InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Double Vision ❯ Chapter 75

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Author’s note:  Kagome misquotes a line from Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s 1845 collection “Sonnets From the Portugese“, Sonnet XLIII, “How Do I Love Thee” in this chapter.  This chapter is dedicated to ForlornDarkness.

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Kagome had expressed her desire to stay with him, rather than be left behind while he dealt with his father.  Sesshomaru ran his fingers through her hair as he stared into the glowing embers of the fire.  He felt comforted by the feeling of her soft lips against the hard muscles of his chest.  He was cradling her in his arms again, and she was in a half-doze, exhausted by their activities.  A trickle of his blood escaped her lips, and ran down his chest.  He smiled down on her.  So soft, so cute, so loving.  She did not want to be apart from him.  That made him happy.  He knew he was a better mate for her than Inuyasha had been.  His thoughts turned sour.  To be able to claim to be a better mate than his half-wit, half-brother was not saying much.  During the short time they had been mated he had already let her down in so many ways.  Kagome, being who she was, would always forgive such transgressions and hide her hurt away inside.  Damn it!   He wanted to please her, and for his own sake wanted to keep her with him.  And, after all, she was not truly safe here either, in this cave.  Even if the chances of his father finding her hiding place were small, Inuyasha was also a great threat, to one as vulnerable as she.  And involuntary growl came from his chest, his beast reacting to the thoughts of his rivals disturbing this peaceful time with his mate.

When he was younger, everything had seemed so clear.  He would train, and study, and gain power, until he became powerful enough to surpass and defeat his father.  He would expand his father’s holdings, and build an empire.  The older he got, the more complicated and confusing life became.  He began to realize that the empire he had talked about, all those long nights with just Jaken for company, had not been his dreams, but those of his father.  When his missing arm regenerated, it was symbolic of his coming of age, finding himself, claiming his own power because he had grown enough that striving after his father’s fang no longer held any meaning.  ‘What is an empire to such as I, Sesshomaru?’  He continued to stoke his fingers through the satiny hair of his mate, his love.  ‘I, who could never bring myself to spend my time, entombed in a marble palace, my days taken up by parchment and ink, surrounded by pathetic sycophants?’  Kagome could never be happy under such conditions.  He would never ask that of her.  He had already begun pursuing his next quest, finding a way to extend Kagome and Rin’s lives without spoiling their innocence.  That’s what he and Jaken had been away doing when he left Rin in Edo after the defeat of Naraku.  Rin’s innocence seemed to be thoroughly compromised at this point, but not beyond hope of redemption.  Given enough time, there was always hope of redemption.  Another reason to find a way to overcome the girls’ mortality.

He was grateful, not for the first time, that his mother was content to spend her life in the palace, while he was free to roam the length and breadth of Japan.  He thought of abdicating, finding a strong mate for his mother, and wandering with his bride.  The thought actually made his beast purr.  His mouth quirked.  His beast obviously had no interest in founding an empire.  It all sounded so simple, but he knew that any new mate his mother took would be forced to try to eliminate him and Kagome.  Otherwise the succession to the throne of the West would be complicated by any offspring he and Kagome produced.  Not that he intended to pup her.  The last thing the world needed was more hanyou filth.  This was all so annoying.  Why did everything have to be so convoluted?

Suddenly, the peaceful atmosphere of the cave was disrupted when Kagome raised her hand and slapped herself hard, across the cheek.  Sesshomaru looked down in shock at her reddening face.  “What are you doing, mate?”

Kagome was looking down at the palm of her hand.  “Grandpa Myoga!”

“Lord Sesshomaru, Lady Kagome!  Greetings and Salutations!”   

Sesshomaru growled.  Myoga was Inuyasha’s retainer.  He was disturbed by Kagome’s obvious fondness for the useless flea.

Myoga found himself surrounded by the heady warmth of Kagome and Sesshomaru’s mingled scents.  He watched as a jewel of garnet blood ran from the corner of Kagome’s mouth.  He was beyond shocked when Sesshomaru reached out with an elegant hand, using his knuckle to wipe the drop of blood from Kagome’s face.  Kagome was drinking Sesshomaru’s blood?  He must be dreaming.  He pinched himself.  It hurt!  Not a dream.    

“What brings you here, Grandpa Myoga?”  Kagome asked gently.  She always felt guilty after smashing the flea demon, not matter how annoying it was to be bitten by him.  He was a friend and ally, after all.  And a font of information.  “Do you have any news of Inuyasha and the others?  Has Sango had her baby yet?  It’s beyond time…”

Myoga was normally a pompous little character, but the strange circumstances put him at a loss for words.  He was frankly terrified of Sesshomaru, and finding him and Kagome together in such an intimate setting was very strange and disturbing.  He cautiously hopped onto Kagome’s bare shoulder, suddenly assimilating the ramifications of her state of dishabille, Sesshomaru’s bare chest, and their mingled scents.  Her shoulder bore the mating mark of the Lord of the West.  “Errrr…  It would appear that congratulations are in order, My Lady.”

