A/N 1:A/N: My antipsychotic failed on me - again, which is fucking terrifying because there's none left I can take and we're resorting to other medications to try and stop the hallucinations - and I spent the past few weeks freaked out, scared, and worried. I just got out of CSU again, which was just... agh. Happy Christmas and Happy New Year everybody. As an apology and belated Christmas present, I'm updating two chapters today!
A/N 2: Despite how it looks near the end, there is no actual sexual content in this chapter – the chapter ends before it begins, and this Mari believes that there is a small amount of character development in Toga that means you should read through to the end even if you usually would skip the lead-up to sexual content. Thank you kindly.
When Satori came, as Kagome had known she eventually would, thanks to her wonderful Sesshōmaru in the future, Kagome had rapidly engineered a situation that would make the power-hungry and mislead inu bitch stop and stare. As soon as she had felt that vaguely familiar aura she had demanded they do their morning grooming; as is. Even Sango-chan took part, running her fingers through a full-sized Kirara's fur. Miroku-ni was grooming Kagome's hair whilst she lovingly combed through her mate's fur. Yasha-kun was grooming Shippō-kun, and Sesshōmaru-kun, who had joined them again, bringing Kagome three shards he had found in some pests, was grooming Rin-chan's hair.
Kagome wasn't sure of everything that Satori had seen and heard in her mirror, but it was likely incomplete snatches that made her think that Toga was Kagome's alpha and guardian – her own affection for him and wish to be a part of whatever scheme he was cooking up now, not to mention their once-status as mates (not chosen mates; Satori had never worn Toga's fang – they had been arranged mates) would blind her to signals that the relationship was far more than platonic. She could almost feel sorry for the inu, but it was her fault that Sesshōmaru-kun had grown up so closed in and held back, her fault that Toga had felt the need to find a temporary sort of love in Izayoi, her lack of acceptance that had made Kagome's beautiful Toga feel as if nobody could truly accept him fully as he was.
And that was just unacceptable and deserved punishment.
As per her command, nobody in the group paid any attention to Satori, until, about five minutes into her appearance, Kagome scratched under Toga's chin, a sign for him to enlarge himself, which he did – just enough that Kagome could curl up against him and rest her head on his back, her arms looped over his back and scratching through the fur along his side. Miroku-ni had finished her hair and she had put it up in a bun, and Miroku-ni was now working on Sango's hair – he had become far more respectful to the taijiya as of late and Kagome could feel a romance blossoming between the two of them that was adorable.
Finally, content with the way her pack looked and having formed her comment to an acceptable nature in her mind, Kagome gave the – admittedly beautiful, although it was a cold and too-perfect sort of beauty – inu bitch her attention. "Yes? Does the Lady Satori have any business with this Kagome's pack? Yasha-kun, Rin-chan is getting discontent with being groomed, how about you let Sesshōmaru-kun groom Shippō-kun and sit and groom Sesshōmaru-kun with Rin-chan like she wants to do? You know you find it amusing when she slips braids into his hair."
Invitation to speak, proof that she could read her pack better than Satori ever could (admittedly, not having empathy gave Satori the disadvantage) and the familiarity with which she addressed Satori's biological son – and the fact that he did not protest it – proving that she was indeed the alpha of this pack (whilst Sesshōmaru-kun was alpha in his own right, and had his own pack, when he was with Kagome's pack, he was beta rather than Miroku-ni, and only alpha when Kagome and Toga were not around); not Toga, as Satori likely had assumed.
Oh, that look on her face was priceless. See, Kagome knew what Toga was unaware of – and what Sesshōmaru had asked her to keep him unaware of until after the meeting with Satori. Satori's other male by the time Toga moved towards Izayoi was intended to make him jealous because Satori adored Toga—and his status as Lord of the West—with her very being and knew that he did not feel the same about her – but had hoped that she could force him into changing his feelings towards her. Toga, unfortunately for Satori, had no idea of this, but it didn't change the fact that he'd never liked Satori much to begin with. Nor did it change the fact that the entire reason her wonderful Sesshōmaru-kun was so cold, held back, and distant most of the time was because this female had never given him affection, mothered him, or spent any time with him when she wasn't drilling court manners into him.
Kagome didn't even really care about Satori when it came to Toga excepting that she was a part of the reason he was so insecure about his true self. But Kagome was honest with herself and admitted that every previous female of his was part of the reason; not just Satori. Kagome disliked Izayoi just as much as Satori when it came to Toga; the same with Jisa and Kira, the two yōkai he had been with before the arranged mating with Satori.
