Kryptonite

By Danyealle

(fanfiction/MF/HC/Abuse)

Chapter 13

The day after the party was busy in a whole other way.  The morning was a flurry of people leaving, saying goodbyes and such.  Both Kagome and Sesshomaru had to be there for those things. 

At noon a furious Lakumi was let out of the dungeons.  The taiyoukai had made certain someone had told her that her daughter had spent the night on the arm of the being, Kouga, who she partially blamed for her downfall.  By the time she was escorted up from the dungeons she was not only mad because of the ‘personal indignity’ she had suffered at the hands of the taiyoukai when he had tossed her into the dungeon like some ‘common ningen criminal’ but at the fact that her daughter, who was now the key to her status and social climbing, had been seen on the arm of a ‘lowlife, filthy ookami’ for all to see.  Quite honestly, Sesshomaru wasn’t sure if she was more mad at her daughter, for doing such a thing, or her mate for allowing such a thing to happen and not stepping in and putting a stop to it.  Of course, as one would expect, both Sesshomaru and Kagome immensely enjoyed the sight of the old inu being escorted out of the fortress by guards, cussing and screaming the whole way.  Once out of the fortress, they were going to escort her off the Western Lands and make sure she understood that she was no longer welcome on them.  That stepping one toe back on them would result in a longer stint in Sesshomaru’s dungeons.

A little after noon Kouga, Ginta and Hakkaku left.  After giving the miko a hug goodbye Kouga told them at the slayers village in two days then tore off in his usual whirlwind trailed by the other two.

Once the fortress was cleared out and the staff had started cleaning Sesshomaru and Kagome shared a quiet, leisurely lunch in his study.  Relaxed after all the drama of the last few days, they talked about what had gone on.  After a while the talk switched to what needed to be done to get ready to leave the following day.

Once they finished eating Kagome went off to go talk with the staff to talk about how she wanted her chambers decorated then would begin preparations for leaving, such as assembling things and making a list of what she was going to need for supplies.  After that she was going to see the healer about getting a few plants she used for medicines when traveling and what she needed to replenish supplies of others things. 

He was going to take care of the last of what was needed, business-wise, then would begin seeing to leaving preparations as well.  The goal was for them to both finish by the time for the evening meal and meet in his chambers to share a quiet supper on his balcony.

…ks…ks…ks…

About an hour or so after dark Sesshomaru let himself into his chambers.  He was pleased to see Kagome already there, sitting on the balcony, sipping tea.  Once he sent for their meal, he put his swords up and joined her.

While they waited for their food they went over what they had each done.  With a smirk, he listened as she talked excitedly about the plans she had for her chambers.  Apparently she had a great time making plans for what she wanted done.  He was also pleased to hear that other than a few minor things that had to wait until the last minute, she was ready to leave.

Like her, he had finished what he had needed to and all the preparations for leaving were complete.  Now he was planning to leave by noon the following day.  “If we’re able to get out of here as planned I anticipate reaching the slayers village about dark.”  He told her with a nod.

“By dark?  Wow!  How are we going to manage that one?  That’s quite a ways away from here.”  She asked, looking at him.

“Indeed it is.  We’re going to walk to the edge of my lands.  That way I can do a bit of a walking tour of part of my lands and be seen so no one thinks I’m neglecting my duties to them.  Once we get to the boarder we’ll then ride Ah-Un to the slayers village.  That way it won’t take us long to get there.”

Nodding, she understood.  Because the two-headed dragon demon could fly it probably wouldn’t take them long at all to get there.  “We aren’t going to be able to leave tomorrow night then.  It’ll be too late when we get there to start out.”

“True.  But there’s going to be no guarantee Kouga will be there already anyway.  Add to that the fact we’re going to have to sit down, all of us, and work some things out before we get moving. Things are going to be different than traveling with Inuyasha.  There are things that will have to be worked out before we can start.  We are also going to have to work out how to deal with the half-breed if he shows up.

“After that were going to need to decide where we’re going to start out traveling to.  Just starting to walk with no destination in mind is not the way I go about things.”  He explained to her.

Understanding, she nodded.  “I never thought about any of that.  It’s definitely different than how we usually do things.  We usually just fly by the seat of our pants and figure things out as we go.”  She explained.

“I’m not comfortable doing that.”  He told her.  “Though we may not have much to go on I prefer to at least have a direction to move.”

Nodding, she picked at her food with her chopsticks, thinking.  Finally, she brought up the topic that had her attention.  “How much of a problem do you think Inuyasha’s going to be?  Do you think he’s going to leave us alone or is he going to be a real, serious problem?”

