InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Problem ❯ Add Fuel to the Fire ( Chapter 8 )

Dream I dream

Wake me up and come to me

Make me realise it's not just a dream

Make me realise it's not any dream

Stop the hands of time

Stop the doubts in my heart

Dream I dream

Make me realise its reality

 

Disclaimer: for one short chapter I forgot to put up the disclaimer and briefly owned Inuyasha. Sadly, my dream is all but over as I've just put up the disclaimer on this chapter. So…no, I don't own Inuyasha.

 

Important Authors Note: Okay, guys, there's a reason for the delay, a reason which I'm sorry to say will not be going away soon. My laptop is in for repair and I have no idea when I'll be getting it back. So chances are that my updates are going to be later than normal as I have maybe half the computer time as I did before. I even had to rewrite this chapter all from memory, which is why it took me so long. Trust me, no one is suffering worse than me over this. Bloody Staples. Anyway, please just bear with me through this very, very difficult time.

 

Chapter 8: Add Fuel to the Fire

 

Probably the best way to describe Rin would be as the fourth sister of the power-puff girls. She was sugar and spice and everything nice, really she was. Alive and bubbly, her voice full of laughter, and with no ends to her energy, especially when it came to torturing Jaken. Now Jaken, he was almost like Mojo Jojo, a comparison that rings all too true where looks and colourings are concerned now that I think about it. He was grumpy and dissatisfied with having me around, making sure to complain about it as frequently as he could. But like Mojo Jojo he was like comic relief in my life as it was next to impossible to take a talking frog/monkey seriously.

I liked having Rin around, even Jaken. They distracted me quite efficiently from the stick in the mud that was Sesshoumaru. Sure, very few things could possibly make me forget that Sesshoumaru was actually there, but the two of them made enough noise for me to forget about Sesshoumaru's constant silence. Rin's constant chatter and Jaken's grumblings kept me so entertained that I stopped worrying about…well, everything. Really, it's not like I could do anything about Inuyasha and his secrets while away from him. And it's not like Sesshoumaru was going to give in and tell me about the spell because of anything that I may do. So…why not just enjoy the moment?

So I let go, listening and talking to Rin mostly, giving her pointers on how to corner Jaken when she wanted to `play' with him. And all the while, I kept half an eye on the rest of the members of this group, observing them and their behaviours almost as I would with a science project.

Ah-un was like a giant, two-headed dog (one head less than Fluffy and a hell of a lot gentler); with only the minor difference that it was actually a dragon with scales and everything. At first sight, it came off looking freakishly scary (something to do with having two heads and a pair of eerily glowing, yellow eyes), but it was actually pretty tame. It was like a personal pet to Rin, letting her ride on its back whenever she got tired and watched over her. And Rin had plenty of stories to tell about Ah-un. When it came to me, he seemed to be pretty accepting of me so that by midday I was told - by Rin - that it would be safe to actually touch the thing. Glad of that knowledge and feeling a bit daring, I reached out to pet the head closest to me, letting go of all hesitation once I could spot the content look on both of Ah-un's faces. I couldn't help but giggle as my hand ran over its scaly skin just scratchy enough to tickle me.

As for Jaken, well…all the while, through breakfast and way afterwards, Jaken followed us from behind and almost at the very edge of the path where he would then have to step around the occasional tree, grumbling non-stop under his breath though I was able to get the general gist of it. It came as no surprise to know that he wasn't fond of the idea of me joining their little group. But like I said, the striking resemblance between him and Mojo Jojo was enough to dampen the slight annoyance that I felt under his verbal assault. But to be honest, I could tell that sooner or later, I would have to put him in his place.

And Rin, well she was a bottomless well of curiosity. Hardly five minutes after she had woken up, I was subjected to Rin's non-stop questions, from my age to the fine stitching of my clothes and everything in between. After an hour, I would have thought she'd be running out of questions to ask, but apparently, that was a mistake. There soon came questions regarding the way I walked, my home, my family, and whether I had ever ridden on a black horse before. I don't even know why she would ask that.

All the while I tried to be patient though careful with my answers so that it just sounded like I came from some little town that no one had ever heard of instead of the future. When Rin asked me how my people had learned so much magic, I just said it was the collected work of thousands of years. When she asked me why we weren't sharing our knowledge, I said that we were…just slowly. That seemed to only serve as an invitation for more questions.

