A/N: Okay so I ended up with a friend coming over to spend the weekend; he didn't know I was going to my grandparents (that was planned last minute) and had no way to get back home. I spent all morning waffling on whether or not to update, but y'all have my fiancee to thank for this update, she convinced me to give you guys another chapter. Also, a guest left a comment about Nature vs. Nurture and my opinion on it... Look. I do not allow my views and opinions to interfere with the creative process of writing. Things happen as they will and if I happen to agree with them, then good for me, yayness all around. If not, then too bad for me, I still keep it in. I don't have an opinion leaning one way or the other on Nature vs. Nurture; to me they are of equal importance and thus the debate is useless.
This chapter has two lemons; however before – and between – the sexual content is some important worldbuilding and/or plot-related stuff. The lemons are going to be fairly obvious, there is limey content sprinkled before the first lemon—fairly non-descriptive, and although the beginning seems like a lemon, it skips the sex. Also for those of you who don't mind lemons but don't like the S&M to it, the second one has none of that. It's lovemaking, pure and simple.
For anyone who cares: I don't intend for there to be all that much sexual content in the story entire, but I'm not going to shy away from it if the characters demand it, and they are demanding it now. Partly because it's plot-related-ish. Also; no, I do not make partitions to keep sexual content in, most of the time it just comes when it does and ends when it does and that's that. That's just how I write. The last one starts after a partition but ends far before the end of the chapter. This is the last time I will warn about any sexual content in this fic. From now on expect that it won't be frequent, but it'll happen sometimes, and often be pretty obvious when it's starting.
Kagome groaned softly and burrowed into the fur beneath her, the soft ruff adorning her mate's neck completely encasing her nude form. He rumbled gently at her and she shook her head. "Owanna; the ōkami are so rowdy, I miss just our pack."
"Then let us go gather up our pack, say our goodbyes, and continue on our travels. I admit; the time alone has been perfect for what I needed but I dearly miss our children and brothers."
Her plan was working so far, then – Sesshōmaru was beginning to accept his pack more closely as family and instead of wishing for solitude away from them, as he had just barely been beginning to do, was finding solitude with them. Kagome admitted, however, that the ōkami had been a bit much. Not that she had intended for that – she'd genuinely forgotten how bad they were.
Sighing, she snuggled further into the ruff around his neck and moaned a bit; he was so soft. Seriously, it was sinful how amazing his fur felt against her skin. He must have caught that thought because soon he was transforming back, arms around her and laying her out on mokomoko-sama with a wicked grin, "We still have some more time... let us make good use of it."
Smiling, Kagome wriggled around on the delightful pelt and opened her arms to welcome him, more than willing to get lost in pleasure again.
Kagome yawned as she snuggled into her mate's back yet again; they were on their way back to the ōkami tribes – it was mid-morning now (okay, so they had lost track of time... Who could blame them – unlike a normal couple they weren't able to get alone time with each other very frequently!) and they didn't want the alarm to sound. It was fun though, to watch the sentries stare at Sess while she sat up and waved at them, before leaping down off of his back and watching him re-assuming humanoid form. He picked her up, making her squeak and giggle, though she knew why he was insisting on carrying her for this. Despite the fact that they were waiting for a while to have children, she had started her fertile cycle right last night – and also still smelled heavily of lust and sex due to their earlier activities.
Sesshō might have been wonderfully in control, but there was such a thing as too much and she knew some random ōkami males coming up to her and being invasive would be just that. It didn't matter that her clothes dampened the scent of her lust, pleasure, and fertility – ōkami had stronger noses than even inu had.
Luckily they got out without any trouble; though there had been a couple close calls before Ayame intervened from a distance.
Men, seriously – it wasn't as if her mate's scent wasn't completely covering her, jeez. At least interested women had more sense than to head towards someone obviously covered in a mate's scent, no matter how attracted they were to them – and, surprisingly enough, there were plenty of interested women around; apparently the ōkami tribes were very open to alternate lifestyles.
