Old Shame

Inuyasha had finally asked her! It had taken two years for him to confess his feeling to her, but Inuyasha had finally done it! Kagome was ecstatic.

A bright spring morning, Kagome had awoken to a gruff voice telling her to get the hell up.

"What?" Kagome finally snapped trying to turn her head away. She wanted to go back to sleep—not deal with Inuyasha at an unseemly hour to be awake. One problem though: it seemed that Inuyasha had her entrapped in his arms with a comfortable seat on her lap. She snuggled closer trying to feign as if she had fallen directly back into sleep in an attempt to enjoy this rare pleasure.

"Come on Kagome. I know you're awake, " he said, shaking her gently.

She groaned, trying to roll off in an effort to see him face-to-face. His arms quickly tightened around her. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Inuyasha warned.

Kagome's eyes popped open to see the arching branches of the Goshinboku cast around her. The new, green foliage spread out around them, hiding them from the searching eyes of others' (namely Miroku, Sango, and Shippou).

"Inuyasha! What are you doing?" Kagome nearly shrieked. The idea of being this high up in a giant tree did not sit well with her...although Inuyasha was a nice comfort.

"I need to talk to you about something, and I didn't want no one spying in on us like they normally do. This seemed like the best place, so keep it down unless ya want them hangin' around, "Inuyasha rationally explained.

Kagome tried to glare at him; he usually didn't act so calm unless something major was going down. Or if he was trying to prank her.

"What is it?"

"Well," began Inuyasha, "during certain time, demons have urges to declare their chosen." Kagome could feel her heart pounding, along with Inuyasha's, which rested just beneath her.

"S-s-so, who's your chosen Inuyasha?"

He gave a soft smile. Both hearts began to beat faster in a nearly synchronized rhythm. Kagome had known for a long time that Inuyasha was her best friend, but rarely had she hoped that he pursued her; she didn't think that he was ready yet for another relationship.

Kagome stiffened as Inuyasha buried his nose in her neck to begin shuffling along the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

"Please don't move away, Kagome. Don't move unless you don't want this."

Inuyasha paused on her left side and quickly bit into her skin; he felt Kagome still the instinctive jerk. I'm proud of you Kagome; not all humans can take this.

After a minute, Inuyasha let go to lap at the two small puncture wounds; he could feel the blood collecting at his lips. His mate felt so limp in his arms, as if she were no longer there.

"Kagome, wake up." He got a blank stare that worried him. His instincts started to knaw at him, telling him that his mate needed something. Inuyasha finally leaned his head down to plant one chaste kiss.

Kagome jerked up to the blood lips that had been placed upon her own, and she tasted the copper on his lips. Inuyasha's eyes widened as he felt his kiss being returned; he slowly relaxed and let himself fully enjoy it. But it had to end...

"Kagome," He managed to get out.

"Mmm?"

"You have to do the same thing to me. Do you understand?" he asked her, watching the brown eyes try to focus through the haze/

"Mmm hmm...." She hummed back to him in contentment.

"Kagome! Listen, bite down when I tell you too," Inuyasha commanded. He then guided her head gently to the corresponding spot on his body. "Alright Kagome, bite..." Kagome inhaled sharply before locking down with her own small teeth.

And Inuyasha felt absolute ecstasy! Oh if this was what Kagome had felt, he was not surprised she had been so far gone! And then Kagome lapped at eh blood and Inuyasha froze until he tasted his own blood along with Kagome's lips.

"Kagome," he finally panted out, "I love you."

"I love you to," she responded before snuggling into him. Inuyasha tightened his hug around her silently screaming for glee in his head. He listened in comfort to her steadying heart beat as Kagome drifted to sleep against his chest. Inuyasha slowly dropped his head to rest it lovingly atop his mate's.

Maybe this is what heaven is like...

And so they slept till the pre-dawn morning had passed and Kagome had awoken thanks to the streaming rays of a bright yellow sun.

Kagome felt so safe there snuggled up against her love; his arms ensnaring her; and his head a comforting weight. She enjoyed the warmth, but then a thought crept its way in. He was her mate, which in her book was the equivalent of marriage—so was there anything else to this bond that she needed to know about?

There was also the dilemma of how to tell everyone.

"Shippou will know as soon as we get in scent range," Inuyasha supplied helpfully. Kagome found this rather curious and wanted to know more. "Well," continued Inuyasha, "We both smell a little like the other so..." He shrugged at the common sense of it.

"Alright, but what about Sango, Miroku...OH DEAR GOD! MY MOM!" Kagome's brow puckered. How was she supposed to break this to her mom? Mated at seventeen? A more interesting thought popped into her head.

