Kagome was in a daze while being escorted by Jaken to her new bedroom. Though they were given a brief tour of the castle when they first arrived, the Lords wing was off limits much to Inuyasha's dismay.
They stopped in front of the tall thick wooden doors that separated the Lord's wing from the main part of the castle. "Do you have the newest orders?" Jaken questioned while starting to walk past the demon security guards. "Yes we do, sir" they both said in unison while opening the heavy doors, giving Kagome a slight smile as she walked by.
Jaken lead her down the beautifully decorated corridor that had only the finest finishings. It was similar to the guest wing she was staying in, but this wing felt more royal and prestigious. Kagome's eyes danced around in amazement, never seeing anything this fancy or detailed in this era before.
Once they reached the end of the corridor they stood in front of an enormous floor to ceiling window that was fitted with decorative security bars on the outside. Jaken finally spoke to her. "This is your room to the left, Lord Sesshomaru's is the door directly across to the right" he gestured. "Lord Sesshomaru wishes to give you a tour of the Lords wing himself. While you wait, do not go venturing around. One of the rooms belongs to Lady Inukimi and although she does not live here, you do not want to go in without her permission." Jaken shuttered at the thought.
"Thanks, Jaken" Kagome said sheepishly. "I still can't believe all the fuss over me..." "Nonsense!" he exclaimed "Lord Sesshomaru knows what he is doing and I have full confidence in him. Now, I must be off to inform your friends of the meeting my Lord wishes to have with you all later." As he went off to find the others, Jaken couldn't help but agree with Kagome. Why all the fuss over a human miko girl?
Kagome entered her new lavish room and her focus went immediately to the bed. She walked over and turned around, extended her arms horizontally, and did a trust fall onto it. As her body made contact with the bed she involuntarily did a hard exhale. She threw the crook of her arm over her eyes and laid there in her self made darkness. Her heart fluttered as she kept reliving the moment in Sesshomaru's office, even if it only happened less than an hour prior.
Sesshomaru leaned against Kagome's doorframe with one leg on the ground and the other touching the door frame behind him. She lacks in training if she can't feel me standing here he noted to himself. He slowly made his way to her bed and sat on the edge when his beast began raging inside of him. This is not the time! He barked to his beast, quieting him immediately.
She felt the mattress shift below her and panicked before realizing it had to be Sesshomaru. Removing her arm from her eyes, she blinked a few times attempting to get her eyes to focus on the body sitting next to her. His body was facing her and his face looked slightly more relaxed than usual. "I apologize for scaring you, I should have knocked." Kagome started to sit up while laughing "You don't need to apologize, this is your castle but...wait, how did you know I was scared? I know you're a powerful demon and all but it was only for a split second..."
Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at her. "From your aura, of course."
"My... aura?" Kagome stared blankly at him, having no clue what he was talking about.
"Hn. My assumption was correct then, you do not have adequate training. Just as I have a demonic aura, you too have an aura. Although I can not sense your thoughts, I can sense your emotions in any instant as can other demons who are powerful enough. My assumption is that because Inuyasha did not have any formal training, he was unable to sense it so you were not aware of its existence. I will see to it that you get proper training to help hone your powers and aura."
"Come, I wish to give you a tour of my wing." Sesshomaru grabbed her hand and gave it a slight squeeze. As they walked through the corridor he stopped to knock softly on a door a few down from his.
"Come in!" Rin exclaimed excitedly. Rin's face lit up when she saw Sesshomaru and Kagome walk in. "Rin" Sesshomaru started "Kagome will be joining us on our wing. Please make her feel welcome and help her with any questions she may have in my absence." Rin jumped off her bed and ran to Kagome, wrapping her arms tightly around her and almost knocking her over in the process. "Of course, my Lord!"
They continued on with the tour when Kagome realized just how big the Lords wing really was. Each bedroom was beautifully decorated and complete with it's own small bathing room, these rooms are meant for his future children she thought to herself. A gentle smile crept its way to her face and she looked up to Sesshomaru lovingly, her heart skipped a beat when she saw he was already looking down at her with his lips holding a faint smile. Her face nuzzled into his mokomoko, hoping he was having the same thoughts she was.
The library and sitting room were combined into one, with it being simple yet elegant. "There is no need to be formal in this wing. Per my rules, no guests are allowed here under any circumstances. I have a list of cleared servants and workers who are allowed." Kagome nodded.
