InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Reunion ❯ Chapter Twenty ( Chapter 20 )

Chapter Twenty

A/N: Just watched the latest english translation Inuyasha on Cartoon network. Man, has it been a long dry spell or what! That was a great episode and what gets me is that there are over 100 episodes out there that haven't been translated yet! sigh And then I watched a new one called 'Wolf's Rain'. Pretty good, but very graphic. Main wolf character tore out the throats of two humans complete with blood splatter and dripping fangs. Now, on to my story. I know that it has been a little while and I thank you for your patience. I have been catching up on my reading and relaxing a little bit while thinking over this next chapter. I hope that my fans will enjoy it and that any new readers will find it interesting enough to come back for more. I don't own Inuyasha.

Dinner was a lavish affair. The innkeeper had outdone himself in the preparation of the meal. Partially because of the presence of a demon lord at his table and partially because of the cousin of his lord at the table. And, it didn't hurt that he felt responsible for the 'incident' with Riochi. He felt that he needed to placate the feelings of Inuyasha and his mate, the Lady Kagome. The other adults, except for Jaken, had heard of what had happened. Miroku decided that it would be better not to inform the innkeeper that the couple wouldn't hold him accountable for what had happened. He planned to milk it for as much as the innkeeper was willing to give them! Sesshomaru didn't care and Sango just rolled her eyes at the greed of her 'holy' friend. Sesshomaru was placed at the head of the table, as his station demanded. Places were left for Inuyasha and Kagome to his right. At first, Rin was to sit at the childrens table, that is until Sesshomaru called to her.

"Rin. Come, sit here." he commanded with a nod of his head to indicate the seat to his left. Rin smiled widely and grabbed Shippou by the arm and dragged him to seat next to her at the table.

Miroku watched this with amusement. 'She treats him like her property. If they were older we would have a problem on our hands. Sesshomaru might not want his ward falling for his brother's adopted son!' Still, he had to admit that they made a cute couple and were actually very compatable in personality. He winced at that last thought. He wasn't sure how many more practical jokes he could endure. Granted that most of them had been directed at Jaken but there were only so many times that one could stand to hear the wail of "Lord Sesshomaru!" before one began to think of death and dismemberment.

Speaking of Jaken, he had finally convinced the serving staff that he was, in fact, an adult. This way, he had a place set for him at the main table. Unfortunately for Miroku, it was between him and Sango! Miroku sighed to himself. It wasn't quite as bad as he had first feared it would be. The toad demon actually could tell a fairly interesting story, once you got past that voice of his. Now, if he would just switch seats with him so that he could be next to Sango!

Inuyasha and Kagome appeared in the door and made their way to the table. As Inuyasha took his seat, Sesshomaru looked at his brother. "I see you finally finished your bath." he said, completely deadpan.

Inuyasha looked at his brother strangely. If he didn't know that cold fish better, he would have sworn he had just taken a shot at him! He turned and started to speak to Kagome, when he noticed her blushing furiously. So, she noticed Sesshomaru's strange statement, too! He hadn't imagined it!

"Just what do you mean by that?!" he demanded.

Sesshomaru looked at his brother with a kind of bored amusement. "Nothing other than what I stated." He turned his head to look at his dinner companions. "Perhaps you should have accepted the help offered to you with your bath. You might have finished earlier."

Inuyasha's face turned white, then red with embarressment. He began to sputter as Miroku, Sango, and Daremo began to laugh behind their hands. "I did have help with my bath!" he began to yell when he stopped and looked at Kagome, mortified by what he had just said.

For her part, Kagome blushed and ducked her head. Then she looked up at everyone, defiantly. "I just washed his back for him." she explained. 'Of course, he felt obligated to wash mine for me, but they don't need to know that!' she thought to herself, blushing again.

Sango decided that it was time to save her friends from further embaressment. "Let's eat!" she declared.

Feeling he was on safer ground, Inuyasha agreed. "Yeah! I'm starving!"

"I would be, too." said Miroku, casting a significant look at Kagome.

Inuyasha blinked as he absorbed what the monk had implied. He reached for a piece of cold fish. "Hey, monk!" he called.

