The Deadline
Mafuyu frowned over the letter that lay unopened on his desk, the crest of the Youkai council standing proudly over his name. This was the call he had been waiting for, the start of the allotted time in which to submit grievances to the council. With this letter, a chain of events would unfold which would end with his hated brother's defeat – by his claws or Tougaou's, in truth, he did not care which. InuYasha, Tougaou and he would submit grievances against Gekidoku, for breaking the Youkai code's most sacred passage. This... it would enrage the Youkai community, that someone had disregarded the laws so openly and only been caught by chance... in the minds of most it would be unforgiveable, although he was sure that in some cases support would be more out of respect for the peace the council had brought than any love of ningen or hanyou. He sighed deeply, then began to write, laying out his grievance in the customary fashion... although he could not help pressing a little harder as he wrote that hated name...Gekidoku... the fury of his Youki almost palpable, bleeding into the page as surely as the ink. In three rooms, three Youki flared at the same moment, the same name drawing the same fury from three hands as those with a grievance against him sealed his fate. Amongst the tension filled air, a young hanyou painstakingly read the letter that lay discarded on the floor of her protector's room... and wrote, character by character, her own response.
This Kagome, Inu-hanyou Miko of the Star clan, takes grievance against Gekidoku, disgraced InuYoukai, for the torture, rape and subsequent murder of this ones mother, a ningen by the name of Higurashi Aimiko.
A single tear dripped to the page, before the four envelopes were sealed. In his study, Tougaou sighed, placing aside his anger before penning a second notice for the council... that an abandoned Inu-hanyou had been found, with sealed miko powers which the head of her clan had released to be trained. He kept it deliberately brief, knowing that no judgement would be made without a lengthy discussion in the presence of all involved – now all that remained was to accustom Kagome-chan to the presence of strangers before the convening of the council in a month... although he doubted it would be a problem, given her unusually resilient nature.
A dark haired man stepped off a plane, taking a deep breath of the air. He grimaced, the stench of hundreds of Ningens cloying, choking him. He had been gone far too long. After slaying that disgusting half-breed get over a century ago he had travelled almost constantly. The western world truly was a joy... so many legends, particularly of the "black dog", harbinger of death...yes that had been enjoyable... the terror in those pathetic human's eyes as he stalked them, unravelling their minds with the fear of their superstitions before killing them, leaving only his pawprints and a mangled corpse as evidence... The west had nothing on that northern land though... what had it been called again? Ah yes... Alaska. The legend of the Adlet... now that had entertained him tremendously, despite the damned cold. A legend of human-shaped dogs which thrived on devouring human flesh? Ohh that had been made for him to exploit. It was good to be back in Japan though... he had always enjoyed the knowledge that he could commit atrocities under his meritorious brother's nose and still remain above any of these smug imbeciles "laws" or "codes of honour". He grinned savagely. There were cities now... and he was sure that these pathetic ningens would be no harder to cow that those of a century past... the coiling green marking on his arm glowed with a sickly hue as he repressed a chuckle... these new humans, who had never known the terror of a true Youkai... oh they would fall, writhe at his feet in agony as his brother watched, helpless to stop him. Oh yes... this would be very enjoyable.
Sesshoumaru allowed the nervous contractors a slight nod of approval. He always paid for top quality, and would accept nothing short of perfection in both design and construction – and the whole of Tokyo's construction industry knew it. For Taisho Sesshoumaru, the man with the money, the influence... and of course that icy glare that promised pain if a single mistake was found... projects never overran, budgets were never exceeded, corners never cut. If a supplier was trying to pay you through the nose for a part, or delaying on delivery, all it took was a mention that the client was Taisho Sesshoumaru, and not only did the items turn up on time and at cost price, but you received a sympathetic nod from the supplier, and the promise of anything else you needed at a knock-down price. Perfection was expected... to receive any sign of approval almost unheard of. The men breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully this would be their last time working for the Ice-prince of Tokyo business for a good while.
Sesshoumaru allowed himself an internal smirk. To complete a development almost a Kilometer squared in area in a little under two months was unheard of for anyone except him... but noone would dare risk his ire, so impossible deadlines were met regularly. He greeted his brother's friends with a curt nod. "Houshi, taijiya. Is all to your satisfaction as regards InuYasha's building?" Miroku nodded, smirking slightly.
