Supreme Conquest
By Danyealle
(MMF/FanFiction)
Chapter 5
Inuyasha was enjoying a leisurely breakfast, relaxing and trying to decide what he was going to do that day when there was a knock on his door. Smelling who it was he said, “Come in dad.”
Letting himself into his youngest pups room, Togaou walked over and sat down by him. After an affectionate pat on the back he asked, “How are you doing this morning Inuyasha?”
“Doing good,” Inuyasha said with a nod in between mouthfuls of food.
“Good,” Togaou said with a nod. “Were all going to meet up for lunch so we can sit down and talk about what’s gone on, things that are going to happen and talk to Kagome like you suggested. But over the next few days I’d like to spend some time alone with you so we can get to know each other a bit more.”
“I would like that,” the hanyou said awkwardly. He really wasn’t sure how to react to all of the things that had happened over the last 24 hours. Suddenly having a father in his life after not having one for the rest of it put him a bit off kilter. Plus what he had always heard about the old man made him unsure how to act around him. Honestly, he wasn’t sure how the old man would react to the way he normally acted and spoke. Until he got a feel for things he was going to be on his best behavior.
Understanding that his youngest was a bit off balance because of everything he didn’t take offence at the short answers. He had a long road ahead of him with his boy to establish a relationship of some kind. But, he would work on that later one. Now, Kagome had asked to talk to him and he had to get with Sesshomaru so he could fill him in on what had come of his talk with the miko then to start the wheels turning on various things. “Kagome asked if she could talk to you alone for a while. I think she has some things she needs to discuss with you privately,” he told his youngest.
Brow furrowed, Inuyasha looked at him. First thing that came to mine was the question of why she didn’t just come to his room herself. Next question was what in Kami’s name would she want to talk to him alone about? Yeah, they were friends and all that but they didn’t share secrets or anything like that. “Alright, I’ll go see here when I’m done eating.” He finally said, trying to keep the puzzled tone out of his voice.
“Why don’t you take her for a walk in the gardens? You’ll be alone and no one will disturb you.” Togaou suggested. Yes, they would be alone and no one would bother them, he know ensure that, but it would give him the opportunity to do a bit of eavesdropping on their conversation. He wasn’t concerned with what they talked about but he wanted to be aware of what fears or concerns she may have over the whole situation.
Even more confused, Inuyasha nodded then said, “Yeah, she would like something like that. I’ll grab her when I get done eating.”
…kst…kst…kst…kst…
Once he left Inuyasha’s room the daiyoukai headed off to find Sesshomaru so he could be filled in on what had occurred up tot hat point. As he expected he found his eldest pup in what used to be his study. Already he was hard at it, attending to what was needing to be done.
Seating himself in front of the large desk that was once his and what he almost felt chained to many times when he had been in charge. Letting Sesshomaru keep attending to those duties was a decision he was very happy with.
Relaxing in the comfortable chair, Togaou crossed his legs and laced his fingers behind his head.
After scrawling his name on the scroll he had been working on, Sesshomaru rolled it up and tossed into the pile with the others that were to be dispatched that day. Leaning back, he looked at his father. “Are there things that we need to discuss?” He asked bluntly.
“Indeed,” Togaou told him with a nod. Then he launched in. “I spoke with Kagome after she woke up.”
An eyebrow arched, Sesshomaru looked at him, “And?”
Quickly, Togaou gave a run down of his discussion with the miko.
Listening intently, Sesshomaru quickly picked apart everything eh was told and turned it over in his mind. After thinking it all through he nodded, “At least you got her to agree.”
“I was able to get her to agree to consider it, not to agree to the whole thing. Any time in the next year she can back out of it. Even at the year mark she can reject the whole ting. All this agreement means is we’re going to court her and she’s willing to give it a chance. But I have confidence that in a year we can convince her. Though one of us is going to have quite a few problems from what she said.” Togaou told his son, eyebrow arched. But he didn’t ling there and pressed on. “However, you can send out a scroll announcing I’m back as well as the fact that we will be sharing the title through a joint mating.”
“I will get on it right after lunch.” Sesshomaru told him with a nod, mind already working on how to word the missive.
“Good. Before then there are a couple things we should attend to.” Togaou said causally.
“Such as?” Sesshomaru asked, eyebrow arched.
“You for one.” The older inu told him pointedly. “Kagome expressed some quite serious reservations about you and any relationship developing between the two of you. You yourself have made that all the harder.” Locking his gaze with his eldest pup, he said; voice a bit frosty, “Showing up in her room drunk did not help matters any.”
Expression never changing, Sesshomaru gave an internal wince. “Nothing untold happened, “he told his sire in an even voice.
