Chapter 11

Closer

A small groan passed the young woman's lips as she slowly opened her eyes. The first thing Kagome noticed was the aching pain in her shoulder and leg. Moving at a gentle pace, she looked down and stared at the bandage on her skin before letting her head plop back down.

"Kikyou…" She whispered as her memories surfaced.

She remembered what happened up until her lord picked her up in his arms. After that, everything was blank. Looking around the room, she realized that she had no idea where she was. The bed she was on was huge and soft, something she had never been on before. It was expensive and she felt as if she didn't belong on it.

Taking her eyes from the giant poster bed, she looked around the room. If she thought the bed was crazy, the room was even worse. In truth, she loved it. Had it been her own room, this was exactly how she would have decorated it. There were weapons on the wall but pieces of art also sat in between each, creating a pattern of sorts.

The walls were a deep red that contrasted against the black floor. Turning to the right, she could see two glass doors that appeared to lead to a balcony. Further back were a few more doors. Due to them being closed, she had no idea where they led.

Letting out another groan, Kagome pushed herself up in the soft bed. Being the warrior that she was, she instantly knew she had to figure out her surroundings. It may not be safe here, wherever here was.

Ignoring the pain in her limbs, she pushed her feet to the floor before looking over herself. She was dressed in a sleeping yukata and was thankful for the clothes. At least she wasn't naked. Walking towards the large wooden doors, though, was harder than she expected.

Every step felt like she was being torn limb from limb. Even so, she continued forward. When she reached the doors, she jumped slightly as they opened automatically for her. She hadn't been expecting that.

Taking her first step into the hall, it took all she had not to vomit right there. She knew now that she was in the Western Palace, but every part of it seemed to be soaked in blood. Servants, and even guards, were attempting to clean the vile stuff from the walls and floors.

Kagome, even with her human senses, couldn't fight the smell of the blood. It was overpowering and made her dizzy. She could only assume how bad it was for the demons. Noticing a servant beside her, Kagome's eyes found the empty bucket by the other woman's side.

Not wasting any time, she grabbed it and let go of any food still left in her stomach. Whatever happened had been a massacre. The poor innocents that were killed had to have been tortured and thrown about to get the shiro looking like this.

"Lady Kagome!" The servant acknowledged as Kagome heaved into the bucket.

Kagome placed a hand on the wall to steady herself but instantly regretted it when she felt the cold, wet substance running through her fingers. Looking at her fingers, she once again lost her stomach as the blood dripped down the back of her hand.

A guard, who had also realized her presence, grabbed her hair and held it up while he rubbed her back. He could smell her tears and knew the sights she was seeing were getting to her. Silently, he ordered for the servant to fetch Lord Sesshomaru.

"What happened?" Kagome asked, her voice hoarse from lack of use and her vomiting.

"It is nothing to worry yourself about, Lady Kagome." The guard answered soothingly. "You must worry about rest. Your wounds have yet to heal."

"I'll be fine. What happened to all of these people?" Kagome demanded, looking towards the man helping her.

"Miko." A deep baritone voice called, causing the two to look up.

Instantly, the guard dropped down into a bow while Kagome locked eyes with Sesshomaru. Dismissing the other man, Sesshomaru gently took the bucket from Kagome before setting it on the ground. He guided her back into his rooms, waiting for the doors to shut before turning to her.

"Please tell me what happened." Kagome asked, pulling at the very-new strings in the lord's heart.

"Sit. This one will clean your hand. Then he will explain." Sesshomaru ordered, watching as the miko shook her head absentmindedly before sitting on his bed.

He looked at her for a second longer before making his way to the bathing chambers connected to his room. He grabbed a wet cloth before returning to the stiff miko. Cautiously, he grabbed her hand and began wiping away the blood, occasionally sneaking glances into her faraway blue orbs.

"Please tell me?" Kagome whispered, causing the lord to release a silent sigh.

"Do you remember what happened with you, your sister, and the half-breed?" He asked, looking back down at her hand which seemed tiny compared to his big ones.

"Yea. The last thing I remember is you picking me up." Kagome answered.

"InuYasha escaped the dungeons. What you saw was a 'gift' he left for me." Sesshomaru answered. Lying to her was pointless. She would just get the truth from someone else.

"How many?"

"Seventy-four."

"Children?" At her question, Sesshomaru looked back up into her gaze, debating on his answer. Her needful eyes made up his mind.

"Eight." Was his reply.

Kagome's shoulders slumped and tears began falling down her face. She felt as if everything was her fault. InuYasha attacked because she was here; she was sure of it. For a hundred years, she had escaped him, and now he's back, hurting others.

"Do not, Miko. What the half-breed did is not your fault." Sesshomaru growled, slightly irritated that she blamed herself.

