Hey guys! I'm back and I made this chapter extra long mainly because I had to get to a good stopping point and this chapter wouldn't have been as good if I'd stopped earlier. Anyway this chapter contains only Sesshomaru and Kagome and I will only say this once. Sesshomaru and Kagome are like siblings. They are not mates and will not be mates. Kagome is for Kurama only. So, I better hear any complaints from that compartment. Hope you guys like my story!
Disclaimer: My mate is Kuronue! My mate is Kuronue!
Chapter 5
She didn't know how long she'd been standing there holding on to Sesshomaru as if her life depended on it, but boy did it ever feel good. He looked and smelled and felt as good as ever as she stood nestled in his embrace. Here, standing in the flesh, was proof of her past. After all these weeks someone had finally, finally come to her. Sesshomaru had indeed kept his promise, even if he was a bit late. She had already forgiven him.
She would have stood there all day long had it not been for Sesshomaru suddenly stiffening in her arms and she suddenly remembered where she was and just whom she was hugging. "Miko, this Sesshomaru knows how irresistible he is, but never thought one such as you would fall for my charms," Sesshomaru drawled, startling her out of her shocked stupor. Kagome hesitantly let go of her safety net and stepped back, grinning up at him a little sheepishly as he stared down at her, a slight upper twist to his peach colored lips. Then she frowned when the reality of his words set in and she shot him a heated mock glare.
Huffing she turned her back on him, knowing that it normally irked the proud demon when someone dismissed him so easily. "Hmph, Sesshomaru, you wish," she muttered playfully, winking at her mother and brother who were still standing idly by. Kun-loon just looked even more confused while Souta was grinning broadly. He'd heard all the stories about Sesshomaru and thought it was funny how someone such as his sister could so easily get under the great demon's skin.
When Sesshomaru growled at her dismissal Kagome turned back to him and looked him over. He was now standing quite casually against the trunk of the God Tree, leaning back ever so slightly against the trunk. His clothes were very casual, a sight Kagome found most amusing remembering the very royal garments of the Sesshomaru of old. She tried to hold back her giggles as her eyes roamed over the neatly pressed black slacks and white loose sleeveless shirt, tucked into his pants. His hair was now pulled back away from his face by a black hair band, leaving his bangs hanging free as ever. It was a little bit short than she remembered, although still long by any means. It not lay to about the middle of his back. His eyes were as gold as ever, although she noticed they lacked his usual cold exuberance.
Sesshomaru noticed the moment Kagome lips tightened and knew she was keeping herself from laughing at his expense. Discretely he let his own eyes wander, drinking in the sight of the sister he'd adopted so long ago. She was still a little thing compared to him, almost a whole foot and a half short than his own 7 foot build. Her form as still as curvy as ever, although it was slightly more toned and in shape than he remembered. Her hair had grown out and he remembered she'd had a fetish for long hair, always wanting to brush his and run her fingers through it. Well, now she had her own hair to indulge in.
She hadn't grown much, but that was to be expected since she'd only been home a month. Nevertheless it was still good to see her after 500 years and if he was being really brutally honest, he would have to say he'd missed her the most out of anyone.
"So, Sesshomaru, when did you loose the Kimono and get with the new age?" Kagome couldn't help teasing him as Sesshomaru straightened and came out from the shade of the God Tree to wrap his arms around her again.
He smirked down at her and caught her playfully as the attempted to run away, giggling madly. "Why, little sister, I think it was around the time you lost your ridiculous garments you always wear. Did you perhaps grow out of that dreaded uniform of yours?" He teased, right back.
Kagome had the decency to blush remembering all the times Sesshomaru had mocked her for her choice of clothing, calling her indecent and under dressed. "Hey, if it's a choice between those stupid miko clothes that Kikyo always wore, I'll take my school uniform anyway. I'd rather be caught dead than wear those clothes again." Sesshomaru chuckled and released his sister.
