A Contest of Mates

by TR Midnight Song

Sesshoumaru is not accustomed to desperation. With his mother's refusal to take her place as the pack's alpha female, he turns to the most unlikely of sources for assistance. Kagome x Sesshoumaru pairing. Rated M for violence.

5. Chapter 5: Fourth Contest

By mid-afternoon, Sesshoumaru had not relinquished his grasp of the miko. She drifted in and out of sleep for several hours, only awake long enough to drink a cup of hot tea before she faded out again. The healer had warned the paralytic would be difficult to fight, since its origins and name were unknown, but Sesshoumaru had expected the Miko to bounce back quickly. That she did not…the low simmering rage inside of him roiled with unspent wrath.

No one issued an assault on a member of his pack and remained unscathed. Heads had rolled for lesser offenses. He would slaughter the fiend responsible for this threat on her life and he would revel in the spill of their blood against his floors.

A puff of breath against his shoulder—the miko snorted occasionally in her sleep—pulled him out of the blood thirsty spiral his thoughts had taken in time to notice the swift approach of his half-brother's yōki. Spreading out his own in warning, Sesshoumaru tugged his mokomoko more fully into place so only a few stray strands of the miko's hair peeked out beneath the voluminous folds of fur.

Inuyasha stepped silently into the room a moment later and strode forward to crouch beside them. He kept his hands to himself but eyed the mokomoko and what clearly lay hidden beneath it. "What the hell happened and why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"This one was more preoccupied with warming the miko than with informing you of what happened to her," he said dryly, then interrupted what was sure to be an unruly outburst by explaining what he knew so far. The mysterious paralytic. The dead third contestant and maids. The assassination attempt. The missing blades. Kiseki, unaccounted for.

Inuyasha stood and paced, the sun-warmed cedar flooring soft against his bare feet. "Some things never change here, do they?" He spun around and scowled at them. "This court killed my mother, and they tried to kill me when I was smaller than Rin. If you're serious 'bout keeping Kagome and Rin in the pack, what're you gonna do to stop this from happening again?"

Sesshoumaru watched his brother stalk up and down the room and knew he had failed them both—him and his mother, but also Rin and Kagome. "What I should have done then," he said finally. "You will hunt them down and bring them before this one. Their deaths will be agonizing—and serve as an example to the court of what happens when you cross the House of the Moon."

A smirk drifted across Inuyasha's lips as he stopped in front of the window. "What else?"

For a moment, Sesshoumaru saw their father standing by the window. His half-brother's posture, that cocky smirk, the large, calloused hand resting on the hilt of Tetsusaiga —the sunlight glittering behind and over him cast his face into shadow and pulled his father's self-assured grin into focus for the space of a single breath. Then it passed and only his brother remained before he stepped out of the sunlight and back towards the fire. "Find Kiseki. He will provide the most clues."

"Got it. Take care of her and I'll take care of him. Don't make me regret it."

Sesshoumaru stopped him at the threshold of the room before he could leave. "Kiseki is this one's…friend."

Inuyasha stared and tried to keep his jaw from dropping. He scoffed. "I said I got it."

He watched him go, listened to his near-silent steps fade with distance. When only the steady rhythm of the miko's breaths and the crackle and pop of the fire filled the room, he distracted himself with plans—because Inuyasha was right. If the miko and Rin were to remain in his pack, precautions needed to be taken, protections put into place, examples made of the fools who thought to do as they wished.

A threat to the miko's life during the contest was one thing, but a threat to her life because of that role was another—and he would not allow the latter again.

o.O.o

By the time Kagome regained full control of her body again, the moon had risen so high into the night sky that she could not see its silver, gleaming disc through the ornately framed windows of Sesshoumaru's room. She lay curled up on a pile of pillows and watched as snow drifted about on a lazy wind—much calmer than the blizzard from the night before.

Though she'd downed gallons and gallons of hot tea over the course of the day, the cold continued to seep down deep into her bones. She wished fleetingly for Sesshoumaru's warmth again, but she'd woken from her most recent doze to find herself alone next to the fire, albeit tightly bundled in his mokomoko. When she'd told him that was a strange name for a pelt, he'd raised a brow at her as if to suggest she give him another one.

Thinking of all the tea she'd drunk reminded her that her bladder ached with pressure, and no amount of wishful thinking was going to magically relieve it. She sighed and rolled over onto her belly in the pillows before pulling mokomoko off and setting it aside. Teeth chattering, she pushed herself up to her hands and knees. All her muscles trembled with the effort, but she gritted her teeth and pushed herself up to stand.

She managed all of two steps away from the fire before her heart skipped several beats in quick succession. Cold sweat broke out down her back and under her arms as her heart slowed with each beat. Her breath broke free of her control, as wild and fast as her heart was slow. She gained a third step before the room spun and her knees buckled, the edges of her vision going blurry as she fell forward.

Only a warm, powerful arm about her waist stopped her from faceplanting on the floor. Kagome stared down at the white sleeve of Sesshoumaru's haori as he held her up and blinked when the red and white plum blossoms at the hem blurred and danced about like fairies. "Somethins' wrung," she mumbled as her stomach roiled in protest.

"Why are you moving about, Miko?" Her slurred speech gave him pause as he carefully eased her back down to the floor to sit on her hands and knees. The unstable rhythm of her heart concerned him even more. Without a word he spread out his yōki to summon Jaken and the healer.

Tears seeped from the corners of her eyes as her heart shuddered and skipped. "Bathroom. What's happening to me, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

Sesshoumaru carefully eased her up and carried her into his private bathing chamber. "The healer will know. Next time you will request this one's assistance for these matters."

Beyond embarrassment and scared to the tips of her toes, Kagome didn't argue or struggle as he helped her see to her needs. She just put it down into a list of mortifying things he'd seen her do and wished she could bury herself in a hole and never come out. Not an iota of energy remained when she finished. He even had to wash her hands for her.

Pained tears turned to mortification. Burying her face against his shoulder as he carried her back into the sitting room, she refused to meet his eyes even when he set her down again and bundled her back up in the pelt.

Sesshoumaru feigned ignorance and focused on warming her up again. Once mokomoko covered her from the neck down, he carefully pulled her back into his lap. A few minutes passed in silence as he listened to her heart even out beat by beat. "How do you feel now, Miko?"

Grateful he did not even address any part of the bathroom, she closed her eyes and burrowed deeper into his warmth. "I'm still a little dizzy and nauseous."

Sesshoumaru held her tighter. "We will speak of it to the healer. Until I deem it appropriate, you will remain still and rest. We do not know the long-term effects of the poison yet."

Too tired to argue, Kagome nodded against his shoulder. "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama."

When the healer arrived several minutes later, Sesshoumaru relinquished his grasp on her reluctantly.

Kagome didn't have the energy to do much more than lay there and mumble answers to the healer. Did her heart hurt? Not anymore. Did her skin feel clammy? A little bit, yes. How bad was the dizziness on a scale of one to ten? A six. Did you faint? Almost. All the while, he examined her with careful, warm hands under Sesshoumaru's watchful gaze.

"The poison is not responsible for her heart and other symptoms, My Lord," he said finally as he packed away his tools. "Her body fights off the hypothermia yet. It is likely to be several days, or even a week or two, before she can exert herself to any extent. Perhaps longer if the poison continues to hinder her healing abilities. She might have regained her mobility, but I warn against any kind of exertion that influences her heart."

She stared at the fire. "What about the Contest?" Sesshoumaru tensed beside her.

The healer looked towards Sesshoumaru out of habit. "I am unsure if she will be in a fit enough state to participate."

"It is of no consequence. This one's primary concern is her recovery."

"But-"

He leveled a hard stare at her. "Miko. You can barely stand. You are in no condition to worry yourself over the contest."

The healer quietly slipped out of the room. She barely noticed him go as she met Sesshoumaru's stare head on. "I made you a promise. I can't meet it if you keep hovering like a mother hen, Sesshoumaru-sama."

"Then stand. If you can make it to the door without assistance, this one will allow you to do as you wish." He rested his arm on his crossed legs and waited. A muscle ticked in his jaw.

Gritting her teeth, determined to prove that she was not a useless sack of bones, she rolled onto her belly and pushed herself to her hands and knees for the second time that night. Sweat beaded along her brow as her arms and thighs trembled from the effort. A muscle twinged in her lower back. Panting, she bit her lip and forced her legs up, up, up until she was standing on legs shakier than a newborn fawn's. The room spun. Her knees buckled the moment she tried to take the first step.

Sesshoumaru caught her again. Wrapping his arm about her waist, he eased her back down to her knees and then to sit in the pillows as she panted and tried to catch her breath. "Do you understand now, Miko?"

She clutched at the loose folds of her kimono and closed her eyes. "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama."

Taking her chin between his thumb and index finger, he titled it up until she opened her eyes again and met his gaze. "You are a member of this one's pack, Miko. Regardless of your rank as alpha female, you will obey me on this matter. You are to rest and heal. If I discover you have disobeyed me…" He smiled slowly. "You will regret your choices."

Color bloomed hot and wild on her cheeks and the tips of her ears at his proximity—and the implicit threat in his smile. "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama!"

He released her and gestured to the pillows. "Lay down. This one will summon a servant to bring more tea and food."

She closed her eyes again and lay back down—and if her heart still raced, she blamed it on her own weak body, not the devastating promise in the molten gold of his eyes.

o.O.o

Days passed in silence and warmth as Sesshoumaru fussed over her. He allowed only pack in to see her over the course of the week that followed. Pack, and Jaken.

Jaken became her saving grace. He'd taken one look at her listless face after two days of enforced rest and started giving her small tasks to complete in the safety and warmth of Sesshoumaru's rooms. Choose the new menu for the pack this week, Miko. What livery do you think best suits the stable hands and footmen, Miko? You haven't finished embroidering this yet, Miko?

It might have been menial work, mindless enough that anyone could do it—but he single-handedly defeated the drowning, sucking feeling of uselessness that threatened to slow her healing even further.

"You want me to help you plan the Lunar New Year's celebration?" she asked incredulously, looking up from the papers he'd placed in front of her.

He raised one bulbous eye lid imperiously. "Do you have anything better to do with your time, Miko-sama?"

