Infinity

by Kyvena

When a life is as miserable as her own is thrown into chaos from so much time travel, there is no guarantee that the same life of such a sad story will live on. Races of Demons versus the race of Celestials was a cursed war that left the lands fearing the unknown. When the race of Celestials either goes into hiding or has perished, just how exactly will one fare in a den of demons?

12. 12

As always,

Enjoy!

~Kyvena

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12

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As the time passed, Yukio, Sen, and Riki were all now fully matured and sat outside together in the training yard. Riki mindlessly began to flip one of the beautifully crafted throwing knives that his mother had made for him in his hand before hurling it at a target, while Sen drew an arrow back on the futuristic bow that his mother had originally given to Ikari before releasing one of those futuristic arrows to slam into the target. He had only gained this bow due to the fact that while living at the western castle, people began to notice that he now outclassed Ikari as a marksman. It was a comforting thought that it almost felt as if she was right next to them with the things she had gifted them with.

The youngest out of the three was now practicing with his sword that his mother had crafted for him to replicate her holy sword by deflecting all arrows and knives thrown at the targets. It was a daunting and harsh task to live without their mother around in their lives, even if they were fully mature now and could technically do as they pleased. Yukio had to have his brothers train him about his inner beast, all because his father had shut down due to their mother's absence as a whole. Even if he held perfect control over his inner beast, they never argued due to the fact that the host and the beast were far too sad that their mother was not around. In another sense... it hurt that she wasn't there.

Sen and his inner beast now got along perfectly due to the fact that once everything had gone wrong in their lives, there was no point in the inner beast causing its host anymore stress and misery than he already felt by adding the unneeded tension of confrontation to the mixture. All then came to a slow stop and sighed heavily before all three jumped up on the wall of the archery range to sigh heavily in the most dejected of manners. Sitting there silently for what seemed to be like forever, the three could only peer down. The two pups then turned their heads towards the youngest cub with a gentle frown, for he had actually been born from their mother and that type of connection probably hurt him a lot.

Yukio was now extremely handsome and also now knew how to conceal his sparkles in the same manner that his mother could conceal her tails and wings by using his elvish ears instead of his kitten ears, but had to suppress the sparkles from his tail with his own spirit and power. Being only a couple inches shorter than his father, Yukio stood at an even six feet tall and was extremely powerful, considering his parents were ridiculously strong as well; but he only used that power to help any others in need. The opposite ear that his father had pierced was now pierced and held a dangling sky blue jeweled earring to match his mother's eyes, and his hair was kept long and neatly maintained like both of his brothers' long hair.

The cub was the pride of the white tiger tribe out of respect for their leader and former lady of the south, but his two brothers were no pushovers though. Even if they were not born from Shinto, they were treated no differently than the white tiger cub. Actually, Shinto had made it formal that RIKI was going to be the successor to the throne due to being the eldest. However, no one actually objected this in the slightest, considering the fact that Riki and Sen had been amongst them for so long. Peering towards both of his brothers, the white tiger cub then peered down to speak softly, "Do you believe father is alright...?" The other two could only hum for a moment or two before the eldest spoke up to answer first.

Riki chuckled softly and sadly before his unsure tone was projected as he flipped a single throwing knife in his hand, "Well, he is father... I'm sure that he's just fine." Sen was far more like Kagome and just told the truth rather than beating around the bush, "He has had a hard time sleeping ever since we returned from the castle in the west... and if we weren't here to force him, I'm sure that he would be dead from not eating. However, it's honestly not him that I'm really worried about. I'm worried about mother. She's being kept away from her children to keep the peace between the west and south. Knowing that, you have to take into consideration as to how she has always been a devoted mother and doesn't want us hurt."

Turning their heads towards Sen, whom now had his head tilted down, the other two brothers frowned as the second born pup continued to speak softly and sadly, "The thing is, Riki has had the worst luck when it actually comes to being around mother for long periods of time. The sad fact is that I have had the longest periods of time actually living with mother. I was raised by her for a couple decades over a century, which includes the time that she raised you, Yukio, and the time that we were both brought back to the castle in the west. However, you and I are also more lucky than him due to the fact that we are all allowed to visit her. He's had the least amount of contact with mother as a whole."

Yukio peered towards his eldest brother sadly before speaking out solemnly, "Riki, are you okay...?" Riki gave a saddened smile and nodded, "Yes. Like Sen said, at least we get to visit her. Besides, it's not all that bad for me. Before mother became my... well... mother, she was my bodyguard. I honestly can't remember a time when she wasn't around me when I was small. She taught me everything that I needed to know to become a productive adult. I swear, each day around her was a joy. I used to be such a sloppy dresser and she told me that I had all of these fine silks, but couldn't put any of them on correctly. That's when she said that I was always dressing in sloppy style. Plus, I was always pranking her."

All three of the brothers began to chuckle softly over envisioning their mother being pranked on a constant daily basis, only to end up furious... but quickly forgave and showed so much love in place of that fury. Taking a deep breath of the warm summer air and tilting his head back to the sky, Riki then smiled, "Say, Yukio? Do you know mother's favorite season?" Yukio hummed before shaking his head, "Nope!" Sen then gave a soft smile at this as he gave the answer, "It's summer. She loves to swim in her true form, but when she's in her humanoid form she wears as LITTLE as she possibly can." That had the white tiger laughing playfully, "Seriously!? You have to be joking with me!"

Snickering, Riki shook his head playfully, "Nope, he's not joking in the slightest! The west can become dreadfully hot and humid, so she wears so little to keep her body nice and cool." Sen then chuckled brightly, "When she was kidnapped and held hostage by Naraku, mother was forced to wear kimonos every day. However, those kimonos never lasted very long and she would literally rip them off of her body. I would always be so mortified that she was naked and had to constantly take my top off to conceal her dignity. She once told me something though... she said, "What dignity is there in being a prisoner? I at LEAST want the freedom to choose as to what I wear." So, she ended up with the nickname kimono killer."

Riki could only snicker at this, considering that what his younger brother had said sounded like their mother so much, "That does sound like something that mother would say. Her heart is filled to the brim with love and compassion and her spirit is as free as a bird that spread its wings to take to the skies, but now... those wings have been nailed to the ground so that she is incapable of taking flight to feel that freedom she desperately desires. The sky is now off limits to her... and all she can do is stare at its boundless beauty from the ground she has inevitably been pinned to, only to outstretch her hand towards that sky so she can at least remember the feeling of that freedom she desperately yearns for."

All three became silent at that miserable comment, but could only agree internally at the words that the eldest had just spoken. It was so cruel... so unfair... and such a wretched tale that their mother was currently living. If this had been them, they weren't so sure if they could actually go on living and wondered if their mother felt the same way. What was even worse though... was the fact that they knew that she would never take her own life due to the fact that they were alive and well. It was so sick and twisted that someone like her had to be enduring this all by herself. The pain she must be feeling must be immense and the circumstances were no better to bring her any form of comfort.

"Young lords! I bring a missive for your father!" A messenger hollered as he ran towards them. Turning their heads, they nodded and Riki asked, "Might I ask what this missive is and where it is coming from? Why wasn't it just taken straight to my father?" The messenger frowned deeply and nodded, "Yes sir, it is a missive from the new mortal ruler of the west. I was given no other explanation than that. As for your father... well... he has locked himself away in his study once more and is refusing to even open the door to take any missives. Not even Hika can get anywhere near lord Shinto to give missives, so she told me to give it to you in the hopes that you can reach him through the barrier that he has placed up."

Sen nodded at the explanation before standing up and jumping down to take the missive, "Thank you for entrusting this to us, good work." The messenger then bowed deeply before taking off, making the second born pup to sigh gently, "Come on, we have to greet father, give him the missive, and hopefully we will not have to force him to eat and bathe." The other two nodded, stood up, and jumped down before slowly making their way inside of the southern castle. Yukio sighed softly and glanced down, making the eldest pup look at him, "Yukio? What's wrong?" The youngest instantly began to frown deeply, "Father's heart is so fragile now. It's just sad to see him living this way..."

They had to agree with their youngest brother with a solemn nod as they walked slowly towards the study. It was extremely hard to see such a happy and bright individual become encased in darkness to the extent that he had become. He was hurting to the point that it it even hurt them to see him going through such times... but there was absolutely nothing that they could do about it. Nothing they said or did helped in the slightest... all it ever seemed to do was further harm him and that was an extremely tough pill to swallow. All of their heads then suddenly shot up when they heard extremely loud crashing sounds and furious yelling coming from the ruler of the south, making them bolt towards him in a panic.

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Shinto currently sat in his study with bland and dull orbs. He was beyond the point of just being exhausted and simply wanted to give up all together. His short hair now held a medium length low ponytail that cascaded over his shoulder miserably and his ears were no longer in their adorable appearing kitten form, but in their daiyokai elvish form instead. He held so much heartache at this point that it was simply becoming intolerable. The more time flowed by them, the more pain he felt over the matters at hand. With a mountain of work that was in dire need of completion sitting in front of him, all he could really do was stare at it, but never get a single thing completed. Plain and simple, he was hurting beyond belief.

He knew that his lands were now beginning to suffer and not happily prosper as they once had, but as of this point... he simply could not find the strength to even care. People pleaded for help from the true ruler of the southern domains, but that plea for help always went unnoticed and it was giving rise for multiple extreme issues. Rogue demons that only wished to do harm were now free to roam about and do as they pleased in the southern domains and Shinto never intervened by calling for the aid of the demon slayers, nor did he take care of the problem himself. Hell, he didn't even send Riki, Sen, or Yukio to help; nor did he ever explain to them that there was even an issue in the first place.

Most cries for help were now being sent off to the MORTAL ruler of the south, Takemaru of Setsuna, instead of him. Remembering as to how the white tiger acted, he had tried to schedule many different conferences with the great white tiger lord to settle the issues, but permission was always denied any time the mortal came to visit. Shinto had officially become a broken ruler that didn't do much for anything or anyone at this point. With how broken he felt, how was he supposed to fix something or help anyone if he couldn't even fix his broken heart or help pull himself out of a hole that seemed so deep and muddy, that no matter how hard he were to try... he would not be able to claw his way out?

Tilting his head slightly to look at a perfect small painted portrait of Kagome sitting in a frame on his desk only caused Shinto to roughly bite his lip so that a sharpened canine was given the opportune chance to pierce his quivering lower lip so that blood would begin to trickle down his chin remorsefully as tears slowly began welling up in his icy blue eyes miserably. All he could continue to tell himself... was that all of this was his fault entirely. Now, all he could ask himself in a broken tone was, 'Why did I even mate her...?' Each memory that he held for or with the Celestial maiden was now like a godforsaken curse that would NEVER go away, no matter what type of remedy he tried or attempted to use.

