Kryptonite

By Danyealle

(fanfiction/MF/HC/Abuse)

Chapter 15

Once inside Daoe and Kirara were wary of each other but quickly made friends then began to play.  Kagome and Sango sat down by the fire so the slayer could tend to the food.  There were a few minutes of awkward silence when neither of them really knew what to say or where to start but Sango was able to get the ball rolling finally.  “You doing OK Kagome?”  She asked quietly.

Taking a deep breath, Kagome nodded.  “Yeah, I’m doing OK.   I’m pretty much completely healed physically.”  She told her friend.

“How bad did he hurt you?”  The slayer asked in a soft voice.  No, she didn’t want details or a minute by minute account of what went on but she wanted some kind of general idea of the situation.

“Very bad,” Kagome told her quietly, unable to look her friend in the eye.

“Why didn’t you say something?  Miroku and I would have helped in any way that we could.”  Sango said.  That, quite frankly, was the one question that she and the monk really had wanted to know though she had a good idea why her friend hadn’t come to them.  She had seen a few abused women over her time and knew what men who did that sort of thing would do to keep them silent.

Heaving a deep sigh, Kagome shook her head.  “I couldn’t.  Though he never directly threatened you guys the way he phrased some things made it sound that way.  Plus he made sure I knew there was no where I could go to escape him.”

Nodding, Sango sighed as well.  She had heard that before and had expected it.  “I understand completely.”  She said.  With the way Kagome was about her friends and how protective she was of them even a vague threat against them would have worked to keep her silent.  Something Inuyasha had known well.  Changing topics, she asked, “Sesshomaru is treating you well I take it?”

Smiling, Kagome looked at her friend.  “Oh yes!  Very well.  He’s made sure I’m well taken care of.”  She stated.

Sango couldn’t help but notice the smile but filed that away to be asked about later.  She wanted to get some of the more serious topics out of the way before she went through the juicer stuff.  “Did he explain youkai law about domestic violence to you?”

“Oh yes.”  Kagome said with a nod.  “Both about how he had to take me away and taking me as his mate.”

Relieved, the slayer nodded.  “Alright.”  Looking at her friend, she asked quietly, “You don’t have a problem with this?”

Shaking her head, Kagome replied, “No, not really.  After what Inuyasha did there are trust issues obviously but I know I can trust him to an extent.”  Shrugging, she pressed on.  “I could do a lot worse than having Sesshomaru as a mate.  He’s treated me very well and I have no doubt that he will do everything in his power to protect me.  He’s given me his word on that.

“Besides, if I want to ever be completely free of Inuyasha’s mating bond then I don’t have much of a choice.”

“True.”  Sango said nodding.  But she was relieved that the taiyoukai had been completely up front and honest with her friend about it.  She had been worried that he would put off telling her or try to arrange a mating with someone else.

Deciding she had covered all the serious topics for the time being, Sango glanced at her friend and grinned.  “So… tell me about the fortress and what courts like!”  She said with a giggle.

“Oh, it’s something else!”  Kagome laughed then launched into tales of what had happened.

As she was relaying what had happened with Lakumi, the monk and taiyoukai joined them.  Serving up the meal, Sango pressed Kagome to keep talking.

Settling down, both males ate while they listened to the miko relay her adventures.

Once dinner was finished and everyone was relaxing Sesshomaru took the opportunity to fill the monk and slayer in on what was going on with Kouga and give them a bit of a rundown on how he lead a pack. 

As the taiyoukai had anticipated, the two had no problem with Kouga joining up with them.  The only one in the pack that had a problem with the ookami had been Inuyasha and that had to do with jealousy.  He also informed them that the ookami should be arriving that night at some point or early in the morning at the latest.  It was his intent to leave in the morning.

Once the topic of the wolf demon was covered, the demon lord moved on to the topic of pack dynamics and how he ran things.  Once more, as he had figured, the didn’t have a problem with most of it but there were going to be things here and there that would have to be worked out.  Most of them had to do with the monk and his duties as such.  The taiyoukai didn’t like the idea of having to stop so the monk could take care of things in order to earn a bit of money but he agreed to work with it on a case by case basis.  The same with the slayer.  He could understand that they needed money for supplies but he was more than willing to provide that for them.  Yes, he could understand that from time to time their services would be needed and would work with that.  But he also learned something from that discussion.  Until they said something he hadn’t known how much information they had garnered from doing things such as that.  Once he had learned that he was a bit more willing to accommodate them.  Information could be hard to come by and if doing such things could get it he was willing.  Though he was reluctant to stop in many villages, when he found out just how many contacts they had in those towns he was more willing to do so.

