A/N: Chapter 11! ^_^ I hope you enjoy it. Also, I've made an account on Dokuga (.com), which is where the editing of this story will take place and where some new stories have appeared. For a link, visit my profile on this site.
Brief glossary: (I'm using some new terms, honorifics for certain status'. Go to my home page to find a link to my alternate account if you want to see a larger glossary.)
Denka - Used to address a non-sovereign prince or princess (meaning they are eligible to rule but don't yet)
Heika - Used to address the ruling sovereignty, such as the emperor, this honorific is reserved for those of highest status.
Hidenka - Used specifically for addressing a consort of a prince, a position which held honor and respect.
no kimi = lord or lady (non-sovereign) of a court, or it implies that the speaker has great respect for their addressee.
The thing I found interesting about these honorifics is that they are not suffixes (in other words, they do not 'attach' to a name, such as Sesshōmaru-sama). I had thought that all honorifics such as -chan, -kun, and -san were suffixes, but I discovered differently.
Okay, back to the story, please enjoy!
Chapter 11
Progress
Sesshōmaru woke to Kagome nuzzling up to him under the blanket. When he opened his eyes they felt far too heavy, but the thought merely put a smile on his face. They had quite the strenuous night.
Shifting with her, he pulled her naked body flush against his own, and buried his nose in her hair as she hummed in her sleep and cuddled even closer. Yes, it had been a very, wonderfully, strenuous night. One he would be repeating in his head throughout the day and hoped to repeat in person later that night.
Sighing, he gently extracted himself from her entangling hold – one he very much wished to remain trapped in – and quietly padded around the room and got dressed for the day. Her hearing was not as acute as his, but still being an hour before dawn he was not ready to test her becoming startled by rustles in the silent darkness and lashing out with her spiritual powers. Or picking up objects – like his swords, or every drawer from the wall – to chuck his direction. He was not in the mood to dodge her half-conscious attacks, and fully expected such a scenario at least five times over the next decade. This morning would not be one, and that was guaranteed as he slid the last rice paper door shut.
An urge to stake his territory shot through him. Leaving Kagome, asleep, with no personal guards loyal to the death, bothered him. It hadn't so much before, but things were not the same between them now. He wanted to set protection of his own for her, to put in place things to terrify anyone even walking past.
"The door may catch fire if you glare at it for much longer..."
Sesshōmaru smoothed his face and regarded Sheng, standing a good thirty feet down the hall and watching. People were sneaking up on him too easily of late for their own good.
Sheng jerked his head slightly down the hall before starting off that way himself. Sesshōmaru followed, eying the door one last time. The hair on the back of his neck wanted to stand as he tried to settle his ruffled instincts. If Kagome did not require rest on a nightly basis he would have her walking by his side to the meeting.
"It gets easier," Sheng reassured out of the blue once Sesshōmaru matched his pace. "The urges. I am certain that Kagome would not... appreciate, some of our ritualized instincts."
Sesshōmaru's mood soured. How was he supposed to be taken seriously at the meeting if his emotions were sliding down his sleeves and dragging noisily behind him on the floor? He was better than that, and began to mentally snip some strings.
"Then again, her humanity may permit a prompt mating, which would certainly not go amiss."
"Is Kueng nosing around?" Sesshōmaru inquired.
"You ask for obvious answers," Sheng commented with a slight quirk to his lips. "Try not to do that during the meeting. We would not wish you to seem inept with only a taste of satisfaction."
That was a wonderful way to start Sesshōmaru's day off on the wrong foot.
Kagome woke that morning in a whole pile of fur. It took her a few moments after sitting up and looking around to realize it was Sesshōmaru's fur, which she smiled over. Memories of the night before had her smiling even more as she reclined into the fur and cuddled it, blushing. While a part of her couldn't help but to be embarrassed over it, another was wondering why she hadn't done it sooner. Her two sides reached an agreement that they would have to catch up on lost time and left it at that.
Sighing, she propped up onto an elbow and looked at the wall of shōji doors. The fusuma were letting in a bit of light, giving her unlit area of Sesshōmaru's quarters a slight glow. Getting up was interesting, since the fur insisted on joining her. She settled it across the small of her back and in the bends of her elbows, getting gooseflesh as it hugged itself against her. The rest of getting up was just as bad. Cursing Sesshōmaru's adequate eyes, she tripped over abandoned bits of clothing strewn across the floor before finally sliding open the doors and getting some more sunlight.
Twin voices echoed, "Good morning, Kagome no kimi!"
Kagome caught a shriek in her throat, making an odd noise for it, and folded her arms to her chest, Sesshōmaru's fur cascading down the front of her body.
"Don't be shy!" one of the young girls cooed, dressed in a pink kimono with white decorations and a thin red obi, appearing to be no older than thirteen.
