Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters.
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Kagome rubbed her sore rear as she looked up, staring at the roof of the old well house. Her trip through time had ended with a rougher landing than usual, no thanks to that insane kappa. What was his problem, anyways? Why did Jaken jump out at her like that? He shot flames at her, too! She had half a mind to go back and use that ugly staff as a baseball bat against his little, bald head. What a great way that would be to work out her frustrations. Maybe that was why Sesshoumaru let the little pest follow him. With someone like Jaken as his personal chew toy, it was no wonder Sesshoumaru always seemed so calm and collected.
Sesshoumaru . . . just the thought of him caused a wave of conflicting emotions to wash over Kagome. She was still confused as to why someone like him would want her to be his mate, although she was far from being against the idea. If she were honest with herself, she would admit that she had begun to develop a crush on him shortly after he started traveling with her group. She had even fantasized about him, on occasion. However, she would never have dared to hope that he would reciprocate her feelings. Yet it had been less that an hour ago – an hour in her personal time line, at any rate – that she had been in his arms, kissing him passionately.
She could still remember how it felt to have his hard, muscled body pressed against hers. The simple thought of it had her inner hentai conjuring images of what might have happened, had she not been so resistant, due to her fears that she had become delusional. Her breath quickened, and her body started to heat from the thoughts, alone. Kagome touched her fingers to her neck, imagining that they were Sesshoumaru's lips as she remembered the sensations he created simply by kissing and nipping the sensitive area. If that were any indication of his skills, she would have much to look forward to in the future.
She paused when her fingers brushed against the enchanted beads around her neck and mentally corrected herself. She would have much to look forward to, providing she didn't find a way to strangle that high-handed, over-grown poodle. If he weren't half-way to where ever he was going, by now, she would jump back down the well and try to shoot him in the butt again. The beads would be "protection." Sure. Kagome knew that he was trying to treat her like a piece of property, and she was not going to stand for it.
As Kagome thought over Sesshoumaru's behavior, she felt herself getting more and more angry, and she forced herself to stop thinking about it. She needed to calm down so she could get a proper perspective on the situation. That was why she had come home. With five hundred years separating her from the source of her troubles, she would be able to rationally sort through her problems and decide how to handle them.
The single day that she had to spend in her own era was not much time, but it would have to do. First things first, she would get some much-needed rest. Her brain was exhausted from all of the excitement and was doing nothing but running in circles. She could use a bath, too.
With this new resolve in mind, she climbed up the ladder and trudged across the courtyard toward the kitchen door of her family's home.
Souta stood in front of the refrigerator, searching its contents. At the sound of the kitchen door opening and closing, he turned to see who had entered the house.
"Hey, Kagome," Souta greeted, "we were wondering when you would come back. How's Inuyasha?"
"He's fine," Kagome grumbled, moving to set her bag on the kitchen table.
"That's good. Is Inuyasha planning on coming through the well soon?"
"Not if he knows what's good for him," she answered sourly.
"Okay," he replied hesitantly. He stared at her as if trying to gauge the severity of her bad mood. As a little brother, he did enjoy tormenting his big sister, but a sense of self-preservation had taught him when not to push her too far. Then his gaze landed on Kagome's new fashion accessory. "Hey, what's that around your neck? It kinda looks like Inuyasha's necklace."
"It's nothing," Kagome stated a little too defensively as she slipped the necklace under her shirt and started to walk toward the stairs, "I'm going to take a bath. Don't bother me until dinner."
Souta watched as his grouchy sister marched up the stairs to barricade herself in the bathroom. Her mood had something to do with that necklace, that much he could tell. Briefly, he wondered if Inuyasha were also involved, somehow. He probably was. Most of her bad moods revolved around something that Inuyasha had said or done. Shrugging, he turned back to the refrigerator and resumed his search for an after-school snack.
A few hours later, Kagome skipped down the stairs, feeling much refreshed and rejuvenated. It was amazing the effects a long, hot bath in a real bathtub could have. Normally, Kagome had to make do with a hot spring, if she were lucky enough to find one, or a freezing-cold river, all the time wondering if something was going to leap out and attack her. Feeling unseen things brush against her ankles in the water never did anything for her peace of mind, either.
