My Heart's Desire by Rikayu

Running

Chapter 1: Running

Kagome ran through the forest, the green of the shrubbery lashing out at her as she made her way to her unknown destination. Tears ran down her cheeks freely as the twigs and bushes in her way left small scratches on her legs. Her legs were burning yet she ignored the screaming of her abused muscles and kept going. She had been running the whole night. Running away from them, from him…

Unaware of where she was heading, she tripped on a tree root and toppled to the ground, the content of her smaller, lighter yellow bag spilling before her. Her hair stuck to her tear-soaked cheeks as her school uniform was stained with dirt and the blood that flowed from her multiple scratches. She tried to push herself off the ground but to no avail. Her legs had given out on her and there she stayed on the ground, crying her whole heart out.

Why had she been so stupid? How could she have been such a fool for believing? Why had she given him her heart even though she knew? She had seen it coming, yet her ever hopeful heart was stubborn and believed that maybe, there was a small possibility that he would see her as more than just a shard detector. She hoped that he would somehow see her as something more than just Kikyo’s reincarnation.

More and more tears rolled down her cheeks as memories of the scene of Inuyasha and Kikyo kissing under the God-Tree invaded her mind. Ignoring all the pain from her aching limbs, she gathered all the items that had spilled out of her bag, stuffed them back in hastily, and ran once more. Furiously wiping away her tears, she willed her legs to last for just long a little longer so that she could get far enough away. She needed to escape from him, from Inuyasha.

But, her legs disobeyed her and she soon found herself, once again, on the ground. She pounded her fists on the grass as choked sobs escaped from her lips. Despite her inability to stand, she made her way to the nearest tree by crawling and leaned against it for support as images of the two flashed before her.

“Kikyo, I’ll protect you no matter what…”

“Kikyo, I’ll never leave your side…”

“Kikyo, I love you…”

Inuyasha’s words kept repeating in her head. He had loved Kikyo and he always will. He felt responsible for her death, so he wasn’t able to let go.

She had been running all night and her body was screaming in pain. She didn’t care anymore. If some rogue demon were to kill her, she wouldn’t care. Running wasn’t getting her anywhere. She just couldn’t escape the pain.

Kagome sighed and leaned her back against the tree, her breathing evening out. No longer able to resist exhaustion, her eyelids drooped down and she finally let the waves of sleep claim her.

~*~*~*~*~

She was running. She was running away again. Everything around her was black. She couldn’t feel anything. Her whole body felt so numb. Suddenly, a blur of white appeared ahead of her. She chased after it, but she could not reach it.

“Come back!” she yelled after it.

Still, the blur remained as far as it had been in the beginning. Hot tears began to run down her cheeks as she desperately reached her hand out to it.

“Please, stop! Come back!!”

She ran faster and faster, but she still could not reach it. Suddenly, pain shot up her legs and they threatened to fail on her. Nonetheless, she ignored her body’s protests and kept running, chasing after the white blur that only seemed to be a few meters away.

“Please! Come back!!”

It turned around, watching as she kept trying in her pursuit for it. She kept running and running until finally, her legs refused to work and she fell to the ground in a crying heap. She looked up, her blue teary eyes locking with intense golden ones as she watched the blur fade into the darkness.

~*~*~*~*~

Kagome’s eyes shot open as she gasped for air and placed a hand over her frantically beating heart. She closed her eyes again and opened them once she had managed to calm herself. ‘What was that?’

She shook her head and stood up, shouldering her yellow bag, and for the first time in hours, looked around and took notice of her surroundings. From what she could comprehend, she was in some clearing somewhere deep in the forest.

Kagome sighed and started walking. After a few moments of passing tree after tree, realization kicked her in the rear, immediately stopping her in her tracks. She smacked her hand to her forehead and groaned. She had been in such a daze that she hadn’t paid any attention to where she was going earlier, and now, she had no idea where she was.

‘Great… Now what?’ she thought. She was lost and she had no way of getting back without getting even more lost. She sighed and started to walk again only to stop once more as a flash of white from the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned to see what it was and stepped back in panic at what she saw.

There on the ground, his hair slightly unruly and his kimono stained with blood, was the Lord of the Western Lands. Thankfully, he was unconscious and was sleeping peacefully, unknowing that she was there. If one didn’t pay enough attention, you would’ve thought that the ‘Great Demon Lord’ was dead.

Kagome just stood there, staring at her half-demon companion’s older half-brother. He, as always, looked strikingly beautiful for a man even as he slept, but his perfect appearance was marred by a large gash that went across his chest. If you were a stranger who did not know of him and had come upon him at this particular moment, you would’ve never imagined that this man, who was unconscious and seemingly helpless, was the deadly demon lord of the West.

Kagome made a move to leave the vicinity when her ever-kind heart stopped her. She felt guilty and sorry for the guy. Sure, he was their enemy, but she couldn’t just let him die like that. Plus, it was her fault that he was like that in the first place.

