In the salient darkness of the pack's private gardens, Sesshoumaru hesitated at the shoji screen leading to the Miko's rooms. He loathed facing the fever-riddled scent of her sleep, to confront the disquiet of the kitsune kit and his half-brother as they waited for her to wake.
Guilt gnawed at the tips of his fingers and the hand he'd raised to slide the screen open dropped back down to his side, as useless as the remaining stump of his other arm.
He should go in and see to her. His role as pack alpha demanded nothing less.
Instead, the tips of his claws bit into the palm of his hand. The boards under his feet creaked as he shifted his weight. Snow settled into the frozen gardens like a blanket. Winter wind whispered through the tassels hanging from the straps of his armor.
Instead, the quiet murmur of his half-brother's voice and the kits reminded him that he was unwelcome in the room—despite Inuyasha's appeal to the boy that Kagome would want him there.
Instead, he turned on his heel, strode out into the gardens and launched himself into the cloud-filled sky. No moon or stars glinted upon his silver hair or the white of his haori, no stray eyes noticed his departure.
He sailed into the overcast sky alone.
Her injury was not fatal. His healers had guaranteed him, at threat of death, of her assured recovery—all she needed was time, thanks to her slow human healing abilities.
And yet.
Freezing air bombarded him as he reminded himself that she repaid a debt by acting as the alpha female of his pack. Injury was part and parcel of the whole affair.
And yet.
Snarling, he shifted into his true form and pushed himself harder. Gold yōki seared a trail into the sky behind him as he exploded with energy and dove for the nearest prey.
If he could not sooth his spirt of this unflagging, irrational guilt, then he would gorge himself on battle and blood.
The miko would be dealt with later.
o.O.o
Inuyasha let Shippou decide what to do about his half-brother hulking outside the shoji—and followed the kit's lead in feigning ignorance even if he knew Kagome would skin them both for it later.
"She wouldn't mind if he was here."
Eyes like emeralds slanted a glare at him.
Inuyasha raised his palms as his ears fell flat against his head. "All I'm say'in is that she wouldn't blame him for this. Kagome knew what she was getting into."
Silence rained down between them again as the fire cracked and popped in the irori. It wasn't until Inuyasha stood to add more logs to the flames that Shippou finally spoke. "She could'a died. She could'a died and it would have been Sesshoumaru's fault as much as it would have been that other warrior's."
Keeping his eyes on the fire, Inuyasha paused at the catch in Shippou's voice as he continued speaking.
"She could have died, and I would have lost another mom and he didn't do anything to stop it!" He burst to his feet from his sentry post at Kagome's bedside and stomped to Inuyasha's side by the fire. "The House of the Moon is so big. He could'a chosen any number of females to take his mom's place. Kagome is only human."
Sticky ground, Inuyasha thought. How many times had he said just that about Kagome himself? How many times had he seen the hurt flash across her face before she'd averted her eyes and pretend she was fine? "Sango and Miroku are also human. And I'm half-human."
Shippou glared. "That's different and you know it. You're all warriors down to the bone. You all learned to fight when you were my age!"
Inuyasha wondered if teaching himself to survive counted, but he was sure Kagome would say this wasn't the time to nitpick. What would she say, then?
"Kagome would be hurt if she heard what you were saying now." Sparing a glance, he finally sank down to warm his feet near the flames. "What's that thing Kagome is always saying to you and Rin, that thing about being what you want?"
Frowning, Shippou stubbornly picked at a loose thread in his hakama and didn't meet Inuyasha's eyes. "She says we can be anything we wanna be—even Rin, even though she's only a girl."
"Only a girl." Inuyasha scoffed. "She'd bust your ear drums if she heard you say that."
Shippou flushed but didn't argue. He only shrugged and kept wriggling that thread loose.
Silence danced in the fire again, the only sounds that of the fresh wood cracking and shifting. The beat of Kagome's breathing was still too heavy for comfort and the rotting scent of infection in the wound was barely smothered by the acrid scent of the herbs meant to treat it.
"I wanted to mate Kagome."
Shippou finally looked up from the thread he was working free.
The hanyou sighed. "Kagome was the only one who didn't know I guess." Slipping his hands into the sleeves of his haori, he tried not to think about the pain of acknowledging his feelings. It had been all around too late, but maybe he could help Shippou from making the same mistakes. "The thing is kid, I spent so much time telling her what she wasn't that I didn't see her at all for what she is, or what she wanted."
Knowing where this was going, Shippou stiffened. "But-"
Offering up a half-hearted glare, Inuyasha scowled. "You gonna let me finish or not?"
"Keh." He slouched and focused on the loose thread again.
"Kagome has always been the first to throw down for a fight. You remember when Kouga took her the first time right? And the thunder brothers? And this was before you, but she took on that centipede bitch like she was born with a sword in her hands—even if she did it while screaming and running away half the time."
Shaking his head, Inuyasha sighed. "The thing is, she's always done what we asked of her. She always kept you, and Rin when she was with us, safe. She always stayed on the outskirts of fights and protected the jewel shards. She never really put much effort into learning fighting because that wasn't what we needed from her.
And when we did need it, when we needed her to fight against Naraku—you remember how excited she was. Even through the fear of facing his nightmares, you saw how ready she was for the fight."
"…I know."
Hearing the guilt, Inuyasha reached out and set a hand on his shoulder. "I was the one who kept her from being what she coulda' been, Shippou. And I lost so much because of it."
Shippou swallowed. "She still loves you, though."
"Not the way she did first."
"Kagome will always love me."
"Course she will. The love she has for you is different from what she had for me. She'll always love you the way you need. But kid, if you ask her to stop, to leave with you and go somewhere safe—she'd go. She'd go, and something inside of her would close. She'd always love you, but she'd never be the same person as she is now."
Shippou could feel the tears burning at the base of his throat. Desperate to keep them from falling, he dug the tips of his claws into his palms. "She could die in this contest, and it would be for nothing."
The idea of a world without Kagome was enough to summon the beast inside of him. It was becoming harder lately to keep that monster at bay, but he managed to squash it down through gritted teeth. "Yeah, she could. But we gotta trust her. Kagome knows her limits and she never makes the same mistake twice."
He could all but hear the way Shippou's teeth were grinding together. The scent of his blood was pungent as it dotted out of his clenched palms. "Kagome would say it's okay to cry when you really need to," he said gruffly, and though he shifted closer in case Shippou wanted the contact, he didn't reach out to pull him in.
Together they sat there by the fire as Kagome slept behind them, the sound of Shippou's low sobs muffled by the shift and fall of burning logs.
o.O.o
When Kagome woke, it was to a stiflingly warm room empty of sound. Leveraging herself up on her good elbow, she scanned the far reaches of the room hidden in the shadows of the fading embers in the fire pit. Only soft shadows met her gaze.
It was the first time she'd woken to find herself alone in the days since the contest.
Laying back down, she replayed the match repeatedly in her mind. What could she have done differently? Could the shoulder injury have been avoided? Would it always be a struggle to hold her own against these powerful youkai? How was she supposed to defend Sesshoumaru's honor, humor aside, if she could barely survive one match?
The thought of failing him was a dismal, mortifying prospect.
It didn't matter that she had warned Sesshoumaru she was not a warrior. It didn't matter that she'd only really been training for the short time since her arrival. It didn't even matter that no one, except perhaps Sesshoumaru, expected her to succeed.
None of that mattered because Kagome wanted to win.
She wanted to win because she liked being here, because she liked all the new people she had met, because she liked the fighting.
Traveling with the gang and fighting against Naraku had been different. She'd always been the caretaker, the healer, the one who cooked all the meals and tended to all the injuries. She was the one the children were left to, the one they all looked to for comfort and warmth.
