Beauty by Serephina of the Kamis
Beauty
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. I do not own “Beauty is in the Eyes of the Beholder,” upon which this one shot is based.
BEAUTY:
She was not beautiful. Nothing about her was extraordinary. Nothing about her made her stand out in a crowd. She was forced to grow up quickly when she was thrust down a well at the age of fifteen. As she grew, she became stronger and brighter. A person couldn’t be around her without being infected by her happiness.
No, she was not beautiful. But she made others recognize the beauty in themselves. And because of that, she pulled at everyone’s hearts and became dear to everyone she met.
She met a rebel man, who in order to ease his guilty conscious, offered to teach her the sword. They became friends fast and he fell fast in love with his happy, eager student.
Beautiful. This plain, simple girl was beautiful to him. And he began to fall. Fall so in love with this beautiful girl.
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“Arg! This is so frustrating!” Kagome wailed.
“Just give it up, Kagome!” InuYasha shouted. “You don’t need to learn this kind of thing!”
“Oh, shut up, InuYasha!” Kagome shouted back. She turned back to Sango and lifted her borrowed sword, taking the stance her adopted sister had taught her. “Alright, I’m ready this time, Sango.”
Sango smiled. “Alright.” Without warning, the taijya lunged forward. Kagome blocked it, and tried to step forward with a thrust of her own. Unfortunately, Sango was expecting it. She twisted so that the blade slid passed her and then quickly brought her blade around, hitting Kagome hard with the flat of her blade. “You’re dead.”
Kagome groaned. “Again.”
Sango sheathed her sword and shook her head. “I think you’ve had enough for today, Kagome.”
“But Sango-”
“Lady Sango is correct, Lady Kagome.” Miroku said calmly. “Perhaps it would be best if you rested for the day.”
“Yeah, it’s not like you’re any good anyway.” InuYasha called over.
Kagome sighed. “Alright.” She sheathed the Tetsusaiga and smiled at Sango. “Thanks.”
Sango grinned “You know it’s not a problem.”
Kagome turned to InuYasha and smirked as he flinched. He knew that look very well. “Oh, InuYasha?”
“Yeah?” He asked wearily.
“Go fetch!” Kagome hefted Tetsusaiga and threw it with all her might into the forest.
“NO!” InuYasha screamed.
Kagome laughed as he scrambled to his feet to chase after his sword. Then with a sigh, she turned to the fire to start with dinner. Sango and Miroku had already moved to sit nearby, though Sango glared at the occupants on the other side of the fire: Rin, Jaken, and Sesshoumaru.
Kagome was still at a loss as to why the demon lord had decided to join their small group in hunting after Naraku. But she did enjoy it, especially since Jaken was a good source of relief for her frustrations. Plus it was good for Shippou and Rin to have someone their own age to play with.
InuYasha returned a few moments later, ready to scream to the high heavens about Kagome’s foolishness. But before he could even start, Kagome handed him a bowl of ramen. InuYasha forgot to be mad and instead dug into the bowl. Kagome couldn’t help but grin before handing out the rest of the ramen.
The last bowl was always for Sesshoumaru, who always stayed a bit away from the rest of the group. Kagome knew he would never lower himself to eating human food, but she still made him tea and tried to get him to eat something. He would take the tea and tell her to give the extra food away. Kagome would try to change his mind, and he’d glare until she finally gave up and went away. The established ritual had remained unchanged.
Until Kagome sat next to him today. “You are terrible with a blade.” Sesshoumaru said before she could say a word.
Kagome huffed. “Gee, thanks for the encouragement.” She placed the tea down next to him. “At least I’m trying! I’m tired of being the damsel in distress all the time. I’d like to enter a battle one time and know that I’ll survive even if someone else isn’t around to save me.”
Sesshoumaru took the cup, ignoring the bowl she set down beside him. “The taijya is attempting to teach you the use of a katana. However, when considering your experience with a sword and a bow, you would be better suited for training with a wakizashi.”
Kagome stared at him. “Huh?”
