Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Winter Wind	By : inuyoukai8 Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Sessh?maru/Kagome > Sessh?maru/Kagome Views: 39773 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 11
Disclaimer: I do not know Inuyasha or any of its associated characters, I do not own any song lyrics that may be used and I make no money or profit from these stories.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
Disclaimer - I own nothing of Inuyasha, the characters, the songs used, nothing. I make no profit of any kind off of these works which are for entertainment value only.
A/N:
This chappie is a little longer since I don’t think I will be writing over the holiday. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thank you so much for all the reads and reviews.

The walk to the Lord’s offices seemed to last forever. Kagome fought valiantly to keep her head up, her eyes straight forward as Enoa had taught her. It was difficult though. There were so many youkai here that her holy powers were bubbling just beneath the carefully composed exterior. They started at her, many with open disdain. “Just look at it.” They started at her, many with open disdain. “Just look at it.”
And the voices. Some of them hadn’t bothered to whisper when they speculated her reasons for being summoned here. What she was or who she was. Kagome felt her face heat over some of the crude suggestions. She wanted to so very much to tell them off, set them right… but Enoa merely gave a nearly imperceptible shake of her head and continued moving.
Kagome felt sadness creep into her heart. They didn’t even refer to her as a ‘her’. She was an ‘it’. Barely worthy of notice as a life form. For most of them this was all she would ever be. A thing, a toy to be dressed up and discarded.
Kagome almost sighed with relief when the large doors appeared before them. A young, handsome dog demon had just woofed at her. Actually woofed at her! She supposed that was the equivalent to a cat call when saw the heated look in his yes. As they’d passed he’d ventured a small pat on her rump and Kagome and frozen in place.
Her holy powers sparked and surged, her aura leaping along her skin. “Do. Not.” She had growled then, breaking one of those precious rules, “Touch. me Without. My . Permission.” Each word was snapped out from between even white teeth, but carried the sting of nettles. She had met the soldier’s eyes then, saw the laughter in them and wordlessly challenged him to do, to say more.
He had merely bowed and replied in a soft voice, “As my lady wishes” Then he was gone, moving down the hallways without a backwards glance.
Kagome stood still as stone, waiting for the censure that was sure to follow from Enoa. Trying to calm her emotions and powers. It wasn’t working.
It didn’t come.
“Enoa, I’m sorry.” She began, finding silence far worse than anger.
“That Ryuha.” Enoa growled, “Leacherous dog.” She finally turned to Kagome, twin spots of color high on her cheeks. “Should someone touch you, you have no need to keep silent about it. You have done nothing wrong. In fact you sounded almost as cold as Sesshoumaru-sama. Impressive…For a human. Come.”
Kagome’s aura was still snapping angrily and the miko knew if she didn’t do something soon, she just might purify someone or something without meaning to. What was the matter with her? Kagome quickened her steps feeling desperate panic rise within.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Enoa knocked but twice and upon hearing the barked command, she pushed the door wide and allowed Kagome entrance. The mortal hurried inside and shut the door firmly behind her, leaning against it. Eyes closed, she fought her powers down and forced them to calm. She took gulping breaths and sought the silent peaceful place inside.
Sesshoumaru looked up from his work to study her and nearly dropped his ink brush. She looked very different dressed in the costly silks of his court. Her hair gently lifted from her nape held in place by gleaming wooden sticks. The pale gold gown cast her in shades of warm pearl, the intricately stitched obi wrapped around her waist making it smaller, pushing her breasts up. He stopped himself from venturing further down that path. Telling himself that she was finally properly covered. Golden eyes narrowed, save one small thing.
She didn’t look like the ragamuffin girl traipsing along with his half breed brother. No, she looked, at present like a fine lady, a noble priestess… one that was dangerously close to losing control. He could not recall ever seeing her so.
He had smelled her in the halls, moving closer to him. He had felt the shift in her emotions. First uncertainty, embarrassment, sadness, then anger, Burning anger and shock mixed into one volatile emotion. Sesshoumaru set his brush aside.
“Kagome. You must calm.” he called softly. Those dark eyes opened and fixed on him as he rose from his desk. Slowly he stalked towards her. His own aura crackling. She held her hand out to him, a small blocking gesture. A small shake of her head and a small sound of distress bubbled up.
“Don’t.”
Sesshoumaru paused two paces away and let his youkai flare slightly; it brushed against her own aura. As though reacting to a possible threat, the energy began to focus and calm. A stray thread snapping here and there at him.
