Chapter 6 - Hear me now

Hojo was sorting the papers on the desk to neat piles. He sighed. His concentration on his work was being badly disturbed. Before his eyes he could see her pale face. The raven locks were framing her pale beauty, the corners of her rosy lips were curled into a smile, her brown eyes were shining gently... And a hint of insecurity and uneasiness was hidden into them. He had noticed her odd behaviour on Sunday, while having the dinner with her family. She had been unusually quiet and somewhat... he paused to think a proper word to describe it.

Distant. Yes, she had been distant in some way. She has also seemed a bit troubled and disturbed. Something was worrying her. What could it be?

Hojo frowned. She should have told someone of her worries. She should have told him.

Hojo decided that he would ask her about it on the date they were going to have on Friday. Their date... Hojo smiled warmly. He could barely wait for Friday. He missed his little darling, missed her so bad that his heart ached. The pain was nearly physical. But the pain did not matter, because he knew she was his. He really did look forward to their wedding. He could see it all before his eyes. Kagome moving in with him, bearing his children... She would become a great mother too, he was sure of that.

"Hojo-kun, are you already done?"

"No, sorry, I was a bit distracted."

"It's okay. But the boss wishes to have those papers in his office soon. You'd better hurry."

"Oh, right. Thanks for the advice."

"No problem," the brown-haired secretary smiled.

"I'm so sorry that I'm late! Did I miss anything?"

"Rin-chan!" Ayame squealed and rushed to hug the human woman.

"Oh God... What on Earth has happened here?" Rin could only stare at the scene that met her eyes. "Why are Hitachi and Kouga-kun rolling on the floor? And where's Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"I suppose he wanted a little time for himself to calm down. After all it would be very impolite to slaughter your fellow taiyoukais," Abi said calmly.

"Ayame?" Rin-chan asked for explanation.

"Uh... You've heard about the pizza-incident?"

"You mean it was true!"

"Yeah, I heard it from my e-mail-friend. She wouldn't make up such a thing."

"Who's this e-mail-friend of yours?" Rin asked, feeling curious.

"Uh.. I'll... I'll tell you later," Ayame mumbled staring at the floor, looking as though she had done something forbidden.

"Rin-san," a quiet voice came near her ear.

"Oh! Right! I'll have to tell you all something. I... Uh... Ayame-chan and Abi-san, could you please help Hitachi and Kouga-kun up from the floor and tell them to quit laughing. I'll go to look for Sesshoumaru-sama."
Without waiting an answer Rin turned and left the room, still carrying the forgotten Kirara in her arms.

Screw the universe, hethought bitterly. It was just too much to be a pure coincidence now. First, the one person he had delivered a pizza just happened to be the only one able to see through his sealing spell. Secondly, the miko only had told one of her friends. What a funny coincidence that the one of the miko's friends had happened to know the bloody wolf. And of course, Kouga had not been able to keep his overly large, annoying mouth shut. Oh no, it would have been something too good to happen, he thought bitterly.

It was so wrong. What bad had he ever done to the universe to be punished like this?

Sweet scent reached his nostrils. It was bright and light like sunbeams.

"Hello, Rin," he greeted her, not bothering to turn around. He felt a sting on the side of his neck and picked the flea up and squeezed him with his long claws.

"Myoga," he stated on his icy tone, "what are you doing here?"

Before the flea could answer, Rin spoke and calmly took the elder youkai onto her own palm.

"I brought him here. He knows what really happened to Inutachi."

"Really? Do the others know about this?"

"Not yet."

Sesshoumaru nodded and continued staring at the darkening sky.

"You shouldn't care about Hitachi and Kouga," Rin said quietly. "They still honour you. But they are just happy for this stain in your perfection, you know... You seem less superior to them now."

"Perfection?" Sesshoumaru quirked his eyebrow.

"You're the perfection," Rin smiled warmly.

Suddenly Sesshomaru did something unexpected. He laughed. It was a hollow laughter, one that held no joy.

"I am not perfect. No one is."
"I think you are. And so is Kagome-nee-chan, in her own way... Although she is a tad bit emotionally unstable at the moment."

