AUTHOR'S CORNER:
I just have to say, you guys are awesome! All the reviews I got expressing your concern for my health and telling me not to stress or overwork myself... you almost had me in tears! I felt so appreciated and cared for! I think I will take your all's advice and cut back my submission time. From now on, I will be submitting every tuesday and every friday. Since tomorrow is a tuesday I won't submit then, so my next submission will be July 7th. Hopefully the extra time will help me write some longer and more indepth chapters.
Anyways, thank you all again! Enjoy!
Chapter 22
Kagome did as she was asked to, for a while at least. She wore clothing appropriate to her station, she let Akiko chauffeur her everywhere, she ate when she was told to, she studied in the library for a way to get back home, and she even practiced her swordsmanship in the dojo with an ever watchful and very impressed Akiko. It turned out Akiko was also asked to become Kagome's handmaiden because she was a very skilled bodyguard, though you'd never know it by looking at her or by her demeanor.
A week passed, Kagome grew restless. Two weeks passed, Kagome became pissed. She had seen neither hide nor hair of the stupid stoic demon and she was beginning to become really angry. All of her days were the same, wake up, get dressed, eat, practice in the dojo, bathe, study in the library, eat, go to sleep. Nothing changed, she wasn't allowed outside the palace, she wasn't allowed out of Akiko's sight. Kagome loved the girl, they had become close friends in the two weeks they'd spent together, but Kagome was on her last thread of sanity.
The little miko considered trying to escape, but she figured that was no good. The youkai residing in the castle were trained warriors and trackers, she wouldn't get far. Finally, at the beginning of week three Kagome decided she'd had enough. Sesshomaru was ignoring her purposefully and she was tired of it. Pride and nobility be damned! He would not ignore her like this!
Akiko knew something was wrong with her lady and new friend when she got up that morning with a look of determination on her face. She knew enough about Kagome now to know that was a dangerous look for the girl to be sporting, especially so early in the morning.
Kagome got up, got dressed in silence, further worrying Akiko, then stalked out into the hallway and stopped. The servant watched in amazement as the miko closed her eyes and began to glow, holding out her hands in front of her as if she were feeling her way through a dark room.
Ah! There he is. Kagome's miko senses dropped and she stalked off in the direction she had felt his aura coming from. Akiko yipped worriedly before following after her lady.
"Kagome-san! You're not allowed to go that way!" she said, worrying her hands in front of her, "Sesshomaru-sama said expressly…"
"I don't give a flying hoot WHAT Sesshomaru-SAMA said!" she almost snarled back and continued stalking down the hall. Akiko looked at Fubuki pleadingly but received only a helpless look in return. Fubuki knew better than to try and dissuade the stubborn miko when she was in a mood like this.
Sesshomaru was in his study going over some land treaties when he had felt her aura flare. His intention was to make her at the end of her patience and willing to do whatever he wanted her to do out of desperation to dispel the sheer boredom he was subjecting her to. However, twenty years must have dulled his memory of exactly how she would probably react to two weeks of being ignored.
Sesshomaru's eyes slid up from his paperwork as his screen slammed open and a very angry and rather disturbingly pink glowing miko stomped into his study. Sighing silently he put down the paper he had been trying in vain to read and focused on the miko.
"You really should learn not to sound like an elephant on a rampage, I am sure you disturbed the entire castle just now," he said in his best cold and haughty voice.
"Good, then they can all be witness to this," Kagome crossed the room just as Akiko and Fubuki showed up in the door way. To everyone's, including Sesshomaru's astonishment, she leaned over, planted one hand on his desk and punched him square in the chest. Of course, Sesshomaru had seen it coming, though he hadn't bothered to stop it, hoping to embarrass the miko into submission. It was to his great surprise then to find himself thrown backward with enough force to go clear through the wall and finally bring his feet underneath him to land somewhere in the grassy courtyard behind the palace.
Kagome stalked through the broken wall to stand at the edge looking down at him while Akiko nearly had a heart attack and Fubuki was inwardly chuckling and happy that someone else was now the object of her fury.
