Beauty and the Beast by Makuro767

Beauty and the Beast

Disclaimer; If I own Sesshoumaru and Kagome, I won't be a hikikomori! Salutes goes to Takahashi Rumiko-sensei. SALUT!!

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Higurashi Kagome opened her eyes and stared at the white ceiling of the hospital. She didn’t really remember what happened the night before, or perhaps it was weeks before that to find herself in the hospital. It was all a blur to her mind.

Her mother and Grandfather had visited earlier this morning and were waiting for the doctor’s report on her condition. They told her that Inuyasha suddenly came late last night with her in a very bad condition after almost a year spent in the past since her decision to remain in the Feudal Era despite the failed relation with Inuyasha. They were frightened out of their mind when they saw her mostly naked and almost partially broken body.

Kagome shifted in her bed, pain stinging her everywhere each time she moved. Her neck felt the worst of it all, and so were her legs. Her mother admitted that it was a rape case but Inuyasha just won’t tell them who was it that used her badly. Kagome felt as if her world collides on her when the word ‘rape’ was mentioned. It must have been an absolute terror for her to have her memory completely wipes it off.

She knew most of her friends in the past were boys and she knew most of them won’t do such a thing. Kouga have decided to go through with his engagement to Ayame and Miroku had built his dream home with Sango. Inuyasha was busy hunting for the village to earn his keep there and most of the time he wasn’t home. Shippou was too young and he had joined the Kitsune School that the group had once passed through during their journey. The men of the village won’t dare to touch her and not only because of her friends but of her position as the miko of the village and her status as a heroin.

Kagome couldn’t think of anyone else because the only freak that she knew would dare do such a thing has been dead for almost a year. Her mind hurt each time she thought of thinking any deeper into the matter.

Kagome looked up at the sound of her mother’s voice arguing with the doctor outside her door. She frowned at the word ‘bestiality’ and concluded that her rapist must have been a youkai. Although it have been narrowed, she couldn’t think of any youkai that would be strong enough to fight off her reiki long enough to rape her.

Kagome was released that evening, although she noticed that most of the hospital’s worker was staring at her like a freak but she knew that had it been true, they have the right to feel disgusted. She knew she would. Kagome looked at her mother, “What kind?”

Kun-Loo looked at her daughter as she stopped at the red light, “Kind?”

Kagome looked at her lap, twiddling her fingers, “Sperms,” She whispered the words, loud enough for her mother to hear. Kun-Loo sighed, “Dogs,”

Kagome frowned, “Inuyasha just came back and he was helping the butcher,”

Kun-Loo shook her head, “Is there any other inu youkai that you knew, Kagome?”

She shook her head, “Just Inuyasha and his full blooded…” She trailed, disbelieve coating her face. She shook as she denied her mind, “But he HATED humans! He won’t even look at me! It can’t be him!”

Kun-Loo parked her car at the park near their home, “Whom?”

Kagome grabbed the side of her head in fear, “I don’t think it could be him! It’s absolutely ridiculous,”

Kun-Loo touches her daughter’s shoulder as Kagome rocked her body, whispering denial. She called, “Kagome? Who are you talking about?”

Kagome breathed deep, sighing as she wiped her tears, face as pale as a ghost as she answered her mother, “But it can’t be anyone else either, Mama,” She choked, “He was the only youkai I knew could fight off reiki with sheer will power. He was the only other inu youkai I knew and he was almost always near the village since Rin was there,” She threw herself against her mother, crying, “It can’t be him. It’s impossible but it just made sense!”

Kun-Loo frowned as she rubbed her daughter’s bruised back gently, “Who is it, Kagome?”

Kagome whispered, “Sesshoumaru, Daiyoukai of the West,”

Kagome couldn’t bring herself to even look at the well house or dogs, especially those with white coats. She stroked Bunto’s coat as she rested against the rough bark of the Goshinboku. Every time she thinks of who ‘took’ her purity away, she shuddered. She still can’t remember how it happened either but thought that maybe it was for the best. It have been months since the tragedy.

That night, thunder crashed the sky. Kagome tossed around in her bed as her mind remembered that night many months ago.

Kagome have decided to have a soak after almost all day picking up herbs in the forest near the village. She pulse her reiki in warning every now and then to warn any unsuspecting danger to leave her alone. She looked at the familiar spring that she always soaked in since she settled in the village. She sensed Inuyasha passing a few meters from her position and ‘watched’ as he headed straight for the village. Being a hanyou, he knew that she was nearby but knew too that she was in the safe since no youkai would dare to trample near the village.

Those who did were usually idiots since no sane youkai would dare to face a monk, a taijiya, a hanyou and a miko even in group. Especially when they happened to be war heroes and the miko in question have a very strong reiki while the hanyou have a famous sword that can kill a hundred in one swing, most of all the fact that a fearsome Daiyoukai’s ward resided in the village.

Kagome soaked her tired muscles and sighed in complete bliss. She looked up and realised that the sun had dropped low at the horizon and the moon can be seen in the sky. She decided that it was time to get out of the spring.

Just as she came out of the spring and dried her body, a rustle stilled her movement and she looked at it. Her hands glowed in case it was an attack and her bow and arrow was too far from her reach. An armadillo lizard crawled out and Kagome sighed in relief. Luckily, it wasn’t even a youkai.

As she dressed, she thought of Rin. It seemed that Kohaku have shown some affection enough for her to pick up his intentions. Although back in the 20th century they would be seen as immature love in this old world, their love would be seen as pure. She hoped that it would last. But then again, she wondered what a certain Daiyoukai would do about it. She hoped that he doesn’t have any intention of courting Rin.

For youkais, age meant nothing since they usually outlive human and mostly at the height of their prime. For Sesshoumaru, courting Rin would be seen as normal. Besides, the old world doesn’t hold the same view as the 20th century. It wouldn’t be paedophilia. Although it would be seen as odd since he has been caring for her like a father.

Drying her hair, Kagome froze at the sight of a familiar boots in front of her. She looked at the familiar dark, almost orange ember eyes of Sesshoumaru. She wondered what he wanted. As of late, she kept coming across him in the forest and he always stood in front of her like a statue and stared at her before moving away.

Strangely, Kagome never felt his presence. It was like Naraku wearing that weird white baboon pelt; she can’t feel his youki or sense his presence. Inuyasha can’t even sniff him out. As usual, Kagome tilt her head forward in mutual respect and asked, “Can I help you, Sesshoumaru?”

Usually, he won’t answer but kept on staring. Kagome won’t walk away either since the last time he growled loud enough to freeze her movement. Obviously he doesn’t like being dismissed.

