- Text Size +
Story Notes:
don't own inu and co.

A tall man stood silently in the darkened shadows of the forest, the white silk of his haori whipped around his body in the wind. His long silver blue hair fluttered wildly around him. His golden eyes locked on to his prey, as a white light enveloped him. His eyes bled red, as the magenta stripes on his cheeks became stretched and ragged. Once the light had cleared a massive white dog stood where the man once was, snarling while poison dripped from his huge canines. He dug his hindquarters into the soft forest floor, and launched himself forward to begin his attack.

He caught his prey easily, for the beast was no match for him. He relished in the sound of the beasts bones cracking and breaking between his teeth, and the taste of its hot blood coating his tongue. Hearing the beast scream out in agony only enhanced the great white dog’s appetite for pain and suffering. The fear that rolled off the lowly creature gave the beast a great desire for more death and blood.

He swallowed his meal, and began his hunt anew. His master had kept him locked away for far too long, and failed to release him to feed when the need arose. He could feel him within trying to regain control of him, but he wouldn’t have it. Not until he at least had eaten his fill, and stretched his tight muscles from being locked away for so long.

Kagome sat by the river with her face buried in her hands, while her tears seeped out between her fingers. Inuyasha had exiled her from the group, and said that he would destroy her only way home. Not only would he destroy it, he would make sure that there was no way that the well could be repaired to see if it could be used again.

It wasn’t her fault really; it was all a misunderstanding. She had been telling Sango about the latest attempt from Hojo in trying to get her to go out with him. For years she had refused the boys advances, and he never took no for an answer. She had to always wonder if at some point in time, Koga died and he was reincarnated into Hojo being the two were just alike. Koga, maybe she could go and live with him. It was her only option, seeing as she could never go home again, nor could she return to the village.

Inuyasha told her that if he ever came a cross her again he would kill her. Why wouldn’t he let her explain that she wasn’t talking about him when she said all those nasty things? Probably because he just came from seeing Kikiyo and she had been poisoning his mind against her. Telling him that she thought of him the same way as all ningen did, and that she called him names behind his back.

They say freak
When you’re singled out

He came back to the group just as she was calling Hojo a worthless freak who couldn’t take no for an answer. He being quick to jump to conclusions and hotheaded, had grabbed her by the shoulders and began to yell in her face. Telling her how she had betrayed him, talking behind his back like that, and how he thought that she was the only one who was truly his friend. No matter how she had tried to protest, he wouldn’t listen, even Sango tried to explain and he threw her aside. He grabbed all her stuff up, shoved her backpack into her hands, scooped her up and took off into the forest. They traveled for quite sometime before he stopped next to the river that she was now sitting by, and without a word he dropped her to the ground and took off back the way they came. As he disappeared from sight, he told her that if he ever saw her again he would kill her. He had also told her that she could forget about going home to her time. Because he was going to destroy the well beyond repair, so that she could never go home again, and for her to stay away from his village.

What was she supposed to do now? Part of her was hoping that he would calm down and realize that she would never say or do anything to hurt him. Although, she knew that Kikiyo would make sure that he would always doubt her and her sincerity.

She slowly stood and looked around her trying to decipher exactly where she was. Nothing looked familiar, nor was there any kind of path leading anywhere. Her only option was to follow the river, hoping it lead her to somewhere, but where? She knew no one; she had no money, and kami forbid were she to be attacked. She didn’t have any weapons to protect herself, and she wasn’t really sure that she would be able to protect herself were she to be attacked even if she had her weapons. Inuyasha always told her that she was weak, and wouldn’t survive a day unless he was there to protect her. Well she would show him; she would survive and make him pay.

A black nose caught a scent that was very familiar. This scent had always intrigued him, but his master would never let him loose to investigate the source of the scent, nor would he explain to him why he wouldn’t let him loose. Well now that he was free for a time, he would find out the source of the scent and even possibly play with it.

Sesshoumaru watched from the inside while his beast hunted, he didn’t mind too much, the thing did need to be freed to eat every now and again, but now he was after something to play with. This would not do at all; he had to regain control of the animal before it did something that he would not like.

Kagome felt a powerful aura just beyond the trees. She scanned the forest line searching for the source of the aura. She could tell that it didn’t pose a threat to her, it was merely curious about her. Her brown eyes strained against the darkened forest looking for any sign of the one watching her, when her breath caught in her throat. A pair of red eyes were peering at her through the trees.

