InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Condom City ❯ To Make a Deal You Have To ... ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3: To Make a Deal You Have To ...

Over the next few days, the small group encountered several youkai that had small shards of the Shikon no Tama, and even a few of Naraku's puppets, but it was proving very difficult to find the evil hanyou himself. At the end of the third day, after Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha had finally called a halt to their progress, due to the complaining of their human companions, Kagome and Inuyasha were finally able to find some time to themselves.

Kagome and Sango had taken Rin to go take a bath in a hotspring that was nearby, which was one reason the girls had wanted to stop there. Rin had played around and splashed for quite a while, until she wore herself out and Sango got out to take Rin back to the others, leaving Kagome to relax in the spring alone for a while.

Closing her eyes, she lowered herself into the water and sighed deeply. "Inuyasha, you can come out now," Kagome said with her eyes still closed. She smiled as she heard the light thump on the ground behind her that signaled his drop to the forest floor, probably off a branch of one of the surrounding trees.

"Ruin all my fun," Inuyasha muttered as he dropped down to sit behind Kagome as she leaned against the side of the spring.

"Oh," she asked as she spun around in the water, folding her arms on the top of the rock she had been leaning against. "Watching me bathe is fun, huh," she said as she rested her chin on her crossed arms.

Inuyasha cursed the rock that was blocking his view of Kagome's chest. "Yea. I enjoy it, anyway," he replied, looking smugly at her. "You said you'd be my mate, so I should at least get to watch."

Kagome thought about it for a moment. "Now that depends. Are you going to tell me what you and Sesshoumaru talked about the other day that resulted in the truce?" She smiled up at Inuyasha from where she kneeled in the spring, liking how he looked sitting in front of her without his usual scowl.

His face dropped some. "It's complicated," he said avoiding looking in her eyes.

"So explain it to me, Inuyasha. I don't like not knowing what's going on with you two. I know he wouldn't just come offer his help. There has to be more to it," Kagome said, her tone pleading with him to tell her.

"You'll probably 'sit' me for it," Inuyasha grumbled.

"Why would I do that," Kagome asked, truly confused now.

"Sesshoumaru said he would help, but you're right. He wants something in return. He said if he struck the final blow, or if I got hurt during the fight with Naraku so that he had to save me, or a bunch of other stupid stuff, that he would get to take you as his mate. He said that that girl, Rin, needed a mother, and no youkai female around would care for a human child, but Rin already knows you and likes you. It would all be for his convenience," Inuyasha explained. As he thought back on that conversation now, he couldn't believe he had agreed to something so stupid.

"Why did you agree to that without talking to me first. And if he wants me to go with him, he should have talked to me about it, instead of going to you," Kagome said in an amazingly calm voice.

"Would you?"

"Would I what?"

"Would you have gone with him if he had asked you directly," Inuyasha asked. "You wouldn't just be there to care for Rin. You two would become mates, in every meaning of the word."

"I wouldn't have gone with him, but something could have been worked out for me to take care of Rin anyway," Kagome replied. "So why did he talk to you instead of me?"

"He kind of views us as a pack, and I'd be the alpha male, so it would be up to me to make most of the decisions for the pack. That and he kind of views you as my mate anyway, even though we haven't become mates offically. It kind of goes along with the us being a pack thing. In a pack, I'd be the alpha male, you'd be the alpha female, and it would just make sense for us to be mates. A lot of it has to do with inu youkai insticts," Inuyasha explained.

"Why did you ask me to be your mate, then? After all that? If we were to mate, would he not be able to take me away," Kagome asked, worry creeping into her voice.

"I asked because I want you as my mate. But it wouldn't stop him. He could just challenge me to a fight for the right to be your mate. Only this fight wouldn't end with him losing an arm or me getting a hole through my stomach. It would be to the death," he explained quietly.

Kagome gasped, her hand moving over her mouth. "Why would you do that," she asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

Inuyasha looked away, his bangs covering his eyes. "I agreed to his terms for the truce because I know we need the help. I know it was stupid to agree without talking to you about it first. I asked you to be my mate, regaurdless of the consequences, because I love you, and I will fight to keep you. I won't let him take you from me," he swore, looking Kagome in the eye.