This time however, she felt herself being shoved back and her back slammed against a tree. Before she could make out anything from what just happened, she felt lips on hers. It was warm, rough and firm. Demanding her response and dominating. Kagome squirmed as her mind finally catches up and she realised that the most famous human hater extraordinaire was KISSING her!

She pushed against his armour, feeling the spikes digging into her skin and wanted to protest. He left her lips and Kagome opened her mouth to scream, or protest or anything, her mind scrambling to make a proper decision to save herself from whatever danger that have found her when he kissed her again, his tongue slithered in like a snake.

Kagome felt warm blood gushing out from her new wound where the spikes dug too deep into her skin and her kimono seeped the warm liquid. She felt him pushing his body against her and his arm left her shoulders long enough to do something. When he stepped away, his armour fell to the ground. At the same time, Kagome felt her knees gave way and she fell to the ground.

Her mind whirred in confusion and pain when she felt herself being held by her upper arms. Her wounds stung in protest at the rough handling and she hissed in pain, the feeling clearing her mind. She pulled away, or tried to, from him, “Let me go!!”

She raises her reiki in warning but when he ignored it, she decided to give him a burn. She touched his hand but his youki suppressed her own reiki. She felt herself being flung forward and she looked up, scrambling back when she felt rough barks against her back. She turned on her knees to crawl away from between the trees when she felt the jolt of extremely strong keikai made of pure undiluted youki.

Now that she looked around, the trees were like a circle of pillars and the ground was completely bare of any growth. She looked at him and tried to stand when she felt his youki spiked and she fell to her knees, her human body unable to handle to pressure of his energy and her reiki too weak to fight him.

Kagome have always known that the only youkai that she needed more than luck and skill to kill would be Sesshoumaru. She have seen him many times facing stronger reiki than hers and survived. And he does it without even using the full capability of his youki. Even in the form of beast, he doesn’t release all of his youki. This ability was what makes him fearsome.

Kagome asked, “What do you want? I’m human and you hates human,”

He narrowed his eyes as he finally decided to answer, “Human? Yes, I hate them. You, however, I loathed you,”

She shivered at the intensity of his despise of her in his voice, “Is it because of Inuyasha?”

He growled at the mentioning of her friend’s name, “He has no space here and now. Only you and I,”

She scowled, “Then why are you doing this? It makes no sense to rape me or anything just because you loathed me,”

He kneeled over her, “I loathed you for existing,”

Kagome glared at him, “That’s just ridiculous,”

He glared back, “You should cease living,”

Kagome tilt her chin defiantly, “So? Are you going to kill me?”

She saw something glowed in his eyes, an emotion of sort before it disappeared just as quickly as it appeared at the mention of killing her. He grabbed her neck and squeezed lightly, enough to cut the air out of her lungs. Kagome gasped and clawed at his hands, “S…stop…!”

He drew her face close and whispered, “Death would be too merciful for your crime,” He kissed her again and crushed her body against his. Kagome struggled when she felt something that she never thought of, the feel of a certain part of his anatomy pressing against her. She stilled when he finally released her lips and growled, grabbing her by the hair and threw her against a tree.

Kagome yelped in pain when she felt something broke in her. She shivered on the bare forest floor as she stared at the black armoury boots advancing closer. She felt her leg being grabbed roughly and felt his claws digging into her flesh, felt the blood gushing from the new wounds when she felt her body being flung like a ragdoll to another tree.

Kagome screamed as he repeated the action and felt her mind too wracked in pain to make sense of anything. Blood flooding the back of her throat and she choked and coughed out blood. Her body shivered and she felt feverish. Her mind gave out and she fell faint.

Kagome opened her eyes to the feel of rain but realised that it can’t be since her body felt the same, untouched by the cool caress of rain drops and the water tasted too salty to be rain. She felt some presses of kisses all over her face and when she finally focused, she stared in disbelieve at the sight of Sesshoumaru crying over her. He stroked her hair and was the edge of being hysterical, crying and whispering in rough voice for her not to die.

At that moment, Kagome wondered if he was mentally sick. He almost killed her, loathed her and wished that she ceased to exist but when he finally almost achieved it he asked her not to die. She looked at the sword lying near a tree root and recognised it as Tenseiga. Did she die and he brought her back?

Kagome shied away once she felt her energy returning to her limbs, little as it was. He looked at her with wide eyes, his markings faint and his face paler than she has ever seen him. He choked, “I thought I lost… The sword doesn’t…”

She shook her head, her voice croaked, “Please…no more…”

Immediately, his frightened expression changed and the former Daiyoukai returned. He grabbed her bruised throat and squeezed, this time meaning to cut her air supply completely. In her frantic reaction, she wondered why he didn’t just rip her head from her body if he meant to kill. Why did he cried and tried to bring her back if he actually wanted her dead.

Just as she felt her mind slipping again, she felt his hand released her and felt him grabbing her in a crushing hug. He cried, “I CAN’T!!”

He rocked as he held her tightly in his arms, “I can’t,” He repeated over and over again like a mantra as he hugged her like a child that found its long lost favourite toy, or a mother with her lost child that she just found. Kagome scowled as the sky opened and rain fell all over her and him. They stayed like that for hours and when he finally stopped rocking, he whispered, “I can’t kill you, why can’t I kill you? What have you done to me?”

He looked at her and Kagome blinked when he kissed her gently. Soon, the kiss turned fierce and hungry. Kagome felt her tired body being laid to the forest ground gently and his hands moved to open the folds of her garments. Kagome’s eyes widened in fear and she squirmed in fear, pulling her face away from him only to have him nibbling her earlobes gently. She cried, “NO!! Don’t do this!! You hated me, loathed me, remember?!!”

Sesshoumaru ignored her screams and finally decided to rip the garments from her body. He licked her neck and down her body to suckle on one nipple. Kagome gasped at the strange feeling, disgusted at what he was doing to her. As she tried to pull his head away, she felt fingers probing and slipping into her folds. She arced in shock at the jolt of sensations that shot up her spine when his fingers brushed a sensitive spot.

Kagome felt his body shifting and his finger pushed through her fold, slipping into her. Kagome screamed in frustration, fear giving way into anger, “NO!! GET OUT OF ME!!”

He raised his head and he looked at her, rain falling on the two of them. He pulled at her arms and shifted to position himself between her legs. Kagome squirmed and protested, but her body protested in pain and she cried in defeat as he pressed against her. Above, thunder crashed and Kagome screamed as he breached her and penetrated her barrier, taking away her purity. His head flashed to the side and excruciating pain overlapped as she felt him bit her neck. Kagome saw lightning flashing ahead through the white curtains of his silver strands of hair.

