InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Windows on the West ❯ Confrontations ( Chapter 38 )

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

Disclaimer:  I do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

A/N:  This chapter is congruent with last chapter, and is an explanation of where Sesshoumaru went, and who he confronted. (As if you all can't guess)

~oOo~

Folding himself out of his orb, Sesshoumaru landed with an elegant lightness on the entrance steps of his mother's palace, and moved forward, ignoring the guards posted there as if he did not see them.  

He had decided that morning that it was time to confront her on her actions lately in interfering with his pack – and his relationship with a certain miko in it.  She was stirring things up – and he wanted to know why.

Moving through the halls with effortless grace, he finally emerged in her throne room – which really wasn't a room, as it was outdoors.  It was where she kept her mirror, and spied on those bound to the earth.  And him.  Oh, yes, he was well aware that she watched him, and had for all the years since he'd left her palace to go train with his father.  He did not really care if she did or not – but she'd always had the intelligence before not to interfere in his life, and for some reason, lately that had changed.

She would explain her actions this day, for he would no longer brook her insinuating herself into his life in such a manner.

And if she disapproved of his newly-realized desires, then she would be warned to stay away – he would not allow her to wreak any havoc on his plans to take Kagome as his.

She was waiting when he arrived, not that he was surprised – she had probably been waiting for the two weeks since she'd sent Koga after Kagome.

He studied her silently for a while, waiting for her to speak first.  He would not be the one to do so.

Finally, after a time, she sighed lightly and gave in.  “Are you going to ask, or are you simply going to stare at me, Sesshoumaru?”

He let her sit through a few more moments of silence, and then said,  “Explain your actions.”  His tone brooked no argument, icy and sharp; it was plain that mother or not, if she didn't do as told, he would react... badly.

Satori gave no hint that she'd taken note of the danger implicit within him, and smiled sweetly.  “My actions?  You speak of the ookami?”  

His eyes narrowed slightly, and she shook her head, a rather sly smirk crossing her face.  “Is there a problem with informing him that the miko had returned?  He has long carried feelings for her.  And she is certainly of an age for a husband, is she not?”

“Do not try to hide your actions behind pretty, but meaningless words.  She is not for him.  I will not tolerate your interference again,”  he said coldly.

“Oh, I am well aware of who she is for, Sesshoumaru,”  she chuckled, not showing whether his words intimidated her or not.  

“Then why did you send the wolf to her?”  he asked, a red haze beginning to show in ever-narrowing eyes.

She waved a hand languidly at him, tilting her head as she answered.  She watched his face most closely as she spoke.  “Perhaps I was tired of your deliberate obtuseness in the matter.  It was inevitable, I knew that long ago, as I tried to warn you.  I simply decided to get it over with, so to speak.”

Unknown to her his hands had closed into fists within the sleeves of his hitatare.  She did, however, notice his ever-reddening gaze.  Her hackles rose, and the smile fell from her lips.  “This one will not warn you again, so take heed; the miko will be mine, and if you attempt to come between me and what I already consider mine, you will be joining father on the other side.”

Her own eyes narrowed at him, and a low growl split the air between them.  “Western Lord you may be, Sesshoumaru, but I am your mother, and I will not bow to your threats.  Have I attempted to take your toy away?  Judge not another's actions unless you know for certain of what you speak.”

His eyes closed as he thought back over her actions and words, from the first time she'd come to him after he'd taken the miko as pack, to her second visit, and all her words... and then the visit with the wolf, and a new idea took hold.  One that, as he opened his eyes to look at her, he suddenly knew was true.

He stared at her for a moment, eyes still hot, yet voice cold.  “Tell me... why have you been pushing me towards the miko?”

The guess paid off when she shrugged, her eyes going far away.  “We are the last, Sesshoumaru – besides that rather disgraceful half-brother of yours.  There are no more Inu, and thus, no matter what the race of the youkai you eventually took as a wife, the pups would still be half – half of something other.  But as you can see from Inuyasha, a pup bred on a human carries far more of the inu blood than it would if your wife was any other breed of youkai.  The inu blood breeds true in a human/youkai melding.”

Sesshoumaru had to admit – he was taken aback at his mother's reasoning for encouraging the match between he and Kagome.  He himself, had never thought about the fact that there were no more inu – at least, not that existed here in his homeland.  He had simply never considered taking a wife.  It would not have worked so well on the path to Supreme Conquest, after all.

Now, though, his priorities were different, and he had every intention of taking a wife – a miko.  And suddenly, it occurred to him to wonder – what would the pups be like in such a mating?

He brought that up to his mother.  Her answer once again caught him off-guard.  “Did you not pay any attention when you were on Horai Island, Sesshoumaru?  Did it never occur to you to wonder why full youkai would use hanyou children as a power source?  After all, one half-blood child was enough to fuel four full youkai for fifty years at a time.  And those children were born of youkai matched with humans that carried reiki.”

He blinked.  “How is it that the powers within them, youki, and reiki, did not destroy each other?”

“Synergy.  One wonders if the kami are perhaps trying to tell us something,”  she said archly.  “Because it was clear to me, after studying Horai Island's children, that the two powers that seem to be so against each other, prove to be so completely harmonious when combined, instead.  And the power potential of such offspring?  It may well prove to be that the pups of such a mating will rearrange everything we thought we knew about the world around us.”

Sesshoumaru could do little but ponder on her words as she watched him.  It was apparent that she had thought this out, and it made him wonder... “How long have you been planning this?”  he asked flatly.

“Since the moment you named her pack.  I knew then that you would fall, and I decided that if you were going to mate a human, then it would be her – a miko, for the very reasons I just gave you.”  She stood from her seat and walked towards a small balcony, which she leaned lightly on as she stared over the edge into the clouds that opened every so often to show the earth stretched beneath.  “I would not like to see our kind disappear completely, Sesshoumaru, and now I am assured that we will not.”

She turned her head to look at him after a moment, an amused smile settling on her face, then.  “And besides... she is a good match for you.  I have seen her as she's put you in your place at times... your first encounter with the wolf comes to mind - the jealousy that caused you to say some things she didn't like.  It was quite interesting to watch.”

Expression unchanging, though he was irritated at her words, Sesshoumaru turned and began to step towards the edge of the palace, then paused.  “Do not attempt any further manipulation of my life to your desires.  I did not let my sire do it, and I will not let you do so, either.”  With that, he allowed his youki to swirl around him, and in a bright flash, let his inu form become dominant as he leaped into the clouds and disappeared.

Satori stared out after him for several minutes, and then laughed as she turned to go back into her palace.

“I pray to kami I will not need to do so, my son,”  she said softly.  “But if you don't marry her soon... I just might.”

~oOo

Sesshoumaru, still in his true form, came to rest against the earth once more, and decided to indulge his desire to hunt.  After spending a few hours doing such, while his mind set aside all else, he felt relaxed again, and curling up in a large meadow, he set his mind to thinking over his mother and her words, and Kagome...

He did not stir again until just after sunset, when he changed forms once more and headed back to join his pack.

~oOo~

A/N:  And so now we know why Sessmom seems to be pushing her son towards Kagome.  She's a mad schemer!

Amber


Converting /tmp/phpILKb7y to /dev/stdout