Warning: Mild, mild, mild... I'll stress again, MILD lemon
Chapter 5: Moonlight and Morning
Kagome lay awake on her futon. The room was filled with the scents of Rin's floral arrangements. Kagome nearly considered telling Rin she was allergic to flowers, but couldn't bring herself to it.
Her brief encounter with her own memory in the garden left her feeling restless and afraid. For the first time, she was seeing this memory. Was it, as the witch said, because her memory had been removed? Or was it just a hallucination?
She didn't believe she had actually told Sesshoumaru about her old feelings for Inuyasha and how she knew he didn't love her. Sure, the guy might have had saved her life, but Kagome had barely known him for more than a few days. Not to mention that he kept drawing swords with Inuyasha.
Kagome crawled out of the comforters. Between the help of Sesshoumaru and Rin, her injuries were healing nicely. Tomorrow, she decided. Tomorrow she would tell Sesshoumaru to return her to Inuyasha. After all, she had imposed on them long enough.
She wandered into the corridor, careful not to wake Rin from her slumber. Kagome roughly remembered the way to the kitchens; she made her way over to there. Hopefully Jaken was there and she would get to order him around – she was still slightly irked by his untimely arrival at the garden.
Sliding open the door to the kitchen, Kagome wandered in. In reality, she had never actually seen a real traditional-styled Japanese kitchen, and was pleasantly surprised. It was spacious and big; in the day time it would have been filled with light. Through the windows the moonlight streamed brightly, casting a shimmering glow in the room.
Crossing the kitchen Kagome went to a low kitchen counter resting on the floor. In drawers, teapots, teacups, and sake jars lined up neatly one by one. Some were plain ceramic ones with simple patterns – others were so intricate Kagome thought they were more for decoration than drinking out of.
Tiny boxes on the counter with even smaller drawers in them, when opened, revealed about twenty different grades and types of green tea. Kagome found a pale green powder and dumped some into a polished bamboo cup. Searching for hot water, she spotted a pot conveniently sitting on the far end.
Clutching the cup tightly Kagome sipped the hot liquid. The silence was comforting.
The door slid open. Jaken peered in.
"Wash up after yourself, will you?" he asked imperiously. "I'm busy enough as it is."
"Oh, I'm sure you are." Kagome said sarcastically.
Jaken looked like no one had ever spoken so rudely to him, and his eyes bulged so much Kagome was half expecting them to pop out.
"Something wrong here? I could smell trouble brewing from the other side of the hall," stated Sesshoumaru coolly from behind Jaken. Kagome thought she saw a look of annoyance and fatigue cross Sesshoumaru's face. His armor was gone, revealing his slim body beneath the thin silk of his clothing.
"Nothing, indeed, Sesshoumaru-sama," said Kagome, lying through her teeth.
Jaken bowed hastily and quickly beat a retreat.
After he left Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome. "Did he bother you?"
Kagome smiled. "Not really, he was just telling me to wash up after myself."
Sesshoumaru nodded his head just a fraction. Opening a cupboard, he carefully selected one jar of sake.
Pouring himself a cup, he glanced at Kagome. "Forget green tea. Try this."
"How did you know I was drinking-" Kagome paused, remembering his acute olfactory senses. "I don't drink alcohol," admitted Kagome. How childish she must have sounded in front of Sesshoumaru.
"Alcohol?" asked Sesshoumaru. "I have never heard that term before."
Kagome blushed slightly – she kept forgetting not to use modern era terms. "Alcohol, liquor... same thing, nearly."
"You should try it. It gets you through when you have mountains of work to finish. I finished my bottles in my study; Jaken forgot to replace them. Normally I would just stay there."
Stay calm and don't freak or giggle or lose your head, she chided herself. He's making conversation, actually. And he's much better at it than Inuyasha. Willing herself to make an intelligent answer, Kagome found none readily available.
Instead, she dug out another cup, and wordlessly held it out for him to fill it.
Kagome eyed Sesshoumaru through her blurring vision. The moonlight on his features made him seem almost... unreal. His light skin tone and silver hair almost made him look seraphic. To describe him as angelic... Kagome decided against it; he looked more 'seraphic' than 'angelic,' though to Kagome both meant the same thing.
