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Learning to Love	By : Ikaru Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Sessh?maru/Kagome > Sessh?maru/Kagome Views: 22062 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Chapter List
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Disclaimer: I own nothing, I make nothing from this so you no sue….but I cry anyway T.T

It was brought to my attention by one of my lovely reviewers that I made and author oopsie and switched the name of Sesshoumarus’ mom and Ikarus’ mom on a few occasions, I have gone through and corrected this, and I want to thank lara5170 for bringing it to my attention!!

Alrighty last time we left you on a bit of a cliffy…yes I am evil and writers block is a bitch, I apologize profusely for my lack of updates, my muse decided to abandon me *glares at unruly muse*. Please bear with me I am trying my best. So without further adieu…on with the show!!
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They had given the dragons off to some stable hands with strict instructions about their care before they had begun walking toward the main keep where a great commotion was rising.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes as he realized what day it was they had come back on. It was the day he usually took petitions for eligibility of mating. Upon the insistence of his sire that he at least hear the women out, he had set aside one day every third moon cycle to hear the petitions all at once, before they had had free reign to show up whenever they pleased and stayed for days on end, now they had one day to present their merits, then they had to leave if no one was chosen. Needless to say no one was ever chosen.

Cursing his luck and that damned tennyo again; he wrapped his arm possessively around Kagome’s waist and held her to his side, making sure his scent masked the scent of her pregnancy. Kagome, sensing the immense amount of demonic power on the other side of the gates, quickly shifted Rin so that she was in between the two of them. Sesshoumaru took one last look down at Kagome, who smiled bravely at him, then nodded to the guards at the gate.

The gate creaked open slowly, but finally it opened enough for them to slip quickly through and begin navigating the huge crowd of females on the other side. As they made their way through the crowd, looks of shock, disbelief and rage passed over many of the females’ faces at the sight of Kagome and Rin tucked into Sesshoumaru’s side. Kagome didn’t take any notice of the female’s stares; instead she focused on the small group standing above the others in front of the doors of the castle, all of which bore a striking resemblance to the demon at her side.

“His family…” she thought. All of them held looks of shock for a moment, then the female standing in the front, using her tail to hold back a small boy, changed her expression to one of anger. Her eyes held a fire that had Kagome almost shaking in nervousness at the intensity of it, but she stood her ground and maintained eye contact. Kagome had decided it would be safer for Rin to be held by Sesshoumaru for the moment and easily passed the child over to him forcing him to release his hold on her. A small growl escaped him when she tried to step away from his side, but he stopped when she took her cue to stay close and reclosed the distance between them.

A moment later the hairs on the back of Kagome’s neck stood on end, in the blink of an eye she spun around and caught the tip of a dagger moments before it would have made contact with the back of her head. Her eyes widened when she noticed that there was another hand on the end of the dagger. It was the woman with the angry expression from the front of the palace doors; she took the dagger from Kagome and flung it back into the crowd, nailing the would-be assailant between the eyes. She flew back into a group of women blood pouring down her face and the light fading quickly from her eyes.

The angry woman turned and looked straight at Sesshoumaru and whispered in a low and dangerous voice.

“Get them into the castle now!” Her eyes flashed red for a spilt second to emphasize her point.

Sesshoumaru only nodded and began to move with more haste through the crowd. Kagome’s arm was grabbed by the woman and guided through the shocked crowd. When the crowd wasn’t parting quickly enough for the woman’s taste she lifted her hand and sent a blast of energy hitting several in the crowd, taking their cue they all quickly cleared a path for the angry woman.

Soon enough Kagome had been ushered inside by the woman who remained outside issuing an announcement; even through the thick doors she could still be heard.

“Enough of your meaningless prattle you pack of bitches! Should I hear any more of this nonsense your lives will be forfeit! Now stay here and remain quiet and you will be dealt with in due time!” She shouted at the crowd. They quieted extremely quickly, knowing full well the woman could and would follow through with her threats. Said woman turned grabbed her discarded kimono layers and stormed into the castle slamming the doors behind her.

Sesshoumaru had taken up residence beside Kagome handing Rin back to her. When the doors had slammed shut a green and silver blur slammed into Sesshoumaru. The woman was hugging him tightly around the neck and he was hugging her back!

“You have no idea how happy I am that you are safe aniki…” she whispered quietly, he only ‘hnned’ in response.

“I must say musume, you were quite effective at quieting those women down, however, I believe you may have let your temper get the better of you.” Inutaishio teased gently.

“I do not care; it will not matter for long anyhow, because he has claimed this woman as his mate.” She said quietly, slowly releasing her hold on Sesshoumaru.

