InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Prophecy ❯ Understanding Dog Demons ( Chapter 58 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The Prophecy

By: mshutts

WARNING: incest

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any other characters here-in

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Chapter 56: Understanding Dog Demons

After the two dog demons left the room, Miroku turned his attention to the young demon who was still in the room. Shippo had evidently been forgotten and left behind by both the inuyoukai. Or maybe not so much, for the kitsune looked slightly concerned, but not overly upset about staying behind.

As he observed the child’s posture, he realized that the boy was still looking towards where the other two had exited rather than paying the rest of the room any mind. He also appeared to be lost in thought. This by itself might have not been unusual, but for the fact that Kagome had been done great harm not too long ago and the kitsune he knew would be beside himself about it.

But this Shippo was not for some reason. There had to be something more going on here than they were aware of. Things were just not adding up in his mind. Determining that he would be best off getting information from the source, Miroku decided to speak up. “Shippo?”

He watched the kitsune give a start before turning to him. “Hungh?” He shook his head. “Hey, Miroku.”

“Are you alright?” he asked cautiously, reasoning that it would do him no good to make the child nervous.

“Oh, yeah, sure. Why do you ask?”

Deciding to call to mind the events right before this when Shippo had run out of the room and the brothers had followed, Miroku said, “You did not seem alright just a short while ago.”

“Well, I’m fine now,” came the defensive response.

Miroku almost sighed. This was going to be difficult and needed to be handled carefully or he would get no information whatsoever. “I was just curious as to why you left the room so quickly. What happened?”

“Oh, I just realized something.”

“What did you realize?” he asked with interest.

“That Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were mates.”

Mentally nodding his head, Miroku silently agreed that realizing such a thing would be enough to freak out most people who knew the two inuyoukai. “And so you ran?”

Suddenly Shippo became tense. “I was scared, OK?”

“Why would that scare you? I mean, I understand that Sesshoumaru can be rather scary as a person, but why would their mating scare you?” Miroku had his own reasons for why the mating would scare he himself, not the least of which being concern over his friend having been forced into this arrangement. But, he was curious as to why Shippo would have been afraid.

“I didn’t want to lose Inuyasha,” was the quiet reply.

Now this was something new and completely unexpected. Of all the reasons to be frightened, it was the possible loss of Inuyasha that was at the forefront of the child’s mind. Perhaps there was something going on here that he was unaware of due to his human nature. “Lose Inuyasha? Why would you have lost Inuyasha?”

Shippo favored him with a disbelieving look, “You saw how they were acting. There was no possible way that Inuyasha was the alpha.”

He agreed with the kit, but that still did not explain where losing Inuyasha fit into all of this. So, he decided to ask for clarification, “I can understand that, but I still do not see why that would mean that you would lose Inuyasha.”

“Don’t you get it? As the alpha, Sesshoumaru has complete control over Inuyasha. He can make him do whatever he wants.”

“You mean our friend is now Sesshoumaru’s slave?” Miroku asked, thinking that this might actually be WORSE than what he had feared.

“No, you don’t understand anything,” Shippo replied in annoyance. “He isn’t his slave, he’s his beta mate.”

That didn’t clear it up for the monk at all. It still sounded like Inuyasha was going to be a slave to his elder brother. “But you just said that Inuyasha had to do whatever Sesshoumaru wanted.”

“Of course, he’s the beta. All betas have to follow their alpha’s commands,” Shippo stated as if it were as simple to understand as breathing.

Deciding to table this discussion until he could speak with someone who would be able to explain it better, he asked, “But, if that is the reason you were so distressed, then why are you not still upset? What did he say to you to convince you otherwise?”

Shippo puffed out his chest and said in a self-satisfied voice, “They accepted me as their pup. I have parents again!”

“Who accepted you as their pup, Shippo?” asked Kagome who had just reawakened. Again.

“Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru,” came the proud reply.

“They did?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yep,” he replied happily, unaware of the growing ire from the young miko. “Sesshoumaru scent claimed me and everything. I’m going to learn how to be a great youkai and live with my new parents.”

“So they think they can just take you and spread their perverseness?” Kagome asked, evidently annoyed.

Shippo now looked confused. “What?”

“Listen to me, Shippo, you can’t stay with them,” Kagome all but ordered.

“But I have to stay with them, they’re my new parents. Aren’t you happy I have a new family?” Shippo asked in increasing bewilderment.

It bothered Miroku to see the kit so perplexed. Although he could understand the cause quite well. After all, he had looked upon Kagome as a mother for a very long time and had no doubt expected her to be just as happy with this new turn of events as he was.

