Chapter Three: Predictable
Edo Period, The Western Territories
For what felt like the thousandth time since unlocking it's mysteries, Kagome flipped through the pages of the Guidebook. It told her everything that she'd ever wanted to learn about the Spirit Detectives, yet nothing as to the information's purpose in her hands or what that meant for her future now that she had it.
A fat three quarters of the booklet was made up of personal files. Most of the mugshot-esque profile pictures she recognized—a grimacing Yusuke, Hiei refusing to look at the camera, a smug looking Kazuma and Botan laughing at an unseen joke among them. Some were new faces—Spirit Detectives long since retired or labeled deceased and others that have strongly influenced the Detectives' timeline, allies and enemies alike. Towards the back there was a variety of seemingly unrelated things including an illustrated diagram of the Spirit Realm's Waystation, maps of the Demon Realm from different time periods showing drastic changes in territory distributions, and a recipe labeled 'King Yama's favorite stew.'
On the very last page there was a short and vague note from the Spirit Prince himself that wished her luck in her travels and that he looked forward to meeting her.
Meeting her.
Not 'again,' but for the first time.
It left her with very few hints as to what being the 'Guardian of the Realms' entailed. That was okay, she didn't exactly have a 'Guardian of the Shikon Jewel' guidebook and things things had turned out... adequate.
She'd try harder not to shatter the realms like she had the Jewel. Other than that all she could do was take it one day at a time and figure it out along the way. She was going to ask Koenma about it in person when she was able to travel to the Spirit Realm, which meant that her one of her tasks was learning to control that portal.
But that advanced ability was going to have to wait until she had the perfected the basics, at least.
At some point the pages had stopped fluttering by and the priestess found herself holding the packet open to where Kyoto's kindest demon redhead smiled politely up from his profile's main portrait. Of all the confidential files that she'd read through, his had peeked her interest the most—held her attention captive.
Because he was a Fox.
Kurama had been a criminal, just like Shizume had said—a notorious Kitsune thief that had made quite the name for himself long before the separation of the Demon Realm. He'd been hunted and forced to take refuge in the body of a human fetus when his own was beyond healing. Everything had clicked into place when she read that. It explained why he had a human mother and what Yusuke had meant when he told them she'd taken away Kurama's choice by killing his human body. The priestess had destroyed his mortal flesh and unlocked the beast hidden within.
"She'd unknowingly made the choice that I had been too weak to make on my own. For that, I owe Kagome more than she may ever fully realize."
The guilt and pain from injuring Kurama that she had worked up and worried raw that month with the Spirit Detectives washed away like a retreating tide. Her power flux had inadvertently helped him. It helped him to release his true self and form—a form that she'd yet to see in person.
On the next page there were stills from live footage of a tournament that had been mentioned several times within the files. There was a thin veil of smoke and the angle was a bit weird, but she could still make out tall, alert fox ears, long, pin-straight silver hair, and the toned slope of bare shoulders.
Kagome slammed the booklet shut when her cheeks turned red and she glanced sheepishly at where Sesshoumaru stood staring off the cliff at the starry night sky in his odd nightly ritual. Her skin tingled, but she had no other option but to ignore it.
Sango was more than willing to help her combat the urges, but with her arms full with two fussy infants occupying her hours and Sesshoumaru carting her across the countryside for days on end, the physical contact that she received was well below the threshold of what Kagome probably should have been getting. The demoness recognized the symptoms and treaded cautiously. In villages she would casually brush the hands of merchants when exchanging money or stranger's arms in a crowd, but the culture of the Feudal era was so reserved that accidental shin contact was nearly impossible without seeming a tramp.
It was a trepidatious waiting game to see when she would lose control of herself.
The Dog demon peered at her from over his creamy pelt, his eyes narrow and nose upturned in annoyance. Kagome took that as her cue to take a walk. She packed the Guidebook back into her satchel.
Out there in the field, she may as well have been alone.
══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════
"Attack me."
Kagome shifted her bow from one hand to the other and eyed the Inu Youkai as he walked away from her and into the rugged clearing ahead of them.
"I thought you weren't going to train me."
"This is not training." He explained before turning to face her. His stance was casual, his face uninterested—just as he looked before almost every battle she'd seen him fight. "This is self study. I am simply the target."
The two demons were taking a short reprieve from their usual schedule of information gathering. The Western Lands were no longer under Sesshoumaru's control, with no demon subjects to maintain his station. But he wasn't willing to accept his human replacement to be left up to chance. So they meddled.
He would have Kagome disguise herself as a human and infiltrate village meetings or gatherings to round up whatever gossip that she could on the feuding human lords. Occasionally Shippo or Rin would join her under Glamours, but more often they stayed behind with Sesshoumaru, Jaken or at Kaede's village, since the jobs tended to be long and boring.
"Self study." The Kitsune repeated skeptically. "Right."
Not wanting to disappoint him, she calmly knocked an arrow and loosed it towards him, knowing full well that he was more than capable of dodging it.
True to it's mark, the flaming pink projectile careened towards his chest—the man's largest target—and was centimeters from making contact with his black leather armor when he caught it from the air. The purity enveloped his arm and sparks rained when his aura clashed with the power. The demoness smelt the all too familiar stench of singed flesh when he dropped it to the ground.
She was frozen in a shocked silence for several long heartbeats while he inspected his burned palm in mute fascination. Such a small pocket of her Miko powers wasn't nearly enough to kill him, but she bet it still hurt like hell.
