For all Kagome's plotting, she never thought it would come out like this. First thing this morning, the secret she had been hiding for 7 years just came out (from the slip of the tongue from Ahmya, no less). Kagome was not foolish, she fully anticipated the secret coming out sometime during their stay (however long that was going to be). The gang would see their interactions, and hear the comments and derive a conclusion...eventually.

She had even considered it coming out today. With all the people who knew the circumstances of the heir's birth in the Palace at this moment, somebody would have said something to Sango, Inuyasha or even Kaori. Hell, she was sure Miroku figured it out the moment he saw Ichiro last night. Kagome envisioned it happening during the public sparring that was to take place after breakfast or during her musical performance in the evening or when they did the formal ceremony where she would be indoctrinated into the Western pack as her primary one.

The maturity celebrations varied from person to person but had a rudimentary layout: a show of strength, a show of skill and the choosing of pack. The stronger and more skilled a person was, the longer it would take. It was rumoured that Sesshomaru's went almost into the night (she had an inkling hers would be similar) although she doubted the accounts. Sesshomaru's skills fell into visual art and story creation, and hardly anyone knew about the former.

Tangent aside, expectations did not meet reality and now she had an issue to deal with.

"WHAT THE FUCK, KAGOME!" Inuyasha began but was quickly silenced by a quick and powerful 'sit' that pulled him down from his slightly raised position, startling Kaori and the rest of the room.

"'What the fuck' is right. Are you serious -?"

"Sango, please," Miroku interrupted his wife who ploughed on heedless

"How could you-"

"Sango."

"You were furious over what Inuyasha did and you were over here playing house as his mate, like some type of -"

An oppressive cold dropped on the group. It was like being dropped in a river during winter (but to her, it was refreshing). Whatever derogatory word that was leaving Sango's mouth died before passing her teeth. The entire room froze under the subjugation that Sesshomaru was levelling on the hall.

Kagome would have tried to soothe Sesshomaru as she normally would but two things preoccupied Kagome's mind. Mate? They, or Sango at least, thought she was mated to Sesshomaru. Only in her wildest dreams, (especially as his heart belonged to someone else). The second thing she noted was that his aura was frayed around the edges. That wasn't right. A glance at Yasuhiro confirmed that she wasn't feeling things that weren't there. It was in the quick flicker of his eyes and his refusal to meet hers.

"Breakfast is over," the finality in Sesshomaru's tone was palpable and carried out to the rest of the guest who immediately began filing out. "Mother, Ichika" was all he said before looking at certain people

"Come Ichiro"

"Princess Kaori, walk with me. I need to know exactly how you met Inuyasha"

"Shall we accompany you, Lady Ichika?" Yasuhiro's wolf father, Naoko asked, while already doing just that. The inu, Osamu, after sending a death glare at Inuyasha and patting his son on the head saddled up next to Amaya and Kaori.

"Do you need me to stay, my Lord?"

Sesshomaru made a noise of dissent and Kenta got up and followed his mate out of the hall.

He then got up, motioning to a nearby servant to take Kagome's half-eaten plate. Once he was at an upright position he held out a hand that Kagome took on reflex to haul herself up.

Sesshomaru swept his eyes across the remaining inhabitants of the table. Some were confused by the look he sent them but Kagome only sighed.

"Do we have to do this now? Tonight can work just as well," Kagome pleaded.

Sesshomaru simply turned and began making his way to the exit. This also meant that he subtly dragged Kagome with him by their joint hands.

"Fine. But this will be happening in your study," Kagome agreed. "Can the rest of you follow of us so that certain facts can be cleared up?"

With some muttering and tense silence, they made their way to Sesshomaru's study. Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku and Shippo sat on cushions in front of Sesshomaru's desk. Kagome took her usual seat next to Sesshomaru and Yasuhiro and his mother, Mai sat to her left but not behind the table.

"Is Ichiro yours? Is he your child? Did you give birth to him?" Inuyasha spat.

"That," Kagome sighed, "is a complicated question. Hear me out: the answer is technically...yes"

"I can't believe you," Sango muttered in disbelief.

"You fucking whore! I always knew you were a whore who was fucking my brother!" Inuyasha exclaimed, ignoring Sesshomaru's warning growl.