“You don’t want them for parents. You’ve seen how they treat each other. What makes you think they will treat you any better?” Kagome asked and, even though he could see her point, Miroku was appalled that she was speaking in such a way to Shippo.

The kit’s growing uncertainty and unease was evident in his reply, “But, Kagome, I’m a demon, they’re demons. Lots of demons act that way towards one another.”

“How can you ever be sure that Sesshoumaru won’t just kill you?” Kagome asked with certainty that she had earned a point in this verbal battle.

The rest of group’s eyes widened in shock. Shippo responded as best he could, “But I’m his pup, he won’t just kill me. He can’t! That goes against everything in the parent-child bond.”

“So then how do you explain Sesshoumaru trying to kill me?” asked Kagome.

“Um, Kagome, you’re not his pup,” Shippo pointed out still looking as lost as ever. “It’s not really the same thing.” Then, in an attempt to defend his current alpha, he added, “Besides, you did hurt his mate. He was only trying to protect his beta.”

Kagome, however, remained adamant in her position, “He couldn’t be trying to protect Inuyasha. He has been trying to kill him for years now.”

“But, Kagome, he has been acting like a mate should to his beta for at least a month now,” Shippo countered.

“What do you mean?” asked Miroku, trying to get a better understanding of what was going on and maybe get this conversation back onto more manageable ground.

“When I saw them back before they left was the first time I noticed it,” replied Shippo. “I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but all the signs of soon to be mates were there.

“They were getting along and just talking instead of fighting. Then, when Sesshoumaru started to get mad, Inuyasha soothed him the same way my mother used to soothe my father.”

“Ah, yes, you mentioned something about that before. So, that was the first time they seemed to know that they were intended mates,” Miroku said, contemplatively. Well, it gave him a starting point if nothing else. Now all he had to do was get someone to fill in the missing information.

“Actually, Miroku, that was not the first time it came up,” came a squeaky voice.

‘Ask and ye shall receive,’ Miroku thought to himself.

“Myouga?”

Suddenly the flea demon appeared from where he had been lying in wait on Kirara this entire time. “Yes?”

“You’re still here?”

“Of course I am, what do you take me for? This is my master’s greatest moment. I must be in attendance.” Miroku raised an eyebrow at this. His greatest moment? That was an odd way to refer to it.

“His greatest moment?” queried Sango. “How is THIS his greatest moment?”

“Well,” the flea considered. “Maybe this right now is not his greatest moment, but overall, this whole month is his greatest moment.”

“Then, how is this month his greatest moment?” asked Miroku. Now he was really curious.

“Why, he found a mate of course!” Myouga stated as if the answer were obvious.

“How can you be so happy about this?!” cried Kagome in outrage.

“What is there not to be happy about? My master has a new, very powerful mate who adores him…”

He was then interrupted by all three of the humans, “Adores him?” The humans looked aghast at this declaration from Myouga. Miroku was unsure he would use the word adores anywhere in the near vicinity of Sesshoumaru, let alone apply it to his relationship with Inuyasha.

Shippo, meanwhile was slightly confused as to what all the fuss was about. “What? Why are you so surprised? It’s true.”

Kagome looked at both of them with a challenging stare. “You can’t expect me to believe that that…that…that…bastard actually cares about Inuyasha any further than wanting to kill him.”

“If that was true, then why did he force you to take off those beads?” came a new voice. They turned as one and faced Sturaki who had been silent up to this point.

“He did seem rather enraged when you sat him,” commented Miroku and then immediately held up his hands in surrender when two sets of glaring eyes zeroed in on him. “Ladies, please, I was only making an observation.”

“Well, it was no wonder,” stated Myouga from where he sat on the ground. “Master Inuyasha is Lord Sesshoumaru’s beta mate. It is the responsibility of the alpha to take care of the beta. Allowing the beta to be injured in any way, especially in the presence of the alpha, is unacceptable…”

Kagome interrupted him again, “But Inuyasha wasn’t injured.”

“Umm, Kagome, yeah he was,” said Shippo hesitantly.

“But I sit him all the time. There has never been a problem before.”

“I believe that Kagome did not notice the situation Inuyasha was in after her sits given that Sesshoumaru was trying to kill her at the time,” interjected Miroku.

Kagome glanced around baffled. “What situation? What happened?”

Sango picked up the explanation. “After your altercations with Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha was unable to get back up. Both times he had to be helped out of the sit position by Sesshoumaru. And both times he looked much worse for wear afterwards.”

“We would have gone to see what the problem was, but seeing as Sesshoumaru was taking care of him at the time and you needed someone to take care of you, we did not follow through on that urge,” finished Miroku.

“Wait, you mean that Sesshoumaru, the frigid bastard, took CARE of Inuyasha?!” Kagome asked incredulously.

