Back inside the hut, Kagome stripped off her ruined yukata, balled it up and pitched it angrily into the hearth. As the flames licked at the pretty floral fabric, she shrugged into a spare robe with a scowl. The sleeping yukata was plain and rather skimpy, but the idea of wearing her miko attire under the current circumstances was more than she could bear. The gods would probably strike her dead for her hypocrisy on the spot.

She had just finished throwing what little remained of her breakfast banquet into the fire when Sesshoumaru entered. Not even bothering to acknowledge him, she tipped the last lacquered tray straight into the hearth. As a jet of embers sparked at the contact, she set about tidying up the rest of the place while glaring at him intermittently out of the corner of her eye.

No thanks to him, it was now too late in the day for her to make it to the monastery before dark. As much as she resented it, she’d have to stay here another night. With nothing better to do, she figured she might as well make the place a little more livable in the meantime.

“Don’t get any ideas,” she warned Sesshoumaru as she swept past him with broom in hand. “I’m leaving first thing in the morning.”

Reclining against the wall, he gave the claws resting on his up-bent knee an idle flex. “Very well.”

Kagome’s jaw tensed at this blithe response. Gripping the handle of the broom a little harder, she chased the remaining dust out the door before turning her attention to the crumpled bedroll she’d brought with her. No way was she sleeping in that weird fur of his again tonight. Airing out the slim mattress like it was a punching bag, Kagome laid it out at the back of the room with a loud declarative smack. She brought her plushy blanket down on top for added emphasis.

Observing this display with his usual indifference, Sesshoumaru slanted his golden gaze back to her. The look in his eyes was languid, indulgent. Kagome’s skin tingled unbidden at his brazen appraisal of her. Gritting her teeth, she took up her bow and quiver and stalked out of the hut, toward the woods.

Predictably, he followed her. He stayed just far enough away not to engage her and just close enough to remain under her skin. Feeling her blood pressure kick up another notch, Kagome did her best to ignore him as she crept through the wilderness in search of an honest meal.

Quietly, she fit her bowstring with an arrow, taking aim at a couple of rabbits nosing around near the roots of a distant tree. But her breathing was unsteady. The slight tremor in her fingertips caused her to miss her mark and put her arrow through the poor rabbit’s shoulder instead. Kagome growled in frustration as the wounded animal took off. Whipping around to vent her agitation on Sesshoumaru, she deflated a bit when she realized he wasn’t there.

Turning back, she was just picking herself up from her crouch when she saw his pale regal form breaking through the trees. A pair of limp dead rabbits dangled from his clawed hand. One was the poor creature she’d shot; the other was its companion. Snatching her intended kill from him without a word, Kagome yanked loose the arrow and strode briskly back to the village.

Even with all the practice she’d had, skinning and cleaning the kill was grim messy work. Kagome found herself having to take several breaks to let her rising gorge subside. There was no question her normally strong stomach was getting weaker. The third time she turned aside with the knife clenched in her bloody fist, Sesshoumaru rose swiftly from his spot on the raised porch behind her. With his bare claws, he finished cleaning both rabbits in a matter of seconds.

Blearily, Kagome looked on as he skewered them together on a single stick. Hauling herself up, she followed him into the hut on grudging footsteps. As he set the skewer over the hearth to roast, she rinsed her hands. The water she’d drawn from the dilapidated well was frigid. She found herself grateful for the bracing cold, as the sight of Sesshoumaru licking congealed rabbit blood from his claws nearly made her retch again.

“Sit down,” he said to her with irksome coolness, when she leaned heavily against the table.

Shooting him a dark look, Kagome turned, lowering herself to rest against one spindly leg. As Sesshoumaru rotated the rabbit skewer, Kagome crossed her arms and stewed. Her gaze fixed pointedly toward the open door. With the shabby reed curtain pulled aside, she watched the setting sun bathe the tall swaying grass in copper light, burnish the fringes of the surrounding wilderness in gleaming ruby red. It was almost lovely, she thought. Almost.

