InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Into the Night ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

InuYasha sighed. Sometimes the wench really pissed him off. She knew he hated to be kept waiting. He cranked the steering wheel on the red Mercedes G55 AMG and stepped on the gas pedal. The Mercedes was another thing that burned his ass. She wasn't allowed to ride with him on his motorcycle, or in his Ferrari. It had to be the freakin' suv. Anything else just wasn't safe enough for little Kagome. He burned rubber on the asphalt. He was going to be late for school. The suv slid sideways with a spray of gravel as he turned onto the dirt road leading up to the shrine. By the time he stomped on the brakes at the base of the shrine steps, the suv was covered in dust. Damn Sesshomaru had his head up his ass again. He wasn't keeping up with the application of liquid dustlayer that was supposed to keep the Taisho's expensive vehicles from looking like shit. He leaned on the horn, fully expecting to see Kagome come running down the shrine steps, apologizing for being late. He waited, then honked again. Still no Kagome. Swinging his door open, he jumped out and leaped up the steps. Since he took the steps five at a time, it didn't take him long to reach the top, then a few more leaps landed him on the roof of the two-story house. Kagome's bedroom window was open, as usual. Pops wouldn't like it if he found out she habitually left her window open. The old man guarded her like a dog with a bone. He snorted at the mental image. InuYasha climbed through the open window and into her room. It would serve her right if he scared the shit out of her. He looked around the room. Her bed was neatly made. Her textbooks were open on her desk, pens and pencils scattered around the surface. She wasn't there. He cursed loudly. Inconsiderate bitch.

He slammed out of the room, and pounded down the stairs. Mrs. Higurashi was in the kitchen, humming and cooking something on the stove as always. "Mom!" InuYasha shouted.

Mrs. Higurashi smiled and smoothed an imaginary wrinkle from her apron. "Why, InuYasha. What a pleasant surprise. Would you like a waffle, dear?"

InuYasha shook his head. He had made enough noise on his way down the stairs to wake the dead. "I'm looking for you daughter. She's gonna make me late for school!"

Mrs. Higurashi looked around the kitchen, as though the girl might be standing in the corner like a broom, for crying out loud. "Fuck!" InuYasha bellowed.

Kagome's little brother Souta ran into the room, coming to a skidding halt on the freshly waxed linoleum. "What's up, dog brother?" He asked.

"I'm looking for your fucking sister, that's what's up!"

"Inu-Yasha!"

"Sorry, Mom." He mumbled. "Listen, you're going to have to drive her to school today, I've gotta get going."

"That's fine, dear."

Inuyasha walked over, his little white dog ears at half-mast. He draped his arms over Mrs. Higurashi's shoulders, and gave her a quick hug. "Thanks, Mom."

Once she heard the front door close with a loud "bang" she sat down at the kitchen table, picking thoughtfully at a little hole in the vinyl tablecloth. She was supposed to call Inu Taisho when something like this happened, but it always caused so much commotion. Mrs. Higurashi hated conflict.

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The main entrance to the Taisho's mansion was paved, but the roads that ran to the fields and outlying buildings on the ranch were dirt. Sesshomaru had been forced to cut back on maintenance of the ranch to make up for the family's spending, and it was beginning to show. Clouds of dust billowed up after vehicles passed down dirt roads, fences went without painting, and Sesshomaru spent hours of his "free time" repairing agricultural equipment that should have been replaced years ago. Thanks to the Taisho's spending habit, his oldest son had become an experienced shade-tree mechanic.

Sesshomaru drew a fat heart in the dust that covered the hood of his truck. He didn't mind driving an old beater. The white 1997 Dodge half-ton had given years of good service, and Sesshomaru was loyal that way. He formed a sentimental attachment to the machines that made the ranch run, and he didn't really begrudge the time he spent keeping them going. He drew a diagonal line through the heart, trying to decide how to go about telling his family about him and Kagome. He'd have to ask Mrs. Higurashi for permission to marry her daughter, as well. He added a triangular arrow-head to his composition. Mrs. Higurashi was a cipher. Or perhaps a Stepford Wife, though there was no husband in evidence. The Taisho seemed to fill that role admirably, however. Sesshomaru used to wonder at the way the mild woman allowed Inu Taisho to control her little family. The Higurashi's had never really assimilated to life in the United States, and the Taisho was their only source of support, so the situation was somewhat understandable. Besides, his father exerted the same control over his own life, as well. He drew short little lines in the dust, representing the fletching of the arrow.