"Tell me, what given right do you have to be acting the way you are? Why are you pitying your LOWLY self once AGAIN!? WHO IS ACTUALLY TO BLAME FOR ALL OF THIS!?" Shinto's inner beast roared furiously on the inside, making the white tiger clench his fists so tightly that his sharpened claws dug into the palms of his hands. Not giving a reply only served to piss the inner beast off even further, "HOW LONG WILL YOU SIT AROUND AND ACT USELESS!? HOW LONG WILL YOU CONTINUE TO IGNORE THE WORLD!? HOW LONG WILL YOU CONTINUE TO PLAY THE PART OF THE TRAGIC AND PITIFUL EXISTENCE OF A WOUNDED CAT!? YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A COMPLETE AND UTTER FAILURE!"

Biting his lip rougher, the ruler of the southern domains lashed out and basically blacked out as he slapped all of the missives on his table off. Standing up and heaving angrily, he began to destroy everything in his study. Grabbing everything in sight before beginning to hurl it while yelling at his inner beast that no longer gave him a moment of silence, "DAMMIT ALL TO HELL, YOU DON'T HAVE TO KEEP REMINDING ME OF HOW MUCH OF A FAILURE I AM! DON'T YOU THINK THAT I ALREADY KNOW ALL OF THIS!? I KNOW THAT I PROMISED TO PROTECT HER, BUT WHAT COULD I DO!? TELL ME THAT! WHAT IN THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN SHE REFUSED TO COME BACK HOME!?"

Without seeing still, he picked up Kagome's picture and his inner beast yelled, "SHINTO, STOP!" Not willing to listen right now, he then hurled that picture and it shattered before he grabbed his desk and threw it as well. The door then slammed open and all froze at the sight at Shinto's furious crimson stained orbs. Yukio rushed forward and grabbed his father while yelling, "FATHER, STOP!" He couldn't hear or see a damn thing still, only to grab his son and hurl him so hard that if he hadn't been a demon while holding his mother's healing properties, he would be dead. Sen then walked forward calmly and flared his furious aura before slamming his fist against Shinto's cheek and hurling him to the ground.

Riki helped his injured brother by healing what was taking much longer to recover, only to freeze the moment he witnessed his mother's picture sliced in half from the glass that had shattered. Once Shinto came back down to earth, he groaned over how hard Sen had actually punched him and growled out, "SEN, DID YOU HAVE TO HIT ME THAT HARD!?" Sen ignored him and walked up to Riki... considering his eyes were fixated and filled with tears, "Riki? What's the ma-" That's when he witnessed the same thing, but shook his head, "We have brought a missive from the new mortal ruler of the west. I took the liberty of reading over it myself so that you didn't have to. You are invited to the constellation festival once again."

Turning and walking away as Riki helped Yukio out of the room, he then paused at the door, "I leave it up to you to go or not." With that said, he was going to make this idiot realize as to what he had done for himself before leaving the study silently. Rubbing his cheek, Shinto sighed and began to clean up the room he had completely and utterly destroyed. He had destroyed his study before, but normally his inner beast would bitch at him the entire time. This time... it remained completely silent as he cleaned. Picking his desk up, Shinto then stepped on some of the glass from the portrait up and instantly hissed at the pain. Sitting down and pulling the shard of glass out of his foot, that's when he noticed it.

Reaching his shaky hands out, the distressed daiyokai white tiger shakily picked the picture that had been sliced and also held many puncture holes from all of the glass. Tears instantly gathered in his icy orbs over this and he fully broke down. Still, his inner beast kept quiet over the matter and frowned slightly. He had pushed his host to the point of completely blacking out... and that single picture alone had been the only thing keeping his host somewhat sane. That's when he felt all of his hosts emotions die down before simply vanishing into thin air as if they had never been there to begin with in the first place. This was horrible... extremely horrible. If Kagome ever witnessed him this way, her inner beast might kill his own.

Fixing the picture to the best of his capabilities, Shinto then froze it before seeing that it was completely ruined and no matter what he did, it would never appear the same again. Gripping that ice tightly, Shinto hurled that ice against the wall and the picture was fully destroyed. With deadly cold orbs now, he walked out of the study and darkly called out, "HIKA, COME!" Hika had heard his tone and was not only terrified, but shocked at how distant and uncaring that this normally so loving feline was. Approaching, Hika gave a nervous bow, but did not allow for her tone to sound any different than it normally did, "Yes, lord Shinto?" Narrowing his orbs at her, he spoke with painfully dark tone, "Arrange a new mate for me at once."

Bowing towards him, she did not dare to ask if he was sure that was what he actually wanted, nor did she make the unwise choice to question; so she merely replied, "Right away, my lord." Just as she turned away, she was stopped by his frozen tone, "I will be leaving for the mortal ruler of the west to conduct business once again. So, be sure that my new mate is prepared by the time I return. Actually, send word to lord InuTaisho and ask for Samui to be returned to the southern domains this very instant, for she will now become the new lady of the south." Swallowing heavily, she then nodded, "I still have word sent right away. I still have Kagome's celestial force, so the word will reach him quite quickly."

Nodding, he then snapped around to make his way back to his study before halting any and all movements to speak out in a cruel and icy tone of voice that held no room for compassion, "Then get it done NOW!" Darting away as fast as she possibly could, Hika hurriedly sat down and began to write down everything down that was needed to be written to the lord of the western domains. She was well aware that her lord had made this decision out of rage and an unclear mind, which only made her frown deeply at such an impulsive choice on his part. Kagome had made the ruler of the southern domains far more bright than he had already been, so this was even hard for her to comprehend at this very moment.

She almost immediately hesitated to send it due to one thing alone... that one thing being the angel's pups... Riki and Sen. Hika needed to ask about them immediately before even allowing the thought to cross her mind a second time so that she could send the missive without worry. Walking to Shinto's study as he finally began to work, she then knocked and was given the green light to enter. Entering the room, Hika tried not to frown and internally patted her face before speaking, "Lord Shinto, I figured I should ask what you would like to do with lady Kagome's pups, Riki and Sen?" Lifting an uncaring brow, he then replied, "What of my sons? Now send the letter." Nodding was all Hika could do before sending the letter.

---

Kagome stood silently in InuTaisho's office with her eyes closed as she thought, 'Oh yay... we are going to yet another ruin your life festival...' Feeling Hika's demonic force, she held her hand out and the missive appeared in the palm of her hand before walking forward and placing it on InuTaisho's desk, only to turn away and stand silently against the wall. InuTaisho lifted his brow as he noticed Shinto's seal that his assistant always used and opened it up to read over it before nodding and signing it, "Samui, pack your things. Kagome will send you back to the southern domains." Nodding her head, she then left and got everything... including each and every dress that the angel had given her before returning.

Once the demoness returned, Kagome placed her pointer finger against her forehead... already knowing that this was because Shinto had finally reached his breaking point. Sensing Hika's demonic force, she then peered at Samui and whispered out sadly, "Please... take very good care of him in my place..." Before she was even given the chance to make a catty reply, Kagome sent her off to the southern domains. InuTaisho then stood and glanced towards the Celestial, "I'm going to assume that you already have seven days worth of clothing and a few spare outfits ready? This time, no heirs are permitted to join; for what reason, I am not sure." Nodding her head towards him, he then sighed softly, "Then let us be off."

Not willing to expend that much energy on running there, the angelic lass envisioned her hometown before tapping the ruler of the west and herself. Appearing, she gave no fucks about hiding what should be hidden, except for her tails... which she never really kept out while around InuTaisho anyway. All stared at the angel walking beside the ruler she served under due to one thing alone. Her sparkly white sleeveless leotard that held cutouts on the hips with a shimmering white ankle length skirt that held angel wing patterns of diamonds, her thigh-high boots with the same diamond design of angel wings, and her sparkly white belt holding all of her weapons lazily draped on her hips all flowed together magically.

Due to InuTaisho having to finish up some work and her having to send Samui off to the south made them one of the last to arrive. Walking into the conference hall, all lords, demonic or mortal, stood and began to bow towards the both of them respectfully. Keeping her head forward to not see anyone in specific, the two then made it on the stage and the whole transaction of naughty thoughts flowing through this mortal male's mind didn't even seem to phase the angelic lass this time around. Pillows were then brought out for the three to sit on, but Kagome quietly declined the offer to just stand there with rather dull orbs that made many of the demonic and mortal lords worried about her in the process.

Day one, rest and negotiations. Day two, festival. Day three, find love... and spend the day with the one that you have found love with. Day four, the one you found love with will still be around all day as you have fun in the water - true forms not allowed. Day five, a festival of fights - betting is allowed. Day six, day of rest and many more negotiations. Day seven, finish negotiations and watch the stars at night. Kagome could only think of how this was more like a full blown seven days of FUCKING TORTURE. However, she did find comfort that the new mortal lord was rather kind - besides his thoughts about InuTaisho. He honestly had very pure thoughts other than the ones about the man she guarded.

Shinto sat there with cold and hardened orbs even once he witnessed the angel and how she was dressed. What shocked her was when her inner beast attempted to tease the inner white tiger... she was clawed so hard to get out of his domains that it actually affected the host and her hand shot up to her eye as blood began to slide down her face. One of the claws had gone straight over her eye and considering she was so distressed... her healing wasn't working in the slightest. Everyone looked absolutely horrified once they witnessed the angel gritting her teeth as more and more blood began to slide down her face to drip down to the ground, making InuTaisho snap his head towards her lowered head.

Everyone knew who's claws were sharp enough to create that type of damage, but they kept quiet due to the look his face held. However, the moment they witnessed Samui smirking over what had just happened to the angel, they all felt disgusted over this woman. He had never fancied her before, so what was with the sudden interest now? They figured it out pretty damn quick though. He HAD NO interest in the woman that was attempting to mimic the angel's style of dressing, but upon closer inspection... they realized that the dress she was wearing, and didn't fit her at all, had once been Kagome's. With the opening concluded, they were all shown to their rooms... and unfortunately, Shinto was next door.

Considering it was summer time, Samui had to wait until winter to become formally mated to Shinto, but she still came as his mate to be. Once inside of their room, InuTaisho watched as Kagome made her way to her own bed and sat down. Walking forward, the great dog demon knelt down and began to heal as much as he could, but her eye was so badly damaged that he made her an eyepatch and slipped it over her eye. Sitting behind her and pulling her to his chest, Kagome instantly snapped around to begin slamming her fist against his chest, "THIS IS YOUR FAULT! ALL OF IT IS YOUR DAMN FAULT!" He quietly listened to her as she sobbed and hit him, for she had every right to do so.

Her punches slowed and became weak, giving rise for him to glance down at her miserable form and become utterly shocked and speechless the moment she buried her face against chest and held him for dear life. Her crying out of an injured eye hurt terribly, but maybe she deserved the pain entirely... for there was nothing good in her life except her pups and cub. Hell, she was always being screwed over by one thing or another. It didn't matter how much good she did in this world, she was always hurt in a world that constantly rejected her being as a whole. The moment she felt his hand tenderly take the back of her head and hold her close to his chest, he then quivered out in a miserable tone, "I-I'm truly sorry..."

