Nine: Only with Thine Eyes
Miroku found it almost therapeutic spending time with his young commander, Kohaku. Healing.
"So it's not really that dragons breathe fire, per se, it's more that they are capable of breathing a special kind of gas that ignites at very low temperatures very quickly, faster than human or demon eye can track, using the light of the sun, moon, or stars as an ignition. The oxygen all around us makes it more dramatic."
The boy nodded, his attention rapt, brown eyes, so like his sister's, large in his lightly freckled face.
"How do they know when to do it and when not to do it? The war dragons are trained but so are the ones for transport and farm work. How come they aren't lighting things on fire all the time?"
"Dragons are very smart creatures," he explained with a smile. Was this how his instructors felt when he had been a young pupil at the academy? "Most of them only need a week or so of training and reinforcement. When in the wild, their ability is used very rarely and only in cases of grave danger, say like when a mother dragon is defending her young from a hostile male that has taken over the herd. But during training, they are purposely spooked time and time again. The trainers punish them and reward them until they know to only breathe gas at the spoken command of their owner. The best and most expensive dragons don't even need a word. They are so linked to their owners that a mere change in smell lets them know when to use their power."
Kohaku's face fell. "Punishments? What kind?"
What an odd question. The not-quite-eunuch had expected him to ask questions about historically famous dragons and their owners, or at least about the crown prince and his famed collection of dragons, each one worth more than a small kingdom. The older prince collected expensive dragons the way the younger prince collected beautiful women. Ah, but how enviable.
"Just standard punishments. Whipping, withholding of food, beating…" He stopped listing off training methods at the look on the boy's face. Was he about to cry? "But after that very brief period," he added quickly, "they live exceptionally good lives. Better even than most common folk, if they are bought by a wealthy owner. Since they can be very expensive, people treat their dragons well so they will last longer. The happier the dragon, the longer the life. Some even live for a thousand years!"
He smiled. "I want a dragon someday. I wouldn't ride him everywhere or make him work. We would just be friends."
"Kohaku!" roared a deep voice from somewhere nearby.
They both flinched.
In an automatic reaction he had honed over the past week and a half, Miroku got to the ground and started doing push-ups. He was sweating already, which would look good, but that was due to the rather humid day they were having. The slayer tribe seemed to be doing just fine even in their leather suits and his fellow eunuchs seemed unperturbed as well, but he was suffering. Miroku was new to physical suffering. He hated it. This was not the kind of life a nobleman's only son and heir should have, impoverished or not.
"Keep going, maggot!" Kohaku yelled down at him, his dirty boot pressing his face firmly into the dirt. As humiliating as it was to be abused like this by a twelve-year-old boy, Miroku didn't blame the kid. After all, he understood. The two of them had a lot in common.
"Boy!"
"Yes, Father?"
Greatly struggling with his third push-up, Miroku tried to glance at the intimidating chief without being noticed. To his great displeasure, he only succeeded in meeting the man's eyes. It sent a shiver down his spine.
"Why are you not as invested with the training of the other trash units?" he asked, tone deceptively light, almost like he was genuinely curious and just wanted to know. "What makes this one so special that you are leaving the main training grounds and heading off to the forests so often?"
Kohaku's face heated. The boy was not naturally deceitful and lying seemed to hurt him almost physically, especially when it was to someone he loved.
"He is worse than the others, Father. The ones from my group that have survived so far are nearly ready to be placed, I swear it, but this one is lazy. I think he doesn't want an assignment and wishes to be comfortable here in our village and so I'm being extra hard on him."
The chief looked at him struggling to move on the ground, basically flopping about like a fish. Then he looked back at his son.
"Are you quite sure you've passed the Worth Point with your group?" That was what they called the period that separated the successes from the failures. The useful from the useless. The living from the dead. "He looks quite strained."
Kohaku nodded. "Yes, Father. He performed exceptionally well at the beginning. This worm is fast and strong when he chooses. But he seems to feel as though he's ahead of the others and looks down on them."
The chief sighed. "Very well, then." He clapped the boy on the shoulder and he brightened. "Go see to the rest of your group. I'll take this one back to the eunuch shed and see to it that he not get any dinner tonight for his ways."
The boy glanced at Miroku worriedly. "You need not trouble yourself, Father. It's my first group and I need the experience if I am going to be able to hold my head up and keep calling myself your son."
For just a brief second, the man grinned, but then his face was stony again like it had never happened.
"Very well." Without any kind of forewarning, he kicked Miroku hard in the stomach. So fast he still had not been able to take a breath or process the first blooms of pain, the chief knelt down and grabbed him by the hair, yanking it hard. "Listen here, scum," he hissed so low that even Miroku could barely hear him so he knew there was no chance the boy could. Perhaps that was for the best. "I know your type. You leave my son out of your sick perversions. You can get no satisfaction from your taste for boys anymore, or is that why you're doing this? Your life is no longer worth living, is that it?"
"No!" he wheezed. "No, sir, that's not it―"
"You shut up!" He twisted his grip on Miroku's already bruised scalp and made him cry out. "Keep your hands to yourself and off my son or I will cut them off."
"Fine!" he gasped, just to get him to stop.
He let go. Turning to Kohaku, he said, "Your sister will be by for the new recruits before the moon renews. Get to work on your recommendations now."
He nodded, not relaxing his stiff posture until his father was well out of sight.
"I'm sorry, Miroku!" Kohaku said, worriedly offering a hand to his fallen charge. "I didn't know what to do! I couldn't stop it."
"It's okay, Kohaku. It's not your fault." He winced. Gods, but his ribs were tender. Suppose they were bruised? "Thank you for lying to your father for me. I know it took a lot and it was difficult."
The boy rewarded him with another smile, his one dimple making an appearance.
The truth was that had Kohaku not been such an eager pupil, deprived of the expensive learning that could only be found at the highest of academies, the ones Miroku had spent his entire life in, the man would have been long dead. In fact, he probably would have been the first one among the eunuchs to die. It was a mistake to think he could easily best the eunuchs simply because they were no longer possessed of the height of their masculinity. These were not the eunuchs used for pleasure in the courts of foreign kings. No, these were hardened criminals who had committed the worst of crimes and made the mistake of getting caught. They had all lived rough lives and they knew how to hustle.
Miroku just knew how to talk.
So he talked. His first impression was not a mistake and the boy commander was a soft soul in truth, not meant for this world of battle and bloodshed but born into it nonetheless. In another life, he would have made a fabulous healer or artisan, yet his father was who he was and so any other life than the one he was currently enduring was not possible.
Struggling to his feet, he winced. Miroku could not straighten entirely due to the pain. Since he was a fast healer, he would be more or less all right in a week or two, but those weeks would be brutal indeed.
"Stop!" Kohaku yelled.
At the frantic command, Miroku obeyed, always mindful of the fact that this child was his superior and his life was in his hands.
"What is it?" he whispered. Had his father heard? Had the other taijiya? The eunuchs? Had this all been a test?
Crouching down, Kohaku gently cupped a handful of twigs and leaves right where Miroku had been about to place his foot. The look on the boy's face was unspeakably gentle for a moment.
"A sparrow," he murmured. "No sign of its mother. The little thing barely got its feathers."
