Divorced from Convenience by TamashaToko

Current State of Things

The alarm was going off creating a sharp piercing sound cutting through all of her dreams and moment of rest.  There was no need for an alarm clock, Kagome didn’t have a job or really anywhere to be. Its only purpose was to wake her up before the day began to keep the household running on a somewhat normal schedule, but every time she had to fight with the damn clock to either hit snooze ten times before accepting defeat or struggling to shut it off she regretted her choices.

When she was finally forced into the world of the living the first thing Kagome would always do was reach towards the other side of the bed to confirm if she was alone or not.  More often than not she was. Sesshoumaru most days was gone before she could wake up and wouldn’t return until she was too tired to enjoy his presence. She was self aware enough to know it was kind of depressing the way she would stare longingly at where he once slept, but this was the reality both of them had tried to make peace with when Sesshoumaru decided to take his job as mayor of the city seriously.

Since Kagome didn’t fight with the alarm clock for very long this particular morning she was able to take a nice warm relaxing shower before breakfast.  Once finished and dried she took a good hard long look at herself in the mirror. Her stomach was no longer flat as it had been, her pregnancy was finally showing.  She was happy about this. She’d already told the world on a podcast with InuYasha that Sesshoumaru had gotten her pregnant, but now she had evidence. Not that she really cared what anyone else thought about her growing family, it was more for her benefit.  Proof to herself that she was no longer the reserved virgin who turned herself into a nervous wreck always trying to suppress her desires that conflicted with her upbringing. Her and Sesshoumaru were expecting a child, not because it helped their image or because he wanted another child, but because they had a mature relationship where they could enjoy each other’s bodies with no more fear.

“Now for the hard part of the morning,” Kagome sighed tying a bathrobe over her as she went upstairs, “to wake up the monsters.”

Staying on a schedule was more for the benefit of the children than herself.  Rin and Shippou received their education through tutors and online classes at home.  Just because the sacred jewel was gone and no more demons were targeting them didn’t mean the outside world was safe.  Rin was the natural born daughter of one of the richest demons so could never really live a normal life without fear of being extorted by someone wanting to take advantage of that fact.  Sesshoumaru being a demon political figure in a human city where a lot of the citizens hated his kind didn’t make things easier either. Shippou now had to suffer the same consequences as Sesshoumaru had officially adopted him.  As a result everyone but Sesshoumaru was pretty much cooped up and forced to live their lives in the house all day. It was up to Kagome to make sure they weren’t staying up all night and sleeping the day away.

However, she hated every bit of what this existence had become even if she didn’t vocalize it often.  Due to Kagome’s religious upbringing she was only able to go to public school for a very short amount of time where she could socialize and meet a few friends.  Growing up the way she did had caused her a lot of issues, so it was only natural she wanted to give Rin a better life. True Rin already had a better life automatically due to being allowed an education and coming from wealth, but it just never sat well with Kagome.  She really needed to discuss this with Sesshoumaru to figure something else out, or at the very least plan a vacation to get the children out of the house for a bit. Only problem with that which would cause delays was her pregnancy, multiple legal issues that had come up, and the lack of Sesshoumaru’s time.

“Hey you,” Kagome took up a stern voice entering her child’s room knowing it’d be the only way to wake her, “morning time!  Let’s get dressed and I’ll get breakfast going.”

Rin made sure to pull her blanket over her face almost as though if she was out of her mother’s vision she couldn’t be woken up.

“No,” Rin began to whine.

“Yes,” Kagome tried to mock her with a smile as she opened the blinds letting light pour into the room, “suns up.  Birds are chirping and waffles are ready to be made. Blueberry ones today, just for you princess.”

Kagome had gone through this so many times she believed she now had the best strategy when it came to Rin’s refusal to be a morning person.  Never did she let there be a quiet moment for the little girl to shut her eyes even if Rin pretended to show compliance.

“Few more minutes,” Rin cried out while clinging the blanket on to her further.

