InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Truth About Cats and Dogs ❯ Jaken's Confession ( Chapter 32 )

Recap: Kirara decided that Midoriko's spell was broken too soon, and asked Kaede to redo the curse; but Kaede advised her to visit Momiji and Botan again; and so the third part of Midoriko's message was realised.

 

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Chapter 32 - Jaken's Confession

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

Kirara turned to Jaken as he slid off of Ah-Un's back.

 

“What am I doing here?” she repeated, screwing up her face at him in confusion. “What are you doing here?”

 

“I was following you.”

 

Kirara was momentarily stunned. Whilst she had suspected that Jaken probably had been following her, she had never expected him to admit to it, least of all so openly and easily.

 

“You were following me?” she repeated. “May I ask why?”

 

“I wanted to see what you were planning to do,” Jaken plainly replied.

 

“It's none your business what I do, toad,” Kirara stiffly replied.

 

“Yes it is,” Jaken said, again causing Kirara to start in surprise at his words.

 

“No it isn't!” Kirara recovered, scowling at him indignantly.

 

“My only concerns are for my master's welfare, and right now you are adversely affecting his wellbeing,” Jaken replied.

 

Kirara again found herself at a loss. Again she wondered if it was her lack of conversation skills or Jaken's insistence upon talking in riddles that was the reason for her recurring confusion and general lack of understanding.

 

“What are you talking about now, Jaken?” she asked moodily, choosing to use his name in the hope that it would make him at least a little more agreeable.

 

“Did you come here to have yourself turned into a little cat again?” Jaken asked her.

 

“I asked you a question,” Kirara returned.

 

“As did I. Why are you here?”

 

“I asked you first.”

 

“I asked you what you were doing here before you even said a single word. Are you here to have the spell redone or not?”

 

“Alright then yes. Yes I am. But that's no concern of yours.”

 

“Yes it is, you stupid girl. I won't allow you to carry out your ridiculous plans. You will come with me now.”

 

Kirara rolled her eyes, growling roughly. Apparently Sesshomaru's commanding manner of speech had rubbed off somewhat onto his servant.

 

“You can't order me around like that,” she pointed out. “And you can't stop me carrying out any plans that I may have.”

 

“You will come with me now!” Jaken shouted, holding up his staff.

 

Kirara had not been expecting him to become violent, least of all so suddenly, and she took a little too long to leap out of harm's way as Jaken's staff spat out a cyclone of flames at her. Kirara hissed, her eyes turning red as she looked down at the singed ends of her hair at her right side.

 

“If it's a fight you want, why didn't you just say so from the start?” she growled, rounding on the little toad imp.

 

“You must come with me,” Jaken insisted.

 

“Why?” Kirara asked.

 

“Because… Um…”

 

Kirara's eyes faded back to green, a malicious smirk slowly spreading across her face.

 

“Oh, I see!” she said slowly. “You need my help with something, that's why you're here!”

 

Jaken turned his head to one side, fidgeting awkwardly.

 

“You must have done something terrible,” Kirara continued, revelling in the agonies she was causing the little toad. “Something so bad that your master will most likely kill you by the most painful and drawn-out method that he can think of. So… What have you done, Jaken?”

 

“It's all your fault!” Jaken shouted, pointing a bony finger at Kirara.

 

“My fault?” Kirara echoed. “Then I wonder why you are asking me for my help…”

 

Kirara started to walk towards the gates of the temple again, suppressing a grin as Jaken ran in front of her, blocking her path back to the two priestesses.

 

“Wait!” he wailed. “You can't go in there!”

 

“And why not?” Kirara asked, bending over him.

 

“Because…” Jaken began awkwardly. “Because they told you to come back tomorrow night.”

 

“You were spying on me the whole time?” Kirara yelped.

 

But Jaken did not answer Kirara he merely narrowed his eyes in a way that suggested that she was the one who ought to be ashamed of her behaviour.

 

“What do you want with me?” Kirara demanded.

