InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ I know you lover her ❯ Good and Bad Things ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

By: Seleni

Vocabulary

Shikon no Tama - Jewel of Four Souls

Okaa-san - Mother

Koucho - Principal

Hotel Granvia Kyoto - A five star hotel in Kyoto, Japan

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Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

Chapter 4: Good and Bad Things

Ten weeks had passed after she had given up on finding the yokai that had left her pregnant. Ever since the day she had gone back to her house with nothing but anger at her own stupidity, she had not been allowed to leave until the intended day. Shiori-sensei had recommended for her to stay put for three good reasons. One, she was carrying a hanyou pup. Two, other full yokai didn't like half-demons and regarded them as way beneath the dirt in their shoes. If they found out she was expecting one â”€and thanks to their noses they wouldâ”€ they could try to kill her and the one of the many shame of the demon race. And three, Maaya was not mated. If she got in an ugly situation, there was no one to protect her and her child. She had had to agree but hadn't liked the idea at all. However, her friends had decided for her and secluded her in her own apartment with Mi in charge of getting whatever she needed.

The bright side of her imprisonment had been the enormous amount of time she had to do whatever she wanted, except going out. So she had done what was most important thing at that moment and read books. She had learned about yokai law, their customs, anatomy and others. But the thing that got her attention was how unusual her situation was. The process of impregnating a female from whichever species was harder than it looked. First, a yokai always knew by the scent when the female was in heat or fertile so if there had been any possibility of having a child at all, then her lover knew. And two, a human female wasn't made to receive a yokai's powerful sperm and a human male's sperm wasn't powerful enough to fecundate a female yokai's egg. A human male impregnating a female yokai was the rarest one so far. Such a male had to be really powerful and they were, in most cases, monks whose spiritual powers exceeded the norm. Also, the only way for a weak human female to have a yokai's child would be if they mated. Usually the mating bite was place in the juncture between the neck and the shoulder with some of their yoki fused into the bloodstream for a mark to be created, which also provoked a slight change in the scent. There were cases where the mark was place in other body parts but there was always a mark, even when the instincts overrode the rational part of the yokai a mark was left. But she had no such thing. No even something resembling a birth mark. And believe her, when she found out about the possibility, she took the time to search every possible place where a mark could be.

From then on, she believed that she was among the strong ningen females who could support a hanyou child with no danger to her life. It didn't make her feel any better because there were many loose strings but she would do with what she had, like the little bundle at her side. Her child had been born that morning after a hellish night but she was happy. The pup looked so much like his father that was uncanny. He had a puff of silver hair at the top of the head that was as smooth as the fines of silks and shiny as sunrays. His little hands had small claws and his elfish ears were a mini version of his father's. And still, he managed to give off an aura of innocence unknown to appear in any yokai. His eyes were still close and she knew they wouldn't open for a couple of days. In his forehead was the lilac crescent moon and on his cheek a silver stripe that was barely visible against his marble skin appeared.

“Yuu” she said to herself “Yuu is your name little one”.

She felt him get more at ease at her side and continue his nap. He had not been fed and that worried her. She knew yokai weren't like humans, but she wondered if it was right not to feed him. She had also been pleased when the doctor placed him in her arms. He sniffed the air as if checking if that was the right person before drifting off to sleep.

After a while she was interrupted by Itou-sensei. The one that had attended her during the birthing had been a male hanyou. She thought his name to be Jinenji. The half-demon had big blue eyes and a long horse like face with black hair. He was deformed but proved to be an excellent doctor and also very nice. She had wondered who his sire was. After all, she could not blame him for his own appearance, but she secretly wondered about his father's look.

Shiori sat next to her with clip board in hand ready to ask as many questions as needed to answer her increasing curiosity. Once again she wondered who this female was and why was she pupped by an Inu yokai, the Western Lord nonetheless. But the question that was nagging her was `Is she human?' and `If no, what is she?' She decided to start with regular questions before going into the big picture.

“How are you doing?” she asked the woman who was smiling at her son.

“I'm fine. Thank you Itou-sensei” she replied.

“That's good, but we are not done yet. We need to take a sample of your blood and his. It seems there is something unusual with the boy” she saw the concerned look in the mother's eyes.

“Is he going to be alright? I mean it's something bad? I-I…”she said tearing up.