“Not just any blueberry waffles,” Kagome continued making her voice louder, “the really thick kind that collects all the butter and syrup.  Mixed and made from scratch.”

Rin saw that she had no way to live her dream of sleeping in and pulled the blanket off furrowing her brow at her mother who made matters worse by always having a cheery smile on her face when waking the children.

“I’ll skip waffles and sleep,” Rin could only lean on bargaining now to get her way.

“There is no skipping waffles,” Kagome shook her head, “come on get dressed and I’ll wake up Shippou so we can all spend time together before lessons.”

Kagome didn’t show the pain she was feeling, but it kept making itself apparent.  This time, however, it was the natural kind of pain she was sure every mother went through.  Her daughter was growing up and was no longer the little girl who would wake up early just for a chance to hug her mother.  Rin had been growing fast ever since her fifth birthday when she developed those fangs and stopped speaking like a toddler. She was already a couple inches taller and developing the attitude of a teenager quite early wanting her space so she could just waste her day away with her activities.

There was one thing that hadn’t changed however, and that was how messy Rin was.  The moment the light made the bedroom visible Kagome witnessed all the trading cards thrown about and some dolls that had their heads removed.  Kagome had just helped Rin clean the room the night before and already it was in shambles.

“Rin,” Kagome finally dropped her smile picking up a plastic doll, “this is the one your dad got you when you both met for the first time.  Why would you do this?”

Rin had two of the same special limited edition Princess Luna doll, one Kagome had given her as a fourth birthday gift and the other one Sesshoumaru gave her back when he tried to buy her off and assumed she had nothing like it.  It seemed Rin had no sentimental feeling towards any of her toys lately having cut the hair off her older doll the week before and had now completely decapitated the head off of Sesshoumaru’s gift. Kagome still not an expert in the field of motherhood didn’t know if this was a side effect of Rin growing up, her being spoiled rotten by having too many toys, or some passion aggression towards not being allowed to live the normal life she only ever got a small taste of.

Rin didn’t seem to want to talk about the doll mutilation as though she was embarrassed by her obvious mess being discovered or she didn’t seem to think it was a big deal.

“All spend time together?” Rin asked rubbing her eyes, “Sesshoumaru is here?”

That was another thing that still hadn’t changed.  Rin never called Sesshoumaru her dad, it was always just Sesshoumaru and probably always would be at this point.

Kagome shook her head, “No he still has to go to work super early.  I think once the border improvements or whatever he is working on is done he can eat breakfast with us again, but maybe he’ll be here for dinner.”

Kagome as of late was always using terms such as ‘I think’ and ‘maybe’ when discussing these issues because she wasn’t going to get Rin’s hopes up anymore in regards to Sesshoumaru’s presence.  All the expansions and projects the city of Avalon going on made it so he wasn’t working any regular 9 to 5 schedule, and anytime Kagome made the mistake of expecting him to be home in the evenings things changed.

Rin just shook her head feeling tricked into being forced to wake up and behave herself.  Though with how quickly she recovered from the news it seemed she was getting used to it. That just didn’t sit well with Kagome.  Everyone was getting used to this strange sheltered life they were living and Kagome didn’t want them seeing it as normal because she wanted to believe it wasn’t going to last forever.

“Things will only be this way for a bit,” Kagome didn’t know if she was trying to convince Rin or herself, “your dad has to work really hard right now and can’t have any slip ups.  Once he shows everyone how good he is at his job he can be home more and we’ll get to do more things.”

Before when Kagome would say things like this Rin’s eyes would widen with excitement as they spoke about future vacation ideas and what they could all do as a family, but now Rin just had no reaction at all.  Kagome would often think about suggesting that the three of them could just enjoy a vacation elsewhere together, but it felt wrong to leave Sesshoumaru out. It was almost like they were cementing he was a temporary member of the family and Kagome couldn’t have that.  Especially not right now.

“Mommy,” a thought seemed to occur to Rin as she dug through her dresser looking for a top, “what if you disappear again and Sesshoumaru is not here?”

