InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Visions ❯ Gods and Demons ( Chapter 7 )

Visions
Chapter Seven
Gods and Demons

“I’m sorry, but I really want to get this straight. We are going to talk to a tree?”

“Not just any tree, Kagome,” Inuyasha said, trying for once to be patient. “You’re going to talk to Bokusenou. He’s like…older than dirt.”

“Right,” Kagome said, dragging out the word. A pause. “Inuyasha, you do know that trees can’t talk, right?”

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and sent a glance to Sesshoumaru, begging him to explain. They had gathered in the main conference room of the penthouse at Myoga’s request, while the flea demon explained his idea to the team. Sesshoumaru had been quiet up until then, amused to see Inuyasha bumbling through his explanations, but decided to be generous and explain.

“Bokusenou is an ancient tree with the ability to see and speak. As such, he has wisdom and knowledge that is incomparable to anyone or anything else. He is also in the service of my family and was a friend of my father.”

“Oh,” Kagome said. “So then you think he’ll know something about the type of demon we’re dealing with?”

All eyes turned to Myouga, who was inconspicuously inching his way to Sango’s neck. “Myouga!” Inuyasha barked, and the little flea demon started and looked guiltily at the group.

“My apologies, Inuyasha-sama. Fresh new blood is always a treat. As I was saying earlier when you arrived, I have never heard of the type of demon you are pursuing. The only person I can think of that could help you is Bokusenou–“

“He’s not a person,” Kagome muttered. “He’s a tree. And I don’t even know why I’m calling he a he. Shouldn’t he be an ‘it’?”

Inuyasha shot her a warning glance, and she lifted her hands in surrender, letting the old demon continue speaking. “He hears things,” Myouga explained. “If there was the slightest whisper about the evil you are seeking, he would know. He is your best bet right now, Sesshoumaru-sama.” He bowed low to Sesshoumaru, who was silent, contemplating everything that had been said.

“Sesshoumaru,” Inuyasha began, but the TaiYoukai interrupted.

“It would be a wasted trip if he knew nothing.”

“It’s not that far…a night trip at most, and even that is pushing it,” Inuyasha argued back. “We can afford a night if he really DOES end up having information.”

“Kagome would be with me if I went to go and see him.” His tone was implacable. The bond wouldn’t let them be apart for that long, regardless. “As such, if the soul-sucker is in the city by now, and she has a vision while we are away, where would that leave us?”

“Whoa, wait, who’s going where?” Kagome cut in. “Why does it have to be Sesshoumaru that goes and sees him? Why didn’t you go and see him while you were already out of the city, Inuyasha?”

Myouga hopped onto Kagome’s shoulder and answered her question. “Because Sesshoumaru-sama is the full blooded son of our master and the heir of the DaiYoukai status. Bokusenou would not speak to Inuyasha-sama simply because he does not have the pure blood that Sesshoumaru-sama has.”

Kagome glanced at Inuyasha, who had a bored look on his face, but something under the surface told her that not having that “pure blood” was a sore spot with him. Of course, Inuyasha was a hanyou as opposed to a full-blooded demon like Sesshoumaru, and in the present day world of co-existing humans and demons, a hanyou wouldn’t really have a place either way. He was so different from the humans with his coloring and physical attributes that bespoke demonic heritage, yet he would be looked down upon by the demons for not being pure race. Kagome could sympathize. The humans thought she was a freak, the mikos pitied her, and the demons were wary of her because she was a miko. There had never been a place for her outside of her family.

But Inuyasha had carved his own way, not allowing the prejudices of the time to affect him. He was brash, somewhat crude, arrogant, but he belonged to the team. Sesshoumaru, in an odd sense, had given him value and a place to belong. She snuck a sideways glance to the TaiYoukai and saw his gaze on her. Would she be able to find a place because of him as well?

“How far away is Bokusenou?” she asked.
“A four-hour drive from the city, then a short journey by foot. Bokusenou is located in a protected land development as isolated from the city as possible,” Myouga offered.

“Let me guess,” Kagome said wryly. “Sesshoumaru’s land?”

“Yes,” Inuyasha said, tired of just standing around. “So, are you gonna go? If she has a vision while you are away…well, we got cell phones, don’t we? It’s not the best thing, but it’ll do in a pinch.”

Sesshoumaru’s gaze was still on Kagome. “Leave us,” he said, not bothering to turn and see if his orders were obeyed by his team.

The rest of the team filed out of the room with one last hard gaze from Inuyasha. Shippo grabbed Myouga from Kagome’s shoulder; the old flea gave one last longing look at Kagome’s neck.

“Trust me, you don’t even want to THINK about trying it,” Shippo said, closing the door, leaving the couple alone.

The silence stretched between them, and Kagome fidgeted slightly. “It’s not likely that whoever this is, he going to kill again tonight. He already killed once today…in fact, he probably finished about a half an hour ago,” she said, her voice brooding as she looked at the clock on the wall. More than three hours had passed since she had had her unfortunate vision in the alleyway. There was probably nothing left of the miko that she had seen, and she resisted the urge to clench her hands into fists at the helplessness rolling through her.

“Then you would not be adverse to traveling for a night trip, if it came to that?” Sesshoumaru asked, his face blank. Through the connection she could feel only his slight curiosity. Her curiosity was drawn out as well.

“Why would I be?”

She fought the urge to shift as he took a slow step closer. “I was under the impression that you wanted time–call it a “courting period” for lack of anything better–before we became intimate.”

His bluntness caused her cheeks to flush. “What makes you think that going on a trip alone with you would change anything?” she said, not really knowing what else to say. She tried to will the growing redness in her cheeks away. “We slept in the same bed last night in the hotel, and nothing happened. What makes this any different?”

I have tasted her; that was the difference, he thought. Their relationship had taken a drastic turn in the last twenty-four hours and he had been willing to give her time before they did anything…life-changing, as she had put it. But that was before this afternoon, when he had tasted the sweetness of her lips, felt the fire her touch could bring him, and he craved more. He craved her. Now, the thought of having her next to him, warm and trusting in his arms…having to remember her naked passion in the moment of her vulnerability…it would sorely test the limits of his already tenuous control when he was around her.

He fought valiantly not to let his emotions eke through their bond, and instead let out a small sigh. “Then we leave today. Go and pack what you need for an overnight trip. If we leave within the hour, we’ll be as close as we can be by nightfall.”

She tried not to blink. Well. Okay then. His little 180 degree turns were beginning not to faze her, which said a lot about her ability to adapt to their situation. She just nodded and left the room to go pick up the bag she had brought with her from the hotel room. It was a good thing she had assumed they would be staying at headquarters again; she could be ready to go in ten minutes.

Sesshoumaru watched her leave, trying to ignore the feeling of unease as she walked out of his sight. Inwardly, he sighed. The old miko, Kaede, had said that the urge to grow closer physically to one another would strengthen over time, and he was beginning to understand what that meant. It was going to be a hellish night. Bokusenou better have valuable information, or the flea Myouga would not have a happy fate. Pleasant visions of a writhing, tormented flea filled his mind, but he pushed them away to focus on his upcoming trip. Since they were already going to be traveling….his gaze narrowed as he took out his cell phone and began to make a few calls.

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Quite quickly and efficiently, they were on their way out of the city, traveling the winding roads that would take them into the pastoral country sides and forests of Japan. Kagome gazed out of her window and slowly watched the city dwindle away to open fields and tried not to think about the upcoming night. Her memories flashed towards the moment in the alleyway where he had cornered her (at least that’s what it felt like to her) and, well…kissed her silly. The bond that they shared had already made her hyper-aware of him as a male, but that kiss…If something happened and the bond was magically broken by some unknown force, she would still remember that kiss for the rest of her life and use it for comparison. And she felt like anything else would fall short. She had the sinking feeling that if by some chance the bond was broken, she still wouldn’t want to leave the side of the demon next to her.

