Chapter 3
All the things that Rei might have envisioned to pop out from the gnarled underbrush did not even come close to the creature that actually emerged.
It was a small creature, scrawny, its height reaching only Rei's knees. It was dressed in sharp, stately robes, but they were muted, a dull brown. In its hand, it carried a tall staff, taller than the thing itself. Rei noticed that perched at the top of the staff was two shriveled up heads. She cringed at the sight of it.
There was one more thing. The little demon was green.
It seemed to take no notice of Rei. It was huddled over, muttering angrily over something. Somehow, this tiny green demon failed to inspire fear, and Rei slowly lowered her sword and stared. Just before the thing ran into her legs, it looked up and let out a strangled exclamation.
"A human!"
Its voice was shrill. It had bulbous yellow eyes that, at the moment, were practically bulging out of their sockets. It started waving its staff around impatiently. "Out of the way, out of the way, I tell you." Under its breath, it said, "I don't have time for things like this, don't have time to deal with humans. They only get underfoot."
Rei cleared her throat tentatively. "Excuse me, er, sir?" She felt that politeness would be the way to go, although it was incredibly hard to take this pompous, hot-headed little demon seriously. "What are you doing here?" As unlikely as it is that this thing is dangerous, it might be better to know anyway, in case it plans on attacking the village. She assessed it. Well…probably not.
The thing puffed up indignantly and said loudly, "I am not obligated to answer any of your questions, you silly, nosy human. Step out of the way."
She didn't move. The creature, who was looked incredibly crabby, shot a tongue of flame at her out of one of the human heads on the staff.
"Holy crap!" Rei saw the flash of fire flying at her and managed to leap out of the way before being seared to a crisp. She breathed out shakily. "Are you crazy?! You could've killed me!" She brandished her sword at him and made a swipe.
He jumped aside nimbly and shot fire at her again. "I don't have time for this!"
Rei's old reflexes were coming back to her, and she was much faster than Jaken. She swept around behind him and smacked him in the head with the flat of her sword. She didn't want to kill him.
"Ouch!" he squealed. "You hit me!"
"Yeah? Well, you almost fried me!" she retorted.
He was rubbing his small green head and muttering angrily, "The worst luck. The worst! Instead of getting the supervision job, I get sent out for this degrading, humiliating task. Why, Lord Sesshoumaru? What have I done wrong?"
She was just about to curse him before the name caught her unawares. "Wait, what?" That got her attention. "Lord Sesshoumaru? Are you his servant or something?"
Everything shifted for a moment, and she felt off balance. Unreal. And then a strong surge of optimism. Everything looked brighter. Sesshoumaru is alive. Maybe he's waiting for me, she thought rather nonsensically. She had a mental image of Sesshoumaru standing just beyond the cluster of trees, in the clearing. He was staring, his eyes the same beautiful shade of gold, his mouth in an impatient twist. She could imagine that cheesy "running toward your true love on the beach" music playing in the background as she ran toward him, tears streaming. He would open his arms and then…
And then she snapped herself out of it. She thought she had outgrown this whole daydreaming state when she went to college.
Meanwhile, it seemed pleased that Rei had heard of his all-mighty master. "Why, yes, I am. My name is Jaken, and I am his most loyal, trusted servant sent to do his bidding. Which," he said as he cocked an eyebrow, "is secret. Shoo."
But Rei was not done. She regarded the creature with curiosity and hesitation. "What…are you?" She felt awkward saying it, like she was insulting Jaken's dignity.
He sputtered furiously. "I am a respectable toad demon. Can't you see?! Ah, I've already wasted far too much time conversing with you. Move now. Before I move you myself." He flashed his staff threateningly.
Rei tried not to lose her temper. The sixteen-year-old her would have done just that, but she'd like to have thought that her current self had more self-control. And, she reminded herself, I'm relying on what's-his-face to lead me to him. She tried not to think his name and get her hopes up. Sesshoumaru. "Yeah," she said. "I can't really move aside because actually, I've been looking for you."
That stopped him in his tracks. "Looking for me?" he said, with his head tilted to the side in a way that wanted to make Rei laugh.
