Blood Stained

>.< So sorry about the delay guys.

Thanks Eve for Beta-Reading!

Blood Stained

Chapter 30: The Hunt Begins

Kagome had spent the whole night wide awake, not being able to sleep. It was not because Sesshomaru was present because after he left, he did not come back. Perhaps he was still around, but since his youkai was hidden, she could not sense his presence. All she could do was hope that the sleep she had gotten on the plane would get her through the day.

There was something else that had prevented her from sleeping.

Pain.

Kagome had been having it for hours now. A sharp pain inside of her stomach, no matter what she did or how she positioned herself, it refused to go away. Kagome felt slightly nervous considering her pregnancy, and she had tried to re-assure herself that worst things had happened before and the baby had been okay.

She was currently leaning against the window observing the panoramic view from the hotel. Since she was in another country stuck with him, she might as well take in the sights while she could.

Although something had been bothering her; what Sesshomaru had said before leaving yesterday.

She didn't like how it had drawn a resemblance. He was his beast, since the beast was a part of him. She wasn't Kikyo or Rin. Well they did share a blood relationship and she was Kikyo's reincarnation but… There it was. She didn't like that their situation could be similar.

And they weren't.

Technically she was a part of both Kikyo and Rin. In his case his other personality had taken her life away from her. You couldn't even begin to compare them to Sesshomaru. Kagome bit the inside of her cheeks as she kept watching the sunrise. She figured he would be back soon, wanting to use as much of the sunlight as possible while they traveled. Though she wished he would inform her of the plans he had made. After all he had no reason to leave her in the dark this way. Then again, she rarely gave him a chance to talk to her.

Nonetheless, she felt the growing feeling of rage steadily increasing inside of her. It demanded that she yell more, but she suppressed it. Last time her body had nearly given up on her just because of that one outburst, so she was now deciding to conserve her energy. Although she had to admit, screaming at him for the first time in all that time felt quite liberating.

Quickly, she was brought out of her thoughts when the door to their room opened revealing Sesshomaru. He made his way towards her as if he had never gone missing, before handing her a paper bag. Kagome took it and opened it only to find out there was a bagel inside of it.

"You need to eat something," he stated, before rummaging through his own luggage looking for something.

She didn't say anything, but he knew she wondered where he spent the night. Sesshomaru had done something he often did during these past five hundred years. He walked. A youkai like him required solitude or perhaps, he had gotten use to being mostly alone, nonetheless walks were his way to carefully clearing his mind.

Sesshomaru had grown use to being alone during the last few centuries. He had not changed much, he still had his sense of honor. He had promised Rin and he would keep that promise. The feelings of guilt would not disappear until he did so. He did not say anything against the miko's harsh words because they were the result of the pain he caused her.

He had actually been quite surprised that she had not screamed until now. He had seen her more furious in the feudal era. Then again, by now she was probably at the end of her rope.

In the past, he would have been angry and would have made her regret the way she talked to him. Not now. He also understood the miko's struggle to be herself and only herself. Unfortunately, just as he could not be simply Sesshomaru, she could not be simply Kagome. Rin had meant a great deal to him, he had raised her as his own daughter and he saw her first before Kagome had come into his life.

The same could be said about Kagome. The beast had ruined her life, destroyed her so much, that it was what she saw first. She could not push the beast aside and he could not forget about Rin.

This hardly mattered though.

Sesshomaru intended on completing the jewel with her, then disappearing from her life. It was what she wished and it would be how he made it up to her. There would be no them, there was no reason for each other to see the other one.

He had done nothing wrong, never betrayed the mating, he intended on letting her live the rest of her life as she saw fit. Once she passed away, then perhaps he would find someone else, although youkais were decreasing in numbers every day and it would become harder. Nonetheless, he would have an heir.

Kiyoshi.

Nothing was more appropriate than the name Rin had picked.

