IV.

Bonds of Blood

As Sesshomaru stalked out of the room, Kagome was left nodding blankly; after a moment, she stumbled as carefully as she could out of the bed, wobbled dangerously, and began looking for her own clothes. It was too much to hope for; she could not find her bag, only the clothes she had been wearing, and they were carefully folded - but though washed, stained and torn far beyond hope of mending. Carefully, she wrapped one of the furs from her pallet around her body, and, peering over her shoulder and hoping not to get in trouble, she opened the wardrobe that stood across from her makeshift bed.

The door popped open behind her just at that moment, and she let the wardrobe slam shut. It banged loudly, and she winced at the sound and took a step back, but no one was there. It looked as if the door had drifted open by itself, until she saw it close - and she knew, even though she could see no one, that there was someone standing in the room with her. The sensation of knowing this was imprinted in the same way that she had once been able to find shikon shards; she hadn't expected to feel something like that ever again.

The someone stopped just in front of her. Kagome reached out a hand, slowly, carefully; she felt, not something, but also not nothing. It was as if an invisible force prevented her hand from contacting whatever, or whoever, stood in front of her.

"I - ah - hello?"

There was a feeling of laughter, not sound but something that impressed itself on her deeper senses, and she relaxed just a little.

"I didn't mean to pry, it's just that I was looking for clothes. Mine are…destroyed, mostly."

She felt it again - laughter, and then the door to the wardrobe was opened and the contents lay exposed before her eyes. She was staring at row upon row of beautifully made silk robes, each one carefully folded. For a moment, she felt that strange, invisible pressure against her skin, and then, quite distinctly, fingers. They pulled her right up to the edge of the open wardrobe and pressed her fingers against a bright blue silk. Kagome's eyes widened.

"These aren't - this can't be - for me?"

Her voice had faded to an astonished whisper. Emphatically, her fingers were pressed down against the robe, until her palm was flat and she could feel a whole, invisible hand against the back of her own hand. Kagome's mouth opened; she blinked, and almost asked who had done such a thing – but she knew without asking.

Sesshomaru!

"He - why would he do this?"

Again, the laughter.

Carefully, almost afraid to touch them, Kagome ran her hand along the edge of one robe and then took a deep breath.

Pick, Kagome. It's not too hard, just a hundred million yen's worth of kimono...from Sesshomaru.

"I wanted to." She heard the words in her thoughts, and shivered, turned her attention away from them and back to the wardrobe. She was finding this more difficult to understand the more she thought about it; how had there even been time? Her eye lit on one robe that shimmered, dark and bloody red, embroidered in silver and gold. It was tugged out of place and displayed for her eyes; vines wound up from hem to neckline and down one sleeve, then burst into golden blooms that dropped petals over an Inu-youkai in transformed shape. The eyes of the Inu, like the flowers, were brilliant gold.

Immediately, she knew it was the right one - but why had he done this? He could much more easily have provided her with a single robe of coarse cotton than this...this...splendor; she could not think of a single advantage this provided for him. Finally, she shrugged.

Like there's any point in wondering. He'll tell me what he wants to, and asking questions probably won't help. I should just be grateful.

"That one – that is the right one, I think."

And then, hesitantly, her voice much lower:

"Please, can you…help me?"

She would not have asked, even with a kimono, if the feeling of laughter had not seemed distinctly feminine. As if in agreement, there was a tug on the fur she had wrapped around her body. Kagome took a breath and let it drop, and then shivered. It was chilly; she had not expected that. Casually, Kagome looked out the window, and she saw that outside the trees were turning color. She swayed, suddenly shocked dizzy.

How long - how long has it been?

The hands dressing her were gentle; carefully, they wrapped the robes around her so that her wounds would not be agitated; she thought she understood, now, why they were so close to being healed. The obi was tied rather loose, but she knew that a tighter knot would cause her pain, and left it alone. Quickly, her hair was wrapped and twisted and pinned, half up, half down. In the door of the wardrobe there was a polished mirror, and she turned to look at herself when the hands were done tugging at her hair.

Shocked again, she took a deep breath. She looked - she was…different. It had been more than a year since she had seen her face in any mirror other than a pond or stream; she looked like a lady out of an ancient painting in the clothes that Sesshomaru had provided. Her face looked thinner; in fact, she thought she was thinner all over, and again felt a dizzy tremor.

Who is that? That - that is me? How long...have I been sleeping here?

But the someone who had dressed her did not leave her much time to contemplate her reflection. After a moment, the door of the room swung open, and Kagome took a few hesitant steps outside.

She found herself in a long hallway, paneled with glossy wood. The right-side wall was hung with silk tapestries depicting scenes of battle between fearsome youkai. One held her gaze, and she stopped before it; it held the image of a great white Inu-youkai roaring triumph over the body of a Wolf demon of similar size and ferocity.

"That was my father, the Inu-no-Taisho."

Kagome turned around quickly, and found herself looking up at Sesshomaru. He had come up behind her while she was distracted; he was looking at her now with an odd, disconnected expression on his face.

"He fought that Wolf, the Lord of the South, in personal combat - in order to prevent a war between the two lands."

