Don't own Inuyasha... cries .o.o.

"talking"

'thinking'

"SESSHOMARUUUUUUUUU!" Inuyasha's voice roared off the high walls of the Western palace followed by a loud crash as the grand front doors were thrown open by the enraged demon. Both servants and mistresses of the court scurried out of the young lord's path, fearful of what he may do in his blind rage. The guards placed out in the halls even cringed as Inuyasha's aura flared out in search of his brother, but none of them dare to open their mouth either help guide him in the right direction or stop him in his pursuit.

And Inuyasha didn't want anyone to bother him in his quest, miles before the castle was even in view he already had a feeling as to where the elder dog demon was. The only thing that has been on his mind since he left the village was to confront his brother for his summoning once again; this needed to stop, he couldn't be at his brother's beck and call anymore because it was ruining his relationship with his mate and he couldn't have that. Seeing Kagome's upset face and her words of not wishing to see him were burned into his mind and only added fuel to the fire that burned in his heart; he needed to ease her pain and this was a major part of it.

"Sesshomaru come out now!" Just to piss his brother off more, Inuyasha grabbed up any piece of furniture that wasn't nailed down or if a servant got in his path he would lash out and attack the object in his way just to get to Sesshomaru.

"Must you act so childish brother, it is far beyond a lord much less one from our father's line, to act as such," the cold, calm voice of the lord of the land filled the room as Sesshomaru himself appeared from a door down the hall.

All the servants bowed their heads in respect to their master, while the concubines that were brave enough not to run away while Inuyasha was having his hissy fit, openly flirted with their lord hoping he would allow one of them to grace his bed that night. They were greatly disappointed yet again when his sole attention was given to his brother instead of him. The only person who seemed unfazed by his grand lordship was Inuyasha himself, though he was pleased now that he wouldn't have to go hunting for him and waste time.

"I need to talk to you now!" Inuyasha didn't wait for a response, he just stomped pass his brother and into the office that Sesshomaru just exited, knowing if he wanted to speak with his brother he would have to be somewhere the stubborn jerk would go; and since dragging him outside wasn't an opposition this was the next best place. Seeing Jaken still in Sesshomaru's office only proved that the lord had every intention of coming back into the room... now all he had to do was wait.

Sesshomaru's imp assistant was expecting his lord to come back into the study so they could continue their planning on how to handle the disturbance in the northern part of the land; but when the rude, loud mouthed, little once half demon came barging in... Jaken was extremely upset. "What are you doing here! Were you the one causing all that racket out there and disturbing lord Sesshomaru from his work!"

"Keh, so what if I was, he has disturbed me enough and it's about time I return the favor; I'm tired of this crap and it will stop today," Inuyasha was seconds away from skinning the annoying imp but Sesshomaru came back into the room at that minute drawing his attention once again.

"You've caused quite the disturbance among my servants brother."

"Keh!"

"And where is the one that this Sesshomaru sent to you human village to retrieve you?"

"Not that you really care about the annoying little thing, but I left him in the dust back at my village, I didn't have time to wait for him to keep up with that dragon of yours."

"Why such the rush to get here? Normally I have to drag you kicking and screaming from your human," Jaken wanted desperately to smack the insolent pup with his staff for how he was speaking to his lord, but he knew his master wouldn't approve of that type of punishment and would most likely inflict his own brutal punishment for acting out of turn.

But the glare the younger brother was sending his way spoke of a beating he was going to inflict on the imp, "What did I tell you about referring to my mate in such a vulgar way you little toad!" Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and was going to jump the assistant had Sesshomaru not spoken up again.

"Jaken do not add your input unless spoken to."

"Of course lord Sesshomaru I apologize."

"Why don't you tell your little butt kissing assistant to take a hike so I can speak to you alone Sesshomaru," Inuyasha smirked when he saw his older brother's face twitch for a split second, Jaken however completely blew up over the comment.

"How dare you... yo-."