“No, it didn’t. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t in the realm of possibilities.” Togaou pointed out.
“True…” Sesshomaru conceded with a barely perceptible sigh.
“None of this is her fault Sesshomaru. I’m the one that made the decision. Quite frankly, she wasn’t much happier about the whole proposal than you were.” The daiyoukai admitted.
“I understand that father and I blame her for none of this.” Sesshomaru conceded honestly.
“You need to tell her that.” Togaou told him pointedly. “It could go a long ways towards improving things between the two of you.”
That was another thing Sesshomaru conceded was in order. “Understood,” he said with a nod. “Is that all we need to discuss?”
“No, there’s one other thing… Kagome is going to talk with Inuyasha this morning while they take a bit of a walk in the gardens. I thought a bit of eavesdropping on our end might be in order.”
Nodding in agreement, Sesshomaru said, “I concur. Issues we may not have thought of are bound to be mentioned. Forewarning with those would be helpful. With that advance knowledge mayhap dealing with them will be easier.” On his end it was a bit more than that. Hopefully, if she were to discuss the situation with the half-breed, he would get a better idea where he stood with her and just what he had to work with. No, he wasn’t at all happy with the whole situation still or what he had to do but he had decided after he woke up that morning that it would be worth it for the power and status he would gain from the union. Plus, honestly, he knew of no other way he could manage it on his own. He had tired since his sire’s demise for such a thing but hadn’t been able to manage it. If he could gain it by taking the little ningen as a mate he would acquiesce. But the conditions his father had laid down would be difficult to work with nor did he like them.
Being honest with himself, he would admit that he really didn’t have any idea of how to go about courting her or trying to win her affections. Hell, he didn’t do things like that. Nor did he even think he would have ever had to. Like most who were of his social class he assumed that when he did take a mate it would be a typical arranged marriage, not like this. Now, honestly, he was lost. But he wasn’t about to admit that to anyone.
That was a topic that was best left to be pondered when he was alone. Instead, he once more focused back on his father. “Though this isn’t exactly ethical I agree it’s a good idea.”
“True…” Togaou conceded, “But I think it should be fine this time.”
Nodding, Sesshomaru pressed on, “Beyond that, is there anything else I need to plan for?”
“Yes, you do. We’re going to have a long lunch. All of us are going to meet up to eat. That way we can lay out the plan for what’s to come then talk to Kagome and Inuyasha to get the information we need. Once that’s done we can adjust accordingly and make what plans we need to.”
“Alright, I can adjust to that,” Sesshomaru said with a nod. “What kind of plans do we need to make? Aside from the obvious ones.”
“I told Kagome I would talk to her family about what’s to come.”
That wasn’t something Sesshomaru had thought of. “Understood. What was her stance on how her family would react to this? Or did she know?”
“That’s not something she’s sure of. Apparently things are done differently where she’s from.” Then he went on to explain what she had told him.
When he finished, Sesshomaru looked at him, confused, “Just where is she from? Did she say? I’ve not ever heard of traditions such as these before.”
“She didn’t say but that’s something I plan to ask as well. It must be far different than what we’re used to. From other things she said things are very different. I think we have much to ask her about. She’s going to have to follow many of our traditions so I imagine there are some of hers that will come in to play as well.” Togaou explained.
“True,” Sesshomaru concede with a nod but, honestly, that wasn’t something he was looking forward to. Over his time he had heard of plenty of weird traditions others followed and didn’t want to be subjected to any of those.
Before Togaou could go on any further, they heard both Inuyasha and Kagome’s voices pass by as they made their way to the gardens. Once of the voices faded away Togaou said, “Open the windows. That should allow us to hear.”
Nodding, Sesshomaru stood up to do that.
…kst…kst…kst…kst…
Walking through the gardens, Kagome and Inuyasha talked quietly about the events of the last 24 hours while they looked for a private place to sit down. Finally, they found a place at the far end of the garden near a small decorative pond full of fish. Seating themselves on the flat rocks surrounding it Kagome leaned against him and watched the fish swimming around.
Leaning against her, Inuyasha started things off. “What’s up Kagome?” He asked her quietly.
Sighing, eyes locked on one of the bigger fish that was fining around, she said, voice very soft and quiet, “Look, I know we’re not the greatest of friends and that you don’t even like me all that much…”
“Keh… I like you despite the fact that you’re pretty weird.” He told her, a bit of a blush staining his cheeks. The truth of the matter was that he really did like her, a lot, and felt she was a great friend.
“You’re pretty weird yourself there dog-boy.” She shot back automatically.
“Keh…” was his reply to that but it gave him a bit of a grin. No matter how upset she was she would always give it back to him as good as she got. He liked that about her. But he pressed on. “What’s going on Kagome?” He asked.
