A Marriage of Convenience

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi

Summary: Sessho-Maru knows how he can save Kagura from Naraku's dominance. Thing is, she would have to become his mate! Will she? Won't she? And will something deeper come out of such a marriage of convenience?

This was originally posted on mediaminer.org. I've been considering posting this story here for awhile now. Today's your lucky day.

A Marriage of Convenience

The night of the half moon and Naraku had chosen this time to be helpless.

Kagura frowned; well, he wasn't completely helpless in her opinion. He'd done just fine tormenting her on that fateful new moon night when she'd first tried to betray him.

Still, every time he was in that state, she took her own time. It was petty and it wouldn't help her cause any. Kagura was getting to the point where she really didn't care anymore. It seemed that nothing and no one could save her. Even Lord Sessho-Maru, the one person that she'd thought could help her, wasn't strong enough.

No one was.

It sank Kagura into a deeper darker, depression as she realized that she would have to try to save herself. Worse still, she would probably only find freedom in death.

Kagura fought tears and lay back in a field of flowers, watched a shooting star streak across the sky.

She wished….

*~*~*~*

Sessho-Maru had long ago learned to differentiate Naraku's scent from Kagura's. Though they were similar, her essence was mingled with a heavy floral odour, as if she were seeking to somehow cover up the reek of old blood and death.

He sought her out alone, scowling at himself through the darkness. No matter how he convinced his own heart that she was doomed and without hope, he still couldn't help but…care.

The truth was, he could help her, but not in how she'd wanted him to. If he killed Naraku, she would die, because she was bound up to him, flesh and soul. There was another way, though it was a bit…unorthodox. Were Kagura to become his mate, she would be free of Naraku. It sounded so simple, but it wasn't. Could he actually bind his soul to a woman he scarcely knew? Though some youkai took such a union lightly, the inu breed did not.

And yet….

A part of him already knew he'd found his partner, the one woman who could stir something, anything inside of him. Perhaps that was why he was seeking her out to pose such a taboo proposition to her.

*~*~*~*

“Kagura.”

She turned, stomach dropping at the sound of his voice. Sessho-Maru stood in silence behind her, glittering as beautifully as one of the stars in the night sky. “What do you want?” she managed to sneer at him scornfully despite the fluttering in her lower belly.

“I lied to you, Kagura,” Sessho-Maru's words were careful, measured. “I told you that I could not free you from Naraku, but I can.”

“You can't fight him,” Kagura replied curtly, painfully reminded of the plot that Naraku had unfolded to absorb Sessho-Maru into his flesh. He had survived, but it became clear that Sessho-Maru could not defeat Naraku alone.

“No, I can not,” He admitted a bit bitterly, “but sometimes death is not always the answer.”

“Oh?” Kagura arched her eyebrows at him, not understanding.

“Even if I could kill Naraku for you, it would be a pointless endeavor for your sake. You would not survive him.”

Her lips twisted, enraged to hear her fears so bluntly spoken aloud. “You don't think I've considered this?”

“I am not here to upset you; I wish to offer you a proposition.”

“What sort of preposition?”

Sessho-Maru inhaled slowly, seemed to grow almost anxious in suddenly discomfort, “If we were to come together as mates, your ties to Naraku would be severed.”

Kagura's eyes widened, “You must be joking.”

His expression hardened, “It is shocking, I understand, but it is all that I can offer you.”

She blushed; certainly it would not be such a terrible thing but…. “You ask me to bind my soul to yours and you expect me not to be scandalized? I hardly know you!”

Sessho-Maru stepped in closer to her, his voice soft, “Surely it would be more favourable to you than Naraku's dominance.”

Kagura gazed up into the endless amber of his eyes. Her price to freedom was something intimate and sacred. Granted, she was attracted to him, was even a bit fascinated by him, but could she actually become his partner only to gain her freedom from Naraku? Was she that callous, that manipulative? Before she could stop herself, she was giving him an answer. “I would have to give this some thought.”

