To Partake by Sailor Panda

Chapter 1: It's Magic!

He came.

He saw.

He -

- pondered...

Having seen the passing of many seasons that had lasted beyond several lifetimes of a mortal's time in this world, he had been witness to many mysterious objects and events. With these encounters, his knowledge had increased and odd occurances to which he had become accustomed no longer held the same luster of mystery they might once have had. There was little he did not know or could not find an answer to.

But this -

This was something he could not explain.

Thinking to try once more for the Tetsusaiga, he had ventured in search of the hanyou he wished he bore no relation to. Finding him and his mismatched travelling companions had been a simple enough task for a being of his superiority, so he had watched silently from him vantage point to observe their actions and determine how well their many would fair to his one. Their foolish actions and arguments would have set his mind at ease with regards to his victory.

That is, if he had had any doubt of it in the first place.

Which, of course, he didn't.

Then, just when he was about to make his presence known in a manner that would most likely have been violent and bloody, something strange had suddenly happened among the bickering group. It was something he didn't understand, didn't have knowledge of.

And a Sesshoumaru who did not have knowledge of something was not Sesshoumaru.

And it was clearly she who held the answers.

As he continued to observe, his goals changed as this new puzzle sought to be unraveled. For a puzzle it was as the miko with the odd clothes had immediately quieted the overly loud arguing amongst the group with one word, a word that sounded much like...

'Ra-men.'

What was this 'ra-men'? Some new magic?

He deduced it must be some sort of enchantment or mystical ritual. Why else would the hanyou, monk, taijiya, and kitsune suddenly become so solemn as they abandoned their childish bickering to quickly gather around the miko as she knelt to pour water heated over the campfire into several strange containers he had never seen the likes of before.

Then, as the miko seemed to cover the containers with some unusual material attatched to the rims, he carefully watched and observed the others' reactions. They, especially the hanyou who was practically leaning over the containers with ears pricked intently forward, seemed to vibrate with an nearly palatable eager tension as they waited, obviously on edge but apparently unwilling to go against the miko's directive to wait.

It was clear that she was the one in charge of this ritual, she who remained calm in the face of it all even as the others shifted restlessly around her. She even quickly slapped away that hanyou's hand when he made a grab for the container.

"It's not ready yet!" she admonished sternly.

Yes, she was definitely the spellcaster, one who knew well the details of the preparation of whatever it was she was concocting. Truly, it must be a powerful magic she was brewing to inspire such eagerness in her companions who were obviously desiring to partake of it.

And thus, he too determined to partake of it as well.

Why should he not?

He was, after all, the Great Lord of the Western Lands. And they were on his lands so, by rights, what was theirs was his.

This 'ra-men' was his as well.

He strode boldly forth. Part of him was aggravated that they, not even the hanyou whose senses were supposed to be superior than his human counterparts, were so intent upon the miko's strange containers that they did not seem to notice him until he was practically towering over them. The other part of him was gratified that he had decided to investigate this curiosity for their inattentiveness only proved that he was right about the power of this magical 'ra-men'-

- a power he would make his own!

It was the miko who noticed him first.

Her gasp alerted the others who, after tearing their fixated attention away from the containers, glanced at him and then-

- immediately scrambled away.

Well, at least, most of them did.

The miko remained kneeling, wide-eyed gaze fastened on him, while the hanyou immediately took up an aggressive defensive position in front of her -

And the 'ra-men.'

Two things happened at once.

The hanyou drew the Tetsusaiga with an angry, "What the hell do you want?!" while the miko...

Politely asked, "Umm...can we help you?"

A frozen moment of shock descended before-

"WHAAAAAT?!"

The deafening exclamation that exploded from the various members of the group as they whirled towards the miko was almost enough to make him wince.

Almost.

Before the others could recover from their shock at the miko's words, he made his intentions known in a imperiously cool voice which said more than words that he would brook no refusal.

"Ra-men. You will hand over its secrets."

Another frozen moment and then -

"Secrets?" they chimed with stupefied expressions.

How irritating. They were attempting to play the idiots in order to keep the power of this 'ra-men' from him.

He would not tolerate it!

"Do not attempt to hide it from this Sesshoumaru. I will be given its magic. Or I will take it!"

"Magic?" they all chorused once again.

It was all becoming vastly annoying.

And he was never one for patience.

Just when he was about to commit some act of violence to achieve his goal, the miko spoke while the others maintained their silent idiocy.

"You...you think the ramen is...magic?"

The miko's voice quivered strangely as he observed an odd twitching to her lips. No doubt, he concluded, she was trembling in fear of his impressive figure.

"You will," he commanded authoritively, "give me the magic of this 'ra-men.'"

The miko was not the only one who appeared befuddled at his pronouncement. Indeed, he noted that her other companions appeared similarly afflicted. No doubt, they too were affected by by his great presence and were quaking in terror. Even the hanyou, who looked utterly blank, appeared to unconciously lower the drawn sword in concession to his greatness, dropping his guard and his defense.

What a fool.

"Um..." Once again it was the miko who spoke. She delicately cleared her throat before saying, "Not to disappoint you or anything but...the ramen isn't...magic." She gave a weak smile. "It's food."

"Do not take this Sesshoumaru for a buffoon!"

"I'm not but-"

"Do you think this Sesshoumaru has not seen the powerful effects of this 'ra-men'?" He gave the miko a contemptuous glare. "No mere food can have such power."

