Infernoflame’s cave on Mount Indigo was at the very top of the volcanic neck. It was good they had Uh and Ah or Kagome would have probably died trying to make it up. She was a little nervous about meeting one of Sesshoumaru’s relatives. If his cousin would be anything like him then she would probably be looked down upon since she was human. Not to mention that if he lost control she would probably be nothing more then a crisp.

There was a ledge right outside of the cave where the two-headed dragon had let them off. Instead of waiting for her Sesshoumaru just impatiently lifted her off himself. She was sick of being hauled around by luggage, but she didn’t want to say anything. He had just told her she could be his real mate which was like a marriage proposal so she should have been taking everything seriously.

Sesshoumaru was having a war with in his head. He was half glad that Kagome would be with him forever. Every time she spoke or did something she proved to be more amazing, but then he was half angry with himself. This little desire of his would be gone soon enough so it was foolish to promise to take her in forever. She didn’t actually believe him did she? He couldn’t promise her anything knowing there were hundreds of single female youkai out there just wanting to leave the carefree castle life.

He got his mind off her for just one second and got ready to face his cousin. It was tradition to present mates like this to family members, even though Infernoflames was the only one left now that Inuyasha was dead. The truth was if it wasn’t for Infernoflames truly being the only one left he wouldn’t have bothered coming. Infernoflames was just slightly better then Inuyasha, but they were very similar. Especially when it came to combat.

Sesshoumaru gripped on to Kagome’s shoulders as they walked into the cave. She saw a light at the end of the tunnel they were going through which she could only guess was a candle, but her thoughts were distracted by Sesshoumaru’s light growling. He had stopped her in the middle of the cave and now he was growling at something.

“Inferno,” Sesshoumaru growled, “what is her scent doing here.”

“Wow Lord Sesshoumaru its nice to see you too,” said a feminine voice that came out of the darkness, it was probably the person Sesshoumaru was referring to when he said ‘her scent.’

The source of the voice came closer making her reveal herself. It was a dragon demon, which Kagome had only seen pictures of. This was her first time seeing one in real life. Actually it was the first time ever getting a good image of a female dragon youkai. The youkai was beautiful with blonde hair that came down to her waist along with a pair of white wings that hung from her shoulder blades and a long white dragon tail that hovered just a few inches above the ground.

“Come on cuz,” complained a whiney voice that Kagome could have all most mistaken for Inuyasha’s if it wasn’t a tad bit high-pitched, “you brought a woman so why can’t I?”

The source of the male voice came closer to. First thing she noticed was the markings that he had on his face the indicated he was inu youkai. He didn’t have the trademark silver hair though. Instead he had blood red hair that was pretty short except for his bangs that almost covered his eyes, but the rest of his short hair was made into spikes. This must have been Infernoflames.

“Yes this is my new mate,” Sesshoumaru announced, “unlike that lizard over there she has come to pay proper respects to our family by showing up.”

“Glad to meet you,” Infernoflames greeted with a smile, “wow you guys have gone that far already? I see she is almost ready to give birth.”

“How long have you been pregnant and how much longer till the baby is born?” the female dragon youkai asked curiously.

“Well,” Kagome started, “Two days down and five more to go...it’s a long story.”

“I want to hear Inferno’s long story first,” sneered Sesshoumaru was his eyes didn’t leave the dragon demon’s, “what is she doing here.”

“Oh who?” Infernoflames asked nervously knowing he was talking about the dragon youkai, “oh you mean Tamasha. I was going to tell you soon wonderful cousin of mine...”

“Tell me what Inferno?” Sesshoumaru asked harshly.

“I have decided to take Tamasha as my mate. It’s not a problem is it? I thought you two no longer had animosity towards each other.”

Tamasha and Sesshoumaru both just spent a few seconds staring at each other. None of them blinked. Kagome wandered if demons just didn’t blink that much or if these two were staring right into each other souls.

“I have no problem with her,” Sesshoumaru said, “but no matter how you look at it this is nothing but a disgrace to our family.”

“It’s a disgrace to mine too,” Tamasha added in, “but really who cares. My father is dead and so is yours.”

“Um whets going on?” Kagome asked.

“Oh you couldn’t tell,” Infernoflames responded as he continued to look at both Tamasha and Sesshoumaru, “well I am sure you know about the battle between Inutasha and Ryoktsei. Tamasha here is the daughter of Ryoktsei.”

