Chapter 25

A Friendship Formed, and a Bigoted Village

Kagome sank herself into the steaming water, thankful that she could finally soak her tired body. Traveling as she had been then breaking a seal took a lot out of a person. Three more splashes were heard, two soft and one large one.

Sango and Guinevere sighed as their bodies were covered, and Kirara's small head popped out of the soothing liquid, her two tails flicking as she continued to splash and play. Kagome closed her eyes, relaxing for the first time in a while.

"So what all has been going on? I know the little bit you have told me, but I feel like there is so much more." Sango asked, making Kirara meow in agreement as Kagome opened her eyes with a sigh.

"Where to start? There is a monk gathering an army of holy users, intent of eradiating all yokai. Sesshomaru and I have gotten the group back together, and now we need to find alleys to fight in this war." Kagome answered, playing with the water in front of her.

"Explain Sesshomaru. I know ya'll got close when he kept coming to the village, but I never expected this." Sango said, making Kagome groan.

"That one I can explain. You see, our lord fell in love with a human, isn't that right Kagome." Guinevere cut in, making Kagome blush. "Well, his mother figured out that he planned to court Kagome, and eventually mate her. Needless to say, she wasn't pleased. She threatened to kill Kagome should he react on his desires, and he knew, at that time that while Kagome was strong, even she could be over powered. So he was forced to go with his mother's wishes."

"He never told me that. He just said he had to do his duty as lord." Kagome whispered, falling in love with the stoic demon even more.

"Of course not. If he were to admit that, he would also be admitting that he was weak. Too weak to protect you." Guinevere stated, smirking at a thought.

"And let me guess, you jumped on the chance to mate with the lord?" Sango asked, eyeing the new female to the group.

"Of course not. At the time I had been courting another. However, because of my sight, Satori had been pushing me to mate with Sesshomaru for some time. I told her I wasn't interested, and wanted to mate the one I had loved. Imagine my surprise when she threatened me with the same threat she gave to Sesshomaru, then imagine the betrayal when my own father agreed with her." Guinevere corrected, not holding an ounce of anger towards the slayer. She was only protecting her friend after all.

"Maybe you can go back to him, you know if Sesshomaru figures out a way to dissolve you're mating." Kagome perked up, getting excited for the female. That is until Guinevere suddenly looked sad and placed a clawed hand over the bite mark on her shoulder, digging her claws into scared skin, trying to ruin it as much as possible.

"I was not as smart as Sesshomaru. I did not heed Satori's threat, stating that I could protect my soon to be human mate. I figured she wouldn't be serious, for I would only have him for a few years anyway, then time would take him from me. I was wrong in assuming that, and I failed in protecting my lover." Guinevere whispered, pausing for a second before continuing. "At that point I didn't have anything to lose, and I figured I could at least gain a pup. Something to love that wouldn't eventually leave me. I know most female yokai, do not care about their offspring, but I am not like mot yokai. I didn't even get to keep my son, because the moment Daichi was weaned, he was snatched from my arms. After a while, enough time passed that I realized I would never have a proper relationship with my son, but I was okay with that. For you see, I had a vision. No, I cannot speak of it, but this vision…it gives me hope that eventually everything will go as we want it to."

The group was silent, thinking on everything Guinevere had spoken, and honestly feeling sorry for the inu. Most likely no one even knew of what she had been through, not even Sesshomaru. Guinevere had been alone the moment her lover was killed, and when she joined the group, she still wasn't really a part of it. That would change now.

"You're not alone anymore." Kagome announced, noticing the way Guinevere's cloudy eyes widened and looked towards her. Sango nodded, agreeing with her friend, and just like that, Guinevere was a part of a pack. It was past time to properly include her.

A new bond of friendship had been formed.

"About your visions, are they certain" Sango asked, still curious of a few things. Kirara climbed out of the springs, and shook herself dry before finding a spot to curl up and lick herself.

"No, nothing is certain really. My visions are subject to change, just as the future is. They are not set in stone. However, for the most part what I see, will occur." Guinevere answered, grabbing the pouch of soap that Kagome had made, grabbed some of the powder, and wet it in her fingers, before she lathered the soap on her skin. Kagome and Sango followed along the same path.

They bathed in silence for the most part until they heard a nervous chuckle coming from the bushes. A curse and a few seconds later, InuYasha and Miroku came running out of the bushes, an angry and feral Sesshomaru hot on their heels.

Sango and Kagome sunk down into the water, covering themselves, while Guinevere just laughed at the scene before her. It seemed that her modesty didn't exist, not even when someone was caught peeping at them.

