The Diary by Tomosaho
Chapter 12
I want to first thank everyone who voted for my story, I'm extremely honored to have received third place in Best Canon. Thank you!
This might be the last chapter I put up for a while. I'm going to be moving back to college for my final year soon, so I'll be busy getting settled in and working everything out. But if it takes me a while, don't fret. I haven't forgotten this fic, I'm just very busy!
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Disarray
If Sesshoumaru would have ever bothered to describe his taste in women, he would say that it was... adventurous. During his adolescence he had never been one to turn down a lovely lady provided she was up to snuff, and it would seem in his adulthood that old habits were hard to break. Like all men, he had thought up a list of things he liked in a woman, but in general most of the items on that list had been optional. It didn't bother him if a woman wasn't particularly beautiful, or even pretty for that matter, provided she was very fashionable or very witty. All in all, his tastes were flexible. But there had always been one item on the list, the one on the very top, that was always mandatory.
Sesshoumaru wasn't afraid to admit that, like most men he also gravitated towards one aspect of a woman's body that he felt was most desirable and lent a woman a very ravishing air about her. For his father, he knew it had been a petite body. Izayoi had been quite waiflike, and it had been surprising that she had survived the pregnancy and birth of her son. Sesshoumaru for the most part had never been attracted to a woman who was too small, although like he said he was adventurous.
But, there was one thing he felt a woman must have, and that was long, black hair.
There was no two ways about it, it was simply a must. A woman must have long black hair that fell in disarray across the mats as she fell to the floor, hair that was slick, thick, and lustrous. Hair that was like freshly ground ink, that reflected the moonlight and just faintly held the musk of camellia oil. Hair that fell over his hands, his arms, all about them both as he had his way throughout the night. It was de rigueur for a sexy woman, and Sesshoumaru never could take just one look at long, sable hair. *
Which of course was why he had never bothered taking a second look at Kagome's hair before. Nothing turned him off faster than short hair. It was such a waste, cropping it high on the back like that, especially when there had been potential in the color. She might as well have prematurely grayed, it was so unattractive. Besides, it had been a little wavy, and he was particularly fond of strait hair. No, nothing about the style she had worn her hair in previously had been at all to his liking, which had been a plus in his quest to rid himself of his scandalous thoughts of her.
...She grew it out, he thought desolately as he once more blew strands of her inky hair away from his face. When did she do that? He didn't recall it being that long during the final battle a year ago... although now that he thought on it, hadn't her hair been in a bun? ...How long had she been growing it out, because it must have taken time for it to reach down to... mid thigh? Really, quite the acceptable length... unfortunately. And the weight of all that thick hair had pulled out the waves and kinks so that it fell strait in a very alluring way. And if he wasn't mistaken, and he was quite sure he wasn't, wasn't that wafting about him the subtle scent of... camellia oil...
This is not helping, Sesshoumaru thought once again, growling at his weakness.
"Hey! Don't growl at me, I didn't do anything to you! Now let me go! Kidnapper!" Kagome shouted, once more banging her fist down upon his armor, right over his backside. He really wished she would stop doing that. She was putting a small amount of her spiritual power into her fist when she hit him, and it reverberated throughout his body in a rather painful way. His armor wasn't designed to resist holy power, it was designed to protect him from a demon's attack. That was why Kagome's arrow had destroyed his armor so easily years ago, the energy locked into the projectile had been too powerful. The fact that she had been able to fire an arrow at him had been a fluke. He had just been distracted, normally he could kill a human opponent before they even made a move for their weapon. But that was beside the point. Right now, her spiritual powers were going strait through his armor, hitting his body, and he wanted her to stop. His ass was starting to sting.