"So, when you say no guests..." Kagome trailed off while focused in the direction of the door Jaken said was Inukimi's. Sesshomaru followed her gaze and hid an eye roll. "That is a formality. She typically only makes an appearance when I am hosting, so it would be disrespectful to place mother in the guest chambers alongside the guests. Do not enter any of her rooms unless you are invited to do so." Noticing the confused look on her face, he decided to elaborate further. "There are three castles in total. They are located here, in the mountains, and in the main town. I prefer to spend time at the mountain castle, however Rin enjoys the beach castle in the warmer months."
Sesshomaru lead her back to the outside of her room and Kagome quickly ran scenarios through her mind about how their second kiss was about to go. "You should bathe before we go to the meeting." Kagome's face quickly turned to a scowl "HEY! Are you trying to say I smell?" she asked defensively. Sesshomaru didn't bother hiding his chuckle. "Yes, like me. Unless you want Inuyasha to know what just happened, I suggest washing off my scent."
Once everyone was seated in the sitting room Sesshomaru quickly brought everyone up to speed on the relevant information they needed to know about the threat to Kagome's life. Audible gasps filled the room, and Inuyasha's ears flickered. "Yeah? And? This is nothing new, did we all forget about Naraku?" Miroku, Sango, and Kagome turned their attention to Inuyasha. Tears formed in Kagome's eyes, does he really not care about me at all? Sango gave Inuyasha a disgusted look and clenched her fists "How could you say that! Have you forgotten she's only been here for a little more than 2 weeks? We went straight from the village to here. She hasn't even had time to make an enemy! Are you really that vain?"
Realizing he should've kept his mouth shut, Inuyasha conceded. "Alright enough already! Get on with it!" Sesshomaru narrowed his gaze at Inuyasha, knowing the next sentence out of his mouth would undoubtedly send him into a rage. "Most importantly, Kagome has been moved to the Lord's wing and will be staying with me. Under my protection." The room fell into a brief silence.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Inuyasha growled as he lunged toward Sesshomaru with his claws ready to slash him. Kagome didn't have the chance to tell Inuyasha to sit before Sesshomaru grabbed him by the throat, with just enough pressure applied, and dangled him mid-air. He was thrashing around viciously trying to land a hit on Sesshomaru when he put his hand on tessaiga and tried to draw it from its sheath. Sesshomaru readied his poison claws and aimed directly at Inuyasha's heart. "Don't. You. Dare." Sesshomaru growled through gritted teeth. When he took his hand off of tessaiga, Sesshomaru released his grip sending Inuyasha crashing to the ground.
"It's interesting, Inuyasha, that what gathered the most response from you was not that Kagome's life was in danger, but the fact that she's staying with me."
Sesshomaru's words tore through Inuyasha like a sharpened blade, his shoulders slumped and his eyes were unable to make contact with anything but the ground.
He's right. I cared more about my ego than Kagome's safety he thought to himself in defeat. "I'm sorry, Kagome" he mumbled before walking out.
Later on her nightly walk, Kagome found Inuyasha sitting in the middle of the courtyard staring intently up at the clear night sky while the flowers swayed slightly in the breeze. Approaching carefully, she sat down next to him and joined his gaze while taking a deep breath. "You know, while I was away I missed being able to look at this night sky." Inuyasha's ear flickered at the soothing sound of her voice after sitting in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Bluntly, he barked "So. You and my brother, huh?" Kagome was taken aback by his tone. "What the hell is your problem! Who even said anything about..." Inuyasha's face snapped in her direction and was inches away from her face, screaming "It's obvious! When the hell has he ever cared what you ate for breakfast! Now you're living in the Lord's wing of the castle! For fucks sake Kagome, I'm not even allowed in that wing!"
Although she was accompanied by Ginto tonight, Sesshomaru decided it would still be best if he watched after her from the shadows. Watching Inuyasha scream in Kagome's face almost sent him over the edge, but since her aura was only radiating anger and not fear it kept his beast slightly at bay. His blood red eyes watched intensely as his beast was begging to be freed to protect Kagome. As much as he would relish watching Inuyasha writhe in pain from his doing, this battle needed to be handled by her. Silently he thanked Ginto for not interfering.
Kagome was seething with anger. "You know what, fine! We kissed! Is that what you wanted to hear!" Inuyasha snarled loudly at the revelation. "You...you...WHAT!" The ground around them shook as Inuyasha threw his fist into the grass. His head remained down as he felt tears begin to fill in his eyes, his heart shattering as he realized it truly was over between them. Kagome felt the sudden change in his demeanor and her heart caught in her throat when she saw tears flowing silently down his face.
