Chapter Eleven
Even if Kagura had dared to ask Sesshomaru's assistance with her haircut, she wouldn't have got it since the group headed towards Inuyasha's village because the wolves were on the move. For speed advantage, Sesshomaru moved the four of them in his energy ball. The journey didn't take longer than an hour, during which Sesshomaru kept frowning. Kagura interpreted that as a sign of a very big mess ahead of them. She wasn't mistaken. They landed on a hill far from the crossroads, but it was easy to hear the yells, coming from two parties on the intersection. One consisted of ten dark-haired wolf youkai and the other – of two silver-haired hanoyus accompanied by the miko.
"What are you doing on my territory, you stinky wolf?"
"You are a half-breed, you can't have a territory, dog-turd!"
"As if you have one! You are rotting in those mountains only because you have nowhere else to go!"
"Neither my territory nor my pack is none of your business, Inuyasha!" Kouga growled with bubbling anger.
"Neither is mine – yours! So what in the bloody hell are you doing here?"
"I came to return your property," Kouga snarled, giving a sign to someone in the back.
There was a small commotion among the wolves, but then the two of them brought a large bag that made Inuyasha and Yasha to revert their noses because of the stench coming from it. It was something not only disgusting but strong to the point of killing all sense of olfaction. The cover was pulled to reveal Ryou's lifeless body. The hair was red from blood, long unhealed gashes covered his arms and chest, the edges of which had already started to rot.
"You monster," came a whisper that made Kouga flinch. Only one person could make him doubt himself and that person was the only one who refused him. "How could you do this to my son?" Kagome's voice sent another powerful wave towards the wolf group. Yes, it was the voice of the great miko, but even without the holy power, the angered mother can defeat a legion of enemies who harmed her child. "Tell me of at least one rightful excuse to harm my son, otherwise I won't stop Inuyasha from tearing you limb by limb." A loud cracking of knuckles from Inuyasha confirmed that he had a lot of excuses to finish off Kouga and they all were rightful.
"Your brat dared to ask for my daughter."
"Your what?" Inuyasha exclaimed with pure surprise, momentary even forgetting about Ryou's grave condition and what led to it.
"My eldest daughter Kaoru, you deaf mutt! He came to me and asked for her to be his mate! Have you ever heard of such impudence? He is not even a hanoyu! How could that bastard even dare to think that I would give my daughter to someone of his status? He doesn't have a status at all!"
"None of these youkai is your son. Do you have one?" Yasha spoke for the first time. He seemed to be the only one capable of rational thinking at the moment.
"So that what is it about…" Inuyasha drawled with a smug grin, watching Kouga's face turning red from bursting anger. "You are just jealous that I have two sons and you have none."
"They could've been my sons, dammit!"
Slap! "Stop it this instant!" Kagome bellowed. "I can't believe, you still hang on this, Kouga. And shame on you, Inuyasha! Your son is dying, and all you can think of is bursting your ego!"
"He will pull through. He is my son after all." Inuyasha looked even smugger if it was possible.
The quarrel was momentarily stopped by a small tornado circling the wolves and dissolving to reveal a young wolf female with dark red hair. She frantically sniffed the air, completely ignoring the youkai on the crossroads. But then her glance stopped at the motionless figure on the ground and she snarled, her eyes turning red.
"Who did this to Ryou?" she hissed, her posture ready to jump and rip apart anyone who admits his fault.
"What are you doing here?" Kouga snapped at the newcomer.
"I followed the scent of Ryou's blood. I remembered it quite clearly since he was the one to save me from an ogre who wanted to make me his seventeenth wife. He is bad at close-range combat, but he still fought with the ogre to protect me, a complete stranger."
"Yes, he really sucks at it," Kouga agreed with distaste. "I and two of my pals helped him to realize it."
"How could you? Three on one? And you call it a fair fight?"
"Such brats must be shown their place, Kaoru! You don't deserve someone whose claws can't protect you! He is completely worthless!"
