InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Teaching Rin ❯ Chapter 42 ( Chapter 42 )

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Teaching Rin

Chapter 42

Jealousy in A minor

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Kaida watched as yet another carriage pulled into the courtyard, depositing another of Sesshomaru’s council members before their lord and liege. The Western Council was compromised of eight high level, high ranking demons who were under Sesshomaru’s employment to oversee the area of the lands they were assigned to. They would gather one a year and discuss the comings and goings, as well as any problems that seemed to be of importance. They answered directly to Sesshomaru, and no one else. At the moment, seven of them had arrived, and the last one was now pulling up into the courtyard.

‘Asami.’ Kaida thought, stealing herself for the impending meeting. Kaida knew that she easily outranked the councilman’s daughter, but it hadn’t helped the facts any. The Southern demoness had done some last second research, wanting to know as much about Asami as she could before having to meet the woman. Her search had turned up nothing that she hadn’t already been able to uncover.

‘You will be nice. You will be polite. You will not attack her.’ Kaida chanted in her head as the carriage drew closer.

In front of her, Sesshomaru seemed to go even more rigid…if it was possible. She was standing behind him and off to the left, with Rin and Kentaro on her right. The two soon to be mates had been inseparable since Kentaro had arrived a few hours before, bringing the mainland Lord Seiti with him.

Sesshomaru had welcomed the falcon as he would any other noble, respectively. And Seiti had taken up his position at Kaida’s side until the councilmen started to arrive. Then the lord had excused himself, saying he would meet up with her once she and Rin saw to the visiting members as protocol called for. She didn’t know where he had gotten off to, or what he was doing.

And she really didn’t care.

‘Keep your mouth shut, and be nice. Asami has done nothing to you that warrants your anger. Do not let your temper get the better or you.’

The last carriage came to a stop, and Kaida reinforced her mental monologue as she readied herself to lay eyes on the demoness that apparently still clung to the idea of one day being Sesshomaru’s mate…at least if what Sakaki had told her was true.

Asami stepped out of the carriage, and Kaida suddenly realized that she was in every way possible, the very definition of what a high ranking councilman’s daughter was supposed to be. Asami stepped out of the carriage and lightly onto the cobbled steps of the courtyard, looking about at the gathered inhabitants before her eyes settled calmly onto Sesshomaru. Kaida grudgingly admitted that the other woman’s thick, calf length hair and deep blue eyes, coupled with the air of regalness that surrounded her, was hard to beat. And if the rumors she heard from some of the other council members were true, Asami was quite intelligent.

And Kaida absolutely hated her for it. The Southern demoness had lost her own long hair in Kiyoshi’s attack when he’d hacked most of it off. Kaida had acted like it didn’t phase her all that much, and had cut it short in order to even the ends out. But the fact was, she had cringed when she’d been forced to cut it. Even now, after months of recovering, her hair still had not grown past her shoulder blades.

‘You cannot kill the Councilman’s daughter. Asami is here as a good will ambassador for her father, nothing more.’

Kaida watched as the other demoness bowed low to Sesshomaru and said the customary pleasantries. The Western Lord seemed more agitated than normal, but Kaida doubted anyone else besides herself noticed it. Sesshomaru bid Asami to rise, and she did, the multicolored hems swaying as she rose to her feet as gracefully as a dancing geisha. The dog demoness smiled sweetly and sent a lingering look to the demon lord in front of her before turning her attention to the group nearest her.

‘Goodwill ambassador. Right. If she‘s an ambassador, I‘m going to give up fighting and become a temple priestess!’

Kaida heard Sesshomaru introduce her and Rin and Kentaro, but paid no heed to it. Asami was still smiling, but a cold glint had permeated the other female’s eyes.

A look Kaida knew all to well.

Asami apparently recognized her, but quickly schooled her expression into one of polite interest. If Kaida would hazard a guess, the thoughts running through the other demoness’ mind were not much different from her own previous ones. Kaida had no doubt that when word had reached Asami that she had been brought from the Southern Lands to teach Rin court manners, the demoness had been angry…knowing that another demoness was in close quarters with Sesshomaru. And the rumors that were running rampant about the Western Lord and Southern Lady had no doubt fueled Asami’s anger to a boiling rage. But to have Kaida present to receive the councilmen was just a step below a physical slap in the face to the Sesshomaru’s ex-lover. Protocol called for only members of the hosting household to greet visitors, not other nobles in employment to the hosting Lord. According to protocol, Kaida should have been somewhere in the fortress, entertaining Seiti. So to have her standing practically at the Western Lord’s side, and per his request no less, Kaida knew she was not going to get a welcoming reception from the other woman.

“Lady Kaida, I am most honored to meet you.” Asami said, bowing low to her, although her smile did not completely reach her eyes.

‘Be nice. You can’t afford to cause a feud between your lands and the west because of one demoness.’ Kaida reminded herself sternly before answering the other female. “The pleasure is all mine, Asami. I do hope your father is well.”

“He will be fine soon, and undoubtedly back to his old ways.” the demoness answered. “I did not realize you were still in the Western Lands. How is Lady Rin’s training progressing?”

‘Like you don’t already know.’ she wanted to spat out. “Quite well. She is to join with the Eastern family within the month.” Asami smiled, as was appropriate, and turned her attention to Rin and Kentaro, congratulating them on the upcoming union. Kaida was pulled out of the spotlight, and away from more forcibly polite and pointless small talk, when Sesshomaru told Rin to take Asami to her guest quarters, which the human girl done immediately while servants lead the remaining seven councilmen to their own quarters.