"Yes, Inuyasha?" answered the unsuspecting monk. He turned his face to look at Inuyasha, just in time to catch the fish full in the face.

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Interlude

A man at arms appraoached the lord of the manor. "All is in readiness, my lord."

The young lord looked at the soldier. "Very good. You will leave at first light." He motioned for someone from the side to step forward. A woman of almost unearthly beauty stepped from the shadows. Her face was expressionless as she stepped forward and presented herself to her lord. "This woman is to be my emissary. You will obey her as you would me."

"As you wish, my lord." said the startled man at arms. He didn't care for this developement. He didn't like taking orders from a woman!

The ends of the woman's lips curved upward in a slight smile. The man at arms was startled by the change that smile had on the woman's face. From a dispassionate beauty to a cruel and deadly predator with just the slightest upturn of a lip was unnerving! "Do not worry." came the sultry voice of the woman, full of promise and yet cold as the grave. "My demands will not be onerous." Then she laughed, low and dangerous. "But, I do expect my demands to be met!"

"Enough!" declared the young lord. "Do not bait my men!" He looked at the soldier. "You are dismissed." After the soldier had left, he turned to the woman. "You know your mission."

"Yes, yes." said the woman, with exasperation. "I am to visit the Lord Tanaka under the guise of a trade mission. My true goal is to disrupt his meeting with the demon lord Sesshomaru."

"Very good. Do whatever you must to insure the failure of that meeting. I do not want an alliance between Sesshomaru and Tanaka." The lord glared at the woman. "Do not fail me in this, Kagura."

"I would never dream of failing you, Lord Kagowaki, or should I say, Naraku?"

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Inuyasha paced in his room. He couldn't get comfortable in this place! He left the room and sniffed the air. He followed his nose to an open window. Outside was a garden. 'Now that's more like it!' He put his foot on the window sill to jump out into the garden when a voice stopped him.

"Inuyasha? Is that you?" called a familiar voice. "What are you doing?"

Inuyasha smiled. He should have known that she would have had trouble sleeping, too. "Just going outside, Kagome. I can't sleep under this roof, not when it is a clear night like this."

Kagome smiled, softly. "I can't sleep either. Can I come with you?"

"Feh!" he snorted. "Like you have to ask. Climb on." He bent over slightly to make it easier for her to climb on his back. Once she had her arms around his neck, he leapt from the window. After he landed, she got off his back. Before she could move though, Inuyasha had spun around and picked her up, bridal style. Before she could even let out an "Eeep!" of surprise, he had jumped up into a nearby tree. He settled on a branch, his back against the trunk and Kagome in his lap. "Now. Isn't this better?" he asked, in her ear.

She shivered from his breath on her ear. She turned her head and kissed him lightly. "Yes." she agreed. "Much better." Then she sighed and settled back into the warmth of his body. "Good night, Inuyasha." Her eyes drooped closed, and she smiled with content.

"Good night, Kagome." returned the hanyou. His arms tightened around her slightly. 'Any night with you in my arms is a good night.' With that thought, he dropped off into sleep.

Unbeknownst to them, they had an audience. Sesshomaru watched the two settle into the tree for the night. Could it be envy that he felt, or just a longing for what he had lost? He thought of his lost mate and child. 'No, I do not envy my brother his happiness. He has had little reason to be happy in his life. And I have had my time of happiness, but it is gone now.' With this melancholy thought, Sesshomaru turned from the window where he had been observing his brother. He looked at the children sleeping on the floor. Rin had Shippou in a possesive hug. It brought a brief flash of something to his heart. The feeling startled the demon lord. When it passed, he felt guilty. 'I have no right to feel happiness and yet I do.' He looked at the little girl sleeping on the floor. He felt the surge again and had no doubt. 'I do have feelings for this child. She makes me .... happy.' Mystified by this, Sesshomaru turned to his bed to sleep. And, for once, his dreams were not so sad.

A/N: Thank you for your patience with me. I am finally getting to the meat of this story and I hope that everyone enjoys it. Things are about to get very interesting for Inuyasha and Kagome.