Kagome might have thought of asking to be trained, and she'd certainly learned enough to defend herself and wield her bow efficiently, but she'd never been a real warrior in their group. In the deepest, darkest part of her, maybe she had resented that.
The contest was the first thing that really allowed her to be stronger.
Determined to start now, she eased out of bed and took silent query of her injury—and nearly moaned in pain as just shrugging sent fire screaming down the nerves of her shoulder and arm. That small movement was almost as bad as the initial injury had been. She stood there for a moment and just breathed as that fire raced down her arms to tingle in her fingertips.
When the door to the large sitting room slid open, she was unsurprised to find Inuyasha leaning against the frame. "So…being impaled is loads of fun. Really envying your insta-healing right now."
He snorted and stepped into the room. "At least it was just your shoulder. Scared the kid to death though." Stopping in front of her, he pressed the back of his hand against her cheek. "You had a fever for two days." He didn't need to say that he'd been alarmed then too as he met her eyes. "Looks like it finally broke."
That explained the extreme heat in the room, then. "Sorry," she mumbled.
"Keh." Shaking his head, he jerked his head to the screen hiding the veranda that led to the family quarters private gardens. "C'mon. Let's get you some fresh air. The servants can let this place out and change the futon and stuff."
Kagome let him lead the way, grateful he didn't insist on coddling her like she suspected some of the others might have done. She had a vague memory of Shippou refusing to let her get out of bed at one point. "I guess it looked pretty bad."
That was an understatement if he'd ever heard one. His heart had all but stopped at the scent of all her blood. They might have been through some tight scrapes before, but she'd never bled so much on any of their adventures. He never wanted to see so much of her blood again.
Inuyasha watched each of her ginger movements and only sat after she'd sunk down at the edge of the veranda and he'd dropped a blanket into her lap. "Probably the worst the kid has ever seen when it comes to you."
She sighed. He was right, of course, and what was there to say to that?
For a long time, they were quiet there on the veranda. Snow fluttered down around them, light and fluffy and thick enough to cover the gardens in several inches of white down. On the veranda by the children's rooms there stood a miniscule snowman, pristine under the overhang of the roof and bearing Sesshoumaru's obi.
"You won't win again if you fight the way you did last time."
Some things never changed. Her heart shuddered under the barb of his words but, before she could stand and leave, he grasped her good hand and squeezed, forcing her attention back to him.
"I didn't mean it like that," he said once she'd met his gaze. "You can't match their speed, or their strength. You mighta could, if you'd been fighting and training for as long as they have, but you haven't."
Resisting the urge to stalk off and take his words to heart, she squeezed his hand in return to let him know she was listening. She wasn't sure she could say anything if he left it there with that implicit understanding that she would never be good enough, never pair up-like she had never been as good as Kikyou. So she waited and hoped he wasn't going to find some new way to crush her heart again.
"You can't match them in strength or speed or skill." He hated to say it, hated knowing that her first thought would always be the ways he'd compared her to his first love. "You can outmatch them in smarts though, in strategy, in determination. When you set your mind to something, you're damn near terrifying to deal with."
He couldn't bring himself to look at her, didn't feel as if he deserved to even be near her after telling her what she wasn't capable of. So he kept his eyes firmly planted on the snow drifting over the garden and shoved his hands into the sleeves of his haori. "Also, you need a female teacher, or even just a male your size. All these guards and soldiers the bastard has given to train you are just teaching you to use brute strength. You won't win that way. You can't."
He would know, she thought. He would know perfectly that brute strength wasn't always the answer. That speed and skill were sometimes not enough. How many times had she watched him face an opponent who outstripped him on every level?
"You know," she said as she spread the blanket out so it covered both of them, "You're probably right." She breathed in the crisp scent of winter snow and looked up at the cloud-filled sky as the snowflakes grew smaller and smaller. "I'll ask Sesshoumaru for a new teacher in the morning."
Relieved that she hadn't been insulted by his assessment, he looked up at the sky too. "You should ask the bastard to give you some tips on fighting with one arm, while you're at it. I doubt you'll be able to use your left arm by the time the next contest rolls around."
Kagome chuckled as she imagined that scene. "I'm sure that'll go over well. I can already imagine the bloodshed."
He smirked. "He mighta tried to kill you for it before we allied against Naraku. Now…" Since her injury, Sesshoumaru had not set foot in her rooms—probably in some half-hearted attempt to give Shippou some peace. "Probably not now. He'd have to mate one of those bitches if he did."
"They're not all bad," she said, thinking of Karumi and Ikegai.
"Keh. You wouldn't be saying that if it was your hand under the bindings, waiting to be bound with someone you didn't want."
"Is that a protective tone I hear, Inuyasha?"
He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Keh."
o.O.o
When Sesshoumaru returned to the Citadel that same day, it was to the news that the Miko had woken and the kitsune was waiting for him in his study. Choosing the lesser of two evils, he made his way to the warm sanctuary that he did most of his work in.
The boy stood in front of the crackling fire, looking for all the world like a weary warlord preparing for battle. There was a loose thread on his sturdy little hakama. The corners of his eyes were red, as if he'd spent a great deal of time rubbing at them with his palms. A smear or two of dried blood peeked out of the sleeve of his haori.
He had only taken two steps into the room, sliding the door closed behind him, when the boy stood up straight and met his stare head-on. At first Sesshoumaru thought it was hatred threatening to burn a hole through him, but there was no venom or anger in the boy's emerald gaze.
The last person to look at him like this had been his father.
The sheer disgust Shippou leveled at him was enough to root Sesshoumaru to the spot, to override the bloody, killing calm he'd indulged in the night before instead of facing the Miko.
"I'm here to issue a formal notice of challenge, Sesshoumaru-sama."
Sesshoumaru barely resisted the urge to sneer. As it was, he stepped around the boy and strode over to his desk. Sinking down into his chair, he considered Shippou. "And why do you think you are within your rights to issue a challenge to your Alpha?"
Shippou lifted his chin and crossed his arms over his chest, defiant in the way he'd learned from years of watching Inuyasha face his half-brother. "Because I think you dishonor yourself by asking her to fight for you."
Narrowing his eyes, Sesshoumaru ignored the attack to his honor and considered the kit. He had decided in the long hours of the winter night that he would release Kagome from their bargain. It had not been dishonorable to demand she show her skills to defend his honor in rejecting all mates—he knew her skill, after all, and that she was largely underestimated. Still. He should have forced his mother or found another willing female to take the role who was less…fragile.
Or just taken a female to mate and be done with it.
Resisting the urge to close his eyes and demonstrate his immense frustration with the situation, he focused on the boy again. "You may relax your concern for the miko. I have already decided to release her from the promise."
"What?"
Ignoring Shippou's gaping jaw, Sesshoumaru picked up a quill and opened the first scroll that needed his attention. "When she is physically fit, the three of you will be permitted to leave the Citadel and return to your lives. The Miko will not be held to her obligations."
"What.."
This time he did sigh and finally looked back down at the Kitsune. "The Miko is free to go. Her debt to this one has been expunged. She need not fulfil her role as the Alpha female of this one's pack."
For the first time since he'd seen the dagger slide into Kagome's soft flesh, Shippou was at a loss for words. Here was the perfect answer to all his worries about his mother and yet…
"You can't," he whispered and, though sorrow was a well deep and dark inside of him at the thought of what might be, he ignored his own fears. "You can't do that to her. What about her honor?"
Sesshoumaru closed his eyes this time and set down the quill. "What would you have me do boy? In one breath you say I dishonor myself and in the next you accuse me of dishonoring her? You cannot have it both ways. Regardless, the matter has been decided. I will release her from her oath and position in my pack and you will all be escorted back to Edo."