Kaida’s eyes narrowed as Asami’s figure disappeared into past the doors of the fortress. Her jealousy was still running rampant despite the fact that Sesshomaru had shown no outward acknowledgement of his and Asami’s previous relationship. But Kaida knew all to well that a scorned woman could prove more trouble than she was worth. A sudden fit of coughing broke her from her thoughts, and brought her attention to Kentaro, who had the most ridiculous look on his face and fighting off invisible attackers.

“What is wrong with you?” she asked, casting a worried glance at him.

“I can breath again.” the kitsune said in a relieved voice, grinning over at her.

“What?” Kaida asked. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the fox, but his actions were odd. He couldn’t breath? What was that all about?

“I thought the tension was going to smother all of us.” he said, chuckling. “Call it a hunch, but I don’t think Asami likes you all that much.”

“Figured that out all by yourself, did you? Or did Rin help you?” Kaida asked sourly.

“All by myself, Lady, thank you very much!” he said, feigning hurt. “I bet Asami doesn’t like being usurped from her place.”

“And what place would that be exactly? I’ve done nothing to her.” Kaida said defensively. Kentaro just grinned and then outright laughed at her before turning to leave her standing there, a scowl on her face.

“Kaida.”

Oh, damn! She’d thought Sesshomaru had left with his council members. Apparently he hadn’t. How had she missed that?

“Yes?” she asked, looking back at him calmly.

“Behave yourself.” he said stoically, walking past her without another word. Kaida frowned and crossed her arms on her chest, aggravated from being teased and then reprimanded like she’d done something wrong.

“I will if she will.” she hissed, turning in the opposite direction and leaving Sesshomaru to deal with the council members.

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It hadn’t taken long for Sesshomaru to realize that putting Kaida and Asami in the same room, albeit on opposite sides of an argument, would prove to be a bad idea. But, Kaida was keeping to his warning and behaving herself as she should. It was Asami, he realized, who was about to blow her top.

He had watched them interact earlier that day when Asami had arrived, and found no outward signs of hostility from either. Asami had been her ever charming self, and Kaida had been polite. So why they were currently glaring at each other and hurling thinly veiled insults across the council room was utterly lost to him.

Even if it did prove to be rather amusing.

“Securing the borders would be most prudent. After all, we do not want some uncouth bandits to infiltrate the lands and cause unnecessary problems.”

“Bandits?”

“Thieves, bandits, and any other type of riff raff that have designs on implanting themselves in the Western Lands and taking that which they are not entitled to.”

“Forgive me, Asami. But I was under the impression that unified lands were more productive than those which close themselves off from their neighbors. Closing borders would be counterproductive. No one area of land has the resources available to keep the inhabitants alive. Trade is needed.” Kaida countered, her hands crossed over her chest.

Sesshomaru watched as Kaida and Asami continued to square off against each other. They had been going at it like two wildcats since Kaida had walked into the room a half hour ago to deliver a message to him. Her arrival had broken up an argument between Asami and another councilman who was opposed to the dog demoness’ reasoning. So, Sesshomaru had blindly asked Kaida’s opinion on the topic of border patrols and the trading caravans…thus planting the seeds of chaos that were currently bearing fruit.

“I am not suggesting we close trading routes, merely modify who and what are entering.”

“So you propose supervising the routes?”

“Yes.”

“Every one of them?”

“Yes.”

“Impossible. The humans alone have at least twenty main routes, not to mention countless others.”

“The humans can handle themselves. My main concern is the other trading outers. There have been instances of unsafe individuals posing as harmless traders and causing trouble. It needs to be stopped before more creatures who do not belong here soil the Western Land’s reputation. We have a standard to uphold.”

“Are you implying that the other lands do not?” Kaida asked calmly.

And there was Kaida again, quick to jump on any remark that she considered derogatory to her own homelands. She being uncharacteristically defensive of her homelands, which was odd.

“I am implying that lax security is unacceptable.” Asami said firmly, drawing his attention back.

“And how do you suppose we remedy this?” a councilmen asked. Sesshomaru was quite interested in hearing her ideas about that as well. Of course, when the dog demoness leveled a cold glare at Kaida and turned her nose up a little, Sesshomaru knew the trouble was really about to start.

“Get rid of any and all beings not tied to the Western lands, and not allow them passage without proper reasoning.” she said firmly.

“Kill them?” the demon asked, shaking his head. Sesshomaru chanced a glance at Kaida, who was calmly listening in…even if he did notice her eyebrow was twitching spasmodically.

“Send them back where they came from.” Asami clarified, shooting a icy look at Kaida before continuing. “All of them.”

“That is a good idea, Asami, if in theory only.” Kaida replied, ignoring the glares from the other demoness as she once again asserted herself into the conversation.

“Theory only?” Asami asked, her hands moving to her hips. “Why do you say that?”

“It would be impossible to implement. The manpower alone would decimate the armies if they were forced to patrol the northern, eastern, and southern borders as you suggest. It’s not worth it.” Kaida said, shaking her head.

“Not keeping outsiders away from our home is not worth it? A secure place to live is not worth it?” Asami countered.