Thunder crashed outside and lightning flashed as Kagome woke up screaming into the night. Kun-Loo opened the door and turned on the light, rushing to her daughter’s side. Souta stood outside the door with his Grandfather as the two watched the two women crying and Kagome cried in fear and denial as she finally remembered what happened that night many months ago.

Kun-Loo watched her daughter from the kitchen’s window. She sighed, not knowing how help her daughter’s depression and knew that they have to move away since somehow the news of Kagome giving up her virginity to a ‘dog’ was let out from the hospital. It must have been one of the gossiping nurses from the hospital.

Kagome watched as the trees flew by, smiling slightly at the thought of camping with her family. They just moved far from town and deep into the less developed area in Japan a few weeks ago. The camping idea was brought out by her Grandfather and Souta, who jumped around in excitement.

They set the camp near a cool water spot and decided to venture to a nearby cave that they saw. Kagome laughed as Souta complained about a giant spider web that he just stepped through when they saw a sealing stone. Souta gaped, “Look at the size!”

Kun-Loo stared at it before looking at Kagome, “Anyone you know?”

Kagome looked at the stone, the light from a hole in the cave spilling all over it. The pool of water that surrounded it glittered and fishes flitted around in the clear water. The green moss that grew over and around the small pool with the gigantic sealing stone completed the sight. Kagome stared at the carving and recognised the hand writing, “It’s Miroku’s work,”

Kun-Loo looked at her, “You monk friend?”

Kagome frowned at the small scripture, “At his own request,” She turned the wooden plaque and dropped as if it burned her. She stared at the written name, “Its Sesshoumaru,” She looked at the sealing stone in disbelieve, “But why?”

“Love,”

Kagome looked up and gasped, “Inuyasha?”

Souta grinned, “Inu no niichan!!”

Kagome stared at the older Inuyasha. He looked as if he aged near a hundred, older than she have ever thought he would have grown. Inuyasha’s voice was rough like any old man as he smiled at her, “Glad to see you alright,”

Kagome smiled, “I missed you,”

Inuyasha bowed in respect at Kun-Loo before answering Kagome, “And I you,”

Kagome looked at the sealing stone, “What happened?”

Inuyasha sighed, “After I found you and sent you back, he came looking and fought me to get you back. So I said to him to just…” He hesitated as he looked at Souta, “I told him to go away but he won’t. We fought and when I asked why he does what he did, he said he hated you. I told him he could just kill you without torturing you like his other ‘hated people’ list but he won’t reply, just kept on fighting,”

He looked at the stone, “He fought me like he has lost his mind. It went on for days when he finally threw his sword away from him. Trust me when I said that had he been in the right state of mind, he would have won me easily cuz he was almost winning anyway,” He chuckled, “My experience was what saved me from most of his attacks,”

He sighed, “He cried, I have never seen him broken like that. He left his sword and flew off. He was so emotional it threw all of us off balance. After a month, he came back and asked Miroku to seal him. At that moment, I have never seen a man, human or youkai, so broken as he does that day. He was haggard and more broken than I have ever seen anyone, not even myself when Kikyo died,”

Kagome frowned, “What happened then?”

Inuyasha continued, “Miroku refused,”

Kagome looked at the sealing stone in confusion when Inuyasha continued, “He refused at first but Sesshoumaru won’t leave the front of his house for months and when he finally collapse to the ground, Miroku looked for me to ask what he should do. We all knew what he did to you so we brought him here,”

Inuyasha nodded at the stone, “Miroku sealed him with water first and we asked him why is he doing this? Why did he do what he did to you? Why did he act like a madman? His answer threw us off balance,” He looked at Kagome, “He said, ‘Seal me and you will know,’ So Miroku did just that. When he was almost sealed completely, he said, ‘I hated her, loathed her so much because she threw me off balance. She makes me feel things that I shouldn’t. I can’t be ruler if I feel so I tried killing her but her death, the mere thought of it almost killed me. I love her,’ that was his last word,”

Inuyasha looked at Kagome, whose face was as pale as the day he found her on the forest floor with blood and semen covering her. She shook her head, “He can’t love me,”

Inuyasha shrugged, “I don’t know Kagome. Sometime when I felt his youki spike up, I heard him. He kept asking for you, saying he was sorry and that he wanted to show you how much he loves you. How he truly felt for you. That he was confused and that confusion drove him to madness. But most of the time he just confessed his love for you. As the years pass by and centuries changed, your name become a mantra until he fell ‘asleep’,” He grinned, “I think he knew you are here cuz just last few days he kept saying ‘Kagome’s here! She’s here!’ and he only stopped last night,”

Kagome choked in tears, “But how can I forgive him, how can I love him after all that he did to me!!?”

Kun-Loo patted her back, “It’s your decision,”

Inuyasha slapped his knees as he stood up slowly, “Well, just so you know Kagome, Miroku’s spell can only be undone by you and another thing, my mother live over 200 years old before she died curtsey of my father’s ‘gift’ to her,”

Kagome looked at him, “What does that suppose to mean?”

Inuyasha looked at her as he stretched before answering, “How do you think Jinenji’s mother get to take care of him until he’s that old? His mother was still around and Jinenji was well over 600 years old. But I’m guessing his father has passed since his mother aged. He’s still around but hiding of course,” He shrugged as Kagome stared at him in disbelief, “The only reason my mother’s life was shortened was because she died once and that cut most of my father’s ‘gift’ for her for more than half and added that he died as well, it shortened her life even more,”

Kagome stood up, “You are saying that Sesshoumaru did something that made you think that I will live almost as long as either you or him?”

Inuyasha sighed, “Kagome, he bit you right?”

She nodded in positive and he continued, “He mated you. Mates always shared their life span once they are together. Sadly, my father never mated properly with Sesshoumaru’s mother because he probably mated her on political reason and not out of love,” At Kagome’s incredulous look, he elaborated, “Youkai mate only once. It’s the reason why Sesshoumaru hated my guts because his mother in the eyes of other youkai was my father’s mistress and I’m the actual heir had my father been an actual ruler. Sesshoumaru’s mother was just a princess of a failing country so she married her father’s most trusted general to save her land,”

He continued, “Youkai’s rule in that era was that female cannot rule without a mate to produce an heir. If she couldn’t produce a male heir, than her land and title will be given to her mate until she have a male heir, through birth or mating of her daughter,” He shrugged, “Didn’t matter now, though,”

He sighed, “As long as he lives, so do you,”

Kagome stared at the ceiling of her new home. So far, her new school was alright although there were some delinquents there but she thinks that she can just avoid them. There’s nothing good looking for trouble. But a boy by the name of Kaname’s kept bugging her since her first day in school.

