As always,

Enjoy!

~Kyvena

23: This Means War!

It was Sesshōmaru's first day there and was already loving it. He got to help his mother do her work, which he did so happily as Haruka leaned against the wall to watch with doting and adoring eyes. By the time they were done, Kagome smiled, "You were such a big help pup! Now, I bet that your father would love to help train you," her eyes then shifted to her mate with a gentle sparkle to her eyes, making his eyebrows lift that she wasn't going to keep the pup all to herself.

Sesshōmaru wasn't used to gaining assistance from a fatherly figure, so he peered down until gaining a shocked face the moment he was lifted up into Haruka's arms, "Come on pup!" The silver-haired pup then peered to Kagome sadly, "Can mother come too?" This made Haruka snicker, "Your mother will want to watch your progress, so don't look as if she will vanish into thin air!" The angel then stood and walked forward before kissing Sesshōmaru's cheek, "Of course I will come!"

Walking to the dojo, Haruka then opened the door and entered before setting Sesshōmaru down. Kagome then chuckled and tossed Haruka his blade, along with a wooden sword for the pup, making both smile as they caught it as Kagome sat to the side as her mate began to speak, "Alright pup, first, let's work on stances. Would you like to see me do mine first?" Sesshōmaru then nibbled his bottom lip, completely unaccustomed to having this attention for when he "trained", per say.

Nodding his head, Haruka then evenly spread his feet apart and took in a gentle breath, only to then snicker, "Lesson one. It's not a sin to show off if you've got the skill to back it up." With that, his blade sharply snapped behind his head as his body shifted slightly to keep its balance before it hastily came to rest at eye level. This made Sesshōmaru's golden eyes sparkle before he clenched his determined fists, "Right! My turn!" Kagome then chuckled playfully, "He wasn't done pup."

Snapping his head back, he watched as Haruka then moved his feet when needed as that blade was first twirled behind his hold, then in front of his hold, proceeding diagonally across his body, only to sharply swipe it in front of his chest for his muscles to then stiffen up with that blade now pointing forward with hardened eyes. Sesshōmaru was completely in awe at how graceful he was. Noticing Haruka not moving, Sesshōmaru then got the gist and clumsily attempted the same thing.

"Oh my," the mother chuckled once the pup whacked his own hand, arm, leg, and tripped over himself. Haruka then sweat dropped, "Good grief, thankfully your mother didn't give you a real blade. If she had, you'd be missing a hand, arm, and leg. Now, let's slow the beginning down." Repeating the first two initial movements he had made slowly, Sesshōmaru began to mimic. They drilled this over and over again until Haruka removed his top and tossed it to Kagome, making her blush.

Noticing his naughty smirk, that blush quickly faded to give a dry expression due to the fact that now Sesshōmaru had to be just like Haruka and removed his top, but thankfully, he was a gentleman and walked to his mother, "Mother, would you mind terribly to hold this for me?" Chuckling, she nodded and draped both tops over her arm before giving her pup a gentle push, "Go on, you're doing wonderful pup." Haruka found it a shame that InuTaisho never took the time to train him.

After hours, Kagome blinked rapidly at the proud smirk Haruka held and moved to be in front of the two as he spoke, "Alright pup, one last time!" Once they began, Kagome watched the two mirrors as they came to a stop at the end. He hadn't hit himself, nor tripped over himself, once. About to clap, Haruka sheathed his blade and swooped the pup up, "Great job pup! You performed magnificently!" Noticing Sesshōmaru beginning to cry happily, Kagome then silently slipped away.

Back in the western domains, InuTaisho stood in front of his twelve elite assassins calmly as he spoke, "Your trade is only needed for one specific individual. You all are to assassinate the lord of the northern domains, lord Haruka. However, your other task should be simple enough to accomplish. You are to retrieve my heir and the angelic maiden before bringing them back to the west. I do not wish to see a single scratch on either of their bodies. Failure is not an option!" - "Yes sir!"

Preparing dinner, she hadn't seen those two exit the dojo yet, so she called out, "Azuki? Please watch over the meal!" Rushing in, Azuki then nodded, "Of course!" Walking to the dojo, she barely opened the door to see Haruka smirking, "Good! So, what if I step this way?" Kagome then shifted her eyes to her pup to see him making the correct steps before Haruka smirked, "Very good! Now, what if I attack this way?" Watching the pup counter him perfectly, Haruka then grinned, "Perfect!"

