*I do not own rights to Inuyasha or it's affiliated companies.
I started this story because I wanted to start writing creatively again. It's been a few years since I've written a story and it's been a good way to distress during this time. Please let me know what you think and if you have any pointers. I cannot guarantee I will take anyone's advice, but it may inspire me in the future so please don't hesitate. Just please don't share hate. I may make edits as I progress, but I will let everyone know if I do.
It's been nineteen years today since I chose to return to the Feudal Era. How things have changed...Kagome took a deep breath of clean unpolluted air, letting it out slowly as she stretched against the tree she lounged against.
Clank! Clank, clank! Kohaku ducks the pole as it swings for his head. "Good!" he praises, moving to his right to sweep his sickle at the knees of a tall woman clad in an all-black slayer uniform traditional to the Slayer village. The woman jumps into a backflip to avoid the attack. Landing on the grass a little further from Kohaku, he used the distance to his advantage, releasing his sickle by the chain in a broad sweep. The woman avoided the sickle by leaping into a nearby tree.
Kagome watched from under a nearby tree. "Good. Now close the distance," Kohaku commanded, "Good." Pulling a box from her pack Kagome pulled out a piece of sky-blue paper, a magic seal with a fox carved into the handle, ink, and a brush. As she watched Kohaku continue to instruct her travel companion, Kagome began her message.
Lord Sesshomaru,
Talks with Lord Chikao and Shogun Hiro went well. Trade has been begun between the Northern Lands and the surrounding human villages. I will report more details of the meetings upon my return. We left the Northern Lands yesterday morning but stopped to pay a visit to the Slayer Village. Kohaku sends his regards and apologies for being unable to attend the mating ceremony. We will leave at dawn tomorrow. I plan to rest an afternoon in Edo on our way to the palace.
Kagome looked up just in time to see a well-timed sweep of the young woman's leg at Kahoku's legs topples the seasoned warrior backward. Just as Kohaku's back hits the dirt, the woman stands pointing the end of her pole at Kohaku's chest. The man chuckled heartily before pushing the pole aside and accepting her offered hand. "Excellent, Himawari. I'm running out of things to teach you."
"I've been training with Sango and Miroku when we are in Edo," Himawari admitted, bashfully rubbing the back of her neck with a wide grin stretching her thick full lips enough to show off her white fangs.
"I see. My training is not enough for the you," Kohaku joked, chuckling and watching the blush that colored her sun-kissed cheeks making her emerald green eyes light up.
"O-of course not, Master Kohaku." Kagome stifled her giggles, watching the younger woman rush to explain herself. "I just felt that I should train when I can, since I rarely get to visit you."
Kohaku laughed openly, "It is an excellent idea. My sister and Miroku are great warriors to learn from. I will tolerate sharing my star pupil with them."
"Th-thank you, Master Kohaku." Himawari's blush deepened as she bowed.
"Alright, enough training for today." Kohaku turned to Kagome, smiling brightly at the miko as she beamed brightly at the pair. "Let's head back to the village. Ready Lady Kagome?" Kagome nodded, rolling her letter before stuffing it in her sleeve and grabbing her pack.
"She has come a long way, hasn't she?" Kagome said, watching the young woman's sleeping form, her short black cherry braided hair the only part of her not covered by the bedsheet.
"She has. Her skills are nearly at the level of my sister and only with a few years training. I really do have little left to teach her." Kahoku mused, following the line of Kagome's eyes. "It's hard to believe she is the same shy, docile girl you brought me. She could barely look me in the eyes then. I honestly wasn't sure she would ever break free from the pain she carried."
"There was a time I felt the same. It's been two years since she's been home. Her change will be a shock to everyone in the palace. I cannot wait to be home." Kagome sighed, taking a sip of her tea.
