Guardian has been nominated for best AU/AR in the 2020 3rd Quarter Inuyasha Fandom Awards, run by Feudal Connection on Tumblr. Thank you so much to the fans and supporters of this story! Voting is now open and runs through August 12. The link to vote is on the Feudal Connection Tumblr page.

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I do not own Inuyasha, the characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. Similarly, I do not receive any financial benefit from this story, just the pleasure of knowing people enjoy it.

Thank you also to Heavenin—hell on Tumblr for the pictures that have been the inspiration for this story.

Thank you to NeutronStarChild and Fawn_Eyed_Girl for your assistance with this chapter

CHAPTER 18

Inuyasha reached out to clutch Kagome's hand.

The second seal was broken. Only one seal remained, and they… they weren't ready.

"H…How?" Inuyasha choked out, his purple eyes full of dread.

"That's what we are trying to find out." Sesshomaru said as his gaze flicked between the two. Inuyasha caught his slight sniff and grimaced as Sesshomaru merely lifted an eyebrow.

Kagome saw Miroku emerge from a side room holding a piece of cloth.

"This is the only thing in the room beside the broken sealing vessel." He stated, placing the cloth on a table, revealing a dagger.

Kagome felt her blood run cold as she looked at the dagger in front of her, taking in the nicked silver blade, the leather wrapped handle, the stylized design of the pommel.

She knew that dagger.

She had seen it in her dream. It was the dagger she had used to destroy the snake demon.

Inuyasha felt Kagome's hand tremble then noticed her face pale. Her eyes had the same blank and unseeing expression that he had seen last night. He pulled her close to him, wrapping her in his arms as she shuddered.

Toga watched Kagome's reaction, a look of sorrow in his eyes. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed as he considered the dagger before his eyes cut to Kagome, the anger and distrust clearly visible, even to Inuyasha's dulled senses. Inuyasha held Kagome a little closer, shifting so he was standing between her and his brother. Something was happening, and he wasn't sure he liked it.

The door to the staircase opened, and Koga strode across the room to the group.

"We finished reviewing the video feed." He said, his voice deep with anger. "You won't like it."

Toga's gold eyes met Koga's cobalt ones.

"What did it show?"

"Only one person went near the room, and she was holding the dagger. After entering the room, the person used the dagger as a focus, releasing a stream of energy at the vase. The text of the seal flared red and looked as if it caught fire, then burned away, and the vessel broke."

"I take it there was a clear shot of who it was?"

Koga's eyes fell downward before they flicked towards Kagome as he nodded.

Toga closed his eyes briefly before turning to fully face Inuyasha and Kagome. Sesshomaru fell in line beside Toga, his eyes showing more heat, more near hatred than Inuyasha had seen in a long time. Inuyasha growled and stepped in front of Kagome protectively. He felt his senses awaken and heighten, and knew that it was, finally, sunrise. His black hair lightened to gleaming silver, the purple of his eyes burned away to molten gold as he stood in front of Kagome.

"Use your nose pup," Toga said softly as he took a step towards them. Inuyasha let out another growl, holding Kagome behind him with one hand, the other preparing to attack if needed. Sesshomaru reached out and grabbed the cloth with the dagger, holding it closer to Inuyasha. Inuyasha felt confusion as the scents from the dagger hit him, the faint scent of Sango, and the fresh, too fresh, scent of Kagome on it.

"Whatever you are thinking, Sesshomaru, no." Inuyasha said darkly, flexing his claws as he stared at the dagger.

"Do not let your… activities… cloud your senses and get in the way of your duty brother."

Inuyasha felt Kagome grasp the back of his shirt, the shudders of her body becoming more pronounced. He remembered the state she was in when he had opened the door, Kagome hadn't been fully there with him until he had touched her. Her eyes had been blank, as if she were no more than a shell, but the moment his skin had met hers, he had seen and felt the difference in Kagome.

"It wasn't her."

Koga shook his head. "Inuyasha, we just watched the security feed. She is the only one who has entered that room in the last 12 hours."

"I said it wasn't her." Inuyasha insisted, keeping one hand on Kagome to hold her in place.

"Pup." Toga started.

"NO!" Inuyasha insisted. "You weren't there last night, you don't know what she saw, what she went through."

"Father this is pointless." Sesshomaru said coldly, his eyes never leaving the nearly hidden figure of Kagome. "He will never accept the truth of her betrayal."

"Fuck off Sesshomaru." Inuyasha snarled as Kagome broke down sobbing behind him.

"Summon the council." Toga said with a broken voice. "This will have to go before them for a decision."

