Preparations

Although Sesshoumaru didn't see how it was his fault, he supposed he should have foreseen some of it. If only he had taken a couple of towels, it might have saved him the embarrassment of rushing from the bathing rooms to his own chamber naked, at least. He could still hear his father's guffawing laughter at his expense in the hallway and his mother's chuckle, just as he could still feel the light hearted slap she'd given to his rear as he rushed past them. He hadn't even been able to use his tail properly as cover.

A large annoyed part of him however blamed everyone else, if his mother hadn't insisted that he be in charge of the younger pups at bath time, he wouldn't be in this predicament. It had started off well enough, he had handed the two over to the attendants with instructions that they were allowed to play in the water for a time, before being made ready for the evening banquet. Sesshoumaru had congratulated himself on gaining a couple of hours to himself to read, while the pups played; but he hadn't made allowance to resist the youngsters who wanted him to play with them.

Michiko had the cutest pout and the most winning smile, while Inuyasha made his eyes impossibly big and liquid and had his ears plastered to his head, as they pleaded with him to come in and at least watch them play. He had fallen for it, hook, line and sinker, not noticing the wicked little pair smirking at each other before running ahead of him to dive into the very large bathing pool. Sesshoumaru had settled down near to the edge and played with them and their water toys, sending boats skimming across the pool and making the pups chase after them.

To be fair, the older brother enjoyed the games very much; he loved his siblings and liked spending playtimes with them. It was all going well until he reached down to retrieve a boat; Inuyasha and Michiko suddenly turned and grabbed his arms, then taking advantage of their brother's balance, they pulled him headfirst into the water. The prank was everything they could have wished for, a very big splash and a soaked brother who was unprepared for the wetting. They giggled as Sesshoumaru got out, his untied hair now hung in rat's tails and his clothes were clinging to him making him uncomfortable.

It was time for some payback Sesshoumaru decided, and started growling low and letting his youki rise up just enough to set the pups on edge. He didn't smile as he saw them huddle together in slight alarm, but he let his eyes flash red and started to stalk them. They squeaked in nervous tension, unsure of their brother's mood, before he stripped off and dived in, reaching for them both. Now they knew it was a game and Sesshoumaru made a great shark as he sliced through the water and grasped at them.

Shrieking in gleeful 'fear', Inuyasha and Michiko tried to escape, but their brother was far too fast for them and he tossed and dunked them in play; all three enjoying the games. After an hour or so, Susumu entered the bathing room and sat down, silently reminding Sesshoumaru of the time by his presence. The kitsune smiled at the happy scene, but casually mentioned that it was getting late; suddenly he found himself with armfuls of squirming wet pups that had been hurled at him by Sesshoumaru, who would soon rue the day he messed with a kitsune.

Susumu put the laughing pups down and asked them if they wanted to get dry the special kitsune way, to which they both said yes, trusting in Susumu implicitly. So he made them stand a bit away and then sent a couple of waves of intense blue, foxfire at them. Both children were covered in the dancing warm flames, which tickled their bare skin, drying them better than a cloth could do. Finally it travelled up their bodies to stay in their hair, where it danced around with little sparkles as it dried that out too.

Inuyasha and Michiko were entranced by the effects that they could see on each other and while they had been occupied, Sesshoumaru had got out and was looking in vain for a towel to tie around his waist and shoulders as he drip dried. Inuyasha soon saw his brother's dilemma and asked Susumu to dry him off as well, but he didn't see the mischievous gleam in Susumu's eyes as he turned to his Lord.

"You want me to make Sesshoumaru dry in the same way I did to you two, Inuyasha?" He glanced at Sesshoumaru to see if he noticed he didn't use his title to address the brothers. But nothing was said; although the older of the two boys narrowed his eyes at the kitsune, he was well aware of the tricks Susumu could play.

"Yes, Shu is still all wet and his hair takes a long time to dry." The little pup said seriously.

