Title: Tie Me to the Future
Author: Tsubasa Kya
Disclaimer: You know... I'm still trying to figure out whether or not people really read the disclaimer. If it's not there, they complain, but if it is, no one cares anyway. (I don't own).

Thanks for 200 wonderful reviews!

Chapter thirtyeight: Let Down

Kagome sighed as she closed up her story with a heartfelt apology. She felt so bad for missing his coronation. She had really wanted to be there for him, to smile at him and tell him that he did a good job. In a way, she almost felt like she were big sister to all her friends in the Feudal Era, however impossible that might seem since almost everyone was older than her, in most cases by hundreds of years.

That feeling of sibling relation hadn't been easy to accomplish. It had taken a lot of trust to be called "big sister" by standard. Inuyasha and Kouga flatly refused to believe of her as such, but that, she was sure, was because of Inuyasha's stubbornness and Kouga's infatuation—and possibly also thick-headedness.

But now, Kagome saw the heavy load on his shoulders, a load quite literally dumped there by the previous regent. It was as though Kaoi expected him to know all the things that it took Kaoi decades to figure out. Sesshoumaru was smart, but he wasn't super-child. He didn't know everything on-demand. He couldn't pull the answer to the square root of ninety-nine billion, three hundred forty-six million, seven hundred twenty-three thousand, eight hundred thirty-one point six, five, six out of his rear-end and just say, "Here you go, Master Kaoi. I totally understand." Kaoi was expecting too much of Sesshoumaru, too quickly.

She watched as Sesshoumaru leaned forward, his face in his hands. He rubbed his eyes with his fingertips, massaging them slightly. He looked extremely depressed, despite the fact that no emotion was on his face or in his body language other than slight annoyance. She could feel the depression more than she could see it.

Kagome stood and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulder and kneeling beside him. He, surprisingly, leaned into her embrace resting his head on her shoulder. His body felt relaxed, which showed her just how much he trusted her. A year before if she had tried to do such a gesture, he would doubtless have run her through. Now, he leaned into her embrace and she smiled, running her fingers through his hair gently in a comforting manner.

"Don't do it again." Though he had worded it like an order, she could almost hear the plea in his tone. Kagome had no doubt that she was seeing a side of him, a side of everyone else as well, that people did not want to show. It only strengthened her resolve to be "confidant" to those who needed it—or as Ka had called it, Secret-Keeper.

He really was young just as he had said, she realized. He might be old in human years, but according to demon standards, he really was just barely mature, about her age. Technically, she might even be considered "older" than him, not that she'd brag or anything. She just speculated the facts.

"I've just got a few things to do, and then I intend to stay here. I have to go get my important things from my old home." She was slightly startled when his arm wrapped around her waist. Not only was he seeking comfort from her, but he was returning it. Her startled look thinned out into a warm smile and she continued to finger comb his long silver hair, placing a small kiss on his forehead. "You're learning." She whispered, though she knew he heard her anyway despite his closed eyes and apparent sleeping state.

"Do you..." He started, and then stopped, hesitation settling into his voice. She didn't have to look at his face to feel that his cheeks were burning with embarrassment. She could feel the heat rush to his face on her neck and his muscles were tensing slightly.

"..Yes?" she prodded, hoping he'd continue. She hated it when people never finished what they were going to say. It always made her nervous as to what they were thinking. Did they think her untrustworthy of listening to their secrets? Did they think she wouldn't care? "Isn't it easier to say what you want to?"

"Do you..." As he spoke his request, his voice remained monotone, never wavering. His breath was warm on her neck and her heart beat slightly accelerated with joy when he did say what he wanted to. Still, she could tell he was nervous in asking. She really did feel like she felt his emotions in his soul rather than saw them in his face or heard them in his voice. It was an odd feeling, but still an enjoyable one.

She listened to his request with a smile and then gently made him lift his head so she could look into his beautiful golden orbs. "I would be honored." She told him honestly as he began to relax again. She felt something moist soak the shoulder of the nightgown that she had been changed into, but did not question what it was. She knew; she knew all too well, but she would not mention it to anyone. Tearful happiness wasn't something that came every day.

