“…Kagome-san?”
The miko swallowed cautiously, her hand returning discreetly to her side as Kohaku lowered his katana. Her eyes fell to the gray gleaming edge of the blade, to the pale muscular arms that held it suspended. The thin blanket he’d been sleeping under now draped low on his waist, revealing the breadth of his toned chest and torso. Unconsciously, Kagome followed the stark lines dividing his abs from his hips, as aware of his lack of proper clothing as he was becoming of hers.
As the hostility bled from his posture, as the haze of sleep lifted and his eyes lingered on her bare legs and shoulders, a new brand of tension filled the air. Wetting her dry, cracked lips, Kagome’s pulse thrummed low and dark as she seized upon a last ditch effort to salvage her plan.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she whispered as she slowly knelt down, her bent legs just touching to the edge of the futon. “…Can I stay here with you?”
Laying the sword aside, Kohaku nodded, watching her intently—almost warily—as she slid into bed beside him. Her modern slip of a nightdress twisted as she turned toward him, the plunging neckline dragging even lower as she touched a hand to the center of his tightly wound chest. It was his turn to swallow now, his onyx eyes dipping to her cleavage, trailing over the exposed right swell of her breast.
His heart hammered beneath her palm, his tousled sable hair feathering over her knuckles. He looked like a younger version of Inuyasha in his human form—a thought that emboldened her as she leaned up and pressed her mouth to his. For a moment, Kohaku was frozen, but as she continued to move her lips against his, he melted into her, his hand cupping the side of her face as he deepened the kiss with a muffled groan.
His abs flinched as she trailed her hand down his body, her wrist grazing against the raised head of his erection. He twitched at the contact, breaking abruptly from her mouth as she wrapped her fingers firmly around the middle of his shaft. His brow crushed to hers, his warm breath panting over her cheek as he seized her by the shoulder.
“Kagome,” he grit out when she began to pump him, his lips seeking hers fiercely once again.
His whole body was shaking, wracked with pent-up desire. Guilt snaked through her. She knew that Kohaku’d had a crush on her when he was a boy. She’d always just assumed he’d grown out of it, like most kids do, but now she wasn’t so sure. She wanted to believe he’d been with another woman. She hoped that he had.
Her hold on him broke as he pushed her back toward the mattress, aiming to trap her beneath him. He’d be inside her in an instant if Kagome allowed him that—and as much as she cared for Kohaku, she couldn’t. Penetration was a marriage act. In her heart, she was married still.
Pressing her full weight into him, she tipped him over onto his back instead. Her thighs settled around his waist, her naked sex skirting his taut lower stomach. Kohaku’s chest heaved as she pinned his wrists to the futon above him and bent down to kiss him again.
Hungrily, he opened his mouth against hers, every lean muscle in him wired to lunge. Kohaku was strong—far stronger than she was. But Kagome could sense that she had the upper hand with him. It was a strange sensation, to have power over a powerful man.
A kind of thrill.
Her nipples peeked through the satiny fabric of her nightgown, her lower lips gliding damply over the hard throbbing length of him. Moaning her name raggedly, Kohaku surged up against her. Kagome bit down sharply on her lip when he bumped her clit, bringing one hand between them as she rocked back against him.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured as she touched him again, his freed hand smoothing up from her knee. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
Kagome’s breath caught at the raw adoration gleaming in his eyes. Her pulse quickened, her grip tightening around him as her open heat kissed the base of his shaft. Beneath the short hem of her gown, callused fingertips scratched pleasurably over the curve of her hip.
“I was the one watching you that day, in the forest,” he confessed huskily, the pad of his thumb caressing the dip in her inner thigh.
A current of indignation simmered within her. Kagome’s eyes narrowed down at him.
“That was wrong of you, Kohaku,” she ground out, stroking him roughly in reprimand.
His head fell back, his eyes squeezing shut on a groan. “…I know,” he rasped. “Forgive me.”
“…I forgive you,” she said, rubbing her thumb once over his weeping tip.
