Chapter 7

His eyes were well trained to trace any sort of uneventful mayhem even in the darkest of hours and Sesshomaru didn't even have to use his senses to know that Inuyasha was out there in the confines of thick forest, trailing towards the stone carved cave palace of the wolf pack. Normally, the eldest heir would shrug off and not bother about the whereabouts of the hanyou, well, he would be bothered but he wouldn't care if Inuyasha got all lost. (He did care, but that was only because he gets to tattle him out to his mother and watch him quiver with freight).

But this time it was different because, out there in the woods, where the lurking devilish demons feast, Inuyasha was strolling along with his pet. Sesshomaru perched on the railings to leap across the night's abyss. He cursed the palace guards who had nodded off even before the moon could sink in its sky cushion. The Lord and lady of the west were currently in a business meeting and so Sesshomaru knew that he wouldn't be caught for sneaking out.

He knew that Inuyasha wasn't that senseless and thick to whisk away Kagome, Sesshomaru could very well acknowledge for the sudden protective side of his half brother. After six months of spending enough time with his pet in his room, Inuyasha had learnt well enough that even the smallest of tears from her eye would doom his existence. So, it was next to obvious that the little human pet had coaxed him in to taking her. She had grown rather fond of her puppy, and even during those nights where there was no moon emitting rays of silver, the darkness painted the hanyou's tress in to black streaks, Kagome had not shrieked and ran off from Inuyasha, she had clapped in such a zest and declared loudly that it was 'magic'!.

"Shh!" Sesshomaru's ears picked up the light hush of his brother, an order to stop her titter and he rolled his eyes wondering when the hanyou would actually learn to mind his surroundings. The eldest had already spotted the two running from tree to tree and Inuyasha was yet to acknowledge the presence of him. It annoyed him to the core that he was ignored like a harmless insect.

"Inu-sha, you shh!" She directed back and her annoyance towards Inuyasha brought a small smile to Sesshomaru, almost purging his earlier irritation.

"Stupid" The half demon sneered and hushed her back when there was a definite ruffle in the bush nearby. He crouched in an instant, tested the air and visibly relaxed.

"You are the one who is stupid Inuyasha" The eldest heir of the West said when he stepped aside from the shrubs.

"Sess-o-maaarruu" Kagome giggled and clapped, earning a small whine from the hanyou beside her. His shoulders drooped and braced his heart for the oncoming tirade of curses and poison lashes.

"Explain" Sesshomaru said, his eyes were already on his pet examining for any visible wound or marks. There was a scratch on her palm, nothing that would leave a scar behind, but his nostrils flared and Inuyasha tensed.

"She was clumsy and she fell" He protested taking an unintentional step back from the brother who looked too wild even in the dim light of the moon and whose eyes visibly narrowed in its slit.

"Sess-o-maaarruu, shhhh! Puppy and me waiting for Miroku" Kagome grinned and informed her master, successfully saving the youngest from a painful death. A sigh of relief drifted through the zephyr and an impious snicker followed from Inuyasha as a short celebration of his small victory.

"Why?" Sesshomaru questioned, his sharp ears picking the slightest of sound, his iris glowed with equal mischief, and he crouched low to join the intriguing plan. If the drafted plan turns out to be one that oozes dullness then he is always here to ornate it in to something even more ameliorate.

"Kouga came by today morning and pulled Kagome's hair and called her a crying baby" Inuyasha gave a statement as fast as he could; his arms were crossed across his chest and held his face high as if the night out has been properly justified. He knew his brother well and this would only mean Kouga would finally stop breathing. He wanted to howl in zest but held in when Sess'mru's fur bristled in the ends.

"He did what?" The eldest sneered and pulled his pet closer to inspect any other scar that he had casually missed out during his inspection. His claws were already out and caustic to dig in the flesh of the wolf brat who had dared to put his palms on his pet. He had returned from the hunt trip only in the noon and he had failed to protect what was his. The fact killed him, his chest ached and all he wanted was to put the filthy wolf in its place.

"Sess-o-maaaru, Inu-sha is lying. Kouga pulled puppy's hair and called him a cry baby" Kagome said, her toothless grin was back on her face and another small whine flew from the half opened mouth of Inuyasha, his eyes almost saw the destruction of his once formidable plan.

'Stupid girl with stupid mouth' He cursed and closed his eyes yet again for the upcoming doom. Now He won't even have time to edit his final will in to not giving the toy train truck to the stupid girl and to replace the beneficiary with Miroku's name.

