An Odd Feeling by Akai-chan

An Odd Feeling

An Odd Feeling

In the days of Spring, the world seemed to grow and live as it was meant to. Winter's harshness and barren shoulder drew down in a sigh of relief, and the world was beginning to warm again.

It was not unusual for him to notice these changes. He was, after all, a creature who inherently enjoyed the ever-present touch of nature. There were times when he felt himself one with it, as preposterous an idea as that might sound to anyone who may have thought they knew him.

So he knew, then, that when he began to feel these strange stirrings in his blood, it was not because of the arriving Spring season.

Now usually, he would attribute such feels as this to his excellent instincts. They were honed to be attuned to his surroundings at all times, even at rest. He could dare say that no one would ever be able to catch him unawares. Which was why his current... predicament bothered him so.

These... unusual feelings were not his instincts warning him of some approaching danger or of the need to feed himself and replenish his energy. He was not in heat, nor were there any females in heat anywhere in the area. Not that this would affect him, of course; he was not one to easily give into the whims of some pointless fancy. He would not rut with another female again unless it was his chosen mate.

So then what could it possibly be that had him feeling so... so odd?

He decided he should further investigate the matter, and one such way to do this was to ask himself questions. He needed to backtrack and find out what exactly he knew about this situation.

The first question, then, would be, when did this all start?

That was easy enough to answer, actually. It had begun the very day he decided to ally himself with his half-brother's pack.

The war effort against the dark hanyou Naraku had been difficult. Both he and his brother had been doing horribly with their separate attempts to find and defeat their common enemy. And so he realized that, united, they might stand a chance.

This, of course, meant that he would have to swallow his pride and offer his help. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that his brother was too childish to do it, much less even consider it. So he took it upon himself to approach the group. That had been about four months ago.

Late one evening, he had wandered into the general vicinity of Inuyasha's forest, knowing full well the half-breed would sense him and come running.

Imagine his surprise when the young miko had come instead.

It struck him then just how long it had been since he'd ran across the rag-tag little group. A year had gone by since he'd last stared down the enormous blade of Tetsusaiga, and he had forgotten how much could happen in a year unnoticed.

The miko, whom he was used to seeing in that completely indecent green and white garb, was dressed in the formal robes of her station. Although, the colours were different from that of her predecessor; the hakama were a deep purple. And in addition to the traditional weaponry of a priestess, she also carried a staff.

At the sight of this, he found himself nodding in approval. The weapon suited her, as he knew her to be someone who valued life and had difficulty taking it if not needed. What better weapon than a staff to suit such a person?

Further surprises were in store for him when she smiled pleasantly at him, and bowed low.

"Greetings Sesshoumaru-sama."

He inclined his head in acknowledgement when she had righted herself again. Where was the brash, loud-mouthed human girl with no respect for those above her station?

One look in her bright blue eyes told him that the fire was still there, ever-blazing. But she was not a girl any longer. She was a woman now and a very powerful one at that. It seemed to him that she had learned to control, and perhaps even harness her holy energies and in so doing, learned some self-control as well.

And strangely enough, he found himself to be pleased.

"Where is the half-breed?"

"Tonight is his human night, so I decided to come in his place."

Ah yes, how could he not have noticed that tonight was the new moon? The boy would not have been able to sense his presence being that his demon blood was being overwhelmed by the human side.

When he didn't say anything for quite some time, the woman broke the silence.

"What brings you here, Sesshoumaru-sama?" His eyes narrowed when she again added the honorific to his name. For some reason that he could not place, this bothered him.

"I have come to ally myself with your pack."

She seemed confused of the terminology he had used to refer to her group-memebers, but understood what he meant nonetheless. Or so he thought by the realization dawning in her eyes, and the bright smile that followed.

It was at that exact moment that the strange flutterings in his being had began.

"That's wonderful!" she squealed, making him wince inwardly at the pitch her voice had taken on. "You have to come with me to tell everyone the good news." In her moment of gushing, she had actually grabbed his hand and began pulling him along behind her. And he was so shocked, he had actually let her.

The audacity of her handling of him was simply outrageous, and if he had not held some modicum of respect for the woman, the small hand that fit so easily into his own would have lay on the ground in a bloodied stump.

Sighing inwardly, as he was wont to do these days, he wondered if it was a coincidence that this woman was behaving very much like Rin at the moment.

A/n: Okay, so I know that was a crappy ending, but I hope you all liked it anyway. More soon to come.