About to put a stop to the session, the angel froze the moment Haruka took a knee and placed the wooden blade down, making the young pup's eyes sparkle before placing his wooden blade down, only to rush into the loving hold that only Haruka could offer. This was so new to Sesshōmaru... he was never personally trained, nor given any accolades for what he had accomplished. He had just been simply expected to learn it all on his own without anyone there to teach him the moves.

She wished that she could preserve this moment in time... oh wait, she could. Holding her finger up the moment Haruka placed his head against Sesshōmaru's with a gentle smile as Sesshōmaru wrapped his arms around Haruka's neck with a bright smile, only to whisper, "Memory Preserve Manifest." Right then, a small version of what she was now seeing appeared in her gentle hold. Turning around, she then walked back to Azuki with a smile while wiping tears from her face, "Azuki?"

Turning, Azuki was about to ask what was the matter until Kagome held up the preserved memory, making her clasp her hands over her mouth as tears began to slide down her cheeks, "Goodness, that is far too precious!" Kagome then smiled and recreated the memory before handing it to Azuki, "I know that you raised Haruka as a mother should, so it only seems natural for you to have a copy of this moment in time." This made Azuki tear up and nod, "Thank you so much my lady."

Walking back to the dojo, Kagome then chuckled, "Alright you two, that's enough strain on the body for one day. It's dinner time." The two stopped training, only to nod. Haruka then winked as he ruffled Sesshōmaru's hair, "I will personally train you each day once my work has been completed, so be ready!" Sesshōmaru nodded brightly, only to freeze the moment his fatherly figure held his hand out for the pup's much smaller hand to take in his much larger hand but smiled and took it.

During dinner, Sesshōmaru spoke brightly, making the two rulers of the north smile at him as they spoke in return. This was all new for the silver-haired pup. He wasn't used to gaining this much attention, or any, as a matter of fact. As the angelic mother cleaned up after dinner, Haruka took Sesshōmaru to his own room before pointing to his own personal bath, along with many new sets of clothing that were white and icy blue outlined in silver instead of his normal white and red attire.

Walking back to the kitchen to notice his mate was no longer there, caused for him to blink rapidly as he softly muttered, "I could have sworn that she was in here. I couldn't have possibly been gone for that long, right?" Turning and heading back to his room to bathe, he opened the door to notice that his mate wasn't in here either, making him utterly confused, "Okay... I'm not imagining that I have a mate, am I?" Bathing quickly and dressing, he then went on the search for Kagome.

Hearing many clashes inside of the dojo, Haruka could only gain a puzzled face before opening the door to see many assassins from the western domains as Kagome slammed her fist so roughly into one of the assassins with a furious facial expression while yelling, "So, you are telling me that you are merely here to take my pup and me back to the west before killing my mate?! I will kill you where you stand for even having the audacity to threaten him in my presence!"

Once she had slammed the first to the ground, a massive tremor shot through the entire castle, shocking everyone in the process. Sesshōmaru, done bathing, rushed out while barely dressed when he actually witnessed this, "Mother, are you alright?!" The next assassin dashed towards Sesshōmaru, only for Kagome to appear above him and slam her feet against the assassin's back, snapping his spine in half as she roared, "The nerve! Do not place your filthy hands on my pup!"

Erecting her fit frame that merely held one of her sports bras and rolled up sweatpants, the angelic maiden furiously cracked her knuckles as her fists became enveloped within the white sparkling light of the angels, "If you want me, come and claim me!" One of the assassin's then dashed towards her back, making Sesshōmaru almost bolt in until Haruka held his hand up to stop him, only for his focused silver-streaked icy blue orbs to narrow as he spoke, "Keep your eyes forward pup."

Sesshōmaru was in full-blown panic mode as of now as he frantically babbled out, "Father, how can you say that?! Mother is being surrounded, so how are you are able to remain this calm?!" Haruka kept his eyes locked on the group of assassins swarming his mate before he turned his head towards the panicking pup with a smile, "Your mother is the one person that you should never underestimate. Her and I can fight for hours on end... and I can always tell... that she's holding back."

