Chapter 4
The Day Before the Fair: With Inuyasha's Pack
"Inuyasha, if I have to tell you one more time to quit picking on Shippo I'm going to S.I.T. you six feet under," Kagome yelled as Inuyasha hit Shippo on the head for the fifth time in the hour they had been awake. They had been traveling for three days and they knew they would reach the Western Palace by mid-morning if they continued traveling at the same pace they had been. The closer they got to the palace the more irritable Inuyasha became. Kagome knew that Inuyasha was nervous, but she was getting feed up with his aggressive coping mechanism.
"Keh," Inuyasha huffed as he dropped Shippo. "Then keep the brat away from me and quiet. I can do without his comments."
"All he did was ask you if you planned on taking a bath before we reach the palace. I know Kagome, Shippo and I are planning on stopping at the hot spring before we head out. That way we are not too dirty when we get there," Sango remarked as she finished packing everything but the bath supplies and the clothes they were changing into.
It looked like Inuyasha was going to say something when he suddenly stopped and reached for the Tessaiga. All of a sudden the whole group sensed that a lot of youkai and realized that they were surrounded. Everyone quickly grabbed their weapons and prepared for battle. Soon ten boar youkai emerged from the surrounding forest. The largest boar was the only one with a sword and he was obviously the leader.
"Hand over the Jewel, half-breed, and we may let you live," the large boar said as he pointed his sword at Inuyasha. "Refuse and you will all die. Of course my men will have a little fun with the women before they die."
"Keh, you wimps should run before we use you for target practice," Inuyasha replied as he drew Tessaiga and it transformed. As soon as he answered the boars attacked. Sango threw her Hiraikotsu and jumped on Kirara when she transformed as the bone boomerang cut one of the boars in half. Miroku threw a sutra at one of the boars and attacked another with his shakujou. Kagome fired a sacred arrow and as the first youkai was being purified she quickly prepared another arrow and fired again. With three of the ten youkai dead and one frozen in place thanks to Miroku, they all spread out to give everyone more room to fight. Shippo stayed with Sango on Kirara so that he didn't get in the way and threw foxfire attacks at any youkai that got too close.
In the chaos that ensued Kagome ended up being separated from the rest of the group and surrounded by three boar youkai. Two were coming at her from the back while the third distracted her from the front. Sango and Miroku were too far away and too busy with their youkai attackers to help Kagome. Inuyasha was busy fighting the boar boss and couldn't help either. Kagome could feel the youki from the two youkai behind her and knew that while she would be able to kill off the one in front of her, she would not be quick enough to get the other two before they injured her. Kagome fired her arrow at the boar in front of her and started to spin around to confront the other two when she heard a masculine voice cry out.
"Sen Mizuguchi Sutoraiki (Thousand Waterspout Strike)." Suddenly she heard what sounded like a waterfall right behind her and as she finished turning she was surprised to see that the last two boars were caught in a tornado of water and being lifted high into the air. Within seconds the boars were dead and the waterspout had moved around her and caught the two youkai that Sango and Miroku were fighting. By the time Inuyasha finished with the leader of the youkai the waterspout had killed the rest of the boars including the one that Miroku had used a sutra on. While Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo were distracted by the giant funnel of water that was decimating their enemies, Kagome was distracted by the tall youkai who had just saved her life.
He was about 6'1" tall with spiky silvery blue bangs that reach his cheekbones, the hair that framed his handsome tanned face fell to his shoulders, and she could see the rest of his long hair hung down to his knees. He had one royal blue stripe on each cheek bone, a royal blue teardrop shaped marking on his forehead, and royal blue swirls down both arms ending at the wrists. His youkai markings brought out the gorgeous sky blue of his eyes. His lean, but muscular body was clad in a silver sleeveless tunic like shirt that had a gold trimmed slit from the neckline to about mid chest over a sleeveless gray form fitting under shirt, silver hakamas with a gold border at the ankles, a grey and gold diamond patterned sash, black boots, and a royal blue sheath with gold and silver wave designs on it. The katana in his hand looked like an ordinary sword, but she could feel they immense youki flowing through it, though there was no malicious intent in either the sword or its wielder.
As the waterspout died down, harmlessly dropping the dead youkai at the edge of the clearing where they wouldn't fall on anyone, the youkai turned his gaze to Kagome and gave her a wink and a devastatingly sexy smile as he sheathed his katana. Kagome blushed at the wink and felt her knees go weak when he smiled.
