Hey guys here is the next chapter for you! The quest for the sacred jewel is going to be starting soon! As for Kagome being taken so easily by Naraku think about it this way, if she actually was able to fight would he be able to rip the jewel from her body? Would anyone? Probably not. Anyways on with the chapter! I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA!
After meeting with Sesshomaru, and Inuyasha to discuss what needed to be done about the sacred jewel he had wandered back into Kagome's room to wait for her to wake up. While he waited for his female to show some sign of life he thought about how the discussion had gone. Sesshomaru had decided that he was above traveling with them due to Kagome's presence, so he would be taking Jaken and going off on his own. And Inuyasha had insisted on coming with Kagome, and him. Aemi was going to stay behind and run the shiro in his absence so he did not have to worry about his home falling apart. Now they were all waiting on Kagome to be well enough to travel. His golden eyes were trained completely on her small form laying on the futon. What he could not understand at all was what had happened to Kagome during the battle with Naraku. It was like she had frozen completely. And he only having his claws to do battle with had been sufficiently slowed down so that he could not get to her in time. It had been horrifying to watch her body being ripped into by that beast's tentacle and thrown into the air. He needed to go see Totosai at the start of this journey to have a sword forged so that he could protect her more efficiently. If only Inuyasha did not need Tetsusaiga to prevent his demon blood from taking over whenever they were separated he would have kept it. He jolted from his inner musings when Kagome shifted on the futon and moaned. "Kagome?"
Her eyelids shifted and lifted up to reveal her glazed over deep cerulean hues. "Mmm Touga?"
"Yes I am here." When she attempted to sit up he moved to prop her up against his arm. "How are you feeling? You were in very rough shape when we returned to the shiro. Even Inuyasha was worried about you." He curled his body more around her smaller one so that she was leaning against his chest.
"I feel fine. In a strange way that wound did not even hurt." She shifted against him and snuggled more into his haori. "Water." She rasped out almost as an afterthought.
He reached over to the small water basin and grabbed the ladle from it before bringing it to her mouth. She sucked it down greedily before pushing the wooden utensil away from her. "Better?"
"Yes much." She was silent for a moment before turning her head over her shoulder to look at him. "What happened while I was unconscious? What are we going to do about the jewel?"
"We are going to go and retrieve the shards and fuse them back together. Sesshomaru is going on his own for obvious reasons. And Inuyasha decided to come with us so that he did not have to go with Sesshomaru for even more obvious reasons."
"Why do you all have to become involved? If it is anyone's duty to retrieve them it is mine. This is something that I should do alone."
A low growl built up deep in his chest before passing out through his clenched teeth. The thought of her going off alone when an obviously very dangerous demon hunted her was enough to make his protective instincts kick in with a vengeance. He clutched her even tighter to his body and his pink tinged eyes locked with her wide cerulean ones. "Absolutely not! We are coming with you regardless of your sense of honor and justice. So you had better learn to just accept it now instead of later."
"But I was the one who broke the jewel! I should retrieve the shards on my own!" She pulled herself away from him and turned around to lock fierce blue eyes with his own molten gold.
He pushed aside the momentary emptiness that came with her body leaving his and focused on reigning in his temper. Now that she was an adult female her disobedience was not nearly as adorable as it was in her childhood. No now his instincts were telling him to put his alpha bitch in place. "Kagome I will not tolerate your arguments on the matter! I have spoken and my word is law!"
"Touga I am the shikon miko! It is my duty and no one elses! So I will argue on the matter all I want!" She jumped to her feet in her anger and loomed over his seated form.
He mirrored her actions and in a flash he was towering over her growling down at her. "I HAVE SPOKEN! AND YOU WILL RESPECT MY WISHES AND ABIDE BY THEM!"
"You cannot just order me around Touga! I live here with you because you are my friend! Not because you are my boss or ruler! I am free to do as I please unless you give me a valid reason otherwise!"
"Oh but I am in a position to order you around Kagome! I am the Alpha male and you are my bitch! You listen to me! I will hear no more on this matter Kagome. And if you should try to leave the shiro without me I will hunt you down and punish you accordingly."
"Your bitch...?" Kagome mouthed the words slowly. Her eyes were trained on him like a bird demon. "I do not understand... What do you mean?"
"Good choice of words Touga..." His beast purred in ecstasy.
It was bad that he did not realize his slip of the tongue until she brought it up. What did he tell her now? Kagome was a smart educated woman so if he tried to tell her that she was just a bitch in the pack she would not believe him.
"Just be honest and let her know exactly who she is. Let her know who she belongs to. And then ravish her afterwards!"