Ryuichi could smell the scent of salt. He couldn't tell whose tears they were; after all, salt was salt, no matter whose eyes it comes from. Each person did not have a separate scent to go with their tears. He saw Sango coming down the hall with Miroku and Inuyasha and sent them a warning glance.

When they continued towards him, he placed his hands on his hilts, his arms forming an 'x' across his body. "My Lady has ordered me to keep all who would enter her chambers away. Turn and make your way back the way you came from." He called clearly down the hall, his velvety voice cutting the air as though it were butter and his tone the knife.

Sango's brown eyes, still red with two days of tears, pierced Ryuichi's pink ones. For a moment, their eyes were locked in combat, and then she said, "You'll step aside, right now." Her voice was low, dangerous. She would not take no for an answer, but she did wish she had Hiraikotsu, her strongest weapon. The halls were, unfortunately, not large enough to use it, which was why she left it in her room.

"Come now, Lady Sango." Miroku reasoned. "We should not be so aggressive! After all, we're all on the same side!" Miroku was, as usual, the intelligent one. Inuyasha had no qualms with Ryuichi anymore, but he did want to see Kagome. "Perhaps Lady Kagome has a reason for being alone?"

"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted. "She's crying. I can smell it."

Ryuichi's muscles bunched as he gripped his swords' hilts a little tighter. "I will only warn you one more time." He felt the hair on the back of his neck raise slightly. The very fact that the demon slayer even stood inside the castle made his blood boil and his mind question the sanity of the present King of the Western Lands.

Sango didn't have her katana on her at the moment, which she cursed herself for, but she grabbed Miroku's staff and charged forward at the pink haired demon. "Hey, my staff!" Miroku shouted, startled. It had happened so fast that he wasn't given any reaction time.

Ryuichi smirked devilishly. "Foolish human." He murmured silkily. He drew his swords and while he used one to knock away the staff, he brought the other towards her stomach. Instead of her jumping away to avoid the potential deathblow, she reversed the staff and smashed the butt of it into his gut, forcing him back instead and proving that she wasn't just another exterminator.

"Sango!" Miroku called down the hall, wanting Sango to stop her advance. His brown eyes were worried for the one who he loved. Sango was behaving strangely irrational, very Inuyasha-like in other words, and not like herself. Reasonably, he would have reason to be worried.

Inuyasha began to get angry at the fact that Ryuichi could have almost killed Sango and most likely wouldn't have stopped. That was when he determined to involve himself, cracking his knuckles. He wouldn't unsheathe the Tetsusaiga, or he knew he might feel inclined to use the Cutting Wind, Reverse Cutting Wind or the Diamond Spear Blast. Those attacks would threaten the structure of the castle and he didn't want to be the cause of his own death or the death of his friends.

Ryuichi hopped back a few feet, feeling his stomach. He wheezed as the wind was knocked out of him, but then immediately jumped into the offensive, jumping sideways so his feet were planted firmly upon the wall and kicking off it towards Sango. He smacked away the staff with his swords and the sound of the two metals contacting each other was a ringing tone that reverberated all down the hall. His shoulder came into contact with her body and he found he had knocked her down.

Smirking down at her, he held her down with his body while his swords threatened to decapitate her. "Do you yield exterminator?" He questioned her, his voice a liquid that dripped down her spine and made her shiver. She refused to give him the satisfaction of fear.

Thankfully, Kagome came out of the room at that moment. She took one look at the scene and gasped with something kin to horror on her face. Ryuichi stood from Sango. "For now, you live." He hissed, so low that only she could hear. Not even Inuyasha's advanced hearing could catch it, which made Sango wonder just what kind of demon Ryuichi was. She had never encountered a pink haired demon before, to her knowledge anyway. Or at least, not a humanoid one.

Thank you Ryukotsusei for pointing out the mess that was previously known as this particular chapter. I apologize for that and would like to remind all readers that if that sort of thing happens to tell me as soon as possible so that the error can be corrected. I'd hate for you to miss a big chunk of the good stuff!