Her conflicting emotions tore at her. First she wanted to keep the bond because it would ensure painless visions and take away the threat of insanity that had always hung around her shoulders. She had been hurt that he didn’t want her and refused to accept the fact that there was a connection between them. But now that he had accepted it…well, he was a lot friendlier for one, if that kiss had been any indication. And she had seen other facets of his character in the past week that had made him somewhat admirable in her eyes…Good God, had it really been less than a week? In the grand scheme of things, it had seemed like a lot longer, but technically it had only been a few days. The power of the connection was not to be underestimated, but it felt like she was losing a part of herself in the process. It bothered her, but it also made her feel ashamed. Since when had she been so fickle? She had resented him for not wanting to give this partnership…relationship…whatever it was called a chance, but now she was having second thoughts? It didn’t seem fair to him, but she couldn’t seem to help it.

“Miko, whatever you’re thinking, you are thinking too hard about it..”

She shot him a baleful glare, but it was half-hearted. “Oh, it’s nothing….I was just thinking how strange it was that I’m most likely going to be spending the rest of my life around you, which now you don’t seem to mind, but I’ve known you less time than I’ve known most acquaintances in my life.”

“Surely you’ve realized by now that our relationship is a bit unique,” he replied dryly. “By human standards, I’m sure it is unthinkable, but I am not human. Youkai instincts are different than human emotions and misgivings. Also take into account that this bond between us was created by the Gods. That in itself should banish your misgivings. And as I thought I showed you this afternoon, whether or not there was a bond between us, I would stay.”

She blushed, but was not ready to give up on the subject. “I understand that, Sesshoumaru. And while you may be youkai, I’m human. I obviously don’t have the instincts that you were talking about. This whole thing seems so surreal to me, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“There is not much you can do,” he pointed out in an insufferably reasonable tone.

She sat back in her seat, unwilling to let it go, but not giving him the satisfaction of seeing her pout. The connection didn’t offer free will. She could not leave him, and he could not leave her. They should have that choice.

“Why are you allowing this to govern your thoughts?” She could hear the slight bit of frustration enter his voice. “You worry about whether or not I am being controlled by my own actions or if the connection we have is influencing us. In all likelihood, it is both. Would it be the same without the bond? If you want complete honesty, I do not know.” Even though he doubted it would make much of a difference now. The miko, Kaede, had said that Kagome would be compatible as his mate regardless of anything…all that had really changed was the time frame. “In any case, we will never know. Your mentor assured us that there was no way to break the bond.” And the thought of her wanting to break the bond now was chafing at the very instincts he mentioned to her before. He was not governed by human standards…he wanted her, she wanted him, it was that simple. If, however, she didn’t want him…it was unthinkable. “Are you now changing your mind?” he demanded.

She could feel the roiling emotions in him, and was surprised by the strength of them. “No,” she said slowly. “I guess I feel like I’m trapping you into something you don’t want to be trapped into.”

He gave a little sneer of derision that was unconsciously sexy. “You worry about things that have been already resolved, miko.”

“Miko,” Kagome repeated. “If you can’t even call me by my name in normal conversation, what does that say? You don’t really know me…and I don’t know you.” She felt like a broken record, but this was too big of an issue to put on the back-burner.

She had seen him in action, and she could feel his character and the essence of who he was through the bond. She knew that he was haughty and proud, but honorable. He valued control, over his lands and over himself. He was protective, even if he didn’t want to be or didn’t realize it. He was demanding, but had a quirky sense of humor that shone on rare occasions. Intelligent, powerful…and he had the ability to be kind, even if it was in a warped way. But she didn’t want to know that, even as she told herself she was being stupid for not being happy with what she had discovered. Everything that she did know about him should have been built over time with a lasting relationship, but there was still so much more. She didn’t know his history, his favorite places, what he enjoyed to do in his free time, his preferences and likes and dislikes. And she found that she wanted to know that about him; what made him tick, what made him angry, and what made him happy. She really knew nothing.

He could feel the unhappiness in her, and it called on his instincts to sooth her. If his mate was hurting, he was supposed to make it better. Even if he did think she was being a bit melodramatic.

Humans.

He gave a little sigh. “Kagome.” She looked at him, and he could see everything in her eyes even without the bond. Confusion, misery, frustration. “Your concern is over things that cannot be changed. We are bound to each other, in some ways deeper than anyone could be bound to one another. What you feel, I feel, and vice versa. No one has had that liberty with me before. No one will ever have that again. What you need to ask yourself is, can you be content with that? Why lament over something irreversible? Instead, try to take what you are given and make it acceptable to you.”

She understood the wisdom in his words, but was it really that simple? In such a short amount of time, he became closer to her in ways no one ever could. Was it really as easy as trying to make the best of it? She bit her lip as her mind worked. She heard another one of his little sighs that she was starting to realize he gave only when he was exasperated or frustrated.

“What would you like to know?” he asked.

“Huh?” She turned her body to look at him, but his eyes were on the road.

“One of your concerns is that you do not know me that well. Rectify that so it won’t bother you anymore. Ask what you will.”

She contemplated him for a moment, realizing instinctually that this was an opportunity that was unprecedented. She doubted he ever offered any personal information to anyone, not even to family. Was she deeper than that to him?

“Miko,” he said, his voice letting her know he wasn’t going to just sit there while she was silent. He had made an offer and she had better take it.

She didn’t even get mad at his use of “miko” this time. “Where were you born? When? What was your childhood like? What–”

“One question at a time,” he said, frowning, but she felt a slight hint of wry amusement. “I was born in Edo almost nine-hundred years ago. I reached full maturity during the Sengoku Jidai period, where all that mattered for man and demon alike was power. My childhood was spent training and roaming my father’s lands. My father was a DaiYoukai, and the greatest general of his time. Shortly before I reached full maturity and TaiYoukai status, my father was killed by a human.”

Kagome had heard legends of the Great Dog General, and also of his death. “He would not have been killed in that battle if he had not already been injured,” she said quietly, and saw the minute movement of his jaw as it clenched.

“Indeed,” he said grimly. “It was on the night Inuyasha was born. Inuyasha’s human mother was being attacked by a human warrior who thought the union between my father and the woman abominable. My father sustained grave injuries in a previous battle against a dragon demon that had been terrorizing his territory. He fought for the woman, and he died for it.”

He could remember that night clearly…the snow just beginning to fall tentatively and the conversation with his father before he left to Inuyasha’s mother. The blood that had testified to his father’s injuries. Sesshoumaru had known his father was going to die that night. Back then, all Sesshoumaru had cared about was the swords his father carried. His father had already become weak in his mind for wanting to protect the human, and the fact that he was going to charge recklessly to his death for a pathetic being drove his apathy to new levels.

“Did you hate Inuyasha’s mother…because she was a human, and she was a part of the reason your father died?” Like the story of his father, Kagome was also aware of Sesshoumaru’s rumored hatred of humans. What had changed in the last several hundred years for him to reach a point of co-existance?

“My father died a worthless death,” Sesshoumaru said flatly. “He was in the prime of his life, and he threw it away. His power was wasted. The human woman was not worthy enough for his sacrifice.”

“And Inuyasha?” She held her breath.

Sesshoumaru was quiet for several moments. Miles had dragged on before he answered. “Inuyasha’s blood is unstable because of the fact that he is a hanyou. After that night, I was disgusted by everything he stood for. My father’s weakness, tainted blood, and no control. When his demon blood took over, he would become a crazed monster with no functioning reasoning ability. He disgraced the name of my father the few times he lost control.”