To say Kagome was furious would be a gross understatement. The miko was beyond furious, she was livid and now she was going to take it all out on a certain taiyoukai who was very deserving of being taken down a few notches.
Just then, a host of guards came barging into what was left of their lord's office and stared in awe and horror at the hole in the wall behind the youkai's desk and the miko standing, glowing a flaming pink, glaring in a most undignified manner at the lord of the western lands, who was still crouched outside.
A few of the guards moved forward to restrain the little miko and too late saw the error of their ways. The small human turned just before they grabbed her and glared up at them with a look that could rival Sesshomaru on a bad day. The moment their hands touched her the aura flared impossibly bright and both guards went flying in opposite directions, each crashing to a stop against a wall and knocking various items all over the room.
"Touch me again and I'll purify your asses straight past the Kami's and into OBLIVION!" Kagome snarled at the guards in an amazing imitation of an enraged female demon. The other guards wisely hung back looking to their lord for guidance, though he just seemed to be regarding the woman coolly. Akiko looked down aghast at Fubuki who seemed to be emitting a sound equivalent to a chuckle, though it sounded similar to a higher pitched cat whine.
Kagome whirled back around to face Sesshomaru before leaping down to the grass and pointing a slender finger at the taiyoukai.
"You! I still have business with you!" she yelled at him and was rewarded with a slight raising of one white eyebrow. "You think that ignoring me and treating me like the dirt under your feet will boost your ego any? Or could it be," she started stalking toward the still crouching demon, "that the great lord Sesshomaru is AFRAID of one tiny miko? So afraid that he shuts her away for two weeks and refuses to speak to or see her?" before she had finished speaking she saw a streak of white and prepared herself just before she was lifted off the ground forcefully by the front of her miko hakama.
Throwing her hands upward, she didn't give him a chance to speak, pink light flared blindingly bright and Sesshomaru yanked his hand back with a snarl, the skin of his entire right palm and a distance up his forearm was burned considerably, small welts showing up on the pads of his hands.
Kagome landed slightly jarringly on her feet due to falling a short distance, but managed to regain her balance and glare up at the demon who was giving her a death glare.
"I will not be treated this way! I am a miko of great reputation and even YOU, Sesshomaru-SAMA will treat me with respect!" she growled at him. Sesshomaru snarled and leapt at her, his beast demanding he force his dominance on her, but every time he managed to touch her or get close to her, she would burn him with that ridiculously strong miko aura. Both his hands were now extremely burnt, but he wasn't about to give in, not when his guards were watching and expecting him to prevail.
To his astonishment they were watching the miko in a manner that would only be called awe and he couldn't help but agree with them. The girl had become extremely fast for a human and her miko powers had grown immeasurably, though he could feel her beginning to weaken from the massive use of power for such an extended period of time. Slowly he continued his assault, hitting and pummeling her even though it burned him, using up her remaining miko energy purposefully and beating her back until he had her up against the side of the building.
Kagome was beginning to weaken and she knew it, she also knew she would have some nasty bruises for quite some time, but she couldn't let the stupid youkai do what he wanted. She had to make a statement. Using one last burst of miko power she threw him off by ignoring another punch to her shoulder and instead of blocking throwing both hands into his chest. His eyes grew almost unnoticeably wider for a split second, comprehension setting in before a blast five times that which threw him through his study wall slammed into his chest.
Sesshomaru felt like his lungs were burning and his skin was searing away. He had no idea she had become this powerful. The force of the blast threw him back and into the outer wall of the palace, leaving a nice dent from his body's impact. Once the momentum left his body and was displaced into the wall behind him he regained his feet and mentally assessed the damage. Nothing seemed missing or burnt off, chest stung like crazy and without looking he was sure there were welts and most of the top of his hakama was gone. Pretty much any skin from his collarbones down to his belly button and down the fronts of his arms to his hands was sore and blistered, the normally perfect skin now an angry red.
Lifting his eyes he saw that Kagome had collapsed to her knees, her head hanging low, bangs covering her eyes and she was breathing hard. Silently Fubuki leapt down with catlike grace and stepped between Kagome and the fuming demon, deciding for himself that she had had enough, his ice blue eyes clashing mightily with smoldering amber ones. Sesshomaru felt that twist in his gut that he refused to admit was jealousy as he straightened, acting oblivious to his wounds.
