Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

The S-android	By : Karaumea Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > InuYasha/Kagome Views: 10142 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I neither own Inuyasha or the other characters from the anime/manga, nor do I make any money by writing this story. However, the S-android belongs to me.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
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Special thanks to my lovely betas Ai Kisugi and Hedanicree.
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“Talking”
Thinking

Chapter 9: In Pursuit of a Fugitive

The brilliant azure of the sky slowly faded into black as the shuttle approached the limit of the atmosphere. Relaxing his grip on the arms of the seat he had been forced into merely an hour ago, Miroku opened his mouth, once again, to voice his protest. Before he could utter a single word, though, a low growl that eerily reminded him of his longtime partner-in-crime stopped him. His breath left him in a long sigh, and his shoulders sagged forward in defeat.
It wasn’t like his words would have made a difference anyway. Nothing that had come out of his mouth had helped his situation so far. On the contrary, in his attempts to claim that he was of no use in their quest to find the infamous hanyou, he had inadvertently helped them realize that he was, indeed, the only one who knew Inuyasha well enough to predict his moves.
The sad part was that Miroku couldn’t blame himself for being stupid and blurting out random information. Anyone that was faced with that sizzling, green substance dripping down those long, deadly claws would have turned into a blabbering idiot.
The memory of what that acidic poison could do to steel made him shudder even as it drew his gaze to their pilot. Sitting still as a stone in the cockpit, the guy gave him the creeps. The menacing aura radiating off of him and his stoic countenance made Miroku’s skin crawl despite the fact that he resembled the only person the merchant trusted with his life.
Not for the first time, his eyes took in the silver-white glow of the stranger’s neatly combed, ridiculously long hair and the golden hue of his cold eyes. As striking as those features were, Miroku could have written them off as coincidence were it not for the man’s straight nose, strong jaw and his penchant for growling at every given chance. That creature was certainly related to Inuyasha, and Miroku wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. In any case, seeing the hanyou’s partial lookalike with an expression as warm as death freaked the merchant out.
He sensed Sango shift in her seat behind him. Her nervous movements reminded him that he wasn’t the only one to feel that way about their mysterious pilot. It seemed to Miroku that the senator’s ferocious daughter couldn’t decide where to aim her gun. It was obvious that she didn’t trust their yet-to-be-named guide any more than she trusted the droid smuggler. Still, she had been adamant to stick with her maid once she had realized that she couldn’t reason with the young woman despite her many attempts.
Careful not to alarm Sango and earn yet another jab to his abused ribs, Miroku slowly turned his head to peek at the major cause behind his abduction. Kagome sat silently next to her mistress, hugging her dark cloak around her small form protectively. In that moment, she looked more vulnerable than Miroku had ever seen the girl. The sadness in her large blue orbs was accompanied by a hint of curiosity and amazement as she watched the Earth shrink beyond the small window by her seat. A soft, bittersweet smile grew on the his lips as he realized that it was probably the first time the girl had ever traveled so far from home, which also added to his confusion.
Try as he might, he couldn’t rationalize her actions. Surely, the hanyou had practically lied to the girl by playing along with the merchant’s impromptu plan and pretending to be an S-android. With no little amount of amusement, Miroku decided that he could safely assume his friend had taken his role to heart and had not held back when it came to certain aspects of being a sex robot. He could only guess that finding out the truth had made the young woman feel fooled, even used. But, was it enough of a motivation to go to such lengths to find a supposedly dangerous criminal by tagging along with a most certainly dangerous stranger, no less?
While Miroku pondered why such a timid, good-natured character acted so recklessly and spitefully, Kagome’s hand came up to tug at the collar of her cloak. Her delicate, pale fingers hovered over the side of her neck, almost touching the pale skin there. And then, as if she did something wrong, she snatched her hand back down, fisting it in her lap to keep it in place. Her eyes, now filled with tears, shifted to the front and a gasp escaped her lips. Wondering and a little bit alarmed by her sudden reaction, Miroku returned his attention to the cockpit.
Their pilot was as stoic as ever as he effortlessly guided them to a rapidly growing object that glowed impossibly white against the darkness of the empty space. At first glance, it was hard to decipher the shape of what Miroku assumed was a mothership. He cocked his head from left to right in curiosity. The closer they got, the more it looked like…
“A fang? Really?”
