InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Someone To Watch Over Me - One Shots ❯ What Made the Change ( One-Shot )

~*~*~*What Made the Change*~*~*~

 

The darkness of the night was so blinding that she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. Stumbling over rocks and exposed roots, she bit her bottom lip hard to keep quiet. The muscles in her legs burned, her knees aching as they tried to lock up on her with each movement; every step hurt, but still she ran, pushing herself harder with every impact of her lead weighted feet on the frozen ground below her.

 

The bitter cold winter wind bit at her face and arms, choking her and burning her lungs as she breathed it in. The cut on her right shoulder that extended halfway to her elbow continuously produced hot blood that turned cold and tacky as it oozed slowly down her arm to drip onto the ground. She could feel a tingling sensation in the fingers of her right hand and knew that it wouldn't be long before her entire arm went numb. Shifting the unconscious child in her arms to lean more heavily against her left arm, she clenched her jaw and blinked quickly to fight away the rising bile that burned the back of her throat.

 

Turning abruptly, she couldn't help the tear filled cry that sounded when she fell, her injured arm scraping painfully along the rough bark of the tree she'd run into. She had no choice then; setting the child down carefully, she moved just far enough away to empty her rebellious stomach and swipe the back of her hand across her mouth, smearing blood on her face in the process.

 

Her head whipped around as she heard the sounds of the men that were chasing her grow closer. Quickly lifting the child into her arms, her injured arm burning hotly with the movement, the woman struggled to her feet and stumbled as she tried to run, tears falling silently from her tired eyes.

 

“Don't worry, Rin.” She spoke softly to the unconscious child. “One of them will find us. You'll be safe.”

 

The woman cried out when an arrow shot by her, cutting a deep gash in her hip before lodging itself a nearby tree. Stumbling, she almost fell but caught herself in time, jarring her knee painfully. She could feel the blood from her injured hip running down her leg and whimpered as her injuries and growing fatigue slowed her to a limping jog. Her breath whistled in her throat when she gasped as a flash of green light appeared next to her, snapping an arrow in half, the broken wooden pieces falling to the ground harmlessly.

 

“Run, miko,” Sesshoumaru commanded her.

 

Kagome didn't stop to nod or acknowledge his words as she moved past him in a limping jog. She tried to move faster, tried to run, but the darkness around her seemed to be growing thicker. With a pained whimper she fell to her knees, covering Rin's small body with her own as she collapsed to the ground unconscious.

 

Standing silent as a specter in the night, hair and skin glowing in the inky darkness, Sesshoumaru waited. His golden eyes took on a more feral light as red began to bleed through them, rinsing away the white and turning the gold an angry teal. His poison whip slashed out once…twice…three times, snapping arrows and cutting down the angry humans that fired them. If they were foolish enough to chase after and attack his pup and his brother's miko, then they deserved to die.

 

He waited a few moments after the last man fell. Lifting his sensitive nose into the wind, he could only smell blood - her blood. Turning away from the scattered remains of the human hunters, the taiyoukai walked quietly to where the woman lay fallen on the ground, her body covering Rin's. He could not carry them both and leaving either one out in the cold was unacceptable. He was certain that the miko's blood was already drawing attention from animals and youkai alike.

 

Looking the woman over, he was surprised and impressed that she had made it this far from where he had first come across the scent of her blood nearly two clicks away. The cut on her arm wasn't shallow, but neither was it deep, having been made by the tip of one of the men's swords. She had a fool's courage, his brother's miko - his brother's mate.

 

Having been separated from the rest of her pack of misfits, the woman had come upon him as he was looking for Rin. Thinking the child had simply gotten lost chasing after butterflies, as she was prone to do, he was taken aback when she told him that Rin was in danger. Asking him to distract the angry villagers, he had watched her as she ran through the growing crowd to where Rin lay motionless, tied to a wood and stone alter.

 

He soon lost track of the woman when the crowd of villagers turned as one and began attacking him. He knew that to leave would put Kagome in more danger than she already was. Lifting his hand, he let loose his poison whip and watched as one by one the cowardly humans either ran or fell. It was then, as he turned his head, that he smelled the miko's blood…

 

Blinking a few times as he broke free of his thoughts, Sesshoumaru looked down and found Kagome to be moving slowly and with great difficulty. Struggling to her hands and knees, her face hidden by her long raven hair, he could smell the salt of the tears she cried silently, the stronger scent of new blood as her wounds stretched and bled anew with her slow movements.

 

He stopped her with a touch to her shoulder when she tried to lift Rin. He could see in her eyes when she turned her head that had it not been him she would have laid down her life to protect Rin. She already had his attention, being the first human to both stand up to and, at times, defend him. But now she had earned his respect and his protection.