There was a loud growl from the side which made Kaoru turn to finally acknowledge the presence of none wolf origin. It didn't take her long to realize who was standing in front of her.
"Please, forgive my father for his harsh words," she apologized, falling down on one knee. "Ryou is the best archer in the area and he is very proud of his skill which he inherited from his mother. Without that skill I wouldn't have been alive today. My deepest apologizes, Kagome-sama, Inuyasha-sama."
"I am already starting to like this girl," Inuyasha said with a smile. "Despite her being the offspring of the stinky wolf over there. Don't you, anata?"
Kagome rolled her eyes as Inuyasha's usage of the endearment he never used in public, but this time it was just to infuriate Kouga even more. "You are Ayumi's daughter, right, Kaoru? And, please, stand up. There is no need for this."
"But your son was almost killed by our pack," Kaoru protested in disbelief. "Such act calls for blood vengeance."
"As much as I like to kick some wolfy ass…" Inuyasha began, cleaning up his claws. His threat was met with a choir of growls. "I see no need. It takes a lot more than three wolf youkai to do real damage to Ryou. We'll take him to the village and he will heal in no time. There is treatment there for everything."
"I will help!" Kaoru exclaimed and leaped towards Ryou.
"You will do no such thing, Kaoru!" Kouga barked.
Kaoru just snarled in return and proceeded with taking off the remains of Ryou's shirt. And then she started repeatedly licking the wounds. Not even five minutes passed, the gashes started to slowly close and healed completely in another five minutes.
"Fuck, what is this stench?" Ryou spat, gaining consciousness. "Kaoru?" he asked his tone switching to tender one in an instant. He looked around and his glance firstly stopped on Kouga, whose yellow eyes spoke of nothing but murder, so Ryou quickly moved his glance further to see his father, hands crossed over his chest, his eyes not even the least bit less murderous. "Shit, this wasn't supposed to turn out like that."
"What did I tell you about curse words, Ryou?" Kaoru scolded her chosen one.
"That you won't kiss the mouth that utters such foul words," Ryou recited, but then turned white and not from the blood loss.
"What did you just say?" Kouga bellowed his claws at the ready.
"Kaoru, be a good girl and wait here why I'll have a couple of words with my naughty son, okay?" Inuyasha asked in overly polite tone. Kaoru moved away from the young inuhanoyu and Inuyasha grabbed his son's hair to pull him into a nearby forest to have a little man-to-man talk.
"What the fuck were thinking getting near Kouga's daughter?" Inuyasha yelled when he thought they were deep enough for others not to hear them.
"Because I didn't know!" Ryou yelled back. "And even if I knew, do you want me to abandon a girl who is attacked by a monster?"
"So you decided to play hero? Ha?"
"As if she was the first one! I don't even remember how many youkai I personally killed in a situations like that. We usually return the victims to their families. That's it!"
"Then why didn't you this time and save us the trouble, Ryou?"
"Well, she was special, okay?"
"Have you thought even for a second that she was a full youkai and a wolf one to boot?"
"What difference does it make?"
Inuyasha took a deep breath. It seemed that it was impossible to reason with his stubborn son. "Because Kouga is bloody right. You are inferior to any male in their pack. You can't be a worthy mate for her."
"But I love her, pa!"
"Go tell this to Kouga!"
"I already did. And don't think that beating is going to stop me. If needed I am going to become stronger. I even ask Oji-san for help, but Kaoru will be my mate sooner or later," Ryou stated with unshakable resolve.
"What a mess," Inuyasha grunted. "The girl is kinda cute though. It is good she took more after her mother." With a sigh of defeat he motioned for Ryou to follow him back to the wolves' gathering. They had to secure Ryou's future mate by all means possible.
…..
"Enjoining yourself?" Kagura asked Sesshomaru softly. Since she was only a human she couldn't hear everything said between the wolves and the inus, but the general conflict was clear even without words. "And also teaching a lesson to someone without doing anything?"
"What are you talking about, Kagura?"
