Atem x Kagome

The linen folding innocently around her feet, the foreign beauty took her first step into the mighty Nile River. A shiver flowed through her with the gentle current, though it did little to ease her troubled mind. She released a quiet sigh, knowing that she should count her blessings and thank Amaterasu-sama for her good fortune.

Having been kidnapped from her home, dragged across the main continent, and sold for little more than a warlord's alliance, however, was not exactly what she would consider luck. The only thing she could be thankful for was Amaterasu-sama's protection on the long journey, for it could have been so much worse. For surely, if not for her holy light, the foreign beauty may not have been treated as such a prized jewel, hidden at every opportunity to preserve her innocence.

As Naraku would say, what Lord could turn aside such purity?

She supposed that her odd stare had also played a role in her abduction, however.

Her mother always told her that she had been gifted from the Heavens themselves with such beautiful blue eyes, but she had never been very convinced of such. She had never seen another gaze quite like her own until traveling across the continent, and it had left her alone and unwanted outside her mother's warm embrace. For while her mother believed her a very special gift from Amaterasu-sama, every one else she had ever known had treated her like a demon.

A monster hiding amongst them, just waiting to pounce.

The foreign beauty released a mournful sigh, as she began to sing, "Kagome, Kagome, The bird in the cage…"

Her only solace was the thought that her mother had been somewhat correct. While her gaze had not struck a man through his heart, asking her to be his wife, it had struck deep in the heart of Egypt as the newest Pharaoh's first concubine.

But, even then, what more had she become than a prized whore?

"When, oh, when will you come out, In the night of the dawn, The crane and turtle slipped…"

The reeds whistled mournfully alongside her, as if the Nile River could sense her agony from being so far from home. The current lapped around her calves, and while she wished to float away and never return, she dared not go deeper into the water. Not when the creatures lurking beneath the surface could be so unforgiving to any that ventured too far.

She knelt, water pooling into her outstretched hands. The foreign beauty gave herself only a moment to stare down at her own reflection, not recognizing herself beneath the dark kohl Naraku had insisted she wear, before she threw the liquid into her face. She scrubbed the best she could with her hands, staining them black, and bit her lip knowing that her efforts were probably fruitless.

The Nile revealed the thick black streaks down her pretty face, concealing her silent tears, as she finally whispered the final verse to the childhood song she had been named after. "Who stands behind you now…?"

Water cascading over her head, Higurashi Kagome quickly wrapped her arms around her naked chest and swung her head toward the person who had invaded her privacy. A gasp escaped her, drowned out by the second bucket of water the Pharaoh dumped over her head. "Pha… Pharaoh."

Atem merely smiled down upon his distraught concubine, pouring another bucket full of water over her head. He had planned to leave her to herself, satisfied to know that Mahado's spell had succeeded, but her quiet grief had stayed his hand. "I am afraid that we normally keep supplies to remove this make-up within the bathing house, though you are welcome to ruin your clothing if you wish. I can send someone to fetch you another."

"I… I'm sorry. I did not mean to be any trouble." Staring up into his soft amethyst eyes, she briefly wondered if he would seek her comfort on the bank of the Nile. Her face reddened underneath his attention, feeling him brush his finger tips across her cheek, for she knew that eventually she would find herself within the Pharaoh's bed.

Tilting her face upward when she glanced away from him, Atem scoffed, "Nonsense."

Her state of undress leaving her uneasy, the foreign beauty slowly rose to her feet with the intention to retrieve her clothes. She kept her eyes down, feeling the Pharaoh's gaze upon her, and mumbled, "Excuse me."

His own face coloring, Atem looked away from her for a moment. He had ignored her nakedness in an effort to help ease her mind, but the fact remained that he had agreed to keep her as his lover in order to strengthen his late father's alliance with Lord Naraku.

Kagome squeaked, stumbling over a rock embedded in the river floor with her first step. Her eyes shut immediately, expecting to feel the water embrace her as she hit the ground. Warm hands pulled her steady against a broad chest almost instantly, saving her from her untimely fall, and causing her to snap her gaze back up toward the face suddenly so close to her.

That, suddenly pressed up against her stomach, she could not ignore.

Her face flushed a deeper shade of red, as she gasped, "P-Pharaoh."

His face as red as her own, Atem could not help but stare down into her exotically blue eyes. He had seen many Northerners with them before throughout the years, but never quite as lovely a shade as her own. It felt almost as if he was swimming in them, unable to escape her hypnotic stare, even as he slowly lowered his mouth down across her own at a slant.

The kiss was soft and lingering; a silent promise between the two.

Pulling herself from his soft hold, Kagome quietly muttered, "Pharaoh?"

Atem leaned into her a second time, barely brushing his mouth across her wanting lips. His mouth creased into a smirk, feeling her follow him as he began to pull away, before he spoke, "I have only one request of you, desert flower." He watched as her eyes fluttered open slightly, allowing him to catch glimpses of those exotic orbs as she waited for him to continue. "When you are within my bed, I ask that you call me Atem."

"A-Ate—"

He swallowed his name from her lips, forcing a pleasant little moan from the back of her throat that delighted him.