Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. I'd like to, but I don't.
Kagome couldn't stop shaking. Her friends looked at her, their eyes bright with concern. They didn't exactly know what to do. To leave her and give her time to deal with it wasn't an option, she obviously needed their support, yet none of them knew how to approach her. They had never, never seen her so agitated before. She had always been friendly and cheerful (except for the moments, when Inuyasha had made her angry) and right now she looked like a wreck.
In the end, it was the half-demon, who made the first step. He turned on his I-don't-care expression and 'fehed'. "Such a crap! Who cares what the bastard thinks?! What could he know?! Nothing!"
Kagome didn't respond, but Inuyasha wasn't one to give up. Not just yet. "He just wanted to get back at you, because you found his weak spot!"
The priestess finally stood up and looked at him, her eyes red and puffy. She still seemed to be rather distressed, but at least, she wasn't crying anymore. "He found mine," she said quietly.
"Are you nuts?!" Inuyasha barked at her and she winced. "It was only crap he made up in that fucking silver head of his! You made him feel embarrassed and dammit, wench, are you even listening to me?!!"
"He knew... How could he know? Had I been that obvious?" she asked herself and nervously bit her lip.
"What are you talking about?!" Inuyasha asked roughly, though he didn't want to know. It obviously concerned him, Kagome and Kikyou. Bad combination.
"What he said was true," Kagome answered sadly. "Not everything, but most of it... I really did love you, Inuyasha. And I wanted you to love me back so much that it hurt," she confessed.
Inuyasha looked down at his bare feet. He didn't want to see the pain in her eyes.
"But the one you wanted to be with wasn't me. It was Kikyou, always Kikyou. And – I don't know how it occurred to me, but I really thought that if I could improve my abilities, you would start to like me... Sesshoumaru was right, it was partly the reason why I tried so hard." She sighed and run her hand over her face. "I truly am a hypocrite."
Sango braced herself. It was time to intervene. "You are no hypocrite, Kagome-chan!" she said sternly. "How could you even say such a thing? You from all people!" The priestess cast a timid look at her and she had to wonder what had happened to the self-confident, cheerful girl that she had come to know and love. "Kagome-chan," she said softly, crossed the distance between them and then hugged her younger friend. "You've sacrificed so much, helped so many people. You did that because you have a pure heart. If not, you would never be able to purificate the Shikon no Tama."
Kagome laid her chin on the exterminator's shoulder and sighed. She felt far better, however...
"A pure heart, huh?"
Sango mentally winced. "You know, in my head it didn't sound so lame."
The priestess smiled a little and yawned. "I'm so tired..."
"No wonder. It was a long day, after all," Sango explained. "I think," she begun and released her friend, "that we should relax. For a change."
Kagome's face lit up. "Relax... Sounds great," she agreed and let the exterminator drag her away from the saddened half-demon and the unusualy quiet monk.
Said monk smiled. "It was a good fight, don't you think, Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha gave him a depressed look. It didn't seem like he was able to respond right now and therefore Miroku went on. "Anger, insults, blood and tears... But you can't say it wasn't interesting. And who would guess that our cold and haughty Sesshoumaru-sama knew all those things about Kagome-sama? He gave her more attention than you would think, didn't he? Then again, no wonder. She has the face of an angel, a perfect figure—"
The half-demon finally snapped out of it and hurried to make the damned lecher shut up, before he could say something perverted. One well-aimed strike and the problem was solved.
Oh, how he enjoyed living in an era, where the violent way of solving problems was allowed and encouraged!
Sesshoumaru was still rather edgy. He had been roving through the Forest of Inuyasha for a while now, hoping for an encounter with something, anything he could tear into shreds. Too bad that everything in a radius of ten kilometers had felt it and had hurried to hide from his anger. A wise decision, which had saved many lives, but upset the lord even further.
In his desperate urge to find some kind of distraction he raised his head and took a deep breath, tasting the warm air. Being a dog demon, and a strong one, he smelled a lot of things. Unfortunately, none of them was interesting enough to be deemed worthy of his attention.
Well, maybe except one.
Steam? Obviously, there were hotsprings near there. That will have to do. He had always liked soaking in hot water. It was relaxing. And he could use a bath, anyway...
Not wanting to lose his precious time, he set out for the hot springs. The sun was setting at the moment and it was already pretty dark in the forest, so he wasn't afraid of any unwanted interruptions. Besides, he was the infamous Lord of the Western Lands, he wasn't afraid of anything. When he finally reached his destination, he let out a quiet snort. The hot springs were small. Much, much smaller than his. Though he had to admit that they weren't that bad. At least there were boulders in there, providing sufficient privacy. And they smelled nice.
