InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Truth About Cats and Dogs ❯ Sesshomaru's Smile ( Chapter 24 )

Recap: Jaken called Kirara out to tell her that Sesshomaru was no longer engaged to the princess, and to demand that Kirara promise not to accept any offers that Sesshomaru may make to her. Kirara refused, and was alarmed to learn that not only were the gang leading her into the princess's home lands, but that Koru had overhead most of her conversation with Jaken.

 

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Chapter 24 - Sesshomaru's Smile

 

Sesshomaru slouched lower into the welcoming depths of the hot spring, resting his arms on the rocks at either side of his head. He cast a languid look at his left arm, still finding himself amazed that it really existed, and that it possessed all the power it had done before Inuyasha had cut it off. And, he thought to himself, he still had to repay Inuyasha for that sinful act. But he could not leave the castle again until Jaken returned. For some unknown reason, Jaken had disappeared with Ah-Un earlier that day, without telling anyone where he was going. Whilst Sesshomaru was confident that the little toad would indeed shortly return, he was suspicious as to why his most loyal servant would leave without first asking his permission.

 

Sesshomaru began to slouch lower still into the water, only to stiffen as he sensed Jaken walking towards him from behind. Sitting upright, Sesshomaru turned around, looking out over the rocks in time to see Jaken clumsily clambering up towards him.

 

“Milord, forgive me!” he cried breathlessly as he scrambled towards Sesshomaru. “I acted on my own accord and went to see the fire-cat.”

 

“What?” Sesshomaru echoed, standing abruptly.

 

Jaken gasped as Sesshomaru's sudden reaction created a small wave of water that lapped over the edges of the rocks around him only to gasp again as he saw that his master was completely naked. Sesshomaru tilted his head slightly, slowly running his eyes over his little servant.

 

“What happened?” he asked, noting that Jaken's clothing had a few tears, and he was sporting a few new bumps, cuts and bruises.

 

“The fire-cat attacked me, Milord!” Jaken replied. “She defied me and then she attacked me in cold blood!”

 

“The fire-cat defies everyone,” Sesshomaru flatly replied turning his back on Jaken and sitting back into the water.

 

“But Sire, she defied me by refusing to defy you!” Jaken continued, hopping up onto the rocks by Sesshomaru's left shoulder.

 

“You have wasted both your own time and mine,” Sesshomaru calmly replied. “I will be leaving shortly.”

 

“Oh, where are we going, Milord?”

 

“I am going to see my brother.”

 

“Are we going to show him the power of the Tokijin, Sire?”

 

“You will stay here and watch over Rin.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Sesshomaru slouched lower, trying to relax his muscles; but the stench of the toad still hovering by his shoulder was making relaxing a very difficult task.

 

“You are dismissed, Jaken,” he said quietly, closing his eyes and leaning his head back to rest it against the rocks behind him.

 

“Aye, Milord,” Jaken agreed, bowing and turning on his heel to leave.

 

As Jaken began to hop down over the rocks towards the ground below, Sesshomaru's mind slowly rewound to the words Jaken had spoken in regards to the fire-cat. “She defied me by refusing to defy you”.

 

“Jaken?” Sesshomaru said, opening his eyes sharply.

 

“Aye Milord?” Jaken responded, stopping halfway down the rocks.

 

“Why did you go to see the fire-cat? I don't recall giving you any orders to do so.”

 

“Apologies Sire, but I panicked when I heard that you had turned down the princess of the Northern Lands!”

 

Sesshomaru began to ponder exactly how Jaken had found out that he had gone to the see the queen of the Northern Lands to refuse the offer of her daughter as a mate, but then he remembered that he had confided his actions in the grovelling little fox demon, who had doubtlessly floated her way around the entire castle and told everyone and everything that she came across.

 

Ignoring the fact that his list of reasons to kill the fox had just gotten even longer, Sesshomaru tried to remain focussed on what Jaken was talking about.

 

“And I remembered that you allowed the fire-cat to enter your private quarters, and you have never allowed any other to enter that part of your castle, Milord,” Jaken added. “I was concerned that you might be thinking about taking the cat as your mate in place of the princess.”

 

“I see,” Sesshomaru responded thoughtfully.

 

“So I went to see the fire-cat,” Jaken continued, slowly climbing back up to his master's side. “I know that she refused you the first time you asked her to be your mate, but I was worried that she might have changed her mind, after the kind hospitality that Milord bestowed upon her when she visited with Inuyasha, the fox cub and her horrible human friends.”

