A/N: fixing to step out in a few so i'm barely submitting this chap. enjoy!
disclaimer: i don't own InuYasha; my OCs belong to me.
Chapter 21: Not Proud, Paranoid
"Kori-onee, how's your arm?" The girl asked of her fellow dragon rider, looking at the white bandages that had covered up the knife wound from a few days back.
She blinked and looked at the girl, smiling. "Never better. Considerin' I'm a full-demon my injuries heal fast! So that way I can boss around Sessh-kun," she said while flexing the muscles of her bum arm, making the girl laugh.
He deadpanned and shuddered. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that…? It's very annoying." He scolded.
"Don't get huffy with me, besides, Getsu-onee was the first one to call ya that!" She sniffed and stuck her tongue out at him, almost making her sister pause in walking.
She cringed as she almost could sense a dark aura coming from him.
"Did you now?" His tone was soft, but she witnessed enough battles to recognize the underlying coldness in his question. "Darling?" He almost spat out the word in his cold tone.
She visibly gulped, looking at him and lifting a hand to rub her neck gingerly, laughing weakly. "I was just being playful…?" She defended.
He made to open his mouth and scold her next before the wind picked up around them, catching at their hair.
Both sisters blinked at the change in weather before the scent of that Kagura woman registered and assailed their noses.
"Kori," she growled sharply for her sister to protect the girl as she watched the aforementioned yokai drop infront of them, crouched on one knee before her mate.
The tip of her katana's blade met the female's nose when she looked up at feeling something cold poke her, seeing her red eyes go cross-eyed at the threat before they lifted to stare at the steely silver orbs of the female daiyokai.
"I doubt you've come to tell us that you killed Naraku, so explain your reason for being here before I cut you in half." Getsu ordered frostily.
Kagura huffed and punted her sword away with her fan, straightening and looking past the protective female that blocked her from her mate. "Sesshomaru, call off your bitch, will you? I didn't come to kill you." She wondered sardonically.
"Then why did you come?" Sesshomaru demanded in the same tone as he moved to stand at the female daiyokai's side both out of loyalty and protection.
"I have a proposition for you; and your two princesses, too." She mused.
"'Proposition'?" He repeated.
Both sisters kept a stony look on their faces.
"You know what these are; both of you." She extended her right hand palm-up, revealing two shining lilac Shikon Jewel shards; the female daiyokai's eyes sharpened slightly before her expression blanked and she lifted her stare to lock on her red one. "I'll give them to you; in return, I want you to kill Naraku." She addressed the stoic daiyokai in rather sultry croon, unnerving the she-wolf at his side that silently snarled.
Korihime snorted as she hopped down from the dragon's back. "Why should we kill the only lifeline you have in this world?" She growled, her tone turned to ice, before she smacked her outstretched hand and snatched the shards, surprising the third female yokai.
"Hey, give those back you brat!" Kagura snapped at her, perking up as she was met face-first with an arrowhead, meeting her blue eyes that turned to cold ice. "Why you little…"
"If you want to get rid of him do it yourself, don't come crying to my brother-in-law for help. He may be a powerful demon but he isn't a fool. As to your shards, I think I'll keep them safe; knowing that vile pest, he'd most likely kill you for withholding something valuable from him, therein making your petition to kill him utterly useless. Leave now. And if I ever see you again, this arrow is going to go right between your eyes, bitch." She threatened lowly, seeing the silent snarl on her face curl her lip in annoyance and anger.
Kagura huffed and glared at the Inu-Daiyokai again. "These two princesses don't rule your life, do they? Why not free me from his grasp and join forces? We could take him down together." She demanded indignantly.
Getsu began to snarl a curse at her before he placed a hand on her shoulder, quieting her.
"Whether they do or not, putting both of them in danger is something I cannot afford as the head of this pack. And as to your petition, I'm afraid I must insist on you doing it yourself. I have no obligation to an incarnation like you." Sesshomaru stated stonily, gold clashing with red.
She clicked her tongue and glowered from him to the stony-faced sisters before she pulled a feather out from her hair and lifted up into the wind riding the giant white feather again. "Pathetic fool!" She snapped at him before taking off into the night.
She lowered her bow once the incarnation had left, tossing the arrow back into her quiver and shrugging her long bow over her shoulder with a huff. "Talk about insolent. It's a wonder you didn't let us kill her." She grumbled.
She sheathed her katana quietly, looking up at him. "You did the right thing; but then again, you wouldn't be 'the head of this pack' if you didn't do as such." She mused, flashing a teasing smirk at his words.
He huffed quietly and removed his hand from the hilt of Tokijin, tousling her hair. "Don't patronize me, princess." He chided, seeing her roll her eyes habitually, dragging her away from the cliffside by the hand.
"Lord Sesshomaru, I'm not alone anymore! But I can't help wondering if Kagura is lonely…" The girl declared as she trotted after the couple, coming short of his left side.
The female daiyokai blinked at her words before she sighed and stooped to give her a piggy-back ride, straightening. "What she does with her life doesn't concern us, Rin. Besides, you're definitely not alone anymore; ya've got me, Kori-chan, and Sesshomaru now! We're a family." She reminded gently, looking at her rider and smiling lightly up at her slightly awed young face.