Once or twice I looked to Sesshoumaru, hoping that he'd take pity on me and stop her as I didn't have the heart to. But the bastard walked on beside us as though completely unaware of our existence even though I knew full well that he was listening in on every word (did he think I wouldn't notice the occasional twitching of his ears?). But I suppose he was curious too about my origins and was simply allowing Rin to ask the questions for him. While my spin on the truth was enough to satisfy the reasoning of an eight year old, I didn't think Sesshoumaru was buying it. I guess it was just too bad for him then. He should have done something.

But as the hours wore on, a new thought was beginning to nag at the back of my mind. What could go wrong if Sesshoumaru knew that I was from the future? It's not like he could do anything about it. And so long as he didn't know about the bone eater's well in specific, he couldn't hold it against me in the future. He had said that he had questions he wanted to ask of me and seemed to be most concerned about my origins as he had directly brought it up. Maybe it was something that I could bargain with for a little more info on the spell. It was something to think about.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but almost subconsciously, I felt that something was odd about the day's atmosphere. There was a disconcerting feeling in the pit of my stomach that just seemed to rise all the way to tingle at my fingers. I recognized it as my some-what dormant miko powers trying to warn me of something potentially dangerous. I had had this exact feeling many times, sometimes when a jewel shard was near, or when we were about to go under attack by a demon. Only this time the feeling wasn't nearly as strong as in those conditions. Either the jewel shard was far away, or the demon lurking was weaker than I was used to.

While caught up in awareness, I looked to Sesshoumaru for any signs of him sensing the same thing. But there was nothing out of the ordinary with him, making me doubt my own senses. Then reason caught up with me and reminded me that no reaction could be gotten from Sesshoumaru in any case. Chances were Sesshoumaru was perfectly aware of the same thing that I was feeling and deemed it unworthy of his attention, or at least, for the moment. Deciding that worst comes to worst Sesshoumaru would be there if an attack were to occur, I figured there was no reason for me to worry just then, at least not overly so. However, before moving on to give the rest of my attention back to Rin, I made sure that my bow and arrows were within easy reach just in case.

Meanwhile, the conversation with Rin, if you could call it that, was definitely taking a very weird turn. As soon as lunch had been packed and we were back on our way, a whole new string of questioning started. The oddest of them was when Rin asked me whether I had ever died before. I was sure that the answer to that question would be obvious (I mean, I was walking and breathing right beside her), but figured that perhaps the girl was actually asking about something to do with reincarnation and what not. Thinking out my answer carefully, I just answered that I probably had, but had no recollections of it and hoped that that was enough for her.

Maybe it was just a coincidence, but when I asked her why she would ask that, she was cut off as Sesshoumaru choose that moment to speak up. Apparently, there was a hot spring not too far away and that was where he was planning for us to spend the night.

Immediately I thought that we were too far away to have reached the hot spring that me and Sesshoumaru had come across of the first night. And just when I was about to ask Sesshoumaru about it I remembered that we were headed toward Kaede's, not the camp spot that I had left my friends at. Obviously, our route was a different one from the one we'd taken to get to Rin. So no more was said on the subject and we continued on our way.

I began telling Rin about my friends, Miroku, Sango, Inuyasha, and Shippo. As I started to talk about Inuyasha Jaken's grumbling definitely rose in pitch and fervour and I could no longer just let him get away with it. I was never one to let people bad mouth my friends. So…I placed a convincing look of surprise on my face and turned to Jaken.

“Oh look, Jaken,” I said, wanting to distract the walking collection of all things annoying…and green. He turned and looked at me, a definite look of displeasure on his face at being addressed by me. I lifted a hand and pointed behind him with a great effort to keep my smirk hidden long enough to do the deed. “There's a HUGE fly!”

Forgetting that he had just been tipped off by a human - one that wasn't particularly fond of him - Jaken whirled around in record time, unable to spot one of the trees blocking his path and incidentally smacking straight into the trunk of the tree that I had been aiming for.

Dusting my hands clean of imaginary dust, I turned back to the road and walked on as serenely as I could manage, again holding in my laughter as I noticed that my other companions had all stopped to see the display.