"She's happier here than she's ever been since she came to our time!" Tears welled in the corners of Shippou's eyes, and he swiped at them with furious little fists. "I hate you and one day I'm gonna challenge you for real, but she loves it here. She loves being in your court and making all these new friends and feeling…feeling needed. And valued."
What a quandary, Sesshoumaru thought.
"You can't send her away, Sesshoumaru-sama. Stupid baka-yasha says the way you need her is different than the way we've always needed her, and that what she wants is more important than how any of us feel." Shippou swallowed the agony of tears at the base of his throat and glared up at the Daiyoukai. "She wants to help you and she wants to fight. So please don't send her away."
"And what of your challenge? What if she dies?" he asked, eyes narrowed as he studied the kit.
"I'll save it," Shippou said immediately even as his stomach clenched at the thought of losing her. "I'll save it for a day when I'm big enough and strong enough to beat you, so that even in the afterlife she won't worry about me. But you have to make a promise too."
Sesshoumaru raised a brow and waited.
"You have to be a better teacher to her. I heard her and Inuyasha talking earlier in the garden. She won't win again like this, fighting the way you fight. You have to do better."
The kit was not wrong. He had made a mistake in her training thus far. It was a small thing to promise, a small thing to change. He nodded and ignored the odd sense of relief that the Miko would remain after all.
o.O.o
Kagome strode through the halls of the House of the Moon with the single-mindedness of a person possessed—or obsessed. The first contest was a week behind her and yet she had not seen Sesshoumaru-sama since she'd passed out in his arms on the way to the healer's hall. Inuyasha and Shippou had even told her he hadn't come to see her while she'd been out with the fever.
Here she was healing from fighting for his honor, and he couldn't even be bothered to check on her!
To top it off, he must have given Kiseki special orders to keep her away because her guard had been the most insufferable, most over-bearing mother hen she'd ever encountered. It had taken sending him on some silly quest for warm soup to escape from his watchful attention and hunt down her host.
After a near week of enforced bed rest though, Kagome found herself struggling not to gasp for breath in her righteous hunt for Sesshoumaru. She was just debating finding a place to rest as she rounded a corner—and found herself toppling backwards as she ran face first into her quarry.
A firm grip on her uninjured shoulder stopped her backward momentum, and a brief tug righted her completely until they were standing so close together that the delicate rasp of their obi brushing against each other was the only sound in the hall.
His hand was still on her shoulder—but she was also grasping the soft sleeve of his silk outer haori, and she couldn't help but notice the steady warmth of the solid male beneath her fingers. Kagome couldn't bring herself to let go, even when he locked that golden gaze with hers.
"Your eyes are a warmer shade of gold than your brother's..." she mumbled. Mortified, she finally recoiled and tried to collect herself but found black dots dancing across her vision.
She had barely taken a step back when he tugged her closer to keep her upright.
"You are supposed to be resting in your chambers, Miko."
The quiet reprimand as he held her against him was enough to remind Kagome of her ire, but she found she was too exhausted to do much with it. As it was, she barely managed to hold back a squeal as she found herself suddenly lifted into his arm. She clutched at the back of his haori and stared down at the top of his perfect mass of silver hair as he carried her.
"I am told humans require a great deal of sleep in order to heal properly. It is illogical of you to go trapsing about the Shiro in such a state. You aren't even wearing an adequate number of layers to combat the cold of the season." As he lectured, Sesshoumaru carried her to his study, as that seemed to be the direction she had been stalking towards.
The lecture was enough to remind her again that she was supposed to be angry at him, not dazzled. Definitely not dazzled, but she couldn't seem to muster up the energy to find that fire again. She settled on sulking instead. "I wouldn't have had to go trapsing about the Shiro if you had bothered to come see me yourself."
Sesshoumaru stopped dead. Whatever he had expected her to say, it certainly had not been that. He cleared his throat and forced himself to continue towards his study. "This one was under the impression you would not wish to see him. You received a grievous injury in this contest."
"What does that have to do with you? It's not like you're the one who stabbed me in the shoulder—and Karumi and I already buried the hatchet. She came and spoke to me the night I woke up."
The unspoken accusation was enough to force a sigh as he nudged open the door of his study and carried her inside. "You are fighting on my behalf. It has everything to do with me."
Kagome started to object but held back as he eased her down on a pile of pillows near the ornate iron brazier. He teased the embers back into full flame as she shivered, her arms and legs prickling with goose flesh under the light sleeping kimono.
Sinking down next to her, he dropped mokomoko into her lap. "I did not expect to care that you were injured, or to feel guilt because of it."
If she had been drinking, she'd would have choked. As it was, Kagome could not help but to stare at him in much the way Shippou had done earlier in the week. "You feel guilty?"
He slanted a glare at her. "Am I not a being of flesh and blood? Am I not a creature capable of emotions?"
Color flushed its way up her neck and she leaned forward to grab his hand. "That's not what I meant."
He looked down at their joined fingers. Her hand was so very small compared to his, her fingertips free of callouses. "You are a member of this one's pack now, Miko. Most would consider it normal to feel guilt in such situations as these."
"Well sure, but you're Sesshoumaru and we both knew what I was signing up for when I agreed to help you out, right? Besides, I'm fit as a fiddle now." To demonstrate, she raised her arm up to flex and managed to flinch only slightly as the movement pulled at the healing muscles. "Or almost."
He blinked and stared down at her. "A what?"
"A fiddle," she said, and grinned wanly as she leaned back against the pillows again. "Like…like a shamisen, or maybe a Kokyū."
"I do not comprehend what one has to do with the other."
"You know what? I don't either."
He watched as her eyes drifted shut and she went lax in the small nest of pillows he'd originally had brought in for when Rin decided to accompany him. It seemed a superior choice now as the Miko fell asleep beside him, curled in his mokomoko. Whatever tension he'd been trying to avoid by staying away from her was forgotten as he watched her sleep.
It seemed he'd been worried for nothing.
o.O.o
"Miko-sama, you really should be resting."
Kagome glanced back at Kiseki and grinned. Since she had ditched him earlier that week, he was being particularly clingy and ever watchful to make sure she didn't tire herself. "I'm fine, Kiseki. Besides, we just got started and anyway, there's nothing strenuous about walking and shopping."
Kiseki sighed again and resigned himself to a scathing lecture from his Lord this evening. When he'd discovered the Miko in Sesshoumaru-sama's study fast asleep on the nest of pillows usually reserved for Rin, he'd managed to laugh off the killing glare sent his way.
He was unsure if he'd so successfully escape unscathed a second time—especially with dusk settling over the market and the scent of exhaustion permeating from her. He was sure Kagome-sama had not informed his Lord of her plans to visit the night markets, either. Honestly Kiseki had never met such a vexing human as this one. At least Rin was biddable.
Ignoring her golden guard's grumbling, Kagome took her time strolling through the stalls. The scents of the various frying foods were nearly irresistible, but she'd promised to come back with the children another time to try all the delicious treats.
Besides, she wasn't here for food, or for shopping—despite what she'd told Kiseki. In the little pocket tucked inside one of the ornately thick winter layers Kiseki had insisted upon was a neatly folded note written in the beautiful calligraphy of the time, requesting a meeting.
When she spotted the silk stall she'd been directed to, Kagome turned a bright smile on her guard—only to falter at the level glare he settled on her.
"I will not fall for that sweet smile a second time, Miko-sama."
Pursing her lips, Kagome glanced once at the stall a second time before turning to Kiseki again. "Okay fine, but you can't interfere. Or…or tell Sesshoumaru-sama."
