InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ When there is a full moon ❯ That Which Started the Change ( Chapter 8 )

I do not own Inuyasha.

That Which Started the Change

Her mother looked up from behind the sink where she was washing some dishes. "You're back so soon," she said smiling at her. Her smile wavered as she saw Sesshoumaru. She looked from the demon to her daughter and back with an odd look on her face. "I didn't know we were having a guest."

"Believe me, me neither," she mumbled. She moved to go to her mom, but she was held back by Sesshoumaru's ever constant grip on her hand. "Will you ever let go?" she said as she lifted her hand in between them.

Sesshoumaru ignored her; he was closely analysing the miko's mother. She had a kind face, quiet similar to that of the miko, and her scent was not as displeasing as that of the other humans. But she was watching him just as closely as he was watching her. He could tell that she was uncomfortable with him in the house, but she had yet to say anything.

"Hello?!" Kagome waved her free hand in front of his eyes to catch his attention. When he did not even blink, she sighed again and turned back to her mother. "Mom, you don't know where Ji-chan went to do you? Only I'm stuck with this lovely friend of mine from the Feudal Ages, and I really, really need to send him back on his way."

Mrs. Higurashi looked back at her daughter. She smiled softly at her. "He went to town. Something about a suspicious situation. It's a good thing you came home; the radio's been reporting this strange and highly dangerous person that just appeared in downtown about an hour ago."

Kagome let out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah…about that. That would have been him," she pointed to Sesshoumaru, "Sesshoumaru, and you can see that he's a demon. I suppose that's why they thought he was dangerous or something, you know. He somehow got himself sent to this world and now he's stuck because I can't take him back through the well." She said all this in a rush, not even sure how much of it her mother understood.

"A demon?" her mother repeated. She tilted her head to the side. "He wouldn't be related to --,"

"So, have you started on the pizza?" she cut in quickly, sending her mother a warning look.

She was glad that she and her mom had such a good understanding of each other, since her mother dropped the subject without a question. "I've only made the dough. Maybe you and your friend can help me while you wait for Ji-chan."

Kagome quickly glanced at Sesshoumaru, and had to fight real hard not to giggle out loud at the look on his face. Her efforts seemed futile since Sesshoumaru seemed to notice her mood anyway. She cleared her throat nervously. "Do you want to help, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

His eyes narrowed dangerously, and he dropped her hand unceremoniously.

"I guess that's as much of an answer I'm going to get from you." She pulled out one of the chairs at the kitchen table. "Here, you could sit here, while me and mother work."

After a long, internal battle, Sesshoumaru sat down stiffly on the wooden chair. He watched as the miko brought out two, metal, flat plates, placing each on the table he sat at. She also produced a deep bowl from within a tightly bound bundle of cloth. It was from this that the smell of the dough came from.

Ignoring the Taiyoukai as he watched her, Kagome washed her hands, and then began to knead the dough to place in the two pans. She could almost sense his curiosity about what they were up to. It felt odd kneading dough as she would do every time her mother made pizza and having one of her most feared enemies sitting across the table from her, watching her with calm curiosity. She didn't know whether to be happy or apprehensive of the change. But he did not seem to notice this, and so she kept her silence.

How wrong she was! Despite his calm exterior, Sesshoumaru's mind was filled with questions. It was only through years of experience that little of this showed on his face. He was also starting to get angry as the miko continued to ignore the fact that he was sitting across from her. His curiosity was growing with each passing minute, as was a mild rage. Yet another nuisance that the miko posed and he was quickly becoming tired of it.

Oddly enough, it was Kagome's mother who broke the silence. "So how did you two meet?" was her innocent sounding question.

Kagome let out a nervous chuckle. "Funny circumstances, if I remember correctly." She glanced at Sesshoumaru, as though checking to see if he had any objections to her telling the truth. "I met him when he was looking for Tessaiga."

"Isn't that Inuyasha's sword?" her mom said thoughtfully.

Again, Kagome laughed nervously. "It's a long story, to tell you the truth. But I'll say this much, Sesshoumaru-sama is actually Inuyasha's brother --,"

She was interrupted by Sesshoumaru's growl. Both mother and daughter were taken by surprise by the foreignness of the sound in their kitchen.

Kagome rolled her eyes at him. "Sorry, they're half brothers. Anyway, they don't exactly get along. Let's just say our first meeting," if you can call it that, "wasn't exactly as pleasant as it could have been."

Once more, Sesshoumaru found himself resisting the urge to snort at her understatement.

"Interesting," her mother commented with raised eyebrows.

Another very silent ten minutes past. By now, Kagome and her mother had already set the pizzas and had them in the oven.

"He's a very silent fellow, isn't he?" her mother said in English as she brought out three cups and a parch of water from the fridge.

Kagome snorted at this. "You don't know the half of it."

"Is he…dangerous?"

Kagome glanced at the Taiyoukai. "Well…under normal circumstances … yes, in fact, very. But I've made him promise not to hurt anyone if he wants my help."

