Behind Closed Doors

"Koga-sama, I'm so sorry for denying you for so long." Kagome swooned, burying her face into the wolf demon's shoulder. The blue eyed wolf wrapped his arms around her, holding the woman firmly to his chest.

"Don't worry about it, Kagome. I knew you'd do the right thing in the end." Her face lifted to lock eyes with his, her brown eyes warm and loving.

"Koga-sama..."

Her arms wrapped around his neck....

"Koga-sama..."

Her face drew closer...

"KOGA-SAMA!" The wolf's entire body convulsed as his eyes opened, blinking a few times as it registered that he was dreaming. Fighting back the urge to howl his frustration, he sat up in bed to see Rin sitting next to him on the blankets, and an ugly green toad standing next to the bed. The child's eyes lit up as the wolf woke.

"See? Rin told you, Jaken-sama! Sesshoumaru-sama DID save him yesterday!" The toad looked rather indignant at this, crossing his arms over a staff that was as ugly as him

"What could Sesshoumaru-sama possibly be thinking, taking in such a savage, low-classed-WHAA!" Jaken's rant was interrupted by the wolf seizing hold of the corner of his mouth, lifting him off the floor by it, Koga's eye twitching rapidly.

"Low-classed, huh? You don't look very high-ranking yourself." Rin just laughed, bouncing on the bed on all fours.

"Jaken is just upset because Sesshoumaru-sama left without him yesterday." She explained, earning some odd noises from the toad, which probably would have been scoldings if Koga wasn't still holding him up in the air by the corner of his mouth.

Feeling his stomach rumble, Koga dropped the smaller demon, placing his other hand on his waist with a sigh. "Did I miss breakfast?" Rin nodded while Jaken grumbled, rubbing the side of his face.

"Rin wanted to come and get you up, but Sesshoumaru-sama said to it was best to let sleeping dogs lie." She looked confused at this. "Rin thought you were a wolf." Biting back a snarl, he pushed his unbound hair back out of his face.

"I am." He assured, shifting his sore leg to test how bad the pain was, and figuring he wasn't getting out of bed just yet from the throb felt. "Hey, toad. Go get some food for me and Rin." He told Jaken, who's indignation rose at the order.

"And what makes you think I'll take orders from a mangy wolf?!" Koga leaned down to press his face against the toad's.

"The fact that YOU'LL be my breakfast if you don't tempt me with something else." Sputtering repeatedly, the small demon left in a hurry, grumbling about rude, under-classed beasts.

"Rin doesn't think you should eat Jaken-sama." She warned seriously. "Sesshoumaru-sama said he sleeps in the sewers and drinks the runoff. He wouldn't taste very good." The wolf prince's upper lip twitched slightly, then he burst out laughing, which confused Rin to no end.


Later, after Koga had forced down whatever excuse for a meal the horrid toad had dug up for him, he found himself growing restless, and decided to attempt a small walk about the grounds. Rin stayed by his side the entire time, ready to dart forward and help the unsteady wolf every time he swayed, though the only help she offered was increasing his determination to stay up, since he feared crushing her if she tried to support him.

The wolf just made it to the massive garden that surrounded most of the elaborate building before he had to sit down, the pain in his leg having grown too much to mask. Settling down on a rather comfortable bench, he watched Rin wander about the garden, entertaining herself for the most part, though darting back now and then to check on him, asking if he wished to go back inside.

Every time she asked, he assured her that he was fine, and every time, he could feel the cold gaze of a certain warlord on him. The wolf was actually surprised that Sesshoumaru was allowing him to wander so freely, though he had a strong feeling Rin was the main reason for this.

He was brought out of his thoughts as Rin came running up to him, several flowers in her hair, and a few in her hands. A large smile was on her face as she offered them to him. "Well, don't you look lovely..." He remarked as he took the flowers from her with a smile, looking over the blossoms in her hair, and noticing that several of them weren't native to this area. "Is this your garden, or did Sesshoumaru make it?" She shook her head to both as she plopped down beside him.

"Sesshoumaru-sama's mother made this garden." She answered, looking up at the wolf in surprise as he coughed a few times at this.

"His MOTHER?" She nodded up at him.

"Yep. Rin's met her once, and she asked Rin if her garden was still growing. Rin told her that it was, and that Rin loved playing in it. She seemed happy about that." Getting up once more, she resumed her exploration, leaving the wolf to digest these thoughts. It was logical that the warlord's mother was still alive, considering how long demons usually lived for. Everyone already knew Sesshoumaru's father's fate, but his mother was almost nonexistent when it came to the rumors flying around; barely anyone knew anything about her.