"What the heck was that!" She snapped when he closed his fist. There was no blood, the burn was completely cauterized. "Are you crazy?"
Was the self study for her, or for him?
"Again." he said as if Kagome hadn't spoken.
"No way!"
The younger Sesshoumaru wasn't yet immune to her purity like he would be in the future and the priestess couldn't read him—his emotionless mask was as impenetrable as ever—so there was no telling what his motives were. But if he was going to be stupid like that and play around with hazardous materials like a child in a fireplace, she wasn't going to play his games.
"Again."
The second time it came out as a demand, not a request. To accentuate the ice in his voice, the demon Lord pulled Tokijin from his sash. The blade glinted in the light and fit solidly in his grip as an extension of his arm. His very lean, very capable, very deadly arm.
Okay... Maybe she would play a bit. But only that one time would she give into his threats.
Kagome lowered her stance as she'd done countless times in practice and flew another arrow. It was quick to be sliced in two, it's power dispersed to nothing.
In a drastic change of urgency, Sesshoumaru's bitter aura snapped it's teeth at her toes, forcing her to push back with her own and try harder. One after another her arrows were deflected and destroyed by the graceful dance of his sword. The vixen felt just the opposite as she twisted and spun to chase his ever moving silks. She swore that his feet barely even touched the ground.
The more frustrated she became, the less she thought about form, and the less she thought about it the lighter her own movements became until she was nearly following him step for step. Without even realizing it, her demonic power began to entwine with the pink of her purity, bleaching her arrows with a purple sheened white light that hurt to look at. Each release sent out a wave of compression through the air.
The fear of hurting him wasn't there like it was with all of the others. It was Sesshoumaru. The guy was practically invincible.
She could let herself be free.
"Just stay still, won't you!" The demoness bit out as her last arrow plunged into the sturdy branch of the tree he'd used used to shift directions. Sinews of bark curled around the shaft.
When Kagome reached back to pluck yet another finely feathered projectile, her hand was met with an empty quiver. Incredulity made her miss a step. The skilled Lord took full advantage of the opening and the young woman was forced to jump back to avoid the swing. Compared to his bouts with Inuyasha, the arc of his blade was wide and a bit too slow; he was going easy on her.
She watched him wearily as he placed the sheathless sword back at his waistband and straightened his shoulders. He peered down the length of his nose at her. Kagome recognized it as an expectant look.
Relaxing her guard, she gripped her knees and took a deep breath. The brilliant glow of the bow had begun to fade, but her demonic power still pulsed giddily within her veins. It soaked her every nerve ending and sent endorphins to her brain.
It was a rush! She flexed her hand to study the feeling.
"When I don't focus on it, when I focus on you and not the bow, it comes easily." She shared her findings.
When Kagome looked back up, the arrow lodged in the tree caught the corner of her eye. It pulsed with power like a growing reservoir.
The energy hadn't dissipated, dispersing harmlessly into the atmosphere as it did when the Dog demon dismembered the arrows. It still existed within the wood, feeding off of the tree. Somehow she could sense that it was still a part of her; like the weaves of her glamours there was a wisp of a thread attached to it.
"So, I need to act on feeling if I actually want to learn anything..."
The Kitsune wondered what would happen if she pulled on that thread.
Just a little tug—
The power erupted like a bomb. It shot out in a loud, blinding flourish.
Sesshoumaru was fast enough to brace himself and block the brunt of the force with his own crackling energy, but the shock sent Kagome flying backwards with a startled shriek. When she skidded to a stop, her heels had left grooves in the dirt and she was laughing.
"The look on your face!" She exclaimed with glee. Her jeans were frayed at the knee and hem and the once white button-down was beyond repair. Her hair was sporting a few new split ends and she could feel the thing of minor burns on her skin, but it had been worth it. "I caught you off guard!"
The older demon glared back at her. His face and normally pristine whites sported smudges of black soot. With the back of his hand the demon wiped a spot from his left cheek and took a step towards her.
"Again."
Kagome balked. "Again!? But I'm out of arrows!"
In a real fight, her opponent would have taken advantage of her unarmed state.
So, naturally, Sesshoumaru charged forward, his claws raised and glowing. It forced the priestess to shield herself with a barrier. The bow sparked to life with power, but she wasn't sure what good it was going to do her without anything to shoot from it.
Somehow, 'self study' had evolved into 'training' real fast.
═══════════════ 犬夜叉 X 幽遊白書 ═══════════════
Jaken paced fitfully between the dense pine trees, unsure which way he should go. Left would take him back to the camp, which would have been the obvious choice to flee towards and he'd be discovered in no time. But right lead to a steep embankment that he doubted his ability to scurry up.
Oh! Why, oh why couldn't it have been just him and his Lord Sesshoumaru again? Those days were just so peaceful! Taking in the human girl had been tolerable to a point. But Foxes!?
Foxes had a terrible knack for causing all sorts of mischief and mayhem!
Not a single day passed without the Imp being set off into a frenzy. If it wasn't one thing it was another. The last time it had been bees—brought into camp by Shippo, proudly flaunting their candy filled hive. It'd taken threehours to get all of the stingers out of those children and another four ridding himself and Ah-Un! The spoils of the war hadn't nearly been as delicious as the Miko wench claimed them to be upon her and his Lord's return.
Jaken didn't even like honey.