Aaaand Toga was about to say something, so Kagome flicked his ear and growled warningly at him, just like any good inu bitch would. "You say one word to anyone else here until you are given permission and I will ban you from my bedroll for three days. Shippō-kun doesn't need both of us to sleep well, just one of us. You are not the main alpha here, I am, and you promised not to interfere unless it was necessary. No threatening someone whom you haven't even seen in five hundred years, Toga."
He whined in agreement and obedience… And suddenly amusement was radiating into her mind and oh Kami he had done that on purpose, the fucker. She could hear him laughing into her mind as he spoke solely to her; thus negating the ban because nobody else could hear him. "I know Satori well, and she was about to address me instead of you. I simply decided to make it clear that I am not in charge of this pack in any way whatsoever. I promise not to interfere any more, koishi."
Good. She could deal with Satori on her own because Kagome had the one thing that no other female in existence had gotten from Toga; a betrothal fang. Satori, it seemed, however, was having a difficult time processing what she had just heard, because her already pale face was paler, she looked like she had just bit into something sour, and she had involuntarily taken a step back. Kagome decided to just get this over with, seriously.
"Look, Lady Satori. I was merely being polite earlier. I know full well why you are here. Look at my aura, and look at my left ear. That really should be all the proof you need and then you can go back to your castle in the sky and live out a life of ease and luxury like you prefer. Because, frankly, even if you could convince him that your affections are genuine, unless you can bring yourself to love every single aspect-"
Here Kagome buried her face into Toga's fur and tightened her arms around him, before kissing along the middle of his back and up to between his ears, then placing a gentle kiss on his muzzle, "-of him, you have not a single chance of ever making Toga regret choosing me. You cannot even stand your own true form, how can you ever expect to love Toga's true form every bit as deeply as the humanoid mask he wears in order to be able to interact with ningen and other yōkai? Here, I will answer that for you: you cannot. So perhaps you had best just leave and allow my pack and my lover to continue on with our duties without interfering with them.
"And before you decide to try some petty revenge against me out of fury? Your own son, five hundred years in the future, partially instructed me on what to say to you and that he would rather have as little contact with you as possible, because when he contacted you for information on something the experience ended in his most precious person dying for the second time in her short life, going to hell, and having nightmares that after five hundred years have still not lessened. When you refuse to show affection to others, Lady Satori, it generally comes back to bite you in the ass. People do not like being around cold, impersonal beings who do not show affection unless it gets them some sort of benefit."
Satori left without a single word, but she wasn't even close to being out of range before Toga burst out, completely disjointed at what had come to the forefront in this conversation to the point that he either didn't realise or didn't care that his ex-mate could hear him still. "Are you serious? Satori fancies herself in love with me? Has the world turned upside down since I half came back to life? Also you did make a good point, Kagome, considering that without your sword, I cannot even assume my humanoid form beyond a spectre that cannot feel a thing or be felt by anyone unless in a specific area of Nihon; she would not have been very happy only interacting with my true form unless I personally wished otherwise and you know how rare that happens outside of specific times."
"It is a good thing you said "fancies herself" in love with you or I would have had to swat your nose, koishi."
Toga chuckled and growled contently as she tangled her fingers in his long fur. "No, little one… After you became backup alpha for the ōkami and corrected my view that one could not genuinely be in love with my true form, backed up by Hachiman-sama himself saying it was a reward for my guardianship of the Western Lands, I have realised that nobody else has truly loved me unless they have loved me as you do – both my humanoid self and my furred self. If you had not expressed from such a young age how much you adored my furred form and loved me because of it I might not have ever been able to accept that you could possibly be in love with it, but luckily for both of us there was no such struggle."
She smiled fondly at him and sighed, "How could I not love you? You are beautiful, powerful, strong, charismatic, charming, kind, sweet, and utterly perfect in every way, no matter whether you have absurdly long hair and walk on two feet, or if you have absurdly long fur and walk on four paws."
Rin-chan spoke up then, her cute little voice pretty much forever cementing her future place in Sesshōmaru-kun's life, even had it not been fully secured before now. "Rin feels the same about her Sesshōmaru-sama! It doesn't matter how he looks, Sesshōmaru-sama is always perfect and wonderful and Rin loves Sesshōmaru-sama with everything she is!"
