InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Truth About Cats and Dogs ❯ Jaken's Mistake ( Chapter 23 )

A/N: Thanks to Werewolf of Fire and fluffys mate kaya for your reviews, hope you continue to enjoy this fic!

 

Recap: Soten and her dragon friend Koru joined Inuyasha and the gang, and, as she observed the others, Kirara began to question her role in the group.

 

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Chapter 23 - Jaken's Mistake

 

“Damn,” Inuyasha grumbled moodily. “Don't they ever shut-up?”

 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome scolded him playfully. “They're just kids! And they're having fun! And they're leaving us alone, so let them get on with it!”

 

“I guess,” Inuyasha reluctantly agreed.

 

Ahead of them, Shippo and Soten were talking frantically about something, their little legs moving almost as fast as their mouths in their excitement. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at them as he walked behind them, but Kagome distracted his attention from the two young demons by sliding her arm through his and smiling up at him.

 

“Hey,” he said gruffly as he turned to look at her.

 

“Hey,” she said back.

 

Kagome and Inuyasha continued to walk arm-in-arm, and behind them, Miroku and Sango were walking together, deep in conversation.

 

“It's for the best,” Sango said. “This was the way the Monkey God told us that the large demonic aura disappeared to.”

 

“Yes,” Miroku agreed. “And since there have been no other clues as to Naraku's whereabouts, it is important that we follow this path. Let us just hope that there are no distractions this time.”

 

Sango nodded her agreement.

 

“I just wish we could find Naraku and defeat him once and for all,” she said sadly. “I can't help worrying about that wind tunnel in your hand.”

 

Miroku looked down at his hand thoughtfully, before smiling at Sango.

 

“Don't worry about me, Sango,” he assured her. “If my wind tunnel takes my life before we can kill Naraku, then that was just what fate chose for me.”

 

“Miroku, don't talk like that!” Sango gasped.

 

“I'll be fine,” Miroku insisted, taking Sango's hand in his. “Just keep smiling for me Sango, it helps me stay strong.”

 

Sango smiled and blushed as Miroku lifted her hand to his lips, gently kissing her knuckles. The two then walked on, still holding hands.

 

“Everybody here is in love except you, Kirara,” Koru bluntly pointed out as he floated alongside Kirara, who was walking at the back of the group. “What's your problem?”

 

“I don't see you in love with anybody,” Kirara growled darkly, eying the irksome little imp over.

 

“Nope,” Koru brightly replied. “But it's my duty to serve Soten. I was given to her when I was very young and she was even younger.”

 

Kirara's eyebrows shot up as she suddenly realised that Koru was really no different from herself: both were demons who lived to serve and guide others. Both would always be passed from generation to generation of those in need of temporary companionship, but ultimately, both would always be alone.

 

“By the Gods,” Kirara gasped quietly. “I'm nothing more than a worm!”

 

“Huh?” Koru echoed, frowning at her questioningly.

 

Kirara stopped walking, her mouth opening slightly as she watched sadly on as the other six walked away from her, oblivious to the fact that she had stopped following them.

 

`They wouldn't even notice if I stopped following them altogether!' Kirara thought in alarm. `What am I going to do? Being alone when I was under the spell was never this bad. I never felt so many emotions as I do now, and I was always working towards breaking the spell. But now I have nothing! What should I do?'

 

“We're falling behind, Kirara,” Koru pointed out.

 

“I didn't ask you to stop with me,” Kirara returned, glowering at the little dragon, who seemed to have latched onto her against her will.

 

“Say Kirara, did you say that you thought Soten and I were another demon and dragon?” Koru asked thoughtfully.

 

“Yes,” Kirara replied, relieved of the change of conversation and barely noticing that Koru was staring at something ahead of and above them.

 

“The dragon you thought I was,” Koru began slowly. “Did it have two heads?”

 

“Yes,” Kirara replied, frowning in surprise. “How did you know that?”

 

“Well, I think we just found it,” Koru replied. “And there is a small demon riding on its back.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Kirara turned her head back to the others, finding that they had stopped a considerable distance ahead of her, and Inuyasha had drawn his Tetsusaiga, which had turned red in his hands. All six were looking up, and, following the direction they appeared to be looking Kirara found Ah-Un flying towards them.

