DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha isn't mine
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Author Notes:
Kagome isn't from the future in this one-shot, she's just a miko from a feudal village so, her speech is a little more old world and proper.
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If I only cut off his arm would he survive? Sesshoumaru thought to himself. Yes, he would most definitely survive, but would I be able to stop at just one? Once I take the first limb I shall most certainly wish for the second as well. And why stop at just his arms? I shall take his legs and his head and his -
"Milord?" The terrified assistant dared to rouse the demon from his thoughts.
Sesshoumaru ceased mentally dismembering the annoying whelp and threw him a harsh glare, "leave me, Jaken, I have more important matters to attend to."
"B-but, Milord! What of the attacks from the East? Three villages have been pillaged and set ablaze!" The lesser demon stuttered in fright.
The Lord sighed inside his own head -- not in front of the servant because that would be improper -- and decided that perhaps he did not care if his retainer survived dismemberment. At least then he would not be able to bother him with these annoyingly tedious troubles.
"Send the fifth regiment to the East. Pillage and set fire to six villages," the Lord commanded absentmindedly, waving his left hand at the servant in dismissal while examining his claws on the other.
"Y-yes, Milord!" Jaken trembled as he bowed so low to the ground that his nose brushed upon the Lord's polished floors.
Perhaps I shall cut off his nose. Then it would not dirty my floors so, he smiled to himself and imagined how ridiculous the toad would look until his nose grew back.
***
"What news from the East," Sesshoumaru said with an air of complete and utter boredom as his assistant approached his throne. He had very graciously decided to keep him intact simply for the sake of not wanting to dirty his claws.
"The fifth regiment has destroyed three of the six villages, only five soldiers have been lost" he reported dutifully.
"Hn," the Lord mumbled, "five is rather high, they were only human villages after all."
"Y-yes, I shall reprimand them immediately!" Jaken squeaked.
"Yes, do that," Sesshoumaru said without emotion, "and tell them they will lose no more soldiers or I shall destroy them myself."
"I will d-do that, Milord," the toad assured him before fleeing from his presence.
I think I might take a walk through the gardens, the taiyoukai thought as he watched his pesky assistant run from the room, there are always plenty of adorable creatures to eviscerate.
***
"LET ME IN!" The girl growled as she pounded upon the gates. For once she was glad the wounds on her hands were still bleeding, at least she was dirtying up this ridiculously lavish looking door.
"Looky, looky," one of the guards sneered from atop his post, "a wee little human girl! What are you doing here, little girly, come to play with monsters? I would let you play with me, but I'm on duty, maybe if you come back later I'll be free."
"I would rather gouge out mine own eyes than set one foot closer to you than I already have you vile creature! Now let me in to see the Lord or it is your eyes that I will gouge out instead!"
"The Lord does not just see whomever happens upon his doorstep, foolish girl," he growled in amusement at her pathetic threat, "and he most certainly does not see lowly humans such as yourself."
"The only lowly thing I see here is you!" She spat, "now open your doors and shut your mouth!"
"Why do you yell so loudly, girl?" A dark voice came from the other side of the thick, wooden gate. "Do you not know that to disturb this Sesshoumaru is to risk your life?"
The inuyoukai was not feeling especially happy at the moment, he had been chasing a particularly cunning rabbit through the garden when he became distracted by an incessant banging. The rabbit escaped down it's hole and he escaped from the garden to behead his interrupter.
"Mi-Milord!" The guard stuttered as he snapped to attention.
"The Lord has already endangered my life, I no longer fear him," she proclaimed, puffing out her chest in hopes of appearing more courageous than she truly was. She was truly terrified of the demon lord, even if she was a miko, but her pride was much too large to let it show.
"That, my foolish human, is a very stupid thing to say," he drawled. "Guard, open the gates, I wish to lay my eyes upon this girl who fears nothing."
"I never said I feared nothing," she growled as the gates began to slowly creak open, "I said I do not fear you."
"Ah, but my dear girl, has no one told you?" He taunted as he waited for the gates to open just far enough to sink his claws into this pesky visitor's neck. "I am everything. There is nothing below me to be feared."
"Really? You do not look so terrifying to me," she smirked weakly as he finally came into view. She caught one glimpse of him, one small glance before she fell to the ground and saw no more.
Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes as he watched the girl collapse in front of him, the blood dripping down her arm pooling upon his beautiful green grass. For a moment he wondered if he had become so incredibly fast that even he himself had not realized the speed in which he killed her, but as he looked down to his side he found his claws quite clean. So, this girl had received her grievous injurybefore she even decided to seek his presence. How...stupid.