When she remarked about that to Sesshō he nuzzled her forehead and said that most yōkai were much more open to that sort of thing – really, even if you were in a high position in your family so long as you gave them an heir and a spare, you weren't required to stick with conventional relationships. Lots of people entered into breeding contracts if they weren't interested in the opposite sex; or had a lover their family didn't want in the bloodline. For instance mixed breed children often were more unstable – a hanyō would be far more stable than, say, a feline type yōkai mating with a canine type yōkai; the strongest bloodline would breed true but felines had different kinds of strengths, so you never knew whether the child would be feline or canine.
And because the child would not usually have visible signs such as a tail or ears that could give away their species, it would be far more difficult to raise them correctly; especially if they had both sets of instincts. It could definitely be done, and Sesshōmaru had seen it done beautifully, even, but it took a child with a strong will and parents (or a parent – or a big brother; with permission, Sesshōmaru was teaching Byakuya how to interpret his instincts both as a moth would and as an inu would – leaning towards inu most importantly, because Byakuya was created and could handle it) with lots of patience to make it happen.
That was partly why hanyō were treated so degradingly – it was often unavoidable for them to be somewhat at war with themselves, having both sets of instincts until one or the other won out. Sesshōmaru knew plenty who didn't, employed many of them, but all the more well-known hanyō were constantly at war with themselves. Both ningen and yōkai detested such weakness, although Sesshōmaru informed her that due to their... interesting... physical states, and the fact that she already had naturally gravitated towards inu instincts, their own pups would not suffer such a fate.
Kagome adored how willing her mate was to explain these things to her; and adored that she wouldn't have to worry about her children now. Despite being told that her children wouldn't be physically and mentally unstable like Inuyasha was due to her blood being powerful, she had still worried about their instinctual selves.
And, back to the present; they were finally nearing Ayame and their pack.
Soon she was hugging the ōkami princess and saying a teary goodbye, her family all thanking her for her hospitality as they finally, finally left. Roku seemed to catch her feelings, as once they were out of hearing range, he prodded at her with his hōriki, knowing better than to touch her while Sesshōmaru was so possessively holding onto her. No doubt he was aware of exactly why her mate was holding onto her so tightly – there were still ōkami around scouting, after all, and whenever Kagome was in her fertile cycle they stayed away from any possible place of residence, hunted for enough food for the pack for four days, and then took off to be alone.
At least the pack was large enough now that, although their alphas were missed, they still had plenty of people to snuggle with. Sesshōmaru kept mokomoko-sama with the pack so that it wasn't as hard to deal with not having their family around, but the daiyōkai had gotten a gleam the last time he mentioned that that gave Roku some ideas that his dearest brother had a plan.
Roku was definitely looking forward to that. "Yes, Roku?"
He pulled from his thoughts with a smile at her, "Relieved to be back to just the pack, sister?"
She sighed and nuzzled into mokomoko-sama with a nod and a soft, "Yes," squirming ever so lightly against her mate – a sure sign, to the two other (very male) adults in her group that their brother (Byakuya might be Kagome's "cousin," since she couldn't decide whether he was more like an older brother or a younger brother, but he was definitely Sesshōmaru's "brother," no doubt about it) was likely the only thing that had gotten them out of the ōkami caves today instead of waiting until their pack-sister's fertility period was over.
Mamoru chuckled into the back of his mind and commented, "Indeed; Kagome was quite reluctant to leave – usually she takes better care of remembering when her fertile cycle is, but she forgot this time around. Even now, the poor woman is in heat and desperate to get away – her mate is the only thing keeping her sane. I do believe your query, all those moons ago, about the power she holds making her different than ningen has quite a bit of merit – certainly Kagome could not be called a normal ningen now. It is my belief that she is changing into something neither ningen nor yōkai – something in between, almost like a hanyō; stronger, faster, less vulnerable than a ningen is, but more soft-hearted than your average yōkai. Not to mention her wielding reiki and miko-ki as she calls it, instead of yōki or reiryoku."
Roku nodded, then stared at the calculating look that his brother was giving his mate and his mokomoko-sama. "Hey, Mamoru... Any idea what's up with that look he keeps giving Kagome and mokomoko-sama?"
The nekomata snickered and simply said, "Mokomoko-sama is a parasite – and does not need yōki to work or be used, just any ki at all. I suspect our esteemed alpha has found out from his own some of the ways in which they reproduce and is intending on gifting his mate with one... I'll not go into any other details, however – they would be very likely unwelcome to any who are not yōkai; plus, are private."