Sessho-Maru nodded, “I presume we would have to meet again when Naraku is weak?”

“Yes,” Kagura replied, “I think that would be best.”

“Fine,” Sessho-Maru stepped back from her, “when you are able, seek me out and give me your answer.”

*~*~*~*

Kagura was isolated in her room, a form of minor punishment for her escape. Naraku no longer trusted her and she supposed she deserved it. At least she wasn't chained up to the basement wall this time.

It gave her time to consider Sessho-Maru's proposition. Did she dare? She knew what such a union entailed and she wasn't opposed to the idea of warming his cold bed. There were worse things.

Yet she wouldn't just be sleeping with him, it wasn't merely a rendezvous of lust. What he had suggested was deadly serious. Youkai were not as mortals were. Sexuality and eroticism were celebrated and accepted among her kind. When a demon took a partner, it ran deeper than the mere consummation of desire. Mortals spoke about being of one soul with their spouses, but few could attain just a powerful communion. All youkai could, though; it was what separated the pleasure of sex and the union of mates.

Sessho-Maru…The very thought of him stirred her in ways no one ever had. If she had such a choice to make, she would happily consider him the one to spend her life with. To join with him for reasons other than love, though, was abhorrent. She could scarcely conceive it.

He didn't deserve it.

And yet….

She would be free.

The question was, did she desire her freedom enough to spit in the face of the most sacred youkai ritual?

*~*~*~*

Sessho-Maru took his time returning home from his confrontation with Kagura. His own audacity had shocked him. He couldn't believe that he had actually posed such a decision upon her.

What had he expected? For her to open her arms in acceptance? It was bold to the point of vulgarity. Was there more to his desire, though?

Could it be that deep down he wanted this union to be more than just some kind of perverse pity for the woman? It was true that he thought her to be beautiful, something special. Had he made the offer out of his own fixation with her? Did this mean more to him that he wished to believe? Inu youkai mating rituals were more rigid than most. If Kagura accepted his proposal, he would be bound to her for so long as he breathed.

Somehow, it did not bother him so much and he was vaguely embarassed at even the trace eagerness he felt at the very idea. Sessho-Maru shook his head, was glad that he was alone.

Imagine: The Western Lord, the Inu no Taisho's son scandalized at the thought of such a union.

Perhaps he did not precisely love her, but his feelings for Kagura were more than casual lust.

Sessho-Maru watched a shooting star make a shimmering wound across the night sky.

He wished….

*~*~*~*

“I know you have seen him.”

Kagura looked up from her thoughts, finding Naraku standing in her doorway. She blinked, feigned innocence, “who have I seen?”

“Sessho-Maru,” Naraku replied simply.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Kagura flipped her hand at him dismissively.

“It matters not. He can't help you.”

Nearly two months had passed since their last meeting. Kagura had very nearly made up her mind, but now Naraku's confidence threatened her. Perhaps she was willing to become Sessho-Maru's mate but even when Naraku was weak, could she escape so far as the western keep?

“But I am tired of the hold he has on you. It is exhausting. Perhaps I should make you kill him,” Naraku continued softly, chuckling darkly.

“I would never….” Kagura blurted suddenly.

Naraku laughed throatily, “You will do anything that I wish of you, Kagura.”

“I can not defeat his power. He is too strong for me!” Kagura protested angrily.

“Oh Kagura,” Naraku shook his head slowly, smiling condescendingly, “do you still see the great Lord Sessho-Maru as your shining savior? Perhaps you have feelings for him?”

She could barely hide the horror in her expression.

His eyes widened in sadistic delight, “I am right then? How very amusing for you.”

Kagura turned her face away, “you assume too much.”

“Do I?” Naraku laughed again, “Oh do not worry, my dear. I know he would kill you and I don't want that. There are still uses for you.”

That said, he turned on his heel and left her alone, pondering over his words.

She had to get out and she knew her options.

*~*~*~*

The clouds raced across the night sky. There was crescent moon tonight and Sessho-Maru was waiting for her.

