Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters. Thus far only Mai, Maoshi, and Kirei are my own creation.
A/N: Ha. No one remembered Kirei from chapter 12?
Chapter 14: Scars do fade with time though…
"Are you sure, Kaa-san?"
Kagome sighed, smiling down at her son.
"I am as sure as I can be, Shippo-chan."
She kneeled in front of him.
"Do you really think that man could hurt Touga-sama?"
After thinking it over, relaying the incident in his mind, Shippo smirked and shook his head no frantically. Kagome covered the urge to cry out in defeat with a giggle; that infernal smirk was contagious! Just when she had been praying to the Kami that the gene had skipped her little Sesshomaru, the blasted facial expression proved that it could be caught by mere association!
"Nothing can hurt, Touga-sama!"
He cheered, going back over to play with Sesshomaru who – Kagome smiled – was laying on his stomach supporting his own head now, gurgling as Shippo made faces at him. The smile on her face faded slowly as her gaze traveled to a window that overlooked the palace gardens. It hadn't been long since Touga had sent her and the children away, but still she worried, and not for the next-to invincible daiyoukai, but for herself. How could she not have sensed that man? He was standing damn near right next to her, and she had been none the wiser.
She held her hands up in front of her face. Was she getting…weaker?
"Maoshi?"
The meek, young inu youkai looked up from her spot by the children. She had followed Kagome into the nursery because – unknown to the miko herself – Touga-sama had tasked her with assisting the miko when needed.
"Does the palace have a dojo?"
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"Do you treat all your guests this way, dog?"
Touga smirked sadistically, advancing on the shorter, neko youkai.
"Only those who intrude, and then have the nerve to disrespect me, Kirei."
"Oh, relax, Touga, I am only gracing your desolate lands with my presence for the semi-centennial meeting of the cardinal lords."
Touga began snarling again, circling the weaker man like the prey his instincts demanded he recognize him as.
"You and I both know that conference isn't for another weeks times."
The current offender of the West, the Southern Lord himself, feigned innocence, twisting his face into an expression that mocked surprise; Touga found himself overcome with an acute feeling of nausea, his loathing of the youkai in front of him actually proving enough to sicken him.
"Well, no reason to go back now, the trip here was five days in itself. Even you can figure out that if I were to leave now and attempt to come back that I would miss a great deal."
The Western Lord emitted a mirthless chuckle that surely would have made a lesser opponent melt in pure fear.
"I'm positive we'd get on without you somehow, considering just how insignificant the Southern kingdom is."
"You deem my lands insignificant because they are not as vast as yours? That only furthers my belief that you're just overcompensating here for where you lack elsewhere..."
The neko lord laughed at his own joke.
"Perhaps the miko can help us determine just who is so insignificant. With beauty like that, I'm certain she…entertains better than Hatsu as well."
Touga could feel his beast thrashing about in its cage, closer to the surface than it had been in at least two or three months' time. He had experienced this when his son had been taken from him, this all-consuming rage that had his vision going red, but this was entirely different; Sesshomaru was his son…who was Kagome to him?
"You. Will. Not. Touch her."
The inutaiyoukai's voice dropped to a new menacing low, his beast finally purring with delight at the slight change that fear brought to his enemy's scent. The neko youkai lord drew back his challenge.
"Just show me to my room."
The neko youkai pushed past him, unintentionally – Touga was sure – dropping a small crystal ball. It rolled carefully to the Western Lord's feet, as if it had wished to be discovered all along. He was actually astonished; he had only ever heard of it.
The power radiating off of the stone was immense, though at the moment it seemed to be dormant, probably because he was at a loss as to how it was used. He did, however, know what it was used for, the realization coming to him as a wave of Kirei's demonic presence settled over the clearing. He smirked, placing the green ball safely within his haori, relaxing now that he had the upper hand once more.
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"Okaa…"
Shippo whined, tugging at the back of the yukata she had changed into.
"Why can't I go too?"
