Part 3: Introductions
Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish for it, I unfortunately own nothing except my plot.
A/N: Thanks for checking out the story again! In this one we'll find out a little more about Sesshy's motivation.
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Little25victor
Tsuyu (Thank you for checking back! I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and thank you for your kind words.)
Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish for it, I unfortunately own nothing except my plot.
"Keh!" Inuyasha spat out, crossing his arms in a stubborn way. "Fine, I know you take your role of family protector seriously, but did you really have to bring her here? Her father is devious, and dangerous. Who knows if she can be trusted?"
While I understood the hanyou's sentiment, his words pissed me off. I had never been anything remotely close to my father after all, and being compared to him was as great an insult as possible.
"Don't worry, I can be trusted. It seems Sesshoumaru forgot to tell you about our happy news." I bravely stepped forward, and before he could utter any kind of protest, looped my arm around Sesshoumaru's. I felt him tense at the physical contact, but to my surprise he did not pull back.
"He and I just got married, so we're now one big happy family!"
My little announcement had the effect of a bomb going off. Inuyasha and the unknown human guy looked as if they had been punched in the gut.
"What did you just say?!"
"What the fuck?!"
The two men said in unison.
I looked up at Sesshoumaru's face, and could swear I saw his lips stretch in a small half smile. Good then, I had managed to amuse the Ice King. It seemed like I was not going to get disemboweled for my little unexpected show. As soon as the smile appeared, I blinked, and it vanished. Still its small appearance had to count for something…
"Naraku had this little surprise waiting for me at our meeting."
Sesshoumaru fished inside his pocket and retrieved the document my father had forced us to sign. The young human pounced on it and read it.
"Fuck this. I knew you shouldn't have gone to see him alone." Inuyasha sent a nasty scowl my way. Guess my brother in-law still believed I was not to be trusted.
"I may be your legal counsel, but criminal law is more my forte…" The human man said. "That said, I think this is the real deal. You two are kind of married… Of course I'd need to check the fine print, but I think this will not be truly binding unless you file it at Family Court. Of course we could do away with the doubt… You two would be legally married if you bring this document for validation in front of a judge." The human's sly smile stretched further. "I of course volunteer to do just that. I'm good friends with Judge Saito, and could probably get a hearing for tomorrow…"
"Miroku, do not forget that you work for this Sesshoumaru. I will let you know if and when I need you." At least I knew the guy's name, and he apparently was Sesshoumaru's lawyer or something. Interesting that he seemed to live at the mansion. Why else would he be standing in the foyer at dawn wearing only his pajamas?
When it came to our union, to be honest, I wasn't surprised. I knew this whole marriage thing was dubious. A part of me was relieved to find out I was still mostly free to leave Sesshoumaru, I didn't like the uncertainty about the legality of our union, but decided to take my chances… No need to panic or overthink things. The one thing I was worried about was what Sesshoumaru would do now that he found out our marriage was not set in stone. He had said I would be helpful to him, and that he would put me through some sort of test of loyalty. I had no idea what it might be, but I hoped I would be able to pass with flying colors so as to prevent him from getting rid of me. I needed him. I'd never get such a good chance at reaching freedom. Naraku would never make such a mistake again, and allow me another chance to slip through his hands. I still could not believe someone as careful and controlling as him would make such a mistake. Or, was it a mistake? Something suddenly occurred to me, and interrupted my train of thought. It was as if I was hit by lightning. Maybe I was underestimating Naraku. Maybe my dear old dad was one step ahead of us...
"Naraku kept a copy. Can he file it in court in our name?"
Miroku's frown was all the answer I needed. For all we knew my father was waiting for the courts to open so he could file our marriage license. Damn what an uncomfortable feeling. Once again I was reduced to a small puppet with whose strings he could play with… To think that only seconds ago I had dared dream about freedom...
"Tell you friend Judge Saito to inform you should Naraku try to do so." Sesshoumaru then turned to face his younger half brother. "Tell the teams to be on the lookout. I want full reports on whatever the spider is doing."