"SHE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Inuyasha roared at his father.

"It is your word against the physical evidence and video saying otherwise pup. Which do you think the council will believe?"

Before Inuyasha had time to process his father's words, Sesshomaru disappeared and the pressure of Kagome against his back was gone. He turned, frantic, to see Sesshomaru holding Kagome against the wall on the opposite side of the room, his clawed fingers aimed directly at her throat. Kagome looked at him with tears streaming down her face, her eyes unfocused and blank.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" The edges of Inuyasha's eyes began to turn red as he struggled to get to Kagome.

Totosai and Miroku hurried across the room, each moving to Kagome's side.

"Sesshomaru, release her to my custody. Miroku and I will watch over her until the council is ready." Totosai said cautiously

"NO!" Inuyasha's howl echoed through the room.

Miroku placed a hand on Kagome's shoulder, causing Inuyasha to let out a deadly sounding growl. The sound made Miroku shudder, but he stood his ground, reaching for Kagome.

"We can ensure she stays and she's safe," Miroku said, his focus on Sesshomaru and not the growling and struggling hanyou. "Remember Sesshomaru, we will not be affected by her powers should she lose control."

Sesshomaru's eyes focused on Miroku. With a small nod he relinquished his hand, dropping it to his side as if he was holstering it. With a sniff of disdain and a glance of disgust to his brother, Sesshomaru walked away to leave the room. Kagome collapsed against Miroku and Totosai.

Miroku looked at Inuyasha, whose eyes were nearly completely red.

"Sango will help us take care of her Inuyasha," Miroku said softly as he placed an arm around Kagome's waist. Inuyasha's snarls grew louder, but Miroku ignored them, working with Totosai to help Kagome to the elevator.

Inuyasha roared and fought against Koga and Toga's hold.

"INUYASHA." His father's voice commanded Inuyasha's attention and obedience. No matter how far gone he was, Toga was still his alpha. He stilled, watching with haunted eyes as Kagome was spirited away.

"You can release him Koga. He won't challenge me… not today. Call the council and leave him with me."

"Are you sure?" Koga was hesitant to let go. It had taken both to hold Inuyasha back; the hanyou's strength had surprised him.

Toga shot a side look to Koga, who eased his hold on Inuyasha with a slight bow of his head. Toga wrapped an arm around his son's neck, while never letting go of Inuyasha's arm.

"You need to come with me pup." Inuyasha let out a whine, his eyes never leaving the elevator doors. "I can't help you if you don't come with me Inuyasha." Toga whispered in his son's ear.

Inuyasha snapped his head to his father, his eyes slowly turning back to white.

"Come on pup." Toga led his son to a bench in the training area before pushing Inuyasha, forcing him to sit.

"It wasn't her dad. It wasn't." Inuyasha was pleading with his father. "Whatever you guys think she did, she didn't do it."

"Inuyasha, you have to understand, the video shows her breaking the seal."

"It had to have been a trick, someone impersonating her. You know that."

"The room had seals on it, humans were the only ones that could enter that room. The dagger has her scent on it, and there were traces of her spiritual energy lingered on the dagger."

"There has to be some explanation. There has to be."

"Was she with you all night?" Inuyasha's ears lowered at his father's question, and that was the only response Toga needed.

"Tell me what happened." Inuyasha looked up at his father, sadness and guilt reflected in his eyes.

Toga tried again. "I can't try and help you if you don't tell me everything. There are members of the council who will only look at the physical evidence, I need you to give me something to work with."

Inuyasha's face fell, the guilt that had been eating at him on full display.

"I left her alone… she asked me to stay and I told her no because of what night it was." His head tilted back; his eyes closed. "I fucking told her no."

Inuyasha told his father everything, from taking Kagome to turn in her paper, tucking her into bed, to returning to their apartment.

"She was in her apartment when you were here?" Inuyasha nodded. "You didn't realize she was here?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "I don't have the same senses when human, I can't feel her energy or catch her scent on those nights."

"And you didn't hear anything?"

Inuyasha's face flushed bright red as he looked away. "I was… occupied." He mumbled.

"Look pup, I don't have time for false modesty, I can smell what happened."

"F-fuck." Inuyasha whispered, rubbing his forehead with his hand. Toga's lips quirked.

"Not quite I would say." Inuyasha shot him a glare, and Toga's face went serious. "How did you find Kagome?"

The memory of Kagome outside his door, her eyes blank entered his mind, and Inuyasha told his father everything. His fist clenched as he spoke of the terror in her eyes when she seemed to wake up, her desperation to prove to herself he wasn't injured. The guilt that he felt as he heard what she thought she had seen, knowing he had left her alone and had been engaged in a much more pleasurable fantasy while she was going through a personal hell.

