InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Special delivery ❯ A Desperate Plea ( Chapter 84 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
Chapter 84: A Desperate Plea


A/N:  Hello dear readers. Not much to say, so onto the chapter!


Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, Sesshy and Kagura would be happily mated and working on silver haired baby number three by now…



“Talking”
‘Thinking& #8217;


“This is simply ridiculous!” Morio paced the length of the living room once more. “Who does that woman think she is?!”

“Honey please come down. She thinks she is doing what is best for her son, and we cannot fault her for that. Besides can you truly be surprised about how she is treating our daughter? Your own parents were not very welcoming towards me until Byakuya was born…” Even though he knew his wife was speaking the truth, the illusion demon was still enraged by the way Asuka had prevented Kagura from seeing her fiancé at the hospital.

“Don’t worry I have no intention of letting her keep me away from Sesshoumaru when he needs me the most.” Kagura declared as she strolled back in the living room. She had absented herself to bring her daughters a puzzle for them to amuse themselves while she talked to her parents. Kanna and Rin were playing in the latter’s bedroom in the penthouse.

As soon as the group had left the hospital, Kagura and Inuyasha had gone to the Fujibayashi mansion in order to reunite with their children, and in his case fiancée as well. Then the wind sorceress had insisted on bringing her daughters home, which meant the penthouse she shared with Sesshoumaru. Even if she could not be by his side, at least she could feel his presence there.

‘I feel as though he’s going to step out of our bedroom, and come join us any second…’ She thought sadly as she settled on the couch next to her mother. The other demoness wasted no time cradling her oldest child’s hand in hers, hoping to bring her some comfort.

“The lawyer should be here any second.” Kagura added as she forced a smile for her mother’s benefit. Even if Kagura did not voice it, she appreciated the fact that Morio and Sakura had insisted on being there when she talked to Sesshoumaru’s lawyer.

“He is late! As if the situation was not dire enough!” Morio growled again as he kept pacing the floor. Back and forth. Back and forth. They all stayed silent until the door bell rang, signaling the arrival of Myouga.

Before Kagura could stand up to answer the door, Morio headed for it. He threw it open, and his purple eyes were met with… nothing.

“If this is some joke it…” The illusions demon started grumbling, but he heard someone clear their throat to catch his attention. He lowered his gaze and saw a small round head adorned with bushy white hair and a big bald patch.

“I am here to meet with a Miss Onigumo. I was called by Inuyasha Takahashi-sama.” Myouga craned his head to look up at the face of the younger demon.

“Yes. We have been waiting for you.” Morio stepped aside to allow Myouga to walk inside the penthouse.

The lawyer’s big beady eyes looked around the place, and he could not help but smile. Things had greatly improved since his last visit. Pictures of the ‘happy little family’ now decorated the side table as did framed hand drawn portraits. He had seen Sesshoumaru’s art often enough to know he had to have been the author of the drawings.  What surprised the elderly youkai the most was a white child playpen which took away a big chunk of the living room.

‘Not to mention that the place is not about to be shut down by the public health department… This young woman is a good influence on Sesshoumaru.’ The old flea thought to himself remembering how messy Sesshoumaru’s penthouse used to be. ‘I bet that if I was to visit the kitchen, it would not be taken over by dirty dishes and half empty take out boxes.’

“From what Inuyasha-sama has told me you are in need of some legal counsel.” Myouga did not wait for an invitation, and sat on the armchair to the right side of the couch Kagura and her mother were sharing.

“Would you like some tea?” Sakura, ever the gracious hostess offered. The old flea demon smiled at her, enthralled by her beauty, and quickly accepted.

Morio settled on the other free armchair, the one opposite Myouga, and studied the much shorter demon intently.

“Did Inuyasha tell you what happened?” Kagura took charge of the conversation.

“Yes he did.” Myouga smiled up at Sakura when she placed a cup of tea in front of him. He quickly picked up the offered drink, and brought it to his lips. “Hum quite tasty, thank you ma’am.”

Kagura did her best to keep her cool. It would not be right to wish Myouga chocked on his tea after all. She did need his counsel, and decided to force an answer out of him.

