Chapter 6

Demonesses soon waited on the land Sesshomaru had occupued; exotic youkais such as elementals, mermaids, and even legendary phoenix demoness. The visits were paid in due form, previously and laboriously made impossible due to the magically scentless nature of the land, and although the news of his stay was quick to spread, the land was equally well hidden. Only the best among them were able to find it.

The visits came in successions, as though they had previously made a pact amongst one another. Various seductive methods were used, some stranger than the other, though all were relatively tolerable to the human residing in the village; games were left dead at the neighboring village with the demoness's scent lacing their courting gift, vigorous courting dances were made, some even displayed blatant nudity. The villagemen did not resent what came for free. Sesshomaru pretended as if they were not there.

Some demonesses were better strategized than the other. Though his retainer was found to be intolerable, and his ward not worth speaking to, a wish of being better acquainted with them was expressed. By Sesshomaru, the attentions was received with greatest displeasure.

Kagome saw superciliousness in his treatment of everybody excepting Rin, and could not like it. She could not, however, take her eyes away from him and his hopeful suitors. To her it was morbid sort of entertainment in the peaceful yet uneventful, post-Naraku days. But something had been bothering her for the past few seconds.

*Slap*

"Ah. Kagome-sama, how do you do?"

"Myouya-jiji" Kagome removed her palm from her reddening cheek, squinted at it, and greeted the mosquito youkai. "Hi."

"Have you news of Sesshomaru-sama?"

Kagome pointed toward the scene she had been an audience to.

Myouga watched with much interest.

"It may perhaps be pleasant" said old Myouya, "to be able to impose on females such charm; but is sometimes a disadvantage to one so guarded as Sesshomaru-sama."

Kagome pointed out that Sesshomaru seemed to be rather used to the attention.

"Although" Kagome added "If he kept on guarding himself like that, he will definitely dash his mother's hope.

"Kagome-sama, I'd like to think that is what he is after." said Myoga, then hopped on her shoulder.

"But perhaps he will fancy one of them, if he sees enough of her."

"Kagome-sama replied Myoga, "Should he desire companionship, which he doesn't, I would say he would not have opposed the mating so much. Mating however ties to souls together and inseparably, and should not be made so decidedly."

"Then, if that is the case, why did his mother rush him?" Kagome asked incredulously.

"He was of age, and rightfully should take the Inu-no-Taishou title from Touga-sama after conceiving an heir. With Touga-sama's death, Inu-no-Kimi feared that someone would contest for the title."

"Well," said Kagome sarcastically, still bitter about his arrogance "I wish him success with all my heart."

Occupied in observing the courtship, Kagome was far from suspecting that she herself was being listened to by the very daiyoukai. Sesshomaru had at first forgotten about her existence; he had looked at her with distaste and indifference the way he looked at most humans. But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his hanyou brother that the miko had hardly any power to speak of, then he began to find something strange.

Early that day when his brother's miko had left the village to travel was coincidentally the moment the demonesses began their unwanted visits. He felt something shifted in the air with the miko's departure, and quickly had experimented with the strange dissipating barrier of some sort, uncommonly powerful judging by the select few demonesses that had managed to find his hideout. He was disconcerted by his discovery. The magical blanket that surrounded his land, he discovered, originated from the miko.

To his discovery succeeded some others equally baffling. Though he had a grasp of her miko power, he was forced to acknowledge that there was a foreign energy in her, which nature might be much more powerful than he had initially surmised; and in spite of his asserting her humanity, he was caught by her scent, which he had previously pronounced to be tolerable for a human, while curious on passing, upon closer inspection consisted of layers of light scents he could not quite name.

Of his observations she was perfectly unaware; for she was mulling over that he was the youkai who made himself agreeable nowhere, and who had thought her so weak she was not worthy even to dirty his claw.

He began to be curious of her, and as a step toward finding out more about her power and strange scent, he decided to approach her, leaving the demented demoness behind. Kagome did not seem to notice his presence still, to his annoyance at her weakness. The mosquito on the other hand tensed and was prepared to greet him. The daiyoukai shifted so that he was within her view, and doing so drew her notice.

"What is Sesshomaru doing" whispered her to her mosquito companion, not willing to talk with the daiyoukai (who could surely hear her question) in front of her "by listening to my conversation with you?"

Hn. So she did notice.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" Myouya bowed.

Satisfied with her quick observation of his presence, he dissapeared.

"What was that about?" Kagome wondered.

Myoga shrugged "Only Sesshomaru-sama could answer that."

Sesshomaru began to appear and disappear more frequently around her. In Kaede's hut while they were eating dinner, in the forest while she was alone practicing her archery, and now while she was conversing with her friends. It was putting a strain on everyone, not knowing what the daiyoukai was planning.

"If he does it anymore, I will soon grow afraid of him" Kagome said. Everyone in the group agreed most heartedly.

On his approaching them soon afterwards, though without seeming to have any intention of speaking, Inuyasha defied his brother and brought his sword down onto him:

"Whaddya think you're doing, bastard" Inuyasha gritted his teeth when tetsusaiga clashed against tokijin.