They’d had this conversation many times so Kagome knew exactly what Rin was talking about.  Rin had been present that night Kagome was forced via medio into a sacred jewel where she had to fight to both escape and destroy the horrible demonic object.  It’d been almost a year since all that happened and none of them were going to easily just forget about it. If it hadn’t been for Sesshoumaru guarding the jewel from all those it would tempt and calling out to her she probably wouldn’t be here with her family today.

“Rin,” Kagome shook her head, “I’m not going to disappear again okay?  It’s all over. No more jewels, no more crazy full moons, and no more craziness period.  If something did happen to me or you or Shippou your dad will come to us. He’s a demon he can’t get stuck in traffic.  If we need him here he’ll be here.”

Rin’s faith seemed to be slipping.  Kagome couldn’t blame a child for thinking that way as heartbreaking as it was.  Her mind simply put together that Sesshoumaru wasn’t around and that meant if something bad happened he wouldn’t be there no matter how many times Kagome communicated that wasn’t the case.  Would Sesshoumaru leave a meeting to enjoy game or movie night with the children? No, because that wasn’t an option at the moment, but she had no doubts that’d he be there watching over them if there was a threat just as he had in the past.

“I had a dream about the moon again,” Rin said as she was showing she could now dress herself in the morning with no issues so her mother would leave her alone, “it was big again like before.  Kaguya never returned to the moon.”

Kagome grew alarmed when he heard Rin thinking about the insane moon cycle that happened last year and speaking the name of her biological mother, but then it occurred to her that Rin’s mother was much more than just a demon absorbing Succubi.  The antics of that demon had created folklore and legends about Princess Kaguya. Rin had learned of the fairy tale in her lessons and was naturally becoming obsessed since it involved her real mother.

“Wasn’t a nightmare was it?”

Rin shook her head.

“That’s good.  We dream of things we think about a lot Rin, that’s how they work.  As long as you’re not watching scary movies you’ll be okay.”

Kagome let that subject be for now, but she was really becoming clueless on what to do with Rin at this stage of things.  Reassurance just wasn’t working as her little girl seemed to still be carrying scars from all they went through. Shippou had his issues as well having lost his adopted mother as a result of the sacred jewel’s games but he’d been keeping his pain to himself now that everything was behind them.

Once Shippou was awake and dressed for the morning the mood got a bit better as the two children could play and talk with each other.  Shippou seemed unusually talented in humoring everyone by showing off all the tricks he could do with his fox magic. However, as Kagome happily mixed the batter for their waffles a conversation was about to take place that she hadn’t been ready for.

“Where is it?” Shippou had to ask using his paws to dig through yesterday’s mail that was piled up at the table.

“Where is what?” Kagome asked with a sly smile.

“My prize!” Shippou glared at her as he was aware that Kagome knew exactly what he was talking about, “you didn’t forget to send the cereal box tops in did you?  You told me that you would.”

The two children were spoiled rotten often getting whatever toy they wanted when they wanted, but it seemed like Shippou still got excited for free toys that would come in the mail if one sent cereal box tops in.

“You mean your Action Robo Hero Medal?” Kagome mused, “I already opened it.  You’re not getting anymore toys until you get your chore list done. Same goes for you Rin.  Cleaning your room doesn’t count if you immediately trash it afterwards.”

“Hey no fair!” Shippou growled, “you didn’t buy the medal so why do I have to do chores?”

“I bought the cereal didn’t I?”

Shippou couldn’t seem to argue with that as he picked up an envelope.  There was a bunch of mail building up in piles everywhere lately, and other than bills it seemed like both Kagome and Sesshoumaru were avoiding opening or reading most of it.

“Kagome Higurashi,” he read her name off of an envelope, “Higurashi?  Who is that?”

“Mommy’s real name,” Rin told Shippou, “it was her name when she worked at a grocery store.”

That was sort of cute that Rin thought last names changed based on what job you had rather than who your family was or who you were married to, but Kagome wasn’t amused by her maiden name being written on a lot of the mail that had been coming in.

