Unexpected Endeavors
Of Loss: Disbelief and Desire
Unexpected Endeavors
scottishfae
Arc 4: Of Loss
Chapter 23: Disbelief & Desire
It was a grim atmosphere that met the returning shard hunters. They had received word that they needed to come back immediately. And so they did.
Jaken greeted them; he looked upset but held his tongue.
“What’s going on?” Inuyasha asked impatiently.
“There’s been an accident,” was the toad’s only reply.
“Accident?” the hanyou asked.
He didn’t receive an answer.
“Where’s Kagome?”
“In her quarters with Cho,” Haru answered.
He stood on the outer walkway of the main building. He had a grimace on his face. Alarms went off in Sesshomaru’s mind; he quickened his pace towards the miko’s sleeping quarter.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
“Follow me,” Haru began. “This is going to take a while.”
“Should I go to Kagome-chan?” Sango asked.
Haru shook his head. “Let Sesshomaru-nii be with her for a bit.”
The group walked towards the formal meeting room. To his credit, the hanyou waited until the sliding door was closed before exploding. “What happened to Kagome?” he demanded having drawn the same conclusion as Sesshomaru.
“There was an accident,” Haru replied; repeating Jaken’s earlier answer.
“We gathered that, Haru-san,” Sango answered. “Now we would like details.”
“Rin-chan has been acting weird,” Haru began to explain.
“We’re not talking about that brat, what happ--”
“Kagome-san confronted Rin-chan about it the other night, and Rin-chan ran off...”
“Kagome-chan chased after her,” Sango surmised.
Haru nodded. “But the terrain was rough, Kagome-san fell.”
“Clumsy bitch,” Inuyasha grumbled.
“One of the guards caught her right before she fell into the ravine,” Haru continued. “She careened into the rocks from the momentum. Between the damage of the fall and the collision--”
There was an explosion of youki. “Cho must have told him,” Haru mumbled.
“You’re not telling us something,” Sango confronted; she looked at the inuyoukai wearily.
“The pup was lost.”
Sango gasped, clutching her fists to her chest. Tears welled up in her eyes immediately and she stopped herself from running to her friend.
“Where’s Rin?” Inuyasha demanded.
He kept his eyes diverted from the others in the group, his hair just covering it from anyone who wanted to see what he was thinking.
Jaken answered: “With Shippo in his room.”
Inuyasha turned and left. Haru chased after him. “She’s a child,” the older inuyoukai reasoned. “You can’t--”
“Shut up.”
Inuyasha stalked forward, Haru right beside him. “It’s not her fault,” he growled, grabbing hold of the hanyou’s arm.
“I said shut up. I know it ain’t her fault, but d’you think that’s going to register to that bastard right now?”
Haru let his hand drop to his side; he nodded slowly. The hanyou continued forward. Eventually Haru joined him again. They entered Shippo’s room side-by-side. The little girl was cowering in a corner, crying, with a human servant nearby trying to calm her down.
“Rin,” the hanyou called out sternly. “Come here.”
The little girl curled up into herself more. The human got closer and encircled her into a hug. “Leave her alone,” Aiko spat. “Can’t you see she’s upset.”
“Yeah. Well I’m trying to keep her safe.”
He hurried across the room and grabbed the little girl. He drew her up and flung her across his shoulder. She curled up against him; going boneless. “You--” he pionted to Aiko. “If Sesshomaru asks where Rin is, tell him I took her.”
He turned to Haru. “When he’s calm down, send word to me at Kaede’s--that old hag we always stay with. I’ll bring Rin back then.”
Haru nodded and stepped out of the doorway. Inuyasha walked out. He looped his arm up to get a firm hold on the little girl. Seconds later he took off in a fast run, heading east.
Kagome laid on her futon, curled into the thick blankets covering her. Just beyond the screens, Cho and Sesshomaru talked heatedly to each other. The initial blast of youki had awoken the miko from her slumber, but she said nothing at his obvious anger.
She listened as Cho tried to calmly explain what had happened. His own remarks were cold and calculating as ever.
“Why would you ever do such a stupid thing?”
Kagome couldn’t pretend to be asleep anymore. She got up; her joints stiff from lying down for so long. Sesshomaru entered through the hanging silk; Cho stayed back. “S-something was wrong with Rin. I didn’t m-mean--”
“You were under contract!”
Her tears returned, full force, and she collapsed down into the mattress. Sesshomaru continued to loom over her, just staring.
“She didn’t mean to,” Cho whispered behind him.
“Of course not,” he growled. “And that’s the problem, she lets her heart take control over her actions and things like this happen.”
There was a muffled ‘I’m so sorry’ that came from the quivering form. He had to control his anger; it wasn’t really at her anyway. Just the situation. He kneeled down beside her and put her hand on her head. “I am sorry to have put you in this situation,” he said softly. “You must think of yourself sometimes too.”
Kagome turned her head so that she could see him “I do.”
Sesshomaru shook his head, “No, if you did, you would not get in half the trouble you find yourself in.”
He sat there watching her for a long time after. She had curled closer to his body and he lets his hand play within her hair. The contrast between his pale skin and her dark locks fascinated him for the time being. When her breathing evened out he sighed.
“If she didn’t care about others so much, she would not have agreed to your deal in the first place,” Cho commented quietly.
“I am aware.”
“What now?”
Sesshomaru looked down at Kagome once again. “I do not know.”
“Oh?” she chuckled.