“Kagome” he said again, “Allow me closer.”
Kagome fought for control. Her wide eyes locked on the twin suns of his. Her powers had never reacted in such a terrible way before. It frightened her. Sesshoumaru moved forward another step, then two. The pinpricks of purification dancing over his skin as he closed the gap between them.
Kagome squeezed her eyes shut, turned her face from him as he towered over her. She was certain that if she looked at him, acknowledged him, that power would devour them both. Or he might. Demons generally didn’t take purification, no matter how unintentional, lightly.
Sesshoumaru took in the pained expression on her face, the heaving breaths she took, the way she had plastered herself to the door. She was clearly in pain. He suspected it had much to do with the defiled shards exactly twenty feet below her feet in his sealed vault. She couldn’t know that though.
He reached out slowly, jaw tightening at the warning heat to his fingertips and laid his hand against the bite he had inflicted on her only a handful of days ago. Her powers and body seemed to recall him then and with a dissipating flare, they settled back into her body. She also couldn’t know that the bite would allow his some measure of calm over her.
Her little hands fisted in the silk of his sleeves as though he were a lifeline.
Kagome felt the maelstrom die down suddenly, became aware of the closeness of the tall demon before her. She was aware of the heated pressure his hand against her throat. She dared a peek at him, eyes moving over him seeking damage. She realized she was clutching him and let go.
“You had no killing intent towards me when you came.” He assured her.
He slowly withdrew from her, pulling the collar of her robe higher around her throat as he did so. “Never bear your throat to my kind” he told her softly, eyes lifting from the delicate flesh to meet her gaze, “It is an invitation that may not be intended but will not likely be declined in future.”
He stepped away, needing distance. She smelled of white plums and feminine spice. “There are under robes with high collars. They will minimize this issue. ” He said. Kagome clutched the robe closed around her neck, suddenly feeling as though she was in danger of a wholly different sort. But this was Sesshoumaru. ‘Yeah right’ she mused self-deprecatingly.
Sesshoumaru resumed his seat, motioning her to sit opposite him. “There was a reason Enoa brought you here.” He prompted.
Kagome straightened in the seat, “Yeah. I was going through your correspondence and found a request from Koga.”
Sesshoumaru leaned back in his seat, “The ookami prince”.
She nodded, “Apparently you have turned him down so many times that he is on his way here to personally ask.”
Sesshoumaru groaned inwardly.
“Enoa thought you would want to know about that.” She said simply.
“And your part in this is?”
“Well, I know him.” She hedged, “Pretty well actually.”
“Meaning.”
“Well, he kidnapped me once you see.”
“Inuyasha is a fool”
“Hey!”
“Letting pack be taken. Ridiculous. Even for a hanyou.”
Kagome clenched her fists tightly, “Look you…”
Sesshoumaru cut her off, “You’re point?”
Kagome wanted to melt into a puddle of goo and seep between the polished stones so great was her embarrassment.
She blinked and flushed hotly, “He maybe, kinda, sorta… said I was…. Erm.. his woman.”
Sesshoumaru bit back the growl that sprang to life deep in his belly. “This claiming…Was it maybe, kind of or sort of?” he asked.
She couldn’t hold that golden gaze any longer and picked at her robes. Who would have thought the weaving could be so impressive and attention consuming?
“Answer.”
“None.” She finally said, “He was pretty clear and to the point.”
She recalled that time with Koga yelling down to her that he was a far better choice than Inuyasha.
“Inuyasha was pretty pissed.” She murmured.
Sesshoumaru gave a small start across the desk and she looked up to see an odd expression on his face, for only a moment.
“I know” she said with a sigh of resignation, “Ladies do not spit, sputter, or curse” .
His silver brow lifted, “And yet you continue to do so.”
She deflated, “Sorry.”
“No matter” he said then, “The wolf will learn his place. You will not entertain him Kagome. You will adhere strictly to your lessons when he is here” he looked up at her then, fixing her with a gimlet stare, “For the safety of all concerned.”
She swallowed and nodded. “I don’t appreciate being bullied Sesshoumaru” she told him then.
“This is not bullying. This is simply avoiding unnecessary problems.”
“Gee thanks, makes me feel so much better”
Sesshoumaru almost snorted so like his brother did she sound in that moment.
Kagome took a moment to look around his study, it was impeccably decorated and fastidiously clean and organized. The scents of sandalwood, jasmine and night surf filled this place and she realized as she took it in deeply this was his scent.
“You are in full control once more?” he asked then.