"Let me guess – Kagome is yōkai enough that whatever disturbing details are involved, she will accept them easily?"
Mamoru smirked into his mind, turning his head back to shoot him a grin, "Of course, dearest monk. Although, they actually aren't that weird or disturbing, just very odd to think about the mechanics of how it works."
Roku sighed and shook his head when Kohaku asked him if he was okay, and he murmured to the younger male, "Just thinking that our sister is weird. You'll understand when you're older."
Kohaku shook his head and scoffed, "I know that much already. Kagome-ne should have been born yōkai rather than ningen."
That... Actually, that summed things up so absolutely perfectly that Miroku, Byakuya (who was flying next to them beside Mamoru – all of them, including the children, were travelling far behind their alphas by now, in deference to their current states of mind), and Mamoru all cracked up – even Kohaku grinned wryly.
Although really; being who she was, it was actually good that Kagome wasn't a yōkai. Her enormous heart wouldn't be appreciated as much if she wasn't born a ningen.
Kagome, meanwhile, was drowsing in and out, clutching at her lover and mokomoko-sama – the latter of which was just being cruel to her, caressing and teasing her through and beneath her clothes and pleasuring her in ways that Sesshōmaru wasn't able to right now. She needed it, though. Just as they were getting ready to leave the ōkami cave the heat that came with her two most fertile periods – just at the beginning of winter and just at the beginning of spring (It was mid-March right now), gripped her so strongly that she was completely out of it for five whole minutes. If Sess hadn't been able to feel what was "wrong" through the bond he would have been very worried about her. She was barely able to stand it right now; she needed to be away, alone, and mating right now.
It didn't matter that they probably weren't going to have pups for several decades – maybe even over a century – yet; her body still needed what it unfortunately at the moment had to be denied.
Thank Kami that the moment she had felt Toga's unmistakeable presence again, he had departed – no doubt he had been intending on apologising and letting them know how he was going to make things up to them, but right now she needed to be alone with Maru.
Honestly, she didn't care any more that it was earlier than a sennight, even if his apology wasn't suitable enough; she pretty much just wanted the whole situation over with. But it had to wait.
He might've made mistakes, but the other daiyōkai was no fool. He probably hadn't even scented her arousal and fertility; just how badly her aura was spiking would let him know to wait until her aura had calmed down, although he wouldn't know why right now. If he was willing to do that, Kagome was willing to be nice. Toga knew her right now, and he knew both of his sons through her memories as well, but he did not know the rest of his extended family – not how they had changed since becoming pack or since the last memory.
She would fix that. It would do them all good; especially since he was at such a huge disadvantage with her around, it was unfair of her to keep the playing field uneven. Her family needed to become his allies – and, eventually, to become his family as well – for things to be fair. Maru loved him, after all, and he'd been brought back for a reason, and Kagome knew she would be forgiving him far sooner than she actually wanted, because that would make her mate so happy and she wanted Maru happy no matter what it took.
With that scrambling around in her mind, and running completely on instinct that would probably simultaneously piss her off and make her proud once she was thinking logically again, Kagome contacted one of the three members of their group she could actually communicate intelligibly with right now.
"Mamoru? I want you to do me a favour. Toga-san's been brought back to life, and also been poking his nose around, and he has business so I know he won't stray too far – let him know once we leave the camp we settle into that he is formally invited by this Kagome to stay in our camp until his immediate business with this Kagome and her mate is finished. Also, please tell Maru what I just told you because I can't actually talk right now."
That last part was true; talking was impossible.
Kagome wished she had her own mokomoko-sama so she could torture Maru as much as he was torturing her.
Suddenly a thought flashed into her head, via Mamoru. "Your mate says, "If you want it, you shall have it," whatever that means. Also, he is incredibly pleased with your decision and thanks you."
"Tell him thank you and please no more talking because I am losing my mind."
Mamoru chuckled a bit at that, before promptly leaving her alone. Mokomoko-sama, however, doubled its assault on her, going so far as to cover her mouth so that when she finally came from all the attention, the fur completely muffled her moan.
