InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Cereal Box Romance ❯ Home Again ( Chapter 10 )

Edited by thyme_cat

 

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

 

A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I posted! I won't even try to make excuses. However, I will answer a few questions that have come up.

 

Yes, this is a Sessh/Kag fic. It may not seem like it in a couple of chapters, but I promise, it is Sessh/Kag. They just have a few hurdles to jump, first.

 

How long will this fic be? Not really sure, but I don't think I'm even halfway through. Remember, most of theses chapters took place in the past! Now we have the present to cover.

 

I know there was something else, but I'm too sleepy to remember. Oh well. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I love each and every one of you! Snowfall - you rock. Seriously. Also, a big thank you to Quirkyslayer and Lori, who nominated this fic for Best OC (Akago!), Serial, and Alternate Pairing for the third quarter IYFG awards.

 

Okay, enough of my blathering.

 

Chapter 10 - Home Again

 

With distracted chopsticks, Kagome prodded the sunny yellow yoke of the egg that lay atop its bed of rice. The clatter of wood on wood, Miroku lightly teasing Sango, Shippo whining as Inuyasha stole a bite out of his bowl, all of the familiar, comfortable sounds of breakfast hit her eardrums and tumbled down, ignored, as she strained to hear something else…

 

Yet, despite her tense concentration and the beads of moisture that were beginning to form on her brow, only silence caressed her mind's inner ear.

 

Turning from Miroku with a light blush, Sango cleared her throat and said, “Lord Sesshomaru, did you find your accommodations comfortable?”

 

“Hn,” he replied noncommittally, responding more to the inflection in her voice than to the words she said, his attention fixed elsewhere.

 

Kagome could feel Sesshomaru's eyes on her legs, wandering over skin exposed by her skirt where it lay demurely against her thigh. Occasionally, the tip of his Mokomoko-sama would twitch; not enough to raise the suspicions of a hanyou who was keeping a close watch on his brother, but a slight curl that brought back vivid memories of soft fur and wet panties. She knew that he was thinking about her. But she couldn't hear him. It was driving her nuts.

 

Hoping against all logic, she had seated herself next to the taiyoukai just in case the ring did, in fact, still work and only its range had been affected. Unfortunately, she couldn't get any closer to him without touching him.

 

“Hmmm,” she hummed quietly under her breath. `Maybe if I touch him…'

 

Leaving one hand still grasping her chopsticks, she let the other slide underneath the table, sneaking a quick glance at Inuyasha. For once, she appreciated his horrible table manners, glad that the bowl that he held to his face with both hands was blocking his view. She held her breath, splaying her fingertips to lightly touch his thigh. The muscle jumped beneath the pads of her fingers and his pelt shuddered. She had a brief moment of feminine triumph that such a small, simple touch by her was all it took to break his calm, before she remembered to listen for his thoughts.

 

“So, you will be taking your leave today, Lord Sesshomaru?” Sango said, trying to catch his attention. She was fully aware that he was tuning her out and fairly certain as to why. The dog demon sat quietly next to Kagome, eyes hooded by magenta, lowered lids as he sipped his tea, but a flash of gold told her exactly where he was staring.

 

Rin glanced up sharply, giving Sango an appraising look, and then eyed her lord.

 

“Damn straight, he is,” Inuyasha grunted, and then snuck another bite of rice from Shippo's bowl.

 

“Are we, Lord Sesshomaru?” Rin asked hopefully. She was tired of being ignored. She didn't like him sitting so close to that girl. And she still had no idea what her lord wanted from her or why he wanted it. “Please?”

 

Jaken snapped waspishly, “Quiet, girl. Can't you see that our lord is thinking? He will leave when he is ready.”

 

`What is he thinking?' Kagome burned to know, her entire attention focused on the tips of her fingers where they heated small spots of silk, her eyes fixed blankly on her bowl. `Could it need more contact?' Kagome wondered. To test the theory, she slid her fingers over his leg ever so slowly, until her palm rested on his thigh, and gave it an experimental squeeze.

 

Sesshomaru swallowed audibly and the hand holding his tea twitched, but Kagome's heart dropped from her chest and into her stomach, where it began to dissolve in the acid. There was no mistaking it: the ring was definitely not working. Oh well, it had been worth a try: it had seemed like such a plausible idea as she'd tossed and turned in her futon last night. But why had she even bothered to get her hopes up? She was cosmically doomed when it came to romance.

