Chapter 5

The next morning, Sesshomaru flew out front again, but they were only in the air for an hour. The destination was an isolated estate built on the beach with long, covered walkways stretching out into the ocean. There were mountains encasing the area as if they were a barrier wrapping around this area of beach. Both sides ended up framed with long, boulder jetties that furthered a bowl-like look.

Landing next to the building, they were greeted by a smiling old woman on the patio.

"Hello there! What beautiful children, you are!"

The wooden sandals shuffled through the sand, as she waddled closer. The greyed hair, old lady stood as tall as Rin used to and wore a diluted maroon kimono. Kagome couldn't guess what demon type this woman was, with only the lack of ears and light blue rings marking her hands and forehead to go off of.

"This is Lord Sesshomaru! My great sire has deemed two ladies of this estate worthy of introduction!" Jakken crowed. Kagome face-palmed at the pompous image now placed on the stoic demon.

"Oh? It has been so long since a lord has visited our humble home." She gleefully chuckled, "To have such a pretty one arrive here too, oh I feel like a young filly again."

A blush appeared on wrinkled cheeks under webbed hands as she cooed at her luck. After a moment to regain her composure, the old lady motioned to the estate, "Please come in children! My granddaughters will be in to greet you as soon as they come back from swimming."

Ah-Un decided to graze at the nearby shrubbery, pulling Jakken along with him. The poor toad could only slide unwillingly across the sand. Sesshomaru and Kagome followed the woman into the building to find a simple tatami mat room with cushions. As they took their seats, the old lady spoke again, "You just wait right here and old granny will fetch some tea."

Kagome thanked the woman when she returned with a tray for them; the smell of green tea wafted through the room. It was a bit too hot for Kagome to drink more than a sip and Sesshomaru didn't even look down to address his cup's existence. Granny suddenly frowned in worry, "I'm sorry dear. Was it too hot? Would your Lordship want something else to drink? Sake, perhaps?"

As graceful as always, Sesshomaru barely moved his head in a fluid motion to deny her offerings. There were sounds of girlish laughter outside the room as Kagome took another tiny sip. The old lady smiled as she looked between the two, "Good! They are almost here. It won't be long now!"

Suddenly, things were wrong. The world felt like it was tipping back and she was falling, but without moving at all. Then, she heard it. The singing was coming from outside but it was echoing inside too. Kagome felt the world spin and started struggling to keep focus. She watched in terror as the old lady's form ripped to shreds by large tentacles. The whole wall behind her opened to allow the mass of ever growing appendages drag its form to the water.

Worried blue eyes turned to Sesshomaru and found his gold eyes turned black from over dilated pupils. She tried to reach out to him, but her body wouldn't respond. The singing had to be what caused this. Looking for the source, Kagome spotted two women standing at the opened wall. They appeared identical but one wore black and the other wore white.

Sesshomaru stood up and started walking toward them.

"Don't go, Sesshomaru." She managed to whisper, but it went ignored. He steadily walked up to both of them before stopping; the miko struggled to grab her bow.

"How delicious is he?" Cooed Hibiki as her darker sister nibbled along her shoulder. Kotone moaned into the closest ear, "Good enough to eat."

Kagome almost lost hope of reaching her arrows when the whole building shook at the wails of the tentacle beast. The fear gave her just enough of a kick to grab it and wobbly stand.

"But Granny! His flesh will keep us pretty for years!" Hibiki whined while caressing magenta stripes with Kotone hanging off his spiked armor.

"And you are already so old!" Finished the other sister.

Thwack! Hibiki fell to the patio floor; she was purified to glittering dust before she even reached it.

"Don't touch him." Kotone shattered into agonizing terror at what was left of her sister. With a single look at the armed miko, her look twisted to rage. Her painted lips ripped to the jaw to reveal needle like teeth before she lunged at Sesshomaru's neck. Thwack!

The ocean around the walkways started to turn and bubble as the second sister dissolved from an arrow to the face. Sesshomaru still stood there dangerously close to the edge, and she prayed to reach him in time. Halfway to the demon lord, Kagome watched as a tentacle captured him and dragged his white figure under turbulent waters.

She gave up walking and quickly crawled to the edge just for the water's surface to explode. The scene grew more frightening as the vision in blue eyes started to blur. A large mass of tentacles wrapped around the walkways, crushing the covers, to lift its huge form from the water. Kagome gasped as the octopus demon revealed her beak while flinging Sesshomaru's limp form from side to side as her tendril moved out of the way of her others.

