Sesshomaru finally released her hand after deciding she'd obediently follow him. Walking behind a male put Kagome's teeth on edge, but she did it. Not because of the sheer amount of raw, overwhelming power that she could feel in the Daiyokai, but because it gave her the freedom to look around.
They'd been away for so long…
Everything seemed so different and strange. She and Inuyasha had talked and dreamed about returning, and yet… it felt as if she didn't belong here anymore. She had changed so much, seen so many wonderful and horrifying things, that the innocent beauty of her homeland failed to meet up to her overly fantasized memory of the wonderment she'd feel once she came back.
They'd been back for only a day, but Inuyasha had kept them on a tight leash, not allowing anyone to wander around and explore. But, they'd been too tired to do anything other than sleep and eat to argue about his overprotectiveness.
"You have changed."
Kagome's attention snapped to Sesshomaru. He had not turned around, but she could sense that she had his complete attention, and it was unnerving.
"I'm human," Kagome said. "Humans change quickly."
"That is not the change I speak of," Sesshomaru said.
"Did you think I would stay the same?" Kagome said. A touch of bitterness laced within each of her words.
"Inuyasha may think I do not know how many years we've been gone," Kagome said, "but I know."
"And why would you not know?" Sesshomaru asked. His tone never changed—never hinted even a bit of curiosity in wanting to know her answer. He sounded cold and disinterested. If Kagome had been the naïve girl she had been, she would have been convinced that that was true.
But she wasn't that girl anymore.
Hell, Kagome could barely remember the girl she used to be. Yet, she remembered Sesshomaru. Had always been aware of him, and with the 'gifts' she now possessed, she could hear a subtle, very subtle, tone within Sesshomaru's deep timbered voice. He was more than just interested in what she had to say. A lot more.
"Shit happened," Kagome muttered. Not sure what to tell Sesshomaru. Not sure what Inuyasha would want her to tell him.
"Is this 'shit' the reason why your scent is the way it is now?"
Kagome knew he wasn't talking about Akinlana and Inuyasha's mating scent mixed with hers. She'd been relieved when Sesshomaru had called her "little human". To now say something was wrong with how she smelled…well, hell.
"Not going to answer me?" The Daiyokai's bored tone helped to still Kagome's old fears.
"It's not that I won't answer you, but that I have no answer to give you," Kagome said. She was lying, of course. She could give Sesshomaru a blow-by-blow of how Inuyasha and she became the way they were now. She just didn't trust—
"You don't trust me," Sesshomaru said.
Kagome's eyes widened. She'd controlled her heartbeat, her breathing, her tone. He shouldn't have known she lied to him.
"Your lack of an emotional response is how I knew you were not speaking the truth. Always remember to give just a little, if you are trying to deceive a Daiyokai of my strength."
Kagome glanced over her shoulder
"My half-wit of a brother will not help you."
"I can see that." Stupid Inuyasha.
From the distance Inuyasha put between them, the damn dog was making it clear that she was on her own with his brother.
"You ran home," Sesshomaru said.
"As fast as we could," Kagome said. "The jewel tossed us to the other side of the worl—"
"I did not ask a question, miko, but stated a fact." Sesshomaru stopped and looked over his shoulder, pinning her with his sharp gaze. "What are you running from?"