Mr Brightside

by TheMadKatter13

SUMMARY~Unrequited love is always difficult. Especially when she's in love with your brother. AU. Sesshoumaru/Kagome.

DISCLAIMER~The rights to Inuyasha reside with Takahashi Rumiko and I receive no financial gain from the writing of this story.

AN~Originally, I was going to move the update day to Sunday but it failed this week due to a Windows crash which involved a LONG period of reinstallation of Windows and drivers. Then, failed to update Monday night due to watching Rammstein live in concert ( o(^▽^)o ). Last, failed to update till late Tuesday till late afternoon due to being sick. :c It sucks but at least I'm not throwing up ( o(^▽^)o ).

Anyway, sorry for the lateness and my blah-ing, and on we go.

07 But She's Touching His Chest Now

Sesshoumaru had been taking refuge in Africa for a month when his father forwarded him an invitation to the half-breed's and Kagome's combination wedding/Mating. Included was a personal note hand-written by Kagome expressing her wishes that he be there for the wedding. Which was going to be in two months. He spent many long hours deliberating if he should go, and if he did, when would he leave Africa and how long he would stay in Japan. Finally, after a week of deliberation, he decided to stay in Africa until the day before, travel over that night, and return to his current home the moment the ceremony was over. He waited until he knew she would be awake and called her to let her know.

"Moshi moshi."

"Konnichi wa, Kagome." The other line became silent.

"Sesshoumaru?" He raised an eyebrow at the question. "Oh, Sesshoumaru! Where have you been? Papa said that you were fine but no word for a whole month?" He could hear the panic in her voice and guilt rose in him. It was unfortunate that only Kagome could make him feel such emotions when he normally felt nothing but indifference or contempt. She was also the only person besides his parents he had ever, or would ever, apologized to.

"I am sorry, Kagome. Something came up quite suddenly for work and I had to leave immediately. Since then, I have been quite busy correcting many policies and procedures that have gone lax in my absence," he told her, fortunately all true for he did not wish to ever lie to her. He would, however, leave out details that would not be good for her and he did not want to let her know that he had also had many opportunities to call her over the past month. She sighed.

"I know. I know. I'm sorry to blow up on you," she apologized. He almost smiled. His absence had been in no way her fault but there wasn't really away he could explain how it was his fault so he kept silent. "So uh...what has you calling then?"

"I am calling in regards to your wedding," he informed her.

"You're coming, right?" came the automatic, and somewhat worried, response, as if she was afraid he would say no. As if he could say no to her.

"Of course I am. But I will not be able to come back to Tokyo until the night before."

"I understand." The tone was sad and he felt that guilt again.

"Kagome, do you have a wedding dress yet?"

"Um. Well...no."

"Good. That shall be my present for you. I will set up an appointment for you to tomorrow. You should take your mother and Izayoi, and my father will accompany you so that he may make the purchase for me in my absence." He could hear her preparing an argument to not take his gift and he wanted to cut that off before she could even start, needing to help her, provide for her, even if it was in such subtle ways, and ways that would end up locking her to his brother. "Kagome."

"Yes, Sesshoumaru?"

"You will accept this gift since I am not able to be there for you for any other part of the wedding and Mating preparations. It would offend me if you did not." There was another long pause.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"And Kagome?"

"Yes?"

"I will instruct the assistants to hide all of the price tags and to not tell you any of the prices. And you are not to ask. You will get the dress that you want, regardless of price. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Sesshoumaru."

"Good. Now I must be going. I will see you when I arrive in two months."

"Alright. Travel safe. We miss you," she told him and disconnected. He stared at the receiver in his hand as her parting statement replayed in his ear. Despite her saying 'we', he knew what she was really saying: 'I miss you'. But it was difficult to tell exactly how she meant it.

