11

REMORSEFUL KAGOME

He nodded slowly.

Their conversation took an interesting turn, as she started to open up a little about her life in her hometown "What do you mean there are no Youkai in your world?"

She frowned thinking about it, "I mean that I've never felt any, and I've lived there for fifteen years before I was thrown into this mess. There were also none the three years after."

"This all happened because of the Shikon no Tama?"

He concluded that this point was a particularly sore one for her because it manifested her relations to Kikyo.

"Yes." She realized quickly that her explaining capabilities ended a long time ago.

"That explains your unique connection to it." He concluded knowingly.

It made sense that she'd be able to see the shards, they were a part of her being.

"Hmm."

"Five hundred years are nothing for an Inuyoukai… We surely found a way to immerse ourselves in the modern world. We must have created spells to hide our Youki."

"It could be possible. Even though I'd like to believe my senses would be sharp enough to pick that up. The only thing that makes me doubt this is the lack of preserved, wild, nature and clean air."

He looked shook, "How is your air not clean?"

"We have carriages that are powered by manmade machines, which release poison. It will not harm humans, but the nature around them."

That could be a problem, we thrive on natural energy, if the world is dying, then so are … something about this didn't make sense.

If it was true what Kagome said, then it was very clear that he wouldn't succeed and that was just absurd. He didn't scent any deceit on her.

The future of his kind could not be set in stone. This fate of him came upon him so surprisingly, that he couldn't believe that such a grim outcome was there only option.

Could this be the true reason for her fall through time? Was her mission to help him change the future?

As he contemplated this, he mustered her. She had changed a lot since he first met her. She seemed a lot more balanced and confident. It suited her well.

She felt increasingly uncomfortable under his examination of her, "Let's not talk about this anymore, we can't be sure and speculating this wouldn't do us any good."

"Hnn."

"So, you are a Kannushi?"

"Basically yes."

"…and you've fallen through time, bringing with you the knowledge of decades to come."

Feeling like she knew where this was going, she decided, that she didn't have to praise herself too much.

"I'm not that good in school."

"You smell fertile."

"I can see this is going in the wrong direction. Sesshomaru, my future lies in my time."

"Are you sure about that? We did meet at the Cross Cliff."

"Very sure."

"Lie. You are feeling insecure right now. What did the old Miko tell you that first night?"

He was exceedingly annoyed by her way of evading his questions.

She was definitely an option for him, maybe even the best one, but as long as she refused to acknowledge the situation, there was no way for him to estimate her full potential.

"Oh, we are still doing that? Rest assured, she told me that there were four temples in the four cardinal directions, in the center of each of the four lands."

Very smart, let's just stretch this conversation for all that it's worth.

I'm going back to my home in my time and relax knowing that my future won't be one in which my sole purpose is to breed heirs and serve who knows who.

"That wasn't everything I presume?"

He would tackle her.

He had decided on that a few moments ago.

She couldn't be serious in keeping this up.

He was her best option.

She had been scorned by her first love.

Even though he had realized that she was still innocent, as innocent as a woman could be that had no problem standing in her undergarments before him, wearing to his standards, scandalous looking clothing, and commenting on another person's sex life, could be, anyway.

"No, she also mentioned that the Miko there would be talented, beautiful and that their fertility would not be an issue." Here we go again talking about fertility. What a lovely thing, to discuss repeatedly.

"I assume there was more?"

"Of course, there was more. She concluded that these women would also be easy to woe since you'd be granting them a position of power. Your appearance, status, and capabilities as a protector are widely regarded as good, so there would be no problem." She relayed, sighing slightly.

This interrogation proved to be quite exhausting and it went on for far too long already.

Clearly, neither of them was going to budge.

Thinking about a marriage or mating for that matter, just because of what the other person could do for you, was a very depressing thought for her.

She liked to think that if she ever married, it would be for love.

He noticed her discomfort with something and thought about her predicament. This journey was obviously something she wasn't too eager about.

Finding out she was potentially his destined mate, must have also put her under a lot of pressure, because there was something going on, that he couldn't quite place.

She wouldn't back down now, she couldn't.

"Why are you displeased with this?"

"I don't think this is right. Just marrying—"

"Mating."

"Mating someone, because it objectively makes sense. This just seems calculating and cold, but I mean what you're doing isn't any better, so this arrangement should be perfect for everybody involved."

His eyes widened. How dare she. Snarling and with more passion that he'd shown since his toddler days, he asked, "Do you truly think this horrendous situation, that my mother put me in, could bring me any happiness? This Sesshomaru does not need to explain himself to you."

She locked eyes with him and immediately regretted what she just said.

This was a command. He was calculating because it's the only thing he could be.

His concern probably wasn't just with a man slapping the butt of his wife to hurry her along.

It was with the ignorance of everybody who just accepted that. The woman's father, her mother, the people who were this men's companions, no one would help her because that is the way it's done.

This dishonorable treatment, these actions and the general lack of morals are so far beneath Sesshomaru… There is no way for him to acknowledge someone who was raised with that kind of mindset as his equal.
How can he search for a love match, when he despises our race so greatly? Even I'm voicing my concerns with how people are treating each other…

Also, now that she was thinking about it his criteria were more than understandable, he needed his future mate to be knowledgeable, strong and gentle because he wanted his heir to be raised by someone who could relay them the right values.

That wasn't unusual. If she was hard-pressed to find a man in this era, she'd be completely overwhelmed.

Obviously, not everyone was ignorant, uneducated or mistreating his own.

Some great love poetry and beautiful tales stemmed from this time, so she knew that there were romance and love and wooing and all those beautiful things, but the matter still remained, would this exist for her, too?

She was different from the other women in this era.

She wasn't as meek and docile as most of them were. Sure, if she had to be like that to survive, she'd probably learn fast, but that was a less than ideal scenario.

Realizing that this was his fate and not hers made her understand that for someone like Sesshomaru this had to be excruciating.

"This has to be very hard for you." She concluded.

"Hnn."

Her scent clouded over in a mixture of negative emotions that were similar to nervousness, regret, and sadness. She seemed to have realized that she'd overstepped.

More than that she looked somewhat winded.

He could see it in her posture… We've already walked too far, she would have needed a break an hour ago, when the midday heat hit its peak, he thought.

"We've been walking since this morning; do you mind taking a break? The scenery is quite beautiful here and I need to rest for a bit, the heat is killing me."

The heat was weighing heavy on her and the dust that rose from the path, stuck to her sweaty skin, making her feel utterly drained.

Some shade, a little water, and a fish or some berries and nuts would replenish her physical strength.

But more than that she was mentally exhausted. This wasn't the constant yapping accompanied by a variety of impulsive actions she was used to.

This was an emotional minefield. The constant pressing for answers and the demand for absolute honesty was pressuring her greatly, she had everything to lose and she had to do a better job guarding herself.

He probably already guessed what Kaede really told her and she would do everything to not revisit that conversation, again.

How troublesome to be in the company of a man who actually listens to you.

I guess the saying is true, you should really be careful what you wish for.