A/N: Hello dear readers. Honorable mention to my friend and avid reader of all my stories on here Mai32. She helped me out a lot with this chapter.
Mai is our new pups honorary god mother for naming him. Congratulations Mai. Thank you for supporting me in all that I write and for taking time to chat with me.
This chapter is very long, the longest I have written for this story in some time. I had a lot of fun writing it and I didn't want it to end.
Thank you everyone for all of your support, reviews, suggestions, and just enjoying this story as much as you all do. It makes me so happy.
Enjoy!
With the newest pack member born Izumi took some time to herself with her newborn getting the other two children acquainted with their little brother.
Hotaru talked in her baby talk to him as he stared at her with wide brown eyes while Hisashi tried to engage him to play confused it seemed when he wouldn't.
Kohaku took every opportunity to hold his son lavishing him with affection. He studied the infant intently wanting to watch him every moment of the day and night.
"We haven't discussed a name." Rin said as they sat at the table holding the little boy kissing his forehead.
"Kohaku and I have decided on one already." Izumi stated hesitantly.
"Really? Then what is his name?" Rin asked looking up at her curiously.
"Kozumi." Kohaku replied.
"If I am not mistaken, that is a female name." Sesshomaru said looking at the newborn.
"It is." Izumi confirmed. "We wanted to combine our names together."
"Kozumi is a fine name." Rin said. "It suits our son."
"Thank you Rin. I hope that you both don't feel as if we excluded you in this decision or are offended." Izu looked between the two of them.
"No." They both replied in unison in differing tones.
"Alright." She smirked to herself picking Hotaru up to hold her when the little girls tugged on her kimono.
A knock on the outside panel caught their attention.
"Enter Nen." Sesshomaru called out. Sliding open the door he bowed his head respectfully to them all. Coming inside he put his naginata in a resting position.
"Forgive this one for the intrusion my lords, my ladies; there is a human female who says she is from the village not far from us searching for Nagi." Nen stated.
"A woman has come here looking for Nagi?" Rin smiled widely at that.
"Is she one of the prostitutes?" Izumi asked turning to speak to Nen.
"I am not certain." With his reply Kohaku stood.
"I will see what she wants." He said walking past Nen as he stepped aside before following him out.
"Hm." Sesshomaru muttered out.
"What is it my lord?" Rin wondered feeling his unease.
"If Nagi has begun to attract unwanted attention towards us it could prove to be a problem." He said.
"Do you believe that perhaps someone else sent the female up here to scout us out?" Izumi questioned.
"That is one possibility." Sesshomaru replied with his head towards the now closed door.
"Maybe she is a prostitute who has fallen in love with Nagi and has come to live here with us." Rin suggested.
"That would be something." Izumi cocked a brow at that idea.
"Both of you stay inside, mind the pups." Sesshomaru stood walking to the door.
"Yes Lord Sesshomaru." Rin nodded in understanding as Izumi watched him exit. Coming outside he saw Kohaku standing on the deck with the human on the ground. Nen stood at his post on the deck on guard in case anything were to rouse his suspicion.
"Kohaku, have you been able to deign any information from the woman?" Sesshomaru queried.
"You're a demon." She nearly squeaked out surprised.
"I am. The guard is as well." Sesshomaru replied.
"This is Rina my lord. She is from the trading post some ways from us. Curiosity brought her out here to find us or rather Nagi." Kohaku explained.
"I see." Sesshomaru breathed out. "Now that you know this compound exists will you go back and tell the others?" Receiving only stunned silence he took a steadying breath. "This one is speaking to you woman and expects a reply."
"No my lord." She said quickly. "I just…are you all demons here? How long have you been here for? Are there more of you? Why are any of you here? How is it you have been up here and none of us know about any of you? Why is it..?"
Sesshomaru held his hand up to silence the barrage of questions. Turning back towards the house he decided to leave the chattering to the females.
"Rin, Izumi; you have unexpected company." He called to them. Inside Rin clapped her hands together a few times happily with Hotaru following her mothers action giggling.
"Please can one of you fetch Sana or Emi to assist us with our guest." Izumi requested.
"I will." Kohaku said moving from the deck to go to the back.
"Come in, come in…join us for some tea." Rin called to the young woman waving her hand to invite her in. Seeing the hesitancy in her Sesshomaru stepped aside.
"You have nothing to fear from any of us. This compound is made up of both demons and humans whom have chosen to live together in peace." Sesshomaru said. "Lady Rin and Lady Izumi have invited you in, it would be rude to decline their offer."
"Yes my lord." Rina said walking up the steps slowly eyeing Nen and Sesshomaru both warily as she approached.
As she stepped a foot inside she was immediately greeted by Hisashi who had been playing in the hallway with his blanket.
Running up to the woman she gasped at his appearance fearful of his solid red eyes.
"Don't be afraid." Rin said. "That is our son, he is only a year old and is curious about you."
Moving past the demon pup Rina made her way to them kneeling before bowing.
