X-Posted on Fanfiction.net.
I am in the process of creating an alternate of this story, but please, enjoy this here on Dokuga! No corrections have been made, but I wanted to post it here on Dokuga as well so that others who do not have a FF.net account may be able to read it as well.
Anyway, please enjoy!
Quote of the Day:
The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they're going to be when you kill them.
~William Clayton
Revolving Around Water - Chapter One:
A Fever In This Weather?
This was just too weird. She hadn't realized it before, but why was she the only one to notice it? For a while now, they've been on the outskirts of each town and never once set foot into Sesshomaru's territory, yet Sesshomaru was the one always on the borders of his own land. Over time, it was clear that the youkai lord had absolutely no wish to end his half brother's life, yet he still picked a fight with him. Kagome had long since stopped worrying and began actually wondering if Sesshomaru was actually training him himself. Obviously, it wasn't ever a real battle because she knew that Inuyasha would be dead in a heart beat should Sesshomaru actually want to kill him.
It took a while for her to realize that even though Inuyasha and Sesshomaru hate each other's guts, they are still brothers, which made them family, or in youkai terms, pack.
Now, as she started paying more close attention to the way he moved and the things he said, she began to think he was actually talking to her. It happened one day without her realizing it. She was watching Inuyasha bicker with him about having the sword. "You think I come for the sword?" He asked. That's when she knew that he wasn't really after it.
"Why else would you be here?" Inuyasha retorted.
"I simply came to observe and understand," when he said that, his eyes had connected with hers for the briefest of moments, and she had wondered if anyone else had caught it. It was raining, not really a downpour, but drizzling rather. She remembered how his hair and clothes stuck to his skin like a second layer. She remembered those burning ember eyes staring at hers, even if it was but a moment. She could still feel his stare looking at her as though she were having the conversation with him and not his brother. She shivered just thinking about it. Then the words he had spoken came back to her - observe and understand? Was he coming to observe and understand something that puzzled him? What sort of enigma had the taiyoukai so baffled?
She realized he really wasn't talking about the sword, or about anything else. She got the distinct feeling that it was her he spoke about. That it was her that was baffling him to such a degree. She honestly didn't know, but as much as she tried to come up with something else other than her, the answers always pointed right back where she started. She was the alpha-female of Inuyasha's pack, therfore, he wasn't just speaking to Inuyasha, but her as well.
Thinking about all of this had her in a foul mood. She wondered what it was that the taiyoukai was after. She also wondered that if her assumptions are correct, then why? She didn't like being an object under inspection. She didn't like being toyed with either. She did know, however, know that it would be only a matter of time before she found the answers she sought.
"Hey, Kagome, are you paying attention?" Sango asked. "What's got you in such a daze?"
"Oh," Kagome said, "sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I was just thinking about an upcoming test the school is having. It's a mathematics test, like a placement test to see how much we've learned or if we need some tutoring. Knowing me, I will be needing tutoring."
Kagome was getting quite good at coming up with lies. Sango and Miroku never suspected anything. At least, she didn't think they did. She really did hate lying, but it wasn't a complete lie. She had been thinking about the placer's test but her thoughts took a sudden turn when she was thinking about what had gone on just a month ago. Since then, Kagome and Sesshomaru had been meeting at random times. Somehow, it had always something to do with water. She didn't know why or how it was so ironic and coincidental, it just happened.
For instance, the last time they met, it was the middle of the night. Kagome couldn't sleep because Inuyasha had taken off, no doubt to be with Kikyou. She ended up going for a walk and came across a pond. It was there that Sesshomaru had spoken to her and nearly caused her to have a heart attack. For a while, neither of them moved from their positions beside the water, but merely looked on at its murky surface and the reflection of the moon. She hadn't the slightest idea why he was there, or why they were even on such civilized terms, but in the end, it had been a enjoyable moment. It had been something that, for once, had taken her mind off of Naraku, off Inuyasha, the shards, Kikyou, everything and everyone.
That was just last week, now that she thought about it. It felt like it had been forever since she last seen the taiyoukai. She wished she could see Rin, too, but knowing her, she would get her scent all over Kagome and then she'd be in big trouble with Inuyasha. Not that she cared, it was just that she didn't exactly want to get into another fight over nothing. It didn't really matter who she made friends with anyway. He wasn't her father, grandfather, brother, or caretaker. She could take care of herself - maybe not as well as the others - but she wasn't defenseless.
Sighing for what felt like the thousandth time that day, she actually paused to take in her surroundings. The scent of moisture hung heavily in the air - it was really humid. It was the rainy season and with the days getting longer and the nights shorter, Kagome was sure someone was bound to give in to agitation - that someone would most likely be her and Sango. She smiled to herself a bit, but it dropped when she continued looking at her surroundings. They were on a dirt path in the middle of the forest they were venturing through. Everything was so green and beautiful, but most of all...cool. After walking that same dirt path without even so much as a patch of grass in the middle of the road was rather tiring and it practically killed them all.