Kagome nodded, and reached out to touch his fingers. His eyes darted downward, stared at the place where she was touching him. She noticed and jerked her hand away, took a deep breath and turned back to the tapestry. Sesshomaru continued to stare at the spot she had touched him. It burned. After a moment he looked up and realized that she was talking; he had missed the beginning of her statement.

"...but everything I've heard about your father makes me think he was noble, wise."

He looked up at that, almost let out a bark of laughter. His father, wise? But then he remembered who she was, and hesitated.

"Yes. He was - in most ways. But you must come with me now, Kagome."

Her eyes studied him in a manner he was not accustomed to; she focused on the straight, expressionless lines of his face, the tightness at the corners of his eyes which she had seen several times now. Purposefully, ignoring the reaction he had already displayed, she reached out and wrapped her small fingers around his larger hand. Her cheeks reddened as she touched him, but she was determined to prove her point.

"Lead, and I'll follow. I...well, I trust you, Sesshomaru."

For once, he did not complain about her lack of an honorific. Instead, he looked down at their joined hands and felt a sudden, inexplicable flush of warmth. This time he did not pull away; he stood utterly still and let the warmth grow, and become heat.

The moment passed. Carefully, with an uncertain tug against her hand, he led her down the hallway and around many twists and turns. The library was his favorite place; he did not share it even with Rin. He waited outside the door for a moment, and nodded when she reached out hesitantly for the handle. He couldn't do it himself; for that, he would have to let go of her hand, and that...he did not want that.

Sesshomaru urged Kagome inside with a casual movement, and did not allow her time to gape. He could see her desire, and it was faintly amusing; there were ten thousand scrolls in this rooms, maybe more, treasures in words both mundane and magical. He saw her eyes wandering, trying to take it all in, and suppressed the urge to smile. As he did so he wondered when it had happened - that such urges had begun to become a common thing.

While she was sleeping...

A scowl flickered over his face, but she did not notice.

He led her to a low chair with an armrest, and settled himself across from her. How to begin? Sesshomaru took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. He felt something squeeze his fingers and almost started away, but he realized then that Kagome was still holding his hand.

"I have been thinking for many days -"

"How many days, Sesshomaru-sama?"

Her interruption was soft, but not unexpected. He took a breath, let his eyes flick over her.

"Forty-six days, Kagome."

She forced herself to sit still, breathe calmly. Forty-six days - ! It took a long minute for her to calm her suddenly speeding heart.

"Yes. Forty – forty-six days - I understand. I understand, I think -"

Sesshomaru let out the breath he had been holding. She was taking this much better than he had expected, at least. It would not be an easy thing, losing that many days.

"The poison did harm to your body internally; it took time for that damage to heal. The ones who served me, they treated you, but I don't think even they expected that you would sleep so long."

Kagome took a deep breath and then looked up to meet his eyes.

"Tell me now, Sesshomaru-sama. The thing you brought me here to say."

He eyed her carefully; he could hear her voice in his head, the words so recently uttered. "I trust you."

Do you really, little miko? Do you?

"Tell you."

He waited. Perhaps, if he made her drag the words out of him, she would hate him less for their meaning.

"Tell me, Sesshomaru-sama. Please - tell me."

Kagome had a deep, burning feeling that whatever he was about to say would change everything utterly; that once he had spoken, she would never be able to go back. To what, or from what, she was not certain - she only knew that she wanted the answer, that not having it was like not being able to breathe. It would tell her why when he looked at her - when he looked at her -

"Please, tell me."

It was barely a whisper. Casually, but with the most careful control he had ever forced over himself, Sesshomaru stood and pulled her across the small space between them. He held up her hand and drew one claw across the flesh of her thumb, just deep enough to draw blood. She let out a shallow gasp at the sting, and then again at the dark and sudden change in his face. Slowly, giving her a chance to move away, he brought the shallow cut to his mouth, and drew his tongue across it.

Kagome bit her lip sharply to keep back a moan, and knew immediately that it had been the wrong thing to do. Sesshomaru's attention was distracted both by the movement and its intent.

He leaned over her, and the moment before it happened she knew what he was going to do. Even knowing, she did not move. His lips were hot and soft; his tongue on her tongue drew heat from the tips of her fingers into her belly. He had finally let go of her hand, but that no longer mattered; his fingers were cool and smooth against her cheek.

Sesshomaru only pulled away when he felt her draw a growling, ragged breath. The red sheen had returned to her eyes, and he backed away slowly, licking his lips, almost shaking. He had not intended to do such a thing – to kiss her!

Inuyasha's woman!

Rather than bring on a shudder of revulsion, the thought only angered him – but that was good. He could think more clearly when he was angry. Swiftly, he reached for a mirror that lay on the table and held it up for her to look in, watched the thoughts cross her face as clearly as if she had said them out loud. There was red in her eyes, the red of blood and the red of power that she knew quite well. In silence, her pulse speeding, Kagome stared at her reflection until the crimson color faded from her gaze and felt cold claw its way through her body, followed by raging heat.

Youkai.

