Kryptonite
By Danyealle
(fanfiction/MF/HC/Abuse)

Chapter 31

Though Kagome knew that she was safe in Sesshomaru’s chambers, safer probably than anywhere else in the world because they were so heavily warded, she still felt better with her two friends there to keep her company.

Once the door was shut and locked behind them, Sango pulled her best friend into a tight hug. “You OK Kagome?”

Hugging her back, the priestess nodded and sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine. It just scared the crap out of me is all.” She admitted.

“Understandable.” Kagura said quietly, nodding.

Seating themselves at the table the two women had the little priestess tell them what had happened from her point of view.

Not mentioning what she and the taiyoukai had been doing at the time, she gave her account of just what had happened.

When she was done both onna’s sighed and shook their heads. “Damn fool!” Sango growled out.

“Idiot!” Kagura sighed. “But on the up side of things now you know that those sutras Miroku made work. With those, he can’t sneak around without being detected.”

“True.” Sango added, nodding. “You won’t have to worry about waking up when we’re traveling and having him in front of you again. Now we’ll get some warning when he’s around and that close. It’s a cold comfort, I know, but it’s better that the first time happened here where you have all kinds of protection to test it out than when we’re traveling.”

“That’s true.” Kagome admitted with a nod. Pulling her knees up, she wrapped her arms around her shins, hugging herself. “He was so angry! I could feel it through the mating bond.” She all but whispered.

“That’s his problem!” Sango told her firmly. “It’s him that can’t let go of you even though he’s well aware you’re no longer mates.”

“True, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to try to make it my problem as well. Because that’s what he’s doing! He’s not going to let go of me and I don’t even want to think about what might happen if he gets his claws into me again. Especially after what I felt from him tonight!” Kagome said softly, voice breaking a bit.

Sliding over next to her, Kagura slipped an arm around the little ningen’s shoulder and gave her a bit of a squeeze. “I, better than anyone, know what you’re feeling. No, it isn’t exactly the same but I don’t want to think about what Naraku will do when he finds out I’m alive and betrayed him. It’s scary that’s for sure. But I have you, Sango and the rest of the pack that will do their best to protect me. You have the same thing.

“I give you my word that I’ll protect you to the best of my ability. You have me a gift of such magnitude that I’ll never be able to repay you for it but I’m going to try. Protecting you is part of that. But I’ll also do it because I see you as the first real friend I have ever had.

“Besides me you have Sango, who, from what I’ve seen, is just like your sister. Then there is Kouga. He would stop at nothing to protect you. He adores you and always has. Ginta and Hakkaku are there as well. They don’t call you ‘sis’ for no reason. Miroku sees you much the same way Sango does.

“But mostly there is Sesshomaru. He sticks to you like you’re both joined at the hip and has ever since he took you from Inuyasha. We all know how scary he can be when he’s protecting someone or angry. But it’s even worse in this case because he loves you. I doubt any of us have seen the level of viciousness that he will rise to when it comes to protecting you. There’s no way that he will let his vigilance slip.

“Yes, I think that there will be a chance Inuyasha will get his hands on you again but, though you should keep on your toes, don’t dwell on it. Put your faith in your own abilities to keep yourself safe and what the rest of us can do to help. Beyond that just try to enjoy what you now have. Don’t let that jackass hanyou ruin what you have with Sesshomaru or taint it because you’re focused on being worried about what Inuyasha might do to you. When you do that the half-breed wins. Don’t let him win!”

With tears in her eyes, Kagome hugged the wind witch. “Thanks Kagura.”

Grinning from ear to ear, Sango’s eyes sparkled a bit wetly as well. “Very well said Kagura!” She told her. Then she looked at the little priestess that was the closest female friend she had ever had. “She’s right Kagome, about everything she said.”

“I know, it just isn’t easy to do. Every time I try to relax and am about get there he pops back up.”

“But he hasn’t gotten to you.” Kagura pointed out. “He’s gotten close to you but hasn’t been able to get his claws on you.”

Looking at Kagura, she answered quietly, “No, he hasn’t succeeded.”

“Exactly, something’s always prevented it. Perhaps that’s a sign from somewhere to tell you something’s not going to let him seriously hurt you again. Remember that.” Kagura told her softly. Then she grinned wickedly, eyes twinkling a bit. “Now… onto something more important!”

“What’s that?” Kagome asked, a bit confused.

