The Missing Link
By:
Summary: Kagome is an archaeologist who's teams digging around Japan. In her search, she comes across the only known existing demon, frozen and preserved in the mountains. Once he's thawed up, it is up to her to attend to him, teach him the ways of the new world, and comfort his aching heart.
'Blah'-Sesshomaru's strange language
'Blah'-thoughts
'Blah'- Mental communication
Chapter 49
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. That is all…thank you
In the words of Rapunzel from Disney's Tangled, which I do not own, "I am a despicable human being." I don't know what more to say. Once more, I took an ~2 year hiatus without warning, and I cannot make up for that. I hope to be able to complete this story now that I've gotten over my writer's block at last. Thanks to everyone who is still reading as well as any new readers. SUPER DUPER THANKS TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ASKED ME TO COME BACK!
Now, on to the story,
-Tsukiko
ALSO, I WOULD ADVISE EVERYONE TO EITHER REREAD or SKIM at least the last few chapters just to be sure you know what's going on.
Yuriko dropped her hands to her sides, clenching her eyes shut and exhaling so harshly that her bangs fluttered in response. "What is it now, Setsuna-sama?"
"You're doing it wrong."
"I thought we agreed upon your silence. It is necessary for Kagome-sama's focus."
"I refuse to sit idly as you feed my mother misinformation. Youki is something, unlike reiki, that you push out, not pull in." Scowl flipping quickly into a pleasant smile, he faced Kagome and pressed a hand to his abdomen, "Now that this twit has shown you where the youki is, a feat I'm surprised she could even manage, I will tell you what to do from here. Just as you do with your reiki, feel around with your youki. Release small portions in waves before reining it all back in, and then release a little more."
Kagome blinked a few times, looking between her son and her midwife before nodding. "Okay." She began to do what he suggested when Yuriko let out an exaggerated sigh.
"That is misinformation! Lady Kagome, keep the youki within. If you let it out, it become too wild and difficult to manage. Then, it could damage you or the pup, which would defeat the purpose of all of this. And as for you," she whirled on Setsuna, "my training master-"
"Was a monk!" He finished in a huff. "Whereas I am a youkai. Do you honestly presume to tell me how to use something that is the very essence of my being, woman?" Facing Kagome with a smile, he assured her, "I know what I'm talking about, Mother. Take a firm hold on the youki and push it out piece by piece."
"Um, Sekkun-" Kagome began.
"Master Taro was a monk who was once possessed by a youkai which he overcame, learned to control, and expelled. Draw it in, Kagome-sama."
"This isn't some self-exorcism, miko! She holds a pup! Push out, 'kaa-chan."
"One she'll have great difficulty birthing if you do not let us get back to our training. In, Kagome-sama."
"Yuriko-san, the pup is-" Kagome tried to interject yet again.
Setsuna narrowed his eyes at the woman. "Who do you think you are to defy me? This Setsuna is the Western Prince and future Lord. Beyond that, who knows better for this one's mother than he, who seeks only to protect her and aid her?"
"Se-"
Yuriko could have smirked with pride. "I think that I am the midwife and trainer of the Lady of the West, and I was given full jurisdiction over said Lady by the lord of the West himself. I answer to him and only him."
Eyes tinted a faint pink, Setsuna snarled through clenched fangs, "I am heir to that throne! You will do as I s-"
"Look, Sekkun!" Alarmed by the ferocity in her son's face and aura, Kagome grabbed hold of his hand and pressed it to her abdomen. "Can you feel it? Your brother or sister?"
Instantly, the tension fled his muscles, and he settled into her side, palm pressed more fully to her belly. "…such an innovative woman you are," he marveled, nosing her throat in approval. "And my sibling must be brilliant to catch on so quickly."
Yuriko gaped at them, both startled by their closeness and how quickly the anger had fled from his face. He looks so different. "What is it?"
Setsuna growled, glaring at her from where he sat nuzzling his mother. "This is a private occasion. Pack only."
"W-wha?! I'm her physician!"
"You're a waste of time. My mother is fine."
Lips thinning into a frown, Kagome lifted his hand from her stomach and stared him in the eyes as best she could with the hurt she saw reflecting in them. "Setsuna, be nice. She's helping us. You want your brother or sister to be healthy, don't you? And me too?"
It took him a moment to answer, as he was distracted by the hand she had removed. She had never done that before… "Of course I do. I want nothing more."
