You're On Your Own

"Why are they forcing their precious sons on you?" Sango asked over coffee three days after the confrontation in Kagome's home with the Inu No Tashio.

Kagome blew into her cup, barely moving the foam on the top of the double mocha latte that had just arrived at their table. "I don't know," she said with a sip at her coffee. She licked her lips to clean it of the sweet cream. "Mama mentioned something about needing protection, but they wouldn't explain further."

"That seems odd," Sango stated, taking a swig of her chai tea. "You are a Miko, so I understand that you could need help with your powers if you do not take to the lessons Kaede has arranged for you. But protection? From what? We are not in the feudal era anymore, despite what my father seems to think. Women might still have the occasional grope to worry about, but with Youkai serving on most of the protection forces, crime rates are almost nonexistent."

"Hard to get away with something when the ones tracking you can smell you from a mile away," Kagome agreed. "But that doesn't mean that there isn't the occasional criminal element. What bothers me more than the need for protection they declared I need, is that the Council decided I had to mate with one of their First Sons to get it."

Sango shuddered. "Father had already heard about the decree. He told me right before you called me. He wants me to spend more time at the shrine now. All in the hopes that I learn how to better detect Youkai auras. Miroku, his second-in-charge now that Myoga has retired, has also been assigned to the protection detail for Shippo. So, look forward to that lecher squatting on your doorstep also."

Kagome almost spit her latte. "Shippo? He is barely old enough to be left home alone! They are making him come too?" The issue of Miroku she left for later. She had heard enough tales from Sango to know he merited a discussion all on his own.

Sango chuckled and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Father had almost the same reaction. Ever since he took over as the head of the Slayers for our district, he has had a lot of turn over. A lot of the Monk Hunters had to be demoted or had their contracts terminated for dishonorable conduct. Now, the First Sons' and their safety while at your shrine are also his responsibility. The Council will not assign extra protection for their defense."

Taken aback, Kagome's brows lowered. "That's curious. I would have thought it would be a logistical nightmare of security for the entire line of First Sons to all be in one place."

"You're forgetting the biggest pain in your rear aside from Inuyasha, Kagome," Sango reminded her. "Sesshomaru will be there. Apparently he refused the Council's decision. In front of his parents and grandfather, no less. Father did not have all the details, but it took a great deal of bargaining to bring him around. One of the conditions was that there would be no security detail except for a single guardian for Shippo given his age."

Kagome snorted. She swirled the remainder of her latte around in the cute ceramic mug before tossing it back. "At least I don't have to worry about fending off his amorous intentions. I don't know how I am going to get out of this just yet, but I will. Any ideas?"

Sango shrugged. "I can't even figure out how to get my father to approve my application to the Hunter's Guild. I'm sorry, Kagome, you're on your own with this one."

Kagome sighed. "I was afraid of that."

The Miko without a clue eyed the patrons of the café that walked back and forth from the barista bar. She prayed inspiration would hit before she ended up hitched to either an arrogant Daiyoukai, a horny wolf, a prepubescent fox Youkai, or the shadowy figure she had yet to meet.

"No."

"Sesshomaru," Hisaki growled, perfectly plucked brow arching, "You will not refuse your role, now. We already conceded to the many demands you presented to the Council."

The Daiyoukai in question flicked a strand of hair behind his shoulder. His golden eyes narrowed in disdain. "I am perfectly cognizant of my duty. The ridiculous demands of the shrine family are not a part of the rote nor role to which I am unfortunately linked. If I thought it would be accepted, I would proffer my resignation as a First Son. This entire debacle is ridiculous."

The Inu No Taisho growled. "You would not dare!"

Hisaki put a hand on her mate's arm. She shot him a warning glare before turning back to her son. "I understand the strain this will be on your sensibilities. We do not ask this lightly of you, my son. Only you are capable of keeping the Miko's secret safe. Given your relationship with her that preceded this new development, it should be a simple matter to secure her favor."

Sesshomaru resisted the urge to growl. "She is a silly, crass creature who was useful when dealing with the half-breed. Do not make more of our interactions than that. There was no relationship." A few chess matches and his mother assumed a mating to be imminent?

Was he to suffer the company of wrong-minded females at every turn? His father had mentioned Higurashi's assertion that she had won their matches. Inu No Taisho had been entirely too smug with the retelling for a male who could not even manage a discrete affair. Sesshomaru had been of half a mind every time he dueled Higurashi over the ivory. He did not lose to her. He simply had not applied himself.