The next two months passed quickly, and without any further word from his home and before he knew it, it was the day before the ceremony. When the sun set, he gathered his youki into a sphere around him and he shot through the air towards the Western lands' castle in Tokyo, his father's home. He arrived in a relatively short time and the abode was graciously empty when he walked in. Nothing had changed in the time he had left and he began the walk up to his room. As soon as the door opened, he took a compulsory deep breath, as was nature and habit to make sure there was nothing out of place, and the only scent he got was Kagome's. Her scent had even overpowered his own, even though this had been his room for over two decades, and he knew that she must have visited his room every day while he had been gone. He growled and slammed the door shut. As much as he would love to bask in her scent, it would not look good for the groom's brother to smell like the bride. The problem was that this was a traditional wedding and all of his traditional clothes were stored in his room.

He took a deep breath of the air in the hallway, the air that still smelled like centuries of inu, so that he would not be tempted to stop to breathe in her scent and bathe in it, and ran into the room at top speed, gathering his traditional garments, and zooming out. He promptly migrated to a guest room to scrub himself clean of her scent and dress for the ceremonies.

~X~

Several hours passing had found Sesshoumaru waiting for his father's arrival in the living room, which came as soon as the first rays of sunlit touched the sky.

"Sesshoumaru! What are you doing here already? There ceremony isn't for another few hours!" His father was much too jovial as he burst in the front door.

"There is no reason to not be here early in the event complications arise," he calmly reasoned. Truth was, he was anxious to see Kagome, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to see her until the ceremony, that didn't stop the intense need or the urge to complete it. Touga laughed.

"Well then. If any complications will arise, it will no doubt be an issue because of your brother. Come. Let us make sure he fully prepared." It turned out, unsurprisingly, he was no where near prepared. The two nearly had to man-handle the stunned hanyou through a shower and dressing him in his own traditional garb, a fire-rat haori and hakama that Touga himself had skinned and Izayoi had sewn when the boy was just a pup. Both Touga and Sesshoumaru were already in their own personalized white haori and hakama. By the time the three Nishi males rolled up to the ceremony hall, Inuyasha was cleaner than he had likely been in years, and he was more formal than he had ever been in his life.

Most of the guests had already arrived and they greeted all three males as they walked up the isle to the small stage at the front where Touga, as a Mating advisor, joined the elderly miko and Kagome's grandmother, Kaede, who would preside over the marriage. Inuyasha stopped in front of his father, turning to face the door where Kagome would emerge, and Sesshoumaru stepped up to his side. Inuyasha's friend, the monk, Miroku, emerged from the crowd to stand at his other side as Sango and Kikyou went to Kaede's side. Slowly, the attendants settled into their seats and traditional music slowly filtered through the air, and the doors opened wide.

Kagome was like an angel as she stepped through the door on her grandfather's arm. The dress she had chosen was a traditional kimono in white with a spattering of small, silver snowflakes that started sparsely around her shoulders and thickened the further they travelled down her coat until it became snow along her hem, and a grey undercoat. Her hair was pulled up in several loops held in place with silver chopsticks tipped with grey tassels. The smile on her face was blinding and the blush on her cheeks only amplified her loveliness and happiness.

Sesshoumaru's lungs expanded immediately to drag her scent into his lungs and he had to keep his face without expression as a new strain to her scent filtered first through his nose and then into his brain. Only through years of practice was he able to keep the surprise from his face. His eyes calmly slid to his father who was already looking at him with a knowing expression before he put his eyes back on the bride who was still beaming, but now her eyes were on him and he nodded is head at her, a near-imperceptible movement indicative of his pleasure with her choice of a wedding dress. Her smile widened but so did her blush and then her eyes returned to Inuyasha. The mutt was more nervous than he had ever been in his life as his bride approached, but all Sesshoumaru could think about was that scent.