Earlier that day, Inuyasha had been fighting with him since he had come back, once again, to demand Tetsusaiga . So naturally, Inuyasha fought and she helped. She had managed to distract him by almost breaking his armor off and when she did, Inuyasha unleashed the Windscar on him. After the blast had subsided, the demon lord was nowhere to be found.

Inuyasha and the other shard hunters knew better than to presume that he was dead. Totosai, the demon sword smith who made the Tetsusaiga, once said that the Tenseiga , the demon lord’s sword, protected him from Inuyasha’s first Windscar by transporting him to somewhere safe. It made sense after all. The Tenseiga protected life, not destroyed it.

Kagome quietly placed her back against the tree next to where the demon lord lay and as silently as possible, she dug through it to find some bandages and medicine so that she could treat his wounds. Trying to figure out how to get his armor off, she hoped that he wouldn’t kill her when he woke up. Although Inuyasha was able to chop his left arm off during their fight in their father’s tomb, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t kill just as easily.

~*~*~*~*~

‘Why is it that my person is cold?’ Sesshoumaru cracked his eyes open and looked up at the waning night sky, clearly indicating that dawn was fast approaching. Events of the past day returned and he silently cursed his defeat. Turning his golden gaze downward, he noticed that both of his haori were gone, the reason for his being so cold. It was also hard to miss the fact that there were now bandages wrapped around his torso.

Searching for his inner and outer haori, his eyes instantly landed on the slumbering creature that he did not notice was laying not even two feet away from him. From past occasions, he easily recognized her to be his idiot half-brother’s wench. And there, in her hands, were both of his haori.

He assumed that she must have been the one who tended to his wounds, yet it was still unclear what her reasons for doing so would’ve been. Surely, she didn’t think that he, Sesshoumaru, would fall for her trick of trying to seduce him and then kill him, did she? But then again, he wasn’t convinced that the human was even smart enough to come up with such a plan.

According to his nose, his half-wit brother wasn’t anywhere near and this wench did not carry with her any type of weapon. Why would she go into the forest alone without anyone to protect her or any weapon to protect herself with? She was a miko , yes, but from what he had observed in his past conflicts with imprudent half-demon, she was untrained and clearly did not know how to use her powers properly.

He looked over her and snorted in disgust. The odd, short, green and white kimono that the miko wore was absolutely indecent. It was far too short, revealing things that only her mate should be allowed to see. He quickly snatched his clothing from the girl, amazingly, without waking her, and slipped them back on. After doing so, he spotted his half-shattered armor behind her and stood up to retrieve it. Once he had successfully replaced his armor, he looked towards the sky.

His lips turned downward slightly, forming a small frown as his nose caught something. The wench’s scent was all over him. It had seeped into his clothes and into his armor. He would have to change into a fresh set of clothes once he got back to his castle and have his current garments disposed of.

He looked to the said girl, who was sleeping quite soundly next to the spot where Tenseiga had transported him for safety, and suddenly, the question that did not cease to pull at his thoughts returned. Why? Although the wench, as he had heard from rumors, was known for her kindness, he still found himself wondering why she would help an enemy.

Then again, to him, humans were always odd creatures. Yet, in some way, it was easy to understand certain things about them. In this particular case, she would surely want something in return for her deed, but if that was what she was after, she was sadly mistaken.

He turned away. Why should he care for about what a human had running through her mind? He switched his gaze to the sky as a soft white mist formed at his feet. Soon, he found himself flying through the sky as stars disappeared and as the sun began to rise. He adjusted his course slightly and headed for the whereabouts of his companions.

Soon enough, he neared another clearing and landed gracefully in the center. Looking around, he noticed that no one was about. He narrowed his golden eyes as he heard a nearby bush rustle and as his retainer bursted out of it, clearly exhausted and immediately pleading for his forgiveness at the sight of him.

“Master! Please forgive this lowly servant!” the small, green, toad-like creature begged as he threw himself on the ground in a bow. “I have lost the human child! Please forgive me, Lord Sesshoumaru!”

“Jaken…” his master’s cold voice came.

The toad looked up nervously and was instantaneously kicked into the air as if he was merely a ball. “Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!” he screamed as he desperately flapped his arms about to slow his decent to the ground, but to no avail.

The taiyoukai growled and sped into the forest at once, picking up on the most recent scent of his young ward and followed it, silently hoping that nothing yet had happened to her.

~*~*~*~*~

Truly, the sight to which Kagome had woken up to was not one that she had expected.

While she lay asleep, something incessantly tickled her nose and no matter how much she swatted at it, it continued in interrupting her from her sleep. Finally giving up, she lazily cracked open her blue eyes and saw a little girl, no older that seven years of age, kneeling in front of her and holding a pink flower to her nose.

Kagome blinked and instantly sat up. She looked around to see that the demon lord whom she had attended to the night before was now gone, instead, replaced with this little girl who wore a yellow and orange kimono and had her hair down with a small ponytail to the side.

“Hello! What is the pretty lady’s name?” the girl asked curiosly.

Kagome looked down at her, slightly confused. “Kagome… My name’s Kagome…” She smiled down at the girl and asked warmly, “How about you? What’s your name?”

