InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Cursed ❯ Denial ( Chapter 6 )

okay, so far all the chapters have had updates on all three parts of the story: the parts in the hut with Sessh and Inu, the parts with Kagome, Miroku and Sango, and the parts in the past with all of Sesshomaru's (and soon, Inuyasha's) memories. Well, I'm gonna start focusing more on the parts in the past then on the other two, so, just to let you all know, you're probably not going to be be seeing very much of the scenes with the Inu gang or with Inuyasha and Sesshomaru back in the present unless it's to help move the story along.



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Chapter 6: Denial

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“HOLY SHIT!!”

Kashi just barely managed to dodge yet another very hard punch aimed for his face.

“GOD DAMN IT SESSHOMARU, CALM DOWN!”

Sesshomaru didn't seem to hear him. It was odd considering people in the deepest darkest pits of hell could hear the poor boy screaming at the top of his lungs, but Sesshomaru some how managed to turn a def ear to it. He charged at his friend, prepared to ram Kashi into the tree he was backed up against. Kashi again only just managed to jump out of the way.

It had started off innocent enough. 'Say Kashi, would you like to come out side for a friendly sparring match?' 'Why yes Sesshomaru, I would greatly enjoy that!' how was Kashi to know that this would be one of the times Sesshomaru decided to go on crazy pills?

“Onigumo! Could you possibly be of any assistance WHAT-SO-EVER?!”

Onigumo had been casually observing the fight from a safe distance away. He looked up from the book he was reading and simply smiled. “And what exactly are you expecting me to be able to do? There's no way I'm going to fight him when he's like that. I'm only human, and he'd kill me. And if you don't mind, I like being alive!”

Kashi released a girlish shriek as he ducked another kick from his murderous friend. “Well, you could at least try to distract him or something!”

Onigumo released a bark of laughter and snapped his book closed. “Right, that's exactly what I want to do; bring the angry demons attention to me. Yeah, that would be a smart idea.” His voice was laced with sarcasm.

“TRAITOR!”

The human laughed one more time and rolled his eyes. “Besides, I have to go.” he said as he got up from the ground and dusted himself off. “I have a prior engagement I need to attend to.”

Kashi groaned at the news. “Bastard! You can't leave me here with him!”

Onigumo simply waved good bye to the doomed man and disappeared through the trees.

Sesshomaru didn't even seem to be aware that the two had been talking about him. He was so completely caught up in his own world that he didn't even realize how hard he was actually hitting. Kashi, however, was very aware. He had been on the receiving end of those attacks for the last hour and a half.

It didn't start out like that. It really did start out as just a friendly sparring match. After a little while though Sesshomaru started hitting just little bit harder, kicking a little more violently, growling under his breath. Pretty soon, he was hitting hard enough to leave some massive dents in the trees around them. Kashi was just thanking what ever god was looking out for him that the angrier Sesshomaru got, the sloppier his attacks were. He was also very grateful that he was an expert at dodging. Attacking, not his forte', but dodging was his specialty. Unfortunately, even he knew that he couldn't avoid Sesshomaru's attacks forever.

Sesshomaru charged at his friend once again and landed a particularly brutal uppercut to his gut, sending the demon flying backwards to land on his ass a few feet away.

This time, he stayed down, trying to catch his breath as he gazed up at the trees over head. “Yeah, okay, you know what Sesshomaru, I don't want to play with you any more!”

Sesshomaru didn't seem to hear him. He still stood off to the side in a fighting stance, knees slightly bent, fists up and prepared to attack. He stood waiting, but after a minute or two the fact that his friend wasn't getting up finally managed to drag him out of his rage induced trance. He finally took a good look at Kashi. The boy had crossed his arms over his chest and had what looked like a frustrated pout on his face. Sesshomaru cautiously walked a little closer, just in case it was some sort of trap.

“What's wrong Kashi?”