The marriage ceremony passed mostly without his notice but he had to avert his eyes when it came time for the passionate kiss. It was all too soon before the congregation was migrating into the reception room where dinner was held. The head table housed Kagome, Inuyasha, and their families. The rest of the invitees were in tables lining a dance floor. Dinner was a quiet affair and when the dishes had been cleared, Kagome stood and cleared her throat, pulling Inuyasha to stand at her side, her smile still on her face.

"First of all, I would love to thank you all for being here with us here today. It means so much to us that you could take time out of your lives to join us for our ceremonies today." Sesshoumaru almost snorted in his surprised amusement. Only Kagome would thank someone like that for going to her wedding. "There is an announcement that we would also like to make." Kagome paused for effect, looking around the room as Inuyasha followed her gaze nervously. "We're pregnant!"

The room erupted in pleased chatter and then flooded the marriage table with further congratulations. In the commotion, Sesshoumaru was pulled to the side by his father and from the look on his face, he knew immediately why.

"Does Inuyasha know it is not his?" Sesshoumaru felt no need to be anything other than blunt with his father. Any youkai in the room with a good nose and a brain could tell that the pup within Kagome's womb was his and not his brother's.

Touga chuckled. As much as he loved his younger son, the boy really didn't have much sense or intelligence.

"No. And before you ask, I do not believe Kagome knows that it is yours either." Sesshoumaru stayed silent and turned to survey Kagome who was in the middle of accepting congratulations from a fox youkai couple and their young boy. The woman was beaming as her hand momentarily touched her stomach. Even with her happiness, Sesshoumaru could hear the other youkai's whispered comments to each other about the their confusion in parentage and a burst of anger filtered through him as her situation was his fault, not hers, and he let his control on a sliver of his youki go and let it flare through the room. As one, all youkai looked up at him and he made sure to convey one thing: Kagome was under his protection and was not to be bothered. They all nodded minutely and went about their business as he re-leashed his aura.

"Do you not feel that that was a little unnecessary?" his father questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"If I had felt it unnecessary, it would not have happened," he responded smoothly. His eyes travelling back around the room, they fell upon Kagome's cousin whose own eyes were currently fixated upon the hanyou, and his eyes narrowed. He had not smelled the female's scent on his brother this morning, nor did he smell his on her now, but that meant nothing. And based on his brother's past, and the female's ambition, he had his doubts that the boy had the guts to end the relationship. "Has he ended his affair with her?" There was no need for names as his father knew their past as well.

"No," the old youkai responded sadly. Kagome was like a daughter to him, and to have her put such blind faith in his unfaithful child was heartbreaking, and for years he had been torn on whether or not to tell her, as he knew the knowledge would leave her heartbroken. Long had he he debated on the matter; which would be worse for her? Being stuck in a relationship with a cheating Mate, or the heartbreak the knowledge of the long-time affair would cause her? Over the course of their relationship, Touga had frequently scented the less-desirable cousin's scent on his younger son, sometimes on a weekly basis. Even with his son's cheating, that still did not explain how Kagome was with child from his eldest son. He had known, probably before Sesshoumaru did, that the youkai was in love with the miko, but she was too in love with Inuyasha to see, and Inuyasha was too blind. Speaking of...he had better start asking questions soon. This was likely the only time in the near future he would be able to get any answers.

"Sesshoumaru..." The youkai's eyes did not leave Kagome's form but Touga knew he had his son's attention. "How did Kagome end up with your pup?" Now his son did turn to look at him. He was on the end of a contemplative look for several long minutes before he turned away again.

"Kagome had gone home early and found Inuyasha in their bed with Kikyou. She came to me for comfort. I...did not comport myself properly. She was in distress, and I did not treat her as a trusted companion should. I took advantage of her. And still, she went back to him." Touga stared in wonder at his son. As long as his son had been alive, he had never appeared regretful over anything. He had to keep himself from smiling at the thought of how good Kagome was for his older son, and then it immediately fell at the thought that she still couldn't see it. Then his eyes turned to the woman herself. He had had the last 2 months to process her pregnancy, and when he had first realized the pup's paternity, he had been very startled to realize that she had not been loyal to his younger son, and beyond that, that they were still together, and that his son hadn't himself realized that he wasn't going to be a father. And through it all, Kagome's loyalty to his son still surprised and amazed him, even more so now that he knew that she had caught his son in the act, not only that time when they were still in secondary school, but also a second time much more recently.

