Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bane of Existence/Love of A Lifetime ❯ Chapter Fourteen ( Chapter 14 )

“I trust you all slept well?” Lord Sesshoumaru asked the youkai trio in hospitable - if a bit cold - tones as he sipped at the tea in his clawed hand.

 

Shippou nodded his head from his place on the floor of the study where he was busy drawing with Rin. The little girl had come to wake him up in Kagome's room as soon as she could; wanting him to play with her like they had many months before. He had contemplated the idea for a few long moments, torn between playing and staying with his momma. Rin had then told him that Kagome looked like she could use some more sleep and when he had looked again at the miko, he saw the dark smudges under her eyes and quickly agreed.

 

Yusuke and Kurama had both awoken early, their senses on high alert from being in an unfamiliar place and had been greeted by a servant with fresh clothing, baths and the promise of breakfast. When they noticed Shippou at the dining table, they inquired on Kagome and after hearing the kit out, had agreed with his decision to let the woman sleep.

 

Kami knew she needed it.

 

Kurama tilted his head appreciatively, “Indeed we did, thank you Lord Sesshoumaru.” In truth, the redhead was fairly nearly itching to go and wake Kagome himself just to make certain she was alright. When they had arrived at the palace late the previous night, the miko had been out cold and had even managed to remain unconscious while a healer tended her torn arm and a servant changed her into a sleeping yukata. Sesshoumaru had then placed an aura masking spell around her chambers to assure that no one in his household, save for the healer and servant he had assigned the girl, would know of her.

 

Yusuke was in much the same state of anxiety. Although it hadn't been difficult at all for him to hear the miko breathing normally and her heart beating steadily, he was still highly concerned. He and Kurama had spoken until all hours of the early morning over Kagome's condition, not her physical one either. The kitsune and toushin both knew that her miko abilities would make quick work of her torn arm, leaving only silvery scars behind, but they were more worried over her emotional state.

 

“Yeah, even though we didn't sleep much, I feel pretty well rested today.” Yusuke sighed heavily as he unfolded his legs to stretch out in front of him on the floor, wiggling slightly to better position the large, soft pillow beneath him.

 

Sesshoumaru nodded his head succinctly, the long fringes of silver-white bangs swaying across his forehead with the movement. “Good. Now, what exactly happened at Inuyasha's Forest?”

 

Sharp inhalations of air sounded from the two youkai sitting in front of him and even the kit stopped in the middle of his artistry, his lips tightening into a hard line and his green eyes glinting with inner rage. Sesshoumaru raised a perfectly arched eyebrow in silent question, pondering on the kits actions. He well knew the young fox looked towards the small miko as a mother figure - much as Rin seemed to - and had only ever seen childlike wonder and content adoration from the boy. At this exact point in time, the diminutive youkai looked ready to rend someone to shreds.

 

“There was an…altercation…that stemmed from previous problems.” Kurama replied delicately. He wasn't entirely certain about the relationship between the miko and the Demon Lord and neither did he know how much of the story Sesshoumaru already was aware of. It was an incredibly personal ordeal for Kagome and he was loath to give the Taiyoukai more information than she would want him to.

 

The Detective looked between the inu and the kitsune briefly, wanting nothing more than to get this entire meeting over with. Although he was more than pleased at the Taiyoukai's generosity, he really only wanted to escape and check up on the miko. At the pace the two youkai were setting, it would be evening before they got anywhere.

 

“How much of this entire mess do you already know?” Yusuke said bluntly. He wasn't one to skirt around issues normally and when the situation at hand concerned someone he had come to care for greatly, he had even less patience for drawing the conversation out.

 

The dog demon simply sat there, his gaze - although cold and unwavering - seemed to be far away, as if he were settling his thoughts into a certain order. He blinked once before focusing once more on the Spirit Detectives. In the time it had taken to reach his castle the previous evening, the two had told him all about their jobs on Kagome's side of the well and anything else he was interested in.

 

“I know that Kagome has held great loyalty and love for my half-brother for as long as she has been coming to this era. There have been many occasions in the past few years where we have conversed and I myself have seen many of the transgressions against the miko. The last opportunity that we had to speak, she told me that the hanyou was still pining after the corpse.” He sighed slightly and rubbed at his temple, feeling a headache already forming.