He stared at the creature all huddled and still. "Are you sure it's alive?"
"Of course he is! See? His eyes are opening and closing." As if to prove Kohaku spoke the truth, the thing let out a pathetic little chirp that was only just audible.
"We should put him somewhere. The mother is most likely leaving it to fend for itself temporarily and learn some necessary survival skills. Leave the thing on a branch and let's get going."
Kohaku shook his head. "Look here, Miroku. His wing looks funny. I think it's broken."
He frowned. "Perhaps an accident from learning to fly. If that is the case, the kindest thing we could do would be to put it out of its misery." Bitterly he remembered what old man Mushin had told him to do with the pet parrot that had once belonged to his unknown mother.
Stubborn, the boy shook his head again. "No! Don't you know all sorts of things about animals and nature, Miroku?" The boy turned his eyes on him and he couldn't help but to nod, even if tentatively. "Then we'll save him. We'll make him better and then he can go out on his own back to the forest with his family."
"We should not make such a delicate, wild creature dependent on us, Kohaku. It's wrong."
"It's wrong to just leave him here to die!" he said, voice raised enough that the bird let out a tiny distressed peep in response.
He sighed. "Okay, then. Keep him in your room. Put a hot water bottle in a box and cover it with a cloth. Put the bird there and give him water. You would know the kind of seeds and berries the birds of this region feed off of better than I, so make sure he gets it."
The boy grinned. "Thanks, Miroku. And you'll examine the wing, right?"
"I'll check on him weekly."
"You're the best eunuch I've ever had. I'll make sure to sneak you some dinner tonight."
Miroku's smile was weak as he stared at the boy's retreating figure. Perhaps he should take his own advice.
O\o/O
Inuyasha paced the innermost room of his chambers, the bedroom where he had never brought a woman for intimate purposes. Only his mother and Sango had been here and then it was only for official purposes. But now there was a woman tucked into his bed who not only was of too low a station to even be able to look him in the eye but also hated him.
Perhaps rightly so, he was beginning to realize.
The half-demon scowled and gave the slight lump in his bed a glare. It wasn't his fault she was a stubborn little bitch that had no sense of the kind of game they were playing. Never had she ever been in any real danger and yet she continued to act like he had ruined her life or something rather than seeing it as the opportunity of a lifetime. Her sister was smarter. Maybe she could talk some sense into her…
"How's she doing?" he asked the doctor.
"As well as could be expected from someone recovering from near-death," the old man replied smartly. He knew he could get away with it since he was under the protection of the true power of the kingdom, Queen Izayoi.
Hesitantly, Inuyasha peeked at her pale face half-covered by silken sheets and blankets. Her complexion was still wan but her cheeks had filled out some.
"It's been days!" he complained. "Why is she still like this?" She shouldn't still be unconscious most of the time. It wasn't right. The girl should be up and about and screaming at him. Like before.
"She's just a human, my prince," the doctor sighed for perhaps the hundredth time. "She was suffering deprivation for an extended period of time. Her recovery has been coming along very well, though. Instruct the maids to keep feeding her the special broth I gave them. For the past couple days they have added vegetables and rice, and now they may add a little meat as well."
His ears perked straight up on his head. "So she's almost better?"
"I still recommend you leave the room when she wakes, my prince."
He frowned. The old man knew him too well. For days now he had been following his advice even though he thought it was stupid, not wanting to take any chances, but this was just too much. Why would merely seeing him affect her health? He was one of the only people she knew! Kagome was probably asking for him and they just weren't telling him. It was probably all on Sesshomaru's orders. The bastard wanted to get him more involved in official state matters. He couldn't care less. Hadn't he fought enough for them? Shouldn't he be allowed to do as he pleased from now until they forced some hideous woman on him as his wife?
"Tonight," the doctor said, reading the prince's increasingly rebellious expression. "You may see her tonight. But be gentle. She is a very frail girl."
"I know that," he grumbled. Kagome was different. Not like Sango. Not like Kikyo. She was a fighter, to be sure, but that was in spirit, not in body. This game was going to have to be different, too.
And he had a feeling it was going to be the best one yet.
"She's going to need cheering up after all this. Bring her something. Something nice."
He snorted. "I'm not courting her."
"No," the doctor sighed, packing up his instruments. "You've just been wearing a trail in the floors of your own room, as worried as an expectant father."
Kagome stirred in her sleep and immediately he was at her side, his hand taking hers in an automatic reaction. Every bit of him was on edge, wanting her to open those eyes and see him for the first time in so long. An equal part of him twisted in pain at the thought of meeting that fiery gaze again.
"Kikyo…" she murmured, her feverish voice croaking.
He wanted to tell her that he was there, that he had been watching over her and giving her the best of everything, but his voice died inside his throat as she pulled away from him in a stronger movement than he had thought her capable of. Even in her sleep, Kagome rejected him.
"Scurry back out. She's waking up again."
Inuyasha bared his fangs at the old man in a growl but did as directed. If he really wanted to, he could see Kagome during those brief moments she was awake. But something was holding him back. Whenever he thought of her lying there, dying on the floor with no one to hear her cries for help, his stomach hurt worse than that time Sesshomaru had plunged his entire arm through it, poison claws and all. He wanted to tell her about it, but he didn't know how. She was going to be so angry when they finally saw each other again. The old doctor was right, he had to give her something. Something nice. Something she wanted so much she would forget about what had happened.
His feet took him to the harem.
Whenever he was home, this was the place where he spent the most time. Between the training rooms and here, he was almost happy. But now he wasn't feeling that same anticipation he usually did. Now, he wasn't here for himself.
The Higurashi woman's room was a little farther from the other occupied ones. When he had first brought her here, he had been a little worried at her blankly compliant demeanor. He had never dealt with the like of either of the sisters before, so he was definitely winging it. That just made it all the more fun. At least he thought it would. Things weren't turning out exactly the way he'd thought they would. He was so far from getting the other sister in bed now and he couldn't even dream about having the both of them at once. This was going to take some manipulation, even he could see that. If he could only figure out exactly how to go about that…
Not bothering to knock because all these rooms and their inhabitants belonged to him, he strolled into the Higurashi woman's private chamber.
She didn't even look the least bit surprised. "Again?"
Her voice was blank, as blank as her eyes, her expression. Inuyasha sat across from her where she had been reading at the little ivory table where she took her meals.
"You play shogi?" He didn't know why he asked. That game was for old men who had forgotten what it was like to breathe in the scent of their comrades' blood on the battlefield, or worse, those who never had.
Something moved behind her eyes and they shone briefly. "…It has been a while."
Inuyasha rifled through the chest at the foot of the bed. Each room in the harem was filled with the basics, and some idiot on his staff had decided that included an ivory shogi set. He had never played with the other slaves, but he needed something, and he had a feeling this woman would be more inclined to give him what he wanted if she had something distracting her from his motives.
The game started off slowly. At first, he was letting her win, trying to study her. It wasn't too long before he realized he could be playing at his best and the match would still be a real struggle.
"You're good," he grunted. This was just further proof that shogi was a game for women and old men.
"I was taught by the best." Again, that peculiar brightness in her deep eyes.
