InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Flower Girl ❯ Mourning ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

---oOo---

The enlarged band of Naraku hunters were all uneasy. There was one reason for that.

Kagome.

For some reason, she had been distant and sad all day, but had not spoken a word about why. Inuyasha, more than any of the others, was on edge because of this; he had not forgotten the Rin lecture on fickleness, and the way Kagome had studied his icy brother for some time afterward.

He knew he was messing up badly every time he went to Kikyou, which was a lot, recently, but he couldn't stop - thus, with her mood today, he was petrified that it was because of him.

Nothing could be further from the truth, in fact, with the way she felt, and his tense expression, she was almost hoping he'd go see Kikyou... it would help calm her down once his fidgeting was away from her.

Even Sesshoumaru had pulled Sango aside and questioned her, being severely disappointed when she couldn't say what was wrong, and finally, though there was still several hours of daylight left, he called a halt, feeling that maybe she needed a rest.

Kagome was more grateful than she could ever say for the end of the days travel.

Efficiently, she went about getting camp set up, then fixed an early supper for everyone with minimal help - and then she took her bag, after a hug from Rin and Shippo, and started off.

Of course, Inuyasha opened his mouth.

"Oi! Where the heck are you goin', wench?"

She didn't turn, she just paused, and everyone could see the tightness of her shoulders - she was getting very upset - enough so that even Inuyasha could see it. Before she could answer, however, Sesshoumaru spoke up.

"Leave the miko be, half-breed. She is not stupid, she will not go far, and there is nothing anywhere near that could harm her. She obviously needs to be alone," he finished, voice firm.

Inuyasha started to sputter, but Kagome spoke up then.

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama. You're right, I just need a little time alone, and I won't go far." With a weary sigh, she continued on, not waiting for an answer, and not expecting one.

The silence left behind in the clearing was thick with tension between the brothers... and everyone there knew it was only a matter of time before it exploded - but what the rest of the group couldn't figure out was what the awkwardness was over.

Inuyasha eventually stopped staring and growling at his older brother and hopped into a tree for the night, disappearing from everyones view - this was greeted with sighs of relief by the people in the camp.

Sesshoumaru himself paid no mind to Inuyasha or anyone else, seemingly lost in his thoughts, but after Kagome had been gone for almost two hours, he stood, and walked silently off in the direction the young miko had gone. Sango and Miroku exchanged frowning glances, unsure of what to make of the odd tensions in the group lately.

"Don't worry, Sango-sama, Miroku-sama. Sesshoumaru-sama is going to make sure that Kagome-sama is okay, that's all." Rin was pressing a small collection of flowers that she'd gathered that day, and putting them into her book.

"Rin, do you know why..." here, Miroku trailed off, not sure how to ask this question, but Rin looked up at him and smiled.

"Why Inuyasha-sama is mad at Sesshoumaru-sama lately?" She giggled when Miroku nodded, surprised that she seemed to know what he was talking about.

"It's because Inuyasha-sama is getting worried that Kagome-sama will see Sesshoumaru-sama for what he really is - and that he won't look as good to her anymore." She said it with all the candid acceptance that only a child her age could, and didn't even look up when Inuyasha growled at her from his tree.

Miroku's brow went up, and he stared at the child for a moment, then looked at Sango, and shrugged, a flabbergasted expression on his face. She looked just as dumbfounded as he did.

Sesshoumaru heard most of the conversation even as he drew further from the camp, not surprised at all that his ward had picked up on what was going on around her so clearly.

She sees through the eyes of innocence - it would be hard to fool her with illusions.

Finally, he came upon the miko, and moved up behind her shoulder, looking down at her - she was seated on a rock overlooking a small drop-off. The view was certainly attractive from that high point, he mused, as he watched the vivid colors of the sunset wash across the sky.

He could see why she'd stopped here.

"Miko, what is it that you do?"

She didn't even look up from the drawing in her lap, and when he crouched down behind her and looked into her lap at it, he was hit with confusion.

She was drawing a still life of one single rose.

His brow drew into his bangs as he looked at it. She had talent - it was beautifully drawn, and the colors were amazing.

"Why this one flower," he asked, as he reached down and drew a finger over it.

"It's a crimson rose, and it stands for mourning."

Mourning? Is that why she has been sad today?

"What is it that you mourn?"

"Today is the anniversary of my father's death. Usually, my family holds a small remembrance ceremony in our shrine - but we were too far from the well for me to get back, so..." she shrugged, and nodded down at the drawing. "I figured I'd draw this, and think about him - what I remember of him, anyway."

"Hn."

Sesshoumaru didn't say anything else, he just moved to sit beside her as she continued to work on her flower...

Kagome would always remember this night, and the silent support he gave her. Of all the people she knew here, he was the only one that had offered her what she needed at that time - and the one she'd have thought least likely to even care.

It was funny how something as small as silent company could be so significant in the overall scheme of things.

---oOo---

A/N: Anyone who's ever mourned the loss of someone important to them will understand that point - sometimes, silent support is a better balm to the soul than anything else.

Amber