Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hands shaking, the pills clicking together in her palm, she struggled to bring them to her mouth without dropping them. She nearly fumbled the bottle while tucking it back into her hip pack, fingertips numb. Swallowing them dry was the worst, but she’d lost her bottle inside the gate so she had no water on hand to take them with.

“Higurashi, report.”

“Yea. Um. Cleared. No guild casualties.” She tapped her watch which initiated the process of uploading the gate data to the guild server now that she was Earth-side. “Permission to return to my haven.”

“Of course.” There was a long hesitation before the checkpoint administrator waved down a waiting transport. “There’s a guide…”

“No. I just want to get home. Thank you.” Her voice was sharper than she meant, but the pills only helped so much to bring down her levels and to stave off her backlash. If she didn’t get to the haven soon… “Transport’s here. Thanks, Hojo.” He reached after her as if to stop her, but he was well aware of Kagome Higurashi’s strict boundaries of not being touched by anyone or anything upon exiting a gate.

It had been a hard boundary to establish, and one many people didn’t understand, but being one of the most powerful espers on the continent meant she had more than earned the right to set that boundary. Not that everyone didn’t have the right, just more or less power to defend that right.

That included refusing guiding, up to a point.

Kagome shuddered as she climbed into the transport and collapsed onto the seat. Any other esper would be desperate to seek out a guide at that moment, but that was the last thing she wanted or needed. Her watch automatically let the transport know where to take her, wiping the information once she arrived.

No one could know where her haven was.

It was pretty common for espers to have their haven location be a well known secret. Unpaired guides would often show up unannounced or uninvited to offer guiding, especially to those espers known for their less than scrupulous tendencies and a lot of power to burn.

Kagome was no stranger to the efforts of lower rank guides to latch onto a higher ranked esper for the fame and potential fortune. Never mind the potential risk of being drained by an esper with whom there was too much of a power disparity. She wasn’t sure she’d ever heard of a guide dying from power drain, but several who were never able to guide like they did before. 

On the opposite side of the coin were espers so desperate for guiding that they would easily accept the sweet promises of relief from their backlash even if they found themselves with a partner they didn’t want. Receiving hand contact guiding was one thing when you didn’t know or trust your partner, mucosal or intimate guiding was another thing completely.

Trembling at the thought, Kagome flinched at a jolt in the transport catching her about to reach for the pills in her pack again. I’ve already taken the limit. Sango will ream me out if she finds out I took even more. The beep of her watch alerted her that the transport was nearing the coordinates given and she sighed in relief.

Relief that was short-lived as the watch started ringing instead.

“Yes, Sango.”

“Are you home yet?”

“Just about.”

“Your heart rate is off the rails, Kagome.” A glance at her watch told her that was very true. “You took the max dose, didn’t you?” Kagome grunted a noncommittal noise. Sango’s sigh ruffled the microphone on her side of the call. “How many times have I told you not to do that? Take the minimum and then take another one if you need it. You’re already taking more than you…”

“Sango, I’m home now. You can lecture me later.”

“You need to come into the lab tomorrow. No arguments.” Kagome grunted as she peeled herself off the seat and stumbled out of the transport. “I have a better solution for you. You have to promise me you’ll try it.”

“Yea, yea, I’ll try it. Can I go now?”

“Go relax. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bright and early.”

“Uh huh.” The call ended and she pressed her palm to the pad beside the door, revealing a retinal scanner. Once the door opened, Kagome all but fell inside, stripping her clothes as she went and heading straight for her shower.

The water was like ice, but it was exactly what she needed.

The guild was bustling, as always. Kagome plastered on her friendly mask as she made her way through security and toward the lab, greeting people with a smile or a nod of acknowledgment. There were often pockets of people in the hallways, no doubt gossiping. She hated how very middle school the guild could feel at times, despite being full of grown adults who put their lives on the line on a regular basis.

“Oh, Kagome!”

Kagome stiffened, slowing to a halt, closing her eyes and sucking her teeth to prepare herself. Turning on her heel, she offered her best fake smile. “Esper Kouga.”

“So formal,” he tsked. “How are you today? I heard you mostly cleared that gate by yourself yesterday. Must have been tough!”

Kagome hesitated. While it was technically true, she knew better than to claim she did all the work. In front of anyone else, anyway. “There were several other espers there.”

Kouga was one of the many physical espers who had a hard time fathoming how Kagome, “just a little slip of a thing,” could be one of the most powerful espers on the continent. Even though their powers accounted for a large portion of their strength, many of them tended to be “muscle heads” and spent most of their time inside the guild headquarters in the state-of-the-art gym designed specifically for espers.

Kagome’s strength was a bit different. While she did have increased physical strength when needed – and sometimes when she definitely did not – it was her telekinetic abilities that made her so powerful. But telekinetic ability was not often visible to the naked eye until it acted on something else, nor did it manifest in an obvious way.

“I was going to grab some coffee if…”

“They’re expecting me in R&D,” she interrupted smoothly. Which was true. A convenient truth she had no qualms using to get out of what would inevitably be A Very Awkward Time.

“Oh. Right. S-Sango still work down there?” he asked, the stammer not going unnoticed. Ah, still afraid of her, huh? Kagome smiled. “Of course she does! Brilliant mind. Real… uh… Real battle axe.” He backed away as he yammered on. Kagome waited until he finally turned to let her face relax, doing an about face and heading in the direction of the labs. Sango better have something good or I’m going to be very annoyed I had to deal with… people.

There was a time in Kagome’s life where she loved being surrounded by people, chatting, laughing, socializing… But ever since she awakened, and especially after her specific backlash presentation appeared, she had been progressively less and less inclined to be around others. She had to be extremely careful about who she interacted with, but Sango was one person she could trust.

One, Sango was another esper. Her abilities lay mostly in mental capabilities, ones that allowed her to develop and construct some of the most amazing machines to test and track guiding compatibility and improve the medications used to reduce negative energy levels and backlash when a guide was not available. Her own guide – and husband – was the one who went to bat with both the guild and the government’s Awakened Council to get Sango’s designs approved.

Two, Sango knew in explicit detail why Kagome wouldn’t accept guiding.

The whoosh of the sliding door into the lab was a familiar sound. The soft whirring of the machinery was soothing in a way, a faint hum in the back of her awareness. Several technicians hustled past her with tablets, looking frazzled to the point that they didn’t even notice her on their way by. That in and of itself wasn’t unusual. Though, she couldn’t help noticing the way they were whispering amongst themselves and the furtive glances back toward where they’d come from. What has them in a tizzy?

Rounding the bay of computers into the inner sanctum of the lab, Kagome stopped on a dime. She blinked. Once. Twice. Then immediately tried to turn and leave.

“Kagome! There you are.”

Shit .

“Yes, but I just got…” She lifted her wrist to try and indicate her watch.

“No you didn’t. Get over here.” Sango’s voice brooked no argument. Kagome considered making a run for it anyway, but her friend’s stare stopped her before she could. “You promised me yesterday.” Kagome allowed a scowl onto her face for a brief moment. “Are you going to go back on your promise?” Sango’s tone was sharp.

“N-No.”

“Oi. You told me she agreed to this.” The reason for Kagome’s desire to run the other direction turned in the wheeled chair he was in. He resembled a big cat, lithe and powerful, and entirely out of place in the lab. Dressed in dark sweats and a burgundy t-shirt, he looked like he’d just come from the gym. He wore a ball cap pulled low, but Kagome could see the predatory glow of his eyes. She knew enough to spot someone who wasn’t entirely human at a glance.

But that wasn’t what made her want to turn tail and run.

Even at this distance, she could feel the soothing pull of a guiding aura oozing off of him. A bit of shock considering it usually took actual physical contact, but she knew her levels were bad right now. Maybe his instincts felt the need to correct it. She’d also heard of guides who were able to do radiation guiding. It was a rare trait, but it did exist. Perhaps it was something he was capable of. Not that Kagome wanted to find out.

“Sango…”

“You promised.”

“I said no guiding.”

The scientist sighed. “Kagome, I can see the strain on your face from here. You cannot keep using the pills.”

“She’s being fucking using the pills all this time?” His tone was incredulous. “ The Kagome Higurashi?” His golden gaze locked in on her again, wide with horror. “You have the power of an atom bomb and you’re trying to manage that shit with pills?!”

“Pretty sure that’s none of your business,” she snapped, hands on her hips.

“But it is mine,” Sango retorted. “Your baseline numbers have been creeping up for half a year. The pills aren’t cutting it anymore and if we can’t get your numbers down, not only are you banned from missions, you’ll be sedated.”

Kagome stiffened, eyes wide as she stared in horror. “You wouldn’t.” The silver-haired guide sat up at attention, his gaze intensifying. “Sango…”

“I do not want to, to be clear. But if it gets to that point, the decision will be taken out of my hands. As it is, the guild commander is breathing down my neck. You cannot go rampant, Kagome. The city wouldn’t survive.” Kagome glanced at the man and then her friend of many years. “At least let me run the compatibility testing. Right here, controlled environment, no actual touching, alright?”

She hesitated. “I’m Inuyasha, by the way.” His brash attitude from earlier seemed to have softened. Did he realize how tense she was? How terrified? He shifted, then slowly took the hat from his head, golden eyes on her the entire time as though bracing for her reaction. It did shock her a little, seeing the animal ears on top of his head, but he was by no means the first “non-human” she had met. 

The gates held far more than just monsters. There were gates with civilizations of humanoid creatures, mystical in nature, that had been defending themselves against the more beast-like monsters that inhabited their worlds for centuries. It was the protocol to mostly keep those beings a secret, for their own safety as much as to keep the public on the side of supporting espers going into the gates.

Of those “in the know” there was a faction that argued those beings should be handling the monsters themselves, but it was evident from many years of experience that that was not enough. Monsters could and did crawl through the gates and into this world if left alone. Thousands had died before the awakening of espers and the guides who kept them sane, thousands more still in the time since, but with less frequency and over years rather than in a single week.

It also meant that, over the decades, contact had been made with those beings and it was discovered that they were more compatible with humans than either race thought possible. Hybrids, like Inuyasha, were another well known secret.

“N-Nice to meet you,” Kagome murmured. She wanted to mean it, but she was still trembling at the prospect of having to come into contact with this man in any way, shape, or form. His amber gaze shifted to Sango who had her sharp eyes trained on Kagome, not leaving any room for her to escape. “I… I guess we should see if this is even possible.”

She had been tested with guides in the past. The highest match rating so far had been less than forty percent, which was well below the ideal of seventy-five and still below the threshold at fifty that was considered enough to establish a pairing. Emergency guiding done in the field relied on the will of the guide alone, no idea if or how compatible they might be with an esper. But that was often a stop gap measure until the esper could be handed over to a more compatible guide. She had never had a “more compatible” guide and hadn’t had direct guiding in years. Kagome didn’t expect anything different this time, but she couldn’t ignore how insistent Sango was being. She knew something.

Giving him a wide berth as she passed, Kagome tried to smooth out her stride as she walked by Inuyasha. But even with several feet between them, she felt the pull of his energy. “Do you radiation guide?” she blurted out.

He blinked at her in confusion, his ears flicking as his head tilted. “No?”

Then how was it she could feel her burden lightening without direct contact? “Right. ok. Let's get this over with.” She sat in the chair for the esper, hands on her knees and her spine as straight as possible. Inuyasha slunk over to the guide’s seat, his posture much more relaxed. They each slid their wrists into the cuff on the armrest, the slight increase in pressure as it tightened making Kagome flinch.

“Just sit back and breathe, both of you. It’ll take a bit.” A glance to her right proved Inuyasha seemed completely at ease, eyes closed and his head tipped back against the headrest of the chair. She, on the other hand, had to make a concentrated effort to slow her breathing to calm her racing heart. Her stomach rolled for a moment as she started to feel the pull of his guiding more directly, a side effect of the machine testing their compatibility, and she couldn’t move away from it. It was only for a moment, and she was able to breathe through it, but the initial panic shot up her heart rate. 

Her watch vibrated as her residual energy level started to dip. Focusing on that allowed her to separate herself from the feeling of the negative energy being sucked out of her. While most espers found the exodus of their residual energy to be a relief, Kagome struggled not to let her mind sink into the mire of memory.

“So you’ve been awakened for about six or seven years, right?”

Kagome blinked. “Uh… Yea. Seven.”

“Over ten for me.” How was he old enough to have been awakened a decade? Kagome stared at him out of the corner of her eye. His face was borderline boyish, but she could see how in a more dangerous setting he would seem far more serious. He had the jawline to look menacing if he so chose. “My parents kept me out of the service as long as they could though,” he commented nonchalantly. “Gate missions are no place for a teenager.”

“You were a minor when you awakened?” He nodded. “I… I wasn’t quite twenty.”

He pulled her into a conversation about how guild operations had changed over the years, how much more selective they had become in admitting both guides and espers. There was no longer a strict mandate for espers and guides to immediately report to the Awakened Council to be deployed to a guild. Not only “normal people” were dying in fewer numbers these days.

The machine stopped whirring and slowly the soft vibration on her wrist turned to short bursts. “Oh,” she murmured, looking at the green light and unexpected number on the tiny screen. She… couldn’t remember having seen a number like that in… Well it had been a very long time. “That’s…”

“Feel better?” Sango chimed in, her tone a little smug. Kagome tossed her a petulant scowl. “You should. It’s the best I’ve seen your numbers in…”

“Yea, yea. I get it. Thank you,” she mumbled in Inuyasha’s direction, averting her face to hide the way her cheeks flamed. “Do I need to stay to wait for the results?”

“Technically, no…”

“Alright. I’ll see you later then, Sango. Nice to meet you, Inuyasha. Stay safe out…”

“Hey. What’s the rush?” She paused in trying to slip her wrist free of the arm band. “That seemed pretty painless, right?” Kagome flinched involuntarily at his question.

She needed to get out. And fast.

“Maybe on your end. I’m leaving,” she bit out, ripping her arm from the cuff and stomping past. So focused on getting out of the lab and out of the building, Kagome missed him following after her.

The jolt of energy that went through her with the pressure on her arm almost immediately had her on her knees, bile trying to rise up the back of her throat. “Kago-”

“Don’t touch me!” The pressure disappeared, but the sensation of her energy shifting out of her control nearly had her emptying her stomach.

“I… Wait… I didn’t…”

“You didn’t know, Inuyasha. Just step back. Kagome, I’m going to help you up and I’m going to take you to my office, alright?” Sango’s low voice pierced through her sudden nausea and allowed her to breathe. “That’s it. One foot, then the other.”

Kagome could only desperately hope that no one else was in the lab then, or she would hear the whispers about her for weeks, if not months.

Her reaction terrified him. Not that he let it show outwardly. In his years as a guide, Inuyasha had handled countless espers on the verge of going rampant. Because of his sturdy nature, he was recruited as a combat guide and had been out in the field for several years now. Facing the monsters inside the gates, or even those that made it through to this side, had become less and less worrisome with time. He knew how to keep a straight face when confronted with a scary situation.

But seeing Kagome collapse like that just from his touch had shaken him.

He heard Sango speaking soothingly to her as they walked ahead, his ears focused on the sound of Kagome’s rapid breathing. She was very insistent about not receiving guiding and, with her reaction, he could only begin to guess as to why. Was it really that painful for her? He didn’t smell pain in her scent. Fear, though… That was heavily present. The fact that she’d so rapidly gone pale told him her blood pressure had likely tanked and she was probably feeling woozy at best.

He had been in the field long enough to pick up on signs that someone was ill or losing blood. Most espers were physically stronger than the average person, but if dealt enough damage, they could develop pretty serious injuries without immediate guiding and medical treatment. Only once had he personally lost an esper under his care, but they had been irrevocably injured before they reached him and all the guiding in the world wouldn’t have saved them.

If Kagome was injured in the field, did she refuse guiding even then? He had to hope not, but he was beginning to suspect she either never got injured severely, or truly was strong enough to heal herself rapidly without needing a guide. Well… A living guide anyway. Her use of pills to mitigate her levels up until now was completely mind boggling. He’d been half joking before when he compared her energy to that of an atom bomb. There was speculation that if Kagome Higurashi – one of the strongest espers in the last two decades – went rampant, she could end up taking out more than just the city. 

By all accounts, her energy was off the charts.

It was also why it seemed to be difficult to find a good guide match for her. There were not many high level guides, and those that were often refused to work with espers they felt were below them or were “too dangerous.” It was an unbalanced system, one that often left espers reliant on the medications created to save their lives… but left them with side effects that eventually made living unbearable. Inuyasha had heard enough stories of espers intentionally getting themselves killed inside a gate to avoid a life dependent on the guiding pills.

After several minutes lurking outside Sango’s office, Inuyasha sensed that Kagome was calmer. He no longer heard rapid breaths and her scent was returning to normal. Still, he kept his distance. The last thing Kagome needed right now was his presence looming over her and making her feel pressured.

A throat clearing behind him had his ears flicking before he turned to acknowledge the tech holding a tablet, his chin twitching in his nervousness. “What?”

“It’s just... Your results?” Inuyasha stiffened. Were they that bad? He knew Kagome was tough to match, but accepting her energy – even if it was through the machine – had felt really natural. Without hesitation, the hanyou took the tablet from the tech’s trembling fingers. Staring at the screen, he tilted it a moment before righting it so he could look at it more closely. “I-I did the same thing. I even r-ran the report a second time.” There was no ignoring it.  The screen was even flashing. “It says you’re an eighty-five percent compatibility match.”

“Holy shit…”

Chapter Text

Nothing made sense. A match? With him? How? But no matter how she tried to reason it away, it didn’t work. Every time she was stuck with the knowledge that she was matched at an almost unprecedented rate with a guide who had years of experience guiding other espers. None like her, of course, but still…

It didn’t come from a place of arrogance, rather from shame.

No one matched with her because she was inherently unmatchable. She was an S+ esper, on a level unseen in decades. Untold power with limited knowledge of the full scope of her capabilities meant there were more than a few scientists and government agencies that would love to get ahold of her. She couldn’t count how many times she’d been asked for blood samples and even the odd request for her eggs. There was no scientific evidence so far that awakened traits were in any way genetically inherited, but that didn’t stop them from trying to find some kind of connection. At the end of the day, she was an outlier. A freak of nature.

She had never matched with anyone before, not like this. Why Inuyasha?

Kagome tried to keep her head on straight as she made her way out of the lab and through the lobby. It was dicey if she didn’t want to run into anyone, but she needed to leave as soon as possible and she couldn’t rely on Sango to get her out when the whole lab was atwitter at the match results. Everyone knew that a match like that was big news, but even bigger news was that Kagome Higurashi had finally matched with a guide after years of being awakened.

“Hey.” She paused midstep, then kept on going. She could feel him following her, but noted he was very careful not to touch her. “I’m sorry ‘bout earlier.” Kagome swallowed hard. “Next time…”

“There won’t be a next time,” she grit out, speeding up her pace. Which did nothing. He was hanyou and obviously had physical capabilities above and beyond that of a human. When they cleared the immediate area around the guild building, Kagome turned on her heel, Inuyasha just barely keeping himself from colliding with her. “I don’t know what the hell you want from me. I don’t need guiding. I don’t need a match.”

His arms crossed over his chest, dark brows lowering over his sharp golden eyes. “You’re full of shit, you know that?” Kagome gaped at him. Other than maybe Sango, no one spoke to her like that. “No esper can go for long without guiding. Especially one that uses their abilities regularly. Definitely not one who has the kind of power you do. You know just as well as I do what happens to an esper who doesn’t get their energy levels under control.” He made a vague gesture and mimicked the sound of an explosion.

“I’m well aware of the risks. But that’s my decision to make, isn’t it?”

Inuyasha shook his head roughly. “To a point, sure. You can choose how to handle your backlash.” She struggled not to flinch at his words. “When we start talking about going rampant and the potential destruction from that, it’s not up to you anymore.” He paused to take a rough breath. “Wouldn’t it be better to keep it under control before it ever gets to that point? You heard the lab lady…”

“Sango.”

“Right. Sango. You heard her. If you don’t start accepting some kind of guiding, they’re gonna sedate your ass and then you won’t have a choice.” No matter how she tried, she couldn’t stop the shudder that ran through her at the reminder. “You asked me before if I could radiation guide.”

The change in topic threw her for a moment. “It felt like it earlier.”

“It must be because of our compatibility. I have never matched with an esper like that and I have never been able to guide without at least hand contact.” He noticed how her eyes flicked to his hands, a half smile quirking his lips. “I don’t bite. I won’t touch you without telling you first. How about that?”

His presence, his words, were far more reassuring than she wanted to admit. What if he was telling the truth? Could she trust that? What about when he finds out about my backlash? A faint wave of nausea hit her.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” she whispered, turning and taking off, summoning a transport on the fly. She didn’t want to need the pills later, so using her abilities right now was out of the question, but she needed to get away from him as quickly as possible.

Before the allure of his words and his guiding seduced her.

He paced the perimeter around the checkpoint, the guild staff milling around. What the hell was he supposed to do, waiting around here?! Kagome was on the other side of that gate and here he was with his thumb up his ass, waiting for her to come back. Inuyasha had read the report. He knew how dangerous this gate was. It was part of the reason they’d sent Kagome in to begin with. No other esper came close to her level of strength. Which also meant she got sent into dangerous situations with next to no backup. 

Inuyasha growled low as he continued to prowl like a caged lion.

He didn’t even know her all that well yet – she wouldn’t let him get to know her – but already he hated that they kept him at a distance like this. How the fuck was he going to help her if they wouldn’t even let him go with her?

An alarm blared somewhere and his head whipped in the direction of the sound. The checkpoint personnel were abuzz. The gate was collapsing.

“Where is Higurashi?!” he called, approaching the monitoring station. One of the security detail stepped into his line of vision. “Get out of my way.” No response. “My esper…”

At the station, a mousy man’s head popped up, his tepid brown eyes seeming to spark just a little. “Higurashi does not have a dedicated guide.”

Inuyasha snarled. “We’re matched. Even if it’s not official… Fuck. That’s not the point! Where is she?! If the gate is collapsing, we need to get her out of there!”

“Out of where?” Nearly jumping out of his skin, Inuyasha wheeled. 

“Higurashi. Report.”

“Gate cleared. The gate itself is closed. No casualties.” Inuyasha caught her gaze for only a moment before she looked away. She was trembling.

“Right. This guide has been waiting…”

“You don’t look good,” he interrupted the man who looked annoyed. Inuyasha ignored him. “Let me…”

“No.”

He scowled, following after as she walked away from the monitoring station. “I can feel how unstable you are. You need guiding.”

“No. I don’t.” 

As soon as her hand reached for her pocket, he knew what she was reaching for. It was a near thing for him not to snatch her wrist to keep her from grabbing the pill bottle. Hadn’t he just promised the other day that he wouldn’t touch her without explicitly telling her first? “Those are bad for you,” he growled. Her usually brown eyes glowed silver, further evidence of how bad off she was, pinning him in place. A snarl curled his mouth as she stared him down while tossing back two of them. He knew that the recommended dose was just one to start, so the fact that she had no qualms about downing two at once was not a good sign. “Do you know what happens when you’re addicted to those?” he hissed, his tone sharp. The defiant look she shot him only inflamed his fury. “Espers willingly jump into the mouths of monsters to end the pain. To stop the creeping infection of pre-rampage insanity.”

Slightly less silver now, her eyes would have looked less cold were it not for the hard stare she was giving him. “Better that than being at the mercy of a guide who couldn’t give two shits about you.”

Stunned, he let her get several steps away before he could react to follow her. “Who the fuck hurt you, Kagome Higurashi?” He’d meant it rhetorically, but the full body flinch that met his words along with her wide eyes flipping to him told Inuyasha he’d unknowingly struck a very tender chord. She shook her head as he stepped toward her, a heavy breath leaving her as she turned and took off.

Inuyasha swore violently. She was afraid of him. He didn’t know why before, but now it was clear something happened to her at the hands of a guide. But what, and who?

He had Sango pulled up on his watch, pressing his ear piece in before he even processed what he was doing. The ringing was short, ending abruptly. He didn’t even let her greet him.

“I don’t know how you make it happen, but I need access to her levels.”

There was a long pause. “You need to be registered as her guide for that.”

He snarled heatedly. “I fucking know that. Make it happen.”

“I can’t. Not on my own. She has to agree to it. That’s personal information.” Inuyasha's swearing turned more colorful. “She took the pills again, didn’t she?” He grunted an affirmative. “Dammit.” Sango groaned. “I’ll talk to Miroku. He’s one of the few guides she trusts.”

“Who’s that?” Was that jealousy in his voice? He had nothing to be jealous of…

“My husband.” The relief that filled him told him it had, in fact, been jealousy. Inuyasha felt a little stupid. Who was he to get jealous over… anything to do with an esper he’d just met? “He’s the one who knows more specifically what the Awakened Council has been saying. He tells me what he can, but there’s more to it that he can’t. All I know is that they won’t risk Kagome going rampant, even at the risk of losing her as their foremost gate buster.”

“Gate buster… The gate today almost collapsed on her! And there wasn’t anyone with her.”

“I saw the alert.” Sango sighed roughly. “I’ll talk to Miroku,” she repeated. “Hopefully he’ll convince her. If not, he might be able to work something out to get you assigned to her with limited access to her data.” It wasn’t exactly the outcome he’d hoped for, but it was something.

Why do I care so much? he wondered as he reluctantly turned back toward where the gate had been and where he’d left his bike parked.

The cup was cold between her palms, the sweat on the outside slick against her fingertips. It was soothing, the chill. But even more than that, it gave her something to focus on that wasn’t the man sitting across from her. “Kagome, you can ignore me all you want. It’s not going to change what I’m saying.” She flicked her gaze to Miroku for a moment, then focused on the slide of a water droplet down the plastic between her hands. “Without a dedicated guide, you’re a walking liability the Council and the guild aren’t going to tolerate much longer.”

“They need me,” she whispered.

“You’re absolutely right. They do.” He ducked his head to try and meet her eyes. “But they also need you to not go rampant and create a crater the size of a county.” Kagome knew herself well enough to know her face was probably screwed up in a pout right now. Miroku was one of the few people she allowed this level of familiarity. “There’s a guide who you are insanely compatible with. Even Sango and I are only a seventy percent match rate, seventy-five on a good day. We’ve been pair bonded for what? Five years now?” Kagome nodded vaguely. “We didn’t match that high at first. It took years of being together and trusting one another to achieve that. But you matched at eighty-five on the first day you met? That’s…”

“Unheard of. I know. I keep hearing how amazing it is. I’m sick of it.”

Miroku put his hands up in a conciliatory gesture. “Alright, Kagome. Alright.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, other hand hanging loose between his knees. “I didn’t want to bring this up, but the Council and the guild are discussing enacting Emergency Guiding protocols.” She barely kept from dropping her cup onto the tile at their feet. “So you know what that means. I don’t want that for you. Sango doesn’t either. That’s why she’s been searching so hard for an alternative solution. She doesn’t know how far they’ll go to keep you active, but I do.”

“W-What about other espers? Why don’t they do that with them?” She sucked in a shaky breath. “Th-That guide. Inuyasha. He said he knew of espers who died inside gates. On purpose.” There was a long silence where Miroku simply stared at her. “Is that true?”

His eyes closed and he took a drawn out breath. “There are several esper deaths with… suspicious circumstances. Psychosis due to lack of physical guiding has been suspected in many of them. There’s a very good possibility that overuse of the pills to replace physical guiding speeds up illness.” Neither of them spoke with the weight of that statement hanging in the air between them.

The feeling of a droplet hitting her shin jolted Kagome from her stunned state. “I… I set the rules.” Miroku quirked a brow at her in question. “I-If I’m going to allow guiding, I set the rules for when and how.”

“Within reason. Of course. We don’t want you to be uncomfortable, Kagome.” She nodded curtly. “Thank you. Sango will be relieved to hear you’re willing to try.” Kagome shrugged jerkily, embarrassed now. “Seems like this Inuyasha character will be glad to hear it too. Sounds like he was pretty worried about you after that last gate collapsed.” Miroku’s grin was teasing.

“I was fine. Like always.” He hummed sarcastic agreement. “I was!”

“Yes. Of course you were. You were so fine, that’s why we were sitting here discussing how both governing bodies with jurisdiction over your career as an esper were about to take drastic measures.” Kagome’s lip curled in an annoyed snarl. “He seems to be the real deal, Kagome,” he said, his tone softening. “He knows what he’s doing and there isn’t a single complaint from an esper from all his years of service.”

That was unusual. It wasn’t unheard of for guides and espers to clash from time to time. Espers who were fresh off a battle, energy levels out of whack, were known to pick fights and land themselves in trouble with the guides who were meant to help them. More than a few espers with attitudes tried to flip the problem around on the guide, blaming them for riling them up when they were less in control of themselves, or for not taking the esper’s backlash into account when approaching them. There were more than a few ungrateful bastards who accused guides of being too low level, or not providing adequate guiding.

The fact that a field guide, and a hybrid one at that, had no complaints against him was astounding. 

Miroku let her go after that revelation, reminding her to check in with the guild about registering Inuyasha as her official guide. She grudgingly agreed, grumbling about it the whole time she was pulling up the guild commander’s contact on her watch. She bit out the instructions to the commander’s admin on the other end. She was forced to confirm three times because they didn’t believe that she’d finally given in and accepted a guide.

Accept is a strong word , she thought with a scowl, dropping her mostly undrunk coffee into the trash, and left the cafe.

The weights were barely enough to slow him down, but it gave him something to fight against, if only in his head. Inuyasha needed something to fight if he had any hope of keeping his temper in check.

Kagome had “given in” and accepted him as her guide match. It should have made him happy. Instead he was annoyed.

The stubborn woman had put several stipulations in place to keep him at as much distance as possible while still technically acknowledging him as her guide. Not letting him through a gate when she was being sent in alone. Only allowing him access to her haven when she agreed to it. Requiring express verbal permission for him to touch her at all times. That one he didn’t mind, but the fact that she wanted it in writing meant something.

Something she didn’t seem to have any intention of telling him.

Inuyasha growled as he increased the weight, needing the burn in his shoulders to distract him.

The fact that she wouldn’t tell him what had happened to make her so terrified of guiding was eating at him. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt or scare her, but how was he supposed to know what to avoid if she wouldn’t tell him? How was he supposed to help her when she was trying to keep him several city blocks’ distance from her whenever possible?

His watch vibrating snapped him out of his brooding and he roughly set the bar into the cradle before tapping the face to read whatever message had set it off. Kagome’s levels were up. Not dangerously high, but enough to trigger a warning that she should receive guiding. Biting his lip, Inuyasha hesitated before tapping the icon to acknowledge the message and the one on the next screen to request permission for access to Kagome’s location.

The wait for a response felt interminable. If she didn’t respond within a certain time frame, indicating she might be unconscious, it would automatically send him her location. Her levels weren’t bad enough that it was likely, but it was good to know that failsafes had been built in with the boundaries Kagome had set.

Another vibration. An arrow with a minimap appeared. Inuyasha blinked, completely shocked. Towel in hand as he scrambled off the weight bench, he wiped himself down as fast as he could, snatching up his bag and making his way out of the gym. He passed countless faces on his way out the door, too focused on that minimap to even think about listening in on the flutters of voices around him.

Strapping his bag to his bike and throwing a leg over, he was on the move as soon as the engine roared to life.

The cones were the first sign, the barriers soon after indicating that this had been a large gate. Rolling to a stop, he recognized several guides waiting under a tent in the checkpoint area as a few espers began exiting a gate. The event horizon was large, larger than any he’d seen in a long while. It rippled and wavered, its midnight surface mesmerizing in a terrifying way. It drew your eye, hypnotizing. It was speculated that that very phenomenon was what tempted the monsters to enter. The appearance of the gates nearby emitting energy and then the oddly lulling sight of the event horizon was a pull Inuyasha felt even more strongly than others. He wanted to go through.

But instead, he was stuck watching from the sideline as his esper finally, finally , came through it. There was a loud snap as the gate popped out of existence like a giant menacing soap bubble. Unlike the last time, no one approached Kagome to ask her for a report, but he did see her fumbling with her watch.

He called her name as he approached her, wanting to give her plenty of warning before he was within touching range. He did feel the very beginning of the draw of her energy on his own, the need to guide her like an itch on the back of his neck that he’d been forbidden from scratching. Which, of course, made it itch all the more. Kagome’s eyes were glowing silver when she finally looked up at his call.

She looked confused.

Delirious.

Her numbers on his watch had jumped since the last time he’d looked, telling him she’d used her powers even more while exiting the gate. “Let me see your watch,” he demanded. She held her wrist out for him obediently and it immediately struck him as odd. Pausing to give her time to retract her offered limb, Inuyasha glanced at her one more time before leaning over so he could tap the screen for her, sending off her mission report. “You need guiding. Are you alright with holding my hand?” he asked softly. She blinked, no verbal response. Her reaction worried him.

It was somewhat normal for espers to suffer some side effects of using their power. Backlash, as they called it. But every esper’s backlash was different. Some cognitive effects were common after leaving a gate, but Kagome had been sharp as a tack the last time. Though he had no idea what her numbers had been then, he couldn’t imagine they were any better than they were right now.

“Puppy ears.”

Inuyasha looked up from his watch and blinked at Kagome. She had a faint grin on her lips. She looked… drunk.

“Kagome. I need to hold your hand, alright?” She smiled. Tentatively, waiting for some kind of violent reaction, he held out his hand, palm up, for her. 

“That’s good,” she muttered, not having made contact yet. He could feel his watch blipping on his other wrist, telling him her numbers were slowly dropping already. But how? They weren’t even touching! But a glance showed the number in red incrementally decreasing.

Fascinating as that was, it was nowhere near fast enough to get her out of the danger zone. “Kagome, you have to hold onto me,” Inuyasha insisted, pushing his hand closer to her. She reciprocated, almost giving him a low five rather than gripping his hand. Without his hanyou reflexes to get hold of her, she might have. The response was immediate, Kagome’s numbers dropping rapidly. She shuddered, eyes fluttering before taking in a shaky breath. Inuyasha flinched when her knees went a little weak. He didn’t dare touch her anywhere else for fear of her reaction, clinging to her hand and lowering her to the ground slowly. “Kagome?”

“Mm. Feels nice,” she murmured, her voice purring. Inuyasha bit his lip. He needed to keep hold of her, get her numbers to drop further, but he was also concerned about her odd behavior.

Almost the moment his watch vibrated more sharply, letting him know she’d crossed the threshold into safe territory, he felt Kagome stiffen. Her eyes went wide and she looked up at him in something akin to horror. Yet she didn’t let go. Not yet. She seemed to be processing what was going on, looking around her.

“D-Did I call you here?”

“Not exactly. Automatic alert that you needed guiding. But you must have acknowledged it for it to send me your location.” He pulled lightly until she was back up on her feet. Trembling again . He could feel it through their linked hands almost more than he could see it. “Do you want me to call a transport?” he asked instead of what he really wanted to. Kagome nodded, eyes averted from him even as she clung to him.

Despite how her numbers were dropping, Kagome kept shaking like a leaf. Was it post-adrenaline rush? Or perhaps her backlash caused her to tremble like that?  It dawned on him that he didn’t actually know what her backlash was. Full body tremors wouldn’t be unheard of, nor uncommon. Some espers felt the need to binge eat, some tended to hit the bar, and even others felt like sleeping for days. An esper’s backlash could be just about anything.

“I-I’m alright now,” she mumbled, tugging at her hand in his hold. “The t-transport’s here, right?” There was a hint of desperation in her tone. Reluctantly, Inuyasha let go of her hand. She didn’t seem unbalanced, but she was still trembling and he didn’t like it.

“Let me help…”

“No! Don’t touch. Please.” He snatched his hands back from where he’d been about to brace her, flinching at her command. The transport pulled up to the barrier and all he could do was hover nearby as she climbed into it. “Thank you. For coming.”

“Keh.” Inuyasha sighed. “Any time. That’s what I’m here for.” Kagome bit her lip as if keeping herself from saying something. Inuyasha noticed how flushed her cheeks had become. Did her backlash cause a fever?

The transport door slid closed, air stirring as it took off.

Inuyasha’s brows furrowed. What was that scent?

Chapter Text

Kagome hated herself a little more today than the day before. The freezing shower wasn’t working like it normally would when she took the pills. But she’d promised Sango she wouldn’t take them unless it was an emergency. With Inuyasha at her beck and call – much as she hated it – she hadn’t needed the pills to get her energy levels under control. Of course, they hadn’t been as bad as she’d experienced in the past either.

Her backlash, though, was another story entirely.

Even if it would make things easier, would make her backlash subside more quickly, she couldn’t bring herself to allow that level of vulnerability. She did not want to be at the mercy of anyone, least of all a guide.

And yet, as her body burned with uncontrolled desire, cold water be damned, she imagined broad hands running over her skin. The feel of his body pressing down on her as he kissed her neck. How would the prick of his fangs feel if he nipped her? Would he run his tongue over the spot to soothe the sting? Was he one to whisper hot and heavy in your ear as he… An involuntary shudder went through her at the imagined sensation.

When she finally cooled down, she lay spent on the bed, her hair wrapped in a towel and her robe tied tight around her middle. She couldn’t remember having had fantasies during her backlash before. Not specific ones anyway. Rolling onto her stomach, she groaned into her pillow. This was just one of many reasons she didn’t want a guide. She knew that she would reach a point without the pills where hand holding would not be enough to bring her numbers down into the “green.” Which meant mucosal guiding – a.k.a. kissing – and if her backlash hit in the middle of that… Well…

She swore into the fluff against her face.

Her body still thrummed with the aftereffects of her backlash and the several climaxes it took to make it subside. Still more, the oh-so-helpful mental images from earlier kept flashing in her mind. Since when did she have such a vivid imagination?

“Ugh.” She rolled over again. She needed to eat, but she hardly had the energy to move right now. Having someone there to get her snacks would be pretty handy… But that was hardly a reason to allow someone into her haven. Not to mention those kinds of small favors added up and the thought of being indebted to someone over something so trivial made her skin crawl.

A message popped up, her watch buzzing on her side table.

“Inuyasha?” It was a simple message, just asking if she was alright. Kagome swallowed as her chest felt oddly tight for a moment. Would he message her again? She… couldn’t remember having a guide check in with her before. Sango was really the only one who ever did. 

She replied that she was, then waited. Her wrist felt almost tender as she slipped her watch back into place. Her numbers flashed on the screen as within actual normal limits – not just “Kagome Normal” – but still on the high side. Just hand holding and they came down like that?

The pop up that slid into view startled her. It was Inuyasha again. Glad you’re ok. Let me know if you need anything. That tightness in her chest once more made her take an intentional breath.

“Stop it, Kagome,” she warned herself. Small kindnesses were all well and good, but letting them affect her resolve to keep people at an appropriate distance would only put her at risk. She couldn’t afford that kind of risk in her life. Not now. Not ever.

After she was finally able to peel herself from the bed and go down to the kitchen, she vowed to remember she needed to put a basket of snacks in her nightstand or something. Anything to simplify her life after a backlash. Especially when it was more severe and she could hardly lift a finger for hours afterward, so drained she felt like melted candle wax.

She noticed a message from Sango, asking to confirm that she accepted guiding from Inuyasha and hadn’t taken any pills this time. She scowled in annoyance at the thumbs up response she got when she confirmed. She knew Sango wasn’t being patronizing, but it didn’t change how irritated she was that Sango had been right. Not that Kagome had any intention of telling her that. Or Inuyasha either.

Feeding herself felt like climbing a mountain, but she managed to get enough calories in herself to not feel nauseous anymore. She would graze for a good chunk of the afternoon, then make an actual meal in a few hours. Probably.

Living alone, while necessary, sucked sometimes.

“It’s pretty rare that someone could develop an ability they didn’t awaken with.”

Inuyasha’s nostrils flared as he sneered. “I don’t need your negativity.”

“Doesn’t change anything.” 

The hanyou growled lowly at the wolf youkai sitting across from him. “Pretty sure Higurashi has come out with all kinds of new abilities they never thought possible over the years.”

Kouga sighed, brows lowering in thought. “Kagome’s a whole other deal, man. She’s just… She’s built different.” A tiny corner of his brain growled at the esper speaking of her so familiarly. “You’ve never been able to radiation guide before. Why do you think you can now?”

“I don’t know. But if she can develop new abilities, that means it’s possible. So I’m gonna try.” The wolf slouched further in his chair and crossed his arms firmly over his chest. “Quit rejecting my guiding, you ass.”

“I ain’t rejectin’ nothin.’ You’re just not putting anything out, moron.” He was too far to actually reach, but Inuyasha kicked out toward his shin anyway, making him flinch. “Oi!”

“You’re supposed to be helping, not making it harder.”

The mangy wolf’s face turned petulant. “I don’t get why you’re trying to do this. Just guide her like normal.” Except that was exactly what Kagome didn’t want him to do. She barely tolerated hand contact guiding, let alone anything more involved.

“Just sit there and take the guiding, idiot.”

“Can’t take what you’re not giving, asshole.” Inuyasha was struck by how stupidly childish they both sounded and chose not to rise to the bait. If he had any hope of figuring out radiation guiding, he needed to focus, not sit here arguing with a stupid stubborn wolf.

Eyes closed, he tugged at the center of his being where he often felt his guiding energy came from. It came so easily to his fingertips when he needed it, or anywhere else skin-deep for that matter, but the concept of spreading it outside of himself was foreign. Yet on more than one occasion now, Kagome had commented that she felt his energy pulling at her even from several feet away. 

By all accounts, Kouga was right. A guide or esper awakened with the abilities they would always have. There were maybe a handful of guides and espers that had developed new abilities years after awakening, usually something adjacent to what they could already do.  An esper who could create fire who was then able to create explosions. An esper who could control wind that then developed some limited weather control ability. Guides who could already radiation guide developing the ability to emergency guide multiple espers at the same time. Strong guides who could provide intimate level guiding – essentially nullifying the effects of an esper using their abilities – with just a touch.

Inuyasha knew none of these things were in the cards for him. While he did have some separate capabilities because of his youkai heritage, they were not useful in developing an ability to guide without direct contact. They helped him protect himself in the field, and the other guides when necessary, which was why the guild had been so eager to train him for combat guiding. He was sort of like a guide with esper abilities, which came in handy.

“Still don’t feel shit.” Kouga’s complaint snapped him out of his focus and brought a deep growl up in his chest. “You sure it wasn’t Backlash Delirium?”

“The first time she said something she hadn’t even been out in the field, so no.” The second time, though, that was possible. “She straight up asked me if I could radiation guide, so she obviously felt something .”

“Well aren’t you two buddy buddy.” Kouga’s sneer was definitely more petty than angry and it made Inuyasha grin devilishly. “What?”

“You’re jealous.”

“I’m not fucking jealous!” Kouga retorted immediately. Much too quickly and far too emotionally. Inuyasha’s grin turned sly. “Wipe that dumb smile off your face. You’re pissing me off.”

“Alright, alright.” Inuyasha put his hands up in surrender. “Calm down or I will have to actually guide you.” They shared a mutually disgusted look. Inuyasha wished he could say he’d never had to guide Kouga, but it would be a lie. Fortunately they were compatible enough that hand contact was adequate to bring Kouga just out of the danger zone so he could be passed off to another guide who wouldn’t mind the higher level guiding necessary to drop him the rest of the way down. Kouga preferred female guides and was very open about that fact. 

But guiding was guiding, when it came down to it. In an emergency, you did what needed done.

Glancing up, he noted a red ponytail flip out of view of the door to the conference room. Inuyasha shook his head. “Your girlfriend is looking for you.”

“Wha?” Kouga sat up, following his gaze to the door and lifting his nose to the air. “Aya… She’s not my girlfriend.”

“I don’t see why not. She’s a wolf just like you and she’s a top notch guide. She’s also head over heels for you.”

“Just because she’s… Look, our parents have been pushing a relationship since before either one of us awakened. It’s not going to happen.”

Inuyasha stood, stretching his arms above his head and popping his back. As he passed Kouga still pouting in his chair, he patted him on the shoulder as patronizingly as he could manage. “Are you sure you’re not refusing just because your parents like her?”

“Shut the fuck up, dude.” 

Inuyasha cackled on his way out, slinging his backpack over his shoulder as he opened the door to the conference room and stepped into the hallway. Sure enough, Ayame was lurking a bit down the way, trying to act nonchalant. “I pissed him off pretty good. Might need your help, Miss Ayame.” He watched her hesitate for only a moment before she marched past him and into the room he’d just left. Inuyasha grinned at the frustrated voices that slipped through the crack as the door was swinging shut.

The fire from the monster’s mouth was some of the hottest Kagome had ever encountered. It was not focused either, which made it less effective, but that much more difficult to avoid. She could put up some limited barriers to block it as she ran in under its defenses, but they didn’t last long and it put her at risk of being melted. Without a guide there to provide relief, she had to play it safe with her levels. Especially if she had any intention of keeping her promise to Sango – and Inuyasha – not to take the pills.

Honestly, were the creature not so focused on trying to get through the open gate and into her world, she would have left it to its own devices.

The beast roared and Kagome winced at the sound piercing her ears. Was she frustrating it? Because it definitely didn’t feel like she was actually accomplishing anything. The dragon, for lack of another more appropriate name, roared again, but this time she was somewhat expecting it and covered her ears as she rolled between its legs and narrowly avoided its lashing tail. It canted unexpectedly to one side before righting itself again, its eyes even more wild than before. 

“Heads up, Higurashi!” The call caught her even more off guard than the monster’s sudden movement had.

Practically skating across the sky, a male esper came onto the scene. She didn’t recognize him – not that that was surprising – but he seemed to know her. Of course, most people did, whether she liked it or not. “Identify!”

“Grade A esper, wind and lightning type. Hiten!” His long braid swirled behind him as if controlled by an entirely different wind current than the one keeping him afloat. “I’m from Thunder Guild, but we already took care of the section we were assigned. Your gate admin said it was alright if I came over to… whoa!” He spun wildly as he narrowly avoided a facefull of fire. “Man, this bastard’s nasty!” Kagome did not appreciate his conceited tone in the least. She’d been busting her ass clearing the rest of the gate and he wanted to waltz in and… what? Play at being a hero? Get real.

“Back off.”

Kagome blocked a flare of heat off her side, taking advantage of the dragon’s distraction to pull a large boulder down from the hillside and launch it at its head. It howled in pain, stumbling as its legs collapsed. Kagome threw herself clear as the dragon released more flames. Her elbow and knee stung from the impact and she momentarily wished she’d had just a little more leeway in her energy usage to protect herself, but that was not her main concern right now.

Wind stirred and whipped through the air, swirling the fire pouring from the beast’s mouth and sending it into the sky. “Neat trick.” But it was not going to be enough. The lack of control of its nervous system seemed to be affecting everything. The fire was pouring out of its mouth, clinging to the ground like lava and spreading. It made it difficult to reach any vulnerable points since the scales all over its back were like steel. Like any mythical dragon she’d ever read about, the soft underbelly was the place to attack.

A scream rocked her senses, lightning splitting the air as it struck the dragon. Kagome barely created a barrier around her body in time to keep from being hit herself. Disoriented, she careened off the sidewall of the canyon where she’d cornered and then been fighting the monster on her own. The opposite elbow and knee, and now the shoulder too, flamed to life with pain as she skidded on the rocks.

Smoke drifted upward, no visible movement from the dragon itself, but its lava-like fire still crept along the ground. Just in its path, Hiten lay scorched, skin blackened or red wherever it was visible. The smell was awful and she could see where his skin was trying to rapidly heal while it was repeatedly burned. Swallowing back bile, she concentrated on him, using her telekinetic ability to pull him free and drop him less gently than she would have liked out of range of the flames. “Idiot! Don’t overdo it like that!” He had to have drained himself trying to pull the lightning from a more or less cloudless sky and then fell out of the air when he could no longer use wind to keep himelf up.

Right into the path of the belching fire.

Hiten’s wheezing and gasping in the back of her awareness grated on her as she methodically lifted boulders and dropped them onto the beast, its weak moans eventually falling silent. The fire slowed and stopped, no longer spreading out from its mouth. Not that she could see it anymore. Sulphur filled her nostrils and Kagome coughed, lifting herself backward and up the canyon wall so she could breathe. The air was only slightly fresher, but it was enough that she didn’t feel quite so dizzy.

Her spot on the wall was precarious at best, an outcropping with just enough space for her to sit. Eyes struggling to focus, she used the voice commands on her watch to call in the “clean up crew” and summon medical attention for the idiot esper who was breathing a little easier but clearly still in agony. Kagome called in again, repeating that the wind esper needed a medic and a guide immediately.

“Is she too good to bring him to us?” The voice was unfamiliar and biting. The Shikon Guild administrator noted aloud that her numbers were not good and that she needed guiding herself. “Where the hell is her guide, then?”

The silence that followed was oppressive. Kagome wasn’t sure if the administrator had disconnected the call or if it really was that quiet on that end. His voice coming through again, asking if she needed medical attention, made her swallow uncomfortably. “I’m fine for now. This guy is in bad shape though.”

“We understand. Please just stay with him. It seems like his watch was damaged and his guild can’t locate him.”

“Got it.”

The sound of shouting brought Kagome back into consciousness, the jolt of coming awake almost knocking her from her perch. “Hiten? Can you hear me?” A low voice she recognized from her watch earlier shook her. Glancing around, she realized she couldn’t see them from where she was and carefully lifted herself onto the upper lip of the canyon where several people had arrived to take care of her unwanted compatriot.

Kagome blinked. No. Can’t be. Her vision wavered.

Long dark wavy hair pulled into a high tail, a sharp chin. The black tactical gear was familiar, but most field guides and espers wore the same stuff. His gaze flicked to her and she was frozen. It had to be the delirium setting in. Those eyes were not red. But then they were. Flashes in her mind made her flinch back as he stood and approached her. “Who the fuck do you think you are? You…” Kagome couldn’t understand the next several words he said, her hearing fading in and out. “... guiding.” That word sparked her attention, but even more was the sight of him reaching out a hand to her.

“No!” she screeched, backing off a step. She had to get away. She needed to get home. She needed to make sure this phantom of her past couldn’t touch her. Never again.

Kagome was only aware of time in fits and starts. She heard Hojo’s voice once, but she couldn’t understand what he said. The jostling of the transport was both nauseating and somehow comforting. Her haven smelled familiar. Watch continuously vibrating against her wrist, she vaguely wondered how soon someone would arrive. Would they finally sedate her this time?

With how she couldn’t seem to stop shaking, she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t welcome it.

Chapter Text

It stung, remembering, but it was less sharp than it used to be. 

Inuyasha watched as she spoke with an esper whose name he didn’t know, nor cared to, the faintest of smiles hanging on her lips. Kikyou looked as lovely as ever. Serene and smooth, she was like a doll who had come to life. It had always made him feel like he had to treat her like glass, like a sharp word might shatter her. A roughened field guide like him was too hard, too abrasive for a guild guide like her.

His attention was drawn away by the frantic buzzing of his watch letting him know that Kagome was back from her latest gate assignment and needed him immediately. Assuming she would let him come near her this time…

He spared Kikyou one last glance before making his way out of the guild headquarters and to his bike at a trot. 

It was a privilege he didn’t take lightly, knowing where Kagome’s haven was. After her last episode of being so confused she didn’t recognize him, it had been decided that he was finally on the “need to know” list, and had been given permission to know the location. She still had to let him touch her once he got there, but it was something.

Even with his mind preoccupied with how bad off Kagome might be, he found himself distracted by regrets and frustration over his relationship with Kikyou. A guide getting involved with another guide was not against any rules on Earth, per se, but it wasn’t exactly smiled upon either. The knowledge that a guide may have to provide intimate physical guiding for an esper at any given time often put a damper on any relationships that weren’t a guide and esper pair and opened up the potential for drama that could otherwise be avoided. 

Jealousy was a difficult emotion to overcome.

Kikyou was no different. Inuyasha too, if he was completely honest with himself. He had tried to be open minded and accepting of anything she might need to do, though it was uncommon for guild-bound guides to need to provide that level of guiding. Not so for field guides. Emergencies were emergencies and keeping an esper from going rampant was more important than pride or loyalty to a partner. Outside of an exclusive guiding contract – an uncommon occurrence – or a bonded guide and esper, guides were more or less expected to provide the services needed to the best of their abilities to an esper who needed them. Even if they didn’t know or like that esper.

The winding of the streets as he drove into the area surrounding Kagome’s place forced him to focus on driving lest he miss a turn. His watch vibrated differently for a second, telling him she had entered her haven and then went back to the pattern telling him he was needed immediately. He accelerated, relying on his reflexes to make sure he made the curves. He only barely kept himself from dropping his very pricey motorcycle on the pavement the moment he arrived. 

His watch communicated with her door, automatically opening it for him as he hit the ground running. “Kagome?!” 

He could smell her, but couldn’t see her. A trail of tactical gear and clothing started at the door, ending outside the bedroom on the second level. The water was running in the bathroom. She must have started a shower. It wasn’t unusual for her to come back covered in ichor and grime from a mission. He appreciated her cleaning it off more than anyone because it meant he wouldn't have to smell it as it dried or congealed on her clothes while he provided guiding. 

Something wasn’t right, though. He could sense it. It was faint now but he smelled blood. Her blood. And burnt flesh. “Kagome?” Knocking on the door yielded no response and he hesitated only a moment before opening the door just a crack. Still, she didn’t respond to calls of her name. 

Inuyasha vaulted from concern into full-blown worry.

His ears twitched as he made his way carefully into the bathroom, eyes scanning the floor before spotting the door to the shower stall open. The water was trickling out past the threshold, pooling on the tile. He narrowly avoided slipping on it as he bolted for the shower.

Curled with her knees up to her forehead, her arms wrapped around her legs, Kagome was shaking. Her knees and elbow welled with blood where they were scraped, washing away with the spray of the shower.  There were no obvious burns, but she may have healed those already. Maybe. 

“K-Kagome,” he murmured, reaching, then retreating. The water was freezing! He knew better than to try to touch her without her permission, but he needed to get her out of there. Instead, he turned off the water, draped a towel over her, and waited several breaths. When she was still shivering, he placed a second towel around her. Careful not to touch her skin and to keep his ability tightly under control, Inuyasha finally scooped her up off the rapidly cooling tile floor.

Her shivering had not subsided and he was reminded of her tremors before. Maybe it really was her backlash. Except why on earth would she be taking a frigid shower in the midst of that? And despite how cold her wet hair was against his chin, he could feel the heat of her body through the towels. Was she running a fever?

Laying her on her bed, Inuyasha found his nose dragging him downward and he froze.

Surely he was imagining things.

But now out of the freezing shower, Kagome was beginning to shift restlessly, trying to shove the towels away from her skin as if she could hardly stand them touching her. “No,” she whined. “Too hot.” Inuyasha swallowed, hard, averting his eyes as he sat on the edge of her bed.

“Higurashi, take my hand. You need guiding,” he spoke clearly, sharply. Professional is necessary. I’m here to do a job . She whimpered and he could feel her shifting on the bed beside him. Finally she caught hold of his hand, squeezing. Inuyasha sighed in relief as he was able to start guiding her, eyes glued to his watch to monitor her levels. 

Definitely not to avoid seeing what she may or may not be doing behind him.

Nope.

“Please.” Her voice was breathless. “It’s so hot.”

“Do you need water?” He begged and pleaded for that to be the answer as her scent swirled in and out of his nose with every breath. Warmth met his palm. He tried to pretend he had no idea what it was, but there was no denying the round softness that melded to his fingers even as he forced his hand open wide. Which was more difficult than expected with Kagome exerting her strength against the back of his hand to keep it there. She was definitely stronger than she looked.

Inuyasha bit his lip, hard, when her grip tightened enough that he had to give in or risk hurting her. Or maybe he would have ended up hurt if he’d continued to resist… The soft moan that left her lips sent his imagination a very clear message. 

A glance reminded him that she was still bleeding, her shoulder looking like someone had taken a cheese grater to it, making it a little easier to keep himself under control. Intentionally focusing his sense of smell on the blood, while sobering, did not allow him to fully ignore the scent of her arousal. Inuyasha was able to piece something together though, wincing as Kagome moaned.

This was Kagome’s backlash.

He winced in sympathy . No wonder she has tried so hard to never let anyone know… Why no one was allowed to touch her right after exiting a gate. Even in pain, bleeding, delirious from her levels being too high for too long, all she could seek was release. A shudder ran through him as he felt the brush of her nipple against his palm.

Normally, Inuyasha couldn’t even fathom being sexually aroused by an esper in their backlash. Intimate guiding often included sex, because multiple points of mucosal contact far beyond mere physical contact were necessary to pull an esper out of the danger zone, but it was rarely because of attraction. For his part anyway. He had handled more than a few espers who developed an attachment to him – or any guide for that matter – who provided intimate guiding. He knew of far too many guides who did the same. Whether giving or receiving, there was something to be said for the powerful feeling of essentially healing someone with your touch alone. Knowing that they needed you more than anything in that moment could be exhilarating.

But there were rumors of guides using that power to their advantage, coercing their esper into giving them everything just to get relief from their symptoms. It was disgusting, and went against every ethical code guides were supposed to live by, but people were people at the end of the day. For better or worse.

Distracting himself from Kagome’s soft mewls behind him by recounting the Guide Code of Conduct was no longer working. Dammit, her numbers are barely down. He was going to have to take his guiding to the next step to get her back into a safe zone without the pills.

“K-Kagome, I need to give mucosal guiding. Your levels are not coming down quickly enough.” She didn’t respond, lip caught between her teeth as her free hand slid down her middle and disappeared between her thighs. Inuyasha swallowed. “Kagome Higurashi. I am your guide and you need mucosal guiding. Do you understand what that means?”

“Kiss me,” she whined. “That means you kiss me.”

“Y-Yes. Correct.” Wiggling his hand free of her hold was a feat, but he was finally able to snatch her towels and at least cover her lap and chest. She’s going to have to toss these sheets , he thought with a grimace at the blood. “Esper Higurashi. Kagome,” she looked up at him, silver eyes sharp, “I’m going to give you guiding.”

The sultry smile she gave him was nearly his undoing. Having a gorgeous woman like Kagome crawl into your lap, wrap her arms around you, and softly nuzzle your nose would be just about anyone’s undoing. Professional. Professional. Professional . Inuyasha closed his eyes as their mouths met for the first time. 

There was a nearly electric jolt at first, like two live wires had just touched. But instead of sparking and forcing a separation, they melded together and the current flowed between them as if them being separated was an interruption that had just been resolved. A high compatibility rate like theirs was unheard of so it made sense that there would be effects and sensations Inuyasha could never have imagined. It made the hair on his ears stand on end. Usually, he could separate himself from any sexual feeling when it came to guiding, especially at this level, but somehow with Kagome that was impossible.

He resisted though, knowing that not only did she not really understand what she was doing, but knowing she would be livid when she came around. The softness of her lips, the wet warmth as she opened to him, her breath against his cheek as she breathed through her nose… Inuyasha felt his fingers flex against her back, wincing when she flinched. There was wetness there too and he growled when it occurred to him that she was possibly injured there as well as the spots on her joints he’d noticed earlier.

The steady vibration of his watch on his wrist changed to a more intermittent pulse, startling him back from her mouth just enough to glance at the screen. Sure enough, her levels were finally out of the danger zone. Though Kagome didn’t seem to know or care, lips finding his once more with a sigh. He accepted it for as long as she was initiating, pouring guiding into her to drop her numbers as far as possible before she… “What?” came to.

Inuyasha took a breath, bracing himself for the potential blow to his head. He’d had at least a handful of espers who didn’t appreciate being guided by a hanyou – or a man – take a swing at him. Fortunately he was built tough. Kagome scrambling out of his lap, on the other hand, was a little bit of a surprise. “Esper Higurashi, we are in your haven. You came back from a gate and your levels were dangerously high. I am your assigned guide…”

“Inuyasha, I know. Why do you sound like you’re reading from the handbook?” Her tone was annoyed, but the flush on her cheeks as she refused to look at him belied her sharp tone. He moved off the bed, bringing her a dry towel before collecting the first aid kit from its place attached to the wall. Kagome’s eyes were no longer silver but she stared at him like a cornered animal might a predator.

“You have wounds on both knees, left elbow, right shoulder and left shoulder blade. You need medical attention.” Her dark eyes flicked to the spots he’d named, obviously noting the pink underlayer of skin exposed and the oozing blood. It was hard to miss the state of the sheets and the wet towels. “I will dress them, then we can see if you need further guiding. If not, I will leave once I know you have something to eat and drink.”

“Eat…” Her eyes looked distant for a moment, then focused on him once more. They were skeptical, wary. Not that he could really blame her. As far as he knew, she had never allowed anyone else into her haven before, and the only reason he’d been allowed was because of her previous cognitive issues potentially preventing her from getting the care she needed. He would probably feel the same way if he were in her position.

“I am trained in field dressing wounds and advanced first aid.” Even he was starting to get annoyed with how robotic he sounded, but Inuyasha needed her to see and feel that he had no intention of doing anything considered outside of his job parameters.

“Y-Your lips are bruised.” He paused, then went about his business, pulling the necessary supplies from the kit and working on her back first. It gave them both time to settle their racing hearts. Inuyasha could hear hers beating and his felt like it might work its way out of his chest given the chance. Now that she mentions it, my lips do ache a little . He had been so focused on the guiding that he forgot about her increased strength. “Your claws tickle.”

“Sorry. I’ll remember to file them down next time.” She grunted but said nothing as he moved to her shoulder, then her elbow. He brought her a shirt once those were taken care of and convinced her to lay the towel over her lap while he did both knees.

Even with her ardour cooled and the effects of her backlash fading, he could still smell the lingering scent of her arousal. Inuyasha did everything he could to ignore it while bandaging her knees but it was distracting. Leaving the room to get her food and water was the biggest relief, a huge sigh leaving him as the door clicked closed behind him.

Her limping gait coming down the stairs a few moments later perked his ears, but he didn’t turn. He got the vibe that Kagome would prefer he not see her weakness. “Here’s something light for now, but I’ll make something you can heat up later once you’ve got your appetite back.” He set a plate full of crackers and fresh fruit on the long countertop.

“How do you know I don’t have an appetite?” she growled.

Inuyasha snorted. “A lot of espers lose their appetite after their backlash. The ones who binge eat are a rare exception. You’d think that would be the norm, given the calories you guys must burn out there.” She watched him cook in her kitchen in silence from her spot perched on a wooden stool. Inuyasha wasn’t sure he would have noticed her there at all were it not for the sensation of her eyes burning holes in his back and her scent looming a little more strongly than the base layer that pervaded her entire haven. She was wary of him, to say the least, but she didn’t seem outright hostile at the moment. “I hope you like soup. It reheats easily, so it’s my go to food.”

“It’s fine.”

He tried to ask her if there were any foods she really didn’t like, or anything that was a favorite so he would know what to make for her in the future, but she hemmed and hawed and didn’t really give him an answer.

In fact, any attempts at conversation were shut down almost immediately. She didn’t force him to leave, which he found interesting, as if she couldn’t wait for him to go while still basking in his presence. He knew it wasn’t radiation guiding. At least… he didn’t think it was that. Nothing he had tried up until now had shown any sign of increasing his range.

Kagome practically herded him to the door as soon as he was done packing up the extra soup and storing it in her fridge. Inuyasha was not small, nor was he weak, but she was a tiny powerhouse that he could hardly refuse. “Let me know if you need anything. Or if your numbers spike again. You were… pretty unstable earlier.”

“You will be alerted if necessary,” she responded curtly. “Goodbye.”

Inuyasha stood outside for several minutes to collect himself before getting on his bike. He lingered a few moments more, some part of him feeling like he shouldn’t leave. Even though she’d seemed fine, even though she’d more or less thrown him out, he felt like she was on the verge of crumbling and he hated to think of her being alone if that were the case. “I’ll just… message Sango.”

A quick text was sent off and she responded that she understood, thanking him for letting her know. He still hesitated to leave, but finally sighed and took off. Guiding was tiring, but doing it while restraining urges he hadn’t felt in a long while was downright exhausting.

I’m in trouble…

“Her numbers are normal.”

“What was that, My Love?” Sango’s head came up from the notification on her phone. She was… a little embarrassed to tell Miroku how closely she had been monitoring Kagome’s condition. Well, not so much embarrassed as nervous he would think she was too involved. He’d given her a look the last time she asked him to look into what was happening within the council when it came to Kagome. Not disproving, per se, but definitely concerned.

It was yet another reason she was so invested in making sure Kagome and Inuyasha clicked and did so in a way that Kagome felt comfortable with. Sango was beginning to suspect that her own marriage needed Kagome to accept Inuyasha as her guide.

“Nothing!” she called as she swiped off the screen and pulled up a research article on the evolution of guiding. Completely unrelated, of course.

Sango looked up at her husband as he leaned against the doorframe of their bedroom and crossed his arms over his chest, giving her that look. “Is Kagome alright?” he finally asked, carefully.

“Y-Yes? I mean… I haven’t gotten any warnings otherwise.”

“Uh huh.” The darkhaired guide sighed before plopping himself next to her on the bed. “I know you’re worried about her. We all are. But she’s not solely your responsibility.”

“I know that,” Sango squeaked. “I wasn’t…”

“Don’t lie, Sango My Darling. It doesn't suit you.” Sango winced. Miroku tended to use ever more saccharine endearments when he was upset with her. She sighed as he wrapped his arms around her. He tended to guide without meaning to and she nudged him as a reminder to stop. She didn’t want him to tire himself out.

“Her numbers were up for a while. Her heart rate and respirations especially.” He nodded against the side of her head. “Hojo, one of the gate administrators contacted me, said she blew through post-gate check without stopping to talk to him at all. Her watch didn’t even transmit any data until after she got to her haven.”

“You think Inuyasha did it?” Sango nodded. “You think he was there for…”

“Yes. She’s… not going to be happy about it.”

“Sango. He’s her guide now. He was bound to find out eventually. I put him forward as an option because of his record. He’s beyond professional. Clean as a whistle.”

“No suspicions?”

“None. He’s got a mouth on him, but he has never needed mediation, nor has he ever been dismissed by an esper he had a short term contract with.”

Sango swallowed. “Has he ever been bonded?”

“No. In fact, his only serious relationship was with another guide.” She couldn’t help the jolt of surprise that went through her at that piece of information. “Youkai, and hanyou, have instincts outside of being an esper or guide that seem to override the innate need for each other. He told me that where his father comes from, it’s not uncommon for espers to pair up or guides either. Though there is usually a third party with paired espers.” She could feel Miroku smirk against her temple. “Could be fun. Guiding two espers at the same time.” He let out an “oomph” and chuckled from the elbow to his gut. “I’m kidding, My Love. You’re more than enough for me.”

“Damn well better be,” she grumbled. She was distracted, more or less, from her worry about Kagome. For now. In the morning, she’d call and check in.

A chime.

A sigh.

“Go ahead and check it.” It was from Inuyasha. A brief rundown of the state he’d found Kagome in. Something had to have happened, he was sure of it. He wanted to know more about Kagome’s history. Sango rubbed a hand over her face. “There’s no official record to give him.”

“I know. It would all be so much simpler if there was. As her assigned guide, he would have the permission necessary to request that kind of thing.”

“She still won’t give an official statement?” Sango shook her head. Her husband sighed, squeezing her to him for a moment. “There’s only so much we can do without her cooperation. Moving him to another guild was a start but…”

It was no guarantee. Guilds crossed paths inside the gates from time to time…

“Sleep. You can put that beautiful calculating brain to work tomorrow. Right now, you need sleep.” Much as she wanted to deny it, he was right. She was exhausted.

Chapter Text

Everything had been fuzzy until it suddenly wasn’t. The freezing numbness as she sat in the shower had turned to inextinguishable, inescapable, heat. Vaguely she was aware that someone was calling her name but couldn't muster the energy to respond. When a faint cooling feeling brushed her skin, she recognized Inuyasha’s guiding and then his voice. Still, Kagome felt like her skin was on fire and she needed to make it stop. Inuyasha was speaking to her, telling her who he was and why he was there. His tone was stiff, almost robotic. She was annoyed. She needed…

The small amount of herself Kagome could manage to control, she used to push away the smothering effect of whatever Inuyasha had covered her with. Some part of her brain registered that he was trying to protect her modesty, the majority was just so pissed that she was hot!

She was no stranger to this feeling, though she was always alone while dealing with it. Later, she knew she’d feel all kinds of shame for showing Inuyasha this side of her – she’d tried so hard to hide it from anyone and everyone! – but right now, all she could think about was his big hands and how his touch soothed the heat boiling under her skin. The feeling of his chest against her side as he carried her was reassuring, sturdy.

With the softness of her mattress under her, Kagome finally had the freedom to stretch, bat away the covers, and release some of the heat. “Too hot.” Inuyasha rumbled to her, trying to explain something she couldn’t seem to care about. She just wanted the heat to go away, to alleviate the unbearable itch. When his hand gripped hers, she again felt the cooling sensation of his guiding. It was better, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

He murmured things to her, comforting... Perhaps pleading? She wasn’t sure. Either way, she once again found herself annoyed at how he remained turned away from her. Why wouldn’t he put his hands on her?! She needed his hands on her, not just her fingers. Kagome groaned as she used her free hand to try and alleviate the burning, the heat. It helped, in combination with Inuyasha’s cooling guiding, but it still wasn’t making it go away.

She felt him stiffen when she finally got his hand close enough to cover her breast. Better, not enough. He was resisting as much as he could, she could feel it, and it made her mad. He gave in with just enough pressure, his large palm completely cupping the entire thing. He managed to keep his head turned away even as she continued to seek her release, guiding her through any skin contact.

“Kagome… mucosal… levels.” She flinched as a spark of sensation went through her. “Kagome…. guide…. mucosal guiding. Understand… means?” Enough of her brain was working then that she could respond, telling him to kiss her. Just kiss me already, she wanted to beg him, but couldn’t.

The shift in her position was almost enough to set her off, thighs over his, his hands on her back. She loved the slightly shocked look on his face as she pressed in close, nuzzling his nose. It… felt right, for some reason. The soft huff of his breath against her lips before he finally kissed her told her that little gesture had meant something. What, she had no idea, but something.

The feeling of his lips meeting hers for the first time rocked her senses. It wasn’t just the sudden increased intensity of the guiding either, though that was definitely part of it. It felt like some loose rope that had been fraying in the wind was weaving itself together and finding the other loose end it had been separated from. Kagome mentally shook the image away, too caught in how the heat in her body was somehow getting hotter and getting better all at once.

His hands were almost larger than she’d imagined before. Or maybe they just felt that way because she was so oversensitized. She barely registered the sting and the slickness on her upper back as her release washed over her, rolling her under like a wave. She stiffened in response to the zips and zings along her nerves, Inuyasha flinching in response.

Their kiss softened as the intensity of her backlash began to fade, leaving only the remnants of her delirium. His mouth is hot, but she liked that. He stayed too still. Kagome didn’t like that. Any attempts to pull Inuyasha into a much deeper kiss were thwarted by his damnable stoic, professional… “What?” It struck her suddenly. This was… his job.

She knew that. Of course she did.

But in her delirious state, she’d forgotten that bit. Combined with her previous fantasies, she’d been pulled so deep by that mental image of a rope that seemed to bind them together, that she’d imagined something more in his touch. That he felt more. But here he was talking in that robotic tone she’d noticed earlier, stiffer still now that he knew she was aware. She hated it. It made her angry. He explained where they were, who they were, why they were there. He told her she was wounded and needed medical attention that he would provide.

“Your lips are bruised,” she mumbled as she notice the darker shade in the center, resisting the urge to touch them with an apology. He paused, but said nothing. He made sure she kept as much of her modesty as possible, dressed her wounds, even helped her clear the bed of the bloodied and damp towels and sheets. He insisted that she eat, telling her to get dressed while he went down to make something for her.

Through the awkwardness was a pervasive sense of awe. Inuyasha didn’t take advantage. Not even a little. He did exactly what she needed and nothing more.

Watching him in her kitchen was so foreign to her, his large frame moving effortlessly to reach things in her kitchen and even in the cabinets she usually had to lift things down from with her power. “I hope you like soup. It’s easy to reheat, so it’s my go to,” he explained, stirring a big pot of something that smelled amazing.

“It’s fine.” She nibbled on the plate of fruit and crackers he’d set out for her. How was he so damn thoughtful? Or was this more of his strict professionalism at work? Did he do this for any esper he was guiding? Something about that idea made Kagome annoyed too, enough that she didn’t really answer him when he tried to ask her about her favorite foods. He probably asks everyone that.

Kagome was pouting.

She tried to get him out of her haven as soon as she could while internally scolding herself for how much she wanted to stay near him. His guiding felt nice, especially after such intense fear in the midst of heightened levels had driven her far past reason.

A flash of long dark hair in her mind’s eye had her shuddering.

She knew it wasn’t him. Of course it wasn’t. But still her body reacted anyway, piloting itself until she reached home. She was honestly shocked not to have had some kind of reaction to Inuyasha entering her haven when she was like that. She could have attacked him!

Miroku might have confidence in Inuyasha, but he was still such an unknown to her.

“Let me know if you need anything…” He sounded concerned, his golden eyes surveying her as she crowded him out of her house. “You were pretty unstable earlier.” Like she needed the reminder. She gave him a curt reply and finally got him to leave, sighing and sagging to the floor. Her knees twinged at bending and her back screamed where she was pressed against the door, but the cold floor felt amazing on her butt and her thighs when she let them rest.

It wasn’t until after she could no longer hear the engine of his motorcycle that she peeled herself up off the floor and plopped herself on her couch. The television came to life and droned on in the background, none of the words coming from the movie she’d found making much sense.

Flashes of battle with the beast crossed her mind and she studied them, detached, analytical. What should she have done differently, better? What about once that other esper showed up? What should she have done to make sure he didn’t get hurt? At the time, she’d been too tired, too drained, to focus on changing the venue of the fight or shifting the dynamic by forcing the dragon to retreat. Should have used the boulders sooner, she thought with a frown.

If she had, maybe Hiten wouldn’t have been injured, wouldn’t have needed emergency guiding, and she would never have seen his guide. She wouldn’t have been reminded.

The television continued its muted flashing, the constant noise meaning nothing as Kagome stared into some middle distance.

Sleep didn’t come.

It was darker than he expected. He hadn’t been in a place like this in… many years. Drinking wasn’t really his thing since alcohol tended to hit his system like a sack of bricks, which meant idiotic decisions and feeling horrible the morning after. He’d had enough of horrible embarrassment and hangovers from his younger years to last a lifetime.

Fortunately his eyes were good in the dark – thanks youkai blood – so he was able to spot his target relatively easily.

Tucked into a two-seater booth with a high divider on either side, Sango was nursing something on the rocks. She tipped her head to acknowledge him when he slid in across from her, but didn’t jump into conversation right away. Despite not wanting the effects of the alcohol, Inuyasha felt all signs pointed to this being a rather heavy conversation so he asked for a beer. Once settled, he waited a little less patiently before Sango actually told him why she’d asked to meet him.

“Miroku was notified that there will be even more cross-guild missions going forward. There are fewer gates opening and they are more dangerous than before. They don’t want to send small teams or single espers in and they need to share the potential wealth.”

“Sounds like it would be much safer too.” Sango made a face. “You don’t think so?”

“To a certain degree, yes. It will decrease the amount of energy any single esper needs to use during a mission, so they won’t need emergency guiding as often. Fewer espers at risk of going rampant.”

“This all… sounds like a good thing,” he said carefully. Obviously she didn’t feel the same.

Sango nodded slowly. “For most espers, it is. But not for Kagome.” Inuyasha waited, not asking the obvious as he waited for the esper across from him to get to the point. She’d asked him here. She obviously had something to tell him. “Other guilds being in the same gate at the same time means it is more likely that other guides will cross paths with Kagome.”

Other guides… “So something did happen to her.” Sango glanced at him but said nothing. “Why all the secrecy? Tell me what the fuck happened.” He was getting heated. How was he supposed to protect her when no one would tell him what he needed to know?

“I… She is ashamed, even though she shouldn’t be. She never let me say anything.” Sango took a shuddering breath, frustration and hopelessness in her scent. “There’s an A level guide named Naraku. You have to keep him away from her at all costs.”

“What. Happened?” he snarled. Clearly it was bad enough that Kagome had been refusing all guiding, but without details, he couldn’t avoid making the same mistake. He didn’t think he could do anything terrible enough to merit this kind of reaction, but he just didn’t know. “Sango. Tell me. What the hell did he do to her?”

“I can’t. You have to ask Kagome herself.”

“There’s no fucking way she’ll tell me! She barely lets me hold her hand to guide her. You think she’s going to confess a dark secret to me?!”

She chuckled mirthlessly. “No, I don’t. But she would never come to the guild for check ups or see me again if she found out I told you.” Inuyasha growled. His frustration was turning into fury. I need to stop drinking. He set the beer aside.

“If it’s that serious, shouldn’t it have been reported to the authorities? If he hurt her…” She shook her head. “I don’t get it. Why wouldn’t she tell someone?”

“She told me you were there for her backlash this last time.” He stiffened in surprise. “No one knows about that, for good reason.” While his imagination wanted to run wild down horrible paths of possibility, he couldn’t let himself fall down that rabbit hole. “Just… Please. Make sure that if you run across him, he can’t get near her.”

“How can I do that if I’m not allowed on missions with her?”

“Miroku is already working on that. He’s making sure you have clearance every time from now on.” She tossed back the last of her drink. “She is recovering from the pills, thanks to you, so she gets that her delirium is less severe if you are able to provide guiding immediately rather than having to wait until she gets home after a gate. Doesn’t mean she’s happy about it, but she’s not stupid.”

Inuyasha’s hands clenched and relaxed as he considered his plan. He needed to gain Kagome’s trust enough that she would tell him about her past. So he could keep from reminding her of the painful things she’d experienced. He also wanted her to tell him all of the details so he wasn’t caught spiraling into rage thinking of the “what might have happened” when he needed to focus on dealing with “what actually happened.”

“Next gate mission, I will go with her. Even if your husband doesn’t get me the clearance.”

Sango’s lips curled in a slow grin. “I had a feeling you’d say that.”

Kagome couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually been nervous entering a gate. Usually she was so amped up from the emergency alert and getting herself to the location, she didn’t have the mental space to really consider the after. But with a guide in tow for the first time in years, she was nearly paralyzed with worry.

What if something happened to him? What if she couldn’t protect him and take care of the beasts trying to come through the gate? Kagome might have to make a choice between stopping them and protecting him.

What about once her backlash set in? Would she be able to hold off until she was alone? Would Inuyasha be forced to provide a level of guiding neither one of them was comfortable with like last time?

This wasn’t an emergency gate mission. She had more than enough time to sit and think about the dangers, the consequences, the possibilities… Her brain felt like mush while also sitting on pins and needles.

“Esper Higurashi.” His voice dragged her out of her thoughts.

She pulled a face. “Don’t call me that. It’s weird.”

He snorted. “Kagome, then. I’m not like other guides, you know.” She glanced at him with a skeptical look. Did he really try to pull a “not like the other girls” on her? How arrogant was he? “I can smell how nervous you are. I’m hanyou, alright? Don’t worry about me. You worry about you.”

Is he a mind reader? But no, he was a guide, not an esper. That was impossible. Kagome took steps toward the slightly swirling purple event horizon of the gate. “You’re my responsibility.”

“Not any more than you are mine.” She paused. “If we’re a team…”

“I work alone,” she snapped as she stepped through the gate.

Only to hear a growl as soon as her ears cleared from crossing into the other world.

Looking around, she didn’t see anything on the attack. The only thing she could sense was… “Look, I get you don’t want a guide. I get you don’t like me. But we are a team whether you like it or not. The guild says so. Our eighty-fucking-five percent compatibility rate says so. I’m not about to lose my job for not following orders just because my esper is being stubborn.” Inuyasha’s fists were clenched at his sides as though barely restraining himself from hitting something. His face was twisted in a snarl, his golden eyes ablaze in the odd ruddy light of the world they’d entered.

Stunned, Kagome could only stare for a moment. “I never said I didn’t like you.”

“Keh. Coulda fooled me. You can hardly look at me.” She sucked in a soft breath.

“I just… Guiding is unpleasant for me.” His scowl deepened and she could tell he knew there was more to it than just “unpleasantness.” Inuyasha was pretty astute, she’d noticed. He caught on to a lot that went unsaid. Frustratingly. “I’m sorry I made you feel like it was personal. It isn’t.” Turning on her heel, Kagome made her way further from the gate to scope out any disturbances on the way to the base camp.

“Oi. You…” She paused, half looking over her shoulder but not quite making eye contact. “I don’t know what you’ve experienced before. You have no obligation to tell me. But I am here for your safety.”

“Sure,” she murmured. Damn that tightness in her chest…

The camp was bustling. Espers were moving large cargo crates from one area to another as they prepared for closing down and exiting the gate. A small cluster of guides stood aside, a few seemingly carrying out administrative duties while the espers did the literal heavy lifting.

They were a very different breed of guide than Inuyasha. While they were all field and combat certified, it was obvious at first glance that they would hardly have any idea what to do if one-on-one with a beast. Which was normal, if she was honest. Most guides were not expected to know anything about combat, let alone gate field combat.

Espers protected guides. It was just the way of things.

The long strides beside her drew her attention to the guide who shattered the expectation. He more or less told her to mind her own business if she didn’t plan on accepting his help. She knew he was physically different from a human guide. It was impossible to pretend she didn’t know. Still, she had no idea what other abilities he might have that would help protect him from injury. Guides could be healed, but they did not inherently have the capability to heal quickly the way espers did. Did his youkai genes give him that advantage? Or just being more resilient in the first place? She hated the idea that she might have to wait and see.

Could ask him…

But she didn’t like the idea of opening herself up for him to ask questions in return. A reciprocal relationship meant potentially revealing far more about herself than she had already and that was more than she ever wanted to as it was. The fact that he had witnessed her backlash, even if only briefly, was humiliating enough.

Watching him stride ahead of her in a huff, she struggled not to try and catch up with him. Pride told her she should be walking at least at his side with her head held high and her shoulders back. Instead she was slinking into camp behind him, ducking her head and avoiding eye contact with anyone lest they try to strike up a conversation.

They got the report from the base camp administrator that the current retinue would be moving out within the next few hours and Kagome was meant to provide coverage on their tail as they headed for the gate to leave. Not that it was unexpected, but it was hard not to roll her eyes that she was once again being used as a smokescreen to distract any monsters from attacking a group who was evacuating. They didn’t call her a gate buster for nothing.

As the last of the boxes were loaded onto the lifts used to carry them to the gate, Kagome prowled the perimeter of the camp. Inuyasha was checking in with the other guides, but she could feel his attention on her periodically. She felt like she was being babysat and she hated it.

“Higurashi. Do you feel that?” She turned to find Kouga standing a short distance away. His eyes were on the forest that stood between the camp and the gate. “Something’s in there.”

“Herbivores. I noticed them on the way here. Whole heard of them.” He frowned. “What, you think there’s something else?”

“Herds draw predators,” he said after a moment. “I’m a wolf. I know.” His frown deepened further. “We haven’t seen them before now. You think the gate is attracting them?” A valid question. Kagome’s eyes narrowed in the direction of the gate. If after days of being gate-side the team hadn’t seen any sign of these animals, why would they be appearing now? “Fact stands. Herds mean predators and that means we gotta be extra careful.”

His serious tone piqued her interest. Kouga was usually a bit over the top about flirting with her, no matter how much she turned him down. So seeing him act so serious now, not at all trying to wink at her, was enough to get her attention. “I’ll go look more closely. You stay here, alert me if anything comes this way.”

“Aren’t you gonna let your guide know you’re leaving?” he asked, hooking his thumb over his shoulder at Inuyasha still working things out with the guides who had been here for several days. They looked tired, beleaguered. Seeing Inuyasha seemed to be helping them regain their strength a little, as though knowing someone so capable was there was the motivation they needed.

“He’s not my mother,” she snapped. She heard Kouga’s somewhat incredulous scoff behind her as she took off toward the woods, starting out in the treetops before shifting to being on foot through the brush.

The herd of herbivores – they reminded her of images she’d seen of early rodent-like mammals on Earth, but huge – perked at her approach, obviously wary. Kagome couldn’t blame them. She was not part of their normal habitat and she wasn't exactly being stealthy. Wonder if they can smell me.

Climbing the nearest tall tree, Kagome looked and tried to feel for anything that might be lurking. Nothing seemed predatory and the herbivores went back to grazing, though several remained on alert.

The moment the air shifted, it was almost too late for her to move.

A large body came flying toward her, nearly startling her out of her tree. Her hands caught hold off another branch and she swung into a pike before pulling herself onto it. She felt dizzy for a moment, the centripetal force from her unexpected acrobatics catching her off balance.

Except it felt like something else…

Inuyasha?

She looked up at the branch where she'd been, only to glare at the guide staring at her in confusion. “What are you doing, Kagome?”

“I thought you were a predator!”

“A what?!” He looked horrified.

“Like, eat those guys, predator,” she clarified, tilting her head toward the now on-alert herd. His golden eyes looked past her to take in the beasts now pawing at the ground and beginning to show signs of restlessness. “What are you doing here?” she grumped, looking back out over the herd as they started shifting and moving away from their hiding spot.

“My esper went out, on her own, to check out a potentially dangerous situation. Where the hell else would I be?” he growled right back. They shared an annoyed glance, then went back to watching as the herd seemed to pick up speed. But they were changing direction, which meant…

“There’s something here,” Kagome breathed.

Inuyasha shifted his position, ears swiveling as he tried to pinpoint where and what it might be. Kagome made to move, hoping to get a better view, but Inuyasha’s hand shot out to stop her. “Large cats of some kind. Or similar.”

“Cats, plural?” He nodded, still focused on the foliage. Other than lions, she didn’t know of any large cats that hunted in groups. “Are they on the ground, or in the trees?” She hated that she couldn’t see them yet. He pointed to the lower branches of several trees, the limbs wide and thick. Perfect for perching on to lie in wait for prey to get careless. It took her a moment before she realized that the reason the branches looked so thick was because they were actually covered in lithe cat-like creatures. Their coloring would seem odd anywhere else, but here in the forest with very dark green leaves and darker branches, they blended in until they were almost invisible.

Now that she knew what she was looking for, she spotted at least six of them, which was far more than she would ever have expected. “They’re smaller than I thought.”

“But silent and fast as hell.”

She didn’t like the sound of that. If he was saying that, it meant that even by his own enhanced standards, these creatures were fast. “Stay here. I’m going…”

“Kagome, stop.” But she was already on her way across the treetops. If the herd kept heading in its current direction, it would cross the campsite and people could potentially be trampled. Even more dangerous, there was a possibility the jaguar-like creatures could shift focus from the herd to the unsheltered people. The wind whistling through her ears muffled the sound of Inuyasha’s voice hissing in her earpiece.

She intentionally landed in the midst of the creatures, immediately gaining their attention. She cracked her knuckles and her neck, mimicking their snarls with a grin of her own. “Here, Kitty Kitty.” Launching herself up and back into a flip placed her in range to catch a thinner branch, allowing her to swing up and onto it long enough to gauge their response and then propel herself into the next tree. It had been a while since she’d been able to use her gymnastic skills without really needing to enhance anything with her abilities. It was freeing in a way.

“Kagome!” His voice was panicked, deep with some other emotion she couldn’t identify. She didn’t understand why until she twisted midair to catch herself on the next branch. Only to find it lined with the very creatures she was trying to lead away. She had enough control to redirect her trajectory, but her miscalculation was multiplied by a previously unknown variable. “Look out!”

They had wings.

As she collided with one, she noted they were more for gliding than flight, but the fact remained. These creatures were not at all like what she’d expected and it was about to be a very painful lesson learned.

Kagome could deflect one of them as it careened toward her, but the two behind her – taking their pack number up to at least ten – were able to sink their teeth into her calf and her hip. A pulse of her telekinesis dislodged them before they could break bones, but the pain was radiating through her enough to steal her breath. “Kagome! Kagome!”

She was falling out of the sky, she realized. Her attention was divided between trying to identify where the next potential threat was coming from and where Inuyasha was to make sure he was still safe. “St-Stay put!”

“The fuck I will!” Strong arms were suddenly around her, snatching her out of the air. “I’ll apologize for touching you later,” he growled, the rumble in his chest vibrating through her. “The hell was that, Kagome?!” He spat a request for backup into his watch, arguing with Kouga briefly.

“It’s my job,” she murmured, hissing when his impact with a branch meant her torn hip came in contact with his stomach. “Put me down, I need to heal…”

“Let me guide you a second!” Looking up at him, his ears were twitching back and forth, his golden eyes a little wild. “You are the most godsdamned stubborn esper I have ever met in my whole life!” he ranted heatedly even as the cooling sensation of his guiding settled the burning feeling that often accompanied the rise of her negative energy levels. “You don’t have to do everything by yourself. You can rely on other people!”

“Since when?” she bit out, pushing at him until he was forced to set her on her own two feet. Her calf almost gave out until she was able to focus more energy into healing it. But that took more energy than she expected and she felt exhausted by the effort for some reason.

“You don’t have to like me,” he told her in a soft but fierce tone, “but for the love of the gods, you have got to trust me.”

“Why should I?”

He was speechless for a moment, mouth agape and his head shaking a little in obvious disbelief. “Kagome Higurashi…”

But he didn’t get to finish whatever he intended to tell her, the call of several espers echoing through the trees as they chased off or dealt with several of the large cats. The remaining jaguars took off into the forest, disappearing into the foliage. Inuyasha brought her down from their spot in the trees, but immediately let her go once their feet were on the ground. Kagome winced as her hip and calf both throbbed.

Without thinking about it, her hand was in her hip pack and the bottle was in her palm. Only to be slapped none too gently out of it. “The hell?”

“You aren’t taking those!” His hands were out for hers, palm up, waiting, but she could tell he was practically twitching to grab onto her and make her accept guiding. Still… he resisted. “I am sorry for grabbing you earlier without warning. It was to keep you from breaking your fucking spine,” he snarled through clenched teeth. “And just now, I only meant to stop you from hurting yourself with the pills you do not need. I am right here, Kagome,” he whispered the last.

Kagome swallowed hard. He was frustratingly, irritatingly, infuriatingly right.

Despite how furious she was, she couldn’t deny that she needed his help. The pain in her legs was only increasing, and if she did nothing, she was likely to collapse. With a scowl, she put her hands in his, limping closer so their palms were flush. The cooling sensation returned, but she noticed that redirecting her energy into her legs was not strengthening them like it should. In fact, she was beginning to feel like she was pouring water into a bucket with a hole in it. “Inuyasha…”

“Ka- Get a healer over here, now!” The look in his eyes made her wonder, even as she felt her energy try to keep healing. Why was he so panicked?

“Venom.” A call went out over all the esper and guide watches to not get bitten by the jaguar creatures. “Esper Higurashi, I’m going to heal you.”

“Mmmm…” She didn’t recognize the woman’s voice, but some part of her appreciated the warning. Healing, like guiding, could feel uncomfortable and oddly intimate. Unlike guiding, it didn’t require compatibility which meant it could sometimes feel invasive, like someone digging their fingers around under your skin.

“You tried to heal without pushing out the venom,” the woman’s voice scolded. Kagome blinked and found a lovely dark haired young woman hovering over her, hands outstretched. She winced as that feeling of fingers turned to claws for a moment. She could hardly hold in a scream. One that was echoed further out in the forest. “Shit. This stuff is bad. Guide. I need you to help her so she can heal herself at the same time.” Almost lazily, her eyes shifted to Inuyasha.

There’s that terrified look again.

He hesitated before kneeling down at her head. “Kagome, I’m going to hold your hands again, alright?” She blinked. “I’m going to give you guiding while this esper – Rin, Esper Hinata– pulls the venom out and you both heal.” His voice was tight in a way she hadn’t heard before. His hands in hers were trembling. Or were hers trembling? She couldn’t really tell.

“Alright,” Kagome murmured, even as her hands and wrists cooled to his touch. She felt sleepy, floaty.

“Kagome!” His deep voice right in her ear startled her back into focus. “You have to use your energy to heal yourself. C’mon. We can’t do this without you.” Kagome took a shuddering breath, pain radiating from her hip into her torso. There was an odd push and pull of cool and hot as Inuyasha guided her and she pulled up her own energy to put into her calf and hip. She tried to ignore the sensation of scraping and clawing as Rin struggled to pull the venom from her body, but a whimper escaped her when it became too much.

A soft touch on her forehead. A pained breath.

“Kagome, I’m here, ok?” She froze, then nodded. Concentrating on pushing her energy into healing, she couldn’t focus on his voice, but she felt the rumbles of him talking to her. His soft nose and breath was warm on her temple, rustling her hair. It was soothing. Kagome couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt soothed by the sound of someone’s voice. Definitely not by their touch like she felt now with his hands in hers.

Drifting out, she felt herself being moved, gravity rocking and swinging her as they went. It was a bit nauseating, especially with the pain still trying to overtake her. Through it all, the pervasive feeling of Inuyasha’s guiding kept her calm.

She was safe.

Impossible.

But it was true.

Chapter Text

Seeing her hurt was… Inuyasha felt sick. This was not like when she was scraped up from her gate mission where, he later found out, she’d been bouncing off canyon walls while fighting a dragon. Her life is like a violent fantasy novel… Her wounds were deep this time. And she’d been injected with venom. Venom that almost instantly killed a Class A Esper. Even with a guide nearby and a healer at hand.

Kagome’s strength had been the only thing that saved her life.

Sitting at her side in the guild infirmary, he was struck by how human she was. Not that he had doubted it before, just not really focused on it. She was superhuman, like him, in a lot of ways. She seemed invincible.

But pale as a ghost and sleeping, she was obviously anything but.

“Still out?” He looked up to find Sango in the doorway. He nodded. “She needs the sleep. I don’t think she sleeps well at night.” Yet another thing to add to his list of ways in which his esper did not take care of herself. “Any scarring?”

“Not sure yet. The bite marks are mostly healed, but still pretty pink, according to the doctor. I haven’t seen them myself.” He wanted to see because he wanted to prepare himself so he could prepare her. His highly professional and very clinical study of her in her haven had shown no scarring anywhere. The fact that he saw her injuries and knew she did in fact get hurt, but had no signs to show for it, told him that she was able to heal herself very well.

Usually.

The bite from that big cat creature was a completely different thing. She was lucky to be alive at all. The fact that she could have died right in front of him… All because they were arguing about how useful he was! Inuyasha swallowed hard. “It should have been me.”

“It killed an esper.”

“A human esper,” he growled. Sango couldn’t argue that part. “You science types better be looking into ways to close gates without anyone going into them.”

Sango scoffed. “You think we haven’t been since the moment they appeared here? Even the science teams on your father’s home world have been researching it for decades.” Inuyasha snarled. “Trust me, there’s nothing I want more than for those damn things to stay closed forever. But we don’t know how to make that happen. We still don’t even know why they started appearing in the first place.” He wished he knew the answer to that too.

Of course, if they’d never opened, he wouldn’t even exist. His mother, a human guide, and father, an inuyoukai esper, would never have met. If a gate opening hadn’t practically thrown them together, they might have never encountered each other. His parents were another example of an extremely high matching rate, but even they were not eighty-five percent…

Inuyasha bared his teeth in frustration, nose wrinkling at the smell of antiseptic and bleach that pervaded the room. He was all for cleanliness, he just hated how it burned his nose. “Kagome will wake up soon and she’s going to want to know what happened with her backlash.”

“She was sedated through it, wasn’t she?” He looked up at the esper in the doorway. Sango frowned. “What happened?”

“She was unconscious through it, but it still hit.” Sango swore under her breath. “We were already here in the infirmary. I made the nurses and the doctor stay out. They weren’t happy about it. Her heart rate was…”

“Through the roof. Dammit.”

“Since I’m her assigned guide, they took my word for it and agreed not to come in unless I called for them, so no one saw anything but...” He shook his head in frustration.

“The only other time she’s been badly hurt…” There was a look in her eyes that had Inuyasha at the edge of his seat. She wanted to tell him. It had to do with that part of Kagome’s past that no one seemed to want to tell him. “She was completely sedated through it. She… She doesn’t remember a lot around that time.”

“Dammit, Sango…” By the way she looked away from him, he knew she wouldn’t tell him more than that. Inuyasha let his face fall into his hands. He was tired. He was frustrated. But more than anything he was afraid and he fucking hated it. How was he going to protect Kagome when he didn’t even fully know what he was protecting her from?

He knew a name, but he had no idea what he looked like, or even if he was still working as a guide. Sango’s warning made it seem like he must be, but things changed. If he was a field guide, he could have gotten killed. He could have been severely injured and retired. Hell, he could be a desk jockey somewhere. He could even have settled off world.

It was extremely rare, but there were the occasional instances of guides and their bonded espers choosing to live on one of the youkai home worlds where their powers were not seen as quite so extraordinary and live more or less normal lives. Inuyasha’s parents often considered it, but had chosen to stay on Earth until their one and only son settled down.

“You gotta throw me a bone here.”

“D-Did you just make a dog joke?” The weak voice and the huffy laughter that followed it had his head flying up in a flash. Kagome’s eyes were still closed, but he could tell by the faint smile on her lips that she was awake and he hadn’t misheard. Inuyasha couldn’t help letting out a slightly incredulous chuckle.

“Yea. I’ve been known to do that sometimes.”

“Hm. Wouldn’t have taken you for much of a comedian.”

“You either.” Sango gestured that she was going to leave, silently pulling the door closed behind her. “How do you feel?”

“Like a chew toy.” Inuyasha huffed. “Venom is all gone, right?” She swallowed, the sound of her tongue in her mouth sticky. He picked up the cup from her bedside table and helped her take a sip of water from a straw. He confirmed that it was. “And… and that esper? The one who helped me?”

“Hinata. Rin Hinata. She’s fine. Needed some intensive guiding afterward, but I heard she’s doing alright.”

“Right. Guiding. I-I’m sure that was a lot of energy she was using.” Inuyasha only grunted. The mood felt weird suddenly and he wasn’t sure why. Did just the mention of guiding make her feel uncomfortable now? They’d been making progress with her at least allowing him to hold her hand without much fuss. Anything more than that was a struggle, but the bare minimum was almost becoming comfortable between them.

Would they have to build back all that trust all over again?

The transport felt stuffy. It wasn’t so much the extra person as it was the mood between them. Kagome knew enough to know that Inuyasha being with her during this mission had been a large part of why she survived. He hadn’t told her so – though she had to imagine he wanted to – the doctors had. She’d learned shortly after waking that one esper hadn’t been so lucky.

With her hip and calf still pretty tender, the guild infirmary had tried to keep her longer, but she just wanted to be in her haven. Inuyasha supported her desire, so she couldn’t be too annoyed that he’d also insisted on taking her home himself. She didn’t need him… but he was pretty reliable.

Inuyasha even opened the door for her at the haven, making sure she made it over the small steps and onto the living room couch before he would leave her side. He made her prop her legs up so they wouldn’t swell, got her a glass of water, and gave her the painkiller the hospital had sent home with her.

“Thanks.” He grunted in response before sitting on her coffee table and staring at her. “W-What?”

“I am your assigned guide.”

“Yea. And?” She knew that, obviously. Why was he sounding like he was reading from the manual again? “What about it?”

“From now on, I will be with you for every single mission. No matter how low risk it seems, this side of a gate or the other. You go nowhere you might need your powers without me.”

“Excuse you?” His face didn’t change. “You’ve got to be joking.” Still no change. “That’s not happening.”

“Then you won’t be going anywhere.”

Kagome sat up. “That’s not how that works.” Inuyasha’s golden eyes were hard as he tried to make her lay down again and she wouldn’t. “You can’t keep me from going on missions just because it’s too dangerous for you to… No. No way.”

“It’s not up to you. It’s not even up to me,” he said with a sigh. She watched as he pulled a tablet from his backpack and slid the screen awake. After finding whatever he was looking for, he handed it over to her. “There’s that from the guild, and then,” he paused to flick the screen, “this from the Council.” Both documents were more or less the same, outlining the new regulations specific to high level espers – basically her, Kagome Higurashi – requiring they have a combat trained field guide assigned to them and that their guide would be required to go through all gates with their esper as well as all Earth-side missions.

“That’s… That’s bullshit!”

“It’s necessary, Kagome.” She gave him a disgusted look. “I don’t understand. What do you think would have happened this time if I hadn’t been with you? Did you think you would have shaken off that venom? Or that you wouldn’t have gotten eaten by that beast in the first place?” She couldn’t really respond to that and he seemed to know it. His ears were swiveled toward her, his gaze heated and direct. She shrunk back a little, not out of fear but because she didn’t have a good answer. “This is to keep something like what happened from happening again.”

took all the strength she had to pull herself up to her feet, pushing past him, and head up the stairs. She couldn’t remember this staircase ever feeling this long before, but it felt like miles with her hip and leg throbbing. Her knee almost buckled but the railing was enough to support her and allowed her to keep at least some of her dignity.

“Kagome…” She ignored him, barely making it to her bedroom door and closing it behind her before she had to use just a tiny bit of her telekinetic energy to float herself the rest of the way to the bed. As soon as her body hit the mattress and her face the pillow, her face crumbled and the sobs left her. She hated it. Hated breaking down. Hated how out of control she felt.

The Council had always been keeping an eye on her. Since the moment she awakened and nearly blasted a hole in the side of a building by accidentally lifting a truck and throwing it at an escaped gate creature. All her testing since then had shown increasingly high level caps and training revealed abilities she, by all accounts, shouldn’t have. Most espers couldn’t use telekinesis and healing – no matter how weak – and also some pyrokinesis. Her fires were small, but effective when she needed them to be.

But for years, because of her usefulness, the Council and her guild had been placing ever tighter constraints on her autonomy. They told her what missions to go on, when, and they directed her when to fight alone or alongside other espers.

She was told when to destroy gates entirely.

It was not a well known nor understood ability. She didn’t even feel she had full control over it. But at least, so far, it had worked when she needed it. To the outside observer, it would look like a typical gate collapse. Kagome wished she had a better handle on it. It felt like something she could use in a different way, something for the good of everyone. But as of right now, she couldn’t even promise it would work when she needed it to.

Over an hour later, calmer than before, she cracked her door and peeked through. There was a wonderful and somehow familiar smell coming from downstairs. She didn’t see Inuyasha anywhere, but that didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t there. The painkiller had kicked in a little, so she wasn’t hobbling quite so badly, but she still found herself stepping very gingerly as she made her way down the stairs. She was all the more glad the railing and stairs were made of concrete. After snapping more than one wooden banister due to her excess strength post-mission, it had been necessary.

On the counter was a covered bowl and a piece of scrap paper with a message scrawled on it.

Sorry I upset you right after getting home. Eat this, get more sleep. I’ll be back later to make sure you do both. - Inuyasha.

Kagome made a snotty face at the note. Even if it was sweet.

He apologized.

Taking the cover off the bowl, she gasped in surprise. Udon?! How did he know it was her favorite? Sango had probably told him… But the fact remained that he had made a point to find out even when she wouldn’t tell him before and had made it himself. Like… actually homemade. A tiny spoonful proved it tasted just as amazing as it smelled. Kagome sniffed, the heel of her hand pressing to her nose and then her mouth as tears hit her unbidden. Damn him. Damn him for being so…

She wasn’t sure what Inuyasha was, but it was becoming increasingly hard to ignore.

She’d been annoyed about him coming with her from the moment the alert came through. She harrumphed and pouted in every single way imaginable. It reminded him how, relatively, young she was. In another place and time, Kagome would have been going to bars and hanging out with college and work friends. Maybe even dating. Instead, she was stuck in an endless loop of throwing herself through a portal into another world so she could destroy dangerous beasts that were drawn to said portal. A constant cycle of putting her life in danger to save a whole world of people who just expected her to do it.

No thanks to be found.

“You feel alright?” he asked for the second time. Kagome hardly glanced at him from her spot curled up on the other side of the transport. “Your numbers aren’t too bad, but you’re probably feeling itchy at least.” He offered his hand and she looked at it as though she’d rather bite it than hold it. Part of him wouldn’t even mind that all that much. At least he’d be in contact with her so he could guide. Instead she kept up the cornered animal routine and gave him baleful side eye. “I’m not going to touch you without warning. That’s been the rule from the beginning,” he reminded her.

“I told you I feel fine. You even said my numbers are… fine.”

“Elevated. And more or less normal for you, yes.” He folded his arms across his chest. “But normal for Kagome six weeks ago. Not you now. Without the pills and with consistent contact guiding, your numbers have been so much more stable.” The transport lurched to a stop and they both jumped a little at the sudden movement. “C’mon. Inside.”

Since her injury, he had been crashing at her haven. She had another room on the main level where he’d set up a futon on the floor and at least had a place to plug in and use his tablet to do whatever. Kagome hadn’t put up nearly as much fight about it as he’d assumed she would. Probably the udon, he thought with a grin as he followed her inside. They went to their respective spaces and cast off their gear. Inuyasha was a bit less meticulous about it than Kagome, but it all made it back where it needed to go eventually, so what did it matter?

Fresh-faced and with a bowl of chips in his lap, Inuyasha waited in the living room for Kagome to finally venture out of her room. She’d be hungry – she always was, even if it was only a little – once she got out of the shower. He only hoped the water wasn’t freezing.

He was taken back to that moment, the first time he’d been given access, when he found her shivering in freezing water and unresponsive to him. The padding of feet on the steps shook him from that memory and he glanced up. “Feeling better?”

Kagome grumbled, picking up the now customary plate of crackers and sliced fruit from the counter before she plopped down on the couch near but not by him. Behind his right shoulder, he couldn’t see her exactly, but he could hear her nibbling on the peaches he’d cut for her. He waited a little longer before finally putting his hand out, palm up as always, on the edge of the couch. The air seemed to shift a little and he just knew she was staring at his hand in thought. He knew better than to push it, just waiting for her to make her choice.

His shoulders, which he hadn’t even realized were so tense, dropped when she tentatively put her palm on top of his. He waited before beginning to guide her, not gripping her hand, simply letting them rest against one another. She didn’t need guiding all that intensely right now, so he didn’t need to push her boundaries. Her scent shifted ever so slightly, but not enough that he was concerned about her backlash. It was likely faint or nonexistent at this level, assuming it hadn’t hit before she came downstairs.

“You just… do this, huh?” Inuyasha frowned in confusion, but didn’t turn to look at her. She obviously had something on her mind. “H-How many espers have you had to guide.”

“Uh… I dunno. Over a hundred, probably?” She stiffened and pulled her hand back, immediately breaking their connection. That he couldn’t ignore, turning to stare up at her. Her face was flushed and there was a strange look in her eyes. “What?”

“You’ve done… that… with over a hundred people?”

It took him a second for the shock to wear off before he fully processed what she was asking him. What she seemed to be accusing him of. Part of him was furious, because there was supposed to be an understanding that what a guide had to do for work was done to save someone’s life – like a medical procedure – not sleeping around for the hell of it. Not to mention, it wasn’t like he had a lot of choice, being a field guide and one that was fairly compatible with more espers than most. It had sometimes been him or no one at all.

“No. I haven’t done that with more than a hundred people,” he bit out. “But even if I had, you don’t get to judge me for that. It’s part of my job, Kagome.” Her gaze fell away from his and he watched her curl away from him even further.

“D-Did you… with that esper who healed me?” she whispered. Is she jealous? For the briefest moment, he wanted to tease her about it, because he was mad that she was treating him like… Like he was trashy. But he was reminded that Kagome Higurashi, the strongest esper on the continent, had been hurt by a guide. Inuyasha didn’t know how, exactly, but he did know that him lashing out and lying about providing intimate guiding to another esper to prove a point would break what little trust they had managed to build.

“No. Esper Hinata has a dedicated guide.” He set his bowl aside completely and took her dropped plate from the couch cushion before carefully sitting beside her. “And even if she didn’t, you’re my esper, Kagome. You’re the one I’m assigned to.”

“Assigned…” Her scent shifted. “You’re doing your job.”

That was a weighted statement if he ever heard one.

“That’s part of it, yes.” She wouldn’t let him see, but there were tears in her eyes. He could smell it. “It is my job, but I also want to keep you safe. That means guiding you and only you when you need it.”

Kagome took a shuddering breath. “Y-You’ve never guided anyone but me since you were assigned to me?”

“Not even hand holding.”

“But we’re not b-bonded. You could…”

“I take my commitments seriously.” The softness of his voice was unfamiliar to him, but it felt… necessary. Kagome slowly but surely unraveled from the ball of stress she’d made herself into in the corner of the couch. “You are my only esper until you tell me otherwise.”

“And… and I don’t have to get guiding from anyone else?” Hearing her ask him that, her voice sounding tiny and broken, nearly ripped his heart out. Why was that even something she needed to ask?! He shook his head slowly. “You p-promise?” Tears were tracking down her cheeks and her nose was running, but all Inuyasha could see was the terrified but pleading look she was giving him, begging him not to hurt her. Heart pounding, his youki stirring, he fought to stay calm. Kagome needed him to show he was trustworthy, that he could and would protect her.

Not how much he wanted to tear apart the bastard that made her question necessary.

Slowly, carefully, he took her hand in his, not guiding, simply holding. “Kagome. I promise you that I will always be the one to guide you when you need it as long as you keep me by your side.” She sniffled, hard. Then almost in slow motion, she tipped forward until her forehead was resting against his chest. It was by far the most intimate contact they’d had while she was fully in her right mind. He was in awe.

“I guess your guiding isn’t so bad,” she murmured after a while, her sniffles fading. Inuyasha only grinned, letting his nose fall into the hair at the crown of her head.

Chapter Text

The machines whirring around her were hardly even noticeable. Kagome felt the lightest she had in months, possibly years. Sango was even humming as she took Kagome’s watch from her wrist and put it into the diagnostic machine. “Your turn,” she teased as she had Kagome sit in the chair and strapped the sensors to her for her checkup.

Usually, all the alarms would be going off immediately, going until Sango could silence them. Today? Nothing. “That good, huh?”

“They’re… Huh.”

Kagome watched Inuyasha’s ears pop up at Sango’s soft sound of confusion. “Huh what?”

“No. I mean… your numbers are good, better than they have been for a long time but…” She popped Kagome’s watch out of the machine and put it back on her, allowing it a few moments to adjust and put out a reading. Sango spent several moments flicking back and forth between the tiny watch screen and her tablet. “They don’t match.”

“What?” Now Inuyasha was fully invested. “What do you mean?”

“Here, tell me what your watch is saying her numbers are right now.” The hanyou guide rattled off the numbers reflecting her energy reading, heart rate, and respiratory rate. Sango went back to the main computer interface, reset the sensors on Kagome, then went through the whole process again. “Dammit.” She called in a technician and requested, firmly, that he bring another pair of watches. “Something’s not right. Her numbers on the watches are reading far lower than on the main sensors.”

“But I… I’ve been feeling really good! I…”

“I know. I know. But the pills are still working their way out of your system. You were on them a long time and took… a lot. It’s possible that your watch miscalibrated a while ago and we didn’t notice because your levels have been so bad for so long.” The light feeling from earlier was beginning to disappear. “When was your last gate mission?” Inuyasha gave the details while Kagome sat in stunned silence. Had it only been some kind of placebo effect? Had she only imagined she felt better because Inuyasha was around and was being so…

But no. After the last mission, which had been decidedly light, her backlash had been almost nothing. The emotional backlash of talking through her reservations had taken a far heavier toll on her. She’d slept for hours after that. “You haven’t been taking them at all anymore, right, Kagome? Not even a single or a half dose?”

“N-No! Of course not. I said I wouldn’t and I haven’t.” She glared at Sango and then looked to Inuyasha to back her up. “I swear.”

“I believe you, Kagome,” Inuyasha murmured, taking her hand and offering just the slightest guiding to settle her nerves. It worked like a charm. “Could there be some other factor? Something she’s eating or drinking? What about when she was injured before?”

“I’m going to have them run full diagnostics on the watches to see if we can pinpoint when they started sending inaccurate readings. In the meantime, use these new ones. Honestly, they’re the newer model, so you would have been getting them soon anyway.” While it was obvious she was concerned for her friend’s well being, it was also clear that Sango was highly intrigued by what could have caused this malfunction.

They were dismissed after Kagome’s scans were completed. “Don’t you have to get regular checkups too?” she pouted, walking along at Inuyasha’s side. He had his backpack slung over one shoulder – the one she learned he took everywhere since it had all the emergency supplies they might need if they were called unexpectedly into a gate – and he let his hand swing between them, occasionally letting it brush against hers as they walked.

Kagome couldn’t think of a time when she felt comfortable walking this close to someone else, let alone in such a crowded place as the guild headquarters. Inuyasha smiled a little. “I do. Just not as often as espers. We’re not straining ourselves the way you are. Not usually, anyway.” He softly nudged her with his shoulder to get her moving toward the training center rather than the front door. She frowned. “Let’s try these new watches out, see if or what they read when you’re using your power. We need to get a gauge on what to expect.” She couldn’t deny the practicality of his plan.

“Fine.”

He hadn’t had an opportunity to see much of what Kagome was capable of up close before. When they were through a gate, he was either not close enough to see much or everything was happening too fast for him to keep up. The training center was designed specifically to allow espers a safe place to blow off steam and try new things. Telekinetic espers could try throwing around heavier objects, practice moving themselves or others, even more precise movements like flicking light switches in succession or balancing toothpicks. Inuyasha wasn’t really sure what the point of the balancing thing was, but he was much more of a smash and grab kinda guy anyway.

“I don’t like this,” Kagome complained, standing to the side with her arms crossed defensively over her chest and staring at him as he finished putting his things aside before turning to face her. “What if I hurt you?”

Inuyasha sighed, rolling his eyes. “Kagome, I’m hanyou. Even if you hauled my ass into that wall, I’m gonna be fine.” She made a face. “Seriously. I’ve been tossed around more than my fair share while through a gate. Better me than any of the human guides,” he explained with a shrug.

“I don’t like that.”

He cocked his head at her in question. “Like what? That I’m hanyou?” He didn’t… think that was it, but he couldn’t be sure.

“No, idiot. That you act like your safety is… expendable.” Inuyasha swallowed hard at her soft tone juxtaposed with her harsh words. The mood had shifted dramatically, but he could see how ready Kagome was to bolt if he called attention to it.

“I didn’t mean it that way,” he explained. “I’m just built tougher than a human. Being half youkai means I’m stronger, don’t get hurt as easily, heal faster… I’m not indestructible, but I definitely don’t break easily.” She peeked at him from the corner of her eye. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. “Now c’mon. Lemme see how high you can toss me.”

Kagome’s mouth gaped open, scandalized, then snapped shut. “Fine. But don’t come crying to me if you get hurt.”

Inuyasha gave a half grin. “Aww, you’re not gonna patch me up afterward, Esper Higurashi?” he murmured in her ear as he stepped past her and into the training circle. Her growl of irritation only made him laugh. “Let’s have it then!”

He hardly swallowed a yelp when he was off his feet without warning. He prepared himself to tuck and roll if she dropped him, only to be lifted higher. She had a gentle touch, if one thought of it that way. He’d been picked up by telekinetic espers before and he usually felt squeezed or at least pinched. Kagome seemed to be far more careful. “I’m putting you up there,” she called, swooping him through the air until he was on top of one of the wall ledges. The feeling of being set down like a trophy rather than dropped like a sack of potatoes was new too.

“What about you?”

“Lift myself, you mean?” He nodded, crouching down so he could watch her and her levels on his watch at the same time. The way she moved as soon as her feet left the ground was… Stunning. Effortless. Like she’d been doing it all her life. And maybe in her head, she had been.

“Both at the same time?” That was a feat for any esper. Moving yourself was often more difficult than someone else, at least according to anyone he’d met who could do it, but to move two people at the same time?

Inuyasha was once again startled by the gentle sensation of Kagome’s telekinesis taking hold of him. She was more or less floating midair and she’d managed to grab him and bring him down from a higher level. Her “grip” was perhaps a little tighter, but not much and certainly not painful. He braced himself for impact when she brought him toward her, only to come up short. He blinked at her. “How’s that? Could probably work on my precision a bit more…” she mused, wincing a little as she adjusted her angle a bit.

“A-Are you fucking kidding? Kagome, this is… That’s amazing.” Her face opened in shock, then shifted to pleased, though he could tell she was trying to hold it back. “I have never met an esper who can do that. Not without dropping me. Or throwing me too far.”

“Really?” Kagome whispered. “Oh. Well. I mean… I practice a lot. Not usually with people, but, you know, large rocks and crates and stuff?” She flushed, looking away. Inuyasha noted how her heart rate had kicked up a little. He smothered a grin.

Another source of amazement was how little effort this seemed to take for her. Inuyasha didn’t think he’d ever seen an esper maintain this level of control, holding up two grown adults, for this long without their levels spiking. Kagome’s were steadily – but minutely – climbing, where most espers he would be shouting down by now to make sure they got guiding. Was their close proximity and high compatibility the cause? Inuyasha looked down at his watch again, tapping the screen to bring up his guiding level.

Low levels, but there was output. “Kagome, can you… feel anything?”

“Hm?” she looked around, obviously confused. “Like what?”

“Like guiding.” She blinked, dark eyes looking off to the side as she obviously focused on her more internal senses. The blank look on her face as she focused on him again was all the answer he needed. So he wasn’t radiation guiding after all. So how were her numbers staying so low?

“I’m going to put you down,” she warned him. She could have not told him a thing and he would have been fine with how carefully she placed his feet on the ground. It was Inuyasha’s turn to blink in surprise as she turned herself so that her feet met the ceiling far above his head. Her long dark hair hung around her head as she walked along the tiles, gravity looking like a joke as her booted feet met each impact as though it were the ground.

Inuyasha wasn’t sure how it happened, but he’d been matched with one of the most amazing espers on the planet. Not just that. One of the most amazing women, he thought as she lifted her head from her position to look down at him and smile. The true warmth in that smile despite everything she had and continued to go through…

His chest felt tight for a moment.

The call to the gate had been a shock to begin with. It was strangely rare for gates to open in the middle of the night. There was speculation that it might have something to do with the phases of time between the worlds where the gates appeared. Unfortunately, that was an extremely difficult thing to measure when gates did not usually reappear between the same two worlds for months or even years. There were a few exceptions, the world Inuyasha’s father came from was one. From what Kagome understood, that gate opened at least once a year.

Still, Kagome was not completely unaccustomed to being called at odd hours. It had just been a long time. She was up and dressed within minutes, while Inuyasha took a bit longer. He was so systematic about what supplies he had to carry with them, no matter what the gate mission might be. He was not so about his clothes, however, which usually meant digging around to find the right shirt and a pair of pants that were serviceable.

“I’m leaving without you!” she called from the front door.

“Keep your pants on. I’ll be right there!” he growled from his room. Kagome scowled petulantly at the not so subtle jab at her backlash. A few weeks ago, she might have blown a gasket at him over it, but they had reached a place where she could handle the teasing. At least a little bit.

“Not my fault you pack for every mission like we’re going on holiday!”

“You weren’t complaining the last time when you were so hungry you tried to bite me and I happened to have protein bars,” he grumbled back as he hooked his pack over his shoulder. Kagome flushed hard at the reminder of that impulsive action.

It had been because she was hungry, but there had also been some strange compulsion to mark him in some way too. She couldn’t explain it to save her life, but Inuyasha made sure not to let her forget it either. He seemed to think it was only because of her delirium and hunger. She preferred he keep thinking that.

As they approached the gate in the transport, Kagome took several slow deep breaths. She was getting used to having Inuyasha at her side on missions, even found herself glad for his presence, but it was still difficult to set aside the concern for his safety. “You’re doing it again. Worrying.”

“Yea, well, we don’t really know what to expect here.”

Inuyasha gave her a look. “Kagome, I know you’re not worried about what’s on the other side of the gate. You’re worrying about if I’m gonna get hurt.” She couldn’t come up with a retort fast enough. “I’ll be fine. Same as always.”

“Until you’re not.” He snorted at her, but said nothing else, opening the door for her to get out of the transport. They checked in with the gate administrator. Kagome didn’t recognize the woman, but she couldn’t miss how she openly gawked at Inuyasha the whole time she was giving them the initial rundown. Kagome’s brow rose in some combination of disbelief and bemusement. “Thank you, for the information…”

“Oh. Um… Yes, of course, Esper Higurashi. Guide Taisho too. I…”

“I didn’t catch your name,” he interrupted. The administrator mumbled out her name, cheeks pinking as she hugged her tablet to her chest. “Thanks for your hard work,” Inuyasha gave her a quick smile that didn’t really reach his eyes and bustled Kagome out of the area cordoned off for the gate management and toward the gate itself. “You’re pretty funny,” he snickered.

“Huh? Me?!”

“Yea, you.” He continued to chuckle as they crossed the event horizon. Once on the other side, they were met with too bright light and unexpected heat. Compared with the nighttime light they’d left, it was almost blinding. Kagome flailed, putting her hand over her eyes while Inuyasha snorted impolitely. Rummaging in his pack, he flipped her a case which happened to contain sunglasses. “You were prickling like a hedgehog.”

“I… I was not.” The guide only smirked at her as he adjusted the glasses on his own face, the pads at the center pinching the bridge of his nose to stay in place. “She was so awkward.”

“You’re one to talk.” He was grinning to himself as he glanced at his watch and then looked around, surveying the area for the creatures they were supposed to be confronting. The group of espers already in the gate were nowhere to be seen and Kagome scowled that they would likely have to search for them first before they could go about their own mission. “They’re this way,” Inuyasha called, taking off in a direction with no other warning. When she gave him a confused look, he tapped his nose. Pretty handy, that sense of smell, though she didn’t envy him when they came across several dead lizard-like creatures.

Much smaller than the dragon Kagome had fought previously, these seemed to be amphibious. Which made sense given the abundant water on this world. She saw evidence of fire and electricity having been used on them, though that wasn’t enough to tell who was in the party they were looking for. She didn’t see any sign of a physical esper, which likely meant Kouga was not here at least. She was tired of standing between him and Inuyasha as the two of them bickered. It was more friendly than typical bickering, but it did seem to escalate if she was there and it made her head hurt.

Kouga’s newly appointed guide Ayame also seemed to have some kind of beef with Kagome and it made her head spin a little. Aside from the fact that they were both espers, she had negative interest in Kouga that way. Ayame apparently thought otherwise and had a tendency to act territorial.

All in all, it was a relief that Kouga was not there.

“Damn, that sun is bright. I would spend all my time in the water too.” Kagome followed his gaze to the river running along where they were traveling. Floating at the surface were more than a few pairs of eyes, watching them pass. “Wonder what set the other ones off though. They don’t seem naturally aggressive.”

Kagome nodded, frowning at the water. There was a lot of speculation as to why the creatures on the other sides of gates seemed to go wild when the gate itself opened. The draw of the gates seemed to affect most of them, regardless of their normal temperament. The further away from the gate, the less likely they were to become aggressive. The size of the gate did play into how far away a beast could be to be affected.

All this information was all well and good, but it didn’t change the fact that they didn’t know how or why the gates opened, no real way to predict them, and still didn’t have a reliable way to close them. They only sent Kagome into the largest gates with the missive to use her ability on them since they tended to remain open the longest.

“They’re up here. Sounds like they’re fighting something,” Inuyasha called, grasping her hand without thinking and taking off at a jog. Kagome didn’t have time to startle at the touch of his palm to hers, too focused on keeping up with his pace.

The sandy area that could have been a beautiful pristine beach was no longer so. Covered in blood and other things that were normally kept inside, the sand and water ran dark. Kagome immediately pulled a large lizard from the esper it was about to take a bite out of, tossing it back to the water as far down river as she could manage. The male esper gasped and shook as he was pulled away from the center of the fray by another esper.

“Where the hell are your guides!” Inuyasha called, diving in and beating off another lizard to free up an esper who was clearly showing signs of potential rampage. Kagome followed the woman’s desperate gaze back to where a group of people were huddled within a protective barrier being held by an esper. An esper who was sweating bullets.

“Inuyasha…”

“I see ‘em.” He snarled, dispatching the lizard in his hands and then heading for the other guides. They were keeping the esper protecting them going, obviously having taken turns to guide him so none of them were exhausted, but none of them seemed to have the training or the guts to exit the protective barrier and go to any of the other espers. “Ginta, Hakkaku! Get your asses out here!” Two relatively scrawny wolf youkai flinched at his call, the pair of them cowering for a moment. “You want me tellin’ Kouga you two were hiding when your espers needed you?!” That seemed to get their attention and they puffed up with purpose. They still wailed the whole time they were leaving the barrier and making their way to the espers cleared from the battleground, but they did it.

Kagome used her telekinesis to yank two more lizards and hurl them across the river and into a tree. The crack and snap that echoed across the water told her this had been a wise choice. Focused on getting the still embattled espers clear, Kagome missed that she’d been backing toward the water.

“Kagome!” Inuyasha’s desperate voice had her turning, but it was a moment too late.

A flash of silver and black crossed her vision and a pained grunt met her ears. She blinked in horror as a lizard easily twice the size of the others brought its jaws down on Inuyasha’s torso.

“No.”

She heard her heartbeat in her ears and not much else as she closed the distance between herself and where Inuyasha was gasping in pain, still in the lizard’s maw. Kagome whimpered as she grasped its snout and used the enhanced strength she normally tried to suppress to rip it open. Inuyasha fell to the ground in a heap, then weakly tried to roll out of the way of the lizard’s stomping feet. Kagome lifted him as gently as she could while distracted with taking the lizard down, setting him close to where the injured espers were waiting for guiding.

Her throat felt raw as a primal scream left her. The lizard went flying much like the others had, lifeless as it hit the ground. “Inuyasha?” she called, alighting next to him and dropping to her knees. He groaned, head rolling toward her to acknowledge her presence.

“I-I’m ok.”

“The hell you are!” Kagome’s hands were hovering over him before she even registered what she was doing. She’d… never tried to heal someone else before. She had limited ability to do it to herself, as most espers did, but knew hers was a little more than the average esper. Like most of her skills. But relying on it to help someone who was so injured? “Inuyasha, can you feel that?” she whispered. “Does it hurt? I’ve never done… I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“S’ok, Kagome. You don’t have to. I heal… ugh… pretty quick.”

Kagome shook her head, her vision blurring. “Why would you do that?” she hissed at him. “Don’t protect me like that. You could have… You could die.”

They were both startled when he was able to take a much deeper breath all of a sudden. “I’m not gonna die, Kagome,” he murmured soothingly. Then took another deep breath. “Since when can you heal?” She just stared at him. He looked down at his watch, checking his own blood pressure and oxygenation before flipping over to her numbers. “Fuck, Kagome. You gotta stop.” She shook her head stubbornly. “Kagome, your levels are already through the roof. And we still gotta get everyone back.”

Kagome looked around at the espers who were now recovering. Between a couple who could heal and the fact that their guides could now get to them, the remaining lizards had been taken care of and they were beginning to gather up those who needed more intensive medical care. “I can make it.”

“I know you can. But can you make it before it hits if I start guiding you now?” She swallowed. Hard. “I need to guide you. Soon. You’re at the upper threshold already.”

“They all have to get out first. I have to get them out.” She couldn’t complete her part of the mission if this team was still inside the gate. “Inuyasha, they have to get out,” she told him, suddenly feeling even more desperate than before. His golden eyes were intense behind his cracked sunglasses, searching her face to try to understand.

“Alright, Kagome. Alright. We’ll get them out. I promise.”

Kagome nodded gratefully, pulling back her power to slow the escalation of her levels. Inuyasha could breathe, he could move, and he wasn’t openly bleeding anymore. For now, it would have to be enough.

She set aside the question of how she’d done it in the first place for later.

Chapter Text

He should have known it would come to this. Mentally, he had been preparing himself for over a month. Now that Kagome’s system was completely clear of the pills and the watches were properly reading her levels, he knew she would reach a point where she would need mucousal guiding to bring them down. What’s more, he knew there would be a point where she used enough of her power that the mucousal guiding from kissing would not be adequate.

What he hadn’t expected was that it would be from her desperately healing him with an ability she – by all accounts – shouldn’t have.

Which was what brought them here. Her backlash hadn’t even hit yet. Soon, it would, but he had to get her numbers down before that point or she was going to go rampant before her backlash even had a chance to take over. “Kagome,” he called soothingly, hand on her lower back as he corralled her into the transport. The gate had vanished the moment they hit the pavement, Kagome somehow shoving him through it ahead of her. The rest of the team had been through long before them, he and Kagome doing a last sweep to make sure no one was missed.

The transport was ready for her before they even made it past the gate administrator. She looked stunned by the state of the pair of them, even more so by how carefully he held Kagome’s elbow, avoiding skin contact to keep from triggering guiding. Considering he looked like absolute shit, he could imagine it appeared odd for him to be treating Kagome like glass.

As the door to the transport closed, he faintly heard her ask another guide if he and Kagome were bonded. A grimace pulled at his face.

“Kagome? Can you hear me?” She nodded. “I need to guide you, alright? But your levels… they’re bad.” Another nod of understanding. Her eyes were damn near glowing silver at this point. “It’s probably going to require more than just kiss guiding. Do you understand? Full contact guiding.” Kagome blinked once, let out a shuddering sigh, then settled into the crook of his neck with her face pressing to his chin. Inuyasha’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Kagome, I won’t start guiding you until you tell me you understand.”

“I understand,” she murmured. “Please, Inuyasha.”

“Please what?” he breathed, nuzzling her forehead until she backed off just enough for him to see her face. His lips incidentally brushed her nose and she smiled softly, stretching up just enough to press her nose to his. How does she know to do that? he wanted to know. It wasn’t the first time. An extremely affectionate gesture within inuyoukai culture, often used to initiate a kiss between romantic partners, nose nuzzling was not done lightly. But Kagome was not youkai, let alone inuyoukai. Was it just an instinct?

“Please, guide me. Kiss me,” she mumbled the last, her delirium beginning to take over.

He would ask again after some initial guiding, see if she was lucid enough to tell him any differently, but right now, he wanted nothing more than to do as she asked.

The press of her lips was a little hard at first when she realized he was giving her what she wanted. Overenthusiastic. But with gentle presses against her shoulders for her to back up a little, she got the hint and let him come to her instead. Inuyasha desperately tried to keep it clean cut and professional, but quickly found himself drawn into the heat of her kiss.

Her lips were hot and a bit slick, her tongue darting out to taste him startling him a little. He’d had espers try to sneak tongue before and usually it disgusted him. Not so with Kagome. He welcomed it, meeting her tongue with his own a moment later. Emboldened by his reciprocation, she slid into his lap, straddling him. Her hands on his shoulders slid around his neck to cup the back his head, pulling him up to her. He could feel her body temperature rising and he gasped, leaning back just long enough to get a glance at his watch. “Shit. Kagome…”

“Hot.”

“I know. I know.” He helped her get free of her extra tactical gear at least, but convinced her to keep her shirt on until they got to her haven. “Kagome? When we get home, I’ll help you out of everything. I know you usually take a cold shower, but we don’t have time for that right now. You need guiding right away. Do you understand?”

“You don’t want to.” He winced at her pained look. “Just kissing…”

“Won’t be near enough. If you hadn’t healed me, you might have been ok, but that took so much energy.” He would scold her about that later. Right now, he needed her to understand that he had no choice but to provide guiding at a level they had not needed to engage in before now. “Full contact mucousal guiding.” She flinched, but nodded after a moment. Inuyasha accepted her kiss when she leaned in for more.

He couldn’t miss how her lips were suddenly trembling.

Juggling their gear and a near-boneless Kagome through the front door was a bit of a challenge, but luckily the door itself opened on its own at least. Inuyasha winced at the clatter of all their shit hitting the ground, but he had other priorities.

Kagome’s backlash had hit full force.

Never had he seen her like this, not even the first time he witnessed her backlash. She was no longer in immediate danger of going rampant, but only just and only because they had spent most of the trip in the transport making out. His lips were slightly sore from it, but if they didn’t continue guiding, she would be right back up above the threshold and her levels would climb. Potentially catastrophically.

Her temperature was elevated and she was whining and whimpering in her half-lucid state. “I know, Kagome. We’re here. Just gotta get you upstairs, alright?” Tempting as it was to just go to the couch, or his futon, he knew they would both regret that later. “Hold onto me,” he reminded her. Kagome wrapped her arms around around his neck and her legs came around his waist as he supported her under her thighs. She was light as a feather, as far as he was concerned, but he held tight anyway. She was shaking, a combination of her still-high levels and the onset of her backlash, so any support she could get was needed.

“I-Inu?” she mumbled into his neck.

“Shh. I got you,” he assured her, squeezing her a little closer as he summited the stairs and made it into her room. He was careful pulling the rest of her clothes free, needing the extra moment to get himself under control. Kagome needed him to be levelheaded.

For a brief moment, Inuyasha was reminded that he had never had this issue with another esper before. Never felt like he could quickly lose himself in them if he wasn’t careful. Kagome was… different. He wasn’t sure why exactly, other than their crazy high compatibility rate, but something about her had him feeling ways about intimate mucousal guiding. Ways he had never experienced before.

Inuyasha peeled out of his clothes with his back to her, not wanting her to see how ready he was without any sort of preparation. He winced when part of his shirt pulled from his skin which had obviously been caught when his rapid healing was sped up by Kagome’s power. Stung like a bitch!

His soul nearly jumped out of his body when he felt the unexpected and intense heat of Kagome’s palms on his back. “Skin’s still healing,” she breathed, her mouth following her fingertips across his spine. “I hate that you got hurt.”

“Now you know how I felt after…”

“Hmm… But we’re both alright,” she interrupted, sharply redirecting the conversation. Awfully aware for someone in their backlash, he mused, even as he turned to catch her hands. Silver met gold and he found himself suddenly nervous. “You’re lively,” she purred, hands twitching in his though he didn’t let them go right away. “But stubborn.”

“You’re one to talk, Kagome,” he growled, taking her hands and looping them behind her back so he could scoop her up and lay her down on her mattress. Her grin was bordering on evil as his attempt to keep control of her hands meant he was stretched along the length of her frame as he kept her still. “Hold on,” he scolded her. “We’ll get there.”

She whimpered and twisted, trying to make contact with him. He held her with one hand while pulling protection from the kit in the drawer beside her bed. Getting it on one-handed was a feat, especially with a naked Kagome squirming under him, but he sighed in relief once it was done. “Hurry,” she pleaded.

“I’m guiding you as we go, you know.” She wouldn’t be this stable if he hadn’t been. But that wouldn’t last long without the higher level guiding. “Kagome? Are you sure?” he breathed.

For the first time since her backlash had started, Kagome went still. Her eyes were bright silver even now, but they were focused. The seductress from a moment ago seemed to have taken a break. “Yes. I accept your guiding, Inuyasha.” She whimpered as she took a breath, eyes fluttering shut. “I accept you,” he thought he heard her say, but quickly he couldn’t focus on that, her hips rolling up to try to meet his fracturing his attention.

His mouth founds hers first, trying to provide enough guiding to settle her and keep both of them under control. But that only seemed to ignite her, her strength overpowering him so quickly that he couldn’t stop her from taking all of him in one go. “Kagome!” he gasped, as much in fear of hurting her as the sudden intensity of sensation. For all this worry about overwhelming her, he was the one being overwhelmed…

She used the leverage of her calves against the backs of his legs to make him move within her. He fought to hold still, panting for breath as he poured guiding into her at every point they touched. The vibration on his wrist changed, telling him that her numbers were coming down, but there was nothing on his watch that would tell him how severe her backlash was, nor how long it was likely to last…

“Harder, Inuyasha,” she murmured, her breath hot against his neck. He flinched when her teeth followed. Maybe it wasn’t just from being hungry, he thought, heavily reminded of when she’d bitten him before. His momentary distraction was reprimanded with another nip until he complied and drove his hips into her harder and faster. Kagome gasped, back arching even as her arms clung to his shoulders.

He was shocked by how quickly he fell into her spell, driving into her heat with sharp thrusts that would more than likely leave bruises and still she asked for more. “Kagome, Kagome,” he huffed. Her fingers digging into his back as they moved together would have broken a human man, but Inuyasha found himself gnashing his teeth, wanting to sink them into something – her, more than anything – but he couldn’t do that.

Bonding was no joke. The youkai or the guide/esper variety.

All the mental pep talks in the world had not prepared him for the intensity of their connection during full contact mucousal guiding. The Guiding Coordinator at the guild had tried to talk to him about high compatibility guiding, but had really only talked about how careful he would have to be not to let his esper bond him unwillingly. Apparently with high compatibility rates, it was easier for a bond to form without realizing.

Was this what the coordinator had been trying to hint at? Inuyasha pressed his chin into his own shoulder, trying to keep his mouth away from her entirely. “Can’t look at me?” Her hands slid from his back to his cheeks, forcing his head so their eyes would meet. Hers were no longer glowing, but still far more silver than brown. “Wishing I was someone else?” Her tone was sharp but somehow teasing. Bitter. Not at all like the usual Kagome.

He outright snarled at her. “That ain’t it at all!” He let his fangs trace her shoulder just enough to welt but not break the skin, the shiver going through her causing her to squeeze around him. They both gasped. “Stop acting like I don’t give a shit about you, Kagome. You know that’s not true.” With her head canted back, neck exposed, he couldn’t see her eyes.

But he could smell tears.

“Kagome…”

“J-Just… Finish already,” she whispered, her voice cracking. He wasn’t sure if it was from the strain of their bodies seeking release, or some emotional response, but he had a feeling it was the latter.

Glancing at his watch, he saw that the screen was no longer flashing angrily, visually shouting warnings at him. Which meant he could slow things down and pull back on guiding. Inuyasha bit his lip as he slid his hands down Kagome’s arms, catching her hands and bringing them up above her to press into the pillow. She didn’t move her head, keeping her eyes averted.

Until she felt him stop moving.

“I-Inuyasha? Wh-What…” She finally met his gaze, eyes wide. Her irises were still silvery, but hardly like they’d been when they exited the gate.

“Oh, paying attention, are we?” he teased, using his positional advantage to slowly, gently, grind into her. Kagome’s mouth dropped open on a gasp. “And pretty aware. Hm.”

“Don’t tease,” she whispered, biting her lip when he repeated the slow intentional roll of his hips into hers. He paused when he noticed the tone of her voice.

“Kagome, I’ll only tease your body,” he found himself rumbling, leaning down to murmur in her ear and lightly nibble the pinna. Another inuyoukai gesture he felled compelled to do. Depending on context it could comforting or sexually charged. Frankly, in this situation, he wasn’t sure which he meant. Maybe both.

“Oh?”

“Yea.” He made eye contact with her once more, then leaned in so he could take one of her nipples in his mouth. “Only if you want me to. Because I never want to hurt you.” Kagome’s lungs expanding in a shocked breath brought the pebbled tip in contact with his lips, but he waited, still as stone. It was not until she whimpered and shifted, trying to bring his lips back to it, that he finally opened to take her in.

She writhed against him, not really trying to break free of his hands, though he knew she could if she really wanted to. Kagome was letting him restrain her. He wished it was because she trusted him, allowing him this because she wanted to let him have control, but he knew it was because she didn’t trust herself. Kagome had broken more than a few things in the midst of her backlash, even a few times before it actually kicked in, so he knew she struggled to control her strength when her levels were high.

“Kagome, You won’t hurt me, you know.” She froze. “You can grab me. You can hold on as tight as you need to.”

“Wh-What?” Loosening his hold, he guided her hands to his head, to his shoulders. “No, I… I don’t want to hurt you.” He noted the moment her eyes caught the places she had bruised his upper back earlier. “Look what I already…”

“Yea, and?” The way she tightened around him when he nipped her breast made him groan. “Maybe I like it. You ever think of that?” he murmured in her ear before nipping it once more. The way she wriggled and whimpered told him he’d hit a sweet spot. He had no intention of letting that go unnoticed. Teeth lightly pressing into her ear and hips rolling into hers, Inuyasha drew her off the edge, her cry in his ear making him grin. “That’s it,” he breathed.

“What’s it?” Stiffening, Inuyasha released her, then slowly sat up just enough to see her clearly. “You didn’t think we were done, did you?” Silver. Her eyes were silver all over again. What the hell?! But he didn’t have time to think, only enough to grab several more supplies from the kit before he was overtaken by his esper in her backlash.

It seemed the night would not be over soon...

Groggy was probably an understatement. Kagome felt like her tongue was permanently glued to the roof of her mouth and she felt pretty confident that she lacked any ability to move any part of her body. Of course, that wasn’t an option. Not for long anyway. Not if her bladder had anything to say about it.

Kagome groaned as she tried to roll over and push herself up, only to find a wall at her back. It was a very warm wall, an out of place wall, but an immovable one all the same.

Until it huffed and puffed and blew her down. A rumble vibrated through her when she stiffened in shock. “Awake now?” Kagome’s eyes went wide and she shrieked. “Oi, don’t do that! Hurts my ears, woman.”

“W-Woman? What the… Inuyasha?”

“Keh. Who else would it be?” he wanted to know. Still, he hadn’t budged from his spot at her back. “Wait… Do you not remember anything about yesterday?”

For the tiniest moment, Kagome considered lying and insisting she didn’t. But in those moments since she’d realized who it was behind her, she’d been flooded with visions of what their evening and night had consisted of. Well into the morning, actually…

Kagome felt her cheeks heat. “I-I remember.”

“Hm. Good. Then go pee and get dressed. I’ll make you…” He paused. “You like waffles or pancakes better?”

“Huh?”

“I’m feeling waffles. So unless you’re strongly opposed to them or something.” He peeled himself away and started getting up. “Who hates waffles though, amiright?” he muttered.

Kagome squeaked as she reached for the edge of the bed, an attempt to pull herself over going awry. What on earth was wrong with her? She felt like jelly! “Shit…” she hissed.

“What are you…” She could feel his gaze on her and she was pretty sure she flushed all the way down to her toes. “Are you stuck?” She was silent, unable to admit the truth. She swore she heard him chuckle but smother it. “I’m going to pick you up.”

“No.”

“Yes. Part of taking care of my esper is making sure she doesn’t piss the bed.”

“You are not funny!” she squealed as he rolled her over and into his arms, cradle carrying her into the bathroom and settling her on the stool. He waited until she had her balance before leaving her to her business, humming to himself as he left. “Arrogant, sonnuva…”

“I can hear you!” he almost singsonged from the hallway as he made his way to the stairs.

Kagome slumped over her knees, remaining in place until she could finally move her limbs voluntarily and with only minimal tingling.

This had to be a side effect of the intense guiding. And the compatibility, she insisted. Never in all the years since she’d awoken had she ever felt like… “I feel like rolled out dough,” she grumbled. Which was more positive than it sounded. There wasn’t an aching or tight muscle in her entire body right now. She couldn’t remember the last time she woke up without some small ache or a tight joint that didn’t like being moved right away.

She slipped the underwear Inuyasha had set aside for her over her ankles and up her calves, waiting until she was on her feet to pull them the rest of the way up. He had grabbed her a pullover bralette deal – did she know she owned this? – which was pretty practical given the situation. She would have to dig for clothes herself. Was he wearing anything when he went downstairs? Kagome wondered idly, scouring her memory. She honestly hadn’t taken the time to look, but now she kind of wished she had...

“You want your fruit?” Inuyasha called from the kitchen, startling her out of her daydream. Obviously she was taking longer than he liked, because she heard him coming up the stairs again before she even had the time to consider the question. “Kagome?”

“I’m coming!” Exasperated, she finally made the move to stand up… and almost immediately regretted it, her knees wobbling under her. The warm arm that wrapped around her waist had her feeling unsteady for another reason entirely. “Hey…”

“Sorry,” Inuyasha mumbled, letting her go and offering for her to hold his arm instead. She hesitated before accepting, palm feeling clammy on his forearm. He said nothing, taking her to the sink so she could use that for balance instead while she washed her hands, face, and brushed her teeth.

Inuyasha didn’t hover, per se, but he did keep one ear trained on her as he stood outside the door. “Aren’t you cooking?” she reminded him.

“Yea. But I also don’t feel like taking you in for a head injury if you fall in the bathroom.” Kagome rolled her eyes. “So uh… are you feeling sick or anything? Or just…”

“No.” Kagome flushed again, toothbrush hanging out of the side of her mouth. “Jus’ ike ai ah-scle ah hoo heax’t.”

Both ears flipped toward her this time. “What?”

She paused to take the brush out and spit in the sink. “Like my muscles are too relaxed. They’re… slow to respond and my legs feel like jelly.”

“Oh.” Kagome found the nerve to look at him and was shocked to see slight pinking of his cheeks and the barest grin on his lips. Is he… proud of himself or something? She frowned. The inuhanyou cleared his throat. “You want me to grab you clothes or…”

“Sure fine. Might as well dress me yourself at this point,” Kagome snapped. Golden eyes shot to her and the way his ears flipped around as he turned his head in surprise was actually kind of adorable. But she was annoyed with him.

She did not think he was cute. She was mad.

The esper did not expect Inuyasha to take her at face value, stepping into the bathroom to scoop her up all over again, plopping her on her bed so he could fish a pair of shorts and a shirt out of her dresser. He somehow found her most comfortably worn-in ones, tucked down at the bottom of the drawers. Was her scent stronger on those? It was kind of an awkward thing to consider, but it made the most sense.

He was careful of touching her overmuch as he put her legs through the shorts and helped her into the shirt. “I was kidding,” she murmured.

“I bet you were. Taking care of you is my job, though.” Kagome bit her lip, eyes falling shut at his soft words. “Oi. Not… Yes, like that, but also because you’re my partner.”

“P-Partner?”

“Yes.” His voice was firm, but not as firm as his fingers on her chin, forcing her to look at him. “You are my esper. My partner. We’re in this together, right?”

“We’re not bonded,” she felt the need to affirm, but her voice came out weak.

After their reading had been double and triple checked at that initial compatibility rating test, she had been warned not to bond her guide without their permission, that it was very easy to do so when there was such a high compatibility percentage. At the time, she’d been disgusted by the idea. When it was first brought up, she didn’t want a guide at all, let alone be bonded to one for life.

Inuyasha hummed, not letting her look away. “No. But that doesn’t mean we have to act like strangers.”

“A-After last night?! That’s not what strangers do!”

“Not without consent, no.” Kagome was speechless. She wasn’t sure what kind of response she had expected, but that hadn’t been it. “Kagome. That waffle’s about to burn.” The drastic change in subject threw her for a loop and it took her until she was sitting on one of the bar stools in the kitchen before she fully processed what he’d said. “Aw shit. Extra crunchy.” He made a face as he dropped the waffle onto a separate napkin. “Maybe put that in ice cream or something.”

Kagome perked up at the suggestion. “Ice cream?”

“You like it? What’s your favorite?” Their conversation became easier after that, chattering away about their favorite flavors, the ones they couldn’t stand. Kagome found herself talking more about her food preferences than she had to anyone in years. Inuyasha seemed to absorb it all, logging away the information for later. He does like to cook for me…

“What made you take up cooking? I didn’t know that was a guide-specific skill.”

“Isn’t. Most of the time anyway.” He shrugged as he munched on a piece of bacon. “In the field, you need to know how to throw something together, sometimes for a lot of people at once, otherwise you’ll be eating cold rations the whole time you’re inside a gate and no one really wants that.” He took a swig of the black coffee in his mug. “I’ve met a few espers who are happy to do it, but a lot of them are trained that it’s… not their responsibility.”

“So what… Guides are supposed to be housekeepers, nannies, and medical personnel?” Kagome shook her head. “That’s way too much to ask of any one person.”

Inuyasha gave her a lopsided smile. “You know, for being the top esper, like… ever? You’re pretty down to earth in a lot of ways.”

Kagome’s nose wrinkled and she pulled the forkful of waffle she’d been about to eat away from her mouth. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just what I said. You don’t think of guides as expendable, or like servants at your beck and call. A lot of espers think that way, ya know? That we’re a means to an end.” Kagome sadly knew exactly what he meant by that. “Still need to get you past the idea that I’m a slut, though.” Nearly choking on the waffle she’d just started to swallow, she gasped after coughing it out. “Shit. Sorry.”

Inuyasha was at her side in less than a beat, hovering with his hands over her to make sure she was breathing alright on her own, shoving her glass of water under her nose. Taking a few small sips, she was finally able to breathe a little more clearly. “Why would you say that?” she rasped.

He stiffened, his posture shifting from protective to guarded. “I was teasing.”

“No you weren’t.” His lips pressed together tightly, then released as he sighed. Inuyasha’s gaze shifted away from her as he seemed to think about how he wanted to respond. “I don’t think that of you.”

“Really?” Dark brows lowered sharply over golden eyes. “Definitely seemed like you thought so the other day.”

She scoffed in disbelief – and maybe a little because she was still choked up – then thought back to what he was referring to. She’d had some hard feelings about him being intimate with other espers then, she could admit at least that to herself, but she wouldn’t say she thought that about him. “I… I’m sorry. With… Everything….”

“What everything?” he asked, palms pressing down on the counter top on either side of his plate with enough force that the fork rattled on the plate. “What am I doing wrong by doing my job, Kagome?” She shrunk back from him without realizing it until he too backed off. “I don’t know how to make it better if I don’t know what’s wrong in the first place.”

“There’s… We already…” Kagome felt like it was getting harder to breathe, her heart contracting and expanding in her chest as a physical sensation that only increased the difficulty breathing.

“Fuck. Kagome, breathe. Your heart rate.” He looked like he wanted to grab hold of her, but he didn’t, fists curling on the marble so hard she heard his knuckles cracking. She was able to settle her breathing a little, but her heart was still racing. “We can’t keep playing this game, Kagome.” She swallowed, eyes fluttering as she tried to think of an escape that wasn’t literally running out of the room. He would be able to catch her anyway. If she told him? What then? For all his concern that he thought she saw him as promiscuous… What will he think of me?

Chapter Text

“Fuck… Kagome, breathe. Your heart rate.” Knowing it was through the roof was making his jump up too, which only served to make him feel more anxious than he already did. “We can’t keep playing this game, Kagome,” he snarled, brow furrowing with frustration as she flinched away from him. Part of him was furious that after what they’d been through so far, the connection they had obviously built, she would still keep such important things from him. Another part was deeply hurt that she didn’t trust him. Or if she did, it wasn’t enough.

Mostly, he knew he needed to rein in his response, no matter how upset it made him, because Kagome was the one struggling with trauma from… whatever had happened to her.

“I’m not saying you have to tell everyone. You don’t even have to tell me all the details if you don’t want to, but I need you to tell me who hurt you and how. I can’t protect you if I-”

“There’s nothing!” A grating sob left her. “There’s nothing to protect me from.”

Inuyasha felt his jaw pop as he clenched it too tightly. “Kagome, I’m not even looking at your numbers right now and I can tell you are terrified six ways from Sunday.” Despite her obvious fear, she was staying put, which he hadn’t entirely expected. Her furtive glances around the room a moment ago had him on edge, ready for her to take off. Now, she seemed glued to her seat. “What are you afraid of?”

The moment her gaze shifted, looking straight through him, he knew he was about to lose her. Gripping her shirt sleeves and nothing else, Inuyasha gave her a gentle shake, then pressed his lips softly to hers. Her breathing changed and her entire body stiffened until the guiding seemed to sink in, soothing her heart rate and calming her breathing. When she finally melted into him, he took a firmer hold of her around the middle and lifted her. A few minutes ago he would have anticipated thrashing and flailing to be put down, instead he was now met with a limp doll.

The couch sunk under their weight with Kagome in his lap, Inuyasha carefully rubbing her back and letting out only the faintest guiding so as not to upset her all over again. “Kagome…”

“My first guide was a woman.” Her voice shook, but still she spoke. “She only ever did handhold guiding, which was fine then. I didn’t need more than that most of the time anyway.” A shudder went through her. “But when I finished training and started going through gates, it was clear pretty quickly that hand contact guiding wouldn’t be anywhere near enough.”

Inuyasha nodded that he understood. He knew it had been years since she awakened and she had grown much, much, stronger, but there was no doubt from the beginning that Kagome was exceptional. It had to have been a hard shift to switch guides and learn to accept mucousal guiding from a stranger when she was brand new to gate missions too. With the kind of power Kagome was capable of, handhold guiding alone from one guide would never have been enough, but it took trust to accept that higher level of guiding. More than a few of his espers in the past had been fresh and he remembered how difficult it was as their guide.

“With my… My backlash didn’t really manifest like… like how it is now until after I was assigned a new guide.” He could hear her swallow, the effort to do so creating tension in her neck where he was currently resting his hand as she leaned into him. “He was nice, at first. He told me it was normal for espers to have strange urges with their backlashes. So I thought he had met others like me.”

“There probably are others, Kagome,” Inuyasha tried to soothe her.

“Maybe,” she conceded. “But I’ve never met or heard of one. You haven’t either. And… And he told me it was fine. But he would only guide me as far as kissing, then slipped me pills.”

“What?” Inuyasha huffed, aghast.

Lost in her memory now, Kagome didn’t even register his protest. “I didn’t realize how out of it my backlash and the pills made me. I would kinda wake up midway through my backlash sometimes and I hardly knew where I was, let alone how long I’d been there.” Now he could see why she was such a stickler about making it to her haven specifically and nowhere else when leaving a gate. Being in such a vulnerable state to begin with and then not being able to tell where you were?! “And then I started hallucinating. Or… that’s what I thought. That happens with delirium sometimes, you know?”

“Yes,” he agreed carefully. Inuyasha was getting the sinking feeling that what she was about to tell him had nothing to do with her delirium. Her hands had come up between them as they sat and were now gripping his shirt, her knuckles white. “Kagome, you can tell me anything. Really.”

“I…” She buried her nose in his shoulder. “I started hallucinating faces. Faces that weren’t him and the voices would get weird and distorted so everything sounded wrong. But sometimes I still saw him, so I thought it was just… me.” No longer just trembling, Kagome’s entire frame shuddered over and over. “But the faces were different and not at all familiar. Y-You usually dream familiar faces, right?” Her voice cracking had a growl rumbling in his chest. It took everything in Inuyasha to not dig his claws into her where he held her as his fury rose. He needed somewhere for his anger to go and there was just…

“Kagome?” Inuyasha bared his teeth over her head. “Was… Was your guide letting others guide you?” The full body flinch in response was answer enough. “Without your consent.”

“I didn’t even notice. Not at first.” She was full-on trembling against him and he could now feel how damp his shoulder was. He clutched her tighter to him, giving her a physical anchor. “He sat by and w-watched, or held my hand to guide at the same time. That’s why I saw more than one face sometimes. But I… I don’t think any of them were guides.” Inuyasha was glad for his iron stomach because otherwise he might have retched as nausea hit him. To treat any person that way… but to treat an esper in their backlash that way?! Not Kagome. Never Kagome. “When I figured it out, I told him I would report him to the guild and the Council.”

“Absolutely.” Except he knew full well that she hadn’t done that. Why?

“H-He told me that it would get out, about my backlash and th-that I was too much for any one guide to handle.” She hiccuped. “He has a recording of me begging for it. He said I begged for the others too. That he was just fulfilling my depraved demands. That it wasn’t for guiding...”

Inuyasha wasn’t sure of a time he’d felt this level of rage.

“Kagome,” he growled. She jerked at the sound of his voice, but didn’t let go of him. Good. Never let go. “You had every right to report this scumbag. Not only did he take advantage of your backlash, he broke the code of your esper-guide contract. No esper should be forced to receive guiding from an unknown guide without their permission or knowledge. That’s why they usually have teams that all know one another well.”

“But…”

“No. You… Kagome...” He leveraged her back slightly so she had to look up at him. Her face was splotched red and her eyes were swollen. “Especially if they weren’t guides… Kagome, you should never have been treated that way. You did nothing wrong. Nothing. He broke your trust, the rules, the law!” Inuyasha bit back a snarl. “You need to report him.”

“I can’t! He’ll tell everyone!”

“Tell everyone what? That he’s a criminal?!”

“That I’m a sl-” She cut herself off from even saying it, burying her face in his chest again and sobbing.

All at once, her extreme reaction to him using that word earlier made sense. Her difficulty processing that he had intimately guided multiple espers over his career. She saw it all through the lens of what had been done to her. How she had been treated like a plaything and then told she asked for it all. How she had been told she was disgusting for something she didn’t have any control over, no matter how hard she tried.

“If… If you had those urges and had knowingly consented to that ahead of time, it wouldn’t be wrong. People are allowed to have those kinds of urges.” She curled into a smaller ball. “But you didn’t ask for any of that.”

“I know,” she whispered hoarsely.

Inuyasha sighed, more to tame his own emotions than anything. “I can’t make you file a report, Kagome. I won’t.” He found his fingers running through her hair at the back of her head. He was once again stunned by how tiny this woman was with all that power packed inside. All that hurt too… “But if you decide you want to, I will stand with you.”

“I… It’s been years now.”

“You got a checkup after you… When you ended your contract?” She nodded. “And you put in a formal request for ending your contract and that’s when you stopped accepting a guide?” Another nod. “It’s not necessarily strong evidence, but it’s something. Did… did you tell anyone else?” Mentally he had his fingers crossed that she would admit to telling Sango and Miroku, because he was about to burst and tell her she needed to get statements from them immediately. The other evidence would be pretty weak, and statements alone wouldn’t help much, but together there might be a better chance.

“S-Sango knows.” Inuyasha nodded in relief.

“Good. That’s a good place to start.”

He didn’t want to move her too much, but he wanted to let her breathe a little easier, and scrunched like a tangled ball of twine in his lap was not going to do that. With only a moment’s hesitation, he hefted them both off of the couch, taking the few steps into his room. Kagome squeaked and hiccuped when he plopped them down on his futon, stretching them out without letting go of her for even a second.

It didn’t take nearly as long as he thought it might for her to fall asleep against him. She’d been like this after she pleaded with him not to let anyone else guide her that day. The emotional release was as exhausting as any battle for her. Her breathing was still a little uneven as she sniffled in her sleep, but at least her heart rate had come down and her levels were truly within normal ranges, not just “Kagome Normal.”

Inuyasha wished he’d known more, sooner, seen the signs earlier. But there was nothing he could do about that now. All he could do was his damnedest to protect and support her going forward.

“Thank you for telling me the truth, Kagome,” he whispered against the top of her head as she snoozed in his arms.

The chirp of the phone beside Sango made him flinch at first, but the incredulous look on her face made him pause. It was followed shortly by tears, which caused immediate worry, but the smile on her lips stopped that. She showed him the phone screen.

“She finally told him?” Miroku let out the sigh of all sighs, relief filling him. “Is she going to…”

“She hasn’t agreed to file a report yet. He told her he would support her no matter what she chose to do.” Sango squashed her pillow over her head as she scrunched up her face.

“Smart man. He knows pressuring her would only make it worse.” Rolling over and catching his wife around the middle, Miroku nuzzled into the middle of her back. She grunted but he could feel how much less tense she was. They were nowhere near the end of the road yet, but it was better. “Did you figure out what was going on with their watches? Was it both of them or just Kagome’s?”

Sango growled. “Both of them. Something made it so they weren’t syncing with one another and when they were, it was not keeping up with the changes in Kagome’s levels.” Miroku realized he’d really stepped in it. Nothing irritated his lovely wife quite like a problem she couldn’t solve. “I have the IT guys on it because it seems like some kind of software error, but we can’t figure out why it would have only affected Kagome and Inuyasha’s watches and not all of them across the board. The updates are sent out automatically.”

That gave him pause. “If… If someone wanted to target them – Kagome or Inuyasha – specifically, would that be possible?”

“It shouldn’t… be.” Sango rolled over, her brows pulled down in obvious thought. “Someone would have to have access to our system. The watches are updated remotely, but only when connected to our… I mean, that’s part of why they come in for regular check ups too. To update all that stuff.”

“So someone would have to be inside the building to do it?”

Miroku and Sango shared a look. That could spell some very, very, serious trouble if that was the case. For all their espers and guides. But the fact that Kagome and Inuyasha’s watches were the only ones that had shown any sort of malfunction was worrisome.

“First thing in the morning, I’ll look through any new guild hires,” he said with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Double check who is going through the information on the tech side of things, because you need to know you can trust them not to hide anything.”

“I’m putting Kohaku on this. Only him.”

“Love, that’s a lot of work…”

“I’ll push off all his other workload to other staff.” The phone was up again in her hands as she quickly messaged her little brother. “His esper has been off assignment for weeks now. She’s still recovering from having to heal Kagome.”

“Did they bond yet?” he wondered, wanting to lighten the conversation somewhere. “They’ve been dancing around it for over a year.”

“He worries about being her only guide when she’s needed gate-side so often. She wouldn’t be able to get guiding from anyone else if they bond. You know that.” Obviously, as a bonded guide, he knew that very well. Miroku supposed he had been very lucky that his esper was not the kind who went through gates. Not anymore, anyway. She was far too important for the guild research and development team to risk going through gates now.

What’s more, they had hopes of starting a family in the near future, something they couldn’t do if they were regularly going through gates.

“It must be hard.” Sango nodded slowly as she sent off her message and then set her phone aside. “I don’t know how we got through that period before we bonded. The jealousy was… blinding,” Miroku said with a long sigh.

“And here I was worried you were disappointed to be tied down to just one esper,” Sango teased lightly. It was an old joke at this point. Miroku’s nature before they met had very much aligned with his duty as a guide. He was not shy about offering guiding at any level to anyone that needed it. It was almost the best part of his job as a field guide at the time. It helped that he was fairly universally compatible with most espers, even more so than Inuyasha. Early in his career, it was perfect.

But when he met Sango, all of that just… faded away. They were highly compatible, above sixty percent right off the bat, but Sango was wary of him and his reputation. Not that he could blame her. Still, it wasn’t something he was, or felt he needed to be, ashamed of. While he had enjoyed it, probably more than others, he was still doing his job. A very necessary job. Especially then, when gates opened all the time and completely unpredictably.

Over months of working together, he and Sango were able to talk things out which allowed her to gain trust in him and he to learn what she needed so he could be the best and most devoted guide he could be for Sango and no one else. While being the kind of guide who could guide anyone had its own badge of pride, being a dedicated guide had given him a sense of purpose he hadn’t experienced before. Being responsible for Sango’s well being had flipped some sort of switch inside him, the need to protect her above all else was almost overwhelming.

When they were tested again for compatibility, it had shot up ten percent and it became clear that they would and could bond if they weren’t careful. Miroku had been over the moon, while Sango – unsurprisingly – had been much more cautious. It was then that Miroku learned that the esper coordinator at the guild was a stoic old bastard who didn’t like the idea of bonding at all because “no one did that in the old days” or “an esper will go rampant if they can’t get to their guide” and scared most espers off the idea.

As soon as he became the liaison between the guild and the Council, he’d made it a point to update the education materials and the people teaching them for both the esper and guides. Telling them not to bond was paramount to double dog daring more than a few to try it. They needed honest and complete information about it so they knew the risks and benefits, not just scare tactics.

“There is only one esper in all the worlds for me, and she’s in my arms,” he finally murmured, kissing Sango’s temple as she tried to settle down to sleep. She hummed something that might have involved the word love, but he didn’t make her repeat herself, just kissed her again and closed his eyes.

Tomorrow would be a busy day.

Kagome wasn’t trying to avoid Inuyasha. She really wasn’t. It was just… whenever he came upstairs, she needed the bathroom. Or she was sleeping. And when he went out for his check up, she had a mandatory training she needed to do on her tablet at home. The moment he stepped out for groceries, she only went down to grab the snack basket because it just so happened to be when she was hungry.

She wasn’t avoiding him.

Of course, when he popped back in and caught her trying to sneak up the stairs without greeting him, she could see why he would see it that way. Kagome was completely unprepared for him to take a flying leap and land on the stairs. “Uh… I just…” He stood a few steps ahead of her, arms over his chest and a scowl on his face. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Inuyasha licked his teeth in exasperation. “Whatcha doin’?” Kagome swallowed, looking down at the basket piled high in her hands. “Planning on holing up in your room until I have to leave again so you don’t have to look at me?” She opened her mouth to refute his accusation, but none of the words she was hoping for came out. Instead they were graced with a pathetic squeak of sound and not much else. “I get you might feel embarrassed, Kagome, but hiding from me is not the answer,” he told her sternly.

She knew he was right. He wasn’t the root of the problem. Nor was he the root of her embarrassment. Still, she kept replaying what a disaster she’d been in her head, how she’d made a mess of his shirt between the crying and stretching it out in her grip. How she’d passed out like a child in his arms after telling him the truth.

Facing all of that and him at the same time was… a lot.

His presence seemed to fight off a lot of that anxiety, though. Her chest felt less tight the closer he got until he was standing only one step above her. He still towered over her, the difference in their height only accentuated by the difference in elevation. “Take your snacks back down. Sit on the couch and watch a movie with me.”

Kagome almost dropped the basket in her hands. “Wh-What?”

“You heard me. Go.” He gestured toward the living room, shooing her back down the stairs. While she knew she was likely stronger than he was, in the right circumstances, Kagome was often a bit awed by how physically present he could be. It was like she couldn’t resist or ignore him because he was just so… there.

The couch squished under her and she felt a bit silly sitting in the middle of the big seat with a completely unnecessary basket-full of snacks in her lap. “What are you…” The basket was swept out of her hands and she reached for it reflexively, needing the security of something in her hands so she didn’t have to think about what the hell to do with them. Inuyasha replaced it with a pillow, set a glass of water on the table next to the snacks, and plopped himself next to her. “I thought you were going for groceries.”

“I know you did.” The television flickered on and he scrolled through several pages of random stuff before selecting an old black and white pirate movie. In French. She was pretty sure he didn’t speak French, and she certainly didn’t. So the movie wasn’t the important part… “Relax, Kagome.”

“I am relaxed.” He didn’t even bother responding, simply showing her the readout on his watch. She really hated how easy it was for him to read her. The watch was just proof he knew what he was talking about, not where he got the knowledge. She knew his nose was sensitive, but this was ridiculous. “You tricked me.”

“Hm. I said we needed groceries and we do. I never said I was going to get them right now.” Face twisting in a pout, she settled back against the couch and stared at the television. Reading the subtitles was a good distraction… for a minute. Inuyasha’s too big presence at her side pulled her from trying to follow the fairly simple plot. He was warm, but in a pleasant way, and it made her want to melt into him.

Can’t do that. He’s my guide, not my boy… She couldn’t even finish the thought. He had called her his partner, and obviously that word held weight to him. Weight that seemed bearable now, but could very easily become a burden down the line. Kagome chewed her thumbnail in thought, startling when Inuyasha’s large hand gently covered hers to bring it away from her mouth.

“You’re gonna hurt yourself.” His eyes were still on the television, so she wasn’t even sure how he’d noticed what she was doing, but it was clear the movie was not his main focus. “C’mere.” Too stunned to resist, she collapsed into his hold when he looped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her into his side.

Stiff as a board, it took her another several minutes before Kagome could actually relax enough to enjoy her new position. Inuyasha seemed nonchalant about the whole thing, but she could hear his heart pounding where she was leaning her head against his collarbone. For some reason, the fact that he was affected too made her feel a little better. She wasn’t the only one who felt nervous.

“I don’t feel any differently about you now, you know.”

Kagome needed several minutes to process what he’d said to her. Not differently than friendship? Than their contractual obligations as an esper-guide pair? Partner, was the term he’d used, but what did that really mean? Especially to him? Partners on a group project in school was a very different thing from partners in a business and wholly different than… than life partners.

But he didn’t want to be bonded to someone like her. Why would he? They hardly knew one another! Why am I even thinking about that? she wondered. It wasn’t like she wanted to be bonded to anyone. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if it was him, some tiny part of her whispered in the back of her mind. She flinched, the weight of Inuyasha’s eyes on her bringing her back to reality.

“That’s good,” she breathed, fighting hard not to ask how he felt about her that hadn’t changed.

“We’re in this together, right?”

“I guess so?” He squeezed her a little tighter. “Yes. Together.” He relaxed.

They both went quiet after that, focusing on the movie again, but it was impossible to miss the newfound comfortable feeling between them. Gone was the fear and embarrassment. Just warmth, strength, and… Trust .

Chapter Text

The chair under him squeaked as he leaned back, sighing wearily. Ruffling his hair with frustrated fingers, Kohaku tugged a little at the strands. It had been almost two weeks of working on this project and here he was, almost no better off than when he started. He’d eliminated a lot of potential avenues where the manipulation could have come from, but he still hadn’t identified where it did. It was driving him nuts.

His sister’s insistence on him finding the breech as soon as possible was not helping his stress level either. He understood how big of a deal it was that someone had managed to mess with Kagome’s watch and that of her partner, but it didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t finding anything. Looking through the logs to look for discrepancies, he was coming up empty.

His phone chimed, his brother-in-law’s name appearing on the screen from a text with only a key and lock image in it. Quickly changing several settings, Kohaku was prepared when it rang a moment later. “Yea?”

Miroku said only several dates, a name, and to pull up footage. No other instructions. Kohaku sat and stared at the screen of his phone in silence for a long moment as he processed the limited data he had to work with. It was definitely something, possibly the key puzzle piece, he just wouldn’t know for sure until he tried to plug it in with the pieces he’d already figured out.

His finger flew over the keys, the tock and clack as he typed reassuring in its own way. He pulled up the security footage from the dates he was given, then pulled up the personnel file on the person on another monitor. He scanned the basic information, then looked closely at his face. “Muso? He’s an esper…” Kohaku hummed to himself as he allowed the footage to run in a modified fast forward, just fast enough so he wasn’t watching it for hours and slow enough he could still pick out faces. The first date, there was nothing abnormal about the man’s patterns. He came in for a checkup, which was scheduled, and then left shortly after. The next two dates, he entered the building, could be seen entering the administrative office, and then going to the training center.

After several hours of reviewing the video, it was obvious that there had been a shift in the man’s behavior. But more than that, when Kohaku dug through his user data, it flagged for a password change and a request for a new email address to be used. That in and of itself wasn’t suspicious, but when added to the fact that after the last date Miroku sent him Muso had not used his access card anywhere in the guild building at all, there was definitely something wrong.

It was like he’d disappeared.

He was a healer, and so it was odd that he hadn’t been called in for any missions either. Kohaku followed that lead and found a record of a request for non-duty for an indeterminate time. Normally, if an esper was off duty for a prolonged period, it was due to injury, but Muso’s leave request had been approved without an openly declared rationale. No documentation. Meaning no one knew why he was out and his access was still active when he decided to come back.

Phone still in “lock down” mode, he called his sister.

“I need you to come look at something. Bring your phone.” She didn’t even answer, the call clicking off and silence meeting his ear. Shortly thereafter Kohaku was unsurprised to hear a distinct knock on his office door. He was still cautious about opening it, but Sango was the only one on the other side.

“What did you find?”

“This guy?” He gestured to one monitor screen. “He’s on leave, supposedly, but he made a few odd moves, last of which was requesting a leave of absence without reason.” Nodding thoughtfully, Sango stared at the screen, then down at her phone, pulling up some information. “But Miroku knew that part already. What I found was here and here,” he pointed to entries on the screen, “where he had to request a password change all of sudden. Claimed he made one during a delirium period and then couldn’t remember it. And he requested use of a new email.”

“That is unusual. What’s he been up to…”

“Nothing. Not here anyway. After the request for leave, he hasn’t been anywhere near this building.”

“Not even for a checkup?” his sister asked incredulously.

“Nope.” Kohaku flipped to the personnel data. “And hasn’t sent in anything from a private clinic either.” Which should have been a huge red flag, but somehow hadn’t triggered anything. No esper could go that long without submitting readings of their levels, even if they were not actively on duty. The risk of someone rampaging was too high and too dangerous to the general public.

“What about tampering?”

“I haven’t found anything specific yet, but I hardly knew where to look before. If this guy is the source, then I can at least narrow it down and start looking with a fine toothed comb.” Sango sighed deeply.

“Thank you, for doing this.” Kohaku shrugged. “I have Shippou working on the security aspect to prevent anything else from happening. I couldn’t tell him all the details, but he understood.”

“Good. Fox knows what he’s doing.” Kohaku turned his chair, taking his sister’s shoulder in his hand. Even as esper and guide, there was no exchange of energy since Sango was bonded, but he knew by the way her weight shifted that she felt better. “We’ll figure it out, Sis. And you already got them new watches. You caught it before anything really bad happened.”

“If Inuyasha hadn’t agreed to try testing and Kagome had never accepted him as her assigned guide…”

“Whoa! They’re only contracted?” Kohaku exclaimed. “Everyone assumes they’re bonded. The way people talk, they’re like… The power couple.”

Sango snorted. “Don’t let Kagome hear you say that. She’d go into orbit.” The siblings shared a light chuckle at their friend’s expense. “Maybe someday. They’re different lately. He’s like a mother hen about her numbers and she’s pretty protective of him too.” Stretching her arms above her head, his sister groaned. “And you’re one to talk anyway. How long have you left Rin on read about bonding, hm?” She lightly punched his shoulder and Kohaku flinched.

“When the time is right…” was all he could come up with. “Get outta here before someone wonders what you’re doing down in this wing.” Hand waving him off, Sango made her way to the door, checking through a crack in the door before heading out.

The hum of the CPU fans became the loudest thing in the room once more and Kohaku sagged in his chair for a moment before getting back to it. The mole wasn’t going to find itself, that was for sure.

The whole smell of the place bothered him. It wasn’t unheard of for a world to have highly distinct smells that were difficult for his nose. Anything with sulfuric scents, for one. But this was different. It wasn’t the world itself that smelled, but something in it that didn’t belong there either.

“Do you want a mask?”

“Huh?”

Kagome gave him a deadpan look. “You’re completely distracted by something you’re smelling, aren’t you?” Inuyasha blinked. How the hell did she know that? “You’re making that face. The one where you look like you might punch something and your nose is all wrinkled.” Oh. He hadn’t realized he was so obvious about it. Of course, Kagome had also gotten pretty good at reading him over the last several weeks.

They were both on edge, though they hadn’t spoken about it, since the moment they were informed that this was a large gate mission with multiple guilds involved. Kagome was being sent in last minute because something had gone very wrong and additional help was being requested. Miroku had done everything he could to get the personnel information for them ahead of leaving, but there just wasn’t enough time nor was there that kind of cooperation from all the guilds. The Council only had so much control over individual guilds, and disclosing all assigned personnel for a gate mission was not one of their mandates.

A vague description of the scumbag guide was the most Inuyasha was able to get out of Kagome over several days, but he worried he wouldn’t notice in time if he happened to be there. She admitted to not knowing where, or even if, he was still active as a guide.

Inuyasha felt like he was armed and ready but, without a target, he was useless.

A sneeze nearly took him out and he growled while rubbing his nose. “Oh for…” Kagome snorted, coming over and more or less forcing a mask over his head so she could pull it up over his nose and mouth. “You’re not going to be any good if you’re sneezing the whole time,” she scolded while pulling his hair free from the back of his neck.

He was struck by the quiet intimacy of the gesture. It was not something Kagome would have done a few weeks ago. Even a month ago she was still upset about him going through gates with her at all. Though, him getting injured hadn’t helped his case all that much. But here they were, going through gates together as a team, like they were supposed to be doing.

“I got it, I got it,” Inuyasha grumbled, playfully swatting her hands away from his head and adjusting the fabric up over his nose more securely. As annoyed as he was that he needed it, he could admit that it was helping. The fact that it had been in with Kagome’s things meant he was mostly getting a whiff of her at the moment, which wasn’t so bad either. It was a little distracting at first, if he was honest, but he was able to push that aside and focus on their mission. “Report says the stranded team is this way,” he paused to point in the distance, “but their camp is this way.” The opposite direction, of course. “Do we need supplies before…”

“No. I don’t want to run into the other guilds if we don’t have to.”

“Kagome, we’re supposed to check in with them.” He tried not to snicker at the pout on her face. As adorable as he thought it was, he knew it was with relatively good reason. “I will comm in and see who responds back. They should be here already.” Inuyasha stepped aside at her nod of acknowledgment, pressing on his watch and putting in the command to call into the frequency for the joint mission. He was met with silence at first, then a woman’s voice acknowledging his announcement of their arrival.

“Esper Higurashi? Wow!” Inuyasha didn’t miss Kagome’s flinch out of the corner of his eye. Aside from the complications of working with other espers in the vicinity with her extreme power, she hated how her name was said like she was some kind of celebrity… He couldn’t blame her. What’s more, he noted the faintly sarcastic tone in the woman’s voice.

“We plan to head toward the stranded team.”

“Not gonna wait for directions? We couldn’t get past the creatures there. Some kind of giant bugs or something. Had to retreat since none of us could get guiding.” He scowled. From what he’d read they seemed to be arachnids of some kind, not bugs, which potentially meant webs. And none of them could get guiding from the field guides? That didn’t seem right. “They aren’t affected by fire or wind though, so be careful.”

With a sigh, he pressed his fingers to his temple as he tried to think of what to do next. Pyrokinesis was not Kagome’s main strength anyway, but it was worrisome that they were not affected by it.

“What’s wrong?” Kagome’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He explained the situation, and the fact that the other guild didn’t seem to be jumping into action. “We’ll have to see what we see when we get there,” she said with a shrug. For all her anxiousness before, she seemed calm now. “You want me to carry you?”

“No!” Inuyasha made a face, taking her hand despite his refusal to keep her from flying off without him. Not only because he didn’t want her using her power unnecessarily, but also to keep her close. She might be acting calm, but she’s not. I can tell. The last thing they needed was Kagome going off half-cocked because she was upset. Mistakes where she… where they got hurt were not an option. “Let’s think through this.”

He laid out all the information. A group of guides separated from their espers. Unable to get past the spiders – for lack of another term – in either direction. It was too urgent of a situation for them to get samples of anything, so there was no way to know if the spiders themselves, or anything else about them, had special qualities that were making them so difficult to handle.

When they got closer, they could see several small groups of espers and guides around a self-imposed perimeter. Large boulders stood tall between them and what seemed to be the location of the trapped team. Why not chuck the boulder… “Oh.”

It quickly became evident that the reason they couldn’t break through the webbing shielding the area was that multiple people had been stuck to the webs, creating an impossible situation. Try to break through the webs with the boulders, risk killing any one of the guides. So they weren’t just stranded or trapped… they were being used as a shield and, more than likely, food if not rescued soon. “Smart spiders,” Kagome breathed somewhere between awe and fear. “And huge, too.”

She used his grip on her hand to lift him along with her when she took off, floating almost effortlessly despite his added weight. “You gonna drop me in there?”

“Hm. That is an idea. But no.” She brought him down beside the other guides and stood on top of one of the boulders. “Anyone able to create an arrow or something similar?” There were some mumbles but no one jumped up to volunteer. Inuyasha caught on to her plan and started setting those without the right type of powers to using their utility knives and cutting projectiles. “If you don’t have great precision, aim only for the spiders,” Kagome explained sternly to the few espers with strong enough kinetic power to move the projectiles being shaped.

“Are you sure about this?” Inuyasha asked as he handed over several of the crude arrows they’d made. Kagome’s face was stony, a curt nod her only response. “Alright. You four, standby in case your espers need you. Espers, you need to be ready to go in there and grab…”

“Who put you in charge?” one of the guides piped in. “You just show up here and…”

“Shut up. Don’t you know who they are?” another one hissed. “That’s Higurashi and Taisho. They’re like… the strongest guide/esper pair ever.” The first guide’s eyes went wide. “They never fail a gate mission, so just shut up and listen.”

“Now, as I was saying, be ready to grab the guides. Anyone not have the speed needed?” One esper raised their hand. “Healing?” He nodded. “Great. Probably going to need you ready to go too.” His nod was lazy, as if he didn’t really care either way. Who the hell are these other guilds keeping on their teams? Inuyasha wondered with a tsk. Luckily the mask mostly hid his face and thus his displeasure. Another benefit besides muffling the smell that had been irritating him so much.

“Here we go,” Kagome called as she picked up several smaller rocks, preparing to hurdle them at the front of the spider den to draw them out of hiding. The vibration on the ground and the webs was enough to bring them to the front, but they stuck close to the webbing, making it difficult to get a clean shot on them without risking the trapped humans. Kagome hissed in frustration when her first shot hit the mark, but mostly skidded off the head. “More force!” she called. “They have exoskeletons like a beetle or something.” Several of the others just blinked, obviously having no clue what she was talking about.

“You have to stab them like a tin can,” Inuyasha roared. He brought several more projectiles up to Kagome, giving her guiding with a hand to her lower back for just a brief moment. Her eyes, still dark, flicked to him with gratitude shining in them, and it was enough to make his heart flutter. Keep it together, idiot.

Another volley proved more successful this time, one of the other espers accidentally discovering that – like beetles as well – the underside of the spiders was much more vulnerable. With this new knowledge, it became the new plan that Kagome would do what she could to flip the spiders over while the others used the projectiles. She was the only one strong enough at that distance – probably at any distance – so it was up to her.

The spiders not out in front of the den caught on fairly quickly that going out meant certain death and retreated to the rear into what looked like a giant thorny thicket. “Now! Go!”

Supplied with longer poles and their knives, the faster espers took off toward the webs. Inuyasha gave Kagome one last pass of guiding, a brush down her arm, just before taking off after them himself. He heard her sound of protest but he was already on his way. Short of yanking him back with her power, she would have to let him go. Trust me, Kagome.

She was struggling. Stay put and let Inuyasha run into danger or go after him and leave the other guides and healing esper vulnerable? Neither option was a great one. Her whole body pulsed with the need to make sure Inuyasha was safe, but right now she had to trust him.

And that was terrifying.

Figuring out how to trust Inuyasha had to be one of the most anxiety-inducing things she had ever done. Not because it was scary itself, but because she had to keep working at it. She couldn’t just give up and hide from it like she’d been able to do with so many things before. She had to confront it, acknowledge that it made her afraid, and then… do it anyway.

“You better come back here, idiot,” she murmured, mentally grabbing another spider by its legs and yanking them out from under it so she could then send her few remaining arrows into the tender underside.

She was once again reminded that these creatures had probably been minding their own business, simply living in their environment, hunting their usual prey which did not include humanoids. But the gate opening had probably drawn them in, the activity of the team just inside the gate attracting their attention. To a spider the size of a small bus, humans probably looked like pretty decent meals.

“You feel bad for these things?” The lone remaining esper’s voice dragged her out of her concentration. “They’re just violent beasts.”

“People like to say that about a lot of things they don’t understand,” she replied softly, her voice sounding cold even in her own ears. “Us Awakened included.” She didn’t have the energy to explain what they suspected about the gates and their effects on the creatures living on the other side of them. She needed to watch her guide’s back.

So focused on Inuyasha’s form in the distance as he helped cut people down from the webs, she missed the shudder that went through the others present. She didn’t know how brightly silver her eyes were. A trait fairly unique to S grade or higher espers like her. Not that there were many.

The espers returning with guides in their arms were careful as they set them down. “They’re alive,” one of them reported, “but they’re not in good shape.” Kagome nodded, still waiting for Inuyasha to come back. She pinned another spider to the ground, pulling a pair of the thicket limbs down and caging it in. Watching him leap with one last guide over his shoulder, Kagome was struck with how graceful and powerful he was in his own right. She forgot that a lot, stuck on how much stronger than him she could be.

Maybe I like it. You ever think of that?

Kagome flushed as they made eye contact, the mutual need to check on one another too strong to ignore. Why am I thinking about that right now?

The thump of Inuyasha hitting the ground beside them and then setting down his charge brought her back to the present and Kagome turned to face the group. Webbing was still being pulled from the guides’ arms and legs to allow them free movement, though only one of them was even vaguely alert.

He sat up, struggling to yank the web from his head and face. The esper who had stayed back knelt down, speaking to him as he helped remove the sticky residue.

Kagome wasn’t sure when she moved, but she did know the moment she felt the soothing sensation of Inuyasha’s guiding trying to break through the sudden heat of her entire being. It wasn’t her levels – yet anyway – and it wasn’t her backlash. It was rage. “You.”

The red eyes that lifted to hers, obviously surprised, made her flinch. “Kagome.” That voice. Those eyes. That face. She felt her stomach try to jump into her chest and then sink right back down. His attention flickered to Inuyasha at her side for a moment, then back to her. A slow, lazy, grin slid onto his lips.

Kagome felt sick.

“Long time, no see.” She lunged forward but was stopped by Inuyasha’s firm hold around her waist. He was practically dumping guiding into her and she needed him to stop. She couldn’t risk any signs of her backlash here. Not now. Not in front of him of all people! “Got yourself a loyal dog, I hear.”

“Back off, Guide.”

“Oh… Do you not know who I am then?” He stood with the help of his esper, pulling the last of the web free of his long dark wavy hair. His red eyes shone with malicious pride. “Kagome and I have a history.”

Inuyasha stiffening at her side caught her attention at the same moment his guiding stopped. Did the reminder of what she’d done… No, he’s not rejecting me, she had to harshly remind herself. He was still holding to her just as tightly. This was the time she needed to trust him almost more than any other.

“As quick to anger as they said.” Naraku’s voice oozed with condescension. “Amazing that you can handle a high level esper like that when you’re only an A level guide yourself.” The other guides and espers all looked increasingly uncomfortable. “And a half-breed at that.”

The snarl that reverberated in the space between them came not from the inuhanyou, but his esper.

“Don’t you ever, ever, speak to him like that,” Kagome growled.

“Kagome,” Inuyasha whispered, pulling her into his chest and pulling his mask down enough to press his nose and mouth to the side of her face. It was enough bare skin contact to bring her down a notch, but nowhere near enough to calm her. “Let’s get them to the gate and then go home,” he breathed against her ear.

“So good to see you again, Kagome. I do hope it won’t be so long again.” A hand in his pulled his attention away just long enough to break the tension so the rest of the teams felt they could breathe, lifting the guides who couldn’t move on their own and heading back toward the camp. Kagome put all her focus into helping carry guides and keeping her distance from Naraku and his esper. Inuyasha carried another one and made sure he was blocking the line of sight the whole way.

“Kagome, I’m right here,” Inuyasha kept murmuring to her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

She wasn’t sure why he felt the need to say it – maybe as much for himself as for her – but it happened to be exactly what she needed to hear.

Chapter Text

It was dark now. The haven was completely shut up and locked tight. Even with Kagome going through all the procedures in front of him, Inuyasha had still gone through them a second time himself. It gave him a little more peace of mind, but it had allowed Kagome to feel secure enough to sleep, which was the most important piece.

Kagome moved twice after her contract was terminated with Naraku. Still, she worried he’d found out where she was. Inuyasha felt that today’s encounter had been incidental, at least somewhat. The guide’s scent – the source of the stench he didn’t like, he discovered – reflected shock when he’d pulled clear of the webbing and saw Kagome. It quickly shifted to something dark and delighted upon seeing her distress.

Inuyasha couldn’t fathom feeling pleasure at the upset of his esper, former or present. But the thought of anyone being pleased by Kagome’s fear and pain was… He had to swallow back the growl that started in his chest. The last thing he wanted to do was wake her after she finally fell asleep in his arms.

Nose lightly pressing into her neck, he sighed.

Her backlash had been desperate in a way he hadn’t experienced with her before. Running hot as always, and needing release, she was still somehow avoidant of his touch. Needy and pushing at the same time. It made him feel sick.

Was that how it was? Had she been so desperate to relieve her symptoms while pushing away the faces she thought she was hallucinating because they frightened her? Even if she didn’t always remember everything afterward, she had to have been afraid in the moment. “I’m here, Kagome. It’s me, Inuyasha,” he’d found himself whispering to her over and over. It helped a little, but he couldn’t miss the great gasping sobs and the tears trailing from the corners of her eyes. Or the way she tried to hide her face from him.

Once she’d come back to herself, she was limp, but aware. She let him take her into the shower, which was new, and didn’t fight him dressing her. Even more surprising was the way she clung to him and more or less forced him to curl around her, the king mattress in her room much better than his futon. Stroking through her wet hair with his fingers, lightly guiding through the contact of his mouth to her forehead, she sniffled and whimpered for a long while before finally succumbing to sleep.

Now he was left in the silence and dark, her warm frame tucked against his chest and her soft breathing the only thing in his ears. Kagome trusts me, he reminded himself. She wouldn’t be there in his arms if that wasn’t the case. Still, her reaction earlier had bothered him. Not because his feelings were hurt, but because he couldn’t seem to get through to her. More than once he’d been tempted to bite her to catch her attention, but could only imagine how terrifying that might feel in the midst of her backlash with an anxiety attack on top of it.

But if they were bonded… If she was tied to him through an esper-guide bond and with his youki, maybe she would always know it was him, no matter what.

Golden eyes clenching closed, he tried to push that thought away.

Kagome was nowhere near ready for that kind of commitment. What’s more, Naraku was at least a little right. Inuyasha was only an A level guide. How could he possibly expect to be enough for an S+ level esper? Especially one off of the medications and who had untold potential? As rare as S level espers were, S level guides were even more so. He could count on just one hand the S level guides he’d ever heard of and most of them were abroad.

I’m not giving up, he scolded himself, chewing his lip to hold in the sigh of frustration and worry. There had to be a way that he could be the guide Kagome needed. Training, hypnosis, drugs… It didn’t matter, he’d try it.

Making a mental note to contact Sango in the morning, Inuyasha forced himself to relax so he could sleep. Kagome would need him on top of his game tomorrow.

Exhaustion seemed to be following her around the last couple of days. Going into Miroku’s office to give her report about the near-altercation inside the gate, she’d been asked a million questions, all while separated from Inuyasha to make sure they weren’t just agreeing with one another. Not that they had anything to lie about, per se, but her losing her temper had been a shock to many. Without context, it probably looked like she’d flown off the handle without provocation.

Like maybe she wasn’t being guided properly and could rampage.

It had taken her a full day to work up the strength to finally give her official report about how Naraku treated her to the Council and the head of the guild. It was necessary to support her behavior inside the gate, but it still felt terrifying to do. Inuyasha was allowed to sit in with her for that piece, at least. Since he didn’t even know her then, let alone Naraku, he couldn’t influence her account other than by providing guiding to help her maintain her heart rate.

When all was said and done, she was ready to collapse even with the consistent guiding. Inuyasha was only just barely kept from carrying her out in his arms. She could tell how badly he wanted to do just that, but Kagome felt like she needed to maintain her pride at least long enough to get out of the building and into the transport.

Inside was a completely different matter.

Strong arms curled around her entirely as had become their custom when she needed the extra comfort of something physically holding her together so she didn’t feel like she was flying apart into tiny little pieces. Inuyasha’s chest vibrated with a low, soft, rumble in an attempt to soothe her. It helped, a little, but more than that was the soft press of his nose to her forehead as he held her, occasionally murmuring that he was there with her.

Kagome was too tired to cry now. She felt like a towel that had been completely wrung out, no moisture left in her to actually get out at this point. More than that, she felt lifeless. Like all her energy had been sucked out of her. Inuyasha seemed to have noticed it as well, murmuring about the food he planned to make her when they got home. She had no appetite at all, but she appreciated the sentiment behind it.

He’s really something.

And, at least for now, he was hers. Maybe not in any capacity outside of their contract. Well… and the friendship they’d developed. But other than that, he didn’t belong to her any more than Sango did. Which was not at all. Especially since she was bonded.

That word had been popping up a lot lately.

Other people talking about it, in a movie they watched the other night, her own head… Kagome felt like she was hearing it everywhere. Was it just that she’d so staunchly ignored it before? She had been part of both types of classes for espers, where bonding was avidly touted as dangerous or was treated with cautious respect. Before now she had never been in a position to even contemplate it. Even as a thought exercise.

Bonding was not for people like her.

Except… Who were “people like her,” exactly? Kagome found herself defining her worth and her ability to interact with others based on some kind of unknown criteria. Criteria that seemed to have disappeared a few at a time since meeting Inuyasha, and even more so since she’d confessed her past to him. Hearing him tell her it wasn’t her fault, that she hadn’t done anything wrong, had crumbled a huge piece of the wall she tried to maintain between herself and others.

She couldn’t deny that Inuyasha was the only one she felt comfortable letting that wall down for, and the only one she felt could be trusted to see her more vulnerable side. But that dependence on him was scaring her more with each day. What if he decided she was exhausting – she knew she was – and decided to end their contract? There was no denying now that guiding was far better for her overall health and her levels than use of the pills had ever been. It would be extremely difficult to convince the guild or the Council that she didn’t need a guide. The numbers didn’t lie.

And Miroku had made it sound like they would be putting additional measures in place to protect both espers and guides going forward. He made it sound like there were other cases, not necessarily the same as hers, but similar enough to merit looking at the systems currently meant to keep guides and espers safe from potential abuse or extortion. After her testimony, Miroku had pulled her aside to thank her for finally coming forward, acknowledging how hard it had to have been for her. He mentioned that it would help their efforts immensely. She’d hardly had the strength to respond, swept away by Inuyasha’s firm hold around her waist hardly a moment later.

Now they were almost to her haven, she was still cocooned in Inuyasha’s hold, and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to muster the energy to stand once they got there. “You asleep?” She groaned, shaking her head a little. “You can, you know. I’ll get you inside once we’re home.”

Home. He calls it home like it’s his too.

Were it almost anyone else, she would have probably been annoyed or frustrated with the easy familiarity. The encroachment on her space. Yet with Inuyasha it felt right for him to be there. His presence had become normal and expected in her everyday.

But what about when he’s ready to move on?

“Kagome? We’re home. I’m gonna lift you, alright?” She nodded, desperately trying to hold in her tears. Inuyasha’s arms tightened around her and she got the feeling he knew anyway. He waited until they were inside, dropping his backpack to the floor, then scooped her up against him, palm cradling her head so her face was buried in his neck. “I got you. Cry if you need to.”

“N-No.” Even as she tried to refuse his permission, it set loose the dam inside her no matter how hard she tried to hold it back. It was like trying to put her hands over the individual cracks and more kept appearing. “Inu…” Kagome gasped, whimpered, choked.

Inuyasha's arms stayed firm around her, one under her thigh to keep her against him, the hand at the back of her head still gentle. Feeling the lope of his stride as he took her upstairs was lulling, though not enough to calm her down. There were no hesitation in his movements as he sat on the edge of the bed. He let go of her leg only enough to scoot himself back to the headboard, her body still draped over him. Much as Kagome wanted to show him how strong she could be, to pull herself together and stop blubbering, she was too tired, too drained, and somehow too relieved to have finally told the truth to stop.

It might have been minutes as far as she could tell, but the change in the light through the windows told her it had been at least a few hours. When she finally felt herself take a deep breath and blow it out without more tears, Kagome wasn’t sure what to do. Eyes nearly swollen shut, she couldn’t even try to see what Inuyasha was doing or feeling.

Nor did she get the chance as she was suddenly aloft and being carried once more. “Wha…” she croaked.

The sound of the sink running caught her attention just as she was set down on the cool counter. Inuyasha only let her go for a moment and was back with a cold wet washcloth over her eyes. “Leave that on for now. You look like you got stung.”

“H-Hey!” She felt his chuckle more than she heard it.

“Comfy clothes, couch, udon.”

“Huh?” Without responding, he lifted her up again and took her back into her room. He tutted at her about keeping the cloth on her eyes even as he fought her out of her clothes and into her pajamas. Kagome could only sigh as he hauled her up once more, despite her protests, and carried her down the stairs. “You would think my legs are broken with how much you carry me,” she rasped at him, clearing her throat.

“Let me, ok?”

“Why?” she breathed as he settled her on the couch, placing a blanket over her lap.

His silence was heavy, but she waited, wanting to know how he would explain himself. “It makes me feel like I’m actually helping instead of just making you feel worse.” That felt even heavier than the silence had. “Now, do you want just chicken broth, or curry?”

“Y-You hate curry,” she murmured, finally taking the cloth from her face. Eyes bleary until she blinked them clear, she couldn’t see his face before he turned away from her. But she did noticed that his ears were swiveled back and laid flat. What was he thinking that would make him react that way?

“I can make it mild enough for myself and add the spice you like to yours if that’s what you want.” He was already pulling things out of cupboards and putting pans on the stove. He stiffened when she padded up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her nose into the middle of his back.

The soft warmth of his hand covering hers made her squeeze a little tighter.

“Thank you, Inuyasha.”

He said nothing, simply lacing his fingers with hers until she slipped away to the couch, leaving him to cook for her.

Inuyasha is… amazing.

He supposed this was part of being assigned to a high level esper. Usually, each country handled the gates that appeared within their own boundaries. Once in a while, there was a gate too large for a single S level to handle, even with several A levels in tow. That was when others were asked to help. Inuyasha knew that Kagome had been sent on several such missions in the past. He couldn’t imagine what she did then, no guide with her to keep her safe, or the one guide who did anything but. Now she was in good hands.

Still, he worried. Packing to leave, she had to be reminded several times what to bring, and he had to insist she leave packing all medications to him. He didn’t want to risk missing anything in their backlash kit, but he also felt like she might sneak something in there he wasn’t expecting.

He hated being suspicious of her. It was the worst feeling. But her odd behavior made him think she was going into autopilot and Pre-Inuyasha Kagome would have needed a lot of guiding pills and sedatives. He could see her drifting into that pattern without even realizing she was doing it. He caught her packing snacks by just dumping them into her backpack on top of everything else and that was the last straw

“Kagome, let me, alright? I want you to get your passport out and put it in that travel pouch Sango gave you.” It had her ID that gave her type and rank as well as a normal driver’s license in it already. He’d never seen her drive, but considering when she awakened, it made sense that she would have learned before then like any typical teenager in this part of the world. She had to rely on the automated transports because she was usually on the verge of delirium or her backlash was about to hit and she couldn’t drive like that.

He was a little shocked by how easily she followed his directions, no argument, not even an eye roll. Sliding his phone out of his pocket, he texted Sango. Not sure Kagome should go on this mission. Something’s… off. The esper was quicker to respond than he’s expected, asking what he noticed. He gave a very abbreviated report, then waited, gaze flicking to where Kagome was pacing on the banister of the stairs like it was a tightrope. He messaged that too.

Let her take a sedative while you travel. Usually she was alone, so she couldn’t.

Intentionally sedate her?!

Yes. She’ll be clearer headed if she sleeps and you can give her guiding while you travel.

Why did he feel like he was being asked to carefully transport a nuclear weapon?

Stretching resulted in joints popping. Not in her usual painful manner, but still a little stiff. Kagome hadn’t had to travel long distances very much, and it had been a while, but this was the first time she’d not been a thin wire of stress ready to snap at the slightest provocation upon arrival. It was hard enough when she had to travel abroad, had been worse still when she had to do it alone, even worse the one time when Naraku had been with her… But with Inuyasha beside her – and the light sedative – she’d been able to pleasantly doze the whole way.

The hanyou at her side popped his neck, but seemed otherwise unfazed. “You alright? Groggy?” Kagome shook her head. “Good. I was a little worried.”

Of course you were, Kagome thought. Sango teased about him being a mother hen, but she had no idea the extent to which Inuyasha worried over her.

Inuyasha’s phone pinged as soon as he turned it back on. “The fu…” He growled as he pulled it back out of his pocket, looking at the screen with a scowl. “Shit.”

“What’s wrong?” Kagome was on his elbow in a breath. “What happened?”

“They called Naraku in for questioning. They… They brought in Kanna.”

“Wait… The little girl?”

“She’s almost twenty now, but yea.”

“Can’t she… Can’t she read memories?”

Inuyasha chewed his lip a moment. “That’s what they say.” Inuyasha frowned again, but didn’t say anything for a long while, walking through the small airport terminal with Kagome pinching his jacket sleeve as they went. “At least they’re taking what you reported seriously.”

Kagome could feel that he had a lot more to say on the matter, but didn’t seem to have the words quite yet. She could be patient, to a point, but sooner rather than later, she was going to want to know what had his dark brows furrowing like that.

“Inuyasha?” His head popped up at the unknown voice, turning his head with his ears twitching.“It is you!” That part she didn’t understand, but she thought it might be French. She hadn’t studied it since school, many years before, and she didn’t have Sango’s skill for pattern recognition or interpreting information that made learning new languages much much easier.

An older woman with very long ark hair pulled into a loose braid strode across the seating area they were about to pass through, heading straight for them. She had a wide smile on her face and only had eyes for Inuyasha. Kagome couldn’t help the tiniest bubble of territorial irritation. He was hers. Her guide. Her friend. Her...

“Mom? What…” He switched into French, leaving Kagome in the dark. His mother?! Looking at her again, she could see the shape of Inuyasha’s eyes and the curve of his lips in her face. She was lovely. “Mom, this is Kagome Higurashi. My esper. Kagome, this is my mother. Izayoi Taisho.”

“Oh goodness. I’m sorry for not thinking about the language barrier.” There was a slight lilt to her speech, a tad rusty, showing she had been mostly speaking French for some time. “Of course I know who you are.” She reached out her hand to greet Kagome in a friendly way. Both women were startled when Inuyasha’s hand blocked the connection before Kagome even had the chance to flinch away. “Inuyasha?”

“S-Sorry, Mom.” He softly spoke French and Kagome could pretty well imagine what he was trying to explain to her. My esper doesn’t like to be touched. She’s afraid of people. She… “They’re bonded, so it shouldn’t bother you. But just in case.” His low murmur in ear jolted her out of the dive her mind had been trying to take. “Mom is a guide like me.”

“O-Oh. Right.” Kagome dipped a bow. “It’s nice to meet you.” Izayoi’s gray eyes flicked to where Kagome still clung to Inuyasha’s jacket, then to her son’s face. Pressing her lips together, Kagome slowly forced herself to let go of him.

Only to have him scoop his hand around hers to tuck it into the crook of his arm.

“You as well, my dear. I heard you were asked to come for the gate. I didn’t realize…” Inuyasha got a light swat on his opposite shoulder. “No one told me my son was your guide.”

“My partner isn’t your business, Mom,” he grumbled, but no one missed the slight flush to his cheeks. “Anyway. Where’s Dad?”

“Waiting with the car. The esper from Korea got in a little while ago, so you’re the last team to arrive.” Inuyasha grumbled. “Wishing you’d told us what was going on before now, huh?” she teased, nudging him with her shoulder as they started walking. Kagome could tell they were struggling not to leave her out of the conversation, but she felt a little guilty that Inuyasha’s reunion with his parents was being burdened by her presence.

A soft squeeze of her hand had her ducking her head to hide her small smile.

Touga Taisho was… a lot. He was a big man, taller than Inuyasha and less wiry, and he had a deep voice that seemed to take up a lot of space all on its own. He was only slightly surprised to see his son, a fact that earned his mate’s ire, and a scolding for not passing on information that she thought to be “pretty damn important!” He spent most of the car ride out of the airport and toward the city supplicating to his wife to assuage her irritation with him, which Kagome found hilariously endearing. A big man like that kowtowing to a woman half his size was too funny.

There was a comfortable familiarity in the way the three spoke to one another. Something she had been missing for years. Speaking to her mother and brother over the phone lacked the same warmth as in person, but she had been such a mess before, and so busy, that she couldn’t honestly remember the last time she was able to see them.

“Kagome, did you read up on the gate already?” Inuyasha’s voice caught her off guard. There was worry there. A lot of it. She nodded. “The terrain is pretty bad. That’s why they need espers who can essentially fly.” Well… She qualified, more or less. “But it’s going to take a lot of energy just to get in far enough to make it to the camp.”

“I saw,” she replied with a nod. They had almost lost two level A espers and the one S level had been injured as well. The continual need for teams Earth-side to manage the beasts coming through the gate, and the fact that they could barely keep them at bay, had been the reason to call in the other upper level espers. “We can do it. It’s just like the training room.”

“Kagome… That’s a lot longer distance that when we practiced in the training room.” She shrugged and smiled a little. He might not completely believe she could do it. But she did. That’s what mattered. “Carrying me and our gear…”

“If I physically hold onto you instead of using telekinesis to do it, that’s less energy,” she reminded him. “Don’t worry. I won’t drop you.”

“I know you won’t,” he murmured, squeezing her hand on the seat between them. Kagome looked out the window to hide the flush on her cheeks.

Chapter Text

As if suddenly running into his parents wasn’t enough, having to explain to them that he’d been The Kagome Higurashi’s assigned guide for several months now was more than he was prepared for. Not that he was ashamed to say it, he just knew what would come with that kind of announcement. Were they bonded? Were they thinking about it? Had he marked her? Inuyasha kept his face as placid as possible while deflecting all questions. “We are a professional partnership.”

“Yes. So professional that you hold her hand in public.”

“Mom. Don’t.” He sighed, hanging his head over his arms, folded on the railing of their balcony. His parents’ haven was smaller now than the one he’d grown up in. They preferred being in the city compared to the more suburban area where he was raised. Open spaces for a small inuhanyou to run around were extremely necessary if you had any hope of keeping your house intact. “She’s… been through a lot. The fact that she trusts me at all is a miracle. So don’t… don’t make it a big deal, please.”

He’d agreed to come by for a little before going back to the safehouse where Kagome was assigned during their stay. He hated being away from her, even for this long, but she had made a big stink about him getting to spend a little time with his parents alone before they all had to go into the gate later that day. He knew she felt like she was in the way, but being separated from her made him far more anxious and uncomfortable than having her there while visiting his parents did.

“Has the separation anxiety kicked in yet?” his father wondered aloud, his voice only half teasing, as he joined them on the balcony. Inuyasha shot him a glare. “What? It’s perfectly normal for esper-guide pairs to be uneasy when they’re apart. Now, inuyoukai being separated from their mates?” He made a face and tsked, shaking his head sadly.

“We’re not bonded. At all.”

“Uh huh,” his parents chorused.

“We’re not! Kagome doesn’t want…”

Izayoi’s hand on his shoulder made him pause. “Kagome doesn’t? What about you?”

“Doesn’t matter what I want,” he responded quickly. “She… She might never want that. And even if she did, I’m not the right one for it. Our levels are too different.”

Touga scoffed. “Who says?”

Inuyasha stared at his parents who were watching him with innocent looks on their faces. “Everyone. The handbook…”

“You believe that everything in the damn handbooks is fact? Infallible? This isn’t the boy we raised,” the inuyoukai esper said, leaning into his mate. “As far as your Council is concerned, more than ten years ago, maybe. But there are cases of both espers and guides increasing levels. Your mother wasn’t always an A level, you know.”

“Wh-What? Mom?”

Izayoi shrugged, an almost coy smile on her lips. “It’s true. I was only a B level before I met your father. After we bonded, it jumped up enough to register on the testing equipment, but before that we both new I was getting stronger, just not how or why.”

The level system had been established not long after the awakened started appearing. Especially once it became clear the gates weren’t going to stop opening, the military needed a way to decide who should be sent to particular gates. It was a… painfully learned system. Many died before it was perfected, sent out on missions they had no business being anywhere near because their powers were not adequate to keep them or their guide safe.

Teams were formed after that, mixing and matching skill levels and powers to round out the abilities so more espers and guides would survive. It worked with increasing efficiency, such that the survival rates of teams was well above ninety percent in this day and age. A single esper-guide team like Inuyasha and Kagome was extremely rare, and only possible because of Kagome’s high rank. A rank that was nearing impossible to calculate because the charts didn’t go that high.

“So you’re telling me it’s possible? To… To get stronger as a guide?” he found himself whispering as he stared out into the city. After coming up empty in his own search – and getting scolded by Sango for even mentioning drugs – he couldn’t believe such a simple solution was being dropped in his lap. “I could… I could match her needs?”

“Aren’t you already?” his mother asked softly. Inuyasha opened his mouth to respond, then shut it with an almost audible snap. “You better get going. We’ll see you later.”

Inuyasha wasn’t sure he’d ever traversed a city on foot so quickly before.

He texted, then called, then knocked on the door when he arrived. Anxiety spun in his gut as he waited for Kagome to answer. She wouldn’t be sleeping. Her heart rate on his watch said she wasn’t. “Ka-” The door beeping then popping open startled him silent.

Eyes wide, but clear, she was obviously scanning him to make sure it really was him and that he was unhurt. With them looking right at one another, it wasn’t hard to spot her flinch in his direction, as though just barely stopping herself from throwing her full body weight at him. Inuyasha didn’t let her hesitate another moment, stepping into the safehouse and immediately opening his arms to her. The look of relief that softened her face had him swallowing hard, his heart thumping in his chest as her forehead found its spot against his neck.

“How was it?” she asked, voice muffled in the fabric of his shirt.

“Fine. It was good to see them outside of a gate mission.” He grunted, scooping his free arm under her legs and taking her further into the house so he could settle on the couch for a few minutes. They would need to get ready and head to the gate site soon, but they had a few minutes to calm down first.

The safehouse had been cleaned well. He couldn’t really smell any other scents of people and whatever they’d used to clean wasn’t overly scented either. Had they known, or was that standard procedure? “There’s nothing, right?” He twitched. “The smell? Did they mess up?” Kagome’s hands pressed against his chest to look around.

“Wait… Did you…”

“I requested they deodorize everything and make sure it didn’t smell flowery or anything afterward. I know you can’t stand the fake flower scents.” Kagome was looking around, little nose in the air as if trying to catch a whiff of what he might smell.

“No. There’s nothing,” he told her, awe in his tone. “Kagome, you…”

The bright grin she turned his way had him sucking in a breath of surprise. Gorgeous. But more than that, it was the happiest he could remember her looking… ever. The entire time he’d known her, she had never smiled like that. Not even with Sango.

Next he knew, Kagome was breathing his name in question and the taste of her lips was on his tongue. The softness of her lips and her breath made him wince as he forced himself not to give in to their temptation again. No matter how much he wanted to. “Thank you. F-For thinking of that.”

“S-Sure.” Her cheeks were flushed and her heart rate was up.

“We should get packed and dressed.” He couldn’t meet her eyes.

“Ok.”

The transport was dead silent. No more than their breaths leaving them as they sat on opposite sides filled the space. Kagome fought the urge to open her pack and check the contents again. Inuyasha had packed it for her, which meant she had everything she could possibly need and then some, but she was beginning to worry that she would need something she knew he hadn’t packed. His distance was beginning to worry her for guiding later on...

Kagome wasn’t sure she had ever been kissed outside of her backlash. Even as a teenager, she’d been busy. Too busy for dating or anything similar. And then it sort of became a badge of pride. Not one she really spoke of to anyone, but still… Then after she awakened, it was only in the context of guiding. Had her numbers spiked in that moment and she didn’t realize it? Was that why he kissed her? Except the way he acted immediately after and now told her that was likely not the case.

Glancing at him from under her lashes, Kagome wondered what he was thinking. Shame for being “unprofessional?” Or disgust that he’d kissed a clearly inexperienced partner? Or perhaps it really was embarrassment that he’d somehow revealed… something.

She didn’t have time to keep contemplating it as the transport lurched to a stop.

Inuyasha took a deep breath, enough to catch her attention, and he finally met her eyes. “We’re going to need to be the best team we can be out there. We can do that, right?”

Kagome hesitated. Bit her lip. Closing her eyes, she let out a breath of her own. “Yes.” He nodded sharply, sealing their promise. They could deal with the emotional stuff later. Right now, they needed to deal with the gate mission.

The pull of the gate was… heinous. Kagome was always aware of gates as soon as she was close enough, but this gate felt like it was sucking her in from across the administrative site and the then some. “Kagome…” His voice sounded distant. Her hand found his sleeve, startling when she realized it was not her being pulled toward the gate so much as it was Inuyasha. His pupils were blown wide and he was staring into it like he was in love.

“Inuyasha?” Yanking on his arm a little harder seemed to snap him out of it, but it took him a second to shake it off. Worried, she turned him away from the gate and grasped his cheeks, forcing his eyes to meet hers. “Are you alright?”

Golden eyes blinked until he could fully focus on her. They were darker now, she noticed, more amber than bright gold. She couldn’t remember having seen them like that before. “Y-Yea. It’s just… That’s a big fuckin’ gate.” She nodded slowly and he looked at her oddly. “What?”

“I don’t think you should go.” He rolled his eyes, about to turn away, then stiffened when her hands tightened on his face to keep him looking at her. “I’m serious. Something’s not right.”

“Oh… No. I…” He cleared his throat. “I always kind of feel weird around gates. Bigger ones especially. But once we’re through, it won’t be as bad.” Kagome stared at him, hard. “I swear it’s never been an issue.” She couldn’t help wondering if he’d ever been in a gate this large before.

“A-Alright. But if you feel off at all…”

Inuyasha pressed his hands over top of hers. “I’ll tell you.” He didn’t release any guiding, surprising her a little, but it somehow conveyed how sincere he was. Kagome flushed slightly before clearing her throat and releasing his face.

“Inuyasha!” Izayoi’s voice cut through their little bubble just as they were separating. Decked out in their dark gray combat attire, both their long hair tied up in high tails, his parents were even more intimidating than before. On reflex, Kagome bowed to them. “Oh! Esper Higurashi. No need for such formality.”

“Th-Then… Will you please call me Kagome?”

“An S level esper?” Touga’s tone was a little incredulous.

“I’d prefer it. Please.” Touga and Izayoi glanced at one another, a secretive little nod and smile between them. Turning to her guide, Kagome looked him over again.“Are you sure you’re…” Inuyasha grabbed her hand, rotating them to head toward the gate. It took a few minutes to get through check in with the administrator, Inuyasha having to translate for her so she understood all the instructions. The moment they entered the gate, they would be in free-fall, apparently, so she had to be prepared to catch them both.

Inuyasha’s parents would be preceding them through, so they would follow them to the camp. “They went in a couple of days ago too, so they know where they’re going,” Inuyasha explained as they watched Touga check Izayoi’s gear one last time before they entered. “Don’t freak when we cross over, ok?”

“Huh?”

“My dad will probably shift forms over there. More room and all that.” Kagome blinked, eyes wide. “Youkai, remember. He can shift into a giant dog… Why are you looking at me like that?” She gasped, looking down and clamping her lips together. She hadn’t realized how openly she was gaping at him, wondering if he was capable of something similar and he had just neglected to mention it. “I don’t turn into a dog. I can see what you’re thinking,” he growled, taking hold of her elbow as his parents disappeared and they stepped onto the landing stage to await their turn to enter. Inuyasha turned her a little roughly to make sure her pack was secure, jerking her back and forth a little with the abruptness of his movements.

“Inuyasha.”

“Our turn. Let’s go.” She saw him glance down at his watch just before they stepped through the event horizon of the gate.

He hadn’t felt this agitated for a while. Kagome’s worry should have felt sweet and endearing. And it did, a bit at least. But he was also frustrated by it. She didn’t need to worry about him. He’d proven himself to her over and over, hadn’t he? He’d shown he could protect her, that he could take care of her, that he was a good match for her. Why was it that she still acted like he was the weak one? Like she was the one doing the protecting?

Inuyasha gasped as they exited the gate and, as they’d been warned, immediately began falling. The fact that they’d gone through the gate holding hands meant it didn’t last long. Kagome was quick to suspend them, grunting a little when she didn’t account for the weight of him catching when the slack went out of their arms. She used her power to lift him a little closer so they could cling to one another more tightly, allowing her to free up that energy to keep them aloft.

Her breath against his ear startled him, tipping his head back to see what had forced the air out of her like that. Up ahead of them, his father floated effortlessly in his giant dog form, easily the size of a city bus. Izayoi sat astride him, waving them over. “Does she want us to…”

“Might as well. Save your energy.”

“But doesn’t that take up a lot of energy for him?” she asked, obviously concerned.

“No. It’s a youkai ability, not an esper one.”

“Oh. That’s… Wow.” For some reason her awe at the sight of his father – who was pretty amazing if he allowed himself to think about it – made him irritated as hell. “Well, if they’re alright with it.” Kagome’s soft concession dragged him out of his oddly spiraling thoughts and he mentally shook himself. Maybe his parents’ revelation earlier about bonding had affected him more than he realized. He’d been acting out since then, being even more protective and possessive of Kagome than he ever had before.

Soft fur met his feet as Kagome set him down, following suit a moment later. It took them both a second to acclimate to the movement and settle. “This will be a lot easier!” his mother called over the wind in their ears as Touga started flying, presumably, in the direction of the camp. “The location of the gate up here means none of the ground-dwelling beasts have been able to reach it, but flying types tend to be stronger so…” So the ones that were getting through were extra bad news.

“How long has the gate been open again?” Kagome’s face was pulled in a frown, obviously thinking hard.

“Over two weeks now.” That caught his attention. Typically a few days was the most a gate stayed open. The longest he’d ever had to stay inside a gate himself was only five days and that was considered an anomaly. “The gate has also grown in diameter.”

“What?” Usually they shrunk over time. “Why wasn’t that in the report?!” Inuyasha was furious. Why would they leave information out of the report?

“Would you have come if you knew?”

Kagome pressed her hands to his waist where she was holding onto him. “Yes, of course. But it would have been nice to know.” The slight pressure of her hold seemed to settle his raised hackles, allowing him to take a slow breath. Kagome asked about the number of encounters they’d had since setting up camp, if anyone had been injured, what types of beasts were they encountering. Things the report technically told them but not in the same kind of detail someone who had actually been on the ground would know.

They were greeted by the others as soon as they landed, Touga waiting for them to light on the ground before transforming back. They were from all over the world, a wide mix of sizes, colors, and shapes. There was at least one other youkai, some kind of canine but not wolf and not fox. Inuyasha tried to think what the earth Equivalent would be and came up a bit empty. Coyote maybe? She better stay away from Kagome, he thought, hardly containing a snarl. Then blinked at his thoughts. She was an esper. What would she want with Kagome, anyway?

The head of the mission, a human woman from the local Council, debriefed them all on the current situation. While there were more than a few beasts that were still making runs on the gate, now that it seemed to be shrinking, it was happening less. Inuyasha vaguely wondered why they had bothered asking Kagome to come when it seemed like things were improving. It made him angry that everyone treated her like a final solution. Everything going wrong? Call in Kagome Higurashi. She’ll solve it all. And get hurt in the process. But they didn’t care about that, did they? As long as she got the job done, what did it matter to them?

“Inuyasha?” Kagome’s whisper pulled his attention back to the present and he looked around, a little sheepish for getting caught drifting off. “There’s movement in a flock of what they’ve been calling swans this way. We’re on the team to try and redirect them from the gate while the other team handles packing up camp.”

“Packing up camp. Already?” Kagome winced almost imperceptibly. Inuyasha didn’t like that she immediately looked away from him, not letting go of his arm, but clearly avoiding his gaze. “What’s going on?”

“We have our orders. Let’s go.” Her grip on his sleeve was relentless, bringing him along even though he tried to resist at first.

Their team was made up of Kagome, two other espers, and another guide. Inuyasha eyed the uneven numbers, but his brain supplied the image of the other esper’s guide and he realized why they had stayed behind. A combat field guide that person was not. Why would their esper even bring them along? Or agree to come themselves? Probably in a similar situation to Kagome, he realized, not left with much option since they are the only S level in their country. He didn’t like it. None of it. None of the awakened should be forced to put their lives on the line like this, just because of their rank, but especially not his Kagome.

A screech the likes of which he had never heard split the air and his ears twisted and flattened to his head in an attempt to muffle the sound. “The fuck is that?”

“The swans,” Kagome replied, her shoulders rolling back as she obviously prepared herself for a fight. “They’re…”

She didn’t have time to tell him anything else as one of them came into view, dripping wet from whatever body of water they’d come from. He could see the resemblance to swans in the long necks, beak-like mouths, wings, and rounder bodies. But they seems more reptilian than avian, scaly instead of feathery. He flinched as suddenly there were three and then four.

They were headed straight for the gate.

Kagome was the first to take to the air, his protests lost to the wind and the squawking roar of the “swans.” Inuyasha took off on foot to stay as close to her as he could. Under his feet the terrain turned marshy, which he vaguely recalled being told, slowing him down. The trees here were more like hugely overgrown swamp weeds, tall but highly flexible, meaning they bent at the slightest touch and gave no traction for launching himself into the air.

He watched in anxious fury as Kagome flew immediately into the view of the swans, catching their attention. The one closest to her opened it’s beak-like mouth which was filled with teeth. “Just once, could these assholes not be deadly?” he snarled. He felt helpless, useless, as she and another esper used their telekinesis to push the swans to turn back. While they were noisy and flashy about their anger at being thwarted, they didn’t really put up too much of a fight. They really did seem to work in a flock, all turning back when the lead one did, though they had to take a wide turn to do so, placing them dangerously close to a path over the camp.

Inuyasha huffed as he backtracked, following Kagome’s path in the sky.

He made it back to their initial landing point just after she did, glad to see she was unharmed. “Inuyasha!” Flinching at her call of his name, he stopped. “Why did you… Where did you go?”

“I was following you…”

“You were supposed to stay here with the others!” What kind of bullshit was that? He always went with her… “You could have gotten hurt.”

“I’m fine, Kagome,” he hissed as she stomped over to him. That frustration was boiling up in him all over again. That she was treating him as though he was weak. That he needed her constant protection. He was supposed to be the one protecting her!

“Fine. Just… Don’t go off on your own like that. You scared me,” she murmured as he took her hands in his, offering light guiding to temper the energy she’d expended while flying. They were stationed there for several more hours, having to repeat the redirection twice more. Kagome’s eyes were beginning to gain a silvery shine.

One of the other espers had needed full on guiding – the one whose esper had come along – and they were off in the woods for privacy. Inuyasha hated that he could hear everything. It never used to bother him before, because it was just part of the job. Everyone knew anyway. You tried to keep it down, keep it professional, but there were times you couldn’t help it.

Kagome was holding on pretty well, though it helped that expending this level of energy was pretty standard for her. The need to fly while doing it was a little more than an A level esper could handle, especially at length, and most B levels couldn’t lift themselves using telekinesis alone. He found himself nuzzling her slightly, rumbling at how proud he felt that she was his… His esper.

Inuyasha jolted slightly at the way his thoughts had shifted. He was calling Kagome “his” a lot lately. Especially today.

“You alright?” Kagome’s soft question yanked him back to the present. “We’re almost ready to head back.”

“Y-Yea.” He let her know when the others were ready so she could call out to them without interrupting. “Kagome?” He wasn’t even sure what he had wanted to ask her, only that he needed her to look at him and only him in that moment. Then he would truly be alright. At least for a little while. “C’mon. Let’s get back so we can get out of this nasty sticky place.” She gave him an odd look, but nodded her agreement.

The remaining esper hadn’t expended as much energy and so they were less desperate to get back to the camp than he was anticipating. The reunion with their guide was enthusiastic, however. He was a little shocked, since culturally, it was less acceptable to show such open affection where that team was from, but on foreign soil – gate side soil at that – he supposed that mattered a lot less. That kind of open affection was not all that welcome in public where he and Kagome were from either, he realized. It was part of why his parents had moved. Inuyoukai were inclined to frequent and open signs of borderline possessive affection and his father hated feeling so stifled.

Kagome went to the mission leader to explain what they had accomplished, relying a bit on his father to translate. She was out of reach, though he could see her, but it felt like there was suddenly so much distance between them and he didn’t like it.

Inuyasha swallowed thickly, feeling a touch nauseous all of a sudden. His skin felt hot. His blood felt like it was boiling. Is this what Kagome feels during her backlash? He’d never really experienced anything even remotely similar. But now he felt it. The itch to do something, anything, to relieve the heat.

“Inuyasha. Take a breath, ok?” He was breathing, he was nearly panting. “Look at me.” When he did, he noticed the faint silver tinge to her eyes and the guide in him noted she would need guiding and soon. Kagome bit her lip, looking to the side. His gaze followed hers and he became aware of the others, looking wary but poised to fight. Who were they looking to fight? They’d already handled the beasts near the gate… “Hey. It’s me, Kagome. Look at me, Inuyasha.”

“I know it’s you,” he growled. “Who else would it be?” She nodded slowly, obviously gauging his mood. Why was everyone looking at him like that? He knew he felt weird, but that didn’t mean he was… “What’s wrong?”

“Inuyasha. Darling.” He flinched at his mother’s voice. He’d… forgotten she was there. “You are being affected by the gate here.” What was she talking about? Is that why he felt so hot? He tugged at the collar of his shirt, tempted to shred it to get it away from his skin. He sensed his mother stepping closer and shied away, putting distance between them while closing the gap with Kagome. Why was she so far away from him anyway? She needed him. Needed guiding.

Cool hands on his made him blink lazily. That definitely felt better. “Inuyasha? Look at me.” He did. Kagome’s eyes were still worried and he didn’t want her to worry. “Your eyes. They’re a different color.” Inuyasha could only stare at her as the calming sensation of her touch kept distracting him. Different color?

He could hear other whispers about his eyes, how he looked possessed, or the stripes on his cheeks. His father’s voice barked out a command for the others to be quiet. “Esper Higurashi, you need guiding. Can he…”

Inuyasha had her pulled into his embrace, her back to his chest, arms looped around her waist and fingers cupping her chin. She didn’t resist despite her initial surprise, pressing a hand over his to continue that cooling sensation. The others gasped in shock and fear, more than one shifting their weight in preparation to lunge at them. Touga again snapped at them all to stay back. Inuyasha snarled. “No one guides Kagome but me. No one.”

The rest of the team backed off as his father spoke hurriedly to them in a spattering of languages. “O-Of course not, Guide Taisho.” The same guide cowered, stepping back with the other espers and guides now hovering around the remaining pile of equipment.

“Inuyasha, you know I don’t want anyone else to guide me either. Please calm down.” He didn’t understand why everyone seemed to think he wasn’t calm! “We need to leave through the gate though. Soon. It’s shrinking.”

The others looked nervous. No one wanted to risk getting stuck inside a gate. “Leave then. I’ll take care of Kagome. She’s mine.” A lot of shocked breaths, confused glances. A snarl rose in his throat and he turned Kagome’s face so he could bring his nose to the full length of her neck. She smelled of no one else but him, as she should. But to be certain there was no confusion, he made sure to make his claim clear. Drawing his tongue over the same line made her shiver in his arms and he grinned against her ear.

“Inuyasha,” Touga’s voice was sharp. Sharp enough to snap him to attention a little. There was a growl in his tone, one he recognized as a reprimand. Why would he be in trouble for making sure everyone knew who Kagome’s mate… “No one is taking her. But we all need to leave. Now. Do you understand?” The inuhanyou blinked several times, then shook his head. The heat was cooling with Kagome’s continued touch, but now he felt a little foggy and unbalanced. Touga growled again, the command in his tone unmistakable.

“Y-Yes. I understand.” The way he was holding Kagome suddenly dawned on him and he pulled his hands back, only to feel the tug of her hold on him. She wasn’t letting go. What the hell was that? What did I just do?! But it was too late to take it back. Kagome’s face was frozen in a half smile, completely fake if one knew her like he did.

“Right. Everyone ready?” she asked, her voice quavering just slightly. Grunts and soft words of acknowledgment rippled through the collection of guides and espers, all exhausted from battling beasts and then dealing with the stress of… whatever had just happened on top of it. “Inuyasha, just a little before we take off?” It took him a second to process what she was asking him for, small hand squeezing his wrist lightly. Jumping at the chance to at least do something right, he was a little overeager with his guiding, making Kagome gasp, looking at him sharply. Inuyasha backed off and she sighed in relief.

The group of them all floating through the sky like a squadron of planes would be a bit comical in any other context, but as it was, they were too worn out to find it funny. Kagome opted not to ride with his mother this time and he had a feeling it was for his benefit as they waited for everyone to go through ahead of them. She didn’t want him to feel territorial again, aggressive toward anyone coming near her. His own mother was somehow a threat? Inuyasha shook his head at the absurdity of his thoughts up until a few minutes ago.

“I’m going to have to push you through first.”

Inuyasha jolted as he turned his head to try and see her face. “Wait. Wh-” Kagome didn’t let him finish, nearly hurling him through the gate. There was nothing he could do as he felt the change in air and temperature. Landing roughly on the platform Earth-side, he grunted. But he couldn’t take the time to worry about the hard landing, rolling onto his feet immediately, waiting.

And waiting…

“Where’s Kagome?”

Chapter Text

The pressure on this side of the gate was intense. It felt like the air in her chest was being compressed. Breathing shallowly, Kagome continued to pull the edges of the gate as it shrunk smaller and smaller. It was still larger than the average gate, but it was already half the size it had been, so it was an improvement. This is why they asked me here. This is why I came. Her thoughts centered on reminding herself that the mission she received was different than the others. Getting everyone out after taking readings and samples was important, but ultimately, she was meant to close the gate in whatever fashion it took.

A gate being open for two weeks, at this size… There was fear that it would grow larger. Worse than the creatures coming through it was the possibility that it would only continue to grow and eventually become so large that it began consuming Earth. There was no precedent for such a thing, but the concern remained.

She wasn’t sure when it clicked in her awareness that the edges of the gate felt tangible to her, like a door frame. At some point in the last few missions, she realized that she could sense the physical boundary of the gate and could grasp it with her telekinesis. She hadn’t been truly sure of it until the last mission she’d gone on where they were basically standing in as security while the team cleared their camp. Inuyasha was distracted with carrying all the heavy stuff out and had missed how focused she was on studying the gate itself. It was then that she understood she was sensing something no one else could.

She wondered if others could be taught? Part of her hoped so. Being able to close a gate before anyone else even went through it would be… game changing. At the same time, she wondered if others discovered this ability and mastered it, could it be used with bad intentions. No one had ever been able to prove that an esper or guide, or even parts of a whole team, had been intentionally left behind when a gate collapsed before they could get everyone out. All those lives were chalked up as “killed in action.” Their partners and families were given their pensions. For those that had none, theirs were donated into the fund for raising children orphaned by gate activity. No one had ever been around months or years later if a gate reopened in the same place.

But if someone had the ability to close gates intentionally like Kagome did, and fully intended to use it that way, what could anyone do? Kagome understood why Sango, the guild president, and the Council wanted to keep it under wraps until it was better understood.

Frustrated that it was taking so long, constantly worried that Inuyasha would do something stupid like try to come back through to get her, Kagome yanked on the edges of the gate with her power a little more roughly. The gate didn’t make an audible sound, but her entire being felt like it screamed at her. Crying out at the physical pain it caused, Kagome struggled to get her breath back afterward, but at least the gate was now no larger than the door to her bedroom. As she pushed herself just into the horizon, she felt how it wanted to pull her through to the other side. She had to hold onto the edges inside long enough to make it fold in on itself.

When only her head remained on the gate side of the portal, it was hardly larger than that and she finally felt the almost rubber band pull of the Earth side of the gate yanking her in that direction. The sensation was what she imagined it might be like to be shot out of a slingshot. Her momentum was out of her control and she was too tired now to do anything. She could only hope that Inuyasha was there to catch her when the gate spat her out.

Touga’s hands on him were the only thing keeping him from charging the gate as he watched it shrink. They kept asking him what he thought he would do. Free fall from that height the moment he got through? And then what? If Kagome was on her way through the gate at the same time, they would miss each other and the gate was closing. He could be trapped there forever, assuming he even survived the fall in the first place. “No. Kagome!”

His father’s arms released him at almost the exact moment his watch pinged, and the gate shrunk to barely more than the size of a human. His trajectory toward the gate put him in line with the portal just as Kagome came hurtling out of it.

He barely registered the impact with his chest, only knowing that he had his arms around her as they tumbled backward, finally coming to rest in a heap in the gravel below the landing stage. “Kagome! Kagome?” he gasped, clutching her to him as he tried to get his bearings. He vaguely heard his father’s voice warning the others to stay back, to keep the medical staff at bay until Inuyasha could look Kagome over himself. “Kagome, answer me!” he whimpered into her hair.

She was limp, but breathing. Her heart was racing, but he would expect that. Her head lolled when he was able to sit them up and her eyes were open, but she was dazed. “Hmm. Hmph,” Kagome groaned then canted forward, immediately emptying her stomach on the rocks. Inuyasha could only hold her and keep her ponytail back from her face, waiting until she was done before he offered her a cloth from his pack and some water.

“Slowly. Just a little, ok?” he murmured to her. He kept his guiding to the barest minimum he could control, needing to comfort her but not wanting to speed the onset of her backlash.

“I’m ok. I’m ok,” she panted after swallowing the water then nudged him back so they could stand. The site administrator refused to wait any longer before approaching, asking her questions in rapid fire. Inuyasha snarled until he backed off then pressed the buttons on Kagome’s watch screen so the information was sent. He then growled that the man could get her verbal testimony after she had a chance to recover. He hesitated, opening his mouth to protest, but Touga stepped in and explained more carefully that any additional information they needed they could ask the other team members present and speak with Kagome tomorrow.

With his father’s nod, Inuyasha helped Kagome start moving her feet. She was a little unsteady at first, but seemed to be catching a second wind. Her eyes were now brightly silver, but clear and her heart rate had settled considerably. Refusing any medical intervention, she swore she wasn’t injured. Inuyasha confirmed that he didn’t smell any blood on her. The vomiting had to have been from being shot through the gate at such high speed. He’d never seen anything like it before, but that was also the largest gate anyone on Earth had ever seen.

“Let’s get a transport…”

“Can we… Can we walk a little? I’m not sure I’m ready for the rocking in the transport quite yet.” Inuyasha was stunned that she would opt for being in public, for any period of time, but she also hadn’t received much guiding yet, so her backlash wasn’t about to kick in. He nodded, putting out his elbow for her to hold onto. She hesitated before accepting the help, leaning on him as they collected their bags and made their way through the site.

“Inuyasha?” Pausing, he glanced over his shoulder. “Be careful.” Izayoi’s brows were lowered in concern. He knew he’d had… a moment, inside the gate. But he was completely fine now that it was closed and Kagome was in his arms again. Now that she was safe, he felt on top of the world! He heard Izayoi murmur to his father in French that she wasn’t sure he and Kagome should go off alone, but Touga hushed her gently and reminded her that they were professional adults.

Making sure they were on track to the safehouse, Inuyasha kept one ear trained on Kagome while the other was tracking their surroundings. When they got back to the safehouse, he would need to guide her more fully and they would need to get through her backlash. Mentally he planned out putting their supplies by the bed before they showered. He grimaced when he thought about the fact that all they had was snacks to eat once they got through all that. He knew Kagome wouldn’t be hungry right away, but once she was, she would be ravenous. And he was already starting to feel hunger creeping up on him.

Scents of fresh fruit and bread wafted to his nose and he looked around curiously. “Hey. A little market. You alright if we stop for some groceries?” Kagome blinked, focusing in on where he was pointing. “We can go straight back if…”

“I should be fine a little longer.”

Kagome chose to sit at a small table across the way while he went in. The market was tiny and didn’t have a whole lot of options, so it was better that he went in alone anyway since he spoke enough French to get by while Kagome would have been lost and probably would have started to feel claustrophobic anyway.

His eyes were on her the moment he walked out of the market, a sigh of relief leaving him to find her exactly where he’d left her.

The sun had dipped below the buildings and he found himself awed by the soft glow of her skin in the evening light. Inuyasha took a moment to stare. Even as tired as she was after this mission, she looked so much healthier than when they first met. It was almost incomprehensible. How could the Council, her guild, see Kagome like that and continue to force her through gates over and over again without proper guiding? If she couldn’t accept a guide, they should have sidelined her.

It was nearly a physical touch, the moment Kagome’s eyes found him, a faint smile on her lips. Her fingers came up in a little wave as he stepped into the street to get to her. “You ready?” she whispered. Inuyasha grinned. Putting what he could into their packs, he took both over his shoulder and once again offered Kagome his elbow. The cool touch of her fingers on his wrist made him stiffen in surprise, swallowing when she slipped her hand into his. Inuyasha cleared his throat and led the way.

Her breathing was shifting, her heart beginning to speed up. Their walk had greatly improved her nausea, but her decision to hold Inuyasha’s hand as they walked meant he was leaking guiding into her as they went, likely not intentionally, and it meant that her levels were coming down.

While her backlash crept up.

Kagome’s balance wobbled as she followed alongside Inuyasha. She had to let go of him a couple of blocks back and he seemed to catch on to what was happening pretty quickly. He knew better than to touch her until they made it to the safehouse at least, lest her backlash take over completely and force her into a state she would rather die than let anyone else see. But she was pretty sure was no way they could make it all the way back to the safehouse in time. Something about this time was different, and she wasn’t sure she could keep going like this. The urges were pressing on her awareness in a way they normally didn’t, making her insides feel like they were writhing. She gasped as she started to lose her balance.

“Kagome… Shit.” Their packs falling off his shoulder made his balance off as he barely managed to catch her. Inuyasha’s arm around her waist had her throbbing all of a sudden. Her backlash was suddenly in full swing, without warning. “I can carry…”

“Don’t touch me,” she pleaded. “It’s making it worse.”

The low growl rolling through him had her biting her lower lip to keep in another gasp. “Kagome, I can carry you to the safehouse if you just…”

“I-I won’t make it that far. Not with you touching me,” she whimpered. They both knew she wouldn’t make it that far on her own two feet either. He couldn’t guide her here, not with how their sessions tended to go lately. She couldn’t imagine receiving guiding in the field like that pair during their gate mission. They needed a transport, but it would take a while for it to get to them.

Inuyasha snarled. “Dammit.” Kagome felt a bit woozy as the heat hit her. She always hated that part. She knew her cheeks must be flushed and she could feel that her eyes must be glazed over. “Kagome, over here.” He pulled her down an alley behind a closed cafe patio sporting a lattice fence and some cheap fake foliage for privacy.

As soon as he let her go, she sunk to the ground, her back against the cold bricks. It helped a little, the lack of his touch and the chill, but Kagome knew it was but a brief reprieve.

Inuyasha stood over her, close as he could get without actually coming in contact, his ears on a swivel and his eyes steady on the entrance to the alley. “Kagome, do you think you can take the edge off now so I can get you the rest of the way to the safehouse?”

“I…” She let her head fall back against the brick, wincing at the sting from the impact. Inuyasha barely restrained himself from reaching down to cradle her head, instead placing his palm against the wall behind her in case she did it again. “I can try,” she breathed. “Don’t look.”

She watched through half-lidded eyes as he bit his lip, then nodded, looking out toward the street again.

A sigh left her as she peeled her shirt up just enough to free up the band of her pants. The fly popped open with little effort, and she hesitated for a brief moment before deciding toning down the backlash was more important than her pride in front of Inuyasha. Her fingers felt hot as they slipped into her folds, her body twitching with the stimulation. She was wet already, unsurprising with the strength of her backlash this time, but the part of her still aware enough to care was ashamed. She usually had better control than this.

Kagome twitched and shifted, unable to get enough pressure, enough… something. The whimper in the back of her throat brought Inuyasha’s eyes to her, though they flicked away again. That brief eye contact sent a flame of heat through her, gone just as quickly. “Inu… Inuyasha.”

“Yea, I’m here, Kagome,” he reassured her through gritted teeth. He sucked in a shuddering breath when she leaned forward, pressing her face to his thigh. It was so warm and comforting, firm against her cheek. “K-Kagome, don’t rub like that. Your head is…” He grunted, his body curling toward the wall where his forearms met the brick.

“Sorry. Sorry. I just…” Without realizing it, she found herself mouthing the fabric of his tactical pants, annoyed that it was so thick. She wanted his bare skin! He flinched when she bit down on his thigh from a particularly strong jolt of sensation. “Ungh. I need…” Inuyasha shifted his weight, bringing his right leg closer to her, allowing her to grind against him. She whimpered and whined against his thigh, muffling the sound in the fabric.

“Kagome, what do you need?” His voice sounded strained. “Do you need my hands?” She shook her head, pulling her pants a little lower and the leg of his up until their skin was touching. Inuyasha swallowed a groan, but she could feel his calf flex in an attempt to maintain the position she needed him in. The warmth of his skin over his shin bone, the friction, plus the fact that touching him alone was often enough to set her tingling, had Kagome desperately rolling her hips against him. “Fuck. Kagome, watch your head.” This time he did gently push her head away from where she was incidentally rubbing against him.

The bit of her mind still aware enough was mortified, but mostly she felt thrilled that he was also affected by her. He was usually so in control of himself. The thought was enough to bring her to the edge. His fingers twining in her hair and lightly gripping to keep her from biting him was what sent her over it.

Huffing for breath, Kagome scrunched her eyes closed, not wanting to see the aftermath, nor catch his gaze. Her heart was still racing and her skin felt both hot and too tight. “Can you walk, you think?” His voice was deeper than usual, rougher.

“M-Maybe. Probably.” Pulling her clothes back into place, she grasped at the rough stone of the wall to steady herself as she stood. Her knees felt like jelly, but at least they were under her. She couldn’t be certain how long that would last. “Ha. Sorry. I might need…”

As he always seemed to, Inuyasha read her like an open book, pulling her jacket around her and lifting her into his arms. The immediacy of the need was gone, allowing her to accept him touching her for now. Once they got to the safehouse though…

Kagome closed her eyes again, focusing on the cooling sensation of wind as Inuyasha strode back out of the alley and toward the main streets where they would be able to get transportation. He was light on his feet, but his hold was firm. Kagome squirmed as the sensations from earlier tried to come back. “Almost to the transport, Kagome. Hold on for me, alright?” He rejected the couple of normal taxis that stopped for them, waiting for the proper transport to arrive before confirming it with his watch.

The moment they were inside the transport, he slammed on the privacy screens and yanked her jacket from her frame. Kagome squeaked in alarm, but was too enrapt in the warmth of his fingertips against her skin a breath later to ask him what he was doing. Soon enough it was more than obvious.

Inuyasha had never initiated a full contact guiding session like this before, always asking her permission, waiting for her to come to him as much as possible. Offering, but never taking control. Kagome could not recall a time when he had been the one to be aggressive, typically catching her aggressive behaviors and toning them down so that neither one of them got hurt.

He didn’t even get his pants all the way down, just enough to free his cock. “You know I don’t like rushing you,” he huffed, “but… Fuck. Your scent is making me crazy.” Later, Kagome would have the time and mental space to consider what he’d admitted in that moment, but for now, she just needed him. She had her bottoms off in a flash, the rock of the transport nearly dumping her to the floor were it not for Inuyasha catching her hip. He knelt over her on the bench seat of the transport, stroking himself as he stared down at her with hunger in his golden eyes. “Dammit,” he hissed, panic warring with desire in his face. “I don’t have anything on me. We usually make it…”

In her haze, Kagome could hardly process what he was saying, only that he was withholding what she needed. “I don’t care.” She rarely used her enhanced strength on him. Typically, she had no need to. Not to mention the fact that, even with her esper abilities, Inuyasha was a pretty fair match for her. Her legs hooked around his waist as she pulled him to her, not allowing him to escape. Grasping his wrists, she planted his hands on either side of her so he couldn’t stop her from taking him in. “Ah. Yes.”

“K-Kagome, what are you doing?”

“Feels good,” she murmured, completely ignoring his question. “Move, Inuyasha.” Her whining made him stiffen before acquiescing and sinking into her as far as he could. “Yes,” she crooned. “More.”

“Alright, alright,” the inuhanyou conceded. “Let go so I can move properly.” Kagome released his waist and gasped at the grip of his hands on her thighs as he braced her to meet his thrusts. His head fell to hers as he curled around the sensations zipping between them. “Damn. Have you always been this warm inside?” he breathed. Kagome huffed a laugh.

The transport rocked again, the stabilizers unable to compensate completely for the cobblestone roads. Suddenly up was down and her knees stung from the impact with the floor. Instinctively, Inuyasha had cradled her to him, protecting her head as they fell. But it also meant that he was still buried deep, almost deeper than before, even with their change in position. Kagome whimpered at the fullness.

Despite how intense the heat of her backlash felt, this was the clearest she could ever remember being. Typically she was mostly a mess of sensations, but this time, she felt everything and knew exactly what was causing each and every one. And how to demand more. Rolling her hips over his seemed to be a good place to start.

“Fuck,” Inuyasha groaned. “Gods, that’s so good.” Hearing him voice his pleasure made her pause for a moment.

Inuyasha had never been this vocal before, not that she could remember anyway. He was always focused on how it felt for her, on how her backlash was progressing, her numbers coming down. It was a professional encounter because she needed guiding and to alleviate her backlash. She never really knew what he felt during those times before. Kagome couldn’t deny the shiver that went through her with the knowledge that she was making him feel that way.

Mind a little fuzzy, she shifted her weight again, using the bench seat to leverage herself up and back down. “Mm. Kagome,” he whimpered. His eyes opened and distantly Kagome realized they had changed. Like they were inside the gate, bright turquoise and red. The flash of a streetlight through the window highlighted the purple streaks on his cheeks. “Again,” he demanded when she stopped moving in shock. His hands went to her hips, helping her raise them so he could bring her back down. Hard. “Like that.”

“Inu…” A gasp cut off his name from her lips, her head falling back as a shock of sensation shot up her spine.

“Yea? You like that too?” His voice was deeper, like it had been earlier, with a growling quality that had goosebumps on her arms. Grip strong on her waist, he continued the movement, taking the pressure off of her thigh muscles to keep their momentum. There was just the barest hint of claw tips into her back, only enough to make her feel them and not hurt. He was obviously aware enough of them to keep from digging into her. “Kagome,” he murmured, letting go long enough to push himself up to sitting against the bench before wrapping his arms around her. “You feel so good,” he breathed against her shoulder before grazing her with his fangs.

Those were definitely longer than usual too. Part of her paused, thinking how it might hurt if he bit down on her… but outwardly she shivered at the thrill of knowing she was, at least a little, at his mercy. “Inuyasha?” He hummed that he was listening to her. “You’re transformed again. Did you know?” A gasp escaped her when he thrust his hips up into her.

“Makes sense.” He didn’t elaborate, taking advantage of her confusion to heft them both back up and onto the seat. Kagome found her thighs spread wide as Inuyasha drove into her, bracing for the rocking of the transport to keep them in place. “We’re almost there. You need to come, Kagome.” Why just me? But she didn’t have time to ask as his mouth caught hers, kissing the life out of her at the same time he gave her all he could.

The shock had sparks of sensation tripping up and down her nerves until she couldn’t hold it back anymore. Whimpering against him, fingers digging into his triceps as she struggled to breathe, Kagome came apart.

When the transport lurched to a stop, he was as efficient as ever in dressing her, wrapping her up until almost none of her was visible. She couldn’t help noticing that he had – likely very painfully – tucked his erection away in his pants. Had he not finished? Was that normal? She knew he always used protection, so she wouldn’t know intimately, but had he never… “Isn’t that uncomfortable?” she breathed.

“Hm? Oh. Don’t worry.” There was a slightly dark edge to his tone. “We’ll be solving that soon enough.”

Chapter Text

Inuyasha could hardly think straight. Keeping it together long enough to get Kagome inside the safehouse was a struggle on the level of mountaineering as far as he was concerned. He was fighting off the urge to strip her down the moment they got inside, to cover her entirely in his scent and make sure there was no question who she was with. Except enough of him was aware that Kagome wouldn’t know what he was doing, what was driving him. She was hardly aware of what she was doing as her face pressed into his throat and she repeatedly nibbled at his neck and shoulder.

If she marked me first…

But she wouldn’t know that’s what she was doing! What that meant!