“You don't have to worry. The boy is healthy and strong, actually too strong to be a hanyou, that's why we need to do some tests and make sure we didn't make a mistake” she said wondering how the female in front of her didn't know who the father of her child was.

“What do you mean?” Maaya asked curiosity taking the better of her.

“Well, it seems your son is a full-blooded Inu yokai and not a hanyou as we thought he would be. We are trying to find out why this happened. There is the possibility that the father's blood is too strong and overpowered most of yours making him look more yokai-like. If that is the case, there would be no problem. But because we are not sure, we need to do some tests. If he's a yokai we would be asking you to come frequently for checkups. I'm afraid we have never had such a case before and we don't know if it could be dangerous” said Shiori truthfully, thinking how proud Sesshoumaru would be if he saw the little pup.

“A yokai?” asked Maaya. She couldn't believe that her son was a full-blooded demon, but somehow it felt right.

“Also, do you know anything about your ancestry?” asked the hanyou.

“Ancestry? No, I never knew my parents. I was raised by a family who found me in the forest near their house” she said questioning what that had to do with anything.

“Did they find anything on you? Like jewelry, something that could direct them to your real parents” asked Shiori.

“No, but they said I was glowing when they found me. They also said it was early morning and that the sun lighted up the place where I was” she said as nothing special. The doctor, however, thought it might be important; but changed the course of their conversation.

“Have you nourished him yet?” she asked.

“Ah no” shock sounding in her voice, what kind of mother was she?

“Don't worry, he should let you know when he's hungry, yokai baby don't eat right away, they wait until their stomach is ready to consume milk” said the Shiori smiling at her reaction. “And he already smelled you, right?”

“Yes, he did. Why would he do that?”

“You see, yokai, unlike humans, only feed from their mothers, and in rare cases, they let their father. If their mother is not there to provide for them they'll starve to death. However, with the advance in medicine â”€yokai and humanâ”€ we have found ways to feed them. This method is by force and, more often than not, the pup suffers injuries that might not be easily cured or forgotten. Well, the point of such painful treatment is to keep them alive, but there is too much controversy with it. Many believe that such children should be killed and others think they should be left to live, give them an opportunity that in another time they wouldn't have had” she clarified.

“I didn't know that” she whispered to herself.

“That only means you haven't been reading the books I gave you” said Shiori. “We'll take care of that later. So, what name will you give him?”

“Yuu” said Maaya smiling at the doctor “and he's going to have my last name.”

“Oh, what about his father” asked the curious doctor. Maaya's cheek took a rose color at the question. “Don't worry, I won't judge you”.

“I know, but it's kind of embarrassing” taking a deep breath, Maaya told her all she knew about the father of her child to her doctor that was becoming a close friend.

“I see, then I agree that is better if you put your last name, somehow it doesn't feel like that was his real one” said Shiori. Now she knew why Maaya was clueless to the identity of her lover. Sesshoumaru had lied to her and Itou-sensei had no idea of what to do. She was acquainted with the Western Lord and had known him for at least 200 years, so she knew of his hate for the ningen race. She had known of his newest strange hobby but never thought that he could make such a mistake. Maybe he was losing his touch or maybe Maaya was just special. And that was what she was going to find out. But who else knew of this development? She needed to know. That kind of knowledge was risky and Maaya's life could be in danger. But first things first, she needed to know everything she could about her charge and do some studies. “Changing the subject, I think we should keep this information secret for the time being. You could be in danger if it got out, although I'll have to talk to the Director before accepting your case”.

“You are going to tell Hyata-san?” said Maaya a little surprised. If her case was going to pass through the board of Directors then it had to be important.

“You know Hiten?” asked Shiori surprised. It seemed Maaya made friend of the most unexpected people.

“Well, I work with Miroku and the pervert mentions him a lot” Maaya said.

“Miroku?” Itou-sensei was impressed and now she knew with whom to talk to keep the secret safe. “Yeah, well, your case is important and one of a kind. But, oh look at the time. I think you should rest before I come to take the blood samples. I would suggest you eat something too, you need to be strong enough to feed him” she said matter-of-factly. “And there is somebody who wants to see you. I'll send her in” she added and left in a hurry processing everything she had been told until now. There was a possibility that they would have to hide Yuu's markings. Since Maaya didn't know who the pup's father was, it would be safer for her to keep the pup hidden. Shiori would have to convince her, otherwise she could find herself in a very bad position if others found out that Yuu was Sesshoumaru's son. And she was sure they would, the crescent moon was enough to convince her that he was, and so it would encourage others. Maybe if she told Maaya that she would be in danger if others knew he was a full demon birthed by a human female she would agree to it. She was hoping she would or they could die.

