Delayed Reaction Oneshot 091
Title: Delayed Reaction
Author: Katie
Word Count: 1846
Genre: General/humor (I hope)
Rating: T
Prompt: Explosion
Warning: nah
Summery: Kagome tests the limits of her self control.
They landed in a fortress nestled deeply in a bank of clouds. Kagome was very proud of her self for not screaming the entire way. She was dumped unceremoniously to the stone floor the moment Sesshoumaru’s feet hit the ground, dusting herself off and straightening her clothes she was pleased to find that she was not covered is dog slobber. But, then she thought, Sesshoumaru would never do anything as uncouth as drool. The other dog-demon changed gracefully with Rin firmly held in her arms. Kagome couldn’t help but to feel a little bit abused. Sesshoumaru appeared beside her on two legs once again.
“Welcome to my home.” the demoness said with a flourish as she placed Rin on her feet, but keeping her close with their arms linked together. “My apologies for my son’s rudeness. Son, introduce us.”
With jaws clenched tight Sesshoumaru gestured to each woman in turn, “Kagome. Mother. “
“Haha-ue will do.” The demoness stated as she stepped into Kagome’s personal space, pulling Rin along with her. “A miko?” She dismissed the bow clutched with a white knuckled grip in Kagome’s hand and plucked a blade of grass from her sleeve then smoothed an invisible wrinkle.
Kagome nodded, still struck silent by the revelation of Sesshoumaru’s mother, the fact that he even had a mother. The physical resemblance to her son was uncanny and she had the same righteous authority. That was where the similarities seemed to end. Where Sesshoumaru radiated intensity and silent strength, his mother flowed around her space with an almost lazy sensuality.
“Sesshoumaru, a miko and a taijya; your choice in companions is positively suicidal. Show the woman to a room. My snack and I have matters to attend.” She dismissed her son and turned, pulling Rin along with her, who looked all too happy to be dragged around. “What is my aesthetically impaired son dressing you in? You are filthy, come along. Have you not received my gifts?”
Kagome had always wondered about the beautiful kimono, ornate hair ornaments, and yards of raw silk the daiyoukai would gift Ri. It seemed that they weren’t from him after all. Part of Kagome was disappointed that the thoughtfulness behind the gifts had not been generated by Sesshoumaru. Another part, oddly, was sort of relieved. The thought of the terrible, powerful, and very male, Sesshoumaru dress-shopping had unnerved her; stolen something from his mystic.
Sesshoumaru led the way past a stone courtyard, whose main attraction was a huge stone chair and dais, into the buildings nestled in behind it. The clouds that kept the fortress hidden in the sky fragmented light painting the combination of stone and raw wood walls in ever-shifting rainbows. The utilitarian atmosphere ended at the doors of the inner hall. Every wall seemed to be covered in either tapestries or yards and yards of beautifully dyed silk. The hanging lanterns that provided light all depicted scenes reminiscent of various seasons, each season continuing and repeating down one hallway or another. One hall started with the gossamer wings of a dragonfly then budding flowers, trees overflowing with pale pink cherry blossoms, and so on. Another featured glistening ice cycles then a raging sea. The hall they took was lit by sunset-leaves and blazing fires.
“You will be returned to your village in the morning. Change and I will collect you shortly.” Sesshoumaru said in his normal bored tone, gesturing to the third door they passed.
“Sesshoumaru…” Kagome began, but was cut off.
“You will remain in my debt.” Then he was gone down the corridor and around a corner.
***************
Kagome entered the dining hall to find Rin dressed in a kimono finely decorated in lilies surrounded by beautiful swirls of water painted in blues and greens. The one she had been provided with seemed to lack in comparison. The design was sparse, stripes of purple against a black background that faded into purple flowers. Unable to tie the obi alone she settled with a simple knot loosely held in the back.
Almost immediate Sesshoumaru's mother assaulted her, tugging the neckline of her kimono away and down. "Atrocious! You are not in your shrine, Miko, who has taught you to dress?" with sharp tugs here and there she adjusted the fabric and re-tied the obi into a more intricate bow. The knot was tight and forced Kagome’s back straight pushing her breasts up and out.
"Better." the woman proclaimed delivering a firm pinch to the Miko's hip. "Sit. Eat." she commanded.
A low table filled the center of the room covered with bowls of fruit and rice and brightly colored fish with skin and eyes still intact. A boar dominated the space looking raw and newly dead. Kagome settled on a silken pillow next to Sesshoumaru, across from his mother and Rin. She picked over some fruit and rice while the two demons ate from the boar; which was cooked. Barely.
