Kagome didn't really know how it happened. Okay, that's not true, she knew exactly how it happened but if Sesshomaru were to ask, she had no clue. Ugh, playing stupid wouldn't work, she admitted to herself ruefully. He'd told her probably over a hundred times not to walk away from the pack, he'd say things like 'how am I supposed to protect you when you run off?" Or "Miko, I'd have thought that someone soul-bound to one such as I would hold intelligence but you cannot seem to grasp that those shards around your neck are a siren for all demons wanting to gain false power' in his haughty tone. She had to admit, only to herself, that he might be right. If she hadn't stomped away from the pack after yelling at Inuyasha because she was tired of his attitude, and threatening to purify anyone who followed, she wouldn't have been caught by the same brothers that they were after.
So now, here she was, tied up in some shack watching this wacko as he talked to himself about being beautiful if only he had some hair on his head. Kagome couldn't disagree more. He was not beautiful and him having hair would probably only exasperate the problem. She didn't understand how the two were brothers because the other one was definitely attractive, not Sesshomaru attractive but if she met him before she met Sesshomaru and if he wasn't planning on killing her, she might have been interested. And the real kicker, she thought, was that the toad but also kind of turtle looking demon thought that she was the missing ingredient to the stew he was cooking that would apparently help him grow a head full of hair, as if.
She tried her binds again and she still had no luck. She didn't know if reiki would work against rope but she figured it was worth a shot. She tried to center herself like Sesshomaru taught her to but it was kinda hard considering she was looking at the pot she was supposed to be boiled to death in. She closed her eyes and tried to shut out all the noise around her. She wanted to smile at her victory when she felt the reiki that lived inside her moving to her hands but she stopped herself, she didn't want to give herself away. She was happily surprised when she felt the ropes around her hand loosen because her reiki burned them away. She kept her hands behind her back, she didn't want to give her advantage away like Sesshomaru taught her. She powered up her reiki in her hands again, ready to attack then run, just as she was putting pressure on her feet to stand, the other brother walked into the room with his arm wrapped around the shoulder of another woman.
She had the momentary thought of trying to talk him into letting her free, he looked more human than his brother so she thought he might be more amenable but she decided against it when the bald brother cowered and begged him not to be mad for not sharing her with him. Her temper had her wanting to attack the more human-looking of the two but again, thanks to Sesshomaru's training, she was able to stop herself. She knew it was smarter to wait until she had the highest chance of winning and that was when she only had one enemy, not two, possibly three, depending if the woman was planning on joining in. Thankfully the brother left quickly. She used all the concentration she had and all the reiki she could siphon into her hands and then she stood, aimed her hand, and let go. The Thunder brother screamed in pain and she had a momentary fear that it was going to alert his brother before his scream was drowned out by the sound of the roof being ripped off the building. She felt every muscle in her body relaxing when she saw that it was Sesshomaru in his inu form who was doing the destruction. Later, she'd figure it was the mix of the large ammount of power she released and the extreme relief from seeing her soul-bound that made her light-headed enough to fall to the ground and lose consciousness.
Sesshomaru was holding tenuous control over himself since he'd realized his miko was taken from him. The sight of her falling to the ground unconscious was the straw that snapped him, he wasn't sure what happened, really. When he came back to himself, he had Kagome in his arms, him in the wilderness, so far away from anyone that his senses couldn't pick them up, and her holding his face telling him over and over again that she was okay.
When Kagome woke up, she had no idea what happened. More than that, she couldn't even figure it out because there was almost nothing left to help her piece it together. There were the ruins of the house that she knew Sesshomaru destroyed, she didn't want to be glib but there weren't even the remains of their enemies. It made her feel that maybe Sesshomaru ate them whole. Speaking of Sesshomaru, he was in a state. She tried to break free of him, who was back in his human form and had her tightly wrapped in his arms but he wasn't having it. He might look like a human again but his eyes sure didn't, they were bright red and Kagome knew that was because his demon was in control right now. So she gave all her attention to him and put her hand on his cheek so she could turn his face enough that he was looking at her instead of growling angrily at everyone and anything that might be after her.
