A/N: I think I'm going to start posting smaller chapters-like 5 or 6 pages worth at a time- instead of 11 or more. That way, I'll be able to update quicker. Props to Lurkinginshadows for giving me part of this chapter's idea.
Creitros: I liked the idea you suggested, but I just couldn't find a way to incorporate it smoothly into what I have planned. It was a great idea though.
Chapter 15
It had been nearly a week. Nearly an entire week and Inuyasha and his shortened numbered group had still not moved from the hut where so much had occurred. Sure, Kohaku had joined their group, which Sango was extremely glad of (and Miroku was too, because Sango didn't seem as violent to his approaches as of late) yet with the parting of Kagome and Shippo from the rest, Inuyasha's group seemed so much smaller and quieter. Maybe it was because normally Kagome's huge heart seemed to take up so much room but now...it was gone...she was gone. Perhaps the reason Inuyasha's gang had been so quiet lately was because Inuyasha himself was hardly present. The hanyou just sat on a nearby hill staring unseeingly at the horizon in the direction they had last seen Kagome walk off in.
She had left them and she had left him...And with his brother? Inuyasha still growled at the thought. It just didn't seem possible. Obviously, there was some sort of connection between Sesshomaru and Kagome or else Tensaiga wouldn't have revived the young Miko. But that look on Sesshomaru's face- it was almost loving as he looked at the dead girl right before he revived her!
So now, after nearly a whole week, Inuyasha was still brooding in his own self pity. "I lost Kagome. I lost her.. I lost both of them...I couldn't save Kikyo...and now...I couldn't keep Kagome..." was all he could say to himself. Inuyasha was so caught up in his despair, he didn't even see the approaching tornado; he didn't smell the stench of wolf; he didn't notice anything until it hit him- Kouga that is.
Running up with his jewel-shard-enhanced legs, Kouga landed a hard punch straight on Inuyasha'a jaw breaking Inuyasha out of his regretful reverie and sending him sprawling down the other side of the hill. Kouga continued his attack, barraging the hanyou with darting kicks and the odd quick punch. Still, Inuyasha didn't respond to the blows. He didn't try to block or dodge. Hell, he didn't even curse at the wolf demon like he usually did for no reason at all. Inuyasha just took every blow from the wolf in silence, as if this physical pain was helping him deal with his emotional pain.
Finally, Kouga stopped his attack, though his still had a fist up and ready to punch the hanyou if the desire came over him. The wolf prince was breathing heavily and Inuyasha sat up from where he had fallen down the hill, but he was still not focused on anything. His clawed hand came up to his jaw where Kouga had first hit him as if he was finally registering the pain.
Kouga's shout brought Inuyasha's despondent focus onto the wolf leader.
"Dog turd!" He yelled at the hanyou, "You lost me my woman!" Of course, Kouga knew that Kagome could no longer be considered his woman, not if he wanted to keep certain body parts from being ripped off by an angry Sesshomaru, but the excuse made it sound more justifiable for him to beat Inuyasha up. "Couldn't you even hold on to her? Why did you let that scrawny piece-of-dog-shit take her?"
Inuyasha may not have registered anything else, but the fact that Kouga must have seen Kagome did register. "You've seen Kagome?" asked Inuyasha desperately, scrambling up off the ground to be Kouga's height.
"Yeah. I've seen her. Just a few days ago," said Kouga wondering how to break the news of Kagome and Sesshomaru's mating. "She was with that piece-of-shit brother of yours."
"And...and did she look happy..to be with him?" questioned Inuyasha timidly.
"I'd say she did. So did dog shit himself."
"What!?!"
"They..uh..he...and..she...well...they've mated, Inuyasha,"said Kouga. For the first time since they had met, Kouga used Inuyasha's given name, but it was overlooked. Silence. Complete and utter silence followed this simple declaration.
Inuyasha did a very good impression of a gold fish before finally whispering, more to himself than Kouga, "Damn! He moves fast. How am I supposed the compete with that? I've lost her then. I've truly lost her."
