Chapter Twenty-Eight

"You do it."

"No."

"Well, I'm not touching it."

"Then I sense his decapitated head will re-animate shortly and start rolling itself around to attack us with his tongue."

"Oh for crying out loud!" Kagome stomped over to the ogre's severed head. It rested on one cheek, bearing the ghastly sight of his cleaved neck on full display. The glimmer of a jewel shard twinkled merrily amidst dead flesh. Pungent smells of charred meat and blood saturated humid air. Her stomach buckled after just a few seconds and Kagome pressed a hand to her mouth, turning away. She shook off grim afterimages of sights and smells she'd rather forget.

"Can we come over yet?" Rin called from some far off bushes.

"No!" Kagome yelled back, having not deemed the sight 'appropriate' for Rin.

Sighing, she clapped her hands over her cheeks. "Don't be a baby," she muttered to herself, "you can do this."

"Giving yourself a pep talk, miko?"

"I wouldn't have to if you'd just man up and take one for the team."

"There is little point in trying to make me insecure about my manhood. I stopped caring about that years ago when my Mother told everyone in court that I wore kimonos intended for girls as a child."

Kagome's lips twitched. Cute, she inwardly cooed. Folding her arms stubbornly, she soon schooled her expression. "Alright- what's it going to take for you to reach in there and grab me that shard?"

Golden eyes strayed to some distant clouds, face wiped clean of emotion. "Hm?"

"Don't act all innocent with me, sir. You totally twist things around all the time to work in your favour. You're all 'I'll do this- but only if you do so and so first.' Let's skip all that and just tell me what you want in exchange."

Sesshoumaru sniffed delicately, sneering as he tilted a regal chin up and away, successfully snubbing her. "This one does not desire anything."

"Uh-huh," she drawled, falling silent and waiting.

His velvety baritone caressed her hearing once more after a lengthy pause. "Though…"

Here it comes, she thought.

"I am interested to know why you asked that I 'bite you.' Is that a common request where you hail from?"

Kagome stiffened, face growing warm. "H-huh? No! It's just an expression! It's like saying 'get lost' or shut up."

"Ah…" was it her imagination or did vague disappointment dull his eyes? "Those are less flavourful phrases," he grumbled.

Considering him with a mix of exasperation and fondness, Kagome sighed, gaze trailing inevitably back to the dead carcass. Vague intrusive thoughts mixed with ideas in her mind, remembering Sesshoumaru's absence before the fight and sudden arrival.

"Sesshoumaru. That ogre...you didn't have anything to do with it, did you?" she asked tentatively, not wanting to suspect him but starting to clock onto his 'think on your feet' training methods. "Because if I didn't know any better, I'd say his arrival and your eagerness to test me out coincided super conveniently. Did you lure him here?"

"No, do not be ridiculous."

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief- which halted the second his expression became considering, fingers resting on his chin. "Although, this one did happen to notice him heading in your direction and decided against halting his advance."

Blunt teeth met and ground together. Blue eyes flashed, narrowing into thin, shimmering pools.

Arching a brow, Sesshoumaru shifted to face her. "This displeases you? Were it not for this experience, you would still be lingering in doubt over your abilities," he said in a lofty tone.

"I get that, but-" Kagome swung a hand towards Rin and Jaken's general direction, "Sesshoumaru, you literally endangered everyone's lives over a training session! That's not okay!"

"If you believe they were truly ever at risk of being harmed, you are as foolish as first assumed."

"Ohhh wow, you're just- I- argh!" Kagome growled, causing the hair at the back of his neck to stand up. A pleasant tingling sensation thrilled along his spine. "You're so damn arrogant! No one can control all the variables of a situation! The only guarantee you'd have of their safety would've been if you'd removed them from the scene completely before anything happened!"

"That blundering fool could never have reached them. You are overreacting."

"Sesshoumaru, he had a jewel shard!" she hissed. "Maybe you didn't know about that at the time. I've seen what those things can do to demons! He could've shot a laser from his mouth or turned people to stone! You don't know!"

Sesshoumaru remained unruffled, immovable. "Regardless, they would have been fine."

"Because you'd control the situation perfectly?" Kagome ran a hand through her hair, wincing and gesturing to his left side. "I didn't want to bring this up-"

His voice dropped, figure stiffening. "Then don't."

"-but your arm being cut off wasn't something you foresaw, right? Even with all the power you have, it's still possible to take you by surprise. Even 'the Killing Perfection' can make mistakes, just like me. Just like anyone."

His presence loomed close, having gradually eased into her personal space. The slit pupils and unblinking golden eyes should've been intimidating, a silent sign of the displeasure rolling off him in waves, but Kagome felt long past any potential fear of him.

"And that's alright," she gentled, tilting her head back slightly to keep eye contact. Warm breath fanned lightly over her skin. "It just makes you-"

"Human," a bite resounded in his clipped, icy tone.

Kagome shook her head slightly. "Alive. It means you're alive, if you're imperfect."

Sesshoumaru's body tensed, brows furrowing. He tilted his head slightly, regarding her like she was some bizarre alien spouting a foreign language.

Shifting on her heel, Kagome clasped both hands behind her back. "Don't get me wrong, your confidence is assuring most of the time. It makes me feel brave. Safe. Just...consider the others a little more next time and don't lie to me. That's all I ask."

Sesshoumaru blinked, rolling his jaw slightly. He let out a soft huff, tossing his head and striding to the ogre.

Claw tipped fingers thrust themselves inside the desired spot Kagome had specified earlier, pushing through dead muscle inside the demon's neck.

Ripping out his bloodied hand a moment later, something small and black glimmered between crimson claws. He tossed it in her direction, and Kagome made a noise, catching the shard. It immediately bled a healthy glow of pink the second it touched her skin.

The expectation of instant forgiveness was there, waiting within his golden eyes.

"Thanks," she said instead, needing some distance. Wandering towards some bushes to locate her backpack, she muttered; "I'm going to bathe," in passing.

Feeling the weight of his stare on her back, Kagome sighed, putting the jewel away in a small necklace around her neck for safekeeping.

I don't want to lose anyone else, she thought dimly. Complicated feelings arose in her chest at the mere idea.