"We're here to tend to you," the other informed, having the same green eyes as her twin and the same blond hair, pulled back into simple buns and decorated with a strip of cloth. Her outfit consisted of a white kimono with red decorations and a thin pink obi, making Kagome think about twins in the junior highs from her time.
"Are you hungry?" the first inquired, for all the world as hyper as a hummingbird on steroids.
"May we dress you?" the second asked, perking up a little at a thought. "Would you like a bath?"
"Oh, yes! She likes baths, right?" the first asked her twin, who nodded with a wide toothy grin.
Kagome's jaw ceased its flapping and she settled on a question. "What are your names?"
The twins' faces snapped forward and flooded with red. "Sorry!" they chirped together, instantly bowing at a most extreme angle.
"How rude of us!" one whined.
"Please forgive us, Kagome no kimi!"
Kagome reined in her flabbergasted reaction and cleared her throat. She was the one standing naked there, and they were the more embarrassed? "Stand up." They obeyed so quickly that she was surprised the air didn't snap against them. "You're fine. Just introduce yourselves, and we'll go from there, alright?"
Their eyes sparkled.
"Please call me Taemi," the first girl chimed.
"Please call me Taeko," the second sang.
Kagome nodded, trying to pinpoint some physical difference between them so she could use the names properly. "It is very nice to meet you."
The twins faced one another quickly, off in their own little world. "Kagome no kimi is so nice!"
"Please call me Kagome in turn," she requested. She had always feared too proper of titles in the o-shiro, but hadn't figured that they'd increase after her first night with him...
"Please forgive our disobedience, Kagome no kimi!" Taeko begged. "We cannot disrespect our Lady in such a manner."
Smirking over their antics, she leaned forward, bending at the waist. Their green eyes grew wide. "It is not disrespecting me. If you want, call me whatever title you deem fit in front of others, but when it's just the three of us, call me Kagome. Okay?"
The girls eyed one another, and after a non-verbal debate they nodded and bowed to Kagome again. "We will do as you wish."
That had her grinning. "Thank you, Taemi-chan, Taeko-chan, I appreciate it. Now, you mentioned a bath?"
Despite their apparent age, it was obvious that the girls were experienced, and Kagome felt like a toy doll being handled by them despite all the requests for permission. As they busied themselves with her, she asked about them. Their family lived in the o-shiro, and they had come of age to serve a lady as of last week. They were assigned to Kagome by Li Hua, and they were determined to prove themselves. It was while they manipulated her hair that she asked about their plans on their futures.
"We would be honored to stay at your side, Kagome," Taemi replied, an answer which deserved a firm confirmation from Taeko in the form of a nod and a strong 'hm'.
"But what about having families?" she asked, eying the pair through the hand mirror she held.
"A lady's maid cannot have a family and do her job properly," Taeko answered, their work not faltering.
"I plan to be alive for a very long time," Kagome told them. "You will come of age for a mate by then."
Taemi blushed, and got nudged by her sister who answered, "We would be honored to stay at your side, Kagome."
"You aught to know that I won't ask you to put your lives on hold just to brush my hair," Kagome informed. "If it requires dismissing you, I will when the time comes."
Horror crossed their faces, and their clawed hands definitely stilled at that.
"That probably won't be for a while though," Kagome reassured in what she hoped was a calming voice. "I may already have several children before you are old enough for a mate."
That had the desired effect of changing the subject, one which the girls attacked with great enthusiasm. Kagome found herself clarifying differences between yōkai and humans. Being pregnant for only nine months shocked them as much as the eighteen month pregnancies of yōkai shocked Kagome. They struck up a debate on whether or not Kagome could even get pregnant, which Kagome found herself to be listening in on as the girls threw facts at one another like they were snowballs. It left Kagome with some doubt on that note, but if yōkai females had to suppress their yōki to get pregnant then Kagome could reign in her ki in hope.
'First I don't want anything to do with his genes, now I can't get them off my mind..' The thought would have irked her more if thousands of variations of how hers and Sesshōmaru's children could look hadn't flashed through her mind.
"What's on your mind?" Taemi inquired, watching Kagome's face.
"I bet you're thinking about Sesshōmaru Denka." Taeko teased.
Kagome smirked, and waved her hands near their faces, sending the girls flinching back with giggles before resuming their work. "I was wondering how our children could look."
"Oh! Beautiful pups!" one of them chimed.
"Very pretty!" the other sang.
Kagome smiled over their continued chatting. A knock came at the door, and one of the twins ran over to answer it.
"Kagome Hidenka," a servant greeted with a bow, walking before her chair before bowing again and proffering a folded piece of paper. Curious, she took it, undoing the classic folding and reading the small amount of writing.
Come to the council meeting.
She laughed lightly, wondering how bored he must be. She needed no signature to recognize Sesshōmaru's writing.
"Thank you," she said to the messenger, who bowed for a third time before leaving.
"What does it say?" Taemi asked excitedly.
