You and Me After All
Chapter 35: Hostage
Sesshōmaru curled his fingers on Kagome's upper arm and gently helped her to stand up, and she did not deny him. There was a brief moment when his cheek was merely a hair's breadth away from hers, and his lips were close to her ear.
"Whatever you do," he whispered. "Do not reveal that we are not mates."
When he inched away, enough for them to be able to stare into each other's eyes, she saw a flicker of something rare in those golden depths. For the first time in her life, she saw the inu daiyōkai Sesshōmaru looking at someone — anyone — with an expression that looked a lot like pleading.
Kagome nodded surreptitiously.
Sesshōmaru turned and shielded her behind his body.
A male yōkai had stepped forward from behind the ring of black-clad soldiers, wearing all-black armour and silver sash around his waist. Kagome's eyes were drawn to the silver crest of a tortoise intertwining with a serpent inlaid on the center of his chest plate.
A Genbu? She wondered. With an aura that was on par with Sesshōmaru's, he was a daiyōkai for sure. Furthermore, genbu was one of the four celestial beasts, which indicated the male was one of a high rank.
Nevertheless, there was an oily, cloying unpleasantness emanating from him that made Kagome shrank away and hide herself further behind Sesshōmaru's frame.
"Lord Sesshōmaru. It has been a while," the genbu daiyōkai said pleasantly. "We saw a bright light from afar and thought someone might be in trouble. I thought we could assist you."
"Assist?" Sesshōmaru smirked. "Is that truly what you intended to do? From the way your soldiers surrounded us with their weapons at the ready, it looks like your intention is to hold us hostage."
The other daiyōkai's pleasant smile gained a chilling edge. He laughed. "Come now. We are both lords of the realm. Is there any need for such hostility between us when Pandemonium has not yet begun?"
He paused to study them both vigilantly.
"Come to think of it. What brings Sesshōmaru-sama and his lady into the forest at night?"
"We are on our way to Inuyama. However, my mate is tired," Sesshōmaru replied coldly. "We are merely taking a brief rest before we proceed with our journey."
"Mate? I do not detect any claim," the genbu lord said. He craned his neck until his beady silver eyes found Kagome's form, huddled against Sesshōmaru's back. He observed her clothing, her bow and arrows. The gleam in those eyes were not altogether innocent, and Kagome felt her stomach churning with distaste once more.
"A human miko for a mate. That is an interesting choice, especially one year prior to Pandemonium," he commented, and his leering gaze morphed into one of calculation. "Perhaps she could be persuaded to align herself with a more… prestigious clan."
Sesshōmaru stiffened. "She is carrying my child."
The Genbu Lord waved his hand, brushing off the inu daiyōkai's words as though he was chasing away a bad smell.
"That means nothing when there is no bond between the two of you," he said, a wintry smile on his lips. "My physician has in his possession some tea that can get her to drop the pup. There will be a bloody, clotted mess for three days, but afterwards her womb will be ripe again for a new batch of seeding."
The smooth sound of Bakusaiga unsheathed added to the tension in the air.
"You will die before you touch a strand of her hair."