Nanase, self styled ‘school princess’ also liked to bug her since the first day after Kagome accidentally and clumsily fell on her after Kaname tripped her. Kagome however, decided to lay low and ignore the two but it seemed that they won’t let up. But that did not last however.

The next day, Kagome noticed the crowd that gathered in front of the school notice board and decided to check it in case of anything important was announced. But when she drew near the crowd, they parted like Moses Sea before her. The look on the students faces were of disgust and hatred.

One look at the board and she understood the reason why. Somehow, the story from the hospital in Tokyo reached the small town. Kagome ripped the story and the made up image from the board.

Kagome wiped her face, not believing that the board of teachers actually believed the story. Now, her family was in trouble with the town since they decided to isolate the family. They were lucky however, that Inuyasha decided to help with the food supply and other basic necessity.

It was the school summer camping trip that decided her decision. Kaname followed her into the wood when she went to clean the cooking kit. He pushed her into the water, “You are disgusting!!”

Kagome came out of the water, sputtering in shock. The few students nearby laughed at her as Nanase dumped the bag of waste over her as she crawled out of the cold river, “Bend over, Higurashi. I think a dog wanted to mount you,”

Kaname grabbed her by the hair, “I guess when they say bitch; to you it meant literally a dog’s bitch!” Kagome froze at the feel of her hair being pulled. It wasn’t as painful as when Sesshoumaru pulled her hair but it triggered her trauma. She pulled at him, “Let me go,”

He pushed her to the ground, looking at his friends to look out for the teacher who went to a nearby supermarket to buy a box of cigarette. Once they signalled clear, he grinned at her, “Why a dog for your first time, Higurashi? A guy’s not good enough?” He ripped open her sweater and the girls started to pull at her clothes. A boy pulled out a camera and recorded the whole ordeal.

Terror gripped her mind and Kagome screamed; her reiki went out of control as the memory of her rape came to the forefront of her mind.

Inuyasha was startled out of his midday nap when he felt Kagome’s reiki spiked and Sesshoumaru’s youki immediately answered her. He stood up but halted, realising that something was going on that will decide the outcome for the two.

As normal human, the group couldn’t feel or see what was happening so when Kaname went to pull at Kagome’s underwear, she screamed at the top of her lung, one name echoing in her mind as Inuyasha’s words about the relations between mates exceeded most that normal human would expect. It was like the youkai version of soulmate.

Inuyasha slipped out of the cave just in time when the Miroku seal gave way to Sesshoumaru’s spiking youki in answer to Kagome’s terror. The sealing stone exploded, just as Inuyasha and the other have predicted 500 years ago when Miroku sealed Sesshoumaru. The monk had said that although this was a strong sealing ritual, Sesshoumaru’s youki can overcome the seal anytime if he wished it. As this words circulated in Inuyasha’s mind, a silver blur rushed pass him.

Kagome squirmed, crying as she pushed at Kaname but Nanase pulled at her hands and held it above her head as Kaname pulled her legs wide open, revealing her privates for the other boy to record it. At that moment, a tremor was felt but they ignored it as a normal earthquake of a very small proportion. Kagome however, froze in recognition of the spiking youki.

She called, “SESSHOUMARU!!!”

A growl can be heard as a tall stranger with long white hair appeared from between the trees behind the group. One look at the boy that was holding Kagome’s leg was enough to tell the story and Kaname found himself daggling by the neck as Sesshoumaru growled at him, “How dare you touch her,”

Kaname choked for air as the other ran from the stranger in white. Kaname stared in disbelieve at the glowing orange eyes with red seeping into the whites of his eyes, the pupil starting to glow green, sure that his death was near when he heard Kagome’s voice, “Please, don’t kill him Sesshoumaru,”

Kaname felt the grip on his throat loosened and he fell onto his rump. He stared at Kagome as she stood shakily on her legs, staring at the stranger named Sesshoumaru as if facing a predator. She called again, “Hello, Lord Sesshoumaru,”

In all honesty, Kagome doesn’t know how to address him so she settled on formality. His reaction upon seeing her wasn’t something that she expected at all either. Sesshoumaru stared at her before walking forward, but Kagome stepped back in fear and that halted him. He stepped back instead. Kagome frowned at his behaviour when suddenly he dropped to his knees and committed Dogeza; the highest form of formal apology or request by prostrating oneself before another.

Kagome stared at him in shock as he spoke, “This Sesshoumaru realised that I deserve neither forgiveness nor freedom after what I have done to you. Please, do me an honour by sealing me back,” His fist tightened on the ground, “Honour is all that I have left,”

Kagome felt tears spilling on her cheeks, “Was 500 years isn’t enough as your punishment?”

He shook his head, “I wasn’t suppose to come out,”

Kagome frowned at his answer, “Why?”

He answered, “As long as you do not touch the seal to release me, I will not come out,”

At this, Kagome realised that he wanted her to forgive and he will wait for eternity in that stone until she forgive him and to do that she must willingly touch the stone and unseal him. She asked, “Even if it mean forever?”

“Even if it mean forever,”

Kagome stared at him, “I guess you really are a dog. Loyal to the very end,” She raised her hand and slowly touched his silver crown. She asked, “Answer me honestly. Why do you hate me? Why do loath me? Was that the real reason why you rape instead of killing me?”

He froze under her touch and stilled at her questions. After a moment, she decided that he won’t answer when he spoke, “I hated you because you are human, because I couldn’t hate you enough. I loathed you because of what you did, because you made me feel things that I have sworn to never feel,” He looked up, “I hated you because I hated myself. I loathed you because I feel unworthy to feel love toward you. I wanted to kill you but in truth I wanted to kill myself, I wanted to cease existing because I know you will never love me back,” At this he dropped his head, “I couldn’t let you go, I couldn’t have you, I couldn’t own you, I couldn’t kill you. I don’t know what to do,”

Kagome stared at him, realising that after all that he did to her he felt more regret than anyone. He feared losing her so he’d rather cease existing when she fell in love with someone who was not him. He’d rather die or sealed away forever, forgotten with time as she continued her life happily with someone else. It was a penalty, a punishment that he styled for himself for what he had done to her.