His question was ignored by his companions, which no longer surprised the young man. With a defeated sigh, he slumped in his seat and joined the others in their game of silence.
It was not long before they reached the mothership. The small shuttle slowly floated beneath the huge ‘fang’ until it stopped completely. With a sudden jolt, they were moving upward. Miroku blinked repeatedly as the darkness of the open space was replaced with a blinding white light. By the time his eyes adjusted to the new environment, they had stopped ascending.
Through the windows, he could see the inside of the ship was no different than the outside as smooth white walls met his curious gaze. The room was only large enough to contain one more shuttle. Miroku glanced back and forth, expecting to see silver-haired, golden-eyed staff running around the dock, before a pang in his ribs brought his search to a halt.
He looked up to see Sango’s narrowed gaze trained on him. She briefly glanced at the retreating back of their pilot and her maid before raising an eyebrow in impatience. Miroku stood up with a resigned sigh. As reluctant as he was to set foot in yet another unknown territory, the barrel of Sango’s gun poking at his back was enough of a push for the merchant.
While they followed the stranger at a close distance, Miroku found his initial observation confirmed. There was no staff to be found, nor were there any signs of familiar technology. The soft glow of the walls surrounding them from all sides created an eerie atmosphere that was only accentuated by the silence closing in on them; not even their footsteps made a sound.
A shiver ran up the young man’s spine. It was like being suspended between worlds.
Up front, a small portion of the white wall trembled and shrunk to the ground, creating an arched doorway just as the stranger leading the group reached it. Without breaking his stride, he passed through, Kagome close behind him.
Miroku stopped at the threshold, ignoring the sting of Sango’s gun on his ribs as he did so. Tentatively, he let his fingertips touch the substance the ship was made of. To his relief, he wasn’t fried to death once his bare skin contacted the glowing material. He could tell it oozed some type of energy that was nothing like he had seen in his travels but still felt somewhat familiar. Up close, its structure was not as perfectly smooth as he had imagined. “Weird,” he mumbled, his fingers exploring the texture with increasing trepidation. “It almost feels like… bones.”
Miroku shuddered and instinctively stepped back only to be poked by the hard metal against his back. “Where do you think you’re going?” snapped its wielder.
With a huff, he turned to face the young woman. “Sango, you can’t be serious about this,” he practically whined. She held up her gun and placed its barrel directly under his chin as her eyebrow rose in challenge. Miroku quickly raised his hands in surrender, but his mouth had other ideas. “Come on!” he begged. “I know I’m not your favorite person right now, but listen to me! We don’t know anything about this freak! He could be a psychopath! How do we know he won’t kill us once he gets what he wants?”
He knew they had to be on the same side if they wanted to come out of this madness without a scratch. He could see the doubt in Sango’s eyes, and his insides made a little dance of joy when she opened her mouth to answer. However, they were interrupted by a high-pitched voice shouting from the corridor beyond the open door. “Silence!”
“Dammit!” cursed Miroku before a two foot tall, toad-like creature shuffled through the door, waving a wooden staff with two shrunken heads on it in a threatening manner.
“You won’t use such language when you’re talking about Lord Sesshoumaru, you dimwitted half-breed!”
Taken aback by being addressed as a half-breed for the second time that day, it took Miroku a couple seconds to realize that they were finally graced with the name of their mysterious companion. “Sesshoumaru? Is that what he’s called?”
The creature’s big, round eyes almost popped out of their sockets in outrage. “It’s Lord Sesshoumaru to you and everyone else, you mongrel!” he squeaked. “And, I am his loyal servant, Jaken. Now, stop your ridiculous mating dance and follow me. My lord will not be kept waiting.” Not lingering for a response, Jaken strode back to where he came from, leaving the merchant gaping after him.
“Ma-mating what?” he stuttered in confusion. Sango looked as confused as he was, but a telltale blush stained her cheeks, making Miroku forget about the crazy toad and his nonsense.