"Inuyasha..." she whispered as she gave him a hug. Pulling away from her embrace he wiped his tears on his robe of the fire rat. "I..I wanted it to be us." Kagome listened desperately trying to understand as Inuyasha was breaking down in front of her, only talking between sobs. "It's impossible to describe the the feeling I had when I caught your scent in the wind that day. It was the happiest I had been since you left. When I ran to the well and pulled you out, I looked up at your face as it was outlined by the bright blue sky and that's when I felt it. This overwhelming feeling that it's not supposed to be us."
Flinching at his last sentence, her heart began to ache in a way she didn't know was possible. "I love you, Kagome, but the purpose of you coming back to this era wasn't for me." Her face twisted at the realization that the life they had dreamed about once Naraku was defeated wasn't a part of their destiny. She forced herself to look at Inuyasha, her tears blurring her vision almost completely. Their eye contact unleashed heart wrenching sobs from both Inuyasha and Kagome as they reached out for each other, their souls craving a familiar comfort. They held on tightly to each other, their deep rooted pain permeating the night sky.
After their intense mourning started to subside, Kagome put her hand on Inuyasha's neck and asked quietly while still sniffling "Would you like me to remove your beads of subjugation?" Years ago Inuyasha would have jumped with glee at the thought of removing them, but in this moment it was just plunging the knife deeper into his heart. He removed her hand from it and whispered "No, I'm not quite ready for that yet."
"Do you mind, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked while lowering her head to his shoulder. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she found her spot she loved to lean into. A heavy sigh escaped from his lungs as looked back up to the sky. "You know, Kagome, I think we were still meant to be in each others lives, just in a different capacity. I mean we started out as frenemies, right? I'm sure we can figure out how to be friends." Kagome remained silent. "Come on Kagome, laugh a little here would ya?" Inuyasha said while nudging her. In what seemed like slow motion, she slowly slid off of his arm and face planted onto the ground below. "K-KAGOME!" Inuyasha's voice bellowed.
"Shit" Ginto let out as he sprinted the 30 feet to Kagome and quickly but throughly assessed the situation. As he looked up he studied a single butterfly above that had a powder coating it. Knowing it wasn't pollen, he effortlessly hopped up and caught it as he sped off towards the castle in a blur.
Before Inuyasha could process what was happening Sesshomaru was in front of him grabbing Kagome from the ground and rolling her over. Blood was gushing out of her nose from her fall, but there were no other obvious injuries and her breathing was normal. "Fool!" Sesshomaru growled as he punched Inuyasha in the chest, sending him flying back into a tree. "What the hell was that for!" Inuyasha wheezed. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at Inuyasha before turning his focus back to Kagome. "Are you so oblivious that you could not tell she was being poisoned as she lay on your arm?"
Inuyasha stuttered "Wh-What? There was no one here but us! Don't tell me you think I did it!"
Sesshomaru scooped up a still unconscious Kagome in his arms and held her tightly to his body. He turned to face to Inuyasha knowing his beast was trying to push to the forefront. The stripes on his face were more jagged, fangs a little longer and sharper, and his blood red eyes from earlier returned. "No. If I had even the slightest thought of that you would have been torn limb by limb by now."
As Sesshomaru flew off to the medical wing of the castle, he looked down at Kagome cradled tightly in his arms. Gently he brushed some of the hair out of her face and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. They will pay he vowed.
Author's Note:
I have to thank you all again from the bottom of my heart. I love seeing all the favorites, follows, and reviews! Working on this story truly brings me so much joy and happiness. I do have to admit though, this chapter took a lot out of me emotionally. I felt so bad for Inuyasha and Kagome. I would love to hear feedback from you on this chapter!
Funny story too about Ginto's name (although it could be a 'you had to be there' kind of funny). I typically brainstorm on my daily walks with my child when the one day Ginto's name popped in my head rather quickly. I was so excited as I continued on my walk planning him out. A few days later I finish the chapter and publish it. I was rewatching an episode of Inuyasha (Season 4 Ep 21) when all of a sudden I heard Ginta's name. I froze when I realized why Ginto's name came so quickly to my mind as Sesshomaru's second in command... because Ginta is Koga's! Whoops! I don't want to recycle names from the series for new characters I come up with, so if it happens again it's totally unintentional from my subconscious!
Thank you again for reading my story! I hope you're all doing well.