1st book of Alpha Pack Mates
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of it's characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them. Only the story belongs to me.
Summary: It matters not if you are youkai or ningen, if you're male or female, young or old, weak or strong, no it matters not in the end. All that matters is who is Alpha and who isn't. Brothers fighting for dominance, mikos fighting for control, who will end on top, who will have to submit? What's an Inu pack to do when there are far too many Alphas?
Pairings: Inuyasha/Kikyou, Sango/Miroku, slight Sesshoumaru/Kagome.
Follows: The Anime and movies.
"spoken" 'thought' (translations)
Winners for round one are Lester Joe on single spark and Mrs. Ami James on fan fiction with the answer of Sailor Moon. This chapter is dedicated to them. Gratz you two :).
Next round of 'What Anime could this be the name of?' Citrus Container. Good luck everyone.
AN: Sorry this chapter took a little longer than I was planning on but it required a lot of storyline that had to be just right or it wouldn't fit right. Anyways here is the next chapter. Enjoy :)
Edited 2/14/08
"So?" Inuyasha prompted when Sesshoumaru remained silent. He seemed to be thinking over what to say, but it was easy to tell, even with it being Sesshoumaru, that he didn't want to explain how it happened. Maybe he felt it would make him seem weak or careless. Or perhaps he didn't know and that would probably be worse.
Giving him a once over, I couldn't help but spot the changes. His normally long, white hair was jet black, much like Inuyasha's on his human night, along with his eyes turning violet. No more maroon stripes or crescent moons, no more claws on his hands...wait what? Hands? Why is it plural? Shooting a glance back at his hands I find I was correct, he has both hands.
"Um Lord Sesshoumaru?" I began softly and everyone turned toward me in question. He raised his eyes to look at me, they continued to hold the same intensity they normally did when golden, but didn't say a word. "Why do you have both arms?"
I could hear everyone's intake of breath as they turned back to him, seems that hadn't noticed it yet. That was when I noticed something else was wrong with him, he was bleeding. Had he been a demon at the time it wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but with him being human, if it wasn't taken care of it could easily kill him. Glancing around at the others, I see they either didn't notice it as well or didn't care. Great, it would be left up to me.
Reaching behind me, I grabbed the first aid kit out of my bag and turned back to him with a smile. "Remove your haori please Lord Sesshoumaru." I requested as I opened the kit and began taking out disinfectants and white gauze.
I was replied with a single raised eyebrow. "Look Lord Sesshoumaru, I realize this wouldn’t be much while you were demon but right now you are human. Which means if those wounds aren’t taken care of you will be dealing with pain, infections, complications and not to mention I will not stop talking." I received a very human growl for my troubles. Fighting the urge to roll my eyes I continued, "I already told you back in the cave growling does no good since I don't understand it and besides it doesn't really work while you are human."
After a moment, he untied his obi and pulled his haori off of his shoulders. Smiling my thanks, I set to work cleaning off all of the mostly dried blood. Inuyasha cleared his throat getting Sesshoumaru’s attention back. "This Sesshoumaru made a deal to get his arm back. After the deal was complete the youkai tried to demand something this Sesshoumaru was not about to give. When denied, a curse was cast." Sesshoumaru explained, leaving out as much information as he could.
"So what did ‘she’ want from you?" Inuyasha inquired after a moment and the slightest sigh that came from Sesshoumaru, which I could only hear since I was so close to him, I figured he had guessed right.
"This Sesshoumaru sees no reason to reveal that. The reason does not change the out come." he replied, his tone warning that he would not elaborate any further. By now I had cleaned off all of the blood and began disinfecting the wounds on his chest and arms. Standing up, I moved around behind him to disinfect his back wounds as well.
"Okay so you get cursed and become human, any idea how long it will last?" Inuyasha wondered.
"This Sesshoumaru didn’t ask before it was too late to." he responded. I began wrapping the gauze around his arms and chest as Kikyou spoke up.
"Having him here is dangerous. He is our enemy Inuyasha." ‘Our’? Since when was there an ‘our’ anything?' Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I glanced over at Inuyasha catching his eyes. The look he was giving me clearly asked for help.
"While that might be true, right now there is more important things to worry about and besides Lord Sesshoumaru isn’t the only who has been our enemy in the past." I reminded her hoping she would drop it since I didn’t want to get into it around the kids. My prayers went unanswered.
"What could be more important than the fact that you are allowing a dangerous enemy into the camp? I was never an enemy and I am Inuyasha’s intended, I have a right to be here. He does not. Besides I am nothing like him." she insisted pointing toward Sesshoumaru as he was putting his haori back on.
"I’ll have to check those wounds later. For now keep them dry and try not to move around too much so they can heal." I instructed him before turning back to Kikyou. "Kikyou you stole a large chunk of the jewel from me and gave it to 'him'. You bound me to a tree so I could listen to Inuyasha vow to always protect you and watch while you dragged him into hell. Lord Sesshoumaru has tried to kill us, but only when we interfered with his battle with Inuyasha. So you’re right Kikyou, you are nothing like him. You are much worse.
“We all know Lord Sesshoumaru has pride and an ego the size of Japan but he pushed that aside to come to us and ask in his own way for help, which was probably something he vowed never to do, and more than likely it’s all because of that little girl over there. You have both made mistakes and yet we are here giving you a chance. And like you getting that chance because of Inuyasha, Lord Sesshoumaru is getting his because of Rin.
“No matter his past, right now he is human and wounded, as a miko, trained or not, I can not turn him away. You of all people should understand that."
