Ch7: The pride of a prince is set aside and Inu Yasha gets more than he bargained for.

Inu Yasha had woken up while Kagome was gone. He was a little disoriented but was recovering, his body standing down from alert. His nose was still out of commission and that made him uneasy. Kaede had given him a wet cloth to hold over it to make the swelling go down. He listened as Miroku and Sango filled him in, starring in surprise at the two dogs and the others.

"But, there's no way Kagome is strong enough to carry me and then carry the two dogs out of the well." Inu Yasha said, completely at a loss. "She's not that strong- even Sango, with all her warrior training couldn't do that after being in a fight."

Sango frowned at the hanyou, remembering what she had had to do after she had been severely injured by her brother. The demon exterminator did have to admit though, that without her hardened discipline and will to survive she would never have been able to dig herself out of her own grave. Kagome was untrained, and undisciplined, physically and magically. After having the stuffing knocked out of her, there was no way she should have been able to climb out of the well at all.

Miroku was thinking along the same lines. "But she did and she has gone back for her bag. Tell us Inu Yasha; what happened to Kagome?"

Shippo chimed in. "She said she fell. What did she fall off of?"

Inu Yasha stood, prepared to go search for the girl. "She didn't fall, she got into a fight but I don't know what it was about. I bandaged her wounds but with all the lifting she's done, they've probably reopened."

"Why do you smell so strange?" Shippo asked, sniffing the hanyou. "Kagome said you got into her perfume. What's perfume?"

"Oil used by women to smell good." Kaede answered absently. The old priestess made more tea and quietly listened to the others.

"Yah," Inu Yasha blushed. "I couldn't sleep and got up to find out what I smelled. I'd smelled it earlier when I went over this morning to get Kagome but the scent… has a dulling effect. I found the bottle but it slipped and sprayed me."

"But it shouldn't have had such a reaction," Miroku said, eyebrows raised. "Unless it was really potent."

"Your sensitive nose got you again, huh?" Shippo laughed.

The hanyou grumbled and looked ready to beat the kitsune cub. "You should have stayed in bed with Kagome." Miroku remarked and picked up the tea that Kaede had made him.

"In- in bed with Kagome?!" Inu Yasha gawked. "I haven't been in bed with Kagome!" He was beet red, blushing more than he ever had in his life.

"Recently anyway." Sango added and smirked at him. Inu Yasha growled at her.

Just then, the dogs started barking and the door flap was pulled aside. A slightly glowing Sesshomaru stepped inside, Kagome and all. "That's very interesting, little brother." And the youkai smiled a cruel smile at his sibling. "A very interesting point indeed." He used his tail to set down the huge pack the girl insisted he bring, setting it down in a corner. His arrival had provoked an intense response in all assembled in the small room; the dogs were pulling at their leashes, snapping and barking. Sango and Miroku jumped to their feet, weapons drawn and looking fierce. Inu Yasha growled at his brother, the Tetsusagia drawn and transformed. Only Kaede, the old priestess and Shippo remained seated, though for very different reasons; Kaede sat because there was little to become excited about and Shippo sat because he was just too afraid.

Sesshomaru fully entered the crowded hut, completely nonpulssed by their reaction. "I am not here to harm you, brother." He looked hard at Inu Yasha and the hanyou glared back defiantly.

"Where's Kagome?" Inu Yasha demanded and saw her feet wrapped around his waist, her ankles locked. "What did you do to her?"

"I, Sesshomaru, have done nothing to your mate. As a gesture of good will, I rescued her from the youkai lurking in the forest and brought her here."

"What happened to your face?" Sango asked as she looked him over.

"Your mate is extremely strong willed, Inu Yasha. Even exhausted she managed to inflict some damage to me." He showed the mark of her blow to the light and held out his hand which was still bleeding sluggishly.

"You keep saying 'mate' when you refer to Lady Kagome," Miroku stated. "What do you mean?" The monk looked at Inu Yasha and frowned.

"He's spouting nonsense!" Inu Yasha snarled. "Put Kagome down and prepare to die!"

The dog youkai frowned at his younger brother, flexing his claws in reflex. It would be an understatement to say that Sesshomaru was a little annoyed with his brother's denseness. He growled and the two dogs charged forward, trying to attack Sesshomaru. Seeing that chaos was about to erupt Kaede, not surprisingly, became the voice of authority. She took control of the youngsters in the room, ordering Inu Yasha, Miroku, and Sango to stand down but to keep weapons within reach. She merely glared at any who opposed her, her power flaring and being felt by all. The message was clear; sit down and shut up or face her wrath. She offered Sesshomaru a seat and after a resigned sigh, the youkai sat down in a corner not far from the door. He kept everyone in view and sat forward enough so he didn't crush Kagome against the wall; wouldn't do to start things by inadvertently killing the very person that may get the youkai lord any leverage.

