One Less Star, Chapter 8

Kagome was no more settled after her conversation with Sesshoumaru than she'd been prior to it, but exhaustion defeated her overburdened mind and she sank gratefully onto the bed, swiftly falling asleep. Her dreams were jumbled and unsettling, but still she slept on, waking in the late afternoon to a gentle touch on her shoulder.

"Kagome-san," Rin whispered, "it's time for dinner, and..." She trailed off, gesturing with her hand to the corner, where Shippo was curled up in one of his blankets, soundly unconscious.

"We're all used to sleeping to each other," Kagome replied softly, slipping from her bed to kneel by him. "He probably got lonely, and needed to be near a familiar scent." She made sure his sling still bound his arm close to his body, and combed her fingers through his ruddy bangs. "Shippo," she said, "it's time to wake up. You're hungry, aren't you?"

His eyes squinched shut as he yawned and slowly propped himself upon his good arm. "Ramen?" he asked hopefully. "And maybe Inuyasha could catch some rabbits, instead of fish. I'm so tired of... fish..." His words trailed off when he opened his eyes and saw Rin standing behind Kagome, watching with interest. "Oh," he said lamely, remembering the events of the night. "No wonder my shoulder hurts so much." His green eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Did Sesshoumaru try to strangle me?"

"That was just to, er, knock you out," Kagome explained. "So you wouldn't feel the pain of putting your shoulder back in."

Beside her, Rin bobbed her head. "When I broke my ankle last year, he did that to me before setting the bones," she offered, then leant closer, as if divulging a major secret. "It scared the heck out of me, too."

At her increased proximity, Shippo flushed bright pink and began to blink rapidly. "Really?" he squeaked, then cleared his throat. "Really?" he asked again, his voice artificially lower. "How did you manage to break your ankle?"

Kagome stood and watched as Rin began to explain, but her presence was already forgotten as the two young people focused on each other. Hiding a smile, she smoothed her kimono and left the room, making her way to the boys' room for Kohaku. It would be good for Shippo to have someone his own age to spend time with; he spent so much time with adults, fighting for their lives, that she was worried he didn't get enough time to just be a kid. And she was sure it was much the same for Rin; she didn't expect the girl had much opportunity for fun and playing, here with Sesshoumaru and Jaken.

Kohaku lay on his pallet just as she'd left him; she peeled back his covers and took his hand, indicating he should stand. At eighteen years of age, he was a handsome, lanky boy with dark hair put back in a little queue not unlike Miroku's. The spray of freckles across his nose gave him a boyish air that contrasted sharply with the dead flatness of his eyes, and Kagome sighed in pity for him, straightening his clothes before leading him downstairs.

The dining room was empty, but the table was spread with a lavish array of dishes, including...

"Oden!" Kagome couldn't help but squeal in delight, almost pushing Kohaku onto a cushion in her haste to begin the meal. She waited a few minutes, then a few minutes more, and finally decided to go look for everyone else. She retrieved Rin and Shippo from upstairs, and searched for Sesshoumaru but he was nowhere to be found.

Jaken, however, was in the kitchen washing a stack of dishes and did not appear very happy to see her. "Why are you here when the food I slaved to cook for you is getting cold?" he squawked, flapping a soggy dishtowel at her. "Go! Eat!"

So she went and ate. Rin tried not to stare as Kagome fed Kohaku, but she was certainly not accustomed to the sight of a young man on the verge of adulthood being hand-fed by a woman only a few years older than he. Feeding Kohaku was not difficult; once you got the food in his mouth, he seemed to take over, chewing and swallowing without problem until he was full and would no longer open his mouth for the next bite.

Kagome had gotten very good at this in the past weeks since Kohaku had been returned to them, as she'd taken turns doing it with Sango. Once he was full, she was able to turn her full attention to her own meal instead of grabbing a mouthful between attending to him. Finally, full and content, she sat back a little and smiled at the others. "I didn't know Jaken was such a good cook."

"So's Sesshoumaru-sama," Rin said absently, using her chopsticks to flick a single grain of rice across the table at Shippo and then grinning when it hit him squarely between the eyes.

