"This Sesshomaru will reveal the nature of this flower, now." Sesshomaru growled another time, demanding an answer.
"How about 'no'?" was the only response. He snarled, and sighed. His inner youkai refused to tell him about the flower, although he clearly knew about it. His 'instinct' supposedly had all the knowledge about it. "You have to find out on your own."
And he was beginning to hate that excuse.
Rin and Jaken, with Ah-Un, had been given instructions to head north, while he tried to figure out what in the world was so special about this flower. The fact that his inner youkai knew about it was an obvious sign that he was connected to it.
"Do not blame your frustrations on me." His inner youkai snickered in his mind. Sesshomaru ignored it, waiting for the flea to show up, as summoned.
He had sent Ah-Un to summon the flea the night before, with instructions to meet him in the morning. Just as he was thinking of this, he detected a scent, and looked to his left.
The flea was hopping on the ground, and easily jumped to his lordship's shoulder. "Lord Sesshomaru, it is so nice of you to call me, though unusual. What can be the matter?" He sounded truly concerned, and Sesshomaru wondered why. The flea had never shown much concern for him before.
He was about to answer, when the flea gasped, staring at the rose in his hand. "L-Lord Sesshomaru, is that what I think it is? The Hana no Shukumei?"
"What do you speak of, flea? This is a rose that I retrieved from my brother."
Myoga's eyes widened, and changed with understanding. "Ah, I see. Yes, I was looking in on them a while back. I suspected that it was the Hana. The fact that you are now holding it only confirms it. Lord Sesshomaru, I must tell you that the rose you hold in your hands is a magical rose, created by the Gods themselves."
Sesshomaru peered at the flower. "It does not appear special, save for the color."
"Lord Sesshomaru, did you notice that the color matches your own crescent moon birthmark?"
"And?" Sesshomaru was not about to let on that his interest had peaked.
Myoga sighed. "Lord Sesshomaru, the color is specific to you. Miss Kagome is the only person capable of holding it, besides yourself. And the Hana is a flower that binds individuals together. You are bound to Miss Kagome, Lord Sesshomaru. Everything points to it."
Sesshomaru growled, tossing the flea from his shoulder. "I am connected to no human."
"Lord Sesshomaru! Wait!" Myoga tried to catch up, but Sesshomaru used his cloud, flying away before he could get to him. "My Lord, you are making a terrible mistake," Myoga muttered, deciding he had best check on Master Inuyasha's group. If the Hana had been taken away, Kagome would not be doing well.
()
"Think about it, Sango. The Hana even matches the mark on Sesshomaru's face. I think it's highly likely."
"But they have nothing in common." Sango sighed, watching Kagome sleep. She hadn't woken up yet, and it was almost noon. Inuyasha had left, annoyed that she was still sick, and told them to call for him when she woke up. Sango wanted to smack him for his lack of concern. Kagome was like a sister to her, and she wanted to protect her. "And he's tried to kill her!"
"That may be, but Sesshomaru can't be completely emotionless. He has that little girl, Rin. She's a human, firstly, and he claims to hate humans. She is also an orphan, and a poor villager. She wasn't a princess or someone he could use to gain power, money, or land. Why, then, would he take her in?"
"I . . . I don't know," Sango admitted. "Maybe he's not a terrible monster, but he has fought with us on many occasions. And he still despises humans, even if he's taken fancy to one. He would certainly never mate with one. And I don't think Kagome would mate with him, either."
"Mama can't be his mate." Shippo shifted, watching Kagome. "She said herself that she wished he would quit attacking. She doesn't like what he does to us."
"That may be, Shippo, but everything points to it. At the moment, I'm wondering what will happen, because Sesshomaru has the Hana."
"What do you mean?" Shippo's round, worried eyes made him look younger than his years.
"I had heard that a female that found the Hana was supposed to keep it at all times, though I cannot remember why."
"Kagome isn't even a female youkai," Sango said, brushing hair from Kagome's sleeping face. "Didn't you say it has always been female youkai who finds the flower?"
"True." Miroku scratched his head. "The history of the Hana no Shukumei states that it is always a female youkai that finds the flower, and that it helps her find who her mate should be."