She had seen eyes like that a hundred, a thousand times.

Youkai. My - I- I -

She saw the silent confirmation in Sesshomaru's face, the slightest nod as she looked up and met his eyes.

Youkai.

"Say it. Say it, say it, say it - "

Sesshomaru stood over her, staring down at her, and felt a sharp white thrill pass through his body. She was whispering, not screaming; he had expected her to scream. Why wasn't she screaming?

"Say it? Now, you know. You know. You are youkai, Kagome – not human, never human. You are hiding under that skin, but not for long, not forever - hiding under that skin even though I cannot believe that you are true-bred."

"I - I don't understand - "

Youkai.

"I, also, do not understand this - but long ago my father told me many things that are strange, many things that he made sure I would remember. This is power, miko magic, spells of blood, and fire."

"Blood and fire? That isn't possible, I can't -"

Her eyes flickered back to the mirror, hanging in her limp fingers. The color, the taint so close to the surface, had been re-awoken by her nervous fear. Sesshomaru's face was dark, more than serious. He doubted, but she had meant what she said - she trusted him. It was implicit in his nature that he could be trusted, even by an enemy. He carried his sense of honor like a banner.

I am youkai.

She took a deep breath and tried to accept, to believe.

"Tell me how, Sesshomaru-sama."

"The only way your demon strengths and senses could be hidden from you is through powerful magic, spells of blood and fire. It is the binding wrought by a mirror; only a demon miko may use these spells, and because such beings are rare, the magic is not well known. In the ancient past, such power was used for concealment, to hide the young from danger; for such protection, however, a great price was required."

She said the first thing that came into her head.

"How...how do you know all this? And why - why does - why do I -"

He knew what she was asking; both questions.

"I am the Record Keeper; it is a task passed down to me from my father's brother, because he died without sons. It is in the history...but the history also records that the last miko-youkai to use such a spell disappeared from her protectors, while traveling through the woods. The half-breed's forest, incidentally, but I do not think it matters. History cannot record everything; you are here, that is what matters."

"And - "

Suddenly he seemed too close to her.

"Miko youkai have never been widely accepted, Kagome. Humans feared their demon nature, their greater power; youkai feared the purifying light that could destroy even the strongest. Still, there were few willing to use this magic. Why give up the glory of being youkai?"

Kagome smiled faintly; the words were perfect Sesshomaru.

The glory of being youkai. Why, indeed?

A flicker of a thought pounced on her then, a faint flame of curiosity being blown suddenly brighter by guilty hope.

"Sesshomaru...this power, this...concealment. Is it...permanent?"

He looked at her steadily for a long moment; she did not know that he had debated for half the night over whether or not to tell her the answer to this question.

"All such magics are temporary. The concealment can be removed, the binding power undone. But there is only one way to undo this, only one way...and it can only be achieved by a youkai of greater power than the one bespelled."

Kagome took a deep breath, tried to focus on calming her heartbeat. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, she knew what she wanted to ask; the words didn't even come out as a question, just an exhalation that bore words.

"Oh...you could do it, you could, you could -"

He blinked, surprised that she was not angry, that she believed him, that she had caught on so quickly. He wondered - did she not want to be human?

But her words...

"Yes. I could. That is why your blood calls to me, why I cannot resist -"

He froze; he could not believe the words that had almost spilled out of his mouth. She was looking at him, staring at him, and he saw courage being gathered in her face.

"I suppose I should thank you for saving me, before I ask you for anything else - I should not even ask. But I - want to know that it is true. Will you do it, Sesshomaru-sama? Will you...free me?"

His eyes widened, darkened, almost faded into the red. It was the last thing he had expected; he had not realized until this moment that it was what he wanted most in the world. If she was youkai, there was nothing to fear, nothing to concern him. If she was youkai, he could want her – the past be damned.

If.

The thought was a warning that overrode his logical sense. He had told her because he was certain, as certain as he could be. Still...

"You do not know - what you are asking."

The words were low, rough.

"You do not know – what I would have to - you do not know what it would mean."

She was young, but not completely innocent. She did not know, not really, but from his consistent, desirous reaction to her blood, she could guess - and his hesitation, the wild, darting movements of his eyes, the gravel in his voice, made even guessing unnecessary.

"What do you want, Sesshomaru-sama?"

His eyes went wide, suddenly glittering, brilliant gold. For forty-six days, he had watched her, sleeping, and fought the answer to that question. And now -

He reached out to her; his hand fell back.

"I want - to keep you. Kagome - "

It felt like her world was tilting; she wanted him to kiss her again and could not believe what she was wanting - she wanted him to do exactly what she thought he had to do, getting rid of this power, this unbelievable power-

For a moment, she was reaching out for him.

And then there was a knock at the door, and she heard the voice of a girl.

"Sesshomaru-sama?"

A/N: It is so much fun to be that evil! These revisions are more...revised...than I thought, holy monkeys - but I'm euphoric from getting my first semester grades back, so behold my power! Please Review!

Woo! Earth Science tests 1 and 2, 100! Final Revisions, complete! R&R, pleasey please (and then my happiness will be complete!) :D