Blueberries were a far sweeter and safer endeavor.
His heart stopped when the diminutive demon heard a rustle and a pile of snow fell from one of the evergreen branches. He spun around, holding the worn handle of the Staff of Two Heads out in front of him defensively, scouring for signs of life. The ground had already been disturbed by their settlement, so looking for fresh footsteps was futile. The cold made his sense of smell all but useless and his hearing was nowhere near as sharp as a canine's.
A curse slipped through Jaken's clenched beak.
Silence stretched on for what felt like endless, excruciating hours as the snowflakes accumulated on his small black cap.
Something wrapped it's claws around his leg.
From the depths of his chest a blood curdling scream flooded his lungs. He gasped for air, unable to see the surface. Jaken fell to the ice on the ground, his staff rolled just out of reach. He swatted blindly at the invisible demon.
"Ah!" He squawked and screamed. "Ah! Release me, you cur!"
His assailant giggled.
"Tag." Said the little fox, holding a magic leaf away from his forehead as he settled into a butterfly squat on his babysitter's chest. "You're 'It,' Jaken!"
The Imp discarded Shippo into the snow and got to his feet, grumbling complaints while brushing off his robes.
He was getting too old for such shenanigans.
════════════════ With Reason ═════════════════
There were hundreds of humans milling around the square and not a single one of them looked twice in her direction. She was just a little human girl out with her older sister to get a glimpse of one of the traveling Daimyou just like the rest of them.
It was fun playing human with Kagome's Glamour. Right then, Rin had black hair cropped tight to her ears, brown eyes that were much darker than her original milk chocolates, and tanned skin to give the appearance of a girl that worked long hours in the sun. She wore her plainest rose kimono—something that Sesshoumaru would have never even considered getting for her without Kagome's suggestion.
The Miko by her side had her black hair tied up in a tight bun with severely straight bangs cut just above her brows. She was equally bronzed and the inhuman blue glow of her eyes made the brown illusion glitter with flecks of green at the right angle. To highlight her age and availability, she wore a pale furisode decorated with navy squares and a bright orange obi—the most expensive thing the farmer's daughter would own to try and catch the eye of a Lord or high ranking soldier.
She hoped to attract the attention of someone who might know the details of Ieyasu's next move.
"Can we get Takoyaki while we're here?" Rin asked. The rich smells of grilled and fried octopus hung over the city center like a delicious smog.
After scoping their surroundings, the older demoness said, "Sure, that sounds good!" Before guiding them through the bustling crowd to an alleyway between the ostentatious buildings of the city. "There should be vendors this way, and we'll be closer to the Lords when they arrive at the estate for the council meeting."
The alley wasn't dark or in an out of the way district, so several others had also taken the shortcut to avoid the commotion in the streets. They passed a collection of merchants and foot soldiers, huddled in a circle gambling for a pile of bronze coins and a jug of sweet smelling alcohol. A heavyset man on his lunch break sat on the back steps of a restaurant. Most of them politely avoided looking at the two girls, but a few brazen eyes follow their movements.
They stared in the way man did with women, not monsters.
Their group never hid their true identities back home in Kaede's village. But as the time passed, some of the villagers started to forget that the two demonesses had ever been born and raised mortal. They'd started to fear them. The change when they were in disguise was awkward, but not unpleasant.
When the two Youkai passed a cross-alley between the backs of four buildings, someone whistled in their direction.
Rin found the source of the catcall easily.
Two young men dressed in Samurai finery swaggered down the perpendicular path, their long hair bound tight at the crowns or their heads. The shorter of the two wasn't much older than herself, fourteen at most. His clothes were slightly less impressive than his senior and the hilt of the sword at his hip had the frayed wrappings of a hand-me-down in need of attention.
A new recruit to the way of the sword.
"Look at this!" The older man enthused and crossed his arms. He stepped out in front of them, forcing the girls to stop. "It's not safe for young ladies to wander off alone. Is it, Ryousuke?" The Samurai feigned concern and nudged his companion in the shoulder with his elbow.
Glancing up at his mentor, the feminine faced boy gave a half cocked grin. He moved closer to Kagome—they were the same height.
"You should accompany us tonight." With a flourish of his sleeve Ryousuke placed his hand at his obi sash in a caricature of causality, just above the solitary blade. "We're Samurai under the noble Ukita Hideie. You can trust us to keep you safe from those prowling vultures."
The gamblers that had been staring at the encounter turned back to their game scolded, shamed and unwilling to risk their necks for a couple of farm girls.
"Your little sister can join too..." Kagome made to protest, but the elder of the men wrapped his arm around her shoulder and rubbed the pad of his thumb against her jaw. "I'm sure we can make it worth your while." The words came out a husky purr.
Rin saw the Kitsune stiffen; she could nearly feel the breath leaving her chest in a shudder.
The pup's eyes widened with realization: those men weren't actually concerned about their well being. What they wanted... She turned scarlet.
"Oh, I think you spooked the little rice louse." The Samurai teased the boy. "But that's fine. They're cuter that way."
"Kagome?" The little girl snaked her small fingers around her caretaker's arm. "We should leave."
The priestess looked at her with a start, breaking free from the spell that the touch had placed her under. Her normally calm and beautiful pink aura spiked with a sudden flare of demonic power. The spiritually blind and blissfully ignorant men didn't see the glow fighting for control under those masquerading brown eyes.