"That may be, Miroku, but I have one case in which this is not true." The voice came from beyond the camp. Shippo sniffed the air.
"Myoga!" he announced, looking in the direction of his scent. Myoga burst from the trees, springing onto a large rock in order to be seen by everyone. "It's been a long time." Shippo smiled.
"Indeed it has. But I am here on important business. Miroku, you are incorrect in your statement about the Hana." Myoga did not waste time getting down to business.
"You know of the Hana no Shukumei?"
Myoga nodded. "Yes, I have close personal ties with the Hana. And I can tell you that there is one case of the Hana being found by a human woman. You see, Master Inuyasha's mother is the only known human to have found the Hana."
Everyone looked at Myoga as if he were crazy.
"Inuyasha's mother?" Sango asked. "Are you serious?"
"Very. His mother found the Hana, and mated with Inuyasha's father. The Hana is a powerful thing, said to be created by the Gods in order to move Fate in the way that they wish."
Miroku raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I am glad you asked, Miroku. The Hana is not merely a device that brings lovers together. It is something used to help bring needed people into this world, or to bring together two people who would otherwise not mate, and must be together to do something great. Inuyasha brought all of you together, and you are working to defeat Naraku, yes?"
"Uh, yes," Sango said.
"That could not have happened if Inuyasha's parents had not been brought together. It is my belief that you five are destined to defeat Naraku. The Hana ensured that Inuyasha would be born for that. And just as Inuyasha was born as a result of the Hana, I think that Kagome and Sesshomaru's union will lead to something great. Something that could not happen if they were to mate other people."
"You are saying that they must mate for the good of the world?"
"Yes, Miroku. And at this point, now that Kagome has taken possession of the Hana, having it away from her is a very dangerous thing. Kagome could die."
"What?" The voice was hoarse, and the group turned to see Kagome sitting up.
"Kagome!" Sango moved close to her. "How long have you been awake?"
"Long enough to know that you think I'm supposed to mate Sesshomaru, and that I could die." She turned to Myoga. "What does that mean?"
"Oh, dear." Myoga sighed. "It is a good thing that you are feeling better. But, Kagome, the reason you are sick is because the Hana no Shukumei has been taken away from you. The Hana is not supposed to leave the female owner once she has found it. If it stays away from you for too long, there is a chance that you may die."
"But we don't even know if it is the Hana!" Sango's outburst made everyone turn their heads. "Look, Sesshomaru has never shown the slightest interest in Kagome. He hates almost all humans, and a youkai killing miko certainly won't top his list of favorites. No offense to you, Kagome," she said, smiling apologetically. "I know you only kill evil youkai. But still, I can't see any way they would become mates. It's too unbelievable."
"Sango, I understand your concern for Miss Kagome." Myoga jumped to her shoulder. "As I said before, the Hana is meant to bring together people who would normally not meet, for a higher purpose."
"So I have to mate with Sesshomaru, no matter what?" Kagome coughed, disgusting phlegm spewing from her mouth. She grabbed a tissue from her bag to wipe it up.
"Miss Kagome, understand that the people brought together by the Hana are well matched. They fall in love. They live together as normal mates would, and they care for each other. You are not being matched with someone you would not love."
"Perhaps, but Sango is right when she says it's unbelievable." Kagome coughed again. "This is sorta hard for me to take in. Can we just focus on getting the flower back? If I need to have it to live, then that seems like a priority." Suddenly she looked very tired. Sango put a hand on her back. Having all of this pushed on her must have been hard.
"Yes, Kagome. We'll try to do that right away."
()
Hi, everyone, it's Mattaki. I hope you like this chapter. I know, it's short. I sorta don't have a lot of time right now for writing. I'm graduating high school early, so I need to study to take the SAT exam in June. Which means writing time is short. Still, I'm going to do my best to keep the chapters going each week.
Sesshomaru doesn't seem to respect Myoga much, ha ha. And poor Kagome, suddenly thrown into the dating game without so much as a warning.
Once again, I hope you guys liked this chapter. Please review! I really love getting reviews and hearing what you guys think. I know I'm not a professional writer or anything, but I am working hard to improve. Thanks so much for reading! Ja ne!