InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Truth About Cats and Dogs ❯ Midoriko's Message ( Chapter 18 )

Recap: Kirara tried to convince the others to leave Sesshomaru's castle, but the good food, comfortable accommodation and idyllic surroundings made them reluctant to go. Jaken tried to throw Kirara forcefully from the castle, but before he could follow through with his threat, the Lord of the castle himself appeared...

 

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Chapter 18 - Midoriko's Message

 

Sesshomaru held Kirara's gaze for a long, stifling moment of silence before shifting his eyes to his younger brother.

 

“Hey, you can't just throw us out of here!” Inuyasha warned him.

 

Sesshomaru slowly raked his eyes downwards over the length of Inuyasha's body, his eyes promptly flicking back up to his brother's once his assessment was complete.

 

“Why are you wearing the clothes I wore when I was a child, Inuyasha?” he asked flatly.

 

“What?” Inuyasha yelped, his face turning red as he eyed himself over.

 

“Oh, forgive me, my Lord!” Rinko pleaded, dropping to the ground by Sesshomaru's feet. “Lord Inuyasha needed some new clothes, and I just thought he would look so handsome in something of yours, and I… Oh please find it in your benevolent heart to forgive me my Lord, I have acted and spoken out of turn!”

 

“You fool, the word benevolent doesn't even exist in Lord Sesshomaru's vocabulary!” Jaken squawked. “Kill her, Milord!”

 

Sesshomaru lowered his eyes to Rinko, eying her with his usual bored and disinterested expression.

 

“She's old, and she's not necessary any more!” Jaken added.

 

“But I am needed!” Rinko wailed, raising her head enough to look up at Sesshomaru's face. “Without me, who will care for your children?”

 

“Fool, Lord Sesshomaru has no children!” Jaken jeered, pointing at her nose. “Show her the power of the Tokijin, Sire!”

 

Jaken began to hop from foot to foot in his excitement, but his joy was short-lived as Sesshomaru took a step forwards, standing onto Jaken and squashing him against the floor. Jaken yelped, choking and writhing beneath Sesshomaru's foot.

 

“Hey, this is Inuyasha's castle too, Sesshomaru!” Kagome yelled from across the table.

 

Sesshomaru turned his eyes to her, his expression still unreadable.

 

“How careless of you, Inuyasha,” Sesshomaru said quietly, his eyes moving back to Inuyasha as he spoke. “You have come here unarmed?”

 

“Huh?” Inuyasha yelped, clapping his hands at his hips. “Damn!”

 

“We all came here unarmed…” Sango pointed out.

 

“Of course we did!” Kagome said. “Why would we need our weapons at the dinner table?”

 

“How stupid can you be, little brother?” Sesshomaru asked his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked down at Inuyasha. “You dare to break my barrier and enter my home, and then you leave the one object I seek from you abandoned within these walls?”

 

“Hey, it wasn't like that!” Inuyasha snapped.

 

“He does make you sound pretty stupid, Inuyasha!” Shippo pointed out.

 

“Shut-up, Shippo!” Inuyasha snarled.

 

“You will all come with me,” Sesshomaru stated, his tone unchanged, but his words coming out as an order regardless.

 

He turned his back on Inuyasha and began to leave the room, stepping off of Jaken, who whimpered in relief. Inuyasha looked around the others, who all stared blankly back at him.

 

“Looks like we don't have much choice,” he grumbled.

 

“Don't let him boss you around, Inuyasha!” Kagome stubbornly insisted. “This is your home too!”

 

“Kagome, I don't know how things work in your era, but in our time, if someone dies, everything he owns goes to his eldest son,” Inuyasha gruffly replied.

 

“What if he didn't happen to have any sons?” Kagome asked smugly.

 

“In that case the fortune would go to a brother, a nephew, a cousin, a daughter's husband,” Miroku explained.

 

“What?” Kagome echoed. “Man things were weird back then! I mean now…”

 

“We don't have time to talk about it right now anyway,” Inuyasha reminded them. “Come on, let's go.”

 

Inuyasha walked out after Sesshomaru, followed closely by Jaken. Miroku and Sango followed him next, followed in turn by Kagome and Shippo. Kirara hesitated, her eyes moving to Rinko, who was still cowering and trembling on the ground.

 

“Are you alright?” she asked softly, holding out a hand towards the old fox demon.

 

“Oh don't worry about me dear,” Rinko replied, taking Kirara's hand and allowing her to help her to her feet. “You ought to be worrying for your own safety. My Lord hates cats. And he despises the lower classes.”