"Nothing much." She offered the paper, but the girl looked at it, then at Kagome, and repeated, looking more lost by the moment. "You can read it if you'd like."
"We cannot read," Taeko informed mildly. "Would you please tell us what it says? It smells like Sesshōmaru Denka."
"What do you mean you can't read?" Kagome demanded, turning around in her chair and making Taeko skitter with her hair.
"We were never taught," Taemi explained, worried over Kagome's reaction.
"Don't your parents know how to read?"
The girl shook her head. "Servants are never taught how to read."
Kagome stared, mouth hanging open slightly with disbelief. "What education have you received?"
"How to serve."
Appalled, Kagome dug for more. "Can you even count?"
"We can count to fifty," Taeko defended, still fussing with her hair. "In case there are many guests to serve."
"What is thirty plus twenty?" Kagome asked.
Taemi blinked. "Plus?"
"What is the total number of obi when you add thirty obi to a pile already consisting of twenty obi?"
The girl immediately began to count on her fingers, starting with twenty...
"Please finish my hair," Kagome asked, settling back into a comfortable position. "I have a meeting to barge in on."
About twenty seconds later, Taemi hesitantly asked "fifty obi in the pile?"
The meeting was quite dull, with discussions pertaining to trade, the status of Edo and of the human capital, Kyoto. Soldiers found lingering groups of Bashamon's people on a daily basis, adding them to the forts in anticipation of future orders. Bashamon's seal also needed strengthening within the next two days, or they would have issues with hunting him down. It was on that note that Kagome entered, dressed from head to heels quite beautifully, wearing his fur around her waist and arms in an appeasing manner. Her two fresh servants hustled in uncertainly, keeping their eyes downcast. When the door closed the girls collapsed into kowtow bows – with toes, knees, forearms and brows to the floor – before Kagome's open mouth could utter a sound.
"I apologize for my grievous lack of self-control, for being a nuisance and for intruding so suddenly and rudely." the girls said, impressively at the same time. Kagome kept her mouth open while turning her head back, then down to the ground.
"Stand!" she yelled at them incredulously. "I told you not to even bother with following me in. You don't have to- Get your heads off the floor this instant!"
"They are apologizing," Sheng informed calmly. "Would you care to explain why this is necessary, Kagome?"
Her incredulity turned to the rest of the room. "I don't know."
"Then why are you here?" Li Hua inquired, thoroughly amused by the incident.
"To sit for a cup of tea, I suppose," Kagome answered, frowning at Sesshōmaru. "I wanted to talk about education and who should receive it, if the opportunity arose."
The twins pressed their heads more firmly against the floor.
"Very well," Sesshōmaru's mother permitted. "The conversation is yours to lead, for the moment."
On the spot, Kagome's gusto began to wan, but she stiffened her spine and pressed on with her concerns. "The servants can't read, or do basic math."
"They have no need for such instruction," Tao informed. "It would be a waste of time, money and effort."
"That is not a waste," Kagome argued. "It's opening their world, giving them the right to chose what they want to do."
"Indeed," Shu Fang agreed over her tea. "After training them to read and how to reason, they are left to chose what? To leave after they have obtained a free education? To read things they have access to but not a need to dapple in? To rebel?"
Kagome stared, in shock.
"Knowledge is a powerful thing," Sheng informed calmly, his sake being refilled. "This is why, typically speaking, only the powerful have access to it."
"What if the education wasn't free?" Kagome asked.
"Then they would certainly never receive it," said Sesshōmaru. "Perhaps things are different in the future, but they are how they are in this era for a reason."
Kagome shook her head, in denial. "It's so cruel though." She glanced down at the twins. "You basically make them animals, working for food and a place to sleep."
"Servants," Li Hua addressed, grabbing the attentions of eight in total. "Do you appreciate your daily lives as they are now?"
In unity, the reply was "yes, Heika."
"That's a lie." Kagome practically shook with horror, gazing around the room. "They're too ignorant to know any better."
"Exactly," Li Hua stated coolly. "Therefore, there is no problem to solve."
"No. It is a problem." Kagome's brow was furrowed in thought. "The reason just hasn't exposed itself yet."
"And what do you suppose the reason is?" Li Hua asked, showing a remarkable amount of patience.
"Taemi, Taeko, please bring in a handful of paper, ink, and brushes. I would like to write something." The girls hesitantly glanced up, and when no qualms were made they bowed themselves out, running down the corridor. "Sesshōmaru?" He focused his attention on her, waiting as she phrased her question in her head. "For how many years have you been tutored?"
"For far too many," he jested.
"And yet clearly not enough," his mother added. Sheng chuckled over that.
"How many years?"
A part of him wished to know where she was going with the inquiry before answering. Deciding to trust her, he merely answered. "Roughly six hundred and thirty."
"What have you studied?"
Everyone settled down, dreading the topic An exact answer would take some time to deliver. "Many categories relevant to my station and future."