Minutes later Hitomiko was next to Maaya, appreciating the boy's physique and somehow happy for her friend. During the last four months she had changed somewhat. She didn't hate yokai as before. The dislike hadn't disappeared entirely, but she was giving them an opportunity. She figured out they had more in common that either race wanted to admit and she kept it to herself. She knew humans hated what they didn't know or understand, and hadn't been better than yokai in many occasion.

Maaya was glad that her friend had decided to give her another chance to redeem herself, and that she acknowledged her son too. She promised herself not to be foolish again; she had friends that wanted to help her as much as she was ready to help them. She told her what the doctor had said about the possibility of the baby being a full yokai which made her friend shift nervously in her chair. However, Maaya didn't think anything of it; her friend didn't like yokai to begin with.

* * *

After leaving Maaya with her friend, Shiori went directly to see Hiten. He needed to know what was happening if something was to be done about it. That and he was the only person that could be considered a friend of Sesshoumaru's. Going to the elevator and stopping on the sixth floor, she walked through several hallways before arriving at Hiten's private office.

“Hyata-sama” she asked while knocking softly on the door.

“Come in, Shiori” he said. “What is it?” he knew Itou-sensei didn't go to see him very often and it usually meant some very important business was at hand.

“It's about a patient, her name is Minamoto Maaya” she said while closing the door behind her and making sure nobody was there to listen in their conversation.

“What about her?” Hiten wondered what was up. It was unusual for his employee to just come in to talk about a patient. At the same time, he knew it had to be really important to go directly to him so his fixed his red eyes on the small female figure that went to take a seat in front of his desk.

“She just gave birth to a healthy pup. An inu yokai” Shiori paused before continuing. “Sesshoumaru's son”.

“What?” exclaimed Hiten not sure if he had heard right.

“I'm saying that my patient was pregnant with Sesshoumaru's child” repeated Shiori a little irritated. Really, males could be so dense at times.

“That's impossible. Sesshoumaru wouldn't have made such a catastrophic mistake at such an important time” thinking fast he couldn't help but ask several stupid questions. “Are you sure it's his son?” Shiori nodded. “Couldn't it be someone who just happened to look very similar to him?” obviously, he was in denial.

“How many demons do you know that have golden eyes, silver hair, stripes on their cheeks and a mauve crescent moon in their forehead? I know there are many people with silver hair, or with stripes, even with golden eye color, but none have had all of those attributes together and none of them had a crescent moon in their body” replied Itou-sensei a little angry but understanding at the same time. “I know what I saw, Hyata-sama, and I can tell you it's not normal or at the right time, but it's real. We have to do something. Maaya doesn't have any idea that Sesshoumaru is the father and I'm pretty sure Sesshoumaru doesn't know he has a son; otherwise he wouldn't be planning to launch this ridiculous campaign at a time like this.”

“I see” replied the still in denial director of Kaminari Health Institute.

“No, you don't. Sesshoumaru's son is a full blooded demon but his mother is a human, a filthy ningen in the eyes of the demon society, but a special one. If they find out that she can bear full blooded children, Kami knows what they could do to her those traditionalists that want to keep the race pure. She will be in danger and Sesshoumaru is the only who can keep her save…”

“Shiori” said a very serious looking Hiten, interrupting her speech “we cannot tell Sesshoumaru about this.”

“Wha-? Why?”

“Right now, Sesshoumaru's campaign is in favor of the Hanyou's Rights. There are many things that indicate that it might be successful. Among them, the support of the hanyou is important and because his brother is also a half-demon, many believe in him. Also, because Sesshoumaru is a taiyokai, other of us also will have to tolerate your kind, and because Inuyasha is married to Kagome, a human and a miko, humanity will also have to show their support. But if a full blooded son of his appears right now, Hanyou-tachi will think he was not truthful in his intentions. Demons will believe Sesshoumaru prefers the superiority of the race before anything else and might revolt against the humans and hanyou. And humanity… humanity is the most dangerous of them all, if demons attack, they will have no doubt in defending themselves and this feeble peace we have worked so hard to attain will come crashing down on us” Hiten sighed. “It's best if Sesshoumaru remains ignorant of his child for the time being.”