He gathered his thoughts again and Kagome stayed silent. “My father had left his sword, Tetsusaiga, to Inuyasha to help him control his blood. That sword was a prized possession of my father’s and a powerful sword. Any demon who possessed it would gain tremendous power. My father had left me a sword as well: Tenseiga. The sword of Heaven and of healing. It was not a destructive sword, for it could not kill in the hands of its master.”

Kagome understood the implications. Inuyasha was given a sword of power while Sesshoumaru had been given the short straw, so to speak.

“For years, I despised Inuyasha for having what should have rightfully been mine. On several occasions, however, the sword kept Inuyasha’s blood under control. It stopped Inuyasha from disgracing the memory of my father more, and it took me several years before I finally understood why my father gave Inuyasha that sword. My father had an unnatural compassion for the human race, even with all of their faults and failings. He had anticipated Inuyasha’s unstable blood, and planned accordingly.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question if you thought he was worthy. Obviously, something happened to make you change your opinion of him, otherwise he wouldn’t be on your team.”

“It was my desire to kill Inuyasha.” It was a blunt statement with no apology. “Humans were terrified of him and detested him, while he was not worthy of any notice of the youkai. He would have been better off dead, and that way he could no longer shame my bloodline. Despite that…he grew to be strong.” His tone was almost grudging. “He didn’t cower under the weight of his circumstances, and sometimes…he was a formidable opponent in battle. Even though he is half-human, he has the youkai blood of my father in him as well. It would not allow him to be weak. I’ve seen him close to death and still stand proudly for battle. While I may not admire him, I cannot condemn his fighting spirit. After I realized why my father gave the sword to him, some of my hatred for him died away. Eventually, I took him under my wing and trained him. What you see today is the product of a few hundred years of effort. Underneath all of his failings, he is still family.” He grimaced inwardly and the sappy sound of his words, even if he didn’t mean them to be sappy. It was plain fact. He could not shame his father either by denying a part of his blood.

“And the rest of humanity? What made you stop hating them?”

“Who says I have stopped hating them?” he asked, deadpanned.

“Ha ha. Sure, you might not seem like Mr. Compassion like your father was, but you don’t seem to be a human hater like some other youkai I’ve seen. What changed?”

“A girl,” he replied.

“A girl,” she repeated, then narrowed her eyes. “What kind of girl?”

“A human girl.”

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, trying not to let his amusement show. She was looking at him hard, and he could practically see the gears of her mind working. “A lover?”

And damned if he didn’t feel jealously coming off of her. It was faint, but it was there. He let out a little smirk.

“I have been labeled many things in my life, but a pedophile is not one of them.”

She went blank for a moment. “So it was a human child?”

“Rin.” For a moment she could almost see his eyes soften, but a second later, it was gone. “Her village had been ravaged by wolf demons and she had been killed. I brought her back to life with Tenseiga., and after that she followed me around.”

“And you let her?”

He resisted the urge to snort again. As if he could have stopped that foolhardy child from doing what she wanted. His memory recalled a toothy smile, the scent of flowers and finding bundles of the flora waiting for him after a patrol, and nights spent playing a silent sentinel under a starry sky.

“She intrigued me,” he finally said. “She knew I was a demon, yet she had no fear of me. After losing her family, she had no one, but she had a spirit that I found to be incredible after so much loss. The village did not treat her well, and her death had been a blessing. I had received Tenseiga, however, and wanted to see what the sword had to offer.”

“You used her as a test run?” Even though she was incredulous, Kagome was also amused. He really didn’t have a high opinion of humanity back then if he was using them to test the power of his sword.

“Hn. Anyway, for a human, she impressed me. I won’t say that I love humanity or anything your kind has to offer, but there are a select few who have merit.”

“Why, thank you,” she said dryly. “What happened to Rin?”

His eyes dimmed just a little. “She showed signs of being a miko, and I arranged for her training so she would not be weak. She lived her life as happy as she could make it, and as all mortals do, died.”

He had watched her body be cremated and then scattered her ashes on the flower fields and meadows she loved so much.

“I’m so sorry,” Kagome murmured.

“It was over 500 years ago. I assure you, I am over it.”

“All right,” she said, letting go of it. He still couldn’t deny that the little girl had more of an impact on him than he let on. It would have been an honor to meet the one who could have influenced Sesshoumaru like that. She was glad he had had someone around him to keep him company during a time when a demon like him would have had to have been isolated. Living for as long as he had, the bitterness of his fathers death competing with his quest for power…they must have been very lonely years. At least he had found someone, if only for a short time. She smiled at the thought. Big, bad Sesshoumaru felled by a little child.

“What about you?” he suddenly asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.

“What about me?” she asked warily.

“You admit a desire to know one another, and now are not willing to reciprocate?” he asked smoothly.

“I can’t imagine what could be so interesting about my childhood,” she said, uncomfortably. “You’ve lived for centuries, and I’ve only lived a short while. I would probably bore you.”

“I doubt that,” he murmured. The faint flash of panic that shot through her, and ultimately him, intrigued him. So she didn’t want to share? Fine. He could be patient. He could wait for her trust, although it chafed him that he had made himself vulnerable by imparting important information, and she wasn’t willing to take the risk. When they were true mates, it was important to him as a youkai that he be so intertwined in her life that she wouldn’t be able to hide anything from him. How was he supposed to make her feel better if he truly didn’t know what was wrong?

But, he would bide his time. And in the meantime he would find ways to become closer to her, for her to have to rely on him, physically and emotionally. He smiled a grim little smile that Kagome fortunately couldn’t see, and they drove on.



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He came to meet me again today on the outskirts of the village’s perimeter. I had an arrow drawn as soon as I saw him, but he just smiled, almost gently, in amusement. I have called him an insufferable dog before, and I did it again, for that’s what he is.

His smile grew wider. “I have a name, little one.”

“As do I, and it is not ‘little one.’” I don’t know why it made me nervous when he called me that. Instead of feeling like a child as I had before, I feel like it is becoming a term of endearment, which is absurd coming from him. He, however, looked delighted.

“Ah! Indeed, indeed, you have a name as well. Why don’t we exchange? My name is Yukio.”

He took a step closer to me as he said his name, and waited expectantly for mine. Against my better judgment, I took a step closer to him. “I am the High Miko, Katsumi,” I told him proudly, even if I hadn’t felt like a High Miko in some time. “And you, demon, should not be here.”

“Tsk, did you forget my name already?” he asked, but there was a lightness in his eyes that intrigued me. “And on the contrary, I have as much right to be here, perhaps more so than you. These are my brother’s lands, after all. He has placed me in charge of the territory’s wellbeing. I am just doing my duty.”

I looked at him skeptically. “You could easily avoid detection doing that. Why do you show yourself to me?”

I could have sworn he looked a bit uncertain, but the look was gone when I blinked.

“You are the one who killed the snake demon that was killing the children a few weeks ago?” His voice rang with disapproval. “You should not take such risks with your life. It is my responsibility to see to any threats.”

I was incredulous. He was telling me not to risk my life…if only he knew what I experienced. “I had to kill him,” I told him flatly. “Moreover, I am an experienced Miko, and I can take care of myself.”

“Hn,” he said. I swore I could hear a multitude of emotions from that one sound. Disbelief, more disapproval, and more of that damn amusement. Stupid dog.

I turned and began to walk away.

“I will be seeing you again, little one.”

“Do what you will, dog,” I said dismissively.

