Kryptonite

By Danyealle

(fanfiction/MF/HC/Abuse)

Chapter 14

Very soon after his feet hit the floor the next morning Sesshomaru was busy as hell.  Kagome, as expected, hadn’t fallen asleep easily nor had she slept well so he had let her sleep in while he attended to things.  Once she did wake and had a good breakfast she too was busy with preparations for leaving.

Shortly before noon Ah-Un was loaded down with her things and was waiting for them at the front gates.  First, Kagome said goodbye to her new friends.  As a present the small group of onnas that were basically her ladies-in-waiting gave her a small bird youkai about the size of a full grown macaw.  They said the bright blue and red creature was so she could send them messages while she was away.  Giggling, they said to use the creature that she named Daoe to blow off steam if Sesshomaru drove her nuts, something that made her giggle and the taiyoukai arch an eyebrow.  Though he was well aware that creatures such as Daoe were temperamental little pests at times they were also fiercely loyal to their owners.  They way he saw it was that the creature could be useful to help keep an eye on her so he voiced no objection to the thing coming along.

Saying goodbye to the children, however, was much harder.  Rin was used to staying at the fortress by now but that didn’t mean she liked being left behind.  On the other hand, Shippo always had traveled with Kagome since joining up with her and Inuyasha so this was going to be the first time the two were going to be separated for a long period of time.  Of course there were tears from both he and Kagome but it was made easier by the fact that the kit would have Rin around so he wouldn’t feel so alone and like all that were around him were strangers he didn’t know well yet.

As Sesshomaru had hoped, they were moving by noon.  At first Kagome was quiet and a bit sad at leaving what she saw as her child but after a half hour or so she was back to her usual self.  Because she was riding on Ah-Un they were making good time.  As they walked he talked about the lands he controlled and some of the history of them. As the Lady of the Western Lands she would be expected to know at least a bit of the history and where things were so he saw this as a bit of a walking tour that could be useful to teach her such things.

With the route they were taking they had to pass though several villages and small hamlets.  At each one he stopped and met with the headman to make sure there were no issues he had to deal with and listened to problems they had that he would have to deal with.  Once they were done talking he would send one of the men he had posted in all villages on his lands to the fortress with solutions or corrections he wanted taken care of. 

Kagome noticed that though he was his normal, cold, emotionless self those in the villages did seem to like and respect him to an extent nor did they seem to overtly fear him the way so many did.  In fact, they inquired about such things as Rin and her health, question he answered for them.

Of course he made sure he introduced her to all as both the oft heard of Shikon Miko and his future mate.  As expected, she was fawned over and presented with gifts, something Sesshomaru had warned her about and told her to accept without protest.  Once they passed though the last village he would have one of his men take the things that couldn’t be used traveling to the fortress and have them catalogued as to when received and from whom then thank you notes would be sent out to those that gave them.  He explained that while at the fortress, once she had begun to assume her duties, that would be one of hers but for now he had someone that handled such things for him.

In the last village they ran into someone unexpected: the old exorcist that she and the pack had first encountered at the Demon’s Head Castle.  Although, as far as Kagome could tell from past encounters with the old woman, she was a fake with no real powers of any kind the old onna was a fount of information about demon activity all over Japan.

After the usual meet and greet with the headman and talking with the other villagers Kagome and the old woman talked about what had been going on when it came to demons.  What came out of it was at least somewhere to start looking for Naraku: the very southern tip of Japan.  From what the old onna said there was a sudden surge of demons from that area that had left and spread out over the rest of Japan.  Having seen that before a few times in the past Kagome thought it may well be an indication that Naraku had taken up residence there and the other demons had fled his immense aura.

When Sesshomaru finished what he had to do he joined the two onnas to listen to what was being said.  From the questions Kagome was asking he knew what information she was trying to get so he paid close attention to what the old woman was saying.  Once she was done he asked a few questions of his own.

Kagome had to fight off the giggles at the look on the old exorcists face when the great and terrible taiyoukai starting asking her questions.  She just knew the old woman was fighting off the urge to pelt him with her special blend of purification salts.  But in the end she thought better of it and answered him without any snideness.