“Then, who is to protect her and her child?” asked Shiori feeling useless.

“We'll have to do” replied Hiten. “Hiding his features and making sure that your patient understands that he must be kept save at all times is all we can do for now. She have to come for checkups weekly, after all, it seems like she is rather unusual.”

“I understand. Thank you, Hyata-sama” said Shiori while standing up and readying herself to leave. “He… Sesshoumaru, he'll kill us when he finds out about this, won't he?”

“Most likely” said Hiten also thinking the same thing. His friend wouldn't like it in the least but it was a need and he would come to understand it, eventually. He just hoped that it was before he actually got to the part of killing them.

“Ah, before I forget, I think your friend, Miroku, knows about it too so maybe you should speak with him” said Shiori before closing the door behind her.

* * *

Two Years Later

“Now that everybody is here we can begin” said Kaede in front of her officers in the meeting room. “We have decided to begin an operation on Kagewaki Naraku.” The silence in the room was total.

“Why now?” asked Yura who after a while.

“Well, we have information that somebody working for Kagewaki was involved in a drug bust that was done a week ago. Apparently, the deal didn't go too well and several ningen and yokai were found dead. No money was discovered and the package had disappeared as well. However, we found some samples of a drug in one of the corpses. The body was identified as Yoshida Goshinki, male, at least 100 years old appearing to be in his 30s. He had been arrested before but we never had proof to do anything else and he was released soon after. He had been working for Kagewaki for at least 20 years now, but we haven't been able to establish any connection between the two” informed Kaede.

”It still doesn't answer the question” said Kohaku who was sitting next to Yura.

“Be patient, boy, I'll get there when its time” she chuckled at their eagerness. “In these folders is all the information we have” she said while passing them around and continued talking. “The material found in Goshinki's body was sent to the laboratories for examination. The results we got showed a powerful chemical substance. Also, the body showed signs of increased heart rate and blood pressure, increased temperate and high chemical activity in the brain. It seems he had a seizure from the amount that he was infused. We believe is a new drug being advertised in the black market. Rumor has it that is not out yet, so we assumed that what happened there was an encounter between those directly connected with its manufacture.”

“Why are we getting involved in this case? If it's about drugs the Drug Department should take care of it” said Hitomiko.

“Usually, they would take the case. However, we are not dealing with a regular drug but with a new one. This drug is powerful enough to kill a yokai” finished saying Kaede. The room was quiet for a couple of seconds until several `what's' were heard. “Exactly, this drug it's what killed Yoshida Goshinki. And is our job to find where this drug is being produced, by whom and to stop its fabrication. We can't allow this drug to reach the black market or we'll have a bigger problem in our hands.”

“But Kaede-keishi, we'll need our best people in this case and most of us are busy with the Takemaru case. We don't have enough man power to handle both” said Maaya.

“We are going to have to stop investigation about Takemaru, Maaya; this is more important right now. We'll keep watch lest something big happens while we are busy, but other than that, I won't be able to do.”

“But we almost had him…” pleaded Maaya.

“Not only that, we have a witness” said Yura placing a hand over Maaya's shoulder.

“How come we didn't know about that?” asked Miroku who hadn't made his presence known until then.

“She asked me to keep quiet. He has been looking for her and she didn't want to expose her children to danger. However, he is getting closer and we'll have to move her to a safer place until she's able to testify against him” she stated.

“Who is the witness?” asked Hitomiko trying to see Yura's face and not her friend's black head.

“Takemaru Kikyo, Takemaru Setsuna's wife” everybody was surprised at Yura's answer. They didn't expect Takemaru's wife to go against him.

“Where is she staying at?” asked Miroku from the far end of the table.

“She's in Hoshiyomi's territory, in Tokyo” she answered.

“Very well, Yura, you are going to continue in the Takemaru Case. The rest of us are going to begin working in the Kagewaki Case” ordered Kaede.

“I'll need more people working with me Kaede-keishi” alleged Yura.

