Chapter 2
By the time Kagome made her way back to her little house on the outskirts of the village the sun was full up. Farmers were already in the fields tending the crops. The smell of smoke and cooking fires filled the air as families woke and started their breakfasts.
Her vision had returned to normal. It had happened sometime during the sunrise. She couldn't pinpoint exactly when. Light was light, it seemed, no matter whose eyes she looked through. Perhaps not as vibrant, perhaps not as vividly clear; but there was no comparison between daylight and the moonlight she had looked through in the night.
She walked slowly, taking in everything around her, watching the peasants begin their day. Morning dew had soaked her shoes but she didn't care. This was the simple life. No matter of disheveled appearance or sleeplessness brought bother to them. The few people she passed by greeted her warmly and with respect, as she did them with smiles and pleasant hellos.
There was still so much she had to do, but Kagome was contented just to live for a time.
"Kagome?" Sango was already awake, hanging laundry out to dry. A baby left no time for sleeping in. "What are you doing up already?"
"Up?" Kagome asked with a little laugh. "I haven't been to bed."
"I see."
There was a suggestive note in the Slayers voice, a playful smile lifting on her lips. Kagome sighed at the sight of it. She shook her head.
"No," she said. "You don't."
It took some time for Kagome to explain what had happened with Inuyasha to Sango, some time more to tell the story again to Miroku. Kagome told them all she knew, all she had spoken to Kaede about. She told them about the transformation, about how it had been her doing, about how Inuyasha had reacted and how he had left.
She didn't tell them about Sesshomaru. She wasn't sure why. She trusted her friends completely. She knew that they would support her no matter what had happened. Perhaps she feared that that they, not having seen what she had seen or felt what she had felt, would be suspicious of him, of his motives, of the words he had spoken, the truth he believed to be. Perhaps she feared that they would not see what he had done, what she had allowed him to do, as a lesson. Perhaps she thought that they would hear her say he had taken her in his arms and kissed her and believed that it was something more. It wasn't. Kagome knew that. So perhaps it was simply that she wanted the memory for herself; untainted, unspoiled by hours of discussion, debate, and distrust.
"So what now?" Sango asked once Kagome had finished. "Will you go after him?"
But Kagome shook her head. "No. Inuyasha will come back when he's ready. And when he does, I'll be here waiting."
Kagome could see the look Sango shared with her husband. They weren't as sure as she was that Inuyasha would return. But that was okay. They didn't know him like she did.
Kagome left her friends then. She went to her little house and got some sleep. When she woke she paid a visit to old Kaede. The elder Miko was curious about her decision.
"I will learn to control it," Kagome told her. "If that is what it takes, I will learn. I will learn everything there is to know about this power. How it is triggered, how far its range, how strong it is. I will learn to draw it out, and I will learn to suppress it. It will not control me anymore."
"And Inuyasha…?" the old woman asked.
"Inuyasha…" He would return, and when he did, "He will make his choice."
Human, Demon, or Hanyou: Inuyasha would decide once and for all what he wanted to be. In her arms he could make a choice. Whatever that choice was Kagome wanted him to know that she supported it, that she could handle it.
Her training began right away. With so much power still fresh in her mind from her encounter with Sesshomaru it was all too easy to slip back into it. She used his strength to temper her own.
Three days passed. Kagome split her time between training in the old Miko's hut and time spent in the care of the people. From spells and sutras to runny noses and broken limbs: she took Kaede's place as the village Miko. She ate her meals with Sango and Miroku and little Keeton. Even Rin joined them once and Kagome got to know the young woman that the little girl had become.
But as night fell she would retire to the little house Inuyasha had built for her. She would build a fire to sit by or to cook a little snack. She would check on her supplies and make sure she had all she needed from the future in medicine and technology. Sometimes she would read. Old manuscripts and scrolls, potion lists and spells, a textbook from the university history department which at times made her laugh harder than any comic, even a fashion magazine she had found stuffed at the bottom of her pack. Sometimes she even listened to music, firing up her little MP3 player and popping in the headphone buds.
When she slept, when she could sleep, she slept alone.
On the fourth day Miroku helped her with her rounds of the village. The Monk was just as practiced as she was in the routine. The villagers knew him just as well for the aid he could give. He smiled and preached and wrote a scroll here and there completely at ease.
"A lovely day, isn't it Lady Kagome," he said at one point.
They were walking the path towards the mill. The turbines had jammed with weeds from the river. The miller had pulled them free and found an egg in the nest. He feared it was evil, hence his distressed missive to town.
The walk was beautiful. The sun was shining. The river gleamed and sparkled in the light. Birds chirped overhead. Fish splashed in the shallows.
"Lovely," Kagome agreed.
"You know," the Monk went on, "I can look after this egg business. Sango can not travel far in her condition. I am afraid poor Kirara has been aching to stretch her legs. Perhaps you would like to take her for a ride?"
Kagome knew where he was going. She shook her head. "I'm not going to look for him. Inuyasha will return when he's ready. Not before."
"And if I were to suggest going myself?" Miroku asked.
"I would tell you not to bother," Kagome replied. "If Inuyasha doesn't want to be found, he won't be. You know better, Miroku."
"Hai, I suppose I do. But you can not blame me for trying. I'm worried about you, Kagome. All that has happened and you have not spoken more of it than when you told us about it all. I worry that you have not given yourself the proper time to grieve."
"And what would I be grieving?" she asked. "I haven't lost anything. If anything, I've gained something. I'm learning to control my powers. I have better focus than I've ever had. The only thing that's missing is Inuyasha, and he will return. I know it."
Miroku nodded slowly, knowing no more could be said on the matter. "As you say, Lady Kagome. I will not question your wishes."
He tilted his head down as if in prayer, and Kagome left him to it. She only got another two steps before she realized that prayer was the last thing on the Monk's mind.
A hand placed firm on her backside squeezed hard.
"Hantai!"
Kagome's squeak of shock was accompanied with her swift revenge. In a fluid motion she pulled her bow from her shoulder and swung it around like a bat. The wood hit the monk upside the head with a solid 'thunk' and dropped him to his knees.
"But My Lady, I could not help myself!"
Kagome rolled her eyes at the Monk's plea. It was far from convincing. The leering grin plastered on his lips didn't help his case either. She couldn't help it: she laughed.
"God, Miroku," she said as she held her hand out to help him back to his feet, "Are you ever going to give that line up?"
Miroku regained his feet and stood proudly tall. "Never!" he exclaimed.
And Kagome laughed again. "Come on, you letch. We have an egg to break."
