Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
Kagome awoke to the sensations of fingers running along her side in a teasing pattern. Blinking drowsily, she peered down her body at Sesshoumaru who was inspecting the wound she'd received from their skirmish with the bird demons.
One of his long arms wrapped around a leg, pulling it close as he rested his head on her hip. She wondered absently where her sleeping yukata had gone, but didn't pursue the issue when she noticed Sesshoumaru's expression. Evidently there was something troubling the demon.
"It's healed," he pointed out, gesturing at the faint pink line of the wound before placing a kiss on the smooth skin.
Kagome smiled softly, running her fingers through the tuft of hair that stuck out at his temple. "When Aine-san stripped me to force me into the junhitoe she saw the wound," Kagome explained, "seconds later she was smearing something putrid smelling on it and forcing me to drink a concoction that tasted like battery acid." She stuck her tongue out in remembered revulsion. "But the wound healed really fast."
In a deliberate motion he covered the long scar with his large palm, eyes sliding to half-mast. "I hadn't noticed."
"You can't notice everything," she chastised, ruffling his hair and recreating the tufts she'd so lovingly smoothed.
A sigh escaped those tempting lips, and Kagome felt her heart swell a little at the emotions he shared with her, his stoic outer persona had felt cold at first. But now, now she was possessive of his moods; they were hers to monopolise.
"Acknowledging our relationship feels like its pushing us apart," Sesshoumaru mumbled into the flesh of her hip. "We hardly see each other."
"I'm a little lonely too," she affirmed, voicing the emotion he would never find words for, "but this is just a hurdle, Sesshoumaru. If we jump this we'll be back to our life."
'Our life', something about that phrase sounded implicitly right to the yokai, it made his chest hurt but not unpleasantly. With an abrupt tug, he dragged the little miko down the futon until she was nestled beneath him, wearing a waspish smile.
"Hi," she whispered against his lips.
"Kagome." Her name was a sigh on his lips, breathed into her mouth it became a plea, and he quickly surrendered his worries to their kiss.
Heat poured from the rocks beneath them, making Kagome glad she'd allowed Sesshoumaru to chivalrously carry her, and when she said chivalrously, she meant that – as per usual- he'd bent and thrown her over his shoulder. The demon himself walked barefoot and she held his footwear, as he'd offhandedly remarked that while his shoes would merely melt, he would not.
Kagome peered ahead through the rising steam, keeping an eye out for the cave entrance Sesshoumaru assured her was ahead somewhere. It was sweltering, making Kagome glad she was only wearing a light summer yukata, though errant strands of hair that had escaped from her messy bun were clinging to the nape of her neck.
Eventually after much trudging on Sesshoumaru's part they reached the lip of the cave where cooler air reached them. The heat was intense though at the entrance; Kagome supposed it must come from the forge inside of the sword smith they were visiting.
"Totosai," Sesshoumaru called into the cave, setting her down gently on her feet. Kagome winced at the clattering noise that came from within, but, seconds later, an old man emerged and peered at them both with his large, round eyes.
"Sesshoumaru," Totosai realised, blinking up at the taller demon for a few moments, he abruptly turned as if to run away down the mountain, Sesshoumaru's grip on the back of his haori the only thing preventing him.
"I need a sword," Sesshoumaru murmured, shaking the smith firmly before placing back on his feet.
Totosai blinked emphatically at Sesshoumaru. "You've already got two swords!" the smith protested adamantly, "And you've only got two arms! What are you going to do with this one, hold it in your mouth?"
"Ah!" Kagome squeaked as a giant cow with far too many eyes started trying to eat her hair. "No, quit it!"
"Not for me," Sesshoumaru confirmed, folding his arms to watch Kagome do battle with the herbivore. "For her."
Totosai dug around in his ear for a moment with one finger, watching Kagome attempt to avoid Momo's affections futilely. "She looks like she could do with one," he grunted.
"A tanto," Sesshoumaru clarified, "something she can hide within a kimono."
"Huh," Totosai muttered, slinking back into his cave only to emerge a few moments later with a set of menacing looking tongs. "Open up."
Pausing mid grapple, Kagome cast a curious look at Sesshoumaru and the old demon. "What are the pliers for?"
With a sharp practised manoeuvre, Totosai brandished the tongs and in a movement so agile Kagome missed it, he pulled a tooth from Sesshoumaru's mouth.
Due to her inattention, Kagome had forgotten to keep Momo at arm's length and – as a result – a lick that made her hair stand on end snapped her from her reverie.
"Noo!" she squealed futilely.
Totosai blinked owlishly as Kagome and Momo's battle continued. "You sure caught yourself a weird one," the old coot muttered, before stalking back off in the direction of his forge.
Nonplussed, Kagome slid the tanto from its prettily lacquered sheath, wrinkling her nose when the sunlight reflected off the sharp edge. She darted a glance at the watching sword smith and then at Sesshoumaru.
"This makes no sense," she informed the old man, "How did a tooth become a short sword?"
"Humans!" Totosai cried out exasperatedly, throwing his hands into the air, "You give them a beautiful sword with powers beyond comprehension and they sweat the small details."
"It's not a small detail," Kagome returned, frowning, "and what do you mean 'power beyond comprehension'? It's just a sword," she glanced at Sesshoumaru worriedly, "Right?"
Sesshoumaru crooked a brow as the miko adjusted her grip on the sword distrustfully; holding it between two fingers as if it might decide to bite her.
"It is imbued with my youki," Sesshoumaru explained, taking the sword from her perilous grip and sliding it back into its lacquered sheath. "Should you be forced to draw it, it will resonate, alerting me to your predicament."
"You gave me a sword that snitches to you?" Kagome asked amusedly.
"To keep you safe," he chastised, sliding the sword into the folds of her yukata.