"Mmm," Kagome replied automatically as a few dozen memories floated to the forefront of her mind from the other Kagomes. Her eyes drifted shut in bliss as she recalled the taste of many, many meals he'd cooked for her. "His osechi is amazing... he could be the Iron Chef of all Iron Chefs." No response was forthcoming, and the faint clatter of chopsticks onto a plate seemed impossibly loud in the sudden silence. Kagome opened her eyes in confusion to find Rin staring at her.

"Kagome-san," the girl began slowly, "how did you know that?"

"Yes, Kagome-san," Sesshoumaru added mockingly from the door, "I too am interested in your answer."

He wore an informal, dark blue yukata under grey hakama, and the surprise of seeing him in something other than his white and red haori combined with her surprise and embarrassment to render her incapable of response. "Come now," he prompted, his tone more mocking than impatient, "we are waiting."

Kagome simply stared at him, unsure what to do or say. This was a disaster. She'd never had any intention of telling him the rest of Midoriko's directive, but it appeared she'd just managed to destroy any carefully laid plans for deception. Not that she'd had many, and not that the word 'carefully' could be applied too accurately to them...

"Children," Sesshoumaru said softly, "go help Jaken in the kitchen." There was something in his voice that had Shippo and Rin on their feet before he'd finished the sentence, tugging Kohaku up to follow after them.

And then they were alone. "Miko," he began, "I have been extraordinarily patient with you, but I require answers. You will provide them. Now."

Kagome felt her stomach drop to the vicinity of her feet. "Not here," she mumbled. "Outside. I need some air."

He sliced her a glance that said she was fooling no one with her delay tactics, but led her outside to the pavilion. She thought of stalling some more in selecting the ideal place to sit, then smoothing her clothing just so, but knew from the other Kagomes' experience that it would just drive him closer to the edge of losing his patience than he already was.

Sesshoumaru didn't say a word, simply looked down at her with those eyes of his, and waited. Kagome sighed. How to phrase it? If she were careful, all was not lost. With a deep breath, Kagome forged ahead.

"Midoriko has said that your family and the mikos who protect the Shikon no Tama are fated to work together to protect it," she began slowly. There, that sounded nice and innocuous.

"My father had no dealings with the Shikon no Tama," Sesshoumaru said flatly.

Damn. She'd forgotten that he was quite bright, with a superb memory, and certainly not about to just take what she was saying at face value without question. "And Inuyasha has never been concerned with protecting it; he wants only to use it, you little liar."

"Stop calling me that!" Kagome exclaimed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she struggled to think.

"Then stop doing it," he shot back. "You must think me truly stupid indeed, to believe these half-truths that would not deceive a child." Shocked, Kagome began to stammer a protest but he forged on. "Do you think I have noticed nothing of your behaviour in these last months? You have been conciliatory toward me, even concerned for my welfare, when before you desired only my death."

"That's not true," Kagome said miserably. "I never wanted you dead, just for you to stay away from us and not try to kill Inuyasha so much."

His hand waved away her words in a languid motion. "Details," he dismissed it. "Your words and actions in recent days are puzzling. You will now explain them to my satisfaction." His pronunciation of that last word, so sibilant, caused a shiver to run down Kagome's spine, and she knew better than to hope he hadn't noticed.

"And that is another thing," he continued, beginning to circle around her like the predator he was. She stood, unmoving, arms held stiffly to her sides and fists clenched as she closed her eyes tightly, unable to bear the speculation on his handsome face, the curiosity in those bright eyes as he studied her. "You desire me now, where you did not last year, or any time prior to several months ago."

"No, I don't," she protested feebly. "I'm just lonely, is all. I... haven't been home to see my boyfriend in a long time," she continued, warming to her subject, "and I'm a normal, healthy young woman. I have needs that aren't being met."

She opened her eyes to find him staring down at her. "Liar," he whispered, making her shudder. "You remain untouched, even by Inuyasha." He cocked his head to one side. "And why is that, I wonder? Lack of trying on his part? On yours? Or lack of opportunity perhaps, with all those people milling about... I do not expect there to be much time for romance with the monk, the kitsune, and the taijiya present."

Kagome's eyes drifted shut once more as heat pooled in her belly, and lower. He was so close, his voice so low, and she could smell him, that familiar and yet new scent of snow and pine unique to him. His hair swirled round him as he continued to walk in a circle around her, brushing her hands, caressing her skin, and she bit back a whimper.