They walked on, and to his word, Miroku said nothing more about Inuyasha.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Before Kagome knew it a week had passed. Then another. The time went by quickly. She had fallen easily into the routine, kept busy, and for the most part she was content. But then the third week came and went, and with still no sign of Inuyasha she felt the twinge of doubt.
A knock on her door woke her late on the second night of the fourth week. Kagome was on her feet in an instant. All her patience and waiting and finally he had come. She rushed to the door. She didn't' even bother with her robe. She swung it open wearing only a tanktop and panties.
Except there was no Inuyasha to greet her. Kagome stared unbelieving, unable to process what she was seeing.
"Miss Kagome?"
Rin was there. She held a lantern to ward off the shadows. She wore a simple kimono. Her hair was hastily tied up, sloppy in the way Kagome hadn't seen on her since she was a child.
"Rin…?" Kagome asked in confusion. What…?"
Thankfully the girl didn't ask any questions of her own. She got right to the point.
"Talliah has gone into labor," she said. "You are needed, Lady Miko."
"H-hai," Kagome stuttered, but she quickly recovered herself. "Yes, of course. Just give me a moment to dress and I'll be right there."
Talliah and her husband lived in the village proper, making a living tailoring silks for the community. They had a fine home. Kagome had visited several times during the weeks she had spent in this time. She had been expecting the birth soon. As had the mother. Talliah had grown weary of carrying so heavy with child in the heat of the summer sun.
By the time Kagome arrived she found Kaede already had things well in hand. The birthing room had been prepared, the linens clean and white, soft blankets set nearby, hot water by the bedside. Kagome joined her mentor, adding from her own supplies, well out of sight of the mother, a sanitized kit of scissors, blades, needles and thread.
The birth went smoothly. After four hours of contractions before help arrived and another three of hard labor, a tiny miracle arrived. A little girl that Kagome was happy to present to her tearful mother.
For a time Kagome watched the happy mother and her child together. She finished with her duties, making sure both Talliah and her new baby were stable and well out of any danger. But as she washed and dried her hands something about the white cloth she held sparked something of a memory.
Looking back to Talliah – sweat still caking her matted hair to her forehead, the blankets around her still stained with blood, so drained of energy that she shook with the mere effort of sitting upright – the young mother seemed oblivious to all of it. She held her child close and that was all that mattered. Everything she had, everything and more she would give so that this tiny little life could see the world.
Everything…but what if she had more to give? Could she give that as well? Would she?
"Miss Kagome?"
Rin had the uncanny knack of knowing exactly when words were needed and when they were not. One guess as to where she had learned it. She must have seen Kagome's distance, the way she looked at the scene in front of her but was already looking past it. With only two words she had both pulled Kagome from her thoughts and asked what needed to be done.
"Please help Kaede finish up here," Kagome bid her. "I must leave for a while."
"Shall I tell the others?"
It was a loaded question, but Kagome expelled any hope it might have carried.
"I'll only be a day or two," she said. "I'm going to see Shippo."
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
The Kitsune school was nestled in the foothills of the Ou Mountain range, northwest of the Tokyo basin and well before the mountains took the turn to a line true north. Crossing the range on foot would have taken days or weeks, but with Kirara to aid her Kagome made the journey in a little more than four hours.
Northwest until she saw the glittering volcanic lake of the Haruna caldera, then due north, following the turns of the rivers until she reached the inland lake at the foot of Naeba. The tiny settlement there was primitive. Though only a day or so hike to the growing village of Tokamachi, the people of the lake were recluse, set in their ways as they were entrenched in the hills. They dealt little with outsiders. They were weary of them, and not without cause. With the Kitsune school so close, and they none the wiser, they had grown suspicious of everything and everyone.
The training grounds were scattered through the hills. In one form or another, the Kitsune were watching. They allowed the village only because it gave them an endless supply of new subjects for their games. Kagome was counting on the prestige of a Miko drawing out more than a few.
Entering the village on foot, Kirara settled comfortably on her shoulder in her more demure form, Kagome introduced herself as a Traveling Miko. In Feudal Japan it was often seen as a right of passage for young Mikos to journey from shrine to shrine, covering vast territories and bringing her healing hand where and as it was needed.
She was greeted warmly, welcomed into their homes, even given food and lodging. After treating a few minor infections and scrawling a couple of wards and protective charms, Kagome was left to her own affairs for the night.
She made sure her belongings were packed and her weapon at the ready, then she settled herself into a meditative trance and waited.
She did not have to wait long.
A little past midnight strange sounds began to echo through the little room she was staying in. Floorboards creaked, the washbasin clattered, lights began to sway and flicker. There was a moaning sound, a wailing, a poor imitation of a vengeful spirit. Then the light flickered out completely leaving her in darkness.
Kagome watched as one by one the darkness was filled with balls of fiery light. A gaseous blue, they cast a supernatural eeriness on the walls around her. The balls of fire bobbed and swayed. The moaning and wailing grew louder. The creaking and shaking grew more violent. But Kagome paid it no heed. She looked with her second sight and counted one, two, three new presences. If she looked hard enough she could see the way their blazing auras vibrated with laughter at her expense.
They didn't even see it coming.
Sleek and silent like a serpent through water, Kirara tracked her prey in the night. The Kits' magic wouldn't serve them against another fire-beast, and their tricks hadn't fooled the cat in years. Kirara had them herded and trapped in less than a minute. With their backs against a wall Kagome stepped in and sealed them with a binding before they could escape.
"Looks like I caught myself a trio of troublemakers," Kagome said.
"Oh please…please…come on! It was just a joke!"
The Kit's pleading might have been more effective if he hadn't been laughing.
"Yeah! We were just playing with you," a young vixen added.
"Yeah…" the third said between gasps for air. He was laughing so hard he was near to hyperventilating. "Just…playing…"
Kagome rolled her eyes at the trio. Though they really had no reason to fear her – their teachers had to be near at hand to grade the exercise – the laughter was just over the top. Had she wanted to she could have dropped more than a simple sealing sutra on the troublemakers. Had she wanted to she could have put their fire out for good. Yet they laughed as though she had caught them with their hands in the cookie jar instead of trying to play her for a fool.
Beside Kagome, Kirara growled low.
The trio's silence was instant. They froze in their places, standing stark straight, eyes wide and unblinking like a deer caught in oncoming headlights. Something clattered to the floor, a tiny statue that looked like a child in prayer.
Laughter returned, bubbling up then overflowing from the three kits trapped in the sealing bubble. The first doubled over heaving with hiccups of mirth. The female fell to her knees clutching her belly. And the third laughed so hard he actually popped. A puff a smoke later and he was bounding around in the seal like a balloon.
"Alright," Kagome's patience had worn thin. "That's enough!"
