InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Nigatsu no Hoshi (Stars of February) ❯ If You Cant Join Em, Beat Em ( Chapter 23 )

Suteki: okay, this one WAS called, Meeting the Counsel, but I thought this title fit better. Enjoy!

Chapter 21: If You Cant Join 'em, Beat 'em

As soon as they entered the room, kagome began to undress and inuyasha moved to the washroom to clean up a little. Kagome made quick work of the Furisode and obi, leaving her standing in only her shear under-kimono.

Kagome dug through her closet as fast as she could, giving a huff of frustration as she fell to ground and sat in a perfect inuyasha style as she glared at her closet. Inuyasha came up behind her and laughed at his mate.

Kagome spun her head around and glared at him, tears in her eyes. Inuyasha stopped laughing and moved closer to her, "what's wrong kagome? I leave your side for a moment and you're already in tears." He said as he extended a hand and picked her off the ground. "and what did you do to the closet?" he said when he saw the kimonos, happi coats, and haoris that were discarded on the floor and bed.

Kagome huffed as she crossed her arms. "I cant decide what to wear." She finally admitted. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and laughed again, "you women. It isn't that hard to just put something on is it? well, in any case, tonight is going to be easy for you." He said as he moved to the pair of unopened closet doors and put his hand on the wood.

The doors opened slowly and kagome gasped. There were only two outfits in the whole closet, two very majestic outfits. The one she could only assume was for her, was a beautiful pink Furisode with black and gold depictions of cranes and rivers, that started from the neck down. Behind the main kimono hung at least three under-kimonos, a silver one, a black one, and a red one.

Next to her Furisode hung what had to be the Lords ensemble. A silver and blue haori, and white yukatas. On the back of the haori, was the depiction of a large dog demon amongst the clouds.

"This kagome, these are what the lords and ladies are to wear on the night of coronation. These same clothes were worn by my father and mother, and every lord and lady before them." Inuyasha told her as he reached for his clothes. "Now hurry and dress, the party starts soon." He said sarcastically.

Kagome did as told and dressed herself in the royal garments. "these clothes pulse with what is left of a strong demon aura. Must be because its been worn by so many demons in the past." Kagome thought out loud.

"Actually, what you feel is only what is left from my father, all other demons auras would have diminished long ago, but not his, he was of unusual strength." Inuyasha recalled, pausing in his getting dressed as he tried to think back to his father, although he didn't remember much about him, he always admired him.

Kagome stood in thought for a moment, before continuing to dress without saying anything else. She tied the cord around the kimono to keep it closed before reaching for the main obi. She unfolded it and watched as it pooled to the floor around her, it was one of the longest obis she had ever held.

She struggled a bit, but with a little help from inuyasha, she was able to finally tie it up in a nice butterfly bow. She looked in the mirror, and ran her fingers over the embroidering on the front of the obi. "Izayoi?" she wondered.

Inuyasha's back went rigid for a moment and his left ear twitched before slowly turning around to face kagome. "wha-what did you just say?" he asked, eyes wide and ears at attention. Kagome looked up at him, "oh, that's what's written on the obi here, what does it mean?" she asked curiously. "that…that was my mothers name." He replied softly, walking over to stand only inches away from her.

He looked down at the obi and smiled as he put his hand over Kagome's as she continued to run her fingers over the symbols of his mother's name.

"You're mother?" kagome asked, her breath catching in her throat. Kagome knew about Inuyasha's childhood, about him losing his mother at such a tender age. She had always wanted him to be able to open up to her, but she would have never dared ask about his mother. The look of sorrowful pain in his eyes was enough to remind her of that.

Kagome's attention was captured by a glint of light coming from Inuyasha's obi. She looked down at his waste and saw the silver embroidered characters there. "it saws Inutaishou," inuyasha started, "you're father," she finished, having heard the name before in ancient mythology, and from Kaede and Jaken.

