ^_~!!
youkos girl: I try to make them as long as possible, but sometimes it's just been so long since I actually updated that I have to cut the chapter short... maybe one of these days I'll go back and add what I originally wanted to but for now I'll do what I can. But the mere fact that you wanted long chapters and got annoyed that people don't review often enough ecstatic! Tee-hee! Thank you sooo much for the support!!
Lady Orion: Thanks so much for reviewing even though it was an insanely short chapter!! Not many people did and I was really surprised to even receive the two that I did, and it made my entire week to get those!! Thanks for being one of them!
?????????: Glad you like the story, it always brightens my day to hear that!! I promise to update as soon as I am able... as I always do... then it comes out two weeks later... -_-V oh well. Hey, at least it comes out, right?! ^-^ Don't worry thought, I'll try my hardest!
Kyuuka_tenchi_of_darkness: Wow, intriguing? Really? ME? THANK YOU!! I've been told I'm the most boring person on earth! Tee-hee, I hope that you start to post whatever you are writing so that I can read it! I love to read new stuff by new people, it's normally so... fresh, is the word I'm looking for I think. Anywho, thanks soo much for the review!!
FireFairy1465: Woo-hoo! It doesn't su-uck, it doesn't su-uck **doing happy dance**!! It's always nice to have one's fears relieved about that sort of thing! Thank you so much!! I will keep working... as hard as I can! Promise! Yay! ^-^
Sesshomaru Daughter: Hooray, you liked it! I will update soon... as soon as I can... as always. Thank you for the review!
CresentMoon22000: To the first reviewer for this fic... I raise my glass (even though it's only full of Mountain Dew). I'm glad you liked it so much and I hope you're still reading it! Oh and I looove your sign-in name... niiiiice ^_~!!!!
Evilsmiley0688: It’s nice to hear that you want me to update sooner… sorry about the sudden character change, I tried to do that gradually but it evidently didn’t work out as I had hoped… glad you liked it though, and I’ll attempt to type as fast as my little fingers will allow! ^_^
FanFics:
Crimson Regret: I hope you're still enjoying the fic! It was great to hear from you and read your fics... I really hope to read the rest when you update, and I'm glad that you liked mine! +^_^+ -tear Thank you!
SingleSpark
Shabopo: Babbling is good for you, remember that ^-^! I will continue this no matter what so... no need to ask ^_^! Thanks for the review, glad you liked it!
kay: Glad you thought that the story was good and... thank you for thanking me! That's the first time I've ever been thanked for my work... THANK /YOU/!!! ^__^
Emma: Yah! Happy ya liked the story, will update soon... promise... well, I suppose that depends on your definition of soon... ^_~
mortefille: I finally overcame the writers block, thanks for the compliment on the fic ^-^. Now the only thing I have to overcome is the speed of my pathetic typing skills ^_^V
rocklover15: Will update soon, glad that I have you in such a place that you want to see what happens next... I suppose that's what most authors are aiming for, so glad to have actually done that!
spdsgirl: Tee-hee, is it really that funny? This makes me soooooo happy ^____^!!!! Laughter is good for you so I hope to continue to improve your health with said remedy for you ^_~.
Dana: I glad you don't see why it sucks, I suppose I'm just slightly over critical of my writing. It's always good to hear that it doesn't suck, thank you very much!! Happy you like the fic, will update ASAP!
Michelle: Sorry the entire Kouga/InuYasha thing creeps ya out, but I’m glad you like the plot line ^_~ And no problem for the mailing list thing… gottchya in there and I’ll tell you when a chapter will be up! Or I could just email it to you straight out… You choose,! ^-^
raven_skye_blackhawk: Tee-hee, my side notes? Thanks much!!! And thank you for the wonderful complement… I will keep it goin’… Thanks again >^-^<
Mikos’s Sorrow: Wonderful that you liked it… and the entire Sesshoumaru not being ale to move thing… that came from a caffeine induced hy(per)… ^-~ Thanks for the review!
Rinseternalsoul: I take that as a hint that the InuYasha Kouga thing is a no go? ^-^… Anywho, they shall continue bickering no matter what is eventually decided on… Thanks for the input!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of review thanks~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: If I actually owned these characters I would not be doing what I'm doing now... Oh no, on the contrary, I would instead be thinking up other genius ideas to go make more loads of cash. Now stop making me admit such horrors! Just go on and read the fic! ... ... ... What did I just say??? Stop reading this and go on to the fic! Leave me in peace to wallow in the misery that I have just admitted to... WAHHH!
Chapter Six- Practice Makes Perfect
-----Recap!!! ^-^-------
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.'
------End Recap!!!!--------
The harder he thought the harder it became to come up with something to say to her. Sesshoumaru merely laid there, arms wrapped tightly around Kagome, hoping beyond all hope that he would be able to come up with something.
Kagome began to squirm uncomfortably, it felt like he actually /was/ holding Rin. He eyes popped open-- luckily Kagome couldn't see them-- as an idea was sparked by this observation. "Rin, stop squirming," he slurred sleepily. "It's much too early for this kind of nonsense. You can at least wait until the sun comes up," he stopped speaking, wondering what she would do next, hoping that she wouldn't catch onto the fact that he had, in truth, caught on to who it actually was almost immediately.
Kagome calmed down and said in her best Rin voice, "Sorry Sesshoumaru-sama, I'll go back to sleep."
"That's good," he replied, amazed that she had decided that it would be best just to play the part. He would have expected her to instead, correct him and tell him that she was /not/ Rin, probably slapping him. Never would he have expected such a response.
Though she was in an awkward position, Kagome had found it best to just let sleeping dogs, well-- just let them sleep. It was kind of cute that he thought she was Rin. 'What could it hurt?' she thought. 'Besides, he's really warm,' and with that, she snuggled closer into the curve of Sesshoumaru's body and fell back to sleep.
'Wh-what is she doing?!' Sesshoumaru's mind raged, until he found that she had gone back to sleep. He relaxed a bit, the thought that she was comfortable enough around him to actually fall into a slumbering state within his embrace was kind of comforting in its own right. She had fallen asleep /on/ him before, but she wasn't being surrounded by him in any sense of the matter.
He had to admit it though, it was kind of nice to hold her, she fit in his arms just perfectly. Her back curved against his stomach, her legs fit over his with her pert rear melding to match the shape of the way his legs curved, and his arms seemed to belong wrapped around her waist; it all seemed to fit together like a puzzle piece that was finally in the right spot. When he realized this, he decided to allow himself to relax the rest of the way and just enjoy the feel of her in his arms, her unique scent enticing him to tuck her head underneath his chin, a temptation that he gave into willingly.
Now having the time-- and piece of mind-- his thoughts began to wander and he began to berate himself for giving in so easily to such ordinary feminine charms. 'But these are not so ordinary, her scent is only something that I have caught from her, nothing like the way other females reek just as the next one does-- sometimes even with the same malodor. She smells wonderful, and, though I am loathe to admit it, it seems to be a very soothing scent,' Sesshoumaru began to unconsciously breath deeper than he had before just to fill his lungs with her alluring aroma.
'You must put an immediate stop to this! What are you thinking? She is nothing, she will be gone soon enough. That is, as soon as you find away to get rid of her,' his mind began to chastise him again. 'It may be as easy as ending her life! And, if that doesn't work, then you could always revive her, right?' Sesshoumaru pushed this thought away as an inexplicable pain shot through his heart, this one different from those that he had been experiencing recently. In fact, this one was not far from the one that he felt when he saw Rin laying on the ground dead.
He remembered that day quite vividly, though parts of it he really wished that he didn't-- and yet, thinking on it, he wouldn't wish to forget that day for the world, because that was when he had acquired his Rin-chan. But this particular feeling had happened as he turned to leave her lying there, face down, in a pool of her own life-giving fluids. He simply wasn't able to walk away, so, he brought her back to life, and he knew that he would never regret it.
This feeling that had come to him only once before had changed his life for the better, not only that but he had always trusted his "gut-instinct." So, nuzzling his cheek into Kagome's hair, he made up his mind to let himself see where all of this would lead him-- not that he wouldn't be on guard the entire time to protect not only his pride but also his daughter. But, nonetheless, he would give this awe inspiring girl a chance, besides, her hair felt really nice against his cheek. Chuckling at the trivial thought he slowly and contentedly drifted off to sleep just as the sun had begun its daily journey to the top of the mountains.