Kashi's eyes snapped to the left to glare up at his friend. “What's wrong?! Dude, my bruises have bruises! This isn't a friendly sparring game any more; you were literally trying to kill me just now!” Kashi sat up and crossed his legs Indian style, looking at Sesshomaru with serious eyes. “Look, I get that you're pissed. You have every right to be. Your dad dealt you a dirty hand. But you can't keep taking it out on me so, you know what? Until you find some other out let for your anger, I don't wanna play with you any more. I'm tired of getting beaten up!” Kashi pleaded with Sesshomaru through his eyes, hoping that the demon wouldn't get madder then he already was and praying in his mind that Sesshomaru understood where he was coming from.

It was as if this was the first time this happened. It all started a few weeks after Izayoi moved in. Sesshomaru had asked his friend if he wanted to help him practice his martil arts. Kashi hadn't practiced in a while and he always enjoyed play fighting with his friend before so, naturaly, he said yes. Like today, it started out innocent enough. But after a while, Sesshomaru started becoming more violent. Kashi kindly pointed out that Sesshomaru was starting to take their game a little too seriously. That was that. Back then, that had been enough to get Sesshomaru's attentiona and make him stop. As time when by, it gradually became more and more difficult to 'wake' him from the trance like state he always ends up slipping into. This time it had taken more then fourty minutes to wake him up and even then it only happened because Sesshomaru was a very honourable demon and refused to attack anybody while they're down.

Sesshomaru himself never really knew what his friend was talking about. Kashi said that he always seemed to slip into some kind of trance where he couldn't hear or see any thing and it was virtually impossible for Kashi to get his attention, but Sesshomaru never noticed. He was, however, forced to believe it when ever his friend showed him all the bruises. He knew what the problem was. Kashi knew too. The problem was that, with each passing day, Sesshomaru became more and more enraged. At his father, at that woman, at himself, just at life in general. And he had no one to talk to that would really understand so all that anger would just keep building up until he basically exploaded at his friend during one of their fights.

Sesshomaru took a second to calm down, taking a few deep breaths to try and clear his mind of all the angry thoughts he had been thinking durring their whole fight. His shoulders slumped as his fists dropped down to his sides and he dejectedly dragged himself over to where his friend was sitting. The demon prince plopped himself down on the ground beside his friend and sighed. Kashi was right. Sesshomaru had been using the other boy as his own personal punching bag. That wasn't right. But he honestly hadn't realized that was what he was doing! He never did. He was actually somewhat grateful that Kashi brought it to his attention. Sesshomaru knew what he had to do. He sighed again as he scratched his neck and glared at the grass, as if it was the source of all his problems.

Sesshomaru spared a glance to his right. He leaned over a little and nudged Kashi in the shoulder in a friendly way. “Sorry...” he mumbled under his breath.

Kashi, still pouting, looked to the side out of the corner of his eye. He saw his friend, sitting there with slumped shoulders and a hanging head while he fiddled with a few blades of grass between his fingers. Kashi rolled his eyes and nudged Sesshomaru back. “It's cool, man.”

Kashi then stretched his arms over his head and once again fell back onto the ground. Sesshomaru huffed but soon followed suit.

They were quiet for a while, silently deciding to just take in some much needed air and relax. For Kashi, this was not a hard task to accomplish; he definitely needed a break after the beating he just had. Sesshomaru however, was a different story. He couldn't make his mind shut down and because of that he was incapable of making his body relax.

He just couldn't stop thinking about... her. Or worse yet, him. It was they both of them really. He just couldn't get them out of his head. That woman had moved into their palace a little over four months ago and so far he had done an amazing job at avoiding her.

'In a way, she's done wonders for my sensory training.'

He always had to keep his ears and nose open for any trace of either one of them, since he was avoiding both his father and... her. His senses were getting a hell of a lot better because all the extra practice he was putting in. In four months time, he had only run into his father a total of five times, and not once had he ever seen, her. He knew it wouldn't last forever. Eventually, he would run into her. Really, the only reason he hadn't met her yet was because his father was letting him get away with hiding.

