Chapter Forty-Five
A throbbing headache pounded her temples the second she started the day, awakening in a foul mood. Kagome groaned, taking some pills to alleviate the irritation. She hoped it wasn't a sign of things to come.
Rin and Jaken had left earlier to catch fish from a nearby river while she gathered fresh firewood and coxed flames to life.
Sesshoumaru had taken his leave with the smaller group, monitoring them closely in a way he usually wouldn't. Kagome suspected it was to avoid her again, which set her teeth on edge. If anyone should be avoiding anyone, it should be her.
Shaking herself, she growled.
This was getting ridiculous. Besides, it couldn't continue! They needed to work together during the New Moon!
Straightening, Kagome placed both hands on her hips. If she could live with the awful noises of inuyoukai lovemaking burned inside her memory- then he could deal with her period too. No more awkwardness. No more weird crushing disappointment and unwanted jealousy weighing heavily in her chest that gave her the ridiculous urge to cry.
Damn hormones.
"I'm gonna give that guy a piece of my mind," she swiftly turned.
A tugging sensation pulled on her aura.
Kagome froze, sensing two shikon jewel shards heading their way. Very quickly. Too quickly.
Facing the incoming demon, blue eyes widened as something solid barreled right into her chest. It toppled Kagome to the ground, a body leaning over her.
Not again.
Kouga's smiling cobalt eyes caught her dazed attention as the dust settled, his face blocking out the sun- giving his dark hair a golden halo. "Hey Kagome," he panted warm puffs of humid breath that stuck to her skin like vapour. A brown tail wagged playfully behind him. "Ya know, I was just on my way here to offer my condolences after hearing about what happened with your group," his usually amiable voice deepened into a rough, gravelly thing. "But then I caught wind of this amazing smell...and it led me right to ya. What are the chances, huh? Fate urges us to be together once again."
She opened her mouth to reply, wheezing. His darkening gaze and sharp teeth startled her, and when red flashed within his eyes, Kagome stiffened, alarm inexplicably thrumming through her bloodstream.
A force struck him, sending the wolf demon flying back into the air. He managed to twist his body like a cat and land nimbly on both feet, snarling.
Sesshoumaru stood before her. His calm facade splintered- breaking as magenta markings bled across high cheekbones, claws elongating into talons. He bellowed an answering snarl that swallowed the clearing, snapping sharp teeth.
Kagome quickly stood, heart thundering. "Sesshoumaru!" she touched his arm, stiffening when harsh, burning eyes turned upon her. "Sesshoumaru," her tone remained firm but gentled. "This is Kouga. It's alright, you don't have to get worked up, I know him."
Sesshoumaru's lips slowly lifted, exposing sharp fangs as he sneered with distaste. "You keep poor company, miko."
"Tch, I could say the same thing about you," Kouga grunted, tail swishing with agitation. He bent his knees slightly, as though preparing to attack. "Kagome, why are you hanging around with Lord Dog-Breath? I figured after losing your comrades, you'd have surrounded yourself with a nice pack. Not... this guy."
"Wait, do you two know each other?"
"Not like we've spoken much," Kouga itched the inside of his ear with a pinky. "Just seen him in passing at plateau gatherings or big banquets when the lord of a region feels like inviting smaller clans. Pristine dogs like him don't like mixing with us wolves."
The Daiyoukai didn't deign to offer a reply.
Kagome heaved a sigh, experiencing a sense of déjà vu. Inuyasha would've loved this.
Placing herself between them, the miko reached behind her, clasping a hand over Sesshoumaru's where it rested on Tokijin's hilt.
"Sesshoumaru has been helping me out. We've agreed to fight Naraku together."
Kouga shifted, suspicious. "Helping you out how?"
A soft chuckle glided into her ear canal as Sesshoumaru minded Kagome's hand aside, placing his own on the curve of her hip. "In many kinds of ways...and Kagome has been most useful to me in return," he uttered, caressing the syllables of her name. Kagome's lips thinned, face heating despite herself.
"H-hey, watch it!" gesturing wildly to Sesshoumaru's possessive touch, Kouga growled. "Get your hands- uh- hand, OFF my woman!"
Wicked lips brushed close to her ear, hot breath fanning over flushed skin. "Miko, this one wishes to collect his payment."
"Payment?"
"Indeed. You still owe me a display of thanks for that spear. I require it now."
Kagome gawked, looking up at him incredulously. "Now?! After all this time? You've got to be kidding me. D-don't tell me it's an inuyoukai behaviour thing you want."
Sesshoumaru smiled cruelly, eyes narrow and gleaming. He leaned down and whispered something lowly to her.