“I never said it wasn’t worth it. I just said that it would be more reasonable to achieve security on your own, rather than involving thousands of others. No part of this country is immune from violence along the trade routes. But it is better to handle them on a smaller scale, as opposed to a larger one.” Kaida retorted.

Score one for Kaida.

“…with Saburo being instated as the Lord of the Northern Lands, political ties will strengthen. There is no reason to anger neighboring lands over trade routes that are perfectly fine as they are.”

“Forgive me, Lady Kaida. But how exactly do you know Saburo’s way of ruling will be any better than his father‘s?”

“Because I’ve been around the damned family longer than anyone else, and Saburo and Atsuko are about the only sane ones in the whole blasted bunch.”

Sesshomaru almost wanted to smile as Asami visibly wilted at the reminder of how close Kaida had one time been to the Northern family. But Kaida continued to regard the other female coolly, waiting for the next volley in their verbal match up. Well, that seemed to quiet the whole damned room. None of his councilmen had dared to intervene in the argument between the two women, sensing that they were warring about something besides ideas concerning border patrols. A few of the more braver ones had tried to speak out, only to have both Asami’s and Kaida’s glares quickly shut them up. And truthfully, he wanted to see them argue, knowing well that it was as close to a fair fight as he would get to witness between the two of them. Because if it came down to physically fighting each other, Asami wouldn’t last two seconds in the arena with Kaida.

“…Sesshomaru approves of everything, and everyone entering these lands. He has no patience or tolerance for substandard work in any form or fashion, including those directly under his employment. It is his decision as to who and what should stay or go, no one else’s. As such, he has the final say so, no matter how long we stand here, pointedly arguing about a subject neither of us are willing to compromise on.”

Kaida’s mention of his name brought him back to reality, and face to face with the two warring females who had apparently resolved to have his final say in the matter.

Too bad for him he hadn’t really caught a word of it since he recognized exactly what was going on. His eyes trailed from Asami’s determined, if angry face and then to Kaida’s calmly impatient one. He suddenly wondered if it would be prudent to take sides in this particular argument. Probably not.

“Well?” Asami asked, prompting him for a response. “What do you think, Lord Sesshomaru?” The lord in question heard the staccato tapping of Asami’s foot against the floor as she waited for an answer to her question. Kaida’s only outward sign of patience was her green eyes trained on him, and her eyebrows slightly raised. “Lord Sesshomaru?”

“Both of you have brought up valid points, and I will consider them as such before making a decision.” he said, watching as Asami backed down, obviously pleased with his words. Kaida, however, proved to be more suspicious of his vague answer. She crossed her arms and regarded him coolly, almost as if she had known that he was not paying attention to what was being said. He met her gaze with one of his own, daring her to call him on his conduct. A few of the braver council members snickered, breaking the silent battle of wills, and he would have sworn Kaida’s lips quirked into an almost imperceptible grin before she bowed low and spoke to the assembled group.

“If you gentlemen will excuse me, I have other matters to attend to this evening.” she said. There was a muttering of acknowledgement, and she turned to him. “Lord Sesshomaru, is there anything else?”

“No. You are dismissed, Lady.” he answered stonily, wary of her sudden shift in demeanors. Once again he cursed females for being so hard to understand. On their own, he could handle Kaida or Asami. But putting the two hotheaded demoness’ together, when they apparently had a vendetta with each other that he was unaware of, and he didn’t know what to do other than let them fight it out with disguised insults and glares. Females were too damned complicated for him to understand.

“Very well then. Councilmen. Lord Sesshomaru. I bid you good evening.” Kaida said with a nod, quickly slipping out the door and leaving him to face the next few hours with his council and the now fuming Asami, all on his own.

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The smugness that accompanied her small victory over Asami did not leave Kaida until a few hours later. The Southern Lady had been searching out Rin and Kentaro after they had disappeared when she’d changed into her training hakamas and gi, only to find Seiti instead.

The falcon demon had been inquired of her whereabouts from one of the servants when she’d chanced upon them in the gardens, causing a smile to grace his face. Now, Kaida was not one to fall for every handsome demon that she met.

But even she had to admit that Seiti was a good looking specimen of a demon. His piercing gray eyes seemed to be able to freeze his targets in their steps. His thick black hair was cropped short, unlike many of the other demon lords, and sprinkled with lighter gray strands here and there. Seiti was older than her father by a few centuries, although still in his prime, and known to be quite a cunning adversary. Standing an impressive six and a half feet, he had broad shoulders and a well muscled body that showed he was a fighter, and more than able to handle his own in any situation.

Had it not been for the tiny fact that he was quite the womanizer, Kaida probably might have taken a liking to the handsome, silver tongued demon.

Emphasis on the word might.

“Ahh, my dear Lady, I was looking for you.” he said, waving the servant off and walking over to her, that smile firmly in place. Kaida readied herself for another round of his subtly flirting that she knew he had perfected as the years passed. This demon was smooth, but she had been warned more than once about his mannerisms, and was fully prepared to deal with him.

‘You weren’t looking too hard, are you’d have known exactly where I was.’ she wanted to reply. Instead, she nodded and formulated a pleasant response. “I’m sorry to have caused you trouble, my Lord. Did you need something of me?”

“I was hoping I could speak with you for a while. Do you have time?” he asked, slipping easily beside her and matching her steps as she walked along.

“I am expected in the training field shortly, but not at the moment. What can I do for you?” Kaida asked politely, her attention trained on him.