Once they finished with the old exorcist it was time to once more get moving.  Once out of the village Sesshomaru looked at her out of the corner of his eyes with a smirk on his face.  “You have some very interesting friends Kagome.”  He observed in a smooth voice.

Giggling, she replied, “I know!  But Madam Exorcist isn’t exactly what you would term a friend.  More like someone we kept stumbling across during our travels.”

“Hn… she is a fake.”  He stated bluntly.

“Oh yeah, no doubt about that one!”  She laughed.

Within a half an hours time after leaving the last village they reached the boarder of his lands.  Waiting for them were a couple of his men from the fortress.  After loading them down with the gifts they had received and giving them a few instructions, they were off towards the fortress.

Once the men could no longer be seen, Sesshomaru stepped over to Ah-Un and grabbed a thick cloak they had brought for her out of one of the packs then draped it around her shoulders.  “Tie that up and make sure it’s tucked around you.  I don’t want you catching a chill while we’re flying.”  He told her.

Nodding, she quickly tied up the strings and tucked the voluminous folds around her.  Looking back at him, she smiled.  “All ready.”

Reaching out, he pulled the hood of it up over her head.  With her sitting on the dragon they were about eye level and he once more found himself getting lost in those doe eyes of hers.  Gently, he ran the back of one finger down the silky smooth skin of her cheek.  Again, his beast was urging him on, telling him to go for it.

When he felt her arm slip around his waist and give him a little bit of a squeeze he inclined his head towards hers and kissed her softly, relieved when she didn’t flinch or pull away from him.

It wasn’t a deep, passionate, frenzied kiss but one that was soft and gentle but brief.  Quickly, he broke it off but didn’t pull away from her.  Gazing down at her, he was heartened to see her smiling at him.  Sliding an arm around her he hugged her gently to his chest, careful not to impale her on the sharp spikes of his armor.  Shutting his eyes, he reveled in the riot of feelings that had been unleashed in his body.  His beast was sprawled out on its belly, eyes half shut, tail wagging and growling contentedly in such a way that it sounded like a neko on a catnip high.

As much as he wanted to stay like that for a while or even escalate it he didn’t.  There were things they had to do.  Later on there would be time for this, plenty of time.  Pulling away, but keeping his arm wrapped around her, she said softly, “We really need to get moving Kagome.”

Looking at him, she nodded.  “Yeah, we do.”  She replied with a sigh.

Giving her a bit of a squeeze, he then mounted the dragon demon behind her.  After pulling her back against his chest and looping an arm around her waist he then spurred the animal to lift off.  Once in the air the quickly had him to head the direction of the slayers village.  Daoe flew along beside them, chirping happily as he soared along.

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

Shortly after lift off Kagome was grateful for the thick cloaks warmth.  The wind was clod against he face but the rest of her was comfortable thanks to the thick material.  Leaning back against him, she turned her face away from the wind and shut her watering eyes.  Shifting around a bit to get a little more comfortable, she smiled a bit when she felt his arm tighten around her.

“Are you alright Kagome?” He asked.

“I’m fine.  Just getting comfy is all.”  She answered.  “Are we going to make it by nightfall?”

“I’m sure we will.”  He told her with a nod.

“Okay.”  She replied then was quiet.

While leaning against him, her mind skipped to that kiss.  As she thought about it the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.  That soft kiss had made her whole body tingle and her hair stand on end at the same time in a good way.  Thinking about it, she couldn’t ever remember Inuyasha kissing her ever causing that kind of reaction.  From him it was more like a flash-fire passion, this was more like a slow, smoldering heat.  Frankly, she liked it!

Over and over, her mind replayed that kiss as she leaned against him.  That combined with the gentle motion of the dragon flying lulled her into a doze, that smile still on her face.

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

Watching the little priestess doze off leaned up against him brought the thought to the demon lord’s mind that perhaps he didn’t have as much work to regain her trust as he had first thought.  Yes, he was certain that he did have work to do in that area, probably quite a bit of it but it might not be as much as he had initially thought.  She did trust him to an extent so he at least had the groundwork in place to build upon.