He hadn't talked about the pup with Kagome yet, and it could wait. It was already hard enough for her to travel with him, he didn't want to add fuel to the fire just yet. The subject would come up once they would be done. Perhaps it would be better since she would be close to her due date when they finished.

Technically, she couldn't prevent him from having custody of the child. After all, he was the father, financially he was much more prepared to take care of a baby than she was. He could fight for custody if he wished, even if her rebellion against the conception of the child came up. She didn't have enough money to defend herself, but he did.

He wouldn't put her through that though. After all, he had dragged her through enough in the past, he would not make her life another nightmare. Still, he wanted to take care of his pup. He knew about the shrine's finances and he was aware, that by themselves they might not make it financially. Plus, he doubted there was enough room in the small house for an additional room just for the baby.

He was ready to provide them with money, as long as she did not refuse him contact with his pup. But, they would cross that bridge in due time. For now, they had to focus all of their attentions on gathering the last few jewel shards.

Sesshomaru sat on the edge of the bed as she finished eating. Unlike her, he barely required any food at all to maintain his energy, even though his appearance was human. Usually, he would just grab a bite here and there. It would last him for weeks. He made sure to remember that she was human and she was pregnant, so he had planned for her to eat throughout their journey.

Hopefully they would reach the city where the shard had last been seen before it was too dark, giving them enough time in which they would be able to begin their research in locating it. Plus the area was not very big, meaning if it was indeed there the miko should be able to sense it immediately, shortening their trip there.

Sesshomaru was not bothered by the silence in the room, but he could see her growing edgy. Perhaps there was more she wished to say? He turned his body in her direction, his eyes fixed on her as if he simply was waiting for her to express herself. There was nothing she could add that he did not already know. If it helped her to get it out from inside of her, he saw no problem with allowing her to be able to do it.

Kagome could feel his eyes on her again and she did not like it. Did he want something from her? Because honestly all she wanted to do was leave. This trip felt as if it had been long enough already, she could already feel how tired she was from the lack of sleep during the night. If she kept this up for too long it would eventually catch up with her.

Quickly, Kagome finished her food before rising to her feet.

"Can we leave now?" she asked, his eyes were still on her.

The tension of his presence, everything was enough to make her tense. Her heart was pounding in her chest even though nothing was happening yet. She could barely tolerate being in his presence, this was obviously going to make this trip difficult, but it had to be done.

Sesshomaru nodded before getting up and making his way to the door.

"You will not require any luggage." In the eventuality that they would need to remain there for the night, he had already prepared everything for them. Not that he expected her to sleep.

Kagome threw the paper bag in the garbage before grabbing her purse. She followed him out of the room. She cast a glance back in the direction of the door, praying they would be back soon. She couldn't help that her eyes kept focusing on the watch he wore on his wrist. Hoping with all her heart, they would not require the use of that thing.

***

Kagome had begun feeling slightly dizzy after two hours into their traveling. She blamed it on the road for being so bumpy, but she knew it was because of her growing pain. She did her best to hide her current state from him, she didn't need his fake attentions towards her. Nonetheless, it was becoming more and more difficult to act normally.

Her head was slightly spinning now, she could feel sweat drops leaking down her back. The pain confused Kagome, it was not like the ones she was used to, nor was it like the ones she had back in the feudal era. Unconsciously, she brought a hand to her stomach and began to slowly caress it, hoping to soothe the pain away.

Perhaps this was a disadvantage to not having youkais around. The only one she could see at the moment had his suppressed. Back in the feudal era Sesshomaru had been able to ease her worries as he could feel the baby and discern its scent, something that she could not. This time, there was no one able to tell her what was happening, she didn't know if her child was okay.

Though, she much preferred Sesshomaru in his current form, without his beast running free.

As Kagome stared outside through the car's window, she found herself wondering what kind of trick the fates had played on her. After everything Sesshomaru had put her through, it sounded insane that she was asked to complete the jewel with him. She felt bitter, as it looked like their fates were so deeply intertwined.

