"This is who you chose as your mate?" Sesshomaru questions. His eyes flit over to Satoru and then snap back to meet her gaze. Satoru tenses next to her, not used to being ignored. "You could have had your pick."
Sesshomaru doesn't say it, but the underlying judgment of her being with another human instead of a demon is more than palatable. It doesn't escape her that he doesn't say InuYasha's name.
"Satoru is who I want," she says, intertwining her fingers with Satoru's. His hand is warmer than usual. She gives him a small squeeze.
"And how do you know Kagome?" Satoru interjects, leaning back in the chair. He's agitated, she thinks, noting how his fingers flex every so often, and how quickly he put on his calm facade. The only excited one is Yakeru, whose shoulders dropped in relief when she greeted Sesshomaru. "Must not be that important if she's never mentioned you before."
Sesshomaru smiles. Yakeru leans his body as close to the wall as he can. Kagome groans. Why does Satoru have to pick a fight with every demon he meets? She just does not get it. "We should put in our orders," she says loudly.
Food makes everything better—at least she hopes it will.
The server walks towards them, clutching their notepad to their chest like a shield. Kagome frowns, feeling a little bad for how the workers must be feeling, having not only Sesshomaru around, but Satoru too.
"She's the alpha female of my pack," Sesshomaru says, right as the server reaches the table. The server drops the notepad on the floor and staggers back, tripping on their own feet and falling down. Pink decorates their cheeks like a banner shouting just how embarrassed they are.
The sound of plates falling in the kitchen and scurrying of feet does little to dispel the tense atmosphere.
"Are you okay?" Kagome asks, though her concern goes unnoticed as Satoru flushes red. Yakeru lets out a shout that sounds more like a high-pitched yelp, and Sesshomaru sits there blank faced as ever. If she had known that the-who-shall-not-be-named-demon was Sesshomaru, she would have just arranged for the meeting to be back at home. The poor workers did not need to be subjected to this.
"Excuse the fuck out of me," Satoru says, leaning forward. "Kagome isn't yours." He untangles his hand from hers. His voice is low and menacingly enough that the hairs on her arms raise up. There's a sharp spike of cursed energy from Satoru and a demonic spike from Sesshomaru.
The pressure from both energies makes her want to gag as she stuffs her own down. Sesshomaru did not have to phrase it like that. When this is all over, she'll have to remind him of the proper etiquette for conversing with humans that know little to nothing about demons.
Sesshomaru turns his head towards the server. "Are you going to take our orders?" He slides his gaze back over to Satoru, assessing. "This Sesshomaru acknowledges you as the priestess's mate." Their energies lower to a simmer, not quite friendly with one another, but no longer as hostile as before. Kagome is honestly surprised at how quickly the sever composed themselves.
The Sesshomaru effect, she muses. Doing well in front of Sesshomaru probably helps them.
They give their respective orders to the server. Satoru's mood is still dark, but less aggressive than it was before, placated by Sesshomaru's acknowledgment. Kagome stuffs another macaroon in her mouth. "Is your mom around? I thought she was the alpha female."
"She has stepped down."
Kagome blinks expectantly and then sighs because, of course, Sesshomaru still says as little as possible. Heck, she didn't even know one could step down from their alpha role. "O-Okay. Anyway, I know Sesshomaru because of InuYasha." Satoru tenses next to her, but she continues, "Sesshomaru is InuYasha's older brother. Did you know about Naraku?"
"No. He would have been slain had this Sesshomaru known."
"I get it. Not even the mighty Sesshomaru knows everything," she teases.
"No," he replies, not rising to her bait. "You knew of the priestess. Who else knew?" Sesshomaru questions Yakeru, who shifts in his seat.
"Well… Uh… You see. That's an excellent point. I mean honestly, how was I to know that Naraku knew Kagome-san? It's not like anyone else really messed with her." Yakeru rubs the back of his neck. "Except for Yumi, of course, but she had Naraku's backing, so…"
"So, you didn't see fit to tell this Sesshomaru of the priestess's existence, despite knowing how detrimental she could be to all of us?"