"I wish I could be there to see their reaction," Kohaku chuckled. "Shippo may have a heart attack when the young males start approaching her. If I remember correctly, he was very overprotective of his kit when she was little." Kagome giggled bittersweetly, recalling old memories of Shippo going to extremes to safeguard his only child. Still, even he couldn't protect her from the hate of the world. The evening crept by slowly, the two old friends reminiscing about distant times. Things had definitely changed, but no one was prepared for the changes that lay before them.
Dawn broke over the Slayer's village slowly. The cool crisp air clashed aromatically with the humid warmth of the first rays of light. Just barely light, the village was already alive with movement. Families rose to start chores or fix breakfast before the days' work would begin. At the gate, Himawari stood with Kagome bowing their goodbyes to Kohaku and his wife. Neither woman was ready to start walking yet again. They were both longing for a long reprieve at home in the Western Lands.
Walking south from the Slayer village at an unrushed pace, the women pass the time in comfortable practiced silence. Himawari stopped suddenly, raising her eyes to the sky, feeling the approaching essence of familiar yokai. A moment later, Kagome sensed it too.
"He responded to your message?" Himawari questioned, raising her eyebrow, her emerald eyes not leaving a spot in the sky.
"H-he never responds unless it's an emergency." Worry shot up Kagome's spine.
"Or he wants to change the route of our travels." The women look at each other with an expression of dread. Emerald met cerulean both sets of eyes returned to the sky as a flying roll of parchment came into view. Tense moments later, the sky blue parchment found its target. With practiced ease, Himawari reaches up to grab the parchment before it can collide with her person. The women exchange another look before Himawari unrolls the parchment. Her heart races as Sesshomaru's elegant writing becomes visible. It's is never a good day when Sesshomaru personally responds.
Himawari,
This Sesshomaru has sent Lieutenant Yuki to accompany Kagome for the remainder of her journey. When he arrives, you will depart for Totosai's home. You will remain at his side until he has completed the item commissioned.
Lord Sesshomaru
Himawari stared at the message for a long moment before handing it off to Kagome. A moment later, Kagome met Himawari's confused and angry eyes with her own confusion.
"He has never sent you on a mission like this before. What is he up to?" Kagome questioned, handing the parchment back. Himawari sniffed it quickly, trying to detect anything off in Sesshomaru's scent. The smell of orange blossoms, thunderstorms, and the ever-present hint of bitter orange from his poison held nothing out of the ordinary aside from a heavy hit of sour stress and musky determination. Given the upcoming mating ceremony and Rin's second pregnancy, Himawari could understand the presence of those emotions. Himawari blew a deep breath through his nose to cleanse it of Sesshomaru's scent, not wanting it to linger. Kagome watched the action with a knowing soft sigh holding her hand out for the paper.
"I cannot say." Himawari seemed lost in thought as she handed the parchment to Kagome. Himawari absently rubbed her fingers together on the hand that touched the parchment. The hairs on Kagome's arms stood up as a wave of heat brushed over her skin from Himawari's direction.
"We are only a day from Edo and half a day from the palace. Yuki is fast enough he will reach us by the time we stop to make camp, but we are closer to Totosai's volcano right now. I can continue on alone until dark, Yuki will join me soon after," Kagome said, thoughtfully stuffing the parchment into her pack.
"Kagome..."
"No listen, the sooner you get to Totosai's place the sooner you can collect whatever it is Sesshomaru ordered and get home. I don't want to be the one to explain to your mother why her daughter is not present for the birth of her siblings. Shippo can be terrifying, but your mother," Kagome shivered. "She makes you feel like a monster with her sad forgiveness and gentle smiles," Kagome joked, trying to lighten the mood. Himawari gave her a half-heart smirk. Her father was a force to be reckoned with, having learned his temper from his adoptive mother. Her mother, on the other hand, was sunshine incarnate. When angered, she was gentle, honest about her disappointment, and forgiving to a fault. You didn't cross her because you would be eaten away by guilt for hurting someone so gentle.
"If something were to happen to you, Kagome, I'd rather add to my travel time than face my parents and Inuyasha." Kagome giggled.
"Do you think I can't take care of myself, kid." Kagome put her hands on her hips, glaring at the younger woman. Then she crossed her arms over her chest with a haughty look. "Besides everyone believes I protect you, not the other way around." Her haughtiness faded as a thought struck her. "Which only make Sesshomaru's mission stranger. It's best if we split up from here so you can get to the bottom of this quicker. I have a feeling about this."
Himawari huffed in resignation, looking towards the mountain that housed her destination. "A bad feeling?"
"Nope, just a feeling. I'm not sure yet but keep your guard up." Kagome pulled the taller woman down into a hug then nodded before heading down the road alone. Himawari silently watched her go until her figure disappeared around a bend in the dense forest road.
"So, he sent you to check up on me?" A gravelly voice drawled behind Himawari.
Not bothering to look behind her, Himawari greeted her companion, "Totosai, what the hell are you doing trying to sneak up on me?" Totosai sat atop Momo, blinking at her slowly.
"Darn, I was hoping to surprise you at least a little." Totosai sighed as if his day had been ruined. "Always worked on Inuyasha," he grumbled.
"I smelled you long before I felt your aura. When's the last time you bathed?" Totosai made an unimpressive attempt at a growl earning a toothy smirk from the kitsune hanyou. Absently the old yokai scratched his back.
"Well if your done insulting me, we've got work to do, kit," Totosai said, turning serious. Himawari raised a brow as she turned to face him. She could see the bags under his eyes and the tiredness in his form. She decided she would run him a bath when they got to his home. He looked like he needed it.
"You look tired old man. Let's get you home." Himawari moved towards Momo.
"As much as I would like the company, I have other plans for you."
"Is the order already complete?" Himawari scanned the yokai and the cow for the new weapon but saw none.
"No, Sesshomaru's gift for his intended is not yet complete. I am still missing an few essential ingredients. Since he sent you to me, you're going to retrieve it for me." Himawari swallowed her growl at the mention of Sesshomaru's intended. Truthfully, she believed that was why Sesshomaru had ordered her to remain away from the palace. His intended hated the hanyou. The feeling was mutual.
"What could he have ordered for the princess?" More colorful words were added in her mind.
"A dagger. He believes she will feel more comfortable in the West with a little protection-"
"Protection from what? She's mating the most powerful yokai in all of Japan, perhaps beyond. No one would dare touch her for that reason alone. What's so special about this dagger anyway?" Totosai gave her a proud smirk despite her angry outburst.
"Now you're catching on. Sesshomaru ordered the creation of a dagger that could cut through even the strongest of armor. Laced with his poison it will carry the same attack as Bakusiega in a much smaller concentrated form." Himawari cringed slightly, feeling her chest constrict and a chill creepy through her stomach. "Even more disturbing is the dagger will not be able to be turned against Princess Aimi. Her blood has been used in forging it, making her nearly as invincible as her soon to be mate." Himawari's eyes widened.
"You still suspect her?" Himawari whispered, shifting her eyes towards the trees where Kagome had left minutes before. A sickening feeling replacing the cold in her stomach.
"So do you." Totosai's voice lowered just above a whisper. Himawari nodded, still watching the trees. "This dagger cannot be made to Sesshomaru's specifications." Himawari turned towards the old yokai with confusion.
"It will be made as commissioned...with a few minor adjustments." Totosai smirked, keeping his voice low. "With the help of Myoga I have already collected blood from you, Kagome, Inuyasha, Suki, Miroku, Sango, and your parents. When added to the blade it will ensure the dagger will be unusable against them just as the spell protects Aimi. What I need is the blood of your unborn siblings."
"You want me go to the palace to collect blood from my unborn siblings?" Himawari's nose wrinkled in horror as a growl rumbled in her chest.
"You'll have to wait until they are born, but yes. I'd send Myoga but with yokai flooding the palace for the ceremony Sesshomaru will have Rin under extra protection, but you can get close to your siblings without raising alarm. Sesshomaru cannot know what we are doing. Don't look at me like that." Himawari was giving a dubious glare. "You've snuck in and out of that palace a hundred times before." Himawari thought a moment, so it wasn't a hundred, but Totosai had a point. No one save for Sesshomaru knew the palace's hidden pathways like she did. Only four people knew of their existence: Sesshomaru, his mother, Shippo, and Himawari. Shippo, the palace historian, had told her about them after the first hanyou murder to ensure her safety if needed and Sesshomaru was too arrogant to use them. So, she used them and often.
"If my siblings are not born before the…mating, what then?" Himawari, the thought made her skin crawl.
"Then you must bring them and your parents to me immediately. I do not know when the enemy will show themselves but if the princess is involved, after mating, Sesshomaru will protect her no matter who she targets." Himawari's blood ran cold, and her hands fisted at her sides, digging her black-tipped claws into her palms. "If he turns on us, you know what you must do. You still have the antidote to his poison I gave you."
"Yes." Himawari swallowed hard, closing her eyes briefly. She knew this was not something any of them wanted, but this was where fate had led them. Despite Totosai's fear of the elder inuyokai brother, his death was not something he wished for, but war had its casualties. If Sesshomaru's death saved hundreds, it was a price he was willing to pay. The question was, was she.
"If you find evidence that she is involved and he stands in your way, do not hesitate. He will not." Totosai softened, watching the tension build in the hanyou, the ghost of tears brimming her eyes. "I pray to the gods it won't come to that, but I'd rather him then you. Now come, I'll take you as far as I can so you will have the cover of darkness to aid you." Totosai offered her his hand. Himawari took it, hopping onto the cow yokai's back. They sped off into the sky, utterly unaware of the two sets of eyes from different vantages in the forest tracking their movements.
The cool breeze danced through the lavish garden bringing the scent of magnolias to her nose. Himawari fidgeted with her ivory kimono decoratedwith colorful koi. She fussed with her unruly knee-length hair trying to comb into something attractive with her clawless fingers. Still, the dark straight mass continued to slide forward, curtaining her face. Finally giving up, she tucked it behind her pointed ears, making them stick out oddly from the volume. 'Breath, you can do this. It's fate. He will understand. It's a good thing.' Himawari thought, trying to soothe herself. She looked at his note once more, breathing deeply the smell of orange blossom and thunderstorms.
Meet me beneath the cherry tree in the garden when the moon is at its highest point.
Himawari looked up into the canopy of cherry blossoms. The pale pink buds seemed to glow beneath the full moon. Several high bushes and tall trees surrounded the romantic sanctuary in the Southern Lord's palace gardens. Her heart fluttered wildly as she heard the sound of footsteps coming towards her. Her hearing was that of a human, so she knew he was close. A shy smile pulled at her lips for a moment but faltered as a melodic giggle sang through the air coming from the same direction.
Panicking, Himawari quickly ran behind a large bush as far from the clearing as she could manage. She was not supposed to be out wandering the grounds, and if caught alone, it could be disastrous for the peace talks they were there for. Some of the yokai lords would see her midnight skulking as an act of espionage. Sesshomaru had taken a risk sending her the note to come out to the gardens. Still, she couldn't very well say what needed to be said in the guest quarters with Inuyasha and Kagome present. She was just glad it seemed he had finally noticed the changes in her.
The giggle whispered through the garden again, just as a couple wandered into the clearing beneath the cherry tree. Sesshomaru walked next to a petite female kitsune. Her porcelain skin glowed in the moonlight while her four tails and her soft wavy hair matched the light pink flower buds above her head. She turned gracefully, her pale green kimono flowing around her like water, to stare bright pink eyes up at him. She was barely taller than his waist and looked almost childlike compared to his towering height.
"Lord Sesshomaru, I must admit my heart has been racing ever since you left that note to meet you here," Princess Aimi cooed shyly, touching Sesshomaru's hand. Himawari's heart stopped as the note in her hand felt like a brick. 'I-it wasn't meant for me...bu-but why then was it in my room...' she thought, shaking head trying to keep the tears at bay. She couldn't be caught, not here, not now.
"I am honored you chose to come, though I was clear to meet me beneath the cherry tree." Sesshomaru's voice was soft and warm as he playfully teased the princess.
"It was too scary to wait out here in the dark alone." Her nervous tone won her a small smile from the usually stoic inuyokai. Himawari looked at the ground wishing it would open and swallow her whole. 'H-how could I be so stupid…'
"Then it is your luck I am here." Sesshomaru took her delicate hands in his, and Himawari swallowed hard, willing the tears not to fall. "Princess Aimi, though my endeavors for conquest and power have been diverted to more profitable pursuits. I still desire to make secure a powerful position for the West in the coming centuries. I can no longer accomplish this task without allies and to ally myself with your father's lands would secure not only the power and influence of the West but the progress we have made with the humans. For this reason, I would ask you to be my mate." The princess gasped a little too convincingly, turning away as if she was blushing. Himawari would have growled at the display if she could.
"Oh Lord Sesshomaru, surely a weak yokai like myself would not be worthy of your greatness. I am practically human in comparison." Aimi sounded bitter and a little too sweet. As Aimi looked at the ground sadly, her eyes locked with emerald hidden in the bushes, and a flash of smugness lit up pink iris before breaking away. Suddenly Himawari realized her presence in the garden was little more than a princess's idea of a sick joke. That would explain why Sesshomaru had not detected her hiding mere feet away.
"You are not as weak as you believe, Princess. I would not have chosen you if I believed that to be the case." Sesshomaru lifted her pretty face to meet his amber eyes with two curled fingers beneath her chin. "And I have no intention of taking a weak human as a mate. The survival of yokai depends on trade agreements and marriage bonds, but pure yokai must not be lost in the changing times. Your brothers sacrifice in mating a human is honorable, and I feel that his mating and the human/yokai matings of my house will help guide other yokai lords to follow the path of peace and tolerance. Our mating would ensure the knowledge that pure yokai will continue to be born. I will not exchange war for peace as the cause for our possible future extinction. You are worthy to walk by my side, Princess Aimi." Sesshomaru lifted a delicate hand to his lips, barely brushing the pure white skin. In the shadows, Himawari clutched a trembling hand to her chest, trying to fill her suffocating lungs with air even as her muscles constricted painfully. If the tightening pain in her chest did not choke her to death, she reasoned the growing lump in her throat would. Tears ran down her freckled cheeks of their own traitorous will. She lifted her eyes just in time to see the petite princess lift up onto her tip-toes as Sesshomaru leaned down to press their lips together in a brief gentle kiss.
"I would be honored to become your mate, my lord," Princess Aimi whispered seductively, pulling him down for a longer kiss. "Come let us tell father, he will be thrilled." The princess practically dragged Sesshomaru from the garden.
After Himawari had regained enough composure to make her way back to the guest quarters, she slunk clumsily through the dark corridors, unable to see well in the darkness. Rounding a corner, her heart froze in her chest.
"Did you enjoy the show, hanyou?" Aimi sneered before grabbing Himawari's kimono and slamming her back against a wall. Despite the difference in their sizes, the princess was easily fifty times stronger than Himawari. All the kitsune hanyou could do was go limp and wait for what she knew was coming. "Answer me, bitch!"
"W-wh-why?" Himawari stammered out in a whisper, cowering behind the curtain of her unruly hair. Princess Aimi's right hand left Himawari's kimono to grip long, thin fingers around her throat. The sharp points of her claws dug into Himawari's neck just enough to hurt but not draw blood.
"Because you, pathetic, disgusting, hanyous need to be reminded of your place. Did you honestly think that the great and powerful Lord Sesshomaru would ever lower himself to even notice an ugly worthless excuse for a vixen like you? You? The most pitiful, insignificant, abomination I have ever had the displeasure to set my eyes on. You don't even have any yokai. I would assume you were just a malformed human if I didn't know your father was a yokai. How a powerful kitsune like your father birthed a weak revolting creature you is beyond me." As she spoke, the princess tightened her grip while pushing against Himawari's throat. Black spots started to dance in her vision as she prayed the older, stronger vixen would end her pain and suffering. This was a dance Himawari had experienced many times before at kitsune school. As a hanyou with barely any yokai, no heightened senses, and no tails, she was a favorite target for bullies. She only thanked the gods she could heal quickly, or she would have never survived the endless beatings. "Remember this hanyou bitch, you are nothing. If I did not think your putrid human mother would not cry to my beloved, I would kill you right now and rid the world of your filth." Princess Aimi pushed on Himawari's throat roughly before releasing her to watch with a sinister smirk as the Himawari gasped for air. "You will tell no one of this, or I'll cure Sesshomaru of his greatest weakness. And you know very well, no one would even suspect me. So, I suggest you get up and return to your quarters, you're stinking up the hallway." Princess Aimi delivered a swift kick to Himawari's ribs, causing the hanyou to double over in pain, a muffled moan escaping through gritted teeth. Himawari clutched her side as she looked up at the princess, only to see her eyes go wide for a moment.
"What is going on here?" Sesshomaru bellowed, coming down the hallway moments later.
"Oh! My lord, thank goodness. I found your companion lost in the hallways. I believe she may have fallen and injured herself, poor dear." Aimi cried, taking Sesshomaru's hand to lead him to Himawari's crumpled form. Himawari averted her eyes to the floor. She tried to focus on making her breathing sound normal despite the searing pain that shot through her left side with each breath. At least two of her ribs were broken. Sesshomaru looked her over quickly; being used to Himawari's clumsiness, he deemed her uninjured. With her head dipped, the bruises on her neck were hidden from his sight.
"Get up, go to your quarters. I will deal with you momentarily." His tone towards her was like ice, cold and sharp. When Himawari hesitated to stand, he lowered his voice further, "I said get up." Himawari rose as carefully as she could and without making eye contact and hurried down the hall. She heard girlish whispering and calming baritone as she put distance between her and the couple.
By the time Sesshomaru entered her room, Himawari had been to see Kagome to heal her wounds. Not a word was spoken between the two women. Kagome had healed Himawari enough to figure out what probably happened. Both had come to a mutual understanding that for the young kitsune hanyou, this was life, and no amount of peace talks, treaties, or human/yokai marriages would save her from her tormentors. She wasn't like Inuyasha, Jeninji, or the other hanyous Kagome had met. She was weak and docile, and at fifteen, that was not likely to change.
Sesshomaru entered the room, slowly stopping just in front of Himawari's seated form. "Do you have any idea what your stupidity could have cost us." He seethed with a chilling tone.
"I am so sorry my lord. I simply wished to take a little walk."
"You dare lie to me? Are you so foolish as to think I cannot smell when you lie?" Himawari refused to meet his piercing glare. She felt tears prick at her eyes as she stared at nothing. Growing irritated with her refusal to look at him and her silence, Sesshomaru grabbed her wrist, pulling her to her feet. She did not resist, but the motion caused the note she had tucked into her sleeve to fall to the floor. She gasped as he bent to pick it up. "Where did you get this?"
"I-it was slipped under my door." She answered, clutching herself tightly, still looking away from him. He could smell she was telling the truth. It didn't matter how she got it that irritated Sesshomaru. It probably fell from Aimi's sleeve and slipped under that door.