"Yes, you have dog-turd. You lost her for both of us. At least I still have my good looks and manly charm. I can find another woman, but you? I guess your just out of luck...I'm not sure what Kagome saw in you in the first place, mutt."
"Shut up wimpy wolf!" snapped Inuyasha, the mope finally coming off his face to be replaced with fierce determination.
"I'll win her back," declared Inuyasha threatening his half-brother who wasn't even there, "I'll take her from you...she has to still love me...it was just a fight..." Inuyasha brandished a fists, his knuckles cracking dangerously.
Kouga brandished his own fist. "And how are you going to do that, mud-for-brains? Or maybe you didn't hear me right. She's his, they're mates, it's the opponent's-head-rolling end of battle, and you're out of luck. She has his mark which means it's all over for us dog-turd, unless you plan on killing your brother."
If looks could kill, Kouga's body parts would be strewn out across the land by now. Inuyasha was still determined pledging, "If that's what I have to do, then I'll kill him! I've been meaning to finish him off anyway."
Kouga punched the back of the half demon's head leaving a sizable lump, "Idiot! Like you would stand a chance against the Lord of the Western Lands if he was fighting you seriously ."
"I can kill him! I cut off his arm! I can finish him. All I have to do is go talk to Kagome, she'll realize everything was a mistake, she'll come back, Sesshomaru won't stop her, and she'll understand everything."
"I'm afraid Kouga's right this time Inuyasha," said Miroku. He had once again been eavesdropping in the bushes until he felt the need to finally interject. He continued, "Kagome broke it off with you even before Sesshomaru took her away. She told you she didn't love you anymore, that you waited too long. She won't come back to you anymore Inuyasha. I think that's the true reason she was training her miko abilities- so that she would be strong enough that she could leave you and not owe you anything. And you'd be a fool to think you could beat Sesshomaru in a serious fight. The only reason you cut off his arm was because he under estimated you once. He won't do it again. Face it Inuyasha, Kagome loves Sesshomaru now, not you."
"You eavesdropped on me and Kagome's conversation?" asked Inuyasha aghast (if he knew what aghast meant). "Never mind, you always do. But how do you know she loves Kagome, Sesshomaru could've forced her or something."
"No, it's Kagome," broke in Sango, untangling herself from the bushes she had been eavesdropping from. Miroku stood there in open-mouthed shock-apparently Sango had picked up a rather bad habit of his. The demon slayer continued of Kagome's behalf, "Kagome sees the good in almost everyone to start with, so she is open-minded enough to give Sesshomaru a chance. She's also brave, kind, sweet, strong, beautiful, and strong-willed. Any man could fall in love with her. Not to mention, Kagome's like a little sister to me, and I hardly think she would let any man bed her unless she loved him. She's that kind of pure-souled spirit. AND you saw her power-if she didn't want it, she would've just purified Sesshomaru's ass."
Miroku thought he was going to faint as he heard the one woman he was actually serious about bearing his children talk about such things. It just had his mind in the gutter with so many day dreams of certain encounters he would like to have with a fierce demon slayer. He began to blush lightly as he stood there now completely apart from the argument that had been going on.
"But Sesshomaru couldn't love her- she's human! He hates humans," argued Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha, seriously, did you pay any attention to them when Kagome died? The look on Sesshomaru's face, well, it had emotion! Since when has your brother had any emotion. And when Kagome was revived and she looked into Sesshomaru's eyes, there was something there. That look they shared. It was...loving...sort of radiated a deeply hidden passion."
"But still...that could've been a trick of the light..." Inuyasha's arguments were running out. They were just getting weaker and weaker as his so-called friends shot them down one by one. He had only one rational thought that might save his argument, "But she couldn't love him. If she used to love me, then why did we never..why didn't she ever act like she wanted to...you know...mate?"
"How would you know what she wanted dog-turd?" growled Kouga. "You always had you head shoved too far up your own ass to even see that light of day, much less see how much Kagome wanted you."