Sesshoumaru sighed. “You would be using the sword as a backup weapon, yes?” Kagome nodded. “Then it makes no sense to train you as if the sword was your primary weapon.”
“So. . . I shouldn’t be learning how to use a sword?” Kagome asked. She really had no clue what the difference was, and Sesshoumaru knew it.
Sesshoumaru locked eyes with her and Kagome shivered, feeling as if he was peering directly into her soul. After a moment, he nodded, breaking the staring contest. “This Sesshoumaru will train you.”
Kagome blinked. “You’ll what?” Sesshoumaru glared at her, and she blushed. “Sorry, it’s just, I don’t want to waste your time.”
“This Sesshoumaru has no intention of doing so.” Sesshoumaru answered. “You will learn, and you will be good. This Sesshoumaru will accept no less.”
Kagome stared at him for a moment, then broke into a smile. “Thank you.” She said, softly enough so that he would be the only one to hear her. Then, before she could really think about the consequences, she lunged forward and grasped him in a hug.
Sesshoumaru stiffened in shock. Then, after a moment, he relaxed. It was . . . nice being held like this. Surreptitiously, he leaned down slightly to get more of her scent. It was calming and sweet, something he couldn’t really pinpoint, but could still enjoy.
“Oi, Kagome!” Sesshoumaru bit back a growl as InuYasha finally noticed where she was. “What the hell’re you hanging all over dog boy for?”
Kagome scowled and released Sesshoumaru. She blushed. “Um, sorry about that.”
Sesshoumaru shrugged. “It is of no consequence.”
Kagome grinned. “Great. So tomorrow, right?”
Sesshoumaru nodded shortly, and Kagome’s smile grew. “Thanks! You’re amazing, Sesshoumaru.”
As she turned away to deal with an annoyingly loud InuYasha, Sesshoumaru had to work to hide a smile.
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But the girl fell in love with a boy who thought he was a man. A guy so handsome, he turned even the oldest crone’s head. His hair was a halo of light around him, and his eyes were the color of the sunset. He was her savior, she told her teacher.
The man swallowed the lump in his throat. He did not have the heart of the one he loved. But he didn’t care, because as long as she was happy, he would be too. So he helped her sort through her protectors moods, all the time envisioning it was he himself. He helped her choose the perfect gifts and say the perfect words. All the while crying behind his caring eyes.
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“I just don’t understand him sometimes!” Kagome exclaimed after one particularly trying session. Sesshoumaru knew immediately she was talking about his half breed brother. “I mean, one minute he’s being so sweet, and the next, BOOM! He’s being a complete jerk off!”
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, and she sighed and flopped down on the ground. “I mean he acts worse than you do when you’re being all ‘I am the Lord of the West! Fear me and tremble!’” Sesshoumaru’s eyebrow got higher. “Don’t give me that look, you know what I mean.” Kagome sighed. “I just wish he would pick a side and stick with it.”
Sesshoumaru could see the hurt in her eyes, and something in him twisted. Knowing that he would live to regret this, he just knew it. He sat beside her with a mental sigh. “Examples.”
Kagome looked up at him in shock. “Huh?”
Sesshoumaru felt like bashing himself over the head. The gods must hate him. “Examples of the hanyou’s bipolar tendencies.”
Kagome sat up on her elbows. “Are you sure?” Sesshoumaru growled softly, his Get on with it before I change my mind growl, and Kagome smiled. “The other day, it was raining really hard. I forgot my coat back home, and I was starting to come down with a cold. So he leant me his haori. And when I tried to thank him, he suddenly got all gruff and told me that he couldn’t have me getting sick because then he wouldn’t be able to find his dumb shards.” She let out a groan of exasperation. “Why would he ruin it when he was doing so good? GAH!”
Sesshoumaru let her rant for a bit before she huffed. “So, what do you think?”
Sesshoumaru deliberated for a moment, and Kagome let him think. Rushing him would only annoy him, and he’d likely leave without giving her an answer. Finally, he spoke. “I believe that the half breed scum was worried.”
