Chapter 16

"Rin, you must not refer to yourself in the third person," Kagome scolded.

"Sorry, Kagome. Rin... I have been speaking like this for a long time. Lord Sesshoumaru speaks like this most of the time too," Rin explained, her toothy grin quite infectious.

Kagome giggled and replied, "Well, Sesshoumaru is an exception. He's a grown man and of high station, so it would be rude of me to correct him. However, you're still little, so you need to speak properly. Sesshoumaru would like you to be able to speak properly so he asked me to teach you."

"Yes, thanks Kagome," Rin said, earning her a few tickles from Kagome.

Sesshoumaru observed the two females. He had noticed that Kagome had practically befriended his entire staff, even Jaken. She had awakened feelings in him that no female dmon had dared. However, in the past two weeks since her last trip through the well, Kagome often kept to herself and it bothered him greatly. Some of her new emotions were effecting others, especially her handmaiden who often reported that Kagome cried in bed or in the bath. She had come back injured through the well so something happened. He was not sure exactly what had happened, but it was big. He could not stand it any longer. He had to inquire about it, because it left him helpless to aid her and he vowed to himself that no one in his care would come to harm.

"Kagome, I need to speak with you after dinner in my study," Sesshoumaru requested, and went to his private study.

Kagome studied his retreat, noting his agitation, and then resumed the current lesson with Rin.

Dinner was fairly quiet except for Rin babbling about the flowers she had picked and what kind of flower jewelry she wanted to make with them. Kagome smiled lightly and nodded when Rin asked if she would help her, then quietly excused herself from the table using illness as an excuse.

As soon as she turned the corner, she heard Rin asked, "Is Kagome okay?"

Kagome's eyes filled with tears, only threatening to spill but too stubborn to fall.

'I'm not sure when I'll be okay again,' Kagome lamented to herself.

** FLASHBACK **

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru, for escorting me to the well. I'll be back in two days as agreed," Kagome said happily, then hugged both Rin and Sesshoumaru.

It was out of habit that she hugged them, but she hadn't expected Sesshoumaru to hug her back. He bent down to her ear and whispered, "Come back to me soon, Kagome."

His hot breath sent shivers through her and she almost forgot what she was doing until Rin handed her yellow dilapidated backpack to her. Kagome smiled at Rin, then threw her legs over the lip of the well and slid in, letting the mysterious light pull her through to her era. She exited the well house and yelled, "Mom, Gramps, Souta, I'm home!"

No one answered, yet Kagome approached noticing that the windows of the house were broken.

'Maybe they went out of town and some punks decided to come by for fun. It has happened before,' she shrugged.

She went in and discovered the place had been ransacked. Kagome's breath hitched when she was the cabinet where her mother's collection of fine antique English silverware and Chinaware were empty. One day those would have been passed to Kagome, the only heirloom, and connection to her father.

'This was no ordinary vandalism. Damn those robbers!'

It was then that she heard the sound of something stepping on glass. Assuming it was Buyo, she smiled and turned around. Immediately her smile fell. It was a large bear demon in his humanoid form. Kagome cursed herself for not keeping her sense on high alert, but she had not had any problems since the Noh Mask incident and assumed that youkai either hid or did not exist. She was too busy to actually find out, so this came as a big surprise.

"I was told you'd be here sooner or later. Come here pretty priestess. Your family is waiting," he laughed cruelly.

The motion was so swift that Kagome, only remembered that the back of her head felt like some huge explosion, the pain spreading all over and bring her into a black abyss.

Hours passed, and finally Kagome awoke with a groan, her hands gingerly feeling the back of her head. It was caked with blood and her raven locks clung to it like a sponge. She sat, took a deep breath and then focused. She kept smelling something that was burnt. It finally came to her as she saw a burning rafter fall from her ceiling.

'Oh shit! The house is on fire!' she thought, and scrambled to her feet.

She had never felt so vulnerable since the incidents with Mukotsu and Renkotsu. She turned and saw the bodies of her family. Her eyes widened, filling with tears.

'Oh my! Who did this? Who beat them to death? Who would be so sadistic to do this and make sure I knew about it?' her mind cried out.

She reached towards them, but the emotion was so overwhelming that she bent over herself and sobs so loudly before screaming, "Why?!?"

The fire was burning even more through the ceiling, the embers falling like rain here and there. Although she was crying so hard she could barely see anything, she managed to get up and drag herself outside towards the well.

'I need to get to the other side. I need InuYasha to save the bodies or they'll be burnt to cinders.'

As she finally made it down the steps of the well house and to the well, she threw one leg over the side and prepared to jump.

The same demon appeared and said, "Here bitch, let me help you die."

Again, he struck her in the back, the pain twice as bad. Kagome rose a hand to thebear demon, and out shot her purification powers, hot and white, instead of her usual pink as she fell. Quickly she lost consciousness.

It was not until days later, that Jaken explained that Sesshoumaru had smelled her blood, and found her laying at the bottom of the well with a terrible head injury. Jaken further mentioned he had never seen Sesshoumaru so upset. Jaken even had to calm Sesshoumaru down because he was desperately trying to go through the well to Kagome's time to find the demon responsible.