She pulled her eyes away from the tower shelves of scrolls and books to meet his gaze. “Huh? Yes. I’m sorry I don’t understand what happened really. I guess I just got so upset over the comments in the halls.”
Sesshoumaru lifted a long, shimmering lock of silver hair over his shoulder, tucking it behind one elvish ear. “The defiled shards are below us” he told her then, “I am certain they added to your… lapse of control.”
Brown eyes snapped wide, “When do you want me to purify those?”
He took up his brush once more. “Tonight I shall take you to them.”
Her brow furrowed, “Why not now?”
He didn’t look at her but resumed his work, “There are too many in the halls at present that might react to either the shards or the presence of your powers. I have no doubts that these shards will present a challenge to you Miko.”
“I don’t like the sound of that” she admitted.
“Be that as it may” he intoned, “A deal is a deal. I shall be nearby should you prove unable to tame them.”
Kagome gave him look of boredom, “Gee, thanks.”
“The correspondence?” he asked then.
She studied her nails, “Done. You have three requests for war to see to. I figured you wouldn’t appreciate me declaring war on your neighbors without you knowing. It was tempting though.”
“I’d not have cared.” He said blandly.
She rose from her seat, hands on her hips, “What? How can you NOT care?”
He continued to write, “I would be victorious. Therefore I care not.”
She stared at the silvery head bent to its task. What, she wondered, would it be like to feel so much confidence?
“Don’t you ever suffer uncertainty?” she blurted out as she sank back into her chair.
“No.” he said, sounding utterly appalled. For some reason she imagined him rubbing the word off his tongue later with a clean sleeve as though it was bitter. She gave a soft laugh.
He looked up at the small sound of mirth. Such a warm sound. He cocked his head at her, “What is so funny?”
Somehow she didn’t think he’d appreciate the mental image and she shrugged casually.
“What comments in the halls?” he asked then. He had heard some of them as they neared his door. He’d be dealing with that later. Would she, he wondered divulge them? Could her little mouth form some of the more detailed ones? He doubted it. She was pure, probably more than half confused about what some of it even meant.
She flared red as fire, “Just stuff.” she evaded.
That brow lifted in silent question.
“Nothing important.” She mused sadly, “I just didn’t think that they would judge me without knowing me. I blame you ya know. They had to learn that from somewhere.”
He blinked honeyed eyes at her, “It is instinct.” He pointed out, “For you, for us. We cling to that which we know, abhor that which we do not. We seek to find reasons to hate it, destroy it. It is a foolish weakness.”
“But” she chimed in softly, “ I am not like that.”
He leaned back once more, “Perhaps.” He allowed, “Make no mistake Miko. Do not waste your time on weaknesses such as kindness to find the goodness in others. All too often it does not exist and only shows them the vein in which to sink their fangs.”
She gasped. “That is a jaded way to look at things.”
He shrugged, “Demons are cruel, and so are humans.”
She opened her mouth to argue but the words died on her tongue. What defense could she offer to a truth like that? The uplifting words turned to tasteless ash and she slowly stood from her seat. Humans were cruel. She recalled her mother fretting over a news article of a man who had been charged with hurting dogs. He’d fought them, tortured them, for kicks. No; humans were no less guilty.
“We aren’t all like that” she whispered, “And I refuse to see kindness as weakness.”
She reached for the door and pulled it wide, meeting his eyes over her shoulder. “Ever.”
Then she was gone. Leaving Sesshoumaru to notice how her scent mingled with his in the enclosed space. Sesshoumaru didn’t like that the scent of a mere human affected him.
Kagome made certain that the correspondence was returned to him and also made certain that the inner robe with the high scalloped collar was put in place beneath her kimono. She sat through more lessons with Enoa. These were geared specifically on Koga’s visit. Ayame joined them that afternoon to present case after case of jewels to her. ‘What is this?” she’d asked, fingertips trailing over gold and silver, stones of rainbow hues winking and flashing in the light.
Ayame guided her up on the low stool near a polished mirror and began to hold silks and baubles up to her. Nodding here and there, shaking her head and discarding items for new.
“I’m to assist you with your appearance for the banquet tomorrow” Ayame told her, “Since Koga is a visiting noble, he must be hosted properly. No matter that wolves and dogs generally don’t get along well.”
“No kidding” Kagome laughed, “Inuyasha threatens to kill him every time we see him. Last time it took two days in my ti… er, my mother’s home to calm him down.”
Enoa did not miss the slip up but she pretended not to notice. “Will you remain with master Inuyasha?” she asked.
