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Ever Us -- The Blessing; Keiko	By : DaddysSpecialRequest Category: InuYasha > Yaoi - Male/Male > InuYasha/Sessh?maru > InuYasha/Sessh?maru Views: 4015 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, nor do I make any money from it.

Chapter List
- 29
- 30
- 31
Chap 30
Day 60 (9wk 4 day or 2^nd month)
Open court occurred daily in the morning. Not all the advisors had to be there, nor both of the lords. While the lords had been married and in Edo, the oldest advisor monitored events and Jaken was the messenger. When the lords had returned it had become a daily occurrence. It was a venue to allow the town folk an opportunity to express their concerns and be reassured that their lords and the lords’ advisors would hear them.   Sometimes the court would have on five minutes’ worth of issues and then the royal staff would be on their way. Occasionally there would be more dramatic events like this day that would require a private advisor meeting.
Inuyasha had been sitting on the steps listening to a merchant’s concern about fresh water when several castle messengers rushed in on horseback at the same time.
“That is a problem, my good merchant.   I will task a guard with it right now. Tell him what you know and then you are dismissed.” Motioning to a guard to take over, Inuyasha walked to the horseback riders.
“Where are you coming in from?” Inuyasha looked the messengers and horses over. They were dusty and had clearly been on the road for many miles.
“I was with Lord Bunza’s tribe,” said one.
“I was with Lord Kouga,” added the next.
“Very good.   Take care of the horses and get cleaned up and I’ll call the council.   Meet you in the main throne room in one hour.”
Jinenji just happened to walk by when the messengers were dismissed to clean up.
“Welcome home, my friends,” he called to the horses.
Both steeds whinnied greetings.
“Hey Jinenji,” called one guard.
Jinenji turned to the guard.
“I’m concerned about this guy’s right foot leg. He’s occasionally limping. Can you ask him what’s going on? I couldn’t see anything.   And tell him he did a great job for me.”
“Certainly,” Jinenji smiled and started talking to the horse. A moment later he turned back to the guard. “He’s ok. Just had a rock and it bruised his foot. A little rest and he’ll be fine. And he says thanks to you too.”
“Tell mine too, Jinenji!   It was one long trip for me so I know he’s ready for a treat.   Can you ask him if he wants something specific?” the other guard chirped in.
The guards mingled around Jinenji getting specifics and patting their horses. The horses just wanted a bath and some food and maybe an apple if there were any and soon they were on their way.
Inuyasha had been on his way into the castle to call everyone to the meeting but had stopped to watch Jinenji.   During their interchange Inuyasha smiled contently, pride emanating from his being. As the guards and horses left Inuyasha called out to Jinenji.
“Jinenji, join us in the throne room in one hour!”
The horse hanyou wave his acknowledgement and went about his rounds.
Inuyasha ran into Jaken next.
Inuyasha bent to talk to Jaken face-to-face. “Can you grab the advisors for a meeting in one hour?   The messengers are back from Lord Bunza’s and Lord Kouga’s!”
“But of course. Shall I get Lord Sesshomaru too?” Jaken appeared expectant and excited.
“Neh, I was on my way to the library anyway.” Then noticing the disappointed expression on Jaken’s face he changed his mind. “You know, I’m hungry. You can get him. Tell him about the messengers and that I’m in the kitchen.” And with that Inuyasha changed directions and walked to the kitchen to talk to the chef and get some food.
__________________
Inuyasha had demolished a tray of vegetables and crackers before returning to the main throne room.   When he arrived only Captain Kenichi was present awaiting the meeting.
Looking carefully around, Kenichi smiled and grabbed his friend’s hand. Quietly he said, “I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks Kenichi.” Inuyasha beamed.
“I promise I’ll be quiet about it.” Kenichi put a finger to his lips.
“I know you will.” Inuyasha’s ears moved independently scanning the room.
“It’s just so exciting!” Kenichi whispered. “I want to help you anyway I can.   I owe you and Lord Sesshomaru so much.”
“What brought on this?” Inuyasha pointed at the welling of tears in Kenichi’s eyes.
“I told Usagi of my resurrection last night. It had been awhile since I told anyone.   Just made me think about how much I am grateful for. And you guys top the list.”
“Duh!” Inuyasha cuffed his friend playfully. “’Nuff of that ‘motional krap. You gotta realize my control ain’t like it has been.” By this time the Inuhanyou was fighting back tears of his own. “You gotta stop that shit or I’ll be crying like yesterday. You ain’t the only one who is grateful.   You’re my best friend next to my brother.   I’m naming one of our boys after you!” Then feeling he was too mushy add the barb, “Though Kami, I hope he’s better lookin’!”
Kenichi smiled mischieviously and returned the verbal volley. “ I can only hope my namesake doesn’t look as girly as his dad.”