Kagome turned back around in the spring, wrapping her arms around her shoulders, her tears streaming down her cheeks as soon as she wasn't facing him. "I won't let you get yourself killed because of me," she said quietly, her voice amazingly steady compared to how upset she was. "Leave me alone, now," she told him, her shoulders beginning to shake with her silent sobs.

She heaved a sigh when she heard the rustle of leaves and felt his aura leaving. Certain she would be left alone for a while, she let her tears freely stream down her cheeks as sobs shook her body. Kagome huddled in on herself, sinking lower in the water to absorbed the heat of the water.

"I thought you were stronger than this, human," a smooth, clearly male voice said from behind Kagome.

She spun around, wiping at the tear tracks on her cheeks, her eyes landing on the crisp form of Sesshoumaru. Covering her chest, Kagome sunk below the surface of the water.

"What do you want, Sesshoumaru," Kagome growled at him, her anger showing clearly on her face through her other emotions.

"I merely came to see my future mate," Sesshoumaru told her, his eyes never leaving her.

"Why do you want me, a lowly human, as your mate? I thought you hated weaker beings," she asked, hoping to throw him for a loop.

Sesshoumaru smirked. "At least you have the proper attitude." His gaze hardened with his next words. "You intrigue me, human, and for that reason alone, I have chosen to honor you with the priveledge of being my mate."

Kagome glared at him. "For one, I was being sarcastic. Two, what makes you think I even want to be your mate? Why should I go with you, even if that's what your deal with Inuyasha says I have to do? You want me, you come talk to me. Don't try going over my head, by going to Inuyasha. He doesn't control me. I control my life, no one else," she yelled at the western lord. "And another thing, if I intrigue so much, then why haven't you bothered to learn my name?"

Sesshoumaru met her glare, his blood stirring, heating at her angry words directed towards him. "I know your name, human," he emphasized the word, knowing it would irratate her further. "I just choose not to address you as such," he told her.

"You don't even care if I would be unhappy with you, do you," she asked, her voice growing soft with her sadness.

"Not particularly," he agreed. He saw she was about to yell at him again, and decided to stop her. "I do know that your experience with me would not be all bad, though."

Kagome snorted. "What makes you so sure that things will work out that, according to your deal with Inuyasha, I'll have to go with you?"

Sesshoumaru shrugged. "The hanyou is incompetent. I will undoubtably end up doing most of the work. I have even killed the majority of the youkai we have come across since we began this journey."

"That doesn't mean anything. Now, I would appreciate it if you would leave me alone," Kagome growled, not wanting to look at him just then.

Sesshoumaru nodded, turning to leave her to her thoughts, giving her one last thing to think about before he left. "I'm not as bad as Inuyash always makes me out to be." With that, he left her alone in the spring.

~*~

By the time Kagome had returned from the spring, everyone else had successfully set up camp and dinner was cooking over a fire in the middle of camp. She silently plopped down beside her bag and folded the towel she had thankfully left behind one time while almost everyone else watched her with worried eyes.

The past few days, the young preistess had been overly happy, and now she returned from a bath, something that brightened her mood itself, looking even more sullen than she ever had when she caught Inuyasha with Kikyo in the past. Yet, there was now a deeper fire, not one of anger, but of determination, burning in her eyes. None of the travelers knew what had caused her sudden mood shift, and none dared to speak, fearing her wrath.

After a moment of silence, Kagome was wrapped in a hug by two sets of small arms from behind. She turned her head slightly, glancing over her shoulder, and saw Shippo and Rin with their arms wrapped around her tightly. A small smile graced her lips as she turned to return the embrace, the two children being just what Kagome had needed to take her mind off her problems for the time being.

"So, what's for dinner," Kagome asked once she had been released from the hug. She glanced at Sango, a bright smile lighting up her features once more, the slight rumble of her stomach protesting it's hunger bringing a smile to her friends' faces, as well.

~*~

The next few days passed in a blur, filled with more youkai, jewel shards, and fights than they had encountered in the week they had been travelling together. At seemingly odd times, Sesshoumaru would send Jaken off on Ah-Un, not telling the others why, or even where the toad youkai was going. Then, while they were gone, the group would be attacked by some youkai with a jewel shard, leaving Kagome to try and fend off the youkai, which would usually come after the other shards she held, and protect the children.