Kagome rolled her eyes. “Right. InuYasha. Worried. I didn’t know you had a sense of humor.”
Sesshoumaru glared at her, and she looked down at her feet. “Do you really think so?” Sesshoumaru nodded. “But why? Because of the cold?”
“That.” Sesshoumaru answered with a nod. “But also because he worried about your feelings.” Kagome still looked confused, so he clarified with a sigh. “I believe that InuYasha worried that you did not feel as he did, and therefore tried to push you away before you could reject him.”
Kagome blinked. “I hadn’t thought of it like that.” She whispered. She thought about it some more, and a slow smile spread across her face. “You know, for someone who has the emotional span of a teaspoon, you’re pretty good at this.”
Sesshoumaru glared down at her, and she giggled. “This is the last time this Sesshoumaru will assist you in matters concerning the half breed.” Sesshoumaru answered.
Kagome just shook her head. “It was a compliment, Sesshoumaru.” She leaned over and softly kissed his cheek. “Thank you. Really.”
“Kagome! Let’s go!” InuYasha’s voice broke the mood completely.
“I’m coming!” Kagome’s voice seemed lighter than before, and Sesshoumaru didn’t need to see her face to know she was smiling. She got up quickly and ran to InuYasha.
Sesshoumaru pretended he didn’t care. It was the only way to keep from howling.
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He wasn’t perfect. He was a killer, a murderer, a monster. He was cold to everyone, and showed little mercy.
And now the gods had found the punishment. He had fallen in love with this beauty.
Then one day, all hell broke loose. The protector she loved left her for her previous self. The girl was stunned. She did not speak for days. Only the man could rouse her from her state of despair. She cried on his shoulder, and his soul cried for her.
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The day had finally come. Sesshoumaru walked like a zombie through the forest, almost wishing that something would come along to kill him. And knowing that nothing ever would. The gods didn’t like him enough.
“Sesshoumaru!” Sesshoumaru turned as Kagome raced to him, ignoring InuYasha’s calls of warning. “Long time no see!”
Sesshoumaru nodded in return to her greeting, and she laughed again. “Sesshoumaru, I have amazing news!” Sesshoumaru cocked an eyebrow, and she laughed again. “I’m getting married!”
Sesshoumaru’s heart stopped. Kagome. . . married? He mentally shook himself. She was still speaking.
“. . . of course, since he’s a hanyou, we’ll be mated as well.” Kagome didn’t seem to notice how each word was like a knife twisting in his heart. “We’re planning on a spring wedding, so we’ll be mated and married on the same night.”
Sesshoumaru was frozen. He knew he should be saying something, but he couldn’t speak. Something inside him just kept screaming, and he couldn’t stop it long enough to speak.
“Sesshoumaru?” Sesshoumaru was firmly jolted into reality when Kagome grabbed his arm. “Are you alright?”
Sesshoumaru forced himself to speak. “This Sesshoumaru is fine.” He answered tersly. “I congratulate you on your news.”
Kagome slowly released his arm. “Are you sure you’re okay? You looked like you were ready to tear someone apart.”
Sesshoumaru forcibly pushed back his emotions. He needed to remain calm. “I am fine.”
Kagome stared at him for a moment longer, then nodded. “Okay, if you’re sure.” She placed a slip of paper in his hand. “Here’s the date. I’d really like it if you came.”
So now he walked through InuYasha’s forest, going to the wedding of the one female he wanted, and the one he’d never have. Why did he insist on torturing himself? He could just walk away. He could leave, and never look back. After all, the hanyou would not have enough youkai to extend her life, so she’d die soon—
The thought forced him to stop, the pain in his chest flaring into something unimaginable. He grit his teeth until it passed. No. He couldn’t go through with this. He just couldn’t watch her disappear.
He knew he was getting close. He could smell the hanyou nearby, and so began following his scent to the village. It wasn’t until he got closer that he realized there were no other scents near the hanyou. Just the smell of graveyard dirt and ash. Was the hanyou visiting a grave?