Then the little girl climbed out of Yasha-kun's lap and sat beside Sesshōmaru-kun, cuddling into his side as he kept grooming Shippō's tail, his expression itself still concentrating and stoic, but his eyes warm, pleased, and happy. Sesshōmaru-kun was slowly becoming more comfortable with receiving and displaying affection – in small, subtle ways. Touches, strokes, light kisses. Inu affection – not ningen affection. No hugs or things like that. It was slow going, but according to Rin-chan her Sesshōmaru-sama would sleep beside her now – or, well, watch over her while she slept, because her Sesshōmaru-sama did not need much sleep. Yasha-kun grumbled something incomprehensible about weird yōkai customs and then slid away from Sesshōmaru-kun, falling onto his back on the grass and calling over, "Hey, Mom, sing us a song, please? It's been ages."
It'd only been three days, but considering she tended to at least sing a lullaby every night, that could be considered ages, she supposed. Yasha-kun was also very adorable now that he was giving himself a chance to be more of a child.
Kagome smiled softly and nodded, uncaring of the audience carefully watching their interactions. She mounted her love's back and buried her face into his fur as she wrapped her arms around his neck, while she deliberated, then decided on the perfect message to send – and the perfect expression of her feelings right now. Yeah, it was in English, a cover, and from something like half a decade to a decade after her time (nobody knew about the true extent of her "timelessness" but the Kami, but she abused her powers once she found out about them, especially when it came to music), but the language didn't matter when Kagome could make anybody understand the meaning of what she was saying if it was escaping her mouth in song. It was a strange ability that nobody knew where it came from, but they all agreed it would be useful. Sesshōmaru didn't recognise the ability, but he admitted that Kagome likely had not been trained to become a singer in her first iteration, unlike this one which had trained her in singing, flute, and shamisen – both with and without a placard.
"Yeah… Ooh. Some people live, for the fortune. Some people live, for the fame. Some people live, for the power, yeah yeah. Some people live just to play the game. Some people think, that the physical things define what's within. Oh. I been there before, but that life's a bore.. So full, of the superficial. Some people want it all, but I don't. Want nothin' at all. If it ain't you baby. If I ain't got you baby. Some people want diamond rings, some just want everything, but everything means nothin'… If I ain't got you.. Yeah..
"Some people search for a fountain, that promises forever young. Wait. Some people need. Three dozen roses.. Yeah. And that's the only way to prove you love them. Oh. Hand.. me the world.. on a silver platter, and what good would it be? Oh, with no one to share.. With no one who truly cares for me? Some people want it all, but I don't. Want nothin' at all. If it ain't you baby. If I ain't got you baby. Some people want diamond rings, some just want everything, but everything means nothin'… if I ain't got you you you.
"Some people want it all, but I don't want nothin' at all.. If it ain't you baby. If I ain't got you baby. Some people want diamond rings, some just want everything, but everything means nothin' if I ain't got you.. If I ain't got you with me baby.. Cause there ain't nothin' in this whole wide world.. doesn't mean a thing.. if I ain't got you with me baby. Yeah."
Sesshōmaru-kun gave a very rapid glance over to where Satori was listening and watching, then a tiny little approving smirk towards Kagome, who held back her giggles and just tilted her head ever so slightly. But then she gave a genuine loving smile to her mate and tightened her arms around his neck, hiding her face in his ruff as she so loved doing. It might have been a message to Satori – telling her that love for someone's true self was more important than the trappings which Kagome knew damn well were fully half of the reason that Satori wanted Toga for her mate, properly this time. But it had also been a message to Toga. Their destiny didn't matter, her training didn't matter, the Kami didn't matter. Kagome loved Toga and Toga alone and would give up everything to be with him.
From the way he was shaking slightly beneath her, he was well aware of that, and the enormity of it was completely overpowering him. So she stroked through his fur, growling lovingly and comfortingly as her pack busied themselves doing various things – not giving the pair true privacy, but giving them a semblance of privacy. They were all aware that since Sesshōmaru-kun was here, if Toga truly needed to be alone with Kagome – or vice-versa – they would go off to be alone over something like this. If it had only been their group without Sesshōmaru-kun, they would stay regardless; this wasn't something worth putting Miroku-ni in charge over. Not when he was truly beta, not alpha.
Kagome knew what her mate needed right now though, and it wasn't to be alone or away from the group. She slid off of his back, pulled Raimei from her obi, and placed it on his forepaws. He was immediately in his humanoid form, moving so swiftly that Kagome hadn't even seen him push the sword into his obi before he grabbed her and held her tightly against his chest, a choked sound coming from his mouth as he hid his face in her hair. Toga was incredibly free with his emotions in private, and this counted as private to him since it was her pack; their family. Her beloved had taken her aside once they finished with the ōkami and warned her that this would happen, probably with some regularity, any time that the truth and completeness of her love for him was forced into his face.