Though my little revenge did not serve to completely shut Jaken up, it was enough to dampen his spirit to a point so that he restricted himself to insulting me, and steered clear of my friends. That, I could settle with for the time being.

Rin seemed to be most curious about Shippo, clearly seeing a lot of parallels between him and her self. She said she was very excited that she would be meeting him soon and was practically jumping on her feet when I told her that he would be just as excited if he knew he were to be meeting her soon. I guess children are just easy to excite. I mean it's not like I was that excited myself, nope, not me.

As the afternoon wore on and the sun descended lower in the sky, the mystery of the second disturbing presence continued. Though it had grown neither stronger nor weaker in essence, it remained persistently just within the scope of my powers, not allowing me to relax even though now Rin was here to dampen the tension between me and Sesshoumaru. I was starting to get nervous now, wandering whether it was a stray demon that had picked up on the presence of the Shikon shards about my throat. I didn't want to bring Rin into any unnecessary bout of danger. I half wanted to ask Sesshoumaru, but oddly enough found it harder to find my voice when there were other people around. It was almost as though it was easier to communicate with him when it was just the two of us.

Deciding not to linger on this specific problem any longer than necessary as it led to questions I'd rather not be asking myself, I chose to continue as before, keeping myself armed and on the alert in case something were to happen.

At dusk, Sesshoumaru finally came to a stop. Once more we were near a hot spring so that the heat radiating off it helped keep that area of the forest warmer. Unlike the other hot spring however, there was no secluded clearing near this spring. The whole place was crowded with trees so that we had to camp right by the water's edge if we wished to sleep. But then again, that only made our situation warmer. Plus, I would be able to take a much warmer bath tomorrow morning. With a sigh of relief I put down my backpack, stretching until I heard my bones creaking into place. When I turned back to the others, it was to find Sesshoumaru leaning against a far tree, Jaken and Ah-un somewhere nearby, and Rin where she had been before, looking at me with a questioning look on her face.

“What?” I asked, knowing that my popping bones had alarmed her. “It's heavy.” I pointed an accusing finger at my backpack. I think it was safe to say that Rin brought the little child in me; but then, some say that I just am a little child.

Anyway. I decided it was time to set up camp and asked Rin to help me gather some wood. At first she looked at me as though the idea was rather a waste of time but joined me anyway. I guess travelling with Sesshoumaru had taught her to toughen it out during the cold and she wasn't as much bothered by it as myself. True to my earlier resolution, I set to gather more wood than necessary, gathering a pile twice as large as normal. Once the fire was built and I had some food cooking over its flames, I pulled out some of my more pressing homework as I had the previous nights. But unlike the previous nights, what with Rin being here as well as the other `presence', I couldn't concentrate on the problems enough to be able to solve them. With just a tinge of guilt, I put down my book and spent the rest of the night talking with Rin and avoiding Jaken.

However, odd as it may seem, my urge to talk with Sesshoumaru continued to grow, but I still couldn't bring my self to speak up with three spectators. The idea was a little unsettling.

We ate dinner, though Jaken refused to eat anything that I had made, and soon I was rolling out my sleeping bag and crawling into it with Rin by my side, ready to go to sleep. Though Rin was quick to fall asleep, Jaken and Ah-un eager to follow suit, I remained wide awake, my uneasiness keeping me too preoccupied to fall asleep.

---

 

I stared up at the dark sky above my head. The sky was almost pitch-black save for a few scattered stars here and there. The moon was non-existent and I knew that somewhere near Kaede's, Inuyasha was also spending a sleepless night, although he would be among his friends.

I was lying in my sleeping, Rin tucked in beside me, lending me her warmth as my back was turned away from our fire. Where I was lying, I had a clear view of the hot spring, watching as very dim vapours rose from the surface of the spring to disappear discreetly into the night air. A curtain of tree trucks circled the spring's edge and our little group. There was a constant gurgling sound that was the sound of Jaken's snoring (with just the hint of a rabbit at the base of each snore) and it only added to my insomnia. I let out a small sigh and turned in my sleeping bag so that I was facing the fire and the rest of Sesshoumaru's little group.