He could feel his gaze soften as he stared into her expressive brown orbs, and he prayed that everything he felt for this woman was not openly written on his face. “Sango…”
The minute vulnerability he had caught in her eyes was gone the moment he opened his mouth, replaced by the hardness he had become used to seeing. “Look,” she whispered, leaning in close and covering him with her flowery scent. “You’re right. I have no reason to trust this guy. But at least, he gave me no reason to distrust him, either. Now, shut up and walk.”
Miroku’s heart fell to the pits of his stomach. Frustrated and upset, he turned to follow after Jaken. “Great,” he muttered under his breath as he forced his feet to move. “I’m stuck in a giant, flying fang, being harassed by a two foot green dwarf, and the woman of my dreams hates me. Damn you, Inuyasha.”
~*~
Within the last several centuries, humans joined the other intelligent species of the galaxy in their never-ending search for new energy sources beyond their home planet. Their endeavors sent them to, and recently beyond, the limits of the solar system. On their way, they had built countless facilities in the neighboring planets, consequently turning them into isolated cities as people lived, produced and traded in these confined environments. And where there was trade, there was transportation.
Besides the larger industrial and commercial ships going back and forth between the planets, there were also the smaller ones carrying passengers as thousands of people traveled everyday for either business or personal matters. Among the large fleet of space-transports available, the interplanetary shuttles were convenient due to their busy schedules and their reasonable prices. For those reasons, nobody honestly considered complaining about the cheap refreshments, the poor comfort level of the worn seats or the size of the restrooms.
Except one very agitated hanyou.
Inuyasha grunted as his elbow hit the hard surface of the wall behind him just at the right angle to send pins and needles through his entire arm. The girl between him and the dirty sink moaned in response, mistaking his exclamation of pain as one of passion.
Despite his discomfort, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Inuyasha was feeling a lot of things at the moment, but to his disappointment, passion was not one of them. Even with his mouth attached to the redhead’s ample cleavage and with his hands full of her voluptuous bottom, he was finding it difficult to feel the lust he knew he was capable of. He was surprised she hadn’t yet noticed the lack of the requisite hardness in his lower regions.
That was a major cause of annoyance for the hanyou. He couldn’t recall a time when he had failed to perform, and Inuyasha could think of countless trivial factors to blame for this specific occurrence.
The room was too cramped for two people; the stink of the toilet, which would have been undetected to others, clogged his sensitive nose; and the girl proved to be too experienced with her bold moves and fake moans, though he couldn’t figure out since when it had started bothering him.
And the nausea churning in his belly… Well, that had to be the result of the location of their little escapade.
It didn’t matter, though. He couldn’t pinpoint the reason behind his motivation, nor did he care to do so, but he was adamant to see through what he had started.
Nausea be damned!
With renewed vigor, he attacked what exposed skin he could reach with his mouth and let his hands roam wherever they wished. Once his fingers reached the back of her knee, he gripped her leg and hitched it up and around his hips. The girl’s heart stuttered and her fingers dug into his back over the thick layers of the suit he wore. He hadn’t paid attention to where her hands had been until they glided up to get a hold of his jaw and guided his face to meet hers. And then, her lips were alarmingly close to his and further closing the distance with determination. His stomach screamed for attention, and his throat closed. With a sudden jerk of his head, he dodged her attempt.
Again.
Oblivious, the girl eagerly coated his jaw and then his neck with lipstick and saliva while he wondered, once again, what it was with this girl and her obsession for kissing. In the five or so minutes since they had sneaked into this room, he hadn’t let her do it once. But, the damn girl wasn’t getting the message. For some reason that he refused to ponder about, he didn’t want her lips anywhere near his. And, what Inuyasha didn’t want, he didn’t do — especially not in the bedroom.
Or in this case, a shitty bathroom.
However, baring his neck to this stranger was an equally great source of discomfort for the hanyou. Tugging at the long locks of hair falling down her back without any effort to be gentle, he effectively switched their positions. She moaned in approval of his harshness, mistaking it for passion, and held onto his shoulders as his lips latched onto her neck. Stubbornly, he ignored the bitter taste her skin left on his tongue and the dizziness that now accompanied the nausea.
His ears, disguised under the charm he wore, twitched at the sound of her breathless whisper.
“Do you have protection?”
He had been so wrapped up in the fight to keep himself together that it took him a couple seconds longer than necessary to process her question. “Protection?” he mumbled stupidly.