"Jaken... leave." It was clear that the toad didn't want to leave, but he wouldn't go against his lord so he buttoned his lip and left the office through another door on the other side of the room.

When the shoji door slide shut and both demons were certain they were alone is when Inuyasha finally let loose. "This has got to stop Sesshomaru; I'm not a dog that will come every time you whistle!"

"And yet little brother... here you stand," the smirk Sesshomaru let creep on to his face stoked the rage Inuyasha had simmering back full force.

"I came because I wanted to tell you face to face that this would be the last time I will be coming out here." Inuyasha slammed his fist on the table to make a point that he wasn't going to be pushed around anymore.

Sesshomaru didn't show any signs of intimidation by his brother's threat; his cold mask remained in place. "You refuse the land our father gave to you now you wish to completely back out of your responsibilities."

"I didn't ask for the responsibility nor do I want it, my sole responsibility is to my mate... which as of the last six months I haven't been doing that either. All this running back and forth and then helping the monk with exterminations has been putting unneeded stress on Kagome... she's put up with enough crap from me before we mated, she doesn't deserve this now that we are."

"This Sesshomaru has already told you the solution to your problem brother."

"I can't move here Sesshomaru, I can't drag Kagome away from the village where are friends are, and she wouldn't be safe anyway. She still has her spiritual powers and the demons that serve you here wouldn't be comfortable with her here. And when we have our pups they will be half demons... and I know from personal experience how much they are welcome among demon society. The clan leaders coming and going all the time wouldn't accept our mating either... so I'm putting my foot down on the matter. This is the last time I will set foot in this castle and if you send one of your lackeys to my village I will kill them and if you continue to send them I will continue to sharpen my claws on their skulls; there is no other choice besides my mate."

"YOU DID WHAT!" The next morning Sango wanted to know if Inuyasha did what she told him to, and of course Miroku being the good husband trying to not upset his wife, quickly obliged by her wishes and accompanied her to their friends' home. Upon entering the hut the couple was expecting to see Inuyasha laying around the main room, or at least expecting him to be sleeping in their bedroom in the back; but seeing Kagome only in the room by the unlit fire pit doing some needle work gave the two suspicion.

Sango was worried, with how her friend had been talking two days before that Kagome may have tied Inuyasha up in the bedroom with a few sutra and rope to prevent him from going to the West for at least a few days. Tying someone up might be a fantasy of her husband's but she wasn't sure if Inuyasha liked that kind of thing, her face immediately flamed realizing where her train of thought had been wondering... she blamed it on the pregnancy that her mind was becoming as perverted as Miroku's.

The monk's reasoning for his demon friend not being present wasn't anywhere near as perverted as his wife... his actually made more sense; he merely assumed that Inuyasha had gone out for a mid morning run and a hunt to bring his wife some fresh meat for the next few days. But to hear the words from Kagome's mouth so causally as to where her husband was shocked the couple to their cores.

"I simply told him to go to the West and stay there until whatever it is Sesshomaru needs him so badly for is completed, I'm tired of having to fight for his attention and maybe he can focus now and come home faster," Kagome didn't even bother to look up from her stitch work to look at her friends reactions; she didn't see a problem with her reasoning... but there was a big problem with her logic.

"Kagome, remember how I told you male demons are extremely sensitive to their mates' emotions? Well... sending him away like you've done, in his eyes it's as if you were rejecting him as your mate. If anything he will try everything in his power to prove he is a worthy mate... even challenge Sesshomaru for his alpha position to please you," Sango quickly tried to explain the gravity of the situation to her friend.

"Challenge Sesshomaru for his position... but I thought Inuyasha was already alpha of our strange pack?"