 

“Sesshomaru!” she gasped, before running off to join the others.

 

“Wait for me, you strange cat!” Koru wailed, shooting after her.

 

`Sesshomaru,' Kirara thought as she ran. `What is he doing here? He must have tracked us! But why would he be looking for us? I wonder if Momiji and Botan managed to restore his arm…'

 

“What the hell?” Inuyasha grunted as Ah-Un landed with a thud in front of them.

 

Kirara skidded to a halt behind Inuyasha, faltering at what she saw.

 

“Damn it, I don't even need the Tetsusaiga to take care of this little problem!” Inuyasha said, roughly returning his sword to its scabbard.

 

Inuyasha then pushed the sleeves of his haori up over his elbows and cracked his knuckles, starting towards Ah-Un.

 

“I'll just beat you to a pulp with my bare hands!” he said confidently.

 

“Inuyasha, no,” Miroku said hurriedly, bringing round his staff to slap it lightly against Inuyasha's chest, halting his progress.

 

“What are you doing, Miroku?” Inuyasha demanded.

 

“Just wait for one moment please, Inuyasha,” Miroku insisted.

 

Kirara tilted her head in confusion. She was oddly disappointed to discover that Ah-Un had only brought Jaken with it, but her disappointment faded and was quickly replaced with curiosity when Miroku stopped Inuyasha from attacking the little troublemaker.

 

“Why are you here?” Miroku asked Jaken as the toad leapt off of Ah-Un's back. “Why didn't Sesshomaru come here himself to confront us?”

 

“Lord Sesshomaru did not send me here,” Jaken replied. “I have come here on my own accord. And you should be thankful that my Lord is not here in person, you ungrateful human! Did he not promise to slay you the next time that he saw your ugly face?”

 

Miroku pulled his staff away from Inuyasha.

 

“I see,” he said flatly. “Then perhaps I should just let Inuyasha beat you as he wishes to do.”

 

“Alright!” Inuyasha said, his eyes sparkling maliciously.

 

“Unless you want to tell us why you are here,” Miroku said, slapping his staff against Inuyasha's chest again to stop him.

 

“I came to speak with the fire-cat,” Jaken replied, pointing at Kirara.

 

“Mew?” Kirara echoed. “I mean, me? But why?”

 

“Don't fall for his little tricks, Kirara!” Inuyasha warned. “Just let me beat the truth out of him right here and right now!”

 

“No, wait,” Kirara said. “I'll talk to him.”

 

“What?” Inuyasha echoed, eying her over as though she had just gone mad.

 

“I'm curious to know what he has to say,” she quietly explained. “It must be something very important if he risked displeasing his precious master by defying his orders and coming all the way out here to see us on his own.”

 

“I guess so,” Inuyasha agreed.

 

“Alright, toad,” Kirara said, stepping forwards. “You have my undivided attention.”

 

“Come with me,” Jaken replied, climbing up onto Ah-Un's back.

 

“Where are you going?” Sango asked, her face creasing as she started to grow worried. “Kirara, don't go too far, he might be leading you into a trap!”

 

“I'll be fine,” Kirara assured her as she climbed onto Ah-Un's back behind Jaken.

 

“He's a very cunning little demon, Kirara,” Miroku warned as Ah-Un started to lift off. “Don't fall for any of his tricks!”

 

“I won't!” Kirara called back to him.

 

`Although I do have to wonder what Jaken is planning,' she thought silently to herself as Ah-Un swept through the air, arcing over a hill and blocking her friends from her view.

 

“This will do, take us down,” Jaken ordered.

 

Kirara tried to guess what Jaken was about to say or do as Ah-Un descended towards the ground, but despite sifting through many idea and possibilities, Kirara was still completely unprepared for what Jaken did actually say to her.

 

Once they had landed, Jaken slid off of Ah-Un's back, and Kirara followed. There was a short pause before Jaken turned to face her, but when he did, Kirara could not help the little gasp of alarm that slipped out of her mouth.

 

“Oh it's terrible!” he wailed, looking so distraught that Kirara instantly feared the very worst.

 

“Lord Sesshomaru has been killed?” she asked.

