Disclaimer: I do not own 'Inuyasha' or any of its characters. Any OC is mine.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Mother's Fear

"Are you satisfied, Sesshomaru?" his mother asked him that night while he was sorting some letters.

It seemed his mother had got used to annoy him when he was trying to take advantage of the peace and stillness provided by the dark hours. Maybe she knew that no one would bother them or maybe she knew very well he didn't like to be disturbed at that time and enjoyed doing it on purpose.

"Hn," was his only answer.

"Sure, his father was strong and charming – I mean, I am biased of course – but that half-demon reminded me of Toga while he was toying with his prey; that impertinent smirk was the same. If he only had the facial marks and the long hair held in a ponytail he could be mistaken for a younger version of his father. He has sure put on a show today. Shou may be a fool and he doesn't reach his late father in strength, but he is not so weak. Yet, Inuyasha defeated him without problems. Your people noticed it, Sesshomaru."

"Hn," he said again, "he improved with the sword, indeed. I would have said he handles it as a cub only a short while ago."

"Well, son, you know by now that that fang was destined to your brother… and it doesn't matter how much you act like a spoiled child, the one your father left to you is as much valuable, even if we as demons do not always appreciate that kind of value."

"Certainly I am not going around doing charity now," her son mumbled.

She chuckled amused, "Of course not, my son, of course not. You already did the only charity you wanted to," she stated referring to the child that was currently living at Inuyasha's village and that had travelled with Sesshomaru for quite some time.

The dog demon was about to rebut with a sneer when an inhuman scream that exuded fear and terror reached their ears.

Both got up in a haste and with horror, they recognized the source of the scream; with horror, they recognized the voice as the half-demon's. Without losing time, they headed in the direction of his bed chambers.

When he woke up, Inuyasha thought it was already sunrise but looking around he noticed that it was still deep in the night and probably not much time had passed since his mate had fallen asleep in his arms.

A moan reached his dog-ears while Kagome woke up equally disturbed by that soft cry.

Sure it was time to nurse her son, Kagome stood up groggily and reached for the crib once she had worn her nightgown leaving it untied so that a glimpse of her bare chest was visible.

Inuyasha, meanwhile, was beginning to feel at unease and exercising his senses he immediately perceived something was wrong. His son's cry wasn't the usual one informing them of feeding time, no, he could clearly sense despair and pain, along with an odour that he immediately recognized as...

"Kagome NO!" he screamed trying to take her away from the crib before she could be touched by whatever thing was nesting next to his son. Hastily he grabbed her arms, he would be the one to check on their son and then kill whoever had dared to touch him.

However, he didn't have the time because at that precise moment the door of their room opened suddenly revealing two dog demons. The tallest among them reached them in one leap, vehemently dodged the outstretched hands of the priestess and laid his eyes on the panicked pup.

Sesshomaru, caught by senseless fear and the panic triggered by it, had not dosed his strength in the least. The moment he had perceived the smell of venom, he had not hesitated and he certainly could not risk that the priestess was contaminated as well.

The impact for Kagome was bad, but luckily for her, Inuyasha had taken the brunt of the fall, shielding her with his body the best he could.

Getting up immediately, despite her sore bones, Kagome tried to approach her son again but was forcibly restrained by her mate.

"My baby, my baby, what's happening to my baby?" she was screaming desperately. Her cries went to join the crying of the pup that by now had definitely raised in volume.

Sesshomaru saw next to the child a network of white strands trapping him almost as if whatever insect had been sent had wasted its time building a cocoon around his nephew. By the smell, those strands seemed ready to corrode the skin with minimal direct contact, so how was it possible that it did not affect the pup?

Yet, to his horror, he noticed the baby's skin turning red and filling with blisters like wildfire and not from too much screaming. A sticky substance was dripping from his chin and seemed to be responsible for the child's discomfort who now could not even move, he was immobilized; more venom Sesshomaru noted.

Without wasting time, nor caring about the burns those webs caused to his skin, Sesshomaru took the child in his arms to inspect him better and confirmed that indeed, whatever venom was in that liquid had immobilized him. They could not know what other effects it would bring and in how long if it was acting so quickly.

The priestess' cries were now increasing at the sight of her son's paralysed state and she fidgeted in Inuyasha's arms to weasel out of his grip, "My son! Release me, release me..." she sobbed.

When it was clear that he wasn't leaving her she dropped to the floor again and began to cry even more desperately against his chest.

"Kagome, whatever it is you can't go closer, don't you see it's affecting even Sesshomaru?" the half-demon, whose state of mind wasn't at his best either, tried to reason.

