InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Problem ❯ At Wit's End ( Chapter 9 )

- In my imagination

There is little hesitation

I know what I want

I know how to get it

Then why is it that I don't?

 

- A bus is a vehicle that runs twice as fast when you are after it as when you are in it.

 

Disclaimer: this is between me and Rumiko Takahashi.

 

Chapter 9:At Wit's End

 

“Jaken-sama, I don't think you should do that.”

I was barely awake enough to register the voice, only noting that I was too tired to want to listen to it.

“Jaken-sama, Kagome-chan might not like it.”

“Go away, Rin. The human has no right to be mad.”

I frowned slightly in my bed, annoyed by the voices that were waking me up. I turned on my side and used my pillow to cover my ears. Nevertheless, a faint zipping sound reached my ears and I had to fight to keep from growling.

“Shh…Jaken-sama, you'll wake Kagome-chan.”

“Shut up, Rin, I know what I'm doing.” This second voice was getting steadily louder much to my chagrin.

“But Jaken-sama -,”

“Leave me alone!”

“Jaken.”

There was a pause following this new voice and just faintly I wanted to figure out who it was. But the heat from my sleeping bag was just too good to ignore for long.

Sadly, my bout of peace was very short lived.

“Jaken-sama, I don't think you should -,”

“Rin, be quiet for once!”

Although I was sleepy, the sounds were too loud to allow my brain to sleep and in a half-subconscious manner, I knew I was waking up. And now I was aware of a clanking sound much like that of metal hitting metal. With a sigh I thought it would be best to give up the fight to stay asleep and find out what was happening.

But before I had a chance to open my eyes there was a loud clank followed by a louder thump as though something heavy had fallen to the ground. The shock of the sound made my eyes snap open just in time to see a small rock fly through the air with precision. This was quickly followed by a second thump and Rin's giggles, and I turned to see that Jaken was lying on the ground, eyes twirling unfocused.

That was one way to wake up.

As it turned out, Jaken had woken up too hungry to wait as he had chosen to skip dinner last night and had decided to see if he could find something edible in my bag. He had been busy sifting through my bag, placed on top of a boulder to keep away from small creepy-crawlers, and had knocked it over, hence all the clanging and the first thump. Of course, the rock that brought down Jaken had been courtesy of Sesshoumaru.

Still too sleepy to want to actually deal with this, I flashed Sesshoumaru a sleepy smile of thanks but managed to get it lost in a yawn. With that done, I crashed back to my sleeping bag, falling asleep perhaps even before my head had hit the pillow.

---

 

When I woke up a second time, it was about an hour later. Jaken was no longer sprawled on the ground but was now sitting moodily against a tree.

I got up out of the sleeping bag, still pretty sleepy but knowing that we had a long way to go before reaching Kaede's. Much to my annoyance, when Jaken had knocked over my backpack, half the stuff in there had gone sprawling to the floor. So for the first ten minutes I had the pleasure of spending my time recollecting my dirtied possession from the forest floor. Rin helped me with what she could, continually asking me about everything that she picked up.

Once that was done, I went to feed the fire so that I could cook over it. I noted that my pile of sticks had not been added to. I made a mental note and moved on.

Next on the list was a bath. This new clearing posed a few problems when it came to that as there really was no clearing and we were all forced to be by the waters edge. I was standing by the spring, looking at it longingly and trying to find a solution, when I heard footsteps from behind me. When I turned around, it was to find Sesshoumaru standing behind me, his eyes once more reading my face. Remembering the awkward moments of last night, I took a half step away as discreetly as I could.

Sesshoumaru only raised a brow and said, “Rin also needs to be bathed.” With that said, he turned on his heels, walked up to Jaken who jumped to his feet, and led him into the tree line.

I stood staring after him for half a minute before I felt a tug at my sleeve and had to look down. It was Rin, looking up at with what must have been the best `puppy-eyes' shown to the world by a non-puppy.

“What is it Rin?”

She continued to look at me with those eyes. “Do I have to?”

“Do you have to what?” I asked, still preoccupied with Sesshoumaru.

“Does Rin have to take a bath?”

I blinked with surprise for a moment then started giggling. “But Rin, don't you want to wash away the dirt? Plus, the spring is so warm; you're not going to find water like this that easily.”

