Chapter 7
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I don't own Inuyasha, all rights to Rumiko Takahashi
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The bare entrance was enough to nock out one's air from their lungs.
The two doors separated to reveal the most exquisite establishment Kagome had seen since her moments in past.
Rice paper made up for the walls, pillars spreading around the room in an endless row, each carefully carved to resemble a dog demon twirling around them with it's head touching the hard wood ceilings.
As Kagome scanned the view amazed, Sesshomaru observed smiling to himself.
Tadao left her to wander through the room, touching the delicate water-colored paintings, racing with her fingers the mountains and cherry blossoms poised at her eyes.
-"Quite a view right?" Sesshomaru said approaching her from the back, with his hands intertwined behind his back.
-"It's beautiful" she said turning again to him.
-"I knew you would like it" he continued "I can lead you to your room if you want"
Kagome was on the verge of collapsing now that he had mentioned it.
Tadao watched the interaction with interest, deciding not to come between them, instead he opted to retire to his studio in silence.
-"So we weren't just walking in circles then?" Kagome asked him.
-"Ah, I have my tricks, but now, we both need to rest so we'll talk about it in the morning" he said offering his arm to her and as she took it, they walked to the stairs in the end of the gigantic room.
Once they reached Kagome's room she gently let go of his arm.
-"Good night Sesshomaru" she said bowing her head.
-"Good night Kagome" he bowed his back as he saw her disappear behind the door.
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It was going to be a long night, Kagome decided staring at the ceiling of the room with her hands holding each other over her stomach.
She had been too tired to change and given the opportunity of being under rich velvet sheets in a room with a fire in it, she opted to get rid of her stained garments and lay bare.
He had left before they reached the house, and she had felt it.
How he slowly crept back from everyone every night.
She felt everything about him, even the darkness it came with.
Sometimes it felt like a wave she had no idea how to navigate, feeling the sand dragging her feet deeper every time, with desperation filling her lungs and clouding her memories.
And tonight, laying alone, felt like that
Everything felt like confusion when it came to him.
Like possession.
Like longing.
Like losing.
Like oxygen.
Nothing of what she had expected.
He kept leaving even if she wasn't there to take him anymore.
Kagome's let her doubt flow, wetting her cheeks once more.
-"Why did you leave?" She asked in a whisper feeling Inuyasha's steps getting closer to the bed.
She heard Tessaiga falling on the floor with the rest of whatever he had on him.
-"Why did you-"
The kiss crashed between their lips as Kagome brought her arms to his neck, caressing his hair, fighting the heat building in them.
-"I don't want to talk" Inuyasha whispered to her lips moving his hands to get rid of the annoying layer of fabric covering his Kagome.
Finally his hands moved to her hips as she gently hooked him on her legs, her hands running down his back, caressing it gently.
-"Why do you keep leaving?" She gained her breath and Inuyasha broke their heated kiss moving down to her neck, licking her jaw, pinning her hands above her head, moving his free one down her stomach, caressing the skin gently with his claws.
-"I said" his fingers moved faster than her thinking, parting her thighs in two, making their way to ease her sadness "no talking"
Kagome bit back her tears as he touched her were she burned, his hands losing intensity over hers as she escaped their grip, wanting to turn over and lay on top of him, but his arms stopped her.
-"No" he growled looking at her in the eye and in that moment she lost herself trying to find her reflection in his darkened stare "like this" and without preamble he was inside of her.
His movements were fast and heated, not giving her time to feel as their mouths crashed again.
It never felt how it was supposed to feel to her.
It never felt like she loved him.
It never felt like love.
Slowly she gave up on the feeling as he no longer held her heart in his hands, as she no longer yearned for his presence, as she no longer smiled around him, as he slowly too, became a mere unfortunate loved crashed fate.
But still she gave in and still she hoped.
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-"Where's Inuyasha, Sesshomaru?"
Tadao faced his nephew from the other side of his table, reclined on his chair observing, before him sat a prince.
Every aspect of the word fitting in the form of his brother's son who resembled him a little too much.
He gad grown from the stubborn teenager he had seen more than his memory let him remember.
Unlike his father, Sesshomaru's skin was pale, like the moon.
Kissed by the night.
-"He left before we reached you" Sesshomaru answered vaguely, knowing where the conversation was headed towards.
-"The boy…" Tadao continued.
-"He's not a boy uncle, he's a man" Sesshomaru corrected gently.
-"The way he behaves lets me know he's still the same brat I met decades ago" Tadao smiled at the memories of his nephews playing in the courtyard of his then new mansion.
Inuyasha, the excitement plastered on his face chasing after Sesshomaru with small arms.
-"He doesn't feel comfortable" Sesshomaru continued "he needs time"
Tadao sighted rubbing in between his eyebrows.
-"What in the heavens happened son?"
Now, this was a question Sesshomaru could answer rather selectively.
He didn't know if his words carried the shame of his feelings and past actions and it was a memory he didn't like to revisit, let alone speaking it to someone he trusted.
He had changed, truly, he wanted others to notice.
Kagome walked through his mind before continuing.