"Inuyasha, we have to get married so Momma won't worry too much, " Kagome told him.

"What for? That's just some stupid 'ole human tradition," Inuyasha spoke without thinking. Kagome's face began to redden again as she glared daggers at the idiot hanyou. "Wha-what? Shit...listen Kagome. I didn't mean it that way!" Inuyasha tried backing up before he remembered where he was at. "Kagome! Hold on!" As Inuyasha tried to roll in the air, Kagome attached herself to his neck.

Inuyasha hit the ground with an "oof," not having been prepared for it, but everyone was fine. That is, until his entire body stiffened.

"Inuyasha, what's wrong?" Kagome asked, worried. What if he had actually hurt himself?

"Naraku...smells like Sesshoumaru and Kouga are there too," Inuyasha told her quietly before he was off like a shot, carrying her with him. "Listen Kagome, I know you have to be there...but, please stay out of danger. I can't lose you," he whispered above her head.

"I understand Inuyasha, as along as you know you have to stay safe too." Inuyasha gave her one confidant smirk before they blasted onto the battlefield. His last smirk.

Samiyosho were flying about in the air, forcing Miroku to rely solely on his staff and ofuda. Sango was the aerial side of the attack, slinging her Hiraikotsu at the simpler demons. Near the center of the field, Kouga and Sesshoumaru were battling the insidious Naraku; two demons linked by two hanyous. Would that link ever be broken?

Kagome was set down at the edge where the miasma was the weakest. Shippou appeared a minute later to protect her; evidence of his help could be seen here and there were demons were pinned down screaming in rage. Inuyasha raced off with the Tetsusaiga extended towards his enemy.

Naraku was beat upon on three sides by three powerful demons. As the fight wore on, Miroku and Sango began to periodically join in as Naraku's minions began to lessen. Finally, Kouga distracted him with a swipe at the face as Sesshoumaru plunged Tokijin in. Inuyasha unleashed his Wind Scar with a down sing of his own mighty weapon. As Naraku's body disintegrated, one branch-like arm plunged deep into Inuyasha's torso. The young half-demon stared down at his blood soaked chest in shock. Then the screaming began.

That one piece of Naraku began to expand, deepening the hole it had punched in Inuyasha's chest. AS he was torn asunder, Inuyasha screeched until his lungs were separated. In an instant, the two most powerful half-demons had died.

On the other side of the field, Kagome felt as if her heart was being ripped in two just as Inuyasha's had been. She wanted to die to be with her mate—not here in this hellhole where all light had died. Kagome's soul began to chase that of her love's as her body slowly stopped it's functioning.

Kagome's world was dimming, with edges flickering in black. She watched the black march across her vision, welcoming it as a tonic that stopped the ache.

Searing pain ripped through her suddenly as fangs sank into her left side over Inuyasha's mark. Kagome brought her hands up to feel for her attacker; to rebuff this horrifying effacement of something so important. All they felt was silken strands.

Kagome's vision was returning in fuzzy waves that left her confused. Why was there so much silver and gold?

Inuyasha was dead.

She was dead.

Kagome could feel herself being carried; she felt safe. "Inuyasha?" she murmured. Maybe it was a bad dream; maybe I was knocked out.

"I am not Inuyasha."

Her heart froze. That cold voice: Sesshoumaru. Kagome's eyes fluttered open to see chilling gold ones looking back. "Put me down you bastard!"

"Listen human. You were my brother's mate, and as a lord, it is my responsibility to keep you after his passing. The only was to stop you life's passing was to make you my mate. I do not want you. You will stay in a castle in my ownership, away from me.

"No problem asshole," Kagome spat at him.

"I understand that you have spent much time with Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru said coldly, "but you will speak to me with respect. "He stared her down, forcing the human to blink and look away.

At Sesshoumaru's stare, Kagome realized more completely her situation; Inuyasha was dead and she now belonged to Sesshoumaru.

Inuyasha's dead......Inuyasha's dead...Inuyasha's dead. Inuyasha's dead. Dead. Dead. DEAD!

"Put me down! Let me die! I don't want you!" Kagome screamed. She didn’t want to be here; not this life; not this time. "Please kill me Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha's not here. He's never going to be here again," she sobbed.

"I am afraid that I do not have the physical capability to kill you anymore. More importantly, I would prefer it if you did not die given the affect it would have on me, " Sesshoumaru spoke calmly. "So I will not set you down until it is in a place where you do not have the ability to commit suicide."

"What does it FUCKING MATTER TO YOU?! I WANT TO DIE!" she screamed, not hearing his words.

"And I do not," he evenly retorted. Sesshoumaru clasped the girl more tightly to still her struggles as he continued towards where he had left his companions at a nearby cave.

