What the Darkness Brings
folder
InuYasha › Het - Male/Female › Sesshōmaru/Kagome
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
20
Views:
25,313
Reviews:
83
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
2
Category:
InuYasha › Het - Male/Female › Sesshōmaru/Kagome
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
20
Views:
25,313
Reviews:
83
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
2
Disclaimer:
I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.
Chapter 13: Barren Lands and Priestess Energies
PART I: The Consequence of Recovery
Chapter 13: Barren Lands and Priestess Energies
It had taken them nearly two days to get back to the site. He’d expected as much, with the miko’s back, Rin’s easy weariness, the taijiya’s constant abuse of the perverted monk (though he did admit that it was well justified), Nezumi’s continuous fussing over the miko, and his half-brother’s insults to the bat hanyou. He’d never admit it to anyone, but he actually felt sorry for the little girl, she hadn’t done anything to deserve his half-brothers words. But it was amazing that he, Sesshou-Maru, didn’t lose his temper with each and every one of the rambunctious group. Every single one of this ragtag team had absolutely no sense of the word ‘quiet.’ It was horrific and it made him wonder how the in the hells they had managed to survive this long. And with the addition of Rin and Jaken, things were just worse! The kitsune and the little girl were absolutely brilliant in their games with his green retainer. And all Jaken seemed to do was yell and shout. He’d thanked the gods when they reached their destination.
Because, upon getting to said location, all were silent… and well, Inu-Yasha actually put it to words the best this time…
“Well… shit.”
There was nothing. Absolutely nothing but dirt and… dirt. Not a blade of grass peaked from the dirt nor did an errant stone stand on the ground. What made it even more strange, was at the perimeter of the ‘nothingness,’ life just started abruptly. A treed forest surrounded the area, some even daring – but not succeeding – to cross its boundaries. But there was nothing. In an area slightly larger than a small village, it appeared as if it had never even existed. As if the lands had been infertile. They each knew better.
The taijiya knelt to the ground, touching the soil. “Well, he didn’t burn it. There would at least be remnants of that.”
“So what did he do to it?” The kitsune asked from his ‘mother’s’ arms.
Inu-Yasha answered of so courteously, smacking the kit on the back of the head. “How the hell should we know, brat?!”
To which the little slip of a priestess brought up her cane and whacked it across his half-brothers head. “Don’t be mean. It was a legitimate question.”
The hanyou grasped his head, glaring at the girl but not daring to say anything. Instead he ran into the barren glade and began sniffing around. The taijiya and monk paired off together (which he knew now was a monks headache waiting to happen), entering the clearing as well to investigate. The little bat demon, Shiori, walked the perimeter, looking intently at the ground in her search. She was looking for the remnants of a barrier, he realized. He doubted she would find one.
The only others who did not join the investigation were the miko, her caretaker, the two children, Ah-Un, and his retainer. Each sat at the border, getting comfortable. They were only going to watch.
Sesshou-Maru raised an eyebrow at the young woman resting with her obviously aching back against a tree. “You do not care to sense the area for yourself? Or you have overexerted yourself?”
Kagome smiled sweetly, “Neither…” She grimaced, “Well my back is kind of sore. However, I can feel Naraku from here just fine. I don’t need to go in there to feel his evil.”
“Hn.” He looked at her for a moment before turning to join the others.
AAAAAA
“Why would you want to know of such a trivial event?”
“It’s not so trivial if it made you who you are today.”
“This Sesshou-Maru’s personality is the product of many occasions.”
“Yes, but I want to know how your family when into the medical business.”
She was much too curious to be completely human. Perhaps she had a bit of cat in her. All the questions would make sense then.
It had been a full day, and the others were still at the site of Naraku’s latest desolate ‘home,’ still trying to figure out what the hell had happened (really to no avail). Sesshou-Maru had his suspicions, but he always enjoyed making his brother and his odd companions squirm in their ignorance. That and he didn’t particularly care if they did or didn’t know. Nevertheless he had taken the opportunity to teach the little miko and Nezumi new exercises since he deemed her strong enough.
