It's a Dog's World by Kanna37

Second Place, Either Way

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

~oOo~

Kagome glanced around, taking note of everyone's positions and the fact that they were all, indeed, asleep – everyone except the missing Inuyasha.

Him, she didn't even have to wonder about – he'd disappeared as soon as he'd thought everyone asleep, and hadn't returned.

She knew he wouldn't before dawn, either.

Looking around again, she caught Kirara's steady gaze on her, empathy shining in her eyes that Kagome didn't miss. With a sigh, she wiggled out from her bedding, beckoning for the firecat to follow her as she slipped on her shoes and stepped outside, ensuring the matting stayed open for the cat, and then slid back into place silently once she passed.

It was easy to see where Inuyasha was, the glow of the soul collectors strong even from this distance, and Kagome looked down at the little mew with a melancholy sigh, bending to pick up the kitten and walking quietly away from the hut.

When she reached the edge of the village, she set the cat down and asked, “Would you mind taking me somewhere away from here, Kirara? I don't really care where, just somewhere away from everyone.”

Blinking agreeably, the cat transformed, and waiting silently for the young woman to climb on, she took to the skies once she was, heading in a random direction and flying as low as possible, not wanting anyone to spot them.

After a little while, she began to descend, landing gently in a little glade at the edge of a quiet stream. The place almost looked enchanted, with hundreds of fireflies glowing green amongst a small field of fragrant white flowers.

Kagome smiled as Kirara returned to her small form and curled up near the stream to doze.

“Thanks, Kirara,” she said softly, and the kitten mewed sleepily as she drowsed off to sleep, leaving Kagome to her thoughts.

The young woman wandered through the little field, knowing the area was safe; the firecat wouldn't have landed and then gone to sleep so easily if it weren't, and allowed herself to get lost in her melancholy thoughts.

How long she wandered that way she could never say afterward, but suddenly her head snapped up and her eyes widened as a powerful youki pressed down on her; she looked over her shoulder to meet the golden gaze of Sesshoumaru, the Western Lord and half-brother to the hanyou that had tormented her heart for so long.

“You are marked,” he said, his eyes narrowing as he stepped gracefully into the glade. “He has only recently done this.”

Confused, Kagome tilted her head as she turned to face him. “Marked?”

“Do not sound so hopeful – it is not as you would wish. He has marked you as a potential concubine. He has already mated the undead one – you would be secondary to her if you let him finalize the marking.”

Shocked, she stumbled back from him, horror washing over her expression as she took in his words. “I would never accept such a thing,” she whispered venomously. “Never! He knows that!”

Sesshoumaru nodded. “I am certain he does, and that is why he would most likely not tell you what he was marking you as, allowing your ignorance to give him that which he desires. Nonetheless, you would always be second to the undead one.”

Her hands clenched into fists and she turned to glare over the field sightlessly. He's already mated her, so he can't have me! “That bastard,” she gritted. “How do I stop him?” she asked, trying not to let her anger make her reckless in tone to the Western Lord; she had no desire to die at his hands.

She had no idea that death was the last thing he desired to give her.

There was a heavy silence until she turned back to face him, she was startled to find him right behind her and regarding her with a burning intensity that she'd never seen from him before. She met his gaze, her own questioning.

“You allow me to mark you, instead.”

The words were bold, dropping into the atmosphere like rocks thrown at glass; stunned, she just stared at him bewilderedly, certain she'd heard him wrong.

“W-what?” she asked after a leaden silence. “What did you just say?”

“You heard my words, miko, and I will not repeat them. All that is left is for you to answer me.”

“B-but, why? Is it just to piss Inuyasha off? Because I seriously think that going this far to do it is completely insane!” she retorted, just unable to fathom that he would be willing to tie himself to a human, a species he hated, simply to thwart his brother's desires.

He snarled then, his eyes flashing red at her as he bared his fangs. “Do you take me for a fool, miko?” he snapped, seriously angered. “I would no more saddle myself with a female to piss Inuyasha off than I would welcome the honorless whelp into my home.”

She shook her head, totally confused. “Then... why?” she asked again, beginning to wonder if she was having a dream, because this whole thing was completely unreal.

Without warning, Sesshoumaru was pinning her to the ground, his eyes haloed red as his more primal nature came to the fore; Kagome barely noticed that his armor was gone – as was his clothing, and hers were following his quite quickly.

And then she didn't notice anything at all as he took her to the stars and back, marking her at the penultimate moment and tying their destinies together from that moment until his death.

~oOo~

Somehow she was not surprised when she was awoken the next morning, still unclothed and sore from her mating, by Inuyasha's harsh voice screaming at her, demanding to know what she'd thought she was doing.

Her new mate answered for her, standing up to dress before Inuyasha, not at all ashamed of his nudity, though he covered Kagome with his haori, not wanting the hanyou to look on what was his.

