InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dubious Relations ❯ Chapter 12 ( Chapter 13 )

Dubious Relations

Chapter 12

Golden eyes glimmered brilliantly in the flaring candle light, as they honed in on the waving silhouettes of the trees outside his large window, having moved away from the formal scrolls he had balanced cautiously in his lap. Sesshomaru was waiting for his aid to arrive; having called him earlier that afternoon to speak of `important matters'. Kazuo had agreed immediately.

However, he'd been oddly vague in his information, as demonstrated by Chiyo's critical emerald gaze narrowed with confusion. There was no need for the elderly healer to know of Naraku's growing infatuation with him. She watched and cared for Rin and the demon children that she taught in the castle's large gardens, Sesshomaru wouldn't cause her mind to wander whilst she worked. Also, he would prefer to not have her following him about the castle; he was capable of caring for himself and he saw no need to have her issue him a sitter.

Idly, the demon Lord drew his light yukata around his fair coloured form tighter, as his eyes narrowed with annoyance; Naraku claimed to have left him be for the time being, yet, he would return and he would want Sesshomaru's body far more than he already did. Sesshomaru hadn't heard anything so preposterous! Did Naraku, a mere half demon that was not only born of a human as a complete human, but also consumed other demons in order to gain the demonic power he craved, really believe he'd agree to bear his child? Did he really think Sesshomaru would lower himself to such a level? `You will mother my heir,' indeed. Naraku was delusional!

The silence that had surrounded him was torn when Sesshomaru heard his wooden and cream coloured shogi slide open. He turned smoothly to his left, from where he was sitting at his small desk, and smoothed a hand down his light blue yukata, pulling it around him fully when his claws caught on the edge that bared his smooth chest.

Kazuo bowed deeply after he stepped inside the room, “You wanted to speak with me, my Lord?” The demon asked as he straightened, his sword clattering sharply against his brown armour. His expression was one of complete seriousness.

Sesshomaru inclined his head in recognition and spoke softly, his head aching, “It is about my recent disappearance.”

Immediately, the tanned skinned demon moved to sit across from Sesshomaru. With quick steps and a soundless drop to his knees, Kazuo tucked his legs beneath him and rested his hands on his white silk clad thighs. The demon Lord mimicked his stance, shifting with a small `shush' of cloth on the smooth, plaster floor. Kazuo's baritone voice spoke up in the silence between them, “Are you in any sort of immediate danger?”

His expression remained blank; however Sesshomaru thoughts on his answer were badly torn. The demon Lord felt the need to answer `no', though he knew that in his current state (which would only worsen as his stomach continued to bloat) he wouldn't be able to fend off another of Naraku's attacks. With a tiny frown, he answered softly, “Perhaps. I do not know if Naraku chooses to attack me himself or send a lesser demon to do so.”

Kazuo nodded sternly, “Who is Naraku, my Lord?”

“He is a half demon keen on collecting the fragmented pieces of the Jewel of Four Souls. Inuyasha and his companions are also seeking it.” Sesshomaru answered. He himself didn't see the appeal in finding said jewel shards, despite all of the stories Jaken had managed to discover and had reported to him on.

Again Kazuo nodded, his blue eyes closing momentarily as he thought of other important questions for Sesshomaru to answer. The demon Lord knew of their importance; how his general supposed to protect his castle if he did not know the enemy? However, they were annoying. He would have preferred that they were not having this conversation. Another silent stuffed moment passed them before Kazuo spoke up, “If you don't mind me asking, my Lord, what does Naraku want you for?”

Golden eyes narrowed, “Naraku wishes for this Sesshomaru to bear him a child.” His aid's reaction was instantaneous as his deep sea blue eyes widened dramatically. Sesshomaru exhaled slowly, Kazuo had always worn his feelings on his face. He found himself glad that they weren't on the battle field; an enemy would be able to read his aid's emotions and pick him off easily.

“Did he do anything inappropriate, my Lord?” The demon was asked quickly, whilst his deep voice carried a growl, “He didn't force you into anything?”

“No. He is capable of somewhat honourable actions.” Sesshomaru stated calmly, “Inuyasha destroyed the room I was being held captive in before four days before the day Naraku decided to use force was upon me.”