The little girl smiled back. “Rin’s name is Rin!” she said, handing the flower to Kagome, “Here Kagome-onee-chan ! Rin picked a pretty flower for you!”

Kagome slowly reached out to accept the flower. At least Sesshoumaru hadn’t killed her. Now, the only bad thing left was that she had no idea where she was. Then again, she didn’t feel like going back to the others at the moment.

Rin tugged on Kagome’s sleeve, motioning for her to go pick some more flowers by a flower patch near the edge of the clearing that they were in. Kagome smiled and got up, joining the girl in her pursuit to pluck every single piece of vegetation growing in the area.

Rin knelt down in front of the patch and plucked flower after flower, intent on making a necklace. . Once she had collected an adequate amount, she set them down beside her and started to weave them together.

“Rin,” Kagome said as she looked down at the little girl next to her, “Where are your parents? You shouldn’t be out here all alone.”

Rin smiled at the teenager, “But Rin isn’t alone, Kagome-onee-chan, Rin has Kagome-onee-chan with Rin!”

“But Rin, where are your parents? They must be worried about you.”

Before the girl could say her answer, however, a loud roar from behind them interrupted her. The two turned around at once to see a large bear demon appearing from behind the tree on the other side of the clearing.

Kagome’s eyes widened instantly as she saw it heading directly for Rin. Her eyes shot immediately to the paralyzed little girl as she made a run for her. Just in time, Kagome shoved Rin to safety only to have the demon’s sharp claws dig into her side.

She winced in pain, trying to prevent the tears from falling from her eyes as the demon retracted its claws from her. Blood spilled freely from her wound, staining the white shirt of her school uniform.

“Rin!! Run!!” she shouted to the girl who stared at her in shock and worry. Rin didn’t budge.

“Rin!! Get out of here!!!!!!”

Rin blinked and shook her head. Kagome’s eyes looked into hers, her eyes pleading for her to get to safety. Rin looked at her, unwilling to leave her with the big demon that attacked them, but stood up and ran, hoping that her Kagome-onee-chan would be okay.

Kagome sighed a sigh of relief before looking back at the youkai standing on the other side of the clearing. It’s eyes were blood red with anger as it glared daggers at her for letting its meal get away.

Kagome pulled herself up, grabbing her bow and arrows. She hardened her stare, no fear showing in her eyes, only determination.

“Come on, ugly!! Pick on someone your own size!!” This was, of course, a very stupid statement seeing as the youkai was extremely larger than her.

She notched an arrow in her bow and aimed for the demon. It howled angrily and pounced, but before it could reach her, she let the arrow fly and jumped out of the way before the huge mass of demon hit her.

The bear demon slammed hard into the tree that had been behind Kagome, splitting it in half. After recovering from the after effects of her purified arrow that had lodged in its shoulder, it came out from under the ruble, bloodlust shining in its crimson eyes.

Rin watched helplessly from behind a tree as Kagome continued to dodge the demon and try to attack it with only her arrows. Her eyes widened in fear for the teenager when she saw her miss her footing and topple to the ground.

‘No!! Kagome-onee-chan!!!’ Forgetting Kagome’s earlier order to run away, Rin ran back and stepped in front of Kagome, her arms outstretched at either side of her. Rin’s face looked up fearlessly, determined to keep the bad demon away from her new friend.

“Stay away!! Don’t you hurt Kagome-onee-chan!!!” she yelled bravely at the demon.

Kagome looked up in shock and made a move to get the stubborn girl out of the way when pain shot up her side, making her hand immediately going to her wound.

“Rin!! No!! I told you to run away!!!” she said, her eyes pleading as she stared at the child standing above her.

“Rin won’t let the bad monster hurt Kagome-onee-chan!!! Rin is staying!!” the child said determinedly as she valiantly held her ground.

A feral growl escaped from the bear youkai’s mouth as a snarl formed on its face. It glared at the little girl standing in its way and hissed in fury. It stepped back for a moment before speeding towards the two humans.

Kagome quickly pulled Rin down and shielded her with her body, not noticing the white blur that had sped into the clearing like lightning. She held a shaking Rin in her arms, waiting for the painful blow that was about to be delivered. However, the moment never came, instead, replaced with the sounds of flesh and bones being ripped apart.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked up, the child still trembling in fright in her hold.

There, standing majestically without a single spot of blood on him, save for the old blood on his haori, on the other side of the now blood-spattered clearing, was the figure of the Demon Lord of the Western Lands. He turned around, his eyes staring at her coldly.

The child in her arms stirred, her now open eyes landing on the godly form before them. She slightly wriggled out of Kagome’s grasp, her face lifting.

“Sesshoumaru-sama !!!”

Kagome looked down at Rin, confusion clouding her blue eyes. ‘Sesshoumaru-sama? Rin knows him?’ Her gaze traveled to Sesshoumaru as he stared at the girl in her arms, a slight tinge of something flashing in the golden depths of his eyes.

Suddenly, the pain in her wounds intensified as her vision blurred. Her grip around Rin loosened and she collapse to the ground, unconscious.