"Yes and we all know how well that turned out." Kikyou spat at me, though from her tone I couldn’t really tell if it was directed at me or herself for past mistakes.
"True but there is a bit of difference between the two. The biggest being, and I’m sure we can all agree, Lord Sesshoumaru isn’t going to develop a thing for me and allow his soul to turn black because of it. Now Lord Sesshoumaru may stay until he is healed and at that point he can either leave, Rin is welcome to stay if he wants, or he can stay until he finds a way to break the curse. For now you will just have to remember that while he may not be a friend he is still an ally. And if nothing else he is Inuyasha’s only living blood relative and unless Inuyasha wishes me to, I will not turn him away." Deciding the conversation was over, I finished packing away my supplies that I had gotten out. Remembering that our meal had been interrupted I went about reheating it and fixed some more for the rest of the group.
Once everything was finished I handed plates out to everyone and came to rest standing before Sesshoumaru with another. He simply raised his eyebrows at me and I once again had to fight the urge to roll my eyes. "In case you have forgotten you are human for now and humans have to eat Lord Sesshoumaru." I reminded his as I thrust the plate into his hand and walked away before he could complain.
"I can't believe I am about to say this, but I think Kikyou might be right. Are you sure it's a good idea for Lord Sesshoumaru to be with us?" Sango whispered to me after sitting down beside me. We had decided to camp there for the night since Sesshoumaru needed to heal. After dinner, the kids spent most of the time playing tag and covering Jaken in flowers, it was now late in the evening and we had just put the kids to bed. Inuyasha and Kikyou were up a tree somewhere and the rest of Sesshoumaru's group seemed to be keeping as much distance from us as they could.
"I understand your fear, Kikyou's as well, and if Inuyasha hadn't given me the look he did I may have been more inclined to agree with you. But think about it Sango, he came to his brother for help knowing he was weakened while human. He came here not only trusting us with Rin's life but his as well. I think the least we can do for an ally is trust him in return." I explained as Miroku joined us and I started making some tea.
"But what if this is come kind of a trick?" Sango insisted.
"Think about it Sango, this is Lord Sesshoumaru we are talking about. If he was going to attack he would just do it. He doesn't hide behind tricks and ploys. If he was going to attack he would walk up and say 'this Sesshoumaru is going to kill you now'. He doesn't lurk in the shadows or manipulate people." I assured as I waited for the water to boil and got out some cups.
It seemed Inuyasha and Kikyou could hear us since they jumped down from the tree and joined us. "I see what you mean, but what about his enemies? Surely they will hear and want to attack while he's human." Miroku pointed out as I grabbed two extra cups.
"Yeah they probably will. Do you want to send that little girl out there knowing that?" I questioned as I finished making the tea and began pouring it into the cups before handing them out.
"Of course not Lady Kagome." Miroku insisted as I handed him his tea.
"More than likely Lord Sesshoumaru is going to want to stay where she is. And I can't blame him. I would want the same if it was Shippo or Souta."
"Have you guys noticed anything strange about my brother?" Inuyasha wondered after a few moments of silence.
"Oh you mean like him smiling when Rin put flowers on Jaken?" Miroku suggested.
"Or that he hasn't called you hanyou since he got here?" Sango put in.
"Or that he chuckled when Jaken tried to get away from the kids and their flowers?" was my input.
"Yeah all of that. He doesn't seem to act like himself at all. If I didn't know any better I would swear he had emotions." Inuyasha replied.
"Well did you really except him to be the same? With him being human, he doesn't have his beast's influence." I replied with a shrug before taking a sip of my tea.
"What do you mean imouto-chan?" Inuyasha wondered, by the looks the others were giving me, he wasn't the only one confused.
"Okay this is only a theory but everyone seems to think Lord Sesshoumaru is in complete control of himself, and I believe that's true, but not how people think. Like Inuyasha having three parts, hanyou, human and full demon, full blooded demons seem to have two. Beast side-instinct, animal nature and such are found here- and their male or female side, depending on the demon-which would be the emotions and more 'human' like characteristics. Unlike most humanoid like demons we run into, I think Lord Sesshoumaru's beast side is the one in control." I explained and a slight movement coming from Sesshoumaru told me he too was listening in.
"Wouldn't that mean that he wasn't in complete control but that his beast was?" Kikyou questioned confused.
"Except for one problem. His true form is a large, white inu (dog). Which would mean it was that side that was dominate. Let me give you guys some examples and maybe it will make more sense. Let's start with Kouga. He shows emotion and doesn't seem to have a wolf form since he's never transformed when he was in danger. His male form in in control. Same with the thunder brothers," this part I whispered so Shippo wouldn't hear me, "the one got very emotional when his brother died and neither transformed into anything else. Their male forms were in control.
“Now with the spider head demon we fought a long time ago, not counting the human form he took since I believe that was just a disguise and not truly him, he was emotionless and his true form was the giant spider. He beast side was in control. Now Lord Sesshoumaru. Shows no emotions, true form is an inu. I believe it's his beast that is in control." The group still seemed a bit confused.
"Okay but what about the way he acts with Rin?" Sango wondered after a moment.
"That goes to further prove my theory." I replied with a smile, ignoring the 'you've grown a second head' looks they were giving me. "I believe that whether he realizes or will admit to it, Lord Sesshoumaru sees her as pack. His inu instincts would be to protect his pack. Much like their animal counterparts, beast controlled youkai are going to be ran by their instincts. In the same way that birds know at birth what path to take when they migrate and that pack animals, such as inu and ookami, know to protect their pack members and even where to hunt.
