[IY: Ebony Silks] The Moon-Viewing Room
Feb. 26th, 2008 01:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
runicloreThe Moon-Viewing Room
Author: Amber Michelle
Genre: romance
Word count: 3733
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: rated for a bit of language.
AU/Canon: canon
Theme: homework
Notes: a sequel to Optique, more or less. Wish I'd had a beta for this one. I'm not sure it worked out the way I wanted it to.
.................................................
When he kissed her the first time, Kagome didn't try to stop him. She berated herself for it later, for not saying something or at the very least delivering a discouraging blow with her purification energy. It was unlikely anything she did would hurt the demon lord, but even he would acknowledge such a clear signal and back off.
But it didn't happen that way. Her guilt was eclipsed by another, simpler mystery that she couldn't answer with a few brutal moments of self-honesty: why?
It started, she mused, that day in the treasury.
Rome. She'd said something about Rome, and caught in her peripheral vision his eyes widening minutely, his eyebrows rising in interest. Maybe he didn't feel the need to keep up his image here, safe within the walls of the Western estate. His face betrayed surprise, his voice irritation, even his body language was sharper. He would order Jaken to fetch something, and his hand would whip to the side, pointing, to send the imp scurrying away. He would snap an order to a hidden servant, and what he desired would be placed within reach by invisible hands.
An invitation would be extended, sunset limning his white hair in pale golds and pinks, his head tilted toward the moon-viewing pavilion while his gaze remained on hers. Kagome covered her mouth with her hand, something she'd never done before the demon lord started asking her things and making her cheeks heat, and his eyes would follow the fluttering of her sleeve, and trace the path back up to her face.
It was a quiet place, the moon-viewing chamber, not really a room so much as a balcony, or a covered platform extending into the lake. The water lapped gently at the wooden supports, broken sometimes by fallen blossoms or leaves, and beneath the surface were goldfish, streaks of yellow and orange and sometimes even white, darting away from her shadow when she leaned over the rail. Lotus plants clustered to the right of the entrance, not quite blooming. The expanse of the garden greeted her on the other side, and Kagome decided after that first night it would be the perfect place to study.
Entrance exams were coming up. Her shoulders knotted up every time her brain reminded her. The uniform might've been a lost cause, but some supernatural force - from hell, if anybody asked her - had preserved her backpack and some of its contents. She had pajamas, some pocky, a supply of underwear that was dwindling rapidly, and her math, science, and history textbooks.
Joy, she grumbled to herself, pulling the science book out after a light afternoon meal. They hadn't seen much besides rice and vegetables, but it was a nice change from cold, packed lunches that had been squished at the bottom of her bag.
"When are these tests of yours, Kagome?" She turned to see Sango watching her from the futon, brows knit. "We've been here for a week. Maybe we should ask Sesshomaru to take you back to the well."
"Oh, not for another few weeks." Kagome waved her concern away with a smile. It turned into a wince. "As long as I study, I can make up for not showing up as long as I get good grades." In theory.
"So that's what you've been disappearing to do - study?"
"Um-- yeah." Kagome felt her face heating up and hunched her shoulders. "It's really nice out there, and... I mean, he told me where I can go without bothering anybody." She looked up, and caught Sango staring at the wall separating their sleeping space from the one shared by Miroku, Shippo, and Inu Yasha. The slayer shifted her gaze to Kagome, lifting her eyebrows, and the priestess squirmed. "He's asleep."
Sango hmmmmed, her face pale against the dark backdrop of the wall, lit by the morning sunshine. She was watching from the corner of her eye, the gesture so reminiscent of the demon lord that Kagome took refuge in stuffing her things back into her backpack and avoiding her gaze.
"If you want a change of scenery, I could--"
"No." Sango smiled and shook her head when Kagome's head snapped up. But her smile faded. "Who is out there besides Sesshomaru and his mother, Kagome?" The slayer's eyes went back to staring out beneath the blinds. Her fingers worked the edge of the quilt covering her knees, twisting the silk into deep creases and wrinkles of green. When she received no answer, she started to lie down again. "I'm sure Inu Yasha is well enough to get up and go with you."
Kagome crawled over to help Sango straighten her leg and lie back. He might be better, but she would never get anything done if he came with her. And would he sit still while she talked to his brother? Of course not. They'd be hurling insults within a minute of meeting.
Sesshomaru could be coaxed into uttering more than three words with the right questions. After weeks of a tentative alliance, and years before that of watching him fight Inu Yasha, she finally found the key to pulling the outer layers of his mask away to look deeper. There was no reason to toss it away so soon.
