Supreme Conquest

By Danyealle

(MF/FanFiction)

Chapter 3

Pacing back and forth in his room, Sesshomaru was snarling loudly. His hair seemed to dance and crackle around him like some kind of silver thunderhead, alive with his enraged aura, the stripes on his cheeks were jagged and his eyes were twisted with thick threads of red. Pacing furiously, his fists were clenched so tightly that his claws were digging into his palms, causing blood to drip down and splatter in thick droplets on the carpet. If any of the servants had come into his private quarters at that moment they would have run for their lives. He was sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this was the most infuriated he had ever been in his entire life. 

Vaguely, he wondered what kind of karmic debt he was paying off to have his life to go to hell in a handbasket within the span of less than 12 hours. It was either that or the fates had a warped, devious, dark sense of humor and decided he was there current target to pick on. No matter the explanation the realism of the situation was that his life had turned to shit so quickly that he almost ended up with a broken neck from the speed of it. 

Deciding that there was no chance of walking off the sheer amount of angry energy he was dealing with, he plopped down in a chair by the balcony doors. Grabbing the bottle of the Fortresses special blend of demon sake, he ignored the cup that was sitting there and began to drink it straight from the bottle. No, the drink was in no way going to improve his mood but he hoped like hell that he would be able to drink enough that he would be able to fall asleep because, as it was, that wasn’t going to happen any time soon, if at all.

After a long pull from the bottle he sat it on the floor between his feet then put his face in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. Though his first instinct was to try to think of a way to wiggle out of this or, at least, change the rules of the game a bit, he realistically knew it was a wasted effort if there ever was one. He knew his father well enough to know that there were no loopholes that he could use for wiggle room. The old inu had done this far too often to leave a backdoor open.

Grabbing the bottle, he took another long pull from it. As he set the bottle back down he glanced at the door that connected his room to the one that was intended for his future mate. Knowing who was currently sleeping in there his handsome features twisted into a malevolent scowl. Honestly, he understood that he couldn’t blame her for any of this; he wasn’t so far gone in his anger to not realize that. It wasn’t her fault his father took a liking to her. Nor did she encourage it in any way or scheme to get her claws into him. Hell, at this point she wasn’t even aware what the plans involving her had been laid. Nor was her certain of what her reaction to the whole thing would be. For all he knew she could have a similar reaction that he had and reject the scheme completely. That was something that gave him at least a tiny glimmer of hope. If she rejected the whole thing then he was off the hook. But he wasn’t going to get his hopes up on that count. He was well aware how charming his father was and that he was smooth enough to charm the rags off a beggar if he so chose. When it came to the fairer sex it was even more exaggerated. It seemed that he always could get what he wanted from them with next to no effort. Oh yes, he was sure the older inu would be able to talk her into it no matter how many or what her objections where. Then, after he got her to agree, he was certain that she would be all for the idea and fall in love with it.

Scowling at the door again, all kinds of ways to get out of this mess came to mind but none of them were feasible and really wouldn’t work as he well knew. Normally, he would just kill the being that caused him the problem. However, in this case, that wasn’t an option. First, he wouldn’t survive it if he tried. His father would kill him. No, scratch that, he wouldn’t because his father would keep him alive just to torture him. Nor could he off the girl because his father would know, no matter how he went about it that he was behind it. That would probably end up just as bad, if not worse, than if he had tried to kill his father. 

With a resigned sigh, he pretty much accepted the fact that he was screwed and would have to submit to what his father wanted. No, he wasn’t going to give up trying to figure out a way to squirm and wiggle out of the mess but until, or if, he could manage that he would do what his father wanted. 

