"I'm not a bartering chip."
Youko was giving her that look that said he followed the semantics, but was frustrated with the lexicon.
Good, Kagome thought angrily. "I'm not going to be kept like some sort of…novelty item."
Behind him, Youko's tail was silent swishing, whether out of annoyance or excitement Kagome couldn't figure out anymore.
"Kitsune's do not have prisoners. Just willing residents."
"Your definition of willing is a bit vague on the 'awareness' aspects." She pointed out.
He shrugged, as if that summed up the entirety of why this all sounded so weird, why she might find something disturbing about his mother collecting other living beings. Kagome shook her head ––she was getting off topic.
"What did you bet your mother?" She asked, because surely that was the only place this story could be heading.
Youko grinned, and she didn't need some sort of youkai-ability to read auras to tell it was a proud one. "I bet her I could find something much more intriguing than some silly spirit. And something more dangerous."
Kuronue, who still had a hand on her, leaned down to speak into her ear. "It's a race," he explained "to see who can impress the clans more."
Her anger was quick to dissipate. "Me?" She squeaked. "Dangerous?"
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AN: I know, I know, unusually (?) long wait. I'm so sorry about that, but it's been a month of academic hell, and I'm still in the midst of it. In an attempt to avoid the last of my studying for my statistics final tomorrow (!) here's a little promise of more to come shortly.