"You know he'd just get agitated," Kagome finally said. It sounded like an excuse even to her own ears. She frowned and stood up, book tucked under her arm. "I'll talk to him."
She waited for her friend's nod, and then ducked under the open shutter. The courtyard was so bright she was momentarily blinded, and she felt her way along the screens until she found the latch to the next room. Paper go-hei charms were suspended above the frame, and a spell was painted on the wood in something that looked like dried blood. Her fingers tingled when she opened the door.
"Tch, about time."
Kagome slid the door closed. "Nice to see you too, Inu Yasha. Are you feeling better?"
The room was identical to the area she shared with Sango: a perfect square at least twenty steps to a side, the floor a polished, dark wood, and the wall facing the courtyard was the same old-fashioned shutters, all locked down except for the door. His haori and undershirt were draped on a stand against the wall, Miroku's beside them.
Inu Yasha was slouched on his futon in the corner farthest from the door, bare-chested and wrapped in wide hemp bandages. His eyes lingered on the door behind her, gold eyes catching the bit of light from the screen and seeming brighter than the rest of him. "Miroku woke up last night," he said, gaze flicking up before it moved to the monk. "They left something for him."
She crossed the room to Miroku's pallet and knelt, lifting the bowl left on the floor above his head. The liquid smelled sharp and bitter, like a lemon only ten times worse, and Kagome wrinkled her nose. "Miroku." Kagome set the bowl down and gripped his uninjured shoulder. "Miroku, can you hear me?"
He didn't respond, and a lump formed in her throat that she couldn't swallow. She called his name again, risked shaking him once as gently as she could, and was rewarded with a groan and a fluttering of his eyelids. He didn't stir again, and Kagome sighed. Later then.
"So?" She settled back on her knees and turned her attention to Inu Yasha. "Are you ready to talk?"
"I"m ready to get the fuck out of here."
She frowned when he wouldn't look at her. "We're lucky to have a place to rest that Naraku can't reach."
He scowled. "You think that bitch wouldn't let him in if it would get rid of us? Wouldn't get her little claws dirty that way."
"No," Kagome said softly. She folded her arms across her chest as much as her layers would allow, shoving her hands inside her sleeves the way he did when he was angry. Green crashed into pink and red, and she thought of the garden outside. The charms fluttered in a stiff breeze, their shadows dancing on the screen, and suddenly her chest burned for a breath of fresh air and the warmth of the sunlight to soothe the chill creeping along her arms.
He tried to get up, ears flicking, and then hunched over and cursed. Kagome hurried over to help him straighten his back and feel along his ribs. She tried to ignore the creak of his teeth gritting when she pressed her fingers into his side. The last two still gave too much.
She tried to glare at him. "You shouldn't be up."
His eyes narrowed with more heat and she saw his nostrils flare, heard him scent her with a long pull of breath. "You shouldn't be wandering around the damned house."
Kagome scooted back to grab her book and scrambled to her feet. "What do you expect me to do? The light is horrible in that little room. I have exams to study for!"
"Huh. So you're studying." He crossed his arms and turned his nose up at her, mirroring her earlier gesture. "Whatever."
Kagome's spine stiffened and she lifted her chin. "Why is that so-- so--" She stomped her foot, making an inarticulate noise, and yanked the door open. "I'll be back later. Be a good puppy and stay!" She slammed the door shut and stalked away from the pavilion, across the courtyard, and into the shade of the next building.
She wanted to throw her hands up and scream. Sure, their situation was less than ideal for him - it wasn't really ideal for anybody, but they were safe, fed, had a roof over their heads, and an able physician to care for Miroku. She couldn't even remember what happened to him; only Inu Yasha hurtling toward her, maybe under his own power, maybe not, and she hadn't even gotten one arrow off before everything blurred.
What did he want from her? She couldn't sit still. The tea Sango drank put her to sleep, Miroku was only barely showing signs of improvement, and even Inu Yasha, thank all the gods, spent most of his time resting.
Her eyes prickled uncomfortably. She wanted everyone to get better, but if she sat and thought about it too long it would drive her insane. This wasn't like Kaede's village; there weren't tasks waiting to be done that she could occupy herself with. For once, the only thing left to do was homework, and she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Her feet led her unerringly to the garden, and Kagome felt her shoulders loosen up a little. A breeze danced through the maple branches and brushed her cheeks. Out past the second bridge flashes of orange peeked at her through the gaps in the trees, and the sound of the children laughing joined the splash of the stream.
Maybe she would ask what happened later. She hadn't thought to, didn't really want to, in fact; the knot in her stomach tightened at the thought. In hindsight she knew a trap when she saw one, knew she'd tripped the proverbial wire when she passed that seal stone and ignored the warning shiver, and the cowardly part of Kagome wanted to avoid speaking of it as long as possible.