"Rin."
Horror danced on the tip of the Dog demoness' little nose.
Rin tugged on the Kitsune's sleeve in an attempt to free her from the stronger grasp of the adult male. "Excuse me." She said in a firm, unapologetic voice and leveled them with a cold stare. "We have somewhere that we need to be."
The Samurai turned his annoyed focus on her. "You shouldn't speak for your older sister like that. I think she wants to stay!"
Kagome pushed away from the both of them with ease but found her back pressed against a wall for support. Her breathing was clipped too short, her eyes hazy and unfocused. Concern filled Rin. Something was very wrong. She was about to call out for help when the older demoness grabbed her shoulder and squeezed.
"Rin. Run."
The grip was too tight.
"But, Kagom—"
The rise of raw power cut her off. It was still trapped beneath the Fox's skin, but even the Inu child, as untrained as she was, could sense the extent of it. A tsunami loomed behind a crumbling foundation.
Her heart leapt into her throat and Rin swore that she could taste blood.
She could. She'd bitten open her lip.
"Run!"
Rin Ran.
The younger boy screamed after her, but she'd already passed the tense collection of ruffians guarding their spoils. Nobody moved to stop or help her. Nobody even looked twice at the little human girl running away from a couple of lecherous traveling Samurai.
Because nobody could feel what she did.
Nobody except Sesshoumaru.
Her face mashed into white silks when the demon Lord appeared in her path, abruptly and from seemingly nowhere. A woman beside them clamored at the ethereal sight of his silver hair and pointed ears. The crowd around them began to panic and flee; ants in a disturbed mound. Her paternal figure didn't look down at her, his eyes were fiercely trained towards the direction she'd left. Fixated on Kagome's boiling power.
Sesshoumaru rested his large hand on her head and idly brushed the short black hair of the Glamour. Any fear that she'd felt up to that moment left her in a rush of calm.
Nothing could hurt them.
Lord Sesshoumaru was there.
"Rin." The intensity in his voice reassured her further. "Return to camp."
"Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru."
A moment later he was less than a ghost on the wind.
Rin didn't hesitate before starting off in the direction if the forest, where the others would be waiting for her in the safety of the camp. She weaved and ducked through the chaos of the confused and frightened tourists. She'd almost made it out of the throng of the city center when a toddler's cry stopped her in her tracks.
He'd fallen to the ground in the frenzy. People didn't even look down when they stepped over his tiny body. A few heavy booted feet left bruises on his delicate baby skin. Those shrieks hurt her heart just as much as they hurt her ears.
But she was given the order to get to camp.
It wasn't even a decision. With a cry of frustration, the pup spun around and raced to the helpless child. She couldn't just ignore him.
She wasn't a monster.
Just as Rin pulled the terrified little boy into her arms, ready to seek out his mother quickly with her nose so that she could continue following's Lord Sesshoumaru's order, every hair on her body prickled. It was the same electric power that she'd felt within Kagome, only stronger. Unrestrained. Bile rose in her throat as she looked towards the west just in time to see a glowing ball of golden light fly up into the sky, taking the unruly energy with it.
Rin barely registered the sound of the toddler screaming in her eardrum or the feel of his strong little grip digging into the flesh of her neck.
The orb of Sesshoumaru's Youki exploded outwards in the air above them all.
═════════════ Inuyasha X Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════
Kagome's groan came out as a strangled whimper when she shifted.
Her body ached all over; it felt like she'd been in a car accident. But that was impossible, there were no cars in Feudal Japan to crash. The muscles in her limbs were stiff and there was a sharp crescendo of pain in her neck and chest.
Bloody iron was all that she could smell and when she cracked open her crusty eyes the dark of night did little to hide the red.
"Rin!" The priestess instantly regretted her gasp when two broken ribs made their presence known. She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep a cry from escaping.
A low growl sent a vibration through her.
"Keep quiet."
It dawned on Kagome that she was lying against a body. Her hand came into focus, resting on pale skin just below an angry gaping wound and smeared with dried, flaking blood. Movement brought her attention to Shippo, curled up in a ball against her belly. His dirty cream tail flicked, but her outburst hadn't woken him. On the other side of the pile was Rin, tangled up in the sleeve of a burnt and torn haori and huddled close to the body warmth.
They were both covered in brown spots of blood, but to her relief none of it was their own.
All of it belonged to him.
"I think we fell, Sesshoumaru." The Kitsune let her head lay back on his bicep, too drained to protest the proximity. It felt so nice to touch skin again.
"Hn." He grunted, unamused. His head was propped up against the two headed dragon. Jaken was missing, but just because she couldn't make out his smell among the iron, didn't mean that the imp wasn't there somewhere posted guard.
Sesshoumaru had grabbed her just before the power took hold, inadvertently saving the lived of hundreds of innocent humans in the city while shielding Rin. It wouldn't have mattered how hard the Dog tried to block the blast—at that point blank range some damage was inevitable. Kagome looked at the extent of the wound. Even after the untold hours that she'd been unconscious, his entire side and arm was burned. He was torn through from the lower right of his ribs to his left collarbone.
It looked like a gruesome seat-belt.
They really had been in a Feudal car wreck.
"Are you... Does it hurt?"
Now, that was a stupid question. Of course the gaping hole in his chest hurt. He may have been an asshole more often than not and liked to pretend that he felt less than nothing in that heart of stone, but being a demon didn't make him numb to pain. Only more tolerant.