 

Sesshomaru turned his head to look directly at Jaken, wishing that the little cretin would hurry his speech along and get to the point. He had an annoying habit of drawing things out and taking too long to convey simple messages; and in this instance, Sesshomaru was going to have to be patient, as he needed to know the full extent of just what the little imp had done. Although he would never outwardly admit to it, Sesshomaru was still recovering from the fire-cat's outright refusal of his offer. She had bluntly turned him down, not even considered accepting him, and he had been positive that she had been trying to attract him. Such a strange creature she was, he silently mused.

 

“I asked her to promise me to refuse you again,” Jaken said meekly.

 

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes slightly, a large part of him now wanting to throttle the toad; but he would have to wait just a little longer before he could act. There was a short silence as Sesshomaru waited for Jaken to continue, but Jaken stood silently by his side, his eyes lowered to the ground, a submissive expression of defeat on his face.

 

“And what did she say?” Sesshomaru asked quietly, inwardly kicking himself for being unable to hold the question in.

 

“Milord?” Jaken echoed, lifting his head and locking eyes with Sesshomaru.

 

“Did she give you her promise?” Sesshomaru asked, his voice betraying his inner emotions a little as a sense of mild urgency crept into his tone. “Not that I care,” he hurriedly added, his voice once more perfectly smooth and emotionless. “I'm just curious.”

 

“She did not,” Jaken replied.

 

Sesshomaru paused, Jaken's words echoing around inside his head.

 

“She refused to promise not to accept you,” Jaken said with a sigh. “I was so sure that she hated you Sire, I was certain that she would promise to refuse you one more time, but alas she would not. I think she has developed feelings for you Milord, and who could blame her, you are gorgeous.”

 

Sesshomaru's eyebrows inched up slightly, and Jaken instantly became flustered.

 

“Not that I would know, of course Sire!” he hurriedly added. “But you are!”

 

Jaken laughed nervously, the sound paining Sesshomaru's sensitive ears to the point that he began to wonder if they were bleeding.

 

“Jaken it is not your place to decide who I do or do not take as my mate,” Sesshomaru said sternly, relieved that the sound of his voice instantly silenced Jaken's ridiculous laughter.

 

“I know my Lord, please forgive me!” Jaken begged.

 

“We will discuss this matter further when I return, Jaken,” Sesshomaru concluded, turning away from the toad. “I will be leaving shortly, and I expect you to remain here and take care of Rin. You will not be rude to her, and you will indulge her desires.”

 

“Mi-Milord?” Jaken stuttered nervously.

 

“You will play her human games with her and you will enjoy yourself.”

 

Jaken paled, his jaw slowly dropping open.

 

“And now you will leave me alone,” Sesshomaru added.

 

“Aye Milord,” Jaken said quietly, turning and climbing back down to the ground.

 

As Jaken slowly departed, Sesshomaru contemplated what his servant had just told him. The fire-cat he knew was a stubborn, headstrong wilful girl, who never hesitated to speak her mind. Therefore, he concluded, if she still felt the same way she had when she refused him, she would have gladly said as much. Surely this was as good a sign as any that her feelings had in fact changed?

 

Jaken had apparently set out to prevent Sesshomaru from taking the fire-cat as his mate, but, he thought to himself, Jaken's actions had had the opposite effect that he had hoped for. Sesshomaru slowly allowed the corners of his mouth to edge upwards as he planned out his next course of action. He would track down Inuyasha, kill him with the Tokijin and reclaim the Tetsusaiga, and return to his castle with the fire-cat.

 

For the first time in a very long time, Sesshomaru allowed himself to smile.

 

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“Damn it, Shippo!” Inuyasha barked.

 

“Calm down, Inuyasha!” Kagome insisted, locking her arms around his waist from behind to stop him chasing after the little fox demon.

 

“Why do we need all these kids with us anyway?” Inuyasha snarled.

 

“Inuyasha, they're just playing!” Kagome pointed out. “Didn't you like to play games when you were a boy?”

 

“I was never that damn annoying when I was a kid!” Inuyasha moodily replied.

 

“Oh Inuyasha!” Kagome said with a sigh. “Maybe you should try playing with them.”

 

“What?”

 

Inuyasha pushed Kagome's arms off of his sides and turned around to face her, his eyes wide in shock and disgust.

 

“I said maybe you should try playing with Shippo and Soten,” Kagome repeated. “You need to learn how to be more patient, and I think that playing with them would help you.”

 

“You want me to play with those little squirts?” Inuyasha grumbled, eying Shippo and Soten as the thunder demon chased after the fox, who was escaping her attempts to catch him by using his shape-shifting skills to his advantage.

