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Any Way The Wind Blows	By : Jinxy Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Sessh?maru/Kagura > Sessh?maru/Kagura Views: 3610 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha (obviously). No profit is sought, nor made, from my misadventures in fanfiction, just so ya know.

Chapter List
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Originally posted on Fanfiction.net, to which all Author's Notes apply.
A/N: (2/14/10) Special thanks to Kaze Tsukai No Kagura for agreeing (7/3/09) to help me with the slow, tedious but much-needed revision of this story and whose actual betaing will begin once I have steadier access to the internet. All present alterations are self-edited, so sue me. :3 Please read the disclaimer below before continuing.
Disclaimer: InuYasha, its characters and components are property of their creator (Rumiko Takahashi) and do not belong to me. My depiction of said characters however does... barring references to the anime, manga or films, of course.
Warning: adult situations as well as strong language and violence.
Reader discretion is advised.
Part I
Unbound
Chapter 1
Would he kill her on sight? Judging by their previous encounters, it was unlikely… unless her new and undoubtedly pungent aroma brought offense to the youkai lord's often upturned nose. But, still, there was at least an ounce of mercy in some fiber of his beautiful being, wasn't there? Soon all her questions would be answered.
She reached the top of the hill overlooking his camp, the stinging ache in her muscles she had labored to ignore these last few, excruciating miles settling at the forefront of her consciousness. The breeze tossed tendrils of her dark hair behind her from her high ponytail, leaving her shuddering at its blind touch. She once rode it, controlled it—was one with it—and, now, could only hug herself against the cold and defeat she faced without it at her fingertips. She was a mere shadow of the woman—the youkai—she once was; the last shreds of her already shamed existence remaining superficially at best, in the elfin ears and eyes that seemed to mimic the color of the blood her victims shed not so long ago at Naraku's behest. These remnants alone clung to her, almost as if her very reflection mocked her. In all other discernible respects, she was human.
"There he is," she whispered to herself. At the bottom of the hill, not quite obscured by the early morning mists, sat Sesshoumaru and his little group. He likely already sensed her presence, even if unable to identify precisely who or what she was. She no sooner stepped closer to the edge of her perch for a better look when she was frozen in his steely gaze. "Ah, and now he knows he has company."
Perhaps her most recognizable quality, and one she prayed Kami left her in possession of, was her sheer gumption… and, if she had indeed lost it along with her youkai abilities, she needed work it up. Fast. She watched him stand and mouth the words, 'Stay here,' to his companions, then surround himself in blue-white light, his energy bolting to where she stood.
"What are you doing here?" His glare tore through her, its edge slicing sharper as his hand touched Toukijin.
"I came to see you." Kagura attempted a confident smile but fell short, somewhere nearer to sheepish.
"For what purpose? I thought you were no longer interested in my help defeating Naraku?"
"I am in exile, Sesshoumaru. Naraku stole back what little he bestowed me with and I no longer ride the wind." She studied his face. "What's the matter? After the things I've done to help you, have I not redeemed myself enough to garner even a little trust?"
"Precisely why I have trouble believing you are in exile. You have betrayed Naraku on more than one occasion. Why did he not kill you instead of letting you have what you wanted—your freedom?"
"Because, as I said, he stripped me of my powers… and gave me a human heart in their stead. Perhaps he thought that might be a more fitting punishment for my misdeeds against him."
Amber eyes searched her briefly, flicking up and down her willowy frame. "How human is your blood, Kagura? Shall I draw it and find out?"
Her carefully crafted expression crumbled, weary sadness filling her fallen face. "Go right ahead." She held her arms out to her sides in surrender. "Put me out of my misery."
Sesshoumaru allowed his menacing glower to linger a few moments more, hand lifted from Toukijin's hilt. The stare was all he needed and he knew it. She was a waste of his time anyway, a thought conveyed rather succinctly by a sharp turn of his figure, in the direction of his camp.
"Sesshoumaru, wait!"
When he looked upon her again, he found the former wind sorceress with her fists clenched at her sides, tears streaming down her reddened face. How unlike her.
"Naraku casting you out hardly concerns me. And, despite what you might have done to help ensure his destruction, it certainly does not make you my responsibility. Take your human heart and vacate my camp." He turned away again. "I'm not interested in your sob story."
Kagura dug her long nails into the palms of her hands, breaking the supple skin and damn near bleeding. Her face felt hot—she knew it was embarrassingly red—and despite her best efforts, she could not contain the feelings roiling inside her. "Damn these human emotions," she growled, teeth clenched. "I have no control over them!" She flung herself forward, wrapping her arms around the daiyoukai; face planted at the small of his back, irrepressible tears wetting his armor.