"So, he has taken to remaining in physical form instead of at your side?" Sesshomaru said, the disgust obvious in his voice as his eyes shot past the defensive cat to the woman behind him, his glare boring into her. Kagome looked up in confusion.
"It takes little to almost no energy for him to reside in cat form, unlike his human form, so he prefers to stay this way. He feels he is better able to defend me like this," she explained, though she wasn't sure why she was defending herself to the annoying youkai. It wasn't like he deserved an explanation. With a wave of his hand he dismissed his guards, not wishing them to overhear his conversation with the infuriating woman, although he was sure they would anyway.
"Well, it sounds like the two of you are happy together," he said very uncharacteristically, it wasn't like him to banter insults back and forth with his lesser. Actually, it was unheard of for him. Even to his own mind he sounded jealous and inwardly he cringed, wishing he could take the words back.
Kagome had the oddest look plastered on her face, the discoloration beginning to show up on one cheek and her neck only making her look odder, but what really threw the taiyoukai was the look on Fubuki's face. The panther's ice colored eyes were as big as saucers and his face looked elongated for a moment before the stupid sword actually fell over, his eyes squeezed tightly shut and began rolling around on his back, clutching his paws to himself and emitting a high pitched wheezing sound that was very suspiciously much like laughter.
Kagome looked down at the rolling cat in as much confusion as the youkai across the yard before she finally caught on and started to chuckle herself. Sesshomaru was beginning to get very aggravated and Kagome hurriedly explained.
"Sesshomaru, there is no relationship at all between Fubuki and I. We're best friends and that's about it. He's laughing because he's remembering the one time he actually did try to hit on me, sometime shortly after you disappeared," Sesshomaru cocked one eyebrow up and she continued. "Fubuki and I were working on my miko powers and he requested to be allowed to be in human form. I thought nothing of it, but halfway through practice, he decided he wanted to try and kiss me. I think he got thrown twice the distance that you did a moment ago!" Fubuki stopped his rolling and looked up at Sesshomaru with a somber nod and rubbed his chest lightly with one large paw as if remembering how much it had hurt.
Sesshomaru's beast relaxed slightly having heard their story and detecting no lies, though it was still grumbling about the fact that the sword had tried to kiss his miko. As he watched her, her eyes glazed over slightly in memory and he began to realize how much of her life he had missed. He wasn't sure how much time had passed for her, but she looked much older than she had the last time he had seen her. The girlish softness to her face and figure had faded and were replaced by a woman's well shaped features and womanly but strong looking curves. Her raven hair now hung down almost past her hips and she now had a look and a presence of having gained even more knowledge than before. She didn't look old, quite the contrary, she simply looked more developed than before.
All in all she was breathtaking, which was part of the reason he had been avoiding her so astutely. Her scent hadn't changed any and was just as sweet and clean as before, his nostrils filling with sakura blossoms and spring water with each breath. However, all this meant was that he was going to keep her as far from himself as possible because a human woman was a weakness he could not afford with the aftermath of a war on his hands.
"I still didn't beat you, did I?" her voice brought him out of his musings to focus on the girl collapsed on the grass a short distance away. As she was regarding him, he realized that her eyes had changed slightly too. The look of complete loving trust was gone from them and though they still looked open and friendly, there was a guarded twinkle to them that he couldn't help but notice.
"No, though you are not unconscious this time, so it is a minor improvement," Kagome snorted in a very unladylike manner and chuckled a little. For Sesshomaru, that was quite the compliment. The way he was standing, you wouldn't think he had his shirt pretty much disintegrated off and that he had massive burn marks all over his chest, arms and hands and some pretty nasty welts and blisters to top it all off. He stood as he always does, tall, regal, uncaring and cold.
Kagome shook her head as she struggled to her feet with Fubuki's help. She wasn't sure what she had done to make Sesshomaru no longer care about her, but somehow in the time she was separated from him all the work she had done to become friends was now undone. He was back to being his normal cold self and the little miko didn't know if she had the energy or the heart to try and win him back. Losing him once broke her heart, the thought of working for it again and possibly losing it twice was crippling for her.
