A/N: Trigger warning for mentions of rape and abuse near the end when Sesshomaru talks about what happened with Shiyuri. If this will trigger you, you can skip that paragraph and move forward without missing the story itself. :)
I hope you enjoy this nice, long chapter, but it sets the last bit of ground work needed before Totosai arrives and we move forward to battle!
Everyone took the news Myoga had provided with a solemn air, though InuYasha was quick to break the tension with his usual brash air.
"Keh. At least he ain't gonna go 'round hiding like the bastard Naraku." InuYasha lifted a transformed Tessaiga onto his back with an ease that belied the abilities of the sword he carried and the responsibilities on his shoulders. "We'll kick his ass in no time and be back home before dinner. Just watch."
Despite his comments, Kagome knew that InuYasha was trying his best to help the others by motivating them. He just wasn't particularly good at it.
Sesshomaru lifted a brow. "Indeed, little brother? Do share your plans with so that all might overcome this enemy."
InuYasha flushed but as usual when he was provoked by his half-brother, he puffed out his chest and refused to back down. "Keh. I don't need some fancy strategy to beat 'im. Naraku had all kinds of plans and they never worked out."
Kagome wisely decided against reminding InuYasha of the times when Naraku's plans had, in fact, succeeded, even if he'd ultimately been defeated.
"Hnn." There was a devilish look in Sesshomaru's eyes that Kagome knew better than to trust. "This one recalls several instances where—"
"I think it's best that we focus on a plan," Kagome broke in before Sesshomaru could successfully goad his half-brother into a fight. "Once Totosai arrives—"
Ayame hopped to her feet. "We don't need a plan," she hissed. "I have called a blood feud. I'll tear him limb from limb for what he's done to Grandfather and the rest of our pack. I'll paint my nails with his blood and I will use his intestines as decorations in my cave. I will use his skull for a cup and—"
Kagome winced as she held up a hand to stop Ayame before Kagome gave in the need to gag. "Listen, we all know Itsetsuhiko is a bad man—yokai," she corrected quickly when she saw several mouths open to speak. "But we won't win by stooping to his level. We can't make him a martyr."
"He is a murderer." Ayame spat on the ground as Koga stepped behind her to support her by placing his hands on her shoulders. Their son slept peacefully on Koga's back in spite of the fervor. "He deserves it."
Shiyuri nodded. "It is best to destroy him before his insanity spreads further."
"Don't worry, Ayame," Koga reassured his mate. "We'll tear him apart together. His crimes won't go unanswered, I promise you that as pack alpha."
Ayame quickly reminded her mate that he was one of the two pack alphas—they were a mated set after all.
Several of the other wolves shouted their support for Ayame's and Koga's blood feud.
Toran, on the other hand, folded her arms across her chest. "I will stop at nothing until my sister is returned to me." She waved a hand to her feline pack. "None of us will. If he's harmed her in any way, the wolves won't get an opportunity for their feud—because my claws will be caked with his bloody remains."
Toran's pack cheered their agreement, even adding in threats of their own.
Azumi didn't voice her own blood feud but Kagome knew the moth yokai was thinking about it. Shin had already admitted as much and though Shin seemed to have a tempering influence on his mate, there was too much pain in Azumi to simply give up and settle for the simple death Kagome wanted.
They aren't planning anything at all, Kagome thought to herself in resignation. They're just trying to one up each other on bloody violence and it's getting out of hand. If I don't rein them in, we won't be productive at all.
Itsetsuhiko is far too dangerous to take on without a well laid out plan. He's just too powerful and, if I'm right, that weapon of his could be devastating if he uses it in battle. We have to stop him before it gets to that point.
Kagome looked to Miroku, expecting the monk to agree with her, but to her surprise, he shook his head. "This yokai continues to destroy both yokai and those with holy power. He can't be allowed to continue destroying the natural balance of life. They have every right to seek revenge." Miroku's gaze drifted over towards his wife.
Sango seemed to be struggling with a decision herself and Kagome knew better than to press her friend. Sango had, after all, once sought revenge herself after her family had been killed—first with InuYasha and then later with Naraku. She hadn't deliberately sought to torture anyone, but she knew better than most the temptation of doing so.
The wolf and panther yokai both seemed to take Miroku's comment as his blessing to begin arguing amongst each other how they would torture Itsetsuhiko. The details grew steadily more gory until Kagome felt the fish from her supper welling up in her mouth with a bitter aftertaste.
"Enough," Sesshomaru said lowly, his voice reverberating through the camp. Whether he spoke up because of Kagome's unease—she had no doubt that he'd sensed it—or because of something else, she didn't know, but she suspected it was the former. Sesshomaru had begun taking his duty of protecting her quite seriously. "None of your plans will come to fruition if you are incapable of catching Itsetsuhiko in the first place."