"You have no right to say that Inuyasha. You and I both know why," Yasuhiro defended in a savage tone (what exactly was playing out, she didn't know)

The hanyou's face paled at the accusation and he stuttered out a response, "She fucked my brother behind my back! That's why I went to-" He stopped himself but everyone knew what he wanted to say. That's why he went to Kaori. It still stung hearing that she was still the second choice.

"Idiot, use your nose. Kagome is still a virgin," Shippo spoke exasperatedly, with a deep roll of his eyes.

"Shippo is right. I can see it in her aura. What I want to know is why and how," Miroku spoke. He made a gesture for her to continue, or rather begin.

She began her story from the beginning, the month she returned to the feudal era. It was the middle of August and though she had just returned to be with Inuyasha, their honeymoon phase was over. The village had a good harvest year, but they only kept enough for them and sold the surplus to neighbouring villages. They also had used resources to fix the huts that were already there and hadn't built any extra huts. Suffice to say, they weren't prepared for Kagome in any way. So Kagome spent most nights either under the stars with Shippo or stuffed in Kaede's hut with Rin. Inuyasha had stormed off after some argument about her travelling with him to escape the winter, leaving her there all alone to figure out what to do. Kagome at the time was deciding whether or not if she should try to travel to Koga's den to stay for the winter so she wouldn't be alone when Shippo returned to school.

"Then Sesshomaru showed up to collect Rin and offered me a place to stay" she sent a small smile in his direction.

That's when she met her soon to be pack. At the time, Sesshomaru and Ichika were arranged to mate to produce an heir. The yokai elders were breathing down their back to move on with the ceremony because they kept stalling. They were buying time to find a way to dissolve the arrangement so that Ichika could be with her love Kenta. The only way they had found was by an heir being produced. Ichika was too weak to conceive and carry a child with Sesshomaru without the mating (the mating gave extra strength to the females so they could have an easier pregnancy).

"Why not find a female Sesshomaru could fuck and have his spawn?"

"We tried that. The woman would have to relinquish the child fully to Sesshomaru after it's born, and no demoness would miss an opportunity to get a foothold in the West." Yasuhiro explained. He had been one of the main researchers in looking for a loophole.

"But there was a problem," Kagome continued

The elders found out and put a stop to it. The agreement that had been drawn up centuries ago stipulated for a child to be born from the West and South. That's when Yasuhiro got an idea and turned to his mother.

"He wanted to know the spell and ritual I used that made him possible. I told him that since we were all mates, the ritual was done with sex. But I understood that was not an option so I gave him an altered procedure where sex would not be necessary. However, the person who carried the child would not be able to relinquish the child and had to be around regularly to bond with them. The child would be as much as the carrier's child as it would be Lord Sesshomaru and Lady Ichika's child," Mai spoke.

"So they turned to me and I accepted"

How could she not? Sesshomaru was already a dear friend from her shard hunting days and had offered her a place to stay for an extended period of time. Also, her actions would allow two people in love to be with each other (she had only known them for a month at the time but she knew that they ardently loved one another). The elders could not object and saw the outcome to beneficial (the heir would most likely be immune to spiritual powers at the least). So they did the spell and ritual, then 5 gruelling months later, Ichiro was born.

"So yes. He's mine in a technical sense," Kagome ended.

"What about that Inukimi title. Are you really trying to say that you aren't mated to him when you are the Lady of the West?"

Lady of the West? Either Sango must be confused or Kagome had been unclear earlier.

"Sango, it just means that I gave birth to the heir. Nothing else. " Kagome explained.

She studied the faces before her to get a glimpse of how her friends were thinking. Sango's face was bright red with embarrassment. She was always quick to form and voice her opinions with little thought. Sometimes she was right, but more often than not when it came to non-battle she ended up with egg on her face.

Miroku looked contemplative yet satisfied. It was as if all the missing pieces of the puzzle he had were finally being filled in. Now he had to ponder over the bigger picture.

Shippo looked hurt, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"This Sesshomaru thought it was best if the halfbreed didn't know as yet. This Sesshomaru has been proven to be right" Sesshomaru said with a harsh glare at Inuyasha.

Translation: he didn't trust the usually jealous and volatile Inuyasha to not react rashly and hurt Kagome in any way or abandon her. Which he did, by having an affair with and subsequently choosing Kaori, over a perceived wrongdoing.