"Yes, finished to both his specs and yours. You know, despite the stress, working with Your Highness the Puppy-from-hell does have its advantages as far as quality and construction speed are concerned." Miroku made a strangled noise as his wife's elbow impacted smartly with his ribs. Sesshoumaru suppressed a smile. How his brother could remain in the company of these two peculiarities of the ningen species and not go insane was beyond him, yet they were amusing at times... nevertheless. He raised one eyebrow coldly, and Miroku flinched. "Ah... I retract my previous comment completely, Sesshoumaru-sama." He nodded curtly before turning away, fighting to contain his amusement once again as a muttered
"Just couldn't keep your mouth shut could you... baka!" emerged from behind him. He would inform his brother of the project completion that evening, after he had taken some time to respond to that council letter. A frown momentarily crossed his brow. A shame, really, that he couldn't challenge on Kagome-chan's behalf, however he was not connected directly enough to her case. He cleared the frown, amused. Since when had he allowed his facade to crack so far as to consider challenging on behalf of another? Really, that girl was something else.
"Come on Kagome-chan. I will not take no for an answer this time." Kagome flinched slightly, turning pleading eyes towards InuYasha for backup, but finding only a mild amusement that completely undermined her. She shook her head frantically, pleading with her eyes.
"I... I can't! Please Izayoi-hime...Don't make me go outside..." her voice faded to a whisper as she voiced her deepest fear. "They will try to take my ears again." At that, her protector's Youki flared impressively... and two growls echoed through the room.
"They will not." Kagome blinked, slightly in awe of the Taisho matriarch, who had produced an extremely Inu-like bark... then she registered the barely-stifled laughter behind her, and dissolved in giggles as Izayoi realised that she had been caught growling and turned six shades of red. "Ohh... Inu-kun, you won't tell your father I did that will you? I'll never hear the end of it." She fanned herself, trying to regain her usual calm, then nearly died of embarrassment when a rumbling laugh came from the doorway.
"Koi, the lad will not tell me, no need to fear... although it is curious that you so often forget how acute my hearing is... that was quite an impressive growl beloved." At that, the two Hanyou dissolved in laughter, eliciting another growl from the now furiously blushing Izayoi. Once everyone had regained their composure (although InuYasha was obviously still amused) Izayoi smiled softly.
"Ahh well, at least that dissolved the tension. Now, Kagome... there is no need to fear the humans – I have a concealing necklace for you, similar to InuYasha's." She reached into her pocket and drew out a simple silver chain, from which dangled a black enamelled dog's head, with a tiny sapphire for an eye. Kagome gasped, eyes wide, and took it with shaking hands.
"Izayoi-hime... this must be worth so much... I couldn't possibly...I...I'd break it..." Tougaou laughed, a deep comforting chuckle.
"Kagome-chan, you can and will have it. There is no danger at all of it breaking, as these are designed to last a lifetime... which for a Youkai, need I remind you, is a very long time." Kagome nodded, submitting as she studied it closely. Izayoi flicked a meaningful glance at her son, motioning at the necklace. InuYasha frowned slightly, but then understanding dawned in his eyes and he bobbed his head quickly in thanks, plucking up his courage.
"Hey 'Gome, you want me to put that on for you? It's a bit tricky the first few times...with the claws and all." Kagome flicked him a grateful glance, handing him the concealment charm as she pulled her hair over one shoulder, baring the back of her neck to him. InuYasha's breath hitched at that, the sight of her submitting to him that way tugging insistently at his Youki, but he reigned it in with an effort of will and focussed on unclasping the charm. Very gently, he lifted her hair and slipped the charm around her neck, clasping it into place before pulling the long raven waves back into place, the back of his hand dragging lightly over the back of her neck. Kagome shuddered instinctively, the tiniest ghost of a whine slipping out before she stifled it, her scent blanketed by pleasure as he pulled her back into his lap, breathing in deeply. Her scent... dammit she doesn't even realise what she does to me... Kagome stiffened slightly when the pleasure receded enough for her to think... dear Kami... He..he can't have meant to touch my mark like that...but it felt so good. She blinked dazedly, realising where she was seated, and almost collapsed in shock when his breath stirred her hair and a contented rumble pressed against her back. She tentatively turned her face to his neck and breathed in, sorting through the scents that caressed her. His scent... leftover anger... protectiveness... desire? no... I must be wrong... Her eyes looked up disbelievingly, only to meet Izayoi's... Izayoi who just the day before had told her to trust her senses... that InuYasha might feel something more than protectiveness for her...Izayoi who was smiling at her gently as her own mate stirred her hair with his nose... exactly as Inu had just done to her. She relaxed slowly, eyes shining with wonder as she let herself enjoy the warm scent enveloping her for the first time without guilt.
A/N: Gekidoku's back! Thank you Wikepedia for helping with my five minutes of research on demonic-dog legends... well I needed something for him to have done for a century, and terrorising superstitious people just seemed... him for lack of a better way of putting it. As for Kagome's grievance... well she would hardly challenge him for her own sake, but for her mother's? She's got to grow a spine sometime in this fic...oooh Inu is going to go completely spare when he finds out...hehehe.