InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Vying for Dominance ❯ Awkward ( Chapter 22 )

Awkward

 

 

If Sesshomaru had ever thought that spending time with Auria was uncomfortable and awkward, he was quickly coming to the understanding that he had never truly appreciated the meaning of the words. Walking away from the stadium to the gathering grounds in the field surrounding the lake waters, on side of him the woman he had made his mate in every way but that which most mattered, and on the other the female that had been vying for centuries for the rights to stand as his mate and bear his pups; and Sesshomaru was certain that he would never find a better appreciation of awkward so long as he lived.

 

But it was necessary, at least, that's what he had told himself when he had bid the females come with him after their contest had drawn to a close.

 

It was necessary he not let Auria's position be degraded any more than she had already allowed for. After all, she was the top young female in their great community, the one all the new generation of females looked to for an example of grace and poise and leadership, the one that had been primed and sculpted to be the next to take over the role of the Alpha Bitch. Her humiliation was more theirs to bear than her own, and it would be all the more devastating if he would show her no favor after her loss to one that could never be in a position to take her place. It would lead to turmoil, uprising of the females as they resorted to testing strengths already put in line for a position already taken. No, Auria's place could not be taken over so easily. And in taking her into his company despite her loss, appearances would be maintained that even so he still catered her favor.

 

It was necessary as well that Kagome not be left alone in this time. In taking Gina's life, though the rights given to her by Auria's decree, she had gained many more enemies in this place; some, he knew, that would take any opportunity to have their retribution. He would not allow them this. Had she been one of theirs, there would be no dispute, no voices shouting for retribution. Her kill had been clean, made in defense against her own life and on her word that she would have returned the dishonorable actions the bitch visited upon her. But he knew that it was only to his eyes that these things were seen, only he that saw her remarkable display of power as she took down her foe as something to be respected. They would hate her for it, fear her for it; because even now she remained to them that which was the enemy.

 

So, as it was necessary, he would endure the awkwardness, the heavy tension, and the uncomfortable silence. Of course, whatever his own discomfort, the fact that he knew theirs was no less was at least passably gratifying in its own right.

 

Auria, despite her easy carriage and charming smiles, was so tense he didn't need his heightened abilities to hear her shortened breaths or know how her hands shifted inside of her billowing sleeves in unconscious motions of unease. It wasn't simply being in his presence that caused her distress, but the knowledge that she had taken to the contest with the very idea of finding her way out of her responsibility to him. Oh, he knew why she would take the contest, knew why she would rather have herself shamed in defeat at the hands of a mortal than take her place as his mate. He knew. But that didn't mean that if he had to continue playing his part that she would get off so easily. Besides, her father was a prominent member of their community, and he had no intention of giving Tannis a reason to lend his support to any other besides himself.

 

And then there was Kagome. Always so expressive, without words to help to alleviate her discomfort, she had taken to fidgeting incessantly, her hands wringing together as they bunched and twisted the fine silk of her garment, her eyes searching almost frantically for some image that would take her mind off where she was and who she was with. Her blush lit up her face even in the blazing reds of the sunset as it cast over the mountain peaks in its fiery glory. And in her ever-shifting scent, it was almost impossible to follow as she flitted through emotions so quickly they hardly had time to be named before she had found a new type of anxiety, apprehension, annoyance, agitation, aggravation, or in some instances even anger.

 

Well, someone had to break the silence. It wasn't going to be him. It was highly unlikely that it would be Auria. So that left…

 

“I miss Shippo.”

 

He could have kissed her. Of course, it was thoughts and urges like that which only served to make the whole experience that much more awkward, but at least the silence had been broken.

 

“Your kit?” He knew who she was talking about, but if meant avoided going back to the uncomfortable silence, then he was more than happy to accommodate.

 

“Yeah,” Kagome sighed wistfully, her sight focused on several young Inu chasing each other in gamming play under the watchful eyes of their mothers. “He always knows how to liven up a party. I bet he would just be in heaven to find so many dogs to play his tricks on.”

 

“Tricks?” Auria asked curiously, she too grateful for the reprieve from the silence.