“And how can I prove that I have a right to be in that damn hospital room with Sesshoumaru?!”

“If you had signed the papers I had readied, this would not have happened.” Myouga put down the cup back on its matching saucer.

“Papers?” Kagura echoed, then things finally clicked in her head. She remembered the legal papers Sesshoumaru had tried to force her to sign a few weeks ago. The papers that would make her, Rin and Kanna his heirs in case something happened to him. The papers she had adamantly refused to sign scoffing that nothing could befall him, and that they would be married soon enough anyways.

‘The reason why he changed his wished and took away the power of attorney from Inuyasha was that he was planning to give it to me. I should have signed those damn papers when he gave them to me… That idiot, why didn’t he tell me about it?!’ She could feel her heart bleed inside her breast, but was not planning on give up just yet. ‘I probably wouldn’t have listened even if he had… Why am I always so stubborn?!’ Instead of focusing on her shortcomings, she decided to focus back on the issue at hand. ‘I’ll have all the time in the world to apologize to Sesshoumaru for not being more opened.’

“Asuka won’t let me see him because she doesn’t believe Sesshoumaru is really planning on sharing his life with me, but she’s wrong. As you know we both just legally adopted Rin. I can go downstairs and get Tenseiga from that old bat Totosai too… this will prove we’re engaged as well.”

“Yes of course this evidence would satisfy any judge, and you would be entitled to visit Sesshoumaru, but really it would be a waste of time.” Myouga commented as he helped himself to a cookie. Kagura felt her heart pinch slightly. She and Kanna had baked those for Sesshoumaru only a few days ago. As much as he was not a fan of sweets; he had loved them.

‘Crazy how life changes so quickly…’ She thought sadly.

“I fail to see how that would be so.” Morio frowned. He was now regretting Kagura’s refusal to use his lawyer. The lion youkai he employed might be young, but he made up for it with ruthlessness. This came in handy since the lawyer helped him not only keep his free clinic operating, but also allowed his son to work in the Fujibayashi family real estate organization.

“By the time we file a motion at the courthouse, get a judge to hear our case, and Asuka-sama’s lawyer and previously mentioned judge to analyze our evidence, Sesshoumaru-sama will probably have woken up. If you want my opinion, you would be better off apologizing to Asuka-sama.” Myouga wolfed down another cookie happily. Even though he knew what he said to be true, he did fail to mention the number one reason why he did not want Kagura to face off with Asuka in a courtroom: the identity of the inu youkai’s lawyer: his very own wife Shouga.

‘The last thing I would want to do is have to showdown with her in a courtroom ever again.’ Just thinking of it caused the collar of his shirt to suddenly feel tighter.

“You want me to apologize to that bitc…” Kagura started, but her mother gave her hand a quick squeeze, reminding her of her manners.  “…Asuka.” She corrected herself.

“I can get started on the legal work if you really want me to, but you’d be better off trying to talk to her. I know firsthand that Asuka-sama can be quite… daunting, but she can be reasonable…” He lied through his teeth. He had been the one who had drafted the divorce papers between Sesshoumaru’s parents, and the last adjective he would use when describing Asuka would be ‘reasonable’.

“Kagura.” He mother called for her attention. “As much as you may not like to hear this, maybe the lawyer is right. Why don’t you and I go talk to Sesshoumaru’s mother?” Sakura reached up to tenderly brush her daughter’s bangs out of her crimson eyes, which perfectly mirrored hers. She hoped that her cajoling tone and soothing caresses would be enough to convince Kagura of the best course of action.

“After the way she threw me out, you expect me to throw myself on my knees in front of her and beg?” The wind sorceress spit out angrily turning away from her mother’s touch.

“Well yes… I mean no, not exactly. You should just try to… hum get her to see your side of things.” Myouga gulped. The fact that Kagura was growing angrier was his cue to take his leave; the last thing he wanted was to have to deal with one more angry demoness; he got enough of that at home with his wife. “Now if you will excuse me, I will go back to my office, and get started on the paperwork you have asked. Thank you for the tea.”