Sesshomaru knew that, if InuTaisho really wanted him to meet his new mate, the man would have made it happen. He had a good few hundred years on Sesshomaru. InuTaisho was a master at tracking and hunting. Stealth was the one thing he could accomplish better then anything else. If he wanted to, he could have followed Sesshomaru around all day, making funny faces at him behind his back and Sesshomaru never would have noticed. So, really, he didn't feel all that bad for avoiding her or him. If his father wasn't going to force him to meet with her then Sesshomaru wasn't about to make it easy on them.

Sesshomaru sighed and decided to take a glance around the clearing in an attempt to distract himself. He had been spending most of his time in this clearing. It was his own clearing after all. He had actually made it, inadvertently, the day his father told him about that woman he had been seeing. About her being pregnant and moving in. He subconsciously released an angry growl but quickly shook his head to rid himself of that bad memory.

Sesshomaru continued looking around the small clearing, even bending his head far back to look behind himself at the upside down trees. Suddenly something struck him. Something was wrong. Or just a bit off. It was right in the back of his mind.

'I feel like something is missing....'

It took him a second to figure out what it was but, finally, his eyes widened in realization. He sat up a little and swung his head back an forth, looking at every corner of the clearing.

“... Ummm... where's Onigumo?”

Kashi's eyes snapped open as he slowly turned his head to give his friend a weird look. “...Wow... really?” Kashi received nothing but a blank stare. His own eyes widened in slight shock. “Woooowwww... You only just noticed that?” Again, he received nothing but a blank stare. Kashi laughed at his oblivious friend. “Onigumo left, like, five minutes ago. Heheh. He even waved goodbye.”

Sesshomaru sat, trying to recall when all this happened. For the life of him he couldn't remember. He layed back down, slightly perturbed. Now that he thought about it, he really didn't remember much of what happened in the last hour he and Kashi had been fighting. He recalled the both of them meeting up with Onigumo in the field, the beginning of the fight, but after a while everything just seemed to become too muddled up in his mind. It was almost as if he had been trapped in some kind of weird dream. It was interesting to say the least.

Sesshomaru, however did not have very much time to think about this. He turned to glare at his friend. Kashi had, for some reason, started quietly chuckling to himself. The demon was always laughing about something though, so usually Sesshomaru just ignored it. This time it was different. This was Kashi's “special” laugh. This was the laugh he only ever used when he was trying to keep something from someone. Some kind of hilarious secret that he didn't want anyone else to know about. Sesshomaru knew this laugh very well. He also knew that, if left to his own devices, Kashi would soon be unable to breath through his convulsions.

“Okay, what's up?”

Kashi barely spared him a glance before keeping his eyes trained to the sky. “Heheheheheheh! Nothin'.”

Sesshomaru scoffed. “Fuck that! What the hell are you hiding.”

“Believe me man, I am not 'hiding' anything. You honestly didn't notice anything interesting today?”

“Interesting, like... how?” Sesshomaru was really beginning to get curious.

Kashi, again, let out a great bark of laughter, holding his gut as it jiggled. “Somebodies got a crush on you!” he said in a sing song voice.

Sesshomaru looked at him in surprise. 'This conversation just got interesting, I'll give you that.'

“Who?”

Kashi was beginning to get very excited. “I can't believe you didn't notice! You, the most observant person I know, didn't notice.”

“Would you just tell me who it is?!” yelled Sesshomaru, getting frustrated in the lack of information he was getting.

With the smuggest look Sesshomaru had ever seen on his friends face, Kashi said, “Onigumo.” as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

This time, it was Sesshomaru's turn to laugh. “Yeah, right. No he doesn't.”

“HA!” Kashi shot up to sit in font of his friend. “I just, I can not believe you didn't see what he was doing! The entire time we were fighting, he was staring at you ass. That whole, 'reading' thing was just a diversion to throw you off the scent!”

The Inu demon rolled his eyes at that ridiculous accusation while sitting up as well to look his over excited friend in the eye. “You're being paranoid. Maybe he just likes watching people fight.”

Kashi snorted at his friends lame excuse. “Look dude, you can live in the land of 'Denial' for as long as you want. Bottom line is, Onigumo's got the hots for a certain silver haired prince.” the black dog demon wiggled his eye brows in a suggestive manor.