~*~
'D**n dog, left me up here the entire night, he didn't even have the common courtesy to get a bunch of useless villagers to help me down. He's going to regret this so bad,' Kouga cursed to himself. InuYasha had basically left him out to dry, taking the night off in a comfortable branch in the next tree over, which was considerably smaller. Kouga, on the other hand, was forced to sleep on a very uncomfortable and unsteady branch at the top of an incredibly high tree. So, needless to say, he was on the extreme side of grumpy.
Kouga was snapped from his thoughts of revenge when he heard a wakeful yawn emanate from the hanyou just one tree down. "Wow, that was a great night's sleep!" InuYasha exclaimed, then turning to his companion he asked, "How did you sleep Kouga?" knowing full well that the wolf hadn't gotten a wink of sleep.
Kouga just growled and barked back to the hanyou, "How do you think I slept? I was too busy holding onto the freakin' tree to be able to sleep at all! Jerk."
InuYasha hopped to the ground, stretching his limbs when he landed. "Well soooorry. It's not my fault you aren't smart enough to figure a way down without hurting yourself!"
"Oh, I think I've got an idea," Kouga smirked evilly. He had been up all night, there was time to spare for thinking of the best way to get down-- this ingenious plan just happened to involve breaking his fall with a certain hanyou.
InuYasha sensed the wolf demon's demented glee and backed from the tree a bit. "Oh, re-really? That's great, heh, wh-what would this idea involve exactly?"
"Well don't move too far from the tree and I'll gladly show you!" Kouga stood on the branch that had held him all night as InuYasha began to back away even further. "I told you not to move! Oh well,'' he said to himself, "I suppose this makes it moving target practice!"
"Um, well i-it's really okay, I gotta go do something’s anyway, so you just go ahead and I'll-" InuYasha was cut off by a flying Kouga that seemed to be heading directly at him.
Before he could think to even do anything-- he had been "brought down" as they say (I was wondering why the frisbee kept getting bigger and bigger-- then, it hit me!). Kouga landed on top of him with pinpoint precision, driving InuYasha about two feet into the ground. Kouga stood, completely unscathed; InuYasha on the other hand was merely able to sit and did so very woozily.
"You know what dog-boy."
InuYasha looked angrily up at Kouga while rubbing his sore head, "What?"
"I think you were right," Kouga said.
"Right about what?" he asked, somewhat uneasily, but mostly, it just sounded utterly exhausted.
"Well, maybe the /loincloth/," loincloth was thoroughly emphasized, "thing really just shouldn't be worn when diving from high distances," Kouga stated.
"I know I'm gonna regret this, but why is that," InuYasha was wary but also a little out of patience with the wolf, he really just wanted to get the conversation out of the way so that they could continue their search.
"Well, as I was going through the air, there was this giant breeze that just-"
"Okay! You can stop right there! I knew I would regret asking, why do I even doubt myself sometimes? Ugh," InuYasha stood from the hole he had created in the ground and looked to Kouga again, never letting go of his pounding head; right now, he wasn't quite sure if it was from the impact or from the wolf standing before him. "Can we just go now?"
"Yah, I've been ready for a while. I was just waiting for you to get you bearings again," Kouga smirked toothily.
"I wouldn't have had to regain my balance if I hadn't been knocked down in the first place! Ya half-wit," InuYasha muttered the last part under his breath, fully aware that it could be heard loud and clear, while crossing his arms across his chest.
"Well I wouldn't have had to use you to break my fall if you had just agreed to help me down in the first place!" Kouga retorted.
"Yah?! Well-"
All of these proceedings were once again viewed by a monk, but this time the monk had been accompanied by a small fox demon. "See, I told you Shippo, there's no choice for us, we have to do this."
Shippo nodded his agreement, "Yah, they'll never find her! Look at 'em! They fight like a couple of teenaged village girls."
"A wise observation indeed. So, are we off this instant in search of Lady Kagome?" Miroku asked his young traveling companion.
"Well I guess, it would make sense to, right?"
"Indeed, we should be off immediately. To the nearest teahouse!" Miroku pointed to the west (Bwahahaha!!!! No more SaiYuki for this one... O.o).
"Why a teahouse, Miroku?" Shippo asked.
"Because, my inexperienced little companion, geishas know so much of the world that-"
"Miroku! Snap out of it! We gotta find Kagome before it's too late!"
Miroku let out a long sigh, "I suppose you're right, well then, let's be on our way. It's not like these two will miss us. They've got each other to keep themselves entertained."
~*~
“Good mooorning!!” was the cry that awoke the sleeping Sesshoumaru and Kagome. “Rin says that the sun is up and that means wake-y, wake-y!!!” Rin was normally the second one up in the mornings, Sesshoumaru being the first. Today seemed to be different for some reason, that reason of course being the mere fact that Sesshoumaru had found himself simply too comfortable to get up, so Rin had decided to fix the problem.
Kagome was a little startled by Rin’s sudden interjection into her peaceful sleep, she jumped a bit and proceeded to latch herself onto the nearest stable object she could find-- which just happened to be the presently wakeful Sesshoumaru. When she woke up a little bit more and realized where she was-- Rin humming a little tune was indeed helpful-- she also became wise to the fact that what she was presently clamping onto could not possibly be Rin. As she raised her face a bit sheepishly she found her fears confirmed as Sesshoumaru peered down at her, with an eyebrow slightly lifted to show his thoughts on the present situation. Kagome blushed furiously as she mumbled an apology and sat up ramrod straight in the comfy futon.
Upon seeing this, Sesshoumaru chuckled, he was feeling strangely lighthearted. As Kagome turned to bore her displeasure into him with an evil glare, he realized that his contented feeling had come from the girl who was about to set him on fire... probably quite literally.
"Excuse me for having a natural response to someone scaring the living-daylights outta me," she said testily.
Sesshoumaru managed to stifle his laughter, he stood and walked towards Kagome. "You are forgiven, now hurry and dress, there is much that we have to do today."
She was about to say something about not asking for forgiveness but decided that it would just be best to drop the subject-- it was too early in the morning for her to start an argument anyway. Sighing she stood and began to trudge towards the room filled with garments.
"Ahem," Kagome turned and looked at Sesshoumaru while rubbing the sleep from her eyes-- obviously a Rin alarm clock would get her up but failed to /wake/ her up. "I believe that you have forgotten something," he said, his eyes flickering towards the bucket of water that was sitting beside her nestled next to a wall.
This woke her up, she glared at Sesshoumaru, snatching the bucket up she turned on her heel, almost falling over, and stomped towards her previous destination, muttering all the while. A few seconds after she had disappeared into the small room she poked her head around the corner and glowered at Sesshoumaru, "And I know you heard every word of that! And don't try to deny it either!"
Sesshoumaru shook his head and smiled a tiny smile, then proceeded to turn his attention towards the small person poking his arm rather forcefully. "Yes Rin?"
"Sesshoumaru-sama?" she began, slowly inhaling a large amount of air-- especially for someone her size-- he recognized this as the beginnings to an extremely long list of questions followed by personal opinions and experiences rounded out with another batch of freshly thought up questions.
"Before you speak, think of the one question that you truly want answered and ask it. After that one is all cleared up you may ask the rest at any speed you like," he smiled warmly down to the little girl and waited patiently as she went over the questions that she had. He enjoyed hearing her little spurts of thought, especially the unique way hers came out, he had found it all rather heart warming. Yet it had become increasingly difficult to answer all of her questions and then sift through her opinions to figure out what underlying questions there were. So he had started to ask her what the most important question was and then allowed her to go off on her tiny game of twenty questions and some other miscellaneous stuff. At first she found it slightly difficult but it became easier as time went on.
She rubbed her tiny chin in thought for a moment, turning everything over in her mind. Then after that small moment her eyes widened in glee and she smiled brightly. "What are we gonna do today?"
Sesshoumaru mimicked the way that Rin had rubbed her chin and spoke thoughtfully, "Hmmm, good question. Well first we are going to go down and have breakfast," he "thought" a bit more. "Then I think that Kagome and I need to go out for a bit, we will be back from that as soon as we can. And after that, I think we need to go outside and play a bit, don't you?"
Rin gasped in happiness and squealed at the top of her lungs "Yaaaahhh!"
"Yes, yay indeed," Sesshoumaru, out of habit, stifled a chuckle of amusement and proceeded to ask, "Was there something else that you wanted to ask, Rin?"
"Yah, why was Sesshoumaru-sama so late in getting up today? And why was Kagome-chan hugging Sesshoumaru-sama when Rin got here? And why was Kagome-chan so angry looking when she went to go get dressed? Why is Kagome-chan carrying a bucket of water around everywhere?" here she took her big breath after not breathing at all for some time. "Aaaand, where are Sesshoumaru-sama and Kagome-chan going today?"