She cleared her throat to prevent the giggles and tried to sound serious and not entirely ecstatic. "Yeah. I need to see your master—Lord Sesshoumaru is it?—on some, er, business. Yes." She figured it was probably not a good idea to explore their strange past relationship, whatever it was.
"You? Business?" Jaken looked her up and down, and Rei had the distinct feeling that he was regarding her in the same manner that he might a homeless person. "Lord Sesshoumaru has no business with humans." He crossed his arms and tightened his grip on the staff with two heads.
"What's that thing?" Rei asked, momentarily sidetracked. "That stick with…dried human heads on it."
Jaken stood up straighter. "This," he gestured proudly, "is the Staff of Two Heads. It is quite powerful. I am honored to carry it on behalf of the Lord Sesshoumaru."
Gee, this guy has kind of a man crush. And obviously is kind of terrible at names. "I see. But in any case, I have a very important matter to discuss with ah, Lord Sesshoumaru"—his name sounded strange with the title—"and if you please, I would appreciate it if you could take me to him." She coughed. "Sir. Please," she amended.
He shook his head emphatically. "Definitely not. Lord Sesshoumaru has too much of a reputation to fraternize with humans."
"Really?" Rei responded politely. "I seem to remember that he was the guardian of a little girl. What was her name? Rin. Yes, that was it. Whatever happened to her?"
Jaken almost choked. "How do you know about Rin? I mean—Lord Sesshoumaru isn't the best at keeping her a secret but—how do you know?"
Inside, Rei grinned. Sesshoumaru was such a hypocrite about humans. Condescending and snobbish, it was almost as if he was insecure in his daiyoukai-ness. After all, he "fraternized" with humans all the time. "You see," Rei said carefully, "I know Lord Sesshoumaru very well. So I assure you, I'm not lying when I say that I have to see him on a confidential matter, and it's urgent. He will be happy to see me." I hope.
"Funny he never mentioned anything to me."
"Yes, well, I'm sure he'll be pleased to know that you almost killed me before you properly found out who I was. You'll be lucky if he doesn't turn that staff back on you," she said airily.
Jaken grumbled uncomfortably. "What is your name, then?"
"Rei Nakamura."
"Not familiar."
"Maybe I'm just too important for Sesshoumaru to mention me to someone like you." She smiled. She was enjoying this.
Jaken was at a loss for words and his facial expression showed total horror. "Never. I am Lord Sesshoumaru's most loyal servant! Impossible! The suggestion…why…you…humans!" His face was getting redder and redder, and he was starting to look like an oddly colored, rather ugly Christmas ornament. That was alive.
"Okay, well," Rei said, glancing up at the sky. She was tiring of Jaken's excitable episodes. But maybe this would turn out in her favor. He was proving to be a rather gullible demon. She swallowed back a giggle. Trying to control her face, she drew her expression down as solemnly as she could and said with gravity, "I need you to take me to Lord Sesshoumaru. Immediately. This is urgent."
"As his retainer, I have every right to know who you are."
Rei wisely decided this was the time for a little truth stretching. "I," she began with all the pompousness she could muster, "am a powerful miko. I am related to Kagome." Part of it is true.
"You're related to Kagome? What luck! You, then, must be aware of Kagome's…condition?" He looked extremely embarrassed.
"Condition? She's in perfect health. I have been visiting her."
"What I mean is…Lord Sesshoumaru is…vaguely curious…I mean…it's his right as the Lord of the Western Lands to know if he may be…receiving new arrivals." His speech was disjointed and almost inaudible.
"Huh? I have no idea what you are talking about."
Jaken stomped his little foot. "I am saying, Lord Sesshoumaru wants to know if Kagome is pregnant!"
"Oh." Awkward. "I don't believe it's any of Sesshoumaru's business, since he is so concentrated on severing any connections with those certain members of his family, but if you must know, yes. Yes she is." Ha, I bet he'll feel absolutely fantastic knowing that there are more mongrels in his family. Serves him right.
Jaken sighed with relief. "That's all figured out then, I can report back." He started to hobble away, before Rei stopped him.
"Hey! I thought you were going to take me to him. I have business. Remember?"
He growled uncharitably. "Oh, very well. Come along then."
"Come along then, Lady Rei." She grinned mischievously. Let's just see how far we can take this thing, shall we?
"Why should I have to call you Lady?" he protested.