Her bath today had allowed her to calm down so much that she was even able to sneak in a quick nap in her soft, comfortable, rock-free bed. Now she was ready to look at her problems with a calm, rational mind.
She entered the kitchen and greeted the rest of her family, who were already sitting at the table, preparing their plates.
"There you are," her mother greeted with a warm smile, "Souta said that you were back, but wanted to be alone. What brings you back? Another test?"
"No, no test. I just needed a break from the Feudal Era and everyone."
"See? I told you she had another fight with Inuyasha," Souta commented around a mouth full of noodles.
She cast an irritated glance at her brother. "We didn't have a fight."
"Well, was Inuyasha upset about you leaving?"
"You could say that," Kagome replied, "but he'll get over it. He always does."
"I suppose that's true," her mother agreed.
"So, Kagome, are you planning on going to school tomorrow, or should I make up another excuse?" her grandfather asked.
Kagome looked at the old man, noting the hopeful gleam in his eyes. He enjoyed making excuses for her absences, and it was never enough to say that she had a cold, an ear infection, or something else that a normal girl her age would have that would also not be embarrassing. Kagome opened her mouth, about to reprimand the eldest Higurashi for his excuses that have earned her the reputation of being the most diseased human on Earth, but paused, her gaze becoming unfocused as she imagined countless scenarios involving school and the cursed beads.
Images flashed across her mind's eye; images of her bumping into boys in the crowded school halls and seeing them fly away, slamming into walls and other students. That would be a tough one to explain. What would she say? Could she claim that she had developed a rare condition where she accumulated an unusually high amount of static electricity, capable of discharging in shocks a hundred times worse than most electrostatic shocks? Was there such a thing as a condition like that?
"I don't think I should go to school," she replied, in a weak voice.
Forcing herself to snap back to the current conversation, she continued, "Besides, I'll probably spend all day shopping. You know, bandages, camping stuff, and more ramen for Inuyasha. I'll be leaving tomorrow afternoon."
"Why so soon?" her mother asked.
"Oh, you know, Mom. Gotta find those jewel shards," Kagome spoke with a chipper "it's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it" tone.
Perhaps she had seemed a little too enthusiastic because her mother gave her a scrutinizing look. "Is there something else going on that you are not telling us, dear?"
After a moment's hesitation, Kagome sighed. She was going to have to tell her family about it at some point. Now would be just as good a time as any, but she was worried over how they may react to the news. Keeping her eyes downcast, she pulled the necklace out from under her shirt. "Actually, there is. Now, keep in mind that this is not going to happen immediately, but . . . Mom, Grandpa, Souta, I'm going to be mated."
At her announcement, the entire room fell silent for several moments as everyone processed what she said. Finally Souta asked, "Mated? What do you mean?"
"Is that something like marriage?" her mother inquired.
Kagome looked up at her mother and nodded her head.
"'Mate,'" her grandfather spoke before her mother could say anything further, "that would be a term youkai use. You're not mating a youkai, are you?"
Kagome squirmed at the accusatory tone of her grandfather's voice. "Actually . . . I am."
"Cool!" Souta exclaimed in response to the unspoken affirmation, "Is it Inuyasha?"
"No!" Kagome shrieked, horrified at the idea, "It's his older brother, Sesshoumaru."
"Sesshoumaru? You've mentioned him before." Souta mused as he tried to match the story to the name. "Hey! Isn't he that youkai who . . ." Kagome raised her hand in a silent plea for him to be quiet.
"Yes, he is," she replied as she gave him a hard look, signifying that he should not make any further comments about the dangers that she regularly experienced. Souta knew that Kagome's adventures were far more hazardous than she led her mother and grandfather to believe, and Kagome preferred to let older members of the family remain in blissful ignorance on that subject.
"Mating a youkai!" the aged priest lamented, "Oh, how could this happen? My own granddaughter, mating a youkai!" Then he turned to his daughter. "This is your doing. You allow her to go jumping down that cursed well and cavort with youkai. It was only a matter of time before this happened. You should have locked her in her room and let me use my sacred seals to close the well. Then we would not endure the shame of our prestigious line of mikos and priests being marred with youkai blood."