Shippo and Daichi ran into the field, holding open their haori's and giving their backs to the females so they could dress without being noticed. Sango and Kagome took the chance, while Kagome yelled out 'sit' allowing Sesshomaru to grab ahold of his first target.

By time the women were dressed, InuYasha was tied in a large ball, and somehow hanging from a tree. Miroku was backed up against the trunk of the same tree, gulping as the angered demon lord stalked his prey.

The moment Sesshomaru was inches from Miroku's face, he let out an earth shattering growl, and Miroku promptly fainted. Pleased with his work, Sesshomaru grabbed the two imbeciles from their unconscious positions, and dragging them behind him bowed to the woman and left, not saying a word the entire time.

Kagome and Sango could only share a look before busting out laughing, Guinevere right along with them. Shippo and Daichi escorted the women back to the camp, both noticing a difference between the females.

They all knew one thing for sure.

Miroku and InuYasha would never peep again, at least not when Kagome was in the bathes as well.

Kagome tensed as she walked through the village, the rest of the group following behind her and Sesshomaru. They had left the demon slayer village a few weeks ago, and have since then run low on their supplies.

The group then decided that they would stop at the next village and restock on anything needed. Lucky for them, the village they stumbled across was a marketing village, meaning they could find much more than little necessities.

Kagome would be able to get a few arrows, and a new string for her bow. Sango needed to buy a new Kimono to wear over her slayer outfit, since she wasn't supplied with one. Miroku was interested in looking for new prayer beads. He was worried that his was getting worn down.

Overall everyone had something they wished to procure, and a marketing village would be perfect to do just that. There was bound to be many different types of goods, some they never even expected to see.

However, they weren't expecting the welcome they received. It was true they weren't being shunned and attacked, but the looks they received were obviously not friendly. And they all knew that if there weren't demon's in the group, they would have been invited in with open arms.

Sesshomaru, being the alpha, had his instincts were going haywire. His urge to protect Kagome and his pack were steadily growing, and as a way to keep those urges at bay, he placed an open palm on the small of Kagome's back. Her touch always calmed him.

Had he realized the reaction he would have gotten, he never would have done so.

Immediately whispers started, and none of them nice. Sesshomaru growled deeply as the word demon whore and yokai lover were breathed. He had hoped Kagome hadn't heard but he could feel her tense underneath his touch, and his growl dropped into a snarl.

She pulled away from him and stopped walking, her hands fisted at her side. Her head was bowed down, her bangs covering her eyes. The group stopped to stare at her, wondering what her next move would be.

However, they never really got a chance to wait, because before anyone could even do anything, InuYasha was suddenly pelted with a large ripe tomato. The hanyou cursed, before growling at the one who threw something at him, but that growl died in his throat as he realized just what they were facing.

An angry mob.

Everyone held some kind of projectile, ranging from some type of edible food all the way to actual weapons. Seeing the danger, Kirara transformed into her large form, hissing at the fools. This also was not the best move because the moment she did, the village attacked.

Everyone had to move quickly, or risk being killed. The only option they had was to take to the skies. They had been surrounded and breaking through wouldn't be possible without risking injury to one or more of the pack.

So, Miroku and Sango jumped on Kirara, who immediately took off. Shippo grabbed Guinevere who was the closest one to him, and jumped on his leaf, while Daichi grabbed InuYasha. Sesshomaru flash stepped to Kagome, pulling her to him, and before they knew it, they were all above the village, watching down as the humans began to riot just to get a chance at the pack.

They were now throwing blame at any person around them, not able to resist a good fight, all because no one got a hit on a demon that did nothing to them. It was sickening, and Sesshomaru suddenly believed even more of the stories Kagome and InuYasha had spoken when talking of her time.

The future needed to be saved if these were the kind of people that lived it.

Turning away from the sad sight, the group flew away and left it all behind. They didn't touch down on the ground again until they were hours away from any potential danger. Once everyone's feet touched the earth, the silence was finally broken by a gruff and angry InuYasha.

"Why can't we fly like that more often?"

"We would miss too much." Sesshomaru answered, checking over Kagome. His hands tightened into fist and he growled lowly when she pulled away from him and began walking again.

"He means, that when walking, we take the chance of running into more alleys." Daichi added, noticing how his father was preoccupied.

"Or enemies." Shippo mumbled.

Kagome let out a startled squeal when Sesshomaru was suddenly standing right behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist tightly. She tensed as soon as she realized what was going on, and Sesshomaru growled again, not willing to allow her to pull away from him.

"You do you shun this one's touch, Miko?"

"Because we never should have crossed that line." Kagome whispered, and this time it was Sesshomaru's turn to tense.

"Kagome-"

"Please stop." She begged, not wanting to hear what he was going to say. If she did, she would never be able to do what needed to be done. "W-We have to stop Sesshomaru. You are mated to someone else."

"This one-"

"I know you didn't want it, but that doesn't change the fact that it still happened. Us doing this," She paused to motion towards Sesshomaru's arms, "is wrong. This is what makes me a demon's whore, because all everyone sees is your concubine. Everybody sees your beautiful mate, and the plain human following behind. I can't…I can't compete with her."

Nobody said anything as they watched the exchange. Honestly, everyone felt bad for Sesshomaru. InuYasha knew more than anybody why Kagome was acting the way she was. She still hadn't forgotten about their fight a while ago. The one where Sesshomaru accused her of cheating, and then turned to Guinevere.

Sesshomaru had thought it to be behind him, in the past.

He was wrong.

"That-"

"We have to stop, Sesshomaru. The affection, the touches, it all has to stop." Kagome whispered again, and the moment Sesshomaru's arms fell from around her waist she took three large steps away from him. "Please don't touch me again. Until you can find a way to break your mating to Guinevere…there… there is nothing between us."

Sesshomaru said nothing as he looked at the female he loved. He understood why she was doing what she was, but that didn't make it hurt any less. It was the statement that their love was nothing that was painful. And once again he was cursing his mother for this predicament.

Looking into hardened blue eyes, Sesshomaru made a decision. If Kagome will allow the thoughts of others dictate how they interact with each other, than he would give her what she wanted. Even so, he felt as if his heart was being ripped out once again and his hand instantly searched for the necklace still hidden in his pocket.

For the first time since he came to possess the necklace he pulled it out in front of another. His son was the only other one who had even known of the trinket, and now something that brought him peace, only brought him pain.

He no longer wanted it.

So, he held out his hand towards Kagome. When she didn't immediately take it, he let the necklace drop to the ground and walked off, leaving the group behind. This time, they weren't sure he would be back.

Kagome bent down to pick up the necklace and let her fingers run against the beading and charms. It was beautiful and she expected it longer, wondering what it was and why it looked so worn. She had never seen it before, but it had many days behind it.

"It was his courting necklace to you." Daichi's voice came through, shocking quite a few people. The anger on his face was just as shocking as what he said. "When he was forced to mate my mother, he kept that with him at all times. He couldn't even part with it. He became dependent on that very necklace, so what does it say that he threw it on the ground."

Kagome swallowed, fighting back the tears that so wanted to fall.

"You broke his heart, all because someone, who you don't even know, called you a name, something you've been called before. When will you all realize that it doesn't matter what anyone thinks. You two could be happy and in love, and instead you fight it, saying careless words to hurt the other, just to keep them at bay. Fuck everyone else, because they don't matter. At least they shouldn't." Daichi stated, walking after his father, only stopping to say one last thing. "By the way, even if father never finds a way to break the bond between him and mother. There will always be something between the two of you, no matter how hard you try to hide behind it."

With that he left, and Kagome collapsed to her knees, holding the necklace over her heart. The heart that was breaking again, because Sesshomaru walked away just like he did before. Only this time, it was because of her, and her words.

Daichi was right, it shouldn't matter what everyone else thought, but she forgot that. And now she was paying the price.

-sSs-

More trouble in paradise, this time though it is serious and will take a while to fix. All the fighting and words spoken in the last fight will begin to play a part now. I wanted to add the bit about Shippo grabbing ahold of Guinevere, because a lot of people think that she is exactly like Sesshomaru in species. Yes, she is an Inu, however she is just a normal yokai, not a daiyokai. Meaning she has no true form, no poison, and no flight. She only has her strength, speed, and sight. At the moment, her character is pretty pointless, but eventually she will come in handy. It will take a while though. Until then, I hope you enjoy.

Shout outs:

ZyairelHellsing: I'm glad you liked my last update, and I can only hope that you will like this one as well.

Makaco: Thank you for your review.

Redrake323: Yep, Sango was one of the strongest in the group, and she will be needed soon enough in the future. No others will be brought back though, and a few people are upset about that.

Wren210: Yea, I imagine that it would throw her for a loop, however, I focused on Miroku's reaction when he was returned, and for the most part hers would be the same. I felt it was repetitive, and didn't need to be gone over. I have a feeling you probably didn't like the first part of this chapter very well since it focused on Guinevere, but at least you have a few questions answered about her. Of course, I'm sure more have popped up. lol.

I do not own InuYasha.