Jest
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Maiko asked nervously.
If Kagome had not been wearing a helmet, she would have turned around to look at her.
"Don't worry. I'll handle it." She assured her.
Maiko shook her head, and continued to follow her lady through the palace.
As they neared the entrance way, the guards pushed the enormous wooden doors open. The roar of many conversations could be heard even through her helmet. Kagome's mouth hung open in shock behind the mask when she saw what lay beyond the doors.
Hundreds of soldiers were milling about in the courtyard. She knew that the palace had warriors on hand, but she had never seen this many in one place before! Various kinds of youkai milled about the area going about their duties. Kagome had assumed that only inuyoukai would be under Sesshoumaru's command, but from the looks of it, all walks of life followed him.
The miko ambled her way down the stairs, before wading through the crowd. It only took a moment before soldiers began to notice her and get out of her way.
It take didn't long before she began to hear snickers, and the further she got, the more pronounced the laughter became.
Maiko followed closely behind Kagome, glaring at all those who dared laugh at her.
Kagome kept a tight rein on her reiki as she was walked through a veritable ocean of different youki. Few paid attention to her, but those that did others either looked away or bowed with respect. It was a relief to know that while some were laughing at her, it wasn't malicious.
Without anyone guiding her, she focused on the strongest youki in the area. Sesshoumaru's energy shown like a bright light and the other youki fluttered around him like moths.
Sesshoumaru stood next to a tall table with a map and stone markers, similar to the one in his study. His generals surrounded the table and seemed to be arguing with each other. Kagome couldn't catch what they were saying. The helmet muffled everything.
As soon as she approached the table, all conversation stopped. Sesshoumaru turned on his heel to greet her, only to pause with his mouth open.
Kagome stood before him in a complete set of samurai armor. Even he had to admit it was a bit much, but what gave him pause was her mask. He had seen human warlords wear something similar. Most youkai found the masks distasteful since the humans were trying to imitate ugly youkai in attempts to make themselves more frightening. Kagome's mask looked painted rather than carved, which suggests that she made this rather quickly. What was apparent though was she made it to look like him to tease him for his choice of armor.
The mask completely covered her face; the only thing visible was her bright blue eyes. Around each eye was painted red, making her eyes narrow. Each cheek sported two magenta stripes, and a blue crescent moon sat in between her eyes. The mouth was open and snarling, showing teeth and fangs. All in all, it wasn't such a bad painting. Though, since she had painted it to look like him, it was strangely eerie.
His general Yuseda turned his back to her and crouched down, shaking. He was laughing.
Sesshoumaru frowned.
Another general to his right abruptly dashed from the table.
It was quickly becoming clear that his generals were chicken-shit.
He wondered what they feared more: his wrath or hers? Perhaps they feared his reaction to her jesting would be negative and they wanted to escape while they could. Could he really blame them? No one else but Kagome could get away with such bold actions around him. He couldn't even be bothered to be upset about the mask. It was such a trivial thing. Flattering really.
Kagome smirked from behind her fearsome mask. If Sesshoumaru had insisted that she wear samurai armor, then she would wear the full armor, including the men yoroi.
"You look ridiculous." His amber eyes started at the large helmet and flowed down to her boots.
She sagged under the weight of the armor. "Oh, I am so glad you think so! Is it the mask or the armor?"
Sesshoumaru focused on her eyes through the mask. "Both."
Kagome pulled the helmet off, followed by the mask. She set both down on the table, and glared at him. "Do you really think I can't protect myself?"
He stared at her, not saying a word.
She placed her hands on her hips and stared back at him.
His face was infuriatingly passive.
Kagome threw her hands up. "Okay, okay. You have a point, but did I really need all this?"
Amusement crossed his face. "No. I ordered armor fit for a human, not...human armor." He would admit to himself that he should have been more...articulate in his demands. He was fortunate that in this instance, that she was a miko, and not a demoness. A youkai would have taken grave insult to his "gift" of armor.
Kagome huffed. "Well if that's settled..."
She began systematically taking armor off piece by piece. Starting with the plates on her shoulders, she untied each side and dropped them to the ground.
"Uh, my lady, please allow me to help you…" Maiko appeared to her right wringing her paws with anxiety.
Kagome shrugged. "Don't worry about it. It's not your fault I had to put on all this armor." She said pointedly at his royal highness.
Sesshoumaru's mouth rose in one corner. Others around them turned their attention to the human stripping her armor off, unabashed, in front of a legion of youkai.
She had no idea how alluring she looked, and he doubted that she cared.
Kagome tugged on the ties around her waist, pulling the thick, heavy quilted material from underneath the skirt of her chest piece off and handed it to Maiko.
Next she knelt down and began untying the armor around her shins.
"Oh, my...who has garnered the attention of the entire Western army?" A teasing voice filtered through the crowd. Her sharp yellow eyes darted around to all the soldiers milling about, stealing glances at the miko.