"Hey!" Kagome exclaims. Satoru stifles a laugh beside her. What a traitor. One minute he's defending her and then the next he's poking fun at her along with Sesshomaru. Traitors. The both of them.
"I was protecting Kagome-san," Yakeru says. "She isn't detrimental to any of us. Kagome-san is… is my lady."
Warmth blooms in her chest at the admission. She's not sure what she has done exactly to be worthy of his devotion, but she's thankful for his friendship, nonetheless.
"Are there any other demons that are obsessed with you that I should know about?" Satoru asks.
"The wolf is around."
"Koga-kun is here?" Kagome turns to look at Satoru. Somehow, she just knows he's fuming behind those dark shades. "You don't have to worry about Koga-kun. He's harmless."
"He still calls you his woman."
What the fuck? She whips her head around so fast that she nearly gave herself whiplash in her haste to glare at Sesshomaru. The heck was he doing? Out of everyone here, Yakeru should be the one trying to stir up drama, not Sesshomaru. Clearly, he gains some satisfaction from seeing her miserable. Last time she checked, Koga-kun was with Ayame.
"That so," Satoru murmurs. Kagome opens her mouth to diffuse the situation right as the server arrives with their meal. Her stomach growls loudly, drawing attention away from Satoru's and Sesshomaru's pissing contest. "It is reassuring that Gome-chan has so many powerful allies. Even if they are demons."
"I thought we were going to be nice," she says with a sigh.
"I am being nice."
"I concur," Yakeru says, in between bites. "Satoru is being very nice. The world's nicest sorcerer."
"How much is Satoru paying you to say that?" Kagome wonders out loud. Her stomach rumbles at the sweet, tantalizing smell coming from Satoru's plate. Ugh, she should have ordered that, too.
"I'm gonna make a wild assumption and assume that we don't need to ask for your help?" Satoru cuts up his chicken and places some pieces onto Kagome's plate.
How did he know she was thinking about swiping some?
"It is not safe for her to be down here in her condition," Sesshomaru says.
"Just say pregnant."
"She should stay at the estate," Sesshomaru continues, "Your defenses are not satisfactory enough if Naraku of all beings could wipe out your clan."
"Our home is demon and curse proof," Satoru says after a beat. Both Satoru's and Sesshomaru's energies spike at the same time. The air becomes denser, suffocating, and Kagome thinks that perhaps the two of them need to be locked in an escape room together to figure their crap out.
"Satoru's right. Our home is plenty safe, and we like our privacy. What we need is to know how immersed demons are with the jujutsu society, so we can prevent any more wipeouts."
"One of your ancestors was a demon fucker," Yakeru says as though he was discussing what new items he should stock in his shop. "Michizane Sugawara, right?"
"Most of the vengeful spirits are," Sesshomaru agrees, taking a sip from his tea.
"Wait, isn't Sukuna–"
"Yep, Sukuna is one. Can't say that really surprises me." Satoru shrugs. "He was also a cannibal in his prime."
Kagome wrinkles her nose. "I'm eating, that's gross."
"So, some sorcerers fucked demons. What of it?"
"Your birth tipped the power balance, causing an influx of more special grades." Yakeru says, "I can't imagine what will happen after the little one is born." He taps his finger to his chin. "Not to mention the amount of fear that happened at the estate that, Cho - right? Yeah, that Cho must have experienced. I'm sure the other clans are pissing themselves. Ah, and right before Halloween, too. Kind of brilliant if you think about it."
Satoru grunts in disagreement.
"Who is this Cho?" Sesshomaru questions, "was she the only survivor?"
"Yes. However, she's in a coma at the moment. Naraku absorbed her and tossed her out during the battle. She probably didn't see too much of the horror."
Wait. What? Kagome lowers her chopsticks. Dread builds in her chest, constricting, causing her to feel faint. Cho seemed okay before Satoru whisked her away to be checked out by Shoko.
"Cho will be okay Gome-chan. Shoko knows what she's doing," Satoru reassures her, slipping his hand underneath the table and squeezing her thigh.
"Did you inspect her?" Sesshomaru asks, an unreadable emotion reflecting in his eyes.