The half-demon narrowly escaped being beaten. It just wouldn't do to have a slave best the master in under ten minutes.
"Your queen?"
If he had thought the question would surprise her and get her off her game, he'd thought wrong. She cornered him again.
"A mere soldier would never have cause to even see the Queen's face."
"Then who was better at such a game of strategy than even the ruler? The king?"
Her lips turned down in a frown. "There is no king, merely a general. And he was like you."
"What do you mean like me?" he replied, hating how he felt offended even at such an emotionless statement, reading into it and automatically assuming it was intended to slight.
A pause as she surveyed the board. "Undeveloped."
Completely abandoning the game, Inuyasha glared at her. "'Undeveloped'?" he hissed. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It means," she stressed, tone becoming just shy of condescending, "that you are just like the others, prince or not. You care only for praise and glory and conquest, and you don't even realize when your king has been defeated before your very eyes."
Inuyasha stared at the board and blinked. Checkmate. "Damn," he said. "You really are good. Who taught you?" he asked again.
"A man who was too kind for this world." Suddenly, she was withdrawn again, her once alive eyes dull and empty.
"Your sister is sick."
No reaction.
He tried to calm the flames of anger that rose in him at her lack of a response. "You wanna see her? She's been asking for you, even in her sleep."
"What purpose would that serve?"
"It would help her get better!"
"You have physicians and potions far better than any of that which could be found in Higurashi, is that not true? Are you not willing to use them on a mere slave? It would be much less of a problem if you were to release her in the city. Then she could no longer be a burden to you."
"I am not cruel. She's been given my mother's own personal doctor. Don't you want to see your own sister?"
"If you were not able to infer my reluctance from our conversation so far, then I do not know how to phrase it in a way genteel enough for a personage as exalted as yourself."
Inuyasha got to his feet. This must be why the girl was so wild. Her only family was pushing her away to the unknown while they remained comfortable surrounded by luxury. Of course she would be violent, of course she would reject anything other than what she had been shown.
"You will not see your sister again until she is completely mine. Then she will no longer be the girl child you can manipulate and discard at your will."
When he left the room, Kikyo fell to her knees, where she stayed for hours, too overwhelmed to shed tears.
O\o/O
Kagura stared at the food on her plate. The silence at the dinner table was deafening. She knew that were she not here, the others would be enjoying a nice intimate conversation, not paying a single thought to her. Unfortunately, she had accepted the invitation for the first time in nearly a year. Gods, but what had she been thinking? Of course nothing had changed. It never would. Her head pounded and she longed for the opium and pipe in her chambers.
"I lunched with your mother today," she announced, feeling her skin grow hot and then cold when her voice came out too loud.
Sesshomaru's eyes briefly flicked to her. Was she just imagining it, or did the corners of his mouth turn down in distaste? Just like their wedding. From the very beginning, he had been this way. Why did she keep torturing herself?
Why did it hurt more when she kept away?
"I assumed she usually enjoys the midday meal with you. As the world knows, her breakfasts belong to Izayoi and her dinners to her...friends." There it was, that same look of delicate disgust.
"She mentioned the plans for Inuyasha's marriage." Finally, something to talk about. "The prince is not pleased."
"If Inuyasha had his way, he would stay a wild boy forever. No responsibilities. Just traipsing about challenging anything in his path. One of these days, someone will have less mercy than I and he will no longer be such a nuisance."
"Your father and the queen are allowing him to choose his own," she gossiped. "It is most unusual, but I guess so is he."
Sesshomaru lashed out with his energy whip and caught the bottle of wine that was held by a trembling servant imp, refilling his own cup.
"Inuyasha will not choose." His voice was firm and full of certainty. "Idiot he is, he will let even this immense show of favoritism pass him by." Almost a smile. "I already have a list of suitable brides prepared. Then the whelp will know what true misery really is."
Kagura went back to staring at her plate. Had he completely forgotten who he was talking to or did he just not care?
"Rin," Sesshomaru murmured, "you've hardly touched your food. What ails you?"
"I-I'm not feeling very well…"
Concern for her overwhelming all else, the crown prince reached out and felt the forehead of his ward. What did he know of human illnesses? What did he care?
"You are unwell," he confirmed.
Before Rin could react at all, he got to his feet and yanked back the girl's chair, taking her up in his arms.
"My lord!" she gasped, cheeks turning pink. "What are you-"
"You must rest. I will have a more appropriate meal brought to you."
He began to leave the room, and Kagura's helpless eyes followed the two of them and jealously drank in the sight of her husband and lover. Rin peeked at her over his shoulder and their gazes clashed before she could veil her emotions and the girl gasped at the hatred there. Immediately, she felt guilty.
Grabbing both Rin and Sesshomaru's cups of wine, she downed them one after the other. Good, but nowhere near enough.
Gods, but Sesshomaru was an idiot. Ill? Could he not smell the guilt on his precious little girl? Did he not realize the pattern? The little bitch did this every time.
Kagura heard the sound of Rin's door closing and knew her husband would not come out until the girl was sleeping. Perhaps not even then.
The sudden tornado in the room had the idiot imps screaming in terror as the fine porcelain dishes crashed into the walls of the dining room and broke into fragments. There was blood in the air and it was her doing. Oh, but who would care. It was just a servant. She was the one who was really hurt.
Countless times since she had first seen him she had felt blades of emotion cut at her heart. Even now, years later, she could not quite identify what her feelings were exactly. She just called the ever-present torturous feeling lack of love. She needed so much and she had so little. Less than none.
Sesshomaru was not made for love. Not for hers, anyway.
It was when she was still just a little girl. Back before her father had become the nightmare he was now. Before his power, when he was just a busy man who loved her but not enough to give her his time or attention. Back then, he had been the parent she loved most. Her mother was cruel and wanted to keep her out of sight, disliking being a mother almost as much as she disliked being a wife. She had no siblings then, just the servants. And she was lonely.
So was he.
That first sight of him still made her heart almost unbearably warm. A little boy, hardly older than her, but even then so silent and tall. Breathtaking, the sun hitting his face and highlighting the tears that he furiously wiped away before they could even reach his cheeks.
Curious as to what was upsetting the beautiful boy, Kagura looked out into the garden to see what he was seeing. Her heart began to beat fast in a panic-the emperor! And the empress and the queen. She was just some merchant's daughter with no title and no background. If they caught her so deep in the palace, she would surely be punished. Not just her, but her parents as well.
But her eyes were drawn the the boy again and she stayed right where she was.
"Do you want to play?" she asked, gesturing to the garden where the royal family was. Courtiers were throwing a ball around and the little prince was loudly laughing in his father's arms, enjoying the game. "I can get a ball and we can-"
The boy turned a look of such ferocious anger at her that she was struck dumb. He ran in the direction of the royal quarters, the most closed-off part of the palace, and that was when she knew just who she had fallen in love with.
Crown Prince Sesshomaru.
From that moment on, there was nothing she did that did not involve one day becoming a woman who would be worthy of approaching him.
"I am very pleased," Abi had said, her mother watching her as she learned to put on makeup. "For a while, I had feared your wildness inherited from your bastard father would prevent you from ever becoming a lady."