They weren't invincible.
Carefully, Kagome extracted her other arm from underneath her side without disturbing the fox kit. "I can heal it." She warned. "It'll scar if I don't."
His hand shot around from behind her back, binding both of her wrists in his firm grasp before she could touch the mess of flesh. "Leave it." The usual venom didn't stain the words. Instead, Sesshoumaru sounded tired. "It will serve as a reminder. I should not have underestimated your power. Or your stupidity."
"I'm not stupid." She grumbled. Not as stupid as the guy that would rather suffer to prove a point than be healed.
Of course he refused; Kagome had a sour feeling that he would. That scar existed on his chest in the future. She'd felt it with her own hands. It was one of the largest that decorated the older demon's flesh. If he'd accepted her offer that meant that some other being would have been responsible for leaving a different mark in the same place, some terrible beast that threatened Rin for power. Not her. If that had been the case she wouldn't have been stuck to wonder how many more of those wounds had been—would be—her own handiwork.
"Oh?" Kagome finally brought herself to peek at his disheveled face when he scoffed. Sesshoumaru wasn't looking at her, but at the dully glowing sliver of the waning moon perched high in the otherwise starless sky. The corners of his eyes were pinched in discomfort. "What intelligent reason did you have for ignoring the Kitsune instinct for so long?"
"I wasn't ignoring them... Not totally, at least. I was tempering them." Saying it out loud, it sounded more like a half-assed excuse than the truth. "It's been months. I thought I was doing pretty good—"
"Tempering those instincts will take thousands of years to master. That is true for all of the longevous breeds. Until then, I suggest you learn to accept and placate them accordingly. I will not take responsibility if your conscious is devoured by your inner beast."
Well, when he put it that way it sounded way worse than just losing control every once and a while. Could she really lose herself completely? How close had she already flirted with the point of no return?
"It's not like I have many people to turn to back in Edo." The demoness admitted. The people that lived in the village tiptoed when she was near. Some of the men gazed after her in a stew of sinful lust, disgust, and fear. More than a few women watched her like a predator about to steal the souls or eat the hearts of their husbands. "And the villagers are all..."
All what?
Human? Powerless? The train of thought left a bitter taste as she clenched her jaw.
It was odd, how easy it was to slip into that way of thinking when she was so much stronger than those that did nothing to hide their disdain. The concept of 'us' and 'them' had grown a sizable gap since they'd joined forces with Sesshoumaru. Kagome hoped that it was only a consequence of the era and her frustrations with how easily the villagers had turned on someone who had once been their hero and not a sign that she was turning into the type of bully that Inuyasha's half brother had been when they first met.
There was no way that would ever happen. Her life and experiences as a human had been too valuable to ever turn on that race.
But she really would have been stupid if she didn't acknowledge and respect the differences in power if she wanted to keep from hurting anybody.
Kagome chose a neutral word.
"Delicate. Besides, who's to say I won't lose it again and hurt the person that I do... get together with?"
"Then find one strong enough to handle you." He suggested like it was the most obvious answer. Like she could just go down to the hardware store and pick out the right wattage companion.
The priestess held back her own scoff, conscious of her broken rib and followed the maroon stripes on the arm still binding her wrists to distract from the pain. "Yeah, sure. Let me get right on that. There's no open portal to the demon realm, so I can't contact Koga of the others."
That had been eating at her for a while.
There was a ticking clock on Koga's life and no way for her to save him yet. The familiar yearning to control the Jewel's portal tried to spark. She refused to believe that it was a single-use ability. None of her previous attempts had managed to bring the same heat to the dormant stone—not that she was obsessing on the Shikon no Tama, honest, she was focused on learning the basics like a good little student.
Mostly.
She had trouble putting that one on the back-burner.
"—And I can't keep being the third wheel in Sango's relationship. I obviously need more than what they can give me. Miroku might be the strongest human I know, spiritually at least—I'm pretty sure that Sango is the physically stronger of the two right now—but even he wasn't—"
Kagome's ranting froze over solid.
There was still another option that she'd been avoiding.
"You don't..." She tensed, ignoring the sever discomfort that spread through her. In the very depths of her subconscious the vixen checked 'fall from sixty stories' off her bucket list and noted to never try it again.
The air was a thick medicine as she forced a long, stabilizing breath. "You don't mean you. Do you, Lord Sesshoumaru?" The Fox had taken to using the honorific only when she was trying not to step in the Dog's toes. It'd become too awkward referring to him as 'Lord' when they interacted so casually on a daily basis. Eventually he even seemed to stop being so annoyed by the familiarity.
When he didn't reply right away Kagome chuckled and corrected herself. "No, that'd be ridiculous."
"Would it?" She could practically hear the raised eyebrow in the intonation. "I already use you for my own gains."
He was using her?
The vixen gaped up at him, lips parted in confusion until she remembered something that the future Sesshoumaru had told her.
"To deny yourself passion is like denying a Dog battle."
"Those sparing matches." She whisper-yelled. "You've been feeding your fighting instinct this whole time."
He shrugged it off "The opportunity was there to take advantage of. I took it." For the first time the demon Lord looked down to meet her wide eyes. The wild amber of his irises glowed, but the look wasn't particularly intense. Granted, it wasn't gentle either. It weighed her. "Will you?"
Kagome didn't fight the grin that pulled her lips tight.