-"I need time too, uncle"
He didn't dare looking at the man who forged his childhood and whom he had turned his back to.
Without another word, Sesshomaru crossed the room and directed to the stairs he had walked over with Kagome.
Entering the hall of rooms, he sensed it in the air.
Tension.
His ears akin at any movement when he stopped dead on his tracks.
He could hear Kagome's unshed cries and the panting of her breaths, concealing her tears.
The disgusting sounds Inuyasha made, reminding him of an animal in heat.
Something darkened in his senses as sadness made it's way to his touch.
Her sadness.
Fogging the floor he walked on, making his steps hurry to make him disappear.
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Kagome woke up feeling empty, her body aching.
More so her legs, making it hard to sit.
He wasn't there.
The tears couldn't fall this time, as she felt too limp to even considering it.
She observed her fingers, holding them in front of her face as the light of the sun danced through them.
She felt the urge to get rid of him, of his touch, of his scent, of his skin on hers.
Kagome moved her hands over her arms, rubbing them frantically without noticing the tears falling from her eyes.
When the rubbing didn't help she took her hands to her face, burying it on them.
A soft knock on the door broke the thought.
-"Yes?" She answered sniffing.
-"May I come in? It's Atsuko my lady"
Kagome looked around the room when her eyes stopped on a blue silk robe folded at the side of her bed.
She climbed out of it, slipping herself under the ridiculously nice feeling of the fabric, already forgetting about him.
She opened the door to find Atsuko holding what it seemed like supplies and an interesting clean hakama.
-"Lady Kagome" Atsuko bowed her head and Kagome immediately felt embarrassed.
-"I'm just Kagome, please, I'm not a lady" she said smiling nervously pulling her arms as if gesturing for Atsuko to place whatever she had on her hands to hers.
The woman had a huge smile plastered on her face and it reminded Kagome of her own mother.
The memory of her hitting her harder than other times.
-"Are you alright child? Did a ghost walked by?"
Atsuko took a clawed hand to Kagome's forehead checking her body temperature.
Her heart lightening at the gesture.
Atsuko was a demoness, Kagome could easily tell by the lack of wrinkles and inhuman eyes with the bearings of centuries.
-"The kids are still sleeping, should I wake them up?"
Kagome looked outside and wondered how early it actually was, Miroku and Sango next door seemed to be asleep.
-"No! Thank you though, I might go back to sleep"
-"Here are some… supplies"
Atsuko made her way into the bedroom and placed the package she held in hands over the bed.
-"You can bathe if you'd like, I cant take you" the woman offered Kagome with a smile and now that she thought about it, it sounded like an amazing idea.
She had bathe in cold water for the past weeks, a nice, hot one could cure last night's mistake.
-"Let's go then" Kagome answered with a smile, taking everything she needed in her hands.
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If the main room was breathtaking for Kagome, the bath house left her speechless.
Something royalty worthy, the kind of rooms you'd see in movies about the old princes of Japan.
She dipped her whole body in the warm water thanking for the feeling she needed after a long time of craving it.
She noticed Atsuko was still there and nervousness filled through her.
She sat holding her knees to her chest and suddenly felt a pair of hands on her hair.
She turned around to find Atsuko pouring something that smelled exceptionally good on her hair and then continued to brush it with something that looked like a comb.
-"Why are you tense child?" Atsuko asked her.
-"I'm not really used to someone… pampering me" Kagome asked hiding her chin on her knees.
The feeling was amazing, how her hair flowed on the water.
-"Such beautiful hair" Atsuko continued
-"I was actually thinking of cutting it" Kagome said naturally, relaxing under the woman's fingers.
-"It will frame your pretty face" Atsuko continued treating her hair so gently a Kagome felt like crying.
-"Lady Atsuko…" Kagome continued grabbing the edge of the tub facing the woman "Why are you so nice to me?"
The question felt weird as she asked it, she really didn't know the woman and she supposed she had been working for Tadao more than centuries and it was just an attention she gave to all of their guests.
Atsuko smiled taking her chin gently.
-"I have always wanted a daughter and there aren't many beautiful creatures such as you around here, all I ever got to do was force two stubborn brothers to bathe after a day of playing in the sun"
Atsuko laughed and Kagome widened her eyes.
She didn't realize just how long she had been there, mentioning how Kagome knew it was Sesshomaru and Inuyasha used to even play together.
Something Inuyasha left out entirely.
-"What's the matter girl?"
-"You know Inuyasha and Sesshomaru since they were kids?"
Atsuko let out a little laugh still combing through Kagome's hair.
-"I delivered them"
Kagome's smile appeared on her face at the thought of a baby Sesshomaru and it was hard to picture him out as adorable.
-"The cutest was the first I tell you" Atsuko continued "he got more handsome as he grew, everyone called him the prince as Izayoi started the nickname, he loved it"
Kagome's blood froze.
Izayoi was Inuyasha's mother, she had always thought Sesshomaru despised her and she had more than reason to think so after the night where Sesshomaru showed up hunting for Tessaiga, many years ago.
