AN: HERE IS ANOTHER CHAPITRE!
Disclaimer: I do not own Sesshomaru, Inu No Taisho, Izayoi, Kagome, Inuyasha - do you get the point?
Face freezing in acute horror, Kagome took several hasty steps backwards. This really wasn't going according to plan. Not that there had been a particular plan in place to begin with, but had there been one - this certainly wouldn't have been part of it.
"Now wait just a minute," she began soothingly, holding her hands out in a defensive gesture, "we can talk about this."
But Touga didn't seem inclined to talk anymore. Suddenly, it was no longer surprising to Kagome that Inuyasha was the way he was. It wasn't his fault. Purely genetic.
"I've humoured you long enough, onna. You will tell me how you know of Izayoi!" His voice took on a snarl towards the end that had Kagome quaking in her boots.
A quick glance behind him told her that, far from being vindicated or even frightened by his father's display of temper, Sesshomaru looked almost exasperated.
"Father -"
"Who sent you?! Was it that snake Ryuukotsusei?! If you approach Izayoi, if you so much as breathe in her direction - you won't like the consequences, consider this my first and final warning."
"I uh... no...I - I wasn't going to hurt her!" Kagome cried, wondering whether her distraction tactic back home would work here.
"I just heard a lot of good things about her and I just - I just wanted to meet her." Forcing tears into her eyes, Kagome watched in smug satisfaction as the angry snarl was wiped off of Touga's face and replaced with a look of horror.
"Oh - oh no. Uh please - FUCK. Don't cry, please. I just - I was afraid you'd try and hurt Izayoi and - oh kami stop crying - I hate the smell of salt water!"
Evidently, female tears were a weakness that ran in the family. The only one immune to them was Sesshomaru, probably because he literally couldn't care less whether someone was upset or delighted. Unless that someone was Rin.
"Father, mother said you weren't to curse around me." Sesshomaru said stiffly from behind his father, a small note of reprimand in his tone as he stared reproachfully at his sire.
"Yeah? Well then cover your FUCKING ears Sesshomaru, what do you want me to say?!"
You could call her crazy but Kagome could have sworn she saw a ghost of a smile on Sesshomaru's face as his father continued to panic at her show of fake grief.
"Listen Kagome -" he began softly, a purring note present in his voice as he attempted to coax her into happiness again.
"I thought I was 'onna?!'" She snapped back indignantly and watched him blink in surprise before he was back on the offensive, trying to charm her again.
"Of course not. You're Kagome. Cute little Kagome," he continued, patting her head gently. Kagome resisted the urge to swat at his hand in anger.
"Now, you wanted to see Izayoi? Do you know Izayoi?" His arm wound around her shoulders again as he continued to stroke her hair as he had Sesshomaru's.
"No but I just wanted a chance to speak to her -" Kagome began only to be cut off, this time by Sesshomaru.
"Father can take you to her. What with all the time he spends hovering around her fortress - I dare say he's memorized the location by this point." Sass?! And Sesshomaru?!
His momentary smugness vanished quite quickly though when his father's displeased gaze snapped over to him.
"Insolent as he is - the pup is correct. I could take you to Izayoi. You see, I am the Inu No Taisho, lord of the west, and this is my domain. There isn't an inch of this land I am not fully familiar with-"
"Father, there was a tengu disruption in the lowland swamp grounds." Sesshomaru interrupted smoothly.
"The what? Where the fuck is that?"
Snorting, Kagome hid her face behind her hand as the Inu No Taisho glared furiously at his son, realizing he'd been had. Sesshomaru, for his part, looked remarkably unaffected by the situation and instead chose to stare pointedly at his father, as if to insinuate that when he would become ruler of the west, he would never make such a mistake.
"Very funny, you ungrateful runt." He muttered angrily before turning his attention back to Kagome.
"Izayoi is the hime of Musashi -"
"And you're in love with her." She finished with a small smile. How romantic.
"I - what - uh -no! Keh! With her?!" He spluttered and Kagome's smile vanished. Inuyasha would never understand just how much like his father he was.
"I'm not in love with that stubborn little ningen!" Touga snapped irritably and Sesshomaru nodded emphatically from behind him. Kagome barely managed to resist the urge to sink her fist into Sesshomaru's devastatingly perfect face and forced a smile back to her lips.
