"His name is Kibo" Kagome stiffened slightly at the words, turning quickly to face the man standing at her side. She had been so consumed with watching the children playing that she didn't notice that her companions had once again approached her. She blushed slightly, embarrassed at being caught unaware.
"He's a half demon. Are you human?" Her eyes moved back and forth between the small child chasing Rin and Shippo through the small field of purple, blue, and yellow wildflowers and his father standing at her side. His eyes softened as he watched his son laughing and playing. The silence stretched for a few moments before he finally relented with a sigh and a few whispered words.
"No, child, I'm a demon." His words were sad and immediately Kagome's aura reached out to him, slowly breaking through the barrier hiding his demon aura from her, allowing it to gently probe a sense of calming through his veins. He looked up at her in surprise and appreciation before turning his attention back to his son. The silence hung heavy around them, Kagome wanted to question further, but couldn't quite find the right words to say.
"He was the heir of the Eastern lands two hundred or so years ago. Before he gave it all up. For a human" Sesshomaru meant for his words to be sharp, disgusted, though as they left his mouth he realized his tone was anything but. He silently marveled at the way his two little humans could change even his unconscious mind they way they had. Kagome caught his eye and smiled gently at him over her shoulder, humming silently in approval at his slightly widened eyes, a look of surprise that would have gone unnoticed by almost anyone else.
"Yes, that's right. My spitfire. A priestess she was, much like you Kagome." The demon smiled remembering his past love, another sad sigh escaping his lips. This time Kagome did not intrude of his saddened aura, allowing him the privacy to mourn his love without her meddling in his feelings. She tried to control her curiosity but couldn't help the words that flowed out of her mouth. She had never heard of a priestess and a demon falling love before and the light of it shocked her. The humans in this era were known for their fear and hatred of demons, even the kinder humans who didn't hate the demons would go out of their way to avoid being around them. There were exceptions, of course, but to learn that one of those exceptions had been a priestess was surprising.
"What happened to her?"
"She died. We tried to become mates, and it didn't end well. Demon and miko energies are not meant to be mixed. It was a scandalous relationship in the first place." His words were clipped and short, tone pained and regretful before he fell silent again. Unconsciously, Kagome let her gaze drift to Sesshomaru, who stood tall and silent on the other side of the demon, towering over them both, stony face staring out toward the forest laying before them. As if he felt her gaze on him he looked down at her, their eyes catching.
"A priestess and a Demon's energies are polar opposites. Like in-yo (ying-yang). During a demon mating, the energies of the two demons mix together and join as one. Mating a human is much more rare, though it can be done safely as normal human energy and demon energy can still mix. In both cases, the weaker of the two will gain attributes of the stronger, not much, but enough to extend life force, increase resistance to sickness, and give strength. Humans will still age and die before their demon counterpart, but their age is extended sometimes by hundreds of years.
However, priestesses and demons energies automatically seek each other out trying to destroy each other. The two beings have to be equals in power for the exchange to be successful. If not, the more powerful energy destroys the weaker until there is no life force left.
It has been attempted a few times throughout history and succeeded only once." To anyone else, Sesshomaru's words would be heard as careless, possibly mean, but Kagome could hear the slight tinge of regret and sadness in his otherwise cold tone.
In an uncharacteristic show of emotion, Sesshomaru raised his hand and lightly touched his friend on the shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze before turning elegantly, eyes once again meeting Kagome's as he walked away, hair flowing gracefully in the wind behind him. Kagome watched him walk away with a sigh. 'How did he always manage to be so damned gracefully beautiful?' She thought to herself, gnawing gently on the inside of her bottom lip absentmindedly.
"Our son was a miracle. There are no other cases of a priestess carrying and birthing a demon's child. We thought it was a sign.
We decided to be careful, I leaked some of my energy into her, enough that she could easily burn it off, just to see how she reacted. It went well. She got sick not long after our mating, a poisoning from the demon energy. We attempted to break the mating by burning the energy, her sisters worked for days over her and in the end, it didn't work. Kibo was 10, an infant still for demons, he remembers almost nothing about her." His eyes stared straight ahead and his tone was as cold as Sesshomaru's, but the slight sheen of tears over his eyes gave away his emotions. Kagome looked away, not able to help feeling her heart breaking at the pain and sadness of this perfect stranger that she had met only hours ago. She felt her own eyes well with tears and despite her better judgment found herself enveloping him in an awkward hug. Holding his side to her front, burying her face into his arm and crying the tears she was sure he wasn't going to allow himself to shed.
"I'm so sorry." She sobbed. He stood, unmoving until she once again brushed her aura against his, gently stealing away the sadness lingering over his aura and replacing it with quite calm and excepting. His shoulders sagged at her actions, shifting to free his arm so he could gently squeeze the small girl to him in a quiet thanks.
"Alright, little one. You have an ally in me, I fight by your side."