InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Vengeance ❯ Chapter Four: Square One ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter Four (Square One)

"I have found you a pretty flower!" Rin called out as she came skipping into the Lord's library. Her pretty face was wreathed in a smile, showing her gap-toothed affection for the Taiyoukai who had restored her life.

SesshouMaru glanced up at his rambunctious charge, patiently waiting for his whining servant to follow the girl into the room. Jaken did not disappoint him.

"Unruly girl! Stupid ningen! Don't you dare disturb me lord's study! Where have you gotten too, you little stinking turnip?" The exasperated, green imp scrabbled into the library. His yellow eyes bulged as he spied the inu youkai sitting calmly at his desk, open scrolls before him.

"M-Me lord! I did not realize! I apologize for this wretched girl's untimely intrusion!" The imp squealed, prostrating himself on the floor.

"Enough, Jaken." SesshouMaru silenced the frantic imp. He turned his golden eyes to his grinning charge.

"SesshouMaru-sama! I have found you a pretty, pretty flower!" Rin held up her prize, a squashed white rose with faint touches of red striping the center. She had found the newest bud, and while much the worse for wear, it was indeed one of the prettier varieties found in the Lord's gardens. Not that he ever gave much thought to what grew on his grounds.

Rin deposited the pitiful bud in the Taiyoukai's lap, wincing as a thorn pricked her finger. Promptly sticking her finger in her mouth, she said succinctly, "Ow."

"Jaken." SesshouMaru raised a single brow.

"Y-Yess, Master?" Jaken raised himself up off the floor, using the convenient Staff of Skulls as a prop, and gave the Lord a hopeful look.

"Take care of the wound on Rin's hand, and see that she is given dinner."

The girl giggled at Jaken's dropped jaw expression, and then skipped out of the room. "Good night, SesshouMaru-sama!" She called gaily back from the hall. Jaken jerked as she disappeared, bowed under the Taiyoukai's cold stare, and darted after her.

Sharp of hearing, the Lord could hear Jaken's grumbling as he scrambled down the hall after the little girl. "Jaken do this and Jaken do that! I am but a glorified babysitter to that disgusting human girl! I don't know why I deserve this after I have toiled for me lord for so many years. Is this the reward I get after so many..." His harsh whispers disappeared down the hall, and the Lord chose to ignore his servant's mumbling protests. Jaken might not be the best caretaker for the child, but he was intensely loyal to his Lord. And Rin liked him, surprisingly.

Many of the things about the girl-child surprised him. She was fearless, and followed him wherever he let her. Her unquestioned loyalty and adoration were touching, and the cold Taiyoukai had begun to feel responsible for the girl and her well-being.

"Curious." SesshouMaru turned the new idea over in his mind, and then dismissed it. He had other things to think about.

Like tracing that other girl, his half-bastard brother's woman. He could not recall her name, had never really cared. It had been weeks since his meeting in the forest with Naraku's puppet, but the dark hanyou's suggestion had actually begun to turn in his mind.

At first, he had dismissed the petty thoughts of an upstart hanyou as beneath him. But Naraku was nothing if not crafty. SesshouMaru had a grudging respect for the dark hanyou's audacity and skill at turning the pitiful emotions of lesser youkai and ningen against themselves. His elaborate schemes on behalf of the Jewel shards he collected could be considered works of art. The Lord could appreciate a well-laid and thoughtful plan of action.

Not that the fumbling baboon's plans had always worked in his favor. Naraku loved his petty schemes too well, and many of them had backfired. His toying with separate ningen had actually paired the ones he had sought to destroy together with ties of hatred and vengeance.

*Foolish monkey.*

Still, the baboon still had a few good ideas. With the emergence of InuYasha's skill with the Tetsusaiga, and his ability to see the Wind Scar and use the awesome blade's full power to slay a hundred demons with a single stroke, the Taiyoukai knew that defeating his half-breed brother would be very difficult.

