LL: *tossing Sesshy a bucket of dog treats* Here you go, Fluffy-kun. You know, I'm really proud of this chapter, but I think I injected Miaka from Fushigi Yuugi into Kagome. Oh well, it works.
Sesshy: No it doesn't. No one should be allowed to do that to me, and … are those the bacon-flavored kind!?
LL: It's even longer than usual too! I got started and then I just couldn't stop.
B0b: You're welcome.
LL: Not that you did anything!
J0rge: He did too, after all, dad's the source of all your romantic inspiration remember?
LL: Oh yeah. *snicker*
B0b: Did you have to say that so loud?
Sesshy: *obliviously munching on dog treats in the corner*
Disclaimer: Inu-Yasha doesn't belong to me … I'm just 'borrowing' them for a while.
Chapter 9: Reconciliation (or Kagome Unlaced)
Lord Omura watched Sesshoumaru's human wench struggle violently against her chains. For an extra precaution, they had been spelled against magic, draining all of the girl's abilities temporarily. The demon wasn't about to make the mistake of underestimating this girl again, not after she had knocked a wall down on top of him.
He had heard that Sesshoumaru had taken to traveling with a human girl, but for some reason, he had gotten the impression that she was a lot younger than this one. Not that it really mattered, but if the rumors were true then the western lord would be along soon to collect her.
He turned to her, cutting through her ranting with a sharp, "What's your name girl?"
She blinked, obviously not expecting the question. "Why the hell do you care? You're just going to kill me eventually."
No points for figuring that out. Well, at least the girl wasn't a complete idiot. "You still have some use to me yet, girl. And since I prefer not to address you as such, you will give me your name."
The chains rattled as she idly twisted her wrists and grinned. "You don't honestly think that Sesshy is going to come after me do you?" Her eyes widened suddenly and she cursed, muttering something about 'that damn oath'. Omura watched, fascinated, as she shifted back to her previously happy self suddenly. Despite the fact that her wrists were shackled above her head, forcing her to stand, and her captor was standing in front of her with a sword at his side, she was grinning like an idiot. He would have been tempted to take her as one if not for two things: one, she had already proven herself to be smart; and two, Sesshoumaru wouldn't put up with her if she was a genuine idiot.
"So he will come for you," Omura confirmed, allowing a small smile to seep through his serious façade.
"Not for me," the girl grinned, "but I do believe that he'd like his swords back." She shifted again so that she was leaning against the wall behind her. "If you don't mind me asking, why is it so important that you get your claws on him anyway?"
Omura watched the girl warily; she was smart all right, using her innocent looks to try to pry information out of him when she was the one who should be answering the questions. "He invaded my castle. That is reason enough," the demon replied, playing along with her for now. "Perhaps you could tell me what he is doing here? I might be inclined to let him go if you do."
She looked up briefly in thought. "Oh I know, and if you let me out of these things I'll be able to think better … do I look like an idiot to you?"
Omura glared at the girl. Obviously Sesshoumaru didn't keep a tight enough rein on his pet. No one mocked him, no one, no matter how useful they were. Before she could register what was happening, he backhanded her across the face. For a moment, she just hung there, head down. "I will not tolerate your insolence, girl. You would do well to remember that I am not Sesshoumaru."
Her head rose, and she grinned widely despite the spreading bruise on her cheek. "I'll say; Sesshy hits a lot harder than that."
Omura raised his hand again, but the girl was ready this time. Her unchained foot caught him in the stomach before he could hit her, knocking him back a bit. When he looked up again, she was no longer smiling. Her glare hit him full force as she hissed, "Now tell me this, what's your problem with Sesshoumaru anyway? Or do you just want to kill him like you did his father?"
The demon straightened and brushed himself off to allow some time to think. Once again, it seemed, he had underestimated this girl. It was now quite clear to him that she was much more than a mere companion to Sesshoumaru. A friend perhaps, or possibly a lover. Yes, he could see why the western lord kept her around. "I had nothing to do with that," he said in a clipped tone. "Nor would I have even considered it. Inutaisho was an esteemed ally."