"Sesshomaru, thank you for saving me, I'm okay now. You can relax, it's over and you did great, you saved me."
She felt a moment of relief because his growl turned more into a purr, he leaned close and rubbed the top of her head with his cheek like he'd done many times before. She enjoyed the affection and when he pulled back her shoulders sagged to see his eyes still red. The next thing she knew, she was being flown somewhere. When they landed about ten minutes later, she had the instinctual knowledge that they were far away from anyone so she went back to work trying to get her Sesshomaru under control of himself and back to her.
When Sesshomaru was fully back to himself the first thing he noticed was the big smile Kagome had on her face, "There you are."
"Hn. Where was I?" He didn't like asking such a question, he hadn't been in a situation like this for a long time. The last time he could remember this happening was when he was just hitting puberty and was having a hard time controlling his beast. There were many situations during that time that his beast got the better of him and took over control.
"It's okay, you didn't do anything wrong, I just don't think you liked seeing me captured too much."
Sesshomaru let out a ferocious growl before he could stop it showing that he really did not like seeing her in such a situation. "Are you well? Did they hurt you at all? Did they touch you?"
"No, no, I'm fine, I wasn't hurt and the only time they touched me was when he tied up my hands. See? A-okay" Kagome said, showing her hands and wrists which were unmarked. She regretted saying anything about the rope because Sesshomaru started growling angrily again. Kagome went with her instincts and jumped at him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.
Her gambit paid off and it wasn't long before his growling stopped and it turned back into a purr. "We should head back, I'm worried about Shippou, I'm sure he must be upset after being so close to the people who killed his parents. I can't imagine what he's going through."
Sesshomaru just nodded his head in response but he noted how great she was with children and put that as another mark on the plus side of making her his mate. The more he got to know her, the more perfect for him she seemed. He enjoyed that fact but it also annoyed him because the next time he went to see Bakuseno, he'd have to admit to him that the tree was right, he really hated how often that happened. Thinking about how perfect she was for him, he couldn't help but pull her in for a heated kiss before lifting off on his cloud. When he finally pulled his lips away from her, he couldn't help but smirk because of how hard she was panting and the scent of arousal that was wafting off of her. He couldn't wait until he had the opportunity to show her the ways of passion and pleasure but he did not want to push his little miko too hard too fast. Plus, he enjoyed the build-up, it excited him.
Though when Sesshomaru was in his beast form he went so far that he was not able to smell any other beings, he could still scent himself and the path he made so it did not take long before they were landing back with the rest of the pack. Kagome saw the dry tears on Shippou's cheeks so as soon as they were safely on the ground she left Sesshomaru's arms, ran over to Shippou, picked him up, and crushed him to her in a tight hug. So tight that Shippou would have thought she was youki if he hadn't seen her miko powers. Though it was tight, he relaxed into her hold and took the comfort she was offering.
He was young and his parents were gone. He had nowhere to go and it seemed this human was offering him a home and maybe even a new family. He might not know her too well but his father taught him to trust his instincts and they were telling him that this was a human, no, a miko, he could trust, so he would. Anyway, he really liked what he did know about her. He pulled his head back just enough to look at her but still kept his hands wrapped around her. "Can I stay with you?"
"Of course, you can"
"What? There's no way in hell you're staying with us, runt. This quest is nowhere for a kid."
Kagome answered him at the same time. Kagome looked at Sesshomaru to be the tiebreaker with her big pleading eyes. Inuyasha grumbled to himself and walked off without waiting for his answer because he already knew he was going to agree with the human.
Sesshomaru's first reaction was to agree with Inuyasha, he had a point, the wilderness wasn't really a place for a kit but with Kagome looking at him like that plus the fact that the child had nowhere else to go, he eventually responded, "Hn, he can come. As long as he promises to listen to what he's told. There will be some dangerous situations and stopping to ask 'why' when he's given a direction will only put all of us in danger. Also, kit, you must agree to training. I will have no one inactive in my pack."
"Hai, Sesshomaru-sama, this one agrees to your terms" Shippou answers in an as serious tone as Sesshomaru."