She looked up to the closed doors of Sesshoumaru's rooms, hoping he would return, but he did not. "I don't," she said carefully as she picked up a piece of paper that detailed the cost and types of a variety of fireworks, fire dancers, and other entertainment. She set it down again and looked at him. "Jaken. You know where I'm from. We don't even celebrate the Lunar New Year anymore in my time. I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"It is a party, Miko. Begin with the entertainment." He reached over to pick up three pieces of paper. "First, fireworks."

She bit her lip and picked up the first paper. A long list of different colors and designs filled the page. "I like the ones that look like flowers," she said, glancing up at him for approval. He only nodded and wrote something down in a stick of parchment.

And so it continued for the next two hours. By the end of it, her head spun with costs, timings, menus, guestlists, seating charts, and dozens of other infinitesimal details she'd never have considered without his help.

He was gathering up his papers and scrolls, preparing to depart, when she stopped him. "Jaken?"

He paused at the door and looked back at her. "Yes?"

"Is it normal for Sesshoumaru-sama to be so…overbearing? Even with Rin, when we were traveling, he didn't act this way." She gestured to the whole of Sesshoumaru's rooms and the nest she'd made of his pillows and cushions near the irori. "He won't even let me go back to my rooms and it's been a week now. And I'm grateful and flattered to be so taken care of but I just don't understand it."

Adjusting his grip on the stack of papers, Jaken took one step back into the room. "The stronger the youkai, the more powerful the instincts to protect and serve. Especially for inu youkai like Sesshoumaru-sama, even more so when it comes to protecting and serving his pack. Sesshoumaru-sama is merely following his instincts to keep you protected while you heal."

"But—"

"You almost died, Miko. If Sesshoumaru-sama had discovered your body even five minutes later, you might not be sitting there wrapped in his pelts, eating his food, enjoying his fire. As much as that night traumatized you, even my most estimable, honorable Lord Sesshoumaru is not unfazed by such threats to those he cares for. Accept his fussing and over-protectiveness a little while longer. He will relent when he is sure all is safe." He left her then, sliding the door closed quietly behind him.

She sighed and leaned her head back against the wall behind her. Jaken probably had it right. A little more patience wouldn't hurt—and being cared for so thoroughly was a nice change of pace, all things considered.

o.O.o

A few days after her conversation with Jaken, the soft snick of the door sliding closed tugged Kagome out of sleep. Peeking blearily up from her place by the fire, she saw Sesshoumaru unlacing his boots and pulling them off. His armor went next, each strap carefully untied before he lifted it off and set it on the stand next to his dressing room. "I didn't hear you leave," she mumbled as he started towards her.

He paused a moment, finding her eyes immediately despite the bundle of fur hiding her, then continued. "This one did not intend to wake you. Apologies."

When he settled next to her as the first rays of the pre-dawn light filtered through the windows, she reached out for his hand. When he gave it to her willingly, she rubbed her cheek against his knuckles and then used his arm to tug herself up and tuck in against his side. "Tell me what happened."

"You should sleep," he said after a moment, but he did not push her away.

"How can I sleep when my friend seems so out of sorts?" she asked as she looked up at him. Whatever he fought with flickered across his face in the lilting light of the fire, setting his eyes to that cold, metal edge she'd only ever seen him don in battle.

"Kiseki's whereabouts remain unknown," he said finally, and let go of her hand to tuck his fingers into a tight fist against his knee. "We spent the majority of the past two days while you slept attempting to track his scent, to no avail. The snow and ice have destroyed whatever traces might have lingered since your attack."

What was there to say in the face of such bleak uncertainty? She had not seen Kiseki fight but the strength of his yōki fell second only to Sesshoumaru-sama's, which meant whoever had taken him had either managed it by surprise or by…trickery. Sitting up from his side, she stared at the fire as her thoughts raced and came together in a wild mess. Kiseki could be felled by surprise just as anyone could…but the effort and cost would be immense.

Wouldn't it be far easier to put him at ease with conversation and guile? "What if Kiseki knew his attacker?" she asked as she reached out to take his hand again.

He allowed her casual touch, focusing on the small warmth of her hand as his own engulfed it. "We have considered that possibility, but no one exists in the court who can so easily out match him."

"But what if they didn't have to outmatch them? Your court is filled to the brim with youkai vying for your hand. How difficult would it be for one of them to ease their way into his good graces over all this time?" She squeezed his palm. "How difficult would it really be? If she was willing to risk assassinating me, would it really be beyond her skills to trick Kiseki?"

"Not impossible. Kiseki is known to be something of a flirt." The gall of the assassin forced his claws out. Only his iron control forced them back to dullness so as to leave the Miko unharmed. "Despite that, he would never put his duty aside to pursue a partner."

"He wouldn't have had to. He could have looked away just long enough for her to attack, or for her to drug a drink or him—or maybe she brought a drugged drink and he didn't suspect her so he drank it. The how doesn't matter right now, does it?"

He frowned but finally looked over at her. "You have been thinking about this a great deal."

She let go of his hand and twisted her fingers together as the guilt, usually kept buried low in her bones, surfaced. "I mean, it's my fault he's gone if you really think about it. The only reason to kill me is because I'm doing well in the competition, so it has to be one of the other women. If they weren't trying to kill me, then Kiseki, the maids, and that other contestant—none of them would have been in any danger."

He reached out and set his hand over both of hers, stilling her nervous fidgeting. "You are apt to find fault where there is none, Miko. If we were to follow your line of logic, then this one is at fault for demanding you compete, then this one's mother is at fault for refusing to compete in the first place. A long line of innocents would take the fall for the assassin who caused this of their own volition."

"I know," she mumbled. Forcing herself to meet his gaze, she turned her hands over to wrap both around his one. "I just hate to see anyone hurt because of me, because they were protecting me."

No words existed too sooth her worries. As a human in his pack, her short life would always tempt his enemies. She would always require a bodyguard. So he said nothing and simply let her hold his hand as they sat beside the fire. Company was the only consolation he could offer her without lying or making promises he could not keep.

She shifted to lay down eventually as the sun fully crested and bright morning sunlight filtered into the room, dancing in the last shadows of night over the floorboards. She fell so silent as he outlined his remaining options silently that he thought she'd fallen asleep, but she startled him with a quiet question instead.

"Does everyone know about Tenseiga's abilities?"

Sesshoumaru glanced down at her and followed her gaze across the room to his armor and sword stands. "It is not common knowledge; however Rin and Jaken are not shy about bragging of this one's strength and abilities. It would not be untoward for such gossip to have gotten around the court."

A yawn broke through as she turned his answer over and over in her mind. "So if someone knew you had the ability to bring the dead back to life, killing Kiseki wouldn't be enough. You could just revive him and he could tell you what happened, right?" A thought struck her and Kagome burst up to her knees to grab his shoulder. "So if killing someone wasn't enough to hide what they'd done, where would you take someone to hide them? Somewhere no one would dare to look?"

Her abrupt movement distracted him enough to not hear her questions—but her heart did not speed up or skip a beat, and her color faded only slightly—before they penetrated deep and sent fury roiled through his shoulders down to his fist. "The Valley of Whispers is the only such place." Lifting his hand, he carefully removed hers and pulsed out his yōki in summons.

The strength of his yōki rattled her bones as it washed over her, but Kagome did not pull back from him as he stood. Looking up at him, she reached for his hand again as she remained kneeling. "Take me with you. I can help."

He only shook his head and leaned down to tuck his pelt more firmly around her. "You will remain here, Miko. You are not yet healed enough to venture to such a place." When she started to argue, he carefully pushed her back to sit and then lay down. "This is not a debate. You will obey me in this matter."

Disappointment settled her lips into a frown, but before she could argue Fuiasu-sama stepped into the room. "Fuaisu-sama!"

"I am not a dog to be called by their master, my darling son." Despite her wry words, she sauntered over to the fire and sank down next to the Miko. "Pun absolutely intended."

"You are the only remaining pack member strong enough to protect the Miko should the assassin attempt to strike again while this one searches for Kiseki." Leaving the Miko to his mother, he strode to his armor and weapons, donning them with brutal efficiency. "Inuyasha will accompany me into the Valley of Whispers."

Kagome started to object but stopped when his mother set a hand on her shoulder.

"I trust you will bring them both back unharmed?" the elder inu youkai asked as she rubbed a soothing circle on the girl's shoulder with her thumb.

Sesshoumaru paused to look over at them. The worry on the Miko's face settled inside of him, a reminder of the trust she now placed him in. "That is without question."

o.O.o

When Sesshoumaru landed at the training fields a short time later, Inuyasha already waited for him. He eyed the rope barrier and snow-cleared grassy cliff edge beyond it with narrow-eyed suspicion. "You were pretty clear that going past that barrier would kill me," he said, one hand resting on the hilt of Tetsusaiga.

"If you entered without first being sworn in by blood, the Valley would claim you faster than any death has yet come upon you." Sesshoumaru stepped over the rope and past his brother. "Come."

Inuyasha hesitated at the outskirts, but ultimately stepped over the barrier with a sigh. The moment he planted both feet in the unnaturally warm grass on the other side, dark, tantalizing whispers slithered their way into his eats. Everything inside of him writhed to get away from them.

"Kneel, Inuyasha, and spill your blood over the stone."

Yes, come second son of the Inu no Taisho. Dark, burning ambitious one.

Inuyasha stepped forward, as drawn towards the Whispers as Kagome had been. When she'd told him about this place, even with Sesshoumaru's warnings he'd doubted.

What will you give us to grant your wish? What would you give to be a full youkai, ruthless warrior of the blood?

Sesshoumaru did not hesitate to slam his brother to his knees the moment he reached the stone. He sliced open Inuyasha's palm next and slapped his bleeding hand flat against the stone the Miko had once meditated upon. "You must force the Valley to recognize your yōki, or it will drag you over the edge and claim your power. Focus, Inuyasha!"

The Whispers laughed in his mind. His eyes began to bleed red as he struggled against his brother's grasp on his wrist. The markings he'd inherited from his father flickered in and out of existence across his cheekbones.

Don't struggle, lovely, deadly one. Come, give us your power and we will give you unlimited wishes.

Dreams he'd long thought abandoned danced through his memories. For hundreds of years, he'd wanted nothing more than to take his place in the court and show all those bastards who and what he was. And hadn't he learned he didn't need to be a full youkai to do that?