Inuyasha looked up to her face, surprised at first, but it quickly changed to a smile as his hand came up to her face and he cupped her cheek softly. "Mother would be proud if she could see you standing here in these robes."

Kagome smiled at him and placed her hand over his heart, "and your father of you. They are here in spirit inuyasha, you cant deny the presence of their aura that lingers in this room, in these clothes, throughout this house." She reassured him, never taking her eyes from his.

"You're right, I'm glad I can have this at least." Inuyasha said as he leaned forward and softly kissed her lips.

"Now hurry and finish getting ready! The guests are already assembling downstairs, and not that I care, but we're gonna be late!" he said as he pushed her towards the washroom.

Kagome squawked as she almost met the ground with her face. She turned to glare at him, but started laughing instead as she made her way over to the mirror. She quickly replaced her boring barrettes with sparkling butterfly clips, and applied more eye makeup. She put on black eyeliner and mascara, with a dark pink eye shadow.

She came back to where inuyasha stood waiting for her, and he put out his arm. She smiled and linked her arm around his, and he smiled at her before turning to the door and watching it open. Sesshoumaru stood outside the door waiting for them, and gave his brother a glare when he finally emerged.

"Are you ready?" he asked in a bored tone. Inuyasha `kehed' and kagome nodded with a smile.

"Let us go then, the others are gathering in the courtyard, we shall meet them there."

~*~*~*

"Get the fuck away from my mate!" the lord of the eastern lands yelled at the brother of the lord of the south. "aaah, shut up. Such a pretty thing is wasted on a coward like you." The man said as he yanked at the arm of the squealing woman

"Ryomo I'm serious!" the smaller man called, pulling his mate back to him.

"Stop this ruckus! You call yourselves civilized youkai? You're acting like a pack of cubs! Now stop this before the lord and lady arrive, I'm sure you would not like to come off as immature and childish." The elder head of the counsel, Yoka ordered them.

At once the crowd fell silent, but only because Sesshoumaru had entered into the garden courtyard. Sesshoumaru had acquired quite a good reputation over the years that he reigned. Behind Sesshoumaru entered inuyasha and kagome, kagome hiding partially behind her mate.

The servants and such got to their knees at the entrance, as was expected of them, and kagome looked up at inuyasha uncomfortably.

Yoka stood to his feet, and gave kagome a tender smile before making eye contact with inuyasha, whose face remained serious. "Welcome Lord inuyasha, and his Lady." He said with a small bow, and inuyasha bowed in return.

Yoka turned to the other lords and ladies, "now, if you all would take your places, we can begin."

The nobles took their places on the floor mats that were placed over the ground of the garden, each facing the platform on which the counsel sat.

Sesshoumaru directed inuyasha and kagome to sit on the mats across from the counsel, which faced them so the other nobles were looking at their sides.

"We shall begin with the introductions. When I call your domain, you shall stand and bow, stating your names." He said, and kagome shifted her feet which she sat on in the proper position, her head bowed yet eyes watching from the side.

"Domain of the Southern Borders." Yoka called.

Two dragon youkai stood from their seats and bowed to the platform. "I am Samui, Nagata Samui Lord of the Dragons lands to the south." The man said, and kagome got the shivers from hearing his voice.

`This HAS to be the one Katasuki had warned me about, that comfortable smirk, and that glint in his eyes…he certainly isn't thinking about the ritual of the ceremony.' She told herself, shrinking back even more.

Inuyasha noticed a change in his mates scent, and turned to her, a confused look in his eyes although he said nothing. Kagome met his eyes and shook the feeling off, smiling and nodding to tell him she was all right. He didn't get a chance to argue as the precession continued.

"And I am Toshio, Nagata Toshio, Lady of the Southern Boundaries of the Dragon clan." The shorter woman stated, her voice harsh, as was her appearance.

"Thank you Lord and Lady of the Southern Lands, take your seat. Northern tribe leaders, please stand." Yoka continued.