Even mastering the Tenseiga, SesshouMaru's own sword of healing, would not cancel out the Tetsusaiga's brute strength. InuYasha could not kill the Taiyoukai, as the Tenseiga would bring him back to life, but the Lord could not come close to InuYasha, who could now unleash the full potential of the Tetsusaiga, keeping the Lord at bay. Even if Tenseiga could keep his life, his first encounter with the fang's full power had been painful, and his recovery had not been swift.

And Lord SesshouMaru was one who could learn from his mistakes.

Now, if he could not hurt his bastard brother physically (though that remained to be seen, ways could always be found), he could at least hurt his younger half-brother in pride. InuYasha was an emotional hanyou---it was one of the many things SesshouMaru despised him for. The bastard had gotten that particular flaw from his human mother, a worthless ningen who had ruined SesshouMaru's exalted father, hurrying his untimely and ignoble demise.

The hanyou would pay for that.

"Kagome! You're awake!" Shippo's joy-filled cry broke the morning stillness. Kagome blinked at the spot of light pouring through the opened window, and gave the little kitsune a faint smile.

"Yes, Shippo. I'm up." She said, wincing as she tried to move. She felt like one big ball of aches and pains. Lady Kaede's herbs were potent, but few of them had any pain-killing qualities. "Ugh."

"Oh, Kagome. Do you hurt?" Shippo asked, concern all over his cute face.

Kagome gave him a better try at a smile, so he wouldn't worry for her. "I'm fine, Shippo. I just need some aspirin."

Shippo jumped up, eager to help his Kagome. "Ass-purr-rin? Is it in your yellow bag? I'll get it!" As the fox cub jumped toward the corner of the hut and pushed her heavy, soot-stained bag toward her, Kagome sat up and groaned mentally. Studying her hands and arms, she realized they were covered in thick linen bandages. Lady Kaede's work.

"What happened, Shippo?" She asked as the cub struggled over with her bag. She stared at the bag in some shock. The bag was scorched and blackened, covered in small holes where sparks from the forest fire had caught in it. She carefully opened the damaged buckle and started pulling her supplies out, making a pile of damaged and salvageable items.

"InuYasha saved us, remember? But you were burned, and passed out. Lady Kaede healed you, and I know InuYasha and Miroku went to help the villagers put out the fire." Shippo sat back, full of chatter now that his Kagome was fine. "InuYasha was so worried, Kagome. You scared him. And me, too. You wouldn't wake up. InuYasha thought you were dead, and, boy, did he howl! You should have heard him, Kagome. But Sango got him to let you go, and Miroku knew you were still breathing. So he--InuYasha, I mean, not Miroku--brought you to Lady Kaede, and now you're all better!"

"I will be as soon as I can find my aspirin." Kagome replied, finally locating the bottle. Her hands were stiff and hurting when she flexed the muscles under Kaede's bandages. Glaring at the bottle, she finally popped the lid off, and white pills showered over her, the blanket, and the floor.

Ever helpful, Shippo started picking the white pills up. "Is this candy, Kagome? Can I have some?" He opened his mouth.

"No!" Kagome shouted, and then winced as her temples pounded. "No, Shippo! It's medicine, not candy. And I don't know what they'll do to a youkai."

"Oh." Shippo looked abashed, and handed over his small pile. "You could have said something sooner, Kagome. I won't touch the ass-pur-rin again, if it makes you so angry. But..." A small paw circled the floor, as Shippo looked down shyly. "You wouldn't happen to have some of that candy from your home, would you?"

"Oh, Shippo!" Kagome giggled. She pulled a mostly-melted chocolate bar from the 'damaged' pile. "It melted in the fire, but it's chocolate. I brought it for you."

"Really?" Shippo snatched the offering from her hand. A whiz at untangling candy wrappers, he had the melted goo in his mouth in seconds, licking the wrapper and rolling his eyes with pure joy.

Kagome shook her head, and finished picking up the scattered pills from her blanket and robe. A full jug was beside her, and she eased a couple of the aspirin down with some tepid water from it. She began to feel better almost immediately. Better enough to want to get out of Kaede's hut. The small hut was a nice haven at night, but during the day it felt dark and stifling.