 

“Inuyasha!” Shippo protested loudly as the hanyou snatched the egg out of his bowl and downed it in a noisy slurp.

 

“That bastard's leaving when I say he is,” Inuyasha said, licking yolk from his lips. “Ow!” he hollered and batted at his head where Shippo had latched onto one triangular ear and worried it with his tiny fangs. “Ow-ow! Brat, I'm gonna-“

 

He was cut off as a glob of sticky, white rice hit him in the face. Rin smirked at him from over the lip of her empty bowl.

 

“Ood one, In!” Shippo shouted through a mouthful of ear, pounding on Inuyasha's skull with his back feet. Exchanging exasperated glances, Sango and Miroku rolled their eyes. Rapping her hand on the table, Sango shouted, “There will be no throwing food in the house! Inuyasha, Shippo, take it outside!”

 

“You heard her, runt!” Inuyasha grabbed Shippo by the scruff of his neck and tugged, howling in pain as Shippo's fangs scored deep gouges in his ear. Encouraged by Rin's giggles, Shippo released the ear and twisted in Inuyasha's grasp, sinking his teeth into the hanyou's wrist. Bellowing, Inuyasha shook his arm wildly, but Shippo clung to his arm like a fluffy, growling Velcro monkey.

 

“Kagome, could you…?” Sango turned to her friend but stopped when she saw the twin distracted expressions of Kagome and Sesshomaru, staring at their respective meals as if Inuyasha and Shippo, with help from Rin, were not threatening to bring the house down around their ears. `What are those two doing?' Sango wondered as she gave them a quick perusal. Sesshomaru's one hand was holding his tea and Kagome's right hand grasped her chopsticks, but the other was under the table…somewhere… Sango blushed and looked away, focusing instead on Inuyasha, who was trying to smother the kit off of his arm by sitting on his face. `By the kami, Kagome, I hope you know what you're doing.'

 

Miroku fell into her, clutching his stomach, his face contorted by silent laughter as tears rolled down his cheeks. “Do men ever grow up?” the slayer grumbled as she pushed her husband back into his seat and slapped the table with her hand again. `Where's Hiraikotsu when I need it?'

 

`What do I do?' Kagome chewed on the inside of her lip, oblivious to the bedlam on the other side of the table and forgetful of her hand's residence on Sesshomaru's thigh. She gave her egg a vicious poke, staring unseeing as the yolk burst and viscous yellow liquid dribbled down between grains of rice. `How can I know what he's thinking if I can't hear what he's thinking?! Argh!' Making a frustrated sound at the back of her throat, she bit down hard on the skin of her cheek, tasting blood, and squeezed the thigh under her hand.

 

Any woman could have guessed, and fairly accurately, what a man would think of a woman's hand caressing his thigh under a table. A glance at the crotch of Sesshomaru's pants would have told Kagome exactly what the dog demon had on his mind. Even the fact that it was a rather nice thigh, complete with a hard ridge of muscle tracing up the top and leading to a generous tent, escaped her normally keen miko senses. She was too wrapped up in lamenting a manufactured handicap to notice.

 

`I can't take this anymore!' she screamed in her head as she dropped her chopsticks, released Sesshomaru's leg (much to his displeasure), and rose to her feet. “Sango, could I please borrow Kirara?” Kagome asked over the din in the dining room.

 

Instantly, all activity stopped. Sango froze with her mouth open, poised to yell, her eyes sliding to the miko in startled surprise. His tiny hands still grasping handfuls of silver hair, Shippo tumbled to the floor instead of carrying through with his flying-jump-hair-pull. He tugged Inuyasha's head down with him, but the hanyou just stared at Kagome from his flopped position on the tatami, rice sticking to his face and hair, eyes hurt and baffled.

 

“W-well of course, Kagome,” Sango agreed, relief flooding her and leaving her with a slightly giddy sensation. That was exactly what the girl needed: to get away from Sesshomaru, go home, and give the whole situation some thought. The taiyoukai would loose interest and leave, Inuyasha would hunt down Kikyou, and she would be left with a peaceful, quiet household. “When did you want to leave?”