Inu No Tashio ignored the slight to his youngest son to amend, "You have a better chance at securing her interest than either Kouga or Hojo. Shippo was included only to give him better insight into the process of claiming given his father's unfortunate passing. Kagome's mother merely asked that you share a room with the other First Sons. It is not such a hardship, Sesshomaru. Your training for the Daiyoukai title had involved camping in the wilds for the space of a year. Surely your dignity will not suffer too grievously while enduring two weeks with roommates."

Sesshomaru's gut churned with the mention of roommates. A travesty. He did not share anything. Let alone his personal space. If he was in it, it was his. His chess set. His title. His power. His room. By virtue of his mere presence, he was due ownership of the very air he breathed.

Supposing he leashed his instincts enough to allow others to infringe upon his territory, he would suffer for it by virtue of just who he had to stomach as a roommate.

Shippo, as a pup without consequence, could be easily dismissed. Kouga was an insufferable bore who would, nonetheless, be brought to task in short order or he would lose the damnable tail he waved at every female to look his way. The third party, however, was an addition of almost unforgivable proportions. It was a debacle. A farce. A complete perversion of the provenance to which all First Sons were born.

A human. Hojo, the son of the Minister for Human Affairs, had been inducted into the hallowed halls he, Sesshomaru, had been born to.

Were it not for the threat that hung over the entire District with the revelation of Higurashi's birthright, Sesshomaru would have abandoned the whole sorry affair with nary a qualm. A period of seclusion would see him settled away from the humans and Youkai both that insisted on encroaching where they did not belong. What good was it to train his power if he was not able to exercise his right by might to behead or, at the very least, maim those who did not display an appropriate amount of respect?

However, as his mother had already rightly declared, he was the only one capable of bringing that particular Miko to heel.

"Sesshomaru, you can set her aside," Hisaki cajoled. "You father certainly had no qualms with committing that particular trespass. None would blame you in this instance. Secure her trust, acquire the bauble, destroy it, then do what you will with the girl." She waved a hand in the air. "Send her to the country. Ship her off the continent. I will pay for the ticket, myself."

Inu No Taisho brushed clawed fingers through shoulder-length hair. "Come now, she is not all that bad," he stated, ignoring his mate's dig at his indiscretion with an actress. He had regretted the impasse almost immediately, but he had been unable to abandon Inuyasha's mother while pregnant. Her unfortunate death had left his son without a mother. Hisaki had done her duty, including taking her wayward mate back into the society that had shunned him.

Hisaki rolled her eyes, then turned a hard scowl on her son. "Get us the Shikon, Sesshomaru. The fate of the District, the world, depends upon it. Naraku has returned. The only enemy to almost defeat the might of your grandfather and father combined will not rest until he possesses both the Shikon and the only one who can wield it, Kagome Higurashi."

"If she chooses the human?" Sesshomaru inquired coolly. Kouga he dismissed out of hand. Higurashi was crass but she was not completely without some redemptive qualities. She possessed a slight degree of intelligence. That placed her far above the wolf.

Hisaki chuckled. "Who would choose a bumbling human boy over a Youkai male in his prime?"

Sesshomaru's gaze iced over. "Higurashi is willful. Disobedient. Entirely too infatuated with her race without cause. She is a Miko, therefore she has been granted freedoms other humans have not. It has interfered with her ability to see reason. She would choose a human rather than accept my superior instinct to dominate in all things."

His past interactions with her playing through his mind, Sesshomaru allowed that, to less discretionary tastes, she could be a suitable mate. Provided she would bow her head properly to the natural order of things. The male spoke, the female listened.

Sesshomaru dismissed such thoughts instantly. He quit his parents' presence without a word or gesture of farewell to finalize overseeing the packing of his many bags. His parents were correct. The Council would have their way. Damn them. Damn them all.

He would be spending the next two weeks with roommates.

Sesshomaru passed several low-level Youkai on his way to his suite of rooms. He would not endure the debacle without recompense, he decided. He would plan his revenge against both Council and parents while overseeing the preparations for his departure. Jaken was a loyal servant, but as far as domestics went, he was sorely lacking in common sense. The toad Youkai could not tell the difference between chartreuse and honey gold. It was bad enough his pride would be left in his rooms. He would not be seen in less than full splendor.