He grabbed her by the back of her kosode and raised her up before letting her fall back on his shoulder. She shrieked when she began to fall, and he winced as he locked onto her again. In her new position, it was no longer her torso draped over his shoulder but her hips. He had his arm firmly wrapped around her thighs to keep her in place, but the only way she could support her head instead of letting it bang into his armor was to raise herself up on her arms. Considering the jumping he was doing at that moment to elude Inuyasha it would be hard for her to support herself with one arm, so she wouldn't be inclined to keep hitting him. Even better, her lovely hair wasn't getting into his mouth anymore. He sighed to himself for a moment, happy at her stillness before one of her legs raised up and kicked him, sending a wave of burning spiritual power through a very... sensitive part of his body.
There's no winning with this woman! Here he is, trying to do her a favor and save her life, all out of the generosity of his own heart no less, and what's the thanks he gets? He growled again, which only prompted her to start shouting. He was starting to remember why he tried to kill her back in his father's tomb.
After a little more time had passed, Sesshoumaru was quite sure that he had successfully eluded Inuyasha... for the moment. Eventually he knew the boy would be on his trail again. Ah-Un could always find his master, and Inuyasha would start following the dragon's trail sooner or later. But right now, they were alone and that was all that mattered. He could explain to Kagome properly what the situation was, she would understand the danger she was in, and she would thank him for his consideration... or else.
When he landed in a clearing, he let go of his hold on her legs so that she tumbled to the ground behind him. She fell gracelessly into a heap on the dirt, making a scandalized sound at such treatment. He turned around, fully intent on glaring at her for his scandalized treatment when he saw the state she was in. She was gathering her arrows off of the ground which had become dislodged from their protective cover when she fell. All around her, slipping over her shoulders, her arms, her knees to pool on the ground in complete disarray was her beautiful raven hair.
Dammit.
"What is this all about?" Kagome fumed after collecting her arrows. She was holding one of them in her hand and was using it to gesticulate at him. "Have you lost your mind?"
Probably.
"The Shikon no Tama cannot remain in Edo if it is to remain safe." He decided that would be the better answer to her question. Kagome in turn gave him a startled look, completely taken surprise by the mention of the jewel. "There is a powerful demon searching for it, and the man I was fighting earlier was a creation of this demon. It had been sent on a mission to search for 'a priestess with a powerful amulet'-"
"The rumors!" She exclaimed to herself, a light going on in her head as she nodded in understanding. He gave a mental huff, weren't those scouts of Yoin's supposed to be deflecting the rumors in Edo? "Huh, guess he's a powerful guy if he can make something like that... but why do you care? The jewel will be safe in Edo. Inuyasha and I can protect it just fine."
"Doubtful." He replied, to which she huffed and glared at him for the perceived slight against her. "Your innate powers would suffice against such an enemy provided they were distracted, but that is not likely to happen again. Surely you don't mean to claim you can move so quickly? Inuyasha is not fast enough, nor does he have the proper discipline."
"You don't give him enough credit. If he was just prepared-"
"He would not be."
"How do you know that?" She asked angrily. "If he sets his mind to a task, he won't get distracted. Inuyasha would do everything he could to see it through."
"That is not what is in question. Undoubtedly he wants to protect you. His ability to do so is what will be inadequate."
"There you go again! He's not as weak as you make him out to be. Just because he's not a full demon-"
"It is precisely because he is not a full demon that he could not protect you." She made some sort of sound at him that he could only describe as a human growl. He didn't know they growled...
She turned around and began to leave, waving her arrow in the air as she gestured wildly in her ire. Sesshoumaru could feel his own rising. She was being needlessly difficult. Why was it turning out this way, she wasn't supposed to get this angry! Why couldn't she just listen to reason? He huffed before gaining on her to grab her wrist and spin her around.
