I was going to call this human and youkai custom but decided this is better. A great hand to ShadowNala for helping me. do not forget to review.

Chapter 25 – straight from the horse's mouth

Sesshoumaru was annoyed, well not really, truthfully, he was worried. He had been feeling such an emotion all too much recently and that annoyed him further so he had decided to morph it this time into something he was a bit more familiar and comfortable with – anger. As per usual it was at himself, and as per usual it was to do with the wellbeing of his ward. Oh he had his servants and knew they did a tremendous job, he was sure of it, dealing with the question of her humanity wondrously, and bearing in mind she could not be treated like a youkai pup.

He made sure she was fed appropriately, that meant no raw meat and plenty of fruit and vegetables as well. Along with this she had to eat regularly, at least twice a day and not three times a week, he even found the time to join her for every meal, though he did not always eat during these times, usually he settled for tea or sake, well more often tea than sake now with the new recipe he had. He gave her plenty to drink, and milk too; he knew that was a necessity, and the same with pups of all species, and ages, older pups still needed it too.

He made sure she got at least eight hours sleep a night and did not insist she rose at dawn like he might do with future demon pups of his own. He was not always successful with this seeming as she had the tendency to be up and doing as soon as light filtered though her window and the melatonin kicked in. He noticed however that despite this she never seemed tired, he noticed no bags under the eyes, or poor decision making, and she continued to excel in her lessons further than any pup he had ever come across.

That was another area in her upbringing he had decided to monitor closely. She was schooled in every subject she needed to be, and Akito was taking her for more lessons than usual due to a ball which was to be held at his palace in a couple of moons time for the annual meet of the cardinal lords and their families. This year, he, the Western Lord was the host, which meant he could not back out and hide his Kagome. He was not worried about it, there was no way someone would dare try to harm her, or even be openly disapproving. He was aware however someone may feel the need to test her or try to disgrace her. While it was impossible she could be an embarrassment to him, she represented his ability to care for her.

He gave her everything she could need emotionally as well, companionship and friends, he even allowed her a visit to her village and he planned to make another one in just under a month's time before the cardinal visit. She had been spending more time with Packo in the kitchens, and this time not only had he allowed it, he had condoned it. He knew for a fact that very soon she would be cooking a meal for him, cooking, he knew that while the food was bound to be nice and of good quality he would not enjoy it if it was meat.

He gave her the finest kimonos to wear and jewellery and make up she could want, not that she ever wore any. He made sure she was happy, that was his number one priority and still he was failing her, and he did not understand this, it made no sense after he had been so careful to make sure she had everything. He was sure it was an aspect of her humanity he was missing, but he had tried to counter that by questioning Keade on a human's needs and how they differed from youkai pups. If he asked she would either not understand or refuse to tell him, and it hurt him and angered him more to admit it, but even after research and hours of questioning the old miko the problem was simple, he did not know enough.

It was not like his pup was in any life threatening danger, no, it was simply that she was unhappy, but even this simple fact was enough to rile him. He was her father, and he was not knowledgeable enough to adequately care for her and ensure her happiness, something every father wants. His thoughts wandered to Hideo, he would know what to do, and the words he had said, 'I give you my blessings...' ridiculous. Only it wasn't, because there was nothing 'wrong' they were not biologically related and he had started to get jibes and problems from his beast as well. Letting it out to defeat the dragon and weakened his mental restraints on the feral thing and more and more frequently it appeared in the foremost of his mind.

He hated arguing with himself even if it was with his beast which was almost another being; it was even under another name, mokomoko. We want her. His sudden appearance was always unexpected and when he appeared he always came with a comment like this. Sometimes he was more forceful, saying something like TAKE HER NOW! And he had to run and lock himself into his chambers while his eyes went from amber to red to amber to red to amber again while he fought his beast back into the chains his mind had supplied centuries ago. The blasted dog always broke out once more a day or so later, sometimes only a couple of hours later.

Sometimes the beast was more rational and urged him to look at her through the new eyes he had started to view her in. Sometimes he said how it made sense to make her his mate and he had to argue for hours about how she was too young. The beast told him he already loved her like that and that was why he overreacted when the village boys, Kohaku and Hojo hung off of her. When this happened he went back to his room and beat his head against the wall to shut it up. He hated it when his beast made sense like that, he was harder to deny.