The inuhanyou snarled, biting back the heated words he wanted to let out, a demand that she bite him – hard – so he could do the same. His teeth ground together as her relatively innocent nibbles turned to more playful bites, taunting him. It was not the first time she had bitten him, nor the first time he’d used his teeth on her, but it was the first time he had been so tempted to truly sink his teeth into her and mark her permanently.

It scared him a little, the ferocity of that feeling.

Seeing Kagome at his feet, near begging for him in both actions and words, had tripped a switch somewhere. It wasn’t seeing her at his mercy. That actually upset him more than anything. It was that she was calling his name, seeking his scent, his touch. That she wanted him inside her with nothing between them.

A shiver went through him as he recalled the sensation, heat flooding him all over again.

Kagome let out a groaning breath as he laid her out on the bed, clearly annoyed that he was taking his time. The couch, much closer to the front door, technically pulled out – which had been their “sleep separately” plan when they were assigned to this safehouse – but the bed was a king and took up most of the bedroom. There was enough room for both of them and then some. Inuyasha took advantage of the space, spreading Kagome out so he could strip her clear of all her gear, his own following.

“Your eyes…” He realized they must still be reflecting his heightened youki.

“Do they scare you?” he murmured, leaning in to nip her collarbone. Kagome whined, shifting under him until he pressed her down into the mattress with his weight.

“No.”

“Do I scare you, Kagome?”

“No,” she said sharply, then whimpered. “Inuyasha, please…” Her hands clutched at his shoulders, pulling him even closer.

The inuhanyou grinned against her skin. “Please what, hm? What do you need?” The backlash kit they kept on hand clattered as he reached up to open it, pulling the necessary supplies out. The tube dropped from his hand as he felt her and found she was more than slick enough. She twisted and writhed under him at the touch of his knuckles against her, soft sounds of need in her throat. “Here?” he breathed. “You need me here?”

“Yes. Inuyasha!” Hissing as her nails dug into his back, Inuyasha mouthed her shoulder while fighting off the urge to just slide back into her heat. But despite the way his blood was rushing through him, he had enough awareness to know that there were risks they couldn’t take. He fumbled with the packaging a little, Kagome too far gone to help him. He wasn’t certain she would help, given her actions in the transport. Logical as she could be normally, during her backlash was a whole other story.

Cursing his lengthened claws, and having no time to file them down, he growled through getting the condom on. He barely had it rolled down before Kagome was pulling him into her again. “Kagome,” he rumbled, a reprimand in his tone. She whimpered, head tipping back in pleasure and widely exposing her throat to him. The very small part of him that knew she didn’t mean it that way was the only thing that kept him from clamping that pale throat in his teeth as he drovehis hips into hers.

His instincts being so close to the surface was making him anxious, the urge to mark her nearly overwhelming. But Kagome needed him as her guide first and foremost and he couldn’t let her down. Slowing his pace made her grunt and shift, trying to grasp onto him and pull him in deeper, faster. Inuyasha scooped up her hands and braced them over her head, keeping them away from him so he could focus on at least pretending that he was under control. That pretense was slipping as Kagome’s scent filled his head.

He couldn’t stop himself from leaning down to lick across her neck, tasting the faint saltiness of her sweat mixed with the inherently heady scent of her arousal. They were surrounded by it now, their clothes no longer impeding the wafting of it in the air. He felt a surge of excitement in his own blood, nearly stripping that dangerously thin layer of control from him. Gritting his teeth, grimacing against her throat, Inuyasha felt the slide of her around him, her muscles clenching tight if he pounded a little harder.

The sheets bunched around them as Kagome yanked at them, gripping them in her hands instead of grabbing at him. Inuyasha redirected her grip to his shoulders, a little worried she would rip the mattress as her strength increased from her backlash decreasing her awareness and control. He was surprised at how quickly her hands loosened and laid flat against his neck, holding without grasping, no pain at her touch. “Kagome, you can hold tight,” he murmured against her as he delivered a particularly sharp thrust. “I like it when you grab me.”

“No. Can’t… Can’t hurt you,” she panted.

“You aren’t gonna,” he growled. “I’m stronger than I look, remember? And I heal just as fast, if not faster than you.” Rolling them so she was over him, her ponytail sticking to her cheek a second, he bared his teeth at how deeply the change in position took him within her. “Claw me if you have to,” he mumbled, pressing both her hands to his chest. She hesitated, an oddity in her state, before shifting her hips over him.

Inuyasha gasped at the heat that filled him as she took control, fingertips digging into his skin as she rode him. The sweat glowed on her skin in the streetlamp light that came in through the window, highlighting the curves of her collarbones, the lines of her neck, the sharpness of her jawline as her head fell back in pleasure.

She was… stunning.

His blood pumping in his veins, the sensations surging through him… It was almost enough for him. But he could tell by Kagome’s soft whimpers that it wasn’t enough for her. With a snarl, Inuyasha flipped her onto her back, a small shriek leaving her at the sudden movement. Despite him surprising her, Kagome’s thighs parted easily, arms open wide in an invitation. A grin curled his lips and Inuyasha fiercely accepted the invitation. In one movement, he was within her once more, the heat and wet searing his nerves and making him hiss.

“Yes. Inuyasha,” she cried out, neck arching as he finally let loose. Hardly a moment later, he was sending her over the edge, following closely behind.

Shared breath, panting. Inuyasha took her mouth in a deep kiss, needing to taste the heat and passion on her lips. Her quick response made him grin. “Again,” he told her.

A soft sigh and a smile were her answer.

His nose, his mouth, his entire being, was filled with Kagome’s scent. No matter how intense her backlash had been before, he had never been so aware of her scent afterward. Maybe because they usually cleaned up right away. Or maybe because this place had been so stripped of scents, where her haven at home was filled with her scent all the time. Not like this, though.

Home had the soft layer of “Comfortable and Cozy Kagome” pervading all the spaces there. She’d lived there for some time, and alone, so her scent wasn’t muddled by other people’s. Until he’d moved in with her anyway. Then it had become the soothing mix of their scents together, like the den of a bonded pair… Like his parents’ haven had been when he was growing up.

Inuyasha swallowed as the rest of his senses woke up and he became more aware of his surroundings. Kagome was sound asleep on his chest, nearly stuck to him with a combination of sweat and… everything else. It made him more aware of his own scent hanging in the air. A tiny part of him was disgusted, but only because he knew how uncomfortable Kagome would be when she woke up. Mostly he felt relaxed and... pleased. He got the mental image of a cat purring and stretching in contentment in his mind, then quickly swatted it away.

It was his job.

Nothing more.

Damn did it feel good. Inuyasha sighed, running his fingers through Kagome’s hair to move it away from her face. She must have pulled it free from its tie before falling asleep, the strands tangling in his claws for a moment. She would want to wash it. He’d help her, if she’d let him.

Kagome had been more accepting of touch outside of strictly business situations. Sought it out even. Like earlier when he’d been with his parents and she jumped into his arms at the slightest encouragement. Or later when she held his arm while they were walking in town. She was relying on him more and more and he couldn’t say it upset him in the least. The youkai part of him love it, in fact, seeing it as proof that Kagome wanted him as more than just her partner.

Inuyasha groaned, wiping a hand over his face as his memory became clearer of his actions both inside the gate and after things went sideways in the transport. He had not had to fight down his youkai blood in… years. And never with a partner. Did I really try to show claim on her in front of all those people?! Another groan. Idiot.

While Inuyasha was glad he went through the gate with her, part of him acknowledged that Kagome had been right to be concerned by his reaction before they even went in. He had never reacted that strongly to the pull of gate before. Granted, he’d never been near a gate that size, but the fact remained that he had never had a transformation overtake him just from going through a gate.

Kagome stirring, grunting at the feeling of their skin peeling apart rather unwillingly, pushed his concerns to the back of his mind. He needed to get them cleaned up. Kagome was, as per usual post-backlash, fairly groggy. A glance at his watch confirmed her numbers were properly within normal limits, proving he’d still done his job even with… everything else.

Kagome was cooperative enough to let him carry her into the shower and begin rinsing away the stickiness between them without really waking up. She stood a bit shakily, leaning against him as he ran his fingers through her hair, the warm water slipping between the strands. It was a struggle not to lean down and kiss her when her head fell back, eyes closed in bliss.

The contentment in her scent reminded him of the smile she’d given him earlier. How lovely it made her already beautiful face. “Kagome?” She hummed, but her eyes didn’t open. “Are you hurting anywhere?” he asked instead of whatever sappy thing he’d been about to say.

“My shoulders a little. But not bad.” He turned her around and winced at the bruises there, likely from when she impacted the floor of the transport despite his efforts to protect her. “Why? Are you hurt?” Her eyes popped open and she looked him over. “I hit you hard when I came out of the gate, didn’t I?” she murmured, lightly touching his chest, inspecting for a sign of the impact, no doubt.

“Nothing I can’t handle. Why did you come through so fast? That’s not normal.” Kagome’s eyes went a little wide, then shuttered, her chin dropping to her chest. “Kagome?”

“I… I’m not ready to talk about that.” Not ready? What the hell happened? “Let’s… get out and dressed first. Maybe after something to eat, I’ll…” She didn’t finish, carefully pulling away from him so she could step out of the tub and grab a towel. He watched her set another towel on the sink for him as she carefully dried herself off.

He didn’t like it, but he gave her the space she was asking for because she said she would tell him. Hopefully without him having to pry it out of her.

“C-Can I?” He froze, looking over his shoulder at her in confusion for a moment. Kagome held up the conditioner and comb she’d brought from her bag. “I don’t think it smells too much.”

“Keh. Smells like you anyway.” She wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or just stating that he was used to it. “You… You want to comb my hair?” he asked, his voice sounding smaller than usual. Kagome paused before stepping up to him and nodding. “Sure. I guess.”

Had no one ever done that for him before? Kagome was shocked. He had a lot of hair, and it looked like it took a lot of work. Work he wasn’t all that interested in doing. He plopped on the floor for her, letting her sit on the love seat, knees tucked up to his chest. She hesitated before opening the bottle, adding the conditioner to her hands, and beginning to work it through his mane.

The silver strands slid across her fingers and the backs of her hands with very little working through, surprising her a little. Was the fact that he was at least part youkai mean his hair naturally detangled itself? A pretty handy attribute. But when she started to take the comb through it, it was obvious that it did need a little TLC after all.

She sectioned it, working through each one from bottom to top until she could pull the teeth of the comb through in one go, then on to the next one. Particularly around his ears, she was careful with the comb and her fingers, not wanting to hurt him. Staring at them, she realized for the first time that she had never touched them. It had felt like something that was off-limits. An invasion of his personal space far beyond the physical boundaries they crossed regularly because of guiding.

“A-Are your ears sensitive?”

Inuyasha’s head came up a little from its relaxed position on his arms across his knees. The aforementioned ears twitched then laid flat to his head. “Kind of.”

“Ok. I was trying to be careful of them. I won’t touch them.”

His head turned just slightly and she could see him glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. “I… I don’t mind. If it’s you.” Kagome felt her heart rate jump. “We’re partners.”

“Right. Partners.”

She couldn’t explain it. Despite how weighted the meaning of the word had felt before. How it had her heart all fluttery... Somehow hearing itnow made her heart feel heavy instead. Partners. What did I think he would say? She wanted something different from him. Not the careful professionalism, or even just the friendly bickering and comfort. She wanted… more than that. But never having been in this kind of guide-esper relationship, let alone anything romantic, she didn’t know what to do or how to judge his reactions.

Telling her she could touch his ears because she was his partner should make her feel special, but for some reason his reaction made it feel like it was permission he was granting her because they were just… coworkers. What if she was interpreting all his care and gentleness with her in a way that he didn’t mean them at all? She was a “precious commodity” after all. It was totally possible he was just making sure she was well taken care of so she could keep doing her job.

She jumped at the feel of his fingers over hers, forcing her to put the comb in her hand down. It took her a moment to realize she had been bending the plastic in her grip without meaning to. “Kagome. What’s wrong?”

“N-Nothing,” she choked out. Why the hell were there suddenly tears in her eyes?!

“It’s not nothing. Is this about what you needed to tell me about the gate?” Kagome froze. She’d completely forgotten that she promised to tell him about what happened earlier. It was the perfect out. Except lying to him was fairly useless. He knew her well enough now that he could tell by scent alone – and probably whatever physical tells she had – that she was lying. “Or is this… You don’t have to touch my ears if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Did… Did you let other espers touch them?”

He was obviously taken aback. “No one ever asked,” he said after a beat. “I think most of them wanted to pretend they didn’t exist, if they could manage it.”

“That’s terrible.” She found her forehead pressed to his shoulder, seeking what little of his scent her nose could pick up and his warmth. “They’re part of you just like anything else.”

“A lot of people wish they weren’t. Not many in our guild, but there are people who think that youkai are just beasts who can talk. I’m a reminder that youkai are much more similar to humans than they want to believe.”

“If they’d asked, would you have let them?” she whispered, fingers tight in the fabric over his chest.

“Depends. Maybe, if I didn’t think they’d try to pull them. But I wouldn’t like it either way.” Kagome swallowed. “That upsets you.”

“I… I thought maybe you trusted me.”

“I do.”

“M-More than them?” Her voice cracked.

“Yes.” His large palms framed her face, bringing her eyes up to his. “Kagome,” he murmured, clicking his tongue to find her crying. “I’ve never had a close relationship with an esper.” He winced, then sighed. “My only actual relationship was with another guide and it didn’t last long. There’s… a reason those kinds of pairs don’t work well here. Humans… Humans tend to struggle with what guides have to do a lot more than youkai.” Kagome’s head drooped slightly, recalling her own prejudice. “Youkai, and hanyou like me, are different. We bond with our long term partners in a way that has nothing to do with the esper-guide bond.”

Kagome wasn’t sure what he meant, but she got the feeling that it was a much deeper connection than just supporting each other’s health and safety. “Your parents…”

Inuyasha nodded. “They are bonded as esper and guide, but they are also mate bonded. It is… it’s hard to explain. Their souls are…” As he thought of how to explain himself, Kagome noticed the faint circling of his fingertips around her ears and in her hair. It was somehow soothing and stimulating at the same time. “They’re connected. I know not everyone believes in souls, but youkai definitely do.”

“That’s beautiful.” Inuyasha let out a slight laugh. “How do you… Nevermind.” She bit back the question she’d wanted to ask. “About the gate…”

“You don’t have to tell me now, if you don’t want to,” he assured her, “because as long as you’re safe, that’s what matters.” Kagome took a breath before slowly explaining the ability she had discovered and how it had been a bit of a test this time to see if she could apply it intentionally. “They… They’re asking you to stay behind to do something so dangerous?!” She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or not, but Kagome swore she saw his eyes flash red.

“I agreed to it,” she murmured.

“Doesn’t make it right. What if you got trapped gate-side? Or something happened to you while the gate was closing?” Inuyasha suddenly clutched her to his chest, pulling her into the cradle of his lap with the action. “I wouldn’t be able to get to you. You could… you could go rampant and no one would be able to help.”

A sniffle. A sob.

Kagome hadn’t really allowed herself to think of any of those things. A few months ago, she would have simply accepted that it was her fate to die in that way. The pills would have only held her over for a little while, so what would have been the point in taking them with the knowledge that she would only be delaying the inevitable while stranded in an alien environment? Kagome a few months ago wouldn’t have thought twice about succumbing to her rampage and ending it.

Now though… Now she had Inuyasha and he seemed to need her almost as much as she needed him. Or at least cared about her far more than she had cared about herself. She could only imagine how he would blame himself if something like that happened to her. The sadness he would feel that she died alone. That she died at all.

And it was destroying her inside. The potential pain he might feel hurt her. Knowing he would be upset and would have to live with that pain after she was gone was heartbreaking. Why did the thought of him in pain hurt far worse than any thoughts of her own death ever had?

Kagome felt the warmth of his arms around her, his breath against her neck as he continued to curl himself entirely around her. “Shh. Kagome. Shh… I got you,” he murmured as she slowly calmed down. “We’re talking to the guild when we get home,” he told her, his tone firm. “We’ll talk to the Council too, if we have to. There has to be another way.”

Kagome only nuzzled into his chest. She wished there was. She just didn’t know what it could possibly be.

Chapter Text

The cacophony was beginning to grate on his already fragile nerves. Miroku wasn’t sure he could tolerate it much longer. It was rare that he wished he had an esper ability, but the temptation to slam all the doors at once or cause a small explosion, just for the silence that would follow, was not a small one. He had been fielding calls for the last four hours straight and now that he was finally off the phone, everyone in the office was loudly distraught over their current situation.

After the footage from the interviews had been completed with Esper Kanna, most importantly with the guide Naraku, she had disappeared.

Without her input, they couldn’t sign off or verify the evidence presented in the footage. Which didn’t make it entirely useless, but they couldn’t hold Naraku for long with only what they had. And even then, he was still allowed to go on missions since he was assigned to an esper. Since he was in another guild, Miroku had no power whatsoever over his deployment and the Council was not being proactive enough. So if his esper went, so too did Naraku.

With a frustrated sigh, the guild liaison leafed through the papers in the next file on his desk. More reports of Naraku’s movements over the last several weeks. Nothing helpful, unfortunately. He had a tendency to “party” when he wasn’t on duty, going to clubs and spending long hours out. Miroku could hardly fathom a lifestyle like that and still having any kind of energy to guide his esper when they needed it. Even in his younger years when he regularly guided two to three espers in a week, often with some wilder environments, Miroku needed his rest.

A traditional tracking anklet only worked while Naraku was on Earth, and his guild wouldn’t give access to his watch to track him that way. No one could travel anywhere else once inside a gate…

As far as they knew.

There were theories, about moving from one place to another via open gates. But the technology they currently had couldn’t reliably predict when or where a gate would open, let alone where it went. Trying to escape through a gate and then into another world would be, at best, a one-way ticket to a hostile environment. At worst, suicide.

Pausing on a page, Miroku flipped back one. Then another. “Where…” He stared at the picture stuck there with double sided tape, crooked to the box it was supposed to fit into. As if it had been placed there without any care… “Or in a hurry,” he murmured. With a frown, he brought the paper closer to his face, eyeing the photo more closely. Why did the person in the image look so familiar?

Wracking his brain, Miroku tried to think back to when he might have seen this esper. He was rather plain, if one was brutally honest, but pleasant enough to look at. Just kind of… generic. When did I see his face? His phone buzzing on his desk made him blink, losing his train of thought, until his wife’s message notification popped up about having her brother over for dinner.

Miroku slammed his palms on the desk, shooting up out of his chair and startling most of the room. Finally, they were quiet, but he was too preoccupied with what to do with the piece of information he’d just stumbled across.

His desk phone was to his ear and he had the head councilwoman’s secretary on the phone in a breath. “Tell her I’m coming to her office right now. It’s an emergency.” The secretary tried to bluster and bluff, saying she was too busy, but Miroku made it clear he wasn’t taking no for an answer. The handset rocked precariously as it landed in the cradle and he snatched the sheet along with his phone.

On the way to the elevator, he quickly sent his wife and brother in law a text. The snake’s charge is our mole.

Councilwoman Kaede was none too pleased to have him storming into her office, but she had obviously taken to heart when he said it was an emergency. Her fingers were steepled under her chin on her armrests, her one good eye staring him down as he walked the unnecessary length of her office from the door to her desk. He slapped the sheet down on the surface and pointed at the haphazardly placed photo. “This man was an esper in Shikon Guild until recently. He took a leave of absence without verification and has not been tested since leaving that we can find.”

She looked down at the image, then back at the liaison huffing for breath across from her. “I see. Is that not a guild issue?”

“It would be. Except now he’s listed as Naraku’s esper, and under a different name.”

Despite her efforts to stay as neutral as possible, Councilwoman Kaede sat up at that piece of information. She pulled the sheet closer to her and looked at the sheet itself as well as the image. Sure enough, the name listed was not Muso, but Kinta.

“Has anyone been able to verify this… Kinta?”

“I don’t know what they’re doing over at that guild, but I only just made the connection.” He didn’t give all the details, only what was strictly necessary, but enough that Kaede saw the risk this man posed. “Please. Start an investigation. He could be part of what’s happened to Kanna.”

It was clear she was weighing the risks. On one hand, they could stir up an incident between two guilds, potentially ruffling enough feathers that other guilds would jump into the fray and create chaos. On the other hand, they might have an unknown faction plotting far more than they could even fathom.

Lifting her watch, Kaede pressed a button. Her secretary, a large wolf youkai who hardly fit through the doorway, came in. “Royakan. An investigation needs to be initiated on this individual. He is, at the very least, working for more than one guild without prior authorization. There may be far more… sinister things at play. Conduct the investigation quietly and thoroughly.” She paused. “Include The Kitsunes.”

The large youkai blinked, then grinned, the expression taking over his whole face. “Yes, Ma’am.” He practically bounded out of the office, Miroku feeling a little bewildered as he watched him go.

“Now. I get the feeling you have more to tell me than just that.” The eye not covered by a patch was sharp and Miroku swallowed. “I understand your need to protect your guild, but we have a far larger problem on our hands. Kanna is not the only esper to go missing within the last week.”

Miroku froze, and then sunk into the chair opposite Kaede’s. That was definitely not a good thing. “Well, it started when we noticed something was wrong with the read outs from Higurashi and Taisho’s watches...”

She had never really noticed the scent of her own home all that much. It was just… Normal. But after being in a place devoid of most scents, Kagome felt acutely aware of the comforting smells of her haven. A smile took her mouth as she recalled the sigh of relief, the loss of tension in his shoulders, when Inuyasha followed her inside earlier. Her place was familiar to him. Normal.

Comforting.

The water was warm on her shoulders and back as she stood in the shower far longer than necessary. She was feeling good. Mostly. The flight back had been better than the one on the way there. The fact that she was able to be alert through it meant she had to deal with the boredom that came with that, but it also meant she got to sit and talk with Inuyasha at least some of the time.

He had been watching her like a hawk at first, but relaxed when it was clear that she wasn’t about to dissociate like she’d been doing before they left town. Her being relatively relaxed allowed him to be relaxed.

Inuyasha was fairly reserved when saying goodbye to his parents when it was time for them to board their plane. Kagome had thanked them for their kindness, bowing several times out of habit, flushing when they reminded her that she didn’t need to be so formal with them. Izayoi had even kissed both her cheeks in farewell without thinking, making Kagome blink owlishly at her. Inuyasha scolded her lightly in French, making Izayoi give Kagome an apologetic shrug.

Despite his attitude, it was obvious he got along with them. It was kind of nice to see that side of him. It made her wonder what his childhood was like. Having parents that were an esper-guide pair was not a common thing. Most awakened had normal civilian parents… or didn’t know their parents. A lot of orphans amongst the awakened, now that she thought about it...

How was it to have a family as an esper? Did Touga go out on gate missions and then have to return home to get guiding from Izayoi? She had no idea – nor was it her business – what his backlash might be like. Some espers were prone to violent outbursts during their backlash. She couldn’t imagine Izayoi letting any harm come to their son, but depending on the situation, it was possible he could have been in danger at some point. How did one parent in that situation?

How would a parent feel when you could potentially go out on a mission and… never return.

Disturbed by the thought, she tried to focus on getting a comb through her hair so she could roll it into a bun. Inuyasha would scold her if she just left it loose without untangling it. He would still probably help her get out the tangles, but he would gripe about it the whole time.

She twisted her frame, looking at herself in the mirror and let her mind wander a little, the teeth of the comb a little hypnotic. Her profile was all too familiar. Relatively slim, she’d struggled to put and keep weight on as a kid. Now it was her crazy metabolism she had to compete with from burning energy using her abilities. She certainly ate plenty, especially after her backlash was over and the nausea that tended to follow it subsided. These days, she almost ate too well. Inuyasha was a good cook. Damn him, she mused with a slight smile.

While the extra delicious food was making only a minor difference in her physique – mostly that her ribs weren’t showing and her skin looked healthier than it had in years – Kagome couldn’t help noting that she just… felt better? She felt more at home in her own body, more comfortable. She honestly wasn’t sure there was ever a time she’d felt that way before. Certainly not since she awakened.

What would it look like if she actually put on weight? Or at least… Kagome let her stomach muscles relax, her stomach not really changing all that much. Until she took a big breath and scrunched down a little, making a little bit of a belly. Is that what I would look like?

Kagome couldn’t really fathom such a thing. If she was honest, she’d never even given much consideration to children herself. What possible opportunity would someone like her have to be in a relationship, let alone get married and have kids? Before she met Inuyasha, she had been sure she would be dead before thirty from either a gate mission or from going rampant.

Now…

She knew Sango and Miroku were trying. They didn’t get to talk much, but she did remember the emotional conversation they’d had around Sango’s decision to no longer go through gates at all. Luckily she had skills that lent themselves far more to being in the guild lab and not in action in the field, so no one had given her grief about it. Kagome on the other hand… What would the guild, the Council, say if she told them she couldn’t go on gate missions anymore?

Hands on the little belly she’d had to work so hard to mimic, Kagome gave her reflection a sad little smile. “No way they’d go for that.”

Her watch suddenly screeching at her made her yelp, scrambling to grab it from the sink counter and check the reason for the alarm. Inuyasha’s heart rate had suddenly taken off.

What in the hell could cause that inside their haven?!

Seeing her enjoy the flight home had been… needed. Inuyasha couldn’t remember a time when she was so calm and quick to smile. Kagome was sleepy here and there – it was a pretty long flight after all – but it was not at all drug induced. She even leaned on him more than once when she was drifting off.

Their conversation in the safehouse had been a good one, but ultimately unclear. Kagome knowing that youkai bonds were separate and different from esper-guide bonds was helpful, but it didn’t clear up their relationship. She had been about to ask him something else, but she didn’t and then the opportunity slipped away to ask her what she was going to say.

Inuyasha closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Knowing Kagome wanted to be different than his previous espers was something. Knowing she trusted him in a way she had not trusted anyone else, possibly ever, was another thing. But romantic feelings that would potentially lead to a bond? That was something he just couldn’t wrap his head around quite yet. He was supposed to be a professional.

But the way she looked to him for support when she needed it most, how she fought to protect him just as much as he did her? That wasn’t nothing.

She’s been in there forever, he thought with a scowl, looking up the staircase toward her room. Kagome wasn’t really prone to long showers, aside from the before-times when she used freezing water to try and tame her backlash. These days, she was in and out as fast as she could manage. Not that he could complain. That meant he was able to put eyes on her again much faster.

Kagome had also become more accepting of him showering with her after her backlash. Her weakness made it necessary to some degree, but in the beginning she had only wanted him to wipe her down and leave showering for once she was alert and strong enough to do it herself. Now she let him at least carry her in there if not stay and clean them both up. This last time during their trip had been the closest he’d been allowed for so long.

His feet had him halfway up the stairs before he even realized it, her door looming ahead of him. It was open a crack, so it didn’t make a sound when he opened it enough to fit through. Her bathroom door was also open a bit, but only so he could just catch a glimpse of her standing in front of the sink. She was turning back and forth, looking herself over. He tried to think of any bruises she might have or marks he might have left behind… But at this point, she would have healed anything she’d gotten on their mission or even immediately afterward.

He didn’t miss how Kagome was touching her ribs, poking and watching the skin bounce back, lightly pinching the slight extra she had at her waist now. He felt a swell of pride that he was obviously doing a good job feeding and guiding her. She looked… really healthy.

She was combing through her hair a little haphazardly, probably to keep him from getting on her case about leaving it tangled. He noticed too that her eyes looked a little distant, as though looking through the mirror rather than at herself in it. He blinked when she turned, sticking out her stomach and studying her reflection. The way she lightly cupped the tiny swell with her hands had him holding his breath.

She looks whelped… His youkai rumbled under the surface of his control, pleased pride filling him at the thought.

Inuyasha smothered a yelp, whipping around and ducking out of her room as fast as he could without making a sound. He could feel his heart thudding in his chest all of a sudden and he winced, knowing it would trigger…

The alarm blaring from Kagome’s watch had him vaulting the railing and attempting a silent escape to his room before she caught him.

He should have guessed she would literally come flying down after him, her numbers on his watch blipping with the use of her power. He could hardly get the door between them before she was shoving it open again. “Inuyasha!” She jolted to a stop, finding him sprawled on his futon where the impact of the door had sent him tumbling. “Oh my… Are you hurt?” She was practically on top of him a breath later, hands in his hair to check his head for bumps, then moving to his chest to feel his breathing and heart. “Why are you…”

“I-I’m fine,” he lied. Badly.

Even if he had been fine before – he wasn’t – the fact that she was now straddling him in nothing more than her bra and a pair of boyshort underwear meant he definitely wasn’t now. The thrum of his youki under the surface of his skin made every breath near painful with the effort to restrain himself. Kagome sat there, completely clueless, only worried that he was obviously in some kind of distress with no idea that she was the cause of that distress…

Inuyasha grunted when she shifted her weight, inadvertently pressing the warmth between her thighs over him. His track shorts were not exactly much in the way of a barrier between them. The fact that she hadn’t fully dried off from her shower and her skin was slightly damp was not helping matters in the least.

With a gasp, he grasped the roundness of her backside with the intention to roll her onto the futon only for her to grab hold of his shirt with her considerable strength, meaning he was now over her and not beside her as he’d planned. His weight at momentum brought him right back in contact with her heat before he could stop it. A groan escaped him, nose dipping to her shoulder as Inuyasha fought the sudden overwhelming urge to grind against her.

His fingers flexing on her ass made her jolt, only bringing her in closer contact. Kagome’s grip on his shirt tightened. Huffing for breath, his youkai roiling and boiling within him, Inuyasha felt himself drawn to her neck once more. The painful need to resist, to not press his fangs into her… “Inuyasha?” Her soft whisper made his head come up just enough to find her lips catching his hyper focused attention.

How would they taste if he kissed her now?

How would Kagome react to him nibbling that shiny lower lip?

He almost let himself find out.

Baring his teeth with a snarl, Inuyasha fought an internal battle. The heat of her breath against his lips, the sweetness of her scent in his nose, the cradle of her hips accepting his… He wanted to give in to the invitation she didn’t know she was sending. If only Kagome knew how very tempting she was. How easily he would throw away his professional ethics…

The reality check felt like a slap to the face, though no such impact hit him. Kagome was still beneath him, perhaps a little stiff, but not in the least afraid.

Because she trusted him.

Here he was, fantasizing about her, imagining ravishing her. All while Kagome was concerned for him and waited for him to tell her what was wrong with him. No fear in her scent. No discomfort. She was so sure that he would never hurt her, never try anything she didn’t want. He knew her past. He know the vile wrongs that had been committed against her.

Inuyasha growled, pulling back until Kagome was forced to let go of his shirt or risk ripping it. “Inuyasha?” she asked again, brows furrowed.

“I… I’m going for a run.”

“Wait. Inuyasha, what…”

Inuyasha couldn’t wait, turning on his heel to snatch up his phone and shoes. He’d never left the house in such a hurry and he was pretty sure the only reason Kagome didn’t immediately follow him was the fact that she was barely dressed. Sorry. Sorry, Kagome.

He needed air and space. He needed to not breathe in her scent for a moment to clear his head of all the competing thoughts. Imagined sensations and emotions about making her his were at war with hard punishing words for even considering kissing her without her express permission. Kagome had been through enough without him forcing himself on her too.

He was the guide she trusted.

The friend she relied on.

He needed that to be enough.

If he couldn’t…

A vision of Kagome canceling their contract and turning her back on him forever crossed his mind’s eye as he took a running leap to scale a large tree. He missed his intended handhold, dropping several feet before he could grab hold of another branch. A grunt escaped him with the jarring to his shoulder joint. “Dammit,” he hissed, swinging until he could dig his claws into the bark and climb up as high as he could and still find a branch big enough to hold his weight.

His watch vibrated but he couldn’t look at it right away. He might turn right around, sprint back to the haven and find out how paper thin his restraint really was right now. A few more vibrations and he finally forced himself to read the notifications. The first was Kagome, unsurprisingly, asking him if he was alright, making him feel like scum. He’d probably scared her. All because his youkai half thought the image of her knocked up was too temping to ignore? Beast, he snarled to himself. His instincts were unperturbed by his accusation.

The next several notifications were from Ayame letting him know that Kouga was laid up in the infirmary. That gave him pause. For a full youkai like Kouga to require a stay in the hospital meant he had to have been injured pretty badly. He let Ayame know that he would drop by later, asking if they needed anything.

It took him a little longer to muster up the strength to respond to Kagome.

I’m alright. Just needed air. I’m sorry.

Why are you sorry? she wanted to know.

How the hell was he supposed to answer that? “I’m sorry I almost jumped you just because you touched me? I’m sorry I’m not the professional I think I am? I’m sorry my inner animal wants to see your belly round with our pup?”

I need to think a bit. Kouga’s in the infirmary, so I’m going to see him. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way home. His temple hit the side of the tree as he called himself every name in the book.

He was a coward and he knew it.

Chapter Text

“This sucks.”

“Yea. It does.” Kouga shot Inuyasha an annoyed look. “What? It does.”

“You’re supposed to make me feel better, not agree with me.”

The inuhanyou’s lip curled in slight disgust. “That’s your mate’s job, not mine. I just brought snacks and let you see my face.”

Kouga snorted in equal dismay. “Who wanted to see your ugly mug?”

He said that, but it was nice to be able to talk with someone other than the medical staff and Ayame. Not that Kouga didn’t like talking to her, she was just a lot right now. He couldn’t blame her, really. It wasn’t every day that your esper got his arm nearly bitten off by a monster. Normally he could regrow something like that relatively quickly, or prevent it from happening in the first place, but his energy levels had been low ever since the attack and he was having trouble getting them back up. The doctors had even told him not to receive any guiding for fear they might sink lower.

Ayame was beside herself over it.

“Your youki feels weaker than usual, mangy wolf. What’s going on?” Inuyasha paused when the insult didn’t get a rise out of him like it normally would. “Wait. Seriously. What’s wrong?”

With a sigh, Kouga let his head fall back against the multitude of pillows Ayame had gotten him to make sure he was comfortable. “No one knows yet. My energy levels are down, both of our youki is thready… Ayame can’t guide me because of it and it’s making us both twitchy.”

“What the hell happened?” Kouga scowled, then recounted the mission.

A never before recorded world. The light was weird because the star the planet orbited was in its red giant phase. The planet was far enough away from its star that, according to their scientists, it had probably been frozen for thousands of years, then thawed over another several thousand with plant life eventually flourishing. Not dissimilar from ice age megafauna on Earth, the beasts there were likely not native to the planet but had adapted to a climate similar enough to what they were used to, possibly having come through another gate who knew how long ago. Kouga was reminded of more than a few wild youkai he had encountered on the youkai home world when he was much younger.

Huge. Hungry. Territorial.

Well, he had learned the hard way that not only were these beasts equally territorial, but something about the planet made it increasingly difficult for both espers and guides to use their abilities. His strength had failed him at the wrong moment and one of the bear-like creatures – approximately the size of a bus – had nearly taken off his whole arm. The small scrap of tissue keeping the arm attached had been enough for the esper back Earth-side to reattach it, but fully healing it would take too much and there were human guides and espers who were almost as injured and they didn’t have youkai healing ability to boost them. Distribution of resources was necessary to keep everyone alive. Kouga didn’t begrudge them that, but he was bitter that he was stuck in the hospital because of it.

Now the medical staff were scrambling for a way to solve the issue of all the awakened who had gone through this particular gate struggling to regain their power. It had been almost a full day and none of them had recovered. It didn’t seem to be infectious, as none of the other awakened who were Earth-side who came in contact with the ones deployed on the mission had been affected. Something about that planet specifically caused it… They just didn’t know what yet and therefor didn’t know how to counteract it.

Kouga sniffed as Inuyasha opened the plastic bag of snacks, mostly jerky sticks, then felt his nose wrinkle. He’d been ignoring it up to now, but the extra inhale at the promise of overly salty meat had brought the inuhanyou’s scent along with it. “You been rolling around in Kagome’s dirty laundry or what?”

“Huh?”

The wolf blinked, grabbing the guide’s shirt and shaking him a little. Normally he would have a much bigger impact, but as he was, he could hardly move him. “You. Are you bragging about how close you and Kagome are now? You’re completely covered in her scent.”

“Wh… No I’m not.” Inuyasha yanked his shirt out of Kouga’s hold and held it up to his own nose, obviously trying to catch the scent that was practically assaulting the wolf’s nose. “Smells like it always does.” Kouga felt his brows shoot up in shock.

“Did you say something inappropriate to him?” Ayame’s sharp tone as she came back into the room startled them both. She was glaring at Inuyasha who still had his shirt pulled up a bit. In normal circumstances, Kouga might have found her need to mark her territory amusing. Especially against Inuyasha of all people. But with both of them lacking their usual levels of youki, it felt like a wolf cub snarling at a full grown dog and was more sad than anything. “You better not try to guide him. He’s… His levels….” Kouga winced as tears filled her eyes.

“Oi. He wasn’t. Smell him. He’s not getting near any other espers.” Inuyasha grunted in annoyance, but allowed Ayame to take a whiff of him. “See?”

“She bonded you already?” Ayame instantly had a smile on her face, her ponytail bouncing with her excited movements. “I heard Higurashi would never accept a guide, let alone bond one! Wow.”

“Whoa. Whoa. We are not bonded.” Despite his denial, the pinking of the inuhanyou’s cheeks was impossible to miss. So maybe they hadn’t bonded… yet, but obviously something was going on between them.

“Then why do you reek of a female in heat?” she asked as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

That had both men agog. Inuyasha spluttered and pulled at his shirt, looking down the neckline at himself as much as at the shirt itself. “Ayame, don’t tease him,” Kouga chuckled, trying to deflect the awkwardness.

“Who’s teasing?” she asked, her face completely free of laughter.

“Th-That’s not… That’s impossible.” Inuyasha sputtered, denial in every line of his body. “Kagome’s human.” He looked shell-shocked. “I… I gotta go. I’ve been away from the haven too long.” The hanyou made a point of plopping the snacks he’d brought on the bedside table, mumbling something about Kouga letting him know when he got out. The wolf watched him go, a mixture of confusion and irritation in his gut.

“You took the teasing a little far there, Sweets,” he scolded Ayame gently.

“I told you, I wasn’t teasing.” He scowled at her. “What? Are you jealous that he’s probably going to bond and whelp Kagome Higurashi?” He blinked at her choice of taunt as much as he did her tone. She was still defensive about his previous interest in Kagome, but considering they were mate bonded now, that was a bit silly in his opinion.

“What are you even saying? Why would I be jealous. I have my own mate to worry about.” Ayame’s soft lips were still in a pout, but she at least agreed to sit beside him on the bed when he tugged on her hand. “You shouldn’t be rude to him like that, huh? He’s a sensitive brat. He might cry.” Ayame rolled her eyes at him, but his joke seemed to pull her out of her funk.

They sat in silence for a long while, enough that his mate eventually fell asleep at his side. She hadn’t been able to for days, so he wasn’t about to disturb her. He, on the other hand, was disturbed by what she’d said to Inuyasha and the certainty with which she’d said it. Kagome’s scent had definitely been all over Inuyasha, but there wasn’t anything he noticed about it other than the strength. What had Ayame’s nose been able to sense that his did not?

It was fairly well known that female youkai had more sensitive noses than their male counterparts. This was especially true in canine youkai. Which made him wonder even more. What did Ayame pick up on that neither he nor Inuyasha had? The mutt he could give a pass, he supposed. He was surrounded by her scent all the time. If something had changed, it might have been subtle enough that Inuyasha missed it.

Kouga had only seen Kagome in passing recently, but he noticed – much like everyone else – how much better she seemed lately. He even saw her smile while at the guild for a checkup not that long ago. Kagome was always stiff with everyone, obviously uncomfortable in large crowds and in enclosed spaces. He had always hoped to encourage her to be a little more comfortable with him, inviting her to coffee and the like, but she had never taken him up on it.

Everything about her attitude had changed after she accepted Inuyasha as her guide.

A change in her breathing made him hold his before reaching up to lightly pet Ayame’s head as she lay on his chest. She had taken to listening to his heartbeat directly any time she got the chance since they returned from this mission. Were he in her position, he was pretty sure he’d be doing the same. “Just gotta grow this damn arm back. Then I can hold you again,” he murmured, stretching his neck so he could press a kiss to her temple.

Anxiety was not a feeling she had experienced much in the last month. Any time she needed something, whether it be physical or emotional, Inuyasha had been quick to provide it. Kagome hadn’t needed the guiding replacement medication in months. Only during the flight out to their mission to the giant gate had she needed a sedative and not at all on the way back. Which was a bit shocking considering what they’d been through. Or perhaps because of it… She hardly needed pain medication any more, even after more intense missions, which was unheard of.

If she was feeling any number of emotions, Inuyasha was there to offer comfort, or support, or to smile along with her. He argued with her sometimes too, which she needed to get herself out of any number of mental spirals she was prone to. Even if she would deny it to anyone else, she could be honest with herself. It was not the norm for Inuyasha to be causing her emotional turmoil.

But their encounter in his room right before he bolted with hardly a word had her in a spin.

Kagome found herself curled up on the couch, a blanket around her as she made herself as small as possible. A run… But why right then? He was obviously feeling something in that moment, she just wasn’t sure what. He’d seemed angry, baring his teeth and snarling at her. She couldn’t fathom why he would be mad, but his heart rate and blood pressure both said he was worked up. Why would he run away instead of telling her what was going on?

Even when she texted him to make sure he was alright – his numbers on her watch had her so concerned she couldn’t focus on much else – he apologized, then brushed her off, telling her he needed to think, and that he would be out for a while. What was she supposed to take from that if not rejection?

Except, rejection of what? Her concern for him? Their connection? Her body? Her... feelings? Kagome wasn’t even sure what her feelings were. She felt hurt, but she wasn’t sure exactly why. Obviously she relied on Inuyasha a lot. Probably more than she should.

Was that what it was? Could Inuyasha be tired of her needing him so much? She was in his physical space a lot of the time without even realizing it. It felt like they were magnetized sometimes, drawn together without conscious thought so that they were usually curled up together on the couch watching the television, on his futon when he had stuff to read for work, in the transports or on his bike… They were almost constantly touching these days, even without any guiding. Kagome wasn’t sure she was even the one initiating it, but maybe he sensed her neediness and was meeting her need because it was his job.

She swallowed, the lump painful as she felt her eyes prickle. She’d been doing so well about not getting emotional. She hadn’t felt the need to cry because everything was fine.

Until it wasn’t.

Chewing her lower lip, Kagome fiddled with her phone, checking it again for any messages from Inuyasha. She considered calling Sango, but wasn’t sure what to say in the first place. Am I being too demanding of Inuyasha? Would he even tell anyone if he felt that way? She wasn’t sure who he was close enough with to talk to about that kind of thing. He might tell Sango, but he knew how close the other esper was with Kagome. He hardly knew Miroku, but he was another guide and the guild liaison at that. Still, Kagome couldn’t see him speaking to a near stranger about something relatively personal.

But maybe it wasn’t personal? This was his job after all. Not a relationship. Not a romantic one anyway. He might want a mediator to help him handle an esper who was asking too much. Unlike other guides who might let an esper walk all over them, Inuyasha was not one to shy away from confronting a problem. “Then why didn’t he just tell me?”

She felt like she was thinking in circles. At first it made her sad and even more worried. Did he not trust her enough to be honest with her? Was he so upset with their situation that he could only run away? But hardly a breath later and Kagome realized that she was pissed. He had no problem telling her to eat better, to get sleep, to comb her hair… but he couldn’t be bothered to tell her when she was being overbearing?

“That jerk,” she growled, pulling the blanket tighter around her head.

The front door clicking and chiming that someone was entering made her jump, an almost instinctive need to hole up like a mouse making her shrink to the couch cushion. But she realized that it had to be her guide and she wasn’t about to let him get away with not talking to her. Inuyasha slunk in, carefully shutting the door behind him, slipping his shoes off as silently as possible. Kagome could tell he was trying to sneak by without her noticing him and, were she in her room, he might have gotten away with it.

With a flourish, Kagome threw the blanket aside, Inuyasha’s eyes going comically wide at the movement. She marched over to him before he could scuttle away, snatching his collar. His heart rate jumped at her touch, hands flinching up to grab her wrists but pulling them back before he could. “Am I putting too much pressure on you?”

“Huh?” He blinked at her, clearly confused. “What…”

“I’ve never… I’ve never needed anything from anyone before. So I don’t… I don’t know when it’s too much.” Realizing she was being pretty aggressive with him, she loosened her hold and took a step back. “You have to tell me when it’s too much or I won’t know.” The backs of her eyes prickled again and she scrunched her nose to try and keep the tears at bay. Why was this so hard?!

“You’re not asking too much, Kagome,” Inuyasha told her, his voice gentle. His hands finally came up, grasping her cheeks instead of her arms. “Is that what you thought happened, that I was frustrated with you?” he whispered, tipping her head up so she had to look him in the eye.

“You can report me to the guild. Th-There’s regulations to protect guides from espers who cross the line…”

“Who’s crossing the line?” he asked, his nose bumping hers once as he continued to hold her gaze. “Maybe we both are.” He took a shuddering breath. Kagome bit her lip, looking him up and down as much as she could with her face held tight. Why did it feel warm all of a sudden? “Kagome, you’ve never been in a relationship, have you?” She shook her head as much as she could. “Is that something you want?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never… It wasn’t an option before.”

Inuyasha’s lips pursed in thought. “Does it bother you if we touch without guiding?” She hesitated a moment, then shook her head. “Do you like spending time together doing normal stuff like watching movies?” She nodded this time. Inuyasha’s mouth curled slightly in a smile. “Would you mind if I kissed you if it wasn’t for guiding?” The last question was much softer, his nose brushing against hers more intentionally.

“No,” she squeaked. She’d only been thinking about it off and on for weeks, dreams shocking her with how real they felt, embarrassed by the way her attention seemed to drift to his mouth all the time… “I don’t mind.”

She felt the huff of his laugh against her lips just before they met his. Feather soft, almost tickling, he seemed to be waiting for her to back away, as if she would immediately change her mind. Kagome swallowed before pressing closer, using her loose grip on his shirt to bring him into her. Her hanyou grunted at the impact but made no move to back away again.

The light puff of his breathing against her cheek, the slick warmth of his lips, the barest taste of his tongue… She had never experienced any of it with such clarity before. Other than during guiding, she had never even kissed anyone. It was entirely foreign and yet his touch, his scent, his taste? Those were all completely familiar in a way she couldn’t explain.

His hands loosened their hold on her cheeks, one slipping down until it cradled her nape and the other hand’s thumb lightly touched her chin and down her throat, making her gasp at the caress. Inuyasha hardly hesitated before deepening their kiss, slanting his mouth over hers and letting his tongue gently trace her teeth. He didn’t plunge in as she had been a little worried he might, only teasing and testing.

The heat between them only grew and Kagome carefully pushed him back, fearing that her backlash was starting to come on for some reason. “I’m warm,” she breathed as explanation when his golden eyes took her in with concern. Her eyes went to her watch, only to find there was nothing wrong with her numbers and Inuyasha hadn’t been guiding her, so there was no reason for her to being having a backlash. “I just…”

“You make me feel warm too. It’s not what you think.” That was a… a normal response? Feeling warm because of kissing wasn’t weird? “Kagome, look at me.” She complied. “When you are close with someone you’re attracted to, getting a little hot under the collar is expected, alright?”

“Am I that obvious?” she whimpered, letting her forehead drop to his chest, fist bumping against him with his shirt still in her grip. She sighed at the touch of his lips to the top of her head. It wasn’t the first time he’d done it, but it felt different now. Somehow more comforting. Did knowing he wanted… Wait. Did he say anything about wanting this? Swallowing her anxiety, Kagome nudged him. “You asked if I like spending time with you that’s not for guiding. Wh-What about you? Do you… Do you like being with me?” She felt him tremble and almost immediately knew he was trying to hold back laughter. “It’s not funny!”

His large hands cupped her face all over again, bringing her up nose to nose with him so there was no escaping his attention. “I wouldn’t have kissed you like that if I didn’t want to.”

“What about earlier? You… You ran away from me.”

A deep gusty sigh made its way out of him, his shoulders curling in a little to almost surround her. “I was just… caught off guard. And when you jumped me, I was feeling a little… heated. But I didn’t think you were interested in that, so I had to cool my head.” Kagome was inexperienced, and a little dense if she was honest, but that was enough to tell her what she needed to know. She flushed, biting her lip.

In retrospect, it should have been obvious. She remembered at least vague impressions of how he’d been acting when under the influence of his youkai after the giant gate. His teeth near her shoulders and neck had been a near constant, his passionate snarls echoing in her ear. She wasn’t sure how she hadn’t drawn the parallel during their tumble in his room.

“I was worried about your vitals. They were really… Hey. Why…”

He smothered her question with another kiss, distracting her from trying to find out why his heart rate had gone to wild earlier. His lips were driving her plenty wild as it was and she was relishing it for once.

Inuyasha was wavering between euphoric and panic. After getting swept up in kissing Kagome like he would drown without her breath in him, he was hit with the reality of that. It was somehow only kissing and also Kissing!

It was not exactly an intimacy Kagome allowed easily. The level of trust she had in him floored him. Not that Inuyasha was one to easily hand out affection either, but he didn’t have the same hurdles Kagome had to overcome to accept physical intimacy that was necessary to her survival, let alone because she wanted to.

He was on fucking cloud nine!

At the same time, he was now met with the fact that he had invited her to cross the line of professionalism that he had been fighting so hard not to cross himself. What kind guide was he to lure his vulnerable esper into a romantic relationship?!

I didn’t mean to. Not on purpose…

Sighing at his conflicting feelings, Inuyasha glanced down at where Kagome was curled against his chest, his arm around her shoulder as she gazed sleepily at the television. She was bordering on sleep and he was glad for it. She would never have felt comfortable napping in front of someone before they met. Kagome didn’t want to be vulnerable in any way. Inuyasha noticed that she no longer apologized or seemed sheepish after their guiding sessions either. Typically, she would have experienced delirium and she would seem anxious about what she might have said or done in that state, but he was struggling to recall the last time that had happened now too.

Once again he was presented with the evidence of how much better Kagome was with his guiding and constant care. He took a little pride in that, if he was honest, but mostly he was just glad that she wasn’t feeling sick, sore, or scared all the time now. He wondered once again how she had managed all these years without not only a guide but someone to support her. She was so strong. Powerful in ways that no one even understood. But she was also so fragile and was only now beginning to regain that inner strength that he suspected she’d had years ago and had been broken down with repeat abuse and neglect of her feelings.

With her drifting, he ran his fingers through her hair and carefully tried to sniff her scent. The whole way back from the infirmary, he’d been preoccupied with what Ayame had said. Saying she smelled “a female in heat” was a very specific statement. He might not be around a lot of other youkai living here on Earth, but he wasn’t completely clueless. Youkai had periods of increased lust and fertility that often resulted in mating sessions with their partner. They were more in control these days with modern medicine, and people made more conscious choices about who they chose to mate with, but in centuries past it could have meant mating – even bonding – with a complete stranger. Humans did not have this instinct. At least, not on the physiological level of youkai.

So what in the hell had Ayame smelled that made her say that?

As Inuyasha approached the haven, he wondered how upset Kagome would be with him for bailing like he had. She could be furious and he wouldn’t blame her at all. He knew he was a coward for running, he just didn’t know how to apologize. Not without having to explain why he’d run and possibly why her watch had gone nuts. He wasn’t prepared to have that discussion.

But the moment he walked in the door and her scent hit him, he’d wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and bury his nose in her neck. Resisting was an effort on another level. Sneaking into his room failed before he even got the chance to attempt it and her flushed face so close to his had been a temptation he couldn’t ignore. Hearing her try to apologize, to give him an out that she was asking too much… It broke his heart. Kagome had done nothing wrong, but here she was trying to make it right by taking the blame.

How could he let that go?

Having that tidbit of information about her scent, even if he wasn’t sure he believed it himself, gave him the push to ask the question, to give her the choice. Did she want something other than just their guide-esper relationship? Kagome seemed a little unsure, likely because she’d never been in a relationship like that before and didn’t know what to expect, but her enthusiastic acceptance of his kiss without any influence of her backlash was comforting.

Inuyasha grinned a little, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. She hummed slightly, her eyes closed, and he knew she was pretty well asleep. Kagome feeling that comfortable with him was a blessing he wouldn’t take for granted. Her trust in him was something he would fight for...

Because losing it would break them both.

Chapter Text

Light coming through the glass was muted, dimmed. The film from years of disuse had built up so it was hard to see out, but even more difficult to see in. The neatly tiled floors with their dizzying mosaic showed equal signs of age and neglect. Here and there an entire section of tiles was missing, others chipped or cracked. Fortunately the kitchen had been cleared after it was shut down, so the only smells were of dust and mildew from where the roof leaked into the walls.

The pair at the table stared, not out the window nor at one another. Some middle distance where their thoughts disappeared, leaving them blinking lazily every few minutes or so. Long fingered hands settled on the man’s shoulders, no notable reaction to the touch. After a moment he relaxed a little, letting his head fall back to rest against the stomach of the owner of those hands, a blissful sigh escaping. “Even in that state, your levels go up. Were you uncomfortable?”

To an unfamiliar observer, his tone might have sounded apologetic or even concerned, but to anyone who knew, it was clear. He wanted to know if it caused discomfort to see if he could cause more. “No.” Muso’s voice was flat, no emotional value to his tone. “I am glad you’re here.”

“Yes, I suppose you would be.” Naraku let his fingers slide against Muso’s – or rather Kinta’s – cheek and then dismissed him, walking toward the bar. “They are good little puppets. You’ve done well.”

With little light from the windows and no electricity in the building, there were a lot of shadows throughout the room. Dark gray to full on black, they looked like pockets of another world tucked into the corners. A lithe figure melted out of one, the oxidized mirror at his back distorting his reflection. “Two is easy,” he gloated with a hand running through his dark hair. “They’re pretty weak for espers. Even the girl with her mental powers.”

“Can you move her yet?” Naraku challenged, showing he was pleased but not that impressed.

Byakuya tsked in annoyance. “No. She has a wall up against that. Keeping someone still is far easier than moving them how you like.”

“What about the drug? Is it doing what we expected?”

“On him. His ability is all in healing, so his mental fortitude is weak.” He waved his hand at Muso. “He was a good first target. But you will need a lot more of the drug if you plan to use it on a stronger esper, or a guide for that matter.”

Naraku hissed in frustration, hand pressing to his chin as he closed his eyes in thought. Getting his hands on even the smaller doses was tough these days. Years ago it was easy because everyone was overjoyed at the ability to manage an esper without the need for a guide at hand all the time. When they realized all the side effects and began decrying the use of pills in general, partially due to the medical decline of the top esper in the country, it became increasingly difficult to come by. Which was not open knowledge, but Naraku knew that was the main reason.

Kagome…

She had become a thorn in his side, digging deeper into him with each day she proved what a well-matched guide could do for an esper. Through the grapevine, Naraku had learned how her power was growing, how she was showing abilities she’d never had before. It should have been impossible, but the proof was there. He even heard she was capable of something that no one was allowed to speak of, which of course made him all the more curious.

“We need access to the research and development data from the Council,” he said finally.

“That’s…” He shot Byakuya a look, daring him to refuse. The other guide sighed, slouching back against the bar. “You need to identify the right target first. Someone who actually has access to the kind of information you need. Otherwise we’ll be risking it all for nothing and we’ll get caught.”

“Are you saying you’re not up to the task?” Naraku sneered.

Byakuya glared at him. “I’m saying taking a miscalculated risk will destroy all your plans.”

It infuriated Naraku that the other guide was right. His youki allowed him to control people to a certain extent by manipulating their memories, but manipulating them such that they would perform actions according to your instructions got tricky the longer they were out of his range. Which could be remedied with repeat interaction as they had done with Muso. Kanna required near constant supervision and they had not been able to get her to do anything yet, simply keeping her from being found by her guild and the Council a challenge in an of itself.

“I’ll find the right one.” He scowled, Kanna’s serene but unflinching gaze making him irritated. “You figure out how to break her. And quickly. We need to be able to nullify the memory data she recorded. I can’t move freely until we do.”

“As you wish, your highness,” Byakuya murmured. His snarky tone did not go unnoticed, but Naraku had other things to worry about. Like making it back home in time to check in with his “parole officer” from the Council.

“Come, my pet,” Naraku crooned, tracing his fingers across the back of Muso’s neck. He rose at the touch and followed obediently behind, the tiles ticking under their shoes as they left.

A wisp of air displaced by the opening and closing door stirred white hair.

Eyes the color of coal blinked slowly.

Tapping his foot, arms crossed over his chest, brows lowered in a scowl, Inuyasha waited. And waited. Checking his watch did hardly anything. Her numbers hadn’t changed much, but he couldn’t be sure because she was still inside the fucking gate and there could be distortion of the signal. They wouldn’t let him through either. “She’ll be out soon. She was just making a last survey of the area for any beasts we didn’t record before coming back.” He shot the site administrator a look, the woman shrinking away at his glare, her light and flirtatious scent dissipating immediately.

He knew all that. She’d even verbally checked in a few minutes ago, letting them know she was on her way back. Still, the fact that he was not on the same side of the gate with her was making him so anxious he could scream.

Inuyasha didn’t care that it was “only a survey mission.” He didn’t care that Kagome’s numbers had been so stable for a while now that she “shouldn’t need a guide with her.” He wanted to have eyes on her and it was raising his hackles that everyone kept telling him it was fine when it wasn’t. The moment she was through the gate he would be checking her over himself.

Pacing didn’t help his anxiousness at all. Staring at his watch made it worse.

“On my way,” her voice crackled through the tiny speaker on his wrist, his ears perking up even faster than his eyes shifting to the gate. Inuyasha bounced on the balls of his feet at the edge of the landing area, not allowed to cross the line but as close as he could get without getting in trouble. The gate shrunk as she exited, blinking out of existence as soon as her feet touched the ground. Too close. Too dangerous.

Inuyasha snarled when she wobbled for a moment as she oriented to being Earth-side again. Her scent came at him like a wall, sudden and intense. It was sweet and heady, almost cloying, making him swoon just a little. Inuyasha couldn’t remember a time when her scent had been so strong. He was nearly salivating the instant it hit his nose.

Straightening her spine, Kagome looked around for him, her eyes lighting up when she spotted him. His heart beat a little faster. But it wasn’t just that Kagome looked pleased to see him waiting for her…

Inuyasha bolted for her without another thought, the shining silver of her eyes setting him in motion immediately. She accepted his hold without a fuss, her scent billowing around him like a cloud. A glance at his watch told him her numbers were still the same as they had been tracking while she was inside the gate. Only slightly elevated, within normal limits, not even really needing guiding to lower them. So why in the hell did her eyes look like that?! “Hi. What’s with…”

“Kagome. Your eyes…”

“Huh? Oh…” She frowned, looking downward. He could tell she was concentrating. Was she trying to sense what might be causing her eyes to change? Was she trying to make them change back by sheer will?

Shaking his wrist, as if it would make any difference, Inuyasha checked the watch again. Still the same numbers. He pulled Kagome’s wrist up to look at hers and the numbers were identical. A ping was sent through the watch to the guild to check the signals for interruption in the data transmission, a new feature Sango had insisted on implementing. Within moments, he was getting a call. Sango asked why he’d wanted to check and he explained the situation.

“Why are you so worried? I feel fine,” Kagome whispered. He wanted to believe her, but her eyes were still so brightly silver he almost couldn’t look at them.

“Take her home, Inuyasha,” Sango’s voice over his watch insisted. “Even if her numbers are fine, she could be going into a backlash.”

“Shit. Right.” Brushing off the administrator and the medical team – he’d built a reputation at this point, so no one really batted an eye – Inuyasha herded Kagome toward a waiting transport and got her inside. He sent the destination to the transport and had barely made it inside before Kagome was on top of him.

Her lips seared his, the rapid rise in her temperature terrifying him. “Kagome, ah…” Her hands were almost too hot as they dove into his pants, freeing him of his boxer briefs and waistband in a breath. Her scent since the moment she walked out of the gate had put him on the very edge of arousal, only his concern for her taming it. Now there was nothing he could do to hold it back.

Kagome was not at all disappointed.

It was a struggle to keep her to just kissing, her heat rubbing against him through her tactical pants. Were the fabric any thinner, he would be able to feel how hot and wet she was, the scent of it already enough to set him shivering. “Kagome, slow down,” he pleaded. “Let’s get home first.”

“Can’t wait that long,” she insisted. “Please? I need you.”

“Kagome,” he growled, holding her firmly to limit her movements. She whimpered, leaning in to lick the side of his neck. Fuck. That wasn’t helping his self-control. “Something isn’t right. You shouldn’t be having a backlash right now.”

“I don’t think it’s that.” Unable to move her body without breaking free of his hold and potentially hurting him, she settled for taking his mouth in a fierce kiss, mirroring the one he’d given her the other day, but far more desperate. Given her lack of experience, and whatever was driving her lust right now, he had a feeling she was worried he’d escape her if she let him.

“Shh, Kagome. You’re ok. We’re ok,” he murmured when he was finally able to breathe, cradling her head to his chest as the transport bumped along. The pressure of her over him, rubbing and jostling, was almost enough to set him off, but he held back, reaching down to cover back up – no matter how uncomfortable it was – and slipped his fingers into her pants instead.

She was even warmer and wetter than his nose was telling him.

Inuyasha’s jaw tightened and he buried his face in her neck to bring in more of her body’s scent to mask that of her arousal. I can get her off before we get home. I can do that and only that… Yet the distance home felt interminable as Kagome cried out for more. He was terrified that his resolve would shatter and he’d give it to her…

No matter how prepared he told himself he was, even having all the protection they might need, didn’t change the fact that Kagome would probably have him naked and inside her before he could even get a hold of any of their supplies. With his arms occupied holding her to his chest, he didn’t have the freedom to dig in his bag if he stopped touching her.

