Deceit, Lies and Malice
(FanFiction/Inuyasha/Angst)
By Danyealle
Chapter 6
Unlike some of the nights that Kikyo wanted to spend hours with him, tonight she had ‘just need to be close to him’ for a short time. He had realized long ago when she said something like that she meant she would ‘allow’ him to hold and kiss on her while she pumped him for information. Though it disgusted him to touch her in any way, especially intimately, he did so to ensure she wouldn’t get suspicious.
As he had assumed, tonight she had wanted to know about Kagome and her mating with Sesshomaru. Of course he parroted the information that had been worked out ahead of time. While it may have appeared to her that the hanyou wasn’t paying attention to what she was asking nor swift enough to catch on to her patterning within her questioning, he was and he made sure his ears were always on alert for odd, telling questions.
Though the time with her was mostly a bust, information-wise, there were a few things she said and asked that raised warning flags in his brain. From the way she phrased some things it sounded like Naraku may well have a spy in the Western Fortress.
After she left he went and found one of the small bird youkai that was always near, at Sesshomarus’ insistence. Giving the youkai the warning message about the possible spy he then went back to camp.
Once he took a bath in a nearby hot springs, almost scrubbing his skin raw to get her smell off of him, he once again perched in a tree to try to get some rest.
~~~~~@~~~~~
Much to Sesshomarus’ disdain he was woken up at 3 AM by one of his guards for an ‘emergency’. He and Kagome were asleep and he wasn’t at all happy about being disturbed while spending time with his new mate. Pulling on his hakama and a robe he went down to his study, vowing pain to all if the issue wasn’t important.
One look at Inuyashas’ message sent his ire skyrocketing. Yes, it most certainly did qualify as an emergency. The mere thought of a traitor among the staff or guards at his fortress nearly sent him into a red rage. Unwilling to wait until morning, he began to summon those he needed so they could start to weed out the traitor in their midst.
As he well knew this wasn’t going to be an easy task. With as many people that worked there, in many different capacities, it was going to take time to check everyone. It was made even worse by the fact that until they could weed out the culprit or culprits there was no way to know who could/couldn’t be trusted. Then he had to worry about the safety of Kagome when he couldn’t be with her. He loath the idea of subjecting her to stringent security measures but it was becoming apparent that Naraku was going to force that on him. Rather than assign her a maid that was younger, one she could build a trusting relationship with and would be better suited to her, he assigned one of the older women that had been around since he was a pup, one that he trusted with his own life. Then he assigned two of the palace guards to be with her when she wasn’t with him. In addition to this, she would be staying in his chambers for the time being. They were better fortified and more protected than hers. The decorating in her chambers would now include securing the chamber for the safety of his mate. As an extra precaution, patrols of the lands under his control and the ones around the fortress were going to have to be increased. If there were a traitor in their midst then Naraku or one of his incarnations may well be around.
To say he hated doing this would be the understatement of the century. Part of the reason she was here was so she could be protected and still have the maximum amount of freedom to move around as possible. For that, as well as the obvious other reasons, there was no way he was going to allow Naraku to get a toe-hold in his fortress! He would be sure to stomp out any traitorous activity as quickly as he found it in the harshest possible way to make sure everyone knew better than to even think about doing such things.
It was well after dawn when he was finally able to slide back into bed with her. He managed to reign in his disturbed aura so that if she did wake she wouldn’t feel it. Luckily for him, she only woke enough to snuggled back up against him.
Wrapping his arms around her, he held her close and shut his eyes. But, as he expected, sleep wasn’t going to come. Instead his mind wandered back to how the beautiful woman had come to be his mate.
~~~~~~@~~~~~~
Right after Naraku had kidnapped Rin, and he had seriously begun hunting him, Inuyasha had shown up at his camp one night with the miko. Since their relationship had never been a good one, he had been wary.
From the start the boy had made it clear that he just needed to talk to him. Reluctantly, he had agreed and they stepped away from the others. Much to his surprise the hanyou had proposed a deal; all the information he had on Naraku for some advice when he needed it.
Looking at him, the tai-youkai was puzzled, “Inuyasha, you have made it clear that you and you alone want to be the one to destroy Naraku. That leads me to the question of why would you give me the information? It may well lead to me finding him before you do.”
Sighing, Inuyasha tucked his hands into his sleeves and looked at the ground. “Right now I don’t give a damn who kills Naraku, just so he’s gone. If I do it, fine. If you are that mangy wolf does, that’s fine too. I just want Kikyo left alone.”
Snorting, Sesshomaru fixed his eyes on his half-brother, “You’re fascination and obsession with the dead miko will…”
Looking at the Western Lord, eyes flashing, the hanyou snarled, “It will be ME that sends that bitch to hell, ALONE! I want my face to be the last thing she sees so she will know it was me that did it!”
For the first time the boy rose fractionally in Sesshomarus’ estimation. Nodding, he asked, “What do you have on Naraku?”
Calling Kagome over, they both told him everything they had found out about the arachnid.
Nodding, Sesshomaru processed what he had been told. He had to give the half-breed and his pack credit, they had found clues he hadn’t been able to uncover. Looking back at the two, he asked, “Now, what advice to you need?”
Quickly, Inuyasha gave him a rundown of what they had been doing, including the deception he was playing out with Kikyo. Looking back at Sesshomaru, he asked, “What we need is some advice on what to do next. Should be keep this going or end it and find another way?”
One eyebrow arched almost into his hairline, Sesshomaru looked at the half-breed, stunned, but was careful not to show it. The boy had come up with an excellent plan and, from the sound of it, executed it as good as he could have. “Was this your idea Inuyasha?”
“No,” he replied gruffly. Nodding towards Kagome, he grinned. “It was hers. Same with coming to you for advice, that was her suggestion.”
If possible, he was even more stunned. Swiveling his eyes towards the woman, who was blushing cherry red, he asked, “It was your idea miko? Where did you learn about tactics such as these?”
“Well… Books and history class,” she mumbled.
Not understanding the ‘history class’ reference, he did understand, for the first time, that there was apparently more to the miko that he had thought. Silently, he vowed to keep a bit of a closer eye on her in the future.
After the Band of Seven and Naraku’s reappearance it became apparent, from things Kikyo was asking about, that Naraku was beginning to shift his focus a bit. There were very few jewel shards left and he wanted them badly. Inuyasha had begun to notice that more and more of Kikyo’s questions were about Kagome. Of course this had begun to make him nervous. But when she started asking about the bone-eaters well he slowly started to panic.
On a weekend Kagome was suppose to have gone home, the two of them met Sesshomaru at the fortress to try to figure out what to do.
First, the three of them had sat down and gone over everything the hanyou and his pack had uncovered in minute detail. Then he and Inuyasha had met alone to discuss what he thought should be done, without Kagome’s knowledge.
After Sesshomaru’s suggestion, Inuyasha had put his head in his hands and sighed, “This is going to break Kagomes’ heart.”
Shrugging, Sesshomaru leaned back in his chair. “If you can come up with a better alternative I’m all ears.”
After discussing it out, they came to the realization that there really wasn’t another way. At least not a plan that was guaranteed to work. They consulted several people about ways to go about it but the best they could come was delay the inevitable.