Kagome looked up to see Lady Manako appearing from the mass of soldiers, who parted to let her through. Katsurou was slung over her shoulder, wrapped up in her fur against the cold pre-dawn air.
The Western Lady stopped to gape at the miko. "What on earth are you wearing?"
Kagome threw a glare at Sesshoumaru before standing. "Ask him."
Sesshoumaru didn't acknowledge her accusation, rather kept his cool amber eyes on her.
She frowned and shifting her focus to her son. "Why is he out here?"
Lady Manako raised an eyebrow. "He demanded to say goodbye to his mother."
"Mama?" Katsurou asked, his voice still groggy with sleep. Two little black dog ears appeared in her mess of white fur. His face appeared soon after, his arms outstretched for his mother to take him.
Kagome took her son into her arms and Katsurou linked his hands behind his mother's neck, nudging his nose against her shoulder. Kagome smiled and gave her son a kiss on the cheek.
"You should be asleep." She admonished.
"I didn't want to miss you leaving," he said with a yawn.
"I'm going to miss you so much!" She said hugging him. "I promise we'll be back soon though."
"I know, Mama."
He tightened his arms around her with much more strength than a normal five year old could, as his mother whispered into his ear that she loved him.
"Oh, Katsurou, look at this!" Kagome said as she picked up the inuyoukai mask and held it over her face.
"Grrrrrr." She growled, doing her best impression of Sesshoumaru.
Her son's eyes grew wide before he laughed loudly.
"Do you like it? I made it to scare my enemies away."
Katsurou's smile lit up his whole face. His small fingers reached up and traced the painted moon marking on the mask, mirroring his own marking.
"Now you're an inuyoukai too, Mama!"
Deep possessive emotion coiled around Sesshoumaru at the sight their display. He was proud of them.
"Kagome." Manako said softly.
She turned her attention to the demoness.
"Do you have the amulet?"
Kagome shifted her son in her arms, and pulled a small pouch from inside the front of her chest piece.
The daiyoukai took the small bag and reached her delicate clawed fingers inside to draw out the fang.
"You didn't use a crystal." She stated holding the fang closely for inspection.
"No. What I had in mind didn't work." Kagome admitted.
The demoness' eyes slid in her direction, letting her know that she knew her idea wouldn't work from the beginning.
"This should work just fine." She said pocketing the tooth.
"Katsurou, while I'm gone I want you to work with your grandmother on honing your skills, alright?"
Her son smiled sleepily. "I will."
Kagome kissed him once more, before she handed her son back to Lady Manako.
Without another word, Sesshoumaru's mother disappeared into the crowd.
"Hm. She could have at least wished us good luck, or safe travels." Kagome muttered.
Sesshoumaru frowned. "What for? This Sesshoumaru does not need good luck."
Kagome gave a sharp laugh at his blatant arrogance. It was strangely endearing.
He glanced down at the pile of armor at her feet. "This one will send for new armor."
The miko looked to him. "Oh, no. This is fine. Once I have removed the heavy stuff, I believe what I have on right now will do just fine."
The chest piece was surprisingly lightweight. It wasn't made of metal, but rather appeared to be thick leather. The arm guards that went from her wrist to over her shoulder would have to stay. It would be too much trouble to remove at this point.
"If that is what you wish." He stated.
Kagome placed her hand on his arm, and gave a soft sincere smile. "It'll be alright. I have faith in your ability to protect me should I need it."
Sesshoumaru's heart beat a little faster at her words. The heat from her hand soaked though his kimono to his skin. Everything about her made his senses hyper aware of her nearness. He could smell the soft lavender scent of her soap mingled with the scent of her oiled leather armor.
He doubted she understood the significance of her words. She never understood situational awareness. If they had been together in private, her words would have been appreciated quietly. But now, said in front of his army, her reassuring words meant so much more.
To the eyes of his soldiers, she was a powerful being, who striped herself of her armor and boldly declared her trust in him. If other humans had watched her display, they would find her insane. Her own kind would not be able to fathom why she would do such a thing amongst hundreds of youkai who could slaughter her.
Yet to him, and his soldiers, her quiet reassurance to him, was seen as a loud vote of confidence.
It spoke deeply to his instinctual need to protect his pack and family. She knew she didn't need to fear the youkai around her, because he would protect her, even from his own soldiers.
If anyone tried to harm her; he would slaughter them.
He had vowed to protect her, but...this feeling ran deeper than an obligation. He would kill his own people if it meant keeping her alive.
Perhaps...this was getting out of hand.
He quickly turned from her.
"We will leave in a moment. Be ready." He said roughly.
Kagome furrowed her brows at his dismissal.
He paused before walking away to say, "Bring the mask with you."
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Author's Note: Hey everyone! I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update. I kept editing it, and editing it... Poor Saruwarui kept having to review it everytime I fiddled with it. OMG even as I'm typing this to be posted, I'm adding stuff! I had so many mixed feelings about this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think. How did you feel about Sesshoumaru's reaction? What about Katsurou's?