He shook away his beast and focused back on her expectant face. "Kagome I..." Before he could finish she cut him off.
"No there is no reason to explain. I am a part of your pack so I should just listen to you even if I do not like it. I am sorry for being so unruly about the whole thing. I just feel like others should not be dragged into correcting my mistakes." She inched away from him with her hands held up in surrender. "I am feeling more than fine so whenever you are ready to go we can set out!"
Before he could make any sort of response to her she had darted out the doors to her room. What had her so worked up? He pushed away his beast who was snarling at his ineptitude in revealing his feelings to her. He had to prepare the shiro for his departure. He would get her alone later and explain everything to her...
She had to get away from him and the look he was giving her. His eyes were so soft yet so heated when he looked at her. She had to mask her scent to hide the way she was affected by him. Why was this happening to her? She wanted to kiss him... Her eyes were trained on the floor as she ran so she did not notice the red clad form until she had slammed into it and knocked them both to the floor.
"Oi wench! Watch where you're goin!"
She hurried to scramble off of Inuyasha before anyone saw them. "I am so sorry Yash! I was not watching where I was going!"
Inuyasha hopped to his feet and shoved his arms into his haori sleeves. "Keh! Obviously wench otherwise you wouldn't have knocked me over!"
Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment and anger. "Well I am sooo very sorry Inuyasha! Well not really because you are being an ass about it! Next time I will be sure to-" All words ceased to fall from her mouth when she remembered the kotodama beads she had found on one of her last missions with Kiyomi. All the fun she could have by slapping them onto Yash... And he most definitely deserved it for being rude all of the time! "Hey Yash I have something to show you in my room!"
He looked at her with skepticism and uncertainty. "What do you gotta show me?"
"An artifact that I found on a slaying journey! I think you will like it! Come!" She grabbed his arm and dragged him off towards her room. Sickening amusement filled her with each step closer to her room. Hopefully Touga would not be mad at her for the horrible punishments his son would soon be subjected to... They stopped in front of her door and she slid it open and peaked around for Touga. Sighing in relief when she found her room blissfully empty she stepped in and dragged Yash with her. "Sit there while I go get it."
"Keh! Whatever wench!"
She had to bite down on her tongue to keep from laughing as she opened her wardrobe at the bottom sat a small ivory box. She popped it open and pulled out the purple beaded necklace with what looked to be a fang stringed on every few purple beads. She brought her hands together and channeled her reiki into it discreetly so that Inuyasha would not sense it of course. It hummed once with the added power and then she masked it so that no one would be able to sense the power until she used it. "I found it!" She turned and rushed back to his side and plopped down onto her knees beside him.
"Wench what the hell is that?" Inuyasha grumbled while glaring at the necklace.
"Oh it is just a necklace that I thought would stand out perfectly against your firerat! Here try it on!" Before he could protest she slipped the necklace onto his neck where it would remain until...if she chose to take it off... "It looks wonderful on you!"
"No it looks girly! Take it off wench!" When she didn't make a move to take it off of him he reached up to do it himself.
Thinking fast she reached out and slammed her hands onto his and pushed the necklace back down. Their foreheads smashed against each other in her haste to stop him from discovering her little surprise. "Ow! Inu...yasha..." It was at that moment she realized how close their lips were. She could feel his breath fan out against her lips. He was not moving either it was like they were both frozen in their spots. Why did this feel wrong and right at the same time? Why did it make her feel fulfilled and empty? It was like she wanted to lean forward and take that next step but she knew it was not meant to be. And that realization caused her heart to twist and shred itself apart. Yet at the same time it made her feel relieved. But Inuyasha... His eyes were hungry she could tell. He wanted this but she could not give it to him for reasons that she did not understand. Maybe she did understand it somewhat. It was because she had feelings for Touga as well. It would not be right to press things with either because she was torn and divided on the matter. Her resolve strengthened she went to pull away but the wooden doors to her room sliding open had her freezing in place. One blue eye slid over to the door and horror flooded through her body at who was standing there. Touga's form was rigid and the whites of his eyes had completely bled red.
"What is going on in here?" A low dangerous growl followed his words.
Kagome jerked back from Inuyasha and gave Touga the best smile she could in the situation. "I was giving Yash a present! Which he tried to take off!" She shot Inuyasha a small glare before turning her attention back to the demon lord who looked ready to kill at any moment. "Well he tried to take it off so I grabbed his hands to push the necklace back down and I ended up almost falling on him."
"Hmm is this true Inuyasha?"
"Yeah it's true. Now can I take the damn necklace off?" The hanyou once again attempted to tear the kotodama off of his neck.