The girl frowned, attempting to piece together the puzzle. "But if Sesshoumaru's father was an ally, then Sesshy must have been as well. So what happened between you two?" She turned her gaze to him, and for the first time the demon noticed that they were an unusual blue-gray.
He watched her carefully for a moment, wondering why Sesshoumaru hadn't told her. "You really want to know?" She nodded. "Then tell me your name."
***
"That's it!?" Kagome screeched in disbelief ten minutes later.
Omura frowned at her. "He insulted my home. That's a bit more serious than putting a frog in my bed or something."
"Omura-san," Kagome said with a sigh, rattling her chains, "You were best friends, so you know how he is. I'm sure he only insulted you because you ruffled his fur … so to speak."
"Are you saying that it's my fault?" Omura asked.
Kagome grinned, "I'm saying that you've held a grudge against each other for what? Over a hundred years?" Omura nodded. "For a hundred years because Sesshoumaru has the social skills of a … actually, I don't think he has any social skills." The demon smirked and Kagome sighed, "You can't talk, Omura-san, you're just as bad." The girl rattled her chains. "Now, let me down from here."
Omura watched her warily, "What are you planning Kagome?"
"I'm going to fix this. It's stupid, you two are allies and you hate each other." Kagome nearly breathed a sigh of relief when the demon pulled out a small key and begin to unlock her.
"No tricks," he warned. She nodded vigorously. At that point, she would have said just about anything to get down; she could barely feel her arms by now. When she was released, she didn't even bother to return circulation to them, but set off to find Sesshoumaru, trusting Omura to follow her. Perhaps it was arrogant of her, but she felt that there was nothing to worry about from the demon. She was stronger than he, but more importantly, she believed that he would let her piece together his and Sesshoumaru's broken friendship.
When he caught her wrist and demanded to know where she was headed, Kagome began to rethink her assumptions. Before she could formulate an answer however, Sesshoumaru – with his wonderful timing – burst through the door.
Kagome didn't even stop to think when the western lord attacked Omura. She slapped a holding spell on him before he could blink, and then, for good measure, stuck one on Omura and barred the door. Hands on hips, she turned to the two demon lords who were alternating between glaring at her and each other. "Now," she scolded, "we are not leaving this room until you two work out your problems."
***
As it turned out, Kaede didn't need to find a counter spell to Kagome's. After three days of holding Kikyo, it disappeared without any warning, unceremoniously dropping the dead priestess onto Inu-Yasha, who happened to be standing under her trying to get her out. For several days after that, Kikyo did nothing but consume souls, making up for the days she hadn't been able to 'eat'. Kaede could only guess that the spell that Kagome had wrapped her sister's body in had preserved her so that she didn't wither from lack of souls. That thought left Kaede wondering if Kagome had meant to keep Kikyo alive, or, more likely, if she had meant to kill her.
Tossing the thoughts from her mind, the old woman turned her attention to Shippou, who had insisted on helping her out while she prepared medicines for the common winter ailments. In private, the kitsune had told her the entire story of Kagome's deception and choice to leave with Sesshoumaru. Furthermore, he made it perfectly clear the parts that he had left out when relating the story to the others, such as the fact that they had gone down the well and Sesshoumaru's protective attitude towards Kagome.
When the old woman asked Shippou why he hadn't told the others, he simply said that they wouldn't understand. Then he made her promise not to tell either. She had agreed, struck by the child's insightfulness. Sango and Miroku, simply being who they were, probably wouldn't understand why Kagome chose to stay with someone they perceived as an enemy. Inu-Yasha would deny it. Kaede herself wasn't sure if she understood Kagome's reasons herself, but it wasn't her place to tell the girl what to do.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Inu-Yasha burst through the door, in a heated argument with Miroku of all people. Sango and Kikyo followed, studiously ignoring each other. After listening for a few moment, Kaede determined that they were trying to decide where to go next. Inu-Yasha wanted to follow Sesshoumaru and Kagome and exact his revenge on his brother. Miroku felt it best that they leave them alone for a while. Sango and Kikyo were silent.