Nothing silenced a laughing fool better than a weapon aimed directly at him. Kagome drew her bow and looked down the length of her arrow at the kits. Suddenly it seemed laughter was the last thing on their minds.
"Let's try this again," she said.
"You…you can't do anything to us!" The floating balloon had all sorts of courage as he spoke from the protective cover of his friends' backs.
"Y-yeah!" the first boy thought he should add, "T-this is Kitsune territory!"
"Which is exactly why I'm here," Kagome told them. She was starting to feel a little bad for scaring the kits. The little girl had been startled so badly when she pulled out her bow that she was sniffling quietly, tears running over her puffy little cheeks. But Kagome couldn't let her guard down just yet. "I want you to do something for me. Once you've done it, I will release you all."
The first kit nodded vigorously. "Sure we'll do something for you. Whatever you want."
He was a little too quick to respond, and his little floating friend a little too quick to agree. Classic Kitsune tricks. They would rat her out and turn it all around on her in two shakes of a stick if she would let them. But Kagome had no choice.
"Then we have an agreement," she said. "You, little vixen, you shall go back to your school and find me a Kit. Number 77: Shippo. Once you bring him to me I will let your friends go."
The trio exchanged a look. Kagome didn't like it.
"Break a contract with a Miko and even your teachers won't be able to help you trick your way out of it," she warned them. "I don't want any trouble. I just want Shippo. Just tell him that I am here and he will come. It's that simple. No tricks. No games. Then you three can go back to trying to outdo each other's scores."
With great reluctance, the Kitsune finally agreed.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
"How long are we going to have to wait?"
Kit #1 was lying sprawled on the floor staring up at the barrier above him as he asked the question. Kit #2, finally back in his less bulbous form, had taken to playing with his top, spinning it over and over and over again. He didn't even look up, just spun the top again.
Kagome was pushing the limits of he sanity just trying to keep herself from screaming at the boy to stop fucking spinning the damn thing, not to mention the limits of her powers as she struggled to maintain the focus to keep the barrier up around the two. She hated to admit that she was thinking the exact same thing.
"She's not coming back."
The pessimism of Kit #1 wasn't helping matters any either.
"I mean, Sasha's probably miles away by now. If you're lucky. Or maybe she's gone to one of the level Tens. Then you'd really be in trouble."
Kagome snorted a laugh. What the Kitsune considered a 'level Ten' wouldn't even break her 'level Seven' categorization. Tricks and pranks didn't score nearly as high as the whole fire-throwing ability, and even that had its limitations.
"Just keep your pants on," she told the boy. "It won't be long now."
In fact it had to be soon. Within another hour the sun would begin to rise. By then it would be too late. A Kitsune couldn't just stroll into the village in broad daylight without being noticed. Even if he took a Human form the villagers would be suspicious, too suspicious to lead them straight to a Miko that was being kept in their care.
"Psh. Whatever. You are so going to regret this."
"Not likely."
Kagome tried to relieve some of the pressure that had settled between her shoulders by rolling her head. She hadn't even made a full rotation when she began to feel a familiar presence approaching.
"Kirara," she stirred the little feline from her slumber. "Sit on them for a bit will you?"
Kirara actually licked her chops. It gave the impression that the Firecat was smiling as she morphed herself. In her Sabertooth form Kirara was the size of a black bear. She easily pinned the two mischievous kits beneath her massive paws.
Footsteps echoed down the hall. Kagome faced the door. But when it opened, she found herself looking into a mirror. She stood in the doorway. Her hair, her clothes, even the bow over her shoulder was exactly the same. Every tiny detail, right down to the way she smiled.
Kagome smiled back, because no one could impersonate her like that, no one except…
"Shippo…"
"Hey, Kagome."
There were tears in her eyes as she rushed forward to take her Kit in her arms. She hugged him tightly and close until she felt him begin to squirm the way children do. By the time she released him he had dropped the false façade. He stood before her as the Kitsune that he was.
"You've grown so much," she told him.
"Aww, come on Kagome," he looked away blushing. "Would you cut that out already?"
"But it's true. Look at you. You must have grown almost a foot in this past year."
"Yeah, yeah."
Shippo waved her off. Her little Kit was becoming a little man…well, sort of. Training with the Kitsune school had increased his power greatly, and with it he too was growing. Kagome couldn't have been more proud of him. Still, she let him go, however reluctantly. He had work to do.
"Number 86, Number 92," he addressed the trapped members of the school. "You failed in your assignment, but I've been authorized to give you each two additional points."
Shippo shoed Kirara off the Kits and gave them each their grade papers. The boys took the slips and looked at them in confusion.
"Two points?" 86 asked. "For what?"
"Number 87 completed a contract assigned by a Miko. As part of her group you each receive two points."
"But-ooff!" 92's protest was cut short when 86 elbowed him roughly in the gut.
"Sounds good," 86 put in quickly. "We're out."
And just like that the two little kits scampered out of the room, off to play more tricks and ramp up their high scores.
"You're giving out grades now?" Kagome asked Shippo once they were alone.
He only shrugged. "None of the instructors wanted to come in."
"What, they aren't afraid of little ol' me are they?" Kagome asked with a laugh.
"If they know what's good for them they are."
And Kagome laughed again and wrapped her not-so-little kit in another hug.
"Oh, Shippo, I've missed you so much."
This time he didn't pull away. He snuggled in close with her.
"Me too, Kagome. I'm glad you're here."
But there was a reason she had come. As much as Kagome wanted to spend time with her dear Shippo, there were questions she desperately needed answers for.
"I'm sorry to just barge in here on you like this," she said as she pulled away. "But I need to ask you a few questions."
"Sure. Anything."
"I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable or…if…"
"Kagome, just spit it out would you?"
He got that impatience from Inuyasha. Kagome couldn't help a little smile for it. She got to the point.
"When I touch you, or you me, is there ever…Have I ever hurt you? Because I'm Miko, I mean. Have my powers ever hurt you?"
"Is this a trick question?"
"I'm serious, Shippo. I need to know."
But he only shook his head. "You'd never hurt me, Kagome. I know that. And Kirara," he jerked his chin towards the little feline, "she knows too. You being a Miko doesn't matter to us."
"That's not…" With a sigh Kagome tried again. "When I touch you, what do you feel?"
"Ok, now I'm starting to see the uncomfortable," Shippo said with a weird twist of his head. "I almost don't want to ask, but 'touch me' as in how?"
"Don't be gross," Kagome scolded him. "Here. Give me your hand."
Shippo eyed Kagome's outstretched hand suspiciously for a second, but, with a shrug, he took it.
"What do you feel?" she asked.
