A/N: Just feel happy, so I decided to put a few thank-you notes. Please
note that if your name isn't here and you reviewed the last chapter, it
ISN'T because I despise you and want you to go stick your head down a
toilet, but it's just that I'm saying thank-you to reviews that stood
out to me. So please don't feel offended.
_sakura2649_ Thank you for your LONG reviews! I really enjoy reading them! [inspires me ;)] Muahaha. ;) _fallen pheniox_ yup yup. If Kagome had seen the mask, then much of the rest of the storyline wouldn't be a secret no more, so I didn't let her. thanks for reviewing! _EternalLove_ Sorry if I sometimes make Kagome a bit OOC. I don't think I can help it. Gomen! _Christykay_ Thanks for always reviewing! =) And thanks for the tip on the link thing! _Sorena_ No no, I must thank YOU for reviewing my story. =) And I must congrats you to the real nice guess on Kagome walking in on Inuyasha with a *cough cough* [must still keep it a secret from others, ne?] _roxy-chick_ Thank you very much for reviewing all my chapters! =) _Kirara_ Just wanted to say hi! Haven't talked to you in a long time! Did I make this story similar to yours? If I did, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! =( _Princess Sapphire_ Yup! Sesshoumaru will appear in this story. In fact, his cameo is this chapter! _Inuyashachic515_ Best writer around? Most definitely not! There's others way better than me. =) _stellamucca_ Put that slave driving whip down and slowly back away from me. ;) _kishi_ Thanks for pointing out my age mistake on my other chapter. And I like your guesses on what will happen in the story. =) _x_ Do you think Inu's parents can exterminate Naraku that easily? Especially after you finish reading this chapter? ;) _Ichimu_ Thank you for complimenting my story. =) _Wierdo C_ I'm sorry if this story is like Kirara's story. I reread Kirara's story and I don't really exactly see too many similarities other than the fact that it's a prince/princess story with a few similarities here and there, but I swear that it was on pure coincidence. I will try to stay away from her plot from now on. Starting from this chapter too. You'll notice at the end.
Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, Kikyou would have died off, Inuyasha would be naked more, Shippo would get more respect, Sango and Miroku would just go have babies by now and Kagome and Inuyasha would be together. So no. I don't own the series. Sad.
_Edited chapter up_
Behind the Masquerade
Giving
"OWWWW!!"
"Oh be quiet you big baby," Miroku mumbled in an exasperated tone as he put the new ice pack not-so-gently on Inuyasha's forehead. "It's not that bad."
"You're one to talk! You get a bump on your head five days a week, so you're use to it," Inuyasha snapped back at his cousin , while trying to keep the ice pack from slipping off his head.
Miroku snuck a glance behind him to where Sango was eyeing his every move like a hawk upon a prey. "I have a hunch I'll get one seven days a week now," he grumbled under his breath and felt a slap on the back of his head almost instantly.
"I can hear you," was Sango's only explanation as she regained her previous posture; standing with one weight on her right leg and arms crossed across her chest, while glaring a hole into the back of Miroku's head.
"Don't hit me! You're just a bodyguard," Miroku huffed and rubbed the back of his head indignantly.
Sango opened her mouth to retort something, but closed it again when she realized she couldn't say anything. Frustration was strained across her face as she kept her little secret to herself, disinclined to let Miroku know about her being a princess.
Shippo popped up suddenly from behind Sango on her shoulder and stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha. He didn't really like the Prince that much, not when Inuyasha stuck him into a little hole in the wall before! He had only managed to get his furry self out when a passerby servant decided that his *ass* didn't match with the wall's décor.
"You deserve that hit to your brain!" Shippo commented bravely from behind Sango. As an afterthought, he added, "stupid head!"
"Do you want to get your kitsune ass stuck into another wall, brat!? Or maybe I should jab you down a hole this time," Inuyasha threatened and growled at the ball of fluff, aggravated that he couldn't get up and beat the fur off of the kid.
Shippo squeaked and jumped off of Sango's shoulder to scurry across the floor to where Kagome was sitting on the couch with an irritated look on her face. Rubbing her temples gently, she relaxed when Shippo jumped into her lap and allowed her to hold him against her abdomen.
Kagome watched as Shippo stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha again from his safe distance and observed Inuyasha growl once more. Kids…one had the body of an eight year old, while the other unfortunately had the brains of an eight year old…how cute.
"Why is that brat in the castle anyway!?" Inuyasha demanded when he had just about enough from Shippo when the kid stuck his bruised ass his way. "I could just throw him out! He's just a dumb peasant after all."
"You can't throw me out!" Shippo squealed from his position, horrified at the idea of being kicked out of the castle. "Kagome still has to find the Shi---"
A hand quickly muffled what Shippo was about to say and Kagome laughed nervously when both Inuyasha's and Miroku's eyes looked at her expectedly, as if waiting for her to finish what Shippo had started to say. "I still have to find the…the…uhh…sheep…" she finished off lamely, not exactly knowing where that had come from.