“Marashu is my real last name Rin,” Kagome tried to inform her daughter, “it’s your dad’s last name and it became mine when we got married.”

“Then why do all these say Higurashi?” Shippou asked.

“A problem with the post office,” Kagome lied hoping the kitsune would let it go.

“Mommy and Sesshoumaru aren’t married anymore,” Rin blurted out matter-of-factly.

There it was.  The thing Kagome knew she would have to discuss with the two of them sooner than later, but obviously she’d waited too long.

“We are married we live together,” Kagome got ready to explain herself but it seemed Rin wasn’t buying it.

“I saw it on the TV!” Rin exclaimed happy that she was sharing with everyone something that her older sibling didn’t know about yet, “so she has her grocery store name.  That’s why Sesshoumaru is never here isn’t it?”

“Rin what did I tell you about seeing mommy and daddy in the news?  Half that stuff isn’t real, remember? Everything is fine.”

“But then why is it the wrong last name?” Shippou asked seemingly wanting to solve a mystery out of worry.

Kagome thought about making up another excuse but gave a sigh in defeat.  She needed to get the truth out before they saw anything else on the television that could scare them.  It seemed everything had been tame up until this point, but it wouldn’t be long before the media began to speculate on what all this meant further. 

Kagome had come over and sat with them at the table trying to think of how to explain everything to them.  Rin had become more mature and Shippou was older, but it was still difficult for her to talk about her hardships with her children.

“Sesshoumaru and I are together and see each other as husband and wife,” Kagome began, “but when two people get married there is paperwork that is filed proving it and our marriage had a contract involved.  Kikyo signed off on all that paperwork and could because she was a lawyer, but since Kikyo was a demon incarnation and just appeared one day she never actually went to law school. Everything about her life was falsified.”

“Fossilfield?” Rin was confused.

“Fake,” Shippou tried to figure out from context, “Kikyo was fake remember?  She wasn’t real.”

“Kikyo’s a real normal woman now,” Kagome made sure to clarify, “but she’s not a lawyer and that means it’s been decided that everything she ever signed off doesn’t count anymore.  That means Sesshoumaru and I aren’t legally married anymore so my last name isn’t the same as his anymore. All this mail keeps coming because it’s lawyers trying to reach us and help us, but the good news is it just means Sesshoumaru and I are going to get married again.  We’re going to have a real wedding this time.”

“Again?” Rin had to ask, “you’re not going to make me wear that scratchy dress again are you?”

“Why?” Kagome poked her tongue out at her daughter, “don’t want to be a flower girl again?  Okay I guess I’ll have to find someone else.”

“I wanna be the flower girl!” Rin shouted proclaiming it so to ensure Kagome didn’t dare give up her prestigious position to anyone else.

“Noted,” Kagome gave them a smile, “but that’s the plan.  No matter what you two hear we’re going to do our best to make sure nothing changes.  Getting married again will fix everything and all this stupid mail will stop coming. Anything else you might have heard or have questions about?  Shippou?”

Shippou was young but not ignorant, so something was on his mind he just had a hard time expressing it.  He thought his questions would alarm Kagome, but she seemed to want to be both honest and gentle with them so he had to ask.

“You’re my mother now,” Shippou said quietly, “you adopted me with Sesshoumaru.  If you two aren’t married-

“I’m going to stop you there,” Kagome kept her voice soft but she told him with her eyes that she was going to get serious, “there is nothing for you two to worry about.  Kikyo had nothing to do with your adoption Shippou. I’m your adopted mother and Sesshoumaru is your adopted father. This is your home and you’re staying here. Sesshoumaru is Rin’s real father so even though Kikyo signed off on my adoption of her nothing is going to change.  All of this is really just a money and status issue that is going to get solved when we get married again. That’s all.”