"Let Kagome go!" Inu Yasha snarled angrily. The fact that they were just sitting there was not helping him calm down. The dogs kept snapping and growling in their vain attempt to aid Kagome. Sesshomaru sat there and met Inu Yasha's angry eyes.

"I will let her go when I am able but I cannot do so now." The youkai ground out between clenched teeth. He held up his still bleeding hand, letting the blood drip onto the ground.

"That… should have healed by now." Shippo said from his perch on Kaede's shoulder.

"If it should have healed, then why hasn't it?" Sango asked, keeping a watchful eye the youkai in the corner. She had her bone boomerang within reach and made no move to hide the fact. The demon slayer was concerned about Kagome as much as anyone else but since Sesshomaru had made it clear that he was not here to harm them and had carried Kagome and her bag to the hut, she was willing to cut him some slack. Some but not all; there was no proof that Kagome's unconscious state wasn't due to Sesshomaru himself.

"Where's Jaken?" Miroku asked. He kept expecting the little toad youkai to leap out at any moment.

"Let Kagome go!" Inu Yasha drew Tetsusagia. He was tired of his brother's games and was ready to pound Sesshomaru into oblivion. He watched his brother sigh and visibly restrain himself from the desire to smack Inu Yasha. In a second, Sesshomaru's face was back to its stoic expression. The dogs began barking again.

"Quiet!" Sesshomaru ordered, talking directly to the two canines. Surprisingly, the two lay down and stopped barking loudly, though they did still woof unhappily at him. "I cannot put Kagome down because she has managed to tap into my power." He held up his hand, the blood flow still steady. Kaede handed him a strip of cloth and he pressed it against the bite.

"Tapped into your power?" The old priestess queried sharply. "But that's not possible unless…" She trailed off, looking at the glowing, unhappy dog youkai and the still hidden girl asleep on his back. Only Kagome's hands and legs were visible from this angle but from the calm expressions on Sango and Miroku's expressions and attitudes, the woman was sure Kagome was fine and in the same shape she had shown up in as before. It was very interesting that Kagome had managed to tap into a youkai's power, especially one as powerful as Inu Yasha's brother; in fact it was almost impossible.

"Your mate, Inu Yasha, has pulled off a great achievement and is using my healing power to heal her body." Sesshomaru's anger was visible in that moment as a frightening expression. "If I did not wish to talk to you civilly, I would have killed her on the spot!"

"Kagome what?" The hanyou backtracked a few words, their meaning and mention in the entire conversation finally sinking in to his angry mind. "Mate? Kagome is not my mate!"

"The pups aren't yours then?" Sesshomaru asked, quietly delighting in his younger brother's misery. Behind him, he felt Kagome shift, laying her head fully against his back, her hands tightening in their loose grip around his neck. She wasn't chocking him and made no move to hurt him- she was just getting comfortable and that irked the youkai even more. As the rest of her settled against him, Sesshomaru felt her like a warm line of heat, felt her draw away when her tummy touched his spine. What got his attention was the feeling in his head, a mental shifting that rested in the back of his mind. The presence wasn't malicious and was not skirting through his thoughts; it just lay quiet, not seeming to know where it was.

"Pups?" Shippo exclaimed, and his voice was joined by others.

"Pups? Inu Yasha, what have you done to Kagome?" Sango roared, staring at the hanyou in shock.

"Inu Yasha..!" Miroku hissed and turned toward the hanyou, flames in his eyes and staff in the air.

"What! I haven't done anything!" Inu Yasha exclaimed, eyeing the two in fear of his life.

Kaede remained silent but her face showed her surprise. Shippo jumped up and savaged Inu Yasha's ear, narrowly avoiding Miroku's staff as the monk brought it down on the hanyou's head. Though she had left her bone boomerang on the floor, Sango was still ready to pick it up and slug Inu Yasha with it.

Sesshomaru watched the humans with mild amusement and felt the presence in his mind stir. Aware, the mental signature was warm but groggy. It was so much like its owner that having Kagome in his head was overkill with her sleeping against his back. She did not rifle through his memories, keeping her inadvertent invasion as inconspicuous as possible, but Sesshomaru already knew she was there and began setting up barriers to shove her out. The two were linked in dreams and when Kagome had bitten him, swallowing some of his blood, she had reinforced the link; now she could barrow power from the youkai in the physical realm. A human that had the power to do that was dangerous indeed and should be killed on sight- Sesshomaru was showing great restraint by letting her live.

Kagome's power flared slightly and Sesshomaru was taken by surprise by the mental illumination it created. Her power met his and instead of the two fighting, they mingle; combining into something else, something warm and pleasant. The effect would be temporary- Sesshomaru had not taken any blood from Kagome- and that saved her life and everyone else's. About to ask what she was doing, or thought she was doing, Sesshomaru was distracted by Inu Yasha's yelling. When Sesshomaru's attention shifted, Kagome's did as well, focusing on the aggravated hanyou and listening to what he was saying through Sesshomaru's senses.

"I did not have sex with Kagome!" Inu Yasha roared, rubbing the lumps on his head. "I don't see Kagome in that way. She is not my mate and she is not pregnant!"