The taiyoukai most prevalent in her thoughts was regarding her thoughtfully as well. In all honesty, he wanted nothing more than to regain what he'd had with her before, but he couldn't do that here. It was all fine for things of that nature in the future where there was no danger, but here he had just finished a war and might be on the verge of another. There is also the small fact that every youkai with the sole exception of Akiko absolutely hates her. If anyone found out that he was considering her as a mate, he was sure his subjects would not go against him, however ever other youkai in Japan would.
Wait, considering? No, CONSIDERED, past tense. There is no considering now. This Sesshomaru's mind is made up. After a few moments of standing there he realized they were both still outside in full view of anyone who wished to see them.
"Miko, as much as I'm sure we both enjoy the outside air, this conversation should be taken inside," Kagome glared up at him in annoyance of his use of 'miko' and not her name.
"Well, when you decide to remember that you have a brain and actually use it to remember that I have a name then we will adjourn to a place indoors," she said haughtily. Sesshomaru felt like grinding his teeth.
"I will call you what I wish to call you and you will come inside when I wish you to," he replied back coolly, but Kagome saw right through him. She'd aggravated him.
"Then I will also call you what I wish to call you, youkai, and as for when I'm going inside, well that all depends on when I wish to," she shot back, lifting her chin defiantly. "I am not a part of your pack," she said using a term she knew dog demons used for family, "I am not in your employ nor am I a member of your domain. I am a free miko who is a guest in your household," her eyes twinkled with challenge and Sesshomaru was forced once again to restrain a howling beast who wanted to take the stupid woman. Truly, you'd think she would have learned.
Kagome knew she was pushing Sesshomaru on this, but she was not about to be cowed when she wasn't even there by choice. Suddenly she saw the golden orbs staring into her own blue ones darken slightly and she knew she was in trouble.
A brute… she's turning me into a brute, he thought despairingly as he strode over to the exhausted miko. Ignoring Fubuki's warning growls and the little miko's protests he grabbed her by the waist with one arm, letting her dangle down his side, oblivious to her kicking and yelling and leapt back into the broken wall of his study. Dropping her none too gently on a cushion, he returned to his seat behind his desk and pointedly ignored the death glares being sent his way.
"Now, miko, since you decided to come in on your own to discuss things with this Sesshomaru, then we will now talk about why you are here," he said, still ignoring the fuming woman and obviously amused Fubuki sitting next to her. Crossing her arms over her well formed bosom, she glared at him for a moment longer before answering with a sigh.
"Honestly, I have no idea how I got here," Sesshomaru raised one eyebrow and she continued, "all I know is that I was studying a shrine in…" Sesshomaru raised a finger as if to tell her to keep certain details about her origins to herself since he knew others might be listening, "…my home village and …. And I was… Sesshomaru, can we talk about this somewhere else?" she asked pleadingly. If there were others listening that he didn't want to have hear facts about her or himself then they really couldn't talk about what had happened until it was safe.
Thinking for a moment, he rose with a nod and gestured for her to follow him. Rising curiously she fell into step behind him as he left his office and traveled through the palace, finally exiting the side door and into the gardens. Kagome studied his back as they walked, the silk remains of his hakama hanging off one shoulder in blackened tatters and wondering in amusement how he could still act so lordly while looking so ridiculous. Though she couldn't help but admire the finely muscled plains of his back. Deciding that was a terribly bad train of thought she turned from her study of his sexy, muscled behind and looked all around her.
They walked in silence through the gardens for quite some distance and Kagome couldn't help but stare in awe at how large they actually were. Akiko had never let her wander this deep into the beautiful foliage before and Kagome was secretly happy to be allowed this far.
Suddenly Sesshomaru stopped before what appeared to be a small alcove in the trees and flowers, though she felt an odd sort of humming to the place. Had she been at full power she probably could have determined where it was coming from. A moment later it was revealed to her because Sesshomaru walked straight up to what appeared to be nothing and put his hand out. A moment later solid rock appeared with a demon rune etched right in the center where his hand was. Pushing lightly, he rolled the stone to the side and gestured her inside before stepping in himself and closing it behind them.