"Unhand me at once." His figure stiffened beneath her desperate embrace, but did not turn; remaining still, unruffled, continuing to face the countryside ahead.
"If I retained such self-control," her voice came muffled, "I would not be doing this in the first place."
"Kagura… I'm not going to ask you again."
"I can't… My body just won't respond to anything, except-"
"Kagura," he began scolding her once more, but something interrupted him. A voice echoing within his mind, belonging to his human ward: 'I'll bet she's secretly in love with Lord Sesshoumaru.' He recognized it the same as he did the time and place he heard those words. He hadn't intended to rescue her that day, even as—as Jaken himself had said—an afterthought. He really was not sure why he had done it… maybe it was because he saw how Rin, against his wishes and with such determination, jumped in the river after her. Rin was not one to disobey, ever.
The wind user had just left atop her feather, still half-naked from the blast which disintegrated her clothing and sent her falling to the river in the first place. Jaken was naturally suspicious of her motives, not to mention the flattery she slathered on his master, but Rin perceived something entirely different. Love. In some kind of foreign human wisdom, could she see what was hidden… and now unleashed? Something Sesshoumaru, in all his might and glory, could not recognize or perhaps even comprehend?
He dropped his head with a scowl unseen by the wind mistress. "What is the matter with you?" he asked, allowing his eyes to drift down to her white-knuckled hands. He found himself weirdly transfixed by the frantic tightness in which they were clasped over his armor, his only hand drawing unconsciously nearer hers. The youkai lord regained his senses, halting it just before his skin could touch hers. Her hands unclasped suddenly, reaching upward; pulling on the fur and garments that made up his garb, once again righting herself, her arms around still him, though not as dreadfully tight. He flicked his eyes back in a sort of side-glance, curious about the being behind him but more determined to face forward uninterestedly.
"Sesshoumaru, do you remember when you took me from the river? When I had those terrible injuries?"
"Vaguely."
"My only wish, as I believed I was dying, was to see you. If only for one last time…" she trailed off.
"These human emotions do not become you, Kagura." He lifted his head, nose no doubt upturned to her query. "You should go. The dissolution of your ties with Naraku abolishes any grudge I bore you… and we needn't continue this conversation." His eyes shifted forward again, to Jaken's grating calls. Loath to being seen allowing Naraku's incarnation to cling to him in any way, shape or form, he flung her hands from his body. "Go."
Kagura sniffled, wiping her cheeks and her nose. She kept her eyes on the grass between them when he turned in her direction, gracing her once again with his gaze, the imp vassal continuing crying for his master, his the only voice between morning birdcalls and that of the wind.
"You have my apologies." She made conscious, visible efforts at gathering herself, fists clenched at her sides again. "Your majesty and character impressed me once, as demon; the reason I sought you out to dispatch a power such as Naraku in the first place. And, as human or human-like as I seem to be now, I cannot shake you from my thoughts. It seems this human heart wanted to feel your presence, even if for only an instant. Perhaps just to relive a memory this body—its existence so hollow and empty—could not offer; a desire its weaker instincts linked to what affections for you lingered within me… using these to grasp what it means to be human. A thing I can only liken to the way the two miko fell for your half-human brother."
She ignored the way he sneered at her for wasting his time with such sentiments, bringing his half-breed brother into it in the process, continuing on as if his disdain had not distracted her. "This, at the very least, brings me a greater understanding of some of their actions, the trials they have endured and the risks they have taken. I am weak, Sesshoumaru. And do not think I don't know it or am not embarrassed to show it, notably this most dishonorable display. It seems humans are stronger than we recognize, able to maintain any composure with all these complicated-" She wasn't making sense, or at least that was the way it felt. Time was short—as was his patience—and here she was, losing her point somewhere in the ramble within her head, thoughts racing along with the animal beat of her heart. She turned away from Sesshoumaru, if only to maybe buy a little more time with him, covering her face with her hands.
Jaken had given up calling to his lord and was now bickering to Rin about their master's always taking off with barely a word and his ungratefulness for the imp's loyal service to him. He would be dealt with later. Sesshoumaru took a step forward, his hand falling on her shoulder with less hesitation than she would have expected.
"It must be frightening, having no understanding of what's happening to you. No frame of reference other than memories of a fondness you may have had for me. I don't know these feelings—youkai are not given to love and sentiment the way mortals are—though I do pity what you've been reduced to."
