Fragile

Chapter 6: Discussions

Kagome eventually followed Sesshoumaru inside, glaring at his back and cursing him the entire way. She was silently glad when they made it back to the house and she felt the warmth on her skin as the doors were shut behind her. She watched as Sesshoumaru stopped in the threshold of her bedroom door and turned to look at her.

“Take a bath and then have Mana show you to my study. There are a few things that I must clarify. I will have Mana bring you some clean clothes.” Sesshoumaru said and then continued on his way.

Kagome took offense to what he said until she looked down at herself. She was wearing the same white clothes she was wearing when she left the underground facility with Sesshoumaru and they had dirt and leaves all over them. Her hair was knotted and had small twigs stuck here and there. Her hands were also dirty from sitting on the ground and one was starting to bruise from beating against the stone wall. With a sigh, Kagome walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

She ran a hot bath as she stripped off the dirt covered garments and tried to brush her hair out some and remove the twigs. When the water was high enough she turned off the faucet and lowered herself into the soothing, steaming water. Her muscles were sore from all the moving around she’d done in one day after not moving in the tube for weeks. She then realized that this was the first bath she’d given herself in all those weeks. The realization made her chuckle a little as she thought about all the times she would demand that Inuyasha stop so that she could bathe in the past. Then the thought of Inuyasha made her want to cry again. ‘Please…please still be alive, Inuyasha…’ Kagome silently prayed for her friend and loved one.

Soon after she had washed her hair and face and the rest of her body, she stepped out of the bath and drained the water. She wrapped a fluffy red towel around her form and brushed out her long, black hair again. Once she was satisfied that all of the tangles were gone she walked back into her room to find some clothes lying on her bed. She quickly dressed in the khaki colored corduroy pants and beautiful cream cashmere turtleneck. Going to the closet to look for another pair of slippers was a shock because it was now full of beautiful clothes that she assumed were for her. There were all colors and styles, but Kagome was just glad that it wasn’t all white...and she couldn't help but wonder how Mana had gotten these for her so quickly.

After giving up on her search for slippers, Kagome decided to settle for a pair of socks she found in the now full dresser. She opened her bedroom door and stepped into the hall and saw that Mana wasn’t far. The slightly older woman turned to her and smiled before saying, “Come on, Miss Kagome. Lord Sesshoumaru is waiting.”

Kagome followed her to another room that was on the second floor of the house and jumped when the door was shut behind her. Sesshoumaru was sitting in a leather chair in front of a lit fire place. He was just staring into the fire watching the flames dance as she slowly approached him. “Sit down, Higurashi.” He said motioning to another chair near the fire but never took his eyes away from the dancing embers.

They sat in silence for a while; Sesshoumaru watching the fire and Kagome watching the fire’s light swirl in Sesshoumaru’s golden eyes. “I am only going to straighten a few things out. You will listen and not interrupt.” Sesshoumaru finally spoke, still not looking away from the fire. “I was not aware that you were being held at that facility until early this morning when I saw you there with my own eyes. I have been active in your government for centuries. I know of experiments that the human scientists do on beings that aren’t…normal to their standards.” He paused here and looked to his left hand resting on his knee.

“I know not what they did to you, but I will tell you that you are not the first. They have collected data on demons as well, probably through similar methods. I am one of the few remaining of my kind. When they approached me I told them that I would willingly give them the information they needed, but would leave when I so chose. I have a loose idea of what you were probably put through. I was poked and prodded as well and they now know everything from why my muscles are denser than most demons to the chemical make-up of the poison in my claws. I’m not sure why they were so adamant about hearing the ending of the battle with Naraku from you as I told them the outcome years ago. I can only assume that you haven’t told them everything. I say so because if they knew of the jewel that now resides in your body they would have tried to remove it so that they could study it as well.” He saw Kagome tense up at the acknowledgement of the jewel in her side. “Do not worry priestess. I did not want the jewel those centuries ago, and I do not want it now.”

Kagome released a breath neither knew she’d been holding, and she waited for him to continue.

“I do have questions for you, but I also believe that you said you had questions as well. It has been a very long day so we will continue with this at a later time. You will be staying here until all of my questions have been answered to my satisfaction. You are dismissed.” Sesshoumaru said as he directed his gaze back to the fire.

Even though she had been dismissed, Kagome remained seated in the chair. After thinking over everything that he had said to her, she organized her thoughts and stood to face him. “I want my answers too, Sesshoumaru. You may have gone through experiments too, but you were there with your consent. They took me from my family. They literally pulled me off the street. Do you at least know why they did it? Why would they want to do something like that to me?” Kagome could feel herself starting to shake with barely restrained tears as her hands clenched into fists at her side.

“There hasn’t been a priest or priestess around with any kind of substantial power for centuries. Obviously, finding out where your powers come from, be it some genetic anomaly or an actual higher being, would put the humans closer to answering one of their greater questions: is there a God? Demons are merely yet another species occupying the earth. All of our abilities have evolved into such and have physical explanations. The ‘holy powers’ that some humans possess are another matter entirely.”

“How long did they keep you?”

Sesshoumaru was silent for a moment before he answered, “Years…while they questioned you about your year in the past, I was interrogated about the centuries I had seen. I’m sure that you had to remember things that you would have rather forgotten. Being a demon doesn’t make my memory that much different from yours. There are things that I would rather not remember. But like you, I carry a constant reminder.” He said as he held up his left arm. “That is enough for today. Leave.”

And Kagome did just that. She turned and left the study. It was getting later in the evening. Kagome thought about the day’s events as she walked around the house. It was one of the more active days she’d had in a very long time. She made her way towards the kitchen and opened the many cabinets and doors until she found the pantry. She made herself a light supper of a sandwich and some chips along with a cup of hot tea to take back to her room.

Once she arrived back at the large bedroom she settled herself on the cushions of the bay window and ate her meal in silence as she watched the snow slowly fall to the ground.