 

“No!” Jaken cried. “It's even worse than that!”

 

“Worse than death?” Kirara muttered thoughtfully. “Well then that must mean… He's taken the princess into the castle as his mate, and she has kicked you out because you smell so bad!”

 

Jaken's hysterics suddenly vanished, his mouth and eyes thinning in offence.

 

“No,” he said quietly. “Exactly the opposite. And this is all your fault, you filthy cat!”

 

Kirara paused, once more feeling that being a cat for so long had really ruined her ability to understand the more subtle undertones of suggestive conversation. Presumably she was meant to understand what Jaken meant by his last statement. And, judging by the challenging manner he was eying her over, she was probably meant to have an extreme reaction, like anger, or to laugh at him.

 

“I-I don't understand,” she eventually admitted.

 

“Of course you do, you loud-mouthed upstart!” Jaken snapped.

 

“Come closer and say that to my face, you smelly old toad!” Kirara spat back.

 

Although the insult had upset Kirara, the fact that she simply did not understand what Jaken was talking about was upsetting her even more, and making her lash out defensively in her ignorance.

 

“You have single-handedly destroyed centuries of honourable, noble tradition at the Inu Royal Palace, have you nothing to say for yourself?” Jaken roared.

 

`Wow,' Kirara thought, her anger fading only to be replaced by her surprise. `Jaken really is upset! I wonder what happened?'

 

“Look at you!” Jaken continued. “You're weak, you're a cat demon, you're nothing more than a lowly soldier, and you are far too skinny!”

 

“Hey!” Kirara snapped. “Did you just come here to insult me? Because if you did, you had better prepare to defend yourself, because I will not stand by and take this abuse without a fight!”

 

“Vicious, aggressive, primitive girl!” Jaken growled, gripping at his staff.

 

“What the hell is your problem anyway?” Kirara yelled.

 

“You have corrupted my master's mind, and I have come here to stop you from carrying out the remainder of your nasty little plan, fire-cat!” Jaken yelled back.

 

“Corrupted your master's mind?” Kirara repeated. “Carrying out the remainder of my nasty little plan? What nasty little plan? What corruption? What the devil are you talking about?”

 

“Two nights ago, Lord Sesshomaru's left arm was somehow regenerated,” Jaken explained. “When he discovered the extra strength he now has, he left the castle alone. We all thought that he had gone to finish off that worthless, ungrateful, half-breed brother of his, Inuyasha. Instead, he returned this morning with no blood on his hands. I'm sure you know the rest of the story, you worthless wench!”

 

“The rest of the story? You mean I should know where Lord Sesshomaru went and what he did?”

 

“But of course.”

 

“No, sorry. You've lost me.”

 

“Is this all a part of your little act, or are you genuinely as stupid as you now appear to be?”

 

“Jaken, just stop calling me stupid and explain yourself properly! Why are you here and what do you want from me?”

 

“I want a promise from you.”

 

“A promise. What sort of promise? I owe you nothing, Jaken, so unless you start making some more sense, you will get nothing in return from me.”

 

“Assuming you genuinely are unaware of recent events, allow me to now fill you in. Lord Sesshomaru went to the Northern Lands to visit the ruling dog demon dignitaries there.”

 

Kirara's anger once more faded. Sesshomaru had gone to collect his mate. Jaken was merely acting out of jealous anger because he had been pushed down a rank by the arrival of the princess. And, Kirara wondered, what had become of poor Rin, who the dog demon princess had despised so?

 

“He went there to officially denounce the princess as his mate,” Jaken finished.

 

Rin was still so young, and she thought so highly of Sesshomaru. Kirara began to consider going straight to Sesshomaru's castle to rescue the girl, but the thought was pushed back in her mind as she slowly began to process what Jaken had just said.

 

“He did what?” she asked.

 

Kirara needed to hear Jaken say those words just one more time, as she was certain she could not have possibly heard him correctly. There was no possible way that Sesshomaru had refused to take a pureblood aristocratic dog demon as his mate. Although Kirara had only briefly seen the princess, she did know that the woman was perfect for Sesshomaru: elegant, haughty, little, beautiful and possessing the ability to dress, walk, talk, eat and act like the lady that she was.