Sesshomaru's arms were almost burned because of the contact with those filaments, yet they seemed to not affect Muteki; only the substance that had been injected directly was making him ill.

Acting quickly and with caution, Sesshomaru used the wet cloth the guard gave him to wipe out every trace of the substance that had still to be absorbed by the child's skin. However, from the very reddish colour of his skin, the situation was not good. Even his cries had diminished by now, suggesting that whatever it was, it was now affecting his voice too.

"Dammit! Where the fuck Myoga-Jiji is when we need him!" Inuyasha bellowed enraged observing his son.

Sesshomaru didn't raise his eyes from the child, "It's going to hurt," he proclaimed.

"W-what?" Kagome stuttered.

"What is going to hurt, Sesshomaru? Dammit, Answer me!" his brother shouted while he saw his fangs came closer to his son's neck. "Sesshomaru!" he cried out in desperation as his arms tightened even more around the body of his beloved in a desperate gesture.

"He is going to try and suck every trace of venom entered the child's bloodstream," Kimi offered then. "Since Sesshomaru is not a flea demon, his method will inevitably hurt the baby. Unfortunately, though, from the speed at which everything is unfolding, we have no other solution. Sesshomaru's body will be able to better handle the poison of that substance without too many problems, being him a demon that produces it himself."

Everything happened in a second, one moment Kimi was explaining all of this and the next the child's screams seemed to intensify again to the horror of his parents who had to witness the demon unscrupulously stinging the child's neck with his canines in the same way Myoga would have done with his stinger.

In the Western castle, the majority of its inhabitants had been woken up by the screams coming from the royal wing. No one, however, seemed to understand the reason behind them aside from two innocents demons laying contently on a futon after having found their release through each other's body.

Saying that they had just made love was a joke since the male used the woman's body for sheer carnal pleasure, nor was he gentle or careful when he did it. He didn't care about being sweet, he only needed to vent out his frustration and anger on the body the woman graciously offered him. After all, that rough and violent treatment was what she liked too.

So they stood there quietly, he looking up at the ceiling, she with her head on his chest and her eyes closed as his fingers caressed the pale skin of her arms.

"It seemed your plan worked…" the male voice started.

She giggled in response, "It didn't take so much. I only had to send one of my pupils to do the job. They are quiet and, most of all, they are not noticeable. I did a good job, didn't I?"

He nodded, "Indeed. To hear those beautiful sounds that reverberate throughout the castle is pure bliss," he added referring to the miko's cries. "Soon we will listen to those of the half-demon too. What a wonderful song the desperate cries of the bastard dog's offspring offer us."

"Those two won't ever put a foot in the West again," she said, "you'll have all the time you wish for to continue your vengeance on the older son."

"Ungrateful dog," the demon growled, "after all effort and attempts I made to win his favour he even has the guts to snob me! For what? A half-demon and his dirty-blood family! A miko! They will regret it."

"I'll say the regret has already started," she chuckled again, "and it's music to our ears."

It seemed like hours had passed since Sesshomaru had started working on the child's body but when he pulled away from her neck, less than a minute had passed.

The dog demon shuddered for less than a second at the awful feeling of the infected blood entering his stream but his body promptly expunged it as it was nothing.

Time stood still while everyone waited for a response from the baby and Sesshomaru. Muteki had stopped crying after a while exhausted and resigned to his fate but much to his uncle's relief the blister had stopped spreading as soon as the majority of the venom was out.

However, it was far from ended.

Moreover, Myoga wasn't here and Sesshomaru had no way to know if he had sucked every trace of the venom without drinking too much blood; he couldn't risk it.

"Osamu, send Jaken to Totosai, now. He has to come back in less than a couple of hours with Myoga in tow. I don't care how, but it's a matter of life or death. Kichiro, call a couple of sniffers to come here immediately, I want them to analyse this crib and you have to supervise the process," he instructed then while crushing under his black booth the vermin who by now was slowly trying to come back from where it arrived. He didn't need him alive, he only needed the proof; the sniffers would have done the rest.

Keeping the still immobile child secure in his arms he headed towards the bathrooms without even saying anything to the distraught parents collapsed on the floor.

"Wait Sesshomaru dammit! It's my son the one you have in your arms, you can't go on like that without even telling us what's happening! I smelled venom coming from that wretched crib!"

"Well, little brother, it seemed obvious to me that someone tried to strike at you using your son. Fortunately, we arrived in time but he is still not out of danger. As you can see whatever it was, affected me too so I was merely trying to do you a favour by not letting you touch him. Tell your mate to prepare some of her concoctions while I wash him, until Myoga comes here we need to try and expel every bit of toxins from his body," Sesshomaru answered coolly.