The red…
It filters through

Kagome’s body was wracked with fear at seeing the blood red eyes that watched her. Slowly she grabbed her stuff, and began to back away from whatever was watching her. When she could no longer see the eyes looking at her, she took off running. Never knowing that that was a big mistake.

Sesshoumaru watched as his beast pounced on the girl, he was horrified at what it might do to her, being she did the one thing she shouldn’t have done. Run. He had to regain control, and he had to do it now. He had a vision of her being torn apart by his beast, not intentionally, while playing with her. It did not distinguish between big and small, in its mind they were the same size. He wouldn’t openly admit that he cared for the girl, but she had shown herself being worthy of his respect, and for him to let his beast kill her just would not do.

The white dog looked down at the cowering girl in front of him. The scent of her fear was overpowering her scent that brought him to her in the first place. He didn’t know what to do; he wanted to sniff her over, but not with the scent of fear. He let out a tremendous growl of disapproval at her fear.

Kagome froze, that growl was worse, than him just standing there looking at her. She didn’t know if she had done something to the daiyōkai to make him come at her as he did, or if he had lost control of his beast. She didn’t think that someone like Sesshoumaru would ever lose control of his beast, but anything was possible. Kagome didn’t know what to do, she knew if she ran away it would only serve to agitate the giant dog, so she just stood there keeping her eyes focused on the moon between his eyes.

Sesshoumaru saw her looking at his forehead, and knew that his beast would think her to be staring him down, causing him to react as if she was challenging him. His battle for command wasn’t going very well, his beast was very determined to stay in control. As he continued to watch and battle his beast from the inside, he hoped that the miko would realize what kind of danger she really was in.

So, lay down
The threat is real

Another growl erupted from the dog before her, and this one carried with it a warning. It was a warning that Kagome didn’t understand, what was she suppose to do? She had an idea on how to handle Inuyasha when his beast took control of him, but this was Sesshoumaru. Handling the youkai of the west who had lost control of his beast was on a whole other level, one she was sure she couldn’t handle.

His beast was getting angrier by the second, the girl wasn’t submitting as she should. He could feel his beast ready to take action against the defiant female. ‘Why won’t she submit to me? Does she not know that I am the master? She must be shown who is dominant, then she will calm.’ Sesshoumaru had had about all he could take, with one final push against his beast; he felt his control slowly coming back into his hand.

Kagome watched as the beast howled out in annoyance, as his eyes began to flicker between the red they were now to the gold she had seen so many times. Sesshoumaru was battling for control and he looked to be winning. She held her breath wondering who would win the struggle inside.

No he will not have control of me yet! I want to play with the female, and show her that she is to submit to me. The beast attacked his master with all the strength he could muster; he wasn’t going to relinquish control to him until he was good and ready.

Kagome kept watching as the battle raged on, waiting for the outcome. She thought for sure that Sesshoumaru was finally gaining control of his beast, but then the gold of his eyes began to become red again. She wished there was something she could do to help the lord win out against his beast, but she couldn’t think of one thing she could do.

When his sight
Goes red again

She took a step backwards hoping the battle between Sesshoumaru and his beast kept his beast distracted enough for her to make her escape. Slowly one step after another she got further and further away from the white dog. Just as she made it to the edge of the forest, two red eyes turned towards her, telling her that the beast had regained complete control, and he wasn’t happy with her behavior.

Seeing red again

The dog snapped his teeth at the retreating female, informing her that she was going to be punished for her attempt at fleeing him. He leapt over to her and snatched her up between his teeth, not hard enough to kill her, but enough to cause her serious pain. ‘Why is she so small?’ His beast had to wonder. When he looked upon her, she was the perfect size for him, but now that he had her in his maw, something wasn’t right. He set her back down, and watched as blood soaked her clothing.

Sesshoumaru was beyond angry; his beast had harmed the girl. He used his beast’s distraction to try and once again gain control.

Kagome was shocked and more afraid than she had ever been. Not that she didn’t think that he wouldn’t harm her, but she figured if he did, he wouldn’t let her live. Again his eyes flickered between red and gold, and Kagome didn’t know what to do. She was bleeding badly from her stomach, and she needed medical treatment soon. She heard a voice that made her jump; it was Sesshoumaru’s. “Do not move”

This change
He won’t contain

She was having a hard time maintaining her upright position; she was becoming dizzy with the loss of blood and just wanted to lie down. She however, didn’t dare move. If he said not to move, it meant that his beast was using her to gain strength against Sesshoumaru, making it harder for him to gain control over it.

