Kura has insisted on being present when the demon lord meets with his warriors. Will she regret it? How will the demons react to fighting alongside a council member?

Quick confession: I really, really, really shouldn't have used a character name that starts with the letter "K". Why? List some other Inu characters: KAGOme, KiKyO, Kaede, KOGA, KirArA, KAGurA, KAnnA, KAGerOmeru . . . K, A, G, and O are really way too popular. Just three names really confuse me though: Kagome, Kagura, Kageromeru. Try saying them three times fast.

I'd like to thank Kat Morning for the setting of my story, which is based on the alternate universe of her inu fanfic "Blood Ties."

Disclaimer: I do not own Sesshomeru, Koga, Yura, Kagura, Kageromeru, Jeromeru, or any other Inuyasha characters. They are owned by their author/creator, Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 20: The Demon Warriors

The two demons who entered Sesshomeru's apartment appeared to be exceptionally beautiful young women. The shorter of the two wore a low-cut mini dress that concealed very little. She immediately flung her arms around Sesshomeru.

"Sesshomeru, honey, it's been far too long. But now that we're finally together again . . ." She tangled her fingers into his long silver hair and leaned forward to whisper something in his ear. He reached down to cup the back of her head in one hand.

"My dear Yura," Sesshomeru murmured, "You are as unsubtle as ever. Release the threads wrapped around my neck. Now."

"Or what?" Yura teased. "Will you punish me? You should. I've been a very, very bad girl."

Sesshomeru held up his left hand, which was holding a beautiful red hair comb. "Now, now, Yura. It would be a pity if this were broken."

Yura gasped and put a hand up to her own hair, where the comb should have been. It was gone. All the color drained from Yura's face. Releasing Sesshomeru from both her visible and invisible embraces, her hand lingered to finger his silky hair. "Someday I will have it, Sesshomeru-sama."

"You are welcome to take my hair, Yura. After I am dead." The demon lord turned to the other demon, leaning against the doorjamb. She was striking in an elegant kimono and dark red lipstick. "Kagura, I am amazed you were able to tame this wildcat. Still, her affections seem to have many recipients . . ."

The corner of the demon's lips quirked into a half-smirk. "It makes no difference how many she gives her affection to. Her only commitment is to me." Kagura moved to her partner's side and put a possessive arm around her waist.

"I am relieved to hear that your relationship is so open. It would be a tragedy for me to lose my only chance at two such ravishing females." Koga strutted in, carrying in his arms a kitten. Kura, who had been watching quietly, did a double-take. Did that cat really have two tails?

"Speaking of ravishing females," Kagura said in her rich alto, "News of your exploits has traveled as far as Kyoto. You pursue human women now?"

"Only when I am forced to be apart from demon beauties like you and your partner, Kagura."

The apartment door opened again to admit Jeromeru, who was half-carrying his twin brother Kageromeru. They were both handsome, with soft waves of blue hair falling to their shoulders. "My dear friends," Kageromeru exclaimed, but his eyes were hard and suspicious, roaming constantly around the room. Kura felt a shiver of fear as he regarded her with a strange intensity.

"You and your brother are welcome here, clever one," Sesshomeru acknowledged them gracefully. The cat in Koga's arms hissed and spat at Jeromeru, who growled and struck with the speed of a serpent. Sesshomeru created a large battle-aura to protect his cat minion from the feral demon's attack and snapped, "Kageromeru! If you cannot control your younger brother, he must go."

The crippled demon hobbled to his bestial brother and calmed him by stroking his hair. "My lord," Kageromeru sniveled, "It was Kirara who provoked him."

The demon cat licked its paws thoroughly and swished its two tails testily before leaping to the couch back next to Kura. The human nervously offered the kitten a hand to sniff, and Kirara butted against the hand playfully, asking for a chin-scratch. Kura was amazed that such a tiny, adorable cat could be a demon. The cat prowled along the couch-back, rubbing up against the back of Kura's neck.

Kura realized that every demon was watching her intently. She was also becoming aware of her body's response to the demons' presence: nervousness, adrenaline, faster heart rate, sweating. She wondered wildly, "Why didn't I leave when Sesshomeru suggested I go hide?"

Yura chewed on her lower lip thoughtfully. "I know I've seen this human before, but where was it?"

Kageromeru scoffed, "You can tell the difference? All humans look and smell the same."

Yura said defensively, "I don't usually remember them, but this one was special . . . Kagura? Can you remember?"

"It was three years ago, when we were watching part of Tokyo that was outside of my lord's jurisdiction. We were tracking a spider-head."

"I remember him! The one that disguised himself as a creepy old man during the day. Ugly, ugly, ugly."

"Two humans from Council killed the monster." Kagura gave the human woman a long, appraising look. "Your hair was longer. You carried a double-bladed staff."

Kageromeru hissed, "Sesshomeru! You bring this Council spy to our secret meeting! Is it true that you begged the humans to leave you in peace? Has the great lord fallen so low?"

Kagura snapped open her fan; Yura pulled her red comb from her hair; Koga shifted his weight forward onto the balls of his feet; Kirara crouched, ready to pounce. Sesshomeru was completely still. His voice was as even and disinterested as ever when he said softly, "Kageromeru, you would do well to remember that both you and your brother are disposable."

Kageromeru backed down immediately. "Sesshomeru-dono," he whined, "Forgive me for my doubt. I am your most devoted servant."

Kagura asked, "Sesshomeru-sama, would you explain to us why this ningen woman is here?"

Kura said, "It's simple. Like you, I serve Sesshomeru-dono."

"Watch your tongue, human," Kagura snapped, "We are nothing alike. I am a warrior, girl, not a whore."

"Three years ago, you saw me decapitate a spider-head. I am a Council Senior. We are both warriors."

"A Council Senior?" sneered Jeromeru. "A Senior must have real skills . . . either in the field or in the bedroom. Your real skill is spreading your legs, right?" He leaned close to her over the back of the couch, and whispered to the back of her neck, "Why don't you show me the skills that got you to the 'top'? If, of course, my lord doesn't object." He hugged her from behind, sliding his hands up to fondle her breasts. Kura was rigid but unmoving, her eyes on the demon lord.

Sesshomeru watched impassively for a moment, a tiny smile playing at the corners of his mouth. He nodded once.

Instantly, Kura grabbed Kageromeru's wrists and pulled them forward to throw Kageromeru over her shoulder. The moment his feet left the floor, she dug her elbow into his solar plexus, forcefully expelling air from his lungs. As she completed the throw, Kura twisted the demon's right arm around his back and held him down with a knee in the kidney, an extremely painful blow for any humanoid. She looked up at Sesshomeru for orders.

The crippled demon's brother, Jeromeru, had leaped to his brother's defense, but Koga had intercepted him and Yura had bound him with invisible hairs.

Sesshomeru was amused by Kura's display of prowess, coupled by a display of obedience to her master. She wasn't trying to prove anything to her lord, he suspected, but rather to his warriors. Did she think his reputation had suffered so much by her presence that she needed to prove her value as a warrior and servant? Well, it did seem to be working. When the brothers were both released at Sesshomeru's order, they showed the human woman respect. At the very least, they stopped openly questioning Sesshomeru's choice of warrior.