Even though the others had gone to sleep well over hours ago, I had yet to be able to do the same. I knew it was hopeless for me to even try to sleep with so much on my mind. If Sango, Miroku, or even Inuyasha were here, I would have been able to talk it out with them and I knew that they would have been able to sooth me. Well, maybe not Inuyasha, but he would still be somewhat helpful …in some cases…I guess. They were my friends.

Looking around me, however, I couldn't exactly say that I was with enemies. Rin, for one, would never be anything of the sort, that I was sure of. I liked her way too much, and odd as it may be, I think she liked me too. Jaken, well…honestly…I couldn't take him seriously what with his resemblance to one of my favourite childhood cartoon characters. Ah-un had given me no reason to fear him and for that I liked him too. This left me with only Sesshoumaru. Sure he was stubborn and wouldn't tell me about the spell and had even tried to kill me in the past. But he'd also saved my life. So…no, I wasn't with friends tonight, but I wasn't with my enemies either.

So then why couldn't I just fall asleep?

Well, no need to try and answer that question. I already knew the answer. I was still very much aware of the imposing presence and just knowing that it was out there, potentially just waiting for me to fall asleep before he attacked kept me from sleep. It was no wonder. But still I didn't like it. It had been a long time since I had had a proper night of sleep.

Silently I turned in bed and came face to face with Rin's sleeping form. She looked so adorable in her sleep, her breathing slow and evened out, her face in a state of total peace. Carefully, I reached out and with my hand smoothed the hair away from her face and bent forward to lay a kiss on her forehead. I don't know why, but having her by my side brought me peace and yet left me with a stronger urge to make sure the presence kept away from her.

With an inaudible sigh, I turned my eyes to Sesshoumaru, wanting to know if he was awake or not. What with everyone asleep, this would be the best time to have a little talk with him.

Despite the moonless night, it was easy to spot his eyes glowing golden as they reflected the fire's light. I had half expected him to be asleep or at least have his eyes closed as they had been during other nights. But I guess this just made things easier.

Not wanting to wake Rin up with any sudden movements, I carefully pulled myself out of the sleeping bag, quickly stepping near the fire to keep myself warm. I reached over and grabbed a sweater to put on before I left the fire's side to approach Sesshoumaru.

I stood about a few feet away from him, feeling nervous as his eyes followed my movements. I cleared my throat before speaking.

“Um, can I sit with you for a second?” I asked in a small voice so as not to disturb the others.

I was further scrutinized by Sesshoumaru's eyes before he gave a very small nod of his head. I wanted to have my jaw drop a million miles at his acceptance, but instead just gave him a little smile before I proceeded to sit down on the ground in front of him, my back to the fire.

“So..,” I started out slowly, “how come you're not sleeping.” Despite the worries in my head, the night had a calm feeling to it. As though in reflection of that, Sesshoumaru had a feeling of peace to him that shone in his face and eyes (though both blank). His serenity and that of the night helped calm me if just a bit.

“I do not feel the need to do so as often as humans.”

I nodded, having fully expected such an answer. I looked around a little, trying to find the right way to ask him what I wanted. Surprisingly, however, he saved me the trouble.

“You are worried.” His voice was slow and deep, calming in the deep night even though danger hid in its dark confines.

I stopped looking around and turned my eyes onto him. I nodded.

His eyes still on me, he also nodded his head (I guess showing that he understood…I don't know). “We are being watched.”

I looked at him with alarm, his simple statement serving to further unnerve me. The small bit of peace that had come over me left as quickly as it had came, though it still left behind in me a need for tranquility. I could also feel my eyebrows furrowing with confusion. “By who?”

Sesshoumaru pinned me with yet another look, this time searching my face for some unknown detail. The look of calm continued to rein over his face and in that moment it felt reassuring. With one of his slow blinks, he went on to answer. “Naraku.”

I could feel my eyebrows slinking back along my brow, my first reaction being why would be Naraku watching us.

“What I believe you are sensing is the presence of the Saimyousho.”

“The Saimyousho?” I repeated slowly, unbelievingly. When had my life gotten so complicated? Oh wait, I remember, the well. He remained silent, apparently under the impression that no more was needed to be said. I frowned deeper and shaking my head slightly, asked him, “Wait, why would Naraku be watching us?”

This time, he chose to remain silent…again.

I tried elaborating. “I mean, he's never done that before, at least not to us.”

He gave me a small frown but answered this time. “That is simply you're assumption. He has been able to keep track of all that you do in order to continue with his schemes.”

