Devotion and Sacrifice

By Danyealle

(fanfiction/angst)

Chapter 8

Moaning softly, Kagome’s head dropped onto the book on her desk and she covered her head with her arms, “I’m going to fail!” she groaned morosely.

Smirking, he looked at her from the bed where he was sprawled out.  This had been going on for almost a month now.  But the last week and a half had been the worst.

“I can’t remember any of this!” she wailed, voice quavering and rising in pitch with more than a touch of hysteria to it.

Knowing that tone well by now, he slid off the bed and went over to her.  Crouching down by her chair he slid his arms around her then pulled her close.  “Calm down Kagome!  You have one more day then it’s over,” feeling her relax against him, he held her tightly, stood up and carried her to the bed.  Sitting down, he slid into a more comfortable position with her propped against his chest.

Finals.  That’s what she called this bunch of tests.  If she passed them she would be done with school for good.  If she didn’t, she would have to re-take what she didn’t.  She was under a great deal of pressure to make sure she passed and with each passing day the stress level increased.  Tomorrow was the final day of tests then she had to wait to find out if she passed or not.

Stroking her back until she was calm, he looked down at her.  “You’ve studied enough for one night.  Go get your night clothes on and come to bed.  It’s time to get some sleep.  It’ll do you no good tomorrow if you haven’t had any rest,” he stated to her firmly.

Sighing, she nodded.  He was right of course.  As usual, she silently groused to herself.  Sliding out of bed, she grabbed her pajamas then went into the bathroom.

By this point he felt sorry for her.  She was under so much pressure that she was at the breaking point.  These days she was breaking down in hysterical tears every couple days. Though the following day was the last of the tests, the few days she was going to have to wait for the results were going to be even worse.

When she returned, dressed for bed, she put away her things then turned off all the lights.  Crawling into bed, she slid between his long legs and curled up to his chest.

Wrapping his arms around her, he began to thrum a soothing rumble in his chest; the one he knew calmed her.  Stroking her back softly, he felt her body relax.  Like all the other times he had done this, she was asleep within a half an hour’s time.

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~

Sitting at the kitchen table, Sesshomaru and Mrs. Higurashi were having a cup of tea, waiting for Kagome to return home.  Today was the day she was to find out if she passed her finals or not.  The poor girl was actually more anxious waiting for the results then she had been about the tests.  She had spent the previous night complaining that she knew she had failed.

While waiting, they were talking about some of the bonehead things Inuyasha used to do when he would come for Kagome.  She was telling him about the time the half-inu was trying to earn some money to fix Kagome’s bike, which he had broken, and had destroyed a bunch of priceless antiques in the process when Kagome burst in the door, sobbing.  Thrusting a piece of paper into her mom’s hands, she threw herself into Sesshomaru’s arms, crying loudly.

Holding the sobbing girl, he tried to calm her down.  “Shh Kagome….  Calm down.  Tell he what’s wrong,”  he soothed.

“I… passed!”  she gasped out between loud sobs.  “I’m… going… to… graduate!”  then she broke down into deep, braying sobs, her breathing hitching.

Smirking, he rubbed her back.  “Hn…  I told you everything would be fine, didn’t I?  That you would pass,”  leaning down close to her ear, he said softly, “I’m proud of you Kagome!”

Clinging to him, she tried to stop the waterworks then said, “Thanks.  For everything Sesshomaru.”

With a hand over her mouth, her mother clutched onto the paper with her daughters’ grades on it, looking hat her, eyes sparking with unshed tears.  “Oh Kagome!  You did it!”  walking over to her, she pulled her daughter into a hug while smiling.

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~

After supper that night Kagome talked Sesshomaru into taking her back to the feudal era for a couple hours so she could tell the rest of her ‘family’ her news.

Honestly, it didn’t take all that much talking to convince her.  He understood how much of an important event this was to her and naturally she wanted to share it with those she was close to.  After donning his ‘normal’ clothes, they hopped through the well.

First, before going into Edo, she wanted to stop at the God’s Tree.  Understanding completely, they stopped then he stayed a bit away while she talked quietly to Inuyasha and left her grade sheet there.  He was well aware how many arguments her going back for school and tests had caused between them.  For her, stopping was being finally able to tell him that part was finally over, was something she was justifiably proud of.

After that they went on to Edo.  As would be expected everyone was proud of her and just as excited as she was about it.  Kaede had produced some Saki so they could toast her.  They only stayed an hour then it was back through the well.

When they returned, she had fallen asleep.  With the amount of stress and anxiety she had dealt with over the last few weeks she was exhausted.  She had changed into her night clothes and no more than five minutes after her head had hit the pillow she was out close, snoring softly.

As he did most nights, he sat there and watched TV, dozing off and on.  Unusually, the TV held his attention but tonight it didn’t.  Instead his mind wandered back over the last few weeks, from the time they had in her time so she could prepare for her tests.

Though he went with her almost everywhere he couldn’t stay with her while she was at school.  During that time he stayed at her home.  On days her mother worked, he was either at the shrine with the old priest or glued to the TV.  On the days her mother didn’t work he spent the day with her doing various things.  His first impression that he liked the woman was dead on.  The more time he spent with her the more that impression was cemented.  She was very much like Kagome only more mature.  It was obvious where the miko had acquired so many of her traits.

But, like most mothers when it came to their daughters and the male of the species, she had a 6th sense about relationships.  She had picked up on the fact that there was something developing between the two of them.  True to form for her, and what he had come to expect from the woman, she had asked him about it.

Knowing who he was dealing with he was bluntly truthful to her about what he was feeling for Kagome and what was going on.

After digesting what he had said she moved on to the next obvious question: where did things go from that point and just what did he want from Kagome.  Again, he was straightforwardly honest, telling her he wanted Kagome to be his mate and to be the mother of his pups.  For the first time he admitted that he was very much in love with the little miko.

Satisfied with his answers, she moved onto asking about terms she didn’t know then to what Kagome’s life would be like as his mate.  Understanding that these were things she wasn’t familiar with nor had encountered before, he went through as much as he could think of and answered all the questions she had completely and truthfully.

In the end, she looked at him and smiled, “Well, I believe your intentions are what you say they are.  I give you my permission to take her as a mate,” she stated simply, remembering the old tradition of asking the girls parents first before her.  Normally it was the father that did such things but since Kagomes’ was gone her mother did.

Nodding, he replied, “Thank you.”