This got raised eyebrows from the men and a sweat drop from Sango.
"You know! Sheeeeep..." Kagome made up out of nowhere in her haste, waving her hands out in front of her in uneasiness when this got silence from Inuyasha and a raised eyebrow from Miroku.
"Oh…I'm sorry…I don't know where that came from..." Kagome began to rapidly apologize. "I mean! You know me! I'm about as normal as everyone else. But, but, everyone is perfectly fine the way they are! Inuyasha might be mean sometimes and an accidental pervert, but he can be rather nice...when the time demands him to." Could you tell Kagome was babbling? "Anyway, being human and dog demon is so extraordinary! Plus those ears are so cute and---"
Kagome cut herself off and slapped a hand over her mouth. Where had that comment come from!?
As if answering, Inuyasha's triangular ears swiveled over to Kagome when it had heard that last comment, while his eyes were still stubbornly fixed to the picture on the wall--refusing to look over at Kagome. Miroku, Sango and Shippo looked mildly surprised as they watched Kagome begin to turn a deep beet red and laugh timidly to hide her embarrassment. "Well well, look at what time it is. I better get going and take my bath!" she hastily gibbered, before dropping Shippo down to the ground and all but rushed out of the room. Sango ran out after her, screaming something about a bathroom before the door slammed shut next door, signaling that the girls were in Kagome's room.
Boy session now.
"She thinks your ears are cute!" Miroku taunted Inuyasha with a big grin on his face after the girls were definitely gone, while the hanyou continued to refuse to make eye contact with anyone.
"So?!" he grumbled curtly, while folding his arms across his chest.
"So don't you think she's cute too?" Miroku asked, the whopping grin still plastered on his face.
"NO!" Inuyasha yelled out quickly, while emitting a "keh!" afterwards.
"Well, I certainly think she's really cute!" Miroku remarked, and nearly wilted from the deadly glare that Inuyasha gave him almost instantly.
"Don't try to take advantage of Kagome!" Shippo piped up from the couch and glared over at Miroku.
"You too, my little friend!?" Miroku drew in a gasp as if he was surprised Shippo could even accuse him of something like that.
"Don't call me little! You're just trying to get into Kagome's pants!" Shippo hissed in irritation.
Miroku made another dramatic gasp and held a hand over his heart, looking at the two other males in the room with a hurt expression. "I definitely know when I'm not wanted!" he sighed dejectedly, and strode out the door with his shoulders slouched.
Shippo, watching Miroku amusedly, suddenly realized that he was alone in the room with Inuyasha and squeaked in a high pitch, jumping off the couch and scampering out the door in a hurry. He didn't want to be used as a ball and thrown out the window this time! "Kagomeeeee!" he yelped and ran like a blur.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and sighed in annoyance. There was never ever going to be another dull moment in this castlehold now, huh? Sitting down on a chair, he gazed out at the balcony at where the sun was beginning to set beyond the horizon and light up his room in a beautiful orange hue.
Now that he thought about it, it was…in a way…his fault that the incident had occurred. But…well it wasn't precisely his fault either that he got use to the fact that no one else really used that bathroom before! His parents always used their own bathroom and Miroku used the one next to his, so the huge bathroom downstairs was always unofficially "his", seeing as there was no more royalty currently living in the household. Only royalty could use that specific bathroom, so you do the math.
Actually, Inuyasha also had a bathroom connected to his room, but he never used it since it was so small and miniature compared to the other one. He had expected Kagome to use that one or something, but he guessed that no one had told her about it.
[A/N. Think of it this way. If you were walking up a corridor headed north/up, you would meet Kagome's room first. Her room is connected to the second room, which is Inuyasha's. The third room doesn't have a doorway created on the outside on the corridor, but it is connected to Inuyasha's room from inside the hanyou's room. Sorry, just wanted to spark your imagination. ; ]
Hearing someone coming up the corridor, Inuyasha rotated his ears to face the door, smelling his mother's scent and hearing her knock on Kagome's door. Now what did she want to talk with Kagome about? Straining his ears, he could hear a few people talking on the other side of the wall, but he only caught snippets of the conversation.
Something about "bathroom" "Inuyasha" and "pervert". Now where was this going…
A few minutes after the conversation had started, it had already ended and Inuyasha just raised an eyebrow when he could hear someone opening the door connected to his and Kagome's room. The doorknob turned and in rushed an angry Kagome who just marched across the room mumbling something and opened Inuyasha's bathroom irately.
"Don't come in this time or else!" she warned Inuyasha and slammed the door shut with a loud bang. Then the trickling of water came and Inuyasha concluded that his mother had told her about the regular bathtub connected to Inuyasha's room.
Sighing, he could see a calm Sango strode down the corridor outside his main door, probably heading for her own room next to Miroku's, while his mother walked into his room through the connected door. His mother closed it gently behind her and smiled lightly at her son. "I think we need to talk," she started.
