InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Spring Fever ❯ Discovery ( Chapter 14 )

Chapter 14

 

Discovery

 

Sesshomaru found himself utilizing four of the five basic senses to wake up that morning. The first was smell, which wasn't too easily registered while muddled in sleep. Hearing enforced what his nose told him, as there were mischievous noises nearby. Very nearby… His hearing worked impeccably well when a loud `wake up' was yelled, and that rendered in the sight factor very quickly, giving him the immediate image of sapphire blue eyes in a smiling face quickly approaching. His nerves then fired into action and lurched him out of any delusion that he was still asleep, because the miko just jumped onto the bed and pushed him off it. The floor greeted him, as did nigh uncontrolled laughter.

 

“I am SO doing that again the next time you tell me you're going to get me up at four! I even set my alarm!”

 

He removed himself from the ground, and leaned an arm over the top of the springy bed, watching her absorb her amusement and rock side to side on her back. He was still tired, and his brain was still recycling the facts until they made sense.

 

...

 

... ...

 

... ... ...

 

He came to the conclusion that they indeed did not make sense.

 

“You just shoved me out of bed…” he stated flatly, mildly annoyed with the immense mirth this woman was getting out of his embarrassment. He sort of deserved it if he let it happen, which is something his father would say for anything.

 

“Yep,” she agreed, rolling onto her elbows. “You made me wake up at an ungodly hour, and then I couldn't get back to sleep. I, however, let you sleep until sunrise.”

 

It was that late?

 

“Besides,” she began again, smirking at his sleep-roused hair and loosening haori. Being pushed onto the floor probably didn't make him look any more presentable either. “You're too heavy to be dragged out of bed by an ankle like you tried to do to me.”

 

He smirked, shook his head at her antics, and stood. “You are just too weak,” he retorted, yawning into his hand and planning on how to pay her back for what she called payback.

 

“Yeah, I know. You love that fact too, don't you?”

 

“It has its benefits,” he agreed, running his claws through his hair until the strands loosened themselves to their normal appearance. The sun had risen... That was so much wasted ti-

 

“So!” she almost laughed, standing. “Now that you're awake, let's get to what you had in mind!”

 

She seemed a little too eager for the training, considering the history of her patience. Not that he was complaining. She might actually learn something this time, but that didn't mean he should not be a little suspicious. She did lunge an attack at him, of sorts, and he was asleep for kami's sake!

 

As though being woken up in that manner wasn't enough proof of a lively spirited miko and a boisterous day, she was making great progress with her training.

 

“It doesn't look like a flame…” she muttered, examining the fingernail sized form of energy floating in her hands. It indeed did not. It was a crystal. “It looks like ice, but it's still warm,” she pondered aloud. “Is that normal?”

 

“Not for demons,” he admitted, easily subduing his own excited energy. Lashing out at either the miko or her power would be costly. “Perhaps for mikos.”

 

The shining blue crystal shrank at that, but didn't blink out of existence. Excellent.

 

She leveled a look at him. “Perhaps? What do you mean `perhaps' when you're suppose to be the one training me?!” she asked with a squeak of disbelief.

 

She had a good point. “Want a thesaurus again?”

 

Her eyes narrowed impatiently. He smirked.

 

“I was being serious,” she grumbled.

 

“As was I.”

 

She glared. He full out smiled. This woman was really entertaining when provoked properly.

 

Then came the sigh, and with comments of him being sadistic, annoying, a pain in the ass, and any other definition she could fantasize into existence at that hour of the morning she went back to focusing on her little crystal, making it grow again at a very slow rate. His demon energy wanted to yank it from her grasp and consume it. “So, am I doing it wrong?? I was hoping for blue fire after all.”

 

His smirk came back. “Perhaps,” he started, watching her face quirk at the word choice, “it is a reflection of yourself.”

 

She became suspicious yet again. “Insult me and I'll jab this tiny crystal into your heart,” she threatened, trying very hard to hide a grin.

 

“Good luck with that,” he stated bluntly.

 

“Yeah, considering you don't have a heart,” she joked.

 

“Do too.”

 

“Do not.”