 

“Right away, if you don't mind,” Kagome said as she straightened her skirt and calculated how long it would take her to pack her small tote. Now that her mind was made up, she couldn't wait to get going. She wouldn't be gone long: just long enough to find another dog demon decoder ring. They were cereal toys, for crying out loud. How hard would it be to find another one? And after that, well, she'd play it by ear. But at least she wouldn't be deaf! At Sango's nod, she flashed the older woman a grateful smile and hurried out of the hut.

 

“This is all your fault, Inuyasha!” Shippo wailed and gave the hair in his hands a vicious tug.

 

“No, it ain't! I didn't do anything,” growling, Inuyasha popped the kit on the top of his head with his fist and pulled his hair free, leaving several long, silver strands tangled in the whining kit's fingers.

 

Instead of coming to his rescue, Rin grinned and clapped her hands, bouncing in her seat at the table. Finally, the horrible woman who was trying to take her Sesshomaru-sama was leaving. She would find out what it was he wanted, and she, Rin, would give it to him. Once again, it would be her, Jaken, Ah-Uh and Sesshomaru-sama, just as it had always been and always would be.

 

Jaken had no such delusions: he knew that there were several days of travel ahead of them and that certain abandonment with Rin was in his near future. Oh, to have known his master's lusty ways when he had first sighted him, tall, proud and beautiful as he stood over the imp's slain enemies. He might have thought twice before giving his vow of fealty if he had known that his job would entail babysitting while his master chased the tail of a human miko. Where were the glorious battles and the stench of blood and victory? Honestly, his master's staff of one head got more action than his Staff of Two Heads. The indignity of it all!

 

“Mistress, I apologize for my…tardiness,” Akago trailed off as she stepped into the room, her eyes sweeping over the upended bowls, scattered food, delighted girl, and pile of hanyou and kitsune, still smacking each other and bickering.

 

“You didn't miss anything, Akago,” Sango said with a weary sigh, running a hand through her shortened locks and missing their silky weight, and then elbowed her husband in the ribs at his amused snicker. “Your report?”

 

Akago paused, grimacing in disgust as Sesshomaru rose to his feet and swept out of the room, Jaken and Rin close on his heels. “I saw Kagome leave on Kirara. You might want to call her back; we'll have need of Kirara. She can ride flea-brain home,” she jerked her thumb at Inuyasha, who stopped mid-stride in his pursuit of his brother to pin his ears and glower.

 

“What the hell's that supposed to mean?” he growled in her face, baring his fangs in a canine snarl.

 

Akago snarled back, the scar across her face twisting her features into a grotesque mask as she leaned into him, unconsciously taking the stance of a dominant dog. “Do I have to bark it for you?”

 

Sango cleared her throat loudly and Akago flinched, dismissing Inuyasha as she stepped around him. “Not all of the beetles were destroyed,” the apprentice continued quickly. “A large contingent has regrouped not far from the village gates. I think they mean to attack.”

 

“Regrouped?” Sango asked, puzzled. Beetle youkai weren't bright: they swarmed mindlessly, not grouped and planned. What was going on, here? She shook her head, “Akago, are you sure-“

 

“They are being led by a snake woman,” Akago cut her off. “I think,” she stopped, and then shook her head. “No, I'm sure she knew I was there.”

 

Inuyasha snorted in derision and poked his head out of the doorway, tasting the air with deeply drawn breaths through his nose. “Fuck, the bitch is right!” he exclaimed when the familiar stench of beetle finally hit his nose. His silver ears swiveled to catch a deep, distant thump, followed by a hollow boom that seemed to vibrate through the earth and into the floorboards beneath his feet. “And they're already here.”

 

Sango, Akago and Miroku all swore colorfully and simultaneously, springing away from the table and out of the house, making a beeline for the weapons shed. Feeling a tug on the bottom of his hakama, Inuyasha glanced down at the worried face of Shippo.

 

“Aren't you going to get Kagome?” he asked, his jeweled green shining eyes brighter than normal.

 

“Feh. No time. She'll be safe enough with Kirara and I gotta help protect this village.”

 

“But-“

 

Inuyasha gave the kit a rough pat on the head. “Quit your sniveling. For a pathetic human, Kagome ain't that bad with a bow.” Of their own accord, his eyes were drawn to the tops of the trees visible over the village gates, trees that Kagome would have flown over on her way back home. `She'd better be okay,' he added silently to himself as he fingered Tetsusaiga's hilt, `or Sango will have to find herself a new firecat.'