"About what? Not to go into a bathroom while a girl is in it?" he growled and grumbled some stuff under his breath. "Sango already lectured me on that before."
"Well yes, you need to get use to the fact now that if the door is closed, you better knock first and see if someone is in there. Don't just open a door leisurely," Lady Komiya instructed and smiled at the annoyed look on her son's face. "And maybe you should apologize."
Inuyasha spun his face over to look directly at his mother. "After she practically clobbered me to death with that club?! Hell no!" Inuyasha yelled and crossed his arms across his chest stubbornly, glaring over at his mother and looking as if apologizing to Kagome was one of the most revolting things he had heard in his life.
"Well, if someone walked in on you while you were bathing, wouldn't you beat them up too?" Lady Komiya asked, a sweat drop starting to appear on her forehead at his obstinacy.
"No!"
"Right…" Inuyasha was so stubborn…just like his father.
"I'd just yell at them!"
"Okay…" Lady Komiya whispered skeptically and started for the main door. "Well, think about it," she repeated and then smiled mysteriously before closing the door. Inuyasha listened to his mother stroll down the corridor and disappear down the stairway before he actually started breathing again. He didn't exactly know why he was holding his breath in the first place, but after that little talk with his mother, he began to feel that little sentiment of guilt seep into his mind.
Growling, he flopped down on his bed, listening to the water sloshing around in the tub in the bathroom from Kagome bathing. But when the image of Kagome half naked entered his mind, he abruptly sat up and scowled deeply. Stupid wench…stupid hormones…
Throwing the ice pack on his table, he ambled out to his balcony and sat on the edge rails bravely, dangling his feet in the open air. The late evening breeze blew his white hair about and he took in a deep breath of the salty sea-like smell, enjoying the tranquility and the soft sounds of the waves at the beach. He had always loved the ocean, and living without the smell, sight and sound of it would be like living without a part of his soul.
Looking down to a small part of the gardens below him, he spotted the fox demon wandering around the place and looking at the flowers. Watching the kit pick a flower from one of the bushes, he chuckled good-naturedly when he saw the kid try to eat it before spitting it out in disgust.
Glancing to his left and down the sandy shore, he could see the line of cliffs he had just visited last night, while more mountains and cliffs jagged along the interior of the land to meet with the opaque forest that occupied most of the western parts of the terrain. He kind of half-expected an army to come marching back any moment now, but as he continued to stare at the small barren pass where the dense forest and the cliffs met, nothing appeared.
When would his stupid brother finish off the wolf monarchy and come back to announce that the wolves' territory now belonged to them!? If his father had just let him do it instead, Inuyasha would have finished the job in one day flat! But…King Komiya had said that the job didn't require "Inuyasha's godly strength" to finish off the wolf kingdom so instead, had sent Sesshoumaru out. Like Inuyasha would believe his father's lies; he just didn't want to see his "little baby puppy" get hurt.
A door slamming shut broke Inuyasha away from his thoughts as he pivoted his head around to look at a now wet Kagome coolly pace across his room to get to her own room. A towel was wrapped around her wet hair and she had changed into her night clothes, yawning a little as she reached the door adjoining their two rooms. What his mother had told him before flashed back into his mind and he yelled out "Wait!" to the girl before he even knew he had blurted it out.
She turned around to acknowledge that she was listening and gave him a stern face when they locked eye contact. "Yes?" she asked coldly, narrowing her eyes at him.
Inuyasha pondered whether he should just turn back and look out at the sea, ignoring Kagome, but the little nagging guilt he had wouldn't leave him alone. Taking in a massive breath, he quickly muttered a "I'm sorry" before turning back to stare out at the ocean, clear that the short discussion was over.
He missed the blinking confusion on Kagome's face before she smiled softly to herself and slipped quietly back into her room without a word to the Prince. Silence slowly took over the large space as Inuyasha realized that Kagome had went back into her own quarters, her scent lingering inside Inuyasha's room. Getting off the rails, he stepped inside and inhaled deeply.
Without all that dirt stuck on her body, Inuyasha realized that Kagome actually had a very…nice scent to her. It smelt something like strawberries and blossoms, tinted with a faint sweet honey-like edge. It was a very familiar smell actually, something that brought around a sense of calmness inside of him, but he couldn't figure where he had smelt it. Oh well. It was probably because she smelt like someone he had known before or something.
Strolling for the door, he decided to actually take that bath he had longed for before, but had been sidetracked when he walked in on Kagome. He kept sure at the back of his mind, that if the door was locked, he'd better knock on it before he went in. He didn't exactly fancy another run-in with maybe someone like Sango because Sango no doubt had that huge boomerang, so she could beat the shit out of him more than Kagome had done.
It was a matter of short walk down the two staircases and he had already reached the area where he had the *fond* memories of being chased down by Kagome. The corridor seemed to have been cleaned up already, and the pictures that had been smashed before had been replaced with others. The floor was mopped and anything broken had been cleaned up. It was a miracle the maids could work that fast…
Going down to the end of the hallway, Inuyasha saw that the door was left open signaling that it was vacant, and he carefully walked in, double checking that no one was hiding in the corners of the steamy room. When everything seemed clear, he sighed cheerfully and went to put down his belongings on the small table next to the door.
