The Twelfth Concubine

By: AubreySimone

folder InuYasha › Het - Male/Female › Sesshōmaru/Kagome

Rating: Adult +

Chapters: 39

Views: 20,380

Reviews: 54

Recommended: 3

Currently Reading: 9

Category: InuYasha › Het - Male/Female › Sesshōmaru/Kagome

Rating: Adult +

Chapters: 39

Views: 20,380

Reviews: 54

Recommended: 3

Currently Reading: 9

Disclaimer: The anime/manga Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. The author, Aubrey Simone, makes no money from the writing or posting of this fic.

First Impressions: Part One

Chapter Twenty-Two—First Impressions [Part One]

Kagome wasn't quite sure what she'd expected the Lady of the South to be like, but this tall, imposing demoness standing before her in the courtyard wasn't it.

Hair the color of the deepest black and eyes as red as blood, Lady Onishi Asoka of the South was a frightening figure. An hourglass just a few shades darker than her eyes adorned her forehead, and a black line slashed just beneath the scarlet orbs, accenting their color and highlighting the sloping line of her cheekbone.

She wore a beautifully fashioned kimono of red and black and midnight blue, the silks layered in a steady pattern. Despite the number of layers—Kagome counted at least ten—they didn't detract from the lady's slimness and Kagome suddenly found herself envious. 'What must it be like, to be so tall and beautiful?'

She pulled herself out of her thoughts and bowed deeply as Chiyoko introduced her, fully prepared to make the best of this invitation.

"Onishi-sama, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, Higurashi-san. I hope that your stay will be enjoyable." Her voice was quiet and controlled, but underneath the dulcet tones there was an unmistakable hint of command; the voice of a woman who expected for her words to be heeded.

"Thank you."

Asoka inclined her head, and then motioned to a servant, who bowed. "Chizuru shall show you to your rooms. Supper will be served when the moon reaches half mast, and until then, your time is your own."

"Thank you, Asoka-san," Chiyoko murmured, bowing. It was the first time Kagome had seen the inu bow to anyone other than Lord Sesshomaru, and the respect Chiyoko displayed was nearly too shocking to believe. The inu gave Kagome a mildly questioning look. "Well? Are we just going to stand here, or…?"

Kagome felt her cheeks flush just slightly, and she cleared her throat and turned to the servant, who was waiting quietly. "Please show us to our rooms, Chizuru."

"Of course, my ladies. If you would follow me?"

As they walked away, Kagome felt a strange sensation skitter down her spine, and knew that she was being watched.

:..:..:..:..:

Kagome huffed, and with a deceptively genteel smile, Chiyoko sat back on her heels and surveyed the Go board between them.

"It seems that I've won again," she drawled, hardly something that Kagome wanted to be reminded of. "How many is that now, Higurashi? Ten?"

"Twelve, milady," Jiao-Long supplied, shrugging when Kagome glared at him. "I am only being helpful." She refrained from telling him which mountain he could throw himself and his "help" off of, and chewed at her bottom lip.

They had been lounging in this common sitting room for the better part of three hours, and while the prospect of spending time with Chiyoko in which she wouldn't be learning anything had been exciting at first, Kagome was now finding herself eager to do something else. 'Does the fact that you've lost every game have anything to do with that?' a snide little voice asked. Kagome ignored it.

"I tire of this," Chiyoko announced a moment later, almost as though she had read Kagome's mind. "Come, Higurashi. We shall tour the gardens."

The demand sounded almost like an invitation, but knowing better than to assume that Chiyoko wished for her company, Kagome deduced that the lady simply wanted to be sure that she hadn't forgotten how to walk. With a nod—and a wry little smile that she hid by plucking the Go stones from the board—Kagome agreed, standing when she finished and respectfully waiting until Chiyoko had left the room before following.

Walking a few steps behind the lady, Kagome observed the Southern shiro. Climes were naturally warmer here, so there were a multitude of windows both in the walls and the ceilings, letting the late afternoon sunlight splash against the rich brown wood of the halls as though it belonged there. Doors that led to outside walkways were thrown open, and a bird or two flitted freely amongst the rafters, twittering their songs. Despite the fact that it probably got unbearably hot outdoors during the long summer days, inside it was cool and airy, the indoor halls not at all as stuffy as Kagome had expected them to be.