"The rock will disappear to the normal eye outside once it's closed and no one is capable of opening it save a member of the Taisho family," he explained. Kagome nodded in wonder as he led her down what appeared to be a short cave before it opened up into a cavern and her breath hitched in her throat. The room was large; light filtered in through a hole in the ceiling and was tinted by brightly colored flowers growing in the crevasse. In the very center of the floor was a large hot spring with natural sitting places carved into the rock all around it. Along the walls were enormous bookcases, a desk, a futon and a few other living amenities. It was obvious that it had been used frequently in the past, although it looked as if no one had been there for quite a little while.
Sesshomaru gestured to a cushion in front of the desk and then settled himself behind it. Kagome sat down and gestured Fubuki over. Immediately he obeyed and put his forehead against her outstretched palm. A moment later white wispy smoke appeared all around the cat and instantly he reverted back to a katana and was gripped in the miko's still outstretched hand. Sliding him into her belt, she turned back to find Sesshomaru regarding her with an unreadable look in his eyes.
"He cannot hear us in katana form?" he asked guessing correctly her motives for changing him back.
"No, he cannot. He can feel what I'm feeling and if I'm not careful he can hear projected thoughts, but otherwise he cannot hear and cannot see." Sesshomaru nodded in approval. Sighing slightly, she turned soulful blue eyes on the taiyoukai.
"What happened after you disappeared? Where did you end up?" she asked tentatively. Sesshomaru stared at a spot on his desk.
"The power of the shikon returned me to this side of portal. I appeared in my brother's forest right beside the well," Kagome nodded. "Before I get into what happened here, I want you to tell me as best you can what is going on," Kagome gave him an annoyed look and he shrugged elegantly, "you owe it to me for attempting to embarrass me in front of my guards," he said coolly. Kagome sweat dropped, at least he was being more personable now.
"Ok fine. Well, you know the part about the well closing up. After that, I simply went back to school and eventually graduated and moved on to college," at his confused look she explained, "remember how adults go to a different school than younger people?" Sesshomaru nodded. "Well, I got into a prestigious college and continued my education, but I studied history and archaeology. Archaeology is the study of old artifacts and the learning of how to find them as well." Sesshomaru nodded, though inwardly he thought it a rather pointless career.
"Anyway, during my studies, I looked for signs of what might have happened…" she paused uncomfortably, "to you." A small blush formed on her cheeks but she kept going, not looking up at the demon. "You had wanted to know if you lived or died and what would happen to the western lands, so I decided to look into history and study artifacts and see what I could find. So far, nothing turned up, after four years of study…" Sesshomaru cut in smoothly.
"Four years?" he asked, "how long has it been since I disappeared from your time?" Kagome looked up then.
"It's been six years for me. Two to finish up high school and four in college," Sesshomaru was amazed that she had continued her education all that time. No wonder she seemed wiser than before. "Why? How long has it been since you returned?" she asked quietly.
"Twenty two years," he responded and Kagome gasped.
"I guess since the time was no longer connected by the well that they moved independently of each other," Kagome tapped her chin with one finger, deep in thought. Her bottom lip was sucked between her teeth and she absently chewed on it, oblivious to the demon who was trying hard to ignore the tantalizing sight.
"Continue with your story," he interrupted her, bringing her back and making her cease nibbling on her lip so distractingly.
"Oh! Right, so I've been studying the history of Japan right around this era, but haven't found a whole lot. All I can determine is that there were a few big wars around this point in history and that shortly after this time was when demon's existence in this world was either eradicated or they went into hiding. History is rather incomplete on that point.
"So it was along those lines of study that my teacher had given me my final report subject for class. I was to go out to the area that used to be the border between the southern and western lands and study the shrine left there. Apparently, the shrine monument was erected there because that was the spot where something occurred to turn the tide of the battle…" she suddenly trailed off before her eyes went wide and she looked up at the demon who was watching her from his vantage point across the desk.
