Chapter 11: Stay Away

Kagome walked out of her rooms, out of the palace and into the city of hell. Saburo had told her not to since she was human and it would have been dangerous. She had felt compelled to do it though. She had been there for what had felt like a year when it had only been a few short months.

She needed to change.

She realized that when she had fought Enma with her power. She had been weak for too long and even before that…she had never been a true warrior. Everyone had worked to develop their skills and power during their fight against Naraku. She hadn’t.

Demons took notice of her right away. Some muttered and whispered as others pointed right at her openly. Kagome just ignored it as she walked through the city. She intended to leave everything behind for a few hours.

She needed to know who Kagome was. It was a question that all people had to ask themselves in their life. But the wounds that had been inflicted made that difficult.

Someone suddenly grabbed her; without a thought, her power flared in warning. A dagger came to her throat in answer to her warning.
An old withered looking demon stepped into view. It was hard for Kagome to tell if it was male or female since it had nothing that gave it away. It had a snakehead with lots of hair and the limbs of a lizard. “Bitch Human, you should be in a stew pot.”

Her power rolled inside her, wrapping around her arm to get the demon that held her to let go. It was then that pain sliced at her and her blood flowed freely. Kagome watched as the dagger moved away from her throat.

The lovely blue kimono that Haruto had picked for her was covered in blood. She wondered if this would be the end of her as more sliced through her. The demon that had held her and others started to cut pieces from her. It made her want to laugh.

She had protected demons and humans alike when she had been with her friends. Yet these demons were cutting into her flesh like she was cattle with plans to likely eat her. Kagome couldn’t find herself being upset at the thought of herself dying like that.
Her children though. They didn’t deserve to see their mother as anything more than bloody bones. She needed to be a mother to them, she needed to be someone to herself.

She had resolved to become stronger yet others wanted to keep her weak. She refused to let others control her anymore. She screamed as she released her power in a wave. “FUCK OFF!”

Screams echoed off in the street and demons ran to get away from her. They left her there in the dirt like a dirty wet rag that was no longer needed. She really wanted to laugh at it all. These demons that had once needed her so desperately. Now they wanted nothing to do with her beyond turning her into food.

It was like life was slapping her in the face, trying to tell her that her worth was so little. She had no true clear answers on what to do. She only knew that she needed to be a mother and to find herself. Her true self.

There were so many questions and yet, there were no forthcoming answers. She would have to dig for them inside of herself. She would have to dig until her fingers were raw and bleeding. But she would find her answers

“Are you alright, Kagome?”

OoOo

Nori sat beside Setsuna as they watched the sunset. There was an odd peace between them that had manifested because of their deal. It was something that Nori had never believed possible before.

“Did you ever regret coming to this world?” Setsuna asked softly.

“Never.” But then she was the one who’s child was living, who had the love of her mate for longer. She had suffered hardships but she had been too stubborn to break from them.

“Then you’re the one that will likely suffer the most in the end,” Setsuna informed.

“I’m not barren,” Nori cut.

The words sliced at the other demoness and rage appeared in her eyes but Nori did not care.

She lived solely for her child and her family. The demoness beside her lived for herself alone. They were as different as night and day. Yet Nori knew that neither of them would be happy in the end. They would both find only misery in the day to come.

Nori had seen it in her son’s eyes, a promise that she would never be happy again.

“You’re right, I’m barren.” The words had been whispered as if they would bring evil down on them. It was then that Setsuna turned to look at her and said. “But at least I can’t conceive that bastard child’s children like you will.”

“A child is always a blessing,” Nori lied. His child would be nothing like her son or grandchildren. It would be toxic and ruined simply be the fact that Takashi put it inside of her.

“Then you better hope they don’t die in your womb like all the rest before we kill him.”

OoOo

Katsu had been surprised by the suddenness of the attack that Kagome had unleashed. There was a feral desperation to her as she unleashed her powers on him. It only reinforced what he had been told about his son’s actions. He had hoped that Sesshomaru had been above force but it was clear that he hadn’t.

Bloody and chunks of flesh cut so clean that one could see her bones, he wondered how she was alive. There was something unnatural about the woman that stood there before him. She smelled human, looked human and the powers of one. But it was clear that something was not right about her.

“NEVER! NEVER AGAIN, SESSHOMARU!!!” She screeched at him.
He was surprised that he had confused him for his older son. Many had told him that Inuyasha looked more like him than his oldest. It only made him wonder what she was like with his grandchildren.
Her power burned his spirit but he made no move to attack her in return. She did not deserve to be punished for defending herself. Not when she thought it was Sesshomaru.

He stared at her as she curled within herself but ever aware of every move he made. It was like a terrified animal that only wanted to escape…even at the cost of a limb. “I’m not Sesshomaru, Kagome.”

He tried to move closer to her but she only started to scream in horror and claw at her already damaged arms. Pity slammed into his chest.

His son had done this. He had turned what had been a beautiful young woman into an animal. It was something that he had never thought that Sesshomaru would be capable of. His son had looked down on humans as something unworthy. Katsu had always disdain that side of his son. The lack of compassion that his mate and his mother-by-mating had been so happy about had concerned him.

His family had believed in treating humans as equals. They had believed that because they had once lived side by side as such.
But it was clear that his son never could. Katsu could see that his oldest would never learn unless a guiding hand could aid him. He needed to be that for Kagome first.

He needed to help her heal and become a new person that was above her trauma.

“Please…please Sesshomaru…please…please…please stay…away,” she sobbed brokenly. It hurt him so badly to hear that.

Yet it was the words she said next that shocked him deeply. “Please…stay away…I…I don’t…I don’t want to…hurt you.”

Chapter 9  Sesshomaru’s Mate Chapters Chapter 11