"That's a good question Rin," both Sesshoumaru and little Rin turned at the sound of Kagome's voice. "Where /are/ we going today?"
"We are going out into the woods to practice," Sesshoumaru stated simply.
"Practice what?" Kagome asked curiously.
"We will be working on your skill-- or lack there of if you will- with flame."
Rin's eyes grew, "Wow, that sounds really fun! Could Rin come? Please? Rin promises to be real good, she won't get in the way or anything! Please?"
Sesshoumaru shook his head, "No, this will be too dangerous for you, Rin. Perhaps when Kagome sharpens her skill. Until then though, the answer shall remain no. This might be a good motivation for Kagome to hone her reflexes more rapidly," Sesshoumaru bent closer to Kagome's ear so that Rin wouldn't hear what he said next, "Or maybe survival is motivation enough for this one."
Kagome looked at the demon lord, shocked at his statement, partly because she hadn't considered the fact yet that she may have to defend herself with the new powers that she had gained. It simply hadn't crossed her mind yet, but it probably would have run across it real quick if she were put into a compromising situation. Kagome thought about how she could learn more control with her new found abilities.
"I believe it is about time we went for breakfast, then directly to the woods" Sesshoumaru broke Kagome from her thoughts.
Absent mindedly nodding she began to follow him out the door. Until she cleared his throat, rather loudly too. "What is it?" she asked, slightly annoyed.
He tipped his head towards the bucket again, Kagome's brows shot together in anger. She stomped back towards her new appendage and once again, snatched it up angrily, and walked-- in quite a huff-- out the door towards the stairs.
~*~ After breakfast (... So what?! I got a little lazy? No harm done-- trust me!! I did you guys a favor!!)
"Wow! It really is a beautiful day, isn't it?" Kagome exclaimed at the sight of the completely clear sky, the smile she wore nearly out shone the sun itself (A/N: Whoa... was that like fondue type cheesy or is it just me?).
Sesshoumaru nodded silently in agreement casting a quick glance at her over his shoulder. She may have been shining back at the sun but her hands her fidgeting on the handle of the bucket uncomfortably, another glance to her face proved the fact that she was near to completely unaware of her hands. Sighing, Sesshoumaru bent over and took the bucket from her grasp, much to her surprise.
"Oh, um thank you," she stammered wide eyed.
Sesshoumaru didn't answer, instead he pointed to a clearing, "Over there is where I want you to be, now go."
The shock disappeared from Kagome's face almost immediately, only to be replaced by a standoffish gaze and an indigent scoff. "Why of course my lord" the statement dripping with sarcasm. "Anything you wish. Why do I gotta go over there anyway?"
"Simple, I do not wish to become charcoal," Sesshoumaru replied nonchalantly.
A deep growl came from-- Kagome. Sesshoumaru chuckled mildly and pointed towards the clearing again.
"So that's why you took the bucket, jerk," Kagome muttered as she reached her designated spot. "Now, whaddaya want me to do?"
"Set your sights on that tree approximately twenty feet from you," she did so. "Good, now burn it."
At this Kagome whirled around to look at Sesshoumaru who was sitting on a rock behind her, "Wh-what did you just say?"
"I don't believe I stuttered (A/N 'Did I studda bi-... human?? ^u^), I told you to burn it."
"B-but that could start a forest fire," Kagome was getting kind of nervous now.
"Good observation," Sesshoumaru said as though she were a small child just figuring out the most obvious of facts. She put a hand on her hip and gave him the look that he'd become accustomed to over the past few days as he heard "jerk" under her breath again. "The point is to control the flame so that it is big enough to do damage but not large enough to cause a full fledged problem."
"Ya know," Kagome said turning to face the tree again, "you're just asking for trouble, setting an amateur out to do something like this on the first run. Not too smart if you ask me."
"I believe that I will be able to live with the consequences if something terrible happens," Sesshoumaru said, in an obviously sarcastic tone.
"Good, cause I dunno what in the world I'm doin'," Kagome said truthfully. She rolled her sleeves up and concentrated on the tree... two feet from her. Sesshoumaru saw this and knew that if she were to actually succeed in setting it on fire she would be in serious danger. Kagome stared intensely at the tree, putting all of her concentration into a small area of wood.
All of the sudden she felt the soft pads of fingertips lightly caress her cheeks and a pleasurable chill raced up her spine. She wasn't sure what it all was but Sesshoumaru's hands were /really/ soft and warm-- 'Hmmm, odd, you'd think that he would be as cold as the ice that he seems to try to imitate,' Kagome thought.
His soft, warm hands redirected her face so that she was looking at the tree that he had referred to earlier. "Wrong tree, baka," was all he said.
'That was all that he was doing,' Kagome's head raced as a blush spread across her cheeks, 'ahhhh, you think too much into things, Kagome! Too much!!!'
"Errr, sorry, never was very good at estimation, you gotta actually tell me which one you were talking about. Otherwise I just guess and that really never quite works out the way that it was meant to."
Sesshoumaru smiled, an entire smile that is, when he felt her cheeks warm under his touch. Fighting the urge to actually caress her newly flushed face, he brought his arms back to his sides and went to sit back down on his rock-- next to the bucket.
"Hmmm, powers of estimation may come in handy while performing your fire magic," (A/N: at a total loss for words here.... magic really isn't the word that I wanted buuuuuut........ my thesaurus is gone. I weep for the loss of a-a friend! Waaaahhhhh v^o^v) Sesshoumaru was being sarcastic again. It was nice that he seemed to be breaking out of the little shell that he had had before but should it really be at her expense?
"Yah, yah, I'm sure they would. Too bad huh? I might really under-estimate and, well let's just say that if I under-estimate too much... I may not even see what I light up, ya catch me, Fluffy?" Kagome's payback for the BS that she had decided that she was taking too much of lately (you wouldn't beeeelieve the research I had to do to make sure that she hadn't called him "Fluffy" before... I had to read my own fic over again... *shudder-shudder*).
Sesshoumaru stiffened, "What?"
"If you didn't catch it all the first time, I just implied that I might set your smart-butt a blazin' so back off Fluffy," Kagome shot back. 'Ooops, perhaps that was too harsh... aw, it's probably just PMS,' her eyes shot open, and an evil smirk spread across her lips. 'Wow, I better make sure that Rin's not in the house when I get really ticked...' Kagome began to think of several ways of burning down a house as she hummed the tune to "A Burnin' Ring of Fire."
Sesshoumaru, all of the sudden, was in front of her staring down, boring into her with his eyes. She looked up, snapping out of her pyromaniac type thoughts, an eye brow shot up, "What is it?"
"Fluffy?" Sesshoumaru's brows went the opposite way of Kagome's. With his brows furrowed, to anyone who wasn't feeling excessively daring or suicidal, he would have looked truly menacing, but to Kagome he just looked like a target.
"Yah, what of it?" she spat, about ready to unleash the very flames that they had come to the forest to control.
"Well, firstly, my name is not Fluffy," Sesshoumaru said backing off a tiny bit upon seeing the sparks in her eyes.
"Is there something else?" Kagome seethed.
'I meant to anger her, it seems to help her prepare her flames, I suppose I got a little more than I had originally bargained for,' he thought with an inner grimace.
"Well, is there?" she was becoming impatient.
"Yes," he looked down at her, giving her the feel of who had been originally put in charge, she didn't seem to care. "We came here to get some work done, we must do it lest we let Rin down." At the mention of Rin Kagome's gaze softened.
"Okay," she nodded looking to the ground. "Yah, sure, let's get started shall we?" looking up this time she smiled at Sesshoumaru.
The smile in and of itself was not surprising, the fact that it was dripping with so much sweetness (Noooo! It's Tohru Honda come to get Sesshoumaru-sama!! Ruuuun!!) that Sesshoumaru was sure he would be developing an instantaneous case of tooth decay... or something (shOOOOOOsh!!! I'm sleep typing, I'll regret writing that AFTER I've posted). Not being able to withhold his reaction this time, his eyes grew exponentially.
After he was finally able to get his eye size under control, Sesshoumaru mumbled an affirmation of Kagome's suggestion to get started and walked back to his little boulder to take his seat, shaking his head all the way. "Okay then, shall we start with the tree again?"
Kagome nodded her head, "Yah, I can do that."
"Make sure it's the one that was pointed out to you," Sesshoumaru added quickly.
"Yes," Kagome gritted her teeth, "I kinda figured that that was what you meant."
"You did say that you had to be told," Sesshoumaru pointed out.
After hearing this Kagome took a deep breath, 'He's right, I did say that he had to tell me which tree he meant. Although I thought that it was obvious that I only needed it the first time.' Her thoughts continued and she-- well to put it simply, she zoned.
