Actions Speak Louder Than Words by cakeiton

Chapter 1

I don’t own anything Inuyasha.

A/N: Tropey tropey trope trope.

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The large beast swung his tail at the charging group and Kagome, taking the extra half-moment to ensure Shippo had jumped out of harm’s way, could not move in time. The tip of the tail tripped her and, with a graceless tumble, she hit the dirt hard.

The scratches down her shin burned and her shoulder protested her attempt to rise. Hissing, she stumbled again. Kagome’s head hung low as she tried to catch her breath and take her thoughts away from the pain.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over her and she recoiled, bracing for an inevitable impact. Instead, she only heard a familiar, and dismissive, sigh.

“Hn, perhaps you should hide with the children, miko.”

She raised her heated gaze to the taiyoukai, ready to insult the haughty demon in return, but stopped short.

He was offering his hand out to her.

Tentatively, she reached out and grabbed it. As soon as she was on her feet again, he disappeared, already swinging his blade at the enemy.

Without time to think about what had just happened, she cleared her mind and raced forward, feeling her power, and her spirit, rise to the moment.

.

The dark priestess was formidable. With her ability to use spiritual energy and dao blades in unison they had to adjust their strategy several times on the fly just to get a solid hit on her.

Finally, she had screamed out in defeat and fallen. The group began to tend to their wounds, and Kagome looked around for their unofficial, but more frequent, members.

Hidden under the shadows of trees, she saw the bright orange checkers of Rin’s clothing. She grabbed for the first aid kit and, subconsciously, tucked her hair behind her ears in a fruitless endeavor to smooth it out.

She plastered on a caring smile and made her way towards Sesshoumaru and his charges. Rin caught her gaze quickly and she saw pain in the little girl’s eyes.

“Rin-chan!” she exclaimed, “What’s the matter? Are you okay?”

The girl nodded and wiped away her unsuccessfully suppressed tears. “Hai, Kagome-sama. But, Sesshoumaru-sama’s hand-”

“Rin,” the taiyoukai’s deep voice interrupted with such finality the girl did not even stumble over the next unspoken word. She looked to the ground unsure of where the fault lay within her concern, but caring deeply about acquiencing to his wishes.

Kagome’s face wrinkled in a scowl. “Don’t be mad at her for caring! What happened?”

Sesshoumaru sat against a large tree, staring off to seemingly nothing, and did not answer her.

The miko scoffed and, in her ire, approached him without realizing what a bad idea it probably was.

“Hey!” she demanded. “I’m talking to you!”

Lazily, his eyes shifted to her own. Then he just stared. However, she saw the tightening of his jaw and her frustration lessened. “Wait, are you really hurt?”

He quickly looked away. “It is nothing.”

A tickle of fear rose in her heart. No wonder Rin had been upset, barely anything seemed to affect him.

“Let me see.”

His eyes narrowed. “No.”

That arrogant, self-righteous attitude annoyed her to no end. So, she knelt bedside him and tugged at his sleeve as if trying to pry something from Shippo’s hands. “Like I care if you are hurt or not! Just, let me see.”

He raised an eyebrow and slowly revealed his hand which had been burned from holy energy up to the elbow.

Kagome huffed, “You’re a pain in the ass, do you know that?”

The confusion in his expression only deepened as she scolded him. Her tone was rough, but as she wrapped his injury, her touch was gentle.

.

Sesshoumaru stood alone, as he often enjoyed, to meditate on whatever vexing problem that currently plagued him. For centuries it had been the location of Tetsusaiga. Then, it had been the truth behind the blade and his half-brother’s connection. Following that was the issue concerning the cursed Naraku, but now…

His isolation was interrupted as Inuyasha leapt from a nearby tree and landed behind him. From his scent, the youkai could tell he was agitated but not outright hostile.

“Oi!” the hanyou screamed. “You and I need to talk!”

“Hn,” he sighed in response. The night was creeping into the last light of day. He would have to return to his charges soon, and his problem still tugged at his desired peace of mind. Having his half-brother interrupt was certainly annoying as well.

Inuyasha gritted his teeth and growled, “What’d think you’re doing showing up all of the time?”

Sesshoumaru looked behind his shoulder towards his little brother. “I go where I desire.”

“Keh! What exactly is it that you want? To wait till I’m weak enough to finish me off? To watch me fail?” His growl still rolled in the silent space that stretched between them.

Finally, Sesshoumaru looked back to the horizon. It was almost fully dark now. “If I thought you weak,” he began, “I would not fight at your side. If I wanted you dead you would have been by now. And if I was still ashamed,” he paused, and a hint of regret betrayed the timbre of his voice, “You would know.” He turned fully towards him and stared him down, challenging him to deny his words.

Inuyasha’s ear flattened against his head and he sputtered. After a moment, he finally shook himself and said, “Keh, like I give a damn what you think.” The indignant tone from earlier was all but gone, and, suddenly feeling very awkward, he ran away.

It was not until Inuyasha was almost back at camp did he forget himself enough to smile.