 

“Would I be alive without it?”

 

She actually considered it. “Well, taking into account Inuyasha's resilience when it comes to organ penetration, I suppose you could last three days without it… And grow it back.”

 

That was very far from the truth...

 

“One of the reasons Tetsusaiga proves to be useful,” Sesshomaru supplied, feeling a tad irritated at the turn of conversation. “He would have surely died without it on several occasions.”

 

The immensely embarrassing time when Sesshomaru got caught by the Wind Scar and was hurtled off made his lips want to curl back with disgust. Even with Tenseiga shielding him, he took enough bodily damage to be rendered immobile for nearly two days, when he met Rin. Then Inuyasha, being the brash idiot he was always known to be, got the Wind Scar lashed back at him full on. He was able to walk around the next day, though stumbling and heavily bandaged, but still the facts were there. Tetsusaiga made the hanyou stronger than a full blooded demon, and Sesshomaru refused to fully claim his lands until that reality changed.

 

“Yeah,” she agreed, her mouth twisting faintly at a thought and remaining completely oblivious to Sesshomaru's worsening mood. “You sort of literally stabbed him in the back once, right after he grabbed onto Tetsusaiga.” She gave him a look, like she was placing him on an imaginary scale and watching the dial shift into balance. She didn't sound mad or displeased, just really analytical. She was judging him. “You really are an assassin, aren't you. Your form in injuring him was well practice. Through the spine, dislocating six ribs and breaking four, and bursting through the sternum.”

 

“So you noticed,” he replied, the conversation quickly getting worse.

 

“Yeah. I had to bandage him up…” she grumbled. “He healed without bones molding around his lungs… Which were fortunately not punctured.”

 

Sesshomaru felt the corners of his mouth lift maliciously. “Then more practice is needed.”

 

“Why do you hate him so much?” the miko asked.

 

Sesshomaru was taken slightly aback, wondering if he should just let his demon loose and be done with this. But the well still needed to be activated again by her. It needed spiritual energy which was properly channeled. “That is a matter not concerning you.”

 

“Well, I know that,” she replied. “I'm just wondering if you are able to talk about it.”

 

Able to? Her word choice was aiming at his ego, which was a hard thing to target and hit. She prodded his patience instead. “No,” was his straightforward reply, bodily shifting to disturb the air between them. He was not going to play these games with her, and he was not going to lose control of his anger. “You allowed the energy to fade away.”

 

She sighed.

 

Another five hours passed, and the miko not only failed to make any progress, but she didn't seem capable of reaching the heights she had before.

 

“I'm giving up for now,” she stated, flabbergasted. Her hands came wildly from above her head and slapped onto her knees. She leaned over her crossed legs to address him. “I'm going to go eat. Join me if you please.”

 

And with that she stood. He did as well, welcoming the break. He swore that if she did not gain what he was teaching her, then he was definitely going to learn from her how to sleep with his eyes open. That, or how to level a city in a manner of venting.

 

“Lunch time! Lunch time! Thank kami, it's lunch time!” she sang to herself, prancing about the kitchen to gather the desired ingredients. “So! What sound g- Sesshomaru?”

 

He closed the door behind himself, and quickly reached the opposite side of the property to look into the well.

 

It stared back with dark promise. Completely still, yet swirling with both unlocked power and mystery.

 

He jumped in.

 

Nothing happened.

 

He sighed and leaned against the stone wall. Nothing had happened...

 

Nothing happened.

 

Nothing.

 

This was bordering on the line of cruelty. The more he thought about things, the more intangible they became. The more he ignored them, the more they grated at his nature. Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands and inugami daiyÅkai, was stuck in a world to which he didn't belong. He didn't understand it, and it didn't understand him. It was like being trapped behind glass, watching things unfold which never concerned you, and wondering when you would suffocate.

 

Tenseiga hummed to life at his side, rattling lightly against his armor. He gripped the hilt to still it, feeling a tad reassured.

 

“Shall we go out?”

 

The miko dropped her chopsticks. “What?”

 

He frowned at her. Did going out mean something else or was she just suddenly struck deaf? “You heard me. Let us go into the city.”