Kiseki snorted. "Miko-sama if you really believe Sesshoumaru-sama does not know everything that happens in his domain you are more naive than I thought possible."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "I just mean I'll tell him myself. You don't have to go reporting back to him or anything. So could you please…just wait here? You can see me from here and I don't doubt you're as fast as Sesshoumaru, so if something happens you can reach me in no time at all."
He closed his eyes and sighed. "You have 5 minutes Miko-sama and then we are returning to the citadel, even if I have to take you there by force."
It irked to be threatened. It was on the tip of her tongue to remind him that he couldn't get within five feet of her if she didn't want him to, or to demonstrate such a point by creating a barrier and forcing him away from her—but she was here for a reason and his insistence and highhandedness could be addressed later. With him and with Sesshoumaru-sama.
Determined to ignore him, she turned and strode towards the silk stall. The booth was loaded with bolts of silk in the colors of precious gems, each one finer than the next. The vendor lounged sedately behind the counter embroidering a corner of brilliant gold silk with small, white clouds.
"Miko-sama?"
Kagome turned and found herself staring down at the prettiest woman she had ever seen in her life. The top of her head didn't quite reach Kagome's shoulders. Her hair cascaded down her back in sheets of such a light, desert brown that it almost seemed made of sand. The color of her skin was just a shade darker than her hair, a perfect background for the vibrant gold of her eyes. One thin line of lotus blossom pink stood clear under each eye, matched by a pink, unfilled circle on her brow.
"I am Kamari," said the Inu, and she bowed to Kagome. The sleeves of her pale blue kimono brushed the ground before she stood straight again. "Thank you for meeting me, Miko-sama."
"Please, call me Kagome." For the first time since her arrival, Kagome found herself tongue-tied—and all because of a pretty girl.
"Kagome, then."
"…No problem."
Kamari continued to smile but turned her attention to the market around them. "I love to come to the market at this time of the night, when the sun has just set and the lanterns are being lit. It feels like my own little magical world."
Kagome followed her gaze and watched as the sun finally sank just below the horizon. As if that first creeping finger of dusk was their queue, small blue youkai with salamander like tails, no taller than Shippou, trotted along in pairs and climbed on each other to breathe fire into each of the lanterns hanging on ornate pillars between the vendor's stalls. Orange flames danced behind the paper-thin walls of the lamps. That soft, gentle light inched over beautiful silks, hand-carved toys, and various other wares and crafts until the entire market was bathed in the comforting wash of firelight. "Sometimes I forget how filled with magic the world is," she said as they watched the blue youkai scurry away as swiftly as they had arrived.
"Do you not have markets like this in your village?"
She thought of the night markets at home, of the electric buzz of the streetlamps and blue-white glare of phone screens, the incessant roar of motors and music. Maybe it was a magic of its own, but it was nothing compared to this. "No, we don't," she said finally. "Not exactly."
"The next time I invite you to the market then, I will be sure to show you all of my favorite vendors." Kamari smiled again as they watched the children for a moment, but her eyes grew grave as she finally turned back to Kagome. "You must be wondering why I called you here."
Shaking off the homesickness and awe, Kagome gave her full attention to Kamari. "It's the first time I've ever been asked to meet in secret before. It's kind of exciting."
Kamari smiled softly. "I felt our conversation would be less uncomfortable in such a warm environment." Her eyes drifted to Kiseki who was still hovering several feet back. "I confess I had also hoped you would not have a shadow lingering around to hear everything we discussed."
"Trust me," said Kagome, sparing a dark glare for the golden Inu protecting her, "If he knows what's good for him, he'll give us some privacy." For emphasis, she summoned her purity to the surface of her skin and was satisfied when he grudgingly took a few steps back. She was definitely going to have to speak to Sesshoumaru about this over-protective business.
Kamari blanched at the easy display of power. "You're quite a force to be reckoned with."
It was Kagome's turn to blush as she turned back to Kamari. "Only when I have to be."
"If I may say so, the reason I called you here is because of your power—and mine." Kamari dropped her eyes to the ground and pursed her lips as if in great debate over something, before she finally looked up at the miko again. "I must ask you to forfeit our upcoming match in the Arena and allow me to become Sesshoumaru-sama's mate."
Kagome did not know what she had expected, but it certainly had not been this. Disconcerted, she drew her hands together in front of her to keep from fidgeting. "Can I ask why?"
"I love him." Kamari frowned and looked away, turning her attention back to the bustling market surrounding them as she spoke "I have loved Sesshoumaru-sama since we were children. I have been by his side as a friend, as an advisor, as a healer, since the day we met as pups." Sighing, she picked up a bolt of silk the same silver as Sesshoumaru's hair and let it run through her fingers. "If you allow me to win, the contest will cease and I will become his mate. It is all I have ever wanted."
Following the silk flowing through Kamari's fingers, Kagome swallowed. "What about what he wants?" she asked.
She smiled and carefully laid the bolt down. "Sesshoumaru-sama is a good male."
"He is," Kagome agreed.
"For as long as I have known him, he has always sought power, sought strength. In battle fields and sparing rings, in magic and in weapons—his search for power and strength is well known and unending. He has never been able to acknowledge that it is possible to find strength outside of battle, outside of bloodshed and sparring."
Kamari turned back to Kagome. "Sesshoumaru is a good male, but his one weakness is that he has never been able to acknowledge the strength of a person outside of combat. There is strength in love, in gentleness…in friendship and kindness."
How many times had she thought of this herself? How many times had she watched Sesshoumaru covet his brother's sword? How many times had he insulted humans their supposed inferiority compared to youkai? But even if she agreed with her that still left the matter of choice—and it had been his choice to ask her to fight. "I'm sorry," she said at last, careful to meet Kamari's soft golden eyes. "I made a promise to him. I can't break it."
Kamari sighed but bowed to Kagome. "Thank you at least for hearing me out, Kagome."
What else was there to say? Kagome could no more break her promise to Sesshoumaru than she could give up her life here in the feudal era—and yet…and yet as she watched Kamari turn and walk away, something inside of her felt sour.
Sighing, she returned to Kiseki's side. "Let's go home, Kiseki."
Kiseki's annoyance with the Miko faded as he scented her disquiet. "Are you alright, Miko-sama?"
"I'm fine, Kiseki. I just wish I didn't like so many of my opponents. I wish I didn't want to root for them to win."
The gold Inu considered that as he replayed the conversation he'd been listening to in his mind. "The Lady Kamari is not wrong in her assessment of Sesshoumaru-sama's weakness," he said as they strode through the market back towards the Citadel gates.
"She's not but even if I agree with her, I made a promise to Sesshoumaru-sama." Kagome peeked at him out of the corner of her eyes and noted the relief that crossed over his expressive features. She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Kiseki. Even if I feel bad for her, I'll still do my best to win. Even if I don't want to. Sesshoumaru-sama deserves a chance to choose, after all."
"Yes, Miko-sama," he murmured.
o.O.o
Kagome tentatively rolled her shoulder under the careful guidance of the healer. It didn't hurt too badly at rest, but as they guided her arm up higher over her head, it felt like a thousand needles were tearing into her nerves and she couldn't stop the whine of pain. The healer held it for a moment before carefully easing her arm and shoulder back into a resting position.
"You've been doing your exercises, Miko-sama?"
"Yep!" Shippou's answer echoed around the sprawling infirmary as he watched from the bed behind them.
"I have a little drill sergeant," Kagome laughed. "Every morning when I wake up and before I go to bed, like clockwork.
"And before and after training matches," Shippou added as he tried to peek around the healer and watch Kagome.
"Good. Even though you're healing fast for a human, you should continue to do the physical exercises to improve and regain your mobility."
