It had been a week since finding the photograph, it took three days for Sesshomaru to come back around the village, much to Rin's dismay. Inuyasha had been insistent on allowing his brother the time alone, that he would come back on his own. When the silver-haired demon lord entered the hut again, it was a silent agreement among everyone to not bring up the woman; it did take threatening Myouga to get him to keep his mouth shut, but he eventually did. It didn't stop the glances of sympathy and pity being aimed at the dog demon, though. The fact that Sesshomaru caught every single one cast his way, and he knew why it was being given, it undoubtedly pissed him off to the point that even his beast was starting to stir in irritation. He didn't want or need anything from the humans, the assholic flea, or his incompetent half breed of a brother; he had made it thus far. He was not a sniveling invalid who needed his hand held in solace.
"Hey, Sesshomaru." Kagome paused as she shifted through her bag. Sesshomaru glanced over at her from where he laid against the large oak tree the Miko had noticed he had silently claimed it as his own. He wasn't certain how she had found him, considering he was a fair distance from the village and in the more dense area of the forest. She dropped her heavily yellow bag to dig further down inside of it causing the demon to wonder exactly how much she managed to cram down into its interior. She pulled out a small book before opening it up quickly when she saw she had his attention. He blinked as she held out a familiar rectangle shaped piece of paper.
"I-I hope you don't mind, but I had your picture lamented. It doesn't hurt it or anything; It will take a lot more for it to be damaged and will make it last longer through the years."
Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes as he grabbed the old picture from her hands. He had never bothered to ask for the picture back after it being found; mostly because he knew if it landed back into his hands, he wouldn't stop himself from looking back into the past. While he was a well educated man, he didn't know what 'lamented' meant; but as he looked at the photo, he could see the differences. While the picture still had its worn out crease folds, the yellow tint, and torn edges, it felt a lot more stiffer and durable with a more glossy appearance. After absently rubbing his thumb across the smooth surface, he decided it wasn't that bad of a change. He felt his eyes immediately trail over the slowly fading colors of the image. The dull ache in his chest made him hold his breath as the blurred out face of the woman was replaced with vivid details that slowly caused his vision obscured.
Kagome started to return her books back to the proper order inside her bag, trying to ignore the fogged over gaze that he had slipped into. In a way, she knew what it was like to lose a loved one; she had lost her father when she was little after all. However, it was when she was small so it didn't really take effect that much on her considering her memories were few and far between for her dad. It had been a task to send the picture through the well paired with a letter asking her mother to fix the photograph since she could no longer cross through to her home. If she hadn't had the image lamented, it probably wouldn't have lasted another decade with all the battles Sesshomaru goes through. She wasn't sure how it had made it this long in its current condition; the Lord of the West must have really been taking care of it.
"You have my gratitude, Miko."
If it had not been for the deep baritone of his voice, she doubted she would have caught his quiet words. She smiled as she looked up at him. She hadn't expected to be thanked, at least not that way. Maybe a nod of the head, but not actually being thanked verbally. She felt her smile fade slightly as she looked down at her bag.
"Can I ask you a question?" The words was coming out of her mouth before she could stop them making her pale. Sesshomaru's only movement was to look away from the photo. Kagome sighed as she gripped her bag straps in a failed attempt to calm her nerves. "How did the photo get taken? The technology to create images like that hasn't even been invented yet, at least to my knowledge." Her question sounded innocent enough, but it could still manage to hit a sore spot.
Sesshomaru tucked the photo inside his Yukata against the armored chest plate so it wouldn't fall; he didn't want to take the chance of it falling out with his movements if it was held by his armor alone. He saw how Kagome's skin paled, her tightened grip around her bag, and the scent of nervousness and fear making his nose twitch. It wasn't a bad question… At least, there was more invading questions that could have been asked. He supposed he could indulge the miko a little since she had fixed his possession without being asked, or expecting something drastic in return. Usually, when a favor was owed by a Lord towards the lower class, outrageous requests was asked of the nobility.
