She'd burned him. When she'd bitten him after he'd forcefully insisted upon the act, Kagome had seared his flesh with her reiki. Sesshomaru's fingers brushed against the aggression where his shoulder met his neck. With her actions, the bite would not heal for days.

Kagome may not have understood his need to be marked by her, but she'd given it to him regardless; however, she'd known that his demonic blood would have healed her bit in less than a minute, so she'd burned him, prolonging the time it would take for his body's natural ability to heal itself. If he'd had any choice in the matter, Sesshomaru would not allow the wound to heal.

Perhaps he'd made a mistake in insisting… for didn't it also signify her short lifespan when compared to his own? A few days and the mark would be gone. A couple decades and Kagome would vanish just as permanently. It was then, with his fingers on his puckered flesh, that he realized the full magnitude of his current predicament. He was powerful, confident he could defeat any foe who wished them harm, but even he could not defeat time. Sooner or later, death would snatch his bird, freeing her from his cage, a cage built from a possessive love the earth had never seen the like, so toxic and damning was it in its intensity.

But the one inside the cage could never be touched by his taint, was never truly damned. She'd be free… Sesshomaru tightened his hold on the tiny woman in his arms, silently snarling at an empty room, towards a threat that had no physical form.

"Sesshomaru," Kagome squeaked against his chest. "Can't… breathe..!"

Instantly, he loosened his grip. As if lost, his head bowed, refusing to look at eyes no doubt staring at him questioningly. His hands relaxed their hold on her upper arms, but as if unable to bear fully releasing her, he did not let go.

She called to him softly once more, her tone fully of worry. He couldn't look at her, not yet. Not with emotions choking him. He hated himself in that moment, almost hated her for making him feel so weak and pathetic. But at the thought of lashing out at her and seeing hurt fill her eyes was beyond what he could bear at present.

What have you done to me? he thought in what could only be named as despair born of a desperate love.

Was this so difficult for him because she was his first…? The first to love and be loved by him? Did these tender emotions go against the very grain of his existence that it was physically, mentally, and emotionally punishing him for daring to reach for something never meant to be his?

His face was held between two hands, his head forced up. It was then that he feel into chocolate brown eyes that regarded him with a frantic worry that was like a balm to his frazzled thoughts. Staring into Kagome's eyes calmed the chaos brewing within, leaving him empty, alone in his own mind.

Soft fingers stroked his cheek bone, soothing him further.

"Aijin," he breathed almost like a prayer of one who'd been saved.

"You're worrying me… Did I hurt you?" There was horror mixed with her trepidation, as if she truly feared she'd done some inner damage to him neither one could see with their eyes.

Trying to regain his composure, Sesshomaru allowed her babbling to continue unabated.

"I'm so sorry! I've never done this before—I mean the bite…the burn—I didn't hurt you did I?" She didn't let him answer because after taking another swift breath of air to fill her deflated lungs, she continued. "My powers were recently unlocked. I'm not sure how, but I've been able to control them better, or thought I did… I'm so—"

"Hush, aijin. I fear you may choke on your tongue if you do not slow down."

And as easy as snapping his fingers, Kagome was silenced. Though her eyes spoke volumes, demanding answers, and promising another floodgate of words were on the rise if he did not quickly speak his piece.

Instead of answering her question—what could he say? That he'd agonized over her emanate demise?—Sesshomaru stroked her back in a gesture meant to calm her. Perhaps to calm them both, actually.

"You wish to know about my half-brother, Inuyasha?" he intoned without inflection, to which he was proud of. Once more at peace within his own skin, it was easy to regain his innate composure.

Kagome blinked up at him owlishly. She still straddled his lap, standing tall on her knees, eye to eye with him. Her hands had fallen to his shoulders for balance. "What—" she breathed. A frown puked her brows. "Sesshomaru—"

Knowing she was going to speak about his strange attitude a moment earlier, he interrupted her. He did not wish to talk about his lapse in sanity. His ego was bruised enough as it was.

Gently, he placed a finger over her parted lips and hushed her again not unkindly. "Let me speak."

She stared up at him deeply before finally nodding her acceptance of his need to change the subject. Though this topic was hardly better than the last, he inwardly groused. However, he was too drained from overly worrying about how she'd react to the news of Inuyasha to continue worrying a second longer. It was best he spoke of the matter before Inuyasha could anyway, he knew. Kagome was right. They had to face their siblings as a united front. A small part of him shed from the thought of her learning about his past transgressions against his half-brother and judge him an unfeeling bastard. Best she rejected him in private than before the eyes of others, especially their siblings'.

