Pack of the West

Chapter 5: Surprising News for Sesshoumaru

“Inuyasha we can’t give Yumi to Sesshoumaru!” Kagome cried out as she watched the shocked face of Miroku. “We don’t know what he’ll do!”

“My brother may be an asshole, but he would never harm a child, especially his own,” replied Inuyasha. “He lets that human girl tag after him all the time and she’s okay.”

“Maybe he abandoned her,” Miroku intoned a bit hopefully, “He may not want her either.”

This did not set right with Inuyasha; something else was going on here. He knew that, at least Inu demons would always protect their children and unless they died they would not just abandon them.

Sango knew this also, having had to fight demons all her life she knew that a demon protecting a child was something one did not fool with lightly and they would never leave an infant on its own. “Maybe he doesn’t know.”

Everyone became quiet and thought about that. “Possibly,” Inuyasha affirmed thoughtfully. “That would explain why the child was not with him now.” ‘But he left his pregnant mate, why would he do that?’ Inuyasha was getting confused thinking about it. “Look, we’re not going to know anything unless we find him and see what he has to say for himself,” he announced looking around at the group, especially Miroku. He knew this was going to be very hard on the monk.

Everyone began to argue with Inuyasha at once, they did not trust the demon lord and did not want him around Yumi.

“Shit, you can plainly see this is his kid,” Inuyasha growled out angrily. “Don’t you think he has a right to know he has one?”

The others bowed their heads, shamed that they had thought to keep such important news from him. It then struck Inuyasha that the child was his niece, his blood relative, and, as such, he had the right to claim her if his brother would not. He decided not to mention this yet until Sesshoumaru could be found.

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Sesshoumaru was walking his lands with no place in particular to go. He just wandered from place to place, keeping an eye on the goings on in his territory. Rin was happily walking beside him, stopping from time to time when she saw an interesting flower to pick, and then running to catch back up. Jaken was a few steps behind babbling away about something or another, Sesshoumaru just tuned him out. Suddenly a scent wafted by his sensitive nose. ‘My brother, what is he doing on my lands?’ not even thinking that the lands, by rights, also belonged to Inuyasha.

“Jaken, stay here with Rin, I have something to attend to,” he commanded his long time retainer.

“Yes, my lord” Jaken replied, bowing in respect before screaming at Rin to come back and follow his orders.

The group of shard searchers all saw Sesshoumaru as they came around a turn in the road. He was standing, unmoving as a statue, the wind blowing his hair gently waiting for them to approach.

The demon lord picked up a new scent that was with his brother’s group and wondered what it was for a moment before dismissing it from his mind as inconsequential.

Everyone stopped a few feet away from the intimidating lord of the western lands, looking at him nervously as Inuyasha continued to approach.

“Why are you here, Inuyasha?” asked Sesshoumaru curiously and a bit suspiciously. This was not like his brother to come before him without his weapon drawn.

“We need to talk, Sesshoumaru, about something important.”

“Yes?” Sesshoumaru’s innate curiosity was now piqued and he decided to see what this was about before squashing Inuyasha like a bug.

Inuyasha motioned for Miroku to come forward. Sesshoumaru could see he was holding something in his arms. ‘That’s what the new scent is, what is that?’ Sesshoumaru looked up trying to see what the monk was hiding.

“Show him,” Inuyasha told Miroku, who very carefully held the little demon girl out for Sesshoumaru to inspect. She looked at the great lord with no fear, smiling and holding her hands out to him.

Sesshoumaru’s eyes went large with surprise, so shocked at what he was seeing that he forgot to hide it behind the uncaring mask he always wore. He soon recovered and looked at the two males before him.

“She’s yours, isn’t she?” questioned Inuyasha.

Sesshoumaru looked at the pup again, his facial features not letting the others know of his whirling thoughts. ‘She cannot be a child of mine, but she has my markings. Her mother, she was not in heat, I would have known… how?’

Sesshoumaru recognized where the child had come by her blue eye. Her mother, a lovely wolf demon he had hooked up with one night, had two of them. They had had a short tryst, nothing of importance and had both gone their own ways the next day, he hadn’t even thought of her since. However the child came to be, here she was and he knew she was his.

“Yes,” replied Sesshoumaru to Inuyasha’s question but would say nothing further, feeling these others had no reason to know his business. “Where is her mother?” he asked instead.

“Dead,” replied Inuyasha.

Miroku was watching Sesshoumaru closely, if he tried to harm the child he was ready to attack.

Sesshoumaru gave no reaction at all. He could sense the fear and protectiveness coming off the monk in waves and wondered momentarily about that.

“She died in childbirth, the men in the village she was at tried to drown Yumi, Miroku saved her,” Inuyasha told him also watching as closely as Miroku trying to gauge his brothers feelings towards the pup. Still Sesshoumaru showed no feelings one way or the other.

“Yumi?” questioned Sesshoumaru, raising an eyebrow. Inside he was boiling mad at what Inuyasha had just told him. ‘Humans, I knew they were all animals!’

“Sango named her,” replied Miroku for the first time addressing the demon lord. He then questioned, “Why did you leave her mother, I thought demons mated for life.”

“She was not my mate.”

There was an awkward silence for a few moments at that declaration spoken in such a bland and blunt manner before Sesshoumaru spoke again. “Give the pup to me,” he ordered, holding out his arm to receive the pup.

Miroku clutched Yumi tighter; he did not want to give her up. Inuyasha knew this was about to become a real problem when he heard his brother growl low in his throat as he approached Miroku.

“I said…give her to me,” Sesshoumaru stated with quiet menace.

“Miroku, just give him the pup, she’s his, you can’t keep her.” Inuyasha was getting worried and started to step between Miroku and his brother hoping there was not going to be a blood bath when finally Miroku passed her into Sesshoumaru’s waiting arm.

Sesshoumaru turned and walked back the way he had came no longer acknowledging them. Yumi, not being able to see Miroku any longer, began to wail, trying to turn in Sesshoumaru’s embrace to see him.

Miroku was just barely holding on to sanity. His whole being cried out for him to go and grab her from Sesshoumaru. The urge was so strong and compulsive that his chest began to feel tight and his eyes began to sting as he held himself back from doing so. He felt like someone had just punched him in the gut.

Sesshoumaru looked down at the wailing infant. “Be quiet,” he ordered. She ignored his command, instead looking up at him and frowning angrily, she screamed louder.

No one had ever disobeyed an order from Sesshoumaru before and he was stunned, momentarily at a loss for what to do. He continued to walk away with a howling Yumi trying to ignore the noise as best he could.

Just as his figure disappeared over the hill Miroku couldn’t stand it any longer. He looked at his long time friends and with hope in his heart that they would understand. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, “I can’t stay.”

“What!” Inuyasha shouted, shocked at what he was hearing.

“Miroku, what are you saying?” cried out Sango.

“I’m sorry,” Miroku just about sobbed, “I have to be with her, I can’t leave her.”

“No, Miroku, don’t go,” Kagome pleaded, trying to hold onto him. “Sesshoumaru will kill you.”

“If he wants to go, let him go,” groused Inuyasha angrily, crossing his arms over his chest. ‘I tried to tell him, but nooo, don’t listen to Inuyasha. Stupid monk!’

“Inuyasha!!” Kagome yelled, surprised he would say such a thing.

Miroku squirmed out of the teen miko’s grasp. “I’m sorry, please forgive me.” He called out over his shoulder as he ran in the direction Sesshoumaru had just gone, leaving his stunned friends watching after him.