 

“Oh!” she exclaimed, blushing for some reason. “Ah, sure! OH!! That reminds me!!” She whipped around to see the clock, sighing with relief. “Alright! We can hang out until the movie, which gives us three hours.”

 

“Movie?” he asked, recalling the miko's three friends.

 

“Yeah, we're going to a movie!” she smiled. His spirits lifted slightly, even though the movies didn't excite him. “I'm sure you'll love it. Oh!” Did she have to exclaim over the entrance of every idea to penetrate into her head? “I've been meaning to take you to the library anyway!”

 

Disarming himself, they left.

 

Whoever owned the library must have been the richest person in the city...

 

“It's awesome, isn't it?” she asked as they continued to walk into the quiet building.

 

Awesome?? It was fantastic!! There were so many shelves dedicated to recorded information, it must have taken thousands of scribes and wise scholars working nonstop for years to create this, which would probably give the carpenters and stone masons enough time to create such a fine place. And look at the glass in those windows, it was tainted pastel colors. Wow...

 

“It's a really old building,” she supplied, watching his eyes dart between features. “I know you're not familiar with the style, unless you have been to Europe, but I think a classically crafted building would be nice to be in. It's one of the only things not modernized here.”

 

She showed him around, talking about how books were made in the future and how the library worked. She had a card which allowed her to take for a certain period of time any book she wanted. Finding the books were a tad more challenging.

 

There was another interesting system, many of them, to be found in a side room of the building where people seemed more comfortable.

 

They were called computers, and computers connected to worldly information which was called the Internet. This fabulous tool, however, was very hard to utilize since the keys you used to type in your commands were in a foreign language.

 

Although that was very interesting, Sesshomaru was more captivated by the books. He already had the gists of the first World War and was reading the end of it by the time the miko got off of the computer, having browsed and check something called an e-mail.

 

“You've got to be kidding me!” she yelled, seeing him flip over another page. “How fast” flip “can you possibly” flip “... read?”

 

“Fairly,” he replied, flipping another page. This was fascinating material.

 

She stared at him for a full two minutes.

 

“I don't believe this,” she almost laughed when he closed the book. “Can you really read a page every second?”

 

“Seven hundred years will do that to you,” he replied, blinking a few times to saturate his eyes again.

 

“... Huh...” she commented, watching as he replaced the book where he found it and grab the one next to it. Same author, different war. After another two minutes of him reading she shook her head and began to walk away. “You're giving me a headache just watching you. I'll come back in about an hour, alright?”

 

She most likely took his silence as an agreement, because she didn't stop walking.

 

Sesshomaru, left to his doings, read a lot...

 

By the time she came back, apologizing for being late, he was familiar with all of the large wars and battles, advanced weapons, how America was formed, foreign governmental systems, various concepts of psychology in regards to humans, and even though he read about that last one for the sake of how these wars were constructed, he learned a few interesting traits. Humans created religion out of psychological necessity, and warred over money. They celebrated certain occasions yearly in honor of the events which happened once, and the same celebration would be held for various reasons in different countries. For instance, Christmas. Christmas intrigued Sesshomaru, but it was held during winter, and he certainly hoped to not be there for that long.

 

It was all interesting. And it all involved humans. Sesshomaru also decided to leave Japanese history alone. It would be his future, so he did not want it wasted. He kept the war dates in mind though...

 

“So, did you read all of this?” the miko asked, referring to an armload worth of books piled nicely on the table he had used.

 

“No. I will,” he replied. “Where is your card?”

 

Her eyes went considerably wide, and she came up with a fantastic story of Sesshomaru being from England and wanting to practice reading Japanese in the little time he had left in Japan when the library keeper gave them a look that was two degrees shy of a glare, her nose barely clearing the pile that was deposited unceremoniously onto her desk.

 

“You could have at least nodded your thanks to her...” the miko stated, walking with him back to the shrine.

 

“That woman was barely worth the glance I spared her,” he replied, easily holding the pile of books in his left hand. He got stares, especially from his little companion, though hers were more from being annoyed rather than impressed. Despite not having his swords, he preferred to keep his sword arm unoccupied, so she could stare uncertainly at him all she wanted.