Kagome had tried her best to tell them the truth as she went back to preparing breakfast filling the kitchen with the smell of batter being cooked in the waffle maker.  However, the state of her and Sesshoumaru’s unmarried status was problematic. Lawyers were trying to hound her and Sesshoumaru every minute of the damn day believing their relationship was fake and trying to get the two of them to sue one another.  Kagome had received millions of dollars from Sesshoumaru in exchange for marrying him as the contract required him to do, so he had lawyers demanding he sue her for all that money back while she had ones demanding she protect her assets. The money didn’t matter to her and never did and since she still saw her and Sesshoumaru as married they shared everything, so really all the lawyers soliciting them was just a nuisance.

What wasn’t an issue that couldn’t just be swept under the rug was Sesshoumaru status in Avalon.  He’d become a citizen by marrying her, so right now he was an illegal alien that was serving as mayor.  It was all over the news as it was highly problematic as people were calling for him to be deported and stripped of his job.  Officials weren’t quick to pull the trigger on doing so as Sesshoumaru himself had only been helping Avalon and never committed any crimes within the city that anyone knew about.  Letting him be mayor only to kick him out away from his family would look really bad.

Shippou’s adoption was legitimate and he’d get to stay in their home, but Rin was another story.  She was Sesshoumaru’s child and was a full demon despite not looking or acting like one. If he got deported so would she.  Kagome’s adoption of Rin was now invalid, something that shook Kagome to the core. She got into this whole thing by trying to stay with and keep her daughter when Sesshoumaru wanted custody.  The only thing that Kagome ever had to show her relationship with Rin was legal was the adoption papers that had been notarized by Kikyo. The thing that got her and Sesshoumaru into a marriage of convenience in the first place was no longer legally standing.  If Sesshoumaru had to return to Fangvale he’d have to take Rin with her. If Sesshoumaru ever changed his mind and decided that he no longer wanted to be with Kagome she’d have no rights to her daughter.

Sesshoumaru wouldn’t do that though.  Not after everything they’d been through, but Kagome couldn’t help but think of the worst case scenario having already once been in this position where she feared losing her daughter.

She needed some reassurance fast, so as she prepared breakfast she sent Sesshoumaru a text.

It read:

Kids saw the news so I had to tell them we aren’t married anymore.  Told them about plans for the new wedding, but I think I’m more freaked out than them.  Can’t we just go to city hall and sign some papers and fix this? Can you please have dinner with us tonight so you can talk to them.  They need to know everything is alright.

Kagome put her phone back in her pocket and hoped Sesshoumaru saw her text soon needing a reply or at least a promise he’d come home that night.  However, she wasn’t going to stare at a screen all day waiting to see if it was read or not. That was never a healthy thing to do as she was sure Sesshoumaru was stuck in a boring meeting somewhere and wouldn’t even see the message till much later.

“We just got forced into a divorce against our wills,” Kagome thought to herself as she began to serve breakfast, “I know you need to be on your best behavior right now Sesshoumaru but here I am having to deal with all this all alone.  Rin isn’t alright and I can tell Shippou is a little scared. Everyone is going to stir crazy and you’re probably in an office somewhere listening to old men talking about zoning laws or something stupid.”

Sesshoumaru wasn’t at all doing that.  Instead he was putting all his weight into his Bakusagia as he rushed his body forward and pierced a disgusting looking Oni right in the heart forcing the ogre to fall backwards on to the dirt which was soon stained with its disgusting purple blood.  The sword released a powerful light over the corpse ensuring the oni couldn’t regenerate before the daiyoukai had to pull his now bloody blade out of the creature’s entrails with a look of disgust on his face.

He didn’t even need to use his sword on such a weak and foul creature, but Sesshoumaru had been looking for an excuse to wield it as he’d never gotten much of a chance to since it was forged.

At that moment in time the daiyoukai was by himself beyond on the borders of Avalon dressed in his kimono with his Mokomoko and blade at the ready.  He hadn’t been leaving home early on account of work, he’d been doing it because he needed moments like this. With everything that had been happening he had been wanting to escape by spending time acting like a real demon for just a little while in the early mornings.

“Good riddance,” he muttered turning his back on the now dead weak demon.

