Taming Taiyoukai by Azure

In Which Kagome Temporarily Dies

This story is going to be told in BIG one-shots but with less frequent updates. Look for monthly updates of 7,000-10,000 words!

XOXOXOXOX

Kagome decided to do something really stupid. It wasn’t the first time either, but with the way things had been going someone had to do it and she’d rather it be her. She couldn’t suggest it to one of her friends because they were all busy or incapacitated. But it wasn’t their responsibility anyway, it was hers, it always had been and on some level she always knew it would come to this.

Naraku had the completed Shikon No Tama in his possession and he was getting ready to make a wish.

Inuyasha was down for the count and that meant tetsusaiga was out as well. Sango was in shock over Kohaku’s body and Miroku’s wind tunnel was growing exponentially, his prayer beads no longer possessing the power to seal it. Something had to be done. Even Sesshomaru was preoccupied with blasting the many minions and incarnations Naraku had sent to keep him at bay. His new arm and sword were doing serious damage but there was no way he’d get there in time.

Now is not the time to wait to be rescued Kagome! She told herself and launched at the dark hanyou, willing her legs to move faster than they ever had before.

“Naraku.” A familiar cool voice called his attention just as Kagome started running and he didn’t see her movement.

Kikyou! Kagome didn’t look at the undead priestess as she sprinted full out. I don’t care whose side you’re on! Just distract him for a minute!

They were talking, Naraku smirking and gloating while Kikyou looked bored and uninterested but Kagome didn’t care. At the last moment, just as she was about to reach him, a spiked appendage impaled her chest and stopped her forward movement as Naraku turned back to her.

“Are you so naïve as to think I wouldn’t notice your approach?” He asked pleasantly, bringing her closer to his deceptively handsome face. “That is foolish, even for you.”

Kagome felt warmth saturating her clothes and looked at the spike that had punched clear through her in surprise. In the cold air her blood steamed and she found it sickeningly fascinating.

No! Must focus! I can still do this! She called her power, focusing it in her hand, unconsciously emulating Sesshomaru’s poison claws.

“Now. For my wish.” Naraku smiled and the jewel in the breastplate of his armor glowed with dark malevolence.

“Ask for a breath mint.” Kagome coughed, splattering blood on Naraku’s appendage and shoved herself further on the spike so she could reach the jewel, her hand so charged with concentrated reiki that she melted through his demonic armor, clenching the jewel in her fist.

I wish for… Her mind blanked as the spike in her chest was joined by another that pierced through the forearm holding the jewel. This is not how my story is going to end damnit!

“Happily ever after!” Kagome screamed.

The jewel was purified with a wave of violet energy so powerful it vaporized Naraku. Kagome’s body felt like it was on fire as she clutched the jewel, forcing it to accept her wish. Images of her friends flashed through her mind, Inuyasha, Sango, Shippo, Miroku, Kirara even Sesshomaru, Rin, Kaede and belatedly Kikyou.

I want everyone to live happily ever after. She prayed as her blood ran freely from the grave wounds on her body. Her thoughts became groggy as she focused on the only thing that mattered. I want our story to finish that way. Give me my Disney ending damnit!

The jewel vanished and Kagome fell to the ground, eyes open and unseeing.

XOXOXOXOX

She was drowning without drowning. A sea of violets or light or something ever-changing was clouding her every sense. One minute she was surrounded by what felt like water, then it was champagne, then love. It was indescribably indefinable and Kagome found that she was not a fan.

A clawed hand caught her wrist and pulled and she was breaking free, gasping for breath without needing to breathe. It took her a moment to orient herself enough to realize who her rescuer was.

“Inu Taisho-sama!” She exclaimed, quickly dropping to a bow that threw her off-balance and nearly pitched her in the shifting ocean of nothing and everything again.

“Steady there pup.” His growling voice was gently rough, like a cat’s tongue—though she didn’t think he’d enjoy the comparison. “Dying can be a bit disorienting.”

“I died?” She tried to be upset about it but found that she really wasn’t. “Does that mean we lost?” That was a much more distressing thought and she stared up into the face that was so similar to both Inuyasha’s and Sesshoumaru’s but simultaneously irreconcilably different.

“On the contrary.” He smiled. “You are responsible for your victory.”

“Oh good.” She smiled too. “So my wish came true?”

