Warning: more violence and references to sexual assault
Chapter Thirty-Four
He had no second arm with which to hold her, hence the instinctive need to rest sharp teeth over Kagome's delicate neck, attempting to ensure she was kept close by mouthing her.
Something quite preoccupied his remaining arm.
Slashing his hand downwards, Sesshoumaru mercilessly cleaved a rider and steed in half. The fools kept coming. Waves upon waves of men wielding different weapons, all thinking they could reach him. Some threw spears, others tried knives. All the while- Kagome's scent incensed him; drove the proud lord to distraction, a snarl building in his chest. He greatly desired to sink twitching claws into the soldier's pathetic armour and strike deep into meaty flesh- pierce blood vessels and gorge himself on their pain.
Knocking another spear aside, Sesshoumaru exposed his teeth, youki flickering with agitation. He could smell it. He could smell the seed of a male and the blood on her leg.
Sesshoumaru could not be certain if she'd been forced- raped. Her bloodied nose kept interfering with other scents, making everything murky, rolling into one and hazing his senses. But the ashen air stank clearly with the sour tang of Kagome's fear, pain and anger overriding everything else.
And that was all he needed.
Lashing his poison whip around a man's throat, pleasure built in his chest as he tightened his grip, choking the life out of the pathetic worm. More. He desired more. The cries of agony were not nearly enough to sate the baser instincts clawing to life inside his being.
Kagome called to him, sounding far away. Out of focus. Sesshoumaru felt his jaw elongating, static racing around his form. Silver fur seeped from pale skin.
Her body suddenly collided with his- shoving hard.
"Sesshoumaru!" her alarm rang clearly in his ears as he staggered back.
An arrow flew past his cheek, narrowly missing him.
The haze cleared. Sesshoumaru shook himself, transformation reverting. Kagome gazed at him with her one remaining blue eye, the other sealed shut. "There's an archer up in that house!" she pointed.
Sesshoumaru wrapped his arm around her waist. "Hold on to me," he uttered, voice gravelly. "Tighter."
Kagome nodded, gripping hard around his shoulders, body plastered against his as much as the armour would allow.
Bending his knees slightly, Sesshoumaru jumped up, hair fanning back as they sprang impossibly fast. The archer gasped, backing up from the second-story window. They weren't fast enough to avoid glowing claws, however- Sesshoumaru's arm leaving Kagome's waist to plunge into the man's armour. It broke like a cracked egg, his soft flesh doing nothing to protect him as acid burst inside his chest plate.
The archer screamed loudly. Sesshoumaru merely pivoted, arm returning to the desired spot supporting Kagome's back. Though she felt distressed, tired and weary of the bloodshed, Sesshoumaru did not stop. He continued picking off the men, killing their Captain until the ground lay covered with broken armour, fallen weapons and bleeding corpses.
Everything felt much too quiet in the afterglow of bloodlust.
Panting quietly, Sesshoumaru slowly collected himself. The liquid heat burning his eyes fell away, so he assumed his eyes had returned to gold.
Kagome released him, gingerly stepping away and ghosting her fingers over her face, wincing.
"You disobeyed my order. This one told you not to leave the shell."
"I wouldn't have done it without good reason," she mumbled. "Rin...she lost her comb. She was afraid the river would sweep it away. You'd have done the same thing."
"Would I?" he sneered.
"Are we really doing this now?" Kagome coughed, covering her mouth.
Sesshoumaru made a noise of annoyance, sliding an arm around her waist to fly her from the main street, landing on the grassy hill overlooking the burning homes. "...Why did you not call for me?" he quietly demanded.
She took a few breaths, gripping his sleeve as she was set down. "I-I didn't think you'd want to help."
"You would be correct in that assumption. However, perhaps I may have been swayed."
"There was no time! They were dying! You think I'd have delayed helping them just to entertain your damn ego?"
"If you wanted any chance of success- yes."
Kagome shot him an exasperated look, drawing herself away and straightening.
"Revive them."
"What?"
"All the innocent people here who were slaughtered. I'm asking you to revive them with Tenseiga. There should still be time- it hasn't been that long since they were slain."
Sesshoumaru flashed perfect white teeth. "You have much audacity," he growled lowly, bristling. "You disobeyed me- my weapon. You rushed into a fight without permission, and now you ask for more allowances?" a silky chuckle belied his simmering frustration. "I admire your gumption. Foolish and bratty though it is."
She wiped at her bloodied nose, wincing. "I'll take that as a 'no.'"