She was about to speak to him, or more like question him repeatedly about why he hadn't bothered to call her yet or contact her somehow, when Souta raced up to her side. "Hey, sis, aren't you going to introduce me?" Souta asked excitedly. And then without waiting for a response he turned and bowed remembering his sister telling him that if they should ever meet, to be respectful. Sesshomaru nodded back, noticing right away how similar sister and brother looked. It was obvious that they were siblings, not only by their similar looks, but their mannerisms. Her brother had the same wide, friendly eyes as his sister.
"Hi, I'm Souta, Kagome's brother! I'm fifteen now. That's the same age Kagome was when she fell down the well. Are you really Inuyasha's brother? That's totally awesome! Do you have a sword too? Oops…sorry. I forgot you used to try to kill my sister for one? Did you ever get it? Anyway, Kagome told me how you were a full demon and Inuyasha was only half. I still that's wicked cool! Do you think you could teach me how to use a sword? Kagome already started a little bit, but she said you would be better at teaching than her since you taught her everything she knows. Did you really adopt my sister as your sister? Does that mean we're related now! How old are you, really?"
"Souta, that's enough," Kun-loon called to her son, while Kagome hastily through a hand over her brother's talkative mouth, and started laughing at Sesshomaru who was going a little cross-eyed from all the question spewing out of her brother. Good Kami, Sesshomaru thought. He's even worse than Rin was when she was half his age. Kagome's mom stepped over to them and introduced herself.
"Hello, I am Kun-loon, Kagome mother. It is very nice to meet you, Lord Sesshomaru. Kagome has told us so much about you."
"And you as well, Higurashi-san," Sesshomaru spoke back pleasantly and Kagome could tell her mom was pleased with what she saw.
"Would you like to come in and have some lunch with us?" Her mother asked, smiling as Souta nodded insanely and Kagome simply caught his eye and shrugged. "I'm sure Kagome would love to talk with you for awhile. Kami, knows how much she's moped around lately."
"Mom," Kagome interrupted blushing slightly at the amused look on Sesshomaru's face. She turned to her friend and took his hand in hers.
"Come on, I'll make us some lunch and then we can talk, okay?" Sesshomaru followed Kagome into the house, while Kun-loon went on to do some chores. Souta, who Kagome could tell already adored the demon lord, followed them excitedly in the kitchen, voicing his questions along the way, while Sesshomaru tried to answer them as patiently as possible.
If Kagome wasn't impressed by Sesshomaru's mannerisms before, she sure was now. He never once insulted Souta, just simply answered his youthful questions with a quiet grace which must have come from years of practice. Boy, Kagome thought. Living with Shippo and Rin sure must have done wonders for his control.
The three of them sat down to a pleasant lunch, during which Kagome listened as Sesshomaru and Souta talked. She found it amusing that her brother had so many questions.
Finally when Souta had exhausted himself and learned all he could, he went off to find something to do for the rest of the day, while Sesshomaru and Kagome went out and sat on the swinging seat on the porch. The sun was just setting and the sky was losing its brightness as dark blue begin to seep in from the east, the pink highlights already darkening into violet. It would be night soon, but Kagome knew it would be a very pleasant evening as the weather was nice.
"So, Sesshomaru," Kagome started. "Why has it taken you so long to contact me? Where have you been?"
Sesshomaru turned to his little sister and relaxed into the chair, feeling more content than he had in years when she suddenly placed her head against his shoulder. "Well, to answer your question, I think there are a few things I should probably go over first." When she nodded he continued. "When you left, the others were very sad, yet they grieved privately and in their own way. Everyone eventually moved on, the Taijia and the Monk decided to move back to the slayer's old village. There, they rebuilt the houses and soon opened the village to anyone wanting to learn the arts of the demon slayer. It wasn't long before the village had escalated to a population of a hundred."
"That's fantastic!" Kagome interrupted happily. "Sango must have been very proud. Did she and Miroku ever have any children?"
"Indeed," Sesshomaru confirmed. "And yes, they had three children, a girl named Kagome, who was the oldest, and twin boys name Kei and Rei."