"NO!" With a shout Kagome threw herself at him and pried his hands off of the purple necklace. "You are so very rude Inuyasha! I gave you a present that was exceedingly hard to acquire and you do not appreciate the lengths that I went through to get it! No you just comment that it is girly looking before you try to toss it away!"
"Wench! Get off of me so I can get rid of this piece of crap necklace!"
"No! Touga make him stop!" Kagome pleaded with the still very irritable looking demon.
"Inuyasha it is rude to throw away a gift. Leave it be."
"Keh! Fine whatever!"
"Now that you two are finished we need to go and meet Sesshomaru in the gardens."
Kagome jumped up and ran over to Touga's side with Inuyasha trailing along after her cursing the necklace the whole way. "Let us go and see Sesshy the Ice King himself!"
Of course the first emotion that passed across Sesshomaru's face as soon as she stepped into the gardens was annoyance. So she made sure to send him a huge smile as she passed by him and settled against a tree several feet across from him. Being the ever curious human she was she wondered if Sesshomaru even felt anything but annoyance for anyone? Was he secretly a hentai in an ice cold exterior? Did he peak in the female hot springs in his free time? She slapped her hands over her mouth to stifle the giggles that threatened to spill out at the thought. From the corner of her eye she saw Touga sit down next to her and give her an odd look.
"Kagome what is it that you find so amusing?"
"Nothing!" She shot out a little too quickly for it to be believable.
Inuyasha sat down on her other side and glared at her. "Keh! The wench is probably thinking about this girly necklace she forced me to wear!"
"It is not girly Inuyasha! So be quiet and wear it!"
"Keh! It is so girly wench! And you can't make me do anything!" He shot back angrily.
"My name is not wench! It is Kagome! KA-GO-ME!" She growled out with a heated glare in his direction.
"I'll call you by your name when you take this girly necklace off of me!"
"You will call me by my name regardless Yashy!"
The other two just watched Kagome, and Inuyasha go back and forth with varying forms of amusement or annoyance. Finally Touga had enough and cleared his throat to draw their attention to him. "May we get back to the matter at hand?" He waited until they looked at him with guilty expressions before continuing. "We will set out to collect the jewel fragments at first light tomorrow. Aemi is in charge of running the shiro while we are gone."
"You would leave the Western shiro in the hands of a common kitsune demon? Why would you not call mother to run it in your sted? She is the acting Lady of the West until you decide to take a mate."
Maybe she was just imagining it but Kagome could swear that he glared at her at the end of his sentence. And beside her Touga bristled and growled at his oldest son, while Inuyasha just snorted. And all she could think was that Aemi was much more than Sesshomaru made her out to be. "What is wrong with Aemi running the shiro? If my memory is correct she is in charge of the servants, and scheduling for just about everything. It seems to me that your only problem with her is the fact that she is not of noble blood."
"She is below my bloodline woman. Not that this Sesshomaru answers to you worthless human."
"Worthless human? Is that how you see all humans? Oh wait! I did not even need to ask! You are too pig-headed to see anything beyond your own selfish existence! Would that not make almost anyone better than you?" Anger and mocking coated every word she spoke.
Sesshomaru's eyes flashed red and in response Touga, and Inuyasha stiffened and growled in warning. "You will speak to me with respect you worthless human! I am above your station!" He snarled with fangs bared.
"That very well may be! But I do not give respect to those who have not earned it. And you Sesshy have most definitely not earned it."
Sesshomaru shot up from the tree he was leaning against and stood over her snarling and practically foaming at the mouth. "I will not tell you again woman! You will address me with respect or be punished accordingly!"
Before Touga or Inuyasha could do anything she shot up to her feet and thrust her face right into Sesshomaru's personal space. "And I will not tell YOU again! I only respect those who deserve it! And you do not deserve the respect of anyone!" Her reiki pulsed to the surface of her skin and crackled into the air around her threateningly. She jabbed a reiki coated finger into his chest sending him skidding back across the grass. Just when it looked like he was going to pounce towards her Touga stepped in front of her and growled threateningly.
"Enough from the both of you! If you would like to act like children do it on your own time! But until then I demand that you sit down and act like civilized beings!"
Kagome frowned and grudgingly returned to her seat beside Inuyasha. "Foolish Demon Lord and his holier than thou attitude..." She muttered under her breath.
Sesshomaru just gracefully sat down where he had been and continued with his earlier train of thought. "As I said before the human interrupted me-"
"MY NAME IS NOT HUMAN! IT IS KAGOME! KA-GO-ME!"
He ignored her and continued on. "As I was saying before, mother would be a better choice to have watch over and guard the shiro. She has the power to defend it from any threat and she is a proper Lady who is more than capable of running the day to day operations."