 

“He refused to take the princess of the Northern Lands as his mate,” Jaken growled, every word coming out slowly and clearly, leaving no area for doubt in his convictions.

 

“He did what?” Kirara dumbly asked again.

 

“He refused to take the princess of the Northern Lands as his mate!” Jaken shouted out, his words stringing together into one long rant. “And it's all because of you!”

 

“Impossible!” Kirara instantly replied.

 

“I will only say this one more time, girl!” Jaken snarled impatiently. “He refused to take the princess of the-”

 

“Yes, yes, I heard that part loud and clear,” Kirara interrupted him. “I was referring to your insinuation that Lord Sesshomaru acted this way because of me somehow. I fail to see how that could be possible.”

 

“Is it not true that Lord Sesshomaru asked you to be his mate?” Jaken asked darkly.

 

“Yes, that much is true,” Kirara agreed, trying to ignore the odd sinking sensation she felt in her stomach again. “But I did refuse him.”

 

“Yes, but it is my belief that he intends to ask you again.”

 

Kirara froze, every part of her body tightening. Sesshomaru was going to ask her to be his again? But how could that be? He had sworn to kill her if he ever saw her again, how could things have changed so drastically since that time?

 

`His arm,' she thought. `It's because of his arm. He found out that it was me who requested that his arm be reinstated, and now he feels indebted to me! But surely he knows that this was only my way of repaying his debt to me?'

 

“And now I want a promise from you, girl,” Jaken continued, waking Kirara from her thoughts with a gasp as she began to remember to breathe again. “I want you to promise me that you will refuse Lord Sesshomaru again should he ask you to be his mate for a second time.”

 

Kirara slowly began to frown, considering what Jaken had just asked of her.

 

“I believe I already told you that I owe you nothing, toad,” she answered slowly. “You are the one indebted to me, as I recall. I saved your ungrateful life from that wind witch, Kagura. You never even thanked me.”

 

“You only came to save Rin, because you are obliged to save humans, it is your chosen purpose in life,” Jaken bitterly replied.

 

“Not true,” Kirara replied. “I smelt Naraku, and began to follow the scent. Then I heard you screaming for your life, and I ran to your aid without hesitation. You would not be standing here today making these unreasonable demands of me had I not reacted so swiftly.”

 

“Hm,” Jaken grunted. “You may well have “rescued” me from harm, but you could not save yourself, and my master was terribly wounded because of your stupidity!”

 

“I did not act foolishly, and I resent the accusation that I did. I acted out of honour. I knew Naraku, or any of his incarnations, could easily kill me, but still I rushed to your aid. A little gratitude would not go amiss, Jaken.”

 

“You won't get any gratitude from me, fire-cat. And I'm not asking a favour of you. I only want you to tell me that you will refuse Lord Sesshomaru again. What is your problem? You refused him once before, why can't you do it again?”

 

Kirara lowered her eyes to the ground, asking herself the very same question Jaken just had. What was her problem? It was true, she had refused Sesshomaru without a second thought when he had asked - no, told - her to be his mate, why should it be any different now? Nothing had changed since that day. Sesshomaru was still the same aloof, pompous, emotionless dog who sought to kill Inuyasha. And Kirara herself was still the same carefree warrior, a cat who devoted her life to humans and who loved Inuyasha as though he were her own brother.

 

But something was different.

 

`I don't hate him any more,' Kirara thought to herself. `My hatred for Sesshomaru burned inside of me, and the day I challenged him to a fight, I would have killed him. For the way he had insulted me, for the way he insulted my creed, and above all, to stop him from bringing harm to Inuyasha. But I don't feel that burning feeling any more. I don't love Sesshomaru, but I certainly don't hate him. I've watched him care for Rin, and I can't forget how he threw himself into harm's way the night I fought Kagura.'

 

Kirara began to chew on her bottom lip as she saw Sesshomaru in her mind's eye, lying over her, his normally immaculate hair ruffled around him. She saw him lift his head to face her, the gash he had been left with down his right cheek a red line that intersected both of the purple stripes over his cheekbone to mark where one of Kagura's cruel blades had made contact. His honey-gold eyes locked onto hers, a determination behind them that made her shiver just recalling it.