"Showing Yukito who a worthy mate is and what happens if he is not."
"Youkai laws don't concern Rin or her husband."
"But it is basically the same, right? Humans are just not so violent about the matter. You will kill however, won't you, Sesshomaru?" Kagura asked in a light tone, showing her acceptance with his youkai nature. "Not for others, only concerning Rin's choice. What about me? I don't have any parents either, but I belong to your pack somewhat. Should my husband be accepted by you too?"
"If you are indecisive about your choice yourself, then my acceptance won't help you."
"But what if you don't like him?"
"How does your husband concern this Sesshomaru?"
"Well, if he turns to be a violent one, he can hurt Rin, if we continue to live as two families."
"First of all, Rin will have her own husband to protect her and secondly, are you searching for an excuse not to marry all together, Kagura? Using this Sesshomaru to void anyone who asks for your hand won't help."
Kagura huffed, confirming his guess. Knowing that it won't take long for Rin to settle and thus her turn to get married was nearing too, Kagura wasn't exactly eager about the prospect. She was getting used to be on her own, even if Naruki did all the men jobs around the house. She and Rin travelled quite a lot lately, so Kagura got used to make decisions independently, and she was clearly rather reluctant to give away that freedom.
"It is always your own choice, Kagura."
Without as much as another word Sesshomaru headed downhill to the heated argument below. Others had no choice but to follow.
….
"I am telling you, mutt face, there is NO WAY I am going to agree to this union!"
"And what does your mate think about all this?"
"Which one?"
"And since when wolves are not monogamists?"
"Since we are extinct! I have three mates now."
"And none of them could give you a son! You need some fresh blood to survive!"
"And you think that some quarter youkai can strengthen the blood of my pack? Don't be ridiculous! Our numbers are dwindling because some youkai exterminators decided to pick us one by one!"
"Don't tell me Kouga 'all mighty' can't get rid of some exterminators to protect his territory! And don't tell me these are all the men of your pack! Did you leave your land unguarded?"
Kouga and Inuyasha could've been at each other throats for days if a figure hadn't stepped in between them. And surprisingly it wasn't Kagome, but Yasha.
"Stop it, To-san. This way you won't get anywhere. What youkai exterminators were you talking about?" The question was addressed to Kouga, who actually blinked from surprise at the daring interruption. Yasha's eyes were the same as his father's but the calmness inside them was totally unexpected. "It's definitely not our work, because we don't usually cross the border to the Northern Lands. They must be poachers. Do you know of any men in the human villages who became rich as of late?"
"What? What business do we have with humans? We live in the mountains, they live in the plains."
"There is an epidemic in the Northern Lands."
Everyone turned into the direction the voice came from. Of course, everybody with youkai senses had been already aware of another youkai presence nearby, and some familiar with the scent identified him as Sesshomaru, but dismissed him in the heat of the argument.
"Yeah, I heard something about it," Ryou confirmed.
"And you stay quiet, young man. You will be dealt with later," Inuyasha snapped, making the said man roll his eyes in exasperation. "So what about human epidemic?"
"The decease is extremely contagious," Sesshomaru began the explanation, "and the only effective cure is hair of the male wolf youkai. This Sesshomaru doubts the human quarantined the area properly that's why they can't finish the spreading of the decease even if they have the cure."
"Those humans don't concern us," Kouga stated. "We'll just hunt down those poachers or whatever and exterminate them."
"Or all present males can be killed now, the cure to the villagers is given and the healing process overseen so the disease won't spread here," Sesshomaru suggested.
"Yeah, I like that idea," Inuyasha agreed. The decision obviously wasn't supported by his mate.
"I still don't get why we must be concerned about some humans," one of the wolf youkai asked.
"Because we are. Because these are our lands and we must prevent it from being destroyed. There are hundreds of hanoyus here who may not be able to fight off the disease," Inuyasha stated. He was certainly not suitable for human interaction, but whenever the protection of the land was concerned, nothing could stop Inuyasha. That was what made the village people admire and stand by him.