Sighing deeply, she said, “Some stuff happened this morning that has me confused and I really don’t know what to do about it.”
Now he was really confused. What the hell could have gone on in such a short period of time to get her into this state? Even he could feel anxiety, confusion and other things wafting off of her.
Shaking her head, she let out a ragged breath then launched in and told him what his father had told her not long before in a bit of a rushed, rambling monologue that sometimes hopped around as she backtracked to cover something she had missed.
Oh yes, he was having problems following what she was saying but he was able to follow enough to understand what had gone on. Frankly, he really felt sorry for her! Yes, he knew what hi father was planning for wasn’t unheard of in youkai society, though it wasn’t common either. Nor was it a freak occurrence among humans of this time, thought it happened less than it did in youkai society. But, from the sound of things, it just didn’t happen in her time. From talks with her and her family he knew her time was far different from this one and things were done differently. Things that were normal for him were no longer done for them for various reasons. Nor, from the sound of many things, had she really even heard of some of them. Now she was being dropped into the middle of it cold and decisions had been made for her that she didn’t want nor could have prepared for in any way. The poor girl didn’t know what to think or do from the sound of things.
From his end, he was really feeling sorry for her. On one hand, he really wasn’t sure what she was in for with his father because he wasn’t sure what he was like. Yes, he had heard rumors and things people who had known him had said but he wasn’t sure how true any of those things were. But everyone did seem to agree that he would never hurt a female of any species and held all the fairer sex in high regard. Sesshomaru, on the other hand, was a whole other matter entirely. That asshole was one cruel fucker. Him trying to kill Kagome was proof of that. All he cared about was power and his path towards ‘supreme conquest’. Hell, as far as he knew the cold bastard didn’t even look at females of any species. Then there was his known hatred for ningens. There would be no way in hell the ice lord would have agreed to this willingly. It had to have been his father’s idea and he had put Sesshomaru in a position where disagreeing wasn’t an option. But, if that was the case, it wasn’t going to make things pleasant for Kagome either. More than likely Lord Asshole was going to be sure to take his displeasure out on her no matter how much his father tried to protect her from it. And it wasn’t even her fault. From the way things sounded to him she was as upset about the whole thing as he was sure Sesshomaru was and really didn’t want any part of it if she could at all help it.
When she finished talking it was obvious she was upset but he could also smell tears. No, she wasn’t crying but he was sure that if things were pushed any further she would end up there. That wasn’t something he wanted. He hated when girls cried, it made him uncomfortable and he was never sure what to do about it. Sliding an arm around her, he put a hand on the small of her back. “Damn Kagome!” Was all he could really say.
“How do I always manage to get myself into these messes?” She moaned morosely.
“This had nothing to do with you from the sound of it,” Inuyasha told her.
“Why me?” She asked rhetorically. “But more to the point how am I going to deal with this? I mean I don’t know what to do!” She sighed out.
“From what you told me you didn’t give a firm yes to it, just agreed to let them court you for a year. Any decision won’t be made until then. Right?” He asked.
Nodding, she replied, “Yeah, that’s all I agreed to. I wasn’t about to agree to anything else at this point.”
“That’s not bad then.” He told her bracingly. “You aren’t committed to anything other than agreeing to let them try to court you.”
“My mom is so going to flit out,” Kagome groaned, burying her face in her hands. “Especially about Sesshomaru when she finds out he tried to kill me.”
“You can always leave that part of things out.” Inuyasha offered helpfully.
“I can’t do that. I’ve always told her the whole truth about everything, no matter how bad it is.” She told him.
“Understood,” he said with a nod. Honestly, he really didn’t know just what to say to her that could help her feel better. As far as he could tell there really wasn’t anything he really could say. Instead he decided to try to get her to talk it out. Maybe if he did that she could work it out herself or give him something that he could help with. “Ok, what’s the worst of it for you?”
“That there will be two of them. Honestly, I think I could handle it if it was just your father despite the reservations about the age difference and the fact that he’s your dad. Those are things that are hard to deal with, yes, but I’m sure I could eventually deal with them. But two males? I’m not sure I can deal with that.” She admitted.
Nodding, he though about what she had said. One thing she had admitted stuck out more than others. He couldn’t help with much of what she was dealing with but there was one point he could. “Kagome… I don’t have a problem with the fact that you’re going to become my father’s mate. Hell, I don’t even know him. Yeah, I want to have a relationship with him and plan to try to but I don’t have a problem with you being in the picture. Hell, I like the idea really. You’re a really good friend and if you become his mate you’ll always be around. I like that.” He told her softly.