Blue eyes flew impossibly wide. Kagome baulked, gritting her teeth and glaring at him.
"You're serious?"
"Hn."
She crossed her arms over her chest. "Maybe I'm not in the mood to thank you."
"That is not particularly honourable, miko. You did agree to these terms," he purred, apparently misinterpreting her defensiveness for acting coy. "As I recall, you said; 'I want to do something for you. If you can think of something- I'm all ears.'"
Blue eyes narrowed into icy flint. Her temper simmered, tamed by grief and the exhaustion that came with it- but not extinguished.
"Fine," she grit out. Exhaling a long, frustrated breath, she angled herself to face him. She'd given her word. She couldn't say no. Well, she could, but Kagome wouldn't give him the satisfaction of thinking he'd unsettled her. If he could sleep with someone like it was no big deal, then doing this wasn't a big deal to her.
Reaching up, Kagome grabbed the side of his face, pushing herself up onto tiptoe. "... I hate you sometimes."
Sesshoumaru arched a brow, the previous light teasing in his features melting away as he searched her face. Nonetheless, he helpfully lowered himself slightly to give better access- slit pupils meeting Kouga's startled gaze and maintaining eye contact as Kagome touched the tip of her pink tongue to the firm line of his jaw. The wolf made a thin noise as she dragged it up the length of his cheek in an inuyoukai expression of thanks.
Sesshoumaru rumbled in satisfaction, fingers clenching, gripping her waist tighter before Kagome abruptly let go.
"I don't know why you're so bothered by him. It's not like you're jealous," she sneered.
"Of course not."
Guarded blue eyes slid away. "Mn, especially since last night you were off getting your kicks with some random demon."
He froze. "You… are aware of that?"
"Let's just say you weren't exactly quiet," she grunted, expression souring as she folded her arms and stepped back. "Besides, you were practically broadcasting your location. Woke me up and everything. I only followed because I thought you were in danger."
Golden eyes opened wide with palpable surprise. "You answered my call…" he said quietly.
Kagome arched a brow, too annoyed to cater to his vague words by asking what he meant.
The wolf demon cleared his throat loudly, trying to get her attention back where it belonged. On him. "Kagome, I don't get what the hell is going on with you two, if you're romantic or something-"
"We're not," they both answered in drawling unison, neither looking away from the other.
"-but I'll take you in," Kouga grunted, bumping a thumb against his chest. "You're more suited to my pack. Besides, take a look at yourself! I'd never let anyone harm a pretty little hair on your head as he would. Come with me!"
Sesshoumaru snorted, tilting his chin up haughtily. "Why? So she can be coddled and drowned in mangy smelling wolves?"
"Tch, maybe that's what's best for her! I've lost comrades too. I understand what you're feeling, Kagome."
"... I appreciate that, Kouga."
"Good," he grinned toothily, looking her up and down. "Anyway, it's better in the long run. Ya don't wanna get pupped by that cruel guy while you're in heat. I'll give you stronger cubs than he ever could when I make you my woman."
"She is not, nor ever will be your woman, little wolf prince," the Daiyoukai tilted his chin up with a patronising air of superiority. "She is my weapon."
Kagome closed her eyes, having heard just about enough.
She stalked forward, stopping in the middle of the both of them.
"Okay, look. I'm 15, and I'm not in heat. I'm nowhere near ready for kids yet, so stop eyeing me up as a baby machine," she frowned at Kouga, before turning her attention to the watchful demon lord.
"Your Woman, your Weapon-" her tone quivered. "Let's get this straight: we had an agreement, Sesshoumaru… but I don't belong to either of you. I'm nobody's meat, got it? I belong to myself!" seething, she took a breath to steady herself. "You said you'd give me strong Hanyous, right Kouga?"
"Uh, yeah!"
Kagome released a long exhale, finding the words. "I'd have to pass on that anyway, on principle."
"Huh?"
She loosely held her arms, verbalising something that had been on her mind for a little while. "If I have Hanyou kids down the line, it'll be with someone who isn't strong. No pure bloodline or big deal heritage. Not because I wouldn't love my children or anything, but because I couldn't guarantee their safety. I could die just like Izayoi, and then my kid might be left alone. Possibly ostracised. Their blood could even drive them to madness just like Inuyasha, and no well-meaning heirloom could save them."
Her words were finished with a saddened, gentle smile. "So...thanks but no thanks."
Kagome turned, catching Sesshoumaru's eye for no discernible reason.
The Daiyoukai stared at her with a dazed look, brows high, face the picture of silent shock. She'd never seen him at a loss for words. It would've been almost comical if Kagome didn't feel so cool suddenly, wondering where her anger had fled to.