A panther demon and demoness stood to the right of the southern nobles. "I am Hayai, Kuroda Hayai of the Northern Boundaries belonging to the demon panther clan." The Lord said, as he flipped his long black hair out of his face, his bright green eyes laying on kagome as he bowed.

Kagome almost wanted to smile at the man like a giddy school girl, he appeared strong and noble, but she knew he was probably only trying to seduce her, as Katasuki had warned, and she wasn't about to let him get the best of her. She kept her face still as she locked eyes with him, showing no submission to him.

"I am Kuroda Kiyomi, Lady of the Northern Lands." The tall, dark skinned panther demoness stated in a strong yet smooth voice, she held a noble beauty kagome noted, perhaps this lady wouldn't be so judgmental. If anyone would be jealous, it would be kagome herself.

The lord and lady of the northern lands took their seats once again, and kagome sighed in relief. `only one more tribe to go, and Katasuki didn't give me any warning of the East, so perhaps I will have at least one less thing to worry about.'

"Eastern Lands, please stand before the party."

Kagome brought her eyes up from her lap to see what the lord and lady of the east looked like. Kagome's breath caught and an unusual smile came to her lips.

"My name is Hakkaku, Suzuki Hakkaku, Leader of the Eastern Wolf Demon tribe, and Lord of the Eastern Boundaries." Came the voice of the small man with the gray Mohawk. "and I am Suzuki Ayume, Lady of the Eastern Lands, mate of the Leader of the Eastern Wolf Demon tribe." Came the voice of the woman that stood next to him.

"Hakkaku, Ayume." Kagome whispered to herself. Although she didn't really like Ayume, she was happy to see some familiar faces, and Hakkaku was always very nice to her when her group happened to bump into Kouga and them.

Hakkaku met eyes with kagome and gave her a friendly smile, and bowed to inuyasha as well. Inuyasha felt Kagome's spirit lighten when she saw the companion of Kouga, and the annoying mate of his, so he returned Hakkaku's bow with a smile.

"yes, thank you for joining us Lord Hakkaku and Lady Ayume. These two were recently appointed as Lord and Lady after the recent passing of the former Lord and Tribe Leader, Lord Kouga." Yoka informed the attendees.

Something in Kagome's heart twitched at the mention of Kouga's death, but she kept it hidden, she would never forget Kouga and his friendship. She also noticed the strange look on Ayume's face at the mention of Kouga, but now was not the time to be reminiscing about such things.

Yoka turned his attention back to kagome and inuyasha once the nobles of the east had seated. "Lord Inuyasha, and Hara Kagome come before the counsel to request the approval of the former lord and of the counsel. the former lord being Lord Sesshoumaru, we shall ask if he agrees to relinquish his title as Lord of the Western lands, and allow his half brother and mate to take the throne."

Inuyasha and kagome turned to look at Sesshoumaru, who sat infront of them and off to the right. Sesshoumaru stood and faced his brother and sister-in-law for a moment. A few of those in the crowd began to murmur and laugh, as they waited for Sesshoumaru to attack inuyasha, the hated half-breed of his clan.

"This Sesshoumaru, formally steps down from Lord of these lands, and gives them to my brother, inuyasha, and his mate kagome." He said in his soft yet firm voice, as he turned to face Yoka.

The room gasped as one, and even Yoka's jaw hung slack a moment. The old demon caught himself, and regained his composure. "so let it be, Inuyasha, Kagome, do the two of you except this honor?"

"like hell she's going to be a noble! She may be demon but she reeks of miko, and her powers are holy! She is a defilement to this counsel and the demon race." Came an angry voice from the crowd.

Kagome's eyes quickly searched the crowd for the offender, finding it to be nonother than the Lady of the North, the panther demoness. `figures' kagome thought.

The angry demoness stormed up to the platform, and stared kagome in the face, "I have also heard rumors, that this so called `Yasha' (female demon) was no more than a dirty human only a few moons ago." the room gasped again at hearing the news.

Inuyasha stood before the angry woman, "you will not speak down to my mate wench!"