Grabbing the bottle, he downed the last of the sake then tossed the empty bottle into the fireplace, relishing in the sound of it breaking. That act seemed to assuage at least some of his ire. Eyes glowing the way they always seemed to when he had overindulged, he stood up. Walking over, he opened the door that connected the two rooms the slipped into her chambers. Silently, he stalked over to her bed and looked down at her. Dressed in an elegant sleeping kimono, she was curled up under a thick quilt, ebony waves of hair fanned out over the pillow her head was resting on. Looking down at her long neck he could envision his hand around it, choking the life out of her but he restrained himself. Glancing over, he could see the door that connected this room to the one his father was in was open. Because of the position his sire’s bed was in it had a direct view of her bed. No doubt that was on purpose as was the fact that the door was open. 

Sighing, he once more looked down at the little ningen then turned on his heel and went back to his room, shutting the door firmly behind him. Once there, he stripped down before sliding into his own bed. Sleep…he needed to get some sleep. Not only would that allow him to put some distance between himself and what had happened but it would clear his head, or so he hoped. It would also help him think. Perhaps then he could come up with a way out of the mess or some kind of solution to it.

…kst…kst…kst…kst…

Togaou was awakened from his sound sleep when Sesshomaru had opened his door. Though he woke up he didn’t let his son know it. From where he was he could easily smell the very tell-tale odor of sake, something that set him on edge. Not sure what his oldest pup was going to do, he kept a close watch on him. If he was intent on doing something foolish he could be there in a second and put a stop to it. But he wasn’t going to do anything until he was sure what he was up to, if anything. 

When Sesshomaru went back to his chambers he relaxed a bit. But he still had a great deal of anxiety about the situation. Because his son had been drinking there was no telling what he may well do if he came back. Couple that with the situation he had been put in made him very unpredictable. Normally, at least for as long as he had known his eldest pup, Sesshomaru was fully and completely in control of himself. But with all the stress that had been heaped on him then drinking on top of that and he was afraid that the self control would slip then he would completely cut loose. Though he should be the obvious target for him because he was the catalyst for the whole situation but chances were, fairly high ones at that, he wouldn’t be the target of if the pup cut loose. Even in a compromised state of mind his son would know that he was far too powerful to take on. Kagome, however, would be the perfect target. Though she had power all her own she would be no match for his son. Especially with her being sound asleep. She would be completely helpless against him.

After a few scenarios of what could have happened to her before he could have gotten there, he wasn’t willing to chance it happening if Sesshomaru came back into her room. Sliding out of bed, he slipped into her room. Gently as he could, trying not to wake her, he picked her up then carried her into his room. Laying her down, he made sure that her head was resting on a pillow and the quilt was tucked around her. Then he slid into bed beside her.

Honestly, he had only intended to have her sleep there, nothing more. But when he felt her warmth next to him and a wonderful, unique smell that seemed to surround and caress him in a way that was though it called to him that intent drifted away like smoke on a stiff wind. After so long in that cold, lonely tomb he couldn’t resist the pull of another body curled up next to him. Yes, he knew he shouldn’t, he should leave her right where she was, but he couldn’t force himself to do that.

Turning on his side, he slid the blanket off her then put an arm around her and pulled her close. When she was next to him she flopped over on her side and curled up to his chest, still soundly sleeping.

When he felt her settle down, he covered her back up then draped an arm around her, holding her close. Shutting his eyes, Togaou rested his head on his pillow, relaxing. To him, this felt right and how things should be. Hand on her back; he rubbed it softly while his mind began to wander.

As would be expected, the first place they skipped was the young onna curled up to his chest. In a way he felt a twinge of guilt over the fact that he was making all these plans for her without her consent for it. Yes, this is the way things were done among youkai and accepted but she was no youkai. He wasn’t even sure how much she knew about how upper level youkai and their society, or youkai in general, viewed things such as this. Then there was the fact he was planning for her to have not one but two mates. Yes, polygamy was practiced among humans, usually those in upper-level society, but it was controversial. He wasn’t sure how she would view such a thing or what her thoughts on it would be.