A blinding sparkling white light then engulfed the angel, forcing all of those who remained and were in pursuit to skid to a grinding halt out of fear before her clouded over orbs snapped to each assassin as she spoke in a threatening tone, "Now that I have your full undivided attention... first, look around. I have already eliminated over half of your squad. Second... I have a message for you to pass along. Attempt to kill my mate or steal my pup from me again and I will show no mercy!"

The four assassins remaining out of a squad of twelve then gave a nod that was filled to the brim with fear over this furious angelic maiden, only for her to then scowl before swiping her hand to the side, "Now, you'd better leave before my patience runs thin! The remaining four nodded and hastily darted out, only for the angelic mother to release a heavy breath and drop her hands to her side before Sesshōmaru chirped out with sparkling eyes, "Mother! You... You are so awesome!"

In the west, InuTaisho scowled heavily as he muttered to himself, "They should have been back by now..." Right then, the four battered and bruised assassins appeared with widened eyes while trembling frantically due to still being able to feel the angel's immense magical power radiating from their clothing, making InuTaisho scowl, "Where are the eight other members of your squad?!" All lowered their heads as one spoke, "The angelic maiden took them down. We have failed... sir."

He couldn't believe his ears... these were his best assassins. Right then, another spoke up, "As usual, we were as stealthy as the shadows. However, it seemed as if she knew where we were almost instantly due to the nature of it." InuTaisho's brow then twitched at this before he spoke, "Meaning? Well, don't leave me to just question the answer, spit it out!" Nodding, the assassin looked up and replied shakily, "Once we arrived at the northern castle, she was already awaiting us."

This made his brows slightly lift, "In what manner?" Sighing due to remembering the look on the angelic maiden's face, he replied, "Well, we had silently landed in their dojo and had planned to split up, but she was already standing there with her arms folded and gave us a vicious glare before saying "You kept me waiting long enough. I don't know what you're skulking around in my home for... but let me assure you that you will not be leaving from this room alive," and many of us didn't."

Tightly clenching his fists, InuTaisho then glared at the four remaining assassins as another spoke up, "She... She also sends a message my lord. She claims... "Attempt to kill my mate or steal my pup from me again and I will show no mercy," what will you have us do my lord?" Furious at this point, the great dog demon swiped his hand in front of his chest before barking out, "Call upon all other allied demon lords this instant! It might take years... but... this means war! Now, go!"

All nodded before standing, bowing respectfully, and speaking in unison over the matters at hand, "As you wish lord InuTaisho!" Indeed, this would take many years to accomplish. First and foremost, they needed to heal their bodies from that type of brutal beatdown. Second, with only four members of their squad remaining, it would take years just to get to all allied demon lords to inform them that the lord of the western domains has requested them for a conference in the first place.

Hardened honey soaked orbs glistened almost too calmly while holding a silent, but raging, hurricane behind them, stood InuTaisho with many other demon lords, "So... who all is in favor?" No one dared piss this man off any further than he already was, so they all agreed to begin assembling their troops to head north as Kagome flew in the air with narrowed orbs while holding Sesshōmaru on her hip, who now appeared to be the age of eight, but was extremely deadly in his own rights.

Wearing a white dress that hung from the top of her shoulders to show her mating mark, was short in the front to land at the middle of her thighs, only for a connected solid dark blue ankle long tail that flowed behind her as a diamond crescent moon with a diamond star sitting inside of that crescent moon necklace that had been made by her adorable silver-haired pup dangled right above her breasts, she then adjusted her pup and nuzzled her nose to his cheek, "Your father will give the signal."

He then narrowed his orbs as well, considering he had been the one relaying the entire conference to her. Haruka stood outside of the castle with his eyes closed and his arms folded. He would be damned if InuTaisho cut his eye open again. In his defense, the second time, he was in a place that he believed to be the safest... his own home. "They are heading towards father now..." the pup spoke softly so that only his pupped mother would hear so that it would instantly relay to Haruka.