"And you dare to lie in front of this Sesshomaru?" The five year old asked, his patience running alarmingly thin, almost to the range of non existence. The crime rate of his little brother was sky rocketing, with the guts to trail his pet in to the forest and to lie to him were among the top. His pent up anger towards the mangy wolf was now coherently directed towards his half sibling.

The silver cones that had taken up the function of ears of the hanyou drooped, hiding in the mass of silver tress, his lips were upturned and his eyes were glossy with a will to melt even the strongest of alloys in to a yielding liquid.

"Sess-o-maaaru, Shh! We have a plan!" Kagome was excited, as if all this hiding and whispering were a part of a play she had once seen long back. Her belly was already filled with sneaked out candies that they had whisked away from the kitchen shelf and she gave 'hyper' a whole new meaning. She had caught Inuyasha crawling next to the large balcony, in a stance to pounce away from the palace. It was almost a rational move on her part to jump on her dearest puppy, coax him, threaten him, and to cajole him to take her to wherever he was running away to and now her Sess-o-maaarru was ruining it by talking out loud.

"What plan?" The five and a half years old tried desperately to obscure the excitement that he shared. The little waver in his voice betrayed him and his pet almost instantly giggled at the change of the situation.

"Mir'ku's mom had this powder that con- con- uugh, con-ceals the smell of humans from us and it gives us an itch in the nose. So we planned to rub it in the pillows of Kouga. Mir'ku poured it on himself and he promised he will run in and pour it on Kouga's pillow too" The hanyou explained his brilliant plan. Honestly, it was Miroku who came up with the plan when Inuyasha had spent the evening whining about the rude stupid smelly wolf who had called him a cry baby.

"The human's conceal powder? It doesn't make him invisible, it will just mask his scent, you idiot. What if he gets caught by the wolf pack?" Sesshomaru hissed; his place as a rightful alpha for the little group that always welcomed chaos kicked in and his mind started wielding out possibilities, marking them in to a column of what is advantageous and what is not. Even if the human kid gets caught, the wolf pack will be at lost since they would be sneezing their lungs out the minute they get a whiff of that powder.

"The Wolf king is in the hall with the Lord. I saw him talking with him" His pet pooled in her bit, her eyes were still shining even when the cold breeze were harsh on her fragile form. Her hair was in a mess, with twigs and dried leaf sticking in to the tangled locks. Even if they manage to return back to the castle safe, Sesshomaru knew that he had to come up with a proper reasoning to his mother about the condition of Kagome's skin and hair.

There were sounds of twigs breaking and the eldest of trio held his breath. His eyes detected the oncoming mirage of the human kid and he definitely didn't want to whiff out the blasted powder that would have him huffing all the night.

Apparently the youngest just didn't inherit the brain cells of his father. He had inhaled a lungful the moment his ears had picked the lightest of the deleterious sound with an alacrity that would have made the dog family proud if it had been any other situation. The hanyou rolled down, his eyes watered, his lungs burnt and he sneezed, coughed, whimpered among the dust of the earth.

Deep down in the forest there were exasperated howls and sneezes of wolf pack raining down. Miroku bumped in to the trio waiting for him behind the bushes, promptly falling back with a force that would result in a bruise by morning. Sesshomaru closed his watering eyes for a moment, his breath was still locked in his chest, but the bump with the human kid had caused his eyes to water.

After what seemed like a prolonged tumult, Sesshomaru opened his eyes, his pupils narrowed to clear away the despondent vision in front of him. The howls of the wolf pack were still strong and his chest swelled up a little in a triumph that his brother had got his first revenge. But something was seriously amiss, his brother still had a whining look with saline filled eyes, the human kid was soothing his aching bum from the fall.

Sesshomaru rubbed his eyes, his eyesight was in a blur and he still refused to inhale the poisoned ether. His little palm fisted and he rubbed his eyes once more to clear away the mist. The familiar and ever present giggle was missing from the close group of his being. His fur bristled, his claws were out and he crouched a little.

"Kagome!" He called out once his brain detected the missing figure. His senses were dull, his nostrils burnt when he tried testing the air to sense her scent.

"KAGOME!" He shouted out loud and frantic; his blood boiled, his palms were fisted in a tight knot that turned his knuckles white and the cringe in his chest was all the more deep, hallowing the abyss even more. She was missing; his pet was not in his side as she used to be. The waft was left without the floating titters of his little human pet, there wasn't a single tatter of her presence. His ears failed to recognise the last of whimpers of his now frightened half brother.

All he could see was red, anger and danger.

And so for the first time, he transformed.

~.~.~.~.~

A/N : Uh-oh!

My humble apologies for late update and many thanks to the lovely reviews!