Shinju by Keiyuu

Introductions

Disclaimer: I shall never own Inuyasha but one can always dream I suppose :)

Summary: They were meant to be together but what happens when misunderstandings occur and things go horribly wrong?

Shinju

Chapter 1: Introductions

Sesshoumaru growled as he stalked down the hallway and knocked on the door of his father's study.

The past few weeks had been demoness after demoness flirting with him, throwing themselves at him (in some cases, quite literally) hoping to get into well ... his pants to put it simply.

If it wasn't 'Sesshoumaru-sama, won't you come visit me next year?' then it was 'Sesshoumaru-sama, you looking positively dashing tonight! Let me introduce you to my daughter, Mariko.'

Compliment's filled with no meaning, subjects just hoping to introduce some relative in hopes that the young Prince Sesshoumaru would take a liking to her.

All of those bitches just saw him as a living symbol of wealth and power, nothing more. No one cared for his opinion and no one had bothered to ask. No he did not think your daughter had nice hair nor did he care whether or not your daughter could 'provide for all your needs'. But of course, like a good heir would, he patiently explained to them that he was simply not interested in anyone and would remember their daughter if he ever thought of getting a mate. It had been a month of non-stop meetings as his father called it and as far as he was concerned, something had to be done to make his father realize that he was simply not interested in taking a mate yet. He was pretty sure in this month that he had met more youkai than he had ever known in his entire life so far. Someone had to put a stop and who else better than him?

His musings were interrupted when he heard the silky voice of his father, "What a coincidence, we were just talking about you Sesshoumaru."

His eyes narrowed as he stepped into the room. No doubt he was talking to someone who had set his eyes on him as the future mate of his daughter.

----

"Taishou-sama, you must come and visit the north."

"Takuya, no need for formalities, we have been friends long enough to avoid all the formalities unless occasion calls upon it. Tell me, how are the Northern lands doing these days? And, who is this young lady?"

"Touga, this is the Lady Kagome. She is Head Miko of the Northern Lands, she has helped my lands many times and I am greatly indebt to her. As of such, she comes with me wherever I go for she is also part of my court." Takuya replied.

Said miko rose up from her chair and bowed, "Inu no Taishou, I am the Lady Kagome and am glad to have met the great Dog General at last."

Touga laughed. "Tell me, Lady Kagome, what is it have you done to acquire such a position? Youkai courts do not willingly accept non-youkai or even youkai unless they have done something great or are related to their lineage."

"My Lord, I assure you that I did not perform any deeds of the likes of which you are probably thinking of. I simply saved Lord Takuya's child from certain danger a few years ago. Before that, I had assisted my Lord Takuya in several skirmishes concerning other minor Lords who thought to overthrow him. Lord Takuya and the rest of his court thought that I was worthy enough to join them. Since then, I am Head Miko of the Northern Lands and assist my Lord and anyone in any way I can." Kagome said with a small smile.

"Toga, I guarantee you in any way possible that Lady Kagome did not just assist me in a few skirmishes as she so simply calls it. In fact, it was her very self that killed the main youkai behind all the plots. The youkai in fact had been a thorn on my side for several decades and despite the best efforts of my spies and myself, he had eluded us in every plan that we attempted to put an end to him." Lord Takuya said while shooting a glare at Kagome.

"This youkai managed to elude the Master of Shadows himself but was slain by a mere human miko?" Touga said with a shocked look on his face, "I can see why you were accepted Kagome! I may call you Kagome right?"

The small woman laughed and all present were cast back into happier memories. "Of course, it would be a great honour."

"Excellent, then in that case call me Touga." He turned and addressed the Northern Lord, "Takuya, I would like to take up your offer on that visit. Sesshoumaru hasn't been to your lands since he was a pup and perhaps he might meet someone." Touga said with a sigh.

Sesshoumaru was approaching his 6th century and so far, he had showed no interest in any female youkai let alone cross the idea of becoming mated. Which sometimes in the most stressful of moments, led Inu no Taishou to doubt his son's sexual orientation. Then of course, there was his son's high and mighty 'I'm too good for you, go away or I'll melt you where you stand' pride and his slightly ... lacking personality. He could be rather bright and charming when he wanted to be but he always put barriers around his emotions. So this past month, he had deliberately invited all his subjects to his castle in hopes that at least one of their daughters would catch the eye of Sesshoumaru. Thus far, no luck. All his subjects had returned home, their hopes for their daughter in becoming the next Lady of the Western Lands dashed.

After being Lord of the Western Lands for two millennia, one does tend to become quite bored in all the formal and lordly duties required of being a Taiyoukai. His advisors were constantly getting swamped with complaints from all the unsatisfied youkai and humans residing in the Western Lands and he in turn, got flooded by all the requests.