“Almost.” He tilted his head to the side. “Do you not find it ironic that it was your wish that saved your friends but you did not include yourself in it?”

Kagome frowned, thinking hard. “I wasn’t really thinking about myself.”

He huffed softly. “Humans.”

“Hey! I seem to recall that you had a certain fondness for humans last I checked buster!” Kagome poked him in the chest.

“Buster?” An eyebrow hiked upwards. “I can see why my sons like you.”

She blushed and immediately retracted her finger to cross her arms. “Inuyasha’s my best friend so I can’t argue there but last I checked Sesshomaru doesn’t even know I exist.”

“Does that bother you?”

“Well a little.” She admitted grudgingly. “Nobody likes being completely ignored by a beautiful male.”

The Inu Taisho bent to her ear conspiratorially. “Trust me miko, he knows.”

“This coming from a dead guy.” She pointed out, though her cheeks were red.

“Indifference is how Sesshomaru has survived. As the youngest taiyoukai to ever take the throne of the western lands he must never show weakness or his enemies would exploit it.” Pride shone in his eyes. “He has done remarkably well for a mere pup.”

Kagome raised her hand tentatively like she was in class. “Um… I know you died a while back and stuff but Sesshomaru isn’t exactly what I’d call a puppy anymore, he’s grown up.”

The Inu Taisho smirked again. “I keep watch on my sons, he is but barely grown. Tell me human, how many winters are you?”

“I turned eighteen last week.” Kagome straightened proudly.

“My sons age in youkai terms of maturity but to put it in a way that a human would understand, Inuyasha is the equivalent of sixteen winters and Sesshomaru is the equivalent of nineteen winters.”

Kagome’s jaw dropped but she recovered in record time. “So… why are you telling me? I mean, you’re dead and all, shouldn’t you be imparting some super wisdom?”

“I tell you because of your wish.” He held her gaze. “You wished for both of my sons to be happy.”

“I wished happiness for all of my friends!” She corrected.

“Hn.” He shrugged off her protest and she scowled.

“So YOU’RE the one who taught Sesshomaru to be all ‘hn’y! Great, way to go, you’re solely responsible for half the conversations I’ve had with the guy.”

He rolled his eyes at her dramatics and patted her on the head condescendingly. “Focus miko.”

“On what? I died today so I think I’m allowed to be a little A.D.D.” She scowled at him.

“You died yes. But you will not remain so.” He smiled at her surprised look.

“Tensaiga?”

He snorted. “The fang of healing was forged from MY fang, while it is a useful instrument I do not need it to will you back into my sons’ lives.”

“Aaaand now I get where Inuyasha gets his arrogant streak.” She squeaked as he rumpled her hair with his hand.

“I must give you something to fulfill your wish pup, by doing so you will also be granting my happiness in the afterlife.” Longing colored his voice and Kagome felt her irritatingly tender heart going out to him.

“What are you giving me Inu Taisho-Sama?” She asked hesitantly.

“My youki.” He smiled at her stunned expression. “While both my sons still rely on my strength I am tethered in between worlds, unable to move on, so I grant that strength to you so you may be their anchor.”

“You want to turn me into a youkai?” She whispered, unsure of how to react to the idea.

“Taiyoukai.” He corrected. “Inu taiyoukai.”

“Do I have a choice?” She asked, raising confused eyes to his golden gaze.

He shook his head. “Your wish binds you to life pup. In wishing for the happiness of your friends you inadvertently wished for your own life. But a human would not be able to survive the grievous wounds you received in battle and so you must be reborn as taiyoukai or you will just die again.”

“My life is special.” She sighed frustratedly.

He placed a comforting clawed hand on her shoulder.  “There has been much responsibility weighting your young shoulders because you alone have the strength to bear the burden.”

“I get that a lot.” She muttered before straightening and meeting him square in the eye. “What the heck! You only live… twice.” She finished lamely.

He grinned and seemed to glow, a glow that flowed from his being into hers, blinding her before he pushed her back into the sea.

XOXOXOX

Inuyasha cradled Kagome’s limp form to his chest, touching her cheek tenderly with a claw tip. “C’mon Kags! Wake up!”

“Inuyasha…” Shippo’s heartbroken sob made the hanyou shake his head furiously in denial.

“No!”