Miroku finally drug his mind out of the gutter and picked up where Kouga had left off, "and you were too busy chasing after Kikyo, always shoving her to the side and making her feel like a cheap imitation of the clay-pot-of-a-woman who used to love you. But Kikyo's dead! That nody was only mud, bone, and part of Kagome's soul. Kagome fell out of love with you and it's your own fault. Maybe your brother can treat her better than you ever did."
Inuyasha stumbled backwards a step, eyes darting around almost blindly. He fell to his knees mumbling, "But I can't believe she'd run to my brother, not until I actually see it."
"You want to see it?" asked Sango, "then let's go see it. Let's go to where ever Sesshomaru lives right now."
"My father's castle-that's where Sesshomaru lives," said Inuyasha softly, his brow furrowed in thought, He weighed his options quickly to himself. He finally said, "I'll lead the way."
Sango and Miroku went to get their supplies, Kohaku, and Kirara while Kouga made his dramatic exit as always, "Say hi to Kagome for me when you see her, mutt. I need to get back to my tribe. Later dog turd!"
A mini-tornado later, Inuyasha's group had rejoined and began following Inuyasha, who still looked deep in thought. No one spoke a word.
O0o.o0O
Sesshomaru helped Kagome out of the modern times side of the well. They had returned without further incident to Inutashio's castle and only had to wait a few short days for a full moon to complete the ritual just as the eel-soothsayer had instructed. Sesshomaru remembered burying the flask that the Drink of Anomede would ferment in.
flashback begin
Kagome and himself were next to the Goshinboku tree in Inuyasha Forest. The trees around them threw long shadows over them as they caught the last of the sun's rays before it set. Pink and orange were being overpowered by purple and blue in the sky signaling it was time to complete the ritual. Sesshomaru handed Kagome a silver flask filled with a brownish liquid..
She grunted as it's weight was transferred to her and voiced, "Kami, how is this so heavy? It's only a liquid."
Sesshomaru answered in his usual cool manner, "I had the flask made very thick. It has to last 500 years underground, remember?"
"Of course, I should have thought of that," Kagome scolded herself. Sesshomaru hid his smile. She always found a way to amuse him, even something so simple.
Kagome held the flask while Sesshomaru easily uncorked it. He drew a simple dagger from his deep sleeves and nicked the tip of his index finger. He waited for the blood to pool significantly before shaking his finger above the top of the flask. A single drop of his red blood fell into the container which he then corked without much trouble. His finger had already healed by the time he was stashing the dagger back from where he had drew it from.
"A drop of my demon blood to complete the ritual before we bury it," Sesshomaru related to Kagome.
He gently took the flask back a gave it a swirl to mix the blood with the boiled leaves of the Tree of Emoceba Anomede. With a flick of his wrist, his poison whip came into his hand. After another flick, a three-foot-deep hole (a/n because were pretending they know American measurements here. Downward and Onward!) appeared in the ground by the base of the massive tree. Sesshomaru placed the flask in the hole before covering up. He stepped back from his work and put his hand around Kagome's waist.
"Is that it? Is the ritual complete?" asked Kagome quietly.
"Almost," replied Sesshomaru before spinning Kagome completely around to face him and stealing a kiss from her. Almost as quick as it had happened, he released her and started walking to the bone-eater's well.
Kagome's hand went to her lips for a few seconds before she could finally realize what had just happened. "Hey! I don't think that was on the original agenda for the ritual!" Nevertheless, she hurried after him.
Sesshomaru just smirked and said, "Perhaps."
end flashback
Now they were in modern times and all they had to do was retrieve the flask from the ground under the tree-and pray it was still there...and inform Kagome's family of what they were planning to do. Sesshomaru did NOT look forward to that!