He almost wished Naraku had been there. The insidious bastard was so much easier to deal with. He didn’t know how the others could just go about their business without a hint of irritation (though he was sure Inu-Yasha was getting to his limit).
Sesshou-Maru held back a sigh as he sat back against a tree watched her execute the new drills he’d taught her, looking for any move that might deter or harm her healing. For the past hour, yet again, all she wanted to do was talk. About anything and nothing. It was like she couldn’t stand silence. Whenever there was a lull in a conversation, she couldn’t just let it be. She had to fill it up with the most droll of discussions. He had even learned from her the most useless ‘String Theory’.
He would let his mind wander, but, aside from the fact it wasn’t very lord-like, she always seemed to know when he wasn’t paying attention to her. She would get him to agree to the most inane, crazy things (such as the Playstation was far superior to the Nintendo… whatever those were) and to things he would never agree to in the first place (‘You’re going to tell Inu-Yasha that you appreciate him someday right?’). He’d learned very quickly to pay attention to her lest he agree to serve her for the rest of her natural life. Or even something worse… like agreeing to tell Inu-Yasha he would give up on stealing away the Tetsuseiga.
“There is no reason for this Sesshou-Maru to tell you.”
“Yes, there is.”
“No there is not.”
“Yes, there is.”
“No… there is not.”
“Yes, there is.”
“You are horribly annoying today. Is it a special occasion?”
“Yes, today is the day I get you to talk more than I do.”
Sesshou-Maru scoffed, allowing his amusement to show, “Impossible.”
She stared at him for a moment, shock on her face. Studiously, Sesshou-Maru composed his features. “Is there something the matter, miko?”
She started and continued with her exercises, “Nope, nope, nope. Nothing’s wrong with me!”
An eyebrow rose, he could think of many things that were wrong with her. “Do not bend your back so much during this exercise.”
“Yes sir.” She corrected her stance beautifully. “So, ancestors… medicine… how?”
“Why is it that you must talk incessantly?”
“Why can’t you tell a simple story?”
“Why do hate silence?”
“I can’t help it!” Her sudden childish whine surprised him and the others, but after a moment they went back to their various activities (how could they be so immune to this annoying girl?!). He watched in bemusement as she adopted a pitiful mien which he had only seen on Rin. This girl had perfected it, he almost felt bad for goading her. Almost. “I get all nervous around you and my defense mechanism for nerves is to talk.”
Sesshou-Maru blinked, “Why would you be nervous around this Sesshou-Maru?” She was fully clothed, so it wasn’t her modesty she was nervous about. She never told him her deepest darkest secrets (thank the gods that she never did) so there wasn’t any nervousness about his telling of others. This girl was strange.
The miko sniffed imperiously, presenting her back to him, “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you have a superiority complex, a knack for knocking down everything I say, the ability to annoy the hell out of me without even trying, and last but not least an overbearing presence.”
He wasn’t sure if he should be proud or insulted.
On one hand, she just admitted that, in one form, she was afraid of him. True, it wasn’t that much of a fear. She didn’t fear for her life, but he supposed it was good enough. Any sort of fear from this little slip of a girl was better than nothing at all. On the other hand…
She was a completely ungracious and insulting little cretin. Her tone was sarcastic (though she told no lies) and accusing, her demeanor was not one of groveling, and, though her accusations were completely true, she meant them as an insult. He’d killed others for looking at him the wrong way, and here he was, not killing this one because he hated to waste his time and killing her after he healed her would be just that. Wasting time.
At least that was what he told himself.
So instead of being proud of her fear for him, or insulted at the injustice of her sarcasm, he was amused. “I had no idea of my affect on you little priestess. I will file that information away for future use.”
She looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes narrowed in a glare. Sesshou-Maru thought she looked as threatening as a kitten with its claws clipped. “Did you just make a joke on my behalf, Lord Sesshou-Maru?”
“This Sesshou-Maru does not joke.”
She studied him for a moment and returned to her exercises. “You should. And you should also tell me why your family knows so much about medicine.”
“Will you maintain some peace and quiet if I do?”
“Yep.”