Her breath was coming in short ragged breaths as the battle waged on before her. Finally, the beast’s eyes maintained the gold indicating that Sesshoumaru was winning over his beast. Slowly the beast began to change back into the form that she was more comfortable with, and a little less afraid of.

Sesshoumaru had finally gained control of his beast, and had it put back into its cage. That was the last time he would ever let it have complete freedom. It had been along time since he had to battle his beast like this, and even then, it wasn’t this difficult to win against. Once he returned to him human form, he saw that the girl had collapsed to the ground and was unconscious.

He was honorable and would heal her, being it was his beast that had done her harm. Although, rescuing another human from the brink of death was something he’d rather not do. The last one he saved, he couldn’t get rid of, and he only saved her in order to test the tenseiga abilities. Would this girl be the same and follow him around as she does the half-breed? If she tried he would inform her that he would not tolerate it, and send her away.

He kneeled down and picked the girl up and headed back to his home. There he would put his best healers to work on her. With them healing her, she would be well enough to return to the half-breed in about one moon cycle. Possibly even shorter since she was a miko; she might heal faster then most ningen.

Kagome awoke to a sharp pain shooting through her body, starting at her stomach. Her eyes shot open and saw an older woman leaning over her body, pressing something against her stomach. She bit her bottom lip against the sting that continued to shoot through her body. She looked around the room to try and figure out where she was, and to try and distract her self from the pain that the woman was causing her.

The room she was in was a pretty basic room, with white walls. There were no pictures, or any furniture other than the bed and a wardrobe. There was a big window letting in the sunlight as it set in the horizon, making the room seem even brighter as the sun reflected off the white walls. She tried to ask the woman just where she was at, but the woman wouldn’t acknowledge that Kagome had said anything.

This did not make her feel very comfortable. How was she suppose to relax, as the woman kept saying over and over as if that was the only word she knew, if she didn’t know where she was? When she was about to let her frustrations be known to the woman, a powerful aura surrounded her, and she knew immediately where she was. ‘Sesshoumaru’s’

Just as his name passed through her thoughts, he came into the room. He didn’t say anything to her; he just talked to the healer, who as it turned out could say more than ‘relax’. Sesshoumaru then walked over to the edge of the bed and stared down at her, as if it was her fault that she was there. She opened her mouth to let him know that if it weren’t for his beast, she wouldn’t be there, but her beat her to it.

“This Sesshoumaru apologizes for the actions of his beast.” He gave her a nod then turned to leave the room. Just as he reached the door, he heard her whisper so low; he almost didn’t catch what she had said. “It’s not your fault. Though part of me wishes your beast would have killed me.” He turned to look at her but she turned her head away from him and closed her eyes. He stepped out the door, and quietly slid it closed behind him.

Slip away

Now he was even more curious about the girl than ever. First off, what was she doing so far away from her group alone? Secondly, where was the half-breed? The miko was never far off from the mutt, nor was he ever far off from her. Finally, why did she wish that his beast would have killed her? What had happened that would make the strong, outspoken, girl wish for death? Once she was well enough, he was going to make her answer all his questions and sate his curiosity.

The days crept by in an endless haze of boredom. All she did day in and day out was sit in her room healing, not allowed to leave except to use the bathhouse. Was she here to get better or was she here as a prisoner? Sesshoumaru would grace her with his presence every now and again, only to check and see how her healing was coming along. Then a one sided argument would begin, with her telling him that she wasn’t an invalid and wanted to go outside. He would just stand there and stare down his nose at her, telling her with his eyes that she would stay right where she was. She would counter this with... you don’t own me. His response was him blinking his eyes in a slow languid way, informing her otherwise.

How she knew what he was saying to her with his body posture and mild facial expression changes was beyond her. Yet, somehow his answers to everything she would ask or tell him was made loud and clear to her without a word. Before he left the room, she informed him that he would have to let her go eventually; his answer was a very slight shrug of his shoulder before he closed the door.

She was frustrated beyond belief. She had to get out of that room and once night was covering the land, and everyone was asleep for the night, she was going to go outside. No healer was going to stop her, nor any guards, and most certainly not an arrogant demon lord. Soon she would feel the night air on her skin, and deep within her lungs, she couldn’t wait.