I'm just as stupid, she thought, watching Rin tackle Shippo into a pile of fallen leaves.
There were blessings to being stuck here. They laughed again. Kagome tried to smile with them.
*
The sun was just starting to descend from its noon high when Kagome took up residence in her new study spot, calmer after some time watching Rin and Shippo play with Kirara, and she estimated it was two or three. Her watch was gone, probably having met the same fate as her uniform, and she couldn't find any sundails or water clocks, or anything resembling a time piece. She was learning to gauge the time of day by the lengthening shadows and the imperceptible shift in the flowers from open to closing. Kagome sat facing the lotus pads, stretching out on her stomach in front of the curtain stand to read. The bulky kimono cushioned her from the hard wood floor.
She spent at least two hours reviewing the chapters outlined in Yuka's notes. Genetics, DNA strands, the composition of amino acids - it was all mashed together in her brain, making less sense there than it did on the page. What, exactly, was the point of knowing this?
Kagome propped her chin on her hand and stared at the shifting canopy of cherry blossoms above the shore of the lake, peering through the gaps in the rail. Tiny brown youkai with knobby joints sifted through the moss, feeding on fallen leaves and petals, scraping loose bits of bark from the tree trunks. From her vantage point they looked hardly bigger than her cat.
If they allow themselves to be seen, Sesshomaru had told her the night before, they are not doing their job.
I understand your reasoning, she'd said, but it's creepy when things appear out of thin air. I want to see who's serving me and what they're doing to my stuff.
The severe press of his lips, flat and white, was all that warned her of his irritation. Had she been rude? Was he offended, thinking she didn't trust him? And yet, there they were - whatever they were, and the servants bringing food and medicine were no longer hidden from her. From Sango's lack of reaction, Kagome guessed she was the only exception. Too bad. There was nobody to ask about what they were called - nobody she felt comfortable asking.
Kagome went back to her review questions, muttering about tight-lipped dog demons and what they could do with their stupid pride. She only gave up when her back started to feel stiff, rolling onto her back to stretch and let loose a jaw-breaking yawn. The blue sky had congealed into slate-gray rainclouds, and the water beneath the pavilion had stilled. She sat up to lean over the railing and look at her reflection, almost perfect except for minute shifts on the surface. Pale face, hair combed straight, layers in red and green.
"No moon tonight," Kagome murmured to herself, watching the lips of her postcard-perfect image move. There was a twinge in her chest. She reached down and watched her reflection distort and shatter when her finger touched the surface. Something nibbled at her nail, and she made her lips turn up at the flashes of gold that whipped to the surface and swam away like little bolts of orange lightning.
The ripple of the water turned silver behind her own blurred reflection, and a deep voice asked, "This is how you study?"
Kagome jumped and whipped around, pressing against the rail instinctively. Sesshomaru. She shuddered, and her muscles loosened like noodles. "Why don't you make any noise when you walk?" she asked, clutching her textbook to her chest. "It's not fair."
The demon lord knelt gracefully beside her, heavy silk sleeves pooling on the floor, draping over the railing, and leaned close enough that she felt the tickle of his breath on her ear, "I am a predator, priestess." Her eyes widened. "You should be more aware of your surroundings." His claws grazed her knuckles and snatched the book from her hands.
"Hey!"
Sesshomaru settled beside her and opened it to the table of contents. His eyes roved over the pages and froze at the bottom. "Kodousha-- print. Heisei eleven?" Both brows lifted, and Kagome winced. "2000?" She dove for the book and he jerked it out of her reach. "What is this?"
She sighed sharply and reached for it again, only to be denied. "Publication data."
His eyes narrowed to sharp slashes of gold. "I have heard of printing presses. This Kodousha is one of them?"
"Yes."
"And 'Heisei'?" he asked. "I was under the impression the current human reign was called 'Eiroku.'"
Kagome snorted and rocked back on her heels. "I have no idea what the emperor is calling himself."
"Hnnn..." He drew the sound out, opening the book again and fanning the pages. He settled somewhere in the middle and held it up to the light to read.
"You're talkative tonight," she said sourly, hugging her knees to her chest as much as five layers of robes would allow. His gaze rested on her a moment, and then she was ignored in favor of the book.
Her lip puffed out. Stupid dogs have no sense of delicacy.
Kagome sighed again and turned back to the lake, arranging herself more gracefully. The gardener youkai were gone and the surface of the water had stilled again to mirror smoothness. If she stared long enough, even her human eyes could pick apart one petal from another in the reflection. She watched the clouds shift and drift ponderously to the east, coaxed by the cooling wind. The moisture was almost palpable; soon the wind would pick up and the rain fall.