Kagura rouged her lips, making them as deep a red as he could so as to one day catch his notice. Her eyes she lined, lashes she darkened. Every day. Every day she made herself beautiful. Painful corsets and hours spent on hair and dressing. Learning to dance and play the harp and write calligraphy and memorizing poetry. Becoming a lady so that one day she might stand in his presence and see him smile rather than cry.
Her father did his part. At first, there was no apparent reason why he was suddenly so viciously ambitious, but as the years went by and he realized a daughter of impeccable character and manners and beauty would serve him as a pawn, he told her of his plans.
"Kagura," he said one night as the maid brushed her hair. With a glance, he dismissed her.
"She had only done seventy strokes!" she complained.
"I believe you are of an age to marry."
Shocked, she felt the blood drain from her face. Sure, her mother had always talked of what a great match she was sure to make despite her common blood, but that had just been idle talk. Always in the future, always so far away. In her mind, there had still been time. For what? She had never gotten that far. But surely when she was able to gain an introduction and he looked into her eyes, then surely he would feel what she was feeling. For in what kind of world would the gods afflict only one person with a love this intense, this enduring?
"I see I am right," he said gently, for once sounding like the father he had used to be when she was young. "You already hold someone in your heart."
"Father, please!" She knelt at his feet, hair unbound and falling around her. "Don't make me do it. I can't, I love him, I can't bear to be with another. I'd sooner kill myself!"
That last statement brought a smile to his lips. "Even if the man you are to marry is the crown prince himself?"
Her heart stopped in her chest.
"Don't you dare say something like that," she said, voice hoarse and dark. "If you know how I feel, you are every bit the bastard mother says you are to tease me like this."
"My background is unfortunate, I know," he replied, not sounding the least bit repentant or concerned. "However, it is important you remember that your mother was born a princess." Naraku snorted. "I don't see how you could forget. That horrid cunt never ceases to bring it up. If one didn't know better, you'd think that cave in the desert was a palace to rival Inu's."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"It means you, partly human and half-common though you are, are of royal blood. And thanks to that horrible common side, you are also very, very, very rich."
She raised a brow. "And?" Would he just get on with it already? Now she'd have to hunt down that maid and get her to finish the job. Her beauty sleep would suffer and her skin would be in horrible shape tomorrow.
"Inquiries have been made. The emperor and I have come to an agreement."
Kagura could hardly breathe. "Are you saying… Do you mean… Will I…?"
He nodded. "The crown prince has agreed to take you as his wife."
Leaping to her feet, Kagura screamed and jumped up and down, clapping her hands. This was it. The gods were not cruel after all. All her suffering, all her work would now be rewarded. Sesshomaru. Her husband. Her beloved. First and last love.
"I will give you three years."
That put an end to her rejoicing. "What?"
"Three years," he said, repeating himself slowly as though she were an imbecile. "Three years to give me a male grandchild. And then we will no longer need the crown prince or the emperor or anyone else." He smiled and she shivered. "Three years and I will rule as regent in your child's stead."
"Father, no!" she gasped, horrified. "Not Sesshomaru. Not him. I don't care about the emperor or anyone else, but don't hurt Sesshomaru! Please." She grabbed his sleeve, twisting the velvet in her worried hands. "I will do whatever you say, just give him to me. Father, please. I want him so badly. I always have."
He stared at her impassively. "Three years. At that time, depending on your performance as the future empress, I will either dispose of him or make sure he can never challenge me."
She nodded. "Anything. I will do anything you say, even slay the emperor himself. Just let me have Sesshomaru."
Smiling, he patted her on the head. "Good. Now get to sleep. They shall announce it formally tomorrow."
That time before her wedding was spent in a blissful haze and she was the happiest she had ever been. When she was anticipating him, imagining him, inventing him, the demon who was to be her husband, she was in a beautiful rose-colored world. Of course, she had brief meetings with him that nearly penetrated that bubble of joy she had built around herself, but when he ignored her when they applied their seals to the marriage contract and when he spoke curtly to her when she tried to engage him in conversation, all she had to do to banish the offense she felt at his actions was to summon that image of the crying boy he had been. Then her pain transformed into pain for him.
Kagura would love him until he was better.
Their marriage was followed by feasting and dances that last an entire week, as was the custom of the Inu. During that time, she could barely catch glimpses of her new husband. While she was chatting with this important noble and dancing with that ambassador, he was secreted away in conference with the emperor and his most trusted advisors, her own father among them. Now that he was married and truly a man, he was permitted to enter into these talks and learn information that had previously been classified.
When the feasting stopped and her maids led her to her husband's palace apartments, she could scarcely breathe and feared she might faint and die before she could even make it to her marriage bed. Was it finally happening? Was Sesshomaru finally hers?
In the glow of candlelight, she saw him standing before the bed on which she would give him the first gift she would offer him.
As the empress' people had instructed her, she got on her knees and bowed before him until her face touched the floor. Her breath came in pants and was hot against her face. Still, he did not tell her to rise. Why was he taking so long? Had she already displeased him?
"Undress me, then yourself." His voice was so cold, but her heart warmed in response.
"Yes, my prince."
It was eagerness to please and not eagerness to have him that made her clumsy in her movements. Normally, she was as graceful as a solemn autumn breeze, but not when she was so close to him, so close to this experience of becoming his wife in more than title. In her haste, she snagged the fine silks of his clothing on her sharp red nails. Kagura flinched and knew before even daring to look at his face that he noticed and he was not going to be so easily forgiving.
He pulled away.
"I-I'm sorry," she stammered. "Let me just-"
"You have done enough." He muttered something in a breath he kept so close not even she could summon it to her ears. Something about "incompetent" and "bad fortune".
Since he had decided to push her away, Kagura decided to draw him to her. Her dress for the evening was fine and as expensive as anything else she owned, brought from the farthest reaches of Inu, but it was designed so as to be easily slipped off. One by one, she slipped off the thin layers. Green to enhance the color of her eyes and make the crimson more striking. Purple now that she was a member of the royal family, a royal bride. White for her purity that she would finally offer up to the only deity in whom her belief had never faltered.
When she stood before him, proud and naked, she had to dig her nails into her palms so she would not tremble.
"What are you waiting for? On the bed. I have other duties this night and I must not tarry longer than necessary."
It was unromantic. It was hurtful. It was Sesshomaru. Because it was him, she would gladly accept it.
"I will mount you once a day until you are with child," he said as he hovered over her. Though the moonlight of his hair came down like a curtain around them, the false intimacy it created was not at all apparent in the business-like tone he effected. "If it is not male, we must try again."
His mention of an heir brought to mind the whole reason behind why her father had arranged this marriage and she had to fight to keep her face blank, as blank as his.
"Wait," she whispered when he attempted to enter her without preparation.
Sesshomaru looked at her, seemingly surprised she still had a voice. That one look told her all she needed to know. This demon was as pure as she was. A strange one. If her own mother had not been from a different land and enforced her ways on her, Kagura would have long shed her virginity as was the way of the Inu. It was almost compulsory that a person be properly knowledgeable in the ways of sex before they married. Her virginity had long made her feel like some kind of freak and she had stressed about it endlessly in the days leading up to her wedding, sick with worry that she would disgust her husband. But he was like her.