“But Inuyasha… You can hear that… you can smell that…” The little kitsune couldn’t finish and rocked back on his heels, big tears rolling down his cheeks.

“NO!” His head snapped up, a wild light in his golden eyes. “SESSHOMARU!!”

His half-brother cleaved the head off the last of their enemies and was immediately by their side. His eyes widened minutely when they registered the dead girl in Inuyasha’s arms.

“Use tensaiga!” Inuyasha pleaded.

Wordlessly the taiyoukai slipped Bakusaiga into his obi, exchanging it for tensaiga. He narrowed his perception to the odd awareness that tensaiga brought on but frowned instead of swinging.

“There are no chains.” He stated. “No minions of the underworld.” He sheathed tensaiga, watching the girl with hooded unreadable eyes. “It is beyond this Sesshomaru’s power to save her.” There was genuine regret in his tone as he watched his half-brother crumble.

As Inuyasha bent over her, smearing blood from his own wounds on the girl’s clothing, she pulsed. Sesshomaru felt the flare of youki like a heat wave and involuntarily took a step back.

“W-what was that?” Shippo asked tremulously.

“Did the miko make a wish on the jewel?” Sesshomaru asked, wary.

Shippo nodded his head as Inuyasha continued to stare at the girl, hope lightening his face.  “She said ‘Happily ever after’ right before she… she…” He couldn’t finish and Sesshomaru lay a hand comfortingly on the kit’s head, his instincts too strong to ignore the suffering of the pup.

“Happily ever after?” He coaxed softly.

“It’s in some of the books she brings, it’s the way fairy tales are supposed to end, with ‘and they lived happily ever after’.” Shippo sniffled and rubbed furiously at his eyes. “T-typical Kagome.”

Another pulse of youki flared and Sesshomaru steeled himself, refusing to back away. The signature of the youki was familiar and unfamiliar. He could sense the miko’s aura strongly mixed with inu youki, the combination of which was potent enough to rival his own power and he kept his eyes fixed on the girl.

At first there were no noticeable physical changes, if anything it seemed that her hair became darker and longer, like a piece of the night sky with no stars. Then came the stripes, delicate sweeps of violet across her cheekbones and around her wrist. Sesshomaru knew from personal experience that there would be matching stripes riding high on her hips and twining her ankles. The stripes on her wrists drew his attention to her hands, which were now tipped with dainty, deadly claws. Her skin retained its sun-kissed glow but became touchably flawless, the many scars from her numerous battles fading. Gold marked her eyelids and when she finally fluttered open her long eyelashes, her azure eyes were shot through with gold lines that touched her predatory pupils.

The wind shifted as her eyes focused, straying from his brother to land on Sesshomaru for a moment as her scent bathed him. Even on the battlefield strewn with blood, magic and corpses, her scent nearly drove him to his knees.

“I’m so glad… you’re all okay.” She whispered, eyes landing on each of them in turn and ending on Inuyasha. “Are Miroku and Sango…?”

“They made it.” Shippo said when he didn’t answer her. “Kagome you’re a DEMON!”

“Oh yeah.” She brought her hand to her eyes, examining her claws and stripes. “Huh. Guess it worked.”

“What worked?” The kit asked the question that Sesshomaru wanted to, but couldn’t bring himself to, he was still grappling with his inner beast.

He tried to explain to it that this was Inuyasha’s woman, that she was human and that he thought she was annoying but it kept wagging its tail happily at the powerful unclaimed female inu taiyoukai whose blood sang to him.

“Your dad.” She told the brothers. “He told me something like my wish binding me to life but that I couldn’t come back as a human so he gave me his youki so he could pass on and you two could be happy.” She glanced over, finding Sango still crouched beside the still form of her brother with Miroku’s hand on her shoulder. “Oh… hey, Sesshomaru-sama?”

He looked up at her, and his beast growled in triumph as his intense stare brought heat to her cheeks. Her scent told him that she found him to be an attractive male and he had to focus hard to hear her words through the roaring of his blood and youki in his ears.

“Do you think you could use tensaiga on Kohaku?” She gestured at the two slayers and the houshi.

“If that is what you desire.” His eyes didn’t leave hers.

“It’d be nice.” She frowned.

“If that is what YOU desire.” He willed her to understand, to accept the gesture for what it really was, a gift and the first of many.