“Kagome,” Myouga interrupted. “We already went over this. It is Lord Sesshoumaru’s DUTY as Master Inuyasha’s mate to look after and care for him. Besides there is a very good chance that Master Inuyasha is carrying the heirs to the west at this very moment.”

At this, Miroku adopted a guarded look while Kagome and Sango just looked puzzled. He had been given to understand that dog demon males were not capable of bearing young. And that was obviously what the flea was referring to the possibility of. In any event, it needed to be checked out before he jumped to any conclusions.

“What do you mean, Inuyasha is carrying the heirs to the west?” asked Miroku cautiously.

“He means I’m going to be getting a baby brother or sister!” Shippo shouted, all smiles and bouncing up and down oblivious to the tension in the room.

“Now, now, Shippo. There might not be a baby just yet. Sometimes these things take time,” said Myouga in the tone a parent uses to soothe an overexcited child.

“Well, if there’s not one now, there will be one soon, right?” Shippo continued, undeterred.

“If what I saw was any indication, there will definitely be one soon,” Myouga replied happily.

While the demons were all smiles, the humans were having a bit harder time comprehending this. Miroku felt like his brain was spinning. His friend could bear children? This was incomprehensible.

Finally, Sango said, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I had not thought inuyoukai males could bear children.”

“Oh, but that’s what makes this all the more amazing,” said Myouga with a gleam in his eye. “Inuyoukai males DON’T bear children.”

“I apologize for being rude,” cut in Miroku, “but if they cannot bear children, then how would our dear hanyou friend be carrying the heirs?”

“That’s a story in and of itself. Were you aware that the young master has never in his life seen a female dog demon?”

“What are you talking about? There was that one dog demoness just a few months ago,” said Sango.

“No, my dear, Inuyasha was not there for that one. That was just you and me,” countered Miroku. “I am terribly hurt that you would not remember that precious time we spent together.”

“Give it a rest, monk.”

“Yes, well, back to the matter at hand,” interrupted Myouga, “Master Inuyasha has never seen a female inuyoukai.”

“I don’t understand,” said Kagome. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“It is really quite simple,” cut in Sturaki again. “In the event that a youkai, or hanyou in this case, male never meets a female of the same species, their bodies become convinced that it is necessary for the survival of the species for the demon in question to gain the ability to bear children so that race can continue.”

“Are you saying that Inuyasha’s body just up and decided to make him bear children?” Kagome asked.

“Precisely.”

“But, why would it do that? There are plenty of girls out there! He could just have babies with one of them! Why would he care about it being a full dog demon or not?” Kagome asked in irritation.

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple, Kagome. There is something else that has not been discussed yet,” said Myouga.

“What else is there?” asked Kagome in exasperation.

“There is the question of who is Lord Sesshoumaru’s mate.”

“That’s hardly a question,” Miroku pointed out. “It is obvious that Inuyasha is now his mate.”

“Yes, it is obvious now,” the flea conceded the point. “But before the mating, it was not so obvious.” Seeing the inquisitive looks, he settled in to enjoy having a captive audience for his story.

“You must understand a little of youkai culture to see the significance in this. Has it never occurred to you to question why Lord Sesshoumaru did not have a mate already when you had met him?” Not waiting for an answer, he continued, “No, I suppose it would not have.

“What you did not notice that would have been obvious to any adult youkai in attendance was that Lord Sesshoumaru was, in fact, much too old to be in such a high ranking position without a mate. Now, I suppose one could argue that he was just being over finicky about what he wanted his mate to be. In fact, that was the general consensus among the demon world for all this time.

“They all viewed it as foolishness. His own parents thought so as well and forced him to spend almost half a century of his life meeting one demoness after another before finally taking him to see a witch to find out what the problem was.

“While they were there, they were given assurance and a warning. They were told that their son did have a mate, but that there was only one mate for him. They were also warned that if their son did not mate with his proper mate, there would be dire consequences for the world as a whole.”

At this point, he was interrupted by Miroku, “What happens if he chooses incorrectly?”

Sturaki answered this time, “It is better not to tempt the fates, monk. Trust me when I say that, had that come to pass, you would not wish to be here any longer.”

“So, you are certain that Inuyasha is Sesshoumaru’s intended mate?” asked Miroku of Sturaki.

“Quite.”

“But… that’s so wrong!” interjected Kagome.

“How? How is it wrong?” asked Sturaki, calmly.

“They’re brothers!”

“Which is not an issue in youkai society.”

“How can you say it’s not an issue? It’s incest! It’s wrong!”

“Maybe by human moral standards. Not by youkai.”