"Dad, when I found her… I'm not sure she was awake."

Toga's gaze sharpened. "What do you mean?"

"Her eyes were blank; she wasn't actually seeing anything around her. It wasn't until I physically touched her that I saw her eyes focus, she became aware of where she was and who she was with."

Toga turned to pace, processing the information. "Yet she managed to get here… that is what the council is going to want an answer to."

"She was walking in her sleep. Her body was physically here, her mind was not."

Toga turned back to Inuyasha. "Do you have any way to prove that? Did she have a different scent, a different breathing pattern, a slightly off heartbeat?"

"No." Inuyasha whispered.

Inuyasha closed his eyes as his head dropped between his knees. "The one night she needs me, and I am a human, a fucking worthless human… No, dad, I can't say any of that because I WAS A FUCKING HUMAN. It's just a… feeling… knowing her, knowing who she is."

Toga sat next to his son and started to rub his back.

"I will do what I can Inuyasha with the council, I am going to need you to trust me." His son raised his head, guilt and anguish written across his face. "I want to help you, I do. I know what she means to you." Inuyasha's eyes took on a desperate glint at his father's words. "Be warned, I will not go against the council, not even for you. I will do everything I can for them to wait and observe, and not take more drastic action, but that is the best I can promise."

Inuyasha gave a small nod. "I just want to go to her, grab her and run away from here. I can still feel her energy spiking, and I need to hold her, to calm her, to feel her safe against me."

"You cannot go near her until the council meeting." Toga warned. "Even if I must tie you down and have Sesshomaru sit on you, I will make sure you don't go near her. You don't want to give the council anything more to be used against her."

"Dad?" Inuyasha asked with a small voice, waiting for a sound of acknowledgement from Toga before continuing. "I didn't get to talk to her, I couldn't, not with how terrified she was. How do I talk to her about being my mate now? How to I face her after I failed her?"

Toga's heart hurt at the utter despair and helplessness in his son's voice. "She will not think you failed her. She will think she failed you. Have faith in her Inuyasha; have faith in her. She needs you just as much as you need her."

True to Toga's word, it did not take long for the council to be assembled. By the end of the day Kagome stood before the yokai Lords and Ladies. She felt her mask settle around her like a mantle again, but the effort to keep it in place made her shake slightly as she looked at the eight above her, the only friendly eyes she saw were Toga's. Miroku and Totosai stood at her side, Sango and Jaken watched from the entry. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru stood to the side, Inuyasha had already been called forward to tell the council what he had seen and heard. She had been cautioned not to look at Inuyasha until after the council had decided, but Kami it was so hard.

Tekki the bird yokai questioned her relentlessly.

"You have had other incidents in your dreams haven't you." Tekki had asked, her voice sharp.

"Yes." Kagome's voice was flat, her mask fully in place. Inuyasha's ears lowered at her tone, she sounded… empty. The only thing keeping him from going to her was Sesshomaru's grip on his elbow.

"How many times?"

"I don't know." Kagome had to take a deep breath to keep her anxiety under control. "I know of two times specifically, before I originally appeared before the council."

"And this dream did not seem strange to you?" Tekki had pressed, her eyes cutting.

"No."

"You expect us to believe that you had a dream where Inuyasha has been attacked before?"

"Yes." Kagome said softly. "I have had dreams where I have watched him be attacked and injured in front of me."

"And how long have those been going on?"

"Four weeks, every night for four weeks."

"And you never felt the need to discuss these dreams with anyone, with Inuyasha, for four weeks?"

Kagome bit her lip, her silence an answer. Her eyes closed as she lowered her head, fighting desperately to keep her face blank and not show the turmoil she felt.

The Yokai were arguing amongst themselves, and all she could do was sit and listen. She had told them everything, the weeks of dreams, the stress of trying to improve her training, the ongoing nightmares and reduced sleep, her fear after the events at the weapons lab, being up for nearly seventy-two hours straight due to the paper, and the sheer exhaustion as Inuyasha had brought her to her room. She held nothing back.

She heard Inuyasha's soft growls, the sound oddly giving her strength to continue. She recounted for the yokai almost everything she remembered from the dream, what had "awakened" her, finding the knife, the dash to the Archaeology Building, the details of the yokai she thought she was facing, ending with waking up standing in front of Inuyasha's room, his hand on her elbow. The only detail she did not mention was that Inuyasha was human in her dream.