He knew….

Somewhere deep down he knew Kagura was coming to give him her answer.

Heaven help him, he was nervous.

He idly scratched at his new arm, hoping this one would last longer than the others. The last youkai he'd found intruding onto his lands had been humanoid in appearance. So far the replacement arm was holding up, not immediately rejecting his toxic blood.

The wind picked up suddenly, whipping his long hair into his face. When it had settled and he had swiped a few errant strands out of his eyes, he found himself face-to-face with Kagura.

“I have an answer to your proposal,” she told him.

“Oh?” Sessho-Maru schooled his features carefully, not wanting to show how anxious he was.

“Before I tell you, you must answer me a simple question: Why are you doing this?”

Sessho-Maru gazed upon her beauty, admiring the scarlet of her mouth, the fine luster of her ebony hair. Could he spend his life with this fiery, gorgeous woman? Yes, he could. “I…” he searched for the words and they clung like lead on his tongue. “I want to save you.”

It seemed a bit of disappointment passed across her features, “that's it?”

“No,” he replied, letting his rare emotions rule his tone.

Kagura nodded, crossing her arms across her stomach, “I will do it.”

He smiled slightly, “I am glad.” When he took her hand, he noticed she was trembling. “Come, we must make preparations.”

*~*~*~*

Kagura followed him as he led her through the halls of his castle. It was large but sparse, as if he really didn't live there.

“Where are your vassals?” she asked, noticing the marked absence of his imp and the little girl.

“They will not disturb us,” Sessho-Maru replied.

She frowned, “you were expecting me?”

“Yes.”

“How.”

He paused before speaking again. “I don't know."

Sessho-Maru led her to a large bedroom, presumably his. He went into a chest and took out two yukata robes. “Put this on,” he told her softly.

Kagura drew herself up, “you expect me to undress in front of you?”

“I expect I will see much more tonight anyway,” Sessho-Maru smiled, his eyes glittering with rare amusement, “but no, I do not. You may change in the room down the hall.”

Kagura blushed and left him to find said room. She went to the first one she found. The robe was far too big for her and she felt like she was swimming in swathes upon swathes of silk.

When she met back up with Sessho-Maru, he too wore a robe like hers. It obviously fit him much better, though.

“So now what?” she asked awkwardly.

“There is a hot springs not far from here, we will bathe together,” he replied quietly.

Kagura opened her mouth to protest him once more, but he quickly cut her off. “I understand that this part of the ritual is considered for the comfort of lovers, but I doubt you want to proceed directly into the deeper aspects.”

She blushed, “true.”

*~*~*~*

She hid herself in the rising steam of the naturally heated water. Sessho-Maru mourned her discomfort, wishing there was some way to make his easier for her.

“So how does this work?” Kagura's curt, anxious voice cut him like a knife.

“It is a blood bond,” Sessho-Maru replied, “traditionally of the heart's blood but not necessarily so.”

Kagura snorted indelicately, and he thought of that which he was not telling her. The ritual itself relied on the two souls bound being truly compatible. This was especially so for youkai who were toxic-blooded like himself. Were anyone other than she who was to be his mate to ingest his blood they would die a painful death.

As if she had read his mind, she broke through his grim thoughts, “what aren't you telling me, Sessho-Maru?”

“Forgive me,” he sighed heavily, “but this will be a bigger gamble than I had originally portrayed to you.”

“Oh?”

“If you are truly meant to be my partner, you will survive the blood binding.”

He heard the dry click of her nervous swallow, “I don't understand.”

“Youkai do not merely choose their mates by attraction and emotion alone. It's far more mystical than that. Because of the toxicity of my blood, if you are not to my mate then you will die.”

Kagura gasped, “you bastard! Why didn't you tell me before?”

Sessho-Maru lowered his lashes coyly, choosing his words carefully, “honestly, I did not think it would matter.”

Kagura was silent for a time then spoke a bit fearfully, “Naraku…he is a toxic youkai. What if that provides me with some immunity?”