"She is healing quickly?"
Kagome gawked as Sesshoumaru entered the infirmary. His chest was slick with sweat, his fine haori tied around his hips as he carried what looked to be an unconscious soldier on his shoulder. Even his hair looked fantastic, though it was the first time she'd seen it tied back. When he leveled a curious stare at her, she flushed and looked away.
"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama. The wound itself has closed and she has some of her mobility back. To be frank, she is healing as if she had some amount of youkai blood. It is unexpected."
Sesshoumaru laid his soldier out carefully on the bed beside the miko where an assistant healer took over, before he turned to the Miko, kitsune, and head healer. "How is this possible?"
Kagome shrugged, not quite believing it. Sure, it was healing fast-but no faster than she had ever healed before. "No idea. It's never happened before."
Shippou didn't know what to make of the way Kagome was looking at Sesshoumaru but he did not like it. "That's not true, Kagome. Remember, that day at the river last summer when you slipped and cut your knee open on the rocks? The wound was healed by the time you woke up the next morning. You just had a little red mark left." He scowled at Sesshoumaru.
That had been such a tiny injury she'd completely forgotten about it. "But—"
Intent now on the topic, he remembered something else. "There was also that time with the bandits when one of them tried to hold you back from helping me—you had bruises up and down your arms, but they faded in a few hours. Baka-yasha was pissed!"
"Well…yeah but those…"
"Miko-sama. It has only been two weeks since the first contest and you are already healed as if it has been a month." The healer shook his head and glanced down at the notes he'd written down. "You should still be in bandages and bedrest, but Kiseki-san tells me you have been up and about with most of your normal energy."
Kagome scowled at the doors where Kiseki waited outside but was distracted as Sesshoumaru suddenly stepped into her personal space and leaned in close. "Sesshoumaru-sama, what—!"
"Hold still, Miko." He leveled a golden glare at her until she finally stopped leaning back from him. Without touching her, he leaned in close and drew in a deep breath to observe her scent.
He was too close. It was near impossible not to stare at his glistening, finely defined collarbone as he leaned over her and all but buried his nose against her neck. His breath was hot against her skin as he exhaled. Color suffused her cheeks. Her eyes wandered as she held perfectly still (human enough to recognize the predator at her throat) until they landed on the tips of magenta markings just peeking out beneath the haori tied at his waist.
Something hot pulsed to life inside of her and she shifted uncomfortably on the bed. Deciding cowardice was the better part of valor, she dragged her eyes up to the ceiling, unintentionally baring her neck to him in her efforts to avoid whatever the sight of him was doing to her.
Sesshoumaru, accustomed to the scent of females aroused at the sight of him, merely smirked as he contemplated her scent. She had just given him an arsenal with which to taunt her. Still, that was best saved for another time, even as his beast begged him to sample her scent more intently as she gave her neck—submission, if she had only but known.
"Why'd you get so close to sniff her!" demanded Shippou, and unable to restrain himself further jumped off the bed he'd been waiting on and clambered into Kagome's lap to smother that strange scent with his own. "You're so powerful you could'a scented her from across the room. You didn't have to get so close!"
"This Sesshoumaru was merely confirming a theory."
"What theory!"
Taking a step back from miko and kit, he answered with a question. "When was the last time you scented her humanity?"
Shippou glanced at Kagome, who was staring between them with furrowed brows, and frowned. "I dunno. Kagome has always smelled better than most humans."
"It'd be great if you guys could stop talking about me as if I'm not here," she muttered and crossed her arms over her chest. "What does my scent have to do with anything?"
"This one is teaching, Miko. Be patient." He stared at the kit and raised a brow. "What do most humans smell like, Kit?"
He might not have liked being taught by Sesshoumaru, but even Shippou knew there was no better teacher. Grudgingly, he took another sniff of Kagome's scent as he pondered. "Under their natural scent they smell like death, mostly. Not like they're dead, exactly, but…like death is hovering around them."
"And what does your miko smell like?"
Curious despite herself, Kagome glanced down at the kit she'd adopted. What did she smell like?
"Like…like frost…" Shippou met her eyes and then leaned into her, burying his nose against her collarbone as he hugged her tight, careful of pricking her with his tiny claws. "Frost and mint, like the last frost of winter as the season goes to spring." He leaned back and stared up at her again. "Kagome, you don't smell like a human anymore."
Satisfied, Sesshoumaru leaned back against the bed opposite them. "If you no longer carry the scent of humanity, it stands to reasons you will no longer heal as a human heals."
What did that mean for her? Kagome hugged Shippou to her chest as she met Sesshoumaru's eyes across from them. "I'm not…human?"
"You do not smell like a human," he corrected, then shrugged. "It is a fine distinction, but it will take researching and studying you to determine what that means for you."
"I'm not some science project for you to explore," she muttered, flushing despite herself as she remembered the feel of his breath against her neck as he'd scented her.
"Your scent would beg to differ." He smirked.
"You-you! Just because you're hot doesn't mean you—." He was smirking at her. "You're insufferable!" Huffing, embarrassed, she scooped Shippou up and stomped out of the room.
He chuckled and, healer forgotten as he straightened, wondered what his temperature had to do with her arousal.
o.O.o
In attempts to avoid Sesshoumaru the rest of the day, Kagome wandered the quiet halls of the palace. That abrupt bolt of attraction aside, he had given her a lot to think about—namely the fact that she might not be entirely human any longer.
"Are you alright, Miko-sama?"
Kagome paused mid step. She had clear forgotten all about her shadow. "I'm fine, Kiseki. Don't you…don't you have some other jobs to complete rather than following me around all day?"
He grinned. "No, Miko-sama. Sesshoumaru-sama has tasked me only with attending to you."
"Of course he has." Sighing she turned back around and continued her wandering. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself you know."
"Of course, Miko-sama."
"Could you sound any more patronizing," she muttered, sending a glare over her shoulder.
Keseki only smiled.
Huffing, she strode into the room closest to her and couldn't resist the urge to slam the door in his face. Clearly it was not enough because she could hear his chuckle in the hallway. Feeling petty, she summoned her reiki and sealed the door with a barrier. "You can wait out there!"
He was not laughing now. Frowning, he reached out to touch the door and winced when his fingers were shoved back, smoking and tingling. "Yes, Miko-sama…"
"Hmph! Serves him right." Spinning around, she turned her attention to the room she'd locked him out of—and was delighted to find the walls covered in portraits. Ire vanishing instantly, Kagome strode to the one nearest her. It was a painting of Rin. Spring sakura blossoms floated in the air and were nearly indistinguishable from the sakura decorating Rin's formal spring kimono. The pale orange of the outer most layer was stunning in the sunlight reflecting off the silk. Each strand of embroidery in the sakura blossoms looked as if they had been embroidered directly onto the painting. The artist had also captured Rin's cheerful, bright persona so clearly Kagome was half tempted to touch her face to see if she might come out of the painting.
She wandered slowly through the narrow room of paintings. It had been so long since she'd just absorbed the beauty of something that she didn't realize how much time had passed until the candles in the room flickered magically to life.
Towards the back of the room, she found a painting that took her breath away. A young Sesshoumaru and an even younger Inuyasha stood on either side of their father, and all three looked so uncomfortable she could not help but to laugh.
"All three males were much put upon when I requested that painting of them."
She spun around so fast that her socks slipped on the polished floors, and she would have crashed back into the wall of paintings—if a delicate hand had not looped carefully around her waist to hold her upright.
For one startling moment Kagome was positive it was Sesshoumaru holding her up, but the quiet humor in those soft words had been much too feminine to be her host. "You're…Sesshoumaru's mom?"