“Yukio,” he told me. “My name is Yukio. Try not to forget it.”

“You forgot mine first,” I said without turning around.

“Katsumi.” He was almost laughing as he said it. Even though I wasn’t facing him, I could hear it. “It’s been a pleasure, Katsumi.”

“Hn,” I threw back, and continued to walk to the sound of his laughter.





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“Their beginning relationship is so interesting,” mused Kagome as she held the diary in her lap. “They are being drawn towards each other without even realizing it.”

“No, Yukio realized it,” Sesshoumaru said. “The instinct to be around her, even before activating the bond, would have been too strong for him not to notice it. Surely you must have noticed it as well, in our first meeting. We hardly knew each other, but I know you felt something. Am I wrong?”

“No,” she said, thinking. “I barely focused on anyone else in the room. It was as if an invisible current was running through me, leading me to seek you out. And once I saw you, I didn’t want to take my eyes off of you.”

He smirked, but inside, he grimaced. She couldn’t just say things like that without thinking, damn it, especially when he couldn’t do anything about it. They were almost to the destination where they would have to go on foot, and she had suggested reading a few more diary entries from the journal of the other miko.

“At least now you know her name,” he said, trying to distract himself from thoughts of showing her exactly how drawn to her he had been the first time he had seen her as well.

“Katsumi,” she said softly. “It’s a nice name. And your uncle’s too.”

“I hardly consider him my uncle,” Sesshoumaru said dryly. “Technically, yes, he was my father’s brother, but I know of him through scrolls and legends. All of the events in the diary happened well before my time.”
“What happened to him?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he answered slowly. “There were several rumors of his death before I was born, but none of them were proven. He just…disappeared.”

“The question now is, did he disappear with Katsumi?”

“If they were mates, then of course. He would not be able to leave her behind.”

Kagome shied away from the subject of mates and turned to another topic. “Let’s see if it has an account of the first time the bond was activated.”

She turned several pages carefully in the old diary, scanning the pages quickly. Several more mentions of meetings with Yukio appeared, all to the apparent consternation of Katsumi. She stopped on one entry that caught her eye. “I think I’ve found something.”

She read,

How can one instant change life irrevocably forever? One small moment in a lifetime of moments can change everything…change destiny. Change everything I’ve ever understood and now everything I’ve ever wanted. And when that moment occurs, I wonder why every other moment has paled in comparison. How I ever lived before that moment occurred. Not that what I was doing could actually be called “living.” More like surviving without even knowing the reason. But now…

Now everything has changed.

He has touched me, and in that moment I knew that the life I had known before was over and something new had happened. He touched me and it felt like I breathed for the first time. I can no longer question anything because it doesn’t seem to matter anymore. He made the pain go away. With one touch he has changed my life. I wonder if he even knows.

Probably. If his storming off after the incident was any indication, I would say that something has happened to him too, even though I do not understand it. I feel cold and anxious now that he is gone, but, amazingly enough, I can feel him. He is not very happy right now, and I…I honestly do not know how to feel right now.

He made the pain go away.

How is this even possible? One moment I was arguing with him, questioning his fascination with me (which he didn’t seem to like), and the next I was in the world of my visions. This time, my attacker was a cat demon…a nasty creature who enjoyed slaughtering whole human villages and pillaged any valuables left behind. I was going on a journey to hunt him tomorrow morning, but he had found another village to terrorize, and I was shoved right in the middle of his killing spree.

I think I screamed. Claws were tearing at my skin, and my blood was spilling on the ground. All around me I could hear the moans of dying villagers and the grunts of satisfaction from the demon. I closed my eyes and awaited the final blow.

And then there was nothing but warmth. Warmth and an abnormal feeling of comfort as if I were floating in heaven. I had thought that perhaps one of my visions had finally killed me, and I was finally free.

I woke up in his arms. He was my warmth, my comfort. And in that instant, everything changed.

“So she had a vision and he touched her,” Kagome said, her heart beating faster after reading that entry. “Just like us.”

“Hn.”

She frowned at his one word answer that wasn’t really an answer. Did abstract sounds count as answers? “He also stormed off like you did,” she pointed out sweetly, and had the satisfaction of watching him frown and feel the flicker of annoyance from him.

“He probably distrusted the connection, as I did, and needed some time away from the distraction of her so he could think,” he countered.

“Distraction?” she said, laughing incredulously. “You make it sound like it was her fault. He’s the one that touched her, not the other way around.”

“He wouldn’t have been able to help himself, if her visions were anything like yours,” Sesshoumaru countered softly, and Kagome shut her mouth.

There was an awkward silence, at least to Kagome, for about another mile before she noticed Sesshoumaru turning down a road that had a sign proclaiming “Private Property” with a large, imposing gate blocking their way. On the gates was a huge lock. Sesshoumaru parked the car and stepped out, extracting a set of keys from his pocket. He quickly unlocked the gate and less than a minute later, they were through the gate (which had been relocked) and driving down a road that was obviously less traveled.

“I get that the gate would keep humans out, but what about demons?” Kagome asked curiously. “I’ve seen demons jump higher than thirty feet without even trying. They could easily clear that. What if one of your enemies wanted to get to Bokusenou and do something to him–it–whatever it is?”

“I have placed seals around my territory that even the most powerful demons would have trouble breaking. Besides, my name is well known.”

“Meaning that they wouldn’t even try it because they know you’ll find them and do unspeakable things to them?” she asked with a mischievous smile.

He didn’t answer, but merely stopped the car and said, “We travel on foot now.”

Kagome stepped out of the car, only to face a huge wall of trees before her. “Okay, time to find a talking tree…hey, Sesshoumaru, have you ever heard the one about a needle in a haystack?”

“No,” he said blandly, and began walking.

She stared at his broad back for a moment before huffing out a sigh. “Fine. Right. All powerful demon walking; All hail the mighty Sesshoumaru, who could probably find the talking tree in his sleep.”

“Are you going to talk to yourself all day, or are you coming?” Sesshoumaru said, about fifteen feet in front of her, but she could still hear and feel the amusement.

“Coming, coming,” she said, and grudgingly began to walk.

Despite the fact that they all looked the same to her, the trees were quite beautiful. The sun had been shining fiercely when they had stepped out of the car, but under the canopy of leaves, it was pleasantly cool and dim. She could hear the sounds of small rustlings from woodland creatures and the shifting of leaves, and walking side by side with Sesshoumaru, she found it to be quite…nice.

Sesshoumaru stopped in front of a tree, and she stood behind him. She saw at him staring intently at the trunk, and so she squinted at it too. A few seconds passed. “Is he supposed to say something first?” she finally whispered.

“Baka,” he said, smiling slightly, but not taking his eyes off of the tree. “This isn’t Bokusenou. I’m unraveling the first set of seals.” Thus said, he slowly placed a clawed hand on the tree trunk, and Kagome briefly saw the imprint of a powerful spell with the according barrier. She felt his power rising to counteract the seal, and felt a pleasant tingle along her skin and she shivered. She quickly blocked it out.

“Oh,” she whispered back, blushing because she did feel like the idiot he proclaimed her to be, but in a moment she said, “Wow, that really IS a powerful seal. Even I would have a bit of trouble with this one.”

“You would be able to break it?” he asked with a raised eyebrow; the suggestion was implicit.

She bristled. “Of course I would! I’m not a High Miko for nothing.”

He smirked. “All right. You can break the next seal, then.”

“Fine,” she said haughtily, and missed the glowing of his eyes.

They had walked scarcely ten minutes after the first seal was broken before he stopped in front of another tree.

