Hate was too strong of a word to describe the pounding on her chest every time she remembered their huddled bodies by the fire the night before, but it was close. The reality that the human girl outshone her in every possible way was a hard one to accept: five foot seven, willowy figure, well-defined curves in all the right places, smart and well-mannered, with a face cut right from the pages of a god's book of masterpieces. Kagura, on the other hand, had stopped growing at five foot three inches and she had the sort of plain, painfully ordinary face people forgot even before they'd stopped looking at it. She wasn't ugly by any standard, but she didn't have that classic dark eyes and and even darker, silky long hair that everyone seemed to admire. She wasn't graceful or refined and she didn't have any trait in particular that made her stand out from the crowd; she was just, well, generic. Average.

She watched the yuki onna disappear to the corridors on the second floor with Rin in tow, the heavy tension on the air felt like it had only gotten worse. Alone with the silver haired daiyoukai, she felt a clump on her throat form as she tried to desperately keep the impassive look on her face, hoping her forlorn eyes gave no hint on the turmoil that boiled in her blood.

Silence.

They stood knee deep in eerie silence - the kind right before a massive storm. The air was so brittle it could snap, and if it doesn't, she thought she might. No one spoke, but there wasn't really much to say: the usual platitudes and sarcasms didn't feel all that appropriate at that very moment. Somewhere, she could hear the drops of dripping water as it hit a hard surface right below, each one reverberating around the room like a cymbal, yet no-one blinks or moves to even find it. Her mouth mouth was dry - like a sandbox in left under the heat of the summer sun.

Finally, she had enough.

"I'm going for a walk. This place is too dreary to hang around for too long."

She turned around in one fluid motion, her bare feet taking big strides against the cold, glossy matte tiles that span across the whole room. He didn't stop her; he could sense the tension as it crept up her spine and while he didn't exactly know why, he understood her near for fresh air. Gold eyes watched her in silence as she walked out into the courtyard outside through the ajar opening of the big metal doors that once sealed the entry towards the demon lord's estate.

Outside, the stiff feelings on her shoulders eased as she scanned the empty hedge garden with her deep, red eyes. She couldn't see a soul, but she could feel the presence of another demon nearby; someone she hasn't yet met (not that she met any one else before). She walked towards the maze they had just come from, with each stride her mind became more clear, more resolute, as if the growing physical distance between her and her two companions quelled the emotional chasm that raged within. As the nascent sunlight caressed her skin with a false promise of a new dawn, a new beginning, she tried to entomb her memories of him in thick walled ice. Ignorance is a bliss, but she knew she no longer had that luxury. The emotional stares between the human girl and the demon lord were far too obvious and they scream far too loud for her to ignore.

She turned to the right, not even caring whether or not that would be the right way out as she could always just fly out anytime she wanted. There, at the end of the long trail, was a rusting metal table and two matching chairs sitting opposite from each other. She could hear the sound of shears as the sharp edges slid across the other half. With a few more curious steps forward, she could see a woman on the other side of the hedge, trimming the small, overgrown branches that reached towards the out-of-place centerpiece.

The stranger's was facing away from her and from her angle, she could only analyze so little of her unexpected company. Her black hair lies long and loose, the standard for most women in their era. It obscured the back of her red dress, yet allowed glimpses of her honeyed skin beneath. The strands flowed down her back, stopping in a line around her hips. As she leaned forward to reach for a stray leaf to her right, her hair moved with her, hiding her face until she straightened and flicked it back over her shoulders.

"It's quite an unexpected surprise to see you here, Lady Kagura. Is the lord not giving you a private tour of his estate today?"

Her voice was coarse like fragmented rock in hessian sack, moving and grinding against each other, so seemingly unnatural and mismatched against her fairly small physique and fluid, graceful motions.

"How do you know who I am?"

The woman turned to face her. She didn't seem overly old, but her body had aged passed her years so much so that she wore the wizened features of an old crone. As Kagura looked more intently, she could see the occasional strands of silver peeking through the ebony black mane that limply framed her aging face. She wore a plain, deep red yukata with a dark brown sash that reminded the wind demon of dried blood.

