InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Flower Girl ❯ Ingenuity ( Chapter 65 )

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

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

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Kagome stared ahead of herself absently, mind elsewhere as the group once again made their way across the lands in search of the last shards.

There weren't that many left - there were maybe three or four more shards to find - and she was glad. This whole journey had taken so many years...

It was time for it to end - so that they all could move on with their lives.

Her gaze sharpened, then, and she looked at the figure walking at a steady pace ahead of her, silver hair swaying rhythmically.

Sesshoumaru.

It had become apparent that he was scheming when the dragon youkai, Ryozen, had come to him, bringing some object that the Inu Lord claimed would bring about Naraku's downfall.

At first, Kagome had decided she didn't want to know what he was up to, but over the days since, she had to admit, her curiosity had begun to eat her alive - she would ask him when they stopped for the night to explain this plan of his.

Hopefully, he would.

With a sigh, she cleared her throat, then coughed. Of all the rotten timing... to get stuck with a cold now...

Sesshoumaru caught the rough sound of her cough, and decided that they would make camp early that night.

"Jaken."

The little toad was pulled from his worried contemplation of his master's miko, and rushed forward as fast as his little legs would carry him.

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Go to the nearest village and buy honey, and chamomile. Also," he sent a glance back towards a rather sheepish looking Kagome, "any herbs good for pain and fever." He took a small bag of coin from his obi, and handed it to the toad, who bowed and climbed aboard Ah-Uhn, taking off as soon as he was seated.

Kagome slumped slightly then, suddenly feeling tired. "This hasn't been my week. First poison," she started when that brought a low growl, "and now a cold."

Sesshoumaru glanced back at her from the corner of his eye, and noticed that she was flushed and exhausted, and came to a halt, turning to the group.

"We will stop now." He raised his voice just slightly to call out to his brother. "Inuyasha... take Kanna and find a good place to make camp."

The hanyou scowled and yelled out, "Why the heck are we stopping now? It's only mid-afternoon!"

"My miko is ill. Do not question me further, hanyou."

Inuyasha scowled even harder. "Feh! Weak humans!"

Before he could start a rant, however, Kanna took ahold of his sleeve and pulled him off with her. "Stop arguing, Inuyasha. You know in the end you will only end up doing as Sesshoumaru-sama has asked." She leveled him with an icy blue gaze.

"And besides... if Kagome ended up getting really sick because you would not stop, you know you'd only end up feeling guilty."

The hanyou tossed a glance at the miko, and his ears drooped at her flushed cheeks and tired eyes, then nodded. "Fine. Let's go."

Sesshoumaru eyed his miko with scarcely hidden concern, moving forward, he picked her up, and moved a little away from the road to sit down against some rocks.

As he did, the rest of the pack gathered round, though Sango kept the children away from their sick mother.

"Why did you not tell me you were ill?" he asked, quietly

Kagome glanced up at him. "Well, I didn't really realize I was feeling this badly. It kinda just hit me all of a sudden."

He met her gaze appraisingly, then put a cool hand to her forehead. "You are fevered. This 'cold'... it is not serious?"

She heard the concern in his voice, and smiled tiredly at him. "Nope. In my era, I would still be expected to work."

He raised a brow at that. "Hn. It is good that you are not in that era, then."

"Yeah." With a weary sigh, she snuggled closer into his chest, and closed her eyes.

They sat that way until Inuyasha and Kanna reappeared, and motioned for them all to follow, leading them to a secluded area that backed into a hot spring.

Sesshoumaru nodded his approval.

Within minutes, the group had camp set up, and Kagome was soon laying quietly in her sleeping bag, secretly happy that the youkai Lord had ordered a halt for the night so she could rest.

She wasn't sure how much longer she could really have gone on.

And he didn't complain once - even though the loss of time must chafe...

Inuyasha would have complained about it for days.

Her gaze softened on the daiyoukai that even now showed no sign of impatience, calmly sitting near her and quietly watching over the group.

She frowned slightly as she caught him rolling something around in his hand again.

That reminds me...

"Sesshoumaru?"

When he turned an enquiring gaze on her, she asked, "What is that in your hand? You've been playing with it for days..." she trailed off.

He watched her quietly for a few moments, then looked down at his hand.

"It is called a konjou tama. It is... used to imprison a soul - forever. There is no way to ever be freed from it."

Kagome's eyes widened, and silence fell over the camp as everyone took in what the daiyoukai had just said.

"You... you mean...?" she asked, shocked.

He met her gaze steadily, no remorse evident in his golden eyes. "Hai. This is Naraku's fate."

The silence stretched on, until the huffing of Jaken was heard, and the little toad tumbled from Ah-Uhn's back, bowing low and ignoring the silence in the camp, he handed a small package to his Lord.

"Ah, Sesshoumaru-sama, everything that you asked for is there," he croaked, then handed the bag of coin back as well.

"Taijiya. Would you prepare the tea and herbs for Kagome?" he asked politely.

She nodded, and moved to take the package, quickly setting a kettle to boil, as the silence from the rest of the group drug on.

Finally, Inuyasha asked, "Oi... so you figure to trap Naraku in that tama forever, huh?" At his brother's nod, he shook his head. "Question is, how you gonna get him in there?"

Sesshoumaru continued to stare at the small jewel in his hand. "When the last shards of the shikon are gathered, Kagome will once more fuse them together... and then we will make the aura of the konjou match that of the shikon. When Naraku comes for it..." he trailed off, looking up to meet his brother's eyes, then finished.

"He will be pulled into the konjou... and it will be over."

His words were met with another prolonged silence, as each person there contemplated the final fate of Naraku...

As Sango poured Kagome a delicately scented cup of chamomile and honey tea, she chuckled hoarsely and shook her head.

"Ingenious, plan, my Lord... and it's really, really ironic that I'm drinking chamomile tea right now..."

He quirked a brow at her as the rest of the group looked at her oddly. "And why is that, miko?"

"Because chamomile stands for ingenuity."

That effectively broke the silence, as chuckles broke out from everyone in the camp, and an amused glint flashed in Sesshoumaru's eyes for just a moment.

Ingenuity, is it?

Ironic, indeed, miko.

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A/N: Yay for smart Sesshoumaru! He's too clever by half, if you ask me. Beautiful, smart, deadly... he's got it goin' ON!

Amber