Kagome couldn't be mad, however – even if it wasn't fully what she needed right now, she had still very much needed that.
Finally, finally, they were out of the ōkami territories, in a defensible place with onsen near it, and, Sesshōmaru informed their pack so they would not worry about their alphas, with a set of very secluded and difficult to reach caves. Under his breath, so that only Kagome could hear, he informed her that those caves had space for a created onsen inside of them, and after Maru left the camp he growled to her that he would make her a hot spring, because whatever she wanted, he was going to give to her, and he knew that she always wanted onsen when they secluded themselves away like this.
Higurashi Kagome fell in love with Sesshōmaru all over again, at that declaration. Even more when she found out that he'd arranged for the pack to feed themselves this time – it wouldn't happen regularly, he informed her, but since she had been caught off guard, he needed to care for her more than them right now; after all, he knew for a fact that every member could hunt for themselves.
She, however, could not take care of her need on her own.
When they reached the cave, the first thing Sesshōmaru did was take off mokomoko-sama (He'd kept it this time? What was up with that?) and lay it onto the ground; then he laid her out onto the living fur pelt and moved away from her after kissing her deeply, telling her he would be right back – he wanted to make her onsen before she distracted him too much to concentrate.
Knowing that she had that much power over her mate had Kagome incredibly smug. Especially because mokomoko-sama reflected her mate's emotions and it was squirming and rubbing and generally touching her in ways that made it clear her mate was barely holding himself back – and that when he returned he would be feral.
Oh, was Kagome looking forward to that. Out of everything they did intimately, nothing could match how much better everything was when he was feral.
Time passed in a haze after that thought, but she didn't think it was very long before her mate was back with her, completely feral; red, bleeding eyes with blue irises that were narrowed and intent on her, jagged crimson stripes all over his gorgeous, perfect body, and growling so loudly that her own body vibrated, the moment he saw her. He immediately claimed her, slamming into her with a long and loud, "Mine."
Thankfully he'd already put the barrier up, and within just a short few minutes, Kagome was screaming out her orgasm, and then a second, and a third. He was doing this to her on purpose and she fucking loved it and all she could do was growl and whine and whimper out instinctive, begging pleas for more more more.
He complied, flipping her over so that she was on all fours – her body at an angle after he manoeuvred it, and her head resting on her hands and on mokomoko-sama. Then he was taking her and claiming her and mating her just how she needed. Slamming into her, digging his claws into her hips so deeply that she couldn't immediately heal like her energy normally did, biting her mark oh Kami that felt perfect, not caring that she was bleeding because she wasn't a frail ningen any more and he could fuck her how her mind was screaming out into his own for him to do.
He was fully engaged and focused on giving her exactly what she needed in her own feral state; calling her his bitch, his mate, his aite, simply his, over and over again; scraping his claws up and down her sides and back; licking and biting over her body wherever he could reach; showing how he didn't care when he purposely pulled out of her, ran his tongue along the inside of the scar they made together over two years ago, and slammed right back into her.
All the while telling her she was fucking beautiful, my gorgeous, perfect bitch, all mine.
She barely even noticed that he wasn't speaking aloud either.
Kagome was gone, her voice was hoarse, and she could barely comprehend him when her deepest need was finally met and he spilled his essence into her, holding her body against him so that she could finally heal over, kissing and licking at her mark, and nuzzling her neck whenever he wasn't doing that, his hands and claws ever-so-gentle as he stroked over her soft, slick skin.
When Kagome's mind finally returned she was completely enveloped in her mate, or at least that was what it felt like, and she felt him smile against her neck and nuzzle it softly again, pushing her hair out of the way, as he spoke to her, into her mind.
"It seems, my precious, beloved, perfect mate, that our mating bond has finally completed, after almost a year."
"It feels like... Like I'm inside you, completely enveloped... It feels so wonderful, like no matter what you will always be surrounding and protecting me."
He growled softly and affirmatively to her, responding that, "It is supposed to feel that way when the mates are suited for each other. It generally takes between six moons and a year to complete, so ours was not unusual – the mind-speech is, but we are soul-bound and soul-mated; it is natural for our state."
