“My Lord! Lord Sesshomaru!” The frantic squawks of Jaken broke the silence within his office and pulled Sesshomaru from his scrolls. He slowly laid down his brush as his servant waited at the door for his permission to enter.
“Enter,Jaken.”
The green imp burst in, brandishing a missive. “The Tiger demons from the east have sent you a message!”
“Set it down and leave,” he said, his amber eyes flickering to the two other scrolls that had been placed carefully on a small table across the room. “Announce to the servants that the castle will officially begin preparations to receive the Lords of the North, South, and East. Have all the rooms prepared within the week. Track down Seiryuu and send him to me as well. ”
“Y-yes my Lord!” he scurried out quickly, echoes of him barking orders coming through just before the heavy oak doors shut.
The Taiyoukai took a moment to finish his work before he stood and crossed the room to pick up the scroll. It boldly displayed the seal of the East, but no doubt held a gently worded acknowledgment to the invitation to the Summit of Lords. It was an event in which all four ruling Lords of the North, West, South, and East would meet and address problems and propose ideas. The focus of this year would be the doing away of Naraku and of course the parading about of the highest ranking females in the hopes that one would catch the Taiyoukai’s eyes. Each passing year without a mate had drawn more teasing than pressure. However, it was also an excuse to show off and have a grand party, so it was a time for pleasure and entertainment alike.
This year was the West's turn once more, and Sesshomaru had a reputation of being the best host, more so than even his father who spent more time in the midst of battles than his castle. He still hadn't found a special something that would make this year unique. His record was impeccable, and he did not wish to tarnish it with a dull year.
The East were Tiger Demons, and their Lord was the recently late Daichikyo's son. The cub reminded Sesshomaru of Inuyasha with his hot temper and rudeness. He was the only one that had to have an eye kept on. The North belonged to the Dragons, and Lord Tatsuryu was almost twice Sesshomaru's age. He was ancient, and not someone to worry about. The south were rowdy Monkey Demons. They had a knack for getting drunk and unruly, but they were strong allies.
After reading the scroll, Sesshomaru returned to the running of his kingdom, only to be interrupted once more.
“Lord Sesshomaru!”
It was not toad this time, but Rin. Faster than he would have for Jaken, the Taiyoukai opened the doors. She was there, in tears and babbling about something 'horrible'. His patience instantly went into the negative, for if someone had harmed his daughter...
“Speak Rin, and be clear.” he snapped, and she quieted..
“Father,” she said only when they were alone. “It's Kagome. Shippo has brought her here, but she's been hurt,”
He calmed, raising a brow. What was his brother's woman doing here? Where was Inuyasha?
The little one that follows your brother?
“Come,” he said, sweeping down the hall. Servants scrambled out of his way, sensing his annoyance. He would send them back, for this was no time to invite problems.
Come now, let's see her.
'Why are you so eager?' he quipped at his beast. He had rarely heard from him in awhile, and it was a strange moment from him to emerge.
The beast remained silent as he entered the front hall. Jaken was squawking at the once small kit, who held the unconscious Miko. His turquoise eyes met his with a fire he had never seen before. He had hit his growth spurt, or the first of few. The kit came up the his chest now, which was just a bit taller than Rin. He spared a moment to reflect that the two had grown much in the past three years.
“I didn't know where else to go...” he said, his voice strained. It was obvious that he was trying not to cry. The cloth covering the Miko was pulled away.
She looked dead.
Rin gasped, but Sesshomaru knew better. He could hear her heartbeat. It was weak, and her skin a convincing white, but she was alive. As well as the fact that the smell of her blood hung heavily in the air.
“Explain.”
Shippo held her closer, “It was yesterday...”
#Flashback#
“Mama,” Shippo peered into the well, looking down at Kagome as she sat at the bottom. Despite her blank expression, she struggled to fight back her tears. The scene she had just witnessed was something she could not get out of her mind, and would not be able to for some time.
“I'm fine Shippo. I just...need a moment,” she sniffed. Although she had come to greatly control her emotions this was one of the hardest moments of her life. A younger version of herself would have broken down completely, but as an adult she refuse to accept showing such weakness. She needed to focus on her next move instead of wasting time with crying over the obvious.
