Hindsight

A/N: Oh, my Lord. I LOVE YOU, MY REVIEWERS!
It was like a pound of free Ghirardelli dark chocolate and some Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey all at once on Christmas morning to read my reviews!
Lovelovelovelovelove!

As for Sesshomaru seeing navels, well, it's either one of two scenarios.
One, he's seen countless navels, and never really noticed.
Or, two, he's been a little too busy with other parts of anatomy to even care.

Wait, three, all of the above!

Disclaimer: If I owned them, I would be drowning in chocolate covered Chunky Monkey daily! But I'm not, so I don't.
*Cue sobbing*


Day One, Act Seven: Kagome

It was torture.

Sheer, unabridged, concentrated, wholly whole torture.

She was perfectly willing to hand herself over to Naraku for whatever his sick little mind had in store for her, just to get away from this.

Really. She was.

Well, not really, but almost.

The already thin line between almost and totally thinned a bit more when Kagome turned to her left, eyes falling on Sesshomaru’s bare chest.

She had tried desperately to talk the recalcitrant youkai into donning his ragged haori, which she had even washed in the bubbling stream to rid it of the blood.
Sesshomaru had refused, citing the lack of dignity to be had in walking around in rags.
She had countered with the not-inconsiderable argument that it was also undignified to walk around bare-backed, to which he had leveled a glare her way and walked on.
She still clutched the damp silk in the tiny hope that he would change his mind and put her out of her misery.

As of yet, she had no luck in that department.

She snapped her eyes to the front, depending on his youkai sense of smell to find Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango, as she had lost her way approximately five minutes ago.
Honestly, she was starting to doubt his sense of direction, as he seemed to just pick a path randomly and walk down it.

And she was sure she had seen that tree before.

“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” she addressed the air in front of her.

Sesshomaru did not reply, perhaps because he had already answered that exact question precisely forty times in the past five minutes.
She could not help herself. It was getting dark, and the woods around her, no longer kind and soothing, were all dark and menacing, throwing jagged, dangerous shadows her way.
She inched closer to his side, as close as she dared without incurring his considerable wrath.
He continued to walk, unmolested, batting away the occasional hanging branch from his way, and Kagome surmised that he probably knew where he was going.

The darkness of the forest started to thin out slightly, enough that the threatening shadows started to soften a little.

A few more long strides, and they happened upon a blazing campfire.
Sango and Miroku sat before it, warming their hands, while Shippo curled up next to Kirara, one tiny paw playing absently with the fire-cat’s blond fur.
Inuyasha was nowhere to be seen.
Kagome and Sesshomaru stood just on the outskirts of the clearing, in the darkness where none of the group could see them.

Coming up with a mutually beneficial plan in the privacy of a tête-à-tête was all well and good, but how in the hell was she to explain herself to them?

Especially Inuyasha?

She shrank back into the shadows, hugging the cool silk haori to her chest, eyes trained on her friends.
She slid down a handy tree trunk and stared at the black floor.
She barely registered her new youkai ally carefully seating himself next to her.

“What is it?” he asked.

“What if they don’t believe us?” she asked in a small voice, wrapping her arms around the abused haori.

“Me, they might not believe. But they are your friends. They will believe you.” Sesshomaru said matter-of-factly.

“You think so?” she asked, turning to him.

His golden eyes shone in the dirty light surrounding them.

“I know so. I am, of course, always right.”

Kagome laughed a bit at that one, before smiling at him.
They both rose, and Kagome stepped into the clearing, still holding the silk barrier for reassurance.
Shippo was the first to turn, his little fox nose twitching madly.
His head whipped around so fast Kagome was amazed it didn’t snap off of his neck.
In less than a second, the little kitsune had flown from his spot next to Kirara into Kagome’s arms.

“Mama! Where have you been? We’ve all been so worried!” he sobbed, clutching at her desperately, his tiny arms trying their best to wrap around her neck.

Kagome ran her fingers through his hair slowly, soothingly.

“It’s alright, Shippo. I’m just fine.” She promised gently, enfolding her little son in a silken embrace.
Sango wrapped them both in a fierce, tight hug, Miroku standing awkwardly to the side.

“Where have you been? Inuyasha has been in a foul temper, looking for you.” Sango half-yelled, which was rather uncomfortable for Kagome, whose ear was two inches from Sango’s mouth.

Kagome gently disentangled herself from Sango, smiling reassuringly while resisting the sudden need to press both hands over her ear and wince.