She sighed and moaned at that, cuddling back against him and baring her neck as her mind laughed out, "It's convenient, since I am positive my voice is completely gone now."
Maru chuckled aloud at that – even his voice was a little raw from all the use it had gotten – before idly commenting to her, his mind feeling both proud and smug, "You were completely inu, I'll have you know. You were speaking and responding to me as if you were an inu yōkai bitch that had gone feral. I am very pleased with this, kitten."
The miko wrinkled her nose and huffed lightly, pouting, "You tell me I was completely inu and sound incredibly proud of me, then go around and call me kitten! That's hardly fair, Maru!"
"Despite everything, you will always be my kitten, koishi – you will learn to deal with it – besides, you cannot hide from me that you actually enjoy being called that; the complaining is just from embarrassment and not knowing how to react to your pleasure."
Dammit, he had her there, the arrogant, smug, Royal Asshole. Kagome had no idea how to react to being called something adorable, fluffy, sweet, and feisty. A diminutive pet name that told of her curiosity and excitement, and was – despite the fact that in every way that mattered, Kagome was entirely canine and vulpine – an incredibly accurate name for her. After all, unless she was in heat, she generally mewled her responses to her mate.
Her mate was following her thought process – he didn't have to, she knew, but he wanted to, and was not being sly about it – and traced the shell of her ear with his tongue at the same time as he ran his hand over and into the scar that they had made together. "Just accept it, precious, beloved, wonderful, beautiful, absolutely perfect mate of mine. I love you, and you are mine – mate, beloved, bitch, kitten, lover, aite; eventually, wife as well. Just accept me, Kagome."
Kagome almost cried, but she managed to keep from spilling her tears as she nodded, wrapped her arms around his lower arm, and held him as tight as she could to her, responding back to him, "I accept you, Sesshōmaru, in every way possible. I can't promise to stop complaining, or worrying, but I will do my best to try and stop so that eventually it won't happen."
Then something occurred to her and she tilted her head, curiosity taking over, "Why did you bring mokomoko-sama with us this time?"
He chuckled into her mind, licking her ear again, "To give you what you want, of course. Did this one not tell you that if you want it you shall have it? Mokomoko-sama reproduces in many ways, but the simplest course is for me to mate you on it with the intent, somewhere in my mind, for it to duplicate itself. The thought was humming in the back of my head whilst I mated you, though just barely, so by the time we leave you will have your own mokomoko-sama; they do not require yōki to exist, any kind of ki will do, and they generate their own yōki for defence and attack purposes. Possibly from the ki of their host, but this Sesshōmaru is unsure of that."
Kagome didn't really care how it was happening; the fact that she was getting her own mokomoko-sama completely overtook her mind and she squirmed in excitement, "Yay! I get my own mokomoko-sama. Thank you so much, Maru!"
She paused in her squirming, before grinding very purposely back towards her mate, lover, and other half – her alpha and her equal and the owner of her heart. "Let me show my thanks in a more tangible way, beloved Sesshōmaru mine."
His answering grin, and the way he pinned her to the pelt, was all she could ever want in that moment.
Toga was more than a little surprised when the mind of the nekomata that travelled with his son touched his mind and gave him a proper, formal invitation to reside with them until his immediate business (meaning the apology – nothing more. That was very smart, indeed. What a clever mate his son had!) was finished – not from his son, but from his daughter(-in-law; that was so hard to remember when he completely adored the girl already; she was perfect for his eldest son and Toga wished that they weren't on such bad terms because he wanted to get to know her better – and to get to know his son better, too; this new yōkai that was so obviously open and free with his affections around his pack) of all people.
It only took one day for Toga to be utterly gobsmacked with his extended-pack.
A slightly lecherous monk who was wise and knowledgeable far beyond his years, with faint and receding lines of suffering in his body that spoke of a lifetime of expecting death. He was far different than the original memories had had him, although the new ones had been somewhat more in alignment. Toga was positively certain that no secret could be kept from him – or pulled from him. He knew everything that went on in the pack, likely even before his alphas, and kept things in hand – Toga was well familiar with this kind of person, and was astonished that both his son and his daughter had such an unusual and valuable person's complete and utter devotion and loyalty.