The idea of the woman who gave birth to a demon like Sesshoumaru tending her own garden amused the wolf to no end. One would think a garden grown by such a warlord's parent would be full of poisonous and carnivorous plants, rather than the colorful blossoms that surrounded him. Twirling one of the flowers Rin gave him in his hand, his smile grew wider as he logged away another interesting fact about the enigmatic demon.

"Are you spying on orders, or are you just too damn nosy for your own good?" Koga called out while looking over the flowers, earning a sputtering noise from some bushes a few feet away from him. The tiny toad demon sidled out slowly, glaring suspiciously at the wolf.

"I-I am making sure Sesshoumaru-sama's charge does not get eaten!" He snapped. "The last thing Sesshoumaru-sama needs is to have his hospitality repaid by Rin getting mauled by a wolf AGAIN!" Koga paused at that, and turned to glare at the demon.

"What do you mean, AGAIN?!" He snapped, but all he got was a terrified squeak, and Jaken took off, apparently deciding his own safety was at more risk than Rin was.

The small vassal’s statement left an unsettled feeling in the wolf's stomach, and he watched Rin for a while, trying to tell whether or not Jaken's jab at him was indeed true.


The rest of the day was uneventful, the wolf having to part with Rin in the late afternoon when Sesshoumaru showed himself at last, though only for a second, long enough to tell Rin to come with him, and to give Koga a look cold enough to give his tail frostbite. The demon prince was left to wander painfully back to his room, collapsing onto his bed with a sigh.

Supper was never sent his way, which didn't surprise him in the slightest, seeing as he'd terrified Jaken, and Sesshoumaru seemed determined to keep Rin from him for the rest of the night. He'd heard the child coming towards him, and every time she almost reached the door, she was herded off by some unknown voices, most likely the servants of the castle, telling her Sesshoumaru wanted her for something.

An hour or so after the sun had gone down, and the wolf was seriously considering limping to the kitchen to calm his growling stomach, his door opened. When neither Rin nor Jaken's scent hit him, but rather Sesshoumaru's did, he sat up fully, his face schooled into indifference. The look dropped without warning when he saw Sesshoumaru was carrying a tray of food.

At seeing the stunned look on the demon's face, a quiet noise left the silver lord as he turned to shut the door. "What's the point in trying to heal your leg if we let you starve?" He pointed out blandly, placing the tray next to Koga on the bed, obviously not going to hand feed him like Rin always insisted on doing.

"What took you so long?" Koga demanded, causing Sesshoumaru's face to sharpen.

"I have more important matters in this castle besides you, WOLF." He hissed out softly, but Koga just scoffed at this.

"So get a servant to bring it to me. It sounds like you've got enough of them." The silver demon's hand slammed down on Koga's wrist as he had reached for the chopsticks, squeezing it painfully and threatening to shatter more than a few bones.

"And risk having to replace ANOTHER victim of a wolf attack? I think not." Dropping his wrist as quickly as he had seized it, Sesshoumaru headed over to the foot of the bed, looking over his leg for a moment.

"Again with that?!" Koga demanded, glaring at Sesshoumaru as he started to unravel the dirty bandages. "Your ugly toad vassal said almost the same thing! What the hell do you mean by ANOTHER?" He received no reply, Sesshoumaru busying himself with unrolling the wolf's injured leg from the bandages. Grumbling for a moment, the demon prince gave up and appeased his growling stomach by digging into the meal.

Koga almost killed himself by choking on some of the meat he was eating when his bandage was pulled off a bit too roughly with no warning. Glaring at the warlord through watery eyes, he growled when he saw a flicker of an amused smile. The glare was replaced with a wince as Sesshoumaru rubbed a salve of some sort into the wound. Neither said anything to the other while the bandages were changed, Koga focusing all of his attention on his meal.

"If I see you get any closer to Rin than you are at this very moment, if you touch her in ANY way I deem as even the slightest bit inappropriate, I will take your head off where you stand." Was his farewell, the Western Lord's hair lifting slightly from the speed he strode out of the room with.

Koga sighed, staring down at his plate. Everyone with the exception of Rin seemed to treat him like the plague. Just what had happened in the past for the inhabitants of the castle to have to much distrust in wolves?