What do you want-

"I am the second son of the Inu no Taisho!" he roared and shook his head to clear the Whispers from his mind. "And I don't want shit from you! You'll accept me as I am and be happy for it, or I'll find a way to suck up all this yōki floating around and destroy you if it's the last thing I do!" He pulsed out his yōki in one heavy blast, panting around the adrenaline coursing through him, and though his power might not have matched his brother's, the pure strength of his will proved more than enough.

The whispers faded from his mind like so much wind. Ripping his hand free of his brother's, he pushed himself up and wiped the already half-healed wound on his palm against his hakama. "A little warning woulda been nice, you prick."

Impassive as ever, Sesshoumaru stepped up to the cliff's edge. "There is no time for warnings or coddling. If Kiseki is here, he has been here for almost two weeks. Stronger youkai than him have entered this place and never returned. Even father did not dare to step foot inside."

Gripping the hilt of Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha stepped up beside him. The grass cushioned his feet, and inside the rope barrier not a wisp of the cold, winter air broke through. "You're pretty determined to go in, knowing we might not come out."

He spared his brother a glance. "This one has made many mistakes in his leadership and rule, the least of which is allowing your self-exile. Even if Kiseki were not a friend, I do not leave my men to suffer while I take shelter in the warmth." He drew Bakusaiga and spread his yōki out before he summoned his cloud under them and lifted off from the cliff's edge.

"You think he managed to survive this long on his own?" He shifted from foot to foot as the clouds moved under his feet but didn't object. He drew Tetsusaiga though and spread his senses out too.

"Kiseki is distantly related to our father. It is possible the Valley did not immediately sense him. Possible, but unlikely. It is more likely the Valley has made a toy out of him, showing him visions of his past, his dreams, his failures. If we find him, he will either be dead or wishing he already was."

It sounded a fate worse than hell. Inuyasha tightened his grip on his sword. "So what's your plan here then?"

Sesshoumaru remained quiet for a long moment until they finally reached the bottom of the valley. Fog surrounded them and the stone floor whispered with the hint of running water and skittering things. "We will either retrieve his body or subdue him and return him to the citadel to attempt healing."

"Subdue? You think he'll put up that much of a fight if he's still alive?"

He shrugged and vanished his cloud. Even his impressive eyesight did him no justice through the dense fog. "The Valley is filled with the cast off yōki of our ancestors. Anything is possible."

o.O.o

Using their senses in the Valley proved fruitless. The heavy fog muffled all sounds and hid what daylight trickled to the bottom of the basin. Even the subtle scrap of Sesshoumaru's boots against the coarse stone barely reached Inuyasha's ears. Massive stalagmites towered over them like menacing behemoths, so neatly obscured by the fog they went undetected until you stood face to face with one.

Every one of his instincts screamed at him to get the hell out of this place. Suppressing those instincts went against every sense of self-preservation he possessed. Keeping only a half-step between them, Inuyasha asked "What's the point of this place, anyway?"

Sesshoumaru spared a half-glance back as he spread his yōki out farther. "Father said thousands of years ago the land begin to die off—only in the West. Some plague or other, spread by an enemy. One of our ancestors made a deal with the Kami—they would sacrifice a portion of their yoki every year to heal the land, and in return they would rule over it and protect everything that resided within. Since then, generations of our ancestors tied the Western lands to our bloodline by expending a parcel of our yōki to the land." He paused and squinted into the fog, but shook his head and continued on. "The ceremony is held at the start of spring. The ruling Lord or Lady takes a consenting partner to a ceremonial place and ruts. The energy and yōki falls off during the rutting and soaks into the land."

"Sounds like an excuse to get laid," he mumbled, and eyed the yōki laced fog with distaste. "That doesn't explain why this place makes people go crazy though."

"Yōki is an energy just like any other energy. It does not simply dissipate. It lingers and over time becomes something else. What the land does not use…it converts into something of a prison or a trap, voices to taunt the unknowing who step within its borders. There are stories of monsters, long ago, that our ancestors sentenced to this place—either because they did not have the skill to eliminate them or they considered the Valley a suitable punishment."

"You telling me there are monsters down here?" Inuyasha demanded as he tightened his grip on Tetsusaiga.

Sesshoumaru finally stopped fully to look back at him and raised a brow. "We live in a world of magic and Kami, Inuyasha. There are monsters everywhere."

He scoffed and rolled his shoulders. "Yeah, yeah, you know what I mean okay!"

A smirked tilted at the corner of his lips. "Yes, there are monsters here. Do you wish to return?"

"I ain't no coward! I just wanted to know what we're going up against!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than they stumbled upon a still figure in the mist. It stood with its head down, as if staring at the cold, hard stones it stood upon. "Do not use any of your large attacks, such as the Kaze no Kizu. We do not know where Kiseki is and cannot risk harming him without realizing it—or summoning some other beast to join the fray," Sesshoumaru murmured as he drew Bakusaiga.

"Yeah, yeah," he said as he stepped towards the figure. He'd taken no more than two steps before it lifted its head and turned to look directly at him—except it had no eyes to look, or a nose or mouth either. Only solid, pallid skin framed by bolts of thinning, black hair. Bald patches peeked out here and there, barely visible through the mist. It had no eyes, but Inuyasha could swear it turned its head at his smallest movement.

When it took one jerky, single step towards him, he lashed out instinctively with Tetsusaiga. Jerking the blade up and down in one brutal slash, he watched as the two halves of the body slid and plopped to the cold stone with a sickening slap. His stomach roiled when Sesshoumaru stepped forward and dripped acid from his claws over the mangled corpse. "Why…"

"We do not know how death approaches the dead here. It would be foolish to not ascertain its death is permanent before turning our backs to it." He shook off the last drops of acid with a delicate snap of his wrist.

Inuyasha swallowed and watched as the acid ate away at skin and gore and bone. "You sound like you've never been down here before."

He turned to begin searching again, stepping neatly over the melted corpse. "There are few things father warned this one of. The Valley of Whispers was the first. I have only been to the Den—otherwise I have never set foot in this place and will be grateful if I never have to again."

Something skittered nearby, the click-click-click of many legs echoing in the fog. Shuddering, Inuyasha turned his attention back to their surroundings. "If we survive this place, I want to hear more about…about him."

"Hn."

Grateful for the distraction, Inuyasha only rolled his eyes and watched out for whatever horrors the Valley might have for them next.

o.O.o

"The Valley mangles all sense of day and time," Fuiasu said as she ran a comb through the damp locks of the Miko's hair. "It could be hours before they return—or days. We will do our best not to fret over them, shall we not Miko?"

Kagome bit her lip. "I hoped they'd be back by now. It's almost midnight."

She chuckled and stroked the comb through her hair again. "You will need to learn patience if you hope to live in a youkai court, Miko. One day is nothing to a youkai—especially for the sons of the Inu no Taisho."

"Still…" Peeking over her shoulder, past Fuaisu-sama in her elegant magenta sleeping yukata, she watched through Sesshoumaru's windows as the moon rose higher in the sky with each minute that slipped by.

o.O.o

"Splitting up is the most foolish thing to have ever left your mouth," Sesshoumaru bit out. Overhead, sparse bars of moonlight drifted down around them. A cold wind slithered by, just enough to chill but not enough to stir the dense fog.

"Well, we been wandering around for hours with no progress. You got a better idea?"

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and blocked out Inuyasha's impatience and irritation. If scent, sight, and hearing were impaired, what other options remained for hunting? Is this how humans felt, relying only on what they could see, hear, or smell immediately near them? Shaking his head of the useless thoughts, he opened his eyes again to peer at his brother.

"What?" he demanded, taking a half-step back.

"How did you hunt the jewel shards?"

Inuyasha's ears laid flat against his head and he lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "I dunno. I could kinda sense them—but we mostly used Kagome's senses for that. She had a weird ability to track 'em. Miroku said it was something to do with focusing on the auras or something like that."

Auras…auras were not so different from yōki. He considered as he eyed the fog again. "This one has an idea…but it could be foolish and a blatant waste of yōki. If it fails, you will need to find a way to get us out of the Valley on your own." He turned to his half-brother and locked gazes with him. "I will be as weak as when you cut off my arm if I expend all the energy to track his yōki. Can you manage on your own?"

Inuyasha lifted his chin. "Keh. You always did underestimate me. I can take anything you throw at me and more."

"Very well." Sheathing Bakusaiga, Sesshoumaru knelt and used his claws to carve into the stone. When he'd drawn a circle the same as on the meditation stone at the top of the Valley, he sliced open his palm and laid his bloody hand against it—then closed his eyes, loosed a slow breath, and poured his yōki into the earth.

I am the Lord of the House of the Moon. Show me what I wish to see. He threw his demand into the void, into the Valley.

As Inuyasha watched, the fog began to glow a brilliant gold so bright the whole Valley might as well have been encased in sunlight. He did not like the sight of the shadows creeping about in the fog, especially as Sesshoumaru started to pant at his feet.

Find Kiseki. Show me Kiseki. His yōki poured into the night and in his mind Sesshoumaru watched it drift over the Valley floor. Where life flickered, he examined the energy to search for Kiseki's distinct multi-colored yōki. Thick gold lines of his yōki formed a map in his mind, each one leading to a life form. When he finally found Kiseki's flickering feebly on the edge of the Valley, he immediately pulled his energy back in and stood—then swayed as the world spun.

Inuyasha grabbed for him, slinging his arm about his waist out of instinct. "You found him?"

"Yes. At the eastern border of the Valley. It seems he attempted to escape." He closed his eyes and leaned against Inuyasha as he took a moment to gather his bearings.

"I figured escape would'a been impossible in a place like this."

"Hn." Despite his reluctance to rely on Inuyasha, such a large expenditure of his yōki had drained him of his usual strength. Only rest would refill his reserves. Grunting, he pointed Inuyasha in the right direction and forced himself to focus on each step. Inuyasha, wisely, did not comment on it. He only helped him remain upright and followed his directions to the eastern edge of the Valley.

o.O.o

Two days later, as the maids carefully piled away the lunch dishes, Kagome rested her palm on her chin and watched Shippou, Rin, and Akahana's little sister chase Fuiasu-sama around Sesshoumaru-sama's sitting room. At her side, Akahana sat stiff and formal in perfect seiza. Kagome nudged her with an elbow. "Please relax. You're making me more worried than I already am."