It was obvious she was a miko, though an unskilled one at best, and it was suicide for a priestess to walk into a youkai's castle - the Lord of the West's castle no less.
"Guard, remove this mess to the servant's chambers and have it treated," he ordered. "Make sure its powers are bound, I will kill it later."
Even I am not so bloodthirsty that I would kill an unconscious human...where is the sport? He thought and congratulated himself on his morals. Now...where is that rabbit?
***
"What are you doing to me!" The girl shouted as she threw a bar of soap at the demon maid scrubbing her skin raw. She had tried to purify her but found that her powers had been bound by a strange amulet that was now around her neck and could not be removed. "I need to see the Lord! Let me see him!"
"Calm down, silly girl!" The maid huffed as she bared her sharp teeth in irritation. "You collapsed upon entering the castle, the Lord has ordered you taken care of. Now, let me work!"
"Fine!" She grunted and settled further into the bath. "But then I see the Lord."
"Yes, yes," the maid sighed in exasperation, "then you see the Lord."
One bath, two wound dressings, and a change of clothes later, the girl was being led from the servants quarters to what she assumed was the Lord's study.
"Enter," a voice called from the room as her escort knocked upon the door. She was pushed into the room unceremoniously and she struggled to keep her balance as the door slammed behind her.
She turned to see a very regal looking demon seated at a very ordinary looking desk, stacked with very ordinary looking papers, wearing a very ordinary, bored expression.
The only unordinary thing about the situation was the Lord himself. His pale, almost white skin, his piercing golden eyes, his long, silver hair, his pointed ears and fangs and claws. And the markings upon his face were unlike anything she had ever seen.
He is beautiful, she couldn't help but thinking, and so young.
She had expected an old man, not a boy who looked not but twenty. It was surprising how different he was from the picture of the war-hungry monster she had imagined. But he was a war-hungry monster even if he did not look like one. Appearance did not matter when you had no heart.
"Bow, girl," he ordered.
The Lord had been surprised when she did not immediately drop to the ground and begin groveling at his feet like so many others before her. Not that he particularly liked groveling -- in fact he found it quite tiresome -- but as lord this sort of behavior was expected.
But perhaps it is better that she did not drop to the ground, he found himself thinking as he eyed her up and down, I find myself enjoying the full view. For a disgusting human, she is rather...eye-catching.
"I do not bow to murderers," she sniffed, crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air so as she did not have to look at him any longer. "Nor because I am told to."
The Lord's bored, superior expression melted from his face into a murderous glare that shook her very bones before he was able to control his temper and replace his mask once more.
And perhaps it is better she did not drop to the ground because I shall enjoy watching her fall after I separate her head from her shoulders!
"I see," he said, "then, I will just kill you now."
"I would expect nothing less from the monster who has so heartlessly slaughtered countless innocent villages!" She growled rebelliously.
Hm, the Lord thought to himself, what a curious girl. I can smell her fear, yet she acts as though it is not there. Can she not tell she is about to die? Does she care? No one has ever dared speak to me in such a manner
"You are from the East?" He guessed.
"Yes, I am from the East! And your army is mercilessly killing innocent people!" She yelled and slammed her fist upon his desk, surprising both herself and the Lord with her intensity. "My village was massacred, I barely made it out with my life, and your armies continue to terrorize my country! What have we done? I demand an answer!"
"You demand?" He repeated, testing the words and deciding that he did not like the sound of them at all.
"Yes," she said simply as she started to remove her clenched fist from his desk.
The Lord suddenly sprang to action, his clawed hand grabbing her wrist before she had time to react and pulling her forward until her face was mere inches from his.
"I am not to be ordered, wench!" He growled as his cold, golden eyes bore into hers.
"T-there is a first for everything," she stammered defiantly.
I should kill her! I should put an end to her insolence this moment! The Lord told himself and tried to will his hand to close upon her throat, but found that it would not move. Why can't I kill her! No one speaks to me like this! No one denies my requests! No human deserves my leniency!
Regaining herself, the girl yanked her hand from his grasp and flipped her hair impatiently, "If you have no reason for your occupancy, then you shall order the removal of your troops from the East."
The Lord sat momentarily stunned as her hair whipped through the air and in its wake left a scent so strong and enticing that it seemed as if the whole room turned upon its side. Something deep within him awoke, some burning fire in the depth of his gut that made his fangs lengthen and his claws ache. He wanted to jump from his chair and take her right there, it was only his pride that stopped him.
