She Who the Prophecy Foretold | By : SunsetMiko Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Sessh?maru/Kagome > Sessh?maru/Kagome Views: 29227 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 8 |
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Chapter 3 – In Flight Conversation and Contemplation
Kagome stood frozen, her eyes wide, unsure of how to react. Sesshoumaru had just held his hand out to her and was waiting for her to take it. When she didn’t respond, or move at all, he became frustrated and walked toward her quickly, wrapping his only arm around her waist, and took to the skies. Now, Kagome was afraid. He could smell the overwhelming fear covering her sweet scent. The scent of her fear riled his beast, which demanded they put an end to it. He was confused as to why her fear would rise and ebb, as well as why it mattered so much to his beast. She had never been afraid of him before, no matter the situation, so why now, and more importantly why did he care?Kagome didn’t know what to do. Here she was, Sesshoumaru’s arm holding her close to his body, and instead of noticing how nice it was, all she could focus on was how they were floating far too high off the ground on a cloud of his youki. Not only that, but they were moving much faster than she had ever gone on Inuyasha’s back.‘Inuyasha…’ For a moment, Kagome thought of her hanyou. He would be worried when she didn’t arrive. She didn’t want to tell her friends she was leaving because she knew they would all be against it, and Inuyasha would never have let her go. She felt badly about her decision but there wasn’t much choice. Besides, Sesshoumaru had swept her up so quickly she barely had time to get a tighter grip on her bag so she wouldn't drop it.Sesshoumaru was almost relieved when the scent of fear lessened; causing his beast to stop fighting his control, but then it was replaced with the scent of her sadness. He felt tightness in his chest, a tugging at his heart, but again he was unclear of its meaning, and he refused to contemplate it further. All he knew was that he needed her to stop smelling sad and afraid. He had to do something but he didn’t know what. Not knowing how to handle a situation was something Sesshoumaru was not fond of. After a few moments of hectic thought, he decided to distract her.“Miko, now would be a good time to ask your questions. It will take some time to reach this Sesshoumaru’s home.”Kagome was dragged from her thoughts by his deep, smooth voice. She could actually feel him speak, the vibrations passing from his chest to her back, right through his armor. His warm breath caressed her ear and the side of her throat. She was certainly distracted, but not in the way he had intended.When she failed to ask a question, he started without her. It seemed he needed a distraction as well before she was made aware of just how he felt about her proximity. He despised the reaction of his traitorous body to her scent and the heat he could feel radiating from her small form to his much larger one. She was nothing but a filthy human, however, it seemed that he had no control over the effect she had on him or his beast, which was once again pulling at its chains and demanding things of him that he absolutely refused to give.“Miko, pay attention. I will not repeat myself.” He tried to sound calm, hard, and controlled, his usual stoic façade, but his voice did not quite obey. Instead his tone was deep, soft, and warm. He felt her shift slightly and tilt her head to show she was listening. Refusing to think of how it felt to have her shift her body against his or how she had presented him with the full expanse of her neck in a wonderfully submissive gesture, he launched into his story.“This Sesshoumaru was patrolling my lands when a messenger found me, requesting I return home immediately. It seems that who they believed to be this Sesshoumaru arrived home yesterday and immediately went to check on the well being of my pups. I closed the door behind me and, moments later, the servants heard the pups begin to scream and cry. They attempted to gain access to the room but there was a barrier on the door. They tried the balcony doors as well, but the barrier was strong and they could not cross or break it. All they could do was listen to the cries of their charges, my sons.“After the sounds ceased, they found the barrier was gone. When they entered the room, all signs of whom they thought to be this Sesshoumaru were gone, the balcony doors were open, and the pups were all unconscious. They quickly and correctly deduced that whom they saw was indeed not I but an imposter. They sent word to this Sesshoumaru immediately. Both the body double and the barrier lead me to believe Naraku is behind this. My healers immediately tried to wake the pups but all their efforts failed. Due to their current state, they have determined that the pups have been cursed by a dark miko.” He paused, waiting to see if the girl had any questions.Kagome was torn. She felt awful for what had happened to his pups, and she also felt guilty for being so enthralled by his voice. She had never heard him speak so much at once and it was an experience she would love to have repeated over and over again. She had to fight to keep focused on his words. It would be absolutely mortifying if she had to ask him to repeat himself because she had been distracted from their very serious topic by his sexy voice. She was determined to pay attention to what he was actually saying, no matter how hard it was.With that decided, Kagome began to ask questions. “What, exactly, has happened with the pups, besides being unconscious, that makes your healers think that they’re cursed?”