What surprised him though was that there was a book left behind there and he blinked confoundedly as he picked it up, leafing through the pages. At the page about the Shikon no Tama was a marker and he began to muse over who could have been reading this book, since it obviously looked like one of the library's books. Deciding to bring it back with him later, he set it back down on the table and continued along with his business.
*~*~*
He coolly stared at the torches of fire about a mile away from his army, waiting for any sign that the enemy was going to attack. The battlefield had been annoyingly set in a high area of the land, so that it was a dark desolate landscape on a cloudy day such as this. He could hear the horses behind him neighing gently and sounding as if they were getting eager to start the mêlée, while the riders gently restrained their horses from moving too much. Most of the few hundred riders were demons, but there were a few humans on their horses as they all waited patiently for any sign of action from their leader.
But it was all extremely silent and strain was filled in the air. Nothing was happening.
The leader's second-in-command gently leaned his head towards the general and whispered, "Do you think the enemy will proceed to attack any time soon, Prince Sesshoumaru?"
The tall man on top of his black horse didn't respond as both horse and rider continued to stare calmly over the dark land at the enemy, waiting for any sign of activity. There was only a slight breeze stirring around the dust on the ground and the second-in-command just sighed quietly when he realized that he wouldn't get a response from the stoic Prince. They had already been waiting there for a good twenty minutes, but nothing exciting had yet to happen. Was the enemy even going to attack? Or should the dog demon kingdom soldiers make the first move?
Sesshoumaru ignored the sighing from the man next to him, and he narrowed his eyes a bit as he eyed some sort of shadowy movement from the enemy. The moon quietly moved to a small bare space in the sky as if it could feel the tension in the air between the two kingdoms. A sudden rough wind picked up and ruffled Sesshoumaru's long hair, while causing a few of the soldier's weapons to clang against another's.
"It's starting," Sesshoumaru calmly replied to his second-in-command before a split second later, a long, thunderous wolf howl broke through the silence of the ranks.
Raising their weapons in response, the dog demons [and humans] howled back their war cries and the troops began to thunder across the plains like a wave of black and shining silver to meet the enemy. Dust was kicked up from the horses galloping and sweat was rolling down the foreheads of those who were nervous.
Sesshoumaru who still had on a composed expression, led the army with his sword still in its sheath. He would take it out right before he actually met with the enemy, so that it gave him more speed through the dash across the high plains without the sword in his hands.
The two kingdoms drew nearer to each other in a matter of a few minutes, the broken tension being replaced by determination and an eruption of malice. The wind blew Sesshoumaru's hair behind him and the Prince looked ready to meet with the army of the wolf kingdom, before a sudden sinister swirling of smoke began to materialize between the middle of the two forces.
Frowning slightly, Sesshoumaru muttered "What is going on…" when he saw one lone figure emerge from the ominous smoke. The person's cloak fluttered in the wind and his dark black hair twirled around in the breeze, his back turned to the dog demon army while he was facing the wolf demons. A wicked dark aura surrounded the man and waves of malevolence seemed to pulsate around his being as he watched the two armies explode towards him.
The man muttering something over to the wolves was the only thing Sesshoumaru heard before a red sinful force pulsed down from the guy to enter the earth, causing the ground to light up scarlet in between the cracks. The crimson energy headed in every direction, towards both the wolf demon army and the dog demon army, at an implausible speed and caused soldiers from both sides to pull the reins on their horses and try to advance backwards.
But they all hardly backtracked ten feet before the red energy swallowed them all up in a dark ruby tone, causing the horses to cry out in a frightened neigh while the riders started to shout in an excruciating uproar.
Sesshoumaru could feel his armor disintegrating in the wicked energy that seemed to consume him, whilst his flesh was beginning to tear from cuts and nicks that appeared on his arm and face. Everything was so intensely bright and the yells of pain from his army was the only thing he could hear before the blinking darkness behind his eyelids devoured him, bringing him into the world of black.
A/N: Muahaha. *evil smile* Aren't you all just dying to find out what happens to Sesshoumaru? And yes! I finally introduced him to my story! ;) Here's a few questions [not all I assure you] that I will NOT keep a secret from you, since I have been torturing you with questions that you wanted answer, but I wouldn't seem to give.
Q. Will Kouga appear?
A. Yes, that's what the wolf demon army is for. He'll appear later on in the story though.
Q. Will Kanna, Kagura, Kohaku, etc etc make an appearance?
A. I'm still wondering what parts I could give the minor characters, but they might or might not appear. Sorry that I can't clear that up!
Q. How did Naraku [the guy who appeared on the plains] obtain such power without the Shikon?
A. This should be answered in future chapters. Just know that since he released so much power, he will be extremely weakened and won't do much evil for a while. ;) Celebrate…for now!
