Yes… sure, came Gwen's voice from the adjacent room. I've never seen that many books. Yes, mostly in Japanese unfortunately… Do you know how many kanji there are, dad?
That last line caused Tōga's lips to quirk. Nothing excited Gwen like the promise of a new language to learn. Taken away from both her home, her life and her country, she seemed to thrive in this strange environment.
But could this be long term ? He and Sesshōmaru sat, planning a possible future for them both, and he knew he just couldn't decide without her. For the moment, his little lady was pretty oblivious to the difficult choice that awaited ahead; he would have loved to prolong the moment. But his first born wasn't one to procrastinate.
"I need Gwen to be able to see her family again," he told the daiyōkai.
Sesshōmaru only nodded; given the merry conversation they were both overhearing, there was no questioning why Tōga was adamant about it.
"It can be done, Chichi-ue. But she cannot bring any of them here."
"Even with a non-disclosure agreement ?"
White strands, so akin to his own, shifted when the stoic yōkai shook his head.
"No. We keep it contained to direct family for safety reasons. It is already difficult enough to handle with InuYasha's brood."
"I understand."
He wouldn't be fighting his son on this; being responsible for the whole pack was already heavy enough on one's shoulders.
Oh ! You would like Sesshōmaru-sama, he is so well read in history and culture. His knowledge is endless.
Sesshōmaru stiffened and Tōga couldn't suppress a smirk; if the daiyōkai had tried to hide he was spying on Gwen, the cat was out of the bag. And the fact that she complimented him, even after he'd treated her callously, seemed to throw him off balance. Golden eyes narrowed and magenta stripes jolted as he clenched his teeth.
It is great here, so beautiful and ancient. You would love it.
As he watched his son's guarded demeanour, the former general envied the easy relationship Gwen shared with her own father. He felt so inadequate… and unable to bridge that gap between them, because he wasn't the man who had caused him such rancour and suffering in the past. The two yōkai shared a look, one loaded with regrets, the other nearly blank. Damn that poker face !
Fortunately, Gwen returned to break the standstill, a smile upon her lips. Until she took in the atmosphere in the room and sobered. Sitting beside him, she grabbed his hand and asked:
"So what is this about ?"
"Your future."
Two little words uttered with utmost seriousness. Tōga proceeded to fill Gwen on the options Sesshōmaru had laid out at his feet, trying to be as factual as possible. He knew that if he showed a preference, she would likely comply to his wishes.
So far, they could live at the Shiro of the pack in Japan, without any option for her family and any outside friends to join them. The second option would be to disappear, somewhere with little crowds, no presence on the internet, and security teams handled by the pack. InuYasha would welcome them in Colombia, or they could choose any other place. Gwen's grey eyes lit up at the idea, but her brows furrowed the very next moment.
"Security details ? But those poor people… ? If we end up at the end of the world, how are they going to live ?"
Such a big heart, even when it came down her own safety. Gwen should be trembling in her boots, right now, especially after the trauma she'd just been through. But her first preoccupation was to ensure those assigned to watch over them wouldn't be excluded from a good life.
"Security teams will be working for the Taishō clan, with all the benefits that entails," Sesshōmaru cut off, seemingly offended by her doubts.
The young woman cocked her head aside in such a canine move that he almost scoffed; she was his mate in every way. "Is that really your family name ?"
Tōga was almost surprised when Sesshōmaru condescended to respond.
"After the Meiji revolution, the administration asked us to choose a surname."
And they chose his. The Inu no Taishō had given birth to the Taishō family. That very thought humbled him. Tōga gave his lady a few minutes to mull over the proposals; she did not seem fazed by Sesshōmaru's silent scrutiny a she considered the options. Eventually, he enquired about her opinion.
"What do you think, Gwen ?"
"We cannot make a hasty decision on this, Tōga. We'll need to consider where, when, how ? How many people it will affect, where they can live, what kind of job we can do to mingle with the locals. We need a sound plan."