When her hand was clean, he threw the rag to the floor before standing in front of her. Her gaze looked up at him and he knew she had many questions. Sighing once again, he motioned for her to get settled in the bed. When she was, he settled himself at the footboard, looking at her.

"Where am I?" She asked, looking around the room once again.

"These are my chambers. You will now reside here. InuYasha was sure to ruin your own room. This is for your safety." He answered, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Will that be awkward for you?"

"We are adults. I do believe we will not jump each other." Sesshomaru stated with a slight smirk.

"Was that a joke, Lord Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked, slightly amazed that the cold lord was teasing her.

"Take it as you wish, Miko."

"Where is our son?" She asked, causing the lord to freeze.

Just her simple wording was enough to catch him off guard, and he wondered why she had such an effect on him. In truth, that is what Youta was, but hearing her say it like that had the lord thinking of the miko in ways that he shouldn't. Inwardly killing those thoughts, he turned his attention back towards the woman.

"He is helping the others clean."

"What happened after Kikyou and InuYasha left?" She asked, trying to think back on everything but failing.

"You fainted in this one's arms, I assume from the use of your reiki. I took you to the nearest village and a healer healed you. I then brought you here." He answered, watching as the tiny woman nodded.

"Why? Why bring me to your rooms? Why protect me? Why do you care?" Kagome inquired, her gaze questioning.

"You are supposed to fight–"

"Yea, yea. I'm supposed to fight for your lands, and I can't do that if I'm dead. What's the real reason?" She interrupted while waving her hand in annoyance at the lord.

"This one…does not know." He admitted, hating himself for it. He finally turned away from her piercing blue eyes, unable to look into them anymore.

"At least that answer is truthful. I could get used to this room. It is gorgeous." Kagome stated before a thought popped into her head. "I'm not going to have to watch you take concubines, am I?"

Unable to hold back his chuckle, the lord shook his head. "I may be male, but I do have control. Concubines do not interest me."

"Good, because I'm not sure I would want to see that…" Kagome teased, her eyes looking over the lord. She noticed the amusement on his face and was glad she was able to see a side of him that was more relaxed.

"I expect the same with you." He added.

"Don't worry. Out of my entire lifetime, I have only had three partners, none of them concubines." She admitted truthfully.

"Only three in five-hundred years?"

"Well, yea. I don't go spreading my legs for just anyone, Lord Sesshomaru. What kind of girl do you take me for?" She replied, a little offended.

"You loved them?" He asked, pleased that she was finally answering some of his questions.

"Just one: InuYasha. Although I was…forced, I still include him on that list. Another was a marriage my parents put me into. He lasted a year before he died in war. The last was a wolf prince. We simply wanted that companionship you can only get from the opposite sex." Kagome explained with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Hn. This one can understand the last one." Sesshomaru mumbled, thinking of just how attracted to the miko he was.

"Yea. It's been about two-hundred years since I last saw him though. Then after InuYasha, I haven't been attracted to anyone, at least until now, that is." Kagome said before snapping her mouth shut and beginning to blush.

"And who is it that has caught your interest?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Kagome snapped in her embarrassment. Sesshomaru just chuckled a bit before turning to more pressing matters.

"Explain InuYasha's involvement with the East."

"Well, I don't know any recent developments, but do you remember that story I told your patrol about me rescuing that baby from the Eastern Lord?" Kagome paused, waiting on his nod. "After that, I obviously wasn't allowed in the East anymore. InuYasha and Kikyou were there when I stole the child. Because of this, the lord took InuYasha as his prisoner to pay for my actions. I told InuYasha I would help him but things started going downhill. I found out he enjoyed raping women and told him I never wanted to see him again. After that, he…you know the rest."

"He raped you?" Sesshomaru asked, needing to know the answer. He assumed, but he wanted to hear it.

A small, hesitant nod was what he received, and instantly, it took everything he had to keep his beast back. More than anything, he wanted to march to the East and kill his brother for everything he did to this woman.

Kagome watched as the lord seemed to suddenly disappear within himself. His eyes bled red and his irises turned blue. He was growling lowly to himself, and it honestly seemed as if he had forgotten he was in the room.

Hesitantly, Kagome began crawling towards him. She knew what she was doing. His beast was out, and he could very well kill her, but she didn't want him to go on a rampage and kill everything in sight because of his brother.

Gently, she reached out a hand and placed it on his cheek, running her thumb along his jagged stripes. His eyes instantly focused on hers and she was caught in their beautiful, yet terrifying, color. After a few moments, the red began fading as his gold returned.

"Are you okay?" She asked in a soft voice.

Sesshomaru grabbed her wrist softly and moved her hand away from his face. He couldn't believe what she just did. "You are a foolish woman."

