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Unexpected Endeavors	By : Scottishfae Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Sessh?maru/Kagome > Sessh?maru/Kagome Views: 70551 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Chapter List
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Unexpected Endeavors
scottishfae

A/N: I’ll post the end of this arc tonight and give it a rest until next week.

Arc 2: Of Grief
Chapter 18: Bargaining

“Please, stop!”

It was a powerful yell, but still almost lost amongst the confusion.

The Taiyoukai was defending himself against the attacking humans—being careful to not to actually kill any of them.

“Please!” was yelled again.

In the middle of the chaos was a lone man, on the ground, folded over upon himself and begging. The humans stopped to look back at him—again. Aiko was most surprised. And angry.

Kiyoshi had taken some damage for merely remaining there, but as he sat bleeding, he did not show any pain. He was still scared, Sesshomaru noted.

“Please, stop. Forgive us for taking your ward—but we didn’t know if she was safe with a youkai. Especially when she mentioned you, my lord.”

“Are you implying I am not able to protect my ward?

“No! But you hardly have a good reputation when it comes to humans. How were we suppose to know this was different?”

“Shut up, Kiyoshi-baka,” Aiko hissed.

“No,” he replied. “This is our fault. If we want to save what’s left of our village—then we must accept that. And hope.”

“Hope—and the forgiveness you seek—are not emotions I often acknowledge. What makes you think that will work?”

“You heard him! He’ll kill us anyway. Have some pride, you spineless boy,” Aiko cried.

“He hasn’t killed any of us so far, and I don’t believe he will.”

“I will not,” Sesshomaru confirmed. “But I will also not forgive.”

“You see--!”

“Silence, wench! I will not forgive but I am willing to strike a bargain.”

Kiyoshi allowed himself to sit up from his bow. “A bargain?”

“Yes. Only slightly west of here lies an estate that houses the miko Higurashi. She will be residing there for at least the next year. I believe she will need more human companions than just the Taijiya while she is confined to the estate.”

The group whispered to themselves. The company that the Taiyoukai kept was getting odder and odder. “You require companions for the miko?” Kiyoshi asked.

“Servants. Females only. Four or five should do. And you,” he looked at Aiko. “Must be one of them.”

The woman scoffed and opened her mouth to protest. “Fine,” Kiyoshi agreed.

Aiko spun around. “Giving away your wife so easily? What kind of man are you?”

“One who loves his wife; who knows how much this village means to her; and one who is trying to save both.”

The woman knit her brows; shocked at his impromptu, and previously unheard of, proclamation of love. “Love?”

“Choose your five now. We will leave immediately.”

A couple of the male watchers ran off to explain the situation. Hina volunteered, one of the few females still at the site.

“Love?” Aiko repeated.

Kiyoshi turned and faced his wife fully. She was just a few inches taller than him; something that always privately ired him. “Yes.”

He smiled at her sweetly; it lit his dark, brown eyes up. Rising up on his tip-toes, he kissed her forehead affectionately. “I will help here while you are away,” he whispered. “Just wait, when you get back everything will be renewed again.”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled softly to him all the same. “I doubt that.”

Sesshomaru watched the two as he waited for the other women to be chosen.

*

The five women entered the last barrier behind Sesshomaru with caution and fear. Not that they knew the barriers were there. Instead, they feared the open area opposed to the woods they trekked through to get there.

Kagome was waiting for them; pacing back and forth. Inuyasha sat high in a sakura tree nearby. He jumped down at the sight of the Taiyoukai. He raised an eyebrow at the additional women.

“Sesshomaru-dono! You didn’t—“

“No one was killed,” he interrupted.

Kagome looked him over, trying to assess the situation—to see if he was lying. She knew he wouldn’t—but didn’t put it past him to bend the truth. “What are they doing here?”

“A bargain. They will be acting as your servants and companions.”

“Another bargain?” Inuyasha commented. “How pragmatic of you.”

“And what a large word for you,” Sesshomaru quipped back.

Inuyasha just rolled his eyes. “What was the rest of the bargain?” Kagome inquired.

“They took Rin,” he stated.

It was Kagome who rolled her eyes this time. She was now sure there was more to the story. She would have to ask the women later. “I apologize, but a proper introduction has to wait,” Kagome began, addressing the women. “But Sesshomaru-dono is needed.”