Kazuo nodded, and again, they were enveloped in silence. Sesshomaru forced his breath from his lungs at a calm rate. Everyone in the castle knew of his and Inuyasha's bond; no demon couldn't, once they'd seen them both together. Which was part of the reason Sesshomaru hadn't allowed Jaken inside his bedchambers with Rin; Jaken would squawk with disbelief. Besides Jaken spreading the news to Rin of his own free will, should the elderly toad demon be threatened, Sesshomaru had no chance of keeping their mating quiet. Despite the toad's loyalty, he liked his life and preferred to be alive and breathing to not.

Sesshomaru's gaze lifted from where they'd fallen upon his neatly cluttered desk to his aid when he started speaking, his voice low, “Your brother, my Lord,” The tanned demon asked warily, his blue eyes flying around the room before they landed on Sesshomaru's, “Are my eyes deceiving me?”

Sesshomaru closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He could do this, he may as well learn to accept the fact that Inuyasha was his mate until death do them part. Sesshomaru hoped death came to either one (though he preferred that Inuyasha were the one to fall) of them soon. His eyes opened with a flash of orange-gold, “No. He is my mate, and the child's father.”

Kazuo's face once again crumbled from its stern expression to one of almost childlike wonder and confusion. He smiled shakily, “Congratulations are in order then, my Lord. I hope you both live happily together.” Sesshomaru inclined his head. His bangs hung in front of his molten eyes, shadowing them from the other demon, hiding his aid from the glare that had found its way there and was directed at the ground with the heat of a thousand bonfires. Kazuo went on without having noticed, “I will post guards around the castle's perimeter, just as I will have three scouts find out what they can about Naraku's whereabouts.”

Sesshomaru didn't argue. Despite despising the idea of being protected; this was for the best. He wasn't the only one in danger should Naraku come to his castle. There was his army, who lived in the village beneath the cliff face his castle sat upon (who Naraku wouldn't hesitate to swallow up). There were the demon children his healer taught. Rin was here also. Naraku's presence endangered every one of them and Sesshomaru would not have their blood tainting his large hands simply because his own arrogance had stood in the way. No matter how wounded his pride was with the alternative.

“You are dismissed.” He uttered bluntly after a few more drawn out and heavy moments of silence. Kazuo immediately stood and bowed, before he, with long strides and the rhythmic sound of his booted feet tap-tap-tapping, left the room.

Sesshomaru's mind remained blank for a bit, leaving the demon staring after his aid with a stony expression on his attractive face. Sesshomaru then turned to eye the scrolls that were still rolled out in front of him critically, the muscles above his thin eyes, pale temples and slender neck aching. After a few moments attempting to resist reaching his hand toward the tender spots he gave in and massaged his temples slowly.

This pup was far more trouble than it was worth. Sesshomaru would have thought that the vile thing would have realised by now that he was a very fortunate pup; having lived to the age it had thus far. It should have left him without the aggravating symptoms of his pregnancy. It was pure fine luck on the child's behalf that he hadn't been poisoned yet. It should be savouring the time it had left existing, not causing Sesshomaru to suffer slowly.

Gracefully, Sesshomaru rose to his feet, having carefully placed his scrolls in a neat pile in the top left hand corner of his desk. He walked silently, with bared, pale feet to his futon, finding himself eager to relax and sleep. He'd found that it helped with the aches and his troublesome exhaustion. He sat down, having pulled the thin blankets from their original place so he could slide under them. He laid himself out flat on his back and closed his eyes, before he focussed himself on calming his breathing and heart beat, his platinum white hair like a halo surrounding his form.

Tomorrow he would talk to Inuyasha and extract him and his friends from his home. He hadn't appreciated the sound of loud laughter coming from the main hall; he'd found it particularly hard to concentrate on his work and Sesshomaru, as Lord of the Western Plains, couldn't afford to misread any document, lest it come to haunt him in the future.

The wind caused the trees to rustle noisily as, a few long minutes later, Sesshomaru exhaled slowly; how strange; he couldn't seem to be able to fall asleep. And he suddenly had the urge to roll over and face the window, despite his long time habit of sleeping on his back. Sesshomaru thought it over briefly, only to find that he felt like copper plates had been placed over his eyes. He decided hastily that he was feeling too tired to wonder about the strange urge, and rolled over to his left and faced the window. His eyes opened momentarily to take in the vision of a bright crescent moon and the star speckled sky outside his window, before they started to drift closed.