Kagome sighed, pressing a kiss the darkening crescent moon on Sesshomaru's forehead – a tender display of affection she saved for the times she was either alone with the baby, or with only Shippo around – as she lay him gently in his crib for the night.
"Shippo-chan, I'm not leaving the palace."
He pouted, an expression she could remember from her first day with him all those years ago; Kagome smiled, ruffling his shining silver locks and giving him a kiss as well; several actually, planning to annoy him so much with the affection that he wanted her to go.
"Stop it, mama!"
Ah, the sounds of a plan working seamlessly. With what little strength he could muster, Shippo pushed at his mother's shoulders until she stopped. He sighed like she had earlier, only his was one of defeat, and decided to negotiate.
"No more than two hours, alright? If the sun has set, you'll know you've been gone too long."
He said in his firmest voice, but his eyes were pleading with her not to stay away for a moment longer.
"Sessho will miss you if you are away too long."
He whispered, sealing the deal; his mother's expression softened as expected as she shook her head with a smile of amusement lighting her features. The pup in question slept on, unbothered by their quiet conversation.
"I swear it."
She whispered.
"No! No more kisses!"
Shippo squealed…she managed to pull him in for another barrage that left them both a giggling mess.
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Kagome sighed as she heard the arrow strike the target in the distance; so her archery hadn't failed her. Swinging the bow over her shoulder, she looked down at her hands. A frown marred her face as she felt the familiar hum of her reiki just below her fingertips, for it was truly leaving her with no explanation as to why she couldn't sense the youkai behind her in the garden.
'Especially if I can still sense him.'
She mused, moving to return the training weapon to its designated place.
"Why are you watching me?"
She spoke, knowing he would hear her despite the distance that was between them. The daiyoukai landed gracefully landed off of his jump from the third story overlook; the balcony was actually an extension of the war room.
"You left Shippo and Sesshomaru?"
She sighed, hanging the bow on its hook.
'Sometimes I wonder if he even hears me ask him questions…'
"With Maoshi, yes."
She turned with the intention of heading back inside to find him standing not half a foot from her; she stumbled back in shock, immediately noticing the red tint to his eyes.
"Touga-sama-"
"I told you I would come and find the three of you after I had finished business."
"Four hours ago you said that, Touga-sama."
Needing something to do to channel her growing annoyance, she went to go retrieve the arrows she had shot.
"You were not supposed to leave them, Kagome. I told you I would-"
"They're fine! Why do you even care how Shippo is, he is no responsibility of yours. And beside that point, what good would I be to them anyway?"
As she went to pull the safely lodged weapon from its spot in the oak when her upper arm was seized and she was spun to face the Western Lord once again; she winced as his grip moved to her wrist. He raised it, pulling her sleeve away and exposing her wound, a growl building in his throat.
"I haven't used a bow in quite some time. It's just from the bow string scraping against my arm."
She gasped as his tongue ran over the inside of her arm, the burning pain dulling to a tingle.
"He is a cardinal?"
Her voice was quiet, she barely even trusted herself to say those few words, but she really needed to know this. He nodded, still licking lazily at her forearm
"Of the South."
She mumbled a 'thank you' as he dropped her arm.
"But his power! He had the power to…disguise his power! How could-"
She went silent as Touga pulled his earlier find from the confines of his robes. Of course, she recognized the glittering stone from her travels with the son of the man that stood before her – unfortunately, her memory of it was vague, but she knew she had seen it.
"This fuyoheki is what allowed him to do so; it allowed him to hide the signature of his youki from you."
The fuyoheki crystal from the mountain Gakusaijin! Naraku had stolen it to hide the location of his heart. She bit her lip as she thought: the mountain demon hadn't been very good at protecting his crystal in the pas…in the future, it wasn't hard to understand how it could have been stolen now.
"But how did you know he was there?"
"His footsteps; no crystal can hide sound."
She nodded understanding, having forgotten about the arrow now.
"You should not doubt your own strength, Kagome. Only allow your enemies to underestimate you, and let it be their downfall, not yours. You are very strong."