Her poor umbrella. What happened to it? Had it disappeared with their ramen supply and her change of clothes - which she assumed were scattered when she was hit - or had she lost it beforehand? She didn't want to ruin her silk robes by running through the rain. They didn't belong to her, and were too expensive to replace.
Sesshomaru lowered the book. "Tonight is the new moon."
Kagome's eyes widened and she pressed her hands to her stomach, trembling with the effort of holding still instead of turning to look in the direction of the guest pavilion. No wonder Inu Yasha was in such a bad mood.
"The room has been warded against intruders as a precaution."
She nodded, the motion jerky, because he seemed to expect a response. 'Thank you' would have been the polite thing to say, but instead she blurted out the question that pounded against the inside of her skull from the moment he mentioned it: you knew?
Of course, he would not be much of a warrior if he did not observe his enemy. He didn't answer.
"You should have done so already," he said instead.
Her hands clenched into fists. "I don't know how."
"Learn."
"Easy for you to say!" Her vision blurred at the edges, eyes hot and prickling. She tried not to blink. "You have all the time in the world. We might defeat Naraku tomorrow, and mine will be over."
He closed the book, and his attention settled onto her shoulders again. "You are human," he said, as if that explained everything.
"That isn't what I meant." Kagome bowed her head. "Never mind."
Sesshomaru curled a finger under her chin to tilt it up and to the side, pressing with his thumb to keep her from pulling free. His claws had a muted gleam in the soft light, like pearl, and looked deceptively smooth up close. She blinked rapidly and felt tears roll over her cheeks. He brushed them away with the pad of his thumb.
"Why do you cry?" he asked, tilting his head as if to examine her from a different angle.
She dabbed them away with her sleeve and lifted her chin out of his grasp, turning away to use the rail as leverage to fumble to her feet. She hadn't meant what came out - her thoughts had been on the many reasons she didn't know what to do with her power: they had to gather as many shards as possible to keep them away from Naraku, they didn't have time to sit in one place for years while she studied, went to school, took tests.
Kagome backed away, shaking her head. "It doesn't matter. I should really get back now. I'm sorry." Bowing, she turned and fled around the curtain stand, but he pursued her, halting her flight when he held the textbook out as an offering. She searched his face for some hint to his thoughts.
He captured her hand when she reached for it, turned it over, fingers long and curling around her wrists. She felt like a child in comparison, a porcelain doll he was holding gently, afraid she would shatter. Sesshomaru splayed her fingers with his thumb.
"What?" she asked warily. Her fingers twitched. This was the first time he'd initiated unnecessary contact; not at any moment, even when trying to kill her, had Sesshomaru so much as twitched a hair on her head that Kagome could recall. "Sesshomaru." His claws pricked her skin but he did not respond. They traced over her veins, sending a tremor from her fingertips to her toes, and she asked, suddenly hoarse, "What are you doing?"
"So easy to break." He bent her fingers back far enough to strain the muscle in her arm, but there was no pain. His lashes lifted. "You. Rin."
She swallowed, throat parched, and winced when it sounded loudly in her ears. This was the first time she'd been subject to his unblinking stare this close, and though she wanted to look away, he would see something in that - youkai, animals, they read into body language in a way humans had forsaken long ago. There was no way she'd let him think he had the better of her. Kagome would not submit. She wasn't a dog, or a child, or a woman of the Warring States era. Where she came from, women gave as good as they got when men tried to intimidate them.
And yet, when she tried to pull her hand back, his fingers tightened around her wrist, claws strong as steel, and drew her forward. He bent his head to look down at her. "Do you feel fragile, priestess?"
Her hand was imprisoned in the fluff spilling over his shoulder. Kagome craned her neck back to meet Sesshomaru's carefully hooded stare and she felt, pressed up against his chest, the subtle vibration of his heartbeat. She locked her knees to keep from wobbling, and thought she'd break into a hundred pieces if they buckled.
Hardening her voice, she gritted out, "I'm not fragile."
His grip tightened painfully and she gasped. "Good."
Kagome's eyes couldn't widen any farther. "S-Se--" His lips silenced her, and the insistent press of his fangs parted hers. Her eyes lidded, closed, and she tasted rain, mixed with the bitterness of her tears.
.........................
I may axe or modify the last part because I feel like it's happening way too fast, buuuut... that's just my initial reaction. Hm. But this is draft 2.5, and that's more work than I've put into a fanfic for a long time. Maybe I should just give in and call it done.
