Blinded by Priestess Skye

Blinded

Title: Blinded

Author: Priestess Skye

Rating: PG

Genre: Drama, Hint of Romance

Pairings: Sesshoumaru/Kagome

Word Count: 3,024

Canon/AU: Canon

This story was originally written for Feudal Tales, an LJ challenge community which uses story starters as prompts for the story. The first paragraph is the story starter prompt for this challenge.

---

Naraku quietly watched the scene play out before him. He had worked so long towards this day and now he would see it all come to fruition. He slowly stood and made his way to what he had long planned for. He grinned evilly.

Today, someone would die.

---

Blinded by tears, her world crumbled beneath her feet, disappearing as reality swallowed her whole. Naraku was gone, destroyed, nothing but ash upon the dirt-laden grass, thanks to the combined efforts of the Inu brothers. Though the strike was entirely accidental as one continually tried to show the other up, it seemed to have worked.

But not without Naraku getting his last lick in.

Blood covered Inuyasha from head to toe, the last of the tentacles easily tearing through the white cloth of his shirt, piercing his chest and thereby his heart. He hadn't taken so much as a breath before he fell face forward into the mud. Clutching his haori around her, she wished once more that she had fought harder when he offered it to her, that she had insisted he wear it.

Hindsight was 20/20.

At this moment, fate was also a bitch.

"Foolish hanyou," the stoic demon lord scoffed as he stood above his brother's body, staring down impassively. "Even after death you continue to defy my will. Your life was to be mine."

Though outwardly calm, it didn't take a miko of super powers to sense the internal strength and rage coursing through Sesshoumaru's body as he gazed upon Inuyasha's prone form. His eyes, typically cold and hard as steel, carefully remained empty, his face showing no indication of how he felt. It was the clenching of his claws that had caught her attention.

It was as if he regretted his brother's death.

"You can save him," she murmured, ignoring the others around her trying to console her. "You have your father's fang, you can save him."

"Nonsense."

In the moment he turned to walk away without a second glance, she succumbed to the darkness of her heart, allowing it to pierce through the carefully placed barrier.

---

Lost in her grief, Kagome walked around aimlessly from village to village in her escape from the biting reality that faced her at Kaede's. There was no home for her there, Naraku had taken that away. And, though she knew she should have returned home, returned to her schooling, returned to her life, there was nothing waiting for her there either. How could she return to the mundane when her life here was anything but? There was no purpose now, nothing to achieve, nowhere to go. Sango and Miroku were happy. She couldn't intrude despite their protests. How could she take their happiness away too? It appeared as if wandering was the only thing she could do at this time.

Stumbling into a clearing, she settled against a rock, closing her eyes as she leaned back. It was cold and but she didn't deserve creature comforts. Not somebody as pathetic as her.

"Inuyasha," she quietly called for him again, hoping that the last several months were nothing but a dream. As she did every night.

And he never came.

"Pathetic."

She didn't need to open her eyes to know the owner of that voice, and she seethed, acting against all rational thought and placing the blame of his brother's death strictly on him.

"Pathetic is having the power to make a difference and choosing not to use it," she muttered, her anger increasing with each word, her body tensing at each syllable until she was shaking with rage. "Pathetic is walking away when you're needed the most." Standing to her feet, she clenched her fists at her side, wishing there was more she could do than stand and yell at him.

The look of disdain that crossed his face only served to increase her ire. "You dare to speak of making a difference, Miko, when you do nothing but wallow in your own self-guilt. I am not the one who took Inuyasha's only source of protection. You were to stand next to him, not behind him. Do not speak of that which you do not know."

"I will tell you what I do know," she seethed, throwing caution to wind. "You will pay for your indifference. I may not be strong enough today, but one day I will be and I will see that you join Inuyasha in hell. And there will be nobody here to bring you back."

Turning on her foot she walked away, knowing he wouldn't dare to strike her down. Thankful at having already wished the Shikon jewel out of existence, she allowed the thought of vengeance to settle within her. Upon his cold heart, she vowed he would one day understand.

And then it would be too late.

---

Her powers would only take her so far, Kagome knew. The rest depended on physical strength, something she had lacked during her travels with Inuyasha. Motivated by pain and heartache, she forced herself to be stronger. She forced herself to be faster, and she forced herself to last longer.

The miko who trained her didn't know the reason behind her motivation and didn't understand the hatred she felt flowing through her, as if it were in her very blood. For all intents and purposes, Kagome had no plans of filling her in either. Her reasons were her own and, though her thoughts weren't pure, she believed her motives were. Her powers would not be used to destroy human life.

Instead, they would teach a demon that life could not be tossed aside recklessly without consequences.