“Well,” said the girl, followed by an exaggerated moan. “I’m on birth control anyway…”
The moment her words registered with the hanyou, he recoiled. He didn’t need protection for birth control; that was not an issue for him. But, the girl’s lingering suggestion that he could stick his precious parts into her if he so wished…
His stomach lurched.
Never had he allowed himself to get close to someone without his junk safely wrapped up — apart from one certain girl, which he refused to think about. The mere idea of leaving himself so exposed appalled him. And now that she had laid it out there, he had to accept the fact that he couldn’t have done it even if he had adequate protection.
Gritting his teeth, he pushed off of the girl and nearly collapsed onto the sink with a groan. His companion’s concerned questions were drowned out by the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears. Holding his weight by his grip on the sink and willing the bile that had risen in his throat back, he forced the words out. “Sorry… don’t… feel well… must be… something I ate.”
“Oh, no,” she cried out. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
Her hand reached up to his shoulder, but he instinctively flinched back from her touch. “Please,” he whispered, doing his best not to tell the girl to fuck off. “Gimme a few minutes.”
“Oh, okay,” she said meekly before, thankfully, hurrying out of the restroom.
Finally alone, Inuyasha took in several deep breaths, willing his stomach to settle down. Even though the stink of the toilet still irritated his sensitive nose, he found that he felt much better now that the girl was gone.
Just as he decided he was good enough to return to his seat, a sharp pang in his chest knocked the breath out of the hanyou. The sensation, not quite painful but still disconcerting, spread through his insides before concentrating on his heart. It tugged and tugged until his knees gave out under the strain. His hold on the sink kept him partially upright as he gasped for breath. The moment the attack had passed, the nausea was back in full force.
“Fuck,” he grunted before he doubled over the toilet and emptied the contents of his stomach in violent heaves.
Groaning, he climbed up to his feet, feeling much better physically but pissed at his body’s bad timing to act strange. He glared at the image of the dark haired gentleman in the mirror, staring back at him with gray eyes alight with anger. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” he growled.
As if to answer his question, the scar on his ear made itself known with a soft tingle before it started burning. Almost instantly, he was bombarded with a myriad of emotions, none of which belonged to him. Once the wave of alien sensations was over, he was left breathless and the one name he had refused to think again was at the forefront of his mind.
Kagome.
Somehow, the girl had done more to him than just leaving a permanent mark on his skin — the skin that never scarred — and Inuyasha didn’t like it at all. After his task was over, he was going to find out what it was and make sure it was undone.
He attempted a confident smirk that fell short of being convincing even to the hanyou’s eyes. He sighed before unleashing the sanitizer on his hands. It seemed that after he handed in the jewel and got his payment, a trip back to Earth was in order.
He was going to see her again.
That thought sent off a few butterflies in his chest, causing his movements to halt in surprise. He shook his head and returned to cleaning his hands, drenching them in the cleansing chemical until he was satisfied that the stench of the other girl was gone. He glanced at the mirror one more time before leaving the restroom.
His image in the mirror was grinning like a fool.
~*~
The stranger’s ridiculously long, silver hair swayed gently, almost hypnotically, as Kagome followed him into the ship. With his tall frame rigid and his strides confident, he led her through a maze of corridors, each one the same sterile white as the next. The energy surrounding them unnerved the young woman mostly because of the surprising fact that she could actually feel it.
The soft buzz it created on her senses reminded her of the tingling sensation she had experienced when the man in front of her had barged into Miroku’s apartment. She was certain he was related to her runaway S-android in one way or the other, and that had been enough reason for Kagome to follow his lead blindly.
Related as they might be, she couldn’t recall feeling like this in Yash’s presence. Perhaps, the similarities ended there, and he didn’t possess the same kind of power this stranger did. Then again, the young maid’s skin had tingled whenever she had been close to the fake S-android; the electricity in the air had been palpable. She had believed it to be the result of the attraction she held for him.
Perhaps, she had been wrong.
After all, it wouldn’t have been the first time. She had been a fool, believing the lies she had been told without question, watching him with awe and attributing every single thing she had noticed about him to the miracles of technology. She hadn’t even stopped for a moment and questioned why anyone would make a droid that could perspire, but that might have been because even his sweat had been attractive to her.
