Sesshoumaru watched Kagome, Miroku and Shippo leave the apartment building, looking excited. His eyes narrowed. Shippo had taken Kagome's call in the classroom, knowing that his mentor could easily overhear the conversation. In his own way the kitsune was asking permission to help, and Sesshoumaru had granted it. He knew that Shippo would figure out that it had been Inuyasha who sent the gifts but hadn't given him instructions on what to do. He preferred to let things unfold naturally.
As soon as the three were out of sight Sesshoumaru dropped down on Kagome's balcony and opened her sliding glass door. As always it was unlocked and he huffed softly in annoyance at her lax security. He had taken to visiting her apartment regularly to mark his territory. His inner inu demanded that the space be clearly claimed to discourage any other youkai from entering and he'd complied with minimal resistance. He made sure to completely mask his youki without masking his scent, not an easy task, but a necessary one.
The only time he'd resorted to actually leaving physical evidence of his presence was when he sensed an unfamiliar youkai male nearby. Thankfully it had only happened three times and he'd only left his handkerchief, cuff links and tie behind.
After his customary circuit of the apartment to check the scents present he went into Kagome's bedroom. Her neatly made bed only had one abnormality and it was glaringly obvious.
A man's silvered silk tie was carefully lain on her bedspread. His silver silk tie. Apparently the miko was more thorough in the maintenance of her dresser drawers than he'd originally thought.
With a sigh he pocketed the tie and felt some resistance from his instincts at the action. They wanted him to leave physical proof of his presence behind, to mark the area and items in the room clearly and properly. However, the fact that Kagome was a reiki-user made it impossible for him to mark her apartment in youki, so he was left with the only option of scent-marking the area.
He stalked the edges of every room, except the houshi's, and sat down on Kagome's bed. The sunlight filtering in through the windows enhanced her natural scent of sunlight and soft sweetness and he found himself laying back on her bed and burying his face in her pillow. He knew he was acting like an idiotic pup, but he couldn't resist her scent.
The logical half of his brain decided he was smelling her pillow to further analyze her scent so he could identify what it was that designated her as his mate. Underneath her surface scents he could detect aspects of her personality that manifested in scent. She was overwhelmingly bright and soft but underneath were strong touches of spiciness and strength. Not just strength of power but strength of will. Even further he could detect strange scents mingled with the scents of her shampoo and toothpaste, artificial scents that made him frown and stand.
He found what he was looking for in her bathroom, behind the mirror. Where normal people had a few bottles of aspirin or a generic cold medicine, she had inhalers and a tube of progesterone—a hormone for women. She also had another bottle of medicine he'd never heard of, which was rare, and a prescription pain killer.
She obviously wasn't using them constantly or they would be more prominent in her scent but the fact that she was hurting made his beast roar in anger.
If I claim her then I share my strength and life-force with her. He thought, fingers tightening around the edge of her sink. She will be cured of whatever human ailment afflicts her.
He shook off the thought, he knew that the inhaler was for asthma; his brief study in the field of medicine backed that up, and the progesterone was relatively normal for women in their mid-twenties so he had nothing to be concerned with. Asthma was hardly fatal as long as it was managed and modern medicine made it very manageable.
The only thing that made him pause again was the other medication in the cabinet. He memorized the name and filed it away for later research before leaving the restroom exactly as he found it and adjourning to the kitchen.
He had found in his first trip that his little miko liked to dabble in tea-making. The first time he'd found a glass jar with a mixture of ginger, garlic and anise seed. While he personally could have done without the garlic he understood its presence during flu season on campus. The last time he'd visited the jar had contained green tea, aloe vera and honey, a very healthy drink. This time he located the jar easily and smiled when he saw that it was almost completely full, a fresh batch. He unscrewed the lid and sniffed delicately, separating the scents of lemongrass and lemon zest, basil and fresh ginger.
The urge to try the tea was almost overwhelming but he quelled it and put it back exactly where he'd found it.
He paused at the bouquet of flowers on the table and touched a petal carefully. It was a tasteful arrangement, he'd had Rin pick it out. All his adopted daughter knew was that her father liked a lady but could not meet with her and so had her uncle Inuyasha deliver the flowers for him bi-weekly.
He didn't want to have to explain to her the finer details of the policies at Chishiki University. While he was immensely proud that Kagome was his PhD student and excelling in his class without even being there, he knew Rin wouldn't understand. Even her being his mate didn't change the fact that professors and students were strictly banned from fraternizing, a rule he himself had instilled when he found a professor offering special 'extra credit' lessons after hours. The professor was duly terminated and his reputation ruined but the rule that had followed was now the source of Sesshoumaru's problem.
Well… not the source. He conceded to himself, pulling a photo album off the shelf.
He idly flipped through the pictures until he found one that held his attention. In it Kagome was dressed in the hakama and haori of a competing archer with the sleeves tied back and her bare arms encased in an archer's gauntlets and gloves. She was in an archer's stance with a long bow at some kind of competition and her was held in a messy ponytail. The arrow was drawn and her expression was fiercely focused on her target.
Sesshoumaru debated for a moment before pocketing the photo. While the Kagome he saw now was sunny and cheerful and smiling this fierce warrior was a reflection of the true spirit he sensed in her scent.
Perhaps the little human miko would not be such a bad match after all. He mused and his beast purred in contentment.