 

Kneeling down next to her, he lifted Rin into his arm and stood once again, silent, proud, stoic. He watched as Kagome struggled to her feet and stood just as proudly, even though he could tell that she was going to pass out again - and soon. His brow lifted as she took a few tentative, trembling steps forward.

 

“What are you doing, miko?” he asked, his tone neutral, uncaring.

 

“We need to get her to a healer. I don't know what's wrong with her, but she won't wake up.”

 

Kagome's voice was heavy with the exhaustion and pain she was trying to hide. Her body hurt, every inch of it and her open wounds felt as though they were on fire, but still she refused to stop. She was determined not to show any weakness to him by giving voice to her pain. There were more important things to worry about - like why Rin had yet to wake up.

 

“Stop, miko,” he commanded her his voice quiet, but his tone one that was not to be questioned.

 

She turned around slowly, nearly falling over as she did. Her eyes were dark, glassy and unable to focus. He knew then that she wouldn't last but a few more moments.

 

“Come to me, miko,” he commanded, his tone soft, almost gentle.

 

Too tired to argue, in too much pain from her wounds to think, she obeyed his command. Walking to stand in front of him took the last of her strength, and her mind began to register the sound of a low soothing growl as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

 

“Wrap your arms around me, miko,” he instructed her, his voice a bit deeper - rumbling as he growled.

 

“Ka-gome,” she said around a yawn as she slipped her arms around his trim waist and leaned heavily against the hard armor covering his torso. “My name is Kagome.”

 

He snorted softly in amusement, blinking his golden eyes at her in curious wonder as she slept against him. Gathering his youki around him, it formed a cloud beneath his feet and lifted him and the two human females in his care into the night sky. Flying quickly deeper into the western lands, he didn't set down again until he was well within the rooms kept by his palace's healer.

 

A youkai turned to him, her hair a beautiful fawn brown intermingled with bits of black and twilight gray. Her dark eyes were large in her pale face, her full lips crimson above a delicate chin. She had been here longer than he could remember, the beautiful owl youkai having served as his mother's midwife.

 

“Take Rin,” Sesshoumaru said as she stepped toward him.

 

“And the woman?” she asked, taking note of the blood and wounds on the woman as she lifted Rin into her arms and held the child in a mother's embrace.

 

“I will tend to her,” he said simply as he wrapped his arm around Kagome and lifted her easily against his side.

 

He moved with her down the hall and carried her to the room his mother had once occupied. He didn't question the strange feeling that told him that while Kagome didn't belong with him she did belong as a part of his family. Laying her down upon the plush futon with some difficulty, he stood and finally gave in to Tensaiga's persistent demands and removed the pulsing sword from its sheath. His father's fang had been thrumming madly ever since he found the mi-Kagome lying atop Rin.

 

Slashing the heavenly blade across the woman's body, the white light of his sword's power mixed with her miko's power and a backlash of the mixed energies came back at him in a feedback loop too powerful and fast to avoid. He braced himself for the impact but was completely unprepared for the comforting warmth that cosseted him and surround him like a mother's embrace. A strange tingling sensation, a warmth that held no heat encased the shoulder of his missing arm.

 

Looking at the empty sleeve of his kimono, he could feel his arm growing, the skin, bone and tissue stretching painlessly. His arm stopped growing three finger widths above his wrist. Instead of the decade it would have taken to completely re-grow his arm, it would only take a few more months now - perhaps a year for the rest to re-grow.

 

He stared down at Kagome then, once again both surprised and impressed by her. Tensaiga had healed her wounds as if they'd never been made; however, it would take a few more days for her body to recover the loss of blood and energy. Sheathing his sword, he knelt down beside her and breathed deeply of her scent. He could smell his half brother's intent claim upon her and for once felt pride for the hanyou being his brother.

 

“Do not mess this up, little brother,” he whispered.

 

Touching her pale face, he felt the fever that threatened to heat her skin but was pleased to find no illness coloring her scent. Rising from where he'd been kneeling next to her, he moved to the rarely used wardrobe. The fading scent of his long dead mother infiltrated his nose as he opened the heavy wooden door and removed a silken blanket stuffed with feathers and dried sakura petals and mint sprigs. Somehow it seemed fitting to him to cover Kagome with his mother's favorite blanket.

 

The last memory he had of his mother stopped him in his tracks as he looked down at Kagome without seeing her. His mother had been in this room with the healer, heavy in labor with what would've been his sister. His father had told him many times that her pregnancy with his sister was far more difficult than his own. When it had been too late - too far into the labor for anything to be done - his sister had flexed her hands inside the birth canal. Her needle sharp claws had caught inside their mother, ripping her open, killing her and drowning his sister in their mother's blood. Not even his father's sword had been able to save them.