"It is if it's good food!" the kitsune, hiding behind the monk, was brave enough to inject.

"And if one happens to feel starved," the monk, a safe distance away, included wisely.

The taijiya simply nodded her assent.

"Tales!" he scoffed. "Do not attempt to feed this one such falsities."

"They're not!" the miko exclaimed, glaring at him in obvious irritation that he found highly annoying. "It's the truth! We've been traveling for days and this is the first in a long while that we've been able to have time for a good rest and making a decent meal." She pointed a rude finger at him. "And since I'm the one who brought the ramen, I know better than anyone else that it is food!"

"If you are the one who possesses full knowledge of its power, then you would be the one most likely to protest it."

"Argh!" The miko threw her hands up with an odd rolling motion of her eyes. "You just won't believe anything we say! Fine, then." She gave him a determined look. "You'll just have to try it yourself and see that we're not lying!"

The decision was simple. "Agreed."

"WHAAAAT?!"

The screeching, almost feminine, shriek had everyone regarding the hanyou with varying degrees of upset as he turned to the miko with an expression of pained outrage. Practically quivering with roiling emotion, he voiced his opinion on the matter to the best of his abilities. In short -

He whined.

"Kagome, you can't mean to give him my ramen!"

"It's not your ramen, Inuyasha." Exasperation was in her tone as she eyed him with clear annoyance. "It's ours."

"Feh! Whatever. But that doesn't mean that he can have any!"

"Inuyasha," the miko said warningly. "Do you want me to say it?"

Intrigued at the way the hanyou flicked a glance nervously between him and the miko, a human who clearly held the upper hand against one gifted with superior youkai blood, he was surprised when the argument subsided.

Somewhat.

Instead, the determined hanyou changed tactics. "He probably won't like it anyway. He hates anything to do with humans, including human food. So what's the use in giving him some when he's just going to waste it by throwing it away?"

His eyes narrowed at the way the hanyou spoke as if knowing all about him. It was an affront to his person that he would have proceeded to deal with accordingly if the miko hadn't interrupted -

By leaping to his defense.

"Nothing's even happened yet!" Tone indicated her irritation with the hanyou. "How can you know he'd do something like that if he hasn't even tried it? And it's obvious that's why he's here so why not let him have some?"

"Feh!" the hanyou snorted, not ready to part with one speck of the item in question. "What gives you the right to give it away anyway, huh? Who made you in charge of the ramen?"

"I'm the one who brought it!" The miko was incensed. "If it wasn't for me, you'd never have had any in the first place!" A particularly frightening expression, one that made the others visibly nervous, took hold of her features as she glared at the hanyou. "Understand?"

The hanyou's ears drooped as he slowly backed away before, realizing what he was doing, he stopped. Though most of his previous aggression was lacking in his voice, his displeasure was certainly felt.

"Well, he can't have my share!"

"Of course." The miko was irked. "I'm sure none of us expected such an unselfish gesture on your part."

"Hey!"

"And as long as none of the others object..."

They shook their heads vigorously.

"...then it shouldn't be a problem. And it isn't," she pinned the hanyou with another hard look, "is there?"

The hanyou backed away a little more, stopped, crossed his arms, turned away and -

- proceeded to sulk.

"Feh! Whatever!"

"Here," she ignored the hanyou. "You can have my portion. I can just make more later on."

He watched intently as, from her kneeling position, she offered him one of the odd cups along with a pair of chopsticks. Graciously, he deigned to accept. No thanks were said.

It was his right after all.

"Go ahead," the miko instructed with a friendly smile, "it's ready."

"WHAAAAT?!"

The loud shriek once again elicited annoyed stares aimed at the angry hanyou. But the hanyou had eyes for no one but the miko -

And the 'ra-men.'

"Why didn't you say that sooner!" the hanyou ranted. "You -"

"Inuyasha..." the miko warned.

He flinched.

"Here." She held up another container. "Now which do you want? To fight? Or," she waved the item temptingly, "this?"

With hidden amusement, he watched as the hanyou's eyes flicked rapidly between the the miko, the 'ra-men,' and him.

The 'ra-men' won.

With a disgruntled "Feh!" the hanyou was no more than a quick red blur as he snatched the container from the miko's hand and -

Disappeared into a nearby tree.

The miko shook her head before refocusing her attention on where it should have been all along.

On him.

As he stared at her with an intensity she couldn't possibly ignore, she gave him a quizzical smile as she questioned, "Aren't you going to try it?"

He continued to stare.

She fidgeted. "What?"

Stare.

"Umm..."

Stare.

Flinch.

Stare.

"Ah." She bit her lip, then offered hesitantly, "Just lift up the top and eat what's inside?"

He did.

Expecting a powerful spell or some sacred object, at the very least, he opened the flap and found -

Noodles.

Just as the miko and hanyou had said, it was human food, it was noodles and soup, it was -

- giving off a delicious aroma.

Entranced, wielding the utensils she'd given him, he slowly lifted...

Curiously sniffed...

Delicately tasted...

...then proceeded to DEVOUR!

When he was done, he ignored the shocked faces around him and the color of glinting gold peering from a tree above. No, there was only one thing that interested him now.

His gaze fell on the remaining containers.

"Uh-oh," a childish voice whispered from behind monk's robes and summed up the situation quite neatly. "I think we're going to have to give up our shares too..."