Checking his surroundings for the last time, the demon lord slowly took off his mokomoko-sama. The fur was soon followed by his armor, swords and neatly folded clothes. Then he picked up his 'provisory' sash, which was almost as ugly as the girl's, and tied up his long silver hair, so it wouldn't get wet. It wasn't a simple task, considering that he could use only one hand. He mentally cursed his stupid half-brother for cutting off his arm. Then he cursed himself for being so careless and giving him the oportunity to do that.
He sat down in the hot water and leant against a slightly colder boulder, almost letting out an exhausted sigh. He had had a really long and draining day. And it had begun so well! In the morning he had a lot of time for himself. Rin had been playing with Jaken, thus he hadn't had to worry about her spending time near his ill-behaved half-brother. Even Kagura had stopped bothering him and instead had chosen to annoy the neurotic wolf demon. Then SHE had had to show up and ruin it all. First the crappy piece of work, which she had the audacity to call a sash. He would never wear such a cheep and ugly thing. Then Jaken's foolish suggestion. Apologize to the priestess? Ridiculous. Inuyasha, shouting harsh words and poiting their father's fang at him had been just enough to piss him off. His peaceful day had been destroyed by a bunch of incompetent fools, but it hadn't stopped here. No. SHE had jumped out of nowhere and had started that stupid fight and then, when he had won said fight, Rin had showed up and looked at him with those eyes.
Sesshoumaru finally sighed. He couldn't stand that look. He just couldn't. Crying females were something that always made him feel very uncomfortable. Maybe he inherited it from his father. And the priestess cried, too. He mentally humphed. Serves her right. For all the things she dared to say about this Sesshoumaru. Such lies...
The scratches on his cheek finally began to heal. He looked down and for a moment studied his features, reflected in the water mirror. Maybe, just maybe he looked a little femine. Alright, he was the striking image of his mother. Especially with his hair up like that. He growled and yanked the sash out of his hair. However, this Sesshoumaru most certainly does not look like a gay.
He closed his eyes and sank under water. That priestess... To come with such a ridiculous lie just to annoy me... Surely, she had to be desperate. Lying on the ground of the hot springs, he smirked to himself. The smirk, however, was soon replaced by a frown. She did lie, did she not? Suddenly, he wasn't so sure with himself. Her other argumets had been rather valid.
He slowly emerged from water, but stayed immersed deep in his thoughts. A gay? Is this really what—
"—he thinks about me? A whore?"
The demon's eyes widened in surprise. Impossible! He stayed still and listened, the sound of two female voices finally reaching his ears. They are right here! he thought and immediately chastised himself for letting his guard down. He had to disappear, and quickly.
Before he could grab his clothes and run for it, he got a view of a pink, shimmering barrier, which, much to his dismay, blocked his way. And his things were on the other side, too!
"I knew that the Shikon would be useful!" came triumphal voice of the priestess. "I wonder if Naraku used it like this?"
"I don't think so, Kagome-chan," the exterminator said.
Sesshoumaru stilled and hoped that they would hurry. This day is a disaster, he thought as his sensitive hearing picked up rustling of clothes and splashing of water.
"And you didn't answer me, what did you think when you saw me for the first time?" the priestess asked.
"Well..." The exterminator didn't seem to like the question. "I didn't think that you looked like a whore..."
"But?"
"But... I thought... that you were some kind of freak."
Sesshoumaru smirked.
"Sango-chan!"
"What? Your clothes were weird and you were following a half-demon!"
"Oh my god! Does it mean that everybody else thinks so, too?!"
Most probably.
"Maybe not. I wasn't in the best shape back then and Sesshoumaru... well, let's say that his view of the world is slightly twisted and his opinion doesn't count."
They both started to laugh, while Sesshoumaru silently fumed.
"But I must say I was very surprised," the exterminator said, when they finally stopped laughing. "I have never seen you so angered for a while now. It kind of reminded me of your quarrels with Inuyasha, when you... still... " There she paused. "Oh. My. God."
Sesshoumaru didn't understand why, but the older girl seemed to be shoked. He liked it much better than her amusement.
The priestess sighed. "Yeah," she said quietly, "I think I maybe liked him."
What?!
"What?!"
"Hey! Don't 'what' me! He's really hot, you know?!" she barked. "Besides, it doesn't matter anymore. I hate him now! I will never forgive him for all the things he said! Not even if he brought me flowers!"
Sesshoumaru snorted. I don't need your forgivness, wench!
"Saying those things about my sash?! Unforgivable! I know it looks kinda shabby, but I had been working on it for two days! Because of it I missed The Muppet Show! Souta saw it and said that it had been pretty cool" the priestess went on. She was unstoppable. The exterminator could only nod.
The demon lord was deep in thought. She did it? That explains a lot. Her overstated reaction, for instance. But I still wouldn't wear it.