The next issue for him was that they liked to stay in local inns and taverns.  Yes, he could understand they liked the comfort of it but now, logistically, that wouldn’t he happening in all but the worst of weather.  His reputation alone was such that it would make finding a place to stay very hard.  But with Kouga, the wolves and Ah-Un along finding a place that could or would accommodate them would be very difficult.  Plus there were personal issues along with it as well.  All the smells from fires, cooking and various other things drive his ultra sensitive nose haywire.  It was so overwhelming that it bordered on painful.  He was fairly certain that Kouga and his underlings were the same way. Though he understood that the ningens needed more protection from the elements than youkai did and he assured them he would accommodate them but in all but the worst of weather they would be staying outside somewhere.  But he assured them he would do something to find them more comfortable bedding they could carry around.  That seemed like a compromise all of them could work with.  They all knew it was just preliminary stuff, that more was bound to crop up as time went on, but for now the basics were in place.

One other thing that he was very insistent on was that the onna’s were not to go anywhere alone other than to relieve themselves.  Even then he wanted them to stay as close as possible.  It went without saying that these measures were more to protect Kagome than Sango but he was worried about the safety of both women. 
Next on the agenda was protection.  Naturally, because of Inuyasha, he wanted it stepped up a bit.  Some very general things were put into place, such as a barrier, going places in pairs, making sure to say where you were going, etc but more was needed than just that. When the taiyoukai asked the houshi about protection sutras to keep out anything with youkai blood he was told it wasn’t possible.  Miroku explained that he could do such a thing, yes, but to do so would eject anything inside the protected area with youkai blood as well, something that wasn’t wanted.  Though he said he would put up a barrier and sutras that would set off an alarm when breeched.  That wasn’t what Sesshomaru wanted or, he felt, good enough but it was better than nothing until they could figure out what else to do.  At this point, beyond being vigilant, they weren’t sure what more to do.  Both Ah-Un and Daoe could both be an early warning system because they didn’t sleep like the rest did.  They would be woken up by things that wouldn’t bother the rest of them.

They were halted from going any deeper into the topic by the arrival of Kouga, Ginta, Hakkaku and the wolves.  As befitting his nature, the ookami’s arrival was heralded by a lot of noise.  The wolves were all over outside, sniffing around and checking things out, especially the dragon demon who was pretty much ignoring them.  Of course the noise had set off Daoe.  The bird youkai was swooping around and chirping loudly, checking out the furry beasts.  Unlike the bird, Kirara wasn’t fussed by the wolves.  She had encountered them enough that she just ignored them, staying in Sango’s lap, curled up an dozing.

Settling down in the house with the rest, the new arrivals ate what had remained of dinner while they were giving a brief rundown of what had been said up to that point, none of which the ookami had a problem with.  When they got to the point about protection Kouga came up with the best suggestion: his wolves.  Being nocturnal they could patrol around the camp at night after everyone went to sleep.  That was a suggestion the demon lord liked immensely and readily approved of.  Beyond that they decided on the wait and see approach so they could judge what they needed from there.

After that was all done Sesshomaru excused Kagome and himself so that they could take a bit of a walk before they settled down for the night.  Standing, he offered his arm to her. Getting to her feet, she hooked her arm through his and let him lead her outside.

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

Both the monk and the slayer watched the couple leave with avid interest, eyes a bit wide.  On the other hand Kouga and his men kicked back and began to relax.

Seeing where the two ningens attention was, Kouga chuckled, eyes dancing.  “Don’t worry about Kagome, she’s fine with him.  That’s normal for the two of them from what I saw while at the fortress.”  He told them.

“Were you able to see quite a bit of their interaction Kouga?”  Miroku asked.

Nodding, the ookami replied, “Oh yeah.  You have nothing to worry about with him.  He treats her very well and with the utmost respect and gentleness.”

Relieved, Sango nodded.  “Good.  I was a bit worried about that considering what he can be like at times.  From what you saw, what’s he like with her?  How does she act around him?”