Later, when there would be no danger anymore – because he would be damned if he let some vermin kill the baby – Sesshomaru would try to understand why he seemed immune to the white strands around him. He suspected the priestess' blood was involved.

The next couple of hours seemed to pass in a blur for the couple in pain for their son. Kagome sent the healer to retrieve every kind of herbs she could think of and hastily prepared a tea that could work as Sesshomaru had asked and with difficulty, they managed to make the pup drink it.

Muteki's cries had started again and this time he didn't want to stop but this was also a relief. Indeed, from the sound of his cries, they could also ascertain that he was feeling a little better; they were louder and more insistent. There was no way to calm him down and even when he was placed in his mother's arms, he didn't stop. In fact, he could sense his mother's distress and that offered him no comfort. If anything, it made him feel more in danger.

His skin had yet to recover its natural colour, but the blisters that had initially formed were now almost fully healed. It seemed that his demon blood was working fast despite being noticeably less. However, Sesshomaru also pointed out that in sucking the poison he had inevitably sucked a large amount of blood as well, and since Muteki was still a pup this had to be replaced immediately.

Inuyasha had then suggested the method used by Myoga when Miroku, Sango and Kagome had been on their deathbed. They had then sent someone to retrieve the ingredients required to make the concoction but they will still have to wait for Myoga to prepare it.

Meanwhile, they had also received the report from the sniffers. It seemed that the species of the caterpillar was one usually grown by butterfly demons or, on rare occasion, by moth demons; it was not even common in Japan. It came from the continent and while its cocoon burnt the flesh it was the substance it secretes that was deadly. They had acted quickly but even though the baby was no longer in danger of death they had to make sure that any trace was removed as soon as possible because there was no telling what effects it might have, especially on a mostly human newborn.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to trace its master, the sniffers had said. They were certain it had been sent by someone because it wasn't a kind of worm that acted on its own but always under its master order. However, the latter always cut every tie before the caterpillar was sent on its mission that's why the inability to point out whoever had sent it.

That however wasn't of much use. That the vermin had been sent by someone they already knew, it didn't take a genius or a sniffer to figure it out. Of course, it could be useful to have proof by certain terms, but what was the point in the end? They couldn't blame anyone directly and unfortunately, there were still several moth- or butterfly demons in the castle, albeit not so many.

All of this had not calmed the brother who was on the verge of tearing the whole wing or worse someone to pieces. Sesshomaru couldn't allow him to sow confusion throughout the valley, especially since being their first time in the West they had to show maturity and control; Inuyasha couldn't appear as a crazed and bloodthirsty demon, the dai-youkai had said.

Well, of course, these last words had only enraged the half-demon who was struggling to control the blood boiling in his veins more but if Sesshomaru allowed him just a little freedom on this point he was sure that before Myoga arrived, there wouldn't be even a bug left in the valley.

At the same time, seeing that his mate and son needed his comfort and presence, Inuyasha was willing to postpone his carnage and Sesshomaru inwardly sighed in relief. They still need to address the subject and he felt at a loss because it had been only their first time in the West and he had already failed although his promise to defend his brother's family; Inuyasha's fears hadn't been foolishness, he knew it. Would he still be willing to come in the West next time and be his heir now?

Waiting for Jaken's return, Sesshomaru also pointed out what he had noticed when he had saved the pup. As he had thought, neither Inuyasha nor Kagome had noticed that Muteki had been unaffected by the filaments; they had been too distraught to take notice.

"I think it's safe to state that his spiritual powers had played a part on it," Sesshomaru concluded.

Kagome raised her red eyes swollen with tears to look at him, "H-how? He's just a baby, he couldn't have known how to defend himself or call his powers."

"You forget that your son is also part-demon and as such, he also has a set of strong demonic instincts. When our life is at stake, we usually call upon some defensive mechanism. Your mate transforms into a seemingly full demon, for example. Your son may have just discovered his, even if he probably didn't understand it. It would not have been possible for him to transform as only a quarter demon or otherwise focus only on his demonic blood. However, these instincts are innate in every full or partial demon from birth and Muteki had probably called upon what it was for him his best chance to survive." He showed them a burn on his hand that had yet to heal; it would surely need more time. "He did this when I first approached then he recognized me as part of his pack and ceased every attempt to attack me."