"Did you not hear me?" She smirked at his sudden lack of composure.
He shook his head ever so slightly to clear his mind and returned the cold, hard mask to his face. "Yes, I just did not see fit to grace you with an answer."
She glared at him in indignation and he could not help his eyes from traveling down her slender, frail human body.
Of all the females in the world, why does this human effect me? He chastised himself. As Demon Lord of the East he was destined to take another demon as a mate, were his servants and fellow Lords to find that he had bedded a human, he would be shamed and his honor would be questioned as well as his right to rule.
But I cannot deny that I desire her, He admitted as she continued to shower him with demands, I will take her in secret, no one will be the wiser. And when I rid her from my system I shall kill her and never think of her again.
"Wench, what is your name?" he interrupted her.
She threw him a scandalized glare before responding, "Kagome, and yours?"
"Sesshoumaru, but you will call me 'Lord'," he commanded. "Now, I find myself in need of a companion, you will come to my chambers tonight and accompany me."
"W-what?" She stuttered angrily. "That is disgusting! I shall do no such thing!"
"You dare deny me?" He growled.
"I do," she hissed as she stomped to the door and threw it open in disgust. "LECHER!"
And with that she stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her.
"No one denies me, girl," he growled, "not for long."
***
"LET ME OUT!" The girl screamed as she pounded on the door. How ironic that not but a few hours ago she had been demanding entrance to this castle and was refused, and now she wished to leave, but was not permitted.
She had tried to flee Lord Sesshoumaru's castle as it was obvious he would not listen to her when he could not focus upon anything but her chest. So, she decided that she would leave and find a man to help argue her case, but her plans had proven to be rather impossible when she was wrestled to the ground by three guards and dragged kicking and screaming to the room she was now imprisoned in.
So, she was stuck in this horribly lavish room, waiting for the best opportunity to escape...or murder the taiyoukai...whichever came first.
"I don't know why Sessoumaru-sama hasn't killed you yet, but if you don't shut up, I'll kill you myself," the nasty guard outside her room hissed.
"That would displease me greatly," a dark, somber voice spoke from down the hall, "if this one is to die, it will be by my hand only. Now leave this place and do not return until I order you to!"
"Y-yes, Milord!" The guard gasped and Kagome heard the clash of his armor as he hurried away.
"Now, girl, have you had time to think of the value of your life?" He sneered as he slide open the door and she retreated to the other side of the room, crouching defensively and glowering at the young Lord. "If you find it of little consequence, I will gladly kill you now."
"Go ahead. I would rather die than have your disgusting hands upon me!" She hissed and spat at his feet.
Within a second he was in front of her, his hand around her throat as he lifted her and slammed her against the wall.
"So be it!" He growled murderously.
Kagome gasped and clawed at the hand that suspended her from the ground and denied the oxygen to her lungs, but Sesshoumaru was too strong. His hands were like steel and his grip like a vice, it was unescapable and she knew that she was not long for this world. And because she was good, and because she wanted to die with honor, she ceased her struggling and accepted her fate, falling limp in his hands as she closed her eyes and waited for death to take her.
The taiyoukai look on with wonder as the beautiful girl fell slack in his hands and closed her eyes in determined resignation. She would die a warrior's death, face it without fear and cowardice, she would not even cry.
What sort of girl is this? He wondered as he found his grip faltering, I have seen men thrice her size and worth tremble before me and yet she does nothing. Perhaps she truly does not fear me...
And without ever remembering having done so, his hands released the girl and she fell to the ground as she gasped for air.
"How is it that you fear nothing?" He demanded, hand still suspended in front of him, holding air where a girl had once been. "What sort of magic do you possess?"
Kagome gasped upon the floor for a few more minutes before turning her head upwards to meet his eyes in a hateful gaze. "I told you, I do not fear nothing, I just do not fear you."
"If you do not fear me, and you do not fear death, what else is there to fear?" He snapped.
"I fear becoming you," she said, "to have no heart and remorse and no love. To be alone. That is what I fear."
"I am not alone, foolish girl," he scoffed.
"Then why do you seek the company of a lowly, human wench?" She smirked.
"Perhaps...I find your insolence intriguing," he shrugged as though the reason did not matter to him in the least.
"No, I believe the correct phrase is called 'thinking with your other head'."