Kiyomi did nothing more than laugh at the opposing hanyou, "coming from a half breed. I swear if I had been in the counsel at the time, that filthy bitch Izayoi would never have even seen these gardens!" she lashed out, and inuyasha growled in warning.

"No one, and I mean NO one speaks about my mother in such a dishonorable way." He growled through clenched teeth.

"You going to do something about it MUTT, bring it on." She taunted. Inuyasha flexed his claws.

Before Inuyasha could attack, kagome appeared between the two, facing Kiyomi. Without saying a word, kagome reached out and touched the woman's face, and closed her eyes. A moment later, kagome smirked, and reopened her eyes to see the very pissed demoness.

"You dare touch me wench?"

Kagome smirked at her, then turned to face inuyasha." Leave her be inuyasha, she is only upset because she knows she is unable to bare a child, and her husband rarely beds her because of if." Kagome said, and smiled at the gasp from the woman, and the laughing from the rest of the counsel.

"ho-how did you know that wench!" the panther demoness yelled as kagome and inuyasha continued to walk away from her.

Kagome turned half way around to respond to her, "oh you know, just the consequences of being a filthy, despicable miko."

"why you," Kiyomi growled as she pounced at kagome, who had already turned to walk towards Hakkaku. No one in the counsel bothered to warn her, since they were truly more interested in seeing a fight, and hopefully a little blood.

The panther woman smirked as her claws came into rage with kagomes neck. But before her attack could land, a pink glow surrounded kagome, and Kiyomi found herself frozen in the air.

Kagome turned around to look up at the woman, as did inuyasha who immediately started laughing. "oh come on Kiyomi, cant we all just get along. Hang out, stay a while." Kagome said sweetly with a smile on her face.

Someone started clapping behind kagome, and she looked over to see who it was. Yoka stood behind kagome, a large amused smile on his face. "bravo Lady Kagome, wonderful show of your skills. No other woman has been able to shut her up, though many have tried. However, I am afraid that the ceremony is not over, we were interrupted. Now come here, both of you." He ordered, and inuyasha and kagome did as told.

Yoka held out his hands, and touched the obis of both dog demons. "by the power invested in me, I declare Hara Inuyasha, son of the great Inutaishou, and Hara Kagome, daughter of…of….who WAS your father my dear?" Yoka asked kagome.

She only blinked at him as she thought, "um…" was all she came up with. "she is the daughter of Onigumo." Came the voice of Katasuki. Both inuyasha and kagome nearly choked on their own tongues at the strange comment.

"aah, thank you Miss Katasuki. Inuyasha son of Inutaishou-sama, and Kagome Daughter of Onigumo-sama, I declare you, Lord and Lady of the Western Lands of the Inu Youkai tribe." His strong voice sounded, and a white light engulfed both inuyasha and kagome.

The light swirled around them, and they both looked at each other in confusion. As the light faded, kagome turned to face inuyasha, wanting to ask if he knew what had just happened. A strange glint caught her eye, and she looked down at his obi, and pointed at it as she gasped.

"Inuyasha, your obi, its changed! Your name has taken the place of your fathers." She said excitedly. "but that means…." She continued as her fingers traced the embroidered characters on her obi, and she smiled even wider.

"My name is here as well." She said quietly, and inuyasha smiled at her.

Usually at an awards ceremony, graduation, or promotion party, the crowd goes wild with cheers and standing ovations. But kagome noticed that the room was WAY too quiet for such a wonderful occasion. `stupid demons.' She thought with a sigh.

Sure enough, the majority of the crowd and counsel, except for Hakkaku and Yoka, stared at them as an enemy or something. kagome was fed up with the childish behavior of the so called RESPECTABLE nobles.

She growled and stomped her way to the edge of the platform, and jumped off, and onto the soft soil of the garden.

"Shame on all of you, acting like a bunch of children, no wait, that would be insulting shippou." She yelled at the crowd, Katasuki watching on in amusement, inuyasha in half terror, half interest. `she's TRYING to piss off a room full of powerful youkai isn't she?' he thought.