Several yokai flinched at Sesshomaru's blunt words.
"Totosai will be here in the morning," Sesshomaru continued calmly. "This one will allow discussions then. It is an intelligent being that knows when to take advantage of the peaceful opportunity presented to him before the heat of battle. You will rest until the morning so that you will not be useless when that moment arrives."
Even Koga, who had been ready to protest, shut his mouth at that and InuYasha's ears flattened to his head. No one dared to argue with Sesshomaru. Kagome was pretty sure even the whispering between the yokai and humans had ceased at Sesshomaru's last comment.
Kagome watched enviously as the camp began settling down for the night. She felt like she could have been just as rational in her approach but at least half the yokai would have ignored her outright.
Sesshomaru didn't even have to raise his voice to have the effect he wanted.
It simply wasn't fair.
She tried not to sulk as she sought out her own space to sleep that night, knowing that Sesshomaru's words would ensure that everyone else would do the same.
As everyone settled, Kagome bided her time, remembering her earlier conversation with Sesshomaru.
Perhaps it was wrong to keep this from you, but it is still something that I do not wish to see taint you.
Sesshomaru. I need to know. Knowing you're keeping secrets—important secrets—is going to drive me crazy if you don't tell me. I need to know that you trust me enough.
Very well. If you will do the same, Kagome. But, not now. We will need to tell the others about Myoga's news and amend our plans accordingly first. We can discuss this after that.
They hadn't been able to make those plans with the chaos the news brought, but Kagome wouldn't let that stop her from having the conversation with Sesshomaru in the first place. Sesshomaru might be foolish enough to believe that it would but he was about to learn differently.
As soon as Kagome was confident most—if not all—of the camp was asleep, she slithered out from under her blanket and headed away from the camp, knowing that Sesshomaru was nearby and would follow.
When they were far enough from the camp that Kagome felt they could have their conversation in reasonable peace while still being close enough for Sesshomaru to hear of a sudden attack, she stopped and faced Sesshomaru. "Alright. Just what are you hiding from me?" she asked, hands on her hips.
Sesshomaru blinked. "I distinctly recall stating that we would discuss it later, once a plan had been developed. For now, our attention is best focused on devising a proper plan—"
"Which is a great idea, Sesshomaru, except that no one is planning!" Kagome hissed. "They're only talking about what they'll do once they capture him!"
"Hnn. There is a decided lack of foresight in their plans," Sesshomaru agreed in that maddeningly way of his. She knew he was goading her and she tried to push back her instinctive response to snap back.
She took a deep breath. "This is important, Sesshomaru. I need to be able to trust you. If I'm right about this sword, my sacred arrow may be the one thing capable of reversing the yokai weapon's transformation. But my arrow is most powerful when it's combined with another attack. And since InuYasha may not be by my side..."
Sesshomaru's expression was pained, as if he was struggling internally with something. Finally, after a moment, he said carefully, "You intend to face Itsetsuhiko directly with only a bow against his bisento?"
Kagome rolled her eyes. "I'm a priestess, Sesshomaru. It's my duty to help fight against yokai." She didn't bother to mention the fact that she was almost positive that she was righting this situation now which would allow yokai and those with holy power to live in her own time instead of dying out in this one.
Sesshomaru was quiet for another moment.
"Itsetsuhiko was known by my grandfather for more than his ambitions and delusions. He tried to steal women and whenever he was successful, he forced himself upon them," Sesshomaru said, his voice calm though his eyes carefully studied her. "He believed himself to be the next emperor of Nippon and entitled to a lady of each of the four houses: Aia, from the western house, Masae from the southern house, Shiyuri from the northern house, and Rumi from the eastern house."
Kagome felt sick to her stomach but this time, she did lose the contents of her stomach. She then wiped her mouth with shaky hands, wishing she'd chosen to have this conversation by water so she could rise out her mouth. "Shiyuri..." Kagome swallowed back a lump of bile. "The same Shiyuri who—"
"Hnn. She has already confirmed that." Sesshomaru made no move to comfort her as he continued. "He forced himself upon her with the intentions of siring an heir. Shiyuri did not speak of her stay with him, nor how she escaped, but when she made her way to my grandfather, the closest daiyokai to Itsetsuhiko's hideout, he guessed enough to understand what had occurred. With her knowledge of Itsetsuhiko, my grandfather and the other daiyokai arrived to put an end to Itsetsuhiko. It had been Shiyuri herself who had been the most vicious in the assault on Itsetsuhiko's shiro. My grandfather thus inferred that Shiyuri had been abused heavily, detailing out in his own personal journal about the war that her body had been covered with new and half-healed bruises and cuts. Given the quick healing of yokai, especially a daiyokai, he had assumed that she had sustained the abuse for long enough that her yoki was too weak to quickly make the repairs. It seemed that Itsetsuhiko enjoyed beating her body down as part of what he needed to do to allow himself sire an heir."