Just like that, Myouga made one of the quick getaways he was very famous for. All Morio, Sakura and Kagura could do was watch the front door slam behind the little flea.

“Now that was not very productive…” Morio scoffed.  “All that we can do right now while he works on these legal documents is to go back to the hospital, and try to convince your future mother in-law to let you see Sesshoumaru.”

We” Sakura took to her feet, and smiled sweetly, a little too sweetly at her husband. He reacted by shuddering slightly. Nothing good ever happened when she had the particular smile. “Kagura and I will be paying Asuka a visit. You my dear husband will stay here to babysit your two granddaughters.”

“Babysit?!” Morio echoed surprisingly. “Honey you know I don’t have a great touch with kids…”

“We raised two fine boys; you will be just fine.” She took her daughter’s hand, and dragged her to her feet before Kagura could form any kind of retort. “Kagura get your things, if we don’t hurry along the visiting hours of the hospital will be over. Morio, honey I am sure you won’t mind if we take your car.” The wind sorceress was amazed at the resolve burning in her mother, and really did not see how she could refuse.

“Sakura…” The illusion demon started, but a glare from her crimson eyes stopped him. She picked up her designer clutch purse and picked up the keys to her husband’s luxury car.

“Try to order something healthy for dinner for the girls. By healthy, I mean must contain some vegetables. Please don’t just go to the nearest fast food place.” The void youkai stood on the tip of her toes to press a quick peck to her husband’s cheek, then headed straight for the door.

Everyone, including Kagura had been completely taken over by the whirlwind Sakura, and the young demoness had no choice but to blindly follow her mother, which really pleased the older youkai.

‘This time around, with me by her side, something tells me Asuka will have no choice but to give in. I will be damned if I let her keep my daughter from the man she loves.’  


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Once Kagura and her mother had reached the front doors of the hospital, she had been afraid that the security guards would once again throw her out, but no one stopped their progression. The young woman seated at the reception desk even smiled at them as she gave them the floor and room number of Sesshoumaru’s recovery room.

Considering how adamant her mother had been to accompany her at the hospital, Kagura was surprised when Sakura asked her to go talk to Asuka by herself first. The void demoness indeed elected to sit in one of the small resting areas in the recovery room. She had promised to come help her daughter if Kagura should need it.

Her mind set on her goal, the wind sorceress took a deep breath and knocked on the door of Sesshoumaru’s hospital room; the thought that he was so near, yet so far tore at her heart. She was not surprised when the white door was thrown opened, and Asuka’s golden eyes appeared in the small opening.

“You again. Do I have to call security once more?” The dog demoness opened the door enough to slip outside in the corridor without allowing Kagura to catch a glimpse of her fiancé.

“I came to speak to you…” Asuka interrupted Kagura’s sentence by letting out a deep suffering sigh.

“Fine. I will listen, go ahead you have five minutes.” Aiming to show she was serious, her amber eyes went down to quickly glance at her gold wrist watch.

“How is Sesshoumaru doing?” Kagura did not bother asking if he had awaken, if he had, he would have called her, and asked for her to be back at his side, where she belonged.

“He has yet to awaken, but his doctor had assured me he will soon. You only have four minutes left…” Asuka once again looked down at her watch.

Kagura took a breath, and started talking. She may not have a lot of time, but she would make the best possible use of it. “I did not come here to argue with you again. All I want is to see to Sesshoumaru’s well being. I love him, and I want to be here for him.”

“And you believe that is not what I intend to do? Do not dare deny it. You are just like Izayoi. You think I am a heartless woman, who cares nothing for her child, but you are wrong, I only want the best for Sesshoumaru, and this is exactly why I need to get him rid of you. He may believe himself in love with you now, but in the long run you will only drag him down.” Asuka spared her watch one last glance before bringing back the full force of her hard amber glare to Kagura. “It seems you are out of time. I need to get back to my son. Now no need to be so dejected; I will have Jaken compensate you for your… efforts and the time you have spent with my son.”