 

XxxxxxxX

 

Sliding off of Kirara's back and onto unsteady legs, Kagome groaned and rubbed her aching butt with both hands. As fast as Kirara could fly, it was a long trip back to the well and she'd been riding for hours, from morning well into late afternoon. Unfortunately, she had several more tedious, boring hours of travel ahead of her, and it didn't help that every time she dozed off, she dreamt that it was Sesshomaru she was riding. Kami, did she ache.

 

With a frustrated sigh, she placed her hands on her lower back and stretched out the kinks, wincing at the popping of her bones. A roll of her neck later and she was hobbling to the little stream next to which they'd landed, licking her dry lips in anticipation of a cool drink. She groaned as she sank to her knees, plopping ungracefully on her backside when her inner thighs screamed in protest. Maybe Souta was right: she was getting soft. Months ago, an extended jaunt on Kirara's back would have been uncomfortable but not nearly this debilitating.

 

Out of shape or not, the crisp stream water felt like heaven on her wind-chapped skin and tasted just as fresh and wonderful as it ever had. Cupping her hands in the current, she splashed her neck, chest and shoulders, sighing and moaning in utter delight. With a furtive glance around her and seeing no one but Kirara, who was rolling in a sunny patch of weeds, she kicked off her shoes and waded into the water, giving in her childish urge to wiggle her toes in the mud at the bottom of the stream.

 

Tall, fronded water plants waved lazily as the current dragged at their slender stalks and iridescent blue dragonflies hovered over the more sluggish parts of the stream. As Kagome watched, a sleek flash of silver swallowed one fat dragonfly, only momentarily encouraging the rest to fly higher over the water. But as the sun beat down and the water flowed, the grasses swayed and the heavy drone of insects resumed, they grew less cautious and floated lower and lower toward the surface of the water.

 

Kagome yawned widely and scratched her belly. She could use a real nap on solid, unmoving ground where the threat of periodic groping was nonexistent. And on the opposite bank of the shallow stream, as if it were placed there for her use by the kami themselves, grew an enormous willow tree, its spindly branches forming an inviting, shady canopy as they arched over the bank to trail in the stream. Giving her stomach another good scratch, she grinned and slid her feet toward her awaiting bower, enjoying the way the silky silt slid over her toes.

 

Kirara growled behind her suddenly and she spun around, almost losing her balance and pin wheeling her arms to avoid an unintentional bath. Her fur bristled and lips snarling, Kirara glared into the trees with red eyes, her tail thrashing the air behind her.

 

“What is it, Kirara?” Kagome asked as she staggered back toward the shore, suddenly regretting that she had left her bow and arrows so far from the water. The firecat's growl grew into a roar as the forest exploded outward, leaves and slender branches whizzing through the air and flying into the stream. A hulking, antennaed monstrosity lunged out of the hole in the foliage, its black shell seemingly painted with an oil slick and shimmering in the sunlight. Six spiny legs dug into the soft earth when it landed and it clicked protruding black mandibles at her, raising two pieces of the shell on its back and buzzing its transparent, veined wings.

 

It was…a giant beetle. Kagome hated bugs.

 

Screaming shrilly, Kagome lunged out of the water toward her bow, shuddering as its faceted eyes followed her movements and reflected dozens of pale, disgusted Kagomes back at her. Apparently, it wasn't terribly bright because it didn't leap at her until she had her bow in hand and an arrow confidently nocked. Gritting her teeth against the willies crawling her spine, Kagome release her arrow just as bug took flight, its wings nothing more than gray smudges beneath the inky, raised shells.

 

Her arrow hit the underside of the beetle with a wet crunch and it had time to flail its legs wildly before it exploded in a dazzling spray of pink light, whirling bits of shell and rusty-brown slime. Kagome's stomach tried to revolt at the sudden stench but a second chattering black bug sprang out of the trees toward her. Swallowing the bile that rose in her throat, she nocked another arrow.

 

“Get out of the way, Kirara!” Kagome shouted as the cat leapt into her line of sight.

 

Marginally more intelligent than its buddy, this beetle didn't bother to wait before attacking, though it gave Kagome reason to doubt her first impression when it presented her with its pointed, armored posterior. Having no qualms against shooting it in the ass, Kagome was about to fire when it expelled a dark cloud of noxious gas. Kirara whimpered and fell on her side, loosing her large form in a half-hearted burst of flame. Gagging and choking, tears streaming from stinging eyes, Kagome retreated back into the water, nocking the arrow by instinct and squinting through the blur toward her target. Fortunately, it was almost too big to miss, especially now that it was flying toward her.

 

With another shriek of outrage, Kagome fired, just as a thin streak of green light sliced through the beetle's body, cutting it in half messily. Her arrow, surrounded by a corona of pure, pink light, hit milliseconds after, and the bug popped with a thunderous crack. Crouching low in the water as shards of shell spun through the air over her head, she cursed the foul luck that recently liked to land her with slimly, stinky demons instead of the kind that just turned into dust when killed.

 

As the beetle's miasma cleared and no other giant insects leapt out of the trees to attack, Kagome coughed into her hand and scowled at a large chunk of beetle as it washed downstream. `Beetles…now what does that remind me of?' Chewing on her lip, she began to scrub at a glob of yuck that had become glued to her leg until she was struck with an uncomfortable thought, `Oh no! I forgot to tell Sango about the blank decoder ring!'

 

So caught up with Sesshomaru's attentions and the unexpected loss of her secret weapon, the need to tell Sango her suspicions concerning the beetles' uncanny ability to predict the slayers' movements had slipped her mind entirely. `Then again,' Kagome pursed her lips in thought, mentally reviewing her opponents' blundering attacks, `these beetles weren't that tough. Maybe Sango was mistaken? Maybe they didn't find the blank, after all?'

 

“Pathetic insects,” stated a calm, mildly disdainful voice that alternately gave her the shivers and pissed her off.

 

`Damn it, damn it, damn it!' she threw a temper tantrum in her mind, pounding mental fists on the ground. Couldn't he have waited to confront her until after she acquired another ring? Uncurling and splashing out of the stream, she glared at the miraculously pristine Sesshomaru, arms and legs akimbo as she stood on the bank. “I was doing just fine on my own, thank you very much.”

 

He eyed her gooey shirt skeptically and Kagome immediately glanced down, pulling the soggy garment from her chest to hide the fact that she was wearing a purple bra under a cream-colored top. Why, why did Sesshomaru always catch her in a wet tee shirt? He must have titty radar hidden up his empty sleeve.

 

“You have traveled far from the village,” Sesshomaru stated the obvious with a knowing quirk of his eyebrows.

 

Kagome glared at him and shifted her weight nervously, not liking being caught alone with the taiyoukai and without her ring. “I'm going home, Sesshomaru.”

 

“Yes,” he replied as a slow, sinful smile crept over his lips.

 

Her brow furrowed and she scratched the back of her neck, wondering what she wasn't getting. Shouldn't he be protesting, if he wanted to get her in the sack? “I'm going home,” she repeated, just in case he hadn't heard her correctly the first time.

 

`The euphemisms young people use these days,' Sesshomaru mused. `I must make a note to stay abreast of common parlance. My slang is getting rusty.' He nodded and agreed, “Whatever you prefer to call it.”

 

`What else would I call it?' Kagome wondered. `He's thinking something perverted. Now, if I were a horny dog demon, how would I interpret that?' She drew a blank. “Sesshomaru, I don't think you understand. I am going. Home.”

 

“I understand you, my coy little miko, and I accept your offer,” he said, and then adjusted himself to show her just how much it pleased him.

 

“My offer?” Kagome squeaked, completely confused and more than a little embarrassed. His mind was definitely wallowing in the gutter, if his hand on his groin was any indication, but what could he find sexy about her going home? And what offer was he talking about? Stupid, stupid Inuyasha for breaking her decoder ring. With great hesitation, she asked, “You…want to come home with me?”

 

He blinked languidly and pulled the scabbards of his swords from his sash. `We will take each other home,' he thought as he smirked at her, the points of his fangs peeking over his lips, `many times before moon rises while you scream my name to the heavens.' His smile widened as the thought of just how at home he would feel buried in her body drained the blood from his head and inflated his dick. His sash soon found a new home coiled over his swords.

 

Drawling smoothly, he spoke as if the answer was clear to both of them and she was merely playing hard to get, “Your offer from this morning, little miko. Though I did not expect you to travel such a great distance, I am sure you had your reasons.” His patronizing tone implied that any such reasons could not be mentioned in polite company.