“But the water makes Rin's skin look old,” she complained.

I laughed again, but told her that she really should take a bath. The girl looked at me dejectedly but said no more. We took our bath, and then I cooked breakfast. When Sesshoumaru and Jaken came back, we had already finished breakfast. The fire was put out and my stuff packed, and before it was eight, we were back on the road.

---

 

It was a little after one and I was so tired that I could have fallen asleep right then and there. I wasn't just tired from lack of sleep, but also from the physical strain of setting with Sesshoumaru's pace for almost five days now. I so badly wanted to go home to my time and just crash on my bed and never wake up again. Just thinking of the comforts of memory foams made me yawn and reminded me of the pain in my back from sleeping on the forest floor.

The Saimyousho had followed us persistently, always at the same distance, always just out of sight. But I did my best to ignore them, knowing that there was really nothing that I could do and that Sesshoumaru knew about them.

Then, of course, there was the original presence that had bothered me, the one that Sesshoumaru suspected of placing the spell. That one, I'm glad to say, I had yet to feel today. But chances were that it had come, as usual, early in the morning and since I had been asleep for once, I hadn't felt it there. I guess that was a good thing; there wasn't much I could do about that either. And the less I was reminded of it, well the better.

I looked down at my watch, reading the little slot that told me the date. It was the twenty fourth. That meant that it had been almost a month since I had last seen my family. I still had enough supplies for maybe another week, but still. I knew I needed to see them, or at least somehow catch them up with what's been happening. Actually that part would be easy. Even if I couldn't go to them myself, I could always just send Inuyasha. I could even send with him my backpack for new supplies and a letter to my mom. And my homework, she could just mail it in for me. After a year of excuses for my continued absence from my school, I'd decided to continue my education through correspondence and told my friends that I was actually at a boarding school, explaining my absence from home. In ways, it was a lot harder to learn all that material on your own, but I had already been doing that pretty much myself. All that was required was for me to show up every few months for mandatory tests and quizzes. Of course, Inuyasha had no idea about this so that I still had as much family time as before.

Therefore, when it came to school and supplies, the spell did not cause much of a problem. But there was just one big problem and that was my family. There had only been one instance in the past two years where I had to wait longer than three weeks to see my family and that had been when the Schininchitai had been here.

And now this time, I had already been stalled from going back for a day after over two weeks of travelling when Inuyasha had sensed Naraku's miasma and had thought it imperative to go after it without delay. I had been forced to give in. Of course, two days later Sesshoumaru had showed up.

I sighed, knowing that there was nothing I could do to get home with Sesshoumaru still with me without telling him about my home. And in all honesty, I didn't see the spell being broken anytime soon when I didn't even know what it was about.

“Kagome-chan,” it was Rin, looking at me with concerned eyes, “you look tired.”

I looked back at her, a little surprised that she had been watching me and was concerned. But I smiled at her, flattered that she cared. “I am a little tired, but mostly I was just thinking.” Then I smiled wider and patted her on the knees as she sat on Ah-un's back. “Thanks for caring though.”

It was really sweet of her. Really, Rin was such a sweet little child, and I had to wonder, how was it that after spending two years in such company as she has, how she had been able to retain that about her. Not that I though Sesshoumaru was a bad influence when it came to decorum; temper…maybe, but never civility. But Jaken, well he was another story. But I suppose the three of them somehow managed to co-exist. And I have to say, it said a lot about Sesshoumaru, him taking a human under his care and actually doing a fair job of it. No matter how independent a child can be, they are still pretty easily influenced by those around them. I wondered, if I wasn't there, would he treat Rin differently, maybe talk to her more than just when giving orders. I wondered, would it be so bad to be on the good side of Sesshoumaru. For sure, it would be better than being his enemy.

I lifted my eyes to look at Sesshoumaru who was walking in front of me. His strides were clean and fluid and as always he gave off a feeling of being in complete control. It was…an unwavering sort of image. But it was just that, an image. He was not constant. Last night he had been unpredictable. It was strange, he had been standing so close. It was surprising enough to have him strike a deal with me, stick to it, and save me. He was unsettling and confusing. My reactions to him were unsettling and confusing.

I let out another sigh and glanced up at the sky.