"You know my handwriting. Why would you think I would want to meet you in private?" His answer was a fresh stream of tears. "There is nothing I would ever need to say to you in private, foolish girl. I will not tell my intended of your eavesdropping on our private moment, but you will cease this childish infatuation at once." Himawari felt her chest constrict again. She attempted to release herself from his hold, only succeeding in making him tighten it. "Be thankful another did not find you wandering the halls. Others do not see you as the child you are, and I would not sacrifice the progress we have made to save you. We will not speak of this night again. Go to sleep, Inuyasha will escort you back to the West at dawn." Sesshomaru left her room as quickly as he came leaving her to muffle her cries into her pillow.
Totosai left Himawari a mile from the palace in the black of night. Slipping through the darkness with practiced ease, Himawari made her way to the ancient cedar tree just beyond the range of the guards' senses. Totosai had circled the palace from a safe distance to give her a clear view of which entrances she could take. All but one was too risky with the added security Sesshomaru had ordered in anticipation of the princess's arrival and Rin's due date. Himawari gathered her upper back length hair into a tight top knot before pulling her hood and mask over her mouth and nose. Jumping into the split in the trunk where the tree splayed in two, she slipped through an ancient barrier place there long ago. This was the last route Himawari wanted to take, but it was the only one she could access.
Making her way underground, she pulled her yokai in tight, masking her aura while allowing just enough to scramble her scent and energy signature. The tunnel continued in pure darkness for several long minutes. Still, Himawari merely slid her hand along the wall feeling her way silently until she reached the secret door at the end. Listening closely to the other side, she calmed her until her chest barely moved. No sounds greeted her so gently and slowly, she pushed the door open a crack. The door, invisible, when closed, slide open without a sound, just enough for Himawari to slip through. She closed it, making sure the seams disappeared before scanning her surroundings. She was in a private bath, his private bath. She had only ever used this passage one other time as she never dared to enter his private anything unless absolutely necessary. Crouching low to the ground, she crept around the boulder that housed the secret door towards his chambers, where the hidden panel would lead her towards her parent's chambers.
She tried not to breathe as she made her way through his room to the panel. Slipping into the panel, she navigated from one room to the next, slipping in and out of hidden entrances and exits. It was the more exposed of the pathways intended for quick escapes and not a complete journey through the palace. Still, soon, she would be at the underground tunnel that led to the other side of the complex where her parents lived. She just had to make it through his study, and she would be clear. Praying the late hour would have him headed back to the chambers she had just left, she wedged herself into the wall between the two secret entrances from the empty room and his study. Instantly her luck ran out. Through a small hole in the plaster wall, she saw Sesshomaru sitting at his desk reading a missive casually. This could be a very long cramped wait. Himawari shoved her nose into her arm and took a deep breath to hold it. A moment later, her luck went from bad to worse.
"What the hell did you do?" Inuyasha snapped, waving a blue piece of parchment as he burst into the study. Sesshomaru did not look up from the missive he was reading. "Why did you send Himawari on some pointless mission?"
"My reasons are of no concern of yours," Sesshomaru stated calmly, his voice and face void of emotion. Sesshomaru's scent was wild with anxiety, stress, and something she'd never smelled before on him.
"She can't even protect herself and you sent her off to find Totosai alone. She's going to die out there!" Himawari cringed at the anxiety and worry in Inuyasha's voice. He was one of the few who knew what she had endured and the last one who refused to let her resign to her fate. Sesshomaru lifted cold amber up to his brother's burning amber. "You don't even care you Bastard!"
"My feelings towards the girl are also no concern of yours." Sesshomaru returned to reading the missive before adding, "do you honestly believe I would not grieve if she were to be killed?"
Inuyasha had not been this angry with Sesshomaru like this in years. Not since accepting his brother's offer to join his guard as a general. Inuyasha never walked on eggshells, but he was grateful to belong. Now the younger brother threw caution to the wind and called Sesshomaru's bluff.