"Well, let's get this over with. We should dig up the Drink of Anomede first in case it's not there and before we uselessly explain the whole becoming a demon thing to my family," voiced Kagome in a whisper as if afraid to wake someone- it felt like it was late at night but really the last tendrils of light had just vanished from the sky. Sesshomaru gazed upon his mate's apprehension and allowed himself to indulge in a small smile. Kagome glared at him.
"What's so funny?" she asked defensively, her anger flaring forth as she place her hands on her hips.
Sesshomaru looked at the night stars so it would appear as if he were talking to himself rather than Kagome and sighed, "To think that she is more scared of her mother than this Demon Lord of the Western Lands. Either she's insane or I've gone soft."
"Just remember that this miko can purify this demon lord's ass if he makes her mad enough," replied Kagome giving Sesshomaru a playful poke in the side.
"But then, what would you tell Rin, I wonder? We promised that BOTH of us would return to her by morning. That means no purifying my...posterior before then."
Kagome shoved a shovel she had been retrieving from a shed into Sesshomaru's hands ordering, "Just dig, oh high and mighty, and we might be able to keep our promise."
"Yes milady," mocked Sesshomaru, easily removing the soil from the base of the Goshinboku tree where they had buried the silver flask. He soon bent down over the hole and fished out a worn looking flask, no longer silver but stained a reddish brown from the mud. He delicately held it before gently shaking it. They could hear the sluggish slosh of liquid inside. It appeared that the drink of Anomede had indeed lasted 500 years.
A smile came to both Sesshomaru and Kagome's faces as they locked eyes before Kagome popped up and quickly kissed him. She then took his clawed hand that wasn't holding the once-silver flask and drug him to the house.
"Mom! Souta! Gramps! I'm home!" she shouted as she entered the house.
"Sis!" came Souta's answering yell, "We're in the kitchen!"
Still dragging the demon lord along, Kagome made her way to the kitchen, finally releasing his to receive hugs from her family members.
"Kagome! Welcome back! It's been a while. And look, you brought Lord Sesshomaru with you!" greeted Kagome's mother. Her voice then turned to a whisper, but Sesshomaru's highly sensitive ears heard every word, "Be sure to keep a closer eye on him this time, Kagome. He made the newspaper last time he was here. I saved it for you, look over there on the counter."
Kagome's eyes narrowed dangerously at Sesshomaru, who took an unconscious step backward. Kagome was scary when she was angry, he silently gulped.
Kagome grabbed up a paper from the counter, her eyes found Sesshomaru's picture on the front page- not a very good one, but still recognizably Sesshomaru, seemingly flying across the moon between two tall buildings. She quickly skimmed the article which was nothing really definite, just a bunch of conjectures people had for what Sesshomaru was. Some thought that he was the angel of life, others thought he was the angel of death. There was even a quote from some senile old man who believed the demon lord was a new missile technology and claimed that Japan must be falling behind in the technical race and should therefore bomb every neighboring country. Kagome sweat dropped as she read the name to the old man who made that quote- Grandpa! She finished skimming the article noticing that there was no mention of demons and nothing to contribute the sighting with the Higurashi family.
"Sesshomaru?" whimsically called Kagome in a fake sweet voice, "Care to explain?"
Sesshomaru took the proffered newspaper, recognized himself on the front page and feared for his posterior-for she would surely purify it later. He outwardly kept his cool and played it off as no big thing. "I went exploring last time I was here. Apparently you people have invented the technology to freeze time in a painting. I was not aware and would have been more wary if I had been."
'Oh, he's good,' thought Grandpa at the way Sesshomaru easily played it off and lessened Kagome's anger.
"Ahem," coughed Kagome's mother, "I'm sure you two can settle this later. But perhaps there is a bit of explaining to do now?" she offered. She was not one to miss the way this demon and her daughter were holding hands when they came in, nor the way Sesshomaru protectively watched over her, nor, and the biggest reason, was that Kagome had a crescent moon on her forehead that matched the demon's. Kagome's mother didn't know much about demons or their customs, but she believed that mark must be something significant.