A few hours of walking in the morning, had led us out of the dense forest and into open fields, spotted here and there with the occasional, bare tree. I have to say, I liked this kind of scenery much better than the dark forests. I could actually now see the sky. Not that there was much to be seen. It was a cloudy day, and I don't just mean the nice, white, fluffy type. They were dark, grey ones that promised rain with a vengeance and were just starting to put me my more pessimistic mood. But at least it was warmer today, if only slightly, what with the wind-chill. I didn't know which way the wind came from, but it had a crisp freshness to it so that in spite of the extra cold it brought I welcomed it, loving how it swept through the land me with the same intensity.

The wind rose in pitch, gliding through the somewhat brown grass, lifting up and around me, rippling my clothes. I shivered but at the same time lifted my face to it, letting it sweep through me as if it could carry away my worries and fatigue with it.

Then my foot slipped and I nearly fell straight into a large puddle of mud. Luckily Ah-un was right beside me and I managed to grab onto him before I made a huge fool of myself. I stifled my giggle at my own clumsiness and the timing of it, walking on as though nothing had happened. Thankfully, Ah-un could be trusted to keep my slip-up a secret; after all, he was incapable of human speech. I reached out and patted him merrily on the head.

“Stupid human, can't even walk straight.”

Damn frog.

I just ignored him, sticking out my chin, and walked with as much dignity as I could. Then I caught Rin's eye and started giggling all over again.

---

 

By the time we had stopped for the night, it had already started to rain, and I don't mean a light drizzle. It was really pouring down. Unfortunately there were no conveniently placed caves around; we were hard put just finding a big enough tree. The trouble was we were at the end of fall and any tree that may have been large enough to cover us from the rain at any other time was now bare branched, meaning we had to find some evergreens and take cover there. I could already tell, there wasn't going to be a fire tonight.

I'm sorry, did I say I liked large open fields? Because well, now I've decided I rather don't care for them all that much after all.

I had foregone my raincoat so Rin could wear it and had settle with my umbrella, but that made setting up camp a lot harder. But I wasn't new to these conditions and knew how to handle them. For one, I made sure to hang my bag off a tree branch to keep it away from the mud. There wasn't much I could do for my sleeping bag though. There were going to be mud stains on it as big as Pangaea when I got home.

Dang rain.

Well actually, I liked rain. But only when I was at home, with the heating on, a hot cup of coffee or tea in my hands, and beautiful, insulated walls around me. That's not too much to ask for, now is it?

Sigh…oh well, it doesn't matter. I guess I just have to make do with what I have.

I always carried a string of rope (it came in very handy when you had to invent things on the go), so I used it to hang my umbrella near the tree's trunk, like a make-shift roof. For dinner, since I couldn't cook anything, we just had whatever fruits I had left. Rin was surprised by the assortment, and dug through the berries like a girl possessed. I was tempted to slip her a piece of chocolate but was afraid of what the extra dose of sugar would do to her energy level. I didn't need to deal with a little kid and a sugar high. You know, they say the first time is always the worst…or best…whatever.

Ah-un was sitting beside us, lending us his (or their) body heat, and sneaking a bite every once in a while from the pile of fruit. Jaken sat stubbornly on the other side of the dragon, determinedly doing his best to ignore me. But I felt kind of bad for him; I hadn't seen him eat anything yet. Maybe I could get Rin to give him something and pretend I wasn't looking. It was worth a try. Sesshoumaru, he was standing so that I had a side view of him. His face was set in its calm mask and his eyes were boring into the distance. I had the funniest feeling that his attention was far away from us.

I was halfway through eating an apple (green ones are my favourite) when it first caught my attention. What caught my attention? Oh nothing too serious…just the ground shaking.

At first it had been so slight that I hadn't even noticed it. My first clue was Ah-un's ears twitching. That caught my attention, but I wrote it off to him sensing something in a far distance, which was perfectly correct. But by the time his muscles tensed, even I could feel the small tremors. For a second I thought it was an earthquake (it wouldn't be that much of a shock if it was), but that theory was shot when I felt my miko senses stirring. I knew it wasn't a shikon shard, which left me with only one possibility: a demon.

