InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Spring Fever ❯ Discomfort ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter 13

 

Discomfort

 

“Darling, it looks terrifying. Do we have to??”

 

This was coming from the oddly blond haired woman standing in front of them as she clutched her mate's arm and stared at the loading cars.

 

“It'll be fine, I'm here,” he soothed. They got on and the line flow ended, bringing Sesshomaru and the miko to the front.

 

“Good! We get prime seating!” she giggled, hopping from toe to toe with excitement. Sesshomaru was confused. Spinning a slow-motion ride scared her beyond reasoning, but shooting across a track and doing circles in the air and what not was her delight? If anything, it should have been the opposite, right?

 

The blond woman gave a cry when their long car lurched to a start, her odd looking nails digging into the padded brace over her chest.

 

“I hope it comes soon!” the miko giggled, rubbing her hands together and squirming in place. “Oh, I'm already regretting that corn dog. Oh well, this'll be worth it! I haven't been on a roller coaster in years!”

 

Sesshomaru smirked at her antics. She was acting like Rin would with flowers. It was oddly heart warming. He supposed he really did miss the child and her brilliant methods of torturing Jaken.

 

“Do I really have to wear this?” he asked as the miko drew the chest brace down on herself. These seats were far from comfortable, and very small. But, they were sitting in the very front, so that proved to be promising.

 

“It's worth it,” she said. “Here, gather your hair behind your back so you're against it, and I'll pull it down.”

 

Tight. It was tight, and uncomfortable, and it hugged him into the seat. The right sided braces were jostled by a servant, the miko's first, and once all of them proved their security the ride was started.

 

“EEEEE!!” the miko cried with excitement, her hands becoming little fists as they shook in front of her, her drawstring purse tied securely around her wrist and then some. There was fear laced through her scent, but it was mild and mingled with mirth, so it was a welcomed fear. This aught to be good.

 

They left the station, and the first little hill was a twenty-five foot drop. The nose crept at first, anticipating and nervous laughs coming from behind, and as more of this metal snake hung downhill the weight of the rest shoved it onward, causing great excitement for the rest of the passengers.

 

It was surprisingly stomach lurching to drop at the whim of the machine, and reaching the bottom the momentum carried the underside of the cart up and onto a hooked chain which pulled them along, clicking annoyingly.

 

“You alright!?” the miko yelled over the noise, simply beaming.

 

He nodded, breathing steadily through his nose for a few seconds. That wasn't so bad. Sort of fun, actually.

 

An evil look shadowed her delicate face. “If this makes you sick, I'm going to laugh hysterically about it for weeks!! You DO know that, right!?”

 

He answered her with a glare past the fairly hard padding, the ride still ascending. “I can't possibly be worse on this than you on a Ferris Wheel.”

 

“What?!” she called over the racket.

 

He repeated himself with a yell, and she smacked his knee. They reached the top.

 

“Stick your hands up!!”

 

“What?!” he asked, looking around. Dear kami, they were higher than the Ferris Wheel! This miko was crazy!

 

“Lift them up!” she cried, doing so so her bag clicked against her elbow. “And close your eyes!”

 

“Why?!” he demanded.

 

“Just do it!! I promise I won't look at you!!”

 

She had a thrilled look on her face, breath hitching as the nose began to point down. She smiled brilliantly, eyes squeezed shut and hands completely open overhead like they were trying to catch sunlight. Feeling like a fool, he did the same. He was learning over these last couple of weeks, that in the future, being a fool was the greatest source of entertainment.

 

The weight of the back added itself and they quickly shot downhill.

 

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” the miko cried. She finished her cry, breathed in, and began screaming before they hit the end of the slope.

 

Oh, kami, this didn't feel right! Sure, he was use to flying, but he was always in control of it, and-

 

A sudden lurch for the left made him shoot his eyes open and he grasped the brace over this chest, their long carriage quickly consuming the track beneath. They made half a circle at an unnatural pace and while Sesshomaru looked ahead, the miko giggled a cry.

 

“CORKSCREW!!”

 

... Corkscrew? What was th-

 

“YEEEEEEEEE-HEHE-HEHE-HEHEEEEEEEEE!!” she hollered as they entered a horizontal spiral.

 

The world rudely spun counterclockwise. Once, twice, thrice, and dropped. Sesshomaru felt like his stomach and heart were going to leap out in a fit of joy. Then there was the miko, with her eyes closed and fists up again, enjoying the displeasing feeling.