Death seemed a lot better than remaining stuck with him forever.

"You are ill," he finally stated.

Sesshomaru had been watching her struggle, seeing her wince in pain for the last three hours. At first he waited for her to make her predicament more obvious, but she never did. Although, it came as no surprise, since she probably did not want his help. Now he asked, even though, he probably wouldn't get any words out of her.

Kagome glanced his way, feeling uncomfortable. Apparently, she had been very obvious.

"I'm fine," she answered, before looking away.

She knew what he was trying to do, or for whose sake he was doing what he did, but she didn't want his caring. Nothing he could do could erase what had been done. The only way she could heal was for him to be out of her life, for good. But it seemed every time she managed to slip farther away, the more she was dragged back in.

He didn't believe her. "We can stop if this ride is too much."

She closed her eyes. "No."

Kagome had no intention of letting anything make this ride longer or lengthen their trip. It was long enough already.

Sesshomaru glanced at the hand she had on her stomach. He found himself wondering if it was the source of her pain. Perhaps if he had his youki, it would have been easier to tell.

"Your stomach, is it bothering you?" He knew she didn't want to talk to him, but he had to know.

During all these years, Sesshomaru had never come across another woman who had the same pregnancy pains she had had back in the feudal era. It was not only very strange, but it brought up many questions. How did hers develop and for what reason? It was never because the pup wasn't healthy, the same could be said about her. It was something else.

And now, he wondered if it was happening again.

It seemed she understood where this was heading.

"It's not like that," she said, her voice barely a whisper as she winced.

The pain had suddenly increased and it was making her tolerance towards him go down. The more suffering she experienced the less she wanted to hear his voice. She brought another hand on her stomach, holding it with both hands. Her face felt as if it was burning because of how she overworked herself, trying to push the pain away.

Sesshomaru remembered she said she was three months along. That meant, there was no way the pain she was experiencing was due to labor. Even for a youkai this was way too early. Unless there was something wrong with the pup of course. The problem was, in this case, she could not be taken to a normal hospital.

He pressed a red button which was located under his seat, a few seconds later, the car pulled over and stopped. Sesshomaru stepped out of the car closing the door behind him, which left Kagome by herself inside of it.

She couldn't help but wonder what exactly he was up to. Kagome had made it clear that she didn't want to stop. She wouldn't let this pain drag this trip out longer. Would he really stop the trip because of her pain? She knew very well her own pain and suffering had never stopped him from doing anything considerate in the past. Why did he decide to be different now?

Kagome felt like the wait was never-ending, as she watched him talk to the driver through the window. What could they possibly be talking about for so long? Her pain had stopped growing, but it was still present. Kagome kept rubbing her stomach, even though it didn't seem to be doing anything. Perhaps in some way, she was trying to bring comfort to her little Kiyoshi.

A tiny smile appeared on her lips, as she realized she referred to him by his name for the first time. It was only natural, especially in less than 3 months, she would be holding him in her arms. Finally, Sesshomaru came back in to the car, not saying a word and they began driving again. Kagome stared at him for a few minutes, waiting for him to explain, but he never did. A tiny sigh escaped her lips before she dared to ask.

"What's going on?"

Nearly the whole time they had been driving they had been going straight ahead, but now, they turned and somehow, Kagome was getting the feeling that they were no longer going to their prior destination. Where were they heading, back to the hotel?

Sesshomaru titled his head to the side and looked at her.

"We're making a required stop."

If he told her where they were going, she would probably fight it. He couldn't take her to a hospital, he was taking her somewhere else. There were still a few mikos or youkais that possessed knowledge which could be compared to doctor's. Usually, there were a few scattered around the world, now they were heading for one.

The driver was a youkai, specifically requested by Sesshomaru, and he had discussed the possibilities with him. The youkai knew about the locations where youkais could be found and he was the one leading them there. He just hoped she was not in premature labor, this would not be good. Not right now.

