Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Suffering and Rebirth	By : scattered-dimensions Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Sessh?maru/Kagome > Sessh?maru/Kagome Views: 8846 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters. This is for fun not monetary gain.

Chapter List
- 23
- 24
- 25
It seemed like the more Sesshomaru was around the tiny Miko, the more it felt like all the doors in his perfectly controlled, fully compartmentalized mind were being bashed open leaving his thoughts in a riotous clutter and he couldn't figure out when the process started or why it was happening at all.
Their little session in her room had forced him to acknowledge her in a strange way. She had earned a margin of respect from the way she had stood up for herself. It was clear she was intimidated by him to a certain degree, but she held her own. The truly confounding moment had been when he set his tongue upon her. There had been something damn near primal about her being awake and privy to his every movement and it had shaken him to the core.
He’d tasted many things in his life, humans being one of them in his younger years, a practice he abandoned on principality and because most mortals carried a stench, but Kagome was nothing like that. There were layers to her blood that could only be compared to spiritual enlightenment.
He presumed it was because of the sensation of redeveloping his youki, a feeling more akin to being reborn within the same body, and the gratitude he felt towards her for it. His heightened senses registered every single detail about the little onna and had him appreciating more than just her fortitude.
He was so physically close to her during the entire process that it was only logical that she overshadow the world around him and he had no problems admitting she tasted divine, but to seriously consider whether or not her hair had been the same shade of ebony without his demon sight as it was in that particular moment was an earth shattering wake up call.
He didn’t realize any of this, of course, until well after he turned in for the night and laid his head upon the pillow that she had been clutching as a lifeline. Her scent was strong even though his youki had no involvement in amplifying the aroma and he felt an entire mental corridor explode expelling centuries of rigid indoctrinations into the forefront of his mind causing him to question everything he had ever known. It had been a hair-raising experience, one that fueled his determination to find a way back through the well that much more.
His calculating first step was to gather all available information about the Miko’s abilities before she lost her spiritual powers. Unfortunately, her control had been virtually nonexistent, save for being able to detect jewel shards, the occasional ominous aura, and shoot off purification arrows, none of which were relevant to their situation. He had then begun to question her on the undead priestess’ abilities and those of the old Miko’s in Edo during their several trips to the library. Once he’d exhausted Kagome’s reserves, he moved on to her grandfather finding the man to be incredibly knowledgeable about such things.
His next course of action had been laid out before him. Kagome needed to learn self-control and find her center. She was too undisciplined having lacked the proper training a Miko of her standing should have received since childhood. He went about it the only way he knew how, placing her in a highly distracting environment and guiding her in the steps it would take to release her mind from its worldly shackles.
When she would fail, he would reprimand her in the same manner his father had when he was a pup, but it had only made her angry which had been expected. He was honestly surprised that it had taken her four days to retaliate, but when she did, he held true to his promise. The slap to the back of her head was gentle in comparison to what he was really capable of and it hadn’t even caused her to shift the slightest inch.
That’s when she locked him out of the house. He knew it was because of her childish tendencies, but it angered him anyway. Akira had soothed his riled emotions with a hot cup of tea and pleasant conversation. He had regained some semblance of amicability before ascending the stairs fully prepared to lecture the Miko on running from her problems, that hiding wasn’t going to change anything, only to discover her asleep, wrapped up in the very same blankets he used every night.
Just the sight of her dark, thigh length hair fanned out over the pillow, the innocent way she had her fist balled up under her chin, and her delicate features relaxed and utterly serene caused his resolve to melt completely away. He decided to just let her rest and adjusted the lighting in the room for her comfort, not giving his mind a chance to replay the event until much later. He had spent the remainder of the day in the company of her family and found them to be quite entertaining when they were all in the same room.
That night had been filled with troubling thoughts and even more disturbing surges in his instincts that were unabashedly trying to push him toward the Miko in a way he did not wish to even acknowledge fully. He tossed and turned trying to dispel the pathos plaguing him, but her enticing scent surrounded him keeping him awake and ever alert to her presence just down a menial flight of wooden stairs. He elected to sleep on the floor well away from the bed.