She motioned for them to move forward. Sesshomaru walked between Kagome and Inuyasha. “Sango-san is trying to keep Rin-chan occupied so she won’t find out, but we lost Ah-Un.”

“And Jaken?”

“He’s hanging in there,” Inuyasha responded. “For such a weak youkai, he’s been pretty strong.”

Kagome put a hand on Sesshomaru’s arm. “He did such a good job. He was incredibly brave; he put Rin-chan over himself.”

“That is his duty,” Sesshomaru responded.

He watched as Kagome’s shoulders slumped. There was an inkling of guilt within him; a feeling he was not use to. He paused and turned to her. Bending down, he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead—as he had seen earlier. Sesshomaru looked down into her eyes. With great effort, he allowed the tips of his mouth to life slightly. He straightened back up. “I am proud of both Jaken, and Ah-Un; they showed they can perform their duties and, if it please you, I will inform both.”

Kagome smiled brightly up at him. They began walking forward.

“And I am proud of you,” he continued.

“Me? Why? I didn’t do anything.”

They had arrived at Ah-Un’s body. It would be easier to revive the beast first, then go see Jaken. “Exactly,” he answered Kagome. “You did not go off, chasing after Rin, as I feared you would.”

Kagome puckered her lips. She wasn’t sure how to take that, but there a bit of insult wrapped into that compliment. Across from her, Inuyasha elbowed Sesshomaru and made a gesture towards Kagome. The Taiyoukai ignored them both as he put his concentration on the beast in front of him.

Unsheathing Tenseiga, he focused on the small, underworld creatures. With practiced ease, he swung the sword in an arch over Ah-Un’s body. There were small screams from creatures before they disappeared. Sesshomaru re-sheathed his sword and waited.

An-Un’s first breath was a gasp from both heads. Kagome rushed forward to calm the youkai who immediately began to struggle as he recalled the memories leading to his death. “Calm down, Ah-Un. It’s okay.”

“Quiet down,” Sesshomaru commanded.

Ah-Un stilled. He was mostly upright at this point. Sesshomaru walked forward and put a hand on of the two heads. “You did good,” he spoke. “Now, rest.”

The beast bellowed; a groan of relief escaped as he laid back down. The Taiyoukai turned back around. “You,” he pointed to one of the women. “There are buckets over next to that building. Fill them up and bring them to Ah-Un. He will need water to recover.”

Kagome sighed. “What’s the magic word?”

“There is no magic required for such a task and I doubt she would be able to do so.”

“I meant ‘please.’”

“What magic does that do?”

Kagome pursed her lips. “You know what, never mind.”

Kagome turned her attention to the women. “If you’d please bring water to him; he’s rather nice—very docile, usually. And he means a lot to Rin-chan.”

The women looked at each other, obviously surprised by the young woman before them. Bowing, two women rushed off to do as asked. Assured that the task would be completed, Kagome turned to Sesshomaru. “Let’s go,” she spoke.

Without a word of protest at being ordered about, the Taiyoukai followed behind the miko. He concentrated on her small form, trying to find some proof within her that everything had worked; that she was with child. Unfortunately, the affects of the potion had dulled her pure ki that it was impossible to read; only his upon her was noticeable. That fact alone pleased him.

Somewhere behind, he noticed that the remaining women followed him; leave the other two to continue on their task. He would need to remind Cho to give them tasks.

As they neared one of the buildings, Sesshomaru pulled his attention back to the task at hand. They were about in the guest quarters—one built for Inuyasha and Shippo. Kagome stopped before the raised, wooden walkway. “I’ll let you take care of Jaken. I’ve become rather useless in this situation.”

He raised a brow at her; wondering why she had become squeamish all of the sudden. She smiled apologetically. “I’ll go check on Rin-chan, however.”

Entering the guest room, Sesshomaru took a quick scan of the people within before focusing on Jaken and the witch by his side. “I will question you later on why Haru made it through the last barrier,” he spoke curtly to Cho.

She gave a sheepish smile; sorry to get caught, not sorry at having disobeyed his orders. Haru was leaning against the farthest wall. Inuyasha walked in beside his eldest brother and went to stand beside the other. The hanyou took in the humans who stood right outside the room still; they were obviously horrified.