Relaxing a bit, she felt at least a little better. Honestly, she had been worried he would throw a wall-eyed fit over the whole thing. One really never knew with Inuyasha about things. “Thanks,” she said quietly, “I was worried you would be mad at me over the whole thing.”
“Naw, it doesn’t bother me a bit,” he assured her. Then he switched back to the original topic. “Is your problem with it that you’ll have two mates or that one of them is Sesshomaru?” He asked her.
“Both. Yeah, some people in my time share their lives with two people openly but it’s not legal to have two spouses. But it isn’t all that common either. Then, usually, it’s two women and one man, not the other way around.”
“Yeah, it’s usually that way here as well but the other way isn’t unheard of though. Usually it happens among youkai though, not ningens.” He conceded. Then he switched topics again, “”Sesshomaru? What about him that bothers you?”
“Yes, it bothers me that he is one of the mates to be.” She admitted with a bit of a nod. “Quite frankly, he scares me.” She told him softly. “I can’t just forget that he tried to kill me because I wouldn’t give him the sword. Then there are all of the things he said about humans in general and you. How can I become the mate of someone like that? Honestly, I don’t know if there would be any way I could trust him enough to be alone with him without worrying he’s going to kill me, let alone share a bed with him. “She admitted softly.
“I can’t say I blame you there.” Inuyasha agreed. “Sesshomaru is one cold-hearted, ruthless bastard and has been for as long as I’ve known him. All he seems to care about is that damn supreme conquest crap and power. And he doesn’t seem to care who he has to walk over or gut to get it either.” He could feel her anxiety level start to rise and fear start to mingle with it. That wasn’t what he had intended. Hastily, he added, “But if dad assured you that he’d protect you I’m sure you’ll be fine. Hell, I doubt even Sesshomaru will try to take him on. Also, if he says the bastard has to get your approval for the mating and that’s the only way he can get the power he so craves I’m sure he’ll do it and you won’t have anything to worry about. He has to know that if he acts like his usual asshole self then you’re not going to go for it.”
“Maybe,” she said with a deep sigh. “I guess that’s something I’m going to have to wait and see about. Right now I don’t even want to be left alone with him. I can’t envision anything beyond that.” She admitted with a heavy sigh. “All I keep thinking is I should run to the well, go through it then seal it from my end and go back to my life the way it should. But I can’t do that and abandon what I need to do here.” Stopping, she locked her eyes on one of the fish in the pond and watched it fin around the rocks in the pool. After a couple minutes she started talking again, changing topics. “How am I going to explain the well and where I’m from to them?” She asked him quietly.
Blowing out a deep breath, Inuyasha shook his head. “I don’t know Kagome. No matter how you go about it, it’s going to sound nuts.” He conceded. “But I’ll help and conform everything. That should help.”
“Thanks Inuyasha,” she said, looking at him smiling. Then she frowned a bit again. “Your dad says he has to talk to mom and that. How are we going to manage that one? As far as I know you’re the only one besides me that can get through the well. And there’s no way I’m bringing them through the well to this time. If that isn’t enough the time difference and how different things are will be just as bad to explain.”
Shaking his head, Inuyasha said, “I don’t know Kagome, I really don’t. But we’ll manage it somehow between the two of us. Hell, I’m not going to abandon you. I’m not going to give up my jewel shard detector in any way so I’ll help you all I can. “He said.
Grinning, she stuck her tongue out at him but felt a bit better. With him helping her it wasn’t feeling as though she were so alone in the whole thing.
…kst…kst…kst…kst…
Sitting in the study, both inus listened intently to the whole conversation. When they got to the topic of Sesshomaru Togaou looked at his oldest son but said nothing.
On the other hand, Sesshomaru wouldn’t even look at his father but he was paying acute attention to what was being said. When Inuyasha said what he did the younger daiyoukai had to fight the urge to grind his teeth. Yes, he understood the boy had said nothing but the truth however he hadn’t helped the whole matter with Kagome in the least. That didn’t make him at all happy.
When the two finally finished talking about the topics that were of interest to the two inus Togaou motioned for his pup to shut the window. Once his son had done that the older inus said, tone casual, almost conversational, “Sounds like you have a great deal of work to do Sesshomaru.” Before his pup could answer he stood up and stretched. “I’m going to go. We’ll meet up for lunch.” Then after a nod to his pup he left.
Staring at the close door of the study, Sesshomaru let out a barely perceptible sigh. This was quickly becoming harder than eh could ever have imagined and he really wasn’t sure where to even start with the whole thing.
Shaking himself mentally, he sat up then tried to focus on what he needed to do. Later, he promised himself, later he would have some time alone then he would try to work out what he needed to do then he would try to come up with a plan of how to go about things. But now wasn’t the time for that.
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