Kagome didn't believe him. If it were a required and planned stop, he wouldn't have gotten out of the car to speak with the driver without her hearing him, by using the intercom. This had to be related to her.

"You're lying," she said, her tone firm.

She was stubborn. Something, he knew Rin wasn't, perhaps it was what shown the most difference between the two of them.

"Miko, you could be in labor. We will stop, you will be examined." Then he added, "It's not a hospital."

Kagome wanted to protest, but his words echoed in her mind. Labor? Now? It was way too soon! Last time she had gone to the doctor, she was told she was about 5 months along. This was way too soon. Could there be something wrong with the child? Her breathing rate increased slightly as she worried for the safety of Kiyoshi.

It was the only reason why she silently agreed to go with his new plan. Not because of Sesshomaru, but because she worried about Kiyoshi. His life came first, the jewel shards would wait for now. All she could do was hope that Sesshomaru was wrong. Kagome prayed that it had been caused by all of her recent stress.

She gently closed her eyes, before resting her head against the back of the seat. Sesshomaru knew she would not protest. It was obvious she had the pup's best interest in mind. A tiny sigh escaped him, as he finally looked away from her and stared right ahead.

At this rate, if things kept happening, they would never complete the jewel.

***

It took them nearly three hours to reach their destination. When they finally did, Kagome couldn't have been more relieved. Though the worst had passed since the pain had not increased during the time they had turned off from their main objective, it had remained the same.

Quickly enough, the driver had opened the door, Kagome had been the first one to get out. Sesshomaru closely following her out, like usual he took up and led the way. As Kagome took a look around, she realized they were nearly in the middle of a forest. There was only one explanation for this, it meant they were going to see someone who didn't want to be easily found. A youkai.

Thinking about this now, also made Kagome realized that she would need to get ready to give birth at home. If Kiyoshi resembled Inuyasha, he would be born with ears on top his head that were not human and it would be somewhat difficult to explain that. Heck, she could not even get a midwife to help her, the only people who could be present would be her family.

That was if she wasn't in labor right now. Kagome was trying to keep up with Sesshomaru's pace, it was difficult for her to walk. It seemed he eventually noticed her struggle as he turned around and saw she was far behind him. Instead of waiting for her, he walked back, until he reached her side.

"Do you require help?"

"Not from you," she said, her voice laced with venom. "And don't do this," she added.

He looked at her slightly confused. He had not done anything yet.

"Don't give me this caring crap." She knew him better than that. She didn't know who he was trying to be, but it wasn't who she knew him to be.

"If you want to do something for me, like you claim to want, then stop doing this. I'm not Rin. You didn't hurt her, you hurt me – it hurt me." She was trying to differentiate him from his beast, but clearly they were almost the same. They both hurt her.

"There was little I could do stop it." Which was true, he had absolutely no control over what his beast had done to her. He could not even stop it from taking control.

She bit her bottom lip, as she remembered.

"Maybe you couldn't stop it, but you didn't have to be so emotionless about it. Not once did you care what it did to me. If it hadn't been for the sake of your own freedom, you would have never helped me escape."

The fake conversations they shared. The façade they put on for the beast. All of it had been nothing but an illusion, a means to get their way. Never had they been uniting during it. It had all been for show and nothing else.

Somehow, she wasn't done. But this time, it was different from when she had been yelling. It was as if she wanted him to know, because for the first time in his life, he was listening.

"I cried. I was broken, shattered to pieces, and all you could say to me was that I should realize what a great honor had been bestowed upon me." As she spoke, her voice was cracking.

The memories of the pain was all still so fresh in her mind. Perhaps because it was still so recent, at least to her it was.

"I never cared about someone's title. It doesn't matter." She tried to explain it in a way he would relate to so he would understand her better.

"Like Rin. She never cared about you being strong, or being a Lord. She never saw you as your title, she saw you for who you were."