“You're right about that. I'm going to have to contact other stations and ask for a little back up. I can't promise you anything though” answered Kaede.

“Ok” that was the best she could hope for and she knew it so she continued to look through her papers.

“Well, how are we going to infiltrate Kagewaki's ranks?” asked Kohaku.

“We could get one of us to go and look for a job at his company” suggested Hitomiko.

“Not bad, but it would take years to get close to Naraku when you are just another employee in his corporation and we need to do this fast, I'm sure our bosses want some result. After all, we haven't been able to capture him and we have an advantage right now. That is something we won't have forever” said Maaya.

“True” sighed her friend.

After an hour of discussing other alternatives they had nothing. Getting close to Kagewaki Naraku was going to be difficult even with a plan. If they didn't have anything planned it would be impossible.

“There is going to be a Charity Ball in October 10. It's hosted by the Taisho Corporation. If we could get in there maybe we could get close enough to Naraku. He's famous for playing Daddy-Long-Legs” said Yura while looking at her papers. “The tricky part would be getting around his wife, Kaguya. She is rumored to be a real bitch to any woman who gets too close to him in public” everybody was looking her way. They had forgotten she was there since she wasn't part of the investigation.

“I can solve that problem” said Miroku. He was married to Sango whose best friend was Taisho Kagome. She was married to the younger of the Taisho brothers but she could get them the invitations if they asked her. “I'm going to the Ball but we'll need a female to get close to him and somebody else to go with her.”

“Kohaku you'll go with Maaya to this Ball. Miroku will obviously go with Sango and both of you will be Maaya's back up if needed. Hitomiko, you will get all information available about Naraku and those who are closest to him. See if there is any reason for him to go to this Charity Ball, we know he and the Taishou don't get along” said Kaede.

Everything was beginning to take form. They just had to wait for a week to put their plan into action. Maaya was to play as the owner of a small company that needed help with her new acquainted assets. She was going with Kohaku, an old friend that had invited her to spend some time together. They hoped Naraku wouldn't be too suspicious about their true intention and that Kaguya wouldn't be a bitch in front of everybody. If everything went smoothly, Naraku would be interested in Maaya's business and they could use that cover for possible connection to the drug. The plan was pretty simple and if something didn't go right, Maaya just had to remit the plan to someone else and hopefully succeed.

Sadly, there was a possibility that Naraku wouldn't participate in the Ball. They knew Kagewaki and the Taisho brothers didn't get along. If they sent an invitation to him was just formalities and they were hoping he would call to cancel. So for the plan to work, they needed that hated man to go, even if his assistance didn't mean something good. Most likely, in such case, it was because he had a plan of his own and that could endanger the whole operation.

* * *

Maaya stopped in front of the Daycare she had to leave her baby at. The school was small with a staff of 14 people. Overall they were nice and they accepted hanyou, yokai and ningen. That was the main problem it suffered. The majority of the children that were enrolled were human, leaving half-demons in the minority and demons nonexistent. So the hanyou that actually assisted were bullied most of the time. If she had had the option, she would have found a more appropriate place for Yuu but they were having economic problems and it was impossible to pay a hanyou school at the time. That was the reason she was disappointed with the school. Every day, Yuu did something wrong and he was grounded for some reason or another. It didn't matter that he looked four years old. He was half that age and should be treated as such. Although Maaya had to admit that he was smarter than the regular two-year-old. With his silver hair reaching his shoulder, those dark gold eyes and a serious expression in his young face made him look more mature than he really was. Still, his temper needed work. He was really protective of her. Actually, if anybody said something they shouldn't about her or looked at her the wrong way, it was enough to make him angry and growl dangerously at the assailant. Usually that would be enough to scare any possible suitors but it didn't always work.

As she deigned to enter the hated institution, she felt something wrap around her leg and instinctively reached to touch his beautiful triangular ears that twitched in response to each sound it heard. He had smelled her when she reached the school door and ran as fast as he could, leaving a screaming teacher behind.

“I missed you Okaa-san” said the little boy with eyes of dark gold.

“I missed you too, sweetie, you were good while I was away?” she asked kneeling down to see her child in the eyes and inspecting his face looking for any possible mark that might be showing.

“Yep, the teacher didn't have to seat me in that chair today and…” he stopped talking and slightly snarled.