Everything then made sense to Kagome. From what she had heard from Sesshoumaru so far it was Ryoktsei who was not only responsible for the death of his father, but also the death of his mother. Of course there would be problems when he was in the same room with the daughter of his families enemy. Inferno claimed there was no more animosity though. The stare down only lasted for a few more seconds before Tamasha turned her gaze on to Kagome.

“And tell me Sesshoumaru why are you giving Inferno such a hard time?” Tamasha asked, “You have got a human as a mate. I thought you vowed to never let that happen.”

“Wait I’m confused,” interrupted Inferno, “she smells and looks youkai to me.”

“Its all just a potion and make up probably,” Tamasha informed him, “this is Kagome. You know the girl who was traveling with Inuyasha. I can’t understand why she would be with Sesshoumaru though because as you know Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru don’t really get along.”

“It’s a long story,” sighed Kagome, “wait how do you know about me?”

“You traveled with Inuyasha, a monk, a kitsune, and a demon slayer in pursuit of both Naraku and the jewel shards, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Lets just say I have my own grudges against Naraku and I wanted to do a little spying to make sure there were fighters out there willing to defeat him. I would have tried to fight him myself if Sesshoumaru over there wouldn’t have distracted me.”

Kagome then turned her attention over to Sesshoumaru hoping for an explanation.

“She carried the scent of the dreaded dragon demon that caused my family pain,” Sesshoumaru explained, “so naturally I fought with her. She is stronger then she looks though I will admit so I could never defeat her.”

“No, but you brought along your cousin to help stop me. And somehow we just fell for each other. Then Sesshoumaru realized I was very little when my father died and I have no memory of him to have been a part of his misfortune so he has left me alone.”

“Still why do you chose not to fight Naraku?” Kagome questioned.

“For the same reason that Sesshoumaru doesn’t try to fight me anymore. It is really Onigumo that I have a hate towards not Naraku, and Onigumo is gone. So it is all pointless. And everyone in your group deserve to kill him more then I do.”

“Well cuz I still preparing tonight’s dinner, but the problem is the thing isn’t dead yet and I am not good at killing just burning,” said Inferno, “care to help me?”

It was then both Sesshoumaru and Inferno left the mouth of the cave and went in deeper leaving Tamasha and Kagome all alone.

“There maybe hope for him you know,” Tamasha whispered.

“Hope for Sesshoumaru?” asked Kagome, “I doubt it.”

“I wasn’t talking about him. Of course we know there is no hope for him. I was talking about Inuyasha.”

“So I am guessing you know what Kikyo and Naraku did to him?”

“Yes. It is all being taken care of though so you don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“Whets going on? I haven’t even seen youkai Inuyasha since Inuyasha died. Why is he all of a sudden gone?”

“The Tetsusaiga is why. Every time he gets near it he gets closer to death. Kagura used it to tame him, I don’t know for what purpose though.”

“Then why are you saying there is hope for him.”

“Well I don’t see Kagura wasting her time trying to purposely cause him pain for no reason. She is probably planning to use Inuyasha against Naraku.”

“That’s impossible though. And the sooner he is dead the better the longer youkai Inuyasha stays here the longer his soul with be tortured.”

“I think Kagura will take care of it all just have a little faith.”

“Its hard. I miss him.”

“I can tell I watched you two a lot. I know more then you think.”

“Then you must know why I want to do all I can for Inuyasha no matter if I am in love with him or not. Inuyasha kept risking his life for me no matter what. Sesshoumaru refuses to let me help his brother though.”

“Your going to let that stubborn dog stand in your way of what you want? You are what most of us youkai would call a kint.”

“A kint?”

“I don’t know who made up the word but that’s what us youkai call someone who always obeys and agrees with everything their mate says.”

“I thought that was the fate of all female youkai.”

“Don’t make me laugh. That only happens if your big into tradition. I am definitely not.”

“What about Infernoflames? He is from Sesshoumaru’s family and from what I have seen everything seems pretty traditional to me.”

“Infernoflames? Don’t let blood and looks fool you. He is twice the kint you are.”

“You two seem like quite the opposite. Can’t see how you two became mates.”

“Well were not mates yet we wanted to wait to see Fluffy’s expression. And you know what they say. Opposites attract. From the way you don’t understand these things I assume Sesshoumaru marked you against your will,”

“Of course. I am sure you seen that I had a thing for Inuyasha.”

“Yeah it did seem like you had a crush on him.”

So even Tamasha knew that it was just a crush. It just made her more grateful that Inuyasha had been with Kikyo when he died. He was with someone he loved and someone who actually truthfully loved him back.