"Do you want me to prepare an injunction to counteract if Naraku files your marriage license?" The ever-helpful Miroku offered.
Sesshoumaru's gaze slid back to his attorney. "I told you to observe not act. Wait until I tell you before you do anything."
While I was not surprised that Sesshoumaru was spying on my father, intelligence gathering was the name of the game in their business, I was surprised to find out that 'my maybe husband' did not seem overly concerned about our union. I thought he would jump at the chance to get rid of me, and agree to Miroku's plan to prepare a document ready to be filed in court the second Naraku made his move. Was he not worried that our marriage would be made binding? Gotta admit that the fact that he still let me hold on to his arm was really odd.
Based on the grin on Miroku's face, something told me this was also an observation he had made.
"No problem boss. Your wish is my command. I'll just go back up to bed now, and let you enjoy your 'wedding night'!" After an exaggerated bow, the human man ran upstairs, presumably back to his bedroom.
"Yeah well, I don't work for you, I work with you. I don't care about your private life, what woman you choose to sleep with is your problem, but marriage or no marriage, I don't trust Naraku's kid." After sending one last suspicious glare my way, Inuyasha stomped up the stairs, leaving Sesshoumaru and I alone in the foyer.
It was only then that the inu youkai gently removed his arm out of my hold. I have to admit it did feel kind of nice to hold on to him, and press my chilled body against his lean muscled form. Despite his chilly exterior he was warm and cuddle material. Things not many would have expected out of the underworld's Ice King.
Sesshoumaru then too ascended the stairs, and since he did not say anything to me, I decided to just follow him. The more I saw of his house, the more I liked it. We stopped on the third floor, and went down a long corridor decorated in tasteful walnut wood and heavy tapestries. The subtle luxury of Sesshoumaru's house was a far cry away from the garish design choices of my father. Naraku always employed a high-priced interior decorator, but despite that, daddy dearest always decided to pick the most expensive pieces of furniture and decorations without a care for whether it all actually fit together. I was so lost in my appreciative thoughts that I missed the fact that Sesshoumaru had stopped, and almost bumped into him.
"You will sleep here."
My heart started racing a mile a minute. I had not really thought about sleeping arrangements, and could only hope that I had not misread Sesshoumaru. I had thought him to be an honorable man, one who would not take advantage of our potential union to get me into his bed.
"It is a guest room."
He then said as if he could read my mind. This made me feel bad about my suspicious thoughts. All I hoped for was that I was not blushing like a schoolgirl. If I wanted Sesshoumaru to take me seriously, I needed to come across as strong, resourceful and worldly. Luckily, he made no comment.
With these last words, Sesshoumaru continued down the corridor, all the way to the end and turned left behind what I assumed to be the door of his bedroom, leaving me standing alone. I was surprised he was allowing me to sleep on the same floor as him. Maybe he was serious about taking proper care of me and us working together. Maybe this marriage would not turn out to be disastrous after all.
"Good night." I called after him, and was not surprised not to get an answer. After heaving a deep sigh, I pushed through the heavy door, and stepped into the room assigned to me. I had had an exhausting night, and could really use some rest. Before I knew it I had sunken into the soft bed and was falling asleep.
I woke up and was disoriented for a minute. My bed did not have a red frilly canopy, and these did not feel like the sheets I was used to. I sat up and took a look around. There was just enough sunlight peeking from behind the curtains to allow me with my superior youkai vision to observe my surroundings. I suddenly remembered the insane happenings I had had to go through the previous evening, leading up to the reason why I was in this unexpected bedroom in the mansion of my father's biggest enemy. The room looked even more luxurious than what it appeared to be a few hours ago when Sesshoumaru had dropped me off.
I turned my head to the side, and came across the most surprising sight. A girl was sitting on a chair next to the door, her warm brown eyes stuck on me. I hope she had not been staring at me for very long. One, that would be creepy. And two, I knew I had the nasty habit of drooling when I was in an exhausted sleep, and I would hate for this kid to see me in such an embarrassing situation.
