The Better End of the Deal

A/N: Sorry for the long wait on the update. I’m getting around to my different stories~~


Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha. It belongs to it’s respective owners. I make no profit from my writing.

The Better End of the Deal
Chapter 3: The Truth of the Matter

The hot spring water felt heavenly against Kagome’s sticky, sweaty skin. She tried to force the images of a speared Inuyasha on the end of Sesshoumaru’s sword out of her mind, but it was not to be. He said that Inuyasha was alive and healthy, but that could mean a huge number of things in the eyes of the taiyoukai lord.

Scrubbing down with some rough soap that was set at the edge of the springs, Kagome sighed. She couldn’t remember anything and it was starting to scare her a bit. She had never had trouble remembering things before but right now her brain was so foggy that it was bothering her almost as much as not knowing the whereabouts of Inuyasha.

What weren’t Shippou and Sesshoumaru telling her? What had he done, or, maybe it was a case of what he hadn’t done. With a frown, she finally looked down to her body and gasped. In the center of her chest was a large, rather intimidating scar that ran from her shoulders, down her chest and even into her stomach. The skin was pale pink, as if it had been healed all at once and hadn’t had time to really properly heal through means that would surely take weeks and months.

Placing one hand over her chest to inspect it further, she again strained to remember what in the hell had happened. Growling softly in frustration, she vowed to get some answers as soon as she was done with her bath. Even if she had to pin Sango or Miroku down to get them…well, maybe not Miroku. Knowing him, he would take it entirely the wrong way and she would end up getting groped.

Finishing with her hair, she moved out of the springs and found a kimono hanging up with an obi. Quickly tying it, she moved for the door, walking out and marching purposefully down the hallway. She had answers she wanted-and she wanted them now.

~*~

Sesshoumaru looked up from his desk as Kagome burst in the door, completely ignoring the guards that were posted outside that tried to stop her. “Let me go! I have to speak with Sesshoumaru and I’m not leaving until I get some answers, damn it!” she shouted, deftly turning and moving out of their grasp.

Sango and Miroku looked with wide eyes to Kagome. It seemed she were in one of those moods right now, and they would have been afraid to be near her, if they were demons. She wasn’t entirely in control of her powers when she was upset, and it seemed she were quite upset at the moment.

Standing, the slayer stood and gave her friend a soft and concerned look. “It’s alright Kagome, please calm down.”

The miko stomped up to her friend before saying, “No, it’s not alright! I have a scar the size of the island of Hokkaido on my chest! Everything is NOT ALRIGHT!” she shouted again, her entire body shaking now.

Not knowing was the thing unnerving her the most. What had happened, and what had she gotten herself into? If she had such an injury, then how did Inuyasha fair? How were Miroku and Sango actually doing?

“You’re alright, though, right? You’re not injured?” suddenly she was looking her friends over frantically trying to discern if they were healthy or not, her powers flaring to life at invisible wounds.

“We’re fine, Kagome. You were the only one to be injured.” Miroku spoke up, his face grave. She had never seen a more serious look on his face, and if anything, it made her more scared, and unnerved her further.

“Then what the hell happened? And where is Inuyasha?” she asked, fighting off the tears that wanted to surface.

The monk looked to Sesshoumaru. So this is what the taiyoukai had meant when he said that it seemed like Kagome couldn’t remember anything.

The taiyoukai nodded. He was pack, and important things like this fell to his shoulders. He almost wanted to delegate this position to someone else, just for this, but he would not neglect his duties. Face holding a blank look he said, “I am your pack leader now. Inuyasha has voluntarily denounced his position as leader of your group, and since that would dishonor my family further, I have taken over. Make no mistake, the hanyou Naraku must be taken down, and you will need someone strong, like myself, on your team to defeat him.” He explained quietly, watching with growing sadness as she began to go weak in the knees with disbelief.

Kagome didn’t hear most of his little speech. She barely heard past “Inuyasha has voluntarily denounced his position as leader of your group” before she could feel the blood drain from her face and feel her knees go weak. Her entire body felt as if it were shaking with the force of a few 10-scale earthquakes, with a couple of tsunami’s just for good measure.