 

Kagome took a deep breath and stepped backward, her eyes locked on his hand as he undid the clasps of his armor. `Oh my god, oh my god, he's stripping!' She began to feel light-headed, and then remembered to breath. `All he needs is a little techno music. Is he wearing a thong under that?' She took another step backward, blushing enough for the both of them as an oiled Sesshomaru did the bump-and-grind through her imagination, wearing nothing but a black codpiece and a tuxedo collar. She'd tucked a few bills into his G before she came to her senses. `If I don't stop him, I'm going to find out!'

 

“What offer, Sesshomaru?” she said as sharply as she could muster, considering the fact that she was torn between the desire to see what kind of underwear Sesshomaru wore and fear that he wouldn't be wearing them long enough for her to appreciate them. “And I've traveled so far because I'm flying home on Kirara!”

 

His hands stilled on the ties of his hakama and he fixed her with a pointed, golden stare, “You are going home.”

 

“Yes,” she exclaimed and nodded vigorously, relieved that he'd stopped undressing. Well, not relieved so much as disappointed. No! Relieved! Definitely relieved.

 

“I see,” he said, then nodded as he jerked loose the knot that held his hakama and released the ties, letting it puddle at his feet. So, the miko wanted a rendezvous en route to her destination. He could respect that.

 

His kimono was long enough to cover his boy parts, the hem reaching mid thigh, but Kagome could certainly see that there was activity going on underneath. He stepped out of his pants, lean, corded muscles flexing under skin that had not an ounce of body fat. Twin magenta stripes wrapped around his ankles and his long toes ended in neatly manicured claws. Fine white hairs powered his legs and her fingers itched to see if they felt as downy-soft as they looked. Not that she was looking. Now, how was she going to get out of this mess?

 

“Um,” she said as she backpedaled into the stream, twisting her fingers together and trying to look anywhere but at him, only to find her eyes drawn back to the peak in his kimono, which threatened to blow open in the lightest of breezes. `Boxers or briefs? Boxers or briefs? Boxers or-' “Ah, ummm, Sesshomaru, I didn't make any offers.”

 

“Of course, you did,” he purred as he stalked forward. “You made your intentions clear and then left, expecting me to follow.”

 

`Poor miko, so flustered. She shakes in her desire for me. So, I shall not make her wait.' He ran his eyes over her lithe form, still splattered with demon gore and far too clothed for his taste. It was a pity that the beetle youkai smelled so fetid; he would have enjoyed licking her clean. That wasn't saying he couldn't dirty her with something that tasted better and then lick her clean. Not a bad idea, that.

 

She squealed as she danced backward through the water. She had touched his thigh at breakfast: was that what this was about? But that had just been a little experiment! “No! No, I didn't! That wasn't…I didn't mean…Eep!”

 

A strong breeze gusted over the stream and parted Sesshomaru's kimono, finally providing the answer to the ultimate question that had occupied her brain: none at all. He wore no boxers, no briefs, no thong, no traditional cloth to gird his loins. Twirling around, she pressed cold hands to her hot cheeks and tried to catch her breath. A moment later, she realized that he could sneak up behind her with that…that…where did he put that, anyway? And looking at it was better than feeling it suddenly, and without warning, on her… She shivered, and in the interest of self-preservation, spun back around to face him. To her immense discomfort, she found that he'd advanced into the water and was now only a few feet away from her.

 

Unable to help herself, she glanced down, morbidly fascinated by the gleaming, swollen head that stared back up at her. `The carpet matches the drapes,' she thought and suppressed a hysterical little giggle that was fighting its way up her throat. `And it has stripes, too! Do not laugh at Sesshomaru's penis,' she warned herself as she put more distance between her and the bobbing rod that prevented his kimono from closing again.

 

“There's been a misunderstanding!” Kagome exclaimed as he moved to close the space between them, thrusting her hands in front of her and waving them frantically. His eyes narrowed and she rushed on hastily, “I'm sorry, but that was just, um, something humans do to, um, show affection. It wasn't an invitation to, um, ah…”

 

`Wrong thing to say?' she winced as his eyes narrowed further and the corners of his mouth tensed. Oh, what she would give to hear his thoughts now. Would he kill her for denying him? Force her to finish him? The longer he stood there and glared at her, the more nervous she became. When he finally broke the silence, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

 

“I see,” he said and Kagome had the urge to check the stream to make sure it hadn't frozen over.