“They cannot maintain one form. They switch constantly between their humanoid and their true forms. Their demonic energy is diminishing, as if they are being drained. The healers can find no other cause for their state. Some can sense the presence of a curse placed by a dark miko, those with greater age and experience. No course of action has affected them. The curse is strong and thus can only be countered by a pure miko. This is why I sought you out.”He hated admitting his need because it proved his weakness. He was disgusted with himself for his failure to protect his young. He had always thought his palace to be secure. His assumption had landed him in the position to be at the mercy of a human female. At least it was a human female for which he had a small amount of respect, the only one, so far, to have earned such an honor. If the pups survived, changes would be made to ensure their future safety.“I’m so sorry, Sesshoumaru! That sounds awful, to not be able to help your own pups.”She missed his uncontrollable but quick grimace at the blatant truth of her statement. She saw him as weak. He had expected it but he had not expected how the knowledge made him feel. He was not supposed to feel at all, let alone feel things because of a human!“I am glad you thought to come to me. I will try my hardest to bring them back to you. How many pups are there?”Sesshoumaru let a small smirk spread slowly across his face. He knew the miko’s reaction to his answer would be an entertaining one. “Seven,” he said slowly.“Holy shi… I mean, damn, I mean, sorry, wow. Seven? I didn’t even know you had a mate, let alone seven pups!”His smirk spread and he had to hold down a chuckle. He was not disappointed by her response.“This Sesshoumaru has not taken a mate. I was merely in need of an heir. Thus, I selected three bitches of good breeding to carry my pups. Once they were born, the mothers delivered them to me and were dismissed.” He had not thought of how the miko might respond to that knowledge, but the way she did was definitely not what he expected. Why did it matter what she thought anyway?Kagome gasped at his callousness. “They just left their children, I mean, pups? How could they?”He found himself attempting to explain the situation in a way that didn’t make him seem cold and uncaring, but he soon found it to be an impossible task, at least in the loving eyes of Kagome. “It is the youkai way, at least among the upper class. If one does not desire to take a mate, heirs can be obtained without extensive difficulty. High-class bitches have no concern for their pups, and no desire to rear them. Even if they were mated, nurses would raise the pups until they were old enough to educate.“Inu of good quality are limited and I did not find any of them worthy of becoming the mate of this Sesshoumaru. They served their purpose. I do not wish to have to repeat the process. The bitches were insufferable while pupped.”‘And no female would wish to mate this Sesshoumaru, at least not one who is not after my wealth and power.’Kagome was speechless for a while. “That’s… that’s just so… cold. So, your pups have no mother? Just nurses?”Once again, Sesshoumaru wished that he had thought his words through before speaking. What was it about this female? Sesshoumaru had never found cause to second guess his choices before, so why now? “Nurses are sufficient. Women coddling them would only make them soft. They are the heirs of this Sesshoumaru and thus must be strong and powerful.”A small tear slid down her cheek at his words. His pups would never know the love of a mother. Everyone needs a mother. She didn’t know what she would do without hers. Another tear joined the first. She thought then of her kit, her Shippo. Instantly she was sobbing violently, tears streaming down her face.Sesshoumaru was stiff as a statue behind her. He had not intended to make her cry. He didn’t expect her to care, let alone shed tears. He was trying to make the explanation as simple as possible. He hadn’t wanted to upset the girl. He had left out quite a few things; the knowledge of which he was now sure would have upset her further. She did not need to know that the bitches would have killed their pups had he not removed them, just to be rid of them. Or that inu bitches had lost all mothering instincts centuries ago as they became selfish, lustful, greedy creatures. It was also none of her concern that he managed to grow up without a mother, so he knew they would survive.His mother, before she died, was a rarity. Mated to his father to cement an alliance, expected to deliver an heir, she chose to love the child despite his father’s indifference. He remembered, just barely, how it felt to be loved.Once she died, he never experienced such a thing again. His father was cold and impersonal. It was obvious he held no affections for his own son, merely expected him to follow orders, learn his lessons, and be the perfect heir. There was no love lost between him and his father. It was merely business.He would prefer his pups had a mother so that they could experience the love he had felt, if only for a short time, but he found no female that would do. None were good enough and he didn’t have the luxury of unlimited time to search. He needed an heir to take his place should he be killed to ensure that the lands his family had ruled for century after century would not fall, so he had followed his father’s example and handled the need for heirs in a business-like manner, as well. Feelings need not be involved.He hated the scent of her sadness, the salty tang of her tears. He hated even more the knowledge that she cried because of him, because of his cold demeanor, the mask he held up for the world to see. He didn’t know what to do, how to soothe her, but he wanted her crying to stop. Thinking back, he remembered a time when he had fallen during training and been injured. His tears had disgusted his father. He was expected to act as his heir should despite his age, only a mere two human years at