"Are you trying to claim that Inuyasha's skills and senses are better than my own?" He asked angrily, letting some of his frustration come through in his voice. She stared at him dumbly, as if she had never heard him get angry before. Vaguely, in some corner of his mind, he acknowledged that the last time she saw him angry had been in battle. "That creature you saw earlier snuck within two feet of me without my knowledge. Even within such close proximity I could only faintly smell it, and only when I concentrated. More than that, it was faster than I. The skills that it possessed are more than Inuyasha's by far. Are you trying to claim that he would have faired admirably against such a foe? How do you think he would fair against two of them?" He had pulled her arm up so that it was raised high above her head. She could only stand on the tips of her toes and struggled to balance herself, all the while he had moved close to her so as to surround her. "Well?"
Kagome struggled to regain her balance, holding onto his armor to support herself as she glared at him. One of her legs kicked out at his shin, and if he had been a human her kick would have been enough to fell him but he was not to be deterred. She couldn't take him down, and he pushed his demonic aura onto her so as to subdue her. The air began to sizzle as she fought back, but he had more experience in these matters. It would seem that she still heavily relied upon a conduit for her powers, and was weaker when lacking one. Sesshoumaru soon felt her body relax as she turned her angry eyes away from him in submission. He lowered her so she could stand properly, but he did not release his hold on her.
"What was he, anyway? He didn't have a demonic aura..." She asked quietly as she stared off to the side, doing her best to avoid looking at the demon that had captured her. If she had been anyone else, he would have forced her to admit her mistakes and humbly apologize for the error of her ways, but he was feeling generous. At least she was listening to him now.
"He is a familiar." He replied calmly. "But his method of creation is not normal. They are made of natural elements as opposed to something man-made, and the binding method between their physical state and their mode of power is unknown. It may be souls, but I am not sure. Whatever they are made of, it does not seem to involve demonic or holy forces of any kind, so they do not give off an overt aura. Because their bodies are comprised of natural elements, they blend easily into the background, and it is... difficult to detect them. That familiar just now smelled no different than a tree."
"How sneaky." A voice called from the darkness, and Sesshoumaru pulled Kagome behind him instinctively as she reached for her bow. "Now don't be that way, I bear good tidings." A figure began to emerge from the shadows of the forest, but it never entered the clearing full of sunlight.
"Yoin." Sesshoumaru growled, letting go of Kagome so that she could move to stand next to him. "You are over a month late."
"Be happy I'm here at all. Suhoki is pissed at you, and I think he's on to the fact that his private quarters are not so private these days. He's upped security big time." She replied.
"And what have I done to earn his ire?" He questioned, grabbing hold of Kagome when she slowly started inching away from him. He felt a wave of satisfaction ripple through him when the girl growled her frustration.
"That little trap you set for him has him all in a huff. Over half of his minions were scouring the Western lands looking for you and Rin-chan, and not only did you have the gall to be in the East, but you had the gall to be lying. He wants you dead by yesterday." Sesshoumaru could reciprocate. "But anyway, come into the forest so I can tell you what I've learned. I can't stand looking at all of that happy sunshine."
"Who is she?" Kagome whispered as he led her towards the shadowed canopy. "She surprised you, too."
"That is a good thing. She is my spy." He replied, and he watched in fascination as her eyes became wide with curiosity and surprise. Maybe he should add brown eyes to his list...
"Ah, that's better. I swear, I don't know how you can stand it." Yoin stated when they had joined her in the shade. Sesshoumaru looked over to Kagome when he noticed her moving and saw that she was rubbing her eyes. It did take some practice to be able to look at Yoin's shifting form without getting a headache.
"What did you learn in all of your spare time?" Sesshoumaru inquired, letting her know that he was still peeved at her tardiness.
"Unfortunately, not as much as the first time around." She sighed. "He's very secretive, and I've started to hit a lot more walls. I have gotten farther along in figuring out how those familiars are made, but Sesshoumaru-sama, they are brilliant in their simplicity. No excess, nothing that can be exploited. I can't figure out a way that you'll be able to increase your ability to sense them. I still can't figure out the secret ingredient. Looks like you're just going to have to stay on your guard."
"Is it souls that power them?" He asked.
"No, it's their haku, the energy that powers the soul." She replied.