"Well? Are you going to attempt to... well do something?" Sesshoumaru asked, he was starting to sound a little exasperated.
"Oh, yah, I'll get right on that!" Kagome said quickly snapping out of her trance like state. As she turned towards the tree she could hear Sesshoumaru mumble under his breath, although she couldn't hear what was specifically said. "Would you stop muttering? It's getting annoying," she stated dangerously, all while concentrating intensely at the tree before her.
"It does not matter what I mutter if you cannot hear it," he stated simply, attempting to salvage her bad mood, hopefully for the last time today.
"Sesshoumaru," Kagome said in a warning tone as she saw a spot on the tree begin to smolder a bit.
"I said nothing that should in any way, shape, or form, upset you," he started to examine his fingernails.
The smoldering spot on the tree began to get bigger as Kagome's temper began to steadily increase. Sesshoumaru was still sitting on the boulder but instead of staring at his nails he was watching the hole in the tree get bigger and bigger by the second, that is, until it suddenly stopped. Not knowing quite what happened Kagome stopped attempting to set the tree on fire and turned around to look at the demon that had accompanied her, in question.
She found him smoking a bit, and hurriedly dipping his hand into the bucket of water. He brought two wet fingers to a select strand of hair and the smoke was instantly gone. He glared at Kagome, "That was the second time you have done that to me," he said sternly. Getting up he added, "I think that we have had enough practice for today."
"I-I'm sorry," Kagome stuttered through muffled giggles.
Sesshoumaru's head snapped back to shoot her yet another glare, this one was totally missed as she was distracted by her futile attempts to stop laughing. "Get the bucket," as he suspected, the laughter stopped immediately, she stomped over to the bucket and followed behind Sesshoumaru.
~*~
They had finally arrived at the house, and although they were both in one piece, each seemed to be trying to make sure that the other would arrive in several.
"What do you mean by that?!" Kagome yelled.
"I do not intend to repeat myself," Sesshoumaru rubbed his temple and walked a little faster, but Kagome caught up. "If you wish to walk so close, please speak a bit quieter," he muttered.
"I'll talk as loud as I want! Besides, I'm just making up for you, you mutter too much," her head snapped to face him. "And you can't tell me otherwise!"
Sesshoumaru shook his head and opened the door, motioning for Kagome to go in first. "Thanks," was all that she could get out before her leg hit a string. This string seemed to be attached to a bucket of water which was promptly emptied onto Kagome's head. This seemed to trigger the explosion of a bag that was holding quite a bit of flour, which also landed straight onto Kagome.
"Oh! Kagome-chan!" Rin walked out from behind a corner. She stood in front of Kagome with her hands on her hips and a stern look plastered to her face, "Kagome-chan ruined Rin's joke! It was all set up for Jaken-sama!" The little girl let out an exasperated sigh and let her hands drop limply to her sides, "Darn, now Rin has to go rig it up all over again!" She walked off to another room, leaving a gooey, shocked Kagome in the doorway.
Sesshoumaru looked on in amazement for a while as Rin voiced her complaints. As soon as the youth had left though, the laughter came. Not just a small chuckle, but all out laughter, something that was new to Kagome's ears, and evidently Rin's too, for she came running to see what had made her beloved lord laugh so. Sesshoumaru leaned down to support himself on his knee so that during his laughing fit, he would not ungraciously fall on his gracious butt (tee-hee =^-^= and what a butt it is too!).
The sight of Sesshoumaru so over come with laughter had gotten to Kagome too because she began to giggle a bit, not nearly as hard and loudly as Sesshoumaru had managed to though.
"What's so funny?" Rin asked franticly. "Rin doesn't see anything! Well, except for Kagome-chan, but that's not really- Okay, it kinda is. Maybe Kagome-chan does look a /little/ funny. Uh-oh! Jaken-sama's coming! Gotta go!" and she was gone.
This was just as soon as Sesshoumaru was beginning to compose himself, small sporadic chuckles still coming from him as he stood. He walked over to the still giggling Kagome and wiped a bit more off of her face, stating as calmly as he could, "You missed a spot."
Kagome looked at Sesshoumaru and gave him a disbelieving look, but very soon afterwards a smirk made its way across her face. She brought her hand up and wiped it all over Sesshoumaru's, leaving a gooey mess from stem to stern, "Oh really? I think you might have missed a spot too."
Sesshoumaru took his hand and removed some of the paste from his eyes and mouth and looked down at the smirking Kagome. "Hmm, I think there's still a bit left, right," his voice lowered a bit, "here." His finger slowly wiped away any of the wet four from her lips as he bent down to capture them with his own. Kagome was a little surprised but didn't really have time to think as his lips descended upon hers (Who in the world wants time to think when they've got those HOTT lips coming for them?????).
Her lips were so pliable under his as he moved closer to her. He was near asking to permission to enter the warm confines of her mouth when an unwelcome shrill voice pierced the air, "Sesshoumaru-sama, where is that little bra--? Sesshoumaru-sama?? What are you doing?!" Jaken screamed.
Sesshoumaru pulled away from Kagome, sighing and resting his forehead on hers, muttering in a dangerously low tone, "Thinking of how many ways I might cook anything named Jaken, on a stick."
"Oh, heh, i-is that all?" Jaken asked nervously. "If that's it then, I-I think I'll just be going now!" (Like wet-nurse like cute little girl... Yah, I just compared Rin and Jaken... What of it??????)
~*~
A/N: Okay I'm gonna end this torture here and now... I think that you might be able to call it a cliffhanger... or maybe it's just an excuse... Whatever one calls it, I'm gonna call it a night. After, though, I apologize for this chapter taking an especially long time and sucking an exceptional amount of suckage.
My computer was at the computer doctor cause it blew up (yup, blue smoke and all), and during that time that I didn't have the fic I was rarin' to go, had all my ideas in my head, heck I even wrote them down so that when I did get my computer back I wouldn't forget... I forgot... Oh well, I suppose life goes on -_-V...
Anywho, bear with me and all will eventually work itself out 'cause... NEXT WEEK IS MID-WINTER VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes folks, I shall have a never ending amount of Mountain Dew and my favorite energy drink... BAWLS! The next chapter sounds like it may shine already!!
And last but not least... I have a request to make, Miroku's Wench (Mirokus Wench on Media Miner) is pretty sick... to make her feel better she asks that you review a few of her fics (I even helped her write some ^-^). She says that you don't even hafta read 'em! I'n that great?? So, go out and say some stuff you don't really mean about fics that you haven't even read! Thanks much! Pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase do this!!! I had to hold her barf bowl as she heaved four pieces of pizza into it... do this for anyone, me, her, your mother, your father, your siblings, Miroku's Wench's tummy, or for Paco (I can say it, I'm a halfbreed ^-^), whoever or whatever it is JUST DO IT!!!!!!!!!
Thank you ^-^
And now, a moment with a disgustingly sick person... Miroku's Wench:
ow,ow,ow,ow,ow,ow. MY TUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYY(AKA: Timmy or Miyu) did you know that it is possible to get dizzy by watching some one type? yup! 'specialy water nymph(AKA water sprite or never again) first she types something , then she decides she doesn't REALLY want it, so you watch the letters go back and forth, and back and forth, for about 8 seconds. THEN she types MORE and decides she doesn't NEED it, sooooo that doesn't go too well either, you see...first she writes...deletes and then REwrites it because she "accidentally" deleted it. IT'S A VICIOUS CYCLE PEOPLE!!! OW,OW,OW,OW,OW... *HEAVE!*
Thank you for that illuminating experience... She also wishes you to know that she is on both fanfics.org and mediaminer.org (some stories maybe posted on one and not the other... don't ask cuz I dunno). Anywho, thanks again... and REVIEW NOT ONLY HERS BUT MINE TOOOOOOO! What you think I was gonna be that giving??? Gimme a break!
P.S. She wants you guys to know that her nose is runny too... -_-V sigh....
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MediaMiner
akikotakara: I'm really happy that you liked the fic and as always I promise to update as soon as I get off my lazy butt and think of something to write! ^-^
jman303: Better than the show, really?? That's so nice! Thank you, yes, you do get brownie points for said comment! >^-^<
Mystic Hanyou: Thank you for always reviewing when I post! I've come to look forward to your insight and I value your comments so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! =^-^= You really don't know how often I've used your commentary in my fic ideas, or how often they have sparked something in this lil' empty head! Once again, thanks! And I hope you continue to read, enjoy, and... <_<...>_>...^_^ review!