With her single good eye, she peered up at him the instant she felt his tears dripping against her face silently. Taking the angel's face gently within his large palms, he frowned deeply and spoke softly, "You deserve so much better..." Her single eye dulled slightly at the comment, "But in your eyes... only you are worthy..." That made his eyes widen slightly before slowly dropping his hold on her face. Wiping his eyes, Kagome stood up and turned away, "Come... the evening meal and negotiations are about to begin..." Taking the ribbon out of her hair and combing her long locks, she then pulled her hair into a high ponytail and tied it off with the ribbon so lazily that it was bound to fall pretty damn quick.

InuTaisho stood and held his arm out for her, which she gladly accepted due to her not being used to only seeing out of one eye. Making it to the dining hall, all of the demonic lords except one appeared mortified that the angel's eye hadn't healed and was now covered with a black eyepatch. Even though Samui was supposed to be Shinto's next mate, she was still classified as a bodyguard and not permitted to eat with the lord that she was bound to mate and had to stand back. However, she did give the angelic lass a mocking smirk that she didn't even seem phased about in the slightest as she silently stood there. Hearing a dark thought, she forgot to make a clear warning due to how badly her eye hurt.

As the meal wrapped up for the lords, the bodyguards then went to the separate dining hall and sat down to eat their meal. The lords weren't far away when they heard all hell break loose. Samui sat there with that same mocking smile and spoke out, "Oh, honestly, a Celestial that can't heal herself and needs her lord to make her an eyepatch? Can you all believe that? It's NO WONDER why lord Shinto got rid of her!" Fuck how badly her eye hurt. Vanishing, tackling, and pinning the demoness to the ground with her holy blade pressed against the her throat, Kagome yelled, "WILL YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!? I CANNOT STAND YOU! YOU HAVE BEEN MOCKING ME EVER SINCE WE ARRIVED AND MY PATIENCE IS ALL BUT GONE!"

All of the lords darted inside of the room to see one FURIOUS angel ripping the eyepatch off of her flawless face, considering her fury now overshadowed any other feelings that might block her regenerative abilities and her eye was now healed. Kagome's aura and eyes blazed and radiated with clear rage as she continued her fest of fury, "HONESTLY, HOW FULL OF YOURSELF AND STUPID ARE YOU!? YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVE THAT HE DID IT BECAUSE HE WANTED TO!? YOU THINK HE DID IT BECAUSE I WAS WORTHLESS!? YOU WERE MERELY PICKED BECAUSE YOU WERE THE FIRST FUCKING PERSON THAT CAME TO MIND; NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS! WHAT YOU ARE IS ONE THING ONLY... NOTHING!"

Samui then smirked deviously, considering the fact that the angel was so royally pissed off that she didn't even realize that Shinto was right behind her with one of the coldest and cruelest looks in the world as he spoke in a tone that made the Celestial maiden pale, "Then what does that make you? I will tell you what it makes you... it makes you discarded trash that is no longer a necessity in my life. You served your purpose in giving me a powerful heir, now move away from my future mate." Standing up, Kagome's hair became free and she smirked, "Oh good, I don't have to keep thinking about you then. My lord, might you help me?" Blinking rapidly, InuTaisho walked forward as Kagome pointed to her back.

Internally chuckling at this, he unlaced her dress and slid it off of her body in an almost taunting sense. Once she stepped out of the attire and handed it to him, he tossed the attire over his shoulder as the angel pressed her body tightly to the pretty kitten's body that was quick to react, "Then tell me, if I am such discarded trash... then why is your inner beast in such a frenzy? Well, it matters not. How would you like for me to place your inner pretty kitty back in its cage once again?" That had Shinto growling angrily until the beautiful angel walked away from eating. She hadn't even had a third of her meal and she knew that was bound to screw her over entirely, but as of now... she just really didn't give a damn.

Right then and there, she gave her inner beast the freedom to get Shinto back in the most painful of manners without killing him; and right before she walked into her room, she heard that pretty kitty yowl in pain and agony thanks to her savage of an inner beast. Walking inside of the room, she paused, grinned, and walked out of the room before walking inside of Shinto's and placed her scent ALL over his bedding and clothing. Making it back to her room, she then changed into one of her white workout attires with a smirk. Walking back inside of the dining hall, EVERYONE stared as she sat down and finished her meal, but hurled her ceramic bowl for rice at Samui's face so hard that it shattered, "Oops," was all she claimed.

---

The next day, Kagome got out of the bed she slept in all alone. She absolutely detested sleeping alone, so she really didn't get much sleep. Placing the same dress on that Shinto had gifted her on the last day of the last festival after bathing and healing the dark circles beneath her eyes, she realized it was roughly two hours before InuTaisho needed to awaken and decided to take a walk. Slipping her boots on and stepping outside, the angel turned her head to hear some interesting noises coming from Shinto's room, only to burst into laughter as she passed the room... but gagged out through her fit of hysteria, "D-DAMN SHE SMELLS H-HORRIBLE! E-EVEN BETTER, SHE ACTUALLY ISN'T EVEN P-PLEASING HIM!"

From the inside of Shinto's room, Samui and Shinto heard the comments and laughter from the chipper Celestial maiden. Shinto's inner beast currently had its paws over its nose due to how horrible she did smell, making the ruler of the south pull out and quickly bathe before walking to his clothing to smell... HER, "For fucks sake Kagome..." he mumbled softly, but got dressed anyway. Once he passed by Samui, she growled out, "WHY DOES YOUR CLOTHING SMELL LIKE HER!?" Lifting his brow, Shinto growled angrily to put his future mate in her place, "The entire castle still smells like her. Now, be silent and learn your place. I am going out for a walk to get some fresh air. Wait here for my return."

Stopping in a field of flowers and lacing her hands behind her back as the wind gently blew her long locks, Kagome stared out at the sea of wildflowers with a tender smile. Shinto ended up in the same field and froze the moment he noticed that her face was the same smile that had once been in her picture and it caused his inner beast to purr softly at such a gentle smile presented, making its host relax entirely as he spoke, "Shinto, you cannot treat her like you did the night prior... I know that you heard her yelling at InuTaisho yesterday. She mourns not having you around..." He continued to stare at her face before walking towards her and stopping behind her to run his claws through her silky hair.

Humming softly, Kagome then closed her eyes as she spoke softly, "My lord, might I help you with something?" Damn, she just pulled the "my lord" card on him. Groaning over the fact that she had just called him that, he was quick to notice that she had pulled away from him so that he would STOP touching her, making him slightly frown. Turning around, the angel raised her hand to tug on his kitten ear, but stopped the moment she realized that he was now using his elvish ears instead of his kitten ears, causing her hand to drop by her side and she slowly brushed passed him to go elsewhere. The lake sounded perfect, because she could throw him in if he bothered her to the point that she needed to throw him in.

He had watched her hand rise, only to also watch that same hand quickly drop by her side due to his elvish ear. Hell, he was no idiot. He was well aware that she was so accustomed to tugging on his pierced kitten ear, that this reflex just came naturally to her when it came to him. Shifting his elvish ears to his kitten ears, he most definitely followed the angelic lass to the lake that was currently surrounded by a sea of wildflowers before sitting beside her. Sighing, Kagome didn't even glance towards him as she spoke softly, "I always did love your kitten ears..." With the comment made, his kitten ear twitched and made his only earring jingle happily, only to make her glance her sky blue orbs towards him.

Now, her hands wouldn't move out of fear. She didn't want to get too close or attached to him... only to have her heart broken all over again. Shinto tenderly took her hand and placed it on his ear... only for her to weakly tug at it before it cascaded back to her lap as her head tilted towards him, "You grew out a small portion of your hair...? It looks cute on you... my lord." Shinto's eye instantly twitched at this before he huffed, "STOP CALLING ME 'MY LORD', DAMMIT!" All Kagome could do was give a weak chuckle, "I don't think I should call you anything else... for my sake..." The pretty kitty frowned deeply before sucking in a sharp breath, "I know that I changed... but there is a reason as to why I did..."

"Do you honestly believe this bullshit of an excuse will fly with her..." his inner beast dryly exclaimed, but Kagome chuckled sadly, "Why's that...?" Shinto then sighed and ruffled his mostly shortly spiked locks before explaining, "For a long time, I was more than depressed. My heart was still in pain long after I left you behind in the west. The only thing I had left of you, other than your scent, was that portrait of you on my desk in the study. My inner beast was so furious with me on a daily basis that one day, I snapped and ended up blacking out to the point that I threw that picture and the glass sliced it in half and poked holes all over it. I attempted to fix it, but no matter what I tried, it didn't look like you any longer."

Taking a deep and shaky breath, Shinto clasped his hands together tightly and his icy blue eyes filled with tears as he continued to speak, "I tried everything and even encased it in my ice in the hopes that it would magically mend the picture back together, but when I realized that it no longer even looked like you, I threw it and it shattered completely. It was at that moment that my sanity was stolen from me and I became as cold as ice. There was nothing le-" Kagome then chuckled breathily before speaking softly, "Shinto... I had a second portrait of me made just in case something like that were to happen..." Blinking rapidly at this comment, the pretty kitten could only speak in a baffled tone, "Wait, what?"

Playing with his earring, she then took it off of his ear and handed it to him to look at the jewel. That's when he witnessed her picture INSIDE of the icy blue crystal. Tears almost instantly filled his orbs at that moment while muttering in a broken tone, "T-That's why I always saw you... I... I am such an idiot! I treated you SO cruel and I will NEVER be able to repent for that!" Lying his head on her lap after she placed his earring back on, the angel began to stroke his hair tenderly while chuckling as he cried, "Shinto, you always do acknowledge and take responsibility for your wrongdoings. Sometimes I fear that the weight of those acknowledgements and responsibilities will crush your heart and soul. However..."

Kagome could only peer at his beyond beautiful face as he blinked innocently and spoke shakily, "H-However...?" The angel's soul was now being crushed over how broken and crushed he sounded, making her take a deep breath before answering softly, "However, I can't keep allowing you to feel all of this guilt simply because of me. At times, I feel so guilty over making YOU feel guilty that I feel that maybe it would just be better if I were to just disappear from your life entirely. Now, don't mistake this as me saying that I will take my own life... I am completely incapable of taking my own life, all because I am a Celestial... and I'd rather not burn in the pits of hell for all eternity if it can be avoided."

By now, she could clearly see all of the confusion written all over his face, which only made her chuckle sadly before she closed her eyes to not see his face as she spoke, "What I am trying to say is-" Right at that moment... he thought he had figured it out and immediately yelled, "OH HELL NO! I WILL NOT ALLOW FOR YOU TO BECOME A CONCUBINE ALL OVER AGAIN! NOR WILL I ALLOW FOR YOU TO BECOME SOME RANDOM GUARD THAT I WILL NEVER SEE AGAIN!" Right then and there, she slowly opened her tear filled orbs to stare sadly into his eyes, "I regret so much... I regret shutting you out in the fear of losing you to some random woman, or to get hurt, for all of those years. That's no way to live, or to love..."

His eyes were so filled with hurt that it broke her heart. Releasing a shaky breath, Kagome then bit her lip roughly before speaking, "I'm going to request to become YOUR personal bodyguard. I know that you've witnessed my love for InuTaisho slowly fade away into mere nothingness due to always being his bodyguard... his tool. Should you ask to mate me again, I will say no... just know that." Sitting him up, she then stood and turned away and began walking away. Making it to the castle, the angel made her way back to an awake InuTaisho, whom looked sorrowful due to hearing everything that she had said and claimed to the white tiger daiyokai, only for him to frown deeply, "You have my permission..."

