She could feel his hesitation before she stepped away, his eyes unblinking as he stared at the house. Had she missed something? "What's wrong?"
"Your mother," he trailed off, tone uneasy. Kagome frowned in confusion, looking between him and the front door. Sesshoumaru eventually sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I fear I have not lived up to her expectations."
Any remaining doubt about how much she loved him evaporated. This warrior, who'd been stuck in his other form for two decades, and had gone up against the one he'd been hunting for just as long without being at full power, was worried about confronting her mother?
Kagome bit the inside of her cheek to stifle her laughter, then intertwined their fingers. "If you apologize, I'm sure she'll hear your side of the story."
"It involves putting you in danger," he said, chagrined. "I doubt she wishes to hear any of it."
"Mama knows I can take care of myself," she reminded him, tugging him forward. He looked like a child who'd been caught pilfering sweets, the frown youthening his features, and she had to resist the urge to kiss him.
The door opened before they made it any closer, Emiko standing tall and proud on the stoop, and Sesshoumaru stiffened, eyes wary. She raised an eyebrow, her stalwart expression one Kagome had never seen before, and she gasped as he released her hand, kneeling at her mother's feet.
"I take it he's been dealt with?" she asked.
"I have fulfilled my promise," he said, head lowered. "Though I regret I could not allow your daughter the finishing blow. The curse—"
Emiko fell to her knees in front of him, pulling him into a fierce hug. "Do you honestly think I care about that?"