This was meant to be.
"Watch me," she said, growing bolder.
Her breasts were the envy of the noble ladies who were stupid enough to gossip where the wind blew their words back to her. Many, many times, Kagura had indulged herself to those jealous words, stroking her ego as she stroked herself. Pinching a nipple that was the same color as her eyes, she moaned softly, biting her lip when she saw her husband momentarily forget himself and widen his eyes at the sight, no longer a stoic statue.
"Touch me," she begged as she showed him what kind of treatment she liked.
Hesitantly, Sesshomaru reached one of his large clawed hands out and ghosted his thumb over her other nipple. Her exaggerated moan was meant to encourage him, but he seemed to detest it, giving her a glare. But he didn't stop touching her, and that was something.
Kagura tossed her head and arched her back, offering both breasts to him. Instinct took over and he lowered his head to suck hungrily, fangs carelessly scraping against her skin and making her flinch in pain. Running her hands over the strong muscles of his back, she urged him on. Take everything from me, she wanted to say. It's not taking when I give it.
Rearing back, Sesshomaru impaled her without a warning. Kagura screamed at the sudden intrusion, barely able to catch herself in time and make it sound like a cry of pleasure. It was a good thing she had gotten so wet during the foreplay. She didn't even want to think of the pain that would have wracked her body without even that little amount of preparation. One of his hands was on her hip, claws digging into her skin. The other was on her breast, grabbing at it without care for what she might like. His eyes stared at her chest as it bounced around from his erratic thrusts. Not once did he look up, but he sometimes looked down at where they were joined, his pace picking up whenever he did.
Mercifully, it only lasted a few minutes before he spilled his seed inside her.
Kagura held him as he lay on top of her. Now that it was over, she felt content. This was what she had really wanted. Sex was for men, and this was for women. Heart singing with happiness, she kissed her husband's head, making him a crown out of her affection.
"Stop that," he grunted, pulling away from her. With orderly and precise movements, he cleaned himself off, tossing her the rag he had used as he dressed again. "I will ask for you at the same time tomorrow evening. Hurry back to your rooms, I don't want to find you here when I return."
And then he was gone.
In shock, Kagura robotically set about cleaning herself and tidying the room a little before she put her clothes back on. This was it. She was a wife. The place between her legs throbbed and she wondered if he felt pain too. It didn't seem like it.
There were so many things she wanted to talk to him about, things she had intended to talk to him about after the deed was done and they would have a whispered conversation four hours before they drifted off reluctantly, exhausted as the sun dawned. First and foremost, she had to tell him about her father's plans. However, the way he had acted tonight showed her that now was not the right time.
No. She had to make him love her first. Only when he loved her too much to be angry at her for being her father's daughter would she be able to tell him.
Just remembering that first night of her marriage with Sesshomaru had Kagura wanting to break more dinner plates. That girl, that foolish virgin, was long dead. The moment Sesshomaru brought back the human girl from the forest, she knew he was lost to her forever. Before that, there had been rumors of her nocturnal adventures with other men, specifically Inuyasha, but none of it had been true. Not until then.
"Daughter."
Kagura froze, forcing herself to shrug off the fear that assaulted her the moment she heard that word and felt that voice.
"What are you doing oozing your way around the palace?" she drawled, impatiently tapping her fan against her shoulder.
Naraku smiled at her, his teeth appearing whiter and sharper than they had the last time she'd seen him. She suppressed a shudder.
"How did your lovely family dinner go? Before they kicked you out, I mean."
Clenching her jaw, she didn't know whose throat she wanted to slit more: his or her own.
"I did not want to go. You know that. Are you finally going to tell me why you forced this torture on me?"
"I need her."
Her eyes narrowed. "Who?"
"The girl. She is essential to my plan."
Now that he had confirmed her worst fear, she felt her stomach sink. "No," she protested, knowing it was useless. "Anyone but her, Father. Please!"
Naraku gave her a look that suggested he was disappointed at her still having emotions.
"No one else is as strategically placed. She's perfect."
"You know you have nothing to worry about from me," she said, voice low, not out of concern that they would be overheard, since she knew his magic prevented eavesdropping, but so struck by dread that she could summon nothing more audible. "But Father, my husband is to be feared. His wrath is like no one else's. His revenge will make you regret everything. His power is-"
"Nowhere near enough," he interrupted. "Not even he can go up against what is coming."
"And what's that?" she asked sarcastically. Nothing and no one could go up against Sesshomaru.
"My sources tell me that what I have long sought has, in a twist of events, found its way to me. Even now it is within this very castle."
Kagura's eyes widened and she was scared almost sober. "The jewel?"
He nodded. "Soon, our hard work will see its reward. It will no longer matter that you are barren and could not even fulfill a simple task that merely required parting your thighs." He said it with an old disgust, still angry. "With the girl and the jewel, we will have not only Inu, but the entire world."
O\o/O
Kagome opened her eyes to a world of finery she had never even dreamed existed. Maybe that was it. Maybe this was a dream. After all, how was it possible that the very walls be embedded with priceless jewels, the bed made of solid gold, the coverings made of velvet and silk and satin?
Moving to explore her surroundings, she was forced back down before she was even halfway to sitting up.
"Not so fast," a kindly voice said. "You're still very weak."
An old man stood at her bedside and she noticed the case he held. A doctor. Was she sick? What was going on?
"Where am I?" This wasn't the dungeon. It wasn't even her room. A madly attractive thought that all the misfortune she'd experienced had been merely a nightmare entered her head. Was she in Hekigan? Had Hojo saved her?
"The prince's quarters."
Her heart filled with gratitude. Hojo, her prince, had come for her. Higurashi had been besieged by violent dogs and the servants constantly gossiped about the atrocities they committed. Of course she would have nightmares. But he had rescued her and now she was going to fulfill her destiny and be the queen of Hekigan. She was safe. She was taken care of. She was loved.
"You're awake."
The voice sent chills down her spine and she scrambled to get up, to get out, to run. Rough, familiar hands pushed her down and held her there, struggling against the rich cloth that now imprisoned her rather than welcomed her.
"Who told you that you could come here!?" the doctor shouted. "The patient is still-"
"I've waited long enough already!" he shouted back. "She's mine. My slave, my property, mine. You're not gonna chase me away again. You get out."
"But she still needs treatment!"
Inuyasha reached out and grabbed the doctor's case, pinning her down again straight away. One knee came up and he lightly placed it on one of her legs. Kagome glared up at him. He had anticipated that she was going to try and kick him again so she could get away.
"Get out," he ordered the doctor again, his eyes remaining on her.
"Your mother will certainly be hearing about this."
And they were alone.
"What did you do to me?" she hissed.
His grip loosened and she realized he was surprised. "The fuck are you talking about?"
Kagome shoved him away and he let her. "Why am I here?" She looked down and saw that she was wearing a nightgown. White. Thin. Translucent. "Did you… Am I…" Her breath quickened in fear. Had he made a whore out of her as she slept?
"I didn't do anything to you." Inuyasha moved until he was sitting beside her. "Stop acting like I'm a fuckin' monster. I'm sick of it." He sighed. "You don't remember? The guards said you made such a racket and pissed them off so bad they stopped coming by to get you to say what I told you. You know… So you could eat."