"We are in Sesshoumaru-sama's private quarters," Akahana hissed, and inched gracefully out of reach. "Only pack members should be allowed in such a place!"

Kagome snorted and took another sip of tea as she glanced out the windows, for the dozenth time, at the mid-afternoon sunlight. "Sesshoumaru-sama is not such a stickler for formalities, I promise." Setting down her cup, she waved at the children and Fuiasu-sama. "Besides, you're probably the only non-pack member in the Castle we can trust right now since you were with Fuiasu-sama on the night of the attack. I seriously doubt Sesshoumaru-sama is going to bother arguing with his mother, of all people."

Color washed high over Akahana's cheeks, but she still did not relax her posture. She did not explain her presence in Fuiasu-sama's rooms the night of the attack, either. "You are recovering, I take it?"

"The healer says I should be able to start regaining strength and try walking again, but he is hesitant to let me do that without Sesshoumaru-sama's express permission," she grumbled and set aside her cup entirely to lean back on the palms of her hands and take another look out the windows. "Insufferable over-protectiveness."

Akahana choked on her tea. "You did not just insult Sesshoumaru-sama in such a way!" she gaped after she'd regained control of herself.

Grinning, Kagome flopped back and shrugged deeper into the furs and pelts. A few minutes passed as she turned to stare fully out the window and listened to the children play. "It's nice being so taken care of." A squeal of delight tore across the room, and she looked up to see Fuiasu had shifted into her full form and now lay sprawled across the beautiful cedar floorboards. All three children crawled across her silky fur like little ants. "Other than my mama, I mostly take care of other people. My little bother, my grandpa, my friends…it's nice, being on the other end more often."

The idea of anyone insulting Sesshoumaru-sama, especially a human, filled Akahana with such horror that only the Miko discussing her origins could have stolen her attention more. "Where you are from," she asked quietly, lowering her voice so the children could not hear, "or when?"

Kagome turned from the children and Sesshoumaru-sama's mother back to Akahana. The brilliant red of her hair glittered in the sunlight, just like the subtle gold embroidery woven into the rays of sunshine on her kimono. "When. I'm from the future. On my fourteenth birthday…" She told her all of it, or at least the important bits that led to the present. When it was done, she sat up and took another sip of tea.

Even in her father's sequestered lands on the southern borders of Sesshoumaru-sama's lands, they'd heard tales of the half-breed Naraku and the small band of warriors who had fought and defeated him. "I did not realize you were so…young," Akahana said quietly as she looked down at the delicate cup between her hands.

She shrugged and glanced at Shippou. "Younger people than me died and fought against Naraku. I didn't have it that hard, if you compare it to all the lives Naraku and his minions tore apart."

Akahana did not take her gaze from the steam dancing above the surface of her green tea as she said, "We are not friends, so know what I say next is not out of some misguided sense of kindness. That someone had a worse experience than yours does not negate that your own took its toll on you. You are allowed to acknowledge your pain without it taking away from the trauma of others."

The words made Kagome's throat burn. Looking out the windows again, she blinked back tears furiously. "Just when you think you're okay, something happens that brings all the terror back. It's been a while since I've felt so helpless. At least in the contest I can see the attacks coming."

Akahana looked away with polite disinterest. "Sesshoumaru-sama will not allow anyone to come so close to you again. He does not allow vulnerabilities to remain vulnerable for long."

When she could control herself, Kagome turned back to Akahana and set a hand on her arm. "You may not think we're friends, but I'd like for us to be. If you can work your way around to it, at least."

She did not return her affection, but neither did she withdraw. "My parents would not approve."

Letting go, Kagome tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You are now under the protection of my pack. You and your sister. You have an out, if you want one."

The fire inu scoffed and fisted her hands in her lap. "You don't know—"

"I don't know the details," she interrupted, "but I know enough from that hallway encounter to understand the basics. I won't allow that kind of behavior in this court—and neither would Sesshoumaru-sama if he knew about it."

"Why? Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's the right thing to do. Because someone should have done it sooner. Because even though they're your family it doesn't mean they have the right to hurt you." Kagome cleared her throat and finally twisted to face her fully. "I can list you a dozen different reasons why, Lady Akahana. Even if I didn't like you, I'd still give you the same answers. It's up to you to decide if you accept them."

Akahana's eyes darkened, either with sorrow or rage it was impossible to tell, as she looked away and focused on her little sister. "You make it sound so easy."

Kagome smiled softly and turned to watch the children as they played on top of Fuiasu-sama. "There's nothing easy about it—giving up your family, standing up for yourself, letting go of something…none of those are easy choices, Lady Akahana. But being friends? I think that's the easiest thing in the world—regardless of what other choices you make."

Following her gaze, Akahana studied her sister in silence for many minutes. "It used to just be me," she said finally, the corners of her lips pursing. "When it was just me, it didn't hurt as much."

"The things that hurt change when you have someone you want to protect." She picked up her cup but then set it back down again. "It was like that with Shippou, for me."

"Yes." Rage filled the shadows of Akahana's face.

As if she knew they spoke about her, Akahana's little sister poked up from the thick fur of Fuiasu-sama's back. The thick, puffy pink scars around her eyes and nose stood out in stark contrast to the silver of the fur she played in. "The scars look recent."

Akahana nodded once, a sharp dip of her chin. "My father dabbles in poisons and acids. The healers say she's lucky to retain even some of her sight and sense of smell."

Sick to her stomach at the words Akahana left unsaid, Kagome dropped her hands into her lap and curled them into fists. "Please let me help. If not for your sake, then for hers. Sesshoumaru-sama won't stand for this kind of treatment, especially towards a child."

"I will consider it," she said.

o.O.o

By the time they reached the eastern edge, Sesshoumaru had regained some semblance of composure and managed to stand by his own power—just.

Which left Inuyasha to deal with Kiseki. As they came across him, Inuyasha braced himself for combat, but their target stood as still and silent as the first creature they'd stumbled upon hours and hours ago. Unlike the various others they'd run across, Kiseki still retained his normal facial features. Whatever had taken the faces of the other youkai and humans trapped down here, it hadn't reached Kiseki yet. "I dunno about you, but I don't feel like waiting around down here to see what can steal faces. Let's get him and get the hell outta here."

"Agreed," Sesshoumaru answered as he studied Kiseki. "Be wary of his eyes. If he does react violently, he specializes in hypnosis."

Inuyasha checked Sesshoumaru once, then focused on Kiseki. Unlike the figures without faces, Kiseki did not react when he moved closer. Lifting his foot, he kicked him lightly in the shin, but still did not receive any reaction. "Maybe he's in a trance?"

"Perhaps. Who knows what the Valley has been whispering in his head all this time." Stepping closer, he grabbed Kiseki by the arm and pulled him closer. "No scent lingers on him. He appears uninjured."

Something nearby skittered and clicked. Inuyasha eyed the dense fog surrounding them nervously. "Inspect him later. Let's get the hell outta here."

Sesshoumaru glanced behind them at the fog as well. "Take him. I will summon what is left of my yōki into a cloud."

He did as he was told with only a tiny bit of grumbling. This time when the soft clouds formed under his feet, he didn't shift around. Sesshoumaru lifted them carefully up through the fog and Inuyasha, Kiseki limp over his shoulder, could swear something reached at the cuffs of his haori before they fully left the ground behind.

o.O.o

They had barely crested the top of the fog bank, far above the training fields, when Kiseki screamed and nearly threw himself off of Inuyasha's shoulder. Even as his ears twitched at the abrupt sound, Sesshoumaru snapped his hand out to grip the back of Kiseki's armor and hold him still over his brother's shoulder—but that did not stop his screaming or his writhing struggle to break free.

"The hell is wrong with him!?" Inuyasha barked, panting as he wrapped both arms fully about the golden inu's thighs and held tight for all he was worth.

"I do not know." Gritting his teeth as he directed their path back towards the palace, he let go of his friend long enough to draw Bakusaiga and slammed the hilt into the base of Kiseki's skull—to no effect. The Valley had drained him of the majority of his yōki and now only dregs remained as the castle came into sight. "Brace yourself," he panted as the cloud flickered beneath their feet and he grabbed for the back of Kiseki's armor again.

"Keh. Don't be a baby," Inuyasha gritted as he struggled to keep his hold. "At least get us inside somewhere so I don't have to come back outside and tote your mangy ass back into the palace in front of all those blustering courtiers!"

His barbs hit home. Indignance pushed him beyond his limits, flying straight over the entrance and public courtyard to the very back of the palace where the indigo rooves of the family quarters lay covered in a few feet of snow. Black dotted his vision as he ripped out the last of his energy and yōki to send them barreling through the doors of his rooms. He had enough strength left to note his mother guarded the children, to question the presence of Lady Akahana even as she positioned herself in front of the miko, and to ensure Inuyasha had a firm hold of Kiseki before he pressed his cheek against the warm floorboards, closed his eyes, and tried to catch his breath as chaos erupted around them.

Inuyasha snarled and cursed as he struggled to manhandle Kiseki into submission, only letting out a breath of relief as Lady Akahana called for the guards to bring the strongest ropes they could find. When it was brought, she helped him tie the bodyguard from head to toe until he could only wriggle about like a worm.

Fuiasu ushered the children over to Kagome and then walked to her son and knelt by his side. The exhausted glare he met her with when she patted his cheek reassured her enough to step out of the room and summon the healer.

"Why is he screaming?" Kagome murmured, tugging Shippou back when he tried to edge around her to get a better view of Kiseki.

Nobody answered. Inuyasha only sat fully on top of Kiseki and stuffed a gag in his mouth to muffle the screams.

When Akahana returned to Kagome's side she positioned herself firmly between the wild, uncontrolled male and the miko and children.

His breathing somewhat more under control, Sesshoumaru allowed his mother to help him sit up when she returned to the room. "The healer will see to him. Summon Jaken to begin repairing the doors," he added as he caught the Miko and Rin shiver. "Have-"

The healer burst into the room, out of breath and clutching a large bag to his chest as he interrupted his Lord. "I'm sorry, My Lord, I was unprepared for you return!" He dropped to his knees, hugged his bag to his chest, and pressed his brow to the floors.

"Enough of that. An energy tonic for your Lord, then you will see to the guard and stop his insufferable screaming," Fuiasu ordered as she let go of Sesshoumaru and stood. "I believe the children and I will retire to their playroom for the remainder of the evening. Do let this one know if you will require further assistance, my dear. Come along, little ones. There is still much mischief to be made this evening." She herded the children out of the room amidst their questions and pleas to stay.