 

Rinko eyed Kirara over with a look of pity, only serving to anger Kirara. But, as she looked at her own, plain clothing, and thought of the rich, fine, clothing that Sesshomaru wore, Kirara could not deny that Rinko did have a very valid point.

 

“Run along now, dear,” Rinko said to her softly. “You don't want to make Lord Sesshomaru angry.”

 

Kirara briefly mused over the irony of the nursemaid's choice of words before hurrying after the others.

 

Kirara caught up with the gang a short way along the hall, as they were all walking behind Sesshomaru, moving through the castle at his usual, unhurried pace. Kirara tried to distract herself by admiring the décor of the hall around her, trying as best she could to delay her acceptance of what she was certain was about to become of her.

 

`He's taking us to the castle dungeon,' she thought dismally to herself. `He's going to lock up Sango, Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku and Shippo, and there is nothing they can do to defend themselves without their weapons. And then he's going to order my execution. Tomorrow morning I'll be served on one of those silver platters to that disgusting little toad demon for breakfast.'

 

Kirara turned her head to Jaken, her eyes thinning as she glowered at him. He was trotting beside, but about two steps behind Sesshomaru, looking up at him with the usual, besotted expression he reserved for his master. Jaken, she assumed, must have been away from the castle when they arrived, as he had appeared to be as ignorant to her presence as Sesshomaru and his princess were. Kirara briefly wondered where Sesshomaru and Jaken had been, but then decided that they must have been at the dog demon princess's palace in the Northern Lands; after all, Kirara had heard the princess tell Jaken that Sesshomaru would need to send for her if he wished for her to visit again.

 

Thinking about the dog demon princess, Kirara remembered another remark that she had made to Jaken, about being disgusted by humans staying in Sesshomaru's castle. What then, Kirara wondered, would become of Rin when the princess set up home with her new mate? As Kirara pondered the poor, sweet, innocent mortal girl's future, she became increasingly aware of Rin's absence. Rinko had mentioned that Rin had spoken of her, but where was the little girl?

 

Rin must have returned to the castle without Sesshomaru and Jaken, Kirara decided. Given that Rin had only recently made an acquaintance - if it could indeed be called that - with Kirara in her human form, she could not have had enough time to discuss Kirara with Rinko unless she had returned to the castle before Sesshomaru. She and Ah-Un must have gone home the day Sesshomaru and Jaken stopped the gang in the forest on the borders of the Western Lands, Kirara deduced.

 

And, Kirara thought, her face twisting indignantly, immediately after ordering her to be his mate, Sesshomaru had set off for the palace of the Northern Lands to retrieve the woman he was already promised to!

 

`What an absolute jackass!' Kirara screamed inside her head, glowering at the back of Sesshomaru's head.

 

“What are you doing, Lord Sesshomaru?” Jaken asked, his worried tone gaining Kirara's attention.

 

Sesshomaru, unsurprisingly, did not answer his servant, instead pushing open a set of double doors and walking on. Jaken hesitated by the doors, yelping in alarm as Inuyasha casually walked through them. As Sango and Miroku walked through the doors, Jaken finally seemed to come around, and he ran after his master. Kagome walked through next, still cradling Shippo in the crook of her arm.

 

“I remember this…” Inuyasha muttered, slowing to look about himself with more interest than before.

 

“Milord, why are you taking your ungrateful brother and his horrible friends into this sacred part of the castle?” Jaken wailed as he reached Sesshomaru's side.

 

“Sacred part of the castle?” Miroku asked quietly, catching up with Inuyasha.

 

“Yeah…” Inuyasha said slowly, still looking around himself in a state of wonder.

 

“This place feels so peaceful,” Sango commented, falling back a step to walk alongside Kagome.

 

“Maybe because the paintings on the walls here aren't of war or death,” Kagome suggested.

 

“This place smells funny,” Shippo commented.

 

“Shut-up, Shippo!” Inuyasha barked, rounding on Kagome and shaking a fist at the fox cub in her arms.

 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome yelped, partly in fear of his sudden reaction.

 

“This place is my home,” Inuyasha mumbled. “It doesn't smell funny.”

 

Kagome and Shippo gasped as Inuyasha turned away from them again, and Miroku and Sango exchanged startled glances.

 

“This place must be the “family wing” of the castle,” Kirara said softly as she joined them.

 

“Wow, you could tell that from the scents around here?” Kagome whispered to her.

 

“No,” Kirara frankly replied. “Just from the fact that there is a nursery in there.”

 

Kirara pointed at a slightly open doorway nearby. The others leaned over to peer through the gap in the door at the room within.

 

“This must be where Inuyasha was born,” Kirara added. “And where he lived the first part of his life before his father died.”

 

“And this must be where Sesshomaru was born too!” Shippo pointed out.

