Pack Mates
It was amazing how fast Sesshoumaru had organized his little pack, Taisho mused. Something had happened to Kagome – Taisho knew it from the moment he had lost sight of her in the rain three days ago – but he had simply imagined that the girl had gone to town and stayed with a friend, or something of the like. It would be just like a friend of Kikyou's to pull that kind of trick on Sesshoumaru, especially when it was so clear that the pup loved her. It was the one thing Taisho had not counted on.
He had never expected his nephew to fall for that mere scrap of a girl. Not after Kikyou.
Taisho watched them from his office window. Sesshoumaru, Naraku, Miroku, Kagura, and Sango were sitting on and around the stone wall in the courtyard, talking non-stop, all with worried looks on their faces.
With his hearing, he could barely make out the conversation.
"Ok, so we've checked everywhere we could think of on campus." Naraku was saying. "Obviously she's not here. We would have found her by now, and there just isn't any more places to hide a body around here."
Sesshoumaru tensed at the word 'body'. "Then we'll just have to look off-campus." he said, anger and determination shining in his eyes. It still surprised Taisho that he was talking now, even if it was just to this little group of people.
Kagura muttered something under her breath. Whatever it was, it pissed Miroku off.
"No! We can't think like that!" he snapped, jumping to his feet. He was pacing now. "If we start thinking like that we might as well give up. We won't do her a lick of good if we even consider the possibility."
"But we do have to consider it." Sango said gently. "Consider, but not dwell. There's a difference, you know."
"I don't care." Sesshoumaru's voice was harsh, and even Taisho winced. "She's not dead."
"How do you know?" Naraku asked.
"The pack marking. I would know if she died. And he hasn't raped her. We've still got two days before his mark comes back. He can't touch her until then."
"That still doesn't protect her from – "
"Kaede!"
Everyone turned to look at Kagura. "What about Kaede?" Naraku demanded. "Do you think she can help us?"
Kagura grinned brightly. "No! Kagome is at Kaede's! Naraku brought me there a couple of weeks ago, and there's this old wine cellar in the barn. I almost put my foot through the door – that's the only reason I know it's there! I can show you where it is, real easy!" She was practically bouncing with energy, her eyes sparkling.
Sesshoumaru gave her a thoughtful look. "I never even thought of that, but she's right." he muttered. "Jinenji had a wine cellar for the longest time before he mated Kaede. They don't even go into that section of the barn anymore, so if she's there, there's no way Jinenji would have smelled her. It's perfect!"
Everyone grinned at that. Finally, they were getting somewhere!
Miroku spread his arms wide. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Taisho smiled to himself as he watched the pack leave the courtyard, not even bothering to keep a low profile as they raced towards their friend and fellow packmate. Sesshoumaru was right. Kagome was nothing like Kikyou – and very much worth his nephew's affections.
He turned his back on the window, his smile fading as a new look took over. "Kanna."
The professor walked into the room, curiosity written in her eyes. "Yes, Pa?"
Taisho smiled softly at his daughter. "Gather the others of my pack, the ones who are within easy reach." he commanded. "We have a job to do tonight."
Kanna grinned. "I take it we're finally making a move against Hakudoshi, eh?"
"Something like that. I'll explain once everyone is here."
"Got it, Pa." With that, she left to gather Taisho's pack, leaving the demon standing in his office, thinking hard.
/---/
AN: Uh. Once again, really short. Sorry about that. I will make the next one longer, you can guarantee that. Oh, and I'll explain more about Kanna's connection to Taisho in the next two chapters as well. Review, please – and name how many pages you want the next one to be, and I'll see what I can do. It should be the last chapter!