Please don't kill me. Wish I have a valid excuse for being late but I don't. What happened was I just lost focus. I'm under stress from work. Work gets in the way of everything which unfortunately means my brain is too fried to go on writing. There is no way in hell I'm quitting on this fanfic however. But just be patient with me for the next couple of months. By the time the end of August arrives I will have more time to focus on this. So not dead just depressed.
Chapter 43: Attack on the West
Breakfast was served with the others still in uncomfortable silence. Kagome still kept herself from looking in the inu's direction, Rin was beside her eating. Once the little girl had woken up she stuck herself to the young miko. Shippo was beside Sesshomaru making funny faces at Mizuki, who still laid in the inu lords lap. Inuyasha sat in front of Kagome, occasionally glancing between her and the daiyoukai. The others, Miroku, Sango and Kikyo, kept to themselves and tried discussing what to do next.
Kagome had fed Mizuki, nearly flinching when the inu put the pup in her lap. When she was done he simply picked her back up. So there they were in the current situation. Neither miko nor inu spoke one word to each other and everyone noticed. It was just so awkward Inuyasha was going to break.
"So do you two want to tell us what happened last night?" the hanyou finally asked. It was near comical how both subjects raised their head and looked at him. Sesshomaru giving him the usual passive look and Kagome looking like a deer about to be slaughtered. "Is that a no? Well, can the two of you talk this out?"
"Is there any reason we should," the inu lord questioned, turning his attention back to the little pup. It was clear to him that the miko was not entirely ready to be in his presence. And she was far from ready from speaking to him. So he left it be. He would not force her to speak with him and he would not force her to be in his presence.
"Seriously?" Inuyasha folded his arms and raised his brow. "You go from friends to strangers in one night and you think there's nothing to talk about?"
"We are not friends," the inu responded all too quickly.
Kagome visibly flinched and straighten up. She shouldn't have been surprise but a part of her had always thought they were friends. She should have known the inu wanted nothing to do with her. She bit her lip. That couldn't be true, could it? After everything he'd done for her? She had to have meant something. He told her before that they were allies. Was that all she could be? But after last night. "I thought we were friends. Didn't you?" She quietly muttered.
Sesshomaru eyed her carefully. "What you called friendship is a weak bonded alliance. You build it with little consequence and it breaks just as easily."
The young miko turned to stare at him in mild shock. "My bond with my friends is not weak! We've been through a lot together. We're family."
"As I am well aware."
"Yet, you will deny it."
"I do not deny your bond. I was making a statement."
"That bonds are weak."
"The ones you form with another human in companionship." The inu stated withholding a sigh. "Those are the ones that are easiest to break. Human kind have a habit of betraying one another."
"And what? Demons haven't?" Kagome responded.
"I do not deny what my kind is or has done. I have also not deny or ridiculed your current bond to your companions. My statement was general not specific."
Kagome stared at him confused. "Why is it I can never understand what your saying half the time? Especially when I feel like you've insulted me."
"I meant no insult." The inu responded softly.
The young miko stared at him for a moment. That soft way he spoke to her was always gentle. Well as gentle as the inu could be. She frowned as the events of the previous day caught up to her. Here she was getting angry for nothing when the daiyoukai kept had done nothing wrong. It was wrong. Especially when She hadn't apologized yet. She bit her lip and stood up, walking over to the inu lord she held her hand to him. "Walk with me? Please?"
Watching her hesitation Sesshomaru stood up, cautiously placing Mizuki in Shippo's arms. Then he took the miko's hand and led her outside. They walked in silence until they got to the edge of Inuyasha's forest. Now outside of the village the inu released her hand and faced her. Kagome, missing the touch more than she would like folded her arms across her chest and sighed. It was now or never. What's the worse that can happen? Whether he forgave her or not depended on him and his feelings toward the shit she pulled.
"You are still angry with me." Sesshomaru stated more than asked. His voice was steady and calm, his body facing away from her.
"I'm not angry with you," She muttered. "I'm angry at myself. For the way I acted. It wasn't fair...I wasn't fair to you. I'm sorry," She rubbed her arms nervously and shifted her footing. "You were comforting me and I acted harshly. Hell I'm still doing it now."
"You are grieving." He said finally turning to face her.
"I'm being rude." She corrected staring up at him. "Don't deny it."