Now she was flooded with questions as Atsuko finished her hair and Kagome got out and dressed in silence, not without thanking Atsuko first making sure they returned together for breakfast.
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Kagome found her object of interest when she fixated her eyes on the tall silvered-haired man standing in front of what seemed to be an ever ending lake in the back of the mansion.
She had seen it from her window earlier that day but him being there gave her the excuse to go explore it.
She didn't know why but the thought of seeing Sesshomaru made her feel nervous, as her steps got closer to him she noticed the rolled fabric on his legs and bare upper body part, making her heart pound a little faster inside her chest.
Letting her goofy smile drop, she reached the shore.
Sesshomaru was throwing rocks to the lake, splashing in a ridiculously coordinated manner until sinking on the depths of it.
-"Aren't you cold?" Kagome asked shyly coming to his side, avoiding his eyes.
Sesshomaru smiled twirling a rock in his fingers.
-"Demons don't get cold" he answered throwing it into his target and Kagome observed the rock and it's speed.
-"Ah, it explains why you look like a catalog model on the hottest summer days"
She was talking in the weird manner he liked but did not understand.
-"What brings you out here? I thought you were asleep" Sesshomaru asked her handing her a rock, their fingers touching slightly.
-"The night is young you know" Kagome said smiling, closing her fist over the nice sensation of the cold rock.
-"And you wanted to see me" Sesshomaru said shamelessly, making Kagome blush in an instant.
-"You put it as if I'm desperate to be around you" she replied hiding her giggle.
-"Aren't you? You seem to be around me a lot these days" he said smirking, teasing her to finally make her laugh.
-"You got me there, I happen to like your company, to my surprise" Kagome admitted smiling again.
-"Is everything alright?" Sesshomaru asked throwing another rock.
Kagome observed his form, lean, tall, skinny yet very defined muscles.
Glistening chest.
Questions Kagome, questions.
-"Um yeah… Atsuko… she's great" Kagome let out hoping to get what she wanted out of the conversation.
-"She is, I've known her since I was born"
He said coming closer to Kagome, observing her in the faint moonlight.
Her hair was tied in a high ponytail, making her face easier to appreciate.
The hakama wrapped around her body making her thighs stand out in the soft fabric.
Answers Sesshomaru, answers.
-"She took care of us when father payed visits to my uncle" he continued sitting over the shore as Kagome did the same.
-"I didn't know you and Inuyasha lived together as kids" Kagome continued.
-"We did, until father died" his jaw clenched at the memory and the mess that had followed after.
Kagome observed over the shore to the beautiful view.
The water moving and glistening with the pale moonlight, everything showered in blue.
-"Sesshomaru if you don't mind me asking…"
-"I know Inuyasha isn't one to talk much" Sesshomaru said placing his hands over his knees.
-"I wasn't asking because of Inuyasha" Kagome thanked the gods for the lack of light as her cheeks got heated "I'm asking because I want to know, I want to know you"
Sesshomaru smiled instantly at her words.
All their late talks were becoming more and more special to him.
He had never had friends before but what he felt for Kagome was the most fitting definition of the word.
He had noticed in the past months that she was more gorgeous than he remembered, that she was kind and fun, smart, an undoubtedly strong miko, caring… All the things he wanted to be around and weirdly, he never felt quite satisfied after she left him hanging with unspoken conversations, finding himself wanting more of her, more of her time, more of her words.
He felt like he could trust her, and somehow he knew she felt the same way about him.
-"My mother died when I was very young, not more than five years old, father was alone and I never thought he would mate again, until Izayoi, I remember the day he brought her to the palace to meet me" he smiled remembering Izayoi "she hugged me and I felt… safe in her arms, she told me she didn't wish to replace my mother, she took me to her grave and prayed with me, then the news came out, she was with child and I remember being static, everything went joy in that moment"
Kagome was listening carefully, finding herself smiling with Sesshomaru.
-"Inuyasha was born and I held him in my arms, he felt mine, my brother, my blood, I was happy"
His eyes darkened as the other unfortunate memories came into mind.
-"Izayoi was killed decades after that, Inuyasha was thirteen, I had just turned eighteen, my father avenged her dead causing his own"
His jaw clenched harder.
He felt Kagome's hand gripping his arm, letting him know that she was listening, sending electric shocks through his body.
-"I became lord in that moment and Inuyasha left without word"
Kagome felt a hit in her gut as his telling started to become shorter.
Inuyasha had truly left out a lot.
And she understood.
Without really thinking she moved to hug Sesshomaru, the action taking him by surprise with her stupidly intoxicating scent of everything that was good in the world.
He left his stiffened arms go softer as they circled Kagome, hugging her back.
Something clicked inside the both of them, something that just fell in place.
The same something that made them pull away almost immediately.
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Hey! I'm sorry I took so long to update, I promise I will try to keep up a schedule and upload at least three times a week!
I don't really know where this story is going, still trying to figure that out but I hope you are enjoying it.
Seeing how many people review and like my story feels beyond amazing.
Thank you for all the reviews and if you could leave one this time I will appreciate it a lot!
Till next time and thank you 3