Feeling more nervous than I normally did when we were about to go under attack by a stray demon, I rose to my feet. I wanted Inuyasha to be there; he would protect me. I trusted him to do that. But Sesshoumaru, somehow I didn't have much hope of him doing the same. Obviously he could easily kill the demon if it came to it. But I didn't think he would, especially if the demon had been led here by the shikon shards around my throat. I could just imagine him getting mad at me for it and god knows what he might do then. On the other hand, there were members of his own group here; surely he would protect them. And worst comes to worst, there was always Ah-un.

I stepped out of the protection of my umbrella, at the same time, bringing out my bow and arrows. I strung an arrow but didn't aim simply because I wasn't sure which way to aim. The tremors were now considerably stronger so that soon I was having difficulty standing on my feet. In front of me, Sesshoumaru stood exactly as he had been before, his face sternly blank. I think he might have sensed my eyes on him because at that moment he turned his head slightly to spare me a glance. His eyes ran over the bow and arrow in my hand, to Rin who was somewhere behind me, Ah-un, and finally back to me to rest on my face. He came off looking bored, his eyes disinterested, but I could almost sense him searching for the hidden jewel shards. I think he also thought the demon was here for them, a thought that brought me little comfort.

Finally, the demon was close enough to be seen and both me and Sesshoumaru looked away from each other to see it. It was hard to make out exactly what it looked liked what with the rain, the dark, and the distance that was between us. But it was definitely a big demon, much like that huge demon that Sesshoumaru had arrived upon the first couple of times I had seen him. It even had the same coloured hair and loin cloth around its hips. At least it was nothing unfamiliar, but it was no less intimidating. I half hoped that it would take one look at Sesshoumaru and, like the other demon, run for all it was worth.

I felt a tug on my pants and turned to see that Rin was standing beside me, half hiding behind my legs, her hands curled on my belt. She had her eyes warily set on the approaching demon. Feeling the need to comfort her how ever way I could, I reached out with my free hand and patted her gently on the head. She turned and looked at me and I tried to give her my most reassuring smile. After all, I didn't think Sesshoumaru would let her be harmed.

“The miko,” I was forced to get back to the demon when it spoke, in a scratchy voice I may mention, “where is the miko with the shikon shards.”

I looked at it, half shocked, half scared. That was way too accurate for a stray demon. The shards, I can understand, the part about me being a miko…that I didn't know what to do with. Behind me, Rin's grasp on my belt tightened and I knew she was frightened too. I glanced at Sesshoumaru, reading traces of the same surprise in his slightly wider eyes. Then, with a blink, his face was back to neutral if only with a hint of anger.

I swallowed and chose not to respond to the demon, instead raising my arrow to aim.

The demon had stopped, looking among our little group. Its eyes landed on Sesshoumaru and for a second I could see the hesitation in it; clearly it wasn't stupid enough to undermine Sesshoumaru. Then it looked away from him and instead focused on where me and Rin were standing. I couldn't help the little gasp that escaped my throat, but tightened my hold on my arrow in hopes of conveying that I was also a force to be reckoned. Yeah, right, only in my dreams.

I kept wishing that Inuyasha was there.

The demon studied me for a second, his eyes stopping at the base of my throat and I swallowed again, my nerves only increasing. I didn't have much confidence in my own skills even after two years.

“There's the little human,” I heard the demon say but barely registered it, too distracted by the smirk slanting his brown lips. “Now be a good little girl and hand over the jewels.”

I looked at the demon, still pretty scared, but just starting to get mad. A part of me was beginning to celebrate inside my head, knowing that if I got angry enough, I would not be scared. Really, the demon was bringing about its own death. I frowned at it, drawing the arrow as far back as I could. I opened my mouth, ready to tell it off.

“Leave.”

My head snapped to the side and I nearly let go of the arrow in my shock; it had been Sesshoumaru who had spoken. He was eying the demon with sure eyes, his hands lose at his sides, everything about him calm and collected. I recognized it as the Sesshoumaru ready for battle. Somewhere deep inside of me, I felt a knot of tension loosen just a little.

The demon was once again eying Sesshoumaru, looking unsure and perhaps just a bit jostled. After a few minutes, it spoke up, this time addressing Sesshoumaru. “This does not concern you. I only want the girl.”

It was kind of funny now that I was a bit calmer. Here it was, a giant of a demon, probably more than twice the size of my house, explaining himself to a demon a fraction of his own size. Of course, the fact that the second demon was Sesshoumaru did make a big difference, but still, it was funny.