“You realize that I’ve been in contact with your father a few times in the past months, don’t you?”

“I’ve heard word of it. I’m afraid being away from my home has severely limited my knowledge of what’s going on there.” she answered, shrugging. ‘Of course I know you wanted to talk to me. Everyone knows. It’s not like you were bloody well being discrete about it.’

“Yes. I had hoped that Ryu would be able to set up a meeting between the two of us, but had been told that you wouldn’t be back in your homelands for a few months.”

“Father sent me a letter about that, and I wrote back saying that I had nothing against meeting with you, my Lord. Did you not receive word back?” she asked. ‘Or did you just get impatient and decide to come find me yourself?’

“No. I received the letter. But I was most concerned that it would be a number of months before I could meet with you at your sister’s festivities.”

“So you managed to hunt me down in the Western Lands. That’s quite a bit of trouble just to speak with someone, especially me.” she asked, giving him a grin. ‘What do you want from me, bird brain?’

“So I’ve been told.” he answered, shaking his head. “My advisors are in agreement with you, one hundred percent.”

“Well, you found me.” she said with a shrug. “What can I do for you, Lord Seiti.”

“Please, just call me Seiti.” he said. “I’m not all that fond of the pleasantries.” Kaida nodded and waited for him to continue. They walked a few feet, letting him gather his thoughts. “I am in need of your assistance, Kaida.”

“In what way?”

“There are some situations that are going to arise in the coming weeks that will need a delicate touch. I was hoping you would not be adverse to assisting me with them.” he said.

“I’m afraid you came to the wrong person then. I’m not so well known for handling delicate situations of any type too well.” she said apologetically.

“Your bombastic nature precedes you, Lady. Although I daresay it does you no true justice.” he said. “However, I could still use your assistance none the less.”

“Doing what?” Kaida asked, leading them deeper into the gardens and away from any possible servants that might be lingering around the fortress.

“Securing a few troublesome territories that have seen fit to organize a revolt against me.” he said, running a hand through his hair exasperatingly. “Your skills with a sword are well known, even in my lands, and I believe that you could very well be the answer to all my troubles.”

“Your words are flattering, Seiti. But I won’t be talked in circles. ’Spit it out, already.” Kaida said simply. ’Sweet talking me isn’t going to get you anywhere fast.’

“Straight to the point. Ryu warned me about that.” the falcon grinned.

“I’m sure he did. Now, your reason for searching me out after I already agreed to meet with you during my sister’s celebrations.” she prompted.

“The territories I told you about are indeed gathering strength. I need someone to go in and take out the leaders before it gets any further along.” he said firmly, looking at her as they walked slowly among the cherry trees.

“And why can’t you send in someone to do just that?” Kaida asked. “Surely you have someone….”

“Information breech. There is a leak in my court, someone passing on information to the rebels, warning them of every move I make. That is why I came to you. Despite your reputation, you are an unfamiliar face in my lands. And since my advisors and court think I am in the Eastern Lands, they would not become suspicious. My only chance to broach the subject with you, since the leak will undoubtedly be shadowing me during your sister’s festivities.”

“Fine. But why me?” she queried. His reasoning made sense, but was still off. Seiti could hire any other person to take out the rebel leaders. He didn’t have to come find her. Why expend all that energy and the resources to find one soldier with an unknown face when any unfamiliar assassin or killer could do the same job?

“A number of reasons, actually.” Seiti said, stopping their progress and reaching out to touch one of the many spring blossoms that had started showing. “Word traveled fast of Kiyoshi’s and Haruto’s demise, and your part in it. Your father is being pressured by his Council to get you mated off, since they apparently believe you will be less of a lose cannon once that occurs. Your…reluctance to take a mate is well known, and Ryu is searching for a way to keep you occupied long enough for his Council to lose interest in you.”

Kaida could suddenly see where this was going, and she wasn’t sure she liked it all that much.

“And he things that by putting me in your…employment the pressure will ease?” she asked. Seiti nodded, plucking the blossom and deftly using his long fingers to weave the two stems together. “Okay, let’s say I did accept, and agreed to what you want done. It would take only a few weeks to accomplish, possibly less. That is hardly enough time to for the old buzzards to lose interest.”

“Your father said the same thing. But remember, once the rebel leaders are out of the way, the territories are going to be in chaos. I could use your assistance to help sort out the mess afterwards….and that could take years.” he said, picking yet another flower and weaving it with the others, the beginning of a ringlet in his hands as they moved along.

“And as long as my father consents to my assistance, my stay with another Lord cannot be called into questions…and the Council can’t touch me.” she said, shaking her head. “It’s the same loophole that got me sent here to the West.”

“Yes, but it works.” he said, giving her a comforting smile. “Lady, your father does not want to see you forced into a union where you will be unhappy. Allow me to help you escape a fate you do not wish to go through.”

“Why are you doing this?” she asked, not able to disregard her suspicions altogether. Seiti was manipulative, and she wanted to know why he wanted her. “You have no real reason to want me in your lands. And forgive me, but you are not known as a demon who surreptitiously hands out aid to people wanting to get out of a mating.”

“Your father is an old friend of mine, Lady. And he offered his assistance some decades ago that enabled me to squash a rebellion similar to the very one that is rising now.” he said softly. “I am simply repaying the favor.”