He usually always gave his beast what he wanted because it seldom asked for anything and he usually needed or wanted what it was too. But this was something he could not allow mokomoko to take; his daughter should and would always remain his pup. Kagome was but a young child now she could not possible accommodate his size anyway, it was preposterous, the thought of hurting her, physically, and destroying her mentally was another way to shut him up, but it brought more worry and anger to him too. He was her light and he fought for her, like hell was he going to be the one to extinguish her, not that it seemed he would get the chance.

She seemed dull and dark recently, for two days in fact, and that concerned him. While he was sure it was something that would pass in time, he did not want it to come about at all in the first place. He was annoyed and worried and knew he needed more information, so he was going to do something he hated, he was going to ask for help. Akito and Sakura had always been knowledgeable about human pups, Sakura had adopted two of her own, though they were adults and mated and moved away now, he would ask her what he was missing. She was her light and she lit up his world, without her his heart would go back into deep freeze.

Keade had been teasing when she said she would be sincerely sorry if Kagome turned out similar to him in any way shape or form. Reviewing his own cold demeanour and speech which was entirely inappropriate for a child to copy, not to mention him being the killing perfection Daiyoukai, he had readily agreed with sincerity. He had doubted the slim possibility of this happening would ever become a problem, for she was too sweet and pure, and that purity had rubbed off on his own tainted soul, illuminating the darkness it had originally resided in. She was good effect on him and loved that she was rubbing off on him but it shouldn't go the other way.

He vowed to get to the bottom of this and he would do so today, striding through his castle he cast his eyes left and right until he caught sight of who he was looking for. He would ask Akito, someone he was friendlier with and someone who had more confidence when around him, but Kagome was currently in a lesson with him. Sakura was trotting through the halls with a silly smile on her face which could only mean one thing; she had a crush on someone. Visibly only in her early twenties she dressed in a way which made her look younger still catching the attention of many male suitors, but it was natural beauty she could not really help, and it was not in her character to disguise herself and dress in a way merely to remain more modest.

Everybody in his castle was above raping a poor woman, but it did not stop her from having a crush, and that was it was, she was not at the stage of seriously falling in love yet, she dressed immaturely, because she was. She was bright though, and good with children and that was why she tutored his pup. Unconsciously he did a Kikyou comparison, no, she had been indecent, he did a Kagome comparison as well, well Mokomoko did anyway. Our Kagome is beautiful, he supplied, and he would usually reply, but now was not the time to be snarling at himself, Sakura was shy as it was without him scaring her while they spoke.

Go away, he ordered his beast as he approached her, earning the familiar retort of

I am you, I cannot simply disappear.

Then go back to where you came from.

I refuse to let you carry on in denial anymore, she is ours, perfect, take her.

It seemed his beast was so lost in its lust it had reverted back to simple speech. Not now, I need to talk to her tutor concerning her wellbeing and she is a shy individual, I do not need you scaring her. Kagome will remain upset if I do not get a chance to talk to this woman. Once more the beast saw reason when it came to Kagome's health and wellbeing and sulked back to where it came from. It threw a reply of I will return over its shoulder, and of this Sesshoumaru was certain, as much as he hated it, he always came back.

"Sakura," he called, making her wipe the expression off of her face and come to a stop. "There is a matter concerning my ward that I wish to discuss with you." Instantly fearing it was she doing something wrong with her lessons Sesshoumaru felt the waves of apprehension wash over him. He suddenly felt the need to reassure her, this too was new, he would never have even considered explaining himself before Kagome. Maybe it was a general change in him, maybe it was because Kagome liked Sakura and therefore he found himself having an obligation to like and respect her more than other servants in his castle too.

"It seems my ward has been particularly upset as of late, I was wondering if you had any idea why." He felt the apprehension grow and it became suffocating, he had to put an end to it, "rest assure I am not accusing you of anything." The apprehension left again and a small smile came onto her face as she realized what he was asking, but he verbalized it anyway no matter how much it hurt his pride and ego, "I am simply asking your assistance. You may know more than I when it comes to the raising of human pups, and she is friendly to you, she may have told you something that she did not see the need or feared to tell me."

