Room Service

*Disclaimer: I do not own Inu Yasha and co. I am just borrowing them for my stories, so please don’t sue! *

‘…’ = Thoughts
“…” =Spoken
*…*= Their inner beasts
~…~= Flashback

Chapter 23: Within the Warehouse Evil Lurks….

Sesshomaru was quiet as he drove Kagome and himself to the warehouse where he was to meet Mr. Onigumo. ‘I just hope that he hasn’t decided to renege on our deal. I now wish to have that bobble as a gift to my mate. It would look stunning against her porcelain skin, and lit by the moons glow.’

* Hmm.* His beast growled in agreement. * And then we can have at our little mate while under the moons glow. * His beast responded lecherously.

‘Hmm. I like the way you think. I wonder,’ he thought as something occurred to him. ‘Has Kagome chosen to remain as a human instead of becoming a demon? I have detected no change in her scent, except that mine has mingled with hers to show we are mated, have you?’ He questioned his beast.

* No, I haven’t detected any change either. Maybe we should inform her again of her choice? * His beast replied.

‘Later. We are currently occupied.’ He said as he pulled in to the parking lot for the warehouse.

“What an interesting place Sesshomaru.” Kagome said looking around.

He turned to look at her. She had changed into one of the short skirts that she had purchased earlier, but kept his shirt on. He rather liked the look.

“Hai, this is where I am to meet a Mr. Onigumo to purchase something from him. You can stay in the car if you like, or accompany me.” He said as he shut off the engine and pulled the keys out.

Kagome tiled her head in thought. “I believe I will go with you koi. This place fascinates me for some reason.”

* The Shikon is near! Do you feel its pulse? Stupid question, of course you do! We have to find it! * Sakura growled in excitement.

‘Hai, I feel it. But my mate doesn’t know of our change yet, so remain calm already!’ Kagome reprimanded her.

“Very well then, but stick close to me. This place has a lot of twists and turns, and I don’t want you to get lost.” Sess said as he leaned over and nuzzled her neck. ‘I can’t get enough of her! Just wait until we get home!’ he thought.

He leaned back into his seat reluctantly. “Come, let’s go meet Mr. Onigumo.” He said as he opened his door and slid out. He walked around and opened her door for her, extending his hand to help her out.

He placed his hand in the small of her back, and guided her towards the single door leading into the warehouse. He noticed several youki within, but brushed them off since they were of no consequence to him. He walked with his mate to the center of the building where he was to meet the other man for the deal.

There was another gentleman waiting there. Sesshomaru stopped several feet from this man. “I have a meeting with Mr. Onigumo. Where is he, and who are you?” he asked icily as he slowly pulled Kagome closer to him so she was standing slightly behind him.

* I don’t like this. * His beast growled at him. * I sense a danger to our mate here. *

‘Hai, as do I. But we are a bit too far within to get her safely out and still deal with this guy. We will see who he is, and where Onigumo is, then leave as soon as possible, keeping our mate safe.’ He responded to his beast as he waited for the gent in front of him to answer him.

The man smirked. “I am Onigumo, though you have dealt with my father, it is I you will now deal with. I will not be handing over what you have come here for Mr. Tasio. My father has … passed from this world and on to the next, and I find myself reluctant to part with his ‘precious treasure’.”

* He has the jewel! But it isn’t complete. What has he done? * Sakura growled at Kagome.

‘I don’t know, maybe the first Guardian chipped off some shards and hid them so the jewel would never be used for an evil purpose? But I don’t believe that this Onigumo is going to hand over the jewel so nicely to us.’ Kagome responded ruefully. ‘But we WILL have the jewel, tonight.’

* Hai. Tonight. * She replied forcefully.

‘I was hoping to show Sesshomaru of my change at a better time, but that’s the way it goes.’ She replied wistfully.

Sesshomaru was unaware of the decision going on behind him, he was listening to Onigumo speaking in front of him, and thinking of a plan to get his mate out of the warehouse safely. ‘It is after all, just a bauble.’ He thought reasonably. “Very well Mr. Onigumo, if you will not part with it, we will take our leave of you. Just keep in mind that if you wish to sell it, I am able and willing to take it off your hands.” He said calmly, and tilted his head in acknowledgement, and turned to Kagome to escort her out, but stopped in his actions when Onigumo spoke.

“I’m afraid not Mr. Tashio. While I have no need for your money, I find myself quite taken with your companion there, so we will trade. You give me her, for your safe passage out of this warehouse.” Onigumo said smugly.