“Very well then. You are again bending your back too much.”
Without protest, she straightened. Then looked at him expectantly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a silver puppy ear train on him. He nearly smirked.
“Nearly six thousand years before, the honorable ancestor Hanoshi wed a demon from the Western countries who knew much about medicine and anatomy. He became fascinated as well and they taught their children all they knew. It became a tradition.”
“…”
“…”
“What? That’s it?” The dog ear twitched.
He raised an eyebrow, “There is nothing more to tell.”
She didn’t look like she believed him, so he interrupted her before she could voice the question she was inevitably going to ask, “This Sesshou-Maru does not know very much of that point in his ancestry. Hanoshi and his mate were the ones who started it. That is all my family knows.”
She nodded slowly, straightening from her stretch. “Well, thanks for the fun – short – story.”
He nodded, concealing his amusement well, “Come sit. It is time for your meditation.”
Her eyes lit with excitement, “Really? Yay!”
She sat down gingerly in front of him, her legs crossed like a male would sit. He didn’t bother to comment. Instead he looked to the little bat hanyou playing with his ward and the kitsune. “Bat.”
The girl looked up, startled. “Y-yes?”
“Can you produce a barrier around this Sesshou-Maru and the miko to keep from attacks?”
Slowly she nodded, then closed her eyes and touched the ground with her palms. After a long moment, the girl began to glow an eerie bluish color before it transferred to the ground and spread around the two creatures she was asked to protect. A second later a barrier wove itself around them. With a satisfied smile, Shiori turned to continue the game with her little friends.
Kagome touched the inside of the barrier nervously, testing its strengths. “What… what if you attack me?”
“I told you time and time again. I am not so young that I will allow my baser side to accost you.”
She fidgeted slightly, her features still unsure. “Alright, then I guess its fine.”
Inu-Yasha chose this moment as an opportune time to speak up. “If you hurt her jackass, I’ll stick Tetsuseiga so far up your ass that it’ll look like your growin’ a horn.”
Sesshou-Maru raised an eyebrow, “Dear little brother, I-“
“Very nice, Inu-Yasha! Say anything like that in front of the children again and you’ll be sorry for it!”
The inu taiyoukai blinked at the interruption, looking down at the girl who deemed it necessary to shut his brother up in his place. She looked at him innocently, “So what do I need to do?”
He was tempted to bash his head in, such mood swings. “Close your eyes.” He waited until she did as instructed before continuing. “In order to properly focus your energies, you must relax your mind completely. There must be no distractions or taxing thoughts weighing upon you. This Sesshou-Maru knows of four ways to achieve this. The only one you will have control over is the imaging practice.”
One sapphire eye cracked open, “What are the other three.”
“The are of no concern-“
“But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to know what they are.”
The corner of his mouth twitched, “Rendering one unconscious, no thought process at all, and sex.”
The monk perked up, “You’re talking about sex? Can I join?”
Sesshou-Maru merely glanced at the houshi before a rather large boomerang came down on his head. He looked back to the blushing face of his student. “Any other questions?”
Her voice was meek and apologetic. “N-no, not right now at least.”
“Very good, now I want you to picture in your mind a place where no one and no thing can reach you. Where no bad thought can touch you.”
Her eyes closed again obediently, and very, very slowly the blush on her cheeks receded and her scent calmed.
Sesshou-Maru took the time to once again study her scent, to see what differences he could find from the last time. He frowned when he found no discernable difference. There was still the scent of constant death and rebirth, though not as terrible as the others. And there was still that chaste scent he had no name for. He nearly sighed in irritation. What was with this girl?
“Now,” Surprise colored her sent for a moment before she calmed and he continued. “I want you to spread your energies to every area of your body. Do it slowly, rushing will only hinder your imaging.”
He was prepared for it this time, for the rising of her holy powers. He had locked his demonic side deep within him, forcing it into submission for the first time in decades. He couldn’t hurt this girl like it wanted to, she was too important, too vital to regaining what was lost. That and she could remove some other body parts if she so chose to… and very easily if he was to admit to himself. He’d lost one arm on her account, there was absolutely no way he would let this little chit take something else. So he’d prepared himself for this occurrence. He had, after all, volunteered himself to train her. And with his demonic side in metaphoric chains, he wouldn’t hurt her.
