Here is chapter 4 guys, I am very impressed with my updates so far if I do say so myself, but as exams approach they will not be so fast, as I have said, about once a week, Saturdays, maybe more if I really feel like it. This is going to be a rather long fic guys – by my standards anyway, that is about 100,000 words, I don't know what long means to everyone. Do not fear though, it will be done by Christmas though folks as a present to you all. Do read and enjoy, and please review once you get to the end, it doesn't take long. It makes me so excited to see so many reviews in my inbox and keeps me writing. Kisses and hugs to you all.
Chapter 4 – Take her home
She looked shocked; it was her turn to be speechless. Kagome knew that she had just been bitten, but she did not yet know why. "I have placed my mark on you," he offered in explanation for the bite. He was going to say the truth and what he felt by elaborating with, "so that means you're mine now," but he decided against it. He would phrase it a little more discreetly; she would come to learn she belonged to him in time.
"That means you will be welcomed in the Western Lands as an honoured guest of mine. This also means that no one will attack you, some youkai are not known for their great tolerance of humans, especially mikos. By bearing my mark, nobody will touch you and be made aware that you are under my protection."
She remained silent, still in shock.
"Now you have a choice Higurashi, you can make this easy on yourself and come with me willingly, or you can choose the hard way and I will drag you every inch of the way. I will carry you there kicking and screaming if I must."
Kagome came out of her trance and all she managed to say was "where?"
"My palace of course."
Her eyes narrowed, "I was unaware that I had accepted your invitation. Just because you bit my neck and made me welcome in your court does not mean I will come with you. If we have to battle it out then let us do so."
"No, that is not a good idea."
She growled a very impressive Inu like growl that meant nothing but disobedience.
"Fine," he said with a wicked grin. In the blink of an eye she was watching the ground get further and further away from her from over the shoulder of the great dog general. She paled, she absolutely hated great heights.
"HEY!" She screamed in shock, loud enough for the whole of the Western Lands to hear her. Her torso and head flopped down his back and her rear end was near his face, her legs trapped against his chest. She felt rather vulnerable like this and had no idea what to do, all she knew was that she wanted down.
In a desperate attempt to free herself from his grip of steel, Kagome starting kicking and screaming, fighting with all she had. She lashed out wildly with her feet and hands, hoping to strike something tender, like his pretty face.
"I recall that I just told you that I would carry you there kicking and screaming if I had to."
"You don't have to!"
"Really?"
"You didn't give me a choice; I had no time to give you an answer. You made the decision for me and just took the liberty of picking me up! I promise I will not fight you anymore okay, so just put me down – please?"
She was beginning to feel a little bit queasy from dangling over his shoulder like this. She wasn't on the side of the spikes, but her position was still incredibly uncomfortable. She was usually quite good with handling her fear, usually because she never had to face it. When travelling with Inuyasha she never had to be high up, and getting a piggy back ride was not too high, but this was something different entirely.
They were above the clouds for crying out loud – they did not have to be this high up! If she were standing on her feet or was enclosed then things would have been better. She knew that the Inutaisho was not going to let her fall, so her life was not in danger, she knew this, but she still felt vulnerable.
"Inutaisho, please!"
He sighed silently in defeat, it was true. All he'd really wanted was an excuse to pick her up; reasons were all unknown to him, he just wanted to feel her in his arms. There was no way he could reason his way out of this one, better carry on as if nothing out of ordinary happened. They were flying on a disk of his youkai, the fastest way to travel. It was clear however that she knew she could just stand next to him.
"You must hold onto me," he orders fixing one arm around her waist, "I do not wish for you to fall, it is a long way down."
Thanks for the reminder.
She complied by grabbing a fistful of his mokomoko, which was, she noted, delightfully soft and comforting to the touch.
"We are not far from the palace from here; we should arrive in just under an hour at top speed. Why don't you tell me your story to pass the time?"
"Well why not, you know everything else. My name is Kagome Higurashi, I am seventeen years old. My story starts on my fifteenth birthday with a cat named Buyo."
Kagome saw no reason to lie or withhold any information from him, he could smell deceit anyway, she knew that. He knew far too much anyway, all she was doing was filling in blank spaces as much as possible, telling the story from her perspective.
Besides once he knew all he wanted to know, he would let her go and she could go back to the feudal era like she'd intended to all along, so she may as well start now. The sooner you start things, the sooner they finish, within 2 weeks, one month tops she would be back with Inuyasha and the others.
Kagome told him about her first ever run in with a demon which was mistress centipede and then meeting Keade and the rest of the village shortly after. She told him about the bite scar in her side and the Shikon no tama. She told him about Inuyasha, how at first he had mistaken her for his lost love and tried to kill her and the subjugation beads which stopped him. She told him about the shattering of the jewel and her duty to get the shards.