When she released him and took a step back, she looked over at Kagome, who noticed some of the anger had faded from her eyes. Rin had buried her face into Kagome’s hair, and Ikaru took advantage of the laps in the child’s attention. She turned on her heel and punched a completely unaware Sesshoumaru square in the nose with bone crunching intensity sending him flying across the room and watched as he crumpled into a heap on the other side of the entrance chamber. No one noticed Kagome’s wince of pain, or the slight watering of her eyes.

“Take him to Haruka, and tell her to keep him out for as long as possible, I will bring the child along shortly, tell her to be prepared.” She said calmly to a pair of nearby guards who rushed to do her bidding. “Lady Izayoi I want you to take Inuyasha to his chambers and stay there with him until we come to get you.” She said in the same calm no nonsense voice.

“But…but what about me getting to see aniki onee-san?” Inuyasha protested as he was being carried off by his mother.

“Do not worry about it little one, when this is all taken care of you will get to see him.” She said giving him a small smile as he rounded the corner. “Papa I need you to go to the kitchen and fetch at least four of the freshest pitchers of blood we have and meet me in your study in a few minutes.” She continued her orders.

“Yes ma’am! Would you require anything else of me milady?” Inutaishio smirked as he bowed dramatically. Ikaru rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm as he hurried off down one of the halls.

Kagome looked at the sister of her mate steadily as she slowly approached her. “What is your name?” Kagome asked stopping the females approach as a look of shock overtook her features.

“Forgive me; I am Ikaru the Lady of the East, and forever the Princess of the Western Palace. What are yours and the child’s names?” Ikaru countered.

“I am Kagome, Princess of the Southwestern domain, and this is my newly adopted daughter Rin we saved her from an oni and some slave traders. Say hello Rin.” Kagome coaxed. Rin looked up from Kagome’s hair shyly at the pretty lady who had closed the remaining distance between them.

Ikaru smiled kindly down at the child. “Hello Rin, I am Ikaru, It is a pleasure to meet you.” She said kindly, bowing her head to Rin in greeting. Rin smiled radiantly back. “Now Rin I must take you to our healer Haruka to tend to your injuries.” Ikaru said holding out her arms expectantly, Rin looked unsure for a moment, looking to Kagome for approval. Kagome looked at Ikaru and saw the gentleness in her eyes as she looked at Rin, and nodded to Rin passing her over to Ikaru after giving her a quick hug of reassurance.

“I will return shortly, Boku will lead you to my father’s study. Please wait for me there.” Ikaru said disappearing down the same hall they had carried Sesshoumaru down earlier.

One of the guards from the entrance walked briskly over to Kagome and quietly ushered her down yet another hallway. The guard was silent the whole way, and this made Kagome glad. She knew she was about to have to answer a whole plethora of questions from Ikaru and Sesshoumaru’s father, so a few moments of peace was a true gift. When Kagome had been thoroughly turned around by over a dozen twists and turns she was admitted into a modestly decorated study. Boku had left her at the door, quietly shutting it behind her. She wandered over to a low table near the fireplace and settled herself down comfortably. She sighed, knowing this would be a long day.

Ikaru sensed when Kagome had entered inter her father’s study due to various enchantments that had been placed on the room to prevent intruders from getting a hold of the many important documents stored there, and quickened her pace to the healers chambers. Rin was playing with Ikaru’s ponytail, this cause her to smirk revealing one of her needle sharp fangs. The glint of her fang caught Rin’s attention and she reached forward to try and touch it only to be stopped by Ikaru’s hand gently holding her hand back.

“Careful little one, I was born a wolf demon, so my fangs are much sharper than my brothers.” Ikaru warned gently, quickly adjusting the potency of her venom to a non harmful level before letting the child’s hand go and letting her explore. As Ikaru knew would happen, Rin brushed her finger against her fang wrong and managed to give herself a small cut that began to bleed almost immediately. She pulled her finger back and looked sadly at it. “I tried to warn you little one, now give me your finger and I will heal it for you.” Ikaru said reaching for Rin’s hand.

Rin clutched her hand closer to her chest and shook her head making an eating motion when Ikaru just looked at her confused. This caused Ikaru to laugh a little. “You have nothing to fear child, I truly do not like the taste of humans, only the mindless beasts waste their time on your kind.” Ikaru said reaching for her hand again, this time receiving no resistance.

She took Rin’s bleeding finger and carefully licked the small cut until it stopped bleeding, and all that remained was a fading pink line. To emphasize her point she made a face and said ‘blech!’ when she was through causing Rin to erupt into her silent laugh as they finally arrived at the healers chambers.

Haruka was there to meet them, and directed them in the opposite direction that Ikaru knew Sesshoumaru to be.

