InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Windows on the West ❯ Effects ( Chapter 35 )

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

Disclaimer:  Does anyone really think this has changed in the last ten minutes since I posted the first part?  I still do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

~oOo~

Koga looked like he'd been blindsided when he caught sight of Kagome, and Sesshoumaru let out a low growl that he knew the wolf would hear.  He was pleased when the cur's attention shifted back to him, and met the wolf prince's gaze with slitted golden eyes – eyes that glowed with deadly warning.

“You would do well to show the appropriate respect to this one, and his alpha female, wolf.  This Sesshoumaru will not tolerate the same behavior you participated in the last time you crossed his path,”  he said icily.

Kagome, much as she hated the idea of a fight, would not speak out against her alpha, and instead, with one last worried glance at the two males confronting each other, turned her attention to Jaken, and Rin, who had finally awakened, and was staring in confusion at what was going on.

She moved over to them both, patting Rin comfortingly on her back.  “Don't worry, Rin.  Everything will be okay,”  she murmured, hoping she was right.

Jaken snorted at her, mumbling something under his breath, but didn't actually say anything, for which Kagome was grateful.  After a moment, she turned her attention back to Sesshoumaru and Koga.

“-logize for my actions at that time, Sesshoumaru-sama,”  Koga was saying, with a short bow.  “I simply wish to speak to Kagome for a few minutes.”

“You have forgotten the proper form of address for the alpha female of the pack of a Lord, wolf.  It is Kagome-sama to you,”  he said curtly, and then turned slightly to look back at his miko, who was still watching worriedly.

He beckoned to her, and she stood with one last strained smile at Rin, and approached him slowly.  He couldn't help but eye her attire and wish she had chosen something less well-suited to her.  Not that she really had any such thing, he'd made sure of that.  Still, he didn't like the wolf seeing her in such beautiful colors and clothing - at all.

She looked up at him when she reached his side, and he was pleased to note that she hadn't once looked at the wolf.  Keeping her gaze pinned with his, he asked,  “Do you wish to speak to him, miko?”  in low tones, ignoring Koga entirely.

Blinking up at him worriedly, she thought about it for a moment, and then nodded decisively.  “If you're right about why he's here,”  she said behind her hand, her voice barely above a whisper so that Koga would not hear,  “then it's like that time with Hojo, and also Inuyasha.  I need to tell him no.”

“Hnn,”  he intoned, less than pleased, but realizing she was right.  The fact that she did intend to tell him no, however, pleased him greatly, and so he simply turned and sat down near the fire, allowing her to do what she felt she needed to.

However, he would be listening closely, and if the wolf should make one wrong move...

He cracked his knuckles warningly as Koga led Kagome from the clearing, and he knew by the swish of the fool's tail that he'd heard, and understood, the threat implicit in that action.

~oOo~

Kagome smiled awkwardly at Koga as they stood under the spreading boughs of a tree in a clearing one over from her pack.  “So... Koga.  How is Ayame?”  she asked, a bit pointedly.  “I'd heard that you had married her.”

Koga was a bit taken aback at that, not expecting that conversational gambit, but nodded slowly anyway.  After all, it was true.  “I did.”

“Congratulations, then.  Have you had any children yet?”  

He shook his head slowly, his brow furrowed as he tried to figure out how to go about bringing the conversation back around to what he had come for.

“No... Kagome-sama,”  he said before she could speak again,  “I... was thrilled to hear that you'd returned.  It came as a great shock when I found out that you'd been forcibly sent back to your time.”  He looked down for a minute, then back up at her slowly.  “I grieved, you know, thinking I wouldn't see you again... and then you come back a thousand times more beautiful than you were before.”

She blushed, becoming very uncomfortable as he began to move into his reason for tracking her down.

“I thought about it for a while, after I'd heard you were back, and decided to come to ask you if you would allow me to court you, Kagome-sama.  I married Ayame out of necessity, and though I'm fond of her, she isn't you.”  He watched her discomfort, and wondered at it.  Had he said something wrong?