"Are you alright, fair miko? Those insolent boars didn't hurt you did they?" He asked, his voice was smooth, refined and had a sexy British accent. While he was talking he ran his gaze along her to see if there were any injuries that he could see. His eyes widened slightly as he took in Kagome's outfit. She was still in her pajamas, which consisted of a light blue spaghetti strap, skin tight tank top that showed a fair amount of her stomach and brought out the sapphire blue of her eyes, very short black shorts, and the blue fuzzy bunny slippers she had slipped on when she woke up. Her wavy raven hair was still a bit wild from sleep as she hadn't brushed it yet. "I believe the style of dress has changed quite drastically in the last couple of centuries I've spent over seas. I must say I find the new look much more interesting than what the women of London were wearing when I left."
"Oi, quit ogling Kagome! Who the hell are you and what the hell do you want?" Inuyasha yell as he pointed his sword at the new youkai. He might not have been interested in her, but he sure as hell didn't like it when other guys checked out his best friend. Kagome glared at Inuyasha over her shoulder.
"Inuyasha, there is no need to be rude! Put your sword away and be civilized. In case it escaped your attention, he just saved my life and took out six of those idiots with one attack," Kagome chided Inuyasha before turning back to the male in front of her. "Please forgive Inuyasha; he is a little rough around the edges. Thank you for your help. As to my outfit, it's normal for where I'm from, but not for around here."
"No need to apologize, Lady miko. I'm sure that with a woman as lovely as you he has probably had to fight off many over eager suitors who wished to claim you for their own. Quite the usual response for an Inu Youkai when they feel their pack mate is in trouble, I'd do something similar if I was in his position. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Chūjitsuna, an Inu youkai and cousin to Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands. I am on my way to visit with my dear cousin. Might I have the honor of knowing your names?" He asked as he looked around at the other people in the group.
"Of course," Kagome said as she pointed out each member of the pack in turn. "I'm Kagome. This is Sango, she is a youkai slayer. The nekomata is Kirara, she is Sango's companion. That is Miroku, he is a monk. The kitsune is my adopted son Shippo. Last but not least is my hanyou friend Inuyasha. We are also heading for the Western Palace. Sesshomaru-sama has invited us to the harvest festival he is hosting this year. Why don't we all travel together?"
"WHAT! You baka! We don't know anything about this guy and you want to travel with him…" Inuyasha started to rant. Kagome slowly turned around and glared at the oblivious hanyou. Miroku, Sango and Shippo shook their heads.
"Inuyasha," Kagome said in a frighteningly sweet tone of voice. As soon as Inuyasha heard her use that tone his ears flattened on his head and he realized that once again he had gone a little too far. "Sit boy."
Thus Inuyasha earned his first sit of the day. Luckily Kagome wasn't really ticked off so his crater was only a few inches deep instead of a few feet and the spell wore off in just a couple of minutes. Just enough time for Kagome to assure Chūjitsuna that he was more than welcome to travel with them, threaten Miroku, and collect Sango and Shippo and head for the hot spring for their baths. To Chūjitsuna's credit he didn't laugh at Inuyasha's predicament. While the girls and Shippo were gone Miroku took the time to explain the beads and the reason they had been attacked to Chūjitsuna. When he heard that Kagome was the guardian of the Shikon Jewel he scoffed at the baka youkai that sought such false power. He was of the same opinion as Sesshomaru that a being should rely on its own strength and intelligence to solve a problem. He offered Inuyasha his sympathy for having to constantly fight to help protect the infamous jewel. The companionable attitude that Chūjitsuna had smoothed things over with Inuyasha a bit, though he was still not happy that the male was going to travel with them, even if it was only for a few hours.
After the girls returned from their baths dressed in their best kimonos, even Kagome brought along two weeks' worth of traditional kimonos so she didn't offend Sesshomaru while at his palace, Miroku and Inuyasha went to take their baths. Inuyasha decided that it would be a good idea to clean up after the battle; he didn't want to give Sesshomaru an excuse to insult him.
While the boys were gone Chūjitsuna entertained the girls with stories about his travels in Europe and the different cultures that he encountered. He had the girls laughing at his experience with wearing a kilt. Unfortunately for him, though he didn't hear any complaints from the females around at the time, his first time wearing one he had been fixing a campfire when a very strong wind flipped the kilt up over his back. Luckily only the ladies he had been traveling with were there at the time as their mates had been out hunting and had asked him to protect the women. After about fifteen minutes Inuyasha and Miroku returned and they all headed out for the Western Palace.
Inuyasha and Sango, with Kirara riding on her shoulder, were at the front of the group talking and keeping a lookout for trouble. Miroku and Shippo were right behind them. Shippo was telling Miroku about the interesting stories Chūjitsuna had been telling them about his travels. Since he didn't find the kilt incident as interesting as Kagome and Sango had he left that part out. Chūjitsuna and Kagome traveled at the back of the group. They were discussing the differences between miko training and youkai training. Kagome was worried that Shippo would not get the proper training with her raising him, but Chūjitsuna assured her that if there were several kitsune schools that he could attend for training or if she didn't want to send him to a school she could always see about getting a tutor for him. While kitsune are mischievous by nature, they are also very affectionate and caring towards their kits. He offered to help find a tutor for Shippo after the harvest festival and with a blush Kagome accepted his offer.