"I do not mean to cause any trouble." She said.
"It is no trouble. We welcome visitors here and accept others as they are." Izumi responded. "Come sit beside me and tell us what drove you to seek us out."
Edging closer to them Rina settled her hands in her lap.
"As you may have heard I am from the trading post some miles from here. Nagi has been coming to visit for some months now and, while that is not uncommon to see the same people since it is a resting place for travelers, Nagi seems to come a lot." Rina said.
"I figured he must live close by but knew of no villages or anywhere else that he may reside at. So…earlier I followed him here. Forgive my intrusion."
"You are not intruding." Rin said with a a smile. "You are having tea with us. Hello Emi."
Rina turned to see a pretty woman walk in with black eyes and soft grey, wispy hair. "This is Rina, she is from the post not far from us. Rina, this is Emi. She lives here with us."
"Hello Rina. It is a pleasure to meet you." Emi bowed her head slightly. "Rin, Izu; what tea would you like for me to make?"
"Go into my room and get the tea Kagome made for us." Rin instructed.
"Of course Rin." Emi nodded once walking past them down the hall.
"She looks so young but her hair and…and her eyes are unlike anything I have ever seen before." Rina stated. Looking to Izumi as if she were suddenly taking her in she swallowed down the lump in her throat.
"Emi and myself are both demons. Emi is a dove demon and I am a dog demon, the same as Lord Sesshomaru and the guard Nen." Izumi said.
"Actually, aside from Emi, master Jaken and An-Un, all of the demons here are dog demons." Rin said. "We live here in a pack, it is not entirely unlike how humans live together."
"And you have children…" Rina moved her eyes to Hotaru in Izumis arms as she chewed on her own fingers.
"Yes. We have many little ones." Izumi confirmed.
"Are they…half-breeds?" Rina asked intensely curious of it all.
"Hisashi is a full demon." Rin said. "Our other babies are half-breed children, yes." Rina moved her eyes to the little pup who had sat not too far from them watching her seeming just as curious of her as she was of them.
Emi came back with the tea and began to boil some water. She sat down smoothing out her kimono as she did so.
"Now, tell us Rina, what is the nature of your relationship with Nagi?" Izumi asked.
"There is no relationship. We are acquainted, nothing more." She replied.
"Does he owe you money?" Rin questioned. "I honestly cannot figure out how he pays to stay down there or take comfort from the women. We do not have any money to pay him unless he brought his own or is making some off to the side."
"No, Nagi does not owe us anything. You see, my father runs the inn and my mother is the head mistress of the pleasure house. They are the founders of the trading post."
"Both of them are getting on in age and Nagi has been extremely helpful in upkeep and maintenance of the few buildings and stalls we have." Rina explained.
"Ah, so in turn they offer him everything else." Emi replied with a small smirk.
"Yes. That is right." Rina nodded her head to confirm.
"Hm. Nagi is doing better for himself then I thought." Izumi mused.
"I for one am glad." Rin said. "I was beginning to worry about him being lonely seeing all of us married but he has no mate."
"From what I have come to understand Nagi does not seem to be any hurry to take on a mate." Emi chimed in. "He enjoys his freedoms."
"Does Nagi visit with the comfort women often?" Izumi asked smirking wanting to hear the gossip this woman may have.
"At first he did but as time has gone on and he has become a regular figure at the post he doesn't visit the women anymore for that type of business." Rina said. "He helps them with things or offers his protection if a customer gets out of hand."
"It seems as though Nagi has become a member of your community." Rin offered.
"He has." She agreed. "Which is why I found it so strange that he leaves during the day and only comes at night, lately his visits have become more erratic but I can see that it is because he has a responsibility to this household."
"As of late we have requested more of his assistance." Izumi said.
"Going forward though if you need Nagi we promise to share him with you." Rin offered smiling.
"No my lady, that is fine. His commitment is to your compound." Rina shook her head somewhat in defense.
"Going forward Rina I do have to ask what you will do from here." Izu stated as Emi poured their tea.
"My lady?"
"Finding our compound, knowing that we are demons and humans living together. The world is not accepting of the type of lifestyle we have all chosen and we are really not in a position to be compromised." Izumi met her gaze squarely and seriously.
"Our males are more than capable of defending our little ones and their females if need be but I really hope that it does not come to that."
"Oh no. Never, my lady. Truthfully. The only residents aside from myself and my parents are elders now and young people, there are so few of us aside from the travelers who come through." Rina said quickly.
"My parents and the others are very open minded people. In fact maybe we can work out an arrangement of sorts."
"An arrangement?" Rin asked curiously.
"I can't speak for my father, technically he is the headman of our group, but we can trade with you…anything you may need in exchange for protection." She said now her gaze became intent and serious as she spoke.
"Bandits are an all to often threat, fortunately we have not had any serious run ins with anyone too terrible in some time but even still…if we could have some help it would mean the world to us."
"Yes, they are." Rin agreed with a sigh.