"But you were 18. He took advantage of you. Why did the elders allow it?" Inuyasha inquired, his eyes took on this wild look as he was grasping at straws to find a way to vilify Kagome or Sesshomaru.

For a moment, Kagome wondered how they got it done with her being underage, but then she remembered. She hadn't understood it at the time and wrote it off as something diplomatic and a way for her to have some support that wouldn't slip information to Sesshomaru, but now...

"He asked my alpha at the time and got permission. Because I was adopted into the eastern wolf pack, Koga was my alpha, and he saw no problem. It's not like Sesshomaru tried to mate me or proposed a mating before I turned 25." Kagome said pointedly, throwing the last part at Inuyasha.

If Inuyasha could pale further he would have. She had never seen him look so unsettled, so, so guilty. Like something he had hidden had just been uncovered.

And whatever was left behind of her affection and romantic love of the white-haired, puppy eared hanyou splintered into oblivion and she fought back a sob behind clenched teeth.

"That reminds me, Kagome, what's so important about a 25th birthday?" Miroku asked. She noted that he said "a", as though he was speaking in the most general sense.

"I'll tell you all by the end of the day. It's kind of important. Now why don't you all make your way down to the arena with Yasuhiro and Mai," Kagome prompted with the sweetest smile she could muster. She hoped no one noted the stilted, formal tone she took (there was no way she could emulate her regular way of speaking at that moment).

She had to stay strong. She couldn't let Inuyasha see how much he affected her, how much he hurt her. And although she was hurt, she didn't want to sick her friends on her other friend (even though when they figure out what today signifies, at least Miroku might become enraged).

Already, at the reminder of the day, a dawning rage began to slowly overtake Shippo's young countenance. He was putting together the picture that Miroku didn't have. One that was a terrible faith to any woman who didn't know. But the question in his eyes as he got up with the others and looked at her was one that begged the question.

Did she know what her 25th birthday meant when Inuyasha proposed a mating?

She refused to hold his stare. "Why don't you spend some time with Ayame today, Shippo. She has been asking after your studies"

"I think I should," he said before storming off.

It took a few minutes for Yasuhiro to herd the group away (on account of Inuyasha trying to talk to her), but the moment the door closed, she slumped and stared blankly ahead.

Without missing a beat, Sesshomaru scooped kagome into his arms, rose from the cushioned floor and made his way out of the room. He did not look down at her as he held her bridal style (if he had, he might have seen the pretty blush colour her cheeks) and spoke, "Miko, you have already shed enough tears over my brother to quench the thirst of a hundred weary soldiers. He deserves not a tear more."

A giggle escaped her lips and she attempted to blink away the tears that gathered on the rim of her eyes, "Maybe you're right. But I loved him for so long, ya know. It's hard not to shed a tear." She closed bend sighed and felt his arms instinctual tighten around her. "But, you're right. Although that's an awfully poetic way of saying it."

He hummed at her.

"Shouldn't I walk there myself; I don't want them to think the Lord of the West has gotten all soft because of the whims of a woman," she joked as she pulled a faux-aghast face.

"Miko you are too slow. The sooner this celebration is over with the sooner this one can take you to your gift."

She considered saying that he didn't need to. That the music room was enough. That him accepting Shippo in the pack until he eventually comes of age and chooses for himself, was enough. That him just spending time with her was enough. That him thinking of her feelings even though he had bigger things to worry about (like the sickness he had that he refused to acknowledge) was more than choose not to say anything on it and directed him to her room so she could get her bow an dagger.

Sesshomaru's love language was probably giving gifts or acts of service anyway.

Hi guys. I hope I cleared everything up on Kagome's end. I had this chapter written out but then I got a comment from TheVoidLooksBack on Ao3 that talked about Kagome's cruelty leading to Sesshomaru dying. They had left a comment before about Kagome and Sesshomaru being mates because she saw a pattern that all the dynamics that were similar to Kagome and Sesshomaru were all mated. I didn't realize I did that. So I had my friend read over this chapter and the previous ones that it could seem cruel and that this chapter hadn't explained it. So I fixed it and here we are. I hope you enjoyed it and everyone is on the same page.