She wondered where her school uniform was. Lady Kaede must have undressed her and put her in the faded robe she now wore. Most of her own clothes from her backpack had burn holes in them, but she did have one whole dress left, with only one small hole at the hem. It had been buried in all the others. She could also salvage at least two pairs of underwear and one bra, though she'd be happy to get back home and get some more clothing. How she was going to explain her loss of clothing to her nervous mother without letting her know what had really happened was going to take some creative thinking.

She could use some of Lady Kaede's extra clothes, but Kagome didn't want to a repeat performance when InuYasha saw her in the miko robes. The last thing she ever wanted to remind him of was his old girlfriend Kikyo, and their uncanny resemblance in face and feature were enough, thank you! Ever since that time by the pool, back when she and InuYasha had first met three years ago, she had refused to wear the white and red of a priestess. She had enough trouble dealing with Kikyo's memory.

*InuYasha would just flip if he saw me in Kikyo's get-up. He'd spend all day sighing and moaning after that corpse, and I just couldn't stand it! Bad enough he can't get her out of his mind long enough for him to....oh, well. Enough of that! I won't think about it.*

Nodding to herself, she shooed Shippo out of the hut and hastily got dressed. She took the rest of her scorched clothing and thought longingly about a bath, though it would be cold in the river and she didn't know if she should get her bandages wet. She should go and ask Kaede, at least.

Her legs and feet were bandaged as well, and Kagome had to grit her teeth when she stepped on her tender feet. She let out a groan. This wasn't going to work.

"Kagome?" InuYasha, brushing aside the bamboo curtain covering the door, stuck his head in, ears cocked toward her. "Shippo says you're awake."

"Yep." Kagome winced again as she stepped forward on her other foot.

"Well, you should have been up earlier! What are you doing, sleeping the whole day away!" InuYasha began.

"What?! Excuse me?" Kagome saw red. She tottered closer, and almost collapsed as a stab of pain shot up both feet.

InuYasha was there in an instant, holding her up. "What the hell are you doing? What's wrong with you?"

"My feet." Kagome bit out, through the waves of pain. The aspirin wasn't working like it should!

"Well, why didn't you say so?" InuYasha let out a big humph! of air and picked her up into his arms so that her legs and feet dangled over his supportive left arm. "If you can't walk, why are you up?"

"You just asked me why I was sleeping the day away!" Kagome glared at him.

InuYasha glared back. "Stupid! What are you trying to do, hurt yourself more?" He took her outside of the darkened hut, and the bright sunlight made Kagome flinch. InuYasha's tone gentled at her wince. "Are you sure you're okay? You're only a mere human, you know. You can't heal like I can, you know."

"I know." Kagome gritted out. "But I can't stand it. I stink of smoke and reek of soot. I want to take a bath, but I have to ask Lady Kaede if I can get wet with my bandages and all."

"You sure do smell pretty strong." InuYasha said casually, carrying her toward the fields where he knew Lady Kaede was. Kagome glared at his agreement, and started to struggle. InuYasha tightened his hold on her small form, and she subsided. InuYasha paused under the shadow of a tree on the edge of the field, and gave Kagome a long, compelling glance out of his yellow-brown eyes.

"But you smell nice, Kagome." He reassured her softly.

"InuYasha...?" Kagome trembled in his strong arms. Her kind brown eyes softened as she looked up at him. InuYasha gave her a tender smile in return.

"Kagome! InuYasha! I've found you!" Shippo came bounding over. "Lady Kaede's looking for you!" He jumped up on InuYasha's shoulder. "InuYasha! Why are you holding Kagome all close like that, huh?"

InuYasha gave the incorrigible cub an impatient glare. Kagome blushed furiously. InuYasha shrugged his shoulders, dislocating the kitsune and jarring Kagome. "Get outta here, you little runt! I'm taking Kagome to Kaede!" He stomped off, the girl in his arms, all thoughts of tenderness out of his mind.

*Oh, well.* Kagome sighed to herself. *Back to square one.*