But… he supposed he was just a bit too full of himself.
He could almost feel the purifying energies caress his skin even though they were still locked within her. It was a sweet burning his beastie self couldn’t help but react to, clawing and biting its way to the surface. Brutally he pushed it back, closing his eyes against the blood he knew gathered there. His teeth clenched tightly together, and his lengthening claws buried themselves in the ground behind him. Perhaps, just perhaps, his demon was saying something to him. Maybe this girl was more powerful than he’d first suspected.
Opening his eyes slightly to look at the girl, to watch her as her flesh pinked with the strain of unreleased holy energy. In his mouth he felt each of his teeth change into those of a predator, felt his venom pool under his tongue. Each muscle was tensed, his markings burning on his flesh. His body was preparing to attack. He was preparing to attack an ally.
Unacceptable.
But just as he was about to demand she cease, the energy tormenting him receded back within her and her scent took on the cloying twist of annoyance and frustration. He heard her sigh.
“Sorry Sesshou-Maru-sama. Everything was very nice in my little hot springs, but Miroku decided to show up and peep.”
Hot springs? Ah, the image she brought forth to calm her. He released the breath he hadn’t known he was holding slowly, willing his body to calm. There was no more threat, there never was really.
“Sesshou-Maru?”
The marks on his flesh stopped burning, his teeth and claws retracting to the length he wore in this form. Swallowing back the excess venom, Sesshou-Maru opened his eyes completely, focusing on the worried face of the miko. “Priestess?”
“Are you all right?” Her voice was soft and hesitant.
He nodded, “This Sesshou-Maru is well.”
“You’re damn lucky you are too,” a gruff voice said from beside him, Sesshou-Maru looked out of the corner of his eye to see his half-brother with a transformed Tetsuseiga over his shoulder and both the taijiya and monk prepared to fight. “I was going to hack you to bits and pieces.”
Sesshou-Maru blinked slowly then looked back to Kagome. “Again.”
She started, “Eh?”
Next to them Inu-Yasha’s temper got the best of him. “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU PRICK!” He slammed their fathers fang against the barrier, earning a startled squeak from the other hanyou. “DO YOU WANT TO KILL HER OR SOMETHING?!”
Again, he sighed, “I will not kill her if we take this a bit at a time.”
“THERE’S NO WAY IN HELL-“
“Okay.”
The priestess’s acquiescence started the younger brother from his rampage, and he stood in shock with Tetsuseiga suspended in midair. Before he could get any angrier she continued on. “It’s good practice for me, Inu-Yasha, since Miroku can’t really help me.”
The hanyou looked ready to argue, but with a pleading look from the little woman, he cursed and whirled away, jumping into a tree where he would be away from them and yet have a good vantage point.
“Ready, Sesshou-Maru-sama?” Her voice and features were nervous. This had to be the first time he ever saw her afraid of him. It wasn’t all to refreshing…
He nodded shallowly, steeling his insides for the onslaught of holy energy. He was getting his arm in return for his training her. He was getting his arm back. That was all he really needed to tell himself. He could hold back. And yet there was still a strange nervousness when she closed her eyes and began all over again.
“Just tell me when you need me to stop.”
Again he nodded, appreciating the gesture. Yes this would be good practice.
For the both of them.
AAAAAA
AN: Did you know that sex is best for relaxation? –_0 Laughter is second best! Kicking the crap out of someone I think is third…not sure.
To answer peoples question about when Kagome and Sesshou-Maru are ‘going to get it on?’ Their not… Your heart stop? Lolz, they are, just not until very much later. I’m a very big believer that plot in a story is more important than the sex (not by much), and besides, they were tentative enemies in the beginning… why the hell would I have them all of the sudden having sex? So, plan on getting the lemon in the later chapters. Which there are about 56 chapters by the way. Yay! Tiffie has everything planned out!