"But that doesn't make any sense." Kagome interjected, causing them both to look at her in surprise. "When Mouryoumaru was powered by just haku, he was mindless. All he could do was take orders from Hakudoshi. It wasn't until he absorbed an actual soul that he became self-aware. But that familiar seemed cognizant."
"True." Yoin replied. "It would seem that haku alone wouldn't be enough... but in this case, it is. I'm thinking Suhoki... err, the mastermind behind all of this, did something special to it. I don't know why he would go to that sort of trouble, but I'm guessing that he didn't want his minions to be uppity. Isn't that the problem Naraku had with his servants?" The two nodded in response.
"That may be why they react so violently in death. I want you to look into that the next time you return." Sesshoumaru ordered. "We may be able to use that to our advantage."
"If I can get back there and then back to you..." Yoin muttered. "I only have a small window in which I can come to this world and get back to his without him noticing. It's during a change of guard. I'm going to have to leave in a few minutes or someone might notice me."
"Eh, worlds?" Kagome asked in confusion.
"Suhoki has cloistered himself away in another world so that his enemies can't get to him. I've found the passageway to his world, but because I can let go of my substance it's easy for me to traverse the passage. I don't think people like Sesshoumaru and you can do it without a lot of spell-work. But Suhoki has a lot of barriers and traps set for anyone trying to do that, so it would be quite difficult to get even one of you there, let alone a small force. Besides, all that spell-work isn't exactly subtle."
"Traversing worlds... how nice." Kagome muttered to herself, and Sesshoumaru suddenly felt a pang at her sadness. It really was a bit cruel to flaunt Yoin's abilities right in front of Kagome.
"Have you learned how we may lure him out of his fortress?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"Sort of. I'm betting he'll come out for the Shikon no Tama, but that's not exactly the safest bait. Isn't the whole point to keep it from him? And he wouldn't come alone either. He only has a handful or two of his familiars here, maybe twenty at the most, but he has loads of them in his fortress as his personal guard. They'd come with him when he comes here. You need to get him cornered, and I'm still working on that. What you can do though is research a couple ascetics I've heard of here that might be able to help with understanding the passageway. I know of one to the north in the province of Mutsu, near the city of Kozukata."
"Where?" Kagome asked in confusion.
"Near Mount Iwate." Sesshoumaru supplied. "The Kitakami River runs right through it."
"Oh, you mean Morioka city..." Kagome muttered, causing Sesshoumaru to wonder at the passage of time between her era and his own, as Yoin just stared at them like they were fools.
"...Yes... I believe he lives on Mount Iwate, so you should go there. He might be able to help." She stated. Sesshoumaru grimaced at that. They might have to cross through the eastern lands, which were currently embroiled in a civil war, and then make their way into the highly volcanic northern lands which was nothing but a small mishmash of small demonic provinces. There were many factions there that were of equal strength, and Sesshoumaru did not want to get involved with them.
"And what of his world, what have you learned?" Sesshoumaru asked, putting his mind back on the current task at hand.
"His world is strange. It feels strange, and I don't know if I like it or not. Everything about it is more potent. It's hard to describe, it's just everything has... more. More of what makes this and that this and that. It's... hard to deal with at times. The shadows there can be very consuming, and the sunlight very blinding. Even the air is too much at times."
"How strange." Kagome muttered. "Hmmm... maybe that has to do with how he makes these familiars, the different setting and its potency."
"That could play a role, I'll have to look into it. I'm still just trying to find out where he is, but I think I'm getting close. I just need a few more leads and I'm sure I'll have it." She cocked her head to side after that, as if listening or thinking, and sighed. "I have to go back."
"It was nice meeting you." Kagome stated politely, somehow managing a proper bow despite Sesshoumaru's hold on her. Sesshoumaru wondered why she couldn't have been so polite with him. The fact that he had kidnapped her was completely ignored as he huffed indignantly. Yoin went through pleasantries as quickly as possible, cooing affectionately over Kagome the way she would over her own grandchildren.
