Disclaimer: I do hereby disclaim all rights and responsibilities for the characters in this latest installment... especially for the one who's planning to be selfish. A nod of recognition is bent towards Rumiko Takahashi for her creative prowess.


Tug of War

In the next week, the weather proved fickle, shifting from unseasonably warm to decidedly inclement. For days on end, cold rain rattled against the roof tiles and tore at the trees, spoiling all the spring blossoms and dampening Kagome's mood. Trips to the stable were postponed until better days, and Sesshoumaru's mother began insisting that her son keep her company when he wasn't taking lessons. The hours spent in the pavilion felt empty, and as the place Kagome had carved out for herself closed in around her, she grew pale, distant, and tense.

Knowing that the young lord would spend the entire morning with his parents, Kagome couldn't think of a reason to leave her bed. So she didn't. From her burrow under her blankets, she listlessly listened to the hiss of rain on stones beyond the pavilion walls. I'm alone, but I still want to hide... to disappear. There were things she wanted to avoid—Sesshoumaru's curiosity... his mother's suspicions... Hisoka's penetrating gaze. But more than all of that, she was hiding from a truth that clamored more and more loudly for her attention. I shouldn't be here. As grateful as I am to Sesshoumaru for taking me in, I don't want to live, grow old, and die in these rooms. Maybe it's a selfish wish, but I want to go back... to be where and when I belong. It was such a relief to acknowledge her unhappiness that she quietly laughed as tears pushed past her lashes and trickled down her cheeks.

The door to the bedchamber opened with a brisk snap, and she peeked up in time to see Hisoka breeze past her meager privacy screen and crouch beside her futon, easily balancing on the balls of his feet. "Erm... good morning?" she mumbled, hastily swiping her nose.

A tray slid smoothly into view. "The tea is already cold, but if you do not eat, his lordship will accuse me of negligence. Join me when you finish."

Twenty minutes later a rather chastised young woman appeared, tray in hand.

"Did you eat?" Hisoka briskly demanded.

"Most of it."

"Then sit," he directed, gesturing towards the table where he conducted Sesshoumaru's lessons. "Do you know how to prepare your own ink?"

"Yes."

"Show me." Somewhat confused, Kagome did as she was told, taking so much care with the process that it took her twice as long as it might have. Still, the teacher nodded in satisfaction when she was done. "Now, write."

She pulled the waiting paper closer and chose a brush, but hesitantly asked, "Why?"

The neko-youkai shrugged. "Some of the characters on your practice sheets are unfamiliar, and I wish to study them more closely. Indulge my curiosity."

"Oh... what should I write?"

"How about your name," he casually suggested.

Kagome shrugged and made the first strokes of her given name, then hastily blotted then out. "Sorry... sorry," she mumbled and began afresh.

The tutor made no comment, but he moved around to her elbow and peered over her shoulder as she finished the name she'd given them. Hisoka tapped the characters with the tip of a claw and read, "Higurashi... the sound of crickets at sunset." She hummed a nervous sort of agreement, and he stepped back. "Fill two sheets, and be neat."

She gave him a sidelong look. "Are you giving me lessons because Sesshoumaru-sama is gone?"

"Do you have anything better to do?" he challenged dryly.

"No," she sighed.

The next two hours passed in quiet industry. Kagome chose the smallest brush in Hisoka's collection and strove to give him her neatest work. Since she had little else to write about, she described the Western Fortress and its inhabitants. That should be a safe subject. They were the kinds of details she'd been saving up, hoping for the chance to tell them to Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo... and to her family in the modern era. Somewhere along the way, it turned into a letter home. One I can never send.

When the lunch trays arrived from the kitchens, a terse note was included, announcing that Sesshoumaru-sama was being kept in the family pavilion until dinnertime. Hisoka grumbled something about stubborn dogs under his breath, then faced the young woman. "It would seem that we are both at liberty for the afternoon."

"Again," Kagome replied bitterly.

"The Inu no Taishou is away," the neko-youkai calmly explained. "Once he returns, her ladyship will not have her way quite so often."

"I can't fault her for wanting to spend time with her son," she reluctantly replied.

Orange eyes grew thoughtful, and Hisoka announced, "I plan to exchange my supply of scrolls for new ones this afternoon. You could join me."

"There's a library?" Kagome inquired, brightening somewhat.

"The fortress has an archive," he corrected. "It's not extensive, but it is better than nothing. We can stop by the kitchen on the way back; one of the cooks has a generous heart and lets me forage."