 

“The miko has taken to mothering an orphaned Kitsune,” Sesshomaru explained, knowing that his statement would not only answer Auria's question, as every youkai and even most humans were aware of the trickery of the Kitsune, but also knowing that by his wording he had left Auria open for any manner of questions to pose to Kagome. Finally, the tension had been ebbed, and it was all thanks to his little miko.

 

“You give care to a youkai child?” For a human, a miko no less, such a thing was unheard of.

 

“He needs someone to look after him,” Kagome replied. “He's only a child. Besides, it was the Shikon that took his father from him. I couldn't simply leave him knowing that it was because of my failure that he had been left all alone.”

 

“Even so, it is hard to imagine that any human, miko or not, would be able to provide the necessary care for a youkai child.”

 

Kagome nodded slowly to Auria's comment. She knew that there were many things that she could not provide for her little Shippo. In so many ways he was a child, but in so many more he was not. He was youkai, and no matter how much love or care she gave to him, no matter how much she taught him or how much he had grown in the time they had had together, she knew that there was so much more that he was missing not being with his own kind.

 

“We do the best we can,” she finally replied. “He has me to love him as every child needs, Miroku to teach him language and philosophy, Sango to train him with the knowledge she has gained spending her life studying youkai behaviors, Kirara as an immortal companion, and Inuyasha…Well, he might only be half youkai, but half has always been enough.”

 

“That half-breed is hardly a substitute for a father figure.”

 

Had it not been Sesshomaru that said it, Kagome might have taken offense. But that it was, and that she knew his labeling of his brother came from more than simply status or breeding, she took his words for what they were: a statement of fact. Inuyasha was still so much a boy in so many ways, and the thought of him being a father, even a father-figure, was actually quite amusing.

 

Giggling softly, Kagome shook her head. “No, I would say more like a brother. They banter and squabble, pick petty fights and have their own little skirmishes. But all the while, no matter how much he might say or think otherwise, Inuyasha is training little Shippo in how to defend himself. Of course, I always step in before things can go too far. We wouldn't want anyone loosing an eye, or…” Smirking, Kagome shot a sideways look at Sesshomaru. “…you know.”

 

Or an arm… Dratted miko. It was a good thing she was so good at keeping such things to herself…well, mostly to herself anyways. But then again, he should have known that she would see his attempts on the hanyou's life as nothing more than a brotherly skirmish. She would. And Inuyasha, if he had even half the mind of his miko, he would have figured it out over a hundred years ago, well before the detestable half-breed took his arm with their father's fang. What he wouldn't give to return the favor. If only the hanyou's human blood wouldn't prevent him from actually growing it back.

 

“Hn.” Returning the miko's smirk, Sesshomaru decided that since she had been the one to ruin his mood by speaking of the hanyou, she might as well be the one to lighten it again. “And how is it that you put an end to these skirmishes, Kagome?”

 

He knew; he just wanted her to say it. The first time he had witnessed Inuyasha's subjugation, he had been so bemused by it that he had almost laughed at the sheer hilarity of the shameless hanyou being held under the thumb of this little mortal priestess. He didn't. But really, to see the boy humiliated so thoroughly simply because he had raised the ire of this miko was almost as fun as humiliating him himself. Almost.

 

Kagome saw his smirk, and she knew what he was doing. “I'm not saying it,” she told him firmly.

 

But Sesshomaru only lifted a brow in challenge as he waited for…

 

“Saying what?”

 

Damn him! Kagome sighed, realizing she had lost this round, and looked to Auria. “Inuyasha is sometimes a little hard to handle. When he gets out of hand, I ask him to `sit' down so that he can cool off and we can discuss things rationally.”

 

It took Auria a moment to process the priestess's words. When she did though, she was absolutely horrified. “You have your male subjugated?”

 

Trying her best to ignore the fact that Auria had just called Inuyasha `her male' right in front of Sesshomaru, Kagome replied. “You'll have to take that one up with Kikyo. She made the charm. All I did was give it a word of binding so that I could keep my head on my shoulders.”

 

Shrugging off the memories of so long past, Kagome took a moment to look at their surroundings. They weren't in the fields anymore. Sesshomaru had led them to follow the lakeshore leading towards the cliffs.