By the way… Mwahahaha! Some of you thought I wouldn’t be here until May! Well, I figured out that the 10 papers (3 of them turned in already) are just reaction papers. So I’m saved A LOT of grief. Yay for school not sucking!
Please Regard Me Kindly,
I Agree
Chapter 13: Barren Lands and Priestess Energies
It had taken them nearly two days to get back to the site. He’d expected as much, with the miko’s back, Rin’s easy weariness, the taijiya’s constant abuse of the perverted monk (though he did admit that it was well justified), Nezumi’s continuous fussing over the miko, and his half-brother’s insults to the bat hanyou. He’d never admit it to anyone, but he actually felt sorry for the little girl, she hadn’t done anything to deserve his half-brothers words. But it was amazing that he, Sesshou-Maru, didn’t lose his temper with each and every one of the rambunctious group. Every single one of this ragtag team had absolutely no sense of the word ‘quiet.’ It was horrific and it made him wonder how the in the hells they had managed to survive this long. And with the addition of Rin and Jaken, things were just worse! The kitsune and the little girl were absolutely brilliant in their games with his green retainer. And all Jaken seemed to do was yell and shout. He’d thanked the gods when they reached their destination.
Because, upon getting to said location, all were silent… and well, Inu-Yasha actually put it to words the best this time…
“Well… shit.”
There was nothing. Absolutely nothing but dirt and… dirt. Not a blade of grass peaked from the dirt nor did an errant stone stand on the ground. What made it even more strange, was at the perimeter of the ‘nothingness,’ life just started abruptly. A treed forest surrounded the area, some even daring – but not succeeding – to cross its boundaries. But there was nothing. In an area slightly larger than a small village, it appeared as if it had never even existed. As if the lands had been infertile. They each knew better.
The taijiya knelt to the ground, touching the soil. “Well, he didn’t burn it. There would at least be remnants of that.”
“So what did he do to it?” The kitsune asked from his ‘mother’s’ arms.
Inu-Yasha answered of so courteously, smacking the kit on the back of the head. “How the hell should we know, brat?!”
To which the little slip of a priestess brought up her cane and whacked it across his half-brothers head. “Don’t be mean. It was a legitimate question.”
The hanyou grasped his head, glaring at the girl but not daring to say anything. Instead he ran into the barren glade and began sniffing around. The taijiya and monk paired off together (which he knew now was a monks headache waiting to happen), entering the clearing as well to investigate. The little bat demon, Shiori, walked the perimeter, looking intently at the ground in her search. She was looking for the remnants of a barrier, he realized. He doubted she would find one.
The only others who did not join the investigation were the miko, her caretaker, the two children, Ah-Un, and his retainer. Each sat at the border, getting comfortable. They were only going to watch.
Sesshou-Maru raised an eyebrow at the young woman resting with her obviously aching back against a tree. “You do not care to sense the area for yourself? Or you have overexerted yourself?”
Kagome smiled sweetly, “Neither…” She grimaced, “Well my back is kind of sore. However, I can feel Naraku from here just fine. I don’t need to go in there to feel his evil.”
“Hn.” He looked at her for a moment before turning to join the others.
AAAAAA
“Why would you want to know of such a trivial event?”
“It’s not so trivial if it made you who you are today.”
“This Sesshou-Maru’s personality is the product of many occasions.”
“Yes, but I want to know how your family when into the medical business.”
She was much too curious to be completely human. Perhaps she had a bit of cat in her. All the questions would make sense then.
It had been a full day, and the others were still at the site of Naraku’s latest desolate ‘home,’ still trying to figure out what the hell had happened (really to no avail). Sesshou-Maru had his suspicions, but he always enjoyed making his brother and his odd companions squirm in their ignorance. That and he didn’t particularly care if they did or didn’t know. Nevertheless he had taken the opportunity to teach the little miko and Nezumi new exercises since he deemed her strong enough.
He almost wished Naraku had been there. The insidious bastard was so much easier to deal with. He didn’t know how the others could just go about their business without a hint of irritation (though he was sure Inu-Yasha was getting to his limit).