Kagome's eyes watered happily upon hearing the name Sango placed on her daughter. Oh, Sango, how I miss you. "Their children must have been very powerful as well, right?" Kagome asked hopefully.
Sesshomaru shrugged. "After awhile we lost track and I did not see them for many years. But I do know that the oldest girl grew up learning the ways of the miko and demon slayer."
"Wow," Kagome wondered aloud. "A girl trained in both the slayer way and miko way would have to be a strong adversary I would think."
"I don't know much more about them, but you can ask Shippo when you see him. He and Rin both spent some time with them before they were mated."
Kagome's eyes flashed happily. "So, Shippo's still alive also? That's great! And they did get mated! I knew it!"
"So, it was you who encouraged their courtship, Kagome," Sesshomaru grumbled. "You know you could have at least warned me."
Kagome giggled at Sesshomaru's expression. He was almost pouting in the chair. "And then what would you have done?" Kagome teased. "Kept them as far away from each other as you possibly could?"
"Damn straight," Sesshomaru growled.
Kagome's smiled dimmed a bit. "Were they happy?" She asked, laying a calming hand on his arm remembering that Rin should have been dead for centuries by now. Poor Shippo.
But Sesshomaru merely smiled mischievously and nodded once in confirmation of their happiness.
"What about," Kagome bit her lip hesitantly. "What about Inuyasha? Did you two get over your petty squabbles?" She meant it to sound jokingly, but her voice cracked on the last words.
The corners of Sesshomaru's mouth frowned a bit and his eyes flashed with some unknown emotion causing Kagome blood to run cold. He glanced at her, noticing how frigid she had become and gently drew her back into the shelter of his body knowing that what he was about to tell her would be very hard to take.
Above them, the sky had almost sunk into the horizon and one by one the stars began to shine. "Do not fear, Kagome, for Inuyasha and I did eventually come to a grudging respect."
Kagome's relief was apparent and she smiled at him softly, although her eyes were alight with a sudden sadness when she noticed Sesshomaru's slightly hunched shoulders and weary expression. And instantly she knew that not everything Sesshomaru had to tell her was good.
"What happened to him, Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked, her voice strangely calm, although under laid with tension.
Sesshomaru turned to look at his sister, his eyes shining brightly with what looked like grief. She could only watch as his mouth moved and slowly words began seeping out. "After Inuyasha delivered the letter you sent to me, I began training him extensively. For nearly ten years I trained the whelp using every weapon and style I knew and eventually he became known as the most powerful hanyou to ever exist. After completing his training Inuyasha went off on his own for awhile and I didn't see him until almost a century later, although I always knew where he was. I had many people watching out for him so I would know where to find him, should he need my assistance. Inuyasha finally returned one day, right out of the blue and quite unexpected. And with him, he brought his mate."
Kagome gasped in surprise. Never in a million years would she ever expect Inuyasha to finally get over his love for Kikyo. "Who was she? Was she a demon?"
Sesshomaru smiled a little at his sister's excitement. "She was a hanyou," he replied. "Apparently along his travels he re-met and fell in love with a young bat hanyou named-"
"Shiori!" Kagome exclaimed, her eyes misted over with happy tears. Oh, if only she could see Inuyasha now. He had finally found someone to love him completely.
"Yes," Sesshomaru concurred.
"Did they have any children?" Kagome asked excitedly and knew the exact moment that the conversation did a 180.
"Almost," Sesshomaru responded hesitantly.
"What do you mean almost?" Kagome asked. "How do you almost have a child? Did she have a miscarriage or something?"
"Worse," Sesshomaru growled now as anger was certainly apparent in his eyes. What he said next, he knew was going to hurt her, but he knew she had to know. Never one to beat around the bush, Sesshomaru decided to give it to her straight.
"Around 300 hundred years ago, about a hundred after Inuyasha returned, some very powerful men got together and decided that they wanted to create a world where humans could live in peace instead of hiding in fear from demons. So they devised a plan to split the earth into three realms. The demons were cast into the demon realm, which is now known as the Makai. The humans were placed into the Ningenkai where a kekaii barrier was placed to keep demons from escaping. Reikai became the world of the spirits where King Enma established his rule."