"Oh? So you wouldn't be bothered by her marrying Takemaru, Lord of Setsuna?"
"TAKEMAWHO?! LORD OF WHAT?!" Having just turned away from her, he was forced to swivel back around at an alarming speed, barely managing to stay upright. His eyes blazed a vibrant gold, fists clenched and Kagome wondered whether this was what Inuyasha's obvious jealousy had looked like whenever Koga had approached her.
As if realizing himself, Touga quickly composed himself, his face becoming a smooth mask that would have frightened even Sesshomaru.
"Of course I wouldn't be bothered." He growled stiffly before turning to leave again.
It wasn't long, however before he stopped to turn around again.
"Sounds pretty stupid though. If you ask me. Takemaru. Who the fuck names their kid that? Setsuna? I'll end Setsuna."
...and he wouldn't be bothered? Kagome's smile returned full force as the infallible Inu No Taisho stood facing the woods, mokomoko bristling in irritation while his foot tapped the ground impatiently.
He was so jealous.
"And you're not-"
"Jealous?! Keh, of course not. That ningen isn't that special either." He huffed, crossing his arms and looking steadfastly forwards.
"Oh yeah, of course. A regular ningen like that. Nothing special. She's not worth the dirt at your feet." Kagome pushed, and watched in silent glee as Touga's features twitched in silent outrage. Obviously – only he was allowed to throw thinly veiled insults at Izayoi. Of course. Why would it be any different? A glance behind her told her Sesshomaru looked a little bit less disapproving of the new direction the conversation had taken and Kagome resisted the temptation to smack him upside the head.
It seemed that stupidity ran in the family.
"Father, the miko, surprisingly, speaks the truth. This one has been saying for many moons that this hime is beneath you. If you truly must mate again, if Mother failed to satisfy you-"
"Enough Sesshomaru!" All traces of humour had left the Inu No Taisho as he turned to face his son with fire in his eyes.
"Never say such a thing again. Your mother and I parted on common ground. Never blame your mother for my shortcomings. A woman is never obligated to share her life with a man she cares not for. Your mother deserved far more than to spend her days with someone who could not care for her as she merited. She is a strong female, powerful, more so than myself I daresay. Had the title of Inu No Taisho not been exclusive to a male, it would have been hers. Had the choice lain with me of who to bestow the honour upon, it would have gone to her. You, pup, should be proud to have been whelped by one as such."
Kagome's heart leapt into her throat she she listened to Touga speak of Sesshomaru's mother. It seemed, however, that Sesshomaru didn't share his father's opinion of her.
"Proud? Her power, beauty, and wit do not excuse her various shortcomings Father, those which you would never understand." He snarled and Kagome flinched at the rage and raw hurt reflected in Sesshomaru's youthful gaze.
He was only a child.
"Sessho-"
"This Sesshomaru can indeed feel pride at the female who whelped him. A mother however? This one has no concept of such a thing, having never had one."
Turning swiftly on his heel, he stormed away into the woods and Touga watched him go with a heavy heart, sensing his pup's distress as it emanated off of him in waves.
"When his mother and I parted ways," he began softly and Kagome's attention was drawn swiftly back towards the daiyokai, "she told him he was old enough to learn to form his own pack, there was no need to hover under her wing any longer."
"...she kicked him out?" she whispered in horror, trying to imagine what it would feel like if her own mother were to do such a thing.
"Er... I have no idea what that means...?"
"How could she do that to her own son? And then she wonders why he doesn't like her? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!" Kagome continued, ignoring Touga's protest.
"What tree?"
"Now she's lonely and wants her son. What goes around comes around, after all!"
"WHAT IS GOING AROUND?! HOW IS IT COMING BACK!?"
AN: Okity dokity artichokities.
SNEAK PEEK FOR NEXT TIME:
"Is that what he told you?" Izayoi said stiffly, her spine straightening in indignation.
"He said that he saved your life-" Kagome began only to be cut off by Izayoi's loud snort of derision.
"Your hero over there fell through my window and managed to set my chambers ablaze. If anyone did the saving, it was me!"
Oh Touga...