Sesshou-Maru held back a sigh as he sat back against a tree watched her execute the new drills he’d taught her, looking for any move that might deter or harm her healing. For the past hour, yet again, all she wanted to do was talk. About anything and nothing. It was like she couldn’t stand silence. Whenever there was a lull in a conversation, she couldn’t just let it be. She had to fill it up with the most droll of discussions. He had even learned from her the most useless ‘String Theory’.
He would let his mind wander, but, aside from the fact it wasn’t very lord-like, she always seemed to know when he wasn’t paying attention to her. She would get him to agree to the most inane, crazy things (such as the Playstation was far superior to the Nintendo… whatever those were) and to things he would never agree to in the first place (‘You’re going to tell Inu-Yasha that you appreciate him someday right?’). He’d learned very quickly to pay attention to her lest he agree to serve her for the rest of her natural life. Or even something worse… like agreeing to tell Inu-Yasha he would give up on stealing away the Tetsuseiga.
“There is no reason for this Sesshou-Maru to tell you.”
“Yes, there is.”
“No there is not.”
“Yes, there is.”
“No… there is not.”
“Yes, there is.”
“You are horribly annoying today. Is it a special occasion?”
“Yes, today is the day I get you to talk more than I do.”
Sesshou-Maru scoffed, allowing his amusement to show, “Impossible.”
She stared at him for a moment, shock on her face. Studiously, Sesshou-Maru composed his features. “Is there something the matter, miko?”
She started and continued with her exercises, “Nope, nope, nope. Nothing’s wrong with me!”
An eyebrow rose, he could think of many things that were wrong with her. “Do not bend your back so much during this exercise.”
“Yes sir.” She corrected her stance beautifully. “So, ancestors… medicine… how?”
“Why is it that you must talk incessantly?”
“Why can’t you tell a simple story?”
“Why do hate silence?”
“I can’t help it!” Her sudden childish whine surprised him and the others, but after a moment they went back to their various activities (how could they be so immune to this annoying girl?!). He watched in bemusement as she adopted a pitiful mien which he had only seen on Rin. This girl had perfected it, he almost felt bad for goading her. Almost. “I get all nervous around you and my defense mechanism for nerves is to talk.”
Sesshou-Maru blinked, “Why would you be nervous around this Sesshou-Maru?” She was fully clothed, so it wasn’t her modesty she was nervous about. She never told him her deepest darkest secrets (thank the gods that she never did) so there wasn’t any nervousness about his telling of others. This girl was strange.
The miko sniffed imperiously, presenting her back to him, “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you have a superiority complex, a knack for knocking down everything I say, the ability to annoy the hell out of me without even trying, and last but not least an overbearing presence.”
He wasn’t sure if he should be proud or insulted.
On one hand, she just admitted that, in one form, she was afraid of him. True, it wasn’t that much of a fear. She didn’t fear for her life, but he supposed it was good enough. Any sort of fear from this little slip of a girl was better than nothing at all. On the other hand…
She was a completely ungracious and insulting little cretin. Her tone was sarcastic (though she told no lies) and accusing, her demeanor was not one of groveling, and, though her accusations were completely true, she meant them as an insult. He’d killed others for looking at him the wrong way, and here he was, not killing this one because he hated to waste his time and killing her after he healed her would be just that. Wasting time.
At least that was what he told himself.
So instead of being proud of her fear for him, or insulted at the injustice of her sarcasm, he was amused. “I had no idea of my affect on you little priestess. I will file that information away for future use.”
She looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes narrowed in a glare. Sesshou-Maru thought she looked as threatening as a kitten with its claws clipped. “Did you just make a joke on my behalf, Lord Sesshou-Maru?”
“This Sesshou-Maru does not joke.”
She studied him for a moment and returned to her exercises. “You should. And you should also tell me why your family knows so much about medicine.”
“Will you maintain some peace and quiet if I do?”
“Yep.”
“Very well then. You are again bending your back too much.”
Without protest, she straightened. Then looked at him expectantly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a silver puppy ear train on him. He nearly smirked.