Kagome was speechless at the kind words, but even if she had had something to say, the daiyoukai had already turned and began walking away.
As was his usual response to any potential growth in their relationship.
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"Good afternoon, Touga-sama."
"Good afternoon, Kagome."
Touga noticed as the miko in his office look warily down at the little boy in her arms, biting her lip; it was obvious she did not wish to wake him. Touga chuckled, going around her to his desk.
"I will not make you leave, Kagome, fear not."
She a sigh of relief, kissing the pup's chubby cheek, before her eyes traveled back to the scroll in front of him. She supposed it was a reasonable fear, because they hadn't been talking as friends since before the…the…and then her mind forced her to remember the feeling of his tongue against her skin as he healed her scrape. Worrying her bottom lip again, she shook her head to relieve it of her thoughts.
Touga paused mid-step, his nose immediately detecting the delectable change in her scent. His beast rattled in its cage, demanding that he go to her, but he shook his head, running his hand over his face in exasperation, to clear the thoughts from his mind.
They were both mature adults and – with the help of their child chaperone – ignoring the growing lust should be simple. They could coexist in the same room. Touga sat at his desk signing document after document until-
"Touga-sama?"
Kagome asked, the moment locked away once more. He met her questioning blue gaze after setting down his pen. She continued.
"How old are you?"
A silver eyebrow arched up into matching silver bangs.
"Seven hundred and sixty-three."
He smirked, watching as the miko's mouth dropped open in shock.
"But, my lord, you don't look a day over-"
"Twenty three? One would hope so. If I truly looked my age, immortality would be no fun at all. In fact, I am the youngest cardinal ever. The others amuse themselves by entertaining the thought that my level is on level with Sesshomaru."
She giggled, before referring back to the scroll in her hand. He hadn't noticed it before.
"But Touga-sama, it only says that youkai are youthful beings able to live for long periods of time. Immortality is never mentioned."
Chuckling, he moved out from behind his desk and sitting on a stack of pillows next to her; Kagome looked away from him, hiding her blush from their closeness.
"Youkai always end up being killed somehow, so true ageless immortality cannot be documented for long."
Kagome gasped, looking his way now.
"Touga-sama! That is a terrible thing to say…such a horrible outlook. Surely youkai like yourself cannot simply be killed…"
Her sentence faded off as she remembered the time she was born in; as she remembered the youkai-less time she was born in.
'But how can that be? They are so strong…'
"What do you mean youkai like me?"
Taking a deep breath, she continued.
"You are the Inu no Taisho, the strongest demon in Japan, what could possibly bring about the end of you?"
With the topic as morbid as this one, Touga found he could not even fully appreciate the compliment given to him; instead he frowned. He had never thought of his death before. He was immortal, what did he need to think of it for.
"Even daiyoukai like myself have weaknesses."
The scent of her sadness burned at his nose.
"What are you reading about anyway? And why in my office? Did you read all the scrolls in the library?"
He said, hoping to get move past the topic. She beamed, reaching over the child in her arms to the aged parchment lying in front of her.
"I was researching youkai, specifically inu youkai. Mannerisms, pack behavior, even the language, though I don't think it possible to learn a series of barks, yips, grunts, whimpers, and whines from paper."
She handed it to him.
"And no, I have yet to make it through all of the scrolls in the library."
Touga chuckled, a genuine smile lighting his features. Kagome was so struck by the unfamiliar expression from him that she missed his question.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"I asked you what you've learned?"
One look at her told of how happy she was to display her knowledge.
"Well, there are two different type of inu that can take a human form; the silver and the black."
He inclined his head to her, the gesture answering her silent question, proving her correct.
"And what of our mannerisms?"
Kagome cocked her head to the side, causing him to – subconsciously – do the same. She giggled, tugging a lock of his hair that had come loose and interrupted his picture of perfection.
"Inu youkai, no matter the age, are naturally curious."
Touga actually felt heat rising to his cheeks. What was this woman doing to him?