"The miko? You went to see her today, when you said you were going to visit a friend of yours?"

"Yes, and I'm glad I did. For she was a horrible sight."

"Has someone hurt her?" Sesshoumaru growled suddenly.

Rin blinked.

"Uh, Sesshoumaru-sama, your eyes –"

"Is she hurt," he repeated with a louder growl.

"Not physically, but mentally – "

Sesshoumaru shook his head violently.

"Are you all right, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Yes. I'm afraid my demon self took over for a tiny while."

"Sesshoumaru-sama," the flea said, daring finally to open his mouth. He hopped to the inuyoukai's shoulder. "Isn't it already time to let the taiyoukais know about the fate of your brother's gang?"

"Half brother," he corrected icily.

Rin walked back in, following the inuyoukai and the old flea who was sitting on his shoulder.

Curious indeed, she thought as she stepped in after the two demons. Why was Sesshoumaru-sama's inner demon so worried about Kagome-nee-chan's welfare?

"Dear, where did you find that neko?" Hitachi asked as he spotted Kirara.

"I found it on my way to my friend's place. She was so cute that I had to take her along."

"Give her to me," Hitachi beckoned.

Rin handed her over.

Hitachi gasped.

"No way! It's a fire-cat!"

"But those are supposed to be extinct by now," Kouga noted.

"She must have been a persistent one," Rin cooed as she petted the cat. She raised her big pleading eyes to her husband.

"Can I keep it?"

Hitachi sighed mentally. Why did she even bother to ask when she very well knew that he couldn't refuse any plea, which she gave him with that look.

"As you wish, darling."

"Yay!" Rin glomped her mate and Ayame giggled.

Abi rolled her eyes.

"Could we get into the point already," she said brushing a lock of her black hair over her shoulder. "I thought you were supposed to tell us something."

"Oh.. right... Maybe we could discuss it over the dinner? Please, this way." Rin led them to the dining room.

As they all had claimed their seats, settled down and filled their plates and glasses, Sesshoumaru cleared his throat.

"I and Rin have seen a familiar face lately. It appears that the young miko who once followed my brother, is still alive."

"Kagome?" Kouga whispered his voice all raspy.

Ayame gave her mate a side glance and shifted on her seat feeling uneasy. She felt a shiver in her back and raised her head. Her green eyes met a cold amber stare and immediately she blushed and lowered her head.

What a pretty porcelain plate... Pretty pretty plate... she thought hoping he would stop staring at her.

So she knows as well, Sesshoumaru noted.

"How could she? She's a ningen," Abi said raising her eyebrow. She lifted the glass on her lips and took a long sip.

"Lately I've been a bit bothered," Rin begun, "since the legend of the Inutachi says that none of them survived. Then how come the miko is still alive? And I'm curious. What happened to Inutachi in reality? Now, we're lucky, for we have someone here who knows the truth. And he's in this very room."

Everyone looked around.

Sesshoumaru cleared his throat. Then he pointed at a bowl of rice, which had been covered by a lid. On the lid was standing a tiny figure.

"This is Myoga. He was once one of my father's advisors."

The youkai gathered around the table and stared at him in disbelief. Myoga acted as if he had not noticed and started to tell his tale.

"I arrived to Edo only a few days after I heard about Naraku's death. There I went to see the miko Kaede who is actually the little sister of the miko Kikyo, the priestess who originally was the protector of the Shikon no Tama. And Kaede-sama told me everything.

On that day several mikos had gathered into the village, in order to keep council. Kaede does not know the details of what happened in the battle. But she told me that Kagome-sama came, running, and arrived to her hut, clutching the Shikon no Tama in her palm. She then completed the jewel and thus it returned to where it had come from."

"What do you mean? It's still under the miko's possession," Sesshoumaru stated.

"Indeed. The jewel is inside her."

"What? How?" Ayame dropped her chopsticks. "Uh, sorry..."

"It's okay," Rin insured smiling.

"Kagome is the reincarnation of the miko Kikyo. The Shikon no Tama was destroyed as Kikyo's remains were burned. But Kikyo was reborn as Kagome-sama. Still bearing the Shikon jewel. When Kagome-sama jumped through the well..."