"Hm," Kagome murmured thoughtfully. She always wondered where all the demons went. "So what does this have to do with Inuyasha?"
"Well, it might not have, had Inuyasha and Shiori not conceived a hanyou child, more powerful than ever produced. Reikai soon caught wind of my brother and his mate and their equally powerful child. They decided that the child was too much of a risk to the three realms. So they decided to kill him."
Kagome gasped in shock and clasped her hands in front of her mouth horrified. They wanted to kill and innocent child just for being born with power?
Sesshomaru's eyes were nearly flashing with blood lust as he recalled the day he learned of the treachery. "Through sources of my own and as King of Makai, I learned of the plan and informed my brother that the only place to hide would be in Ningenkai. Inuyasha and Shiori agreed that it would be best to leave and so made plans to escape into the human realm so they could hide. But something went wrong and a spy who learned of this, caught up to them just as they were escaping through the barrier.
:Flashback:
"Shiori!" Inuyasha cried, ducking as something went whizzing by their head. His head raised in horror as he watched the blue blast just barely miss his mate, who held their son close to her chest in order to protect him.
"Inuyasha," Shiori murmured, trying to shush her baby and run at the same time. "We're not going to make it."
Inuyasha turned to her with a growl and grabbed her arm tighter, pulling her along at an even faster pace. "Don't say things like that," He stated harshly. "You and I are going to reach the barrier and then you, me, and Kyoki will be able to live freely. They will never be able to find us. They won't ever take you away from me. You and Kyoki are mine."
In spite of the danger of the precarious situation Shiori found herself smiling at her mate and her steps became lighter as her demon abilities kicked in and she raced away with him at her side.
"Up there!" Shiori cried when she finally came to the cave where Sesshomaru's men stood waiting to battle the rushing Reikai officials. Inuyasha barely acknowledged them as he streaked past them, his mate directly by his side.
"Right," Inuyasha agreed, picking up his mate and son and skipping upwards and into the mouth of the cave.
It wasn't long before they came to a golden barrier with what looked to be a small crack in it. Inuyasha walked right up to it trusting what his brother had done using the Tensaiga and forced the crack wider.
From outside his ears picked up the sounds of yelling and knew that the Reikai police were moving in even faster than they thought. He could hear the clash of metal as Sesshomaru's knight attempted to keep the police out of the way. "Come on hurry or it'll close and we'll both be stuck here!" Inuyasha cried, pushing his mate into the portal ahead of him just as the police ran up and tried to latch onto both Inuyasha and the baby.
"Get the hell away from her!" Inuyasha bellowed swinging his deadly claws and catching one of the guards of guard, gutting him instantly. He watched unflinchingly as the guard slumped to the ground in a bloody heap.
"Inuyasha!" Shiori called frantically from the other side and clutched harder at her whimpering baby. She screamed again when Kyoki woke up and started crying loudly bringing the attention away from Inuyasha and onto their son. Inuyasha's eyes widened in fear and he managed to swing around and throw off five of the detectives and dart in front of the opening pushing her all the way through, just as it closet all the way. "Inuyasha, Inuyasha!" He could hear her screaming his name over and over again as he was dragged kicking and screaming away form the closed barrier.
Shiori, Shiori! Mate, can you hear me? He called through their bond and amost sighed in relief when he heard her shaky response.
Inuyasha where are you? I'm scared? Kyoki won't stop crying?
Shiori, listen to me, Inuyasha demanded. You must run now. They are forcing the barrier open and if they find you, they will kill our son. Run away!
But, Inu, I-I can't do this without you.
Shiori…Go! Inuyasha cried frantically within his mind. I promise I will find you again. I love you. Goodbye.
Nooooooo! He heard her scream just before he blocked his mind from her forever.
He could only pray now that his mate would not be captured as well and was relieved when he heard the guards cursing about the 'broad getting away.'