Kaede thought it best that she intervene before things got violent. The weird thing was, she feared that Miroku would be the one to start the fight. For some reason, he seemed to have taken Kagome's well being as a personal responsibility, and Kaede suspected that it had nothing to do with the fact that Kagome was an attractive young woman.
"Now, now, what's this all about?" the old woman asked, stepping in between the hanyou and the monk.
Inu-Yasha pointed at Miroku. "He wants to leave Kagome with my brother! He's going to kill her."
"You heard Shippou," Miroku replied, having regained some of his composure, "Kagome would hardly go with him willingly if she was in danger. Besides, she's been with him for over six months now; don't you think that Sesshoumaru would have killed her by now if he was going to?"
"He has what he wants now," Inu-Yasha growled, his hand tightening on Tenseiga's hilt, "So he doesn't need her anymore."
"You forget," Miroku retorted before Kaede could interrupt, "She went with him of her own free will."
"How many times do I have to say it? She's under Sesshoumaru's spell!" The hanyou growled again, pacing as best he could in the confines of Kaede's home. "Hell, he probably stole her in the first place and witched her then!"
"She left!" the monk yelled, losing what little composure remained. "She left because of you and that bitch there!" No one had to ask whom he was talking about.
Silence. Kaede wasn't the only one who was struck dumb by Miroku; it seemed that even Inu-Yasha couldn't think of anything to say. It didn't matter however, for after a few moments, the monk took a deep breath and continued in a much calmer tone.
"All we can do for Kagome now," he said, "is to continue to gather the shards."
***
It took quite a bit of bullying – and a few death threats – to get the two demons talking. Once they did, it was nearly impossible to get them to make a shot at apologizing. After about an hour, Kagome was ready to strangle something, and the demons in front of her were looking very good at the moment.
With a sigh, she flopped down onto the floor. "I'm going to take a nap, wake me up when you two are ready to talk." Yawning, she curled up into a ball and, to all appearances, went to sleep.
Sesshoumaru and Omura eyed one another, then the girl in front of them. "She's not going to let this go, you know," the western lord warned.
Omura nodded with a sigh. "That's one hell of a wench you've got there."
"Yes," Sesshoumaru said softly.
"Wow," Kagome said without looking up, "Did you two actually agree on something?" She sat up suddenly, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Does this mean that you aren't going to kill each other now?" The two demons glanced at each other and shrugged simultaneously. Kagome frowned at them, hands on hips, "Yes or no. And hurry up, I'm hungry."
Neither demon spoke. Neither was willing to be the first to give in. Kagome sighed; they were right back where they had started. She had a feeling that they both wanted to apologize but didn't want to seem weak by doing so. "You know, five-year-olds have better communication skills than you two!" the girl grumbled. "Would it be too much to ask for you to just kiss and make up already?"
"I'm not kissing that!" both demons growled at once.
Kagome whimpered in despair. "Oh brother, it's a figure of speech, ok?" Making a quick decision, she sprung up suddenly, her blue eyes flashing dangerously. "All right. I'm hungry and I'm tired, so we're getting this over with."
"What are you complaining about wench? We're the ones who've been stuck in your spell all this time," Sesshoumaru growled.
"You'd be out of there if you'd just apologize!" Kagome growled back. Omura watched the whole scene with interest until Kagome rounded on him. "You! Say you're sorry!" Then she turned back to Sesshoumaru. "You too!" When they hesitated, she screeched, "NOW!"
Both demons muttered something that could have passed for either an apology or a request for room service. But Kagome grinned widely anyway, knowing that that was the best she was going to get from the stubborn demons. "That wasn't so bad was it? Let's go eat." Without warning, she let go of the holding spells and the demons dropped unceremoniously to the ground. Kagome walked over to unbar the door.
Just outside were a few of Omura's guards who automatically assumed that Kagome was escaping. So naturally, when they reached for her, she shrieked. Sesshoumaru had her out of harm's way before she could blink, and Omura was there to reprimand his men for attempting to harm his 'esteemed guest'. Kagome allowed herself a small smile as she unconsciously snuggled into Sesshoumaru's embrace; those two certainly worked well together.