Bowing towards him, but speaking nothing, Kagome picked her belongings up before making her way out of the room while thinking, 'Except those feelings I have for him have never truly faded away...' Entering Shinto's room and seeing Samui, the angel merely bowed, "My lady, please forgive my intrusion. I am lord Shinto's newly appointed bodyguard." Samui already knew that this divine being could murder her without feeling any remorse, so she merely nodded, "Very good. The second bed is over there. I expect for you to stay there. If you wish, you may also stay with lord InuTaisho." Kagome then shook her head and spoke softly, "Forgive my insolence, but that is not a call for you to make, my lady..."

Nodding her head as if not caring one single bit, the Celestial maiden then gave a small portion of her celestial force to her before walking to the other bed and sitting down to prop her elbow up on the ledge of the window to stare out with a distant appearing gaze. Right then, the white tiger walked inside with his head lowered and his tail limp until witnessing a flurry of long raven locks as she stared blankly. Slowly turning her head towards him, Kagome bowed her head with respect, "Welcome back, my lord. I do hope you had plenty of time to get the fresh air you desired." Shinto appeared so distressed now, that all he could do was dart out of the room and inside of InuTaisho's room.

"L-Lord InuTaisho, what is the meaning of this!?" Shinto shakily spoke out, causing the lord of the west to turn his head away from the open window to glance towards the lord of the southern domains before speaking out, "It's exactly what it appears to be, Shinto. I heard everything that the two of you spoke of, so I am merely granting her request. If she wishes for her love for you to perish, then it will be of her own volition... not due to my jealousy of you. However, I am going to ask you to return my sons to my care... along with handing your son temporarily over to my care. If they linger around, then it will make her task that much more difficult... I should know that better than anyone..."

Blowing his bangs up, InuTaisho decided to throw the white tiger daiyokai a bone and chuckled, "Do not mistake this... her love for you will never be fully erased from her mind or heart. I mean... the two of you actually created a child together, so you will always hold a more than special spot in her heart. Besides, she loves those damned kitten ears of yours too much for her to turn her back on you entirely. You'd have to be just as stupid as me, or perhaps even more stupid to accomplish that trophy. However, that will never happen... not with you. As you once told me... there is one major difference between our idiotic actions. You fully shoulder the responsibility of all of the wrong you have committed... unlike me."

---

Day three rolled in and Kagome was the first to wake up in a more than exhausted fashion and quickly healed her restless dark skin beneath her sky blue orbs before bathing and getting dressed in a dress that appeared similar to the day priors. 'It's two hours before the morning meal... I suppose that I will take a walk and sit outside for a bit to think...' was all the angelic lass could seem to conjure up within her exhausted state of mind. Tugging her boots on, she silently left the darkened room and walked towards the lake surrounded by a sea of wildflowers. Upon arrival, she noticed InuTaisho simply sitting there with his head lowered silently as if he were either defeated or extremely depressed.

Approaching the lord of the western domains, Kagome gave his broad shoulder a gentle pat and waited for his head to lift. Once his head abruptly jolted up in a rather startled fashion, that's when she realized that the great dog demon had stayed awake the entire night and had just NOW fallen asleep as he groggily mumbled, "Oh... hello Kagome..." Sitting between his legs and taking his arms to wrap them around her, he gave an exhausted chuckle as he leaned his chin against her shoulder while mumbling out, "I'm simply... going to assume... that you... figured it out..." His long silver ponytail then slid in front of her face, making her brush it away and chuckle softly, "True form..."

Standing up, Kagome and InuTaisho took their true forms before lying down. It took a long time for her to gain enough demonic force to sustain her true form while asleep, but she had finally mastered it. Curling up closely beside him and placing her large fluffy cranium on the top of his massive paws, he curled around her much smaller and more feminine true form before placing his head on the top of her own. With his body heat and comfortable body, she then informed her inner beast to wake her up by any means necessary in two hours, which it complied with as the two massive fluffy puppies fell asleep with relative ease by using the comfort the two held for one another as a whole.

After two hours, her inner beast scared the HELL out of her by barking so loud that her head shot up to collide with InuTaisho's, which was enough to scare the life out of him and dart his orbs around only for it to be Kagome, whom nuzzled her cheek against his before giving a far too loving lick for someone such as himself. Taking their humanoid forms, the angel held her hand out for the demon lord to take. Peering at her with saddened orbs, he then placed a hand against her cheek before leaning down and stealing her soul... down to the very last miniscule detail. Leaning to press her lips tightly against his own, her arms then wrapped around his neck to pull him closer as his arms coiled around her soft and petite frame.

Leaning away, Kagome then chuckled out softly, "It's the day for finding love... but I think I've known as to whom mine has been the whole time..." InuTaisho looked down, believing that she was referring to Shinto. This only made her giggle softly, "Don't be so quick to discredit yourself. If we end up in the same pairing, then I think you will know which will be mine." That had the great dog demon blushing in little to no time at all as he finally took her hand in his own and began to walk while dramatically blowing his bangs upward, "Don't tease me in such a way, it is quite rude to the ruler of the west." This made the angel gain a dry expression as she replied, "Oh, you're the ruler of SOMETHING alright."

Entering the castle with a dumbfounded expression, InuTaisho's mouth could only drop WIDE open. He could not BELIEVE how SASSY she STILL was! Here she was... calling HIM of all people... STUPID! He wouldn't deny that he didn't have his moments of complete, utter, and sheer STUPIDITY; but damn man, calling him the ruler of stupid!? RUDE MUCH! However, he only chuckled at her and smiled softly, "Well, I do suppose that you make an extremely valid point. By the way, I forgot to say this. You look absolutely beautiful today..." Blushing deeply, Kagome then blew HER bangs upward before chuckling softly, "And here I was under the impression that you were going to thank me for helping you get some sleep."

Snickering at her, he then stopped right in front of Shinto's door before gracing her lips with one last tender kiss, "Thank you for helping me get some rest... I was rather restless all last night long..." Chuckling at him softly, she then nodded with a HEAVY blush of embarrassment, "I... uh... I was as well. Even when I was mated to Shinto, there were many nights that it was almost impossible for me to fall asleep... so thank you, Toga~!" He quickly covered her mouth with his hand while a massive blush stained his cheeks, "Kagome! Don't do that to... ugh... you're just going to do it anyway..." Winking at the blushing puppy, she hadn't even realized that her tails were out and securely wrapped around his waist.

Turning to walk into Shinto's room, her tails tightened around one hell of an amused InuTaisho as she smacked right into the white tiger's door before groaning and snapping her head towards her own tails, "HONESTLY YOU TWO, SELF CONTROL!" That had InuTaisho beyond the point of laughing hysterically, considering the fact that it had been HIS tails quickly wrapping around her waist that had made her smack into the door in the first place. Right then, Shinto opened the door to see the two puppies tails locked around each other's bodies tightly; making him tilt his head, "Uh... Kagome... mind explaining...?" Turning her head towards the kitten, that's when it hit her... and it hit her extremely hard.

Yes, she loved Shinto... but not to the magnitude that she loved the ruler puppy. Hell, it always felt like something was missing from her life when she wasn't around him. Without her even realizing it, tears had fully filled her eyes until spilling down her cheeks. Trembling slightly now, she then muttered the thing that InuTaisho had LONGED to hear from the Celestial lass, "Forgive me, Shinto... I-I love him..." He had already suspected as such and frowned softly, but then gave a softened smile, "Kagome, I think EVERYONE except you and the ruler of stupid over here knew that. It's no different for him though... any time you turned your back to talk to someone else, his eyes basically screamed I love you."

That was the SECOND damn time that he had been called STUPID this morning, causing him to gain an annoyed facial expression before puffing out, "Why is everyone calling me STUPID this morning!?" Kagome then chuckled at him as Shinto handed her belongings to the newly appointed ruler of stupid, which he snatched and placed it over his shoulder. Shinto then gave a saddened smile as he spoke in a tone to match the look on his face, "InuTaisho, if you don't treasure her... then I won't hesitate to take her back and claim her as my own again. I will allow Yukio to be given the option of living in the south or the west, though... I'm quite sure that he will want to live with his brothers and mother."

The white tiger daiyokai then chuckled and rubbed his eyes in an exhausted fashion, "Uh... by the way you two, you do understand that it's four hours until the morning meal, right?" Kagome then blinked harshly before both puppies looked outside with a dumbfounded facial expression over the simple fact that neither parties had realized that it was still DARK outside. She couldn't speak for the dummy pretty puppy, but for her... life just always appeared far more vibrant and colorful when he was around. It was something that far exceeded the normal boundaries of how the world should truly appear and it was almost on the borderlines of being supernatural with how much brighter her life actually was with him in it.

Just as the two turned to go back to bed, Shinto shot a clear warning to the ruler of the west, "InuTaisho, if you don't make her happy... I will be challenging you for the ranked spot of number one. It's not just that though. I'm giving you until WINTER to formally mate her. If you do and you go behind her back to use another's body... then make no mistake... I will welcome her back into my bed with open arms and mate her once more without a second thought given." This made Kagome hum softly with a slight frown, "Shinto, I don't think you honestly realize that there are times when those types of special bonds can take many, many moons to truly accomplish in the first place..."

Shinto then narrowed his orbs towards the great dog demon almost spitefully as he growled out, "Yes, I DO understand that! However, you two have known one another for over a CENTURY now and-" InuTaisho began to blink rapidly at that comment before freaking out, "Holy HELL! Has it REALLY been THAT long!?" Kagome gained a dumbfounded expression over this comment before slapping the palm of her hand over her face. Shinto's agitation further grew as he continued his initial train of thought, "With you knowing one another as LONG as you have, you both should ALREADY have that clear connection! I will not change my mind over this decision. You have until WINTER InuTaisho."

Raising a tired hand towards one envious pretty little kitty, InuTaisho groaned softly, "Thanks dad, I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Groaning, Kagome snapped at both of them, "ENOUGH YOU TWO! NOT ONE MORE WORD OR DAMN THREAT! SHINTO, YOU WILL NOT BE THE ONE TO CHOOSE WHEN I MATE SOMEONE! WHAT IF HE CONTINUOUSLY ASKS ME WHILE BEING COMPLETELY FAITHFUL, YET I TURN HIM DOWN EACH AND EVERY TIME!? I'M NOT GOING TO JUST COME RUNNING BACK TO YOU SHOULD HE NOT MATE ME BEFORE YOU ARE TIED DOWN TO SOMEONE THAT YOU DON'T EVEN LOVE! IT WAS YOUR CHOICE TO PICK HER, SO DEAL WITH YOUR OWN ACTIONS!" Uh oh, you've been busted.