"It turned out I can help you with the dilemma my Lord," she smiled and Sesshoumaru felt a knot inside his chest loosen. "You see Humans have this custom, a custom that is particularly important to pups that does not exist in most youkai lives. They like to have a celebration every twelve months as they get older, celebrating another year passed. She did not want to tell you because she feared you may find it silly, but today is Kagome's eleventh birthday and she has not received any gifts or been made to feel particularly special like she would be among her human family.

"Where is she now?" He questioned.

"In the kitchens, Packo is attempting to cheer her up with a cake her made. I believe he is enjoying it more than her, he likes it that there is someone who appreciates his artistry and creativity when cooking a meal."

Nodding his thanks, he left. His first stop was his chambers; he had already given her everything she could want so he had to give her something special, luckily he had an idea. He pulled out a think abler chain with a crescent blue moon as the pendant and stowed it in his sleeve. With that he hurried down to the kitchens to see the female working bustling about busier than normal because their leader was preoccupied with tending to the young human. "I have always wanted to use this ingredient," he gushed, pouring some sort of spice into a bowl, "but all anyone wants is meat, all I can do is arrange is nicely on a plate." This got a small smile out of his ward and he silently thanked the cook who had now noticed his presence.

"Ah, Lord Sesshoumaru, how may I be of assistance to you?" That boy too had grown in confidence around him and he took this as a good thing, a household was always better run on trust and respect than loyalty earned by fear. Sesshoumaru however ignored him and turned his full attention to the child, with a small smile he said, "happy birthday Kagome."

The simple words had a magical effect on the child and her face broke into a smile immediately, lighting up the entire room. He felt a small well of guilt, "it was Sakura," he admitted without meaning to, "I went to ask her why you were acting so upset and she told me about human custom of celebrating birthdays."

The young child however did not seem at all disheartened by this and attached herself to his leg, giving him a hug. "But you were worried about me, and that is why you went to ask what was wrong to make me feel better, right? Thank you for caring so much about me, and for worrying you, I promise to tell you everything in the future."

Pleased with this reaction he moved onto the next phase. "Turn around," he bid his ward and she did so immediately, grin still plastered on her face. He slid the cool metal around her neck and fastened it in place. "This is an amulet, wherever you go, with me or without me it will keep you safe," he said. It wasn't strictly speaking a lie, it showed she belonged to him, hence the crescent moon, and very few people were stupid enough to anger him by threatening that which was his. Inus were protective and possessive of things that belonged to them and often ended up killing those who opposed or challenged them.

"Keep it close to your skin," he said, "and if you need me then put your hand over it and call me telepathically and I'll hear you and come to your aid."

"Really, it has that much power?" She was amazed, good.

"Yes, it does."

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru."

She looked at her gift in amazement some moments more and he decided it was indeed a good choice. Trouble followed her wherever she went whether she had a protector with her or not, he was sure Ryuukotsusei was not the last enemy he would have to dispatch. Then suddenly an extremely pleasant aroma filled the room. His eyes turned to the recently forgotten Packo who was holding a now cooked what he presumed to be a birthday cake. He noticed all eyes turned to him and flashed a nervous toothy smile, holing up a small knife, "anyone for cake?"

Later that evening, sleep evaded Sesshoumaru for hours, his beast had come back and decided to torture him some more about the feelings he wanted to deny but found himself unable to do so. She is ready for us, she must want us too, who else could she want? She has the slayer boy and other human; we have no right to take her choice away from her. Besides she is too young to be considering such things as of yet anyway, we must be patient. You say wait, but what to do you mean, wit for her, or wait for your own feelings to solidify. You and I may be one but we are still different, I mean to wait for us both.

He lay awake for hours on top of the covers on his bed fully clothed staring at the ceiling of his room. He watched the shadows of the night dance across the walls and was simply aware of time passing. He may have slept for an hour, maybe two, but when light shone through his window to signal the coming of morning, he realized he had not moved a muscle. One thought kept circling his head as much as he did not want such an impure thought to be there, even for a Daiyoukai. She was one year older, this meant a lot of things, but one stood from the others: she was one year closer to being old enough to become his mate.

That was a custom for both humans and Youkai