"Good, you're finally awake! Rin has been waiting forever, but don't worry I haven't been creepily watching you sleep. I just came into the room. I'm so excited, I have so much to ask you." Without waiting for an invitation, the girl moved from the seat to settle on the empty side of the bed. She briefly turned around to flick on the side lamp. The light allowed me to see she was human, dark of hair and eyes, and looked to be a teenager.
"Do I have to call you mom? Uncle Inuyasha said I shouldn't because you won't be around long enough, but Miroku said that you will, otherwise Sesshoumaru-sama wouldn't have brought you home. Sorry that made you sound like a bit of a pet… Anyways no offense to Uncle Inuyasha, but Miroku is much better at reading people."
When she finally took a break to breathe in some air, I was finally able to ask a question.
"Who are you?"
The young human sent me a pitiful look, before perking right back up. "So typical of him. Marrying a woman, bringing her home, and not even mentioning his teenage daughter..."
"Daughter?! You're Sesshoumaru's daughter?!" This was a piece of information I had never heard before, and I had kept my ears opened to any hint of gossip that had to do with Sesshoumaru considering my long term crush on him. I doubted that even Naraku knew about this teenager Sesshoumaru was raising.
"Well adoptive daughter, human ward, whatever you want to call it. In any case Sesshoumaru-sama has been raising me since I was six years old. My name is Rin by the way." She paused to observe me thoughtfully. "I see why he put you in the red room, it goes well with your eyes."
Rin's words made me look around the room. Sure enough everything was done in a shade of red ranging from the burgundy walls to the pale red bed comforter. Could Sesshoumaru really have put me in this particular bedroom because he thought it would fit me well? Hard to believe.
"Good thing Miroku told me to bring you some clothes." Rin pointed to a pile of clothes she had put on the bed. The teen's comment made me look down at my severely exposed cleavage, and I remembered then and there that I had had no choice but to sleep into the tiny slinky red dress Naraku had chosen for me the previous evening. Since I had not been privy to my father's plan, I had not been giving the opportunity to pack up my belongings, so currently my only possession was that damn dress, and a pair of impossibly high heels that had caused me some nasty blisters. Thankfully my youkai healing would take care of these in no time, along with the few bruises my father left on me for daring to disagree with him.
"There's a bathroom next door with some fresh towels and a spare toothbrush. After you freshen up, you can come find me in my room, it's the last door on the right, and we can go downstairs for breakfast together. Sesshoumaru-sama isn't home, so I thought it might be nice for you to eat with someone you can talk to."
Two pieces of information jumped to my attention: first, Sesshoumaru had put me in a room close to his human ward's, which was across from his own, and second, he had left me behind as he went out to do whatever the hell he usually did. I had expected him to bring me to some sort of safe house until he figured out what to do with me, but instead he had not only brought me to his home, but placed me in the vicinity of his secret child. It meant one thing, he trusted me. The knowledge pleased me.
"Okidok. I'll see you later!" After a cheery wave, the tornado called Rin rushed out of my room.
Since I had no wish to stay in bed all day, despite my lack of sleep, I grabbed the clothes Rin had picked out for me, and headed towards the bathroom. The next time Sesshoumaru would see me, I was determined to make sure I would more resemble myself.
After a long warm shower and a tidying up I felt eons better. Surprisingly the clothes Rin had brought me actually fit quite okay. The sweater was a bit tight, and the jeans a bit short, but it was of course a thousand times better than that ridiculous red number Naraku had forced me to wear the previous evening. Now that I was finally rested and refreshed I had some time to think about my present predicament: I had two main goals at the moment, making sure that I passed whatever loyalty test Sesshoumaru was concocting, and finding a way to use him to my advantage. A knock on my door brought me out of my thoughts.
"I have to head for school soon, so if you want me to introduce you to everyone, you should come to breakfast." Rin called out through the door.