Kagome tried to think of an appropriate response.  What could Myoga possibly be thinking of her?  He was Inuyasha’s retainer, after all!  “Thank you, Myoga.  Lord Sesshomaru is a most honorable mate.”

Sesshomaru growled.  “Is that all I am?”

Kagome blushed prettily, and raised her eyes to gaze into his.  Her pupils expanded, her big pansy-like eyes becoming almost black, and he could feel her heart beat faster against his chest.  Her scent went from contentment to excitement.  Sesshomaru laughed.  Just a short bark of a laugh, but still…  “That’s more like it, mate.”

Myoga could not believe his eyes.  “Who are you, and what have you done with Lord Sesshomaru?”  He demanded.  He did not notice Sesshomaru pull a strand of his long, white hair from his head.  Sesshomaru quickly formed a little noose, and used it to collar the flea.    Sess tied the loose end to one of the tassles on his armor, which lay in a pile by the side of their bed.

“You will not attempt to escape.  Now, I believe the Lady of the West asked you some questions.  You will answer.  Or die.”  Myoga recognized the look he was receiving from Sesshomaru.  It would behoove him to answer Kagome’s questions, and do it in a way which would not upset her.

“My Lady…”

“Kagome.”  She interrupted, “Just Kagome, jii-chan.  Surely I do not have to tell you that.”

Myoga sketched a little bow.  “As always, it is an honor that you regard me so, Lady of the West or not.”  He crossed two tiny rows of arms across his chest.  “I came across Lord Inuyasha in the forest.  Someone has cut off one of his arms.  When I asked him who had done such a thing, at first he was reluctant to answer.  But finally, he told me it was you, Kagome.  How could such a thing be true?”

“Flea!”  Sesshomaru said menacingly.  “Your Lady is asking.  You are answering.”

“It’s okay, Sesshomaru.  He needs to know, and then I’m sure he will tell me all about my friends, right, Myoga?”

“Thank you, Lady Kagome.  I’m sure you can explain how such a thing happened.  It is beyond the comprehension of this old flea.”

Kagome sighed at his assumed modesty.  She knew that Myoga valued himself very highly, indeed, and that his respect was just a put-on to satisfy her aggressive mate.  “I was the one who cut off Inuyasha’s arm, jii-chan.  And I am very sorry, but I had no choice.  He was about to kill Kohaku, and try to take me away from my mate.  He had lost control to his demon blood, and it was the only way I could stop him!”

‘Try to take her from her mate?’  Myoga thought.  He had seen some very strange things in his long life, but he had never once imagined that Kagome would willingly abandon her lawful husband, who was also her true love, for his vicious and high-strung brother.  Sure, Sesshomaru had the looks, and the status, and the wealth, and the power, but Kagome was no gold-digger.  Something was very wrong here.  

“I did notice that Inuyasha was not wearing his beads of subjugation, Kagome.  Was it you who removed them?”  Myoga had never noticed that Kagome possessed the necessary physical strength or skills to overcome Inuyasha with a sword, but he did not mention that.  Now was no time to be insulting the girl.

“No.  I would never have been so foolish, no matter how many times Inuyasha tried to talk me into taking them off.  It was Rin that did it.”

“And what of Rin?  If you crossed paths with my wretched half-brother, did you also see my ward?”  Asked Sesshomaru.

“Rin was with him, My Lord.  She seemed…  subdued.  They both were in very poor condition, soaked in blood and filth.  Neither one looked well-fed or happy.”

Sesshomaru sighed.  He had harbored no expectations of a happy reconciliation for the pair, but he had at least hoped they would make their way back to Edo safely.  He had no obligation to share information with Myoga, but it seemed like a good time to bring Kagome up to speed on the situation with Rin and Inuyasha.  “You know the saying ‘Like Father, Like Son’.  As our father did to my mother, Inuyasha betrayed Kagome for another.  My ward, Rin.  He pupped her, then threw her away when he discovered that I had mated Kagome to regain her honor and that of our family.”

“Is that all I am to you as well, Sesshomaru?”  

He looked down to find Kagome looking back at him, a blank look on her face.  Shit.  He was not good at this.  “I would die for you, Kagome.”  Still the blank look.  “I love you, Kagome.”

She smiled up at him.  “And I you, mate.  To the widths and depths and breadths of all my heart.”

“Ahemmm…”

Sesshomaru wrenched his gaze from that of his mate.  It was difficult.  Returning to his typical, no-nonsense style, he finished his story.  “Rin ran to the exterminator monk Ungai.  She tricked him into purifying Inuyasha’s pup.”

Kagome gasped.  It was so sad!  Sure she was not happy with Inuyasha and Rin, and their callous treatment of her, but she would never have wished something so horrible upon the pair!

“Sesshomaru, it sounds like they need us.  We have to go to them, now!”  



 



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