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Friendly Persuasion	By : Ookami13 Category: InuYasha > General Views: 2417 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter Twenty-Three:

Winner Take All
�Lord Sesshomaru?�
�What is it now, Rin?�
�Is Kaji-chan gonna be all right? She hasn�t moved at all.�
�She�s fine, Rin.�
�Are you sure, Sesshomaru-sama?� Rin asked, looking up at her lord.
Jaken fumed, �Don�t ever question Lord Sesshomaru�s word!�
Small sparks came from beneath Jaken�s feet, causing him to
jump up and down. Sesshomaru looked
over at Kaji, whose fingers glowed a soft orange.
�Even with the Chain of the Sun to bind her fire
abilities, she can still create it even while she sleeps,� Sesshomaru
thought, �I had best hurry to reach my destination, then, so that I may have
her for myself before she wakes.�
The wind, however, spoke of another story. One sniff was all it took for Sesshomaru to
know that someone approached him.
Turning, Sesshomaru saw that the one the wind spoke of was a
wolf demon. In fact, it looked to be an
enraged wolf demon.
�That must be him,� Kouga thought as he raced towards
the white-haired dog demon he guessed was Sesshomaru, �that�s the one that
stole her from me!�
Coming to an abrupt stop, Kouga glared at the one the mutt
had called Sesshomaru. The sight that
greeted him to his left angered him all the more.
Kaji sat on a two-headed dragon, her arms and legs dangling
on either side. Her eyes were closed
and Kouga knew that she had been put to sleep, for he doubted Kaji would fall
asleep like that on her own.
�You must be Kouga.�
Sesshomaru spoke, bringing Kouga out of his thoughts.
�What do you know about it?�
Kouga challenged.
�She calls for you, so I take it you have come to take her
back with you?�
�Of course,� Kouga said, beginning to get defensive, �what kind
of mate would I be if I didn�t come to retrieve what is mine?�
Sesshomaru cocked his head to the right, �Odd, I do not scent
any of what you speak. She is as free
as the wind, or rather, as free as the fire she has at her disposal.�
Kouga snarled, �If you�ve hurt her...�
This caused Sesshomaru to chuckle, although it was a cruel
sound, �I really have no time for this, Wolf.
Come try and take her if it would please you. I guarantee you shall not come out the victor.�
�And just what makes you say that?�
�Fool,� Sesshomaru scoffed, bringing his right arm up across
his chest, �do you not know what it means to catch this woman?�
�Of course I know what it means. It means that she loves me if she allows me to catch her.�
�You�re a larger fool than you appear. To catch the daughter of Usu-Maru means
ultimate power. I am glad to have
caught her now while her power still remains, for if I would have met her
tomorrow, her power would not be the same as it were today.�
�What are you talking about?�
�Do you not scent it?
Or does your wind not tell you?�
Sesshomaru asked, a cold smile tugging at his lips.
Kouga scented the air and backed away at the scent.
�What�s happening to her?�
Kouga demanded.
�Do you not know the scent of death, Wolf?�
�Death?! Why does
she smell of death?� Kouga decided to ask, �And why does she smell
that way? What did you do?�
�I did nothing.
A man of much power and authority gave the daughter of Usu-Maru a
bracelet. The bracelet was gold and had
several gems upon it, gehat hat were linked to all of the elements she could
not control on her own without help.�
�And what does this have to do with my Kaji? Other than the fact that you�re implying
she�s the daughter of this Usu-Maru guy.�
�Do not interrupt milord Sesshomaru!� Jaken protested.
�Silence, Jaken.�
Jaken cringed, �Yes, Milord.�
�A fire entity such as this woman needs the element of wind
to live. The golden bracelet supplied
that wind for her, allowing her to live without having to depend on a single
wind entity. Now, however, she has
given the bracelet to someone else, and now she is fading away.�
Kouga searched his memory, trying to recall if he�d seen the
bracelet upon anyone�s wrist, �That witch Kagura has it!�
�Ah, no doubt Kaji-san gave it to her in hopes of weakening
Naraku.�
�Why couldn�t she just live off the wind that blows over the
land?�
�It covers too much area, and she could not link with Kagura
because Kagura would need her magic to weaken Naraku. Besides, it would have to be a male entity of wind for her to link
with. Once she has removed the
bracelet, she is no longer dependent on it for survival. She has one week to find a male entity of
wind to bind herself to.�
�And she couldn�t link with me because I was too weak,�
Kouga thought, �but if I can get her back now, she could link with me!�
�I know what you�re thinking, Wolf, and it won�t work. I have already commissioned a wind sprite to
teach me a few ways of the wind, so that she will link with me. Then, we shall be joined forever, and I
shall become the most powerful demon lord this land has known in over a
thousand years.�
Kouga growled, �No!
She�s mine! I challenge
you for the right to have her! If you
win, you can carry out your little plot, but if I win, she�s mine!�
�Seeing as how she is my possession, it shall be as
easy as breathing to get rid of this pest,� Sesshomaru thought, knowing
that since he had placed the chain on Kaji�s neck, she would grant him
power rather than this wolf, �as you wish, Kouga; however I must ask that you
not run away, for you only receive one chance to take her from me.�
�That�s all I�ll need, Sesshomaru!� Kouga yelled as he charged Sesshomaru with all the speed he
possessed.