“By using another member of his family as a tool to help you destroy yet another rebellion?” she asked. ‘You presumptuous, pain in my…..’

“You come from a powerful family, Kaida. I don’t want to see my old friend’s youngest daughter used as a pawn in a power struggle in years to come.”

“You say that so convincingly, yet you have no qualms about sending me to kill your rebel leaders? That’s a double standard, Seiti.” she pointed out. ‘Bastard. You all but call me nothing but a tool of conquest, and then you expect me to help you? Have you lost your mind?’

“I never said I played by own rules, Lady.” he said calmly, a wicked grin on his face that caused Kaida to chuckle.

“So I’ve heard.” she said. ‘You want me because of my power, but you’re not willing to share.’

“I’m sure you have.” he replied. “Make no mistake, Kaida. Having you at my side would prove beneficial for both of us. My lands are calmed, and your union nonexistent.” Another blossom was chosen, and he wove it into the creation in his hands.

“At least until my job is done and I return home.” she said solemnly.

“Yes.” he said, turning and smiling disarmingly at her, then placing the ringlet of woven flowers on the crown of her head. “But you may surprise yourself and find a reason to stay in my lands as the time progresses on.” Kaida wasn’t exactly sure how to handle the confident lord in front of her, short of tossing him on his ass for being so damned presumptuous with her. Instead, she managed to sooth her already frayed nerves by stalling a little more. She didn’t trust herself not to say something that would insult the demon, so she chewed on her bottom lip…looking for all the world like she was contemplating answering him…when in fact all she was doing was going over the reasons again and again why she couldn’t kill the smooth talking bastard.

Now she saw how he got his womanizing reputation.

Her desperate ploy seemed to work though, because Seiti grasped her hand and raised it to his lips, delicately kissing it before stepping away. Oh yeah, this guy was good.

“At least think about it, Lady. You need not give me an answer just now.”

“I will, my Lord.” she said, nodding. “But if you would excuse me. I have a training session to oversee in a few moments.”

“Sesshomaru’s elites, yes?” he asked pleasantly, leading them out of the gardens and back towards the training fields.

“Correct.” she said.

“I had heard you were overseeing their training. Would you be adverse to my watching?”

‘Yes. Would you just go away already?’ she thought. Instead she gifted him with a quite smile and shook her head. “No, not at all. Although I can tell you it will probably be quite boring.”

“That is fine. I’m sure I can find something to amuse myself.”

‘I’m sure you can, jerk.’ Kaida thought sourly, motioning for him to follow her towards the training grounds. A flash of errant demonic energy caught her attention, and Kaida’s eyes found their way up to the second story window of the fortress, only to find Sesshomaru’s cold amber gaze directed down at her from the window of the council room. Kaida tried to repress the shiver that wound itself through her body, especially when the Western Lord’s gaze turned mutinous the longer he stared at the Lord walking beside her.

Unfortunately, Asami broke their attention and stepped up beside Sesshomaru. Kaida saw the demoness place her hand on Sesshomaru’s shoulder and say something to him, right about the time Seiti’s hand found its way to her lower back to gently lead her towards the training grounds as he spoke about his own soldiers. Kaida tamped down a growl, but she wasn’t sure if it was from where Asami’s hand was or Seiti’s.

Maybe if she was lucky, one of her soldier’s ill aimed kunai would fly a little further off course than normal and stab him in the heart. At least then one of the damned annoyances would be gone.

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Rin watched from a secluded corner of the courtyard as Kaida and Seiti made their way towards the training grounds. Beside her, Kentaro had a pensive look on his face.

“Well, so far so good.” he said softly, glancing up at where Asami was leading Sesshomaru away from the window. “Both are thoroughly pissed beyond all reason.”

“We need them to be jealous, not mad.” Rin pointed out.

“I know.” Kentaro said, musing. “I know, Rin.”

“Now what?” the human girl asked as they left their hiding place and walked towards the gardens Seiti and Kaida had just vacated.

“Now, we bring in our other accomplice.” the kitsune said.

“There isn’t much Sakaki can do at this point.” Rin said. “What are you thinking?”

“Sesshomaru’s jealousy needs to be so far gone that he isn’t thinking straight. He needs to be so focused on getting Kaida to his side that he just acts out of instinct, not thinking.”

“The last time that happened, we had to rebuild the dojo.” Rin pointed out blandly.

“Dojo? Wait a minute….” the kitsune said, glancing in the direction of said building. “Didn’t you say that they had been training in there lately?”

“Every now and then.”

“In the evening?”

“Mostly in the morning.” she said, shrugging. Rin couldn’t follow what her kit was thinking. What did the dojo have to do with anything, especially if neither Kaida or Sesshomaru hardly went in there to begin with. “What are you thinking?”

“Do you think you can get Kaida to the dojo after dinner tonight?” he asked suddenly.

“She‘s going to be there already. She said something about Sesshomaru teaching her to control her demonic side, and lessons starting this evening.” Rin said, trying to remember what she’d heard Kaida grumbling about the evening before.

“Really? You don’t say?” Kentaro mumbled, a grin on his face. “That’s perfect.”

“Perfect? For what?” Rin asked as the vines and bushes swayed in response to the kitsunes manipulative energy that was coursing out of him in excitement.

“For the idea I just had.” he said with a wicked grin.