 

“Yes…” Kirara said slowly, frowning at the thought of Sesshomaru as a child, running around the nursery next to her.

 

“We'd better keep moving,” Miroku whispered, pointing on ahead.

 

The others turned to see Inuyasha stopped a short distance ahead of them, staring open-jawed at something on one of the walls. Beyond Inuyasha, Sesshomaru and Jaken were stopped, each half-turned back, waiting silently for the others to catch them up.

 

“This is my mother,” Inuyasha said bluntly, his eyes scanning over every part of the intimate portrait hanging on the wall to ensure that his claim was indeed correct.

 

“Your mother?” Kagome whispered as she and the others reached Inuyasha's side.

 

“Your mother and our father,” Sesshomaru flatly replied.

 

Inuyasha turned his head towards his elder half-brother, screwing up his face in disbelief at what he had just heard.

 

“Why have you kept it?” he asked. “I don't understand! You hated my mother! You despise mortals! You blamed my mother for our father's death!”

 

“Yes,” Sesshomaru plainly replied, his voice as emotionless as ever. “But unlike you Inuyasha, I hold a great respect for our late father. It was his wish to have this portrait here.”

 

“He's dead, you stupid jackass!” Inuyasha grunted, rolling his eyes. “You don't have to do what he says any more!”

 

Kirara gasped at Inuyasha'a tactless response, turning her attention to Sesshomaru to gauge his reaction; but he remained as impassive and silent as ever. Surely such a remark had been a serious blow to his pride? Sesshomaru, Kirara admitted to herself, was many things, but he was at least a man of honour. His respect for his father had transcended death, and even many years after his father's passing, Sesshomaru was still paying his respects by abiding by his father's wishes. And Kirara did not doubt for a moment that Sesshomaru probably did blame Inuyasha's mother for their father's death. Why then was Inuyasha being so thoughtless, disrespectful and insensitive?

 

“What did you bring us here for anyway, Sesshomaru?” Inuyasha asked, eying his brother over in disgust.

 

“This is the family wing of the castle,” Sesshomaru calmly replied. “You and your friends will stay here tonight.”

 

“Huh?” Inuyasha snorted, his face twisting again in shocked confusion.

 

“We can stay here?” Kagome asked dreamily.

 

“I will send for your belongings to be brought to you,” Sesshomaru added. “Fire-cat, you will come with me.”

 

Kirara made a small squeaking sound in the back of her throat at the unexpected reference to her. Sesshomaru had been looking at and addressing Inuyasha up until his last word, at which point he merely turned his back on them all and walked on.

 

“Are you going to go with him, Kirara?” Sango asked her.

 

“I…” Kirara began, glancing nervously between her friends and Sesshomaru's slowly retreating form. “I suppose I must…”

 

“You don't have to do what he says, Kirara!” Inuyasha said, waving a hand dismissively after his brother.

 

Kirara slowly eyed Inuyasha over, a small part of her twitching as she found that, when dressed in the same fine clothing as his brother, Inuyasha bore more than just a passing resemblance to Sesshomaru. She suddenly began to relive Rinko's speeches regarding her status, and again found herself feeling very small and insignificant; by Rinko's standards, she was not even worthy to call Inuyasha a friend, only to be his lowly foot soldier.

 

“It's for the best,” Kirara said quietly, before walking onwards after Sesshomaru.

 

“Kirara…” Sango said softly, reaching out a hand towards her as she passed.

 

“She's so stupid, doesn't she know what Sesshomaru really thinks about her?” Inuyasha asked, turning to Sango.

 

Sango quirked an eyebrow at the irony of Inuyasha's statement; little did he know that he was the one who was ignorant of Sesshomaru's true thoughts and feelings for Kirara.

 

Meanwhile, Kirara managed to catch up with Sesshomaru, his slow pace making catching him an easy task. She slowed once she was within ten steps of him, falling into his pace and hanging her head low as she walked.

 

`I was partly right,' she thought to herself. `He is taking me to a different part of the castle from the others. No doubt to the dungeon, or to the servants' quarters where I belong. This is awful. I wonder if the others would be upset if I escaped through the night?'

 

“Milord, what are you doing now?” Jaken squawked, flapping his arms at his sides, his bulging yellow eyes wide with shock.

 

“Leave now, Jaken,” Sesshomaru calmly replied, as he turned a key in a lock.

 

Kirara stopped, tilting her head to one side as she watched Sesshomaru unlock a set of double doors as Jaken watched on in awe. Why he needed to lock doors in the castle she had no idea - a mere lock would do little to stop a rampaging demon - but presumably this was another eccentricity of the aristocracy that she, being little more than a soldier, was not aware of.