At reaching the cave, Rin rushed out to great her Lord Sesshoumaru with Jaken tripping behind her. At seeing Kagome, who had since lapsed back to a fitful sleep, Rin almost began to react in the way of small child—loud calls of "What's this?"—but Sesshoumaru's look paused her reaction.

Jaken was not so intelligent.

"Master Sesshoumaru, why do you have that girl!?" he screeched first before his demon senses noticed the mating bond. "AAHH, LORD SESSHOUMARU! WHAT HAPPENED?"

One death glare was all he needed to remember his place.

"Come Jaken, Rin. We are going to my castle," was all Sesshoumaru told them before walking in one steady direction.

Sesshoumaru did have a castle, although he did visit it very infrequently. It was a holdover from the inheritance he had received from his father at the Inutaisho's death. Most of the more grandiose things Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's father had accumulated in his long life had been quickly disposed of as useless. Sesshoumaru was too nomadic to ever have use of the more sentimental trappings of his sire.

But this one castle, with its tall, granite turrets, was the singular thing he wanted from his father besides power.

It was his mother's beautiful home and prison after her great disgrace.

Sesshoumaru's mother had been a powerful demoness in her own right, with the bloodline to be a princess as well. She was the reason for his cold, haughty demeanor as well as the exquisite effeminate features that belied his true nature and strength. Due to her powerful ties, the Inutaisho chose her as a mate. On the same day, Sesshoumaru was given life.

However, while the inu bond has control over life and death, there are no strictures on fidelity. Once given an heir, the Inutaisho showed his "love" no more to his rightful mate. He gave her that beautiful château to lock the demoness away from his beautiful harem.

Someone so proud had been reduced to little more than a well-dressed nursemaid for a child. So Sesshoumaru's mother devised her revenge through her own son: teaching the young demon all she could about the Inutaisho's weaknesses and his swords. She trained him ruthlessly and ensured his education with tutors on all life's mysteries. And his spiteful demonic mother taught him the proper etiquette of a lord. Even with all this training, Sesshoumaru was never able to defeat his father. Then one night, the Inutaisho quit having relations with all his multitudes of women. He had found his Izayoi.

She had been a young princess on her way to her betrothed when their caravan had paused near a beautiful glade, which Izayoi wished to pluck a few blooms from. In doing so she stumbled upon the demon lord. Upon seeing her beauty, the Inutaisho became a thief with one goal in mind. However, when presented with her strong will, he did the one thing to ensure this guilty pleasure: he fell in love.

To tie Izayoi to him, Inuyasha's father went through the human marriage ceremony since he was not able to take her as a mate. However, a powerful priestess was there to bless the marriage so that it was just as strong as the mating claim the Inutaisho bore. That was when he truly broke the final strand between him and Sesshoumaru's mother.

Until he met Izayoi, Inuyasha's father had made sure that he never produced another heir. Whether through observations of the cycles, or murder, there would always only be Sesshoumaru.

But Izayoi wanted just one child to call her own; Inuyasha's father gave her that. The night the child was born, Sesshoumaru lost both mother and father. Therefore animosity was the rule of thumb between himself and his younger half sibling.

Yet on the day of Naraku's defeat he had taken it upon himself to take Inuyasha's mate when he saw her begin to die. What on the green Earth under the yellow star could possess him to do so? Especially given Kagome's status as a human wench.

At seeing his brother's chest split, Sesshoumaru immediately understood the consequences of it. He had felt the shift in auras when Kagome and Inuyasha had claimed one another; he understood the repercussions of such actions. Sesshoumaru heard the voices of his mother and tutor as he watched the girl fall:

"You can save a mated demon from death, my pupil. If a demoness has lost her mate, and you catch her between eh time when her heart stops and when her soul leaves, you may lay your claim. This will bring her back to life, but there my be severe implications if the original mating was strong."

"Listen to me my son, if our 'benevolent' lord should ever give you a brother (heaven forbid), they will be your responsibility since you shall inherit your father's titles. This includes the keeping of his mate and children should he take someone before you. And he if he walks to death's door before you have taken your own mate, it is your obligation to take his as yours."

It was for this reason he now had an unwanted human mate. Despite his hate and pride, it was still his responsibility. Besides, when the time came for an heir, he had no responsibility to be faithful to this Kagome. Currently his largest problem was keeping her alive—those implications his tutor had insinuated. She and Inuyasha had been newly bonded with strong attachments; with his death, she wanted to die with all of her being. Much of her energy would be given to suicide attempts and a lassitude toward life.

And if she succeeded, Kagome would take Sesshoumaru with her into death.