But can she live with the knowledge that somewhere out there, sealed away and forgotten was a man as cruel as the world can be suffered for loving her enough to hurt her then let her go to find happiness in another man’s arm? Love her enough to suffer being imprisoned for eternity for what he did? He raped her in the madness of a feverish mind unaccustomed to loving another, lost with the false impression that she was deeply in love with another. That she will never see him as more than the elder brother of a lost love.

She bit her lips, “I don’t love you,”

She could sense rather than see how her words crushed him. No sane woman would love her rapist, no matter how much he confessed of loving her. She drew in a deep breath as she continued, “I don’t trust you. I would rather have you dead and rotting than sealed away,”

She watched him. Silence, at that moment have never been louder. Then, he ended it by answering, “You may purify me. I will not fight back,”

Kagome froze. It was true that she wanted to torture as he had tortured her, but what have been mere months for her was centuries for him. Now, he finally came out of his prison to ask for her forgiveness only to execute himself as the final penalty. Inuyasha once told her, decades for a youkai meant nothing but even they can feel the length of time once it reached centuries.

She stared at his head. He could have released himself anytime but he refused, instead waiting for her to state her penalty on him. She sighed, “I can’t,” She closed her eyes, “What’s done been done, we can’t undo it no matter how much we wished it. I’m sorry, Sesshoumaru, I just can’t. It’s just not me,”

She cried, her tears falling on his crown, spilling and soaking into his hair, “I’m not you,” She pulled his head gently and looked into his eyes, “I forgive you,” She released his head and ran off, returning to the campsite to pick her backpack and ran homeward.

Kun-Loo sighed as Kagome cleaned the dishes. Inuyasha should be dropping by anytime with next week’s meat supply. This week’s supply just finished and she don’t have any more money to pay for the water bill. Maybe it was time to move but she couldn’t think where. Besides, the town was far and her car was ill as of late. She can’t get to the bank and she wasn’t sure her neighbour would want to help her.

She froze when she heard a knock at her door. Inuyasha never knock so she wasn’t sure if she should open the door. She decided to peek instead and saw black armoured boots waiting outside the door. Her mother instinct was screaming to kill the man who raped her daughter but she knew that would only make things worse, considering the fact that he was a once a one man army and a fearsome tyrant.

Besides, Kun-Loo wasn’t one to follow her emotion. It was the reason why she can accept the idea that Kagome go to the past to safe her present world. She opened the door and saw that he have left and leave behind a sack made of white silk. Kun-Loo picked the sack and took it in.

Sitting at the coffee table, listening to Souta’s cartoon show she stared at the sack. After a long pondering she opened the sack and spilled the contents on the table. Nuggets of gold rolled on the table the size of a sparrow’s egg. Kun-Loo gawked before calling her family to gather.

That weekend, they decided to pawn the gold and moved out of the town.

Every month, he came and left something of worth behind. Kagome doesn’t know why he did this but somehow he managed to track her family down and stayed. Inuyasha appeared a week after he made his appearance known.

After a year of this, she decided to ask him, “Inuyasha,”

He looked at her, “Yeah?”

She pointed at the giant ruby on her lawn table, “Why is he doing this?”

He chuckled, “He may not be accepted by you as an official husband but he still kept his responsibility even from afar. He watched over you and just so you know, he left those games at my front door in the morning so I will send them to your family,” He grinned, “Even left some for me too, maybe as payment, who knows,”

She sighed, “If he sold all this treasure, he’ll be a multi-millionaire,” She tossed the ruby to him and Inuyasha stared at it, “I think he did but he never said a thing,”

Kagome looked at him, “What do you mean?”

Inuyasha sighed, “I visited him and he looked, well, cleaner than when he first came back to this world. He dressed less and moved around in a black yukata all the time. It made me wonder where he found the money to buy that stuff but then again he owned a gigantic estate,” He pointed to her at the mountain, “Those mountains region that the human government never explore? It belonged to him,”

Kagome gaped, “You are pulling my leg,”

He shook his head, “I bet my good fang he have a home somewhere in there,”

Kagome stared at the small diamond on her window pane before picking it up. Of all the things that he left at her home, he seldom and almost never left a diamond. Even if he did, it would be truly small such as the one that she has in her hand at the moment. To be honest, she didn’t think her family need anything anymore from him. Due to him, her family was very wealthy at the moment.

She decided to track him down when she smelled something. She opened her door and blooms of roses with amethyst scattering the ground like shattered glasses littered the floor among the blooms. Somehow, he knew her favourite stone. Inuyasha stood on the lawn table, sneezing miserably, “THIS IS WAAAAY OVER THE TOP!!!”

Kagome chuckled weakly at his misery when she noticed a small scroll resting against the best bloom and the largest amethyst. She picked the three and opened the scroll, “Happy Valentine,” She read then looked around, “No chocolate,”

Inuyasha chirped, “He made me give this to you personally with a serious death threat to not open it. Honestly, threatening your elderly!” Inuyasha then started his ‘old man’ tirade as he waited for Kagome to reach him. Kagome laughed at his antics as she took the small package from him. She opened the box and stared at the small chocolate nugget carved into the delicate shape of a small bird perching on the shape known as Kagome.

She broke a piece and looked at Inuyasha, who shrugged, “Don’t know but he sure don’t look very good this morning,”

Kagome tasted the small piece and savoured the velvety taste of delicious chocolate that she has ever tasted. She sniffled, “He made this personally. He must be very sick at the moment,”

Inuyasha stared at her, “So?”

Kagome nodded and Inuyasha chuckled, “Real mates always end together,” He picked her by the waist and Kagome gripped his shoulder, “Are you sure?” Inuyasha chuckled, “Might be a bit slower than how you used to,” He then took a giant leap into the sky and shot toward where she assumed was where Sesshoumaru live.

Sesshoumaru sneezed again and laid back on his futon, feeling rather miserable despite his satisfaction on his handiwork. If it wasn’t just because of the chocolate, it would be the taste of the failed concoction before the perfected work.

But in truth he has been feeling extremely ill since his release, no, it was long before that. It started since that day when Inuyasha sent her back to her time. It grew worst when she rejected him in absolute. Lately, he dreamt of her being there by his side, smiling at him just like how he saw her smiling at his half-brother when she was in love with him a long time ago. He saw mirages of what he dreamt and he knew that he was losing his mind. It was the result of mating one who would reject the mating.

He could hear her calling him softly, touching his feverish temple with her soft cool fingers. He was dreaming that she was caring for him, just like how he saw her care for the others centuries ago. He dreamt of living with her many times during his imprisonment but it grew worst after his release.

He knew it was just illusion but he couldn’t bring himself to see it as that. He cried silently as he confessed to what he knew was the shadows of his room, the emptiness of his home but in his mind she was there, listening and accepting.