Sesshomaru punched his friend in the shoulder, sending him reeling backwards to land in a giggling heap in the grass. “You're a loser.”

“Now is that any way to treat your friends?”

Sesshomaru's head spun around so fast at the new voice it was a wonder he didn't break his neck. Standing just a few feet behind him was the one and only InuTaisho, casually leaning against a tree, looking at the two boys with a smirk on his face.

Kashi sat back up to look at the demon lord. He waved, a goofy smile plastered on his face. “Hi Lord InuTaisho.”

InuTaisho gave a deep chuckle and waved back. “Hello Kashi.” He strolled into the clearing, stopping a little ways from where the two boys were. “Kashi, I think it's time you head back home. I need to have a conversation with my son.”

Kashi glanced between the demon lord and his best friend. Sesshomaru was refusing to look at his father. He had turned back around the second he saw who was standing behind them and had been glaring at the ground ever since. He only looked up when Kashi looked his way. Kashi gave him a sympathetic look before getting to his feet and heading back to the palace, waving goodbye over his shoulder. “See ya later, man. Goodbye InuTaisho-sama.”

InuTaisho watched the boy disappear beyond the trees. An awkward silence soon fell between the father and son. Sesshomaru was still refusing to look up. InuTaisho was staring at the back of his sons head, trying to figure out where to begin. He took a step closer and instantly Sesshomaru shot up from the grass and walked away, heading over the one of the more severely beaten up trees.

InuTaisho sighed as Sesshomaru started angrily punching the trunk.

“You know, eventually we're going to have to talk about this.” all he got in response was a couple of grunts. InuTaisho shook his head. “I've been pretty lenient so far. I haven't pushed you because I knew that wouldn't do any one any good. I knew it would take you some time to get use to all these changes and to get use to Izayoi, but you have avoided me, and her, long enough. Now, I want us to talk about this.”

“What's there to talk about? You got some bitch pregnant and now she's living here. Seems pretty straight for-” Sesshomaru grunted as he was forcibly turned around to face his father. InuTaisho was mere inches from his face pressing a strong hand on his chest keeping him where he was.

In a low rumbling voice, InuTaisho said, “Do not speak that way about my mate.”

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes. “Keh. Whatever.”

The demon lord pressed a little harder against Sesshomaru's chest, pinning him more firmly to the big tree behind him. “You will show her respect! She has done nothing to deserve your hatred!”

“I'm not gonna show some whore you picked up to replace my mother respect!”

InuTaisho raised his hand to slap some sense into his son when his arm stilled in mid air. Sesshomaru's words only just registered in his mind. He slowly lowered his arm and took a small step back to get a good look at his sons face. “Is that what you think? That I 'picked her up' to replace (1)Katt?”

Sesshomaru didn't answer. He looked away from his fathers face and to the ground, mouth pursed and brow furrowed in anger. InuTaisho roughly grabbed Sesshomaru face and forced him to look up. Sesshomaru couldn't take it. He'd been holding everything in for so long now. Simply looking into his fathers eyes hit him so deeply, he couldn't hold it in any more.

“What the fuck do you want from me?! You already got your replacement family! Why don't you go spend time with them?! You got your new mate, your new kid on the way so what the fuck do you need me for?!” Sesshomaru wrenched his chin out of his fathers hand and again looked to the ground, fearing if he held his fathers gaze any longer, the tears he'd been holding in for months might finally fall.

InuTaisho stood in shock. The look on his sons face alone had his heart tearing. When he finally spoke, his voice was nothing more then a whisper. “.....Sesshomaru.... is your opinion of me so low that you actually think I would abandon, or replace, my own son?” He got no response. InuTaisho sighed in aggravation as he looked at his sons hanging head.

He knew Sesshomaru wasn't in a good place. He knew when he had first told Sesshomaru everything that the boy wasn't dealing with it very well. He had thought it was simply because he had been hiding it from him. He could admit that he really could've handled the situation a little better instead of just springing it on Sesshomaru all at once. He also knew that Sesshomaru would have a hard time excepting his new mate, especially since his mother had only passed away five years before. This was why he had decided to give Sesshomaru some space and not push him into meeting Izayoi. Only, now, it seemed he might have made a big mistake.

