The Heir and the Spare

The Heir and the Spare

The Continent of Japan is in danger; humans and demons are engaged in a deadly war. To avoid calamity Princess Kagome, a human, finds herself betrothed to the heir of the demon-dominated Western Lands, Prince Sesshomaru. Too bad she finds herself falling for her future-husband's younger brother, Inuyasha.

.xx.

Inuyasha had brought out their fastest and strongest stallion, Monsoon, for ride to Cistern Waterfall. He had Shippo escort Kagome out to the stables and Inuyasha, without a word and a simple smirk, hoisted her up onto Monsoon. Grabbing onto the reins, he hauled himself onto the stallion and got comfortable.

"Relax," he breathed huskily into Kagome's ear and, instead of relaxing, her body tensed up with something similar to the sensation of sheer desire.

Kagome leaned her back against Inuyasha's chest and immediately felt the rock hardness of his well-toned torso. Inuyasha brought his arms up around Kagome to grab hold of the reigns and quickly ushered Monsoon to begin his trek towards the Castle Village and onward to Cistern Waterfall. The warriors that were stationed at the gate of the castle saluted Inuyasha as he rode past them and through the iron gates that separated the castle from the rest of the lands.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Inuyasha whispered into her ear and, dumbly, Kagome nodded. She found that she was unable to vocalize anything; just being close to Inuyasha rattled her nerves and made her heart race uncontrollably. Unbeknownst to her, Inuyasha was aware of just how fast her heart was racing and he was biting back a smirk; any form of laughter would be impolite. Besides, she made him feel the exact same way she was feeling at that moment.

It was just that she couldn't sense how she affected him and, in a way, that was both good and bad.

Monsoon slowly followed the winding path that'd eventually lead them to the village. Inuyasha guided his stallion slowly; he wanted to utilize every moment he had with Kagome. Sooner, rather than later, his brother would return and Inuyasha would not be able to spend any time alone with Kagome, let alone have intimate moments with her.

Moments like right now.

"The scenery is beautiful," Kagome eventually whispered, after a long moment of quiet.

"The view from where I'm sitting is even more spectacular than the scenery." His chest rumbled when Kagome stiffened. "Relax, Highness, today is a day for just you and I. The places I'm about to show you no human has seen, or ever will see, in their life."

"Not unless they marry a demon?"

Inuyasha chuckled. "No, Highness. Not unless they marry me. Only members of the Royal Family can enter the pathway that leads to the Cistern Waterfall. It is said to be a magical bed of water with mystical healing properties. I've heard rumours that the water from the Cistern Waterfall flows into the Miyaji River… and we both know what the Miyaji River does."

Kagome glanced over her shoulder to smirk—a very dog demon-like trait—at Inuyasha. "True love is found on the surface of the Miyaji waters, isn't it?"

"Simply a legend," Inuyasha mocked. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Kagome rolled her eyes and turned her head back to the pathway in front of them. Her body relaxed against Inuyasha once more and she was partially in awe at how her body reacted to his. It was as if their bodies were made for each other; each touch ignited a new passion but the feeling was far from awkward. If somebody had told her that she'd be gallivanting with her future brother-in-law, she'd scoff at the idea and claim that she would never do something like that.

But Inuyasha made her feel different and her body responded to him as if they were made for each other. Two parts of one unity.

"Like I said, Prince, I will laugh when your failed attempts to woo your beloved reach my ears. Perhaps I will personally send her onto the surface of the Miyaji River and tell her to wait for you there, to speed up the failing process." Inuyasha's left hand released the reign and he wrapped it around Kagome's waist. He just wanted to touch her, to feel her warmth seep into his pores.

"But I'll be too busy with you," he said huskily into her ear and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

"I'm sure your brother would love that idea."

She felt him smirk before placing a soft and sensual kiss just behind her ear. "Let's talk of us, not of my coward elder brother."

"There is no 'us'." Kagome said, her throat becoming suddenly dry. Inuyasha placed another gentle kiss, on the same spot behind her ear.

"Hypothetically, Highness. You and I both know the reason why you are here and until my brother returns, I am to be your escort in and about the Demon Lands. So, until that moment arrives that he returns, we can play around with hypothetical situations." Inuyasha knew that he stumped her but was gleefully surprised that she did not respond negatively.

"Fine. Hypothetically, then. What is your question?"

"How many pups would you like?"

Kagome tried hard not to choke on air. Somehow, she knew that entering this battle of what-if with Inuyasha was not going to go the way she expected it to. Already, with the first question, he stumped her.

"However many you would like." She responded after a moment of thinking. "I care not for the magnitude of my family, as long as each child—"

"Pup." Inuyasha interrupted her as he veered his steed down their pathway. "When you have children with a dog demon, you are mothering pups."