Coming to a halt at a hot spring, she found the current object of her ire lying against a rock, his eyes closed. Though she couldn't get close without him becoming aware of her presence, she hated the thought of attacking from afar.

She wanted to see Sesshoumaru's eyes as he realized he was about to fall at the hands of a human.

"You do not yet have the power," he stated simply, eyes remaining shut. "Turn back human and face me when you are ready."

"I am ready," she replied, determination set upon her face. "I have been ready since the first moment. Slipping a small knife from her belt she stepped into the spring, ignoring his warning. "I am no longer the weak human I once was."

"You are the very same human you were before. Because you can hold a weapon in your hand does not make you ready to fight me. It is not within you to kill me yet."

The blade of her small knife was snapped in two as he reached out to grab it. "This weapon will do nothing. I could sense you coming long before you arrived. As the enemy, I had plenty of time to snap your neck if I so wished."

Infuriated, she retreated. He was right. There would be another day.

---

Rivers and streams were her best friends, she learned, as she began to tread through a nearby tributary. Water hid her scent, and often disguised her trail. She had learned to stop bathing unless necessary. Though the deep earthy smell bothered her, it did wonders to allow her to blend in with her surroundings. Her clothing was no longer that of her school uniform, her miko habit provided her with the comfort and flexibility she required in her travels.

And while she would never be as strong as he, she could succeed with the element of surprise. She would surpass even Inuyasha's skill, and had set that lofty goal. For five years she worked hard, learning to cover her own scent and blend in with her surroundings. For five years she had ran miles in both the stifling heat and cruel cold to build up her stamina.

For five years she thought of nothing else, her desire for vengeance becoming a single-minded obsession.

Suddenly cut off from air, Kagome stopped in her tracks and tried to ignore the below-freezing bite of the ice water as she came to a standstill. However, she wasn't afraid, already knowing the demon who held her throat in a vise-like grip. She had memorized his signature and aura years before.

"You are learning, but you're not there yet, Miko," Sesshoumaru taunted as he set her upon her feet. The clash of steel, her blade upon his echoed throughout the woods. "This is much more impressive than the last time I saw you, but you are still nothing but a mouse in a lion's den."

Unimpressed with his tirade she struggled to keep with him, to get past his defenses. Not once did he try to strike her, and he simply let her wear off the last of her energy attacking him.

Without success.

Frustrated she let out a growl before sheathing her blade and turning away.

"Patience, miko. As long as you lack it you will never succeed."

---

An hour she stood and watched him. Each day for three years.

She watched.

She waited.

She turned away and left.

It was patience he wanted, or so she was told. She could never catch him as long as she had none. And so to prove it, she bided her time. There were many opportunities she could have taken, and each time she knew it would have proven useless. He may not have indicated that he was aware of her presence each and every time, but she could still read it in him. His aura shifted slightly the moment he could feel her.

It wasn't enough that she was able to mask her scent or, at times, walk like a ghost, her footsteps remaining silent. He was still aware of her.

And, in turn, it made her aware of him.

The first time she saw him she merely thought of him as Inuyasha's half brother. By the end of that day she knew him to be arrogant, powerful… strong in his own right. Within a year she understood him to be a cold-blooded killer.

And within two she knew him to be a loving father, though she was sure he didn't see himself as such. Rin was a duty, an obligation. Or such was the justification in his mind. Demons didn't put their lives on the line for a mere obligation. He had several times. Kagome knew him to be complex, multi-layered.

Ruthless assassin.

Devoted guardian.

And each day another layer was revealed to her. She didn't know what to make of them. Instead of feeling the familiar hate she had long associated with him, she felt something more.

Curiosity.

She was curious about him, his motives, his dreams, aspirations and more. She wondered why he put up with Jaken, and she wondered why he took in Rin. He still killed, but he killed for survival, he killed to protect what belonged to him.

But he didn't kill for the sheer joy of it alone.

She wondered...

---

"Why'd you do it?" she asked as she stepped out of the bushes, gesturing to the dead oni lying at his feet. Despite the gruesome kill that required little other than the use of his claws, the white silk cloth upon his body remained pristine. Inwardly she kicked herself at her mistake. Having become too caught up in her study of him she had failed to notice the threat behind her. Frowning, she glanced down again. It was low level, very much so, and, had she turned around, she could have disposed of it quickly. Yet it nearly had her instead.

"You were distracted," Sesshoumaru accused lightly, not looking down at her as she stood next to him.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"It is the only answer you shall receive."

Sliding her blade out of her sheath, she pressed the cold steel against his neck, placing enough pressure on it to get her point across without breaking the skin. "I need an answer," she demanded, unsure of why it was so important to her. "Why did you do it?"