***
"Are you sure she's human?" Omura asked as they watched Kagome bounce down the hall in the direction of the kitchens.
"Not completely," the western lord grumbled, wondering how it was possible for Kagome to have so much energy after everything that had happened. It had been a long night, but, all in all, he wasn't displeased with the way things turned out.
"Well, human or not, you still managed to land yourself one hell of a woman," Omura informed him, clapping him on the back congenially.
"She's not mine," Sesshoumaru corrected in a clipped tone. Not that he really believed it.
Omura raised an eyebrow, "Oh? So you won't mind if I take her then?" Instinct took over and Sesshoumaru growled at the thought of anyone touching his property. Omura smothered a laugh and held his hands up in front of him to ward the advancing demon off. Sesshoumaru blinked suddenly as he realized what he was doing and returned to his normal self. He found it odd how easily they both slipped back into their role of best friends.
"Hey!" Kagome called from the table where she was eating, "I'm not going to have to lock you two back into that dungeon am I?" Both demons shook their heads, and she went back to eating. Sesshoumaru, seeing Omura's devious look, shot his fellow demon a warning glare. Omura ignored it.
"Well, Lady Kagome," he said, sidling up beside her as soon as she'd finished eating, "I'm off to bed; it's been a tiring experience." He grasped her hand and kissed it softly, his purple eyes twinkling. Kagome blushed; Sesshoumaru growled softly. "Good night, m'Lady, Sesshoumaru." With that he left, but not before throwing a grin and a wink in Sesshoumaru's direction. The demon lord chose to ignore his friend's odd behavior, instead focusing his attention on the girl.
A few moments later, a female servant came to lead them to their room. For once, Sesshoumaru was glad that they had to share, so that he could be certain that Omura kept his hands off Kagome.
***
"Ooh, I'm tired," Kagome yawned as she stretched, looking around their new room. On Omura's orders, they had been moved from the closet that they had been originally placed in to a more high-class room. This one was simple, yet elegant. On one wall, a circular window looked out onto a small garden. A futon rested in the corner and her glaive was propped up against the wall. Sliding open the door of a small closet, she found, among other things, two yukatas, one her size, and one that would fit Sesshoumaru.
She turned with the yukatas in her hands, holding Sesshoumaru's out for him. He was staring at her. Ok, that wasn't that unusual; but most of the time, he was either glaring at her, or watching her like he expected her to run off at any second. However, this time, he seemed to be trying to see inside her soul. Something strange fluttered in her belly and heat spread between her legs. She gulped, shoving the yukata at the demon.
He stepped forward and took it, brushing his fingers against hers. His other hand cupped her chin before she could move away and his golden eyes searched hers. "Kagome," he began softly, "Are you all right?" She nodded dumbly, unable to speak. Sesshoumaru's thumb slid along her jaw. "Omura didn't … treat you improperly when I wasn't there did he?"
Kagome forced herself to step back before things got even weirder. "He slapped me around a bit when I ticked him off, but that was to be expected, I suppose." Sesshoumaru kept pressing forward, pushing Kagome back towards the bed without her realizing it. She finally figured out where she was headed when her heel caught the edge of the futon and she fell backwards with a dull thump. Before she could move, Sesshoumaru had knelt down and caged her with his arms. His head bent down to nuzzle her ear and smell her hair. Kagome froze, "Umm, Fluffy? Are you … are you ok?"
His head rose just enough for their eyes to meet. Bending down again, he licked her ear and whispered, "I want you."
***
Sesshoumaru felt more than saw Kagome's mouth form a little 'o' of understanding. At that point, he didn't really care if she understood. All that was going through his mind was to take his woman before someone else claimed what he wanted. What little logic he had left was telling him that a beautiful woman like Kagome wouldn't stay unclaimed for long.
Kagome was still frozen, however. And no matter how deeply he was running on instinct, the demon wouldn't rape her. That didn't mean he was giving up though. With a low growl, Sesshoumaru nuzzled her neck, licking the spot where her pulse beat furiously.
