Deceit, Lies and Malice

(FanFiction/Inuyasha/Angst)

By Danyealle

Chapter 7

Despite what he wanted there was far too much to do the next day for him to spend it with his new mate like he had wished.  But, by that afternoon, he had turned the problem of rooting out any traitors in the fortress to a select few of his most trusted men.

Kagome, who had been upset and blamed herself for the problem when told of it, had spent the day with an ecstatic Rin.  When his young ward went off to her afternoon lessons, Sesshomaru had managed to finally get most of the things needed done or assigned to someone capable. He picked up his new mate and then escorted her to the nearby village to allow her to pick out materials for some new clothes he was buying her.  When there he showed her around and guided her into some of the shops to allow her to pick out a few things she would like for her personal chambers.

Although the taiyoukai had been unable to free up the day to spend with the woman when they returned from the village they closeted themselves in his chambers for the rest of the evening.  Despite what many may have thought they spent most of the time just talking.  There was quite a bit of discussion about the current issues.  One of the first things he pointed out was that the current problem was most assuredly not her fault and that she wasn’t the cause of it. The whole thing was Naraku’s doing and he bore the sole responsibility for it.

About midnight they were sitting in front of his open balcony door in the rocking chair she had fallen in love with and bought on their visit to the village.  While just sitting there in the cool night air, rocking slowly, she had curled up to him and fallen asleep.

When she had wanted the chair he hadn’t understood the attraction but sitting there he was finally was able to comprehend what she loved about it.  The slow, rocking motion was very soothing and relaxing.  Shutting his eyes, he could feel the rocking and her smell slowly make the tensions of the last 24 hours slowly ebb away.  As he sat there his mind took him back to that weekend that changed his life so much.

~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~

As Inuyasha had predicted Kagome hadn’t taken what he had to say and his idea for a remedy well at all.

Sitting there, face blank, she looked at Sesshomaru, “Seal the bone eaters well?”  she asked quietly.

Knowing that calm, quiet voice all to well and what it meant, either a flare of her temper or a wave of tears were coming. Inuyasha had looked like a frozen rabbit waiting for slaughter and it was apparent that he wanted to slither from the room and be out of her line of sight.

Even Sesshomarus’ hackles had risen and warning bells had gone off in his head but he had tried to calm her down a bit, “Eventually, yes, that’s what is going to have to be done.  For now there are ways to protect it.  But if Kikyo keeps asking questions about it it’s going to have to be sealed.  Those kinds of questions can mean that Naraku either wants to use it to trap you or to try to get through it to your time.  Either option will mean nothing good,” he had used the same tone of voice he used with Rin when she was upset or frightened but could tell it wasn’t having the desired effect with her.

Drawing her knees up, she wrapped her arms around her knees and just stared out the windows over Sesshomaru’ shoulder, quiet for several minutes then said, voice devoid of emotion, “I understand,”  she buried her face in her knees and began to sob.

Immediately, Inuyasha slid over next to her and pulled her into his arms, comforting her in the best way he knew how.  Though he attempted to, it was obvious there was no way to do that.  As he had explained to his half-brother already, her and her family was close.  This wasn’t going to only seriously hurt the miko but her family as well.  She and the rest of them had been well aware that she may end up trapped in the past after the jewel was completed anyway and that was hard enough to deal with.  So if she had to seal the well before then there was no guarantee that she would be able to unseal it and it would still work later.

They had decided that until there was no choice left, and the well had to be sealed, whenever Kagome went home Inuyasha would go with her.  Both the trip to and from the well would be made with Sesshomaru accompanying them as well.  They would do their best to protect the well with sutras and other things to keep it from being tampered with or someone else from attempting to use it.  Both inu assured her that sealing it was the remedy of last resorts, that every thing else they could think of would be done before they took that drastic action.

Although Kagome had understood why that drastic measure may have to be done it didn’t make it any easier.  Yes, Kagome saw several people in the feudal era as her family that didn’t mean that they could take the place of her real family.  Plus, the time she spent at home was her time to relax and help her de-stress from the shard and spider hunt.  It was her time to have a bit of fun away from her responsibilities.  Honestly, she wasn’t sure what she would do without that outlet.

Yes, though concept that at some point the well may have to be sealed wasn’t something she liked, she had accepted and agreed to it fairly easily, understanding the reasoning behind it.

The next part of what they had come up with wasn’t going to be as easy for her.  Rather than dump two large, life changing events on her at once, both men decided to wait a day to bring up the next one.

By the time that weekend had crawled by she and Inuyasha had already agreed to become mates.  For all intensive purposes both already viewed the other as their mate; the only thing they lacked that would make it ‘official’ was him marking her.  That part was being put off until all subterfuge was over.  They had also been lovers for quite some time as well.  From the beginning he had been rabid about her and her protection but after the whole mess had started he became even more so, almost to the point of obsessive about it.  Up to a certain period he had been very capable of providing all the protection she needed but as Naraku became more interested in her and she became a more focused target for him he realized that he couldn’t do it alone anymore.  Even with the other members of his pack, they could no longer ensure her safety.  Because of this entire situation occurring he had come to do something different.

Putting their heads together, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru had tried to come up with something, anything, which would give her the protection she needed.  Most of what they came up with would only work for a short time; none of them would be a permanent solution.

In the end it had been a reluctant Inuyasha who had come up with the best option; Kagome would become Sesshomarus’ mate.  Being his mate and the title holding Lady of the West would put her under his and western army’s protection.  Those under his command would be reluctant to guard a miko, the enemy of most youkai, but if said miko was his mate there would be no reluctance.  That way she would have the best protection any one could give her around the clock.

When the business with Kikyo finally ended then Inuyasha would take her as a mate as well. 

Now, Inuyasha was no fool, he had realized that his half-brother had developed a bit of a soft spot for the little miko since  they had more contact in a civilized manner.  She treated him the same way she did everyone else, not caring that he was a youkai who had more than earned the moniker the Killing Perfection. 

On Sesshomarus’ end, he had realized that many of his half-brothers pre-conceived nothings about the woman were wrong as well.  Add to that the fact that as a miko Kagome would be capable of giving birth to full-blooded youkai pups, not hanyou like most humans, and he was sure Sesshomaru wouldn’t have too much of a problem with it from his end.  He knew the taiyoukai was probably feeling pressure from other Lords to take a mate so this would end that bothersome issue as well. 

As it turned out, he was right, Sesshomaru was agreeable to the plan but his assessment of the taiyoukais’ feelings were off.  The demon lord didn’t just have a soft spot for the little miko, she was the only female he had ever found downright interesting.  As time went on and he had more contact with her the more interested the western lord became.  Yes, he still had his prejudices about humans but Kagome became an exception for him just like Rin had.  As far as the taiyoukai was concerned the miko would be the perfect mate.

They had been able to work many of the details out between the two of them so almost everything was in place.  After that the only real hurdle was Kagome.  Both knew that convincing her was going to be the hardest part of the plan.