I felt my frown furrowing deeper as I noted the possible truth of his words. But in all honesty, at least he's never used the Saimyousho to this effect before because I would have sensed them as I did now. Somehow, though, I didn't think that telling this to Sesshoumaru would make much of a difference. “Well, in any case, that still doesn't explain why he is watching us?”

Again, the look in his eyes was calculating as he studied my face, though somehow, I couldn't exactly say that I felt uncomfortable under his gaze. It was almost not threatening to me as if my senses had grown dull to the fear that he was supposed to induce. “It is strange, do you not think, that you and I are travelling together? We are known to be enemies.”

The word `enemies' made me want to frown again even though I had used it myself many times to describe our relationship. Maybe it was because I hadn't slept yet, but having Sesshoumaru actually say that we were enemies was almost annoying to me. Or could have just been the huge contrast between his words and his tone. He just sounded so calming and soothing whereas his words were the opposite; like a paradox really. I shrugged off the notion, my face clearing as I accepted his explanation with an almost silent `oh'.

A few minutes of silence passed between us as I tried to wrap my mind around the idea that I was being watched by Naraku as he once more prepared for yet another plot to bring us down. Several questions were building up in my mind, the first of which was why Sesshoumaru had been so willing to give up this information. His lips were sealed when it came to the spell, but he was telling me about Naraku. With a sigh, I realised this was another one of those mysteries that I wouldn't be able to solve on my own. So I concentrated on other things.

“Question,” I asked as a means of getting his attention, though it was rather unnecessary as he had kept his eyes on me the whole time. “How come you're letting them follow us? The Saimyousho, I mean.”

For some reason Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed at this in a slight show of anger (I guess). Then with a blink his face turned back to neutral and he answered back. “They are not within my reach.”

It took me a few seconds to figure out why that was a problem, but once I did I could also understand why the question had made him angry. “Oh, that. Well you know,” I said in a placating tone, “you could have just said so. I said I would cooperate.”

I felt as though his eyes were going to literally drill a whole through me, but did my best to convey my honesty. I wanted him to trust me if just so that we could get along; the peace of the night, I suppose, was just that contagious. An idea occurred to me. “But then, I guess, Naraku would have noticed that you needed me to move too to reach the Saimyousho. That would've just made him more suspicious.”

I turned slightly on my right side, feeling a little lost to be honest, and didn't pay much attention to the raised eyebrow on Sesshoumaru's face.

“And,” I continued, still hunched over a little, “he could have just sent more of them to watch us. Or worse still, come himself which would've put Rin in danger.” I sighed again, coming to terms with the fact that I just had to let the saimyousho continue their spying. I reached out and picked up a stick from the pile that I had sitting by the fire, using it to scratch absently into the ground.

Questions swam in a whirl in my head, keeping me preoccupied. What was Naraku planning? I didn't like him watching me and what I did, but that was no surprise. But, what would happen if Naraku knew that Sesshoumaru was bound to me? With my stick I made to semi circles, absently starting to sketch a familiar image. No doubt he'd be sending hoards of demons out to kill Sesshoumaru while he was at a disadvantage. Sesshoumaru was fast and strong, but if he had only a maximum of forty yards to work with…well, I didn't think it painted a pretty picture. With enough demons, he could be injured and maybe even killed. What would happen to Rin then?

“What are you drawing?”

I looked up, jolted, having had almost forgotten that I wasn't alone. “What?”

He was looking down at what I had been etching into the ground with my stick. Following his lead, I looked down too and let slip a smile. “That's Mickey Mouse.”

His eyes left the drawing and settled back on me, clearly not having understood what I meant.

I smiled wider this time, liking the curious gleam in his eyes. “That's a fictional character that's very popular where I come from. Listen,” I said before more could be asked about my home. “We need to come up with a plan in case someone attacks.”

I knew he had noticed me changing the subject but I ignored it and went head on with the problem at hand. “If Naraku tries to attack while the spell is still in tact, well, you move fast, but I couldn't even keep up with you if I tried.”

“I am aware of that,” he replied stoically but said no more.

I frowned at him. “Do you have any ideas?”

It looked as though he was about to answer but instead he just gave me a little frown. Then, with what I swear was a sigh, he said, “It will be dealt with when the time comes.”