Kagome then grabbed her bag before making her way back into the ruler of the west's room and closing the door. InuTaisho then sighed heavily before speaking, "Shinto, she makes a very good point and you know it. With how smart you are, you should already know that what she spoke is nothing less than rather loud true words." Shinto stayed completely silent over this, making the ruler puppy tilt his head towards the kitten ruler as he spoke, "You cannot force her hand like that. You can only back a dog so far into a corner before it inevitably attacks." With that, InuTaisho walked into the room to see a nude angel already asleep. Locking the door, he then undressed and got into bed to snuggle up close and fall asleep.

---

Banging at the doors to the southern palace, Sen was quick to answer due to passing by at that moment, "Yes?" A white tiger messenger handed him two missives with a saddened smile, "Young lord Sen, you and your brother Riki are to return to the castle in the west. These are not your birth father's orders... they are your mother's." That had the second born pup blink rapidly before unrolling the missive, but darted his eyes to the signature. Once he witnessed halo in her name, he knew that it was actually her signature. Glancing back to the messenger, he then nodded, "Right, now what of the second?" The messenger then handed him the second, "This one is for the young lord, Yukio. It was signed by his father."

Motioning his hand for the messenger to continue, he did just that, "Considering the fact that you and your brother are being recalled, lord Shinto is giving the young lord a choice to either continue living here or leave with the two of you to live in the west. However, a spell has been cast on your missive that will only activate when your brother is also reading it. It also states that you have until the end of the constellation festival to wrap up any business or tasks that you and your elder brother are in need of completing." Nodding his head with a gentle smile, he gave a gentle bow of respect, "Thank you for letting me know. I will miss all of you!" That's when he thought to himself, 'It took father long enough...'

Closing the door to the castle, Sen walked to Riki and tapped his shoulder, which had him turn around, "What's up?" Sen gave a soft chuckle and smiled, "There is a spell on this from mother, so we must be looking at the missive. Don't worry, I actually checked to see if it was really from mother." Nodding his head, the two looked at the missive and a bright flash activated. Sen's hair returned to normal and Riki's eyes reverted back to their normal coloration. Yukio then jogged over once he witnessed the bright light and appeared shocked, "Sen, your hair! Riki, your eyes!" Sen chuckled softly and handed Yukio his own missive, "Father claims that you may choose to return to the west with us, or you may stay in the south."

Yukio gave a soft chuckle at this, considering his two elder brothers had told them everything he needed to know about their mother... including how she truly felt about the ruler of the west. Riki gave a soft and playful snicker, "Sheesh! It took long enough for mother to actually realize as to whom she REALLY loves. EVERYONE else could clearly see it, well everyone except mother and father that is." Yukio then frowned slightly, "Will I even be accepted in the west...? I have been around you two for so long that it will be hard to be here without you guys, that's why I'm asking..." Riki chuckled at the nervous question before giving his reply, "Of course, you are one of mother's children and she is highly respected in the west."

Sen then rolled his shoulders back as he spoke, "Mm... yeah, but I think she's mostly respected due to the fact that she can be so damn scary." That had Riki laughing hysterically and wiped a tear from his face before telling the truth, "When you were still young, Sesshomaru went around the entire citadel to ask as to who they feared the most and shortly after, Ikari went around the whole castle and asked who they loved the most. Both answers lead straight back to mother. I don't know if you remember, but they then came to the both of us and Inuyasha to question as to how someone can be so feared, yet loved at the same time. Hell, if they needed our help with the question, then they were extremely puzzled."

The white tiger cub then peered at the missive that held a line for an answer and grabbed some ink and a quill feather, only to gain a slightly nervous facial expression before gracefully writing down... 'west'. Both of the elder brothers smiled gently before the eldest brother slinged his arm around his youngest brother's neck, "Hey man, don't look so worried!" Sen then nudged his younger brother with a brightened smile, "We have to wait four more days anyway, all so that we can complete any unfinished business or tasks, so you have plenty of time to change your answer if you feel the need to." Yukio then peered at his brothers, "I won't change my answer... but, uh, can you tell me what the west is like?"

Both elder brothers nodded and all sat down before Riki began speaking, "Well, there are five other children at the castle in the west. All of them are Sen's and my own half siblings. There are the twin heirs, Sesshomaru and Ikari. If you mix them up, the only indication that you messed up as to whom they are as individuals will be their eye twitching. Just use your senses and you'll find out that telling one from the other is no longer too difficult." That made Yukio blink rapidly, "How are my senses going to tell one from the other?" Sen began to snicker at that question before answering, "Well, Sesshomaru feels like a damn blizzard and Ikari feels like gentle rays of sunshine. So, you'll probably find comfort in Sesshomaru's aura."

Humming gently, Sen then began to chuckle, "Then, there's Inuyasha and Hinami. Inuyasha is the third born heir to the throne and has one HELL of a temper that is fun to tease. He won't ever hurt you, but man does he know how to explode like a damn active volcano. You'll probably find him the most amusing out of the lot. Then, there is the heiress to the throne, Hinami. She will probably be your absolute favorite out of the lot. Hell, I think that she's everyone's favorite between the children." Confused at the statement, Yukio then questioned, "Why do you say that?" Sen gave a soft chuckle at that before answering, "Oddly, she behaves exactly like mother, but looks like a female mirror of our father."

Riki then groaned heavily at the last person, which Sen now understood why due to her sticking her nose where it did not belong on a brother... half or not, "The last is a half-breed named Hime. I will warn you now... she has gone to ALL of her BROTHERS while they have slept to do EXTREMELY indecent things to them. Mother refuses to claim her as her own pup and change her to a full daiyokai, the same as she did for Sen and myself, because of the way she acts." Yukio now appeared extremely shocked at this comment and his mouth dropped wide open, "Wait, you are telling me that you guys used to be half-breeds!?" Both of the boys frowned slightly, but nodded at the question, "That would be correct."

Curious kittens needed to know the details, so he asked, "Then how are you both PURE daiyokai now!?" Sen chuckled and smiled almost sadly at this as he answered, "Well, we were born from a mortal that had no intention on claiming, nor mothering, either of us. Like Riki said before, mother was once his bodyguard before he became blood related to her. He was being threatened during the night of a full moon by the man that ended up kidnapping her later. Mother instantly protected him and from what my father has told us, her inner beast was the one to actually claim him as her pup. By claiming him on a full moon, she was able to use a spell to strip his status as a half-breed to make him pure of blood."

This had Yukio so confused that it wasn't even funny, "So how does that actually make you blood related to mother?" Riki smiled softly at the curiosity held, but did answer respectfully, "Well... that's pretty simple if you actually stop to think about it... Celestials don't discriminate, so she was able to turn us into pure daiyokai." Sen then noticed that his younger brother was STILL beyond the point of confused, making him snicker playfully as he spoke, "Celestials can only conceive a child during the night of a full moon. By using that spell on the night of a full moon, it took all of the mortal female's genetics out of our bodies, only for it to be replaced with mother's genetics. That's how we became pure daiyokai."

Holding a concentrated face, the white tiger kitten had to ask, "So, who was the mother that actually birthed both of you?" Sen noticed that Riki wouldn't answer that question, so he had to do it, "Well... you attended her funeral ten years after your birth, Yukio..." Nodding at this explanation due to remembering that funeral, he then questioned, "So, do you actually remember the incantation that mother used? I'm just curious is all." The golden eyed daiyokai shook his head as the sky eyed dog daiyokai nodded at that, "Yes sir, I definitely do remember it clearly, which was... Now split into light and shadow, let the light of humanity flee this body for the darkness of demons to consume!"

Nodding his head, Yukio then queried to the brother that was actually answering all of his questions, Sen, "So, if she could have changed you into a pure blooded daiyokai, it's safe to assume that she could have also turned you into a pure blooded Celestial as well, right?" Sen then nodded at the comment and chuckled, "Yeah, she could of. However, she likes the "adorable attributes" that we daiyokai hold." That made the white tiger laugh hysterically before calming himself to ask, "So, if you know the incantation for Demons, do you also know the incantation for Celestials?" That made Riki shake his head, but Sen... nodded and answered, "Yeah, I asked her that once and she told me the incantation."

Saying that, THAT helped would be a newfound lie that he wasn't really willing to tell, so the kitten asked, "So, if you don't mind, can I know it? I mean, I know only Celestials can use the spells, so nothing should happen... right?" Sen then hummed and glanced at the sky, "Actually... only mother can recite the Celestial incantation. Should we even utter it, then our bodies will begin to get purified. Even with mother's celestial force, I can recite it by leaving out some words though. Now split into light and shadow, let the looming shadows of humanity flee this body for the - light of - to consume!" It was ironic and almost laughable to Yukio, that Sen only had to leave out TWO WORDS to not be affected.

Riki then hummed at this, "What were the two words that you left out?" Sen then turned towards his brother with a smile, "Sacred was the first, while Celestials is the second." All you apparently needed to do was just separate the words in the incantation for it to do no harm to a demon. Yukio could only snicker as his white tiger tail thrashed about playfully before full blown hysterical laughter was released, causing both elder brothers to give a rather questioning gaze until he spoke through his fit of laughter, "T-THE CELESTIAL SPELL SOUNDS SO MUCH COOLER THAN THE DEMONIC SPELL!" Blinking rapidly, Sen recited the spell in his mind again, only to begin cracking up, "DAMN, YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!"

---

With all said and done, the the eldest stood and brushed his clothing off before chuckling, "Well, we had better get to work so that we can finish all of our work in a timely manner. Sen, Yukio, what tasks are the two of you wanting to complete?" Sen sweat dropped at this as he stood up, "Uh, well... all of those documents that you always write are always sent back to us because they are illegible. I will take over the study and complete the mountain of work. Big brother, you should sit at the throne and have Hika deliver missives to me. Yukio, I will need you on standby just in case I am needing to send you to a certain village. Don't worry Riki, I know you get restless; so you and Yukio will swap out every so often."

Nodding at this, all three entered the castle and went to their designated areas. Hika walked towards Riki with a saddened smile before handing him a missive, "I am truly going to miss you three boys. The entire southern domain loves you three." Riki then gave a saddened smile, "I can't say that I will miss how damn COLD it is here, but I will miss all of the inhabitants dearly." Reading over the missive, he then handed it to the assistant with a smile, "Go ahead and take that to Sen." Nodding her head, she then walked to the study and knocked before entering, "Sen, here is a new missive." Taking it and reading over it, he then peered up towards Yukio, "Yukio, sparkle up, demons are raiding multiple villages."

Showing the list of villages to his younger sparkly brother, he then nodded as his kitten ears popped out and he stopped suppressing his sparkles before darting out. Sen then chuckled towards Hika, "It's almost not fair... a demon born with and wielding the powers of a celestial, but he can't help or change how he was born and I love each and every part of him... no matter his race." Feeling a sharp pulse in his body, Sen gasped sharply as the mark of a high ranking celestial appeared inside of the crescent moon on his forehead, "What in the HELL!? I-I've become a CELESTIAL!? This is horrible! Mother is not here to awaken or balance those powers!" Hika instantly darted out, but was told to calm by a certain someone.