His inu form might be his true form, but it couldn't hold her, and Toga and Kagome were well used to his humanoid form enough that neither of them would have him without it – his true form was simply far too limited in what it could do. That did not make her love it any less, it just meant that she could truly love both sides of him – somewhat more animalistic (the longer one lived, the more sides merged, and the more one became able to impose logic onto their instinctual sides) and furred, versus more logical, emotional, and wearing a full-body mask that made him seem far less dangerous.
He would probably be like this for a while, so Kagome deftly undid his armour and set it aside so she could bury her face in his kimono and wrap her arms around him, after looking around the camp. Miroku-ni was asking if Sango-chan wished to spar, Shippō-kun was begging to show Kirara and Sesshōmaru-kun (his little "Please, ani-san, pretty please?" was so damn adorable) some of his latest illusions, Rin-chan was happily making flower-crowns to later place upon people's heads, and Yasha-kun was settling down for a nap – during the daytime he had no issues sleeping on the ground, it was only night time when that particular phobia kicked in, and it was slowly beginning to lessen; just a bit. He could sleep in inns now, but that was only because they were covered, enclosed areas, and they'd paid – innkeepers weren't likely to allow something to happen that would drive business away.
When Toga whispered an almost inaudible "Again." against Kagome's hair, she hadn't immediately understood – but then it hit her. The reason that Kagome could make people understand what she was singing, regardless of if they understood the language, was because she could make them feel what she felt whilst she was singing – the meaning translated from her emotions into their usual language and untangled itself into something understandable powered by feeling – it was a sort of projective empathy that she didn't have when doing anything else. It hadn't just been the song – she'd been very strongly projecting exactly the fullness, completeness, and depth of her love for her betrothed, so that Satori could see first off, what she was up against if she stupidly decided to pursue her initial course, and secondly, what Satori was missing out on by being unable to even accept her own self. You could not feel love like that for someone else if you could not even love integral parts of yourself.
Kagome might not be above revenge, but she was still a kind, loving person who generally just wanted to help make people's lives better. If Satori could come to love herself instead of being repulsed by what she truly was, then she could learn to make genuinely affectionate connections with people. She could be happy outside of those times she was reminiscing upon her mating with Toga – who, admittedly, due to his attitude and his flirting to keep her in a more pleasant mood, had fully encouraged her affections.
Still, her alpha needed her feelings, so she began to sing again, her voice soft enough that it wouldn't disturb anyone, but loud enough that since Satori was nearby she could still hear, and then she completely tuned everything except her beloved out, pouring all her love for him into her words. Song after song, from ever so many languages – Kagome was a lover of music and sought it out from all over the world, even going so far as to learn new languages (she was fluent in five languages aside from Nihongo) simply so she could understand their music without having to manually translate each song she heard.
When she finally awoke from her haze of providing her beloved with the emotions he needed to feel, so that he could process that it was even possible to be loved so completely, she looked around the camp, and was incredibly pleased with the results her singing had brought about. Firstly, everyone, even herself and Toga, had flower-crowns upon their heads, which was beyond adorable and amusing as all get out. (Rin-chan could somehow put a flower crown on anyone – or even braid flowers into their hair – without them realising it had happened. It was a complete mystery. They all adored it, however, even though Yasha-kun predictably grumbled about the indignity of flowers in his hair.) Yasha-kun was napping (his crown was on his face, which almost made her burst into laughter) with a curled up Shippō-kun on his chest, Sesshōmaru-kun was awake but watching Rin-chan raptly as she slept, her own crown draped over her ear as she pillowed her head upon his thigh. Miroku-ni was meditating deeply, manipulating his reiki and hōriki to use them better, and Sango-chan and Kirara were also napping, rather close to her monk brother.
It was nearing lunchtime, though, and Kagome felt that Satori was actually still around – no doubt intending on seeing if Kagome could take care of her pack's physical needs as much as the emotional ones that were obviously not neglected. Well, Satori didn't matter – however within an hour or so all of her pack would begin feeling hunger, so it was best to go ahead and get it prepared and ready. Toga whined softly (Kami, the Inu no Taishō was so addicted to her presence that he whined in a beyond desolate manner when she was merely moving somewhat. Take that, Satori. Mleah.) when she made to pull away, but she stroked the lightning bolts on his cheeks and kissed him softly, multiple times.
