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

Chapter 11

Head in his hands, Sesshomaru’s elbows were on his desk. Eyes shut, he was taking deep, cleansing breaths trying to calm himself. It was barely midday and already it felt as though he had been at work for 12 hours. It felt like the whole fortress had been seized by chaos that was barely contained.

It was one day before the miko’s introduction ball so the staff was in a flurry of activity trying to prepare. His guards were all over making sure there were no problems and already some of the guests were arriving and needed to be put up in various chambers that weren’t yet ready for them. The mindset of that seemed to be if the arrived early they could meet Kagome before the others. Wisely, the miko had sequestered herself in the family wing, away from the chaos and havoc. Because this was the first non-political party he had thrown since he had taken over the title of the Western Lord it was a huge undertaking and would be attended by nobles from the whole of Japan.

If the party preparations weren’t enough there was the normal headaches to deal with. The old bat he had banished earlier in the week was trying to weasel her way back in for the part, a stress he most certainly didn’t need at this point. She was trying everything she could think of including a letter writing campaign to Kagome, a wasted effort if there ever was one. At this point his temper was such that he was about to chuck her in the dungeon for the duration just for annoying him. Of course those were just a few of the minor annoyances that lumped together to give him a major headache. Add all of it to the usual mundane problems and he was going to lose him temper very soon. In fact, to avoid that happening, he was about to call it a day and follow Kagome’s lead, sequestering himself in the family wing unless he had to come out for something. Supper that night was going to be delivered to everyone rather than a sit down meal so the kitchen staff could continue to prepare for the following night’s banquet. So his presence wouldn’t be required for that. He could put Jaken in charge of making sure everything ran smoothly and getting him if there was a problem.

In fact, he was preparing to do just that when there was a knock on his study door. Groaning internally and wondering what now he then barked out, “Enter!”

When he saw the healer enter he relaxed a bit but the furious look on her face put him on edge a bit in a different way. “Were you able to examine Kagome without a problem?” He asked calmly.

After that thought the night before he had brought up the topic to the little priestess over breakfast, telling her he wanted to be sure that all her injuries were attended to and to make sure she was healthy. Though he had expected a fight from her one wasn’t forthcoming. Instead she had agreed, calling it a ‘physical’.

Standing in front of the desk, Sasuku, the healer, fixed him with an angry glare. “Yes, without a problem. Lady Kagome was quite accommodating. She seemed to know what I was doing and why so she accepted it.”

“And?” He asked, one eyebrow arched. From the look on her face he doubted he would like what she had to say but he felt he had to know what she had found out.

“Your half-brother is an animal!” She snapped.

“This I know well.” He said with a deep sight. “What did you find out other than that?” He prodded.

Sighing deeply, her shoulders slumped a little bit. “Lady Kagome’s aversion is not from a physical defect or problem in any way. At least one that I can find.” She stated.

Nodding, he replied, “Then she’ll be able to bear children?”
“Quite easily I should think. It sounds as though everything is functioning just as it should be.”
“This is good.” He said with a nod. Then he asked, “What is troubling you then?”
Sighing, the little monkey youkai looked down. “I believe I found out the reason for her aversion for the act and why it pains her.” She said quietly but voice shaking in anger.

“Why would that be?” He prompted but was fairly certain, from her reaction, he wouldn’t like what she was going to say.

“If someone had treated me that roughly I can say I wouldn’t enjoy the experience either!” She all but shouted, eyes flashing.

Eyebrow plastered to his forehead, he said simply, “Explain!”

“She is scared up on the genital area from, what I can easily determine to be, claw marks. They are all over the entire area. I cannot imagine that was a pleasant experience, being on the receiving end of such treatment, unless you enjoy being tortured. And, from what she told me, Lord Inuyasha was the culprit!”

The taiyoukai had to put a reign on both his temper and his beast. Both were threatening to cut loose at that point. As would be expected his beast had renewed it’s call to gut the boy and turn his dog ears into a decorative hat for Rin. Honestly, he was tempted to let it loose to do just that but didn’t. Instead he kept his normal, expressionless mask in place and tried to think logically then asked, “Would these injuries still cause her pain if she were to have normal relations?” He tried to keep his voice calm as he could despite his raised ire.

“No, they are external, not internal. If someone that didn’t hurt her were to have intercourse with her it’s my opinion that she would be able to feel pleasure like anyone else.”