She'd only sipped three cups of sake, and already she was feeling the effects. Sesshoumaru, though having taken double the amount, was still stoically listening to her ramblings of their fights with Naraku.
"And... so..." Kagome tried to keep her voice clear. "Inuyasha... got his... Red... Tetsusaiga... and he broke the barrier... Wait. You were... there... too, right?"
"Yes, and Inuyasha came through, and after that Naraku was defeated and went to hide in the Holy Mountain. And really, you shouldn't drink anymore," Sesshoumaru said, ignoring her empty cup.
"One more..." whined Kagome.
He tipped her cup full. "You said, one more only."
She downed this faster than she had all her other cups, and held it out for more. Sesshoumaru shook his head.
"Four cups are enough," he said, leaning forward to take her cup from her.
Later, she never remembered who had started it.
She only knew of their lips meeting, and of her falling into his arms.
Kagome savored their closeness and found herself wanting more. His skin felt cool and soothing on her heated body. Kagome would have had stayed there, feeling his lips on hers forever, but Sesshoumaru wisely pulled back for a second to give her air.
Kagome moaned as the loss of his touch. Her fingers, as though with a mind of their own, reached to his neck and fumbled with his kimono neckline, tugging it insistently. Gently melding her lips back to his, she allowed herself to be enfolded into an embrace.
Two empty cups of sake dropped onto the ground, shattering. Stumbling out the door together, Sesshoumaru guided Kagome down the hall. On her part, she was too busy trying to keep contact with his mouth to do anything else.
They reached the stairs to the west wing. Nearly tripping over her own feet, Kagome would never have made it up the stairs had Sesshoumaru not carried her up.
Finally, in his room...
Kagome's fingers found the sash to his kimono and jerked it sharply, loosening it. The silky material slipped off his shoulders slightly, revealing strong shoulders and a lean collarbone.
He pulled away softly but firmly.
Kagome stared at him with beseeching eyes. He sat on the futon and cradled her on his lap, close to him.
"Kagome... If someday I asked you to be my mate, would you say yes?"
"Why not now?" Kagome was hopelessly drunk and she knew it.
Sesshoumaru didn't answer. He had seen hundreds of women like her – ready to do anything for desperate release, then regretting it fast afterwards.
Hooking a finger around her yukata tie, he tugged the tie loose. With one finger, he traced a long line over her body, starting at her cheek, running across her breasts, making a loop around her bellybutton and heading back up. Kagome clung helplessly to his bare shoulders as he slid her clothes off her shoulders. Carefully avoiding her healing scars, Sesshoumaru caressed her breasts with one hand, the other hand sliding lower.
Cupping her mount of Venus, Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow. She was definitely no longer a girl, but her mound was smooth and velvety, without a single strand of hair.
He would ask her about it later. For now, he delved a finger onto the edge of her hot, moist folds, and slowly slid it across her slit. Kagome gasped and bucked sharply as he toyed with her love button.
With a great shuddering gasp she came, gaining the release she needed.
"Won't... won't you..." He hadn't entered her, but seemed to hold back.
Reading her mind, he stroked her hair gently. "When you're ready. I would never want to take your innocence from you in this way. You're drunk and in the morning, you'll hate me. I've seen it happen before. Besides, you're only, what, fifteen, sixteen? Gaining release is one thing, losing your innocence is another." And you don't love Inuyasha any more, but do you love me? Wondered Sesshoumaru.
"Sesshoumaru..." The barrier was working its magic and making her weak. Or was it the sake? Kagome's eyes were shut and her voice dropped a few notches.
He wrapped her yukata around her again. Curling his tail about her, he pulled her close, and allowed himself to fall into a light slumber.
Kagome opened her eyes lazily. Her head throbbed slightly, but she simply assumed her old wounds were acting up again.
It was too early to get up. Kagome snuggled into her pillow and hugged her teddy bear tighter.
Her eyes fluttered open for a second. Her teddy bear... wasn't it pale brown, not white?
Turning to sleep on her side, Kagome nearly yelped and stopped herself when she saw a sleeping Sesshoumaru next to her.
With his eyes closed, he looked so... young and innocent. If Kagome didn't know better, she would have sworn he was incapable of killing even a fly, to say less of humans.