"In a sense yes he is alpha of pack, but his brother being older and the ruling lord of the West has a higher position in the pack; he has his own pack that both Inuyasha and you are a part of." Pleased to see that Kagome put down her sowing to listen, Sango didn't miss the confusion on her young friend's face. "It's like a tree and its branches, the thicker ones being the head alphas and the smaller branches being the packs they look after. Sesshomaru is a head alpha and Inuyasha is his beta... basically Inuyasha is his brother's heir. If Sesshomaru does not take a mate and have a child, if something should happen to him then Inuyasha would become the next ruler of the West; that's probably why he keeps calling Inuyasha there to train and prepare him should something happen. But if Inuyasha feels he must prove himself worthy then he may challenge Sesshomaru for his title... it could be really bad. Inuyasha is a lot younger than his brother and still trying to get use to his full demon body... and if the two fight and weaken each other, another clan of demon may try to take the castle and kill them."

The mention of Inuyasha possibly dying caused alarm in his wife, "But... but I didn't want any of that to happen! I just wanted Inuyasha to be free and be able to remain closer to the village more often."

Miroku, having spoken to Inuyasha already, knew what was bothering the girl he consider his younger sister. Kagome was always good at hiding her pain, she became quite skilled while dealing with Inuyasha running to Kikyo; but Miroku being the first to witness her fake cheerfulness when she was in pain... she couldn't fool him now. He knew Kagome wanted a child, seeing the six children that would be hers' in the future and being their temporary mother for two months and then have them taken from her has put her through a lot of pain that she hasn't been keeping bottled up.

And on top of that, having her husband continuously leaving to fulfill his duties to everyone, and then having to be around Sango everyday and knowing she was pregnant, would be hard for the girl. She was basically lonely and bored and Miroku was certain Sango felt somewhat the same; neither woman had much to do during the day since they had taken on the roll of normal village women; though he knew of one thing Kagome could do to keep herself busy. Even though she was Inuyasha's wife, in every way possible, somehow she managed to keep her spiritual powers; Keade had wished to train Kagome since she was pretty old and feared she wouldn't be able to train a proper priestess before her death. They knew Kagome couldn't be a priestess by any terms as to performing spiritual ceremonies that required a woman pure from birth to perform; however, she could still heal and treat the sick and of course she could protect the village if it should need it.

But Kagome hasn't had the chance to speak to her husband yet about the proposal. And with the fifth member of their pack scarcely around these days, Shippo has been away all winter with a group of kitsune training to become a proper fox demon... he comes to visit every few weeks but he hasn't been seen for a while, both girls were in serious need of something to do. Miroku could easily keep Sango busty for the next few months till the baby was born, but Kagome... well he did have one idea.

"Kagome, maybe you should take up the hobby of meditation, it would calm and relax you... it cleanses the soul and I know from personal experience that it is quite refreshing and renews the body." Sango didn't voice her opinion of the 'cleans the soul' part since he was trying to help their dear friend... but she didn't question as to why his soul would need so much cleaning.

"Thank you Miroku, I may decide to do just that, but first I must go to the West!" Kagome shot up from her sitting position and ran into the bedroom area to begin packing what she would need, she would also have to decide as to what to wear; clearly the ankle length skirt and haori she had chosen to wear today wouldn't be suitable attire for the trip... that meant digging into her stash on modern close she brought from her last trip from the future. She rarely wore the items since permanently moving here, finding the clothing of this era more comfortable than hers; but of course on rare occasions like this she was glad she thought to bring some.

"Wait, wait Kagome... why do you need to go to the West?" Sango came into the room right after the other girl, she refused to allow Miroku to move from his spot on the cushion, it's not that she didn't trust her best friend would not allow such unfaithful deeds to transpire but Miroku's hands still wondered some times. She was pleased to have trusted her instincts because as she came in Kagome was only in her panties and was in the process of removing her top and the bindings that kept her breasts in place and was about to put on that strange contraption she called a 'bra' and one of her modern long sleeve tops.

"Because I need to stop Inuyasha from challenging Sesshomaru and getting himself killed!" Kagome began to stuff her old tattered yellow bag with a little food and extra pair of clothes.

"Kagome you can't do that, getting involved in an alpha fight could lead to you getting killed!"