On the heels of that he thought about the kiss he had given her and smirked.  A most pleasant experience if there ever was one!  And she hadn’t objected to it either.  As a matter of fact she had seemed to enjoy it as much as he had.  A good sign if there ever was one.  No, he had sensed no arousal from her as a result of it but it was most assuredly a step in the right direction.

If they kept going forward the way they were they would progress well as a couple.  By the time the year was up they would be ready to mate, or so he hoped.  Though the progress was good he still had a great deal of work to do, he knew that.  Though she had a base of trust to work from he had to build on it and progress slowly in many areas before they got there.  It was going to take a great deal or work from both their ends to achieve that.

He was drawn out of his ponderings by Daoe circling around the dragon in large arcs, doing acrobatic maneuvers, squawking happily as he did. Already the creature seemed to have accepted Kagome as his owner so Sesshomaru felt it could prove useful to them.  Up to this point they had no real effective means of delivering messages if they needed to, Daoe could do that for them if needed.  That could prove to be very useful.

Suddenly the small youkai dropped out of the sky like a plummeting boulder and deftly landed on the spike of his armor that went over his shoulder, crowing happily, as if to say, “I did it,” making the taiyoukai arch an eyebrow at the critter.  It most assuredly seemed to be hyper like the species in general was, something he was sure would get on his nerves at some point.  After it felt it had showed off its dexterous landing ability it hopped up onto one of Ah-Un’s heads and started ‘talking’ to the dragon in a loud and animated way, making Sesshomaru want to roll his eyes.  Here he had thought that without Rin, Jaken and the kit that things might be peaceful.  It appeared he was wrong on that count.  He was certain the bird would cause types of havoc and chaos the children had never dreamed up.  But, as he knew, the creatures were very easy to train so, perhaps, Kagome could work with him to make sure he didn’t cause too much.  If nothing else he was sure they could find ways to keep the creature busy so he didn’t get to be too annoying.

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

About a half an hour before dusk the slayers village came into sight.  Kagome was sitting up straight with a big grin on her face.  She couldn’t wait to see Miroku and Sango.

Once over the walled village, Sesshomaru had the dragon circle it a couple times to assure himself that it was safe.  When he was satisfied everything was as it should be the dragon landed in the middle of the village its self.

A smiling Sango and Miroku were waiting for them as they touched down.  Immediately, Kagome vaulted off the dragon and threw herself on her friends, hugging them tightly. Of course both of them were overjoyed to see her as well and hugged her back as good as they got.

“You look great!  Happier than I’ve seen you in a long time.”  Sango observed when they finally broke apart.

“I’m doing better.  Lots better.”  Kagome admitted.

“Good.”  Miroku said with a nod.  “I take it Lord Sesshomaru is treating you well and taking good care of you?”  The houshi asked, giving the demon lord a look that told him there was no offense intended.

Understanding why the question was asked, Sesshomaru nodded to let the monk know none was taken.

Giggling, Kagome smiled, “Yes, he is.  Very well in fact.”  She said, looking back over her shoulder and winking at the taiyoukai.

Smirking, the demon lord looked at her but said nothing.  Turning his attention back to the other two, he inquired, “Has the ookami prince arrived yet?”

Looking at each other, they then looked back at him.  “Umm… no, we haven’t seen Kouga.  Is he supposed to show up here?”  Sango asked.

This didn’t surprise him, either the not knowing or the ookami not being there.  “Alright.  Let me unload Ah-Un then we can sit down and I’ll explain what’s going on.  Is that acceptable?”  He asked looking from the monk to the slayer.

“That’s fine.”  Sango replied, nodding.  Pointing to one of the houses behind her, she told him, “We’re staying in there so just bring in what you need to.  Just let Ah-Un loose to ram, he won’t hurt anything.”

Nodding, Sesshomaru didn’t say anything then began to unload the creature.