"Not that only that but on occasion the rogue demon comes through just to mess with us, granted in the last year we haven't seen any. Which I suppose I should thank you for that, with so many strong demons here it must keep the others away." Rina smiled and bowed in gratitude.
"Rina, you are a very clever woman." Izumi praised. "Of course the males will have to be apprised of this on both sides, we have to ensure they believe they are the ones in charge after all as their females…to protect their egos and all of that."
"I do hope this can work for all of us. You remind me of my mother, my lady. She is also a strong woman and I believe you would all get along quite well."
"I look forward to meeting with her." Izumi said.
"We can speak with Lord Sesshomaru and Lord Kohaku." Rin placed Kozumi down in his basket so she could sip at her tea. "They are our mates, our husbands, they will listen to us."
"That is good to hear." Rina nodded happily. "I am so glad that I was nosey and came up here. It is wonderful meeting all of you, I love to meet new people but everyone comes and goes so quickly. It is good to know that nice people live close by."
"Oh, aren't you just the sweetest little female." Emi said smiling. "If everyone in your group is as nice as you are then we will all get along just fine."
"Mostly. We are not perfect but I don't see anyone causing any problems."
"For the time being Rina we do need to keep most our males here to guard us. There are newborns and young pups here that need to be protected with more on the way." Izumi stated. "For the time being you can keep Nagi for as long as you need."
"Keep Nagi?" She laughed out. "Um, okay. I just…is that alright? Will he mind?"
"With all of the time he spends down there will all of you I don't think that it will be of any issue." Izumi smirked.
"Nagi has always been a free spirit. I have known him almost as long as I have known Kohaku for. When we were small children his poor mother was forever searching for him." Rin said reminiscing.
"When Kohaku began to bring the displaced demon slayer villagers together in a new group Nagi jumped at the chance to learn how to become a demon slayer and left Lady Kaedes village."
"Lord Kohaku, the man who met me outside?" Rina asked.
"The very same." Rin nodded. "The human males here are former demon slayers. Kohaku, Nagi, and Jin."
"That is…very interesting." She replied. "Huh."
"Life turns out in ways you could never even imagine." Emi chirped. As they finished their tea Rin requested Emi to bring Nagi to them.
Seeing Rina out she knelt down to rub at Hisashis head.
"Aw, you cannot come with me little one but maybe sometime you can visit with your mothers." She offered him. As he tilted his head at her she smiled.
Standing she bowed to Rin and Izumi. "Thank you so very much my ladies for inviting me into your home for good tea and delightful conversation. I hope that what we discussed works out and we may meet again soon."
"Same. As I said, Izu and I will talk with our mates. You speak with your father and the other elders, see what they say. From there we can speak to make arrangements for all of us that will work." Rin said.
"Thank you Lady Rin." She said.
"Just call me Rin and this is Izu." Rin replied.
"If you insist Rin, Izu."
"Rina?" Nagi balked as he came to the deck. "What are you doing here."
Turning on her heel the blush wasn't lost on either Rin or Izumi as she met his gaze.
"Forgive me Nagi. I followed after you. Your ladies and lords have been quite hospitable." She said quickly.
"Nagi, please escort Rina back to the trading post. You are to remain there and assist as you have been doing. When the times comes for our pack and their group to confer on a possible mutual agreement we will see you then." Izumi commanded.
"Are you…kicking me out for…that day?" Nagi questioned.
"I should." Izumi glared at him pursing her lips before giggling behind her hand. "But I am not. You are welcome here Nagi. This is your home but for now please help Rina and the others."
"And what of my duties here? Shouldn't I run it by the Chief first, Captain Riku?"
"Rin and I will take care of the males. Don't worry. Unless you do not wish to go, we won't force you Nagi."
"I do. As much as I like being here with everyone I feel as if I fit in better down there."
"Then go. We are here when and if you need us." Izumi smiled softly at him.
"Thank you Lady Izumi, Rin. Whatever this agreement may be I look forward to it." Bowing to them he stood taking them in. "If you need me please call upon me, I will be here."
"Thank you Nagi." Rin nodded. "You have always been a good friend, for many years now, be happy wherever you find yourself."
Nodding he looked to Rina.
"Come on. I'll take you home."
"Thank you Nagi. Farewell to you both and let Emi know I said goodbye." She looked behind her as she went down the steps. Walking off with Nagi Izumi looked to Nen.
"Did she approach the compound?" She asked.
"No Izu. The human woman was hiding in the tree line. I scented her out, scared her…" Nen answered.
"I can't imagine you ever startling anyone Nen." Rin feigned surprise before laughing. "Did you yell at her?"
"I merely asked her what she was doing, what her intentions were." He stated.
"Yeah, in your mean voice." Rin teased.
"Nen is not mean. He is strong." Izumi said. "He is a warrior and comes off as such."
"Thank you Izu." He replied. "If I may, what is this agreement you were speaking of?"
"In due time Nen. For now it was simply a conversation between females."
"Of course." He said accepting her explanation was his duty to do so.