Sesshōmaru nodded, secretly impressed by the analytical mind of his father's ningen. He basically offered her to purchase any property, any place in the world without the need to work one day in her life. And she was already considering which job to take to ease up the task of the Taishō security detail.
She wasn't of noble birth, if such a thing still existed anyway, yet she thought to consider all angles to ensure her well-being wasn't at the expense of others. She thought like pack, and definitely not like a precious Hime.
The thought of princesses sent a pang of displeasure in his mind; he discarded the memory at once. Gwen wasn't Izayoi. And so, he took note to lay down all details and entrust Towa with the responses they would need to take the best of decisions. His daughter excelled at organising moves.
Assigning security teams to watch over a couple and, maybe, future children wouldn't be too difficult. It would just be one more team to place in the right place, at the right moment, with proper rotations every second year to ensure full awareness. Nothing too drastic. Those blasted dragons would never lay a hand upon his reborn Chichi-ue again. Never. Not if they valued their lifes.
If anything happened to Tōga, he was sure the Taishō can would eradicate every single winged spawn in a full blown war.
"Is this acceptable to you, Sesshōmaru ?" Tōga asked.
The daiyōkai nodded, and was about to vacate the room when his father interrupted him.
"Wait, son. There's something else I'd like to tell you about."
A blond eyebrow lifted in interrogation.
"I will speak to InuYasha about Izayoi. I think he will want to see her."
What ? Wasn't that Hime dead and buried for the past six centuries ? Words weren't necessary, his displeasure probably showed on his face for Tōga nervously explained:
"His mother is alive, reincarnated. We were married twelve years."
How dare he even mention her name in the presence of his new woman ? The one that had nearly died to save his life ? The words came out without his infamous filter kicking in, acerbic, to cover the exasperation of having to deal with that Hime AGAIN.
"It is fortuitous you are not anymore."
Indignation vibrated in his father's posture when he chastised him. "Sesshōmaru !"
But the daiyōkai was grown, now, and didn't tremble in the face of his father's wrath. Especially when said father was his great-grandchild borrowing the Inu no Taishō's soul. His voice rumbled low, threatening, and he detached every word.
"That woman caused your death."
At once, he regretted his outburst, for Tōga's features morphed to guilt. Sesshōmaru did not want pity, but his heart didn't agree with his head. And so he stayed instead of leaving, wrapped in icy dignity, when his former father sighed heavily.
"Ryūkotsusei did."
The words wrapped around his heart and squeezed, but he needed to hear them. If only that little ningen could stop watching him, peeling his feelings open ! For the first time in several lifetimes, the great daiyōkai was at loss of words. Often, he didn't speak at all, by choice. But now, he found that his voice failed him as his father laid out his regrets at his feet.
"I'm sorry I left you without more explanation, Sesshōmaru. I barely remember the last years of my life, except the turmoil it brought me. I have been a very poor father to you, haven't I ?"
Bright golden eyes were set upon his face, deep-rooted emotion swimming in their depth, and Sesshōmaru found he couldn't look away.
"I…"
The little woman shivered; her features desolate as she laid her head upon her father's shoulders. She was distraction enough to pull him away from the emotion that clogged his throat, but he still couldn't speak. Couldn't tell Tōga how he regretted he'd confronted him, rather than tagged along in this moment. That he would have learnt to use Tenseiga, if only to revive his own father and prevent the years of misery that followed. That life would have been different, that his wrath wouldn't have blinded him towards InuYasha, because he wouldn't have hurt so much, inside.
But his pride wouldn't allow the words to come out. So wrath took its place, fiery and blaring, that familiar emotion that had sustained him for hundreds of years.
That damn woman !
The anger burnt soon enough, exploding like fireworks in his guts, leaving devastation it its wake. He wasn't the only one who had missed his father so. A deep sense of sorrow rose, a wave he'd thought buried for eternity, but had never been dealt with.
Poor woman, Izayoi, who didn't have the man she loved in his life either.
Sesshōmaru allowed the anger dissolve away. The guilt, though, refused to leave; he would live with it forever.