Which immediately gave Kagome the need to intervene. She turned to him and said —

"Did you think, Sesshomaru-sama, that I drew my bow uncommonly well just now, when I was practicing?"

Sesshomaru flung Inuyasha to the nearby tree, having no interest in entertaining his half-brother.

So she was able to detect me form that distance.

Everyone was surprised when he finally replied.

"With great energy; but of questionable accuracy."

Kagome felt his face burn, both out of anger and embarrassment. She could not, however, express her anger as she was wont to, considering that he would have no qualms in killing her.

Instead, she merely mumbled "You're severe on us humans."

When she looked up from her embarrassment, and Inuyasha had recovered, he was already gone.

The group sighed collectively.

—

Tonight was the celebration of the local daimyo's firstborn son, adding more festivities to the over abundance of food in the village. While the villagers at first were wary of the youkai's courting gifts laid dead at the village's clearings (venisons, bears, horses, whales), there was no more room to put them, and the daiyoukai made his opinion of the gifts perfectly clear.

"What should we do with them?" Kagome asked Miroku, who in turn asked Inuyasha.

"Feed the whole village. The bastard couldn't careless." Inuyasha shrugged.

Kagome anxiously directed her gaze toward the daiyoukai watching them from afar, in silent hope that he would not be opposed to it.

"Well, now we know what to do next!" Shippo added brightly.

—

Sesshomaru stood near the bonfire in silent indignation at such a mode of passing the evening, to the exclusion of all festivities, and was too much engrossed by his own thoughts to realize his ward's dangerous turn of thoughts.

"Sesshomaru-sama, the dancings are so pretty!"

"Indeed." Sesshomaru replied shortly.

Rin was not dettered. "Kagome-sama dances beautifully," she paused "But Rin has no doubt that Sesshomaru-sama would be the best in dancing!"

Sesshomaru stared at his innocent ward in muted terror as what she had not so subtly requested dawned on him.

"Hn" he answered, deflecting her unspoken request.

"Rin loves watching Sesshomaru-sama fight; It's almost like Sesshomaru-sama is dancing"

"Rin" the daiyoukai said in warning.

"Don't you think the people would love it if you dance?" Rin insisted, enlightening the daiyoukai that she was entering her rebellious phase.

"This Sesshomaru doesn't dance" He finished sternly, for although the daiyoukai was not one to fear, the thought that he nearly bent to his ward's wish in a flash of teary eyes was enough to make him fear the soft-hearted creature he was turning into.

"Rin would love to learn how to dance, but Jaken-sama would not teach Rin"

Rin paused in hopes of an answer, but her protector was not disposed to make any, as he was wont to do. Kagome at that instant was moving to their general vicinity, and Rin was struck with the notion of doing a very gallant thing, and called out to her —

"Is Kagome-sama looking for a partner? Rin thinks Sesshomaru-sama should dance with you!" Rin smiled toothily while she took the older miko's hand.

The girl would have given it to her cold protector, who, due to his extreme surprise, was not unwilling to receive it, when the miko instantly drew back, and said with some discomposure to the young ward —

"I wasn't looking for a partner, Rin" Kagome tried smiling to cover for her apparent dismay "I was actually looking for Inuyasha."

Sesshomaru, overcome by his morbid curiosity of her scent as he was always wont to of late, rather commanded that she humor his ward, shocking even himself with his own request. The miko however, did not seem to be as surprised.

Instead, Kagome crouched so that she could see the girl's eyes.

"Rin, I'm sorry, I really have to find Inuyasha."

"Not even for 5 minutes?"

"I'm sure Sesshomaru-sama would prefer to enjoy his time quietly" She said to Rin patiently, all the while marveling that the daiyoukai really was wrapped around the girl's little fingers.

Rin pouted.

"Right" Kagome quickly remembered her purpose and turned away "be a good girl, Rin!"

Her resistance had not injured her with the daiyoukai, and he was thinking of the incident with some complacency, when thus accosted by his retainer —

"The nerve of the girl! To ask a human to dance with the great Sesshomaru-sama!"

"Hn"

"Milord, you must be thinking how insupportable it would be to pass many evenings in this manner — in a human village; indeed this lowly retainer agrees. The noise, and yet the smell — the nerve of all these people!"

Sesshomaru could simply step on his retainer as he usually would, however his mood had not been the usual in the past few days he had been in the village, and today, he was in a particularly evil disposition.

"You're wrong. The human this Sesshomaru was particularly pleased with."

"Hu-human?"

"Inuyasha's wench."

"Inuyasha's wench!" repeated Jaken, mouth gaping like a fish "This lowly servant humbly apologize! Ho-how long has she been…? When am I to wish milord congratulations?" The poor retainer's mind could not help but leap to his Lord's latest mateless predicament.

"You run away with your imagination, Jaken."

"M-my humblest apologies! This servant trespassed his boundaries! To suggest that a lowly human would consort with a daiyoukai is a ridiculous notion!"

Sesshomaru listened with perfect indifference while Jaken chose to prostate himself and mumble many apologies; and as the youkai lord's composure convinced the imp that his life was spared, he carefully avoided his lord's strange mood the rest of the evening.