Though she had wanted to stress the fact that she wasn't Rin, it was the best way to explain things to him.

"It wasn't an honor, because to me, you were a horrible person." She breathed out heavily. "You couldn't stop your beast, you didn't make things easier for me either. You rudely forced me to do things I didn't want to, you nearly refused to acknowledge me even as being a person."

Kagome never thought she'd be able to express herself normally to him. After everything that had happened, she always thought she would need to cry it out, or yell it, but no. She was speaking as if she was in control, as if it was freeing her. Being in control was something she had never felt in his presence. It was a new feeling for her. Her tears had been flooding her eyes the whole time, but they had not fallen. This time, her words were stronger than her emotions.

"I refuse to believe that five hundred years was enough to change someone like you."

In her mind, Sesshomaru would never truly change. He might alter his thinking, but he would still be the same person deep inside. The same feelings, the same reactions and the same selfishness he had back in the Feudal Era.

For the first time since she began speaking, a tear rolled down her cheek. Gently, Kagome closed her eyes, letting her body enjoy the relief. Her heart was nearly ready to burst open from the emotions swirling inside of her, for a second, she felt breathless. Her body was slightly shaking, but it hardly mattered. This whole time, while she was experiencing this, she had kept walking.

She titled her head to the side slightly, her eyes half-opened.

"You don't feel sorry for what you did to me. You feel sorry because you think you betrayed the only person you ever let in." Although she despised him, there were a few things she was willing to admit.

"Rin had the perfect father figure, because you would have protected her with your life. She saw a person, nobody else ever saw." She opened her eyes fully. "Someone that can only be seen through the eyes of a child."

There it was. The Sesshomaru Rin knew was like a child's imaginary friend. You can't share it with anyone, because you're the only one who can see it. Kagome gently wiped away some of her tears before decreasing her pace slightly so that she wasn't beside him anymore. She didn't want to feel his presence beside her at the moment. She almost waited for him to say something, but he did not utter a word.

Sesshomaru was staring straight ahead as he kept leading the way. As he replayed her words in his mind, he found himself pondering upon a question. If the miko had not been related to Rin, would he still be trying to make it up to her right now?

He remembered the woman many, many years ago, before he even knew about the link between Rin and Kagome. He had often looked back, re-lived that moment. Perhaps she wouldn't listen, but he would share it.

"A long time ago, there was this woman." Kagome raised her head up slightly, nearly surprised that he had spoken. "I was walking down a dark street and she launched herself at me." Somehow, he remembered that scene too well.

The expression in her eyes… it had been the same as the miko.

"She was hurt and bloody. There was panic in her voice, fear in her eyes. A man was trying to rape her, but before I could even speak, he appeared and she ran again."

At his words, Kagome felt as if her heart was caught in her throat. Mostly because she could relate to the woman, her fear and her desire to run, to escape.

"It was the first time I felt guilty." Sesshomaru was not one to admit his faults. Long had he strongly believed he had no flaws, but things had changed.

"I did not feel guilty because you were Rin's descendant. I was not aware of that fact at the time." He wanted to stress that point, to make sure she knew.

"I understood for the first time what your words meant. You said many times that what I did – what had happened – was considered different in your time. And for the first time, I saw it through your eyes."

At that moment Kagome stopped walking. At that instant she felt overwhelmed with feelings. She wasn't touched by his words or moved by the epiphany he had that day. It was the realization that it took him nearly five hundred years to realize he had made a mistake. Perhaps it was a big step for someone like him to admit he had done something wrong, but that meant nothing to her.

Although, it was nice to know he finally understood what he had done wrong. He finally saw the act for what it was. Perhaps he hadn't been the one to do it, literally, but it didn't matter. For the first time, he could admit that something had been wrong.

Kagome swallowed hard, not knowing what to say. She knew she didn't have to answer, but she wanted to.