Sessho-Maru snorted, “Naraku and I are of two different breeds. I am toxic because of my mother; he is toxic because he is a bit of lower-class demon filth.”

He thought that she smiled through the steam, “do you know why Naraku has nights when he is weak?”

“I have some idea,” Sessho-Maru replied.

“Naraku is hanyou,” she confessed, “but due to his creation, he is much more powerful that most half-blooded.”

Sessho-Maru was not stupid; he quickly put together the meaning of her words. “So he is a mortal possessed?”

“In so many words,” Kagura nodded.

A sudden, abrupt silence hung heavily in the air around them. It was Kagura who spoke first, “Sessho-Maru…do you think that I will survive?”

He gazed at her through the haze all around her, willing her to see that he was without guile, “I hope so.”

*~*~*~*

Sessho-Maru draped his fur along the length of his futon. As Kagura sat down on the surprisingly soft pallet, she felt the butterflies return. Was she truly going through with this?

When he sat down next to her and took her hand, she began to shiver. Sessho-Maru leaned close, mouth just barely brushing her earlobe. His breath was hot and moist against her cheek, “are you cold, Kagura?”

“No,” she whispered.

He gently laid a hand on her cheek, holding her in a firm grip in order to make her look at him. “Kagura,” his voice was heavy with surprising emotion, “I promise you, I am not doing this out of pity.”

She felt an overwhelming desire to be close to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. His body was warm, even through the fabric of their robes. He inhaled soft and quick, embraced her after a moment. Kagura ran her fingers up his left arm, a replacement for the one he had lost to Inu-Yasha's sword.

They had never courted any thoughts that they could be together in such a way. Now that it was happening a flood of curious emotions seemed to spring out of some sort of buried need to touch him. Kagura nuzzled his neck tenetively, shyly. He smelled clean, so alive.

Sessho-Maru lifted her chin up so she was looking into his eyes, and she saw the warmth there, the heat. He leaned down carefully, slowly, as if he feared she would startle and run.

Kagura's lips parted moistly as his mouth closed over hers. They were so silky and hot that she couldn't breathe for a moment. His tongue slipped sinuously into her mouth, lightly darting against her teeth. She clung to him, overcome by the heat blossoming in her lower belly. Sessho-Maru's fingers twined in her still damp hair, pulling a bit to elicit a sweet bit of pain. Kagura moaned softly against his mouth. As the first awkward seconds melted way, Kagura pushed herself up onto her knees and kissed him deeply. She pressed her body against his, memorized the taste of his mouth, the curve of his lips. A burgeoning, long buried passion bloomed as the kiss became a fight for dominance.

When she finally pulled away, needing to draw a breath, she looked up at him. Sessho-Maru was transformed with the beauty of desire, his cheeks were pink beneath the scarlet crests of his lineage, and his eyes had become a glorious shade of glittering gold.

Kagura collapsed back into the luxurious softness of his fur and began to laugh without scorn. Sessho-Maru frowned, “what do you find so amusing?”

“This is a marriage of convenience, is it not?” She smiled ironically, “and yet it does not feel like it.”

An odd emotion flitted across his delicate features, “no…no it does not.”

She pulled him down and kissed him again. The new passion they'd discovered exploded as they kissed, as they explored each other with curious hands. Sessho-Maru opened her robe and she felt her world tilting out of control. She dimly wondered if this was part of the ritual or a torrent of their own making.

He lowered his mouth to the elegant curve of her neck and she shivered as his fangs scraped her skin slowly. Lips trailed, soft as the petals of sakura flowers, over her bare shoulder and down her forearm. Kagura couldn't catch her breath, and when he reached the bend of her elbow, he stopped.

“Look at me,” he commanded softly.

Kagura opened her eyes and stared down at him under her heavy-lidded gaze.

“Are you sure you want this?” he asked, his eyes so intense that they almost glowered. “Understand that if we finish this, this is no undoing the bond that will be forged.”