Q. Ultimate question…how is Sesshy!?!?
A. Muahaha. Suffer. I won't tell! *continues evil laughter*
_sakura2649_ Thank you for your LONG reviews! I really enjoy reading them! [inspires me ;)] Muahaha. ;) _fallen pheniox_ yup yup. If Kagome had seen the mask, then much of the rest of the storyline wouldn't be a secret no more, so I didn't let her. thanks for reviewing! _EternalLove_ Sorry if I sometimes make Kagome a bit OOC. I don't think I can help it. Gomen! _Christykay_ Thanks for always reviewing! =) And thanks for the tip on the link thing! _Sorena_ No no, I must thank YOU for reviewing my story. =) And I must congrats you to the real nice guess on Kagome walking in on Inuyasha with a *cough cough* [must still keep it a secret from others, ne?] _roxy-chick_ Thank you very much for reviewing all my chapters! =) _Kirara_ Just wanted to say hi! Haven't talked to you in a long time! Did I make this story similar to yours? If I did, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! =( _Princess Sapphire_ Yup! Sesshoumaru will appear in this story. In fact, his cameo is this chapter! _Inuyashachic515_ Best writer around? Most definitely not! There's others way better than me. =) _stellamucca_ Put that slave driving whip down and slowly back away from me. ;) _kishi_ Thanks for pointing out my age mistake on my other chapter. And I like your guesses on what will happen in the story. =) _x_ Do you think Inu's parents can exterminate Naraku that easily? Especially after you finish reading this chapter? ;) _Ichimu_ Thank you for complimenting my story. =) _Wierdo C_ I'm sorry if this story is like Kirara's story. I reread Kirara's story and I don't really exactly see too many similarities other than the fact that it's a prince/princess story with a few similarities here and there, but I swear that it was on pure coincidence. I will try to stay away from her plot from now on. Starting from this chapter too. You'll notice at the end.
Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, Kikyou would have died off, Inuyasha would be naked more, Shippo would get more respect, Sango and Miroku would just go have babies by now and Kagome and Inuyasha would be together. So no. I don't own the series. Sad.
_Edited chapter up_
Behind the Masquerade
Giving
"OWWWW!!"
"Oh be quiet you big baby," Miroku mumbled in an exasperated tone as he put the new ice pack not-so-gently on Inuyasha's forehead. "It's not that bad."
"You're one to talk! You get a bump on your head five days a week, so you're use to it," Inuyasha snapped back at his cousin , while trying to keep the ice pack from slipping off his head.
Miroku snuck a glance behind him to where Sango was eyeing his every move like a hawk upon a prey. "I have a hunch I'll get one seven days a week now," he grumbled under his breath and felt a slap on the back of his head almost instantly.
"I can hear you," was Sango's only explanation as she regained her previous posture; standing with one weight on her right leg and arms crossed across her chest, while glaring a hole into the back of Miroku's head.
"Don't hit me! You're just a bodyguard," Miroku huffed and rubbed the back of his head indignantly.
Sango opened her mouth to retort something, but closed it again when she realized she couldn't say anything. Frustration was strained across her face as she kept her little secret to herself, disinclined to let Miroku know about her being a princess.
Shippo popped up suddenly from behind Sango on her shoulder and stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha. He didn't really like the Prince that much, not when Inuyasha stuck him into a little hole in the wall before! He had only managed to get his furry self out when a passerby servant decided that his *ass* didn't match with the wall's décor.
"You deserve that hit to your brain!" Shippo commented bravely from behind Sango. As an afterthought, he added, "stupid head!"
"Do you want to get your kitsune ass stuck into another wall, brat!? Or maybe I should jab you down a hole this time," Inuyasha threatened and growled at the ball of fluff, aggravated that he couldn't get up and beat the fur off of the kid.
Shippo squeaked and jumped off of Sango's shoulder to scurry across the floor to where Kagome was sitting on the couch with an irritated look on her face. Rubbing her temples gently, she relaxed when Shippo jumped into her lap and allowed her to hold him against her abdomen.
Kagome watched as Shippo stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha again from his safe distance and observed Inuyasha growl once more. Kids…one had the body of an eight year old, while the other unfortunately had the brains of an eight year old…how cute.
"Why is that brat in the castle anyway!?" Inuyasha demanded when he had just about enough from Shippo when the kid stuck his bruised ass his way. "I could just throw him out! He's just a dumb peasant after all."
"You can't throw me out!" Shippo squealed from his position, horrified at the idea of being kicked out of the castle. "Kagome still has to find the Shi---"
A hand quickly muffled what Shippo was about to say and Kagome laughed nervously when both Inuyasha's and Miroku's eyes looked at her expectedly, as if waiting for her to finish what Shippo had started to say. "I still have to find the…the…uhh…sheep…" she finished off lamely, not exactly knowing where that had come from.
This got raised eyebrows from the men and a sweat drop from Sango.