“Beast controlled youkai are going to follow the same lines. They are going to be ruled by their instincts, whether they be to protect pack mates, hunt or to alert them to danger. Why do you think none of the humanoid demons we come across are as good as Sesshoumaru? They are led by their male/female side, pushing their instincts into the back. Instead they get emotional, ignore what instincts they do have and end up losing the battle."
"But Sesshoumaru has lost to remember?" Inuyasha reminded me.
"Yes Inuyasha, but only when he was fighting his own half-brother." I counter with a smirk.
"Well what about the mindless youkai then? Shouldn't the be ruled by their beast side as well? And if so shouldn't their instincts be better than they are?" Sango inquired gaining nods of agreement from the others.
"Except mindless youkai aren't counted in the male/female or beast side youkai since they are a third and completely different class. They can't be grouped with one of the others because there's really only three things they try to do. Eat, kill and gain jewel shards. Most people believe there are only three main classes of demons, I disagree. Instead of just full, half and mindless, I believe there are two different kinds of full. Male/female ruled and beast ruled."
"Do you have anything to back up this theory of yours miko-san?" Sesshoumaru questioned.
"First one question Lord Sesshoumaru and I will answer yours. By your inu form being you true form, that means you were born in that form correct?" A slight nod of his head was my answer.
"I would be willing to bet that the others that are ruled by their male/female side were born in their humanoid form. And to answer your question Lord Sesshoumaru. You have shown more emotion in this one day than you have the rest of the four years I have known you combined. It just happens to be a day that you're human? I don't believe that, I think it's because an the moment, you're beast side doesn't exist. And if it was your male side that was normally in charge, then you would be acting like you normally do." I replied with a smirk as I glanced over at him.
After assuring Inuyasha, three times, that I would be in screaming distance in case anything happened, I grabbed my bathing supplies and weapon, before heading for the hot springs Sango and I had used earlier that day. The others hadn't completely got or agreed with my theory, but than again, it was just a theory.
As I headed into the trees, I could hear the others still talking about it and telling each other their take on it. I had to smile to myself, even though it had not really been on my mind or my plan, I had managed to get Kikyou involved in a discussion with most of the adults in the group. It was a small step, but aren't they all?
Seeing that I had arrived at the hot spring, I quickly changed into my two piece and undid the French braid in my hair. Setting my bathing supplies on one of the rocks around the springs, I carefully stepped in and sank into the warm water. "That feels so good." I moaned to myself as I leaned back and rested my head on the rock behind me. Sinking into the water, I ran my fingers through my hair and returned to the surface.
"You are correct miko-san." a voice called out behind me, startling and making me jump. Turning around as I reached for my bow, I spotted Sesshoumaru standing there.
"Don't do that! You scared me half to death!" I screamed at him as I dropped my bow back down and tried to force my heart out of my throat.
"Pity it was only half." Sesshoumaru replied with a slight smirk.
"Lord Sesshoumaru was that a joke?" I questioned in shock. He didn't seem inclined to answer so I figured I would drop it. "And what was I correct about?"
"Your theory. Mostly anyway." he replied as he began undoing his obi.
"Um Lord Sesshoumaru what are you doing?" I demanded, staring at him wide eyed. He couldn't possibly be doing what I thought he was.
"This Sesshoumaru is going to bathe." Okay so he could be doing what I thought.
"But your bandages are going to get wet." I pointed out when he slipped his haori off of his shoulders and laid it on a near by rock. 'Yes it is better to bring attention to that. Maybe he won't see the fact that I turning into a tomato.' I decided as he began to untie the strings to his hakama.
"This Sesshoumaru will stay in the shallow end so they will not get wet." he replied off handedly as though he wasn't currently stripping in front of an adult female.
'Okay so I'm human but still! Oh Kami I've never been so thankful that he was human right now. The last thing I need is for him to smell what he's doing to my body. Not that I think of him that way, but come on, what straight woman wouldn't be drooling right now?' Wiping my mouth to make sure I wasn't, I turned my back to him and called over my shoulder, "Leave your loin cloth on please."
"You normally bathe in clothing miko-san?" his voice was mocking, understandable really, most people did bathe nude and normally I would too when we were in a village or something, but not out here in the open.
"Why yes I do Lord Sesshoumaru." I replied smirking as I stood up and moved my hair over to the side so he could see the back of my bikini. I was never so glad I hadn't let my friends talk me into buying the t-back version and instead opted for the shorts one.
"And what is that miko-san? And I thought your old clothes were indecent. However, this Sesshoumaru will keep his loin cloth so you may turn around. This Sesshoumaru has no desire to talk to your back." I could feel the ripples in the water from where he entered and turned back around to face him.
"It's called a bathing suit and is normally worn when you go swimming." I explained as I sat back down and began washing my hair. I really needed something to distract me from the mostly naked, normally demon, male in front of me. I may still be a virgin but I am an adult. And there was only so much of seeing his perfect body that I could stand before turning into Miroku.
"You plan on swimming miko-san?"
"No but you learn after the first time of getting attacked while taking a bath naked and having to run back to camp that way, that the suit is probably a better bet." I explained before rinsing out the shampoo and starting with the conditioner.
"What the hell?!" came a yell from behind me and I turned to see a really annoyed Inuyasha staring daggers at his brother.
