Summary: "Can I tell you a secret? ...Will you keep it safe? I suppose it doesn't matter... you'll probably kill me for it anyway..."
A/N: I hope you like it!
Rated: K+
Pairing: Sesshomaru/Kagome
Secret
Word Count: 875
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
Golden eyes watched almost curiously as the young miko pushed her way through the dense forest towards the stream, further away from her small group. He wondered for a moment why she would leave them without an escort, she was only human after all.
Of course she proved to be one of the stranger human women that he had met; his little ward, Rin not included.
She stumbled upon the small stream a few minutes later, seemingly oblivious to the world around her. It reminded him of the last time he had encountered the young human, and how she had quiet literally stumbled into his presence.
Her long ebony locks were tangled and ruffled as they had been that night. Her hands trembled curiously not out of fear, but out of a strong mixture of anger and distress. Her unique scent carried with it an underling stench of tears, something that he had come to abhor having taken on the care of Rin years ago.
It was no different from that night so many months ago.
Her breath hitched when she spotted him, her deep brown eyes widening. Her pale face was streaked with pervious trials of tears, stirring something within him. He'd never admit such a feeling to anyone, himself included once she was on her way back to her companions.
"Can I tell you a secret?"
A moment later her shoulders sank and her body relaxed, allowing herself to stumble to her knees. He never understood how she could allow him such an opening. If he had been any other youkai she would've been dead.
Of course, if he had wanted her dead, he wouldn't need a moment such as this to dispose of her. She was a human woman after all. It would've been easy.
Something inside him told him it would've been easy if it were any other human woman.
He ignored the voice.
She looked up to him as he approached her, her shoulders shaking with her sobs once again. Humans were such pathetic creatures. And yet he couldn't bring himself to find any disgust for her.
Perhaps it was because he knew it was his bastard hanyou of a brother that had caused her this much pain?
"Will you keep it safe?"
Her enticing scent spiked as her heartbeat increased; he couldn't detect any sense of fear from the woman. He'd never understood this reaction to his presence. Perhaps it was his proximity, as he was kneeling beside her.
"Never mind… I suppose it doesn't matter if you do or don't."
A delicate eyebrow rose in question as she reached out for him, her small hand grasping his. He should've disappeared at the first sign of her movement towards him. He should've thrown her hand away in disgust. He should've killed her for her audacity. But he couldn't bring himself to do it.
What was this woman doing to him?
"You'll probably kill me for it anyway… but I want to tell you…"
Her dark eyes met his gold in question as she pulled herself to his chest, clearly asking permission to do so. He didn't respond. Rin had done this before, but never would he have believed that he would allow anyone else the privilege of doing so.
She took his silence as permission and buried her face into his haori, the tears still coursing down her cheeks. His arm moved without his permission, circling around her before he was aware of what he was doing. Comforting her before his mind had any say.
"Sometimes I wish… that it had been you that I stumbled upon the first time I came here…"
Her body relaxed in his grasp as his hand worked circles into her back, soothing her tears. Her sobs died down, until all that he could hear was a small hiccup every now and then. His fingers ran calmly through her ebony tresses, his eyes watching her curiously.
"Sometimes I wish… that it had been you that I'd fallen in love with…"
Her breathing slowed to the point of sleep. Her hands still clutching the fabric of his haori as if her life depended upon it, her face still buried in his shoulder. His fingers continued their paths through her hair, every sense taking the feel of the young woman against him in.
For a moment he was at peace.
It was a strange feeling, as strange as the woman in his arms. But it would end soon. Her friends would come looking for her and they would find her curled up near the stream, sleeping peacefully. Soon he would have to let her go and walk away. Soon he would lock this moment away and never revisit it until he stumbled upon her next.
Because there would be a next time.
And until then he would keep her secret locked safely away.
Until then he would not revisit her words in his mind.
A thought occurred to him as he looked down upon her, one that had never before crossed his mind, nor would he ever admit that it did. When he saw her next perhaps he would tell her his secret.
And perhaps she would hide it away as he has her own.
Maybe next time…
~~~~~~~
A/N: Originally posted in a series of drabbles, called The Little Things. But that has recently been taken down, and I've decided simply to post some of my favorite drabbles from the collection as one shots. So what do you think? Please regard me kindly! Thanks for reading! -halcyondays 