Now she remembered.
The first couple days weren't so bad. Sure, she was ravenously hungry almost immediately after he had pronounced her sentence, but she received more satisfaction out of denying his will than she would from a meal. When she got bored, she taunted the guards, calling them every single bad word she had ever heard, and there were many slurs against demons in Higurashi. They hadn't liked that. And then when she was ready, there was no one there to hear her. She screamed and she beat at the door but no one came. It was bad, it was so bad that she almost would have taken the dark instead, almost would have wished the dog that called himself a prince was back.
"Where am I?" she asked again.
"My own room." His brows came together. "Thanks for nothing, by the way. I lost some of my best guards 'cause of you."
"They quit?"
He smirked, leaning forward until she had to cross her eyes to look at him.
"They won't be seeing the sun again." She shivered and he pulled away. "You are a very valuable piece of property, y'know. They can't just go around treating my stuff like that. I had to take time out of my schedule to make a public example out of them. It was kinda fun to cut a man down again…" He trailed off, probably noticing how pale she suddenly was.
"Just put me back in the dungeon. I won't do anything anymore."
"Don't tell me you honestly feel bad about what happened to them?" He snorted. "They tried to kill you, Kagome."
"So did you!"
"When the fuck did I do that?"
"Only every single day."
Inuyasha raised a brow and stared at her so long she felt uncomfortable. "You're a drama queen. Your nipples have been showing this entire time, just so you know."
With a shocked cry, Kagome brought the heavy blankets up all the way until they covered her chin. He laughed and it was free and unrestrained and loud. It made her hate him so much more and she felt her face grow warm.
"What's that?" she asked, noticing the box to his side.
He looked away from her and she considered that a small victory in her favor.
"Just something." He shoved the poorly-wrapped box at her.
Hesitantly, Kagome opened it only to be confronted by a bunch of little brown ovals and balls.
"...What is this?" she asked, almost afraid to touch them.
"Seriously?" Some of his confidence returned and she realized he was enjoying her ignorance. "You've never had chocolate? Shit, you don't even know what it is. Fuck, Higurashi really was a hellhole."
Kagome wasn't sure whether the insult to her kingdom or his use of past tense angered her more. Whatever the case, she brushed the box to the ground and rolled over, closing her eyes.
"What the fuck!?" he exploded. It was hard for her not to laugh as she heard his claws scraping against the wooden floor trying to gather up all the ugly lumps. "These were fucking expensive!"
"Do you mind? I'm ill and I need my rest." She intended to say more, but something was forced inside her mouth. Kagome's eyes popped open wide and she made a noise of pleased surprise. Inuyasha was watching her closely and something seemed to change in his expression the longer he looked at her.
"Good, huh?" His voice was low and a little scratchy and his fingers lingered by her lips.
Grabbing for the box, she searched through it, picking out the ones she liked best and deciding the order in which she would eat them.
"The flowers are from me, too."
For the first time, Kagome noticed the bouquets that filled the room. Hundreds and hundreds of flowers. Their colors were too bright and their number was too great and they oppressed her. All over again it was the Inu overwhelming her and her powerless to do anything but be allowed to exist.
It took some effort, but she pushed the delightful box away from her.
"I'm not some kind of peasant you can buy with such paltry gifts!"
He blinked. "You aren't?"
Kagome was a breath away from telling him just what she was going to do to him as soon as she got back to Higurashi and had her own guards to command, but then she remembered how incredibly stupid that would be.
"I mean-I'm just-" She looked down at the blanket and nervously began to unravel the gold fringe on the end. "I'm not some simple farm girl. I spent my whole life in the castle."
"And what was it like there? You never speak about it."
She almost rolled her eyes. When would she have had time to converse with her captor about her former life? While he was whipping her-she shivered just remembering-or while he had her tied up and forced her to watch him couple with another?
Obviously sensing her reluctance, he said, "Okay, we'll cut the shit. Tell me about the queen and where she went and I'll give you all the chocolate you want."
"Let me and my sister go and I'll think about it."
They glared at one another. He broke first.
"Keh. Fine. Whatever." He moved to take the chocolate from her.
Kagome clutched it to her chest. "I could tell you a little about her." That wouldn't be wrong. She would be careful not to give anything away. And maybe it would be nice to talk about it for a little bit. To remember.
He grinned as though he had won some great argument and the sight of his fangs made her doubt her decision. "Fire away." Inuyasha laid himself out on the bed on his side beside her, head resting on a hand.
"She's everything a Higurashi woman should be and everything a Higurashi man could never hope to be," she smiled. "Our Queen is not just an undefeated warrior. There's more to her than breeding and strength and loyalty. She's a genius. Battle tactics, trade, diplomacy. Everything."
"Obviously she wasn't smart enough to keep her kingdom. Or loyal enough to go down with it." He scowled at her. "And I ain't even gonna touch the 'undefeated' part."
"You were the ones who broke the treaty! If it weren't for your sheer numbers then the priestesses would have zapped every single one of you dogs to dust. Our Queen has a plan! All we have to do is trust in her and she will return to us!"
"Great gods, I can't tell if you worship her or you're in love with her," he grumbled. "What the fuck ever. What does the bitch look like? Did she give any hint as to where she would go once the shit hit the fan?"
Kagome turned away, cheeks flaming at his repeated insults. All this talk about the war had made her nearly vibrate with anger.
"I'm not talking to you anymore. Leave me alone."
"It's my room!"
"Then just put me back in the dungeon!"
"You're not going back to the fucking cell!"
Kagome gaped at him in shock. "You mean you're going to keep me here?" Why did that prospect frighten her so much more than being back in the place where she had nearly died?
"You," he said, suddenly looming over her, his alarming nearness making her shrink back against the pillows that she was only just beginning to realize smelled more like him than they did her, "need a firm hand."
To drive the point home, his hand crept beneath the covers and smoothed over her leg, going up and up and up. Only when it was nuzzled between her parted thighs did it come to a stop.
"I'm gonna have to keep an eye on you, difficult one."
Kagome cried out when his claws brushed against her center. Knuckles followed and then he was rubbing against her. She reached out to push him away but ended up only grabbing him by the shoulders. Inuyasha's eyes were fixed on her face and she closed her eyes. It didn't mean anything. She had intended to push him away, but she was sick and weak and this felt nice.
"Wet already," he murmured. "I'm changing the game, Kagome. Less intimidation and more temptation."
"It won't work," she protested even as she moved her hips against his hand. "You won't win."
Inuyasha smirked. "I think I already did."
Abruptly, he removed his touch from her sensitive flesh. Kagome nearly demanded he continue, but bit her lip instead and looked away, unable to take that expectant, knowing look on his face any longer.
"Get out!"
"Are you sure? You don't want me to stay and take care of this?" A finger brushed against her diamond-hard nipple and she jerked towards him, unable to control her reaction even though he wasn't even touching her flesh directly. "I'd kiss you here, Kagome. Over and over until you were lying in a puddle of your own desire. Once I got tired of that, I'd move here…" Slowly, he dragged the finger down her body until it was right on top of where she throbbed for attention. "And I'd kiss you here. Lick your clit and suck it until you scream and cum all over my face and the bed. I can tell you're gonna be loud. My screaming princess."
