InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Trouble With Love Is... ❯ Beyond Caring ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2

Three days…

Three days in this damnable place and he still hadn't spoken to her. How the hell do you expect to have a guest if you don't even speak to them for three whole days?!

Kagome stood, leaning over the rail of the balcony adjoining her room. Even the scene of the beautiful, lush garden below could not calm her nerves as she thought about a certain infuriating demon lord.

Three days ago, he'd requested her presence in his home. He didn't exactly give a reason, some bull about Rin wanting to see her. Imagine her surprise when the little girl wasn't even there… Even so, she'd accepted since it was a good way to escape Inuyasha for a while. And it was left at that.

When they arrived at the castle, he showed the room that'd been dubbed hers quite a while back, and he was gone…

That was three freaking days ago!

Kagome just couldn't figure out why Sesshoumaru had been acting so strange lately. It started when he began to visit her more often than usual. Even if they were friends, it just didn't seem normal that he'd come around humans so much more often than he had to, not to mention his own brother.

She had to admit though, it was actually kind of nice to spend so much time with him. No one would ever believe that the cold, ivory lord had a playful side. When they were together, he seemed to be a completely different person. Rather, he was more like himself, his true self.

It took Kagome months to get over the shock of how open he was with his feelings, when years before she always thought he had none. He'd even told her about his childhood, about his beloved mother and how much she reminded him of her. It was just so… not what she would ever have expected.

What Kagome hadn't realized, at the time, was how good it made her feel. She felt so special just knowing that he was like this with no one else but his own deceased mother. And the way he looked at her when he told her these things, it made her breath catch. When he smiled those dazzling, heart-stopping smiles, it was impossible not to feel anything. But that's what she was afraid of…

She cared for Sesshoumaru, sure, and oddly enough she could tell that he cared for her a great deal as well. But it was never meant to go beyond caring…

She was supposed to love Inuyasha… right? So what kind of a sicko would she be to fall for his brother?

It wasn't a question she could have readily answered, and she hated herself for it.

****

A certain demon lord sat silently in his chambers, thinking along the same lines.

His mind was, as he always found it lately, on the young miko now residing in his palace. It took him awhile to realize it, but his feelings for her began to escalate far beyond those of friendship. As a matter of fact, he couldn't remember when he didn't feel this way.

Perhaps it started not a year or two ago, when they had first become friends…

That bastard Naraku had kidnapped his young ward, Rin, attempting to bait him. He'd have scoffed at the idea had he not felt the over-whelming instinct to protect the little girl.

He had wanted so badly to rip Naraku's head clean away, but it was impossible since he'd been badly injured fighting one of the cowardly hanyou's puppets.

That was when his brother's band came…

He couldn't believe it, he, Sesshoumaru, Great Taiyoukai of the West was about to be brought down by his hanyou half-brother, lying in a pool of his own blood and unable to defend himself.

He'd peacefully closed his eyes as he heard the accursed hanyou's triumphant growl, Tetsusaiga's enormous blade poised over his head. He would await death with honor and without fear, his only regret not being able to see the toothless, happy grin of his ward once more. But what happened next was most unexpected.

"No!" came a cry of protest

"Get outta the way, Kagome!"

"Inuyasha, don't! He can't defend himself!" What's this, someone was defending him?

"I said get out of the way wench! This bastard's gonna get what he deserves!" Inuyasha cried as he swiftly brought the blade downward. Sesshoumaru expected the piercing of his heart at any second…

"Sit!" came the command that sent the hanyou crashing face first in to the forest floor.

Sesshoumaru heard the crash, followed by what could only be his half brother's foul mouth; the clang of the untransformed fang was shortly heard thereafter.

Upon opening his eyes, the sight that greeted him was startling to say the least.

There, standing between his and his brother's prone forms was the young miko who always fought alongside his hated brother.

Her obsidian hair was longer than her remembered it, falling in silken rivers down the line of her back, it's tips curling just below her waist. She had grown more as well, filled out into woman-hood. Her sparkling sapphire eyes still held the same vivacity and fire that'd always been there, though the twin orbs shown with more wisdom and less naivety. Even her aura, though still bright and cheerful, was more calm and tranquil in it's essense. There was more control, more power surrounding her, yet she still held that slight bit of innocence. He was also pleased to find that she was no longer so scantily clad. She still wore that odd clothing, but it covered her body well enough.

She was no longer on the precipice between woman and child, Sesshoumaru realized as he watched her turn her attention to him.

"Are you alright, Sesshoumaru-sama?" she inquired tenderly, her depthless eyes already moving swiftly over his form to access the damage.

"Fine," he replied tersely, his pride taking over instantly.

"Unless it's normal for youkai to bleed freely, I don't think so," she said, her melodious voice ringing with what he thought at first to be mocking. Yet, even in his state of injury, he could detect nothing but the air of concern in her aura.

He noticed she was inching closer to him, and instinctively growled in warning.

"It's alright," she tried to ease his discomfort, "I only want to help you. Let me?" she asked him hopefully, the concern for his well-being apparent in her eyes.

He found that odd, though he knew he shouldn't. She was a miko, after all, and they were natural healers. Still, it was surprising that she would wish to heal his wounds even after all the times he tried to kill her and his brother.

Though still a bit suspicious, he nodded his consent….

A/N: Hey people, Akai is back and out from hibernation… hehe so to speak anyway. This is the second part of a… different sort of love story between our fav.pairing. Now I need your help. Please please please, read and review and tell me what you think. I don't know that I should continue this, or if I should start back on The Red again. I'm even thinking of redoing The Red so that Kagome isn't a youkai. I'm so confused, that's why I need you guys' help. Chau! And again… please please please R/R. Thanx