Sesshomaru blinked at this, mentally noting that Inu Yasha did indeed 'see' Kagome in that way.

"I put up with her because she can see the shards. We never have and never will have sex, now stop beating on me!" He snarled at the humans, growling loud enough to make Shippo cower behind Kaede. He looked ready to storm out the door until he remembered that Sesshomaru was still there.

Said youkai looked silently at the angry hanyou, letting his face betray nothing. Behind that mask however, Sesshomaru did inquire about Kagome's opinion. He got feelings, emotions, for part of the answer. Kagome was sad, depressed, broken hearted; Sesshomaru could almost hear the crack for the last. The other part of the answer was said in a flat, detached 'voice;' a mental projection that did nothing to sway Sesshomaru's reaction. If those are his thoughts then he is entitled to them. I have no authority to tell him otherwise. The warmth faded and Kagome's presence in his mind curled up, making its self as small as possible. The youkai felt an unexpected pang of pity for the girl and, oddly, hot anger towards his brother.

He flashed on the adventure with the dream mesh, feeling Kagome's surprise that he could remember anything while he was awake. Inu Yasha didn't remember, did he? He asked quietly.

No, he didn't remember anything. I only remember snatches of it when I'm awake; when I'm dreaming I remember it in full. I asked Taomaru about it but he didn't know why. Emotions accompanied her response: confusion, sadness, disappointment. Kagome's vibrant personality swamped Sesshomaru until he had to close his eyes and take a moment to remember whose emotions were whose.

You have been talking to Taomaru all this while. Good. It is part of the reason I am here and putting up with Inu Yasha's temper tantrums. He felt her curiosity pique in an effort to displace her feelings toward the hanyou, silently asking what was going on. Sesshomaru felt uncomfortable; he couldn't hide what he was feeling from her and the fact that she was in his head did not help matters. Lady Kagome, he began formally because by dog demon standards she was almost his sister-in-law. I need your help to protect the Western Lands. Images of the beauty he guarded flashed between the two; magnificent waterfalls, crystal pools, emerald forests, etc. Scenes of villages from all over, both youkai and human, dotted the landscapes intermittently. The image of a castle popped up several times, sometimes with the figure of Rin playing in its halls, sometimes with the figures of a man and two different women who Kagome did not know.

To protect them, to protect those who live in your lands, you swallowed your pride and came to ask for help. Kagome was extremely impressed with him- and honored in a way, that he had come to get her help and Inu Yasha's. Before Sesshomaru could stifle it, a mental blush colored his thoughts. Even if Inu Yasha refuses, I'll help anyway I can. It's the least I can do… and she faded out, the faint glow that marked her presence dimming until it was non-existent. Sesshomaru could still feel her in his head but not as strongly as he had a few seconds before. The link between them was enough that he knew Kagome was asleep again- completely- and alerted him when she began dreaming. The youkai took down some of his mental barriers and allowed her peaceful thoughts flow over him. He sighed, relaxing, and accidentally fell asleep.

 It was Shippo who realized that Sesshomaru was napping first. While Sango, Miroku and Inu Yasha argued and fought, the kitsune cub crept closer to the dog youkai while Kaede watched. "Sesshomaru?" he whispered softly. "Sesshomaru?" he got no response, the elder youkai simply continued to sleep sitting up. His tail twitched and curled around his waist, insulating himself and Kagome at the same time. Shippo froze and then continued to move forward along Sesshomaru's side. The kitsune made it to his target, hoping onto Kagome's shoulder. He called her name quietly and felt her pulse. She was still glowing softly, almost completely hidden by Sesshomaru's form.

Shippo tried to pull Kagome away and couldn't. Sesshomaru did not react and neither did Kagome but there was something holding the two together. He hopped down into the narrow space between the two, settling down next to her stomach. Shippo rested his small hands against Kagome's tummy, putting his ear nearby. Kagome mumbled and shifted away from him. Undeterred, Shippo resumed his position. The kitsune didn't hear anything that would suggest she carried any pups but her stomach was distended and swollen.

He looked up at her worriedly, looking over the bandages on her hands and the marks on her face. Blood had dried around her mouth but the kitsune didn't know if it was Kagome's, Sesshomaru's or both; every one of them bled red. The glow surrounding Kagome faded and the girl leaned back against the wall behind her. She blinked slowly at Shippo and then greeted him with a lopsided smile, wincing when her lip split again.

"Kagome!" Shippo exclaimed, jumping into her arms and cuddling under her chin. He had to admit that she did smell funny, like Inu Yasha and something else that was pleasant, but he didn't know if it was from her or Inu Yasha's coat. Kagome petted him, her movements more fluid but slow. She looked up and saw that Sesshomaru had turned his head enough and was looking at her. She arched a brow at him and pulled her legs free from his waist. She climbed to her feet and moved out from behind Sesshomaru, moving carefully so she didn't hit him.