Chapter 16: Uragirimono

Shippo proved to be as stealthy as he claimed, and the two of them left the castle without incident. Kagome wondered how it was possible for the guard to be so lax. 'I'll have to talk with someone about it later,' she decided.

The town was also pretty quiet in the middle of the night, which she expected. The kitsune led her through the streets and it didn't take long to reach the poor section of the city. The buildings where run-down, and she could see red paper lanters glowing in front of a line of shops, although these ones still seemed to have customers. Kagome realized that he'd taken her to a row of brothels and geisha houses. But instead of going down the lane, like she'd feared, he turned down a side lane and took her to where tall, ramshakle buildings lined the street. Then he stopped.

"Is this what you wanted to show me?" Kagome asked, looking around nervously.

"I..." Shippo was cut off by another voice as several figures stepped out of the shadows.

"Ah, Oujo-sama. What a pleasure it is to finally meet you." Kagome turned towards the speaker and found herself looking at a handsome man with pale skin and long dark hair. She didn't know why, but he made her uneasy.

"Shippo, are these friends of yours?" Kagome asked, glancing around as she felt the demonic auras from the two figures behind the speaker. One looked like he was part shark, part man with a huge maw full of teeth. The other looked mostly human, except for his slightly pointed ears.

"Oh, yes, he's a good friend, right Hiten." The shark-faced one snickered. Shippo said nothing.

"Quit wasting time," the demon with pointed ears growled.

"Yes, yes. I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Naraku," the Dark haired man said with a bow. It was then that she realized why he unnerved her. He lacked any aura at all. She knew that some people could hide their aura, but to completely neutralize it was strenuous and required extreme focus and control.

"Naraku...if you want me to bring your troubles to my husband, I'd be happy to help you," Kagome suggested, hoping that her instincts were wrong. The two demons behind him laughed, and Naraku smiled coldly.

"Oh, no, you're too gracious, Oujo-san. Actually, I just had a question for you. Tell me, Oujo-san, how does a miko becomes a princess?"

Kagome felt her heart still. Did he know? "I...I don't know..."

Naraku closed the distance between the two of them in the blink of an eye. "You're not Kikyou," he said, he voice cold, and his eyes colder, the black of his iris tinged with red. "But I can see why people might think the two of you were the same." He grabbed her arm to pull her close and ran a finger over her cheek, and a line of crimson blossomed there.

"Hey! You said you wouldn't hurt her!" Shippo cried.

"I said I would never hurt Kikyou. This is an imposter. But a deal is a deal, right?" Naraku turned to the two demons. "Give the kit what he came for and then take her to the mansion. Do with her what you want, but I want her alive in the morning." He seemed about to leave, when he smirked. "And you can put that pesky thing away." He touched Kagome's forhead and dark runes spread from there over her body. She felt her tenuous grasp on her reiki slip as pain overwhelmed her, and she fainted.

xxx

It had been three days since Sesshomaru had left on his hunt, and he hadn't returned yet. He knew he'd need to rest soon, but he found that he couldn't relax. He could still feel Kagome's bond tugging at him, gently reminding him of the distance between himself and his mate.

His mate...there was nothing he could do to change that now. She was his mate, for good or for ill. From the first time he'd caught her scent, he'd known he wanted her. But even when he'd been more than gentle with her, he'd still managed to hurt her their first time together. He doubted that she'd allow him a second time.

He growled in frustration. 'Why does that bother me? I could claim my rights as her mate and take her whether she wanted me or not. Or I could take a concubine. It should not matter that she cried.'

He didn't really want to examine his feelings too closely right now, especially with his inner beast telling him that if he returned home now and took her, she'd give him a pup by next summer. So he stubbornly remained where he was. 'I don't want a hanyou heir any more than Kagome wants a demon's spawn growing inside her.' The thought made him frown.

"Kagome." He whispered her name aloud for the first time. It suited her better than Kikyou. "Maybe I should have accepted Nakoudo-san's vision from the start," he thought to himself as he watched the stars overhead.

And then his breath caught in his chest and his eyes went wide. Her presence was gone.

Author's Notes: Uragirimono means traitor (although people can debate who the true traitor in this chapter really is). To the people who read this, I really appreciate the reviews. It helps me get motivated to get chapters done when things get busy. It took me longer to get this chapter done, partly because I had a bunch of possible routes I wanted to consider taking for how to resolve this story arc, so I actually started writing the end of the this chapter and the beginning of two others to outline where I wanted to go. That, and I have a big project that needs to be done by Friday. But, I need breaks too. :p