Kagura knew the other woman’s last words were meant as an insult referring to her past and especially when she had been working for Naraku. She did not let it hurt her or affect her in any ways; getting angry at Asuka would be useless.

“What do I have to do?! Do you want me to get on my knees and beg? Because I will. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to be in that room with the man I love.” She pointed a finger towards the closed white door in front of which Asuka was still standing guard. “I can assure you that when he wakes up he’s never going to forgive you for preventing me from being with him.”

“Is this a threat?” Asuka bristled. Even if she pretended not to be affected by Kagura’s word, she did feel her heartbeat increase; she knew there might be some truth behind these words, but decided to ignore it nonetheless.

“No, it is the truth. Sesshoumaru has told me a lot about you, and let’s just be honest you haven’t been the best mom to him. But right now you have a chance to make it up to him….”

“How dare you judge me?! You know nothing about me. All I have always wanted was for my son to be a better man than his father, and as I said you will bring him down… just like Izayoi did with did with my husband.”

‘This is the second time she mentioned Izayoi.’ The wind sorceress noticed. ‘Anyways what does Asuka even mean by Izayoi and me bringing down Sesshoumaru or his father?... Does she see love as a weakness? Wouldn’t surprise me, she is one cold bitch after all.’ Kagura thought to herself. She could not think of a way to make Asuka see reason. ‘But I am not about to give up.’

“I don’t know what exactly is going on between you and Izayoi, and I don’t really care. All I care about is Sesshoumaru, and you should too. If you cared about him as much as you claim you do, then you should do what is best for him. It may be hard for someone without a heart to understand...”

“I do not know why you are fighting me so strongly. Can you not see I am sparing you heartache in the long run?” Asuka sighed before staring straight in Kagura’s confused crimson eyes. “My son is an ambitious man. He aims to take his advertising agency to a level higher than what his father accomplished. Do you not realize what this means?”

When she noticed that Kagura was truthfully puzzled, she decided to explain in more detail. “Have you ever heard the saying ‘behind a strong man stands an even stronger woman’? This is exactly what Sesshoumaru will need in order to reach the top: a woman worldly, cultivated and gracious enough to help him in his quest. Not a hindrance or a street urchin who will confuse her dessert fork with the salad one when dining at the table of the prime minister.” As if to emphasize her point, her delicate long fingers rose to play with an imaginary tendril of air

“No, what he will need is a woman with a spotless reputation, and the best connections. You are unfortunately sorely lacking in both of these departments, and right now he may be infatuated with you, but when Sesshoumaru will realize your shortcomings, and believe me he will, he will toss you aside.”

Even though she knew there were some valid points in the other woman’s words, Kagura knew that social standing was not the most important thing to her fiancé.

‘If Sesshoumaru really thought I could be a liability, he wouldn’t have hired me as a secretary, nor would he have let Touran leak the story about my past as a prostitute to the press.’ Kagura quickly and easily put aside Asuka’s words, but that did not make her less angry.

“Just because Sesshoumaru’s father left you for another woman doesn’t mean history will repeat itself.” Kagura spat furiously. ‘I can’t help but think Sesshoumaru’s father tossed her aside for a more “polished” version…’

The way a muscle twitched in Asuka’s jaw let Kagura know she had hit the nail right on the head.

“Is that what happened? Did the old man Takahashi decide that you were not good enough, and decided Izayoi would look better at his arm than you? She is one charming, classy lady, so it wouldn’t surprise me.” The older demoness’s pretty manicured hand clenched into a fist.

“Don’t you dare speak of what you know nothing about!” Asuka snarled. It was the first time Kagura saw her break her cold facial mask, but she decided not to be scared by the reaction provoked by her words.

“All the animosity you’ve been showing towards Izayoi makes sense now. You’re obviously still not over the fact that he left you for her, and now you want to use me as a punching ball because you can’t do anything about it. If you want to hurt me, go ahead and keep sitting spiteful words; I seriously can’t care less what you think about me. But Sesshoumaru is your only son, not that you’ve really been a mother to him. I mean don’t you think you’ve been using him enough to suck money out of his father and then Sesshoumaru himself?!” Kagura had a feeling she would not be able to make Asuka see reason, and therefore decided to say her piece before leaving.