That was the last thing Kagome could see before her vision went black. She hadn't lost consciousness, but she had gone blind.

"You killed my girls and now I will slowly rip your lord's body apart!" The demon laughed.

Her legs going numb, the miko quickly followed the sounds of splashing and crawled closer. Finding the edge with her hands, Kagome took a deep breath and fell in. She was terrified as she held her breath in the darkness, hoping to be swimming in the right direction.

Then, she bumped against something squishy. The demon was howling and thrashing above the surface over losing the miko. Using her feet and hands, Kagome tried to flatten her suffocating body against the mysterious form; she had to make sure it wasn't a tentacle.

"I found you." An eerily clear voice cackled. The form moved out of her reach as the water unnaturally sucked the girl's body in another direction. Her lungs were burning as she felt the beak close around her. The edge sliced open her arm, letting what little air she had left slip past her clinched teeth.

Kagome took the arrow out of her ponytail, ripping through the hair tie, and releasing her dark locks. It sparked to life with her purification powers and then she shoved it upward into flesh. The miko held on to the wood shaft as she channeled waves and waves of her power into the giant octopus.

Suddenly, her lungs didn't hurt as much. The cold water didn't seem so bad anymore either. There was a comforting warmth from the blood clouding around her floating form.

"Lady Kagome!" a crackly voice wailed. No air. A hit to the chest had Kagome rolling to the side and vomiting. She gasped and choked on the water and whatever else remained. It took a couple more minutes of retching and spitting into the sand before she realized that she had some of her vision back.

Kagome sat up to look around at the shadows moving amongst pitch blackness.

"You stupid human! Look at what a mess you are with drowning and bleeding…" Jakken paused, "Lady Kagome? Why aren't you looking at me?"

There was squawk of alarm from the toad before his voice grew a little distant, "My Lord! My Lord! Come quick, my Lord!"

"Enough, Jakken." His lord spoke.

"But my Lord!" Jakken went silent, but Kagome didn't care. Tears bubbled out of dull blue eyes, washing away some of the sand that covered her face. Her words were as soft as her smile, "I'm glad you're ok."

She felt him lift her to the nearby stairs and started wiping that sand off of her wounds. Kagome would have never dreamt of witnessing Lord Sesshomaru cleaning her wounds for her, and now that it was happening she couldn't even see. Turns out, he wasn't the gentlest demon while scrubbing sand out of the large gash in her arm.

"It needs to be stitched. Instruct this Sesshomaru on the strange medical supplies you carry." His voice was still flat and demanding.

"Once the wound is cleaned of sand, it needs to be disinfected. There is a brown bottle with liquid that you can either pour slowly over the wound or wet a clean cotton ball and dab at it until there are no more bubbles. Do not pour all of it." Kagome tensed, ready for the joys of peroxide. It hissed and stung; Sesshomaru chose to pour it. Then, after a moment of silence, there was an intense pinch to her skin.

"Ow" She hissed and groaned.

With her teeth clenched and eyes sealed shut, the miko heard him ask, "The dressings?" It wasn't really a question, but she answered anyway, "Dab it clean with that liquid again, look for a square of weird fabric, place as many as you need to cover the opening and then wrap the bandages around it." To be honest, the miko didn't care if it was perfect, as long as it didn't get infected.

Once the bandage was securely in place Jakken piped up, "You should feel honored that my Lord lowered himself to patch you up!" Thunk!

"Can you walk, miko?" Kagome doubted it, but with a tone like that she sure as hell was going to try. Her legs had feeling again, but over all, she was drained. The miko took a few unsure steps and found herself bombarded with snorts from a certain two-headed dragon. Ah sniffed at her wound while Un nuzzled her right hand to be petted. She found her way along their side to the saddle, but couldn't manage to pull herself up. Even as Ah-Un lowered their body for her, Kagome struggled. Once they stood back up, her grasp weakened and she started slipping off.

A large hand wrapped around her waist and rested firmly over her stomach. Kagome's head rolled back against soft fur, and the last thing she felt was Ah-Un lifting from the ground.

"To the next lady" she mumbled in her sleep.