Looking at where and with whom she was, Kagome had to admit that she still didn’t know better. The fact that she was now consorting with suspiciously dangerous strangers and setting out on a wild goose chase in the galaxy in pursuit of a fugitive certainly meant that she was the biggest fool in the universe. She didn’t think her new companion would harm her, but she hadn’t thought that her precious S-android would have turned out to be a living, breathing man, either — a living, breathing criminal.
Her baby’s father was a lying, thieving jerk who might have killed people in cold blood.
Kagome shuddered at that thought, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around her belly. The subtle movement did not go unnoticed by her guide, and he glanced at her briefly. His sharp gaze was unsettling, reminding her of another set of golden eyes. Her arms tightened around her torso, and she was grateful for the cloak she wore for hiding her vulnerability.
She didn’t want to feel exposed anymore.
The young woman sighed in relief when her guide released her from the weight of his piercing stare. So alike, yet so different…
Yash’s eyes held the warmth that her current companion severely lacked. The ever present sparkle in their golden depths was so much like that of a mischievous child, and at times, of a devoted lover. Even though he was a conniving jerk, his eyes seemed to speak of someone entirely different. And, maybe he was.
It was too bad that she no longer cared to know.
Did she?
The air left her lungs in a huff as she hugged her cloak tighter. Confused and more than a little frustrated, she willed her mind to stay focused on her immediate goal, but the memory of those eyes would not leave her alone. The long mane of exceptionally smooth silver hair she was glaring at didn’t help either, making her fingers twitch in longing for a slightly shorter, thicker and messier version of it — one that came with a set of adorable dog ears.
She couldn’t help it; she wondered if her baby would have similar traits. The vision of a golden-eyed, chubby toddler with cute dog-like ears peeking out of its mess of silver hair flashed before her eyes, and for the first time since she had found her S-android missing, a small smile grew on her lips.
Among the chaos that was her emotions, she was certain of one thing: She loved her baby ever since the moment she had learned of it.
It was astonishing how quickly she had accepted the tiny creature growing within her belly, especially considering the circumstances of how it came to be. Even more surprising was the fact that it had already changed her. She remembered the moment Sango had suggested she could get rid of it. The cold fury that had erupted in the young maid’s heart was like nothing she had experienced before. Since that moment, she knew she could kill anyone that dared harm her baby.
However, even the fiercely protective momma bear she had become was prone to fear.
She was afraid that she wasn’t equipped to take care of another person. She was afraid of people’s reaction to the origins of her pregnancy once she returned home. That is, if she would still have a home to return to. She doubted that she could hide the alien nature of her baby, and even though Senator Tajiya had been kind to her all her life, it was unlikely that he would overlook the glaring fact that she hid, fed and slept with a criminal under his roof.
She was determined to find said criminal and make him pay for the wrongs he had done to her in one way or the other. That was the only clear picture she could imagine for her future even though the picture changed from one minute to the next. Sometimes she was merciful; she would grab his ear after slapping him silly and hand him over to the authorities, watching with a smile as he was dragged to be locked away for good. Other times, it was more volatile; she would imagine herself sticking a gun into his mouth and screaming all the ways she was going to torture him until he was crying like a baby and begging for her forgiveness. Only a couple of times did she find herself daydreaming of using her tongue instead of a gun and making him beg out of desire instead of fear. But those rogue fantasies were quickly crushed under the weight of her fury.
Still, in those brief moments when her pride and anger were forgotten and her thoughts escaped the boundaries of reason, she saw him gazing at her with the same look of adoration she had caught a few times within the confines of her bedroom and reverently caressing the nonexistent bump in her belly as he had done with every inch of her body. And then ruthlessly, perilously, her treacherous heart would dare hope.
But hope for what? That he would change his ways in a moment’s notice, drop his dreams — that is, if he even had dreams — and abandon whatever twisted life he led to devote himself to her and their unborn baby? Would someone like him even consider such an option?
Ridiculous.
Now that she had an idea of who and what he really was, she didn’t even know if she should tell him about the baby or if she even wanted to. Besides, the note he had so considerately left her made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with her. She couldn’t imagine his disposition would change if he knew she was carrying a part of him within her.