Her wistful gaze sharpened at the sound of the skewer snapping in two. Handing her one half of the stick, Sesshoumaru rested the other just above the coals. Plucking tentatively at the rabbit’s hot crispy meat, she nodded toward the other.

“You’re not going to eat it?” she asked.

“No.” Folding his hands into his sleeves, Sesshoumaru settled back to watch her. “That one is for you, as well.”

Kagome shook her head. “It’s too much. I can’t eat both of these.”

“Try.”

Kagome set her jaw. Both rabbits were on the smallish side, but even still, she had never had that kind of an appetite. She was used to Inuyasha finishing off most of her meals for her. But as she sank her teeth into the cooked flesh, she felt her stomach stir in a way she never had before. Even the fact that the meat was a little on the rare side didn’t unsettle her. As she steadily devoured the entire rabbit, it struck her for the first time that she was now eating for two—and one of them was half demon…

This fact did unsettle her.

Meekly, Kagome accepted the second rabbit, which thankfully was well-done. Chewing mechanically, she struggled not to let the bizarreness of her circumstances overwhelm her. She didn’t even realize she was down to gnawing at the bones until Sesshoumaru pulled them away from her.

Breaking open one of the larger ribs, he offered the exposed marrow to her. “Here.”

Kagome swallowed weakly at the sight. Using the table behind her for support, she pushed herself to her feet. Bodily, she turned away from it all—his gruesome offering and eerily-reflective stare, both. Her head bowed as she gripped the battered edge.

“Why are you doing this?” she whispered, glancing back. “Why are you still here?”

Evenly, he replied, “Because I wish to be.”

Kagome’s shoulders sagged. How nice it must be for him, she thought sourly, to just go about doing as he pleased. But that was the kind of creature he was—immortal, immensely powerful, nobly born and handsome besides. Whatever wasn’t given to him on a silver platter, he could more than easily just take.

Except, of course, for Tessaiga. He hadn’t been able to take that.

Anxiously, Kagome began to pace, distressed for a reason she couldn’t quite place. Her hands clutched at her cotton-clad arms. Her teeth worried at the inside of her cheek. Abruptly, she stopped before him, hackles raised.

“I’m not going to fuck you,” she bit out, “if that’s what you’re after.”

Sesshoumaru regarded her levelly as he stood. Kagome balked a little out of sheer physical intimidation. As he continued to tower over her, his silence seemed to speak for itself: If he really had a mind to fuck her, there wasn’t anything she could do about it. Sweat broke out across Kagome’s brow as the tense seconds dragged on. Her furled nails dug into her palms.

“You are tired,” he said at last. “Go to bed.”

Her eyes sparked in defiance. “Don’t treat me like a child.”

He stepped closer, forcing Kagome to crane back her neck. “Go to bed,” he said again, the low rumble in his voice making her shiver. “Now.”

As Kagome continued to stubbornly hold her ground, a slight frown weighed at his lips. Her pulse quickened at his change in expression—before he scooped her up unceremoniously over his shoulder.

“Put me down!” she yelled, thrashing in his grip. Her fists pummeled at his stony back. “Sesshoumaru!”

Kagome grunted as he dropped her onto her back on the bedroll. Before she could get up again, he was on top of her, wrapping the fluffy blanket around her like a straitjacket. Cocooned to the mouth, Kagome breathed hard as she stared up at him in heated shock.

“No, you are not a child,” he growled down at her. His fangs were bared. His eyes glinted through the silvery tousle of his bangs. “A child knows how to obey.”

As he started to move off her, Kagome managed to wriggle one arm free. “Wait,” she gasped, seizing at his hakama. “Where are you going?”

Sesshoumaru paused, glancing down at her. “I’m leaving you to your rest.”

Cold panic trickled along Kagome’s spine. Crawling farther out of her cocoon, she lay in a sprawl at his feet. Gazing wide-eyed up at him, she clutched his pants leg in both hands.

“Don’t,” she choked out, hating how needy her voice sounded as she beseeched him. “…Please, Sesshoumaru, don’t go.”

---

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

Revised 9/7/22

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