Chapter 11: The penalty for treason
Kouga arrived second surprisingly, seeing as Sesshoumaru was naturally first. Sesshoumaru flipped when he saw Naraku—a barely tolerated presence already—backhand Kagura with vicious force. Ayame hung onto his neck with gripping, desperate vigour and whimpered when she saw Kagura fall limply to the ground. Sesshoumaru moved forward, deliberately moved Ayame with a swift movement and then crushed Naraku's windpipe with one hand.
Kouga arrived seconds later and stood transfixed for a moment before jumping in to have a piece. Ayame struggled to get all three of the injured or heat-struck girls away as the hot-headed boys opened up their limited space. Inuyasha arrived with Miroku just as the fight picked up pace. With a howl of joy Inuyasha jumped in, but Miroku went to assist Ayame.
All of the female servants and a giant neko youkai with a little kitsune on its back showed up within moments as Naraku shape shifted into a loathsome mass of tentacles, spikes, and miasma. Most of the really human-like servants started to scream and swoon but the real youkai-like ones eyes' started to glow red with anticipation. "Attack the traitor!" they screamed and soon it was all teeth, fangs, claws and blood.
The neko seemed to perk up when it saw Sango and it charged thru the coalescing masses of youkai to get at her—still carrying the petrified kitsune. It lowered the kitsune gently to the ground—where it quivered with fear and hid its head—and approached Sango with a happy purr. Sango pulled herself as much as she could from the heat to whisper lovingly, "Kirara! You were here—all along..." then she fainted again but with a warm smile lighting her face.
Miroku gazed down—the rest are still fighting—to admire her loveliness and found himself lowering his head to meet hers. With his face directly above hers Miroku leaned down and just barely brushed his lips against her own plump and parted ones but when he heard a warning growl emitted from Kirara, he pulled back and shook his head to clear his gutter thoughts.
The kitsune needed reassurance and he sought it from Ayame but she just picked him up and laid him down on Kagome. He cuddled his little shaking body against her belly and made imperceptible whimpers. She gestured to Miroku to take Sango and Shippo while she would take Kagura and Kagome.
Sesshoumaru hacked away at the reaching tentacles and swept away the miasma with his sword toukijin in precise deadly movements. Inuyasha was less graceful; with tetsusaiga unleashed and fully transformed he swung with mad chopping motions at every part of Naraku he could get at. Kouga swirled up and with swift ferociously powered kicks he stuck Naraku's spider-like face. Two of the servants—twins—brought out throwing stars with lethal venom and hurled them at Naraku's lower region.
The look of utter surprise on his face was almost comical were it not for the seriousness of the situation. He pulled them out with a hiss as more of his tentacles were swiped off and tossed them down. He glared daggers at the two who gulped and one of them whispered quickly to the other, "Why do his tentacles keep reattaching?" The other looked at her worriedly and raised her hands in defeat. They dodged his furious onslaught, allowing Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha to strike deeply within his chest and a small pink jewel popped out.
Inuyasha recognized it and seethed, "Kikyo that bitch! She must have given it to him without Kaede's consent." Naraku lay in a weak heap before them all and as Ayame moved to carry Kagura out she managed to scream frantically, "No! Please don't kill him!" She struggled urgently to go to him; she broke from Ayame's feeble grasp and threw herself across her father.
She looked up at Sesshoumaru with pleading eyes and whispered, "He's my father; I hate him just as much as you, but he's my father! Please, we shall depart and never bother you again, but spare him." Sesshoumaru was stricken but he looked on with a poker face as usual, and replied, "The penalty for treason is death and you know it." Kagura's eyes widened and she asked pitifully, "The kill me instead and let him go free." Sesshoumaru looked down at her and stated, "You did not commit treason. You did not do any crime."
Kagura stood riskily and pulled out a large elegant fan. "Then I will have to, won't I?" she snarled and lunged. Sesshoumaru caught her tightly and held her against him. She wept bitterly into his chest and hit him weakly saying, "Bastard!" over and over again. She looked up with her luminous ruby eyes and stated almost calmly, "He has my heart."