Perhaps he shouldn't have reacted so violently towards Inuyasha that day; he was exhausted and his actions hadn't helped him conserve energy in the slightest - Sesshomaru easily smothered a large yawn; He needed sleep. As though it were nothing more than a warrior under his command, Sesshomaru ordered his brain to stop thinking and switch off. Once again, he found his eyes falling closed and Sesshomaru could have sworn he'd spied golden, blue tinted eyes watching him from the window.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Inuyasha watched with much interest as Sesshomaru settled down for the night. He'd been hoping to sneak in (and confront Sesshomaru) and try and feel the pup again. He wanted to sense the little, heated pulses that reached for his hand. It was stupid to attempt to sneak in on Sesshomaru though; the bastard was likely to have eyes and ears on every side of his head.

Yet, the thought had kept his mind away from other things that day, such as practicing his fatherly ways on Shippo (though Inuyasha couldn't really be blamed for his actions; there was only so much ear tugging any person could take until they snapped and threw the idiot stupid enough to touch his ears across the room) and that he'd forgotten that he hadn't seen the rest of his pack in four days. All in all, the pup had kept him very distracted.

And Kagome had noticed his absent mindedness and asked if anything was wrong. Inuyasha felt bad for not telling her the reason for his spacing out, however his “everything's fine” reply was near completely true. All Inuyasha had to do was practice his fathering, tell Kagome that there was no chance their feelings (or his in the least) could be followed because he'd fucked his brother and gotten the asshole pregnant, or tell Sesshomaru that he'd take the pup off his hands, even though he had no home and a most turbulent life. The pup would have died a day into his care.

He bounded down from the roof in which he'd perched himself on, his heart sinking; how did anyone expect him to make a good father? He had nothing that could help the poor kid. Inuyasha could admit that should the pup stay with him, that he'd more than likely turn out exactly as his father was. Inuyasha growled as his bare feet planted themselves on the cool ground, damn it! Why the hell did Sesshomaru have to approach him? Why the hell had the bastard have to fall pregnant?!

He balanced himself on all fours easily and smoothly, before Inuyasha set himself to tracking down Kagome and the others. His nose twitched as he attempted to pick up any of his pack's scents and scuttled forward comically as he snuffed, sniffed and stumbled forward. There was a musty smell wafting to his nose, definitely male - Ah ha! That was definately Miroku's!

“My Lord?”

Inuyasha jumped and straightened hastily, whilst his right hand streaked towards Tesseiga's hilt as he spun around. The demon that had spoken was staring at Inuyasha as though his hair had abruptly turned bright pink. Inuyasha recognised him immediately. He was the one Sesshomaru had warned about Naraku (the one that Inuyasha couldn't help but feel should have been him). Inuyasha's golden eyes narrowed with annoyance, “Don't call me that. It makes me sound like a rich prick.”

“I don't believe that to be true, my Lord. Your title shows your status within society.” The demon remarked politely, with a twinkle of amusement sparkling in his dark blue eyes, “I doubt our Lord Sesshomaru would be pleased to hear you speak like you do about your heritage.”

Inuyasha grunted and answered with a suspicious twice over the demon's tall frame, “Like hell. Sesshomaru's the one that insists that I'm nothing more than a `disgraceful half-demon'.” He attempted to mimic Sesshomaru's sonorous voice and failed dismally. Which was for the best; Inuyasha didn't like the thought of being like the bastard whether it was because of his voice, the way they both spoke, their appearance or their personalities. Kagome seemed to enjoy reminding him that his stubborn streak was just as sturdy as Sesshomaru's seemed to be and that they both acted like children. Which he didn't! It wasn't his fault Sesshomaru always had to bother him and always attempted to kill him. He reacted purely out of self defence - and the need to prove his brother wrong, but Kagome didn't need to know that.

“I'm afraid I'm not allowed to talk of my Lord's feelings; he doesn't like it or allow it.” The demon stated solemnly and inclined his head in apology, his shoulder length light sky blue hair.