 

“I want my master to stop acting so strangely,” Jaken replied. “And he has been acting very strangely ever since you got that new body of yours!”

 

“Well then you should both be glad to know that I won't have this body for very much longer!”

 

“It is a great honour for you that the mighty Lord Sesshomaru even gives you a second thought, you ungrateful cat!”

 

“Oh… I understand now! I know exactly why you're here!”

 

“You-you do?”

 

“Yes I do. Kagura doesn't like Rin, and Lord Sesshomaru seeks to exploit my devotion to humans in need! He wants me to be his nursemaid! He wants me to take care of Rin so that he is free to… To… No. Soon I will lose my human form forever. And even if I were to keep this body, there is no way in hell that I would even so much as consider becoming Lord Sesshomaru's slave!”

 

“If you listened half as much as you spoke, you wouldn't be such a terribly ignorant creature!”

 

“Keep talking to me like that and you will find yourself learning to fly the hard way!”

 

“I did not come here on my master's orders!”

 

Kirara paused, her anger subsiding at Jaken's words. The last time he had defied his master's orders to talk to her, it had been to try to force her to agree never to accept Sesshomaru as her mate; but this time, she could see no reason why the little toad would want to defy his much-worshipped lord.

 

“I owe Lord Sesshomaru my life,” Jaken continued. “He saved me and my men from certain death long ago, and I have devoted my life to his service ever since that day. I have always tried to make sure that he gets whatever he wants or needs. And, even though it makes me sick to think of it, I believe that he wants you.”

 

“He wants me…” Kirara said slowly, pointing at herself. “To be one of his servants?”

 

“No, you foolish girl!”

 

Jaken swung his staff at Kirara's head, but she ducked out of harm's way, watching anxiously as the two heads of the staff swung over the top of her.

 

“He wants you for his mate!” Jaken snapped, snatching back his staff and holding it against his chest possessively.

 

“He wants me for his…” Kirara muttered, her brow furrowing. “I'm confused,” she confessed, looking into Jaken's eyes. “Not so very long ago, you were trying to make me promise never to accept Lord Sesshomaru's offers to be his mate, and now you've come here to take me back to his castle to be his… What are you scheming, you slimy little toad? Lord Sesshomaru took Kagura as his mate!”

 

“No he didn't.”

 

“Yes he did.”

 

“No he didn't.”

 

“Yes he did! I saw him! He saved her life! He saved her from Koga, he revived her with the Tenseiga and he took her heart for his own!”

 

Jaken arched his eyebrows at Kirara as she acted out all of the things she spoke of with exaggerated, dramatic hand motions.

 

“He saved her life to repay his debt to her, nothing more,” Jaken flatly replied.

 

“His debt to her?” Kirara echoed.

 

“Kagura had Lord Sesshomaru's arm restored by these two priestesses,” Jaken explained.

 

“What?” Kirara echoed, turning to look back at Momiji and Botan's temple as Jaken pointed at it. “No, that's not right!”

 

“What?” Jaken mumbled, frowning at Kirara sceptically.

 

“I was the one who asked Priestesses Momiji and Botan to restore Lord Sesshomaru's arm! I had to do it! He saved my life from Kagura and the Wind Scar, I was indebted to him, and I couldn't bear it! I had his arm restored as a way of repaying my debt to him! You mean that he thought that Kagura was the one who…? So all this time he still thinks that I am indebted to him?”

 

Kirara mewed in frustration, dropping down into a sitting position, her legs crossed loosely in front of her. The last thing she wanted was to return to being a cat whilst Sesshomaru still thought that she was indebted to him. While she still had her voice, she decided, she really ought to visit him and explain the finer details of the situation in full. Kirara slowly turned her head towards Jaken, narrowing her eyes at him and Ah-Un thoughtfully.

 

“Lord Sesshomaru was just repaying a debt that he thought he owed to Kagura?” she asked.

 

“Yes,” Jaken confirmed, nodding his head.

 

“He didn't take Kagura as his mate?”

 

“No.”

 

“You're sure?”