“After you,” he said, gesturing to the tree. Head held high, she walked to the tree and placed her hand on the trunk. After a brief moment, Sesshoumaru could feel the power rising from her, and she glowed a slight pink as she concentrated on breaking the seal. It would take her obviously more time to break the seal than it had taken him. After all, he was the one who created the seal in the first place. He decided to take this moment to enjoy the view she offered, intently staring at the tree while her power danced along his nerve receptors and almost making him shudder. His eyes became slightly hooded, his breath more shallow, as the pure power flowing off of her reacted with his own power in the most pleasant way. Too bad this was the last seal…he would have let her do more if this was the effect it had on him.

Sadly, she broke the barrier sooner than he had wished. She turned around to look at him with a triumphant smile, cheeks flushed slightly in victory. He wanted to have her flushed for a different reason, but all he said was, “Touché, Miko.”

“That really was a difficult barrier,” she said modestly, showing her good-nature. “I specialized in seals and barriers during my training, besides my archery. Otherwise, I don’t think I would have been able to break it. There were so many layers to it, plus it had your power signature on it, which is more than I’ve ever felt before. You could teach the mikos a few things.”

He refrained from telling her exactly what he wanted to teach one miko in particular, and just walked on with her following silently. Another half hour passed in silence, the sound of their footfalls and the natural sounds of the forest audible, before Sesshoumaru stopped in front of another tree, this one slightly larger.

Kagome stared curiously, wondering if this was another barrier, before Sesshoumaru said in a deep commanding voice, “Bokusenou.”

To her astonishment, a face appeared in the trunk, of a weathered old man. Kagome’s mouth dropped in shock.

“Sesshoumaru-sama,” the tree replied, and Kagome began to think that she would have to apologize to Inuyasha for not believing him. “It’s been awhile. You haven’t been to see me for more than a century.”

“Hn. Myouga said you might have some information that may be useful to us,” Sesshoumaru began, not bothering with many preliminaries. In a matter of minutes, he gave concise descriptions of their case, the victims, and all of the details of their supposed suspect.

“You say that he forces the soul out before the bodies dies, hm?” Bokusenou said, and Kagome knew if the tree had arms and hands, he would have his fingers to his chin in thought. It was really quite odd. “Rumors have been passed my way for centuries through the trees. They have many secrets to impart.”

“Are any of the rumors useful to us?” Sesshoumaru asked, the slight bite of impatience in his voice.

“Patience, young one,” Bokusenou shot back, and Kagome had to hold back a giggle at the thought of Sesshoumaru being schooled like a naughty child. “As I was saying, many rumors have passed my way, but only once have I heard of a demon like the one you have described to me.”

“Then you do know of someone?” Sesshoumaru asked.

“I know only of legends, Sesshoumaru-sama, but I also believe that every legend is based in some form of truth. However, if I am right….”

“Well?” The bite of impatience was back.

“You have picked yourself a hell of an enemy, my Lord,” Bokusenou replied bluntly, and Kagome had to blink at the phrasing.

“Back in the days when mankind and demons were just a fledging race, the Gods were raging a civil war against each other over the question of morality and power. The majority of these Gods wanted to allow mankind to have sovereign over the world with the Gods supervising from above. Izanami and Izanagi, the mother and father of all of the gods, were a part of the group who loved mankind and wanted to allow them the chance to grow and develop on their own and see what they could accomplish. However, those that opposed them believed that mankind was a disgusting race, and should be ruled under the iron fist of the Gods so that they wouldn’t destroy themselves with their greed and petty squabbles.

Amatsu Mikaboshi, the God of Darkness, the opposite of anything representing light or goodness, was one of these Gods. He hated mankind. He hated their disgusting habits, their weakness. He rebelled against Izanami and Izanagi’s commands to leave the humans alone, and instead wreaked chaos and mayhem upon the earth. Many human lives were lost, which angered Izanami and Izanagi, for the humans and demons were their beloved creation. When Amatsu Mikaboshi tried to stage a coup against the couple, they banished him and stripped him of his God status. He was doomed to walk the earth as a demon, forced to live on the souls of the dead humans that he had despised. It was said on that day that he vowed to get revenge against the Gods for what had been done to him, and the humiliation he had to suffer.

Rumors spread throughout the land, that after centuries had passed, Amatsu found a way to gain power back, if only for a short time. The souls he harvested would give him power, and if the souls were powerful enough, he would be able to gain enough of that power to restore him back to his God status, and he would be able to fulfill his promise of vengeance. Then a few hundred years ago, another rumored whispered that he found a way to make the souls more powerful.”

“By sucking them out of the humans before they died,” Sesshoumaru said grimly.

If Bokusenou could, he would have nodded. “Precisely. He has traveled all over the world, collecting souls for his own power. The fact that he is back in Japan, where all of this originated, could only mean one thing.”

“That he is close to gaining back his God status,” Sesshoumaru filled in, and fought the urge to curse.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a second,” Kagome broke in. “Are you trying to tell me that our enemy is….a former GOD? And that he’s close to becoming a God again so he can wreak havoc on the earth and take on the other Gods for power in, like, the ultimate God level death match?”

“Precisely, child.”

Kagome didn’t swear all that often, but only one thing came to her mind in that moment. “Well, shit.”

“Hn,” Sesshoumaru said in agreement.

“And you are, child?”

Kagome flushed, realizing she hadn’t even introduced herself. “I’m Kagome. Kagome Higurashi.”

“Ah, the High Miko,” Bokusenou said softly, and then his eyes seemed to narrow on her. “You are also the one with the cursed visions, are you not?”

Sesshoumaru snapped out of his whirling thoughts about Gods, and their stupid theft of souls on HIS territory, when Bokusenou said, “Do not tell me…Sesshoumaru-sama, what is your connection with this miko?”

Sesshoumaru narrowed his own eyes, displeased at being questioned thusly. “I am her Chosen One,” he said tightly.

Bokusenou seemed to heave a great sigh.

“Who would have thought that another demon in the line of the Dog Clan would be a Chosen One?”

“You speak of Yukio,” Sesshoumaru stated.

“Indeed. If this is the High Miko, and you are her Chosen One, then you must guard her well, Sesshoumaru-sama. Amatsu was the reason why mikos with the cursed visions were created, and why those mikos have the Chosen Ones as protectors.”

“Whoa, what? This bastard is the reason why I have the visions that I do?” Kagome asked. “How did that come about?”

“You don’t think that the Gods would just allow Amatsu to keep collecting powerful souls while they stood idly by, did you? Izanami and Izanagi created a countermeasure against his evil. The mikos with the cursed visions. Only they would be able to see and feel the true evil that Amatsu is capable of.”

“Lucky us,” Kagome muttered.

His sharp gaze turned to Sesshoumaru again, his voice lowering. “Your miko is the only one who can find him. And together, you are the only ones who can stop him. If you do not…eventually he will regain enough power to retain his God status and then…”

“Then what?” Kagome asked.

“He will take on Gods and demons alike to become the ruler of this world. Mankind wouldn’t stand a chance.”




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< br>
“Well, that was pleasant,” Kagome said sarcastically. “We go to find information on a suspect, and we find out that we’re going to take on a freaking GOD. I don’t know about you, but that’s one I’ve never come across before.”

She looked at him and found that his facial expression hadn’t changed. Bland boredom, as if he didn’t just find out that mankind was just a stone’s throw away from having a fallen God gain enough power to create the next apocalypse. He looked more like he was trying to imagine what he would wear tomorrow. Surprisingly, it was comforting to her. It helped calm her down from the mini-breakdown she was about to go through after finding out that they were the only ones who might be able to stand a chance and stop Amatsu. The sun had set during their conversation with Bokusenou, and they were making the trek back to Sesshoumaru’s car before heading back to the city. Instead of the pleasant coolness from before, she now felt chilled to the bone.