"Because I am just that important. You'll regret it when we get there, if I inform him that I was not treated in accordance to my stature. So?"
"Lady," he muttered.
xXx
There was not much walking to do after all, because Jaken was used to luxury travel.
"You thought we would walk the whole way?" he snorted. "That would take weeks and weeks. He lives quite far. But I guess you must never have been to his grand abode."
"He has a house?" Rei asked, slightly dumbfounded.
"And hundreds of servants," he amended. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course Lord Sesshoumaru has a house. He is a daiyoukai, the Lord of the West. He is used to the very best."
"I'm starting to think he's morphed into some kind of tyrant-king," Rei said, not amused. "He used to travel a lot, as I remember. I just thought he was nomadic."
Jaken chuckled unkindly. "He has not morphed into anything. He is what he is. And he has always had his palace. Once he defeated Naraku, he could finally settle back into his normal life. That is, ruling over the lowly creatures."
"You have great respect for others of your kind, I see," Rei said, dripping sarcasm from her words.
"Thank you," he responded crisply. "Ah, here we are," he gestured. And sure enough, there was a two-headed dragon tied to a tree.
She couldn't believe it. "Ah Un?" The dragon smiled amicably. Or at least, it seemed like it.
"How do you know Ah Un?"
"Erm, I've seen him…them…around. So we're riding?" I'm riding a dragon. Fabulous. This'll make a great story. Remember that one time, when I rode a dragon?
"Yes. Into the sky," he said simply.
Rei gulped and felt her stomach drop preemptively. "You mean we're flying? But I hate flying."
That's not exactly true, an obnoxiously on-cue voice pointed out. There was that time. Indeed. There was a time, and Rei could remember the rain coming on, big cold splatters. It was a thoroughly uncomfortable experience, as if feeling the nausea wander around her insides wasn't bad enough, the sky had to dump rain on her too. But then, suddenly, it became incredibly comfortable, although that might have a little to do with the fact that Sesshoumaru was holding her…
"I haven't had good experiences with flying," she said.
"I'm sorry, but this is the only way to go."
Rei sighed deeply. "I can handle it." I'm a big girl.
Hesitantly, she approached the animal. Or demon. Or whatever it was classified as. It seemed calm. She pet its back reassuringly before engaging in probably the most ungraceful mounting. She scrambled onto it, and then straightened her shirt carefully, as if trying to reassert her dignity. Jaken leapt on behind her. "Hold on tight," he warned, before Ah Un galloped into the sky.
Rei found herself clutching Ah Un's neck for dear life. "Loosen up, Lady," Jaken coached derisively.
"Shut up!" she said fiercely, before a wave of nausea overwhelmed her. She tried to recall flying with Sesshoumaru, and how he temporarily cured her airsickness, but it wasn't helping. It was coming. It was inevitable.
"That's disgusting," Jaken commented after it was over. "Your vomit is now all over some poor, unsuspecting peasant village."
"Oh, shove it. You don't know how horrible I feel. I can't help sharing some of my misery with everybody else. And you don't even like humans. I bet you do this just for the hell of it, just so you can get the evil glee of watching them suffer down below."
Jaken smirked, an expression remarkably like Sesshoumaru's.
"Well," Rei said, "at least I've emptied my stomach. That'll be the end of it. Ugh."
"So you think," said Jaken. "We still have a while to go yet."
xXx
It was hours later that they arrived. The sun was setting, turning the sky a beautiful orangish hue. Rei almost fell off Ah Un. "Ah," she moaned, "my butt's asleep. Everything below my waist is asleep." Her throat still burned uncomfortably from the stomach acids, and she had an acrid taste in her mouth. She'd tried to spit it out, not without further jeering from Jaken, but she had long since ceased to care about some unfortunate farmer being hit with a glob of spit.
She desperately needed a glass of water. The state of her stomach still felt fragile. She wanted a bowl of hot chicken broth with lots of garlic.
But she was distracted from her aches and pains by the sight of Sesshoumaru's estate. It was…
Stunning. It suited him. The estate was gated, wrought iron fencing in elegant, lithe designs. The fence would not keep out any intruders, demons who could render it into black dust in seconds. It must have been for aesthetic purposes. She never imagined Sesshoumaru to be so artistic in his tastes. In context of the times though, there were guards standing, uniformed at the entrance. They had the Prussian blue crescents on their shoulders. There were a variety of demons. She couldn't tell. She thought one might have been a bear. Another, perhaps a hawk?