"You are not ready to kill me today either," he declared, lifting his hand to put the blade aside. "Until you are ready to do so, you will receive nothing from me."

Ready to strike again, she stayed her hand as she thought of his statement.

You are not ready to kill me today.

It dawned on her, the truth startling enough to set aside her beliefs.

You are not ready to kill me today.

Truth was, she hadn't thought of killing him for a very long time.

---

"Where's Rin?" she asked, stepping out from the foliage one day as she saw him standing next to one of the onsens, staring at his reflection. It was perhaps the first day in years she had seen him arrive without his ward in tow. The bumbling young child she once knew and loved had grown into a woman over the years, though she was still as loyal to Sesshoumaru as she was when she was first found. It didn't take a genius, or one with supreme observational skills, to know that Rin loved Sesshoumaru, and to know why she stayed as long as she did.

And though Kagome should have expected Rin to leave at some time, it still seemed strange not to see her following closely behind the demon lord. She was such a stark contrast to his stoic demeanor.

"She has found somebody else."

It was such a simple statement she thought, but the tone behind it told her a thousand things at once. He was happy for her. He missed her.

He was alone.

Looking down at her own image in the water, she took note of her physical changes over the years. Her hair, though tied back hung to her waist and had tamed down, becoming much like Kikyou's. There were no laugh lines, or worry lines, but there was also no smile.

How did she go so long without smiling? She used to smile all the time. Back when she was still with Inuyasha.

"Why didn't you save him?" she asked again, having forgotten that question from so many years ago. "You had no problems saving Rin, a child you barely knew, but you didn't save your own brother. Why?"

His gold eyes slid to hers, though he kept facing his reflection in the water. "Are you prepared to kill me yet?" he asked instead.

Feeling the tears form in her eyes, she turned away, hoping he didn't catch them. "Why can't you answer the question?"

His hand nudged her chin, turning her so she could face him directly. Claws gently caught the tears sitting on her eyelashes, and she wondered idly how many times he had done that with Rin when she was upset. It seemed to come so naturally to him. "Things aren't always as they seem," he replied. "When you are ready then I will talk."

---

The moon cast a silver light over the field, making the white flowers seemingly glow in the dark. Bright and vibrant, it was only fitting that Kagome found him in this field. Making sure he was aware of her presence she waited until he turned and saw her before she placed her weapons on the ground before her. She didn't want him to mistake her intentions for anything other than what they were. For too long she had harboured the hate inside her. The grief, the misery, the pain. For too long she let it all dwell within her heart.

She was tired.

"I'm ready," she announced as she sat next to him, idly picking up a flower before pulling the petals off. She was nervous, but she was ready.

"So you are." Shifting slightly to the right, she watched him unsheathe Tenseiga, the fang his father had left him. It was astounding that he had once thought the blade useless, she thought, as he held it in his hand. Anybody could wield a sword that kills. He was the only one who could bring back life.

"I don't want to kill you anymore."

"I know."

He placed the blade in her hands and as she gripped the hilt she could feel the power, feel it hum and sing against the palm of her hand. "It's remarkable. How could you ever deny this?"

"Tenseiga is remarkable in many ways, and yet like all things made by earthly beings, it has its failings as well. It can only restore life once. Once Rin dies I cannot bring her back again. It is something I have accepted. Once the body has moved on, Tenseiga cannot bring it back as well. It only destroys those who carry the spirit to the afterlife. Once the soul is gone, the creatures are gone."

"And therefore your chance to bring them back is gone," she affirmed, watching the moonlight reflect off the steel. "Inuyasha didn't want to come back, did he?" she stated more so than asked, as she realized the third failing of the blade.

"No. Despite our history, I would have otherwise."

"I know." She smiled, returning Tenseiga to his hands. "I suppose I've always known that." Laughing bitterly, Kagome folded her hands in her lap. "I've been too blind to really see it. Kami, Inuyasha would have thought me so stupid."

"Indeed." Picking a flower from the grass, Sesshoumaru carefully tucked it behind her ear.

"Sesshoumaru? Can I ask you another question?" Taking his silence as a yes, she continued. "All of these years, why didn't you say something? Why the games of cat and mouse? You let me follow you around all of Nippon and you never once tried to answer any of my questions. You just left me hanging and I could have been saved some aggravation over the whole matter."

His hand reached over to grab hers, his claws lightly tracing the lines on her palm, as if he were trying to read them. "Things aren't always as they seem," he replied again.

And for the first time in years, she smiled.

END

Disclaimer: Inuyasha does not belong to me. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi