Every few days or so, Sesshoumaru dropped by to relieve Kagome’s reiki build-up, whether she was experiencing any headaches or not. To her annoyance, Inuyasha backed him up on this. To her further annoyance, he skipped off whenever Sesshoumaru arrived to attend to her, claiming he couldn’t stand to watch. It made his blood boil, he said.

And so, Kagome found herself stuck alone in close quarters with the last person in the world she wanted to be alone with. But what could she do? Telling Inuyasha she didn’t want to be left alone with his brother would only invite questions at best, and suspicions at worst.

Of course, Sesshoumaru knew this. Without even pretending to be subtle, he capitalized on it, drawing out a session that should have lasted five minutes into a tension-fueled half-hour or more. If she didn’t know any better, she’d have thought he’d orchestrated the whole thing, but not even she was paranoid enough to believe that.

He was just taking advantage of the opportunity in order to put pressure on her, as if she wasn’t already burdened enough.

Since their fallout during the snowstorm, he seemed to have switched tactics. Instead of making sexual advances, he’d taken to psychological warfare instead, engaging her in heated debates that tied her brain up in knots. He was trying to wear her down verbally, to gain a foothold in her psyche by relentlessly arguing her down. Kagome wasn’t sure what was worse.

More than ever, she was looking forward to the baby being born, just to get away from him. Tugging back her bleeding hand, she told him as much.

Sesshoumaru smiled scornfully as he released her, with a parting trail of claw. “You think it’s as simple as that? No—you only wish to think it. It is one of the many lies you tell yourself to keep me at a distance. A futile endeavor. I am with you wherever you go.”

Kagome ground her teeth. “Won’t you just give it a rest already? Or are you trying to drive me crazy—is that your goal?”

“I am only trying to convince you that you’re misguided if you think this situation is remotely tenable. It will only continue to devolve.”

“No,” Kagome said, shaking her head. “Things are better already than they have been in years. I know that they are, and no amount of mind games is going to twist what I’ve seen with my own eyes. Inuyasha’s not drinking all the time or laying into me anymore. We don’t get in shouting matches like we used to. It’s because we’re not so hung up on ourselves.”

“For now,” Sesshoumaru allowed, “you are both distracted enough to forget your differences. But it will not last. I think you know it will not.”

Kagome’s stomach sank, though she tried not to show he’d struck a nerve. With the way he barraged her these days, it was wishful thinking to assume he wouldn’t eventually hit on her deepest doubts and fears. It was wishful thinking, also, to pretend like he wouldn’t prey on them.

“You’re wrong. You’re looking at all this from an outside perspective, and your viewpoint is the furthest thing from objective. You obviously have an agenda.”

“Of course I do,” Sesshoumaru said briskly. “I’ve made my intentions plain. You are the one who’s befuddled. Or else you would see as clearly as I do that nothing good will come of continuing on in this way.”

Kagome took a steadying breath. “Well, we’ll just have to agree to disagree on that.”

“A cowardly deflection,” Sesshoumaru said with contempt. “When did you become so fearful? You were not always this way. Inuyasha too—he is poisoned with fear. You have poisoned one another, and you know what precipitated this as surely as I do.”

Kagome turned her face away, her throat dry. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Now or ever.”

“What should we discuss then?”

“The baby,” she said, her eyes flashing back to him. “There’s nothing else for us to discuss.”

“Our baby,” Sesshoumaru retorted. “Let us discuss him. Even should all you wish for come to pass, are you content to feed him lies?”

Kagome’s eyes burned at this. She couldn’t help it.

“Why,” she said, striving to keep her voice from breaking, “why did you ever agree to this if that’s how you felt? I never wanted to be cruel to you.”

“I had no cause to feel anything about it then,” Sesshoumaru said with chilling nonchalance. “I didn’t think it possible you would conceive.” When Kagome stared at him, he continued, matter of fact, “Our conflicting natures defy it. I enjoyed breaking past your defenses for challenge’s sake. I suppose because of this, I happened to succeed where Inuyasha failed—”

“Stop it!” Kagome cried, lurching to her feet. When Sesshoumaru rose to steady her, she shoved him off. “Stop it…just s-stop…” 

She could feel his eyes following her as she staggered over to the window and braced herself weeping against its frame. She told herself it wasn’t true—couldn’t be true. What he’d implied about her and Inuyasha was too horrible to contemplate…

That unconsciously she had rejected him.

As she was trying to compose herself, Inuyasha returned. Looking between her teary, haggard face and the fresh scorch mark she’d left on Sesshoumaru when she’d shoved him, the hanyou arched a brow.

“Rough one, huh?” he said.

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

Revised 4/25/23