"How about Dutch?"
"Yes," he answered.
"Hm. I never learned it. In five hundred years, it will become less common. Almost obsolete, actually."
"That is very possible," Li hua indulged. "What is the point you are trying to make?"
"Did you learn anything about ecology? Do you know why earthquakes happen, or tsunami? Do you know how the moon came into existence? Do you know why volcanoes explode, why species die out, why the weather has seasons, how a breeze is created, what a plant needs to survive, what elements of the periodic table do when you combine them, or even what makes the earth spin in the vast universe while circling the sun?" Worked up, she looked around the table. "Do any of you? After-" she thrust her open hand in Sesshōmaru's direction, and he regretted playing any part in this, "over half a millennium of studying, after existing as intelligent beings for thousands of years, know these answers which humans, the future dominant species who will populate the earth by the billions, learn after ten years of public schooling?"
The twins returned, burdened with armloads of material. Kagome selected what she needed, and after setting things up began writing, kneeling next to Sesshōmaru and talking as she did so. "I've wondered why I never saw or sensed any yōkai in my time. I'm starting to think it's because of your lifespans. No one likes change, everyone in my family bickered about the prices of products and how they always raise. It's no wonder then that with thousands of years ahead of all of you, you will not want to change, either." Sheng, at least, was openly curious over what she was writing. "You can't survive without change though. Old ways die, that's simply how societies work." Finished, she pushed the paper, allowing it to drift to the middle of the table. "This is a basic mathematical equation I learned before I was twenty years old," she explained. "Can anyone here solve it, or explain what it's used for?"
"This looks like a language," Sheng observed, smiling.
"Learning math is learning another language," Kagome stated blandly, suppressed dread leaking out. "Is anyone going to try and solve it?"
Sheng drew the paper closer, studying it. After some time he handed it over to Tao, who frowned down at symbols which had yet to even be invented. As the paper circulated, Sesshōmaru watched as Kagome selected another piece of paper and began drawing. He soon recognized that she was drawing buildings.
"I'm sure you've noticed humans evolve," Kagome commented, not looking up from her work. "We used to be simpletons, scratching fleas out of our hair and running around naked to gather fruits. We've come a long way since then, and with every generation we change faster. In under five centuries we will have sent people to walk on the surface of the moon. We will develop weapons of mass destruction, weapons capable of sinking all of Japan underwater in one morning, weapons to make skin melt off of bones, or cause internal organs to rot into acid, or to make millions of people sick with a deadly illness. We will develop medicines to double our average lifespan, make tools to keep a body alive and functioning. We will be able to perform transplant surgery, cutting out a failing heart from a living person's chest and replacing it with another heart, or replacing a lung, a kidney, a stomach, almost anything. Our lifespan will increase, and our death rate will decrease. That's why there will be so many people in the future, and that's why we needed knowledge, to support ourselves." Finishing the picture, she put it in the middle of the table as well. "We will make buildings over six hundred feet high, out of rock we grind and mix with chemicals so it dries as a rock in the shape we desire, out of the metal steel which is strong enough to cut any normal metal forged into a blade in half with one strike, and out of glass, made from fine particle sand heated to temperatures comparable only to lava."
Her enthusiasm began to slip away, and it was Sesshōmaru's turn to view this mysterious mathematical equation. She reached over, and he allowed her to press it to the table. "This is an equation to tell you the area of a rectangle. In other words, how much usable space there is inside of a box. So a box with the length of ten inches, the width of five inches, and the height of five inches gives you an area of two hundred and fifty square inches to work with. This may seem unimportant, but that is merely because the reason hasn't exposed itself yet."
"To come full circle," Le butted in, appearing very bitter, "why would servants need to know the area of a box?"
"Why not know it?" Kagome asked. "If one of them knows, they can teach others, and from them new ideas can come forth. They can be the foundation for a very prosperous yōkai future in Japan."
"Which leads into a subject everyone has been avoiding of late," Sheng spoke up. "I dream of an inuyōkai city in Japan, and the more we have the more importance we have in the eyes of our kin in China."
As the old yōkai continued, Sesshōmaru put his hand on Kagome's upper back. She was shaking slightly, and glanced at him at the contact. It was with a smirk that he bent closer to her ear. "They will think on what you said. I believe you have a point, but it is difficult to see."
She nodded, smiling slightly, and shifted closer, leaning into his side. He moved his hand to cross her back and rest on the curve of her hip, content.
"We have been over this," his mother stated, somewhat exasperated. "We can not do anything about our numbers when all eligible females remain in China."
"They would be willing to come if there was anything to come for," Shu Fang stated. "That would be easy to prepare, even a mating party for these two would do. The issue would be keeping them here. Our luxuries and valuables are nothing compared with China's."
"That would be fun," Li commented, smiling around the room before taking a drink of tea. "It has been far too long since I have attended a party."