"T-t-that…"

"That's a fucking fluke," Inuyasha concluded for Kagome. "That damn vermin was already creating the cocoon before we even heard Muteki crying and I know first-hand how dangerously that kind of thing is, you remember me with Gatenmaru? Think about what it could have done to Muteki if hadn't used his powers instinctively."

"Indeed," Sesshomaru agreed.

"Who could have done that, Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked worried, "Why strike at a seemingly defenceless baby?"

"You forget, Kagome, that for the majority of the demons in this valley your son is not a pup but a mixed breed and as such, it doesn't matter if it's still young. Many prefer to eliminate half or part demons before they grow up, that's why there aren't so many around. Moreover, in your case, since they knew they cannot defeat Inuyasha fairly or as easily as they had previously believed, they chose to hit Muteki in his stead. Probably they chose the pup because they thought you as a mystery; Muteki was the easiest choice."

"They want you out," Kimi summed up. "Demons in this valley have their own agenda. Surely knowing that now Sesshomaru is backed up by a half-demon stronger than they thought and that has also more rights than them, had put a damp on their plans."

The glare Inuyasha reserved to his older brother would have sent in hiding even the strongest demons, but obviously, being Sesshomaru the recipient of it, he remained unfazed. "This is all your fault! I told you coming here for us would only be a risk and look at us!" He pointed to his mate and son still in his arms. "Not even seven days and someone already tried to kill my pup, had we stayed in our village none of it would have happened!"

Kagome tried to squeeze his arm and stop him from shouting out loud that their coming here was entirely Sesshomaru's idea and that Inuyasha didn't even want to – it wouldn't look good and who knows who could have been eavesdropping now since what had happened.

"Lower your voice," Sesshomaru hissed. His thought not very far from the miko's.

"You have nothing to say? You've been the one to assure me it would be sure for us, that we would be protected!"

"And I did that, you said you were satisfied with the guards I appointed you. Besides, it's not like you did a good job in checking your son. He was sleeping in the crib next to you but you didn't notice it because you were too worried about rutting your mate!" As if the smell of their union wasn't coating the room too! It would have been more noticeable if not for the venom's stench.

Kagome gasped, Inuyasha growled and restrained himself from jumping on him and driving his claws into his neck. "How dare you… If I had been awake I would have noticed a bug crawling into my son's bed!"

"No, you would have not." The sniffer had explained to them the modus operandi of this species and the reason why they were infallible most of the times. They were small, quiet and their venom acted immediately; no one ever noticed them reaching for their prey. "They have no aura, they are small, how do you expect to notice them if not when they have already attacked the victim?"

"We're out of here. Kagome prepare your stuff. As soon as Myoga arrives and check on Muteki we're leaving this damn place and won't ever come again." His tone was low and menacingly, his body was trembling out of rage and his face dark.

Sesshomaru looked daggers at him, "You stood in front of my whole court as my heir. You cannot retreat your word now."

"Well, I'm not the only one who doesn't keep his promises, am I?" Inuyasha retorted. "I told you I didn't want anything to do with this crap and you assured me my mate and son would have been safe, but you didn't hold your part of the deal. I don't see why I should remain here now. Deal with this bullshit alone. I'm not going to stand here and have everyone talk behind my back and risk my family's lives just because some old fart is breathing down your neck due to your refusal to take a mate. For all I care you could go fuck that crazy daughter of Shou and have a child with her; all your problems would be solved and you'd have a beautiful full-fledged heir who would surely meet the favour of your court more than me. I'm sure she is already waiting for you, legs spread out."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried. She stood up and took a step back with her son secure in her arms. "Don't let me say it to make you stop babbling this foolishness!" She gave him a pointed look that told him she wasn't at all pleased with his speech. She was tired, worried and had a weight on her heart that didn't want to go away. She didn't need those two to fight too. "What do you think you two are doing?" She added looking at Sesshomaru too. "That's exactly what they want! Putting one against the other. Not to mention that they wish for us to leave the West. If we leave now we'd only do their bidding. Even if we resume our quiet life in the village, they already know us, they could come for us anyway. There's no going back." Her eyes were pleading with him, telling him she couldn't stand them fighting right now because she already felt like a wretch.

Inuyasha sighed. He would let it go for now because he recognized that the timing wasn't the best and it would be good not to let his anger speak but their argument was far from ended. "Ok, but I still have a lot to say and I don't want to remain here more than it's needed."

Myoga chose that moment to appear on Inuyasha's neck and resume his favourite pastime. It was obvious that his danger-radar, which usually always worked perfectly, had failed him because if the old flea had only looked at the whole picture for more than a second he would have known that it wasn't safe to feast on the hanyou's blood right now.