"Rin is safe when I'm subdued, right?" His attention drifted to the child that clung to his armless sleeve in her sleep and that time his eyes really did soften. In the long months that She'd been traveling with his rag-tag pack, the priestess had only seen him drop his guard like that a handful of times. It always stole her breath. "You're so predictable."
She didn't leave him any time to reply to that.
"So what exactly are you suggesting? This... trade agreement? I'll keep sparring with you and you'll let me... I mean..." The Kitsune wondered if the blood that was undoubtedly on her face disguised the flush of her cheeks. Her teeth clicked shut. She was desperate to turn away but unable to move. "You'll allow this." She said at last.
"Until when?"
"Until our needs are otherwise met."
"I don't know if I'm ready to date anyone, especially not you—not that you're not a great guy or anything. You're just really head-strong, and that's a bit much to handle all at once. I mean, in your own way—"
His grip on her wrists tightened. Kagome winced when he pulled her arms up to get a better look at her flustered face. She met his scrutiny with the strongest gaze that she could manage in that state. The Fox and the Hound both worn and weary from their dance with death.
"Do not misunderstand." The Inu said in a bored tone, but a spark in his eyes belied his amusement. "I have no intentions to take you as my mate."
She couldn't help her relieved laugh, breathy and low. "I'm not worried about that." So they were on the same page. "Strictly business, then."
No strings attached.
As fer as she knew, the future Sesshoumaru had never taken a mate. But that didn't mean that his existence was destined to be lonely. It seemed that she fit in there, somehow. Even if it was only a temporary arrangement.
"Do you mind if..." Kagome hesitated before realizing how silly it was for her to be anything but straightforward at that point in their conversation. "Could you let go? My arms are going numb."
He released her wrists but didn't remove his arm. Instead he let it drape to rest on his abdomen, trapping her. Not that she was in the position to leave, anyway. The priestess strained her stiff neck to make sure that he caught the grateful smile on her face and in her eyes. She let her fingers lay delicately against his arm, the touch ironed her nerves with it's influence on her Kitsune oxytocin levels. "I really appreciate the offer, Lord Sesshoumaru."
The dog looked away smoothly to stare off to the moon like a space-cadet, seemingly unfazed. But Kagome had seen the discomfort that tugged at his lips before it was smothered by his icy mask of indifference.
So. It was genuine gratitude that made him uneasy, was it?
The mischievous older fox accepted the challenge of making him squirm before she turned her head and pressed her nose against his bicep, close to his scent, as Shippo often did when he was too thankful for words.
Instead of the stiffening that she'd expected, his chest rumbled once more with a deep, rich tone. Too low for human hearing, but the vibrating baritone of a brass instrument to her animalistic ears.
it's approval felt reassuring.
══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════
"I don't want him to hurt you, Kagome. It's Lord Sesshoumaru. You're the one who used to say that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. You shouldn't get attached." The ex-demon slayer said as she handed the second toddler to the demoness.
"It's not like that at all, Sango. You worry to much." Kagome took the gibbering Matsuko and seated her on her thigh opposite Tsuru, the quieter of the fraternal twins. The Kitsune twirled one of Tsuru's downy ringlets around her pinkie finger. It was so thin compared to her sister's wheat-straight hair. "I know he's using me, he told me himself. But I'm using him just as much." She pressed the heads of the toddlers together so that all four of their ears were covered and they couldn't overhear what she was about to say next. They giggled and chortled like it was the funniest game. "We're not even having sex."
Miroku looked over the back of the tall chestnut mare he was reigning to the wagon. Bluntness was nothing new for Kagome, but the direct subject matter was. The Kitsune had the idea that if she spoke more openly about her private affairs, then she would eventually be desensitized by the embarrassment it brought her.
She was a Fox after all, and it was no secret that Foxes were carnal beings.
The Priestess cleared her throat and continued, eyes fixed on the horse's hooves instead of the rock of a woman looming before her. "I'm not saying it won't come to that. If it does, I won't fool myself into believing that he'll fall in love with me. I'm not a hopeless romantic teenager anymore."
Sango softened a fraction. She tried to make her voice sound sympathetic, but her disdain for the Western Lord was an underlying ghost pepper. "It's not that I don't trust your judgment, Kagome. I don't trust him. He's too unpredictable."
Was he, though?
He seemed more predictable than ever. At least, to Kagome. She was beginning to see through his bravado and posturing more and more as she walked by his side as a member of his pseudo-pack. He certainly wasn't a gentle being, but he wasn't the devil of a bastard that Inuyasha had made him out to be, either. Kagome hoped that her human sister-figure would come to see past his temporary abandonment of Rin, something that he silently regretted.
Miroku stepped behind his wife and wound his arm around to rest on her stomach, his lips brushed against her ear. She blushed, but didn't make to push him away. Public displays of affection were fairly taboo in that Era, but they were close enough with Kagome and the future culture that rubbed off from her that it wasn't even something they thought about anymore.
"And you never will trust him, my dear." The Monk spoke breezily. "He rubs you the wrong way and you'll never get over it. It's further proof that he is evil incarnate and undeserving of our darling Rin and lovely Kagome."
She huffed. "You bet your ass he's undeserving." Her sternness continued when she addressed her Miko friend. "If you are comfortable with the arrangement, Kagome, and you don't feel threatened in any way, I will respect your decisions. But so help me, if he makes you feel anything less than safe and cherished, I will come out of retirement and hunt him down." The words lost fifty pounds when they'd divulged into the gentle teasing voice that she used exclusively with the twins. The mom leaned in to rub noses with Tsuyu and gushed. "Yes, Mama will kill the mean demon and save the day."