Sango looked as though she was ready to drop dead. Kagome knew that it was no easy task when you were constantly wearing a demon slaying outfit hidden beneath regular village clothes while carrying a large weapon on your back with several smaller weapons hidden within your clothes. She had tried it one day just for amusement, but it really wasn't easy. Sango was constantly having a workout, whereas she was only working out her legs and shoulders. She always carried so much in her backpack - well, mostly her books. She never took more than what was needed. She didn't want to accidentally leave anything in the Feudal Era and risk having it found hundreds of years later and have the scientists baffled completely.
She huffed as she blew the bangs out of her eyes. She looked at Inuyasha - he wasn't so much as breaking a sweat. She could see Miroku practically dying next to Sango. It was as if every human was being affected but not hanyou or youkai. What was up with that? Who knew. They were probably just more immune to things than ningen. Or maybe their stamina kept them going even if they were burning up. Or maybe they just had more metabolism. She frowned when her thoughts took a turn - she wondered if poor Rin was suffering in this heat as well. If she ran into Sesshomaru again, she's going to give him a girly hat to give to Rin to place over her head to keep the sun off her face. She was going to make sure he gave it to her, too, even if she had to be there personally to -
Her thoughts were interrupted when Inuyasha growled. He seemed irritated. "What do you want, imp?" He growled out.
Said "imp" walked into the scene with a little girl riding on the back of a two-headed dragon. She was laying on her stomach, her face as red as could be. Well, speak of the devil, Kagome thought to herself as she saw her. Then, she realized that the girl had her eyes closed and was breathing heavy. "Where's my idiot of a brother?" Inuyasha growled, hands on his Tetsusaiga.
"Inuyasha, sit," Kagome said, walking up to Rin.
"She was doing fine until this afternoon," he said. "There is no sun, yet she fainted."
"It is because of the humidity," Kagome said, gently pulling the girl from the back of the dragon. She reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of water along with a small wash towel. "For children, well, human children anyway, they can get heat stroke if it's too hot, whether there be sun or not. Even though it's the rainy season, Rin is more likely to catch some sort of illness if left in this weather."
Kagome poured a little bit of water onto the rag before gently wiping it over the young girl's face. At this rate, Kagome was going to have to get her to some shelter. "Where is Lord Sesshomaru?" She asked.
"He has gone to the Eastern Domain," he said, "he should return shortly. Rin had been fine until she randomly fainted. Since, we have been attempting to get her to wake up, but were unsuccessful. If anyone knew how to fix something, we figured it would be you. No other miko would see us."
Kagome smiled with a nod. "She will be perfectly fine," she said, "she just needs some rest, but if her fever spikes, use these to break it."
"What are these?" He asked, looking at the small things in his toad-like hands.
"They are called pills. Get her to swallow them, no chewing. They should break the fever, and only give her one at a time. Too many can severely damage her in some way or another," Kagome said, giving him specific instructions. "Go ahead and take this water bottle and rag with you. If her fever doesn't go down, come back to me and I will see to her."
"Arigato, miko-san," he said wit a bow as she lifted Rin back onto Ah-Uhn in a more comfortable position on the dragon.
"Will you be okay to take her back with just the two of you?" Kagome asked, concern etching into her face. She could faintly hear Inuyasha grumbling about the whole situation. She could also hear Sango and Miroku snickering at Inuyasha for being sat "for nothing" as he put it. Shippou sat atop Miroku's shoulder, staring at Rin with just as much concern in his eyes as Ah-Uhn and Jakken.
Kagome smiled and put the girl's bangs behind her ears before looking to Jakken. "We will manage somehow," he said. It almost sounded as though he had come to terms with her, or was growing up for Rin. Maybe both. Maybe he was finally accepting her for who and what she was. Or maybe it was because of something else...
Shaking her head slightly to clear her thoughts, she bent back down to buckle up her bag once more as Jakken, Rin, and Ah-Uhn disappeared in the distance without so much as a goodbye of farewell. Slipping it onto her shoulders, she looked up only to come face to face with a rather sour-looking hanyou.
"Since when have you been calling that bastard a lord?" He demanded.
Kagome rose an eyebrow. She wasn't really in the mood to deal with him, but if he wanted a "smart" conversation, then by galley he was going to get a smart conversation. Looking at Sango and Miroku, she could see their curious expressions as well. That's when she realized she had made a mistake. She only referred to someone with their proper title if they earned their respect from her. She also didn't call someone by title unless it was someone much older than her, like an elderly who couldn't move. Not that Sesshomaru was elderly, it was just that, well, they've become better than enemies, acquaintances maybe. She didn't know, but they were on much better grounds than what they had been in the past.
"Don't give me those looks," Kagome said, "it was a slip of the tongue, that's all. I didn't mean to call Sesshomaru 'Lord Sesshomaru', it just came out, so could you get off my back about it?" She said grumpily, hoping they bought her excuse.
Sango seemed to contemplate what she said whereas Miroku just stared at her. Shippou was doing the much same thing, and Inuyasha simply huffed and turned around, leading the group in some random direction once more.