"Relax anija-chan. I am wearing my bikini and he's still in his loin cloth and we were just talking. By the way when was the last time you had a bath?" I inquired hoping to derail him from any further yelling before he woke up the others and they decided to come see what was going on.
His adverted eyes told me all I needed to know. "Alright strip down to your loin cloth and get in here. I'll even wash your hair but you gotta do the rest." I told him, leaving no room for him to argue. Yeah it was a bit weird having him take a bath with me, but really it was no weirder than sharing the springs with Sesshoumaru. And knowing him, he really needed a bath.
He grumbled for a minute and I rolled my eyes when I heard him begin to take off his haori. "Would you like me to wash your hair too Lord Sesshoumaru?" I questioned looking over at him. I needed to think about something other than the fact there was an adult male stripping behind me. This so wasn't fair, why was this only effecting me? Shouldn't they be tormented as well? 'Damn males!'
"This Sesshoumaru will pass." Shrugging I turned toward Inuyasha after I felt him enter the water and picked up my shampoo bottle.
"Get your hair wet." I told Inuyasha as I pour some shampoo into my hands and waited until he had dipped his head, rung out most of the water and sat in front of me, facing away.
Bringing my hands up to the top of his head, I began rubbing the shampoo into his thick locks, making my way down to the ends. Once it was coated, I moved back up and began massaging his scalp. From the slight moans he was making, I was pretty sure if he had been a neko and not a inu demon, he would be purring at the moment.
Stopping myself before I giggled at the thought of a purring Inuyasha, I concentrated on what I was doing. "So what were you two talking about?" Inuyasha inquired breaking the silence that had settled over us.
"My theory." I replied as I began running my fingers down the length of his hair.
"So anija," Inuyasha paused, seemingly trying to think of a way to begin. I let my hands fall to his shoulders and began massaging them to help him relax a bit. His hand came to rest on mine for a moment in thanks. "Want to tell me why you hate me so much?"
"This Sesshoumaru does not hate you." Sesshoumaru replied after a moment shocking both me and Inuyasha. 'He sure had a funny way of showing he didn't hate someone, hate to see how he treats someone he does.' "This Sesshoumaru was merely angry that he lost otousan and that the stronger fang was given to you instead of his heir."
"But Inuyasha needs that fang to control his youkai blood." I pointed out causing Sesshoumaru to glance toward me.
"This Sesshoumaru knows that now."
"Well if you don't hate me, then why have you been trying to kill me all my life?" Inuyasha demanded.
"If this Sesshoumaru was trying to kill you, you would be dead. It is well known that a hanyou's life is hard and will end quickly if he is weak."
"So what, you were just training him all this time?" I wondered in disbelief. A slight nod of his head was his answer. Inuyasha dipped under water to clean out his hair and quickly began washing his body.
"Why have you started calling me anija? You never have before." Sesshoumaru pointed out, drawing our attention back to him.
"You've never given me reason to before." Inuyasha replied as he got out and dried himself off. "Don't stay here too late. The pups will need you in the morning." Inuyasha told me as he redressed and headed back to camp.
I watched until he was out of sight before turning back to Sesshoumaru. "I don't expect you to remain this way when you turn back into a demon, but let him have this."
"Have what?"
"This memory. For the first time in his life he has an older brother. When you turn back, don't mock this time with him."
"He has always had an older brother." Sesshoumaru insisted.
"No, he has always had a demon that shared a father with him. It may not mean much to you, but it means the world to him that you came to him for help and trusted him. Don't turn this memory into another disappointment." I told him as I got out of the springs and dried off. Throwing my pj's on over my slightly damp bathing suit, I headed back to camp with my stuff without waiting for a reply.
"Where are you going Kouga?" Ginta wondered as he walked up to the ookami prince that was staring out the mouth of their den.
"Mutt-face brought the undead miko into his group. Which means there's nothing standing in my way of getting my woman and bringing her back to our den." Kouga replied matter-of-factly with a smirk.
"You mean Kagome onee-san is finally going to come stay with us?" Ginta inquired with a large grin.
"Hai, by this time tomorrow I will be mated to my woman and our pack will have a new alpha female." Kouga told him smugly.
"What about Ayame, Kouga?" Hakkaku questioned after a moment.
"What about her? She'll just have to get used to the fact that Kagome's my woman and not her." Kouga replied, had he bothered to pay attention he would have smelled the scent of salt coming from a little ways back in the den, but his mind was too set on thinking about Kagome.
So Ayame's tears went unnoticed. She couldn't believe he was still going after the ningen onna when he knew that he was promised to her. She couldn't blame Kagome, it wasn't her fault really and she had never given Kouga any reason to believe they were more than just friends. She wondered again why she let her grandfather talk her into staying at Kouga's den until he changed his mind.
She really liked him and had been dreaming of the day she became his mate since she was a little girl, but there was only so much her heart could take. Holding her head up high and blinking back her tears, Ayame made a decision. 'If he doesn't give up on Kagome when he gets back this time, since there is no way she would come with him, then I will give up on him.'
Squaring her shoulders, she turned and headed deeper into the den, not bothering to stay and watch as Kouga took off toward where ever the inu-tachi was.
Like most mornings, dawn arrived earlier than I wanted it to. I really wish Inuyasha had a snooze button. It would really come in handy right now since he was currently shaking my shoulder to try and wake me up. "Go away." I grumbled as I rolled away from him and curled up into my sleeping bag.
"Get up wench." he growled back at me pulling my sleeping bag down and exposing me to the morning chill.
"I hate you." I mumbled as I dragged myself to my feet and began going through my bag for my clothes.