"Open your eyes," he murmured in her ear, and she was helpless to disobey. He stood before her, and cupped her face in his large hand, his fingers threading into her hair. "You want me, badly. It is... intriguing, is it not? And so I wish to know why. Why do you want me, all of a sudden? Why the apologies, the pleasantness?" When she did not response, he flexed his fingers, extending his claws to press the slightest bit into her scalp. Her breath caught in her throat-- it tingled, almost, but didn't hurt. "Why did you scream my name, and not Inuyasha's, when we stabbed each other?"

Kagome's mind raced. He would be satisfied with nothing but the truth, but the truth was sure to infuriate him. Round and round it went, this circular logic, until she did the only thing she could think of in that situation: she burst into tears.

She felt, rather than heard, his sigh. "It is to your everlasting good fortune," he muttered, "that you are more valuable to me alive than dead."

His words only made her cry harder. The past few days had been horrible, each worst than the next. She was worried about Sango and Miroku, and devastated over Inuyasha's corruption by the tainted shard. Shippo and Kirara were hurt, and they and Kohaku were depending on her to take care of them, and she was basically a prisoner of the one man on the planet she was destined to fall in love with and he saw her as nothing more than a pawn to use.

"Midoriko is wrong," she declared, uncaring anymore if he learnt the truth and exploded because of it. "She has to be. This is hopeless." She looked up at him with huge, teary eyes. "You're hopeless."

He slowly, almost tenderly, brushed the tears from her cheek with his thumb. "Explain," he said, "or I will kill you where you stand. Miko or not, powerful or not, I tire of this."

Kagome wrenched herself away, facing across the river and hugging her arms close around her waist as she stared out over the undulating currents, gasping a little.

"You were right, of course," she said at last. "Your father had nothing to do with the Shikon no Tama, and Inuyasha's only ever wanted to use it to become a full demon. The mikos involved with it, and the men of your family... we're slated for something far more important than just protecting the Shikon no Tama." Then she stopped, unsure if she could continue.

"Carry on," he growled.

She turned to face him once more. "We're supposed to heal the rift between youkai and ningen worlds. Your father, Inutaisho... and Midoriko. They loved each other." Sesshoumaru's spine seemed to snap even straighter than before, and he glared at her, but did not deny it. "Still do, actually. Always will." She sighed. "And Inuyasha... there'll never be anyone for him but Kikyo." It was true. She knew he cared for her, perhaps even loved her in his way. But Kikyo held his heart. He was in love with Kikyo, and that would never change.

Kagome forged on. "And then there's... you and me," she said, avoiding his gaze, awaiting his reaction.

It was not long in coming. "Are you saying," he began mildly, "that this Sesshoumaru is to... fall in love with you?" His tone was so disbelieving, so incredulous, that she felt the tears start again.

"You don't have to be so rude about it!" she snapped. "It's not like I'm thrilled about it, either. Because I'm not. You're horrible... rude and cruel and condescending and-- and marriage to you would be a disaster."

"Marriage?" Sesshoumaru repeated slowly.

"Yeah," she sniffled, wiping her face with the cuffs of her kimono. "We're fated to be married. You're supposed to be my husband, I'm supposed to be your wife. We're supposed to have children together." She turned away again, staring down into the water. There was a small school of little silver fish clustered around one pylon driven into the bed of the river to support the weight of the pavilion, and she watched them with apathy, waiting for what was doubtless to be a violent reaction to that news.

It was not long in coming. "This Sesshoumaru, to love a human? To take her as wife? To give her children? Hanyou children?" She chanced a look at him from the corner of her eye and saw that though his expression was perfectly blank, the stripes on his cheeks had gone jagged. "As you say," he continued tonelessly, "Midoriko is wrong."

"You tell her that," Kagome snapped. "I've tried about a hundred times. She won't listen to me."

"And how," he said testily, "do you propose that I say this to her? She has yet to speak to me, either in the waking world, or the land of dreams."

"Next time I talk to her, I'll tell her to contact you," Kagome said grimly. "Maybe you can knock some sense into her." He nodded determinedly.

They fell into an almost companionable silence then, united by their distaste for this enforced shared destiny of theirs. "Right, well," she began after a while, "I'll just go see what Shippo and Kohaku are up to…"

She took one step, wondering if he'd let her go, then another. When he did nothing, said nothing, she fled at top speed, uncaring if he were amused by her fear and pressing her cold hands to her hot cheeks. It had gone both better and worse than she'd expected; yes, he was furious, and had been harsh, but he hadn't killed her as she'd feared, or even hurt her. Just scared her a bit.