 

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Sesshoumaru moved to Kagome and spread the blanket over her. Brushing the hair off her face, he rose and left the room closing the door quietly behind him. Walking down the many halls to find his life long friend and advisor, Kanaye, Sesshoumaru breathed a deep sigh of relief when Rin came stumbling down the hall toward him, rubbing her eyes with her balled up fists.

 

“Nothing more heinous than a strong sleeping potion,” the healer said, walking up next to him. “It will take half a day for it to completely wear off.

 

Sesshoumaru nodded his thanks to her before moving to Rin and lifting her into his arm. Supporting her under her bottom with his newly reformed and nearly complete arm, his eyes shined with amusement when he heard the owl youkai gasp behind him in astonishment. His arm was yet another thing he had to thank his brother's miko for.

 

 

~_~_~_~_~_~_~

 

 

With a sudden sharp intake of breath golden eyes snapped open, long silver hair fluttering around strong shoulders and down his back as Sesshoumaru shot straight up in his futon. The silken blankets rippled and pooled down around his hips, over his lap, and he blinked quickly as he awoke. He wasn't certain what had woken him so suddenly, but a sense of urgency tugged at him and propelled him stumbling to his feet.

 

He looked around his room, the hazy light of the cloud-covered moon adding a dreamlike quality to the darkness around him. Ready to burrow back beneath his blankets and chalk it up to a dream he couldn't remember, a low growl spilled forth as an unidentifiable feeling pulled him to the door of his room. The closer he got to his door the more he thought he heard something; the sound so soft that he felt it more than he actually heard it.

 

Opening the shoji door slowly, he stepped into the hall the white silk of his sleeping kimono fluttered softly around his shins as the air temperature changed; the mixing of cold and warm creating a gentle breeze. He let the feeling lead him, and as he moved down the hall he heard the first soft whimper, a choked sob.

 

`It's her,' his youkai blood spoke to him.

 

`Who?' he asked

 

`Your brother's mate, Kagome; she's crying.'

 

Stepping up to the door of her room, he opened it slowly. He padded quietly across the room to her the wood floor smooth and cool beneath his bare feet. She was curled up on the futon where he'd left her, the blanket twisted tightly around her knees and feet, the scent of her tears thick in the air. Her breaths were stilted, broken by whimpers and sobs so lonely they made the taiyoukai ache.

 

`What the hell are you standing around for, baka?' his youkai railed at him. `Go to her!'

 

`And what would you have me do?' Sesshoumaru asked of his youkai as he stood watching the sleeping girl.

 

Go to her. Hold her. Comfort her. But for hell's sake don't just let her cry! And don't you dare wake her up and tell her to stop either.'

 

Sesshoumaru snorted silently at his youkai before moving forward slowly.

 

`Be gentle with her,' his youkai cautioned him.

 

`Do you want to do this?'

 

If I could, baka, believe me I would. You said earlier that she's earned your respect and protection,' his youkai said when Sesshoumaru failed to move any closer to her. `Must she earn your affection as well?'

 

`She is human.'

 

`Like that matters,' his youkai scoffed at him. `You and I both know the timing of it is irrelevant - she's family.'

 

`Family?'

 

`Yes, family. You can't deny the hanyou forever. He is your brother, whether you like it or not.'

 

Lost in the silent argument with his youkai blood, there was no conscious thought to his actions as he sat next to her on the wide futon and pulled the sleeping, weeping woman into his arms. He didn't take notice when he lay back upon the silk encased buckwheat pillow with Kagome tucked against his chest.

 

Her hand fisted in the open `V' of Sesshoumaru's loosely tied sleeping kimono. She whimpered softly, curled closer to the warmth his body provided as he held her and sighed softly, contentedly as the thickly stuffed, softly scented blanket was wrapped around her and tucked beneath her chin.

 

`She's not crying anymore,' his youkai observed, reverently snapping Sesshoumaru out of his stupor.

 

`What?'

 

The feel of her body lying tucked tightly against his side came to him slowly as he turned his head to look upon her. Her cheek was pillowed upon his ribs; the feel of her tiny hand low in the center of his chest, fisted in the folds of his white silk sleep kimono. Her breaths were soft, deep and even; no longer did fear and grief color her scent. His mother's blanket lay over them both but most noticeably it was tucked around her shoulder and beneath her chin.

 

`Oh hell,' Sesshoumaru cursed his youkai. `This was your doing.'

 

`Mine?' his youkai protested. `You're the one in control of this body, remember?'

 

`Be quiet.'

 

`Command me all you like, Sesshoumaru, but you and I both know that this was all your doing.'