"Your hand?"
"Shippo!"
"What?"
He was genuinely confused and Kagome sighed in frustration. The thing was: she felt his hand too. There was no Demon fire or surge of energy when they touched. There was only his hand in hers like it had been a hundred times in their journey together.
"How is it possible?" she asked, as much to herself as to him. "I fry Youkai. They turn to dust when my power hits them. But when I touch you nothing happens. Nothing."
"Well…I wouldn't exactly say nothing," Shippo said, a hopeful lift in his voice.
He might have just been trying to cheer her up, but Kagome had to ask, "What do you mean?"
"Well I don't really think about it much," he said, "But when we first met I had a hard time getting used to being around you. You were so different. But after a while it just became second nature so I didn't have to think about it anymore."
"What do you mean? Think about what?"
"Ummm…" Shippo chewed his bottom lip as he tried to work through his words. "It's kinda like how you always told Inuyasha that you needed your 'space', you know? He'd get right in your face and you'd 'sit' him into the dirt 'cause he was too close."
"I remember." She still did from time to time.
"Well I think it's kinda like that. If I got too close to your space I'd feel it. It didn't hurt or anything, not unless you were all charged up and fighting or something, but for a while I felt it 'cause you were so different from my parents."
"But I did hurt you…when I was fighting?"
"No, no." Shippo shook his head sharply causing flaming red hair to dance around him. "You're not getting it. I know better than to stick around when someone's fighting. I knew it back then. Battle lets the energy out. Normally it's all packed up, like in a bubble or something. When you fight, you turn it on. The bubble breaks and lets it all flow out. I'm just saying that in the beginning I could feel your 'space', where your bubble was, where it touched mine."
Kagome nodded slowly. In the beginning she was so confounded by her powers that everything was new to her. If she had felt Shippo's 'bubble' she might have just thought she was sensing him as the Youkai that he was. Or maybe that was the point he was trying to make.
"I think I understand," she said.
Shippo let out a breath. "Good. For a minute there I thought things were going to get weird."
Kagome made a face at that. "Yeah…I'm not done yet."
"Oh geeze, what now?"
He had rolled his eyes. It reminded Kagome of herself. She laughed.
"Come on, it's not that bad."
"Says you!" Shippo shot back. "I'm the one answering all your weird questions about touching and stuff."
"Yes, but you love me so you'll get over it."
He rolled his eyes again. "Whatever. So what else do you want to know?"
"Okay, let's go with this 'bubble' theory of yours," Kagome started. "If two bubbles were opened together and energy started flowing between them, what would happen?"
"Duh. One goes poof. Sayonara. See you in the afterlife."
"But what if they weren't fighting, per say," Kagome pressed. "What if the energy moved from one to the other?"
"You mean like how Naraku used to suck other Youkai dry of their energy?"
"No…no…Ummm…" Kagome scratched her head trying to think of a delicate way to put it. As much as he had grown, Shippo was still just a child. "What I mean is: What if two people shared their energy? Together, you know?"
"Oh…" Shippo's eyes suddenly drew wide with realization. He leaned closer to her, dropping his voice into a secretive whisper. "You mean like mating?"
Relieved, Kagome let out a breath she had been holding. "Yes. Exactly."
"Well that-"
The door to the room suddenly banged open. Kagome startled, Shippo jumped, and Kirara hissed low, her fur standing up on end.
"Number 77," a booming voice said from a shadowy form in the doorway. "You will report back to the school immediately or face expulsion."
"Expulsion!" Shippo cried. "For what?!"
"For consorting with a Miko. Return now or face the charges."
"But that's-!"
"No Shippo." Kagome wouldn't have her kit's life ruined for her ignorance. "You need to go."
"Kagome…?"
But Kagome shook her head. She would not press this issue, and would not have him do so either.
"Come give me a hug goodbye," she bid him. "We'll see each other again soon enough."
Shippo did as he was told, but he didn't leave her without one more reason to hope.
"Inuyasha's an idiot," he whispered in her ear, "But even he's not that dumb. You should be talking to him, Kagome."
"I wish it was that easy, Shippo," Kagome whispered back as she released him. "But I will," she promised. "I will."
They said their goodbyes, then, just before sunrise, Shippo left with his instructor and Kagome was once again left to her own devices.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
The villagers' hospitality was generous, but though Kagome could have used several more hours of sleep she only allowed herself three. Just enough to keep her mind sharp. By Ten she was up again. She went out into the village and tended to a few who asked for her help but her heart wasn't in it. Her thoughts kept drifting.
Somewhere between biology and mythology her own physiology was trapped. Was she more Human or Magic? Was the Hanyou more Demon or Man? Was it dangerous for them to meet in the middle? Was it possible at all? Could the physical be separated from the metaphysical? Could they love as Mortals do? Should they have to?
'Would you have your children be less because of it?'
How did it all fit together? And why was everyone so determined to keep it a secret?
A little after high noon Kagome knew it was time for her to go. She couldn't help the villagers with her mind so full of tumbling thoughts. She needed to return. With any luck by the time she got back Inuyasha would have returned as well.
Kagome urged Kirara for speed as they took to the skies. Four hours alone with her thoughts as they were and Kagome wasn't certain she would make it back to Endo with her sanity in tact.
She wondered as she asked the Firecat to go faster if she could make it happen. If she could give her own power to the two-tail would it give her strength? Or would it destroy her friend and send them both plummeting to the earth?
So many questions with so few answers.
'If only Inuyasha would come back,' Kagome thought. They could get through this together. They could figure it out. 'Oh, Inuyasha…'
A sudden drop in altitude startled Kagome from her thoughts.
"Kirara?" she asked. "Wha-Ahh!"
Kirara tried to swerve. She tried to miss the massive form swooping down at them. She didn't make it. A hard impact against an even harder scaled body sent Kirara into a tailspin.
Kagome held on as best she could. Her arms and legs wrapped tightly around the Firecat. Her hands grasped fistfuls of fur. She screamed. Sky and earth were moving so rapidly around her that it all began to blur together.
"Come on, Kirara!" Kagome shouted over the howling wind. "Get it together!"
Kirara hissed and spat into the wind. Her power surged beneath Kagome, a flash of Demon fire. She managed to save the spinout. She leveled off, but she was far from out of danger.
Above them, Kagome got her first look at what had taken them out. Huge grasping talons were diving right at them.
"Go left!" Kagome used her body as much as her words to direct Kirara. She leaned hard left, pulling the Firecat on course with her. "Get around that peak!" It had to offer some protection.
Kirara rode hard for the mountain and Kagome chanced another look back. This time she saw more than just its claws.
"Good God," she whispered in horror.