 

Everything went vertical, then more so, and the Roller Coaster entered a huge loop. Looking over, Sesshomaru noticed how the miko's bag hung hazardously for the ground while they were completely upside down, but didn't fall.

 

Sesshomaru, despite his immense discomfort, was grateful that he at least didn't have his hair in his face...

 

“Wanna go again?!” the miko cried excitedly, hopping out of the cart as gracefully as the kimono would allow, wobbling in her sandals on momentarily unstable legs. Sesshomaru gave her a flat look as she untied her purse from her wrist, hoisting himself out. He'd feel better in a minute, right? “... Sesshomaru, are you okay? You look pale. ... Well, paler than usual.”

 

“This Sesshomaru is perfectly fine,” he told her, his stomach feeling far too warm and his limbs and face cold. That wasn't a normal sensation.

 

She snorted while trying to hold back a laugh. “Uh-oh! The third person reference! Either I'm in trouble or your lying like a do- ... Well, or you're just lying.”

 

“Care to take a guess?” he asked, standing a head taller than her.

 

“This Kagome would prefer it to be kept a mystery,” she replied mockingly as they walked out of the place with the crowd. The sudden regal tone of her voice had him giving her a second look. It disappeared when she continued talking. “That way if you kill me you're killing an ignorant person, which someone of your nobility would be hard pressed to commit, ne?”

 

“It is quite a bit easier than you seem to believe, miko,” he replied. As they exited, the blond from before was sobbing hysterically on the bench near the exit, saying she'd never forgive her mate for dragging her onto that ride and what not.

 

Kagome scoffed in her direction, then pointed a disapproving stare at Sesshomaru. “It's Kagome,” she stated. “And I was referring to your sense of pride anyway. Oye, I really shouldn't have eaten that corn dog...”

 

Corn dog...

 

“... Now you just look green,” she commented.

 

“What is next?” he inquired, changing the subject.

 

Plenty was next. Sesshomaru eventually got use to being yanked around by the machines, and was really enjoying himself. The last ride had both himself and the miko sick though, because they had sat in an oddly egg-shaped ride with a wheel in the middle of it. The miko was clinging for dear life when he took hold of it and sent them spinning in two circles at once.

 

“I think I feel good enough to go do something else now,” the miko stated ten minutes after the last ride, swishing the last inch of water remaining in what she called the plastic bottle. Sesshomaru had already finished his. The cold liquid was a welcomed presence, as it settled his nerves.

 

“Miko,” Sesshomaru addressed her, wanting a question answered. “How is it you fear one ride and yet embrace the other?”

 

She looked at him from beyond the bottom of the water bottle, and lowered it without her taking the intended drink. “You scared me, that's why,” she replied honestly, taking that swig.

 

This was rather shocking. If he had to rate the rides, the hell on wheels was definitely the highest in unfavorable. But, furthermore, what?? “I scared you?”

 

“Of course you did,” she muttered around the circle of plastic, tilting it up to empty the container. She looked a tad unnerved by this conversation.

 

“It was obviously designed to rock,” he stated bluntly, oddly offended.

 

“Not like that it wasn't!” she barked at him.

 

“So the fault lies with me?” he asked.

 

“Well, duh!” she stated, angrily chucking her plastic container at the closest garbage can. It hit someone instead, and she really didn't seem to care about that.

 

“You do not trust me?”

 

“N-... No, not really,” was her reply, locking a few fingers into her hair. “You break everything anyway...”

 

Ouch... That sort of hurt. The first part of the sentence. He accepted the fact that he broke plenty of things.

 

She was shifting in her seat now.

 

“Why?” he asked. His voice perplexed even himself, so he ignored her stare as he cleared his throat. He felt he should be mad, but his question was very deadpanned to say the least, and something felt off balance. Not being able to pinpoint exactly what was out of balance had him wanting to feel annoyed, but he didn't.

 

“Sesshomaru,” she addressed him, sounding tired with the sigh. “Come on. You've tried to kill me. Several times. And you've tried to kill my friends. Even your own kin.” She looked at him with a hopeless smile. “I'll admit, I don't see you in the same light I did when I first saw you. Rin helped me with that, along with some of your random acts of kindness. But for the longest of times, you were my enemy. You were trained to be an aristocratic assassin, and I and everyone else knew it.”