"Huh? What's a well got to do with this?" Ayame interrupted again.

Myoga stared at the red-headed ookami for awhile. Then he started to laugh.

Ayame shot her mate with a puzzled look. Kouga answered her with a shrug.

It seems that the flea has lived a little too long, Kouga thought. His brains have obviously started to soften a bit.

Myoga eventually stopped laughing, as he realized no one else found the situation funny. He frowned.

"Oh that's right. None of you know!" he realized then.

"Please go on and explain," Sesshoumaru said interrupting the elder youkai's thoughts.

"You might have notice that Kagome-sama was a little... Eccentric. Those clothes of hers and so on... Well, it's all easily explained. You see, Kagome-sama was not from that time. She has never lived 500 years. This time we live right now, this is her time. She was born about twenty years ago."

"But then... How come she met Inuyasha 500 years ago?" Rin asked, frowning.

"That's why it has everything to do with the well. You see, Kagome-sama's home is an ancient shrine. In one of the ancillary buildings there, is an old well. The Bone-eaters well, to be exact. One day Kagome-sama fell into that well and for a reason I do not know, a time-portal appeared."

"Well doesn't that explain a lot," Hitachi reckoned.

"Could we already get back into what happened to inu-tachi?" Abi snarled. She really couldn't care less about the miko.

"Oh yes... Where was I? Ahh... So, when Shikon no Tama had been absorbed back into Kagome-sama's body, Kaede-sama sent a miko to see what had happened in the battle. It appeared that the monk, the taijiya, the kitsune-pup... All of them were dead. Inuyasha and Naraku were nowhere in sight. So Kaede had assumed that the whole Inutachi, save for Kagome-sama of course, had met their end in the battle against the hanyou Naraku. The loss of all her companions was too great for Kagome-sama to handle. Her heart was shattered. Kaede-sama told me that Kagome-sama did not spill a single tear. That she appeared broken and empty and that the loss had touched her deeply. The mikos decided to do what they saw the best. They sealed Kagome-sama's memories and made her return her own time. The portal closed after her, as she took the Shikon no Tama with her."

"And Inuyasha?" Kouga asked.

"Inuyasha-sama arrived to Kaede-sama's hut about half an hour after Kagome-sama had been sent home. He had won the fight, but it had cost him all his companions. After he had heard what had happened to the woman he had loved...

A word reached Kaede-sama's ears a few days later that Inuyasha-sama had committed a Seppuku."

The group finished their dinner in silence. Everyone was thinking about the gruesome end of Inutachi.

"Her memories were sealed..." Ayame said her thoughts aloud on a quiet tone, as they were once again in the living room of Sesshoumaru-sama.

"Yes. Several mikos helped Kaede-sama in the task," Myoga told.

"And yet the seal lets some of her memories slip through."

As heads turned to look at her she blushed and her hands flew to cover her mouth.

Sesshoumaru made a little calculation in his head. E-mail friend. Living in Hokkaido. In northern lands. A person who most likely knew Kouga and tell him.

"You're the e-mail friend," Sesshoumaru said out loud.

"What is he talking about?" Kouga asked, watching closely his mate and the icy inuyoukai.

"I... I met Kagome-chan a few years ago. We've been e-mailing ever since."

"You knew Kagome was alive and you didn't tell me!" Kouga exclaimed his voice rising a bit.

Ayame turned her big green pleading eyes to her mate.

"Please Kouga... I didn't want to let you know. I.. I mean, I knew eventually it would come out, but... You... You loved her, and I... I..."

Hitachi laughed softly.

"You're acting a little silly, Ayame-chan. Do you really think Kouga-kun would leave you because of a miko he loved 500 years ago? After all those centuries he has spent with you? Especially when you are carrying his pup?"

Ayame's blush deepened.

Kouga blinked.

"My.. My what?"

"Way to go, Hitachi," Rin said rolling her eyes. "You just had to go and blurt it all out like that."

"I thought she had already told him... Or that he had smelled it."

"Is this true, Ayame?" Kouga asked watching her intensively.