"I can change your mind!" Kouga insisted, tone-deaf to the strangely charged, tense atmosphere. "It would be different with me, my pack would take care of them-!"
A streak of white blurred over to him.
"She has declined," Sesshoumaru hissed, inches away from his face. "You will not mount her, wolf."
Kouga bristled, exposing his fangs. "She's just confused! Probably because some demon with a stick up his pedigree ass has made her miserable. Ya think I can't smell it on her?"
"I am surprised you can separate such scents from her blood, considering your state of arousal you are trying to cover up. Unsuccessfully."
"You're nothing but a-!"
"That is enough, wretched wolf!"
Kagome blinked, the exclamation not from her or Sesshoumaru. She turned, catching sight of Jaken's narrow eyes as he gripped his staff tight. Rin cowered behind him.
Hurrying over to them, Kagome knelt by her side. "Rin. Honey- what's wrong?"
The little girl trembled, collapsing into her arms and gripping the material of her modern clothes tight. She stared at the wolves lingering amidst the trees with a glassy, haunted look that Kagome knew well. She'd felt it herself.
Wrapping her up in a protective embrace, she rocked her a little, petting the crown of her head.
"Kouga," she said in a clear voice. "I think you should leave."
"Huh? W-why?"
"I don't know what's happened, but I do know Rin is upset. If she's afraid of wolves, then I'm sorry but you have to go. We can talk some other time," standing, she cradled her small form close.
When he still didn't move, blue eyes sparked and narrowed, reiki faintly crackling along her skin. "Right now, Rin is the only cub I care about. Please respect that."
Sesshoumaru's razor-sharp attention fixated on her. Kouga finally nodded, vowing not to give up on her. As he turned to leave, two figures appeared, panting with exhaustion as though they'd just run a marathon.
"Kouga!" one panted, Ginta.
"We finally caught up with you!" whined Hakkaku.
Kouga snorted, bypassing them and starting to jog away in the direction they'd just come from, "we're outta here. C'mon!" he raised an arm, summoning droves of wolves to follow as he sprinted away, blurring into a tornado.
Rin squeaked, burying her face in Kagome's hair while the wolves barked and dashed from the undergrowth. Sesshoumaru stepped closer to them, acting as a protective shield as some animals looped too close for comfort.
Ginta and Hakkaku groaned in despair, waving half-heartedly.
"Hi Kagome," Ginta said.
"Bye, Kagome," Hakkaku sobbed, the two limping after their fearless leader.
After everything had fallen silent and still, Kagome had sat with Rin for a while, quietly eating the fish caught earlier. When it became clear they needed to start moving again, she opened some snacks and handed them to her while Rin sat in Ah-Un's saddle.
"Rin was...mn...I was...killed by wolves."
Kagome nearly tripped, heart shuddering. She glanced at Jaken, who moodily grumbled about 'pesky flea-bags.'
"I can remember running. They started attacking villagers after that man...that Kouga person...told them they could eat people. I ran as fast as I could. I thought- maybe I could reach Lord Sesshoumaru, and he'd protect me."
Blue eyes stubbornly avoided looking at the strong line of the Daiyoukai's back from his position up front. She brushed some of Rin's wild hair away from her face. "I'm so sorry, Rin. I never would've let you see him or the wolves if I'd known. If Sesshoumaru hadn't been so distracted… he wouldn't have allowed it either."
The little girl brightened slightly, looking to her hero for assurance. Whatever she found in his expression seemed to comfort her, and Rin scrubbed at wet cheeks.
"S-sometimes... Rin can feel their teeth…"
"You don't have to say anymore if you don't want to," Kagome said gently, leaning up against the dragon's hide to hug her briefly. She kissed the side of her head. "You did so well. I'm really proud of you for being such a brave girl after seeing them. I would've been such a mess."
Watery brown eyes smiled, her cheeks heating. Fiddling with her mother's comb, Rin hugged it close.
Kagome took a breath, finally looking at Sesshoumaru as they walked.
She still felt a myriad of complicated emotions, the most prominent one being annoyance. However…
Her attention slid to Tenseiga.
She hadn't known. When asking how they'd met, Rin had just said he'd saved her. But as it turned out, he'd used the heavenly sword to bring her back. Revive her from the dead.
'Only someone with compassion in their heart can wield the Tenseiga,' Totosai explained to the group once.
'He's incapable of showing kindness,' Inuyasha had dismissed, figuring the sword would never be used.
Kagome caught Sesshoumaru's eye as he glanced over one shoulder.
What a softie, she thought again with a weary sigh.
After a moment though, the miko had to avert her gaze. She needed more time before she could allow herself to feel any warm fuzzies for him again. As far as she was concerned, he was in the Dog House.