"Hn, then be welcomed, kit."
Kagome couldn't help but think how cute the little boy was when he used his tiny paws to push away from her. When she let him go he jumped to the ground and then turned to Sesshomaru and bowed, she swooned right there and she couldn't help but admit that her affection for Sesshomaru grew because of how kindly and patiently he dealt with Shippou. She couldn't stop it if she tried, so she didn't bother to attempt to stop herself when she got the urge to walk over to Sesshomaru, wrap her hands around his waist, and rest her head against his chest. She smiled softly when she felt his chest start to rumble with the soft purr she was making and her smile widened when she felt his chin rest against the top of her head.
As was what was becoming normal, Kagome skooched in between Sesshomaru's legs when they sat down around the fire at the end of the night. What was abnormal was when he adjusted her so that there was more distance between them. She saw his hand open out of the side of her eye and looked at him questioningly.
"Your brush, miko."
She looked at his hand, his face, then his hand again, and back to his face, confused because he had nothing in his hand, let alone her brush. That's when she got it. "You want my brush?"
"Hn."
She wanted to ask why but something stopped her. Instead, she got up, went over to Ah-Un, and dug through her bag until she found what she was looking for. When she found it she went back, gave him her brush, and sat back in her spot. A few seconds later she was holding back moans of pleasure at the feeling of him brushing her hair. She enjoyed his attentions and had to hold back a shiver of pleasure when he leaned up and spoke quietly Into her ear in a quiet husky voice.
"For my kind, grooming is a thing done between mates and to their pups. It is considered very intimate and helps grow closeness between the two along with trust. I've been wanting to do this with you for a while, Kagome and I hope you'd be open to returning the favor."
All of a sudden Kagome's throat felt very dry. The way he said her name was slow and sensual, he spoke each syllable slowly and it made her feel sexy and wanted, which was a new feeling to her. So the only response she could get out was a croaked "yes" and an eager nod of her head.
If she thought he was speaking huskily before, she was proven wrong because his words held nothing compared to the husky chuckle he responded to her with. She had a sappy smile on her face the rest of the night.
The smile didn't go away the next day either, especially when she thought back to brushing Sesshomaru's hair. She'd been wanting to get her hands on it since they met and you better believe she made the most out of having permission to touch it last night. Her smile widened thinking back to their exchange after she put her brush away
"Can we do that again?" Kagome asked.
"If it's up to me, we'll groom each other every night, my miko."
A blush came over her face at the thought. She replied shyly "I'd like that."
"As would I. Though tomorrow I'd like us to do it away from camp. It is supposed to be a more private affair."
"O-okay." She squeaked before quickly ending the subject and getting ready for bed.
She wasn't sure how or why it was meant to be private but she was excited to find out… and, if she were being honest with herself, a little nervous. She knew she didn't have to be, Sesshomaru didn't push her further than she was ready for but that didn't mean that her nerves didn't get the best of her every now and then. She quickly got her mind off that track because she was always worried that the demons around her would know where her thoughts were taking her because of her fluctuating scent, especially because there was a child in the group now. A child that has bonded to her and doesn't let her go if he has any say in the matter. Including right now, Shippou was in her arms, trying to get comfortable to take a nap. She guessed it wasn't working for him because he crawled up her arm, behind her neck, and onto her shoulder. He used his paws to move her hair and clothes around to give himself a comfortable little nest. The only problem was that it was tickling her. "Shippou, stop!" She said with a giggle.
She was surprised when she walked right into Sesshomaru's back. She became worried when he didn't move at all. "Sesshomaru?" He didn't move or acknowledge her in any way and that's when she remembered what that mean old miko did to him. "Oh, Cami! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, how do I undo it?!"
Thankfully a second later he was able to move again, which was good because Jaken was in the process of having a full-on meltdown. "My lord, thank every cami that you are okay, what did the evil wench do to you? I knew she'd been working her magic on you, I knew there was no way you'd choose to be with her otherwise! I shall kill her for you so that you do not have to waste your ti—Ahh!" He yelled as he fell to the ground, another one of Sesshomaru's pebbles being the culprit.