Thinking about the note made her blood boil once more. The way he had worded it… It was as if he expected her to go after him. Her hands closed in tight fists, and a fierce scowl twisted her lovely features with the return of her outrage. She couldn’t believe the audacity of the guy. Who did he think she was? A clingy, whiny damsel in distress who couldn’t live without the jerk that took advantage of her? Did he think so highly of himself or so little of her? How dare he?
But she was going after him, wasn’t she? So he had been right, hadn’t he?
The jerk.
Her jaw tensed as her pride once again broke through the haze of her emotions. She didn’t need anyone, let alone that jerk. She was inexperienced, perhaps, but she certainly was not an invalid. She could do it alone if she had to. She didn’t want his help even if he gave it willingly. She wasn’t pursuing him because she expected anything from him. The only reason she was here, trying to find him was so that she could yell at his face that she didn’t care for him enough to go after him and that he could go to hell for all she cared.
And, that he was a jerk.
A single nod of her head sealed the agreement between her heart and her mind at that specific point. Unfortunately, so focused she had been on her inner debate that she failed to notice that her guide’s quick strides had come to a halt and she collided with his back. Her startled cry was drowned within the man’s long mane. She quickly stepped back, spitting silver strands that stuck to her mouth and noted with relief that he didn’t seem to notice her clumsiness.
Either that or he didn’t deign to acknowledge her presence unless necessary.
She peeked around her black-clad companion to see yet another door slid soundlessly open in front of him. A few more steps following her guide took her into a large, oval room much different than the maze of corridors that never seemed to end. The smooth, rounded white walls were replaced by a see-through material at the front, creating an impressive ‘windshield’ that took up half of what she supposed was the command deck.
Her breath hitched at the sight. The moon’s silvery surface took up one third of the view, and beyond that, the stars shone in millions of tiny specs, challenging her conception of infinity.
And here, she had thought the view outside of her small window mere minutes ago had been spectacular.
Blasphemy!
She had never been to open space before. She had never had a reason to. The magnificence of what lay before her eyes left her breathless. Every single star felt like a firefly just beyond her reach, each one as mysterious as the next, presenting her with endless possibilities. Her skin prickled with excitement, and a fire she had never felt before ignited in her veins. She knew she could spend the rest of her life exploring what the universe had to offer, and she’d never get bored.
But, first thing first.
With a significant effort, she brought her gaze back to the room and gasped in surprise. There was nothing in there apart from her guide, standing still in the middle of the large space like a marble statue. He seemed to be staring ahead, lost in thought as she had been only moments before, but she couldn’t bring herself to believe that he was as amazed at the sight before him.
“Jaken.” The murmured word broke the stillness of the room, making Kagome jump in surprise.
“Coming, my lord!” echoed a shrill voice in answer from behind the girl. Something tugged at the skirts of her cloak, pushing her to the side as a small figure squeezed itself into the room. “Excuse me!” it squeaked indignantly as Kagome’s gaze fell on the top of a very bald, very green head.
Her face distorted half in disgust and half in amusement as she took in the toad-like features of the newcomer. The tiny creature scurried in a mess of dark robes and green skin before coming to a stop in front of his master. Gasping for breath, he leaned against the staff he had been carrying, and his large, bulging eyes looked up at the tall, statuesque man with adoration.
Kagome’s stomach lurched when she noticed the staff had two rather ugly heads perched on top of it, and her hand flew to her mouth to stop the bile that rose in her mouth. She didn’t hear the lord talk, but the flick of his eyes must have been enough of a command for Jaken. “Yes, my Lord Sesshoumaru!” the creature yelped before shuffling to the front of the room.
Sesshoumaru. Finally learning the name of her silver-haired companion, Kagome tested it in her mind and found it as unusual as the one that plagued her mind since she had first heard it at Miroku’s place earlier that day. She added one more check to the list of things that suggested that the two men were related.
While she hesitated at the doorway, Jaken knocked on the floor with the base of his staff, rotating it left and right with no significant pattern that Kagome could decipher. To her horror, the two ugly heads opened their mouths, emitting no sound that her ears could capture. Suddenly, the once empty room was filled with screens and control panels, and a hole appeared on the floor behind Sesshoumaru. A large, white object ascended from the hole, stopping to hover a couple feet off the ground. From where Kagome stood, it resembled a fang with its pointy edge on top. Accompanied by a soft swish of his cloak, Sesshoumaru gracefully settled on it. His tall figure disappeared behind the back of what was apparently his command chair. His clawed fingers lay motionless on the arm of the chair while Jaken shuffled left and right in haste, playing with the controls and giving feedback to his stoic lord every few seconds.