The next time Kagome awoke, she was welcomed with colored, blurred shapes. She was in an empty room, resting on a futon. Her clothes had been replaced with a grey sleeping kimono, but according to the square-like red and white blur beside her, she could change. After a year of wearing this outfit, the miko felt confident that she could manage putting it on.

Sliding the door open, raven hair cascaded to the floor as stuck her head out to look. The walls looked blue and felt porous. With a sniff, the miko caught the smell of fish. It took her a moment to realize Sesshomaru must have taken her to the next location, the Palace of Coral.

The information Kagome could remember about this princess: Manami, jellyfish demon, proficient in poisons and toxins. That last part caused the miko's stomach to twist. She was so busy berating herself for being that pathetic in front of Sesshomaru that she may have stumbled past a walking fish. Poor Kagome started imagining how he realized she was so weak or embarrassing and fired her or worse. What if he never spoke to her again?

"Miko" Sesshomaru calmly called out to her as she almost passed the door. She awkwardly felt her way into the room to find a familiar white figure sitting with a dark purple blur. Kagome wanted to believe that the large brown thing with cylindrical, white blurs meant they were discussing business.

"Well, it seems your human is awake." The purple lady spoke, "I look forward to many future business transactions." There were bows shared between them before Sesshomaru stood and started walking out, "Come."

Following who she hoped was the stoic lord, Kagome found herself walking out of a large cave and towards Ah-Un. The poor girl, still blurry eyed, couldn't tell where the horizon was and only saw shades of orange and blue.

It was sunset. A sick feeling seeped into the pit of her stomach, "Sesshomaru…" She paused, "How long was I unconscious for?"

"Lazy girl! Slept away the whole day." Jakken berated. With a deep sigh of relief, Kagome walked to Ah-Un.

"Thank goodness. It was only one day." Regardless of wobbly legs, the priestess climbed on and suggested, "Shall we visit our families, Sesshomaru?" The two-headed dragon stomped in excitement before following their master skyward.

"Lady Kagome?" The small imp started while sitting behind her.

"Yes, Jakken?" The miko tried to turn and face him but with her hair down it was proving pointless. The wind caused a curtain effect, which covered any features of the servant she could recognize.

What little peaks of green she could see, asked, "Have your weak eyes healed yet?"

"Almost!"

Kagome smiled, but it wilted a little because, currently, she couldn't see Sesshomaru even though he was only a few feet away. The bold colors of sunset reflected on his white haori just like all of the other clouds.

When they arrived that night the devious miko had Jakken sneak her to Kaede's hut. She quietly knocked in a rhythm that was sure to be recognized. Within seconds, two heads peaked out from behind the door. Kagome held a finger to her lips to signal for them to enter sneak mode.

As excited as they were to see Kagome and Jakken, Shippo and Rin were just as excited make a game of sneaking. She played it off well, but the blind miko stuck close to Jakken as he discretely led her back to her own hut. In the dark, her blurred vision was practically nonexistent.

Shippo somersaulted through her doorway, while Rin slid in keeping her back against the wall. Before Kagome entered, she paused, "Come in, Sesshomaru. Rin missed you." His gentle hum of acceptance reached her ears as his white fabrics came into view for a moment and then were gone as he entered the hut. The miko's heart pounded loudly in her chest and she couldn't tell if it was surprise at his sudden appearance or something else.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Rin is most pleased to see you." The young girl announced as Kagome entered her home away from home. Said lord had decided to lean against a side wall, allowing the budding girl to hold his mokomoko.

"Not as pleased as I am to see Kagome!" The kit challenged. Shippo jumped into Kagome's arms. The girl gave him the most incredulous look as he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Didn't you want to see me, Rin?" Jakken stood beside the fox and miko with a quivering lip. Yellow eyes glistened as he watched Rin slowly turn to face him.

"Why would Rin want that?" The little pig tail dangled as the girl tilted her head. The room went quiet for a moment, before Shippo's snickering broke the silent shock.

"Rin is teasing you and is happy to see you as well!" She giggled.

The toad hid his face in a brown sleeve as he teared up, "The world is so cruel to such a humble servant." The young kit leaned down to pat the poor imp on the head, he could relate to being teased by the girl.

After a few moments and a few stories, the kids were fast asleep against their adult counterparts. Rin slept cuddling the white furred mokomoko to her chest while Sesshomaru simply rested against the wall. Jakken was sprawled on the wood floor near the fire, the two-headed staff still firmly grasped in his little hands. The fox kit slept with Kagome on a futon, his small form tucked perfectly against her side. Blue eyes stared at the ceiling wishing and believing that she could make out more details than before, but they eventually slipped close with sleep.