"I'm just going to go grab a sika or a boar for lunch and dinner, since we will obviously camp here for the night, we are in no rush, seeing as Sesshōmaru-kun very kindly took care of the shards we were on our way to retrieve."
Toga didn't let her go yet, pressing kisses all over her face as he spoke, "Mmm our eldest truly makes me proud – before you even told him in depth how vile the Shikon is and how the power it holds is twisted and only gives a false strength that it will use to manipulate you into doing what it wants, he brought you those two shards, asking if "these disgusting things happen to be those jewel shards you were talking about?" and if they were, "please take them, because this Sesshōmaru wishes for nothing so vile and ringing of lies in his lands, infecting his people". The look on Yasha's face was so priceless."
Kagome giggled softly herself, remembering the perplexed look on Yasha-kun's face when Sesshōmaru-kun said those things, because supposedly every yōkai was susceptible to the lure of the Shikon. They both knew that Sesshōmaru-kun was listening to them because he knew they would not be speaking if they cared about who could hear them. Toga truly had not expressed enough love and pride in his eldest son before he died, and so made up for it every chance he could get now – never overdoing it, never lying, only stating the truth as he saw it and only expressing truly earned pride.
Kagome, unbeknownst to the two of them, could feel a building up of energy that was oh so familiar and it made her wish to squeal in glee because oh it hadn't been until almost the final battle with Naraku last time around that he'd been able to manifest Bakusaiga, and yet it was already forming within him now! Having his father and someone who obviously wished to be a mother to him, loving him, being affectionate towards him, showing blatant pride in him, was convincing him that any perceived favouritism was false – especially with how Toga had acted towards Yasha-kun in the beginning. Not knowing how to interact well with one's son because you were a good Lord and patrolled the lands most of the time did not mean not loving him as much as some unborn child you never even got the opportunity to know. Ideally, Tessaiga would never have left Yasha-kun's body so that his blood would stay managed.
It was not a gift – it was a preventative measure; the most striking and unusual abilities had been pulled out of Tessaiga to form Tenseiga: bringing the dead back to life, slaying the dead, and developing the Meidō Zangetsuha. Yes, the Meidō ability could be transferred back to Tessaiga in case it was ever removed, but considering that Tessaiga should have forever stayed inside of Yasha-kun, no matter what bullshit that old asshole Tōtōsai had spouted to Sesshōmaru last time around, it was given to Tenseiga so that the blade could have an effective defence once it had deemed that Sesshōmaru-kun had learned enough compassion to want the blade on its own merits. When Toga had encountered Tōtōsai and remembered that transferring the ability back to Tessaiga took it from Tenseiga he'd been furious for a sennight over that and Kagome had eventually pulled him into the forest and shoved him into a creek to get him over it.
Needless to say, the fact that his own retainers preferred his younger son to his elder son was something that Toga Was. Not. Happy. With.
"Well, Yasha-kun was under the false impression that any yōkai, regardless of their strength of character or willpower, would fall victim to the promises the Shikon lies about. Sesshōmaru-kun is powerful and wise, does not feel the need to rely on anything but himself for power, and can recognise that unless rightly earned, power is useless."
Unlike what normally happened with conversations like this, Kagome and Toga letting Sesshōmaru-kun know bluntly how they felt about him, the situations he got into, and other various things… Sesshōmaru-kun responded. In a way that actually worried Kagome a bit until it nearly made her cry when she realised the implications. "Kagome-sama… this Sesshōmaru understands that you are fully capable of providing for your pack, as you do so regularly… but this Sesshōmaru would request that you allow him to hunt for luncheon and dinner.
"It does not matter that you had previous contact with this Sesshōmaru – you treat the one in your own world differently, make an effort to clarify such, and have from the moment you met this one treated him in a manner which he has never experienced before. Without expecting a single thing back from him, without pushing him, and without making him feel as if the affection must be returned or accepted; simply offering it if he ever wishes to do so. Even going so far as to entrust your pack to this Sesshōmaru whenever he is around and you wish for time alone with Father. This one has decided that he wishes to accept what you are offering formally, because he knows that despite him calling you as such before, you have always held back on fully believing he meant what he said, Mother. Please allow this Sesshōmaru into your family and pack as your son, Kagome-sama."
Kagome choked slightly, clinging to Toga, but before she could truly accept this, she had to get one thing clear. The thing that had kept her holding back from fully accepting that Sesshōmaru really accepted her as his mother. "Satori?"