Edited to add second place banner. <3
Author: Amber Michelle
Genre: romance
Word count: 3733
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: rated for a bit of language.
AU/Canon: canon
Theme: homework
Notes: a sequel to Optique, more or less. Wish I'd had a beta for this one. I'm not sure it worked out the way I wanted it to.
.................................................
When he kissed her the first time, Kagome didn't try to stop him. She berated herself for it later, for not saying something or at the very least delivering a discouraging blow with her purification energy. It was unlikely anything she did would hurt the demon lord, but even he would acknowledge such a clear signal and back off.
But it didn't happen that way. Her guilt was eclipsed by another, simpler mystery that she couldn't answer with a few brutal moments of self-honesty: why?
It started, she mused, that day in the treasury.
Rome. She'd said something about Rome, and caught in her peripheral vision his eyes widening minutely, his eyebrows rising in interest. Maybe he didn't feel the need to keep up his image here, safe within the walls of the Western estate. His face betrayed surprise, his voice irritation, even his body language was sharper. He would order Jaken to fetch something, and his hand would whip to the side, pointing, to send the imp scurrying away. He would snap an order to a hidden servant, and what he desired would be placed within reach by invisible hands.
An invitation would be extended, sunset limning his white hair in pale golds and pinks, his head tilted toward the moon-viewing pavilion while his gaze remained on hers. Kagome covered her mouth with her hand, something she'd never done before the demon lord started asking her things and making her cheeks heat, and his eyes would follow the fluttering of her sleeve, and trace the path back up to her face.
It was a quiet place, the moon-viewing chamber, not really a room so much as a balcony, or a covered platform extending into the lake. The water lapped gently at the wooden supports, broken sometimes by fallen blossoms or leaves, and beneath the surface were goldfish, streaks of yellow and orange and sometimes even white, darting away from her shadow when she leaned over the rail. Lotus plants clustered to the right of the entrance, not quite blooming. The expanse of the garden greeted her on the other side, and Kagome decided after that first night it would be the perfect place to study.
Entrance exams were coming up. Her shoulders knotted up every time her brain reminded her. The uniform might've been a lost cause, but some supernatural force - from hell, if anybody asked her - had preserved her backpack and some of its contents. She had pajamas, some pocky, a supply of underwear that was dwindling rapidly, and her math, science, and history textbooks.
Joy, she grumbled to herself, pulling the science book out after a light afternoon meal. They hadn't seen much besides rice and vegetables, but it was a nice change from cold, packed lunches that had been squished at the bottom of her bag.
"When are these tests of yours, Kagome?" She turned to see Sango watching her from the futon, brows knit. "We've been here for a week. Maybe we should ask Sesshomaru to take you back to the well."
"Oh, not for another few weeks." Kagome waved her concern away with a smile. It turned into a wince. "As long as I study, I can make up for not showing up as long as I get good grades." In theory.
"So that's what you've been disappearing to do - study?"
"Um-- yeah." Kagome felt her face heating up and hunched her shoulders. "It's really nice out there, and... I mean, he told me where I can go without bothering anybody." She looked up, and caught Sango staring at the wall separating their sleeping space from the one shared by Miroku, Shippo, and Inu Yasha. The slayer shifted her gaze to Kagome, lifting her eyebrows, and the priestess squirmed. "He's asleep."
Sango hmmmmed, her face pale against the dark backdrop of the wall, lit by the morning sunshine. She was watching from the corner of her eye, the gesture so reminiscent of the demon lord that Kagome took refuge in stuffing her things back into her backpack and avoiding her gaze.
"If you want a change of scenery, I could--"
"No." Sango smiled and shook her head when Kagome's head snapped up. But her smile faded. "Who is out there besides Sesshomaru and his mother, Kagome?" The slayer's eyes went back to staring out beneath the blinds. Her fingers worked the edge of the quilt covering her knees, twisting the silk into deep creases and wrinkles of green. When she received no answer, she started to lie down again. "I'm sure Inu Yasha is well enough to get up and go with you."
Kagome crawled over to help Sango straighten her leg and lie back. He might be better, but she would never get anything done if he came with her. And would he sit still while she talked to his brother? Of course not. They'd be hurling insults within a minute of meeting.
Sesshomaru could be coaxed into uttering more than three words with the right questions. After weeks of a tentative alliance, and years before that of watching him fight Inu Yasha, she finally found the key to pulling the outer layers of his mask away to look deeper. There was no reason to toss it away so soon.
"You know he'd just get agitated," Kagome finally said. It sounded like an excuse even to her own ears. She frowned and stood up, book tucked under her arm. "I'll talk to him."