"Myoga…" Inuyasha spat out through gritted teeth, the vassal squashed between his thumb and index finger. "I'm not your meal."

"Inuyasha-s-s-sama. Your humble servant is at your service. I came as soon as your request was received."

"Myoga-Jii-chan." Kagome came closer and let the flea peer cautiously at her son. "We need your help with Muteki. A venomous caterpillar bit him and even though Sesshomaru managed to suck the majority of the substance from his blood we cannot be certain. C-c-can you?"

"Oh, Kagome-sama!" Myoga exclaimed, "Sure they have not!" He was appalled someone would try to kill the young Lord only a couple of days after their introduction. He jumped on the baby shoulder and gulped. Sure, he had been dying to taste his tasty blood but these weren't the circumstances under which he wanted to. The pup was incredible pale but his uncovered neck still showed some redness. He started to whimper when he sensed another presence next to him albeit small and Myoga presumed that his squeamishness was due to the late attack on his person; his master's son had never reacted so badly to his presence.

"Of course I will do it, my Lady!"

The flea demon wasted no more time and got to work. After a first sip, he still noticed a small percentage of venom in the child's blood so he told his parents that he needed to drink a little more of it to make sure the threat was completely gone. He looked nervously at his master who was observing him with a surly and menacing look but a slight nod of his head made Myoga return to the task at hand. When he began to increase in volume, as he did every time he drank a little too much blood, and then broke away from the child's neck, falling backwards onto the floor unceremoniously, everyone sighed with relief – even Sesshomaru.

"The young Lord is safe, Inuyasha-sama."

"You sure Jiji?"

"Of course, Inuyasha-sama! I saved yours and your mate's life already, didn't I?"

"You don't have to act so obnoxiously now, Jiji. It's my son we're talking of course I want to be sure," Inuyasha growled, squishing the flea again in his hand; Myoga was back to his usual form in a heartbeat.

"Y-yes, Inuyasha-s-sama."

A moment later Osamu dropped a bunch of vipers and medicinal mushrooms at their feet, "Here what you have requested, Inuyasha-sama, Sesshomaru-sama."

"Leave it to me!" Myoga waved his two sets of arms. "The young Lord will be back to full strength in no time!"

That said, spirits had definitely been lifted. With the arrival of Myoga came confirmation of Muteki's actual good health.

The child drank the flea's special medicine with great difficulty – not that Kagome blamed him that much, she had been the first to drink it – and immediately fell asleep again under the watchful eye of his parents.

Meanwhile, Sesshomaru instructed the guards to keep secret the attack on the pup.

"But what will you say to the ones who will be asking about the scream? You must admit that both father and mother have strong voices. It doesn't come as a surprise that their son is very loud in the night when he wakes up," Kimi joked.

"We will say that the pup had had troubles falling asleep or that that the miko hadn't been feeling good. None of this must come out of these walls, is that clear?" Osamu and Kichiro nodded contritely. "Very good, go inform the two sniffers who were here a couple of hours ago. If you find out they already spread the news you have my permission to kill them," he added shamelessly.

Kagome's eyes widened, "You can't be serious, Sesshomaru!"

"I am, miko. You do not live in this castle so you are not used to our ways, but whoever sees fit to go around talking freely about what goes on in my private chambers goes against my orders and as such must be executed. The ones in my service knew very well what are the rules when something happens here, so if they are smart they will have kept their mouth shut, if not…"

"And then you say you have enemies…" Inuyasha scoffed. "Anyway, he's not right about the secret part. We don't wanna everyone to know and besides, if nothing leaks and we keep Muteki inside, whoever dared to send the bug – even if I have my hunches – can't really know if had succeeded. Say as an excuse that Kagome hadn't felt well, it will allow us to stay in these rooms until the end of this damned trip. I'm not going to see any of those ugly faces or offer another chance, we'll leave as soon as we've sorted this out."

"Very well then, Kichiro, Osamu, go." He turned to his brother and added, "We will discuss your position, Inuyasha."

A/N: Who might be responsible for the attack on Muteki? I don't think it's so hard to guess.

Concerning the caterpillar described in this chapter, I took inspiration from one that actually exists. This type of butterfly is only dangerous in its caterpillar form, it's reddish with white legs and causes blisters, redness, and paralysis. In reality, however, this happens upon direct contact with the insect, the addition of filaments/cocoon and the bite is mine. It is also Native European and does not come from China as mentioned within the chapter.

The reference to Myoga's special medicine, if you do not remember, comes from Episode 107: Inuyasha's first tears. It's one of my favourites!