Kagome scrambled back, her shoulder smacking the wall as he took another step toward her. “W-why,” she stammered out, her voice faint with apprehension. “Why didn’t you kill me?”
Her fear mounted as he continued to advance, her eyes darting frantically around for her weapons—to no avail. Not that they would do her much good anyway, with her reiki diminished and him nearly upon her. As the toes of his boots touched the edge of the futon, her heart threatened to burst from her chest.
Then, gracefully, Sesshoumaru lowered himself to the floor. “Why would I kill you?”
At his serene tone and posture, a little of Kagome’s tension bled from her, her shoulders sinking down the wall. “I threatened you,” she answered haltingly. “I wanted to kill you.” She swallowed hard around the dark, leaden weight in her throat. “…I still want to kill you.”
His keen glance cut through her. “But you cannot.”
Twisting her dirty fingers into the bedsheets, Kagome looked down.
“Then,” he said as he leaned in toward her, his voice edged in a way that cut her deeper still, “you acknowledge the bond that we share.”
He was giving her no choice but to acknowledge it. Lifting her gaze to his, she mustered the strength to admit the shameful truth.
“You aren’t just any demon to me,” she confessed bitterly. “You’re Inuyasha’s brother.” Looking into his eyes, she hesitated. “You’re like a brother to me, too.”
Sesshoumaru drew back from her, his expression unreadable. Kagome frowned. There was a power, a finality, to stating their relationship in words. Perhaps he hadn’t meant for her to go that far—perhaps, like Kagome herself, he hadn’t been fully prepared to hear her spell it out. But there it was, stabbing into them both, and as her resentment sharpened into anger, she leaned forward and twisted the knife at both ends.
“That fact that you’re sitting here right now is because of my failure as a priestess—as a woman.” Her eyes were flinty, piercing. “You murdered those poor girls and made me a widow. Maybe it wasn’t your hands that did it, but you are the one responsible for Inuyasha’s death. Chasing after you is what drove him to distraction, or he never would have died that day. You betrayed him—you betrayed us both. Even after he was dead, you continued to deceive me.”
Sesshoumaru regarded her, unflinching. “I sought only to protect you.”
“To protect me?” she shot back incredulously. “Hiding the truth from me wasn’t ever going to ‘protect me’! Did you think I wouldn’t find out, eventually? You know how determined I was to track down the killer—to track down you,” she amended caustically.
His trailing fur sheened as he imperceptibly shifted, the tips of his claws denting the knees of his hakama in points of shadow. There was an unmistakable tightness to his expression. Dimly, Kagome realized she had struck a nerve with him. Perversely, she was pleased.
“I had been hoping to end it,” he said to her shortly. “Before such a thing came to pass.”
Kagome eyed him critically. “By continuing to seek out victims, you’d hoped to end it? Willingly, you preyed upon those girls—targeted them, used them, hurt them—”
“No,” he said sharply, making Kagome pause in her tirade. “I meant them no harm.”
“You honestly expect me to believe that?” she countered venomously. “I saw what you did to them, Sesshoumaru—you ripped them apart!”
“It was incidental,” he replied, frowning as he looked away from her. “Regrettable.” A muscle in his jaw tensed like steel wire, his voice pitching lower still. “I have been trying to temper it, without success.”
“To temper what?” she pressed him warily.
His reflective stare returned to her, edged red by the firelight. And with a hitch in her breath, she saw it—a shadow of the heat, the frenzy.
The Beast within.
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
I know this installment is short, but I’ve got a hectic week ahead and figured short posts were better than no posts. 🙂 Happy Monday!
After all, he is not a man. He is a demon, through and through.
This is true…
<3
This is a good chapter. I feel like this is truly the calm before the storm.
Thanks, Nicole! So glad you liked the chapter 🙂
<3
Oooh. Now I wonder if the Beast will be making an appearance. That woul de soooo…! I can’t decide between terrifying or exciting.
And thanks Char! Yes. Short installment is infinitely better than none. Thanks for spoiling us despite your busy sched! <3
Thanks, Lexy!! <3 Glad you're cool with the shorter posts and looking forward to what happens next...! 🙂
I don’t think Sesshoumaru just wants to be her brother. Whether she is in denial or lying to herself, Kagome doesn’t really view him as a sibling either. You don’t masturbate after you see your “brother” screwing someone else.
What options does she have left at this point but to cover for him or kill him?
In the worst case scenario, Kohako connects the dots and goes after Sesshoumaru. I doubt the demon slayer can be bribed with sex with Kagome or marriage with Rin to keep quiet. So he has to be killed.
Will Kagome end up with blood on her hands to keep Sesshoumaru’s secret? She cares about him so I suspect she will try to convince herself that her solution is the only option.
Even though he says he did not intend to screw those women to death, I get the feeling Sesshoumaru doesn’t care about his victims. They were nothing to him. Just bodies to quench the Beast’s lust. I saw an interview of a serial killer and the way he calmly talked about killing women is similar to the way Sesshoumaru is discussing his rapes and murders with Kagome.