“It seems that you have neglected to mention some very important, need to know information in our girl talks!” The kazi said, eyebrows arched a bit.

Giggling a bit, knowing this was bound to be funny, the miko grinned. “What information do you think I left out?”

“Just how absolutely gorgeous Sesshomaru is without a shirt!” Kagura said emphatically.

Unable to help herself, Sango began to giggle uncontrollably, eyes dancing. “True! He is, that’s for sure!”

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

About an hour or so later the males made it back to the fortress. Kagome heard a soft rap on the balcony door. After peeking through the curtains and seeing Sesshomaru she quickly unlocked the door and opened it. Stepping back, she waited until he put his sword up and shut the doors behind him then launched herself at him. Wrapping herself around him, she hugged him tightly. “I was so worried about you!” She almost sobbed.

Holding her close, he stroked her head. “Shh… I’m fine Kagome. Just calm down. Everything is fine. No one was hurt.” He told her in a calm, soothing voice.

Burying her face in his bare chest, she clung tightly to him. She had been so worried what could have happened to him if he and Inuyasha had faced off. Especially since he didn’t have his armor on.

Nuzzling her head with his, he just held on to her, staying quiet. He knew she would calm down in a few minutes. All she needed was a bit of time and his touch was all. But being honest with himself he would admit that it felt good to have someone worry about him as much as she did.

Within a couple minutes he heard a rap on the door. Knowing who it was, he motioned for one of the onnas to answer it. Normally, he was fiercely protective of his private space but, as far as he was concerned, the pack was family so they were allowed within his personal confines. Plus, he didn’t want to make Kagome move to another room. She was well aware his chambers were the safest in the fortress so that made her feel safer. Plus, knowing all her friends were safe as well would help calm her down.

When Sango opened the door Kouga and Miroku, carrying Kirara, stepped into the room. Seeing the way Kagome was they said nothing and walked over to the table were Kagura was seated and sat down, staying quiet.

Feeling her calm down a bit, he looked over at those seated. “One of you go have someone get us something to drink.” He said quietly. When he saw Kagura head to the door he nodded then looked down at the little onna in his arms. “Come on Kagome, let’s sit down.” Feeling her nod he gently moved her over and sat down with her on his lap. She instantly snuggled up to him, resting her head on his shoulder, one arm draped around his waist.

When Kagura came back and sat down Kouga cleared his throat. When the demon lord nodded the ookami launched into what he had to say. “When I came back I had a look around. I think mutt-face was perched in a tree just on the other side of the wall. I found some remnants of food and a couple other things in it that had his smell on them. So he’s been lingering fairly close.” Stopping, he cleared his throat then continued on in a very quiet voice. “From where he was sitting you can see straight in your balcony doors. He must have seen something that set him off.”

Immediately Kagome blushed a shade of red that would have done any self-respecting cherry proud. Sesshomaru growled, grinding his teeth. His chambers were up high enough that he had never had to worry about someone peeping in so he never closed the curtains on the balcony doors unless he slept during the day. Now he was going to have to remember to do that. He also made a mental note to have the staff procure some thicker ones so there was no way to see in when they were closed.

Seeing the looks on both their faces, the ookami guessed they had been doing something that they hadn’t wanted anyone to see and most certainly didn’t want to talk about so he pressed on, changing the topic slightly. “Just a suggestion… you might want to have the guards patrol outside the walls as well. Also, have the monk put sutras on all the trees around the outer walls as well. That should end him getting that close.”

Nodding, Sesshomaru agreed. “Good idea. I’ll see to the guards before I go to bed even though I doubt the whelp will come back tonight. We’re on too high of an alert after what happened.”

Settling back, trying to relax a bit, the onnas asked about what had happened so the males filled them in about what had gone on, not that there was much to tell really.

At the end of the story Sango couldn’t help herself. Looking at the taiyoukai shirtless, clad in those red sleep pants with frolicking white puppies on them, she put her hand over her mouth to stop a giggle. “You must have been quite a sight chasing him in those pants.”

Hearing Kagome giggle a bit, the demon lord just smirked. “Indeed. And it’s a sight that won’t be seen outside the family wing again, I assure you!” He told her but there was no malice or rancor in his tone. He hadn’t even thought about what he had looked like when he yanked on clothes, the only thing he had been focused on was getting Inuyasha. Now he was grateful that at least he had the forethought to put on his boots not those slippers she had brought him.