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Sesshomaru had not had a good day, and that was putting it mildly. The Council meetings had accomplished practically nothing, Asami had been hanging around him all day and chattering away like a hyperactive chipmunk, and he’d noticed that Seiti stayed glued to Kaida’s side when she wasn’t busy with other things. Knowing that Rin and Kentaro were somewhere in the fortress together, doing only the gods knew what, didn’t help either.

Now, he was waiting in the dojo for Kaida to show up for her first lesson in attempting to control her demonic side. Sesshomaru had been curious as to how her blood reacted for quite some time before, but had not done anything about it. As the weeks had passed though, he’d noted that there were more similarities between the mix blooded Kaida and a pureblood like himself. The main difference stemmed from the fact that Kaida had no control of her transformations.

Sesshomaru had remembered well the lessons he’d forced to endure when he’d been a pup. Lessons that had forced him to control his demonic energy and force it to take the manifest itself as he wished. They had been anything but easy, but in the end he had walked away with such a fine control over his power that it amazed even his father on occasion. His theory was that Kaida simply needed to create a ‘switch’ that allowed her to turn her demonic blood on and off.

A pulsing aura alerted him to Kaida’s arrival at the dojo, and he turned to meet her as she walked into the door, eyes narrowed into slits and her pointy teeth bared. Sesshomaru blinked. If the swirling energy around her was any indication, she was already on the verge of lapsing into her demonic side already.

What was wrong with her? What had happened now?

“Problems?” he asked as she walked into the center of the dojo mat.

“Hypothetically speaking, if I killed someone, and the body was never found, I couldn’t be implicated, right?”

“No.”

“You know any good hiding spots?” she asked.

“Quite a few, actually.”

“Good. You might have to show them to me later.” she growled, only to forcibly calm herself down and turn her attention to him. “All right. I’m here. So what’s your big idea to help me control my more homicidal side?”

“Your demonic side manifests itself during times of extreme stress or danger. As a result, it is logical to assume that given the correct instruction, you can control your body.”

“How so?”

“Every higher level demon has the ability to switch their full demonic energy on and off. We just have to find your switch.”

“Okay. And how do I do that? Training?”

“Meditation.”

“What?”

 220;Meditation. And exercises in handling and controlling your energy from within your body, as opposed to outside control.”

“No disrespect intended, Sesshomaru, but you think sitting in the middle of the floor and thinking of a happy place is going to cure my little problem? Forgive me if I‘m a bit doubtful.” she said calmly.

“That is how members of my clan have done it for centuries, and it has yet to fail.” he pointed out. He saw her ideas begin to sway until she apparently convinced herself that he wasn’t losing his mind, and that it was safe to give it a try.

“What do I need to do?” she asked, walking to his side, her voice utterly serious as she turned her green eyes up to him in rapt attention.

“Sit down.” he said. She followed his instructions and sunk down onto the tatami mat. He took a seat directly in front of her, and she glanced at him with a questioning look. “Have you ever meditated before?”

“No. Never could stay still long enough for it.” she admitted.

“When was the last time you tried?”

“Couple decades ago?”

“If you have never meditated, how did you learn to outwardly manifest your demonic power?”

“You mean my shields?” she asked. Sesshomaru gave an imperceptible nod. “It happened by accident one day when Kiyoshi was giving me a hard time. I don’t know how it happened. It just did. After a few tries, I was able to put them up at will.”

“What was he doing to you?”

“Give you three guesses.”

“So your power manifested itself to protect you from him?”

“As far as anyone could tell, yes.” she answered, settling herself cross legged on the mat. “So, now what?”

“Relax.” Sesshomaru said softly. “Close your eyes and concentrate only on your power. Clear your mind of any other thoughts or distractions.” He watched as Kaida took a deep breath and went still in front of him. He silently palmed a small dagger that he had hidden in the folds of his shirt and took aim, sending it flying towards the demoness.

Only to have Kaida reach up and pluck it from the air before it whizzed right past her left ear. She opened her eyes and glared at him angrily, waiting for some sort of explanation.

“If you could sense that coming at you, you are not properly focusing on the task at hand.” he said.

“I’m trying to focus and you’re throwing kunai at me.” she hissed, stabbing the sharpened blade into the floor between the two of them. “You’d be reluctant to close your eyes as well if your teacher was throwing pointy things at you.”

“Your sarcasm is not needed.”

“I was under the impression that blades weren’t needed for meditation, either.” she countered, leveling him with a glare. He shrugged it off and continued on.

“The first thing you need to learn is to trust me.” he said. “While you are learning to find and control your power, you are in a state of lowered defenses because your focus is turned inwards as opposed to outwards. Do you trust me, Lady Kaida?”

“About as far as I can throw you.” she replied.

“Well, that is helpful at least. I was under the impression we would be starting from the ground up.” he said dryly. He watched as Kaida gave him a suspicious look and crossed her arms.

“Now I know those meetings are detrimental to your mental health. You just made a blatant joke out of what I said.” she accused him. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I am perfectly fine.”

“I‘m not so sure about that.” she grumbled before turning back to the matter at hand. “Okay, so I’ve got to trust you while we’re doing this. What else?”

“That’s it.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.” he said. “Now, close your eyes and relax. Completely this time. I am not going to hurt you, Lady.”

----

Kaida wasn’t sure she wanted to listen to what he said, but managed to convince herself otherwise. After all, if he wanted to attack her, he’d have done so already, right? So, she done as requested and closed her eyes, pushing all thoughts out of her mind.