“He’s pretty banged up. What are you going to do?” Haru asked.

Sesshomaru defaulted to Cho. “Can you heal him without me?”

Cho chewed on her lips. “I can, but I don’t know how long, or how much he’ll suffer in the process.”

Sesshomaru considered his options carefully. He could allow Cho to heal him or he could kill his retainer and bring him back to life.

“Just do it,” the youngest brother interrupted. “Rin wants to see him—healthy—and this will be a lot quicker. Not to mention a lot less painful. He may be an ass, but…well,” Inuyasha thought for a second. “Yeah, I got nothing. He’s an ass. But don’t make him suffer.”

“Your verbal skills are still lacking, Inuyasha, though your argument is valid,” Sesshomaru replied.

He shifted his right arm to grab first the cursed sword, Tokijin. He measured his aim carefully before bringing it down into a clean cut. Death was instantaneous. Sesshomaru sheathed Tokijin; shifting his hand to one blade to another. He pulled out Tenseiga again. He waited until the underworld creatures came out once more. They looked at him cautiously as they began crawling over the toad’s body. The blessed blade made quick work of them.

Jaken came back and immediately sat up. He looked around. “S-Sesshomaru-dono! My lord! Rin-chan, they took—“

The Taiyoukai held up his hand to silent his retainer. “Rin-chan is safe. You did well, Jaken.”

The small youkai was stunned into silence. It was so rare for his master to give kind words to him. He felt like crying. “Hang in there Jaken,” Cho interjected. “Rin-chan wants to see you. She’s been very worried.”

“Not in here,” Sesshomaru commanded. “Go to the meeting room in the main building.”

He turned to address the humans behind him. “Clean up in here. The youkai servants will tell you what you need to know.”

The humans looked amongst themselves but said nothing. They waited for the youkai to leave the room before beginning.

The group walked through the garden and towards the main building. They could hear Kagome trying to comfort Rin. “He’ll be fine, but you have to be brave in the meanwhile.”

“B-but it’s my fault!”

“It’s not your fault, Jaken wanted to protect you.”

“Calm down, Rin-chan,” Sesshomaru scolded.

The little girl came to attention at once. “Sesshomaru-dono!” she cried and ran to him.

Before she reached him, he stepped out of the way to reveal Jaken. There was only a brief pause from the child before she called out the youkai’s name and threw her arms around him. She was just slightly taller than him now and used that advantage to curl herself around him.

Jaken squawked and feigned annoyance, but his words and protests weren’t harsh or forceful.

Sessshomaru turned as he felt eyes upon him. Kagome was sitting in seiza—legs under her with feet crossed, her hands resting gently on both legs—smiling brightly at him. He moved to sit next to her. “You are very happy,” he stated.

“I am,” she assured him. “Thank you.”

He was confused, not really understanding what he had done to deserve gratitude.

“So how long are we going to stay here?” Inuyasha asked, coming into the room now and sitting across from the other two.

He tried to ignore how close they were sitting. “I’m sure Miroku would enjoy us catching up with him—not to mention we do have a goal to accomplish here.”

“Just the night. I’ll send a message to increase the perimeter guards to dissuade any further incidents such as this; though that particular village will no longer be giving us trouble.”

Kagome’s smile faded. “You sure you didn’t—“

“No, he didn’t,” Haru defended.

Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably. “I really wish we could leave tonight.”

“No one is stopping is you,” Haru pointed out.

“Shut up, you’re not even supposed to be here!”

Sesshomaru closed his eyes, resisting the urge to snap at them both. “Our objective will not have changed by morning.”

“Yeah—but in the meantime the biggest pervert you’ve ever met is out there hanging about and no doubt getting into trouble.”

Kagome giggled. Sesshomaru’s brows knitted together. “Your care for your friends is…almost admirable. But, we’re waiting until morning.”

Inuyasha grumbled—crossing his arms by shoving them into sleeves.

“I think our dear eldest brother wants another night with his miko,” Haru suggested.

He waggled his brows at the two. Kagome was bright red; Sesshomaru was not amused. Inuyasha brought an arm out of his sleeve to bring it down, hard, on Haru’s head. “I take that back,” he began. “You’re the biggest pervert I’ve ever met.”
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Unexpected Endeavors