InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Starlight ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7

"I'm sick of this!" Kagome muttered, she waved her hands vaguely. "Day in, day out, it's always the same! Not that we even get real days..." She added miserably, letting her hands fall to the table.

"And how do you think we feel?" A brunette on the other side of the table asked. Her pointed bangs fell in front of her face as she leaned her head forward. She straightened her black and pink dress absently. "But we don't get a choice here..."

Kagome stood in silence for a moment, then sighed. "I know. I just-I just wish..." She grimaced as she failed to find words to express herself.

"I wish..." Another woman, also brunette but with no bangs, wearing a black halter top and white fighting gloves, stepped out of the corner and spoke up. "I wish it wasn't so hard to keep going."

Kagome and the other woman took sudden, deep breaths. "Yeah." Kagome agreed. A breathy laugh escaped her lips. "You'd think after all this time..."

"What? You thought it would get easier?" A man's voice, smooth and rich, echoed off the metal walls of the hallway. The owner, a tall man dressed in black with long sheathed sword at his waist and flowing silver hair, seemed to suddenly appear behind the woman with the white gloves. "It doesn't work that way." He wrapped his arm around her and nuzzled into her hair.

She sighed and put her hands over his. "I wish it did..."

Kagome watched the pair for a few moments before looking away. (I wish something else too...)

"Would you two get a room already?" A lower woman's voice echoed down the hall, followed by a woman with strawberry blonde hair and a black and orange outfit that clinked with her movement.

Kagome smiled. (I wish everything, this life, this place, this universe, would just...)

* * *

"Stop..." Kagome breathed the word as she opened her eyes. The sky, lavender with the setting sun and dusted with clouds, stretched over her, somehow seeming closer than usual. (Another dream... Who were they? They looked so familiar...) Her eyes drifted over to where Sesshomaru had been sleeping, only to find an empty expanse of grass, guarded by a broken wall of trees. She sighed and suddenly felt very tired. (He left me?)

* * *

Sesshomaru saw her slump forward on her knees and felt a tinge of irritation. (Does she think I left?) The clothing she wore left her back exposed, and Sesshomaru was suddenly touched with the urge to reach out and run a hand over her bared skin.

"Are you well rested now?"

Kagome leapt up, a small noise of surprise escaping her lips. "I-I thought you-"

"Inuyasha will be searching for you by now." He lifted his head as though he had caught the scent already, but lowered his eyes after a moment once he was satisfied there was no danger.

A wind blew and Kagome suddenly realized they were alone in the field.

"Sesshomaru?"

His eyes narrowed and he growled softly.

"Oh, um, Sesshomaru-sama?" She tried and relaxed again as the tension fell. "Where's Rin?"

Sesshomaru hesitated, as though considering whether to tell her. "It is time for her to sleep. Jaken is escorting her back to my home with Ah and Un."

"Oh." Kagome didn't know what else to say, and Sesshomaru was once again watching her intently, as though he was waiting for something.

He took a steady breath, organizing his thoughts. (What now? I cannot keep her, one human is enough, yet if I release her, Inuyasha will-)

"Well," Kagome said, interrupting his thoughts and slowly standing up. "Now that I'm not tired or anything, I guess I should get going on that bath."

Carefully concealed anger rose in Sesshomaru's chest. (No. How can I keep an eye on her then? It will be the perfect chance for Inuyasha to come...) A slight frown tugged at Sesshomaru's face as Kagome tried to figure out where a spring might be. (But why do I care so much? Because I cannot allow her to kill Inuyasha, that is my right alone. But with her power, even if she makes up with the hanyou, together they may be a plausible threat to my lands... And those dreams...) A flash of imagery passed through his mind and he pushed it away before it could fully manifest in his mind's eye.

"You can bathe another time. Do you know of any place you would be safe from Inuyasha?"

Kagome looked up and fixed him with her sapphire gaze. She bit her lip in thought. "Um, I was on my way to Kaede's when I stopped and-"

"Where does this Kaede live?"

That's al I got for now, sorry it's so short... I have to say I'm using Sesshomaru's confusion as a mask of me own, I guess I really didn't think this story out enough... Anyway, I'll try to update soon, with something substantial... Until then, review!