DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA OR SESSHOMARU OR ANY CHARACTERS EXCEPT FOR MIZUKI, MAKOTO, YURAI, LORD TENEBRAE, AI, AND MIZU'S PARENTS. THEY ARE MY OCS! COOKIES TO ALL WHO UNDERSTAND THAT!

~LADY VALKYRIA

Chapter Four

Sesshomaru arrived in the Southern Lands, after Rin was completely exhaust Sesshomaru had Ah-Un carry her. Rin kept crying once the hanyou left, he was annoyed with the fact that the hanyou abandoned them. Not the he cared, but because she made Rin so upset. One of the servants was waiting for Sesshomaru, and bowed while speaking, "Welcome to the Southern Lands, mi' lord. Please follow me, mi' lord." The servant walked on ahead following the demon servant, curious to what this daughter of theirs is.

Sesshomaru did need a mate, but he never had any time to find one. He thought that this was the perfect way to find on and gain land. How could he even think of turning down their offer? Once arriving at the castle, the servant took them to the throne room, where the Lord and Lady were waiting. They quickly greeted Sesshomaru and spoke, "Welcome to the Southern Lands, Lord Sesshomaru! We are so relieved to have received word of you coming here. We hope that you will accept our offer."

Sesshomaru stared at them, immediately noticing that their daughter was nowhere. He growled, "I hope there really is a daughter…" The lady quickly chuckled nervously, "O-Of course mi' lord, she must be preparing herself to meet you." He glared and muttered, "Bring her here at once. Then I will give you my answer." They nodded and they sent one of their servants to fetch her. Sesshomaru turned towards Jaken and whispered, "Watch Rin and leave Jaken. You are no longer needed here." Jaken nodded and took Rin quickly.

~Elsewhere~

Mizuki was awoken from beautiful sleep to hear that Lord Sesshomaru was here. She thought to herself, "Great… here comes the rejection. I need to be strong…" The servants rushed in and began to dress Mizuki. She let them do as they pleased until it was time to put on her makeup. She pushed them out of the room and insisted, "Thank you all for dressing me and doing my hair. But I would like to do the makeup myself, thank you very much!" Mizuki slammed the door and sat in front of her vanity. She put on red eye shadow, and red lipstick, enhancing her beauty.

Mizuki stood up from her chair, and looked at herself. She wore a long kimono, that was pulled down revealing this black and gold bustier. Her outfit mostly was red, black, gold with a little bit of white. Mizuki was pulled away from her reflection when she heard a knock at her door. She opened it and the servant spoke nervously, "M-Mi' lady… it is time for you to join the Lords and Lady…" Mizuki nodded saying, "I shall be there. Thank you for fetching me." She left the room to go meet Lord Sesshomaru, again.

~With Lord Sesshomaru~

The door opened, and entered a beautiful demon woman. Her long brown hair and captivating golden amber eyes caused Sesshomaru's eyes to widen. She walked all the way till she reached Sesshomaru, and bowed while speaking in an elegant tone, "Good evening mi' lord. I am Lady Mizuki, daughter and heir to the Southern Lands. It is an immense pleasure that you are here in our castle."

Sesshomaru nodded at Mizuki, having her return to standing after she bowed. Mizuki began, "It is wonderful for us to finally meet. I have heard so much about you, mi' lord." His brow rose and he questioned, "Oh? Which would be?" Mizuki knew exactly how to boost a man's ego and began, "Well, mi' lord… I have heard that you are a powerful, strong, handsome, and feared demon lord. At this, he smirked, and Mizuki smiled. She then thought it would be wise to stop this any further.

"Mi' lord there is something of foremost importance that I need to tell you." Mizuki's mother's eyes widened and she knew exactly what she was referring to. Sesshomaru stared at Mizuki and spoke, "What?" Before Mizuki could utter another word, her mother interrupted her, "Oh Lord Sesshomaru, you do not wish to hear what she has to say. It's just utter nonsense~!" Sesshomaru glared and growled at the Lady and spoke, "Silence! Now, Lady Mizuki, continue."

Mizuki swallowed hard, her heart already shielding itself from the pain. She began, holding back the tears begging to come up, "Well you see, Lord Sesshomaru… I am not like other demons. I have a unique hobby, one that involves me observing interesting creatures. Like… hanyous and humans."

Sesshomaru's eyes widened and before he could speak she spoke, "Now… I know this reaction all too well, mi' lord. I shall leave your presence at once. Thank you for coming here, I apologize for disappointing you, mi' lord…" Mizuki turned to leave, almost reaching the exit, when she felt a strong hand grip her wrist.

Sesshomaru spoke, "Where do you think you are going?" Mizuki stared at him oddly and replied, "I am leaving your presence mi' lord. I am a disgrace to other youkais." Sesshomaru growled and replied while pulling her closer, "Well. I refuse to allow my future mate to leave me." Immediately Mizuki's jaw dropped and she stuttered, "W-What? B-But I LIKE HUMANS AND HANYOUS! DOESN'T THAT BOTHER YOU?" He only responded with a glare and spoke, "Quit yelling, I am right in front of you. Even though I despise such creatures, I could care less about what kind of hobbies or interests my mate has."