"Indeed," nodded Sesshomaru while Kagome suggested that Souta go play his video games. Souta complained till Kagome sent him a glare strong enough to burn. He grudgingly trudged upstairs.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Kagome looked at Sesshomaru before speaking, "Mom, Gramps, you know what marriage is to humans?" She waited for them to befuddledly nod before she continued, "Well, that's what mating is to demons. Instead of rings, they exchange bite marks." Here, she paused to show them her mating mark. "And the female also gets the male's family's mark." This time she lightly trace Sesshomaru crescent moon before her own. Kagome took a deep breathe before plunging into her story, which was now both her and Sesshomaru's story. Everything from the time they met to the Drink of Anomede and why they had come this night, Kagome related to her mother and her grandpa. Once she was finally done, she held her breathe and waited for her family's response. She could feel Sesshomaru stiffen beside her as well.
Her mother finally broke the silence, "Kagome, why don't you go take a nice long, hot bath?"
Kagome bowed her head before , while giving Sesshomaru's hand a reassuring squeeze and then obiedently leaving.
Once she was gone, Kagome's mother got up from where she had been sitting by the table and began pacing the length of the kitchen. Finally she stopped and looked up at Sesshomaru dangerously. (Now he knows where Kagome gets it from.)
"Lord Sesshomaru, was it?" Kagome's mother asked him. He nodded and she continued, "I do not allow my daughter to go to the feudal era to search for husbands or mates or whatever you call it. I do not allow her to go to put herself in danger nor to get injured nor to die. I do not allow her to go so that she can repeatedly come back her with a broken heart. I only allow her to go because she so strongly feels that she has to correct the problem she caused with the Shikon Jewel. I only allow her to go because she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't take the chance to help others, even if the burden is not hers to bear. I only allow her to go because she is a smart girl able to make her own decisions without me there telling her what to do. So I won't interfere in her life, because she has chosen you. But tell me, Lord Sesshomaru, and look me in the eye: Do you honestly love my daughter?"
Sesshomaru looked Kagome's mother in the eye, not blinking once. "I love Kagome," spoke the demon lord, "more than anything, more than my own life. I would die for her."
"Don't die for her," Kagome's mother whispered, "Live for her, and make sure she knows exactly how you feel. That's the only thing that will make this work. I know, from experience. I lost Kagome's father to sickness, but I never regretted meeting him or falling in love with him. Treat her well, for I know she will do the same to you. You have my blessings."
"And mine as well," announced Grandpa, "even if you are a demon."
Sesshomaru growled defensively but was cut off by Kagome's grandpa with another question, "We know how Kagome's going to become a demon, but not the why. Why does Kagome need to become a demon?"
"She doesn't need to," answered Sesshomaru, "I accept her human self. But as the opportunity is offered for her to become a demon, why not take it? She will not change, except for the fact that she will be stronger, and she will probably have different color of hair and eyes, but her personality will remain. And she'll be able to live beside me for near eternity. I don't want to lose her."
"But still," mused Grandpa out loud, "A demon in our family's blood?" He paused. He looked extremely deep in thought before finally saying, "We'll just have to overlook it, I guess."
Sesshomaru stood, sensing that both the conversation had come to an end and that Kagome was approaching the kitchen door. "Excuse me, Mrs. Higurashi, but I must collect my mate and return to my time before we break a promise to my ward and Shippo."
"Very well, and Sesshomaru, remember what I said, treat her well."
The demon lord bowed his head to the human before meeting his mate in the hallway. "I believe it is time to leave." Kagome nodded then went and hugged her family.
Kagome's mother questioned her, "Kagome, when will you come back next?"
"For me? 500 years," he mother looked ready to pass out so she quickly added with a smile, "For you? Tomorrow. Bye."
They took their leave and walked to the well house, the flask they had dug up safely within Sesshomaru's pocket.