"Oh, stop it, Father. You know your spells never work. I'm sure Kagome's intended is a perfectly nice bo– er male."
Kagome gave her mother a weak smile. She knew she could count on the older woman to be the level-headed one.
However, the old man continued on in his ranting as if he never heard his daughter. "Oh, where did I go wrong?"
"It's not like I wanted this to happen!" Kagome shouted, tired of listening to her grandfather's babbling. Her outburst caused another moment of silence in the small kitchen.
"What do you mean, Kagome?" her mother asked.
She pointed to the beads around her neck. "These beads are a spell that some demon put on me a few days ago. He wanted me as a mate and said the beads would keep other males away from me."
"Really, what do they do?" Souta asked.
Well, she wasn't going to explain all of the details. "It shocks them when they touch me. It shocks me, too, but the effects aren't as bad."
"That is so cool!" Souta exclaimed in that little brother kind of enthusiasm that springs to life at the opportunity to torture his older sister. He stretched an arm toward his sister, extending his index finger to give her the smallest tap on the shoulder. Nothing happened.
"Aww, it doesn't work."
Kagome let out a weary sigh over her brother's disappointment. "You're my brother. It's not going to work on family members." If it had worked, she would be having a fit right about now.
"See what I mean? You let her go into the youkai-infested past. It was only be a matter of time before something like this happened." The old man had no idea of the real truth behind his words. Things like this had happened to her on a number of occasions. She had lost count of the number of times she had been kidnapped or possessed by a demon. Given her track record with males, she should be surprised that this whole forced mating fiasco hadn't happened before now.
Feeling better that his granddaughter's fate was the result of a curse, rather than her own choice, Kagome's grandfather continued, "If this is just a matter of breaking a spell, you have come to the right place. I'm sure I have something about these kinds of curses." He stood from the table and left the kitchen to search his collection of ancient texts. Neither Kagome or her mother bothered to stop him, preferring to be able to continue the conversation without his unhelpful input.
"He's wasting his time, you know," Kagome remarked, "Kaede wasn't able to do anything, and her spells and wards actually work."
Her mother gave her a sympathetic smile before getting the conversation back on track. "So you must mate the demon that cursed you?"
"No, Inuyasha killed him, which is why I am still wearing this stupid thing. That demon was supposed to be the only one who could remove it."
"How does Inuyasha's brother . . . Sesshoumaru, you say is his name . . . fit in to this?"
"He is the only one able to touch me without making the necklace react."
A look of confusion crossed her mother's face. "Why is he able to do that?"
"It's a loophole. Apparently we are destined to be together."
"Can he remove the beads, as well?"
"He can, but he won't. He's forcing me to wear it until he can get one that will not harm me. Then I'll be forced to wear that one 'for my own protection.'" The last words dripped with sarcasm.
"Well, that's thoughtful, I guess," the older woman commented, a little unsure of how she should react.
"Something like that," Kagome replied distractedly as she swatted away her brother's hand. He had been poking her repeatedly during the conversation in hopes that the enchanted beads would activate. She glared at the boy. "You know, even if it did work, you would get a much worse shock that I would."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Souta sighed in defeat. Then a new idea brought a devious smile to his face. "I wonder if it would work on Buyo."
"Buyo's a cat, not a human," Kagome snapped back without thinking her reply through.
"Youkai aren't human, and it works on them, right?"
Kagome opened her mouth to reply, but was at a loss for words. Taking that as an affirmative, Souta shot up from the table to search out the pudgy feline. Kagome groaned and buried her face in her hands. No way was she going to let Souta perform this sick experiment. If it did work, not only could it fall into the category of animal cruelty, but it would also land squarely in the realm of utter wrongness.
"Kagome?" The miko looked up at the sound of her mother's voice. "Do you love him?"
She sighed, "Yes, maybe, I don't know. According to the curse, I must love him. If not now, then eventually."
Her mother took a deep breath and looked down at her clasped hands resting on the table, "You know, just because he can lift the curse, it does not mean that you must mate him. You do not need to do anything that you are unsure about."