“So let me guess,” started Tamasha, “the jerk probably pushed you against a wall or something and just bit you right then and there.”

“Your exactly right.”

“It figures. Inu youkai have all got flaws. While one is nothing more but a kint another one is too predictable. So how has life been for you so far now that this dramatic change has happened?”

“I can’t stand it. His demon blood has taken too much control and he is a little too affectionate.”

“So that’s the only problem?”

“Well he marked me without me my permission and I don’t think I could ever forgive him for that, but everything else hasn’t been so bad I guess. Sesshoumaru can be a little rough around the edges but on the inside he isn’t too bad.”

“That’s true. Nobody should judge someone on his or her family or appearance. When I tracked down Sesshoumaru I thought he was nothing more then a cold blooded killer until he called a truce and said our fighting was pointless.”

“Yeah he is pretty wise I guess.”

“Don’t get me wrong fluffy does have a lot of bad points too. Like I can tell you are doomed to forever be a kint.”

“Kint huh? Its not as though I am trying to be one. Plus it sounds to me like that is Inferno’s nickname.”

“Nah, he is a kint but that’s not even a fraction of all he is. I usually just call him baka. So you can have his old nickname kint.”

“It will work I guess. So does he call you any certain nickname?”

“He knows I will kill him if he even tries.”

“I can tell there is much in love in this relationship.”

“There is. I love him to death, but I refuse to be a kint and sadly he is still a baka.”

“Quit calling me that,” whined Infernoflames as both him and Sesshoumaru came back.

“Well then quit being one,” Tamasha shot back.

After hearing the two argue some more they finally went a little bit further into the cave where a small table was located. There they ate their dinner, which was a big serving of deer. Kagome had never had it before, but she soon developed a taste for it as she helped Sesshoumaru tell the story about how she became pregnant and became Sesshoumaru’s mate. They didn’t say anything, but Kagome could see that Tamasha wanted to scold Sesshoumaru for what he had done.

“So cuz you going to set up a wedding or anything?” asked Inferno.

“Don’t call me that,” Sesshoumaru growled, “and no I won’t. That’s a human tradition.”

Kagome was ready to protest, but Inferno cut in, “Tamasha told me all about them and they sound fun. Plus Kagome is human.”

“I have chosen to consider her as a youkai and youkai don’t take part in such events,” replied Sesshoumaru.

“And that is why we are all so boring,” Tamasha added in, “me and baka were thinking about having a wedding though.”

“You have spent too much time around humans,” Tamasha told Sesshoumaru.

“Well Fluffy I think you have spent too much time around stuffy youkai.”

Kagome just sat back and watched the fun begin. Sesshoumaru seemed to get irritated every time Tamasha and Infernoflames spoke. She had never seen him this way before. His relatives must have really been getting to him. It was quite funny. Especially when timid Infernoflames had to come between Sesshoumaru and Tamasha who were about to strangle each other. After that it was all pretty much silence and Kagome felt as though she had to say something.

“You mock Tamasha for spending too much time around humans,” Kagome announced as she stood up like everyone else, “but what about me? We made a deal and since you marked me you have to spend your whole life with me. So do you have a problem with being with humans because that’s what your going to have to go through.”

Sesshoumaru who was also standing up because of his fight with Tamasha turned his attention from his relatives and looked at Kagome for a few seconds before responding, “as I have said I am going to consider you as youkai. Even if I have to get you to change as much of your lifestyle as possible.”

“Well sure you can just easily look at me and say I am a demon,” Kagome responded, “but that doesn’t make it true. You can’t change who a person is.”

“I know Kagome,” Sesshoumaru said softly, “and your right originally my plan was to just replace you with a youkai female, but that’s not possible at the moment. So I was thinking it would be wise to just come up with a way to change you into a youkai.”

“That’s not possible and even if it was I would never allow that. I want to stay what I am even if that means I am a weak human.”

“I am your male mate though and I say if I find a way you will become one whether you like it or not. Your opinion doesn’t matter to me.”

Kagome turned around and faced the wall. She didn’t want to look at him anymore. Especially with her new tears in her eyes. So her opinion didn’t matter to him after all? That was just special. Not had did he doom her to forever being his, but also he would never love her. He just wanted her because of his children and his desires. She would never be more then a mother and a pocession.

“I hate you,” Kagome whispered knowing he could hear it as she stomped out of the small kitchen and looked for the exit.

