A little goes a long way by Angelicatt

In Need

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the mere sparks of imagination. Characters are property of Rumiko Takahashi, VIZ Media et al. Original story idea, The Lion and the Mouse by Aesop.

A/N: Originally meant as an entry for Priestess Skye’s Reinventing The Classics Challenge but decided to use it as a test fic intead. Hope you enjoy!

Kagome, the miko-from-the-future had gotten separated from her group yet again. It was not in the heat of battle with some rogue youkai or with any of Naraku’s minions. Oh no nothing so intense or life threatening.  The reason for her solitude could be answered in one word: INUYASHA.

The impossible hanyou had frayed her last nerve, arguing about her inefficiencies, clumsiness and general lack of skill further emphasizing that she was never going to be as good a miko as his dearly beloved and departed, Kikyou. All of this was brought on because she had tripped on a tree root and had accidentally almost pierced him with the arrow she was aiming at the shard-carrying bat youkai that was currently threatening the group. She didn’t hit him and in fact the trajectory of the misfired projectile had distracted the youkai enough for Sango to take him out with a well placed throw of her hiraikotsu. Two hours of listening to his angry barbs and she was secretly wishing that the arrow did impale him.

After all this time, three years to be precise, he still berated her at every turn; usually it was totally unwarranted – just his never ending need to vent his frustrations and pain. If he had ever stopped and really looked at the now, eighteen year old priestess he would have seen just how much she had changed. Her powers had grown; her control stronger and archery skills as accurate as if she were one of Robin Hood’s Merry Men.

But merry she was not. Confused, hurt, depressed and hopelessly lost would describe the condition that she found herself in after walking away from the screaming hanyou. They had crossed over into the Western Lands earlier in the day and InuYasha had been on alert for the inevitable appearance of his half brother, the daiyoukai of these lands, Sesshoumaru. Even with the truce the inu had made, tensions remained very high whenever they came into contact with each other and therefore the shard-seeking group usually avoided the West, however the bat youkai had thought it quite a game to have them track and follow it for two days before finally attacking – at least they gotten three shards in the process.

Somehow the teen had managed to distance herself from everyone while on her thought provoking walk. The day had gone by and the sun had almost disappeared over the horizon, leaving a cool orange glow highlighting the wooded path she was currently on. Trial by fire had taught Kagome to never leave the protection of the camp and her friends without her bow, arrows and her trusty yellow backpack. She was in no mood to return to the continued abuse that would surely greet her if she were to go back to the hanyou’s side – maybe a night away from him would allow her a clearer perspective and possibly cause him to question his attitude towards her of late…maybe he would even be worried about her. ‘Yeah right’ she quietly thought. Her schoolgirl crush on InuYasha had withered away with Kikyou’s rebirth and second demise at the hands of Naraku. A love that lasted through two deaths was not something that could be easily rivaled. It took all of her attention as it was to just keep up with her time-traveling dual life and the ongoing battles with the spider hanyou – unrequited love just did not have a place on her list of life priorities.

Not even a mile away from the frustrated miko, ensconced in a small cave lay the Inu daiyoukai. He had been on patrol of the Northern border of his lands earlier that very same day when he had run across a band of rogue monks and mikos. Never one to be afraid of any human, he ordered them to depart from within his boundaries only to be subjected to a surprise attack of a reishi-filled arrow from behind which left him unguarded and open to their ensuing physical assault. Without remorse he dispatched them and continued to set out on his patrol; however the spiritual resonance of the arrow shaft that remained lodged between his shoulder blades, just out of his only arm’s reach had some how left his body unable to heal from what he thought were nothing more than minor wounds. It was slowly sapping all his youkai energy and he knew he needed to get back to his citadel as quickly as possible or risk collapsing out in the open. The Lord was a very proud dog and appearing weak in anyone’s eyes was a huge cause of malcontent within his demon soul. He only made it three-quarters of the way there before he was forced to seek shelter and seclusion in the face of his sapping strength. ‘Maybe some rest before I set off again will help’ he idly thought as he half crawled into a shallow cave and sat down, leaning forward as to not accidentally press against the arrow that still protruded from his back. He quickly fell into a restless, feverish sleep, whimpering from the pain of the semi-purification.

She was never afraid of the darkness and tonight there was a crescent-shaped moon to guide her. It reminded her of the cold, Inu Lord which quickly shocked her into awareness that she had been traipsing through his lands for nearly twenty-four hours and had not even picked up on his aura. ‘He probably is away doing something diplomatic or whatever Lords do’ she rationalized in her head. A cold wind blew through the trail which caused her to shiver uncontrollably and she quickly decided that it was probably time to bunk down for the night. Walking for another thirty minutes or so, she saw the shadow of a cave against the hillside and briskly headed for it but not without picking up some kindling and dried branches along the way.

The closer she got to the cave opening, the more she felt that she wasn’t alone but she didn’t feel any malice or greed, it felt more like a lancing pain. Shaking it off as her own body’s tiredness; she all but fainted at the sight of Sesshoumaru, head pitched forward on his bent knees looking completely passed out. Her arms flew up to cover the scream that was begging to come out of her mouth, all the firewood thrown across the ground.

“Sesshoumaru-sama” she whispered, her throat suddenly very parched. “Sesshoumaru-sama, are you ok?” she called out a little louder, still not stepping any closer to the demon, in fear of him lashing out at her.