He got closer, and he soon heard the sound of voices. As he got closer, the voices became clearer.
“. . . the only one for me.” It was InuYasha’s voice. Sesshoumaru growled softly. He must be talking to Kagome. He turned away, unwilling to hear her response.
“And yet you almost married that copy.” Sesshoumaru froze at the sound of the next voice. It wasn’t Kagome’s voice. “Why should I believe you?”
“I left her, didn’t I?” InuYasha’s voice called. “Just stay with me Kikyo. You’re all I’ve ever wanted.”
Sesshoumaru raced through the trees and burst through the clearing to find InuYasha alone with the undead priestess. InuYasha whirled around and sneered at Sesshoumaru. “What the hell do you want, you bastard?”
“Where is Kagome?” Sesshoumaru snarled.
“What the hell should I care?” InuYasha snarled back. “I’m staying with Kikyo.”
Sesshoumaru had him pinned to a tree almost before he was done speaking. “You are truly a pathetic whelp unworthy of our bloodline if you truly believe that a dead being who was less than mediocre in life is better than a living being of love like Kagome.” He didn’t yell, he didn’t growl. And yet somehow, the quiet voice with which he spoke was more threatening than if he did. “I will find her. Then I will return, and you will die.”
He dropped InuYasha to the ground and started off into the forest. “What is all the fuss over one pathetic copy about?” The dead woman asked.
Sesshoumaru didn’t even look at her. He just sent his whip out and dissolved her into nothingness.
He could smell the village, and he could smell a different scent heading in a different direction. It was one he would know even after he died, even drenched in salt as it was. He chased the scent, barely avoiding trees and rocks as he ran. He had to get to her. Nothing else mattered.
She was on the ground by the well. Sesshoumaru stepped into the clearing silently and saw her collapsed there, shaking uncontrollably. He cursed his enhanced hearing, for once wishing his ears were those of a human. Then the sound of her sobs wouldn’t be ripping through him one at a time.
He came forward slowly, suddenly unsure of what to do. The little miko didn’t seem to notice he was there until he stood directly behind her. She sat up with a jolt, trying to wipe away her tears. Sesshoumaru caught her hand and set it down in her lap. Then he gently took her chin and turned her face to him. “Do not hide from me, Kagome.”
The tears in her eyes welled up again, and with a cry she fell into his chest. She sobbed harder than before, and Sesshoumaru was at a loss. Instinct nudged at him, and he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her and placed his head on top of hers.
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Time went by, and so the wounds heal. The girl realized something about her friend/tutor she never realized before. How his smiles and laughter, though rare and far between, were heaven itself. How his silence was more comforting than words. How his ethereal features made him look like a god. And how a simple word from her god was worth more than a hundred from her former love.
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Eight years she’d known him, and yet it had taken her this long to realize. He had been so patient with her, so understanding. He had been kinder to her then she deserved. And yet he’d never asked for anything more in return except that she smile.
She entered his study quietly, and smiled when she saw him passed out at his desk. It happened once a month, the day when the stress of going without sleep for a month finally caught up with him. It happened the same day every month, and Kagome, once she figured out the pattern, always made sure that she watched him sleep. It was like everything he felt all month was suddenly set free on that one night.
Kagome carefully closed his study door and slid into the room. With practiced ease, she placed a blanket around him without waking him up. Then she sat beside him and placed her head on her arms, smiling as he continued to sleep.
“I’m sorry, Sesshoumaru.” She whispered. “I guess I messed up. You hate all the evil demonesses who are constantly swarming around you. You hate that they’re all obsessed with you. And you hate them because they’re nothing more than spineless groupies.”
Tears starting forming in her eyes. “I’m such a hypocrite. I’m no different than them. I’ve fallen in love with you, Sesshoumaru.” She didn’t notice the tears that started to fall from her eyes. “And I can’t even tell you, because I don’t want to ruin what we have. I want to stay by your side, even if it means that I’m alone for the rest of my life.”
