All Change In Time

Sesshomaru had felt some degree of guilt after his immature behavior, and he stared as his bloody hands with mild question. Normally he would not have taken a young maiden so brutally, and yet he had captured the beautiful Kagome’s virginity and then left her there, bound and dirty. A silver tress fell in his face, and he spied caked flecks of blood within them, too, and ultimately decided he must bathe away this girl’s pain. Of course, he threw a glance down the hallway, where Kagome dwelled. Professionally, he stood and walked down the corridor, opening it with a small tilt of his head. She was awake. She must have been stronger than he hoped.

The greeting was a cold and sharp one, the bite of her curses making his ears engage curiously, wondering how she mustered the courage to speak to him so. She sounded like a female version of his brother…always harsh and vulgar. “Keep your mouth closed, Slave.” He lowered his voice, but it was still loud enough so she could hear it, and almost immediately her voice went silent, laced delightfully with a submitting whine. “Good,” he said more softly, reaching up to release her from her suspension, and untying her hands. “You and I will bathe. We stink like wild boars.” He smiled to himself, liking the sound of this joke, but she only gave a snort and tucked her hands over her breast, wincing at their sensitivity.

“Yes…they must hurt.” He didn’t mean to sound to irrelevant, but his tone and attitude must have offended her. Wickedly one free hand struck him, lancing a spit of fire across his cheek, which twisted back from the surprising force. It came back again, hitting him for the second time, although it had ebbed in some of its bite, and he let the fingernails play into his flesh, laying open wounds for all to see. This was his payment back for her…for being so rude. However, he was not one to simper in such moments, and when she went to hit him for the third time, he grabbed her wrists, painfully restraining her. His blood dribbled down his chin, making him mingle in the potpourri of smells, before he pulled her to him, herself still nude. She assumed trashing, and while she struggled, he picked her up around her middle (although considerably gentler than before) and toted her further down the hall.

She gave to cries…no screams. Her throat had banished itself from doing so, trying to heal from its previous work. But no matter how tired her body was, she still fought, struggling tooth and nail for every step that Sesshomaru carried her, until he set her down. Steam treated into her cuts and sores immediately, making her muscles lapse and quiver, covering herself with a silent shrug. She expected to be beaten for not listening, as this was a custom for slaves, but no blow rained upon her. Her eyes took a peek up, watching as the last of Sesshomaru slipped under the water, his hair splaying out about him. He was graceful, fluid in movement, the streaks of blood, being both his and hers, washed by the generous heat. He beckoned her, motioning with his hand.

She looked between her legs, where the dried blood and semen tugged irritably at her pubic hair, and she stood, carefully arranging her hair where it cascaded over her shoulders and covered her breasts, where her hands could fan over more suggestiveailsails of her body.

Her modesty amused Sesshomaru, and he muffled a laugh with one hand, watching Kagome as she slipped into the bath. “Come closer.” He reached for her, somewhat disappointed at the way her funny behavior shrank into fear, her arms and legs curling so she was in a fetal position at the farthest wall. But he could understand…he had taken her roughly after all. Gently, as though an entirely different being, he reached for a rag and placed it on her presented backside. The lances on her arms concerned him, and he dabbed at them with care, his eyes narrowed while she flinched. He didn’t like seeing her shudder so, but he must clean the wounds.

As Sesshomaru worked, Kagome’s eyes closed, lulled into a sense of pondering by the treatment. The bath’s atmosphere worked deep into the roots of her body, hushing the shrill fibers of her muscles, letting them flow…relaxed. She leaned into Sesshomaru’s hands, wanting to experience more of this relaxation, but startled at herself, she stood, whimpering as her tired body screamed to itself. She didn’t want to have anything to do with Sesshomaru! Kagome turned to him, studying the somewhat hurt expression on his face, and settled back down into the water. He really was concerned…maybe he was bewitched. Giving into to the benefit of a doubt, she reached out her hand, letting him take it, and tried to ignore the pleasant feeling when he smile reassuringly and stroked the rag charmingly up her arm, ridding it of all it’s ache. Inuyasha she thought, lowering her eyes to her reflection in the water please come and get me soon.

♥

Timing might have been greatly improved, had Inuyasha and the others not come across their first obstacle. They had all been dashing through the night, unable to subdue Inuyasha for a rest, when the wind suddenly lost it’s natural chill and became a vicious lash to their faces. Confusion was mild, but grew thicker when their steps her muddled with the force of it against them, ripping the terrain from under their feet, and tossing lighter objects (such as Shippou’s tops and toys) back to the black abyss they had emerged from. Inuyasha’s hair blinded him, the bothersome locks twisting in his face, making him pause for a moment. He shouted several suggestive names at the air, but they were lost…mere flecks in the sudden storm.