 

`Sesshomaru once said that he was never wrong,' Kirara thought. `He never makes a mistake. Did he know what he was doing that night? Did he know that Rin was safe, and that it was only me that he was coming to the aid of? He didn't even stop to get the Tokijin or to put on any armour. He just took the Tenseiga. Is it possible that he does actually care about me in some way?'

 

“Stop dreaming and answer me, you stupid girl!” Jaken yelled, smacking the heads of his staff into the back of Kirara's left knee.

 

Kirara's leg buckled from the blow, her shock, combined with her distracted state, caused her to have a delayed reaction to Jaken's aggressive attack.

 

“Get away from me!” she snarled, starting towards him.

 

Jaken promptly held his staff up in both hands, and the head of the old man opened his mouth. Kirara knew what was coming next, and she quickly dropped to the ground, rolling out of harm's way as scorching flames spiralled out of the staff.

 

“Promise me you will refuse Lord Sesshomaru!” Jaken ordered. “You are ruining his family name and you will ruin him!”

 

Kirara got to her feet, marching boldly up to Jaken and grabbing the staff in both hands.

 

“I will make you no such promise,” she growled down at him.

 

“What?” Jaken squawked, tugging at his staff as he tried to wrestle it from Kirara's grasp.

 

“I will not promise what you have asked of me,” Kirara repeated. “My heart is my own, and I will make my own decisions as I see fit. Should Lord Sesshomaru renew his intentions, I will decide how to respond on my own. Now get out of my sight!”

 

Kirara yanked the staff upwards, smirking as Jaken foolishly held onto it with all his strength. She swung the staff back, causing Jaken to scream in alarm. But still he stubbornly held on.

 

“And don't come back!” Kirara added, as she flung the staff into the air.

 

As the staff flew off out of sight, with Jaken still hanging onto it tenaciously, screaming for his life as he went, Kirara smiled in smug satisfaction, wiping her hands together and nodding her head once.

 

`Now I have to get back to the others,' she thought.

 

Kirara turned to go, only to find herself confronted by Ah-Un, who stood blocking her path.

 

“Hello,” she said softly, touching a hand to each of its heads. “You had better go fetch Jaken and take him back to Lord Sesshomaru.”

 

Kirara sidestepped to walk around the dragon demon, but Ah-Un mirrored her action, placing itself directly in her path once more.

 

“What are you doing?” Kirara muttered, frowning curiously at the dragon. “I have to go.”

 

Kirara tried to sidestep in the opposite direction, but again Ah-Un moved to stop her.

 

“I can't stay here with you,” Kirara said desperately. “I have to go back to my friends.”

 

Ah-Un lowered one of its heads and let out a sigh, the other head moving forwards to nuzzle against her arm.

 

`This thing loves me!' Kirara thought. `It wants me to go back to Lord Sesshomaru's castle! Is this some sort of sign?'

 

Kirara inhaled sharply through her nose, her eyes doubling in size at the very thought.

 

“Fetch Jaken, Ah-Un!” she said firmly, before leaping into the air.

 

As flames burst around her, Ah-Un ducked out of Kirara's way, allowing her to fly off in her fire-cat form. Kirara checked over her shoulder several times as she flew to confirm that Ah-Un was not following her, relieved when she saw no signs of the old dragon demon.

 

“That was close.”

 

Kirara snarled in alarm at the sound of a voice right by her ear, snapping back into her human form and falling through the air in her shock. Kirara landed in a flowering bush, a mass of pink and cream petals bursting into the air from the force of her impact. As she slowly clambered out of the bush and got to her feet, silently acknowledging that her left leg still ached a little from Jaken's attack, the source of the voice appeared before her eyes.

 

“What in the name of…?” she muttered, her face twisting as she saw a small grey cloud hovering in front of her, emitting a small demonic aura.

 

Kirara mewed in confusion as an arm reached out of the cloud and punched the cloud three times. There was a puff of smoke, and the cloud dissolved to reveal a small red dragon with disproportionately large fangs poking out of its top lip.

 

“Koru!” Kirara snapped. “Did you follow me?”

 

“Sure did!” Koru replied cheerfully.

 

“But why?” Kirara demanded.

