Developments
AN/ Welcome to my first experimental outlet into the wonderful CU of the Sesshoumaru/Kagome pairing. This began as a short serial of dokuga contest entries, which grew. I hope you enjoy the ride~(It's about time I posted this here. This is older, and will probably be one of the lasts posts on this account.)
Another take on the search for the Shikon Jewel
Summary: Kagome finds herself a victim of a change of situation of the worst kind.
Entreaties.
The view from the back of a youkai – even if he was only half – had never failed to lighten her heart, inexplicably elevating her mood. The beautiful scenery of this clean, newly born landscape, (free of tar and concrete and fumes) elicited the same tight thrill in her chest - regardless of situation, regardless of boundaries and short time constraints – and as the breeze filled her face, for just a moment, she'd forget everything.
With a muffled growl and trembling, straining muscles, dirty, bare feet sank deep in a crouch back into the earth, wavering as the balance of weight readjusted to a new direction and in a flash of sparking youki, Inuyasha had flung the two of them as far away from their previous location as he could carry them. Kagomes hands tightened their clinging grip around Inuyashas neck; her breath finding her throat and emptying her chest in a quiet rush as her dazed mind struggled with this situation. A battle?
"I have you, Kagome!" Inuyasha. Inuyashas voice had a desperate edge to it as the vivid golden gaze caught hers over the red slip of his shoulder, pain sharpening the snarls curling around his words. "Just, what ever you do- don't let go."
"It is not you whom I wish to entreat, half-breed."
The roiling waves of power had swamped them before Inuyasha had made his next step, an echoing flare of power pulsing from her wrists in a burst she couldn't control, narrowly followed by another whip of light - honing the attacks. The realisation hit her as the quiet snick of the blade released Tetsusaiga, springing, humming from it's containment. Another crackle of energy swept them, her own newly discovered power flaring in response as inuyasha crashed back into the earth, sending a feral growl ripping from his chest. His muscles quivered - he was hurt? She barely had a chance to gather her thoughts before the dark, deadly energy was rushing to meet them, impossibly matching Inuyashas speed, and the clatter of metal against metal clashed against the air, shoving them both backwards. The flash of silver twisted through the darkness, melting into the shadows between the stumps of tree lining the battered clearing.
"Give up, human."
Another flare of pink erupted around them, her hands shaking as the surge of energy left her, taking her strength with was no way she could keep this up.
Closing her eyes, she pushed from Inuyashas grip, just as the blur of white appeared before them, and warm, thick coils of fur wound around her, tearing Inuyashas clothes from her hands.
She felt the opposing rise in energy from Inuyasha, as the bloody half-demon streaked towards her, hand outstretched – before the image had blurred and she was face to face with the long, arrogant features of the half brother. A darker golden flickered down across her features, slim nostrils flaring slightly, before the deep, growling snarls echoed across the space: "Sesshoumaru- she's human -this makes no fucking sense-!"
"Join me, or I will kill my brother."
Her expression strained with the exhaustion of her power, the pink flares weakening into a dull eyes rose to his, questioning, searching the gleaming golden irises, stained silver by the moonlight. First he had tried to kill her, now this. Then again, when had she had a choice, since she had stumbled a scarce month ago into this wilderness?
Her eyes settled on the torn-up, quivering form of her Inuyasha, the dried blooding blending his features into his father's scarlet garments. That settled it, simply.
"Yes."
-xo-
Gravity
He seemed to be waiting for her to speak, his perceived calm at complete juxtapose to the roiling mass of power that tingled on the fringes of her senses.
She found her voice, the frigid air of the atmosphere quivering her lip, and with quiet, confused effort, Kagome managed out his name.
"Se... Sesshoumaru."
"You will assist me."
"In what?"
"Searching."
"For what?"
"For what my brother seeks."
The stress on the words, implying a quiet finality, did nothing for her bewildered confusion – and she found herself blurting her final question.
"Why do you need me?"
His eyes turned to regard her quietly with an intensity she quite couldn't catch - when he appeared before her, skin brushing against hers delicately before it rested at the side of her throat. Her sharp intake of breath caused his skin to collide against hers, her first physical contact with youkai, and instead of the flurry of pink sparks exploding on foreign contact, her eyes connected with his.