“No, I didn't have to use the chair, he was sent to the principal's office, again. We were about to call you, Minamoto-san, when he ran away” said a voice behind him. Yuu's growling increased.

“Yuu, don't be rude and stop growling” she scolded her child. Since he was a yokai, and usually followed his instincts, he was harder to control. “What happened this time?” she asked him guessing the answered.

“Some human brat was calling you names and told him to shut up” said Yuu lowering his voice as he went on.

“That's right Minamoto-san, now the child can't talk at all; your son broke his jaw” said the teacher accusingly. “We called for the boy's mother and she is on her way. She would like to speak with you personally. And while you wait, you should put a leash around his neck” the cruel tone in the man's voice was enough to make Yuu's fake ears flat against his head. Maaya didn't like it one bit. It was enough that her son had to listen to his snide comments and annoying voice, now he had to suffer through it while she was there too? No way, and if that was the way they treated her child in the stupid place, then she wasn't letting him return.

“I would suggest you don't refer to my son as if he was some kind of beast or you might join your student in the infirmary” said Maaya in a cold tone. She was raging mad. How dare this sorry excuse of a teacher handle her son like some dog? True, he was an Inu yokai, but he had no right to mistreat him. “And I would like to talk to the Principal as well.”

She followed the `teacher' to the main office holding her son's little hand in her. He knew better than to talk right now. It took him long enough to learn not to get in his mother's way when she was furious and he knew what was coming.

“What did the brat say?” she asked him. “And don't even think about lying to me.” That was only a warning but he knew better.

“He said you were a whore for letting a yokai have you. And that the student's didn't like a hanyou bastard in their class. His mother said that it was degrading to have a bitch like you as my mother and we should leave for good” he said in a low voice “I couldn't control myself and I hit him. Sorry, Okaa-san, I didn't mean to” he whimpered. She was surprised; she didn't know that children had that kind of vocabulary.

“Don't worry sweetie, it's not your fault” she said to him as kind as her rage allowed her to. She knew her child, and he wouldn't break anybody's bone without a reason. Besides, he was defending her honor as he was supposed to. She had learned that from the books Itou-sensei had given her, and more. She could use her rights as the yokai law said and take the problem into higher grounds. In that time and age it meant taking the case to court. Once upon a time, when things hadn't been so organized, the Lord himself took care of this type of cases where fatherless pups were accused of some wrong doing. But nowadays, the man was just too busy to waste time in trivial matters so the yokai created a court to help the dutiful Lord. However, as always, things weren't that simple. Yuu was inscribed as a half-demon, something that in a yokai court was akin of a grave sin. They might try to do something to hurt him just because of what he seemed to be.

Maaya stepped into the principal's office without almost noticing. She had been too caught up in her own thoughts to pay attention to where she was going but her son was kind enough to remind her when he growled silently. Her baby was still holding her leg like his life depended on it. It didn't but Yuu didn't like to be reprimanded in public or at all, that was the only reason she had so little problems with him. Well, that was until she enrolled him in this mediocre school.

Looking around and taking in the simple design of the office which she was more acquainted with that she wanted to, she saw the cabinets in one side and stands with book on another. A dark purple rug was under her feet and a fake plant did little to decorate the place. Behind a big desk full of folders was a man. He looked too kind for his own good. He didn't have strong character which was shown by his gentle eyes that confirmed how happy he was to see her. She didn't like that either. He was about two inches taller than her with short brown hair. He smiled when he saw her, apparently, oblivious to the situation.

“Minamoto-san, what a surprise” he said showing her an empty seat. “What brings you here?”

“Yuu, wait outside” she ordered her pup and he growled in return showing his displeasure but left. It seemed her son didn't like the man anymore than she did. Maaya waited until her son was out of hearing range to continue. “Hojo-sensei, we have a little situation with another student…”

“Ah, that is just kid's things, you shouldn't worry so much about it” Hojo replied giving little importance to, what he belief, could be taken care of between children themselves.