She waited for her friend's nod, and then ducked under the open shutter. The courtyard was so bright she was momentarily blinded, and she felt her way along the screens until she found the latch to the next room. Paper go-hei charms were suspended above the frame, and a spell was painted on the wood in something that looked like dried blood. Her fingers tingled when she opened the door.
"Tch, about time."
Kagome slid the door closed. "Nice to see you too, Inu Yasha. Are you feeling better?"
The room was identical to the area she shared with Sango: a perfect square at least twenty steps to a side, the floor a polished, dark wood, and the wall facing the courtyard was the same old-fashioned shutters, all locked down except for the door. His haori and undershirt were draped on a stand against the wall, Miroku's beside them.
Inu Yasha was slouched on his futon in the corner farthest from the door, bare-chested and wrapped in wide hemp bandages. His eyes lingered on the door behind her, gold eyes catching the bit of light from the screen and seeming brighter than the rest of him. "Miroku woke up last night," he said, gaze flicking up before it moved to the monk. "They left something for him."
She crossed the room to Miroku's pallet and knelt, lifting the bowl left on the floor above his head. The liquid smelled sharp and bitter, like a lemon only ten times worse, and Kagome wrinkled her nose. "Miroku." Kagome set the bowl down and gripped his uninjured shoulder. "Miroku, can you hear me?"
He didn't respond, and a lump formed in her throat that she couldn't swallow. She called his name again, risked shaking him once as gently as she could, and was rewarded with a groan and a fluttering of his eyelids. He didn't stir again, and Kagome sighed. Later then.
"So?" She settled back on her knees and turned her attention to Inu Yasha. "Are you ready to talk?"
"I"m ready to get the fuck out of here."
She frowned when he wouldn't look at her. "We're lucky to have a place to rest that Naraku can't reach."
He scowled. "You think that bitch wouldn't let him in if it would get rid of us? Wouldn't get her little claws dirty that way."
"No," Kagome said softly. She folded her arms across her chest as much as her layers would allow, shoving her hands inside her sleeves the way he did when he was angry. Green crashed into pink and red, and she thought of the garden outside. The charms fluttered in a stiff breeze, their shadows dancing on the screen, and suddenly her chest burned for a breath of fresh air and the warmth of the sunlight to soothe the chill creeping along her arms.
He tried to get up, ears flicking, and then hunched over and cursed. Kagome hurried over to help him straighten his back and feel along his ribs. She tried to ignore the creak of his teeth gritting when she pressed her fingers into his side. The last two still gave too much.
She tried to glare at him. "You shouldn't be up."
His eyes narrowed with more heat and she saw his nostrils flare, heard him scent her with a long pull of breath. "You shouldn't be wandering around the damned house."
Kagome scooted back to grab her book and scrambled to her feet. "What do you expect me to do? The light is horrible in that little room. I have exams to study for!"
"Huh. So you're studying." He crossed his arms and turned his nose up at her, mirroring her earlier gesture. "Whatever."
Kagome's spine stiffened and she lifted her chin. "Why is that so-- so--" She stomped her foot, making an inarticulate noise, and yanked the door open. "I'll be back later. Be a good puppy and stay!" She slammed the door shut and stalked away from the pavilion, across the courtyard, and into the shade of the next building.
She wanted to throw her hands up and scream. Sure, their situation was less than ideal for him - it wasn't really ideal for anybody, but they were safe, fed, had a roof over their heads, and an able physician to care for Miroku. She couldn't even remember what happened to him; only Inu Yasha hurtling toward her, maybe under his own power, maybe not, and she hadn't even gotten one arrow off before everything blurred.
What did he want from her? She couldn't sit still. The tea Sango drank put her to sleep, Miroku was only barely showing signs of improvement, and even Inu Yasha, thank all the gods, spent most of his time resting.
Her eyes prickled uncomfortably. She wanted everyone to get better, but if she sat and thought about it too long it would drive her insane. This wasn't like Kaede's village; there weren't tasks waiting to be done that she could occupy herself with. For once, the only thing left to do was homework, and she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Her feet led her unerringly to the garden, and Kagome felt her shoulders loosen up a little. A breeze danced through the maple branches and brushed her cheeks. Out past the second bridge flashes of orange peeked at her through the gaps in the trees, and the sound of the children laughing joined the splash of the stream.
Maybe she would ask what happened later. She hadn't thought to, didn't really want to, in fact; the knot in her stomach tightened at the thought. In hindsight she knew a trap when she saw one, knew she'd tripped the proverbial wire when she passed that seal stone and ignored the warning shiver, and the cowardly part of Kagome wanted to avoid speaking of it as long as possible.