She smiled down at Kagome and when she was sure she had her feet under her, carefully let go. "I am." Taking one step back, she turned her gaze to the painting that had made Kagome laugh. "I wondered how long it would take you to notice me."
Kagome gaped. "I…how did you get past my barriers?"
"I did not."
Her eyes widened and Kagome looked quickly at both of the doors she had sealed. She could still feel Kiseki waiting outside the far end, though he seemed agitated now. "You've been here the whole time?"
She nodded. "It seemed rude to disturb your peace and quiet when it was so dearly sought."
She had trapped Sesshoumaru's mother in a room with her for hours. Kagome swallowed. "I'm sorry…My Lady?" she mumbled, unsure how to address the other woman.
"You may call me Fuiasu."
"Okay. Fuiasu. I'm sorry I trapped you here. I promise I didn't mean to."
"It is of little consequence."
"Okay…"
Kagome stared at her, mesmerized.
"Tell me, Miko. What do you think of your next opponent?"
"Kamari?" She pondered that as she ran a hand through her hair. "Her story seems sad. She makes a good point that strength lays in more places than power and weaponry."
Fuiasu studied her, citrine eyes narrowing. "Do you pity her so much you would allow her success in the next contest?"
"Of course not! I like her, but I made a promise to Sesshoumaru and I always do my best to keep my promises."
"Hn. Very well." Fuiasu turned and started towards the exit opposite the one Kiseki was hulking outside. It led out into an open pavilion. "Be wary of Kamari. Do not underestimate her. If you plan well, you will defeat her without the use of a single weapon." She graced Kagome with a small, sly smile and then stepped through the barrier of her reki like it was nothing.
Kagome raced after her, but when she stepped through the barrier she found the tiny pavilion deserted. Bemused, she turned back inside and dropped the barriers to deal with an irate Kiseki.
o.O.o
A week later Kagome was amused to note that some things never changed. As she stepped into a smaller dining room used for their private pack meals, Inuyasha's shouted insults bombarded her—and were followed by the cold baritone of his half-brother's rebuffs.
"I ain't gettin' on my knees and swearing fealty to no one you prick!"
"If you wish to have your coming-of-age celebration you will do exactly that, ungrateful whelp."
"Keh! I never asked for no celebration, alright!" His hand settled on the frayed grip of Tetsusaiga.
"And yet here we all are, planning it." Sesshoumaru would not disgrace himself by allowing Inuyasha's aggression to goad him into violence. He refused to disgrace himself in such a manner again.
Kagome sank down between Shippou and Rin, both of whom watched the spar with avid interest. "What's going on?" She looked between Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru as Kiseki took his place at the doors.
"This bastard expects me to kneel in front of him and swear loyalty to him and all these bastards in his devil infested court!"
Sesshoumaru sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It is a necessary aspect of coming of age. This one swore fealty to our father, and our father swore to this one's mother before him."
"Why would I ever swear loyalty to a bunch of cold ass pricks who treated me like the dirt they walk on, less than! Or did you forget they all but ran me out of the Citadel while you watched?!"
Desperate to stop the bubbling hostility in its tracks, she interrupted. "Why don't you just swear fealty to me?" Both males turned to stare at her. The question had been meant to draw attention away from the abuse of Inuyasha's childhood. Aggression roiled in the space between them, and if she hadn't interrupted Kagome was sure they would have launched themselves at each other. Still, she hadn't expected the dead silence.
And then Inuyasha's booming laugh filled the room. "Oh that's perfect!" he howled as he pointed at her. Grinning like a maniac, he flopped back down into his seat as if he hadn't just been fingering the hilt of Tetsusaiga. "She is the only one in this place I'll swear myself to. You got a problem with that then you can just cancel the whole damn thing."
Sesshoumaru's silence was much more intent as he held her gaze. The outcome he had anticipated drifted away like so much smoke. He'd almost been eager for a match against his brother—and here was Kagome, clearing the air. The plan for Kagome to act as alpha female had not been intended to last—ideally, she would have stepped aside and Sesshoumaru's mate would have taken her place. However, if the contest continued and none were able to defeat her…
The thought was strangely pleasing and so he said only, "That is acceptable."
"Fine!" Inuyasha looked at her and smirked. "You'll never get rid of me now, you know. A vow of fealty in a demon court is a lifelong promise of service and protection."
"Why would I ever want to get rid of you anyway?" she asked as she picked up a cup to sip from. "You're my best friend."
That knocked his bluster right out as color flushed across his cheeks. He hesitated before flopping down across from her. His only response was a muttered "keh!" before he buried his face in his food.
o.O.o
Asking Sesshoumaru-sama to train her how to fight with one arm was, as Inuyasha had said, nothing. He merely studied her, nodded once, and went back to the ever-growing stack of paperwork Jaken shoved at him.
Three days later she found herself in a snow-covered, soldier-filled field, strolling behind her host, watching as his soldiers trained in various arts of combat. Swords clanged, soldier's grunted, sweat dripped and despite the winter bite, every person in motion oozed sweat as they trained.
"I don't know why I didn't realize you must have a place like this for your people to train." She glanced up at him, but he paid her no heed. Instead his eyes traced over the ranks, watching the movements of his men—and she saw the pride settle across the smooth lilt of his stern jaw before he returned his attention to her.
"This is only a small part of the training those under this one's command endure." He stopped for a moment by a quieter part of the field where roughly twenty youkai sat in complete silence, meditating. "Combat is not all swords and finesse. This one is certain you recall the nightmare of the half-demon's attacks."
Despite the cold, Kagome shuddered. "Yes." The horrors of his manipulations plagued her dreams often.
"Naraku had many strengths—of which, adapting his machinations to suit the vulnerabilities of his foe was the most valuable." He turned away from the meditation and walked on.
"You almost sound like you admire him." Disconcerted, she stopped this time and rubbed her hands up over her arms in a futile attempt to sooth the ice chilling her from the inside out.
He paused too and turned to look down at her. "Do not mistake this one's analysis of the spider's abilities as an admission of veneration, Miko. No viler creature has walked these lands in two centuries, and no Western Lord has so shamed himself as I have in aiding him."
Something like shame slithered along inside her. He had not looked at her with such a cold, hard gaze in months. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-
"Understanding the enemy is the surest way of defeating them." He gritted his teeth and turned back towards the path. "Come. This is where your lesson begins today."
Grateful for the reprieve from explaining herself, she mumbled another apology and hurried after him. Silence spread between them like a taut rope.
He led her to a secluded, roped off area that formed the edge of a cliff, far from the clang and clatters of battering weapons. "This is the northern-most part of the citadel estate," he said, and stopped just at the rope's line. "Beyond this cliff, feral yōki runs free and wild throughout my lands. You will never step beyond this point without my protection, Miko."
Kagome stopped where he did, the robes of her kimono brushing against the ropes that marked safety. Amidst the steel grey of the winter sky, she couldn't see anything past the cliff's edge. Ragged stone jutted out into open sky like the open maw of some great beast at her feet. She shuddered. "I won't. But you know you can't protect me from everything, Sesshoumaru-sama."
He stared at her, eyes narrowed. "There is nothing in this world that could take you from me if I did not allow it, Miko. If there is one promise I would grant you, it is that you will always be safe at my side."
The tension drifted off between them, blown away on the winds of his declaration, stirring awake the restless heart she'd locked away inside of herself after she'd given up on Inuyasha. The cold flushed her cheeks with color, hiding what she was sure would have been a blush in any other circumstance. She cleared her throat and forced her eyes back to the suddenly less terrifying cliff's edge. "Did you bring me all the way out here to promise you'd always protect me, Sesshoumaru-sama?"