The fifth day had been an enlightening one. She had finally mastered her mental willpower, at least in the lowest sense. It encouraged him to take the next step. They tried jumping down into the well just like they had his first week here. His reluctance to touch her had faded opening up several new options to exploit.
He never once gave it a second thought when he instructed her to clutch onto him like she had in the clearing while trying to reenact their original plummet down the well. She had been quite hesitant to do so and only after having her body flush against his and her soft, fragrant hair mingling in vast contrast to his own silver locks during their ascent did he understand just why she had been so reluctant. He himself couldn’t describe the feeling her proximity evoked, but it made him uncomfortable none the less.
Each attempt had been followed by a bout of meditation, but after that incident, even he couldn’t concentrate on the task at hand. So, he called off their efforts for the day and retreated into the not-so-calming asylum of her room. He sat up late into the night, his back resting against the wall near her closet, reading and rereading his notes, his bare feet just inches from Tenseiga and Bakusaiga.
He had experimentally touched the uncovered blade of Tenseiga with his toe gaining no reaction from the healing blade, but when he came within a hair’s breadth of Bakusaiga’s hilt with his fingertips, he felt the immediate charge and backed away. This spawned another emergence of deep contemplation. At dawn, he dressed and placed his swords in his obi being careful not to touch Bakusaiga outside of its sheath.
He drew the protesting youki blade and jumped in the well hoping that it would have some kind of effect on the slumbering magic held with in the dark tunnel, but nothing happened. He didn’t let that dampen his spirits. It was the perfect opportunity for the Miko to focus her concentration on something she should be able to sense with or without proper training. The youki imbued in Bakusaiga was stronger than even Sou’unga and if her powers were being repressed this might very well be the kind of encouragement they needed to present themselves.
Still, nothing came of it. He could not contain the disappointment and unmitigated frustration he felt with the downfall of yet another trial. He didn’t want to be in the earthen hole any more that day and had locked himself in his temporary bedchambers with his mind focused on one thing and one thing only, the Miko’s connection to the well.
He thought back to the entry he had her read in the library about the kyokotsu. At the time it had been the first thread of data he needed to begin formulating his theories. It had mostly been curiosity on his part about the reason why a seemingly ordinary human girl could travel through time along with a dense hanyou, yet it took a curse to grant a great Taiyoukai access to such power.
The answer therein lied with Kagome’s connection to Kikyou, something she had explained in length during her account of how he came to be in this time and she in his. It was fascinating really, because he had always wondered why the undead Miko hated the girl and had asked her about it once earning a very vague, unhelpful answer, something about her hatred for all things. She died shortly thereafter.
He didn’t exactly understand InuYasha’s connection to the well, but considering the fact that the half-breed hadn’t shown up, he assumed that the well was closed on both sides. The realization had caused him a small amount of pleasure, which was confusing, along with a deeper sense of regret.
He had risked the bed that night and spent his entire slumber wrapped in dreams of a smiling little girl making wreaths of flowers giggling as she did so, her sideways ponytail flittering in the wind as she chased a flailing Jaken about.
He awoke with a deep rooted determination gnawing impatiently at his gut and pushed all shameful thoughts of the Miko aside. He was going to force the well open with her help. He was a Taiyoukai and the son of the Great and Terrible InuTaishio, the terrifying Dog General of the Western Lands. His youki was his to control and no puny mortal, no matter what kind of powers she may have stolen, was going to keep him away from what was his.
His single minded, hell-bent attempt had only resulted in two things; injuring himself and Kagome, and bringing back that enamoring over the girl’s flavor in the efforts to heal them both.
He had not been able to turn his focus away from the changes in her scent either. Her spike in arousal had hit him square in the olfactory senses and encompassed the earthen prison they were in, permeating every single inch of the air around them. It was second only to her undeniable trepidation mixed with her very innocent reactions, mingle that with her electrifying taste and he was hooked. Not even the hounds of Hell could drag him away.
