A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews, they were quite inspirational. :D

Someone mentioned my use of the 'f' word in the previous chapter. Rest assured, I have nothing against homosexuals. But drunk samurai can get vulgar...

Chapter 15: Rebellion

"Oi, Bankotsu!"

Bankotsu's long braid whipped around as he turned to face Inuyasha. "What do you want?"

"Well, I, um, need to meet with your brother."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Which brother?"

The one that's infatuated with boys, you idiot. "Um, the one called Jakotsu."

"Why?" asked Bankotsu.

"Well, it's like, something that's a personal issue."

"Did I hear someone say they wanted to talk to me about a personal issue?" A slim woman stepped out next to Bankotsu.

Inuyasha stared. "Who are you?"

"Jakotsu, of course. My, aren't you pretty? With those little hanyou ears… "

"I'm sorry?" asked Inuyasha quizzically.

"Never mind. You said you had a question for me"

"Well, I was wondering if you, by any chance, knew what, um-" Inuyasha looked at Bankotsu.

"I'm not leaving," Bankotsu said firmly.

"Fine…" Inuyasha blushed red. "Jakotsu, I was wondering if… if by any chance you knew what makes men love other men."

A silence hung in the air, until Jakotsu burst out roaring in laughter.

"What makes men love other men!" exploded Bankotsu, beginning to laugh. "You had to come all the way over here to ask that?" No matter if he hated Inuyasha, the hanyou was too funny to be hated.

"It would depend," Jakotsu said, delighted someone would actually ask his advice on such important matters. "I take it you like another man?"

"Well, that's the thing… I'm not sure." Inuyasha looked around warily.

"Well then… who is this person?"

"You know the boy who follows Sesshoumaru around, Higurashi Kei?"

Bankotsu gaped. "The one that looks like a girl?"

"Yeah, that's the problem! I keep imagining he's a girl."

Because… he is a girl… "Don't worry, Inuyasha, things will sort themselves out," Bankotsu assured him.

"Oh, and Inuyasha!" Jakotsu called. "Feel free to come and visit me anytime!"

When Inuyasha had slipped back to his room, Jakotsu looked down. "Lucky whoever that Kei person is, with such a pretty Inuyasha infatuated with him."

"Hey, Jakotsu," Bankotsu began, grinning. "You do know that Inuyasha doesn't actually bend that way, right? Kei Higurashi is actually Kagome."

"Damn," Jakotsu sighed. "I never have any luck. Do you think Sesshoumaru -"

"Don't start," growled Bankotsu in exasperation.

Jaken came flying into the room so hard he tripped and fell flat on the floor.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" he squawked.

The lunch dishes had long been cleared, but Kagome sat there pulling apart rice balls and eating the stuffing. Miroku had gone off to make bets with some men about who was going to be announced emperor, while Inuyasha had slipped away. Sesshoumaru kept completely to himself, thinking his own personal thoughts. Jaken's interruption was annoyingly loud to the quiet of the room, and Kagome glared irritably at him.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! I heard, I heard that -"

Miroku appeared in the doorway, looking gleeful. "Look at this!" he said, 'accidentally' stepping on Jaken on his way to the table. Drawing a large cloth pouch from his sleeve, Miroku emptied a mountain of gold and silver onto the table.

"Look what I got?" he asked triumphantly, fingering a gold nugget.

"I thought you were a priest," Kagome said suspiciously. Maybe he wasn't her brother after all.

"I am, but I don't see what that has to do with anything," he asked, frowning slightly as though in deep thought.

"Never mind," Kagome said, smiling. Monks weren't supposed to gamble, but then again, they weren't supposed to womanize, lie, pierce their ears or keep their hair long. "Did you win your bets?"

"Hell yes!" Monks weren't supposed to swear either, sighed Kagome inwardly. "I knew I would win."

"Ok, so who's emperor?"

"Him," Miroku said, jerking his thumb at Sesshoumaru. He seemed more concerned with his money than showing good manners to his new monarch, but then again, all the gold could get him a good supply of high-class geisha for a long time, mused Kagome.

Jaken seemed to recover. "Sesshoumaru-sama… the samurai… they chose…" he seemed unable to do more than stutter. Him, Jaken, the loyal servant of the new emperor! Already he could picture the honorary titles he would receive. Jaken, Most Trusted and Noble Advisor to His Majesty Sesshoumaru Taisho.

Inuyasha came bounding in. "Holy crap, Sessh, you're emperor?" he asked. "I had to fight my way through your fan crowd to get in here. Good, now that you're emperor, I'll have more ramen."

"What fan crowd?" asked Jaken, peeping out the door.

"Them," Inuyasha said carelessly, glancing at the scores of people packed on the ends of the corridor. None had dared ventured in, but hordes of immaculately painted women and drunk men waited.

To say news travelled fast would be an understatement.

"Drink up," Naraku coaxed, his mouth curled into a smile.

Kagura glared at him.