Kirara padded in and chuckled at the frantic pup, "Fear not, one other can aid you, Sen." Gritting his teeth and peering towards the fire feline, he then fumbled out, "W-Who is this person you speak of Kirara!?" The fire feline then gained a straight face before speaking evenly, "Your grandmother... Midoriko..." Sen was just about to reply before the spirit form of Midoriko appeared, "My grandpup, you have now become a high ranking celestial." Folding her wings to her back, she then walked forward and tapped her finger against his high ranking celestial mark to fully awaken his full potential to help balance out the light and dark before walking behind him and pressing her hand between his shoulders for his wings to pop out.

Midoriko then sighed softly, "It is quite ironic that it was not your mother... the leading maiden of light... to be the first to contact me. InuTaisho has been keeping his mouth sealed over who she truly is and, therefore, she cannot resume her position as the eternal ruler - leading maiden of light. While he does not remember, your father happens to be the eternal ruler of shadows. Your full brothers - Sesshomaru, Ikari, and Inuyasha also do not remember their roles either. Sesshomaru, eternal ruler of flames. Ikari, eternal ruler of wind. Inuyasha, eternal ruler of water. You must not speak of this to them, my grandpup." Sen felt shocked as he fumbled out, "W-Wait, so the tales of the eternal rulers is TRUE!?"

Chuckling at her grandpup, her face then softened, "Indeed, that it is! However, your mother honestly needs to remember that she has the capability of listening. When I first spoke to her of the eternal rulers, I tried to give her the full list of deities, but she was so shocked that she kept cutting me off! There is Light, shadows, flames, wind, water, lightning, and the last... earth. However, the earth deity fell from grace and was banished from the eternal rulers due to her venomous actions that actually created a war between the eternal rulers. Now, she is cursed to live as a mortal in a constant never-ending cycle and her powers will never awaken again unless she ceases the body of the leading maiden of light."

Sen was so shocked that he fumbled out, "Are you telling me that I am one of those deities!?" Midoriko smiled tenderly, which reminded him of his mother's smile before she spoke, "I cannot answer that in the slightest. Your mother first must remember as to who she is to make that selection. Who is to be certain? It could possibly be Hinami, maybe it will be Riki, maybe it will be you, or perhaps it will be Yukio. The leading maiden of light's heart, along with her soul, must decide and choose as to whom that spot is most qualified for. However, I have never once witnessed the eternal rulers be comprised of an entire group of family members before, but my daughter has actually managed to mate and birth eternal rulers."

With a seal placed over the knowledge, Sen then sighed, "Grandmother, if you asked for me not to tell, then I wouldn't have. I am not the type of person to say that they will not tell and then tell anyway, it's just not my style! Hold up a second... you're saying that those that you have listed are my full brothers!? You are telling me that Sesshomaru, Ikari, and Inuyasha are my MOTHER'S sons and not lady Sutekina's sons!?" Midoriko merely gave a sheepish smile and nodded, "That would be correct! My daughter and InuTaisho have known one another much longer than is lead on to believe and they are much older than even they are aware of. Both are well in their thousands, but they cannot sense it in the slightest."

Almost instantly... Sen gained a sorrowful facial expression and his tone definitely matched the look, "Grandmother...? Mother isn't actually from this universe... is she...? If not, this simply means that all I am is a fabrication of an alternate dimension that was never truly meant to exist in the first place..." Midoriko then hummed as a way of thinking of a way to word this, but then looked into her grandpup's eyes, "Sen, you are no fabrication. My daughter made the same choice thousands upon thousands of times. This disturbance occurred so often, that time itself altered and ripped. This gave rise to a great problem in the form of an entirely new dimension overwriting the one that had already existed."

"Meaning...?" Sen's worried and confused tone jingled out, only for the pup's grandmother to frown deeply as she spoke, "Meaning everything that was... is forever gone. The friends that they once were as nothing more than mere children never happened. Your father, brothers, and sister are from the same dimension that your mother came from. That's how you are actually related to them by blood. I have been watching this entire time and I am more than shocked as to how different everything appears. The castle is even different and is located in a different area from where it was actually supposed to be. If you wish, I will take you to the place where your father rebuilt the castle after the original had been destroyed."

Humming in an almost distracted fashion over that comment, Sen then spoke out, "So, if I might ask, what will happen if she passes this trial in this world?" She should have supposed that the question was bound to be asked anyway, so she replied with a smile, "Then this will become the new reality for her and she will continue to live on in this dimension. However, it is not just merely your mother that must pass." That had Sen blinked rapidly at this and tilted his head, "Okay, who else must pass such a tedious task?" The pup's grandmother chuckled softly due to how cute and innocent Sen acted, but she did reply, "Well, I suppose that I should have started from the beginning so that you fully understood."

Clearing her throat, Midoriko watched as Sen folded his wings to his back and smiled, "Your father can never truly stay a devoted man to your mother and he almost acts as if like a walking and talking contradiction. However, this is actually not his fault in the slightest. It happens to be a curse of sorts that is bound to target the one who had been so foolishly deceived. Now, allow me to tell you the full and completed tale of how the eternal rulers began and fell to ruin. You remember that I mentioned that the eternal ruler of earth fell from grace and there was a completely justifiable reason as to why there is now a law stating that there may only be one female, but it could change thanks to yours all being family."

Taking a seat on her knees in front of Sen, Midoriko began her tale, "When all of the deities were first formed by the gods, all got along perfectly. I was not the first leading maiden of light, so this story has been passed down for quite some time by the leading maiden of light only, considering the fact that the maiden of light is fully incapable of lying. There was a total of five males and two females amongst the very first group of eternal rulers. The leading maiden of light was always destined to be with the eternal ruler of shadows, for there must be a perfect balance of both for the world to work together in harmony. They were happily in love and never took a single day for granted, for their love was strong."

Quietly listening, Sen nodded and his grandmother continued, "The eternal ruler of earth, well, at that time she was referred as the maiden of earth. The longer the eternal rulers worked together and the eternal ruler of earth continued to hear the eternal ruler of light being referred as the LEADING maiden of light, whilst she was merely called "the maiden of earth"... she became sour. However, she was also extremely sour over the leading maiden of light and the, at the time was the true title, leading lord of shadows due to the fact that the maiden of earth had fallen in love with the leading lord of shadows and wished to have him all to herself without caring that she would be making the scales uneven."

Sighing softly, Midoriko could only press on with the story that now fascinated Sen, "The maiden of earth was willing to do whatever was deemed necessary in her books to make the leading lord of shadows fall in love with her instead of the leading maiden of light, so, one day the maiden of earth called upon the leading lord of shadows for a pressing conference and once he arrived, she fed him as many lies about the leading maiden of light. She urged that their leader was currently having an affair with a mortal male. Not even thinking of how the leading maiden of light could tell NO lies, the lord of shadows became furious and the maiden of earth offered her undying love to him... which he foolishly accepted."

Peering in her lap and frowning, all she could do was continue this sad tale, "The moment he made the foolish decision to have intercourse with the maiden of earth, the leading maiden of light immediately found out through their shared link and appeared to confront him. The maiden of earth claimed that she now carried the leading lord of shadows child, which was inevitably true. Angry, the leading lord of shadows extensively questioned his mate and by the end... idiotically called her a liar. Humiliated, the leading maiden of light held counsel with the remaining members of the eternal rulers... whom instantly became furious over the leading lord of shadows and stripped his leading title."

Midoriko paused momentarily before looking into her grandpup's eyes, "The leading maiden of light went into hiding over the shame of her mate abandoning her, only for the other eternal rulers to arrive at where the maiden of earth and the former leading lord of shadows were. The eternal ruler of water was quick to notice that the maiden of earth's soul was deluded and twisted, while the ruler of shadow's soul held a dark gray coloration - the color of manipulation. A war was quick to begin between the lord of flames, wind, water, and lightning; while the lord of shadows and maiden of earth battled by themselves. This battle took so long that it left a scar on the very earth that had once been reality."

"It took a great amount of time due to the sheer and raw might that the lord of shadows held as a whole, but the four other came out victorious. As the maiden of earth laid on the ground dying and crying, she pleaded for the others to save her life... and they agreed. However, they did not actually heal her... they CURSED the maiden of earth and she had her title stripped away from her once the four others explained to the leading maiden of light. Agreeing with them, the leading maiden of light stripped her title before the eternal ruler of flames placed an extremely unfavorable cursed her and explained that she will never find rest, nor redemption in all of her many lives to come as a mortal..." she explained.

Frowning slightly, she began finishing up her tale, "They all figured that they would finally be done with her, but the lord of shadows began to shout many ill-tempered words towards the four eternal rulers that had planned on showing him mercy. However, they were then shocked that the former maiden of earth placed a curse on him. He would not become a mortal as she was, but he would forever be drawn to her like a moth to the flame. She then laughed hysterically, even though she was currently held by the chains of hell and exclaimed through hysteria that one day she would free herself from the curse by placing her soul within the leading maiden of light's body. However, she refused to explain how to break the curse."

Now at the climax of the story being told, Midoriko's frown deepened sadly, "There have been many generations of eternal rulers... I was the previous leading maiden of light and your mother's father was the leading lord of shadows, only for the inevitable to come... and he left me. This was why Kagome and her twin sister, Kikyo, were born in secrecy... I was so ashamed that I could not even keep my mate by my side to help raise our daughters that I, too, went into hiding for a period of time. Thus far, the curse still works against the leading lord of shadows and no matter how many times the former maiden of earth is to die and resurrect, he will be drawn to her without fail."

Sen now appeared mortified at this tale... but his anger began to create sparks, making Midoriko blink rapidly until her grandpup spoke, "I think I have a pretty good idea as to how this curse has to be broken." This intrigued the obviously deceased Celestial grandmother as she asked, "What do you believe must be done, my grandpup?" Sen then hummed softly to find a correct way of wording this, but being just like his mother, he spoke pretty blunt, "Well, it might sound foolish to someone as wise as you are, grandmother, but I believe that father's love for mother must be so strong that he does not have the time to turn his head away from that very same love. In other words, he must put her before himself."

---

Groaning and sitting up four hours later, Kagome could only glare at the sun for even existing in the first place, which only proved to make InuTaisho chuckle deeply before teasing, "The sun never did anything to you, so I see no plausible reason for you to be glaring at it the way you currently are, my dear." The angelic lass immediately gained an annoyed face before huffing dramatically, "Um, excuse me? Yes, the sun DID do something to me! It woke up! It has NO DAMN RIGHT to be shining it's rays of satanic JOY in my face!" Raising his brows in amusement, all the puppy could do was burst into laughter as he picked the nude angel up to throw her into the bath, causing her to squeak in complete shock.

Surfacing and scowling, the soaked beauty began to bark out, "INUTAISHO, THERE WAS NO NEED TO THROW ME INTO THE BATH!" Oh, the pretty puppy could SMELL the white tiger daiyokai pressing his head against the wall to listen to every word that they now spoke, making him walk towards the sassy Celestial maiden and getting into the bath as well before squishing her to his chest, "Hm... do you think that I should get an earring as well?" That just about had her gaining a dry face until picturing a massive fluffy puppy with an earring, which only proved to make Kagome's eyes sparkle, "Oh my GOSH, you'd look ADORABLE with an earring!" He hadn't expected that answer, but it made him smile tenderly.