"The pups need breakfast and they are driving me crazy." he explained hotly.
"Why can't Sango make breakfast again?" I questioned as I turned toward him.
"She's taking a bath and Miroku can't either since he's unconscious" he replied before I could ask about him. He didn't have to tell me why Miroku was currently taking a nap, by now I knew the answer.
"Alright, let me get dressed and I will make breakfast." I grumbled as I headed away from him into the cover of the forest to change. After quickly changing into my miko garments, I ran a brush through my hair and decided to wait until breakfast was cooking to braid it since it would take too long to do now.
Walking back into camp, I spotted Jaken coming toward the fire with his arms full of fish. "Got stuck with fishing duty huh?" I inquired with a smile as I sat next to the fire and began getting the sticks ready to cook the first. "I'll be nice and have Inuyasha clean them." I told him with a smirk and watched as his green face lit up.
"Thank you miko-san." he replied, breathing a sigh of relief before dropping the fish next to me.
"No problem Jaken. Now you better hide, I think Rin is heading this way with flowers." I whispered and began laughing when his eye bulged and he ran away. "Inuyasha you got fish cleaning duty!" I called over my shoulder ignoring his grumbles as I set a pot of water over the fire to make some tea.
Soon as the fish were cleaned and leaning over the fire to cook, I began putting my hair back in a French braid, once again when I got to the base of my neck, I tied it off in a pony tail rather than finishing it in a braid.
After breakfast we decided to head out today in search of more shards rather than sitting in the same place and waiting for some of Sesshoumaru's enemies finding out about the newest development and coming to attack him. As we had finished packing up everything and were getting Souta and Kohaku up on Kirara I turned toward Sesshoumaru and told him, "Lord Sesshoumaru you should ride of Ah-Un instead of walking." When he gave me a look like I was saying he was weak I continued, "If you walk too much you are going to hurt your wounds and will have to deal with me taking care of them longer."
That seemed to work as he gave me one last dirty look before climbing on the back of the two-headed dragon. "What about Rin?" Jaken questioned turning toward me.
"Got that figured out." I replied with a smile as I handed Inuyasha my backpack and turned around so Rin could climb up on my back. Once she wrapped her arms around my neck, I wrapped mine under her knees and turned back to the others with a smile. After glancing around to make sure everyone was ready, Inuyasha turned and headed out of the camp.
"Incoming jewel shard." I told the others as I pointed in front of us. With a nod from the Inuyasha, we headed toward where I had indicated and when we broke the tree line, we found a gurizurii (grizzly bear) youkai about to attack a young woman. Dropping my bag, Inuyasha charged in with the others.
Sliding Rin off of my back, I grabbed my bow and readied an arrow as I move so I was standing in front of the children with Shippo standing to my side with fox fire ready. Behind me, Souta and Kohaku demounted Kirara and formed a circle around Rin. Even Jaken came over to us, but I guess he was used to it.
Before I had the chance to say anything, Sesshoumaru had demounted as well and was headed over to the battle. You'd think he would at least wait until he was healed, but no. He was jumping right into the middle of the battle. Using nothing but his hands and feet, he was doing pretty good for the only one in the battle without a weapon.
Glancing quickly over Inuyasha and Miroku, I see they are currently handing themselves okay and Sango was helping the woman to get away from the fight. Once again Kikyou was standing off to the side, not even bothering to ready her bow. 'Okay gotta talk to her when we camp tonight.' I decided as I shook my head.
Giving Sango a smile as she dropped the woman off by my side, the kids pulling her into the middle of the circle with Rin, I turned back to the battle. Sesshoumaru seemed to be having the most problems as his hands and feet didn't seem to do any damage through the fur. I figured that much like Inuyasha's human night, as long as he was human his swords wouldn't do him any good. Perhaps we should think about getting him a regular sword since I doubted he would take my advice to stay out of the battle all together.
A quick 'Wind Scar' after Sesshoumaru had gotten thrown out of the way and the demon was destroyed. Shouldering my bow, I walked over and picked up the tainted shard off of the ground, purifying it on contact.
"Are you okay miss?" I inquired as I headed back over to the young woman, as the others were sheathing and putting away their weapons. After a quick nod from her, I continued, "Where do you live?"
"In the village a little east of here. It’s just over that ridge." she told me as she pointed toward the east.
"Okay well let us get ready to go and we will take you back." I assured her with a smile as I turned and knelt down so Rin could get on my back again.
"You don’t need to do that. It’s not that far and I can make it on my own." she replied glancing around uneasily at the youkai blooded members of our group.
"I insist. I wouldn’t feel right if I just let you go off on your own. And don’t worry about them, they won’t hurt you." I promised with a smile as I nodded toward Inuyasha and the others. She didn’t seem to completely believe me but none the less, nodded her head in agreement.
Once the boys and Sesshoumaru had remounted, and Inuyasha had grabbed my bag, we set off toward the east for her village. Just as she said, it was right of the other side of the ridge and we were soon standing in front of the village head.
"Thank you so much for saving my grand daughter." he told us glancing between Miroku and I. Already you can see the scared and distrustful looks Inuyasha and the others were getting. It would seem demons were good enough to save one of them, but not to be thanked for it or talked to.
"You’re welcome, but we should be heading out. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover." I told him with a faked smile, I felt no need to make friends with people that would just dismiss mine because they had demon blood. This was why there were so many problems and will be for hundreds of years to come. People just judge what is different for no other reason than they don’t understand.
