A/N: This is my first ever attempt at ABO and it's a softer one IDK what I'm doing honestly.
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"What do you mean?" Kagome stared at Kaede as sensation coursed through her—far too intense for any eighteen-year-old to endure.
Kaede’s expression was sympathetic, and somehow how that made it all worse. "It is rare, child," she said, not without real remorse, "but it occurs with more powerful miko. Midoriko-sama was the last to carry such a burden—until you."
Kagome wrapped her arms around herself, gently rocking as she tried to absorb what Kaede had just revealed. She was an omega, able to draw powerful yokai to her for breeding.
"She used it as a powerful lure to draw yokai to her," Kaede continued after a moment. "The legends do not state how, but she was able to hone its powerful draw. Perhaps you could train to do the same, Kagome-sama."
Kagome shook her head. She couldn't stay here now, not and force others to protect her.
And they would have to; the call would be too strong for any daiyokai caliber yokai to ignore. It would call to everything within them that made them dominant.
"But a barrier will hide it," Kaede soothed, settling back with a sigh as her old bones settled. "If you don't wish to use it, use your barrier, Kagome-sama."
She'd have to enter a deep trance to maintain it even as her instincts urged her to do otherwise. It would be hard, she realized, but it would ensure she wasn't taken unwillingly.
She could do this. She could control herself.
She had to control herself. What happened during her first heat with InuYasha couldn't happen again.
"I can't stay here,” Kagome finally murmured. "You'll…you'll tell the others, right?"
"You must stay here," Kaede implored. "It isn't safe out there, child. What you are alone will draw powerful yokai to you, even outside of your heat."
Kagome shook her head again. "No. This is my problem. I'll deal with it." She couldn't bear to see her friends nearly killed again as they'd fought to keep InuYasha from tearing her apart when his hanyo side had taken over.
Sango and Miroku had their own children to think of, and InuYasha deserved far better than to be lost to his senses, unable to stop himself because of her pheromones.
Kaede sighed heavily. "You could always seek the protection of a strong daiyokai. One who wouldn't mate with you unless you wished. Any contenders would have to defeat them in battle to have you."
Kagome thought over the few possibilities, like Koga. "No." She shook her head again. "I'll handle this myself. I have to."
Until she could control it, Kagome would never return and risk the lives of everyone she cared about again.
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Five years came and passed. Kagome learned her heat and the signs it was impending. She knew when it would start to impact the daiyokai, though they were fewer in number than they had been before the days of Naraku. She knew how to protect herself now.
The few times her barrier had failed, she'd been forced to battle to defend her right to choose.
But she had won. Even in the height of her rut, she had managed to keep herself safe from a mating she didn't want.
And she had the scars to prove it.
She was tired, though. Each heat seemed worse than the last, as though part of her was rebelling against her drive to control and protect herself.
The last heat had come on far too quickly and she'd barely managed to put her barrier up in time to prevent anyone from trying to take her by force. The location she'd settled in had been exposed, though no humans had come across her and no yokai had been able to break through her barrier. She'd been lucky.
She couldn't always depend on luck.
She recalled Kaede’s words some years before: "You could always seek the protection of a strong daiyokai. One who wouldn't mate with you unless you wished. Any contenders would have to defeat them in battle to have you."
There was only one being she could think of who would hold no interest in her, yet possess the strength to defend her if necessary.
Her feet had carried her west, but still she hadn't been fully prepared for the meeting.
"Miko." Sesshomaru inclined his head as she approached. If he took note of the toll the years on her own had left, he didn’t speak of them.
"Sesshomaru." Her tongue felt heavy as she fought the urge to refer to him as alpha. Every instinct within her recognized him as such and urged her to submit before him.
But Kagome had her pride. She might not be able to control this side of her entirely, but she could set the terms.
Breathe in and out, she reminded herself. Remain downwind so his scent cannot tempt you further into madness.
He'd turned from her after the greeting, but then his nostrils flared and his head jerked back to her. "Explain, miko."
