A/N I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters.

Chapter 11

Inuyasha got a call from his brother when he was following the direction the cab left in saying he had found her at the airport and to go wait at the guest house. He hailed a cab after that and arrived at Sesh's guest house before he heard anything. Sesh sent him a text message saying he was bringing her, but she was reluctant to join them. He made tea for them all and waited at the table. It seemed like an eternity before he heard the car pull in, and he was trying to remain seated. But when she walked in, his demon was demanding to be near her. HE stood up immediately, but she studiously sat down across from where he was sitting. He was about to go sit next to her until Sesh glared at him. He took a deep breath and sat across from her. She was avoiding looking at him, not that it should have bothered him. She couldn't see him with her eyes, so why would she make eye contact? It made perfect sense, with that logic, but he needed to see that she was okay.

"I'm glad you made it, d'ya wanna cup of tea?" He felt stiff and so not like himself. But he had to get her to calm down before he could.

"This Sesshomaru would like a cup of tea, Inuyasha." His brother's voice cut through the room calmly, reminding him that he and his mate were not alone. It also brought him back to the reality that she probably didn't understand what a mate was and was probably very frustrated about the whole thing.

He poured two cups and passed one to his brother and one to her. She glanced up at him, "Your name is Inuyasha?"

He smiled softly, "yeah, my father had a good sense of humor I guess. I just shortened it to Yasha to avoid too much detection. You can call me anything ya want though."

She just nodded stiffly, "That makes sense. I imagine it would be hard to hide in plain sight with a name that is kinda noticeable."

Her voice trailed off, and she went back to staring at the table. Was this what he had done to them? His stupid demon. If it was a separate entity, he would throttle it. It fucked everything up.

"Sesh, where are we going to be hiding? I know you said you had a few ideas, but I think we're going to need a place with a very powerful spell. One more powerful than I think we've ever dealt with before."

Sesshomaru only nodded slightly. "Yes, I am aware and I have several people working on this matter as we speak. But I believe it would be best not to discuss it until we are more guarded than we currently are."

Now, I have lunch on its way, since you two decided to ruin breakfast. Then I have to go to work for a few hours at least. Now, let's not discuss anything here. I will have you two moved somewhere safe before the day is over."

Kagome wouldn't look up. She was staring at the table as if she wasn't in the same room. And Inuyasha was starting to think she hadn't heard a thing that was said. What was she thinking? Why had she run? Of course, he knew the reason. His stupid fucking demon. It scared her, and decided to go tell her some things she didn't want to hear. Of course she didn't want to be mated to a Hanyou. She was the daughter of a God, for fuck's sake. Why would she think a Hanyou would be worthy of her?

Kagome was sitting with her head down, but her snakes were staring at everything. She was taking in the room and trying to keep her emotions in check. The last thing she wanted was to lose control. And with as terrified and freaked out as she was, she knew if she lost control people would be hurt. But she was stronger than that. She had been controlling her power for over 2000 years. This would not defeat her. She had overcome the loss of her mother and made it for the last several centuries with no one who gave a shit about her. The problem was, that had become the new normal. She wasn't used to people caring about her. Especially once they knew what she was. Not that that had happened in the last Millennia. And the person it happened to last time decided death was a better option than keeping a secret. So she really had to try to adjust to this.

She sat and waited, trying to think about all the questions she had to ask, like why Yash's brother was helping her. He didn't owe her anything. Of course it was clear this would mean she would owe him, and that wasn't sitting right with her either. She hadn't been indebted to anyone in a very long time, and she didn't want to start now. She would have to find a way to pay for his help and ensure she could still leave without problems later.

She could see Inuyasha staring at her. She wasn't exactly sure what he wanted from her. She was so lost with everything going on; it wasn't like she had planned this. She had just been trying to actually live her life. She had spent centuries alone on an island after her mother died. She liked people, even if they didn't deserve it. She did not like the Gods, but that was a valid opinion. It didn't matter. She had to figure this out. Let's start small.

She picked her head up and looked towards Sesshomaru, "How much do I owe you for lunch?" Small. Easy. Start by eliminating the debt. She refused to offer to pay for the cab, since she hadn't wanted to take it, but was forced to.

