InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lady's Man of the West ❯ It's a Woman's World ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Summery of Shrew-hanyou's What The?! challenge:

What's this? A woman that resembles Sesshoumaru? And Sesshoumaru himself is missing? What could be going on? It seems that someone has cast a spell on the Western Lord -according to Jaken- but no one knows what the spell is or who cast it. And why does the human female that resembles him have no memory of her past? Could she somehow be connected to the taiyoukai?

My, oh, my. There seems to be a lot of questions in need of an answer…I'll see what I can do.

(This is not meant to be a long story…Not meant to be long at all.)

<><><><><><><><>& lt;><><><>

So, this challenge was issued by my dear friend Shrewy, and I have put off posting this story long enough. Sorry about that, Shrewy me' dear! I've been concentrating on my other fic, Sesshoumaru, sit! But now I think I can give this time. It's fun to write, with just so much to play around with. How could I resist?

I hope you like it, Shrew. This chapter is dedicated to you!!! -bow- Sorry I have been neglecting you so much lately. (Heheh! Told you I've been writing it! ^.^)

And guys, I hope you like it! Oh, and for those who are thinking “what is she doing writing another story, when she should be finishing the other one?!” I tell you, please be patient. I have plenty of free time for both, and I won't be neglecting any of my stories if I can help it ^.^

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha; Rumiko Takahashi does. I don't even own this idea; Shrew-hanyou does….I don't own much of anything, so please, don't sue me.

CHAPTER 1:

Inuyasha sat in the middle of the cottage, near the fire, facing an agitated Jaken. The hanyou wasn't feeling too hospitable or pleased in the least, despite what the sweating frog was relating to him.

So someone cast a spell on Sesshoumaru. Was he supposed to care? Because, despite the so-called blood relation between himself and the inu-youkai, it wouldn't have mattered to him if the bastard up and died. And here this what's-his-name was asking him for help.

“-and Sesshoumaru-sama is missing,” Jaken whined on. “I didn't see what happened. I-” Inuyasha rolled his eyes when the frog sniffled for the hundredth time, “-have no idea where my Lord is, and you, his hated brother, are the only one capable of finding him.” He sniffled again before adding, “No one else would help me.”

Inuyasha growled at him, not appreciating that he was a last resort. “If his fucking allies refused to help him, what makes you think I would?!”

Jaken looked up at him in surprise. “But you're his brother.”

The hanyou laughed mirthlessly. “So what?” He didn't know why he had even agreed to hear the frog out. Now he was sitting here, wasting his time when he should be out there gathering shards. Which he would have been doing if Kagome hadn't gotten mad at him over God-knows-what and left!

He refused to go after her, and so after a week of waiting for the wench to come back, he was restless, angry, and bored. So much so that he had stupidly agreed to listen to Jaken's plight when he met him just outside Kaede's village.

Oh, what boredom will do to you.

He heard Jaken sigh. “Lord Sesshoumaru would slice me in half if he knew I was here asking for your help. But I am terribly worried.” Inuyasha startled when the sitting frog bowed low on the floor to him. “Please, Inuyasha-sama.”

He stared at him uncomfortably for a second before speaking: “Feh. A miko could probably locate him with her powers or something. I'm sure she can break the spell for you, too, because I'm not going to get dragged into anyone's problems.” Not something Kagome would like hearing him say, he thought, and folded his arms stubbornly.

Jaken sat up slowly, looking more than a little miserable. The hanyou could see he was tired, strained, and he almost felt sorry for him…Almost.

“What if I made you a deal? To make it worthwhile.”

Inuyasha snorted. “What could you possibly offer that would convince me to help the bastard?” He smirked, leaning back a little, as if the very idea of assisting Sesshoumaru in any way was amusing.

“Shards. I'll give you my shards. I got a few from youkai my master slay. He allowed me to keep them, but I will give them to you.” The little demon was sweating profusely now, staring at the hanyou, his eyes desperate and pleading.

Inuyasha's ears perked. He was paying attention now. “You have shards?”

<><><><><><><><>& lt;><><><><><><><>

“So, you have any idea where he could be?” the hanyou asked grumpily. I can't believe I'm doing this, he hissed mentally.

Jaken pointed to a mountain a little in the distance. “That's where we were when it happened. I was standing behind my Lord at the time, so I couldn't see anything.” He scratched the side of his head. “I remember a woman's voice. It was loud and angry, and she was speaking in a language I was not familiar with most of the time.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean sometimes she would speak in Japanese and the other…I believe the other was an ancient tongue. I certainly never learned it.”

“And what did she say that you could understand?” he asked, crossing his arms in annoyance. That frog seemed a little wrong in the head. He should have told him what he heard the woman say long before now.

“Um…all I could make out was…half…prove yourself…understand…pay.” The frog scratched his head in concentration then nodded his head. “Yes, that is all.”

“That doesn't make any damn sense!”

Jaken cringed at the young half demon's angry tone, looking a little angry himself. “I realize that! But that was all I could make out.”