"Wench! I will rid you of your head if you do not silence your mouth!" He growled and pointed a clawed finger to her neck.
"You bore me, I pray you to take your leave. I wish to sleep away the thought of your presence," she said quite pompously as she batted his hand away.
"I will kill you, girl, remember that," he snarled, "but I will have you before I do. That is a promise. I shall return as many nights as it takes for you to concede, but you will be mine!"
And the mighty Lord disappeared from the room so quickly it was as though he rode the wind and left nothing behind but a feeling of darkness and desolation. And Kagome smirked one last time at the haughty ruler before collapsing on the bed in a fit of tears.
***
"Take me to the garden," Kagome insisted.
"The only place I will take you is to my chambers," Sesshoumaru growled in frustration. It had been a fortnight since this foul girl invaded his existence and now he could not stop thinking about her every waking second.
How does she refuse me so? He thought viciously as the girl rolled her pretty, brown eyes at him and laughed, she acts as though she would be content to stay here forever simply to defy me! But she cannot stay here much longer, the guards grow suspicious of her presence!
"I have told you already, I will not be taken to your chambers, I am no concubine."
"You misjudge me," he feigned indignation, "I do not wish to make you my concubine, I simply desire your opinion of the royal wardrobe. Now, come."
"You are a poor liar, Sesshoumaru," she sighed.
"Why must you be so difficult!" He hissed. "And I have told you to address me as 'Lord'!"
"Why must you attack innocent villages?" She countered, ignoring his last statement.
"MY villages were attacked first, I was simply retaliating!"
"But it was not the villagers fault, why punish them?"
"Why would I care who is to blame?" He huffed.
"And see, that is why I will not come to your chambers," she shrugged lightly, "and the fact that you disgust me, but mostly the first reason."
"Because I do not care?" He exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yes."
"If I remove my armies, you will accompany me?" He sighed, wishing to be rid of this problem once and for all.
"When you are a good man, I will accompany you," she said, confident in the impossibility of that occurrence.
"I am a demon, girl, what do you expect?"
"Just because you are a demon does not mean you must be bad," she said, "just as I am a woman, but do not have to take to your bed. Now, are we going to the gardens or not?"
"I. Am. Going. To. Kill. You," he said through clenched teeth.
"Fine, then I am going to bed, wake me when you are done."
***
"Milord, your suitors have arrived!" His assistant notified the floor as he bowed.
"Very well, send them in," he said lazily. Apparently it was time for him to take a mate, and since he was powerful and revered, Lords from lands far and wide had sent their daughters to him in hopes of procuring him as their son-in-law.
This is a waste of my time, he thought to himself, but maybe I will find a suitable female and I will finally be able to get that troublesome human girl out of my head.
The Lord was becoming quite fed up with the whole situation. He had recalled his troops from the Western lands only for her to tell him that the action still did not make him a "good man". She then suggested that his servants were much too afraid of him and that he should try being "nicer".
He then attempted to strangle her for the twenty-third time, only to find that he still was not able to finish the task. It was just such a...waste, to kill something so beautiful. Besides, he was sure she would give into him soon, she could not wait forever.
"Milord!" The demon maidens all bowed in unison. He gave a curt nod and they giggled and cooed at him.
It was disgusting.
He walked down the line of woman and could not help but compare them that damned human girl that would not bend to his will.
This one's eyes are not brown like hers, this one's hair is not as dark as hers, this one's nose is longer than hers, he chanted to himself.
"You," he finally said, stopping at a dark haired woman with wide, chocolate eyes and ears as pointed as his. "What is your name."
"Saya," she said breathlessly and bowed to him.
"What do you enjoy?" He asked her.
"Whatever my Sesshoumaru-sama wishes me to," she bowed again.
He rolled his eyes and wished that for once these foul maidens would have a mind of their own, for once they were at least a tad bit stimulating. But the only woman he had ever found stimulating was a pathetic human, and that meant she was barely to be considered a woman at all.
"You all may go," he sighed and waved his hand at them dismissively. They gave him glares that ranged from outraged to miserable and shuffled daintily from his study.
"Jaken!" He called and the frantic demon appeared at his side in a flurry of bows and praises.
"Yes, Milord!"
"Begin giving the servants extra rations and...take the rest of the day off," he said with some difficulty.
"Y-yes! Right away! Thank you!" He disappeared with eyes wide and full of bewilderment.