She understood then. He was trying to impress upon her the evils of Itsetsuhiko in an effort to dissuade her from her plans. Sesshomaru all but said that Itsetsuhiko has to abuse women to get off. She felt her stomach lurk again but this time, there was simply nothing left to expel.
"Did he sire an heir?" she asked shakily. She took a deep breath and repeated the question, more so to prove to herself that she could.
"He did."
It wasn't Sesshomaru who answered; both Kagome and Sesshomaru turned to see Shiyuri standing on a branch in the tree above them.
"Though he did not know at the time," Shiyuri allowed, her voice calm and full of strength in spite of her circumstances.
Kagome took a breath to help give herself a moment to think before she spoke. She wanted to ask about the child, because she could understand any of the possible actions Shiyuri might have taken when she learned of her condition. A woman who had suffered all of that deserved more than she'd been dealt.
But Shiyuri seemed to understand the question Kagome had hesitated to ask. "This one did not know what to do. She was furious and felt betrayed by her own body. She didn't want the child," she said flatly. "There was no doubt in this one's mind of that. But in the end, as much as she had desired to act, she could not be the one to take another life. She felt in doing so, she would have been no better than him."
She jumped down to stand next to them. "A childless couple in this one's house took the child to raise after it came. This one has not laid eyes upon the child since, but she has been told by the couple in a handful of letters that it has done well in spite of the circumstances of its birth. And this one finds it the perfect revenge that he will never know that he already has the heir he sought after, for neither the child nor he know the truth."
"Do not bother purifying Itsetsuhiko, priestess," Shiyuri continued, hissing his name. "There are some sins that can never be cleansed."
With that, Shiyuri left them, hoping up into the trees as she made her way back to camp.
Kagome licked her dry lips, wincing at the bitter aftertaste of bile. "How long had she been standing there?"
Sesshomaru met her gaze, his own calm and thoughtful. "Long enough," he replied before narrowing his gaze. "I shared what I have kept hidden from you, Kagome, to protect you. I believe Itsetsuhiko intends a similar fate if he captures you."
"So now it's my turn," Kagome finished for him, knowing that Sesshomaru would insist on quid pro quo. "Mine ties into yours, I guess. I felt his interest when he noticed my presence and I believe he's obsessed, maybe more than Naraku ever was with Kikyo."
The look on Sesshomaru's face told her that he didn't care about Naraku or Kikyo and his aura flared a green-gold filled with his annoyance.
"Sometimes I can feel him watching," she blurted out, shivering at the reminder of the sensation. "It feels almost like he's here sometimes. I-I think he knows what happened when those priestesses attacked."
Sesshomaru's expression turned deadly. "And this is what you sought to keep from your mate?"
Kagome immediately began backpedaling. "We aren't mated yet, Sesshomaru, and besides, it was just a feeling—"
"That you deliberately withheld from me." Sesshomaru stepped forward, lifting her chin to met his gaze fully. "I will not force you into a mating bond, Kagome, but if you continue this willfulness, I will be forced to take other action for your own safety. Someone, it seems, has to keep you out of the trouble you keep finding."
"Hey!" she protested, ready to argue his highhandedness, but she didn't get the chance. Sesshomaru kissed her, but it wasn't the soft, beguiling kisses or the deep, tempting ones he'd offered before. This one almost seemed desperate and she could feel the worry and concern that he hadn't completely voiced.
He was afraid of losing her.
He pulled back after a moment and wrapped his arms around her, soothing both of them as he ran his hands gently up and down her back. "We will discuss this foolhardy plan of yours when Totosai arrives," he said quietly, pulling her in a little closer. "But promise me that no matter what plan we decide, you will not disregard that plan to try and resolve the matter on your own."
It was a promise Kagome wasn't sure she could keep. She had already realized that she would do anything to protect those she cared about and change the ominous future of her own era, where none of her friends or loved ones in this era would survive to see.
But she couldn't deny Sesshomaru this one request, either. "I'll try my best," she finally said, hoping Sesshomaru would accept that.
"Hnn." His reply was short, but she had the feeling that he wouldn't allow the matter to drop, either. "We should return to camp."
With that, the matter was dropped—but Kagome had the feeling that they'd be revisiting the topic soon, especially when he realized what she had planned.
But Sesshomaru would soon realize that Kagome could be as stubborn as he, with a protective streak as wide as his own. She wouldn't back down, not when it meant protecting everyone he cared about.
Sesshomaru would just have to learn to help her with it, just as InuYasha eventually had back in the days of Naraku.