Kagome checked on Kirara. The fire-cat was healing slowly from her grievous wounds, but was able to raise her head from her nest of blankets and give Kagome's hand a feeble lick.

"She's much better," Shippo told her. He looked better, too-the pinched, pained look had receded from his face and with the exception of the white sling still holding his arm close to his body, he looked much like his old self.

"You have Sesshoumaru-sama to thank for that!" Jaken exclaimed loyally. He didn't look thrilled at having to mind not merely one child, but two and Kohaku as well.

Rin laughed. "Yes, and I'm sure they all appreciate his help a lot, Jaken."

"Yes, we do," Kagome said. "We'd have never made it back to Edo alive, on our own." She thought of what she'd have had to face if Sesshoumaru hadn't agreed to take their decimated little group with him. "He can be very… kind, sometimes." It was puzzling, if you compared him to how he behaved toward the majority of the world.

"You take that back!" Jaken squawked, brandishing a ladle at her, but Rin only gazed at her with gentle, understanding eyes. The girl knew better than anyone about Sesshoumaru's secret stores of compassion.

Still, Kagome had to smile. "Sorry, Jaken!" she said. "Sesshoumaru isn't kind, he's merciless and vicious. Bad to the bone."

Not realizing she was poking fun at him, the toad demon nodded in satisfaction. "Do not forget it."

"I wouldn't dare," Kagome murmured, grinning at Shippo, then froze when she sensed youki coming nearer. Sesshoumaru's hearing was acute, but he couldn't have heard her, could he?

His face, when he entered the room, was impassive as always. "Rin, I will hear your lessons now." To her surprise, he turned to Shippo and Kohaku. "You two will participate; if you are to stay here, you will take lessons with Rin. I permit no idle hands or empty minds in my home." He swept from the room, leaving a rather surprised group of people in his wake who swiftly rushed to follow him to the sitting room.

Kagome watched in amazement as Sesshoumaru pelted Rin with questions about history, listened to her recite the poetry she'd written that day, and ran a discerning eye over her calligraphed kanji.

His displeasure at Shippo's lackluster involvement was clear, but he said nothing. When he was satisfied with Rin's learning for the day, he dismissed the children to one last half-hour of play before bed, and then turned to Kagome.

"You have neglected his education."

"I-" She felt ashamed and bowed her head. She could protest that they'd always been too busy to take the time to teach Shippo anything, but it would have been a lie. There was plenty of time while on the trail of a shard to have gone over lessons. They just hadn't. "I guess I have. But I won't, from now on. I promise."

Her response seemed to satisfy him; he nodded. She squirmed a little beneath his speculative gaze, and even more when it turned to a faint smirk. "Bad to the bone?"

Oh, hell. "Um."

He shuffled through the pages of Rin's calligraphy, and sliced her a sideways look. "Better than 'kind', I suppose."

Kagome was absolutely baffled as to his almost-pleasant demeanor until she realized what it meant. Now that he knew what was going on with her, he felt he could relax a little. "You believe me, then?" she asked. "About Midoriko?"

He languidly placed the papers on the mat to his left. "You were not lying. About that, at least," he added. "Though you have not told me anything. But yes, I believe you."

Kagome found her breath coming a little easier at that, though she had not realized she'd been having trouble with it. Feeling a little more confident around him now, she ventured, "How long are we going to be here? Until everyone's healed?"

His face was calm, assessing. "The kitsune and fire-cat and vegetable may leave whenever they wish."

"Don't call him that!" Kagome said in defense of Kohaku, anger flaring hot in her chest at the cruelty of the insult. "You don't know what he's been through, what Naraku made him do! It's no wonder he's… like that." Then the other implication of what he'd said sunk in. "They can leave… but what about me?"

Sesshoumaru tilted his head to one side, making his ivory hair cascade over his shoulder. "Your destiny and mine seem to be entwined," he said at length. "And you are a being of great power, though you have little control over it. It is in my best interest to keep you here."

"As your prisoner?" Kagome leapt to her feet, outraged.

"Certainly not as my wife," he replied coolly. "I hereby declare you my vassal, mine to command."