"You know! Sheeeeep..." Kagome made up out of nowhere in her haste, waving her hands out in front of her in uneasiness when this got silence from Inuyasha and a raised eyebrow from Miroku.
"Oh…I'm sorry…I don't know where that came from..." Kagome began to rapidly apologize. "I mean! You know me! I'm about as normal as everyone else. But, but, everyone is perfectly fine the way they are! Inuyasha might be mean sometimes and an accidental pervert, but he can be rather nice...when the time demands him to." Could you tell Kagome was babbling? "Anyway, being human and dog demon is so extraordinary! Plus those ears are so cute and---"
Kagome cut herself off and slapped a hand over her mouth. Where had that comment come from!?
As if answering, Inuyasha's triangular ears swiveled over to Kagome when it had heard that last comment, while his eyes were still stubbornly fixed to the picture on the wall--refusing to look over at Kagome. Miroku, Sango and Shippo looked mildly surprised as they watched Kagome begin to turn a deep beet red and laugh timidly to hide her embarrassment. "Well well, look at what time it is. I better get going and take my bath!" she hastily gibbered, before dropping Shippo down to the ground and all but rushed out of the room. Sango ran out after her, screaming something about a bathroom before the door slammed shut next door, signaling that the girls were in Kagome's room.
Boy session now.
"She thinks your ears are cute!" Miroku taunted Inuyasha with a big grin on his face after the girls were definitely gone, while the hanyou continued to refuse to make eye contact with anyone.
"So?!" he grumbled curtly, while folding his arms across his chest.
"So don't you think she's cute too?" Miroku asked, the whopping grin still plastered on his face.
"NO!" Inuyasha yelled out quickly, while emitting a "keh!" afterwards.
"Well, I certainly think she's really cute!" Miroku remarked, and nearly wilted from the deadly glare that Inuyasha gave him almost instantly.
"Don't try to take advantage of Kagome!" Shippo piped up from the couch and glared over at Miroku.
"You too, my little friend!?" Miroku drew in a gasp as if he was surprised Shippo could even accuse him of something like that.
"Don't call me little! You're just trying to get into Kagome's pants!" Shippo hissed in irritation.
Miroku made another dramatic gasp and held a hand over his heart, looking at the two other males in the room with a hurt expression. "I definitely know when I'm not wanted!" he sighed dejectedly, and strode out the door with his shoulders slouched.
Shippo, watching Miroku amusedly, suddenly realized that he was alone in the room with Inuyasha and squeaked in a high pitch, jumping off the couch and scampering out the door in a hurry. He didn't want to be used as a ball and thrown out the window this time! "Kagomeeeee!" he yelped and ran like a blur.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and sighed in annoyance. There was never ever going to be another dull moment in this castlehold now, huh? Sitting down on a chair, he gazed out at the balcony at where the sun was beginning to set beyond the horizon and light up his room in a beautiful orange hue.
Now that he thought about it, it was…in a way…his fault that the incident had occurred. But…well it wasn't precisely his fault either that he got use to the fact that no one else really used that bathroom before! His parents always used their own bathroom and Miroku used the one next to his, so the huge bathroom downstairs was always unofficially "his", seeing as there was no more royalty currently living in the household. Only royalty could use that specific bathroom, so you do the math.
Actually, Inuyasha also had a bathroom connected to his room, but he never used it since it was so small and miniature compared to the other one. He had expected Kagome to use that one or something, but he guessed that no one had told her about it.
[A/N. Think of it this way. If you were walking up a corridor headed north/up, you would meet Kagome's room first. Her room is connected to the second room, which is Inuyasha's. The third room doesn't have a doorway created on the outside on the corridor, but it is connected to Inuyasha's room from inside the hanyou's room. Sorry, just wanted to spark your imagination. ; ]
Hearing someone coming up the corridor, Inuyasha rotated his ears to face the door, smelling his mother's scent and hearing her knock on Kagome's door. Now what did she want to talk with Kagome about? Straining his ears, he could hear a few people talking on the other side of the wall, but he only caught snippets of the conversation.
Something about "bathroom" "Inuyasha" and "pervert". Now where was this going…
A few minutes after the conversation had started, it had already ended and Inuyasha just raised an eyebrow when he could hear someone opening the door connected to his and Kagome's room. The doorknob turned and in rushed an angry Kagome who just marched across the room mumbling something and opened Inuyasha's bathroom irately.
"Don't come in this time or else!" she warned Inuyasha and slammed the door shut with a loud bang. Then the trickling of water came and Inuyasha concluded that his mother had told her about the regular bathtub connected to Inuyasha's room.
Sighing, he could see a calm Sango strode down the corridor outside his main door, probably heading for her own room next to Miroku's, while his mother walked into his room through the connected door. His mother closed it gently behind her and smiled lightly at her son. "I think we need to talk," she started.
"About what? Not to go into a bathroom while a girl is in it?" he growled and grumbled some stuff under his breath. "Sango already lectured me on that before."
