Chapter 15: Mayonaka

It had been three days since Sesshomaru had left on his hunt, and he hadn't returned yet. Kagome knew that human hunting parties could be gone for weeks, but most of that time was spent walking to and from the hunting grounds. She suspected that Sesshomaru could travel much faster than that if he wanted to.

Things were tense around the castle. While none of the demons had confronted her about the incident, there were wild rumors going around about what had happened between the Lord of the West and his bride.

She was in bed, but couldn't sleep. She sighed.

"Maybe I should have told him the first night," she thought to herself as she watched the shadows being cast from the lone candle in her room.

Then she heard a soft tapping on her door. At first she dismissed it as her imagination, until it happened again, a little louder this time. Then she heard the door open.

Kagome kept her breathing even and tried to focus on summoning her reiki... and nearly growled in frustration as nothing happened. "Why was it always like this? Why can't I, for once in my life, be in control of my powers, rather than them controlling me?"

She could see a shadow slipping through the room, towards the bed. She tensed, ready for battle.

"Kikyou?" came a whisper as a ball of orange fur peeked over the top of her futon.

"Shippo? How did you even get in here?" Kagome recognized the kitsune and relaxed.

"Heh, the guards got luck last time I was here. I'm actually pretty good at getting around without being seen." Shippo puffed out his chest in pride and smiled.

Kagome frowned. "You really shouldn't have snuck in here. I'm glad that you're alright, but it's dangerous."

"Ah, don't worry about me! I'm tough," he smiled at her, but she could sense something was bothering him.

"Why'd you come here, Shippo?"

The kitsune looked nervous. "I...I wanted to show you what's it's really like outside the castle."

"What it's really like?" Kagome frowned.

"You seem like you really care about how the demons out there are living. I'm not the only demon who has to steal food out there, but Sesshomaru doesn't care as long as the inu prosper."

Kagome nodded. She'd seen signs of it when dealing with Sesshomaru. While he was a powerful warlord and struck fear into his enemies, he often neglected his duties as a ruler in favor of martial prowess. Even his spontaneous hunting trip spoke of his lack of respect for his duties as a lord, for while he'd appointed magistrates to handle afairs, she knew that the mice loved to play when the cat was away.

"How am I supposed to get past the guards, though? They aren't likely to just let me leave here, you know."

"I can put them to sleep for a few minutes. And I can have you back in before anyone even knows you've been gone."

Kagome chewed her lip again. 'What could it hurt?' she decided. 'Anyway, if Sesshomaru had just been honest, rather than acting like a spolit child, we wouldn't have been in this situation to behing with.'

She knew she was doin this mostly to spite him, but at this moment, she just didn't care. She got up and quickly dressed in an old yukata she had saved. She still wanted to wear her gi, but it would be far too suspicious in a town full of demons.

Once she was dressed, Shippo guided her out of the castle.

Author's Notes: Mayonaka means 'deep night' or 'midnight'.