She brushed a fingertip over the crescent moon on his forehead. It glowed slightly violet to her touch, but turned back to its indigo hue as her finger left the mark. As she ran her finger over the bridge of his nose, across his lips, drinking in the satiny smoothness of his skin, something hit her.
A small flashback of the night before... Kagome remembered fingers with that very same soft skin running over her body... Doing things to her that Kagome herself had never did...
Slowly, Sesshoumaru's voice echoed a few words to her. "When you're ready. I would never want to take your innocence from you in this way. You're drunk and in the morning, you'll hate me. I've seen it happen before. Besides, you're only, what, fifteen, sixteen? Gaining release is one thing, losing your innocence is another."
Kagome shivered slightly. She had been inches away from embarrassing herself in a drunken stupor – but instead of taking advantage of the situation Sesshoumaru had given her release, but had refused to take anything from her.
She now saw Sesshoumaru in a different light. Underneath his cold-blooded- killer attitude, there was a layer of decency and kindness that seldom, but occasionally, resurfaced.
I'll make it up to him, decided Kagome. Sometime before I return to Sango and Shippo, I'll thank him properly.
She gently flicked his ears at their pointed tips, and tugged playfully on his earlobes. They weren't cute and cuddly like Inuyasha's were, but they were soft and like velvet in their own right.
Almost seconds after she'd started playing with his ears, his eyes fluttered open lazily. She could tell he'd been awake for a while, but had let her continue with her explorations. Pretending not to notice the golden jewels that watched her intently, Kagome exaggerated a sigh and curled over with her back to him, and started to stroke his tail instead.
Kagome smiled as she heard him stifle a growl of pleasure. She brushed the furry surface against her cheek and relished the touch.
"That's it," announced Sesshoumaru, more affected by her actions than he liked to think. "I'm out of here." Rising, he swished his tail from Kagome's grasp and expertly curled it around his shoulder. His kimono has not a single wrinkle on it.
"Don't you ever change?" asked Kagome.
"Don't you ever stop asking questions?" he grumbled, but answered anyways. "Yes, but later. There's a pile of things to be done, half of which a waste of my time. This includes redressing someone's wounds, although that certain somebody refuses to let me see her injuries and access the situation."
"Does that distasteful job count in the 'waste of your time' category?" Kagome inquired with false politeness.
"No," answered Sesshoumaru truthfully.
"Good."
"First though, I have to finish the work I started last night that I abandoned when I went to get a drink, and got caught up in subsequent followings."
Kagome blushed slightly, and her voice dropped a few volumes. "Oh... Right... About last night... Thank you very, very much, Sesshoumaru-sama."
He looked at her seriously. "Kagome, you're the first woman to be so intimate with me and not set sights on my title or money. Technically speaking this would make you the best choice for a mate for me. But I have to consider that I've actually only known you for slightly more than a week, and that you're incredibly young." Seeing her indignant look, he added, "I know, fifteen's not young, but in your time, do people marry at fifteen?"
He walked into his study and sat down at the writing desk. Kagome watched as he quickly wrote three similar-looking letters and sealed them in three separate envelopes. Sealing them, he stamped a mark in gold and silver ink over each one.
Seeing Kagome's look, he explained. "These are letters inviting the other taiyoukai to a conference here. Conferences are generally a total waste of my time and resources, but necessary if I am to maintain friendly relations with the other lords." He showed her an envelope. "This is the seal of the Western Lands; silver because we're silver Inu-youkai. Gold because the west is where the sun sets, and because we're the most powerful of all the lords."
"You're a pompous old dog, you know?" laughed Kagome.
"Actually, you might be correct. I'm a dog, no question. Old? In human years you could say I'm about twenty-ish. In youkai years... I've lost count. Last time I checked, it was about 200-over years, and that was quite a while ago. I could always ask Jaken to check. But," he frowned slightly, "about the 'pompous' part..."
Kagome laughed and tapped his forehead good-humoredly. "Well, maybe not pompous. But certainly full of pride."
Sesshoumaru walked over to the windows and threw them apart. The earning morning sun shone bright, peeking over lush green hills and sparkling on lakes and rivers. The air was crisp and sweet. He beckoned Kagome over. "Who wouldn't have pride, with the honor of protecting these lands and the creatures in them?"