Sesshomaru turned slowly to face him once more. “May I ask your name, Mr. Onigumo?” He said quietly, not relaying any of his anger in his tone or movements. Within, his was royally pissed. ‘How dare this bastard demand my mate for my safe departure? Like I will ever give up my mate for something so piteous!’ he snorted mentally.

* This hanyou obviously doesn’t know with whom he is dealing. We must protect our mate. * His beast growled angrily.

“My name is Naraku, and I will take pleasure in hearing you scream out my name as I kill you, then rape your wench!” Onigumo replied as he suddenly jumped towards Sesshomaru, attempting to catch him off guard.

But Sesshomaru saw him coming, grabbed up Kagome and stepped away, putting her behind him as he turned to face his opponent, dropping into a defensive pose. “Hide. But be careful, he is not alone, there are other youkai here.” He growled at her.

Kagome frowned. “You don’t even dare think that I am going to leave you here alone! I know that you can take care of yourself, but I have something at stake here too.” She growled back as she turned herself so her back was to his, and dropped into a defensive pose to match his. ‘We have to get the Shikon! This hanyou knows what it is, I can feel it.’ She thought as she watched the youkai slowly creeping out of the shadows of the warehouse.

She heard his growl of displeasure, but before he could voice his objections, the youkai facing her attacked at the same time as Naraku. Kagome jumped forward and delivered a kick to the foremost attacker, snapping his neck with the force of the blow. As she gracefully landed, she spun and backhanded the next youkai, spinning him into the guy behind him, knocking them both out. She felt a claw grip her shoulder, and she grabbed it and flipped him over her shoulder and right into the youkai that was rushing her. She watched as they continued flying back to collide with a large wooden crate, smashing the side to splinters. She dropped down into a crouch, prepared for another attacker, but there were no others, so she turned to see how her mate was doing against Naraku.

Sesshomaru growled his displeasure at his mate, but couldn’t say anything as Naraku rushed him. He felt her aura flare as she dealt with the first of her attackers. “If any bring harm to her, I will take great pleasure in ripping their intestines out and wrapping them around their necks!’ he thought viciously as he leapt forward to meet Naraku’s attack. He brought out his claw to slice at the impertinent fool who dared speak so rudely of his mate, but to his surprise, he missed.

Naraku smirked as he reached out himself and flicked the tips of his claws against Sess’s upper arm, not drawing any blood, just tearing the material of his shirt. Sess pulled back and dropped into a defensive pose for a fraction of a second before jumping back at the hanyou to rake his claws across the unprotected expanse of his back, taking off several hunks of hair as well as quite a bit of skin. Naraku turned to catch Sess unexpectedly across his chest. Both males pulled back to evaluate their positions, when they heard a crash to the side where Kagome was located.

Sess glanced out of the corner of his eye to make sure she was OK, but that was all the distraction that Naraku needed before he swiftly moved forward to grab Kagome around her waist.

Naraku knew that if he continued fighting against this male, he would have lost. Tashio was fast, he barely managed to pull away from the attack against his back, and he knew that he got lucky with the marks to his chest. He was not above using whatever leverage he could to win in a fight, so when Tashio was distracted, he grabbed up the female and held her against his chest with his claws held to her neck threateningly. “One more step, and she will die. Now, I am going to walk out of here and I just might let her go, but she does feel very good against me. I may let her go within the next day, or so if she brings me some pleasure. But then again, I may not. You will just have to wait and see.” He smirked at the fuming male in front of him, as he started to edge himself and the wench towards the nearest exit.

Kagome didn’t know what had happened, one minute she was standing in the middle of several unconscious youkai, next thing she knew she was being held against Naraku’s chest, staring at her mate whose eyes were changing from red to gold and back. She heard the threat against her person and became damn pissed.

She felt as Naraku started to drag her away from her mate, and turned her eyes to Sesshomaru. He was standing there growling and his eyes were now deep red, and she could feel his youkai straining to not just jump at the infernal male who was taking her away, but she understood why he wasn’t currently doing anything. He was waiting for the right moment when Naraku is distracted to take him down without hurting her in the process.

* I don’t believe the sheer stupidity of this hanyou in trying to take us away from our mate! * Raged Sakura to Kagome.

‘Hai! I understand. Now how can we help our mate? I know! The Shikon! How does it feel, PURE or DARK?’ She asked excitedly.

* Hmm … it feels kinda tainted! It is not completely dark, and ah! I see! We can do it, it won’t take much to purify it, and the Jewel will burn him, making him distracted enough for our mate to take care of him. Now hurry! Before he takes us any further! Alright, on the count of three. One, two, * She replied.

