She sat on her balcony looking out at the garden. Her silent companion sipped tea that she brewed. She held out her cup to him, he dipped his index in only at the claw and allowed his acid to mix with the contents. She quickly drank it down; she didn't need to accidentally destroy such a pretty cup. The acidic taste was something that she was missing from her life for the past year. Her favourite secret indulgence thus far.
"I believe that I found him. The poisoner, that is. I saw him force the pot into her hands and point me out."
She slid her eyes to the lord, who remained quiet. Even though he spoke more when they were alone it did not change the fact, he was a demon of few words.
"I'm still unsure of if he's just an underling or a cog in a bigger scheme. One thing I'm sure of is that someone is scared of me in this position. Scared enough to come close enough to violate the rules to take me out."
She observed the smallest tick in his sculpted jaw. He was angry.
"Who is it?" his voiced flowed evenly through clenched teeth. It was a skill she admired in him strangely enough.
She laughed in answer.
"So that you could get him and punish him, no thank you."
"It is the West's Mating Games."
"I was the target!"
"A Cardinal Lord was attacked in my Shiro"
"And he is my sensei's father. If anyone has a right for retribution is Natsu in the eyes of the court."
"As Lord, I have a right to know and punish him. If the Kitsune wants to apprehend him he will and bring him to me."
"You gave me permission to find him-"
"This Sesshomaru did. And you have found him. It is no fault of this Sesshomaru that you moved so swiftly in finding him. Divulge his identity so that this one can apprehend him." a hint of a smirk played on his
Sesshomaru wanted to play that way. Well, she could play too. She expected that Sesshomaru would remember that.
"I cannot." She said simply pouring them both another cup.
He arched an eyebrow at her.
"Natsu wants me to be the one to apprehend the bastard."
She was hoping that she wouldn't have to disclose that she had already been given permission to apprehend. She was prepared for him to stop her. He had his pride wounded so he would want to catch him, especially if she were to tell him that it was one of his soldiers. She'd bring him that information at a later time; after she milked him for all the information, he's worth. An almost sadistic pleasure wrapped itself around her as she considered the best way to do so. It was hard not to be a little sadistic in her line of work.
Kagome was feeling pretty smug as she sipped her tea, frowning at the lack of bitterness. She had the dog cornered and there was nothing he could do about it. Well, he could submit to her will with no questions.
She held out her cup to him with a saccharine smile.
"You cannot"
She faltered.
"Nani?"
She thought she had it all figured out. She had Sesshomaru's permission to find him and Natsu's approval to do what she wanted. He could not deny her according to youkai law.
He finally dipped his long finger into her lavender and swirled it around. She sat mesmerized at the green lighting in the purple colour of her tea. She wondered somewhere in the back of her mind how they got it so purple as she followed the hypnotic pattern he made.
"You see my dear Miko, " he eased the cup from her hands, "I cannot allow you to do such a thing. You cannot apprehend him because it will blow your cover. The last thing you would want is to reveal that you are a shinobi or that you know that someone is trying to poison you."
He left her floored. As he so eloquently explained, she either had to do nothing and give him the person or do it herself and run the risk of exposing herself.
"I know you won't tell me who he is. Your scent alone tells me that I just may know who he is"
She flicked her blue eyes up to his. Big mistake. One look from those calculating golden hues had her pinned.
"So, I suggest a compromise of sorts. You can continue to surveil him, I'll even allow you to set a trap for him. Any. Way. That. You. Want."
He finally pulled his finger out of the liquid, tapping his finger against the rim of the cup. The liquid was greener than it was purple. The cup was sizzling in his large hand. A hand that made its way closer to her face.
"However, " he used his finger to push her chin higher to look at him and emphasize his next statement, making her breath hitch in her throat, "I will apprehend him, I will force whatever information needed from him and neither you nor your beloved sensei will do anything about it." He spat the word sensei like it had personally wronged him.
"Do you understand, Kagome?"
He knew he had won; she knew it too. He left her no choice but to concede to his whim.
"H-hai" the strangest but familiar feeling bloomed in her chest.
He pressed the cup to her lips. She could feel it warping against her skin.
"Drink."
It was a command that she followed without question. She drank deeply, revelling in the bittersweet taste that was him on her tongue. The consistency was slightly different from the tea. Thick on her tongue like honey, but instead of sinking to the bottom, it floated to the top. When she was done, he pushed the warped cup into her hands. His thumb ghosted her lips. She felt herself heat under his touch
"Now tell me, have you finished school?"