"True," agreed Kagome, looking out the window.
He tucked the letters in his sleeve. "I was thinking about your flashback that you had in the garden. Let's assume that that scene did take place before, and your memories were erased. According to the flashback, you received a flower. In that case, where is the flower? And assuming the scene never took place, was it a simple hallucination or a prediction of the future?"
Kagome stared blankly at him. "Umm... am I supposed to answer those questions?"
"No. Just think about them."
Kagome smiled. "I will. But first... breakfast."
Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow as they headed out the door and down the staircase. "You're assuming I'm providing breakfast."
"Well, for the past several days you have," said Kagome.
"That was because Jaken was around to cook it. Today he's going to deliver my letters to all the corners of Japan; he needs an early start if he's going to come back in time for dinner. Which, by the way," he added, "will be late, depending on how soon Jaken arrives home."
Grinning craftily, Kagome fingered her hair. "I'll make you a deal. I'll fix lunch and dinner with Rin, but you have to fix breakfast. And since I'm so nice, I'll even help you with breakfast." And I'll get out of having to teach Rin more traditional arts, thought Kagome.
"No deal," stated Sesshoumaru, quickly hurrying his pace in case Kagome came up with more ideas.
When trying to be nice fails, go to Plan B. Threaten your victim. Kagome tried to narrow her eyes as sharply as she could. "You wouldn't want to leave Rin to starve, would you?"
That caught him short. Stopping his stride involuntarily, he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
Kagome beamed at him, and dragged him off to the kitchens.
A/N: Whew! Exams are over, and the internet isn't screwed anymore... FF. Net, here I come!!!
Review Responses:
RoguesHeart: Relieved sigh Thanks goodness I'm not going to die...
zeddy222: I'm honored. Thanks.
Sakura Tenvaiga, britt, ME, shadows-insanity, DeniseD: Thanks, I'll update as soon as I can.
Nagi2, ReginaLucifer: Normally I find it hard to explain flashbacks, hopefully it'll clear up in later chapters.
demonswty: Lol... that'll depend on the gang and Sesshoumaru... won't say too much more.
Chapter 5: Moonlight and Morning
Kagome lay awake on her futon. The room was filled with the scents of Rin's floral arrangements. Kagome nearly considered telling Rin she was allergic to flowers, but couldn't bring herself to it.
Her brief encounter with her own memory in the garden left her feeling restless and afraid. For the first time, she was seeing this memory. Was it, as the witch said, because her memory had been removed? Or was it just a hallucination?
She didn't believe she had actually told Sesshoumaru about her old feelings for Inuyasha and how she knew he didn't love her. Sure, the guy might have had saved her life, but Kagome had barely known him for more than a few days. Not to mention that he kept drawing swords with Inuyasha.
Kagome crawled out of the comforters. Between the help of Sesshoumaru and Rin, her injuries were healing nicely. Tomorrow, she decided. Tomorrow she would tell Sesshoumaru to return her to Inuyasha. After all, she had imposed on them long enough.
She wandered into the corridor, careful not to wake Rin from her slumber. Kagome roughly remembered the way to the kitchens; she made her way over to there. Hopefully Jaken was there and she would get to order him around – she was still slightly irked by his untimely arrival at the garden.
Sliding open the door to the kitchen, Kagome wandered in. In reality, she had never actually seen a real traditional-styled Japanese kitchen, and was pleasantly surprised. It was spacious and big; in the day time it would have been filled with light. Through the windows the moonlight streamed brightly, casting a shimmering glow in the room.
Crossing the kitchen Kagome went to a low kitchen counter resting on the floor. In drawers, teapots, teacups, and sake jars lined up neatly one by one. Some were plain ceramic ones with simple patterns – others were so intricate Kagome thought they were more for decoration than drinking out of.
Tiny boxes on the counter with even smaller drawers in them, when opened, revealed about twenty different grades and types of green tea. Kagome found a pale green powder and dumped some into a polished bamboo cup. Searching for hot water, she spotted a pot conveniently sitting on the far end.
Clutching the cup tightly Kagome sipped the hot liquid. The silence was comforting.
The door slid open. Jaken peered in.