"Well yes, you need to get use to the fact now that if the door is closed, you better knock first and see if someone is in there. Don't just open a door leisurely," Lady Komiya instructed and smiled at the annoyed look on her son's face. "And maybe you should apologize."
Inuyasha spun his face over to look directly at his mother. "After she practically clobbered me to death with that club?! Hell no!" Inuyasha yelled and crossed his arms across his chest stubbornly, glaring over at his mother and looking as if apologizing to Kagome was one of the most revolting things he had heard in his life.
"Well, if someone walked in on you while you were bathing, wouldn't you beat them up too?" Lady Komiya asked, a sweat drop starting to appear on her forehead at his obstinacy.
"No!"
"Right…" Inuyasha was so stubborn…just like his father.
"I'd just yell at them!"
"Okay…" Lady Komiya whispered skeptically and started for the main door. "Well, think about it," she repeated and then smiled mysteriously before closing the door. Inuyasha listened to his mother stroll down the corridor and disappear down the stairway before he actually started breathing again. He didn't exactly know why he was holding his breath in the first place, but after that little talk with his mother, he began to feel that little sentiment of guilt seep into his mind.
Growling, he flopped down on his bed, listening to the water sloshing around in the tub in the bathroom from Kagome bathing. But when the image of Kagome half naked entered his mind, he abruptly sat up and scowled deeply. Stupid wench…stupid hormones…
Throwing the ice pack on his table, he ambled out to his balcony and sat on the edge rails bravely, dangling his feet in the open air. The late evening breeze blew his white hair about and he took in a deep breath of the salty sea-like smell, enjoying the tranquility and the soft sounds of the waves at the beach. He had always loved the ocean, and living without the smell, sight and sound of it would be like living without a part of his soul.
Looking down to a small part of the gardens below him, he spotted the fox demon wandering around the place and looking at the flowers. Watching the kit pick a flower from one of the bushes, he chuckled good-naturedly when he saw the kid try to eat it before spitting it out in disgust.
Glancing to his left and down the sandy shore, he could see the line of cliffs he had just visited last night, while more mountains and cliffs jagged along the interior of the land to meet with the opaque forest that occupied most of the western parts of the terrain. He kind of half-expected an army to come marching back any moment now, but as he continued to stare at the small barren pass where the dense forest and the cliffs met, nothing appeared.
When would his stupid brother finish off the wolf monarchy and come back to announce that the wolves' territory now belonged to them!? If his father had just let him do it instead, Inuyasha would have finished the job in one day flat! But…King Komiya had said that the job didn't require "Inuyasha's godly strength" to finish off the wolf kingdom so instead, had sent Sesshoumaru out. Like Inuyasha would believe his father's lies; he just didn't want to see his "little baby puppy" get hurt.
A door slamming shut broke Inuyasha away from his thoughts as he pivoted his head around to look at a now wet Kagome coolly pace across his room to get to her own room. A towel was wrapped around her wet hair and she had changed into her night clothes, yawning a little as she reached the door adjoining their two rooms. What his mother had told him before flashed back into his mind and he yelled out "Wait!" to the girl before he even knew he had blurted it out.
She turned around to acknowledge that she was listening and gave him a stern face when they locked eye contact. "Yes?" she asked coldly, narrowing her eyes at him.
Inuyasha pondered whether he should just turn back and look out at the sea, ignoring Kagome, but the little nagging guilt he had wouldn't leave him alone. Taking in a massive breath, he quickly muttered a "I'm sorry" before turning back to stare out at the ocean, clear that the short discussion was over.
He missed the blinking confusion on Kagome's face before she smiled softly to herself and slipped quietly back into her room without a word to the Prince. Silence slowly took over the large space as Inuyasha realized that Kagome had went back into her own quarters, her scent lingering inside Inuyasha's room. Getting off the rails, he stepped inside and inhaled deeply.
Without all that dirt stuck on her body, Inuyasha realized that Kagome actually had a very…nice scent to her. It smelt something like strawberries and blossoms, tinted with a faint sweet honey-like edge. It was a very familiar smell actually, something that brought around a sense of calmness inside of him, but he couldn't figure where he had smelt it. Oh well. It was probably because she smelt like someone he had known before or something.
Strolling for the door, he decided to actually take that bath he had longed for before, but had been sidetracked when he walked in on Kagome. He kept sure at the back of his mind, that if the door was locked, he'd better knock on it before he went in. He didn't exactly fancy another run-in with maybe someone like Sango because Sango no doubt had that huge boomerang, so she could beat the shit out of him more than Kagome had done.
It was a matter of short walk down the two staircases and he had already reached the area where he had the *fond* memories of being chased down by Kagome. The corridor seemed to have been cleaned up already, and the pictures that had been smashed before had been replaced with others. The floor was mopped and anything broken had been cleaned up. It was a miracle the maids could work that fast…
Going down to the end of the hallway, Inuyasha saw that the door was left open signaling that it was vacant, and he carefully walked in, double checking that no one was hiding in the corners of the steamy room. When everything seemed clear, he sighed cheerfully and went to put down his belongings on the small table next to the door.