“Kagome, I love you. Stay with me, please,”

Kagome stared at the rather small home that Inuyasha brought her to, “Are you sure he lives here? It didn’t particularly looked like a mansion to me,”

Inuyasha stretched his back, “He live alone, why would he need a big home? Youkai, the sane one, are usually a very practical species,”

Kagome frowned at the news and knocked at the sliding door. When no one answers, she opened the door and poked her head in. There was another door that she assumed would be his room. She looked at Inuyasha who ushered her in, “Go in. I’ll be waiting outside, so don’t you worry,”

Kagome breathed deep before stepping into the small but neat house. It can’t be categorised as a hut but it wasn’t very large. It was like small, practical but clean apartment, feudal style. She looked around and then noted dully the rather messy sink at the kitchen. The smell of chocolate and lack of the failed products in the trashcan further proven that he had eaten chocolates.

Kagome heard whispers from his room frowned, wondering if there was anyone else in the house. She peeked and saw him laying in futon, sweating profusely. She entered the room moments later with a bowl of cool water and a clean towel. Kneeling near him, she touched his head softly and almost snatched her hand back from the burning skin.

As she cared for him, he started his whispering again. She frowned as he confessed, “Kagome, I love you. Stay with me, please,”

She couldn’t answer him when he continued, “Even if you are just a sweet dream. Or just a beautiful nightmare to torture me, I don’t care anymore. Just don’t leave my side,” She froze at his words. It seemed that he didn’t think that she was really by his side. He reached out but didn’t reach her as he was too weak to move, “I can’t touch you, but I really love you. I truly love you,”

He tossed his head as he whispered incredulous words before he started speaking normally again, “I like how you smile, your spitfire. You stood up against me when most cowered. You shot arrows at me when others ran away,” He chuckled weakly, the first sound of laughter that she has ever heard coming from him, “You accepted an orphaned kitsune when your kind would have killed him for even existing. You tried to protect Rin when you have no strength or ability to protect her,” He scowled, “You could have been killed,”

He grinned in his feverish state, “You are so beautiful,”

Kagome’s hands stopped dabbing his forehead with the soaked towel when he said that. He sighed, “Very beautiful under the moonlight,” She wondered if he was remembering that particular night when he continued, “So beautiful from the view when I sat on the troll’s shoulder. But you hated me so I hated you,”

He sighed, “Shooting arrows at me, telling me what to do,” He smiled, “So brave…and a tad bit foolish,”

He opened a fevered gaze and looked at her, not quite focused, “You are not Kikyo,” He nodded, “You are a better person than Kikyo,”

Then he fell silent.

Kagome watched as he slept. She then placed her hand over his heart and ‘felt’ his breaking heart. Slowly, she lay next to him and laid her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeats. Soon, she fell asleep listening to the rhythm of his heart.

Inuyasha entered the house in curiosity but once he saw them he left them alone.

Sesshoumaru stirred, feeling rather off the rack when he noticed the light weight on his chest and the warm feel of a body pressing lightly against his own. He opened his eyes and blinked hard against the light of the setting sun. He stared at the figure on his chest and sighed, thinking that he have finally gone mad.

He touched the soft hair, a tad rougher than his but he preferred the texture over his own familiar one. He smiled faintly at the feel, too real to be true. Kagome opened her eyes at the feel of someone stroking her hair and looked at Sesshoumaru. He had a rather dreamy look on his face and smiled when she looked at him, “I love you,”

She felt her heart breaking, realising that despite what he had done he still hoped for her love. Although it’s true that she wasn’t so sure about falling in love with him, she knew that it wasn’t just because of the rape. She was afraid to fall in love after what happened before. She touched his cheek and saw how he leaned against it as if his life depends on it.

She sighed, “Sesshoumaru, feared Daiyoukai of the West and the famed Killing Perfection and End of the Cycle of Life. You loved someone you believed you shouldn’t, why is that?”

Sesshoumaru frowned mentally at the question but since he truly believed that this was just an image his feverish mind made he answered, “I don’t believe in love. Mother’s first love doesn’t love her as her father before her and her ancestor before them. It was as if my family was cursed to never be loved by the one we loved so I have sworn off the feeling,”

Kagome frowned, “Who was your mother’s first love?”

Sesshoumaru sighed, “Inu no Taishou, my sire,”

Kagome blinked, “She was…”

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes, “Married, but not mated. It was a disgrace for a youkai to not be mated despite the formal ceremony. It was as equivalent as being sold as a mistress,” He then added, “But for those who were tied to one that was never meant to be a mate, one must never mark them. To mark was to tie ones soul to the other, sharing life span and many things between each other. To be rejected by the one that one marked was as equivalent as a death sentence,”

He smiled as he looked at her, “If this rumoured madness was a death sentence then this Sesshoumaru accepts it gladly,”

Kagome blinked back tears, realising that he must have suffered far worse than her throughout the whole 500 years of imprisonment. She reached and kissed him on the crescent on his forehead. The insignia glowed and she felt her own forehead tingle. Sesshoumaru gasped, “You have never done that in any of my delusion,”

Kagome sat up and looked at him, helping him to sit, “Doing that seems to mean something,”

Sesshoumaru stared at her in disbelieve, “You just accepted me as your mate,”

Kagome stared at his insignia and touched her forehead, feeling a pool of youki the shape of a crescent and felt the connection it had to the one on Sesshoumaru’s forehead. She touched his crescent and Sesshoumaru sighed in bliss, a tear trickled down his cheek, “This is an illusion. It just couldn’t be true,” He choked as he looked at her, “You will never love me,”

Kagome smiled as she cried along, touching their crescent together and felt the jolt of energy that flowed between the two, “I could try to love you, Sesshoumaru,”

He shook his head, “After what I’ve done to you?”

Kagome pulled at his cheek and gently made him look at her, “Sesshoumaru, what you did was wrong and on some level, unforgivable. But I am not a kami to sentence you to an eternal madness, who am I to judge because I too have done things that I am not proud of. Maybe not as bad as you but bad nonetheless,”

She sighed, “You have been taught since childhood that love does not exist for your line, but maybe starting from you it can be proven otherwise,” She smiled, “I don’t love you, nor do I trust you but I knew one thing. I can learn to love and trust you. Sometime, love came after marriage,”

Sesshoumaru stared at her, “Do you think it will truly exist between the two of us?”