"Just give me a minute!" she exclaimed and hurried into the next room. Kagome's excitement made her fumble-fingered as she straightened her clothing and tidied her hair. She'd been to the stables on more than one occasion, and the family bathhouse had definitely been a highlight... but she was curious about the rest of the fortress. Maybe he'll give me a little bit of a tour? I want to see as much as I can while I'm here.

That gave her pause. While I'm here... yes. She latched onto the faintly optimistic note of that thought and willed it to flourish. There has to be a way to go back! And if there's a way, I'll find it. I must!


Hisoka-sensei was right; this isn't much. Kagome stood quietly in the corner while the neko-youkai poked through dusty cubbyholes and sifted methodically through the contents of a series of cabinets. He was about two-thirds of the way down the row, and it was impossible not to notice that all the shelves behind him were neat and orderly, but those ahead of him were in disarray. Something tells me he knows what's on these shelves better than the... erm... archivist. She cut a glance at the ancient inu-youkai sitting at a desk beside the door, slowly copying information from a stack of parchments into a scroll. He makes Totosai look liked a strapping youth.

Edging closer to Hisoka, Kagome whispered, "Are there more books and things... where you come from?"

"Yes," he agreed with a wry smile. "My grandfather's collection would fill a room five times this size."

"Oh... you grew up with your grandfather?" The neko-youkai glanced at her warily, and she smiled tentatively. "So did I."

"Hnn... I spent much of my time with him," he shared. "I did not quite fit in with my brothers."

"Does that mean you're the black sheep of the family?" she teased.

The cat's brows drew together. "Sheep?"

"Erm... never mind. You know, I have a brother," she confided. "How many do you have?"

"Last time I was home..." he mused aloud. "Twenty-eight, I believe."

"S-so many?" Kagome gasped.

"My parents have been bonded for more than a millennia, and twins run in the family."

"Are you the oldest?"

Hisoka's lips quirked. "No, I am not quite so old."

"Sorry," she blushed.

He waved off her apology, and said, "I am far enough down the line to have few expectations placed on me."

"So you were free to come here?" Kagome asked.

"Something like that," he replied vaguely, then firmly changed the subject. "Since you can read, would you like to borrow something?"

She eyed the shelves curiously. "Like what?"

"What would interest you?"

Kagome bit her lip and considered. I doubt there are any instruction manuals for time travelers on the shelf... and I don't really want to wade through the equivalent of a textbook. She was just about to offer a polite refusal when an idea struck. If these are the archives of the Western Fortress, there must be stuff in here about Inuyasha's father. Maybe I could find out some things to tell him when I go back? With the hanyou in mind, Kagome ventured, "Are there stories about the Inu no Taishou?"

Hisoka cocked his head to one side. "Every great ruler encourages the telling of tales that celebrate their accomplishments," he replied carefully.

"Legendary hero stuff?" she asked hopefully.

"Indeed."

"Then... I'd like something like that, please," she said decidedly.

He took in her expectant face, then stepped to one of the cabinets and withdrew a thick scroll. Tapping it against his palm, he asked, "Why do you want to learn about the great Dog General, Higurashi?"

She lowered her eyes, scrambling for a reasonable explanation. "These are the kinds of things a son likes to hear about their father...?"

The cat relaxed imperceptibly. "As it happens, you have hit upon one of milord's favorite subjects. He admires his father greatly."

Hugging her new reading material to her chest, Kagome smiled and breathed, "Thank you."


It was well after dark when Sesshoumaru finally returned to the lonely pavilion in the corner of the gardens. Hisoka's brows arched when the front door slapped open with enough force to rattle the frame but refrained from commenting. Judging by his hammering heart and breathless state, Sesshoumaru had dashed across the courtyards at top speed. He's so fresh from the baths, I'd wager he's still wet behind the ears. The boy's anxiety was understandable considering the state Higurashi had been in when he'd left for breakfast that morning. "Welcome back, milord," the neko-youkai murmured.

The girl stirred from her reading, and it was both gratifying and troubling to see her bright smile put the young lord at ease. "We saved you some things from the kitchens," Higurashi announced, waving towards the trays they'd procured earlier.

While Sesshoumaru sniffed at the contents of the dishes she uncovered, he surreptitiously sniffed at her as well, and by the time she excused herself to the sleeping room to collect a blanket, the young lord was exuding his usual smug confidence. He sidled up to his teacher and graciously inclined his head. "You did well."

"Thank you, milord."

"What did you do to fix her?" he pressed.

The neko-youkai leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. "Very little. She responded favorably to a small outing; perhaps a regular change of scenery is called for?"

"Did you find out anything more about humans?" Sesshoumaru demanded.