"How dare you speak to us like that child, you are nothing compared to us." Toshio, Lady of the Southern Lands spoke up.

Kagome turned her attention to her, and walked up close to her. "that's what I'm talking about, you people are too judgmental, to stuck up to see past your noses. I am a demon like you as well, so what if I have a human past, or have the holy powers of the heavens. Now to think of it, I think you're all just jealous." Kagome retorted.

"You wish miss special! Why would I EVER be jealous of a wench that is married to a HALF demon?!" she yelled, and kagome smacked her across the face as the words left her mouth.

"He may be a half demon, but he's twice the man your husband, I'm sorry, your BROTHER is! And at least I'm not sleeping with Sesshoumaru on the side."

Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were caught off guard by that one, and looked at each other, Sesshoumaru's composure slipping in the confusion. "yeah, in your dreams Sesshoumaru." Inuyasha scoffed as Sesshoumaru shifted uncomfortably at the comment. Sesshoumaru sent his brother a death glare before turning his attention back to the cat fight.

"How the hell did you know Samui was my brother? And how, did you know about me and Ryomo?!" the woman asked as she took a step back, horror painted on her face as all eyes turned to her, and the whispers of the counsel rang through the gardens. Samui, however, just kept his eyes on kagome the whole time, licking his lips from time to time.

Kagome raised the hand she had slapped her with and held it infront of her, watching the woman flinch at the gesture, "I have more powers than you know. So I suggest you watch your mouth around me, Lady Toshio. And also, I think you should keep your husband where you can see him, or I'll have to take care of him myself. I may have been born a human and a foreigner to these lands, but I could still take you on any day of the week." Kagome said as she glared at Samui.

Kagome turned on her heels and leapt back onto the platform to stand next to her mate, Yoka, Hakkaku, Ayume, Katasuki, and inuyasha cheering for her, as well as the servants amongst the guests. She smiled as she held Inuyasha's hand in hers, glancing out at the stunned nobles and entertained onlookers. When she noticed the hungry eyes of Samui and Hayai, she only sighed and rolled her eyes. Then getting an evil smirk, she stood on her toes and sensually ran a tongue over her mates jaw line, her eyes never leaving the two other lords.

She watched them gulp and smile at her, and she only laughed. Not noticing how inuyasha had gone rigid, and was now watching her curiously. He followed her eyes to the two lords, and he could smell their arousal from the platform. He understood what she was trying to do, and at this point, he didn't mind playing along.

He dipped her in his arms, smirked over at Samui and Hayai one last time, before delving into Kagome's mouth, making the kiss appear as erotic as possible, without giving poor Yoka a heart attack.

Inuyasha pulled away, leaving them both flushed and laughing. Samui and Hayai looked on, shifting uncomfortably under the torture the new lord and lady were punishing them with. Samui grabbed his mate, and Hayai reached into the air and tugged on his own wife who was still suspended in the middle of the garden.

"woops, almost forgot about her." Kagome giggled, and waved her hand towards Kiyomi. At once, the panther demoness came crashing on top of her mate, causing laughter to echo in the garden. The four nobles made their way from gardens, the woman scowling and coursing kagome, while the men kept the smile of knowing they still had a way to sate their lust, even if it wasn't with the new lady, they could always pretend.

"Alright! The party poopers have left the building, le the celebration begin!" kagome cheered happily to the remaining guests, and started dancing and clapping circles around inuyasha. Little too their knowledge however, three sets of eyes watched from the shadows, waiting for the right time to reveal themselves.

Suteki: dun dun dunnn, lol. woo wee, LOOONG chapter eh? 7 pages and nearly 400 words, lol. hope you guys liked the chapter! Review review review pwease! This chapter was actually MUCH longer, but I decided to make it into 2 chapters instead, so the second is on its way! Till next time, ja ne! by the way, look for lemon next chappie! Its been a while since we've had lemon in this story, so we're gonna have a little bit o' fun!