The switching of topics we're jarring. It was like he hadn't just forced her to submit to his will then fed her tea. She was glad that she still held her head up and not exposed her neck to him.
"Sessh..." She whined pulling away from his long-fingered grasp. She waves her free hand at him in a vague shooing motion.
"Tell me if I wasted time securing your time to study and you have not even finished schooling? "
"I'll have you know that I have completed school - top of my class. I also got some courses done at the same time and I'm sort of a medic in my time"
"Well done, should I put you with the healers to work?" she might have thought he was teasing her, but they were speaking of duty, he would never tease her about that.
"Part-time. You will not be putting more responsibilities on me while I stay here "
"Hn"
"And have you formally accepted Rin as your ward, or have I wasted time convincing you why it would be a terrible idea to leave her at a Ningen village?"
"She is, but according to laws while she may be a hime she will not be held in as high a regard as the pups I have bred"
"That's sad. At least she knows you love her"
He regarded her with an intense look that left her heart fluttering.
"A-anyway let's talk about today."
...888...
They continued that way for some time. The tea had finished some time now, but Kagome couldn't quite get over her feeling for more of her companion's acidic taste. She hadn't realised how much she missed it, how much she missed him.
True, he was the ice prince. He was cold and hard and unyielding and terribly difficult to hold. But he was the type of cold that when you held on to him, he was hot and could burn. And it's not the fleeting touch that some thought was enough, but a full-on embrace where your body heat chilled while simultaneously melting it at the same time. And she loved him for that.
Loved him?
"Otōsama has returned"
"We should go to him before he comes to us and I get in trouble for having you here."
"It matters not"
"SESSHOMARU!" a voice bellowed as it barged into her room
"Father"
"Why are you here? You know that you shouldn't be here" Toga-sama stalked his way over to her pulling her tiny body away from his son. He shot his coldest glare to his eldest son. It was strange for Kagome to see the typically happy looking demon.
"We were simply having tea, Toga-sama" she spoke up. She knew Sesshomaru being there would cause problems. If the females that wanted him thought he had already chosen, it could endanger her (she fought back the surge of jealousy in her chest). Which is why he should have left the moment he felt his father.
"I know you were, little one. However, my son should know better being the older one in the situation." He turned to his son, "I shall meet you in your office to speak on the day's events."
Sesshomaru said nothing and swept out of the room his golden eyes lingering on her form.
"Gomen'nasai Toga-sama. I didn't mean to make you upset with him"
"Don't worry. Hopefully, none of your suitors saw him here and got scared off."
Her eyes bugged out at that. She knew he was worried about her but for not that reason. She felt weird at the thought of suitors.
"What about Rin, and my Shippo, can I go see them"
"The pups are in their room sleeping. They were tired from the long travel. You will see them in the morning. It will be a nice surprise to them seeing that they don't know you are here.
"I would like to speak with you after speaking to my son. In the meantime I want you to meditate and focus on how your emotions mingle with your powers in your aura. Remember the breathing technique I showed you and erect a barrier so that others wouldn't be affected by what you're doing."
He had walked across the room and placed her in her bed. He fluffed the pillow behind her making sure she was comfortable before leaving her to meditate.
Her eyes darted to the low table still outside and she in good conscience couldn't leave it outside. She jumped off the bed and brought everything inside, including the warped teacup.
The teacup she placed in one of her draws so that the servants who attended her room wouldn't find it and dispose of it. To most, it was ruined and should be replaced toute suite. To her, it was an unlikely treasure she held to her.
That familiar foreign feeling made its way into her chest again. She resumed her place on the bed. She was supposed to be meditating anyway, why not look into that feeling?
She closed her eyes, folded her legs and took a deep breath falling into her meditative state.
...888...
Her eyes flew open. Panic wrote on her face it's friendly language.
Toga-sama's soft knock and voice asking for entrance broke her from revelations. With a scratchy voice, she replied.
He entered, and he asked what she had recognised in her time meditating. She learnt many a thing through her introspection, especially what that feeling in her chest was.
It was quite a dangerous feeling and she wasn't too sure how it can about but she understood what it meant.
She wanted something that she could never allow herself to have.
A piece of it slipped passed her lips.
"Sessh..."
Hi guys. How is everyone? Bam! A new chapter and Kagome has realised her feelings for the demon lord. but I can tell you right now, she's not going to act on it.
It feels like a nice change of pace for Kagome to be the first one to notice. Usually, it's Sesshomaru to notice anything even in the stories when he has locked off emotions.
Next chapter will be day 4 and might have a time skip. See you then.