 

“Hey?” she asked curiously. “Where are we going?”

 

“You said that you miss your kit,” Sesshomaru replied. “I thought that you might find solace in seeing some of our pups.”

 

Her eyes widening in wonderment, Kagome squeaked in ecstatic glee. “Puppies?!” she asked with another squeak of excitement and a small bounce.

 

And Sesshomaru indulged himself in a low chuckle over her antics. “Yes, Kagome, puppies.”

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Growling fiercely at the intrusion on his privacy, Tannis threw the pitcher of drink he had been clutching to shatter against the trunk of one of the nearby trees. “Your presence is not welcome,” he bit out as he reached for another pitcher.

 

“That may be so, Tannis,” Kuro stated as he stepped free of the trees to see the wreck the old dog had allowed become of himself as he sat amongst a sprawling array of empty flasks. “But drowning yourself in drink will not change what insults have been borne on this day.”

 

“Handle your insults as you will,” Tannis growled as he lifted the pitcher again, “As I shall handle mine.”

 

“No answers are to be found at the bottom of that flask, my friend.”

 

Snarling, Tannis threw yet another pitcher at the black Inu. His aim was misplaced from his inebriation, and it too shattered against a nearby tree. But it mattered not. “We are not friends, Kuro. Do not mistake my tolerance of your presence for anything more.”

 

“Is it I that am mistaken? Or is it that you have become too tolerant in your years?” Kuro saw the sharp flash of Tannis's eyes as even in his drunken stupor his blood would fight for retribution, but he paid it no heed. In such a state, the old dog was pathetic and weak. Even at full strength any conflict between them would be hard tested to move beyond a draw.

 

He continued. “For how many years have you tolerated Sesshomaru's refusal of your daughter? For how many years has this insult been put against you and against her? And now this? He put her life in peril in the arena today, gave her over to the bloodied hands of that mortal priestess. What more shame would have inflicted on her, on you, on us all? The general would never have allowed such a disgrace in his arena.”

 

“You tread dangerously, Kuro. Sesshomaru is his father's son.”

 

“He was but a boy when we were fighting for everything he has now and takes for granted. What can he know of his father's vision? What can he, if he would be so reckless as to allow a human into our midst, if he would forsake our ancient traditions to allow her to vie for his own favor upon our arena floor? What can he see if he can not see Auria's great strength and beauty? How can he lead us into the future if he still follows his own pursuits, leaving his responsibility to be carried by an old dog whose knowledge of battle is as dried up as his old bitch?”

 

Tannis had heard enough. He would hear no more. Bringing himself to his feet and his full height, he faced off against the black Inu. “To speak such of our Lord and Lady is treason against all we stand for, Kuro.”

 

“They are never what we have stood for, Tannis,” Kuro returned. “We stood for the pack, for the great community. But what more have they to offer us? They are not the future we fought for. How many litters did your mate give you before the end of her time, Tannis? Four, wasn't it? I have bred six in my time. And what has Takked given us? One litter, all too young to mate? And Sesshomaru, what has he if even still he refuses Auria's favor? It is our children, Tannis, that our pack must see as their leaders. You know it. I know it. Why not make it official?”

 

“There is nothing to be made official, Kuro! Sesshomaru is the only one that shall ever take the place of his father!””

 

“Has your drink made you blind as well as foolish, Tannis? Can you not see that Sesshomaru is leading us to ruin?! My bitch is dead, killed by the miko wretch that Sesshomaru has allowed into our midst, the same miko that he so callously handed your daughter's life! You are her father, Tannis, Auria must submit to your will. Just give the word, and I shall not disgrace your daughter as Sesshomaru has upon all these years. I shall not let her bear such humiliations and degradations as he would inflict upon her. I shall give her strong pups, and together we shall become the leaders of tomorrow.”

 

“You go too far, Kuro,” Tannis growled out dangerously. “Only for the loss of the Lady Gina will I overlook your words of treachery and betrayal. But I will hear no more of this.”

 

Tannis turned to take his leave of the black Inu, but even as he went, the other's words carried to him.