 

He was yelling. Well, in his head. His damned body refused to follow suit. He felt a bit numb, which made him feel heavy, which was very unneeded. Was this a spell? He didn't sense any spiritual energy, but such wasn't always needed.

 

She remained both oblivious and talkative.

 

“I'll admit, I don't hate you or anything, and it's not like I'm holding a grudge, it's just that- Well- You scare me. You really, truly scare me, and you use to enjoy doing it intentionally too!” At this she jabbed an accusatory finger at him. “I'm not forgetting any time soon how you've used your energy to frighten me, and your damned smirk to set me off! You knew what you were doing, so I have full right to not fully trust you!” She calmed a little, thinking. “... I mean, you're like an alien. I can't touch you without risking my life, and you're so standoffish that even if I dared I'd be forfeiting a limb! I can't have a conversation with you, I don't understand you, your mean and despise me and you downgrade me every chance you get! You don't use my name even, it's like you don't see me as a real and sensitive thing!”

 

She was crying, and very frustrated, and took a calming breath. The calm didn't last long though.

 

“I'm a living being, Sesshomaru. I'm not an item, or a servant, or someone you can just backhand and call it good! If you want an object, then keep treating me like you do until the day you leave! But objects don't trust, and they don't care, and they damn well don't have feelings! I don't care that you are suppose to get immediate respect, because I am not from your time Sesshomaru. I'm not under your law.”

 

There was a long silence, during which the miko caught the hiccups from being so nervous.

 

“I see,” he stated, still in that tone which was never designed to come from him. He wanted to kick himself for not being able to come up with something else to say, but how could he? She was actually stating the truth, whether he liked it or not, and he had known these things for a very long time. Hearing them, however, was something entirely different.

 

“I'm sorry.”

 

He looked up when she spoke, and she was already walking away, wiping at her eyes and with her back to him.

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

Sesshomaru had entirely too much time to think while she was gone. He found himself reminiscing the times he had seen her, remembering very clearly how shocked he was when she first proved her potential for being a nuisance and emerged from the mound of melted skulls with Tetsusaiga in hand, then threatened to cut him down with it like nothing had happened. How she fired her arrow at Tetsusaiga a few weeks after that and canceled its transformation, which was not only surprising but displeasing as well. To have her fire yet another right after and destroy his shoulder armor granted her a death sentence, had he succeeded in giving it. Several other incidents flickered through his mind, and not only were her feelings fully justified, but he suddenly realized that she was one of the rare opponents he couldn't defeat. That, in and of itself, was respectable, and opened the doors to new fields of training. He could stand to be more active.

 

It was decided. She was a powerful miko, a worthy opponent, and a pain in the neck. She also happened to be his hostess who didn't try and shoo him away from her home and tolerated all the things she just listed off, despite calling him her enemy. Not only that, but she tried to keep him amused.

 

Despite her demand that he not kill anything, she was proving to be pretty... Well, considerate, and kind. Sure, she was a miko, his natural enemy, but there she was, walking back and dressed up so he wouldn't be stared at and standing four feet away and giving him an uncertain look-

 

Oh. She was back.

 

She looked very... Stubborn. She was going to become annoying, wasn't she?

 

“Well, get off your ass so I can finish giving my apology to you!” she huffed. “We haven't ridden everything yet, and it's already getting dark out, so I want to get my money's worth while I can.”

 

“Money's worth?” he inquired nonchalantly.

 

She held up her tagged wrist. “Yeah. These. Each one is like one thousand yen. To earn that, it'd be like serving food to the entire city for a week straight!”

 

He smirked at her. She prepared for an assault. Then, realizing that he was just smirking, she stomped her foot.

 

“YOU are SUCH a BULLY!!” she yelled, grabbing his wrist and pulling him out of his seat. “You get what you reap, Sesshomaru! Stab me in the back and I'll kill you, got that?!”

 

She proceeded to march onward, leading him along. Being led was not his preferred position, so he came up to her side and she nervously yanked her hand back, angling away from him. She kept him at arm's length.

 

“What are you smiling at?” she asked, glaring at him from the corner of her eye.

 

He shrugged. “Where to?”

 

She pouted slightly, but not the sad sort. “What's up with the 180?”

 

“The what?”

 

“...” She was studying him. “Never mind. We're going there.”

