The Relic by cakeiton

Chapter 7

I don’t own anything Inuyasha.

A/N: Fair warning, Rin’s honor does not really survive this one. It is a semi-dark story, what can I say?

…

Kagome was now under constant watch and was only left alone when Sesshoumaru had to prepare meals. Under any other circumstance she would have thought the idea of him cooking humorous, but the broth was always too salty, the rice never cooked enough, and she missed the conversations she would have with the old flea as she ate.

The days that past since Myoga’s death were dark, conflicted, and embarrassing. Naraku, in his sadistic fashion, had not sent Kagome into the endless void she usually found herself in when he took over. Instead, she had seen and felt the entire thing. The remnant feeling of the flea’s small body giving out between her fingers remained and, without realizing it, Kagome would wipe her hand on her thin robe in foolish attempts to make it all go away. Looking back, the developing technique was most likely why Naraku had laid in wait for so long. If he could force her to witness what he did while possessing her, he could possibly spy on Sesshoumaru and herself as he hid deep in her soul. She could feel him, just beneath the surface, toying with her emotions. She was mindful he endeavored to taint her, but it did not make it easier for her to fight against it. If she had been stronger the bastard spider would have never taken control in the first place. The guilt alone was enough to hinder her purity.

Sesshoumaru diligently knelt by her bedside for hours on end. They sat in an unpleasant quiet, not acknowledging the loss they both shared and the centuries of tortured history between them. Adding to the awkwardness was the personal care she was dependant on him for. He was not rough when he helped her bathe or dress, but his indifference to her mortification still felt brutally oppressing. The tension was thick between them and the only break she could grasp was to discuss Myoga’s passing.

She took her attention away from hunting imaginary pictures in the knots and grains of the wood floors and scratched at the silence. “Do you think we can light some incense and say a few words?”

One silver brow lifted and his eyes lazily opened.

Hers narrowed. “For Myoga. You know, as a sort of memorial service.”

With a pompous sniff, Sesshoumaru relaxed his expression and disregarded her wishes. “A trite human sentiment.”

As was becoming a habit, her molars ground together. “Is it so wrong to want to remember those you care about?” Kagome could feel the irritation lacing through her question, but she didn’t care. She could not understand how he could be so cold towards someone who had been his last true companion.

“If that is so,” his deep voice crowded the small distance between them, “then what use are words?”

She felt provoked and the annoyance made her condescending. “Oh yeah, so what do youkai do?” It only took a moment for Kagome to realize the folly of her statement and she blushed, ashamed. No matter what the tradition was, there was no one to pass it on to anymore.

He caught her slip, but did not guilt her with it. “In demon culture, it is common to take the fallen’s responsibilities as your own.”

“…Oh.” She cleared her dry throat before pushing the issue. “If that is so, then what was Myoga responsible for?”

Sesshoumaru directed a pointed look her way that was all the answer she needed.

She understood instantly and felt more like an affliction than a once cherished person. The youkai way was logical for creatures that lived off the land, but she had witnessed several settled and stable demon areas before. “Sentiment has to stretch farther than that. Your father’s grave seemed sacred.”

The taiyoukai blinked slowly, regarding her, and she saw hesitation in his gaze. He was still rigid, but was more yielding, and her curiosity for his motives grew.  There was a reason he had collected her in the beginning of her possession and she doubted it was because of a grudge against Naraku. His look shifted past her, into space, into memories, and she felt the small hairs on her neck lift in anticipation of his answer.

“His tomb,” Sesshoumaru explained, “was to serve the same purpose. It safeguarded Tetsusaiga; a tool for protecting his son, since he could not trust the demon who was to take on his obligations upon his death.”

Her gut told her not to ask, but her mind was too wound up in the mystery that was her only link to the past. “Who was that?”

His eyes focused again on her, but they were softer. She nodded, aware he meant himself, and looked away uncomfortably. Silence overtook the room and Kagome thought about the burdens Sesshoumaru felt were his duty. In fact, she was surprised with his cold nature that he found himself responsible for so much. Perhaps it was exactly his demeanor that caused him the numerous liabilities. If he were more open, more forgiving, and more attentive, the encumbrances he carried for the ones who have passed on would have been fulfilled before they had died.