Nodding, he digested what she said then asked quietly, “Could the injuries be accidentally caused?”

“Once could be deemed an accident but the multiple scaring she is showing would indicate no. Though it could be but the being doing it would have to be stupid not to realize what they were doing caused her pain. Not only from her reaction but from the blood from the injuries. There was no way what happened wouldn’t have caused bleeding because what was left are deep scars. In fact, it would be my guess that she probably bled quite a bit.” She added quietly.

A muscle ticking in his jaw, he looked down at his desk and tried to think through the white hot lave of his rage that was engulfing him. Though he didn’t want to be, once more he had been proven right about the whelp. Somehow, some way he would get revenge on the boy for the pain and suffering he had put the little onna through. Oh yes, the boy would pay for this outrage! Focusing once more, he asked, “Did the exam cause her pain?” Though everything he heard infuriated him, he felt he had to know the totality of it all. Only when he had as much information as he could get would he be able to know what to work with and how to go about it.

“No.” She said, shaking her head. “She was apprehensive when we started but relaxed as much as one can during such an exam when she realized it wasn’t going to hurt.” She explained.

Nodding, he said, “Good.” That did indicate that she didn’t have a physical problem but that the trouble had been what Inuyasha had done.

“I’ve given her a cream to apply that will help reduce the scars a bit. I have nothing that will get rid of them totally but it will fade them. Best I can say is physically she is fine but as her future mate you need to take things slow with her or you’re going to cause more trauma. I’m sure that isn’t something you want.” She told him, glaring.

“Rest assured, I will treat her with the patience and gentleness the situation requires.” He said with a nod.

When she assured herself there was nothing else he wanted she excused herself to return to her duties.

When she left he called Jaken in and put him in charge of things for the rest of the day. Once he explained what he wanted done and how to run things he dismissed the kappa with a stern warning that he didn’t want disturbed then headed to the family wing.

First he stopped at the children’s chambers to see how they were faring. After about 15 minutes or so of Rin’s happy patter, which did lighten his mood considerably, he excused himself then headed to his chambers to put up his swords.

Once he put them up he quietly slipped into the little miko’s chambers.
Lying on the bed, she had been reading when he came in. Closing the book around her finger to mark her place, she looked at him and smiled. “Hi!” She told him.

Suddenly an overwhelming feeling to ‘comfort’ her because of what she had suffered through, even though the torment was in the past, overcame him. One he found himself powerless to resist. Sliding onto the bed beside her, she gently extracted the book from her hand and laid it, face down so not to lose her place, on the bedside table then pulled her, sideways, into his lap and held her to his chest, gently stroking her hair with one hand.

Confused, she had no clue what brought on the bout of affection but she leaned against him and enjoyed it. Resting her head on his shoulder then she slipped an arm around his waist.

Holding her close, he wasn’t sure, really, if he was doing this to comfort her for the pain she had suffered through or he was doing it for himself over the guilt he was starting to feel over not noticing the abuse before he did. Finding his voice, he asked her gently, “You didn’t find the exam too traumatizing did you?”

Now she understood, assuming he had talked to the healer when she was done, what was going on and blushed brightly. “Uh…no, I was OK.” She stammered out. “In my time it’s routine. We go through a similar exam once a year to make sure we are healthy and don’t have any diseases women can sometimes get. It’s suggested we start getting them after you start your first monthly cycle.” She rambled on.

Relieved, he nodded. “Good. I hoped you wouldn’t feel too personally intruded upon by it.” He told her. Looking down at her peaceful face he felt his heart clench a bit as he thought about how much she had suffered and his temper began to once more spike at the thought of what Inuyasha had done to her once more. “Kagome…” he started but trailed off, unsure what he wanted to say to her.

Rolling her eyes up, she looked at his face. “Yes?”

“I apologize for not noticing what was happing to you. I should have been more alert and detected what was going on then put a stop to it. That was a failure on my part and I apologize for it.” He told her softly.

Giving him a squeeze, she smiled up at him. “Thanks, but you don’t have anything to be sorry for. Inuyasha is to blame not you.”

“Inuyasha, indeed, is responsible for his actions but, as I told you before, I have my own responsibilities in the matter as well.”
“I understand.” She told him quietly, not willing to argue the point with him.

“I will also, once more, assure you that his abuse will not ever be repeated. I, nor any other male, will ever harm you in such a way again!”

“Thanks.” She told him quietly.