Kagome sighed and clasped her hands together, hating being in this position.  How do I say this...?

After a few moments of thought, she sighed again, and spoke.  “Koga... while I'm flattered, where I'm from... it's not acceptable to have more than one wife.  I could never be comfortable with something like that.  Such things only breed jealousy and discord in a home.  Maybe those women here, that are used to such things, would accept it, but... I could never share someone I loved that way.  Maybe it's selfish of me, but...”  she trailed off, going silent with an uncomfortable shrug.

Koga heard her words with a pained finality, and could only curse the fates that had deemed that the one he'd fallen for would be from a place that would forever keep her from him with her extremely different ideals.

“Then I'm sorry... if I've offended you, Kagome-sama.  I would never want to do such a thing,”  he said quietly, a sad smile crossing his lips.  “But when I heard that you had returned, I had to at least try.  Don't hold it against me?”  he asked wistfully.

After a moment, she smiled a little and hugged him, a bit awkwardly, and then pulled away before he could lengthen the embrace.  “I'm not offended, since Sesshoumaru-sama explained that practice is common here.  Really, I kinda knew that, but I hadn't thought about it, I guess.  I'm sorry you made the trip for nothing,”  she finished, beginning to fidget slightly as she wondered how to get him to take her back to Sesshoumaru without upsetting him any further.  She really hated hurting people's feelings, but...

However, Koga wasn't as oblivious has he had once been, and after watching her for several moments, he began to see which way the land lay.  With sadness in his heart, he shook his head, and forced a smile to his face.  “It wasn't wasted – I got to see you again, even just as friends, it was worth it.  Come on... we'd better get back – your alpha doesn't seem the patient type.”

She nodded, trying to keep the eagerness from her motions, and turned to walk back with him to the camp, glad that ordeal was over.  Once they reached the others, she smiled one last time at Koga, and then walked over to the fire, to begin preparing breakfast.

Koga watched her walk away, and with a sigh, turned to look at the daiyoukai that was now eyeing him narrowly.  “Sesshoumaru-sama, may I have a word with you?”  he asked politely, not wanting to aggravate the oddly possessive inu any more than he already had.  It was odd... the dog was acting much too possessive over Kagome, even if she was his pack's alpha female.  

As Sesshoumaru looked over at Kagome for a moment, Koga had the same revelation that Inuyasha had... the daiyoukai had already fallen.  He just hadn't realized it yet, and since he, Koga, had already figured out that Kagome had also grown feelings for the stoic, icy Lord, he knew it would only be a matter of time before the little miko would find herself married and the new Lady of the West.

Sesshoumaru looked Kagome over carefully, scenting her to make sure she was unharmed and not upset, and then stood, walking off and leaving it for the wolf to follow if he so chose.  After moving far enough away that Kagome would not hear what was about to be said, he turned and pinned the wolf with a heavy gaze.

“Speak.”

“I'm sure, with the way you are acting, that you know why I was here.  But I feel that I should warn you of how I found out.  Your mother came to me and told me about Kagome-sama's return, as well as who she was traveling with – and where you were.  If it were me, I'd be wondering what she was up to,”  he said, then nodded curtly to the big Inu.  “I do this because I do not want to see her hurt.”  With that, and one last forlorn glance at the little miko he'd loved for so long, Koga turned and disappeared into his whirlwind, leaving behind a not-so-surprised Inuyoukai.

Mother... what is your game?  he wondered once more.  Why are you interfering in my pack?

After a few minutes of standing there and pondering on his mother's actions, he turned and made his way back to the fire, and the cup of hot tea that was waiting for him.

And somehow, along the way, it occurred to him that he'd thought of the miko as his...

But with an inflection that went far beyond pack, and her place as the alpha female in it.

Have I fallen to the same vice as my father, then?

It did not escape his notice that that thought engendered no dismay as it once would have done, and he knew then that he had a great deal of thinking to do.

And so went the second step in the courting dance...

But this time, one of those involved had gotten the first inkling that that was just what it was.

~oOo~

A/N:  The fun is about to begin...!

Amber

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