Slowly she crept out of her room, not sure which way outside was, but she did know one thing. Every time Sesshoumaru would leave her room she noticed that he went to the left so she decided that she would go to the right. It was a good decision being it brought her to the door that led out to the gardens. She was elated that she finally was able to be out in the open air. Slowly making her way around the garden she found a bench over looking the pond, sitting down she let her mind wander. What was she going to do once she was healed? Where would she go? Did Inuyasha still think that she was badmouthing him behind his back? Probably, and he most likely brought Kikiyo into the group to look for the shards.

She stood up, walked over to the pond, sat down at the edge of the water, and ran her fingers through it. “Forget it Kagome, he will never want you back. You can’t go home, you can’t go back to the village, and you certainly can’t stay here. Koga is your only option.” She gave a snort at this, but knew that that was truly her only option. “I wish….” She didn’t know what she wished for. Did she wish that she never met Inuyasha? No, for if that was true, she might not have ever met the rest of her friends. What about shattering the jewel? She was fifty-fifty on that one. On one side, Naraku might be a serious threat if she hadn’t shattered the jewel. Yet, on the other side, she and Inuyasha would have never had to set out on their journey to find the shards, bringing them together with Shippou, Miroku, and Sango.

She decided to clear her head and just focus on getting better, then worrying about what she was going to do once she was healed.

To clear your mind

Sesshoumaru watched the girl who disobeyed him, from the shadows. What had she meant by what she had said? Did the half-breed throw her away, and if so why? What did she mean she couldn’t go back home or to the village? Wasn’t the village her home? Maybe she was from a different village, which would explain all her strange clothing and behavior. Then there was the wolf prince. Why would she consider him her only option as somewhere to go? More importantly, why would she want to go to a mangy wolf? He decided it was time for her to explain all of these things to him, so that he could sate his curiosity, and he could move on to more important things.

Kagome felt him approach her from behind, and knew that he would be upset with her for leaving her room after he told her that she couldn’t. However, she didn’t care, she was too happy to be out in the open air. She got herself ready for the oncoming confrontation with the demon, and was thrown off by what he asked her. “Miko, why can’t you go back to the half-breed?” Kagome looked up at him in shock; that was definitely not what she had expected him to ask her. “Why do you want to know?”

Sesshoumaru looked down at the girl sitting at his feet, giving her his look of answer me or else. She let out a sigh and began to explain to him what had happened that day prior to the encounter with his beast. Her explanation turned into an all out tale of her adventures up to that point. She tried to avoid telling him where her true home was, but the daiyōkai has a way of using your words and his questions, that seemed more like statements, to pry everything he wants to know out of you.

Once her tale of her adventures with Inuyasha and the gang ended, her own curiosity was piqued. She looked at the demon lord assessing whether or not she should ask him her question. From the look of him, she figured that even if she asked, he wouldn’t answer her, but she had to ask just for the one in a million chance that he might actually answer her. “Uh, Sesshoumaru? How did you lose control of your beast?” Before he could respond, she interrupted him. “I-know-you-don’t-have-to-answer-a-lowly-ningen-such-as-myself-I-was-just-wondering-is-all.” Had he not been the daiyōkai that he was, he wouldn’t have been able to catch what she had said, but as it were, he is. “You are correct in that I do not have to answer you, but since you were not the cause of my beast’s disobedience I will tell you.”

Kagome sat there shocked; he was actually going to answer her, her the worthless ningen. She sat up straighter and leaned towards him a little. She wasn’t going to miss a word that was about to come from his sexy mouth.

When asked
What made it show?

Sesshoumaru looked at the girl and saw that she was genuinely interested in what he had to say, which made the girl even more intriguing to him. Usually he had to force people to listen to him, but then again what he usually told people was that they were going to die, and who wants to hear that? Nobody. He told her that he let his beast have complete freedom, and that it took advantage of its freedom. He was loath to admit what had brought his beast to her, but told her none the less.

The truth
He can't send to most

Kagome sat there in awe. His beast had been interested in her, well not her but her scent, which, really, was still her. That was completely out of character for the one that she called Sesshoumaru. She had always assumed that he and his beast were one, one mind, and one soul. Of course, they had two bodies, and she had seen them both under not so friendly terms. Apparently, they were two separate entities who were shackled to one another, and one couldn’t live with out the other. “So if your beast is so strong, how is it you maintain control? I don’t mean any disrespect to you or anything. It’s just that your beast seems so powerful, and I can’t imagine how you are able to contain it.”