Kagome felt the butterflies in her stomach but nodded nonetheless. "Okay, pup… so long as each pup is loved equally and they know that they are not in the shadows of the elder sibling."

"That sounds fair, and rather diplomatic."

Kagome laughed shakily. "Yes, well, when you're the heir-apparent you must learn to be diplomatic in every sense of the word. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be here right now, would I?"

Without missing a beat, Inuyasha kissed her behind the ear again and the sensation was just as it was the first time he did it: extraordinary. "No," his voice was sultry, husky. "You wouldn't." Silence blanketed them. Inuyasha's hand refused to move from its hold around Kagome's waist and she was not complaining. Never in her life did she feel like she belonged somewhere so much—and it worried her that it wasn't worrying her that it was in the arms of her future-brother-in-law.

Her mate's brother.

Illegitimate.

Sighing loudly, Kagome decided to forget the thoughts that plagued her mind and enjoyed the moment for what it was. She was en route to see an alleged grand waterfall with a demon that made her heart race at inhumane rates. Kagome felt like she should enjoy the moment for what it was, not for what it should be. Inuyasha guided Monsoon from the dirt path onto one that was paved with cobblestones. Kagome assumed that they were nearing a village.

"What if I came home after a long, hard day of training?" Inuyasha finally asked. Kagome jumped, not expecting his deep voice to rumble into her ear, but she loved the sound of it.

The sensation of it.

"I'd help you relax," she almost whispered. Inuyasha's ears tweaked to catch what she said. It took him a moment to understand fully what her words were and, as soon as he did, he tightened his hold on her.

"How?"

Kagome felt his chest move with every word he spoke.

"However you want me to."

Inuyasha found that his lips were connected with her neck, showering plentiful kisses on the milky column. "If I wanted you to kiss me?"

Kagome gulped. "I would."

"Hold me…?"

"I would." Her voice was becoming more and more a whisper with every word she spoke.

"Love me?"

Kagome didn't answer as she turned her head. Almost immediately, Inuyasha's lips found their way to hers and they both shared a brief yet searing kiss. Regretfully breaking away, Inuyasha repositioned himself so that it didn't look like he was taking advantage of his future-sister-in-law. Just that thought made his gut clench.

Kagome.

Sister-in-law.

Those words shouldn't belong in the same phrase together. Inuyasha thought bitterly. With every passing moment he spent with Kagome, the more he came to want her. Admire her. Like her. In a way he was glad his brother high-tailed it out of the kingdom when he did, otherwise Inuyasha wouldn't personally have gotten to acquaint himself with Kagome.

But on the other hand, he was upset that his brother did leave. If Sesshomaru was around then Inuyasha wouldn't have come to learn what a great soul Kagome was… and he wouldn't want her as badly as he did.

Which meant he wouldn't face disappointment, hurt, and anger when Seesshomaru claimed Kagome for eternity.

Fate, you have a strange sense of fucking humour.

"We're now entering the Village of Demons," Inuyasha said in his diplomatic prince tone. He wanted to shake the jitters off before he and Kagome entered a village that knew who Kagome was in relation to the Dog General family. "It's where every important Demon in the kingdom lives—apart from Totosai, but you already know where his hut is. He's strange, and likes to live in solitude."

Kagome giggled and nodded. She picked up on what Inuyasha was doing and could not be any more grateful. He had common sense when required. Perhaps it came with prince training?

"Castle Village, the village I showed you when you first came here, is not as important as the Village of Demons. Castle Village is where most of the farmers and herders live; the non-territorial demons per se. The Village of Demons are where the mercenaries, warriors, duelists, and any demon that fight for a living or for entertainment live. The infamous Shichinintai, led by Bankotsu, lives in the Village of Demons. Father has a recurring habit of calling upon Bankotsu when the going gets tough—the Shichinintai Brothers refuse to join the castle army, but they do work for a hefty amount of coin." Inuyasha smirked at the in-awe expression on Kagome's face. "Not that coin is a problem for father."

Kagome glanced over her shoulder to shoot Inuyasha an incredulous look.

"I've heard about the Shichinintai," Kagome murmured. "Renkotsu – I believe that was his name?—had paid my father a visit not too long ago. It had something to do with a proposition to end the war but my father was already in contact with yours around the same time. He rejected Renkotsu's offer and Renkotsu said something along the lines of regretting it?"

Inuyasha sighed, loudly. "I've heard about that. Bankotsu and Renkotsu also came to speak to my father in regards to your arrangement with Sesshomaru. Let's just say… uh… father kicked them out?"