She sighed, exhausted. "So you can tell." She waved one hand as she sat down on a nearby log. She was grateful he was alone, at least. Jaken witnessing this moment would have been too much. "I'd wondered."
His brows raised. "Miko," he warned darkly and she had to fight the urge to shudder.
"Kagome," she corrected despite the instinctive urge to obey warring within her.
He waited silently.
She sighed again, but gave into the inevitable. "It happened the night I fully unlocked my potential." She waved one hand. "The jewel sealed it all away, you know. But I didn't use it after the battle with Naraku. I never fully accessed it until after I returned and a yokai attacked the village."
And then, as power surged through her, she'd gone into heat the first time. InuYasha had turned from the attacking yokai to claim her, and only their friends' timely interference had stopped him. The guilt had nearly eaten her alive for both what had happened to InuYasha and what had happened to their friends.
She explained all of that to him and what she'd been up to since. It was only when she finally fell silent that he spoke again.
"Why did you not mate InuYasha? His instincts should have been enough to quell this within you." There was no censure in the question, but she felt it nonetheless.
"I don't know. No," she shook her head, "that's not right. I do know. It's just hard to explain.” How could she explain how her instincts had rejected InuYasha so intently why she didn't understand it herself?
"Hnn." He observed her. "I see."
She wondered if he truly did, but she didn't ask. "You wouldn’t want to mate a human, but I'm hoping you'd be open to protecting another one anyway."
Kagome didn't have much to offer him, but neither had Rin and he'd protected her anyway. She hoped he'd be open to a similar arrangement with her.
"That is a bold assumption, miko." His eyes watched her intently. “Regardless, if that is your request, I shall honor it."
Her mouth fell open. "Just like that?" she held her breath hardly daring to believe it had been so easy.
"You protected Rin with your own life," he said then, reminding her of the day in question. "I owe you nothing less for that alone, miko. Come."
She tried not to whimper at the command, truly she did, but a small sound left her throat nonetheless. She managed to give her assent without calling him alpha—but only just.
His protection meant she'd have the time to find a way to control this now, though. Sooner or later, she'd get the hang of it. She had to, or she'd never live a normal life again.
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Her first heat came and went relatively uneventfully. Sesshomaru said nothing, but as he’d promised, he stood guardian to any who might have challenged her when her barrier wavered.
For the first time in five years, Kagome was able to sleep through the night when her heat finally ended. She trusted him to keep her safe.
Jaken didn’t join them, nor did the dragon, even as the cycle began for her second heat. In a matter of days, perhaps less, the next would be upon her.
They were growing closer together now.
"Thank you for this," she told him quietly the night her second heat began six weeks after her last ended. Maybe he felt like he owed her, but it was so much more than that to her. For the first time in five years, she was safe and unafraid of the changes already coursing through her body.
He inclined his head. "Your heat is almost here," he reminded her rather than address her words directly. "Summon your barrier, miko."
She did so, wishing the barrier wasn't so draining to maintain.
Without it, however, even Sesshomaru would be tempted—and he deserved so much more than to be manipulated by the pheromones and hormones her body was pumping. She didn't want to force him into anything anymore than she'd wanted to force InuYasha.
Neither of them deserved the outcome her body would have otherwise forced upon them.
But as she slowly closed her eyes so she could focus on maintaining the barrier and not desire coursing through her, she swore she saw his eyes tinge red despite her best efforts to ensure he remained unaffected.
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"It's coming a lot faster now," she managed, her body slowly heating just three weeks after her second heat. Originally they'd been four to five months apart, but now they were coming so quickly she barely had the time to recover.
"Hnn." Sesshomaru watched her carefully, but his expression gave nothing away. "It will be upon you within the hour."
She sighed as she wrapped her arms around herself. "I was afraid of that," she whispered, wondering why the usual signs hadn't appeared.
Kagome almost asked him, temptation surging within her, but held back at the last moment. It wasn't fair to involve him any more than she already had—and besides, she knew he wouldn't be interested if not for her pheromones, anyway.