"I'll be out in a minute!" I had no idea who 'everyone' was, but the thought of facing a flock of Sesshoumaru's friends, family or employees by myself did not seem appealing. I had every intention of relying on Rin as a buffer. Something about Rin was warm and inviting, miles away from what I expected any child raised by Sesshoumaru could be like.
I mourned the absence of my usual make up, especially my red lipstick, so I contented myself with fixing my hair before stepping outside the room.
"I'm glad the clothes fit well. You're so pretty, I can see what Sesshoumaru-sama sees in you."
I slightly frowned. It seemed to me as if Rin was starting to spin some sort of fantasy in regards to me and her father and that ridiculous piece of paper my father had us sign.
"Look Rin, you seem like a sweet kid, and I don't know what kind of nonsense Miroku and Inuyasha have told you, but there is nothing going on between Sesshoumaru and I. Now, why don't we go downstairs, I'm starving."
Rin's smile dampened for a second, but was quickly back in place. Without another word, she turned around, and I hoped was leading the way towards the dinning room. I was not kidding when I said I was hungry; I could eat a horse. Not that I would. I was a wind youkai, and while we ate meat, it was not our favorite source of food.
As I followed Rin, I could not help but let my gaze travel all around. The house had seemed gorgeous and timeless in the nighttime, and now in broad daylight, it looked even more beautiful. Before I knew it, we were downstairs, and stepping into a bright sunny room where a humongous dinning table took out most of the space.
"This must be her." The comment had come from a woman who seemed to be slightly younger than me. She was human, had warm brown eyes, and even if she was sitting at the dinning table, I could clearly make out what she was heavily pregnant.
"I don't know why dad was so mad, she looks nice." A young fox demon sent me a grin before taking a large bite of some sort of sweet bun.
"Looks can be deceiving." It was only then that I noticed there was another woman sitting at the other end of the table. Interestingly enough, she was also human.
Why in the hell would so many humans, including a pregnant one, and a young kistune be a part of Sesshoumaru's household? Things were becoming more and more odd. Were dog demons not supposed to live in packs? Despite being a human born hanyou, Naraku did not trust humans to be a part of his business, so my contacts and dealings with ningens had been quite limited since now. Guess I was about to get a crash course in 'how to interact with humans'.
"Well I'll make introductions." Rin cheerily announced. "This here is Aunt Kagome, Uncle Inuyasha's wife." The teenager placed herself behind the pregnant human. "That's Shippou their adoptive son." The kitsune nodded at me when his cousin pointed in his direction.
"And last and not least that's Sango. Technically she's my bodyguard, but everyone knows the only reason she's working here is so she can be close to her boyfriend Miroku."
"Rin!" The edge in Sango's voice let me know she did not appreciate the young human's words. I found it extremely interesting that Sesshoumaru would pick a human female to be the one protecting his ward. Was it because she would have better odds at getting along with Rin? Based on what I had seen of the little girl so far, getting along with other did not seem to be a problem for her.
"Anyways, this is Kagura, Sesshoumaru-sama's… friend." I guess the warning glare I sent Rin had the desired effect. I had no wish to be referred to again as Sesshoumaru's lady friend or wife or whatever.
"Why don't you sit down and eat? Just pick a spot, despite appearances we don't stand on ceremony around here." The warm welcome of Kagome was unsettling. She and Rin were acting as if hosting the daughter of Naraku was the most normal thing in the world. I had expected to incite a reaction closer to the cold indifference exhibited by Sango.
Still I did as asked, and sat down in front of an empty seat. I was so starved that I did not wait for an invitation to serve myself. I had not eaten a thing yesterday. I simply poured myself a cup of coffee, doctored it with some cream, and tucked into the platter of eggs and toast at the center of the table. I did not know how many people lived at the mansion, but based on the mountain of food spread on the table it must be a real army. How surprising, I had expected that Sesshoumaru lived like a hermit alone on his pile of money, and not surrounded by family and friends. Living with close relations was a foreign notion to me since the only people in Naraku's household were his hired goons.