“I’m fine, Sango. I was just helping someone in need.” She started delicately, slowly introducing the topic of Sesshomaru.
She figured if she very, very gently exposed Sango and Miroku to the truth, it might not be as hard as just blurting it out.

She, of course, had not accounted for Sesshomaru himself.

Sango gasped in front of her, Miroku’s staff clinking as he gripped it tighter, both slayer and monk staring right behind her.
Kagome turned, to see Sesshomaru striding out of the woods, resplendent in his gorgeous bare skin.

The stubborn mule.

“I believe I asked you to stay put while I told them.” She huffed, transferring Shippo to her hip and plunking her free hand on her free hip in exasperation, her tone dry.

Sesshomaru just stared at her in his way. She had slowly realized, over the course of the day with him, that his stares could be interpreted if one knew what they were looking for.
His current stare was his irritated, why-me-gods-why-me stare. He wasn’t really angry, or even remotely angry.
He was just cranky, which was understandable, due to his brush with the Great Beyond.

“Perhaps. I do not recollect.” He told her in his monotone.

“Well, I do. Now, I’ll have to do a lot more talking.” Kagome explained.

“You say that as though you do not enjoy speaking.” He returned dryly.

Kagome gaped at him, recognizing that he was teasing her. She sniffed, hiding her smile, and turned back to her friends, presenting Sesshomaru with her back.

“Um, Sango, Miroku, I believe you know Lord Sesshomaru.”

“Yes. But…why is he here? And why do you have his haori?” Sango asked, eyes darting to the haori still in Kagome’s grasp.

“Remember when I said that I was helping someone in need?”

“Yes?” Miroku prompted.

“Well, Lord Sesshomaru was in need of my assistance.” She said timidly, feeling Sesshomaru’s glare on her neck.

“What?” Sango exclaimed, looking at the powerful, still half-naked youkai behind Kagome.

“We don’t need to go into details. Suffice it to say, Lord Sesshomaru will be assisting us against Naraku whenever he may.” Kagome rushed through, knowing without a doubt that Sesshomaru would be sorely displeased if she told of what he would term his ‘humiliation’.

Sango and Miroku both gawked at him, still uncomprehending, when Shippo turned to regard the inuyoukai out of his bright green eyes.
After a few seconds of the most serious expression ever to cross Shippo’s face, the kitsune nodded imperceptibly and smiled at Kagome.

“Okay. So, what are we eating? Miroku is a horrible cook.” Shippo told her quietly, but Miroku heard him anyway.

“Remind me never to cook for you again.” He shot at the kitsune.

“Not a problem.” Shippo replied cheekily, hiding in his mother’s arms.

As Shippo and Miroku bickered, Sango surveyed the Taiyoukai.

“Alright.”

Kagome smiled gratefully, before turning back to Sesshomaru, switching her smile to him.
They sat around the fire, Sesshomaru a little way off, leaning against a tree in his knee-up pose.
The peacefulness of the scene, occasionally interrupted but not broken by Miroku and Shippo’s bickering, was shattered when Inuyasha burst out of a copse of trees, Tetsusaiga drawn and pointed directly at Sesshomaru.

The group around the campfire fell into total silence.

The crackling of the fire burst the silence with its staccato, popping noises.
Inuyasha just stared at his half-brother, who had yet to rise, neither saying a word.
Kagome looked at Inuyasha, whose eyes flicked to hers, and she saw the worry and anger there, before he looked back to Sesshomaru.
Kagome turned then to Sesshomaru, who also turned to look at her, and she saw the intent to fight in his eyes.

She realized belatedly that she had only made him promise not to start any fights.

As Sesshomaru slowly rose, one claw on Tokijin, Kagome looked from brother to brother, before sighing deeply and stating loudly…

“Ah, shit.”


A/N: Well? Well? WELL???

I don't know if you noticed, but I'm giving them an instant, first sight physical attraction. It's laziness on my part, but I can pretend like it is a stroke of literary genius if that's what you guys think!
Oooh, lord. I just wish now that I could figure out how to get italics on this damned thing. It would look so much prettier and give more emphasis if I could italicize...

Hinthint.

BTW, I LOVE YOU, MY REVIEWERS!!!
Even the ones who just give me STARS! Well, plus signs now, but you know what I mean!
I'm Five-Star, baby! I just need 2 more reviews, so I can have double-digits, and then I'll be too happy to type!
Again, hinthint.
No threats though, you review if you'd like to!
BTW again, I like your fics too, Scottishfae!

Next chapter, the Sesshomaru view!