The Prince Who Didn't Want to Be Loved by Kuronohime

Chapter 1

A girl was dashing through the bushes. Her small bare feet carried her as fast as they could in the forest muted by the dusk. The sun was already setting and every new step felt heavier than the previous to the exhausted young girl. She fell down, but quickly climbed back on to her feet. Her breath was laboured, her feet were covered with gashes and sweat trickled down her face. Yet she kept running. The village already loomed behind the trees, not far away.

‘Sesshoumaru-sama! Please hang on!’

***

Kagome was folding laundry in the small hut Inuyasha and she shared. She neatly placed shirts on one shelf and trousers on the other. Since Naraku had been destroyed over five years ago, she had decided to stay by Inuyasha in the feudal era. However, she still occasionally missed her home and family she had left behind in the future. Even if she loved her husband, living without detergent for the rest of her life, horrified her sometimes.

An urgent commotion from the doorway pried Kagome’s attention away from the laundry.

“Oh, Rin-chan, you’re back.”

Rin, now a budding teenager, was gasping for air and slumped down on her knees. Her hair was a sweaty mess as her eyes peered behind the damp curls of hair that covered her face.

“P-please… Sesshoumaru-sama” Rin took a strenuous breath, “help him!”

Kagome immediately abandoned her tasks and hurried to Rin’s side. She took a firm, reassuring grip on her shoulders to calm her down.

“Slow down, Rin-chan. Explain what has happened.”

The girl followed Kagome’s comforting instructions and took some shaky breaths through her nose. She tried to fight back the tears that had been lurking in the corner of her eyes, but the calm touch of Kagome made her break down.

“S-S-Sesshoumaru-s-sama was out on a hunt. T-there were men, e-evil men.” Rin paused to compose herself. She wiped away the running snot from her nose and continued, “It was horrible, Kagome-chan. They attacked him. He had no chance. I-I…” All of Rin’s efforts to hold herself back failed at her next sentence. ”I think he’s dying, Kagome!” She cried out and covered her face in her hands.

Kagome gave Rin’s shoulder a determined squeeze before she stood up and headed to a small closet in the back of the room. The older woman didn’t waste time when she swiftly opened the dusty closet and pulled out a bow and a set of arrows. She gave them a quick thoughtful gaze. It had been years when she had held those things the last time. In recent years she had been busy concentrating on her miko training and her fighting equipment had been rendered useless. Nowadays it was solely Inuyasha who did the hunting or fighting against demons. Especially since Kagome and Inuyasha were in the middle of trying to have a child.

She pushed back her reminiscent thoughts and walked back to Rin. She kneeled on her level and looked at her sternly.

“Sounds like we don’t have much time to waste. Will you take me to him?”

***

Kagome had recruited Kirara as their aid in finding Sesshoumaru. Both women sat on Kirara’s back as the trio flew over Sesshoumaru’s lands. Rin tried to guide them the best she could, but the nightfall was against them. They were gliding over the forest for hours and Rin’s desperation grew by the minute.

While Rin instructed Kirara’s headings, Kagome sat behind the younger girl and mused what could have caused Sesshoumaru such injury that made Rin go beside herself. After all, Sesshoumaru was probably one of the, if not the strongest, demons Kagome had ever known. He didn’t seem to be too concerned when he had lost his arm in battle with Inuyasha. What could be worse this time?

“Rin-chan,” Kagome gently tapped her back. “If we are running out of time, as it seems, I think it’s best that I continue scouting the ground while you and Kirara take care of things up here.”

Rin nodded solemnly and asked Kirara to let Kagome down. When she was securely on the ground, Kirara sprung back up into the air.

Kagome made sure her bow and arrows were secured as she set foot deeper into the forest. She navigated through the darkness with guidance of her priestly powers. She searched the grounds looking for a demonic aura. There would be no mistaking Sesshoumaru’s demonic power. His aura was very much like Inuyasha’s and Kagome knew she could find him even in the deepest pits of darkness.

Only thing that worried her where the other creatures that lurked in the shadows. Years ago she had ceased fighting demons and instead concentrated on her knowledge of medicine. Her skills in combat had gone unattended for a long time. Nowadays her days were spent doing house chores and helping the villagers with ailments while Inuyasha was the one who took upon him to continue the battle against evil. Fortunately their time in the Sengoku era had been peaceful ever since Naraku was demolished. Inuyasha mainly did small pest control in nearby villages that were bothered by weaker demons. He concentrated on providing income for him and Kagome since as of few months ago she had stopped using the medicine that prevented pregnancy.