"Nice to see someone else shares my great appetite."
A part of me thought that Kagome might be making fun of me, but since her plate was as laden as mine, I figured she was being honest. Guess carrying a hanyou child helped speed up her metabolism because despite her swollen stomach she did not look pregnant one bit.
"Well at least I am planning on going out for some shopping after the kids go to school, which will prove to be some nice exercise to burn off some of these calories. Kagura, I know you could use some fitting clothes, but unfortunately Sesshoumaru left instructions saying you couldn't leave the house just yet." The frown on Kagome's face let me know that she did not like her brother in-law's order, but had to comply with it.
I was furious, but decided to hold it in as I had a bone to pick with Sesshoumaru after all, and not his female relatives. I had wrongly thought that Mr. Ice King had maybe come to trust me, but I was fast realizing this was not the case. Kagome's words also caused a jolt of panic in me. As a wind demoness, the thought of being locked within walls was a not pleasant at all. The fact that these walls were made up of my father's enemy's home, coupled with the fact that I was without access to my fan was scary. I still had my feathers so if things turned for the worse, I was sure I could find a window to escape from. Now that brought me a measure of peace, and my heartbeat came back to a normal pace.
"In the meantime you'll just have to go on using my clothes. Not that it's a bother, it's not like I'll be able to fit in them any time soon." Kagome punctuated this by gently tapping her heavily swollen belly. I did not know when exactly her baby was due, but based on her size, it seemed to me this baby might pop out any second. Not that I knew much about pregnancy, especially the human ones. In my spare time I liked to fantasize about having a normal life, which included having babies of my own, but I have to admit that with my current life situation, having children was so far from my mind.
"How can you sit there and eat with her… joke with her as if nothing was wrong." The angry shout resonated inside the dinning hall, halting the progression my fork was doing towards my mouth.
"Sango, she's a guest here." For the first time, Kagome's smile broke.
"Not to mention Sesshoumaru-sama's wife." Rin added with a smirk. I could tell she was having a real kick out of the whole ridiculous situation between her guardian/father and me. Glad to know the kid was having a good time with this. Being raised by Sesshoumaru she probably did not have a lot of fun time.
Unperturbed, Sango jumped up from her seat, slamming her hands on the tabletop, dislodging her breakfast and staining the tablecloth in the process. What shocked me the most was the way she was staring straight at me, clear hatred in her eyes.
"She might be a guest here, but she is not welcomed." Sango spat out at Kagome before returning her attention to me. "Your father massacred my entire family, and do not think for one second that I would ever forget that."
Sango's declaration shocked me to my core. I always knew that the line of business my father and Sesshoumaru were in was cruel, dangerous, even deadly. However I had never had to be faced with the victims of the trade.
"Sango! Kagura has nothing to do with Naraku's work."
Upon hearing Kagome's words, Sango clenched her fists angrily. For a minute I thought she would leap over the table to punch me in the face, but she seemed to remember where she was, and collected herself.
"I will drive the children to school now." With a nod towards her friend, and one last glare at me, Sango stomped out of the room.
Rin sent me a sympathetic smile before she and Shippou slipped out of the dining room, following close behind the steaming Sango. All of a sudden my succulent breakfast felt like a brick in the pit of my stomach.
In movies spies and double agents on missions have exciting adventures, but ever since the previous evening when Sesshoumaru had recruited me, nothing had happened, and I was bored out of my mind. Shortly after breakfast, Kagome had left for an extended shopping trip followed by a visit to her mom, and since Rin was still in school, I had no one to talk to. I was used to not having anything to do since my dear old dad had never let me have a job for a long period of time, so I always needed to find things to occupy myself with. Thankfully art and design along with dance had always been keen interests of mine. When at home if I was not practicing fan dance routines, I was creating sketches for the clothes and jewelry lines I dreamed of owning one day. The collection of precious sketches I had accumulated over the years and my fan were the two things I actually missed from Naraku's house. On top of that since Lord Sesshoumaru-sama had forbidden me from leaving, I couldn't even go visit the only person who I had ever cared about. I forced myself away from this train of thought. Thinking about my mother enraged me, and made me sad, two emotions I did not need at the present moment.