"The village was one of the five that were so well hidden that it was difficult for anyone, other than the residents to find; so they are not well known. Their economy was vastly different from anything like I've ever seen."
He thought back to the devices that he seen plugged inside people's ears with small black boxes so they could communicate at longer distances. At the time, he hadn't cared about integrating the technology into his lands… Well, his father's lands. His thoughts and attention revolved around one thing only… And it wasn't about improving the West's economy.
"Do the villages still exist?"
"This Sesshomaru hasn't visited the hidden villages in nearly two centuries; but rumors have spoken of their fall. Although, this Sesshomaru can not say if those words hold any truth." His jaw tightened as he realized he spoke in third person once more. This would be the last time he allowed himself to speak so poorly, a Lord had to show their refined education in every aspect, anything less was unacceptable.
"Oh. I see." Kagome muttered as she started to head back on the path she arrived by. She had to go help Sango and Kaede cook dinner soon; she didn't want to leave the task to burden them. Inuyasha and Shippo had been eating more and more lately so cooking as much food as possible was for the best. She knew she should have kept walking, to allow the demon to rest without pushing him in a corner, but the nagging voice in her head wouldn't let her just leave without saying something.
"It's okay to grieve, you know? Holding it all in just hurts yourself; i'm sure the pretty blonde lady wouldn't want to see you suffering." Maybe the voice in her head knew she would never had the courage to look him in the eye and say that, that's why it was pressured from her lips once she was a safe distance away. She felt chills on the back of her neck as expected him to lash out at the topic being brought up, but after a few steps, nothing was happening. She didn't have the guts to glance behind her to see his reaction; her only thought was to hurry back to the village before the Demon Lord decided he had tolerated her presence enough.
Sesshomaru watched as the ravenette was swallowed by the surrounding woods, his chest burning where the photo was pressed. It wasn't just simply grieving. He had used to believe that the wounds he gained in spars against his father, and the battles he followed the great dog demon into, was the worst kind of pain man could endure. But now, it paled in comparison to the agony in his chest, a heavy weight that made it hard to breathe or even think straight; No amount of rubbing, sleeping, or medicine made it ease.
Closing his eyes, she was always there, smiling and rambling on some insignificant matter that she made seem major with how her eyes narrowed, petite hands moving erratically with her words. From the lack of sleep or his deep rooted grief, he couldn't tell, but his mind always played the cruelest of tricks. It had started it out simple, catching a scent like hers, a glimpse of blonde hair; then it turned into hearing her call out to him, her laughing. Nights when he could convince his body and mind to start to shut down, he would be jolted awake by petite hands running through his hair, nothing but the forest as his company. His mother, Inukimi, believed her death was driving him mad... he couldn't refute the claim. Inukimi hired a talented witch to block his memories to 'ease the pain and take away the burden' as she had said. He wouldn't have known what was going to happen if it hadn't been for one of the loyal servants at the palace giving him a few tip-offs beforehand... apparently, it was in his best interest to not be aware that a witch was going to go through his memories and practically removing them. Him and his beast hadn't been on the best of terms with Inukimi since then.
That was another thing.
His beast went dormant not long after he had received the news of her death. He was there... Just unresponsive. Sesshomaru couldn't tell if he was sleeping or just silently watching, grieving. It really didn't matter that much, he could still shift into his true demonic dog form without him; but his once impeccable senses had dulled to pathetic levels. A demon wasn't considered 'whole' unless he had two things: a responsive beast and a mate. To be considered 'unwhole' was a serious offense in the demonic community; not finding a mate quite yet was more understandable than his beast being dormant. The lords already knew he was unmated, it had already been thrown in his face more than he could count, but if they found out that his beast wasn't active... his fathers lands would be sold off to one of the heirs in line for the thrones in the East, South, or North... possibly even divided it up between them all. No matter how much him and his father didn't quite see eye to eye, he couldn't allow his lands to be dealt out like that, a 'toy' to be pulled apart for power and greed.