 

“Yes, Inuyasha,” Kagome said decisively, planting her hands on her hips. “Go and play with them.”

 

Inuyasha paused, blinking repeatedly.

 

“I'm not kidding, Inuyasha!” Kagome said sternly. “I want you to prove to me that you can be patient and considerate around children!”

 

“Um…” Inuyasha began, his nose and cheeks slowly turning red. “Why?”

 

“Because…” Kagome began, before flushing bright red herself. “Because I have a little brother, and I don't want you being rude to him like you are to Shippo!”

 

“Oh…” Inuyasha said, slowly nodding his head.

 

“Well?” Kagome asked, folding her arms. “What are you waiting for?”

 

Inuyasha began to grumble indecipherable curses under his breath, but Kagome continued to glare at him, and he eventually gave in to her demands, and turned around, walking over to where Shippo, Soten and Koru were playing.

 

“Hey Shippo!” he said abruptly.

 

Soten and Koru yelped, leaping back as Inuyasha's shadow fell over them.

 

“What's wrong, Inuyasha?” Shippo asked, looking up at him.

 

“What are you doing?” Inuyasha demanded moodily.

 

“We're playing with this new toy Kagome gave us,” Shippo replied.

 

“Why?” Inuyasha asked.

 

“Um… Because it's fun?”

 

“I don't see what's so much fun about playing with that thing.”

 

Inuyasha thrust a pointing finger at the large, brightly coloured round object in Shippo's hands, his claw piercing into its surface. With a popping sound, the object suddenly began to shrink, wilting over Shippo's hands.

 

“Inuyasha!” Shippo wailed. “You broke it!”

 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome yelled over at him. “Watch what you're doing!”

 

“Stupid…” Inuyasha grumbled. “Can't you play with something else instead?”

 

“I guess so…” Shippo said sadly, placing the deflated ball down onto the ground.

 

“Well?” Inuyasha pressed. “Come on! What are you waiting for? Play with something else!”

 

“Inuyasha, why are you over here anyway?” Shippo asked.

 

“Kagome told him he had to play with us,” Koru frankly announced.

 

“I never did like you, you little worm!” Inuyasha growled, brandishing a fist at the little dragon imp.

 

“We could draw again,” Soten suggested.

 

“Inuyasha doesn't like drawing,” Shippo replied.

 

“We could play pin the tail on the dog!” Koru suggested.

 

“Inuyasha won't let you pin a tail on him,” Shippo replied.

 

“Damn right I won't!” Inuyasha snarled.

 

“What do you want to play, Inuyasha?” Soten asked.

 

“I don't want to play anything you little pest, I'm only here because I have to be!” Inuyasha growled, keeping his voice low so that Kagome would not hear him.

 

“We could play pin the tail on the cat,” Koru suggested.

 

Shippo, Soten and Inuyasha all turned to Kirara, each adopting expressions of curious confusion at what they saw.

 

“What the hell is Kirara doing?” Inuyasha asked anyone who cared to listen.

 

Kirara was a short distance from the others, walking across a set of steppingstones that crossed a nearby river. She had three of Kagome's schoolbooks balanced on the top of her head, and she was walking very slowly and carefully, placing each foot gently yet firmly onto each stone.

 

“She has to practise how to be a lady,” Koru explained. “She's learning how to walk like a lady instead of a man soldier.”

 

“Why the hell would she want to do that?” Inuyasha asked, turning to Koru.

 

“She told me not to tell anyone,” Koru replied. “Especially not Kagome. She's already lost two of Kagome's books in the water.”

 

Inuyasha frowned, his curiosity rising by the second.

 

“Hey Koru,” he said slowly, sitting down and crossing his legs in front of himself. “I've just had an idea for a game we could play.”

 

“You do?” Shippo echoed.

 

“Yeah, I do,” Inuyasha replied. “It's a really fun game. It's called “Spare Me”.”

 

“What are the rules?” Soten asked.

 

“I'll go first,” Inuyasha said, roughly grabbing a hand around Koru and dragging him up to his nose. “Koru, spare me the trouble of having to sharpen my claws on you and tell me why Kirara is acting so weird.”

 

“She's trying to impress Lord Sesshomaru!” Koru shamelessly blurted.

 

“Wow Koru,” Soten said quietly. “It's no wonder my plan to ensnare Kagome and Inuyasha failed if you bend under pressure so easily…”

 

“Sesshomaru?” Inuyasha echoed. “Why the hell would Kirara want to impress Sesshomaru?”