'Damn it, I pay those advisors to DEAL with my people's problems but what do they do? They come to me for advice when in fact I should be the one going to them for advice. What in the world is this all leading to?' he thought angrily. 'What did he think of this treaty or that problem? What did he want to do about the slaughters in Lord something or rathers' village? What should happ--'he stopped abruptly, his mental ranting interrupted by a knock on the door. His senses registered it as Sesshoumaru, his son. He could feel the anger rolling off his son in waves.

He composed himself and answered the door, "What a coincidence, we were just talking about you Sesshoumaru."

He watched silently as he watched his son sweep into his room. He chuckled silently to himself, he knew that Sesshoumaru had had about just enough of meeting one too many female youkai. The fire burning in his eyes and his stiff frame gave away his mind. Sesshoumaru might think that all his emotions were keep under lock and key securely but Inu no Taishou had always found reading his son's emotions as easy as breathing.

Sesshoumaru paused halfway through the room and bowed, "Lord Takuya, the Western Lands is grateful for your presence and wishes you many long lives."

"Prince Sesshoumaru, what you said has been heard and taken to heart." Takuya said, inclining his head slightly.

With all due formalities out of the way, he turned upon his father intent on doing something about the flood of female youkai.

"Father, I must talk to you about some matters ..." he faltered as he saw the youkai no ... human woman next to the Lord of the Northern Lands. Her scent, it reminded him of something he couldn't just put a finger on. He remembered this smell from somewhere, it was a comforting smell. He was intrigued, where the stench of death that all humans possessed? He sniffed discreetly once again, checking for the stench of death, verifying that she was a human. Suddenly he detected a torrent of holy power flowing underneath her scent. His nose stinging and hastily evened out his breathing.

"Father, who is this?" he asked, gesturing towards Kagome. Why would his father allow a Miko and such a powerful one at that into castle grounds? More importantly, why hadn't he felt her presence upon her entrance of the grounds? He would've felt such great power immediately. He was surprised that no complaints had been made from the huge numbers of youkai present in the castle.

Kagome rose and bowed towards Sesshoumaru, "I am the Lady Kagome. I am pleased to have finally met the son of the great Dog General." She turned towards Inu no Taishou and smiled, "My Lord, forgive my sudden departure but I must leave to tend to some matters."

"Of course, I hope to see you again before you leave. If not, when I next visit the Northern Lands." Replied Inu no Taishou.

The small woman rose out of her seat and bowed once again to all three Lords in the room before exiting and closing the door with a soft thump. A thousand questions whirled through Sesshoumaru's mind as he stared at the closed door before quickly dismissing her from his mind. She was strange no doubt, but he had more pressing matters to attend to. He would unravel the secrets she held when he had more time. For now, he had to tell his father to stop the flood of female youkai invading castle grounds.

----

Kagome wandered down the hallways in search of someone needing help. Truth be told, she had nothing to tend to but had simply just used that as an excuse to get away from the boring political talk that was sure to happen. Although Taiyoukai may look stern and worry free, they were always worrying about the future of their lands and since Sesshoumaru was next in line, Kagome thought it would be best to excuse herself before she got stuck in the middle of a heated debate. Formalities, despite how it seemed were not her strong point and she had no interest in politics.

She had heard many a rumour claiming how powerful the young Prince was but she had been totally unprepared when he had stepped into the room. The whole room was engulfed in his youki and what was more frightening; it hadn't even been the full extent of his power. He was still young and not yet a Taiyoukai though when he took over as Lord of the Western Lands however, his power would be taken to a whole new level. It made her skin crawl at the thought of all the power he would have. The power of Inu no Taishou would be nothing compared to Sesshoumaru's full power.

'Sometimes, God just creates a person that is beautiful on the outside as well as the inside.' She thought wryly. 'And Sesshoumaru here just happens to be one of them. How is it that a male would be much more ... prettier than a female?'

"Life is just so unfair." she muttered.

"I agree." an amused voice said near her ear.

Kagome's heart spluttered hyperactively as she whirled around her powers flaring in self-defense. She snapped her head back only to meet the golden gaze of Sesshoumaru. Unable to withstand such force, she lowered her eyes and started playing around with the sleeves of the kimono.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! How nice to see you here." she managed to say with a small bow.

Sesshoumaru stared down at the human that was currently fidgeting nervously with her kimono. He could feel her obvious wish to get out of the awkward situation. It made him laugh, that such a powerful miko would fear a youkai.

"Lady Kagome, it would not do to ruin such a lovely kimono," he said gently whilst pulling her hands away from the frayed sleeves.

Kagome jumped slightly when she felt his hand touch hers. Her mind reeled. From what she had heard, Sesshoumaru had just about the personality of an ice cube and a non-existent tolerance towards humans. Why would he bother to tell her to stop fraying her kimono? She tilted her head to search his face to see if he was just joking.