“I brought myself up in this world by my own strength. That pampered silver spoon fed home wrecker does not have anything over me! If someone here is a gold digger, it would be you. Any money I may have gotten from my ex-husband or my son is well deserved.” Asuka suddenly interrupted herself. She was revealing to Kagura more about her life than she had ever to anyone else. She thought about stopping, but it felt good be able to talk to someone, even if it was someone she despised.

“Even before I met and married Taisho Takahashi I had risen above any expectation anyone might have had for me. I grew up poor. Poorer than you could even fathom.” Asuka’s eyes glazed over as she recalled her upbringing: her mother’s lingering sickness and resulting death when she was barely out of preschool, her father’s incapacity of dealing with the loss. He had loved her mother so much that he had let himself slip into despair then death. Asuka was sure that to the day she died, she would never forget the contented look on her father’s face when he was lying on his deathbed. The idea of finally being reunited with his lost love even if in death took precedence over everything, even his very much alive teenage daughter.

‘The love they had for each other was simply pathetic. They could not live without each other, and stupidly believed that love would be enough for them to survive.’ Only thinking about that part of her past caused Asuka to clench her fists in anger; it was so easy for her to remember the awful feeling of not knowing when or where her next meal might be coming, which had become an expected occurrence especially while she had been living with her father after her mother’s death. But to her relief and pride, these days were now far behind her. ‘I’ve always known I was special, and deserved much more than the pitiful environment I was brought up in.’

After she had become an orphan she had swore to herself a few things. The first had been never to fall in love. She would never cherish someone so much that losing him would cause her to suffer and crumble the way her father had after her mother passed away. She also decided that she would not die poor like her parents had. So she had worked hard, and carefully crafted herself a new persona. An orphan from a northern city, even going as far as to speak in a light accent, eons away from the rough speech she had bathed in since her mother’s death.

She had also studied hard as it was to her a sure way to get out of a life of misery. She easily managed to earn a full scholarship to attend one of the country’s top universities. Little had she known she would meet a man that would change her life there.

‘As much anger as I may still have towards Taisho, my life would not have been the same without him.’ She could still remember how dazzled she had been by the rich handsome dog demon, and before she realized all her dreams had been fulfilled. He took her around the world, lavished her with expensive gifts, and swore his undying love. Even though she had easily accepted the luxurious lifestyle he made possible to her, she had never returned his feelings, or love declarations.

‘Not that it was part of the contract. I was all he needed in a wife. Beautiful, well mannered, intelligent and I even gave him a son. But still I was not enough for him, and he fell for Izayoi.’ And so Asuka had decided to make him pay for his betrayal, literally. Her and her attorney Shouga had managed to get an exorbitant amount of money for child support, which had allowed her to keep the same lifestyle she had enjoyed when she was still the only Mrs. Takahashi. It of course included one of her favorite things, long cruises. They allowed her to travel with all the needed luxury while discovering far away countries. It had been when she had come back from a three weeks cruise in the Mediterranean Sea that she had been informed that she had lost custody of Sesshoumaru.

“So what because you had a crappy childhood you should be entitled to make everyone miserable?” Kagura’s sharp question thrust Asuka out of her thoughts. “You’re not the only who has had some pretty awful shit happen in her life. I’ve been through hell too, but I don’t take it out on others.” With these parting words, Kagura turned around, and headed towards where she knew her mother was waiting for her. She could only hope that Myouga would have a solution to her problem soon enough as Asuka had obviously no intention of being reasonable.

“Are you insinuating that you and I are similar?” Asuka’s words halted the other woman’s steps. Kagura turned around, and even if she was not sure she should, she decided to answer. ‘Kagura is quite vocal… at least in this way we are indeed similar, but the similarities stop here.’

“I am nothing like you. I may not know how exactly other than marrying Taisho Takahashi you have managed to get all the money you like flouting in people’s faces, but I can assure you that all I have right now, I fought for, and got myself.”