Then, she remembered his reason for the fall of youkai. “Inaction,” he had said. Her breathe caught. Again, he had meant himself. Tentatively, she looked back over his way and noticed more about him than he possibly wanted her too. His posture was regal, but the stiffness set in his form was not from composure. He kept himself taut so he would not shatter. If youkai took on the responsibilities of those who had fallen, then Sesshoumaru felt answerable for the entirety of his own race. How does one atone for that? What could possibly be a grand enough gesture? The answer broke Kagome’s heart. That was why he was protecting mankind now. Honor had tied him down to fight for the descendants of those who destroyed his heritage. Of course, she could not know that it was more than Sesshoumaru who held him accountable, but she still pitied his situation. A lump formed in her throat, and Kagome had to look away before her tears started.

.

While Kagome slept, Naraku whispered dark things to her watchdog. He was masterful in manipulation and emotional tactics. The parasitic hanyou kept her body awake to keep her weak and festered the hate Sesshoumaru held for him and, mostly, for himself.

“How are you able to even able to move under the weight of all your guilt?” the possessor lured. The taiyoukai could hear the chains rattle lightly when Naraku shifted his way, but kept his eyes and mouth closed.

“You are keeping this pretty little human chained up rather tight.” Sesshoumaru tried to not associate the twisted, sick words of Naraku with the priestess, but it was always her soft voice he spoke with. “Did the doggie get a new toy?”

The words ghosted through the darkness and made the room feel soiled. “That flea wasn’t a friend of yours, was he? Perhaps I should have left enough behind for you to use Tensaiga.” Sesshoumaru’s eyebrow twitched. “Though,” the villain prodded, “even I can tell how limp and lifeless that useless sword is at your side.”

The castle darkened and the pitch black swallowed the room. Naraku laughed, but with Kagome’s nostalgic, girlish giggle the sent the inu centuries back, before all was lost. He bit his tongue to keep from acknowledging the hanyou’s taunts.

“Do you regret not being the one to kill Inuyasha?” he asked keenly with a coy, victorious tilt in the priestess’s voice.

Sesshoumaru never told Kagome what was said during the night.

Kagome, in turn, didn’t let on that she heard everything in her dreams, anyways.

They both thought it would protect the other in some way if they did not have to face it. However, her depression grew and the discontent swelled in the demon’s heart.  

Tonight, Naraku was being particularly jovial. “You have inherited your father’s dirty little habit of collecting humans. What was the name of that stray mutt you had picked up back when you actually meant something? Rin, wasn’t it?”

Sesshoumaru’s glare pierced into her, but it did not deter the spider. “Yes, little Rin-chan. Tell me, how far did your love for the human go?”

The taiyoukai’s steady breaths were becoming uneven.

“How deep was Rin’s devotion for you?”

He felt his claw dig into his palm as he resisted punishing the filth for daring to speak her name.

“She had doted on you to the point of infatuation. Did she make you happy?”

Youki flared in the inu’s eyes.

“Did she make you forget about the cruel being you really are?”

His shoulders shook against his will.

Naraku leaned in closer and grinned, revealing gleaming white, blunt teeth, as the silky and perverse voice slid past her chapped lips. “I remember human flesh tasting rather sweet, but I had never… savored one before. Did she keep your bed warm at night? Did she think you were playing a game when you touched her?” He chuckled. “Did you make anything else stretch as wide as her smile?”

Incensed, Sesshoumaru backhanded her soft, dimpled cheek and could no longer hold back his growl. His lips tingled with the poison that dripped off his lengthened fangs and his joints popped as he restrained himself. Mercifully, Naraku’s crooked grin distorted as they felt Kagome’s spiritual powers rise between them. The hanyou growled back at the inu before the animalistic noise converted into the miko’s screaming, though it was not out of pain.

“Shut up! Shut the hell up you twisted son of a bitch!” Frustrated tears ran down her reddened face and her breathing was stressed from the exertion of reigning Naraku back. She panted, trying to force her body to relax, and avoided looking the taiyoukai’s way. The sick things he had said to him, that he used her to say to him, were unforgivable and Kagome would never forget the way they tarnished her tongue or how they affected Sesshoumaru. Her stomach convulsed and she had never felt so polluted.

After a discomfited moment, the demon asked, “How?”