I'm just as stupid, she thought, watching Rin tackle Shippo into a pile of fallen leaves.
There were blessings to being stuck here. They laughed again. Kagome tried to smile with them.
*
The sun was just starting to descend from its noon high when Kagome took up residence in her new study spot, calmer after some time watching Rin and Shippo play with Kirara, and she estimated it was two or three. Her watch was gone, probably having met the same fate as her uniform, and she couldn't find any sundails or water clocks, or anything resembling a time piece. She was learning to gauge the time of day by the lengthening shadows and the imperceptible shift in the flowers from open to closing. Kagome sat facing the lotus pads, stretching out on her stomach in front of the curtain stand to read. The bulky kimono cushioned her from the hard wood floor.
She spent at least two hours reviewing the chapters outlined in Yuka's notes. Genetics, DNA strands, the composition of amino acids - it was all mashed together in her brain, making less sense there than it did on the page. What, exactly, was the point of knowing this?
Kagome propped her chin on her hand and stared at the shifting canopy of cherry blossoms above the shore of the lake, peering through the gaps in the rail. Tiny brown youkai with knobby joints sifted through the moss, feeding on fallen leaves and petals, scraping loose bits of bark from the tree trunks. From her vantage point they looked hardly bigger than her cat.
If they allow themselves to be seen, Sesshomaru had told her the night before, they are not doing their job.
I understand your reasoning, she'd said, but it's creepy when things appear out of thin air. I want to see who's serving me and what they're doing to my stuff.
The severe press of his lips, flat and white, was all that warned her of his irritation. Had she been rude? Was he offended, thinking she didn't trust him? And yet, there they were - whatever they were, and the servants bringing food and medicine were no longer hidden from her. From Sango's lack of reaction, Kagome guessed she was the only exception. Too bad. There was nobody to ask about what they were called - nobody she felt comfortable asking.
Kagome went back to her review questions, muttering about tight-lipped dog demons and what they could do with their stupid pride. She only gave up when her back started to feel stiff, rolling onto her back to stretch and let loose a jaw-breaking yawn. The blue sky had congealed into slate-gray rainclouds, and the water beneath the pavilion had stilled. She sat up to lean over the railing and look at her reflection, almost perfect except for minute shifts on the surface. Pale face, hair combed straight, layers in red and green.
"No moon tonight," Kagome murmured to herself, watching the lips of her postcard-perfect image move. There was a twinge in her chest. She reached down and watched her reflection distort and shatter when her finger touched the surface. Something nibbled at her nail, and she made her lips turn up at the flashes of gold that whipped to the surface and swam away like little bolts of orange lightning.
The ripple of the water turned silver behind her own blurred reflection, and a deep voice asked, "This is how you study?"
Kagome jumped and whipped around, pressing against the rail instinctively. Sesshomaru. She shuddered, and her muscles loosened like noodles. "Why don't you make any noise when you walk?" she asked, clutching her textbook to her chest. "It's not fair."
The demon lord knelt gracefully beside her, heavy silk sleeves pooling on the floor, draping over the railing, and leaned close enough that she felt the tickle of his breath on her ear, "I am a predator, priestess." Her eyes widened. "You should be more aware of your surroundings." His claws grazed her knuckles and snatched the book from her hands.
"Hey!"
Sesshomaru settled beside her and opened it to the table of contents. His eyes roved over the pages and froze at the bottom. "Kodousha-- print. Heisei eleven?" Both brows lifted, and Kagome winced. "2000?" She dove for the book and he jerked it out of her reach. "What is this?"
She sighed sharply and reached for it again, only to be denied. "Publication data."
His eyes narrowed to sharp slashes of gold. "I have heard of printing presses. This Kodousha is one of them?"
"Yes."
"And 'Heisei'?" he asked. "I was under the impression the current human reign was called 'Eiroku.'"
Kagome snorted and rocked back on her heels. "I have no idea what the emperor is calling himself."
"Hnnn..." He drew the sound out, opening the book again and fanning the pages. He settled somewhere in the middle and held it up to the light to read.
"You're talkative tonight," she said sourly, hugging her knees to her chest as much as five layers of robes would allow. His gaze rested on her a moment, and then she was ignored in favor of the book.
Her lip puffed out. Stupid dogs have no sense of delicacy.
Kagome sighed again and turned back to the lake, arranging herself more gracefully. The gardener youkai were gone and the surface of the water had stilled again to mirror smoothness. If she stared long enough, even her human eyes could pick apart one petal from another in the reflection. She watched the clouds shift and drift ponderously to the east, coaxed by the cooling wind. The moisture was almost palpable; soon the wind would pick up and the rain fall.