Jumping through the well, they made good time returning to the castle. It was after midnight, but they were still greeted by wide-awake children who merrily danced around them before Rin attached herself to Sesshomaru's leg and Shippo crawled into Kagome's arms. It seemed so strange to Sesshomaru how quickly the four went from being so alone in this world, to the beginnings of a family. Sesshomaru smiled fondly before realizing the children should not be up this late.
"Jaken," he called out coolly. The toad appeared bowing before his lord. "Why are the children out of bed at this hour?"
"My Lord!" he squeaked fearfully, "They were too upset by your absence to sleep. They wanted to stay awake and wait for your arrival."
"Very well, but let me assure you I will not allow this again. I expect the children to be in bed at an appropriate time every night, or it shall be your head. Do you understand?"
"Yes-s, yes, my lord. I understand!" he bowed once more to the lord before squeaking, "Children! Come with me. Time to go to bed."
The children reluctantly followed Jaken while Kagome followed Sesshomaru up to his private study where two glasses sat waiting on the desk. He opened the silver flask carefully, years of mud and decay coating his hands and staining his white Kimono. He looked inside the flask and saw only a little amount of a thick semi-liquid that was the Drink of Anomede. He silently wondered why he even had the notion to think that anything that had sat in a bottle underground for 500 years would look any more appealing than this brownish-gray junk.
But he was glad to see that there was a least two mouthfuls of the thick liquid. Sesshomaru heard Kagome make an "eww" sound as a mouthful's worth plunked into one of the glasses on the desk with a sickening splatter. Sesshomaru emptied the flask into the other glass-just enough for another mouthful.
This entire process was done in silence other than Kagome occasional sounds of disgust. It seemed to hold an value of reverence equal to that of something spiritual. No words were necessary.
Kagome made one last look of disgust before grabbing one of the glasses and holding it up to her eye-level taking in all of it's brown-gray chunky goodness. She sighed, "Bottoms up then." and chugged it in one swallow.
As soon as it hit her tongue, Sesshomaru could begin to feel a slight demonic aura spreading throughout Kagome's body- it seemed to flash once before it began to get stronger at a slow but constant rate.
Kagome held up 10 fingers, counting down on them. Once she reached zero she exclaimed, "Well, it hasn't killed me yet! Should we let Rin have the other glass now?"
Sesshomaru shook his head, putting the glass away after covering the top. "No," he said, "I think we should first discover what to expect from this transformation. It may be painful, and if that is the case, we should wait until she is older and give the choice to her to make."
"Always the logical one, aren't we, Sesshomaru?" Laughed Kagome, but then thought about how she was like a laboratory animal at that moment. "Does this make me the guinea pig?" she asked.
"I do not know what a guinea pig is, but you are becoming a real bitch," said Sesshomaru in a dead-pan voice while standing up to leave the room.
Kagome fumed in anger for a few before realizing that he was just teasing her on the fact that she was becoming a female inu demon-a bitch, yet she wanted to make sure. "Hey! You're only joking right?" she called after him.
"This Sesshomaru never jokes," intone Sesshomaru while hiding his smile.
"Well, then this Sesshomaru should find another bed to sleep in besides this Kagome's- hey! What do you think you're doing? Put me down!" squealed Kagome, and for good reason. After her mock threat, Sesshomaru had picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, still walking to his room.. His only answer to her query was, "Going to bed."
Early the next morning, Sesshomaru was awoken by a scream of pain from Kagome beside him in bed. About as quickly as it had come, Kagome's scream came to an abrupt end, along with her breathing and heart beat. Sesshomaru panicked, picking her up in his arms and cradling her limp body. His eyes stained red as he registered that there must've been a complication with the Drink of Anomede, something wasn't done right, or...or... something! His mind was racing. It had killed her instead of making her a demon. He had lost his mate because of his foolish wish for her to become a demon. He held her chest close to his ear, trying to find even the slightest heartbeat. There was nothing but silence. Sesshomaru threw his head back and gave an almighty mournful roar.
A/N: I thought it was about time for a really badly placed cliff-hanger. I know you just hate me now...