Giant wings of leather were stained blood-red. They beat above a serpent's skin and snakelike body, the razor talons of a falcon, and the Dragon's head.
"It's a Firedrake!"
Kirara mewed, the sound so large in this form it sounded more like a roar. Kagome couldn't have agreed more. The sound of drums echoed off the rock, each beat of the Dragon's wings hammering the earth.
"We've gotta move!" Kagome shouted.
A Drake's talons were the least of their problems.
As if to prove it a hissing sound began to chase them. Kagome didn't dare look back. She pushed Kirara forward, leaning into the wind to keep the drag down. The second they cleared the peak Kagome pitched the cat hard right.
It wasn't a second too soon. Behind them the rock shuddered, the entire mountain groaning in protest. To either side of the peak an eruption of fire spewed out.
The mountain offered them protection from the blast. But it wouldn't last for long. Kagome had to make a quick decision. Landing was impossible. One shot of fire from this Dragon would light an entire forest. They would never escape it. Continuing on their course would bring them into open planes, if they made it that far. The Drake would easily overcome them in the air. Their best bet was to keep hidden, using the mountains for cover as they made their way to water.
North or South? Either would take hours, hours they didn't have. But then Kagome remembered another source of water.
"Shinano…"
The River was close, the longest and largest in all of Japan. It was only ten miles or so to the West. Beyond that the Alps. And beyond them…
"We have to do it, Kirara."
There was no turning West without facing the Drake head-on. Kagome steadied the Firecat in the shadow of the mountain peak. They turned to face it.
Kagome opened her eyes to her senses. She had to track the beast. If it went left she would go right. If it went right…
"Son of a-!"
Kagome pulled Kirara hard to the right and down. The Drake hadn't gone left or right. It had cleared the peak entirely. Its body curved down and over, its talons reached out. They barely escaped its grasp.
Another call too close for comfort. Kagome had no choice. She let loose her tight grip on Kirara and reached for her bow, trusting the cat to keep her aloft. She only had enough time for one shot before the mountain would block her again. She took it.
Her arrow loosed in a stream of shimmering magic. Swift and sure it took its mark.
The Drake reared up and howled its fury. But to Kagome's horror her arrow hadn't done more than strike the beast. Her magic died the instant it touched the Dragon's scales. Only the wood and steel remained. It sliced a path and stuck into the hide of the creature, but it was no more than a tiny splinter to a whale.
Tuning forwards again Kagome leaned down and hugged Kirara close.
"Come on, Kirara," she coaxed her. "We can make it. One peak at a time."
The Drake needed time to turn, but not nearly enough. Kagome and Kirara raced for the next rise. The Firecat swerved and dodged trying to throw the Drake off their trail, but nothing seemed to slow its coming. They barely made it to cover with their skins before another wicked blast of Dragon fire hit.
Kagome tried to slow the beast with more firepower, but over and over her arrows struck nothing but scales. They were loosing ground and far too quickly. Kirara bounded for another peak. The turn North saved them by a hair's length. The Drake overshot its mark and was forced to come about again. Kagome took the opening and nailed the beast twice high in its neck. She didn't wait to see the fallout. There wouldn't be any, she knew that much. But a couple of shots had to slow it at least.
They made it to the next rise and swung back West. Then another after that. For nearly twenty minutes they dodged and weaved their way through the mountains, the Drake never straying far from their tail, until at last the land opened up beneath them.
A sliver of blue shimmered in the sun to the West and Kagome thanked the Gods for it.
"We're almost there," she said breathlessly. Both she and the Firecat were exhausted from the chase. "Just a little further, Kirara. We can make it."
But a roar and a hiss from behind them meant to have it otherwise.
Kagome turned to face it. With nothing but open ground beneath them and the river still too far off there was no way to escape the coming blast. The fire was coming and Kagome had no choice but to fight back.
"Just hold on," she begged her friend to forgive her for what had to be done.
With all the strength she had left Kagome held her bow forward. Not to fire, but to protect. From the ancient wood she projected a barrier outwards. Beneath her Kirara hissed, her body spasming with tremulous fits, but Kagome couldn't let go. She poured more energy into the barrier, forcing it outwards.
The blast hit like a hammer. The recoil shook every bone in Kagome's body. She screamed in anguish. Even with all her might poured into the defensive shield the fire was breaking through. It torched the skin on her hands but still she held tight.
A breath later and it was gone. But the damage it had done remained. Kagome was drained, her hands and arms and face burned.
Kirara fared no better. Her fur had been singed in the hindquarters, but the fire damage was nothing compared to the damage she suffered deeper. Kagome's magic had been too much for the Firecat to bear. Even with it being directed away from her Kirara had been struck. Her form was loosing its stability. She was loosing control in the skies.
The water seemed like it was still miles away. They would never make it. It seemed like all was lost. They were falling and they could do nothing to stop it. The Drake was so close they could hear the beat of its wings again. Soon its talons would take them in its grasp.
But just as the Dragon reached out to take them it was hit with something much larger, much more ferocious, and much, much more deadly.
The Inu must have dived from above. A great leap from the tallest peak in the Alps brought it so high it managed to take the Drake by surprise. A massive form of claws and fangs gripped the Dragon by the head and neck. It ripped and tore past scales and skin.
The Drake screeched and roared. It wings beat madly. Its tail coiled around its captor. Its jaw snapped wide to breathe its fire. But against such a foe the Dragon was loosing fast.
In a terrible ball of writhing fury the dueling pair crashed out of the sky. They hit the earth with a clash of thunder. The last thing Kagome saw before she too hit the ground was the Inu rearing up, the Drake's head clamped firm between its fangs. A fountain of blood spouted from the beast. Its maw opened wide but no sound emerged. A sharp shake of its head and the Inu tore through the last of the Drake. Its head came clean off.
Kirara had done her best to keep Kagome and herself aloft, but the Firecat couldn't bring them down soft. They hit the ground hard, bouncing and rolling in opposite directions.
Kagome moaned miserably as she tried to right herself. She was bruised from head to toe, a long gash of roadrash from the fall burned down from her shoulder, and her bones still ached from her battle with the Drake. But she forced the movement. She forced herself to her feet. Nothing was broken. Nothing was damaged that wouldn't heal. She had to get to her friend.
"Kirara…" she called the little cat's name but got no answer. "Kirara!"
And then she saw her. A tiny little ball of fur all charred and smoking lying curled against the base of a tree. She must have hit it on the landing.
"Kirara!"
Kagome ran to her. She knelt down beside the little cat and brought a trembling hand to touch her back. Beneath her fingers a soft rise and fall still spoke of life.
"Oh thank the Gods," she whispered.
