Dedicated to The Philosopher's Queen, as always, and to Methodical Madness and xauroragoddessx for their lovely reviews!
"Father, do not speak of her in such a manner!" Arashi growled before Kagome could protest. "She came bacause I asked her, and to insult her is to insult me!" His eyes went an odd shade of orange, somewhere between his usual gold and the red of his inner beast.
"Leave us." The Lady of the West commanded, voice serene through the chaos. The courtiers scrambled to obey, and in seconds, only the four of them were inside the colossal room.
"Son, explain yourself." She gave him a Look, one that mothers give recalcitrant children. He quickly moved to explain.
"Mother, Sakura-san is one of those rare humans with spiritual abilities, who stands equal with youkai." He continued on, past their gasps of shock. "She hasn't harmed me - on the contrary, she protected me as one does a friend! Can you not now acknowledge that humans and youkai can be friends and allies, when I have a human who trusts me enough to bring her to the Court of the West?"
"Son, enough of this! Bringing a human with spiritual powers into the Palace of the West is a capital offense, and you are lucky we sent everybody out, or not even you, our son, could get away with it! Take her out, and do not show her here again!" He was adamant.
"Come on, then, Arashi. We know where we're not wanted." Kagome took his arm and pulled him out of the room before he could do something brash.
Arashi paced the clearing they were in, growling occasionally. "How can they be so blind! Humans may not be able to overpower us, but they outnumber us a hundred to one!"
"Arashi, calm down." Kagome called from the rock she was seated on. Watching him pace had made her feel tired, and she wanted to do all she could to encourage her friend. "Is there somewhere else we could go?"
He stopped and looked at her, as though only realizing she was still there. Well, that was flattering!
"We could go to my personal home, to the south of here. It's where I spend most of my time, and where my son lives." He responded, oblivious to the bombshell he had just dropped on Kagome. Arashi had a son?