If Kagome hadn’t been through what she had in the past – being drugged against her will – he might even have considered using the intramuscular injection of a sedative. There was also the concern of what that might do to her when he had no idea what was making her act this way. “Ungh, Kagome, stop,” he pleaded, when she nipped his chest through his shirt. It wasn’t where his instincts craved, nor hers if her previous behavior was anything to go by, but it was enough to send electricity through his nerves.

As she writhed and mewled against him, rolling her hips against his fingers and incidentally his own arousal, Inuyasha fought every single urge within him not to sink into her sweet heat. Much as he wanted to, he couldn’t. Not without protection, without time, without permission. No matter what she was telling him with her body and her words, something wasn’t right, and he couldn’t trust that her whimpered demands for him to bury his cock in her were at all thought out.

Desperate for her to stay still, at least a little, Inuyasha felt the need to take hold of her shoulder with his teeth. It was only the pain of his fangs in the back of his own hand that brought him far enough back into reality to realize he’d almost done it. Fortunately some part of him had the sense to protect her. Even from himself.

The transport lurched to a stop, the door chiming while sliding open. Inuyasha had only enough time to glance and make sure they were in the right place before he gathered Kagome up against him, his bag hanging from his arm, and leapt straight for the front door. Only the dual proximity of their watches actively reading their vitals opened the door automatically. Another slick feature the new watches had that Inuyasha actually appreciated.

As the door clacked behind him, he found himself scrambling to pull a condom from the pocket of his bag as Kagome fought him to get his clothes off. He almost didn’t make it before she flipped him onto his back and sat on him. Hard.

She gasped from the sudden fullness and he from the unexpected warmth. “Kagome, sl-slow down!”

“Sorry. Sorry,” she whimpered, head dropping to his chest while he hugged her to him. “I need you,” she breathed, voice hardly above a whisper.

“I know. I’m right here, alright? We can take our time. There’s no rush.” She whimpered, but nodded that she understood.

Inuyasha swallowed hard, sitting up so he could hold her close and working his way to his feet. Some very distant part of his brain told him he should just carry her normally, or let her walk on her own, but the majority was too enthralled by the feel of her heat around him as he took the few steps from the front entry into his room, lowering her to his futon. Her legs relaxed their hold on his waist, allowing him more freedom of movement again.

He was deliberate this time, more in control than even their first guiding session. But this wasn’t guiding. There was no exchange of energy. He was not touching her to calm her down or even to meet her needs because of a backlash. At least… he didn’t think it was a backlash.

Despite her eyes, Inuyasha focused only on what Kagome’s scent and her words were telling him, no attention paid to her numbers on his watch. Her soft moans, the way she stretched and shifted while still clinging to his arms… A thrill went down his spine. A deep breath had her scent filling his head, made him feel drunk on her.

“Inuyasha,” she pleaded. He could do nothing but comply, grasping the curves of her hips to drag her to him in time with his thrusts into her heat. Hot, wet, clinging… Inuyasha had never been so aware of the sensation before, even with Kagome. All his nerves tingled in anticipation as he felt the tension building in Kagome and in himself. They were both close. “Right there,” she gasped, fingertips pressing into his biceps and hips arching off the bed to meet his thrusts.

One hand slid around and up her thigh, pushing her leg up and out of the way so he could drive himself deeper, harder. “There?” he growled. “That where you like it, Kagome?”

“Yes,” she whined, then cried out, nails digging into him as she rocked against him. The feel of her fluttering around him tore a snarl out of his lungs, his release freezing all his other muscles, joints locking as he pressed as deeply as possible while shaking from the overwhelming sensation.

When he finally felt like he could move again, Inuyasha prepared himself to get them both into the bathroom to clean up. Kagome sighed softly, her eyes closed and a smile on her lips. Brushing his fingers over her knee, Inuyasha mirrored her smile. Only to grunt as he slipped free of her. The zips of sensation had not faded as much as he’d thought, and the combination of movement and then having to slide off the condom had him twitching and sensitive.

He was wholly unprepared for slim hands to firmly press against his chest while silver eyes stared down at him. About to protest, he could only hiss against her lips as she took his with no hesitation. What’s more, her slick heat against his stomach with her ass pressed against his cock had him firmly at attention all over again. “K-Kagome?” he tried to question around her kiss.

“Again,” she insisted, slowly, teasingly, shifting back against him. It was only enough to provide friction and pressure, but it dragged a groan out of his chest. He was already so sensitive from the last round, and her scent was not helping matters either. “Please, Inuyasha. Again?” Her lips on his didn’t allow him a chance to respond verbally, pulling him into a deep kiss. His fingers slid into her hair to cradle her head, keeping her in line with him so their tongues could meet without catching hers on his fangs.

Heavy breaths. Gasps. Moans. Inuyasha felt her weight shift and sparks shot through his belly, making him clench his jaw to hold back a whimper. It was too much and yet he wanted to feel it all over again. Kagome sat up just long enough to yank her shirt over her head, her bra following a moment later.

The full sight of her took his breath away.

A feeling that doubled when she pressed her hands to his chest so she could slide back enough to tilt her hips and easily take him inside her. Inuyasha was completely taken by the look of pleasure on her face and the way his heart was racing. The moment she moved, he was lost.

The slick slide of her over him had his hands on her waist, not sure if he was trying to stop her or to help her move. He shuddered when she accidentally shifted forward at the same time as she pulled upward, the roll of her hips creating friction in a different spot than usual. Kagome obviously picked up on his reaction, repeating it more intentionally. “Huh, fuck,” he gasped, the breath feeling caught in his chest.

“Like that?” Kagome purred, cupping the back of his neck as she leaned down to kiss him, sucking his tongue as she rolled her hips over him again. The dual stimulation had him whimpering into her mouth, suddenly just as desperate as she had been before. Prone beneath her, Inuyasha couldn’t hide from her scent and it filled his nose and his head. “Feels good.”

“Yea. Feels good,” he confirmed. His fingers tightened on her waist, feeling the softness of her ass against his little fingers. He followed the temptation it presented, grasping the roundness instead and making Kagome gasp for once. “Like that?” he mimicked her with a sly grin before inviting her kiss once more.

“Yes.” Kagome’s whines and whimpers against his mouth inflamed his blood. “Please.”

“Please what?” he teased, nibbling her lower lip.

“Harder.”

Inuyasha smirked. “Fuck you harder?” The way she clenched tight around him was answer enough, making him wince as he tried to hold back a little longer. “Hmm? Is that what you want, Kagome?” Her movements over him stuttered, as though she couldn’t maintain the coordination. Getting close… “Tell me, Kagome. Tell me what you want.”

“Inu… Ah…” A flex of his hips upward brought them into harder contact, but just once, and it was obviously not enough. Still, he waited. A frustrated growl rose in Kagome’s throat and Inuyasha couldn’t help a full-on grin as he felt air on his back before sinking so deeply into Kagome they were almost one. Her fingernails in his shoulders made him hiss in a mixture of pain and pleasure. She pulled him down until his face was buried in her neck, and he found himself mouthing her skin to get more of a taste than her scent on his tongue provided. “Please. Please fuck me harder,” she whispered against his temple. It was just close enough to his ear that he could imagine that he felt her breath against it.

“You asked,” he warned her before doing exactly as she wanted.

He sat back just enough to put his hands on her thighs, spreading them wide while she clung to his neck, curling up to press her face into his shoulder. Their breathing huffed in the small space between them, the heat and humidity from their bodies creating a fine sheen of sweat. Inuyasha felt that same delicious tension in Kagome and in his own hips, driving himself even faster into her to tip her over the edge. The tightening of her around him had him flying off of it shortly after.

Kagome slowly let go of him, arms relaxing until she fell back against the pillow behind her. Inuyasha stroked her cheek gently, waiting for her to open her eyes. “Kagome?” She hummed. “Kagome, look at me,” he murmured. She smiled, then slowly blinked. Shit.

Less glaringly bright than before, but still silver.

He waited to see if she seemed ready to pounce him again, but was relieved when she let him go, stretching her body languidly on his futon. Something in him rumbled happily at the sight of her looking satiated because of him in his bed. “Kagome, I’m going to clean you up, alright?” She murmured that she heard him, but made no move to help. “Are you asleep already?” Inuyasha asked a little incredulously as he ran a wet cloth over her and followed it with a soft dry one. He winced as evidence of them missing a key step slipped free of her even as that deeply animal part of him puffed its chest with pride.

Keep it there.

Inuyasha swallowed, gentle with his fingers to coax it out as best he could.

“No. I am sleepy, but not asleep,” she told him. “Ah. That feels weird, Inuyasha.”

“I know,” he said, apology in his tone. “Have to do it though.” She grunted and even tried to bat his hands away, but he wouldn’t let her. I have to get medicine in her too, he thought as worry crept up his spine and made his ears lay flat to his skull. “All done,” he promised before sliding a pair of his boxers onto her followed by the smallest shirt he owned… Which was still far too big on her slight frame. She accepted the medicine from the emergency kit, sipping water from the bottle he offered her. “Come here,” he whispered when they were both finally at least somewhat dressed.

Kagome let out a soft sigh, eyes still closed, giving in to his gentle tugging until she lay on his chest, her left arm across him and her fingers tangled in his hair. As she fell completely asleep, her fingers flexed and her nails lightly scritched his scalp near his nape.

The concerns that kept trying to flood his mind drifted away with the soft movement of her fingers and the sweet sound of her breathing against him.

Chapter Text

Following a registered esper and guide should have been easy. For the sake of their guild and per the council’s rules, they were meant to be reachable at any given time in case a gate opened unexpectedly. Espers especially were paid accordingly to be on call all the time. Their haven locations were meant to be highly protected information, though depending on the esper, they were known to openly advertise amongst their own guild where they were.

So Shippou wanted to throw something heavy when he repeatedly found himself at a loss to locate a single guide and his esper. He had a whole team at his disposal with strong stealth and camouflage abilities. They should be able to stay on his tail no matter what. Instead they had to keep finding him all over again after losing him for short spans of time.

The part that made it so difficult was that none of the team could remember clearly what happened right before they lost sight of him. A distraction, something got in their eyes… There was always something that meant they didn’t see where he disappeared to and then tracking him became impossible until he reappeared twenty minutes to an hour later.

Shippou was beginning to feel there was something purposely sabotaging them.

“Boss, the footage is up.” His second in command set a thumb drive in front of him then stepped back to look over the tracking data they had been trying to map to create a consistent routine to help identify where Kinta and Naraku converged regularly and where their paths separated. It was convoluted, because they needed to look back over weeks’ worth of data and Naraku in particular was highly mobile.

Sighing as he plugged the drive in and waited for it to load, Shippou triple checked all the settings on the laptop. They had made sure all their equipment for looking over the data and compiling it was not connected to any external networks to make sure they didn’t risk anyone tampering with it. After the issues with the watches had been made known to the Council, all the guilds had been more careful about their protocols. Having an esper go rampant was a concern for all people, not just the guilds or the Council, so there was plenty of pressure to make sure they were being monitored correctly.

The screen asking him if he wanted to use the video program popped up and he checked the name and file twice before actually opening it. His team felt he was too cautious sometimes, but it had saved them from trouble more than once, so they couldn’t really complain. He started with the images from the last time they had lost track of Naraku. He hadn’t been with the esper they were tracking, and now they needed to work backwards and see where they had last parted ways.

All their observation and footage so far pretty well confirmed what they had suspected: Muso and Kinta were the same man. Knowing that, they had tried to trace all the connections to Muso from Naraku and came up empty.

At first.

Several months back, they had been to the same club. It was a small thing, but it was the first possible interaction they could find. It took a lot of digging through public camera footage and Muso’s finances before they started to notice patterns that proved they were at least crossing paths regularly before Muso left the guild and changed his name. Shippou hated that they couldn’t outright prove anything other than they happened to be in the same places at the same time.

It wasn’t until “Kinta” appeared and he was paired with Naraku that they were able to more closely connect them. If they hadn’t been able to show that Muso was Kinta, that wouldn’t have mattered at all.

“Boss, they just showed up at the guild headquarters. The esper seems doped up or something.” Shippou glanced at the photos his subordinate showed him on his phone. Glazed was an understatement to describe the man’s eyes. He was not canted or obviously wobbling while walking, almost standing too straight, but it was obvious that he was not looking where he was going. He seemed to be relying entirely on his guide’s arm looped through his. Naraku even swiped the esper’s card for him upon entering.

“Looks like he’s asleep at the wheel,” Shippou muttered. “Did you manage to track them backward?”

“Sort of,” another kitsune piped up from the doorway. “They took a transport which we were able to follow with the traffic cams. It picked them up on the edge of West District.”

Shippou made a face. “I thought West District was mostly abandoned. A gate opened there five years ago and it was marked almost a total loss. All the businesses are closed…” All three of them shared a look. “So no cameras.”

“Damn. You’d think every inch of the city was covered.”

“It used to be. But why keep up surveillance on a part of town no one goes to?” Or so they thought… “New plan. Get the satellite link cameras and get them placed in West District.”

The kitsune at his side hesitated. “Do we have permission for that, Boss?”

“Get moving. I’ll contact the Council myself.” Both of his subordinates eyed each other, obviously not envying him the call he would have to make and the fight he was about to have. Shippou noticed they were more than happy to take off and leave him to it, though. “Cowards,” he grumbled as he picked up his phone.

Even if it weren’t for the proximity alert on his watch, Kohaku would have known she was about to walk in the door. They were in tune on another level lately, and it made him feel like he sensed her even before the watch did. He opened the door just as it chimed, startling her. “Hi,” he murmured, taking her bag and leaning down to kiss the crown of her head. Rin sighed, letting him take over control as he directed her straight into the bathroom and the shower.

While she washed, he pulled down three different sized bowls, the containers with supplies, and a giant glass. He filled the largest bowl with popcorn, the middle with snack crackers, and the smallest with rainbow colored hard candies. The sour ones this time. Something about her mood when she came in told him that was what she’d need. Finally, as the water in the shower cut off, he added crushed ice to the glass, filling it to the top.

Rin plopped on the couch in a boneless way but was almost immediately back up with her leg shaking, her heel scuffing against the couch as it moved. “Here. Start with this. Try to suck on them though.” He handed her the ice, wincing when she crunched through the first several pieces. She tried really hard to listen to him and suck on them instead, if only so she didn’t feel so parched, but Kohaku could tell she was struggling. “Here,” he handed her the popcorn instead.

Designated as Pagophagia now that it could be redirected to ice and icy drinks, Rin’s backlash had initially been classified as Pica, and was far far more dangerous. Without a responsible guide to direct her cravings, she had been known to, and still could, try to chew items that weren’t at all edible. She’d put herself in the hospital a few times shortly after she awakened because she wasn’t aware what she was doing and pencils and toothpicks were not kind on the stomach. Even if you were an esper who healed quickly...

Now it was a set and comfortable routine. Kohaku put out the foods that seemed to best satisfy her need to chew crunchy and hard things – with a variety on hand to swap out as needed – and plenty of ice in more manageable pieces. They had learned the hard way that full cubes were not a safe idea. The rhythm of her needs was almost instinctive to him now. Recognizing the pace she ate the ice as her needing more hydration and feeling on edge, he offered her ice water, which she accepted, her eyes glowing the shiny green of sea glass.

“Better?” he asked with a small smile after she downed half the glass. His hand lay on her knee to provide guiding as they sat. Kohaku’s internal gauge which he relied on to know how much guiding she needed told him she would need skin to skin contact, but he wanted her to get more water in first. “Do you want the crackers?” She nodded vaguely, but reached for the smallest bowl. She stopped.

“Why do you set that out?” she questioned, tone reflecting annoyance, pointing at the candy.

“Because you like them and you need them sometimes.”

Her eyes, less bright and beginning to fade to their more typical soft hazel, flipped up to glare at him. “The carbs are bad enough.”

“Rin, we’ve talked about this. Your backlash…”

“I know, I know. Better a few pounds than getting an obstruction.” It was a rote phrase at this point. Her doctor at the guild had been very clear with her that the fear she had of putting on weight because of the things she ate during her backlash was not only unfounded – espers’ metabolisms were far above that of normal people as a general rule – but also dangerous. If she tried to avoid eating the safe things provided by her guide, she could end up eating something that could hospitalize if not kill her.

“Exactly.” He held his hands out for hers, letting her come to him before he grasped her fingers. The direct contact helped drop her levels even as she pouted at him for being right. After a few tense moments, she started to relax, a sigh leaving her. Kohaku gladly accepted her forehead against his chest, her breathing measured. “Did you have to do a lot of healing today?” he asked softly. She nodded. “Were you the only one again?” A small shake of her head this time. He mentally sighed in relief.

Another layer of concern to Muso’s disappearance and… rebranding, was that it meant one less healing esper in the ranks within their own guild. Which meant more pressure on Rin to heal people who needed the help. It was leading to espers who had stronger natural healing powers, especially youkai, being left to fend for themselves and healing espers like Rin getting stretched thinner and thinner.

Kohaku hated that he couldn’t tell her what was going on, partially because he didn’t know the whole story himself, and also because the Council investigation was ongoing. Everything had to be kept under wraps, especially now that Old Lady Kaede had been looped in.

When Rin finally sat up again, she had a faintly wild look in her eyes and he knew without doubt what she was about to do. The hard shells clinked in the small bowl, the rougher surface from the citric acid powder making the movement gritty as she grabbed several pieces and popped them in her mouth. Because she was still in her backlash, but her levels and risk of delirium had come down, she was able to suck on them for a second before fully biting into them. They crunched at first, then quickly became soft between her teeth. The tartness was often a good stand in for the shock to her senses the ice usually provided.

Later, he would help her brush her teeth and floss, going through her routine when she was almost too sleepy to do it herself. Right now, he got the chance to taste that sharp sour sugary snap on her tongue as she caught his mouth with hers, kissing the breath out of him. Kohaku smiled against her lips, pulling her across his lap so she could straddle him, allowing for much better access for kissing.

“You were right about the candy.” He hummed. “I hate that you were right.”

“I know,” he murmured before initiating a brief kiss of his own. “But who else knows you this well, huh?” He wanted to make a comment about how they might as well be bonded already, but didn’t. It always made things somewhat uncomfortable between them because there was so much weight put on a decision to bond. It could be dissolved, in rare cases, but it was not recommended and it was usually only mentioned in medical texts with no real evidence of success. So while it was not as “forbidden” as it had once been, it was still something that espers and guides were told to be very cautious about.

“You’re the only one who knows me,” Rin whispered, her nose slightly chilly against his neck. “You’re the only one I would let know me like this.” Kohaku smiled, tightening his hold around her waist. “Kohaku? Will you be with me? Always?”

He stiffened in surprise. “Like… forever?” She nodded quickly, her hair tickling his ear. She was still hiding her face in his neck. “As in… Bonding…. Forever?” His voice was hardly louder than a breath, but he could feel her muscles twitch at his question.

“Y-Yes?”

He wanted to be calm, rational, cool…

Rin squeaked when her back hit the couch cushions, her breath leaving her in a rush as her eyes popped open to stare up at him hovering over her. “You mean that?”

She chewed her lip. “Yes,” her voice stronger this time.

“Good.” Kohaku leaned down. “No Take Backs.”

Pain lanced through her skull, pressure warring with confusion as she tried to pull herself upright. She immediately regretted the attempt, nausea following until she caved and settled back down. The pillow under her felt harder than usual, but still warm and comfortable. As long as she stayed there, the nausea stayed away. With slow breaths, the headache became more bearable.

A whimper escaped her. “Kagome?” She could only wince in response, the vibration of his voice against her ear causing pain for a moment. Even with her confusion, she was able to tell that meant she had to be laying on Inuyasha’s chest. “What hurts?” The concern in his voice was comforting in a way, though it didn’t make the pain any better. “Can you look at me?”

“My head. Opening my eyes… worse,” she swallowed back the excess saliva her mouth had suddenly filled with, the urge to gag almost impossible to suppress.

“Ok.” Carefully, he shifted, hissing when she whimpered again at the movement. “I need to get you water at least. And something for the pain too. Can I do that?”

“Maybe?” Another swallow, another slow breath. “I might hurl while you’re gone.” She could feel his growl roll through him and, by proxy, her. “Ugh.”

“Sorry, sorry,” he murmured, kissing the top of her head and moving her much more carefully so he could finally slip out from under her. Kagome couldn’t be sure of where he went then, her eyes clamped tight to keep out the light, but she could hear him rummaging in the kitchen. She was still in his room, the tall windows letting in far too much sun for her to tolerate. Kagome buried her face in his pillow, taking in his scent and focus on that to keep the urge to empty her stomach at bay.

When he returned, his footsteps heavy, he went to the windows and closed the blinds first, taking the room into blessed darkness. “Better?” His tone was worried and gentle, making her sigh. She couldn’t nod, but she did smile a little to let him know it was. “Here, let’s get this in you first.”

His arms around her, Inuyasha helped her sit up, leaning against his chest as he sat against the wall for support. Kagome had to fight her gag reflex several times in the process of swallowing the pain reliever and the water to go with it. Inuyasha also brought some crackers, but she couldn’t attempt those yet.

After nearly thirty minutes of just laying on Inuyasha, she could finally open her eyes enough to look around. “Your eyes are normal at least.”

“Huh?”

“Do you… Do you remember yesterday at all?” She could feel his anxiety growing.

“Yes.” Which was true. She remembered everything in highly vivid detail now that her headache and confusion were less intense. “How long did they stay that way?”

“Until you passed out.” Kagome swallowed. That wasn’t good. She also had no idea what that might mean. “Once you feel up to moving, you’re going in.”

“Wh-What?”

“Not taking no for an answer, Kagome. I only brought you straight home yesterday because you were having a backlash, or something similar, and that’s what Sango told me to do. But if I’d known you would be like this…” He growled. “I should have taken you straight to the infirmary.”

Kagome’s face dropped and she stared at her hand on his stomach as he continued to hold her close to his body. Was she that out of line yesterday? She knew she’d been a little pushy, maybe, but mostly passionate. “I didn’t mean to go so overboard,” she whispered.

Inuyasha flinched. “Not… I don’t mean that part. You can’t even move today. Something isn’t right with you. That’s why I’m taking you in, not because of what happened yesterday. Er… Not that specifically.” A nod to show she understood caused immediate regret, the world spinning and her stomach going along for the ride.

Getting her to the bathroom just barely in time, Inuyasha cursed under his breath as he held her hair back for her, then whispered soothingly as he helped her clean up. Kagome felt shaky and limp, letting him carry her back out. She barely convinced him to help her get dressed – including underwear – before he tried to take her out of the house. One mention of someone seeing up the too big shorts he’d lent her with her ass bare underneath had been enough to set him to growling and he grudgingly agreed.

The transport was almost too much for her stomach, but as she didn’t have anything left in it to lose, all she could do was dry heave anyway. Inuyasha was rumbling the whole time, a dark scowl on his face. Is he upset with me for yesterday? He said he wasn’t, that he was just worried, but something told her it was more than just worry over her sudden illness.

Inuyasha had obviously alerted the medical team that they were on their way. The transport brought them to rear entrance, avoiding any crowds that might be in the main lobby of the building. Kagome sighed in relief when only a pair of medical techs came out with a stretcher, then nearly retched again as Inuyasha settled her on it. He snapped at them for moving it too quickly, but she wasn’t sure anything would have made a difference.

The staff were immediately busy with getting an IV in her as soon as they got her into a bed. Kagome vaguely heard Inuyasha explaining to the doctors how she had been since exiting the gate. He emphasized her eyes being silver and that it hadn’t gone away even once her backlash finished. She caught his eyes when the doctors asked about her backlash and he obviously hesitated. She’d already had to report it to the Council… At this point, it was probably necessary for the medical team to know and understand. She bit her lip, then nodded just enough for him to know she was giving him permission to tell them.

He waited another moment before sighing and going into a more in depth explanation. She was too wrung out by that point to keep listening as they asked about what intake she’d had within the last twelve hours and how often she’d thrown up. The nurse who was taping the IV so it wouldn’t wiggle gave her a soft pat on the hand and told her to rest.“There’s nausea medication in there too so you should feel better soon,” he explained, then picked up a clipboard to write a note and check something off, the board clacking against the end of her bed as he left.

The warm touch of Inuyasha’s hand on the one not currently playing at being a pin cushion made her sigh with relief. They’d drawn blood too before they all left to bustle about and try to figure out what the hell was wrong with the top esper.

“Kagome, I’m sorry.”

“Huh? What for?”

“I should have brought you straight here. From the moment I noticed your eyes weren’t going back to normal…” He pressed his forehead to her shoulder and Kagome found herself reaching over to lightly pet his ear. He stiffened in surprise at the touch, but both he and the ear relaxed, allowing her the small intimacy. “Feeling any better?” She shrugged. Her head wasn’t pounding like before, but the vertigo hadn’t really improved much yet.

An alert on her watch made her wince. Inuyasha was quick to take her wrist in his hands and check the notification for her. “What’s wrong?” He was frowning.

“The gate you came from. There were weird magnetic readings between the planet and here. They wanted to know if you experienced any side effects.”

“Little late for that,” Kagome scoffed.

“No kidding,” he growled. “I’ll call over there. You ok for a few minutes?”

“Yea. I think the nausea med is starting to kick in.” Inuyasha paused to lean down and press his nose to hers for a brief moment, then left the room to call in.

Her awareness got a little foggy while he was gone. The combination of IV fluids and the nausea medication making her feel comfortably sleepy, but not enough to actually fall asleep. The chill in her arm from the fluids started to fade and she found herself concentrating on the beat of her heart in her ears as the throbbing in her temples began to slow. She was tempted to check her watch to see if her heart rate was matching the pulse she heard, but opening her eyes felt like a lot of effort.

“Kagome?” Inuyasha’s voice was barely more than a whisper, testing to see if she was awake or not. Keeping her eyes closed, Kagome hummed a little to let him know she’d heard him. “The other espers and guides that went through also had vertigo and headaches. The tech kept talking about homing pigeons and magnetic poles? I dunno what the fuck he was talking about, but he seemed really sure that was the cause.”

“Alright. Do they think it’ll get better soon?”

“The other awakened weren’t over there as long as you were, so they weren’t as severely affected, but they improved after fluids and meds like they’re giving you.” She felt the warmth of his palm on the back of her hand as his larger one enveloped hers. “You going to sleep?”

“Hmm. Yea. I think so.”

“Good. Get some rest. I’ll be right here.”

“Thanks, Inuyasha.”

“Anytime,” he murmured, then kissed her temple gently. Kagome smiled a little as her mind drifted, drawn by the faint pulse in her head as it faded, her consciousness following.

Chapter Text

The kettle humming as it warmed up held her eyes even though it was obvious she wasn’t thinking about the water boiling for tea. Miroku gently tapped her hand just before the whistle screeched, startling her in more ways than one. “Sorry. I didn’t want the kettle to scare you and I made it worse.” Her eyes, slightly wild in the moment, had calmed. “What are you thinking about so hard?” He carefully looped his arms around her waist after pushing the button to turn off the heating element. Sango leaned back into him, still staring at the side of the kettle.

“Just how we’ve had all these gate issues lately. Espers and guides having problems with their energy or physical condition while gate-side or after they return.” Miroku nodded, lightly pressing his chin into her shoulder. “Kagome is still in the infirmary.”

“I heard.” He hadn’t heard the details, just that Inuyasha had brought her in the morning after her gate mission and had been completely panicked. Rumors like that spread pretty quickly through the guild, even though they’d gone through the med entrance. “Is she alright?”

“Mostly.”

“Mostly? Was it like what happened to Inuyasha with the giant gate?” Sango flinched.

“No. Kagome isn’t youkai, she wasn’t affected like that.” The crease of her brow said she was thinking thoughts. Ones that seemed to have gears turning in her head in a way she didn’t like. “No, she got hit with the symptoms of magnetic field disturbance sickness pretty hard. Much harder than the other awakened that went through that same gate.” Sango lightly nudged his hands away so she could pick up the kettle and pour hot water into the waiting cup. She raised it in his direction, silently asking if he wanted some too, but he shook his head. “Kagome’s still on fluids and anti-nausea meds. I’m not sure if she’s been able to keep anything down yet.”

“It’s been almost twenty-four hours since she went into the infirmary. Inuyasha must be a mess…”

“They’ve had to fight him to rest twice already.” Miroku rolled his eyes a little. While he could sympathize with the other guide, he also knew that the inuhanyou’s reaction was over the top. “He tried to make them bring in a bigger bed but they don’t have anything like that at the guild.”

“That’s pretty bold, even for him.”

“He’s pretty stubborn.” Miroku swallowed the urge to comment something flippant. “I think being close to him helps make her nausea better? I’m not sure.”

Guiding could have a positive affect on an esper who was injured or ill as it lowered their negative energy levels to allow for healing. But to expect active healing in response to guiding… that was typically for bonded pairs or at least those that had been together for years. Miroku supposed the unprecedentedly high level of their compatibility might have created a stronger link even in a shorter period of time than was normally seen in other contracted pairs, but that was a lot of conjecture on his part.

“Are they bonded?” Sango froze where she was about to take a sip of her tea to test it. Her dark eyes widened over the rim of the cup, her lips still partially puckered.

“No,” she said, slowly putting the mug back on the counter. “No, Kagome would have told me.” Miroku nodded in response, but it was pretty obvious that she wasn’t as sure as she was trying to sound. “Nothing is different about their energy exchange. Last check, their compatibility was still at eighty-five percent.” Bonded pairs tended to see a change in their compatibility after the deed was done. Though in the grand scheme of the history of the awakened, he supposed there weren’t that many bonded pairs to compare with. Not to mention the lack of data before the technology to test and track energy levels evolved to that level of precision, which had only happened in the last decade.

“I can visit them tomorrow. Maybe get a gauge of things?”

“You think Kagome wouldn’t tell me?” Sango gasped, obviously a little offended.

Miroku reached out and took her hand. “No, Love. I think Kagome might not know.” It was more common in the past, because the link between an esper and guide was not that well understood, but after going overboard to teach espers and guides not to bond, it now happened very rarely that a bond was created accidentally. With how compatible Inuyasha and Kagome already were, it wouldn’t be all that much of a shock if they bonded without meaning to, especially with how close the two of them had become. “Even if Kagome doesn’t know, there’s one sure way to check.”

“Wait…” Sango gave him a slightly horrified look. “You’re not going to make him…”

“The only sure fire way to tell if a guide is bonded is to have them try to guide an unbonded esper.”

“Kagome will not like that.”

“Inuyasha won’t like it either. Especially if it turns out they are. Guiding Rejection is terrible.” Miroku felt a little ill just mentioning it, if he was honest. It was how they’d determined the veracity of his bond with Sango years ago, even though they had been very intentional about choosing to bond.

When a bonding was complete, the esper couldn’t receive guiding from another guide. They felt some mild discomfort but most importantly received no benefit from it. On the other hand, bonded guides experienced severe discomfort, nausea, and could even pass out, depending on the strength of the Rejection. Miroku’s had been enough for him to lose his lunch several times over, but hadn’t blacked out. With how sick he’d felt, he’d almost wished he had.

“If they’re going to check it, it should be while they’re still in the infirmary.” Sango was obviously plotting out several possibilities in her head, already planning for the worst. Miroku sighed when she was immediately drawn into “Solutions Mode,” pulling out her phone and contacting various team members. They would need to take separate readings, readings while guiding, and then they would need to test for Rejection. All of which would be potentially stressful on an already ill Kagome. They had to make sure she was stable enough first.

“I should go with you,” he told her when she moved to go get dressed, her tea completely forgotten. “I don’t want you going out alone. Not to mention, Inuyasha might not take kindly to anything disturbing Kagome.”

Sango stopped to grin at him, kissing his cheek when he gathered her into his arms. “You’re going to stop Inuyasha?” she teased. “He wouldn’t hit me even if he could. He might be rough, but he’s enough of a gentleman to not hit a pregnant lady.”

Miroku growled despite knowing it was a joke. “He better not if he wants to keep those ears of his attached to his head.”

Keeping fluids down shouldn’t have felt like such a triumph, and yet here they were. Inuyasha stood at the window, staring out as Kagome finally, mercifully, slept. As to be expected, she was exhausted. It was over thirty-six hours since he’d brought her in and she was just now able to drink and keep water in her system without violently throwing it up. If it weren’t for the IV fluids, she would be far more dehydrated than she was, but her body was still struggling to regulate.

Part of him was still furious that the guild administration let Kagome go through that gate alone. He might have sensed something was wrong sooner and made her come back. She wouldn’t have been hit so hard. At the same time, he knew that he would very likely have been afflicted in a similar way and then he would have been in no position to take care of her.

Another reason espers were supposed to be part of teams and not “flying solo.”

Kagome grunted in her sleep, shifting to get more comfortable. She was normally a side sleeper, but the fact that she had an IV in meant it was hard for her to do that. The bed not being big enough for both of them to fit comfortably wasn’t helping anything either.

What little piece of his brain felt rational through this situation was yelling at him for his seemingly insane request of a larger bed. He knew how bizarre it sounded. He knew that the doctors were right to tell him there was no way, even if they had the bigger bed, they could allow that. If something went wrong with Kagome, they needed immediate access to her. He understood all of that from a logical standpoint.

His instincts were snarling over it.

Kagome needed him. As her guide, as her partner, as her significant other… As her Mate.

Inuyasha shook himself with a sigh. His youkai had been pushy lately. Ever since the incident with the giant gate, he had been experiencing stronger urges from his youkai side, especially when it came to Kagome. At first he had mostly tried to ignore it, but with her sick, it was like a constant thrum in his skull. He needed to fix it. He needed to make her feel better. Guiding her helped some, but physical contact and his youki seemed to help even more.

But they couldn’t stay in contact for long because Kagome was too crowded in the bed with him there and the nurses kept glaring at him.

A light knock on the door preceded the entrance of Kagome’s best friend and her husband. Miroku in particular took a moment to bow his head to Inuyasha as if asking permission to enter before following Sango the rest of the way in. “How is she?” Sango whispered.

“Keeping water down so far, but that’s it.” The head of the research and development department nodded her understanding, then flashed her husband a look. “We… We were wondering something. It will take some testing, but that means bringing portable equipment in here. I already got the medical team’s approval, but we need yours as well.

“Testing? For what?”

The way they both froze before looking at one another was not very reassuring.

“What’s wrong?” Glancing at Kagome, he saw signs of her stirring. With a sharp jerk of his head, he indicated they needed to take the conversation out of her room so they wouldn’t disturb her. Sango stayed behind while Miroku followed along. Inuyasha didn’t love leaving her side, but he supposed Sango was the better option than no one at all. “What are you testing for?”

“Your compatibility levels, energy transfer.” That was all normal for guiding, though they wouldn’t need to bring equipment into Kagome’s room for that. He could just go to the clinic. “We need to test if Kagome’s levels can go up right now, and if they do, will your guiding bring them down.”

“She’s sick as hell right now. Why would you put her through that?” he bit out.

“Because she might be as sick as she is because something is off.” Miroku’s dark eyes were far more serious than the pleasant look on his face implied and it made Inuyasha stand back a bit. There was something he was shying away from telling him but was obviously important enough that they had both come. “Inuyasha… Did she bond with you?”

“Wh-What? No.” He blinked, instinctively patting his chest and neck as though he would be able to feel that from touch alone. “We aren’t there yet.”

Miroku pressed his lips together in thought. “It’s not common anymore, but it is possible for an esper to create a bond without realizing it. If Kagome did that, and the bond isn’t complete…”

“She would feel sick.” Inuyasha felt his heart drop into his stomach, nearly swooning at the sudden lightheadedness that hit him. How could he have been so oblivious?! He didn’t want to believe it, didn’t want to admit that he could have entirely missed something so important when he tried to hard to be aware of her every need. At the same time, it was impossible to outright deny because Inuyashahad felt like their connection was different than in the past. Her need of him during this last maybe-backlash had been unlike any time before.

“If she doesn’t realize she’s done it, we might be able to back her out of the…”

“Undo it?”

Despite not wanting her to feel sick because of him, there was a visceral reaction to having someone else force her to disconnect her attachment to him. He wanted to tell her, to offer her the choice. But if it was unintentional and not what she wanted…

“Yes. You both should make the choice to bond. A one-sided bond is harmful to both of you in the long run.” Inuyasha struggled with feeling frustrated with Miroku for pointing out a very real and dangerous possibility. It would be easy to take out his fear and confusion on someone else. Emotionally, he felt the need to punch something. Logically, he knew that would be the wrong thing to do, not to mention unfair to Miroku.

It dawned on him then that they would need to test if there was in fact a bond. If Kagome was bonded to him without the matching bond on his end, she wouldn’t be able to receive guiding from anyone but him. But it wouldn’t go both ways. Which meant they had to test for Guiding Rejection. “Wait… You’re going to have me try to guide someone else?” he spat. “I won’t. My contract… I promised Kagome I wouldn’t.”

“Guide Taisho. I understand your commitment to your esper. It’s admirable. But her health depends on knowing if she has bonded to you. Or if you’re bonded to her and it is incomplete.” Both options would be bad for Kagome, just for different reasons. Really, the best thing for Kagome would be for there to be no bond at all. Or for the bond to be on his end so she could still receive guiding from others.

With the way she continued to evolve, someday he might not be enough guide for her.

“Test me first. The energy transfer levels, all that shit.” He scowled down at the floor, frustrated by how helpless he was in this situation. “We’re only going to do Kagome’s testing after she wakes up on her own.”

“Understood.” Miroku obviously hesitated for a long moment before reaching out to pat Inuyasha on the shoulder. “She’s very lucky to have you as her guide, bond or not.”

Waking up to a room with way more people in it than when she fell asleep was jarring. Kagome groaned, blinking several times as she tried to orient herself to who was there and what was going on. In a chair at her side sat Inuyasha, a concession the infirmary had made to allow him to be as close to her as possible without actually being in the bed. His knee was jumping, back hunched and hands clasped in a fist under his his chin. His gaze tracked the others in the room with a brooding scowl.

“Mm. Inu?” she croaked. Her mouth was dry all over again. Kagome had been afraid to drink before because it only meant heaving everything back up and out moments later. Now she knew she could, at least a little, and that meant she was so much more aware of how parched she felt. Her guide froze in his movements before launching himself upright and leaning over her. “Water?” Kagome winced at how paper thin and crackly her voice sounded.

“Take your time,” he murmured, tipping the cup up just enough to let the water wet her lips, then backing off, repeating the action until she finally had enough moisture that her tongue wasn’t trying to stick to the roof of her mouth. “Do you want to try the ice chips?” She nodded gratefully. So focused on wetting her mouth and throat, she missed how everyone else in the room had gone completely silent and were trying to look like they absolutely were not watching the pair on the other side of the room.

“Why are they all in here?”

Inuyasha sighed, glaring out of the corner of his eye for a moment before turning his full attention back to her. “Going over the results of tests and preparing for more,” he replied vaguely. “How are you feeling?”

“Thirsty, mostly.” Inuyasha nodded, handing her a cup with little pieces of cracked ice. The first few pieces were almost shockingly cold on her tongue, but the small manageable amounts of cold water she was rewarded with for sticking through the melting were enough to have her going for more. Slowly, she started to feel somewhat human again. “Maybe not this minute, but I might be up for trying to eat something.”

Inuyasha’s ears perked up and his eyes were wide with happiness. “Good. Good…” He cleared his throat and looked away. “K-Kagome? There’s…” He paused, then turned. “Can you all just fuck off for a minute?” Everyone, including Kagome, jumped at his growl. Despite the harshness in his tone, Kagome got the feeling it was more out of nervousness than anger that he was snapping at everyone.

Sango herded her team out of the room, Miroku the last to leave, shutting the door behind them.

“Inuyasha?”

“Our contract is still in effect.” Kagome blinked. That was not at all what she’d expected him to say. “Our relationship hasn’t changed.”

“A-Alright. What’s going on? You’re scaring me,” she whispered. Inuyasha was quick to take her hands in his, pressing his forehead to the backs. He softly explained that they were worried there was a partial bond in place. That it was making her sicker than the magnetic field sickness would have alone. “But we didn’t… I didn’t…”

She froze. Could she definitively say that? With her strange reaction to the magnetic field on the other side of the gate, she had been acting far outside her normal. The backlash she experienced was nothing like her usual either. Who was to say she didn’t completely forget herself and try to form a bond without Inuyasha’s permission?

“I’m sorry.”

Inuyasha flinched. “Why are you apologizing?”

“You’re just trying to do your job. What if I…”

“Kagome, stop. You didn’t do anything wrong.” It was her turn to twitch. “If you don’t want to be bonded, they have a way to help you back out of it.”

It slipped out of her before she could stop it.

“What if I do?”

“Kagome…” Inuyasha pressed her hands to his cheeks, nuzzling her palm. “Bonding is more or less permanent. You wouldn’t be able to receive guiding from anyone else.”

“I don’t want guiding from anyone else,” she whimpered. “Why would I?”

He sighed, the weight of the world on his shoulders. “What if you needed it? Because I’m not able to guide you enough?”

“That’s ridiculous. Our compatibility means your guiding works better than anyone.” Her lip trembled so hard she had to bite it to stop it. “I can’t… I can’t trust anyone else like that.”

A loud ping startled them both, Inuyasha looking at his watch then doing a double take. “What is…” Kagome watched in confusion as he pulled his phone out of his pocket so he could look at the message more closely. “The hell… No way.” His brows were furrowed as he scrolled up and back down several times.

“What’s wrong?”

“They… They retested me. I tested as an S-Level,” he breathed.

“You did?!” Kagome lunged forward to grab his shoulder, then gasped, her stomach roiling a moment at the sudden movement.

“Hey, hey. Lay back.” His gentle touch to settle her back against the pillows was tinged with tremors. Kagome grasped the hand closest to her, firmly gripping it to stop the shaking. “I… I think I need to do the bonding test,” he whispered.

“But that means you have to guide someone else.” Trying to keep her voice calm, Kagome felt her throat tighten and heard her pitch rise despite her best efforts.

Inuyasha sandwiched her hand between his. His palms were warm, comforting, and he wasn’t even guiding her. “I know. I don’t want to either, but there’s no other way to test for a bond.” Closing her eyes, Kagome fought to settle her racing heart which would surely set off the monitors and Inuyasha’s watch. “I promised…”

“It’s not your fault. I-It’s probably mine.”

“Kagome…”

Lips pressed in a thin line, she took a breath through her nose to get herself under control. “Can you… Can you do it here? Then I’ll know exactly what happened and can’t make stuff up in my head.” If there was a bond on his end, it wouldn’t take much more than handhold guiding to set off Rejection, but if it was only on her side, they would have to escalate the level of guiding to test it until there was enough of the other esper’s energy going through him to trigger it. “I know that’s a lot to ask. The other esper might not…”

“Kagome, breathe,” he told her, voice firm. “In, out.” She followed his instructions, realizing that her whole body was trembling as she tried to take deep breaths. “I won’t agree to it unless it’s with you here, alright? But I’m not putting you through any of that until you’re at least stable enough to eat something.”

“I…” The saliva felt sticky in her mouth and she reached for her water again, sipping it until the sensation dissipated. “I think I could try something.”

It took the better part of an hour, but Kagome was finally able to eat some plain rice and keep it down. It was a small feat, but one that Inuyasha was immensely proud of her for. She wasn’t sure she could eat any more than those few bites – her anxiety more than the nausea causing a lump in her throat – but it was better than nothing.

Sango’s team had moved back into her room, but with fewer people. Kagome imagined that her very surly guide had something to do with that. Not that she was about to complain. “How’s your stomach?” Sango was hovering just out of range of Inuyasha’s grumpy aura, eyeing him with obvious concern. Kagome appreciated that about her friend. Even though Kagome was her main priority, she still showed her worry over Inuyasha, knowing that he was potentially subjecting himself to something very uncomfortable.

“How’s yours?” Inuyasha gave her a pointed look.

“Just fine, thanks.”

Kagome blinked at the pair of them. She felt like she’d missed something important. “Who are you bringing down?”

“Choices were limited. There’s either Erika, or…” Sango made a face and sighed. “Or him.”

Inuyasha’s face twisted in anger and clear disgust. “No.”

“Him? Him who?” Kagome didn’t like the sudden heat that bubbled up on her skin, like a blister from touching a too hot pan. “Inuyasha?”

“Erika is skittish, so she’s maybe not the best choice.”

“Still better than him.”

If she had more energy, Kagome would be getting annoyed at them. Instead, all she could do was whine. “Someone please tell me what’s going on.” Inuyasha growled, turning his back and walking over to the window to stew. With him went the sensation of heat, which she was glad of, but it left her feeling chilled instead. “Inuyasha?”

Sango stepped in, frowning at Inuyasha’s back. “His half brother is an esper. He’s sort of… on loan to the guild. Otherwise he wouldn’t be here.”

“Tell him to fuck right back off where he came from. He never wanted to set foot on Earth anyway.” Kagome was honestly a little floored. At no point during her conversations with Inuyasha, nor with his parents, had a brother come up. Whose child is he? Izayoi’s? No. Inuyasha said his brother didn’t want to come to Earth… which meant he had to be from Touga’s homeworld. Inuyasha’s knuckles cracked in irritation, drawing her out of her thought spiral. “If you try to make me guide that bastard, I’ll end up with Rejection sickness just looking at him. Call Erika. I’ll… I’ll…”

“You have to calm down,” Kagome finished for him. Reaching out, she was relieved by how he returned to her side without shying away, how she could feel him settling at her touch. It was almost like she was guiding him. That blistering feeling she’d felt before was gone, replaced with a slightly uncomfortable warmth, but that too faded as he held her hand. “We can wait until there’s another esper here…”

“No. You might not get better if there’s an incomplete bond,” Inuyasha whispered. She understood where he was coming from. Or at least, she could imagine. She was about to watch him potentially go through severe illness all because of her carelessness… “Bring Erika. I’ll stay calm so it doesn’t freak her out.” His golden eyes turned to her and Kagome swallowed at the frustration and sadness there. She knew Inuyasha was worried about upsetting her far more than anything, and her possibly staying sick only made it worse. He was doing the best he could for her sake.

Sango took a breath, then glanced over her shoulder at her husband. His fingers were flying over his phone before she even finished to contact the other esper to come to the infirmary. Kagome bit her lip, looking away. The rational part of her knew this was what needed to happen. If they were to know for sure, Inuyasha had to guide someone else. There was no other way. Still, her heart pinched painfully in her chest. Was that further proof that there was a bond in place, even if it was only on her side? Or was that just her emotions getting the best of her?

“I-Inuyasha. I’ll be right here, ok? So when… when it’s done you can lay down with me. I don’t care what they say about it.” The door clicked open quietly, a somewhat mousy young woman coming through it. Kagome recognized her from the guild training center. She was a fire type esper, capable of igniting things at quite a distance and with fine tuned precision. It also made her a bit… twitchy. Everyone was careful around her. “So just… I’ll be right here.”

The way he held her hand until the last moment felt like they were saying goodbye. Some part of Kagome wondered why they were both being so dramatic. Sure, they were both tired, and she was still fighting dehydration. Even with that, all these emotional responses to their situation felt like too much… Until she saw Erika sit down across from Inuyasha and hold out her hands.

Kagome instantly felt ill at the sight.

She made a point to breathe through her nose to keep the nausea at bay. With robotic precision, she put new ice chips in her mouth every few breaths and watched for every single movement, every touch. Kagome promised Inuyasha that she was well enough to do this, that she could handle it so he wouldn’t worry about her. She needed to keep her word just like he was doing for her. Erika seemed nervous, eyes flicking her way now and again. Kagome ignored her and watched her guide.

Inuyasha took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, meeting her eyes one more time before focusing on Erika in front of him.

“Alright. Let’s get this over with…”

Chapter Text

The first touch of their hands went through him like the shiver he often felt right at the point of a needle entering his skin for blood draws. Slightly queasy, but unsure if it was anxiety because of his worry for Kagome, Inuyasha kept hold of Erika’s hand in spite of the instinct to let go.

She seemed almost as uncomfortable as he was, but the fire esper was known for her touchiness with guiding. He’d guided her at least once before, on a mission, but that was more than two years ago. “Weird, huh?” she asked softly. Blinking at her question, Inuyasha took a moment before he nodded. “Out in the field, no one is really paying attention, but when it’s here in the guild…” Her gaze flicked to Kagome who was obviously staring at them from the confines of her hospital bed. She flinched, her hold tightening on his hand for a moment which made him wince in turn.

“This was the agreement,” he responded a little stiffly. Inuyasha could tell that their match rate wasn’t very high. Not that it had been before either, but given his recent increase in rank, he felt like it shouldn’t be such a struggle. It didn’t help that Erika’s levels were only a little elevated so there wasn’t much to dissipate.

That being said, he definitely wasn’t feeling comfortable. It wasn’t just that Kagome’s eyes were staring holes in the side of his head either. She was trying not to – he noticed her looking away or staring at their hands instead – but she was still upset. On top of her upset was a sharp pang in his gut and the increased need to swallow. It was hard to tell though, if it was because of the guilt in the back of his mind or if it was actually Rejection.

“You might need to go back to the training center and work up some more energy. There’s nothing here.” Sighing, Inuyasha sat back and put his hands to his face. He felt like he was flirting with a headache. The fact that he’d barely slept for the last several days was definitely catching up with him. The strain of worry over Kagome only added to the problem, and now having to guide someone else in front of her…

“Here.” A flash of heat, that then shrunk, startled him back, leaving little balls of flame floating in the palms of Erika’s hands. Kagome made a soft sound of concern, but didn’t move. Warily, Inuyasha watched the flickering fire sit obediently in Erika’s hands.

Fire espers were fascinating in a dangerous sort of way. Even Inuyasha, who was pretty sturdy, was not impervious to fire. A fire esper out of control was extremely dangerous, so it was important that they received consistent and effective guiding. Erika did not have a contracted guiding partner, which was kind of odd for a fire type, but it meant she was open for this kind of testing. Inuyasha glanced over at Kagome to gauge her response. She looked strangely placid, like a porcelain doll.

Wincing and swallowing, he nodded to Erika that it was enough and that they could resume guiding. The flames disappeared as easily as they appeared and he was surprised to find her hands weren’t any warmer than before. It must have shown on his face, because the esper across from him was obviously biting back a grin at his expense.

Now that there was more to “guide away” he definitely felt less and less like continuing. That pain in his gut was only getting worse and the prickling sensation from earlier was coming back with a vengeance. He could pretty solidly say he felt woozy. He needed to stick with it as long as he could, for Erika’s sake, but also to confirm what he had solidly believed was true from the moment he got the message about his rank. He was bonded to Kagome. And it wasn’t one-sided.

“He doesn’t look good, right? Inuyasha? You can stop now, can’t you?” Kagome’s voice rung in his ears, her pitch creeping up as the panic entered her scent. Torn, he felt his hands tighten at the same time his stomach lurched. “Stop. Please? Inuyasha, stop!” If he didn’t know any better, he’d think it was causing her physical pain and discomfort. With that thought, he immediately let go of Erika’s hands, rocking back in his chair so far he almost went over backward. The sudden movement sent his head into a whirl, his stomach going along for the ride.

Fortunately he hadn’t really eaten the last few days, so there wasn’t much to come up.

“Get the other bed in here. Fluids.” He could vaguely hear the doctor give no nonsense directions as someone handed him a wet cloth and helped him back into his chair. He hated the feeling of other hands on him even more than usual, but he also knew that laying on the floor in the middle of the room would only make him feel worse and make Kagome even more upset.

His head continued to spin, missing when they wheeled in another bed. It wasn’t until they had him in it that he realized they’d taken down the rails on the sides in the middle and pushed the new one up against Kagome’s. “I’m here. Inuyasha, can you hear me?” Kagome was crying, he could smell it, hear it in her voice. Blindly he groped until he found her hand. The moment they touched, his nausea faded, but he still felt drained.

“Don’t try to heal me,” he warned her weakly.

“But…”

“Don’t, Kagome.” He just wanted to rest with his eyes closed for a little, Kagome’s hand in his so he knew where she was, and her scent close. “I’m alright.”

She was silent a long time, only the sound of her heart and her breathing telling him she was awake and probably staring at him. The hiccups of her breathing as she wound herself up twisted his guts once more. He hated that she was upset but he didn’t have the physical capability to comfort her right now. Not any more than squeezing her hand. Finally, she worked up the nerve, whispering “We’re bonded, aren’t we?”

He sighed, though a smile curved his mouth. “Seems like.”

Another hefty pause.

“Aren’t you mad?”

Inuyasha snorted. He didn’t have the energy to do much more than that. “No. I had a feeling,” he confessed. “Don’t be upset on my behalf, Kagome. I’m fine.” She made a soft sound of protest, then wiggled until she was closer to him, his head bumping against her shoulder in the space where their beds met. “Can we rest for now and talk about it later?” The soft press of her fingers to his head, his ear, then running through his hair was answer enough and he sighed.

He might feel more intense feelings about this development later, but for now, he was tired and he just wanted to have Kagome next to him. That was all that mattered.

The haven was a bit of a disaster when they first got home. Kagome was baffled by how they could make such a mess and just leave it, but Inuyasha was quick to remind her how they had come home in the midst of her unexpected backlash and then left in a rush the following morning because of her sickness.

It had been another day and a half before they were finally released from the infirmary after the testing for a bond. Inuyasha had recovered quickly, but it took her another day before she could eat more than just a few bites at a time. They hadn’t wanted to do any further testing on her until she did, so it wasn’t until early that morning that they’d been able to complete the guiding testing on her.

Ninety-two.

No one in the history of espers and guiding had ever attained a compatibility level that high. Sango had repeated the testing three times, recalibrating the machine after the second trial to make sure it wasn’t an equipment error. With Inuyasha’s increased rank to S, the fact that he was bonded to her, and now the increased compatibility… They had to complete the bond testing on her as well.

Inuyasha was forced to sit across the room because, even at a small distance, she was receiving guiding from him. He had never been capable of radiation guiding before, but it seemed she was an exception. He admitted to having tried it with Kouga shortly after they met because of her sharp reactions to him and her asking if he could. He had been so confused that he’d sought out guiding the wolf to see if it was just Kagome’s imagination or if he really had developed a new ability. Apparently he had, but only with Kagome because they were so compatible.

Kagome tried to block out her memory of having one of the guild guides come in and hold her hand. It hadn’t been anything like she’d experienced in the past, but it was still deeply unsettling. The woman had been cold to her the whole time, which was better in a way, but she didn’t like how uncomfortable Inuyasha had seemed. On top of it, her guiding attempts – which should have felt like nothing if she was truly bonded to Inuyasha – gave her the chills.

Her heart had dropped at first, thinking it was her aversion to being guided by anyone else. Which was not entirely untrue, that just wasn’t the whole picture. Sango had stopped the test, telling the guide to back off. It took a moment for Kagome to realize the guide looked ill as well.

“No change to your levels, Kagome.” And that was it. The confirmation they had been looking for.

Inuyasha Taisho and Kagome Higurashi were a Bonded Guide and Esper Pair.

She was still trying to wrap her head around it now, hours later.

The familiarity of home was helping a little, but she was still reeling from the revelation that not only had she bonded Inuyasha without making a concerted effort, he had accepted that bond and completed the connection without realizing. There was speculation among Sango’s team that it was because of their high compatibility, but Sango said she had a feeling there was far more to it.

Inuyasha had the house mostly picked up before she could even get her thoughts together enough to try to help and now he was shooing her off to her bathroom to shower off the smell of the hospital. She couldn’t begrudge him that, but she did hesitate. “Alone?”

Inuyasha choked. “What?”

“It’s just… I’m still not feeling like myself. Little bit weak, you know?” Which… wasn’t a lie. She did still feel a bit like jelly if she tried to do too much. But she also didn’t want him too far away from her and he needed to shower too, so really it was just more efficient. “Wouldn’t want to fall or anything.”

Golden eyes blinked at her in confusion and concern. “I… You… You want me to come in with you?” Kagome had never really tried before, but she did her best to put on the most innocent and pleading look she could muster. “Fuck…” Inuyasha huffed.

Water temperature just right, Kagome stepped into the shower, trembling more from the presence of her guide at her back than the short stint of being naked in a cold bathroom before she was under the spray. His hands stayed in neutral territory as much as possible, mostly bracing her at her elbows. It wasn’t until she gave him the scrubber and soap that he took the heavy-handed hint and started helping her wash. Which of course meant touching far more of her than just her elbows.

He seemed nervous, which she found funny in a way. Or would, if she wasn’t also feeling awkward. Inuyasha had been so straight forward about touching her, especially when it came to taking care of her, right from the moment she gave him the go ahead. Where had her self-assuredness from earlier gone? Kagome bit her lip and leaned back into him, the warmth of his bare chest against her back letting her relax a little despite the way he stiffened.

“Kagome…” His head felt heavy on her shoulder as he let his forehead rest there. “You just got out of the hospital. Don’t tempt me like this,” he rumbled.

“I’m not doing anything,” she murmured innocently. “Just leaning on my guide for support.”

“You’re so full of shit,” he snorted. She couldn’t even pretend to be offended, giggling at the sensation of his silent laughter against her. “C’mon. Rinse off.” His hands cupped her shoulders and turned her around so the spray would wash away all the soap he had been diligently scrubbing onto her back.

Now facing one another, Kagome did feel a little more shy. The broad pad of his thumb on her chin made her jump, but his hold was firm as he tilted her face up. Noses brushing, breath mingling between them, Kagome sighed as he took her lips softly, carefully. This was new territory for them. While they had kissed a few times since their agreement that their relationship had changed, before the weird gate, they hadn’t initiated anything more heated that wasn’t because of her backlash.

Kagome wasn’t entirely confident she knew what she was doing without her backlash hammering all her senses.

“Kagome, are you sure you want to…”

“I…”

Ping

Both of them ignored the sound of their watches simultaneously ringing the first time. But when it happened multiple times in a row it was pretty obvious that something urgent was happening. Looking down at her watch meant Kagome couldn’t miss the state of Inuyasha’s arousal and she squeaked, lifting her arm high enough to keep her eyes level with his chest. “Inuyasha…”

“What the hell are they thinking?” he snarled.

“It’s alright. Really.”

The glower on his face told her he didn’t agree. “Finish up. I’ll get our stuff.” Kagome watched him go, a bit sad, but mostly frustrated.

“You had better have a good fuc-”

“Language, My Love,” Izayoi singsonged teasingly, though there was a familiar edge to her voice. Her inuhanyou son snapped his teeth together, a growl in his chest. He knew better than to test her.

“Son, we didn’t know we would be coming either.” Touga stood at the large windows of the conference room, looking out with his arms crossed over his chest. He had greeted them with a nod when they entered the guild but left the more affectionate hugging to his mate. “Once we were here, we realized we didn’t have your address since you’re no longer living in the guide dormitory.”

“Yes. And we would never want to invade on an esper’s privacy.” Which made sense. The guild would not have given out the location of Kagome’s haven without permission, even if it was her guide’s parents. Inuyasha took a deep breath to calm his nerves. All he’d wanted was to spend some time alone with Kagome so they could rest, relax, and maybe actually have a conversation about their new status as a bonded pair.

But of course his parents of all things would interrupt at the worst time.

Only thing that would make this worse is…

“Father.”

“Fuck.”

“Inuyasha. Language.” Kagome’s bewildered face was enough to get him to calm down and stop himself from making a scene. The presence of his brother in the room would normally have set off all kinds of unpleasant sensations. It still did to a degree, but it was muted somehow. “Sesshoumaru. How have you been?” A stiff bow of his head was executed to acknowledge his father’s mate, but there was no warmth in his demeanor. He had never been warm with… anyone, as far as Inuyasha knew. Even with Touga, for whom he had a great deal of respect, he was strictly formal.

Inuyasha couldn’t imagine what he was like with his guides.

Smothering the urge to gag, he instead focused on his esper. He found her a chair, forcing her to sit and rest. “I would have prepared myself for your visit if I had known you were coming,” he intoned in his deep voice.

“No one knew they were coming, not even them,” Inuyasha quipped. “Not like you have a place to put them up here. You’re just visiting too.”

His father’s huff was layered with meaning and Inuyasha bit back his next snipe. “Unfortunately, the whelp is correct. I have only temporary housing and not the room for you and your mate, Father.”

Izayoi sighed, well acquainted with their squabbling. “We can find accommodations. That is not a problem.”

“Oh! No. It would be alright if you stayed with us,” Kagome piped up before Inuyasha could stop her. He kept his groan internal even as he mentally went through the pantry and the fridge, trying to remember what they would need from the store before they could comfortably feed two inuyoukai and a human esper. Although, her appetite still isn’t great. Inuyasha frowned at the side of Kagome’s head as he stared, trying to think through how he was going to best care for her while his parents were in their house. What if we have a mission and she has a backlash… “I am off duty for at least another week,” she explained with a look in his direction. Oh. So she thought of that already.

Sesshoumaru looked faintly disgusted, if one knew what to look for, as his eyes took in Kagome. Inuyasha felt his hackles go up. How dare he look at her like that! Even as pale as she was from being so ill, Kagome was still one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. “Were you not just hospitalized, Esper Higurashi?”

“What?” Izayoi gasped.

“Both of them,” Sesshoumaru added completely unhelpfully.

“What the hell happened?” Touga left his place by the window to loom over them at the other end of the conference table.

Inuyasha hesitated a moment before getting Kagome’s permission to explain at least about the magnetic field issue. His parents kept sharing concerned glances, seriousness in all the lines of their faces. “Why were you hospitalized, Inuyasha?”

“The Taisho family, all together!”

All of them jumped at the voice, all heads turning to face the man coming through the door. Except Kagome. “Miroku?”

“Ah, yes, please let me introduce myself. I am the guild liaison, Miroku Hoshimori. There is some confidentiality paperwork we will need you to sign before you can be given housing…”

“I offered for them to stay with me and Inuyasha.” The way the guide’s smile froze, Inuyasha wasn’t sure it wouldn’t crack and shatter off his face. “That’s alright, isn’t it?”