For a couple of minutes there was no response but then a small whimper was heard. ‘I have never seen him like this before. I always thought he was invincible’ she mused, suddenly coming to the realization that the painful aura that she had been feeling earlier was actually being emitted from the daiyoukai on the ground in front of her. Her naturally generous heart kicked in and she hastily rushed to his side. He looked sickly and there were visible trails of sweat running down his brow. Shifting to the side so she could see him better with the scant moonlight, she picked up the smell of his still-flowing blood and evidence of it could be traced to a large gash on his left shoulder from his collarbone arcing backwards, splatter visible on his mokomoko. It was when she looked over the cascade of his long, silver hair that she saw the arrow sticking out, glaring at her. ‘Oh kami, he’s been attacked by a miko’ she almost shouted out loud, catching herself at the last minute when she realized that she was mere inches from his pointy ears. Worry coursed through her body at the thought of him battling her own kind – who was to blame, who was at fault. It didn’t matter right then. All she knew that she had to remove the arrow from his body or he would be in grave danger.

“Sesshoumaru-sama, can you hear me?” she questioned softly as she kneeled next to him. She was afraid of her proximity to him knowing how much he detested humans and especially after just being attacked by them. A small grunt was her response and then the demon lord lifted his head and turned to face her.

He couldn’t focus his eyes on whatever or whoever was making the noise, even his youkai could not register what kind of being that was so close to his person. His head felt like it was splitting in two and the pain from his back was throbbing so madly that it made him nauseous. Sesshoumaru could not remember a time in his thousand plus years on this earth where he had felt so vulnerable; not even when his damned half-brother had cut off his left arm with the Tetsusaiga…it made him cringe and he uttered a low growl before finding his voice.

“Who are you? And what are you doing so close to this Sesshoumaru’s person?” he grumbled out. Embarrassment engulfed him at the thought of another demon seeing him in this state.

Now Kagome was both confused and angry. She was trying to help him and he had growled at her but then he didn’t know it was her which meant that he was more injured by the sacred arrow that she already thought. Now was not the time to argue with his gruff questioning, she needed to move swiftly and with more caution. Psyching up her inner calm and strength, she responded to him.

“Sesshoumaru-sama, it’s me, Kagome. You know, I travel with Inuyasha in search of the shards and Naraku…” She never got to finish her sentence when his arm shot out and grabbed her wrist, holding it roughly.

“MIKO”, he growled, “Why are you here? Where are Inuyasha and your group? Begone from this place and leave this Sesshoumaru”.

Her wrist hurt but she knew she needed to remain strong. “Sesshoumaru-sama, I am on my own, miles away from my group. I came across this cave in search of shelter for the night and I did not know you were in here. Please, you are hurt let me help you”.

“This Sesshoumaru does not require aid from a mere human onna especially a miko. Even your feeble sight can see that it is one of your kind that has injured me but it will be taken care of on return to the Western Citadel.” ‘What was this onna thinking’, he thought.

“No, it needs to be removed now”, her voice rising out of indignation. “You will not make it back to your castle in your present condition. As long as it is in you, your youki will be drained and you will continue to bleed out.”

“Miko, watch your tone with this Sesshoumaru or you will be punished” yanking on her wrist while reprimanding her. “This Sesshoumaru should kill you where you stand in retribution for this heinous attack upon my person” he growled out, his eyes tinged in red. Even with his sense of smell diminished somewhat; he could feel her fear laced under her anxiety and agitation.

Under normal circumstances, the scent of fear was the most intoxicating motivation for a fight. A battle to prove his strength and power over those he deemed below him – which pretty much meant almost everyone, demon or human alike. But humans were weak and posed little to no threat to him, or so he thought before this incident. Perhaps his senses had become dull from the monotony of his life. In the last few years, the only times he got to flex his muscle (so to speak) were against the hanyou Naraku and his annoying underlings and against Inuyasha, which was never much a fight anyway. This thinking both upset and angered him as he sat there squeezing Kagome’s arm while she whimpered silently.

“I know you do not like humans but I can not with good conscience leave you like this. You are my ally and even though it was another miko that did this to you for reasons unknown to me, I will not sit here and watch you suffer” she implored to him, tears of frustration and distress welling up in her eyes.

“Your concern is unwarranted. As for the reason for the attack, let this Sesshoumaru enlighten you by saying that it was unprovoked and they struck first and very cowardly at it by shooting me from behind” he recalled the specifics that lead up to the skirmish and described the assailants to the small onna, all the while wondering why he felt the need to divulge so much information to her.

She was an ally but she was still just the same human miko that travelled along with the half-breed. Why was she away from them and why was she so concerned with his wellbeing was beyond even his comprehension. Still if what she was saying was true then maybe her assistance would be preferable than allowing himself to venture out. He knew that she would never speak of this helplessness to anyone else or face his wrath. After three years, he trusted her honesty and loyalty and knew that it was in her nature to be kind and supportive.

Kagome could sense his aura draining as he struggled to keep his head up and eyes trained on her. His normally golden eyes were glazed over and clouded and his breathing was becoming increasingly ragged. There was little time left for any hesitation.

“Sesshoumaru-sama, please…please let me take the arrow out at least so your youkai healing can restart. Whatever dark magic they bewitched this arrow with is more powerful than any demon healer can deal with. Only a pure miko can remove it. I don’t want you to die” she pleaded, tears streaming down her face as soft sobs carried over to his ears.

“Hn. Fine miko, remove it. But do not think for one minute that this Sesshoumaru is allowing you the privilege of being so close to his person because he feels sorry for your unwarranted tears of concern. Do it quickly. You are not to ever speak of this incident with anyone; especially the half-breed or you will forfeit the rest of your miserable existence. Are we clear on this?” he gritted out. Maybe the pain was making him go soft. That would not do at all.

“Of course Sesshoumaru-sama, this will remain between just the two of us” she chimed ‘No one would believe me otherwise anyway’.