Her mother looked at her quizzically. "And you trust his word?"

For a long while, Kagome remained silent. Then, in a very sure voice, she said, "Yes."

Sesshoumaru kept silent, hiding his surprise at her words hidden behind his mask. He did not want to mention that he could understand the language of the Anglophones. He was quiet surprised that both the miko and her mother were able to converse in it with such ease. As far as he knew, no human had ever gone to the other side of the world. But hadn't the miko said earlier that humans today could travel across the world in no time at all. Then perhaps they knew all about the lands beyond the ocean and China. He found it hard to believe that humans could have gone so far.

"What time is it, Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi asked as she checked on the pizzas in the oven.

"Just past noon," she said looking at her watch. She cast another glance at the very silent Taiyoukai. "You know, if you want, I could show some of the new things that are in my time. I'm sure there are a lot of things that you've never seen."

Once again, she was completely ignored as the lord kept his steely gaze on Kagome's mother.

Hopeless,Kagome thought to herself. He's absolutely hopeless. She sighed, and went to the fridge, bringing out an apple. She then walked out of the kitchen only to return in a few minutes with her backpack. She sat at the table, bringing out her notebook, and a pencil.

Out of the corners of his eyes, he watched as the miko began writing. He could just make out her writing. Smooth strokes were fluidly followed one after the other as she wrote with the strange utensil. She was writing something about Medieval Japan, perhaps about one of her adventures. Just then, the eerie silence in the kitchen was cut by the shrill sound of something. Sesshoumaru looked around with alarm, his ears still ringing slightly.

Casually, the miko walked to the other side of the kitchen, picked up an oddly shaped object from the kitchen counter, pressed something, and talked into it.

"Hello?" she said. He heard the voice of someone else coming through the object and the miko smiled. "I'm fine Tammy. I was kinda worried about you guys…No, I got home okay…" A short pause, and then she cast him a wary look before talking into the object again. "Er…no…I don't know what happened to the…uh…criminal guy." Sesshoumaru raised a curious eyebrow at this, and a light blush covered the miko's cheeks as she rubbed the back of her neck nervously. The voice from the object suddenly changed tunes, as though a new person was talking. "Yuma! No, I'm fine really. I'm home and we're having pizza and everything…no, I'm sure…you did? … Er…about that…" again, another agitated glance towards him, "Um…I'm pretty sure he didn't follow me…"

Listening with apprehension, Kagome could only hope that Sesshoumaru's hearing was not so good that he could actually hear what her friends were saying. First Tammy had called him a sexy criminal babe, and then, even worse, Yuma had called him 'hot shit on plate' again. She could only hope that his youkai senses were not strong enough. She tried to comfort herself by the calmness displayed on his face. Although, I'm sure he would wear the same expression even if he was about to die.

"Oh, Kagome, by the way, Lira's on her way to your house." Kagome felt her eyes widen, and she swallowed hard. "She came to check on you; she didn't know if you'd escaped safely."

"H-how long ago was that?"

"Oh…about twenty minutes ago; she should be getting there pretty soon."

Oh crap! "…I gotta go! Bye!"

She didn't even wait for Yuma to say goodbye. She slammed the receiver in the handset holder, and said hurriedly. "Mom, Yuma said Lira's on her way over here!"

Sesshoumaru watched as the panic stricken miko conversed with her mother. Slowly, he rose to his feet, and walked out of the eating area. He was aware of the silence that followed his departure. Within seconds, the miko was back at his heels.

"Where are you going?" she asked in a hesitant voice.

He gave no answer.

Sighing an exasperated sigh, Kagome stomped in front of him and blocked his way. Yeah, lot of good will this do! He cast her a quelling look, making danger alarms go off in her mind, warning her to step out of his way, but she stubbornly stayed put. She swallowed and asked her question again.

"You said one of your human friends was coming to your house. I have no intentions of subjecting myself to anymore humans than necessary. So, now, like a good miko, get out of my way!"

Kagome had a hard time keeping her jaw closed. Blinking away her shock, she looked at him beadily. "But where exactly were you going?"

Sesshoumaru remained silent. He was not sure where he had been going; he'd been following his feet to wherever they took him, hopefully away from other humans.

Scoffing with annoyance, Kagome turned her back on him. "Since you don't know where to go, and I don't really trust you anywhere else, I'll show you where to go. Just follow me."

Without waiting for him, or even glancing back to see if Sesshoumaru followed her, she stocked up the stairs of her home towards her room, all the while grumbling. Sesshoumaru, on the other hand, had to exercise real control to keep from beheading the miko right that second. If there was one thing about her that screamed 'inhuman' it would have been her lack of self-preservation. But then again, he had seen many qualities that the miko possessed that dubbed her inhuman. With great reluctance, Sesshoumaru followed the miko to wherever she was taking him.

They stopped at a door on the above level. Without hesitation, the miko swung open the door and walked in, waiting within for him to follow. Upon stepping within the chamber, Sesshoumaru froze as though there was a spell on him. He did not even blink, nor did he even move a limb. The only movement you could see from him was the quick rise and fall of his chest as he took in more and more of the miko's enchanted scent.