The toddler squeaked with delight and replied "Mama!" to the most important word that she recognized.
Sango beamed brighter than a stadium floodlight.
"Mamama." The fierce warrior burbled back, striking fear into the hearts of rogue demons everywhere. Matsuko was too busy balanced on Kagome's lap and grabbing clumsy fists at the tall flicking fox ears to miss the attention.
Kagome laughed and supported the adventitious little one's bottom. "'Cherished' is a stretch. He tolerates me at best." She flinched when the babe tugged a decent collection of black fur from her lobe. "You'll be the first to know if he decided to kill me again. Now you two get going while these two are in such a great mood. If I'm lucky, they won't cry more than a few minutes."
Sango looked skeptical for a moment before standing back up to heft one final traveling bag onto the borrowed wagon. She took a few deep, reassured breaths—she was going to be away from the girls for no more than two days, it wasn't the end of the world—before climbing onto the bench, next to where the old nekomanta was sleeping. The cat slept a lot those days, when she wasn't being chased by tiny feet and prodded by pudgy fingers.
"If you need anything, Miss. Chiyo should be available. She loves the girls. She's still a wet nurse, just in case they won't eat for you. It's just an inventory run, it won't take long." The Taijia said with a warm smile before turning to busy herself by double checking that the tradeable goods in their load were safe and secure. The apothecary was a booming business, but keeping it stocked was a two person job.
Miroku bent down to kiss each of his daughters on the forehead. The priestess didn't bother swatting him away when he included her as one of his girls. "You're nervous." He whispered where his wife could not overhear. He didn't mean about watching the girl's for Sango's first extended trip away. The monk was talking about Sesshoumaru.
"I'm rusty." Kagome admitted.
The once Monk hummed sympathetically. "Take a breath, enjoy yourself and be safe." He said, sharing his wisdom like a true man of the cloth sharing the secrets to a happy life.
"Show him that you're not just any submissive woman willing to fall at his feet. He won't know what to make of you, and you will have the upper hand."
═══════════════ 犬夜叉 X 幽遊白書 ═══════════════
They'd been walking forever.
It had to have been their third day straight, at least, through the week-old battle fields. They only ever stopped to eat and drink. Sometimes not even that! Without Kagome to mediate Sesshoumaru's grueling pace—the cranky Dog didn't understand the meaning of the word rest—or Ah-Un to ride on—Kagome had taken the dragon because of the distance—Shippo had been stuck on the ground as they journeyed to the ends of the blood-soaked, human earth.
He'd been spoiled so much by his adoptive mom. If his paws hurt, she'd carry him. If he yawned, she'd demand to stop for a while and build camp. Kagome had so easily taken to being his full time caregiver once they'd joined Sesshoumaru that he hardly had the time to miss the collaborative efforts of their shard hunting group, the Higurashi household, or the doting of the Spirit Detectives.
The little Kitsune glowered at the back of the pack leader, at the shoulders that he was forbidden from perching on.
Okay, maybe he missed Kurama a teensie bit.
Or a big bit.
Rin was right up there beside the Western Lord, trotting along with her long silver hair swaying back and forth in the breeze like a pendulum. From the back she looked like a perfect miniature version of her father, only without the fur. If they were going to follow Inu Youkai tradition, she would receive that when she came of age. She was even wearing white traveling pants that day, to top off the body-clone look.
It was a little unnerving.
Despite being barely older than him, proportionally, she had more than twice his stamina. The kit was envious and, at times like those when they were going to continue walking for who knew how long, he was even a smidgen bitter.
Distracted, Shippo didn't notice the sharp edge of the discarded battlefield litter until he'd already stepped on it.
A sharp intake of breath, but he wouldn't let himself cry around the Alpha.
Taking the time to check out the blemish on the pad of his paw meant asking Lord Sesshoumaru to stop, and Shippo didn't like needlessly getting that demon's attention when Kagome wasn't around if he could help it. So he continued on with a brave face, favoring the right leg and counting every tree that he saw to keep his mind occupied.
Up ahead of him fifteen paces, the Inu pup paused. Her head tilted up to scent the wind. When she looked back at him the Kitsune straightened like a wooden soldier. Without so much as a word, Rin padded back to him. She flipped her hair over one shoulder, arms crossed behind her back.
Shippo stared open mouthed at her bare neck, aghast.
When he didn't hop on right away, the little girl peered over at him with her piercing bronze eyes. It was really just the color that made them look piercing, they were actually quite concerned.
"You cut your foot, didn't you." It wasn't a question. "I'll carry you."
A sparrow built a nest in his throat. Shippo surreptitiously glanced at Lord Sesshoumaru, who'd stopped to wait for them. The larger Dog demon gave him an assessing one-over before tilting his head skyward and turning away.
Permission.
"O-okay." The Fox stuttered.
Rin was too small for him to ride on her shoulder, but the was the perfect size for a piggyback ride. Her pine tree scent filled his nose when he wrapped his arms around her neck. Stray strands of silver hair tickled his cheek.
She smelled sorta nice up close, he noted with embarrassment. You know, for a Dog.
And for a girl.