Sesshoumaru turned to watch as Inuyasha joined his new bride on the floor for the first dance as a married couple. Surprisingly, the hanyou seemed to have learned new moves as he easily whirled a laughing Kagome around the floor. When the song ended, other couples joined them on the floor and Sesshoumaru only had to bide his time until Inuyasha excused himself with a red face. Smirking, he glided in.

"May I have this dance?" Kagome whirled to face him, and her face absolutely lit up. A smile crept unbidden onto his lips as he took the stunning beauty into his arms and gracefully danced her around the room.

"You are beautiful, Kagome," he told her, one hand tightening around her waist and the other around her hand. "You could not have made a more perfect choice of gown." Her face lit up even more if possible at the rare compliment and she blushed so prettily that he hugged her tightly, a thinly veiled disguise to bury his nose in the crook of her neck, deeply inhaling her scent and that of their pup. The thought suddenly hit him and he almost stopped in the middle of the dance. He was going to have a pup with the woman he would take as his Mate, and she thought it was that of his cheating younger brother who was taking her as wife and Mate. His life was beyond fucked up and he was only going to entrench himself further as he realized that he was not going to be able to leave Japan again for quite some time. The song ended and Kagome was laughing but panting from the physical excertion and he immediately regretted taking her for such a dance in chance of harming the pup. He quickly escorted her back to her seat and she collapsed with a pleased laugh.

"When did you learn how to dance, Sesshoumaru?" she laughed, sitting back as he handed her a cup of water.

"I have attended many dances," he told her, his face straight but a glint in his eye that had her smiling.

"Of course, Sesshoumaru. If you say so," she laughed. She took a deep drink from her glass, placing a hand over her slightly bulging tummy as she did so. Gold eyes tracked her movements and a desire came over him hard and strong.

'"Kagome, may I..." he trailed off, unsure of how to ask. If she were his Mate, he wouldn't have to ask but this was such an unusual situation that, for once, he didn't know what to say. Thankfully, the path of his eye and the start of the same question many others had asked already this evening told Kagome what he wanted to ask and she brightened, if possible, even further.

"Yes, please!" She grabbed his hand and gently laid it on her stomach. Though it was too soon for Kagome to really feel movement, as the pup's father, Sesshoumaru could feel its restless movements calm when he laid his palm upon her. He kept his face devoid of emotion but he was immeasurably pleased that the pup knew its father. He looked up at Kagome and could only give her a gentle smile and she beamed back, positively glowing from such a happy day, a healthy pregnancy, and the rare gift of Sesshoumaru's smile.

TBC

So there was another long chapter for you and I'm pretty sure the next one will be another long one, just for you! You may have noticed I Polyvored the last detailed outfit, and you were probably excited to see Kagome's kimono but unfortunately, it doesn't exist to my knowledge. Sorry! Also, there was originally a third line to the AN that I had written as a joke to which an ff. net reviewer took offense to, and then a Dokuga admin alerted me I had violated 3 ToS (woops!) so I'm just going to cut out the line to avoid further hassle on my part. (Feel free to PM me if you want the original AN! ^.~) Further, it must be noted that I IN NO WAY demand that you as my readers leave reviews for my story. However, if you Alert/Fave my story, IT WOULD BE SO AWESOME IF YOU ALSO REVIEWED IT! (Please?) You don't have to, but it would be pretty suh-weeeet! One, it makes me smile to get reviews, and two, if actually critiqued, it may help me improve the story &/or myself as a writer. Thank you.

Update (on time) next week.