"Very well." No sooner said than done and the blue flame reached Sesshoumaru, just as the Inu remembered what happened as the hair dried. When he'd been a little whelp like his siblings, he too liked to be dried off with foxfire, but Susumu had always added his own tricks. It was too late when Sesshoumaru considered that the pups' hair was still sparking with blue lights, which he knew would keep going until it had thoroughly dried, and now his hair and tail would do the same as well.

Sesshoumaru sighed; it would take literally hours for all the stupid sparkles to fully stop. By now Susumu was grinning and Sesshoumaru realised he had nothing to put on that wasn't soaking wet, and would have to run to his room to get dressed with his hair and tail fluffed up and glowing blue. Of course it would happen that his parents were walking down that very corridor as well and although nudity amongst youkai was nowhere near as inhibited as in the human culture, the Heir was normally more modest, especially around his mother.

Sesshoumaru had just got dressed when Susumu was announced and allowed to enter, and he stood grinning at his former master's annoyed face. In truth the kitsune was testing the boy, seeing whether or not Sesshoumaru really meant what he'd said when he called him friend, could the Prince see beyond the servant?

"Some friend you are Susumu; how am I expected to turn up for your banquet looking like this? You really are the limit." There was no hesitation from Sesshoumaru and Susumu came closer to him and to the Inu's surprise, the kitsune sniffed at him.

"You do accept me fully as your friend, don't you?"

"You doubted me?"

"Not doubt as such...but for all of your life..."

"I am no longer a small pup Susumu, and I know you are no servant. You never really were, were you?"

"No. I was in a unique position within the household." Susumu hesitated for one moment, before smiling again. "I will release you from the foxfire presently...your hair and fur should be dry enough for the banquet in about an hour longer."

"Where are my brother and sister?"

"Takara has them, she said to mention to you that she would prepare them for tonight, so from now on your time is your own."

"Then I think I shall get to read after all; or, perhaps you would accept a game of 'Go'." Sesshoumaru smirked as the challenge was accepted, and the game occupied them until they needed to get ready for the banquet. The feast was to be held in honour of Susumu being restored to his family and his new ambassadorial role. And, although he was looking forward to this new stage in his life, his heart was heavy too, at the thought of leaving the close-knit Western family.

As Susumu entered the dining hall, he was greeted warmly by Inu no Taishou, who smiled and put the suddenly shy kitsune at ease. He noticed that he wasn't the only one in new finery; the pups too had finer kimono than one would normally put on energetic children of their tender age. In fact, Susumu had been provided with chests containing silks and treasures, in gratitude and payment for his loyal care of the General's own treasure; Sesshoumaru. It was far more than he could have expected, as a kit he had arrived with only the clothes he stood up in, his father having deserted him completely.

Susumu had objected to the gifts, saying they were too much, but Inu no Taishou was not one to be gainsaid; so the kitsune had accepted them gratefully. As they had not yet been opened, even the smaller one, Susumu didn't know that there were mementoes of the family, given by each individual, contained within the smallest chest. Inuyasha and Michiko had also drawn lots of pictures for him, even though the small hanyou was seriously displeased that Susu wasn't going to be looking after Shu anymore.

Susumu had leaned down to pick the pup up and nuzzled his hair, saying that he would be back often and should Sesshoumaru ever have need of him, he would come quickly. But in the meantime it was now officially Inuyasha's job to make sure that his brother was looked after, and he wasn't to annoy him too much, because that was Susumu's responsibility. Inuyasha promised that he would do as Susu said.

The banquet that evening was a private affair for Susumu; then one on the following evening would introduce the kitsune to the tribes he would be ambassador to, the wolves and kitsunes. Both tribes had grown considerably and now wished to be recognised as independent of the stronger clans. They had land and wealth, skills of their own and were no longer as weak and in need of protection by whoever had lordship over them. They were of course still small, but that was not the criteria for dependency and it had been successfully debated over a few years, with the larger clans, to respect their autonomy.