“It is.” She nodded, and even if she didn’t fully understand he could feel her beast react to his positively.

He turned and strode to the humans, drawing tensaiga for the second time and this time, he saw the minions and the chains and slashed through them easily. He felt like he had liquid fire in his veins as he swiftly returned to the female his beast desired to see her reaction. Her gently approving smile was nearly his undoing as it exposed her subtle white fangs.

Inuyasha had yet to recover from the shock of her state of revival but roused himself somewhat as she pushed up to a sitting position and out of his lap, a development Sesshomaru was quite pleased with.

“Kagome?” The hanyou finally spoke.

“Yeah?” She smiled at him and like Sesshomaru he was transfixed by her fangs, however, unlike Sesshomaru he seemed horrified.

“My dad… gave you his youki?”

“Yeah.”

“So does that make you my dad?” He looked confused and scandalized and Sesshomaru had to struggle to keep from smirking at the laughable conclusion.

Any idiot with a nose could tell that she was not their father. She didn’t smell like him, she still had her powers to some extent and while she was infused with his youki if she had been infused with his blood then her eyes would be pure gold and her hair silver. She was her own being.

“He wanted me to be a representation of him for you two.” She said slowly. “So I can support you like a family member but I’m not a guy, I don’t have silver hair and I don’t suddenly have an affinity for himes.”

Sesshomaru did snort softly at that and Inuyasha glared at him.

“What’s so funny bastard??”

“The miko is NOT our father.” Sesshomaru stated, flicking his hair back as it fell over his left arm, which was bare from shoulder down due to the destruction of his kimono at Bakusaiga’s emergence.

He was pleased to see Kagome track the movement with her eyes, then follow the hard lines of his arm to his hand.

“Looks like you got a new arm.” She commented with smile.

His eyebrows shot up at her candor before he realized that she hadn’t spoken to him since the sudden reappearance of his arm and sword.

“And you have new ears.” He replied with a shrug, belying his amusement at her reaction as her hands flew up to feel the elfin tips of her ears.

“They’re on a long list of new stuff I’ve got.” She sighed and stood, brushing off her skirt. It was a fruitless gesture as she was covered in blood and dirt but it seemed to calm her. “Let’s go check on the others, then get Rin, Jaken and Ah-Un.”

Sesshomaru inclined his head slightly. “If it pleases you I will hunt and meet you back at the camp.”

“You know, I think a victory feast would be awesome.” She stretched and exposed a hand’s-breadth of bare midriff.

Sesshomaru decided that his presence was needed anywhere but there and fully utilized his youkai speed to distance himself from the girl before his instincts got the better of him.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Kagome looked over at Inuyasha, staring into the flames of the fire Jaken had built, and sighed. He’d been distant and weird ever since she… well, died. Which was understandable, but still a little annoying. She thought he’d at least be happy to have her back but instead he was moody and pensive.

With Naraku dead, Kohaku revived and everyone alive—except for Kikyou who had been returned to the dead—there was definitely call for celebration. Kikyou had even had a smile on her face when they found her clay body, finally free of her hate. Inuyasha had buried her himself at his own insistence.

Now there was a wild boar roasting over the fire, Sango and Miroku couldn’t keep their hands off each other, Rin and Kohaku were playing with Kirara and all seemed to be at peace. Except for her best friend.

“Miko.” Sesshomaru caught her attention and she turned to him. “Come.”

“Why?” She blinked in surprise.

“We must begin your training.” He rose gracefully to his feet.

“Training?” She repeated, feeling slow-witted.

“Yeah Kagome.” Shippo was looking up at her with wide adoring eyes. The kit had been fawning on her more than ever since her transformation but she found herself not minding the attention. She felt some strange urge telling her to protect and nurture him more strongly than ever before. “You weren’t born youkai so you’ve got a ton to learn about instincts and your powers and stuff. It’s a good thing you’ve got another of your kind around to teach you.”

“Oh. Do we have to start tonight?” She frowned. “I kinda died earlier and all.”

“Are you tired?”

“Well no but-”

“Then come.” This time it was less of an instruction and more of a command and she felt her eyes narrow.

“Fine. Under one condition.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“You start calling me by my name.”

His eyes lit strangely at her demand and his scent became softer to her new sensitive nose. He seemed pleased by her request.

“Hn.”