"I don't care Sango I need to try," everything she needed was packed and she was in a pair of jeans and dawning a light weight jacket to fend off the light chill, Kagome left the hut and headed in the direction she saw Inuyasha head whenever he left.

"Kagome wait please!"

Sango's cries didn't seem to be working so Miroku tried to step in with a more logical approach. "Kagome, might I inquire as to how you plan on getting to the Western castle... it is a three day walk for a human."

Kagome halted mid step, apparently she hadn't thought this all the way through. She was about to ask Sango if she could barrow Kirara like she use to when they were on their journey to go home when she needed to take a test and they were too far away from the village; but she then remembered that the demon exterminator's faithful companion was not in the village. Kirara had become restless when her mistress had decided to settle down and have a family; Sango could see how unhappy her friend had become with this dull life so she made one of the hardest sacrifices in her life. Kohaku, getting his second chance at life wanted to make the most of it; he planned to head out to remote villages that rarely saw outsiders yet were pledged by demons to slay them. Sango didn't want her little brother unprotected and so she asked Kirara to watch out for him; the two haven't been back to the village since Sango and Miroku got married but they all knew Kirara would watch over him as if he were her own kitten so they weren't worried... however that put a damper on Kagome's plan.

Just as she was about to drop her bag and admit a bitter defeat a voice from the woods behind her home drew all three's attention. "Agh, damn dog brat, how dare he leave without waiting for me; the master will most likely call for my head for not keeping him under control," the little impish demon looked similar to Jaken only he had tiny greenish wings on his back and he was grumbling some words under his breath too low for them to hear.

Miroku drew his staff from inside the hut where he left it and approached the demon, "What business do you have in this village demon?"

Finally noticing them, and seeing the Buddhist staff in his face the demon glared and knocked it away from his person, "Like I would answer to a pathetic, stinking human like you!" He growled and continued to dust the dirt off his royal robes that spoke of his rank in servos to the Western lord, which Kagome then realized that she knew this creature.

"You're the messenger that Sesshomaru sent to bring Inuyasha to the palace yesterday."

"How would a human woman know that information... how dare a trollop like you refer to my master with such disrespect!"

A dark aura arose from Kagome's body that caused even her friends to cringe at and back away, " This trollop just happens to be Inuyasha's mate, which makes me Sesshomaru's sister-in-law, or pack sister as he would see to it; either way I am higher in rank than you and I'm quite certain your master nor my mate would tolerate such free speech from such a low rank servant like you. Now answer the question and I won't purify you."

Hearing Kagome's words caused the little demon to tense and fear for his life, he hadn't recognized the woman who threw him out of the village the day before when he came in search of the young lord; she looked completely different with these strange clothes on. He immediately got down on his knees, though inwardly he was growling in hatred at the thought of lowering himself to a human, on the outside he was coming up with every apology he could think of to please this bossy bitch. "My deepest apologies my lady I dare not mean such disrespect, I was merely upset that lord Inuyasha left me here."

"Why did he leave you?"

"I am not sure human monk, he was quite angry when he approached me yesterday and then he took off to the castle before I could even mount Ah-Un."

"Wait a minute, you have Sesshomaru's dragon with you!" Kagome's eyes lit up, a plan already forming in her head once again.

"Yes, how else would I have made it here, I am a small demon and if I walked it would take as long as a human," the demon rolled his eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Kagome chose to ignore his disrespect for the moment, clearly he had no manners to speak of, in light of this new discovery and began searching the surrounding tree line for the fierce two headed dragon; she was pleased to see Ah-Un standing a few yards away behind a tree, the demon wasn't very friendly with strange humans so he never entered the village. "Do you think you could take me to the palace?"

Kagome's question shocked everyone present, her friends weren't happy that she was thinking of leaving once again. "Kagome you can't!"

"I agree with Sango, I don't think Inuyasha would be happy if you left the safety of the village," Miroku knew firsthand how hard the dog demon worked to keep his wife away from the demon filled castle; if she succeed in leaving the village, the monk had no doubt his friend would surely kill him for not stopping her.