As Inu no Taishou claimed, it would prove far better to have willing allies to strengthen the peaceful trade routes, boundaries and ties of their various nations, than have reluctant groups willing to sell out to the highest bidder. Mutual benefits were surely to be gained and formal ambassadors should be appointed. It all came together at the right time for Susumu and he was still pinching himself when he woke up, to make sure it was real. He knew that the speech on the following day would be the most important thing he said, setting the tone for his acceptance by wolves and his own people as the West's ambassador. He would open, by repeating his Lord's sentiments, stating to the gathering 'In union there is strength' a wisdom that he could not better for the occasion.

Susumu put the next day out of his mind as he enjoyed the welcome from his Lord and Lady, the clamour of the younger pups and the quieter greeting from Sesshoumaru. As he went to his place, he noticed other seating arrangements had been made; it seemed there was to be five more guests. He supposed that some of the wolves had arrived early, and he was interested to meet some of those he would come to know well.

But when the final guests arrived, Susumu was wrong; it wasn't the wolves, it was the rest of his own family. His mother entered first on the arm of his eldest brother and his sister accompanied by his second brother, and the youngest following after, with a huge grin on his face. Susumu glanced quickly at Inu no Taishou who merely nodded and the kitsune rushed into the embrace of his family. The Inuyoukai family spoke amongst themselves while the reunion happened, giving the kitsunes some semblance of privacy.

Later there would be more time for them to catch up, but now it was time for Susumu's honorary banquet and the Lord of the North Mountain Kitsunes came to pay his respects to the Lord of the West. He was tall and had a graver manner than Susumu, his eyes were a piercing green and shone brightly, all in all, he was quite an intimidating sight to the younger pups sitting at the table. They were completely unused to strangers and as the youngest, they were the last to be addressed in the long line of introductions and greetings, and by then their nerves were obvious to all.

Finally Lord Akimitsu turned his emerald eyed attention to Inuyasha and Michiko; he noted immediately the differences between these offspring, but he already knew from Susumu of Inuyasha's heritage. Akimitsu liked children and although as yet unmated, he hoped to have many kits in the future and now he moved to reassure the two little ones in front of him. He knelt down in front of them and his smile lightened his face and softened his shining eyes, making him instantly more approachable.

"My Lady Michiko and My Lord Inuyasha; how nice to meet you. I can see that Susumu has been up to his tricks, your hair shows the pretty blue glow and sparks of his drying foxfire." He laughed and the pups were put at ease. Michiko grinned, but didn't speak; leaving that to Inuyasha who was guaranteed to be more open, friendly and chatty. He didn't disappoint;

"Yes, Susu dried us after our bath, he dried Shu too, but Shu's hair isn't all sparkly now; what happened?" Inuyasha had just noticed that Sesshoumaru looked the same as he normally did apart from the slight reddening of his face. Sesshoumaru's adolescent pride didn't like being brought down to the same level as the small pups; a point Akimitsu noticed as well and recognising the source of the boy's blush, he said in a loud aside;

"Oh, I think it just vanishes quicker on grown-ups." This earned him a grateful smile from Sesshoumaru and a snicker from Susumu, who had of course removed the foxfire as he said he would. Then Akimitsu's attention was drawn back to the hanyou, whose countenance had fallen;

"What is the matter Little One; you suddenly look sad?" The Kitsune Lord was genuinely concerned.

"Oh, nothing...it's just that...I'm glad Susu is going back to his home, cos it's not nice if you misses your family...but...but...but who's gonna look after My Shu...I's been worried about that."

"Oh, why? I understood that Susumu had asked you to do that Inuyasha."

"I knows, but I is only small and I is not always here."

"I am sure that your heart is quite large enough to make up any difference in your size Little One, and you always know how to find your brother from what I understand. I promise that if I thought you couldn't take care of your brother properly, I would leave Susumu here until you could. But I know you can, and I think your Shu likes knowing that you care a lot for him. Sesshoumaru knows how much I want my little brother home for a while, so he is being very kind and because I am very grateful for that, I promise I will help him too, if he ever needs it...alright?"

Lord Akimitsu was speaking to Inuyasha, but he looked up and directed his promise to Inu no Taishou, who nodded at the kitsune, acknowledging the pledge. Then it was time for the feast to begin.

IYQ Community September 2010 Week #3:

In union there is strength.

-Aesop