To Covet

Rating: M

Anime: Inuyasha

Pairing: Kagome/Sesshomaru

A/N: I'm on a rooooll. Trying to pump out some chapters before life gets busy again.


Waking up the next morning was unusually hard for Kagome. By the look of the bright light sneaking in through the paper doors, she had slept in. The family servants must have been warned not to disturb her this morning. For that, Kagome was thankful. Thinking back on the previous evening, she threw her face into her pillow and let out a muffled screamed. Raising her head, she caught sight of herself in her mirror across the room. Her face was bright red, her makeup smudged, and her black hair a wild creature of its own.

"So embarrassing!" she cried out and buried her face back into the pillow. She would never leave her room again if she could help it. She didn't even want to face Inuyasha after her drunken confession last night.

With a sigh, she sat up and cringed as her head began throbbing. She cradled her face in her hands and looked up once she heard some shuffling outside of her doors.

"My lady, are you awake?" a gentle, feminine voice called out.

"Unfortunately." Kagome whined back at her.

"Your Lady mother said to let you rest. But it is time for your day to start, I'm afraid." The woman opened the tatami doors and looked in at Kagome in mild disapproval. She stood from her formal kneeing position and placed her hands on her hips. "Milady! You didn't even change from last night."

Kagome pouted at the lady now looking down from her. "Eri I was so tired and distraught! I still am."

Eri huffed and crossed her arms across her chest. Being her personal handmaid since they were children, Eri had no issue dropping formalities with the young Lady. "Well, come be distraught in the baths then. I'll wash you up so you can meet your mother and Lady Inukimi."

"What? Why do I have meet with them today?" Kagome frowned, what else would there be to discuss at the moment?

Eri reached in and grabbed Kagome's arm, tugging her to stand and dragging her out of her room. She looked around quickly and shoved Kagome in front of her. "I believe the Lords and Ladies will be elsewhere, but I shall keep an eye out. Can't have anyone see you looking like this."

Kagome rolled her eyes, and her thoughts then went to her sister. "Eri, has Kikyo been found yet?"

Eri shook her head sullenly. "No. But it seems as though this morning Lord Touga sent search parties out to begin looking. Hopefully they will find her soon."

Kagome nodded and her mood began to sour again. She allowed Eri to continue to push her towards the bathing springs, remaining silent until they arrived. Once in the changing chambers, Eri immediately began assisting in undressing Kagome.

Kagome sighed, attempting to relax as the other girl carried out a routine of scrubbing, untangling, and washing on her. "Eri…I don't think I can handle this."

Eri took a clip she had been holding in her mouth and used in to pin her lady's hair up after she finished rinsing it, moving on to rinsing the rest of Kagome's back. "What can't you handle?"

Kagome turned her head to roll her eyes at her friend, and Eri roughly shoved her head forward again. "You know what I'm speaking of…a marriage to Sesshomaru!"

Eri sighed and handed her a towel, gesturing towards the hot springs that laid before them. "It would be more than a marriage…it would be a mating."

Kagome stood and wrapped herself in the towel before walking with her over to the steaming water. She dropped the towel and walked into the warmth of the springs, hissing slightly as she adjusted to the heat. Once she and Eri were settled in across from one another, Eri finally began to speak again.

"I think if your sister can handle such responsibility, you can as well." She began and reached for a small towel that had been soaking in a bucket of cooler water, folding it and placing it on top of her own head.

"That's the thing, I don't know if she could handle it. Eri, what if she did run away? There have been no signs of a struggle.

"I do not know my lady." Eri glanced down into the water, uncertain of what more to say.

Kagome sunk down into the water until her mouth was covered. She blew some underwater bubbles and contemplated her situation. "I don't even know him. What if he is just as cold as he comes off?"

"I guess there is only one way to find out." Eri smiled back at her.


Kagome fiddled nervously with the obi on her kimono as she waited outside the doors of her father's old office. She was to meet with her mother, Inukimi, as well as Sesshomaru to begin discussing the backup arrangements. However, she had a sneaking suspicion that the two Ladies were not yet in this room. Eri could not stop giggling and pushing her towards the door, confirming Kagome's theory.