Mirokus Wench: Were you having trouble logging in? 'Cause that's how you're supposed to spell it when you log in!! Anywho, I'm glad that your finally getting over some of your fear but remember... she's watching you!!! Oh and the next chapter will be up as soon as... well... you know I don't know when!
parsnip: Thanks much for answering the Kouga/InuYasha question... even if you didn't understand it ^^! Yah, sometimes I'm not exactly clear with what I wrote either... that didn't even really sound clear, but it's okay!! Nice Kouga image... he probably /could/ out-dance him!! It'd be fun to watch anyway.
Megan Consoer: Yay! It makes me happy to think that you like the story! I'm trying on that whole chapters thing, sometimes they just don't come out as quickly as I want them to... but I'll try my best ^_~!!
youkos girl: I try to make them as long as possible, but sometimes it's just been so long since I actually updated that I have to cut the chapter short... maybe one of these days I'll go back and add what I originally wanted to but for now I'll do what I can. But the mere fact that you wanted long chapters and got annoyed that people don't review often enough ecstatic! Tee-hee! Thank you sooo much for the support!!
Lady Orion: Thanks so much for reviewing even though it was an insanely short chapter!! Not many people did and I was really surprised to even receive the two that I did, and it made my entire week to get those!! Thanks for being one of them!
?????????: Glad you like the story, it always brightens my day to hear that!! I promise to update as soon as I am able... as I always do... then it comes out two weeks later... -_-V oh well. Hey, at least it comes out, right?! ^-^ Don't worry thought, I'll try my hardest!
Kyuuka_tenchi_of_darkness: Wow, intriguing? Really? ME? THANK YOU!! I've been told I'm the most boring person on earth! Tee-hee, I hope that you start to post whatever you are writing so that I can read it! I love to read new stuff by new people, it's normally so... fresh, is the word I'm looking for I think. Anywho, thanks soo much for the review!!
FireFairy1465: Woo-hoo! It doesn't su-uck, it doesn't su-uck **doing happy dance**!! It's always nice to have one's fears relieved about that sort of thing! Thank you so much!! I will keep working... as hard as I can! Promise! Yay! ^-^
Sesshomaru Daughter: Hooray, you liked it! I will update soon... as soon as I can... as always. Thank you for the review!
CresentMoon22000: To the first reviewer for this fic... I raise my glass (even though it's only full of Mountain Dew). I'm glad you liked it so much and I hope you're still reading it! Oh and I looove your sign-in name... niiiiice ^_~!!!!
Evilsmiley0688: It’s nice to hear that you want me to update sooner… sorry about the sudden character change, I tried to do that gradually but it evidently didn’t work out as I had hoped… glad you liked it though, and I’ll attempt to type as fast as my little fingers will allow! ^_^
FanFics:
Crimson Regret: I hope you're still enjoying the fic! It was great to hear from you and read your fics... I really hope to read the rest when you update, and I'm glad that you liked mine! +^_^+ -tear Thank you!
SingleSpark
Shabopo: Babbling is good for you, remember that ^-^! I will continue this no matter what so... no need to ask ^_^! Thanks for the review, glad you liked it!
kay: Glad you thought that the story was good and... thank you for thanking me! That's the first time I've ever been thanked for my work... THANK /YOU/!!! ^__^
Emma: Yah! Happy ya liked the story, will update soon... promise... well, I suppose that depends on your definition of soon... ^_~
mortefille: I finally overcame the writers block, thanks for the compliment on the fic ^-^. Now the only thing I have to overcome is the speed of my pathetic typing skills ^_^V
rocklover15: Will update soon, glad that I have you in such a place that you want to see what happens next... I suppose that's what most authors are aiming for, so glad to have actually done that!
spdsgirl: Tee-hee, is it really that funny? This makes me soooooo happy ^____^!!!! Laughter is good for you so I hope to continue to improve your health with said remedy for you ^_~.
Dana: I glad you don't see why it sucks, I suppose I'm just slightly over critical of my writing. It's always good to hear that it doesn't suck, thank you very much!! Happy you like the fic, will update ASAP!
Michelle: Sorry the entire Kouga/InuYasha thing creeps ya out, but I’m glad you like the plot line ^_~ And no problem for the mailing list thing… gottchya in there and I’ll tell you when a chapter will be up! Or I could just email it to you straight out… You choose,! ^-^
raven_skye_blackhawk: Tee-hee, my side notes? Thanks much!!! And thank you for the wonderful complement… I will keep it goin’… Thanks again >^-^<
Mikos’s Sorrow: Wonderful that you liked it… and the entire Sesshoumaru not being ale to move thing… that came from a caffeine induced hy(per)… ^-~ Thanks for the review!
Rinseternalsoul: I take that as a hint that the InuYasha Kouga thing is a no go? ^-^… Anywho, they shall continue bickering no matter what is eventually decided on… Thanks for the input!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of review thanks~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: If I actually owned these characters I would not be doing what I'm doing now... Oh no, on the contrary, I would instead be thinking up other genius ideas to go make more loads of cash. Now stop making me admit such horrors! Just go on and read the fic! ... ... ... What did I just say??? Stop reading this and go on to the fic! Leave me in peace to wallow in the misery that I have just admitted to... WAHHH!
Chapter Six- Practice Makes Perfect
-----Recap!!! ^-^-------
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.'
------End Recap!!!!--------
The harder he thought the harder it became to come up with something to say to her. Sesshoumaru merely laid there, arms wrapped tightly around Kagome, hoping beyond all hope that he would be able to come up with something.
Kagome began to squirm uncomfortably, it felt like he actually /was/ holding Rin. He eyes popped open-- luckily Kagome couldn't see them-- as an idea was sparked by this observation. "Rin, stop squirming," he slurred sleepily. "It's much too early for this kind of nonsense. You can at least wait until the sun comes up," he stopped speaking, wondering what she would do next, hoping that she wouldn't catch onto the fact that he had, in truth, caught on to who it actually was almost immediately.
Kagome calmed down and said in her best Rin voice, "Sorry Sesshoumaru-sama, I'll go back to sleep."
"That's good," he replied, amazed that she had decided that it would be best just to play the part. He would have expected her to instead, correct him and tell him that she was /not/ Rin, probably slapping him. Never would he have expected such a response.
Though she was in an awkward position, Kagome had found it best to just let sleeping dogs, well-- just let them sleep. It was kind of cute that he thought she was Rin. 'What could it hurt?' she thought. 'Besides, he's really warm,' and with that, she snuggled closer into the curve of Sesshoumaru's body and fell back to sleep.
'Wh-what is she doing?!' Sesshoumaru's mind raged, until he found that she had gone back to sleep. He relaxed a bit, the thought that she was comfortable enough around him to actually fall into a slumbering state within his embrace was kind of comforting in its own right. She had fallen asleep /on/ him before, but she wasn't being surrounded by him in any sense of the matter.
He had to admit it though, it was kind of nice to hold her, she fit in his arms just perfectly. Her back curved against his stomach, her legs fit over his with her pert rear melding to match the shape of the way his legs curved, and his arms seemed to belong wrapped around her waist; it all seemed to fit together like a puzzle piece that was finally in the right spot. When he realized this, he decided to allow himself to relax the rest of the way and just enjoy the feel of her in his arms, her unique scent enticing him to tuck her head underneath his chin, a temptation that he gave into willingly.
Now having the time-- and piece of mind-- his thoughts began to wander and he began to berate himself for giving in so easily to such ordinary feminine charms. 'But these are not so ordinary, her scent is only something that I have caught from her, nothing like the way other females reek just as the next one does-- sometimes even with the same malodor. She smells wonderful, and, though I am loathe to admit it, it seems to be a very soothing scent,' Sesshoumaru began to unconsciously breath deeper than he had before just to fill his lungs with her alluring aroma.
'You must put an immediate stop to this! What are you thinking? She is nothing, she will be gone soon enough. That is, as soon as you find away to get rid of her,' his mind began to chastise him again. 'It may be as easy as ending her life! And, if that doesn't work, then you could always revive her, right?' Sesshoumaru pushed this thought away as an inexplicable pain shot through his heart, this one different from those that he had been experiencing recently. In fact, this one was not far from the one that he felt when he saw Rin laying on the ground dead.
He remembered that day quite vividly, though parts of it he really wished that he didn't-- and yet, thinking on it, he wouldn't wish to forget that day for the world, because that was when he had acquired his Rin-chan. But this particular feeling had happened as he turned to leave her lying there, face down, in a pool of her own life-giving fluids. He simply wasn't able to walk away, so, he brought her back to life, and he knew that he would never regret it.
