You and Me After All
Chapter 32: Truce
Sesshōmaru sighed inwardly.
"Miko, if you recall, I tried to dissuade you from crossing the forest at night," he said. "I offered to carry you over it, and I also offered to rent two rooms at the inn in town, both of which you were not amenable to."
His words were meant to serve as an explanation, but they did not have the desired effect. Instead, they seemed to agitate her even further. She snapped.
"You could have elaborated that there is a disgusting, horrifying entity that specifically targets our child!"
Our child.
A gentle stirring in his chest shook him to the core. Those two words were like lightning striking out on a sunny day. Unexpected, especially coming out of her mouth. She was in a fighting fit, and her scent was bitter and acrid with anger, yet he could not conjure ire to match hers.
The daiyōkai inclined his head.
"You are correct," he said, keeping a calm demeanour. "I should have been more forthcoming about the dangers that we might face. Had I done so, you would have been better prepared to make a more informed decision."
"However," he continued, looking at her. "Although I did not tell you the particulars of the dangers in these woods, I asked you to stay inside the barrier, Miko, yet you crossed it. Had you heeded my warning, you would have been safe until my return, upon which I would have exterminated it just the same."
Some colour returned to her face as her cheeks blushed, and she raised her hand to wipe away the sweat dampening her forehead.
"I thought she was a woman needing help," Kagome whispered. And, after a brief pause in which she fidgeted and looked everywhere but at him, she admitted: "It was foolish of me to step out of the barrier."
He studied her quietly. She looked chastised, even though it was not his intention to chide her, only to remind her that he had tried to spare her the perils of their journey.
"As you are exhausted, we have to spend the night here," he said. "The appearance of the Leyak was unexpected, but there are other dangerous demons in this forest, and they gained more power during the nighttime. If we were to leave this place unscathed, I need you to have a little faith that your safety is my priority and that I will not put you — or the child you are carrying — in harm's way."
He wished he could explain with waxen eloquence and have her believe that although what he had done to her was monstrous indeed, he was not a monster.
Jaws clenched, his fingers curled into his palm until he felt the sting of his acid. Once again, as he had done countless times over the years, he renewed his resolve: No, he would not end up like his father.
When her eyes found his again, a fragile thread of understanding seemed to pass between them. She still looked hesitant, but she gave him an infinitesimal nod.
Sesshōmaru had just begun to exhale a sigh of relief, but it proved premature. Before his vision, the pale complexion of her skin returned. Her face resembled a white mask that even her lips were barely there. Her eyes rolled back, and with one unsteady step backwards, her body began to crumble onto the forest floor.