Kagura’s eyes thinned when the other demoness scoffed. Undeterred, she resumed speaking. “The only reason why I am with you son is because I love him, not because I need him… at least not on a financial level. I’m putting myself through college right now. I may have won a scholarship, but am working two jobs as well so that I’m not a burden for Sesshoumaru…. I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this, I owe you nothing.”

The dog demoness ignored Kagura’s last remark; she was too busy analyzing her own feelings. As much as she really hated it, she could not help but feel her heart thaw.

‘Maybe there is more to her than I thought…’ Asuka thought before asking aloud. “Is this true? You better not be lying to me because I can assure you I will find out.”

It was now Kagura’s turn to scoff. “I don’t see why exactly I would be lying to you right now… I’m proud of my accomplishments, and so is Sesshoumaru.”

The fire of resolution burning brightly in Kagura’s crimson eyes did not fail to impress Asuka. Then as she did not know what else to do while the other woman silently stared at her, Kagura squared her shoulders, and stood straighter. She was not about to let the older inu youkai know she intimidated her.

‘She seems to be quite a proud woman. It must have been hard for her to beg me earlier… must be because of this stupid ‘love’ she claims to feel for Sesshoumaru.’ Asuka thought to herself, a brief frown of disgust showing on her face.

“Kagura dear. You were taking too long, so I decided to come see what was keeping you.” The wind sorceress turned around as her mother called out to her.

“Sakura? Sakura Fujibayashi?” Asuka said upon seeing the newcomer, clear shock written all over her face.
“Yes. I am sorry, have we met?” When Sakura walked forward enough to stand besides her daughter, Asuka was shocked to see the resemblance between the two; especially their similar crimson eyes.

“Why yes. It is me, Asuka Watanabe-Takahashi.” She tried her best to keep her voice even; it would not do if she let her annoyance show. It was mind boggling to her to have someone forget about her. “We have a very good friend in common, Mrs. Sato. Last year the three of us served together on the committee putting together the mayor’s wife charity ball.” Asuka then said proudly. She would never miss an opportunity to tell people about her rich and famous connections.

Sakura slightly scrunched her face as she thought back to the said committee meetings. She had never been a fan of socializing with the upper crust of society, but knew it was a necessary part of being married to Morio. She would never do anything to jeopardize her husband’s rightful place in society, so forced herself to fulfill any social functions.

“Yes of course, how could I forget? You were the one who found this delightful flower shop who did these amazing flower arrangements.” Sakura had had a hard time remembering who the other woman was, but when she did is was not because of the flowers as she had claimed, but rather because she only knew of a few people who spoke as arrogantly as Asuka did.

“Yes indeed. Jean-Jacques, the head florist is from France, I met him during an extended stay in Paris. He is truly a genius, and we are all lucky that he has brought all his wonderful craft with him here. I always like to rely on foreigners. They may be more expensive, but their work is always so much more exquisite. What can I say? People such as you and I can only be content with the best of everything.” Sakura forced herself to smile faintly as Asuka chuckled whole heartedly.

Eager to change the conversation away from a topic that really made her uncomfortable, Sakura quickly started talking.

“I see you have met my daughter. I can only hope you have put this whole misunderstanding behind you, and will allow her to be close to the man she loves.” She quickly took her oldest child’s hand in hers, and gave it a quick squeeze.

“She is your daughter?!” The impeccably dressed dog demoness could feel her mouth open in shock, so forced herself to close it. A large dazzling smile suddenly found itself on her lips, displaying her sharp fangs. ‘This changes everything!’

“Kagura dear, why did you not say you were related to the Fujibayashis? Things would indeed have gone a little more smoothly.” Kagura did not like the predatory look that appeared in Asuka’s shiny amber eyes, and the suddenly oversweet tone of her voice made her gag.

“Yes. Kagura is my pride and joy. She is a remarkable young woman, no mother could ask for a better daughter. However I have not come here to speak of that.” Sakura gently licked her dry lips. She hated confrontations. The last time she had had to tackle someone head on, it had been when she had revealed to Kagura that she was her mother.