"I didn't know you would be so cute." She sighed. Yoin then gave a sidelong glance at Sesshoumaru before smiling evilly. "And my, how beautiful your long black hair is!"
She was losing a limb, she could still serve him with only one arm, Sesshoumaru thought angrily as his poison filled the air.
"Don't do that when you're still holding me!" Kagome screamed in fear as the elegant perfume of his acid surrounded her. Sesshoumaru let go of her, and she jumped away from him to examine her arm for injuries. Yoin cackled in the background as she merged into the shadows, no doubt making her way into the passageway between worlds.
"You were never in any danger, the poison I released was not strong enough to dissolve flesh. It was merely a warning." She didn't honestly think he was going to hurt her that badly after spending two months trying to find her, did she?
"Then what was the warning for?" She hissed, still checking her arm surreptitiously.
Dammit, Sesshoumaru thought. What was the best lie?
"...She was dallying." That was terrible, Sesshoumaru thought. His father was right, he failed at lying.
"Huh... okay." She replied, still a little confused. "But don't do that again! You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Surely my poison does not strike that much fear in your heart? Naraku's miasma was more painful, yet you did not fear it in battle." Sesshoumaru's poison was quite fast-acting, much more so than Naraku's weak miasma, so the level of pain it could inflict on a human was minimal. They just dissolved too quickly.
"Yeah, I know that. But I was never blanketed in Naraku's miasma, was I? Thanks to that little incident, I can't stand wisterias anymore." She then glared at him. "I blame you for taking away some of my springtime cheer."
"Duly noted." He replied dryly, to which she grimaced at him. With her sweet features though, it looked quite a bit like pouting to Sesshoumaru and he had to resist the urge to laugh. Kagome then let her frown leave her face and sighed in exhaustion, running her hand through her hair. Sesshoumaru wondered if she had seen through his lie and was torturing him.
"Gah, it's too hot," Sesshoumaru agreed. "I'm tired of this fighting. And I'm already tired of this Suhoki. It's going to take a lot of work to defeat him. Ugh, I didn't get a long enough recovery from all of the work it took to defeat Naraku... And hey, why is it that your spy, Yoin-sama, is able to get all of this information on Suhoki but she didn't do all of this for Naraku? It seems like spying on Suhoki would involve much more work."
"Because I did not call for her to spy upon Naraku."
"Why not? Considering how good she is, you probably could have routed Naraku out in less than a year."
"Probably in less time than that. But Naraku was not nearly worth Yoin's outrageous cost." He scoffed, still mad at how she always managed to take a sizeable chunk out of his coffers.
"Wow, this Suhoki must be really important to you." She exclaimed, her eyes wide.
"No, Suhoki is not worth the cost either." He stated, but then instantly regretted it. That didn't sound right. Maybe she didn't notice...
"Well, then who is worth the cost?" She asked, and Sesshoumaru cursed in his mind. He didn't want to answer that question, neither to her or himself. The demon lord chose to ignore it.
"We should leave now if we are to travel a decent distance by the end of day." He stated, grabbing a hold of her and turning in a northerly direction. That felt like a great change of topic to Sesshoumaru. It led back to matters at hand.
"Wait, what! No way, I'm not going anywhere." Kagome stated as she tried to extricate herself from his hold. "But thank you so much for warning me, and for going to the north to talk with that ascetic. I'm very grateful. I'm just going to head back to the village now... ...Crap!" Kagome cursed as she was once more slung over his shoulder. "Stop doing that! I don't want to go!"
"I don't care."