I guess we sometimes forget that the true Sesshoumaru is a giant ferocious demon dog and that the handsome humanoid version is a facade.
It does seem as though Kagome’s options are rather limited…
Love hearing your take on her, Kohaku and Sesshoumaru after reading this chapter!! You hit on a key point that Sesshoumaru is a demon – while he may share some commonalities with humans, he is a different species…what all this entails remains to be seen 🙂
Hope you enjoy the next updates, Doug! <3
now that she’s talked with him i hope she understands what she might have to do. i would feel bad if kohaku was collateral damage in this story, but to protect or should i say hinder sesshoumaru’s death he might have to die. i think kagome is a little bit surprised at the depth of feeling or lust that seeshoumaru has for her. i would be, too, if all he’s shown toward humans is hatred?disdain?disgust?; i can’t wait for the next chapter, but i know i have to. don’t want to put any pressure on the author b/c the story is the best if the author takes her time and makes a great chapter to read. i know the smut will be later btwn kgas and sess in the story, but how much later?~keep up the great writing. c’ya’
Thanks, candace! Kohaku certainly throws a wrench into things…so glad you’re excited to see what happens next and how Sess & Kags relationship progresses 🙂
And thanks for being understanding about my schedule! Hopefully things will calm down after today and I can find more time to write <3
Here is another one of my crazy inane theories: touching back on chapter one, Sesshomaru does not come across as remorseful or ashamed of what he did to those women that he confessed to killing or from spying on her while she bathed. He seemed more interested in getting his sexual gratification from Kagome.
Now in chapter six or seven, I believe, when Kagome and Kohaku were investigating Kanako’s death, where her ghost led them to the place that she died at, Kagome made the comment that the Beast/killer left evidence that he was ashamed of what he did…she came to that conclusion based on the deep claw mark he left in a tree trunk when she placed her hand into it and the fact that he destroyed the area by burning it (maybe trying to cover up evidence), using something that left a point of impact; Sesshomaru would never bother with doing that nor his beast. The only thing I can think of that could possibly do that is a Tessaiga attack…which Sesshomaru cannot wield…not sure but I don’t think that his green acid whip can produce fire, can it?
When Sesshomaru came upon Kagome and Inuyasha’s dead body, why didn’t Sesshomaru bring his body back to life with Tensaiga? Well who’s to say he didn’t. He took Kagome back somewhere and went back to Inuyasha, brought him back to life and from there…who knows. It could of been anybody that was in that funeral pyre. Sesshomaru was very vague about some of his answers when talking to Kagome about him being the killer. One can take his answers in two different ways as per usual with his words.
I guess I am still in denial about Sesshomaru being guilty as the rapist and murderer. It just seems like there is something missing here. I’m probably thinking way out in left field here. It feels like it’s Inuyasha and that Sesshomaru was trying to keep that info from her to protect her. Like I said another crazy theory. 🙂
Cheryl,
It’s not an inane theory at all.
I’ll expand on it further. What if the two brothers are the beasts? They share the same demon blood after all. And in cannon, Inuyasha barely remembers his actions whenever he loses control and his demon side takes over.
Sesshoumaru can revive the dead with Tenseiga as long as the underworld creatures have not yet taken the soul. So if he discovered Inuyasha and Kagome early enough then returned quickly after dropping off Kagome, he could have resurrected his half brother.
So why would Inuyasha then pretend to be dead and hide from Kagome? What if Sesshoumaru told him that they were both responsible for the rapes and murders and provided proof. To protect Kagome, Inuyasha would agree to do anything even pretend to be dead.
As to the burned crime scene, Sesshoumaru could have taken Jaken’s two-headed staff and burned the area. Maybe Jaken knows his secret and set the area on fire to protect Sesshoumaru.
Or the simplest answer could be as plain as the nose on my face. Sesshoumaru is a serial rapist and killer whose main target is his sister-in-law. He is raping and killing women as stand-ins for her. I heard a theory that most of Ted Bundy’s victims look similar because he was fixated on his ex. Maybe the Beast is fixated on Kagome the same way.
Love the analysis and the theories, Cheryl! Sesshoumaru is certainly vague in answering Kagome – and his responses after confessing are off in some way…
What is he really trying to hide? 😉 Or protect her from…
Keep the theories coming, please!! And hope you enjoy how the story continues to unfold. <3
Ugh, these last few chapters have been so good but this last one might be my favorite (other than the one where Sesshomaru was caught digging deep in that girl.)
I love how well you convey his internal struggle, Kagome’s too. Im just so sad you it there.
*stopped
Thank you!! So glad you’ve enjoyed the emotional turmoil! 😊❤️
I’ll have next part out soon! 😉
“you acknowledge the bond that we share.”
Bond? Is that what he calls it?
And what is this appeal to nature? As if he’s that weak. She never thought he was human, so he doesn’t need to act like this is normal. He could’ve gone to Totosai to fix this. To curb his issues. He needs to stop the excuses.
It is an interesting way for him to put it 😉
Love the reactions!! Thanks for sharing <3