His mother now carried his little sister... Rin. Haruka had been so stubborn about wanting an angelic pup, that she now carried a little angelic lass. However, one day, she felt something odd and checked on her pup to notice that Rin, albeit being an angelic lass, held twin sparkling tails, so it was a win in her eyes. Everyone who had been in conference with the lord of the west came to a grinding halt the moment they witnessed Haruka standing there, only to slowly open his angered eyes.

Kagome had forged him one hell of a malignant blade to counter InuTaisho's So'unga. Nuzzling Sesshōmaru's cheek lovingly the moment Haruka pulled out his deadly blade and gave it a sharp twirl, Kagome then released her pup, who pulled out his own deadly blade in the process, only for the mother to hold her hand out for wind to break his rather high fall to stand beside the father that actually took the time out of his busy day to train him, play fun games with him, and praise him.

"Ready pup?!" Haruka barked as he bared his fangs, making the pup swiftly nod his head and gain the same stance, "Yes sir!" She might have played InuTaisho as a fool, considering she made Sesshōmaru her own and Haruka's blood pup. Just not by looks, explaining to him that he was too cute of a pup to be altering his appearance in the slightest, which only had made him smile brightly at her and give hugs. Not wanting either harmed, she held her hands out to them, "REFLECTION!"

Snickering internally at his vicious and overprotective mate as they stood in front of many demon lords that snarled and bared their fangs, Kagome then held her belly as she dropped as well with her sacred blade drawn, making Haruka's mouth drop wide open, "Mate, you are pupped! What in the hell do you think you are doing?!" Sesshōmaru then narrowed his eyes, "Father... focus on the threat in front of you as you taught me!" This made Kagome purse her lips at her sassy little pup.

With Haruka's long low ponytail snapping in the wind, he then smirked, "Pup, blink." This was a term made that he knew, only for that long white hair that might as well been silver in the rays of the sun to then vanish. Right as the white hair vanished, so did the silver. Kagome knew that she couldn't move that fast as of now, so she jumped back, sheathed her sacred sword, and pulled out her sacred bow to notch an arrow before drawing back with orbs that clouded over dangerously.

Sensing where her mate and pup were was easy enough, so she let the arrow fly. Once that arrow hit, her mate and pup swiftly jumped back as Kagome snapped her finger joyously, "Hit the mark!" Feeling her unborn pup squirm in her belly and kick so roughly that she cringed, she then pointed at Haruka, "Dammit Haru! I blame you! Do you hear me?!" Hearing him softly snickering at her furious tone, she then gained an overly dry facade at him teasing her while fighting, "Honestly..."

Ironically, Haruka's tail had, for unknown reasons, split and his power had grown tenfold. He also could now use angelic spells considering she heard him yell, "NOW PURGE!" Yes, she had used purge to get rid of the half-breed Izayoi had been carrying... which she didn't remember... but that had only been because the half-breed held demon in it. Everyone appeared mortified that a demon was wielding angelic magic with relative ease. This made him one dangerous opponent to face.

Also, Haruka held extremely similar demonic abilities as dog demons. His light whip was an arctic blue ice whip, and the corrosive acid was also an arctic blue freezing acid that first froze the target in place before breaking down their body... down to the very last fiber in their eyelashes. This was also how Sesshōmaru became so proficient at wielding his own demonic abilities at such a "young" age. It didn't help that he, too, could make use of, and was extremely proficient with angelic spells.

Young golden orbs snapped back to his mother and darted before his young tone mixed with his mother's at the two demons attempting to catch her in a pincer attack, "NOW PURGE!" Releasing a breath, Sesshōmaru smiled at his mother brightly, only for the pup's mother to then notice a demon spitting goo at her baby, and didn't even attempt to shield him, considering it simply reflected off of the "reflection" barrier she had placed on him, causing for it to slam into that demon's eyes.

Idiotically, the mortal princess, Izayoi, then walked out... pregnant, only to huff, "What is all of this noise for?!" Everyone appeared dumbfounded at the stupidity of this woman as InuTaisho finally darted out with So'unga drawn, only for him to slam the blade against Haruka's own malignant blade, not seeing Kagome as the two strongest bared their fangs at one another, "Where's your mate Haruka? I don't blame her if she abandoned you!" Sesshōmaru could only gain a dry face at that.