"This one has no reason to-"
"Then it looks like I was totally right not to call for you, huh?!" she burst, voice cracking. "What do you want, Sesshoumaru? Do you want me to beg? Is that what it'll take? I have nothing else to offer! Nothing to bargain with right now."
Kagome stopped then, noticing her dishevelled clothing. Her undergarment remained askew, kosode gaping open to bare the pale expanse of her chest and neck. Their eyes met, and something weary darkened her expression. She'd lifted a hand to close the folds of her clothing, but now hesitated, leaving herself exposed.
Sesshoumaru's lips thinned. Reaching out, he grasped the other fold of her kosode, gently closing it over her chest.
I would not ask that of you, hovered unspoken in the air like a soft murmur.
Kagome shuddered, burying her face in her hands. She sobbed, lifting her head to look at him with one watery eye, tears leaking down her ashen cheek.
I'm sorry, her expression and scent screamed. I know you wouldn't.
Knuckles lifted, gliding over soft skin and catching the warm teardrops.
"...Cease this. You look foolish crying from one eye."
"Shut up, jerk. No one says that to a girl after she's been punched," she said without any bite in her tone. "D-do...do you think my nose is broken?"
"It is likely," he rumbled.
The wailing of a baby caught their attention, both falling silent. The very last house at the end of a vast stretch of road was just catching fire.
Sesshoumaru's eyes flickered. The infant wailed louder.
Kagome shot him a knowing look.
His jaw clenched, teeth grinding. "Not one word," he sneered, disappearing.
After handing off the crying babe to the miko, Sesshoumaru got to work on reviving the fallen civilians. He now had sufficient reason to do so. He needed to find the child's mother, not wishing to be saddled with another orphan- especially not one so young in need of milk.
Tenseiga heeded his call. Blue light shone, exposing ghoulish pallbearers which were quickly hacked in two.
Sesshoumaru drifted around collapsed houses, knowing from experience that the useless sword could not save bodies already reduced to ash inside.
His boot halted over a wrist, pausing.
Golden eyes darkened, sliding over a dead soldier resting beside a chicken coop.
You.
Kagome's scent peppered his armour, along with another woman's. Perhaps the scum had taken multiple victims.
He took immense satisfaction in reviving him, feeling a rare kinship with Tenseiga for once. Perhaps it agreed with his sentiment.
Taking a knee, Sesshoumaru waited while the soldier with his cock hanging out struggled to sit up, blood from the miko's spear coating his neck.
"Ah- what the fuck? What happened?" he coughed, touching his throat. "I thought I was a goner."
Slit pupils dilated. "You are," velvety tones promised.
The miko eventually found them, likely drawn to his location via the high, weeping screams ringing out for all to hear. Sesshoumaru drank in the noises, absorbing them like fine music, eyes half-mast. Buried wrist deep inside the man's wet, hot stomach, he allowed acid to pour every so often from deadly nails. It caused a nice reaction when combined with stomach acid, though Sesshoumaru could've lived without the putrid smells.
Foam bubbled at the soldier's mouth as he spasmed, choking- barely alive now.
"Sesshoumaru," Kagome breathed, voice shaking.
"This one is almost finished here. Do not worry. I ensured his punishment for defiling you was drawn out, merciless. Fitting, do you not think?"
"Defi- you think he- oh..."
Sesshoumaru remained absorbed in his task, blinking when soft palms settled over his jaw, fingers grazing the sharp points of his ears.
Removing his attention from the near-dead vermin, he stiffened as Kagome bent in close. Her pretty, marred features caused something odd to twinge in his chest, before she gradually leaned her head to one side, brushing her cheek against his in a soft, affectionate graze.
His eyes flew wide. Sesshoumaru's entire nervous system exploded, his hand sliding free from the man's stomach, allowing the body to fall in a heap.
Magenta stripes thrummed from the action, sensitive, aching. His skin flared alive, calling out hungrily for more, his body sighing when Kagome gently bumped and dragged her cheek along his again. Sesshoumaru swallowed, staring sightlessly ahead. She was such an odd creature. She mystified him.
Even while grieving, the miko sought to finish her friend's mission. While hurting, she wanted to help Rin. Outmatched, Kagome defied logic and ran headfirst into danger to assist strangers dying.
Bloodied, battered and bruised, she would put it all aside to assure him.
Kagome offered a tired smile. "I reunited the baby with their Mom. Thank you, for reviving her," she said gently. "Let's go. I'm sure you're eager to yell at me some more about disobeying orders."
The palpable surprise in Sesshoumaru's features slowly abated, replaced with the usual unruffled mask. It did nothing to dispel the humming of his blood; the heat irritating his cheek where she'd touched him.
"Hn."