"What about your father?" Her voice came distorted by the gritting of her teeth. She did not come here to be mocked, though she should have expected little less.
"What of him?" Sesshoumaru withdrew his hand from her shoulder.
She turned to face him again, narrowing her eyes. "Your father knew love. With a human, no less. Your brother is evidence of that. And your swords—did your father not feel sentiment enough to bequeath you the legendary swords you each hold? Why do hanyou exist at all if not for love? Are they not protected by their youkai parents for reason of sentiment, if not love?"
"I have no such capabilities." Sesshoumaru's expression was flat, and yet, somewhat sour. Nauseating to look at, even with his fairytale beauty underneath.
"Anyway, I'm not asking you to love me, only to acknowledge me as an ally. You may pity me, Sesshoumaru, but I tend to pity those who limit themselves due to fear."
His eyes likewise narrowed on her. "I fear nothing. Fear is a useless emotion and one a youkai, as you once were, cannot afford to feel."
"You could afford to feel a few things." She turned, beginning to walk away.
Sesshoumaru's once unsympathetic air dissolved into confusion as he watched her descend the hill. He, oddly lacking a cruel quip in reply, was left with a strange desire to follow her—to stop her from leaving as she slowly slipped from his view down the slope. He began walking behind her, his boots sweeping gently through the grass for a measure, when she suddenly stopped. His elegant gait halted before he could get too close, waiting… for what, he was not sure. Her head swiveled back toward him, body still facing the foot of the hill.
"What?" she snarled.
"Rin would not be pleased if she knew I'd turned you away like this. Come into my camp… she would be all too happy to look after you. You will be safe until you figure out what to do with yourself."
"You'd do that? I mean… for Rin?" She completed her turn in his direction. "You'll… protect me?"
"Do not be so presumptuous, I did not say I would protect you. Just that you may stay for a while. No one bothers looking for a fight with me much these days. You will be… safe."
"Huh." Kagura gave him a halfhearted smile in consideration of his offer.
The daiyoukai, much to hers as well as likely his own disbelief, invited her nearer, his arm open to her. She approached him, however tentatively, steps slow and wary. He held her close, blue-white light surrounding them, the flash blinding her, the orb transporting them dissipating into the landscape below, where Ah-Un stood guard of his chibi companions. They arrived just to Jaken's back, the youkai lord retrieving his arm from his guest whilst giving the imp the swift kick to the rear his behavior in his master's absence warranted. He sent the toad flying, a little scream absconding from him as he shot several feet forward. Rin let out a little giggle, covering her grin with her hand, while Ah-Un gave a horse-like snort.
"Lord Sesshoumaru, you have a visitor." The little girl smiled up at Kagura. "I knew you'd come back. See, Master Jaken, I told you that lady was-"
"Kagura will be sharing our camp temporarily," the lord interjected.
"Lord Sesshoumaru! That deceitful wench has no place among us! Agh—" Jaken ran back to his lord only to be kicked again. "Whatever you think is best, milord," the imp groaned, crashing to the ground.
"She will be no threat. Naraku gave her a human heart, neutralizing her powers somehow—perhaps even purifying her. She is mortal now."
Jaken got to his feet, standing well away from his master. "Not to question too much, milord, but don't you think it could be a trick? If she is bold enough to betray Naraku in the first place-"
"Jaken, do you wish to be kicked again?"
"No, my lord."
"Then I suggest you be quiet."
"Yes, my lord."
Having sufficiently dealt with his vassal, the dog demon turned to the child. "Perhaps you and Jaken could gather some more firewood. Some food as well."
"Yes," the young girl beamed. She scampered away, dragging Jaken along with her.
Kagura made herself comfortable on the log she assumed to be camp seating, tying her hair up in a bun, the way most were more accustomed to seeing it, as the sun drew high and hot in the cerulean sky above. Sesshoumaru took a seat against a mossy tree adjacent to the log, closing his eyes to the glaring sunbeams.
Moments seeming like hours, Kagura gave into yet another human urge, allowing her head half of the turn it desired in his direction, peering guardedly at the dog lord. "Sesshoumaru." The name passed her lips before she could stop herself from uttering it.
He opened one gilded eye on her, if not laced with such derision, almost appearing a comical gesture. "Yes, Kagura?"
"Thank you."
He closed the one eye by which he deemed her worthy enough of being gazed upon. "Just don't give me any reason to slay you."
At this, she smiled. She'd already managed to chip a considerable chunk from his icy veneer. "I won't."
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Any Way The Wind Blows