InuTaisho knew Sesshomaru better then anyone. He had watched the boy grow up and he knew how the demon child thought. One thing not many people knew about Sesshomaru was that he had always been very insecure. No one would ever think it by just looking at him or watching him with his friends. He always seemed to give off this air of authority, despite how young he was. He always walked with his head held high and shoulders back. When talking to the servants of the palace, his voice was always so strong and confident, with out him even trying. Sesshomaru was a born alpha male if ever there was one. InuTaisho was very proud of his son. His only problem was that he was just too sensitive for his own good.

Sesshomaru always found some way to blame himself for any sort of problem. If he was involved in any way, no mater how small, he always instantly assumed it was his own fault. It was why he was always striving to be perfect at everything he did. He never wanted to disappoint any one. He never wanted to cause any one any trouble.

InuTaisho mentally berated himself for not seeing it sooner. He now understood exactly why Sesshomaru had been avoiding him and it had nothing to do with being angry at him for mating Izayoi. Sesshomaru thought he was being replaced by newer, better versions and that he was now obsolete. In his mind, he was no longer “useful” and, therefore, had to stay out of InuTaisho's way.

The thought alone was absolutely ridiculous! Yes, leaving Sesshomaru to his own devices for the past few months, leaving him to come up with his own irrational conclusions, was very wrong.

InuTaisho sighed and shook his head, trying to figure out how to go about this. He once again took Sesshomaru's face in his hands, making the boy look him in the eyes as he spoke, being sure to choose his words carefully while trying to keep the growing displeasure out of his voice.

“Sesshomaru, I am going to say this very slowly and want you to pay very close attention because I do not ever want to have to say this again.”

He paused for a second, making absolutely sure that Sesshomaru was listening to his every word. He could feel the boy tensing and sensed his increasing apprehension. He continued, speaking calmly, slowly, and very clearly.

“I. Would. Never. Abandon. You. I would never 'replace' you with another child. The fact that I actually have to tell you this, that you didn't already know it, hurts. It means that I didn't do a good enough job of showing you that and, I admit, there were times in the past when I could have been a better father to you, but I thought you knew. I love you. Sesshomaru, no matter where you go or what you do, no matter how bad, it will never change my love for you. I am always going to be here if you need me, nothing and no one will change that... Do you understand me?”

Sesshomaru was hanging on his fathers every word. There seemed to be a lump permanently lodged in his throat, making it impossible for him to swallow or speak, even if he wanted to. He knew if he tried all that would come out was a weak whimper. All he could manage was a small, almost imperceptible nod of his head.

InuTaisho still held Sesshomaru's face in his hands. He let his thumbs gently rub against his cheeks as he moved foreword and bumped their foreheads together. It was a simple gesture between the two of them. They use to do it all the time when Sesshomaru was younger. It was small but they both understood what it meant; to Sesshomaru it was his father letting him know he was there for him. To InuTaisho it was his son saying they were okay.

The demon lord hesitated as he took his hands away from Sesshomaru's face, almost fearing their argument would pick up right where it left off if he let go. But eventually he took a few steps back, allowing Sesshomaru some space. Sesshomaru stayed where he was, leaning back against the tree, but did release some of the tension that had been building up in his shoulders.

He looked down, feeling both a small sense of relief and a big sense of embarrassment. InuTaisho had just shone a brilliant spot light on his biggest fear. It was only a few years earlier that InuTaisho was completely avoiding him at all cost. It hurt more then he had ever told any one about and it instilled in him a very deep fear that one day his father would abandon him. He had been absolutely terrified, sitting in his room every night, just waiting for the day InuTaisho told him to get out and never come back. That he couldn't stand the sight of him any more.

But, over time, his father started talking to him again. He started spending more and more time with him. He would tell Sesshomaru that he was proud of him and that one day he would be the strongest and most powerful Lord of the West. It was times like those, when InuTaisho praised him, that he almost wanted to cry with elation. The feeling of being wanted and loved just about overwhelmed him at times. And then... she came.