She stood and followed him away from the campfire light. Long after she was out of sight she heard Sango ask if letting them go off alone was a good idea and Inuyasha reply that Sesshomaru wouldn’t hurt one of his own pack.

“Your pack?” Kagome asked quietly.

Sesshomaru tilted a look back at her and nodded once. “You are Inu taiyoukai, you are closely tied to my father and are my half-brother’s bitch. You are pack.”

A growl burst from her throat and he paused mid-step. “I’m no one’s bitch.”

He sighed heavily. “It is merely a term for a claimed female in our culture.”

“Well I’m not that either.” She glared at him. “I belong to no one but myself.”

A smile ghosted across his lips as he turned to look her full in the face, his gaze intense. “Indeed.”

Kagome felt something strange stir inside her as his scent changed again. Before it reminded her of a forest during a thunderstorm, now it smelled more like right after the rain, brighter somehow. The stirring felt like a great animal, pushing her towards Sesshomaru, urging her to investigate his scent more closely.

“Wow.” She wrapped her arms around her midriff. “That feels super weird.”

“Describe it.” He took a step forward, eyes hooded but his scent darker, concerned somehow.

“It feels like there’s an animal inside me, just under my skin. It feels too big to fit and like it’s prowling and-” She broke off. “I don’t know, it wants me to do weird stuff.”

“That is your beast. The form of your youkai. The urges are instinct.” He paused.  “What do your instincts tell you?”

“You don’t want to know.” She muttered. “Hey shouldn’t I be able to turn into a giant dog?”

He raised an eyebrow but inclined his head slightly.

“So how do I do that?”

“Do not attempt here. There is not enough room for your true form. It may take some training for you to be able to achieve it.” He started walking again.

“But I thought it was easier for you guys to be in your true form than to be in a humanoid form.” She amused herself by stepping where his feet had landed, he was too light on them to leave tracks but she could guess. She had to stretch her legs far to match one of his strides and felt a little silly but found Sesshomaru was easier to talk to when she was preoccupied.

“It is for most but you have been in human form your entire existence. Therefore it is the inu form you must learn.” He paused and scented the air, then turned slightly and continued forward.

She stopped too and sniffed. The air was cool and clear and she could smell the scents of the forest. There was dirt, insects, trees with different scents for each species and different scents between bark and leaves and roots and grass and flowers, animals and their droppings, rotting leaves on the ground and new sprouts pushing through.

“Sort through the scents.” Sesshomaru’s smooth cool voice was like dark silk brushing through Kagome’s mind and somewhere deep inside she felt something that reminded her strangely of a purr. “Find the one we pursue.”

She traced the scent that was both behind and in front of them, eliminating any other scent including theirs. It was earthy, like the other animals but there was a richness to it that made her mouth water. She unconsciously started forward again, letting her instinct to track it take lead. She sensed Sesshomaru step aside to let her lead and her instincts again urged her to do strange things to him but she pushed them back, determined to follow the tantalizing scent to wherever it led her.

Soon she could hear something, soft breathing and a heartbeat and gentle hoof-falls on the path ahead of her. She longed to chase it but felt hindered in her shoes, they’d been an annoyance ever since her change, her toes felt cramped and uncomfortable and she silently shed them and her socks. Little ivory claws tipped all of her toes and she smiled, bouncing up to the balls of her feet before stalking forward again.

She caught her first glimpse of the stag through the trees and something inside her took over. She moved too fast to see, pouncing on the animal and grabbing it by the antlers. She snapped its head back, breaking its neck and killing it instantly before she tore past the chest with her claws to emerge dripping with the tender meat lining its ribs.

The meat was hot and smelled delicious and she bit into it with delight, savoring the wild flavor. After she finished the piece she reached into the animal’s chest again, instinct driving her to retrieve the other half of the tender cut and present it to Sesshomaru. Her inner beast recognized him as alpha male to her alpha female and demanded that she share her first kill with him.

His eyes glittered as she approached him with predatory grace and held the steaming piece of meat out to him. He inclined his head and took the offering, eating it directly from her claw tips while she watched and finally giving her an approving nod.

When she smiled happily he growled and caught her by the hair, pinning her while he stooped down and cleaned her face with long slow licks. The motions were sensual but on some level Kagome’s beast knew that he was grooming her and she responded enthusiastically, darting her tongue out to catch the single drop of blood on his lower lip.