"Why are my wishes never important?" She screamed to herself, secretly wondering if all the men in Sesshoumaru's family were jerks. "And we can't just leave! I have responsibilities in the village, and there isn't anyone who could replace me right on the spot. What if something happened to them, and I wasn't there to help? It would be disastrous. I just can't leave them without warning. Besides, I don't even have anything for a journey to the North. I'm bare bones here. No food, no water, no extra arrows, my sword is back there, too, along with extra clothing and sleeping supp-"
"Fine." Sesshoumaru ground out. He forgot how much women could talk and talk... and talk. He was starting to wonder what he had signed up for, and he wasn't at all looking forward to traveling through the northern mountains with that mouth of hers in constant motion. He turned back to the village and began trekking back at a quick speed. He wondered if Ah-Un would be confused, although the beast had an uncanny ability to foresee Sesshoumaru's movements. He might very well have turned to the village instead of making chase. "You will have one hour."
"To do what?"
"To gather your supplies."
"But I'm not going!"
"Lying is unbecoming of a woman." He replied, to which she groaned and began hitting him again. Sesshoumaru had the vague sensation of traveling in circles.
"And just how long is this kidnapping going to take, anyway?" She ground out as he made good speed for the village. She had stopped hitting him, and it seemed she may be on the way to accepting her fate.
"One to three months perhaps... one way." He replied, thinking of the time it would take to get to Kozukata, and which path they should take. The quickest and easiest path would be to follow the eastern coast line before moving west through valleys towards the Kitakami river. Such a path would only take a month at the very most. But that involved going through many of the most dangerous areas of the Eastern lands where the sons and brothers of the late Eastern lord were currently embroiled in warfare. The Kanto region was too far south within the larger Eastern lands to attract much notice, but farther north Sesshoumaru's presence would certainly attract the attention of one if not all of the eastern lords. The safer plan would be to head in a northwestern direction following the great Tone River towards the western coast line. It would take them back into Sesshoumaru's lands for some time before sneaking into the Northern lands. Sesshoumaru's land also bordered the most passive of the Northern demonic factions, so they would attract much less notice there. But that plan involved many more mountains... Sesshoumaru wondered how many mountain ranges he was willing to cross just for this woman.
"That's too long! I can't stay away for such a long period of time." She stated. "They're going to be so mad. I'm going to hear so many complaints."
"They can bring their complaints to me." He stated, to which he could feel Kagome shuddering in fear. Good, no complaints then. A short while later, Sesshoumaru entered into the field Kagome had specified as her home, and he saw next to her hut the remnants of the well. Construction looked to be going at a snail's pace, and he wondered how she could stand looking at it everyday. It must be a cruel taunt to her.
"Inuyasha hasn't returned..." She muttered sadly. No doubt she wanted to talk to him before she was whisked away, but Sesshoumaru had snuck by Inuyasha a while ago as the boy continued to search blindly for her. The wind had been in Sesshoumaru's favor during their chase and with his keener tracking abilities, the demon had been able to lay many fake leads to waylay the boy. It would take several hours for him to get through them all.
"Sesshoumaru-sama! Kagome-sama!" A voice called out, and the two turned to see Rin riding upon Ah-Un as the dragon lumbered towards them. Sesshoumaru's hunch had been right, and Ah-Un had been able to predict Sesshoumaru's movements even before the demon lord had been aware of them. It was disturbing to know that such a simple creature understood him so well.
"An hour." Sesshoumaru stated as he sat himself in the shade cast by Kagome's hut. She fumed at him before storming into her home and packing up the things she would need.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, what's going to happen in an hour?" Rin asked, looking through the doorway to see items flying across the room in wild trajectories.
"We will be leaving for another journey." He stated. "...With Kagome in tow." Rin gasped in surprise, a smile forming on her face. Sesshoumaru didn't really know what the girl thought of Kagome, they had only met a few times in the last few years. Her opinion couldn't honestly have been more developed than Sesshoumaru's, but nonetheless the girl seemed ecstatic at the idea of traveling with the priestess.
"Is that why we traveled for so long, just to meet Kagome-sama?" Rin asked... far too loudly. He looked over at the doorway, wondering if Kagome had heard, before motioning for Rin to move closer to him.