Not waiting for his reply, I turned and headed back out of the village, knowing the others would follow.
"Why don't we stop here for lunch." I suggested a few hours later as we stepped into a nice clearing along the river. Getting a nod from Inuyasha, we stopped and began setting up a mini camp. As Miroku set up the fire and Sango collected some water from the river, I began pulling out some ramen.
"Lord Sesshoumaru have you thought about getting a normal sword? Just to last until you turn back." I wondered as I turned to glance at him. The look he was giving me clearly stated either no or he wasn't planning on staying human long enough to worry about it.
"I could make him one back at my village. We have some let over mats and it would be stronger than a normal sword." Sango suggested and I shot her a smile of thanks.
"Very well." Sesshoumaru replied. Sango shot me her own smile before coming over to help me with lunch.
"I'll head out after lunch." Sango told me and I nodded my head to her.
"Take the monk with you in case you run into trouble." Inuyasha told her before jumping into the closest tree with Kikyou. Sango sighed but nodded her head.
"A couple of days, just you and me Lady Sango." Miroku leered as he sat down next to Sango as I was fixing bowls for everyone.
"Don’t even think it houshi-sama." Sango replied as she raised her hand to Hiraikotsu in warning of what was going to come if he continued along that line of thinking.
"My dear Lady Sango, you wound me." he whined raising his hands in a surrendering gesture.
"No but I’m gonna if you keep that up monk." she promised as she turned back to me and I handed hers after passing out bowls to the kids.
After giving Miroku and Jaken theirs, and forcing Sesshoumaru to take one, I called out, "Anija-chan lunch." Inuyasha jumped down from the tree and quickly made his way over to me. Handing him two bowls, I smiled at him and began eating from my own. I wasn’t really sure if Kikyou would or could eat or not but if not I’m sure Inuyasha will eat it for her. And perhaps for once not complain about getting enough to eat and bugging Shippo for his.
"We'll be back in a couple of days. You going to be okay Kagome-chan?" Sango inquired after her and Miroku had gotten ready to leave. Without even asking, I knew what she was referring to. They were still a bit on edge for having Kikyou there and now we had Sesshoumaru to add to that.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry Sango-chan." I assured her with a smile as I gave her a hug good bye. "You two be careful while you're gone."
"Worry not Lady Kagome, I shall be with the lovely Lady Sango." Miroku replied leering at her. Shaking my head, I turned back to Sango.
"Try not to hurt him too much." I told her laughing as she was already going for Hiraikotsu. I watched as they mounted Kirara and the nekoyoukai (cat demon) took off into the air. Not 30 seconds went by before we could hear a resounding slap and could see Miroku rubbing his cheek.
"Bet the baka spends most of the trip unconscious." Inuyasha grumbled as he walked over to me.
"Now I know you sent him in case there was trouble, but why do I get the feeling he's going to be the one causing trouble?" I wondered with a laugh as I turned toward Inuyasha.
"Feh." he replied with a shrug. "You about ready to head out?"
"Just have to check Sesshoumaru bandages and I will be ready. Why don't you pack up camp while I do that to save some time." I suggested as I grabbed my first aid kit and headed over to Sesshoumaru. The look he was giving me clearly stated he did not like what I had in mind. "Look Lord Sesshoumaru, faster we get this done, faster I can stop bugging you." I told him with a smile as I started undoing the gauze without waiting for him to answer.
"These are healing nicely. Should be good as new by tomorrow. You even heal fast as a human." I told him stroking his ego a little so he would be easier to deal with. The slight mirth in his eyes told me it was working. "I'll go ahead and leave these open so they can get some air and ride Ah-Un today, but tomorrow you can walk all you want." I told him with a smile as I packed away my stuff and handed Inuyasha the bag.
"What are we going to do about the pups?" Inuyasha wondered as he shouldered my bag.
"The boys will have to walk and I'll carry Rin again. We'll just have to slow the pace a bit." I decided as I bent down so she could get on my back and after wrapping my hands under her knees, I turned back toward Inuyasha and started following him out of camp.
"You really think Kagome-chan will be okay?" Sango wondered worried for her 'sister' as she watched the ground pass by under her feet.
"I'm sure Lady Kagome will be just fine. She can take care of herself now and Inuyasha's there as well. Plus I believe she maybe right about Lord Sesshoumaru. If he was going to attack he would just do it and I don't think he would bring Rin along with him." Miroku assured her as he rested his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't think about lowering that hand houshi-sama." Sango warned him as she rested her hand on Hiraikotsu.
"You wound me Lady Sango, I was merely trying to comfort you." Miroku replied trying to act innocent as he stopped his hand from going any lower as he had been about to do. "Besides my lovely, I do believe we are officially engaged." Miroku reminded her with a smirk.
"Hai we are engaged now that 'he' is gone, but that doesn't mean you can be a hentai." Sango shot back over her shoulder.
I could tell the slow pace was getting to Inuyasha, but he never complained. He just kept hiking along in front of us and would ever so often turn back to make sure everyone was keeping up and not needing a break. Glancing back at the boys, it looked like they would need one soon.
As I glanced up, about to suggest stopping for a few minutes to Inuyasha, my senses started to tingle. "Incoming shards. Two of them!" I called up to him as he stopped.
"Yeah I can smell that filthy wolf from here." he grumbled as he crossed his arms and waited. Turning back to the boys, I told them to take a break since we would be here for a while and set Rin down next to them.
"How's my woman?" Kouga asked me as he appeared in front of me with my hands in his.