Sesshoumaru glared down at the girl at his feet. Did she think him to be weak? “My beast may be powerful, but he is not the most intelligent creature.” Kagome bit her bottom lip in concentration; these two beings in two forms with two separate minds confused her. “Excuse me Sesshoumaru-sama, but I don’t really understand. How is it that you and your beast are able to live as one but be two at the same time?” That question sent her mind spinning into a swirl to the point that she could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on.

Sesshoumaru wasn’t fairing much better then her. He had never thought about how he and his beast, as she put it be two yet one, were really able to be. He was born with it, grew up with it, and trained with it, but he never once thought about how they both lived as one, but two. Someone had finally stumped him and he did not like this feeling of not having an answer. This posed another problem, if he didn’t answer her, then she would know that he didn’t know. Moreover, if he did give her an answer, it would be a lie, and Sesshoumaru never lies.

This was agitating his beast as well; it wanted free so that it could kill the one making its head hurt. Kagome watched in horror as Sesshoumaru’s eyes began to bleed red. She had to do something to stop his beast from taking over and she had to do it now.

Seeing red again

So she did the only thing that came to mind that would keep Sesshoumaru focused on staying him and not letting his beast loose. She jumped up, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. She figured that his beast would be confused by this and Sesshoumaru would be angry enough with her for daring to touch him that he would pin his beast down for a good long while. She figured that it worked for Inuyasha and his beast so it might do the same for Sesshoumaru and his. Oh how right she was.

Sesshoumaru’s eyes returned to their hard gold color the second her lips landed on his. He didn’t pull her away right away as she thought he would. Instead, he began to lightly return the kiss, by slowly sucking her bottom lip into his. Kagome gasped in shock that he would return her kiss, not that she didn’t mind. She had always been somewhat interested in the demon lord ever since the first time she saw him. Since that day in his father grave, her mind had always teased her with images of doing this with him, and now here she was doing it. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and she decided to take full advantage of it.

Tentatively she ran her tongue across his top lip, tracing it and locking its shape and feel to memory. This caused him to deepen the kiss, wanting to taste what the girl was made of. He heard her let out a shy moan, as his tongue traced every inch of her. He could feel a need growing for the ningen he now held in his arms and damn if he didn’t want to act upon it. His beast however, brought him out of his need. It was angry with the girl, and wanted nothing to do with her. It began to act up, wanting to be released so that it could show her his dominance over her. Sesshoumaru would not let that happen, he had to be rid of her and he had to do it now. Without breaking their oral lovemaking he took off towards the well that she had told him was her doorway home.

The next thing Kagome knew was that she was standing with Sesshoumaru in front of the bone eaters well. She looked up at him confused. “What are we doing here?” Sesshoumaru looked down at her, trying to keep his beast under control, for it knew what he was about to do. “You must go home. You will not return here for a least one full moon cycle.” Kagome tilted her head in question. “Why? And besides what is to stop Inuyasha from coming to get me and bring me back here?” Sesshoumaru clenched his jaw at her question and at the mention of the worthless half-breed. “My beast wants to dominate you, and it will take some time for him to forget about you. As for the hanyou bastard, I will take care of him myself.” Kagome put a hand on his arm, while she looked up at him pleading. “You won’t kill him will you?” He raised an eyebrow at this. “You still care for him, though he doubted your integrity?” Kagome sighed tiredly. “Yes I do.” He picked her up and held her over the well. “Miko you are a fool.” Then he dropped her in before she could respond.

They say freak
When you’re singled out

Sesshoumaru watched as the blue light engulfed the girl in silent amazement. It was cut short however, as his angered beast began the battle for dominance. It wanted to show the girl that she was to submit to him, and Sesshoumaru didn’t want any part of it. Sesshoumaru shot into the forest away from the village that the girl called a second home, so that he wouldn’t end up harming someone she called a friend during the battle that was about to ensue. As the trees flew by in a blur, the edges of his eyes began to bleed red, as his beast tried to break free from its constraints.

The red...
It filters through

Two fight for control on the inside, but on the outside, only one can be seen.
You must login (register) to review.