“Hey,” she said, more quietly this time. “Don’t you feel like we’re in a bit over our heads on this one?”

Sesshoumaru understood what she was trying to ask. She was a powerful miko (he had yet to even see the full extent of her powers) and he was TaiYoukai of the West, but dealing with an ex-God was a bit out of his realm of experience.

“He will be a powerful enemy,” he said, albeit grudgingly. “We still don’t know his full capability, whether or not he retained any of his divine power, or even how close he is to regaining back his original power. The only leads we have are your visions and the information Bokusenou gave us. We don’t even know if the killer we are tracking is really Amatsu in the first place. We are relying purely on speculation and rumors.” She could hear the sneer in his voice and knew the opinion he had of trusting in mere rumors.

“But what if it is him?” she persisted, as they arrived to the place where they had left his car. He unlocked the door for her and went around to his own side. “What if we can’t catch him? What if he becomes too powerful for us and we can’t defeat him?”

His eyes locked on hers from across the roof of the car, and she saw something in them flash. She couldn’t really keep hidden from him her feelings of anxiety and the hint of fear that was coursing through her. Would they really be able to fight a God and win? What if something happened to him? As much as she was unsure about their relationship, it didn’t change the fact that her heart clenched painfully at the thought of being without him. An indefinable moment passed as he processed all of her fears and then snorted slightly.

“That was a stupid question,” was all he said, before he opened his own door and got in the car.

She blinked.

That pretty much summed up his opinion of her worries. Instead of being offended, she smiled slightly. If he had the confidence in them, well, so could she. There was more time to worry later, when they actually knew more about the situation.

Still… “Your comforting abilities could use some work,” she said without heat as she sat down and buckled her seatbelt. She smiled inwardly as a small smirk graced his perfect lips, and they began to drive.

An hour passed in silence as they were both lost in their own thoughts during the drive. Kagome noted to herself that she would need to contact Kaede to see if the wise old miko knew anything about the enemy they might encounter. It also might be good to look at the victimology one more time. All of the murders seemed to be committed against random people, but now, with the knowledge they had, it would be prudent to see if they could find a connection. Obviously, Amatsu would be trying to hunt those with powerful souls, namely holy men and women. Such as the young miko from earlier. She held back a shudder as she recalled the words from her vision.

Miko souls always last longer than the others…since hers is such a powerful soul, I wouldn’t want to waste it…

If Kagome put two and two together, it was obvious to see that she was a potential victim as well. The medical examiner soul demon had hinted at it, and even Bokusenou commented on it. She was the only one who could watch as the murders were being committed. The only one who could see, and ultimately find Amatsu. If he ever found out she existed….she had a feeling her visions would pale in comparison.

She was drawn out of her dark thoughts when Sesshoumaru pulled into the parking lot of a large hotel. She blinked.

“When did you get off of the highway? And what are we doing here? We can easily make it back to the city by late tonight. There’s no need for us to spend the night.”

“An unexpected meeting came up for information. Since we’re already here, we may as well utilize our time wisely. Get a good night’s rest so we can debrief everyone tomorrow.”

She glanced at him suspiciously. Unexpected meeting? “Why didn’t you mention this earlier?”

“I didn’t want to give you time to think about it,” he replied bluntly, and she flushed. They stared at each other hard for a moment. Then Sesshoumaru abruptly got out of the car and began walking towards the entrance, leaving her with the odd urge to sputter in his wake. Instead she muttered, “Fine,” and got out of the car. It’s not like she wasn’t prepared for an overnight stay anyway. She remembered their short conversation before they had left for the countryside, but immediately tried to block it out of her mind. Nothing was going to happen between them until she was damn good and ready for it to happen, and that was final.

In a short, orderly amount of time, they were house in a very nice suite, complete with a separate sitting area from the bedroom. Dropping her bag on the ground, she eyed the luxurious room. “Don’t you think this is extravagant for a one night stay?” she asked. “We could have just stopped at a cheap motel on the side of the highway.”

He just stared at her.

She let out a breath, amused despite herself. “Right. Forgot who I was talking to for a moment.”

“Hn.” It was amazing how much he could convey with that one noise.

“Well, I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. It’s been a long day,” Kagome said over her shoulder as she headed towards the bathroom that was located in the bedroom. “Are you going to call and check in with Inuyasha?”

“I suppose I should,” he replied, loosening and removing his tie. As he heard the water turn on, and visions of water running down smooth skin filled his mind, he grabbed his cell phone and walked out onto the small balcony that the room offered. Closing the glass door behind him, he quickly dialed Inuyasha’s number and waited for the hanyou to answer.

“Did Bokusenou have information for you?” Inuyasha asked eagerly. At Sesshoumaru’s short grunt of affirmation he crowed, “Ha! Told you he’d have information for you. So, who’re we dealing with?”

“Someone…unexpected.”

R 20;Unexpected? What, do we know the fucker? Or wait, I know! He’s not really a demon at all, but some kind of sorcerer, right? Right? That’s why we couldn’t find record of him as a demon. Am I right?”

“A sorcerer?” Sesshoumaru asked, and Inuyasha could practically see a condescending raised eyebrow.

“What, it could happen,” he defended.

Silence.

“Well, it could,” he mumbled. “All right, so, if he’s not a badass sorcerer, who is he?”

“A God.”

There was silence for a full thirty seconds. Then, “Well…shit.”

“Indeed,” Sesshoumaru said. “I believe that was Kagome’s reaction as well.”

“What the hell, Sesshoumaru! Are you serious? A fucking God is the one murdering these people?”

“I think it’s blasphemous to use the word ‘fucking’ and ‘God’ in the same sentence,” Sesshoumaru said dryly, amused.

“Shut up, bastard, now is not the time for you to try and test your warped sense of humor. This is serious!”

Inuyasha could sense the change from scornful amusement to frigidness in one second. “Okay, okay,” he said quickly. “So you already know that. The question is, what are we going to do about it? What God are we talking about here?”

“Amatsu.”

Inuyasha almost choked. “The fucking God of EVIL? Are you SERIOUS?”

“I believed you already asked that. And he was the previous God of evil, if you want to label him like that. He was striped of his divine powers by the other Gods and banished to live on earth.”

“So, what, he’s pissed at the Gods so he’s going to kill people here on Earth?”

“In a way. He’s using the souls to gain more power so he can attain his powers back and take his revenge.”

Another moment of silence.

“Man, we are so screwed,” Inuyasha finally said. “I mean, if this was a normal demon, sure, no problem. You could kick his ass in less than two minutes, easy. But a GOD, Sesshoumaru? Where do I even begin?”

“You begin by doing research, moron. Recruit the monk and Sango to help you. Find out everything you can on Amatsu and have it ready by tomorrow morning. Kagome and I have one more thing to finish here, and then we’ll be heading back. We’ll want to create a plan to deal with this problem as soon as possible.”

“Problem, he says,” Inuyasha muttered under his breath. “That’s like calling freakin’ Hiroshima a minor setback in Japan’s history. Asshole.”

“Tomorrow, Inuyasha,” Sesshoumaru said in a hard voice.

“Got it, got it,” he sighed. “Tomorrow.” He heard the click of the phone hanging up, and then the dial tone. He blew out another breath. Bastard.

Sesshoumaru stepped back into the room and quietly walked to the bedroom. He softly opened the door and saw Kagome already in bed, sound asleep. He drank in her features for a moment, reflecting on the day. They still had many issues to work out. Her problem of trust and acceptance in their relationship, and now the added headache of this Amatsu bastard. Things were going to get pretty interesting around them, that was for sure. But he was not that worried. He had finally found the woman he was going to mate. No power in heaven, hell, or even ex-Gods on Earth were going to take her from him. Of that, he was absolutely certain.