"I don't know, how is Ayame?" I countered and caught a smirk from Inuyasha.
"Ayame's not my woman, you are." Kouga insisted. Seriously this guy was worse than Hojo. He could never get a clue either, and my friends pushing us together never helped, but at least he never called me 'his woman'.
"It's time to come back and become my mate. The pack is waiting for us back at the den." Kouga told me as he turned and tried to pull me out of the camp. With a sigh I pulled my hand back out of his.
"Kouga you're my friend and I care about you but I'm never going to be your mate. You need to accept that." I told him shaking my head.
"You heard her now get lost wolf." Inuyasha pipped up moving to stand in between me and Kouga.
"Stay out of this mutt." Kouga commanded as he turned around to glare at Inuyasha.
"Yes Inuyasha stay out of their business Kagome should go with him. I'm here to collect the shards and it would be better if she wasn't always trying to over rule me." Kikyou insisted.
"What she needs to do is stay with our pack not go running around with some filthy wolf." Sesshoumaru decided silencing everyone. I glanced over at Inuyasha, but he just shrugged. 'Okay so we're going to ignore the fact that he said 'our pack' for now.' We were definitely going to talk about this later.
"She's my woman and she belongs with me." Kouga insisted glaring at the two brothers. He didn't seem to notice that there was something different about Sesshoumaru, and considering how well known the demon is he should at least know of him, but than again Kouga normally is too wrapped up in himself to see what's going on around him.
"Listen to me Kouga. We will never be more than just friends. I don't love you like that and I could never mate with someone I didn't. You are promised to Ayame. Start taking responsibility for promises you make and stop bugging me with this 'you're my woman' crap. I am not your woman, not now, not ever." I insisted shaking my head at him.
"You are my woman and soon you will be my mate." Kouga informed me before turning and disappearing in a cloud of dust. I wanted to scream and so I did, right along with throwing a tantrum.
"I'm going to neuter that wolf if he keeps this up." I grumbled to myself as I turned and started setting up camp. "Might as well stay here tonight." I called over my shoulder to Inuyasha as I pulled out the stuff for dinner. Not waiting for his reply I continued, "Jaken can you get me some wood for the fire." After giving me a slight sound, which I took as agreement, he waddled away from the camp and began collecting wood, before returning it to me so I could start a fire.
"Our pack huh?" Inuyasha inquired as he sat down next to Sesshoumaru. Glancing over my shoulder at the two, the look on Sesshoumaru's face was priceless. By the look of it, he hadn't even noticed his slip up.
"Come on anija-chan, he was probably just referring to both of our packs being here." I suggested trying to give Sesshoumaru a break. He shot me a thankful look and Inuyasha huffed.
"She should have just gone with him. I don't see any reason for her to stay here, we don't need a shard detector while I'm here." Kikyou insisted sending me a dirty look. As if it wasn't bad enough that I had to deal with a ookami no baka (stupid wolf) who didn't seem to understand the concept of no, now I had to deal with little miss undead. Ignoring her I turned toward Inuyasha.
"Last warning Inuyasha, keep your bitch in line. I will kick her from the group before she has a chance to harm us by constantly under minding me. Your intended or not." I told him seriously, ignoring the huff that came from the undead miko's direction.
Inuyasha gave Kagome a quick nod before turning back to Kikyou. "Come." he told her as he turned and headed into the woods. Once he was far enough that he was sure the others would be unable to hear them, he turned back to her shaking his head.
"Kagome's right Kikyou, you need to knock this shit off before you get kicked from the group. She told you in the beginning how this was going to be. I will not side with you when I know she is right. Stop trying to out rule Kagome, it isn't going to happen." Inuyasha warned.
"Kami I am so sick of Kagome this and Kagome that! What's so great about my baka reincarnation?! She's nothing. I'm your intended, I am the miko of the jewel, I can find the shards without her and I can even protect myself. She's a pathetic, weak copy. Nothing more!" Kikyou spat back glaring angrily at him.
"Oh shut up Kikyou!" Inuyasha screamed back at her, his last thread of patience leaving. "You are merely my intended that is it. She is the Shikon no miko, you lost that chance 50 years ago. She has been gathering the shards with us for the last four years and never wavered even when you gave a large chunk to him. And she is a lot stronger than you give her credit for, or than I did for many years.
Listen to me Kikyou because I will not say this again. This is how's it's going to be, either get over it and be with me, or you can leave." Inuyasha told her before walking away and heading back to camp.
Kikyou remained in her spot as she watched him leave. Once he was out of hearing range, she yelled out her frustration. "What is so damn important about that stupid copy?!" Kikyou demanded. Getting no answer from the empty forest air around her, she called her soul stealers to her to replenish her soul.
I watched as Inuyasha huffed back into the camp, Kikyou wasn't with him but I was sure she would be returning soon. Deciding he didn't look like he wanted to talk about it, I decided on another course of action and handed him his food with a smile.
He sent me a quick smirk before digging in. "Okay Sesshoumaru spill and don't try to give me this 'our packs at both together' crap Kagome used earlier. Believe it or not I am not that stupid." Inuyasha insisted in between mouthfuls of food.
"You are part of this Sesshoumaru's pack, therefore so is your pack. It would make it our pack." Sesshoumaru replied after a moment, sounding like he was talking about the weather.
"You still consider me part of your pack?" Inuyasha questioned a bit shocked.
"Whether this Sesshoumaru would wish for it or not, you are still my half-brother therefore you are and will always be part of my clan and my pack." Sesshoumaru replied. I smiled over at Inuyasha knowing, that even if Sesshoumaru hadn't a clue, he had just told Inuyasha one of the best things he could have.
