Deceit, Lies and Malice

(FanFiction/Inuyasha/Angst)

By Danyealle

Chapter 4

Inuyasha let everyone sleep in even though he knew they should have been awake at dawn in order for them to stay on schedule.  Truth be told, he just didn’t have the energy to do it or to face their anger when they found out Kagome was gone.  Of course, like usual, they would blame him for it.  He was getting so tired of shouldering the responsibility and guilt for so much. However in this case he supposed that he did own the blame for the incident or at least part of it.  If he had done what was needed at the time instead of letting his emotions dictate his actions they wouldn’t be in this mess.

Sighing deeply, he folded his arms over his knees and buried his face in them, eyes shut.  This whole nightmare was getting harder to deal with as each day passed.  At first it had been easy, let people blame him for something he didn’t do and let them think they knew what was going on, not correcting them.  After all, the one person that was most important knew the truth and what was going on.  That person had been his rock and was there when it became too much.  But now, as time continued, it was getting to the point that he was nearing the end of what he could handle.  The whole ordeal had to end soon because he couldn’t take much more of it.

By this point in was mid-morning and those in his pack were finally beginning to stir.  It wasn’t until they finished with their morning ablutions that they realized Kagome wasn’t there.

“Where is she Inuyasha?”  Sango asked in an accusatory tone in voice.  They hadn’t been on good terms for a while now and things were steadily getting worse.

“Keh…  The wench left with Sesshomaru after everyone went to sleep last night,” he huffed.  He was hoping that no one was paying close attention because his tone of disdain was sorely lacking this morning.

“What?”  Shippo wailed.  “She left without saying goodbye?”  The kit then burst into tears.

“Lord Asshole took her as his mate last night.  He said he was worried about her safety if he left her with me so he took her with him.  We’re going to head to his fortress when you all get your asses in gear so you’ll see her in a couple days,” he replied in a bored voice.

Sighing, Miroku shook his head, “Wasn’t there anything you could have done to stop him?  She should have been at least able to tell us what was going on and to say a quick goodbye.”

Fixing the monk with a malevolent glare, he snapped, “Just what did you want me to do?  Fight with him to make him stay?  She made a choice to be his mate so the decision was his,” he growled.  “Just hurry up and eat so we can get going,” the hanyou was in no mood for this kind of crap.  Normally he could come up with something that sounded pretty good and would shut them up but his heart wasn’t in it this morning.  All he wanted was to be left alone and to get going.  The quicker they began moving, the quicker they would get there.

~~~~~@~~~~~

It was almost noon before Kagome began to stir from her sleep.  When she opened her eyes she found herself in a huge bed in an opulent bedroom being held gently by Sesshomaru.  Stretching a bit, she smiled up at him, “Good morning Sesshomaru,” the miko yawned.

“Good afternoon Kagome,” he replied softly, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead.

Shifting around and sitting up, she leaned against his chest, wrapping an arm around him.  Looking up into his eyes, she couldn’t help smiling again.  Yes, her heart ached a bit because she had to be apart from Inuyasha for a while but she loved Sesshomaru as well.  Since she didn’t get to spend as much time with the tai-youkai as she did his half-brother so this would be great. 

“I take it we’re at the Western Fortress?” she asked.

“Yes.  You’re in my chambers.  The staff hasn’t finished decorating your room yet so your things will be in here until it’s done,” he explained, looking down at her.

Brow furrowed, she looked at him, “So I have to sleep alone all the time?”

Rubbing her back, she told her softly, “No Kagome.  You can sleep with me as many times as you wish.  Your room is for your clothes and other things.  I assume there will be times you will want to be alone for whatever reason. This is what your room is for.”

Relaxing a bit, she nodded.

With a twinkle in his eyes, he looked down at her, “I have a question for you though Kagome.”

Turning her big eyes up to him, she asked, “What’s that?”

Grabbing one of her legs, he lifted it up then pointed to the slipper on her foot, “Woman, what are those things on your feet?”

Looking at her slippers, she threw her head back and laughed.  The previous winter she had picked up a pair of novelty slippers that were shaped liked three-toed dragons’ feet.  With their black fur and back claws made out of a soft vinyl, she had found them too cute to not get. Thick, stuffed with some kind of poly-fill, to give them the look of being real feet, they were warm and comfortable. 

“Those are my dragon feet slippers,” she replied through her giggling.  Reaching down, she pulled one off and handed it to him.  Explaining the concept to him, her eyes began to dance.  “They had a pair of big, white, fluffy dog feet too that I thought about getting for Rin but I figured she didn’t need any more encouragement in her hero worship of you,” she explained, trying not to laugh.

Shooting her a flat look, he dead panned, “You’re right, she doesn’t,” but he liked the sound of her giggling and laughter. It was light and almost musical sounding, seeming to fill him with warmth.

Reaching up, she gently rubbed his cheek, “So…  What’s going to happen now?”  she asked him, voice quiet.

“Today we will have the day to ourselves.  The staff knows I’m here with my new mate but have been told I don’t want to be disturbed.  I do have some things to attend to tomorrow but if I can get them done early we will have the rest of that day as well.  After that there will be other things to be attended to,” Normally, when he returned home, he didn’t have much time to be alone. This was because of the time he spent away on the arachnid hanyou hunt there was always much to do when he returned.  Understanding that the first couple days away from her friends and Inuyasha were going to be hard, as would adjusting to being his mate and her new position as Lady of the West, he was going to try to spend as much time with her as he could.  Besides, he loved and adored her, meaning by instinct he wanted to be alone with her as much as he could.  

Though the circumstances of their mating weren’t the ideal ones he would have hoped for, he would have preferred to have engaged in a normal courtship, he wouldn’t change the end result for anything.  Part of what he planned to do with her was prove that he had taken her as a mate because he loved her, that other reasons that had been involved were secondary.  This was no political move and had nothing to do with her power.  Though he had told her that, and was positive that she knew it, he wanted to prove it to her.

Pulled out of his musings by her stomach growling, he looked down at her, “What would you like to eat?  My kitchen staff will fix whatever you like.”

“Oh, a cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate shake would be nice.  With Chunky Monkey ice cream for dessert,” she said with a straight face anticipating his reaction to her request.

Having been around her long enough to know when she was joking around, he knew this was one of those times.  Arching an eyebrow, he said nothing, gazing at her beautiful face once more.

Laughing, she stuck her tongue out at him.  “Just some fruit and tea is fine.  It really doesn’t matter as long as it isn’t ramen or ‘ninja food,” she grinned.

After showing her where she could get cleaned up, he went to alert the kitchen about her request.