The inu didn't respond for a while. His eyes locked on hers. The time seemed to stretch before he began speaking. "You're attitude was unbecoming and the response you had from losing your family I found... almost unbearable." He replied honestly. "I am still confused by your many emotions and the bonds you claim to share."
"I-" She couldn't answer him. She was a moody one and hard to understand by many, so she couldn't fault him for that. Instead she asked, "You've never been angry at losing someone before?"
He gave her a calculating look, debating if he should give her a response. And if he should tell the truth or lie. It wasn't as much a secret as it was something he never had to speak about. He would never find his answer as of that moment a scent came to him. Judging from the looks on the young miko's face she caught it too.
"A western soldier?" Her question hung in the air as the two waited. Sesshomaru almost growled as he pick up the scent of one of Isamu's men aside his ignored the young girl's cry of protest as he dashed forward, meeting the two traveling demons half way.
"Explain yourself quickly," The youkai lord commanded as they stopped in front of him.
"My Lord, my apologies," The western guard bowed before the inu. "Isamu is on his way to the palace with his army." He grabbed the other youkai and forced him forward growling out a "Tell him."
The guard from the eastern land hesitated before bowing in respect. "Lord Sesshomaru please accept my apologies. Lord Isamu Is indeed on a war path and has the West as his first target. Upon stumbling on his plan I headed to warn you, Hayate said you were here and I was escorted."
"Why would Isamu's own guard betray him?" Sesshomaru asked doubting the demon's words.
"I... I do not wish to betray my lord, however the deeds he has committed..." The guard paused. "I know he is in league with the half creature Naraku. And to work with such a man for power is disgraceful. The youkai I served has fallen from grace with his greed for power."
"You realize I may kill him," Sesshomaru's cold tone sent a shiver through the two youkai.
"Yes." The youkai admitted quietly.
"You will be labeled a traitor."
"I am willing to accept that punishment if it meant saving lives. My fellow guardsman and your own."
"My Lord there isn't much time. Isamu was already breaching our borders when we left." The western guard said calmly, although his nerves were obviously on edge.
"I will go. You both stay here."
"Here My lord?"
"Our little miko is in the village along with Inuyasha and his group. They are bound to notice my absence. You are to inform them of what's happened and that they stay put." Sesshomaru doesn't wait for a response before his youki began to swarm around him. His form stretched and grew as the tunneling youki got bigger and wider, until the form of a white dog held his place. With a low growl the inu took to the sky toward his lands.
Hayate stood at the edge of the western lands, his army behind him as they faced off against Isamu and his own league. The tori's armor shone bright in the noon light, his blade protruding from the ground with his hand on the hilt. His deadly gaze watched as the dragon youkai stepped closer with his army. "That is far enough don't you agree." He stated bitterly to the eastern lord.
"Well I did not expect the dog's pet to be here as well." Isamu sneered, never stopping his pace until he was almost a foot away from Hayate. "Where is your precious lord anyway? Run off with the human bitch?"
"Your ambition to start a war is not welcomed here." Hayate responded gripping to ignore the youkai's comment. He kept a cool and steely expression. He refused to let this piece of scum in front of him rile him up. "Turn back and we might forgive this transgression."
Isamu laughed in his face. "You're willing to die in his place Hayate?"
"My life is to serve and protect the Western lands, her lord, and inhabitants from all threats. I'll lay my life down when I take yours."
His commented pissed the other youkai off as he growled out. "You life will end before that damn dog comes back. And I will paint the steel of my blade with the blood of the land."
"There is but one error you have made." The tori tugged his sword from the earth swiftly before pointing it at the dragon. "My lord is already here."
Isamu paused at that before he felt it. The tremulous power headed their way. His eyes turned to the sky as the massive white inu approached quickly. A smirk played on the eastern lord's face as his own body turned form. His true form, a deep yellow scaled dragon with black spikes and red eyes, rose to the sky towards his opponent. When claws met claws, the troops on the ground charged at each other.
Hayate's command tore through his army.
"DEFEND THE WEST!"
Okay. didn't want to break it into parts but I'm just getting over a lot of stuff. Finished school but currently working two jobs. No fun or rest for the weary. Any way sorry you guys had to wait so long for a short chapter. Im working on the next two chapters.