Kagome sighed as she leaned on the balcony. She was starting to feel like a pet. A week had passed since she first arrived at Sesshoumaru's ancestral home. Everyday she would go outside to play with Rin. Every night she would have dinner with the youkai and the little girl. Like a pet, she was well fed and, she supposed, well taken care of by Sesshoumaru's servants. Strangely enough, she had yet to see any servants but she knew they were there. Somehow, new clothes would be lying on her bed whenever she returned to her room. Everyday now, she had gotten a new kimono to wear to dinner. Kagome looked down at the formal kimono that she wore. It was nothing like she had ever worn before. The material felt so smooth and light on her skin, making her wonder how anything so elegant could feel so comfortable. Too bad my okaa-san couldn't see me looking like this. Kagome thoughts wandered to wonder if Inuyasha would like the way she looked in clothes from their time. She frowned as sh e remembered the way he had looked at her the first time she wore clothes from his time. Kaede had dressed her in miko robes. All Inuyasha could think of was that I looked like Kikyo. Kagome scolded herself mentally.
You're not supposed to think about him anymore. Why are you torturing yourself this way? He chose Kikyo, after all this time, he chose her and not you. You promised yourself to give up on him. Besides, it's not like you could have been with him anyway. You're from the future, and he's from the past. When the jewel is completed what would you do then? You don't even know what he would do with the Shikon no Tama once it is complete. Would he decide to become a full youkai like he keeps saying or would he maybe wish for Kikyo's life. Tears began to well up in Kagome's eyes and she shook her head furiously. Don't cry, don't cry, do NOT cry. Kagome felt a single tear fall and hugged herself tight.
"Kagome onee-chan, daijobu desu ka?" Kagome quickly rubbed her eyes with her fists like a child and looked up. Standing in the doorway behind her, Sesshoumaru was studying her intently. She saw that Rin was watching her with wide eyes. "Ne, Sesshoumaru-sama, why is Kagome onee-chan crying?" Kagome was relieved when Sesshoumaru turned his attention to the little girl.
"I do not know why she cries Rin."
"Daijobu. Daijobu. I just got something in my eye Rin." Smiling tremulously, she rubbed her eyes comically making the little girl laugh. Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at her words. Kneeling beside Rin, Kagome hugged the little girl. "So Rin-chan, what shall we do today?"
"Tomorrow is Sesshoumaru-sama's birthday Kagome onee-chan." The little girl leaned forward and whispered in Kagome's ear. "Onee-chan, can you help Rin make a gift for Sesshoumaru-sama?" Kagome glanced at Sesshoumaru in surprise, which he ignored as he lounged at the door. She suddenly had the insane urge to giggle. This kid is just too cute. He's trying to look as if he's not interested but I have a feeling he is. Kagome smiled brightly at Rin and nodded enthusiastically. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sesshoumaru turn towards the door and Rin turned to follow her idol out. As Sesshoumaru and Rin turned to leave, Kagome realized that Jaken was glaring at her as he followed behind his master. Kagome shivered, the look in Jaken's eyes disturbed her.
~*~*~*~
"Sesshoumaru-sama, commands that you join him for dinner." So saying, the small youkai started tapping his feet impatiently as he waited for Kagome to follow him. Kagome stood and stared down at the youkai with her nose in the air and flounced off down the hall while Jaken ran to catch up. Kagome giggled to herself as she imagined the look on Jaken's face. Serves him right, thinks I'm below him, does he? Eventually, the snooty youkai managed to catch up and led the way to the dining room.
Kagome never failed to be amazed by the magnificence of this castle. The dining room was huge and had a long table in the center. Hanging on one of the walls was a depiction of a distinguished white dog, which Kagome assumed was Sesshoumaru's and Inuyasha's father, the Taiyoukai. Kagome took her place at the table opposite Rin and winked at the little girl. Rin giggled and turned to the head of the table where Sesshoumaru was seated.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, close your eyes. Rin has a surprise for Sesshoumaru-sama." Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at Rin but closed his eyes to humor the child. Rin waved her hands in Sesshoumaru face a couple times and then nodded at Kagome. Kagome put her fingers to her lips and then grabbed Rin's hand. Together they ran back to Kagome's room and looked at the gift they had wrapped earlier. Kagome had no wrapping paper so she had settled for wrapping the gift in a silky red cloth that Rin had brought her. The two girls had had a hard time deciding on what they would make for Sesshoumaru yesterday, as they had no clue what the youkai liked. Kagome knew Sesshoumaru liked the Tetsusaiga but no way was she going to get him that. The gift they had decided on had taken them all day but Kagome was satisfied with the way it came out. And so they headed back to the dining room to find Sesshoumaru with his chin resting on his hands with eyes still closed. Rin giggled as she and Kagome plac ed the youkai's gift in front of him.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, Sesshoumaru-sama, open your eyes!" Rin and Kagome looked on in anticipation as Sesshoumaru looked down. The youkai had no expression on his face whatsoever but then again that was normal for Sesshoumaru. The lord glanced at Rin to find the girl hopping from foot to foot in excitement as she waited for him to open her gift. His brother's wench seemed to have momentarily forgotten that she was his captive and looked excited to see him open the gift. Sesshoumaru gazed at his birthday present curiously. It was wrapped in a silky red cloth that greatly resembled a certain set of curtains in Rin's room. He'd never received a birthday present before.