As therapeutic as it was he was aware that going off on a murderous rampage probably wasn’t the best thing for his image at the moment, but he was sure no human would brave these wastelands to see the real him.  However, it wasn’t just needless violence. He’d been killing with a purpose. On the arm of the oni was branding in the shape of a black dragon, the same as the branding on his body. Even weak demons such as that had been a part of the same organization he’d once found himself in, the same organization he’d served when he’d been forced to confront Kaguya.

The Black Dragons had been a group of demons that killed and terrorized creatures that were seen as an insult to youkai kind.  They’d killed kitsune and other weaker demons seeing their existence as pitiful as well worked to exterminate Succubi believing their ability to blend in with humans and easily steal energy was a threat.  Sesshoumaru had joined this group as a way to better his reputation with demons outside of using the influence of his father and mother. It was a decision he made back when he was a cruel and cold creature.

However, unlike his other past examples of cruelty he couldn’t just shrug off his affiliation with the Black Dragons.  Especially since he was aware that Naraku, the same foul creature that created a human cult, had orchestrated the creation and movements of demonic death squad.

Naraku would be a foul irritation that refused to leave Sesshoumaru.  That miserable hanyou had caused so much disorder and was continuing to do so.  The worst part about all of it was that creature being the biological father of Kagome.  Kagome spoke nothing of it and seemed to want to reject it and pretend the whole thing wasn’t real, but it wasn’t that simple.  Naraku was currently in a demon prison where he was expected to stay for the rest of his life. Normally when a demon committed murders in human territory they were put to death as it was hard to put a life sentence on someone that could live forever, but Kikyo had gotten him out of the death sentence.  Everything Kikyo had done though no longer counted, so the human state now wanted Naraku dead. The governor, however, was refusing to do so and the public believed it was because Sesshoumaru bought favor and wasn’t allowing it.

Sesshoumaru hated that more than the possibility of getting deported.  People believing he was secretly protecting a creature like Naraku. If Sesshoumaru had the power to execute Naraku he’d done so without caring one bit about Kagome’s feelings.

Sesshoumaru wanted that creature dead, but couldn’t kill him himself so he decided to go after any demon wearing the Black Dragon brand instead.  It was self serving as well. Not only did it feel like he was atoning for his past sins but he saw it as a way to protect his family. His daughter would always come first and whether he liked it or not Rin was a Succubi and would be a target.

As he swung his Bakusaiga to remove the blood from it and returned it to its sheath he could feel his cell phone vibrate.  As he reached for his phone he hoped it wasn’t some kind of lawyer trying to urge him to sue Kagome for his money back. He refused to think of her as anything other than his wife so receiving those messages easily annoyed him.

Luckily it was from Kagome herself, and he wasn’t surprised by any of the contents.  Though by the sounds of it Kagome needed more reassurance than the children did. As he walked back towards the border he engaged in a text conversation with her.

Sesshoumaru:  We’ve already discussed this Kagome.  We’re not just going to sign another piece of paper.  We’re going to do this proper this time. The world will know you’re my bride and you’re fully mine.

Kagome:  Can’t we sign the paper first then do some kind of huge ceremony thing afterwards?  You know a bunch of people want you deported. I’m not just going to watch you and Rin taken away from me.

Sesshoumaru:  I’ve looked into it.  The most that can be done to me is they can take my job away.  As long as you’re pregnant with my child I can’t be deported outright.  We’ll be married before a decision can be made. Stop worrying yourself over nothing.

Kagome: How can I not worry?  I don’t want this family to get ruined because you want to have some lavish wedding ceremony.  We don’t even have a date in mind. It’s supposed to be the woman who is all wedding crazy not a man like you.

Sesshoumaru: What are you implying with that?  Nothing is being ruined, it will be stronger. I’ll truly marry you this time, and this time you’ll show favor by wearing the correct dress.  You’re correct, however, it is the woman’s job to worry about these things. So how about you set the date and begin planning. Or is it difficult to plan a wedding for a man that isn’t married to three other women?

Kagome: You can stop with the attitude Mr. Know It All.  If I set a date would you even show up?