Coupled with that came the issue of her family… Firstly, he knew nothing about them, or her really for what matter, if she even had a family. If she did they would have to be dealt with. If they were just your basic, common peasants he could work with it easily enough. If they were of the upper crust that would be a bit more difficult and complex to work with but he was certain he could deal with it. However, he had learned his lesson with Inuyasha’s mother and would not be allowing her to stay among her own kind until the mating. He would be moving her to the fortress when she wasn’t on the quest so she could be protected. Also, he would be doing so with her family if that was needed and warranted. But, before that could happen, he would have to work on things at the Fortress as well. If some of the same beings were here that had been during the time he ran things they would have to go. There had been quite a few of them that felt the same way about youkai/ningen matings that Sesshomaru did. No way he was going to make her deal with that antiquated prejudice any more than she would have to. Inuyasha’s mother had suffered enough because of such things so he would make sure he would spare Kagome as much of that suffering as he possibly could. 

Mind circling back to where it had started, he focused on the onna herself. Yes, breaking the whole thing to her was going to be the worst part of the whole scenario but he was certain that he could work his magic with her and deal with any concerns or doubts she may have on the topic. After all he had honed wooing the female of the species, any species really, to a high art. Wooing her was something he had confidence he could do. 

As a sideline to that he thought that there may well be something very different about her, beyond what he had already seen. The clothes she had worn when he first laid eyes on her were different than anything else he had ever seen before. When he had picked her up he had felt them. They seemed to be of the fabric he had never encountered before as well. Plus she seemed to smell differently than any other ningen he had ever encountered before. All in all he was most intrigued. Such mysteries were something he really wanted to delve into and was sure he would enjoy finding out all the answers.

At that point he decided most planning was going to have to be done after he found out what her mindset on the topic was. Once he got a niggling about that he would have a better understanding of where he stood and just how he should go about things. Then, from there, he would tailor what he needed to do and move forward.

Once he had that as figured out as he felt he could get it his mind shifted to a related topic: Sesshomaru. At this juncture he was sure his own flesh and blood was going to cause him more problems than Kagome was. With an internal sigh, he resigned himself to the task of focusing on his eldest pup.

Before his death he had put out a few feelings about finding his eldest a mate. Normally he would have had no problems fining some beings more than willing to consider such an offer because of the status he had and the power Sesshomaru would come into after his death. But, to his chagrin, he found that wasn’t the case when it came to Sesshomaru. In fact, he hadn’t been able to get anyone that was even able to start negotiations. The common consensus seemed to be that no one wanted to subject their daughter to his cold-as-ice pup. Actually, he could sympathize and didn’t blame them a bit for it. He had hoped after his death that the boy would have loosened up a bit. But, from what he had seen so far, that hadn’t happened. If anything, it may well have become worse.

Sighing softly, he thought about his son’s demeanor. Quite frankly, he blamed it on the boy’s mother. When she was alive she had been the same way. Because he had been away so much when the boy was growing up she had raised him and instilled much of that in him. Never happy with her station in life, she was a bitter, power-hungry onna that made sure she taught her only pup to want and crave power the same way she did. Also, she made sure he understood that there was nobody in the world you could trust, another of her quirks, one Sesshomaru took fully to heart. Now, after a lifetime of being that way he had to deal with it and attempt to make that point of view change. That was a monumental task if there ever was one. He had a long, hard road ahead of him and he knew it.

Along with that, he was sure that he was going to have to shove the boy the whole way. That was not only because of his reluctance to do this but because he was also certain that he really had no idea how to go about wooing the onna of any species. As far as he knew his oldest pup had never expressed an interest in any onna, let alone tried to court one. When he had been alive he had seriously considered and wondered whether his boy preferred the male of the species. In fact, he had bluntly asked him about it at some point. Of course Sesshomaru had gotten angry and vociferously denied it then stormed out. He hadn’t spoken him for weeks afterwards and it had taken years for him to get over it.