As soon as I had been left alone in the mansion, I had tried to escape. Non surprisingly the door was bolted and no matter how much I pounded it, would not give. I was really missing my fan at that moment. I could tell that there was some sort of anti youkai ofuda protection on the door, but I thought that one of my wind blades might have been able to open it up if I had been able to conjure them. I once again cursed Naraku for taking away my only weapon. Sesshoumaru clearly took security seriously because even every single one of the damn windows was locked up. After an hour or so of running around fruitlessly trying to find an exit, I gave up. Plus the servants had started their big daily clean up, and I was sure that if one of them had caught me trying to crack open a window, they would have reported me back to Sesshoumaru. I really did not want him to figure out I was trying to find an escape plan. Seeing Sango's anger had really put things in perspective. Maybe I had been too naïve thinking Sesshoumaru and his people would be able to put aside their feelings towards my family long enough for us to take down Naraku together.
Since I had no other choice but to stay in, I ended up spending the better part of the day in a small cozy living room, which resembled what I always figured a proper British drawing room from olden times would look like. I settled with a fairy tale novel I picked up in the humongous library next door, and tried my best to keep busy with reading about the epic adventures of an inu hanyou running around Sengoku Jidai with a band of human friends all the while fighting evil. I had just started reading about some epic fight when I heard the front door slam and a set of heavy footsteps coming my way along with two male voices. Based on my earlier exploration, I knew they had just stopped in the middle of the foyer. Since I was not gifted with a set of super senses like a dog demon, I had no choice but to physically go have a look for myself if I wanted to find out if my Lord Husband, Sesshoumaru-sama, had decided to grace me with his presence after all. I peaked my head out from the small living room, and saw none other than Inuyasha, Miroku, and even the Lord of the manor himself, the esteemed Sesshoumaru standing in the middle of the entryway. Just as I was about to make my presence known, something stopped me.
"I hope our dear house guest has not been too bored. It was quite cruel of you Sesshoumaru-sama to leave her alone all day. If I could, I would have liked to stay with her to keep her company." While I appreciated Miroku's concern, I could not help but be annoyed by the slimy connotations of his words. Had Rin not mention that Miroku was dating Sango?! Ew what did she see in that creep?
"I still don't understand why ya had to bring Naraku's daughter here. It doesn't feel right for her to be so close to Shippou, Kagome and Rin."
I was not surprised that Inuyasha was still not accepting of me. Interesting how opposite his reaction was to his wife's.
Sesshoumaru turned towards his brother, and gave him a glare cold enough to freeze the arctic.
"Inuyasha, this will be the last this Sesshoumaru will hear about it. I have told you before that she is a mere tool. Bringing her here is a ploy to make her trust me. She poses no threat, I have made sure of it."
I could taste disappointment in my mouth. His words made me realize how much more calculating than I thought Sesshoumaru was. The fact that he had brought me to his home, in the presence of his family had led me to think that he believed me and trusted me… That he could come to see me as an ally in truth. It hurt deeply to know that he had only done so in the hopes of buttering me up. Then again I guess it explained why I couldn't get out of the house… I hate to admit it but had I not overheard him, his plan would have worked. At least now I knew where I stood with Sesshoumaru. No more spinning tales in my head. It was time to face the fact that he had been telling the truth when he called me a tool for him to use. I needed to think as pragmatically as he did. That damn inu youkai was also just a tool for me to use to get what I wanted.
"Brother." Sesshoumaru turned to the pissed off hanyou. "You just know as I do how much the witch's cooperation is needed. Her father murdered ours, and she will help us prove it, so we may finally get our revenge."
To be continued…
A/N: Sesshoumaru's motive is finally revealed. Will Kagura come to help him? Will the two of them manage to trust one another and work together? We shall find out.