 

“But Milord,” Jaken began quietly, stealing glances at Kirara as he spoke. “What do you intend to do with the girl?”

 

Sesshomaru lowered his eyes to Jaken, who shrieked, shuffling back and cowering over in anticipation of a severe reprimand.

 

“This way,” Sesshomaru said, pushing open the doors and walking through them.

 

Kirara paused, wondering if he had been inviting her to follow him; he was yet to look at her. Kirara cautiously took two steps forwards, pausing on the threshold of the doorway, looking down at Jaken's cowering, quivering, pitiful form.

 

“Aren't you coming with us?” she whispered to him.

 

Jaken slowly lifted his arms from his head, sitting up to look up at Kirara.

 

“I wouldn't dare!” he replied honestly.

 

“You wouldn't dare?” Kirara echoed quietly, her demon spirit stirring as she began to fear for her own safety.

 

“Oh no, I have never entered that part of the castle, and I never would!” Jaken replied.

 

The open, honest and petrified look on the toad imp's face told Kirara that he was speaking the truth; but exactly what lay beyond those doors that left Jaken in such a state? Taking a deep breath, Kirara started after Sesshomaru, marching bravely after him. Her stance quickly lost its gusto however when the double doors banged shut behind her, the sound echoing around her. Kirara barely managed to suppress a girlish squeal of alarm, pressing a fist to her chest as her heart began to thud against her ribcage.

 

`Be strong, you fool!' she told herself silently. `What would Priestess Midoriko think of you if she could see you now?'

 

Kirara let out a small sigh, pursing her lips and lifting her chin into the air. Straightening her back and pushing her shoulders back, Kirara marched on, rejoining Sesshomaru as he rounded a corner at the end of the hall. A small part of her began to feel a little wary that she was now completely alone with the demon lord. As much as she despised Jaken, his presence had at least saved her from being alone with Sesshomaru in his own castle.

 

Eying Sesshomaru's back over warily, Kirara's confidence began to wane again. However before she could become too concerned with her current predicament, Kirara's attention was stolen away by her new surroundings.

 

“Wow!” she gasped under her breath.

 

Although Sesshomaru continued walking, she distinctly heard him making a small grunting sound at her response, which made her cringe slightly. But Kirara could not help but be amazed by the room she was walking through. It was a giant library, filled with ancient scrolls, a winding wooden staircase to one side leading up to a second level that was concealed in darkness.

 

Kirara gulped quietly, her senses sharpening then as she realised the other main difference between this wing of the castle and every other part that she had visited thus far: it was unusually dark. The wall torches had become less frequent, and the rooms and halls had become much larger, necessitating far more light, but sorely lacking in it. And, as they left the library, their surroundings became even darker still.

 

Kirara frowned, as ahead of her, Sesshomaru appeared to be moving upwards. She yelped in complaint as she then stubbed her toes against a stone step, inwardly cursing her own stupidity for not realising sooner that he was walking up a set of stairs.

 

“Mind the step,” he said quietly.

 

Kirara paused, wondering for a second time if Sesshomaru had just made an attempt at humour. Surely not, she told herself. After all, he had probably only said such a thing to make her feel even more foolish than she already did. Carefully stepping up the first few steps, Kirara soon fell into the rhythm of the almost invisible steps below her, trying to catch Sesshomaru up before he disappeared from her sight altogether. The staircase was gradually winding, which, combined with just how dark it was, made keeping Sesshomaru in her sights a difficult task. Kirara was silently thankful for his pale silver hair, which almost seemed to glow a pale shade of blue through the darkness, like muted moonlight.

 

“You will stay here,” he said suddenly, stopping and reaching out his hand towards something.

 

Kirara climbed to the top of the staircase behind him, watching him intently as he slid open the door to another room. Kirara waited for him to enter the room, intending to follow him in; but he remained by the doorway, his back turned to her. Kirara slowly moved her eyes to his head, frowning questioningly at him. As though sensing her confusion, Sesshomaru turned his head slightly, one golden eye looking back at her through a curtain of his hair.

 

“Oh…” Kirara said lightly, as the realisation of the situation finally dawned upon her.

 

He was waiting for her to enter the room first. Which, Kirara told herself, was in keeping with her theory that he was putting her into some sort of dungeon; the sort of dank, miserable place that he himself would never concede to set foot in. Jaken had been alarmed by the direction they had headed because this was the cruellest place within the castle, the sort of horrid dungeon that would inevitably be filled with the skeletal remains of prisoners of the past, and a hoard of rats ready to consume their next victim who was put there to rot for the remainder of their lives.