At the cliff...

�I wonder if Kouga found Kaji-chan yet?� Kagome asked to no one in particular.
�I�m sure he has, Kagome-san,� Kaede said, �if he loves
Kaji-san as much as she loves him, then I am certain he has found her even as
we speak.�
There was a sound that resembled that of a twig snapping, and
everyone turned to face the sound. There
was a snort, and then a head poked out of the bushes, followed by a strong,
lithe body.
A tiger stood ten feet from them.
It was larger than any of the tigers Kagome had ever seen at
the zoo, and its� eyes were a dark green.
Not the emerald color Leota�s had been, but the eyes of this tiger were
similar to the color of jade.
The tiger came closer to them, its feet making no sound as it
approached the fire and walked right between Kagome and Shippo, flashing the
latter a grin. It headed towards a
group of rocks, and soon disappeared behind them.
A few moments later, rustling could be heard behind the
rocks, followed by another snapping twig.
Finally, the noise died down and someone in khaki pants and a torn green
shirt carrying a large pack appeared.
He smiled as he approached the fire, the smile showing in his
voice, �I promised I�d be back, so here I am and no one even says hello!�
Shippo stood from where he�d sat cross-legged on the ground,
�Tora-kun?�
Kagome asked.
Tora pointed to his nose, his smile widening, �They don�t
call me Tora for nothing. I can
smell, �ya know.�
�Oh, right.�
Blushing, Kagome looked away, sneaking a peek at Inu-Yasha before gazing
into the flames.
�So, uh, where�s Ookami-sama?�
Even Shippo stopped fidgeting as tension fell over the camp
once again.
�She�s not here.�
Kagome said.
�And where is she, exactly?�
�With Sesshomaru.�
�What?! The Lord of
the Western Lands has Ookami-sama?!
What were you thinking?!�
Tora exclaimed, jumping up at the name of Inu-Yasha�s older half
brother.
Everyone raised an eyebrow at him, but Miroku spoke, �How do
you know Sesshomaru?�
�le>�Please, I�m a demon too, �ya know. Just as Ookami-sama�s father, Usu-Maru, was
Lord of the South back home, I am Lord of the East. That�s only back home, though, and
Ookami-sama doesn�t know that.�
�How can she not know?� Sango asked.
�Because the only reason she was in the Mortal World in the
first place was to get away from me.�
�What?� Kagome asked, �Could you explain this in plain
Japanese, please?�
Tora sighed, �Many years ago, back when I had just become
the Lord of the East, my mother and father wished for me to find a bride. I was the equivalent of your seventeen then,
and my parents wished for me to be wed before the age of twenty-one.
Well, Ookami-sama�s father, Usu-Maru as I mentioned before, wished
for her to be married as well, or at least engaged. So, our parents joined forces and finally came to an agreement
about the dowry and so forth.�
�Dowry? What�s
that?� Shippo asked.
�Yes, yes, Shippo-chan.
A dowry is, back home at least, something that the woman brings into the
marriage. For the lesser families, a
woman might be bringing livestock, or weaving skills. For a family like mine however, she would need to bring something
better. A small fortune, or a rare
gem. Something like that.
Anyway, we were promised to be wed, and were about to have
our first meeting. She wore a veil that
covered her face and looked down as she walked, as was required of a lady in
those days. All of a sudden, though,
she fainted. Servants carried her out
and when we tried to attempt the meeting once more the next day, she was gone.�
�So how do you figure that Kaji-chan is the woman you�re
supposed to be marrying?�
�I saw a picture of heforefore I left to go to the Mortal
World, the world where you met us, Kagome-san.
I saw a picture of her human form, at least, for that was the one she
was obviously going to use. She doesn�t
know who I am because she never saw me.
Her head was lowered, and she obviously didn�t sneak a peek because then
she�d probably have sliced me in half by now.�
Tora concluded.
�Why did you even stay with her? Are you two still engaged?�
Inu-Yasha questioned.
It was amusing to Tora to watch Kagome�s face change at
Inu-Yasha�s question. Her eyes held
daggers and she glared at him.
�If you�re here to take her back to wherever it is you two
come from just so you two can get married, then I�ll purify you right here!�
Raising his hands in defeat, Tora smiled, �No, no, no! I wouldn�t dream of marrying her now. I realized years ago that she wasn�t my
type.spanspan>I sent a letter home saying that
as Lord of the East, I would cancel my engagement and marry whenever it suited
me.�
�Then why are you still here? Following her, I mean.�
�I�m here to make sure she gets together with Kouga. It�s obvious that they�re in love, so I want
to make sure that she�s happy,� Tora smirked here as he looked at Kagome and
Inu-Yasha, �and maybe I�ll even throw in another couple just to make the
last few hundred years worth my while.�

On the plain...

Sesshomaru and Kouga had several small cuts and a few gashes,
but both of them showed signs of tiring, despite their demon blood. Something in the air was making them tire,
but neither could tell what it was or from where it came.
�Why don�t you just give up?� Kouga asked, slightly bent over with his hands resting on his
knees.
�No,� Sesshomaru said, somehow able to stand up straight
despite the injuries Kouga had put on his back, �the daughter of Usu-Maru is
mine.�
�I�m sure she also has a name.�
�Pardon?�
�You keep calling her, �the daughter of Usu-Maru�. Doesn�t she have a name?�
Sesshomaru smirked, �She has many names. Which of them would you like?�
�Whichever name was given to her at birth.� Kouga said, looking up to make sure the
dragon that carried his woman still circled above them, looking down
occasionally to watch the battle.
�Well then the name you want is Death.�
�What?� Kouga asked,
his face wearing a confused expression.
�Never mind, if you do not know the name of Usu-Maru�s
daughter, then you are of no importance.
No one dares to speak her name, for they are all afraid of its
power. Can you imagine any other name
that, by itself, demands respect and foretells of great power?�
�No.� Kouga admitted,
already not liking where this was going.
�I see,� Sesshomaru said, turning to leave, �well if you do
not know any other name, and you do not know her name, then you are not worthy
of a woman such as she.�
Kouga growled, �Where are you going?�
�I am going to the wind sprite that I mentioned earlier so
that I may link Kaji-san to me, and thus save her life.�
�You�re not going anywhere, Sesshomaru!� Kouga
shouted, standing straight as he held his head proudly, �She belongs to me, and
I am going to take her back!�
Sesshomaru glanced over his shoulder at Kouga, �Don�t fool
yourself, Wolf.yes"> Kouga looked toward the door, for no doubt it was one of his
wolves wanting to rub against her, but he saw nothing there. That�s when he looked down and saw that Kaji
had moved.
And now she was looking at him, warm embers in her cobalt
blue eyes.
�You�re awake.� They
said, laughing at the fact that they�d spoken at the same time.
Kaji smiled and Kouga returned the smile, leaning down and
placing a kiss on her forehead.
�I dreamed of you until the moment I woke up,� Kouga said, �I
kept dreaming of Kagome banishing you over and over again.�
�I did not dream, since my sleep was not self-induced, but I
know that had it been my choice to sleep, I too would have dreamt of you,
Kouga-kun.�
�You can�t fool me, little Fire Wolf,� Kouga said, allowing
himself a small smile, �Sesshomaru told me what was happening to you, about
what you did.�
Kaji averted her eyes for a moment, but soon looked at Kouga,
an intense look in her eyes, �I did not wish to force you into anything,
Kouga-kun, but I have a question for you.�
�What is it?�
Kaji swallowed and looked at him as though he were an opponent
that she were trying to stare down, �Will you be my wind?�
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Friendly Persuasion