That word seemed to bring her out of the trance his words had put her under and she grabbed his wrist, putting it on his lap so he was covering his offensive erection.
"I need rest." Her voice was hoarse.
With blazing eyes, he paused before he nodded once. Inuyasha walked to the door and left her there without another word.
"Fuck," he cursed quietly to himself as soon as he closed the door.
"What? Did she dump a chamber pot on you again?"
The half-demon rolled his eyes at his shadow. "The little bitch is still putting up a fight. I decided to keep her here for now."
"In your room?" Sango asked with disgust, like he had suggested raising chickens in there or something.
"Just until she gets better. Then I'll find a place for her." Hopefully she'd give in and he could fuck her first.
"You're making this ridiculously hard on yourself."
"I'm not forcing her. And I sure as fuck ain't letting her go. The idiot would piss off the wrong guy and end up dead by the end of an hour."
"That's not what I was suggesting." A sly look in her eyes, she produced a bottle of wine she had been hiding from his sight behind her hiraikotsu.
Inuyasha grinned. "Sango, you're a fuckin' genius.
O\o/O
"Miroku!"
Even though it was the middle of the night, Miroku's eyes opened and he was at once alert and on his feet. Living in the taijiya village where his bunkmates would murder him on a whim and the mountainfolk would do the same for a lark made it so he was ready to fight if he heard so much as a rustle of a breeze nearby. In less than a second, his brain translated that the noise he had heard had been his own name, and he immediately knew where he had to go.
No one here even knew his name but Kohaku.
Miroku ran to the hut of the chief. When he neared, his steps slowed. The area of the village proper was forbidden to the eunuchs. But then he heard the boy commander cry out his name again, this time followed by a sob. The lights in the other huts were dark, but that didn't fool him into thinking the villagers were not listening and aware.
He burst into the little house and quickly took in the scene.
Kohaku kneeling on the floor, clutching a small box.
His father, the chief and semi-retired shadow to the emperor himself, standing above his son with a scythe on a chain.
Miroku recognized the weapon as belonging to his young commander. For the first time in his life, he threw himself into action without a thought. Putting his bruised body between the man and boy, he held his arms out to either side of himself and wondered what the fuck he was doing.
The chief sneered. "The fact he called for you was bad enough, but you dare to show yourself here? I should kill you and just be done with it."
"I won't let you hurt him." He was surprised when his voice didn't so much as tremble.
He laughed. "Hurt him?" Shoving him to the ground, he waved the scythe in front of his son's face. "Kohaku, you are a man in the eyes of your tribe. Men do not cower at a simple request."
"I won't do it!" Kohaku said, voice quiet and not sounding nearly as sure as his words.
"The bird is as good as dead already. The kind thing to do would be to put it out of its misery."
"But Otōto doesn't have a mother! There's no one but me to take care of him."
"Enough of this. This is your heritage, this is your life." He forced the handle of the scythe into the boy's hand. "Hurry. The training begins early tomorrow."
Kohaku was full-on crying now, his breath hitching and chest heaving. Slowly, he placed the box on the ground. The scythe rose.
Miroku knocked the weapon out of his hand. "Stop this!" he hissed, horrified when he realized he was addressing the chief and not the boy.
Everything in the room went still.
The former academic grabbed the box and heard a faint peep come from the bundle of torn up rags inside. He got to his feet.
"This is ridiculous. You are his father, not just some violence-prone inbred mountain mistake. If you should show a noble side to anyone, it should be to this boy." His heart was beating so fast and so hard he feared it might stop entirely. "Paternity is more than just blood. Act like a father. Love your son. You think he likes this!?" He gestured at the weapon on the floor. "If the boy had been born in a city, he'd be a prodigy in several areas. The academies would fight to fund his scholarship. But here he's just as much a tool as the scythe you've forced upon him."
Miroku was certain these were his last words. If the man was tired or something, he might even be spared too much torture beforehand. That thought was a little more comforting than it should have been.
The chief merely smiled, lips so tight they looked almost bloodless. His eyes were wide and the light in them made Miroku understand how this unimpressive rather short and stocky man had risen to such heights.
"I seem to remember a joke when the latest batch of recruits arrived. Didn't you want to be assigned to the harem?"
Miroku could only stare, waiting for the hurt to begin.
"I think that's a fine idea," the chief continued. "The prince just threw most of the guards under his employ into the dungeon for some petty reason. I think you'd do a terrible job, and I know my daughter will not tolerate it." His grin showed his teeth, near-green where they met his gums. "Something tells me you won't even last until the dungeon. You'll begin in the morning."
This could not be happening. All his dreams were about to come true. A harem guard and working directly under the beautiful Sango, his leather dream? He tuned out the rest of what the chief had been saying, the song his heart was singing being too loud to hear properly. His excitement was muted a little when he remembered Kohaku.
Something inside told him he would never see the boy again.
"Kohaku," he said gently, kneeling in front of the still crying boy. "Don't worry. And don't be sad. I'll take care of your Otōto. And one day, he's going to be big and strong and fly back to thank you for saving his life."
The boy sniffled. "I… I don't want you to leave, Miroku. You were going to teach me so much more."
"Don't spend too much time crying about it. I'm going to be your brother-in-law someday," he said with a smile, ruffling his hair. "And then you can live with us and we'll have all the time in the world for schooling."
"Get out before I throw you off the mountain myself."
Miroku scurried out with the little sparrow box, head full of thoughts of his future.
Once they were alone, all sound fled from the room and everything was so still that it could have been a painting.
"I have often wished," the chief began, "that Sango had been born a boy. That way, I would have a worthy heir and a semi-acceptable spare in case of the worst. This is not the first time I have wished you had never been born at all, but it is the first time I am completely willing to put an end this oversight of the gods."
Kohaku didn't respond. He didn't even seem to hear. He just stayed huddled on the ground, eyes staring at the doorway since Miroku had left.
The chief left and came back with all the ranking men of the village, some of them only months older than Kohaku was. Two of them grabbed him by the arms and he did not resist, just allowed himself to be dragged. They travel a short way to the forest, and then walked the paths only they knew until they were deep in its center.
"I will go first," his father said, voice grim with disgust. "Follow after me by rank."
The blows at first only made him gasp. One by one, jarring kicks were delivered with precision, with knowledge on how to cause the most pain so that he could live in agony rather than die in agony. Kohaku had put up with a great deal of pain in his training, but this was more than he had been taught to deal with. Soon, he was screaming, sobbing, choking on his own vomit. He called for help, naming everyone he knew. Miroku. Sango. Once, he called for his mother. Any mother. Anyone who was capable of feeling pity. But never once was he delirious enough with pain to beg for mercy from the men who were beating him. He knew better than that.
When he had stopped making noise and didn't much even so much as an involuntary twitch, they finally ceased their laughing blows.
"Kohaku is dead," the chief announced in a tone heavy with ceremony. "We will not speak his name. If my daughter asks after him, we will tell her he was sent away for learning at one of the academies like she wanted."