“…he…left?” she could hear herself, ‘Was that my voice?’, say in a voice that wasn’t her own. It was soft, and broken, more foreign than her math classes to her.

Sesshoumaru stood as she went to fall, and was in an instant next to her side, catching her.

Kagome felt herself falling, but someone caught her. The only thing she could do now though was swallow hard through the tears and question, “…Kikyou?”

Sango bit her lower lip before Miroku came up behind her and wrapped a comforting arm around her-his hentai ways being restrained most fiercely in the wake of their friend’s obvious shock and pain.

“Yes, miko.” The taiyoukai said, before a quiet sob broke through her body.

“…he…left us for her.” Kagome wasn’t sure what to feel first, sadness, or anger, but both were assaulting her senses, and she wasn’t sure whether or not to cry, scream, shout, or go purify something.

Sesshoumaru frowned, as her violently altered scent attacked his sensitive nose. “Yes.” He answered again, not sure if she was asking a question, but wanting to confirm it for her.

“…he…left me for her…” and now she was sobbing into Sesshoumaru’s chest, her heartbreak visible in her body’s language, but also her scent, which now reeked of sadness and despair.

The taiyoukai raised an eyebrow before wrapping an arm around her to turn her from him. “Go rest. This has obviously shocked you and taken a toll on you.” He said, ignoring the look that Sango was giving him. It was not his job to comfort her over his hanyou half-brother. He had informed her that he had left. As far as he was concerned his duty was over. Besides, he had to ready them for battle. They would face of Naraku soon.

The taijya narrowed her eyes at Sesshoumaru. He was just going to let her walk away like that? What if she did something brash like purifying his household, or worse, killing herself?

Kagome wasn’t sure what to do. First he was holding her, then he was telling her to go rest. Really, she just wanted a hug, but she certainly wasn’t going to get it from the taiyoukai. What did she expect from him, anyway? He may have just declared that he was their new pack leader, but that didn’t mean squat in the eyes of Kagome. She never saw their team in youkai terms. She didn’t have to do a thing he said. But right now, none of that mattered. Right now, she hurt all over, but her heart was the thing that hurt the most, followed in a close second by her head.

Oh, her head burned. She could never remember having a worse headache, but she quickly blamed it on the tears that were so freely coursing down her cheeks. Without a word to any of them, she turned and left the room before finding herself back in her room and lying down on her bed.

What were just a few moments ago stifled sobs, were now anguished wails of despair. She sobbed into the silken pillows upon her bed, and her power fluctuated harshly around her, warning all the demon presences in the castle near her to leave her be, or risk accidental purification.

Why would he do this? She couldn’t believe that he would hate her and even Miroku and Sango enough to willingly leave them for Kikyou. Even the other miko’s name made her heart clench further. What had she done to deserve this constant torture of her heart?

~*~

Inuyasha was thinking along the same lines, as he watched Kikyou in a local village helping heal some ill humans that resided there.

When he looked at the miko, he saw Kagome, and when he looked at Kagome, he saw the miko. They were two people with one soul, and he couldn’t seem to keep the differences between them, well, apart.

Kikyou was kind, but it wasn’t true kindness. The truth of the matter was that she was kind because she had to be, not because she wanted to be. Kagome was kind to anyone and everyone who showed kindness to her. And even some that did not.

Their beauty was unmatched by any other in the hanyou’s eyes, but where Kagome’s beauty was soft and gentle, and so full of life, Kikyou’s, on the other hand, was dark, and secretive-seductive even. Her eyes were lustful, and seemed to draw people in, much like himself, where Kagome’s was light itself, and showed her innocent nature throughout.

He was constantly comparing the two mikos’ and he kept finding elements that he wanted of both. He was Kagome’s friend, but now he was Kikyou’s mate. What could he do? His demon instincts roared at him to protect his mate, but his human side kept waging war with him and saying that he was a fool to throw Kagome away.