 

“I don't know,” Koru lied.

 

“Really?” Inuyasha asked, squeezing Koru's body tighter.

 

“He asked her to be his mate and she said no but I think she's changed her mind and now he's going to ask her again and she wants to say yes!” Koru blurted out, talking so fast, Inuyasha had to concentrate to make out each individual word he spoke.

 

“Sesshomaru asked Kirara to be his mate?” Inuyasha said slowly. “No way!”

 

“Who's Sesshomaru?” Soten asked.

 

“Inuyasha's older brother,” Shippo replied. “He's really mean and really evil. One time, he took Kirara away to fight with her, but she managed to escape.”

 

“Wait a minute…” Inuyasha said slowly. “He didn't call her out to fight with her that day! If he had, there's no way he would have let her go alive! They didn't fight, he asked her to be his mate! That was why he took her away! He wanted to be alone with her when he asked her! Ha! The mighty Lord Sesshomaru fell in love with that stupid, clumsy, loud-mouthed, weak fire-cat!”

 

“Inuyasha!” Shippo snapped. “Don't speak about Kirara like that!”

 

“It all makes sense now!” Inuyasha continued, ignoring Shippo, his eyes watching Kirara slowly pick her way across the river. “Sesshomaru let us stay at the castle because he's in love with Kirara! He let us stay in the nice part of the castle because he wanted to impress her with all his wealth! And it worked! I can't believe she fell for all his crap! Damn, she's stupid! And what the hell is Sesshomaru thinking? Why would he want Kirara as his mate? All she ever does is argue all the time! Hell, the second time she met him in her human form she picked a fight with him and injured him! Damn!”

 

“Lord Sesshomaru is your brother?” Koru asked Inuyasha.

 

“Unfortunately, yes,” Inuyasha grumbled. “And there's no way in hell I'm gonna let Kirara become his little bi… I mean his mate.”

 

Inuyasha silently congratulated himself on managing to control his language around the children, completely ignoring the fact that he had not held back on using words like “damn” around them already.

 

“You can't exactly stop her, Inuyasha,” Shippo pointed out.

 

“Oh yes I can!” Inuyasha replied, roughly releasing Koru. “I'll use the Tetsusaiga, that oughta stop her!”

 

“I don't think you can stop Kirara with your strength, Inuyasha,” Soten began.

 

“What the hell are you talking about, I'm a lot stronger than she is!” Inuyasha snapped.

 

“But this isn't a battle of strength, it's a battle of wits,” Soten pointed out.

 

“And Inuyasha is a witless wonder,” Shippo said cheerfully.

 

Inuyasha slammed a hand against Shippo's head, mashing him into the ground. As Shippo beat his fists against the ground and cried for Inuyasha to release him, Inuyasha turned to Soten.

 

“Then what do you suggest, Soten?” he asked sarcastically.

 

“I suggest you find a smarter way to stop Kirara,” Soten replied. “Incapacitate her. If you fight her, you will only make Sango and Kagome angry.”

 

“Good point,” Inuyasha conceded. “But how can I incapacitate Kirara without smacking her?”

 

“You could do what Koru did to stop her the day I challenged Shippo to a duel,” Soten replied. “Use catnip.”

 

“Catnip?”

 

Inuyasha slowly rolled his eyes upwards, casting his mind back to a time when he had been travelling through a forest with the others, and Kirara had suddenly found a catnip plant. Sango had been unable to pull her away from it, and in the end, Inuyasha had been forced to fight with her to get her away from it. Afterwards, Kirara had become submissive and pliable, and spent most of the rest of that day rubbing against Inuyasha's legs, weaving in and out of his ankles and almost tripping him up as he walked.

 

“But will that stuff still work now that she has a human form?” Inuyasha asked, looking down at Soten again.

 

“Of course it will!” Soten confidently replied. “She's still a cat, isn't she?”

 

“I guess so…” Inuyasha agreed.

 

Inuyasha then began to slowly smile as he imagined Kirara weaving in and out of his ankles in her human form, crawling around on all fours and rubbing her face against his legs. He began to laugh at the thought, his laughter becoming louder and more menacing, until everyone else, including even Kirara herself had stopped to watch him questioningly.

 

“Okay kids,” Inuyasha whispered, lowering his head and beckoning for the young demons to move closer to him. “For our next game, I want you all to go and find some catnip. Take it back here, but don't let anyone see you. And try not to let Kirara smell it before you give it to me, got that?”

 

Shippo, Soten and Koru all nodded their agreement.