Sesshoumaru moved forward to get her and tell he off for saying such degrading things to him and embarrassing him in front of his cousin and Tamasha. Tamasha put her hand on his shoulder though and shook her head no. As much as Sesshoumaru didn’t want to he sat down and took Tamasha’s advice. Tamasha after all was a female and probably knew this wasn’t the time for him to give Kagome a piece of his mind.

“May I?” Tamasha asked Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru nodded and Tamasha headed out of the cave to go talk to Kagome.

“That was stupid cuz,” Infernoflames said as he sipped his tea.

“She needs to learn to accept that since I am the Lord of the Western Lands what I say goes for her.”

“Your still big into tradition aren’t you? This is different though Cuz. Those traditions only apply to those with youkai mates Kagome is human everything is different. You just can’t consider her as a demon.”

“It doesn’t matter. I will repeat myself one final time...I will change her into the one.”

“How? Tell me that. Are you going to be like Inuyasha who looked for the shikon jewel so he could become demon?”

“I will not use the shikon no tama on her. That jewel seems to only bring misery. There has to be something else.”

“So that’s why you don’t want to use the jewel? It seems like you do care about her then. After all you don’t want her to be miserable.”

“She doesn’t deserve it,” Sesshoumaru sighed, “its because of my demon blood that she is having to deal with all of this right. Its all my fault. Not exposing her to that jewel is the least I can do for her.”

Kagome sat down at the mouth of the cave and looked up at the stars. What was she going to do? Sesshoumaru was going to end up making her miserable if he kept trying to change who she was. She thought everything was going to be okay once she agreed not to look for Inuyasha if he agreed not to replace her, but it just made things worse. Kagome could feel the presence of someone behind her, but she didn’t turn around.

“I don’t blame you,” said Tamasha, “you probably should hate him after all he has done, but sadly you can hate him as much as you want and say what you want, but it won’t help you in anyway. You have been marked and you will have to put up with him until one of you die.

“That’s the answer I could always kill him,” Kagome cried.

“If you really wanted to do something like that you would have done it awhile ago,” Tamasha noted as she sat down by Kagome, “plus I don’t think your children would like to find that out.”

“Its only been six days since that curse was put on me Tamasha,” Kagome told her, “it hasn’t even been a week yet but already I have been cursed, kidnapped, watched my best friend die at the hands of the dead miko, gave birth to a child, expecting two more on the way, marked, and told I would become a demon. I need a brake from all of these changes.”

“Well its hard to get your way with Sesshoumaru but I am sure if you just tell him you would like a brake from him doing anything life changing he will understand. That’s the best part of having him as a mate.”

“He didn’t understand the fact that I want to stay human.”

“That’s because it’s hard to get his mind off something he wants and that something is a youkai mate. Sesshoumaru has caring in his heart though. That’s why I don’t hate him anymore, because Sesshoumaru saved me once.”

“Saved you? You were his most hated enemy though.”

“I know. You see I haven’t had exactly what you would call the best life and it all leads up to fights I keep having with my sister.”

“You fight with your sister?”

“It’s a very long and confusing story kind of like the one with Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru or a better example would be the one with Sango and Kohaku. My sister Tamisho is bent on killing me because she believes a betrayed her when I was younger which I did not. I refuse to fight though, she is my sister. Well one day Tamisho used this powerful weapon against me that almost took my life as I just stood there and thought about how I could talk Tamisho out of it. Sesshoumaru then came and told me that I needed to protect myself instead of just waiting today and I should just remember Tamisho as I knew her along time ago instead of trying to get the old one back.”

“Sesshoumaru said all of that?”

“Yes he did and I left with him and that was the day I found Infernoflames, went to the western lands, and started a new life.”

“I see. Let me ask you though. You said your sister says you betrayed her and you didn’t. Was it Naraku that started the fight?”

“No, if it was Naraku I would have helped you and Inuyasha fight him. It was Onigumo who done it.”

“Sesshoumaru was still wrong that day. You can still tell your sister it was Onigumo’s fault. Now since he told you to leave the fight Tamisho still hates you. If you have the ability to help someone you should do it.”

“I will consider that, but right now we are dealing with your problems. Basically what I am saying is there is nothing that can be done. Be with Sesshoumaru, do it for your children and do it for yourself.”

“I guess I have no choice do I?”

“You really don’t unless you want to consider killing him.”

“I think I will save killing him for a later date,” said Kagome putting on a smile as she got up and prepared to go back to Sesshoumaru.