Kagome blushed, “Well, I don’t know about that. He is kind of hung up on Kikyo.”
Ayame nodded, “The dead priestess.” she volunteered to Enoa. Enoa blanched.
“Dead you say?”
Ayame nodded, “As dreams.”
Enoa made a face.
Kagome looked shocked, “How do you know?” she asked. Surely Sesshoumaru hadn’t….
“Some of the men have heard things in their travels for Lord Sesshoumaru.” The butterfly offered.
“And they just tell you?” Kagome wished Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were so forth coming.
Ayame laughed again, “Dear one” she gently chided, “There isn’t much a man won’t divulge when well sated in bed”
Kagome nearly fell off the stool. Never mind. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru could keep their secrets.
“So I am going to be presented sooner?”
“Oh no dear” Ayame went on. “You will have to suffer a meal with the military advisors though.”
“Why do I have to go?” she wanted to know.
Enoa chuckled, “Probably because Sesshoumaru-sama hopes the wolf will make a mistake in your presence. Besides” she went on, not noticing Kagome’s anger, “This is a good test for your lessons. The advisors are less likely to provoke a response from you but you will have first-hand knowledge of how demons can be. It is a gentler stage to cut your teeth on.”
Kagome could understand that, but she still didn’t like feeling as though Sesshoumaru was using her against Koga. She said as much to Ayame and Enoa. The butterfly got a calculating gleam in her eyes then, “The best way to punish” she confided, “Is trap a man in their own game.”
Later that evening, she ate with Rin and sat down beside the fire with the child. “Shall I teach you to read?” she asked.
Rin laughed, “Rin knows her letters and numbers.”
Kagome blinked, “You do?”
Rin was up and running round in circles her little arms out like airplane wings, “Of course Lord Sesshoumaru and Jaken-sama have taught me. But most of the scrolls and books are boring.”
Kagome smiled at her and made a mental note to bring her some books from home. Home! That’s right, she needed to ask Sesshoumaru about going home. She’d been so caught up in everything here that she’d not really thought it through.
She sang and chatted with Rin for nearly an hour before Sesshoumaru came. Kagome waited while he spent time with the doting human child and then when he motioned for her to follow she rose. “Time to purify some shards.” She said to herself.
As they walked the halls Kagome noted few demons about. “Hey Sesshoumaru?” she called to him. He peered over his shoulder.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you if you think I might be able to go home for a little while.”
He faced forward, “To Inuyasha.”
“To my mom, and grandpa and little brother.” She corrected.
“In Inuyasha’s village.”
Kagome tensed, something in his tone seemed to be testing her. “Close to it.” She allowed.
“You agreed to stay with me.”
“You agreed to look for shards.”
“It’s been and handful of days girl, and there are shards here you can focus on.”
“I wanted to get some things for Rin” she tried. Well, that was true enough.
“What can you give her that I cannot and have not provided?”
Lots, Kagome wanted to say, but Rin lived in the lap of luxury here. ‘Things that this time doesn’t have?’ Yeah. That would go over well.
“Well it’s been getting colder” Kagome said, “A thick coat would be nice.”
“Ayame can fashion warm garments for her.”
“Books for children.”
“Why not books that only gain use as you age?”
Touché.
“Medicines.” She said plainly.
“I have the finest healers in all of Japan.”
“But you don’t have antibiotics. Those could really be useful.” She argued without thinking.
“And anti-biotics are in the well? In Inuyasha’s forest?”
Kagome tripped over her own feet a little and righted herself, “How’d you..” She cut herself off.
He pinned her with a gaze. “There is nothing that I do not know about your pack. You would be foolish to believe you can hide anything from me.”
Kagome paled. He could say that but did he really know the secret of the old well?
“I do not understand where you go when you vanish into the blue light. It doesn’t hold the scent or feel of a demon’s power. But you do go somewhere.”
She eeped. One word looped lazily through her brain. Busted.
“In the next five months, if you want to go home. You will tell me.”
He hated knowing bits and pieces of a thing, lacking full understanding of anything.
“That’s dirty Sesshoumaru.”
He chuckled then, actually chuckled and Kagome didn’t know if the little flip flop in her stomach was because the sound was attractive or because death must be lurking around some corner rubbing his bony hands together.
“Girl” he said then, “There is no such thing as fair or dirty fighting. There are only victors and losers.” Those gold eyes lit on her then in question. The unspoken ‘which are you?’ lay between them.
- 5
- 6
- 7
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Winter Wind