"It is the close proximity," he murmured after a moment. When she stared at him, he asked, "Have you ever remained in close proximity to one of my caliber prior to this, miko?"
"Kagome." She slowly shook her head as she considered his words. "And no. I didn't want to involve anyone else." Until now went unsaid.
"So you have said." He produced a kiseru pipe and took a long drag as he turned his attention towards the night sky above them. "It would seem that both our bodies are attempting to solve the situation for us."
Her mouth fell open. "Both?" she echoed. He couldn't be suggesting what she thought he was—could he?
His smile was humorless. "My rut is nearly upon me. I fear I may prove to be a poor protector, miko, so you would do well to take care with your barrier tonight should I become derelict in my duties."
"But—" She stopped short, automatically rejecting the situation. For his rut to trigger in autumn, outside of his natural breeding season, it would suggest that he desired her as well—enough to mate and claim her even without her heat driving him forward.
And that was simply a foolish notion that would only lead to heartbreak.
"I will not fall to my baser urges," he said then as though she needed the reassurance. "Be calm, miko. Becoming agitated now would only bring your heat upon you sooner."
Her mouth snapped shut. "I know that," she growled, and then hesitated. "Are—are you going to be okay?" She'd learned about daiyokai ruts ever since she'd learned of miko heats, and from what she knew, the urges could be as powerful as the one driving her own instinct to mate.
Sesshomaru quirked a brow. "I am not so weak to succumb so easily, miko. All will be well."
And yet she could see he held his pipe tighter than he had before.
Gone was the cavalier way he'd interacted with her prior to tonight. The indifference had melted away as though it had never existed to begin with.
Instead, his expression was finally open with a passion he'd likely never admit to.
He wanted her.
If he asked her, she'd yield to him. The heat this time was so intense she doubted she could have refuse anyone, let alone him, though she admitted that she'd had more than one dream lately where he had been the one claiming her body and her soul as only a mating bond could.
Yet he didn't ask.
He turned to leave, evidently intent on spending his rut away from her so she would be safe. So she would have the right to choose a future she wanted for herself.
"Wait," she called after him, hardly believing her own daring.
He slowly turned, his expression smooth, yet the red in his eyes gave him away as he struggled to resist his own lust. "It grows late, miko."
"Stay." She lifted her chin, but it was still a plea that left her lips and they both knew it. "Please, Sesshomaru," she added when he hesitated. "Stay with me this time."
"It is not wise." Despite his warning, his eyes grew warmer, reminding her of the safety and comfort found by a campfire.
"I know." She licked her lips, not immune to how his eyes tracked the moment. “I'm asking you anyway."
He straightened. "If I stay, I will try and get through your barrier, miko. When I succeed," she noticed he'd stated when, not if, "I will claim you as my mate."
She knew a declaration of intent when she heard one. If he stayed, he'd break through the barrier and mate her.
Unlike the others who'd tried before him, the thought didn't repulse her. Rather, she found herself intrigued—and her body responded to the promise in his eyes. She wanted him and she wanted him for far more than the heat within her.
"Then try it, Sesshomaru," she challenged, lifting her chin. "See if you can claim what no one else ever could."
She wouldn't make it easy for him, but they both knew what the outcome would be regardless.
He didn’t want it easy, either. His eyes blazed at the provocative challenge as he took a step closer to her. "Do you know what I'll do to you, little miko?" His voice was sinfully husky and dark. "I will claim you so thoroughly my scent will linger for weeks. There will not be one part of you I wouldn't claim tonight."
She whimpered as she pressed her legs together, her mind already picturing his words.
But he wasn't done. "I will show you pleasure you haven't heard of. The pleasure your body has been tempting you with. With my fingers, mouth, and cock, you will beg for me until your voice gives out—until every inch of your body knows to whom it belongs."
She trembled, her voice already in danger of faltering. "You have to get in first," she managed, proud her voice didn’t shake.