"Everyone in the manors know of you, though I doubt many really knows you. It's not often the lord brings a woman home - in fact, you were the first in a very long time. It's hard for whispers not to spread, in all honesty."

It made sense.

"So he has brought others before?"

There was a hint of desperation in her voice as she took a hesitant step forward. Her heart throbbed wildly at the thought of what felt like the inevitable truth that she was just another one of many and idea shoved dread down her throat, momentarily giving her the feeling of drowning.

"Centuries ago, but yes, back when he was a wee lad, he did. Though it was less of him bringing them and more of them showing up without invitation."

A smile painted itself on the older woman's face after noticing the almost immediate way her shoulders relaxed and her breathing paced slower.

In human years, Kagura thought, she would have been around late 50's.

"My name is Idari. But everyone just refers to me as Hone Onna*. I am the head of the servants in the Western Manor." [*literally "Bone Woman"]

She bowed just as formally as Yuuta had done just moments before, when they entered the palace grounds. The formality made her feel uncomfortable - it was just too artificial and too preposterous for the lifestyle that the kaze* youkai [wind] had been accustomed to living. Nonetheless, she said nothing; she just watched the ceremonial routine take place.

Sensing her mild tension, Idari approached her slowly, placing the sharp shears on top of the metal table not too far from where she stood. She pulled a chair back and sat down, motioning for the fuuji to sit on the empty chair across from her. Kagura regarded her tentatively, but she walked forward and took the bone demon's offer.

"You seem unease. Did something happen between you and the Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Why would you assume it has anything to do with him?"

A small chuckle escaped Idari's lips, a gleam in her deep dark eyes gave away so much of her amusement.

"I've been alive long enough to recognize a woman's jealousy, child."

"I'm not a child and I'm certainly not jealous."

"So the fact that lord favors the human child doesn't bother you at all?"

Kagura didn't respond. She just sat there, her back against the cold metal with an even colder expression drawn on her face. The reminder from the events of the previous night and the way they look at each other in the split second their eyes meet gave her the feeling of shards in her gut. Her hands unconsciously tightened into a fist gripped so strongly that her palms felt sore against the pressing of her sharp nail against her ivory skin. Though her face gave none of her turmoil away, the way her body tensed at the suggestion alone spoke volumes; and Idari caught it all.

With a small smile on her face, she leaned forward against the table, the rust staining the sleeves of her red dress, though barely even noticeable.

"I've lived here long before the prince was even born. I was one of the first to ever hold him as an infant and I made sure he had everything he needed when his mother had left and his father fought his battles. Lord Sesshomaru was always alone. He was feared so young - too young to realize why people feared him. His mother didn't abandon him, but demon aristocrats like her simply didn't express love the same way human mothers do and he grew up lonely, I suppose. He stopped playing almost as soon as he realized what games were. He lost the sparks of a child way before it had even started. He grew cold and calculating and for the longest time, he remained like that, only growing reckless and hot-headed over the years especially after his father had chosen a human woman before him. He disliked humans before but he grew to hate them as his father favored his human family so much that he's shown blatant care and favoritism in favor of his half-brother in levels he had never expressed with him. I'm sure the lord had loved them both, but the child of the woman he actually loved definitely held a bigger part to his heart over the child he only bred to continue on his legacy. This place became his prison. A place he was meant to stay and watch as the world revolved around him and moved forward, leaving him behind. I suppose that's one reason why he's letting this place rot: whether he'd like to admit it or not, the empty halls of a childhood home where his family should have been but wasn't probably haunts the back of his mind still. I can't say I blame him."

She leaned back again, reaching her right hand inside the folds of the left side of her yukata, pulling out an old wooden pipe that she she casually held on her thin, willowy fingers. Her dark, black eyes watched her now enticed companion; she could see interest spark those blood-red eyes. She could almost sense her anticipation in an almost nervous kind of energy. It tingled through her like electrical sparks on the way to the ground, gathering in her bare toes.

"So he's always been like this?"

"More or less. He's changed much in the last 10 years, even more so in the last few months. Though he's never the kind to chat, I could always tell. He's much calmer and far more collected now than he's ever been. I dare say he's matured into someone much like his father, probably a lot less emotional than the old dog ever was, but he's grown up to be a much better being now since after taking a few years out there just finding himself."