 

He followed her pointing finger to what looked to be a spasmodically lit spinning ride of doom. It had twelve passenger cars which turned, and they were attached oddly to the edge of the rim, which turned, then what the rim was attached to was making a fairly big and irregular circle while lifting up and down. It was called the Zipper.

 

His stomach hurt already...

 

“Are you sure you do not prefer the Ferris Wheel?” he inquired, needing to wear one of those annoying braces over his lap.

 

“I'm more secure in this one,” she replied, taking hold of the bar in front of herself when it was lowered with the caged portion. “At least here I won't tumble like a sock in the dryer. It's designed to spin, so have at it.”

 

She helped him spin the small two person chair, and their record was five hundred and seventy two in a row. The ride attendant was fascinated. Sesshomaru hadn't laughed so hard in his life as far as his memory could serve him, and they still giggled like a couple of fools even after the ride, both feeling sick and stumbling a little.

 

Yes. He liked the future. Waiting for these things to be invented would be hard on him.

 

“Are you sure you're feeling alright?” she asked him again, watching as his arm and head stuck out of the taxi on their way back. The night air was good and cool and pulled his bangs from his warm face. It helped his still giddy stomach. He didn't bother with replying, and for the rest of the time she had gotten a call then pursued a conversation with the driver. It was about half hour ride.

 

They didn't stop at the shrine...

 

“Thank you!” the said, paying the man while Sesshomaru pondered the very brightly lit building they were brought to. It only looked bright because of how dark it was outside now. She walked past him. “Come on, my mom wants me to get something.”

 

There was something which caught his eye behind the glass doors, and it wouldn't leave him alone.

 

“Beer?” he asked, reading the intriguing cans. “Beer, beer, beer, what is this?”

 

The cashier threw him a funny look.

 

“It's twenty times worse than sake,” the miko stated, grabbing a white gallon. “Than really bad sake... Say, what's your favorite color?”

 

“What?” he asked. That was random.

 

“You heard me,” she scolded as he walked over. She was staring at multi-colored drink containers. “Oh! Have you ever had a grape?”

 

“No.” Yep. It was safe to say he had never even heard of this mystery grape she was talking about.

 

“Alright, you should try this then.” She snatched a purple can from the fridge. “... Come to think of it, have you ever had a banana?”

 

“No.”

 

“Orange?”

 

“No.”

 

“Apple.”

 

“No.”

 

“Pineapple?”

 

“What are these and how are they suppose to be had?” he finally asked.

 

She got a hand basket, and quickly filled it with one of each can. “There. I've got demon rations. Do you like ramen?”

 

“Ramen?”

 

“Oh kami...”

 

The basket became more full, and she hefted it onto the counter.

 

“Will that be all for you?” asked a very bored young man.

 

“And this,” she said, grabbing a small color packet.

 

And with that, she grabbed all four plastic bags and they left.

 

“Oh, I forgot!” the miko whined, staring at the dark streets outside the shop. “Oh... Damn...”

 

They were walking for a little while, and the miko's need for an arm's length of personal space had suddenly dwindled to about a finger's.

 

“Are you frightened?” he asked, glancing around.

 

“I hate being alone at night,” she stated, head whipping back to see if anyone was following them. “And stop laughing at me, I have my reasons.”

 

“Except for your best reason,” he replied, tugging the plastic bags filled with cans and the white gallon from her frail grasp. She gapped at him. “You are not my servant, remember? I will carry half.”

 

“W-” she stammered, looking away with a flush. She opened that small color packet as though to kill time, and popped a small white stick into her mouth. The scent of mint began to waft on her breath. “What's my best reason?”

 

“You said you hated being alone at night.”

 

“... And?” she asked, looking up at him. He saw her flinch violently from his peripheral when he smirked.

 

“So stop being afraid. My senses are superior to yours, and I do not tolerate being attacked by anyone.”

 

“Oh,” she murmured, now three finger's length away. “Um... Thanks.”

 

He nodded, and they made it to the shrine shortly after. It was not a long walk, but she seemed to calm down a bit with his assurance. They were greeted by the family, everyone seated to watch the news on the TV.

 

“Why does the night scare you?” he asked, setting the bags onto the counter with several clanks like she told him to.

 

“Just, a lot of things,” she stated. “Nothing you wouldn't find in your time.”

 

“Care to name some?” he suggested. He was not subject to the fears of a frail mortal woman, so the concept of being afraid was a little otherworldly.