"Wash up after yourself, will you?" he asked imperiously. "I'm busy enough as it is."
"Oh, I'm sure you are." Kagome said sarcastically.
Jaken looked like no one had ever spoken so rudely to him, and his eyes bulged so much Kagome was half expecting them to pop out.
"Something wrong here? I could smell trouble brewing from the other side of the hall," stated Sesshoumaru coolly from behind Jaken. Kagome thought she saw a look of annoyance and fatigue cross Sesshoumaru's face. His armor was gone, revealing his slim body beneath the thin silk of his clothing.
"Nothing, indeed, Sesshoumaru-sama," said Kagome, lying through her teeth.
Jaken bowed hastily and quickly beat a retreat.
After he left Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome. "Did he bother you?"
Kagome smiled. "Not really, he was just telling me to wash up after myself."
Sesshoumaru nodded his head just a fraction. Opening a cupboard, he carefully selected one jar of sake.
Pouring himself a cup, he glanced at Kagome. "Forget green tea. Try this."
"How did you know I was drinking-" Kagome paused, remembering his acute olfactory senses. "I don't drink alcohol," admitted Kagome. How childish she must have sounded in front of Sesshoumaru.
"Alcohol?" asked Sesshoumaru. "I have never heard that term before."
Kagome blushed slightly – she kept forgetting not to use modern era terms. "Alcohol, liquor... same thing, nearly."
"You should try it. It gets you through when you have mountains of work to finish. I finished my bottles in my study; Jaken forgot to replace them. Normally I would just stay there."
Stay calm and don't freak or giggle or lose your head, she chided herself. He's making conversation, actually. And he's much better at it than Inuyasha. Willing herself to make an intelligent answer, Kagome found none readily available.
Instead, she dug out another cup, and wordlessly held it out for him to fill it.
Kagome eyed Sesshoumaru through her blurring vision. The moonlight on his features made him seem almost... unreal. His light skin tone and silver hair almost made him look seraphic. To describe him as angelic... Kagome decided against it; he looked more 'seraphic' than 'angelic,' though to Kagome both meant the same thing.
She'd only sipped three cups of sake, and already she was feeling the effects. Sesshoumaru, though having taken double the amount, was still stoically listening to her ramblings of their fights with Naraku.
"And... so..." Kagome tried to keep her voice clear. "Inuyasha... got his... Red... Tetsusaiga... and he broke the barrier... Wait. You were... there... too, right?"
"Yes, and Inuyasha came through, and after that Naraku was defeated and went to hide in the Holy Mountain. And really, you shouldn't drink anymore," Sesshoumaru said, ignoring her empty cup.
"One more..." whined Kagome.
He tipped her cup full. "You said, one more only."
She downed this faster than she had all her other cups, and held it out for more. Sesshoumaru shook his head.
"Four cups are enough," he said, leaning forward to take her cup from her.
Later, she never remembered who had started it.
She only knew of their lips meeting, and of her falling into his arms.
Kagome savored their closeness and found herself wanting more. His skin felt cool and soothing on her heated body. Kagome would have had stayed there, feeling his lips on hers forever, but Sesshoumaru wisely pulled back for a second to give her air.
Kagome moaned as the loss of his touch. Her fingers, as though with a mind of their own, reached to his neck and fumbled with his kimono neckline, tugging it insistently. Gently melding her lips back to his, she allowed herself to be enfolded into an embrace.
Two empty cups of sake dropped onto the ground, shattering. Stumbling out the door together, Sesshoumaru guided Kagome down the hall. On her part, she was too busy trying to keep contact with his mouth to do anything else.
They reached the stairs to the west wing. Nearly tripping over her own feet, Kagome would never have made it up the stairs had Sesshoumaru not carried her up.
Finally, in his room...
Kagome's fingers found the sash to his kimono and jerked it sharply, loosening it. The silky material slipped off his shoulders slightly, revealing strong shoulders and a lean collarbone.
He pulled away softly but firmly.
Kagome stared at him with beseeching eyes. He sat on the futon and cradled her on his lap, close to him.
"Kagome... If someday I asked you to be my mate, would you say yes?"
"Why not now?" Kagome was hopelessly drunk and she knew it.