Sighing, he looked at her and tried to formulate how to say what he wanted.  He wasn’t going to lie to her nor did he want to sugar coat things but he wanted to phrase what he was going to say is such a way that wouldn’t panic her.  When he finally began to speak he kept his voice as soft and soothing as he could.  “It’s my feeling that the hanyou is going to be a serious problem.  Though I have no idea where the whelp is at the moment, nor have I tried to find out, I very much doubt that he’s remained in Edo or is out hunting Naraku on his own.  If I had to take a guess as to where he was it would be near the slayer’s village.

“I know he’s not going to give you up easily, you more so than anyone else know what he’s like when he fixates on something.  But I didn’t feel he would be willing to give up what he considers ‘his pack’ either.  Like you, I’m sure he sees them as ‘his’ as well.

“At this point I’m fairly certain that he knows, or suspects at least, that the monk and slayer are going to join up with me.  Somehow I don’t think he will be handling that well at all.  From what I know of the boy he will blame me, and probably you to an extent, for it.  Not laying the blame on his actions for it.  With how he sees this he will then try to get back what was ‘taken’ from him.  That mentality is going to cause us problems, big ones too I would hazard to guess.  The logical thing to do to achieve that would be to stick close to him.  Not only would it ensure that he knows where they are it would also give him a chance to observe what goes on so he can make plans.  I also feel that once we start traveling he will probably tail us as well.”  Stopping, he sighed and looked at her.  “It’s the traveling that disturbs me and I feel will be the biggest problem.

“As I said to you more than once since taking you away from the boy: I’m going to protect you to the best of my ability but traveling like we will be makes that hard.  Unlike here, where it’s safe and protected 24/7, there will be times that it can’t be done.  Unless you want me glued to you when you do such things as bathe and make water there will be times when you’ll be alone.  I’m sure the boy will figure that out fairly quickly.”

Sighing heavily, she put her chopsticks on her plate, no longer hungry.  What he had said has left a cold knot in her stomach. She had tried to not think about Inuyasha much over the last couple weeks, trying instead to focus on her ‘new life’ and distracted herself from the whole mess.  It has, to an extent, worked too.  Now, once more, she was forced to face it and how it would affect her future.

The thought that she would now, once more, probably have to deal with Inuyasha again at some point worried her and left her a touch scared.  Like he had said, she knew what he was like when he fixated on something, like he had with Naraku.  Now she was sure that his fixation would be on her.  That was frightening.  She didn’t want to even think about what he might do if he got his hands on her. 

In the past, when he was in one of his rages, she had feared him accidentally killing her.  However, now she was fairly certain that he may well do it on purpose if she rejected him.  Well, probably not until after he beat the holy hell of her first.  That thought made her shiver.

Sensing the change in her aura and the fear starting to emanate from her, he gave an internal sigh.  This was what he had been afraid of happening. Fear was not what he had wanted to inspire.  Caution yes, fear no.  “Kagome?”  He said quietly, trying to get her attention.

“I’m fine.” She told him in a small voice, not looking his direction then she gazed out over the dark gardens trying to focus on something other than the thoughts that were making her insides writhe and twist. Clearing her throat, she asked, nothing gazing at him, “You know him better than most, what do you think he’s going to try?”

“I believe it is you, miko, that knows the whelp better and more intimately than I ever will.”  He told her quietly.  “But from what I observed of him in the past I do believe I may be able to predict the direction he will take.

“I don’t think, at first anyway, he will try to just snatch you and run off.  It’s my feeling that he’s going to attempt to try to win you back and once more prove to you he’s worthy of your affections and to convince you he’s changed.  He hasn’t of course, a change such as that takes years to affect but by now I’m sure that he’s convinced himself he has and won’t do it again.”

“That’s not going to work.”  She said quietly, once more looking at him.  “I’m not going to fall for something like that.”

Nodding, he pressed on.  “Indeed, I wouldn’t expect you to.  But I’m fairly certain that he’s of the opinion that it will work.  His ego is such that I’m sure he’s convinced that all it will take.  He’s counting on the fact that what you felt, or still feel, for him will be enough to bring you back to him.”

Sighing, she shook her head.  “That’s not enough.  I still love him, I’ll admit to that, but love isn’t enough for me to go back to that living nightmare.”

“As one would expect from a thinking being.” He said with a nod.  “But I doubt the boy sees it that way.  To him, I’m sure, he feels that’s enough. However, I think the real problem is going to come when the realization that it hasn’t worked comes.  That’s when, I think, we’re going to have to be vigilant about your safety.”

“What do you mean?”  She asked in a quiet voice that quivered slightly.

“I feel, from what I’ve seen of him in the past, he’s going to feel he has to get you away from me and my influence.  I doubt, at this point, he lays the blame for what he’s going through on you.  Yes, I’m sure there is some small part of it he lays at your feet but I’m certain that it’s me that he blames for the majority of it.  That as long as you’re with me he won’t be able to succeed in getting you back.  That, I feel, is when the biggest problems are going to arise and he’s going to start trying to actively get hold of you.  It may go so far as trying to snatch you.”  He told her as gently as he could.