"Milady, you should feel honored. Lord Sesshoumaru barely displays such emotion unless he cares deeply for it," Jaken stated.

** END FLASHBACK **

"Enter," Sesshoumaru's voice carried through his study door.

Kagome opened the door and slowly made her way to the couch facing Sesshoumaru's desk. Sesshoumaru rose from his seat behind his desk and sat beside Kagome.

"I assume you are well now?" Sesshoumaru asked, taking her hands into his.

"Much better. I have an occasional headache, but at least I can brush my hair without worrying about my head being tender," she replied, the tears ever so close to falling, so she tilted her her downward, letting her bangs cast a shadow over her eyes.

She really did not care about the headaches or the pain. it was her last memory of her family that plagued her thoughts.

'Their bodies must be ashes by now. Please, may the gods keep them well,' she grieved to herself.

And at that thought, her tears finally gushed silently over her cheeks. Sesshoumaru smelled the tears, then saw them dripping fast down Kagome's face. He reached our and tilted her chin up to look into her eyes. What he saw almost made him flinch. She was in pain, not physically, but emotionally, and the usual blue that accompanied the gray, was not present. It was as if the blue signified her happiness.

"Such sorrow for one such as you. Your demeanor is usually cheerful. I will warn you this once. My staff, and Rin are upset because you are. I will never ask twice, so you must answer. Tell me what happened or leave. I will not have your current state upsetting my staff, and above all, Rin. Your cries at night frighten both Izumi and Rin. I want to help Kagome, but if you stay silent, I cannot," he said, his voice soft and pleading.

He cared too much for Kagome.

Kagome saw in his eyes true worry and she fought to keep from breaking down completely, so she took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. It was unsteady, so she tried once more before explaining what happened.

"As soon as I had said farewell and went through the well, I noticed my family's home had been vandalized. I assumed my family had gone away to help another shrine, so I went inside to find my home also in disarray. All our valuables were gone.

"A man came from the shadows within my home and hit me. The next thing I knew was I was waking up and the bodies of my mother, grandfather, and Souta, laid out by my side. They had been brutally beaten to death. I barely had time to register their death as I smelled smoke. My home had been set on fire and I was suppose to die with them, at least that, or live to see their death. Somehow I dragged myself out to the well house. As I prepared to jump, the man again hit me. I remember purifying him before I fell through the well and losing consciousness," she finished, trembling and then sobbing. "I can't go back! I have nothing. Mom, Grandpa, Souta! Oh, it hurts so much!"

Sesshoumaru pulled Kagome close, embracing her as she cried, softly stroking her hair.

"Never again will anyone take or hurt what is mine," Sesshoumaru said in her ear as he held her close and nuzzled her, growling softly to comfort her.

Eventually, Kagome cried herself to sleep in his arms, with her face cheek to cheek with the silver haired demon lord.

Sesshoumaru heard commotion in the hallway and rose with Kagome bridal style in his arms. His study door burst open, revealing a highly worried InuYasha.

InuYasha saw Kagome unharmed and asleep in Sesshoumaru's arms. He smelled the recent scent of shed tears.

"So you know?" Inu Yasha asked, trying to keep his tone down.

"Yes, little brother," Sesshoumaru replied softly, looking down at Kagome.

InuYasha had never seen Sesshoumaru's face show any type of emotion, until now.

"I went through the well as I smelled her blood. I meant to get there sooner, but our group had an encounter with Naraku's puppets and his minions. As soon as I got out, I smelled the carcass of one hell of a purified bear demon, and her home burn to the ground. I found remnants of bones under the ashes and knew it was her family. I was so worried she was there too, but only found three bodies and then the remains of her cat. I buried them all in her time under the Goshinboku. I figured if she was not there, that she was with you. So, now I am here. Please, Sesshoumaru, give me Kagome. I miss her and so do the others. She needs us," InuYasha pleaded, his own amber eyes filling with tears.

He did not care that his brother saw him cry. His tears were for Kagome, who was hurting so bad. Her family had accepted him with open arms and he felt at a loss at well.

'It's all Naraku's fault! I just know it. The fucking bastard just enjoys messing with everyone. Sadistic fucker!' Inu Yasha fumed within.

"Kagome must stay. This Sesshoumaru will not give up what is his," Sesshoumaru replied firmly.

InuYasha stood in shock, processing what his older half brother said.

"What? How can you love a human?" Inu Yasha asked, disbelievingly.

"Might I correct your forgetfulness, that you also love this human. Quiet, InuYasha! Kagome slumbers, and needs our comfort. You may join me in my chambers or go to your own room. She is important to both of us and that is all that matters in this moment," Sesshoumaru growled, carrying Kagome down the corridor.

InuYasha nodded and followed. Once they had arrived in Sesshoumaru's chambers, he laid Kagome in the middle, and then slid behind her, keeping her back firmly against his chest and arm low across her waist. InuYasha climbed in, then gently brushed Kagome's bangs from her sleeping face, before settling down and holding her, his arm thrown over her waist just above Sesshoumaru's.

Both fell asleep, hoping Kagome would return to her cheery self soon.