They had yet not been able to conceive, but that was mainly because Inuyasha had been away from home more than usual. The demon activity had slowly increased during the last few months but Kagome had thought nothing of it until Rin had come to her.

Was there a connection between the incidence of Sesshoumaru and the rising activity among the other demons?

Kagome was occupied by those thoughts until a familiar aura pulled her out of her thoughts. It was Sesshoumaru. He was somewhere nearby even though the aura Kagome sensed was very weak.

Kagome secured the bow on her back and started jogging. She closed near on the aura and pulled out her bow and arrow just for the sake of being cautious. A large tree in the middle of the ancient forest was the source of the demonic energy. Kagome stopped and readied her weapon. She pulled back the string of the bow and circled around the tree. When she got to the other side of the large oak she saw a bundle of something white and silvery poised against the rough tree trunk. Kagome lowered her weapon and hurried to the figure’s side.

It was Sesshoumaru.

Kagome threw her weapons on the ground and pulled out bandages and a knife from a small pouch she had tied to her waist. She kneeled next to the wounded dog demon and reached her arm out to him.

Sesshoumaru forcefully clutched her shoulder, piercing her clothing and skin. He acted out on his instincts, not being able to recognize Kagome. His face was dripping with blood, obscuring his vision. The great dog demon had been severely wounded. His clothes had been torn to bloody shreds and his breathing was rugged, he might have suffered damage to his chest and lungs.

Kagome took a reassuring grip on the fist that seized her shoulder.

“It’s all right now. You’re safe.” Her soft voice hushed and Sesshoumaru slowly let go of her.

Kagome didn’t dally and cut straight trough Sesshoumaru’s clothing with her knife. Woman of weaker mind might have fainted at the sight of intestines and body fluids dripping out of gaping wounds. Even Kagome had to admit that she had seen such injuries only on a few other occasions. None of those mortal men had lived through.

But Sesshoumaru had a fighting chance. He was still conscious and his demon body would heal itself once Kagome gave it a little help. She sorted out her tools and began stitching up his maimed torso. The dog demon didn’t let out a sound during Kagome’s tending. She suspected that his mind had gone to a place that was beyond the pain.

Kagome stopped her ministrations for a moment to check up on his state of consciousness. He sat still and his eyes were glazed over, looking straight at her but seeing nothing.

That moment Kagome didn’t see him as the godlike creature she had been used to. She simply saw a hurt man, stripped naked of his strength and pompousness. She grazed his forehead and muttered to herself.

“Who could have done this to you?”

When she was nearly done with bandaging him, she heard a roar from above. She looked up and saw Kirara and Rin. The latter looked terrified and relieved to see Kagome. They descended and Rin ran to her old warden.

“Sesshoumaru-sama!” She sobbed. “You can’t die. We’ll make you better! Please, don’t die! Pleeeeeeaseeeee.” Her last word was stretched out by a long whimper that shook her whole body.

Kagome took Rin in for a motherly hug and softly promised her that Sesshoumaru would be fine. Rin sniffled and buried her face to Kagome’s shoulder. After Rin had calmed down a little, the two young women got the unconscious body of the demon lord up on Kirara’s back. Kagome hopped behind Sesshoumaru and tried to keep him in an upward position. After Rin had settled behind Kagome, they took off to Sesshoumaru’s castle. Kagome asked Kirara to fly as smoothly as possible. She held Sesshoumaru in her arms and prayed for the sake of Rin that he would pull trough.

***

After reaching the demon lord’s fortress they were immediately greeted by a panicking Jaken.

“WHAT IS THIS! WHAT HAVE YOU FOOLS DONE TO MY BEAUTIFUL SESSHOUMARU-SAMA!!!” He ran towards the unannounced guests waving his cane until he came to a stumbling stop. “Rin-sama, is that you?” Jaken gasped.

It had been a long time since Jaken had seen his lord’s young protégé. Once Naraku had been destroyed, Sesshoumaru had sent Rin living with Kaede, in order for Rin to have a chance at living a normal human life. Occasionally, Sesshoumaru visited Rin, bringing her gifts, but Jaken had not seen that little human child for years.

Rin stumbled down from Kirara’s back. Tears striped her flushed cheeks.

“Ses-sshoumaru-sama, he came to... W-we went to the forest but... Those men came.”

Kagome was standing behind Rin, trying to hold up Sesshoumaru. Her eyes widened at Rin’s words. Who was she talking about?