 

“Um, well, there's theft, rape, kid napping, murder,” she was using her fingers to count them off. “Those are the major ones. Other than those, I just don't want to run into any crazies...”

 

He threw her a questioning look at that one.

 

“Um, people like Inuyasha when he gets full demon blood, just human. They'd stab you with a knife thinking you're a ghost, then run screaming on their hands. Or, just, something crazy... They're pretty unpredictable.”

 

That was an annoying thought. She came over and dragged the bags he had carried closer to the fridge across the counter, quickly emptying them onto a cool shelf.

 

“You can have any of these whenever you want, alright?” she reassured, closing the door and opening a high cabinet door. “Same with the ramen. I'll show you how to make it whenever you like. They're pretty good. Really, you're welcome to anything, but I bought this stuff for you so now you have an obligation...”

 

“Thank you.”

 

She dropped one of the containers and scrambled to pick it up off the counter top, glancing wide eyed at him as though he just ate a living thing.

 

“UM! Yeah! Sure thing! Haha! I just hate to see you never eating, so, um, yeah!” She finished putting them away quickly, closing the door a tad too quickly and making it smash loudly shut. “So, how come you never eat?”

 

“There is no need to,” he replied.

 

“Why's that?” she asked, taking a seat at the table like it was story time.

 

“Food is required for energy, of which I have ample,” he told her.

 

“So, you basically eat energy?” she asked, sounding skeptical.

 

“Not necessarily. I am able to live comfortably for a month with no food, so long as I can maintain a balance.”

 

“A month...” she asked flatly.

 

He nodded.

 

She put her head on the table and grumbled about a miracle diet for the perfect body, which reminded him of something.

 

“Training will resume tomorrow morning.”

 

She looked up, miserable. “Early again? Like, before the birds even wake up?”

 

“Certainly,” he agreed.

 

“Fine,” she signed, pushing away from the table and grinding the chair legs against the odd floor. “I'm off to bed then. Mama! Would you-”

 

“Just a second,” the mother replied, apparently captivated by what the TV was saying.

 

The miko sighed, and turned to Sesshomaru. “Well, would you mind undoing this obi for me? I don't want to knot it or something by undoing it myself.”

 

She turned her back for him, pulling her hair over one shoulder. He had undone a few obis before, but this pattern of tuck and fold was intriguing. It only took a few seconds though. The outer kimono folded open when she gave a sigh of relief, revealing plenty of her tied down yukata underneath.

 

“Oh, I can breathe again... That's better. Thanks,” she smiled, gathering the now unraveled eight feet of heavy fabric over her arm. “Night everyone!”

 

She left and went up the stairs. A couple of seconds and some discarded fabric later, she came back down.

 

“I also never see you sleep,” she stated, arms crossed as she wore only the yukata. “My mom put your stuff in the guest bedroom, if you want it back. And you can sleep on the bed if you'd like, we're not going to curse your family for it or anything.”

 

She certainly had a way with words. She walked him to the room, and he'd be damned if he could stop himself for more than two seconds at a time from watching her hips and backside undulate with her steps.

 

He rubbed his eyes with his left hand. Spring was a curse...

 

“There's your stuff,” she stated, gesturing to a wooden stand with drawers. “And there's the bed if you want to sleep. Or, do whatever you want or whatever it is you do at night. You probably only need to sleep every year anyway.”

 

“Once a week,” he supplied, walking to his swords and unsheathing each in turn, examining them.

 

“Lucky...”

 

He regarded her, and she jumped when she seemed to realize her own existence.

 

“Night!”

 

She scurried off, and was up the stairs and in her room in no time.

 

Sesshomaru set his swords down, Tenseiga humming to life to see where its master had been.

 

He ignored it, leaning over slightly to feel the bed. It was bouncy?

 

He put two hands on the mattress and pushed. It pushed back.

 

He resisted tearing it to shreds to see how it worked. Instead, he took a seat. Quite nicer than what he grew up with. Stretching his legs to the end he lay back and sprawled comfortably in the middle, fingers barely hanging off the opposite ends. It was large, and comfortable, and it had those sacks of feathers which the miko had thrown at him the first time he came in her room to wake her up before the sun.

 

Grabbing it, he tucked it under his head like she did and allowed himself to relax.

 

Sleep came surprisingly quickly.