“Excuse me?” sounded Maaya's voice full of indignation. “I'll let you know that my son has been bullied since the day I enrolled him here and you have done nothing about it” she informed him and continued when he tried to say something “Not only that, but his teacher also grounds him for no apparent reason and other children call him and me names they shouldn't even know. I have no proof that there has been physical abuse and Yuu hasn't complained about it, but I really wouldn't be surprised if it happened even when I hope it hasn't” she was far too angry to care anymore so she continued on her tirade. “This school should be for ningen only since they are the only people attending. That crappy advertisement that said yokai and hanyou allowed shouldn't be told to the public because they aren't truthfully accepted in this school.” She said turning her back to leave.

“Maaya-san, please, tell what happen to make you so angry?” asked the still clueless principal. Her words had cut deep but he needed to know why she was so mad.

“What happened?” she repeated automatically. “I see you are as dense as ever, principal. My son has had enough of the insults he received from his schoolmates and punched one that called me a whore and a bitch. I think that is enough to warrant a warning to change the school policies from the court. And make no mistake; there is where I'm going next” said a very decided onna.

“Maaya-san, please, don't…” the principal was interrupted by a scream coming from the hallway. That only meant one thing, and not a good one at that. Maaya left the man with the unfinished sentence in his mouth and ran outside looking for her son. What she saw when she got there was a crimson eyed yokai biting a woman's hand and screams of pain that attracted the attention of half the school. Blood was coming out at a fast pace and the woman was hitting her child in the head to let her go. Several others came to help, also abusing her kid to release the innocent onna but Maaya knew better, she could see how red Yuu's cheek was and the determination in his eyes. He wasn't letting go of this woman who had offended his mother and slapped him in front of everybody.

Everything had happened like in movie, and when it finally sunk in, Maaya was fighting for control. Thanks Kami-sama she wasn't a yokai or there would be a couple of corpses sitting in the hallway. With murderous decision she went toward the feuding pair making everybody else stop what they were doing and take several steps back. She stopped the striking hand of the crying woman before it met its target and kneeled down while holding the onna's appendage. She patted her son's head and softly told him to let go but he was like a bulldog, unwilling to release his pray even if he was a little calmer.

“Yuu, let her hand go” ordered Maaya. She had to repeat herself five more time, but he finally let go of the hand. His eyes took sometime before returning to the dark golden color they always had. She pulled him toward her as he hid his face in her chest. She knew he was crying, something he rarely did in front of her, even less in front of strangers. This bitch was going to pay for what she did to her son.

“You should tie that beast and keep him in the basement. He's dangerous. You shouldn't let him out of your sight” cried the woman while holding her bloody hand. “I'm going to call the police. This isn't going to stay this way.”

“Now, ladies, this is just a quarrel between children. Don't let it get the best of you” said the principal in an effort to calm the situation.

“What are you saying Koucho-san, this isn't some quarrel…”

“She's right. This is an offence to my son. His rights have been violated and as the law says I'll ask for retribution” said Maaya in a calm yet poisonous voice. “He's not a ningen, he's a yokai and their laws will be honored. I will not allow the offender to go unpunished. Also, my son won't be coming to this school anymore.”

“What you talking about, he bit my hand like a rabid dog. You should be paying me not the other way around” exclaimed the onna who, by then, had a nurse cleaning her wound.

“It was your own fault. You slapped him first. And you should be grateful; if he was older you wouldn't be in one piece. Inu yokai don't take insults lightly” said Maaya. She turned around and left.

She wanted to beat that woman into a pulp, but she knew better. She had more possibility of winning if she just stood down. Besides, she knew in yokai society, the male was supposed to be the one to take retribution and since there was no such male in her life, the weight of defending her fell on the court system, and even then, there was little possibility of her winning. However, for these kinds of cases the Ningen-Yokai Relation Group was created. She had friends there and they knew what to do.

Leaving the infernal school, she went to her car and tried to calm her son but the feeling of failure was also drowning her. She felt so bad inside, like her heart war wrenching itself in her chest. `What kind of mother I am?' Maaya asked herself trying to avoid the tears that she knew wanted to fall. `What kind of mother let's her child get hurt right in front of her?' Her son had been hurt and she couldn't do anything about it. Kami, she felt like shit for letting that bitch do that to him. If he had a father, they wouldn't be in this situation, but the gods weren't that kind. She heard a muffled sob from him and she couldn't stop her own tears from leaving her eyes. She hated being this weak.