 

With a small shiver, Kirara marched past Sesshomaru, marching several steps into the room before slowing to a halt.

 

“What is this place?” she whispered, her false bravado giving way to her utter confusion and awe.

 

Directly ahead of her stood a large fireplace, in front of which a large fur rug had been laid down. To the right of the fireplace, in the corner of the room, stood a small vanity table and chair, and to the left there was a large window, the shutters of which were firmly closed, rays of light seeping in through the cracks in the wood of the shutters. Beyond the window, along the side wall of the room was a large, low bed, piled with layers of silk sheets and silk pillows.

 

“This is where I am to stay?” Kirara asked. “But this room is so…”

 

Kirara's voice trailed off as she realised that Sesshomaru was no longer standing behind her. She swivelled on the spot in search of him before darting to the door and looking from side to side; but to no avail. Her senses told her that he had moved further up from where she was, but it was too dark for her to see exactly where he had gone.

 

Deciding that Sesshomaru would return for her soon enough, Kirara made her way back over to the window, throwing the shutters open to allow daylight to flood into the room, lighting up every darkened corner and crevice to afford her a full view of her surroundings. Kirara began to turn around to acquaint herself more intimately with the room, but something she saw at her side made her hiss and recoil in fear.

 

“Oh now dear, don't be so startled!”

 

Kirara yelped at the sound of a voice, tearing her eyes from the animal pelt before the fire that lay facing her to the fox demon who had just entered her room.

 

“It's a panther demon, not a fire-cat like you, my dear!” Rinko added as she met Kirara's eyes. “One of Lord Inutaisho's souvenirs from his great battle against the panther demon tribe many, many years ago. Now dear, I have your armour here and your sword.”

 

“You're returning me my armour and my weapon?” Kirara asked, her eyes widening in surprise. “Does Lord Sesshomaru know that you're doing this?”

 

“It was his Lord's orders, my dear,” Rinko replied, placing Kirara's belongings down by the end of the bed. “Master Jaken told me himself that Lord Inuyasha and his friends would be staying in different rooms tonight, and to arrange for your belongings to be brought to you. Of course my dear, as I am the only one who can enter this particular wing of the castle, I had to take you your belongings myself.”

 

“I-I don't understand,” Kirara said, her brow furrowing. “Jaken wouldn't enter this part of the castle.”

 

“Oh no dear, it's not that he won't enter this part of the castle, it's simply that he can't.”

 

“He can't? What do you mean?”

 

“Well my dear, you passed through the family wing, yes?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Well, this is the Lord's wing.”

 

“The Lord's wing?”

 

“Yes dear. Only the Lord himself and those he allows may enter this part of the castle. I have always been granted access here to allow me to relay messages to the Lord and to serve him. You are very privileged to be here my dear.”

 

“Privileged?”

 

“Oh yes dear. Lord Sesshomaru pays you a great compliment allowing you in here.”

 

“I can't understand why.”

 

“Can't you my dear?”

 

Kirara shook her head, feeling more than a little stupid as Rinko sweat-dropped in response.

 

“Well dear, it's getting late, I'll let you rest for now,” the fox demon said. “I'll call on you in the morning when it's time for breakfast.”

 

“Thank you,” Kirara said politely, bowing to Rinko.

 

“Yes dear,” Rinko replied, smiling awkwardly before leaving the room.

 

Kirara watched Rinko leave, jerking slightly as Rinko slammed the door shut behind her. Kirara then turned her attention to the vanity table, which was covered with small, intricately crafted trinket boxes. Picking one up to sniff cautiously at it, Kirara squeaked in alarm as it promptly slipped from her grasp and shattered on the stone floor by her feet.

 

“I'm fooling no-one, not even myself,” she grumbled miserably. “I'm no lady, and this is no place for someone like me to be…”

 

Kirara started to walk towards the window, stopping and turning to take a small detour, walking around the panther demon skin rug as opposed to walking over it. Kirara began by admiring the extensive view from her window, silently noting that her room appeared to be higher than the rest of the castle. As she surveyed the grounds, Kirara caught sight of Ah-Un, ducking and diving through the air. Squinting at the ground below the two-headed dragon demon, Kirara could just make out a small figure standing there.

 

“Rin…” she muttered, stepping up onto the window ledge.

 

Without a second thought upon the matter, Kirara leapt out of the window, morphing into her fire-cat form to fly over the castle and the courtyard below before dipping down towards the field of flowers Rin and Ah-Un were playing in. As she neared the ground, Kirara eased back into her human form, landing on her feet a short distance from Rin.

 

“Kirara!” Rin cried, running towards her.