"Is there a reason you can't trade?" Kagome inquired.
"Kueng has made trading with us unrewarding for merchants in China," Tao answered, harrumphing in annoyance. "The tax is preposterous, and the regulations are finicky."
"Could you sneak traded goods through other countries, like Korea or Russia? Or the Philippine islands?"
"Regulated. All of it."
"What about from someplace like India?"
"Kueng has his connections. No one will trade with us if they trade with him. We are self-sustaining, but that is all."
"Well... What about the Americas?" Curious looks were cast her way. "The land mass to the east across the ocean. Europeans will have settled on the coastlines closest to them by now, but the coastlines we're near won't be populated for many years now, and that's..." She grinned as she trailed off. "That's where all the gold and precious gems are, in the mountains."
"Gold," Sheng repeated, nodding solemnly. "And precious gems." He glanced around the table. "Mining. I dare say that our species is quite prone to digging when the right inspiration is available. Tao, what is the poverty level in China these days? I believe we have something to work with if rumors get planted in the right places around China."
The conversation lasted well into the afternoon, growing momentum. Kagome eventually excused herself, yawning from boredom and hungry. Sesshōmaru could have left, but he stayed, watching the future of his lands solidify in that very room. It was not until well past sunset that everyone felt the topic to be exhausted enough until the next meeting, and they parted with goals and duties in mind to set things in motion.
Sesshōmaru was quite happy with his own goals, and sought to fulfill them as soon as possible. To do so, he needed to find his mate-to-be, and to not give her a moment of privacy for quite some time.
Kagome lay on her stomach on the futon, Sesshōmaru's fur around her and nothing else as she made notes. It displeased her greatly that education given such low value, but she could not expect to give it any without putting effort into it.
She yelped in shock when a hand settled on the backside of her thigh, and twisted around to see Sesshōmaru. "You scared me!" she yelled, blotting him with black ink with a jab of her brush. "Why'd you sneak in here like that anyway?"
Without replying he leaned in and claimed her lips, which was not wholly unwelcome. His hand slid up to feel her bottom, and she giggled against his lips
"Hang on a sec." She needed to set her things aside. After finishing with writing down another idea. Hurriedly she wrote, and soon discovered that Sesshōmaru could be very impatient. "You kissing my neck and grabbing my chest is not going to make me write any faster."
So, of course, he tried teasing her body in other ways, making her squirm around his attentions and ask for a few more moments several times. She continued writing even after her idea was jotted down, enjoying the game this had turned into. It probably would have lasted longer if she hadn't dipped her finger into the ink bottle on the floor and decided to write on his hand. That led to roughhousing, which led to stripping, which opened the door to an inky, kinky night. Probably an hour later she found herself hot and sweaty, grinning to the ceiling and running her fingers through silvery hair as Sesshōmaru rested on her chest, catching his breath. It delighted her to no end to know that she could take his breath away in more ways than one, and she wondered how his heart-rate could escalate so drastically and not kill him as it throbbed against her upper abdomen.
With her free hand, she patted around the mattress and soon found his strong fingers. He shifted, likely curious as she turned his hand, twirling her nail lightly on his palm. It was nice, knowing he allowed her to play with him like that, and felt more than heard his small chuckle as his thumb and forefinger grasped her twirling one, pulling her hand closer. He minded his nails as they tucked between her knuckles, lacing their fingers, and he pulled her hand to his mouth, kissing it. She giggled over his charm as he lowered their hands to her chest, and he nuzzled in against her neck, using his elbow to tuck her in closer.
"You're so romantic after sex," she commented, scratching his head.
"Give me a moment." His tone surprised her for its deep, alluring nature. "We are merely taking a break from sex."
"We?" she teased. That one small word had her manhandled into a world of foreplay while he recuperated, and she had no complaints.
Sesshōmaru finished dressing in the dark, glancing periodically at Kagome as she lay sprawled on the futon, tangled in bedding and fur alike, asleep and exhausted for good reason. That thought put a smile on his face as he knotted his sash. He did have the male inhibition of requiring some time to recover after ejaculating – a wonderful sensation, that – but in the long run she would wear out before him every single time. The last five days had proven as much.
He left his rooms, that urge to stake his territory raising again. Stubbornly, he left as he would have a week ago, suppressing his instincts with every step. He left the o-shiro, and headed east. There was something he wished to take care of while he still had the chance, no matter how awkward it would be.
The moon rose higher in the sky as he traveled, but eventually he stopped outside of a familiar shrine. It would need to be modified a bit, but the core design looked correct. He glanced over his shoulder to the goshinboku, which was surviving its relocation quite nicely. Satisfied, he slid open the well house door, and closed it behind him.
He could feel it. The Well was functional, and waiting. Without preamble he jumped into its depths, and the ancient magic curled around him, sending him back in time. He and his father had not parted ways on a good note, but given the circumstances, he could continue things on a better note, and leave his predecessor to die with a clear conscious, knowing he in the end he had succeeded with his one true heir. After all, Sesshōmaru would want that from his children if nothing else.