Why had he so easily tossed her and his friends aside? Oh yes, Kikyou had informed him that if he didn’t, she would leave him. Wasn’t she supposed to leave him anyway once she returned to the earth?

Shaking that thought away, he swore. He didn’t want to lose either of them. He would never fully condone Kikyou’s stealing of souls to stay “alive” but he certainly didn’t want to see her gone. Not yet, anyway. He loved her, and he had loved her. When he had figured out what Naraku had done to them, he swore that he would forgive her, and that things would go back to the way they were. However, that couldn’t really happen.

Kikyou was dead.

There was nothing else he could do about that.

Growling softly to himself, he tried to shake the thoughts from his mind. Whenever he thought too much about either miko, he ended up with a head-ache, and right now, he had one the size of Mt. Fuji.

It was best for him to watch Kikyou’s backside as she walked through the village. It was such a pleasing distraction for the hanyou.

~*~

It would be a few hours before Kagome’s tears stilled enough for her to even think of moving. Not that she wanted to anyway, but a maid had come in and announced that dinner was ready, and that her lord insisted that she be there.

‘My lord, my ass.’ She thought bitterly, as she shifted to sit up, moving her hands to wipe at her tears and try and sniffle out the blockage of snot that had formed in her nose and at the back of her throat.

‘Damn sinuses.’ She cursed mentally as she stood, trying to straighten out the kimono she had been wearing.

Kagome was in a very foul mood, and the maid was wise enough to vacate the room shortly after entering it. The girl’s power was rather distressing, and she valued her life.

As the girl left, and quiet quickly, she sighed before looking to the window. Clouds were gathering, and that was almost a welcome sight, except for the thunder she heard, and the lightening she saw coming from a distance.

She hated storms.

Standing, she moved towards the door and walked out to go to the dinning room, unaware of her overall appearance with her red, puffy face and dark eyes. She was scarier than Sesshoumaru was on some days to his staff, and they steered clear of her, and even took detours to stay out of her way. They really felt like living another day.

Kagome didn’t notice much of anything as she found the dinning room and walked in, shocking her companions. None of them expected to see her at all, but to see her in the condition she was in now was even more shocking.

She sat down quietly and looked to Sesshoumaru, who was holding back a growl. If he had had company, she would not have been even partially presentable, and really, he couldn’t find himself to be so terribly distraught over that. She looked downright…well…miserable.

Taking a bite of his rice, the others followed suit and began to eat their meal. He was pleased to see that Kagome had some very good table manners and she ate with quiet grace. She may have not looked all that pleasing, but at least she was not making a fool of herself.

Kagome was starved. She wasn’t sure how long it had been since her last meal, but her body was making up for it as she quickly disposed of what was on her plate, before one of the servers offered her more, which she accepted.

She was catching up apparently, and that was something else that pleased the taiyoukai. He didn’t want her to hurt herself over his half-brother, and it seemed that she would get through the trauma he had inspired upon her in time. She certainly wasn’t going to starve to death.

She smiled when Shippou and Rin began to babble about their recent reading lessons that Jaken had gotten started for them, and she wondered if maybe she could help teach them. It would certainly get her mind off of the hanyou who obviously didn’t care for her one little bit.

What kind of friend does that to someone they care about? She couldn’t answer it, and couldn’t even begin to think of hurting her friends like that. Pushing the thoughts away, she spied tray of mocchi squares on the table and smiled as she picked up a couple and took small bites.

This was something that apparently didn’t change over time, and they tasted the same as back home, except they were certainly not her mother’s. Then again, she didn’t expect them to be. Every mom has their own touch to add to their cooking.

With a faraway look, she ate the two sweet mocchi bars and then looked to Sesshoumaru, who was watching her eat. She just looked back to him, not sure what he was staring at, but at the moment not in a frame of mind to actually care. Her ire had faded a bit in the wake of good food, and even a little sake that had been served with dinner. It helped to ease the pain in her head as well, so she was almost agreeable right now.

The taiyoukai watched her finish her meal, before she spotted the mocchi sweets on the table and she took a couple. The look on her face was one that he hadn’t seen before on her, and he only figured that she was thinking long and hard about something, but this something wasn’t causing her pain, so he deduced that it wasn’t his half-brother that she was thinking of.