 

“Rin, how are you?” Kirara greeted her, dropping down to one knee to bring herself to eye level with the little girl.

 

“You're all better, Kirara!” Rin replied, ignoring Kirara's question. “Miss Sango told me you were ill, and I wanted to come to visit you, but Miss Rinko said I mustn't. I didn't tell Master Jaken about you or Miss Sango, or Miss Kagome or Mister Miroku or Lord Inuyasha either.”

 

“You didn't?”

 

Kirara smiled slightly, realising then that Jaken must have been at the palace when she arrived, but had remained ignorant of her presence until he had happened upon her in the halls of the castle when the princess was leaving.

 

“And Kirara, Ah-Un is all better now!” Rin added.

 

“Yes, that's good, isn't it?” Kirara replied, smiling as she watched Ah-Un frolic freely in the air above them.

 

“Watch me, Kirara!” Rin said, running away from Kirara as she spoke.

 

Kirara lifted her other leg out from under herself, sitting down onto the ground to watch as Rin ran back and forth, dodging Ah-Un as it dived through the air at her. She smiled softly, casually plucking a flower from the ground at her side and twirling it between her fingers. Kirara began to relax and enjoy the warmth of the evening sun, her mind wondering how the sunsets looked from her current vantage point; but before she could become too complacent, she felt an immense demonic aura suddenly close in on her, and a shadow fell over her.

 

Kirara stiffened, the flower sliding from her hand as she tried to judge whether or not she was in any danger; but a quick sniff at the air told her that the demonic aura she sensed belonged to none other than Sesshomaru. Turning her head to one side, Kirara watched with wide eyes as Sesshomaru sat down next to her, spreading one leg out in front of himself and bending the other up to rest his arm on his knee. Kirara blinked several times, as though she somehow thought that the illusion of Sesshomaru sitting next to her might disappear if she did so.

 

But the image before her remained as real as ever. And despite the fact that she was turned towards him and staring shamelessly at his profile, Sesshomaru did little more than blink under her scrutiny, his eyes watching Rin and Ah-Un.

 

“Lord Sesshomaru!” Rin cried, stretching one hand up high in the air and waving it from side to side, an enormous grin spreading over her face.

 

Rin skipped back over to Sesshomaru, but Kirara was still staring at Sesshomaru, and barely noticed her presence until she threaded a flower through the hair on top of Sesshomaru's head. Kirara paled in fear at what sort of response such an action would arouse in the demon lord, but he did not so much as flinch.

 

“I'm going inside now Lord Sesshomaru, Miss Kagome said she would tell me a story if I went to see her before I go to bed,” Rin said.

 

Sesshomaru blinked slowly, but otherwise did not answer the girl, his eyes still watching the spot ahead of himself where she had been playing until a few moments ago.

 

“Good night Kirara!” Rin said cheerfully, waving at Kirara.

 

Kirara dumbly waved back, but her eyes were still on Sesshomaru.

 

“Good night Lord Sesshomaru.”

 

Kirara's jaw dropped shamelessly as Rin grabbed her arms around Sesshomaru's neck, leaning her body against his back, pressing one cheek against the back of his head and closing her eyes to smile sweetly. Frozen by the sheer bravery of the mortal girl's actions, Kirara was unable to respond, as much as she wanted to; for surely the cold-hearted dog demon lord would rip the girl in two with his claws for such an action?

 

Kirara's eyes lowered to Sesshomaru's hand as it reached around to Rin's arms where they crossed over at his throat. His hand seemed to be moving in slow motion as she watched, but to her utter amazement, he did not scratch, hit or even try to pull her arms away. Instead he merely touched his hand lightly to her forearms, his face unchanged. Rin slid her arms from him and he moved his hand back to its original position.

 

Rin skipped back to the castle, singing a song about bedtime stories, leaving Kirara staring at Sesshomaru, her eyes wide, her bottom jaw hanging away from her face.

 

“Close your mouth, fire-cat,” Sesshomaru said calmly, as Rin's voice faded behind them.

 

Kirara promptly clamped her jaws together, but her eyes remained wide and they remained fixed on Sesshomaru. Several seconds passed where the only sounds to be heard were the soft growls of Ah-Un as it slowly wandered down the field, and the light breeze as it rustled through the flowers around them. Kirara gulped nervously, her already huge eyes widening further still as Sesshomaru moved his eyes to look at her. After a short pause he turned his head fully towards her, looking her straight in the eye. Compelled by an unknown force, Kirara found herself leaning towards him slightly, tilting her chin upwards to move her face closer to his.