 

“Did she annoy you?” she asked, beginning to mount the steps.

 

Sesshomaru easily leaped to the top, and waited. “She was a miserable old croon.”

 

The miko laughed, beginning to take the steps at a run and reaching the halfway point. “Yeah, well, she has to deal with strangers and books all day.” Reaching the top, she stopped and giggled up at him.

 

He frowned slightly.

 

“I'm just glad to know I'm worth your acknowledgment,” she smiled.

 

She had quite the quirk of logic, didn't she. “One would expect courtesy for hospitality. No need to jump to conclusions.”

 

“Yeah yeah,” she sighed, crossing her arms and stepping forward. She was on a path that would make them bump arms, so he turned slightly to walk alongside her, and suddenly dropped the books and jumped away from her.

 

“NO WAY!!” she yelled, staring with her index finger still sticking out from under her arm. She had poked him in the side. “You're...”

 

“Am not,” he answered automatically, trying to feel offended by her actions.

 

“You SO are!!” she yelled, arms hanging at her sides. “You're TICKLISH!!”

 

As though that were the key word for all things hilarious in life, she began to outright laugh and needed to grab the fence to hold herself up. While he collected the books she slid to the ground, then fell to her side and into the fetal position. He wasn't going to hear the end of this, was he...

 

“You!” she began, her diaphragm too excited to speak properly. “Oh, k-kami! That's just!! That's priceless!! Oh, gods, I'm going to die!”

 

A human dying of laughter. That was beautifully befitting of them... He decided to watch and see if it worked.

 

After thirty seconds and no death, he was getting bored.

 

“Owie!” she wailed, still giggling nonetheless as the book fell onto the ground, having hit her leg. “That's... That's a book! You b-b-bastard!!”

 

By the time he was halfway through one of the borrowed books, the door closed. He looked over the couch, and meeting eyes with the miko she snorted, covered her mouth, and booked it for her bedroom.

 

He was faster.

 

“I fail to see the sheer hilarity in this,” he told her sternly, standing before her. She turned beet red, lips curled inwards and clamped by her teeth to try and not laugh. Her chest bounced though with hidden giggled and she tried to move around him.

 

He kept her in place by grabbing her shoulders, and her cheeks suddenly puffed with an odd sound of a restrained chuckle.

 

“Control yourself,” he warned her, beginning to get annoyed by this. She shook her head, still shaking. She was going to pass out from a lack of oxygen soon.

 

Well... Considering she was unable to stop herself, and it was angering him that she was taking delight at his expense, then perhaps he could give her a different reason to laugh and save them both from their problems.

 

Her shrill outburst echoed throughout the house when his hand gripped her side and squeezed. So, she was ticklish too, eh?

 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!” she cried, trying to push off his arms when both his hands assailed her sides. He couldn't help but to enjoy this. Just a little. “STO-HA-HA-OP!! PLE-HE-HE-EASE!”

 

Maybe this was how humans could laugh themselves to death...

 

Her legs finally gave up on her, and she was hanging in his grasp and head fallen back against the wall, laughing despite the fact he couldn't tickler her like that and had stopped. Her hands were holding his upper arms weakly, no longer trying to push him away, and she was breathing too heavily for her own health.

 

“You- ... You sadistic...”

 

“Bastard?” he asked.

 

“I was aiming for 'jerk',” she giggled, lifting her head and regarding him. Her mirth died momentarily to make way for shock, then came flooding back in the form of an evil gleam in her eyes. “Aw, Sesshy, I didn't know you cared!” she cooed sarcastically, still being supported by him.

 

He stared at her. “I don't.” He let go and she fell. Or, would have, but she clung to his sleeves at the last instant as though to drag him down too.

 

“Meanie,” she grumbled, staring at his shoes whilst she hung from him.

 

“Will you require more tickling to let this Sesshomaru g-”

 

She moved too quickly, and jabbed her right hand fingers into his left side. A snort escaped him as he grabbed her wrist and held it away from himself.

 

“I KNEW IT!!” she yelled, positively beaming at him.