Shoulder slapping and gentle rough housing followed and soon the old friends were laughing at themselves. The misty eyed moments were in the past.
___________
By the time Lord Sesshomaru entered the main throne room all parties were in their positions. Captain Kenichi was standing to the side keeping watch over Lord Inuyasha who was sitting in seiza on the raised tatami mat.   The advisors were all in position in front and Jinenji was positioned at Inuyasha’s right.   The messengers were standing against the side wall behind Captain Kenichi.   The members bowed at the presence of the master, all except Inuyasha who just smiled and winked.
‘Someday my mate will understand court decorum,’ thought Sesshomaru and he took his place.
‘Someday my mate will relax,’ thought Inuyasha as he rubbed his mark and sent messages of affection.
“Brother, you have called the council. Lead the meeting.” Sesshomaru turned and waved a royal hand toward his mate. A millisecond smile indicated he had received the affections.
“Gentlemen, My brother, our King, commanded that the other Lords check their records from fifty years ago. We are looking for a record of events of a female demon or perhaps witch. It was to be gathered and reported to us as rapidly as possible. Akio brought us the tales from the beaver demons. Today messengers have arrived from Lord Bunza’s and Lord Kouga’s lands.   Now that we are all present let us hear their tales.”
Kenichi turned and motioned to the first messenger.
“Lords, Advisors, I was with Lord Kouga.   His return to his home was uneventful, but it took some time to get the information from his father’s missives and memos. The lord was not gifted in writing skills.”
Inuyasha snickered.
Sesshomaru frowned at his brother.
“The only female demon story in the wolves’ archives was a story of a sea otter that had come inland. Her name was Claudia.   The old wolf king was intrigued by her and found her interesting.   As a child she had been swept along the currents to Okinawa. She was rescued by an old fisherman. As she was being nursed to health she watched the old fisherman do his daily martial arts. She began to copy his moves and later when she healed became his student. When she had mastered all he could teach she returned to Edo.”

“How does this connect to the fight over the land and the mysterious shape shifter?” one of the advisors asked.
“Lord Kouga’s father said that he had seen a grown otter female teaching four porcupines Okinawan karate.”
“WHAT! How ridiculous!” the advisor squeaked. The other advisors started making racket and the throne room was quickly noisy.
“Fascinating,” Lord Sesshomaru uttered.
The advisors shut up immediately.
All eyes turned to the Lord.
“Akio, didn’t you tell us there was a beaver tale about a porcupine missy?”
“Yes Lord Sesshomaru. The beaver fisherman had come across a missy who was crying about losing her babes. Do you think there may be a connection there? Lord?”
“Hnnn,” was all Sesshomaru said.
“What is Okinawan karate?” Inuyasha asked.
“It’s a newer form of Chinese kung Fu,” Sesshomaru replied. He was transfixed at a point on the far wall. “Tell me more, messenger.”
“Yes my Lord.   Kouga’s father seemed fascinated with her and had written much about the otter demon. She was a typical playful otter. She had a philosophy. It was that all ages should play because playing was good medicine. She had been her tribe’s healer, but had come across four orphaned porcupettes adrift in an old tree. The old tree floated well, a natural boat. It had made it past the outlet of the river to where the sea began.   She rescued them and feed them and then decided that she needed to take them to their home. She started up the river with them. She had seen herself in their eyes and decided to return the favor to the fates.”
“Their journey up the river took years. They had to walk along the river. They got distracted by many things along the way. Early in their travels the young porcupines were frightened of everything and stopped and balled up to hide from even a snapping branch.   Claudia decided they needed to be more self-confident and taught them karate. Funniest thing the old wolf had ever seen. He even tried to draw a picture of them doing the five animal positions.”
“They had traveled long together and the porcupines were young adults by the time they had arrived at the wolves’ territory. They were not typical porcupines by this time. They acted like otters. They played a lot. They laughed. They were not afraid.   They fished from the shore with their quills.   They used them like arrows.   They would stab a fish and Claudia would gather the hunt.   Quite a team!”
“As for their mission to find their home, they had not found anyone along the way that knew of a porcupine mother who was missing children.   So they turned around and were going to walk back to the sea.”
“How old were the porcupine youth?” Sesshomaru asked.
“Approximately fifty years old,” the messenger answered.
A collective “ooh” went through the crowd.
“Thank you for your good work,” Lord Inuyasha pointed to the next speaker. “What news do you have?”
The messenger who had gone to the Lynx territory stood. “My Lords, Advisors. I went with Lord Bunza.   His return trip to his home was a bit more eventful.   Seems he had quite the sumo fan following.   We had to stop at many a village so he could autograph things. Some bandits even tried to rob from us but Lord Bunza tossed them all around like they were dolls.   It was pretty amusing.”
“Lord Bunza’s paternal grandmother and her friends talked to us while they knitted. They weren’t getting much knitting done though. As soon as one pulled the yarn another would bat at it.   The thing was a mass of holes. They were rather forgetful and funny. Lord Bunza seemed content to watch them.   They were even having trouble remembering what they ate yesterday so he had to prompt them for a while until they got the stories started. Once they were talking about the “old days” their memories were clear.”
“Apparently they were all entertained by a wandering tanuki demon. The tanuki made money off telling stories and wandering from place to place.   He had told them that he had taught a Porcupine demon to shape shift.”
“Surely this was a tall tale!” the same advisor spoke up. “Tanuki’s are such tricksters. They are worse than foxes!” Then noticing Lord Inuyasha’s glare the advisor corrected his statement but adding, “The Lord’s grand kits not included, of course. They are little darlings,” his voice trailed off as he squirmed in his seat.
“Hnnn,” Sesshomaru snorted only loud enough for Inuyasha to hear. Inuyasha had considered snarling but chose not to.
“How can we verify that story?” Inuyasha scratched his head behind an ear.
Akio spoke up. “My Lords! Hiroshi from the tournament!   We could talk to him.   He seemed a decent being.”
“Captain Kenichi, send a runner to bring Hiroshi back to the castle.   We can give him a stipend to be an advisor for shape shifting. We have all seen him shape shift. Perhaps he can share with us how to look for the imposter.”
“Now any other stories that may assist us in our situation?”
Both messengers spoke for thirty more minutes and then the group split up.
- 29
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- 31
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Ever Us -- The Blessing; Keiko