In truth, she was grateful for his misconduct that day. It made her feel a little less guilty for what she was doing to him now.
The world wasn’t just or fair—this painful lesson Kagome had learned years ago. To survive in these cruel times, a woman had to make her own brand of justice. Male lust had destroyed her life, and now it had tainted the image of an otherwise kind and courteous young man.
She forgave Kohaku, but she would never see him the same way again. And for that, he deserved this. He deserved to feel the body he lusted for hovering just beyond his reach. He deserved the punishing pressure of her fist grating over his cock, the harsh bite of her nails piercing into the underside of his captive wrist. He deserved the fiery friction that drove him brutally over the edge with a shout, deserved to be drenched in the evidence of his depravity as it pulsed from him in hot sticky streams.
In this, Kagome’s hands were clean.
As Kohaku went limp beneath her, she climbed off of him, frowning down at the pearly liquid pooling between the faint ridges of his muscles. His eyes followed her blearily as she started to rise, his fingers grasping weakly at her wrist. With a sigh, she shook him off her, a deep, death-like sleep claiming him a moment later.
Swiping her lips clean with the back of her hand, she stepped purposefully over to the hanging vial, and purified the dark earth within it.
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
Wow…this was just utterly wrong! Kagome went against everything she believes in. With one act she betrayed herself, Inuyasha, Kohaku and Sango. Honestly, I thought Kagome couldn’t come up with a more stupid idea than the one in chapter 20. Obviously, she did. What’s wrong with her?! She is not only destroying her own life, but those of her friends too. The “normal” Kagome would see that she did something wrong and would try her best to fix it. But I believe that this “new” Kagome is not a person who sees reason, who can differ between right and wrong anymore. She is losing herself. And I’m sure that if Inuyasha could see her now, he would be disappointed. Maybe he wouldn’t even recognise her.
I’m excited for the next chapter. And at the same time I’m afraid of what I will get to read…how far will she fall?
Oh man, love the reactions!! 😀 Thanks so much for sharing, VS – glad you’re stoked for the next chapter!! <3
I am going to see if this post goes through. I posted a comment on parts 20 and on 21 this morning and I see nothing came through again…so here is my third try. 😐
I think Kagome has lost her critical thought processes and she is being really selfish. Doing what she did to Kohaku was wrong on so many levels. So now she is getting her kicks out of controlling powerful men…really??!! I think all those ‘sits’ she did to Inuyasha has gone to her head. I can’t believe that she actually sexually assaulted her best friend’s brother…using him (or punishing as she calls it) like that. Gosh, he is just an inexperienced teenager that has a crush on her and she took advantage of that fact. She disgusts me and now I am beginning to understand her attitude and actions in chapter one…I think she is more disgusted with herself than she is with Sesshomaru so she is lashing back at him and maybe with a bit of jealousy involved. On the other hand, giving her the benefit of a doubt after witnessing her husband’s gruesome death and losing the one person she loved in the world, she has finally snapped and is losing her mind, maybe. 😐
What she did to Kohaku’s vial is not going to help him but will probably end up getting him killed because now he has lost his advantage. Who is she really trying to protect Kohaku or Sesshomaru or maybe she thinks both? She has been making a lot of dumb decisions lately and does she really think that because she is from the future that she is smarter than everyone else…maybe she is well educated in book smarts but when it comes to life, she is about as dumb as a bunch of rocks. How can she still be so clueless about demons after living in the feudal era all these years?
