December 3rd: 'Nonplussed' [Inuyasha]

[but_can_i_be_trusted]

Title: 'Nonplussed'
Fandom: Inuyasha
Characters: Sesshōmaru, Inuyasha, Kagome
Rating: G
Notes: Crossposted to emotion100. Sequel to 'The Snow Globe'. And cheers to alisanne for the inspiration!💙

It was rare for Sesshōmaru to find himself well and truly nonplussed, always keeping himself calm and collected, except under the most trying of circumstances.

Circumstances, however, seemed determined to try his patience tonight. The wind must have been blowing from the wrong direction, not to carry Inuyasha's mongrel stench to him. Otherwise, Sesshōmaru would have been alerted to the fact that their paths were about to cross once again.

Now, they stood glaring at each other across a wide field.

"Stand aside," Sesshōmaru sneered. "I'm not interested in teaching you another lesson."

Inuyasha smirked, as cocky as ever. "Is that so? The way I'm lookin' at it, you're just scared that I'll kick your butt again."

Kagome grasped at his arm warningly. "Inuyasha, why can't you just be quiet, for once," she scolded. "You two don't always have to fight the minute you see each other! Can't you see that Sesshōmaru doesn't want to pick a fight tonight?"

"You should listen to the girl," Sesshōmaru remarked, passing them both. "Unlike you, she seems capable of taking a hint. You might want to try letting her do your thinking for you."

As a frustrated growl sounded from behind Sesshōmaru, it was becoming apparent that both his and Kagome's warnings were falling on deaf ears. Typical.

"Sesshōmaru! I'll teach you to ignore me," he heard Inuyasha shout after him.

Something hard struck a glancing blow to Sesshōmaru's shoulder a moment later. It struck the ground not far off, bouncing a bit, before rolling to a stop in a clump of grass. Sesshōmaru stooped to retrieve the improvised weapon, and found himself at something of a loss.

He'd expected the item to be a stone. But what Inuyasha had lobbed at him was peculiar, unlike anything Sesshōmaru had ever come across. It was an orb, filled with a clear liquid. Inside was a miniature hill covered in something resembling snow, with little trees. As Sesshōmaru turned it over in his hand, tiny flecks of white were disturbed, swirling in small flurries.

The sound of a distant squabble came to his ears as he walked away, still examining the item. Vaguely interested, he let himself listen.

"Inuyasha, you jerk," he heard Kagome yell. "I brought that snow globe back because I thought Shippō might want to play with it! Now you've gone and lost it!"

"So what if I did," came Inuyasha's uninspired retort. "You can always go and get another one for him."

"That's not the point! I can't believe you, sometimes!"

The rest of the shouting hardly seemed worthy of interest. Letting it all fade away, Sesshōmaru strolled on, continuing to regard the object. A snow globe, as Kagome had referred to it. It was interesting, in a small way.

"Sesshōmaru! Wait up!"

Sesshōmaru stopped short, turning to Kagome as she approached him. He held the strange orb out.

"You want this back for your friend, I assume," he stated.

She waved it away. "No; that's alright. You can keep it. Inuyasha's right; I can get another one for Shippō. I just wanted to show you something before you go."

Gently, she took the snow globe from him, and turned it so that it was inverted. There, she pointed out a small metal tab.

"It plays music when you turn this key," she explained, demonstrating. A faint and unfamiliar, though not unpleasant, tune came out in response to the action.

Well. Against his will, Sesshōmaru was becoming more and more surprised by the second.

Handing it back to him, Kagome smiled. "Why don't you give it to Rin? She might like it."