 

How could he have misread her signs so completely? She had caressed his leg, rubbing her scent on it, and left. If that didn't mean, “let's go have sex,” then he didn't know what did.

 

He'd come so close to winning this infernal bet! Now, he was standing in a river, being denied relief by a human girl, wearing nothing but his kimono and sporting a massive boner. To force a woman was to have no honor, but he had to come out of this with his dignity in tact and her bed still attainable.

 

She was duly impressed by his size, perhaps even intimidated, and that helped to sooth his male ego (though not the tension in his balls). She had also mentioned feeling affectionate toward him, which had to bring him closer to his goal. To his surprise, he realized that he wasn't quite as angry as he thought he should be and that her fondness for him made his heart a little lighter. Such emotions were potentially dangerous, he knew, but remarkably pleasant. He supposed that a little mutual affection couldn't hurt, especially considering how much time he planned to spend with her once she succumbed to his charms.

 

“Would you please put your clothes back on?” Kagome whispered when she was reasonably sure that she would survive yet another bizarre encounter with the taiyoukai.

 

His scowl softened into a smirk and he flexed a muscle in his groin. Brown eyes widening as his third leg saluted her, she tried to stifle a little gasp that was music to his hears. `You want me, girl. I will let your eyes feast what you so cruelly deny yourself.'

 

“No,” he said, slipping his kimono off of his left shoulder and catching it in his right hand, then tossed it to the girl. “Wash this while I bathe.”

 

Kagome glared at the mane of white hair that (unfortunately) covered his backside as he strolled up the stream, but decided against saying anything. `That could have gone a lot worse. Just wash the damn shirt and be thankful you've got both arms.'

 

“I suggest you bathe, as well, miko,” he threw over his shoulder. “You smell like a charnel house.”

 

“That was less than romantic,” she grumbled under her breath, forgetting that he could hear her as easily as if she had shouted it. Kneeling in the water and splashing around, she got as much beetle innards off of her as possible, then gave the taiyoukai's kimono a quick rinse. At least, it would have been quick if she'd kept her mind on her task instead of ogling the nude Adonis striking practiced poses upstream.

 

`Just you wait, Sesshomaru,' she mused, watching one sculpted cheek flex as he tossed his hair and shifted his weight from his right foot to his left. Boldly gleaming in the sunlight, a pair of stripes slashed across each ass cheek, spelling “Spank me!” to her hormonal, overwrought brain. She wanted to squeeze that butt so badly that she ached, and she was damn sure that he knew it. `I'll find another ring and then we'll talk. Or whatever.'

 

Her chore finished, she waited until his face was turned away from her to throw his sodden garment at his head. With a deft move, he snatched it out of the air and gave her a steel glower.

 

“All done!” she chirped with a bright, ersatz smile, splashing out of the stream toward Kirara.

 

With a wide, lazy yawn, the firecat climbed to her feet and shook her coat, then burst into a large ball of flame, emerging as a giant, saber-toothed lion. Leaving a naked taiyoukai standing in the stream staring at her, Kagome climbed aboard and gave him a little wave as Kirara lifted into the air.

 

XxxxxxxX

 

Sesshomaru gazed into the black maw of the Bone Eater's well, the dim stars above providing more than enough light to see that Kagome was no longer at the bottom. He had already known this because her beetley scent had led into the well and not back out of it and the flash of blue light that had followed her entry had pushed against his aura with a tingle of old magic.

 

“Where would he get plastic? I brought it back from my time!” she had shouted at his brother. Her time…plastic…

 

Running a clawed hand over the rough edge of the well, he felt a dim echo of its power thrum through the wooden walls. He should have known that a woman dressed like her would not be of this world…or this time, to be exact.

 

Why had he not realized it before? Silly pink drying sheets, pulpy scrolls bound at one edge, colored wax sticks used for drawing, even her brightly colored, tantalizing undergarments: these were not items from any village he had ever known. They pointed to a distant future, and if the length of her skirt was an example of up-and-coming fashion, a future that he would enjoy immensely.

 

Just the same, a chill was settling in his stomach, a growing feeling of unease that tickled his insides with tiny, fluttering feet. It had started the moment he had watched her leap into the darkness to be swallowed by light, and had only grown colder and more invasive. He was beginning to regret his decision to remain hidden in his treetop perch, obscured by the pre-dawn gloom, instead of snatching her out of the air before she disappeared.