 

Yusuke scoffed loudly, drawing the attention of the two light-colored demons. “Transgression doesn't even begin to cover it. What I have heard about the whole thing from Kagome makes me want to strangle that mutt, no offence. She is just too pure a creature to be treated that way. If I get a second chance, you might find yourself without a younger sibling.”

 

Sesshoumaru merely arched a sculpted eyebrow at the outburst, secretly commending the young toushin in his mind. He too wanted to make the hanyou pay for treating someone as wholesome and untainted as Kagome the way he had, but he had more pressing matters at the time and it wasn't really his place. It only became his position to inflict harm upon the whelp when he had physically harmed the miko.

 

Kurama took up the responsibility of relaying everything else they knew about the situation, from meeting Kagome to having her tell them of the hanyou's plans for her. The Demon Lord listened attentively and as the marks against the miko continued and steadily escalated, he had to fight down his beast with iron will. His inner inu had long ago accepted the miko and had branded her as pack in his mind; now at hearing how badly the precious woman had been hurt, he wanted to revel in the hanyou's blood on his claws.

 

Once the specifics were spoken, the room became quiet, each person in the room sitting and fuming quietly. Soft growls could be heard from the four youkai here and there and only the scratching of quills on parchment was a constant sound. The hushed atmosphere of the study was quickly broken when the sound of shattering glass and a yelp of pain was heard.

 

~*~

 

Warmth.

 

Kagome was surrounded by the most delicious, comforting warmth she had ever felt and a moment's annoyance flashed through her when she felt soft rays of sunlight on her face. The sun was up which meant she would soon have to be as well. She sighed heavily and burrowed deeper under the covers, loving the feel of silk running across her skin. Wait…silk? She moved her legs slightly and felt her bare skin sliding across the luxurious material.

 

Sapphire eyes flew wide open at the contact and she whimpered at the bright intrusion of the sun. Blinking several times to dispel the stars that danced in front of her eyes, she was finally able to gain focus and look around. She lifted her head slightly and her eyes immediately caught on the room and for a minute, she forgot why she had been alarmed in the first place.

 

The bed she lay on was covered in white silk sheets and furs the same color while gentle wisps of white curtains lifted away from the windows under the warm summer morning breeze. Rays of sunlight brightened the room and she could make out an enormous armoire along one wall and a few feet from it stood a vanity, both of a deep red mahogany. A fireplace lined the opposite wall, standing large and looming even while unlit, and an ornate door stood across from the bed.

 

She had no idea where she was or what exactly had transpired. The last thing she could remember was having her arm torn open and falling unconscious in the arms of Kurama. As she struggled to sit up, a low whimper of pain loosened in her throat when she bumped her arm against the mattress and when she appraised her wound, she found it neatly dressed in soft white linen.

 

Looking down from her arm at the rest of her body, Kagome noticed she was wearing a red, silken sleeping yukata that stopped just below her knees. A frown tilted her lips as she plucked at the hem of the delicate garment, straining her mind to remember something - anything - of what had occurred after falling into the fox's arms.

 

Pulling her lower lip between her teeth, she worried the gentle flesh obsessively as she sent her aura out, trying to find any traces of Shippou, Yusuke or Kurama. She was quickly rebuffed by a spell that shimmered and flared under her power. Her eyes widened as her body became frozen to the bed in terror and her mind entered panic mode. Whatever spell was in place completely obliterated her ability to locate her companions and random, terrifying scenarios of where she was and why filtered through her mind.

 

Had Inuyasha, Yusuke and Kurama all ended up dead? Had the hanyou's blood taken over causing him to kill her friends? Was Shippou dead? Or had they all simply abandoned her? Maybe she had been captured and Kurama and Yusuke realized how helpless she was and left her to fend for herself. Part of her revolted at the idea, her heart already romanticizing the relationship between the three and proclaiming loudly that they wouldn't have jumped with her in the first place only to leave her to the mercy of Kami knew who.

 

Her mind was battling against her heart, telling her that Inuyasha had already discarded her for that very reason - amongst many - and that if a hanyou couldn't love her, why would two extremely powerful youkai? What would they gain by even being the friend of a worthless human girl who couldn't even defend herself properly?

 

The already rapid beating of her heart sped up further as her panic washed over her. She was alone…again. What was worse was that she couldn't even properly examine her surroundings because of that damned spell so she had no idea what kind of creatures were lurking outside the door. She was scare…terrified really. The staggering weight of being forsaken yet again when her heart had just barely begun to heal was too much for the tiny miko to bear.

