Total manipulation
They lived here and also there. They didn't exactly have a place to call home at the end of the day but that mattered little. They were free.
That's what Rin thought about as she gently watched her two beautiful twins. Away from the others Sesshomaru rested leaning against a tree; He had his eyes closed and seemed to sleep but his wife knew him well enough to know that even in that position he was on guard. She had never felt insecure at his side and she sensed that it would never happen.
After a few seconds gazing at him and as if he could read her mind, the yokai opened his eyes and gave her a questioning look. She shook her head softly as if to assure him that everything was fine and he again assumed his resting position.
Setsuna and Towa began to draw her mother's attention energetically and when she granted it they came as close as they could and whispered into her ear.
Sesshoumaru without even looking in their direction said in a clear voice:
"No."
Impressed and visibly disappointed by the quick refusal, the girls continued to play, but this time with a little less enthusiasm. No matter how quietly they tried to speak, he could always hear them.
Sesshoumaru was genuinely puzzled. It was the sixth time that week that he had been forced to destroy the illusions of his little daughters; he had no choice. No, they couldn't play with his hair. Neither that day nor ever.
"Someday you will have to give in!" Rin assured him with a chuckle as she settled next to him.
" Hmph." was the only thing he answered. Sooner or later they would get tired of trying to recruit him to their gaming afternoon. They went directly to him first, and noticing his lack of enthusiasm decided that Rin might be able to convince him more quickly. It would not work.
Several days passed without setbacks until a moonlit night Setsuna suddenly fell ill. It was the first time that one of them felt physically ill but luckily they had a mother who had extensive knowledge of herbology, courtesy of Kagome and the elderly Kaede. After both parents spoke briefly Rin was absent to go in search of some medicinal herbs. She would probably go to Jinenji, her old childhood friend. The girls were left in Sesshomaru's care and thus began the first phase of the plan. Although it had nothing planned, it would be a masterful improvisation that would give the desired results.
A few minutes after Rin left Setsuna started to cough loudly and Sesshoumaru immediately approached her. He touched her forehead just as his wife had taught him and found her boiling hot; she had a high fever. The demon didn't know what else to do. He had never suffered from any illness in his life and he vaguely remembered that when Rin felt bad, it was Jaken who treated her. Too bad he was not with them at that precise moment.
"Daddy ..." Setsuna whispered with a pleading look.
He knelt down next to her and nodded in her direction, encouraging her to continue.
"Would you do something to make me feel better? " Asked the girl apparently with innocence.
"Yes." Sesshomaru replied without even intuiting that he had fallen into a trap.
Setsuna sat up quickly and said to her dad as if she didn't want it that if he allowed her to play with his long hair she would recover before mom returned. For a brief moment he was petrified. Coldly and calculatively weighing his options, he found the following scenarios:
1. It's a trap.
1.1 Fall into it: He was 99% certain that it was all a bluff just to make him play. However, doing so could improve the relationship between the two a bit.
If she died of natural causes, she would leave with a good image of him.
1.2 Evade: The simplest option without a doubt. Public scorn would be avoided in the event that someone should see him in that state and at the same time he would keep his manhood intact. Perhaps her daughter would develope some kind of trauma that is usually associated with the father figure but bah, it would pass.
If she died of natural causes, she would leave with a terrible image of him.
2. Everything is true.
2.1 Accepting to play: It would involve submitting to as much humiliation as possible but it would save his daughter's life.
Rin would be impressed and would never leave him.
2.2 Rejecting to play: The worst of all scenarios. Not only would he be directly guilty of Setsuna's death, he would also cause Rin and Towa to flee. He would never have a family again.
Maybe he should be thinking about looking for Jaken.
3. Tenseiga: There isn't much to say here. If things went wrong and Setsuna died he always had the option to revive her with Tenseiga, right? Rin simply shouldn't have to know it and he hoped Towa didn't understand what was happening.
High probability of success.
Finally he made a decision. He didn't know if it was the correct one but he believed that it was the one that would bring the least consequences.
"It's okay."
With the greatest seriousness of which he was able, he sat with his back to the girls and assumed a solemn attitude. He could tell Towa that she didn't have permission because she wasn't ill but that would bring unnecessary problems and he already felt resigned.
"Thank you so much daddy!" They both said in unison to try not to make their dad regret at the last minute. What they didn't know was that he had repented since he accepted.
With their little hands they began to make an attempt to braid his hair causing him a big tangle. It was getting worse and although Sesshoumaru felt really uncomfortable, he still kept his stoic expression. Always worthy. Then they went looking for something and giggling they decorated him with a large number of flowers and leaves.
Sesshoumaru had never wanted to die so much.
The process continued for a while and from time to time Setsuna and Towa stopped working to admire their masterpiece. There was no room for the joy they felt.
Sensing that perhaps the disaster would be irreparable, the demon decided to check his daughter's temperature again, astonished when he realized that she no longer had a fever. His suffering seemed not to have been in vain.
He got up and shook himself as much as he could, ridding himself of almost all the nonsense in his hair. Feeling that everything was in order, he sighed with relief. No one had seen him.
He looked at his daughters with a stare that could freeze the blood of the strongest of the yokai and said:
"This never happened."
They both nodded energetically and with a big smile on their faces. They would definitely tell their mom.
Rin soon came back and found a quite different picture than the one she had left. Setsuna's disease was no longer visible on her face and she quickly verified it. She hugged them both and made sure to put away the herbs she had brought with her for another chance. She hugged her husband tightly and from the closeness realized that he had a few small leaves and pieces of flowers on top. Guessing what had happened, Rin couldn't contain her laughter and even tears came to her eyes.
Sesshoumaru jerked away and seemed indifferent for a long time. He wasn't going to speak to them for a while. None of them.
As if it had been rehearsed, his wife and daughters surrounded him and gave him the most convincing looks possible to implore his forgiveness. Sighting and after turning his eyes he opened his arms and the three of them rushed him into a group hug.
He had been vilely manipulated from the start. Being surrounded by three women with that power was terrifying to him but he wasn't going to do anything about it.
Although he didn't want to accept it deep inside he knew that something in him had changed.
Omg I hope you like this and I also hope that this is understandable. I struggled with the translation a lot more than with the other one. Google translate why did you almost fail me this time.
Anyway, if you enjoyed it please let me know, at least for me to know if I should keep submitting stuff or just desist of it hahahhaha. Thank you a lot for reading!