If she could feel his eyes on her, she didn't show it. He hadn't intended to say that to her and he could not bring himself to answer. Centuries of control had taught him better. Instead, he stepped over the rope and hid his consternation with a command. "Step inside the rope, Miko."
Kagome grinned and obeyed, lifting the heavy layers of winter kimono to step over the rope. She paused when he held his hand out for her as he watched her. "Thank you," she murmured, and let him guide her over.
He let go of her hand as soon as she was on steady ground again. "What do you notice about this area?"
"It's warmer," she said immediately, forcing herself to focus on anything but how much colder her hand felt now. "And there's no snow inside the roped area."
"Yes." He walked the few steps to the cliff's edge and turned to face her. "Use your reki. What do you sense?"
Reki seeped out of her in slow waves, as cautious as its user as it creeped over him and his yōki, flaring out over the cliff's edge and the open space beyond—and below. "There's power here. A lot of it."
He nodded once. "What else?"
Kagome kept her eyes closed as she explored with her reki. A magical wind buffeted against her powers the further out into the void she reached. Wild, untamed power wrapped around her reki, each wisp of her magic tangling in the feral grasp of the magic slowly enthralling her, tempting her to walk closer to that jagged cliff's edge.
Have you come to tangle with us, Shining One.
Unbidden, she stepped closer. Unfaltering, she released more of her reki. Unaware, she reached out a hand towards that tantalizing chorus of whispers.
Come, imm-
"Miko."
The whispers faded. She opened her eyes and found Sesshoumaru standing before her, his clawed hand wrapped firmly around her outstretched wrist. "I…what?" Temptation drew her a step closer, intent on getting around him. What had that voice been?
"Miko. Look at me."
Kagome did—and gasped. The moment she locked eyes to his, his yōki ripped her magic away from the void and locked it down on the cliff's edge. Temptation pushed at her, ordering her to get around the youkai in her path, to answer that sultry call from beyond the cliff's edge. "I…"
A glittering, gold barrier shimmered to life behind him as he tightened his grasp on her wrist. "You are the Shikon Miko. You are the miko who slayed the vile half-breed Naraku. You are the Alpha female of this pack. Your name is Higurashi Kagome and you will not be swayed by the Valley of Whispers."
The void still called to her—but his eyes, heavy with heat upon hers, drew her back from the edge of the dive she'd been prepared to make. "What is the Valley of Whispers?" she murmured and did not dare to break eye contact with him as her stomach turned at the realization of what she'd almost done, and done happily at that.
"A place of power." He tightened his grip on her wrist, careful of his claws. "For generations, those of my bloodline have used this point of land to…leash the land to the West. Unlike the other cardinal Lords, the western lords and ladies have long been from the House of the Moon. No house has yet usurped us, and no house ever will. Thus, each generation becomes gradually more powerful than the previous. So each year at the beginning of spring we bind some of our power to the land. Over time it has developed a mind of its own. It calls to the unwary and devours their minds, stealing their powers for the land."
Kagome swallowed.
"You will swear it now, Miko. You will not ever step beyond the rope barrier without this one. Only one of my bloodline can enter this barrier unguarded."
She nodded quickly, still refusing to look away from his eyes lest the Whispers lead her willingly over the ledge again. "But why did you bring me here? I thought we were training."
Only when he was sure she would not take that leap over the edge did he finally relinquish her wrist and take a half step back. "You will begin with meditation." He pointed to a small, circular stone half-hidden in the snow-barren grass.
He might have trusted her grasp of her own sanity, but she did not. Even when he released her hand, Kagome hesitated to break eye contact with him. It was only when he pointed to the circle further back form the edge that she surrendered her eye contact. Focus, she thought. Just focus on the task. Don't think about what lay beyond his barrier. So she sat on the stone. "I already know how to meditate. Miroku taught me ages ago."
Sesshoumaru sneered. "The abilities the Monk taught you will only aid you in the company of humans and lower level demons. It will not take you far in the Western court. What you will learn today will prepare you for your next Contest."
So Kagome listened, ever the willing student, and though she had come to him for help learning how to fight with one arm she remember his mother's advice about Kamari. Some battles could be fought and conquered without a single weapon.
"You see the barrier of my yōki?" he asked, stepping to the side finally and motioning to the wall he had erected between them and the cliff's edge. At her confirmation, he continued. "You will push the barrier out away from you."
She bit her lip and eyed the distance between his barrier and the Valley of Whispers beyond it.
"Do you think this one would let the Valley take you, Miko?"
"No, Sesshoumaru-sama."
"Then you may proceed. Spread your reki out and push away my yōki. It should be an easy task when our powers are so diametrically opposed."
Kagome sighed and settled herself on the stone. "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama." Reki poured out of her in pink waves as she tested her magic against his.
o.O.o
"He took you where?!"
The shock in Ikegai's tone drew Kagome's focus away from the silk she was decorating. "He called it the Valley of Whispers. And he didn't take me there, exactly, but to…I guess an entrance of sorts?" When what little color there was in her friend's face drained, she was reminded of the danger she might have succumbed to if Sesshoumaru had not been there. "You know of it?"
"All youkai know of it, Kagome. It is a horrible place even the strongest of youkai dare not enter. Mother's tell their pups of this place in warning when they misbehave." Ikegai shuddered. "Youkai who step foot inside the Valley rarely return—and if they do, they are never of the same mind as they were when they entered. It's considered an act of kindness to slay them before they can harm themselves."
Kagome forced her eyes back to the silk and the calligraphy she was butchering. "It called to me. I've never been so tempted before, so…seduced into something I did not want." Drawing her brush carefully through the next stroke, she bit her lip. "If Sesshoumaru-sama had not been there to stop me, I would have gone over the cliff willingly."
Ikegai reached across the table and set her palm over the same wrist Sesshoumaru had grasped that morning. "Sesshoumaru-sama would never let anything happen to you, Kagome-sama."
She forced a smile, though it was difficult with the whispers from the Valley still stirring up ghosts in her memory. "I know. It was just so unnerving. Even Naraku…even he never managed to weave an illusion to lull me in so thoroughly."
The ice Inu nodded. She had heard stories of the atrocities the half-breed spider had committed. Sometimes Kagome-sama was so quiet and unassuming that Ikegai forgot she had faced the disgusting hanyou. "Then I suggest we focus on happier chores. Like the calligraphy you are butchering on that lovely piece of silk."
This smile reached her eyes and Kagome shrugged as she continued her horrible artistry. "It's pretty terrible, isn't it? But you know what, he's going to love it."
Ikegai chuckled and leaned back into her seat as she picked up more of the ice blossoms she'd promised to help weave into crowns. "I still do not understand why we are decorating ourselves, Kagome-sama. Without a doubt, the toad will have the servants in a dither to empty Sesshoumaru-sama's coffers with extravagant decorations the likes of which you have not seen."
Kagome executed another terrible stroke before she was finished. "Sure, of course. But that's a celebration for the court, not for him. He should have a coming-of-age birthday celebration that's for him, to celebrate his place in the family. Or the pack. Whatever language you use." Setting aside the brush, she stood and stretched before walking over to the shoji screen of her sitting room and sliding it open. The brazier was always too warm for her taste. "Besides, only get one coming of age to welcome you into adulthood. Or at least, one that is about you and not who you're going to mate."
"I suppose that is true," Ikegai said. "Perhaps he will have great luck and a female propose mating to him."
Watching the snow drift down into the courtyard, Kagome chuckled. "That's something I'd pay to see, Ikegai. You have no idea."
o.O.o
Kagome leaned down over the railing of the arena and stroked a finger over Shippou's cheek. "I promise I'll be okay."
