Masquerade

Chapter Eight – Sugar, We’re Going Down

As the days grew longer and blended together, so did her dreams.

The floor is cold and sparse, dust and memories covering the wooden boards.

Outside, it is white and deserted; people passing beyond the lone hut silently, not wanting to disturb the ghost that lives inside.

The ghost rises with the moon, and sets with the tide.

At midnight she wakes, angry and empty. A vacant sheath lies next to her, battered and the only connection she holds to any past. A stray snowflake floats in from the open window, and she cries out when it passes through her. The sheath next to her pulses then stills, crushed under the weight of the flake she could not feel.

“I remember,” he says next to her. Her head turns sharply to him, wondering if he’s talking to himself, or if he knows of her existence. “I remember a time when you wouldn’t have just let things happen to you. Your time was spent wisely, without regrets. You had a good time in life. I envied you.”

She wants to argue with him, yell and scream and taunt him as she used to. Instead she lies back down and rolls over, “I had no time. Remember?”

The sheath again pulses then crumbles, a moth rising from the shadows that hid nothing but emptiness. She watches the moth twist slowly in the air, wondering if insects like those even have a dying breath, then watches as its wings make one final pass and it falls to the ground, unmoving.

A rueful smile spreads over her non-existing features and her mind crumbles.

“Obviously you are not poking her hard enough. Try again with more force.” Sesshoumaru advised calmly.

Masao grunted, “I don’t want to hurt her.” He said, trying to keep his voice low.

Sesshoumaru sighed inaudibly and walked forward, “Fortunately I do not hold such restraints. Allow me.” He grabbed the wooden stick from Masao and all but rammed it into Kagome’s back where she lay on the ground.

The priestess opened one eye, grabbed the end of the stick and broke it off before rolling over to sleep some more.

Masao chuckled next to Sesshoumaru, but quieted himself at the vicious glare he received.

“If you do not wake up right now the next thing I prod you with will be Tokijin.”

Kagome shot up, looking surprisingly well for someone who just had their life threatened, and turned to the two males calmly. Her eyes were bloodshot and her hair unkempt, but she still managed to get an appreciative sigh from Masao.

Sesshoumaru’s nose scrunched slightly and he pointed to the right. “Go. Bathe. We will wait for you here.”

She rolled her eyes but began walking, grabbing her stuff on her way out of the camp with an irritated huff.

Fifteen minutes later she returned, her hair dripping and tied back at the nape of her neck, her eyes clear and vivid. Sesshoumaru did his best to ignore her presence while Masao smiled and threw an arm over her shoulders. “Why, Kagome-san, is it safe to say you are feeling better?”

Kagome grinned up at him and nodded. Sesshoumaru turned to the two of them - swords, armor, and sash in place – and glared. “We are leaving now.”

Kagome rolled her eyes and walked ahead, humming lightly and twirling a small flower through her fingers. Masao followed in much the same fashion, only without the humming and the flower.

Sesshoumaru hung back a couple seconds, surveying the campground calmly. A minute ago he had heard the sound of a woman’s screaming, though it was pitched at a frequency he was sure humans were unable to reach. It was short and didn’t seem to convey any particular emotion, but he remained vigilant.

“Sesshoumaru-sama?” A voice said from a few feet behind him.

His head turned as he regarded the miko from the corner of his eye. She was watching him with a small, strange, slightly lopsided smile. “I heard it too. But Masao seems oblivious.”

Sesshoumaru’s eyes widened. “How?”

Her head bowed, her vision seemingly stuck to his shoes. “I don’t know. But I couldn’t sense anything…” She looked back up at him, worried and anxious. “Could you smell anything?”

He said nothing and started walking after Masao, his thoughts whirling.

Taking his response as a no Kagome bent down and picked up a stone, looking out into the woodland with an angry expression.

It just wasn’t fair.

Her hand closed around the rock, charging the small stone with miko powers, and she twirled around, glaring at the back of the taiyoukai.

It wasn’t.

She wound her arm back, feeling the cool rush of her power mix with the hot pulse of her blood, and threw the rock as hard as she could. It implanted itself into a tree not one meter away from Sesshoumaru’s head. Smoking and glowing, it pulsed a couple times before Kagome released the tension holding her powers. The stone stopped gleaming and sizzled; a pure, clear liquid dripped down the tree’s bark, burning away everything it came in contact with.

Sesshoumaru watched silently, then looked back at the miko expressionlessly. Kagome met his gaze evenly and a slow, satisfied, wicked smile curled on her lips. The demon lord’s eyes narrowed and he turned around, ignoring the coiling itch building in his abdomen.

Kagome giggled behind her hand, Ha-ha! That’s right. My threats to burn your arm off weren’t made without reason! She straightened and forced herself to calm. She began walking once more, a happy bounce in her step as she glanced around at the scenery. It was going to be a good day.

