Chapter 32
Kagome rises with the sun this morning and does her morning routines. When she finished she wore a kimono of sakura blossoms that reminded her of her mother, Kyoto. Recollecting her thoughts, Kagome leaves her elegant bedroom with Shippo wrapped around her shoulders with his head resting on right shoulder.
The corridors seem to last forever with portraits of the royal bloodlines. On the west walls would be the males and the east held their mates. The females were gorgeous and all demons. With that last though, Kagome wonders what her place here is. Even if Lord Sesshoumaru is attracted to her, which she believes to be impossible, why would he mate a poor human?
"Why indeed?" she muses aloud.
"Why indeed, what?" questions a voice.
Kagome turns her head and sees a face which she hasn't seen for so long. Her green eyes meet gold.
"Hello, Inuyasha, I was just thinking to myself and forgot to keep that thought to myself."
"Weird girl, come on, I'm hungry," and basically drags Kagome down the hallways to the dining room hall.
The dining room hall was not has huge as the throne room but still pretty huge. A long table resides in the middle of the room and above it is a huge painting of an inu demon's true form.
"Good morning, my dear," speaks Nami. Today she wears a black kimono with some thin white flowers of some such on the sleeves.
"Good morning, my lord and lady," Kagome replies with a deep bow.
Inuyasha leads Kagome to the table where Lord Inutaisho sits at the head of table, Nami to his right, an empty seat to his left, Inuyasha to Nami's left, and Kagome across from Inuyasha, right next to the empty seat to Lord Inutaisho.
'This seat must be for Sesshoumaru,' Kagome ponders.
Breakfast was uneventful especially since Lord Sesshoumaru did not appear for breakfast.
Kagome and Shippo travel to the gardens where they see Kikyo in her red and white miko clothes. She held a bow with an arrow notched in its strings. Her grace and poise was evident as the sun glowed on her ethereal form. Perfect concentration then the arrow flew with a blue hue through the trees.
"Hello, Kagome."
"Good morning, Lady Kikyo."
"Please, I am far from a Lady like yourself."
Kagome didn't know whether to take Kikyo's comment as a compliment or an insult. She went for the former.
Kikyo began to walk into the dense forests around the gardens even though there is the grand wall.
"Walk with me," she calls over her shoulder.
Chapter 33
I run lightly to reach the priestess. All the while I notice how much Kikyo seems to belong in the forest. She doesn't look out of place or a stranger. Isolated rays of the sunlight strikes Kikyo's heavenly form as she walks through the trees.
She has somewhere to belong; why don't I?
Everybody belongs somewhere but I belong nowhere.
"Why are you here?" her voice speaks cuts through the silence like a double bladed knife.
"I don't know."
Silence once again covers us as we continue to walk. When she first spoke we were walking side by side and the walk was getting irrating. I don't know where we were walking to but I wanted to stop.
"Where did you get the fox?"
"I found Shippo," I say fondly, "in the forests on the outskirts of Edo and nursed him back to health. He had a broken leg and something was wrong with hi--"
"Quiet," Kikyo said emotionlessly and rudely but I said nothing else and listened.
Shippo growled lowly.
That's when I noticed it, I could hear nothing. No birds, crickets; nothing. It was too quiet and Kikyo already had her arrow notched. Then demons came swarming from nowhere and everywhere. They were ugly and disfigured, calling for something. Kikyo's arrows flew into the demons and I don't think that she had any swords and I am weaponless.
"Kagome."
"Kagome."
The demons were calling for me!
They were getting closer and closer and Kikyo was down to her last arrow. Then I see it; a demon's putrid jaws open to engulf me. I put my hands up and then…
Nothing.
I remove my hands to see a giant black thing blocking me from the demon. The demon screams with terror as it is jerked from side to side.
I start to move away from the big animal with coarse black hair; wanting to run back into the castle. Then it turns to me with its green eyes piercing my soul.
It was Shippo!
He transformed and saved me. I never knew that he was a demon.
The demons started to disperse probably because of Shippo but that's when I heard the most terrifying thing; a deep menacing growl. This growl was so powerful that Shippo had his beautiful tail between his legs and he retransformed. I was scared to turn my head to the sound and Kikyo didn't move from her spot which was about twenty feet from me.
"Don't move," she warns me.
I don't say anything and I definitely don't move when I feel lips upon my neck and the growl intensifies. Shivers go down my entire spine, I feel threatened then relaxed when the lips disappear.
"You are unarmed."
I begin to spin around when he says, "Do not move."
"I am fine, Lord Inutaisho," I reply.
"Good, let us return to the castle while my guards search the perimeter."
We return to the palace with Shippo by my side when I notice Sesshoumaru has walked beside me. He said nothing but his presence was very comforting to around with.
Then he spoke,
"I am sorry for previous actions when I met you in Edo and for the dungeons. I had no right to do so."
I turned towards his expecting to see silver eyes but I didn't; I saw that both colors were taking over.
Maybe he's agreeing with Reason.
Maybe he can change.
Just Maybe.
Chapter 34
Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha ran with their father, only slower, when they smelt the demons with Kagome and Kikyo's scent. They arrived in seconds and saw a red fox in its true form and Sesshoumaru let out a growl when it looked at Kagome.
The fox automatically backed down when he heard Sesshoumaru's growl of dominance. The growl intensified when his own father went to Kagome and sniffed at her neck like a mate.
'You want to kill your own father.'
'Of course not but him being around Kagome is unnerving.'
'Do we agree that she is yours, Sesshoumaru.'
Sesshoumaru watches his father sniff at Kagome's neck where his mark would go. Why should he be jealous of his father when he has a mate? Is the question that runs through his mind.
He watches Kagome stay while his father is sniffing at her neck. Anger boils within him, jealously consumes him. Her alluring scent of cinnamon should be his.
Inuyasha looks between his father and Sesshoumaru while holding Kikyo in his arms. He gazes into her brown eyes before taking her lips in his.
"Are you okay?"
"I am fine, Inuyasha," she laughs softly.
"I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you, Kikyo. I think about you all time and there ain't a moment when I don't!"
"You will never have to know."
"What the hell is wrong with Sesshoumaru?"
Kikyo gazes from Sesshoumaru to Kagome and where Lord Inutaisho is positioned and smiles slightly.
Inuyasha's question goes verbally unanswered while Kikyo knows the answer.
'You better act soon, Ice Lord, or you'll never have a chance.'
'Yes, she is mine and no one else's.'