This feeling that had come to him only once before had changed his life for the better, not only that but he had always trusted his "gut-instinct." So, nuzzling his cheek into Kagome's hair, he made up his mind to let himself see where all of this would lead him-- not that he wouldn't be on guard the entire time to protect not only his pride but also his daughter. But, nonetheless, he would give this awe inspiring girl a chance, besides, her hair felt really nice against his cheek. Chuckling at the trivial thought he slowly and contentedly drifted off to sleep just as the sun had begun its daily journey to the top of the mountains.
~*~
'D**n dog, left me up here the entire night, he didn't even have the common courtesy to get a bunch of useless villagers to help me down. He's going to regret this so bad,' Kouga cursed to himself. InuYasha had basically left him out to dry, taking the night off in a comfortable branch in the next tree over, which was considerably smaller. Kouga, on the other hand, was forced to sleep on a very uncomfortable and unsteady branch at the top of an incredibly high tree. So, needless to say, he was on the extreme side of grumpy.
Kouga was snapped from his thoughts of revenge when he heard a wakeful yawn emanate from the hanyou just one tree down. "Wow, that was a great night's sleep!" InuYasha exclaimed, then turning to his companion he asked, "How did you sleep Kouga?" knowing full well that the wolf hadn't gotten a wink of sleep.
Kouga just growled and barked back to the hanyou, "How do you think I slept? I was too busy holding onto the freakin' tree to be able to sleep at all! Jerk."
InuYasha hopped to the ground, stretching his limbs when he landed. "Well soooorry. It's not my fault you aren't smart enough to figure a way down without hurting yourself!"
"Oh, I think I've got an idea," Kouga smirked evilly. He had been up all night, there was time to spare for thinking of the best way to get down-- this ingenious plan just happened to involve breaking his fall with a certain hanyou.
InuYasha sensed the wolf demon's demented glee and backed from the tree a bit. "Oh, re-really? That's great, heh, wh-what would this idea involve exactly?"
"Well don't move too far from the tree and I'll gladly show you!" Kouga stood on the branch that had held him all night as InuYasha began to back away even further. "I told you not to move! Oh well,'' he said to himself, "I suppose this makes it moving target practice!"
"Um, well i-it's really okay, I gotta go do something’s anyway, so you just go ahead and I'll-" InuYasha was cut off by a flying Kouga that seemed to be heading directly at him.
Before he could think to even do anything-- he had been "brought down" as they say (I was wondering why the frisbee kept getting bigger and bigger-- then, it hit me!). Kouga landed on top of him with pinpoint precision, driving InuYasha about two feet into the ground. Kouga stood, completely unscathed; InuYasha on the other hand was merely able to sit and did so very woozily.
"You know what dog-boy."
InuYasha looked angrily up at Kouga while rubbing his sore head, "What?"
"I think you were right," Kouga said.
"Right about what?" he asked, somewhat uneasily, but mostly, it just sounded utterly exhausted.
"Well, maybe the /loincloth/," loincloth was thoroughly emphasized, "thing really just shouldn't be worn when diving from high distances," Kouga stated.
"I know I'm gonna regret this, but why is that," InuYasha was wary but also a little out of patience with the wolf, he really just wanted to get the conversation out of the way so that they could continue their search.
"Well, as I was going through the air, there was this giant breeze that just-"
"Okay! You can stop right there! I knew I would regret asking, why do I even doubt myself sometimes? Ugh," InuYasha stood from the hole he had created in the ground and looked to Kouga again, never letting go of his pounding head; right now, he wasn't quite sure if it was from the impact or from the wolf standing before him. "Can we just go now?"
"Yah, I've been ready for a while. I was just waiting for you to get you bearings again," Kouga smirked toothily.
"I wouldn't have had to regain my balance if I hadn't been knocked down in the first place! Ya half-wit," InuYasha muttered the last part under his breath, fully aware that it could be heard loud and clear, while crossing his arms across his chest.
"Well I wouldn't have had to use you to break my fall if you had just agreed to help me down in the first place!" Kouga retorted.
"Yah?! Well-"
All of these proceedings were once again viewed by a monk, but this time the monk had been accompanied by a small fox demon. "See, I told you Shippo, there's no choice for us, we have to do this."
Shippo nodded his agreement, "Yah, they'll never find her! Look at 'em! They fight like a couple of teenaged village girls."
"A wise observation indeed. So, are we off this instant in search of Lady Kagome?" Miroku asked his young traveling companion.
"Well I guess, it would make sense to, right?"
"Indeed, we should be off immediately. To the nearest teahouse!" Miroku pointed to the west (Bwahahaha!!!! No more SaiYuki for this one... O.o).
"Why a teahouse, Miroku?" Shippo asked.
"Because, my inexperienced little companion, geishas know so much of the world that-"
"Miroku! Snap out of it! We gotta find Kagome before it's too late!"
Miroku let out a long sigh, "I suppose you're right, well then, let's be on our way. It's not like these two will miss us. They've got each other to keep themselves entertained."
~*~
“Good mooorning!!” was the cry that awoke the sleeping Sesshoumaru and Kagome. “Rin says that the sun is up and that means wake-y, wake-y!!!” Rin was normally the second one up in the mornings, Sesshoumaru being the first. Today seemed to be different for some reason, that reason of course being the mere fact that Sesshoumaru had found himself simply too comfortable to get up, so Rin had decided to fix the problem.
Kagome was a little startled by Rin’s sudden interjection into her peaceful sleep, she jumped a bit and proceeded to latch herself onto the nearest stable object she could find-- which just happened to be the presently wakeful Sesshoumaru. When she woke up a little bit more and realized where she was-- Rin humming a little tune was indeed helpful-- she also became wise to the fact that what she was presently clamping onto could not possibly be Rin. As she raised her face a bit sheepishly she found her fears confirmed as Sesshoumaru peered down at her, with an eyebrow slightly lifted to show his thoughts on the present situation. Kagome blushed furiously as she mumbled an apology and sat up ramrod straight in the comfy futon.
Upon seeing this, Sesshoumaru chuckled, he was feeling strangely lighthearted. As Kagome turned to bore her displeasure into him with an evil glare, he realized that his contented feeling had come from the girl who was about to set him on fire... probably quite literally.
"Excuse me for having a natural response to someone scaring the living-daylights outta me," she said testily.
Sesshoumaru managed to stifle his laughter, he stood and walked towards Kagome. "You are forgiven, now hurry and dress, there is much that we have to do today."
She was about to say something about not asking for forgiveness but decided that it would just be best to drop the subject-- it was too early in the morning for her to start an argument anyway. Sighing she stood and began to trudge towards the room filled with garments.
"Ahem," Kagome turned and looked at Sesshoumaru while rubbing the sleep from her eyes-- obviously a Rin alarm clock would get her up but failed to /wake/ her up. "I believe that you have forgotten something," he said, his eyes flickering towards the bucket of water that was sitting beside her nestled next to a wall.
This woke her up, she glared at Sesshoumaru, snatching the bucket up she turned on her heel, almost falling over, and stomped towards her previous destination, muttering all the while. A few seconds after she had disappeared into the small room she poked her head around the corner and glowered at Sesshoumaru, "And I know you heard every word of that! And don't try to deny it either!"
Sesshoumaru shook his head and smiled a tiny smile, then proceeded to turn his attention towards the small person poking his arm rather forcefully. "Yes Rin?"
"Sesshoumaru-sama?" she began, slowly inhaling a large amount of air-- especially for someone her size-- he recognized this as the beginnings to an extremely long list of questions followed by personal opinions and experiences rounded out with another batch of freshly thought up questions.
"Before you speak, think of the one question that you truly want answered and ask it. After that one is all cleared up you may ask the rest at any speed you like," he smiled warmly down to the little girl and waited patiently as she went over the questions that she had. He enjoyed hearing her little spurts of thought, especially the unique way hers came out, he had found it all rather heart warming. Yet it had become increasingly difficult to answer all of her questions and then sift through her opinions to figure out what underlying questions there were. So he had started to ask her what the most important question was and then allowed her to go off on her tiny game of twenty questions and some other miscellaneous stuff. At first she found it slightly difficult but it became easier as time went on.
She rubbed her tiny chin in thought for a moment, turning everything over in her mind. Then after that small moment her eyes widened in glee and she smiled brightly. "What are we gonna do today?"
Sesshoumaru mimicked the way that Rin had rubbed her chin and spoke thoughtfully, "Hmmm, good question. Well first we are going to go down and have breakfast," he "thought" a bit more. "Then I think that Kagome and I need to go out for a bit, we will be back from that as soon as we can. And after that, I think we need to go outside and play a bit, don't you?"