"It's likely because he met her."

"Or you. Though I suppose it's a little bit of both. Despite all these years with him, regrettably, I still can never quite read behind that apathetic mask of his - only his deceased father ever seemed able to. I do know he cares a lot of about the both of you - that much is pretty obvious, and whether that care is platonic or not - it's something I'd also like to know."

"And why is that?"

Idari placed the pipe to her lips, her fingers lighting the end with little effort.

"Because I'm curious to know who would be the one person to thaw his frozen heart."

"You make it sound like such a big deal."

"But it is. It might sound like such a personal decision but he is a lord. His life is politics and it's high time he produces his own heir. If he doesn't pick a mate on his own soon, he'll have one picked for him by his mother or his council. I'd like nothing more for him that having have chosen someone he actually cares for - the fate of following his father's footsteps is just far too tragic."

"The current Lady of the West was chosen by the council?"

"Of course. Why else did you think his father married her? They were hardly friends even after Lord Sesshomaru was born. It was just one political decision and she happened to fit the bill quite perfectly."

"I see... And you think he'll pick Rin?"

"I don't know. He might. Or he might pick you."

"I'm not interested in playing house here."

"But you are interested in him, no? In fact, I'm pretty well certain you already love him."

Just as she spoke, she removed the pipe from her thin lips, blowing the smoke in the air carefully. Kagura didn't respond to her, but she didn't need to; she already knew her answer. She could see pained look in her eyes as she looked up her very own, screaming a heartbreak she doubt she'd ever vocalize.

"And he already loves her."

Her voice was low and she talked as if saying it out loud would only made it real when she hoped it wouldn't be. Idari understood the pain; after all, she felt the same thing long ago, when Inu no Taishou had gone off to wed another without ever even realizing she cared for him far more than just a childhood friend - something she always did regret.

"And why does that matter? That doesn't mean you can't fight for him."

Fight for him?

"What do you mean?"

"I don't mean kill the human girl, if that's what you're wondering. Besides, I doubt that would do you much good."

Can I really fight for him?

"Then what are you saying?"

"I'm saying if something's important to you, you don't just give up because the situation looks bleak."

But... can I even win?

"It's not the same. It's not just something I can take."

"But it is. I've heard about your fight to regain your heart, Kagura. This isn't that much different. Now instead of yours, you'd just be fighting for his. True, it might not be something you can just take, but it's something that can be easily earned. He sees you. He's looking at you. You just have to do something."

Do I even really have a chance?

"Why are you helping me? What do you get out of this?"

The bone specter's lips curved into a small smile, her eyes showing a tinge of sorrow despite the grin on her face.

"The chance the lord won't have to live through the death of a wife who ages at the passing of time, turning back to earth before the lord even realizes it."

I do.


A/N: Sorry peeps. I've slowed down to a goal of two chapters a week; it's been hectic and will only continue to be for a while, with summer approaching. My schedule's pretty full outside some few hours here and there where I can squeeze in a chapter every couple days, so I sincerely apologize for the longer wait. I'm looking to hopefully set a firm schedule for updates by next week so watch out for that! Anyways, thanks for the reviews guys! Again, I definitely read all of your inputs and it's actually helping shape the story as it goes on (some common questions and assumptions I usually try and clear up on the next chapter after the feedbacks are posted), so keep it all up!

EDIT: I've been getting too much hostility on this so I figured it's time to make a response: to people "threatening" to stop reading because their favorite ship isn't in one chapter, go right on ahead. No reputable (aspiring) writer will change their vision over something someone else says :) Suggestions are definitely more than welcome, but your threats mean nothing to me, sorry! The chapters will continue to flip-flop between the two (that's the point) up until the moment of reveal. An no, I will not tell you who the actual pairing is because that beats the whole point. The idea is you're not supposed to know until it happens, otherwise, the story is way too predictable. Tbh, I haven't even decided which one would ultimately triumph, so that's still an open debate and I have no answer to tell you.

Bottom line, both ships are not cannon. Its completely fan driven.