Healing A Hollow Heart

Chapter Seven: All Bark, Plenty of Bite

Hey there, Codexa here! I know you guy get tired of hearing this but I'm still going to say it. I appreciate those supporting me on Wattpad. And a big thanks to my follower @Glasses_Garoux for my first comment. Remember if you have any questions, ideas on pairings, or just notice something out of wack just comment/review below. Also don't forget to vote. Thanks!

Now on with the story.

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"Kagome. Kagome!"

The feel of something warm and damp against her forehead forced her eyes to peek open. Silver hair and a concerned visage shadowed over her vision before expressionless amber eyes replaced them.

"Quiet, kit," a familiar voice hushed the one crying her name on repeat. "The miko is fine. She and the demon within her need to rest."

Kagome's eyes popped open. "Demon?" She winced as pressure filled her cranium. Okay, sitting up fast was a definite no-no.

"How long were you planning on feigning sleep, miko?" the voice said.

Kagome shuddered as the temperature dropped a good seventy degrees. Only one man she knew could refrigerate a room with tone alone. "Fluffy?"

Before she could slap a hand over her mouth Sesshomaru captured her chin, forcing her to meet his glare.

"You shall hold your tongue, demoness," Kagome parted her lips in protest but the light brush of his lips over them clamped them shut again. "I speak not to you, miko. Mitsue, show your true form."

At that Kagome felt her consciousness slipping as she fell into the abyss.

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Sesshomaru folded his arms and stood straighter as the room became shrouded in mist. From the depths, a sandaled foot clacked against the wooden castle floor. Energy elevated by anger and agitation marched for the taiyokai, uncaring that its presence managed to reduce a young demoness serving lunch into a shivering puddle. Her gaze– dark as sapphire and a good shade darker than the miko's– smoldered from within the steam, never faltering as she stopped short of mowing him down. "Look-y here, Fluffy," she said, jackhammering an index finger into his chest. "You may be friends with my avatar, but you're more than a hop-skip-and-a-jump away from getting lucky with either of us."

Hop-skip-and-jump?

Sesshomaru knew he arched a eyebrow at the foreign term. The click of Mitsue's sandal against the boards and cocked brow challenged him to say something.

He accepted. "I am Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western lands," he said. "It is only natural I acquire a powerful mate."

She raked a hand through her auburn bangs pushing them back. He might never make the admission out loud, yet the gesture of aggravation delighted him beyond words.

"How many times will it take for you to get it through your thick dog skull?" Mitsue folded her arms and glared. "I'm mated!"

Sesshomaru allowed his gaze to journey downward over her tattered kimono to her bare legs and back to the curve of her throat. "Your scent and the lack of another's mark say differently."

She slapped a hand over her neck.

Sesshomaru growled. "Why do you still hold out for him?" He narrowed his eyes in an icy glare. "That kitsune has sure to have forgotten-"

"I don't," she said, eyes averting from his gaze. "But a promise is a promise. Kitsune don't go back on their word."

He searched her gaze – determined, her hands ready to swing at the slightest provocation. Despite his rapid healing ability, he would not get into it with her. Aside from inheriting the world's largest pig-headed streak, the demoness had a killer right hook. Much as Sesshomaru hated to admit, he rather liked his regenerated arm and genitals where they were.

He sighed. "Do as you please," he said, exiting the room. "Inuyasha is dead. If you're not careful those close to both of you will be next."

He listened as the door slammed shut and a body slumped to the ground. Soft sniffles filled his ears as he shook his head. Naraku and Kikyo still lived, his half-brother was no more. Another casualty of this on-going war between yokai and the shrewd man called Naraku. Kikyo defaulted to the wrong side of the border once Kagome disappeared back through the well, offering his half-wit brother to the corrupt yokai.

A spy for Naraku, Kikyo left the dirty work to underlings such as Kana and Kagura. Rumors of a union between the undead miko and the baboon had begun to run rampant. With Kagome and Mistue hunted by Reikai and Naraku, they would need a strong mate to face the approaching war.

A young Mitsue– hair ruffled, a pair of fox ears twitched atop her head, as a dull flush plastered itself across her cheeks– warmed the area where Sesshomaru knew his heart should be.

"Damn half-breed has rubbed off on me."

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"Ready guys?" Boton stood waving a hand at the portal swirling with blue energy. "Once you're in the Western lands of Makai I won't be able to transport you back until Kagome is found. Her energy is the only thing that will activate the portal back."

Yoko Kurama glanced back at the team he had come to know as friends– minus one Kuwabara and Yusuke– and smirked. "Do not worry, Boton. We'll be back before Keiko can kick Yusuke's ass."

Boton blushed but said nothing.

Stepping through the portal, he closed his eyes against the sudden rush of wind as they were dropped from a godly height. Yoko flipped twice landing on his feet. Too easy. He sniffed the air for a lead scent.

The little information he could ring from a distraught Yusuke, Yoko found Kagome and Mitsue were similar: strong-willed, kind, and at times a bit mulish. And according to Koenma, both souls were bonded by the jewel. An abnormal situation even by yokai standards. The hope he and Shuichi might take Mitsue alone as a mate was deterred by the presence of the human woman. He knew so little about her.

She's cute when she blushes.

Yoko shook his head. What was he thinking?

"This way," Yoko said, taking off in a direction familiar in the worst way.

He hoped she wasn't in the one place he was no longer welcome. Because if so, Yusuke might have his ass kicked and Yoko might not be far behind him.

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Thanks for reading! Until next Saturday