Silence fell as the healer knelt in front of him and began mixing potions together before he turned his attention to the Miko and Akahana. "What is she doing in pack quarters?"

Akahana started to bow and back away towards the door, but Kagome shot to her knees and grabbed her by the elbow as she frowned at him. "Lady Akahana spent the night of the attack in your mother's quarters. When I told your mother how much I wanted company, she brought Akahana, since she obviously can't be in two places at once."

He watched as Akahana tried to yank her arm free, but a determined Miko proved too much—either that or she simply did not want to overexert the Miko. She only huffed out an obviously annoyed sigh and eased the Miko back down to sit by the table. He could find no fault, even if he disliked having an unknown female in his rooms, so he focused on Kiseki and informed the healer of what had happened.

o.O.o

Akahana at her side, Kagome listened to Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's description of what had happened. Though Sesshoumaru had protected her from the worst of it, she vividly remembered the horrific whispers of the Valley that had nearly convinced her to walk over the edge. That had only been a few minutes of exposure.

"I suspect the screaming is due to whatever yōki he has absorbed from being trapped in the Valley for so long, My Lord." The healer leaned back into sieza at Kiseki's side and sighed. "No physical wounds mark him and no measure has worked to put him to sleep. I can sense many different types of yōki within him—some of it yours, of course, but some of it must also be from whatever or whoever has been exiled there. All of it seems to be clamoring for dominance to take control and destroy his own aura. I imagine it feels something like being purified."

Kagome flinched at his word choice and ducked her eyes down to her lap. She might not have purified Kiseki, but he had only been dropped into the Valley because he'd been tasked with protecting her.

"There is nothing you can do?" Sesshoumaru asked.

His sipped the tonic the healer had prepared, as calm and unruffled as always. At least, he might have if Kagome hadn't noticed the faint lines at the corner of his lips, or the rigid set of his shoulders. Kiseki is his closest friend. Of course he's worried.

"There are whispers of a hidden island in the South where healers are trained to combat the most dangerous of maladies…but we don't know where it is, or how long it would take to find…or how much longer Kiseki might survive before it can be found." The healer swallowed then bowed low to the floor again as he continued. "The kindest thing might be to kill him, My Lord."

"Would that really be the worst thing?" Inuyasha muttered, putting more of his weight on holding Kiseki still. "You can just use that heavenly blade of yours to bring him back."

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. "Tenseiga can revive the dead and heal injuries. Possession by foreign yōki is not something that can be healed. You could kill him and bring him back, only to have waste the blade's single use for him to remain the same.

"Please excuse my impertinence, My Lord," Akahana started as she bowed low to him from her place beside the Miko. "But if it is a matter of errant yōki, would not the Miko be able to purify what does not belong to him?"

"I can-"

"The Miko is not-

Kagome met Sesshoumaru's eyes after they'd interrupted each other and lifted her chin in defiance. "I can do it. I might not be able to go into the ring for another fight, but using my reiki doesn't take much of a toll on my body. And the healer is right here if something goes wrong."

Sesshoumaru turned to the healer without a word.

The healer sat up finally, looked between the Miko and his Lord, and swallowed thickly. "The Miko is healed enough to stand My Lord, and to begin rebuilding her strength. She should continue to refrain from anything that strains her heart…but I can see no overt drain from using her reiki in something like this. It will simply require a great deal of energy."

She would have felt bad for the healer and his quivering, uncertain speech as he kept his eyes lowered, but the desire to help Kiseki overrode her guilt on his behalf. "I can do it, Sesshoumaru-sama. You trusted me enough to come here and fight for you. Let me bring him back for you." To prove her point, she pushed herself to her feet—slowly, but she still managed to stand up straight for the first time since the attack and it only put her a little out of breath as her heart raced.

Frowning at her display, he almost refused—but one fact remained clear. She might be the only one able to save Kiseki. So he nodded. Once.

Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Kagome started towards Kiseki. After two weeks of immobility, her muscles trembled with each step. When Akahana slid an arm around her waist, she did not object. By the time she helped lower her to the floor by his side, dizziness tangled behind her eyes and the room started to spin.

"Wait for your heart to calm again," Sesshoumaru ordered without looking at her.

Kagome blushed but didn't argue, only used her sleeves to wipe the sweat from the back of her neck. When the healer took her wrist and began monitoring her pulse, she smiled weakly at Inuyasha's gaping surprise. "I'm fine," she murmured.

"I didn't know it was this bad," he admitted, looking back and forth between her and his brother.

"She has been protected and monitored," answered Sesshoumaru as he took another sip of the energy tonic.

"I'm fine," she said again, and looked to Akahana in exasperation when she made a noncommittal sound that sounded suspiciously like a snort. A derisive one, at that. No one bothered to refute her and for several minutes after that the only sound in the room was Kiseki's screaming. She couldn't imagine how they must be feeling with his screams—even her human ears had begun to ache after the first few minutes and almost an hour had passed since they'd arrived.

"Her heart rate has returned to an acceptable pace, My Lord."

Sesshoumaru looked at the healer then at Kagome before he nodded once. "Very well. You may begin, Miko."

Relieved, Kagome inched forward on her knees and gently tugged Kiseki closer until his head tossed and turned in her lap. "I just need to purify any yōki that doesn't belong to Kiseki, right?"

"Yes, Miko-sama," answered the healer. "You must be very careful. It should cause him no pain, so long as you don't purify any of his yōki."

"Right," she said, and when a nervous giggle burst out, rolled her shoulders. "I can do this." Wetting her lips, she reached out for Kiseki's cheeks. Her hands hovered over him for a moment as she gave herself a silent pep talk, before she loosed a long breath and finally laid her palms flat against his shaking cheeks.

Inuyasha's body shot backwards the moment she touched him, bursting through the initial hole they'd made in the doors and tumbling through the snow-filled garden with a shriek and a curse, as her eyes filled with pink light and reiki poured out of her in soft waves. "The hell is happening!" he barked.

Akahana flinched away from that pink energy out of instinct, but she wasn't fast enough as the first surge touched her. Nothing happened. Blinking, she looked up and saw Sesshoumaru-sama remained unfazed against the wall as he stared at the Miko, though the healer had fled to the other side of the room. "The guard is calm," she pointed out as Inuyasha stomped back inside.

The healer inched his way back over to them as Sesshoumaru reached out to take the Miko's wrist and pull her away from Kiseki—only to snarl and jerk his hand back as her reiki burned him. "Explain!" he ordered the healer, grabbing the male by the throat and tugging him closer to snarl in his face.

"I do not know, My Lord!" he wailed as he looked wildly between the rabid, snarling face in front of him and the calm, pink waves pouring off the Miko and the bodyguard. "Miko are unpredictable at the best of times, but the Shikon Miko…it's possible her body has been taken over by the Jewel because of the amount of different yōki present in the guard. We can only wait for her to come back and regain control, My Lord!"

o.O.o

The moment she summoned her reiki, the room disappeared. Only she and Kiseki remained in a sea of darkness. Energy poured out of both of them—her own pure pink and too many from Kiseki to count.

In the darkness, something clicked and skittered—likes bones and rocks across a stone floor. "Find Kiseki's yōki first," she murmured as nerves bunched at the base of her spine. She sifted through the different auras, searching for the gold and black thunderstorm of color that was Kiseki's yōki.

You have come to tangle with us, shinning one?

Kagome looked around wildly when those words echoed from the shadows, followed by another eerie scuttling of movement. "Who's there?" she demanded and though she tried to fill her voice with the deadly ice of Sesshoumaru's usual tone, only a raspy whisper escaped her.

Who am I? Who are you to steal from the Valley?

She could feel its energy creeping along behind her, circling her endlessly. Pulsing her reiki in warning, she shook her head. "Kiseki doesn't belong to the Valley of Whispers. He was wrongfully imprisoned there!" That crawling, rattling sound grew closer until it hovered just behind her.

Any who enter the Valley are payment. You will pay a cost if he is not returned.

Blasting out her reiki, she winced as it slammed into something solid behind her. Its screech vibrated inside of her like a horn as it scuttled away. "I'm going to purify all this yōki," she said breathlessly as she focused solely on Kiseki. "And then you'll go back to being trapped in that Valley where you belong!"

You can try, Shining one.

It bombarded her then with promises and whispers, taunting her as she started in on the yōki hovering around Kiseki. Even as she burned away anything that didn't glow black or gold, it threw itself at her again and again—each time screeching as her reiki easily blocked it—cursing her and begging her in equal measure to let it free. I am the Shikon miko, she reminded herself. I will not be swayed by the Valley or its creatures.

By the time she'd burned away most of the yōki, her breaths burst out in rough gasps. Destroying the yōki and keeping a shield up around them to block each attack from the Valley's monster had nearly drained her. Nausea roiled in the pit of her stomach. Gripping Kiseki's cheeks roughly, she narrowed her focus down into a scalpel and sliced away another piece of foreign yōki.

When only gold and black energy remained, she loosed a long breath of relief. "Just got to separate Sesshoumaru's yōki and then we're done," she mumbled, eying the different colors floating before her as the creature made another dash at her shields. Her barrier flickered, but Kagome didn't pay it any attention as she focused on the golds, separating Kiseki's softer sun gold from Sesshoumaru's warmer, molten.

Just as she burned away the last of it, her barrier faded. She shrieked and exploded with the last of her reiki, letting go of Kiseki and throwing her hands out to burn away the monster as it made a final lunge for her.

I'll come for you again, shining one.

She could feel the space around them shifting and panic filled her. Unleashing her reiki in a sea of darkness was one thing—releasing it in the citadel palace was something else entirely. With the last of her energy as Sesshoumaru's opulent rooms came back into focus, she slapped her hands hard into the floors and changed the intent of her reiki—from a defensive blast into a healing one. Heal, she begged the Shikon inside of her. Heal!

o.O.o

Sesshoumaru's first instinct, as the Miko's reiki poured out of her in waves, forced him to throw out the small amount of yōki he had regained in the few hours since their return to the palace—but he had barely regained the energy to stand, let alone to match the speed or strength of what stormed out of her. It took him several agonizing seconds, worrying about his people, after it washed over him to realize that her reiki did not burn, even if her eyes still glowed with deadly intent.