With a shift in the air and the first chirping birds, Kagome awoke. The fire had died down to embers, leaving only soft beams of pre-dawn light to slip around her door. Her adopted son lay snoring along the edge of the futon; his cute paws were hidden under the comforter. Sitting up, the miko quietly dug her medical kit out of the deep clutches of her over-used, yellow backpack.

She was still severely nearsighted with everything past five feet as horribly blurred as before. It was good enough to lift her spirits and allow her to check the stitches. There was a faint blush highlighting her pale cheeks while the contrasting black braid rested over her right shoulder. He had stitched this for her and now she could see the neat, small thread lines. They were perfect.

Not wanting to disturb Shippo, the trained miko chose to forgo more peroxide for now and just apply Neosporin before bandaging. She was lucky that it was the left arm and not her dominant hand, but a wound like this would affect her archery for a while. Even with perfect stitching, there were gaping shallow rips branching away from the worst wound that needed tending. If it healed right, Kagome knew that she would have a pale band almost completely around the appendage; her inner arm spared from damage. Since none of it spread past her shoulder or elbow, the miko knew that very few would ever see it under the white uniform.

Years of bathing while in the same group as Miroku had the young woman trained to feel eyes watching her. It startled Kagome to not be able to just look around, however outwardly she calmly slid her arm back into the long sleeve. Feeling the fabric drag along the top of her bandages hurt enough to cause a soft scowl, but it became bearable again as she pulled the kimono over her exposed bra.

Stirring the fire back to life, Kagome pulled out her records. Hibiki and Kotone were a 'no' due to being deceased. Soft hands paused over the name Manami; she wasn't able to assess her. Looking over to a vague white figure, Kagome whispered, "Manami?"

It felt like forever before a masculine voice softly returned, "Incapable of reproduction." Dark eyebrows shot up at the response, but the young woman finished her report. Manami was a 'no' due to failure to provide an heir.

While packing the scrolls away, a sleepy voice caught her attention. "Momma?" Shippo rubbed at his eyes just in case she was only a mirage of sleep.

"Are you ready?" The miko asked, tying her hair up into a high ponytail with a new hairband. Clawed hands smacked at round cheeks, and Shippo was up and ready to go. They began their morning together running around the village in a large winding loop. Followed by an hour of vigorous exercising, Kagome excused on some of the arm related ones due to her injury. She used to feel bad about making the kit match her speed and length through all of the training, but they both knew that it was making him grow as a demon.

Physically, the kit had sprouted a foot taller within this last year and lost some of his baby fat. She would almost say that his tail had grown longer, but it was hard to tell in respect to his height change. If he looked seven when she first met him, then the miko would put him about nine now. The idea that they were only a few months a part in age went completely ignored.

After finishing their exercises, the pair practiced the use of spears by catching fish. Shippo's was barely over a foot in length, but it was just as sharp as Kagome's. They threw their catches into a basket and then spent a little time to rinse away their sweat. As a tired Kagome and Shippo returned with their spoils, Rin met them half way to the hut with her own. The twelve year old knew the training routine of her fox friend and decided to get a bag of rice to go with breakfast.

Kagome knew the pink blur approaching them was Rin, because nobody else in the village could afford such lovely colors. It was a little odd seeing the girl go through puberty though. The brown eyed girl stood to her shoulder now with wavy black hair down to her waist. In fact, it looked identical to Kagome's, but with how often the miko tied it up, it was hard to tell. The girl had also started to grow in the chest, but only enough to add a slight curvature under kimono fabric. Rin really was becoming the village's princess.

As the colorful form came into focus, it became clear that Jakken followed suit. They all filed into the hut as the sounds of the bustling village grew behind them. Sesshomaru had stayed against the wall, his position not changing an inch as they gathered around the pit. Using a modern frying pan that she kept in her hut, Kagome cooked breakfast.

"Lady Kagome, will there be class today?" Rin asked between bites of her fish. Jakken chewed on a fish tail as he eyed the miko suspiciously.

"Of course, Rin" She replied without a second thought. Kagome went on missions which took her away for days at a time before this, so it was silly of the little girl to think otherwise. However, a glance from Rin to Sesshomaru melted her resolve, "We are doing a review on plants today along with some reading and writing. You can finish early as soon as you hit the bullseye three times."