Sesshoumaru: Are you lonely Kagome?  Now that my mother is done using me in her games know that I don’t need to be in politics.  I do it to challenge my mind, but I can do without it. I’ll take on a new conquest. Pumping into you and filling your womb over and over until we have to get a new home to house all our pups.  I think that’d be a good shift for our lives. How would you like to be my baby maker on a permanent basis?

Breakfast had come and gone before Kagome put down her phone shaking her head.  Had Sesshoumaru said those things to her in person he would have made it sexy somehow, but his attempt at sexting always either had her horrified or laughing.  Today she just found it insensitive. Could he not tell that she was worried about the situation? And did he still not understand that she didn’t find humor in her upbringing?  Bringing up men marrying multiple women and thinking of her as a baby maker was not a good turn on.

Kagome was now sitting alone at the dining room table staring at the envelope Shippou had read her last name off of.  She recognized the return address and even the cheap paper the envelope was made of. The Divine Order was trying to reach out to her again.  Of course, Kagome refused to open the envelope sure that it was either a request for her to leave her demon family or threats against her.  

The Divine Order still existed.  Learning that Naraku had made everything up and him seemingly now being out of the picture hadn’t changed a damn thing.  All those people still stuck in the cult still held to their faith and didn’t want their way of life taken away. Kagome in her free time had done her best to try and liberate some women as well as her own mother, well the woman she saw as her mother, but right now she had to worry about her own problems.

She gathered all the mail that had been scattered throughout the house and went towards the foyer of the home to put it all back on top of a small table where it belonged.  If Sesshoumaru did manage to return home sometime that century she wasn’t going to be blamed for unneeded clutter thrown about the house.

Come to think about it he never did confirm if he’d come home for dinner or not.

“Stupid jerk,” Kagome muttered shaking her head, “we need you.  I need you.”

And at that moment she heard the front door unlock and open.  She let out a gasp not expecting her home to be intruded upon in that moment.

“What have you just called me?” Sesshoumaru revealed himself with his stoic voice, “did I make the mistake of believing my presence was wanted?”

Seeing Sesshoumaru in the flesh during daylight hours was such a foreign sight nowadays Kagome needed a moment to process it before running forward and wrapping her arms around him.

“You’re here,” her voice had become a whisper revealing to him how much she’d been missing him.

Sesshoumaru was only used to intimacy when alone in their bedroom at night so he wasn’t much of a companion when it came to embracing.  All he could do was take in her pain and recognize that things had been hard on her. When he saw this he began to feel guilty for sneaking out early in the morning to hunt down demons, but he didn’t know how to explain to her why he was doing such things.

If he told her succumbing to his demonic urges made him feel better she wouldn’t relate.  If he told her he was doing it to rid his family of threats she would assume they were in danger, and if he told her the real truth of the matter she would beg him to stop.  He had to eliminate threats and grow his power. He needed to do something, because he also hadn't forgotten about Kagome being sucked into that jewel. He hadn’t forgotten that she fought her way out all alone while he stood by idle.  She would always tell him that he had helped her with his voice and reassurance, but those things weren’t actions so he wouldn’t accept it.

He regretted many things about that night still to this day.  Him not being able to prevent her getting trapped in the jewel, him being a spectator, and he in his overconfidence destroying the Tensagia.  What had he been thinking? He planned on making good on his promise that the sword was no longer needed for he wouldn’t allow any of his family to ever be killed again.  He made such a promise believing the sword was worthless for it’d already been used on both Rin and Kagome. That was short sighted of him for Shippou’s life was valuable to the family and soon he and Kagome would have a child together.  He wouldn’t allow harm to come to anybody but it was nice having a sword of revival incase of emergency. However, when he returned to collect its pieces he found no trace of the Tensagia’s remains.

“You wanted me here so I’m here,” he put an arm on Kagome’s back pressing her head gently into his shoulder so he could take in the scent of her washed hair, “I’ll always be here when you need me Kagome.  Always. Legal wife or not.”