Knowing Kirara was safe Kagome let herself fall back too. She leaned back against the tree and just breathed.
It was over.
A surge of power generated a blinding flash of light but Kagome only blinked lazily through it. Even when it moved towards her at impossible speed she didn't move to meet it. She stayed right were she was, letting the tree hold her up even though all she wanted to do was fall over and curl up next to Kirara. A couple seconds more and the light hit the ground a few feet away. It looked like a comet streaking the sky, but when it hit there was no impact. It simply touched down, soft almost, like a feather kissing the earth. The light shifted and stretched on command. By the time it dimmed it had taken form.
Sesshomaru stepped clear of the transport wave. Despite the bloody battle he was clean and pristine as ever. His eyes locked on Kagome in a deadly glare.
"Miko, explain why it is that you brought a Drake to this Sesshomaru's doorstep."
Kagome almost laughed, but she was so tired no sound came with it. All she managed to do was let out a puff of air.
"Are you telling me that all I had to do was ring the bell?" she asked dryly.
"If it was your intention to draw me out, there are less damaging ways of doing so."
His arrogance was truly remarkable. Like she would really go through so much trouble just to speak with him.
"It was my intention to not get dead." Kagome informed him "We were attacked just past the Kitsune training grounds. We were trying to make it to the water. I guess we fell a little short."
"Apparently, more than a little."
Kagome glared. She and Kirara had almost died and this smug bastard was rubbing it in. But Sesshomaru was so keen in his senses he must have sensed her anger. He managed to flip the switch on it almost as quickly as it had risen.
"Surely you know that even water is a poor deterrent for a Drake in full sight of its prey."
What he wasn't saying was that 'surely' she must have known that she needed something else, something better than anything she had to fight the creature off.
Dragons were notorious for being resistant to magic of all forms. Even her own mystic arrows had barely scratched the surface. That was why their blood and hide were so treasured in the trades. The only thing that stopped them was magic of their own. The Backlash Wave: for example. Past that, if someone wanted to take down a Dragon they needed to rely on sheer brute force.
Kagome tried to hide her shame with a shrug. "You always did like a good fight. Nice work, by the way, ripping the head off that thing. It was quite a sight."
"Hn." Sesshomaru was hardly impressed. "I take it the Hanyou has yet to return."
And just like that Kagome's anger returned full-force. "You know what, forget it. I was trying to pay you a complement, to thank you for your help. But I shouldn't even bother. This was all your fault anyways. I never would have gone looking Shippo if you hadn't gone and screwed with my head in the first place! And FYI, your people are just as committed to this stupid secret as mine are. So thanks but no thanks. We'll be just fine without you."
"Your condition suggests otherwise," he said, blunt as ever. "You reek of blood. You have hardly the energy to sit let alone fight off a predator."
With that Kagome gave up trying to tell Sesshomaru off. It didn't work anyways. The guy wouldn't even bat an eyelash if she threw out every insult in the book. He was here for his own reasons and nothing she could say was going to turn him away.
Sighing, she clunked her head back against the tree.
"What's your point? What, you gonna play knight in shinning armor and whisk this damsel in distress away to your shiny castle?"
"Would such an act prevent you from continuing to be so obstinate?"
Kagome snorted. "Not likely." But then she realized… "You have a castle?"
"Several," he said matter-of-factly. "Though none you are likely to ever see."
"Humph. Figures." Another sigh. "So what now?"
"I would suggest we make our way to the water. You require treatment that would be more effective in such a location."
There was a slight problem with his plan.
"We?" Kagome asked incredulously. "You plan on coming with me?"
"I certainly do not plan on leaving you alone in such a state."
"Reeeally?" Kagome didn't believe him for a second. Oh, he wasn't lying. He just wasn't telling her the truth. "Then I'm sure you wouldn't mind telling me why."
She could almost see him thinking through her question in the few seconds it took him to weigh the options. But in the end the stubborn dog stuck to his guns.
"I would think it rather obvious," he said. "You are injured. The odds are not in your favor if you were to chance the night alone. This Sesshomaru will ensure that your treatment is not interrupted."
Kagome shook her head. "You're impossible. Four years and you think I don't know you better by now? We are not friends, Sesshomaru. As much as I would be happy to say that we were, I know better. You don't give a shit about me. Any help you've ever given me was solely for your own purposes. I was valuable to you as the Miko of the Shikon. I was necessary for the destruction of Naraku. But now…I knew you would kill that Dragon. I knew you wouldn't let it anywhere near your territory. But as for me? You wouldn't still be here if you didn't want something from me. You wouldn't have come to me those weeks ago if you didn't want something to come of you telling me that stupid secret. So what is it? What is so damn important that you would lower yourself to speak to This Miko? What do you want from me?"
Sesshomaru didn't miss a beat in his reply. "Your hypocrisy is staggering, Miko. For all your random acts of kindness bestowed upon strangers, you question now my motives in giving aid to the future mate of my only brother?"
He had her stymied and he knew it. She couldn't question a 'random act of kindness' as he put it, nor could she question the honor behind the idea of helping family. Apparently it wasn't so easy to crack Sesshomaru when he was bent on keeping something secret. It really shouldn't have been much of a surprise.
But then again: If she couldn't beat him, maybe she could turn his act in her favor.
"Fine." Kagome's smile was devilish. "Whatever you say. So I suppose you wouldn't mind helping me up then, would you?"
There was that twitch, the ever-so-slight narrowing of his eyes. He was studying her behind that look, trying to figure out what she was planning and how it would fit into the grand scheme Kagome knew he already had laid out.
"Of course not," was his decided response.
Sesshomaru stepped closer. He even held out a hand for her to take when he came within reach.
"On second thought," Kagome said before she took him up on the offer. "What I think I really need is for someone to carry Kirara. I just don't think I can carry her and walk at the same time. My arm, you know. It got pretty beat up on that landing. I wouldn't be surprised if it was fractured or something." Her lip slid out in a tiny pout that couldn't possibly cover her smile. "Do you think you could carry her for me?"
Kagome was pushing her limits and she knew it, but that was the whole point. She wanted to see how far Sesshomaru would take this ruse. There was a brief moment when she thought perhaps she had already gone too far when Sesshomaru's narrowed look turned into an outright glare, but then it passed, his head tilted ever so slightly, and he replied.
"Certainly."
He reached down and plucked the little Firecat up by her scruff. Kirara mewed pitifully.
"Hey watch it!"
Kagome scrambled up reaching for her friend. Too late she realized she was in no condition to do so. She wobbled on unsteady legs and began to tilt. She would have fallen if Sesshomaru hadn't reached out with his free hand and caught her arm to steady her.