Besides, she would have never forgiven him if he allowed his fathers legacy to fall away to tainted hands. Unconsciously, he rubbed the smooth metal of his armor where the photo had been tucked away beneath his yukata. The council- that included the lords of the east, north, and south as well as several others- had decided that until Sesshomaru could find a proper mate and bare a heir that ensured the thrones safety, Inukimi would hold reign over it. He had a limited time to do all this considering he had avoided it all together for so long; if it wasn't done, he would lose the rights to the throne. It annoyed him greatly that other rulers believed they had a say in when he needed a mate and heir; his lands bared no importance to them in that sense, their only concern should be the boundary they were leaping over with water behind their ears. Sesshomaru had already decided he wasn't going to take a mate, definitely not for the councils intentions. He would find a loop hole before his time ran out, somewhere written in his fathers messy handwriting was a scroll in the private library that could pull him out of this hole... There had to be a way. Now, he just had to find it.
But first, he had to find a way to repay the miko for taking good care of his possession...somehow.
****
Shippo laid his empty bowl down on his lap, feeling his stomach give a pleasing roll; it was his twelfth bowl of chicken soup. He didn't know how much Inuyasha had eaten but the hanyou, without a doubt, had no right to judge his appetite. He noticed he had been eating a lot more than he could usually handle; but he brushed it off as Kagome´s cooking was just too good to let go to waste. Inuyasha had been growing angry with him because he was ´eating all the food´; but the girls had been doing a great job at making a variety of foods for everyone in the hut to eat.
¨Shippo, will you help Rin with the dishes tonight? I have to go check on the clothes.¨ Sango asked as she started to clear up the bowls around the fire that everyone had left laying around.
Inuyasha´s ears twitched as the fox kit chirped his reply before running off the short distance to the streams, arms full of bowls and plates; Rin following along with her own dishes to carry, although much less than what Shippo was holding. He didn´t see where the kids pulled there energy from, but he knew he needed it. After the fight with Naraku, he always felt too tired to do anything; Miroku just called him lazy. Even though it had been about a week since he had last spoken to Myouga, the last time being when the flea had been explaining Sesshomaru´s situation, he couldn´t calm his temper on the matter. He didn´t see how his brother wasn´t trying to massacre the lords and everyone else that set up the ridiculous decree that he had such little time to take a mate. He hadn´t spoken to Sesshomaru since finding the photo, but he planned on hunting him down soon; He couldn´t just stand by and let his brother randomly pick a mate that was for life... no matter how much of a bastard the demon lord was. There had to be a way to outmaneuver the other self-entitled assholes who thought that they could just forced a demon to hand-pick a mate like they were just a simple accessory. There was a reason it took so long for demons to find their mates, you couldn´t just point to the nearest female and say it was your true mate; it didn´t work that way. Demons are born with a beast, no matter what species. These beasts already have one set imprint on a soul, who is their mate, before they are even born. It was rumored that the Moon Goddess was the one to help match and pair beasts with a person that matched what the demon needed; a gift from the Moon Goddess for her children. Mates was considered a huge thing in demonic society, treasured; to throw away the opportunity to be with their other half was considered a serious offense... it was something even evil demons could agree on... something that Naraku had agreed on strongly.
Inuyasha didn´t know if half-breeds received a mate or not; but he was okay with that considering he already had his eye on his intended. He just needed to find a way to show her his intentions without ruining anything in their relationship...
Anyways, he had to first make sure his older brother wasn´t to make the biggest mistake of his life by listening to the council.
I was just going to stop on Sesshomaru part but decided to add a little more. I´m trying to update all my stories as soon as possible but I am in my Senior year of high school and have to keep my grades up. Plus, I am president of the manga club here at my school so i have to make scheduled meetings for the year and get all the materials ready, planning out what series we are starting with first. I was thinking about starting everyone off on Fullmetal alchemist since some of the clubs members are new and don´t even know what manga is; and it is less likely to offend somebody in some form or fashion.