"Yes I understand what you are saying Sesshomaru. But she is also prone to thinking that she owns whatever she sets her sights on. This is my shiro and I do not know if I can trust her to follow my instructions precisely. No I am almost certain that she would only do what she wishes despite my orders. So Aemi will be in charge because she is trustworthy and loyal. She is also more than strong enough to defend it from most threats."
"Keh! And she won't infest the place with her dog in heat stench like your mother would!" Inuyasha snickered.
"Dog in heat?" Kagome turned to Inuyasha curiously.
"Keh! The old bitch is still hot after Father. Whenever she comes to the shiro she stinks the place up with her arousal... It's nasty as hell!"
Something in her felt like it was being torn apart. She knew that Sesshomaru's mother had a thing for Touga but still... She was a woman now and this actually bothered her. Maybe it was because despite the demoness's horrid personality she was still unearthly beautiful. Maybe it was because Touga and Inukimi had a son together... They had history together... Would he ever want to take her back? Why wouldn't he? She was a demon after all and a better match for him. Inukimi would not grow old and die as she would. They could be together for thousands of years to come. But is still hurt to think it because she felt something strong for him... Stronger then what she felt for anyone else before. Why couldn't she understand it? She needed to focus on what was being said.
"I have already informed Aemi of her new duties and she had agreed to them. There will be no more discussion on the matter Sesshomaru. I will also be returning to the shiro from time to time so it will not be left completely in her hands. I will be sure that all is well when I stop in for supplies when we run out."
"Keh! Now that that is all outta the way where do we start lookin for these jewel shards? How the hell are we going to find the damn things?"
"I can answer that." Kagome spoke up drawing their attention to her. She reached into her haori and pulled the fragment she had out for them to see. Its' bright pink light pulsed and shimmered around it. "I can feel it... There is a certain aura to it that I can seem to sense. It shines a bright pink color... Well at least this one does because I have purified it. Their energy draws me in. I am certain that if I am close enough I can sense their locations."
"Well at least we have some way to locate the shards. Even though Sesshomaru will not have any leads on their locations because he refuses to travel with us." Touga sent his son a disappointed look.
"I refuse to travel with a human woman. That is final." Sesshomaru said dismissively.
"I am sure that a demon could feel their power if they were close enough as well Touga. They would be drawn to the jewel's power. So Sesshomaru should be able to sense the shards if he is close enough as well. And if that is not enough I am certain that demons will find them and use them to increase their power. So we should all expect an increase in demon attacks as well."
"Whattaya mean they can increase a demon's power?" Inuyasha asked interestedly.
"I can sense the power of many demons residing in the jewel...along with a strange purifying light... Anyone who comes to possess even a single fragment of the jewel would see an increase in their power be they demon or human." She grasped the shard tightly in her hand. "Much blood will be shed over this damn jewel... We need to hurry and gather the shards as quickly as possible."
Touga nodded in agreement. "Yes I agree with you Kagome. We will set out at first light as long as you are feeling well enough of course."
"I feel more than fine Touga! We cannot wait around while people and demons alike are dying over my mistake!"
"Yeah old man! The wench feels more than fine! Hell she even felt good enough to torment me with her little gift today for her own amusement! Keh! Stupid wench!"
Kagome whirled around in anger and for some unknown reason activated the kotodama with the words "SIT BOY!" The necklace immediately lit up and Inuyasha's body snapped forward and slammed into the ground hard enough to create a small crater.
"ARGH! What the hell wench?!" His voice came out muffled against the dirt.
"YOU! YOU STUPID IDIOTIC! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT UNTIL YOU LEARN SOME MANNERS!" By the time she was finished with her rant Inuyasha was buried six feet into the ground with a huge crater surrounding him.
"Kagome... What did you do to my son?"
She whirled around to face Touga and Sesshomaru, both of which were looking at her in a mixture of astonishment, and amusement. "I placed a necklace of subjugation on him due to his horrible manners! Now every time I say s-i-t he will be viciously slammed into the ground! And no I will not take it off!" She hastily added after Touga opened his mouth to speak.
"I was not going to ask you to. If anything I should be asking why I had not thought of this before."
"Hn. The hanyou could use the lesson in proper etiquette." Sesshomaru agreed before he turned and disappeared into the shiro.
"Why isn't anyone helping me?!" Inuyasha cried out pitifully from the deep crater he was buried at the bottom of.
Kagome huffed and went to climb down into the crater to help him but Touga rested a hand on her shoulder to stop her. Her head jerked over her shoulder and her eyes locked with his. "Touga?"
