I'm Only Human chapter Five

Chapter Five
I’m Only Human

A sharp kick in the side is was she woke up to.
“Wakey, wakey,” someone called.
Kagome clenched her eyes and prevented herself from gasping due to the pain. She pushed herself up on her elbows and coughed as she was kicked in the side again, saliva dripping down her chin messily.
Someone crouched down in front of her and for a moment, with the slivery white hair, she maybe she had died and InuYasha was sitting with her. Kagome’s vision fuzzed a little and then focused again and the person in front of her was wearing a mask.
“Oh good!” The person said, almost delightfully, and now that Kagome was conscious enough to listen properly, she knew it was a female. “You are awake,”
The woman tossed her hair over her shoulder and delicately pulled the mask off. Kagome recognized her instantly, and her face must have shown it.
“You remember me?” Ritsu then patted Kagome’s head, with a little added force. Kagome ground her teeth together, trying to ease her oncoming headache.
“What happened?” Kagome moaned upon discovering that her legs were very sore and did not want to work at the moment.
“Well, you were hit upside the head and now you’re here.” Ritsu’s eyes shifted to her and her hand snaked out of no where and she held Kagome’s face, turning her as though she had changed in some odd way. “What hold do you have on my master? From what I can see you look to be nothing more than a ningen.”
Kagome swatted her hand away. “I don’t have a hold on him. Go talk to him yourself.” She spat.
Ritsu considered her words and stood, and Kagome feared she would kick her again. “See the man in the corner,” she pointed to the far corner in the room.
Sure enough, a man sat, shadowed, his eyes locked on the young miko. Kagome gulped and nodded. “He’s the man I helped from the village…”
“Good girl!” Ritsu laughed mockingly. “If you misbehave, he’ll hurt you. Understand?”
Kagome opened her mouth to speak and then clamped it shut, nodding silently. Ritsu stood and left without another word.
‘Dumb little…’ Kagome began thinking, but then noticed the man across the room stir and unfold into a standing position. Boldly, Kagome sat up and looked at the man. “Who are you, really?”
He laughed, perplexing Kagome a little. There was nothing funny that she could see. ‘I bet he’s a lunatic or something…’
“You do not know yet?”
Kagome looked around the room as though there should have been a clue to his identity. “I said you looked familiar once…”
He cocked his head to the side and smiled. “Kikyou’s reincarnation, aren’t you?” He asked.
“Who are you?” She demanded, quickly scouring the room for a weapon of any kind.
“Well surely if a powerful being like Priestess Kikyou could be reincarnated, than a being like Naraku could be reincarnated as well, don’t you think?”
Just as Kagome stood the wind was knocked from her stomach and she found herself pressed painfully against a wall. Naraku’s reincarnation had his hand gripping her throat and the other bracketing her arm to the wall. His hot breath ghosted across her ear and down her neck. “Let’s play nice,” he whispered into her skin.

* * * * *

Sesshoumaru leapt forward onto another branch, scenting the air, and found Kagome’s scent quickly fading. He stopped where he was and thought about his actions. The bark of the tall pine was rough on his hands, and leaving remnants of sap on his fingertips. He uncharacteristically tried to wipe the goo off on his pant leg, which only helped to make that sticky, too.
He had made no obligation to protect her, so why was he going? He was about to delve further into thought when a wave of a familiar scent hit him. His gaze traveled down to the base of the tree and he spied a young white-hair demon standing, looking up at him.
“Master!” She called, her voice sounding like a sob.
Sesshoumaru sighed and gracefully leapt down from the tree, of which he had been perched quite highly in. Ritsu stood in front of him and fell forward to embrace him, and succeeded only halfway in her goal when the demon lords hand snaked out and took her roughly by the throat. Her cheeks were tear stained and she was dirty and bloody, but not with her own blood.
“Mas…ter…” she choked, gripping his wrist and trying to pry herself free. She watched in horror as the markings on his wrists began to become slightly more jagged than normal, as well as the once on his cheeks.
He tensed his hand once and she knew not to fight him. She let her arms fall to her sides limply and stared weakly at him.
“Why has Kagome’s blood stained your kimono?” He asked calmly, masking the rage awakening deep within him.
She swallowed thickly and he loosened his grip enough for her to speak. “She… attacked me…” she began. “I had to defend myself…”
Sesshoumaru laughed. Not a rich laughter, but short and curt. “You expect me to believe that she attacked you? For what reason would she give? And you,” he narrowed his eyes, his gaze pinning her. “Why would you need to defend yourself from a human? Surely she could not have been more powerful than my faithful servant, now, could she?” With a movement quicker than lightening, he had thrown her against a tree.
She screamed as she took the impact of the blow, the bark of the tree digging roughly into the flesh of her back. She groaned and pushed herself to sit up.
Sesshoumaru watched as she squirmed in discomfort as her plan backfired. He stayed where he was, but looked at her through reddening eyes. “Answer me… why is her blood on you?” He snarled.
Ritsu coughed, covering her mouth with her hand and taking it away, noticing a splatter of blood on her palm. She looked up at the man she had followed for so many years in disbelief.
“Master…” she gasped weakly, gaining enough strength to stand and shuffling to him. He made no attempt to move, but watched in mild curiosity to see what she would do. She cautiously put her hands on his shoulders and looked at him in the eye. “My Lord… I tired to kill her.” She said, not one bit wary or regretful. If he had not known her, he would not have been able to see her lips twitch into a small smiled. “I tired to kill her because she is possessing you, My Lord. She has taken a hold of your heart… she’s taking you away from me…”
Sesshoumaru let a quick breath out and stepped back. “I was never with you.” He said coldly, turning and leaving her to stand there.