"Shouting is not ladylike." He stated to which she blushed and muttered, completely forgetting the topic of her question. A sack was soon dropped outside of the door, the first of the bags Kagome would be bringing with her for such a long journey. Sesshoumaru looked through it, to find that it was full of non-perishable food items like millet, beans, pasta, spices, bottles of water, and tea leaves, along with some articles of clothing. All of the clothing she had packed was in the style of a priestess, and that bothered Sesshoumaru. He wanted to be elusive as he traveled, to be as subtle as possible. This was already somewhat difficult for him whenever he ventured outside of his lands, but it would be even harder to stay unnoticed with a priestess in tow.
"Hey! Don't look through my things." Kagome stated as she put another bag down. "And I had it all carefully packed, too, and you ruined it! Men!" She groaned as she set to the task of refolding everything and putting it all in proper order. Sesshoumaru in turn ignored her and went through her next bag to find it was full of medical supplies and bathing implements, including a little bottle of camellia oil. That seemed in order, so he set it aside as he reached into her re-packed bag and pulled out her spare clothing. "Stop doing that!"
"When you go into the village, find the village head or someone of high status and borrow proper clothing from them." He commanded as Kagome began to repack her second bag as well.
"What do you mean, proper clothing? The clothing I'm wearing is fine." She retorted, huffing over her state of affairs.
"Do not dress as a priestess. It will attract too much attention." He stated, giving the best reason he had. The fact that he also wanted to see her in something sexier than priestess garb was not acknowledged.
"I attract too much attention?" She retorted, giving his flashy attire a one-over. Sesshoumaru replied with a glare, and Kagome sighed in defeat. "Fine, what do you want me to wear, something like Rin-chan's clothing?" He nodded in affirmation, and Kagome looked over at Rin, her eyes softening as she gazed at the young woman.
"You know, I didn't recognize her at first. She's so different from the last time I saw her. She really has grown up." There was a wistful expression on her face, and Sesshoumaru wondered if he had been sporting that look for the last two months as he thought of his young ward. "She was so cute when she was a little girl, but she's become such a lovely young lady now, it's startling. Still, I miss the child Rin-chan..." Kagome then stood and stretched before making her way towards the village. "I don't know if they'll have anything quite as nice as Rin-chan's clothing, but I'll see what I can do."
"Why are you suddenly so cooperative?" He asked, suspicious of her. She was so feisty just a few hours ago.
"Because I can't beat you no matter what I try to do. I can't convince you to do anything other than what you want to do, and I certainly couldn't beat you in a fight. I learned long ago not to fight these sorts of things." Sesshoumaru presumed she was speaking of her previous kidnappings, and felt his anger rising at how easy it had been to capture her. "And we both have the same goals in mind, so it's easier to just go with the flow. So there's no point in arguing anymore. Besides, Inuyasha will be here soon."
"And you really think he's capable of rescuing you from me?" Sesshoumaru spit out, insulted at such an inference.
"Ehhh... he'll do something although I don't know if it'll work." She replied with uncertainty before laughing. "He'd definitely do something, although I have no clue what he could do. Probably something outrageous."
"As per usual." Kagome laughed again before heading into the village to see what she could scrounge up. Sesshoumaru stretched his senses out to the maximum as she left, searching for Inuyasha's diluted demonic aura. It was faint, barely touching on the periphery of his senses, meaning that the boy was still searching in entirely the wrong direction. The village was absent of even a faint aura of any kind, even within the shrine, which Sesshoumaru took to mean the shrine was completely absent of a spiritual guide and thus a purpose. There was no demonic aura, so Sesshoumaru could only guess that the fire cat and fox demon that had been part of her group before were no longer a part of Kagome's life. It was just Kagome and Inuyasha, or at least it had been before Sesshoumaru threw her life into disarray.