The group had finally gotten a break on the eighth day and were sitting down to a quick lunch, discussing where they thought Naraku might be hiding, when Sesshoumaru suddenly stood up and walked off without saying a word. Rin got up to follow after him, but Kagome quickly stopped the young girl, telling her the youkai lord would be back shortly.

As Kagome said, Sesshoumaru returned a few minutes later, a hagard looking Jaken following close behind. Both youkai sat down around the small fire they had going to cook lunch over. Rin went over to sit with them, taking a bit of the stew the group was having for lunch over to the tired looking Jaken.

The group remained silent while Jaken ate, Shippo and Rin beginning to doze by their respective parental figures in the early afternoon sun, while Inuyasha shot distrustful looks at his older half-brother. A while later, after the children had fallen asleep, and long after Jaken had had his second bowl of stew, Inuyasha got fed up with waiting for Sesshoumaru to decide to grace them with knowledge he might have gained from the toad. He was about to growl, demanding Sesshoumaru tell them what he knew right when the older youkai spoke up.

"Jaken, through his travels, has obtained several leads as to the whereabouts of Naraku. Since this mindless wandering about has proved fruitless, we will travel in the direction my servant has discovered Naraku to most likely be in," Sesshoumaru said as he began to stand.

Inuyasha growled. "And what direction is that," he asked, splitting his glare between lord and servant.

Sesshoumaru nearly sighed, his patience with the hanyou being severely tested. Sitting back down, he, too, glared at his sibling. "There are many rumors of activity similar to that of when Naraku was present before. All of them originate on the coast west of where we are now. If we are to cover any ground before nightfall, I suggest we leave this place soon."

"Why can't we just camp here for tonight, get rested up, and start out nice and early in morning," Kagome asked, drawing both brothers' attention to her. Fidgeting a bit, now that she had the full attention of both inu brothers, she continued a bit nervously. "Well, Rin and Shippo are already asleep, and all this travelling has got to have been hard on them. And I'm sure needs some rest after all the running Sesshoumaru's had him doing lately," she said, not looking either in the eye. "I'm sure Naraku will still be there wrecking havoc when we get there," she added.

Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha glanced around at the rest of the group, then at each other, nodding once at each other.

"Fine, we'll stay here for the night, then leave at dawn," Inuyasha grumbled. "I want everyone rested up for when we leave, so get lots of sleep. I'm going off to find somthing for dinner," he added before jumping off into the trees.

Kagome sighed before she stood up, grabbing her bow and arrows. "I'll go gather some fire wood," she said as she began to wander off into the woods.

"Not alone."

She turned back to glare at the youkai lord that had spoken up. "What? Are you going to stop me," she questioned before turning back to the woods and continuing on her way.

Sesshoumaru growled as he stood up. "No. I'm going to go with you," he stated as he caught up with her and gripped her elbow before leading her into the woods.

Kagome growled at him, at least as good as she could with her human vocal cords, trying to twist her elbow out of his grasp as soon as they had passed through the tree line. Once they were out of the groups hearing range, she was able to pull herself free, stumbling a few steps as she jerked free, though she knew it was because he had let her go rather than her own strength gaining her her freedom.

Stopping and turning around to glare at the youkai lord standing behind her. "What is your problem," Kagome yelled at Sesshoumaru, her hands on her hips. "You've practically been hovering over me everywhere I go. You growl whenever Inuyasha and I go off to talk. You've just been acting like a little kid, and I want it to stop."

"This Sesshoumaru knows not of what you speak. And my conduct is of no concern to you," he replied, his voice hard as he watched the anger flaring in her eyes.

Kagome glared at him. "I swear, if you don't tell me what your problem is, I will purify you so quick, you won't know what hit you!"

Sesshoumaru moved quickly, grasping Kagome by her throat, and had her pinned to the nearest tree faster than she could follow. A menacing growl was spilling forth from his lips, but if you looked in his eyes, you could tell that he wasn't really angry.

"You were saying," he asked, the corner of his lips tugging up in a small smirk. "Now, you really want to know what my problem is. You have been fighting me on everything I say, including that you will be my mate once Naraku is all taken care of. You insist on being disrespectful to me at every chance you get," Sesshoumaru growled at her, his grip on her neck not tight enough to cut off her air supply as he talked to her. As he finished speaking, he dropped her to the forest floor and turned, heading back to the campsite, leaving Kagome there to try to soothe her abused tailbone.