He remembered a time when the human wench that his father married had thrown a fit because Inuyasha wasn't getting a gift from otou-san. He didn't understand why Inuyasha was getting a gift from their otou-san when it was an occasion that happened every year. Sesshoumaru remembered glancing at their father and the exasperated look in otou-san's eyes as he tried to placate the woman. Right after, otou-san had ruffled the young Sesshoumaru hair and laughed as he joked about humans and their customs. Not that Sesshoumaru had never gotten a gift before from their parents, it just wasn't a birthday present. Gifts from his okaa-san had been for special occasions, like the first time he managed to fully control his demon's rage. His father had been proud and relieved that he had learned to control his demon's rage. The then young youkai's father had been relieved to know that the same incident that happened would not occur again. Sesshoumaru's eyes went glacier cold at the distant m emories.
"Sesshoumaru-sama? Sesshoumaru-sama! Open your gift, Sesshoumaru-sama." He brought his attention back to the gift in front of him and unwrapped it carefully. It wouldn't be worth the trouble to get new curtains Sesshoumaru mentally sighed at the thought. The cloth slid down as he untied the narrow cloth that was tied in a bow. A painting of three stick people and something green with buggy eyes. Rin was looking over Sesshoumaru's shoulders as he looked at the painting and pointed at each figure happily. "See Sesshoumaru-sama, the figure with the long white hair is Sesshoumaru-sama. The small one is Rin and the one with the skirt is Kagome-neechan. Oh oh, and that's Jaken with the big eyes." Sesshoumaru looked at the happy faces on the stick figures representing Rin and Kagome. They were both wearing big smiles. Amused he realized that the figure representing him had no expression on his face. Sesshoumaru sniffed to cover his amusement. "Ne ne, Sesshoumaru-sama, look at Kagome -neechan's painting now."
Sesshoumaru placed Rin's painting beside his chair in order to see the painting behind it. There, on canvas was a depiction of himself, in his real form howling to a full moon. The detail was astonishing as he thought back on the fact that the human girl had only seen him in his real form on one occasion. And on that occasion she had been more likely trying to survive than study his features. Almost like a dream, a depiction of himself in his current form was placed in front of the dog demon. Peeking out from behind him in the painting was Rin smiling her gaped tooth smile. It was a beautiful work of art, coming from a human. Sesshoumaru turned to Rin and Kagome to find them peering at him expectantly.
"SESSHOUMARU, RELEASE KAGOME RIGHT NOW, YOU BASTARD."
It had taken them a week to find Sesshoumaru's palace and when they had found it they hadn't known it. They had traveled with barely any rest, as Inuyasha would insist they move on. As it was, everyone agreed they should hurry and find Kagome before anything happened to her. With Kirara's help Sango and Miroku was able to cover greater distance than would be possible on foot. Following Kagome and Sesshoumaru's scent they were stumped when the scent suddenly disappeared when they reached a thick forest. At that point they had decided to travel in a straight line and see if they would encounter the scent while it had not faded completely. Luckily for them, some distance along they had managed to once a get catch onto Kagome's scent near the edge of the forest. When they arrived, Inuyasha could still smell Kagome's and Sesshoumaru's scent but there was nothing before them. All they could see was an empty field but Inuyasha insisted that Kagome's scent lingered there. There was a lso a faint scent of another human but strangely enough, there was no youkai scent at the end of the trail. It was as if it had faded away with the wind. Thinking back to how Naraku hid his scent Miroku deduced that a similar kind of magic could be at work. Shippo had seen the palace from a distance but the group had thought he was seeing things. A strange thing had happened at that time as Inuyasha had gone quiet and was just staring into nothingness. Inuyasha had then walked to a spot nowhere in particular and placed his hand in the air. Muttering something Inuyasha had somehow managed to dispel the barrier and the palace spread before him. And now they stood at the entrance of Sesshoumaru's palace as they awaited a response of some kind.
This place I used to live here with my okaa-san.