Though he wanted to assure her he wasn’t the sexual sadist Inuyasha was he didn’t feel now was the time or the place to do that. He decided that it should wait until the first time they did something of a sexual nature to do so. He didn’t anticipate that happening any time soon so she would be able to put some distance between herself and what had happened, something that was part of the healing process. Also, it would allow him some time to prove to her in other ways that he wouldn’t do what the hanyou had, thus building up her trust in him. As he was aware, she was probably going to be fairly apprehensive the first time, yes, but if there was trust in other areas before then it would make it easier on her.

Sitting there, he did feel soothed by her calm aura. But much of the guilt he felt over not noticing what was happening to her remained. It was unlike him to miss much of anything but this time he had missed it all far, long and wide, causing someone to repeatedly be hurt. That was not acceptable to him. He wouldn’t brook that kind of mistake from a being under his command so there was no way he would allow it from himself either. The only way he could see to assuage his guilt over it was to make it up to the injured party: Kagome. And that he would do.

Pulling himself out of that area of thought, he looked down at her. “You, little miko, are making my life very complicated and causing untold amounts of chaos. You know that, don’t you?”

Giggling, she looked up at him and grinned. “What’s happened now?”

“Hn… my fortress that has always run so smoothly has been overtaken by total havoc.” He told her smirking. Then he began to relay the events of the day to her.

Laughing, her eyes sparkling, she said, “You’ve had the day from hell I see.”
“Yes.” He replied dryly, looking down at her. “All because they want to meet you first.”

“Oh, I don’t think it’s just me! I think it has to do with you as well. Don’t you think everyone is curious about it all because it’s strange and out of character for you?”

“True.” He admitted with a bigger smirk. “The rumor mill has been working and there has been talk of me taking a mate. That, I’m sure, has added to the general frenzy of the situation.”
“Added?” I’m sure that is most of the cause of it! I bet they want to meet me just to see who was brave enough, or stupid enough-depending on their mindset, to become your mate.” She laughed.

“True.” He said again. Though it was her they wanted to meet and get in the good graces of, because of the power she was going to wield, it was a curiosity about why he was throwing this party and who his mate was going to be that was the big reason they were there. He was also sure he was right that they wanted to meet her, thinking she was either courageous or a fool, depending on their perspective, because of what he was like. As he knew from times in the past, there were plenty of onnas who never saw him as a potential mate despite his wealth and power because of how he was and some of the stories that floated around about him. Normally, when it came to beings with the kind of power he had, rumors about personality and such were ignored because of what could be gained by such a union but his reputation and the rumors about him were ‘bad’ enough that women, and families, thought twice about making that play.

As far as he was concerned that was fine with him. That got rid of a lot of the extraneous crap he had to deal with. He also knew his cold, expressionless demeanor was off-putting to many. That was fine with him as well.

Looking down at her, he said, “I do have to say you are going to surprise the hell out of them.” He told her with an amused tone to his voice. “Not only are you a miko but your personality is such that no one will expect it.”
Eyes sparkling, she laughed, “True. At least until they meet my temper.”

“Quite true” He agreed. “But, being a miko, all it’s going to take is a threat of purification to keep them in line.”
All she could do was giggle at that.

Giving her a bit of a squeeze, he then patted her on the backside. “Grab a couple of your games and we’ll retire to my chambers to play.”
“Alright.” She said, scrambling off the bed.

~~~~~@~~~~~

An hour or so later they were sitting at a table in his room playing backgammon, talking about nothing in particular, when he brought up the topic of her bed once more. “Once the part is over I really have to ensure someone gets you a new mattress.”
“Don’t worry about it, it’s fine.” She told him, making a move on the board.

“I will not have you sleeping on something that uncomfortable!” He stated firmly. Looking at her, an idea came to mind. “How about this… the day after the party you sit down with my staff and tell them how you want your chambers decorated and what you what in them. While we are gone looking for Naraku they can take care of it. That way it’ll be done the following month when you return here. Does that sound alright to you?”

“You don’t have to do that! The room’s fine the way it is.” She said looking at him.

“It’s your right. That’s your chambers now and you’re allowed to decorate it how you wish.” He told her firmly. “It’s traditional for the chambers to be decorated by the new lady to suit her tastes. So it’s expected of you.” He explained.

“I suppose that’s something that could be a lot of fun.” She said with a smile. “Alright, I’ll do it.”