InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Faithless Love ❯ Fertile ( Chapter 6 )

Faithless Love

By: Memories Void

 

Disclaimer: The characters from Inuyasha were created by Rumiko Takahashi and I lay no claim to them.

 

Author's note: Thanks for all your patience and reviews. I'm in a bit of a hurry today so I'm not going to go through my reviews looking for questions. Sorry, but I thought you guys would like to see this update anyways.

 

Chapter 6: Fertile

 

-----

 

It was her damn smile that made him lose. Such a simple gesture had driven him to distraction. He felt utterly disgusted with himself. But as protocol demanded, he hid his irritation and greeted the young woman.

 

“Good morning, Lady Kagome,”

 

She bowed her head slightly in greeting, “Hello, Kouga.”

 

That cheerful, naïve smile was still there, the wolf demon noted. Behind her there was a trail of youkai children. They were a noisy bunch, bickering and chattering on and on, all except for the boy. The one that had been with Kagome the day she was attacked, he stood solemnly by her side.

 

“I made a visit to your room just a moment ago,”

 

He had purposely left the room before she could find him there. It's not that he wasn't grateful for her offer of help. It was just that her presence made him uneasy. Knowing himself, he recognized the beginnings of respect forming for the petite human female. Though he had met her only once, he saw the makings of something great within her-he had actually begun to understand why Lord Sesshoumaru would mate a human. He also knew it was a dangerous thing to become too attached to another youkai's mate; even if he had no intentions of pursuing her.

 

Lady Kagome was still talking, he noted, watching her lips move but not hearing the words. Her eyes were darting all over the place, watching the other youkai guards around them practicing; swordsmanship, hand-to-hand combat or whatever special skills they had. He himself had been sparring with a fellow soldier when she had entered the dojou. Thus, his irritation; she was not supposed to be in the dojou unescorted. And a legion of children did not count as a proper escort.

 

“My Lady,” he interrupted as politely as possible, “where is Lord Sesshoumaru? Shouldn't you have some kind of escort?”

 

“Excuse me, but who are you to order Lady Kagome around?” the young youkai beside the woman stated, crossing his arms in a haughty manner. Kouga suddenly remembered why he never wanted to have children. They were all brats.

 

Before the wolf could make a retort, Kagome spoke. She was frowning down at the boy, her displeasure at his rudeness clearly written on her face.

 

“Kyuusai, that wasn't a nice thing to say,” She scolded, “remember what I told you earlier?”

 

The boy's back stiffened and he turned to face Kouga, with a rigid sort of grace, he bowed.

 

“Thank you, for saving Lady Kagome and I yesterday,” Kyuusai said through clenched teeth. Then, he turned back to Kagome.

 

“And?” she urged.

 

Kouga could practically hear the boy's fangs grinding against each other and for a moment he thought the demon child would refuse to comply. But he was surprised.

 

“And forgive me for being rude,” he spat out.

 

Kagome smiled sheepishly at the wolf youkai and offered her own apology, which Kouga waved off. It wasn't really a big deal to him. Something he did find intriguing was the placating manner in which the Lady Kagome placed her hand on the young demon's shoulder. She gave it a little squeeze before bringing her hand up to brush over the boy's hair.

 

“Well then, if you'll just let me have a look at your arm I can let you get back to your training,” she offered.

 

Kouga nodded and offered her his arm. With the same careful, cool touch she had used yesterday, Kagome unwrapped the bandage. Then, she frowned again, her smooth smiling face wrinkling a bit with the change in expressions. Looking down at the wound, Kouga could see why. It hadn't healed yet, in fact it hadn't even closed and the skin at the edges of the wound were slightly discolored.

 

“This isn't good,” Kagome muttered. Kyuusai leaned over her arm and sniffed at the wound.

 

“It definitely doesn't smell good,” the young youkai offered to his mistress. Then in a whisper that only demon ears could pick up, “but maybe that's just the smell of dirty wolf.”

 

“Why you little-,” Kouga lunged forward towards Kyuusai, who quickly stepped back. Fortunately for the younger youkai, Kagome still held onto Kouga, who knew better then to drag her along with him.

 

“Kouga, what on earth are you doing? Leave Kyuusai alone!” the young lady nearly shouted.

 

“Lady Kagome, Kyuusai provoked him,” Megumi said from the other side of Kagome. The girl youkai sent a cool glance towards her friend, who just glared at her in a promise of punishment.

 

Kagome sighed in exasperation, but decided to ignore Kyuusai in favor of Kouga's wound.

 

“It's infected, I think,” she really didn't know for sure since she had never really treated any wounds before. “I don't know how demons handle things like this…”

 

Kouga shrugged, he didn't know either.

 

“Did you clean the wound yesterday?” Kagome asked.