“From what I’ve seen and what she’s told me when we talked about it, he has treated her very well and has done absolutely everything to ensure she’s taken care of.  Though it’s a bit out of character and not what you expect of him, he’s very gentle with her.  It seems, to me anyway, that he understand how badly she was hurt, mentally, and is making sure he treats her accordingly.  From all I saw she’s quite happy and he gives her everything she could want or need.”  Grinning bigger, he chuckled.  “You might eve say he’s spoiling the hell out of her.”

“Kagome deserves to be spoiled.”  Miroku said with a nod.  “From what you saw, does she have any problems with the idea of becoming his mate?  He told me that’s what’s going to happen.”

“She told me that too.”  Sango added with a nod.

“None that I could tell anyway.”  Kouga told them.  “There was a party the night before I left to introduce her to youkai society.  He announced that he would be taking her as his mate then.  Nothing I saw there or before that, and we did spend quite a bit of time together without him around, indicated that she had a problem with it at all.  They seem to get along great together.  He’s very protective of her and she seems to have a good effect on him because he lightens up a bit when she’s around.”  Jerking his head towards the door, he said, “As for the going for a walk together… That was their habit at the fortress.  Every night after supper they would go for a walk in the gardens for an hour or so alone.  Nothing strange there.”

Looking relieved, both humans nodded.  “No one gave her any problems at the fortress, did they?  What with her being a miko and all…”  Miroku trailed off.

“With having Sesshomaru being her own personal guard dog?  Are you kidding?  No way!  A few tired and they found themselves out on their butts. He actually got rid of the majority of the problem makers before they got a chance to cause problems.  One tried arguing with her while I was there.  Not only did she almost get purified by Kagome herself for her trouble but she was then banished from the fortress by Sesshomaru.  She tried to slither back in and found herself chucked in the dungeon for her troubles.

“From what I saw while there most seem to genuinely like her.  Her and a whole group of the younger ones hang out together and get alone very well.  Even the servants really seem to like her. “

“Good.  I was worried that she wouldn’t be treated well.”  Sango said with a sigh of relief.  “You’ve talked to her more than we’ve had a chance to.  How does she seem to be doing?”

“Pretty good from what I saw.  I don’t know how bad she was hurt but if Sesshomaru took her I assume that it was pretty bad.  Though she seems to be her old self for the most part, there were a few things I did notice.  She’s not real comfortable around a lot of people if she’s alone.  At the party she almost literally clung to Sesshomaru all night.

“Also, she’s seriously nervous when she’s around men and it’s fairly obvious.  Though she will talk to them she tries to get away as soon as she can.  She’s much more comfortable and relaxed around females, even if there is a group of them.

“The real noticeable thing is she really doesn’t want men touching her.  She can handle me or Sesshomaru, I’m assuming because she knows us, but anyone else doing it she about jumps out of her skin and tries to pull away.  If they won’t let go she starts to panic and yank away from them.  Even if I touched her you kinda’ had to make sure she saw it coming or she would panic a bit.  But Sesshomaru does seem to be the exception to that.  Then again, he’s not exactly known for being all touchy-feely either.”  Kouga said with a shrug.

Sighing, Sango shook her head.  “I bet that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  There’s probably a lot more you didn’t see.”  She said quietly.

“Probably.”  Kouga admitted with a nod.  “Maybe being back around us she’ll open up a bit more about it or, hopefully, she’ll talk with Sesshomaru about some of it.  He does seem very serious about helping her.”

“Has she mentioned Inuyasha at all?”  Miroku asked.

“Oh yeah.”  Kouga snarled, cracking his knuckles.  “But if you’re asking if she gave details about what he did, the answer is no.” 

“What did she say about him?”  The monk wanted to know.

“Mostly it was stuff like he really hurt her and it made it hard for her trust those that are close to her because of how much she trusted him.  She also admitted that he, and the thought of him getting hold of her, scares her.”  He said.

“I can understand that.”  The monk said.

“What bothers me is that Kagome’s very forgiving and if Inuyasha comes back pretending to be all contrite and sorry that she’ll forgive him then give him another chance.”  Sango told the two men with a sigh.

“That won’t happen!”  Kouga stated firmly.  “First of all, there’s no way Sesshomaru will let her go back to him.  Youkai law is very clear on that.  No second chances.  Once your mate is removed, that’s it.  Even if that wasn’t the law with the way he is he doesn’t allow second chances.