"It was the first time in my dreams that I had been able to save him." she admitted, tears finally breaking free and falling down her cheeks. "All I wanted to do was save him."

"How did you wake from the dream?" Shippo asked, his green eyes shimmering as he watched Kagome.

"The moment Inuyasha touched my arm I felt… it felt..." She took a shuddering breath as she looked up, her eyes meeting Toga's before passing to each of the members above her. "The moment he touched me everything I saw dissolved into smoke, chased away by a golden light that surrounded me."

"Have you seen that golden light in your dreams before?" Shippo questioned.

"Yes." Kagome nodded. "The night before the council meeting, I saw the same golden glow surrounding me in a dream as a dragon glared and tried to attack me through a veil of smoke. The glow kept him from coming near me, and I was forced awake when the mirror in my room shattered, cutting my arms."

"Did you see the golden glow around you at any other point during your dream last night?"

Kagome's eyes widened as she looked at Shippo.

"No." Her surprise was evident in her voice. "I didn't even realize it, there was heat building, but the light only covered the blade, not me."

Her fate was in their hands now.

"She is aiding Ryukotsusei." Tekki's loud voice echoed through the room. "Why else would she have voluntarily broken the seal? She is compromised!"

"Yet she says she does not remember doing that Tekki." Hachiemon interjected before cowering under the glower of the bird.

"Even if she was possessed, she is a risk." Kagura stated, her crimson eyes flaring at Kagome.

"When she came before us before she told us of several incidents where Ryukotsusei had infiltrated her dreams. I have to agree with Kagura." Toran stated, the Panther yokai seemed immensely troubled by all that had occurred. "What do you say Shiori?"

Shiori watched Kagome carefully, her focus had been on the young woman before them from the moment she had walked into the arena.

"I did not detect any deception in her words." Shiori stated simply. "There were no changes to her heartbeat or her breathing during the entire time she was speaking. If she was in fact involved, it was not a conscious decision on her part."

"There is no if Shiori-sama." Koga interrupted. "The video is clear that she was the one who broke the seal."

"She did not do it knowingly." Shippo's voice cut through the room.

"You are going to sit here and defend a human who has betrayed us and helped release Ryukotsusei?" Tekki's voice rose in volume.

"She is needed." Toga looked down at Kagome.

"That is your impression Toga, and not one I share. She is a human." Tekki shot back. "And you do not get a say as your son is involved."

Inuyasha's growl echoed through the room, forcing Kagome to close her eyes to avoid looking at him. Sesshomaru's hand on Inuyasha's shoulder reminded him to stay silent, but it wasn't easy.

"The seal was broken by her hand." Koga acknowledged as he stood. "We have also heard her statement that she was asleep and has no memory of the events. We have heard the earlier statement from Inuyasha of the state he found her in outside his door, and how she did not appear to be conscious at the time he touched her.

"The council has one question before them. What do we do with her now?"

"Kill her." Tekki immediately stated, causing an uproar in the room.

"That is far too harsh" Toran was stunned at Tekki's suggestion.

"No it is not, she betrayed us. There is only one more seal. She is working with Ryukotsusei. We cannot risk it."

"Not without more information Tekki-sama." Kagura tapped her cheek with her fan as she considered the demand. "We are not without our own code after all."

"And what would you suggest?" Tekki spat back, her feathers bristling in anger.

"Observation." Shippo stated, stopping the conversation around him. "We place her under observation while we work to understand what happened."

Toran nodded. "She will need to be under constant surveillance. Any abnormalities, any deviations from her normal actions or behaviors will need to be reported immediately."

"And who do you propose to watch her Panther?" Tekki seethed.

Inuyasha immediately stepped forward, catching his father's attention. "Stand down Pup." Toga said firmly. "You are too close to the situation."

"I will watch her at night." Shiori volunteered. "Ryukotsusei has only affected you during sleep, correct?" She waited for Kagome's nod before continuing. "I will be her guard at night, if there is a change I will know."

"And how would you defend yourself from her if she were affected?" Tekki demanded.

Shiori turned to the bird, her lavender eyes gleaming. "You forget Lady Tekki, I am a hanyou, and cannot be fully purified."

"I will watch her during the day." Shippo stood. "I do not have Shiori's hearing, but I will take a monitor with me to watch for fluctuations in her energy."

Koga turned to everyone, directing the most intense glare at Tekki. "Is this an acceptable solution? Kagome is placed under 24/7 surveillance while we continue to investigate, and if she shows additional signs of being possessed or working with Ryukotsusei, we will revisit more severe actions."

At Tekki's conceding nod, he turned back to the yokai leaders. "Then it is time to vote."