"Like this?" Sango asked, tracing two fingers along the widest part of her hips.
Kagome shook her head, a broad grin spreading beneath her perpetual blush. "No, a little higher up. And they don't arc like a rainbow, they're sort of slashed down toward his..." Her face felt like it was boiling. "Um..."
Sango threw her head back and laughed, and her daughters looked up at them curiously before beginning to laugh with their mother just for the sake of laughing.
"Kagome, I have no idea how you can still be so innocent." Her friend recovered, checking her eyes for tears. "So, any other stripes? We've got face, wrists and ankles, and hips."
"That's all," Kagome admitted, rubbing the side of her neck with embarrassment but still smiling. "Hey Sango, do you know any tricks to make it... Well, you know... feel... um... better...?"
The taijiya blinked, then made a big 'o' with her mouth. "Well, that is something you'll have to get used to I'm afraid. It will get better, and it should feel better after a short while each time."
"Well, yeah, kinda," Kagome admitted. She wished she had gone to the doctor in her era to see if any of it was her fault. "You know, I thought that being in water would help but-"
"Nu-uh," Sango corrected with a certainty. "That makes it far worse. If you're always in a hot spring or something-"
"No, no, just the once, and even that was brief." Kagome felt her eyes crinkle with some evil. "The tree was much better."
Laughter chimed in their little part of the meadow by the Well, around which the girls were now chasing one another with thin twigs, pretending they were swords.
"You know, I hear that while you're... 'having fun', if that helps you, you can always reach down and pleasure yourself a little."
Kagome felt her face could beat the sun for heat. "Um... I don't know if he'd like that."
Sango shrugged. "Who cares? Do what you like, he can get over it."
"Have you tried it?"
"Once."
"And?"
Sango grinned. "It helps, but I prefer it rough."
"Sango!" Kagome yelled with a wide grin. "I never would have guessed you to be a dominatrix!"
"... A what?"
Kagome's mirth ebbed a little as she giggled. "Insider's joke, I guess." Her gaze slid to the girls, and a warm feeling filled her chest. "Does giving birth hurt?"
"Like being eaten alive. But it doesn't last for ever, and the rewards are unimaginable." Sango captured Kagome's attention, smiling with her own, more genuine warmth. "Unimaginable, that is, until you're a mother. And speaking of, any luck?"
Kagome shrugged. "He claims he'd be able to sense it, but I'm not so sure after all this time. I feel bad about getting pregnant and not securing a long life yet, but at the same time..." She shook her head. "I never knew someone could want a baby with someone so badly. And not in a superficial way, more like..."
After a pause, Sango grabbed Kagome's hand from – coincidentally – over her flat abdomen. "It'll happen. I know it will."
Kagome sighed. "Yeah. I guess I'm asking for too much to expect things to move forward so fast. … I've been thinking, maybe... Maybe, being a miko, I won't be able to get pregnant though. Not with a yōkai, at least. Maybe it's never happened before for a reason? Maybe I automatically repel him?" The conversation between her personal maids trickled back. She had tried suppressing her energy, but so far it hadn't worked.
Sango angled her head, thinking, and shifted to a more comfortable position. After yipping at her daughters to not look down the Well without mommy and daddy, she spoke her thoughts. "That is very possible. But, you may be able to prevent it. If they can train you to subconsciously keep your ki flowing to make you live longer, then what's to keep you from blocking it off and basically being a normal human?"
It was Kagome's turn to think. Perhaps her approach was wrong. Perhaps she needed to suppress herself on other ways. Or perhaps Sesshōmaru could help her. "Yeah, you have a point. Come to think of it, I've never heard of someone sealing themselves, so that does seem a little preposterous now that I think on it.."
"I am certain that no one has had reason to before."
They shared a happy knowing woman's moment, then looked off toward the distance. Kagome merrily got to her feet and began to pat bits of vegetation off of herself.
"That eager to leave?" Sango teased. "He's early. The guy travels fast if he went to Edo like he said. Well, he gets to see you daily, so I want my time until sunset with you."
"Oh? And what do you plan to do?"
Shifting Hiroko on her back, Sango considered the pinpoint of energy approaching. "I plan to test his reactions. I've never seen inuyōkai behavior between mates."
Kagome rolled her eyes, and blew at her bangs. "It's interesting, I'll tell you that much." Then she grinned. "You're a taijiya to the core, you know that?"
"It's not my fault that they're so damned interesting," Sango jested back. Their conversation died when Sesshōmaru arrived, and Kagome offered him a visibly bright greeting, wondering how Sango would 'test' him.