"Nothing. I interfered with your plans, as foolish as they were. I will pay for lunch. I am sure your ticket to wherever you were headed would have supplied food. So I needed to take care of what I deemed necessary. As of right now, you owe me nothing. After this week I may barter for something, but it will not be what you believe it to be. In all honesty, money means very little to me, and the greatest thing you may have that I want is knowledge and information."

Her head dropped again. Well, at least that would be easily given, but not as easily measured as currency. So he may protect her for a week unto she could arrange a ticket to get back to Greece, then she would have to figure out a way to get back to that stupid little island. Too bad there wasn't at least internet access there. She would wile away the days with absolutely nothing. She truly wished she wasn't immortal some days. She would have ended her miserable existence over a millennium ago. Her life had no meaning, no purpose. Even the blade of the Gods that she used to blind herself didn't kill her. She shoved that thing so deep, hoping to end it all, it took so many times of stabbing out her own eyes to get it to take. Apparently, even her healing powers had a limit.

Inuyasha was staring at her still, and she was making it a point not to let him know she was looking at him. She kept her head down, since he couldn't see her snakes' movements. She only hoped Sesshomaru wouldn't tell him. As she looked at Sesshomaru, she could see he was staring at his phone and resolutely ignoring the two of them, anyway. At least pretending to. She had seen him glance at his brother and then to her to see if they would actually discuss things, but that was not going to happen. Then he stood up, and a car pulled in.

"Lunch has arrived. I had no idea what you would eat, so I ordered many options."

All of the food took up the entire table and there were still bags of food on the floor. She was blown away. Did he order everything on the menu? And it was all from a very fancy restaurant that she had ever been to. She took a box with chicken, figuring that was easy, and used the chopsticks. She ate in silence as did they, although Yash was staring at her the entire time. She had never felt so watched. Hell, even the creepy guy on the subway blinked. She held back the exasperated sigh as long as she could, but it was starting to break her.

"Inuyasha. Why don't you go collect her bag from my trunk and place it in the trunk of the other car? Especially since you have decided not to eat. I have to leave after this, and I do not want her to be without all of her things." Sesshomaru's voice was even and calm. But left little room for argument. At least that's what she had thought.

"Keh, you have hundreds of servants. Why should I do it?"

His voice was gruff and irritated, but his eyes at least had left her for an instant and she felt an instant relief. Her shoulders sagged for a second, but he caught the movement and was staring at her again. This was going to be the worst day. Okay, that was an exaggeration. But it was getting so hard to keep her emotions in check like this.

This time Sesshomaru's voice was not calm or even. "Whelp, you will do as I told you. NOW!"

Instead of an argument, Yash stood up and walked out the room.

"He truly is not trying to irritate you, but I see the effect his staring is having on you. I can also hear it, in the pond out back. Please compose yourself."

Her head snapped up and she willed back the tears in her eyes. She stopped the water moving in gentle waves in the back. She focused on her tears and gently turned them into ice. They fell into her palm, and she placed them in her cup. This was a nightmare.

"I really think it would be better for all of us if I left. I can assure I can take care of myself despite what Yash has told you. I have been doing it for over 2000 years. I understand that you are trying to keep your territory safe, but if I leave your territory then it is no longer your concern, right?"

She hadn't noticed he was back within earshot. In an instant he was wrapped around her again, and she could see purple stripes on his cheek next to her face. This was a nightmare, only this one she couldn't wake up from.

"Please, Mate. Don't go…"

Sesshomaru made no move to stop him this time. She could see him waiting for her response over Yash's head.

"Yash, stop. You don't even know me. Please, just go sit over there and stop staring at me."

His demon instinctively tried to do as she asked to a point. He did not return to the seat across from her, but to the seat on the other side of her. He wasn't touching her or staring at her, but he was not going away. She sighed and shook her head.

"Sesshomaru, is there somewhere I can do research on this 'mate' stuff? I am going to need knowledge too it seems."

"Hn. I will arrange for some books to be brought to the other house for both of you. I think it would be best for you two to both look into this. Inuyasha, I need to speak with you. Come with me."

Yash continued to stare at his hands but did not seem to acknowledge his brother.