 

Suddenly she was boneless, crumbling effortlessly under the weight of her sorrow as if her very foundations had been torn away. Slouching miserably against the headboard of the bed, Kagome pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around them. Burrowing her face into the shelf of her knees, she cried. Deep, painful sobs shook her small frame violently under the turn her life had taken.

 

The door banged open loudly and startled her from her solitary mourning. Large blue eyes, bright with tears, looked up sharply at the doorway and she was alarmed to see a very unfriendly looking boar demon leering at her. Taking a few long strides across the threshold, he slammed the door closed and focused black, beady eyes on the terrified miko.

 

“Human filth.” He snarled, his jaw falling open to reveal long, yellow teeth lining his maw. “You have no business being in the royal wing of the master's castle.” He took a step closer towards the frightened woman and grinned maliciously. “Normally, ningen isn't my type of meat but for you, I think I can make an exception. In fact, I think I just might play with you a bit before I devour your flesh.”

 

Thoughts of self-preservation and the felling urge to find her kit put her in motion. Before either she or the youkai were entirely aware of what she was doing, Kagome had sprung up from the bed and was dashing towards the window. A sound at her back made her look over her shoulder and, at seeing the demon now attempting to follow her, she shoved aside all thoughts of opening in the window to scale down the wall and simply leapt through it. The shattering of the glass and the bite of said material tearing into her flesh was barely registered and when she hit the ground, she pulled her legs underneath her as fast as she could, only to sprint off away from the castle.

 

She sprinted across the soft grass of the courtyard and flew past the startled guards at the gate, running full tilt towards the encompassing forest. I have to get away from here. I have to find Shippou. Kami please let him be okay. Pushing her legs to go faster, she broke through the tree line and crashed into the forest, uncaring of the various stones and thorns that were imbedded into the tender soles of her bare feet. Further she ran, branches of trees and shrubs grabbing at her clothes, tangling in her hair and tearing at her flesh.

 

When her legs ached beyond mention and her lungs felt as though they were burning, she came to a halt. Leaning over her and placing her hands on her knees, Kagome fought to catch her breath and steady her heartbeat. Adrenaline raced like lava through her veins and as soon as her breathing had evened out just a bit, she made to race off again. One step forward and she was good; two steps and her abused flesh and lungs screamed against the movement; three steps and her legs turned to jelly and she was falling.

 

The miko landed in a heap of tattered silk and torn flesh, her body too exhausted to move any further. She hadn't gone far enough yet; Inuyasha's Forest was still so very far away and Kami knew where her kit was. Kagome sat upon the forest floor where she fell and the barely-there motion of lowering herself to the ground made her body ache horribly.

 

Once she was in a semi-comfortable position, she took a good look down the line of her body and realized just how bad she looked. Her nightgown was in shreds, barely clinging to her body, her arms and legs were covered in bruises and gashes and the soft cloth that had been wrapped around her previous injury was nowhere to be seen, leaving the jagged edges of her flesh to ooze with new blood. Bits and pieces of glass were imbedded into the skin of her limbs and she could feel more than a few traces of the window pinching at her back.

 

Kagome made another unsuccessful attempt to stand and when she only landed hard upon the ground once more, she gave up. Her body had been through too much and she wasn't strong enough. I'm never strong enough. I couldn't even stay conscious to find out what happened to my friends. Kami, I am as worthless as Inuyasha has always told me I was.

 

Fresh waves of tears stormed down her face, burning paths of sorrow through the dirt on her cheeks and the blood that flowed in small rivulets down her face from a gash at her temple. It was just too much; too much pain and too much sorrow. She had failed Yusuke and Kurama…she had failed Shippou. Her head dropped down causing her chin to press into her chest as sobs and whimpers left her throat.

 

The rustle of vegetation off to her side startled her completely and she briefly entertained the thought that maybe - just maybe - she could scare off whichever demon was coming to feast on her flesh. The notion was violently shoved away and Kagome settled for simply remaining as she was. She was useless and pathetic and whatever youkai was here to eat her was more than welcome to end her paltry existence.

 

The light touch of feet upon the ground sounded in her ears and she clenched her eyes shut waiting for the bite of teeth or the slash of claws. Instead, she got her name.

 

“Kagome?”