“Y-Yes. Of course. There is still paperwork for that. Providing full access to an esper’s haven… You understand, of course.” Despite the complete ridiculousness of the demand – it was utter bullshit – Inuyasha appreciated the redirection of his parents’ focus at an opportune time.

“Then we will see you shortly. We need to meet with Councilwoman Kaede as well. Courtesy, of course.” It was unusual for him to notice something off about his mother’s scent, but it was clear then that something had changed. She was lying.

He told his parents they would wait for them in one of the much smaller and more comfortable guiding suites. He even promised to message them once he figured out which one they would be in. He fought to ignore the fact that they were going off with Sesshoumaru following at his father’s shoulder, Izayoi walking in front while the two silver-haired inuyoukai kept pace as though they were her bodyguards.

“What are we going to do?” he asked when they were finally completely out of earshot. “There’s only my room and yours!”

Kagome blinked up at him. “You’ll stay in my room, right? There’s plenty of room for both of us.”

Inuyasha balked. “You want me to stay in your room, with you, while my parents sleep downstairs?” Kagome appeared unexpectedly calm. Carefully dropping to his knees, he put his hands on top of hers in her lap. “We just figured out we’re bonded, Kagome. We… We haven’t even gotten to talk about that yet. Are you ready for my parents to know?”

This time she did flush in a much more normal Kagome way. “Maybe not yet?” She swallowed and turned her head a bit to break their eye contact. Inuyasha frowned. “They won’t be upset, will they? Th-They’re bonded. They’ll understand.”

“Of course they will,” he assured her, squeezing her hands. “Let’s check into one of the guiding suites. I want you to lay down.”

“Why just me?” Kagome pouted, though she didn’t fight him taking her hands and helping her to her feet. Hand curled around his arm, she hung on him a little more than usual. “You were sick too.”

“I wasn’t on an IV for over four days,” he reminded her sternly. She made a face as if she planned to argue, then let it go. There were multiple suites open and Inuyasha chose the one on the end that had large windows and happened to have a sitting area designed for several people. It would allow Kagome to rest for a while, even if his parents came back sooner rather than later.

She did try to resist laying down once they got inside, but with some soothing words, a little guiding, and promising to lay down with her for a while, Kagome finally drifted off to sleep on the bed. It took some doing to extricate himself from her hold without waking her, a sigh leaving him when he plopped into one of the armchairs by the window. He messaged his parents the suite number and let his head fall back, suddenly heavy with thoughts.

Inuyasha wanted to ignore his parents’ odd behavior. He wanted to pretend like he didn’t know they were here for some kind of emergency and not a friendly visit. That it had come so soon after he and Kagome bonded had him on edge, though he highly doubted anyone would have told them. That sort of thing was kept confidential unless the bonded pair decided to share it, and even then telling anyone was discouraged.

Bonded…

He still could hardly believe it. It wasn’t the way his youkai craved, but it was still something. Setting aside all the anxiety about how Kagome felt – which was obviously a very big concern – Inuyasha felt warmth bloom in his chest. They were bonded.

A grin pulled at his mouth as he let his eyes close for a few minutes. He couldn’t sleep, but he could rest until his parents got back and they had to go through all the excitement of getting everyone to Kagome’s haven. Good thing I picked up when we got home from the hospital. The futon would still need the sheets changed out and he was pretty sure they had no clean towels at the moment, but his parents would understand. Especially once they heard what Kagome had been going through.

At some point, it would be necessary to tell them, but not right away. Kagome was still coming to terms and needed the time and space to do that. Not to mention she was still feeling like it was her fault they were unexpectedly bonded.

Looking over at where she was curled up, he couldn’t help studying her. Overall she looked a little better, but he was glad she had been given a reprieve from her esper duties for the next several days at least. He suspected that wouldn’t actually last. Kagome was so overworked even before all the craziness with the gates, constant requests for her assistance with unruly beasts and gates that wouldn’t close right away…

The fact that she could close gates was monumental. Inuyasha understood that. The fact that it took so much out of her to do it, that she had to start the process from inside the gate, worried him to no end. Fear that she could be closed off on another world, alone and with no way to manage her levels, boiled under his other instincts. Kagome needed to be by him all the time. Especially now that they were bonded. There was no other option.

Not that he really wanted there to be.

Kagome was his esper now, and he was her guide. There was a hint of anxiety that she still might change her mind and want to look into breaking the bond floating in the back of his mind. But for now at least, they were bonded to one another and no one else.

And, right down to the center of his being, that made Inuyasha immensely happy.

Chapter Text

The sudden fuzz cleared fairly quickly from the speakers, but not before it set all the kitsune in the office on edge. “Geez! What the hell was that?”

“Interference?” Shippou wondered aloud. The filters had cut it out fairly quickly, which made him think it had been, but he couldn’t help wondering if it had been an audible sound that was now… inaudible. Which would be saying something given the sensitivity of kitsune hearing. Shaking his head, he surveyed the array of screens in front of him. “Good placement, you guys. We’ve got views on every street in the area.” All the ways in and out were covered, which meant it would be very difficult for anyone to move freely without getting caught on at least one of the cameras.

They never spotted Naraku or Muso/Kinta. They were being tracked in other parts of the city. But after frequently disappearing into the district, they had completely changed their routine, now staying as far away as possible. Which made Shippou question if the team’s surveillance was as discreet as they thought.

They set up shifts, taking turns to watch the camera feeds for activity where they shouldn’t be seeing any. The first couple of days, there was nothing. Not even someone getting lost and ending up wandering in, then quickly leaving, which they would expect. It was like an invisible force was keeping everyone away.

Which was actually fairly helpful when a pattern became clear of at least two people regularly visiting the last shop just shy of the West District. The first was a man, seemingly unremarkable. Neither a registered esper, nor guide, he seemed to be an average person. They tracked him simply due to his frequent visits, but there was nothing else suspicious. The other person was noted for loitering near the cross street that led into it, then leaving in a hurry. She looked… restless.

It took them a few hours to sort through the footage to get a composite of her face and then run it through the right program to get a match. Shippou was a bit startled to find that she was an esper. One that had been affiliated with several guilds over the last few years, not seeming to stay with one for more than six months at a time. Until the most recent one.

“She’s in the same guild as him…”

“A loose connection, but still a connection,” Shippou confirmed with a grim smile. “We haven’t seen anyone else recognizable but the fact that she’s hanging around has to mean something.”

She never seemed to buy anything from the shop. Not that they could spot in the camera footage anyway. The shop was one of those mom and pop convenience places that sold any number of things, so they couldn’t exactly prove that she didn’t need to go in there. Thing was, she visited even more than even the most consistent regular. Not to mention her clear interest in the entrance to the heart of the district, as if waiting for some signal to be allowed entry and never getting it.

Which meant either she was trying to get in with whoever it was they were tracking, or she was in with them… but perhaps not for much longer.

If they were going to potentially get anything useful out of her, they needed to get to her before she was picked up by Naraku or someone else. Or before she disappeared entirely.

What they needed now was permission.

Picking up the phone, Shippou quickly dialed the number he was growing far too familiar with recently. “Yes. Yes, Ma’am. We need approval to bring an esper in for questioning.” He chewed his the end of his pen as he waited. “She’s been repeatedly found on the footage just near the entrance to West District. Never goes in. Seems… anxious.” He answered what questions he could, biting back his impatience. If he didn’t get his guys set up in the right places, they might miss their opportunity to bring her in at all. “Yes, of course. Yes. We will. Thank you, Ma’am.” He was already waving his subordinates out the door, typing instructions into the encrypted messenger to give them the needed instructions and the equipment they would need.

If Kagura didn’t cooperate on her own, they were going to need to be able to suppress her ability to control wind, or they would all be in a lot of trouble.

The shades had been pulled after she fell asleep. Or else she had slept far longer than she should have and it was darker out now. Unfortunately, Kagome wouldn’t put the latter out of the range of possibility. Even though she’d been released from the hospital, all her labs checking out as normal, she was still so tired. To be fair, it was only a few hours ago that they’d been released, but she still felt like she’d slept so much in the hospital. How was she still this worn out?

Now that she was more alert, she could hear soft voices coming from the other side of the suite. One she quickly recognized as Inuyasha, the other two were probably his parents. She really hoped his brother wasn’t present… She could tell he and Inuyasha didn’t get along and the other esper gave her bad vibes on top of it. Some espers had energies that were just inherently a bad mix and it was an important part of creating teams to make sure they weren’t put together. The risk of something going wrong was too great.

She and Sesshoumaru were not a good mix.

Kagome sat up slowly, wary of the nausea that had plagued her for days. She was glad to find exactly who she expected to in the seating area, talking in hushed but urgent tones. Her hearing was only slightly better than the average human, and so she couldn’t make out what they were saying. It only took a moment for Inuyasha to notice she was awake, standing to come to her. They were both a little startled when Izayoi stood as well, pressing her hand against Inuyasha’s shoulder until he stopped, bewildered.

When the elder woman came and sat beside her, Kagome’s gaze flicked to where Inuyasha was still standing, looking a little helpless. His golden eyes went particularly wide when his father grasped his shoulder and directed him out of the room. Why were they leaving? Swallowing, then taking a long moment to take a drink of water to compose herself, she tried to settle her racing heart.

“How are you feeling, my dear? Better, I hope.” Kagome was caught by the slight lilt in Izayoi’s speech. It was beautiful, even when speaking another language. It made her sound just as elegant as she looked. “Inuyasha explained about the after effects of that planet.” Kagome could only hope that he hadn’t shared too many of the details, but she had no idea which parts of the last few days he had shared with his parents.

“Um. Yes. They just released us this morning, so I must have been pretty tired.” Another glance toward the windows showed her that they were covered and she hadn’t slept quite as long as she’d feared. “I never realized how much we’re affected by the magnetic fields of a planet,” she tried to chuckle lightheartedly. Izayoi just smiled softly, her eyes dark and intense. Kagome was heavily reminded of Inuyasha’s stare when he wanted to ask her something but wasn’t sure how to say it. He takes after her almost as much as his father...

“I’m glad you’re better. When Sesshoumaru said you were both in the hospital, we were very concerned. Both of you going through gates like that can be dangerous. But I’m sure Inuyasha is far more worried about you going through a gate alone.”

“Oh. Yes? He does worry a lot.”

“He is far more like his father than he would ever like to admit.” This time Izayoi’s smile was warmer, more relaxed. Kagome felt like she could breathe a little easier. “Even when he was little, he was always so protective. I could hardly take him to the park because if he thought someone was getting too close to me, he would growl at them. Which was adorable when he was small enough that I could still pick him up. Not so much when he became stronger than me.” Izayoi’s laughter was melodic, and Kagome felt herself relaxing a little too, despite her initial worry.

“Wow, he growled at people even then, huh?”

“Mm. Inuyasha has always been very expressive.” Kagome gave her a look. “Once you learn his tells, he’s very easy to read.” Blinking, Kagome thought about her interactions with him over the last several months. Was that why she had learned to trust him? Because his actions always spoke louder than his words? Had she learned to read him better than she thought? “He was an adorable baby. Those ears of his…” Izayoi gave a little laugh and a shrug. “I didn’t know what to expect, with a youkai for a father, but he was so much cuter than I could have dreamed.”

Kagome bit back the urge to ask for photos. She could only imagine what a cute kid Inuyasha had been. “Were… Did his ears always stand straight up?”

Izayoi giggled. “Oh no. They were floppy at first, then grew faster than he did until he finally caught up with them around ten or so.” The fondness in her voice was so clear, it made Kagome a little wistful. “I always wondered if Inuyasha had children, if they would get his ears too.”

Chest seizing on her next breath, Kagome went still for a long moment before she could take another one without making it obvious that she was having an internal comeapart at the mention of Inuyasha having children. That… That was something she dreamed of? Having grandchildren? While not abnormal by any means, it still threw Kagome for a loop. Especially that Izayoi had felt like sharing something like that with her of all people.

If he wants children… They would have to break their bond, wouldn’t they? Except Inuyasha mentioned that youkai bonded with their partners in a different way, completely separate from an esper-guide bond. Could he meet someone else and form a bond in the youkai way and have an entire relationship separate from their pairing as esper and guide?

Kagome felt the very core of her being revolt at the idea.

But that wasn’t up to her. If Inuyasha wanted that kind of life… I won’t be able to give him that.

She wanted to be upset, but how could she get mad at Izayoi who was so kind? Not to mention it wasn’t like Izayoi knew that Kagome and Inuyasha were bonded. It was likely she didn’t even know they had entered into a very new relationship just before the bonding happened. As far as Izayoi was concerned, she was talking to Inuyasha’s coworker.

“Are you sure you’re not still tired, dear? You look a little pale.” Izayoi’s concern shook Kagome out of her thoughts, forcing her to push them to the back of her mind. “You should probably eat something too. It’s been hours.” Kagome couldn’t respond before the other woman was up and bustling around, using the communication system in the suite to request a light meal. Kagome listened numbly as she also called back Inuyasha and her husband.

In a daze, it wasn’t until his warm hand grasped hers and she felt the soft sensation of his guiding that she realized Inuyasha had returned. “You should lay down.”

“No. I can’t lay down anymore.” His dark brows furrowed, his lips pursed as he frowned.

“Did my mother say something weird to you? You seem… upset.”

“No,” Kagome replied, probably too quickly. “I’m alright. Just… A little hungry, that’s all.” She could tell he didn’t buy it, not even for a second. But in lieu of making a scene with his parents there, Inuyasha simply held her hand and guided her until her heart settled and she felt like she could properly breathe. Nothing about their situation had changed, but she could at least set it aside for now.

It was obvious that having dinner with his parents felt odd now that he was an adult. Touga couldn’t remember the last time they’d eaten “as a family” like this. Probably not since Inuyasha was still in school, which was many years ago now. Certainly before he and Izayoi moved out of the country. The elder inuyoukai mused at the restlessness he sensed in his son’s youki. He really didn’t want to be there.

The fact that his esper was not present likely had a lot to do with that.

Touga sighed. “Kagome is with her friends, Inuyasha. There is no need to be concerned for her well being.”

“Keh. Shows what you know, Old Man. She’s a trouble magnet.” Blinking innocently at his son’s attitude, he didn’t bite at the blatant attempt to bait him into an argument so he could leave.

Izayoi sipped her wine, her delicate mouth barely resisting a smile. “You need to learn to trust her too, you know,” she murmured against the rim of her glass. “She’s an extraordinarily capable esper, Inuyasha. You of all people know that.” His signature pout – the one he’d sported often as a child – deepened at his mother’s words.

“She… Of course she is. But she’s still human. And much more fragile than she seems.” It was obvious that there was not only the inuhanyou’s protective nature at play, but a deeper story they didn’t know. Touga glanced at his wife, their eyes meeting for a moment. Just long enough to convey meaning before their son was looking at them again and they had to make sure not to set him off. Touga knew all too well how quickly Inuyasha would be out the door if they pushed too hard. With how anxious he was about his esper, it wouldn’t take much.

“It’s difficult not to worry about our bond partners.”

The inuyoukai couldn’t think of a time he’d seen his son go so still so quickly, golden eyes wide with panic. “Wh-What?”

Izayoi tsked gently. “There’s no reason to hide it from us, Love. We could tell right away yesterday.” Inuyasha blinked owlishly at them in turn. “Your guiding rank has risen, just like we told you it would. Didn’t it?”

“I…”

“You were radiation guiding Kagome half the time in the conference room. You didn’t even realize it, did you?” Touga informed him with a slight grin. Inuyasha choked, eyes darting as he tried to come up with some kind of answer. “Look, Son. If anyone understands your situation…”

“Except you don’t.” His voice made both of them pause. That was not just embarrassment in his tone. He was… hurting. “We didn’t mean to bond. It just happened and we didn’t even realize until Kagome was hospitalized. The R&D leader is her best friend, and she and Miroku – the liaison – thought that Kagome might be so sick, not because of the magnetic field sickness, but because we had a one-sided bond.” His face fell to his hands, ears flipping back to lay flat to his hair. “You can’t say anything to Kagome.”

“Oh Inuyasha,” Izayoi whispered, reaching out to him. “We didn’t know. Is it one-sided from you?”

His head lifted a little. “What?” Golden eyes lifted enough to meet their gazes. “No. No, it’s not one-sided at all. That’s what I mean. We both did it without even knowing.”

Touga balked for a moment before he could reign in his response. “Neither one of you bonded intentionally?”

“Right. And our compatibility jumped to ninety two percent.”

Izayoi couldn’t hold back her gasp. “Ninety two? I’ve never heard…”

“Of a rate so high? Yea. No one else has either.” Inuyasha snorted, rubbing a hand over his face. “And I think it’s freaking Kagome out even more than it is me.”

“Why do you say that?”

“After we left the suite yesterday, even after we got back to the haven, she was acting all weird. You didn’t notice?” Touga looked to his wife. He had noticed the other esper seemed tired, but he was maybe not the best judge of another woman’s emotional state. He really only ever focused on Izayoi unless strictly necessary. “She almost made me sleep on the couch last night. She kept telling me she wasn’t mad at me, just that she needed space.”

They were a little stunned by the outpouring of emotional information from their usually steel-trap-mouthed son. “Perhaps I said something that offended her?” Izayoi mused, worry in her voice and her scent. Touga let his foot drift under the table to lightly tap hers as a reminder that he was there for her. “She seemed down after our chat.”

“Exactly! What the hell did you talk about? She wouldn’t tell me!”

“Language,” Touga growled. Inuyasha ducked his head accordingly, showing deference first to his mother in apology and then to him.

Izayoi’s face turned pensive as she tried to remember what she sat and talked with Kagome about while the two men were out of the room. “She asked about what you were like as a child. Or… I suppose I brought it up first.” The inuhanyou stiffened. “I told her how protective you had always been, even when you were tiny.”

“Oh. Wh-What else did you talk about?”

“How adorable you were. How your ears were floppy when you were a baby.” Izayoi shrugged lightly. She was obviously having a hard time understanding what about the conversation would have been so upsetting. Nothing was flagging in his mind as a problem either. “I mentioned how I wondered what your children might look like. If they’ll have your ears.”

“Mom!” Inuyasha gasped, scandalized. Aforementioned ears were now completely back and splayed, the most uncomfortable position they were capable of.

“What?” Neither one of them were prepared for the way Inuyasha stood abruptly, nearly knocking over his chair. “What’s wrong?”

“What if I don’t want kids? What if she doesn’t?” he hissed, still at least a little mindful of the other restaurant patrons. He seemed much more concerned about Kagome’s desires than his own. “She also thinks you have no idea we’re bonded. What if she gets some weird idea in her head?”

He was through the door of the restaurant before they could even think to stop him. “Don’t go after him, Dear. He obviously needs to see her. We’ll stay out of the way for now,” Izayoi murmured, pressing gentle fingers to his forearm. The light guiding in addition to the weight of her touch was enough to settle his hackles, raised by their son’s elevated youki and the scent of unease in his mate.

Touga clicked his tongue in frustration. “Fool Boy. He doesn’t see, does he?” He settled back in his chair, ears picking up the sound of a motorcycle engine roaring to life on the other side of the restaurant and taking off.

Izayoi snuggled into his arm, picking up her glass once more to sip the wine. “What’s that, My Love?”

“That she fears not being enough for him in the same way he feared he would not.”

Izayoi sighed sadly. She understood the feeling. “If it weren’t for you, I may have never matched with an esper,” she reminded him. “Kagome didn’t have a guide for a long time before Inuyasha paired with her. Perhaps she does not understand how special that bond is and what it means that they created it without even thinking about it.”

“Hm. Were it not for you, I would have never known what being guided by a truly compatible guide felt like. I never would have bonded with anyone before that.” His arm looped around her shoulders instead as they picked at the last of their food and requested the check. “They will figure out what they both need. Eventually.” He kissed her temple. “We did.”

Izayoi smiled, a soft breath leaving her. She still smelled worried, but it had subsided some. “I hope they do. I just really hope I didn’t say something that upset Kagome so badly she changes her mind about us… about him. He’s grown into such a fine man, Touga. He deserves a good partner.”

“Which he has found. They just both need to realize it.”

They waited a while before going back to the haven, its esper wasn’t anywhere to be found. The upstairs bedroom door was closed, so they could only assume. Inuyasha stood in the kitchen, slowly stirring something in a pot without looking up at them as they entered. The tension in the air was palpable. Izayoi reached out as if to say something, but Touga gently redirected her to their room when Inuyasha’s whole frame went stiff and still at the gesture.

A huff for goodnight was the only sound between them before they made themselves scarce.

“N-Now, Esper Higurashi. You will be part of the secondary squad we send in after the first has established the needs on the other side of the gate and communicated them back here.” She hadn’t encountered the gate administrator for some time now and, while it was a little amusing, it was mostly uncomfortable to watch Hojo struggle so much. His eyes kept flicking to the inuhanyou standing at her shoulder, arms crossed over his chest and looking about as intimidating as he ever had.

“Basically, you’re having them check if it’s safe enough for me to go,” Kagome responded with a slight snarl. She hated that this was how they were all treating her.

Like she was breakable.

Now there was a bigger team she was part of and the safety protocols had more or less been doubled. She supposed Inuyasha throwing an utter fit after the last gate mission had made enough of an impact that they were making changes. Not only had they barred him from going with her, they hadn’t met his standard when it came to taking care of her afterward. Even though Inuyasha admitted that it was for the best that he hadn’t gone through as well, it was obvious he was trying to prevent something from happening again.

Kagome could hardly imagine the mess they would have been in if both of them had been affected by the magnetic field change.

“Yes… I mean no.” Hojo stammered through the rest of his explanation of the protocols they were following for the mission and what the expectations were. He also noted that the beasts they would normally be battling almost from the moment the gate opened were nowhere to be found. Kagome and Inuyasha shared a look. They had spoken about the suspicion that the gates themselves affected the beasts. Obviously they both could now speak to the strong influence the gates could have. So what was it about this gate that didn’t seem to have that effect?

“So you need us to…”

“Make sure the other part of the team makes it back.” Hojo’s voice rose as if asking an uncomfortable question. “They have been surveying for materials as well, so they are trying to cover a lot of ground in a short time.”

“Surveying… Is there something valuable to look for? I thought the goal was always to get in, get the beasts away from the gate, and then make sure the gate closes.” Inuyasha was obviously displeased. Kagome couldn’t really blame him. The tension and frustration between them since their argument the other day – a repeat of the argument they had been having for almost a week – was wearing his patience even thinner than usual. On top of that, they had been through several harrowing missions in the last several months and he was more and more vocal about how angry it made him that they treated her like a final solution.

None of which would have fazed her much before they met, but things were different now.

Kagome had lost the apathy that had plagued her for years. It was hard to discount the difference in her awareness of the people around her, now that her mind and emotions were no longer dulled by the guiding replacement drugs. The nervousness in the administrator in from of them. The anxiety in her partner. Her own antsy feelings. All of it proved how much more aware she was of the danger they were facing, something that would have hardly registered several months ago.

Go in. Get the job done. Get out.

Brought back to the present by the soft sensation of being guided without contact, Kagome reached out to grab hold of Inuyasha. If their watches alerted someone that her numbers were dropping when they weren’t even touching, it would raise a lot of eyebrows. Inuyasha was not known to be capable of radiation guiding, and to make that public knowledge now would lead to some very uncomfortable questions. They didn’t want to be put through any more testing.

Inuyasha twitched at the suddenness of her hold on his arm, but otherwise didn’t react. Hojo barely batted an eye. Luckily. “Minerals. Several of the worlds we’ve been to have some minerals in their soil that we do not have here. Some of them might be useful? That stuff is beyond my understanding,” Hojo muttered the last with an embarrassed shrug. “They don’t have to dig far for it, I guess, so it shouldn’t take too long.” Inuyasha grunted that he understood.

“We’ll keep an eye on them.” Kagome pulled Inuyasha along toward the landing strip, waiting for the signal that they could go through the gate. There was some chatter about the things they were finding, occasional mention of beasts in herds off in the distance, but nothing about attacks of any kind. After another moment they were given the signal to head through and Kagome kept Inuyasha’s hand clasped tight in hers as they made their wait through the event horizon. No matter how upset they were with one another, she didn’t want to risk losing track of him once they got the other side. The warmth of his hand was soothing as the momentary chaos of entering the gate took her over. Then they were breathing on the other side of the gate again and looking around to orient themselves. “You alright?”

“Keh.” As dismissive as his response sounded, she felt the light squeeze of fingers against hers, letting her know he was fine. He was focused on scenting and scanning the area for anything dangerous. “You going up?”

Kagome nodded, returning his squeeze before letting go so she could lift herself up and look for anyone in the area. She spotted a couple of small groups, two or four at a time, all with their focus on the ground or the face of a ravine. Inuyasha announced over the communication system that they were there now, followed by another esper and guide, and that they would be staying near the gate if anyone needed help. Kagome watched several heads pop up and the nods when they spotted her hovering. The furthest group looked like they were packing up already, heading back toward the gate. The two closer groups seemed more enrapt in what they were doing, tools out as they dug into the soil.

Kagome sighed, looking around more carefully, going a little higher to see if she could spot any of the herds they spoke of. While generally terrifying, she did find herself fascinated by the variations in evolution of the creatures they encountered. Especially here, where they didn’t seem to feel the effects of the gate being open, she wondered what was different there. Was it the size of the gate? It was smaller than the average, in her experience. Perhaps it was their distance from it when it opened? Maybe it was something about the minerals Hojo mentioned. There were a lot of variables and Kagome was never sure how seriously the council or any of the guilds was taking that kind of research.

Especially now that there seemed to be something to gain from the gates opening.

“Come on down, Kagome,” Inuyasha called from below. “They’re all heading back.” Confirming with a glance, she started her descent. An unexpected shift in the wind blew her hair into her face, an annoyed growl in her throat as Kagome swiped her ponytail out of the way.

Then did a double take.

Is that… a building?

Straight lines like that were not exactly natural, but there hadn’t been any reports of other life forms on this world. Certainly nothing that could build what looked like a large shed… None of the worlds outside the youkai homeworlds and Earth did.

The watch at her wrist started blaring, nearly knocking her out of the sky as it broke her focus. “Teams! Readings indicate the gate is shrinking. Get back immediately!”

There was a breath where everyone froze, then there was frantic movement everywhere. The espers capable of it were already carrying the guides they could. Kagome was in motion before she even thought about it, diving for the esper incapable of telekinesis or flight and their guide.

The guide was young, and already in panicked tears. They had probably been told that this would be a safe mission. “Hold on and don’t squirm!” Kagome called as she swooped in to catch hold of them. She could practically feel the vibration of Inuyasha’s worry along the length of her spine. He wanted her back to the gate now. She half listened to the count off as the other team members made it through the portal, taking note when it was only four. The esper and guide in her hands, her, and… “Inuyasha, go!” she called as she approached the gate.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t go, instead rushing headlong to meet her and snatching both the guide and esper from her grasp so he could carry them himself. “Kagome, move!” he roared. His hair streamed behind him as he bolted for the gate, the others dangling under each of his arms. Kagome reached out and gripped the edges of the gate, the distance making it difficult. Straining to keep it open and still push herself in the right direction, Kagome misjudged her altitude and the ground loomed large. “Kagome!”

The wind rushed out of her with the impact of a large body, rolling and tumbling across too soft grass. Kagome gasped as her grip on the gate slipped and it shrank. “Inu…”

The other esper and guide were nowhere in sight. “They’re through already,” he huffed, as if reading her mind. “C’mon.” He didn’t even wait for her answer, hauling her up into his arms and sprinting for the gate. The disorientation as they entered the portal was the last thing she was aware of for a while.

No more thoughts of four straight walls and a roof as the gate snapped out of existence.

Chapter Text

Keeping hold of her was a wrestling match. She was whimpering and whining and her scent was screaming at him that she was beyond turned on. Despite this, Kagome was pushing against him, trying to refuse his guiding and his touch. Inuyasha had to make sure his parents were out of the haven first, then he could address whatever was going on with Kagome. Fortunately, they were already at the council building for a meeting and agreed not to return until he gave them the ok.

That settled, he tried to buckle Kagome into the transport since she didn’t seem to want him to hold her. “Kagome, I can’t…”

“Noooo… Can’t.” Pushing against his chest, kicking out at him, she was doing everything she could to keep him from holding her. It took him several moments after the stars in his vision cleared before he even realized that she’d struck him. He hadn’t been hit in so long he’d forgotten what it felt like. Dazed, Inuyasha used a little extra strength to keep her still long enough to buckle her in and then pulled his hands back. He was ready to pounce her and hold her down again if he needed to, but she seemed distracted by the sensations running through her enough to leave the belt alone. The throbbing in his temple and his eye brought his fingers up to the bones around the socket. They weren’t broken – probably – but he could tell he was about to have a helluva shiner. “Don’t go,” she pleaded desperately, reaching for him with one hand, eyes glowing silver.

Inuyasha was confused, to put it mildly. She didn’t want him to go, but she was ready and willing to knock the shit out of him?

Kagome had been distant for several days now, keeping space between them whenever possible. Given that they hadn’t been on another mission until today, that hadn’t been nearly as difficult as it should have been. No mission meant no use of her power which meant no need for guiding.

His mad dash home to talk to her after dinner with his parents had been a complete bust. She denied anything being wrong, even though he knew there was, and his insistence that she be honest with him had led them straight into an argument about him being pushy. They got so far off track that by the time she kicked him out of her room – almost literally – he had forgotten what he was supposed to be asking her about in the first place. Then every time he tried, she redirected the conversation or ran away from him. Since he needed to be near enough for guiding, radiation or not, he stopped trying to press the issue and just let her avoid his gaze.

As long as she was close enough.

It meant they’d gone into this morning’s mission not really speaking to one another. His parents offered to leave more than once, to allow them space to talk, but it was almost like Kagome was desperate to keep them there so he couldn’t talk to her.

Now he had her at her most vulnerable and he couldn’t deny there was an angry little part of him that was tempted to try and get the truth out of her. But Kagome would remember and she would be furious. And when it came down to it, he couldn’t take advantage of her like that, no matter how frustrated he was. She would eventually open up to him, Inuyasha was sure of it.

Except getting her into the house was almost impossible. After taking the blow to his eye, which was swelling shut even as he thought about it, he had to keep ducking her flailing limbs mixed with poorly aimed attempts to kiss him. How was he going to guide her when she was fighting him tooth and nail? Especially when he had no fucking clue why!

“Kagome, I need to get you out of…” She swatted at his hands, her lower lip quivering even as she struggled with the buckles of her gear. Her scent was a mix of arousal and the faint hint of salt from tears not yet shed. Inuyasha recoiled, waiting for her to do it herself if she could, pulling his own shirt off. Her frustrated sniffles as she fought her pants on her way up the stairs made him wince, pulling at his swollen and bruised eye. Not wanting her to fall while trying to multitask like that, he followed her closely but not so close that he could touch her. When she made it to the top of the stairs, she ducked into her room as if trying to hide from him.

Now that they were stripped down to nothing, there was no hiding.

Inuyasha’s arousal was nowhere to be seen. Even with Kagome’s scent flaring all over the place, there was hardly a twitch. He knew she didn’t actually want him right now, no matter what her scent was screaming…

He followed her to the bed, reaching for her hands to offer some guiding, but she snatched at his shoulders, gripping him to her and pressing her temple to his as her body moved against him for a moment. Inuyasha hissed in pain, making her flinch back in surprise. Her eyes were clearer for only a breath, confusion in them before they were taken over by the backlash once more.

Trying to kiss her resulted in her turning her face away from him while clinging to him at the same time and it made his stomach turn. “Kagome? Listen, Kagome.” She whimpered, shifting against him anxiously. He hated it. Hated how uncomfortable this felt when it should have been soothing and passionate. Hated that for her safety, he had to keep touching her when she so clearly didn’t want him to. “Turn around, Love,” he murmured, adjusting her position until she was sitting in his lap, facing away. She writhed in his arms until he was able to catch hold of her hands, pressing one over her breast and the other against her damp folds. She gasped, then began following his lead.

“Inuyasha,” she whined. “Not enough.”

“I know. But you don’t want me to.” A rough sob left her, tearing at him. “It’s ok. Kagome, it’s ok, shhh.” He kissed the back of her shoulder repeatedly. “I’ll help you, no matter what.” He pressed her fingers under his to direct them where she needed them most, keeping his claws from her delicate skin. She whimpered and wiggled, trying to get more contact while pulling away from him. He could radiation guide her even if he didn’t try to so, unless she was across the room, she couldn’t fully escape him. But contact guiding was much more efficient and it was the only way to assuage her backlash. “Hey. Hold still so I can calm you down, alright?” he whispered.

“Inuyasha,” she murmured, breathed, gasped. Over and over, she called his name, seeking her release. “Please.” Hushing and soothing her with his voice, Inuyasha nibbled her skin while working her with his fingers until she finally went taut and came apart in his arms.

Not that it was enough for her.

She turned on him, straddling his lap and pressing her face into his neck, biting and licking across his throat. A shiver of heat went down his spine, his arousal finally flaring to life. It was as if their bond snapped into place and he could feel the buzz of her backlash across his nerves like it was his own. He had never experienced anything like it. Not even when his youki had been on overdrive, almost making him feel like an animal in rut, had he felt such intense arousal. It felt like he would burn up if he didn’t lessen the ache, the need. No wonder Kagome is always so desperate…

Barely getting protection on in time, he found himself enveloped by Kagome’s heat. Her hips rolled over his, creating pressure and friction in a way that had him growling and hissing through his teeth. It was not enough for his physical senses, but the sensations he was getting from her on top of his own were almost too much. “Kagome, let me…”

“No,” she snarled, nearly breaking his hold to push him onto his back. He ended up bringing her with him, which pushed the air out of his lungs for a moment, her scent flushing up his nose when he took in another breath.

“K-Kagome, you have to let me guide you.”

“No! Don’t guide me if you’re just going to leave.”

“Leave… What… Ungh,” he grunted when she sat down on him particularly hard, driving him deep into her. The jolt on his nerves was doubled by his connection to Kagome and what she was feeling. Deep in his belly felt like it was aching but in a way that sought more, not shying away. Her eyes were somehow more silver than before but clearer. “Kagome, what are you talking about?”

She paused, reaching out and almost touching his eye. Which felt less swollen, but still hurt like hell. “Wh-What happened?” Her eyes closed as she took a breath, biting her lip, her heat tightening around him. “Did I do that?” she whimpered, pulling her fingers back before actually making contact.

“Keh. I’ve had worse than this. Not even bleeding.”

“Inuyasha…”

With a sigh, hesitant because he wasn’t sure if this bout of lucidity would last long, Inuyasha nudged her until she allowed him to roll her over, sinking back into her and slowly moving his hips to meet hers. The slower pace was more intense, telling him through the bond that Kagome was enjoying that much more than he would have guessed.

“It was in the transport. You didn’t want me to hold you.”

“O-Oh.” That lower lip trembled again. “I’m sorry, I don’t remem-”

“It was an accident.” Probably.

“Has an esper hurt you before?” He didn’t answer. “You need to tell me… ah,” she gasped when he made a point to drive himself a little deeper, spreading her thighs so he could.

“I’m not telling you anything until you tell me why you’ve been avoiding me for three whole days.” Her eyes went wide just before turning her head away. “And why you were throwing right hooks to keep me away from you.”

As if it wasn’t bad enough that he knew she was avoiding him because she was upset, now she had hurt him! Kagome couldn’t get the sight of his swollen eye, black and blue with hints of purple and even a touch of green where it was beginning to heal, out of her mind. And he wasn’t about to give up on her telling him the truth either. How much would it hurt when he told her he would eventually bond with someone else? When she had to come to terms with how she would become a physical burden devoid of emotional connection while he gave his heart and soul to someone who could give him a normal family?

“Kagome?” he growled, hips rolling purposefully into hers and dragging her attention back to him. “Why would I leave?” His demanding tone made her flinch. A whimper, almost inaudible, escaped his throat and she wondered at it. “You’re hurting and you won’t tell me why. How can I fix it if you won’t tell me what’s wrong?” Inuyasha had said something similar the first time he tried to get her to talk to him. Kagome didn’t know how he could fix it. “Is this about what my mother said to you?” Another involuntary wince. “Dammit. Kagome. This might not be the time to… ungh… talk about this. But we need to.” His fingers pressed into the flesh of her hips, holding her still so he could drive into her a little harder, a little deeper.

“Inuyasha,” she pleaded. Though she wasn’t sure if it was for him to stop asking before he even started, or to ask her and finally rip the bandaid off.

His breath was warm on her neck as he leaned down into her, bracing himself on his hands on either side of her shoulders. “We don’t have to think about the kids thing now. We’ve got time, alright?”

“Wh-What?” Kagome felt her heart pause then start to race. “Time?”

“Keh. ‘Course. There’s no rush. And if you don’t even want ‘em, we can have that talk too.”

“You do though, don’t you?”

“I’m fine either way.” Kagome gasped when he ground into her in slow intentional circles. His eyes were intense as she finally let them meet. “We can talk about it another time. But I don’t want you spiraling about that, alright?”

“But you… you could bond with someone else who can be… normal.”

His movements stopped suddenly and his claws caught hard in the sheets on either side of her head. “What the fuck are you talking about?” Kagome held her breath, a brief moment of fear as his eyes turned coppery. “Kagome? Tell me. What are you saying?”

“I…”

“You think I would bond with someone else?” he rumbled darkly. He didn’t wait for an answer, snapping his hips against hers in an almost punishing way. He freed one hand from the sheets, his palm catching her thigh and then pressing upward until the knee was almost to her chest. She was completely open to him now, vulnerable in a way that was terrifying but thrilling. “That I would guide anyone else?”

“I-If you wanted a family,” she gasped out with the force from a particularly hard thrust, “you could bond with someone else who isn’t an esper. You said it’s possible.”

Inuyasha’s upper lip curled in a snarl. His nose pressed against hers, making sure her gaze was focused entirely on him. “Just because it’s possible doesn’t mean I would do it! You are my esper. You are my partner. You are my mate!” Voice escalating with each assertion, his volume and growling tone intensified, making Kagome’s eyes go wide as she tried to process what he’d said.

Did Inuyasha even realize he’d said it?

“No matter what, I am the only one who will ever touch you like this. You are the only one who I will ever touch like this,” he told her through gritted teeth as the movement of his hips sped up. “Never doubt me again.”

The feeling of him inside of her combined with his words threw Kagome over a precipice she had hardly noticed she was reaching. She cried out, thighs tightening to try to keep him in place. But his hold kept them too far apart, his harsh thrusts prolonging the high until she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Her vision faded around the edges until all she could focus on was the intensity of pleasure on Inuyasha’s face.

“Kagome?”

She blinked. A deep breath inflated her lungs and she struggled to regulate her air intake. “Inu… What…”

“Shh. You’re ok. Take it slow.” Was she ok though? She felt almost as disoriented as she used to, coming out of her backlash on her own after taking the pills. Panicking, she looked around. Were there pill bottles anywhere? There was only Inuyasha, still inside her and holding her close. He wouldn’t... She knew he would never do that to her. “Don’t move too much.”

“Huh?”

As her senses seemed to get themselves in order, she started to realize that there was a borderline uncomfortable ache where Inuyasha was still deeply seated within her. Shifting was pretty much impossible, and an attempt to nudge Inuyasha back was met with resistance.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, nuzzling her temple. “I got too worked up.”

“What?” Her muscles clenching unintentionally made both of them gasp in concert. “What?”

Inuyasha stammered through an explanation of inuyoukai anatomy, or rather how it differed from human. Kagome couldn’t even begin to deny the truth of it as it was very physically apparent. He insisted that he had never had it happen before and he didn’t entirely understand why it had now. Another attempt to shift made Inuyasha let out a low groan. Kagome froze…

Before doing it again.

“K-Kagome…” he called weakly. But it felt too good. Not only was the increased pressure and stretch amazing, the knowledge that her movements had such an effect on Inuyasha was inflaming her senses. “Stop. Mmmmmph.” His attempted protest became muffled in her shoulder as his face pressed into her neck.

She didn’t have much leeway – the fit was too tight for that – but even small movements sent sparks up and down her nerves. Inuyasha seemed similarly affected, little whimpers interspersed with groans of pleasure as he rolled his hips the little bit that he could, licking and sucking the curve of her collarbone. As they had both already reached orgasm at least once, they were both more sensitive. Yet Kagome could sense that there was something else at play, an intensity of sensation that was not normal. It was almost as if she could feel what Inuyasha was feeling.

“Kagome, please,” he breathed. “If you keep doing that… Ah. I’m gonna cum again.” Kagome would never have anticipated how much hearing him say something like that would affect her. She couldn’t remember him ever telling her that kind of thing.

“You should.”

He whimpered. “I-I think the condom split. They’re not made for an inuyoukai’s knot.” His voice crumbled into a whisper as he seemed to fall prey to his instinctual need to drive himself into her further, deeper… And stay there.

“Inuyasha?” He hummed, the questioning sound bordering on surrender. Kagome caught hold of his chin, forcing him to look her in the eye. The swelling had gone down around his, the color wholly unpleasant to look at as it healed. “I want more,” she purred before taking his lips.

He didn’t hesitate again.

Of all the places on earth, this was one of the last places she wanted to be. As if it wasn’t bad enough that the kitsune bastards had caught onto her and brought her in, now she had some great hulking wolf… beast… thing… standing over her, watching her every move. Her snide looks from under her lashes didn’t seem to faze him in the least, and the old lady behind the desk across from her was even less perturbed.

“Now then, Kagura. You are in a unique position.” The councilwoman leaned toward her desk, wrists resting against the surface as she pressed her index fingers together thoughtfully. “I imagine you have information that would be very useful to the council. Information that your… previous compatriots would not wish to have shared.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. And get this thing away from me. It stinks.” She flicked her gaze to Royakan at her side. She was hoping that he would lose his cool over her insults, give her some room to move and potentially break the binding that restricted her power. He was not at all flustered. Kagura snorted to cover her frustration. Leaning back, she crossed her legs delicately, putting on her best air of composure and arrogance.

Even though inside she was scrambling.

She wouldn’t have survived this long if she were an idiot. A plan to get out of this was not coming to her, not as fast as she was hoping it would. They had to know something more than just how she was hanging around the West District too often, or they wouldn’t have brought her in. The fact that they mentioned “former compatriots” meant they at least knew that she had been working with someone, but did they know who? Or why?

“The guide, Naraku. He has been under strict surveillance for some time now. It would appear that he intends to enact some form of sabotage, interrupting the normal function of the guilds and this council.” Kagura steeled herself to keep from flinching. “It would seem that you are no longer a part of that plan.”

She couldn’t hold the flinch that time.

Royakan’s grin was full of teeth. Kaede’s face remained placid as if she hadn’t noticed Kagura’s reaction at all. “There are multiple guides and espers missing and I think you know where they are. I also think it is in your best interest to tell us what you know so that you can perhaps return to working as an esper someday.”

“What?”

Kaede sat back again, the faintest hint of mirth on her face. “The council can and will revoke any guide or esper’s right to operate in their full capacity if there is reason to believe that they are not using their power in good faith.” The elder human woman allowed that to sink in. “Any esper, or guide, proven to be using their powers with the intention to harm other humans or youkai are subject to the full extent of the authority of the council. Meaning any esper, or guide, who chooses to abuse their power to cause intentional harm, can and will be subject to punishment as deemed fit by the council and their guild. Up to and including permanent Binding.”

“Y-You can’t.”

Kaede nodded sagely, slowly. “Yes and no. If someone is detrimental to the cause of protecting people and this world, then they are not longer useful, no matter how powerful they think they are.” The elder woman stood from her desk chair, coming around to lean against the front of it. She was small in stature, but in that moment, she might as well have been a giant. She held far more power than Naraku had given her credit for. “Now I imagine you were threatened to not receive guiding if you didn’t follow orders, hm?”

“Yes.” Chin sinking to her chest, Kagura shook her head. How had they been outmaneuvered? Naraku and Byakuya had every detail plotted out. They didn’t share all of it, but she knew enough to know that they didn’t know the council was capable of binding them if they got caught! “Naraku guides several of us. If we don’t follow, he withholds guiding or we have to take the pills. And the pills…”

“Make you feel terrible. We are well aware of the side effects.”

Naraku always told her in no uncertain terms that she had to follow every order to the letter or he would dump her on one of the worlds a gate opened to and leave her there to await the moment her rampage would take her. No esper wanted to die that way. Better to at least die in battle against a beast. But if your options were to slowly overload while enduring your backlash over and over until you went mad and exploded, or to go willingly into the maw of a beast? That wasn’t much of a choice.

This was just a beast of a different kind.

“There’s… There’s an esper. He’s not registered, not anywhere. He can control your thoughts, your memories.” Royakan stepped back a little at a wave from Kaede. “He can even affect people over the phone, or an intercom.”

“The watches?”

She blinked in surprise. “Th-They tried. But something kept… Someone figured out their tampering too quickly.” The councilwoman smirked. Obviously someone on her team, however big it was now, had been onto them even sooner than they realized. Part of her felt an odd sense of relief. What if this wasn’t the maw of the beast? What if this was the door to safety? “Naraku thought that he could get hold of Higurashi. He said that was the key.”

The tension in the room suddenly rose. Kagura looked around and found Royakan once again at her back, looking over her. “Esper Higurashi? Why?” Kaede asked, her voice as sharp as the look in her one eye. “What about her was the key?”

“I-I don’t know. He was… kind of obsessed with her? He was furious that she has a guide now.”

The room went silent. There was rumors about when Naraku was Kagome’s guide. He was a known bastard, but the things that had been whispered about what he did to the top esper in the country were vile.

Even by the standards of a woman like her who accepted doing bad things to protect her own life.

“We need to know what he intended to do with Kagome.” The familiarity with which the councilwoman spoke of the other esper surprised Kagura. Councilwoman Kaede was known for being a staunchly unemotional woman who ruled with an – supposedly necessary – iron fist. It was a large part of why Naraku was staging his whole plot. He wanted to be free of the control of the guilds and the council. He wanted to use espers and guides to turn a profit for him... and themselves

At least that’s what he claimed.

“The other guides and espers you’re looking for. Not all of them are here.”

“What?” Kaede crossed the space much faster than her small frame and age would imply she could. Kagura sat back in surprise. “What do you mean?”

Swallowing, red eyes searching for an escape, the wind esper almost whimpered. “Th-They’re not on Earth. Some of them are, but some of them are… are on another world.”

Chapter Text

It only took a moment of frustrated distraction on his part for her to slip the first tile in place. A stepping stone to begin blocking his influence. Kanna knew she had to be careful lest she make him aware of what she was doing. What she was building. If he caught on too soon, she wouldn’t have enough to keep him out.

Byakuya was arrogant, which helped. He and the guide she had to interview for the council’s investigation. He thought he had all the angles figured out. It was why Naraku had taken her, thinking that he would be able to keep her from ever providing evidence against him for his crimes.

It was when Byakuya began pacing along the bar, disappearing into the other room before returning, that she knew her opportunity might be coming. He chewed his thumb as he paced, mumbling under his breath. Kanna wasn’t entirely sure what had happened to cause such a reaction, but she couldn’t ignore how anxious he was. Since she didn’t seem like much of threat, she could only imagine that he was paying less and less attention to her, distracted by whatever it was that seemed to be upsetting him.

The thing Kanna knew to be true was that people had a habit of underestimating her. Being as short and petite as she was, it was not uncommon for people to assume she was a child. Which meant they tended to talk in front of her as though she might not understand. Sometimes she hardly needed her abilities to poke and prod at people’s memories, to see them herself like a movie projected on a screen. They revealed all without even thinking about it.

It was a first for her to have been taken over in this way though. She hadn’t ever really heard of this kind of power. There was an esper in another country who could influence people with some kind of scent, as far as she understood it, and they would follow her every command out of an induced sense of loyalty. But it didn’t last long and it was not exactly effective on beasts inside of a gate. Kanna knew that this esper, Byakuya, didn’t use scent at all. There was nothing she could pinpoint as the method he used to leash people to his will. Not right away. But with time, it stuck out to her that he spoke in very precise tones, an almost sing-songy cadence that would be annoying if it didn’t also seem to distract you.

Kanna felt his control weakening, the ability to move her toes, then her fingers, returning until it crept closer to her core and she was able to intentionally flex the muscles in her arms, legs, and even her stomach. She had to wait until he left the cafe before she could truly see if her control was complete enough to actually move her body.

She wouldn’t get a second chance.

The shifting of the chair felt like it might as well have been canon fire, the crunch and scrape of the feet on the old tile ricocheting off the pressed tin ceiling and mirrored back splash behind the bar. Kanna winced before slowly looking around to see if there was anyone there to notice, but she didn’t see a soul.

She was able to lift the chair a little as she scooted it back from the table the next time, only the creak of old wood and wicker to mark the movement. Still not a breath of movement anywhere else in the cafe, she finally turned to assess the door to the outside. She wasn’t entirely sure where she was, but she knew that it had to be a mostly deserted part of town. While she hadn’t been able to move, her eyes still saw and there hadn’t been a single person walking past the plate glass that separated her from the rest of the world.

The air was cold on her face as she yanked the large leaded glass door open, the brass handle smooth in her hand. Fortunately the hinges didn’t squeal, a product of Naraku and Byakuya’s caution in not being noticed going in and out themselves. Ducking out of the way of the door, away from the window, Kanna scuttled down the street and into the nearest alley. She needed to try to get her bearings first or she would end up walking right back into the jaws of the trap she’d just pried open.

There were traces of others in the area. Faint from time having passed. She could see flitters of them, like ghosts, and followed them between buildings. The cold bricks under her hands kept her alert and moving, splitting her attention between the shimmers of memory she was following and building her wall against Byakuya should he find her again.

Some of the shimmers were stronger than others, drawing her attention upward toward the rooftops of the buildings. Who would have been up there? But there was no denying the presence of someone having gone up there recently, possibly more than once. Kanna stared up from a spot behind an abandoned dumpster – thankfully blocked from view of the street – and scanned for anything out of the ordinary. The light in the area seemed… muted somehow, but it made it all the more obvious when her gaze shifted and something glinted. That’s where they were going.

Kanna was no physical esper, not by a long shot, but she needed to do something and quickly or she wasn’t sure she would be alive to regret it much longer. Her eyes locked onto the side of the building, seeing a metal door. Terrified at the sound it might make, she jiggled the handle a few times. Locked.

But right before her was a maintenance ladder, rusted and questionably stable.

“What choice do I have?” she whispered to herself, steeling her nerve and setting her jaw.

Her fear for the door came true anyway, the ladder groaning and squealing when she pulled on it to bring it down to a level she could climb. Luckily whoever had been responsible for locking it up clearly forgot when this area of the city was abandoned. She was beginning to suspect this was the West District, which at least meant she hadn’t been taken too far from the guild. It explained the state of the buildings and the lack of people.

The ladder squeaked again as she climbed the rungs, making her flinch as she anticipated it coming loose from the brick and careening down the wall. Were she any larger, it might have done so, but it seemed just capable of bearing her weight.

The wind across the rooftop nearly sent her right back over the edge, but she dropped to her belly, crawling across until she was in reach of the object that glinted at her down below. A camera. She could only hope that it belonged to someone other than Naraku. Given his arrogance, his perception of control, she couldn’t imagine him thinking he needed cameras. So Kanna took a chance, flipping the lens toward her and looking directly into it.

“Help. Please. My name is Kanna and I am an esper. I have been taken against my will. Whoever is watching this, please, please, come.” A sob she had been unable to cry for well over a week, no matter how hard she wanted to or tried, finally escaped her, wracking her whole body. It was quickly followed by shivers as the chill wind across the rooftop truly registered on her senses. “Please. Please come.”

Wind buffeted them as they stood by the gate, waiting for the team to return. Inuyasha didn’t mind them being on guard duty so much, but he knew Kagome hated how she had been relegated to gate bouncer unless something happened. Which meant a lot of standing around with their thoughts.

“Kouga sure taking his sweet ass time,” he grumbled, glancing at his watch. “I thought there was just the last couple boxes of rock samples.”

“The rock here is much denser than on Earth. Can’t you feel the extra gravity too?” Kagome did a few experimental hops boosted by her power. It was obvious in her face that they took her a bit more energy than they normally would. Another glance at his watch showed hardly more than a blip in her numbers though, which was good. His radiation guiding, their bond, and the increase of their compatibility meant unless she really used her power, he almost didn’t need to guide her. It was probably the most stable she had been since she awakened.

All the fearmongering about bonding was starting to seem more and more like bullshit, in his opinion. How was there a downside to this?

“There’s another physical esper with him though. The pair of them should be fine getting that…”

Crackles over the comms grabbed both of their attention. The voice of the guide Inuyasha didn’t know as well popped in and out. They sounded tired, but it seemed like they had to be on their way at least. Kouga’s voice was a little stronger, but that was mostly because the loudmouth couldn’t control his volume. They were definitely on their way and Kouga was annoyed it was taking so long.

“At least one thing we can agree on,” Inuyasha huffed.

The lay of the land was rather hilly, so he could at least somewhat understand why they were struggling. It also meant that it was difficult to see how close they were as the gate had appeared in one of the valleys. The terrain and the density of the rocks and soil also interfered with the signal from the other watches, thus the crackles and interruption in people’s voices. Kagome did another hop, a little higher this time, landing with a slight grunt. Inuyasha glanced at her in concern. She looked fine. She smelled fine. Still, he couldn’t help feeling like something still wasn’t quite right with her.

Ever since she was hospitalized the week before, Kagome had been tired. As soon as they got back from whatever errands they had to run or meetings they had to attend at the guild, he caught her slinking into bed and snoozing. Her appetite was fine, no fevers or chills, she was still sleeping at night, but she just seemed to need an extra nap. Every reading coming from her watch said she was in tip top shape too. There was no indication that anything was wrong.

His gut said differently though…

Is it her adjusting to the bond? The fact that she was receiving guiding almost constantly without even really needing it? He probably needed to get a better handle on his own power so he could be more intentional about guiding, but it just felt natural to provide comfort no matter where they were or what they were doing. Like it was his his only goal in life these days.

Kouga and the others finally coming into view over the top of the nearest hill pulled him from his study of Kagome, shielding his eyes to try to get a better look at them. I could go help but… That would mean leaving Kagome and that was the last thing he wanted to do. On the other hand, the longer this took them, the longer they all had to stay gate-side which meant more time to run into trouble. He started moving toward the rest of the team, determined to get them through the gate so he could get his esper home for a nap. “Kagome, I’m going to…”

“The gate!” His ears picked up on the shout before he heard it over the comms on the watch. Inuyasha whipped his head back toward the gate. He didn’t understand what he was seeing at first, but it became evident pretty quickly that the gate opening was shrinking.

“Kouga, drop that shit and get over here!” he hollered into his watch, heading for them at the same time. His normal leaping distance was cut in half, but he was still fast enough to get to the other guide and esper, hauling the guide over his shoulder as Kouga did the same for the esper. Ayame and Kouga both being youkai meant they were strong but, being wolves, they were also fast. An advantage the human guide and esper did not have. Inuyasha panted a little as they sprinted for the gate.

He could feel the moment they came in range that Kagome was straining with her power. “Kagome!”

“What the hell is she doing? Is she closing the gate on us?!” The guide in his arms started struggling in a panic and it was all Inuyasha could do not to drop him. “We’re going to be trapped here!”

“The fuck are you talking about? She’s holding the damn thing open, you idiot!” Kouga snapped before Inuyasha could even formulate a response. “Worry about it after we get through the gate!”

Inuyasha practically tossed the guide through the event horizon, Kouga following suit with the other esper. Ayame was through next. “Kouga…”

“Don’t worry about it, just get yourselves through.”

“Right. Kagome!”

“I’ll hold it,” she grunted as Kouga dove in. They could hear chatter on the watches, but it all faded to the background as Inuyasha focused on getting himself and Kagome through that gate before it closed, making sure they were not separated. “Inuyasha, go so I don’t have to keep…”

“No. We go together or not at all.”

“Inuyasha…”

“I’m serious.”

“You’re so stubborn!”

The inuhanyou huffed. “You’re one to talk.” He looked at her and then the gate. “Hold onto me and I’ll get us through. How close do you have to be?” Kagome scowled, then took a second to consider his question. She took one step at a time away from the gate until it was clear she was straining, the portal wavering in size. “Alright. I don’t want to hit you hard, but I’m going to get a running start. Don’t let go of the gate until you can’t hold on anymore, alright?” Kagome swallowed, then nodded. Inuyasha took a shaking breath, steeling his nerves. He knew Kagome was made of sturdier stuff than the average human, but he hated the idea of hurting her.

He hated the idea of losing her inside a gate even more.

“Here I come.” His feet felt leaded as he picked up speed, sprinting straight for her and catching her around the waist. Her arms hesitated a moment before wrapping around him, her face tucking under his chin. Her power was humming against his senses, his body trying to focus on guiding her instead of hauling ass to the gate. “Hold on, Kagome. Hold on,” he huffed as he pushed himself, hurtling them both through the portal.

The change in sensation on his skin had him holding his breath, only the feeling of Kagome in his arms keeping him from mentally spiraling. No matter what happened, at least they would be together.

Even if that meant they died together.

The gasp in his ear when they emerged on the other side had Inuyasha’s eyes popping open and he braced himself to land. Instead his skin felt like it was buzzing with the strength of Kagome’s power flaring wide, her telekinetic energy slowing their momentum enough to have them rolling more gently across the landing strip than they initially would have with the speed he’d carried them into the gate. “K-Kagome? You ok?” he immediately asked, letting go of her just enough to pat her cheeks between his hands as she sat astride him.

“Yea. You?” Inuyasha nodded. He felt almost giddy. They were alright. Everyone made it out. It had been close, but they made it. Heart pounding, he momentarily had to stave off the urge to vomit.

“What the hell happened?!” he heard Kouga shouting. A glance in the direction of the wolf found him practically nose to nose with the gate administrator. This one was another youkai and not nearly as intimidated by Kouga as most others might have been. Not that it was stopping Kouga any. “Where the hell was our warning that the gate was shrinking? If Kagome hadn’t been there…”

“Keep it down, Esper Kouga.”

Inuyasha pulled Kagome to her feet along with him, standing between her and the other guide and esper who were still eyeing her warily as if she’d done something wrong instead of saving their damn hides. “Kouga, just leave it…”

“No! You could have gotten hurt or we could have gotten trapped there, Ayame!” he snarled, still looking straight at the administrator. “Kagome saved our fucking lives because of whatever crazy shit she can do and you have nothing to say for yourself? What’s all that fancy equipment even for?”

“You noticed the change in the gate at the same moment we did. By the time we were trying to give a verbal warning, you were all already on the way to the gate.”

“That’s no excuse!” the other esper chimed in, obviously shaking off the stupor of fear from almost getting stuck on the wrong side of a gate. “It’s the administration team’s job to track any changes in the gate and immediately inform the team!”

Inuyasha only vaguely recognized the administrator from before they entered the gate. He wasn’t one he’d encountered before. Tall, with sharp features, he still had a delicateness about him that implied he was not as scary as he looked. As firm as he was feathery somehow.

Still, his responses to Kouga were beginning to rankle.

“Esper Kouga,” Kagome stepped in. “Maybe this is something to debrief at the guild and not here?” Her hopeful tone caught everyone’s attention. Inuyasha definitely didn’t miss the way Ayame’s eyes narrowed in irritation. Did she not like Kagome for some reason? Kouga snarled, but didn’t look away from the administrator. “Gatenmaru, the alarm did not go through the watches at all. That is a problem that needs to be rectified.” His lip quivered ever so slightly as though holding back a response. His scent was so light, powdery, it was difficult to pinpoint, but Inuyasha caught a tinge of fear.

“We will definitely be discussing this at the guild. Right now, we need to get our espers to their havens,” the inuhanyou stated overly loudly, breaking the tension pervading the entire gate camp. “Kagome, c’mon,” he murmured in her ear, gently turning her away from the others and heading toward where they would have to wait for a transport. He could tell by her scent that her backlash wouldn’t be too far off, the power needed to keep the gate open and then to stall their insane momentum spiking her readings even with his consistent guiding.

Inuyasha had also long since learned that getting guiding to lower her numbers only tended to bring her backlash on sooner. She could handle high numbers far longer than any esper feasibly should, as if she held it all at bay until she moment she felt safe…

“I got you,” he murmured softly, curling her into his arm until the transport arrived to take them home. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you home safe, Kagome.”

“You always do,” she said, an amused sigh on her lips.

The back of his eyes prickled, just a little, because it was not all that long ago that Kagome didn’t trust anyone to be this close to her. To be in her space. To know of her one weakness. And here he was, the one she implicitly trusted with her secrets. “Best job in the world,” he breathed, lightly kissing her temple.

“Hey. Hey!” Shippou’s head popped up from his impromptu nap. “There’s a girl! I think it’s her! The esper that went missing!”

Scrambling from his spot on the couch in the area next to the surveillance room, Shippou ran his fingers through his hair, pulling it back into his habitual ponytail, on the move the entire time. He shot into the surveillance room and saw the video feed. A young woman, shockingly white hair, sobbing into the camera lens. Her plea for help nearly shattered his heart.

They had no time to lose. Half his team was already on their way to the point where the camera caught sight of her, but if one of Naraku’s people got to her first… “Go!”

Steps in the hallway faded as the kitsune ahead of him slipped into their stealthier patterns of movement. Shippou had claimed the role of the visible one, charging into the area as loudly as possible to draw anyone’s attention away from where they were headed to try to retrieve Kanna. He hoped against all hopes that she was still by the camera where she’d contacted them.

The comms in his ears was buzzing with whispered commands and information. He tried to track it all while also keeping an eye out for activity that did not belong to his team. There were some confused murmurs from one part of the team. Shippou reminded them to keep their earbuds in so they could hear everything going on. There was a long pause in conversation before the confusion seemed to fade and his teams were moving on track once more.