 

“I cleaned the blood off my arm…”

 

“But did you clean the wound itself?”

 

The wolf demon shook his head sheepishly. He had figured the wound would heal by the next day… besides, cleaning cuts hurt like hell.

 

“Well, then… Megumi, could you please fetch me soap and a clean cloth. One of the other children has a bucket of water already.”

 

“Here!” a little demon boy with violet eyes and bronze colored hair, shouted, hurrying forward with a bucket. Kagome smiled at him and pat him gently on the head.

 

The black haired demoness, Megumi, as Kagome had dubbed her, inclined her head in acknowledgement of her Lady's request before walking off to find the materials.

 

Kouga gulped, dreading the return of the little demoness. He wanted to run, but the thought of Lord Sesshoumaru punishing him for running from Lady Kagome wasn't a pleasant one. It was even less pleasant than the thought of how much it was going to hurt when they put soap on his wound.

 

Life just wasn't fair! He had done a good deed and now here he was… being held on-to by some beautiful, seemingly kind-hearted human woman who was worried about him. On second thoughts… maybe life wasn't so bad after all.

 

-----

 

They say children and animals can sense good people, they know who to trust. Well, she already had all the children in the castle at her beck and call. They all adored her, not just because she was the only adult who took the time to play with them, but because they could tell she really liked being with them. It wasn't through some resigned duty that she came to them, to watch and join them in their games.

 

He had been watching her as closely as one of his station could for the last six months. Nothing she did seemed particularly suspicious. Sometimes she would do something odd, like sit around by herself staring at the sky or stopping as she walked; just to simply gaze at some inanimate object, which she would then smile at.

 

So, he decided this would be his final test. His wound had long since healed and yet she still came to visit him almost every-other day. She seemed more relaxed around him then the other full-grown demons, perhaps she felt that because they had helped each other some kind of friendship had been formed. He truly did enjoy her presence. But in the back of his mind there was always the lingering doubt, the distrust. If she could make it in the stables, he would banish those thoughts from his mind. After all… children and animals… they had that sixth sense, right?

 

He hoped so.

 

“Good morning, Kouga!” she called out brightly, her self-appointed body guard looking sour behind her. Kyuusai still disliked the wolf youkai.

 

“Morning, Lady Kagome,” he answered, grinning at her. As usual, as she entered the training grounds, the movement all around her slowed. Demons backed off from their sparring to watch her. Some with distrust, others with respect, and some were just downright curious.

 

A few of them Kagome greeted by name and they all returned her smile. Most of the ones who respected her were the parent's of the castle children. A few others were youkai who had been there when she graciously accepted the thanks of Kyuusai's parents and asked to personally thank the demon who had saved her.

 

She came to a pause before Kouga, who bowed in recognition of her noble blood. Months ago she had told him that the gesture was an unnecessary one, but still, Lord Sesshoumaru would expect it.

 

“I see you've brought your reluctant escort again, Lady Kagome,”

 

An indignant look crossed the young youkai's face and he was about to shout something when Kagome interrupted.

 

“Oh, no arguing today, please!” she begged, her voice sweet and childish, “remember what you promised me, Kouga?”

 

Childish, indeed. It was rumored the Lady Kagome was barely 16 years old. It would definitely explain a few things. But by demon standards, it was down-right scandalous to take a woman so young. Since not many of them knew much about human customs, they had to just trust that their lord had taken her honorably by human standards at least. No one knew under what circumstances their demon lord and human lady had become joined. None dared to even start rumors about such a thing.

 

“Yes, Lady Kagome, I remember. If you're ready then we can start walking to the stables now.”

 

She gave a little cheer and clapped her hands excitedly. Behind her Kyuusai rolled his eyes. Sometimes, she was even more of a kid than him.

 

“I didn't even know this castle had a stable,” Kagome admitted, walking beside Kouga.

 

“You've been here for nearly a year. How could you not have known?” Kyuusai asked.

 

“I never thought about it. I mean, I thought demons didn't need horses. Sesshoumaru runs really fast so I figured all demons could.”

 

Kouga chuckled, “You can't compare all demons to Lord Sesshoumaru. He is one of the most powerful demons currently in existence. Some might say he is the strongest ever. But, it is true that most demons are fast. Sorry for saying this, but, they're faster than humans anyway.”

 

The young human woman just smiled, letting him know she was not offended. “I didn't know Sesshoumaru had such prestige,” her voice was a whisper full of wonder. But in her mind it was just another point against her, another reason she was not worthy of him. Now, she could better understand why some of the demons here still had such disdain for her.

 

“Not all demons can run fast,” Kyuusai grumbled.

 

“That's right, the runt over there can't. But then again, he's an owl demon. Owls don't' run.” Kouga said, pointing at the demon boy.