 

Kirara's heart began to beat faster as Sesshomaru moved slightly closer to her, narrowing the already small gap between them. From the corner of her eye she saw his hand move from his knee towards her. His expression was still unreadable, and she began to wonder just who had initiated what appeared to be transpiring between them; but before she could give the matter any thought, Sesshomaru's hand landed on the ground by her thigh and he pushed himself up to his feet, turning and walking back towards the castle at his typical, unhurried pace.

 

Kirara released a breath she had not realised that she had been holding, turning her head to watch him walk away.

 

`He was about to kiss me, I'm sure of it!' she thought to herself as she watched him.

 

Kirara slowly pushed herself to her feet, wiping her hands to together to remove the excess dirt from them.

 

`Or maybe I was about to kiss him,' she thought darkly.

 

Kirara shook her head, her mind suddenly swarmed with conflicting thoughts and ideas.

 

`No,' she silently told herself. `I wasn't trying to do anything. He came to sit with me, he moved towards me. He has welcomed me into his home, even after I refused him - and I did refuse him. And I would do it again.'

 

Kirara slowly frowned, her mind focussing on that one final thought. Would she refuse him again if he were to ask her to be his mate a second time? Kirara then recalled the manner in which he had demanded that she be his, giving her no scope to voice her own feelings or to refuse him the first time around. Why would he be any different a second time if he were to renew his intentions?

 

But Kirara could not deny that she had seen Sesshomaru in a very different light since arriving at his castle. Through the eyes of both Rin and Rinko, Sesshomaru was the perfect gentleman: honourable, polite and even caring. Seeing him with Rin - a mortal girl - seemed to prove that Sesshomaru was not as evil or as black-hearted as Inuyasha had told Kirara he was.

 

Kirara found herself then thinking back to the very first time that she had encountered Sesshomaru. Obviously, it was at a time when she was still under Midoriko's spell and bound in the form of a small cat. She was travelling with the others as always, when Totosai had fallen from the sky on his bull, asking Inuyasha for protection from a man with long white hair who had demanded a sword stronger than the Tetsusaiga from him. Shortly thereafter, Ah-Un had dropped from the sky and Sesshomaru had leapt from his back, his left arm replaced with a dragon's claw. Sesshomaru had spoken to and fought against Inuyasha as though he were nothing more than a mere mortal child, Inuyasha only narrowly managing to defeat him by accidentally unleashing the power of the Wind Scar, which he had yet to learn the secrets of back then.

 

`Great,' Kirara groaned silently. `Not only is the class divide between us immeasurable, but so is the divide in our power. I have the power of a soldier, whilst he is probably the most powerful demon to ever have lived. Inuyasha has only managed to survive their past battles thanks to his sheer good fortune.'

 

“I'm so confused…” Kirara whispered to the wind, lifting her head to watch as the base of the sun began to press against the horizon.

 

And so Kirara found herself doing something she only ever did when she was in dire need of help. Pressing one fist to her chest, closing her eyes and tilting her chin downwards, Kirara quietly prayed to the only force she felt sure could guide and help her at such a time.

 

“Priestess Midoriko,” she whispered. “You placed the curse upon me, and you told me that when the spell was broken, it would be because I had learned enough about life to be free. But I'm still so confused. There are still so many things that I don't understand. Help me. Speak to me. Show me what I should do. Give me a sign, no matter how small it may be.”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

The moon was high in the sky, but otherwise the castle grounds were in complete darkness. It was a cloudy night, and the light of the moon faded in and out as the clouds swept over it, obscuring it from view. Kirara knew that she should return to the castle and get some rest, as she was still not fully recovered from her poison-related illness; but she could not slow the adrenaline coursing through her veins sufficiently to even consider sleeping.

 

As Kirara walked around the grounds, the scent of the hot spring reached her nose, and a smile crept onto her face. Soaking herself in hot water seemed like a good idea, to help relax her body and to help clear her mind, and hopefully to make sleep an achievable goal that night. Kirara turned towards the scent, walking more briskly towards it.

 

As she drew nearer to the hot spring, Kirara grew increasingly aware of two facts that she knew should be unsettling her, and yet did not seem to cause her any concern. First of all, she could quite clearly sense a powerful demonic aura in the region of the hot spring, and secondly, she could smell that someone was in or had just come out of the water.

 

“Sesshomaru,” she mused aloud, as the distinct scent in the air triggered as being his.

 

A few moments later, Kirara saw his silhouette appearing by the water's edge. He stood up straight, facing her as she climbed up the rocks to the hot spring. Kirara stopped a few steps in front of Sesshomaru, less alarmed than she felt she should be as she found him to be wearing nothing more than his hakama.

