"I'm a strong miko," she said, not looking at him as she moved to stand by her window. "I always have been. For the most part, whether I was friendly or not, demons tended to stay away from me. I've never had to fear them before."
Sesshoumaru couldn't deny her statement, no matter how much he wanted to. Even that first fateful night with her power half drowned in alcohol, he had been able to sense the strong scent of purity.
"That night, when I told Jirōbō what the doctor told me, it was instantaneous. His yōki was so strong, so unexpected that I was literally knocked out of my chair. He was beside me before I could move and with the wind knocked out of me I could hardly catch my breath." Sluggishly, her eyes far away as she lost herself once again to the memories, she touched her fingers to her neck in a ghostly caress. "His fingers were so tight around my throat," she whispered.
Several minutes passed in silence and Sesshoumaru could do naught but watch and listen. Already she was proving more complicated than he had thought or wanted. His beast wanted to soothe her, to wrap her in his mokomoko and hold her close, washing away all her fears. He ignored the useless thoughts and focused instead on the words that slowly left her lips, unaware that his own yōki was moving towards her in much the same as hers had earlier.
Finally, she turned to face him fully again. "Every time was like the first time, over and over again. I didn't want to believe it, refused to accept that this kind of thing could happen to me of all people. I wanted our marriage to be perfect, to last a lifetime and longer. I wanted to believe that he loved me, that he didn't mean to hurt me, that he wouldn't do it again…"
He couldn't help himself as he asked, "Why?" It escaped before he could stop it and he frowned. It had been a very long time since a story had captivated him so completely. Of course, this wasn't a story, it was her life. He frowned again.
Kagome tilted her head as another soft smile tilted her lips, though there was no warmth in it, no emotion at all, really. "Because I loved him," she said. Her words were quiet, more a murmur than anything but they whispered through the apartment with a finality he could hardly understand.
o.O.o
Word Count: 419