"Just go in! I bet there's no one even inside yet!" Eri's smile grew as she once again attempted to open the door for Kagome, before Kagome grabbed her hands to prevent her from doing this, yet again.

"I don't believe you! This is a trap, I know it." She hissed out and was caught off guard when Eri quickly slid her hands out from her own, finally pulled the wooden door open, and shoved Kagome into the entrance of the doorway. Kagome stumbled for a moment before glaring back at her friend. She then turned to look inside the room to be met with the cool gaze of Sesshomaru.

She squeaked and stepped back into the hall. "Nope!" she cried out and shut the door, separating herself from the room, unwilling to face the demon within.

She immediately turned to Eri, her chest heaving and her face bright red. "Why would you do that!? That was so embarrassing."

"What you just did was more embarrassing! You just shut the door on the future Lord of the West." Eri gasped, feigning a horrified expression.

Kagome paused and paled at her own reaction. She was going to have to step in there and apologize for her actions. She supposed she could have acted with more grace and accepted entering the office. But she was not ready! She groaned aloud and curled her left hand into a fist before she grabbed the door handle with her right hand, and swung the door open once more.

He was still sitting in the broad armchair next to the fireplace where he looked at her with a single eyebrow raised. She could have sworn she saw his mouth twitch upwards before neutralizing in a thin line once again.

She entered the space and shut the door behind her, her face still remarkably pink. She bowed to him and looked at him from under thick lashes. "My apologies Lord Sesshomaru. I was preparing myself; I suppose."

"This One could tell," he gestured dryly towards the door and her blush deepened.

She wasn't sure what to say after that, resuming to stand straight. How did one start a conversation with the heir of the Western lands? He continued to observe her for a moment longer before turning his gaze towards the small fire burning before him. Did he have nothing else to say to her? She supposed she didn't really have much to say to him either. She moved towards a second chair open by the fireplace, sitting across from him.

"It would seem as though our mothers are running behind." She started, her fingers beginning to play with each other. "Feels purposeful." She murmured more to herself before sighing.

"Indeed, it would seem." He murmured back; his eyes still focused on the fire.

She took the opportunity while he was distracted to get a good look at him. His long, silver hair pooled over his shoulders and down his back. The markings that distinguished his clan and status stood in stark contrast to his pale skin. Although they were half-brothers, it was baffling to her just how different he and Inuyasha were from one another. She glanced from his pointed ears to the red markings on the lids of his golden eyes. The fire cast shadows over his face, and his half-lidded eyes were now pointed in her direction. He looked every bit the Killing Perfection in this moment. Hungry and dangerous.

She shivered and averted her eyes to reach for a fur pelt that laid on the arm of her chair, draping it over herself. She rubbed her fingers gently through the fur before her and she wondered for a moment how he felt that her older sister was nowhere to be found. Was he insulted?

"Do you also wonder if my sister ran away?" she all but whispered. She watched as his ears seemed to twitch lightly as though to hear her better.

He brought a hand up lazily to rest under his chin, tilting his head slightly to the side as contemplated her question. "Hn, I wonder."

His vague answer caused her to scowl. "So unbothered, are you? Did you have anything to do with my sister's absence?"

It was his turn to frown as he glared at the noble before him. "I wouldn't need to orchestrate a kidnapping to get out of a mating."

For a moment, she sensed his youki reach out and begin to steadily claw itself into her own aura, causing her to shift uncomfortably. It was as though he were trying to insinuate he would be capable of far worse by flexing his power. She flared out a bit of her own reiki in response, singing his youki in the process.

His eyes narrowed and he curled his upper lip into a snarl, unrelenting in digging his energetic claws into her being. Although inwardly she would admit she was frightened of the suffocating presence he held, she rolled her eyes at him. "You're not a very well-behaved dog. My sister may be more reserved, but I promise you I will not roll over onto my back to you so easily."

She watched as his free hand clenched itself around the arm of his chair, his claws beginning to sink themselves into the dark wood. "You shall find yourself eating those words soon." He growled out, and Kagome shuddered, having no desire to decipher what his words truly meant.

The remainder of their time together was spent in silence as they glared at one another. It was not long until a knock resounded at the door, and their mothers walked in, chatting as they did so. Sharing a knowing glance before they looked to their children, they sat down and began discussing future arrangements for the couple.