The door opened to Sesshoumaru and Kagome. Inuyasha and friends were surprised to find Kagome just standing next to Sesshoumaru in a kimono. All in all, Kagome looked fine and in fact, looked very well treated. At the moment Kagome was looking at Sesshoumaru anxiously. He's not going to hurt them is he? Sesshoumaru's face was emotionless as usual so Kagome turned to look at her friends. Inuyasha Kagome's hair whipped the air as she shook her head. This is not the time to think about what happened, you have to stop them. Kagome head raised her head in surprise as she felt Sesshoumaru's hand on her shoulder. The youkai was not looking at her but somehow Kagome felt like he knew what she was feeling.
All Inuyasha saw was Sesshoumaru's hand on Kagome. Inuyasha growled and charged towards Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru rushed forward and slashed with his own claws. Impulsive as always, attacking while the one he is trying to save stands a chance of also being injured. As predicted, Inuyasha evaded the attack while Sesshoumaru steered the hanyou further from where Kagome stood. Inuyasha attacked with his claws but none of the blows managed to connect as Sesshoumaru evaded them with his superior speed. Unsheathing Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha let loose a powerful swing causing pieces of the ground to fly at Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru easily evaded the attack and went on the offensive forcing Inuyasha to back up each time he blocked or evaded.
Standing above them on a balcony, Rin and Jaken watched the fight with the utmost confidence that their Sesshoumaru-sama would win. On the ground Miroku looked at Kagome with a thoughtful expression. She didn't look as worried for Inuyasha as she usually did whenever the hanyou fought. Actually, she looked annoyed as she watched the two dog demons. The look on Kagome's face before she buried her face in her hands It was a look of pain and I think it would be safe to say it was because of Inuyasha. Curiously, Kagome had not looked worried or scared when Sesshoumaru had placed he hand on her shoulder. Inuyasha, as worried about Kagome as he was probably did not notice that fact. Kagome had looked surprised, but something had flashed in her eyes as she looked up.
"Sango, why do you think Kagome-sama is still standing over there and hasn't come over to us yet?" Sango turned to the houshi in surprise. "Also, there is another here that has the scent of a human. Who is it and why would Sesshoumaru, a youkai who hates humans, be living with one."
With that said, Miroku headed towards Kagome with Sango following behind him. Shippo tore his eyes away from the fight and started running towards Kagome as he saw the couple heading towards Kagome. Shouting her name, the kitsune cub leapt into her arms as Kagome turned at her name. Shippo was almost crying as he hugged the teenage girl telling her how he had thought he'd never see her again. Kagome hugged the kitsune comfortingly and smiled as her friends approached her.
"Kagome-chan, daijobu desu ka? We heard what happened with you and Inuyasha." Sango hugged Kagome and watched as her smile became tinged with sadness.
"Daijobu. I've decided that it's about time I smartened up and stop torturing myself over Inuyasha and Kikyo. I don't even know what will happen between Inuyasha and I once the Shikon no Tama is complete." Looking down at her hands, Kagome smiled slightly. "I've been torturing myself for so long, trying to figure out who Inuyasha loves. I finally realized it doesn't matter because I don't belong in this time and Kikyo is a living doll. The way I see it, she has a better chance of staying with Inuyasha than I do. Once the jewel is complete, who knows if I'll still be able to use the well to travel back and forth." Kagome lifted her eyes to Sango's sympathetic eyes. "And so, I've decided to do the smart thing and not go beyond the relationship of friends with Inuyasha."
Suddenly, Kagome heard a croak from the balcony where Rin and Jaken stood. Kagome gasped as she realized the fight had gotten more heated, as Inuyasha became frustrated at not being able to hit Sesshoumaru. The two youkai were also getting very close to the balcony as Inuyasha kept slashing with Tetsusaiga. Kagome watched Inuyasha prepare to use the Wound of the Wind as if the world was suddenly running in slow motion. It was going to hit the balcony and with it Rin. Kagome realized that there was no way to stop Inuyasha in time. There wasn't even enough time to utter "Osuwari". It happened in an instant. If anyone had blinked, they would have missed what happened. Someone was screaming and dimly, Kagome realized that she was the one who was screaming. Inuyasha had released the Wound of the Wind and it had hit the balcony.
Slowly, the smoke cleared and rubble could be seen where the balcony used to be. A hole was blasted in the wall of the palace, baring the room's contents to all. All was quiet as they saw the victims of the blow. There, kneeling on one knee, with his back towards them was Sesshoumaru. There was a golden glow about him that seemed to originate from Tenseiga. A big gash could be seen on the youkai's back, dyeing his white kimono with splatters of blood around the wound.