 

He heard the golem approach long before she spoke, her footsteps silent as she flattened the dewy grass beneath her sandals. `I would not fuck her,' Sesshomaru thought, ignoring the clay priestess and her amphibious familiars even as she stopped to stand by his side.

 

She sighed, the mournful sound of the wind flowing over the mouth of a jug, and said, “I had not expected it to be you.”

 

One sentence, and already this woman bored him, if she could even be called such. He had heard that Kagome was her reincarnation and wanted to laugh out loud at the foolishness. There was no comparison.

 

“It should have been him,” she continued, not at all intimidated by his oppressive silence. “He should have moved on.”

 

`He should have done many things,' Sesshomaru was tempted to point out, but refrained. The shell of a priestess was beneath his notice and therefore not worthy of a response. She could prattle on until she decomposed before he'd deign to acknowledge her.

 

“No matter,” she sighed again and Sesshomaru suppressed the degrading urge to shudder. “Soon, he will not have a choice.” With long, graceful fingers, she traced a knot in the grain of the wood, following the ridges and whorls to its center, then spiraling back out. Over and over, she caressed it, her sad eyes fixed on the path of her fingertips.

 

Sesshomaru didn't know what she meant and could care less. Assuming that the odd, one-sided conversation was over, he turned away and began the long trek to rejoin his small pack, left deep in the forest to sleep away the dawn.

 

“Tell him…I did, too.”

 

Her last sentence drifted to him on a chill breeze and the finality of it was fuel to the knot of dread that was rooting into his stomach. `She knows something,' he realized, and stopped walking, glancing at her over his shoulder.

 

The priestess Kikyou was gone.

 

Xxx Present Day xxX

 

For what seemed like an eternity, she stared at her hand, her heart skipping and jumping in her breast like a child who'd had too much caffeine. After all that searching and digging through cereal, she'd finally found her holy grail: the dog decoder ring. More precious than sapphire, the blue plastic pricked her palm with unfinished edges and heady potential. She would keep this one safe and secret, away from prying, canine eyes and destructive claws.

 

She hadn't fully understood the draw of the Shikon Jewel on others until the moment Inuyasha had broken her ring. The power was addictive, granting her a control over others and her own life that she'd never had before and now couldn't live without. It promised answers to her questions, solutions to her problems, an end to her uncertainty. Deep in the recesses of her subconscious, she knew this was false and that the ring had led to a whole new level of frustration, but the knowledge stayed buried, unwanted, and unexamined.

 

Her senses tingled at the base of her skull and she dragged her eyes away from the ring to stare out the dark kitchen window. Faceless shadows seethed just beyond the glass, watching with invisible eyes that seemed to peel away the skin to see the flesh beneath and squeeze the thoughts from her brain cells.

 

“Buyo?” she whispered, her voice quavering as her fingers closed over the ring in her palm. “This isn't funny.” His shiny green eyes remained conspicuously absent from the window and Kagome shuddered, no longer able to deny the fact that something was out there looking at her, waiting for something, listening for something?

 

Like a giant gong ringing in her soul, Kagome suddenly resonated with the need to get back to the past. She knew in the very marrow of her bones that she had made a grave mistake by not telling Sango about the blank ring that broadcasted human thoughts. Her priorities had been in the wrong place and the price she might pay for being selfish would be more than she could afford. Stuffing the dog ring in her pajamas and making a mad dash for the kitchen door, Kagome hoped that she could forestall whatever terrible consequences were coming, if only she could make it to the well RIGHT NOW!

 

A deafening explosion knocked her off her feet, shattering the windows in the kitchen, and a wave of heat washed over her skin. Rolling to her hands and knees, she lunged for the door that now swung ajar and canted drunkenly on its hinges. Dark, humanoid shapes were silhouetted against brilliant orange flame and one twisted, pointing toward her. Another shape, the body long and serpentine topped by a shaggy head, undulated into the air to stand on a coiled tail. Heart pounding frantically with fear for her family's and the well's safety, Kagome cursed the fact that her bow was inconveniently stuffed in her closet. But when had she ever let unbeatable odds deter her?

 

Another explosion ripped the air apart and a heavy ceramic vase teetered precariously in its place on top of a cabinet, and then tumbled forward. It met the back of Kagome's skull with a sharp, musical crash and Kagome was out like a light.