 

“Well, after you left, Miroku started hugging Sango because she was so worried, and then Kagome started whispering to Inuyasha and laughing, and then Soten was ignoring me because she has Shippo now, and then I decided that since we agreed to stay together, I would just follow you.”

 

“We never agreed on anything.”

 

“Well anyway, I didn't arrive in time.”

 

“What do you mean you “didn't arrive in time”?”

 

Kirara's skin began to grow cold as she recalled just what she had been discussing with Jaken. Had this tactless little imp overheard the whole conversation that had just transpired?

 

“Well, I arrived just as the toad said…”

 

Koru cleared his throat before proceeding to mock Jaken's voice to perfection.

 

“Is it not true that Lord Sesshomaru asked you to be his mate?”

 

Kirara gasped, clasping a hand over her mouth.

 

“So who's this Lord Sesshomaru?” Koru asked, his voice back to its usual, grating tones. “And why did you refuse to be his mate? I mean, you didn't refuse when Jaken asked you, so obviously you regret refusing him now, yes?”

 

“No!” Kirara wailed, turning pale. “You spied on me? You heard everything that… I swear, if you breathe so much as one word of this to another living soul, I will kill you in the most painful way imaginable, Koru!”

 

“Okay, boss.”

 

Kirara eyed Koru over suspiciously, finding his sudden agreeability more than a little out of character.

 

“Right…” she said slowly. “Well, let's go find the others.”

 

Koru nodded, and Kirara turned back into her fire-cat form, flying off back to where she had left the others.

 

“Kirara!” Shippo cried as he sighted her.

 

“Kirara, what did Jaken want?” Miroku asked as Kirara landed, morphing back into her human form.

 

“Oh, nothing,” she replied, waving a hand dismissively.

 

Miroku narrowed his eyes suspiciously, and Kirara realised that she was going to have to formulate a more convincing lie to deter the shrewd monk.

 

“It was just something about… The Tetsusaiga,” she lied, as her eyes happened to pass over Inuyasha's sword. “He tried to make a deal with me. He offered me… Gold in return for the Tetsusaiga. I refused of course, and sent him flying.”

 

“Literally!” Koru cheerfully added.

 

Kirara rounded on the little dragon, narrowing her eyes at him threateningly. She did not trust him to keep his enormous mouth closed about what he had just witnessed.

 

“Well that was a total waste of our time!” Inuyasha grumbled. “Come on, let's keep going! We have to head northeast and find Naraku!”

 

“Northeast?” Kirara blurted. “Could we maybe head east first, then maybe go north later?”

 

Inuyasha screwed up his face at Kirara's words.

 

“What are you, stupid?” he snapped. “The old monkey said Naraku went northeast, not east and then north!”

 

“But…” Kirara began nervously. “Won't we be entering the Northern Lands if we go northeast of here?”

 

“We're practically on the border of the Northern Lands already, Kirara,” Miroku pointed out.

 

“We are?” Kirara echoed.

 

“Yes!” Inuyasha said impatiently. “Now come on, we're wasting time hanging around here like this! Let's go already!”

 

Kirara hung back as the others continued on the path, until soon they were a considerable distance ahead of her, leaving her alone with Koru again.

 

“Does Sesshomaru live in the Northern Lands?” Koru asked her.

 

“No!” Kirara sharply replied. “He is Lord of the Western Lands.”

 

“So why don't you want to go north?”

 

“Never you mind, you interfering little imp!”

 

Kirara marched on after the others, trying to ignore the nagging concerns in her mind. If Jaken had indeed been speaking the truth, and Sesshomaru had broken his engagement to the princess of the north, then it was unlikely that she would cross paths with Sesshomaru in the Northern Lands. It was highly likely however, that she might meet the dog demon princess, or any of her family. Would they know that Kirara was the reason behind Sesshomaru breaking off his engagement?

 

But, Kirara wondered, was she really the reason Sesshomaru had ended the engagement?

 

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Next Chapter: Jaken returns to the castle to report his findings to Sesshomaru, but he does not get the reaction he expected. Meanwhile, in an attempt to teach Inuyasha the art of patience, Kagome encourages him to play with Shippo, Soten and Koru; but things don't quite go as Kagome planned. Chapter 24 - Sesshomaru's Smile.