She felt intimidated, not only by the guards, but also by the grandeur of the palace in the background. And it was a palace. It had the sloping, curving roof of traditional Asian architecture, painted green and edged in plated gold that gleamed in the fading sunlight. The wooden columns that supported the entire massive structure were painted brilliant red. There was a wraparound porch with low red railings. It looked like a portion of the Forbidden Palace in China (Rei's family had visited when she was a child).
"Welcome, to the home of the most honorable Lord Sesshoumaru," Jaken said smugly, watching the wonder bloom in his guest's eyes. She was hardly aware of Jaken's motion to open the gates, as one of the guards—in a ridiculously intricate headdress—acquiesced the command.
The pathway leading up to the house was marble, edged in a brilliant border of flowers. Truly, the entire courtyard was a piece of artwork, carefully maintained. The positions of flowering shrubbery and fruit trees were clearly heavily debated and had a significant place on the meticulous lawn. Rei was really stepping into a fairy tale. She felt so out of place, like she was an urchin walking into Versailles.
There was no front door. It was just an elaborately carved wooden doorway. Sesshoumaru feared no intruders. There was a long stretch of hall, doorways on each side providing glimpses for well-furnished rooms. But apparently, this is not where Sesshoumaru was at the moment. A timid looking maid—mouse demon?—pointed back when Jaken questioned her.
They walked to the very end, and to Rei's surprise, they walked out the back doorway, and there was another complex in the back. But in the space between the front house and the back house was a lake, filled with goldfish and lotus blossoms. Willow trees grew in the water, their graceful strands of leaves dipping into the water in places. A beautiful arched bridge stretched the distance. At this point, Rei was considering the theory that Sesshoumaru actually lived in Heaven, because if this wasn't it, then Heaven must have been modeled after Sesshoumaru's backyard.
"Can he really live here?" she wondered out loud.
"Oh yes he can. And he does," said Jaken.
The two of them, Jaken leading the way, walked into the back house. This house differed from the first house. There was a large open area in the middle that opened up to sky, and the rooms were situated around. There were two levels. Jaken took her into a room on the first level; it opened into a surprisingly wide and expansive room. This room, like the rest of the palace, was tastefully decorated, but mostly empty. There was a large, throne-like chair in the very back.
And that's exactly when Rei heard her heart double its pace. Sesshoumaru was standing up, but he hadn't looked at them. He had a very frustrated look on his face. A gloriously, meltingly beautiful frustrated look. He was dressed in a simple white kimono. And otherwise, he looked exactly the same, just like the day he did when she left him.
She couldn't help whispering his name. He heard her. His head turned and his eyes connected with hers, and she could see the jolt of shock flash across the gold. "Rei?"
She felt extremely dysfunctional in being unable to respond. Embarrassed, she blushed, and then noticed the other person in the room. She was definitely a dog demon. She had silver hair, like Sesshoumaru's, a flawless face with a small, pointed chin, and piercing gold eyes, maybe a little darker than Sesshoumaru's. Her clothes were that of a queen, her kimono of the finest design and material, jade beads and pearls liberally draped around her neck. She was perfection. She was royalty. And she opened her dainty lips to speak. "Aren't you going to introduce me, dear?" Her voice did not disappoint her appearance. It had a lilting, girlish quality, high-pitched, and clear as a bell. "I declare," she continued, "your continued dealings with humans do make me uncomfortable. It's getting to be an extraordinarily unfortunate habit." She touched his arm gently as she said it.
And the world fell away.
--
A/N: Nothing I can say will be an adequate apology, but I apologize profusely anyway. I kept you faithful readers waiting far too long. College is no walk in the park! But I did it. 4 AM, but I did it. I hope you aren't too furious with me. No guarantees about the next chapter, but all I can do is try. I am amazed by the amount of interest in this story. But that's good, because it makes me guilted and pressured into finishing it. I will try my best not to disappoint. You guys are wonderful, and your reviews make my day every time.
Much love,
the overworked author.