Quietly, he undressed and changed into his sleeping pants, more for his sanity’s sake than anything, before slipping in beside her. She automatically turned towards his warmth, and he gently grabbed her to him, holding her in place by his side, breathing in her light scent, allowing it to relax him. It was going to be a rough morning tomorrow for her, and they both needed to sleep after the kind of day they had had. He knew that he would relish the moments of passion that they would have (and oh, the things he could teach her), but it was also this quiet intimacy that he enjoyed.

The cadence of her breathing was slow and steady, and he matched it, allowing the sound to sooth him into slumber.




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Kagome once more awoke before Sesshoumaru, feeling him spooned up behind her, his chest rising and falling against her back with his deep breaths. She allowed herself a few more moments to enjoy the quiet comfort of having someone hold her. Hardly anyone outside of her family touched her. Part of the reason was out of respect because of her status as a High Miko, but she knew the majority of it was because many feared that if they touched her, they would be cursed like her. So moments like these were few and far in between. Hell, to be perfectly honest, they were practically non-existent, so she was going to enjoy it while she could.

However, the morning was wasting away, and it was time to get up. She moved slightly, preparing to rise, when his arm tightened around her, pulling her back. She heaved a slight sigh of exasperation, even as a slight flush covered her face. Really, she wasn’t a teddy bear. He moved his arm again, and she almost let out an “eep!” as she realized that her shirt had ridden up slightly during the night, bunched right under her breasts, and arm and hand were touching the bare skin on her abdomen. Her breathing began to quicken.

As Sesshoumaru shifted, half awake, his claws trailed against her skin, unknowingly tantalizing. Kagome drew in her breath on a sharp gasp that she hoped he couldn’t hear. The hand paused, as if considering, before continuing a bit farther down the middle of her body. Slowly.

Testing her.

She gave a shuddering breath as her brain told her that she needed oxygen to stay alive. Through their bond, Kagome could feel that Sesshoumaru was fully awake now.

Alert.

Those deliciously teasing, sharp claws came to the waistline of her sleeping pants, and she stopped breathing. Waiting.

Then she felt him let out a short breath that puffed her hair, and he shifted away, taking his claws with him. She began to breath semi-normally again as he sat up against her back, facing away from her. She had to fight between two dominating emotions: frustration that he didn’t continue, and relief that he did not. Her conflicting feelings caused her to squeeze her eyes shut tighter.

His voice came from behind her, startling her, just a bit darker than she was used to. “Not now, because I don’t think either of us is ready for it, but soon, Kagome, I will take you. You will give me everything that you have to give, and you will give it gladly. Your body will ache for me, and your voice will cry out for me as I move inside of you, and on that day…you will belong fully to me. Nothing can stop that now.”

Less than a moment later, she jackknifed into a sitting position only to see the tips of his hair as the door closed gently behind him. Staring at the painted wood, breathing heavily, she couldn’t decide whether to be angry at his arrogance, or afraid of his certainty. And underneath all of that, the seed of anticipation had been planted. What would it be like to belong to a demon like him?

Pushing the hair out of her eyes, she let her body calm down and a new purpose filled her. She would only belong to him if he belonged equally to her. The thought of owning the TaiYoukai flashed heat throughout her body again, and she let out a small groan.

She wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep.




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She talked to him as little as she could that morning, only because she honestly didn’t know what to say. They checked out of the hotel with little fuss and drove a short drive through the small town they were in until they reached a non-descript stone building. She saw block letters on the side of the building. MORGUE.

“Sesshoumaru?” she began to speak, but he was already exiting the car. She followed behind him slowly, wondering what they could possibly be doing there. Did he have another case he needed to check up on? Didn’t they have more pressing matters to attend to right now?

She watched him as he said a few quiet words to one of the workers there, and as the man walked away, Sesshoumaru walked to her and placed a hand on her lower back, urging her to walk.

“Why are we here?” she asked quietly as they followed a short distance behind the worker.

“The miko from your vision,” he said simply, and turned to watch her with careful eyes as she stopped abruptly in the hallway.

“She was from here?” Kagome asked, unknowingly letting urgency coat her voice. “She was murdered here?”

“Not far from here,” he said. His voice was low and calm. “She was found in an isolated field on the outskirts of this city. I put in a few calls yesterday, asking for the police stations to keep their eyes open for her. A farmer found her yesterday.”

She stared at him a moment. “Why did you bring me here?” she finally asked.

He stared at her for a few moments before looking away. “Because you needed to see her. You need to know what happened to her, how she died, before you drive yourself crazy with guessing about it.”

“I’ve seen deaths before,” she said a bit sharply, hugging her arms close to her body for comfort, a gesture he didn’t fail to notice. “Hers was just one in a long line.”

“It’s different,” he said, and her eyes focused on the biting tone in his voice. “It’s different,” he said again, in a quieter voice as his eyes softened minutely at her. “Because she was like you. You felt her more.”

Kagome felt tears prick the back of her eyes, but refused to let them fall, focusing on the sting of them instead as she allowed Sesshoumaru to continue to lead her to a room down the hallway. He nodded to the worker to leave as he opened the door for Kagome to enter, closing it softly behind her.

The room was dim, and very, very cold. The smell of formaldehyde was pungent and choking. There was a table slab in the center of the room with an overhead light illuminating the body that lay still and quiet on top. Kagome hesitated by the doorway for a brief moment, a thousand thoughts and emotions running through her at the same time. Fear, anger, sorrow. It threatened to overwhelm her, but she took a deep breath instead and lifted her chin. She took that first step forward and walked to the young girl on the table, staring down on her in complete, painful silence.

Sesshoumaru stood as a silent sentinel by the door, watching her with his careful, golden eyes.

She looked so childlike. The poor girl was younger than her, yet she lay on a cold slab of metal, lifeless. Unfeeling. Soulless. Her body was broken and torn in too many places to count. Mangled innocence. The injustice of it all caused Kagome’s hands to clench at her side.

She wanted to cry for the girl, but tears would not help. She had cried so much in her lifetime that she had to learn the hard way that tears did nothing. They were useless. She was useless. Why in the hell did the Gods curse her to have these visions if she couldn’t even help the young miko who still had so much of her life to live? A child like her probably spent her days in the temple, praying silently for her family and friends to be healthy and happy, never knowing that unimaginable violence preyed upon young girls like her. Preyed upon, and thrived on their suffering.

Kagome wanted to apologize to her. To say ‘I’m sorry’ over and over and over until it somehow transcended the world and reached the lifeless corpse lying before her. But apologizing was like crying. Useless.

The girl didn’t even reach heaven, as someone like her ought to have. Amatsu would have taken her soul, forcibly raped her spirit to take it, and leave the broken body behind. Without a soul, there was nowhere for the spirit to go. The spirit is the soul, the soul is the spirit. Instead, this girl’s life essence was being used to bring power to the very monster that had a part in killing her.

She knew apologizing would do nothing. But knowing that didn’t make it hurt less.

Instead, she gently touched a strand of hair on the girl’s cheek, and tenderly tucked in behind her ear.

“I swear to you,” she said quietly, so quietly that her voice barely reached Sesshoumaru’s vigilant ears. “I swear on everything that I am, everything that I stand for, that I will catch the bastard that did this to you. And I will make him suffer and regret the fact that he was ever born. I don’t care if he was a God or not. Understand?”

Silence. But then again, that was to be expected. There was nothing else left to be said anyway.

