Naraku may have posed the biggest threat, but his mother loomed equally great in the distance. Merely finding Kagome was not enough. He had to keep her as well.
It would not be a good sport if his mother left him alone these two years to figure his conquest in peace…nor would she be as understanding as he.
"What, she would…take me away?" Kagome asked, as Youko lay down the problem…and the solution.
"She would." He confirmed. "You have great potential and as it currently is, you are ah…ripe for the taking. Weak enough to steal but strong enough to flourish. My mother will lead you astray."
The priestess furrowed her brows. "I am not so easily lost."
"She is very persuasive. She will find your greatest weakness and hit upon it."
Kagome considered him. "And what is my greatest weakness?"
He didn't hesitate. "Your duty," he proclaimed, "Your jewel. She will convince you that the risk of not going with her is greater than the risk in doing so. You have a mighty foe and she can offer great protection."
"But she can't…force me."
"It would go against the terms of our game."
Kagome tilted her chin up, noble despite being elbows deep in making poultices. "Then she won't get me. I don't need protection, I need…strength. I need to fight Naraku."
Youko thought through her words. His mother would never offer soldiers, it went against their culture…though she could try and trick Kagome into thinking she would. It would be catastrophic for the group and it would ruin the future Kagome needed to grasp. The priestess didn't seem the sort to break deals, but she knew her weakness as well as he did—she hadn't argued after all. If his mother could offer something to guarantee the fight against her enemy, Kagome would agree. It was her first duty.
Then he only need to make certain that she already had all she needed. The kitsunes could not be commanded to fight as his mother's bequest, and there was no one in her arsenal better suited to help Kagome than him.
Words: 352
AN: An update? Isn't this the craziest thing?
I had some new reviews, people who were a bit uh...concerned with my sporadic updating. Which I appreciate! It set me back on track I guess. I've gone back and revamped a lot of the chapters, because I can't seem to write new chapters for this piece without having better old ones...and because I figure, given how long ago it was that I last update this story, some of you may need to reread it. It'll be a better experience now! None of the content really changed, at least nothing too important, so if you don't want to reread, no worries! I cleared some of the muddled parts up, but that's about it.
Fingers crossed I can keep an update schedule up! The plot has so much more to go. Yikes. Thanks, as always, for all the support!