The arrogance of the demon was staggering. Shock and disbelief blossomed in her, leaving her feeling a little dizzy in its wake. "You can't do that!" she retorted. "You can't just say I'm your vassal and have it be so!"

He stood, looming down over her, looking impossibly amused with just the quirk of a pale brow. "Miko, when one is weak and the other is strong, there is little room for debate on the issue. I have said you are mine, and so you are, unless you choose to fight me for your freedom." His eyes gleamed with humour at the thought of her in battle with him. "Such is the way in the youkai world."

A thought, jarring and unwelcome, elbowed its way into Kagome's frazzled consciousness. "Wait a minute," she said. "Youkai only have to declare a person theirs, and if the other person doesn't fight it, that's it? Done deal?" When he nodded, she began to laugh. "If that's all it takes, Sesshoumaru, then I'm afraid you're out of luck."

He frowned. "Explain."

Kagome slowly sank to her knees, her head bowed and shoulders shaking as she laughed. "I've already been claimed."

He scoffed. "Any claim by Inuyasha is forfeit; as a hanyou, his claim is superceded by mine as a full youkai."

Kagome's peals of laughter were slowly evolving into a case of hiccups. "No, no, it's not Inuyasha. It's a full demon. He's already claimed me, and not just as a vassal."

Sesshoumaru was now positively glowering. "As what, then?"

She lifted her face, flushed from laughing so hard, to his and wiped tears of mirth from her cheeks. "As his 'woman', whatever that means. I guess that means I'm already married. And have been for years now." She hiccupped. "Figures… I'm coming up on my seventh anniversary, and I'm still a virgin." That sent her into another gale of laughter.

Sesshoumaru stared down at her a long moment. "You are becoming hysterical," he said. "Stop it this instant."

Chastened, she sobered immediately. "Sorry," she said.

"Who is it, this youkai who has claimed you already?" There was a dangerous edge to his voice that boded ill for the hapless demon who'd dared infringe on what the Lord of the West wanted, and Kagome was suddenly afraid to answer.

"What will happen if I tell you?" she asked.

"I will fight him for you," he replied calmly. "And I will win."

"You'll kill him," she said flatly, cold knowledge of what he would do helping to erase any lingering compulsion for mirth she might have had, and he nodded. "Then I'm not going to tell you."

He seemed to grow a foot as his anger was piqued. "You will tell me," he intoned, sending a shiver up her back.

"I won't," she replied, bravely straightening her shoulders. She was always unsure what to do when it was only herself in danger, but when it came to her friends, there was never any question. "I don't care if you kill me. I won't let you hurt him."

"You love him, then?" he asked carelessly.

"He is my friend." That pretty much said everything.

"You are loyal," Sesshoumaru commented. "It shall serve me well, when you are my vassal."

Kagome felt like ripping out fistfuls of her hair, her frustration was so great. "You are so full of yourself!" she exclaimed.

"It is not arrogance when it is the truth," he countered, one corner of his mouth tilting up, and she realized he was actually enjoying this… whatever it was. Banter? Repartee? She would never have suspected him of having a playful side. It was distinctly unnerving, even though there were a thousand Kagomes within her wagging scolding fingers at her, as if to say, 'we told you so!'

She sighed. "I'm tired," she said. "You make me tired." He only tilted his chin a bit higher into the air, satisfied, and left her to fetch the children in to go to bed.

Once her own head was on the pillow, Kagome allowed herself a few moments of self-pity for her situation before resolving to make the best of it with typical resilience. She was worried about Miroku-his arm had been bleeding so heavily- and about his being with Kagura. It had been a shock to learn the wind-sorceress was now one of Sesshoumaru's servants, and that she was going to actually help them. Usually, she only hindered.

Rolling over, she punched the pillow a few times, trying to make it conform more comfortably to her head. She hoped Sango was alright, too. With Inuyasha like this, there was no telling what had happened to her.

Inuyasha. Kagome wanted to be surprised that he would use Kohaku's shard. If she were being honest, however, she had to admit that from the moment Inuyasha had refused to give her the shard, after removing it from Kohaku's back, she had been afraid it would come to this. He'd wanted to become fully demon for too long, fought too hard, to give up without a fight.

She just never thought he'd be fighting her. "I hope you're right, Midoriko," she whispered, and buried her face against the pillow, trying not to cry. "I hope you're right."