I sighed and figured that I would just have to make do; he had already answered more questions than I would have wagered he would. But it still irritated me that whenever my questions came anywhere close to the spell, he would clamp up. With my stick I finished drawing Mickey's nose. I looked down at my drawing, noting the skill that my repeated sketches brought out in my work. Then I snapped the twig in half and wedged it into the fire. There was a muffled moan from behind me and turned to see Rin turn over in my sleeping bag, her little hands fisted together on my pillow. With yet another sigh I looked back at Sesshoumaru only to find him staring back at me with a blank look.

“What?” I asked. I half thought I knew what he wanted and figured that it would be a show of courtesy to comply just a little.

He didn't waste time or effort and spoke up without induction. “How much of what you told Rin was a lie?”

I lifted an eyebrow in a mock move of his. “I didn't lie.”

“You are a bad liar,” he said in a quiet voice, not missing a beat, his eyes steadily held on me.

“Then it's a good thing I don't do it much.” Maybe it was because it was three in the morning, or maybe it was just my genes, but I didn't want to take him seriously. I had been restless and preoccupied pretty much the whole day, I needed to rest and get some sleep. Unfortunately, I knew I couldn't do that if there was tension in the air.

“I know for certain that you are not from Inuyasha's forest.” I could tell by the intensity of his gaze that he actually believed that and for a second there I wanted to just tell him right then and there and get it out in the open. Luckily, my whit - also known as my death warrant - kicked in first.

“What, and you've had this researched?” I asked sarcastically.

His eyes bore into mine, no trace of a joke to be spotted. “Yes.”

I frowned at his statement, irked that he would admit to it so freely and crept out that he had actually had me researched. Then again, I guess he was just thorough with his enemies. In any case, my humour was clearly lost on him.

“Look,” I said in an almost subdued voice but rolling my eyes, “I didn't lie.”

It was Sesshoumaru's turn to frown but he chose to pass up on the offer and instead continue with his typical stare.

“I really do live in Inuyasha's forest. Only it's…different,” I said carefully and therefore lamely.

He seemed to contemplate my words for a minute, and then asked, “How?”

I gave him a pitying look; what, did he think I would answer just like that? Sure, later on, when I knew I could trust him with the information, I might. But right now, well…he just didn't have the track record required. So with a tired but playful slant to my lips I answered, “`Perhaps, in time, I shall tell you.'”

To be honest, I don't think he was much amused. Oh well, you win some you lose some. Of course, that's totally irrelevant.

This time Sesshoumaru did frown and I figured that it would be polite of me - and good for my health - if I gave him a reason. “Look, I'm a little iffy about trusting y—people with my address. I just think it would be better if I thought it out first and be sure before I spill the beans.”

At first I could see his frown only becoming more pronounced, but as I continued I could see the opposite happening. I guess he understood and I was grateful for that. God knows, I would rather not have an angry Sesshoumaru for a companion. This just made things easier.

With a vague smile on my face, but my head as full with questions as ever, I rose to my feet, making a move to go back to my sleeping bag.

“You have collected more wood tonight than usual,” his voice drifted quietly to my ears, stopping me in my tracks.

Frozen in a half turned position, I turned my neck to look at him. To my surprise, his eyes were not focused on me but on the fire. Nevertheless, there was just something about his posture and face that was off almost as if he was struggling with something but refused to show any signs of it. The fire burned just brightly enough to bring out the gold in his eyes, and just dimly enough for his hair to look a dark platinum. Again I would have found it hard to resist reaching out to touch him; that is, were it not for what he had just said to me.

“Uh, yeah, that,” I glanced to the fire then at the pile of wood. I had been awake so far during the night and had seen nothing suspicious. I shrugged, turning back to Sesshoumaru. “Yeah, I'm just running a little experiment.”

The gold in his eyes momentarily flashed red before turning orange and then back to gold as he slowly turned his eyes to look at me. I was expecting him to ask what but he just stared at me, perhaps waiting for me to answer the question on my own accord. Jaken's snoring (croaking) grew slightly louder before once more fading again, helping to fill in the sudden silence for a short while.

I pursed my lips in annoyance, but gave up. “Argh, fine. For the past couple of nights, I've ended up with more wood than I should have. I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't my imagination.”