Sesshoumaru was appalled. "You're in love with your father!" he gasped out, disgusted. Kagura rolled her eyes and snapped, "Of course not baka! He hid my heart from me, and if you kill him I'll never find out where it is, then I die when he does!" Sesshoumaru grinned, "So, if we force the information from him, then we can kill him?" Kagura inhaled shakily and nodded slowly.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and muttered, "Lover-boy." Sesshoumaru ignored him and ordered the nearest servants to escort Naraku to the dungeon then he helped Kagura out of the room. On the way he asked, "Why would you want me to kill you?" Kagura smiled mischievously and replied carelessly, "Well I can't properly die without my heart, can I?" Sesshoumaru sighed and pulled her more tightly against him, "You are tricky, I'll remember that." "See that you do, love," she whispered back seductively.
Finally a little bit of calmness settled down and Ayame managed to kick everyone out while she fixed up the room with the twins. While she straightened the beds Kouga slipped back in. "Ayame..." he whispered. She turned and fixed him with a glacial glare, "What do you want now?" she snapped at him and turned back before her watery eyes could show. Kouga sighed and ran a hand along his mane of ink black hair. "Look Ayame, I'm sorry," he said nervously. He felt uncomfortable about expressing himself in front of the very gossipy twins.
Ayame finished and extracted the immobile Sango from one of them. Carrying her to the bed she lowered her and went to the other for Kagome. "Alright, let's finish the room," she said. The twins smirked and brushed past Kouga to help carry out the rubble, sweep out the motionless tentacles, wipe away the blood and water the plants. Kouga's mouth fell open in shock; he'd expected Ayame to fall on her knees and beg to be taken back.
Ayame knew this and said sharply, "I suppose you expected me to beg like a good bitch, right? Get out of here Kouga, piss off before I lose my temper." The little kitsune watched this scene with interest from his place on Kagome's stomach and an inquisitive meow came from Sango's side. Kouga flushed with anger at being caught and strode out of the room crossly.
Ayame looked down at the kitsune and smiled. "Ah Shippo, you love me right?" Shippo grinned and replied, "Of course Ayame, and so does everyone else." She blushed and shook her head, "Nah." Shippo jumped onto her, wiped away a fallen tear and ordered, "Shape up or ship out, he's a jerk anyways. You could have any guy you wanted and you know it." She laughed and ruffled his hair.
The twins approached, "He's right you know," one said. "Everyone youkai in these Lands knows you and loves or admires you," the other added. Ayame laughed again, "Stop it or I shall blush so hard my ears will steam!" She looked down at the Southern girls and sighed heavily. "How much longer can they handle the heat?" she asked anxiously. She inspected them both and turned to the identical faces before her. "Please fetch them some water, we need to bathe their foreheads. They're overheating with it. It should start to break soon though."
The girls shared a look. Twin 1 started, "Well there is another way to stop the heat..." and Twin 2 finished with, "...and we bet Lord Inuyasha wouldn't mind helping with the Lady..." Twin 1 smiled and added, "...Nor Miroku with the lioness." They both giggled and Ayame blushed furiously and shushed them. "Don't suggest it because for all we know they might take it seriously!" she exclaimed.
They completed their job and offered to take Shippo and Kirara back to the nursery. They both declined and snuggled up to their new found warmth. So Ayame left them with a light warning to behave and a tender kiss on the head. Then a creak in the broken door made Shippo duck down and Kirara hid under the covers. Someone had entered the chamber, and Shippo wasn't sure who it was over the stench of the blood, flowers and the two girls.
Sorry I haven't updated in a couple days. I used up three chapters in one day so I suffered from some writer's block. I'm still a little woozy. I don't know what's going to happen next, but I do have a slim idea. Don't worry, I'm not done yet. Ciao guys. (Sorry if it seems short, but it was really hard to write.) Lots of luv, animefreek89.