Mizuki didn't know what to say, finally someone had accepted her…. What was she to say, how she was supposed to react? Sesshomaru continued, "We shall mate during mating season, I shall stay until then. Then you must return with me to my lands. Prepare yourself in a week, Lady Mizuki." Mizuki could only nod, unable to utter a sound and quickly left the room. She ran to her bedroom and began to pack things. There was no way she was to mate, if she did, she would have no more time of freedom or research. A knock came at her door, and she quickly kicked the bag of clothes under her bed. She spoke, "You may enter."

Sesshomaru entered her room, and closed the door behind him. He spoke, "Your mother suggested that I should share your room with you so that we can get used to each other's presence. There is also a question I have for you…" Mizuki could only nod to what he was saying, unable to speak without embarrassing herself. He continued, "Were you following me earlier?" She stared at him confused and spoke, "Why do you ask mi' lord?"

He replied while taking in her strong scent, "Your scent… it smells like the one who was following me." She quickly replied, "Of course not mi' lord! How could that be if I have been here this entire time, preparing to mate with a demon?" He knew that she was hiding something, there was no way he could mistake such a delectable scent. Mizuki asked, now curious to how he would react if he knew, "But mi' lord, if I was to follow you. What would you do? Not that I care, just curious."

Sesshomaru stared right through Mizuki and replied, "If you were a threat, I would eliminate you." Mizuki shivered and quickly replied, "And if I was not?" He closed his eyes as him mind began to think lustful things; he hadn't been near a demon woman for a while, nonetheless a virgin. Her scent was driving him mad, if this continued he would take her right now. "Then I would not care, as long as you do not get in my way."

Mizuki nodded quickly and pulled out a notebook, writing stuff down. She then asked, "Also… I heard that you have a human companion travelling with you. Why is that? I could've sworn that you despise all humans and hanyous." Sesshomaru growled, he grew tired of her questions and answered her, "Rin is different. But yes, I despise all humans and hanyous."

Mizuki nodded again, and replied, "Um is the-" Sesshomaru cut her off, his lips were on top of hers. He pushed her against the wall, his lust now taking over his senses. Mizuki's eyes widened, and then the gold changed to crimson. Her hand rose and she slapped Lord Sesshomaru while glaring at him. She yelled at him trying to wipe him off her lips, "H-How dare you! That was my first kiss!"

Sesshomaru growled in response, he knew that kissing her had now set off his lust. But he held himself back; he had a question for her. "Lady Mizuki… We will be sharing a lot of your first things together with me. It is about time, that I take your first kiss as well. Besides, how have you been able to survive the previous mating seasons?" Sesshomaru quickly locked her door without her noticing. Mizuki stared at him questionably, and replied after noticing the lust in his eyes, "Well mi' lord… If you must know, I would look them in the eyes…"

She looked deeply in his eyes and smiled, "then I would smile, and touch their cheek." She touched his cheek softly, and finally replied as Sesshomaru closed his eyes taking in her scent again, "Then… I would find the nearest exit and leave quickly!" Sesshomaru's eyes snapped open as he saw Mizuki dash out one of her windows. He watched as she quickly dashed into the woods, and he smirked. "This is to be fun… Looks like we will be playing dog and cat." He allowed for Mizuki to get a head start, knowing that he would catch in her several minutes. After he waited long enough, he dashed after her.

~Meanwhile~

Mizuki laughed to herself, "THERE IS NO WAY HE WILL CATCH ME! I am the fastest in my lands!" Then she thought about it, her eyes widened and she thought, "But… he could be even faster in his lands… SHIT!" She thought as she stopped in front of Sesshomaru who looked like he had already beaten her. Mizuki quickly spun around and continued to run, each corner Sesshomaru would be there waiting. Her mind raced as she continued to run, "He will catch me for sure… I need to disappear… but how?"

Mizuki had reached a dead end, and she was positive Sesshomaru was slowing down because he knew this. She looked around and then spotted a hole. She quickly dove into it, hiding her scent immediately and had grass hiding her in the hole. Sesshomaru came into view, looking for her and saw that her scent had vanished. He seemed confused and then Mizuki transformed into her hanyou form.

Sesshomaru picked up the hanyou's scent and pulled her out her hiding spot. He growled when their eyes and met, dropping her on the ground. "Where have you been hanyou? Rin wouldn't stop crying after you left…" Mizuki spoke, "Well mi' lord… you see you left and I lost you. So, when I remembered you were coming here, I came to meet up with you."

Sesshomaru glared at her, and then left obviously couldn't find Mizuki's scent anymore. After he left, Mizuki began to laugh and shot, "I WIN~! HOHOHOHOH! Lady Mizuki 1, Lord Sesshomaru 0! Hehehehe~!" She quickly returned to the castle, hugging Rin and whispered to her, "If anyone asks, I am resting."

Rin nodded and Mizuki returned to her room, taking her true form again. She left it only to bump into Sesshomaru. He growled and asked, "Where were you? I lost your scent earlier." Mizuki laughed and patted his chest, "Hmm that's odd, I just teleported back here mi' lord." But in truth, she didn't have enough time to do that, hence why she changed and hid her scent.

Sesshomaru turned away from her, and spoke, "Your mother says dinner will be ready." Mizuki sighed in relief and nodded, but little did she know, Sesshomaru knew something was up. She returned to her room, and read up some more on Sesshomaru. "How could I be so intrigued with this demon lord? It puzzles me… Perhaps it's because he did not reject me unlike the others…"