"Fine," he said, sighing deeply. "You must be thirsty, though. Such a shame…" Taking the sake cup from her lips, he downed the cup in one gulp.

"What do you want?" she snapped.

"Someone to talk to. You're a good geisha, aren't you? Good geisha can always hold conversations."

"And why would you want to talk to me?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I'll be honest." He poured another cup of sake and pressed it to her lips. "But drink up first. I apologize, I haven't treated you properly as a guest."

"Guest?" Kagura snorted. "You keep your guests chained to the table?" For good measure, she jerked her right arm, and the low table rattled.

"I am sorry." Naraku released the chain around her wrist. "Better?"

"What do you want?"

"Well, we'll keep it simple. Say, if I had not taken you away, would you have tried seducing Lord Sesshoumaru?"

"This is ridiculous. Let me go."

Naraku titled his head. "Of course you would have, it's your nature."

"I would not have seduced him," spat Kagura.

"I'm sure you wouldn't," he said disbelievingly. "Well, you should have done it earlier."

"And why, pray?"

"Because Sesshoumaru-sama got crowned emperor today."

"What?" She flinched.

"Well, not crowned, but chosen."

"So you'll let me go?"

"Of course I'll let you go," he said sarcastically. "No, I'll keep you here so you can help me kill him off. Then you can be more than the potential mistress of an emperor. You'd be the potential mistress of a dead emperor, and the wife of the new emperor. Me," he added for good measure.

And it was then she noticed the undercurrent of anger in his red eyes, and decided to drink the sake obediently.

"I bet you Naraku will do something stupid," Sango said immediately once Kagome told her the news. "Which is good. I need to kick some ass."

True. Sango had stayed cooped up in the palace with Kaede for so long. "I'm sure you'll have your chance," Kagome said, yawning sleepily.

"Maybe he'll just give up and back down," Kaede suggested.

"Unlikely. Naraku? No, if he went so far as to fake a will, he really wants power."

Kaede frowned. "Why, though? Isn't being shogun good enough?"

"Easy, Kaede," Sango laughed. "It's no secret the shogun holds all the power while the emperor is a religious leader, in another words, the puppet. If Naraku becomes emperor, he'll hold the power of the shogun and title of emperor."

"Sounds about right," Kaede said, stretching out on her futon. "But I still don't get where the other lords come in."

"Well, should Kouga or Houjo become emperor, Naraku would be happy still. They would become puppets as well, but Naraku holding the strings. But if someone as powerful as Sesshoumaru or the Higurashis become emperor, they would not settle for being puppets. So, Naraku made it his goal to win my stepmother over, as she is the current head of the clan," Kagome explained.

"And somehow Kikyou's all tangled up in this mess now," finished Sango. "Kagome, I think it's time to tell Miroku who you are."

"True, true. Tomorrow, I will." Kagome rolled over and snuggled under the comforter. "Good night, everyone!"

Some rapidly approached his bedroom, and Sesshoumaru's eyes flew open.

The door slid open and in trooped a whole army of maids and servants. "My lord," the most extravagantly dressed of them said rather pompously. "I see you are awake. Excellent. Today will be a busy day. Allow this humble servant to see to your dressing and we can begin our activities."

Really. Very funny. Sesshoumaru wasn't letting this idiot of a servant touch him any more than he was about to let Jaken.

"My retainer?" asked Sesshoumaru coldly.

"The toad? He has been sent to the kitchens to prepare your meal."

"I require no meal."

"Of course, majesty. But, majesty, you are the emperor now. You will have me and this group of servants to look after your needs. And, majesty, you must follow court etiquette."

This was the thing he had been wary of since the last emperor had died. Following court etiquette as a lord had been one thing. You followed their stiff rituals in the palace, but once you got home, you lived the way you wanted.

Not the emperors. As emperor, you lived by those strict rules every hour, with lots of servants who were more interested in filling their pockets. These grovelling people were ten times worse than Jaken. No wonder the last emperor has passed on so early – Sesshoumaru knew the servants had tried to regulate even the time he spent with his concubines so they would not have to stay up too late waiting for him to return.

"Highness, would you deign to step out of bed or would you rather a maid help you?" asked the servant.

That oily, disgusting freak of a servant. "And if I preferred to stay in bed?"

"Your Majesty, that would be against court etiquette."

"What if I don't like the etiquette?"

"If it pleased you, majesty, you could change the etiquette."

Sesshoumaru did not like the glint in the servant's eye. One wrong move, and the servant would blurt to the entire Japan what a screw-up their new emperor was.

Cursing silently, Sesshoumaru pulled himself from the futon.

"Excellent, majesty," the servant said, smiling patronizingly. "Now, if you would deign to come, overnight your new chambers have been prepared. We have a bath waiting and -"

No one used that patronizing tone on Sesshoumaru and got away with it. Resisting the urge to slice at the wobbling fat of the servant's double chins, Sesshoumaru allowed himself to be led out of his room…

For the moment. It wouldn't be wise to throw his weight around yet. But just wait… when he had officially killed Naraku and established peace in Japan…

That servant's head would be the first to roll.