"I was a dutiful son," he began. "I did everything that was expected of me in difference to my station, my future responsibilities, and most importantly, in respect for my mighty father. However, there was one thing I could never understand or agree upon, which was his fondness for humans"

He kissed her forehead in apology for how unfeeling that must have sounded to her ears. Though he refused to paint himself in a more forgiving light for his past actions, Sesshomaru did not wish her to think he still held humans in such low regard. At least not her. Never her. The rest could go hang for all he cared.

He'd learned where lying got him when he had lied to her in the beginning; repeatedly. The memory of Kagome's dark transformation under Tatsuo's influence, fueled by her own hurt feeling of betrayal and hatred directed rightly upon himself, filled his mind. The blackness of her eyes, the cruelty to her smile, and her all-consuming need to exact vengeance upon his head. He remembered it all. His despair that it was all his fault. He'd almost welcomed death in that split second, in penitence for his crimes against the one he realized too late that he loved above all others.

What was more, he wanted her to stay with him of her own choice, knowing all that he is and was, his past and present, despite his faults and look past his past transgressions. Most importantly, he found himself tired of hiding who he really was even if that meant loosing Kagome. He wanted her to choose him for him, not some lie he gave her. Not anymore. Not like he used to.

He parted his lips to speak again. "But he was my sire. I did not challenge his affinity towards them or voice a dispute. However, everything changed upon word of Princess Izayoi's pregnancy. At the time, I did not know her name. I didn't care to. Not until the day my father died protecting her and their newborn, bastard child."

Sesshomaru took a deep, fortifying breath. He felt Kagome stroke his chest in silent encouragement, not interrupting him but giving him the time he needed to speak.

"At my sire's demise, it was my duty to take care of his mistress and pup as honor dictated. But I did not. I shunned the mortal princess, refused her access into my home.

"She did not belong here," he said more forcefully, old emotions stirring with memory.

"Her or her abomination," he amended. He used such a harsh word purposefully, to make Kagome understand the full weight of his displeasure at his father for siring a half-breed. Verbally, he said, "The child was a stain upon my ancestral line, a disgrace. My father's disgrace I would not take upon myself."

He was silent a moment, reflective. Then he tensed, clenching his fist in the back of Kagome's haori. "However, I learned of a bigger dishonor upon my name; the death of Inuyasha. Though only half, my sire's blood still flows through the boy's veins, which means he was a target. Many craved to spill his blood for that very reason as an act of disrespect. Something I could not allow, so I housed him, both of them, here."

"That was nice of you," intoned Kagome in a tiny voice.

Sesshomaru ignored her comment, refused to dwell on the tone in which she said it, or to even look at her. The only thing he required of her as he spoke of his crimes against his blood was her presence, the weight of her body against his own.

"I gave them food, clothes, shelter, protection, the best of everything. They wanted for nothing." Hesitation before speaking. "Except kindness. I was not a part of the boy's upbringing. Princess Izayoi was to leave me in peace. If she required something, she had servants. I would go years without seeing either of them, though I was always aware of them. They stayed here in the mortal plan, while I resided at my ancestral home in the demon world, for the most part."

Kagome rested her cheek against Sesshomaru's chest, the weight of his words settling upon her in that sensual baritone of his that could wrap her senses in the most tantalizing of spells. Except, not right now. She understood what he was telling her. Though Sesshomaru provided for their physical comfort, he did nothing to spare their feelings. Emotional neglect. Perhaps even emotional abuse.

Remembering how he had inflicted the latter upon her in the past so easily and without remorse, Kagome knew she was right. She couldn't blame Inuyasha for his hatred towards his brother.

"You treated him like a disease," she said in the silence when her Inugami ceased to speak.

"Yes." No hesitation.

"You cared nothing for him." No question. A statement.

Again, Sesshomaru answered in affirmation.

"And he knew it," whispered, feeling compassion for the child Inuyasha had once been.

A pause. Then, "Yes."

"There's more…isn't there?" she inquired. Somehow, she knew there was.

"Yes."

She waited patiently for him to continue. No nudging, no prompting. Just silent waiting.

"Izayoi died of illness when the boy was still a pup, but old enough to understand. She had been the only source of kindness he'd ever known." At that, Kagome's heart went out to the little boy who grieved alone for a mother lost. She knew what it was like to lose one's parents at a young age, but she'd had her elder sister, her grandmother and the kind villagers.

Inuyasha had had no one. His elder brother was right here in her arms, yet even family had failed the half-demon. Her heart bled, and she tried not to get emotional over the past that was long since passed.

"You abandoned him."