Sesshoumaru didn't answer. He had seen hundreds of women like her – ready to do anything for desperate release, then regretting it fast afterwards.
Hooking a finger around her yukata tie, he tugged the tie loose. With one finger, he traced a long line over her body, starting at her cheek, running across her breasts, making a loop around her bellybutton and heading back up. Kagome clung helplessly to his bare shoulders as he slid her clothes off her shoulders. Carefully avoiding her healing scars, Sesshoumaru caressed her breasts with one hand, the other hand sliding lower.
Cupping her mount of Venus, Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow. She was definitely no longer a girl, but her mound was smooth and velvety, without a single strand of hair.
He would ask her about it later. For now, he delved a finger onto the edge of her hot, moist folds, and slowly slid it across her slit. Kagome gasped and bucked sharply as he toyed with her love button.
With a great shuddering gasp she came, gaining the release she needed.
"Won't... won't you..." He hadn't entered her, but seemed to hold back.
Reading her mind, he stroked her hair gently. "When you're ready. I would never want to take your innocence from you in this way. You're drunk and in the morning, you'll hate me. I've seen it happen before. Besides, you're only, what, fifteen, sixteen? Gaining release is one thing, losing your innocence is another." And you don't love Inuyasha any more, but do you love me? Wondered Sesshoumaru.
"Sesshoumaru..." The barrier was working its magic and making her weak. Or was it the sake? Kagome's eyes were shut and her voice dropped a few notches.
He wrapped her yukata around her again. Curling his tail about her, he pulled her close, and allowed himself to fall into a light slumber.
Kagome opened her eyes lazily. Her head throbbed slightly, but she simply assumed her old wounds were acting up again.
It was too early to get up. Kagome snuggled into her pillow and hugged her teddy bear tighter.
Her eyes fluttered open for a second. Her teddy bear... wasn't it pale brown, not white?
Turning to sleep on her side, Kagome nearly yelped and stopped herself when she saw a sleeping Sesshoumaru next to her.
With his eyes closed, he looked so... young and innocent. If Kagome didn't know better, she would have sworn he was incapable of killing even a fly, to say less of humans.
She brushed a fingertip over the crescent moon on his forehead. It glowed slightly violet to her touch, but turned back to its indigo hue as her finger left the mark. As she ran her finger over the bridge of his nose, across his lips, drinking in the satiny smoothness of his skin, something hit her.
A small flashback of the night before... Kagome remembered fingers with that very same soft skin running over her body... Doing things to her that Kagome herself had never did...
Slowly, Sesshoumaru's voice echoed a few words to her. "When you're ready. I would never want to take your innocence from you in this way. You're drunk and in the morning, you'll hate me. I've seen it happen before. Besides, you're only, what, fifteen, sixteen? Gaining release is one thing, losing your innocence is another."
Kagome shivered slightly. She had been inches away from embarrassing herself in a drunken stupor – but instead of taking advantage of the situation Sesshoumaru had given her release, but had refused to take anything from her.
She now saw Sesshoumaru in a different light. Underneath his cold-blooded- killer attitude, there was a layer of decency and kindness that seldom, but occasionally, resurfaced.
I'll make it up to him, decided Kagome. Sometime before I return to Sango and Shippo, I'll thank him properly.
She gently flicked his ears at their pointed tips, and tugged playfully on his earlobes. They weren't cute and cuddly like Inuyasha's were, but they were soft and like velvet in their own right.
Almost seconds after she'd started playing with his ears, his eyes fluttered open lazily. She could tell he'd been awake for a while, but had let her continue with her explorations. Pretending not to notice the golden jewels that watched her intently, Kagome exaggerated a sigh and curled over with her back to him, and started to stroke his tail instead.
Kagome smiled as she heard him stifle a growl of pleasure. She brushed the furry surface against her cheek and relished the touch.
"That's it," announced Sesshoumaru, more affected by her actions than he liked to think. "I'm out of here." Rising, he swished his tail from Kagome's grasp and expertly curled it around his shoulder. His kimono has not a single wrinkle on it.
"Don't you ever change?" asked Kagome.
"Don't you ever stop asking questions?" he grumbled, but answered anyways. "Yes, but later. There's a pile of things to be done, half of which a waste of my time. This includes redressing someone's wounds, although that certain somebody refuses to let me see her injuries and access the situation."