Inuyasha sighed and messaged the bridge of his nose. “Fine. What happened after that?”

“Erm…nothing. Everything went black for me after she was done with her speech. When I was conscious again everyone was gone. Even Rin.”

“…Rin? The little girl?” Inuyasha snarled and glowered down at the tiny creature. “You're sending me off to find your missing asshole and you don't even bother to mention her?!”

Jaken looked shocked. “Well, if you find her, too, then that would be fine.” The frog squeaked when a strong punch landed on his head, toppling him forward. He rose slowly with a groan and looked up, teary-eyed, to find that the hanyou was nowhere in sight.

“W-what did I say?!”

<><><><><><><><>& lt;><><><><><><><>

A yellow, bloated ball peeked over a square, worn edge. It toppled over it and landed on the ground with a thud. Before the dust from the landing had settled, two slender hands appeared where the yellow object had and gripped the very same wooden edge. Grunting sounds started soon after and a dark head popped into view along with the rest of the arms, and then the shoulders.

Kagome continued over the well's rim, placing her feet gingerly on the ground and dusting her hands off.

“Stupid Inuyasha,” she muttered to herself, swinging her bag over her shoulder with a grunt. She looked around then. “Inuyasha, are you there?!”

…No answer.

She huffed indignantly and walked on to the village.

Miraculously, she had kept herself from sitting him before she left. He dared accuse her of slacking off?! She tries so hard to find the shikon shards. She skips out on school, and even some tests to do so. She almost gets killed several times during their battles with youkai, and he has the nerve to tell her she was slacking off!

All she said was that she needed a few more hours of sleep. What's the big deal?! She just finished her finals, staying up most of two weeks trying to catch up on all the lessons she had missed out on. All she wanted was some more rest.

If he hadn't been so stubborn about it she wouldn't have gotten so mad. Well, now they had lost a week of time, which was half her fault. She wanted to teach him a lesson: Giving her a few hours were better than loosing an entire week.

She doubted he would get it, though. He never got anything! Or maybe he just liked playing stupid. If that was it, he did a remarkable job…

And she was surprised, and a little disappointed, that he hadn't tried dragging her back during that time. At least she had caught up on some sleep. Still…it would have been nice…

She tripped so unexpectedly she almost didn't put her arms up to shield her face. She had no time to make a sound as she hurtled forward, crashing with a pained squeak.

The fall knocked the wind out of her, causing her head to spin in shock and confusion.

What the…?!

Her head snapped up off her crossed arms as soon as she could breathe again. Afraid she'd tripped over something living, she braced herself on her elbows and dragged herself away, careful not to put any pressure on her legs; they were draped over something…squishy.

A backward glance told her it was indeed a living thing. A human looking one. With unusually long hair.

Kagome bolted to her feet and hurried over to the woman's side. She almost kept going right past her as shock temporarily numbed her brain.

The body lay across the ground, facing upwards. The crescent moon, placed in the middle of the forehead, the striped cheeks, and the beautiful, impassive features almost gave Kagome a heart attack.

Then she noticed that things were too off for it to be who she thought it was.

The skin was not as pale as it should be. The stripes weren't their renowned purple, but a deep shade of golden yellow. And the hair…It was the right length, but it was as black as hair could possibly get, glinting blue in the sunlight.

But most incriminating were…the breasts. The Lord of the West did not have breasts.

The two, perfectly shaped, round globes were almost fully exposed in the simple white day kimono. Adding to all that, the fact that the remarkably-like-Sesshoumaru woman was very much human. With regular, nicely shaped ears, clawless hands, and no youki that Kagome could sense.

“Ok, I'll think about this riddle later,” she said to herself, trying to think of a way to move the woman without hurting either of them. “Kirara. Kirara would be perfect for this.” She turned, having every intention of running over to the village to get the neko-demon. “But…what if she gets eaten before I get back?” Youkai were aplenty here, and the woman was an unconscious, sitting duck.

“If only that baka Inuyasha was here,” she grumbled, turning back to squat next to the pretty woman.

So her second option was: Wake her up.

<><><><><><><><>& lt;><><><><><><><><>

Inuyasha was crouched on the ground, sniffing the earth for more of his brother's faint scent. It existed in a narrow diameter. No matter where he looked around that spot, no more of his scent would show itself. It was almost as if he'd been flown in to land in this small spot and then flown away, so he didn't leave any traces to be followed. What really confused the hanyou was how faint the scent was. It smelled several days old, and Jaken said it was only two days ago. Rin's and Jaken's scent were much clearer, on the other hand, but Rin had Sesshoumaru's same problem. She had no trace to be followed either.

What Inuyasha hated about this place his brother seemed to have `disappeared' in, was that it was so close to the wolf's den. And since he couldn't find enough clues as to the whereabouts of his brother, he was going to -and he shuddered at the thought of this- ask Kouga if he knew anything.