"You're early," the mother of three scolded, planting her fists on her hips in a very serious fashion. Kagome made her eyebrows raise; her knowing and resulting behavior could throw off Sesshōmaru's reception of Sango's acting. Said friend stepped forward and slightly between Sesshōmaru and Kagome. "Go away. I have until sunset with her."
"It was never stated that I should be excluded in that time," he informed mildly, approaching at an easy pace.
"It was implied," Sango attempted.
"No, it was not."
Kagome smiled inside. "I thought it was."
Sesshōmaru stopped in his tracks, looking between them with varying degrees of patience, assessing them. Kagome felt her lips twitch, and his eyes immediately focused on her. Within three seconds she was giggling.
"I'm sorry, Sango," she laughed, walking forward and giving her to-be-mate a warmer greeting, wrapping her arms around his neck and getting onto tiptoes to kiss him. Sango tried to offer forgiveness, but gave up when the distracted audience didn't pay any heed. Kagome pulled away a short distance to whisper. "I've missed you. We've got some ideas to test tonight."
Sesshōmaru smirked down at her. "That sounds promising."
Kagome grinned wide, and after a final peck she stopped giving the twins something to stare at.
"Oh, don't stop, you two are adorable."
Flinching, Kagome swung her attention around, focusing on who now stood next to Sango. "Rin! If you keep being so sneaky, Kaede will start spanking you again."
The young teenager showed all her teeth in her cheesy mirth. "We both know she can't manage it anymore. I'm too big now." As she walked closer, Kagome stepped aside and put her hand on the small of Sesshōmaru's back, offering a hint of pressure to greet Rin. The glance he gave her without moving his head reminded her of the stoic inugami daiyōkai she had known years ago.
"It's good to see you, Sesshomaru-sama." Rin then, surprisingly, regarded Kagome. "Since he's yours, may I have permission to hug him?"
Shock rippled through the miko at the odd request, and when she looked to Sango for an explanation the taijiya decided to watch her daughters and act innocent. It seemed that Rin's training was expanding into yōkai behaviors. "I've never noticed Sesshōmaru hugging you before."
Rin wilted ever so slightly. "He has a few times. Kinda."
Kagome nodded. "In that case, I'd say you have some catching up to do. I insist that you hug him."
The look Sesshōmaru shot at her was twisted with inquiry, which gave way to surprise when Rin wrapped her arms around the middle of her fatherly figure. He didn't seem to know what to do as he stared down at the mass of black hair pressing against his chest.
"This is a common greeting in my family," Kagome stated absently. "I expect my future children to receive the same on a regular basis."
"Well, of course," Sango piped in, gathering the twins up into her arms. Kagome took one – she believed it was Sada – and gave a hug to the freshly giggling girl, who hugged her back with an enthusiastic hum.
"It's alright," Rin stated, pulling away with a bright expression. "Sesshōmaru-sama has never been one to openly express himself, but I'm happy. Will you be staying for food?"
"Perhaps," he answered, glancing at Kagome.
"I'd like it," she offered. And just like that it was decided.
"I must admit," Sango commented some hours later, far past sunset. "He does have a way with kids."
Kagome felt quite proud as she looked over to where Sesshōmaru and Inu-Yasha were sitting and having a quiet conversation, which had started off with Inu-Yasha demanding to hear confirmations to the 'rumors'. After a moment though his nose began twitching, and Kagome noticed that it wasn't until then that Sesshōmaru willingly – in fact, almost eagerly – pulled his half-brother aside to talk. She wondered if Inu-Yasha noticed that Sesshōmaru was playing with the twins and two other village children while they spoke in low tones. It was a game of hide-and-seek, so to speak. If he looked at a child, they would giggle and go hide again some fifteen feet away, and slowly they would try and sneak up on him. Word of Rin's achievement spread like wildfire, and she was a hero and an inspiration to the younger children.
"A special way," Sango edited with a chuckle, adjusting Hiroko as he nursed.
"I like it," Kagome defended. "He knows that it's a game, but while indulging the kids he's not breaking character or making himself seem any less a lord."
"Hm. You know, I've been watching you two, and so far I've seen just as much change in you as I've noticed in him."
"What?" Worry shot through her, but Sango shrugged it off.
"It's normal," she assured. "In fact, I'd be worried if you remained the same. It's more adorable than alarming to see you take pride in him. You also fawned over him during dinner. I think that's why Inu-Yasha choked on his food, not because Sesshōmaru left without explanation."
"He was being protective," said Kagome in regards to the last part. "He does that sometimes when I'm out of the o-shiro."
"And you like it."
Kagome smiled guiltily. "What can I say, it's nice to know he has my safety in mind." Just then he met her gaze, and she grinned over the small fissure in his expression. "I'd better go soon. I filled his head with promising ideas for later tonight."
"Hm," Sango acknowledged with a nod, covering herself and beginning to burp Hiroko. "Yes, you cannot expect a man to wait for ever with such thoughts in his head."
"It's fun to let them tease him though."