Kagome felt thankful that Inuyasha just looked confused, he wasn't with them yet when the beads were put on Sesshomaru, so he didn't know what happened to him. She had a feeling it would embarrass Sesshomaru if Inuyasha knew, especially because she knew that Inuyasha would never let it go. "Uh, Sesshomaru? Can I talk to you… alone?"
He stared at her for a few moments before replying. "Hn." He wrapped one arm around her and then took off on his cloud with them both hearing and ignoring Inuyasha's angry yells from under them. She was about to remind him that they really wouldn't be alone since Shippou was on her shoulder but she looked, and he was gone. She wasn't sure if he jumped off or if Sesshomaru moved faster than she could see and took him off before flying away.
He didn't take them far, they were only on his cloud for a minute, he just wanted to make sure he was far enough from the pack that they wouldn't hear them. When they landed, Kagome got down on the ground and started to bow at him. Once Sesshomaru realized what she was doing, he quickly grabbed her by the arms and picked her up. "Miko you needn't bow to this one."
"I'm so sorry Sesshomaru, I really didn't mean to! I just wish I knew how to take this stupid thing off of you." She said as she tried to move her reiki to her hand and pull the beads off of him. Unfortunately, it didn't work.
"I know you didn't mean to do it, Kagome, that is why I am not angry. Just mind your words better. You are getting much better control with your reiki, I do not doubt that you'll have it off of me before long."
She looked at him speculatively. "You are taking this much better than I thought you would."
He shrugs, "I know you won't use it to try to subdue me, if it were not dangerous because you might one day say it by mistake at an inopportune time, leaving you open to danger, I'd keep it. It feels of your reiki."
"It does? How is that when it was Keade that put it on?"
"I am uncertain, perhaps because it was your words that cemented it, or perhaps because you continuously use your reiki to try to take it off, so you stayed in it. Either way, I enjoy having a part of you so close. It helps the beast in me stay calm and quiet."
"Quiet?"
He let out an uncharacteristic sigh before cupping her face with his hand, he didn't want to frighten her off. "We are soul-bound, Kagome. All of me wants it, the more civilized side of me understands why I have not claimed you with my bite yet," She shivers when the thumb of the hand that's cupping her face runs back and forth over the spot on her neck where he might one day mark her. His eyes darken when he feels her shiver, "My beast is not so understanding, to that part of me, you are here, you are mine, so why have I not made it official yet? The piece of you around my neck helps calm it. When we bind our souls, a piece of mine will forever be in you just as a piece of yours will forever be in me. So you see, the beads are a good placeholder."
"Oh, y-yeah that makes sense." She stuttered a little because she was getting lost in his eyes and all the things they promised were coming. Without conscious thought, Kagome stood up on her tippy toes and kissed Sesshomaru. The growl that came from him made her shiver again. She was surprised when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up against his body. He wasn't normally this forward and she felt a blush come over her face when she felt his excitement pressed inbetween them. It wasn't long before the embarrassment turned into womanly pride for being able to affect him so.
She decided she was ready for a little more so she brazenly rubbed herself against him, trying to get a little friction. She knew it worked when he groaned into their kiss and he became more demanding with his lips and tongue. She was surprised when she learned that she enjoyed his fangs and when they would nip her lip. She eeped when his hands lifted her up by grabbing her butt, she automatically wrapped her legs around him and he spun them around so that she was between him and a tree.
She moaned when he was the one to rub against her this time. With her legs wrapped around him and with him in control he was able to position them so that his member was against her center and every time he thrust his member rubbed against her clit. It wasn't long before she felt something building inside her. She might be inexperienced but she had explored herself before, she knew what an orgasm was and had brought herself to some that she thought were intense before but they were nothing compared to what she felt now. Maybe it was because she wasn't by herself, maybe Sesshomaru really knew what he was doing, or maybe it was because it wasn't just physical this time, emotions were involved too. She wasn't sure but she was thankful that they were still kissing when she fell over the edge because if he didn't swallow her scream she was sure Inuyasha and Shippou would have come running thinking she was in danger. She felt Sesshomaru stiffen and he groaned into her mouth before his stiff posture loosened and he rested his head against her shoulder with them both breathing heavily. Kagome couldn't help but feel a little awkward and even embarrassed after she calmed down. She'd never been in this situation before so she wasn't sure what to do. Thankfully, she didn't have to worry about that because Sesshomaru had no such problem.