It seemed to be so concentrated in this room that Sesshoumaru was sure he could have reached out and touch its very essence. But his mind had become too hazy for him to do more than breathe.

Kagome turned to look back to make sure if Sesshoumaru had followed her since the room was deadly quiet other than for her own movements. To her surprise, the youkai lord was standing just behind her, but he stood so stiffly still that he might as well have been a statue. Somehow, he no longer had the same stoic mask over his face. He was neither frowning nor smiling, neither malicious nor benevolent. No, but his eyes were glazed over with an emotion she could not name. He seemed unfocused and distracted by something. Kagome found it very odd to see the youkai who she marked for his lack of sentiment to be standing before her, completely engrossed with a single emotion. Nervously, Kagome cleared her throat.

The effect was immediate. His eyes flashed red momentarily, and then focused their intense gaze upon her, not even blinking. Even worse, his features now wore his perfected mask of barely contained rage. She gulped dryly with apprehension. "T-this is my r-room," she cursed herself for stammering.

He continued to gaze at her in the same manner, successfully making her own anger climb up the charts.

She resisted the urge to yell at him like she would do with Inuyasha. Instead, she used his own antics against him. She wiped her face of all emotions and looked at him with glassy brown eyes that revealed nothing. "Is something wrong?" her voice was cooler than his, and she could instantly see his surprise at it. But he still stubbornly remained silent, his eyes slightly wider than normal.

"If you have nothing to say, then I'll leave you alone." She turned on her heels and was out of her room within seconds, seething on the inside, cool and icy on the outside.

Standing where the miko had left him, Sesshoumaru continued to sniff the air tentatively. With each breath his lungs filled with the insatiable smell of water lilies and thunderstorms. He liked the scent if not the person, he admitted to himself. It was a calming scent that helped relax his every muscle, and it was such a pleasant change from the toxic smells of this world, and he welcomed it eagerly. He had looked around the room, finding it to be organized, more so than he would have expected from a human's sleeping quarters. On one side of the room was a raised futon. He was highly tempted to lye on it, feel its texture, and smell its scent. But he held back upon remembering who slept upon it. Across from it was a desk, its surface covered with many books. The whole room had an otherworldly quality to it that to him fit the miko's persona perfectly.

He had stayed in his spot in her room for more than a few hours. She had yet to come back and retrieve him. He had heard the entrance of her friend, and had found her to be quiet noisy and fitting his exact description of humans: loud, obnoxious, and rude. The friend had stayed for food and had talked quite excitedly about 'the hot, silver haired bandit with a cute ass' which he soon realised was himself. He silently wondered whether the miko had the same embarrassed look on her face at her friend's loud comments.

There was a soft knock on the door, and the door was slowly opened. The miko's form stepped hesitantly in, closing the door behind her. In the dim light of the afternoon, he could still see a faint blush that coloured her cheeks. "Close your eyes," she commanded in a soft voice. His eyelids drooped shut in their relaxed state. But they snapped back open as soon as he felt the miko's hand over his eyes.

"Just wait," she said before he could react. He heard something click into place, and a faint buzzing sound reached his sensitive ears. "I'm just going to let your eyes adjust to the light slowly. I nearly blinded Inuyasha when I turned on the light for the first time."

If she had thought that she had explained her action to his satisfaction, she was sadly mistaken. Yet Sesshoumaru patiently and curiously awaited her next move. One by one, the miko lifted the fingers of her hand. With the removal of each finger, more light reached his eyes, and he soon realized that it was a lot brighter than it had been a few seconds ago.

Kagome watched him uncertainly as he blinked with curiosity. His eyes darted around the room and spotted the source of the light. He lifted his hand as thought to touch the light bulb.

"You don't want to do that," Kagome warned. "It should be pretty hot by now."

His hand stopped rising and fell to his side as his eyes turned to her. Again, she could see that strange emotion in his eyes though the rest of his face remained neutral.

"It's called a light bulb. Its like a replacement for candles. It converts electric energy into light energy, thus creating light."

Sesshoumaru watched her face closely, he himself wary of the odd feeling at the pit of his stomach.

"My grandfather is home," she continued. "I asked him about how to send you back and he taught me a little spell."

He remained impassive.

"Do you want me to try it on you now?"

Without removing his eyes from her deep brown ones, he gave a curt nod of his head.

"Okay then." Immediately her face turned serious, and her eyes filled with concentration just as it had every time they had come face to face. Her hands, limp at her sides a few seconds ago, flew gracefully through the air in front of her. She traced ancient symbols in her modern world with her fingers, her eyelids drooped shut. She was glowing a faint blue as she cast her spell, and Sesshoumaru could feel the ropes of light wrapping themselves around him, yet he was oddly calm and relaxed. Her hair flaring about her, her eyes snapped open. The light surrounding her darted towards him, and within seconds he was gone from her company, her room, her home, and her time, but not before one last look from her warm eyes.