Shippo blushed. He was really glad that she couldn't see his face. He was even more glad that the Western Lord had continued ignoring the two of them.
Later, he would apologize for getting her crisp whites dirty. But right then the little boy let himself close his eyes and enjoy the ride.
════════════════ With Reason ═════════════════
"Shoot!"
"Shoot!"
"Shoot!"
After the third chorus, Shippo grinned up at Sesshoumaru. "You lost again, Lord Sesshoumaru. So you gotta get the firewood." The kit was giddy to get out of the chore once more. "You're really bad at Rock, Paper, Scissors."
"You do lose a lot, Lord Sesshoumaru." Rin mentioned, stating the fact like an oddity.
Jaken squawked indecipherably before starting on a rant in defense of his Lord's honor, citing the happenstantial nature of the foolish human game. Meanwhile, the Inu Youkai stared at the closed 'rock' of his fist thoughtfully.
After a brief moment, resigned himself to the task and started into the forest.
"I can help him with the wood." Kagome offered, brushing pine needles from her skirt. She followed after the tall Dog demon, but turned to walk backwards a few paces to address the small ones. "If you kids can help Master Jaken set up camp? I saw some good stones for the pit down by the brook."
Shippo jumped up and pulled Kuwabara's old satchel over his shoulder—they'd already patched one hole that he'd worn through, it probably wouldn't last another year or two. Rin made sure that their meager traveling possessions were tucked close to the two headed dragon.
"Don't get the wet ones, okay?" The pup told the kit as they strolled away. "If they have water in them, they can explode in the fire."
"Seriously!?" He hyped. "Can we try that sometime?"
The imp followed the two diligently.
Deep in the forest it was hot and sticky despite the shade. The last of cicadas cried their trill songs before they too would bed down to hide from the cool of night soon to come.
Five years prior, she would have never considered the Western Lord an ally.
Two years prior, she would have never been okay with being alone with him.
Five months prior, she would never have touched him unless the situation demanded it.
Two weeks prior, she would have never considered kissing him.
Bark dug sharp into her back and the sticks that she had been mindlessly collecting on the walk clattered to the ground. His skin was warm and firm, blemished with the puckered scar; wide and jagged. The pads of her fingers roamed and explored the mountains and valleys of his human form.
When she pushed, he altruistically obliged.
The gentle flutter of her lips left roses on his neck. When he kissed back, pulling the back of her neck closer to him until they had merged into a singular being, she matched his control. Her deceptively delicate leg wrapped around him, holding him in place. There was an appreciative hum between them.
The Miko's aura surged to the surface when he slid his hand slid up her skirt to graze her thigh with gentle claws. Every touch, every movement sent magnesium sparks tingling across the landscape of her skin.
She would have never been so forward prior to her return to the past.
Eyes closed, Kagome broke away to press a closed smile against his hungry lips.
"Why do I get the feeling that you aren't actually bad at Rock, Paper, Scissors?"
She could feel the quirk of his mouth as he smirked.
"You throw very slow. It is easy to predict." The demoness was forced to look up at him when he angled her head up with a curled knuckle. "If there was no benefit in failure, you would be unable to best my strategy."
Her laughter filled the forest as she pushed his towering body away and reclaimed the branches at her feet.
"You need to win more often. They're going to start getting suspicious." She scolded him. "Nobody's that bad at a game of chance."
"You are quite bad at the game."
"I'm just as bad as any normal person should be! It's probability, Sesshoumaru! Not a competition."
The Priestess huffed, pressed her collection of sticks into his chest for him to carry and led them to complete their original task of finding substance for the fire. Sesshoumaru followed her lead without complaint, amused and thoroughly satisfied.
═════════════ Inuyasha X Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════
There were other demons like Sesshoumaru and herself that had stayed behind in the human realm, that have refused to transition to the Demon Realm after the splitting of the worlds for one reason or another. There were very few and as the second year passed, becoming even fewer. Human soldiers and villagers alike went out of their way to destroy any straggling beasts they could get their hands on. They didn't care to hear out the demons' stories or reasons for staying, they cared even less if Hanyou children were involved. All monsters were evil and needed to be eliminated.
Kagome made sure that their group played it safe, she'd even convinced Sesshoumaru to don an occasional human Glamour to avoid unnecessary confrontation. She vowed to help any innocent demons under persecution that they came across. Unfortunately, they were usually far too late to be of any assistance.
So when the lynch-mob screams caught her ear, demanding the demon at the village outskirts be killed, the priestess jumped into action.
The source of the commotion was easy enough to find; dozens of farmers crowded around in a circle with iron hoes and rakes held high, eager to get a piece of the action. "It fell from the sky!" They cried. "The harvest goddess will praise us with a bounty if we kill it!" They justified.
They shoved and pressed to get a rare look at the demon, the likes of which their village probably hadn't seen in a year. Kagome started pushing her way through the farming men as they edged closer, eager to attack. The first blow was thrown, a heavy tool made a dull thud against flesh. A woman's shrill voice screamed out in defiance and pain.
The Glamoured Kitsune broke through the human barrier and froze at what she saw.
A battered Sparrow kneeled panting and bleeding at the center, one brown wing sprawled out around her at the wrong angle. Her other was tucked close to her body, shielding something close. Someone close.
A plume of black feathers gave the small child away.
The red of the mother demoness' normally obsidian irises didn't bode well for anyone there.
So Kagome acted first.
══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════
Chapter Three: End