Rin gasped in happiness and squealed at the top of her lungs "Yaaaahhh!"
"Yes, yay indeed," Sesshoumaru, out of habit, stifled a chuckle of amusement and proceeded to ask, "Was there something else that you wanted to ask, Rin?"
"Yah, why was Sesshoumaru-sama so late in getting up today? And why was Kagome-chan hugging Sesshoumaru-sama when Rin got here? And why was Kagome-chan so angry looking when she went to go get dressed? Why is Kagome-chan carrying a bucket of water around everywhere?" here she took her big breath after not breathing at all for some time. "Aaaand, where are Sesshoumaru-sama and Kagome-chan going today?"
"That's a good question Rin," both Sesshoumaru and little Rin turned at the sound of Kagome's voice. "Where /are/ we going today?"
"We are going out into the woods to practice," Sesshoumaru stated simply.
"Practice what?" Kagome asked curiously.
"We will be working on your skill-- or lack there of if you will- with flame."
Rin's eyes grew, "Wow, that sounds really fun! Could Rin come? Please? Rin promises to be real good, she won't get in the way or anything! Please?"
Sesshoumaru shook his head, "No, this will be too dangerous for you, Rin. Perhaps when Kagome sharpens her skill. Until then though, the answer shall remain no. This might be a good motivation for Kagome to hone her reflexes more rapidly," Sesshoumaru bent closer to Kagome's ear so that Rin wouldn't hear what he said next, "Or maybe survival is motivation enough for this one."
Kagome looked at the demon lord, shocked at his statement, partly because she hadn't considered the fact yet that she may have to defend herself with the new powers that she had gained. It simply hadn't crossed her mind yet, but it probably would have run across it real quick if she were put into a compromising situation. Kagome thought about how she could learn more control with her new found abilities.
"I believe it is about time we went for breakfast, then directly to the woods" Sesshoumaru broke Kagome from her thoughts.
Absent mindedly nodding she began to follow him out the door. Until she cleared his throat, rather loudly too. "What is it?" she asked, slightly annoyed.
He tipped his head towards the bucket again, Kagome's brows shot together in anger. She stomped back towards her new appendage and once again, snatched it up angrily, and walked-- in quite a huff-- out the door towards the stairs.
~*~ After breakfast (... So what?! I got a little lazy? No harm done-- trust me!! I did you guys a favor!!)
"Wow! It really is a beautiful day, isn't it?" Kagome exclaimed at the sight of the completely clear sky, the smile she wore nearly out shone the sun itself (A/N: Whoa... was that like fondue type cheesy or is it just me?).
Sesshoumaru nodded silently in agreement casting a quick glance at her over his shoulder. She may have been shining back at the sun but her hands her fidgeting on the handle of the bucket uncomfortably, another glance to her face proved the fact that she was near to completely unaware of her hands. Sighing, Sesshoumaru bent over and took the bucket from her grasp, much to her surprise.
"Oh, um thank you," she stammered wide eyed.
Sesshoumaru didn't answer, instead he pointed to a clearing, "Over there is where I want you to be, now go."
The shock disappeared from Kagome's face almost immediately, only to be replaced by a standoffish gaze and an indigent scoff. "Why of course my lord" the statement dripping with sarcasm. "Anything you wish. Why do I gotta go over there anyway?"
"Simple, I do not wish to become charcoal," Sesshoumaru replied nonchalantly.
A deep growl came from-- Kagome. Sesshoumaru chuckled mildly and pointed towards the clearing again.
"So that's why you took the bucket, jerk," Kagome muttered as she reached her designated spot. "Now, whaddaya want me to do?"
"Set your sights on that tree approximately twenty feet from you," she did so. "Good, now burn it."
At this Kagome whirled around to look at Sesshoumaru who was sitting on a rock behind her, "Wh-what did you just say?"
"I don't believe I stuttered (A/N 'Did I studda bi-... human?? ^u^), I told you to burn it."
"B-but that could start a forest fire," Kagome was getting kind of nervous now.
"Good observation," Sesshoumaru said as though she were a small child just figuring out the most obvious of facts. She put a hand on her hip and gave him the look that he'd become accustomed to over the past few days as he heard "jerk" under her breath again. "The point is to control the flame so that it is big enough to do damage but not large enough to cause a full fledged problem."
"Ya know," Kagome said turning to face the tree again, "you're just asking for trouble, setting an amateur out to do something like this on the first run. Not too smart if you ask me."
"I believe that I will be able to live with the consequences if something terrible happens," Sesshoumaru said, in an obviously sarcastic tone.
"Good, cause I dunno what in the world I'm doin'," Kagome said truthfully. She rolled her sleeves up and concentrated on the tree... two feet from her. Sesshoumaru saw this and knew that if she were to actually succeed in setting it on fire she would be in serious danger. Kagome stared intensely at the tree, putting all of her concentration into a small area of wood.
All of the sudden she felt the soft pads of fingertips lightly caress her cheeks and a pleasurable chill raced up her spine. She wasn't sure what it all was but Sesshoumaru's hands were /really/ soft and warm-- 'Hmmm, odd, you'd think that he would be as cold as the ice that he seems to try to imitate,' Kagome thought.
His soft, warm hands redirected her face so that she was looking at the tree that he had referred to earlier. "Wrong tree, baka," was all he said.
'That was all that he was doing,' Kagome's head raced as a blush spread across her cheeks, 'ahhhh, you think too much into things, Kagome! Too much!!!'
"Errr, sorry, never was very good at estimation, you gotta actually tell me which one you were talking about. Otherwise I just guess and that really never quite works out the way that it was meant to."
Sesshoumaru smiled, an entire smile that is, when he felt her cheeks warm under his touch. Fighting the urge to actually caress her newly flushed face, he brought his arms back to his sides and went to sit back down on his rock-- next to the bucket.
"Hmmm, powers of estimation may come in handy while performing your fire magic," (A/N: at a total loss for words here.... magic really isn't the word that I wanted buuuuuut........ my thesaurus is gone. I weep for the loss of a-a friend! Waaaahhhhh v^o^v) Sesshoumaru was being sarcastic again. It was nice that he seemed to be breaking out of the little shell that he had had before but should it really be at her expense?
"Yah, yah, I'm sure they would. Too bad huh? I might really under-estimate and, well let's just say that if I under-estimate too much... I may not even see what I light up, ya catch me, Fluffy?" Kagome's payback for the BS that she had decided that she was taking too much of lately (you wouldn't beeeelieve the research I had to do to make sure that she hadn't called him "Fluffy" before... I had to read my own fic over again... *shudder-shudder*).
Sesshoumaru stiffened, "What?"
"If you didn't catch it all the first time, I just implied that I might set your smart-butt a blazin' so back off Fluffy," Kagome shot back. 'Ooops, perhaps that was too harsh... aw, it's probably just PMS,' her eyes shot open, and an evil smirk spread across her lips. 'Wow, I better make sure that Rin's not in the house when I get really ticked...' Kagome began to think of several ways of burning down a house as she hummed the tune to "A Burnin' Ring of Fire."
Sesshoumaru, all of the sudden, was in front of her staring down, boring into her with his eyes. She looked up, snapping out of her pyromaniac type thoughts, an eye brow shot up, "What is it?"
"Fluffy?" Sesshoumaru's brows went the opposite way of Kagome's. With his brows furrowed, to anyone who wasn't feeling excessively daring or suicidal, he would have looked truly menacing, but to Kagome he just looked like a target.
"Yah, what of it?" she spat, about ready to unleash the very flames that they had come to the forest to control.
"Well, firstly, my name is not Fluffy," Sesshoumaru said backing off a tiny bit upon seeing the sparks in her eyes.
"Is there something else?" Kagome seethed.
'I meant to anger her, it seems to help her prepare her flames, I suppose I got a little more than I had originally bargained for,' he thought with an inner grimace.
"Well, is there?" she was becoming impatient.
"Yes," he looked down at her, giving her the feel of who had been originally put in charge, she didn't seem to care. "We came here to get some work done, we must do it lest we let Rin down." At the mention of Rin Kagome's gaze softened.
"Okay," she nodded looking to the ground. "Yah, sure, let's get started shall we?" looking up this time she smiled at Sesshoumaru.
The smile in and of itself was not surprising, the fact that it was dripping with so much sweetness (Noooo! It's Tohru Honda come to get Sesshoumaru-sama!! Ruuuun!!) that Sesshoumaru was sure he would be developing an instantaneous case of tooth decay... or something (shOOOOOOsh!!! I'm sleep typing, I'll regret writing that AFTER I've posted). Not being able to withhold his reaction this time, his eyes grew exponentially.