When her face was clean he bent brought her hand to his face, licking each digit free of blood. That done, he inhaled deeply at the curve of her neck, loosening his hold on her hair so his fingers were just tangled in the dark strands rather than tethering her with them. Her beast, which had been pushing her to do the same since she first caught his scent, leaned forward, sniffing his ear first and earning a deep chuckle from the taiyoukai before she moved to sniff along his jaw and neck. She found a place at the crook of his neck, just underneath his haori and pelt where his scent was least affected by the outside environment and inhaled deeply. He smelled like moonlight on the forest floor, like power and pack and she whimpered in delight, her whole body relaxing at the scent.

After an endless moment of being lost in his embrace, Sesshomaru straightened and looked down at her with proud eyes. “You did well Kagome.”

The sound of her name snapped Kagome back in control and she blinked. Slowly she looked at the deer she’d slain, then at the taiyoukai lord who’d cleaned and held her afterwards.

“Oh god.” She stumbled back until she hit a tree. “I just… you just… WHAT just HAPPENED??”

“You had a successful first hunt, and presented your alpha with your kill.” He knelt and slashed the throat of the deer, draping it over a tree limb to drain of blood before he gave his attention back to her. “Your beast is strong and able.”

“Great for it.” She shuddered as her beast urged her to go back to Sesshomaru. “So what the hell was with the cuddling afterwards??”

He gave her a guarded look. “Grooming is normal pack behavior. As your alpha it is my responsibility to see that you are presentable… and as your prospective mate it is my privilege to see to your well-being.”

Kagome’s jaw hit the ground. “My say WHAT?”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “This is quite complicated.”

“No shit Sherlock.” She glowered at him. “Sum it up for me.”

“Your beast has accepted me as a suitor and given me permission to court you.” He frowned. “Though it seems to be at odds with the remaining vestiges of your humanity.”

“How the-?” She stared at him. “How did it give permission?!”

“My scent calls to you and calmed your heart.” His eyes closed and she inhaled experimentally, making herself go weak at the knees as his scent saturated her olfactory senses.  “As yours calls to me.”

“So what? I bet that’s gonna happen with every pretty taiyoukai my beast sees, hussy.” Kagome shook her head sharply to clear it and crossed her arms defiantly even as something inside her reacted violently and angrily to her words.

Sesshomaru’s expression darkened and a growl built in his chest.  “It will NOT happen with ANY other male. This is the first time I have encountered a female whose blood sings to me. It is not a common occurrence.” He blinked, stoic mask sliding in place. “However, if you need proof, pay attention to how your beast reacts to other males. That will be the next step of your training.”

Without another word he picked up the stag, tossed it effortlessly over his shoulder and strode out of the clearing, leaving Kagome alone with her beast whimpering and instincts screaming to give chase.

XOXOXOXOX

Kagome jumped from treetop to treetop, feeling a rush of nostalgia though the roles were reversed. Instead of herself on Inuyasha’s back, Rin was on HER back and she was complying with Sesshomaru’s most recent training assignment. She was supposed to be exploring her physical capabilities; which was a fancy way of saying she was having a battle with her human fear of gravity and fear was winning.

“Higher Kagome-sama!” The little girl clinging to her shoulders squealed in delight.

Rin soothed Kagome’s fear with her absolute trust in her abilities. She could also feel Sesshomaru nearby, easily keeping pace with her and there to catch her if she fell. Which was the other reason she had Rin with her. Her beast had been pushing her to make Sesshomaru chase her ever since she became aware of him tracking them while her human side told her that that would be the most literal way of leading him on possible.

She was in a tough spot. Her youkai instincts had clearly chosen Sesshomaru but her brain was resisting. She didn’t even know the guy, not to mention that her first love had been his younger brother. She and Inuyasha had shelved their romantic drama years previous in order to focus on the hunt for Naraku and the jewel. In that time their love had changed, bringing them closer than ever but she suspected it also permanently ended the possibility of romance.

He was her best friend. She loved him and he loved her. But not that way, and now it seemed as though a significant chunk of her wanted his half-brother that way.

Kagome was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice when she leapt from a treetop without having another one readily available.

“Crap!” She exclaimed.