"I've been told that before." She whispered, realizing just how close they were.

Their faces were only inches apart. Each could feel the breath of the other on their skin. Lost in the moment, Sesshomaru's hand slowly moved from her wrist to her own hand. His fingers wrapped around hers in a tight, but careful, grip.

Slowly, they moved towards one other, not even realizing what they were doing. Just before their lips touched, a loud knock banged on the closed doors, causing both of them to jump away from one another.

"Enter." Sesshomaru called, releasing the miko's hand and cursing himself for his loss of control.

The moment the word left his mouth, his doors magically opened, revealing two servants holding trays of food. They walked into the room silently before setting down the trays on a small table.

"Milord, we have brought you and the Lady Miko dinner." The female said before bowing and leaving the two in an awkward tension.

Kagome's mind was reeling. She didn't know what just happened. Sure, she was attracted to him, but she knew he would never be attracted to a human female like her. Then there was the fact that whatever had been about to happen hadn't felt sexual in the slightest.

Her heart was thumping in her chest, and it was taking everything she had to get it back under control. The last thing she needed was for him to hear how stupid she was being. Forcing herself back under control, she reached over and grabbed a tray, beginning to nibble on the food.

"I didn't know you had a brother, let alone InuYasha." Kagome admitted, trying to break the tension.

Sesshomaru looked towards the miko, silently thanking her for acting as if nothing had happened. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about it because even he wasn't sure what had just happened. He debated on whether or not to answer but decided, since she had been giving him answers, he should return the favor.

"Half-brother." He corrected before looking away. "Father was not mated to my mother. They had a political alliance to create the next heir to the throne. Once I was weaned from my mother, she was sent away so I could begin my training. It was after my training was complete that Father met Izayoi. She was a horrible and greedy woman, but Father never saw this. He saw her beauty and the fact that she was a hime. Ignoring the council's wishes, he mated her."

"I assume that didn't go over well." Kagome stated, taking a bite of her food.

"You assume correctly. Within a month, she was pregnant with the whelp. Her attitude towards everyone only worsened with time. She felt she was above all others because she was the Lady of the West. She even thought to try and order this one around." Sesshomaru stopped when a small snort left Kagome.

"I can only imagine how you handled that." She teased, loving the tiny half-smile she got from the male in the room.

"She only did it once." He agreed. "When InuYasha was born, she just got worse. When he was grown, she expected Father to declare me no longer heir and instead, give it to InuYasha. Father agreed, but at this, the council put their foot down. War broke out in the Western Lands. Father was surprised to learn just how many people despised his mate. He stood alone against the entire West. In an attempt to save his mate, he stepped down from his throne and I stepped into it."

"That was considerate, but stupid. He lost all authority to protect her, and I assume, because she is no longer here, he failed." Kagome cut in, shocking Sesshomaru.

"You are correct, though I am surprised." He admitted, cocking his head to the side slightly.

"If I was to mate into power, I would never let my mate give up his lands for me. I also wouldn't treat anyone as if they were beneath me." She said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Even if your life was on the line, you still would not allow your mate to step down?"

"Of course not. First of all, I can protect myself. Second of all, his land would have been his first before I came into the picture. Who am I to take that away?" She answered. "Now get back to the story."

"Hn. A few years after Father stepped down, Izayoi was murdered. Father took it hard but InuYasha took it worse. His mother was the only one who accepted him. He believed it was because of his hanyou status, but it was really because he was just like his mother. After her death, he went downhill. Two years later, I found him forcing himself on a woman. He had the audacity to ask me if I wanted to join. This angered me, and I lost control. In his attempt to hold me back, I very nearly killed Father just to get to the half-breed. When I was finally calm, I gave into Father's wishes and banished InuYasha instead of killing him, something I regretted instantly." Sesshomaru finished, looking towards the miko.

"He actually asked you to join in?" She asked, looking stunned. "Was he really that stupid?"

"Indeed."

"Wow. Well, you still won't be killing him." Kagome started. "His death will be caused by my hands."

"That is something this one will gift you." Sesshomaru agreed with a nod of his head.

"Thank-you. For everything, not just InuYasha." Kagome whispered, blushing slightly.

"There is no need for your thanks. I will return to my study for now. Stay and rest. You need to heal." He ordered, standing from his sitting position.

With a slight nod, he turned and left the room, leaving Kagome alone with her thoughts. She wasn't sure what was going on between her and the daiyokai, but she knew something was. It scared her because she couldn't name it. All she knew was that it was something she needed to put a stop to.

-sSs-

A new step in theor relationship though neither of them will admit it. Soon they will get together, somewhat. It will be awhile before they love each other.

I do not own InuYasha.