Maybe he should tell his mother, first. Thinking about Mommy Dearest brought on an instant headache, the way eating too much cold ice cream would. He pinched the bridge of his nose in response. Maybe he would tell his mother AFTER the wedding. An old demon, as old as his father, or maybe older, she was dead-set against "race mixing". It didn't help that her place by Inu Taisho's side was now occupied by a human female. Or "stolen" by "that whore" as she put it.

On the other hand, maybe Mother would pretend to side with him, in spite of her prejudices. She really did hate the Taisho and his concubine that much. He slapped some of the dust out of his jeans, climbed into the driver's seat and took off for his mother's gallery in Santa Barbara.

It was a bright, sunshiny day, the sky as blue as a robin's egg, the vegetation on the verge of the roadways green and fresh. As much as he loved the ranch, it felt good to get behind the wheel and just drive.

Sesshomaru was one of those souls blessed with good parking space karma, meaning there was a BMW pulling out of the spot right in front of the door of his mother's gallery just as he pulled up. He parked neatly and bounded up to the entrance.

Nori felt her son's demonic aura as he approached her shop. When the door opened and he entered the room, she could not help but look up, and her heart melted in her chest. Her beautiful son. The Taisho worked him like an animal, and he dressed like a peasant, but he shone in beauty nonetheless. The pale, faded blue of his jeans and white tee-shirt, coupled with his long, silver hair and pink and blue facial markings made him look more like an angel than a demon. She knew he did not like wearing a hat, but he had chosen to wear the one she had given him for his birthday, a Stetson Pelacio II, in a color called Silver Belly. She had chosen it knowing it would compliment his coloring wonderfully. His belt was fastened with the silver and turquoise buckle she had made with her own hands, in her very first silver smithing class. She had never seen him wear the hat or buckle before. He wanted something. He had definitely come to see her wanting something. How intriguing.

"Mother."

Rather than answer, she spoke to her shop assistant, Kagura. "This spectacular hunk of demonhood is my son, Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru, Kagura, of the Wind." Nori did not particularly care for Kagura, but the demoness was attractive enough, and it was past time for her son to find a mate.

"Mother. I have business I need to discuss with you. In private."

Nori blew out a gusty sigh. "While my son inherited my good looks, he has his father's boorish temperament. Perhaps his rudeness could be remedied, with the proper female companionship."

Kagura was still ogling Sesshomaru. He was the embodiment of perfection, from the toes of his dusty cowboy boots to the top of his six-beaver hat. "I would certainly love to give it a try."

Sesshomaru acted as though the wind demoness was not even there. He always ignored the females his mother and father threw at him.

Giving up the idea of matchmaking for the moment, Nori led Sesshomaru to her private office. She sat in the executive chair, and he took a seat across from her, taking off his hat and holding it between his spread knees. He decided there was no good way to approach the subject at hand, so he decided to just jump in. "I have found my mate."

"Anyone I know?" She did not correct him for using the term "mate". It was politically incorrect, and Nori loved political incorrectness. Besides, it was to spare the "feelings" of pathetic humans that the term, and the practice, had been scrapped. The concept of mating was too brutal for their
delicate sensibilities.

"Actually, yes. It is Kagome."

Nori's hand went involuntarily to her heart. "Sesshomaru, no. I forbid it."

Their gazes locked. The room was silent, for literally minutes, as Nori struggled to wrap her mind around the idea of her perfect, powerful, full demon son, actually wanting to mate a human.

"Your father is making you do this."

"Actually, my father is going to kill me when he finds out. He most likely will. Try to, anyway."

Nori wrapped her arms around herself, rocking back and forth. This was horrible. Truly horrible. "He wants that girl for himself?"

"I was always under the impression that he intended her for Inuyasha. But lately, I've begun to feel as though there is more to it than that..."

"Who can understand that demon. Not I, most certainly. And it is not for lack of trying. There is nothing else for it, you will simply have to change your mind."

He smiled at her, and once again, his beauty took her breath away. "Too late."

"What did you DO, boy?" She hissed. "Run off to Vegas? Your father can arrange an annulment in days. Even if you've gone totally mad, and mated the little hussy, there are ways around that. Look at your own father."

His smile got wider. "I pupped her."