“Whatever,” Inuyasha cast a withering glare the demon's way, “What's your name? And what the hell are you to Sesshomaru?”

A wicked gleam sprung up from within the depths of the demon's eyes, “Why? Jealous?”

“No,” Inuyasha sniped back, his nose scrunched up with distaste. Like he'd ever be jealous of a person because he'd talked to Sesshomaru; Inuyasha did it all the time! Not that he ever listened properly to what his older brother had to say in return, or that Sesshomaru ever listened to anything he had to say in return. The point was that they communicated on a weekly basis! Mostly, “Why? Are you?”

The demon smiled kindly, “Not at all.” His right hand rose to point at his own, armour clad chest, “I am happily mated and have a daughter and another child on the way.” He caught Inuyasha off guard, as Inuyasha felt his heart and stomach skip and twirl around each other uncomfortably as the demon bowed, “I am Kazuo, your mate's aid, or right hand man as the humans call them.”

“He's not my fucking mate.” Inuyasha mumbled dejectedly, making sure to keep his voice well out of the reach of Kazuo's large, pointed ears, “He's a total bastard and-” Suddenly Inuyasha's eyes widened dramatically, as though someone had stabbed his foot with the Tokijin and his voice rose as though caused by the same reason, “How the hell do you know about Sesshomaru and me? I told him to not tell anyone!”

The demon answered with barely a heart beat between their voices as they rushed along the cool breeze that blew their stringy hair from their faces, “That may be so my Lord, but all demons will are able to tell when another is mated or not.”

“What?!”

Kazuo blinked at him unabashedly, as though he couldn't comprehend the thought of someone misunderstanding his words. Inuyasha almost growled at the look; it wasn't his fault no one had explained the ins and outs of demon mating to him! Myoga's crash course with it was just that: a crash course! The flea wouldn't have thought to tell him anything like this; no matter how he was supposed to! The stupid flea had the annoying habit of forgetting the most important of details.

The demon fiddled with his sword's hilt, his eyes still locked on Inuyasha's crimson clad form, “You haven't noticed the light that surrounds us demons, my Lord?”

“Yeah,” Inuyasha spat, annoyed at how stupid he felt. It was like an arrow dripping poison into his chest, and it was gradually spreading throughout his torso. What had ever possessed him to think that demons and humans would have the same marriage ceremony? Inuyasha wondered. Of course demons would have some stupid, complicated system in order to identify who was with whom and what meant what. Inuyasha hadn't given the tiny, minute light blue, gaussian blur-like outline to Sesshomaru's being much thought until it had grown twice as bright, “But that doesn't mean shit. I don't understand why demons would glow.” Now that he was taking proper notice, Kazuo also possessed one. It was of a very pale, almost white green though.

Kazuo took slow predicable steps towards Inuyasha and motioned for him to walk beside him. Inuyasha didn't take him up on the offer; rather, he followed with a suspiciously watchful gaze. In the cold night air, Inuyasha's triangular ears were able to detect the soft tap-sch-tap of Kazuo's boot covered feet as they slid and stepped over the dirt and leaf covered ground.

The demon cleared his throat and spoke clearly, which caused Inuyasha's ears to stand to attention as Kazuo closed his eyes and rattled off, as though practiced, “Demons, despite most being violent, like to know that what they claim as theirs, is theirs. The glow surrounding you has now made Lord Sesshomaru's slightly brighter, whilst our Lord's aura has been tinted the colour of your own.” The demon paused and opened his right eye, with one of his pale brows rising with curiosity, “Do you understand?”

“Yeah.” Inuyasha muttered idly, his mind going over and over the information given to him. If people could see that they were mated, wouldn't Kagome be able to tell that he and Sesshomaru were mated? Inuyasha's dark brows furrowed. If that was the case, why hadn't she commented on it? Why hadn't Shippo commented on it? Why didn't Shippo glow?

Kazuo smiled, “Good.” He bowed respectfully, an action that caught Inuyasha off guard (again) and caused his eyebrows to rise and disappear underneath his messy, white fringe. As he straightened, Kazuo remarked formerly and with a good-natured smile, “Enjoy your stay, my Lord. I wish both yourself and your mate great happiness.”