With a frown, Shippou slipped one earbud free, looking around the streets in search of any sign of the esper and guide they were on the lookout for. The wind whipping through the streets, stirring up dust that could have been snow. If it weren’t for the masks they all wore over their noses and mouths, he would be coughing and choking on it already. Shippou did notice a slight shift in his thinking, disorientation. As soon as his earbud was back in, it disappeared. There had been a faint… drone. He would have missed it entirely if he hadn’t been focusing on listening. Now it was gone again.

“Sound waves…” Shippou snarled. “Keep your earbuds in no matter what! They filter out some frequency of sound waves that affect us. Don’t take them out!” Without even thinking about it, he had kitsune bi in his hands, the blue glow of the flames flickering in the corners of his vision.

“Boss, we have her!” he heard over the comms and his sneer became a little triumphant. The Kitsune team was one of the best at what they did for a reason. “We’re taking her to the extraction point.”

Turning at the sound of pebbles skipping across the asphalt, Shippou’s ears perked around the buds, trying to listen for the source. “Who are you? What are you doing here?” He spun, barely holding back his fire. The voice was as gravelly as the broken ground they stood on, Shippou’s senses spiking on alert. He was tall, silvery hair that shone slightly lavender in the pale sunlight that made it between the buildings. “Why are you here?”

His mouth didn’t move…

Were he any younger, any less experienced, the leader of The Kitsunes might not have dodged the lightning fast strike that came at his side. He was hurling kitsune bi at the spot the man was last standing, only to find no one there. He twisted, finding a fist directed right at his face that would likely have crushed his orbital socket if he hadn’t used his limber nature to cant backward out of the way. Another narrow miss from whatever the insanely fast thing was and he was huffing for breath.

Did he have a weapon? Youki? He couldn’t sense anything!

“Boss!” two other kitsune sprang into view on the rooftops. They called out the position of the tall man, now behind him again, then jumped into the fray to help. One of them had kitsune fire that burned like ice, freezing anything it touched. A useful tool when trying to trap whatever it was that was moving faster than even their eyes could feasibly track.

“Got em!” More ice and it was revealed that there was another… being.

Shippou hesitated to call them a person, some strange youkai the likes of which he had never seen. Based on the pair’s coloring and demeanor, it was obvious that they were somehow related. “They’re not registered… anything. Guide. Esper…” The other kitsune had a tablet out, tapping away with the images on the screen to hunt down any information they could get immediately.

“Seems to be a bit of that going around,” Shippou remarked loudly, subtly wiping his brow above his mask. “Bind them anyway. Just in case. It will restrict their youki too.” Though he still was struggling to feel their youki in the first place. They couldn’t be human. The small one, with insect like features other than his very human-like head, was definitely not human. The larger one still hadn’t made a sound, which was scarier than if he had been screaming obscenities at them all along. His speed was inhuman, but he otherwise appeared human save the very youkai color of his hair.

“Once you have them locked down, run prints. We need to know who these bastards are. Just because their faces aren’t popping doesn’t mean they haven’t left evidence somewhere.” Both of them stared, one with cold dead eyes and the other with barely restrained fury. Though the little one doesn’t have… fingers. Shippou shuddered.

Tapping his earbud, he followed the others back out of the West District and into the alleys leading back to their hideout. Shippou was not looking forward to the phone call he was about to make, but it needed to be done.

A click and the line was silent. “Ma’am.”

“Yes. What is it?” Kaede’s voice was sharp, stressed.

“We have Kanna. And some… strays.”

The pause as she considered what he’d said. “Bring them in. See that Esper Kanna is tended to, then bring her to my office.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Wrinkling his nose at their captives, Shippou growled under his breath. “Be extra careful with them. I don’t like the look of them at all.” Not to mention the way they fought. If he had been utterly alone out there? He would have been dead. No doubt about it. “That bastard really has something going on,” he murmured as he marched along behind, on alert as they took the two assailants to a special transport. Another had already arrived and was being loaded with two of his team and the very petite esper.

She was disheveled, dirty, thin, dehydrated… But she looked relieved more than anything. Her dark eyes lifted to his as they sat her in the transport, the tiniest of smiles lifting the corner of her mouth. Tears welled in her eyes and she mouthed something. Shippou pulled the edge of his mask down just enough to uncover his mouth.

“You’re welcome.”

Chapter Text

Kagome rose up out of another bout of napping. She felt like such a slug lately! But Inuyasha kept reminding her that she had been through hell with being so sick for several days and had been more or less forced to go back into the field much sooner than she should have. It made sense that her body was trying to make up the lost energy.

He also pointed out that her body was finally learning to accept rest. For years, she had been operating on adrenaline, drugs, and survival instinct. She basically only slept when her body outright shut down. Now she had someone who looked out for her, made sure she was healthy, safe, and cared for. It was an adjustment for her system to understand that it was alright to relax, to accept that she wasn’t in constant danger. A new normal to adapt to.

The smell of food drifted to her nose, waking her a little more before she reached over to feel the bed. Empty. Inuyasha usually got up before her anyway, but lately he had been making a point of not only beating her out of bed but also having something ready for her to eat and drink from the moment she was awake.

In this case, he must have gotten up shortly after he lulled her to sleep in his arms.

Kagome sighed and rolled onto her back. The light from the window was dim, telling her it was probably late afternoon. She had only slept an hour or so, but it felt like it had been a day already.

Their meeting at the council building had been stressful. Learning that Naraku was being tracked because of suspicious activity on top of what she had reported him for had her feeling a jumbled mess of worry, relief, and giddiness. Had he finally showed his hand enough that the powers that be were paying attention? Would someone finally lock him up for good?

It did make it clear why Inuyasha’s parents had appeared suddenly though. The abnormal gate activity was happening everywhere, not just here, and Touga and Izayoi were acting as an envoy of sorts for the other councils. There was concern that whatever Naraku was up to had wider reaching ramifications, and the other councils wanted to make sure someone was doing something about it. They now had a witness who had already begun talking and two in custody who wouldn’t say a word. Apparently they weren’t even sure one of them was capable of speech in the first place. What they knew so far wasn’t the whole story, but it was painting a more terrible picture than Kagome would have guessed.

Naraku kidnapping and hiding away espers and guides, using many of the same techniques he’d used on her… Taking advantage of delirium, drugging them, disorientation by changes in location. It had taken Inuyasha’s hand on hers through the whole meeting to keep her from slipping into a very dark place. When they got back to the haven, she’d felt more drained than after a bad backlash, not even taking the time to wash up before crawling into bed and making a cocoon out of her blankets. She felt Inuyasha check on her, his voice gentle as he spoke to her, but couldn’t muster the energy to respond.

Even now, she had no idea what he said to her. All that mattered as far as her tired brain was concerned was that she was safe and Inuyasha was there. Kagome thought she heard the murmur of voices as she was drifting off, but there was no way she could focus on them. No one sounded upset, so she figured all was well and let herself fall asleep.

Now that she was more rested, she felt better, but was still a little worried about what Inuyasha may have discussed with his parents while she was sleeping. They had been nothing but gracious toward her throughout their stay. Izayoi had even apologized for making her anxious with their talk. Kagome felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment all over again. She couldn’t believe she’d let Izayoi’s innocent comments send her into such a spiral that she’d fought with Inuyasha for days. At the time, it had felt completely logical to shut him down, keep him out, stop him from telling her the one thing she was sure he would and the last thing she wanted to hear.

You are my mate!

Kagome closed her eyes and curled into a ball at the memory of his declaration. Her stomach felt alight with butterflies all over again and she bit back a stupid grin.

It was one of the last things Kagome ever thought Inuyasha would say to her and something she never even knew she needed to hear. The way her anxiety about their relationship evaporated at his words had left her feeling a little giddy. It helped explain how easily she dove off the deep end, abandoning all caution during their guiding. A little at least. It also just… felt really good.

The conversation they had after that was awkward and more than a little difficult, to be honest, but definitely necessary.

Inuyasha was obviously more focused on getting her cleaned up, fed and settled – an instinct she had always assumed was guide-related but was quickly learning had far more to do with his inuyoukai half – and it took some wheedling before he would even look her in the eye properly. When he finally did, she was stunned by the intensity of his gaze. She almost regretted pushing him, worried about what he might have to say.

“I didn’t want to scare you,” he said after several moments of staring. “I just… I needed you to understand and it felt like nothing else was getting through to you.”

“Did you not mean it?” she murmured.

His eyes widened and his hands tightened on her calves where he had been absentmindedly massaging. “Of course I meant it.”

“It wasn’t just because you were emotional… angry?” she whispered. “Because I hit you?”

Inuyasha sighed, shoulders slumping. Even hours later, his eye was still healing, still greenish. She’d never seen him bruised like that before and it made her feel a little sick. Especially knowing that she was the one who had done that to him. She was the cause of his pain. “I wasn’t mad that you hit me, Kagome. It was an accident. You were in your backlash and you didn’t want me to touch you.”

“No, that’s not… I…” She scrambled to explain herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t want him to touch her. It was fear that every time he did, it would further intertwine them until, no matter how he felt, he would never be rid of her. Because the ties that bound them would be wound too tight. She would be tying him down. “What if you change your mind, and our bond is so strong they can’t break it.”

He snarled. “Kagome. Why the fuck would I want it broken?”

“I don’t know,” she mumbled as she rolled into the pillow, pushing the bowl of snacks he’d given her to the side so she didn’t knock it over. His growl vibrated through her as he leaned down to scoop her up, not giving her to space to hide from him. “Inuyasha…”

“Why are you so sure that I don’t want to be bonded to you and you specifically?” he huffed against her neck, holding her against his chest as his warm breath caressed her neck. “Or that I would give up what we have for some… hypothetical white picket fence scenario?”

“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to want? Home. Family. Stability.” Inuyasha sighed heavily. “I thought that’s what people wanted. That’s why we fight,” Kagome squeaked when he bit her in what she took to be a reprimand.

“Just because it’s what other people want doesn’t mean it has to be what you want, or what I want for that matter. I told you, we can talk about it, but that’s not the main concern right now. We need to get your health under control and to figure out what’s going on with the damned gates.”

They had more or less left the conversation at that, not ready to fully delve into the intricacies of their future when there was still so much uncertainty. That was before they even knew about the council’s discoveries. That they now had a witness in custody that seemed to know a lot more than they had even hoped, but not enough to be able to arrest Naraku. Not yet. They also needed to figure out how and where he was sequestering espers and guides that he’d kidnapped.

The fact that he seemed to have a way to intentionally put them somewhere off world and to the same place more than once? Kagome had a very bad feeling about it. They had never been able to accurately predict where a gate would open and it was extremely rare for one to open to the same place more than once. To think that Naraku might have a way to intentionally open gates to the same world multiple times and in a short period… That he can open them at all is very very bad.

Kagome found herself wondering if there was an esper out there who had an ability like hers, but could open gates anywhere they wanted. She had never even thought about the reverse of her capabilities before. The possibility was pretty terrifying. A tiny part of her was curious if she could do it too, open a gate. But it led her to wonder, if there was a way, how could they possibly know where they were opening a gate to?

“Kagome, you up?” Inuyasha’s soft call from the other side of the door dragged her out of her lazy contemplation and lifted the haze from her mind.

“Yea.” Rolling over, she stretched. Her joints protested a little, but she did feel better than she had before she crashed. The padding of his feet across the floor drew her eyes open. His long hair was pulled up on top of his head, making him look a little messy but mostly comfortable. Kagome smiled. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself. You’ve been out almost two hours.” Despite his words seeming chastising, his tone was not. If anything, he sounded concerned. “Are you hungry?” Kagome opened her mouth to answer, only to have her stomach reply for her. Loudly. Inuyasha’s mouth split in a grin, a chuckle escaping him. “Guess so. C’mon. I have udon on the stove for you.”

“I hope you didn’t make it only for me,” she grumbled good-naturedly, finally pulling herself out of the cocoon of blankets on the bed. A shiver went down her spine at the change in temperature, having been so bundled up. Inuyasha already had a sweatshirt for her at hand, helping her get it over her head and her arms through like a child. “Thanks.”

He hummed in response. “My parents like it just as well so I made enough for everyone. But you missed lunch. Again. You need to eat.”

“Yea yea,” she sighed, yawning and leaning into his chest. Inuyasha patted her back, gently encouraging her until she was awake enough to stand on her own. She staggered a little at first, her balance not quite up to speed with her body position, but it evened out right away and she made her way into the bathroom. “You don’t have to babysit me. I’m fine. Just waking up still,” she tried to soothe him so he wouldn’t follow her into the bathroom itself. The inuhanyou scowled at her, silently agreeing to stay outside the bathroom proper but wouldn’t leave the room.

After washing her face, she felt infinitely better and even her very skeptical guide couldn’t deny that she seemed fine. Still, as he was hovering around her the whole way down the stairs, Kagome was tempted to levitate him down ahead of her if only to get him to back off. She resisted the urge though. He was looking out for her. She liked that he cared so much.

Even if she was about to step on his foot just to prove a point…

“Ah, Kagome Dear. You look like the rest did you some good.”

She flushed at Izayoi’s smile. “It did.”

“Good. Inuyasha was of the opinion that you would be hungry soon.” Touga tossed his son a glance. “You’ve made him into quite the caregiver. We’ve never seen him so attentive.” A low growl reverberated in the space.

Kagome’s head tilted in confusion. “He’s been like that since the beginning though. I didn’t do anything.” The silence that followed didn’t catch her attention until she had already sat down at the counter, a bowl of udon being slipped under her nose almost the moment her butt hit the stool. Normally, she would have waited for everyone else to be served too – her mother’s etiquette lessons hadn’t gone completely out the window – but she was suddenly just too hungry to even be bothered.

There was a hum of happiness across her nerves, like the purr of a comfortable cat, and Kagome glanced up in embarrassment that she’d been so engrossed in eating. She found Inuyasha staring at her, not in horror as she’d feared, but with a pleased grin on his lips. His parents were obviously amused, but making an effort not to look at her lest they make her uncomfortable.

“W-What?”

“Nothing, Dear. Just glad to see you both taking such good care of each other. It’s how bonded pairs should be.” Kagome felt her face heat but not from the steam of her soup. Izayoi went on to strike up idle conversation with her husband, occasionally slipping into French. Kagome caught enough of Inuyasha’s glances to know that while his parents were not secretly talking about her, they were talking about him. Nothing to get too upset about, apparently, but he was blushing and shooting her looks like he was worried she’d find out what they were saying.

Despite her nap, with a full belly, Kagome almost felt like she could drift off all over again. She was able to stay awake long enough to participate in conversation about all of their concerns regarding the gates and Naraku. They didn’t come to any conclusions, but it did feel nice to air out her worries, if only to not feel alone in them.

After the quiet dark of the transport, the bustling and lights of the council headquarters’ infirmary had felt more than a little overwhelming. Kanna wasn’t even sure of the last time she’d had that much light in her eyes. It was far easier to keep them closed, to simply listen to the movement around her. She was in good hands, finally. Safe.

Getting her hydrated had been the first order of business, and the medical staff had been extremely careful with her throughout the process of getting IVs into her as well as offering her small glasses of water at a time. Her stomach recoiled at the first glass, empty too long, but the second glass was not as cold and that seemed to help.

A warm voice cut through the throng of others, catching her attention. It was firm, low… comforting. Kanna opened her eyes a bit, looking toward the door in search of the source of the voice. “Yes. I am the one who…” The murmur of another voice, one of the nurses who had been helping her. “I need to speak with her immediately.”

It was difficult to focus her eyes at first, but soon there was someone filling her vision. “Who…”

“Shippou. Head of the team that extracted you. How are you feeling?” She nodded a little noncommittally. Though his words seemed clipped, his tone was gentle. His entire demeanor was more gentle than what she’d noticed when they were loading her into the transport. He’s not ready to fight like he was then. “There don’t seem to be any injuries aside from when you climbed to the roof?”

Kanna looked down at herself. Her hands and knees were scraped, but nothing overly serious. The worst of all of it was the mental load of having been confined for so long, but she could admit that her butt and legs were definitely sore from the sudden need for movement after being held still for days on end. “They said I’m very dehydrated, and malnourished.”

“I’m not surprised. I’m glad you got free when you did.” The kitsune sighed, chin lowering to his clasped hands, elbows braced on his knees. “How did you get free, Esper Kanna?” He shook his head a little. “How did he get hold of you in the first place?”

“Is this… Do I need to debrief the council too?”

“You will. I can record this now if it will make things easier.” She nodded a little. “Alright.” His long fingers dug into a large pocket on his thigh, pulling out a slim silver device. He pressed a hidden button, then murmured his name, the time, date, location, and her name before stating the intent to get a clear testimony from her before she forgot any details. Kanna pressed her lips together to hide the faintest hint of a wry smile.

Forgetting a detail, of any kind, was not something she did.

“I was leaving the council after reviewing the interview with the guide, Naraku. It needed last review, but I needed guiding, so I was going to the guild for a guiding session.” Kanna sighed tiredly. “I don’t need much guiding most of the time, but that interview was a lot. He tried to hide his memories from me, or… Plant false ones? It was difficult to sort through.” Shippou’s face darkened with concern. “On my way there, a transport pulled up beside me. I… I remember suddenly feeling like I had to get in it. Like there was no other option.”

“They threatened you?” Shippou asked softly.

“No. That was the part that was so confusing. He simply… spoke to me. And I got in.” Shippou’s head tilted in confusion, but he didn’t interrupt again. “I couldn’t move of my own volition after that.” She explained the conversations she overheard between Naraku and Byakuya, how the other esper she didn’t know was often seated across from her without blinking for long periods. She had seen neither him nor Naraku for some time though, so she couldn’t speak to where they might be.

“We have been tracking them in another part of the city and in and out of gate missions,” Shippou supplied. He didn’t seem reassured by that statement. “When you escaped?”

“Yes, of course. Byakuya was upset about something. I am not sure what exactly, as he took his phone calls away from where I could hear him much more often near the end. But that is also how I was able to start putting up small mental blocks to eventually shut out his influence.”

“And you ran from…”

Describing the area in front of the abandoned cafe was a little easier since she had spent so long studying the view from her fixed position. It didn’t take much for Shippou to pull up a map on his phone and show her the street view from before it was considered a disaster area. “Yes. That’s it.” The mortar was crumbling between the bricks now, and she could distinctly picture the way the paint on the wooden sills and door frames was chipping and peeling on the old shoe store across the way. There was trash rolling through the streets at the behest of the wind and there was a near-constant hum of an air unit somewhere that needed fixed, but there was no one to care. Except… Wasn’t all the power cut in the West District?

Sound.

“He… I think Byakuya is transmitting sound somehow. In the whole area.”

Shippou’s eyes widened. “That’s what that was? I thought it might have been coming from the other two we captured.” Kanna made a face and he described a man and another being whom she had never seen, captive or otherwise. “Our comms filter out extraneous frequencies so we can hear each other, and the recording equipment too. I noticed when we first set it up that I had to change the filter or there was this… obnoxious sound.” Kanna noticed the way his pointed ears twitched just a little as if in remembered discomfort. “But if it was coming from Byakuya? He wasn’t in the West District when we went in to get you out.”

“He left the cafe just before I was able to free myself.” Shippou frowned, obviously thinking over what she’d told him. “When we were in the same room, I noticed how his voice was strangely… lulling. I can’t explain it.”

“Sound waves that affect thinking to the point of physical control?” he asked, disbelief in his face. “So our ear buds were what kept us from falling under his control.” He was typing into his phone even as he spoke. “That is very important information, Esper Kanna. Thank you.”

“Kanna.”

“Excuse me?” The kitsune’s green eyes flicked up to her face, staring in confusion.

“Y-You can just call me by my name. The title is… unneeded.”

“O-Oh. Alright. Thank you,” he stammered, dipping his head respectfully. “I suppose we are about the same rank, aren’t we?”

“Are you… Are you an esper?” She hadn’t thought much of it until now.

“No. Not a guide, either. I have…” He glanced around before holding out an empty palm that didn’t stay empty for long. The blue flame was small, but delightfully warm all the same. Kanna couldn’t help the smallest quirk of the corner of her mouth. Kitsune fire was known for its potential to both destroy and protect, depending on the intention of the user. Kanna had never seen it before in person. “I’m useful in other ways.” She could attest to that.

She wouldn’t be sitting there in a hospital bed, recovering, if he were not.

“This Byakuya. What does he look like?” Kanna blinked.

At first, she didn’t know how to answer. She had been looking at him out of the corner of her vision for days or weeks… She wasn’t even sure anymore. But describing him felt extraordinarily difficult. Kanna frowned, lifting the hand not stuck with an IV to her head as she tried to concentrate. “Dark hair. Long… He was sort of… pretty in a way, I guess. I couldn’t tell you what color his eyes are. I did not see him closely enough.” Shippou’s dark brows dipped in thought, his thumb flying over his phone again before he flipped it around to show her an image.

It was a still from a video, if she wasn’t mistaken, a little blurry. Even so, she immediately recognized him. “Yes. Yes, that’s him.”

“Dammit,” Shippou hissed. “Kanna has identified the man from the video feeds initially shelved as a suspect as Byakuya. An unregistered esper.” He looked her over. “Is there anything else we need to know right away?”

“I think there are others? Like me but more… powerful.”

“There are several guides and espers who have been missing even longer than you.” Kanna nodded. “Do you know where?”

“I…” She scoured her memory for even a mention of… something. There had never been a direct mention of where Naraku and Byakuya had hidden the others away. She had always thought it was a little odd that she and the other esper who Naraku kept with him all the time were stashed away in the cafe. The West District wasn’t all that far from the guild, or the council for that matter. Kanna had not seen anyone else in her time there, but she had overheard Byakuya and Naraku mentioning “the others” and arguing about Byakuya “making a trip” to make sure they were still under his control. “He has to go back to wherever they are periodically,” she supplied, finally. “I don’t know where they are being kept, but I know that his control wanes after a period of time and he has to renew his power over them.”

“Of course. Even a sound recording wouldn’t maintain the hypnosis or whatever it is indefinitely.” Shippou nodded as though he was putting pieces together that even Kanna did not know. He clicked off the recording device and met her eyes. There was sincerity in those deeply green eyes. “Thank you. For taking the change and escaping. For speaking with me.”

“O-Of course.” Swallowing, her mouth suddenly feeling dry, Kanna flushed in embarrassment. “Thank you, for rescuing me.” She was startled by the warm hand that suddenly covered hers, careful of the IV in the tender part of her forearm.

“We’re glad you’re safe.” Their eyes met briefly, and Kanna felt the warmth grow for just a moment before he let go. His cheeks looked a little flushed too, if she wasn’t mistaken. “Feel better soon. They will want to speak with you at the council as soon as you do. Until then, my team will take shifts guarding your room.”

“What about you?”

Shippou grinned a little. “I’ll be on watch too. Just call if you need anything.” Kanna noticed that there was a small square card left on the blanket right by her hand. It was entirely black on one side, then only a drawn image of a fox on the other, and a phone number scrawled under it. It made her think more of the kind of thing a thief might leave behind after stealing something precious than a business card. The fact that he’d taken the time to write any contact info on it made her lips twitch, smothering a smile. Don’t read into it, she tried to remind herself, he’s doing his job.

Didn’t stop the tiny flutter in her chest.

Chapter Text

Inuyasha had taken on a new habit, she noticed. He already packed their mission backpacks like they were going to be gone for several days every time. Now he was packing for a week. “Inuyasha, that’s going to be really heavy.”

“Keh.” Kagome forced herself not to roll her eyes at him. He’s so stubborn… Despite her faint annoyance at him for overdoing it, she couldn’t ignore that it was extremely thoughtful of him.

“Inuyasha, speak more politely to your esper,” his mother chided as she entered the room. She and Touga were also dressed for gate travel, though their packs were much lighter. “Your Bonded deserves your respect.” Kagome ducked her head, cheeks heating at the label. She didn’t feel like he was being disrespectful, he was just… being Inuyasha.

“Right. I’ll carry the extra weight, Kagome. Don’t worry.” His tone was a little stiff, but when their eyes met, his were gentle. Kagome’s shoulders loosened in response which seemed to lessen his tension too. “We need to get moving. They already called us in later than the others.”

The call had come in less than half an hour ago and they were rushing as it was. Kagome felt a frizzle of worry along her spine that it had been not only her and Inuyasha summoned, but his parents as well. It had to mean something more than just normal gate activity was happening. The guild administrator that contacted them hadn’t been clear, only insisting that they get there as soon as they could. “I’m ready,” she confirmed, taking her pack from Inuyasha despite his initial resistance. She wasn’t going to make him carry everything. He wasn’t a pack animal.

The four of them loaded into a transport, a heavy and tense silence hanging in the air. Kagome found herself leaning into Inuyasha’s side. They weren’t skin to skin, but his guiding still seeped into her, soothing her nerves even as they got closer to the site. It was further out than their last several missions which meant more time in the transport feeling awkward and cramped with four adults, two of which were inuyoukai almost two meters tall.

The moment they arrived, Inuyasha swept her out of the transport, obviously aware of how stuffy and uncomfortable she felt. Though, she had a feeling that was partially her feeling his discomfort through their bond. There was a reason Inuyasha would rather ride his motorcycle than be in the car.

“Let’s find out what the hell is going on that they needed all of us,” he grumbled in her ear before letting her go.

Someone was already waiting to speak to them the moment they exited the vehicle but they waited nervously until they were all there before starting. Kagome blinked, realizing that it was Hojo, but he hadn’t made even the slightest attempt to make eye contact with her. He looked pale, and as he got into the details of why they had been called, Kagome understood his pallor.

Naraku had finally made his move.

The team that went through when the gate was first reported had been attacked almost immediately. The communication had been spotty and so the assumption had been that beasts were overwhelming the team. Just as the gate administration prepared to send the second team through to provide support, the line went silent. No one could get the team on the watches to respond.

Then came his voice.

“Demands have been communicated th-that Esper Higurashi goes through the gate.” Hojo’s eyes finally met hers for the first time. He looked… terrified.

“Absolutely the fuck not,” Inuyasha spat immediately.

“Inuyasha, it’s not his fault,” she murmured, pressing a hand to his shoulder. She could feel him bristling, the fury bubbling along their bond. “What other demands?”

Hojo swallowed, looking between Inuyasha’s parents – whose faces were just as stormy as their son’s – and her. “He claims to have the missing espers and guides and that he will abandon them there if we do no comply with his wishes.” Touga snarled, knuckles audibly cracking as he clenched his fists. “We have called in the council as well. They should arrive soon, to negotiate…”

“You can’t negotiate with that monster,” Inuyasha snapped.

“Then what are they supposed to do, Inuyasha?” He looked at her, eyes wild, nostrils flaring. “They can’t allow all those awakened to just… die without even trying.”

“Fine, let them negotiate. But you are not going in there. No fucking way.” His grip on her hand was hard but not painful. She could feel him trembling. “That bastard…”

Kagome squeezed his hand back, showing him she wasn’t letting go. “We have to do something. We can’t abandon our own.” Inuyasha bared his teeth at her statement. He knew she was right. He hated that she was right. Kagome brushed the hand gripping hers to loosen his hold. “This is our job, remember?”

Turning to his parents, Inuyasha stared at them. “You have to do something. I can’t… We can’t…”

“No matter what, you will not be separated,” Izayoi told him firmly. Kagome knew that it was not meant to be a comforting promise, just a promise. She doubted very much that Inuyasha’s parents wanted to see anything happen to either of them, but if the decision was made that she had to go through the gate, they would do their best to make sure Inuyasha went with her.

They approached the gate, the slowly swirling surface of the event horizon making her feel more uncertain than she ever had. It had been a long time since she last felt such unease because of a gate. Even more so than when she feared for Inuyasha’s safety. This was not just fear, this was a physical sensation of disorientation just from looking at it.

Kagome was reminded of her first time going through a gate. The way her body felt like it had gone through a washing machine when she came out on the other side stuck with her to this day. It took another couple times before she successfully acclimated to the sensation so it didn’t make her want to vomit the moment she touched down on the other side. Knowing that it often affected other awakened in much the same way – some not adjusting even as quickly as she had – made her feel a little better, but it didn’t make the sense memory disappear.

For some reason that memory was far stronger in that moment than it had been in years.

“Your delay in answering is disappointing.”

Her spine went ramrod straight, hand clenching Inuyasha’s tight. His hiss of discomfort brought her out of it just enough to loosen her hold, but she couldn’t bring herself to let go of him entirely. His soft guiding picked up, pouring into her where they touched in an attempt to settle her heart rate.

“We are here,” Touga intoned, his deep voice only this side of a growl.

“We? Oh? I don’t believe we’ve met. But by the sounds of things I’m guessing you’re taking over negotiations.” Touga didn’t respond and Naraku obviously took his silence as agreement. “Hello Kagome. I wasn’t sure if you would come.” How he knew for sure she was there, she had no idea, but it sent a chill down her spine. “Now. Be a good girl and be useful. Come through the gate so…”

“Fuck that!” Inuyasha snapped. “She’s not getting anywhere near you.”

There was a long pause on the other side of the comms. “Guide Taisho. I am not sure you understand the full weight of denying my humble request.” Naraku’s tone was so honey sweet it made her feel ill. She remembered that voice. She could picture the barely hidden sneer on his face. Those saccharine tones usually preceded him telling her to do something uncomfortable at best.

“We are here to find a resolution…”

The distinct sound of sarcastically amused laughter cut off Touga’s attempt to step in. He’s losing patience, Kagome realized, eyes closing to try and shut out the memory of his face in those moments. It would be after she tried to resist, or told him something made her uncomfortable.

That she didn’t want to take the medicine again.

“You will meet my demands, or I will begin feeding these poor helpless guides to the beasts here.” There were more than a few horrified gasps in the gate administration area. Kagome thought she might have heard whimpering coming through the comms. “Oh. Don’t care for that idea, hmm?” The air filled with the heaviness of silence. “Send Esper Kagome Higurashi through the gate. Now.”

He couldn’t believe this was something anyone was even considering. That Kagome was even thinking about it. The last place in the entire universe she should be was anywhere near Naraku. “If I go…”

“No,” he hissed, covering her watch to keep Naraku from overhearing. “Kagome, you can’t. You know he’ll say I can’t come with you. He won’t let anyone else come and trap you with all the others.”

“I can… I can keep the gate open long enough for others to follow.”

Naraku’s voice cut through before he could respond. “Before you try to plot treachery, I know that Kagome can close the gates and will be having her do so immediately.” Kagome’s eyes widened, the fear in her scent growing. “Now, do I need to send the first guide to their death?”

“No!” Kagome surged toward the gate and the only thing keeping her from going through was the fact that he had known she would react that way and took hold of her before she got too much momentum. If she didn’t also cared about potentially hurting him, she would have used her strength to rip herself out of his arms. Inuyasha swung her around and into his chest, flinching at her flailing limbs. “Inuyasha! Put me down.”

“No. Stop. Think. Please.”

“There has to be another way.” His mother’s voice was soft but sure. He didn’t know what other way there could be, but he would be very glad to hear it if they knew of one. Kagome wouldn’t stop until they came up with a plan that didn’t involved sacrificing lives other than hers.

“Kagome…”

“Guide Naraku,” a booming voice startled them all. Especially considering who it was coming out of. Councilwoman Kaede strode down from her transport, her giant wolf youkai secretary folding himself out behind her. His presence loomed as large as her voice, the pair of them an oddly fitting duo. Inuyasha flinched back as Kagome nearly caught his ear with her elbow while trying to turn herself around. “You will release the awakened you have taken. There is nowhere you can return to that will shelter you. The international council has officially placed sanctions on you in all nations.”

“Is that so?” His voice was slimy, snide. Inuyasha’s lip pulled back in a snarl at how Kagome’s heart stuttered. She knew better than anyone here what his moods might be based on the sound of his voice. “I suppose those nations do not care what happens to these people, then.”

“He has buildings. Supplies,” Kagome hissed in his ear.

“What?”

“I… I saw it before. I wasn’t sure, and we had to leave so fast. But there was a building. I’m sure of it. He’s been building supply shelters on worlds.” How? How could he be traveling to other worlds long enough to build such things, and then still somehow return to Earth? On purpose. “There has to be someone who can open gates where they want to.” He wanted to ask how that was possible, but he knew she didn’t know any more than he did.

“Stall him a little longer,” his mother murmured directly in his ear, splitting his attention. He almost lost hold of Kagome. “The R&D team have a solution. We just need to stall him a little longer.” Kagome’s movements stopped and she turned her head slowly.

“You… If I come through, my guide has to come with me.” Her voice shook, but she looked at him the entire time, her eyes telling him that she was planning something. But Inuyasha was struggling with all the information coming from multiple directions, he couldn’t even begin to read her intent.

Naraku didn’t respond right away and it seemed like everyone was holding their breath. “You will not need your guide here, Esper Kagome. There are guides here for you, now that you will accept guiding. Plenty of us to go around.” Inuyasha almost whimpered as Kagome swallowed hard, pressing her hand to her stomach and curling over, dry heaving. “You have no need of that half breed.”

The venom of Naraku’s tone was a little surprising. He had been playing it cool so far, acting as though he had the upper hand in all ways. He acted as though he had all the angles covered, every outcome accounted for. This was the first sign of him cracking.

“I… I can’t go anywhere without my guide.”

Inuyasha jolted when a strong hand on his shoulder tugged him backward. His father’s face was serious, unyielding. He didn’t understand what was happening until he was forced to release Kagome, his father stepping in beside her. “N-” Izayoi quickly pressed her fingertips to his lips to silence his protest. What the hell was happening?!

“Esper Kagome and her guide will cross through the gate,” Kaede called out, nodding to Kagome and Touga and then to her secretary. Royakan nodded his great big head, then stepped up to the gate. Kagome stepped past Touga so she could reach him, Inuyasha stunned when she pressed a kiss to his mouth. The whispered words on her breath stole his from his lungs.

Before he could stop her, or his father, they were crossing the event horizon of the gate.

Sango swore as the tablet interface didn’t respond fast enough to her fingertips, slowing her code entry and delaying her end goal. She needed this program to run and she needed it to run now. “Kohaku!” Her brother’s chair clattered as he rolled across the space between them. “You have to…”

“I know. As soon as that’s done, I can…”

The pair of them hardly had to finish sentences, so in tune with what needed to be done and the speed it needed to be done at. The communications over the comms from the active gate were playing over the speakers and Sango shook her head. She needed to focus on what she was doing. She needed to complete this program and the push needed to update the watches. They had never tried to do it using the communication system connections before. It was too risky to allow something like that. Too easy for someone else to hack into the watch system that way. But right now, it was their only hope.

They needed to be able to track the wearers in real time across all open gates. Which also meant accurately locating all open gates on Earth. Without the permission and cooperation from the councils of all nations including their own, there would have been no hope to accomplish something like this. And it could still all go up in smoke if Naraku managed to close the gate before they could get tracking activated and the ability to transmit from watch to watch with a single signal rather than from a centralized transmitter at each of the gate sites.

It had been Kanna’s information about Byakuya’s ability that sparked the idea. He had to be continuously transmitting whatever sound waves he used to control others from multiple locations and even off world. How? Several specialists had been brought in to figure it out, and once they did, it became clear that they needed to identify a way to locate the missing guides and espers that would also let them break the hypnosis. They needed them to be able to aid in their own rescue instead of impeding it.

Naraku pulling this now was not great timing, but if it had been any sooner it would have been far worse. Sango took a deep breath as Kohaku and the other team members finalized the signal and the programming needed to send it out. “Just a little longer…”

“Send Esper Kagome Higurashi through the gate. Now.”

“No. No… She can’t!” Sango had her phone out, almost dialing her best friend in a panic. She had to stop her!

But Kagome wouldn’t have her phone with her for a mission and contacting her through her watch would potentially get in the way of the transmission they were about to send out. Miroku’s number was already under her thumb before Sango even realized what she was doing.

“You have to keep her from going through!”

“I’m on my way there, but it’s further out!” Sango knew that, she did. And she knew Miroku was doing his absolute best to get there as quickly as possible. “Sango, Love. Inuyasha is with her. His parents too. They were called out with them. They’ll keep her safe.”

“He’s threatening guides, Miroku! To feed them to beasts on that side of the gate.”

“I know. I have the communication feed pulled up.”

“Sis! We’re ready.”

“Go. I’m almost there,” Miroku assured her before hanging up. Sango was swept into watching the team set the last of the parameters for launching the program.

Her stomach lurched as her lack of appetite all day and her anxiety tried to twist her all up in knots. Not now. Not right now, she begged. Later she could feel sick and pregnant and all of that. Right now, she needed to do everything she could to help her best friend and protect the awakened who had been taken against their will and were now being used as cards for negotiation with a monster.

“As soon as it’s ready. Release it.”

“Got it.” A long pause as Kohaku checked with the team one last time. “And go.”

Her head spun as the gate released her onto the other side. Strong arms around her waist anchored her for a moment, but they were not familiar and part of her recoiled despite her best efforts not to. “Kagome,” he rumbled, “are you alright?”

“Y-Yes.” She wasn’t, but she needed to be. Touga kept his head ducked as they moved away from the event horizon, trying to delay anyone’s realization that he was not the same silver-haired man normally at her side. Silence met them at first and she questioned if they had come through to the right place. Looking around, Kagome clenched her jaw, gaze flicking from face to face to take stock of what they were facing. “At least twelve,” she murmured into her watch.

They had switched to a closed channel between her, Touga, Izayoi, and Inuyasha. A closed circuit from the open one Naraku was broadcasting through. She heard a faint blip, acknowledgment that she’d been heard. Swallowing back her fear, she glanced around again.

There were several espers there, all looking zoned out but with their various powers on display. Wind whipping in small circles, flames hovering... How many could the other esper, the one who controlled minds, manage at once? And how long could he manage that before he needed guiding?

Glancing around, she didn’t see Naraku at first. Some of the faces she vaguely recognized from joint guild missions in the past, but none of them were from her guild. “That is not the guide…” She didn’t know the voice, nor where it came from, but she didn’t wait to identify it.

“Dammit. Kagome?” The gate felt heavy against her mind as she grasped the edges, keeping it wide open. Touga uncurled from around her, revealing to anyone that hadn’t noticed that he was definitely not his son.

Seeing him transform for the first time and so close almost startled Kagome into releasing the gate, but she had to focus. This was her job for now. Touga’s was to incapacitate the other espers if possible so they could get the others through. His roar shook the ground under them as a fire esper tried to burn him but was met with the inside of his giant paw, swatting her back like an insect.

“Again! The sound!” Inuyasha was shouting the moment he was through the gate. Kagome felt some tiny part of her immediately calm with the sensation of his presence at her back. Not even from his guiding, just knowing he was there was enough. “They need a little more time for the signal to… Fuck!” Inuyasha was cut off as he had to block a physical esper’s attempt to bowl her over and break her concentration. “Come on!”

Touga subdued two more espers, and Izayoi hung back with Kagome, offering some warning if not protection in case someone tried to attack her. She had a baton in each hand, swinging them rather smartly and stunning anyone who got too close just long enough for one of the inuyoukai to take care of them. Inuyasha was dodging flames and punches, zip-tying hands where he could, trying to knock out others when possible. Touga’s earth-rumbling snarls seemed to knock the espers off balance, often shaking their heads and their eyes blinking as if trying to focus their vision before attacking once more.

All the espers were slightly slower in their movements than they should be, which made it easier to outmaneuver them. At the same time, they were throwing their whole bodies into their attacks almost recklessly, like they didn’t care if they injured themselves in the process. Is this what his control does? Kagome wondered. She still hadn’t seen anyone who looked like they were controlling the others, but she had no way of knowing how close he had to be. Did he even have to be close? They said the hypnosis faded over time, but how long?

Kagome yelped when a blast of hot air preceded a fireball directed at her and Izayoi. She barely threw the pair of them out of the way, only just hanging onto the edges of the gate to keep it firmly open.

There were still espers in play when a voice cut through the fray. “Enough!” Kagome almost let her power gutter out at the sound of his voice.

On the slight swell of a hill, just enough above them to be visible, Naraku held a young woman with hair as dark as his by the throat. Her eyes seemed glazed, no attempt to fight his hold on her neck to free herself. In the other hand Naraku had a blade, the tip pressed to the tender underside of the woman’s chin. “Esper Higurashi, you will comply and close the gate!” Kagome gasped at the drop of blood that welled on pale skin, Naraku making clear his threat. “Now!”

Despite all the espers Inuyasha had managed to take down and restrain, there were still at least a handful who were ready and waiting to attack. If they resisted and Naraku followed through with hurting or killing the guide… Kagome closed her eyes, fighting the tears that wanted to well in them. She needed to keep it together. Supposedly help was coming. They needed to stall him. That’s what Izayoi had said before. They needed to stall Naraku.

“A-Alright. Just… Let her go. I’ll let go of the gate.” The pressure of the blade lessened. A rivulet of blood ran down the woman’s neck as she stood, still completely passive. “I’m letting go of the gate.” Which was… sort of true. She was only holding on with the metaphysical tips of her fingers. Enough to make sure it didn’t close, but she could tell it was shrinking.

Naraku didn’t let the woman go, dragging her along as he could approach Kagome. The other espers still standing parted to let him pass.

“Kagome…” She held her hand out to silence Inuyasha. Kagome didn’t want him drawing attention to himself in this moment in fear that Naraku would change tactics and try to hurt him instead. “You bastard,” Inuyasha hissed as the other guide got closer. Naraku only smirked, ignoring the inuhanyou as if he were nothing more than a yapping dog. Only his mother’s hand on his arm kept him from surging forward when Naraku reached out with the hand now empty of a blade to touch Kagome’s cheek.

It took everything in her to stay still and not immediately retch.

“That’s my good girl. So obedient.” Naraku’s grin was full of malicious satisfaction, his red eyes glinting. “Now, Kagome. Send them back before the gate closes.”

“I…”

“Ah ah. I told I would do away with these guides if you didn’t listen. Can you live with their blood on your hands?” Kagome tried to control her face, but the thought of anyone dying because of her made her heart clench. “See? So softhearted,” he sneered at her. Kagome’s watch chirped, bringing his gaze downward. “Your power balance has certainly improved, but that is still a lot to ask of yourself without guiding.”

Kagome opened her mouth to protest just as the first surge of Naraku’s guiding energy hit her.

Chapter Text

For a moment, Inuyasha saw red.

Occasionally, in the last month or more, he’d had nightmares about Kagome being stolen from him by someone else. Another youkai, another guide. But seeing not only another guide, but the one guide who Kagome feared the most, touching her right in front of him?

Kill him, his youkai roared, ringing in his head.

Kagome’s breath stalling and then coming in little gasping pants had his blood heating in his veins in rage. He needed to get to her. Kagome needed him! “Inuyasha…” His mother’s voice, familiar but sharp, snapped him out of it. “Hold.” Seeing Kagome’s ashen face, her dark eyes wide and the pupils narrowed to pinpricks almost had him lunging past Izayoi despite her warning, but his father’s firm grip was enough to keep him in place.

His patience – even if forced – was rewarded when Naraku wheeled back, canting forward a moment later and dry heaving. It was then that Touga finally let him go. Inuyasha flew across the intervening space, Kagome in his arms in a breath. He held onto her even as she turned and emptied her stomach. The sourness of bile was rivaled only by the sour note of terror in her scent. “It’s me. It’s me,” he told her firmly. “Kagome, it’s Inuyasha. I’ve got you.” She couldn’t even respond to him, still trying to catch her breath, wiping her mouth on the back of her arm.

“Kagome! Keep that gate open!” His father’s voice yanked both them back to the problem at hand. Kagome needed to keep the gate open if any of them had any hope of getting back home. But even before that, they needed to get Sango’s team’s signal through to all the watches.

Izayoi had very quickly let Inuyasha in on the plan just before they made their way through the gate after Kagome and his father. Inuyasha almost lost it when the elder inuyoukai took Kagome through the gate without him, only just keeping himself from going ballistic on his mother for promising not to separate them and then doing exactly that.

But now it made sense. Naraku could hear them. They needed Naraku and whoever was with him to believe that it was Inuyasha coming through the gate with his esper and no one else to create the element of surprise when his father was able to change into his giant dog form. Something Inuyasha was incapable of as a hanyou.

It had worked in their favor. Mostly. The signal was taking longer than they were told it would and it meant that they had to drag this out even longer, putting Kagome and the other awakened in further danger. Inuyasha pulled a cloth from his pocket to wipe the sweat from Kagome’s brow and neck. Feeling her trembling, he only lightly pushed guiding into her to make sure she wouldn’t reject it before nearly bathing her in it for a moment. Just enough to comfort her but hardly enough to bring her levels down. They needed to get out of there and get back to the haven, but they couldn’t leave when only Kagome could keep the gate open.

They also needed to figure out how the gates were being opened.

“Bind him,” his mother called out as Touga caught hold of Naraku. Inuyasha had never seen someone’s power bound in person before. It was… kind of horrifying in a distant way. Part of him could easily imagine the sensation of having his power constrained, as it wasn’t too dissimilar from when he turned human on the night of the new moon. But that was an expected, somewhat gradual, shift and he was still able to guide even while human. Binding stopped all of that.

At the same time, it was very satisfying to see that bastard taken down and stripped of the power he had repeatedly used against Inuyasha’s Bonded. Even if only temporarily.

“R-Rejection?” Naraku was incredulous. “You bonded her?” His dark red eyes were blazing with fury, made all the more obvious by the nauseated pallor that overtook him for trying to guide a bonded esper. “You, a pathetic A level, bonded an S+ esper?” Inuyasha scoffed. Naraku was an A level himself. Who was he to call anyone pathetic?!

“I’m S level now,” Inuyasha replied evenly, a feat considering how much he wanted to smash Naraku’s face with his fist. “That’s what happens when you’re so compatible.”

The guide went silent, mouth agape as he tried to process what Inuyasha said. It was clear he had never accounted for the possibility that Kagome would accept a guide, let alone allow being bonded to one. His arrogance, and the condescending way he viewed the awakened, had led him to trip himself up in the execution of his plan.

Inuyasha saw the remaining espers tensing in preparation to launch another attack as Naraku snarled at him. He was about to call out a warning to his parents when something whooshed past in his peripheral vision. It took his eyes a moment to register the movement as creatures sprinting past them, pouncing the other espers. They disappeared like smoke when hit, only to coalesce once more and drive them back from the gate. “Royakan,” Izayoi murmured, pleased. “The signal must be coming through too. Look at them.”

Now that he could watch more closely, he could see how disoriented the espers still standing looked. They didn’t know where they were or why they were there. No longer stoic and unfocused, their eyes were worried and confused. “All awakened within the gate, proceed to the gate as quickly as possible.” Kaede’s voice echoed on all the watches in the area but it took several repetitions for it to click for some of them.

Kagome was starting to struggle.

Between maintaining the gate opening and shaking from the after effects of her panic and vomiting, she was barely holding on. “Just a little longer,” he murmured, squeezing her shoulder. Inuyasha hesitated before finally letting go of Kagome to release the espers he had tied up so they could get themselves through the gate.

Only Naraku, the woman he’d held hostage, and the four of them remained. Royakan’s wolves were hovering around the site, looking like real animals until they bumped into someone or each other. It was disconcerting, but Inuyasha was glad for their presence when they all suddenly went on alert. “A sound,” Royakan’s voice came through the watches, loud and gravelly. “It must be the other esper.”

Touga paused before basically tossing Naraku through the gate, announcing his arrival so the team on the other side would be prepared for him. “We don’t see anything here.”

“He has to be here somewhere.” Kagome jumped once, lifting herself up high enough to see over the hilltops. Her landing was wobbly and she might have gone down hard if Inuyasha hadn’t been there to catch her. “I… There’s a building. Just like the other one I saw.” Inuyasha’s eyes narrowed.

“M-Mother?” Everyone’s heads turned to stare at the woman on the ground. Izayoi was still finishing first aide for the wound on her neck before the transported her. “Mother?” Her eyes were wide now, seeking, desperate. “He… He has her!”

“Wait. Who are you?” Inuyasha demanded to know.

“Abi? I… Where am I?” Glancing at his parents in confusion, the inuhanyou wasn’t sure how to answer that. A very brief explanation that they were inside a gate and that she had just been released from being held hostage only seemed to spark some understanding for her. “My mother. She is sick. And… She has trouble moving on her own. A man said he would help her.”

“It has to be him. The building is more than large enough to have multiple people in it.” Kagome winced and took a shuddering breath.

“We need to get another team in here and we need to take care of this so we can get out,” Inuyasha snapped. “She can’t hold that gate forever.”

“If I go through the gate and it closes, I can open it again. But not if something happens to my mother.” Abi looked panicked. “If he hurts her…”

Izayoi pressed a hand to her shoulder to keep her from trying to stand. She hadn’t lost a lot of blood, but enough that she might be dizzy if she stood too quickly. “Explain to us, please. You can open a gate? On your own?”

“N-No. My mother has to be on the other side. That’s how we move from place to place.” She said it as if was obvious. “Mother got sick though. One of the worlds we went to made her dizzy and throw up after we left. And then another made it so we couldn’t open a gate. We would have been stuck there, but a gate opened on its own and we were able to escape.”

That sounds far too familiar… Inuyasha looked at Kagome whose face was grim. “The man you met, who said he would help your mother, does he have long dark hair and narrow features?” She nodded. “Not the man we just sent through the gate?” A negative shake of her head. “Byakuya. He can control people with sound. He must have your mother under his control.” With a glance, he noted that Abi wore no watch. So not a registered guide or esper. “Are you and your mother youkai?”

Abi’s head tilted. “Yes. Isn’t everyone?”

That sent a ripple of unease through all of them. Had she and her mother been traversing the span of wherever the gates traveled from the youkai home world with no knowledge of Earth or the humans that lived there? “No. My wife and my son’s Bonded are human. My son is half youkai, half human.” Touga’s explanation seemed to shock her, but she only took a breath and sat up more slowly this time. “We will rescue your mother, but we need a way to get a team closer to take care of the man holding her or we may run out of time.” His hand looked large on her slight shoulder as he tried to get her to understand the gravity of their situation. “Can you open another gate within the same world? Can you get us closer to your mother?”

Abi grinned.

Kagome felt like her legs might give out. She was sweating, weak, shaky. Part of her assumed it was still leftover from her reaction to Naraku’s attempted guiding, but she was beginning to think it was combination of fatigue and low blood sugar on top of everything else. Changes in her body because of overexertion, lack of nutrients, emotional upheaval… All of which were normal human reactions.

Which was why they felt so completely foreign.

As she took slow breaths, Kagome felt and heard the movement of people around her, felt the pulse of the gate against her senses as they traveled through it. She had never noticed it before, not typically holding on for so long and not with so much back and forth movement. But she had no choice. She had to keep the gate open until they could get to Abi’s mother, take control of Byakuya, and then get everyone back through. The guides being held with Tekkei, Abi’s mother, were possibly still under Byakuya’s influence, and might make it difficult to rescue them. Kagome’ breathing became rhythmic, metered, trying to keep herself in one piece mentally while holding off her backlash as long as she possibly could.

Normally, Inuyasha would be providing full guiding by now, but the risk of bringing on her backlash while in the middle of their mission was too high. He was hovering just out of range now, his instincts too strong to keep him from accidentally radiation guiding. Each time she caught his gaze she couldn’t help noticing that he was prowling like a caged tiger. Izayoi stayed by Kagome’s side in his stead, unable to really do much except offer comfort. She did help Kagome eat something, which helped a little, and hydrating lessened the onset of a headache. But, ultimately, she needed to stop using her power and go home.

She needed her guide and a bed.

Not even for her backlash, though that would make things a lot easier.

“Kagome Dear, can you take a break at all?” Izayoi glanced at Kagome’s watch in concern. The esper didn’t have to look to know that her numbers were climbing dangerously high. Not quite into rampage territory, but close enough that if something wasn’t done soon…

Shouting in the distance with several explosions told her that the team had finally breached the storehouse where Abi’s mother was being kept. A rage-filled scream told her that Byakuya had not anticipated that the entire team would be wearing special ear protection to block out his sound waves – provided based on information from the covert operations team apparently full of kitsune – preventing him from controlling anyone. Kagome would have cheered along with the others when they filed back through the small gate Abi had opened, but she couldn’t spare the energy. Tekkei had to be carried between two physical espers, those at the gate giving them a wide berth to pass by. She was much larger than the average humanoid and had feathers. Her head was bowed low, so Kagome couldn’t see her face, but she got the distinct impression that her features were not entirely human either.

“Kagome? Just a little longer. I promise.” Inuyasha was still a ways away, his entire being vibrating with the need to be near her. Even at this distance, she could feel his anxiety across their bond, his restlessness. His need to make everything better. “Hurry the fuck up!” he snapped at the others.

He was more on edge than ever, his dark brows furrowed over golden eyes staring down every single person still on the “wrong” side of the gate. Izayoi called off a headcount as the remaining people filed up to the gate and through the horizon.

Again, Kagome could feel the hiccups in the flow of the gate as each of the espers and guides went through. Royakan’s wolves blended together into one large wolf, the blip in the gate far smaller than its size would suggest. When Touga yanked a gagged and struggling Byakuya into the gate, Izayoi was quick to follow him. Which finally left only Kagome and Inuyasha.

“Inuyasha?” she whispered. He hummed as he approached her. “I’m tired.” A sob caught in her throat. “Really tired.” He tsked, wrapping himself around her. A soft rumble of a growl rose in his chest as he held onto her, lifting her into his arms.

“I got you, Kagome. I got you. Let’s go home.”

Her grip on the gate was slipping as they entered the horizon, her vision wavering from a combination of tears and exhaustion. “Don’t guide me yet. Not yet,” she pleaded. His arms tightened around her as the gate took them and she buried her face in his shoulder to try and assuage the nausea that tried to twist her stomach. The moment they were on the other side of the gate, they were being ushered straight through the throng of people still hovering around the landing strip. She could hear the EMTs calling out directions as they tended to the awakened who had obviously been kept in less than ideal conditions for weeks.

“Transport is here,” Inuyasha murmured to her, keeping her face in the curve of his neck with the press of his hand to the back of her head. Kagome took a heaving breath and let it out as slowly as she could, just barely settling her stomach enough to not want to eject the nutrition bar Izayoi had helped her eat not too long ago. Sound became much more muffled and she sighed. Finally, they could take out the ear buds they had been given at the gate camp to block out Byakuya’s possible influence.

Inuyasha murmured comforting words as he provided the least amount of guiding he could while still keeping her stable. His control had always amazed her, but that he could do that now – when she knew his instincts as both a guide and her partner were screaming at him to drop her levels like a rock because they were just too high – was a testament to his strength and discipline as a guide.

She couldn’t help the tears, which was infinitely frustrating. Kagome prided herself on her own strength, her resilience. It had been what held her together for so long without a guide. How she’d made it so long on her own when she couldn’t rely on anyone else. It wasn’t just that she had support now. Nor was it that she had grown weaker. Kagome was exhausted.

She didn’t want to be at the mercy of her powers, her backlash, anymore.

“Kagome,” Inuyasha murmured sympathetically, a faint whimper in his throat. Kagome hated that she was upsetting him too, but she couldn’t control her emotions right now. That was the longest she had ever had to sustain use of her power without being able to run back to her haven or use the pills to tide her over until she could. Every muscle felt like it was twitching as her backlash reared its ugly head, taking nothing more than Inuyasha’s breathing against her to set her nerves alight. “Do you want me to help you now?”

“No. Not in here.” She hiccuped. “I don’t want to be like this anymore.” Another sob. “I hate that you have to take care of me like this.” A moan this time as Inuyasha shifted her in his lap so he could try and see her face, his hand cupping her chin.

“I don’t mind,” he tried to soothe her.

“But I do!” she choked out before fighting against his hold enough that he let her sit in the seat beside him instead. “It’s so embarrassing.”

“No one can see us in here, Kagome. And it’s a long way back yet. Just let me.”

Kagome stiffened in shock when he slid to the floor, hands on her thighs. She wanted to resist… but her backlash was now affecting her enough that she was curious what he intended to do. Inuyasha’s eyes were darker than usual, more amber than golden. While more gentle by a long shot, she was still reminded of the caged tiger parallel her mind had drawn before. Long fingers dipped into the waistband of her pants, pulling them down her hips and out from under her. Kagome jumped when he quickly followed that with his palms pushing her knees wide.

“Oh,” she gasped in shock, then again as the sensation of his lips against her center had her head falling forward, spine curling at the sudden sparks along her nerves. Hot and wet, his tongue followed the path of his lips even as she tried to protest. “I need to sh-shower-ah… Inu…” She could hardly speak for the sensations spiking through her, muscles twitching with each press and stroke of his tongue. He caught on all too quickly to where she was most sensitive, hardly giving her a moment to breathe before he was taking her higher. Kagome pressed her hands to the seat of the transport, desperate not to pull his hair or accidentally grab his ears. Not when she had no way of being sure her strength wouldn’t slip out of her control.

Her back arched as her thighs involuntarily spread wider to allow him closer, deeper. Kagome couldn’t miss the low growl that rolled through him and into her. The intensity had her flailing, hands finally grasping the headrests of the seat behind her head to hold onto something – anything – that could keep her anchored to reality. She was so close to the edge, she felt like she could taste it on the panting breaths that danced across her tongue.

Only for Inuyasha to pull himself away, the backs of his fingers lightly brushing his lips.

She thought his eyes were dark before…

His body weight against her was equal parts soothing and inflaming. She wanted to feel him, to have his weight pressing her down into the cushion beneath her. His lips were gentle on her neck, her cheek, then her ear. “I wanna be inside you so bad right now,” he murmured. Kagome sucked in a sharp breath in both surprise and heat at his words. “But you’re tired and you didn’t want to do that in here.”

It felt like he was teasing her. She knew her senses weren’t entirely truthful, her backlash heightening all the wrong ones while dulling the ones she needed to think clearly. Still, Inuyasha kissing her neck and shoulder while keeping his hands away from all the places she wanted them most was unfair. Especially when one of those large hands slid up her frame to take hold of both her wrists, keeping her arms over her head. Writhing against him hardly helped as he was fully clothed and maintaining a slight space between them so she had to seek him out. “Please,” she breathed.

“Please what, Kagome?” he whispered. She tried to catch his mouth with hers, but his head drifted back so he was just out of her range. Now that she could see all of him, there was something about his face that struck her as off. Panic tried to set in only for her to realize it was the presence of those purple slashes on his cheeks – so different from her hanyou and yet wholly him at the same time – that made him seem unfamiliar. “What’s wrong?”

“Your youki. It’s up.”

Inuyasha seemed confused by her words, then apparently took stock of himself and realized what she meant. Not that she could blame him. She wasn’t sure she’d made any kind of sense. He didn’t immediately back off as she thought he might, instead smirking faintly. “If anyone can handle it, it’s you,” he purred, finally bringing his hips in contact with hers, allowing her at least some of the pressure she was seeking. But after the promise of him filling her, it wasn’t going to be enough.

“Inuyasha,” she pleaded. “Need you.”

“Do you?” His voice had dropped to a lower pitch than she was used to, but the way it vibrated through her was dangerously familiar. A gasp. A whimper. Kagome tried again to bring him in full contact with her, only to be foiled by the teasing way he kept just out of reach. Tears of frustration lined her lower lashes. “Hush, Love. I’ll give you what you want.”

“Now,” she demanded, though her voice sounded far more whiny than firm. Her head swirled, delirium trying to overtake her in the midst of her backlash, but she fought it off. She needed to be aware for this, to know it was Inuyasha and no one else touching her this way.

“Tsk. So impatient,” he murmured, but she could hear the smirk in his tone. He was definitely pleased rather than annoyed. Arms still trapped above her head, Kagome could only watch blearily as he used his free hand to unsnap his pants. The pressure against her and then inside her made her whine, trying to shift her hips forward to meet him. Inuyasha mumbled things in her ear she only caught parts of. Something about warmth, about wet. His growl vibrated through her as she tried to move to meet his thrusts even as the angle of the seat made it difficult.

“Inuyasha, leggo.” She wriggled her hands until he released her, allowing her to wrap her arms around him. With that leverage, she was finally able to bring them together harder, faster, just like she needed. So close to the edge even before he was inside her, it didn’t take long before she was flying off the edge, arms and legs wrapping around his whole frame to keep him there as she rode out the zips and snaps across her nervous system.

Inuyasha’s low groan and the small pulses of his hips against hers stretched out her climax until her vision began to blur and her hearing tried to fade out. “Stay awake, Love. We’re not done yet,” he rumbled in her ear.

The lurch of the transport jolted them both into more awareness, but only enough to mostly fix their clothes and then get themselves inside the haven. Kagome vaguely noticed the sensations that accompanied a hot shower, too enthralled by the feel of her hanyou kissing and touching her everywhere he could while filling her where she needed him most over and over again.

Her wrist had vibrated with confirmation that her levels were back to normal long ago and her mind was even becoming clearer as her backlash faded away. But Inuyasha showed no signs of stopping. His cheeks were still emblazoned in purple, eyes red with turquoise. Despite the obvious heightening of his youki, he spoke to her almost as though nothing were different. He was perhaps more firm – and definitely open about what he was feeling and what he wanted to do to her – but he was always careful not to hurt her.

The rumbling purr of his voice in her ear as he began to slow his thrusts distracted her enough that she almost didn’t understand what he said. But the sudden increased fullness made her gasp, her spine bowing and her fingers clawing at the sheets. Inuyasha could hardly move, but it seemed to be enough for both of them. “Mine,” he murmured. “You’re mine.”

“Yes,” she sobbed out. “You’re mine too?”

His mouth – one of the only things she could still focus on – curled, his canines seeming longer than usual. “Always.” Her world spun, vision fading into a mixture of darkness and flashes of color she couldn’t make sense of. Kagome felt her heart thumping in her chest, her breathing rapid until the soothing feeling of Inuyasha’s guiding calmed everything down. Her awareness began to fade, exhaustion taking over. The last thing she heard before she slipped into darkness was simply, “Forever.”