Once everything was off, Kagome and Sango grabbed most of the things and ducked into the little house followed by a chirping Daoe.  Miroku stayed behind, saying he was going to help the taiyoukai.  Though he was going to help, what he really wanted was some time alone with him to inquire about Kagome.

Once he was sure the women were inside and out of earshot he started.  “Sango and I wanted to thank you for taking Kagome away from that bad situation.”  He said respectfully.

Looking at the houshi, Sesshomaru replied, “There’s nothing to thank me for.  It was my duty to do so.”

“I understand that but we do appreciate what you did.”

“Understood.”  The taiyoukai replied with a nod.

“How is she doing?  She looks fine physically but mentally how is she?”  He asked, getting to the question both he and Sango wanted to know and worried over.

After taking the saddle off the dragon, he gave the creature a pat on the rear flank to let him know he was free to roam then looked at the monk.  “Physically she’s mostly healed from the recent injuries inflicted on her person by the hanyou.  Emotionally and mentally she’s still licking her wounds, that’s the best way I know how to phrase it.”  He explained.

“Just how bad did he hurt her? Sango told me you said it was fairly badly.”  That question was a bit of a quandary for the monk.  On one hand he did want to know but on the other he was quite sure he could live quite happily not ever knowing that information. 

Sesshomaru wasn’t sure just what or how much he should tell the houshi.  He didn’t want to embarrass the little priestess but he was well aware she saw him and the slayer as family.  As such they had a right to know.  In the end he decided to tell him what he wanted to know but give minimal details.  “Badly,’ he told him shortly.  “There were broken bones and scaring left.” 

Sighing, Miroku looked at the ground, shaking his head.  “I wish we had known…” he said quietly, voice trailing off.

“The whelp insured that you didn’t.”  Sesshomaru told him.

Rubbing his eyes, Miroku shook his head.  “I wish we’d have known…”  He trailed off again then switched topics.  “Sango told me that youkai law states the being that takes the injured party away from the abuser will either take them as a mate or find a suitable one for them.  Is that true?”

“Yes, that is what societal law dictates.  It’s the only way that one can make things right by the victim and correct the wrong done to them.  He told him with a nod.

“Are you…”  Miroku stammered out, startled, eyes wide.

“Yes.  I’ll be taking Kagome as a mate.”  Sesshomaru told him stoically.  “that won’t happen until the mating bond with the half-breed is sufficiently weakened and Kagome is ready for that step.”  He explained.

Eyes wide, the monk stared at him, mouth agape.  Somehow he couldn’t wrap his mind around the concept of Sesshomaru and the miko becoming mates.  “Does Kagome know about this?”  He asked quietly.

“Indeed, she does.  I would not hide such an important detail from her.  She had also consented to it but it won’t happen until she is ready for such a step.”  The taiyoukai explained.  Normally he wouldn’t have bothered with such a thing or answer questions like that but he felt the monk should know and his relationship with Kagome entitled him to such answers.

Nodding, the houshi tried to wrap his mind around what he had just learned.  As would be expected, the first thing his mind skipped to was just how violent and cruel the taiyoukai could be.  But he also knew he had self-control the hanyou never dreamed of. Though he wanted to ask for assurances he wouldn’t do to Kagome what his half-brother had he didn’t want to offend him.  Instead he would make sure that he kept a critical eye on the two to ensure he didn’t see any troublesome signs.

No fool, Sesshomaru knew where the hentai houshi’s thoughts had to be skipping to.  Rather than give a speech about how he wouldn’t hurt Kagome, he decided to allow his actions to speak for themselves.

Not really wanting to go any further down that path, Sesshomaru asked a question that had been on his mind since touching down on the dragon.  “Have either of you heard any news about Inuyasha or any idea where he is or what he may be up to?”

Sighing, Miroku shook his head.  “No, we haven’t.  Sango and I were just wondering about that ourselves.”

“Hn… that troubles me.”  The taiyoukai admitted.

Just then Sango poked her head out the door to tell them the food was ready.

Deciding it was better to discuss everything else when everyone was together; Sesshomaru grabbed what remained of the bags then he and the monk and headed in to eat.