"Does that distasteful job count in the 'waste of your time' category?" Kagome inquired with false politeness.
"No," answered Sesshoumaru truthfully.
"Good."
"First though, I have to finish the work I started last night that I abandoned when I went to get a drink, and got caught up in subsequent followings."
Kagome blushed slightly, and her voice dropped a few volumes. "Oh... Right... About last night... Thank you very, very much, Sesshoumaru-sama."
He looked at her seriously. "Kagome, you're the first woman to be so intimate with me and not set sights on my title or money. Technically speaking this would make you the best choice for a mate for me. But I have to consider that I've actually only known you for slightly more than a week, and that you're incredibly young." Seeing her indignant look, he added, "I know, fifteen's not young, but in your time, do people marry at fifteen?"
He walked into his study and sat down at the writing desk. Kagome watched as he quickly wrote three similar-looking letters and sealed them in three separate envelopes. Sealing them, he stamped a mark in gold and silver ink over each one.
Seeing Kagome's look, he explained. "These are letters inviting the other taiyoukai to a conference here. Conferences are generally a total waste of my time and resources, but necessary if I am to maintain friendly relations with the other lords." He showed her an envelope. "This is the seal of the Western Lands; silver because we're silver Inu-youkai. Gold because the west is where the sun sets, and because we're the most powerful of all the lords."
"You're a pompous old dog, you know?" laughed Kagome.
"Actually, you might be correct. I'm a dog, no question. Old? In human years you could say I'm about twenty-ish. In youkai years... I've lost count. Last time I checked, it was about 200-over years, and that was quite a while ago. I could always ask Jaken to check. But," he frowned slightly, "about the 'pompous' part..."
Kagome laughed and tapped his forehead good-humoredly. "Well, maybe not pompous. But certainly full of pride."
Sesshoumaru walked over to the windows and threw them apart. The earning morning sun shone bright, peeking over lush green hills and sparkling on lakes and rivers. The air was crisp and sweet. He beckoned Kagome over. "Who wouldn't have pride, with the honor of protecting these lands and the creatures in them?"
"True," agreed Kagome, looking out the window.
He tucked the letters in his sleeve. "I was thinking about your flashback that you had in the garden. Let's assume that that scene did take place before, and your memories were erased. According to the flashback, you received a flower. In that case, where is the flower? And assuming the scene never took place, was it a simple hallucination or a prediction of the future?"
Kagome stared blankly at him. "Umm... am I supposed to answer those questions?"
"No. Just think about them."
Kagome smiled. "I will. But first... breakfast."
Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow as they headed out the door and down the staircase. "You're assuming I'm providing breakfast."
"Well, for the past several days you have," said Kagome.
"That was because Jaken was around to cook it. Today he's going to deliver my letters to all the corners of Japan; he needs an early start if he's going to come back in time for dinner. Which, by the way," he added, "will be late, depending on how soon Jaken arrives home."
Grinning craftily, Kagome fingered her hair. "I'll make you a deal. I'll fix lunch and dinner with Rin, but you have to fix breakfast. And since I'm so nice, I'll even help you with breakfast." And I'll get out of having to teach Rin more traditional arts, thought Kagome.
"No deal," stated Sesshoumaru, quickly hurrying his pace in case Kagome came up with more ideas.
When trying to be nice fails, go to Plan B. Threaten your victim. Kagome tried to narrow her eyes as sharply as she could. "You wouldn't want to leave Rin to starve, would you?"
That caught him short. Stopping his stride involuntarily, he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
Kagome beamed at him, and dragged him off to the kitchens.
A/N: Whew! Exams are over, and the internet isn't screwed anymore... FF. Net, here I come!!!
Review Responses:
RoguesHeart: Relieved sigh Thanks goodness I'm not going to die...
zeddy222: I'm honored. Thanks.
Sakura Tenvaiga, britt, ME, shadows-insanity, DeniseD: Thanks, I'll update as soon as I can.
Nagi2, ReginaLucifer: Normally I find it hard to explain flashbacks, hopefully it'll clear up in later chapters.
demonswty: Lol... that'll depend on the gang and Sesshoumaru... won't say too much more.