Sesshomaru, for his part, was surprised, he'd never had such a strong climax when not actually rutting with someone. Was this because they were soul-bound? Or maybe because there were emotions involved? He still felt a moment of distaste when admitting to having feelings for her, not just because she was human either but because he'd never been emotionally attached to anyone in his long life. Granted, for his kind, he was still quite young. He decided it didn't matter, whether he was fond of the feeling he had for her or not, they were there and it didn't seem as if they'd be leaving anytime soon. He pulled back just enough to look at her then he kissed her again, this time softer, not as much urgency behind it. He pulled back then reached behind him to grab her legs, unhook them, and put them safely on the ground. He lifted up the side of his lip in a sneer when he had to adjust himself, his spendings was quickly hardening and it was becoming uncomfortable. He felt like an inexperienced whelp for cumming in his hakama. He needed to get back to camp so that he could change.
He looked at the miko and saw that she looked uncomfortable as well and he wondered why. Did she not enjoy herself? He knew he brought her pleasure but maybe that is not enough for her, for humans? He wasn't sure, he knew little about them and for most of his life that was exactly how he wanted it but now he was soul-bound to one and had all intentions of solidifying their bond. In fact, the more he got to know her, the more he was ready to give her his mark. He knew that the instinctual side of him was better at caring for his female so he let it come forward. He leaned in and rubbed his cheek against her while growling softly, he felt her sink into him and heard her heart rate slow. As his more beastial side was forward, when he spoke it was rougher and had a growl to it. "What is wrong, my Kagome?"
She felt a blush come over her, she was a modern woman and believed she didn't need a man to be complete and she knew she wasn't a possession but something about Sesshomaru when he got all possessive made her blush, and made her insides get all warm and gooey, plus she couldn't help but shiver in want when he did. She felt silly for acting too young and timid to this obviously experienced male, "Nothing, I'm sorry. I already told you, this is all new to me. I've never done that with anyone but myself."
Her blush was back with a vengeance when she realized what she said and saw his quirked eyebrow along with the unmissable gleam of interest in his eyes, "By yourself? Mhm, my miko, I need to hear more about this, unfortunately, that must wait until tonight. For now, we need to make our way back to the pack, I find myself in need of a change of clothes." He said and was forced to adjust himself again.
She wished there was a way to have a talking-to with her blood flow and skin because when she realized what he was alluding to, that darned blush of hers was as bright as ever. Though she did admit to herself that she felt better. Sesshomaru acting normal helped get her passed her anxiety and awkwardness. "Okay, I'm ready when you are!"
He gave her one of his smiles that she was almost positive, only she got to see then scooped her up and lifted up on his cloud. Thankfully, no one questioned where they went or why they were gone so long when they made it back to the camp. Though Kagome knew that Inuyasha was about to have a cow about what was about to come out of her mouth. "Hey everyone, it's time to start making our way back to Edo, I'm running low on supplies, I finished all the school work I already have, and I'm sure my family is worried about me." There, she stated her reasons for having to go home calmly, reasonably, and in order, there were all completely legitimate reasons to fight her.
She sighed when Inuyasha responded, well, more like exploded because he yelled so loud Kagome noticed the birds that were resting in the tree tops around them fly away. "What? We haven't found a shard in days! Who cares about your stupid school, the jewel is more important! You're already a terrible miko who doesn't know how to use her power, so it already takes too much time to find shards but now you want to take a break to go home too? No, I won't allow it!"