With a sigh, she laid her head down. “Good night, Sesshoumaru.”
She was almost asleep when she felt a very familiar clawed hand gently wipe away the tears that streaked down her face. She sat up with a jerk, a blush spreading across her face. “Oh, I’m sorry, Sesshoumaru. I didn’t mean to fall asleep, I just wanted to check on you. I’m so sorry, I’ll just—”
Once again, the clawed hand gently guided her face back towards his. “Do not hide your face from this Sesshoumaru.” He gently chided.
Kagome bit her lip and nodded. “Sorry again.”
Sesshoumaru smiled softly, and Kagome gulped. She could never get over how amazing he looked when he smiled. “Don’t do that.” She groused.
The smile faded, replaced by a look of confusion. “Do what?”
“Don’t sparkle like that.” Kagome grumbled. “It makes it hard to think.”
Sesshoumaru thought about that for a moment, and then the smile returned full force. “Are you able to think easily, Kagome? I find that hard to believe.”
Kagome stuck out her tongue at him. “You are such a jerk!”
She huffed and stood, heading for the door. But Kagome froze when Sesshoumaru called to her. “Does this mean you don’t love me anymore?”
Kagome turned back to him slowly. “How long have you been awake?”
Sesshoumaru’s smile turned into a smirk. “I was never asleep.”
Kagome could feel the blush burning her face, but it was distant. The most prevalent feeling was one of numbness as the implications of what Sesshoumaru was saying sunk in. “You. . . heard?”
Sesshoumaru nodded. Kagome couldn’t breathe. This was it, he was going to throw her out. He would never want to see her again, not now. She took a deep breath and bowed to him. “My sincerest apologies, Sesshoumaru-sama. I will be sure to purify my scent from the palace before I go.”
His hand was around her waist before she had the chance to do more than turn away. “You are not leaving, Kagome.” He whispered.
Kagome shivered. “But, the others-”
“Are greedy bitches whose interest with me is based solely on my ability to grant them a position of power.” Sesshoumaru tightened his arm around her, half afraid that she would really leave. “You are not one of them. You will stay.”
Sesshoumaru relaxed a bit when a small smile crept over her face and a glint of mischief entered her eyes. “And what if I decide to leave?”
He knew that she was only joking, but he couldn’t help but tighten his arm around her. “Then this Sesshoumaru will stop you.”
“What if you’re away?”
“Then this Sesshoumaru will hunt you and bring you back.”
“What if I hide?”
“It is of no consequence. This Sesshoumaru will find you.”
“But what if you can’t?”
Sesshoumaru turned her to face him, and he waited until she looked at him before speaking. “I will find you.”
Kagome’s smile grew, and she wrapped her arms around him. “Good.”
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Perfect. He was perfect to her.
Beautiful. She was beautiful to him.
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Q. What is the difference between a katana and wakizashi?
A. The katana is a Japanese sword often called the samurai sword. The katana is characterized by its distinctive appearance: a curved, slender, single edged blade, circular or squared guard, and long grip to accommodate two hands. It is used as a primary weapon.
The wakizashi is a traditional Japanese sword with a blade between 12 and 24 in. It is shorter than a katana, and it is usually used as a backup weapon. I presume that this is the type of sword that Sango uses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------Author's Rant---------------------------------------------------------------------
Horse Wolves: I think you just get better with every one-shot, OG.
Obsessive_Goddess: Why, thank you, HW. That's nice to hear.
Kagome: Could you do them about someone besides me and Sesshoumaru. I love InuYasha, not this emotionless pole.
Sesshoumaru: This Sesshoumaru has no desire to be coupled with that pathetic ningen.
Obsessive_Goddess: My dears, go read any of the good fics on this site. You will understand why I will always see you two as the better match.
Horse Wolves: For once, I agree with crazy.
Obsessive_Goddess: Thank you. . . HEY!
---------------------------------------------------------------------End of Author's Rant---------------------------------------------------------------------