Her poor umbrella. What happened to it? Had it disappeared with their ramen supply and her change of clothes - which she assumed were scattered when she was hit - or had she lost it beforehand? She didn't want to ruin her silk robes by running through the rain. They didn't belong to her, and were too expensive to replace.
Sesshomaru lowered the book. "Tonight is the new moon."
Kagome's eyes widened and she pressed her hands to her stomach, trembling with the effort of holding still instead of turning to look in the direction of the guest pavilion. No wonder Inu Yasha was in such a bad mood.
"The room has been warded against intruders as a precaution."
She nodded, the motion jerky, because he seemed to expect a response. 'Thank you' would have been the polite thing to say, but instead she blurted out the question that pounded against the inside of her skull from the moment he mentioned it: you knew?
Of course, he would not be much of a warrior if he did not observe his enemy. He didn't answer.
"You should have done so already," he said instead.
Her hands clenched into fists. "I don't know how."
"Learn."
"Easy for you to say!" Her vision blurred at the edges, eyes hot and prickling. She tried not to blink. "You have all the time in the world. We might defeat Naraku tomorrow, and mine will be over."
He closed the book, and his attention settled onto her shoulders again. "You are human," he said, as if that explained everything.
"That isn't what I meant." Kagome bowed her head. "Never mind."
Sesshomaru curled a finger under her chin to tilt it up and to the side, pressing with his thumb to keep her from pulling free. His claws had a muted gleam in the soft light, like pearl, and looked deceptively smooth up close. She blinked rapidly and felt tears roll over her cheeks. He brushed them away with the pad of his thumb.
"Why do you cry?" he asked, tilting his head as if to examine her from a different angle.
She dabbed them away with her sleeve and lifted her chin out of his grasp, turning away to use the rail as leverage to fumble to her feet. She hadn't meant what came out - her thoughts had been on the many reasons she didn't know what to do with her power: they had to gather as many shards as possible to keep them away from Naraku, they didn't have time to sit in one place for years while she studied, went to school, took tests.
Kagome backed away, shaking her head. "It doesn't matter. I should really get back now. I'm sorry." Bowing, she turned and fled around the curtain stand, but he pursued her, halting her flight when he held the textbook out as an offering. She searched his face for some hint to his thoughts.
He captured her hand when she reached for it, turned it over, fingers long and curling around her wrists. She felt like a child in comparison, a porcelain doll he was holding gently, afraid she would shatter. Sesshomaru splayed her fingers with his thumb.
"What?" she asked warily. Her fingers twitched. This was the first time he'd initiated unnecessary contact; not at any moment, even when trying to kill her, had Sesshomaru so much as twitched a hair on her head that Kagome could recall. "Sesshomaru." His claws pricked her skin but he did not respond. They traced over her veins, sending a tremor from her fingertips to her toes, and she asked, suddenly hoarse, "What are you doing?"
"So easy to break." He bent her fingers back far enough to strain the muscle in her arm, but there was no pain. His lashes lifted. "You. Rin."
She swallowed, throat parched, and winced when it sounded loudly in her ears. This was the first time she'd been subject to his unblinking stare this close, and though she wanted to look away, he would see something in that - youkai, animals, they read into body language in a way humans had forsaken long ago. There was no way she'd let him think he had the better of her. Kagome would not submit. She wasn't a dog, or a child, or a woman of the Warring States era. Where she came from, women gave as good as they got when men tried to intimidate them.
And yet, when she tried to pull her hand back, his fingers tightened around her wrist, claws strong as steel, and drew her forward. He bent his head to look down at her. "Do you feel fragile, priestess?"
Her hand was imprisoned in the fluff spilling over his shoulder. Kagome craned her neck back to meet Sesshomaru's carefully hooded stare and she felt, pressed up against his chest, the subtle vibration of his heartbeat. She locked her knees to keep from wobbling, and thought she'd break into a hundred pieces if they buckled.
Hardening her voice, she gritted out, "I'm not fragile."
His grip tightened painfully and she gasped. "Good."
Kagome's eyes couldn't widen any farther. "S-Se--" His lips silenced her, and the insistent press of his fangs parted hers. Her eyes lidded, closed, and she tasted rain, mixed with the bitterness of her tears.
.........................
I may axe or modify the last part because I feel like it's happening way too fast, buuuut... that's just my initial reaction. Hm. But this is draft 2.5, and that's more work than I've put into a fanfic for a long time. Maybe I should just give in and call it done.
Edited to add second place banner. <3
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-04-10 03:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-11 07:58 am (UTC)I love your icon. <3
Thank you, and I'm glad I pulled the characters off believably. Hopefully I'll continue to do that.