"You are reckless, Miko," he scolded as he settled Kirara on his right shoulder.
As it turned out, the Firecat had no objections at all to being held by the Inu. She snuggled down in the thick layer of fur covering Sesshomaru's shoulder and Kagome swore she heard the little brat purring.
"Yeah, whatever."
Frustrated by yet another failure, Kagome tried to pull her arm free from Sesshomaru's grasp. But he didn't let her go. If anything his grip tightened.
"What now?" Kagome demanded angrily. "I may be only Human, but I'm not a child. I don't need you to hold my hand."
"You may not be a child but you are certainly acting like one." Using his grip on her arm Sesshomaru pulled Kagome even closer. He leaned down until their noses were almost touching. "And F.Y.I," he mimicked slowly and purposefully, "It will take more than a feline to dissuade This Sesshomaru from anything."
Kagome had no reply to that but her anger wouldn't relent. She swore to herself that she would not give in to whatever game Sesshomaru was playing. So, using the only leverage she had, she snubbed him by turning her head and facing away.
"I must say, I much prefer your silence," Sesshomaru said. "Now, will you walk with me, or will I have to carry you like a child as well?"
Kagome had no choice if she wanted to preserve any dignity. She took a step, paused to be sure Sesshomaru would let her take another, then began walking in the direction of the river.
"It must be easy for you to condemn childish behavior," she said as she went. She wished she could have said it without having to lean on Sesshomaru's arm for support, but her condition wouldn't allow it. She was hurting. "You've lived so long. You probably see all Humans as nothing more than children. But if you ever took the time to look you'd see something so different."
"If you say so."
Sesshomaru was placating her, agreeing for the sake of agreement. Kagome knew this. It was all just an extension of his plan, whatever that was. But she could still use it to her advantage. She just needed to be a little more subtle.
"I do say so," she said. "All of our excitability, our tempers, our anger, our frustrations; they're all a product of our short existence. We are driven to live in the little time that we have, to take all that we can from every day. You will live forever. A hundred years, a thousand: what do they mean to you? But to us? We must seize the day, Carpe Diem, or it will pass us by and our lives will have meant nothing. You might see our behavior as reckless, foolish, childish, and maybe you'd be right. But in living one day all-or-nothing more can be accomplished than in an eternity of ambivalence."
On baited breath Kagome watched and waited for Sesshomaru's reply. But too much time passed and he said nothing. His focus didn't move from the path ahead. She sighed and dropped her gaze. She should have known that nothing as simple as words could sway someone so set in their beliefs.
For a time she walked in silence. Progress was slow but steady. Sesshomaru gave her only the support she needed to walk and no more. He didn't rush her. She would have thanked him for that but it just seemed pointless.
Questions buzzed in her ears but she didn't voice them. Sesshomaru probably wouldn't answer anyways, and if he did it would just be another distraction, something true but without enough substance to be useful. Or he would turn it around on her, answer a question with a question, and make her feel stupid or naive to have asked in the first place.
Kagome almost gave up on trying to get anything out of Sesshomaru, or maybe she did and that was why her question, random as random thoughts were, was so easy to ask.
"Where do your clothes go?"
The question was so bizarre and so sudden that Kagome actually caught Sesshomaru look at her in confusion before he righted himself.
"When you transform, I mean," she clarified. "Where do they go? 'Cause, really, there is nothing there when you're all, you know, you. But then you show up all neat and pressed and clean in your clothes. So where do they go?"
"Of all the questions you could possibly ask me, that is what you wish to know?" He actually sounded stunned.
Kagome giggled. "Well, yeah. What? You can't possibly tell me that's some sort of hidden Youkai secret too."
"It is not."
"Well?" Kagome could see he needed a little bit of prompting. "Then what? Do they pack up all neat in some hidden layer of fur? Or do they like magically transport somewhere else and you use super-speed to change back afterwards? Or is it like-"
"Miko." Sesshomaru had heard enough of her outrageous speculations. "The answer to your question is remarkably simple. If you did not rely so heavily on your Human eyes to view the world around you, you would already know."
Kagome wasn't so sure. "Yeah, I think you've done enough messing around with my eyes to last a long time. So how's about you save us both the trouble and just tell me?"
A beat too long for comfort passed and Kagome began to fear she really wasn't going to get her answer. She could see the river now. They were only a few yards from its banks. The ground had started to slope. The grass under her feet was thinning, the lush green becoming interspaced with river-stone from floodwaters.
Just when Kagome thought she really wasn't going to get an answer, Sesshomaru spoke.
"When you look at the river, you see the water. You see it move and flow against the banks. But if you were to open your eyes, see as you were meant to see, you would see the life within it. The fish darting, crustaceans digging in the mud, even tiny insects afloat on the surface: these things are the lifeblood of the river. Its soul, if you will. These things can not exist without the river, and without these things the river has no purpose, no direction, no life. They exist as one, in harmony with one another. You would see this if you would cease looking with Mortal eyes upon it."
"That's…great…" Kagome said slowly. She was confused. Theology and Philosophy were never her strongest subjects. Still, she ventured a guess at his meaning, "So you're saying that the Beast is the river. Your form now is a part of it, living within its power?"
Sesshomaru shook his head and finally looked down to meet her questioning gaze.
"On the contrary," he said. "This form is the river: steady, constant, unchanging. The 'Beast', as you say, is merely an extension of it, always a part of it but kept contained. Looking with your Mortal eyes you see it as something solid and of mass, but if you were to look deeper all you would see is what already exists within this form."
"This form…is your true form?"
It all seemed so backwards. How many times had she heard someone say that a Youkai was revealing their 'true' self with the transformation? So many that Kagome believed it to be true. But Sesshomaru was saying it wasn't so. That all she knew was twisted and wrong.
His humanoid form was his true form. The power within merely a part of what she was seeing now, something to be uncaged should the occasion merit. But even so it did not change the form he possessed, it merely emerged from it.
So her question was silly after all. There was no point in asking where his clothes went, because they didn't go anywhere. They remained, as he did, within the image of the Beast.
With a short nod, Sesshomaru replied, "Precisely."
He said nothing more on the matter. They had reached the river and Sesshomaru led Kagome to a small outcropping that would be suitable for her to tend to her injuries. She followed him without complaint. Her thoughts kept her busy enough. But as he led to her sit on one of the rocks, a thought came to her.
"The bubble…" she said distantly.
"Bubble?"
"Something Shippo said to me," Kagome clarified. "He said that our power is normally contained, all packed up like it was in a bubble. When we fight the bubble breaks and lets it out."
"An imprecise analogy, but not completely without merit."