.

The next time he appeared, Kagome beamed, then denied any excitement she had felt when Shippo asked.

.

“Look, Sesshoumaru-sama!” Rin exclaimed. “Kagome-sama is down there!”

He fought against glancing to where his ward was pointing. “Hn, my brother’s miko is of no concern.”

Rin giggled and Sesshoumaru, losing his own fight, took a peak to the ground as they flew by.

.

In the next battle, Kagome fired an arrow passed Sesshoumaru’s ready blade, effectively purifying the demon who was dumb enough to go after their shards.

Feeling cheated, the taiyoukai looked back at her. “I do not require your assistance.”

Her prideful smile dropped and she stomped her foot. “Oh yeah? Well, I don’t want to help you anyways if you are going to be so ungrateful!”

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That night over their cook fire, Sango focused on Kagome and asked, “What is going on with you and Sesshoumaru?”

The miko waved her hands nervously. “Nothing!” she insisted with a blush creeping up her neck.

.

Kagome wandered to the river’s edge, trying to appear nonchalant as she concentrated on her surroundings. She thought she had felt-

“What are you searching for?”

She yelped at his sudden appearance and fought against the embarrassment welling up inside her. “No one!”

He stared at her for an uncomfortable amount of time and watched her fidget. Then, his lips twitch just slightly in a reluctant smirk. “I did not ask ‘who’ you were searching for.”

She was staring at his foreign smile and forgot to deny his insinuation.

.

“Ooohh,” Jaken grumbled to himself, “Sesshoumaru-sama spends too much of his time concerning himself with humans. First, this stupid child he awoke with Tensaiga. Then, with a demon slayer boy. Now, that filth Inuyasha’s priestess has-”

“Jaken,” Sesshoumaru warned, and it was enough to silence the small demon and send him to the floor groveling. He did not need to answer to the musings of a lower demon, or to anyone for that matter. But, with an unenthusiastic shrug, he did anyways. “She is clearly the best way to enact my revenge against Naraku.”

Then, he heard her scream out for him, the alarming call drifting on the heady wind of autumn, and he snarled. With a blur, he was gone.

.

The woody spike of Naraku was coming straight for her heart. Her arrow was alight with the strongest energy she had ever conjured and when she fired it tore through her nemensis like rice paper. The normally confident spider roared before turning her way and charging. She had another arrow readied, but did not even realize she had called for aid. 

The evil hanyou was almost upon her. Determined tears had trailed down her cheeks, but she held her ground. She shook, but she was not scared.

She was waiting.

Naraku’s dark miasma was about to crash down on her when a sharp slice tore through it, the energy of the attack cracking the sky, and sent the wretched creature back. Their foe retreated, but swore that they would never get the best of him.

.

She couldn’t sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she saw those red eyes ready to eat her alive and the silver hair of Sesshoumaru blocking the path. He had appeared right before her, almost an instant after she had unwittingly called for him.

Then, he had looked over her shoulder and she saw the concern that twisted his normally pristine features.

She had been entranced, but he quickly broke whatever spell he had on her when he said, “Move. You are troublesome.”

And her anger quickly replaced whatever pride she had felt before.

Of course, they had won the day, but she was still disturbed. Kagome tossed, tried to sleep, and saw his golden eyes take her in. She turned fitfully, pulling her sleeping bag above her head, and saw his gritted teeth and protective stance- a warning to anything that would dare even look at her strange.

Kagome pursed her lips and tossed the coverings off of her. It was no use. She wouldn’t get any sleep with her traitorous mind reliving the scene over and over again.

Tiptoeing out of their hut for the night, she walked into the moonlight. The breeze was chilled and brushed against her skin. The adrenaline from the battle still had her nerves on edge, and her shivers had nothing to do with the cold.

Eventually, she reached the old, comforting sight of the well that carried her through the ages and sat at the edge to wait. To no one, she said, “This is stupid. What did you think would be here?”

Then, he was.

He shined under the moon and her breath hitched. Swallowing her apprehension, Kagome asked, “Wha-what are you doing here?” Her increased heart rate betrayed her. She was pleased.

Sesshoumaru smirked. “I assure you, it was not to be in your presence.” He walked closer.

“Thank you for protecting me today.”

“Hn, will you require my protection more in the future?”

Eagerly, she shook her head and smiled. “No,” she lied.

He was in front of her now, as close as he had been when he appeared to strike down Naraku. She could feel the heat from his skin and the dangerous sizzle of his youki against her own energy.

“Do you want to protect me, Sesshoumaru?”

He did not break away from her gaze. “No,” he lied.

Slowly, his hand reached up and brushed the bangs from her forehead. His clawed fingers lingered as they ran through her hair. “Are you nervous, Kagome?”

She was shaking. “No.”

His hand was on her cheek, guiding her lips to his, and stopped a breath away. “You can stop this,” he warned, as if she would want to.

Kagome closed her eyes and the distance between them, then smiled against his kiss.

…

A/N: If there are errors… ¯_(ツ)_/¯