The weight of the short sword settled heavily against her frantically beating heart and Kagome tamped down on the rising sense of vulnerability. She was no pushover. Now she had a sword and her bow. Practically invincible. She frowned slightly; she couldn't even believe her own bravado.
She was snapped from her self-doubt when Sesshoumaru calmly threw her over his shoulder again so they could make their way down the mountain. Waving bemusedly at Totosai and the demonic cow over Sesshoumaru's shoulder, Kagome settled in for the bumpy ride down the mountain.
"Your fear is good," Sesshoumaru spoke quietly, turning his head away as his ears burned red, "it makes you harder to surprise, more wary. Just don't panic." It almost sounded like a rote, like someone had spoken the words to him once upon a time.
Kagome smiled slightly, weaving her fingers through his silken hair. "Who told you that?"
"My father," Sesshoumaru admitted gruffly. There was something sad in his eyes that made her bite back her question.
"It's good advice," she hummed.
"Hn."
The dragon sat in his lair. Or what he now called a lair. In the old days his lair had been a cave high in the mountains. Now, however, he inhabited a suave shiro and had a hundred servants at his beck and call.
Some said he was becoming domesticated.
But he was merely blending in. Dragons were an old people, oldest of the clans, some said. And they survived by acclimatising to the world they lived in.
Yet, just because he changed with the times, did not mean that he liked it.
The dragon scowled, temper fraying once again as his mind drifted to the news from the West. It seemed that the human girl would be presented as mate-to-be of the heir to the west tomorrow.
A ring of smoke escaped his nostril, leaving no doubt as to how angry he was. His rage simmered beneath the surface.
The demons may have moved, as one, to find a humanoid body. He may have followed with the rest of them, may wear human skin a lot of the time. But he would never allow anyone to forget that, under the feeble-looking human skin was a monster wrapped in scales.
It was time that the West remembered; monsters and humans got on about as well as lions and gazelles.
Legs dangling off the polished walkway, Kagome peered up at the swaying cherry blossom trees that surrounded Nami's garden like sentinels. She's suffered through even more training with Aine and so she'd decided to indulge in a moment to decompress before she went to find Sesshoumaru.
Movement out of the corner of her vision made her tense, and she glanced at the approaching figure from the corner of her eyes. Dressed in red, blue and white and carrying a sword at his hip, the man was easily recognisable as one of Nami's many guards. The straw hat perched on his head was an unusual touch, but Kagome assumed he wanted to keep his face out of the sun.
"Can I help you?" Kagome asked, sitting up straighter and wondering whether Nami had sent him for her.
The guard tilted his chin to gaze at her from the shadow cast by his straw hat, his yellow eyes were curious and his skin tanned richly. "You're the human?" Something in his tone reeked of condescension.
She narrowed her eyes and stood abruptly, adopting her best closed-off expression. "Is that any kind of way to speak to Sesshoumaru-sama's intended?"
Those heavy eyebrows flew to his hairline and he backpedalled, waving his hands as if to diffuse her displeasure. "Sorry," he grunted, "that came out wrong. I'm no speaker. Mostly I end up insultin' people."
Kagome's lips quirked in a half-smile. "I'm Kagome, you?"
"Inuyasha," he bowed slightly, his long white ponytail falling over his broad shoulder.
"Are you a white dog demon like Nami-sama and Sesshoumaru-sama?" she asked curiously, "Your colouring is similar."
He grinned, revealing a snatch of fang. "I'm a bit more of a mutt, but you've got the gist."
"Because you don't have the stripes?" she asked, remembering Aine's tutelage.
He touched his cheek with a long claw and shrugged. "Something like that." He frowned, tilting his head to one side, "I'll leave you to it. Nice to meet you, Kagome."
And with that the guard hurried away. Kagome blinked, a little bemused at his sudden departure, but then Nami stepped out onto the walkway and she thought she understood. The guard didn't want to be caught slacking by his lady.
Nami stiffened as she stepped into the sunlight, lifting her nose to the air curiously and inhaling.
"What is it?" Kagome asked curiously.
"I thought—" Nami pulled up short and shook her head, "Never mind, come. Tonight is the last night you will dine without scrutiny, little human."
"Thanks so much for the reminder," Kagome ground out through gritted teeth as she followed Nami's elegant back as she walked to the dining rooms.
"The dignitaries will arrive tomorrow morning," Sesshoumaru told Kagome, gazing up at the ceiling of their room, "but you will not be presented to them until the feast in the evening."
"I know," Kagome hummed, amused by his anxiety. It made her own a little more bearable.
Sesshoumaru sighed. "Remember that they do not get to approve of you, they are simply required to pay their respects to our match."
Kagome sat up in the bed and leaned over Sesshoumaru's torso, laughingly covering his mouth with her soft hand. Her hair slid over her shoulders, forming a curtain around the couple and tickling Sesshoumaru's cheek.
"I've been thoroughly prepared by Aine-san and your mother," Kagome informed him gently. "I'll be fine. We'll be fine. So, please, stop fretting." She smoothed her hand up to cup his cheek.
Sesshoumaru's frown relaxed slightly and he reached up to cup her cheek in return. "I don't fret," he rebuked.
Kagome grinned cheekily. "Sure. You just need to sit there and be your usual icy self."
One brow arched. "Hnn?"
"And try not to hurt any of them," Kagome added absently, leaning her forehead down onto his, "let me handle them."
"You have a plan?" Sesshoumaru inquired, mirth colouring his tone.
"I was thinking of emulating your mother," Kagome joked, smiling growing.
Sesshoumaru snorted. "I'm sure that would go down well."
A/N: It feels good to finish this chapter. Thanks for reading guys, if you have a moment I'd love it if you could drop me a review.