"Child's play." He waved a hand through they both knew it wouldn’t be as easy as that. "Be certain this is what you truly desire, Kagome. If you challenge me again, there will be no turning back from this."
It was her name that was her undoing. He hadn't used it until that moment, but the affection it contained spoke of far more beyond a simple mating to satisfy their urges.
And she wanted more. She wanted everything it promised her.
"Come and get me, Sesshomaru," she taunted, her body readying itself for his possession. "Show me. Show me you're worthy of being my alpha."
He needed no further urging than that.
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Her body called to his—had been calling to his ever since their first meeting when she'd learned of her own nature. Sesshomaru had not expected such a thing from her, but its appeal had been undeniable.
And yet he was no slave to his baser instincts. He had resolved not to succumb, not when it was so readily apparent that she did not wish for such intimacies. She'd asked for his help in guarding her, in protecting her, and helping her preserve her own right to choose.
She'd won the right to petition him when she'd saved Rin, though he'd admitted, if only to himself, that he would not have denied her even before that. Something about the miko had always drawn him in ever since the moment she'd defied him inside his father's tomb.
And now she challenged him to destroy her barrier and claim her, knowing what it would do to them both. Knowing he would claim her, knowing it would trigger his own rut, knowing that it would ensure that she never left his side.
She knew, yet she asked for it anyway.
He was as helpless to deny her in this as he had been with her initial request.
His eyes, he knew, were red as he drew Bakusaiga from its sheathe and leveled it in the direction of her barrier.
"Show me," she taunted him, her eyes hazy with a lust she no longer sought to control. "Show me you're worthy of being my alpha."
He growled as he lifted the blade, bringing it down on her barrier. It did not shatter with the first contact, but he had not expected it to, either. Her power was immense.
Truly, she was a mate worthy of standing by his side.
He attacked her barrier a second time, then thrice, willing it to cave to his will and allow him into the miko within.
To claim his mate.
He could not say when the urge had begun within him, but he was as helpless to resist its call as she. With every attack on her barrier, the urge to claim her grew.
"Let me in," he growled as he prepared a fourth assault on her barrier. "Let me have you, woman."
She shuddered, her eyes locking onto his as he lifted his fang and brought it down.
And then her barrier cracked, the damage racing across its pink core until it was completely encased in cracks.
Before his eyes, it shattered, but he did not wait to see its shards fly off. He lunged forward, grabbing the miko in his arms before flying off to his den nearby.
It was finally time to make the miko his own.
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Kagome could scarcely breathe as he deposited her atop his fur inside a cave large enough to comfortably house even his true form. There was probably something she should say regarding a moment as imperative as this one, but words failed her.
She could hardly think as he began undoing his armor and then his clothing. Her eyes greedily drank in his form with every inch of skin he revealed.
"Undress," he demanded as he removed his hakama and his inner shirt. "Now, woman."
She shuddered at the command, her hands moving to do as he commanded. She took far less care with her own clothing than did he, all but tearing it off of her in her eagerness. Her body was too hot, too primed, to care about anything but his cock within her. "Please, Sesshomaru—"
"Quiet." He finished undressing as she bit back a whimper. "Lay back against the fur and wait for me, little miko."
She did as he bade, but she had to bite down on her lip to stop from begging him. She was already so wet—
"Good girl." Now nude, he moved to stand beside her. His body was visibly already as aroused as her own and yet he made no move to touch yet.
"Please." The word was torn from her as she reached for him.
"No." He stepped just out of reach. "Patience, Kagome."
"Sesshomaru—" Frustrated, she moved to get to her feet—only for him to push her back down against the fur with two fingers. He clicked his tongue in disapproval.
"You were told to wait, Kagome," he rebuked her darkly, chuckling at her whined protest.
A spark of temper flared within her. "If you're just going to look, then I'll take care of this myself," she told him hotly, lifting her chin in challenge.
"You will not." He settled down on the fur beside her. "You will do nothing without my permission. If you want me to touch you, Kagome, I will—but on my terms." He flared his yoki, impressing his dominance upon her. "If you do not want that, you are free to leave."