Did she not learn anything in dealing with Naraku and all the deviousness he pulled on people using magic and sorcery? She still takes some things at face value. Maybe the demon she is looking for could be a shapeshifter and what she saw Sesshomaru doing to Mayuri may not have been the real Sesshomaru unless Sesshomaru has a Jekyll and Hyde personality. Hmm, maybe Naraku has found a way to come back from the dead for revenge…hahaha. 🙂
I can hardly wait for new installments…great writing Char!!! 🙂
Love the theories, Cheryl!! 😀
So sorry you were having trouble posting earlier. 🙁 I’ve made some fixes to the commenting, so hopefully this shouldn’t happen again. Really tremendously appreciate you sharing your thoughts and reactions!! <3
Thanks again and hope you enjoy future chapters...! 🙂
Also “I think all those ‘sits’ she did to Inuyasha has gone to her head. ” – LOL that was so great!! 😀
Kagome has lost her moral compass and crossed over to the dark side. Who is the Beast now? Sesshomaru or the miko from the future?
A normal person would try and stop Sesshoumaru at all costs. Even if they died trying. But I think she really wants him and cannot bear to lose him too. He is more than Inuyasha’s half brother, more than just her brother-in-law.
I think in her grief and loneliness, Kagome hoped that Sesshoumaru would succeed Inuyasha in her heart. It would explain her jealousy when she saw him screwing the castle skank and her anger at the woman.
Love takes many forms. Kohako’s attraction to her is clearly one-sided. I suspect Sesshoumaru’s Beast is obsessed with Kagome that is why it is raping and killing human females.
Who was Inuyasha running from the day he got killed? I’m guessing it was the Beast. I bet Inuyasha already figured out Sesshoumaru wanted his wife that is why he desperately tried to take her away.
I do not know why Inuyasha couldn’t kill Sesshoumaru. Did Bakusaiga make the older sibling more powerful than before? In the manga and in the anime, Sesshoumaru was told he had exceeded his own father when he produced Bakusaiga.
Haha love the questions and insights, Doug!! <3
I may be a little hazy on the canon, but it always seemed to me that Sesshoumaru was inherently stronger than Inuyasha - it was mainly Sess's underestimation of his half-brother that gave Inuyasha the edge in their fights. But maybe Inuyasha is just as strong or stronger! I like how Takahashi-sensei leaves a lot of things open for interpretation. Good for us fanfic writers and readers 😉
Anyway, thanks so much again for sharing your take! Hope you like where the story goes from here...! 🙂
So I’m in disagreement with every one else apparently. I feel Kagome is acting in a completely justified way. She set out to destroy the vial to protect Kohaku but finding out he had been spying on her tainted her image of him. After what she has dealt with in regards to the beast it makes perfect sense that a violation of her privacy would tip her over.
People comparing her actions to the beast need to understand the difference consent makes.
Every word of this. He violated her trust completely and only admitted it to clear his conscious.
His shaft was already buried deep within her hand before he confessed. Kagome needn’t someone to “tip her over”. She had already taken action.
They say the path to hell is paved with good intentions. Right now, she used Kohako to get to the vial. She believes by purifying the contents of the vial, she protected Kohako. By is it really an effective solution?
What stops Kohako from becoming nosy and later suspecting Sesshoumaru?
Because she came to his home at night, kissed him and gave him a handjob, Kohako will think that she returns his affections. Kagome further complicated things.
What line will she cross next? Who will she use next? The means do not justify the ends.
Let’s face it, she also wanted her hands on that vial to protect Sesshoumaru’s secret.
She cannot kill him so she thinks of controlling him. She also likes being in control of a powerful male as seen in that incident with Kohako.
Despite her revulsion in the first chapter, she is attracted to Sesshoumaru. Subsequent chapters hint at her interest in him. It also explains her jealousy and resentment when she saw him rutting with the servant. She masturbated to what she witnessed.
Her belief that Sesshoumaru is likely the Beast has turned her world upside down. She also cannot expose him because she, Rin, Jaken and everyone else associated with him will be affected adversely. If it turns out that he is the serial killer, do you think the families of the victims and the other lords will not take it out on Sesshoumaru’s family, associates and even the village his ward resides in?