He was reassured with those few simple words that one of his greatest fears was unfounded. That no matter what problems he and his brother went through, he always had a brother, he always had family. I glanced over at Souta and knew pretty much how Inuyasha was feeling at that moment.
Had Sesshoumaru not been well Sesshoumaru and I wasn't sure he would kill me the moment he turned back into a demon, I would have hugged him. But since I highly valued my life, I decided to just smile my thanks at him instead.
"I shall go tend to the graves while you work." Miroku informed Sango after they had touched down in the slayers village. Since it had been a while since Sango had been there, he was pretty sure no one else was working on keeping the graves clear.
"Thanks Miroku." Sango replied with a smile as Kirara transformed into her smaller size and jumped into her arms. With a smile, Miroku walked away and Sango headed inside her old hut. "It still feels weird being here." Sango told Kirara quietly and the neko meowed in agreement.
Setting Kirara down on a nearby table, Sango headed over to the shelf she had placed the youkai bones she had been working on before she was sent on the last mission with her family. Trying not to think about why she had been unable to finish it at the time, she set to work on a sword for Sesshoumaru.
Miroku walked away from the hut, heading for the graves. Their upkeep wasn't the only reason why he had decided to leave Sango alone. He knew what had happened to her family still weighted heavily on her mind and figured she would want to spend some time alone while she was here.
He quickly cleared away any vegetation that had grown over the graves and began picking some nearby flowers. Saying a quick prayer for the people buried beneath his feet, he added a few flowers on top of the soil. After placing the last of the flowers, he stood up to stretch when he heard a crash coming from the other side of the village. "Sango." he breathed as he turned and ran toward the noise.
As he rounded the corner to her hut, he found her and Kirara, in battle form, facing off against a large buta youkai (pig demon). "Hiraikotsu!" Sango yelled as she heaved the large boomerang toward the demon as Miroku ran over and raised his staff toward the demon.
The buta (pig) swiped at a nearby cart, sending it flying toward them, just as the boomerang came back and sliced him in half. Miroku threw his body onto Sango, knocking her to the ground, and barely missing being hit by the incoming cart. It smashed against the side of the hut and its old wood crumbled into pieces, falling harmlessly around them.
Glancing below him, Miroku caught Sango's eyes with his own and smirked when he saw the slight blush creepy up her cheeks. Deciding to take advantage of the situation, Miroku leaned down and lightly kissed Sango on her rosy lips before standing back up and helping her to her feet.
He turned and walked into the hut as Sango stood there in shock. After a moment she raised her hand and touched her lips with the tips of her fingers before a large smile crossed her face. Shaking her head, she straightened her shoulders and walked back into the hut.
Darkness had settled onto our camp as I tucked the children in and soon after they were fast asleep. Seems with having more playmates around, Shippo and Souta were growing tired quicker. I could only imagine it was the same for Rin as she normally only had a toad demon to play with and while he was about the same size, he was no where near a child.
Kohaku too seemed to be doing really well around the others. So much of his childhood was ruined because of the dark hanyou that I couldn't help but be thankful that he had lost those memories. No child should have to endure the things he did, let alone remember them.
Glancing back over at the adults, I see that Kikyou has rejoined us and decide that it is time to have a talk with her about her not fighting. Walking back over to the campfire, I sat down and began boiling water for some tea and passed it out once it was finished. "We need to have a talk Kikyou." I told her as I glanced up at her.
"If it's about what I said earlier don't bother, Inuyasha's already done that." she replied coldly, but I decided to ignore it for now.
"No this is something different. You wish to remain part of this group correct?" I questioned as I caught her gaze with my own. A quick nod from her and I continued, "If so than why do you not act like it? I know it will take some getting used to on everyone's part and mostly it seems to be working. But I can't help but notice that you never help with our battles. You sit on the sidelines and do nothing."
"My help has not been needed. The youkai have been destroyed easily without me joining the fight." she replied with a shrug. Okay so I had to give her that one. I was glad to see she had a real reason and it wasn't just because she didn't want to help the group out.
"I see your point. However, it would be better if you helped none the less. Even if it's just protecting the children like I do. I realize it can be hard to try and shoot arrows when you have allies in the way. It had seemed to me that you didn't want to help rather than you seeing it as we didn't need your help and as I have said before we have to watch each other's back. If the others see it the same way, it will only cause problems for the group.
“Since you can't fight too well with a bow when others and in the way, and trust me they normally are, there are other things you can do." I told her with a smile as I shot an accusing look toward Inuyasha. He of course choose to ignore it.
"Such as?" Kikyou wondered after a moment. I would have thought she could figure out what to do by herself seeing as she was the trained miko, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized she had probably never really fought as a group before. And with the few times I have fought solo, I knew there was quite a difference.
"Well as I said before like helping me guard the kids, putting a barrier around them or any innocent that might be there, fighting with one of the youkai when more than one attacks. Even just having an arrow notched and ready in case of an opening would go along way to earning our trust and faith in you. The group is only as strong as our weakest link and right now that's you. The rest of us would put our lives in the hands of the others without a second thought and would gladly die to protect each other.
“If you want to be able to stay, we have to be able to have that kind of relationship with you as well. And as it is, you're coming in with marks already against you because of the past. We're trying Kikyou and all I ask is that you do the same."
Please R&R, good and bad reviews are welcome, however, I will ignore flames.