Without You | Sesshomaru

Chapter 5

"Master, that was most uncalled for. I hope you can forgive me."

Sesshomaru suddenly turned his attention to Lyra. She didn't realise she had still been staring at him until his eyes made contact with hers. Still, she didn't hide or lower his gaze. Her azure blue ones stayed locked into his molten gold pools. Rin and Jaken glanced between the two of them in confusion.

Sesshomaru wondered if Lyra knew what happened, and if she did, was she judging him for it? Closing her eyes slowly, she sighed and simply lay back down. She knew he would speak to her again at night. He only really spoke properly to her when they were alone or if no one was listening. She would have to wait until then.

***

Night had fallen and they had made camp right where they were. A small fire stayed burning as Rin, Jaken and A-Un slept peacefully. Sesshomaru sat away from the group as usual, his back leaning against a tree as his left knee was lifted up slightly. He stared absentmindedly at the sky through the clearing in the trees. His mind became diverted as Lyra sat next to him but he didn't look at her.

"You should rest," he suggested.
"I can't sleep," she lied. "I'm thinking too much and my mind can't seem to settle."
A few seconds of silence passed before Sesshomaru spoke again. "You wish to know what happened between myself and Inuyasha."
Lyra dramatically shrugged and breathed out a heavy sigh. "Well, now that you've mentioned it, you might as well tell me."

She leaned her elbow on her thigh and rested her cheek in her hand, looking at him as though she was awaiting a bedtime story. He looked at her, thinking what an odd woman she was before turning away again.

"His demon blood was taking control again. I simply stopped it," he explained in the shortest way possible.
"You didn't try to kill him." It wasn't a question.
Sesshomaru once again glanced at her. "No. Eventually, I will. But only when he knows it's happening. In that state, he is not himself."
"I don't think you'll do it anyway," she said confidently as she kept the eye contact.
"Because you believe I have a good heart?"

Sesshomaru recalled the words she had spoken when she was bathing in the hot spring. Lyra's eyes widened as she sat up straight, staring at him in shock. She could have sworn she saw the faintest smirk appear on his lips upon seeing her reaction. Getting up on her knees, she frowned at him deeply.

"Were you spying on me?!" she interrogated angrily with her hands on her hips. "I never would have expected that from you. I never thought that you would be such a pervert."
"Calm yourself," he spoke in a low tone. "I did not see you. I simply stayed close by and listened to make sure you were safe."

Lyra gasped quietly at his revelation. Out of his own will, he had followed behind her that night to be almost like her bodyguard. She deeply appreciated his concern over her even though she didn't ask for it. He could have stayed at the camp and left her open to be attacked, but he didn't. That itself hardened her belief of his good heart.

"Besides," he continued following the short silence, "I do not find your appearance appealing in that way."

Lyra's mouth dropped open in shock. She couldn't believe that he just announced his opinion of her appearance so openly and without any hesitation. She frowned with a small pout before huffing and standing up. Without saying another word, she stormed away before plonking herself down by a tree opposite to where he was stationed, which wasn't actually that far away. She lifted her knees and wrapped her arms around them before muttering angrily to herself. Sesshomaru watched her little tantrum, never taking his eyes off her.

"How rude! No manners whatsoever," she grumbled before staring directly at him. "Yes, I know you can hear me and I don't care."

She huffed and sighed deeply. She didn't know why his opinion mattered so much. But she guessed that no one really likes people to tell them that they're unattractive. It wasn't really a nice thing to hear. Sesshomaru continued to watch her. He found it quite entertaining to see someone react the way that she did. However, he didn't mean for his words to upset her. Standing up, he walked across and sat beside her. Lyra huffed again and turned away from him slightly.