As they ate Sesshoumaru's mother began to speak. Not to anyone in particular, it seemed, but to the room at large. "All I ever wanted was a daughter. You see, while the males of our kind build their reputations in blood and war, the woman are the real holders of royalty. Responsibilities and titles are passed down the matriarchal line. Unforgivably, I was only given a son before my mate wandered off. Alas, it is now up to him to bring me a heir." she continued airing her woes as they ate. "If only this boy would find himself a proper mate..."
Sesshoumaru sat stoically and silent. Kagome concentrated on keeping her mouth full and occasionally offering a sympathetic nod or 'hn'. When food wasn't enough, or she was afraid she would choke, she focused on breathing. Count to seven inhale. Count to seven exhale.
******************
Once their meal was finished they moved to another room for tea service. Despite not having seen another soul, the table was set and prepared tea awaited then. The tea was perfect, frothy and lightly flavored with jasmine petals. Along with the tea there were sticky-sweet snacks which Rin ate with gusto, but everyone else ignored.
"Rather than bring me an heir, my son chooses to romp around the countryside like a vagabond. When he does return he brings with him a human. A human!" despite her harsh tone the Lady of the West regarded Rin with surprisingly soft eyes, gently stroking the girl’s hair. “A delectable snack she is, but how can she possibly carry the weight of my titles on her slender human shoulders."
Kagome watched Sesshoumaru's nostrils flare and mentally worked through the kata that Sango had been teaching her to help her focus her energies.
****************
The tea service went on forever. By the time Sesshoumaru's mother announced that they were done Kagome had worked through every mathematical equation she had ever learned, named all the emperors and the dates they ruled, and the use of all the herbs she could recall; all in her head. Sesshoumaru's mother talked. Rin occasionally added her own voice to the otherwise one sided conversation. Sesshoumaru sat hard and straight looking into a distance that, Kagome thought, only he could see.
Unfortunately Kagome quickly learned that the night was far from over. The group moved to yet another room where Sesshoumaru's mother lit an intricately carved bone pipe tipped with gold. The room filled with the rich scent of opium. Kagome tried to remember all Basho’s more popular haiku.
"This wretchedly selfish child of mine won't even let me keep the girl. He insists upon dragging her around forests and hills and the whole wild country. When he does bring her she has twigs in her hair and dirt caked on her delicate little feet. What do you suppose he will do when she comes into her heat? I hear humans bleed all the time. How will he manage that? The only blood he knows is the blood on his claws. 'Leave me the girl' I tell him every time he visits but he will not. He leaves in the dark of night and years have gone by since I have seen her." the pipe was passed to Kagome who refused with a shake of her head while she concentrated on the elements of the periodic table.
The pipe was offered to Rin, but Sesshoumaru intercepted it before the girl could grab it. Tendrils of smoke snaked from his nostrils and between his lips caressing lazily along the panes of his face like a pleading cat. As the drug saturated his system, Kagome noticed his shoulders relax marginally. She bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood.
"The only way I can get the errant pup to grace me with his presence is to drag him here with his tail between my teeth..."
***********
It was well after midnight when they called it a night. Rin had fallen asleep with her head rested in her Haha-ue's lap when Sesshoumaru used her exhaustion as an excuse to turn in. His mother lifted the girl in her arms and headed in one direction wishing her guests a good-night and they went the other.
The walk back to her room was made in silence, for that Kagome was grateful. When they reached the door to her room the daiyoukai seemed to hesitate. Kagome watched him, praying that he wouldn’t take too long to do whatever it was that he needed. When she thought there was no way she could last another second he finally spoke, his voice gruff and deadly serious. “She is insane.” Kagome held her breath and nodded noncommittally.
Halfway down the hall Sesshoumaru stopped and threw over his shoulder, all but a growl, “If you speak of this to anyone I will rip your tongue out with my claws.” He regarded her for a moment longer. Kagome made a zipping motion across her lips, then realizing that he would not understand nodded enthusiastically. The passage filled with the scent of rotting flowers and he let a little dokkasu leak from his fingers just to drill the threat home.
As soon as he turned the corner Kagome flew into her room, slamming the screen behind her, and collapsed on her futon.
Then she laughed. It was the sort of laugh that left her cheeks wet from tears and her stomach aching. She laughed long and hard, headless of the fact that half the fortress could probably hear her. She laughed until her dinner threatened to make a return visit. When she thought she was done she would see Sesshoumarus face, the great and terrible Sesshoumaru, as his mother laid the guilt on thick and she would start again until she was gasping for air.
When she finally settled down, just before sleep claimed her, she thought to herself that she should inform Sesshoumaru that she will honor yet another debt to him. She didn’t even mind the thought of carrying the weight of not one, but two debts to the daiyoukai on her shoulders. This was worth it.