However, all was explained when the clouds above collected from the moon, the night’s darkness weakened. Kagura and Kanna, side by side, stepped forward, Kagura’s fan beating loftily their way. At last it stopped, and the wide resumed its normal pace while Inuyasha’s words were found and scored deep remarks into the area. Kagura pursed her lips, the pout infuriating. “Inuyasha,” she scolded as her voice became deep with mockery, “keep your tongue trained. I won’t have your language ruining my younger sister here.” With this, she guided a hand to Kanna’s shoulder, the almost albino girl making no expression. She was always indifferent…always ‘just there’. But they all knew better…Kanna’s mirror was one of the things they simply couldn’t attack. It took Kagome’s strength to bring it down before.

Inuyasha went to make a comment on the ugly antics of the sorceress, but his mouth shut when she picked her fan up again. The twin arcs of red that painted the fan were visible…meaning that she intended to play. Inuyasha made a grab for his sword, the Tetsusaiga, and removed it from its sheath. The blade shimmered, before the scraping sound of its transformation revealed a dramatically shaped sword, the furry hilt covering bits and pieces of his hands, which trembled visibly. The sword was no longer heavy for him, but the unsuppressed desperation to find Kagome made him impatient…weary. He made a lunge for Kagura, but the damnable woman easily sidestepped and let him take a stumbling swipe at Kanna, who guided her mirror into play, the sparks from the two conflicting weapons brilliant.

Illuminated, Miroku held to the prayer beads draping his wrist, trying to find his chance to use his wind tunnel. But with Inuyasha placed perilously near, and stuck tangling with Kanna, he could not, and he only dashed forward in frustration. He did not spy the movement of Kagura, who was clever using the distraction of her ghostly sister as leverage. She met Miroku halfway, throwing up her fan with certain intention to behead him. But it was interrupted by the deep swing of Sango’s weapon, and Kagura was dismantled from Miroku and tossed gracelessly to the ground. Miroku took a step back, stunned as to how close he came to being only half a monk, and gave a grateful smile to Sango.

Sango set off by herself to aid Inuyasha, but her eyes fell on the disgruntled Kikyou, who had been discarded when Inuyasha played into battle. The priestess threw back her head and laughed, crossing her arms over her chest. She made no move to help them?! Sango frowned and went to moorwaorward when the woman turned her back to the group, and she caught the faint sight of a spider’s shape under the moonlight. She was associated with Naraku! She spun on one heel, cupping her hands to her mouth, and made a gesture at Miroku to look and witness this unthinkable thing as well, but all was not to be discovered just yet. Miroku heard his name being shouted and stood to meet Sango, his feet slipping on the wet grass, slowing his progress.

He might have heard her, should she only shout it again, but his face twisted in surprise once Kagura raised her fan, only partly raised to her elbows, and released a full set of wind blades at Sango’s back. Caught off guard, the night was pierced by the exterminator’s cry, and Miroku struggled to catch her while she fell. “Inuyasha,” Miroku screamed, “we must retreat!” He was bathing in the unconscious Sango’s blood, his hands slick with the crimson life. Carefully, and yet with much haste, he scrambled back, holding onto the girl’s shoulders and embracing her protectively while Kagura dusted herself off.

“Fools…you thought you could beat me!” Kagura laughed, devilishly tossing her head, before lifting her fan into the air to make a fatal sweep at the two on the ground before her. Had Inuyasha not tore himself from the troublesome Kanna, Miroku and Sango would have met ultimate death. But indeed he made the distance between the different parties with astonishing swiftness, tearing the sleeve of Kagura’s clothes with a poorly aimed slash. Nimbly she leapt back, eyeing him venomously, and was unable to give another blow before they all disappeared.

Inuyasha was furious. It wasn’t the fact that Sango had been injured and was unable to move so that they might continue the journey for Kagome, but the fact that they had been slowed down in the first place. He fidgeted while Miroku attended to Sango’s wounds, her armor merely hanging in places where the blades had shredded, completely laying across her backside in dark, ugly cuts. Her flesh was discolored…bruised by the assault, and Miroku worked with tender fingers, his face shadowed with concern. The cream Kagome had given them long ago to treat infection was used as soon as it was possible, and he finished the work by wrapped the girl in clean bandages. She still had not awoken…still had not made a sound. They worried at first that she was dead, but indeed, her chest rose and fell with soft breaths.

Inuyasha crossed his arms, seating a distance away, while staring into the fire that had been made. Only hours ago he had wished to lay by such with Kagome, and yet he was sitting by one without her…feeling empty. His face fell with a hint of depression, but Kikyou moved forward, whispering his name, and he fell under the spell of her presence while she laid both hands across his shoulders, letting the scent drug him. His eyes simply closed, resting his head back on Kikyou, who shifted closer to him, obsessively nearer and folded her arms entirely over his chestand held him close. Kagome…he’d find her sooner or later.

[Writer] -twitch- I hate writing about a Kikyou/Inuyasha fling...makes me all hateful and jealous for Kagome. How am I doing? Let me know, please! -points at the review button suggestively-[End Writer]