"So, you and Kagome,"
"I do not wish to talk about it,"
What he wanted to do was go back to the cave, or better yet, West.
"Do you care about her?" Miroku's voice changed, making Sesshomaru look at him. "I have watched them for a long time; he hurt her over and over, and Kagome being Kagome, had a forgiving and hopeful heart; it often blinded her,"
"What does that have to do with me?"
"He was supposed to protect her, and since he has chosen another to protect, I guess it's now my job to protect her, so I ask you again, do you care about her,"
Sesshomaru looked away. "I am not my brother,"
"No, but you have been an enemy,"
Sesshomaru looked at the monk again. "I have told the Miko no lies,"
Of that, Miroku was sure, "You still have given me no answer,"
"I do not answer to you,"
Miroku sighed, "You may have not lied to her, but you took advantage of her state,"
Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes,
Miroku looked away. "If you care for her, fine, but if you do not, leave her be; we shall take care of her,"
Sesshomaru sat his sword down, a clear sign he wasn't going anywhere. "I have saved her countless of times due to your failures,"
"She could still go home," Miroku said,
"If that is what she chooses,"
"Does she have something else to choose from?"
Sesshomaru smirked; the monk was indeed clever; he would give him that "I gave her a choice,"
"A fair one?"
Their eyes met,
"She has agreed to a courtship,"
Miroku smiles,
"You!" Sango rushed back and pointed at Sesshomaru, making both men and Inuyasha look at her.
"Are you going to mate her!" Sango yelled,
"Mate her!" Inuyasha fell out of the tree, hearing Sango yell,
"The Miko refused," Sesshomaru stated calmly,
"I missed something." Miroku looked between them,
"We need to find herbs, now!" Sango stated,
"What kind of herbs?" Inuyasha asked,
"No," Sesshomaru would stop that in a heartbeat,
"She could end up pregnant!" Sango stated,
"Pregnant!" Inuyasha yelled,
"The Miko will take no herbs if my child is in her belly, then it will be so,"
"You said Kagome refused to mate?" Miroku asked,
"She claims that she will not mate me when I told her I would do so if she carried, and that I would need to ask nicely,"
Miroku smirked, then giggled and burst out laughing.
"I fail to see what is so funny, Monk,"
Sango shook her head.
"Maybe you should have asked her to bear your children first," Miroku laughed more.
Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow.
"He ain't asking no one anything!" Inuyasha yelled, "He fucking used her!"
"No more than you did,"
"At least I had enough common sense to pull out! What to fuck, Sesshomaru!"
"You pulled out to save yourself from a commitment you did not want, Inuyasha," Sesshomaru snapped,
"You can't talk about commitment!"
"I offered her commitment, which is more than you offered,"
"Yeah, with conditions, and you what knocked her up just to fucking prove something to me!?"
Sesshomaru stood. "I did so because it was what my instincts told me to do, not that I need to explain my reasons to you,"
"Convenient that she's the one you chose out of all the women you could have chosen from; I ain't buying It, Sesshomaru!"
"I do not care what you believe half breed,"
"You clearly dont care about anything," Inuyasha had heard enough; he looked at his friends and then vanished.
"Are you sure about this?" Sango asked, concerned for her friend, even though her friend told her she knew what she was doing.
Sesshomaru turned his gold eyes to her. "Did the Miko express a desire to take herbs?"
"No," She sighed. "I dont think Kagome believes she can be pregnant; she said there was still a chance she wasn't,"
Sesshomaru snorted and began to walk away. Sango and Miroku watched him travel towards the water.
Kagome had her back to him.
"You are still in denial over my seed within you,"
Kagome blushed; she still could not believe it. She slept with this man and had him inside her. She shook her head. "Humans are different than demons, Sesshomaru,"
"And demons are different than humans, Miko,"
She turns her head to look at him,
"You are carrying my child inside you, woman," He didn't know what, but he was sure of it.
Kagome looks down and runs a hand over her flat tummy.
"Does it scare you?" He asked,
"Yes," She breathed,
"Why are you afraid? I am here, am I not,"
She closed her eyes, making the tears fall. "Because you have to be; your honor would not allow you not to be," This was not what she wanted; she did, but not like this.
"What do you want, Miko,"
"I wanted love; I wanted to be wanted; I dont want to be mated just because we were careless,"
"What carelessness do you speak of?"
She opened her eyes and looked back at him, "We let our desire get the best of us, you, you-
"Filled you, Miko. We did so knowingly and willingly,"
"We?"
"My beast,"
"So,-
"Perhaps my wording was inadequate; I did not mean to imply that I would mate you only if you carried my child."
She wasn't sure what he was trying to say,
"I was not sure how to handle such a situation with a human," His eyes searched hers. "We fill the womb only of our mate; It was an instinctual decision,"
She looked back. "You decided,"
"I assumed you would agree,"
"I can't marry you just because I might be pregnant," She said again. "And you didn't ask; you just decided yourself,"
He assumed that because no other woman would deny him, but she wasn't other woman.
"Can't or won't Miko?"
She turns away from him again, "Both," She wanted a husband and a child, but she didn't want a husband because of a child.
"Forgive me, I thought you were knowledgeable on conception, Miko,"
She wanted to be angry, but she knew he didn't mean it the way it sounded. "I am Sesshomaru; I guess in the moment,-
"Your instincts took over,"
Was that it, or was she being completely dumb? Of course, she knew how babies were made, yet every time he got ready to release, she grew hotter with need.
"In my time, we call it a one night stand, bad decisions, and for the most part, we dont get married because of a pregnancy,"
"So you do regret it then?"
She turned her head and looked at him again; "Do you?"
"Clearly not Miko. Do men in your time not take responsibility?"
"Not all of them; pregnancy like this is often an accident,"
"As I stated, this not an accident, Miko,"
"I dont want to be a responabilty Sesshomaru,"
"What do you want of me, Miko? I offer you and deny me,"
"Let's just wait and see,"
"You still deny it?"
"Humans have cycles,"
"As do demons; it's called being in heat,"
"So you understand that I might not be?"
"You still do not understand, Miko; trust me, in time, you will see that you do indeed carry my seed in your belly,"
It made her heart skip a beat, but she shook her head and looked away again. "Can you send Sango? I want to get out now,"
He could have helped her, but she clearly didn't want it, or him. "As you wish," He turned and left, and tears slipped down her face. "You still didn't ask,"