Inuyasha watched with pricked ears as Kazuo turned and continued his trek towards wherever he was heading. Upon his face he bore a scowl, one that spoke for the volumes of confusion he could feel flooding his stomach.

It didn't make any sense to him. Glowing? Demons shone in order to let others know who belonged to who? Was it like the male birds he saw showing off their brightly coloured chest feathers, in order to impress the females that saw him? Was the glow used in order to do that, impress females?

Did that mean Inuyasha's standing as a demon (even if he was only a mere `half-breed') was raised? Was there a larger chance of Inuyasha being accepted as a demon now? Sesshomaru was physically strong and politically powerful, and now he was supposed to belong to Inuyasha, his younger, disgrace for a half brother? Inuyasha couldn't help the smug sense of victory that coursed through his heated veins at the thought; he'd beaten Sesshomaru. Granted, he hadn't known that he had, but Inuyasha could take a victory for what it was. Now all he had to do was work out how to sort out the repercussions: Kagome, the pup and anything else that may pop up because of his lack of knowledge.

Inuyasha turned and headed towards the room he knew Miroku had been set up in; he'd rather know where at least one of his friends were should Sesshomaru attempt anything cowardly. His brother didn't want them around, it was obvious and Sesshomaru didn't seem to need to think twice about telling him to leave. He was exactly like all the other Lords he'd crossed paths with; a bossy, asshole with a stick shoved up his tight arse.

His feet shuffled with a tiny slapping sound along the clean, smooth hallways. Inuyasha flicked his ears back; he wondered how long it would take for Sesshomaru to extract them from his home. Kagome really seemed to like it here with the castle's `heavenly baths'. Inuyasha knew he'd have been thrown from the castle's grounds earlier that day had that old bag, Chiyo, not stepped in.

Perhaps he could force himself to be civil for a couple more days; Kagome deserved it and the rest of his pack hadn't seemed to mind the comfortable beds they'd been shown too. Anyway, Sesshomaru was here and the pup because of that, and Inuyasha didn't like the thought of leaving him alone with that bastard. The half demon huffed, he still didn't trust the ass to not kill off his child.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A warm breeze tickled his ears and warmed his already hot face. The sun was lovely as it heated his being. Inuyasha's eyes were dilated, unfocussed as he eyed the blue sky visible over the tops of the trees they were walking under without a thought about them or the rest of his surroundings in his mind.

Sesshomaru had kicked them out - it really was more like glared them out, but the aforementioned verb made his actions seem as painful and hard as it had been for the half-demon to leave - after a mere week. Kagome had seemed fine with it (which was surprising, considering how much she seemed to adore everything about the forsaken place); Sesshomaru had Chiyo to ride his ass about his actions and lack of action, and thus her worries over Sesshomaru not taking care of himself were nullified. The other members of his pack were also happy to leave (Miroku more than anyone else as his purple cheeks had gradually been slapped yellow by the assorted demonesses that had served them whilst they stayed), though Shippo had sulked; it seemed he'd grown very fond of the food they were served every morning and every night.

It had now been two weeks since they'd left, Inuyasha having calculated that Sesshomaru's pregnancy should be into its sixth or seventh week. He was due for another check up the week coming and Inuyasha was considering dropping in for a visit just to see how the pup was fairing with the bastard as its Ninsoku-thing; Myoga still claimed the pup would be visible around then and Inuyasha found himself aching to feel the pup moving beneath his hand again, this time without the old hag's aid. And despite the flea's whispered words, he didn't completely trust the natural rule of a beta not being able go against its alpha's wishes.

Inuyasha blinked himself out of his thoughts just in time to find his face coming into contact with the ground hard, the echoes of his name being called ringing in his triangular ears, “What the hell was that for?!” He immediately spat out, as he peered up and found Kagome staring down at him with an annoyed expression that reminded the half-demon of an angry cat.

“You weren't answering us, Inuyasha. Shippo even tugged on your hair and you didn't seem to notice.” The girl replied, as she planted her slender hands on her hips, the mentioned fox demon now perched on her right shoulder, glaring down at him much like the human girl was, “We were getting worried.”

“So you fucking sat me?!”

“Do you want me to do it again?”