A somewhat flamboyant (it seemed that he used to be far more so, but that some of the flamboyance was fading away as time passed), polite, utterly hilarious, and absurdly talented moth yōkai (maybe, anyway; he didn't seem normal – oh yeah, he'd been created by that Naraku bastard, to begin with – Toga didn't know how he'd ended up here, but that wasn't important right now... Wait; actually maybe it was, his instincts were niggling at him) who was a stunning illusionist and a great conversationalist, with his head on very straight. He kept uncontrollably alternating between seeming closer to his son's age and a good bit younger; Toga thought that there was something causing the struggle that he was unaware about – but also noticed that several people in the camp helped the yōkai with ease, and were used to the changes, so maybe it was nothing strange.
Ah-Un and Jaken he already knew; but Ah and Un spoke to him of how their pack treated them as sentient as they were, excepting the imp. That was a shock – especially when it was made clear that it was the fault of the only two females in the pack: and that they had been treating the twosome that was also one like that from the moment they met them, even before they could talk to them. Everybody in the pack excepting the little girl could talk to them, and someone always translated for her, although they assured him that even with nobody around, she understood them fine, because she read their hearts.
A young taijiya bonded to a nekomata, who seemed to adore his eldest son if the respectful, awed tone he had when talking about "Sesshōmaru-ni" was anything to go by. He was incredibly close to the illusionist and was most often the one approaching him when his struggles were worst. He also changed; from seeming older than his years to closer to his actual age, but his changes seemed different to the illusionist's somehow, even beyond the fact that his were incredibly deliberate rather than somewhat uncontrolled. They seemed more… intentional, it felt like.
The nekomata himself was great fun; and more than a little sly, just like a cat. They hadn't featured much in the memories, although they'd definitely been in them; the taijiya both as antagonist and ally, the nekomata as a recent ally.
Then there were the little ones; an eleven year old girl who had been killed by ōkami and the seventy four year old kitsune kit who had tried to steal shards from Kagome to get revenge; again, he remembered the kit well from the memories but he was definitely different now. The girl had been familiar too, but she hadn't changed too much – except that after being made pack-daughter, her names for people changed.
He had been slightly surprised when he'd been informed that the alphas that very obviously cared for their pack had told the group to fend for themselves; until he found out why they were gone, that it was a once-in-a-very-rare-time occasion, and that normally they did not do that, although this time they had because every member of the group could fend for themselves. That was a surprise, but a pleasant one. Nobody here was helpless.
He realised, as he watched his son's pack train in the mornings, that this was probably the most balanced and talented family he'd ever met – and their ties all the stronger because they picked each other and wanted each other. They practically never argued seriously, were respectful to each other even as they teased and joked, never took things too far, and were, absolutely and positively, every last one of them, willing to do more than die for their alphas.
That was great pack policy, right there. Especially once he found out about all the extended-pack he would probably never meet just because there were so many widely-dispersed and varied members that considered their Kagome to be family to them and that Sesshōmaru literally believed that if they were Kagome's family, they were his too – even if he did not like them much.
Of course, they'd lucked out so far and the only person he'd disliked was his half-brother – and for good reason, too, Toga obviously knew. The pack had been slightly stunned at that, until he told them that Kagome arranged for him to know, leading the monk, Roku, to give him a knowing look; apparently he, at least, knew about the memories.
That wasn't much of a surprise because seriously, the monk was obviously head over heels for the girl, and also obviously as close to her as a precious and beloved sibling would be to a loved younger sister. No jealousy, no fighting, no mean teasing – just unconditional, unashamed, and unbelievably strong love.
His son was an amazing yōkai to be able to accept that into his pack; because he clearly knew – he had to, that monk wouldn't let himself be accepted as pack if Sesshōmaru didn't know. He was too honourable by half to allow that sort of thing.
Toga couldn't wait for his son and daughter(in-law) to come back to the group. As a matter of fact, he wouldn't wait; once he sensed the two of them he would go seek them out – what he had to do and to say needed to be done in private, without anyone else knowing beforehand. He didn't care if anyone else knew: they all liked him a lot and were obviously unaware of his larger mistakes; except the monk, who was surprisingly accepting of him anyway, despite feeling that Sesshōmaru was a beloved brother. (Maybe that boded well for Toga and meant that his apology would be accepted, but he wouldn't expect it to go that way just because Roku accepted him as he was – that acceptance could merely be due to the knowledge that his son still respected him.) It was more important that his son and daughter(in-law) have the privacy they deserved when he apologised – and more.