Kagome moaned and slipped her hand around his head, tangling her fingers in his hair. The demon lord looked up, a clear question in his golden eyes: are you sure? The woman chewed her lower lip for a moment and then nodded, no uncertainty in her eyes.
With a wicked grin, Sesshoumaru pushed Kagome down, covering her mouth with his.
***
She woke up with a shiver, for a moment wondering why she was so cold. Or more importantly, why parts of her were warm. It didn't take her long to figure out that she was lying on the futon nude, with Sesshoumaru's arms wrapped around her. After that realization, it wasn't hard to remember the events of a few hours ago.
Sesshoumaru on top of her, his silver hair falling around them, creating a curtain that sealed them in their own world. His golden eyes locked on her own, never leaving her face throughout their coupling…
"Gods," she whispered, a sick feeling settling into her stomach. I slept with Sesshoumaru. Oh gods, I'm going to get hurt over this one.
Tears began to form in her eyes, and her recent lover stirred. She froze, for a moment afraid that he had woken up and most certainly not ready to face him. But the demon merely tightened his arms and nuzzled her hair. Kagome released the breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding and wiggled around until she could grab the blanket and pull it over the both of them. As she did, she caught sight of the sleeping Sesshoumaru and her breath caught in her throat. He was beautiful. Of its own accord, her hand reached out and traced the stripe on his cheek.
It'll be ok, Kagome told herself as she snuggled back into the demon's embrace. It's not like I have to marry him, and it certainly wasn't like he raped me or anything.
Kagome yawned. It was just a little fun. And tomorrow, everything will go back to normal.
But … why did that thought upset her so much?
***
The late morning sunlight filtering through the window woke Sesshoumaru. He immediately came to consciousness and turned to the girl – no, woman – who was using him as a pillow. His fingers slipped across her cheek, down her neck and to the bruise on the juncture between her shoulder and neck where he'd bit her last night. Mine…
The demon lord shook his head. What am I doing? Last night should have never happened. Kagome was human, for Kami's sake. Not only that, but she was Inu-Yasha's former wench, and his former enemy.
Then again … Inu-Yasha had discarded her as rubbish, and somewhere along the way, she had become his friend. And Kagome was far from a normal human. If only she wasn't planning on going back to her time after she finished collecting the shards. If only he hadn't sworn to himself a thousand times over that he would never mate a human. If only…
Running an absent hand through Kagome's hair he happened to look down at her. She was watching him with those huge blue eyes of hers.
"Morning," he said quietly, removing his hand from her hair. He was going to have to say something about last night, explain his actions. That didn't mean that he was necessarily happy about the prospect. "Kagome, I…" he began, but she cut him off in the matter-of-fact way that she had sometimes.
"Don't worry about it, Sesshoumaru," she said, sitting up and wrapping the blankets around her. "I understand."
The demon lord sat up as well, "Do you?"
Kagome refused to look at him. "Yes. It was … it was just a fling. You can't love humans anyway." Visibly gathering her courage, she turned to look him in the eye, "It's ok, really." With that, she stood grabbing the yukata that she'd dropped the night before and walked away to change.
So … that was it, was it?
***
Omura watched silently from his chair as Sesshoumaru stalked into the empty dining hall. Odd, but it seemed that he woke up on the wrong side of the futon. Hmm, maybe he didn't get any last night. Omura grinned at the thought; there was no chance of that. It wasn't like he had placed his friends next to his room for no reason after all.
"Morning Sesshoumaru," he greeted the demon, "Sleep well last night?"
The western lord twitched, just enough for Omura to notice. "They told me I'd find you here." A thoughtful pause, "You set it up didn't you?"
A smile played about Omura's lips. "I might have. But think about it this way, my friend, it would have happened eventually anyway. The process was just … speeded up a bit."
Sesshoumaru growled. "Bastard."
Omura just laughed. After a moment – and a dangerous glare from Sesshoumaru – he sobered up. "You're not at all like your father you know," he continued quietly. The western lord said nothing, for he had nothing to say. Omura looked up suddenly, "Oh, Lady Kagome. Good morning! Did you sleep well?"
