Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha
Pairing: Inuyasha/Sesshomaru
Warnings: Rated M, Inucest, YAOI
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Recap
An awkward silence followed broken by the daiyoukai when he stood up abruptly.
"Come back here in two days time, we will meet at sunset. I will escort you to our father's palace, where the Gathering will be held. That will give us enough time to reach the palace and settle in before your mortal phase begins." Sesshomaru said, revealing that he knew of Inuyasha's ningen night, before taking off into the forest not looking back to check if Inuyasha was clear on his instructions.
"Typical Sesshomaru… take off as soon you get your answers." Inuyasha thought. "Damn I forgot to ask him about his ningen companion."
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Hidden in Plain Sight
Arc 01 – Journey to the Palace of the West
oStilloDreamingo
Chapter 2
Inuyasha returned to the camp at daybreak, as the Shard-hunter group were putting away their camping gear.
Kilala bounded over to the inu-hanyou, circled and rubbed against his legs, near tripping him in her exuberance.
"Baka furball …" chuckled Inuyasha picking up the nekomata, running his claws through her fur, making her arch and purr. "Were you worried for me, hmm?"
"Welcome back, Inuyasha", greeted Miroku, a red handprint was blazing across the right half of the hoshi's face. "I trust everything is in order in these woods."
Inuyasha grunted back an affirmative, smirking when he spotted the glowering Sango. He had a pretty good idea what her wake up call had been this fine morning.
"If he keeps this up, he will lose what little affection the taijiya harbours for him."
Inuyasha had serious doubts concerning the monk's intentions towards the Sango, the heiress and last of the fallen clan of youkai hunters.
"Ohayo Inuyasha!" Kagome called from her bedroll, as usual the last to awaken.
Inuyasha frowned when he saw her lift a red ball of fluff from her sleeping bags.
"The kit is still asleep!" Inuyasha thought incredulously.
He picked up the kitsune by the scruff of his neck, and plunked it into the river nearby, effectively waking it up.
"WAAAAAAAH… KAGOME… HELP… I CAN'T SWIM!"
Inuyasha snorted as he stared at the pathetic kitling crying its eyes out, bawling at the top of its voice, not realizing that it was sitting on the shallow river bed.
"INUYASHA, SIT BOY!" came the predictable response from the irate miko, sending the inu-hanyou speeding towards the forest floor.
Inuyasha just sighed as he hit the forest floor, cushioning the air with his spiritual powers to gentle his fall, feeling depressed when Kagome failed to notice the usage of spiritual powers in such close proximity to herself. Untrained as she was, it seemed as though Kagome could only visualize very high concentrations of spiritual energies, like that of the Shikon no tama. Inuyasha himself although he could not see the shards themselves, he could always detect the general direction in which the next shard would be located. Kagome's ability came into play during actual battles, when the group needed to extract a piece of the shard from an empowered youkai.
The group had their usual breakfast of baked fish and ramen, unaware that Inuyasha and Kilala had already made a meal of a few rabbits in the forest, while they were catching fish.
"Kilala is getting restless…" Sango observed as they cleaned up their campsite, ready to travel once again.
Miroku nodded, his expression darkening in comprehension, casting a glance at their hanyou companion, who nodded in confirmation.
Kagome hoisted her yellow schoolbag onto her shoulders, looking back at the group, puzzled and concerned.
"Kilala…? Sango what is the matter. Why are you all so serious all of a sudden? Is Kilala sick?"
Sango smiled.
"Kilala is just fine Kagome. We appreciate your concern. However spring is approaching and it may not be wise to be traveling during this time of the year."
"But why not?" asked the schoolgirl.
Seeing the girl's confusion, the monk decided to intervene.
"Kagome, spring is when mating season begins. During this time, by the law of the land, hunting youkai is forbidden. In fact, it is the most dangerous time of the year for both youkai and ningen. Any ningen or youkai caught attempting to or succeeding to kill a youkai during this time will be executed."
"But why? I mean we only take out the evil ones. It's not like we will be doing anything bad…"
Shippou looked up in shock and fear.