It was odd how easily he found watching her. Even after his cold reaction to her this afternoon, she still looked at him with a face clear of emotion. Perhaps they would be able to cooperate better than he previously thought.

He nodded softly in approval to her before he went back to his own food and she almost had to smile. At least he would always be predictable. He would never betray her if she were to be under his care. He was too prideful a creature to betray his own. He had so much honor that it was a wonder he was able to do anything of his own volition without constantly questioning himself.

Or did he do that?

She couldn’t read his mind, but she was curious about him. The moment she met him, he was in her face, oh-my-god, larger-than-life, and perfection, all in one.

He almost killed her that day, if it had not been for Tetsusaiga.

Remembering the sword, reminded her of Inuyasha, and she sighed softly. This was going to be tough to forget. She hadn’t been awake for any of it. Where had she been? Certainly she would have remembered something momentous?

‘Maybe I was asleep.’ She thought quietly. ‘Or passed out?’

Again, her mind traveled to the large scar on her chest. ‘Just where in the hell did I get that?’ she thought, frowning in thought.

At the sound of thunder overhead, she clenched her fists a bit.

She absolutely hated thunderstorms.

Apparently, at Rin’s scream, she wasn’t the only one. As soon as that thunder boomed, there were two shaking children in her lap, and a pair of golden eyes trained upon her. Giving him a weak smile, she whispered, “It’ll be alright…”

And with that, she stood and asked Sesshoumaru for her backpack. Curiously, he had it fetched for her and she pulled out two cd players, one that she usually listened to during storms, and one that Shippou used.

Pulling out a couple of mix cds of some of her favorite music, she placed the headphones over each of their ears (with Shippou reassuring Rin, of course) and instantly they could only hear the music, and not the storms.

She picked them up and carried them to their room, with Sesshoumaru following closely, curious as to her devices, and with out they had quickly quieted the children’s cries. Setting both into bed, they smiled to her and were both quite relaxed. That helped reassure Kagome, and she was big enough that she would suffer through the storms. Well, as much as she could. She would probably be up all night, or until they stopped.

She turned around and almost ran into the taiyoukai lord, as he gave her a questioning glance towards the headphones and players. Giving him another soft smile she gestured for him to walk out of the room before she started to walk with him.

“Those were devices, from my time…they play music.” She said, before he asked, “Music? How so, miko?”

She shrugged her shoulders lightly. “I don’t know exactly how the machines work, but there’s a small laser in it that runs over the disks, and then, it plays in the headphones.”

“A laser sounds dangerous.” He said darkly, wondering if he should go take the thing away from Rin.

She shook her head. “It can be, but in this case, it’s not. It doesn’t hurt anyone or anything. It just, plays music.”

He glanced over at her and noticed that she was on edge now, and weary herself. At another thunder boom, she jumped, and he now knew why she kept two of those strange devices with her; one for her, and one for the kit.

He almost had to smile at her unselfish nature again. Once more, she proved her love for other creatures and especially for those younger than her. Her motherly instincts were strangely powerful, and he found comfort in that.

They came to her room and she sighed softly before saying. “I guess this is goodnight.”

He almost felt disappointed at her words, before he nodded. “Goodnight, miko.”

She looked to him before saying, “You know…you used my name before…it’s okay if you do. I don’t mind.” She kind of hoped he would. No one else (demon-wise) had called her by her name like they should’ve. It was kind of unnerving at first, but she found that she preferred that over anything else he could call her.

He raised an eyebrow before nodding. He could try that-if it didn’t work out though, he could go back to calling her miko, or whatever else he desired to call her.

She opened up her door and walked inside before getting into her nightgown. Sleep sounded good, and if she could get past the fear of the storms, then she was sure she could sleep well.

However, that was not to be, and a few hours later had her sitting up in her bed, waiting out the storms.

~*~

Sesshoumaru shifted through his paperwork. He had left Kagome at her room exactly three hours, twenty seven minutes, and forty eight seconds ago.