But Kagome was stubborn and now that she had found a solution to her once problem she was going to make it to the West and her husband no matter what. "I told you I need to stop Inuyasha from challenging Sesshomaru for his position as alpha."

Kagome's explanation drew an odd bout of laughter from the once grumpy imp, once he was able to control himself once again he became serious, "You think I would take you to lord Sesshomaru's home… that is absurd. My master has more important things to do than worry about you wondering around his home; and besides Ah-Un will not allow you to ride upon him, the only human it allows is the girl child master once toted around," the demon was so certain of himself that there was no possible way he could be wrong.

But just hearing his words caused Kagome's blood to boil, hearing the challenge she took up on it and approached the dragon that was now staring at her. "Ah-Un... would you allow me to ride you back to Sesshomaru's castle, I need to speak with Inuyasha before he tries to do something that may hurt both of them." She hesitantly watched for the dragon's reaction to her request knowing the beast of burden's moods where just as changing as her husband's. If you spoke to him harshly you ran the risk of both his mouths being unleashed on you, not to mention if you attempt to ride him in this state his scales were like razor sharp knives digging into your skin... even if you were on his saddle. But if you spoke kindly and asked for his permission rather than ordering him he was much calmer and pleasant towards you.

The dragon thought over the woman's request and quickly sized her up. He remembered the human from the very few times his master's group teamed up with his brother, this woman normally helped protect little Rin and he couldn't forget how she willing risked her life for his master's ward when that demonic sword made its appearance. He also couldn't over look the fact that lord Inuyasha has taken this woman as his mate, which meant his master has taken her under his protection also. As of right now this small human woman was the key to the dog demon clan's survival, and as lady of the West he couldn't deny her; he was also pleased when she put the little annoying demon who brought him here in his place, he secretly wished that she would leave him in the woods on their way home.

Everyone present was shocked when the large demon came out of the woods and bowed his large heads to Kagome allowing her to pet him. Kagome was ecstatic that he came to her willingly and allowing her to touch him was how he showed that he accepted her; now she had her ride to the West. Sango saw how excited her friend was about what was happening but she tried to plead with her once again," Kagome please... don't go there... it will be dangerous for you."

"I'll be careful Sango don't worry." Kagome didn't get to hear a response because once she was sitting in Ah-Un's saddle the dragon took flight, clearly ready to leave this village and head home; all Kagome could do was give a short waive before she could barely see the village, the dragon was truly fast. Luckily since she has ridden on both Inuyasha and Kirara at top speeds she was fairly used to the turbulent flight and the blur of the trees from below; but though she was comfortable with the speed the other passenger wasn't.

"Hey slow down you insolent lizard!" Kagome heard over the roar of the wind in her ears the scratchy voice of the imp demon, she turned in search of him and couldn't help but laugh when she spotted where he was; apparently when the dragon took off he wasn't expecting it and all he could do was grab on to its tail and hang on. Ah-Un wasn't pleased at the insult and to get the point across that he wouldn't stand for it, he quickly flicked his tail rapidly causing the imp to jerk free and fly off into the forest below... it seemed he was going to have to use his own under sized wings to get him back to the castle. "Stupid dragon, damn human wench, cursed dog demons... hopefully their rein won't be much longer and then us lower demons will have the last laugh."

Note: I wasn't originally going to leave it there, but I figured I needed something to start the next chapter, not sure when that will coming out though. I want to start up again drawing fan art for this story and so far I only have one picture for chapter one, that means I'm three behind... shame on me. So you'll just have to wait and see what Sesshomaru's reaction to Inuyasha no longer going to the castle at his request, or what's going to happen when Kagome arrives in the West too... I smell trouble right there.

Thanks to:
BugBite14
SorenLovesHolly (pervy comment last chapter... so not happening!)
Alechaos Ogigio
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