Inuyasha immediately clamped his mouth shut, though his lips continued to move with his silent mutterings. Damn the girl and her ability to humiliate him with a single, pathetic word. What had he done in order to deserve this?

“What d'you want, Kagome?” He asked sulkily, his golden eyes on Miroku and Sango as they talked quietly to each other. Why couldn't Kagome act like Sango did? He didn't see her chucking her fucking hirakotsu at Miroku every time she wanted to gain his attention!

Kagome's face lit up as she smiled pleasantly, “We were wondering if you were hungry. Shippo said that there's a village a little bit ahead of us; he can see the smoke.” She hooked her thumbs into the arm bands on her yellow back pack, “And Miroku thinks he can feel an evil entity near by.” She giggled happily.

No doubt the monk was lying, Inuyasha found himself thinking idly as his eyes slowly started a steady descent down Kagome's thin form, his molten gold eyes soaking up her new clothes. She'd been given three kimonos from Sesshomaru (though Inuyasha hadn't a clue why Kagome was given them in the first place), and she'd taken to wearing them immediately. Perhaps Sesshomaru had been in a rare mood to be polite; it wasn't like Kagome had clothes after Kagura had taken her usual assemble. Inuyasha thought it was for the best; Kagome's school clothes left nothing to the imagination and he'd rather that they did.

The kimono she was wearing that day was a pastel yellow and was decorated with pretty, pink sakura flowers and white blossoms. It covered much more of her, Inuyasha was glad to see, and despite it being made from silk, it kept her warmer during the cool nights they camped in the wilderness than the short, green, plaid skirt had done.

Inuyasha nodded dejectedly as Kagome continued to stare at him insistently, waiting for an answer he almost didn't want to give. They'd end up going there anyway, it was always like that, “Yeah, whatever.”

They continued their trekking, with little interaction on Inuyasha's part. Without realising it, he'd slipped into the realm of thought he'd slowly been building within his mind for the past two weeks, where the pup, Kagome and his fathering abilities had all set up residence. The pup was again on his mind, as he wondered if he would end up looking like him or Sesshomaru. Would he be pretty or handsome? Would he be slender, yet well muscled like Sesshomaru or appear as more of a runt like he did? Would he be as pale as milk or sun darkened? Inuyasha hoped the pup didn't receive his cursed ears.

“Inuyasha?” Shippo's small voice penetrated the half demon's thoughts abruptly. He grunted and the fox demon continued, “Can you smell that?” The half demon blinked, his golden gaze having hurriedly shifted to the tiny fox demon walking a head of them, his equally miniscule nose twitching.

A symphony of confused and curious sounds sounded from the humans in his pack as Inuyasha lowered his head, so that he was crouched and leaning towards the ground and sniffed. Beneath the earthly smells of wood, water and fresh air, there was a metallic, salty smell tinting the air. Inuyasha's eyes widened immediately and he immediately stood up straight, eyes set straight ahead, “That's blood!” He exclaimed before Kagome managed to release her question from her mouth.

“Are you positive?” Miroku asked from behind him, as Kagome and Shippo gasped whilst his and Sango's brows creased with worry. Kilala and the demon slayer shared a look that verified Inuyasha's initial decree. They all frowned as Inuyasha caught Shippo's frightened gulp, making sure to keep his ears strained on the sound of the little fox demon's feet scratching against dirt and tugging himself up Miroku's robes.

Kilala didn't need to be told what to do as she jumped from her owner's arms and burst into flames, revealing a large cat with black, triangular ears and large, twin fangs as the golden flames receded. Inuyasha nodded, “Kagome ride with Kilala.” He ordered as the girl, Sango and Shippo clambered onto Kilala's back. Miroku took off after Inuyasha as he bounded in the direction of the metallic scented breeze, his staff clasped in one hand.

Inuyasha's brows creased as the sickening scent grew more potent and the smell of flames and smoke mingled together with it, much like the obnoxious miasma Naraku created and wove amongst the scents of the demons he'd devoured. His scowl carved even deeper into his boyish face as he bounded down a small hillside and was greeted with the image of a decimated, human village. It was made up of five, six small wooden huts at the most, one was most likely a barn like building, if Inuyasha were to believe his nose; the scent of burning and decaying dead bodies scratched at Inuyasha's nose relentlessly.