It was at the worst possible time, when his father finally came clean about where he went at night and who he was with and about the certain... condition... that someone was in. Sesshomaru had only just begun to feel safe again. At last he was beginning to feel like he was actually wanted or maybe even needed, that was when this woman came into the picture.

To Sesshomaru, it was as if InuTaisho was trying to forget about Katt. Like this new woman was there to take her place. Not only that, but she was pregnant. Sesshomaru couldn't shake the feeling that his mother wasn't the only one being replaced. When she first moved in, it became clear in the first week that InuTaisho was spending the majority of his time with Izayoi. The first time InuTaisho told Sesshomaru that he couldn't talk because he needed to be with his mate and unborn child more, that was when it became painfully clear that Sesshomaru was now at the bottom of his fathers list of priorities. Old wounds were forcefully reopened and once again he was left sitting in his room at night scared to death that one day his father would come in and tell him he had a better son on the way and didn't want Sesshomaru any more.

He did feel a little bit better now that his father told him his fears were completely unfounded. Now that he had just been told to his face that he was not going to be tossed out on his ass like yesterdays trash and that he really was loved. But that fear just wouldn't go away. It stayed in the forefront of his mind. While he was scared that this was still going to happen, at the same time, he felt so very ashamed to even for a second think that his father was the kind of cold hearted demon who would abandon his own son. In the back of his mind he knew dog demons were incredibly pack oriented. Sesshomaru was a member of his fathers pack and therefore would not be left behind. He wasn't stupid and he realized that he was being at least a little irrational. He always new this. But he was also still very much a child and he still desperately wanted his fathers attention.

Sesshomaru had returned to glaring at the grass the second InuTaisho had let go of his face and stepped away (He found he had been doing that a lot lately). The two of them stayed as they were for the next few seconds; InuTaisho observing his son and Sesshomaru avoiding his fathers intense searching gaze. It was InuTaisho who broke the silence first, taking up his stern fatherly voice that he often used when telling Sesshomaru something important.

“Sesshomaru, I have to tell you, I did come here for a reason.” Sesshomaru hadn't moved an inch from where he was but InuTaisho could tell he was listening very carefully. “I think we have both put this off for as long as we possibly could. It is time for you to be properly introduced to Izayoi.”

Sesshomaru visibly tensed, his glare becoming much darker. InuTaisho noticed but said nothing about it, instead he turned slightly to the left and motioned with his hand for some one to step forward. Sesshomaru heard foot steps and a few seconds later saw another pair a feet standing next to his fathers. He cursed himself for not noticing until now that she had been watching. He could smell it. She had been standing there for a while and obviously heard everything. Today just wasn't his day.

InuTaisho put his hand on Izayoi's back and looked from Sesshomaru to her. “Izayoi, this is my son, Sesshomaru.” He then looked back to the much smaller demon child. “Sesshomaru, this is my mate, Izayoi.”

Nobody moved. Nobody made a sound for what seemed like forever. Sesshomaru was refusing to look at this woman. He didn't want to see her. He didn't want to be any where near her. He could hear his father beginning to growl low in his throat, a warning. Still Sesshomaru refused to acknowledge her. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed InuTaisho start to move forward but was stopped by Izayoi.

“InuTaisho, could you give us a minute alone please? I would like to talk to Sesshomaru.”

InuTaisho hesitated, reluctant to leave his pregnant mate alone. After a while he nodded. He gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek and walked back into the forest, not far. He was close enough to still be able to see the two of them but far enough away to give them a feeling of privacy.

After watching her mates retreating back disappear beyond the tree line, Izayoi looked back to the obviously pissed off demon prince leaning against a large tree.

Sesshomaru waited for her to say something. In his mind he was picturing her saying things like, “You must show me respect!” or tell him he was being selfish and spiteful. He was almost hoping she would say stuff like that just so he could have a legitimate reason to hit her.

After a few minutes, he heard a sigh and finally she spoke.

“Your not even going to look at me, are you?”

Sesshomaru scoffed. 'As if I'd want to, Hell bitch...'