"Then help Yuriko-san instead of telling her what she is doing wrong. You were both right in this instance." Gently grasping his hand in her left, Yuriko's in her right, she planted them on her belly. "The pup responds well to the circular movement of the youki, pressed out, down, in, and up in a never ending cycle. See? Try sending a little pulse at the same time. Ok?"
"Okay," they agreed, each nodding excitedly, more absorbed in what they were about to experience than arguing with one another.
"On the count of three: one…two…three."
Simultaneously, the pair somewhat hesitantly emitted a small amount of energy, which Kagome and the pup recycled. Yuriko's eyes lit up with wonder as she felt the energy swirling inside her lady before it passed back through her hand, causing her fingertips to tingle in a way most pleasant. Instinctively, she turned to Setsuna, to see if he could feel what he did, and was stunned to find the prince sitting beside her with closed eyes and a trembling smile on his lips.
Setsuna too had felt the warmth of the energy flowing back into his hand, but unlike Yuriko, it hadn't stopped there. He could feel it, bouncing throughout his body, feeling so familiar and yet foreign and drawing upon some small thing that rested both in the back of his head and in his heart simultaneously. Unwilling to let the feeling fade, he allowed himself to fall into it.
"H-he's glowing," Yuriko's alarmed whispered snatched him back to reality.
Growling at the disturbance, he opened his eyes and froze upon seeing that his body was indeed glowing a soft turquoise that was nothing like the youki he was so used to. "Wha-"
"Don't panic," Kagome coached soothingly. "It's alright. It isn't going to hurt you."
'I-It's coming from me.' This was unnatural. This was reiki, but it was also youki. They were fighting, but they were balanced. He tried not to panic, but it was too bizarre, too awkward now that he could see it. Suddenly, his father's aura washed over him, causing his youki to surge and his reiki to writhe. Abruptly, he threw himself back from Kagome and, with the connection lost, the glow and tingle left his body.
Yuriko hurriedly scrambled to her belonging, fishing through her bag until she came across a notebook. Then she began to scribble furiously across the page, rambling as she did, "This is amazing. Never in my life have I seen anything like it. A mikoyoukai who actually retained both forms of energy, who could handle them both without exploding in a flashy show of flaring energies. And a pup who can control energies so quickly, so early despite their conflicting properties. This opens up a whole new realm of possibilities, things to explore and study. We may be able to help others birth healthy mikoyoukai young-"
"So training is progressing well?" Sesshomaru inquired as he entered the room. A sweeping glance told him that something had transpired. "What is wrong?"
Kagome greeted her fiancé with a tender smile. "Nothing, love. Just training." She grunted lowly as she tried to stand, the added weight in her belly and the fluid on her knees and ankles making it difficult. Luckily, Setsuna rose to help her. "The pup and I have learned to manipulate small amounts of both the reiki and youki at once, thanks to Sekkun and Yuriko-chan."
"Setsuna?" Sesshomaru turned his attention to his son, who, despite his stoic face, revealed more about what had happened in his absence with his intense golden eyes than Kagome's expressive features had.
"You told me to watch over her…so I did. I just gave a little instruction."
Were her Lord not there, Yuriko would have snorted at his wording. He had interjected with more than 'a little' instruction.
"…Shippo awaits you for combat training. Use this to clear your head. We will discuss this later."
Despite his desire to object in favor of talking to his father about what he had just experienced, Setsuna nodded with a small smile, "Of course, father."
Kagome watched after him as he left the room. "That's so sweet of you, Sesshou-"
"Yuriko, you are dismissed."
Hastily gathering her things, Yuriko bowed, "Yes, milord. I will see you Thursday, milady, promptly at 10."
"Sure thing!" Kagome called after her, before rolling her eyes at her mate when she heard the door close behind the girl. "Sorry. I forgot that you hate to discuss personal things in the presence of others. I can't help it if I think you're sweet."
"I am 'sweet' only to you, miko. Outside of these walls, I am a monster," he reminded her softly as he drew her into him.
"I don't believe you. I've never met a monster with such gentle hands and soft lips."
As she kissed him, Sesshomaru, the ever truthful, couldn't help but ponder telling her that the gentle hands she so loved had strangled many an adversary or that his soft lips opened to a mouth that spit venom acidic enough to burn the flesh clean off the bone. She seemed so content in her delusions, though, so happy to think that he would never hurt anyone simply because he would never hurt her. Thinking better of ruining her image of him, he settled for kissing her breathless instead.
When at last they separated, Kagome stood before him, breathing heavily with her mouth less than an inch from his. She had felt the warning in his kiss, whether he intended it or not. The faint burning from his fangs feathering across her lips sent the message. "Maybe…being a monster isn't so bad." The words had hardly left her lips before he was hauling her into his arms and racing toward their bedroom.