"If you do, the remaining part of the pack will come to avenge us. And there won't be left anyone to catch the bug," Kouga declared with a smug impression. He already thought himself to be the winner. And there was too many of them anyway for some hanoyus to kill all the wolves. Sesshomaru was force to reckon with, but still ten youkai on one – a sure winning bet.
"It is doubtful you agree to just give your hair while remaining alive," Sesshomaru said, to the wolves, who had hostile disposition from the start, and nothing seemed to improve over the course of the conversation. "There is another species hair that can be used; it is less effective, but it still works as a cure. This cure is inuyoukai hair."
"How much will be enough, Oji-san?"
"It will be enough," Sesshomaru replied.
"You can't, Ryou!" Kagome tried to prevent her son's reckless act, but his face expression told her of sheer determination.
"I know this is a bit hasty, but To-san, Ka-san, will you accept Kaoru as my mate?"
"As much as I want to object," Inuyasha began, but Kagome elbowed him in the stomach. "I am not going to. Kagome?"
"You have my blessing, Ryou," Kagome joined the opinion of her mate.
"Then I have a proposition for the wolf tribe. I give my hair to stop the epidemic and in exchange Kaoru is pledged as my future mate."
"I repeat, I will never agree," Kouga refused.
"I am trying to save your lives here! Why are you so stubborn? Can't accept help from a hanoyu?"
"And what guarantee I have that you will keep your end of the deal after the engagement?"
"That's easy." Ryou neared Kouga and fell on one knee. "Cut it off now with your own sword."
"I don't think your son is quite sane, Inuyasha. I can take off his head right now and he won't be able to even roll away to protect himself."
"Well, what do you want, Kouga? He fell for your daughter. Still, he is prepared to die for her, that says something, don't you think?"
Kouga looked at his daughter. "If I hear even one complaint…"
"You won't, dad, I swear."
With a switch of Kouga's sword Ryou's hair was gone, with it his youkai strength. Ryou rose up, slightly swaying, but Kaoru was there to steady him up.
"You can claim your mate now," Kouga said through clenched teeth. He was obviously not happy with the arrangement, but there was something special about that Ryou guy…
Kaoru tilted her head down, barely containing her happiness, and Ryou pierced one of her ears with his fang. They brushed noses several times, not able to show their affection in other way being in public.
"I'll bring the ring for that hole soon."
"How soon?" Kaoru asked with baited breath.
"Two months at most."
"Common, lovebirds! It's time to go to your separate homes!" Kouga bellowed, pulling Kaoru away from her fiancée.
During the commotion of good byes, congratulations and departures the valuable ponytail of inuyoukai hair was completely forgotten.
"I understand that we are going to the Northern Lands?" Kagura asked matter-of-factly, taking the hair from the ground. She instantly acknowledged the difference in thickness between Ryou and Sesshomaru's hair. Ryou had to grow a lot to even come close to his uncle.
"You are going nowhere, Kagura," Sesshomaru stated.
"The whole area is dangerous, Oka-san," Rin supported her guardian.
"Well, you and Yukito can go to his hometown. And I am going with you, Sesshomaru. Your skills of communication with humans are even worse than Inuyasha's. I bet you thought you could just toss the hair to a healer and depart with no explanation. Then this treasure is as good as wasted. And I am not going to inform you about the consequences such actions can bring. So I am going as a negotiator and this is final. I also have my own private stash of the medicine."
"If anything happens to Rin, you will pay with your life," Sesshomaru warned Yukito, frowning at how close the two youngsters were standing.
"I'll gladly give it for Rin-chan," Yukito declared with a deep bow.
Sesshomaru gestured for Kagura to come closer and the next moment they were in the air surrounded by the blue sphere.
"Why do I have a feeling that Sesshomaru-sama agreed to the whole escapade only to be alone with Oka-san where nobody knows them?"
"But that is not a bad feeling, right, Rin-chan?"
"Most definitely."