Kagome arched beneath her lover as he ever-so-gently scraped his fangs over her mating mark, his breath whispering over the scars as he murmured to her how much he loved her, how precious she was to him, how amazing she was, how he needed her, wanted her, delighted in her.
She quietly responded to him the same exact things, sobbing against his shoulder as he made love to her in such a way that she would never forget how much he desired, cared for, and needed her; she would never be able to doubt his love for her again, even when mindless with fear, and he knew that, and just went on making it even more impossible to forget as he practically worshipped her body. She'd done the last to him the last round they had, he murmured to her, so it was only fair she get the same treatment – she obviously needed it just as much as he had, if not far, far more.
Kagome couldn't even deny that – she'd woken up this morning, many, many hours ago now, from a terrifying nightmare that she had only had once before; only to find his arms around her, him murmuring to her in her mind, out loud, and sending comfort and love to her through their bond... And had then, in an instinctive reaction to the lingering terror from the uncommon nightmare, promptly been unable to stop the deep, heart-wrenching fear that he was a dream, that this was a dream and she was unworthy of him and Inuyasha was right about all those things he'd said about her and please just be a dream, don't be a dream, she was so confused!
Well; her mate had obviously not been about to allow any of that to stand, because it was so very wrong. Kagome knew that now; more than knew it, believed it. She'd found out by now that not only were those two very distinctly different things, but that they were both integral to making things even. She'd made him believe in her all those moons ago; now he was making her believe in him. It was as simple as that, he'd said, and as he kissed his way along her collarbone and up the front of her throat, his body moving within her even as he held her close and pressed against her, she cried harder because he was not holding the slightest bit of anything back from her and fuck he loved her every last bit as much as she loved him; wholly, unrestrainedly, with every single piece of his heart and soul.
It wasn't even hard not to think about the scar disfiguring her body – that had been the first thing he worshipped, and Kagome now knew without fail that to him, the deep gash curving over and around her hip was part of what made her perfect. She'd kind of known before – he always paid attention to it – but never really been able to wrap her head around it. It was not that he couldn't love her without it, not at all, it was just that it was something integral to what made them them and for that he loved it about her, completely and totally.
It made her more beautiful to him, and she hadn't been able to stop sobbing since then, because he loved her so much and she loved him just as much and it was too perfect for anything and she was the luckiest being alive and she was oh, ever so happy.
Her happiness was infectious, and her mate was encouraging every last bit of it, even though it meant he had to regularly stop what he was doing to her and lick away her tears for a few minutes.
They just made the experience even more intimate and loving. Something that, like the time he had finally let loose those tears he had, when she had finally made him believe fully in her, neither of them would ever forget.
He softly bit her earlobe and then her jaw and then down her neck and then her mark and she came, gasping, crying, overcome. It was not the first time, nor, he informed her, would it be the last – he was going to keep this up until neither of them could stand it any more.
And that was exactly what he did.
It was after mid-day by the time he finally allowed himself to orgasm, and they were both worn out, exhausted, and sated, in the best way when he lifted her up and took her to the magic-made onsen. They bathed each other as best as they could without soaps – which meant that, despite the water, their scents clung to one another to anybody with a sensitive nose beyond normal yōkai levels; not that they cared. When they finished, Sesshōmaru dried them off with his yōki – it wasn't like they had wasted time getting supplies this time; the only concession made was that Sess left the first night to get them meat to eat, and wood to cook it over – and then they dressed each other.
Now it was time for something important, and Sesshōmaru picked up a bundle of curled up fur – that had carefully been laid aside for this moment – and wrapped it around her waist, across her back, over her shoulder, and into the front of her haori and hanjuban. The yōki that her new body part held immediately attached itself to her reiki as soon as the mokomoko-sama touched her skin, and suddenly the mokomoko-sama moved, and she could feel it inside her mind – not really sentient, but still there. It moved to a comfortable and easy to use position – much like Sess' had for him – and then settled down before curling around her mate's wrist happily. She smiled at him and clasped his hand, kissing him deeply and lovingly.