"What is she doing?" demanded Inuyasha as he watched the world turn pink around them and panicked cries echoed around the estate. He'd rushed to Akahana's and the healer's sides, intent on escaping with them—but it proved unnecessary.

Akahana swallowed thickly and tried to step out from behind Inuyasha, but he held her arm with an iron grip as he stared at the Miko.

When her energy finally petered out, Sesshoumaru watched as she fell back against the floors with a thump. "Search the estate, Inuyasha. Make an accounting of fatalities caused by her reiki."

"But it didn't-

"We cannot be sure of that," he bit out as he crouched by her side and carefully picked her. Her head fell to the side against his shoulder, exposing her face to him. He stared at the pink marks now lining her face. "We cannot be sure she only protected us because she cares for us. Check for fatalities. Now."

"Keh. Fine!" He shook his head but stepped back out into the family gardens and did as he'd been asked.

After he'd left, Akahana bit her bottom lip and bowed. "May I be excused to check on my sister, My Lord?" If Sesshoumaru-sama did not trust the Miko, then she wanted to see her sister for herself.

"Go." He carried the Miko back over to the sunken irori he'd kept her in for the past few weeks.

"My lord, your arm," said the healer, wide-eyed as he stared at them.

"I am aware," he said quietly as he tucked the Miko in amidst his furs—using both hands for the first time in years—before he laid down quietly next to her and closed his eyes.

o.O.o

The Miko and the Lord slept for four straight days under fierce protection by the rest of the pack. After Fuiasu-sama brought the pups, no one entered or left the Lord's rooms except for Inuyasha-sama.

The assassin stewed over this news in self-imposed isolation. When the wave of purity had washed over the palace, they thought the Miko had discovered their deceit—but gossip from the healer's quarters told a different story. The Miko and the Lord merely rested to regain energy after expending all of it to heal the guard.

They had not expected the Lord to enter the Valley. Who risked their lives for a mere bodyguard, after all? Something would have to be done about him if he woke. Even if they had recovered his body, they had heard rumors that the Valley drove one crazy. Perhaps their luck had not broken yet. Perhaps the guard would be unable to tell them about the tea.

Getting to the Miko now would be next to impossible. Visiting the guard, if he was awake, would raise suspicion. Staring at the charred wood in their cold, quiet irori, the assassin pondered what to do next.

o.O.o

When Kagome woke and found herself chest to chest with Sesshoumaru, her cheek against the smooth, bare muscle below his collarbone, she blinked sleepily and burrowed closer. She tossed one leg over his hip and wrapped her arms more snugly about his waist. "So warm," she mumbled as the furs shifted with her movement.

It took her a moment to realize what pressed thickly against her belly. She squeaked and started to shift away, but powerful hands cupped her about the waist and below her bottom and she found herself suddenly quite pinned under him after he'd rolled over on top of her.

He chuckled darkly and leaned in close to purr against her ear, "Good morning, Miko."

She pulled back and sucked in a breath when he stared down at her with full, red eyes. "I…I…I should go," she managed to choke out as heat coiled between her legs.

When she tried to squirm away, he chuckled again and took her wrists to pin them by her head. "Go where?" he murmured as he sank down to taste the tender skin of her jawline.

His lips brushed against her skin and left fire in their wake. His tongue darted out and traced a hot line down her neck to her collarbone. His fangs scrapped over the curve of her breast as he nudged aside the loose silk of her kimono. "Se-Sesshoumaru-sama," she whimpered.

"Yes?" He chuckled again, those bright red eyes pinning on the indent of her breasts against the kimono. He let go of one of her wrists to draw his hand down her side and cup her thigh.

She hastily tugged the sides of her kimono together, only to find herself in another predicament as he dragged his hand down from her thigh to her knee and pulled her legs apart to settle between them. "I-" she cut off as her eyes landed on his member before he pressed his hips down against her, seating them fully together with only one side of her kimono separating them.

"Oy!" A pillow came sailing through the air and slapped perfectly against the side of Sesshoumaru's head. "Wake the fuck up, you bastard!"

Silence fell as tension filled the room. Sesshoumaru wrested control of himself slowly and when he came to, found one of his hands snug against the underside of her thigh, his fingers dangerously close to a place he had no right to touch. The Miko lay beneath him, soft and warm and pliable, her eyes wide and cheeks flushed with color as she held the sides of her kimono together desperately. "Get out, Inuyasha," he said quietly.

Kagome wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and die. Her body ached with a delightful pressure she didn't fully understand. Her kimono barely kept her half decent. Sesshoumaru's kimono seemed to be hanging on by a thread. When they were alone again, she swallowed thickly and said faintly, "You have two arms again."

He snorted. "That is what you choose to comment on in this moment?" he asked as he glanced down at her again.

Even more color converged on her cheeks and bled down to her chest and the tops of her breasts, just barely visible through the gaps of her kimono that her hand could not cover. "You didn't have two before…" she mumbled and shifted her hips nervously as he stared down at her.

Eying that delightful trail of color down her chest, he loosened his grip on her wrist but did not let go—and nearly cursed as she wiggled, inadvertently letting him sink even more perfectly against her. "You will refrain from moving, Miko," he said gruffly, tightening his grip on her upper thigh to hold her still as arousal bunched the muscles along his spine and hips.

"Sorry," she whispered meekly.

"Hn." He eyed her as they laid there, not quite willing to abandon the heat and softness of her body yet. "You did not attempt to stop this one."

Her mind went blank at the question he didn't ask. Any answer she gave would give away the burgeoning feelings she did not know what to make of, so she said nothing and only shrugged helplessly before she turned her face away as shyness overwhelmed her.

He did not know what to make of her answer—or lack thereof—but the inherent submission in it pleased the monster inside him. "In the future, if you encounter this one's beast, you will defend yourself against it." When she did not look at him, he let go of her wrist and carefully cupped her jaw to make her look at him again. "Do you understand, Miko?"

She licked her lips nervously but nodded once. "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama."

"Good." He lifted off of her enough to reach between them and tug the sides of her kimono more firmly into place before he re-tied her obi. Then he repeated the process on himself. "You will go bath with this one's mother now, Miko."

Too flustered to make eye contact, she pushed herself up and didn't look at him again as she stepped nervously to the doors the servants must have re-built over the past few days. She slid one open but paused on the threshold when she saw no one outside and looked back at him. "Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Yes, Miko?"

"I wasn't scared of you, or what was happening."

His gazed darkened as he watched her from his place by the fire, but he did not respond.

She bit her lip, looked outside again to double check that no one lingered, then said, "Maybe I wanted it, just a little."

Her words sank down deep inside him and settled; a piece he hadn't known he'd been missing until she'd said it. Standing, he took the four steps to reach her and then reached out to take her chin. "A little isn't enough, Miko." Tracing his thumb over her bottom lip, he smirked. "If there comes a time when you want it more than a little, this one will consider your request."

The suave confidence of his retort flustered and infuriated her in equal measure, sending imagination galloping away. Clearing her throat, she forced herself to focus on him. Already she could hear footsteps padding along towards them. "I have questions," she mumbled as his mother's yōki washed over them in warning.

He chuckled but let go of her again. "This one will answer your questions after you have bathed and are not covered so thoroughly in the scent of arousal." He stepped back then and closed the door quietly between them.

o.O.o

"Your magic is fascinating, Miko-sama," the healer said as he monitored her progress in the gardens outside the infirmary. Like the small patch of grass on the cliffs edge over-looking the Valley of Whispers, this garden bore no snow or ice. In the corner of the small garden, a fountain gurgled in the middle of a pond. A warm breeze danced by, sweet with the scent of plum blossoms.

Kagome bit her lip as she turned to take another lap up and down the garden path. Her legs trembled with the effort, and every muscle in her back and shoulders wanted nothing more than to collapse in the soft grass near the pond. "Yours in the fascinating one," she muttered. Reaching up to wipe away a line of sweat on her forehead, she sighed. "How do you manage to keep the cold at bay in the middle of January?"

He chuckled and pointed at the four corners of the walled garden. "When Fuiasu-sama was only a girl, she insisted the patients in the infirmary needed a secluded place to rest out of doors—then, the infirmary was a much smaller, much darker place than it is now. She scored a spell into the stone, as I understand it, so even in the harshness of winter we might enjoy a cool spring breeze."

"Who is more powerful?" she asked as she stopped at his side. She took the cup of water he handed her and gulped it down in three sips. "Sesshoumaru-sama or Fuiasu-sama?"

"I dare not answer such an outrageous question, Miko-sama."

She grinned and didn't argue. "How is Kiseki doing? Has he woken up yet?" she asked as she turned and started another lap to the other end of the garden.

"No, Miko-sama. He continues to sleep."

"It's been five days. When we woke up yesterday, I thought he'd be waiting for me outside my rooms," she admitted. Reaching the end of the path, she turned and faced him again.

"There is nothing to do but wait. No one has ever been brought from the Valley of Whispers alive. The excess yōki has been purged from him, but we do not know what else he might need. If he does not awake nsoon, no doubt Sesshoumaru-sama will send for a healer from the South—if we can find them."

"I'll come see him again tomorrow with the children. Maybe their chatter and happiness will reach him." At the half-way point back to him, she paused when she heard Akahana's and Inuyasha's low voices chuckle from inside the infirmary. Eager for news of the goings on outside of Sesshoumaru's rooms and the infirmary, she dashed forward in a run without thought.

Only thirty or so feet separated her from Akahana and Inuyasha, a distance she'd run easily before—but by the time she reached Inuyasha's side her heart tripped over itself and dots danced in front of her eyes.

Inuyasha caught her as her knees started to buckle. "You ain't supposed to be running yet wench!" he snapped as he hauled her up to sit on one of the cots near them.

Despite the harshness of his words, his hands were gentle against her waist and arms. "I was excited to see Akahana," she gasped out as she tried to catch her breath.

The healer, who had followed her inside with a muttered curse, hovered over her. "Slow, deep breaths, Miko-sama. I told you not to run. You're barely managing to walk short distances without straining your heart."

It took several minutes for her heart to calm down. She focused on Akahana the entire time, trying to decipher the stoic expression of her new friend—but the red-head proved as unreadable as ever and only stared at her with those imperious golden eyes. "Hi," she mumbled when she'd managed to contain herself again.