Instinctively she pushed down with her hands, images of Sesshomaru’s cloud of youki coming to mind as she stopped her descent. She peeked down and gasped at the glittering white cloud was gathered beneath her feet.

“You did it Kagome-sama!” Rin exclaimed.

“I did it!” She whooped, fist-pumping. Her celebration broke her concentration and she fell again with a shriek.

Her descent was stopped for the second time and she peeked up through her lashes to see Sesshomaru cradling her in one arm, a firm grip on the back of Rin’s obi with the other. He smirked at her and she huffed.

“I did do it.” She grumbled defiantly.

“Attempt to stay focused next time.” His reprimand was more amused than anything as he brought them back to drop Rin off with Ah-Un. “Now you will run without hindrance to the well.” He dropped her off at the first tree he passed and she landed lightly on the branch.

She squeaked and grabbed on, glaring at the taiyoukai who landed on a branch above her.

“What exactly is the purpose of going for a jog?” She asked.

“To see if you are able to evade me.” He examined his claws as if bored. “I have no use for a mate who is incapable of running.”

Kagome knew that he was trying to get a rise out of her, that he was intentionally mocking her to draw out her pride and make her lose the tenuous control she had over her youkai instincts. Even knowing that she couldn’t stop the fury of her beast as it finally broke from her human sensibilities, rising to the challenge.

“Catch me if you can.” She growled, delighting in the excited expression that briefly crossed his face before she launched off the branch.

He’d told her to evade him and for once that was one goal that both her human and youkai instincts agreed on. Her human part was afraid of what he represented, power and the embodiment of a perfect predator while her youkai part wanted to prove to him that she was both a perfect predator and perfect prey.

She ran as fast as she could, feeling his aura like a heat wave against her back, pushing her to go ever faster. The only time she dared to glance back she’d felt his claws rake through the ends of her hair and had found that when properly motivated she could run faster than him.

They covered miles in mere moments, streaking around obstacles and darting through trees. Kagome found that she had a slight advantage in traction since she was barefoot but Sesshomaru had more protection from his boots. A sharp rock face bit into her feet as she scaled it, slowing down her ascent by a fraction of a second but it was long enough for Sesshomaru to catch her.

His larger hands encircled her waist like a vice as she landed on top of the mountain. She struggled to escape but he only wrapped his arms around her, one at her waist and the other across her shoulders.

“Be still Koishii.” He murmured, dropping his chin to rest on her shoulder. “You did well.”

She panted for breath and realized that his breathing wasn’t coming easily either. The thought that she’d made him work so hard to catch her pleased her immensely and she relaxed, letting herself be wrapped in his embrace.

When she calmed he knelt, setting her on his knee and lifting one of her feet to examine the already healing cuts. He nodded in approval before looking at the other foot. In that one there was a shard of rock and he plucked it out with his claws before standing again and picking her up.

“Hey! I can walk!” She protested, wriggling to be released.

“You will be healed in moments, until then allow me the privilege of carrying you.” His mouth brushed her hair as he spoke before leaping down the opposite side of the mountain.

XOXOXOXOX

“What exactly is the purpose of this exercise?” Sesshomaru asked, staring down into the bone eater’s well.

Kagome crouched at the bottom next to the rotting corpse of what was once a youkai of some sort, digging desperately with her new claws. She’d made a good-sized hole before Sesshomaru interrupted.

“I have to get home.” She told him. “I… have to see… my mom again…” She punctuated the words with vicious scrapes of her hands, leaving scars in the damp soil.

White interrupted her vision and she looked up to see Sesshomaru standing in front of her, so close her face was nearly pressed to his knees.

“Kagome.” He knelt to catch her hands and draw her to her feet. “The well functioned by the power of the jewel correct?”

She shook her head violently, though not to negate his question. He could see the desperation in her eyes and knew that she’d drawn the same conclusion. There was no longer a jewel, so the well would no longer transport her home.

“I want to go home.” She whispered, letting her head fall forward, her heavy curtain of hair spilling over her shoulders.

Sesshomaru acted on impulse and drew her into his arms, heedless of her muddy limbs and tucked her against his pelt, wary of the spikes on his armor. He could smell her tears though she refused to let them fall and made comforting low noises in his throat. When she was calmer he gathered her up and leapt out of the well, disliking the way the smells of rotting interfered with her natural scent.