Now, because of all of that, he was not only going to have to deal with his reluctance to do that but deal with his inexperience as well. No, he wasn’t going to intervene on the pup’s behalf with Kagome to convince her to trust him or persuade her in any way to accept him but what he was going to do was give Sesshomaru kicks in the ass to shove him the right direction. Also, he was going to slap him upside the head when he goes about things the wrong way. Nor was he going to allow the boy to do anything to the little priestess that would hurt her in any way. Yes, he was sure that mistakes would be made, on both their ends, that would have to be dealt with but those would be unintentional. But he was going to have to ensure that Sesshomaru learned to treat her with the respect she deserved. That, he felt, was probably going to have to be his first priority. As he was well aware, Sesshomaru treated 99% of beings he dealt with or came across with next to no respect and eve, in many cases, contempt. That would not be happening with Kagome! He would go to great lengths to ensure that. 

With that thought came another about the onna herself. Much of the respect issue and how it was to be dealt with was going to depend on her. From what he heard while in the sword she didn’t seem to be shrinking violet and had no problem voicing her displeasure about something, no matter the being. Even the most powerful of youkai didn’t do that to his oldest pup. Yes, he heard nervousness in her voice when she had done so but she had still done it. That spoke volumes about her personality. If that incident was indicative of what she was normally like then keeping a leash on Sesshomaru might not be as hard as he was planning for. If she was capable of doing that all he was going to have to do was make sure the pup knew he wasn’t going to allow him to treat her with disrespect. Other than that, he may, depending on her, let her deal with most of it. He would just stay in the background and give a bit of ‘instruction’ to his pup.

Yes, he was fully intending to make Sesshomaru do the whole thing himself with just a bit of a shove here and there to get him going in the right direction. But the realism was that he was still his father and loved him very much, despite what he was like. In many ways he felt as though he had failed his son, thus allowing him to turn out the way he had. So he was sure that he wouldn’t be able to help himself and would end up helping him more than what he intended to. No, he was sure Sesshomaru wouldn’t like or even really want his help but, the way he saw it, that came with being a father. Especially in cases like this when the stakes were so high. The way he was starting to see things was that Kagome may be one of the few chances left in this world for his eldest to fully understand what it was like for someone to care about him and, in return, how powerful and good it felt to truly care about another being. Though both he and his pup’s mother both loved him the boy had been too jaded by all his mother had drilled into his head from a young age coupled with all he had seen at court as well as those that had tried to get close to him to curry his favor because of the power he did and would have in the future to let himself get close to either of them. Though he was sure on some level that Sesshomaru loved him he doubted he would admit to the feeling and probably kept a tight reign on it like he did with all his emotions.

Now, as he saw it, it was time to show and teach his eldest that power, what he had craved for so long, could be had in emotions and what you felt for someone. In fact, it was more of a power than you could obtain any other way.

A soft grunt and Kagome shifting around a bit pulled him from his internal musings. It must have been nothing more than a reaction to a dream on her end because after that she settled back down and her deep breathing resumed its normal rhythm. After watching her for a minute or so he tightened his hold on her a bit and rested his cheek against her temple. Trying to clear his mind of all the things that were to come and what would need to be dealt with her concentrated on that smell that her hair seemed to be giving off. Some of it he could identify, such as vanilla, but most of it he couldn’t. It seemed to speak of far away, exotic realms that you only read about in books or heard tales about from those few beings that had traveled far beyond the boarders of Japan. Somehow that seemed to intrigue him all the more and made him want to discover all the secrets she held. Unable to stop himself, a deep thrumming rumble from his beast began to start in his chest. It seemed that his other, more instinctual half was also pleased with and liked the girl as well. From past experiences he knew his beasts instinct was something he should head, it had never steered him wrong before. It was saying she was right for him so he would listen. It was also saying she was what Sesshomaru needed. The pup would come around, it assured him, he would just need time and patience was all.

With a sigh, he felt a deep weariness descend on him. After the events of the day he, expectedly, was bone tired. Sleep was needed. Nuzzling her head with his he let out a contented sigh then let his thoughts wander to more pleasant things before he began to drift away.