 

“Yes, and a good thing it is too! I certainly wouldn't have enjoyed serving that ungrateful witch!”

 

Kirara nodded slowly, her mind processing all this new information carefully. She wanted Sesshomaru to know that she was not indebted to him as he no doubt thought that she still was, but at the same time, she did not really wish to see him again in her human form. Kirara could dismiss all the doubts in her mind about going ahead with having the spell redone except the most selfish doubt of all: a small part of her still wanted to remain in her human form and become Sesshomaru's mate.

 

“So you will return with me to my Lord's castle?” Jaken asked.

 

Kirara began to chew on her lower lip, her eyes darting between the temple and Ah-Un as she weighed up her options.

 

“You came here of your own accord?” she asked slowly, moving her eyes to Jaken again.

 

“That's right,” he agreed, shuddering slightly. “Although it brings me no pleasure!”

 

“So your opinion that Lord Sesshomaru wishes to take me for his mate is only that: your opinion,” Kirara concluded. “It is not a fact.”

 

“I know my master better than anyone!” Jaken argued.

 

“I don't honestly believe that your master ever wants to set eyes on me again,” Kirara said slowly.

 

“You are refusing to come with me?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“So then what will you do?”

 

“I am going to sit here and wait.”

 

Jaken looked up at the sky, tilting his head to one side thoughtfully.

 

“It is nearing night, but you still have all day tomorrow before those priestesses can redo the spell for you,” he pointed out.

 

“I know that,” Kirara patiently replied. “And I am going to sit right here and wait until then.”

 

Kirara shuffled around until she had her back turned to Jaken, relaxing muscles she had not even known she had tensed as she heard him climb back onto Ah-Un behind her and take to the air. After a few seconds has passed and Kirara felt she could safely do so without being seen, she turned to watch Jaken and Ah-Un fly away over the treetops.

 

“He didn't take Kagura…” she mused aloud.

 

Kirara's mind slowed, and a small feeling of joy began to creep up inside of her. She quickly dismissed it, shrugging her shoulders indifferently and turning back to face the temple. She would just sit there and wait until nightfall the following day, and then have the spell redone.

 

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Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes suspiciously. It was not like Jaken to be so tolerant of Rin's exuberance, and yet as he watched them, Jaken was happily helping her groom Ah-Un's manes. Not only was Jaken's behaviour that morning uncharacteristic, but the little toad had been conspicuous by his absence the night before. Although Sesshomaru would never admit to being curious about anything that the pesky little imp did, he decided that he simply had to find out exactly what Jaken had been up to and why he was now acting so out of character.

 

Sesshomaru stood up, slowly walking in the general direction of his ward, his servant and his steed. As he neared them, he altered his path slightly, walking almost parallel to where they played, stopping as he drew level with them. Having managed to successfully place himself downwind of the trio, Sesshomaru lifted his chin slightly, silently and almost motionlessly sniffing at the air as the breeze carried their scents to his nose.

 

At first, he could not detect anything unusual; but then the distinct scent of pine reached him. As there were no pine trees anywhere near his castle, this was, in his mind, a fair indication that Jaken had indeed left the castle grounds the night before. Otherwise, however, Sesshomaru could not detect anything else out of the ordinary. It was not like Jaken to wander from the protection of his barrier around the castle grounds without his orders to do so, but, given Jaken's tendency to share his every thought with Sesshomaru whether he wished to hear it or not, Sesshomaru was in no doubt that he would soon learn the finer details of where his servant had been and why.

 

Sesshomaru turned back towards his castle, tilting his head slightly as he considered what he should do next. With Naraku gone, the weaker demons that had been hiding from him would resurface once more, and that would mean that Sesshomaru would need to be more vigilant in guarding his lands. His father had always fought off any vagrant demons in the neighbourhood to protect the humans he was so fond of. Sesshomaru also fought off the demons to preserve the lives of the humans in the neighbouring villages, although his motives were entirely different to those of his father's. Whilst his father had fought to protect the innocent, Sesshomaru merely fought to ensure there were always humans nearby, should he ever happen to need their assistance if Rin took ill, or decided she wanted human company.