“There is no call for such distress.” He ran his hand through her hair soothingly. “Your home is not as far away as you think.”

Her head raised and her gold-laced eyes stared hopefully up at him. “Really?”

“It is not uncommon for taiyoukai to live for many thousands of winters. In five hundred winters you will still be young and under my protection.”

“What do you mean ‘under your protection’?”

“As your suitor it is expected of me to protect you. It is my hope that you make peace with your beast soon in which case I will protect you as my mate.” He tucked her hair behind her ear, tracing the delicate point with the tip of his claw. “In either case, my vow binds me. You will see your family again. Until that time you shall return with me to my home.”

Kagome was saved from having to answer by a certain hanyou announcing his presence in the clearing.

“Hey Kagome!” Inuyasha skidded to a halt next to them and Sesshomaru grudgingly let her go. “What are you doing still here? I thought you’d be home by now.”

Before Sesshomaru could blink Kagome had grabbed Inuyasha by the collar, tossing him down the well easily with her newfound strength.

“I just wanted to make sure.” She said by way of explanation. “THAT’s why you insensitive jerk!” She shouted down to the red mass sprawled at the bottom. “What were you saying about going home?”

Sesshomaru huffed softly in annoyance. “Until you are able to see your family again you will stay with me.”

“For five hundred years??” Kagome’s jaw dropped. “That’s… quite an invitation.”

He decided not to point out that it was an order, not an invitation and let her draw her own conclusions. However a sense of trepidation overcame him when she raised sparklingly gorgeous eyes to his, sure he was about to agree to something he’d regret later.

“Is Shippo invited too?”

He nodded, relieved that that was all. The kit had been adopted by Kagome and saw her as a mother-figure, if Sesshomaru mated her then the child would fall under his care. If he was able to earn the trust of the kit then it would likely please Kagome.

“And…” If possible her eyes grew wider and he found himself drowning in their golden blue depths. “Inuyasha?”

He was nodding before the name even registered fully but the triumphant expression on her face made him pause, then snap his eyes closed before he could agree to anything else. The press of petal-soft lips on his cheek made his eyes fly open again.

“Thank you.” She whispered in his ear before stepping back to the well.

Sesshomaru watched her yell at his half-brother, resisting the urge to touch his cheek. It had been an entirely human gesture, a sweet kiss for no other reason than to show gratitude and he was only familiar with it because Rin had made the same gesture in the past. Because of its humanity he was even more pleased, he knew her instincts wanted him but that her human reticence held her out of his grasp. If he was winning over her human side then he was making better progress than he’d previously thought.

Inuyasha had finally crawled out of the well and was holding on to the rim while Kagome blocked his exit.

“We’re going to stay with your brother for the next five hundred years and you will freaking deal with it!” She was glaring at him with her arms crossed.

“I aint livin with the iceberg no matter what!” He yelled back. “I hate bein called lord to my face and bastard to my back!”

“If people get to know you then they’ll stop calling you names.” She continued more softly. “Don’t you want to stay with me and Shippo?”

“Hell no! Not if you’re gonna be humping that damn bastard all the damn-”

“Inuyasha…” She growled lowly and his ears flattened. “SIT.”

His rosary crashed him down the well again and into the partially decayed corpses at the bottom with a wet splatter. The string of profanity that echoed up the shaft of the well was wetly muffled and punctuated by exclamations of disgust.

“He’ll come with us.” Kagome announced, turning to Sesshomaru with an air of finality. “I may have to drag him there myself but he’ll come.”

He sighed in resignation, glancing down at his entrail-covered half-brother with a look of distaste.

“And you.” Kagome continued, keeping her tone resolute and maintaining eye-contact. Her beast was reinforcing her words with displays of dominance and Sesshomaru had to fight to keep from claiming the defiant little minx then and there. “Will get over your hanyou and human bigotry yesterday if you even want to think about courting me.”

He watched her walk away, a sway to her hips that made him close his eyes again and count to a hundred before he was in control of his instincts. Every time she challenged him, touched him and teased him he wanted to take her, love her, kiss her, do anything and everything to her but he didn’t. He respected her human need to know and trust him the way that she instinctually already did and it was killing him.

“Good fucking luck with that bitch.” Inuyasha growled, extricating himself from the well for the second time.

“Hn.” Sesshomaru agreed.

XOXOXOXOX

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