Kagome heard the growl starting to come from Sesshomaru and noticed that Shippo and Jaken all hid from the explosion from Sesshomaru that was about to happen but Kagome exploded first. Every word she spoke was another step closer to him until she was yelling in his face. "Excuse me? Allow? I don't know who you think you are but you're not my mother or my husband, you don't have the right to 'allow' me to do anything, you're not the boss of me and I don't take orders from you. I know where you're from I'm just a woman so I'm supposed to listen to what the strong man says but let me tell you something, Buster, that's not how I was raised. Women have just as much rights as men and get to make their own choices. Listen here, you better get it through your thick head" She emphasized this by poking said head in cadence with every word she spoke, "I don't know what has got you in such a bad mood these last few weeks but I can tell you one thing, it's not mine nor Sesshomaru's fault and definitely not Shippo's, so stop taking it out on us. You've been so mean and cranky lately and I'm tired of it! And another thing! The jewel is not yours, when it's completed I'm not going to give it to you for you to make some dumb selfish wish, it's going right back where it came from. You're my friend Inuyasha but if your plan is just to try to steal it from me once it's fixed you might as well just leave now because it's not going to happen, and I can't stay friends with someone who I can't trust." She was yelling the whole time but when she got to the end her voice lowered and became sad, she didn't want to stop being friends with him but she would if he chose to be selfish and untrustworthy.
"I-I…" Inuyasha didn't really know what to say, all his anger bled out of him while Kagome was yelling at him, he didn't know he was really making the traveling worse. Heck, he thought he was doing a good job keeping his bad mood to himself while he was trying to figure out why he was so upset about what was happening between Kagome and Sesshomaru. He guessed he was wrong. His words trailed off, he didn't want to fight with the wench, he might not act like it but he liked her. She was loyal, trustworthy, and he could see how good she was. He didn't know what she was doing with the bastard, she could do so much better.
It seemed it didn't matter even if Inuyasha figured out what to say because Kagome started to talk again, "So even though I know it's out of the way and an inconvenience, we're going back to the village because I need to go home." She put a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder and tried to offer a consolation. "Hey, the jewel was broken there so if there's any shards that weren't picked up by anyone yet, that's where we'll find them. Plus, the people that have the shards are constantly moving, we're just as likely to run into them on the trip back as we are continuing forward. Oh, and you finally get to see where I'm from, I finally get to prove to you that cars and TVs are real."
Inuyasha took the olive branch she was offering, "Keh, there ain't no way in hell that there's a box full of people doing stuff and you can switch it somehow to see different people doing different stuff. Yeah right, you must think I'm stupid, I'll believe it when I see it."
"Uh, Kagome…"
She turned to Shippo who was looking at her with big pleading puppy dog eyes the way only a kid can pull off, "Yes Shippo?"
"Can I come with you to your home?"
"Of course you can! Did you really think I'd just leave you here when we all go? You're part of our group now, we're like a family, you're with us till the end."
His pleading face didn't go away even though he got the answer he wanted. That's when Kagome realized he was after something else. "Thanks. Do you think I might be able to get one of those loppylops er-lollipops you gave me when I was crying about the Thunder brothers killing my parents?"
'Oh, he's good' Kagome thought, he's totally trying to guilt her into getting her one… and it's completely working. Then again, she'd have gotten him one even if he didn't. "Sure thing, Shippo." She turned to the rest of the pack, "Okay guys, let's go! I have a test the day after tomorrow and I'd really like to make it back in time to actually take it in person!"
Everyone nodded their heads and Sesshomaru turned in the direction they needed to go and started to walk. Not before making eye contact with his miko and nodding his head to the spot next to him. She learned by now that meant he wanted her close and that was a-okay with her, she wanted to be just as close as him. She ran to catch up to him and less than a second after she caught up Sesshomaru reached over and grabbed her hand.
Kagome couldn't help but smile, he was using her people's version of showing affection instead of his own which showed how much he was really trying. She thought that it was no wonder she was falling in love with him. That thought surprised her so much she tripped on nothing and if it weren't for Sesshomaru's quick reflexes she would have gotten a face full of dirt. She flashed him a quick smile of thanks, and to show that she was alright before quickly getting back to walking and deciding she'll think about those thoughts later.