 

“An owl? Wow, I had no idea, Kyuusai. Can you fly?”

 

“If I transform into my true demon form; a giant owl.”

 

Lady Kagome's eyes turned dreamy, “That must be wonderful-to be able to fly. One day you will have to show me your demon form.”

 

Behind her, Kyuusai blushed, a deep crimson color covering his cheeks. But before they could finish the conversation they were at the stables. It wasn't a particularly big structure. They only kept five horses since most youkai didn't need to ride in order to get around quickly. A horse kept all the way in the back immediately caught her eye. It was a shiny black mare.

 

Kagome moved slowly, so as not to alarm the animals. She was a bit scared of them to be absolutely truthful; they were taller than her. Though it seemed like most things were taller then her.

 

She went to the last stall to get a better look at the black mare.

 

“I like this one,” she said, “it's beautiful.”

 

“I think they call that one, Leiko,” Kouga offered from beside her.

 

“Do they bite?” she asked.

 

From her other side, Kyuusai snorted.

 

“No, they don't. They belong to Lord Sesshoumaru so they're probably some of the best trained horses around.”

 

Slowly, Kagome reached out to place her hand on the mare's neck. The animal didn't move-it just looked at the human. Then, when Kagome began to run her hand up and down its neck, it nudged her with its nose. It wasn't a particularly hard nudge, but Kagome was clumsy and unprepared for the action and so she fell backwards. Luckily, Kouga was there to catch her.

 

The weight of her in his arms was pleasant. She was light, and warm, her back pressed against his chest. One of his hands had fallen to her hip, to hold her as she stumbled back into him. The scent of her, usually light and flowery seemed heavier somehow. But she pulled away quickly, he could see her flushed cheeks before she turned away.

 

“Are you alright, Lady Kagome?” Kyuusai asked anxiously. After all, he had made it his duty to watch over and protect her.

 

“Yes, Kyuusai, I'm fine,” after taking a deep breath to calm herself, she turned to Kouga, “Thank you for catching me. I can be so clumsy sometimes.”

 

He was about to answer when he caught wind of another scent. Taking a few steps further away from Kagome, he turned and bowed.

 

“Good morning, Lord Sesshoumaru,” the silver-haired demon said nothing, just barely glanced at the wolf.

 

“My Lord, forgive me,” Kyuusai said, falling to his knees, “I should have been paying more attention. Lady Kagome al-,”

 

“Enough,” Sesshoumaru said, in his usual bored tone, “Lady Kagome is fine as far as I can tell.”

 

Kagome moved to stand beside her husband and nodded, “I'm alright, Kouga caught me,” she explained.

 

Kouga winced, wishing she had left out that particular detail.

 

But still, his lord's face remained impassive and all he said was, “I see,” then, to Kyuusai and Kouga, “Leave us.”

 

Watching them leave, Kagome nibbled on her bottom lip. Sesshoumaru was acting strangely, she thought. He hardly ever came looking for her during the morning. If anything, he usually waited until lunch if he had something to tell her, or if he had need of her.

 

Slowly, he approached her, as always he moved with the grace of a predator. Without a word, he put his arms around her and began to untie the elaborate knot of her kimono. Realizing what he was going to do, she gasped, trying to grab his hands.

 

“Sesshoumaru,” it was hard to say his name when she was so nervous, “what are you doing?”

 

He ignored the question, thinking the answer was pretty obvious.

 

“Not here!” she pleaded, “someone might come in…”

 

“No one would dare,” he said, lowering his nose to her fragrant hair. He had noticed the heaviness of her scent immediately when he awoke next to her that morning. Rather then lightly floral, it was the scent of blossoms in full bloom. Then, he had pushed the desire stirring within him aside, now he could not. She was fertile.

 

“B-but if someone sees…”

 

“Who?” he asked, pushing aside her kimono and easily undoing the sash of her inner robe.

 

“…The horses?” Kagome giggled breathlessly, now clinging to his haori. “It feels strange, to-to be with you in a place like this.”

 

There was little patience in him now as he deftly undid the ties to his hakama, letting it fall to the floor. Sesshoumaru ushered her backwards, until her back met with the wooden wall. Her weight felt good in his arms as he lifted her, the heat of her felt even better as she wrapped her legs around him. Her flesh was pliant and willing, though she lightly protested the entire time, as she whimpered and pulled him closer.

 

It was just another phase of heaven. Afterwards, she lazily dressed in her kimono, too tired to tie a good knot in her obi, she settled for something that would just keep her kimono closed. He carried her back to her chambers, and they stayed there for the rest of the day.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------- -

 

Reviews are greatly appreciated! *hint-hint, wink-wink*