 

“Lord Sesshomaru!” Rin called to him.

 

Sesshomaru turned his head slightly, watching from the corner of one eye as she skipped towards him, holding out another bunch of pungent daisies towards him as she always insisted on doing for reasons Sesshomaru was yet to fathom.

 

“Lord Sesshomaru, will we be leaving the castle soon?” she asked.

 

Sesshomaru briefly wondered if Jaken had told the girl as much or if she knew his mind better than he had given her credit for.

 

“I would like to see my new friends again,” she added meekly, lowering her chin and widening her eyes, a move Sesshomaru often saw her use when she was trying to get her own way with something.

 

Obviously this was some human folly, something that would endear the heart of the person she sought to reason with. It did nothing more than amuse Sesshomaru that this little human thought that such a wasted action would actually have any effect on him.

 

“Jaken will take you to the village,” he plainly replied.

 

Rin paused, lifting her chin again to look him more fully in the eye.

 

“Won't you come with us, Lord Sesshomaru?” she asked sweetly.

 

“No,” he flatly replied. “Just remember to be back before nightfall.”

 

“But the village is so far away, I don't know if we can be back that soon,” Rin said.

 

Sesshomaru's eyebrows twitched slightly, moving downwards and slightly closer together as a hint of a frown darkened his eyes.

 

“Take Ah-Un,” he suggested.

 

“Um, Milord?” Jaken said meekly from behind Sesshomaru. “The girl wants to visit Inuyasha and his friends.”

 

Sesshomaru turned his head to look over his shoulder at Jaken. When he saw that Jaken appeared to be serious, he turned back to Rin.

 

“I want to see Kohaku and Kirara again,” Rin explained.

 

Sesshomaru gulped quietly as Rin spoke the fire-cat's name. He had almost managed to put that girl from his mind until Rin had spoken her name, but he suddenly found himself thinking about her again.

 

“You see, we would be gone for two days,” Jaken added.

 

“I have to patrol the lands,” Sesshomaru said, more to himself than Jaken.

 

“Then you will come with us?” Jaken asked.

 

Sesshomaru thought for a moment about what he should do. He had no desire to cross paths with Inuyasha or any of his tiresome human friends again any time soon, but the idea of seeing the fire-cat again did at least hold some appeal. His eyes fixed on his castle Sesshomaru plucked the flowers from Rin's hand.

 

“Rin, tell Rinko that we will be leaving the castle shortly,” he instructed.

 

“Yes, my Lord!” she chirped, bowing politely to him before running off towards the castle.

 

Sesshomaru watched her until she had entered the castle before turning to Jaken. He narrowed his amber eyes slightly, realising from years of experience that a warning look was worth a thousand words when he wished to question his servant.

 

“Forgive me my Lord, I went to see the fire-cat last night,” Jaken confessed, dropping to his knees.

 

Satisfied with just how effective his action had been, Sesshomaru took a moment to register what Jaken had just said.

 

“You went to see the fire-cat?” he repeated slowly.

 

“Aye, Milord,” Jaken continued. “And do you know, that wind witch Kagura, that incarnation of Naraku, she lied to you, My Lord! She was not the one who arranged for your arm to be restored! It was the fire-cat!”

 

Sesshomaru remained silent, having to fight the urge to question Jaken further on the subject. However, his curiosity was soon satiated as Jaken continued to explain without the need for Sesshomaru to prompt him further.

 

“She did it to repay her debt to you,” Jaken explained. “Because you saved her from Kagura and Inuyasha's Wind Scar. She didn't wish to be indebted to you, so she asked the red and the white priestesses to restore your lost arm.”

 

“She was not indebted to me,” Sesshomaru muttered. “I never sought anything in return for my actions that night.”

 

“Hu-ur?” Jaken echoed, his face twisting in surprise at his master's words.

 

Sesshomaru looked directly into Jaken's eyes for a moment before swiftly spinning on his heels, turning his back to his servant once more.