Kagome smiled, “You have helped me from many crises before, death in feudal era and the near rape incident at the river,”

He shook his head, “I tried to kill you many times in the feudal era and I was the one who raped you first,”

Kagome shook her head, “Then you have helped my family during a time of need and continued helping despite the fact that we no longer needed help,”

He looked away as if ashamed, “It was my responsibility even if you don’t…” He trailed off. Kagome pulled his face gently to look at her, “I know. Inuyasha told me about you,” She stared at him and realised that this must have been the face that Rin saw when she first came back to life. Not a cold lord, but a living man with emotion within a well hidden heart.

She stared at him slowly closes the distance between their lips. Sesshoumaru felt his body hummed as her kiss brings back his diluted emotion. It was the reason he couldn’t stop kissing her the first time he kissed her. He drew her close and Kagome gasped at the feel of his body pressing against her and immediately his tongue slithered in.

Kagome opened her legs and rubbed herself against him, naked beneath his yukata. Sesshoumaru groaned and pushed himself between her folds. Kagome gasped at the familiar feel but felt no fear. She felt him pushing up her skirt as he pushed deeper into her and she gasped, “Sesshoumaru,”

He lowered their body to the futon, gently placing her so he won’t hurt her. Her legs wrapped around his hips as she arced, grinding against him and urging him to go deeper. He moved and she gasped and moaned his name like a mantra as he moved gently, taking his time and careful to not hurt her.

It was slow, as slow as time and just as fast but memorable. Kagome have never dreamed of seeing this side of him. So very gentle, careful and caring. Kagome grabbed his shoulders as sensations that she never had the chance to savour in the past overlapping with each stroke of his movement. He kissed her tenderly as she gasped out her passion, seconds after which he joined her in the clouds.

Inuyasha returned to the Higurashi’s new resident, cursing about the two deciding to do something that he believed strongly he shouldn’t be listening to. Kun-Loo heard him and was about to demand that he save Kagome from further pain and hurt when he halted her advance. He shook his head, “It was Kagome’s decision,”

Kun-Loo shook her head, “Does it matter to me? He hurt her badly before. That’s all I need to know to refuse him from this family!”

Inuyasha sighed, “Look, I don’t know about mother’s dignity and all that crap but I know that Kagome won’t appreciate it if you go there and burst in on them ‘doing’ it! Anyway, she’s all grown up and way matured than half of the women society her age in this era anyway. You need to have faith in her,”

Kun-Loo sighed, “I DO have faith in her but it’s HIM that I don’t!”

Sesshoumaru sighed as he peeked at Kagome’s high school’s gate. It has been months since she accepted him and his sanity finally returned to its proper pedestal. He peeked again and almost sighed in relief once he saw students filing out of the hall where they receive their graduation scrolls. Finally, he saw the familiar midnight blue tresses bobbing down the staircases and moving in quick purposeful strides right toward where he stood.

Kun-Loo smiled at the sight of her daughter finally graduating senior high school without all the ‘usual’ trouble and was about to greet her when she saw her heading straight toward a single tall figure by the school’s gate. She would have scowled but knew it wouldn’t do her any good.

She had tried making Kagome go out with boys her age and ‘species’ but unfortunately, she was terribly scarred by the failing chemistry that was set up with the boy. Inuyasha had warned her about Kagome being too close to the supernatural to be comfortable around ‘normal’ situations such as dating human men. Worst, Sesshoumaru was also horribly affected by the intrusion on their growing relationship.

The boy that Kun-Loo had seen as a potential in-law turned out to be ladies man, a heart breaker in every meaning of the word. He had at first approached Kagome with affection and kindness, understanding oozing from his every pore only to shy away and hurt her once Kagome started to show signs that she wasn’t like most of the girls that he was used to go out with. Instead he made it worst by spreading tales of Kagome’s ‘delusion’ and such.

Since then, Kagome has secluded herself from the rest of the school and spent more and more time with her two friends and family. Sesshoumaru was seen many times walking with her, helping her through some of the worst time and more when she needed someone who doesn’t talk much but was able to support without words.

She watched in silence as Kagome jumped into his waiting arms, or rather more like she jumped on him without warnings. Sesshoumaru didn’t do anything else other than just wrapping his arms around her small waist. He looked oddly out of place in the school’s compound what with his traditional black men’s kimono and his long white hair, added with his facial clan’s marking and his tall figure as well as his beautiful face. Kun-Loo had to admit had he never put a finger wrong on Kagome and approached her properly Kagome would certainly fall for him slowly.

The boy who was Kagome’s new tormentor, Hirako scowled at the sight when he saw the stranger kissing Kagome, something that she always shied away from when he tried to kiss her. However, it felt wrong to watch them kissing. The kiss looked purely sincere, passionate in its slow pace, taking its time to finish and extremely private.

It didn’t feel like the usual kisses shared between dating couples.

He decided to approach them when an elderly man approached them first and started to scowl and banter with the silent tall man with tattoos on his face. Hirako frowned because when he dated Kagome, she didn’t seem like the kind to go after ‘freaks’ like the white haired man; he looked older than Kagome. However, Hirako have to admit that the man was quite the looker.

Chisame, his current girl cooed, “If he was my age and was normal looking, I would have gone after him. He’s such an eye candy!” She licked her lips like a cat spotting a fish. At that very moment, the wind blew and Kagome’s square graduation hat flew toward Hirako. She yelped and chased for it when Hirako captured the hat. The two looked at each other when Hirako grinned, “You guys match,”

Kagome blinked; her mind slows on the uptake of sarcasm. Sesshoumaru was an extremely good kisser and she had often wondered with whom the Daiyoukai practiced with. He didn’t seem like one to go frolicking around despite his good look. Then again, she hardly knew him in the past and he did live centuries before he finally settled with her as his chosen. The memory of their current kiss came forth to her mind’s eyes and Kagome blushed, feeling warm all over. She held back a whimper, knew that Sesshoumaru would have smelled her arousal. She peeked over her shoulder at him and the heated gaze he sent her way spoke volumes of how much he knew.

She eeped in embarrassment and bowed to Hirako, “Can I have my graduation hat back?”

When she looked up at the lack of respond, she finally noted that Hirako looked pissed by her slow uptake. Hirako threw the hat to ground, stepped on it and spat before grounding it further into the ground before his feet suddenly disappeared from her sight. Kagome looked up to see him dangling in the air by the throat, a common practice of Sesshoumaru when threatening, questioning or just plain curious of something.