The entire time they were walking Kagome was blushing. Ever since Inuyasha and Kagome had sat down and actually talked about their feelings and realized that they were just friends, Kagome had been looking around at the different males that she knew. She realized that although there were several males that she knew and liked they were all in the friend zone. She had been wondering when she was going to find someone she was actually attracted to, Inuyasha didn't count because although she had thought she was in love with him she wasn't really physically attracted to him. From the first time Kagome had seen Chūjitsuna she had been extremely turned on. Chūjitsuna was also attracted to Kagome. It had been her scent of roses and spring rain that had drawn him to the battle. The instant his had caught her scent his beast had insisted that they find the source of the heavenly aroma and when he had first really seen Kagome his beast had promptly informed him that he wanted the pretty miko as his mate.
Due to the unexpected battle they had gotten into that morning the group had to stop for lunch instead of being able to eat at the Western Palace. Inuyasha didn't even argue when Kagome suggested taking a break, which would have shocked everyone if they didn't know that Inuyasha was nervous. Since Kagome knew that Inuyasha was not in a hurry she had Miroku collect some firewood while Sango went with Shippo to help him get a pot of water for the ramen. Chūjitsuna offered to catch a couple of rabbits to complete the meal and Kagome smiled and thanked him. Once everyone was busy with their tasks Kagome sat down next to Inuyasha.
"Hey, Inuyasha, don't worry so much. I'm sure that whatever Sesshomaru wants to talk to you about won't be that bad," Kagome said in a comforting tone of voice.
"Keh. He probably just wants to rub it in my face that he's a high and mighty lord while I'm a nobody," Inuyasha replied, his ears were laying flat on his head. "Not that I care what that bastard says."
"I really think that he's changed his mind about you, Inuyasha. All I'm asking of you is that you listen to what he has to say and try to keep an open mind," she said. About that time Miroku got back with the firewood and started the fire, Sango and Shippo returned with the water and once Miroku got the fire going they put water on to boil. A few minutes later Chūjitsuna arrived with three rabbits already cleaned, skinned, and ready for the fire. While Kagome and Chūjitsuna were cooking lunch and entertaining Shippo, Miroku took the opportunity to meditate and Sango sat next to Inuyasha.
"How are you doing Inuyasha?" Sango asked.
"I'm fine Sango," Inuyasha replied, though to Sango he sounded a little depressed. "Hey, what do you think Sesshomaru wants to talk to me about?"
"I'm not sure, but maybe he wants a chance to let go of the past. Rin has really changed him. He's not as cold as he used to be and I know that Kagome considers him a friend. We haven't seen him since the final battle with Naraku, but I think it's a good sign that he is inviting not only you, but the rest of us to stay with him in the palace. I don't think he would have done that if he still hated you," she answered.
"Yeah, that's a good point. Maybe you and Kagome are right. Maybe I should just give him a chance to say what he has to say. Thanks Sango," Inuyasha said.
"You're welcome. Just remember Yasha, you still have us if things don't go the way we think they will and Kagome has promised to be there with you. You're not alone anymore, we are a pack and a pack sticks together," she told him and patted him on his shoulder as she stood up to help Kagome serve the food. Once everyone ate, the dishes were washed and packed back up, and the fire put out they headed out again. A couple hours later they reached the palace and were immediately shown to their rooms. They were all surprised that they were put in the family wing of the palace and each was assigned a personal servant to help them while they stayed. Shippo was placed right next to Rin's room which was on the right side at the end of the hall by the hot spring. Next to Shippo's room came Kagome's, then came Sango's, and the last two rooms on the right was empty. On the left side of the hall, across from Rin was Sesshomaru, then an empty room set aside for his future mate, then another room that was occupied, then Inuyasha, next was Chūjitsuna, and the last room on that side was Miroku's.
An hour after the pack had arrived at the palace they were finished unpacking and had settled into their rooms. Rin had run off with Shippo to play in the gardens and everyone else but Kagome and Inuyasha were resting before dinner. Once Inuyasha and Kagome were settled in, Kagome sent her personal servant, Yumi, to inform Sesshomaru that she and Inuyasha were settled in and were available whenever he was. It wasn't long before Sesshomaru sent back word that he had time right then for the discussion. Kagome went to Inuyasha's room and collected him before following Yumi back to Sesshomaru's study. Outside the study door there were two guards stationed. When Yumi nodded to the guards, one knocked on the door and opened it when Sesshomaru bid them enter. As Kagome and Inuyasha came in Sesshomaru signaled the guard with a nod to send a servant to inform Jovan that she was needed in Sesshomaru's study.
