6º – Some useful information

(*)

It had been one week since Kagome arrived. The first two days were horrible. She couldn´t move. Her body didn´t respond to any of her commands. Her legs felt like jelly, and even her eyes refused to stay open more than twenty minutes at a time.

"I guess that I really wasn´t paying attention to my body´s needs." It was a bad feeling. But she was getting better. During that week, the demoness named Aimi took care of her, fed her, talked to her, and even gave her a sponge bath. And day by day, Kagome was getting her strength back.

And by the end of the week, her voice was once again normal, she was able to feed herself and she was more than ready to get out of bed. Even with her progress, Aimi was still reluctant to let her leave the bed. Kagome was now her pup, and so she would be pampered like never before. Besides the kimonos, the hair accessories, the jewels, and all the presents given, there was also so much affection coming from the demoness.

However, Kagome couldn´t understand completely why she had been adopted by such a powerful demoness.

"Please, Aimi-sama, let me leave this bed." Kagomes´ voice was low and submissive. A simple plea from a very restless pup.

"My little pup, please, how many times have I asked you not to call me that." Aimi rose her beautiful eyes to Kagome´s face, trying to show her that everything that she was saying was true. There were no lies in her eyes. "We are family now. Just Aimi is fine."

It was very hard for Kagome to trust the demoness. Even now, she felt suspicious and wary of everything surrounding her. In fact, the information she revealed about herself was so small, that Aimi didn´t know Kagome´s name yet. Aimi asked her many times, but Kagome always said that she couldn't say her name. Aimi had a feeling that the reason behind so many secrets was that this pup had run away from her master, and now was afraid to reveal her name. And so, Aimi would still call her pup our little pup.

Also, the lack of trust that Kagome revealed made things a bit harder. With Kagome rarely engaging in conversations, she still knew very little about the family that took her in. But there was one particular thing that she needed to know in order to trust them, and eventually, she decided that it was worth a shot.

"I would like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind, Aimi." The name was said very slowly and in a very low tone of voice. Almost as if she was scared to pronounce it.

"Of course, I don´t mind, little pup! Ask away!" Aimi knew that certain questions could not be answered due to her status as a ruling demoness and the fact that she didn´t know much about her newest pup. Maybe if she responded to a few questions, she would be able to acquire some information.

"Why do you call me pup? Better yet, why do you treat me like I am your pup? Why did you make me part of your family?" Kagome wanted to know this because depending on the demoness's answer, she would be able to trust or run during the night. In fact, this question had been bugging her for a long time now, and Aimi didn´t seem the kind of demoness that would strike her in the face for an impertinent question. She had actually taken care of her, spent the day locked in the same room just to keep Kagome company.

After hearing Kagome´s question, Aimi just took a deep breath. She knew that this question was coming. She just wished that she had more time to prepare her answer. Her eyes fell to her hands, which were resting in her lap. She really didn´t want to talk about this. But what choice did she have? If she wanted information, she would have to share some of her own.

"To be able to explain that to you, I will have to tell you a part of the story that is my life. As you may already know, I have a mate, whom I love with all my heart. As a matter of fact, we share a life bond, meaning that if one of us dies, the other will soon follow. It is rather uncommon in demons of our ranking to find a couple that shares a life bond. You do have some knowledge of the ruling houses, correct?"

Kagome knew that there were, in existence, three of them. She also knew that it used to be four. What happened exactly to the fourth ruling house was information that she didn´t have access to, or better yet, no one outside the court knew. Since her knowledge was lacking on so much important information, she just said, "I know very little on the subject…"

"I see…" Aimi knew that ruling house information was something confidential. There were many enemies out there willing to do anything to hurt the families, and keeping information a secret was essential for their survival. "Well, as of now, you are my pup, and so you can no longer show ignorance to others. As soon as you are able to get off this bed, I will make sure that my mate tells you all you need to know."

Kagome´s face was illuminated with a smile. Since very early in her life, Kagome had always enjoyed learning new information. Information was power, and now she would have the opportunity to learn hidden knowledge that very few people had access to.

"Thank you! I will do my best while learning, I promise!" the excitement in her voice was clear. Her eyes were sparkling with the possibilities.

"I know you will. Anyway, a thing that you should know about the ruling houses is that we work as human royal families do. We have our rights but also duties. And one of the most complicated duties to follow is the one related to mating for political reasons. Most of us are not able to decide with who we mate. It is decided for us in order to get some political advantage. Also, when a pack demon mates, even to a female he didn't choose, he becomes faithful to his mate. No matter the situation, he will only rut with his mate until death drives them apart. It's in their nature, they can´t really avoid it. Of course, not all demons are like that. This is only for pack demons such as myself. However, there are few exceptions sometimes…

"You see, little pup, we demons have what you would call a beast within us. You still don´t have it, because it will only appear after your matting age. Anyway, this beast is our most primary instincts, our needs without consequences. It´s a conscience that lives with us. Some of us explain it as our other half. Sometimes this demon awakes in situations of danger or if we are denying our basic instinct. The male's beast also has the capability to analyze possible life mates. Comparing their strength, their beauty, their capability of having pups… The beast is looking for a female that can complete him and be his soul mate. If a demon is lucky enough, his beast will find him their destined female before some arranged mating is done.

"If in fact, if the demon chooses a female, it is acceptable for her to be of any kind race, demoness, hanyou or even human. Because, you see, if the demon finds his female and doesn´t at least fight for her, than that said demon will die. His beast will became too violent and aggressive. However, if the demon´s beast does not pick a female, the demon will, at some point, be forced to mate with a female through an arranged mating. And once mated, even if the beast finds their soul mate, there is nothing the demon can do."

Kagome was listening very carefully to all this information. Even though she was a demon, no one had ever told her how mating rituals were done. And the information that Aimi was giving now would be useful to Kagome at some point. However, when Aimi said "fight", Kagome got intrigued.

"Aimi, I´m sorry to interrupt, but what do you mean by fight? Why would the demon fight for the female?" Kagome asked.

"Well, it is part of the mating ritual. I will explain it to you later on. For now I will tell you my story…"

(*)

*This chapter had a beta reader BelovedStranger! Thank you so much! :3