He allowed his body to sink into oblivion when he finally realized he would never see his beautiful mate again; would never get to hold his son again and watch as he grew up.
At least you're safe; my Shiori.
:End Flashback:
"Inuyasha," Kagome wept sadly at Sesshomaru's side, the tears raining down her face. "Oh, he must have been so devastated." Sesshomaru held his little sister in his arms, watching as she cried out the storm that was brewing and wishing he could do the same.
It was a long, tense moment before Sesshomaru finally spoke quietly again. Kagome had quieted down a bit after asking Sesshomaru to tell her what happened after that.
"I found Inuyasha just outside the cave; half beaten and almost starved to death. Apparantly the Reikai police had no use for him; just his son so they tortured him, beat him, and then left him for dead. It was fortunate that I decided to check if he made it or not. I found him and brought him back to the castle where he remains to this day."
"So…Inuyasha is still alive?" Kagome asked so softly even Sesshomaru almost didn't hear her.
"Only in body, Kagome," Sesshomaru murmured. "His mind was so burdened by the tragedies of his life that he just shut down and to this day is a listless drone. He just sits in his room and stares out the window. He eats and he sleeps, and that is all."
"Oh, poor Inuyasha," Kagome cried burring herself into her brother's strong, comforting arms. On the one hand, she was glad Inuyasha was still alive. She was afraid he would already have been dead by now. But from what Sesshomaru had just relayed he practically was.
Only in body, Kagome. Sesshomaru's words kept echoing over and over again before she shook her head, attempting to clear at least some of the depressing thoughts. "What happened to Shiori? Did she make it; and what about their son?"
"From what I have gathered Shiori made it out okay. But she disappeared and nobody has seen her since. As for her son….he was taken from her and placed into the Reikai jail where he remains to this day."
"What!" Kagome shrieked in outrage. "They took an innocent child from his mother and put him in jail!" Kagome cried as anger now over rode the sorrow. She stood up and began pacing erratically in front of the porch swing as Sesshomaru watched slightly amused and slightly angered himself. "How…how utterly despicable! They will die a thousand deaths for what they did to Inuyasha!"
Although he found Kagome's outburst to be quiet loud, he couldn't help but agree. After all, he himself was very angry and to this day, held quite a grudge against Enma.
Suddenly the light bulb went off in Kagome's head and she swung around to face him. "So that's why it took so long to get to me. Did you have to get permission to come into this realm?"
"Kagome, this Sesshomaru never asks permission," Sesshomaru remarked dryly as Kagome calmed herself a little bit and sat down again. "As it is, I do have permission to be in Ningenkai whenever I want to. Enma does not have the power to control a demon such as me. Nevertheless, there are laws and they take a great deal of time to go through."
The two were quiet for another few minutes as Kagome allowed the conversation to seep into her mind. Inuyasha had grown up, finally found himself a decent mate, came to terms with his brother, and produced a child, and for what? For it all to be taken away right when things were going well?
"Sesshomaru," Kagome finally muttered quietly.
When Sesshomaru finally turned to her he noticed right away the queer expression on her face and knew what she was about to say.
Her eyes were alight with a strange confidence that always fascinated him in the Feudal Age. It was the same strange confidence that had won the battle between good and evil so many wars ago and had won many strong allies.
"I'm going to find out the truth behind all this. I'm going to find Shiori and I'm going to find Inuyasha's son! And then together we are going to hunt down the ones responsible for this monstrosity and make them pay."
And in that moment Sesshomaru fully believed she could do it. And he would be with her all the way.
Ha! I betcha' nobody expected anything like that to occur. Well, I had to get a story in here somewhere. There can't just be romance and roses. There has to be come complication somewhere. Okay, just a few pointers before people wonder too much. If you can guess who Shiori is in real time, then I will give them a cookie. And no, Inuyasha and Shiori's son is a different character and probably won't come in until the second half of this two-part series. Anyway, I hope my chapter was some what original because I don't think I've ever seen anything written like this. So…hope everyone enjoyed it. Thanks for reviewing!
Ja ne.
Kura-kun's-lovr