When they emerged onto an outer walkway, Kagome lifted her face to the sky and breathed out a sigh. It felt good to be outside, and she smiled unabashedly at Chiyoko's brief glance. They continued on, geta clacking lightly on the wood.

The first time Kagome shivered, she brushed it off. The second time, she faltered. The third, she stopped altogether, her gut roiling in warning. Someone—or something—was watching her, and the malice she felt was pressed against her senses like a fog, thick and black and heavy. She could feel Chiyoko's questioning gaze, and felt the shift in Jiao-Long's aura, but still her stomach recoiled and flipped, and her hands shook. She whimpered.

Jiao-Long stepped closer to her, his body angled so that his height made him imposing, frightening, and Chiyoko's face suddenly appeared in her line of sight, her golden eyes hard.

"Chiyoko-sama, I…" Her throat constricted. She swallowed thickly, knees beginning to tremble. She wanted to run, and she wanted it so fiercely that the muscles in her legs twitched in response. A hand closed around her shoulder, and just as quickly as the urge to flee had surged to the front of her mind, it receded, leaving her breathless and afraid.

"Higurashi, what is it?"

There was an intensity in Chiyoko's voice that she'd never heard before, and a fierceness in her eyes that was as foreign as the hard edge to her words, but Kagome couldn't respond. Her heart tripped over itself, and then, just as her breath began to rasp and her skin began to crawl with rapidly heightening terror, a footstep echoed on the walkway.

The fog that had descended on her hardened and shattered like glass, and Kagome gasped, searching frantically for the one who had so thoroughly broken the spell.

Standing a few feet away was a male youkai, unbound hair falling in thick, inky curls around his torso. His height and the breadth of his shoulders reminded Kagome of Lord Sesshomaru, but where their statures were the same, Kagome could already tell that their personalities were vastly different; a fact that reared its head in the form of a minute frown and scarlet eyes that had softened to red clay in concern. She found that she couldn't look away, whether in attraction or a sense of recognition, she didn't know.

"Naraku-san, you dare not address this Chiyoko?"

The demoness' voice was back to normal, cool and aloof and bored, and Kagome felt her shoulders sag as this youkai—'Naraku', her instinct drenched mind reminded her—looked away. His face cleared as he looked to Chiyoko, and the bow he gave was smooth and reverently respectful.

"I apologize, Chiyoko-ue." His eyes slid to Kagome again as he rose, and then just as languidly slipped back to Chiyoko. "But I sensed Higurashi-sama's distress."

As though this were a frequent occurrence, Chiyoko nodded. "I understand." Her gaze shifted, and Kagome automatically followed her line of sight, shocked to see that there were three other youkai that she hadn't noticed standing nearby.

The first, who stood beside Naraku, was a child, her pale coloring only making her dark eyes stand out that much more. There was a delicate mirror held in her tiny hands, and Kagome took a moment to admire the craftsmanship before turning to the female on Naraku's other side. Yet another pair of scarlet eyes stared back at her, set in a face much like that of Lady Asoka's—a sister, perhaps? She held a very young youkai, whose thumb was stuffed into her mouth, large pink eyes blinking thick black bangs out of them.

"Higurashi," Chiyoko said, drawing her out of her observations, "I present the son, daughter, and granddaughter of Lady Asoka; Naraku, Kagura, and Miyu. With them is Kanna, Naraku's daughter."

The obvious slight against Kanna—that she was not Lady Asoka's claimed granddaughter—was not lost on Kagome, but wisely keeping her questions to herself, and clearing her face of them as well, she bowed respectfully. "It is an honor to meet you."

When she rose, the smile on Naraku's face calmed whatever anxiety her previous predicament had left behind, and with a scoff, Kagura nudged his ribs. "You must forgive my dear brother," the woman drawled, voice low and sardonic. "He has been cursed since birth to carry the emotions of everyone around him on his shoulders."

Puzzled, Kagome opened her mouth, but Chiyoko interrupted, snapping her fan open and turning to Kagome with a mildly impatient light in her eyes. "I shall not stand here and listen to your drivel. Higurashi, come. Naraku-san, Kagura-san, Kanna, we take our leave."

And with that, she walked away. Kagome blinked, looked between Yun-Qi and Jiao-Long—the latter of which shrugged nonchalantly—and then bowed in farewell and hurried after Lady Chiyoko's retreating form.

Behind her, a chuckle caressed her ears, and she knew that it had come from Naraku.

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