She took one long last look at the torn body of the young girl, burning it into her memory so she wouldn’t ever forget what she was fighting for, and silently walked away, passing Sesshoumaru and feeling him fall into step behind her. A solid wall of warmth and support at her back after leaving that cold, barren room where the dead kept watch. His aura, probably frightening to most people, soothed her and offered her solace from the turmoil of her own emotions. She basked in it, taking the silent strength he offered her without any reserve. He had so much strength to give her, and she was becoming dependent on it. Addicted to it. She knew she could easily become addicted to him. He had done so much for her…much more than she ever would have expected from someone like him.

She squinted into the bright sunlight when they stepped outside. Here, the sky was blue, the air was fresh, and everything was bright and alive. Nothing like the stark reality of the room they were just in, and she shivered at the contrast between the warm sunshine and the artificial, air-conditioned room that smelled of chemicals and lost life. A warm, clawed hand touched her elbow, and she obediently let Sesshoumaru lead her to the car and get her settled. Yes…he had given her so much. It was time to return the favor.

“They called me a freak,” she said softly, her eyes staring blankly at the passing scenery as they began the drive back to the city. “I had my first vision when I was ten years old…I woke my family up with my screams, but they couldn’t help me. Anytime someone tried to help me, they would freeze in place and could only stand and watch as I convulsed and suffered. I couldn’t understand why there was so much pain. I was only a little girl, yet I understood firsthand what happens when someone dies, and people feared that. Many people thought I was possessed by some evil spirit, and told their children to stay away from me. The first time I had a vision in public, we were in a shopping mall. When I opened my eyes, adults were staring at me with horror written all over their faces. All of the children were crying because they didn’t understand what was going on. They slowly backed away from me as my mother helped me up …as if I were some kind of abomination. I reminded them of something that they never wanted to realize: that humans are pathetically mortal and will die someday. More than that is the fact that not all deaths are the type where a person quietly slips away after a long, fulfilling life. Deaths can be violent. Painful. They could see the pain on my face, and they would tremble at the thought of dying like that. I was everything that they feared, so they rejected me. At the time when other little girls were starting to like boys and make-up, I was being tortured in my visions. School was…unpleasant.”

For the first time, she glanced at him, saw the terseness of his jaw and his clenched hands on the steering wheel, but knew he wouldn’t say anything. He would let her get this out, everything that she hadn’t even told her family or her closest loved ones. But Sesshoumaru…he deserved to hear it. He would be the only one who would hear this from her, the only one she would trust with this gift. Because he was worthy of her secrets. Just as he had deemed her worthy enough of his. And for her, something clicked into place.

This was belonging.

This sharing, this connection, something she had never known with her life; this would only be found with him. It would only ever be him. What did it matter that they had known each other for such a short time? What did it matter that the Gods had created this connection between them? It was there; it was real. It was her, and it was him. It was theirs. And it was beautiful.

He shifted slightly, and she realized that she had been staring at him and it was his subtle way of getting her to continue.

“My mother tried to understand, she really did, and she wanted me to have as normal of a life as I could, so she put me into public school. I was ignored and an outcast, but I didn’t really care at the time. I was going through rigorous training to reach the High Miko status, and with that and studies, I didn’t have time for anything remotely like friends anyway. Even though my mother wanted me to feel normal, I knew I wasn’t, and so did everyone around me. So they just pretended I wasn’t there and whispered behind my back when they thought I couldn’t hear it. Then, when I was fifteen, I had a daytime vision at school. It’s rare to have a daytime vision, because most predators hunt at night, but there are exceptions as you have already seen. I was in the classroom when it happened. Most of my classmates thought I was having a demonic attack and ran away before whatever it is that holds people in place when they get too close to me activated. However, a few people got caught and were forced to stay in place until the vision ended. Unfortunately, one of the people was a very popular girl, and everyone in the school was outraged when they found out that she was forced to witness the…abomination. It traumatized her to say the least. That was when the bullying started.”

Sesshoumaru saw her hands clench. “It was little things at first. Jostles and trips in the hallways, mud and stones thrown when my back was turned, notes and crude pictures passed around school. Instead of being isolated, I was being ostracized. No one sat within three seats of me on any side for fear of being caught by one of my visions as well. Paltry things compared to some of the things I had endured in my visions. So I endured, because my mother wanted me to have a “normal” experience. I was hit from behind a few times walking home by myself, but whoever it was had already fled by the time I got up from the ground. I really didn’t mind it so much. Yes, it was horrible, but I had been through worse. Things that their ignorant minds couldn’t even imagine. Things I would never even want them to imagine. But then, one day, my little brother walked home with me.”

She took in a shuddering breath, and was grateful that Sesshoumaru stayed silent despite the waves of angry helplessness that came from him. Instead, she drew strength from him and the fact that he was indignant for what she had been through, and for what he imagined she was about to tell him.

“Souta was only about eight, still an elementary school student. His school had gotten out early that day, and he wanted to come and pick me up and walk me home. He knew what had been happening to me, and he didn’t want his big sister to get hurt anymore. He wanted to walk with me to protect me and make sure nothing else happened. Only a little boy, and he was already growing up too fast because of my circumstances. Some of my worst offenders at school, mostly the guys who were friends with the girl in my class, decided to follow me home that day and insult me on the way. It was nothing new, and I was used to it, but it was the first time Souta had seen it, and he tried to stand up for me. He smart-mouthed them, and one of the older boys grabbed him. I didn’t care what they did to me, but I wouldn’t let them hurt Souta, so I started to try and grab Souta back, but I was hit from behind, harder than I ever had before. It knocked me out.”

She had to take another breath before she continued. “When I came to, I saw Souta lying on the ground.” Her voice trembled a bit and she had to steady it before she could speak again. “He was unconscious, and there was blood on his face. They had thrown rocks at him, and one of them had hit him in the eye. His body was bruised in places, and his wrist was broken, but the worst thing was that I could see patches of saliva on his face where they spit on him before they ran away. They had spit on me too, but I didn’t notice until I had wiped my face at the hospital.. They treated his wounds, and mine, while our mother and grandfather waited for us in the waiting room. Souta had a lot of superficial wounds, besides his wrist, but his eye was the worst. The doctors couldn’t save his vision and he’s blind in that eye to this day. To add insult to injury, when we arrived home from the hospital, our house had been vandalized. ‘Monster’, ‘freak’, and other words like it were painted on the outside of our shrine for the world to see.”

She glanced at him again. “After that, we were both home schooled. It was just easier for everyone. We painted over the vandalism and kept to ourselves. I reached High Miko status in the next year and began hunting the causes for my visions. I never wanted to have anything like what happened to Souta happen again. In many ways, he was my inspiration for trying so hard. He’s the reason I became so powerful as a miko; so I could protect him and myself. I was never going to be that weak again. So now, here I am.” She smiled a sad little smile.

Sesshoumaru slowly drove the car off of the highway and put in it in park. He turned to face her while she looked on in confusion. Carefully, so as not to startle her, he reached for her. Slowly, tenderly, he cupped her face in his large hands and brought her lips to his. The heat from his body and his lips warmed her chilled body, inside and out. He was so gentle, moving his lips over hers in a glide that was more sensual and comforting than fiery and passionate. It was an leisurely kiss, as if he had all of the time in the world to do it, and would be content to just stay there with his lips moving against hers, bringing a blushing heat to match the lazily glowing embers between them. It brought tears to her eyes, and they trembled on her eyelashes as he drew back from her reluctantly and unhurriedly.

“Yes,” he said. “Here you are.” And smiled.

She smiled brilliantly back as the tears fell.



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