Hisoka touched the scrolls he'd selected from the archive that morning. "These are all I could find, but the records are incomplete. They do not go into great detail, for there has been little contact between the Western Fortress and humans."

The boy flicked a glance towards the door to the adjoining room and said, "You will keep searching."

"Yes, milord," the tutor murmured as Higurashi returned.

She spread her blanket near one of the lampstands and urged the boy to join her. For the remainder of the evening, she read aloud from the borrowed scroll. Sesshoumaru's eyes took on a shine as the young woman waded through the records of a centuries-old battle between the inu-youkai clans and the dragon-youkai that lived in the mountains to the north.

"Did Father really face two hundred dragons?"

"Of course," Hisoka answered easily. "No matter how savory the meat's been prepared, the bones of truth run under the surface."

The young lord nodded sagely. "He is the strongest youkai in all the world!"

Higurashi's eyes sparkled. "Well, that may be true; however, this scroll doesn't actually say your father managed this feat single-handedly."

"Very astute," Hisoka remarked, amused by the defensive set to Sesshoumaru's posture.

"He led our people to victory, though," the boy argued.

"Not entirely, no," his tutor announced, adopting his best lecture voice. "Your father and Lord Ryuukotsusei reached a compromise that ended the war."

Higurashi's face was a mask of confusion. "They were allies?"

"And still are, though that would be a generous description," Hisoka replied seriously. "Peace has endured since that particular war, but it is a tentative one."

The boy's expression grew thoughtful, and he drew Higurashi's scroll closer, scanning the text with greater interest. "Something that happened so long ago still matters?"

"Yes, indeed," his teacher replied. "You must understand the past in order to be armed for the future."

"Are the dragons a danger to our people?" Sesshoumaru demanded with a slight frown.

Hisoka made a flipping motion with one hand. "No more than your people are a danger to theirs. Tell me, young diplomat-in-training... why did the Inu no Taishou withdraw from the field of battle?"

The lordling's chin lifted at the challenge in his tutor's voice, and he considered carefully before answering. "If Father chose to end the fighting, it was because... he could not win?"

His teacher nearly laughed at the stricken expression on his pupil's face, but he applauded Sesshoumaru's courage in voicing something that must have felt traitorous to speak. "Your father is a mighty warrior, but it is not battle prowess that makes him a great leader," Hisoka explained. "The great Dog General fought with two hundred clansmen, and they reached a stand-off with the dragons. To continue would have accomplished nothing but the loss of more lives... and additional suffering for the families who had been evacuated from the border villages."

"He made peace to protect everyone," Higurashi surmised, and the cat nodded once.

"How do you know all of this, Hisoka-sensei?" asked Sesshoumaru suspiciously. "It is not in this record."

The neko-youkai's orange eyes sparkled. "I was not much older than you when my grandfather was called upon to mediate the peace between the Dog General and the Dragon General. His firsthand accounts became my lessons in diplomacy."

Sesshoumaru pondered this some more, then asked, "Has the balance of power changed since then?"

"Who knows?" Hisoka sighed. "Finding out could be costly."

Straightening, the boy fixed Higurashi with an imperious gaze. "You will read it again; start from the beginning."

Hisoka looked on with considerable satisfaction as the impromptu history lesson modulated his pupil's hero worship into something more substantive. If the boy is going to idolize his father, it should be for the right reasons.

When Sesshoumaru and Higurashi were once again immersed in the scroll, Hisoka pulled the young woman's practice sheets closer and puzzled over the contents. Her writing was neat, but the parchment was scattered with enough incomprehensible words that his inquisitive mind was taxed to interpret the message aright. I will need her to read this out... and perhaps create a syllabary. Her meaning was sketchy in places, but the letter appeared to ramble on about everything and nothing. It was perfectly harmless, yet the way she closed the missive worried him. 'I will find a way back. Somehow. Someday.'

This does not bode well for his lordship's hopes. She will cause trouble for him yet.


End Note: This chapter was written as a part of the Child's Play Challenge at the Live Journal community dokuga(underscore)contest. The prompt was 'Baa, Baa, Black Sheep'. Posted on February 12, 2010. 2,497 words.

FanArt: One of the questions that comes up the most where Unspoiled is concerned is, "How big is Sesshoumaru?" The answer to that can be found in Chapter 7—the young lord only comes up to Kagome's waist. Although he is actually one hundred, she guesses him to be six or seven in human years... even if he acts older. Since visuals are always helpful, I commissioned some artwork from Eien-no-Melody of Unspoiled's three main characters. You'll find the link to her Showery, Flowery, Bowery moment on my profile page! Enjoy!