He cleared his throat.
"And our language?"
She sighed, taking the long scroll back.
"I haven't been able to grasp much any of that, but how could anyone?"
Her voice had raised since the beginning of their conversation as she became less conscious of Shippo in her arms. She read from the parchment.
"Low growls from the chest partnered with nuzzling are used to-"
The steady raising of her voice finally passed the threshold for which the boy could remain asleep, and Shippo whimpered, rubbing his eyes as he slowly came awake…even as he fought the action tooth and nail. Touga somehow managed to sneak the pup from her grasp, holding him close and emitting said growl while nuzzling his nose against the boy's temple. Shippo opened his eyes blearily, looking up at the daiyoukai who held him before closing his eyes again. He returned the affectionate gesture before falling back into a fitful slumber.
"Are used to?"
He whispered.
"Uh…"
She referred back to the scroll, her mouth going dry.
"Are used to soothe…to comfort females and pups."
He smiled.
"Very good."
Shippo fisted his little hands into Touga's haori, obviously comfortable right where he was.
"Wow…the description doesn't do you justice."
He chuckled, rearranging the boy as best he could, wrapping him in his moko-moko.
"Why do you wish to know these things about inu youkai?"
She smiled, but it wasn't as bright as before; it had a certain sadness that had him immediately intrigued.
"For Shippo,"
She brushed her knuckles over her son's cheek.
"I wish to know everything I can about inu youkai so as he grows and has questions I will hopefully be able to answer them. Shippo doesn't really…he doesn't really have a father, something else I learned is pretty important, but I don't want him to be any weaker because of that."
It was inevitable; even if the miko knew all there was to know about inu, the boy was still at a disadvantage without a man – youkai or ningen – to offer some guidance. He looked down at the boy in his arms, smiling at the cuteness of his face; with the miko for a mother…alone, he had not been receiving proper training, he would have been next to defenseless in a battle. If he were killed during the miko's lifetime, he knew it would destroy her…and the prospect of the miko so depressed made his blood boil.
"Kagome?"
She was caring for Sesshomaru…
"As long as you stay here and remain a mother to Sesshomaru…I will be a father to Shippo."
The look that passed over her face was unreadable for a moment.
"Touga, I could never ask-"
"You didn't,"
He supplied.
"I offered. It isn't any trouble."
"Arigatou, Touga-sama."
They locked eyes again as she said those words, allowing several things to happen at once.
Touga realized in that moment that his feelings for the woman that sat beside him far exceeded just lust. He was not sure what the feelings the compassionate woman awoke in him were, for he had never felt them for anyone before.
Kagome blushed, similarly unfamiliar with the growing feeling; she had thought herself to have been in love with Inuyasha for a time, but she looked back on it as a simple girlhood crush. This…this was something entirely different.
Touga laid the boy gently on the pillow he had vacated, pulling the miko to her feet as well. It was silent between them for a time; he tucked a stray piece of her own hair behind her ear.
"Touga-sama, I thought that you wanted to ignore it."
He chuckled, pulling her closer to him by her hips.
"You should know by now, Kagome…it is impossible to ignore you."
He was slow this time, and when she made no effort to stop him even after his intentions were loud and clear, he continued on, pressing his lips to hers in a tender kiss. Kagome's arms looped carelessly around his neck, her fingers teasing the hairs at the nape of his neck as his traced changing designs into the small of her back.
Love? Probably not; and if it was, neither party knew enough about the emotion to properly identify it. In the back of her mind, Kagome wondered what was going to happen after this…if he would out right reject her like the last time. How had they even gotten to this point? But with the onslaught of sensation in the forefront coming from the warm, fuzzy feeling being pressed so intimately against this man brought her, the voice was silenced. She could worry about tomorrow tomorrow…in this instant…this was all that mattered.
A/N: I'm not sure I even like the way this chapter ended…eh. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! I've decided I'm going to start replying to signed reviews (at least, if they need a reply) so leave me advice, questions, suggestions, all that jazz! 'Til next time!