“Don't worry, sweetie, I'll make your favorite food when we get home. So stop crying alright, Okaa-san will make sure that bi... woman doesn't hurt you anymore” he only nodded and fought to keep the rest of the tears from falling.

* * *

Sesshoumaru was making sure that everything would be fine during his Charity thing. He wasn't a party person but Kagome had mentioned something about it and he thought he would give it a try. It turned out to be harder than he thought. He had to send out invitations, called for a chef to provide food and another thousand things he had never done before or had time to do. At the end he had to ask her to help him. He was not used to being helped but he was at lost about this ceremony and she agreed. So there was no damage done.

She had made a list of possible places where the party could be held at, what entertainment to provide and even the menu. He told her she was free to choose what she liked. She chose the Hotel Granvia Kyoto, the room in the third floor known as the Genji Ballroom. He had accepted. He had never been in the hotel but heard many opinions about it and none of them were bad. She also wanted to display the Shikon no Tama, she knew it could be dangerous but with some guards would be safe. And she wouldn't be too far away just in case.

The food to be served was Japanese style cuisine and the drink was traditional sake. The invitations to the party were white with golden letter. In the cover it had mauve crescent moons and silvery stars that fell from a passing comet. It had the place, date and time of the ball and said to bring a partner. They already had the reservation in the hotel together with the requested services of the valet parking. The place would be decorated with his colors. The table cloth would be golden with silver moons in the border. The centerpiece would be a flower bouquet with purple dianthus, lily of the valley and yellow roses. All that was left was to contract the serving staff and fix up the place.

He should be happy, but something was bothering him. He checked his guest list again and looked at a name he had hoped not to see, Kagewaki Naraku. He didn't want to send him any invitation but Kagome had convinced him otherwise. She said she was sure Naraku wouldn't come but it seemed she had been wrong. And he didn't like that, it was no secret they didn't get along and he had to wonder why that sorry excuse of hanyou was going to his ball.

He was sure nothing good would come out of it, it never did. But it's not like he could tell him not to come. However, he was going to be ready for whatever the hanyou threw at him. He would increase the surveillance of the place and even call some of the people in his bodyguard team to protect Kagome and the Shikon no Tama.

He picked up his phone and dialed a number from Nara. It rang three times before somebody answered.

“Moegi” he said. “I need your team here in a week”

“What are we in charge of protecting, Sesshoumaru-sama?” asked the monotone voice on the other side of the phone.

“The Shikon no Tama” he said.

“Where is the Shikon Miko?” she asked.

“She'll be there, but won't be able to protect the jewel” he replied.

“What about the jobs we have for next week?” inquired the voice again.

“Leave Ai in charge of those, divide her team so they can cover more while you guys are here” he ordered.

“Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama” she said before hanging up.

At least with Moegi's team in there the probability of been attacked decreased. But he would be ready for something to occur. He knew Naraku and he was going to do something to endanger his little party.

******************************************

A/N: I hope you like this chapter. There is a jump of two years from the beginning, so if there is any question of what could have happened during that time, part of the story explains it, the rest I would say it was taking care of Yuu and working her ass off to sustain both of them. I'll admit that I'm trying to figure out her schedule to accommodate Sesshoumaru in because, my god, it's busy, although, she'll need time for the demand against Yuu and her.

There had been a couple of changes on the story; however, in this chapter in particular, I just made it better. The stupid plan to try and contact Naraku is the same, but their goal is to establish a business connection that could be used to gain access to his drug deals not to go to bed with him as it was stated before.

Also, a little more is said about Shiori's plan to hide Yuu's existence from Sesshoumaru but that is mainly done to protect Maaya and the pup. Why they don't tell her is still a plot thing I'm working out but I'll find an excuse for that. I might say it has something to do with his political career but haven't decided yet. Also, the division of Lands I did is as follows: Lower Honshu Area which is made by Chugoku, Kinki and Chubu will be considered as the Western Territories and they are represented by Sesshoumaru; Upper Honshu (Kanto and Tohoku Area) are the Eastern Territories oversaw by Hoshiyomu; Hokkaido is governed by Menomaru making it the Northern Territory; and last, Southern Territories which are the two remaining islands Kyushu and Shikoku regulated by Abi. Before, I had not drawn a map so I got the names mixed up. Menomaru does not reigns over Tokyo, Hoshiyomu does.

Seleni