Chapter 5
Sesshoumaru watched as Inuyasha destroyed what was left of the well. He wanted to berate the hanyou for his loud, unnecessary actions, but didn't. He felt strange and automatically reached up to touch the mating mark he had forced Kagome to give him.
Startled, he realized that there was nothing there. Something was wrong.
His tail whipped out like a silvery white blur, retrieving his grieving half-brother from the well's bottom and dragging him up to the surface.
"Inuyasha, you fool, snap out of it. Look at my neck. Where is the miko's mating mark?"
Inuyasha rubbed his tear-filled red eyes and leaned in to see. "What mark? There's nothin' there."
Sesshoumaru glared at Inuyasha. "Do not be stupid, hanyou. Mating marks do not just disappear."
Inuyasha glared back at his pompous brother. "Well, this one has." He freed himself from the fluffy white mass of tail and took a step back. "You've gotten what you wanted, Sesshoumaru. I hope you're happy now." With that, Inuyasha turned and walked away, his once proud shoulders hunched in silent agony.
Sesshoumaru could smell the salt tang of tears as his half-brother went off to grieve for the miko. For one insane moment, he wished to say something comforting to Inuyasha...but his pride would not let him. How could he? Especially when he too, needed a word of comfort.
Sesshoumaru froze. What?
His body went cold. What the hell? Where did THAT come from? That was ridiculous. Why should HE, the most powerful youkai in all of Japan, need a word of comfort? For what? The death of a lowly ningen? Moreover, a ningen onna?
He took to the skies, inwardly seething. That was an impossiblity. He needed no comfort, no solace, for her death. It meant nothing to him. SHE meant nothing to him. She was just a mistake and a misjudgement on the part of his youkai. Wasn't it?
Now that the mistake had taken care of itself, he was free. He was glad of it. Was he really?
He shook his head, constantly hearing the last words she sent to him, 'You are free now, Sesshoumaru-sama...Be happy.'
He returned to his castle. It seemed a little cold today...
He shook himself. 'Do not be foolish, you baka. Of course it is cool here. It is not yet summer.'
In an effor to clear his thoughts, Sesshoumaru bathed, washing Inuyasha's stench from his person. After that, he went to his study, where he had planned to work as usual. After nearly an hour, he was still sitting at his desk, staring aimlessly out of the balcony doors.
While he sat there, to all appearances lost in thought, his study door burst open. He did not even have to turn to see who had intruded upon this thoughts.
"SESSHOUMARU-SAMA!"
Rin ran to him and jumped onto his lap, her small arms wrapping themselves around his neck.
"Rin missed Sesshoumaru-sama at breakfast today," she trilled happily, smiling into his eyes.
"I was out," he said shortly, patiently waiting for her to release her hold on his person.
"Where's Kagome-sama?" she asked, confusion spreading over her small features...features that were too much like the miko's for his comfort.
"She left." He was unnerved by Rin's question and gently extricated himself from her arms.
Rin looked crestfallen. "But why? Will she come back?"
Sesshoumaru did not feel like answering her questions, legitimate though they were. Rin and the miko had become great friends during her short stay with them.
"No, she will not be coming back," he replied quietly. He inwardly winced as Rin began to cry. He could not stand it when the little ningen cried. It almost made him feel emotions. Almost.
"But why? I thought she liked Rin!" Rin wailed pitifully. "And what about the baby? She promised Rin that Rin could help take care of her baby!"
Sesshoumaru felt his heart stop. "Nani?" he asked, his voice deathly calm.
For a moment, Rin had stopped crying and looked suddenly guilty. "It was supposed to be a secret. Kagome-sama told Rin not to tell anybody."
Pulling himself together sharply, he gently took hold of Rin's shoulders. "When did Kagome tell you this secret?" he asked, feeling his youkai stir angrily.
Rin looked down into Sesshoumaru's lap. "Rin found out by accident. Rin saw Kagome-sama being sick in some bushes while we were playing in the garden. Rin asked Kagome-sama what was wrong and she made Rin promise not to tell anyone."
"When was this, Rin?" he asked again, forcing himself not become angry at her.
Rin's face slid into a frown. "Rin thinks it was last month. It was still cold then."
His mind began working. 'She had only been here for three months. We only mated once. So, she was about three months along. But why did I never smell the change in her?'
'Because you were too busy being a damned prick and ignoring her,' his youkai replied nastily. He ignored the youkai. "Thank you, Rin. Leave me now."
"Is Rin in trouble, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin asked, climbing down from his lap.
He looked down at her and shook his head. "No, Rin. But next time, do not keep secrets from me."
Rin nodded slowly. "Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama. Can Rin leave now?"
He nodded and she ran out of the study, leaving him alone with this new information.
Kagome had been pregnant with his child...his heir. His mind turned to that strange, indescribable scent he had detected from her before she had been purified...and shut his eyes with a groan.