The next moment passed in quiet, tense silence, as his hand tightened minutely, until she could feel the graze of claws against her skin. The gold in his eyes shifted, darkening, before his hand left as suddenly as it had appeared, and she blinked into the emptiness of the black sky. After another heart beat had passed, she could breathe again, and her knees suddenly like water, she slumped onto the strange cloud that held them aloft.
Unbidden, from the recesses of her mind, that small voice she always tried to ignore slipped into her conscious. I guess that answered your question.
-xo-
Sleeping habits
While Kagome attempted to maintain her perception of this man, even she had her limits. As - with a flash of white and a series of intricate movements, the fur that had trapped her (practically enslaved her to him, really) folded neatly in on itself, forming a small warm enclosed 'nook' - really, it was useless trying to remain firm on the issue. This whole situation - there were no restraints apart from those of their 'agreement' – and she couldn't help her blurted insistence.
"Just what are you hoping to gain from this arrangement?"
The silence of the past few days had tested her limits, more of her emotion leaking into her words than she had intended- and his eyes flashed to hers, narrowing, his exasperation matched hers.
"Sleep."
-xo-
Daybreak
A comforting, unexpected sensation welcomed Kagome as she stumbled into wakefulness with the burst of sunrise, dazzled eyes just catching the first golden beams as they crested the bleak grey of dawn, beautiful as they scattered across the yellow stained sky.
Safety.
The aura of contentment was welcoming and comforting after the dreadfully cold and bitter weather that threatened her on the outskirts of her central heat, and curling tighter into her stomach, Kagome couldn't help the small, happy groan of contentment that her decision to take up her hosts offer had delivered such pleasant results.
Eyes flickered shut, melting limbs quivering slightly as she wrapped herself tighter into the delicious heat, despite her earlier- understandable, mind – restraint, she just couldn't find the will within her to hate the clingy fur-thing face pressed into it, inhaling the earthy, slightly pet smell that reminded her so much of her cat – and Souta – that it was as if she was sleeping at home again. Her eyes heated, the speed of her breaths coming a tad faster than before, as Kagome found herself fighting against the sudden onrush of emotion at that simple detail – and she was grateful for the warm, fluffy strands of furry mokomoko that hid her tears – the strange, warm body, that seemed almost to possess a will, swaying her in a slow movement that lulled her back to sleep.
In contemplative silence, Sesshoumaru watched the small, diminutive stirrings of the human woman within his fur, where their circumstance – his claim - enforced her close proximity, as her small body wrapped around his true form. After a moment that seemed to settle her, he let his gaze slide to where the woman had rested, and the silent dampness stained his fur. The nature of this claim was a strange one. Despite his hope of acquirement of a tool against his half-beast brother, these strange obligations had been unprecedented, and as of yet, Sesshoumaru had no response to this silent plea.
-xo-
Interlude: slip-up
She was just at the point of waking, when she mentioned the taiyoukai's brother. It had slipped from her lips, a slip of her tongue as intoxicated by the safety of sleep and warmth - so alike the mornings when she would wake up and find her new, boisterous companion had cuddled close during the night, chasing away the cold. She had not realised that it had been said aloud, until the low, masculine murmur had replied, the tone archly stiff.
"Miko. You will forget the hanyou."
There was emotion in his voice - as clear as the confusion in hers, as the taiyoukai's low tenory continued mildly to the air beside her ear: "hanyou's pose no threat."
Dazedly she tried back-pedalling, blinking through the haze of sleep to focus on this development. Her thoughts fumbling over themselves, before, belligerently, Kagome finally managed a:"what?"
His eyes -when had he become so close?- settled calmly on hers.
"You will attend only to me."
His gaze bore into hers, patient, intensity unwavering as the underlying message within the statement reached her.
"Against Inuyasha?"
She breathed the words, her breath catching in her throat as her gaze searched his, wavering at the lack of anything within them to confirm her worse fear. Her hands inched up towards her neck, instinctively grasping for the little glass bottle that hung against her skin - surely, he wouldn't want them? He had never shown any interest in the shards before. His eyes glanced down to where her hands lay, and her grip tightened.
She hadn't agreed to this. Actually, the pertinent whisper in the recesses of her mind reminded her, you did. You agreed to anything and everything when he came at you - for you - and now its time to reap the consequences.