 

“Go!” Inuyasha said, dismissing them to set about their duty.

 

Inuyasha sat back, smirking to himself.

 

“Hey, you look like you're having fun!” Kagome greeted him, sitting down next to him.

 

“Oh yeah,” he said slyly. “I'm having a lot of fun!”

 

“Good!” Kagome said cheerfully, nudging her shoulder against his affectionately. “You see, didn't I tell you that kids can be fun? I knew you'd enjoy yourself once you just relaxed and joined in their games!”

 

Inuyasha nodded, his grin so wide, his eyes were forced shut.

 

“Oh Inuyasha!” Kagome gushed, grabbing her arms around his shoulders. “I'm so proud of you!”

 

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Sango sniffed at the air, frowning as the smell from the campfire became stronger and more familiar.

 

“What is that?” Miroku asked, sniffing at the air.

 

“It smells like…” Kagome began, sniffing again before continuing. “Kinda like burning catnip.”

 

“Catnip?” Sango echoed, her eyes widening. “Kirara!”

 

Sango, Miroku and Kagome all turned to the campfire, finding Kirara standing over it, inhaling the fumes deeply, a contented smile slowly spreading over her face.

 

“Kirara, get away from there!” Sango yelled, racing towards the fire.

 

Miroku and Kagome ran after her, skidding to a halt as Sango shoved Kirara roughly away from the fire. Kirara staggered to one side, swayed around a little, then began to fall over. Miroku leapt towards her, catching her arms as she fell backwards.

 

“Wow,” Kirara said softly as she looked up as him from her almost horizontal position. “Your face is the wrong way round.”

 

“Inuyasha!” Sango called, as Inuyasha appeared, carrying an armful of firewood. “Where are you getting that wood from?”

 

Inuyasha dropped the bundle of chopped wood onto the fire, glancing at Kirara before answering Sango.

 

“The kids are finding it for me,” he replied. “I'm just cutting it up.”

 

“I'll go warn them not to pick any more catnip,” Kagome said to Sango. “They probably don't even realise what it is.”

 

“Thank you, Kagome!” Sango called after her.

 

“What happened to her?” Inuyasha asked, nodding his head at Kirara as Miroku tried to help her stand upright.

 

“There must have been some catnip amongst the firewood,” Miroku explained.

 

“Catnip?” Inuyasha echoed, feigning innocence.

 

“One sniff of catnip for Kirara is as bad as a human drinking two jugs of sake,” Sango explained. “Don't you remember what happened the last few times Kirara found catnip?”

 

“Um…” Inuyasha mumbled, pretending to look thoughtful.

 

“The last time I remember her finding any was when we were all tricked by… Soten…” Miroku said slowly.

 

“Yes, that's right!” Sango agreed. “It was just after Soten had kidnapped Shippo, we were flying over a forest, and Kirara caught the scent of catnip.”

 

“So soft…” Kirara said groggily, stroking a hand against Miroku's cheek.

 

“Isn't there something we can do to stop her acting so weird?” Inuyasha asked.

 

“Unfortunately no,” Sango replied, grabbing Kirara's arm and tugging her away from Miroku. “If we can get her to sleep, the effects should wear off a little quicker though.”

 

“It's late anyway,” Miroku said as he tried to dislodge Kirara's claws from his sleeve.

 

“I'll try to help her sleep,” Sango said.

 

Miroku watched Sango drag Kirara off, waiting until he was confident that she was out of earshot before turning back to Inuyasha.

 

“Inuyasha, I'm suspicious,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Inuyasha.

 

“Huh?” Inuyasha echoed, his face turning slightly red.

 

“Doesn't this whole situation strike you as a little suspicious?” Miroku asked.

 

“No,” Inuyasha slowly replied. “It was just those dumb kids putting stuff on the fire!”

 

“Shippo and Soten are not idiots, Inuyasha,” Miroku pointed out. “Soten and Koru deliberately trapped Kirara with catnip once before, they knew what it was and what it did to her.”

 

“Well I did warn you not to let those little brats travel with us.”

 

Miroku eyed Inuyasha over sceptically, but Inuyasha turned away from him before he could probe too deeply into the situation.

 

“She'll be fine,” Inuyasha said as he began to walk away from Miroku. “Think of it as a lucky break. She can't argue with us when she's like this.”

 

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Next Chapter: Inuyasha's plan to incapacitate Kirara with catnip seems to have worked perfectly; or at least, it does until Sesshomaru turns up! Chapter 25 - Inuyasha's Joke.