He scoffed and combed his claws through Rin's hair beneath the flower crown, leading the young girl to tighten her hand around his sashinuki hakama and adorably murmur something that was likely his name. "This one's birth mother only interacted with this Sesshōmaru when it was to drill lessons into him, and abandoned this one as soon as he was at a physical appearance where the court nobles would not slaughter him, even though his father had very recently died. You, on the other hand, offered this one affection and even love despite that the first time he saw you he tried to rid the world of you. That Satori may have birthed this Sesshōmaru, but Kagome-sama has loved him as she would her own child, despite never treating him as anything less than adult."
"Th-thank you so much Sesshōmaru-kun. This Kagome would be beyond honoured to have you provide meals for her pack. And do not let worries enter your mind – this Kagome will never expect levels of affection from you similar to what Shippō-kun gives her, or any such thing – Kagome loves her Sesshōmaru-kun as he is; affection is just how she shows this love. She does not expect it to be returned beyond what is comfortable for her eldest."
He sent her a small smile then, oh but it was so warm. "This Sesshōmaru admits that affection is not so difficult any more – and is more pleasant than he had thought it would be when it was first becoming shown."
Toga huffed then, and rested his head on Kagome's, "You're inu, of course it is. Your biological mother might be cold and held back but the large majority of us need affection of one kind or another to thrive and live happy lives. It is a part of how our bodies work. We are beast yōkai, after all. Even Satori is not immune to this – she did not like physical affection, but this Toga made sure to flirt with, cajole, and tease her; it was the only kind of affection she would accept and while I was never overly fond of her, it made her more pleasant and I did not wish for her to harm herself by closing herself off to everyone else."
"Father, do you believe you ever could have loved this one's birth mother?"
The fact that he was not calling Satori by her name… Well, that was very telling; Sesshōmaru-kun clearly held no real love or care for the woman.
"Oh, I did. But it wasn't a true love; the same thing happened with Izayoi. Whilst carrying my pups I loved both your mother and Izayoi desperately. It is somewhat telling, however, that when the Kami decided to pull on Kagome's strongest soul-bond to find out who they needed to bring in in order to keep the Shikon from reaching through time to make her will herself to death, they found not only that her strongest bond was to me, but that my only bond was to her. I would never have truly been able to love any female excepting Kagome, full stop. Regardless of if I wished to or not, it would never have left me feeling satisfied and happy with the situation."
Sesshōmaru-kun hummed lightly, "It almost seems cruel; but considering that the situation turned out in such a way that the Kami felt their intervention necessary, it was likely always going to end with you ending up with Mother."
"This Toga has no doubt of that. As long as Kagome had taken care of the Shikon in the manner she did previously, it would have ended in her untimely death. She was only thirty in her previous iteration, and had been miserable for much of her adult time alive. Kagome and the Kami have a plan this time to take care of that vile thing that will twist any being who holds it into making a wish that ultimately gives it more power and life, without the being knowing that any wish granted by that jewel will twist back upon them and eat them alive. This Toga is unsure of how to avoid repercussions, but trusts his beloved little one and the Kami that they can do so."
Okay – Kagome had thought Toga to be purposely ignoring or just uncaring or unaware of Satori's presence but apparently he was making precautions that she didn't attempt to use the jewel herself to rectify things. Kagome rather thought that was overkill – Satori wasn't stupid, just selfish and cold. Besides, she was rather damn powerful herself – any truly powerful, fully adult yōkai would hear that the promises the Shikon whispered were falsehoods. Granted, most simply did not care, but... That was on them. Sesshōmaru was unique because despite his power he was still so very young, and most younger yōkai tended to ignore that they were falsehoods, passing it off as "I can get rid of them later" or "it won't turn out like that with me" or other such things. However his outlook that power should only be earned, and wholly spurned otherwise, was not just a rarity amongst yōkai in general, but especially amongst younger yōkai.
He might be exiting his teens, but that was still so very young for creatures that lived millennia if they were powerful enough and were generally fully mature by their third century (if hanyō or kitsune, who aged one ningen equivalent year for every ten) or their fifth or sixth century (if yōkai, who took fifteen to twenty years to physically age approximately one ningen year until they hit their first maturation and platformed until their second, depending on the breed. The rate of mental development also changed according to breed). Sesshōmaru-kun was an anomaly in the best way, and she truly had a difficult time imagining that he had ever been a true antagonist towards them. Not as in someone who maliciously attacked them for no reason. He had a reason, went about doing what he wanted in the yōkai way, which just happened to be attack and kill. Kagome had a sneaking suspicion that if certain events had been changed; for instance if the jewel had been incomplete when they defeated Naraku – or worse, shattered again – the Kami might have had her end up with Sesshōmaru instead of Toga. Kagome was perfectly happy with this outcome though, so she just didn't think about it much.