He did not flinch under her accusation when she leaned back to look him in the eye.

"Yes."

"Are you remorseful..?" Kagome needed to hear the answer, though she already knew.

"No."

"Not even now?"

"Not even now," Sesshomaru reiterated.

Kagome's voice hardened. "He's your brother, half or otherwise."

Golden eyes stared back at her. His silence was answer enough. He still didn't care.

"How can you be so unfeeling?" she asked upon a whisper, more baffled than hurt by the realization.

"An overabundance of pride, I imagine," was Sesshomaru's response. A not too happy smile slightly curved one side of his mouth in a mockery of half a grin. "Filled with my own sense of self-importance."

"You can change—"

"It is too late. Such a fault is too ingrained within me to change."

"But you have changed," Kagome refuted loudly, getting in his face. Anger turned to sadness. "For me, you are different."

"Yes," he nodded, and grabbed the back of her neck possessively. "Only for you."

"I don't know if I can accept that…"

It was kind of scary. Kagome was coming to understand the meaning of staying with an Inugami such as Sesshomaru. Such possessiveness he felt towards her was not at all healthy. It was…disconcerting. Perhaps a little terrifying in its intensity. Until now, she had not fully grasped what matter of man—demon—she was dealing with. How foolish she had been. How childish and unworldly.

"You don't have to," he assured her softly. There was something in his eyes, something dark and burning.

"I'm afraid." Of you, she mentally finished.

As if he'd heard her unvoiced admission, he promised, "I would never hurt you."

Not intentionally, she understood. And that wasn't really the problem here. She was free, finally free. No longer in her elder sister's shadow, suppressed by Kikyo's greatness and reputation as a priestess. Kagome's powers had finally unlocked within her. It was she who had suppressed them, the only one to blame for her ineptitude with her reiki, she was coming to understand. But after accepting her strength and weaknesses, by opening her eyes to reality instead of living in a fantasy, she'd unlocked the very core of her strength.

And now, here was Sesshomaru, her demonic lover, the man she loved, and he was potentially just as toxic to her sense of self-worth as her sister had—unintentionally—been. His possessiveness could level kingdoms, she knew, recalling the damage he'd done in a jealous rage when he'd allowed the bandit general Onigumo to supposedly burn to death, and all because the mortal man had come between Sesshomaru and her.

She knew this only because of her time as a dark miko under Tatsuo's influence. Onigumo had told her much during their time together before Sesshomaru's arrival, and the ensuing violence.

Could she handle the lock and key his love came attached with? Or fly to freedom before it was too late?

As if sensing her thoughts, Sesshomaru tightened his hold on her, as if caging her. She looked into his eyes. Dark possession stared starkly back at her. A shiver raced down her spine. She was afraid, because though she desired freedom now that it was hers, love for this man was almost worth another gilded cage.

Almost…

Sesshomaru leaned towards her, his lips a hair's breadth from her own. But he stopped, giving her the option to reject him or to accept him.

Kagome shook her head, not in rejection of his kiss but in confusion of what she should do.

"This isn't healthy, Sesshomaru."

"I know," he whispered, his voice deep, erotic. "Kiss me anyway." A plea, not a command.

A small sob caught in her throat as tears filled her eyes. She cupped his beautiful face in her hands. His features were distorted by the tears that did not fall.

"This is so wrong."

Hands rubbed her back, a soothing caress, even as his gaze compelled her forward. But he did not speak. He waited.

So confused, Kagome gave up on thinking. The only thing she was sure of in this moment was the deep connection she had with this demon, so ignoring all else, she leaned closer. Their lips almost met when a commotion in the hall drew them apart. A second later, muffled voices.

"Idiot! Clean this mess up! If you've disturbed the master…"

"I'm so sorry!"

The climactic moment ruined, Kagome lowered her hands from his face, and she looked away. Biting her lip, she silently removed herself from Sesshomaru's lap. He did not stop her. They were quiet as the servants in the hall took care of the mess caused by another, and then they were gone minutes later. Neither Sesshomaru nor Kagome spoke during that time.

Clearing her throat, Kagome finally spoke in the hushed silence. "I think we should go see our siblings now…"

"Finish your meal, first," Sesshomaru replied. She couldn't tell what he was thinking from his voice, and he sounded further away. She peeked over at him, only to see that he had retreated closer to the window to gaze out at the lawn beyond.

Though her appetite had long since vanished, Kagome nodded, though Sesshomaru could not possibly see the silent response. Not knowing what else to do, and not really wishing to deal with Kikyo or Sesshomaru's brother just yet, Kagome moved to her food and ate.