For what felt like the hundredth time, Shuji slammed his fists on the table of his room. "I want food, damn it! And not that crap you've been trying to pass off as food since I've been here! I'm not some common criminal! I am Shuji of the great Eastern Kumo Sleuth! I-"
"Would you silence yourself, you old fool? We all know who you are," Daichi teased as lightly as he could, given the situation that they were in. "I've got you something to eat, something good."
"Daichi! Thank God someone hasn't lost their senses!"
"Of course not. I remain loyal to Shuji always." He placed the tray on the table, gesturing to it. "Eat well. There's more where that came from. Carrion, honey, nuts, anything you desire." He stepped back to given his friend space to eat. "…so, how do you like the accommodations I arranged for you, old friend?"
"Hmph. I'd be better off at home."
"I am working on it. You know how Yori is when he's passionate about something, and Kou…well, he's always been very traditional. It's a miracle I was able to arrange all that I have."
Shuji snorted, chewing at the meat in his jaws as if it had assaulted him. Snarling, he pondered just how he had fallen so low. "Tetsuo."
"…you are curious about him, no? He is not doing so well. He has been starving himself, panicked and scared." He paused when his friend cursed. "But he is still trying to get Yori and Kou to see that you had no hand in all of this foolishness…I just wonder how the boy could go so wrong. As a cub-"
"He was weak, a sniveling little pile of flesh that ruined everything just as he does now."
"…yes, as such a weak cub, I would not have thought him capable of this. He was the most affectionate of all your son's children. Perhaps the craziness from his mother has finally manifested."
"Do not speak of that bitch, that whore."
Daichi nodded, inwardly scolding himself for bringing it up. How could he have forgotten how sore he was with his late son's long ago deceased mate? "Forgive me."
"Keh."
Pained by the sight of his childhood friend suffering at he was, he rose and began to make his way to the door. "I only came to deliver your food…and to pass along a message."
"On with it."
"Yori and Kou are planning to allow Sesshomaru's pack council with you soon. Please, think long and hard about how you plan to speak and behave. I would hate to have to bury you, when we had always agreed that you would bury me."
"The pup is not so brash."
"Brash? No. But he has been able to dwell on this for quite some time, Shuji. His actions will be well thought out."
"…"
"Until next time, old friend."
"Who was on the phone?" Kagome asked groggily, rubbing her weary eyes with the back of her hand.
He had hoped she wouldn't wake up, so that he would not have to lie to her and could return to talking to their pup. "Elder Yori."
"Ah, Yori-sama? What did he want?"
"To meet with the pack, yourself and Rin not included."
"Oh…ok."
He took the silence that followed as a sign that she had fallen asleep and lowered his head once again. Burying his face in her abdomen, he allowed himself a moment to drink in the sweet scent of his mate and pup before beginning to speak to the pup in low, but rumbling Inu.
"…Teach me."
"Teach you?"
"The language you speak. I want to learn."
The expected look in her eyes brought back ancient memories of Shin-mi pleading for the same. She had felt left out by the bond he had with Setsuna while the pup was still in her womb and had wondered what had made him react as excitedly as he did whenever Sesshomaru spoke to him. "What would you like to know?"
"Some of the stuff you say to him. Anything."
Sesshomaru pondered it. He usually did not think of what he was saying to the pup, instead letting the words flow instinctively from his mouth. "Pawa jon depa'ali. This essentially means that father awaits you."
"Pawa?"
"As his mother, you would say Mawa. 'Mawa jon depa'ali.'"
"Mawa jon depa'ali," she giggled when the pup's aura flared.
"Allu se grrrwna. You are loved."
Kagome beamed. "So there are growls too? Allu se grrrwna?"
"Growls, yips, wimpers, consonants, vowels, clicks. It is a complicated language, miko. Ages old."
"Wow. And it's been preserved so well?"
"Indeed, passed from parents to children. I am unsure if the tradition has remained."
"We should start it again. Teach me more."
Nuzzling his mate's throat, he murmured against her flesh, "Enshi kana. Kana se tan allusha. Chrmmm." Though somewhat jumbled, the plea sounded lovely from his mate's mouth. A guttural growl ripped its way through his throat as he mounted her.
Laughing, Kagome held him back as best she could. "Wait! Wait! What did I say? What did that growl mean?"
"You asked me to control you, miko. Told me that you were my property, and begged me to come inside you." At her bright red face, he grinned, "And I obliged."