At hearing his scoff, she rolled her eyes and sighed again. “I know it was a long time ago, but I would've thought you would remember me at least a little...”

Sesshomaru's brow scrunched up in confusion. 'Remember her? From where?'

She took a small step closer. “I remember you.” she smiled a little. “I remember this cute little silver haired, three year old boy picking flowers in the middle of the forest.... I also remember your mother, hugging and kissing you when you gave them to her.”

This conversation was fast catching Sesshomaru's interest. Finally, he graced her with a small, sidelong glance from the corner of his eye, turning his body to face her just little bit more. He could almost see this memory she was talking about. It was right there tugging at the back of his mind. Still, he refused to say anything, wanting to see where she was going to take this.

Izayoi saw him looking at her for the first time. She looked into his eyes as she spoke. “Your mother was the most beautiful demoness I ever saw and, believe it or not, I've seen a lot. And she obviously loved you very much...”

… This conversation was not going at all in the direction Sesshomaru thought. '…..Damn..... she is making it really hard for me to hate her..... evil bitch.'

Uncontciously, Sesshomaru turned his head slightly more towards her. “She looked like the kind of woman would sooner gouge someones eyes out then let them look at you the wrong way.” She laughed a little at her own joke and, despite himself, Sesshomaru found himself releasing a small chuckle as well. That really was a pretty good way to describe his mother. She was fiercely protective of him. She never let any one touch 'her baby.'

Izayoi could guess that Sesshomaru was completely unaware of the small smile he had on his face. He was looking down again, seemingly lost in his memories. She softly cleared her throat to regain his attention. “Sesshomaru, I want you to know, I heard what you said earlier..... I would never dream of trying to take your mothers place. Not only would I never be able to live up to her reputation, it would just be an insult to her memory. I'm just not that kind of person. And I'm not going to try and be your friend either because I know that's not what you want. I can imagine you probably don't want to have anything to do with me right now and, that's fine. That's something you have to deal with. But I want you to know I'm not going to run and hide if I see you in the hall way or in the gardens.”

She gave the demon prince a certain knowing look as he felt an unwanted blush creep up in his cheeks. Apparently he hadn't been as sneaky as he thought.

Izayoi fought a smile when she saw his blush. “I want to make you a deal.” Sesshomaru shoved his embarrassment to the side and once again started listening to what she had to say. “I'm not going to try and force my way into your life, okay? If you want to keep avoiding me after this, fine, you go right ahead. I'll give you all the space you need, but in return, I want you to stop talking about me behind my back.”

Sesshomaru raised a questioning eye brow.

Izayoi rolled her eyes again and smirked. “Didn't think I knew about that, huh? Just because this is the first time we've actually met since I moved in doesn't mean I haven't heard the things you've been saying. I am not def and the maids are nothing if not huge gossips. I heard I have been called a slut, a whore, a skank but I believe your favorite one right now is 'Hell Bitch.'” She felt a certain sense of satisfaction that Sesshomaru at least had the decency to bow his head in apparent guilt. “I wont say the rest of them because I think if I do your father might actually come down here and beat you.”

She more or less mumbled that last sentence and Sesshomaru internally winced. He had to agree with her; he could feel his fathers youki not to far away and he was, in short, pissed the mother fucking hell off. He seriously seemed just about ready to kill and Sesshomaru was infinently glad that Izayoi didn't have any desire to end his very short life.

Sesshomaru released a silent sigh as he thought about her proposal; she'll stay out of his life if he just shuts up about her. It seemed reasonable. He could deal with that.

Again Sesshomaru glanced at her from out of the corner of his eye. She was waiting for his answer, patiently. He took a second to really take a good look at her. She wasn't..... completely hideous. For a human. It wasn't that he had any thing against humans, really. It was just this human specifically that bothered him. But even Sesshomaru had to admit, of all the humans his father could have picked, at least he chose one that wasn't completely and totally repulsive. She had long black hair tied up in a pony tail on the back of her head. She wore a long pink yukata with a dark blue obi covering her very swollen belly. She was about seven and half months pregnant by now. He brought his attention back to her face when he heard her impatiently clear her throat.