After he was finally able to get his eye size under control, Sesshoumaru mumbled an affirmation of Kagome's suggestion to get started and walked back to his little boulder to take his seat, shaking his head all the way. "Okay then, shall we start with the tree again?"
Kagome nodded her head, "Yah, I can do that."
"Make sure it's the one that was pointed out to you," Sesshoumaru added quickly.
"Yes," Kagome gritted her teeth, "I kinda figured that that was what you meant."
"You did say that you had to be told," Sesshoumaru pointed out.
After hearing this Kagome took a deep breath, 'He's right, I did say that he had to tell me which tree he meant. Although I thought that it was obvious that I only needed it the first time.' Her thoughts continued and she-- well to put it simply, she zoned.
"Well? Are you going to attempt to... well do something?" Sesshoumaru asked, he was starting to sound a little exasperated.
"Oh, yah, I'll get right on that!" Kagome said quickly snapping out of her trance like state. As she turned towards the tree she could hear Sesshoumaru mumble under his breath, although she couldn't hear what was specifically said. "Would you stop muttering? It's getting annoying," she stated dangerously, all while concentrating intensely at the tree before her.
"It does not matter what I mutter if you cannot hear it," he stated simply, attempting to salvage her bad mood, hopefully for the last time today.
"Sesshoumaru," Kagome said in a warning tone as she saw a spot on the tree begin to smolder a bit.
"I said nothing that should in any way, shape, or form, upset you," he started to examine his fingernails.
The smoldering spot on the tree began to get bigger as Kagome's temper began to steadily increase. Sesshoumaru was still sitting on the boulder but instead of staring at his nails he was watching the hole in the tree get bigger and bigger by the second, that is, until it suddenly stopped. Not knowing quite what happened Kagome stopped attempting to set the tree on fire and turned around to look at the demon that had accompanied her, in question.
She found him smoking a bit, and hurriedly dipping his hand into the bucket of water. He brought two wet fingers to a select strand of hair and the smoke was instantly gone. He glared at Kagome, "That was the second time you have done that to me," he said sternly. Getting up he added, "I think that we have had enough practice for today."
"I-I'm sorry," Kagome stuttered through muffled giggles.
Sesshoumaru's head snapped back to shoot her yet another glare, this one was totally missed as she was distracted by her futile attempts to stop laughing. "Get the bucket," as he suspected, the laughter stopped immediately, she stomped over to the bucket and followed behind Sesshoumaru.
~*~
They had finally arrived at the house, and although they were both in one piece, each seemed to be trying to make sure that the other would arrive in several.
"What do you mean by that?!" Kagome yelled.
"I do not intend to repeat myself," Sesshoumaru rubbed his temple and walked a little faster, but Kagome caught up. "If you wish to walk so close, please speak a bit quieter," he muttered.
"I'll talk as loud as I want! Besides, I'm just making up for you, you mutter too much," her head snapped to face him. "And you can't tell me otherwise!"
Sesshoumaru shook his head and opened the door, motioning for Kagome to go in first. "Thanks," was all that she could get out before her leg hit a string. This string seemed to be attached to a bucket of water which was promptly emptied onto Kagome's head. This seemed to trigger the explosion of a bag that was holding quite a bit of flour, which also landed straight onto Kagome.
"Oh! Kagome-chan!" Rin walked out from behind a corner. She stood in front of Kagome with her hands on her hips and a stern look plastered to her face, "Kagome-chan ruined Rin's joke! It was all set up for Jaken-sama!" The little girl let out an exasperated sigh and let her hands drop limply to her sides, "Darn, now Rin has to go rig it up all over again!" She walked off to another room, leaving a gooey, shocked Kagome in the doorway.
Sesshoumaru looked on in amazement for a while as Rin voiced her complaints. As soon as the youth had left though, the laughter came. Not just a small chuckle, but all out laughter, something that was new to Kagome's ears, and evidently Rin's too, for she came running to see what had made her beloved lord laugh so. Sesshoumaru leaned down to support himself on his knee so that during his laughing fit, he would not ungraciously fall on his gracious butt (tee-hee =^-^= and what a butt it is too!).
The sight of Sesshoumaru so over come with laughter had gotten to Kagome too because she began to giggle a bit, not nearly as hard and loudly as Sesshoumaru had managed to though.
"What's so funny?" Rin asked franticly. "Rin doesn't see anything! Well, except for Kagome-chan, but that's not really- Okay, it kinda is. Maybe Kagome-chan does look a /little/ funny. Uh-oh! Jaken-sama's coming! Gotta go!" and she was gone.
This was just as soon as Sesshoumaru was beginning to compose himself, small sporadic chuckles still coming from him as he stood. He walked over to the still giggling Kagome and wiped a bit more off of her face, stating as calmly as he could, "You missed a spot."
Kagome looked at Sesshoumaru and gave him a disbelieving look, but very soon afterwards a smirk made its way across her face. She brought her hand up and wiped it all over Sesshoumaru's, leaving a gooey mess from stem to stern, "Oh really? I think you might have missed a spot too."
Sesshoumaru took his hand and removed some of the paste from his eyes and mouth and looked down at the smirking Kagome. "Hmm, I think there's still a bit left, right," his voice lowered a bit, "here." His finger slowly wiped away any of the wet four from her lips as he bent down to capture them with his own. Kagome was a little surprised but didn't really have time to think as his lips descended upon hers (Who in the world wants time to think when they've got those HOTT lips coming for them?????).
Her lips were so pliable under his as he moved closer to her. He was near asking to permission to enter the warm confines of her mouth when an unwelcome shrill voice pierced the air, "Sesshoumaru-sama, where is that little bra--? Sesshoumaru-sama?? What are you doing?!" Jaken screamed.
Sesshoumaru pulled away from Kagome, sighing and resting his forehead on hers, muttering in a dangerously low tone, "Thinking of how many ways I might cook anything named Jaken, on a stick."
"Oh, heh, i-is that all?" Jaken asked nervously. "If that's it then, I-I think I'll just be going now!" (Like wet-nurse like cute little girl... Yah, I just compared Rin and Jaken... What of it??????)
~*~
A/N: Okay I'm gonna end this torture here and now... I think that you might be able to call it a cliffhanger... or maybe it's just an excuse... Whatever one calls it, I'm gonna call it a night. After, though, I apologize for this chapter taking an especially long time and sucking an exceptional amount of suckage.
My computer was at the computer doctor cause it blew up (yup, blue smoke and all), and during that time that I didn't have the fic I was rarin' to go, had all my ideas in my head, heck I even wrote them down so that when I did get my computer back I wouldn't forget... I forgot... Oh well, I suppose life goes on -_-V...
Anywho, bear with me and all will eventually work itself out 'cause... NEXT WEEK IS MID-WINTER VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes folks, I shall have a never ending amount of Mountain Dew and my favorite energy drink... BAWLS! The next chapter sounds like it may shine already!!
And last but not least... I have a request to make, Miroku's Wench (Mirokus Wench on Media Miner) is pretty sick... to make her feel better she asks that you review a few of her fics (I even helped her write some ^-^). She says that you don't even hafta read 'em! I'n that great?? So, go out and say some stuff you don't really mean about fics that you haven't even read! Thanks much! Pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase do this!!! I had to hold her barf bowl as she heaved four pieces of pizza into it... do this for anyone, me, her, your mother, your father, your siblings, Miroku's Wench's tummy, or for Paco (I can say it, I'm a halfbreed ^-^), whoever or whatever it is JUST DO IT!!!!!!!!!
Thank you ^-^
And now, a moment with a disgustingly sick person... Miroku's Wench:
ow,ow,ow,ow,ow,ow. MY TUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYY(AKA: Timmy or Miyu) did you know that it is possible to get dizzy by watching some one type? yup! 'specialy water nymph(AKA water sprite or never again) first she types something , then she decides she doesn't REALLY want it, so you watch the letters go back and forth, and back and forth, for about 8 seconds. THEN she types MORE and decides she doesn't NEED it, sooooo that doesn't go too well either, you see...first she writes...deletes and then REwrites it because she "accidentally" deleted it. IT'S A VICIOUS CYCLE PEOPLE!!! OW,OW,OW,OW,OW... *HEAVE!*
Thank you for that illuminating experience... She also wishes you to know that she is on both fanfics.org and mediaminer.org (some stories maybe posted on one and not the other... don't ask cuz I dunno). Anywho, thanks again... and REVIEW NOT ONLY HERS BUT MINE TOOOOOOO! What you think I was gonna be that giving??? Gimme a break!
P.S. She wants you guys to know that her nose is runny too... -_-V sigh....
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