Sesshōmaru-kun pulled off his mokomoko-sama then, and pillowed Rin-chan's head on it, the appendage wrapping around her lovingly and protectively as he stood up and walked into the woods with a comment of, "You haven't had any alone time since the ōkami were managed and one was found to travel here to educate Mother. This Sesshōmaru is willing to stay a few more days and give you two some alone time."
They both nodded at him, and Kagome thanked him with a smile. However… As soon as he was out of hearing distance Toga spoke to her, his voice rather… Well, dangerous. Someone Was Not Happy. "Was the cause of my little daughter's second death directly her fault or indirectly her fault?"
"Sesshōmaru wasn't clear, but I think that is just because he doesn't want you punishing Satori for something that was absolutely at least partly an accident. She opened a gateway to hell with the Meidō stone you gave her, and a yōkai or something popped out, pulled Kohaku, with whom he was travelling at the time, and Rin-chan into hell. Sesshōmaru, obviously, followed. Satori had made some comment about if he was going to eat the children earlier on, so Sesshōmaru was unsure of if she timed it purposely or it was just a coincidence although he thinks it was bad timing. Satori isn't that all-knowing or powerful.
"To be fair, despite Rin-chan dying once she entered hell, Satori brought her back, although Sesshōmaru made it blatantly clear that the only reason she did so was because he was having a complete breakdown at the fact that he could not bring back the only person who had ever loved him just because of who he was and for no other reason. He said that he had probably never expressed so much emotion in his entire life as he had at that moment and it shocked her so much that she could not bear seeing her son so decomposed and used the Meidō stone to bring Rin-chan back in order to bring back his composure."
His arms tightened around her and she sighed, setting about calming him down. First thing she did was straddle his lap and press her body against his, which simultaneously relaxed him and aroused him. Then her delicate, strong hands slid into the back of his kimono and hanjuban, pressing into his skin and massaging it, whilst her lips pressed open-mouthed kisses along his throat, her teeth scraping gently and her tongue flicking out against his skin. Despite being designed to effectively turn him on, her actions relaxed him more than they did anything else: Toga was yōkai, and an inu at that; they were very, very frequently aroused, it was one of their default states once they reached full adulthood and had a partner – really, just having a partner was enough to do it if they had reached first adulthood upon becoming around fourteen or so, rather than their second maturity at around nineteen to twenty.
Unlike ningen males who could not handle it for long periods of times, most beast yōkai could (although most of them were also far too impatient to do so) and sometimes even enjoyed it. Certainly Toga did – he enjoyed knowing that his mate not only trusted that he would tell her when his desire was great enough it needed to be sated, but that she actively enjoyed arousing him to the point that she went out of her way to do so at least every other day, even if it was just to relax him from an unpleasant mood. (It rarely was – Toga was laid-back and a generally very pleasant person. Kagome just loved affecting her mate in such a way – she was yōkai, after all.)
Kagome had her empathy shields open to the aura of their little spy – and Kagome did not resent Satori for this spying. Using her mirror had really given her a very incomplete picture of not only the power balance but the entire workings of the pack, she was simply using this time to get a more complete view of things. Rin-chan and Yasha-kun were the only ones still asleep (Yasha-kun didn't sleep well at night no matter where he was at, so he generally kept watch during the night and slept during the day when they weren't travelling) – Shippō and Kirara were playing around, and Miroku-ni was instructing Sango-chan in the use of her reiki and how to channel earth-ki from a new place. Previously he had been teaching her how to do it from against a tree; one had to work harder to pull it up from the earth itself without a tree already keeping it up at the surface. He had learned quickly from Kagome and immediately began instructing Sango as a means to get close to her. (Infatuation at first sight was so cute, seriously.)
And not a single one of them were paying any attention to their alpha and her actions towards their usually fully canine member. Making it blatantly clear that, despite the fact that Toga was usually in his true form, this happened often enough that even though half their pack was ningen-raised or companion to ningen, not a one cared about the blatant pseudo-seduction going on. Satori would not be able to comprehend that this was because Kagome's pack knew that despite the nature of her actions, they were innocently driven – she was relaxing her mate and relieving some of both of their tension, not intending on having sex in full view of the pack. Their alpha and her mate were able to defend them better, spend more time focusing on the health of the pack, and concentrate more fully on finding the shards and defeating Naraku because of these actions that, despite being intended to arouse, were still rather damn chaste. Kissing and massaging were not exactly inherently erotic, they were more comforting than anything, despite the reaction Toga had to them.