She mentioned the nothing lady and their first encounter with Sesshoumaru. This bit was hard to say, and although he did not interrupt her, his face tensed as he heard about his son's ruthlessness and his manipulation of the image of his younger son's mother to destroy him. That wasn't nearly as hard as the explanation that came next though.
She told him about pulling Tetsusaiga out of his skull and giving it to Inuyasha. She explained his vow to protect her and the sword's transformation, and how their friendship had been growing ever since. Yet next came the long explanation of his second mate, Izayoi, and how he came to die protecting them.
If you have ever talked about someone's impending death in front of them then you would know how she was feeling. It was incredibly hard to say, she had seen his corpse after all, and she stuttered a lot, pausing and stumbling over the words, her voice getting quiet, almost lost to the wind whistling around them.
In the end, Touga surprised her by showing her an act of compassion, wrapping his mokomoko around her shoulders in a comforting gesture. "It's alright Kagome, do not be disheartened, after all, we all have to go sometime." He did not have to say more, that small simple statement of truth placated her enough to go on.
Kagome mentioned Sesshoumaru's loss of his arm and the brother's feuding long with his attempts on her life. This explained her behaviour towards him when they first met when Kagome sealed her fate by mistaking him for his son.
She got briefer as she talked, only telling him key facts and people, but not missing anything out. Her emotions went on a roller coaster ride and she told him her story though. A smile crossed her face when she talked about her feudal family, her grandmother Keade, her son Shippou, he brother and sister Sango and Miroku and of course her best friend, protector and crush – Inuyasha. She even told him a bit about their personalities, even managing a small laugh when talking about Miroku's 'possessed' hand.
She briefly mentioned Kouga, whom she in turn learnt was alive in this time, and then her happiness turned to hate and anger when talking about Naraku and his offspring. They were mortal enemies after all, and he was pure evil. Her face darkened visibly when talking about all the people he had killed, what he did to Kohaku and how she had vowed to help defeat him by collecting the jewel shards and battling him.
Her mood darkened and saddened further when talking about Kikyou and her link to Inuyasha. This led to embarrassment as she revealed her feelings for the hanyou too. She quickly moved on from the touchy subject.
Finally she moved on to what she knew about Sesshoumaru, Rin, Jaken and Ah Un. He asked her an awful lot of questions about Sesshoumaru, his pack, him as Lord of the West, but she could not answer most. She did not know him well and as she did not live in his Lands, she did not know what sort of Lord of the West he made.
All she would say was that he was their enemy because he tried to kill them, mainly Inuyasha. She also mentioned that he was a cold and emotionless bastard. She didn't care much for the fact that she was talking to his father, and it would seem that his dad did not like the sound of what his son was going to grow up to be like. Kagome was not sorry for him at all and did not glamorize Sesshoumaru one bit, he wasn't worth it. The great dog general must be at least partly responsible for his own son's icy exterior after all.
Her voice was hoarse and she was tired out by the time they got to the castle. She found that she was hungry and thirsty too, though she supplies in her sack to rectify that. Now, if only she could find a chair, she would gladly kill for a sit down.
The Inu no Taisho did not remove his arm from around her waist when they arrived. There was really no need for it, the youkai cloud was not keeping them up in the air anymore and their feet were all planted firmly on the ground.
Kagome had let go of his top as soon as they landed, and being in such close proximity with the demon she was slowly beginning to hate, when it was not necessary, was making her feel quite awkward. She said nothing about their positions though; there was really nothing for her to say, so she remained silent.
She felt as though she were being marched rather than led or guided. She was rather pinned to his side, and going somewhere she really did not want to be. She was being forced to match his pace and stride so they were walking in synch even though he was much bigger and faster than her, each step was like a leap of faith.
She noticed that nobody shot them any strange looks, this was good, but it changed nothing. Nobody dared to question or whisper about the Inutaisho, nobody wanted to be faced with answering to him. It didn't stop them wondering though, and it didn't stop her from knowing what they were thinking. She could tell by the change in their auras, by the very fact that she was here and a human in a full demon court.
"The Inutaisho has returned with a human..."
"Who is she?"
"A concubine?"
"No. See, he has marked her."
"What does this mean?"
"A human, why a human?"
"Where are we going?" She asked him quietly, they were striding though the palace, and he had not talked to her since arriving.
"The main hall," he offered unhelpfully, "to get you something to eat, you look like you have been living through a famine."
Living through a famine? That was unfair; she just had a small form, and it so happened that she did not eat much in the feudal era, they did not have the time. She was human and female so not all muscle like him and his demon friends.
"Then I'll show you to your room and you can rest."
He strode her through the doors and she was met with about 20 powerful miko auras. A headache starting to pound and she felt rather weak, for once grateful for the arm around her waist. She had better get used to it; this was going to be her home for at least a few days. She sighed silently, shoulders drooping – 'Lucky me.'