She nearly laughed at his earnesty, but the sincerity in his expression stopped her. There was no question she was going through with this and she told him as such.

He nodded and lowered his mouth to the big vein on the inside of her elbow.

Vein.

It had always amused Kagura to no particular ends that she had veins and blood that flowed. How could that be so when her heart was not part of her body?

Sessho-Maru's fangs slipped into her flesh and she whimpered softly. The pain was nothing compared to what she had endured under Naraku and in fact was strangely erotic. His lips sealed over the wound and began to pull at her flesh as he sucked gently.

Kagura watched him with a certain kind of wonder, how pure he looked at that moment. Long, black lashes were smudges against his still flushed cheeks; he made soft growls deep in his throat.

When he pulled away, she gazed up into his face and gasped. He had suddenly become savagely sensual, a dark god with red eyes and blood smeared across his mouth.

Sessho-Maru removed his robe and for a small eternity she was transfixed by his beauty, the blinding perfection of him. She reached out to touch him, but he snatched up her hand and held it away from his skin. “No,” he shook his head, “not just yet.”

With the claw of his index finger, he opened up a wound on his chest, right above his heart. Kagura knew what to do and sat up to capture the beading blood on his skin on her tongue. It was bitter and thick in her mouth. It was not unpleasant, though and she did not feel ill effects. Her mind was too full of the heady flow of his blood scorching her throat to consider what it all meant.

The toxicity of his blood did not poison her.

After a few minutes, he pushed her away and she lazily watched the wound slowly knit itself closed.

Sessho-Maru gazed at her for a long moment, his thumb caressing her cheek reverently. Kagura suddenly knew he was watching to see if she would buckle over and fade from the power of his tainted blood. When she did not, he exhaled a shaky breath and kissed her tenderly.

“Kagura,” he murmured softly.

“Make love to me,” she gasped hoarsely, twining her fingers in his hair. It fell around her as his mouth slanted over hers.

*~*~*~*

Sessho-Maru tried to think if he had ever seen anything so beautiful as Kagura spread naked and wanton among the white purity of his momomoko-sama. The thrilling thought that Kagura had been made just for him dizzied his senses, brought the locked away passions within him to the surface. He could feel the changes coming over her as he kissed her body, explored lush curves. Even her scent began to shift, become something of her own.

The youkai soul within him demanded her claiming, but he pushed the savagery down. He would give her pleasure, give her release before the final rite of the ritual.

Sessho-Maru trailed his tongue along the inside of her thigh. Her heavy breathing was tantalizing, touching him as surely as a caress. When he pressed a slow, open-mouthed kiss against her humid sex, she cried out his name sharply. Sessho-Maru growled, clutched at her hips to keep them still as he dipped his tongue inside of her. The taste of her arousal was an ambrosia, sticky sweet on his lips. Kagura arched against his mouth, pressing herself against his teasing tongue.

Sessho-Maru felt possessed by his emotions. So many years of discipline and the walls he built around his heart were ripped open and scorched away. He devoured her, drunk on the heady presence of her need. She was so open, so eager, like nothing he'd ever known.

As he sucked on the bundle of nerves that served as the apex of her pleasure, her ecstasy seemed never-ending. It was almost transcendent, affecting him on levels that he could barely understand.

Beyond the ragged mewling of her need was her voice. It was nearly mindless babbling, but he discerned some sense in her fervent whispers. The tether of his control was thinning as she pulsed and writhed against his mouth.

It must be finished…the final rite of the binding.

Sessho-Maru moved back up her body, dropping gentle kisses along the way. Kagura shivered, trembled as if terribly cold. He knew she wasn't.

She moaned his name softly as he kissed her mouth again, tasting the bitterness of his own blood on her tongue. One of her small hands reached down to caress his hardened flesh. She smiled slyly at him as she stroked him, made his breath stutter and stop. It seemed she aroused him all the more, pushing him toward a blinding state of need.