Grinning, Kagura chuckled. “Oh well, at least it’s something memorable for those of us that saw it!”

“Indeed.” Sesshomaru smirked. In the past he would have been furious at being seen in that way or the playful ribbing about it he was getting. But getting it from those seated around the table didn’t really matter. Like Kagome, he considered most there friends of a sort and a version of family. No, he wasn’t close with them like he was Kagome but they, like when it came to most packs, were family and, also, to an extent friends. He had found that he liked having them around and appreciated their sense of humor, even if it was at ‘his expense’. He had more internal laughs and chuckling with them than he had over his entire lifetime.

Looking around the taiyoukai’s opulent and magnificent chambers, Kouga scratched his chin thoughtfully. “This is great! I’m jealous! I thought the room I’m staying in was the lap of luxury but it pales in comparison to this. I’m going to have to do something like this to my den I think.”

“Let Anikia and Kuni decorate it. I’m sure that they have much better taste than you do.” Kagura said with a snicker.

“Oh, you’ve heard, have you?” The ookami asked with a huge grin on his face.

“Yes, we’ve heard. I think the whole fortress has heard by now.” Sango giggled. Wagging her finger at him, she said, “As members of the pack we should have been told first you know!”

“I didn’t tell anyone! I was going to wait until all the negotiations were done and it was a sure thing. But it must have slipped out before hand and starting making the rounds.” Kouga told her.

“So, it’s not a sure thing then?” Kagome asked.

Shaking his head, Kouga replied. “No, not yet. We’re still working through some of it. But I’m positive it will all work out in the end and it will be a done deal. There don’t seem to be too many more obstacles to be ironed out left. And the idea was Kuni and Anikia’s not mine!” Giving a wicked, toothy grin, he said. “They proposed the whole thing to me! I was floored when I heard what they wanted but it was something I thought I could work with and went with the flow from there.”

“You’re in for so many problems and going to have so much trouble!” Kagome giggled, eyes twinkling.

“That’s probably true.” Kouga conceded but had a bit of a smug look on his face.

“And if you think you’re going to be in charge you better think again!” Sango added, eyes dancing.

“I have no illusions as to where my place will be in this.” Kouga told them with a chuckle. “They’ve been best friends since they were pups and would team up if I did anything to upset one of them.” He said with a shake of his head. “I will be in charge of what will be considered to be ‘my duties’’, the rest of the time I’m sure they will be the ones in charge.”

“Smart decision.” Sesshomaru added with a smirk.

They talked for a while longer, most of it spent ribbing Kouga, who didn’t seem to mind it at all, then they all headed to their rooms once more.

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

Once the rest of the pack left and a servant cleared away the dishes, Kagome and Sesshomaru were once more left alone.

Holding her close to his chest, Sesshomaru kissed her on top of the head. “Kagome, I have a scroll I have to get written and sent out tonight. I can go down to my study and take care of it there or, if you would prefer, I can do it here.”

“I would rather you did it here if it’s not too much of bother. I really don’t want to be left alone tonight.” She told him softly.

Expecting that, he nodded. “That’s fine.”

Looking over her shoulder at him, a puzzled expression on her face, she asked, “What’s so important that it has to be done tonight? Did something else happen?” Now she was a bit concerned. From what she could tell since being at the fortress he never worked this late unless something dire happened or there was an emergency of some kind.

“No, nothing else has happened, other than what we told you about.” He reassured her. With a mental sigh, he tried to formulate the best way to go about telling her what he planned to do. “I made a decision about something tonight while we were trying to find the half-breed and I need to stat the wheels in motion for it is all.” Then with a mental sigh he began to tell her what the decision was and the history behind it as well as why it had come about in the first place.

As he trailed off on the history between her and his half-brother he ‘came clean’ about what he knew about the boy and his violent streak. When he finished, he gave her a bit of a squeeze then said, “Kagome…” then trailed off for a minute. “When you told me you and Inuyasha would be mated I debated telling you what I knew about him and his violent streak but I didn’t know if I should or even how to go about it. As far as I knew, by the time you came along, he hadn’t done such things for years. Nor had I ever heard of him abusing a partner or any onna he had sexual relations with. Plus I doubted you would have listened to me because all I had was ancient history and a few vague suspicions that I had no proof for and no real way of trying to find out if they were authentic.”

