Chapter 2: Foreboding
Inu-Yasha, Lord Protector, the head general of the Imperial Army, elite counselor of the Imperial Court, and a few honorary titles that he did not care to remember, was bored. Because of his newfound status as a great war hero, the emperor simply could not make a decision without him. His life had been filled with miniscule questions he had neither answers nor care for.
He did not know what kind of crop would be best grown where. He did not know how much tax money was necessary to run the country. He did not know which of the women were the most beautiful. To him they all looked similar, except for Lady Kikyo. However, she was too common a whore to be chosen for the emperor.
He felt like an overgrown errand boy standing there at court. Though none of his errands actually required legwork, the feeling was, nonetheless, the same.
One thing Inu-Yasha did enjoy was annoying Lord Naraku. As much as it repulsed him to share an interest with Sesshomaru, that particular guilty pleasure was too good to pass up. Lord Naraku had a deceitful and stuck up streak that just begged the brothers for torment. His toothy smile and beady eyes gave Inu-Yasha the impression of a rat -- waiting for the chance to gnaw at his master's bones.
Together with Sesshomaru, Naraku and Inu-Yasha made up the three most powerful men in the country underneath the emperor. Their families were the two most influential families in the country. Each family had served the imperial line since the founding days, over three hundred years ago, and it seemed to Inu-Yasha that they would be serving the emperor for the next three hundred years. 'That is providing the boredom at court doesn't drive everyone to suicide,' Inu-Yasha thought with a snicker.
As the hum of court droned on, Inu-Yasha started to wonder about the party that was to be held later that night in celebration of some official or another. Not that he really wanted to go, but the party did have two things going for it. One, he would have a legitimate reason to not talk to Sesshomaru thus keeping him away from his brother's infuriating remarks. Two, the party would be held at Ichiban no Sakura, where Lady Kikyo worked.
Since his welcome home party three months ago, he had been back to the Ichiban no Sakura almost a dozen more times. Either by fate or by luck, he always ended up staying with Lady Kikyo. She always seemed near at hand when the time came to retire for the night. She never complained about the lack of sex during those nights or the lack of gifts the morning after. (He knew it was customary to gift the women at high-class brothels like Ichiban no Sakura for their services the morning after.) She did not even seem to mind his nightmares. They kept most of his brother's household up for a month, or so he had been told. The few times he completely woke up from his nightmares, he felt her large gray eyes watching him in the candlelight.
The thought of her watching over his sleep comforted Inu-Yasha during those nights.
As the last petitioner crawled out of the divine presence of the emperor, he rose from his dais and signaled the end of court for that day. Both Inu-Yasha and Sesshomaru rose from their kneeling position and stretched out the kinks in their legs. The Rat, as Inu-Yasha had privately dubbed Naraku, turned toward the brothers and asked, "Will the esteemed Lordships Sesshomaru and Inu-Yasha be gracing the birthday celebration of Lord Suho?"
"Of course, Lord Suho will be blessed with my brother and my presence." Sesshomaru proclaimed. "Unfortunately, I could not say whether or not he will be blessed with yours, Lord Naraku."
Taking that as a question for his own attendance at the party, Naraku hastily made a reply. "Do not worry about me, Lord Sesshomaru, I shall also be at the party to celebrate the birthday of Lord Suho."
"Too bad then Lord Naraku," Sesshomaru replied without missing a beat, "Lord Suho is now fated to be cursed this year."
Inu-Yasha, who could not contain himself any longer, snickered at the outraged expression on The Rat's face. He then turned to Sesshomaru and said, "good one, older brother." Sesshomaru, not one prone to give public displays of approval, gave his brother a rare grin of delight.
The next moment the grin turned into a sneer as Sesshomaru teased Inu-Yasha. "You better get home and groom for your lady love. One wouldn't want to keep a lady waiting." Inu-Yasha bristled at that comment, but Sesshomaru took no notice of him and continued with his comments.
"But little brother, you should be careful of your affections. Women like Lady Kikyo are there for the pleasure of looking and touching, not feeling." With that, he swept away leaving a fuming Inu-Yasha standing alone in the room. When Inu-Yasha recovered from shock of that slanderous remark, he shouted at the retreating man. "She's nothing but a bed partner!"
In the end, Inu-Yasha did take Sesshomaru's advice and put on a fresh kimono, carefully combing his hair before he headed off to the celebration. On the way there, he purchased a jade bracelet from one of the market vendors to give the Lord Suho as a birthday gift.
This party reminded Inu-Yasha of his welcoming party. The partygoers were loud, obnoxious people that drank themselves to the point of unconsciousness and had to be carried out. His mind drifted from the decadent scene to his brother's words from earlier. He had not done anything that would suggest to Sesshomaru that he felt anything for the girl. In fact, the past times he was there, he barely noticed her presence until the end of the night. That thought caused him to scan the room to see if Lady Kikyo was also serving at this party.
Inu-Yasha spotted her a moment later sitting across the room, next to The Rat. He seemed awfully attached to her, always holding on to her hand and petting her hair. Inu-Yasha snickered at The Rat's possessive behavior. 'That guy has no dignity,' Inu-Yasha thought contemptuously. Lady Kikyo did not seem to mind: she did not giggle and bat his hands away as the other women in the hall did when they did not care for the attention.
Inu-Yasha watched her, as she finally rose from her seat next to The Rat and poured drinks for other men in the room. She knelt down next to his brother to fill Sesshomaru's cup. Inu-Yasha watched with narrow eye and increasing anger as she smiled at his brother's remarks and attention.
Finally, she knelt down next to him to pour him a drink. His hand caught her delicate wrist before she could pour his drink. For the first time in all these month, Inu-Yasha looked at her in the face. Her face was nothing but a mask behind her make up. Her body seemed too thin, if her wrist was any indication. Her eyes were too big and dull. The gray eyes seemed like glassy mirrors, almost like a dead man staring out twin windows.
With a grunt, Inu-Yasha released her wrist from his grip and stood up from his seat. He nodded his head, as he always did on previous occasions, but this time, before Lady Kikyo could follow him out of the room, a form blocked the way. It was The Rat! Infuriated, Inu-Yasha barked out a demand for The Rat to explain his actions.
With a beguiling smile, Naraku purred to Inu-Yasha "Lord Inu-Yasha, I'm sorry to be blocking your passage. But I was on my way to ask if Lady Kikyo would do me the honor of entertaining me for the night."
"Not in your life... Lord Naraku." Inu-Yasha growled, "Lady Kikyo is mine! Rodents shouldn't be allowed near people."
The Rat's pale cheeks began to take on a translucent quality. His eyes became slits as he glared daggers at Inu-Yasha that promised death and pain.
"Lord Inu-Yasha," Naraku leered, "I have known Lady Kikyo since her first night as a whore. She knows what I like. I don't feel up to training another whore tonight."
Angered to the brink of violence, Inu-Yasha declared to Naraku and the rest of the party guests that "Lady Kikyo is mine! I saw her first tonight. Besides," he bit out harshly, "if you can't get it up, you shouldn't be allowed near her."
Lord Naraku nearly choked on his shock as he stared wide-eyed at Inu-Yasha. Lady Kikyo's gaze was directed at the floor during the entire argument between the two men, a blush of embarrassment staining her cheeks.
When Inu-Yasha realized many of the guests were looking at the exchange, he gave them all a fierce growl and dragged Lady Kikyo behind him from the room without a second glance. Sesshomaru could not help but frown and shake his head wearily at his brother's display. He also vowed to keep an eye out for Lord Naraku. After all, Naraku was not a lord known for his forgiving nature.
***
As Inu-Yasha and Lady Kikyo changed for sleep, Inu-Yasha suddenly blurted out, "Did you want to go with the… Lord Naraku?"
Surprised at the question, Lady Kikyo looked up from her side of the room toward Inu-Yasha. After scrutinizing Inu-Yasha for a long moment, she lowered her eyes once again to the floor and mutely answered, "It matters not to me." There was nothing else left to be said as both of them lay down on opposite sides of the bed and drifted off to sleep.
***
Author's Note: I just want to say thank you, again to Rachel, Stormie, and Angela. You guys are absolutely the best! Reading your reviews and the reviews of other readers just makes me want to write better stories.
One other tid-bit of info
for the future chapters. I have lost my disk where I saved this story.
Fortunately, my friend Angela has at least one hard copy of every chapter.
Unfortunately, she could only find a copy of chapter 2 and chapter 4 for
now. Therefore, chapter 3 may take a bit of time to come out. Sorry.