He would not ask if she was alright, because neither of them were, and she was thankful for it. She nodded to acknowledge his statement, caught her breath, and answered, “He was too preoccupied with you and let his guard down. I was able to reach my reiki, but just barely.”

It felt cold to her side, and when the miko finally gathered the courage to peek over she discovered she was alone. Her heart skipped, but footfalls echoed closer from down the hall. He walked in calmly with a steaming basin of water and cotton wrappings. Kagome wanted to protest. He was not known for his patience, and after the control he let slip that allowed her to gain some, she could not understand how he could move past his anger so readily. Flinching, she shook her head ‘no’, but he had only rolled his eyes and grabbed at her arms. He dressed her wounds from the chains Naraku deliberately injured her with nightly and she tried to help, but her body felt like lead.

“Thank you, Sesshoumaru,” she winced as the cotton wrapped around her abused skin. “You shouldn’t have to deal with this.”

“There is no one besides me.”

The embarrassment swelled and she tried to hide behind her bangs. “But…”

 “I will not deny my duty again,” he interjected.

Kagome remembered her final conversation with Myoga. Even before she had realized the depths of the inuyoukai’s burden, she knew he could not handle it alone, but even the retainer could no longer stand by his side. He was breaking, and the longer she stayed possessed the more Sesshoumaru believed he was failing. She could not do her duty alone, either, so she decided to be the one to reach out to him. “I am glad you are here with me.” His puzzled look was justified. “I mean, you could be nicer,” she teased in an attempt to build their camaraderie. “But then you wouldn’t be Sesshoumaru.”

The long, uncomfortable look he gave her would not relent, but the sincerity in his gaze held her fast. “I vow you will survive this.”

A breath escaped her lungs. She could not recall the last time someone offered her hope. It was appreciated, but Kagome knew better. “No, don’t do that.” Somehow, her eyes were still smiling, and it outwardly affected Sesshoumaru’s notice of her. Her resolve was so genuine it was tragic. “Just promise me Naraku won’t.”

For a moment, he could hardly believe she was the adolescent brat who shot arrows at him, gallingly, and naively clung to his half brother. Then again, she had always been loyal and stronger for the sake of others. Her disposition waned, but her essence remained true, and Sesshoumaru doubted any other could withstand these trials with as much grace. He nodded in his agreement. “I promise.”

The elegant conflagration melted off her face as her eyes widened, effectively ruining the tender moment. “I mean, don’t just go killing me off!”

He blinked, clearly fazed by her mood shift and accusation. “Are you dead now, miko?”

“Of course not.” Her brow wrinkled and one of his rose in disbelief.

“Then why do you question my motives?”

“You seem so flippant about death!” she ranted.

He clenched his teeth together, confused. “…How does that surprise you?”

She turned her head away, perhaps to unsuccessfully hide the small smile that curled her lips. “You’re a bastard.”

Deadpanned, he sighed, “You have me confused with my brother.”

The room lightened and she scoffed to mask her laugh. “No one could do that.”

The hush that followed grew by the unintentionally reciprocated compliments. In the wake of all the tragedy in such a short amount of time, the blithe conversation seemed out of place. Yet, amiability was also exactly what they needed.

Quietly, Sesshoumaru cleared his throat and asked, “Can you access your aura again?”

“What, now!?” Kagome scolded. “I can barely move.”

“Yet you have energy enough to argue.”

Her mouth dropped open petulantly before she tried at intimidation. “Just to let you know, if I flip you off, it is from me, not Naraku.”

He smiled at the threat.

She snorted with half-feigned irritation. “You’re a sadist.”

“If that is so,” the corner of his mouth lifted minutely, “Then your tempestuous attitude appears to take pleasure in sating me.”

With more strength than she thought she had, Kagome laughed for the first time since she had arrived at the castle. It was not the cruel giggle Naraku forced from her, but the lighthearted, honest humor of a girl pure enough to still find light in the middle of all the tyrannizing dark that surrounded her. “Let me rest just a little while,” the priestess bargained. “Then we can.”

Sesshoumaru nodded, closed his eyes, and continued his watch over her. This time, however, his presence felt more companionable than sentinel.

…

A/N: Not beta'd, so I apoligize if there are errors and overusage and flow problems and run-on sentences... (wait...)

Thanks for reading/reviewing. :]