Forty-nine…
Fifty…
Fifty-one…

Throwing his pen down in frustration he stood and made his way out of the room. He could smell her fear and anxiety from here. Though he had told himself that it was the storms only and nothing more, he still could remember her tears from earlier in the day. He had not comforted her then, and he was not and had not comforted her as of yet.

This was starting to tax on him. He wanted to be an attentive leader, but he was acting as badly as Inuyasha when it came to the girl’s feelings and needs.

He would never be accused of acting as horribly as that half-breed.

Feelings were never his department though. Even with Rin, he had not had to deal with too many emotional aspects of her humanity. Sure, she had nightmares, and he soothed them. If she was hurt, he had a healer heal her. In her ignorance of the world, he hired a teacher to teach her. In her naked-ness he provided clothing and in her fragility, he had housing and nourishment for her.

He knew the miko was different—she always had been.

Her fears worried him, and her tears bothered him on a deeper level than that of protector, though he would never admit that, not willingly.

As he came to her door, he could see the lightening flash from her room and it lit up a little of the crack under the door and he walked in, meeting the eyes of the miko. She was visibly tired, and the scent of her fear and anxiety was stronger here.

She would have been surprised if she had not been so tired. And her head hurt. Her heart throbbed with pain. Why should she be the one who was so miserable? Inuyasha was probably not regretting a thing, and right now she just wanted to melt away and not feel anything anymore. The one thing that was showing up frequently was this demon, one whom she knew didn’t want to be near her, but then, why was he here?

He shuffled over to her bedside and sat in a nearby chair before saying, “You should be sleeping, Kagome.”

She blinked before saying, “I know. The storms…I don’t like storms.” She finished quietly, and he nodded. He knew that, obviously. ‘Great Kagome, sound real intelligent there, why don’t you.’ She thought to herself.

He gave her one look over before saying, “You’ve stopped crying.”

She smiled weakly before nodding. “I can’t cry my life away. Especially not for someone who doesn’t really care about me.”

He gave her an approving look before saying, “Nothing can get you here, Kagome. Not the lightening or the rain from the storms.” He was trying to soothe her fears, but he wasn’t sure of the best way to go about it.

She smiled a little more when he used her name before she replied, “I know. You won’t let anything hurt me, but…I still don’t like them…they still scare me.”

One slender eyebrow rose in silent question, and Kagome elaborated. “Sometimes…tornadoes form, and they rip up the earth…without warning…but even if nothing like that happens, the thunder is loud and keeps me awake…and the lightening is bright and blinding. It can be pretty sometimes, but…” she shrugged her shoulders gently.

He nodded in understanding. He had heard of these “tornadoes” and had seen the destruction they had wrought upon the earth. When Mother Nature was particularly unpleased with humans or demons that is when she struck.

“…are they keeping you up too?” she asked quietly, before he looked back to her, his thoughts scattering for the moment.

“The storms? No. I had some paperwork to go over.” He said simply, and it dawned on her that he was here of his own volition, trying to…well, she wasn’t sure what he was trying to do, but it was still a sweet gesture that he was here. It gave her a little hope that maybe he did care about her a little bit.

She hoped to the gods that someone did.

He saw her features lighten and he wondered what he had said to make her face ease of it’s pain and previous fear. When she spoke, he understood.

“Thank you for coming to check up on me. If you still have work to do, you don’t have to stay here. I know nothing will get me here.” She said softly, giving him a little smile.

He didn’t realize really what he had done, but she was smiling now and seemed less scared. Perhaps he would try to do…whatever he had done…more often.

“Good night, Kagome. Pleasant dreams.” He said, as he stood and walked out of her door, feeling slightly pleased with himself. He hadn’t done much of anything, and his pride and honor hadn’t been compromised in any way. It was a good feeling.

“Good night, Sesshoumaru.” He heard her softly spoken reply.

After that, Kagome fell into a peaceful sleep.

~*~



A/N: Well, here’s another chapter. Hope you enjoyed. Please R/R.

Kudos, Loves!
Sayuri-chan~~