Sessho-Maru nearly snarled at her and pushed her hand away. He nudged her legs open with one of his knees and pressed himself against her slick flesh. When she rolled her hips, meeting his first slow thrust, they shared sharp gasps of surprised emotion and pleasure.

Kagura's limbs wrapped like vines around his body, pulling him deeper into her molten core. His breath shuddered uncontrollably as he gazed down into her eyes, saw the raw desire there, the intense, unnamable emotions swirling within those ruby depths.

Sessho-Maru moved slowly, memorizing each little sound she made, the changes in her expression. He had almost forgotten the bliss of physical union, though all other experiences seemed to pale in comparison.

Kagura's hips moved in tandem with his, rolling slow across his sex. Beyond the sensation of the visceral, he could feel her soul reaching out, reaching inside of him. It twisted and twined as surely as her body. His orgasm stalked him, pushed him toward higher gratification. He surged deeper, harder with each thrust. Her breathing was harsh now, erratic.

Kagura's pale complexion was a translucent pink; her lips were crimson from force of their passion and his blood. Sessho-Maru no longer found words for the purity of this moment….

Her release was almost silent. She shuddered violently in his arms. His own climax took him by surprise, tearing a harsh growl from his throat. He had forgotten about ecstasy, the violence of pleasure and joy. It hit him full-force, tore through his body and soul. He felt suddenly vulnerable, unprotected even as Kagura cradled him against her body.

When the intensity began to ebb, a sense of peace pervaded all. “Kagura….” His voice was rough, as if he were remembering the ability to speak.

She smiled, caressed his cheek tenderly. Words were lost in the eloquence of the moment.

Sessho-Maru hid his satisfied smile against her neck.

*~*~*~*

They watched the sun rise together, wearing their twin robes. Kagura felt like she'd been reborn, a phoenix from the ashes of despair.

Still drunk on the wine of new passion, they made love again in the soft grass, still wet with morning dew. They were a bit frenzied this time, greedily feasting on flesh with burning lips, hands lost in the endless tangle of their bodies.

When they were sated, they lay together, entwined in the still burgeoning sunlight. Kagura was gazing at the amazing change in Sessho-Maru's expression. The hard angles of his porcelain perfect mask had softened and he looked suddenly and incredibly young. She came to the realization that he'd had to grow up very fast and was probably only a few years into his youkai adulthood. Not as young as Inu-Yasha but…. Kagura's heart ached, wondering how she'd never noticed before.

Sessho-Maru was still idly touching her and kissing the damp hollow of her throat. Kagura was fascinated by the intensity of her emotions, just to be with him like this.

“You look so very serious,” his voice was a soft caress against her ear. Kagura barely suppressed a shiver..

“I was thinking….” She trailed off, staring longingly at the fullness of her lower lip, “how this did not turn out anything like we'd imagined.

“Perhaps,” Sessho-Maru's brow furrowed, returning a touch of that hardness she was so accustomed to, “does it displease you?”

The careful, too polite way he conveyed his disappointment made her laugh; she kissed his mouth, pulling him into her body. She sucked that tantalizing bottom lip and thrilled at the feral growl that rumbled in his chest.

As their lips parted, he gave her an ironic smile and low chuckle, “I'll take that as a no.”

“Something transpired last night, something incredible and special,” Kagura told him shyly.

A gravely serious expression shaded his beauty, “yes…I had not realized it before but…you are my one, my mate.”

Deep pride spread in her chest, warm and full. The ties of Naraku's bindings were broken and she felt only Sessho-Maru's heady soul stirring within her. It was true that she could not declare her love for him just yet…

But she knew it wasn't so far away from her.

Fini


I've always been rather fond of the lemon, it's just the style feels a bit dated compared to my current obsessions. No matter. I have been rather concerned for quite some time how ignored the Sess/Kagura pairing is on aff. I haven't been as involved in the IY fandom as I used to be and so I decided to offer up an older ficcie. Here's hoping someone out there has enjoyed it.