the time though he appeared around six years old. His mother, though, had held him close to her, had leaned his head on her chest and softly ran her hands down his back, her touch easing the pain in his body and mind. She told him then that tears were not bad, that no matter what his father had said, sometimes tears were necessary and that feeling things was not wrong.After her death, though, his father had been quick to drill his opinion on the matter into him. No tears, ever. Feelings were unnecessary; they were a waste of time and only showed weakness. His father had trained him, punishing him until he learned how to hold his stoic, unfeeling mask at all times.Pushing the memories to the back of his mind, he did the only thing he knew how to do. He turned her slowly in his arm and carefully imitated the motions of his mother, resting his hand on her back and rubbing soothingly. Kagome placed her face on his unarmored shoulder, buried deep within the soft fur of his moko-moko, which, upon feeling her pressed into it, curled around her waist gently. She jumped, startled for a moment before relaxing into the hold. She was too upset to worry about how his ‘boa-thingie’, as she'd always thought of it, moved on its own. Maybe she would ask later.“Do not cry, Miko. My pups are well cared for and will grow up strong.” He was unsure of what to say to make her feel better and stop the tears. If it hadn’t been for the howling of his beast and the strange tugging at his heart, he would have ignored the girl and her tears. Instead, he kept his voice soft and his movements soothing. No one would have believed it. Sesshoumaru, killing perfection, the aristocratic assassin, was attempting to soothe the sadness of a human woman. A miko no less. If anyone were to witness such an event, he would surely have to kill them simply to maintain his reputation.“I… I… know you…will make sure they’re… cared for,” Kagome said amidst sniffles and sobs as she fought back her tears. “But I still think that everyone needs… a mother. I couldn’t have made it this far without mine.” Sesshoumaru acknowledged her statement with a nod but did not know how to respond, so he stayed silent and continued running his hand softly up and down the curve of her back.He really didn’t know if he agreed with her or not. He hadn’t thought of the comfort and love his mother had given him in years, repressing the memories until he was almost convinced that they had never occurred in the first place. He had spent every moment since her death trying to gain his father’s approval and sitting around moping over the loss certainly wouldn’t do it, not that anything else did either. He never measured up to the standards to which he was held.
His father never found any good in him, never gave his approval or his time, and most definitely not his love. Only Izayoi and Inuyasha had been good enough for his father’s love. Being second born, Inuyasha was not measured on the same scale as he was. Somehow, Inuyasha made his father proud and deserved the love he, himself, craved so much.As his mind swirled with thoughts he felt were better off lost forever, he held the girl that brought them all up again close to himself, almost as if he were afraid to lose her. Maybe he was. Slowly, her sobs quieted, her tears slowed, and she calmed in his hold. The remainder of their flight was silent, but it was not uncomfortable.As they approached his palace, he gently turned her and directed her to look. She let out a soft gasp and a whisper he barely caught about the beauty of it. He felt an unexpected rush of pride that the miko approved of his home.Once he dug himself out of his pit of self-pity he thought he had completely obliterated long ago, he contemplated why he was bothered that the girl seemed disappointed in the circumstances of his fatherhood. But who could be expected to mate a demon such as himself?All females were frightened of him, every single one he had ever been in the presence of, except two, the one he held in his arm now and the little one he protected as his own. The only females besides the afore mentioned two who could force down their fear enough to be anywhere near him were only doing so to gain his wealth and power and he detested them for it. He did not want a woman who had to fight her fear in his presence. While he, in general, enjoyed the smell of fear, it was not a scent one wanted from their mate. His mate should at the very least be comfortable with him.He refused to mate for political reasons. He would not be like his father and mate a female then ignore her and betray her with anyone that happened to be convenient. Sesshoumaru found the idea dishonorable. His mother had suffered through his father’s indifference to her and he had been present to witness every moment, every insult, every bit of loneliness, and every single tear. He refused to repeat it.Inu mated for life, or were supposed to, and he intended to do so, as well. If he did ever choose a mate, he would remain faithful to her as was right, proper, and honorable, but he doubted it would ever happen. He didn’t believe in love anyway, so his choice seemed the only solution to his need for heirs, and it was successful. That was all that mattered, right?While AFF and its agents attempt to remove all illegal works from the site as quickly and thoroughly as possible, there is always the possibility that some submissions may be overlooked or dismissed in error. The AFF system includes a rigorous and complex abuse control system in order to prevent improper use of the AFF service, and we hope that its deployment indicates a good-faith effort to eliminate any illegal material on the site in a fair and unbiased manner. This abuse control system is run in accordance with the strict guidelines specified above.
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