Kagura stared at the plum blossoms most untidily arranged in a vase.

Instinctively, she began breaking off the bottom of the stems and rearranging the flowers. Flower arrangement weren't part of geisha training, but she had learned anyways.

Naraku had given her food, water, clothes, a warm bed, and a huge room to wander in. Correction, a huge room that was missing windows and a proper door. Where the door in rooms usually was, a wall decorated with hanging scrolls stood. The only way in was a nasty little side door, that, instead of the usual screened doors, was made of wood and had heavy chains hanging off it.

She had to be one of the most pampered prisoners in the country.

The little door's chained creaked as it swung open.

"What?" Kagura asked rudely. That same little white girl that had brought her to Naraku brought her meals also, and now, the girl stood in the doorway.

"Naraku is gone," Kanna said softly.

"Where to?" asked Kagura lazily, more concerned with her plum blossoms.

"A rebellion."

The older woman glared. "And why are you telling me this?"

Kanna looked blank. "Because Naraku said to tell you not to get your hopes up. When Naraku is through with them, none of them will be alive to save you."

"So what are we doing today again?" yawned Sango.

"Nothing violent, I hope," Kaede said, looking rather warily at Sango.

"Well, I was hoping maybe Naraku would attack or something…"

"Sango!"

"Stop it, you two, I'll ask Sesshoumaru," Kagome grumbled. Shuffling around the room getting, she gathered her clothes, a small dagger and her money pouch and started dressing.

"What's the dagger for?" asked Kaede sharply.

"See you later," Kagome called as she skipped out of the room.

Where Sesshoumaru's room had been, she found only a miad cleaning it.

"Where's Sesshoumaru?" she asked, yawning.

"Who?" she asked, confused.

"The emperor…"

"Oh, oh!" Realization seemed to dawn on her. "The Chief Servant Fujiwara took him to his new chambers."

Right, the emperor usually had his own flight of rooms in another part of the palace. "So where are the emperor's rooms again?"

"I wouldn't know," she said, frightened.

Well, Kagome couldn't beat it out of them. But she could offer… encouragement.

"I'm sure you can remember," Kagome said, patting the girl's arm and in doing so discreetly slipped a silver nugget to her.

Just the sight of so much food made him not hungry anymore.

Sesshoumaru was perfectly used to banquets of hundreds and hundreds of dishes.

But when there were nearly twenty plates of food, for a mere breakfast and for no one but him, he felt sick.

"Eat, Your Majesty," simpered the servant.

"I'd rather not." Sesshoumaru glared icily at the man.

"It would be against court etiquette -"

His hand flew out and gripped the servant by the neck.

"Any moment, I can release poison enough to melt your pathetic neck," hissed Sesshoumaru.

"I…" The man was a pasty white and rigid. "Begging… your pardon, sir… I was… out… of line…"

People started shouting outside the door. Dropping the servant like a sack of potatoes, Sesshoumaru strode over and flung it open.

Two men were very loudly arguing with Kagome. "I want to see him," she snapped.

"The Lord Emperor is unavailable," they snapped back.

"Says who?"

"Says the Chief Servant Fujiwara."

"Well, tell your Chief Servant Fujiwara he is a wimpy loser. I bet he's trying to wind Sesshoumaru around his fingers right this moment. I'm telling you for a fact it's not going to work, so unless you want to spend the rest of your pathetic life in a jail cell, you'll let me in."

"Ha! You little liar. Do you think we fall for such miserable lies? We -"

"Excuse me, is there a problem?" inquired Sesshoumaru.

The two guards stared, beginning to tremble.

Sesshoumaru pointed to a group of dumbstruck servants. "You four, take these two dolts and that fat servant, and throw them out of the gates."

"Isn't that a little harsh?" Kagome asked, stepping inside.

"What, less harsh then throwing them into a jail cell to rot in for the rest of their pathetic lives? What do you want?"

"I was going to ask you what we were doing today, and if it was alright if I told Miroku that I was his sister."

"Well, we're trying to and get me out of this predicament of kingship."

"And what about Miroku and -"

"Your Majesty!" A runner came in, yelling. "The shogun is gathering troops to the south of the city!"

"I guess we're fighting Naraku today, then," sighed Kagome.

"You're joking," stared Inuyasha.

"No, I am not," Sesshoumaru stated matter-of-factly.

"You mean… we're actually going to fight Naraku?"

"What, you scared?" grinned Miroku.

"Shut up! I couldn't be happier."

Jaken came rushing in, his hat askew and his staff waving blindly. "We're fighting Naraku? My recruit camp! My camp! Sesshoumaru-sama, we could use the recruits and -"

He looked up to the empty room.

"SESSHOUMARU-SAMA! WAIT FOR ME!"