He stood up, careful not to jar her. “Not about Kagome-chan, at least. I do know I have some people I need to ‘talk’ to.”
Cho looked at him carefully through the silk. She could feel his anger returning and could only be sorry for whomever he focused that power on. Turning to a small table, Cho went back to researching through her personal items. Something was nagging her at the back of her mind and she wasn’t exactly sure what it was yet.
When Sesshomaru figured out that Rin had been taken, he was beyond angry. She needed to be taught a lesson--and more importantly, he needed to figure what had been plaguing the little girl to act in such a way. “Where did he go?” Sesshomaru growled to Haru and Jaken.
Jaken stumbled over his words in front of his obviously outraged master. “I-I don’t know, S-Sesshomaru-dono. Inuyasha took her while I was with the others.”
“I told you to look out for Rin-chan. Are you really such a complete idiot that you couldn’t even do that?”
Jaken squaked. He prostrated himself at his master’s feet. Everything the little youkai had berated himself with were now being spoken back to him.
“I should be permanently gone with you. I release you from my services.”
A cry of anguish escaped the toad’s lips as he tried to stand. He heaved, repressing tears; gasping hiccups escaped every few breaths.
“Leave him alone, you big bully,” Shippo shouted from the doorway. “He has been trying to take care of Rin-chan, but she wouldn’t let him.”
“She is a child, there is no ‘let.’”
“He still tried, on top of helping take care of Kagome-chan. She’ll be mad that you sent him away.”
“She doesn’t matter here.”
Shippo’s eyes widened. “But--you’re breaking your part of the deal.”
Sesshomaru finally turned to look at the kit. “I have done no such thing. Besides, she has destroyed her part by not looking after herself; the weak-minded fool.”
“YOU SHUT UP!”
Jaken half-walked, half-crawled to the kit. The older youkai put a hand on Shippo’s shoulders and hushed him quietly. “Apologize Shippo,” he urged him.
“No! He’s insults everyone but he’s to blame himself. A Taiyoukai isn’t infa..infla...”
“Infallible,” Inuyasha finished for the kit, who let out an excited cry. “I figured I needed to come back. Rin is safe, but I won’t tell you where until you calm down. She’s upset enough.”
“There are only so many places an idiot like you could hide her. The village that sealed you would be the first place to look.”
Inuyasha smirked. “I’m sure you think you know most things, but you don’t. Like the fact that you’re being set up for an omiai.”
“A fact I have been aware of for a while. It is a political strategy my mother is making so that a hanyou won’t be made my heir.”
“Did you also know she’s been feeding lies to Rin? She and your future wife, according to the kid, are the people who made her so upset.”
Sesshomaru’s brown furrowed. Waves of youki rolled off of him. He was truly and utterly pissed. “I will kill both of them.”
“You can’t do that,” Haru interjected. “Mother’s family would demand your head, not to mention going to war with another Taiyoukai is a bad idea.”
“I will do what I see fit. Inuyasha, return Rin here, immediately.”
“No. I’m not going to let you hurt her.”
The Taiyoukai growled. “She will be safest here while I take care of this matter.”
Haru huffed; his words having fallen on deaf ears. “You’re an idiot.”
“As are you,” Sesshomaru replied. “Which is why you’ll be accompanying me.”
“Why? I rather like it here.”
“Because you are similar to your father.”
“A playboy?”
Sesshomaru snorted. “Do not listen to our mother’s angry taunts. She cares for him more than she ever did for her own husband.”
“And again, how will all this help?”
“Hanao has a heart and a mind of his own. He may love our mother, but he doesn’t like to hurt or abuse.”
Haru knit his brow. “How do you know all this? He and I barely talk.”
“Mother forbids him speak with us. Luckily, my command outranks hers.”
“So, you decided to chat with him to defy her?”
Sesshomaru shook his head. “No, because just like you, Hanoa is a charmer and is a very valuable source of information..
Haru bobbed his head back and forth. He had brief memories of his father; stolen moments between father and son. “So you’ll pump him for information, then what?”
“Mother is clever and a fantastic schemer. Once I can unearth her plans, then I’ll just out-scheme her.”
“And my role in all this?”
“We shall return. Our relationship showing strain--”
“Like it is.”
Sesshomaru rolled his eyes. “You shall stay behind, angry, petulant, whatever will work.”
“Like he is,” Inuyasha added.
Haru flipped the hanyou off. “And then what?”
“You’ll be my source of intelligence. You have access to people my advisors would never have..”
“People don’t trust me as much as you think they do.”
“Maybe not, but they hardly consider you a threat. Our relationship in the past would never hint that you would want to help me.”
“And our relationship has changed?”
Sesshomaru looked at his brother carefully. “Yes, I trust you.”
Haru’s lips thinned and looked to his side. Sesshomaru waited for his reply. “If you really mean to go through with this--with both this plan and having an heir--make sure you remember Kagome-chan.”
“I am thinking of her.”
“Are you?”
“Why would you doubt me?”
“She needs to know you don’t hate her; that you don’t think this is her fault.”
“Of course it isn’t, but I would hope she would act more prudent of her own safety.”
“Do you think she actually would?
Sesshomaru shook his head. She would always put others first. It was an admirable trait--and one well-suited for a future Taiyoukai.
“You know,” Haru broke the silence;a big grin split his face. “I hope you tear mother a new one. I’d love to see her face.”
Sesshomaru chuckled. The imagery was quite vivid; another phrase picked up by the strange miko.