"This Sesshoumaru also destroyed many kimonos when he was young in a similar fashion." He answered her silent question.

She laughed inwardly. She could hardly imagine a young Sesshoumaru worrying over something. He must've been so cute when he was young. What had happened to make him so cold, she wondered silently.

He watched as her eyes lit up with amusement and her lips tilted at the corners slightly. Something inside of him stirred. What was this feeling?

Both stood like that awkwardly for some time before Kagome finally decided to back out.

"Well, it was nice ... talking to you Lord Sesshoumaru. If you'll excuse me now I think I'll go to my room." She excused herself quickly before fleeing down the hallway, confused.

'Why couldn't it be some servant or something?' she thought miserably as she slowed down to a halt once she was sure she was out of range of all his senses.

'And why was he so caring?'

Being in his presence was hugely comforting. He smelt like a thunderstorm, fresh and calming. Taking several deep breaths, she now realized she was lost. Having never come to the Western Castle before, she now had absolutely no idea where she was thanks to her absent minded wandering. With a groan, she spun around in circles and ran a few times up and down the hallway in search of any other living youkai or human in the vicinity before realizing that there was no one to ask directions.

Moreover, she realized with a sneeze that probably no one had come here for quite a long time. Dust covered every square inch of the hallway she was in and the surrounding few hallways. Fine layers of dust covered the portraits hanging on the wall, the floor seemed grey and the ornaments and drawers along the hallway were enclosed in dust.

With a start, she realized she was most likely in an area which was forbidden. She sunk to the floor. Today was clearly not her day.

----

Back in Inu no Taishou's study, the great Dog General sighed as Lord Takuya exited the room. His plan had failed wretchedly; Sesshoumaru once again had rejected all offers and had shown absolutely no interest in any of the female youkai that had been introduced to him. He eyed the stack of papers perched precariously on his desk wearily. Pushing away from the desk, he stretched and strode towards the window.

It had been four centuries since the passing of his mate, Emiko. Every spring, there would be hundreds of thousands of cherry blossoms placed outside the gates of the Western Castle, a symbol of remembrance from all the youkai in Japan. Emiko had always loved the cherry blossoms and each spring she would spend most of her time in the gardens filled with Sakura trees. One of the first things she had done after she became his mate was to plant rows of Sakura trees in the gardens then finally in her own private garden. It had been her secret world, somewhere where she could be herself and where no one could criticize her every action as the Lady of the Western Lands. Ironically enough, she passed away in early spring from a sickness. The beginning of the end, he had called it in his eulogy.

Perhaps he would visit the garden again. After she had left him, it had become his own refuge. It seemed like her spirit still lingered in the garden, tending it and making sure it grew as beautifully as possible. The garden was able to relieve him of great stress and calmed his mind when he had important decisions to make. It seemed like Emiko was there, watching over him.

Yes, that was what he was going to do. A visit to the gardens would do him some good, a breath of fresh air and the scent of the cherry blossoms would refresh his mind. He swept down the hallways, turning at every other corner and junction. After several minutes of walking, he found himself at the very corridor Kagome had been lost in earlier. He slowed down, letting his sleeves drag over the drawers and the wall. Only the oldest servants and Sesshoumaru knew that this wing of the castle existed. To newer servants and others, it didn't seem as if this whole wing of the castle existed. He was so wrapped up in memories that he failed to notice the footprints that disturbed the layer of dust on the floor. At long last he arrived in front of a set of shoji screens. Sliding them open, he felt the cool wind rush past him and caress his face.

"Hello to you too, Emiko." He murmured.

He stepped outside and slid shut the door. The garden was circular in shape and sakura trees spiraled inwards towards the center of the garden. In the middle of the garden stood an ancient and yet spectacular weeping Sakura. Emiko had always sat underneath its branches, half obscured from view. As he followed the path spiraling inwards, he noticed the scent of the cherry blossoms became stronger until he could almost taste it on his tongue. It was a sweet and tantalizing smell. He also smelled the scent of grass after a rainfall. A clean and sweet smell. He broke into a run. Perhaps it was from the recent overload of paperwork but this scent, he would recognize it anywhere.

'Emiko, Emiko, Emiko.' His brain chanted, as he practically flew towards the middle of the garden. So great was his speed, he arrived panting. His eyes flickered everywhere frantically, searching for something, someone. At last, he noticed a wash of red amidst the pink and white blossoms. Not daring to hope he whispered the one word that he had so desperately wanted to say aloud since her passing;

"Emiko?"

A/N: How's that for a first chapter 8D

Not bad if I say so myself but of course, review me and rate me then I'll know if this story really is as good as I think it is LOL :)

Oh and,

I DEDICATE THIS CHAPTER TO MY GOOD FRIEND; Incomparable.

Check out her OHSHC fanfic on fanfic.net ;D