"Leave him. The pup should dig himself out after the way he addressed you earlier." What he left unsaid was that his pup also deserved to dig himself out for his close proximity to his future mate earlier. "Come so that we may speak on a matter of importance."
She let him lead her away from Inuyasha and into the shiro. What could he want to speak to her about? He led her all the way to her room and ushered her inside.
"Please sit." He gestured to the table near the shoji.
She settled herself down across from him and folded her hands into her lap. "Touga if this is about earlier... I told you the truth."
"I am more than aware Kagome. This is a matter of another kind."
"Like?"
"Do you remember when you were young and I explained pack hierarchy to you?"
"Yes I remember it in detail. Why?" She honestly had no idea what this could have to do with her seeing as how she already knew her place in his pack.
"I was not entirely honest with you about your placement in my pack Kagome. You are more than just an adopted member of the pack."
"I do not understand. How could I be anymore than that? Outsiders are always given a very low place in the pack from the start unless they are the Alpha's mate, or intended mate. And I cannot be that seeing as how I am a human." A pang shot through her heart at admitting that but she pushed it aside. Loving him would only hurt her in the end when she had to leave him behind due to her death. And besides there was no way he could care for her in that way.
"Yes I am aware. Have you ever really thought about the way you have been treated in my shiro? Have you ever thought of the reason why Sesshomaru and his mother resent you so?"
"No I already know why. They hate me because I am a human."
"That is only a part of it." He paused and looked to be gathering his thoughts before he met her eyes with his own. "When I first met you I saw something in you that shattered everything I thought I knew. It was like you became my most treasured person."
"Wha- What are you saying? Surely you cannot be..."
"All beings have a soul mate Kagome. I am no different. A soul mate is not always what one would suspect. I surely did not expect mine to be a small human girl. Nor did I expect her to be a miko. But you are."
She shrunk back away from him in a mixture of fear, and anger. "Do not lie to me Touga! It is not funny!"
Her response was obviously not what he had expected because his eyes narrowed in anger and a low warning growl issued from between his clenched teeth. "I do not lie Kagome."
"You just admitted that you did when I was a girl! How can I believe you now?" A mix of emotions that ranged from anger, sorrow, fear, and even relief for some strange reason tore through her so fast that she could not get a handle on herself. Soul mates? The very idea was laughable to her! Even as a girl she had never believed in two beings being so right for each other that no other would ever fit them the same way. It was... "Ridiculous... Soul mates do not exist. Only foolish little human girls believe in such things Touga. And I do not appreciate whatever game you are playing with me." Her whole being rejected the idea of such a thing. Why?
"Kagome I am telling the truth! Humans may not believe in the concept of soul mates but it is still very real! Demons are more attuned to it than humans for the reason that we are more aware of ourselves."
She shot to her feet and turned her back to him intent on ignoring his nonsense. Her feet carried her to her wardrobe and she snatched a small satchel from it before she started stuffing her essentials into it. Her vision was blurry for some reason. It took her a moment to realize that she was crying. She smirked at the irony of the situation she was in. Most girls would be jumping for joy that a strong handsome male claimed to be her soul mate. But all she could do was get angry and cry about it. What was wrong with her? In her life she had never been so torn and upset about something since her family's deaths.
"Kagome."
She dropped her satchel when strong arms wrapped around her from behind and pulled her back into a strong chest. And for one moment she just let the heartache go and slumped into his embrace. "I do not understand why I feel this way. I do not understand why my entire being rejects this notion with everything in me."
"The soul often knows more than your conscious mind does Kagome. It knows you better than you know yourself. Perhaps you were betrayed by someone that you thought was your soul mate in a previous life. If that is the case then your soul is trying to protect you from that pain again."
Could that be true? Had she been betrayed by one who had been meant for her? Was that why she rejected the one who claimed to be her soul mate now? She needed time to sort her feelings out. "Touga I need some time to think things through. Please just allow me to have some time to come to terms with my feelings before pressing the matter anymore." His arms tightened around her locking her to him and she could feel him bury his face into her hair.
"Very well then. I will give you all the time that you need Kagome. But do not forget what I have said to you on this day for it was all the truth."
She felt him press his lips to the crown of her head before he released her and left her chambers. Why did she feel so empty and alone now that he had left her behind?
Hey guys I bet I surprised you with the whole rejected confession thing! Haha stupid Inuyasha scarring Kagome's soul in her past life! Well I am sure she will get over it soon enough! Maybe... Anyways R&R and let me know what you thought. Oh! And I am thinking about making Kagome give Sesshomaru a certain item that makes him either think out loud, or show his emotions clearly through body language and facial expressions. Lol! Let me know what you all think!