The shadow he had been sitting in was getting smaller as the sun moved towards high noon, and Sesshoumaru cursed the heat. Like most people, he was more tolerant of cold weather than hot, and like most people he felt that summer was the most miserable time of year. A small breeze that smelled just faintly of the sea blew through his hair, and Sesshoumaru longed for his cool Western homeland. **
Screams began to fill the air in the distance and Sesshoumaru stood as he listened to the sound. There was the sound of running, and the villagers were screaming about a demon. Sesshoumaru cursed, wondering what was happening now. He rushed towards the village, wondering what had happened to his once peaceful existence.
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Plot- Tomosaho, that was clearly how all great romances should start, with a good spanking a kick to the balls.
Author- You know what they say, to hit is to care, to scold is to love.
... ....And the romance begins? ... ...
*I wasn't blowing smoke or being individual by giving Sesshoumaru a preference for black hair, I was making him a man of classic Japanese taste at the time. When most people think of what was considered the most beautiful and ravishing part of a woman's body in old Japan they think of the neck... which is true latter on in Japan. The nape of the neck will eventually become what is considered the most erotic part of a woman's body around the late 1600s and onwards until Western fashion consumes the Japanese market in the 20th century, but the preference for the neck only came about because hairstyles changed. During the Edo period, swept-up hair became a requirement for women in most of the classes, and the neck came into focus as a result of that. Before that time, only courtesans wore their hair up in imitation of Chinese Ming Era styles, and as such the neck was usually hidden. So, from the Heian period to the early-mid Edo period, the most erotic part of a woman's body was not her neck but her long hair. A woman's hair was her crown and glory, and it used to be that a crime equal to death for a woman was to have all of her hair shorn off. A woman would only willingly shave her hair off when she joined a Buddhist nunnery, retiring from the world (...and metaphorically dying?). In the Heian Period, a woman's hair was most beautiful when it was longer than the length of her body and trailed behind her as she walked, but in the practical military-minded Muromachi period, a woman's hair was ideal when it ended somewhere in the leg region. And hair, of course, had to be black. The best description of this taste I've read so far was written by Liza Dalby in her memoir East Wind Melts the Ice-
"A thousand years ago, in Murasaki's day, only black was beautiful. Black hair, kurokami, black as a raven's wing, black as a leopard lily seed, so black it reflected green- a woman's long black hair, sleek and straight, without kink, wave, or hint of brown, was the most erotic aspect of the feminine form. Forget napes, nipples, ankles, legs, or décolletage- even an ugly face could be overlooked provided the hair was long, thick, and black. Black hair in disarray (kurokami no midare) was the most sensual image of passion." (Dalby 71)
Camellia oil has been a hair product in Japan for about a thousand years, and is still popular enough to make it onto the shelves in most Japanese convenience stores. It is used to add shine, encourage growth, is healthy for the scalp, and gives great conditioning for the hair. I use it on my own black tresses, and I have to say it gives incredible shine. Camellia oil is generally scentless, but if you try hard enough you can pick up a faintly musky scent.
** In Japanese aesthetics, the two best times of year are spring and fall while summer and winter are considered climatically the worst times of year. This is understandable, as many cities in Japan are within basins between the mountains and air there doesn't move as easily. Kyoto is perhaps the best example of this, and in the Kyoto Basin cold wet air is trapped in winter which is bone-chillingly cold and in summer hot wet air is trapped to make for exhaustingly hot and humid weather. Between the two worse times of year, summer is considered worse than winter, and traditional houses are designed with this in mind. The open layout of a Japanese house, with its easily removed shoji doors to promote breezes and the floor-level lifestyle where cool air settles all helps alleviate the heat, but it actually worsens the cold in winter. Being cold is just something everyone has to go through, and secretly I think Japanese people feel being cold in winter is good for the soul. This general feeling is why few homes, including brand new Western style homes, have central heating in Japan, instead relying on spot heating units, kotatsu, and heated toilets (which are so necessary when the surrounding air is 0˚C). In response, there are few homes that don't have air conditioning.