He had never felt so refreshed and for once, he didn’t try to analyze the reasoning behind it. He just let it be and allowed the delight in her flustered pandemonium to sit openly on the surface. Her blushing face and nervous stammerings were amusing to behold and her brother’s teasing had elicited a slight chuckle on his part. Twice she stumbled on her way into the house, her legs still shaking. She had mutered the entire way under her breath. He found her behavior to be unexpectedly endearing.
“…you even listening to anything I’m saying?” Kagome asked snapping his thoughts back into the present.
“No.” It was the truth.
He watched her let go of the rolling shopping cart in favor of placing her hands on her hips.
“What’s the point of coming with me to the store if you’re just going to stay locked up in your head? I bet if I hadn’t been paying attention to make sure you were following me, you would have gotten yourself lost in the cereal aisle.” She admonished playfully, the bashfulness of the day’s earlier events washed away by their pilgrimage into town.
“Cereal?” He asked wanting clarification.
“You know that stuff I poured milk over this morning?”
He raised his eyebrow and she huffed crossing her arms over her chest. He hadn’t been paying attention then either.
“I offered you some this morning right before we…” Her voice trailed off and her face reddened. “Nevermind.”
She spun around abruptly clutching the cart again and propelled it forward with significantly increased gusto. He couldn’t contain the smirk if he wanted to. It seemed he wasn’t the only one still bothered by their earlier encounter. It made him really wonder what that meant.
He had never been attracted to humans before. It was something he avoided at all costs on both youkai and ningen sides of the spectrum. He had little use for such lascivious engagements. As much as he hated to admit it, his father’s indiscretions had been an example set it unwavering stone. Sexual desire could get one into a very unsightly predicament rather quickly. In his father’s case, the result of his escapade had cost him his life.
It wasn’t that Sesshomaru hadn’t ever been with a female, he had, but it was always on his terms, in his fortress, and ended as soon as he did. The bitch’s wishes were never considered. It had been a release nothing more and he only picked the most beautiful of demonesses to share his bed. He had never been drawn to a female in his life, not like this.
Not saying that he was even considering such a thing with the Miko. Her unpretentious reactions had been a pallet cleanser, but had not stirred the same heat in his own loins, only his amusement. There was something more about her that drew him in. Almost like a moth to a flame.
He watched Kagome hold up her shopping list and studied her profile speculating just what it was that made her so damn different than the countless females that had fallen at his feet or the ones with pedigree and voluptuousness that his mother paraded around trying to get him to mate and produce an heir with. All of which he effectively ignored.
Yes, the Miko was beautiful in the rawest sense of the word. She didn’t need the powders and lip stains most women needed to cover up blemishes because she didn’t have any. Her eyes were an unusual color and it fed into the mystery of her very being. Perhaps that’s why he impulsively wanted to be near her. She was a puzzle that needed to be solved and he so did enjoy enigmas, had ever since he was a pup.
Noriko used to bring him all kinds of brainteasers when he was small. Sometimes they would…
He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes wide and his mouth ajar causing Kagome to rush to his side in alarm.
“Sesshomaru, are you okay?” She asked distress defacing her usual melodious voice.

Flashes of a smiling face with red painted lips in the fortress gardens, the same face he had seen in the forest and again in the clearing, with the offering of a simple child’s puzzle toy.
“Patience, young Master. One must always think ahead.”
Gentle hands coming to cover his when he made a wrong turn in the linked coils helping to guide him in the right direction.
“There you go. Easy does it. Now try the next one.”
His hair being ruffled by the warm breath of his father’s advisor as she laughed sweetly at the spectacle of his tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth in his juvenile determination.
“Very good, little one. I must say that you are quite adept at this to be so young. How very smart you are. Your father will be so proud.”
Him smiling jovially at the praise and raising his arms to be lifted into the taller woman’s embrace, her laughter on the wind dancing around them with the cherry blossoms.
“Catch me if you can, Lady Noriko!”
His bare feet hit the grass running and her chasing after him tugging a lock of his hair when he would let her get too close.
“Got you.”
Her painted nails tickling his sides as he writhed and laughed in the grass.