Akahana snorted and rolled her eyes. "You are as dramatic as ever, I see."

She grinned and looped arms with Inuyasha. "In my defense," she said, "this is the first time I've been out of Sesshoumaru-sama's rooms in weeks—and I wanted to check on you. I haven't seen you since I woke up yesterday and I was worried I'd scared or hurt you with my reiki."

Inuyasha wormed free of her and shoved his hands into the sleeves of his haori. "I already told ya, you didn't hurt anybody. You clearly have some kind of super reiki that can even heal demons. You gave my prick brother back his arms, you fixed her sister's eyes, and a bunch of other minor stuff for the palace residents."

"What?" she squeaked and jumped up again to grab Akahana's hand. "Your sister's eyes are better now? No one told me that!"

Though gratitude and relief welled in the pit of her stomach, she smothered it with the same practiced ease she restricted all her emotions and nodded only once. "Yes. The scars are gone and she seems to have perfect vision now."

"That's amazing news! I'm so relieved for you both!" Though she didn't understand the quiet reserve Akahana always used with her, especially compared to the warm laughter she'd heard her exchange with Inuyasha, she didn't question it.

Akahana cleared her throat and delicately removed her hand from the Miko's grasp. "Yes well," she said, clasping her hands together in front of her, "I came to discuss the matter of the debt we now owe you. If there is anything you require of me, I shall do my best to meet your needs."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "I told you she ain't going to accept no debt from you. You'd be better off just being her friend and letting it go."

Kagome laughed and sank back down onto the cot beside them as exhaustion tugged at every muscle. "Inuyasha is right. You don't owe me anything. If I'd known I had the ability to heal her before, I'd have done it sooner."

Akahana stared at them then shook her head and turned towards the door. "You are an unusual miko. Come. Your energy is flagging. I will accompany you back to Sesshoumaru-sama's rooms."

"I've been called worse." Still grinning, she patted Inuyasha on his arm on the way out and followed after Akahana.

"I do not doubt it."

"Rude," she said on a laugh.

Not deigning to reply, Akahana only sighed and kept an eye on the Miko. By the time they reached the family wing of the sprawling palace, her face had bled of all color and her brow beaded with sweat. "I will carry you the remainder of the way," she said quietly, and didn't wait for agreement before scooping her up.

Kagome didn't argue. Sagging against Akahana's shoulder, she closed her eyes. "I'm sorry to inconvenience you like this."

"It is nothing, Miko-sama."

When they reached Sesshoumaru-sama's quarters, the Miko dozed weakly in her arms, her usually flushed cheeks pale and clammy. Sesshoumaru-sama stood at his door waiting for them. The stern disapproval across his features set her instincts on edge, but she didn't shy from him. "She worked hard today. The healer said the exhaustion and weakness is to be expected until she regains her full strength."

He didn't answer, only took the Miko from her and turned into his rooms. Before the door slid fully closed, she cleared her throat and called out to him. "Sesshoumaru-sama…if I may have a few minutes of your time after you have seen to the Miko, I have an urgent matter to discuss with you."

The door paused and she could see him linger in the entryway to his rooms. "It cannot wait until another day?"

"No, My Lord. I worry what my father will do if I ignore him any longer."

He sighed. "You will wait in my study. A guard will show you the way. I must see to the Miko, first."

Akahana bowed low. "Yes, My Lord. Thank you, My Lord."

An hour later, her back and knees aching from the perfect sieza position she'd taken upon entering his study, she bowed low again until he took the seat across from her at his work table. "Thank you for seeing me, My Lord."

"What do you wish to discuss?" he inquired as he flipped through various scrolls and scraps of parchment Jaken had left him to deal with.

"My father beats me," she said quietly, and did not look away from him when he finally gave her his fully attention—even if her stomach quivered and roiled at finally speaking of it aloud to someone other than Fuiasu-sama. "He scarred my younger sister and stole her vision. Only the Miko's healing returned it. He rules on fear and schemes, forcing his people to fall in line. Any who dare to defy him are exiled, or worse, killed."

She went on, telling him everything that had been done to her, telling him of all the schemes she'd discovered when searching her father's study, telling him of all the plans she'd thought through and discarded to deal with him. "I am here to compete in the Contests because he wishes it, My Lord. Please help me put an end to his reign of terror."

"Do you have evidence to support your claims of treason and treachery?"

The cold impassivity of his sternly set features made it impossible to discern how he really felt or what he might be thinking. Biting her lip, she reached into her kimono pockets and withdrew a small stack of papers bound in ribbon. "I stole these from his study before we came here. I don't know if it will be enough to sway you, My Lord, but it is all I have other than my testimony. Will you help me?"

Sesshoumaru took the stack of parchment. "Your request will be taken into consideration. You are dismissed."

"Yes, My Lord."

o.O.o

Later that week, Sesshoumaru watched as the Miko took another bite of the savory fish and swayed silently back and forth in her seat. She hummed off-key between bites, a melody he didn't recognize. A grain of rice stuck to her lip before her tongue darted out to grab it. "You are in high spirits," he said at last.

Pausing mid-reach for a bite of salty bean sprouts, she smiled at him. "I walked further today, I got to see my friends again and visit Kiseki, and dinner is delicious."

She took the bean sprouts and plopped them on top of a scoop of rice. Why did he find it so endearing as she put the whole scoop in her mouth at once? "It is so simple to please you?"

"Yes! There are so many people who have harder lives than me right now. I feel lucky that today was such a good day, that I could see my friends and heal and eat good food in a safe place—that I can be completely assured of my safety in my own home."

"You speak of Akahana's troubles," he said at length after she'd taken a few more bites.

She set down her chopsticks and took a sip of tea to clear her throat. "She talked to you?"

"Hn. A few days ago." Leaning forward, he refilled her cup after she set it down. "Why did you not speak to this one of her father's…behavior."

"I wanted to," she murmured. Reaching up, she scratched nervously at the back of her neck. "I wanted to tell you the first night I saw him hit her—but it's her story to tell. We weren't really friends until recently, so I just tried to be as supportive as she allowed. Akahana is very…proud. I didn't want to take any choices from her."

The Miko had made the correct choice, even if he didn't like the result—that an abuser had lived and celebrated in his court. "She asked this one for help. He has been dealt with." Her lips curved up into a small, shy smile. "Does this please you, Miko?"

"Yes," she answered and reaching out to take his hand, squeezed it lightly before she let go and continued eating. "Thank you for being such a good male, Sesshoumaru-sama. Now I can just focus on healing and getting through the next contest."

He had been avoiding the elephant in the room for weeks now—in her condition, a fight would be impossible. "You will concede, Miko. You will not endanger your healing for the Contest."

Kagome frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "I will not! I might not be able to keep up physically, but by the time the Contest comes around next week my reiki should be back to normal."

"And if it is not?" he demanded. Irritated at her stubbornness, he snapped his yōki out and summoned a servant to clear away the vestiges of their meal. "You are being foolish!"

"It's not foolish to defend a friend's right to choose his own mate," she said quietly, and looked away from him to glare into the fire. "I thought you trusted me."

"Be reasonable, Miko. You can barely summon a wisp of reiki now and walking more than one corridor length exhausts you." When the servants scurried in, he stood and walked to her side of the table to stare imperiously down at her. "You will rest. I will deal with the fallout of the Contest."

She heaved herself up and poked him in the chest. "I'm doing it, Sesshoumaru-sama. You can either help me plan a strategy to succeed or…or…"

The beast inside of him stirred at her threat. Grabbing her hand, he tugged her in closer until their noses were close enough to brush. "Or what, Miko?" he snarled, pink tinting the corners of his eyes.

Her eyes went wide and color speared across her cheeks. "I…I'll lock myself in Fuiasu-sama's rooms and not come out until it's time for the Contest. She'll help me!"

Her scent spiked with arousal at their proximity. Was she remembering what had happened between them the previous morning? The temptation to follow that scent down to the sweet spot at her core nearly overrode his control. "You think to tattle to this one's mother?" he bit out.

"That's right," she blurted, ire filling her voice with confidence.

Dealing with his mother on a good day scored his temper with frustration. Facing the combined irritation of his mother and the Miko working together would be untenable. "Fine. Sit. We shall strategize to your heart's content."

Tugging her wrist free, she eyed him warily then scurried over to the irori and the pile of furs she'd claimed all those weeks ago.

Taking a moment to contain himself, he watched as she sank down and pulled his furs into her lap. The sight of his mokomoko wrapped around her eased the need to protect her, barely. Loosing a long breath, he stalked over to her and sat down neatly at her side. "We will discuss your disobedience at a later date, Miko. I will not forget."

She laughed nervously and fidgeted in the furs. "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama."

He sighed again and leaned back against the wall behind them. "Your next opponent is a forest Inu. She is…."

The Miko lasted another hour discussing strategy with him before she drifted off at his side, her head falling against his shoulder as she snored.

o.O.o

The day before the fourth Contest, Kagome trained in the warm infirmary garden again under the careful eye of the healer. Inuyasha lingered on the tiled roof, her bodyguard for now. She'd protested at first. If someone hurt him trying to get to her, she'd never forgive herself—but he'd only looked at her and said he'd been protecting her since she'd come to the feudal era and that was the end of the discussion.

"Remember, Miko-sama. You can't raise your heart rate too much yet. You must manage your movements and your breaths to control your heart." The healer watched from his seat on the covered porch, a cup of warm water in his hands as he spoke.

"Controlling your breathing will also improve your control in a fight, too," Inuyasha pointed out, one leg dangling over the edge of the roof.

"I know, I know," she muttered. Taking a slow breath, she eased into the first form her teacher had taught her and held it before flowing into the second.

"You're getting better at that. Once you're healed and can add speed, you might be pretty deadly with a knife," Inuyasha commented.

A cramp burned deep at her lower back and sweat slicked down her chest to soak the undershirt she wore beneath her haori. "I can't fail him," she murmured, and slid into the third form.

"Keh! You won't. Have some faith in yourself already." Inuyasha stood and jumped down from the roof to land between her and the healer. He set a hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. "You've come far just on sheer grit and determination. Don't let your confidence fall just because you're a little slow right now."

Years ago his words and touch would have sent butterflies dancing in her stomach. Now only a pleasant warmth hummed to life inside of her. "Okay. You're right. I've got this!"

