The Mischievous Lady by Maria-Salvatore29

Hating Her

Chapter 9: Hating Her

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

-x-X-x-

-Sesshomaru-

"Have you ever been here before?" The hanyou asked as we enter the Middle Lands and the putrid smell of the land reached my sensitive nose.

"No," I replied dispassionately, not showing my growing discomfort.

"Really? Well, welcome to the Middle Lands." She smiled and waved at the people milling around who greeted her like a kin. "They are my family, you know."

"Hnn. You belong with them," I remarked sardonically.

She smiled softly, her sapphire eyes thoughtful. "Yes. I belong with them."

I glanced at her at the corner of my eyes, a little surprised at the lack of anger before realizing that she did not feel insulted at being associated with these…exiles.

"This is your home." I stated. Her own people must be rejecting a hanyou as well.

"Yep!" She stopped under the shade of a big tree, looking wistfully at the vast lands of the Middle Land.

"How have you become a servant to a demoness, then?" I stopped next to her, looking around and trying to breathe the fresh air the tree was giving.

"I…uhm…I met her while she was visiting here," she replied with a little frown.

"A high-born demoness visited the Middle Lands?"

"Uhm…"

"What is her name?" I demanded, genuinely curious. The demoness she was serving was one of the Chosen Ones and I wished to know who would associate herself with such people.

"Her name?" She hesitated.

I raised my brows at her. "Do you not know? Perhaps, you were just lying and were just intruding the castle of the West. After all, the palace guards were after you that day."

She glared at me before replying, "Why should I tell you anyway?"

"It is my responsibility to know your intentions, hanyou. The West belongs to the powerful clans of inu-youkai and you are an intruder." I narrowed my eyes at her, my voice hardening.

"Are you kin to them?" She asked, curiosity replacing her irritation.

"…Yes."

"Really?" She exclaimed. "I guessed right then. I really thought you were a family of theirs. So…what do you think of the Calling and of the Choosing?"

"A nuisance."

"What? Are you jealous of the Lord of the West?" She teased, elbowing me at the side playfully. I nudged her away with a slight grimace.

If you only knew who I am, hanyou.

She sighed, mocking dejection. "Oh well, the Lord of the West has twenty-four high-born demoness salivating at his feet but how about you? With your attitude, no one must have liked you enough to stay at your side."

Her teasing and sarcastic remarks hit a sensitive nerve I did not know I possessed. Irrational anger hit me hard before I could control it. I grabbed her by the arm tightly, my claws prickling her skin, drawing blood.

"What the hell?" She gasped, surprised by my violence, a flicker of fear passed through her eyes.

"You do not talk to me this way, you lowly abomination. Show respect to your superior, hanyou," I hissed in gritted teeth, an unknown bitterness flooding my mouth as memories I buried for centuries tried to resurface.

She stared at me intently, her eyes seemed to capable of seeing through me.

She saw.

Roughly shoving her away, I looked away. My aura was in total disarray just because of a hanyou. Ridiculous. I didn not even know why I was here with her, talking with her instead of torturing her to death.

"Hey…" She whispered gently. I remained silent, watching the sunset in the sky. After a while, she added, "I'm sorry."

Her sudden apology made me turn, my stoic face not betraying my surprise. She smiled wistfully at me, the glow of the sunset seemed to set her skin on fire, and grudgingly, I admitted that she looked beautiful for a savage.

How did you understand what was on my mind, hanyou? With just one look, you seemed to understand. I want to ask. Instead, I said, "Are you?"

Her smile turned into a grin. "Yeah. A little. Let me make it up to you, youkai. I'll hunt some food for you."

"No."

"Why not? I swear I wouldn't put a poison on your food." She rolled her eyes at the thought.

"I would not allow a lowly hanyou hunt for me.”

She glared half-heartedly at me. "You are a great lord from inu-youkai clans, are you not? Only those who are weak would not to recognize the strenght of others!" She put her hands on her hips, showing defiance.

I raised my brows. "Are you calling me weak?”

She shrugged. "Well, are you?"

No dignifying the question with an answer, I just insisted. "I will hunt."

"We will hunt." She grinned and ran ahead of me, calling out in a playful tone. "You're too slow, youkai!"

-x-X-x-

-Kagome-

This youkai was not as cold as I thought him to be. He was just hiding behind a façade to try to hide his emotions so others could not use it against him. I knew because I tried doing the same thing, hiding behind a façade of a happy and mischievous girl to keep the pain at bay. Although, sometimes, my temper made me reveal more.

When he looked at me intensely and quite angrily, I saw. I saw me reflected in his eyes seemingly saying, "You don't know me so stop making any assertions about me."

Or perhaps, despite being a powerful youkai and despite being part of the great inu-youkai clan, he might still felt gloomy, alone and lost in the sea of endless betrayal.

I ran around the dark forest, lifting my nose to locate a wandering prey. Finding a bear, I quietly waited for an opening to attack it. When it turned away from my hidden location, I jumped quickly. My fangs locking on its furry throat as my hands restrained it. Releasing a bit of my youki, the bear choked a little and I cut open its throat, efficiently killing it.

"Hnn." I turned to him, grinning as I did, but I noticed the absence of a kill in his hands. He did not look ruffled at all. So perhaps, he did not hunt? "The wolves are waiting for roasting."

I stilled. "Wolves?" I asked, a cold shiver running up my spine. "You killed wolves? How could you?" I accused angrily.

"You killed a bear."

"I am part-wolf, you dumbass!"

"Do not be absurd. The wolves I killed did not carry spirits within them to be considered your kin."

I sank to the ground next to the bear I just killed. "They were not youkai, yes. But when I wander around in the forest, they talk to me."

"Wolves such as them do not have any abilities to talk."

"But I have the ability to talk to them…" Looking up at the darkening sky, I sighed. "Just go back to your land."

I could feel the weight of his gaze on me as if thinking what a crazy hanyou he had come upon to know. Stepping toward me, he said, "You are so concerned with your emotional ties to everyone, hanyou. It renders you weak."

"I am not weak. If you think that way then I'd rather be weak than be like you."

"If you are like me, you would be powerful," he scoffed arrogantly.

"No. You are not powerful." I contradicted him, shaking my head, as I rose to my feet and turned away from him. "You are the one who is weak. Weak enough to fear emotions." Then, I ran away from him as fast as I could.

-x-X-x-

-Sesshomaru-

I watched her run away from me, her dark curls shining in the moonlight, but I made no move to catch her. I was too surprised at her reaction to follow suit. There was so much I did not understand about her and I had always been eager to learn something novel as it helped ease the increasing boredom in my centuries of existence.

Many have remarked that I was too curious for my own good, but those are the people that would rather stay in one place forever, never forging forward and eventually fading away in time. With one last look at the direction she ran into, I turned away and decided not to meddle with her any longer.

I already have a mating competition to worry about, I did not have the time to follow her around just to satisfy a fleeting curiosity.

I just wished I knew her name.

-x-X-x-

Prompt: N/A

Word Count: 1400