"Me! It was a shrine set where I appeared! I'm the reason the shrine is there! Were you winning the battle before I arrived?" she asked curiously and Sesshomaru's eyes darkened slightly.
"Unfortunately, no. It turned out that the southern lord had gathered more troops than we had known about and we were slowly losing the battle. It makes sense that your showing up turned the tide of the battle, considering your attacks took out whole ranks of their men. There is also the fact that you happened to show up right in the thick of the enemy," he added grudgingly. Kagome nodded, deep in thought.
"I remember I had driven out to the shrine and I walked around the shrine house a little before heading inside. It was rather ramshackle and forgotten, so I had to pick my way through the building to actually get to the monument stone. Apparently it had been taken down at some point by some monks, so some of the runes were scraped off, but the markings on it were definitely the same ancient demon writing you used to write your 'notes' when you visited my high school." Sesshomaru nodded.
"It is not unusual for the demon society to use the ancient language in our ceremonial writings," he explained and Kagome nodded.
"Well, I was studying the stone closely, I had both hands on it when thoughts about you and when you had visited my time came flowing to mind," she dropped her eyes and her bangs covered them, hoping he didn't see how embarrassed she was that she was telling him this. "I couldn't help it, I wished that I could see you again. I wanted to know if you were alright and what had happened to you. It was so frustrating to study all that history and still not know if you were alright or if you had been killed. Suddenly I was surrounded by a really bright white and then blue light and when it faded I was in the middle of the battlefield," she shrugged slightly.
Both parties fell silent and considered the information she had just imparted. Options rolled around in the taiyoukai's mind and sullenly, he realized it might not be possible to send her back.
"You said you were touching the stone when you were sent back here?" he asked and she nodded slightly, coming out of her own musings to focus on him. "Then there might not be a way to send you back," he said slowly, "it appears that somehow your miko powers responded to your wish and your contact with something from this era; the combination of those brought you back here. As there is nothing of that sort from your era here for you to do the opposite with, then I'm afraid we may not have a way of sending you home," he concluded with a sinking feeling. The last thing he wanted was for her to be stuck with him permanently though his beast felt otherwise.
Kagome's eyes were impossibly wide, but she did not cry as he thought she would. She looked more shocked than anything else, as if the thought simply had not occurred to her. As the thoughts finally sorted themselves out in her mind and realization set in, she found herself thinking that it might not be so bad. She would have all the time in the world then to torture his lordship and perhaps rebuild their friendship.
"Well, that sucks," she mused more to herself making Sesshomaru look at her oddly. Kagome waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, that's just a term in my time to refer to something that happened as being a bad thing," she said, staring off into space and thinking over what will happen to her.
So, the miko thought it was a bad thing that she was stuck with him. Good, then he would make sure it stays that way.
"Miko, since you are stuck here until we can figure something else out, then arrangements will have to be made," Kagome looked at the demon warily, not liking where this was going. "Since you have nowhere to go and since you have extraordinarily unusual and strong powers, you will enter my employ and stay here at least for a little while. I will have you train with a swordsman and others of my choosing and you will continue to advance your miko abilities," he saw Kagome go red in the face and decided to interject before she had the chance to explode on him.
"There are many reasons behind my decisions, the most prevalent however is that most of the people in my employ would rather see you dead. You have taken the first step in proving your worth to them today; however you will have to gain their respect and fear on your own. I cannot do it for you. Therefore you will be training and learning from my most trusted of my men and you will earn yourself a place among the others in their ranks," he said with finality.
Kagome was fuming, but everything he had said made sense. Just the looks she had gotten from the servants around the castle told her that she wasn't a wanted guest. Now she would have the opportunity to change that.
Standing, Kagome gave him an impressive cold look.
"Very well, your lordship, I will do my best to do all that you have asked. I will make sure that I am not a burden to you," she said disdainfully and Sesshomaru got that now familiar though still disturbing twist in his gut at the way she was looking at him. No, his beast was not at all happy with the results of their conversation, but he placated it with the thought that he was doing it to make her stronger.
Standing himself, he gave her a cold look that equaled hers and led her back out and into the sunshine.