“You’re right, I probably would have let it go in one ear and out the other. Or chalked it up to your not liking Inuyasha.” She said with a sigh. “Plus I hadn’t seen him do anything violent to women nor had he done anything to me that would make me even suspect he was capable of something like that.”

“That was my assumption.” He told her quietly, holding her close. “But, in hindsight, I realize I should have said something to you about it. Even if you ignored it perhaps it would have stuck somewhere and you would have been more vigilant at the first signs of some of his troubling behavior.” He sighed.

“Coulda’, woulda’, shoulda’… no sense dwelling on it since it’s over and done with.” She said with a small sigh. Thinking over what he said and the tone of voice he used something tickled her brain a bit. Looking over her shoulder at him, she smiled. “Sesshomaru, I’m not mad or even upset with you that you didn’t say anything. You did what you thought was best, I have no problem with that.”

Breathing a small sigh of relief, he relaxed a bit. “Be assured, if I had known he was abusive towards the fairer sex I would have told you.”

“I don’t doubt that for a minute.” She replied with a small smile. Then she changed the topic. “Can I talk to you about Kagura?”

“Of course. I’m quite interested in your observations about her.” He told her with a nod.

“I think you should give her back her fan.” She didn’t have to look at him to know he had arched his eyebrow so she pressed on. “I know she’s only been with us for a short time but my gut’s telling me I can trust her. Plus she’s given up everything she knows about Naraku, even things we didn’t think to ask her. Sango trusts her as much as she can in this short period of time and likes her too. That’s not something she does easily. Plus, I really do like her.

“On the other side of things, if she’s pulling something and she had her fan then working with it ahead of time to see what she can do will give the rest of us a better insight on how to counter anything she throws at us.

“Then there’s Inuyasha… His strikes won’t work around her. Her wind disrupts the flow and can dive them off. He found that out the hard way when we met her. Without my arrows he’s worthless around her.”

Brow creased a bit, Sesshomaru thought about what she had told him. All of her reasonings made sense to him. Plus he hadn’t known about the bit with the whelp. That most certainly could, and probably would, prove to be useful to them at some point in the future.

From his end his intuition was also telling him that the kazi was being sincere and could be trusted. Though, unlike Kagome, he wanted real proof before he was willing to let himself do so. On the other hand, since he had first met her, he had known that she had a bit of a ‘thing’ for him. Even now that still gave him a good internal chuckle. After all, when she was just trying to break free from the spider the first time it was him she had come to for help. Nor had she ever really tried to engage or fight him. The only thing she had done was kidnap Rin but she had been forced to do that by Naraku. She could have seriously injured or even killed Jaken but hadn’t, she had just blown him over and taken the child.

Pondering what she said and his own feelings on the matter for a couple minutes he then nodded. “Alright, I’ll return her fan to her. I can see the wisdom in doing so. Then I want you and Sango to keep an eye on her for me. If you see anything untold from her I want you to tell me. Acceptable?”

“Works for me!” Kagome replied with a smile.

After giving her a peck on the head he ducked out of the room to go retrieve what he needed from his study.

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

Sprawled out on some pillows by the table in their room, Sango and Kagura were playing cards when there was a firm rap on the door. Shrugging on her robe, the slayer padded to the door to answer it.
Opening it a crack, she peered out. When she saw the taiyoukai she opened it all the way. “Has something happened?” She asked. That was the only reason she could think of for his visit.

“Nothing is wrong, don’t worry. I just stopped by to return this to Kagura.” He said, holding up her fan.

Eyes wide, Kagura walked over and took what was essentially her weapon, stunned into silence.

Fixing her with a glare, Sesshomaru said, “Kagome vouched for you and is the one who suggested that I return it. Do not make her regret that.” He warned her.

“Never!” The kazi replied softly, shaking her head. “She will never regret this or any trust she’s put in me. I swear it. And I promise I will defend her with my life it it’s called for.” By that point tears were sparking in her ruby red eyes.

Nodding, the demon lord told her, “I will ensure that you are held to that promise. Be assured I’ll be keeping a close eye on you.” Then, nodding to the slayer, he left and made his way back to his chambers.

When the demon lord was gone Sango shut the door then looked at the wind witch. Grinning, she hugged her new friend. “See Kagura? We trust you.”

“That feels so good too!” The tearful wind witch replied, hugging Sango back.