INTERLUDE 3: IN THE DARKNESS CALLS

"Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls.
The little waves, with their soft white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls."
(The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

It takes him longer than he wants to admit to track down someone to tell them where Kagome is, and exactly who she is with. Not because it takes him a long time to get the where they are scattered. And not even because it takes him a long time to track them. He has legs powered by jewel shards. And he could smell mutt-face from miles off, and his companions tend to smell similar.

No, it's because it takes Koga so long to decide which one he wants to go to.

Inuyasha would be the first one to barrel off to find Kagome – but only after blaming Koga for leaving her there and starting a fight and just generally wasting time when they could be rescuing Kagome. The little fox demon wasn't a treat, but was basically worthless when it came to a rescue operation. The demon-slayer… well she actually kind of lowkey terrified Koga, though he wouldn't admit it. She'd been trained since she was a child to take out his kind. So, although she would probably be his next best option for someone who would go with him to forcibly drag Kagome away from the taiyoukai, he liked his balls right where they were right now, so he'd have to pass.

So that left the monk.

It wasn't that the power of Miroku's wind tunnel wasn't something he was wary of, it was just that he trusted the monk's levelheadedness over anything else. Sure, Koga had seen the monk with rock sized lumps on his head from fondling the wrong woman, but when it came down to enemies or comrades, he was the most even-tempered and sensible of the lot, never jumping to any conclusions without all of the information. Always looking at a situation objectively.

No, Miroku was probably Koga's best bet to find someone and have the ability to explain what had happened with Kagome and why he needed someone else to come help him get her stubborn ass before she was killed by her stupid good heart.

"So I need you to come with me and convince her that she's being an idiot and should leave."

He expects the monk to agree immediately, after all, Koga had just told him he'd dumped Kagome on Sesshomaru's doorstep and then left. He hadn't even made it sure she got inside okay before he was a dust cloud on the horizon. But Miroku just stares at him with a contemplating look on his face. "As much as I would love to drag Lady Kagome somewhere – " Koga growls at him at the clear innuendo in his voice. " – she has enough spiritual power, thanks in no small part to my training, to be able to stop me if she doesn't want to leave."

"Why wouldn't she want to leave?!"

Miroku blinked at him. "Because she told you to drop her off there." He shrugged. "Lady Kagome is very stubborn, Koga, as I'm sure you know. No one is going to be able to convince her to do something that she doesn't want to do."

"Hence why we need to drag her away you idiot!"

Whereas Inuyasha would have gotten riled at the insult, Miroku remained placid, merely shifting his staff from hand to hand. "And I am telling you that she will stop you."

"That damn dog demon is going to kill her! Or worse!"

Miroku furrowed his brow. "If you are suggesting that Sesshomaru would rape her that seems entirely out of character for a man with a young human ward."

"Yes! No… I don't know… but he has tried to kill her before! He's tried to kill you before! Why are you not more worried about this; don't you care about Kagome at all?!"

"I do, and that is precisely why I'm not about to go barging in there like I'm waging a war. I'm going to trust her judgment, and if she thinks she's going to be okay, then I'm going to believe her. I'll take my time getting there, because I'm not some hotheaded demon with a superiority complex trying to tell her what to do."

He's not sure if that's a dig at Inuyasha or at him, but it's not really important right now. "But he could kill her!"

"But again, Lady Kagome has very strong miko powers and can actually kill him if she wanted to."

"She doesn't want to!" Koga feels like pulling out his hair in frustration. What was wrong with these people? "She wants to hang out for a few days and then have him give her directions!"

"Well, I received a message from Lord Sesshomaru's estate a few days ago, wishing to verify my location, so I can only assume it is so that he can actually give her proper directions. It seems that he is doing as she wishes."

"That doesn't matter! She's clearly lost her mind!"

Miroku shrugs again. "Perhaps. But Lady Kagome has a way of understanding people and making them love her without even trying."

He scoffs. "Are you suggesting that Sesshomaru is going to fall in love with her?"

"Didn't you?" The sneer falls off of Koga's face with a snap. "Didn't Inuyasha?" Koga takes a step back. "Don't I love her? And Sango and Shippo? A more different group of people you couldn't find, all drawn together by her." There's a sinking feeling starting in Koga's stomach that's making him nauseous. "What makes you think Sesshomaru will be any different?"

Koga doesn't like where this conversation has ended up at all. "I'm going to go check on her."

The monk makes a noncommittal gesture, waving his hand in a placating manner. "You are free to do as you wish, of course. I shall collect Sango and Shippo and we will follow at a more leisurely pace."

"Tch, ridiculous." And Koga speeds off, back to Sesshomaru's castle, hoping he'll be as lucky as last time and avoid seeing the demon lord at all.

"It was very nice of you to come check on me, Koga, but I'm not ready to leave."

"So that high class dog hasn't given you directions yet?"

"We're just waiting for the messengers to come back, they can't run as fast as you, Koga."

He chooses not to tell her that she might be receiving that information sooner rather than later. Sooner, if each member of the party got their own messenger. Later, if the messenger the monk saw now had to continue on to find more of her friends. The monk said he'd eventually make his way here, but Koga wasn't planning on sticking around that long, not with the chance Sesshomaru would pop up at any second. "Well, I found the monk, so I can take you to him now."

She laughed. "That's alright, Koga, I'll just wait." She grinned at him. "I like it here!"

He blinked. "You… like it… here?"

"Yeah! Rin is so sweet and fun and I miss Shippo but I can't wait to introduce them! And Jaken is weird, but he's been cleaning and being really helpful!"

"And Sesshomaru?" He can't keep the sneer out of his voice.

Unreasonably, to him at least, her voice softens. "Oh, he's been wonderful, too."

Koga stares at her in disbelief. He's never heard Kagome's voice so soft and happy, never seen that tiny smile on the corner of her mouth, never seen that glowing light in her eyes before. He'd give away both jewel shards in his legs to have her sound like that when she spoke to him. Even now the tone sent a pleasurable tingle down his spine.

But it wasn't for him. It wasn't even for Inuyasha.

It was for Sesshomaru.

"Well, if that's what you want to do, Kagome, I'm not going to stop you!"

She starts, surprised by his sudden change of mood and answers warily. "Yeah, that's what I want…"

He makes a big show of telling her that he's leaving and that he'll check back later and make sure that dog demon collects all her friends and she makes her way back to them. He leaves her with a quick hug and a jaunty wave, making sure he's completely out of sight before he lets the smile drop from his face.

If she wasn't going to listen to him, he was going to have to find the one person who wasn't going to listen to her and would bodily drag her away from there.

It was time to go find that mutt-face Inuyasha.