"This proves you can feel. A little late, but you finally realized you had a heart."

She did not mean this in a good way. It was a pure statement, that like everyone else he had a beating heart inside of him. It didn't make him special, it made him normal.

Sesshomaru nodded slightly, she barely even saw it.

The rest of the time they walked in complete silence, Kagome slightly behind Sesshomaru. The conversation had ended as quickly as it had started. She had nothing else to share with him at the moment.

It took about ten minutes for them to finally reach a cave. Sesshomaru was the first one to stop and Kagome imitated his action. They slowly made their way inside of the cave then. Kagome had expected it to be dark, but instead, it was lighted by many lights. Deep inside, she could see the figure of someone, sitting down on the ground.

"Sesshomaru-sama," said the person, before emerging from its corner of darkness.

Kagome observed the woman carefully. She had different pink markings on her face, her red eyes were glowing in the light as she approached them. She also looked extremely old, which was something she was not used to with youkais.

She bowed to Sesshomaru before focusing her attention on Kagome. She looked at her up and down, her eyes lingering on her stomach. Then, she backed away, going back and sitting down where she had previously been.

"Sit in front of me, human."

Although she despised the nickname, Kagome walked over to where the youkai was and sat down. Not a word was spoken, as the youkai closed her eyes and extended her arms in front of Kagome, her bracelets clinking together. She began to slightly hum, as if she was waiting to pick up a sound wave or something. She reminded Kagome of the fake fortunetellers that could be found everywhere.

A few seconds passed, while they remained in full silence. Then, the youkai approached her, placing her hands on Kagome's stomach, causing Kagome's aura to flair up in response. A tiny smirk appeared on the youkai's face.

"A miko. Interesting." Youkais were rare, but mikos even more. A lot of people these days could be mikos, or monks, but because of the decreasing population of youkais, their powers never developed. They were supposed to protect humans, but if there were no youkais to get rid of, there was no threat.

Kagome knew the youkai was trying to figure out what was wrong with her, but she didn't like her aggressiveness. She let herself calm down, but she remained on guard just in case she would try something.

Sesshomaru watched as Kagome's anger was apparent on her face. She was indeed very protective of the pup, not that he was surprised. He watched, as Kagome grew more uncomfortable as the youkai's hands roamed over her stomach. He knew she would not harm the miko or the pup, hence that was why he did not worry.

The youkai sensed something was off with the pup's aura, but easily attributed it to being a hanyou. It always took a while for their auras to stabilize. She also determined that Kagome was not in labor, it was still too soon. But there was something else. The pain did come from the pup. It was because of its aura, it was flaring it outwards, bringing pain to the mother. Though, she wasn't sure why it had such a reaction.

From what she could sense, the child was missing something. As if it had been deprived for too long, hundreds of years to long, which barely made any sense to the youkai.

"Sesshomaru-sama, you are the father of this pup, correct?" she asked, her tone as respectable as possible.

He nodded, wondering how this was related to the current situation.

"The pup has no bonding with its father." She pressed her hands down slightly on Kagome's stomach. "As if it never did, or it has been too long."

That was barely possible. Granted he had not made physical contact with the miko ever since they met in the future, but for her, the feudal era had only been a few weeks ago. How could it have created such a need in the pup?

Kagome felt frozen in position for a little while. The baby needed to have a bond with its father while it was inside of her? She felt shivers of fear go down her spine, for a second, her heart stopped beating. She could hear what was being said, but it felt as if she was not there.

From Sesshomaru's reaction she could tell it shouldn't have happened. After all it was true that the last time the beast had laid hands on her had been only a few weeks back. Then she thought it through and a gasp escaped her.

"The well," she said, her voice a whisper.

Both the youkai and Sesshomaru turned their attention towards her, waiting for her to explain further. The youkai did not understand what she was referring to, but Sesshomaru did.