Golden eyes focused on hers, tinged red with his own need. "I'll wait," she managed, hoping he wouldn't keep her waiting for too long. She didn't think she could stand it.
"I will do nothing you do not like," he promised her then, hovering over her. "If you change your mind, tell me 'ribbon.' I will draw back and allow you to leave."
That promise impressed her as nothing else could. She could sense his own need, his own urges to claim her, and yet he offered her a way out regardless. "I don't think I will—" she began, but he held up a hand to stop her.
"The word, miko. You will use it if you feel the need." His gaze bore into hers.
"O-okay." She nodded. "I will."
"Good." The intensity left him, his expression gentle for just a moment. "Allow me to reward you for your obedience, little miko..."
She caught her breath as he finally moved to touch her.
At first, it was just his hands, slowly trailing his fingers and his claws along her skin. As he'd promised, there wasn't a place of her he didn't touch—and yet he barely paid any attention at all to the places she most ached to be touched.
She whimpered when his fingers idly began caressing the undersides of her breasts. Had the skin there always been so tender?
"So beautiful in your need for me," he murmured, his smile knowing as he continued to tease her. "I can scent how much you desire me, Kagome."
She licked her lower lip. She knew she was wet, yet part of her still flushed when he pointed it out. "Sesshomaru..." It was as much a plea as it was anything.
"Oh? Is it not enough for you?" He chuckled as he palmed her breasts. "Such full breasts. So needy for my touch." His voice deepened as he began to slowly move his hands so her nipples brushed against his palms.
She exhaled, her breath shaky. It was good—so good—yet it was nowhere near enough.
"Tell me what you want, Kagome," he rumbled, eyes locking onto her own.
There was little shame left in her as she pleaded, "T-touch me. Please touch me. I need—" She stopped short, gasping when his fingers began to circle her nipples.
The light caresses were going to drive her mad.
And yet she loved it at the same time. The way he controlled her body and drove her lust only heightened her own pleasure and spoke to the instincts beneath the surface—the same instincts that had been demanding that she find a worthy mate and claim him.
Was there a mate more worthy than him, she wondered, dazed.
"More?" His voice was sinfully dark now. "Or is this enough for you, miko?"
"N-not enough." She panted now as he continued to toy with her nipples without giving her the touch she truly needed. "It's not enough. Please, Sesshomaru—"
"Mmm." He smirked as he lowered his head, licking one nipple before breathing on it.
She gasped as the warm sensation gave way to a cold one, her back instinctively arching for more.
He gave into her silent demand, offering the same treatment to her other nipple. When she arched further into his touch, he lightly nipped the tip of her breast before soothing away the sting. And then, before she could string a thought together, he pulled her nipple into his mouth and suckled.
Her hands flew into his hair without thinking, tugging hard on the silken strands.
His growl answered her, vibrating through her sensitive breast as he sucked harder on her nipple, his hand moving to roll her other nipple between his fingers.
She was going to go mad.
She knew she was. How much more of this could she take?
The pressure built, driving her towards bliss, and yet, right when she thought she would come, he stopped.
She cried out. "Sesshomaru!"
"Ask me for it," he commanded, eyes fully red now. "Beg me to give you release, miko."
"Please!" She pulled on his hair, but he wouldn't lower his head back to her breast. "Sesshomaru, please. I need it."
"What do you need?" He watched her, his expression predatory.
She shifted beneath the intensity of his gaze, but her body was on fire. She couldn't wait much longer. "Please let me come."
"Ah, that is it." Pleased, he lowered his head back to her breast, his hand making its way down her body until he found her core. "Allow me to give you what no other male could."
As his fingers found her clit and tugged on it, he suckled her nipple.
Within moments, the pleasure was cresting again, and then, suddenly, she came, arching against his hand and his mouth.
He looked pleased as her body calmed, but the heat was still there within her. She'd already learned her own release was not enough to stave off the heat.