“S-Stop…I…y-yield…I…yield!”
She let him up while he tamed his laughter. He sprang at her being caught effortlessly and thrown into the sky making him feel like he was flying only to land in the safety of his only friend’s arms.
“Will you really be with us forever like father says?”
His arms looping around her neck, fingers toying with her golden earrings, as she set down on the side of the koi pond with him in her lap.
“For as long as your father has need of me.”
“What about me when I get big? Don’t you want to stay with me, too?”
She beamed brighter than the noonday sun filling his heart with joy.
“As you wish, young Master, as you wish.”

“Sesshomaru?” Kagome’s oceanic depths stared up at him in confusion and concern, her hand resting on his arm.
He blinked and schooled his features back into their neutral mask. He pushed her hand away from him wanting nothing more to do with his contemplative thoughts on her attractiveness, nothing more to do with her. Human women were a curse to his blood line and he refused to make the same mistakes as his father and grandfather…The same mistake he had made as a young pup.

Noriko kneeling at his father’s armored feet, tears streaming down her face, hands folded pleading to the Taiyoukai to dispel her worst fears.
The pain gripping his chest at the broken sight, barely an inkling of recognition in his mind of his father’s advisor, a woman he was not allowed to converse with since he couldn’t remember, and his mother’s calm, amused voice near his ear.
“You see, my son, the folly of such trust in humans? This whole time she was in love with your father. Tsk, such a pity he chose another mortal over her, a princess no less. I hear he has been seeing her quite often. What a lucky one you are to have a mother such as I protect you from all this, but you are destined for far greater things, Sesshomaru. Take care to harden your heart for what is to come.”
The rage erupted from hot molten coals in his stomach and his heart seized in his chest. It was the first time he had lost a piece of himself, the first time he had come face to face with the sickening reality of betrayal, the first time he felt contempt towards his father, and the first step he took towards supreme conquest.

Kagome had been nothing but a distraction in a troubling situation. It was best to just solidify that rational in his mind this very instant. They were not friends, just common allies striving towards one goal, just as they had been during the hunt for Naraku. He could afford no ties to her, would not risk the chance of history repeating itself. He forced himself to only think of her as his half-brother’s intended and had to contend with the flaring protests of his bestial side.
Kagome held no significance in his life. She was not beautiful. Her taste did not matter. Nothing she could ever do would captivate him. She was just another troublesome priestess whose powers were his ticket home. He could not falter. He would not falter.
He battled his instincts into submission, but discovered that he could not look at her directly lest the fragile wall come tumbling down.
“Finish quickly. This Sesshomaru has much to do upon our return to the Shrine.” He stated coolly while tediously laying the mortar between the bricks shutting himself up once again.
With that he briskly walked passed her and out of the store. He found a small recess set inside the building’s outer wall and settled there to scour over the multitude of repressed memories that had just clawed their way to the surface. This held the answer. This was the missing piece of the puzzle. It had to be.

A/N: I just want to apologize for this update being a little late. I was remodeling my son’s room and the dang ceiling caved in his closet. So fixing that took up all my free time. A thousand apologies.
Thank you for your review Luminari_Lilium. Personally I think that poor Kagome’s brain might have oozed out her ears if Souta hadn’t shown up, but still he shouldn’t have made fun of her like that and neither should Sesshomaru. :P
Also a thank you to the readers and voters.
I know it’s disappointing that Sesshomaru regressed in this chapter, but there is a method to the madness. I promise.
I figured that this would be the best way to address his memory of Noriko. In the episode The Woman Who Loved Sesshomaru, it took Sesshomaru a hot minute to remember Princess Sara even though she had been checking on him in the clearing while he was injured. I figured it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for Sesshomaru to be highly selective about a woman he had trusted and that had ultimately hurt him. Seems to me that he would draw the determination from such a lesson and brush way the unnecessary details of who was involved. She was human after all.
Anyway, sorry for my ramblings.
Until next time,
~scattered-dimensions~
- 23
- 24
- 25
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Suffering and Rebirth