“Honestly, is he going to fly this monstrosity by himself?”
Startled by the sudden voice near her, Kagome jumped slightly. Her head snapped to the side to see Miroku standing next to her with his arms crossed over his chest and watching the scene with amusement. Sensing her gaze, he glanced at her with a small grin. “Impressive little toad, is he not?”
Kagome felt the corners of her lips twitch into an answering smile before she remembered that she was angry with the charming merchant. Being around Miroku had always been easy. Even though he had only known her as Lady Sango’s little maid, he had always treated her as if she too was a lady. He had neither overlooked her presence as most people did, making her feel insignificant, nor had he made her uncomfortable by looking at her the way he did with Sango. He had simply been friendly and welcoming.
That was why his treachery hurt as much as it did.
Miroku’s face fell at her expression, and he quickly returned his attention to the ridiculous creature running around like a headless chicken. She frowned, wondering if he even cared about the hurt he had caused.
A soft touch on her shoulder brought her gaze to Sango, who was glaring daggers at the back of the merchant’s head. Kagome smiled when the young woman’s eyes met hers, grateful to know that she had someone who was ready to go to such lengths to stand by her side. In response, Sango’s grip tightened on her, reassuring the girl that she wasn’t alone in this unpleasant adventure.
“Lord Sesshoumaru!” Jaken’s high-pitched voice broke through the two women’s silent conversation. “We’re ready to take off at your command, master. What is our destination?”
“That is up to our guest, Jaken,” Sesshoumaru announced unexpectedly, surprising the trio still standing by the door. He turned along with his seat, fixing his gaze on Kagome.
Taken aback, the girl stuttered. “M-me?” She glanced at her friends only to see their equally puzzled expressions. “Wh-what?”
Sesshoumaru snorted at her trepidation before motioning her over with a slight twist of his clawed fingers. “Come here, girl.”
Kagome moved hesitantly, taking strength from Sango’s proximity as the lady matched her strides by her side. Her small, unsure steps faltered once she reached the center of the room where Sesshoumaru stood waiting. From the corner of her eye, she saw Miroku hovering behind Sango protectively, which was odd considering the merchant’s reluctance to accompany them on this journey for fear of his precious life.
Sesshoumaru stepped closer to the young maid, sparing a dismissive glance at Sango’s scowling face when she practically growled in warning. His golden eyes appraised Kagome’s face for a moment before they fell on her neck. His stare was intense, making her feel exposed as if he could see the fading scar on her skin through the thick layers of her cloak. Reflexively, her hand flew up to cover the mark, her fingertips gliding under the fabric to meet the marred skin beneath. Before they made contact, she yanked her hand back, unwilling to experience the overwhelming sensations the act would surely cause in front of anyone.
She turned her accusing stare to the silver-haired stranger only to find that his normally stoic features contorted into a knowing smirk. “The map, Jaken,” he ordered as he continued to eye the girl.
“Coming, my lord!”
Kagome blinked and found herself standing in the middle of the galaxy. Her mouth fell open as her wide eyes fell on the fist-sized Earth floating in front of her nose. She tried to touch it and gasped when her fingers passed right through the image.
Sesshoumaru leaned forward, bringing his face close to hers and breaking her trance. “Now,” he whispered as if telling a secret. “What you felt here…,” his voice trailed off as he pointed to her neck. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized that somehow he knew. His clawed finger lowered to hover over her heart before he finished, “…feel it here.”
Confused, she looked up at him questioningly, but he moved to stand behind her small form, leaving her free to stare at the three dimensional map of the galaxy instead. “Close your eyes, and tell me where he is,” he commanded.
Kagome did as she was told, not knowing how she was supposed to tell the fugitive’s whereabouts and afraid to find out. Her determination to chew him out for the way he had treated her was greater than her fear though, and if this was the only way to make it happen, she was going to endure it.