Kagome was just so happy.
And she stayed happy as they left, right up until they were a third of the way back to their pack and Toga dropped down in front of them; obviously having sought them out. Kagome was about to be upset – seriously, how rude, after her invitation and everything! – when he lunged forward and grabbed his son in a hug, saying clear as day for anyone to hear, "I am so proud of you, son."
Kagome found that it was impossible to be mad at someone who had just made her entire life so utterly happy, and she encouraged her mate, mentally, to hug his father back, letting his hand go. He did – obviously as the older yōkai had been about to step back, which made both of them smug at getting one over on the old man. When the embrace finally ended, Kagome was the one to reach forward and hug the other daiyōkai; again, much to his incredibly obvious surprise, and her own sense of superiority.
Sess had infected her; she utterly loved it. When she stepped away, she responded to his politely unasked question with, "You just made my mate happier than he has possibly ever been until just now. How can I resent you for that when he is my life? And you did it in such a way that nobody knows, or saw, or can congratulate you for it. Before apologising, as you obviously came to do. Toga-sama is incredibly honourable, and this Kagome is finally happy to call the Inu no Taishō her father."
He choked, hugged her tighter, then grabbed her mate for a group hug—which was a bit much, seriously, even though neither of them had their armour on—before finally stepping back and bowing to them. "This Toga sincerely and deeply apologises for any and all hurt he has caused his beloved son and daughter with his previous actions. To help make up for his obvious mistakes, this Toga offers his services in the form of teaching his idiotic and recalcitrant hanyō son exactly those things which he needs to learn at this time. This is penance because instead of simply beating the lessons into him at first, like this Toga dearly wishes to do, this Toga will use words and properly teach those lessons to start with."
Sesshōmaru was every bit as impressed as she was, and as she linked her arm in his (which he promptly changed to be more intimate and loving, holding her body against his own as their mokomokos – Kagome had finally become too lazy to add the -sama – intertwined with each other) he spoke for both of them, Kagome gladly allowing him to be alpha right now. She was still exhausted from their lovemaking earlier. Maybe he would carry her back to camp...
"This Sesshōmaru and his mate Kagome accept your offer with great gladness, as we were not looking forwards to waiting the necessary decades for this one's younger brother to mature – especially since, as this Sesshōmaru noticed, the hanyō has matured in some ways, which means that his actions are not for true inability, they are from stubbornness."
"You never told me that... then again, I can see why; I don't like that at all. It just confirms so many things that are bad."
"I would rather you never had to know, but Father likely already knows, and that is why he is choosing to teach in the way he is – blunt force used right to begin with would be ineffective, whereas stern words from the father he never knew will strike him deeply."
"In this, you are slightly alike, although obviously my mate is far superior – he only craved pride from his father; and did not need the lessons his father would have him taught, as he learned them without the aid of any other being."
Her mate chuckled softly into her mind and commented, "Actually, koishi, this Sesshōmaru believes that, had he not met you, he would not have felt compassion for the girl-child that was bothering him whilst he was wounded, which led to him using Tenseiga on her when he came across her corpse. Maybe he would have, but this Sesshōmaru thinks otherwise. Still; you are right in that this one's father did not have to teach him those lessons personally; I learned them on my own."
His father was clearly aware of what was going on – and amused by it – as he waited for them to look at him before speaking once more, "That is exactly why I am offering my services, Sesshōmaru: in times of crisis, duress, war, or strife, people – ningen, yōkai, and hanyō alike – mature more rapidly than they do in times of peace. My youngest has obviously matured a great deal more rapidly than he would have otherwise, but is being stubborn about this one thing – about Kagome. It would greatly please this Toga to understand why the hell he is so insistent upon doing this, but that matters less than teaching him his wrongs and forcing him to accept a complete maturation in this matter."
Great; Kagome had some things to inform her new father of. He would likely be most displeased, as Sesshōmaru had been when she told him the first time – he never listened in on her conversations and so had not heard Sango's theory until a few days later after it was told to Kagome. Sigh. Her work was never over.