A "good man" gives his servants extra rations and his hardworking assistant the day off, he told himself as he rubbed his temples to keep his head from exploding. A "good man" does not slaughter his staff simply because he can not bare the thought of being civil to them, no, that is definitely not something a "good man" would do.
***
"I have heard the staff talking," Kagome said as she heard the door to her room slide open, "they are fearful that you have gone mad because of your sudden kindness."
"Yes, well, perhaps I have," he sighed and came to sit upon the edge of her bed as she tended a vase of flowers that had mysteriously appeared outside her door the night before.
"Aren't you going to ask me?" She said confusedly after a moment of silence.
"Ask you what?"
"The same question you always ask me: if I will come to your chambers" she rolled her eyes and looked to the regal youkai upon her bed. Only tonight he did not look so regal, tonight he looked quite sad and lonely, tonight he looked like a man and not a taiyoukai.
"Am I a good man now?" he asked her after a moment of pause.
"Do...do you think you are a good man?" She stuttered, surprised by his sudden change.
"I...do not know," he admitted as she came to sit beside him. He looked upon her beautiful, porcelain face and saw that she was frowning. For some unknown reason this upset him, though, he could not imagine why.
"When you are, you will know," she said sadly and for the briefest moment put her hand upon his knee. "Now, take me to the garden."
He looked at the small, fragile appendage upon his person and for a moment he had the the deepest desire to keep it there forever, but thankfully that feeling soon passed.
"Alright, I will take you to the garden."
***
I will know when I am a good man? Why can there not just be a test for this sort of thing, he thought grumpily. More importantly, why do I care?
The Lord had been asking himself this question a lot the past few days, though, he knew the answer, he just refused to acknowledge it. The true reason he cared so much was because she cared so much. For the first time in his entire life he found himself actually desiring to make someone besides himself happy.
But what will make her happy? Me becoming a good man will make her happy, but how do I become a good man? I make her happy, but to make her happy is to be a good man and...and...oh gods my head hurts, he groaned.
"I have done everything! I have abandoned her lands, I have been good to my servants and subjects, I have taken her to the gardens and given her gifts and refrained from killing her! I have done everything apart from set her free!" He yelled, slamming his fists against his desk. "I...I have not set her free."
And right then he knew how to be a good man, though, it meant that there would be no reward for doing so. But, perhaps that was okay with him, he realized. Perhaps just knowing that she did not hate him, that she remembered him as good and that he cared enough to let her go...perhaps that was enough.
And then and there the great inuyoukai decided that of all his titles and embellishments, simply being a good man in her eyes was enough.
***
"No, I will not accompany you tonight," Kagome said automatically as soon as he stepped into her room.
"I do not want you to," he said very quietly, "I wish you to leave."
The young miko spun on her heal and turned to stare at the demon Lord in bewilderment.
"You are not happy here and I have decided that...I do not wish for you to be unhappy."
"I-I don't know what to say," she stuttered and tried to ignore the small portion of her heart that screamed for her to stay.
"Then say nothing, I will not force you do anything ever again," he told her, lifting the amulet that bound her powers over her head, and trying to ignore the small portion of his heart that screamed for him to grab her and run away.
"I..." she hesitated as she walked slowly and carefully towards the door, "I would have given in, eventually I would have said yes."
"I know," he sad sadly and found that he could not look her in the face, "but I have realized, that is not enough."
And though the door was open, and though she should have run and never looked back, Kagome found that she did not want to go just yet. Somewhere in the deepest thoughts of her mind she wished that she were not a girl and he were not a demon lord and that they could just be Kagome and Sesshoumaru for one night. Somewhere in the deepest thoughts of her mind she wished she had told him "yes".
"I once said that I feared becoming you," she told him in a voice barely above a whisper, "but that is not true, not anymore. You have a heart and you have remorse, and you have love...you have my love."
"Now you truly do fear nothing," he chuckled humorlessly.
"I still fear being alone," she told him as she put her hand upon his pale, striped cheek, "and I am tired of being afraid."
And the taiyoukai looked upon her face and saw something he had not seen before. He did not see fear, or reluctance or so many of the other distant feelings others held for him, he saw love.
"Will you come with me to my chambers?" He asked her one last time because he had to know, because it was her choice now, and he had to know if she would choose him. A demon lord, a murderer, a good man.
And in the fading light of her prison, Kagome looked upon the face of the man she had hated, and wished dead, and had made her cry, and had nearly killed her, and she pulled his face to hers and kissed him.
"Yes."
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Chapter Notes:
So, what do you think? Check out my other stories if you like this one!