"No Kagome, during mating season, all youkai past their first heat become at least ten times as powerful, and will do anything within their power to find a suitable mate. Killing any youkai, evil or not, will be seen as depriving the youkai population of a possible breeding pair. The Lord of the West will hunt us down and execute us."
"Well, well, well… there may still be hope for you Shippou. Maybe you have not been spoiled beyond redemption." Inuyasha thought, proud that the kit was showing respect and understanding for the youkai traditions.
"But then what about Naraku! We need to find the jewel shards." Kagome shrieked.
Inuyasha snorted. Until now, he was silent, waiting for the group to draw their own conclusions regarding youkai mating customs and now decided to add his own penny worth.
"Naraku will not dare to show his face during this month.", he said, spitting out the name in disgust. "He is also bound by youkai laws. If he dares attack during this month, the reigning demon will hunt him down ruthlessly. No youkai will accept a hanyou to be an acceptable mate, making them fair game."
Sango looked at Inuyasha, her forehead scrunched up with concern.
"Then will you not be in danger Inuyasha? After all, you too are a hanyou."
"Keh. Don't worry about me. I will be fine. I have my safe hiding place. I will go there like I always do when mating season comes around."
"Very well…" said Sango, her concern alleviated. Inuyasha has lived by himself a long time now. Of course he knew how to protect himself.
"But what about the Shikon shards!"
"The Shikon shards can wait Kagome." Said Sango patiently. "You should go back home for the duration of the mating season. You will be safe there. Miroku, Kilala and I will take shelter in my village." she added, thinking of the repairs she could make to her village in this down time. She did not notice the glint that shone in the hoshi's eyes at this pronouncement.
"Hey! What about me! I don't wanna go with the stupid mutt." whined Shippou.
"Why you little… " Inuyasha began, his eyebrow twitching at the kit's insolence.
The cowardly kitsune leapt onto Kagome's shoulder.
"Shippou, that wasn't very nice." scolded Kagome gently, petting the kit softly.
Sango and Miroku looked at each other, then at Inuyasha.
"Shippou can come with us I guess…" Sango said. "He is a very young youkai, so the mating season shouldn't affect him…"
"Hmf" was all Inuyasha said, which could mean anything from agreement with Sango's reasoning, to annoyance at the Shippou's behaviour or exasperation at Kagome's constant coddling of the kitsune child.
"Kagome, you should go home now, Kilala will take you to the well. I will come to get you when mating season is over alright."
"Okay…" said Kagome, a little deflated realizing that she wouldn't be able to bully the group into continuing the shard hunt for a while.
Kilala transformed into her larger form, took off once the group had said their goodbyes.
"We will see you soon Inuyasha… " said Miroku, a little drool escaping his mouth, already fantasizing what he could do with Sango spending a month alone in her company, albeit he would have liked it better if the kitsune had chosen to go with Inuyasha.
"Yes Inuyasha… stay safe…" added Sango.
Inuyasha looked at them with a cocky smile, waved an arm at them and then leaped off towards the clearing, where he had met his brother only the previous night.
"Good thing they didn't ask me where I will be spending the next month. Keh… they would never believe me anyways."
Inuyasha smiled grimly as his thoughts went back to his half-brother's missing limb.
"I will not be an ungrateful guest or a freeloader Sesshomaru." He thought. "I think I know just how I will pay for my brief stay. Now to gather all the ingredients before he arrives. I have about a day to complete preparations. Best hurry."
Chuckling softly, Inuyasha slipped the cursed necklace off his neck.
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Author's Note:
Thank you people for the 1000+ hits!
Again special thanks to my reviewers: ryougabriellucile, InuSessyYaoiGirl, urbeautifulsunshine, Demitria Miriam, Princess Sin, FXL, RKInu241, jem89, thr3e, akilana, Tryst/Punishment of the Inu, SonnyGoten and Agni.
Hi again!
As you can see, this will be a pretty long fiction, probably about 28 to 31 chapters, depending on how I break the chapters. I will try to update every five to seven day. I just got a new part-time job, so that has kept me away from the computer for a bit.
Your Support is greatly appreciated! Please continue reviewing!
