Kryptonite

By Danyealle

(fanfiction/MF/HC/Abuse)

Chapter 6

After supper that night Kagome and Sesshomaru were sequestered in his room.  She was teaching him to play backgammon using a small travel-sized board she had in her pack.  While   they went over what they felt were some of the pressing issues that were going to be needed to be dealt with once they started traveling again.

The first, from his end, was Rin and Shippo.  With her joining him he felt having the children around would be just too much of a risk.  His concern was how much of a target she was for Naraku and others who wanted her jewel shards.  Another thing was the children themselves.  Alone they behaved and minded just fine but when they were together they sometimes got so involved playing that they forgot everything else.  So, for now, until he had more of a feeling as to what traveling with her was going to be like, he wanted them to stay at the fortress where they were safe.  His reasoning was something she could understand and appreciate.  Though she wanted the youngsters with them, she agreed with him so they decided to leave both at the fortress for the time being.

Next was an item she brought up:  her going home.  Finally she had graduated from school the previous spring so she no longer had to return for tests and such things but she had promised her mother she would turn up home at least once a month so her family knew she was alright.  That also gave her a break and allowed her to restock things she needed.

From his end he had no problem with that.  It would actually work out quite well for him as a matter of fact.  While she was home he would have a couple days at the fortress to take care of what he needed to.  Then, when she came back, she could spend a couple days at the fortress to make an appearance and attend to any court business.  But he kept that last part to himself.  Court was a topic he would broach later.

The only part either of them saw with this that was an ‘issue’ was Inuyasha could get through the well.  So if he knew she was home then he might try to go see her.  If rejected again when she was alone neither of them were sure what he might do to her.  She thought she might be able to prevent him from getting through from her end with sutras and spirit wards but she wasn’t sure.  He thought he could arrange something from this end as well.  Her suggestion was that they enlist Kaede to help.  She could probably help once she knew the situation and why they wanted it done.  Nodding, he agreed with that and thought it would be an excellent idea.  He also wanted to see if they could find a way to break the tie that allowed him to pass through the well.  That would make it so they wouldn’t have to take such measures.  Along with the other protection he wanted to put a couple of his men there when she was gone in case there was a problem.  As would be expected, she had no problem with that.

Once they covered all the topics having to do with hunting Naraku and traveling, one’s they thought of anyway, Sesshomaru switched to the issue of court and how she would be viewed by members of it.  The word flabbergasted was the appropriate term for her reaction when she found out that she was going to be seen as the title holding Lady of the Western Lands.  It also sent her into a bit of a panic because she knew nothing about how she should act, duties that came with such things or what would be expected of her.

That was something he could remedy and ease her mind on.  He had planned to find one of the younger members of court that Kagome would be compatible with to tutor the little priestess in what she needed to know and how to act.  In doing that it would also give her a bit of an insight into the court dynamics and some of the personalities involved.  That should relax her a bit.  As long as she wasn’t dropped into the thick of things cold she should be able to handle it.  He did explain that a few days before they left he would be formally introducing her to court but she wouldn’t have to be educated in the way things worked for that because she would be on his arm from the whole function.  It really wasn’t going to be anything more than a formal meet and greet gathering, something was just intended to make her visible.

Before then he would give her a brief course in formal manners and have some suitable clothes made.  That didn’t seem to bother her.  The only assurances she wanted were that it would wait until her bruises were gone and that she would be allowed to pick out the clothes.  Neither of those requests were anything he had a problem with.

That was an easy enough issue to deal with but there was another that he wanted to cover with her before she showed up and others began to mention it to her:  the mating.  Yes, he understood she was overwhelmed right now by many things and had much to deal with but he didn’t want her to think he was trying to conceal anything from her. Plus, it was a complex issue that was going to take more than one talk to resolve he was sure.  All he wanted to do this time was broach the topic, not relive it, so they could gradually work on it over time. 

The way he saw it there was no real easy way to broach the issue, the best he felt he cold do was proceed gently.  Shifting around a bit, he relaxed on his side and propped his head on one of his palms.  Looking at her, he proceeded the best way he knew.  “Kagome…  do you remember what I said about weakening the mating bond and how to go about that?”

“Yup.  That it would take a year to do it.”  She replied looking at him.

“Very good.  Do you remember what I said about what it would take to break it completely?”

“Yes.  You said if I mated with a more powerful youkai after that year that would do it.”