"—damn that needle to Hell! It still stings!" Sesshoumaru could hear her growling. Then he felt a sudden shift in her mood. "Sango-chan?" she asked mischievously.
"What is it, Kagome-chan?" The exterminator sounded curious.
"Let's burn it."
Both girls snickered and Sesshoumaru almost pouted. They cannot burn it, it is mine!
"That would be an appropriate ending," the older girl said, amusement still detectable in her voice. "But I think you should just give it to someone back in the village," she suggested.
"You are right, Sango-chan! I bet there is someone there, who will appreciate it. Not like that damn, arrogant—"
"Kagome-chan! I think it's time to let it go!"
The priestess pouted. "I know," she admited. "But I can't! He really pissed me off! And you know how long it usually takes for me to calm down!"
"And you believe that calling him names will help?" Sango asked.
At least one of the women is reasonable.
The younger girl took a moment to think it through. Then she nodded. "Yeah."
"Then what are you waiting for?"
This Sesshoumaru takes it back. They both are immature.
A splashing of water indicated that the priestess stood up. Then she took a deep breathe and started to yell. "YOU DAMN, ARROGANT, HAUGHTY, STUPID, GAY, RUDE SON OF A – OUCH!!!"
Now, he considered himself a calm and collected person. But even he couldn't be collected enough to ignore the ill-bred girl's words. And so, he picked up a little sharp rock, aimed and shot the priestess in her nude buttock; then he watched as she yelped and started to panic. It was an amusing sight, not to mention slightly arousing. He knew he should look away, but he didn't. After all, he was no gay.
"What happened?" the exterminator aked, alarmed.
The priestess rubbed her stinging backside. "Something bit me!"
"What?" The older girl stood up and looked round. Sesshoumaru hid behind his boulder, fully convinced that he had given away his location. He couldn't believe the exterminator's next words. "I don't see anything suspicious. Maybe you just imagined it?"
"Imagined my ass! My ass! Ouch, it hurts! Let's get outta here!"
While the two girls were preparing themselfs to leave, Sesshoumaru smirked. The priestess of Shikon no Tama. The legendary demon exterminator. Neigher of them registred presence of a demon lord, sitting only two metrers from them. He shaked his silver head. Unbelievable.
As soon as the barrier dissolved and the girls left, Sesshoumaru began to dress. His mood was a little bit better. The display of childishness proved to be rather amusing. Sure, there had been moments, when he had to strain himself to not kill them, but most of the time he had enjoyed himself.
So the priestess was attracted to me, he thought, foolish girl. He bound Tokijin and Tenseiga to his hip, still replaying the girl's words in his head. "I will never forgive him for all the things he said!" Like this Sesshoumaru wants your forgivness. "Not even if he brought me flowers!" What does it mean, anyway? Why are human females so obsessed with them? He looked down and picked one of those yellow flowers that Rin liked so much. He didn't see anything special.
"Tch. Human females."
Rin sneezed.
Jaken woke up and frantically looked round. When he didn't see anything suspicious, he let out a sigh of relief and cast his big yellow eyes on the little girl, sitting curled on the opposite side of their camp. She still appeared to be unhappy, but from different reason than before. She feared for her lord and blamed herself for his rash leaving. It had been her fault. Now he was gone and she didn't know if he would ever want to see her again.
"Rin, how come you are not sleeping? Sesshoumaru-sama will be displeased with you, when he finds out that you are still up!"
The girl started to sob, but Jaken didn't seem to notice. Instead, he continued his brabble. "Don't you remember how angry he was, when you disobeyed him just a few hours ago? Do you want to make it worse?"
Rin glanced up and then looked somwhere behind his shoulder, surprised expression on her young face. Jaken swallowed and said a quick prayer. Five seconds later he landed in a thorny bush, far from the camp.
"Jaken-sama!" Rin got up, intending to help him, but was soon stopped.
"Rin."
The little girl slowly turned round, but didn't muster enough courage to look at her beloved Sesshoumaru-sama; she felt too guilty to do that. As he approached, she started to be increasingly more nervous, and when he stretched out his hand to her, she closed her eyes and winced, expecting some kind of physical punishment. After all, Jaken-sama got beaten all the time.
"Rin, open your eyes," Sesshoumaru ordered and she obeyed.
Right before her eyes was her lord's hand and in it small yellow flower. She gasped as he handed it to her. Only then did she look up, her face was tear-stained, but bearing a wide radiant smile.
The demon lord's eyes slightly softened, as he watched his little ward cuddle the seemingly insignificant present.
Human females...
A/N: One month without internet. Somehow I survived. If you want to kill meyou can try, but you will never find me! I'm better at hiding then Naraku! Ku, ku, ku, ku!