With clear reluctance, Sesshoumaru returned her to her feet. The moment her toes touched the ground, Kagome retreated from him, pulling her robe closed about her. Bringing her breathing back under control, she glanced between him and Kanako, her fingers ruffling through her bangs in exasperation.

“You did it again,” she accused, frowning at him as he stood. “You couldn’t finish from the sex alone.”

Sesshoumaru summoned his fur to him, his expression cool. “No,” he said, “I could not.”

“Why not?” Kagome demanded, glaring. “Are you even trying?”

“I am trying to behave myself around you,” he replied, still disconcertingly naked as he peered down at her. “That is all.”

Not mollified by this whatsoever, Kagome set her hand on her hip. “Well, I hate to break it to you, Sessshoumaru, but that’s not going to cut it. The goal here is for you to be able to fuck without killing. I’m not going to live forever, and before I turn you loose on the world, you need to prove to me that you’re no longer a threat. For all I know, that first time with Kanako was nothing more than a fluke. Hey—are you listening?”

Sometime during her rant, Sesshoumaru had helped himself to the bath that lay ready and steaming at the far corner of the hut. Pressing down the length of fur that glittered with entrained moisture, he slanted his eyes toward her and uttered a noncommittal, “Hm?”

Incensed, Kagome stalked over. “You didn’t hear a word I just said, did you?”

“It would be impossible for me not to hear you,” he replied. “You are being very loud.”

The miko balled her fists. “Okay. But there’s a difference between ‘hearing’ and ‘listening’.”

Sesshoumaru glanced away. “What do you want me to say?”

“I just want you to acknowledge what I’m saying!”

“Fine,” he said briskly, cutting his gaze back to hers. “I acknowledge it.”

Kagome deflated. “…Great.”

Confronting Sesshoumaru often left her feeling at a loss, no matter what he did or said. Unlike Inuyasha, he wasn’t easily provoked by her baiting. Rather, Kagome felt like she was the one constantly on the defensive, and both their arguments and the outcomes felt bitterly one-sided.

She had the distinct impression he was dismissing her present concerns. Humoring her, even. But before she could switch tactics and prod at him further, there was a rustling from behind them, followed by an irritating whine.

“Kagome-sama, when is he going to leave?”

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes, as if to block out both Kanako and her wheedling. Kagome grit her teeth.

“Good question,” she said, eyeing him narrowly as he continued to soak. “Don’t you have a great big castle you can go relax in?”

The daiyoukai shrugged.

“Well, there’s only one bath here, and you’re hogging it. So get moving.”

“Or,” he said, his golden eyes cracking open slyly, “you could join me.”

Kagome’s cheeks heated. “Yeah, no thanks.” She pointed a finger toward the door. “Out.”

When he was gone, Kagome beckoned Kanako over and purified her, though it was more or less a formality. The chances of conception were minimal to say the least. But even the slimmest chance of Kanako carrying Sesshoumaru’s bastard had to be prevented at all costs. Paranoid or not, it was a sentiment the girl clearly shared. While Kagome bathed, she set about brewing her special “cleansing” tea—which regardless of whatever she’d claimed it to be, smelled an awful lot like an abortifacient.

Kagome wrinkled her nose at the pungent odor of the herbs. “That’s really not necessary, Kanako-chan.”

“The women of my village swear by it,” Kanako insisted, “for ridding oneself of the most stubborn evils. Kagome-sama, you should drink it too.”

The miko shook her head. “I have even less use for it than you do. But go ahead, if it makes you feel better.”

After finishing her tea, Kanako slipped into the tub beside her. Kagome stiffened as the girl’s bony arms went around her. She could feel the subtle, seeking insistence of her hips. As if under some sense of obligation, she slid her hand between their bodies to ease the grinding pressure, until Kanako whimpered and slumped against her, and Kagome’s thoughts gravitated to Sesshoumaru once again. Where was he now, she wondered. And when would he return?

From his bed of blankets, Ikiryou rolled over and gave a snuffling snore.

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi