Kagome stumbled back with a gasp. Before her, Sesshoumaru stood, the sword in his hand still locked with Toutousai’s hammer and glowing so bright it was almost gold. He stared down at Tessaiga’s true form, an expression of rare surprise showing on his normally stoic face.
“Kagome-chan!” Shippou cried as he sprinted toward her, Sango and Miroku hurrying after in his wake. “Are you all right?”
“I’m okay, Shippou-chan,” Kagome replied absently as he leapt up into her arms, her attention still riveted on the scene before her.
Sesshoumaru… her reeling mind processed in a bittersweet mix of amazement and joy and sadness. Sesshoumaru is wielding Inuyasha’s sword.
“Aha!” Toutousai proclaimed in triumph, his hammer returning to rest on his shoulder as Tessaiga changed back into its usual rusty self. “My suspicions were correct.”
“Suspicions?” Kagome said, her awe dissipating as her eyes cut to him hotly. “You mean you pulled that stunt just now on a hunch?”
Scratching his bald spot with a knobbly claw, the old swordsmith blinked. “Well, I did say it was a gamble…”
A vein throbbed in Kagome’s temple. “You…” Stepping forward, she ripped the hammer from his grasp, bringing it down hard on his even harder head. “You BAKA! You don’t get to gamble with my life!”
“…Under…understood,” Toutousai wheezed up at her from the ground, massaging the enormous knot rising from his scalp.
“You know,” Miroku said darkly, letting his staff fall beside the knot with a heavy clang, “my shakujou has been looking a bit worn as of late. Why don’t you see to it?”
“Hiraikotsu, as well,” Sango joined, her mouth a thin line as another welt rose up beneath the edge of her dropped boomerang.
Taking their actions as a cue, the rest of the villagers happily descended on Toutousai in turn, soon burying him beneath a pile of chipped axe-heads, dull knives, and gap-toothed rakes. Excavating himself with a splutter, he looked desperately toward Sesshoumaru.
“Do as they say,” the daiyoukai ordered, crushing the old smith’s hopes with characteristic ruthlessness.
Still studying Tessaiga’s battered blade, he turned and walked away a few paces. After relinquishing her appropriation of Toutousai’s hammer, she approached him.
“During the battle on the moutain, Tessaiga didn’t respond,” she said, glancing up at him. “What was different, this time?”
His gaze met hers intently. Kagome blushed as Myouga cleared his throat.
“If I may,” the flea began ceremoniously from atop her shoulder, “Tessaiga was forged by the Inu no Taishou in order to safeguard human life. By choosing to engage in battle with Mouryoumaru instead of protecting his human companions, Sesshoumaru-sama rendered Tessaiga effectively useless. Yet just now, when he wielded the blade with the sole intent of defending you, Kagome-sama, Tessaiga responded at once!”
“Ah,” Kagome said as Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at his father’s former vassal, “now I remember. Inuyasha wasn’t able to properly wield Tessaiga, either, until he made up his mind that he was going to use it to protect me.”
“Precisely.” Myouga nodded, smiling in satisfaction.
“But wait…” Kagome muttered, her eyes narrowing as well as she plucked the smug flea from his perch. “How did you know Sesshoumaru was too busy fighting with Mouryoumaru to come to our rescue?”
“Because he was there,” Sesshoumaru answered coolly, sheathing Tessaiga with a metallic snap, “spying.”
“Is that so?” Kagome said through gritted teeth, the quailing flea squishing to a ball between her thumb and forefinger. “How was the show, Myouga-jii? Couldn’t have been bothered to help us out, I don’t suppose?”
“Ka-Kagome-sama,” Myouga stuttered, “I can assure you I would have intervened if I thought I could be of assistance!”
“Yeah, right,” Kagome scoffed, pinching him flat. Her hands went to her hips in true lecture stance as she watched him waft toward the ground. “You were just there to hedge your bets, you coward.”
Still fuming, she looked up in surprise as Sesshoumaru grasped her by the elbow. “Your wound,” he said, “is bleeding again.”
Kagome stripped off her leather jacket with a wince. Sure enough, the bandage on her left arm was spotted with red. She must have overexerted herself, attempting to crack open Toutousai’s thick skull.
“Great,” she sighed, meeting his gaze again.
He was still holding her arm, his eyes studying her face with the same rapt interest he’d bestowed on his sword. Kagome shivered beneath the intensity of it, though to all outward appearances the chilly air could be to blame.
As his lips parted to speak, a familiar wail rang out from the forest’s edge. Sesshoumaru’s jaw clenched as his hand fell away. Feeling her blood pressure already beginning to spike, Kagome turned with him in the direction of the sound.
“Miiiiilord!” Jakken cried, dragging behind him by a rope what appeared to be a huge, dead deer. “This Jakken has brought you the Prince of Stags!”
“You’ve been hunting this whole time?” Kagome said incredously, the imp casting her a sallow glare as he drew to a stop before his lord.
Loftily, Sesshoumaru sniffed the air. “The blood has thickened.” Turning on his heel, he flicked his pelt dismissively over his shoulder. “Feed it to the humans.”
As Jakken’s eyes welled with tears, Kagome clasped her hands together excitedly, turning back toward her friends.
“Hey, guys–looks like we’re having venison tonight!”
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
HAHAHA!!! What is this revelation Sesshomaru; do tell?? Inquiring minds would like to know the obvious! Now let’s skip the pleasantries and get to the bed sheets already lol! I am a mess.
Lololol you crack me up, hun! <3 thanks for sharing!!