"Gee thanks." Kagome wasn't impressed by being interrupted, but with a indignant roll of her eyes she got over it. "As I was saying…I never see it. The bubble: I never see it. When I look at you, really look, I see the fire. I can look past it, see the heart of it, the soul maybe, but I don't see the barrier. I can see power flare up. I can see when it expands, when anger or wrath or something else feeds it and makes it grow. And you're right, the heart is always constant. I guess I never really thought about it before now. But the bubble…I think I get what he was saying. It's not something real, something physical: it's more like the control we have over it. It's unconscious, but at all times we keep our power levels in check. Our own version of 'Normal'."
Kagome paused for a moment before she got to the real point. She looked at Sesshomaru, still unsure if she should be thankful to him or hate him for what he had done, for what he was still doing. Mostly though, she felt sad.
"You forced me," she said. "It wasn't your claws I felt against my back. I checked. There were no marks. It was you forcing me to loose control. You used your own power to flood mine with fire. You wanted me to break loose, to loose control over it, to fight. Why? Why did you do it?"
Kagome was surprised when Sesshomaru didn't face her accusations. He turned away from her, focusing his sight on some arbitrary point across the river.
"It was necessary," he said simply.
"Bullshit." Kagome didn't agree. "It is necessary to breathe, to eat, to sleep. It is necessary for me to clean and treat my wounds…But then, I suppose I don't really have to do that either. You could do it, couldn't you? You could do the same thing you did before. You could give me your power, heal me with your Youkai strength."
"I could." He didn't deny it. "I will not."
"Why?"
Sesshomaru didn't answer, but then, Kagome didn't really need him to.
"Because it would make you weak," she said, knowing it was true. "If you gave me your power it would leave you defenseless. That's what you're not saying. That's why the Kitsune were so intent on making me leave before Shippo could tell me anything. They didn't want a Miko to know that there is a time when they are weak."
"What more would you have me say?" Sesshomaru said after a long pause. "It seems you have it all figured out."
"All figured out?" Kagome asked with a laugh of disbelief. "Not even close. But I think I'm starting to see the big picture. 'Power begets power' right? This isn't about me at all, is it? Not really. It's about how power is passed from one generation to the next. Mating. It's about more than just sex, isn't it? More than simple copulation. Something happens to you, something that passes on more than just genes and traits."
"Very astute of you, Miko."
It was the closest thing to a complement Kagome had ever heard coming out of Sesshomaru's mouth. She took it.
"Yeah, well, I did just graduate you know."
He said nothing in response, but that was okay. Kagome didn't need to know anything more. It wasn't too far of a stretch to figure out the 'why' after she had finally gotten to the 'what'. She had been right from the start: Sesshomaru did only see the Power inside of her when he looked at her. But that was okay too, because it wasn't for himself that he was seeing it, but for Inuyasha and the children she may one day have with him.
The thought made her smile to herself as she shrugged off her pack and began digging for her medical supplies. Bandages, disinfectant, some pain meds, and a healthy supply of burn ointment later and she was all set to start.
The river water was cool and soothing against her burnt skin. Kagome was pleasantly surprised to find that her face and arms were only pinked no worse than any sunburn. Her hands were a different story. Her knuckles were blistered so badly they were already peeling. But with no real treatment for burns she just laid a thick paste of ointment over them and moved on.
Her knee had been banged up during the crash, but after a quick wash to remove the blood and grass she found it was nothing a little disinfectant and a bandage or two wouldn't cure up in no time.
She left her arm till last. It was easily the worst. After being thrown from Kirara she had skidded for a few feet with most of her weight on her right shoulder and upper arm. Blood had soaked her blouse. It had even begun running down her arm in thick little rivers of red.
Being right-handed Kagome was left at a little bit of a disadvantage. It wouldn't be impossible to treat on her own, it just wouldn't be nearly as easy. And she wasn't alone now was she.
"Can you help me with this?" she asked Sesshomaru. "I need to cut the sleeve off but…" She made a vague gesture with her left hand. "It'd be a lot easier if you would do it."
It really wasn't too much to ask, and it finally turned Sesshomaru back to her. The whole time while she had been treating her injuries he remained a statue staring out over the water. Kagome tried to tell herself that it was his way of giving her privacy, though she suspected that the reasoning was far less flattering.
"I don't suppose I need to ask if you need scissors?" she said.
It was a joke, albeit a tame one, but it made Kagome smile even if Sesshomaru didn't. She needed all the good humor she had in her to be able to sit through what would come next.
Sesshomaru though wasn't one to fool around. He got right to the task at hand. Using the razor points of his claws he made short work of Kagome's cotton blouse. His cuts were immaculate and precise. Any surgeon would have been proud. Any seamstress for that matter. From the seam just below her ribcage he traced up and around her shoulder. He left the hem at the neckline in tact so that her blouse wouldn't fall apart around her, then he carried the cut back, over her shoulder blade and back down to join the first at the seam.
Kagome watched him closely. Not to see if there would be any error. This was Sesshomaru. There would be none. But just to watch him work. Having him so close, knowing what damage he could inflict with those claws, it should have made her feel apprehensive. It would have before. But things were different now, at least Kagome thoughts so.
A breath before it was time to remove the sleeve Kagome stopped Sesshomaru with a question. She needed a distraction, something to keep her mind off of the pain to come, something to steel her resolve not to scream when it did.
"It does make you think though, doesn't it?" she said.
"What is that?" he asked without looking up.
"About the Black Widow."
The female spider was several times larger than the male, making her that many times stronger. Once her eggs were fertilized she would kill the male if he didn't escape in time. It seemed to Kagome that if a Youkai were to give his power to a mate that he would left in a very similar situation.
Sesshomaru must have seen the similarity as well. He looked up from what he was doing, his gaze critical and suspicious.
But Kagome only smiled. She was no threat to him.
"It may not always be about love," she said. "But it is about trust. I think that's a pretty good place to start, don't you?"
She wasn't just speaking allegorically. As much as the ideal applied to Youkai mating as she was beginning to understand it, it applied to her as well. Her and Sesshomaru. He had trusted her enough to tell her of this secret, risked the stigma of both their peoples to give her the knowledge. More than that, he had trusted her to use this information, to create such a bond with Inuyasha so that should they have children they would be blessed with all they could offer them. And as he had trusted her, she was trusting him now, with her treatment, with her care.
Maybe they weren't friends, but maybe, if they could trust each other enough, one day they could be.
It took only one word, but with only one word Sesshomaru managed to both lift her spirits and dull her pain. One word and he erased the boarders between them as easily as the brush of his hand pulled the cloth from her damaged skin.
"Indeed"
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