 

Sesshoumaru remained quiet, much to the amusement of his youkai. He grew lethargic as her warmth cosseted him. A yawn broke free from him, his fangs glinting in the moonlight. Closing his eyes he allowed sleep to claim him once more.

 

 

 

 

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

 

 

It was three days and four nights spent in Sesshoumaru's care before Inuyasha arrived to claim her. Three days spent playing with and teaching Rin all she knew while at the same time getting to know Sesshoumaru better. Three days of Sesshoumaru's quiet, steady insistence that she rest and take it easy as her body recovered. Four nights of Sesshoumaru coming to her, holding her when she cried out fitfully in her sleep only to leave moments before she awoke; the last morning was different. That morning, Kagome awoke before Sesshoumaru did.

 

 

 

The watery light of the predawn morning filtered in through the northeastern facing window of the room Kagome in which she had been staying. Awareness came to her slowly. Sometime during the night her pillow had turned hard and infinitely warm. A feeling of safety surrounded her in much the same way as the strong arms that held her. A sound so familiar, yet at the same time not, soothed her. A strange sound…a growl, a low soothing rumble, an almost snore.

 

Brown eyes blinked slowly in the light that was slowly growing brighter. As her vision cleared it revealed a strong male chest that pillowed her cheek, and in the same moment she could feel the long fingers and the hand they extended from that were loosely tangled in her hair, gently cupping the back of her head.

 

Pushing down gently with the arm that was tucked beneath her on the futon, Kagome rose up just enough to look into the face of the man that held her. Feeling the hand slide through her hair, the fingers brushing along her back as the arm fell limply to the bed behind her, a silent gasp caught in her throat when she found herself staring down at a sleeping Sesshoumaru. Not knowing why, she felt compelled to touch his face and lightly traced the magenta crests on his left cheek with the pads of her fingertips.

 

She didn't see his eyes open, didn't notice he was awake until she felt his fingers comb into her hair as his palm gently held her neck, the low curve of her ear gently cradled in the `V' formed by his thumb and index finger. Her eyes met his, her expression startled but curious, and for a single fleeting moment Sesshoumaru wanted her for himself.

 

`She may be familiar, Sesshoumaru, but she's not my mate,' his youkai spoke to him.

 

`Perhaps not, but she is…' he couldn't find the right words to give voice to what he felt about her.

 

`I know,' his youkai soothed him. `Women like her are highly coveted because they are so rare. Why do you think your father fell in love with a human? Because she was convenient? No, most certainly not. Because Izayoi was much like Kagome. This woman, this beautiful precious woman is not our mate, but she is family. We need to protect her. Protect her like we protect Rin…Sesshoumaru…'

 

`What?'

 

`We need to help her.'

 

`Help her? Help her with what?'

 

`Help explain things to her. The hanyou may not know as much about youkai mating.'

 

`He's hanyou, the knowledge is instinctual.'

 

`Yes, but would his knowledge be enough that he could explain it to her?'

 

Sesshoumaru remained silent as he thought over his youkai's question. Instinct would guide Inuyasha in knowing what to do, in how to treat her, how to respond to her, but Kagome didn't have those same instincts. Would the hanyou know how to explain these things to the miko?

 

“Are you alright?”

 

Kagome's voice pulled Sesshoumaru from his thoughts, and he looked up at her. He heard her intake of breath as his lips curved up with just a ghost of a smile it was more of a change in his youki than any real kind of physical expression. His golden eyes brightened slightly and as the morning light caught their topaz depths they sparkled.

 

“I'm fine, miko…Your - clothing,” he said the word as though he didn't deem it worthy of the school uniform she had worn, “was too torn to be saved.”

 

Sesshoumaru sat up slowly, his arm around Kagome's waist supporting her as she sat up as well.

 

“Keep the kimono,” he said and waived off her thanks as he helped her to stand. “In time you will have questions. The way that ignorant hanyou treats you and responds to you will change. You may not understand all that he does or the reasons he takes certain actions…When those questions come to you, send for me and I will answer them as best I can.”

 

Walking her to the door of the room, he escorted her into the hall and introduced her to the tall kitsune that seemed to be standing guard.

 

“Kanaye will take you to my brother, Kagome.” The miko turned to look at him. “Know that you have the protection of this Sesshoumaru. Know that I will come to you should you have need of me.”

 

“I don't suppose you and Inuyasha would stop fighting?” she asked, only to be answered by a raised brow from the taiyoukai. “Yeah, I didn't think so.” A soft blush dusted Kagome's cheeks and drew a questioning look from Sesshoumaru. “I just - I.” She sighed and shook her head at her own foolishness. “Thank you for taking care of me. Goodbye, Sesshoumaru.”

 

He watched her walk down the long hall beside Kanaye and disappear around the corner.

 

“Goodbye, sister.”