“That’s right.”  He told her with a nod.  Without a break, he jumped into the topic with both feet.  “As I told you, youkai society dictated that I remove you from the situation.  But there’s more to societal law on the topic than just removing you.  Though it isn’t set in stone it’s expected that one take the abused party as your mate.”  That’s where he stopped.  Knowing her the way he did he expected a reaction that would have to be dealth with before he could go on.

He wasn’t wrong.

Almost immediately, her eyes widened and she began to stutter and stammer.

Putting a hand on her arm, he rubbed it gently.  “Calm down Kagome.  It won’t do any good to get all worked up before everything is out in the open and discussed.”

Wide-eyed, she looked at him, her mouth hanging open.  Already her mind was racing over the ramifications of what he had said and how it would affect her but she tried to pull herself back and focus on him.  But there was a question she felt she had to have answered right away.  “Are you planning for that?” 

“Yes.”  He told her honestly, looking into her eyes.  “I won’t lie to you and say it’s not because that’s expected of me.  Yes, that’s part of it but there’s more to it than just that.

“From my perspective it’s the only way I know to make things ‘right’ by you and make up for what Inuyasha has done.  Also, it’s the only way you’ll ever be free from the whelp’s bond.  There’s no way to just ‘divorce’ him like you would a human.

“to restore honor in society I could set you up or approve a mating with a being other than myself but I wouldn’t do that.  I wouldn’t trust anyone else with you.  Nor do I believe you would accept that, am I right?”

“True.”  She admitted.  “but this wouldn’t be fair to you!  You deserve to find someone you care about not to be saddled with me just because of a sense of honor and duty!”  She protested, looking at him.

He couldn’t help himself, he smirked.  That was the Kagome he knew!  She was in the middle of her own personal perdition and was being offered a way out yet she cared more for his feelings on the matter than she did her own.  It was just another reminder of why he liked and had such respect for her.  But he needed to re-assure her about things then work from there.  “Kagome… I don’t have a problem with this.  Nor would I see having you as a mate being a burden in any way, shape or form.

“Because of the way youkai society is and works, chances are when I did take a mate it would be for political reasons, not because of personal feelings for them.  In fact, it would be doubtful I would even know them beyond just knowing who they or their family was.

“With you not only do I know you fairly well but we are friends.  That’s far better than I would probably get with a normal mating.

“No, the circumstances won’t be ideal from either of our perspectives but who’s to say that what’s between us we can’t take and build on?  Who knows what could come from it if we give it a chance?  It’s at least something to start with.”

Looking at him, she nodded.  He was right about that.  As she well knew some of the longest lasting and most solid relationships usually started out from people being friends first then evolving from there.  “True.”  She answered softly. 

“I’m not asking you to commit to this right now Kagome.  It’s going to take a year to weaken the bond enough to break it.  But even then no one is saying it has to be done at that year mark.  It can take as much time as we need.

“But at the point I’m not even asking you to commit to working towards that.  All I want is to ask you to at least think about the concept of it and keep it in mind.  Nothing more.  You have enough on your plate right now in dealing with what has just happened, you don’t need anything else.”

“Yeah, it’s been a real nightmare.”  She conceded with a sigh.  “But I have a question I would need answered before I could even begin to consider it.”

“I’ll answer anything you ask to the best of my ability.”  He told her firmly.

“For so long I’ve heard you hate humans.  I know we’re friends but if that’s the case…” She trailed off.

He didn’t need her to go on to understand what she was meaning.  “I can appreciate why you’re asking that because I prejudice such at that would eventually affect you no matter what place you hold in my life.  Before I go on let me ask you this: Inuyasha is the one that told you that, isn’t he?”  When she nodded he continued on.  “I thought so.

“Like many things that come out of the half-breeds mouth, he’s wrong.  I don’t hate humans.  Nor have I ever hated them as a species.  No, I generally don’t care about them one way or another but I hold no hatred of malice for the species.  I just would prefer not to mingle with them.  If I hated humans I couldn’t protect the ones that reside on my lands the way I do.  Does that help?”  He asked gently.

“Yeah, a lot.  Thanks.”  She said with a nod and a relieved sigh.

“Does that mean that you’ll be willing to at least consider it?”  He asked one eyebrow arched slightly.

“Yes, I’ll consider it but I think it’ll be on the back burner for a while.”  She admitted.

Nodding, eh told her, “I expected that and understand why.  I wouldn’t have even mentioned it at this point because of the other issues going on if I didn’t feel I had to.  You’re going to start mingling a bit with beings that belong to court.  Because that’s the way things are usually done it’s bound to be mentioned at some point so I thought you should be forewarned.”

“Thanks.  If I had heard that first from someone else I would have completely freaked out.”  She admitted.