"You mean the mate that is ready to give birth any day and is standing directly to your right? Yeah, I didn't want her to be here, but does she listen?! No!" Haruka furiously fumed as he slammed his blade against InuTaisho's again before his opposing fist rushed towards the moron's face... but he... oddly allowed for himself to be hit so hard that he was hurled all the way to Kagome, only for her to peer down and blink softly. The moment she took a step back, Rin decided it was time.

Cringing, the angelic maiden almost instantly swore aloud, "SON OF A BITCH! HARU-HARUKA! NOW!" Snapping his head to his mate, the scent of her water breaking swiftly came to his nose. Darting to her, he then lifted her and was about to call to Sesshōmaru until InuTaisho yelled, "That's enough fighting! Haruka, you will never make it to the north in time, come!" Sesshōmaru gazed lazily at the ruler puppy of the west as if seeing, and knowing, his motives and intentions far too well.

Not knowing what to do as his mate began to sob against his neck, he then sighed and took hesitant steps forward until they were at the midwife. As hard-headed as usual, Kagome threw a damn tantrum over her mate not being inside with her. Sesshōmaru wasn't going to chance her safety, so he walked inside before sitting beside his mother, only to take her hand and give soothing words, "Calm down mother." Tears flowed down her face in sheer agony, only for Haru to break the rules.

Entering, he was then scolded until his dangerous gleam snapped to the midwife before adjusting his mate to lie her head on his lap. Sesshōmaru felt as if his mother was going to rip his hand off and whimpered, "Fa-Father..." Looking at his son, he chuckled and removed his mate's death grip on their pup for her to just about break his hand the moment she clamped down on it. Sesshōmaru began healing his hand and blew his bangs up, "Of all days for sister to come, it had to be today."

It was now a day later and sweat poured from Kagome's face as her pup gave her a small drink of water to keep her hydrated. Having her dilation checked, it was finally go time, "Push lady Kagome!" Four pushes later and the angelic pup adorning sparkling white wings and split daiyokai tails holding her mother's hair with her father's single arctic blue streak, along with her mother's eyes with her father's silver streaks then took her first cry of newfound life, making Haru smile brightly.

Hearing the midwife suddenly yelp over the purifying sparkles, Sesshōmaru dashed and safely snatched his little sister before bathing and bundling her up. Kagome's body then automatically healed any and all damage, only for her stomach to flatten once again before chuckling, "Well, Azuki, nor Kirara are going to be happy that they weren't present for Rin's birth." Sesshōmaru lightly poked his little sister's cheek and smiled, "Sister's a perfect blend of both of you, mother, father!"

Pointing to her dress and snapping, the attire instantly shrank to fit her body as Haruka was handed his daughter to claim her and claim her he did. Standing and stretching, Kagome laughed, "Glad that's over with!" Sighing, she then took her daughter and walked out to the man that had helped her, "Lord InuTaisho, thank you." His golden gaze sadly met her eyes longingly, only for her to place Rin in his arms, making the lass fussy that this wasn't her father that was holding her.

About to reach out to her newborn pup, she froze the moment InuTaisho began to gently bounce the fussy little lady while giving soft little hushes as tears filled his eyes over this not being his daughter. Odd... Had she mistaken InuTaisho's true personality this entire time? Remembering all that he did to her, she then sighed and groaned in a frustrated manner, "I can't figure you the hell out!" This made InuTaisho chuckle softly as he blinked his tears away, "Honestly, most people can't..."

Hell, not even Sesshōmaru knew his actual father too well. He was too damn secretive, straight-faced, calm, cool, and collected. Shaking his head of the thoughts, the silver-haired pup then spoke up, "Mother, don't you think that it's time we took sister home?" Having Rin placed back in her arms, InuTaisho then spoke softly, "Congratulations Kagome, she's beautiful..." Nodding as thanks, Kagome handed Rin to Sesshōmaru as they began to leave the western castle to head to the north.

Once they were out of sight, Haruka glared at the puppy that looked like he had just been kicked as he spoke out, "You are about to have your own family with your mortal toy. All I ask is that you stop pursuing my mate, and allow for me to enjoy my own family," pausing he then turned away before finishing softly with his head slightly tilted down, "You can't keep doing this to yourself, you'll go mad. So, before there is a war that will only harm our families, stop while you're still ahead."