What surprised him though was that there was a book left behind there and he blinked confoundedly as he picked it up, leafing through the pages. At the page about the Shikon no Tama was a marker and he began to muse over who could have been reading this book, since it obviously looked like one of the library's books. Deciding to bring it back with him later, he set it back down on the table and continued along with his business.
*~*~*
He coolly stared at the torches of fire about a mile away from his army, waiting for any sign that the enemy was going to attack. The battlefield had been annoyingly set in a high area of the land, so that it was a dark desolate landscape on a cloudy day such as this. He could hear the horses behind him neighing gently and sounding as if they were getting eager to start the mêlée, while the riders gently restrained their horses from moving too much. Most of the few hundred riders were demons, but there were a few humans on their horses as they all waited patiently for any sign of action from their leader.
But it was all extremely silent and strain was filled in the air. Nothing was happening.
The leader's second-in-command gently leaned his head towards the general and whispered, "Do you think the enemy will proceed to attack any time soon, Prince Sesshoumaru?"
The tall man on top of his black horse didn't respond as both horse and rider continued to stare calmly over the dark land at the enemy, waiting for any sign of activity. There was only a slight breeze stirring around the dust on the ground and the second-in-command just sighed quietly when he realized that he wouldn't get a response from the stoic Prince. They had already been waiting there for a good twenty minutes, but nothing exciting had yet to happen. Was the enemy even going to attack? Or should the dog demon kingdom soldiers make the first move?
Sesshoumaru ignored the sighing from the man next to him, and he narrowed his eyes a bit as he eyed some sort of shadowy movement from the enemy. The moon quietly moved to a small bare space in the sky as if it could feel the tension in the air between the two kingdoms. A sudden rough wind picked up and ruffled Sesshoumaru's long hair, while causing a few of the soldier's weapons to clang against another's.
"It's starting," Sesshoumaru calmly replied to his second-in-command before a split second later, a long, thunderous wolf howl broke through the silence of the ranks.
Raising their weapons in response, the dog demons [and humans] howled back their war cries and the troops began to thunder across the plains like a wave of black and shining silver to meet the enemy. Dust was kicked up from the horses galloping and sweat was rolling down the foreheads of those who were nervous.
Sesshoumaru who still had on a composed expression, led the army with his sword still in its sheath. He would take it out right before he actually met with the enemy, so that it gave him more speed through the dash across the high plains without the sword in his hands.
The two kingdoms drew nearer to each other in a matter of a few minutes, the broken tension being replaced by determination and an eruption of malice. The wind blew Sesshoumaru's hair behind him and the Prince looked ready to meet with the army of the wolf kingdom, before a sudden sinister swirling of smoke began to materialize between the middle of the two forces.
Frowning slightly, Sesshoumaru muttered "What is going on…" when he saw one lone figure emerge from the ominous smoke. The person's cloak fluttered in the wind and his dark black hair twirled around in the breeze, his back turned to the dog demon army while he was facing the wolf demons. A wicked dark aura surrounded the man and waves of malevolence seemed to pulsate around his being as he watched the two armies explode towards him.
The man muttering something over to the wolves was the only thing Sesshoumaru heard before a red sinful force pulsed down from the guy to enter the earth, causing the ground to light up scarlet in between the cracks. The crimson energy headed in every direction, towards both the wolf demon army and the dog demon army, at an implausible speed and caused soldiers from both sides to pull the reins on their horses and try to advance backwards.
But they all hardly backtracked ten feet before the red energy swallowed them all up in a dark ruby tone, causing the horses to cry out in a frightened neigh while the riders started to shout in an excruciating uproar.
Sesshoumaru could feel his armor disintegrating in the wicked energy that seemed to consume him, whilst his flesh was beginning to tear from cuts and nicks that appeared on his arm and face. Everything was so intensely bright and the yells of pain from his army was the only thing he could hear before the blinking darkness behind his eyelids devoured him, bringing him into the world of black.
A/N: Muahaha. *evil smile* Aren't you all just dying to find out what happens to Sesshoumaru? And yes! I finally introduced him to my story! ;) Here's a few questions [not all I assure you] that I will NOT keep a secret from you, since I have been torturing you with questions that you wanted answer, but I wouldn't seem to give.
Q. Will Kouga appear?
A. Yes, that's what the wolf demon army is for. He'll appear later on in the story though.
Q. Will Kanna, Kagura, Kohaku, etc etc make an appearance?
A. I'm still wondering what parts I could give the minor characters, but they might or might not appear. Sorry that I can't clear that up!
Q. How did Naraku [the guy who appeared on the plains] obtain such power without the Shikon?
A. This should be answered in future chapters. Just know that since he released so much power, he will be extremely weakened and won't do much evil for a while. ;) Celebrate…for now!
Q. Ultimate question…how is Sesshy!?!?
A. Muahaha. Suffer. I won't tell! *continues evil laughter*