Sighing, she shut her eyes and rubbed her face.  “This is SO not good!” She whispered, the sound of her voice muffled by her hands.

“I agree.”  He admitted with a nod.  “The whole situation isn’t one that is going to have a pleasant outcome.  That much I am positive about.”

“I don’t even want to think what will happen if he gets hold of me.”  She moaned quietly.

“It won’t be pretty.”  The taiyoukai admitted with a nod.  “If you personally reject him I’m quite sure the odds are that he’s going to become violent.”  He added softly.

Shuddering, she whimpered quietly then said, “He’ll kill me for sure.

Sitting there, Sesshomaru thought that was just a bit of hyperbole or an extreme figure of speech until he thought about it that was.  The whelp had beaten her quite badly in the past from what he had seen and not for anything as ’serious’ as leaving him or not returning.  He was certain that if she rejected him his rage may well know no bounds.  It may result in him almost killing her either consciously or unconsciously.  That was something he could not allow to happen! If the problem progressed to that point things would have to be put in place to prevent things frame escalating to that point.  “I’m sure that doing such a thing is well within Inuyasha’s make up as I’m sure you’re aware.  But knowing that and keeping it in mind gives us an edge.  We at least will know what to keep an eye out for to some extent.  At the very least we have a bit of an inkling about what to expect so we can be on our toes.  That is something that’s always useful.  Forewarned is forearmed after all.”  He told her gently.

Sighing, she nodded. “That’s true.  It’s better than it coming from out of no where.”

“First thing you need to keep in mind Kagome is that all I’ve said is just deduction and speculation, nothing more.  I may be wrong about the whole thing or it may be worst case scenario but it at least gives us a bit of a place to start working from so we can prepare.  Though I may be wrong on some or all of it we at least have something to work from to put things into place to protect you.  That’s always helpful even if we never have to use them.”  He soothed.

“Yes, I understand that.”  She said nodding.  “Best to plan and not need it than to need it and have no plan.”

“Exactly!”  He affirmed.

“Do you have anything in mind for protection other than you just being my personal guard dog?”

Thought the term made him smirk he pressed on.  “Yes, some things to start out with at least.  As time goes on I’m sure other things will be put into place as situations dictate.  Also, I’m certain that your friends will come up with some useful suggestions as well.  But, rest assured, I’ll make sure that you will not be left unprotected if I’m not around.”  He stated firmly.

“But there’s no guarantee it will work.”  She added quietly.

“No.”  He admitted.  “I give you my word that I will do my best to protect you, as I’ve said several times, but I cannot guarantee it 100%.”

Sighing, she nodded to let him know she understood what he had imparted.

Looking at her, Sesshomaru gave a mental sigh.  He was empathetic to her plight.  Not only had she been badly abused by the hanyou now she had to worry about her abuser trying to grab her and take her back against her will.  He, over his lifetime, had seen many beings, male and female-youkai, hanyou and ningen, go through something similar so he was aware that when you left, or were taken away from a partner like that you increased your changes of dying at their hands.  The mentality seemed to be that if they couldn’t have you, no other being could either.  He would give her the best protection anyone could give but that was a bit of could comfort.  She knew what the boy was like and capable of so he imagined that some fairly horrific things were going through her mind right now.

“Kagome… for now don’t worry about it too much.  Or at least try not to.”  He soothed.

“I can’t help it!”  She sighed, looking down.  “If you’re already making plans about how to protect me that’s enough to tell me I have something to worry about.  Probably something fairly serious too.”

That was something he found very hard to argue with because she was right.  How could she not worry when he, himself, was concerned about the whole situation.

Sighing, he looked at her then down at her plate of half-eaten food.  It was fairly obvious to him that she was done eating.  Deciding that this discussion wasn’t going to yield anything other than her getting more upset he called for one of the servants, he had the remains of their meal removed.  After making sure it was known that they didn’t want to be disturbed unless there was an emergency, he dismissed them.

Once they were alone he stood up and held out his hand to her.  “Come Kagome.”  He said to her in a sot voice that was meant to be soothing.

Standing, she took his hand without saying anything.

Leading her over to the bed, he sat down then pulled her between his spread legs and held her to his chest, gently rubbing her back.  Thrumming what he hoped was a soothing rumble in his chest; he hoped that between his calm aura and that sound she would be able to relax and calm down.

Sighing, she shut her eyes and concentrated on him, trying to push the things that were bothering her aside.  Though it didn’t work fully, it did enough that she was able to relax a bit and ‘chill’ slightly.  How could one not feel a bit better and safer when a being as powerful as Sesshomaru held you?

“I will always protect you Kagome, never doubt that.”  He told her quietly.

“Thanks.”  She replied.