The young girl stared as she considered the terms; Rin knew she could hit it once for sure. Making up her mind, chocolate eyes sparkled in determination, "Yes, Lady Kagome!" Jakken looked from person to person for some type of insight as to what they were talking about.

The lost toad knew Kagome was just weird, but he almost couldn't fathom Rin being privileged enough to be literate and lethal. It was already uncommon for humans to be literate below the elite, but Jakken could accept that due to her being the ward of the great Lord Sesshomaru. It only really bothered him that sweet, little Rin was learning to defend herself because she might not need him to protect her anymore. As he worked through this process, most of it came out in a mumbling monologue.

After cleaning the dishes together, the trio walked through the village to the garden near Kaede's hut. The children were then quizzed on the name, preparation, and usage of the different herbs. The old woman hobbled to take her usual seat at a nearby wooden bench so she could sip her tea as Kagome taught the kids. By the time she reached the end of her first cup, the group decided to shuffle over to the hut Kagome had refurbished to help promote education. Kaede simply went inside to fill her cup again and then returned to join them in the little building.

The regular, square fire pit had been refilled with dark dirt allowing the kids to practice writing with long sticks. Their lesson today covered writing in small past tense sentences. By the end of the lesson, both children had mastered writing, "We defeated Naraku." Although, Shippo and Rin together came up with, "Lord Sesshomaru looked pretty with flowers, but Inuyasha didn't." The miko could only laugh with them as they cheered in victory over their correct grammar.

Kaede woke with a start, having nodded off during the lesson. She left the group as they started weapons practice. Rin was set up with archery training and today's goal had been set. She needed three arrows to hit the mark before she could be with her lord. Shippo, on the other hand, was being trained to utilize the skills he already had.

The kit and Kagome were playing a game of keep away. The idea was that Shippo only had to get thirty seeds into a small teapot. The catch being that Kagome was running around with said teapot and he could only throw the seed into it. This game utilized his strategy making skills, shadow clones, and throwing skills. This miko wanted to make sure her demon son could defend himself while she was away.

Kagome and Shippo spent most of their day doing things like this, regardless of her handicap. They played hand games like patty-cake, but Kagome's hands were glowing with holy power and he had to defend with his foxfire. Foxfire could switch from being destructive to defensive according to the desire of the user. There was also hide-and-go-seek, where Shippo had to transform into someone or something. When she found him with her spiritual sensitivity, he had to be able to distract her to escape and transform into something else. These games were designed to train both demonic and holy powers while still having fun together.

As they returned from bathing, Rin called out to them from Sango's hut. Before Kagome could leave again on the rest of their journey, the brown haired mother demanded that they joined her family for dinner. Little Shako slept peacefully against Sango's back as she poured the beef stew into bowls. The twins, Yua and Airi, were both leaning on Miroku as they stole from his bowl. Little did they know, he was reaching around to take from their bowls, too.

"So, how is traveling with Lord Sesshomaru?" Miroku eventually asked.

"Ok, so, he's really quiet, but Ah-Un is quite fun to ride. Right, Rin?" Kagome looked to the girl sipping at what was left of the stew in her bowl.

"Yup!"

They laughed over shared stories for the next two hours; Rin had returned to Sesshomaru as soon as she could. Shippo had a few interesting stories to add about his epic adventures babysitting the twins. Such as the time that he transformed into a third identical little girl and made the twins doubt that they weren't him in disguise. Sango had spent the rest of the night trying to convince the girls which name was theirs while Shippo got diaper duty for a week. Then, later, Shippo slipped ink into Miroku's tea. The married couple, Rin, Shippo and Kaede laughed at the temporary black teeth, but poor Yua and Airi kept screaming, "Why is daddy dying? Don't die daddy!" Sango chuckled before giving Kagome a knowing look, "Shippo has become especially skilled in cleaning a baby's rags."

As the day together drew to an end, the miko found herself sleeping peaceful between Shippo and Rin. Jakken was on his side, with his back to the warm fire and a ring of flowers around his neck.

At some point Sesshomaru had decided that he had spent enough time in the human village and sought a night of rest under the Goshinboku's mighty branches. The cold lord casually ran clawed fingers through silver locks to purge them of braids and blossoms. Even from this distance, he could guard over the humans he cherished most.