Kagome gave a polite reply and looked down, but not before Omura noticed that she had suddenly turned and interesting shade of red. He chuckled inwardly and hopped down from his dais, going over to her. Behind him, he could hear Sesshoumaru's warning growl, and silently hoped that his friend could hear himself. For if that wasn't proof enough that he wanted this human woman, than nothing was.
Omura grabbed Kagome's hand gently and led her to a seat. "I heard a very interesting rumor, Lady Kagome, that Sesshoumaru was gathering the shikon shards. But since I can't imagine why he would want or need them," Omura winked at his friend, "I came to the conclusion that he was gathering them for you."
"He's – he's helping me, yes," Kagome stuttered.
"Of course. Well in any case," Omura slipped his amber drops out of his ears and pressed them into Kagome's palm, "These are for you."
She turned them over, seeing the telltale glint of the shards within. "Thank you, Omura-sama."
"We found them embedded in a tree. You'll have to figure out how to remove them though." Kagome nodded, pocketing the earrings to mess with on a rainy day.
Standing, she bowed to the demon. "I appreciate it, Omura-sama. But…" she trailed off and glanced at Sesshoumaru.
"You need to leave. Well, no sense in long goodbyes. I wish you the best of luck in your travels and everything else. Both of you." The green haired demon smiled. "You'll come to visit sometime won't you?"
Sesshoumaru nodded silently and Kagome smiled. "If we can," she chirped. "Oh! I have to get my glaive!" With one last bow, she rushed off.
Sesshoumaru shook his head and began to follow at a more sedate pace. "Sesshoumaru," Omura called just before he reached the door, "You will invite me to the mating ceremony won't you?" The western lord didn't bother to dignify that with a reply, causing Omura to grin. This was just too easy.
***
A little over a week later, Kagome and Sesshoumaru had returned to the main island of Japan and were back to business as usual. In all outward appearances, not much had changed. Except, Sesshoumaru had stopped talking to her almost all together. Not that they had exactly had long conversations before, but he'd barely said two words to her since that night.
Kagome missed the sound of his voice. She missed arguing; she even missed his teasing. What she wouldn't have done to have things return to the way that they'd been before … but Kagome was no fool; she knew that it was impossible.
With a small, dejected sigh, the woman plopped down in front of their campfire. The demon lord in question was missing, off scouting the area or whatever he did when he went off. He'd been disappearing more often of late when they stopped for the night, only coming back just when Kagome was about to go to sleep.
So naturally, she was shocked when he showed up out of nowhere. "Shit, Sesshoumaru!" she said, pressing a hand to her beating heart, "You scared the crap out of me!" Normally, he would have either laughed, or reprimanded her for not paying better attention.
But he ignored her, instead dragging her up by the arm and pinning her up against a nearby tree. To her everlasting surprise, Kagome's first thought was not for her own safety – which was undoubtedly in jeopardy – but worry for Sesshoumaru. "Are you ok?" she blurted out before thinking about what she was saying.
Again he ignored her, instead thrusting his face into her chest to smell it. He made his way downward, and by the time he got to her belly he was growling viciously. For the first time in a long while, Kagome was truly scared. Scared of Sesshoumaru, scared for Sesshoumaru.
"Sesshy?" she began hesitantly, running trembling fingers over his hair. "What's wrong?"
The demon lord straightened, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look him in the eyes, and spat, "You're pregnant."
Next time: Kagome and Sesshy reunite with the others in preparation for the showdown with Naraku. Guess who's not happy about Kagome's 'condition'…
Sesshy: *chokes* That's it? Where's the rest woman?
LL: Are you actually getting into my story?
Sesshy: Nooo…
LL: *grin* Well, next chap will be out soon, I hope. I've already started it, but this is my last week of the semester before finals, so I'm kinda swamped. Sorry. *sniffle*
I don't have time to do review responses, but I want you to know that I really appreciate all your comments. They're what keep me going! Thanks a bunch!!