 

Kirara lowered her eyes to his feet, slowly taking in every detail about him as she let her eyes wander back up to his face. His feet were bare, and just like his hand and cheeks, bore two thin purple strips over the outer edges. His legs were concealed from her view beneath the loose material of his perfectly white hakama, which was tied just below his waist, making his navel barely visible. Moving her eyes further upwards, Kirara's attention did not linger long on his bared upper body, but she did pause at his left shoulder, tilting her head slightly as she saw, for the first time, the debilitating scar Inuyasha had left his elder brother with.

 

A soft moan escaped Kirara's lips as she studied the remains of Sesshomaru's left arm. It was a cruel injury, and an even crueller fate for a demon so young, destined to live for many hundred of years more without the use of one arm. And although Kirara had never owned or even once yielded a sword anywhere near as powerful as any of the three unique swords that Inuyasha and Sesshomaru owned between them, she was more than aware from her own sword-wielding experiences that only using one arm meant only using half her power behind every blow.

 

How strong then would Sesshomaru be if he had both arms to carry Tokijin with, she wondered?

 

Kirara had never really given Sesshomaru's missing arm much thought before, but she had somehow always assumed that he had lost his entire arm, including his shoulder. She could not even begin to recall just how many times Inuyasha had retold the tale over the camp-fire late at night, the orange light of the flames creating jagged, dancing shadows over his enthusiastic features as he recounted the whole bloody affair, of how he had stabbed the sword Sesshomaru had wanted for himself into his ankle and torn the blade upwards, ripping his arm - or even his front leg, as he had apparently been in his dog form at the time - into two, before severing through the entire limb by his body.

 

But it appeared that Inuyasha's story had been as exaggerated as his language had been whilst telling it, for Sesshomaru's shoulder was still in tact, as was the top third of his upper arm. The wound had also healed reasonably well; such a wound would have caused enough blood loss to kill a human or even a weaker demon.

 

Kirara moved her eyes up further, finally stopping at Sesshomaru's face. He had obviously just gotten out of the water, as his hair was drenched and clinging to the sides of his temples and moulded over his ears, masking them from her view. As Kirara finally met his eyes, Sesshomaru tilted his head slightly, Kirara's eyes dropping from his to watch as his action caused a small droplet of water to slide over the curve of his top lip. As the tiny drop of water quivered on the tip of his lip, threatening to fall at any moment, Kirara suddenly felt her mind go numb, and before she could stop herself, she took a step towards him, closing the distance between them. She leaned forwards, catching his top lip between both of her own, her eyes widening in shock at her own actions; and yet she could not tear herself away from him.

 

To Kirara's own great surprise, after a short delay, Sesshomaru responded to her advance. He gently brought up his lower lip, pressing it against hers to seal their kiss. Kirara slowly closed her eyes, touching a hand to his shoulder to steady herself as she leaned closer still to him. As she closed her eyes, Kirara suddenly saw an image of Naraku, his body made up of countless other demons, a red priestess and a white priestess by a tower she was sure she had seen before, Kohaku running freely and playing with Shippo, and she saw herself.

 

But she was a little cat again. She had lost her human form, and no-one could hear her voice any more.

 

Kirara cried out, sitting up sharply, gasping desperately at the air around her.

 

“Damn, it was a dream!” she said aloud, peeling the silk sheets from her sweat-soaked form.

 

Kirara stood out of her bed, walking over to her window. She had purposely left the shutters open, and she was glad of her decision. Enjoying the cooling effects of the night breeze, Kirara closed her eyes, leaning against the wall.

 

`Why did I dream about Sesshomaru?' she asked herself silently. `Why did I kiss him in my dream? Why did he kiss me back? And why did I see Naraku, those priestesses, Kohaku and the spell redone?'

 

“Priestess Midoriko,” she whispered, her eyes snapping open. “Was that your message to me?”

 

Kirara looked up at the moon, high in the sky, her frustration rising further still.

 

“But that wasn't any help to me!” she cried out into the night. “It only made me even more confused than I already am! What does it all mean?”

 

Kirara groaned, dropping to her knees and bringing her forearms up to rest them on the window-ledge. Of all the aspects of her unusual dream, which she truly believed was an answer from Midoriko to her questions, the one thing that disturbed her most of all was the thought of being locked away into the form of a little cat once more. Midoriko had never mentioned the spell being an eternal one that only broke when the need arose. Surely she could not lose her human form again?

 

“I don't want to lose my voice, Priestess,” she whispered out to the night sky. “Please don't make that happen to me again…”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Next Chapter: The gang continue their short vacation at Sesshomaru's castle, but trouble is brewing behind the scenes, and Kirara soon finds herself in a fight for her life against a formidable and determined foe. Chapter 19 - Kagura's Plan.