“I see,” was his silent answer. His voice had no specific tone to it, but there was a slight slant to his mouth that gave me the distinct feeling that he was laughing at me.

With a puff of annoyance, I pinned him with the best glare I could managed in my sleep-deprived mode, planting my hands on my hips in a stern manner. “No need to look so smug, you know. I was gonna tell you later anyways.”

Maybe it was my imagination, but for a split second the smirk on his face was more perceptible. I think it was my imagination because the next second he looked more serious than ever before, looking possibly even a little mad. Silently, his eyes fast on me, he rose to his feet. “You act immature for your age.”

The statement caught me off guard, forcing me into silence. Not that it was unexpected for Sesshoumaru to find fault with me. It's just that I hadn't been expecting it just then. We were just starting to get along and he rarely gave his opinion on anything. On the other hand I was half distracted by his movement, wondering what had made him stand up and what had him standing so stiffly.

Snapping back to the moment, I looked at him with a sceptical look, moving my hands to cross them across my chest. “Excuse me?”

He was silent and continued to look at me as before, conveying his meaning with unreadable eyes.

I huffed in irritation. “Um….right. Anywho, I may as well ask you now that we're on the subject, you haven't seen anything weird have you?”

He took a step or so closer to me and the fire so that he was standing right above my sketch before saying in as calm a voice as ever, “No.” But he was clearly tense, his eyes, though unreadable, alight with more fire than just that of the flames close by.

I let out a sigh soon followed by a shrug. “Oh well, it was worth a shot.”

Once more I turned to go back to my sleeping bag, uncomfortable with not knowing what was wrong with Sesshoumaru, and once more I was stopped by his quiet voice. It always left me with goose bumps all along my arms.

“Rin, what do you think of her?”

I stood for a few seconds with my back still to him, wondering if I had actually heard correctly, but my ears had rarely failed me before. I allowed my eyes to stray back to where Rin was, a cool wind slightly raising some of her hair. Slowly, I turned to face him and finding that his eyes were once more firmly held on me. It was his studious gaze, watching and calculating everything, looking as though every detail would be forever stored in his memory. I swallowed hard slightly out of nerves, a queasy feeling just starting to stir in the pit of my stomach.

“Um…Rin,” I stalled, hoping that the blush taking over my face was not noticeable in the dark. “If you mean do I like her or not, yeah, of course.”

“I see,” he said in his quiet voice and I just realised how close he was. I had to bend my neck backward to be able to catch his eyes, something that I wish I had not done. That fire that had been in his eyes still remained there, somehow so intense that it shone clearly in the dark. I didn't want, I really didn't want to, but I blushed even harder, my body telling me that over the past two years, I had never seen Sesshoumaru look at anyone quite like that. Almost without my notice, Sesshoumaru took another step toward me.

With a jolt, I took a step back, deciding that the whole situation was just too awkward to be allowed even though I had no idea what it was and whether it was even significant. “Well, I'm off to bed now.” My voice sounded light and dripping with fake unconcern. But I paid it no heed and quickly turned in my spot, not even looking back at Sesshoumaru as I practically dashed under the covers of my sleeping bag, no doubt disturbing Rin. “Good night.”

I was back on the other side of Rin, my face toward the spring so that I didn't have to look at Sesshoumaru, just hoping that I could fall asleep soon. But as earlier tonight, sleep was out of my reach or at least slow in coming leaving me to stare at the calm surface of the spring for perhaps hours. All the while, I pretended that nothing disturbing had happened and almost stubbornly reminding myself that I would be seeing my friends in about three days. They would be able to put me straight and drive away my growing worries (my talk had only served to fill my head with more questions). With a sigh, I forced my eyelids to close, forcing myself to clear my brain so that I could actually fall asleep.

It took a very long time for Sesshoumaru to move away from where I had left him.

 

XXX

Wow…you guys are so sweet. I feel so bad now for my doubting thoughts. But what can I say, I'm just human. I really don't know what to say to make up for it. So I'll just leave it here and pretend it never happened.

Man I had to do a review of the whole story…it took me sooooooooo long. But now I have a better grasp of all the hints given. So yeah…

If you guys can't tell yet…I have an obsession with the word dream. Only because of all the possibilities it leaves way for.