It was a second before he decided he might as well agree. She didn't appear to be completely against him, but that didn't mean he wanted to be her friend, it just meant that he no longer believed she was the source of all evil. It was a good deal and the thought of not having to worry about her invading his personal space and trying to be 'best buds' was nice.

He sighed in defeat and gave a slight nod of his head. She smiled and nodded back. For a while it looked like she was about to leave but stopped mid step. She turned back to face him again.

“There is one more thing I wanted to talk with you about...” Sesshomaru almost wanted to role his eyes. He was really hoping that was it. A very serious look came over her face as she stepped closer to Sesshomaru. Much closer then she had been. There was now less then a foot of space between them. “It would be one thing if you were only insulting me; I could understand something like that and I do. I know why you don't like me and I know that trying to convince you other wise would just be a waste of time. You need to come up with your own opinions about how you feel about me in your own time. To be perfectly, bluntly honest, I do not care what you think of me. But when you drag my baby into it... That is when I get pissed.” her voice became deathly quiet as she got right in his face. Never in his life could Sesshomaru ever say that he was scared of a human, let alone a woman. But the look in this womans eyes was enough to have him seriously fearing for his life. “My child has nothing to do with anything you might have against me. I know you've been saying things about him too, non of which I wish to repeat. He did not choose the fate he was given. He is going to have grow up in a world that hates him and judges him based souly on what he is. He's going to have deal bigots and racists from the day he is born and he does not need his brother to be bunched up in the category of people he has to be afraid of.” Sesshomaru gave a small grimace at the word 'brother', making Izayoi scoff and give him an incriminating look. “That's right. Like it or not Sesshomaru, it's true, you're going to be a big brother and if your not going to look out for him then at least don't make his life more difficult then it's already going to be. You see, this is something your mother and I actually have in common: I will protect my child to the death... nobody can touch my baby when mama's around.”

It was that that made Sesshomaru finally stand up straight, taking his back from the tree and look the woman right in the eye. This was something he had heard his own mother say on more then one occasion, almost word for word. For some reason, he felt just the tiniest bit of respect for her at seeing her determined face. She wasn't lying either. He could tell she was the kind of mother that would take down any threat to her child and, at the moment, that threat appeared to be himself.

They spent the next moment staring at each other, a silent battle going on between the two of them. With a simple nod of his head, Sesshomaru ended the stare down. Izayoi heaved a sigh of relief as her expression softened. She looked at him for just little while longer before taking a few slow steps back and turning to walk in the direction his father had disappeared in moments earlier.

She was almost to the tree line when Sesshomaru decided, for the first time, to speak.

He yelled after her, “Don't expect me to change any diapers.”

She paused in her trek and turned to look at him curiously, his words slowly reaching her ears. She smiled at him and gave a humorous chuckle. “Yeah, that goes double for me.” she turned and continued walking, saying under her breath, just loud enough for Sesshomaru to hear , “Your father is going to be one busy, busy man.”



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(1) Katt's full name is Katana. It was my friends idea cause I could not, for the life of me, think of a good name to give her. I haven't used her full name in the story. You know, just in case you were wondering, thought i'd let you know. ;)

alright people, I have one word to tell you all describing why it is that it took me so long to update and that word is SAT. that's right, the SAT. I had to take the god foresaken SAT aka: the longest mother fucking test I have ever had to take in my life! Six and half god damned hours I sat in the same seat taking the same test! I studied non stop for the past month (hence, the tardiness). The English part I know I did well in. the writing; they gave us twenty five minutes to write an essay and I'm just sitting there thinking 'Bull shit, like I'm gonna write a whole fucking essay in twenty five minutes!' And then the math part, dudes, math is not my forte. Math kicks my ass. If math were a person math would be Mike Tyson and I would be down an ear right now... and possibly a couple fingers if he was hungry.

…. yeah.... sorry about that, I just kinda needed to rant. Anyway, the good news is that I actually got a head start on the next chapter so I might be able to update sooner this time. Yay! No promises but, let's all just hope for the best, shall we.