Sesshomaru's patience was waning, it seemed. He stood up, grabbed Yash by the throat and launched him out the open shoji door and into the yard. "Excuse us." was the only thing she heard as he seemed to move too fast for her snakes' eyes to follow. As she watched without moving, it seemed Sesshomaru was done being kind and gentle to his brother. He was holding him up by the neck and his body was dangling off the ground. Yash's nails were long claws and were digging into Sesshomaru's arms. Blood was dripping done onto the ground, but he seemed to be ignoring it. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she hoped it would snap him out of it.

Inuyasha's demon could hear the words being said, but understanding them was a different matter. He trusted Sesshomaru, even in his demon form. He and his brother had solved their problems a few centuries ago. They weren't friends in so many words, but they knew they could trust each other. Even at his worst, Sesshomaru would no longer hurt him. His voice seemed so far away, though. His consciousness was trying to hear the words, but couldn't make sense of them.

"Inuyasha, if you continue this foolishness you will lose your mate. There are some things I will have to explain, but until then I need you to regain control of yourself. You will be very regretful if she leaves the country and you cannot ever find her again. Come back to her, so you can truly protect her from the being who is trying to kill her."

At the mention of protecting his mate, Inuyasha was struggling against his demon. Even with the tessaiga in his pocket, it wasn't enough. He needed to regain control. Kagome wasn't in danger. He focused on her scent. It was nearby and a little alarmed, but he knew that was because of him. He needed to calm down.

Sesshomaru dropped him on the ground. Hard.

"Miss Kagome, can you please come talk to him. I believe hearing your voice might ground him. With any luck it might bring him back. His demon is feeling very threatened and my attacks will only exacerbate the situation. Please?"

She wasn't terrified, but she was far from comfortable with this situation. She stood up and walked over to him. She didn't want to give him false hope, but she needed him to be in his right mind. His demon was driving him just as crazy as his normal side. Sesshomaru walked away, giving them space to get through things, but close enough that he would be able to hear if things went badly.

"Yash? Can you hear me? Please come back?" Her voice was soft, almost a whisper. But he heard it. His ears were trained on her since the moment she stood up and walked towards them.

She watched in awe as the red and blue faded back into the soft gold, and she felt herself let out a sigh of relief. This was a nightmare, but at least he was back to normal. She knew what it was like to feel like everything was out of your control; she remembered when her powers were out of her control. Was he feeling the same helplessness? She had to think of a way to help him feel more himself.

"There you are. I was wondering how long you were going to be gone this time."

"Kagome, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I don't even know what the hell happened."

She shook her head, "apparently, you don't like the idea of me leaving. It makes your other side come out. Too bad he doesn't seem to realize that he has no power to stop me. If any part of you did, it would be you. I mean- I didn't mean that. I meant-" she let out a loud sigh. "Obviously, a part of you I don't know is not going to be able to change my mind, not that I know you that well, but at least we've spoken. More than his simple sentences, anyway. Not that I need him to be more vocal, or anything." She was babbling. Why was she babbling? "I mean, he can speak if he wants to, I don't expect anything from him, or you of course." More than that, why couldn't she stop. "I don't usually expect anything from anyone. It seems the safest way to not be disappointed. But I can't say that I would be tempted by someone who has said 5 sentences to me total. one of them was a repeat. Not that I need someone who is eloquent, or anything… Why can't I stop talking?" she said that out loud. For fuck's sake.

Her head dropped again. He hadn't been staring as hard this time, just trying to follow her train of thought, but his brain was rather fried after his demon had taken over again. His body hurt, Sesshomaru must've hit him again. That shit was getting old. But he was glad his brother was looking out for his Mate, even if she didn't understand it yet. Hell, he didn't get it yet either. But he would figure it out. He would do anything for her. She was the most important thing in his life now. How could he show her? She deserved to know.

He reached up and pulled her chin up so she was looking at him as he was sitting up on the ground. Then gently pressed his lips to hers. She felt the soft zing of electricity and she never felt more complete in her life. Sure she had had other partners, she was over 2000 years old and sometimes that itch needed scratching, but this kiss was the first time she ever felt anything like this.