‘I have caused Kagura so much pain when I have left her under Naraku’s care. I could never make it up to her, but I can try to make her life as good as I can, and this includes getting her in that hospital room with Sesshoumaru.’

Having gathered her strength, Sakura decided to speak. While Kagura had been exchanging heated words with Asuka, Sakura had been thinking long and hard for a situation to their problem, and something had occurred to her.

“Our children clearly love one another. I had the chance to meet your son, and he is a truly remarkable young man. I am… sure that Sesshoumaru will not be very… grateful to you for preventing his fiancée from spending time by his bedside when he most needed her.” Even as it was spoken with a sweet voice, the threat in Sakura’s words was clear: if she kept opposing Kagura, Asuka might anger her son.

The pale youkai’s words resonated easily with the dog demoness. She could not help but wonder if Kagura’s mother was right. What if when her son woke up he did not see the good of her actions. After all as much as Asuka hated to admit it, her son had proposed to Kagura. After much questioning, Jaken had even admitted as much.

‘I am not about to lose Sesshoumaru’s support because of his unsuitable choice. Sakura may be right, if he finds out I stood in Kagura’s way, he might try to take it out on me. God knows he has been acting most unsuitably as of late because of that woman.’ She thought back to the way her son had rebuked her during the memorial ceremony for having insulting Kagura, and knew that there was a great chance of this happening again once he found out about her part in keeping them apart while he lay in a coma.

Maybe a show of good faith towards Kagura might be in my best interest in the long run. It would endear her mother to me, which is something that would be very desirable. Her husband is a well known man in this city, and is extremely rich. Having wealthy, powerful and well connected friends is always a plus. Not to mention that when Sesshoumaru does wake up, there will be enough time to bring him back to his senses. Until they are actually married, I can still work to split him and that woman up. Her parents may be the Fujibayashis, but I am not certain this woman is deserving of my son.’

“Whatever mom, let’s just leave. She’s not going to let me see Sessh, and I’d rather go home to the girls than waste my time here.” Asuka could not quite put her finger on it, but there was something in Kagura’s sentence that tickled her curiosity. She decided to ignore it, preferring to focus on the issue at hand: how to backtrack without losing face.

Even if she thought there might still be more to do, Sakura decided to relent for now.  Nodding quickly towards Asuka as a parting gesture, she turned to leave, Kagura right behind her.

“Wait!” Asuka called. The two red eyes women stopped, and turned back towards her.  

“I have decided to be magnanimous, and allow you to see my son.” Kagura’s eyes bulged out of her face in surprise at the words that left the mouth of Sesshoumaru’s mother. Considering how the other woman had spent the last few minutes insulting and belittling her, she could not imagine why Asuka would suddenly change her mind.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Instead of relief, it was anger that predominated inside the wind sorceress. It was one thing for Asuka to mock her, that Kagura could handle, but toying with her feelings that was another thing entirely.

“Mind your language honey.” Sakura gently scolded her daughter; considering that her younger sons had a tendency to have quite the potty mouth, this had become a natural reaction to her.

“As I just said I have decided to let you stay by his side… since Inuyasha is… family...” She spit out the last word as if it let an unpleasant taste in her mouth. “… I will let the doctors know you two, and only you two will be allowed to see him.” Asuka said, then as she turned a smile towards Sakura she quickly added, remembering her earlier plan. “Of course Mrs. Fujibayashi you are free to come and stop by any time. I am sure my son would appreciate that.”

“Please call me Sakura, we are practically family.” She forced a smile. Her daughter would finally get what she wanted, and this was all that mattered.

It took a few seconds for the news to sink into Kagura, but when it did, she could not help but smile happily, full of relief. “I don’t know what changed your mind, but it is much appreciated.” She said as she thought ‘I shouldn’t let my guard down, something tells me that woman didn’t just suddenly accept me in her family. She must be planning something… I may not know what it is, but for now, I’ll just use it to my advantage. I have to go to Sesshoumaru, and see how he’s doing, and so my best to ignore his mother.’