The men murmured their praise for thinking of every possibility. One by one they left, until Kohaku could only make out the form of his father through his swollen and bloodied eyes.
"It was just a bird," he said, as removed and emotionless as someone giving a stranger directions.
And then he left.
Kohaku was alone in the woods. In and out of consciousness, he wondered how long it had been since his father's discovery of the bird he had named his little brother. It had been almost dawn at that point, but it was pitch black here in the forest. Or was he blind? No, he could see shadows. Shadows curling like fog, forming into one solid thing.
"Drink, Kohaku," the shadow said.
A warm cup was pressed to his mouth and a fragrant tea was poured down his throat. He sputtered at first at the taste, sharp and metallic like blood, but the more he drank the better he felt. Soon, there was no pain. He couldn't even remember why there should be.
"Drink and forget."
O\o/O
Inuyasha waited a few days before visiting Kagome again. He told himself he was just making the rounds of the harem, as he had neglected to do since coming back from Higurashi. It was a necessary burden of keeping so many desirable women. If he didn't visit them, they would plot and scheme to make him visit them, and that was just such a fucking headache. Better enjoy them while he could, since he'd soon have a bitch wife that was sure to leverage her family's influence to make sure he at the very least cut it down by half and take no more new women.
Maybe he had avoided seeing Kagome and had drowned himself in the harem women because he didn't know how to talk to her. He could admit that much to himself.
Kagome was different. That had been obvious from the start. Even the most difficult of women had needed only a couple punishments combined with seduction before they gave in. And he liked winning. What he didn't like was having the game take so long that he almost forgot what it was about: his own satisfaction.
All the righteous anger he had worked himself into over the past few days faded away to nothing the minute he opened the door to his room. Kagome was curled up on her side, already asleep for the night even though it was rather early. She was in a fresh white nightgown and there was some color in her cheeks. A large candle burned bright on his nightstand. Creeping quietly to the bed, he internally chastised himself for feeling like a guilty intruder in his own bedroom.
"Hey," he said gruffly, shoving her.
She snorted awake and the moment was broken completely. "What!?" she yelled, looking up at him with sleepy and increasingly pissed off eyes. "You again? Come back tomorrow. I'm tired."
"I brought you something."
Immediately, she perked up. "Chocolate?"
He shook his head. "Something to drink. You'll like it. It's sweet."
Kagome held out her hand for the present and he smirked at her. Her eyes were on the bottle, pretty and pink and gold, as he uncorked it with his claws. He poured her wine into a glass far too large for the drink until it was full. This was the strongest wine on the market, served mainly at orgiastic ceremonies or parties. A few sips would get her right where he wanted her. Nice and warm and compliant.
He watched her rather than drink any himself, though he did serve himself a glass so she wouldn't be suspicious, which she honestly should have been. But all Kagome did was grab for the cup as soon as it was full, taking huge gulps of it.
"Oh, it's like spiced honey! And fruit… What fruit is this?"
He shrugged, having hardly heard the question. Instead, he watched her. Kagome took another sip and put the cup down on the nightstand.
"It's hot," she said, taking the covers off herself. "Do you feel hot?"
Inuyasha stared at how her cheeks were becoming rosy and his eyes went to her almost transparent nightgown. Soon he'd have that pure garment ripped right off of her soft, warm body and those blush-pink nipples would be in his mouth.
Kagome laughed and pushed him so hard he nearly fell off the bed. "You look like an idiot staring at me like that." For whatever reason, the shocked expression on his face made her laugh more and soon she was sprawled out on her back, giggling.
Fuck, maybe he had given her a little too much.
Determined to make the best of it, Inuyasha crawled over her, unable to keep a small smile off his face. Kagome's eyes were a shining blue and for once she wasn't looking at him like he was the devil himself.
"You're really pretty when you smile," he said. "Even if you're crazy."
She pouted. "Keep being nice to me and I'll give you more smiles. Be nice to me in the morning, when I wake up. Not just when I'm alseep and dreaming."
"I'll be nice to you," he promised. "As nice as can be…"
Lowering his head, he started to kiss her throat. From here, it was just a short path to those breasts he'd been wanting to play with for what felt like forever. When she gasped, he knew he was just minutes away from being inside her.
But then she started touching his ears.
"I like these," she said, very matter of fact.
"Uh, thanks."
Inuyasha was so shocked that he stopped kissing her. Was she being honest? Of course she was. This girl was too dumb to be anything but. For a human to like his inhuman features was…incredibly unusual. Even Sango had only ever ignored them, thinking she was doing what he wanted and treating him like he was "normal". But at the end of the day, he was just like anyone else. There was a part of him that wanted someone to not only notice his ears and his slit-pupils and his claws but to not be repulsed by them or to fetishize them. Just like them. Just like she did.
"Your eyes are like dandelions," she sighed. "I love dandelions. They're my favorite flower."
Before he even knew what he was doing, he was smiling at her pronunciation. Dandy-lion. "They're a weed."
Kagome ignored his insult to her favorite "flower" and gently tugged on the ears she continued to caress.
"I always wanted a puppy," she confided. Her lips formed into a pout again and suddenly her innocent touches to his ears were having a very noticeable effect on his body. "But the general would never let me have one."
That gave him some pause. What would the ruler of a kingdom, even a tiny dump like Higurashi, care if some random maid got a dog?
A thought occurred to him and everything inside him froze. Suddenly, things were making a lot more sense. How ignorant she was of the outside world, even simple things any peasant should know. How different she was from her sister even in appearance. Her bratty nonsense that a normal maid would never dare exhibit.
Kagome was the general's daughter.
He almost laughed out loud at the discovery. Were they trying to keep it a secret? How long did they think they could pull that off? Inuyasha grinned. The ruler of Higurashi's bastard daughter-by-the-wayside was pinned underneath him.
Kagome giggled, oblivious to his discovery, and her face flushed a deeper pink.
"So cute," she whispered.
And then she kissed him.
It was a chaste kiss. A sweet kiss. An affectionate kiss. A childish kiss. Hell, it didn't even rank as a real kiss and missed his mouth almost entirely. But Inuyasha had never been kissed like that before.
In a panic, he realized his face was turning as pink as hers was, and he didn't even have the excuse of the wine. Scrambling off of her, he stood at the foot of the bed.
"You're dangerous," he said, but he didn't think she heard him.
A slight snore proved him right and he realized she had drifted off. With a sigh, he tugged her back into a proper position underneath the covers and tucked her in. This girl was the most dangerous he'd encountered so far. He'd have to treat her like fire and be cautious, or else she would certainly flare too hot and consume him, burning herself into his very bones.
Inuyasha could only hope she hadn't already done just that.
Note: So this took a WHILE. Sorry, everyone. I work full-time and also have another part-time job and other stuff so finding time to write can be difficult. Thanks for reading! TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK BECAUSE I LIVE FOR THAT.
Also the biggest shout out in the world to Heartrush, whose notes on this chapter were everything. Check out her fics, they are AMAZING and I've read Knit and Lace like 50 times. And her Mythos stuff? PERFECTION.
Also thanks to maridraws for creating this lovely piece of art for this story. I commissioned it from her and it was done super fast and super beautifully and I adore it.