He was willing to do just about anything for her so that she would never frown again. He watched those sparkling sky blue orbs suddenly snap to his tails before groaning, "TOGA! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT KEEPING YOUR TAILS CLEAN!?" He was just about to argue with her until she smiled gently and sat on the ledge of the bath to begin washing his tails until they looked brand new. As he washed his body, he began to blink adorably the moment he had an angel's arms wrapped around his torso to tug him back. Shifting his golden gaze back, he watched her face as she began to wash his long and silky silver locks with much love and care... only to grin as she dumped freezing water over his head to rinse him.

With his teeth now chattering, InuTaisho then barked out, "Why in the HELL did you do that!?" Giggling and holding him close, she took in a deep breath of his intoxicating pretty puppy scent before mumbling words that erased any trace of his anger all together, "Because... I love you..." Turning around in her hold and lifting her into his arms, he began to scrub her to be squeaky clean while speaking softly, "I love you too..." Cupping her hand around her ear, she then teased him relentlessly, "Huh? What was that?" Scowling and blushing heavily, the daiyokai ended up yelling so loud, she thought that she could feel her bones rattling inside of her body, "DON'T PLAY DUMB! I SAID THAT I LOVE YOU TOO!"

Kagome's split tails instantly rushed to coil around him joyously, which only caused her to stumble forward and accidentally trip him before the two came crashing down so that she laid on his masterfully sculpted abdomen with a heavy blush. The fall alone was enough to rinse all traces of soap off of her body, but now the two stared deeply into one another's eyes. However, all good things come at far too great of a price and their door slammed open, which only proved to scare the living life out of the angel as Shinto to walk forward, "The morning meal is about to start. Hurry up." The great dog demon's patience was so thin at this point for this KITTEN that he wanted to rip his damn hair out, "Get OUT, you FOOL!"

All the angel could do was burst into a chipper fit of giggles as she somehow persuaded her tails to release the ruler of the west, only to turn around and splash the kitten with a decent amount of water. InuTaisho had NEVER witnessed Shinto spazz out to this extent, considering he darted out of the room and away from the evil water pretty damn quick. Grabbing a towel to begin drying her hair and body, the angel brushed her long locks before walking to her attire to pull out a dress that resembled the first day there, but there were some differences that she found extremely favorable in her sky blue orbs. InuTaisho had to praise Shinto on these new style of dresses, for it fit her character perfectly.

With it comprising of a white sleeveless leotard that adorned golden embroidery and showed majority of her back in a "v" cutout, while also holding a collared neck; it also held a sparkly white ankle length tail that faded to gold at the bottom and held a scattering of diamonds in the shapes of angel wings and halos. Her legs held no actual shoes, but it did have thigh-high white leggings that showed her heels and toes while embroidered in gold and holding more sets of diamonds in the form of angel wings and halos. A white ribbon that faded to gold at the bottom held her hair in a high ponytail, but the final touch came from InuTaisho once he handed her a box that held two silver bangles studded with a few diamonds.

Once InuTaisho was dressed and he opened the door while holding his arm out to her, she smiled brightly and rushed to him. Making it to the dining hall, everyone marveled at the way her eyes sparkled brilliantly and couldn't help but appreciate at how she was dressed so beautifully. Making it to the table, Kagome smiled brightly as she offered him his seat, but squeaked the moment he yanked her along for the ride and spoke tenderly, "You are dressed far too beautiful to merely be standing behind me so that I cannot witness you in the slightest." NO ONE argued with the lord of the west and another seat was brought out for her and placed beside InuTaisho... but he kept hold of her and made her blush furiously.

Samui witnessed the angel getting to sit at the table and snorted softly, considering the fact that SHE, the next lady of the south, was not allowed to sit beside her future mate. This was the SECOND damn time that this had happened for the angelic lass. First, it happened with Shinto... and now, with InuTaisho. She noticed that this daiyokai was treating this Celestial maiden like a treasured mate... and NOT just some bodyguard. No, he was doting on her to the extreme and had to wonder as to what had happened to make the lord of the western domains so loving towards her, while Shinto seemed as if he were extremely upset over this entire ordeal even transpiring at this point.

With the daily festivities explained, all were then asked as to who had a mate, and who did not. As perusal, only those who did NOT have a mate were permitted to join these festivities, but the others were more than welcome to watch. As the meal concluded, the great dog demon helped the angelic lass stand before taking her hand and leading her out with a soft and tender smile, "So, you believe that I will know your card?" Chuckling, she then nodded, "Yeah, of course I do!" Noticing something in particular that would be needed later, the angel rushed over and bought it, only to hide it before buying them both the alcohol that InuTaisho loved and handed it to him as they continued their march to the festivities.

He loved how happy and beautiful her smile was and never wanted such joy to fade ever again. So distracted by her smile, he had forgotten to even drink the ale and didn't notice that they had arrived with the two now separated. He only snapped out of it when he heard someone clear their throat softly and speak, "Lord InuTaisho?" Quickly writing something down on the small piece of dyed blue parchment, he then folded it and held onto it to hand it to the people running the show. The moment he peered up, he witnessed those damn calculating eyes of hers after she had placed her pink parchment into the skirt of her dress. She planned for this time to go her way and hoped the message came across clear once read aloud.

Kagome peered next to her and realized that once again... Samui was her partner in crime. Oh, how did she get so "LUCKY"? Turn after turn was going and Kagome frowned each time she witnessed a female crying over the male that had picked their door... and it wasn't the man that they loved. Once it was her turn and Samui's turn, both had blindfolds placed on and were switched around quite a bit before she handed her piece of parchment over, only for a woman to open it and become rather baffled at what was written. Clearing her throat, she then sounded confused as she spoke, "This young lady writes only one thing. It reads... He already knows." Right then, InuTaisho knew that, THAT was her.

Samui's message came out so mixed up and jumbled that not even InuTaisho knew as to whom this could possibly be. The young lady then pointed to... Shinto, "Alright! Which door do you choose?" Shinto's icy orbs peered over at InuTaisho and smirked as he toyed with his earring that held Kagome's portrait inside before pointing right at the angel's door. Kagome had her hands clasped together to pray... and once both doors opened... Kagome bolted while swiping frustrated tears away from her face. She ran until her legs felt like jelly and she dropped to the ground to begin sobbing hysterically. Even once the sun began to fall along with her spirit, she cried and cried until her orbs became dull and lifeless.

She had no damn idea as to how long she had actually been sitting there once she heard frantic yelling, "KAGOME!? DAMN YOUR HARD HEAD, WHERE ARE YOU!?" Her face hurt, she looked like a damn mess, and more than anything... her heart was broken. Hearing a heavy released breath, the dummy ruler of the west finally found her and rushed to her before snatching her up in his arms to breakdown and begin sobbing against her chest. Startled, Kagome peered up at him silently with a frown until he shouted, "I WASN'T THE ONE WHO WENT FIRST! I KNEW IT WAS YOU THE MOMENT I HEARD WHAT WAS SPOKEN!" At that moment, her eyes widened... but were quick to dull before wiping his tears away tenderly.

Hearing him scoff, he then lifted her bridal style and chuckled softly as he began to make his way back to the castle... which was now a few hours away, "I do love how you believe that I will allow you to spend two days with him. That's not going to happen. Not now, not ever." She could only nod at him and place her face against his chest, "Okay..." Snickering at her as they walked, he then peered down, "How about we skip tomorrow. The lake at the castle is far more deep and to be honest, I'm not in the mood to swim." That made her laugh, considering the fact that she knew he had just straight up lied to her face. Well, she didn't suppose she minded this time due to the circumstances.

"Ah yes, we are going to sleep in my dearest," he purred out in her ear, making her blush heavily. Finally making it back right before the shops closed up, Kagome took him to a particular stand and sat him down at the chair as she spoke, "Yes, only the left ear." InuTaisho had no damn idea what was going on until he felt a needle piercing his ear. Kagome instructed for them to leave the small needle in for a moment and healed the skin around it as she pulled out that box she had hidden earlier in the day before opening it to show a dangling earring with a diamond shaped crystal that was the same color at his eyes and once the needle was removed, Kagome placed it in his ear with a smile, "You look so handsome!"

Snickering at her, he then winked playfully, "So THAT'S what you bought earlier and hid it before I could see it! So, you think it looks that good?" Now walking back to their room, she then peered at him to notice that earring made his eyes really stand out. Nodding her head, she reached up and gently toyed with it, "Mhm, it makes your eyes look even prettier." Passing the kitten's room and hearing those interesting noises that sounded like a dying animal, along with the horrid stench, InuTaisho almost instantly gagged, "Oh SHIT that's a NASTY smell! However, you always smell delicious..." Oh man, this puppy was wanting some quality playtime... and she was DOWN, "Well then, maybe my puppy deserves a treat."

---

As foretold, the two slept in the next day and cuddled to their hearts contempt. InuTaisho was NOT willing to share this pretty little angel with the ruler of the southern domains in the slightest, especially not after she had said the ONE thing that he had longed to hear coming from her lips. No, it was not going to happen. Not now, not ever. He had never done too well with sharing... and if he hadn't changed by now, he highly doubted that part of him was ever going to change - ESPECIALLY not with a FELINE. Shinto might be his closest friend, but a race or breed meant little to nothing in the long haul when it came to the aspect of sharing the woman that he had bought for a hefty price to keep the peace.

He knew that sounded EXTREMELY bad, he REALLY understood that little factor... but it wasn't something that he could deny. He HAD bought her, but he had also fallen in love with his beloved purchased product in the form of an angel. He was also well aware that if she had ever heard him talking as if she were something that could simply be purchased, it would also give her the strong belief that she was also something that could easily be replaced by a new shiny toy, which most definitely was not the case in the slightest. Not to mention the dire hard fact that she would probably kick his ass to hell and back before turning her back on him for good - which was completely unacceptable in his eyes.

As he sat beside an open window, the great dog demon peered down to see the Celestial maiden completely asleep against his abdomen. Smiling at her peaceful face, InuTaisho merely leaned his back against the wall behind him while threading his fingers through her long locks. Feeling her shifting a bit, he peered down to see those magical appearing sky blue orbs crack open tiredly before yawning and pressing closer to him as she spoke softly, "Toga...? You're up awfully early... would you not agree...?" Chuckling softly at her as he continued to stroke her long locks lovingly, only to give a soft answer, "Mhm... but there is no need for you to be awake just yet. Get some more much needed rest..."

Nodding her head at his gracious suggestion, Kagome cuddled up close to the warmth that his body had to offer her, only for her to quickly fall back asleep. Silently snickering at how fast she has fallen back to sleep, InuTaisho smiled softly at such a sight and carefully lifted her small frame to lie her head against his collar, only for him to immediately feel her body relax against his as she snuggled up to his right tail as his left tail coiled around her body to keep her comfortable and warm. With soft eyes, InuTaisho found that he could not rip his gaze away from how much at peace she currently appeared at this very moment. In simple terms for him... he loved and treasured her with all of his heart and soul.