Trusting Sesshomaru was not a problem because she already did…had for a long time in truth.

“Picture in your mind the place where your demonic nature lies dormant, where it is chained and hidden. Focus only on it” his voice commanded lightly.

Kaida did such, imagining her power like she’d been taught decades ago when her father had attempted to teach her meditation and it had fell through. She found the spot easily, a bright green ball of energy that was ensnared in what looked like a spider’s web of energy threads.

Okay. She found the place. Now what was she supposed to do? Sesshomaru said focus on it, right? What was she supposed to be focusing on? There was nothing there!

“Pull the restraints away from your energy.” his voice said. “Free it.”

Free it? How? She couldn’t exactly just go in and start slashing away at the web-like threads, even if it was her preferred method of getting things done.

“Imagine all the restraints dissolving away.” his voice said. Kaida inwardly thanked the gods that he had decided on giving her some instructions to go on. She focused her attention to the threads, and slowly they began to dissolve before her. After the first half dozen or so threads, through, Kaida could feel the first stirrings of her demonic energy starting to escape.

And she panicked. Her concentration shot, she pulled herself back to reality, looking over to where Sesshomaru had taken a seat at her side, much closer than before.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I…it….felt…” she stuttered, goose bumps on her arms causing her hair to stand on end. “..the power…”

“You felt it coming out?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“I panicked.” she admitted. “Sesshomaru, you’re asking me to do the impossible. I can’t do this. Letting myself go full demon is only going to cause problems.”

“Only if no one is there to buffer your actions if you lapse.” he said coldly. “Now do it again. And stay put this time. When you feel the power starting to build, control it.”

“How?”

“Find a way.”

“Oh, that’s helpful.” she muttered, glaring at him.

“Focus. Now.”

And so they worked. Kaida would make her way into the tight ball of energy and dissolve the threads holding her demonic energy, only to panic when the feeling became too much and pull herself away, letting the threads come back to safely contain it.

“This is where trusting your teacher comes into play.” Sesshomaru said patiently after the eighth time she’d scared herself into reality. “The teacher is responsible for keeping the pupil from hurting anything else if they lose control and fall prey to the energy before they control it.”

“You’re here to knock some sense into me if I change, in other words.” Kaida asked.

“Yes.” he confirmed. “I am here to make sure you do no damage to yourself or anyone else. Now. Do it again.”

“Slave driver.” she muttered, yawning.

“Now.”

“Jerk.” she grunted. A few minutes later, Kaida was once again facing the baleful green light of her latent, excess demonic energy. She began dissolving the strings, just like all the times before, and letting the released energy build up inside of her.

“Control it.” Sesshomaru’s voice cut in.

How? That was the only question in her mind. How the hell was she supposed to control something when she didn’t damned well know how?! His vague instructions were not helping her at all. She dissolved another thread, and the ball of energy began to pulsate even more. Kaida could feel her control slipping as the familiar, warm feeling of her power began to envelope her, tempting her with whispers of power and release.

“Do not give into it.” his curt voice ordered her. “Control it.”

Kaida refocused her energy once again, but still had no idea of how to do what he wanted her to.

“Create a switch that will allow you to harness the energy.”

Switch? Control? The way he was talking made it sound like she had to let all of the energy loose at one time and shove it somewhere she could create a barrier. How was she supposed to do that? It was too much to move at one time….but maybe….if she moved a little at a time…it would work.

“Make it into something you can handle. Something you have access to on a moment’s notice.”

So she set to work trying to untwine the web of energy and condense it into a smaller ball, something that she figured would be easier to work with. It seemed to be working, but after the first half dozen threads disappeared, she felt the power starting to overwhelm her once again.

Kaida searched out her last vestige of will and forced the green energy into the condensed ball in her hands, only to have it explode and send her senses reeling into shock.

She came rushing back to the present, coughing and sputtering as her vision realigned itself and she realized she was still sitting in the middle of the dojo…and Sesshomaru was looking at her like she was crazy. She flushed at his gaze and put her head in her hands.

“I know what is wrong with you.” he said a few minutes later, after her entire world had stopped spinning.

“What?” she asked distractedly. She didn’t really care about what he had to say at the moment. She was tired and aggravated, and she had a headache. All she wanted right now was a hot bath and her bed.

“You are not a human.”

Well that got her attention.

“No kidding.” she said icily.

“The doctrines that have been forced down your throat your entire life do not exist in our world. By forcibly superimposing them onto your life, your body’s instincts have been closeted away, only to come out when your true nature overrides what you’ve been taught. You have forcibly locked away your power within yourself” he said. “Your problem lies not in your energy, but in your own reservations of using that energy. You are too scared to let yourself go and experience what it is like to give into your darker side.”

Kaida frowned and stood up, stretching her legs and arms. Sesshomaru stood as well, waiting for her to say something apparently. She turned to him and shook her head.

“It’s safer that way. No one has to rebuild buildings if I stay like this.” she muttered, her head suddenly drawn to the side so she wouldn‘t have to look up at him. Sesshomaru reached out with his hand and, in an uncharacteristic show of gentleness, forced her to look up at him. Kaida felt her mouth go dry and her breath get stuck in her throat at the simple touch, willing her overactive imagination to stop throwing scenarios in her head that would make a temple priestess blush with shame.

She thank the gods once again that Sesshomaru couldn’t read minds.