"But you aren't using a weapon this time!" he whined, leaning away from her hand. "You promised you'd be more careful from now on. You promised."
Guilt roiled her stomach like sour eggs. "And I'm keeping my promise. Kamari-san isn't using a weapon either."
"Yeah but she is a weapon!"
Before Kagome could get started on that recrimination, she was stopped by a delicately cleared throat. She looked up as Sesshoumaru's mother sank down into the seat beside Shippou.
"This Fuiasu would be delighted to cheer the young Kitsune, Miko. Run along now." Saying so, she looked down at the red haired pup at her side and grinned. "It has been some time since there was a pup as young as you in the pack, young Master Shippou."
Shippou, unable to help himself, ignored both females.
Utterly defeated at her adopted son's cold dismissal, Kagome sighed. "I love you Shippou. Everything will be fine."
It was not until the Miko had stepped confidently into the arena that Fuiasu leaned down and murmured to him. "Your mother is a most capable human. I do not doubt this match will require little physical effort of her. Should you not regret your coldness to her if this is not true?"
He bared his teeth at her in a growl startlingly like Inuyasha. "What do you know about it you old bag? Stay outta it!"
Fuiasu chuckled. "That is not the worst insult these ears have been cast under. You will have to try harder if you wish to prove your insolence." Leaning back in her seat, she studied the Miko as she approached the center of the arena and waited for her opponent. "It is a pity you are so volatile this eve. This one's sole purpose of attending the second contest was to depart a most intriguing theory to your young ears. If this one had known their company would be so unwelcome, I might have remained in my wing of the castle and spectated the match through my scrying glass."
Disbelief spilled across his features in a sneer, but curiosity got the better of him as she kept her eyes focused entirely on the arena. "What theory?"
She looked down at the young male and smiled slightly. "Do you believe you should like to hear it now? What will you give me in return for this sharing of information? I'm sure you know by now that nothing comes free in the youkai courts."
Completely diverted from the upcoming match, Shippou turned his attention fully on the female at his side. "What do you want for it?" he demanded, crossing tiny arms over his chest.
The Western Lady smile softly and motioned to her mother. "This one merely requires you have faith in your mother and master your fear."
Shippou scowled and puffed up his chest, hands dropping to fist at his sides. "I'm not scared!"
"Of course not," said Fuiasu. "Why, that would be a most silly emotion to feel in regards to your mother."
"I…what?"
Fuiasu gently smoothed his hair down and nodded towards the Miko again. "Do you promise to have faith in the Miko, young Master Shippou?"
He hesitated, but nodded slowly. "Course! Kagome is the strongest and the nicest and the funniest and-"
"Then come here and listen to the words of this one. They shall aid in your quest to conquer your fear." And she held a hand out for him.
Letting that hand hang between them for a moment, he stared up at her. She didn't seem bad like some adults did when they tried to befriend him. In fact, she seemed just the slightest bit devious and cheerful—like a grown up Rin. Reluctantly, he took her hand and crawled into her lap.
Fuiasu smiled and with a snakes grace, drew him close, leaned down to his ears, and whispered her secret. With each word she whispered into his delicately pointed ears, those emerald eyes of his grew wider and wider, the moon changing phases over the course of the night sky.
When she was finished, he leaned back in her arms and stared up at her. Tears lined his eyes and he held out a little hand. "Swear it," he demanded. "Make the blood promise and swear you're tell'in the truth."
And she did and drew a promise from in return to hold this one to himself. And as the match began and he turned to watch his mother, she met her own son's eyes across the arena and smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?" she whispered, so quiet only her magic carried her words to him.
He did not deign to reply. Fuiasu huffed in amusement.
o.O.o
In the weeks since the first contest and everything that had happened in between, a peace had settled inside Kagome. She might not be a warrior the way some of these youkai females were, but she was in the way that counted. She would fight and bleed and die for her pack, and somewhere along the way that had come to include Sesshoumaru.
So when Kamari entered the arena and stepped inside the circle in the center, Kagome only smiled and bowed in greeting. "It's good to see you again Kamari."
"And you, Kagome-sama." Kamari bowed low, the sleeves of her intricate, green and pink embroidered haori only centimeters from the ground. "Are you sure you cannot reconsider my initial request?"
"I made a promise," she said, and shook her head.
"That is unfortunate. I do not plan to walk off this platform willingly, Kagome-sama. I will not make it easy for you."
Kagome laughed and stepped back into position. "Neither will I. Do you think we could be friends after this, regardless of who wins?"
Nonplussed, Kamari paused half way to her designated starting spot. "You wish to be friends with me? Whyever for?"
"Because I believe what you said, that you love him. And because I agree with you, that there's more to strength than power and brawn."
The brown inu looked away, dark brows furred over gold eyes. "I do not know if my pride will allow me to so swiftly accept your friendship in the face of defeat." But she sighed and offered up a small smile. "However, after my heart has healed, I would be most honored to accept your offer of friendship, Kagome-sama."
And she stepped into place across from Kagome. "Shall we begin now?"
Kagome grinned. "You and I are going to be good friends Kamari, I know it."
And the match begin.
Kagome had barely take a step towards Kamari when a shimmering pink barrier glittered into existence around her, casting everything around her into varying shades of rose.
"Do you know what house I hail from, Kagome-sama?"
She looked up from her inspection of the pink barrier and focused on her opponent who stood calmly outside the barrier. She chuckled wryly and reached out to touch the barrier—wincing when her fingers came away tingling, red, and raw. "I don't think we'd gotten that far in our friendship yet."
Kamari chuckled and crossed her hands in front of her, one hand holding the other as she waited demurely outside the barrier. "Let me reintroduce myself then. I am Kamari, from the House of the Sun. The first ancestors of my house formed the maternal lines of the House of the Moon. Their poison came first from my bloodline when a daughter of my house wed into the House of the Moon." She paused and took a step closer, shrinking the barrier a bit when the Miko did nothing. "The relation is so distant now that even you have more chance of sharing Sesshoumaru-sama's bloodline than I do…but the poison remains in their ancestral lines. A reminder of their origins from the House of the Sun."
"So you're saying don't touch the barrier's then." Kagome chuckled and let her hands drop. "Noted."
"I will admit, I did not expect you to be so…unconcerned with the ramifications. Already the poison of my barrier should be making it difficult for you to breathe."
"Don't worry, my throat is starting to feel a little raw," she said as she summoned her powers to the surface and cleared the air. "But the thing is, Kamari…poison or no…." And she reached out her hand, now infused with reki, and tapped lightly on light pink shield separating them. One touch and it dissolved. "No barrier of demonic origin can hold me."
Kamari took a step back, eyes wide and mouth agape. "How is such a thing possible?"
Kagome smiled gently and surrounded the smaller female in a pink barrier of her own. "I am the Shikon Miko, protector of the jewel. Maybe I can't fight like some of the other youkai here, and maybe I am mortal and weak, but I am not without my own strengths." One thought had the barrier shrinking exponentially around Kamari, until only centimeters stood between her reki and the fine silk of Kamari's haori and hakama. "Do you submit?"
Tears limed Kamari's eyes. "I would be a good mate to him."
"I know."
Finally she nodded, defeat carved into curve of her shoulders as she slumped and dropped her eyes to the arena floor. "I submit, Kagome-sama. I relinquish my claim on Sesshoumaru-sama."
o.O.o
Word Count – 13,047
A/n – I'm so, so sorry for the almost yearlong span since my last update. Please read and review. Your lovely comments mean so much to me and I sincerely appreciate the loyalty of those who keep coming back despite my sporadic updates. I hope the sheer length of this chapter makes the wait worth it.