“That aside, one of the things Kagome did say was she’ll never go back.  She told me she still loves him and probably will forgive him at some point but that wasn’t enough for her to ever go back to him because she won’t.  The way she phrased it, it sounds like she doesn’t think he will ever change.”

“He probably won’t.”  Miroku agreed with a sad shake of his head.

“I wonder…”  Sango started then trailed off.  “Beings that do those kinds of things don’t just start out doing it out of the blue.  I wonder if he’s done this in the past to women?”

“Interesting question.”  Miroku replied.  “I would like to know that myself.”

“Too bad we can’t ask Kikyo that.”  Kouga said.

“If we run across her I plan to do just that!”  Sango stated firmly.  “As well as Kaede next time we see her.”

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

Outside the slayers village, perched in a tree out of the range of the senses of any of the youkai, Inuyasha kept his eyes trained on where he knew the village was.  No, he couldn’t see it but he knew where it was.

Just before dark he had seen his fuckhead brother arrive in grand style on that damn dragon with his miko.  Seeing her with him made his temper shoot skywards and him want to hurt something.  In fact, he wanted to rush into the village and beat the hell out of the taiyoukai then take back what belonged to him: both his pack and his miko.  But he was able to control himself and keep his ass planted right where it was.  Later on, when that flea-bitten wolf had shown up, that impulse had come back and was harder to fight off.

Slouching down in the tree he was perched in, he shut his eyes and sighed.  He knew staying glued to the pack that had abandoned and betrayed him was a bad idea and was not going to lead anywhere good but he couldn’t just walk away from them.  Besides, where would he go or what would he do if he did?  No way he could hunt Naraku or shards on his own.  He couldn’t find shards without Kagome and he needed help to take on the spider if he had any chance at all of coming out on top.

The way he saw things he just had to bide his time and wait to find a way to get both his pack and his mate back.  He was sure there was a way to do it, he was just going to have to be patient until he found it was all.  It would be hard, patience wasn’t exactly his strong point, but he could do it.

Until that presented it’s self he was going to concentrate on just what he was going to do to get her back and fix things between them.  In the couple weeks since she had been taken from him, he had done a lot of thinking, not another of his strong suites either but he had worked with it.

One of the first issues he had tackled was what he had done to the little miko he loved so much.  As usual when he thought about it the guilt he felt was almost overwhelming.  Despite hating the decision, he decided the best thing for the both of them was for her to put the beads back on.  Yes, he hated those fucking things but he had to give them another chance so he wouldn’t lose control and hurt her again.

Second, they had to have a long talk.  He wanted to have a chance to apologize to her fully for what he had done.  He also wanted to try to explain how he was going to change.  They needed to talk about how some of the stuff she did could make him nuts and push him over the edge.  If she knocked some of that crap off things would get better and easier.

Finally, they would work out a plan together on how to deal with things.  There were things both of them had to do then it would work out just fine. He was sure that once Kagome was back with him the rest of the pieces would fall back into place and everything would go back to the way they were.  Once that all happened he would be good to go!

As a side issue to that he and Sesshomaru would be having a long ‘talk’ about his role in this nightmare!  Oh yes, he was going to teach that bastard that he should learn to keep his nose out of other peoples private business. He was going to make sure that he pounded that lesson into his head so he wouldn’t ever forget it!

Growling as he thought about the taiyoukai, he quickly forced himself to move to another topic: how.  It was all well and good to plan out what he wanted to do but it was all for naught if you had no way to go about it.  Getting to where he could talk to her was the tricky part.  There was no way Lord Super Shit was going to let him just talk to her so he was going to have to navigate around him.  He was going to have to orchestrate ‘Operation Snatch the Miko’.   That was the best he could come up with.  Basically, follow the pack close as he dared then, when the opportunity presented its self, snag the little onna then take off like a bat out of hell.  Once he got them somewhere safe they would sit down for a long mate-to-mate talk and work out the whole fucked up nightmare.

Sighing, he knew this wasn’t the greatest plan in the whole world but unless or until he could come up with something better it was all he had and would work with it as such.

Tomorrow, when the pack left, he would start dogging their trail and let his instincts do the rest.  It might take a while to do but it would eventually come.  He just had to bide his time was all.

Shutting his eyes, he decided he had best get some rest so he would be ready to move when they were.  Relaxing the best he could, he ran through all of what he was going to do to get his miko back and how to fix things until he drifted off to sleep.