Thinking by Stary-eyed Fangirl

Thinking

SesshouMaru sat atop a cliff in the Western Lands. 'My lands,' he thought to himself, gazing out at the horizon as the moon slowly set behind him. He enjoyed this cliff, because only he could go there. It had many barrier spells placed on it because, to tell the truth, SesshouMaru didn't want anyone to see this view. Not only that, but it served as a place to think. Being the Western Lord, SesshouMaru barely had time to himself. He was occupied with doing paperwork, such a making treaties with the other lords or simply dealing with the problems of the people he ruled, and protecting his lands from attack. Not only that, but now he had Rin to watch over. It's not as though the inu youkai was inconvenienced by her presence, so long as she minded what he told her which she did. It's just that he needed time to think every so often, and he preferred to be alone during those times. He had many questions roaming through his mind, such as why it was that he had helped Inuyasha when the fool had been overcome by his demon blood and slaughtered a group of thieves. 'Or why the half-breed's wench protected this SesshouMaru...' the youkai thought to himself. After all, he could still recall the day perfectly.

~*Flashback*~

SesshouMaru sat, his back against a fallen tree, covered in blood and barely conscious. Inuyasha used Tetseiga's Kaze no Kizu attack, and Tenseiga had saved SesshouMaru, as it did the first time that had happened. The only difference was that Tenseiga had not transported him as far away as the last time, and Inuyasha had caught his scent. SesshouMaru could smell, and hear, his younger half-brother getting closer and closed his eyes as he awaited his death. He heard Inuyasha's breathing as the henyou unsheathed his blade and rose it and prepared to attack. He heard the blade swinging downward through the air at his body, and he heard, oddly enough, the sound of an arrow flying through the air and hitting said blade. SesshouMaru opened his eyes to see Inuyasha glaring at the woman who followed him around.

"Bitch," Inuyasha growled out, "what in the seven Hells do you think you're doing?!"

That woman, Kagome, moved to stand in front of SesshouMaru protectively, "No, Inuyasha, I can't let you kill your brother like this."

"Feh, and why not?!" Inuyasha looked down his nose at the young woman, in a way that had almost reminded SesshouMaru of himself... almost.

"Because it wouldn't be right-" She was cut off by Inuyasha.

"What the Hell do you mean 'it wouldn't be right'?! How many times has he tried to kill me!"

SesshouMaru could smell the tears that welled up in the girl's eyes, "None!" Both Inuyasha and SesshouMaru were shocked by that comment, and were about to inform her on how wrong she was when the woman started to talk again, "I don't think that he ever really tried or else... or else you'd be dead right now Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha, and his friends, stared at Kagome like she was insane while SesshouMaru mentally agreed with her, 'She's right, I have been holding back in my fights against him but, how did she know?'

"Inuyasha," Kagome said, "I know that you are strong, and I know that you can fight but when SesshouMaru had you by the neck, after he had found out that you held the tomb of your father, SesshouMaru could have easily killed you but did he? No. When you had been overtaken by your demon blood, and nearly lost yourself, SesshouMaru was the one to knock you out. He could have killed you then, too, but did he? No, he didn't because, deep down, even if he doesn't know it, your older brother cares about you Inuyasha. It's because of him that you have the Tetseiga, and it's because of him that you found the wind scar in the first place, so you have no right to try and kill him when he's injured! After everything that he has done for you, intentional or not, the least you could do is beat him in a far fight, and not while he's down."

SesshouMaru's eyes widened slightly as he heard her words, and Inuyasha growled, "The only reason he's down, wench, is because I got him with the Kaze no Kizu!"

"And the only reason you were able to that, Inuyasha," Miroku said calmly, "was because Kagome had distracted him with an arrow. Besides, you do owe him your life since he saved you from your demon blood."

Sango nodded, "I'd hate to say it, but SesshouMaru doesn't deserve to die like this."

"You're all crazy!" Inuyasha said, raising Tetseiga for attack again, "Now move, Kagome!"

"No," Kagome said, standing her ground, "Inuyasha, if you want to kill him like this then...." she gulped, "then you're going to have to kill me first!"

Everyone stared at Kagome in shock, even SesshouMaru, as she stood there and protected the Lord of the Western Lands from Inuyasha. The henyou sheathed his sword and left, along with the two humans, and demons, that he traveled with. As Kagome began to walk away, SesshouMaru called out to her, "Girl, why did you do that for me?"

"My name is Kagome, not girl," she said, turning around to face him, "and I did it because I know that, deep down, you can't be all bad." Kagome walked over to the fallen tree SesshouMaru had been leaning against and sat down on it, next to him. She stared down at his severed arm, "You know, I couldn't help but feel that you loosing your arm was my fault. Life must be difficult without it."

SesshouMaru just looked at her, wondering what she was getting at, "It wasn't hard to adjust."

Kagome sighed, "But still..." she held her hand over his shoulder, and closed her eyes. A soft pink glow came out of her palm, and entered his body. Before he knew it, a fully healed SesshouMaru was looking down at a newly formed arm, his newly formed arm. "Well, good bye, SesshouMaru."

"Kagome," SesshouMaru stopped the girl once again, "...thank you." She nodded, and ran off to deal with Inuyasha. Standing up, the Lord of the Western Lands went home, to deal with whatever else in his life that might have come up while he was gone.

~*End Flashback*~

SesshouMaru spent many days pondering this, but had yet to come up with a suitable answer. He, in all of his years of life, didn't, no couldn't, imagine why she would protecting him. Or why her words about him not being all bad, and caring for Inuyasha, seemed to be right. 'Could it be,' SesshouMaru thought, 'that this girl, no, that Kagome has figured my feelings about my half-brother out even before I have?' SesshouMaru made his way down the cliff, pondering why it was that it took a human girl saving his life to make him realize that he didn't actually hate his brother as much as he thought, or why that same girl couldn't leave his thoughts for more than a second. "Jaken," said the dog demon, "stay here and watch Rin. This SesshouMaru is going to pay a visit to Inuyasha..." SesshouMaru ignored Jaken's bow and reply as he added on silently '...and Kagome.'