Of course! Why hadn't he realized what that scent was? It was a mixture of her scent and his...and he hadn't even comprehended that fact. She had died...he had let her die, taking his child with her.
With a snarl, he jumped up and headed for the library, knowing instinctively that that was the one place she had spent the most time in...and he needed answers.
Going into that room forced him to take a step back. Kagome's rose and lily scents filled the room. Funny. He couldn't detect the scent of her pregnancy in here, although the aroma smelled recent. He could almost see her hunched over one of his many books, reading intently. Most likely she had learned a spell to mask her scent, letting anyone with sensitive noses smell what she only wished them to smell.
It was clear now that she had no wish to let him know of her condition. Possibly the only reason she had completely removed the spell this morning was because she knew it would no longer matter if anyone knew, including himself.
Sesshoumaru let loose a guttural growl but quickly collected himself with much effort. He found himself heading towards a small table covered with scrolls.
Her scent was very strong here, in this corner of the library.
Curiously, he bent over and sniffed the scrolls. Most were only lightly covered by her scent. He continued to sniff until he found one that was drenched her floral aroma.
When he had opened and read it, he felt his chest clench. It was an ancient scroll that told of how to rid a ningen of a youkai mating mark.
He lowered the scroll. It was very probable that she HAD heard him talk with Inuyasha. He knew now what she had been doing all this time. She had crept around and eavesdropped, all the while plotting on how to rid herself of his youkai. Did she detest the fact that she was youkai? Was that the true reason she had purified herself? To rid herself of his taint?
Sesshoumaru roared in anger as his youkai surged forth. 'She meant to leave us!' it screamed, anger filling its soul. 'She rejected us!'
Sesshoumaru sank to his knees, letting loose his maddened inu youkai.
'You baka! You let her go! BAKA! YOU BAKA!' Sesshoumaru's body shuddered violently as these words were spewed at him from his youkai.
Rin was playing quietly in the castle's massive gardens when she heard thunder. Frowning, she looked up. No, the sky was pretty and blue with a few white, fluffy clouds that looked like Sesshoumaru-sama's tail.
The thunder came again and she paused, rising to her feet. She looked over to the east of the castle and saw something enormous and white shoot out of the library's balcony.
It was a gigantic dog. An earsplitting howl erupted from it, making the ground shake.
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin cried, her tiny voice drowned out by the noise.
The massive dog turned and looked upon her with horrible, deranged, scarlet eyes. It stood there for a moment before bounding away, heading for the woods.
Inuyasha lay prone at the base of the God tree. He had never felt so miserable. Kagome was gone. He doubted whether he would ever see her again. Even IF he lived to see her time again, would she have survived the last trip back through the well?
He knew some things of her world. He knew that the people in her era were highly advanced enough to bring people back from the dead. He recalled the big word she used when she described this...resuscitation. Or something like that.
Inuyasha sat up a little straighter when he thought of this. Yes! Maybe they had resuscitated her and she is alive and well now!
But then he thought of Miroku and Sango and he slumped back to the ground, his silky white ears flattened against his skull. They wouldn't know what to do. They would be new to her time and wouldn't have a clue.
Damn Sesshoumaru! If he had put me down instead of whipping me around with that fluffy white, pansy-ass tail of his, I'd be with my friends right now!
He closed his eyes, fighting the fresh onslaught of tears that threatened to fall.
It still loved Kagome. It still wanted Kagome. It was hurt that she did not want to be like it and live a life of luxury with it and Sesshoumaru. But Sesshoumaru had to go and be a complete baka, pushing her and their pup out of their life.
It did not blame Kagome for what she had done. No, it was all Sesshoumaru's fault. It would keep blaming him and make his existence a living hell until he found her again...for Kagome was not dead, it knew. She had tried to kill off her youkai...but her youkai was still alive. The Shikon jewel had protected them both from death.
And now, Sesshoumaru's youkai had just taken care of business. That damned wench who had tried to kill its Kagome was now just a pile of dirt on the forest floor.
The colossal inu had sniffed out Inuyasha's first wench, the dead miko Kikyo. It knew that this Kikyo had hurt Kagome many times and she was going to be punished for her insolence. The insignificant, animated clay doll thought she would try to defeat it with her pathetic bow and arrows.
She never had a chance.
Once it taken care of the doll, it went on its way. It was hungry for fresh meat...and thirsty for hot blood.
If many ningens died this day, it would blame Sesshoumaru for the slaughter it was about to unleash.
Meanwhile, many miles away in a hidden den behind a waterfall, Kouga, Shippo and Kirara rested.
They were all exhausted from the journey. Shippo had cried almost the entire trip, holding on to Kouga frantically. Kouga himself had shed some tears as well, holding the kitsune against his chest. He felt his break into millions of pieces, knowing that Kagome was gone.
Kirara too, was quiet and saddened by the loss of her Sango. But she knew that she would see her friends again. She would just have to be patient.
They all would.
