Captive Inu

Chapter 2

"Wooooow!"

Kagome glanced down at the little ningen girl, Rin, as she gazed up at her in admiration. Her little brown orbs were wide, her mouth a big "o". Kagome arched a brow, regarding the little girl curiously. Lord Sesshomaru had taken the young girl under his wing apparently. And from the brief encounter she'd had with the brute, it was a rather odd combination.

The girl was a chatterbox! And so full of joy and happiness and a hundred other emotions it was near blinding. She smiled at everything, seemingly having a simple love for life. Meanwhile her male counterpart was the complete opposite. He was silent and brooding, cold and distant. So far the only emotions she'd even scented from him was either complete boredom, or blatant anger. It was clear he disliked any and all life forms bred below him.

So why on earth did he carry a human girl, a presumably annoying one at that, with him?

Or maybe it was the fact that he simply disliked Kagome herself? And if so, why? Sure she'd accidentally ran into him, literally, but she'd tried to leave right after that. She wasn't a threat, not in her weak state. Yet he'd refused to allow her to escape, broken several bones in her body, and had knocked her unconscious afterwards. And then he'd fought her again the following morning! All for what?

While Kagome continued to sulk in her mind, she allowed the little girl continue staring up at her. Upon reaching Sesshomaru's group, she had taken notice of the girl, the two headed dragon, and the ugly little imp who fluttered about Sesshomaru, sputtering questions. Along with the girl, Kagome had also wondered about the dragon. Sesshomaru had said Inu and dragons were longtime enemies, so why did he have one for a pet? Kagome sniffed. It wasn't a full blooded dragon, she knew, but still...

Kagome shook her head, confused. Without a word, Sesshomaru began to lead his troupe back on a trail. Rin rode atop the dragon, who she introduced as AhUn, and had asked Kagome to ride. She was about to decline, when she saw the pleading look in the girl's doe brown eyes. With a sigh, Kagome mounted, thus began the bombardment of questions from the little girl.

Kagome wasn't in the mood for talking, never was actually, but she answered the little girl every now and then. When the girl asked a particularly personal question, Kagome remained quiet. Rin had only shrugged that off and began to ask other questions, mostly random ones such as which foods did Kagome like best, which flowers she thought were prettiest, etc.

...

Despite the ache that had begun that had nothing to do with her split skull, Kagome found the girl rather charming. She even began to adore her on a minute level, even if she'd only known her for the three and a half hours they'd been traveling. Sesshomaru didn't speak at all, but the little toad muttered here and there about drastically annoying females.

Rin had transferred from asking questions about Kagome's favorite things, and was now prodding random spots on her body. Kagome had reeled back on a reflex, but after seeing the hurt look in Rin's eyes, forced herself to remain still as the girl joyfully examined her to her heart's content. When she got to Kagome's exposed cheek, she rubbed at it and pulled her hand away.

Kagome saw the muck on the girl's hand and flushed. The dungeons she'd been trapped in were filthy, years of mold and decay covering nearly every inch of them. There were a few rare times when a bowl of semi clean water had been given to her, and she'd used that to clean as best as she could, which wasn't much. Not having had an actual bath with clean water in Kamis knew how long, the dirt and grime had clung to her skin and clothes, blanketing her like an old friend.

The girl didn't look disgusted, however. She only smiled and wiped her hand on her checkered kimono, leaving a stain behind. When she looked back up at Kagome, she gasped. Alarmed, Kagome spread her senses, expecting an enemy to emerge from the thick brush on the sides of the road. None ever came.