“I will not repeat myself again,” Sesshoumaru said as calmly as before. He was not looking at the demon, but casually watching the path of his own hand as he placed it over the handle of one of his swords - Tokijin. “Leave.”

For a second I thought the demon was going to do just that. It certainly looked scared enough to bolt, but it remained where it was, his eyes flashing between Sesshoumaru and me, signs of his struggle clear across its face. Then, with a sudden growl, the demon lunged at me.

I had been so sure that no demon would dare displease Sesshoumaru (unless of course this was Naraku we were talking about) that I was caught off guard. I gasped and took a step back, but my feet got tangled with Rin who was still behind me. For a split second, my hands flailed helplessly in the air, letting go of the arrow so that it soared straight through the air, attempting to keep my balance even as the demon charged at me, but it was hopeless. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see how this turned out.

I felt hot breath on the back of my neck as something grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and put me back on my feet, pulling out a couple of hairs in the process. I opened my eyes, dropping my bow as I whirled around, my other hand reaching out for Rin to make sure she was still standing as well, and came face to snout with Ah-un. In a second I understood what had happened, and I smiled widely at it in appreciation. Okay, one mystery down, one to go.

I turned back around only to find that there was no sign of the demon. My first instinct was to look at Sesshoumaru, my brain already knowing what had happened. What was this, the third time he had saved my life? How was I ever to repay him?

Sesshoumaru was standing pretty much where he had been before, placing back into place his drawn sword, not a hair out of place - well, except that he was wet from head to toe and I suddenly realised that the same held true for me. I ignored it, watching as Sesshoumaru's eyes calmly swept across the hill to land back on me. Even from this distance I could see the heightened glow in them. In his slow fashion, his eyes slid down to where the jewels hung from my neck, to Rin who stood behind me, then back to my eyes. The expression in his remained as it had been before.

Rin let go of her hold on my belt, finally stepping out from behind me. Without a moment of hesitation, she made a bee-line for Sesshoumaru, coming to a stop at his feet.

“Sesshoumaru-sama, Rin was so worried,” she said and her voice very shaky as though the little girl was close to tears. I wanted to go up to her and hug her but kept back for Sesshoumaru's presence; I'm sure he was capable of handling her. “Rin was so worried the bad demon would hurt you or Kagome-sama.”

Really, there had been nothing to worry about - especially when it came to Sesshoumaru. But still, my heart went out to the girl, moved by the fact that she cared so much about her demon lord and even me. She needn't have worried for Sesshoumaru, that's true, but still, she must have just loved him that much. When you cared enough about someone, you worried for them all the time. Ask me, I had first hand experience.

“There was nothing to be worried about, Rin,” Sesshoumaru answered Rin with that same tone he had used with the demon, his eyes calmly looking down at the little girl. “Go finish the rest of your dinner.”

I frowned at his dismissal of her, but really, there was nothing else to do. And I guess there was no point wasting time over something that was already finished. But even as Rin gave a nod of her head and did as he asked, I continued to stare at him. Twice he had tried to kill me. Both times, I'd stepped up against him one way or another and brought down his wrath upon myself. Three times, three times I owed my life to this man. And all three times he really need not have involved himself. I was losing my perception of him.

“You are steadily getting more wet.”

His voice surprised me. For one, I hadn't expected him to say anything to me, especially after having just saved me - again. And two, I had been so busy staring at him, so deeply occupied with my own thoughts that I hadn't noticed him having moved. He now stood but a foot away from me, one eyebrow raised as per usual, looking as though nothing of significance had taken place.

I snapped eyes away from him as though scathed, feeling almost guilty and definitely out of place. “Uh, right, thanks.” Really, I didn't know what else to say.

In stead, I just kept my head on the ground and made to get back to the safety of my umbrella. I practically ran to the tree and Rin, using them as means of protection and even I wasn't sure what I really wanted the protection for. All I knew was that my life was growing even more lopsided than it already was and Sesshoumaru was the cause of the disturbance.

XXX

 

I know, I know, it's shorter than usual. But changed it last minute. I added the last section from this chapter to the next one. I hope it flows better that way. Alright, I'm off to bed so please read and review. Wow, this marks the first time I've actually written that down in those words.