The goodbyes were brief but sweet. Rin hugged Sesshōmaru again, which he partially returned with one arm, and Kagome hugged everyone at least twice, including Sesshōmaru. Inu-Yasha was still demanding a private audience with Sesshōmaru in the near future to finish what they were talking about as Kagome took a comfortable seat on her lover's yōki cloud, and jokingly scolded her hanyō friend to be patient or to be sat for however long it took Sesshōmaru to return. Inu-Yasha quipped that he'd rather be shot to the tree again and sleep through it since Sesshōmaru could and would hold out for centuries.
They left, and rose into the night sky. "Thank you for tonight." Kagome really did enjoy herself, and knew that if Sesshōmaru had his way he would have left with her shortly after arriving that afternoon.
"Do not thank me yet," he practically ordered. "The night is still young."
She had nothing to say in response, and watched via pale moonlight as he tucked his hand into the layers of fabric covering his strong chest. A pale folded cloth emerged in his hand.
"What is that?" Her question wasn't answered as he held the small parcel out for her. She took it, looking between him and the silk cloth, smiling. "Is it a present?"
"A meaningful one," he answered as she eagerly folded back the cloth. She gasped as two medium sized combs with long teeth were revealed, reflecting the weak moonlight with amazing brilliance. He took one, and used it to tenderly brush back hair at her temple. "Hair ornaments have great meaning to yōkai when exchanged between mates. I would like to put these in your hair on a daily basis."
Images of his mother's hairstyle flickered through her head, accompanied by descriptions Inu-Yasha had given when he saw his 'old man', and everyone in the council had their hair pulled back in some fashion. She smiled, fingering the comb still in her palm as Sesshōmaru worked. She didn't lie when she replied that she'd like that, her index finger stroking the familiarly shaped spine of the comb. "This looks like two crescent moons, back-to-back. Was that intentional?"
"It was." She felt her hair tug slightly as he gave the comb's final brushing a complicated twist and a tuck. He examined his work, then asked her to shift so he may put in the other. "I designed them."
She grinned shyly, fingering the vague engravings on the one already fixated in her hair. She couldn't see it too well in that lighting, but felt plenty of carved swirls. "They're beautiful. Thank you. I feel guilty about having nothing for you."
"I have everything I need right here." She could have kissed him for that, if not for the need to remain still as he worked. "By our customs, I am allowed to indulge you with this gift before the mating ceremony. Your gift is acceptable afterward. What 'idea' did the taijiya give you?"
Kagome waited as he finished inserting the comb in her hair, then twisted around and launched herself at him. He pulled her into his lap as they kissed, and that craving to carry his child came about again in full force.
"I want you to shield me," she explained, running her fingers through his silver tresses. "For the next three days."
"That is not as easy as you seem to think it is," he replied, pulling her clothing away.
"Why?" Her own hands were busy with disrobing him in turn.
"It is difficult to divide one's attention from mating."
She giggled, pulling his head down so her mouth was near his ear. "I have faith you can manage it." She proceeded to nibble the side of his head, and noticed that they reached the ground in record time. It was fun checking a meadow off of her list, and the lengths of grass proved to be excellent tools of teasing. Before they started she felt him lock her energy away, and she didn't pay it much heed as they rolled fervidly across their playgrounds. As things escalated though, she could sense his yōki shifting in her, changing from a steady stream to something akin to ocean waves on a beach. It was fascinating, actually feeling his attention and self-control slipping depending on what they did.
"We should think of a way to let your yōki do its job without your attention," she stated, fingers laced behind his head as she lay over him, her body lifting and falling with his deep and hungry breaths. He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then cupped the back of her neck and pulled her down onto his chest, hugging her. She wondered if all males craved physical attention like he did after they finished doing the dirty deed. "They probably do. They're so adorable sometimes..."
"I hear that practice makes perfect," he mumbled beneath her, fingers massaging her neck and working up to her head.
"That it does." She smiled against him, scratching his sides. He shifted at the contact, and let her know that he was done with the break. "Try again."
They did their best to disgrace that field up through the following morning, but their efforts in sealing her energy bore no fruit.
"This is hard," she murmured, tucked in against him as they lay on their sides. She yawned, proud of the new record she had set for herself but lamenting the consequences. It did feel nice though to curl up for sleep with him between their discarded clothing, her combs set safely to one side.
He hugged her from behind, kissing her cheek before settling back down. "It will happen, someday."
"Hmm." Her eyelids weighed far too much, and her thoughts were sluggish. "Sesshōmaru?"
"Hm?"
"I can get pregnant, right?"
"We are both fertile and capable."
"But you believe that I'll get pregnant with you, right?"
She felt him nod against her neck. "Of course. I am too stubborn to tolerate a lack of progress after too much time."
Smiling, Kagome turned in his arms to face him, and nuzzled back in, hugging him around the waist. "I'm glad to hear it."