“That was my assumption.”  He told her, nodding.  Quite frankly, he was relieved.  That had done much better than he had anticipated.  He had expected her to ‘freak out’ and he wouldn’t have gotten very far at all.  In fact, he had planned on having to do the whole thing in stages over a period of days.  It was a relief.

That freed him up to bring up some other things that were needing to be discussed.  “Tomorrow do you think you will feel up to a visit to the seamstress?  She can get your measurements and start working on your new clothes.  I have nothing to do in the afternoon so I can escort you if you would like.”  He offered.

“Alright, I think I can handle that as long as I get to pick everything out.”  She said with a giggle.

Smirking, he nodded, “You have my word you are allowed to pick everything out.”

“Then let’s shop!”  She said, laughing.

“As soon as your bruises heal I would like to start introducing you to court members here at the fortress so you can get used to them before you’re dropped in the middle of the whole thing.  I’ll be able to teach you much of what you’ll need to know.  It’s my hope you’ll find one of the younger onnas around that you’ll find to your liking.  They’ll be able to help you more.  Do you think that’s something you’ll be comfortable with?”

Nodding, she replied, “I think I can handle that.”  She got a far away look in her eyes.  “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course, anything you like.”  He assured her.

“Would you mind if I spend the days with you or the kids rather than confined to these rooms?  I don’t like the idea of people seeing me in this shape, no, but I think I would go batty if I forced myself to confinement.”

Putting a hand on her head, he stroked it gently.  “That’s fine with me if it’s what you want to do.”  He told her.  “I understand why you don’t want to seen like this because of the way humans sometimes see abuse but youkai are different.  If you would like to start mingling no one will say anything to you nor talk behind your back.  If anything they will be outraged on your behalf because such things just are not done among youkai.  As I said before, you have nothing to be ashamed of, it is Inuyasha that does.

“Besides, it’s been made quite clear to me that everyone is most anxious to meet the Shikon Miko.”  He told her smirking.  “I was told earlier that some are so anxious that the staff caught a couple of the ladies disguised as maids so they could deliver your food.  It appeared that they were quite intent to be the first to meet you and get in your good graces.”

Grinning, she giggled, “Really?”

“Really.”  He said with a nod.  Indeed that was just one of the elaborate schemes he had heard about that members of court had come up with to meet her.  “But if you aren’t ready for that then I would be most please to have you with me during the day.”

“Thanks.”  She said.  Then she looked at him and giggled a bit more.  “They really want to meet me that badly?”

“Indeed they do. Not only are they curious about what the Shikon Miko is like they want to be the first to meet the being that they already consider to be the Western Lady.  They would consider that to be a great coup.

“I will be honest that there is a political motive involved in it as well.  There hasn’t been a Lady of the West since my mother passed away.  You’re young and different so the assumption seems to be that the ‘old guard’ may be slipping out of favor so this gives the younger ones a chance.  With that it means there’s quite a bit of maneuvering around.  They seem to feel that being the first to meet you will give them a leg up on the situation and maybe a clue about what they could do to get in your favor.

“Part of it could be considered my ‘fault’ as well.  Court isn’t something I’ve ever cared about so there was no way to wiggle and weasel into my good graces thus helping their social status.  So, since I’ve been in charge there has been no way for them to climb the ladder until now.  It’ll be like a feeding frenzy.”  He told her with a smirk.

“Ah… ass kissing is imminent.”  She said, eyes twinkling.

“Oh yes, probably a great deal of it.”  He replied.

“They’re going to be heart broken when they learn I don’t care about that junk either.”  She laughed.

“Indeed, they are.  But there are some beings at court that are genuine and hopefully you’ll be able to find a few that you like and will get along with.  Having some of those will make your time dealing with your duties far more enjoyable.”

“I assume there’s going to be a few here and there that are going to give me problems as well, right?”  She asked with a sigh.

“They will try but won’t succeed.”  He told her with a hard bite to his voice.  When he saw a bit of a questioning look in her eyes, he explained.  “There are a lot of holdovers still from the time of my mother.  She took great joy in court intrigue and all the drama that went on so she liked having beings around that seemed to derive pleasure in seeing how much trouble and strife they could stir up.  Many of those beings are still around.  But not for long.  Tomorrow I’m going to start getting rid of the ones I know about.  It’s way past time they were forced out.  Unusually when the new lord or lady comes into power there is a court cleaning and they set up their own but because I care not about such things I didn’t bother.  But I won’t subject you to that petty viciousness so I will get rid of the ones that I know engage in such things.  Then those that try such things later on will also be gone.  You deserve a certain amount of respect and will be treated that way or beings who engage in such things will be finding other accommodations.”  He told her, voice hard as stone. 