"Damn straight," he said, and walked to the porch to sit next to the healer.

She continued practicing, sliding into each form and controlling her breathing.

After an hour they had just stepped into the infirmary, the sun sinking below the horizon, when the main doors creaked open and Ikegai stepped in carrying another unconscious female. Kagome started towards them, but Inuyasha's hand on her wrist held her in place. "What—"

"We don't know where everyone was the night of the attack," he reminded quietly as the healer stepped forward to assist them.

"She's my friend, Inuyasha." Ignoring his protests she patted his hand, gently disengaged, and strode forward. "Ikegai! What's happened?"

Ikegai glanced up and blinked at the Miko, surprise lifting her brows as the she approached. "I did not expect to see you outside of the family wing for some time yet, Kagome-sama." Laying her companion out on the cot, she patted their arm and then stood to bow to her. "One hears rumors about your recovery. I am pleased to see the gossip is true."

As the healer tended to the unconscious female, Kagome returned her bow. "I've learned Sesshoumaru-sama can be a little overprotective," she laughed. Turning to the female on the cot, she continued. "I'm much better now, thankfully. What happened to your friend though?"

"That is fantastic news indeed." At her question, she lifted one shoulder in an elegant shrug. "I'm afraid she did not evade my attack swiftly enough. She insisted on a little friendly sparring, and I found I was bored enough to indulge her taunting. I'm sure she will be an easy match for you in the Contest, Kagome-sama."

Unease danced along the back of her neck, but Kagome ignored it. Accidents happened in sparring all the time, after all, and Ikegai had proven her friendship these past months. That Ikegai proved a formidable enough warrior to knock an opponent unconscious without a mark was unexpected, but not surprising. How many times had Sesshoumaru warned her that all the contestants could prove fatal if underestimated?

"I'll have to look out for you in the Contests. I had no idea you were such a warrior. I mean I knew you would be able to fight, but…yeah." A nervous chuckle escaped before she could stop it. She rubbed the back of her neck and continued. "Anyway, we should probably get going. I promised to have dinner with the children tonight. Maybe after the Contest tomorrow we can have tea together or go for a walk in the gardens?"

"I promise I am not nearly so fierce as it might appear. She did very well, I just happened to be a little faster than her." Ikegai smiled demurely and bowed again. "I would be honored to accept such an invitation from you again, Kagome-sama, and I wish you all the luck in your fight tomorrow."

o.O.o

The next morning, amid the rumble of chatter from the crowd, Kagome caught Sesshoumaru's eye across the arena and forced herself to swallow her nerves. He had carried her here to conserve her strength, and his strategy for winning the fight sat firmly in her mind. All she had to do was follow the steps he'd outlined for her, and everything would be fine.

It didn't matter that her muscles still trembled. It didn't matter that she couldn't exert too much energy because of her heart. It didn't matter that her reiki had not fully recovered as much as she'd hoped. Follow the plan. Everything would be fine.

Sesshoumaru stood up and the crowd fell silent as he spoke. His words echoed across the chamber as he introduced the next Contestant. When her heart started to race, she forced a slow, deep breath and shoved it down deep. Follow the plan. Follow the plan. He sat down and the gates at the other end of the arena slid open.

Her plan went to hell the moment her opponent stepped out—it was not the dark-skinned forest inu who stepped out to face her, but Akahana. Akahana, with her ethereal, pale skin, ruby stripes, and shining gold eyes. A half-healed cut, stretching from her lips to her ear, dripped blood down her cheek. She looked every bit the warrior in a black and red haori and hakama—the most unfeminine look Kagome had ever seen her sport. Behind her, she dragged an unconscious female.

Smirking, she heaved the unconscious female to the arena floor between them and lifted her chin in defiance. "Twenty minutes ago, I invoked the Rite of Superiority and stole her spot in the Contests. I was to be your last opponent, Miko-sama, but the Rite allows me to challenge any opponent I wish so I can take their position."

Kagome swallowed and glanced at Sesshoumaru—but he sat woodenly in his seat, unable to help her. The rules of the Contest were unbreakable, the consequences untenable. He could lose his throne for even attempting to assist her. Licking her lips, she turned back to Akahana. "What would have happened if you had lost?" she asked weakly and tried not to eye the twin wakizashi sheathed over her shoulders.

Still smirking, she strode towards the unconscious female and shoved her out of the way with one booted foot. "I would have lost my place in the competition as a whole and returned to my father with shame, deemed unsuitable to participate in the Contest."

She watched the female inu's body as it rolled several feet away, her green and brown clothing picking up dust from the arena floor. Every muscle in her body begged her to step back, even just one single, desperate step—but Kagome stood frozen as Akahana neared. "It's…it's good you managed to beat her then."

"It is." Stopping only three feet away from the Miko, she lifted her hands and drew her blades. Then she pointed them both at the Miko, her arms as still and unwavering as stone. "Do you know who I am, Miko-sama?"

Kagome had not chosen a weapon, per the plan she'd laid out with Sesshoumaru. Now her hands felt useless and empty as she stared down the pointed blades of those wakizashi. She clenched her fingers together into tight fists and prepared to dive deep into her remaining reiki. "You are the Lady Akahana, a fire Inu from one of the noble houses of the Western Lands."

Akahana nodded once. Still those blades did not move one centimeter. "More than that, Miko-sama. Many in these lands have forgotten the history of my clan, our origins, our purpose."

"I don't know any more than that. Clan history has not been part of my training here," she admitted.

That smirk, regal and smug and bold, softened. "My family name is Kamadogami. We are descended from Kōjin, the god of fire, and hearth, and kitchen. Until my grandfather's generation, and my father's after him, we were tasked with burning away impurities and righting injustices in Sesshoumaru-sama's lands."

Descended from the Kami. Kagome shifted to her back foot as her heart pounded in her chest. Control your breathing. "I don't know why you're telling me this," she said after a moment when Akahana only stared at her and waited, those blades still held aloft and perfectly still as the pointed at her.

That smirk softened even more, until it couldn't even be called a smirk anymore—but a tiny, nearly imperceptible smile. "Because the attack on you was an issue of the utmost cowardice and injustice, Miko-sama. The Mating Contests are an ancient tradition among youkai. Their laws and traditions should be upheld no matter what. That you were poisoned and then attacked while you slept…only the most impure of hearts would face you so dishonorably."

She finally lowered her blades and Kagome let out a slow breath of relief—only to tense again as she slammed them down into the ground between them. "What—"

"I consider it my duty, and my honor, to repair the mistake your attacker made." That smile grew just a tiny bit more, and her eyes filled with warmth as she dropped down to one knee. "I now invoke the Rite of Fidelity."

The crowd, which had burst into noise the moment Akahana stepped out, now fell silent. Kagome, uncertain about what exactly was happening, could not take her eyes off her. "The Rite of Fidelity?"

"It is a vow to serve and protect you until the end of my life, Miko-sama. A blood vow similar to the one Inuyasha-sama vowed at his Coming of Age ceremony." Pulling up the sleeve of her right arm, she drew her claw across her skin in a long line from her wrist to the middle of her forearm. Her blood bubbled up, bright crimson. "I will be your blood sworn sister from this day forth, bowing to your wishes and spending my life to honor and protect you. Give me your arm, Miko-sama."

Her chest tight and heavy as understanding slowly sunk in, Kagome held out her arm without thought. She watched, wide-eyed and mouth agape, as Akahana pushed up her sleeve and carefully drew her deadly claw across her skin.

She lifted her arm and raised it to hers, but when they were almost touching, stopped, and looked up at her. "Do you accept, Miko-sama?"

"Yes," she breathed, nodding her head jerkily.

"Then we are now blood sworn…Kagome-sama," she said, and pressed their arms together to finish the vow.

Gold and pink light exploded from between them, wrapping around their joined arms in thick ribbons of energy. Kagome didn't know where to look, at their energy combining seamlessly, at the warmth in Akahana's gaze that she still didn't quite believe, or at the stunned faces of her pack staring at them from across the arena.

When the energy faded away, Akahana drew their arms apart and yanked her wakizashi out of the ground. "Now, as my first act as your blood sworn sister," she said as she stooped to kneel on both knees, sheathed her swords across her back, and bowed. "I concede my fight to you, My Lady. You win this match by default."

Kagome's ears buzzed as the arena erupted again. "You're going to have to explain all of this again," she said weakly and reached out a hand to pull Akahana to her feet. "Just a few weeks ago you barely considered me your friend and now you're sworn to me for life."

Akahana slipped her arm around the Miko's waist and helped her remain upright as she led her from the arena floor. "To fight you now would be a dishonor—you are not yet at your full strength. I would detest such a vile victory."

Grateful for the help as her heart raced despite her best efforts, she leaned into Akahana and loosed a long breath as they stepped through the doors to the waiting area for the contestants, leaving the noisy crowd behind. "After our first meeting, I never would have thought you'd have this kind of warmth inside of you."

"We all wear masks, Miko-sama." Easing her down to rest on one of the benches between the weapons racks, she crouched in front of her. "Besides. I never wanted Sesshoumaru-sama—only the freedom being his mate would bring me and my sister."

"You did this for your sister."

Kagome looked up as Sesshoumaru stepped through the doors and stared at them. "Sesshoumaru-sama. Did you know?"

Chuckling, Akahana stood and bowed as she answered for him. "No, he did not know. And yes, I did this because of my sister—but also because of you, Sesshoumaru-sama. With my father executed and your nomination for me to become his heir, I have all the freedom in the world. I owe you both a great debt."

"Hn. Leading that territory will not come without its difficulties. Expect your father's brother's and their children to revolt against you—and this one." He turned to the Miko then and eyed her pale cheeks. "You will rest now, Miko."

With the relief finally setting in, Kagome leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. "Yeah, that sounds like a great idea."

o.O.o

Word Count – 17,599

a/n – Thank you guys so much for continuing to read and being patient enough to wait for me to update again. I had intended to finish this chapter by the end of June, but a variety of things got in the way. To make up for it, I tried to make this chapter a bit longer and give you more to read. As always, please read and review. I always look forward to your comments. My VPN is a little slow lately, so it might take me time to respond to coments, but I'll do my best. Don't forget to check out my new Instagram ( shewritesexcerpts). I'll post updates, wips, and other things related to writing my fics and original stories.