Time began to pass and he ended up lying back down with a special angel in his arms. With tranquility washing over his very essence, the great dog demon was defeated and he dozed back into a deep state of slumber. His tails were in heaven due to having a certain little lady within their reach once again. In his deep state of slumber, a dream that his tails did NOT find suitable or appealing to be having began playing; which only caused for the two fluffy tails to begin rattling in frustration over the entire ordeal. This only proved to wake the angelic lass before she sat up and began to gently shake him, "InuTaisho... InuTaisho... Guh... TOGA!" Golden orbs flew open and he tiredly sat up, "Hm...?" Oh damn, he was just too cute.

Kagome leaned her head tiredly against his chest and groaned, "Your tails are freaking out again..." Lifting his brow as he placed his back against the wall, the great dog demon merely chuckled softly and tugged her to his chest before speaking in a tender tone, "Forgive me... you can go back to sleep now..." For some reason, each time he fell asleep, he always had dreams that infuriated his tails and woke his little angel up; so he came to the conclusion that he might as well stay up so that she could get some rest. Kagome had basically stayed up the entire night due to his tails, so she was beyond the point of just merely being exhausted. Staring out of the window and beginning to stroke her hair, she was asleep quickly.

Hearing a knock to his door, he eased her body back down to the bed and covered the nude angelic lass up before slipping his hakamas on and walking away. Opening the door topless and his hair free flowing, he gave a few tired blinks and internally groaned as he spoke aloud, "Yes?" This pretty kitty did not look too happy over what had transpired the day prior as he spoke, "Where is Kagome?" Gaining an "ah" face, InuTaisho opened the door fully to show the nude angel that was currently asleep and appeared as if her stomach was twisting and churning uncomfortably. Peering at the ruler of the west in an almost suspicious manner, Shinto then lifted a single dainty white brow, "What's wrong with her?"

Sighing, he then ran a single hand through his hair, "She got up this morning to wake me for the morning meal, but once she woke me I noticed as to how pale she appeared and asked her if she was alright. All she explained to me was that she was feeling quite ill. So, I made the executive decision to have light meals made for her and sent to our room so that she could get plenty of rest." Well, that was partially true. He had asked the servants of the castle to have all of their meals delivered straight to their room. Leaning his shoulder against the frame of the door, InuTaisho frowned as if being completely sincere once he spoke, "I will wake her if you honestly wish me to, but if it can be avoided... I'd rather let her rest."

It honestly did appear as if the angelic lass was incredibly sick as of now, but in all honesty... she was simply uncomfortable due to the fact that InuTaisho's tails were no longer there to keep her cozy and give her comfort by holding one as a fluffy teddy bear, which it definitely had no issues with. Peering his icy blue orbs towards the ruler of the west, Shinto sighed and spoke softly to not disrupt the sleeping angel, "No, that's completely unnecessary. Let her rest." Nodding his head, the great dog demon then closed the door and locked it before releasing a rather dramatic groan with a scrunched up face as he thought to himself, 'Dunce, Kagome doesn't get sick... and if she did, she'd neutralize it rather quickly.'

Walking back to the angelic lass and removing his hakamas, InuTaisho sat with his back against the wall and eased the Celestial maiden back into his hold. Watching her scrunched up facial expression relax, he hummed softly to keep her in that deep state of sleep as his tails rushed back to her and one was tenderly held onto, whilst the other covered her with all its glorious fluff. Just as he was about to doze off again, the door knocked again and he could smell that it was the white tiger ruler of the southern domains again. He was so damn tired and this feline would not let him sleep in the slightest. Ignoring that knock was possibly the worst thing he could have done, because those knocks quickly turned into bangs.

The banging on the door shocked the sleeping angel so badly that she shot up so that she now sat up with bloodshot orbs. Now that Kagome was sitting up, InuTaisho stood and yanked his hakamas back on before walking to the door. The moment his tails reluctantly released the Celestial maiden, her face gained that appearance that she was sick once again. Unlocking and opening the door, Shinto noticed Kagome sitting up and looking as if she had just been beaten to hell and back before InuTaisho tapped a single claw against his forearm impatiently and almost growled at the southern ruler until he spoke out in an agitated tone of voice, "Your banging scared her awake. What do you need now?"

Looking guilty over waking the angel, the pretty little kitty's ears flattened against his skull, "S-Sorry... I didn't mean to wake her, for they were not my intentions. I just forgot that I had a new attire made for her and needed to bring it over." Handing the box over, the great dog demon nodded and took the box, "Well, I am sure that she will love it. If that is all, then I am going to tend to her." Glancing towards InuTaisho's left ear, Shinto's jaw began to clench tightly over the fact that the dummy of a ruler now had one of his ear pierced in the same manner that he did, but it just so happened to be on the opposing ear that his piercing laid dormant and the dangling crystal was golden to help his eyes really stand out.

"Why..." the feline growled out angrily, making the canine daiyokai blink rapidly before speaking, "Why, what?" Turning away to hide his tears while clenching his hands tightly, Shinto then mumbled out, "Why does she love a traitor like you so damn much..." That shocked the hell out of the lord of the west, but he replied, "Give me a moment to get her back to sleep and then we can take a walk." Nodding his head, the door closed and InuTaisho walked to the angelic being, only to kneel down and stroke her hair while speaking in a soft tone, "You can go back to sleep Kagome..." Kagome merely leaned against his bare chest and shook her head gently while mumbling in an exhausted tone, "Not without you..."

Golden orbs softened immensely at the statement before speaking tenderly, "Come now Kagome, you are no pup. Would you like one of my kimonos?" Shaking her head, all he could do was blow his bangs up. However, his tails did not seem to want to part with her either, considering the fact that they wrapped around her tiny appearing frame stubbornly. Kagome smiled softly against his bare chest and chuckled out softly, "Toga... don't leave me..." Frowning at her words, he brought his arms up to coil around her fragile looking body before kissing the top of her head, "I'll never leave you again... I just need to take a walk to get some fresh air. I will return as soon as I am done, alright?"

Once the angelic lass nodded at him, she then raised a single hand to tiredly flick his newfound earring, "Okay... then I will take you up on your offer for one of your kimonos..." Chuckling softly as he was released, he then allowed for his arms to drop before standing up to make his way to his wardrobe to pull out two of his kimonos. Placing one on his body, he then walked to the exhausted angel and lightly laced his attire on her. Almost instantly, his scent began to soothe her weary mind over him leaving her for the time being and her eyes quickly began to droop, but spoke one last thing, "Please be... safe..." Hearing her tone trail off to signify her falling back asleep, he then tenderly caught her to place her back in bed.

For the longest time, InuTaisho simply stared at such a peaceful and serene appearing face for what felt like an eternity. The way her long raven locks curtained her body was definitely the picture of pure and untainted innocence and her breathing was soft and even. Suddenly, the ruler of the western domains began to blink rather rapidly the very moment the Celestial maiden curled up into a ball so that her nose was now buried into his attire. Smiling softly, he then knelt down to her tails and lightly stroked them before speaking softly to not wake the angelic lass, "Please keep her warm during my absence. I am unsure as to how long I will be gone, so please do this small task that I ask..."

Kagome's tails almost immediately pressed against his palms as he spoke to them, but once he was finished with what was needed to be said, those sparkling split tails curled around her body and took over InuTaisho's tails tasks. Her sweetie tail took over the role of becoming the fluffy teddy bear, while the rascal tail covered her body to keep her warm. Stroking that silky fur, all he could do was smile and speak tenderly, "Thank you... I'm counting on you both..." Standing after a moment, the lord of the western domains turned around and made his way to the door before pausing at the door to gaze at the Celestial maiden longingly before whispering out, "I'll return once our conversation has ended..."

Walking out of the room and quietly closing the door, InuTaisho peered over to Shinto and chuckled softly, "I apologize for making you wait, Kagome was being quite stubborn and would not go back to sleep." The white tiger lord nodded his head gently at the spoken apology and began to walk with Shinto before speaking, "So, what was your question again?" Shinto turned his head towards the lord of the west before averting his gaze entirely as he spoke, "I don't understand as to why she loves you to the extent that she does. There has been nothing for her, except misery and heartbreak, when it comes to the likes of you. So why... why in the hell does she love you so damn much that she's willing to risk it all!?"

The two walked slowly and InuTaisho silently pondered as to what his answer should actually be until they made it to the field filled to the brim with wildflowers. Taking in a deep breath, the canine frowned deeply as he spoke, "I ask myself the very same question all the time... I mean, I have known for quite some time as to how she truly feels about me and I honestly can't explain why I do the things that I do, nor ask for you to understand it either. When she is around, I feel so much love for her that it oddly... sickens me... it's like a constant state of back and forth. As I said, I can't ask for you to understand as to why I hold such contradictory emotions when it comes to her, but you deserved the explanation."

No, Shinto didn't understand these feelings, nor did he understand his explanation in the slightest, but with it said... he was now royally pissed off, "What in the HELL!? Do you love her, or DON'T you!?" Humming, InuTaisho's eyes began to strain and blur slightly over the topic and initial question. Love... what in the hell actually is this mystery called love? It made him filled to the brim with warmth, but at the same time it brought a great darkness. The more he thought about it, he attempted to piece together as to why the topic of love made him so jealousy, joyous, guilty, sad, scared, and confused. He could think about the subject for centuries and still never come to a clear conclusion over all of the emotions.

Peering down, InuTaisho's lip quivered before speaking, "Of course I love her, but something always blocks and redirects that love all together. As I said, I cannot ask you to understand how I feel in the slightest. I suppose the best way that I can put it is... even when the topic of love surfaces - especially if it comes to my love for Kagome, my mind becomes hazy as if I am stuck in a massive cloud of fog that I cannot escape from. If you ask me about my love for my pups, that haze is no longer present for me to encounter and I can answer with no issues or state of contradictions so to speak of. However, if someone ever brings up that she is with someone else, I become filled with jealousy, rage, guilt, and sorrow."

The white tiger daiyokai lord could see and sense the clear confusion coming from the canine daiyokai lord and could hear the conviction coming from his voice, but this was just ridiculous in his eyes. If you loved someone and held their love in return, that given love was all that should matter to InuTaisho's eyes to begin with. Frowning at the explanation given, Shinto could only scowl slightly, "Kagome once told me that relationships were never something easy. If there wasn't an ounce of work placed in that said love, then it clearly was not worth the trouble to begin with. She also claimed that when two hearts connected, the only thing that the couple should be thinking about was one another and their children."

InuTaisho then nodded in complete and total agreement as he shakily spoke, "N-Normally I would agree with you over such matters. H-However, when it comes to the subject of it being her, my mind can't focus on that given or gained love in the slightest. It confuses me just as much as it is probably confusing you as of now. I WANT to be COMPLETELY devoted to her, but something continuously stops me from doing anything at all to be absolutely sure that the love that I have gained and have also given is never given the chance to unraveled at the seams to fade away from my sight." Now, THAT comment confused Shinto to the extreme. InuTaisho was wanting to be faithful to her... but was completely incapable of doing so.