Inuyasha and her were no longer.
The Kitsune nodded and leaned against the edge. His adoptive mother had not been having the best of times lately. Having turned eighteen and graduated high school, Inuyasha had been expecting Kagome to spend more time in the feudal era. She had been more than willing of course, but there had been the matter of college. Angrily, the hanyou had told Kagome that they were too close to defeating Naraku for her to be in her time even more. The two fought bitterly, and had even stopped talking to each other for a while. However, Kagome relented. She told Shippo that Inuyasha had pulled her aside and opened up to her. He said that she would need that 'stuff' after Naraku was gone, and after a warm kiss the Miko took it as a subtle proposal.
Happily, she halted her studies and started making plans for her to move to the feudal era permanently. Her mother had been somewhat disappointed but it was clear that with everything that had happened thus far, her daughter had a higher calling. Kagome then focused on cultivating her vast, raw power and archery skills. Over the years she matured with a renewed focus on training and became utterly deadly. She no longer required Inuyasha's protection when they fought, or for any other situation. Word had quickly spread as status rose to the most powerful Miko in all of the lands. She proudly held her own now in ways she would have never thought possible when she first fell down the well when she was 15, and looked forward to being Inuyasha's mate when the time came.
Everything had been fine until Kikyou showed up. After a private talk with Inuyasha he returned and announced that since she had become ill and weak, she was requesting to travel with them until she regained her strength in a few days. At first, Kagome had been furious especially since Inuyasha had said absolutely nothing to her about it. The only thing that pacified her was Inuyasha's promises that nothing was amiss and the fact that Kagome had greatly surpassed the clay-pot. No one could miss the smug smirk that Kagome sported after a small display of her power when they were attacked by demons. Kagome had flicked her wrist at horde of demons threatening to overwhelm the hanyou who was protecting the useless woman. Kikyou had tried not to show it, but her envy flickered across her face on more than a few occasions. Unfortunately in a number of snide comments, it became obvious that she believed Kagome’s powers should belong to her.
It did took no more than a couple days for Kagome and Sango to glimpse strange bruises and dirt patches on the corpse. After a few days of sly spying, they were horrified to realize that she was decaying. She was not ill at all, but had been laying low as her body crumbled from within. The two kept it to themselves, unable to tell Inuyasha until they figured out what her intentions truly were. Without them she would not be able to protect herself, and in the feudal era it would take only hours for her to find herself in trouble.
The night that ended everything started off quietly. It was spring, and the evening was cool. Everyone was preparing for bed when Kikyou abruptly announced that she was going to bathe. Sango offered to accompany her, since Inuyasha had mysteriously disappeared, Kagome and her would fight, and Miroku was out of the question. The kitsune settling next to Kagome could not go for several reasons. He was a demon, and thus Kikyou did not trust him. Plus, his growth spurt had given him a few feet, and now looked like a fifteen-year-old, as well as the fact the he hated Kikyou, too. It was easy to imagine the kitsune looking the other way if a demon attacked her.
“No, I will be fine,” she had said dryly and faded into the trees.
With Inuyasha gone, Kagome volunteered to wait up for either. As the others fell asleep, Inuyasha had yet to return. She knew that it was mating season, and that the hanyou had taken to the woods to put some space between him and Kagome. They were waiting for the battle with Naraku to consummate their relationship, and a kiss during mating season could get hot very quickly. After what felt like a worrying amount of time, Kagome went to look for them. In a way she wouldn't be detected, Kagome flared her spiritual energy to sense Inuyasha's youki and track it down. However, as she neared, she found Kikyou's weaker aura mixing into it. With her jaw clenching the closer she got it become obvious what her senses were telling her. But something in her heart denied it until her eyes fell upon them. Inuyasha was caught tangled with Kikyou on the forest floor, and before either could respond, Kagome bolted. She crashed into camp, waking up everyone and begging Shippo to fly her back to the well as fast as he could. He obeyed her as Miroku and Sango called after her, distraught to see his mother so broken and in tears.