Toga was finally relaxed enough that he could massage her shoulders and begin kissing along her ear, whispering softly to her, "Do we still have an audience?"
At her affirming hum he smirked against her skin and scraped his fangs against her neck, making her shudder. Okay, now this was veering into intent to do more than simply relax her – Kagome could hold out admirably, but was nothing like Toga in that regard. "Please allow me to show you off, koishi."
That… Yeah, okay. Kagome could easily work a little bit of reiki manipulation that made Satori follow them and watch them, and Kagome had no qualms with being watched – it didn't arouse her, but it didn't dampen her arousal either. Of course, Toga, the pervert, fully enjoyed showing his mate off. And even though Toga was intending on showing Kagome off, Kagome was going to have it be the other way around. Despite his own preferences, he was planning on a rougher session even though he had no true aggression or frustration to get out, which he had made clear early on was the only time he truly enjoyed sex the yōkai way.
Not today. No matter how gentle and loving he was, Toga was still a yōkai – the sex was always somewhat violent; yōkai had fangs and claws, after all. He didn't ever have to hold back with her, and Kagome could prove to Satori that she could handle every aspect of Toga without him forcing himself to endure an act which he didn't truly enjoy most of the time, and which, unless Toga himself was enjoying, Kagome didn't really enjoy, either.
Nobody was surprised when they went into the trees the moment Sesshōmaru-kun returned with a boar, or with the fact that Sesshōmaru-kun had returned mere moments after Toga had begun responding to Kagome's advances in a more than chaste manner – aside from Kagome herself, Toga was the only person who could sense when Sesshōmaru-kun was nearby, because he had such fine control of how much yōki he let out. Kagome sent a little strand of "follow, look, watch, see, you know you want to get proof that you do have a chance after all" reiki towards Satori, and sure enough it worked.
Of course, the feelings inherent in the reiki were a bald-faced lie; this would just prove that Satori was even more unsuitable for Toga, but Kagome didn't really care about that. She cared about making sure that Satori did not interfere, and changed herself in ways that meant she could truly be happy with her life.
As soon as they reached a clearing, Toga began to strip and strapped Raimei to his back, but before he could reach for Kagome she walked up to him and traced the lightning bolts on his cheeks. Satori had kept up remarkably well, and Kagome would prove that Toga was as much an anomaly as Kagome was. "Toga, are you upset?"
He hesitated, then wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "Aggravated? Angry? Frustrated?"
She had to hold back a smile at his huff and at the way that he very rapidly looked towards their watcher – no doubt wondering what kind of game his betrothed was playing. "No."
Kagome used his hair to pull him down, pressing soft kisses along his markings, which were delightfully sensitive. Then she pulled away softly and threaded her fingers into his ponytail, giving him a serious, loving look. "Do not feel as if you need to prove yourself to anyone just because your ex-mate – whom you have not even seen in over five hundred years before this point, if you will remember – happened to show up today and attempted to confront us. If you are angry or frustrated or otherwise in some mood that means you would enjoy more roughness than usual, you know that I am always up for that. But let me fill you in on a secret, koishi – I only enjoy your viciousness when you are enjoying it. I adore the natural roughness inherent in our usual lovemaking, but anything extra is only arousing to me when it is arousing to you – which means if you are meaning to prove a point to someone who is not here and does not matter then neither of us will enjoy our intimacy, and what is the point in it then?"
That right there stopped Toga in his tracks, and he closed his eyes for several moments, barely holding back a growl that Kagome could tell was geared towards upset at himself for what he had been intending to do, before he moved trembling hands into her hair and scratched along her scalp as he pressed his head against hers, deftly taking the chopsticks out and undoing the bun she frequently wore her hair in. "I am so sorry, koishi. You are correct. Satori does not matter, and I should not use you to prove a point when she is not even around to have a point proven to. You and I both know that because you are not ningen you can handle my roughness and even encourage and enjoy it."
He slowly undid her obi and scraped his fangs against her jaw, his claws closing around her neck and opening up very shallow gashes that healed almost immediately and which made Kagome whine in a very aroused manner. "I am the one who prefers gentleness between us, and it has always been so, hasn't it, sweet songbird?"
She gave off a breathy moan and pulled him closer, no longer even thinking about their hidden watcher. All that mattered was pleasure.