Kagome seemed to break out of her trance. "T-the well," she stammered. "I couldn't go through… because of Kiyoshi." She remembered how she had struggled and prayed to make her way through. She had believed that without the bracelet, nothing could have stopped her.

"He wasn't meant to go through time. Only I was," she said, her voice filled with pain.

She had wanted to escape him so bad, but never did she think it would affect her child. She had traveled through time so often, never had it affected her, but then again, she was different. Kagome began to breathe shallow, as she hoped this was the only side effect. But then, she wondered.

"Why now? Why do I only have these pains now?" she asked, turning her attention on the youkai, who was slightly confused.

She was quick to answer. "Have you and the father been separated?" Kagome nodded. "Were you recently reunited?"

Kagome bit on her bottom lip. It was because the child could feel its father's presence again? As tears began to appear in her eyes, she found herself having another reason to arbor hatred towards Sesshomaru. Though, she found herself partly to blame. She had wanted to escape so badly, she had never thought about any type of consequences it would have on her child.

And now, the only way to get rid of the pain was to have some form of contact with Sesshomaru? Kagome did not blame Kiyoshi, the child was innocent in this, and simply required bonding with its father, but inside, it killed her. She could barely tolerate the fact of being in the same room with him and knew she wouldn't be able to handle more.

Then, Sesshomaru asked the question she should have asked. "Is there any way to lessen her pain, without bonding?"

Sesshomaru was not very excited about the idea either, much like her, but for different reasons. After everything that had happened and was done, he could not simply lay his hands on her. The idea made his guilt grow stronger and he knew it was not what she wanted. Him touching her would only deepened the wounds she had not been able close yet.

The youkai thought about it for a few seconds before nodding.

"I have these," she said before showing them a container, which had something that looked like pills inside. "They would force a sleeping state upon the pup, stopping the pains. But it would be temporary. An hour at the most."

Immediately Kagome shook her head. "No," she stated firmly, her hands on her stomach. "I will not take these, and affect my child. He is innocent in this."

The youkai seemed surprised. "Then you will keep on suffering?"

"I would rather suffer than to take these." Her aura had slightly flared up with her words, as if to state her point.

Since it was none of her business, the youkai put the pills away. After all, they were the ones who came to her for help.

"Very well then. I'm afraid there is nothing else I can do for you."

Kagome nodded, before taking a grip on the walls of the cavern to help herself up. She refused to take the only means that would relieve her from her pain. She strongly believed it would not always be constant. After all, she had been in the plane beside Sesshomaru for a long time and nothing had happened.

Perhaps it was because of her current state. She was all over the place, her aura was probably disturbed. Kiyoshi was seeking comfort with his father's presence. If she could just manage to calm down, perhaps the pain would cease. Until then, she would bear with it.

Kagome exited the cavern before Sesshomaru even began to move.

It came to him as no surprised that she refused the pills. She would rather suffer than make the pup suffer. Though, he doubted that included letting him touch her to ease the pain. But, he had seen her go through immense lengths for the people she loved. There was one thing that bothered him though, which was, he didn't think he could do it.

He remembered well everything that had happened, what the beast had done to her. He had experienced the guilt after learning about her connection to Rin, he had felt the shame. These feelings would most likely prevent him from even touching her. He knew it might be for the sake of the pup, but it would destroy her and deepen his own feelings.

Perhaps, they could find a way around it. With that, he began to walk, making sure to remain somewhat behind her. It seemed Kagome knew where she was going.

Sesshomaru strongly doubted that they could search for the shards in her current state, but she did not seem to see a problem with her pain. He hardly saw anything ever stop her. Perhaps she had forgotten that it might penalized them somewhere along the line.

If she was in pain she might not be able to defend herself, even against weak youkais. What if it required him to release his youki? If she thought this situation was bad, she would most likely find it worse when she would be face to face with the beast. Sesshomaru knew all the feelings it had built up inside of her.

Hopefully, it would not come down to that.

***