“Haruka I want you to examine this child thoroughly and report to me later this evening on her condition. I must leave now, please make sure that Sesshoumaru remains incapacitated until I send word otherwise.” Ikaru said sitting Rin down on one of the examination tables. As she was turning to leave she felt a small tug on her sleeve and looked down into the worried face of the child. Ikaru knelt down until she was eye level with Rin.

“I know this must be scary for you little one, but you can trust Haruka, she has been taking care of my brother and I since we were your size. She is a very kind woman, and she will do nothing to harm you, this I promise.” Ikaru said giving Rin a reassuring pat on the head as she nodded her acceptance. “Good girl, I will see you later alright?” She smirked at the child who lit up and smiled brilliantly.

Ikaru chuckled as she walked out of the medical chambers, the last thing she heard was Haruka’s soft but firm voice saying ‘Well now my pretty little one, let’s check on those cute little feet of yours first and work our way up, what do you think?,’ Causing Ikaru to laugh out loud at the obvious affection already in Haruka’s voice.

It took her no time whatsoever to reach her father’s study because she knew all of the shortcuts. She was surprised that Kagome was still the only resident of the room. Cursing her father’s tardiness, Ikaru quietly entered the room and took a seat at the small table with Kagome. That sat quietly, waiting for Inutaishio, and luckily for him, he arrived a few moments after Ikaru carrying a tray with four very large pitchers of fresh blood.

“I do apologize, they were bleeding the animal out just as I arrived and I had to wait for them to finish before I could get any.” He said chuckling at his daughters’ murderous look, and the new woman’s shocked look as he placed the tray on the table effortlessly before taking his seat at the table as well.

“First things first Kagome, I want you to drink three of the pitchers before we leave this room.” Ikaru said handing her a goblet that had been hiding behind the pitchers, and filling it almost to the brim with the warm liquid. Both Kagome and Inutaishio looked at Ikaru with shocked expressions, before Kagome began to look sickly and held her stomach and mouth to keep herself from vomiting again.

“I am sorry but I can’t, the smell and the taste make me violently ill, I can’t take them.” Kagome said weakly slipping into a more informal speech pattern.

“Your body and the pup you carry require it, are starving for it even, and you say you cannot stand the taste and the smell of blood? What kind of demon are you?” Ikaru said bluntly, raising an eyebrow at her father when he leaned over to get a good smell of the new woman, before he sat back with a dreamy look on his face. The idea of being a grandfather had obviously incapacitated the old dog.

“I was not born a demon, I actually have no idea what I am, but I was born a human, and humans do not drink blood, so it only makes sense that I have issues with it.” Kagome said defensively.

“Well if those are the only issues you have with blood then I can remedy them.” Ikaru said taking the goblet from her and waving her hand over it and whispering a few words that caused the goblet to glow for a few seconds before returning to normal. She handed it back to Kagome with a smirk. Kagome looked at it confused before taking a delicate sniff, and sip. Her eyes widened and she quickly gulped down the rest of the goblet.

Ikaru laughed, “Even demons tire of the taste and smell of blood at times, I came up with this little spell to trick the nose and tongue into believing the blood is whatever your favorite beverage is. I realize this will be difficult but you must drink slowly so your body has time to absorb it. I want answers to my questions, but first I must see to the wellbeing of my brothers’ pup and mate. Before you can ask I knew you weren’t any normal kind of demon, but your human birth I must say intrigues me. How about you explain how you came to be my brothers chosen one?” Ikaru said pouring herself and her father a goblet of blood, and refilling Kagome’s. Her father had knocked himself out of his stupor when he realized that there was a story about to be told that would explain his sudden entry into grandfather-hood.

Inutaishio watched as Kagome fought not to gulp down the second goblet of blood before beginning her tale starting with how she met Sesshoumaru, their stay on the island, and finally their adoption of Rin and taming of the two dragons on their way to the Western Palace. Both Ikaru and Inutaishio sat quietly as Kagome wove her tale, and sat in silence for a long time afterward sipping on their respective goblets and making sure Kagome’s was always full.

“Well that was quite the interesting story, and it answered most of the questions I had. Kagome it is quite obvious you care deeply for my brother, however, by demon law you cannot be acknowledged as his mate, regardless of what his beast may have done already. In the demon community you are seen as little more than a dalliance. His mark means nothing until you have earned it, regardless of your present condition.” Ikaru said sadly motioning to Kagome’s belly.

“What do you mean I have to earn it, he and Ericka told me that I was his mate. I admit I know very little of demon laws but it seems like this is a moot point, I’m pregnant with his child and am carrying his mark, what else is there to a mating?” Kagome said feeling a little agitated.