“If you never experience it, you can never hope to control it.” he said quietly. Kaida gazed up into the amber eyes, questioning his words and wishing for further clarification. “To do this, you must recognize and realize your weaknesses, and your strengths. You must know yourself inside and out. Without that knowledge of self, it will never work.”

“Sessh..”

“You know yourself well enough, what you can and can not do, what you want. You know of your darker tendencies, and although you accept them, you still hide them away. You are more demon than human. You cannot be held to human standards. It is not sensible.” he said. Kaida shivered as his suddenly husky voice played along her senses. She was about to reach up for him when a discreet cough broke through the thick tension in the room, and Kaida found herself able to breathe once again as soon as Sesshomaru pulled his hand from her back and put some distance between them. The calm expression on his face that she had seen for the past few hours since her training had begun was gone, replaced with his usual stony look.

Her back?

When did he put his hand there?

Kaida shut the questions out of her mind and looked to the opening of the dojo, frowning when she saw not only Seiti, but Asami as well…and neither looked all to pleased.

Not that she gave a rip.

“We didn’t mean to interrupt.” the mainland Lord said smoothly, walking in without preamble.

“Did you require something, Seiti?” Sesshomaru asked coldly.

“I was hoping to speak with Kaida before she retired for the night, but couldn’t find her. The headwoman told me she would possible be in the dojo. Would you mind terribly if I stole her for the rest of the evening? If your training is complete, that is? I believe Miss Asami wished to speak with you as well, Sesshomaru.”

Sesshomaru looked down at her and Kaida gave him a look that she hoped conveyed exactly how much she didn’t want to go with the other demon. She was about to praise the gods when Sesshomaru gave a miniscule nod, thinking he’d understood her silent plea and was going to help her avoid the silver tongued demon.

Only to want to beat him into the ground when he did speak.

“Of course.” he said, sheathing Toukijinn as Asami stopped a few steps behind Seiti. “We will be finished momentarily.”

“We’ll wait outside.” Seiti said, nodding and motioning for Asami to follow him, which she did after throwing Kaida a venomous glance over her shoulder.

---

Kaida leveled the demoness with a haughty glare of her own, forcing the demoness to yield in the stare down when she’d exited the dojo beside Seiti.

“Bitch.” she muttered, her arms across her chest until she couldn’t see the interrupters anymore.

“Excuse me?” Sesshomaru asked, turning a quizzical look to her. Kaida tamped down a flush and shook her head.

“Nothing.” she said. “Nothing at all.”

“Did you know Asami before today?” he asked pointedly. Kaida, caught off guard by the question, shook her head. “No. Why do you ask?”

“I was assuming that since the two of you seem to be carrying a personal grudge, you already knew each other.” he said. Kaida purposely turned away so he couldn’t see the blush on her face. So he had noticed. Well, the only way someone wouldn’t notice was if they were deaf and dumb, but still. It rankled her that Sesshomaru had caught onto her war with the other woman.

“It’s nothing to worry about. Just a thing between females. You wouldn’t understand.” she said distractedly.

“Your argument with her this morning was…amusing.”

“Amusing? So now I’m entertainment?” Kaida questioned, one eyebrow kicked up in speculation.

“She does not seem to like you.”

“And you find that hard to believe? You don’t like me half the time.”

“You seemed fine when she arrived.” he countered.

“That was before she started throwing insults in my face.” Kaida said. “If you want her to stay in one piece, don’t expect me back in that council room again unless it’s to tell you invaders are at the gates.”

---

“I would not dream of it. No one else can get a word in edgewise once the two of you start, myself included.” Sesshomaru pointed out, watching as Kaida bristled even more the longer Asami was the topic of conversation.

What had transpired that had them at each other’s throats? “Yeah, but you said yourself it was amusing.” Kaida countered, grinning up at him. He shook his head as she seemingly reverted back into her good mood. Sesshomaru knew that trying to teach Kaida to control her demonic power was not going to be easy, but he didn’t mind the thought of being with her and showing her the way. Her company was much preferable to Asami’s, that much was a fact.

And Kaida was…something. She managed to make him feel things he never had before. When he’d seen her with Seiti earlier that day, he’d wanted to break the other demon’s neck for. Jealousy wasn’t something he liked to admit to. But he was on the verge of doing just that.

And the fact that Captain Bano had pulled him aside minutes before he’d entered the dojo that evening, and told Sesshomaru that Seiti had accompanied Kaida to the training grounds, and stayed there all evening with her, only made matters worse.

---

“Permission to speak freely, Lord Sesshomaru.”

“Granted.”

“I just thought you should know that Lord Seiti saw fit to accompany the General to our training today. The General didn’t seem happy about it in the least, but he wouldn’t leave. I don’t even think he blinked more than a handful of times.”

“I see.”

“I realize it seems petty, my Lord. But the General refused to let us do most of the things she had taught us because of his presence. Said she didn’t want him going back and showing it to that bunch of worthless hooligans he calls soldiers.”

“I will see that he is not there for further interruption.”

---

“Yes, Lady.” he said quietly, watching as she walked out the dojo and to Seiti’s side, not even glancing at the fuming Asami as she walked past. “Amusing. Indeed it was.”

---

A/N - Okay, here’s the latest in this little saga. I hope you all are enjoying.

Until next time,

A.A.

Oh, and remember to review. I want to know what you are thinking.