“Kagome,” Myouga interjected, “it is actually quite common for youkai siblings to mate. In fact, it is seen as a great honor to be chosen by your elder sibling for his mate. As you can imagine, it is much more difficult to look upon someone romantically after having watched them from infancy. Also, the elder knows all the faults of the younger which can make courting difficult.”

Not sure how to respond to that, Kagome tried a different tact, “They’re both males!”

“Also not an issue in youkai society,” replied Sturaki once again.

“Well, it may not be an issue to youkai society, but I’m sure it was an issue with the mating,” stated Kagome triumphantly.

Everyone turned a curious eye to her. “What do you mean?” asked Sturaki.

“If Inuyasha hadn’t been born a boy, I bet they wouldn’t have fought as much. Besides, there would have been no need for him to go through this change you say he is just to get… pregnant if he were a she.”

“Those are good points,” the witch conceded, “but I fail to see what difference they make to the situation.”

“Obviously, they’re not meant to be together. If Inuyasha was supposed to be with Sesshoumaru, he would have been born a she! It’s the only way it makes sense!”

Sturaki looked at her for a moment before replying. “I believe you misunderstand. You are looking at this from the stance that Inuyasha was created to be Sesshoumaru’s mate since Sesshoumaru came first. Am I correct?”

There were nods all around.

“Ah, I see how that could cause some confusion. It is, in fact, the other way around.”

At the perplexed looks, she elaborated, “Sesshoumaru was created to be Inuyasha’s mate. Sesshoumaru is everything the young one needs in a mate and, as such, was brought into being specifically for him.”

“But, Lady Sturaki,” interrupted Miroku, “If Sesshoumaru was created for Inuyasha, then why was he born first?”

“Out of necessity, of course. The first thing you must understand is that time is not as linear as you think. There is a flow, yes, but the fates, among others, can step outside the flow and see what will happen in the future and prepare for it in the past.”

Still seeing doubt, she continued, “Think of time as a stream. Let’s say that you live beside a stream and every day the water washes away more land from around your house. You do not wish for this to happen, so you build a dam to stop it from doing so. You would not build the dam farther down the stream than your house, you would build it before it got to your house. In much the same way that events must be set into motion before they are required to be there.”

“So, you are saying that in order for something to happen in the present, certain things must have happened in the past. For instance, in order for me to have my wind tunnel, my grandfather had to have tried to seduce Naraku,” answered Miroku.

“Exactly. And who is to say that your grandfather did not behave in such a way BECAUSE you needed to have the wind tunnel? Perhaps you do not have it because of him, but he had it because of you,” she answered with a smile.

“Interesting theory, but how does this relate to our friend?”

“It is quite simple really. Inuyasha was in need of a powerful, full-demon mate. He was in need of this mate when he became old enough to mate.

“There is one problem, however. Youkai age much slower than hanyou. In order for his mate to be old enough and powerful enough to mate him when the time was right, it was necessary for his mate to be born centuries before Inuyasha himself was born.”

“OK,” Kagome said slowly, blinking. With a quick shake of the head, she asked, “What does this have to do with them both being male again? I mean, if Sesshoumaru was made for Inuyasha, why wasn’t Sesshoumaru the female?”

“Sesshoumaru is male because Inuyasha needs someone who is strong enough to protect him and assist him in his duties.”

“Then why isn’t Inuyasha female,” Kagome continued, undaunted.

“If Inuyasha were female, he would be unable to accomplish his tasks.”

“You have mentioned tasks and duties for Inuyasha. What do you mean?” asked Sango.

“Nothing I can tell you now, slayer. Suffice it to say they are very taxing and Inuyasha will require a good deal of support from his alpha.” With that, the witch stood and strode out of the room, effectively ending the conversation and leaving the humans to their confusion.

- - - - -

Hmmm, if anyone is confused about what I am talking about in the whole conversation about the flow of time in the middle of this chapter, please let me know and I’ll come up with another way to explain it in a future chapter. It’s a bit of a problem for me to determine just how much explanation is needed since it makes perfect sense to me and I don’t want to bore you all with explaining the same thing 20 different ways when you got it the first time. However, if it is needed, I have no problem with explaining it again in another way.

As for everything else, I know you all wanted to know what was going on with Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru and the night of the new moon. That comes up next chapter, which I have already started writing and hopefully will not take as long to get out.

I also apologize for taking so long on updates. However, real life has been rather demanding lately and must be attended to first. After all, three children 5 and under don’t like sitting still while mommy is typing on the computer. Something about me being on the computer typing triggers a response for all three to come up and demand my attention at once.

As always, thank you for reading and/or reviewing. I love to hear your comments.