Ignoring the world behind her closed eyelids, Kagome focused on the part of her body that threatened to burst out of its cage every time she thought about him. It was easy to recall, among all the other sensations, the strange tug that she had felt whenever she had touched the mark. Now that she was paying attention, she could feel that beneath all the excited and nervous fluttering, her heart was being pulled in the same direction.
In her mind’s eye, she saw a red string, taut and glowing like a laser beam, protruding from her chest only to disappear into the unknown on the other end. It was so vivid that she was surprised she hadn’t noticed it before. She gave it a mental tug, questioning her sanity while she did so, and gasped when she actually felt the strain. Intrigued, she did it again and again, wondering if she could force whatever was on the other end closer. Forgetting that she was dealing with an intangible subject, she raised her hand to grasp the pretty red line.
“Good,” came Sesshoumaru’s voice from behind her. She opened her eyes to see that her index finger, which had been aligned with the invisible line in her mental image, was pointing at a red planet on the map. “Jaken, set the coordinates. We’re going to Mars.”
Kagome’s eyes followed the man’s retreating figure as she asked, “How? Why?” He didn’t turn or stop to acknowledge her query before he disappeared into the maze of corridors.
A warm caress on her back brought her gaze to Sango to see the questions that were bothering her reflected back to her in the young woman’s mocha orbs.
“I don’t know,” she mumbled as she turned away from her lady. Looking at the stars that, like him, seemed to be just out of her reach, she was overwhelmed by confusion, helplessness and the hurt that was deeply rooted in her heart. Her fingers reached for the bite mark she now realized was more than what it seemed, and this time, she didn’t stop them.
“Apparently, I don’t know anything at all.”
~*~
“You’re back earlier than expected,” Rin quipped as she saw Kouga enter the command deck with a larger group than he had set out with.
“Nice to see you too, Rin,” shot back the wolf demon with a smirk.
“What’s this?” she asked, eyeing the newest additions to their crew. “You were supposed to collect a hanyou, Kouga, not a bunch of humans.”
Coming to stand in front of her, Kouga tilted his head toward the young and rather good-looking officer by his side. “This is Captain Hojo,” he introduced. Taking advantage of the fact that the young captain’s eyes were glued to the pretty woman clad in leather, he rolled his eyes mockingly as he added, “He’s here to assist us in our search.” With an exaggerated wave of his hand, he pointed to Rin. “Lady Rin is my second in command.”
“Pleasure to meet you, my lady,” said the young man, bowing his head in reverence.
Rin nodded curtly, irritated by the Captain’s charming smile which, combined with his boyish looks, gave her the impression that he was trying too hard. “How will they help us? Do they know where the hanyou is?” she asked, returning her attention to the wolf demon.
Kouga smirked, clearly enjoying the fact that he was one step ahead of her. “No, but it doesn’t matter. Our primary target, for the time being, is a girl who disappeared with the senator’s daughter, Lady Sango. The Captain can track Sango’s signals thanks to a device that was placed on her person for security reasons. She will lead us to the girl, and the girl will eventually lead us to the hanyou.”
“Shall we, Captain?” he asked as he motioned Hojo to take a seat by the controls.
Rin followed, confused by Kouga’s motives. “How is this ‘girl’ supposed to lead us to him?”
Kouga stopped abruptly, turning to her with a cruel sneer. “Because she’s been fucking him for a long time,” he hissed and narrowed his eyes. “Either she’ll take us to him…,” he murmured before a triumphant smirk twisted his mouth. “…or he’ll come to us for her.”
Rin’s eyes widened, immediately afraid for the girl he mentioned. Knowing how determined Kouga was to find the hanyou and that he felt personally insulted for his target’s evasiveness, it was hard to judge to what lengths he would go if he got a hold of her. As she returned to her seat, she decided to keep her ears open and hopefully find out if this girl was who Rin thought she was.
She prayed she was wrong.
She sighed in exasperation and settled in for the take off. The buzz of activity around her as now a large group of humans and demons worked together to catch a single man amused the young woman and clouded her fears for a moment. Rin smirked at the growing entourage of pursuers the fugitive had gained.
Seems like you’ve earned your reputation, cousin.
End of Chapter 9
- 8
- 9
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The S-android