Sometimes those shards -even if they lead to his becoming a full demon- didn't seem worth it.

Shit!

Several minutes later he was right in front of the small waterfall the den was hidden behind. Inuyasha stood several feet away from the entrance, arms crossed, and his customary going-to-see-Kouga face in place; he looked pissed.

“Oi! Flea-bag! Come out where I can see you!” He knew the prince was in there. His scent was strong here, and with it several other scents mingled. His pack must be close by, too, although he hadn't spotted any of them.

“Buzz off, dog-turd!” came the irritated reply.

That gave inuyasha pause. He shook his head, certain that something was wrong with his hearing. “What?”

“Are you deaf? Scram! I'm busy.”

Risking being trampled by any exiting wolfs, and yet unable to help himself, the hanyou took a few steps closer. “Flea-bag…you don't sound right.”

“What do you want?!”

Inuyasha cleared his throat and stepped back. “I wanted to ask you a few things about Sesshoumaru,” he answered, forcing the confusion out of his tone, making sure he sounded as angry as he'd been feeling a few seconds ago.

“Hell, don't remind me,” the hanyou heard the strange voice say miserably.

Slowly, one leg appeared from the waterfall, and then the rest of the body, with that usual dark head, striking blue eyes, and revealing furry clothing. Kouga stepped out fully but slowly, managing to get completely wet in the process. Hands on hips in a gesture of annoyance, Kouga looked as pissed as Inuyasha did.

The hanyou stood frozen, an overwhelmed look on his face. “Shit, flea-bag! You look like a girl!”

“Really? Did those give me away?” Kouga snapped crossly, looking down at what used to be his chest.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at the clear protrusion at the front of the she-wolf. Kouga was wearing a peace of fur there rather than the usual armor. For comfort's sake, no doubt.

It occurred to inuyasha to laugh, but for some reason, he couldn't quite manage it. “What the hell happened?”

The wolf shrugged, making several attempt to cross his arms in front of him -her, that is. “Damned things are always in the fucking way!” he -she- growled, slapping his hands back at his hips in frustration. “So, what do you want?!”

“I told you…” he couldn't seem to stop staring. The wolf had a hell of a figure on him -er…her. He looked a lot like his faithful pursuer, Ayame, the redheaded wolf girl. And no wonder Inuyasha thought his voice was odd. The prince's tone had always been deep. And now that he was female, it had the same type of depth, just more appropriate for a girl. It sounded similar…but different.

“What are you looking at, mutt?!”

Inuyasha startled a little, but regained his angry-type composure in no time. He shrugged with a `feh', looking away. “I came here to investigate. I was told that someone cast a spell on my bastard brother somewhere around here. Do you know anything about it?”

“Yeah, I know.”

Inuyasha waited expectantly, but the wolf said nothing else. “Well?! What do you know?!”

Kouga snorted and shrugged again. “Your brother was passing through my lands when a miko intercepted him. At least that's what I think she was, what with her hooded robe and all. She started talking gibberish to him, and I could tell he was getting mad. I would know because I was watching pretty close by.” The wolf shook his -her- head sadly. Clearly he wished he hadn't been spying on them at such a close range. “Next thing I know I look like this! Shit!”

Inuyasha watched Kouga curse angrily for a while before he made to ask another question: “Do you know where he went? Sesshoumaru, I mean.”

The she-wolf paused. “Why would you care? I thought you hated his guts.”

“I have my reasons,” he said testily.

Kouga chuckled in amusement, and Inuyasha found himself thinking that it sounded a lot less nerve-grating than it usually would have.

Inuyasha's eyes widened as the obvious came to him. If Kouga `caught' the spell that was meant for Sesshoumaru, that meant that what was happening to the wolf…must be happening to his brother.

“Ok, mutt, you can keep your little secrets. And no, I don't know where he went.” The look of frustration was back on the wolf's face. “I was a little too busy freaking out. I'm not sure what to do with it,” he grumbled.

Inuyasha frowned, unsure of what to make of the prince's sudden talkativeness…with him. “It?”

“This…body. It does nothing right!” the wolf growled crossly, raising both slender arms in the air in aggravation.

After a moment of absorbing this new and unusual information, the hanyou's head tilted back, and he was finally able to holler with laughter at the drollness of the entire situation.

<><><><><><><><>& lt;><><><><><><><>

To Be Continued…

Hm…It's cliffie-ish, isn't it?

And Shrewy, I know you noticed I've kinda' broken one of your rules, but not really. You'll see ^.^;

Ok, so the chapter wasn't exactly eventful, but the next one should be. At least more so than this one. Tell me what you think. I'd like to know. Anything wrong with my logic anywhere, everywhere? I'd appreciate it if you told me. So, R&R please? (You know, at this point I guess only the second R is necessary. I keep forgetting that…)

Chapter 25 of Sesshoumaru, sit! is just about done. (It's long.) I've only got to add a few things in it to make it `just right' for me and then it's all yours, readers! I hope you enjoyed this story!