 

“My words are only the beginning. Look for yourself, Tannis. See the turmoil brought to our clan by that lowly creature. See her weakness, and know it to be Sesshomaru's as well. No, Tannis, you have not heard the last of this.”

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

“Might I ask how it is you have found yourself here, Sesshomaru?”

 

The mocking humor in Takked's voice was plainly obvious, and Sesshomaru spared his uncle a glare before depositing the pup held dangling from his claws in the elder's hold and reaching down to pick up the other one from where it had taken to gnawing on his calf.

 

“You may not,” Sesshomaru replied. Though, the answer might have just as simply been given in one word: Kagome.

 

She was sitting now with Auria and the new mother of this particular litter as the pups were introduced. The miko had insisted on seeing silver pups, and, as luck would have it no other way, the only silver that had bore a litter on this year had given birth to eight. Eight whining, whimpering, chewing, slobbering fluffs of fur that found nothing more amusing than latching themselves onto any Inu regardless of their station. And with the mother expertly holding down three, Auria contending with two, and Kagome fending off nips and bites against her mortal flesh with yet another, that left two to indulge their curiosity with himself.

 

“Hn,” Takked remarked, though his broad smile never did leave his lips. “I must say, Mesudoku was quite pleased to find you here with Auria. After that interesting display in the arena earlier, I do believe she feared you might never take her to mate. But that you have come to the nursery of your own accord this year, with a contending female no less, her hopes have been lifted once more.”

 

Sesshomaru didn't miss Takked's broad labeling which could easily have accounted for either of the females in his company, but he wouldn't dare call him on it. It wasn't just that there were too many ears that could hear them now, but because his words had struck meaning with him.

 

Every year, as it was his duty, he would come to the nursery with Takked and Mesudoku to identify and mark each of the new pups. Every year ever since his father's death. And in all that time he had never he had never stood as he was now, admiring the pups with his own female. Of course, therein lay the problem.

 

His female. For so long he had simply retained the knowledge that it would be Auria. And yet, he had never craved her touch, never been moved to speak in her presence, or moved beyond words and yet know that none were needed. No. Not Auria. But Kagome…

 

A short cry of start from Kagome and a yelp of pain from the pup she had been holding interrupted all thoughts and words. Immediately Sesshomaru turned, taking the distance between them easily, the offending pup held in his hand before its claws could rake across her skin again. It was whining pathetically, stirring its brothers and sisters into a panic and causing its mother to rise up aggressively.

 

Pulling up as he turned to the bitch, he gave her a command of no words to submit. And though she did, Sesshomaru knew no bitch could long be kept from her pups. “Auria,” he barked out quickly. “Take the miko to have that wound treated. Now. And you,” Turning his attention to the litter's bitch, he held out the pup for her to take. “Your pup has learned this day not to spill of miko blood until his own is strong enough to bear it. A good lesson, bitch. Have him heed it well.”

 

“Hai, my Lord,” she replied gratefully, taking her boy from the Lord's care.

 

“Sesshomaru?” She had called his name, turning back to him from where Auria had tried to lead her away. “Is he alright?” Those beautiful eyes shining with worry and fear, and with the scent of her blood on the air, it was almost too much to bear.

 

“Just go.” He wished his voice hadn't been so torn by the vibration running through it, and he only hoped she would understand.

 

With the miko being led away by Auria and the pup back with its mother, Takked took back command. “Sesshomaru, let us see to the pups so that we might all return to the celebration.”

 

And though Sesshomaru turned with him to begin the presentation, Takked couldn't help but notice how dark his eyes were as the golden surfaces began to reflect burning crimson.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

So…this chapter was actually written after most of the next one. See, I had the chapter written, and reading it over, I couldn't get past the idea that it was missing something. I left it for a day or two, and what I finally came up with had me smiling this stupid goofy smile and saying to myself `It's perfect'…out loud, of course, because I do weird things like that ;P

 

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the moment of cute fluffiness. The next chapter will be of a much different tone. And, since I'm so kind, it will posted tomorrow so that the bit of tension I created here can be resolved for all my oh so patient readers XD

 

Cheers all!

 

Shadow