"Yes.. I'm waiting for your pup," she said on a faint whisper.

A wide smile slowly lit up his face. He cupped her face and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Congratulations, Ayame-chan," Rin smiled.

"That's your fifth one," Hitachi pointed out. "Aren't you getting a little tired already?"

"As happy as I am for you, Ayame-san, I still think you should have told us about the miko." Abi said.

Kouga frowned and turned to look at his wife.

"You said the seal is letting some of her memories to slip into her mind?"

"Yes... She told me that she has been seeing weird dreams lately. About a red-clad, dog-eared boy. She's seen the others as well. It's making her feel very confused. She refuses to believe in the dreams, she does not recognise them. She doesn't realise that in truth they're her faded memories... But she really freaked out when she woke up to see Sesshoumaru-sama before her eyes. After just having seen a dream of him."

Sesshoumaru flinched again. The miko had dreamed of him? The miko had subconsciously remembered him?

Are you starting to understand why I want her, his inner demon inquired.

She's a pitiful human, Sesshoumaru replied coldly.

Ah, his demon self said.

Sesshoumaru could feel that the demon was smiling. He mentally kicked his other self.

"Her subconscious mind works as she sleeps. She sees some random mental images that are really actually some pieces of her faded memories," Myoga concluded.

"And now, she's a total mess," Rin said, sighing. She had been in the kitchen, giving some food for the little demon cat.

"You mean the confusion?" Ayame said worryingly.

Rin nodded.

"You should have only seen her today..."

"I have to see her," Ayame said hurriedly as she got up.

"Don't you think it's a rather late hour, darling," Kouga said pointing at the clock on the wall. It was a quarter past eleven.

"Okay, I'll go to see her tomorrow, then," Ayame said.

"Can I come with you?" Kouga asked.

"No, I would rather meet her on my own."

"But I want to see her too."

"You'll get your chance to meet her. Eventually."

Abi cleared her throat.

"I must point out that I feel quite tired. I guess there are no more matters that we should discuss?"

"No, I guess the meeting is over for today," Sesshoumaru replied.

"Good." Abi got up.

"Umm... If it just is okay, could we stay over at your place?" Ayame asked turning to look at Rin.

"No, it's fine, really."

"Good... Shall we go?"

"What about you, Abi-san? Are you staying here?" Rin asked.

"No... I've reserved a hotel room. No offence, Sesshoumaru."

"Do as you please," the demon lord replied.

"I'd just want to ask one thing before I go. You see, I can't help but to wonder... Why were you delivering that pizza, Sesshoumaru?"

Sesshoumaru flinched. It was a small flinch that barely caught the sharp eyes of the taiyoukais.

He had known the damned wolf was foolish and a loudmouth, but had he honestly even told Abi about it?

"I was bored," he barked out coldly and turned on his heels, marching away from the entrance hall.

"Here he goes again," Hitachi said rolling his eyes.

"So impolite. He should have at least bid us farewell," Kouga said.

"Leave it be, dear," Ayame scolded quietly.

"You know... I think I understand his reasons."

"No wonder Rin-chan. You're the only one who can see at least a little through that icy facade," Kouga pointed.

"Sesshoumaru-sama is not a person who likes to work in an office from eight to six. The past still haunts him. I think he still has a soul of the vagabond. He needs to do something else than pile papers up neatly. You know what kind of person he is... His nature's far too restless to be bound to the same place for too long. He needs something to do, something to entertain him... And maybe he thought he would try out something different, and therefore ended up delivering pizza. It was his bad luck that he happened to deliver that pizza to the only person who is able to see through his sealing spell..."

"The miko is able to see through Sesshoumaru's sealing-spell?" Hitachi blinked.

"The Shikon jewel," Myoga said, nodding.

Rin replied with a short nod.

Sesshoumaru was sitting on his sofa. That damned wolf just had to be so annoying! And so unable to keep his overly big and useless mouth shut.

It was funny though. He was the host of the taiyoukai-meeting and yet, in the end, he was left alone. Myoga had disappeared, and the taiyoukais with their mates had left his house. Was he that unpleasant company? Well, it was not like he wanted their company anyway...