Sesshoumaru glared at the filthy human boy before him, his patience tested by the rude gesture sent by the boy to his mate. Hirako sweated buckets, never has he faced such fierce, cold glare even by the local gangsters. Kagome’s voice broke the tension, “Shou-chan, just leave him. It’s just a hat anyway. I can clean in once we get back,”

He let the boy’s throat go and watched as the boy sputtering around for air. Kagome sighed in relief, knowing had Hirako pushed it, he might lose his head for sure. Sesshoumaru wasn’t known for mercy toward those who stood against him. She would know since she almost got herself melted by his toxic attack during one of her earlier meeting with him.

A week later, Hirako was walking in the park near the reserved forest when he saw the white haired freak with the elderly man in red kariginu and a blue hat over his head. He scowled, wondering what the two was up to when he saw Kagome coming up to the two wearing a traditional miko garment. She looked natural wearing it he almost thought that she was a real miko.

She greeted the two and pulled a face at the old man when he said something. Hirako couldn’t hear them well from where he was hiding. When the old man moved away, she turned to her new freak boyfriend and he touched her face lovingly. It would have been corny to Hirako’s modern teenage eyes but there was something in that gesture that wasn’t in the corny movies that he used to watch in the cinema.

Kagome smiled as she leaned into his palm, enjoying his touch. He leaned forward and closed his lips on her forehead. She giggled and drew close to him, her hands running over his backside and she squeezed teasingly. He looked down at her and raised a brow at her dauntless behaviour.

Hirako frowned at the difference in how she acted toward the stranger and how she acted when they were dating. She was like a shy mare whenever he made a move but with the stranger she was bolder than most of the girlfriends that he used to date.

The stranger goes for her neck and gave a languid lick. Kagome closed her eyes and sighed, cradling his head against her neck lovingly as she looked up, revealing more of her skin for his access. Hirako gawked at the behaviour, it was blatant but sensual. He then frowned at the sight of a scar on her neck that was usually hidden by her hair or her school’s uniform. It was like she was bitten by a beast of sort and lived.

Hirako felt the hair on his neck raised at the sound of something growling. It vibrated through the very air and he knew that whatever it was that was making the sound wasn’t human and certainly wasn’t a small animal either. Somehow, he felt like he should look forward toward them when he saw something that wasn’t suppose to exist.

He gaped at the sight of the man biting into the scar that was on Kagome’s neck, his mouth clearly shown a lengthening pair of sharp incisors, both on the upper and lower part of the mouth. Kagome gasped as he bit into her and she grasped his shoulder tighter. Then, the man pushed off her white kimono and revealed the upper part of her torso. His hands, now that Hirako noticed, were clawed and each of it was tipped with something green. It caressed her ivory skin with those dangerous appendages without breaking through her skin.

He then left her neck and licked at the blood that stained the skin around the scar that was reopened but somehow healing in a fast rate. Hirako gulped as he watched the strange beast-man opened the sash that tied the hakama and the kimono together and Kagome’s whole body was revealed. There were red welts where he had touched her too roughly and Hirako watched as she pushed open the kimono that the beast-man was wearing.

He has a solid built, lean and smooth with more tattoos on his hips and legs. The tattoos on his hips circled to the back and pointed to his tailbone. He heard Kagome chuckled and watched as the two rubbed their body together when she touched him on his hip bone where he suddenly whined as thought a dog that has been whipped. He glared at her and she only laughed at him when his sharp claws grabbed her backside and she yelped. He pushed her against a tree and Hirako watched as his former girlfriend was fucked by a strange creature that looked like a man but not.

Once the two was done, he gulped as the stranger bent down to pick his kimono only to stop for a moment. Hirako watched as his nose twitched like a dog as thought sniffing and he looked straight to where Hirako was hiding. Hirako bit his lips to stop himself from screaming in fright. Then, he hears Kagome calling the monster and he disappeared along with her. After a long while, Hirako stood and ran home.

In his room, his mind replayed the memory of watching a coupling of a woman and a beast in the wood. He was heavily aroused by the memory and his mind supplied him the supple, soft curves of Kagome as the stranger caressed her body. His hand trailed to his straining member and sighed as he grabbed himself. He stroked and stroked, thinking that it was him fucking her against that tree. Once he reached climax, he sighed at the foolishness and the freaky situation, “What the hell am I doing?”

Hirako was awakened that night by a light tapping on his window. He blearily looked at his window and sat up. He pushed the curtain aside and was shocked by the sight of the monster standing outside.

The beast spoke, “Come out,”

The growl marked that he has little patience with impertinence and so in the mode for survival, his instinct telling him that the monster can just break into his room and had him done with before anyone could notice anything amiss. He walked out of his house and stood at the front gate, staring into the stranger strange eyes. It wasn’t truly gold but almost orange.

Hirako gulped nervously, “What do you want?”

The stranger growled, “Watch your tone and language, human. I have killed others for less,”

Hirako gulped and bowed as he would a higher up, “I’m sorry, forgive me,”

A pair of feet in black tabi socks stood in front of him and Hirako looked up and shivered at the sight of the cold glare sent his way. The monster growled, “Know your place, filth. If you ever do what you did earlier this day, I will have your family jewel thrown at the boars in the forest. I am patient with you because of Kagome and if you think of marring her name, know that I know how you smelled like. You can change your appearance and moved across the world but I can still hunt you down like a mouse,”

Hirako gulped and was tempted to pee in his pants as he nodded, “Understood,”

With that, the stranger disappeared with the night.

Since that night, Hirako seldom see Kagome around and at one time, no longer. It was years later when he saw her again. Hirako already owned a family of his own then despite his womanizing ways. He was trekking in the forest with the rest of his family members when he decided to go looking for a river. The memory of that day in the forest when he witnessed a strange coupling and what occurred that night following after the incident was almost forgotten. But there was time when he was reminded of that night he would wake in sweats.

He froze when he saw a familiar figure in black and white standing in the middle of the rushing river, the water swirling around his ankles and bellowing black kimono’s hems back with the flow. He could never forget the monster’s face as the stranger moved like a lance, spearing through the water and grabbed a fish.

He looked up and the two’s eyes connected for a moment. Hirako sweated in buckets as the stranger smirked and disappeared from sight. After that, he was walking down the street of Tokyo one day when he bumped into a small figure. He apologised when he realised who it was that he was holding. He blinked as the blue eyes blinked in recognition but quickly masked in polite greeting as she apologised. He let her go and despite the temptation to call her, held back when he saw who it was that she walked with despite the heavy make-up to hide his tattoos.

Hirako gulped as they disappeared into the crowds, “Kagome,”

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Kindly review. I need some booster for my fanfiction writing, especially for 'Frozen'... 'ATLANTIA' might make a comeback if I'm inspired enough by your reviews!!! ^.^"