 

He couldn't help but smile at her simple pleasures in life, and poked the side of her neck.

 

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!” she cried, tilting her head at his hand and leaning away. Unfortunately for her, he had her by the wrist. “I'll kick you!!” she yelled, laughing all over again as he found new places where she was ticklish. If anyone ever saw this he'd probably have to kill her to save face, but for now...

 

“I swear!!” she yelled with gasps, “I'll purify your ass- so thoroughly- your ancestors will feel it!!”

 

“You can't unlock your powers in this state,” he informed her while holding her up by her wrist. And he was right. He knew she couldn't. Which made this all the more fun. Her fingers clutched and flung open spasmodically over his iron grip, body swaying and shaking depending on where he touched her.

 

“You're- Not suppose to be- This fun!” she cried, tears beading from her eyes now. “Damn you!! Damn you to he-HAHAHAHAHA!!”

 

After a few more seconds her laugher was beginning to shorten. “I-! I can't- breathe!”

 

“Oh, delightful,” he stated with a smirk.

 

“No! B-bad!” she yelled, twisting and turning. “Bad Sessh-shy! A-HAHAHA!! Stop! Stop it!! SIT!!”

 

At that last word he did stop, and they stared silently at one another for a full three seconds.

 

Sesshomaru was now laughing as hard as she had been, her quickly joining him. He let her go, and when she fell to the ground with a yelp he leaned his back against the wall, closed eyes facing the ceiling. This wasn't as funny as his reaction made it out to be, but he felt... Good. He felt really good, actually.

 

He finally calmed to the point that he could find his own feet again, and glancing down he locked eyes with the miko who was sitting and giggling up at him, hugging her knees.

 

“Oh, kami,” he sighed, getting the last few chuckles out. He wanted to say something, but couldn't find anything. Then the word jumped out of his mouth for him. “Sesshy??”

 

She threw her head back again, announcing her mirth to the ceiling and clutching her sides. “I thought- You'd comment on the 'SIT'!”

 

He was grinning, and took a seat on the second step. Rubbing his eyes with a hand, he looked up and she was smiling at him. It was. ... Odd. “Yes?” he asked.

 

“I've never seen you like that,” she informed, giggling.

 

“Being a fool?” he asked, unable to make his face straight. He never could keep a straight face for very long of late when she was around.

 

She shook her head. “No. Acting your age.”

 

“M,” he toned. “It has been a long time since I was last able to.”

 

“You should do it more,” she commented. “Laughing suits you. More so than that stoic face you make all the time. You'd make a lot more friends.”

 

“It is hard to make me laugh,” he informed.

 

“Actually, that was rather easy,” she stated with a challenging tone. “Just you wait. You're going to be properly ruling all of the Western Lands, and this crazy miko is going to come crashing into your life without a care of who's watching and make you laugh again.”

 

“Your death would come swiftly,” he informed her calmly.

 

“I'll jab my little crystal at anyone who would dare to try it,” she replied.

 

“That would be me,” he stated.

 

“You wouldn't kill me,” she said matter-of-factly. “Because I'm the one who makes you laugh.”

 

He gave a single wry chuckle at that, which only proved her statement. He was telling himself that he could and would easily kill her if she tried it. It would be simple, and enjoyable, and he should look forward to it. But, he couldn't voice these things, so he ended up smiling at her for a short while.

 

In that tieme, she developed a huge blush while clutching her clothes and then promptly stood, pretending to pick dust off herself. “Well, let's go to the movie.”

 

Her behavior was a little odd, but considering that was nigh expectable from an equally odd woman he got up a-

 

...

 

“Sesshomaru?” she asked, now fiddling with her hair and looking at him from the corner of her eye.

 

He was shocked. He didn't even finish standing until a few seconds after starting.

 

“The movie,” he stated, sounding a little dumb in his own ears. She nodded, looking confused, and began to walk out. She left the door open for him to follow, which he did despite himself.

 

They didn't talk the entire way there. That, or she did and he didn't really register it. Probably the latter. He was far to busy second guessing himself. But, after the twentieth guess, he decided to accept the fact, and dreaded it... Oh, kami, how he dreaded it...