Kagome frowned. "Kicked them—ohh he beat them up, didn't he?"

"Along those lines." Inuyasha's father had gone into beast-mode and transformed into his dog demon form. Bankotsu and Renkotsu knew that Lord Inutaisho meant business so left quickly. Not before uttering various threats, though.

Monsoon, lazily, strode into the Village of Demons and many of various kinds of demons what they were doing to bow in respect to Inuyasha and Kagome. Inuyasha nodded at a few of the demons he recognized and waved at giddy little demon children. A bird-type demon flew over to Inuyasha and handed him a flower, which the aforementioned prince took without hesitation.

Kagome awwww'd at the interaction and couldn't help but laugh when Inuyasha gave her a light squeeze with the arm that was still wrapped around her waist. An elderly demoness approached Monsoon and asked Inuyasha if they were headed towards the Cistern Waterfall.

Inuyasha nodded. "Indeed we are."

The demoness smiled. "Princess Kagome, you will be blown away by the beauty. Legend claims that the waterfall was manmade but I believe that nothing of such beauty can be created by anything that isn't a divine force." Wobbling slightly, the demoness bowed. "I hope that you both enjoy your trip to the waterfall."

Inuyasha laughed and shook his head. "You have seen nothing but paintings of the waterfall, respected elder. How can you claim anything of its beauty?"

The demoness's eyes twinkled. "A painting speaks a thousand words, young prince. If a picture is able to take my breath away, I can only imagine what the actual place would do."

Inuyasha only shook his head in amusement but continued steering his steed. He wanted to whisper a few things to Kagome about the villagers and the amusing things they say but he knew that ninety-nine percent of the village population had highly sensitive hearing. Cracking any jokes could prove to harm the Dog General reputation so Inuyasha decided to keep his foul mouth shut.

After being stopped by a few more villagers (one demoness proclaimed her undying love for Inuyasha and he told her to take it up with the family advisor), they finally were able to exit the Village of Demons. Kagome, finally, was able to burst into laughter and Inuyasha cracked a goofy grin.

"That demoness was beautiful!" Kagome finally managed to croak out between her laughter. "And she did say she realized her love for you during a fishing trip upon the Miyaji River!"

Inuyasha snorted. "Keh. Fishing is prohibited on the Miyaji River so I'm going to have to report her."

"Don't be mean."

"I'm trying to uphold certain laws we have in place, Highness."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "No. You're just being mean."

Inuyasha chuckled at her response. His chest rumbled and the sound came from somewhere in the back of this throat; it was masculine and musical, in Kagome's opinion. "You're being too much of a goody-goody."

"Says the law abiding citizen?"

"I helped create the laws, wench." Inuyasha snarled playfully. "Now, will you stop making fun of my lack of love life and appreciate the scenery around us? We're now going through Tempest Farmland. It's where any and all magical fruit and vegetables are grown. Tokajin Togenkyo, a well-known peach breeder, is the caretaker for most of the Tempest Farmland. There are few others, not as well known, but there are."

Kagome nodded as she studied the farmland that they were treading through. Her eyes caught on a large peach tree.

"Special peach fruit," Inuyasha said when he saw what she was staring at. "Not for consumption by humans or demons."

"Then who can consume it?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "No idea. I'm just relaying information Tokajin has told me."

Kagome's mouth fell into a small o and she continued to study what would soon be her lands. From where she saw, she could see no trace of war affecting this part of the kingdom. She was aware of the damage the humans had done to the demon lands but she could see none of it.

It was either that or the demons were exponentially good at restoring their lands.

She didn't know what to expect from the demons anymore. She was under the impression that most of them were crude and unruly creatures but the Dog Generals proved her wrong.

Very wrong indeed.

"Highness," Inuyasha's voice was incredibly close to Kagome's ear. "If I request for you to close your eyes, will you?"

Kagome gulped and wordlessly, closed her eyes. For good measure, Inuyasha brought the hand that was around her waist to come up and cover her eyes. The skin-to-skin contact made both their hearts. Kagome, subconsciously, brought one hand up and placed it over Inuyasha's.

His breath caught in his throat, and it wasn't because Monsoon had just passed the mystical barrier that separated those allowed to enter the vicinity of the Cistern Waterfall those who weren't. As Inuyasha had explained to Kagome earlier, only members of the royal Dog General family (or accompanied by a member) were able to breech the barrier.

"Ready?" He murmured, his lips barely touching the skin behind her ear. Kagome nodded, not trusting her voice. Painfully slowly, Inuyasha removed his hand from over her eyes—he took the opportunity to interlace his fingers with the hand that Kagome placed atop his.

"Open your eyes, Highness."

.xx.