‘THREE!’ Kagome shouted internally, as she drew her powers forth to purify the Jewel she could sense against the center of her back.

Sesshomaru tensed as he felt his mate’s powers surge forth, but they were directed to a specific spot on the filth that had a hold of her. * Our mate is smart! She is distracting him so we can kill the bastard for touching our mate. * His beast reasoned with him. ‘Hai. Now we just need to wait …’

Naraku suddenly felt an amazing purifying ki centering towards his chest. He felt a burning sensation against his chest where the Shikon Jewel was resting. ‘Is this impertinent wench a priestess? Is she trying to purify the Jewel?’ he thought incredulously. Suddenly the burning intensified and he tossed her away from him roughly, while clawing at his chest to stop the burning. He never thought of the youkai who was waiting for just such a moment of distraction.

Sesshomaru jumped Naraku with a roar the second he released Kagome, tackling him and driving his claws into Naraku’s shoulders, pinning him to the ground. He started to release his poison into his enemy slowly, looking for him to burn for the affront to his mate and himself.

Naraku felt that he was pinned to the ground, and the deadly claws embedded in his shoulders releasing the poison, but that was nothing compared to the intense burning in his chest where the Shikon still rested. He screamed in pain as the Shikon gave a pulse of pure power.

Sesshomaru jumped off Naraku when he felt the pulse of purity. ‘What the fuck was going on?’ He glanced over to his mate. She was now standing several feet away, but her eyes were focused on the filth at his feet. He frowned when he felt another pulse come simultaneously from Kagome and Naraku. ‘What the fuck has he missed?’ He growled in warning at his mate for her to explain.

Kagome never let her attention waver from her goal of the Shikon, even as Naraku shoved her roughly to the ground and she scrambled away and watched as her mate tackled her attacker. With him so close to the Jewel she couldn’t completely purify it, so she sent gentle pulses to the Jewel to warn him of its state. When Sess jumped off Naraku, she sent a large dose of power to the Jewel to finish the purification. She heard her mate growl at her, and she understood that he wanted an explanation.

She walked over to Sesshomaru and tilted her head to show her throat in subjection. He grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her roughly to his chest and lowered his face to her throat, to take in her scent. “Explain.” He growled.

She took a deep shuddering breath and raised her hands to clasp his forearms, to steady her. “I know of the Jewel that Naraku carries, it is my job to protect it. It was tainted, and I thought to distract him by starting the purification. It worked. I’m sorry if this has displeased you koi, I just didn’t want to be separated from you by this hanyou.” She said quietly.

He rumbled deeply in his chest. * We have chosen well in our mate. But I feel there is more to her story than what she is saying. * His beast rumbled. “I forgive you koi, but know this,” he said as he raised his face form her neck to look into her eyes. “I know there is more to this. We will deal with Naraku, then have our talk.” He promised.

“H … Hai.” She stammered in assent.

“Good.” He then took her lips roughly, plundering her warm cavern.

“How touching” said a snide voice behind them. “But it isn’t going to stop me from escaping.”

Sesshomaru snarled, and quickly set Kagome behind him to protect her. “I don’t think so. Today will be your last in this realm.”

Naraku gave a short bark of laughter. “I do believe that you are wrong. You didn’t take the Jewel when you had the chance. Now you will never get it! Prepare to die.” He said as he rushed Sesshomaru.

* We must protect our mate! * His beast spoke as Sess jumped to head Naraku off, digging his claws once more into the slow hanyou’s shoulders and pushing him farther from his mate.

Kagome watched as the two males collided once again. ‘I have to do something, but what? The Jewel has become tainted again, maybe I could start to purify it once more, but I don’t want to accidentally hit Sesshomaru. What can I do?’ She questioned herself.

* We have a connection to the Jewel, if we focus, we can try to call it to us, pulling it away from the filth that has it in his grasp, and purifying it in the process, ensuring that he can’t touch it again. * Sakura answered.

Kagome stopped in her fretting. ‘Do you think it will work?’

* It is worth the shot to stop that thing from taking the Jewel. * She answered reasonably.

‘Let’s do this.’ She returned, as she started to gather her miko powers to call to the Jewel.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Well, what do you think? This chapter was going to be MUCH shorter, but thanks hugely to Inu~Lover, it is not. Thank-you to everyone who has been very patient with me for not updateing as often as I would like. I hope that the wait for this chapter has been worth it.

Please rate and/or review. I like to hear from everyone.

Until we meet again!