She needed his as well.
Her hands moved instinctively to pull his body to his, but he grabbed her hands, pinning them above her head. "Be still, miko."
"But—" He gave her a stern look and she bit down on her lower lip again as she quieted.
"Good." Pleased, he reached for his fur, securing her hands within the confines of mokomoko before he began tracing his hands up and down her body. This time, however, there was an impatient quality to his touch, as though he needed more every bit as much as she did.
Yet for several minutes, he continued to deny them both what they needed.
It was only when pleas began to fall from her lips again that he groaned, his body moving to cover her own. And still, he only rubbed himself against her entrance as his hands teased her breasts.
She was going to go mad. The orgasm had only given her a momentary reprieve from the heat before escalating again. She began begging again. "Please, Sesshomaru." Her hands pulled at their bindings. "Please. I need this. I need it. Please, please, please, alpha!"
The last word had Sesshomaru freezing if struck.
And then suddenly, his hands found her hips, flipping her onto her hands and knees as he lifted her rear into the air.
She had only a moment to adjust to the change in position before he thrust his cock inside her, plunging in deep as she bit back a scream.
It was good. It felt so good. She barely had time to process his reaction to her calling him alpha, but her mind struggled to put together that he'd liked it.
She pressed back against his hips as he began to thrust. "Please—"
Only to find herself suddenly held in place, at his mercy, as his hands bit into her hips. He growled, working himself in and out of her.
And she was helpless to do anything but take what he had to give.
He growled as she struggled to against her bindings, wishing she could push back. The angle wasn't quite right—
Sesshomaru shifted his angle, his cock brushing a spot with her that had her gasping and had his balls working against her clit with each thrust.
"Yes," she managed, gasping. "Yes, yes, alpha—"
He snarled.
She buried her face in the fur that bound her hands, feeling the burst of pleasure rising within her again as he drove them both towards release.
One of his hands left her hips to grip her breast, squeezing it roughly. He increased his pace, taking her so hard that her teeth initially clattered together.
She loved it.
She began pleading with him, so close to her release she could feel it racing towards her core—
His fingers pinched her nipple as he thrust hard inside her, and she came, her body seizing around his cock as he snarled and knotted within her.
Her head swam with pleasure as she panted into his fur, but the only thought she had when her brain could string a coherent thought together was how quickly can we do that again?
But exhaustion claimed her before she could voice it. She dozed off to Sesshomaru gently helping clean them both off, waking only when both of their bodies could no longer deny the heat within them.
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Kagome draped herself across his bare chest, snuggling into him as he rumbled beneath her. After several rounds of sex and then sleep, her mind was finally clear. "Why did you let me come with you to begin with?" she asked softly. Now that she could finally think, she couldn't help but wonder if he'd known this would always be the outcome when he'd agreed to help her that day.
Sesshomaru remained silent for a moment. "You wished to choose your own path. You deserved nothing less than the opportunity to do so."
Absorbing that, she asked, "Did you know?" When he gave her an odd look, she clarified, "Did you know this would happen when I asked for help?"
"It was always a possibility," he conceded, "but only if you wished for it, Kagome." He shifted his gaze away from her, but not before she saw the brief moment of hesitation within them.
Did he think she would blame him?
She pressed a kiss to the corner of his jaw, enjoying his pleased rumble as she treasured the opportunity he'd given her to decide for herself. "Thank you for letting me decide for myself, Sesshomaru."
He said nothing, but his expression was impossibly soft as he met her gaze again, his eyes saying more than words alone ever could.
He cared for her. He desired her. He wanted her for more than a single heat.
It wasn't love—not quite, not for them both. The feelings coursing within them were far too new to be labeled like that.
But as she moved to press a soft kiss to his lips, she could admit that it would be love. They were both halfway there already.
For now, however, they would spend the remainder of his rut and her heat together. The rest they could sort out later.
After all, there was no rush to exploring this new thing between them.
She dozed off to the sensation of his lips on her forehead and a hint of a smile on her lips.