Life sucks. Kagome growled under her breath and clutched tighter at her – cramping. Cramping. Cramping! Cramping. – ribs, glaring at the swinging hair of the taiyoukai in front of her. Burning some of it off would make her feel better. He could afford to lose a foot or two of the shining locks anyways.

Masao glanced back a little nervously, took in Kagome’s furious countenance, and clutched his naginata a little closer. Yes, he admitted it. He was afraid of a human woman a foot shorter than him. So?

Kagome’s eyes stayed glue to the cadenced swing of Sesshoumaru’s hair, wondering if he ever even got split ends. No, obviously he didn’t. The tanto slipped from its sheath on her arm, her right hand grasped tightly around the hilt as she studied the whitish strands with a predatorily gleam in her eye. If she was miserable, why couldn’t anyone else be?

Masao looked back once more and froze.

Then jumped back, avoiding Sesshoumaru, and tackled Kagome to the ground. “Kagome-san! Have you lost your mind?!”

“Yes!”

Sesshoumaru stopped walking and blinked once, then looked – slowly – over his shoulder at the wrestling…

Children.

Because they were far from adults, obviously.

His golden eyes widened when he saw the miko sink her teeth into the forearm of the neko, that small itch in his abdomen growing as she kicked the large demon away and vaulted to her feet, bent over and growling a low, completely human sound. Her hair was wild, her clothes disheveled, and a small bit of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. She wiped it away and spit on the ground, straightening her attire and running a hand through her hair. Her eyes turned to him again and she glared frostily, before stomping ahead of them on the trail.

Masao sat up slowly, staring in shock at his arm.

“Your skin is thicker than her teeth should be able to puncture. What did she do?”

Masao shook his head slowly, “She managed to charge her… teeth … with miko power. Astounding.”

Sesshoumaru started walking again but stopped and looked back over his shoulder, “Why did you jump her?”

Masao blinked and looked up, a faint rose tinting his high cheekbones. The way he put it was just so-so-

Indecent.

“She was going to…” The aura of Tokijin flared suddenly and Masao’s violet eyes were drawn to the sword, “Um. I- well, you see, there was a bug! Yes, a bug. On her… head. There was a bug on her head and I decided to get it off with my… foot?” He winced at the lie but wouldn’t look away.

Sesshoumaru turned his head away, his eyes closing at the strain these two were putting on his mental state, “So she bit you because…?”

“I… accidentally groped her?”

Sesshoumaru’s eyes shot open and his fist clenched, but they were small, insignificant moves that no one else noticed. “Of course.” And he began walking once again, blissfully ignoring his surrounding and the tightening of his chest. Because it didn’t matter.

Masao stood up slowly, looking up at the setting sun. Wind tossed his hair around slowly and a soft, relaxing scent reached him.

Leiko.

Looking around wildly he almost missed the swish of a bright green fabric as it- she passed to his right. His body tensed, and he began to walk calmly forward, keeping his senses trained on the demoness.

So what if she decided to follow them? Wouldn’t deter his plans.

A sudden fear gripped him. What if she’s after Kagome!

He shot forward, dodging Sesshoumaru (again) and racing after Kagome’s back. “Kagome-san!”

The priestess quit walking and glanced calmly back at him. But-

But there was awareness in her eyes. She knew what was going on around her, her bow was clutched tightly in her hand and her powers were dancing across his tanned skin in an intricate, definite design. His pace slowed slightly, but he kept his eyes trained on never-ending eyes.

Leiko flashed in his peripheral vision again, and once more his muscles tensed.

She was circling them, slowly moving closer and closer to Kagome.

Kagome turned her head forward gradually, her eyes leisurely following the movement of the ‘hidden’ demoness almost pityingly.

Leiko stopped just right of Kagome’s still form.

Next to Masao, Sesshoumaru went rigid, watching blankly as his untrained cousin tried to outsmart the trained priestess.

Without warning Leiko shot out of the tree she’d been hiding in, a sleek staff held over her head.

She brought it down on Kagome, a blade at the end gleaming maliciously-

Kagome turned, watching as the sharp edge whizzed past her harmlessly as she brought her bow up fluidly, avoiding the demon’s claws. Her fingers shifted on the wood, twirling the bow so it struck her assailant behind the head with a loud thwack. The demoness dropped to the ground, her staff rolling away silently. Kagome stood from her crouched position, her eyes still trained on the form of the female.

Masao ran up to her hurriedly, “Are you okay? Did she hurt you? Did you kill her?”

Kagome turned to him with detached, distant eyes. “I’m fine. No she didn’t. And she’s merely unconscious.”

Sesshoumaru approached at a calmer, lazy pace, his eyes moving from the demoness to the priestess heedlessly. “I suppose we will be camping here tonight.”

Kagome looked down at her bow, her eyes still isolated, though her aura lacked the antagonism it held before.

Masao watched her, a small smile tugging at his lips.

At least she’s loosened up.

Sesshoumaru: You were actually going to do it. You were actually going to cut. My. Hair.

Kagome: I blame hormones.