Thanks, Kitteh!! Love hearing your interpretation of events 😀 Hope you enjoy the next part of the story!! <3
You are wonderful. I love to see how you manage to express Kagome’s grief for her lost life in the form of madness. She lost her family, her time, then she slowly lost her husband, to his own paranoia at first, then his life entirely. She is slowly going crazy and starts seeing that nothing makes sense, and that the justice she fought so hard for with her friends doesn’t really exist. She is losing herself and the actions she takes are completely justified by this sense of porpuse she is looking for. I love you, really. Please keep this crazyness going, I’ve seen few authors who could pull off writing the descend to madness with such detail.
Aww, thank you, Andressa! <3 You're making me blush hehe! The psychology of the characters has always been the most interesting subject to me in writing - so incredibly glad you're enjoying the journey! Thanks again and hope you enjoy the updates to come! <3 🙂
Great chapter! I loved it the first time I read it and even more the second time. I would write more eloquently but I’m buzzed and wish others realized that Kagome is only trying to save Kohaku even when he spied on her. She is still trying to save everyone. So she doesn’t have sex with him? So what! Even if deranged and obsessive now, her objective is for the overall good of humankind.
Agreed.
Thanks, Emily!! So glad you loved this chapter! 🙂 Things are certainly starting to get more twisted 😉
Hope you like where the story goes from here! <3
This was not okay. And not because Kagome was once married, because her husband has been dead for over 2 years and moving on is natural. I will never understand why anyone would say that Kagome has betrayed Inuyasha. She also didn’t betray Sango. They live in a small town and the chances of her eventually hooking up with her best friend’s brother are pretty high.
What wasn’t okay was that Kagome clearly took advantage of a man who has been in love with her for almost a decade. That I understand that she had to do this and that this will save Kohaku’s life, of course outweighs the potential harm that she’s caused by crossing this line, but still. I just hope no one finds out about this, ever.
I think the rage and disgust that we see in the first chapter has less than nothing to do with this. I think those emotions from the first chapter have more to do with the fact that Kagome has realized that the truth of Sesshomaru’s actions are her burden to carry forever. She is not powerful enough to kill her brother-in-law and she doesn’t want to put anyone else’s life in danger. Dealing with Sesshomaru in this manner is the only recourse she has to him murdering dozens of people a year.
“Penetration was a marriage act. In her heart, she was married still.” That is what Kagome said. For her, she is still married. And so, yes, she betrayed Inuyasha. She was with another man. If she had moved on, it would have been something else. But she hasn’t, yet. I judged Kagome by her own standards.
And I do believe that she betrayed Sango too. Because she doesn’t love Kohaku, AND she knows that he has a crush on her, yet she used him. She used the little brother of her best friend. The boy who had such a terrible life, who felt so much pain. If she just wanted to “hook up” with someone, there are enough other males available. Be it in her village or on her travels.
So, yes. I do believe that Kagome betrayed a lot of people with this single act. Herself included.
Survivors guilt and the belief in traditional values doesn’t negate the truth. She had no trouble imagining having sex with her brother-in-law, but she suddenly wanted to put rules on sex with Kohaku?
As I said, it was wrong for her to use a MAN who has been in love with her since he was a child, but that’s it. But it was either she have sex with him or he dies. Sango has nothing to do with this. Sex also has nothing to do with love. It’s a natural bodily function. Your personal beliefs aren’t a part of this story.
Milo don’t randomly hook up with people. It’s 1568 A. D. They’d run her out of Edo or kill her for that. At the very least, she’d bring shame upon Kaede.
Waa! Love it, love it – thanks a million for sharing your thoughts on this chapter, Ms. Kawaii!
What WILL the fallout be? 😉
Hope you enjoy what comes next…! <3
Finally got caught up. I got some writing done waiting for the last several updates over the last week. Lol
I honestly don’t know what to say. Kagome has definitely gone off the deep end. And it’s just delicious. Seriously that scene smacked me in the face. I had reread to take it all in. Impatiently waiting for the next update.
Yay, thanks, Inuyaoi! Glad you were able to get some writing done yourself 🙂
Hehe…very happy to hear that you liked this chapter and are looking forward to the next…! 😉 <3