“Nearly six thousand years before, the honorable ancestor Hanoshi wed a demon from the Western countries who knew much about medicine and anatomy. He became fascinated as well and they taught their children all they knew. It became a tradition.”
“…”
“…”
“What? That’s it?” The dog ear twitched.
He raised an eyebrow, “There is nothing more to tell.”
She didn’t look like she believed him, so he interrupted her before she could voice the question she was inevitably going to ask, “This Sesshou-Maru does not know very much of that point in his ancestry. Hanoshi and his mate were the ones who started it. That is all my family knows.”
She nodded slowly, straightening from her stretch. “Well, thanks for the fun – short – story.”
He nodded, concealing his amusement well, “Come sit. It is time for your meditation.”
Her eyes lit with excitement, “Really? Yay!”
She sat down gingerly in front of him, her legs crossed like a male would sit. He didn’t bother to comment. Instead he looked to the little bat hanyou playing with his ward and the kitsune. “Bat.”
The girl looked up, startled. “Y-yes?”
“Can you produce a barrier around this Sesshou-Maru and the miko to keep from attacks?”
Slowly she nodded, then closed her eyes and touched the ground with her palms. After a long moment, the girl began to glow an eerie bluish color before it transferred to the ground and spread around the two creatures she was asked to protect. A second later a barrier wove itself around them. With a satisfied smile, Shiori turned to continue the game with her little friends.
Kagome touched the inside of the barrier nervously, testing its strengths. “What… what if you attack me?”
“I told you time and time again. I am not so young that I will allow my baser side to accost you.”
She fidgeted slightly, her features still unsure. “Alright, then I guess its fine.”
Inu-Yasha chose this moment as an opportune time to speak up. “If you hurt her jackass, I’ll stick Tetsuseiga so far up your ass that it’ll look like your growin’ a horn.”
Sesshou-Maru raised an eyebrow, “Dear little brother, I-“
“Very nice, Inu-Yasha! Say anything like that in front of the children again and you’ll be sorry for it!”
The inu taiyoukai blinked at the interruption, looking down at the girl who deemed it necessary to shut his brother up in his place. She looked at him innocently, “So what do I need to do?”
He was tempted to bash his head in, such mood swings. “Close your eyes.” He waited until she did as instructed before continuing. “In order to properly focus your energies, you must relax your mind completely. There must be no distractions or taxing thoughts weighing upon you. This Sesshou-Maru knows of four ways to achieve this. The only one you will have control over is the imaging practice.”
One sapphire eye cracked open, “What are the other three.”
“The are of no concern-“
“But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to know what they are.”
The corner of his mouth twitched, “Rendering one unconscious, no thought process at all, and sex.”
The monk perked up, “You’re talking about sex? Can I join?”
Sesshou-Maru merely glanced at the houshi before a rather large boomerang came down on his head. He looked back to the blushing face of his student. “Any other questions?”
Her voice was meek and apologetic. “N-no, not right now at least.”
“Very good, now I want you to picture in your mind a place where no one and no thing can reach you. Where no bad thought can touch you.”
Her eyes closed again obediently, and very, very slowly the blush on her cheeks receded and her scent calmed.
Sesshou-Maru took the time to once again study her scent, to see what differences he could find from the last time. He frowned when he found no discernable difference. There was still the scent of constant death and rebirth, though not as terrible as the others. And there was still that chaste scent he had no name for. He nearly sighed in irritation. What was with this girl?
“Now,” Surprise colored her sent for a moment before she calmed and he continued. “I want you to spread your energies to every area of your body. Do it slowly, rushing will only hinder your imaging.”
He was prepared for it this time, for the rising of her holy powers. He had locked his demonic side deep within him, forcing it into submission for the first time in decades. He couldn’t hurt this girl like it wanted to, she was too important, too vital to regaining what was lost. That and she could remove some other body parts if she so chose to… and very easily if he was to admit to himself. He’d lost one arm on her account, there was absolutely no way he would let this little chit take something else. So he’d prepared himself for this occurrence. He had, after all, volunteered himself to train her. And with his demonic side in metaphoric chains, he wouldn’t hurt her.
But… he supposed he was just a bit too full of himself.
He could almost feel the purifying energies caress his skin even though they were still locked within her. It was a sweet burning his beastie self couldn’t help but react to, clawing and biting its way to the surface. Brutally he pushed it back, closing his eyes against the blood he knew gathered there. His teeth clenched tightly together, and his lengthening claws buried themselves in the ground behind him. Perhaps, just perhaps, his demon was saying something to him. Maybe this girl was more powerful than he’d first suspected.
Opening his eyes slightly to look at the girl, to watch her as her flesh pinked with the strain of unreleased holy energy. In his mouth he felt each of his teeth change into those of a predator, felt his venom pool under his tongue. Each muscle was tensed, his markings burning on his flesh. His body was preparing to attack. He was preparing to attack an ally.
Unacceptable.
But just as he was about to demand she cease, the energy tormenting him receded back within her and her scent took on the cloying twist of annoyance and frustration. He heard her sigh.
“Sorry Sesshou-Maru-sama. Everything was very nice in my little hot springs, but Miroku decided to show up and peep.”
Hot springs? Ah, the image she brought forth to calm her. He released the breath he hadn’t known he was holding slowly, willing his body to calm. There was no more threat, there never was really.
“Sesshou-Maru?”
The marks on his flesh stopped burning, his teeth and claws retracting to the length he wore in this form. Swallowing back the excess venom, Sesshou-Maru opened his eyes completely, focusing on the worried face of the miko. “Priestess?”
“Are you all right?” Her voice was soft and hesitant.
He nodded, “This Sesshou-Maru is well.”
“You’re damn lucky you are too,” a gruff voice said from beside him, Sesshou-Maru looked out of the corner of his eye to see his half-brother with a transformed Tetsuseiga over his shoulder and both the taijiya and monk prepared to fight. “I was going to hack you to bits and pieces.”
Sesshou-Maru blinked slowly then looked back to Kagome. “Again.”
She started, “Eh?”
Next to them Inu-Yasha’s temper got the best of him. “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU PRICK!” He slammed their fathers fang against the barrier, earning a startled squeak from the other hanyou. “DO YOU WANT TO KILL HER OR SOMETHING?!”
Again, he sighed, “I will not kill her if we take this a bit at a time.”
“THERE’S NO WAY IN HELL-“
“Okay.”
The priestess’s acquiescence started the younger brother from his rampage, and he stood in shock with Tetsuseiga suspended in midair. Before he could get any angrier she continued on. “It’s good practice for me, Inu-Yasha, since Miroku can’t really help me.”
The hanyou looked ready to argue, but with a pleading look from the little woman, he cursed and whirled away, jumping into a tree where he would be away from them and yet have a good vantage point.
“Ready, Sesshou-Maru-sama?” Her voice and features were nervous. This had to be the first time he ever saw her afraid of him. It wasn’t all to refreshing…
He nodded shallowly, steeling his insides for the onslaught of holy energy. He was getting his arm in return for his training her. He was getting his arm back. That was all he really needed to tell himself. He could hold back. And yet there was still a strange nervousness when she closed her eyes and began all over again.
“Just tell me when you need me to stop.”
Again he nodded, appreciating the gesture. Yes this would be good practice.
For the both of them.
AAAAAA
AN: Did you know that sex is best for relaxation? –_0 Laughter is second best! Kicking the crap out of someone I think is third…not sure.
To answer peoples question about when Kagome and Sesshou-Maru are ‘going to get it on?’ Their not… Your heart stop? Lolz, they are, just not until very much later. I’m a very big believer that plot in a story is more important than the sex (not by much), and besides, they were tentative enemies in the beginning… why the hell would I have them all of the sudden having sex? So, plan on getting the lemon in the later chapters. Which there are about 56 chapters by the way. Yay! Tiffie has everything planned out!
By the way… Mwahahaha! Some of you thought I wouldn’t be here until May! Well, I figured out that the 10 papers (3 of them turned in already) are just reaction papers. So I’m saved A LOT of grief. Yay for school not sucking!
Please Regard Me Kindly,
I Agree