A mewling sound caught his delicate ears and then he found out that the little fire-cat was curled up in his lap, both of her tails wrapped around her body. Soft and steady purring seemed - oddly enough – to ease his mind. Sesshoumaru started to stroke her fur gently. He wouldn't mind this kind of quiet, peaceful company. A company that minded its own business, didn't laugh at him even if he was delivering pizzas to time-travelling mikos... Yes, maybe cats weren't that bad after all.

"Shoot! What's wrong with me today," Rin wailed she stepped in.

"What is it, dear?" Hitachi asked as he switched the lights on.

"The fire-cat Kirara! I fed her and left her into Sesshoumaru-sama's kitchen!"

"In that case, you'd better hope that the kitty's still alive tomorrow," Kouga chuckled.

Rin sighed.

"Woah! Amazing!"

Rin glanced to see what Ayame was talking about.

"Oh. That. Sesshoumaru-sama painted it."

"No way... Why?"

"He said the image did not give him peace before he'd transfer it to the canvas."

Ayame leaned closer.

The painting was amazing. Kagome was clearly the heart of the painting. She was positioned in the middle, wearing a happy expression on her care-free face. One could almost feel the warmth and joy she seemed to be radiating. The kitsune pup was perched on her shoulder, looking sweet and young and innocent. The taijiya was on her left, holding the fire-cat in her arms. She was smiling, but a hint of sorrow was showing in her eyes. Behind her was standing the monk, grinning. His hand was resting on the shoulder of the youkai exterminator. Inuyasha, looking the same as always, was standing on the right side of Kagome. His dog-ears and red clothes were so him... She felt a sad sting as she remembered what had happened to them all. Kitsune pup, dead and buried. Taijiya and the monk, dead as well. Inuyasha, who had ended up taking his own life. And Kagome-chan, who had lost her memory, and was now feeling only confusion and pain...

Why had the fate been so harsh to them? What had they ever done to earn it?

"He gave this to you?"

"Yes... He told me that it didn't belong to him. But I don't think it belongs to me either."

Ayame looked at her old friend.

"You are going to give this to Kagome-chan?"

"Yes... I think that it belongs to Kagome-nee-chan."

Ayame nodded.

"True."

"Come, I'll show you two your room," Rin said, gesturing Kouga to follow too. "You better go to sleep, it's quite late already."

Kouga smiled.

"I appreciate your advice."

"What the heck are you doing here with that pizza?"

"How does it look like? I'm delivering it to you."

"Oh you are? Hahahaha. Why would you be - " She swallowed rest of her words. He had a weird expression on his face. An expression that scared the hell out of her.

And then, not even in a blink of an eye the silver-haired man was standing right before her. She had no time to wonder how he was able to move that fast, for his amber eyes had even weirder look in them. Kagome gulped again. Suddenly her mouth seemed to have gone all dry. Her eyes widened.

The kiss was sudden and it was far from being sweet or tender or soft. It was a hungry and demanding one. And she gave in willingly, she let him explore every inch of her mouth. He made shivers run down her spine and she snuggled closer to his body. She stroked his broad chest gently, sliding her hands over it all the way to his back, until her arms were wrapped around him and she was pressed against him. He allowed his hands to freely roam all over her slender body.

Neither of them cared about the pizza anymore. It had been dropped onto the floor and lay there, abandoned and forgotten.

She shivered with delight as his hands moved over her breasts. And then his hands stopped.

He lifted her up easily. She wrapped her legs around his mid-body as he supported her securely, cupping her behind. She moaned softy when he started kissing her neck.

He started to walk towards her bedroom, as he once again claimed her lips and the kisses only grew hungrier and more demanding...

Kagome jerked awake. She was still shaking, sweat dripping slowly down her temples. Just what the hell had that been? And WHY?

Girl, you've finally lost it, she swore to herself as the panic whirled restlessly inside her.

On the other side of the city, Sesshoumaru's growl was muffled by the fluffy pillow that he was roughly pushing against his face.

Why, he wanted to know, just why I just experienced such a dream about that damn miko?