She smiled slowly before nodding and smiling back. "Yay, a family!" She laughed.
Both females laughed with her.
He looked at the trio of females and smiled inwardly at the happy looks on their faces.
Even though they weren't related by blood, those two females were like his family; Getsu was his mate, the woman that had gotten under his skin single-handedly and made him see that family was important and vital to survive; Korihime was his sister-in-law he now felt was more of a sister than anything, pacifying the child with her own immature-yet-maternal tendencies and reminding him now and then that it wasn't just him he had to look out for anymore.
They were his family and he would protect what was his: it was as simple as that.
The wolves growled again, quieting the would-be argument between hanyou and wolf yokai, making everyone gathered look up at the reason the wolves were growling.
"I thought I smelled wolf blood." She mused, meeting the blue eyes of the injured clan head, arms folded across her chest as she stood at the back of the throng of wolves.
"Korihime?" The priestess blinked in confusion. "What're you doing here?"
She smiled at her good-naturedly and moved forward, reaching inside the collar of her kimono. "Just thought I'd stop by to give you something." She pulled out the two shining lilac shards she'd stolen from Kagura, showing them to the girl.
"Oi, those're mine! Give them back!" Koga snapped as he tried to snag the shards from the she-wolf's palm, but she side-stepped his swipe easily. "Kori, those're my shards! They were in my legs!"
"Well they didn't belong to you in the first place, idiot. They belonged right where they were in the beginning: in the hands of a priestess." Korihime snapped, composing herself and looking at the girl with a light smile, depositing the shards into her right hand. "Here. Keep them away from this moron, he's just pissed that I beat him up last time we met." She explained, jerking a thumb at the grumbling and cursing Okami-yokai.
The hanyou guffawed. "Pfhah, you got your ass owned by a girl!" He laughed at the swearing male demon.
She blinked at his appearance, tilting her head to one side. "Oi, what's with you? I've never seen you like this… Did Sesshomaru's beating knock out your demon blood or something?" She pulled gently on one of his long bangs that was now dark black, almost the same color as her sister's hair.
InuYasha blushed and shoved her off, scoffing as he folded his arms stubbornly and looked away. "S-shut up, Kori! Geez, how many people are gonna find out about this? First these idiots and then him and now you…" He growled.
Korihime rolled her eyes and smirked. "How cute, you're blushing. I'd heard half-breeds have their weak points during a month, but I didn't think it was entirely true… And now I stand corrected." She said thoughtfully.
He growled –or rather, a human's imitation of a growl—at her and leered at her with his nose almost touching hers. "Just keep your mouth shut about this. The last thing I need is my damn brother finding out about this! Got it?" He threatened.
She put her hands up in surrender, shrugging. "You got it, love." She winked and poked his forehead, shirking away as he tried to return the favor and folding her arms over her chest. "I'd better get back before your dearest brother wonders where I ran off to." She sighed and started walking away into the darkness, looking over her shoulder at the group and smirking.
"Later; oh and Koga, if you ever feel the need to want your ass owned by a girl again, you know where to find me." She giggled, turning back to take off into the trees and retreat to her pack.
"Um, is it me or does Kori-chan like InuYasha?" Hakkaku wondered hesitantly.
Kagome deadpanned; Koga growled and glared at the aforementioned hanyou; InuYasha snorted and sent a glare full of daggers at the lesser wolf demon.
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She tilted her head to one side at seeing her sister hop out from the brush to trot up to walk next to the dragon steed. "Where'd you run off to? Rin was worried," she asked curiously.
She shrugged. "I gave the shards to the right person." She replied off-handedly, further confusing her older sibling.
"Kagome, I would imagine?" She guessed.
She nodded sagely. "Yep, the very same." Her mind went back to the sight of the humanized hanyou and she smiled inwardly, deciding to keep that to herself just as she'd told him she would. "Koga says hi." She added.
She blinked, "was he scamming after her or something?" She wondered.
"In a manner of speaking, yeah. That Kagura bitch took his shards from his legs in the first place, the shards she'd used to attempt a bribery." She explained calmly.
She nodded, tapping her chin and huffing. "Well so long as he didn't try to kill you, I don't see any harm in it. Though I gotta admit you have weird taste in men," she mused, pricking her ears.
She narrowed her eyes accusingly. "What's that mean?"
"Well if it clearly wasn't evident that he was with the priestess, I'd think you had a crush on InuYasha… And then Koga's… well, arrogant attitude. I know I don't have a lot of room to speak because of my own love life, but as your sister I find your taste to be weird. At least towards idiots like InuYasha and Koga." She explained patiently, seeing her mate briefly bristle each time Koga and InuYasha were mentioned aloud, a smirk on her lips.
Even though he was usually holding a sword when he was mad, she had to admit Sesshomaru was at least ten times more handsome when he was in that state.
She huffed as well and looked away. "You're delusional." She grated.
"Am I wrong?" She challenged calmly, her silver eyes meeting her blue eyes.
She reluctantly backed down after a long moment and sighed. "Sometimes I hate it when you're right, onee-chan." She growled.
"I just call it like I see it." She shrugged absently.
A/N: not much to put so until next chap, later!