"N-no, I didn't think…"
"Where is she?" Sesshomaru stands, putting his glamor back on as he does. Yakeru makes an 'oh shit' face towards Satoru.
"I'm not letting you harm her," Satoru says, tilting his head.
"Fox, take the priestess to the estate." Sesshomaru turns his back and looks over his shoulder. "Follow," he commands Satoru before walking away.
"I'm gonna kill him," Satoru says cheerily with a smile.
"I think you should go with him," Kagome says. "Whatever it is, Sesshomaru must not want to waste any more time talking."
Satoru sighs, spiking a hand through his hair. "Fine. After Halloween, let's go away somewhere with no curses or demons."
"That sounds wonderful."
"I'll make reservations for three," Yakeru chirps.
"Shut up, Yakeru," Kagome and Satoru say. A somberness falls over them. Satoru leans over places a kiss on her forehead before getting up to leave.
"Keep her safe," he warns, waving a hand as he leaves the restaurant.
"I hope Cho is okay," Kagome says, looking down at the unfinished meals. A break from so much disaster would be nice.
"Troublemaking Fushiguro!" Nobara and Yuji coo, pointing their fingers at Megumi when they should be paying attention to their surroundings. It is not as though they aren't on a mission or anything.
Right, because nothing seems to faze those two.
"Knock it off," Megumi says, hitting Yuji in the back of the head. "This is a special grade. At least try to be more alert." Maybe he should ask Buyo Jr. to come from out of his shadow since those two wanted to joke around.
"Ow! What was that for?" Yuji rubs his head. He perks up, noticing a young child standing near the river. "Hey! Get away from there!" he calls out, waving his hands in the air.
Megumi turns to look at the child in question. His blood turns to ice as he takes in the barefoot girl wearing nothing more than a hospital gown. "It couldn't be," he murmurs, taking a step forward, pushing Yuji out of the way as he walks. "Cho?"
"You know that kid?" Nobara asks, but he doesn't answer her. He sprits forward, his arm outstretched, hoping - praying, that he can stop Cho from jumping. If she does that, then she'll be taken into the curse's domain.
It's one thing for him to hold his own against a much stronger opponent, with Yuji and Nobara backing him. It's a whole another matter to do that while trying to protect an innocent.
"Cho! Don't!" His hand grabs nothing but air as Cho jumps, disappearing right in front of them. "Damn. Why the heck was she even out here?" He tugs at his hair. "We gotta go." His heart beats erratically in his chest as his mind races with what he should do.
Call Gojo-sensei? No, even if he called him now, Cho would be dead by the time he arrived. No, he has to handle this. Gojo-sensei won't always be there to bail him out.
"Come on," Nobara says, linking her arms between Megumi and Yuji. "Let's go exorcise this curse." They jump over the river together. He's not alone, he thinks. He has Nobara and Yuji with him.
"Where'd the kid go?" Yuji wonders, pulling his arm back from Nobara. "There's nowhere for her to hide…"
"Dead already," Nobara says, shrugging. She takes out her hammer, surveying the area.
"How can she be dead if there's no body?" Yuji waves his arms around.
"Guys, stop putting Cho in the grave." Megumi squats down and pulls out a sword from his shadow. "Something isn't right. Yuji is right, there isn't anywhere for her to hide." He stands up. His heart jumps to his throat as he comes face to face with a finger bearer. Its large eyes and far too wide mouth enlarges as it seems to chuckle at them.
Its not the same one, he tells himself as he braces for the impact.
"Fushiguro!" Yuji shouts as the finger bearer knocks Megumi back into the wall.
Fuck, he thinks, at least it can't get any worse than this.
A hunchback curse with blood dripping down its eyes comes charging out of nowhere, right towards them. Megumi blinks, his vision somewhat blurry.
It just got worse.
A/N: Thank you all so so much for your patience! I got a little burned out, but I'm back and ready to resume weekly updates again. In regards to the last chapter - Satoru does know that the Shikon merged with Kagome. He was just reflecting on how weird the meeting with the higher-ups was. Thank you so much again! The Christmas Wish will be updated either Wednesday or Thursday and How To Tame will be updated on Saturday. Take care!