“Thanks Sesshomaru.”  She said with a smile.

“You’re most welcome.  I see it this way… you have enough on your plate to deal with anyway.  Idiots with nothing better to do doesn’t need to be added to it.”

“You’re right.”  She said with a deep sigh.  Instantly, when he said that, her mind skipped not to Inuyasha and the current situation but to Naraku and the hunt for the jewel.  Switching topics, she asked, “Do you think just the two of us have enough power to get rid of Naraku on our own?”

“I don’t know.”  He answered honestly.  “But I do think we would probably stand a better chance than most.  We’ll make a powerful team, you and I, so once we get used to one another we’ll have as good of a chance as any other.”  Though he didn’t say it, he thought their chances would probably greatly improve soon if the monk and slayer joined them.

Blowing out a deep sigh, she slumped a bit.  “There has to be a way to defeat him.”  She said.

“There is one but we just haven’t found it yet.  We will though.”  She assured both her and himself.

“Yeah, but how much more powerful is he going to get between now and then?”  She asked rhetorically.

“That’s always a concern, yes, but we can’t concentrate on that.  We just need to focus on the task at hand and worry about it, nothing else.”  He told her gently.

“True.  But you can’t just ignore it.”  She sighed again.
“No, we can’t but we can’t dwell on it either.”  Deciding that they didn’t need to go any further down that path tonight he shifted focus.  “I believe we have a game to finish, do we not miko?”  He said, eyebrow arched.

Grinning, she replied, “We sure do!  I wanna finish kicking your sometimes fuzzy butt!”

Snorting, he shot her a mock glare, “We’ll see about that…”

~~~~~@~~~~~

Sango waited until she was sure both males were asleep then slipped out of camp with Kirara.  Finding a place not far away, she settled down then pulled out a short note she had written earlier.  Petting the fire cat, she addressed her quietly, “Do you know the two inu’s that are following us?”

The two tailed feline mewed an affirmative.

“Can you take this note to them for me?  That’s all, then just come right back.”

Mewing again, the tiny cat morphed into her full size.  Taking the note, she then headed the direction she could sense the inu-youkai were.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Both of the inu guards that were assigned to keep an eye on the Lord’s half-breed brother and his pack were relaxing around a small fire when they sensed another youkai approaching.  Though they could tell the identity of it, they were still wary.  When the fully transformed fire cat stepped into their clearing they made no move to attack the creature.

Stepping closer to the two, Kirara dropped the note from Sango then backed away.

Seeing that it was addressed to Lord Sesshomaru thy nodded to the neko-youkai, “We’ll see that the Lord get it.”  The taller of the two said.

Roaring to let them know she understood, the fire cat then backed away and vanished into the trees.

After a quick discussion, the smaller of the two was chosen to take it to the fortress.  Quickly, his light formed around him and he streaked away.

~~~~~@~~~~~

About midnight, Sesshomaru was roused by Jaken.  Knowing that the kappa wouldn’t wake him unless it was important, he eased himself out of bed, being careful not to wake the sleeping miko.  Once in the hallway, he folded his arms over his chest then glared down at the toad-like creature.  “What?”  He barked out.

“The slayer, Sango, has sent you a message.”  The kappa told him, bowing.

Nodding, Sesshomaru then headed down to his study.  Grabbing the scroll, he settled down in his chair.  As he read he nodded.  She explained that her and the monk would be accompanying the whelp back to Edo then they would no longer be traveling with him.  Once they split from the hanyou she wanted to accept his offer to join up with him and the miko.  Then she went on to explain that her weapon needed repairs and they would be going to the old slayers village.  She asked if it was possible that he and Kagome could meet them there or if he would prefer they meet him at the fortress.

Quickly, he penned a reply.  He told her that he and the miko would be at the fortress for a couple weeks still and that meeting up at the slayer’s village was acceptable to him.  As an after thought he added to make sure to keep this information from the hanyou.

~~~~~@~~~~~

About 1:00 AM something woke Sango.  Putting a hand on her weapons, she glanced around for signs of danger.  When she saw none she relaxed and sat up a bit.  That’s when she noticed a scroll addressed to her by here her head had been laying.

Quickly, she unrolled and read the note from the taiyoukai, nodding as she did.  Suddenly, she felt much better and relieved.  Tossing the scroll into the fire after she memorized it, she then laid back down.  Curling up under her blanket, she shut her eyes and sighed, mind racing here and there.