"Oh, I know that, Mama," Kagome replied without hesitation, "And we're not going to be mated right away. Not with everything as it is at the moment."
"But . . . " the older woman prompted.
"It's just that so much has happened so suddenly. I mean, Sesshoumaru hadn't shown any interest in me before, but he's not the most open person in the world, so I guess that can be expected. Now he's being possessive and over-protective to the point that I want to rip out his pretty silver hair, but I can't because he's a super-fast, super-strong youkai, and I wouldn't be fast enough to get a hold of it. I don't know what this is going to mean for my time-traveling or school. And I don't even know what it means to be mated to a youkai, much less a daiyoukai." Kagome paused in her crazed rant to take a breath. As her words played over in her mind, her last statement made her eyes widen.
"Oh my . . . I'm going to be Lady of the Western Lands! I don't know how to be nobility!" Letting out an anguished whimper, she dropped her head onto the table, narrowly missing putting her face in her dinner plate. So much for clearing her head and getting a firm grasp on the situation. Now Kagome was as confused and angry as ever, and she had a headache.
Mrs. Higurashi stared at her daughter's head and smiled at her antics. She could tell that her daughter was more confused than unhappy. If she understood the information she had gleaned from Kagome's rantings, the youkai did seem to care for her a great deal, in his own way. Given that he was Inuyasha's brother, she had no doubt that he was powerful, as well, and would be more than capable of taking care of Kagome. All of this reassured Mrs. Higurashi, which was why she did not oppose the idea of her only daughter traveling into the past to mate a youkai. However, she did hope that she would get to meet this mysterious Sesshoumaru, one day.
Until then, it was clear that her daughter needed some advice on married life and the compromises and communication involved in making relationships last.
"Kagome, it is to be expected that you and Sesshoumaru will have some difficulties in the beginning." Ignoring the snort that came from her daughter's side of the table after this statement, Mrs. Higurashi continued, "Coming from such different backgrounds, you two are going to have different views of how a husband and wife should behave and treat each other. These issues will not be resolved unless you two sit down and discuss them, calmly and rationally."
Kagome was silent for a moment as she processed her mother's words and thought of how best to describe exactly what kind of being she was dealing with. She lifted her head from the table to look at the older woman. "You're right, Mama, but it is not as easy as it sounds. Sesshoumaru is a leader, a ruler. He is not accustomed to listening to others' opinions. Usually that is because others' opinions do not matter to him."
Mrs. Higurashi stood from the table and began to clear away the family's half-eaten meal. "As his mate, your opinion should matter to him."
"He's a Feudal Era lord, Mama. In his mind set, most women are little more than property . . . brood mares . . . arm candy." She spoke the last words distastefully as she propped her elbows on the table and rest her chin in her hands.
Her mother allowed her lips to lift in a small smile at her daughter's use of words. "Well, that is certainly one thing that you two should discuss because you a far from being anything like most women. However, if he is unwilling to listen to you, perhaps you should find a way to make him listen."
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Author's Note: I had planned to end this chapter in the Feudal Era with the appearance of Kouga, but the whole Modern Era scene decided to take on a mind of its own and become seven pages long. I'm not extremely happy about how it turned out, but I if I keep nit-picking at it, I'll never move on. Maybe one of these days I'll go back and find out what it is that seemed off.
I would like to clarify a couple of issues that came up after my last posting. This story started out as a one-shot, a fact that I did not make clear when I first posted it, aside from marking it as "complete." That was a miscommunication on my part. So many people were asking me to continue that I figured no one bothered looking at its progress status, which is why I never bothered to change it. I know I hardly pay any attention to those tags, myself.
The fact that this was a one-shot is also why Sesshoumaru seems to come on so strong, so fast by the end of the first chapter. Yes, it goes against my style and preferences to write such a fast relationship, but I am trying to run with what I have started. Not everything is perfectly planned, and I have no idea how far this story will go. For that same reason, updates will be unpredictable.
That being said, I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter. Sess and Kag will be reunited within the next couple of chapters, unless my muse decides to go off on some other tangent.