 

“This matter cannot go unresolved,” he said coldly as he watched Rin running back towards them from the castle. “We leave here immediately.”

 

“Aye Milord,” Jaken said, nodding his head and getting to his feet behind Sesshomaru.

 

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“What the hell is he doing here?” Inuyasha growled, lifting hand to shade his eyes against the evening sun as he looked up into the sky.

 

“Is it Koga?” Kagome asked, stepping out of Kaede's hut to join him.

 

“No, worse,” Inuyasha grumbled. “It's my jackass older brother.”

 

“Sesshomaru?” Miroku asked, walking over to join Inuyasha and Kagome. “What does he want?”

 

“Probably to test the Tetsusaiga again,” Inuyasha drawled, rolling his eyes. “I thought he learned his lesson after he saw me fight off my demon blood and those jewel shards. I'm strong enough to deserve the damn sword!”

 

“Oh Inuyasha, you were so brave!” Kagome said with a sigh.

 

“Thanks to you, Sango has her little brother back again,” Miroku added, smiling as he turned to where Sango and Kohaku were practising throwing their weapons at sticks Shippo and Soten had stuck into the ground.

 

“Wait Inuyasha, Sesshomaru hasn't come here for a fight,” Kagome said, grabbing Inuyasha's wrist to stop him drawing out the Tetsusaiga. “He's brought the little girl with him, look!”

 

“That's right, Inuyasha!” Miroku agreed, watching as the two-headed dragon demon slowly descended through the air before them. “He never fights in her presence.”

 

“Then what the hell does he want?” Inuyasha grumbled under his breath, reluctantly releasing the hilt of his sword.

 

“Kohaku!” Rin cried, leaping to the ground.

 

Inuyasha, Miroku and Kagome turned their heads to watch as Kohaku turned around, greeting Rin with a smile. Sango frowned nervously at Rin before turning sharply to Sesshomaru and gasping in alarm, clapping a hand over her open mouth.

 

“Hey jackass, I don't remember inviting you here,” Inuyasha said gruffly as Sesshomaru stepped off of his steed.

 

“Show Lord Sesshomaru some respect, you ungrateful half-breed!” Jaken screeched, waving his staff at Inuyasha.

 

Miroku calmly brought his own staff around, hitting Jaken's staff back. Jaken shrieked, leaping back a step as he eyed Miroku over.

 

“You came all this way just because the little girl wanted to see Kohaku?” Inuyasha asked, turning back to Sesshomaru.

 

Sesshomaru stared blankly back at Inuyasha until his brother faltered slightly and eventually looked away. He then slowly allowed his eyes to roam the surrounding village. His eyes confirmed what his other senses had already deduced: he was standing amongst peasant humans, three little demon children and one half-demon.

 

“Jaken,” he said plainly, turning and walking towards the nearby river.

 

“Aye, Milord?” Jaken responded, scurrying after him.

 

Sesshomaru stopped by the bank of the river, waiting until Jaken appeared at his ankles before continuing. Tilting his head slightly to look up at the sky as the sun slowly sank towards the horizon, Sesshomaru kept his face blank as he continued.

 

“Where is the fire-cat?” he asked.

 

“She went to see the two priestesses at their temple, Milord,” Jaken began. “She wanted them to cast a spell…”

 

Jaken slowly stopped as Sesshomaru walked away from him, crossing the small bridge and walking towards the edge of the village.

 

“Milord?” he called after him. “Where are you going?”

 

“Stay here and watch over Rin,” Sesshomaru quietly replied without looking back.

 

“Yes, my Lord,” Jaken groaned.

 

Jaken watched his master slowly fade into the shadows of the forest before muttering to himself.

 

“She wanted them to cast a spell on her to make her a little cat again. And you only have until nightfall if you want to stop her.”

 

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Next Chapter: With very little time left to contemplate her future, Kirara suddenly finds her decision taken out of her hands when Kohaku inadvertently wishes for something he has lost. Chapter 33 - Kohaku's Wish.