“Now Kagura, why don’t you go over and spend some time with Sesshoumaru? I will keep Asuka company.” Sakura stated, giving her daughter a gentle shove towards the door. As she noticed that Asuka was going to protest, she decided to quickly intervene. “Tell me Asuka, have you received your invitation to the annual Winter Ball?” The Winter Ball was a major event in the social calendar. It marked the official beginning of winter, and only the most prominent members of the city were invited, which used to include Asuka when she had still been married to Taisho. Since their divorce, no matter how many favors she had tried to call in, or how much money she had been willing to spend, she had never been invited. Therefore only the mention of the exclusive yearly celebration was enough to make Asuka tremble in envy.

“Unfortunately I was doing a summer cruise in the Caribbean when the invitations were sent. It seems like my servants have misplaced it during my absence. You know how they are, if they are not stealing from you, they are misplacing things or breaking your antique vases. It has become quite hard to get good help these days.”

As disgusted as she was by Asuka’s words, Sakura forced a smile. She quickly deciphered what the other woman did not say: she had not been invited. And just like this, Sakura had found a way in.

“What a pity Asuka. I am a member of Mrs. Li’s book club. This year she is in charge of inviting people, so I am sure that if I explain to her your difficult situation, she will be very understanding.” Sakura may hate calling in favors, but she would, for her daughter’s sake.

Noticing that said daughter was simply standing beside her, looking at her with surprise in her eyes. She gave Kagura a quick wink then gave with her hand pointed towards the door of Sesshoumaru’s hospital room, silently telling her to go see him while she distracted his mother. After all she would not put it past Sakura to go back on her word; she really did not trust the other woman.

“Why don’t we go grab a cup of tea? It would be more comfortable to have a discussion than this hallway.” Asuka nodded her assent quickly. The prospect of finally attending the grand celebration made her quite forget about Kagura’s presence.

“I know this fantastic little bakery not too far from here, shall we go?” Sakura smiled, and walked after the other demoness.

As they chatted and walked away, Kagura breathed a sigh of relief. ‘If I had known I would have gotten mom to come distract the old dragon a long time ago.’ Even as she thought that, she decided to push away her thoughts of her newfound ‘nemesis,’ and focused her attention back to what or rather who really mattered; Sesshoumaru.

Her heart beating loudly in her chest, Kagura pushed open the heavy white door, and stepped inside the hospital room. A sob escaped her lips once she spied the form of her lover. As she would have expected from Asuka Watanabe-Takahashi, she had placed her son in a spacious hospital recovery room. The headboard of his big bed was pushed against the white wall. On the other side of the room, mounted on the opposite wall was a huge flat screen television, which reminded Kagura of the one in the penthouse. Apart from the few medical machines arranged on either side of the bed, it was the only other electrical device. The only other pieces of furniture were an armchair next to the window, and a chair placed on the injured side of Sesshoumaru.

Kagura did not pay attention to the paintings on the wall; they were as insipid as the room. She rounded the bed, and headed for the chair. However instead of sitting on it, she leaned towards the bed. She silently observed her lover as she did her best to keep in her tears. He was lying on a brightly white sheet, his long silver hair messily covering the equally white pillow. His body was covered by a beige colored blanket, which only revealed his broad shoulders and part of his naked chest to her eyes. She slightly lifted the bedcovers to look at his left arm. His bicep and shoulder were tightly bandaged, so to her disappointment she could not assess for herself how serious his bullet wound was.

‘He looks like he’s sleeping… I feel as though he could wake up any time.’ She gently pressed a tender kiss to his lips. When he failed to respond to her gentle ministration, she finally broke down and allowed hot tears to pour down her cheeks. She kneeled by the bed, and gently cradled his larger left hand in hers. Not even the constant beep of the heart monitor indicating that the very still man was still alive offered her any comfort. She watched as one of her tears fell down on the pale skin of his hand.

“Please come back to us. Our daughters and I need you.” Even if she spoke aloud, he did not answer, and this really broke her heart in a way that none of Asuka’s mean and insulting words ever could.


To be continued…


A/N: So Kagura finally managed to get to be by Sesshoumaru’s side. Will it be enough to help him? We shall see next time in Worth Fighting For.





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