“It should be apparent even to one of your ignorant nature, half-breed – did you think I would not notice the claim you had placed on her? You shamed her with it,” Sesshoumaru snapped, straightening to meet his brother's defiant gaze.

 “Keh! How the hell did I shame her, huh?” he demanded, his hot-headed nature not allowing him to think his way through things.

Kagome answered that as she belted the haori around herself until she could find her own clothing.

“You knew I would never accept a mark making me your whore, Inuyasha!” she snapped venomously, to his shock. “Yes, I'm aware that you already mated that dead woman, and that you had the nerve to think you could use me in such a manner! Now that will never happen!”

“And you think that bastards any different, bitch?” he screamed, his temper getting the better of him. “He's already got a mate, so what does that make you?”

Silence.

The world spun about her dizzily as shock stilled her, she stared at the hanyou, horrified, and then turned to look at Sesshoumaru, who hadn't denied his brother's words. Everything inside her collapsed at the look on his face...

It was true.

“H-how could you?” she asked, almost unable to get anything out of a throat closed so tight in anguish that she started to hyperventilate.

Sesshoumaru glared at his half-brother before moving towards her, she stumbled back away from him, not wanting him to touch her.

She felt betrayed.

“A usual, the half-breed plays with words. It is true that this one has a first mate, but as a Lord, I am allowed two. My first mate was forced upon me by my father for the sake of my lands, and I have never touched her but once to beget an heir,” he replied through gritted teeth.

“So you think that makes this... this mess any better because instead of just a whore, I'm a whore with a title?” she asked brokenly. “I wish I'd never come here,” she whispered, backing up again as he stepped towards her. “Don't touch me!”

“That's right, you bastard, don't touch her,” Inuyasha said snidely, hissing when Sesshoumaru snapped his whip at him without even looking in his direction.

“You show your ignorance every time you open your mouth, Inuyasha,” Sesshoumaru said acidly, not taking his eyes off of his mate. “You are not a whore, Kagome, you are my mate. Lords are allowed to have two, because we are expected to give up any chance for love in our primary mating for the good of our lands. A first mate is for politics and an heir, the second mate is for love.”

Shocked again, she stopped and stared at him, so overwhelmed with everything that had happened that she couldn't take in what he'd just said, the words sounding hollow and empty.

“Ummm, what?” she asked, head tilted as though she were a confused child.

Ignoring Inuyasha's scoff, Sesshoumaru repeated his words. “My first mate is a female I have only touched once, to gain an heir. She lives in a palace away from my own home. Only my second mate will ever see my home, Kagome, and that mate is you. She was for politics, you are for love.”

Kagome stared at him for a moment, and then tears burst from her eyes as she shook her head. “If you'd really loved me, you wouldn't have done this to me.”

He held her gaze. “Because I am Lord, should I be denied that simple happiness, then, that any other can expect?”

“No,” she whispered after a moment, looking over at a sullen Inuyasha, “but... I wasn't cut out for this. You should have found someone else, Sesshoumaru. In my world, you can only have one mate. I would be considered a whore, no matter what face you put on it, and that would shame my family.”

“Then I suppose that it is a good thing we are not in your world, miko,” he said gruffly, “because I will not let you go. You are my mate, and that is permanent.”

 “Keh.” Inuyasha glared over at her, anger clear in his eyes. “Believe what you want, wench, but either way, you'll always be second place.”

Second place, second place...

Sesshoumaru cursed his brother to hell as he took in what those words had done to his mate; he knew that he would be spending many years trying to erase them and the damage they'd done to her.

Kagome stared at both of them in horror, and then the stresses of the last twenty-four hours finally caught up with her, and she fainted, Sesshoumaru barely catching her before she hit the ground. He looked up at his brother with hatred once he had her safely in his arms.

“If I ever catch sight of you again, half-breed, I will kill you.” An evil smile crossed his mouth at his brother's scoff. “But not before I erase that clay doll you mated from existence. And never, ever come near my mate again, are we clear? Because if you do, your mate will find out just what you had planned – I am certain she never would have agreed for you to have a concubine.”

Inuyasha paled at that – his brother was dead on, and if Kikyou found out what he had planned to do, she'd make his life a living hell. If he'd actually managed to take Kagome, neither would have been able to do anything about it, but since that was obviously never going to happen...

He slunk out of that clearing, not willing to risk it.

And Sesshoumaru carried Kagome home, willing to spend as many years as he needed to prove to her that she may technically be second mate...

But she was the only one in his heart.

Kirara watched the youkai Lord leave the clearing with the little miko with a smile in her heart – he would take good care of her, and with that happy thought, she meandered home, knowing that her mistress would be looking for her.

Her little eyes narrowed, though, when she thought of the hanyou... him, she'd love to take a nice, large bite out of.

Maybe, the next time she transformed in battle with him around, she'd do just that.

Fin