He heard Kagome's hesitant steps creep up behind him as she came to a stop beside him and asked in a small, horrified voice, “What happened?”

Inuyasha swept his eyes over the scene. It was obvious that this wasn't a big village, one that wasn't likely to be targeted by bandits because of the riches it housed. Judging by the smell of dead livestock, Inuyasha believed it would have been lucky should the entire village have been able to afford a cow, let alone anything worth stealing. Also, it seemed as though the village had been in the road of a large scale attack, like that his wind scar was. That ruled out any humans.

So it must have been a demon. Inuyasha bounded over to the closest corpse and sniffed. Amongst the sickening stench of blood, the half demon could smell a demonic scent despite its slight existence (it was as though it almost didn't exist at all), one that reminded him of someone he knew. But he'd left Sesshomaru in the merciless grasp of the old hag! There was no way the bastard could have made it here before him!

“What is it, Inuyasha? Have you discovered something?” Miroku's voice rang out through the wreckage from where he stood at the village's entrance, his hand raised in front of him, palm pointed towards his left as he recited a prayer for the humans.

Inuyasha called back loudly, “A demon did this.”

“Well that's kind of obvious.” Sango remarked as she searched the few buildings the village was made up of, “No human could cause this sort of destruction.”

Shippo hopped onto Inuyasha's shoulder and took a deep sniff, “Is that Sesshomaru's scent?” He asked curiously, with a few cute blinks of his large, emerald eyes.

“I think so.”

Kagome appeared on his other side. Her voice seemed streaked with sadness, “But Sesshomaru's back at his castle, resting. He's pregnant. You saw how he acted; he seemed easily tired by the time we left. There's no way he could have done this.”

“I know that! I'm not stupid, you know!” Inuyasha snapped back. But who could mimic Sesshomaru's scent? Who had the power to do so? If it wasn't Sesshomaru, then who?

“I doubt it was Naraku.” Miroku remarked, as though reading his thoughts. Inuyasha could hear him moving about the ashes and still burning buildings, “This was a small and most likely, peaceful village. There would be nothing to gain from destroying it.”

“Then who?” Kagome asked.

Inuyasha frowned, “We're going to have to find out. If it is Sesshomaru, we're going to have to stop him.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Woffy: Sorry for the long wait. I've had exams and I will need to concentrate more on them until after the 1st of November, so my updating may stay slow. This was created in the many breaks I've had over the past week and a bit. I apologise if it's choppy.

 

Thank you to the people that left reviews! Who if they don't mind I'll attempt to reply to via email when I have the time (sorry if I'm vague or don't answer your questions; I'm attempting to keep the rest of the plot under wraps).

 

Polka Dot: I'm very happy to hear that I'm not the only one glad to receive material objects. ^^; Thank you for reviewing!

 

gen50: Dammit, you make it incredibly hard to respond to your reviews and not give away the ending. *pouts childishly* Your words mean a lot to me, though. Thanks for taking the time to review. :)

 

Strawberry chaos: Holy hell, she's back! Don't worry about it, I take long leaves in the fandoms I like too. (Especially HP, but let's not go there.) Thank you for all your lovely words! I try. I really try; I don't want this to end up like those terribly OOC fics, I despise. Sesshomaru deserves better, especially because he's uke and he needs to see justice done! Thank you for reviewing!

 

ladytokyo: I agree completely! But he's my fluffy idiot, who's too stupid to realise that the love of his life is the one he keeps attempting to kill. I'm so glad you enjoyed the Inuyasha/D bit. I found that I fell for it too. Thanks for reviewing!

 

KumakuraYumi: Sesshomaru-like fashion or cranky-pregnant-lady fashion? Hm… I can honestly say I don't know. How's about we compromise and say its both. :) Thank you! I'm especially grateful to you because you pointed out what you liked specifically. Especially Kazuo, `cause I love him to bits. Though not more than Chiyo. Thanks for reviewing, m'dear!

 

pretty-crazed-doll: I know! There should be more! More uke!Sesshomaru! More Sesshomaru falling into the realms of motherhood! Thanks for reviewing!

 

 

 

Anyway, review please! They're keeping me writing (and alive; stupid effing exams are killing me!).