"Honestly, I believe you wouldn't even bat an eye if someone laid her mutilated corpse at your feet." Himawari watched as Sesshomaru's shoulders tensed, but nothing showed in his expression. 'Aw, he does care…that I'd leave a stain on his perfect floors.' Himawari thought with a mental snort. "That's what they do. It's in the report you're reading right now. They take hanyous, beat them, torture them, mutilate them, and then burn them. Then they leave them for their family to find. Maybe it doesn't bother you, but I don't want to find Himawari out at front gate one of these mornings."
"No harm will come to Himawari. I have spies checking in on her. I will receive a report in the morning." 'SHIT!' Himawari mentally swore. She did not think Sesshomaru would have spies trailing her. He never did before. Did he know? Did he already make his choice? What was his plan?
If those reports got to Sesshomaru, he would know she had disobeyed orders. It would most likely cause a panic to find her and definitely jeopardize her mission. She would have to find a way to intercept and alter those messages without being caught. "These attacks are merely noise to try to disrupt my mating ceremony. They do not want these alliances to move forward. I need you to keep your focus on finding these murders and while keeping their crimes quiet. I will deal with Himawari." Sesshomaru's calm, stoic tone was maddening to her ears. 'Inuyasha is right, he doesn't care, he doesn't care about anyone but himself.'
"I can do my job and still protect my family. I'll send word to Koga in the morning to assign a couple wolves to her protection," Inuyasha stated, anger still lacing his words.
"No." A tremor of emotion slipped into Sesshomaru's smooth tone. "She is mine to protect." Inuyasha raised an eyebrow looking at his brother quizzically. Sesshomaru added quickly, "She is Rin's daughter, she is my responsibility along with the rest of her family."
"Like you protected her when she a teenager?" Inuyasha pushed.
"I did not know she endured such treatment. I would have never allowed it had I known. You should have told me then." Himawari rolled her eyes, sucking in another breath from her arm. She was going to find whoever told Sesshomaru about the bullies was going to get an earful. He was the last person she wanted to know that she had been brutally bullied for years at school and in the palace.
"I'll find these bastards as ordered but stop acting like you give a rats ass about the hanyous they are targeting, including Himawari. You had several years after Rin convinced Shippo to move to the palace to show you cared about their daughter, but you ignored her as much as possible. I'll bet you don't even know what color her eyes are." Inuyasha glared at Sesshomaru's handsome placid face before exiting the study without another word.
"Emerald," Sesshomaru whispered into the empty room, letting his mask fall to reveal a tired, pained expression as he glanced at the missive once again. Himawari watched him with intense curiosity. She had grown so used to keeping her distance from him that she forgot how breathtaking he could be. How she had once longed for him to show her he saw her, even a little. Knowing the color of her eyes would have been more than enough then. But she was no longer that innocent infatuated vixen just maturing into a mating age. No things like love were things she protected but would never again indulge in.
Himawari was ripped from her musing when a small knock came from the study door. Fixing his perfect mask in place, Sesshomaru called, "come in."
"Milord, please forgive my boldness but it is late, and you have not slept in days. Princess Aimi arrives tomorrow. Perhaps a good nights sleep so you appear fresh for your bride would be in order." Jaken tried to keep his shrill voice soothing, but Sesshomaru only glared at the imp.
"There is a group of pathetic yokai rampaging through my lands killing hanyous. I will rest when those responsible at captured." Maybe the Western Lord did care a little.
"Milord, they are only hanyous, are they really that much of a loss?" Jaken always knew just how to say the most horrible things at just the right time. Stuck up hateful imp that he was. Sesshomaru shot a scroll weight straight at Jaken's head.
"Get out." Jaken dizzily obeyed, swaying as he left. Sesshomaru looked at his desk forlornly before deciding to take his retainer's advice after all. Himawari waited several long minutes until she felt she was safe to enter the study. She paused to stand over the missive Sesshomaru had been reading. Her blood ran cold, and her heartbeat thundering in her veins as if it was the only thing living in her body. The Hanyou Killers had come to the West and already claimed five lives, each progressively closer to the palace. Their enemies were closing in.