She stayed in her time for three days and in that time, Shippo confronted Inuyasha on his actions. The guilt was evident, but he shockingly denied wronging Kagome. He stated that regardless of what had happened he still had every intention of mating Kagome, even though a stronger looking Kikyou clearly bared the mark as his mate.
And so here she was after those three days of agony in her time at the bottom of the well regaining her composure before she confronted who she thought would be the love of her life. He had not come after her, and with each passing hour she was forced to accept the abrupt end to their relationship. There were many things ice cream and maturity helped with, but in the end the hunt for the shards was almost over and she’d have more time to figure things out then.
“Thank you Shippo. How have the others been?” she said after he'd told her what happened while she was gone.
“I don’t know where the jerk has been after I laid into him over what he did,” he reached down to get her bag while she scaled the wall with a grace and agility that awed him still. He was hesitant to relay that he still intended to mate her. It was clearly out of the question. “Miroku and Sango have been waiting for you but this morning they went to a nearby village that had a small demon problem. You know Mama... I'll stay with you no matter what after we defeat Naraku. Even if I have to wait five hundred years into the future.”
The Miko turned to him with a soft smile and gave him a tight hug, “Is that so? I thought you would run off to find Rin?”
He an interesting shade of pink, “W-what do you mean?”
Kagome smiled, “Well, Inuyasha's brother--” She started, but a sharp noise cut through the air. A searing pain erupted in her chest and when she looked down she saw an arrow stuck in her chest. It sported the familiar purple glow of tainted purity that belonged to Kikyou, but it was much stronger than expected as it was laced with Inuyasha’s formidable youki. Her vision blurred as she stumbled back to the edge of the well and righted herself before she could fall in.
“Momma!” Shippo called out her name as her purity automatically surged forward, enveloping the entire field in her purity. He felt it pierce him in a way he’d never felt before and passed out from the blinding white.
#End Flashback#
Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed as the fox completed his tale, “This remains a situation that has nothing to do with this Sesshoumaru,”
Shippo shook his head, refusing to reason with him. “When I awoke, I had two tails, and Inuyasha was transformed. He was standing over her growling, so I grabbed her and brought her here. I know you hate him, so I was hoping that you would protect her. Please...”
Rin looked up at the Taiyoukai with a pleading expression, one that stirred even him. “I'll be responsible for them, my Lord. I beg of you...”
“You ask my protection for a ningen Miko I know nothing of? In what way would it benefit this Sesshoumaru to take in the woman the half-breed cast out?” he said simply.
Is she not the one whose reputation has begun to grow?
“I will pledge myself to you,” Shippo said quickly. “I will do anything to have her safe again.”
“Please,” Rin wrung the hem of her kimono, her eyes filling with tears. He knew that Rin loved the woman. Every single time they encountered her she had a gift for Rin, and no one could forget the night the Miko traveled quickly from the far North when Rin began her cycle. He stared at her for a moment, and something in his cold amber eyes must have acquiesced, for she made a noise of joy and thanked him. He turned and went into the castle as she wiped her eyes and Jaken started to bark orders for her to be placed in a guest room. He dared not disrespect the two now that they were guests. Sesshomaru had ironclad rules when it came to guests, and with the up and coming summit, his tolerance went to zero.
Inside, Sesshomaru quietly pondered this new development. He would have to keep her here until she was completely healed, out of sight and hopefully before the summit began. Well known Miko or not, to have yet another human woman in his walls would only draw comment that would annoy him. The other servants were Youkai, and the only human they served was Rin, and that was after Sesshomaru removed the heads of a few. As if didn't have enough to deal with, to have this dumped on his lap was irritating.
Of all the things to have there while the other ruling Lords were there, a Miko should not be one of them. Especially an attractive, powerful, odd one.
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It's been a long time guys. This story toook off when I first wrote it but that was back when I was a teenager and now I have a much better understanding of what I was trying to accomplish with this story. It will be more fleshed out and not have as many spelling errors as the orginal version. Let me know what you think of it.