“Let me explain Kagome. In the demon community the female gets to choose the male, she will typically go for the male that can provide her and her children the most stable existence. In other words the strongest male available is typically the most sought after by the masses. Now the male does get some choice in the mating, when he fights the female for dominance his beast decides if the female is worthy to carry his pups or not.” Ikaru said.

“I don’t see a problem so far, Sesshoumaru and I fought and came to a draw in battle, and obviously his beast likes me as I am with child.” Kagome said looking confused.

“Ahh, but you see for the nobility the rules are slightly different, Sesshoumaru happens to be the most sought after male in all the lands at the moment. When something like this occurs among the noble class it is customary for all of the eligible females to compete in a contest to determine the strongest among them all. Then that female earns the right to challenge the male to see if he will choose her in return. Before your arrival we were about to arrange for such a challenge to take place. However with your arrival and him having already chosen you, this changes the plans all together. For you see you will have two choices, you can challenge the strongest eligible female, or you can fight in a gauntlet and take on all of the females wishing to take you on.” Ikaru said watching Kagome’s reaction carefully while refilling her goblet from the third pitcher.

“The choice should be obvious, one battle compared to possibly dozens, but who would I have to fight?” Kagome swallowed the last bit of liquid in her glass finally finishing off the last pitcher she had been required to drink. When she looked up, the serious look in her eyes made Ikaru want to smile, she could already see the warrior the demon community feared coming to the surface.

“I’m not certain who won the last tournament as I was away on other business, Papa who was decided to be the strongest female?” Ikaru turned to Inutaishio who looked like he was in another province from the faraway look on his face.

“Hnnn….Oh pardon me, seems I got lost in my thoughts, hmmm the last female tournament ended with Kurumi winning I believe, though some question the honesty of her victory.” Inutaishio said frowning, obviously questioning it himself.

“I was afraid of that, she has been known to take whatever means necessary to get what she wants, and she has wanted Sesshoumaru for quite a few years now. There must be another female who can show you are more than worthy of being aniki’s mate.” Ikaru frowned as well falling deep into thought.

“What has both of you so worried about her?”Kagome said her curiosity obvious.

“Besides the fact that she is suspected of being dishonest in fights, there is her particularly ruthless nature, she is not above killing in the ring where there is no point just to eliminate the competition.” Ikaru said

“What’s your point, I have had to take care of many demons causing problems in my domain before, and I have obviously survived to tell the tale and those demons were not above being ‘dishonest’ as you call it.” Kagome said confidence ringing in her voice, but her smirk turned into a frown when Ikaru barked out a harsh laugh.

“Don’t be foolish, do you really think we would allow one of our own who has gone rogue to make it to the borders of the human domains? Any demon of reasonable intelligence that goes rogue is dealt with by our people. The ones you encountered were no doubt the mindless ones that possibly had the ability to speak. While rare the trait does occasionally show up in some of them.” Ikaru said grimly.

“So you’re telling me all these years that you all have been protecting the humans from your own kind?” Kagome said looking baffled.

“Don’t look so surprised, we may not particularly like humans, but it is a necessary part of life to coexist with them, so therefore we try to maintain a balance.” Ikaru said waving the topic away with a sweep of her hand. “We need to get back to the topic at hand…” Ikaru said before Inutaishio interrupted by slamming his fist on the table.

“I’ve got it! She could fight you!” Inutaishio exclaimed loudly pointing to Ikaru.

“Wait…what?” Ikaru looked confused for a moment before her eyes lit up and she stood laughing and began pacing. “Papa you’re brilliant! This is exactly the kind of loophole we needed.”

“Wait I don’t understand, how could me fighting you possibly fix this problem?”Kagome asked.

“Well for starters if you can at least end the match in a draw with me there will be no question as to your strength as I am the unquestioned strongest among the females. Should you fight Kurumi there would be rumors swirling about the validity of your strength and it would open you up for more challenges. By fighting me there is only one fight. The rules only state that it has to be an eligible female of mateable age, they say nothing about intent to mate.” Ikaru said with a sly grin.

“So you’ll fight me with your full might even though your brother has chosen me for his mate?” Kagome said looking skeptical.

“I will guarantee you a fair fight, and I never enter a battle with the intention to lose. This battle holds a great importance, not only to your future, but to the future of the west. You will be fighting me at my best, this you have my word of honor on.” Ikaru said bowing her head to Kagome.

“Then I accept the challenge of fighting the strongest female, Lady Ikaru of the Eastern lands.” Kagome said bowing her head as well.

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Well that’s it for this chapter folks, hope you enjoyed it.

I’m working on the next chapter and hopefully will have it done soon.

Questions Comments? Leave me a review and I’ll try to get back with you on them.

Later all!!
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Learning to Love