InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Naraku's Child ❯ There Be Suitors ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: As if I owned it. I wish, and I keep wishing, but the stupid stars must be broken!

 

A/N: Kiyomi is now 7 years old. Later in the chapter we jump 9 years to her 16th birthday. When she is 11, Kagome gives birth to Kibuki and Kamori.

 

Naraku's Child

Chapter 2: There be Suitors

By Ethril Dragon

 

Kiyomi's birthday had been great after she had figured out how to play with Inu-Yasha. She had received lots of wonderful gifts, mother and father were happy, and her friends played games with her. From her point of view, everyone had had fun.

Now, Kiyomi was outside laying on the grass in the field outside of her father's palace. The stars were coming out and her parents thought she was back in her room. `Today was the best day ever,' she thought to herself as she looked for her favorite stars in the entire sky. It didn't take her long to find the constellation. The trio of stars that glimmered at her was the easiest to find. Her mother had once told her the constellation was called Orion and had told her the story behind it. Over the years Kiyomi had come up with her own story for the heavenly warrior. She had told herself that he was her warrior, watching and protecting her while she lived on earth. One day, she thought she would go to the heavens and join him in the sky. Kiyomi giggled. Her father had enjoyed her version of Orion's story.

 

*Flash Back*

 

“I want to mate with Orion one day!” Kiyomi announced as she sat in her fathers lap. They were star gazing again.

“I think that would be rather hard little one,” Naraku said as he looked up at the warrior constellation with his daughter.

“I don't care, I want to mate Orion! He's the greatest warrior in the world and he knows everything about me!” Kiyomi said with a big smile as she looked up at the stars.

Naraku smiled patiently. “And how does he know everything about you?”

Kiyomi turned and hugged her father. “Because he watches over me just like you do!” Kiyomi kissed her father's cheek. “And I can't mate you so I want to mate Orion.”

Naraku laughed and hugged his daughter, his true daughter. “I'm sure you'll find someone even better then Orion.”

“Will I find someone as great as you?” Kiyomi asked, her eyes big as they looked at her father.

“You never know…” Naraku held Kiyomi close and swore to himself he would do everything in his power to make sure he found the perfect mate for his little treasure.

 

*End Flash Back*

 

Kiyomi sighed. Her father was the greatest demon in the world in her eyes. She knew she'd never find anyone as great as him, that's why she chose Orion. He wasn't in this world, he was above it. So if her father was the greatest in the world, Orion was the greatest in the heavens. It all made sense to the seven year old girl.

“What'cha doing out here shrimp?” A voice said from behind her. Kiyomi squeaked and jumped up. She thought she had avoided her guards.

Kiyomi spun around and shifted sheepishly when she saw the man behind her was Inu-Yasha. “Nothing…” she said shyly. Kiyomi knew she was in trouble now. She was supposed to be in bed.

Inu-Yasha sighed and hunkered down next to the child of his old love. “feh.” He said as he laid back and looked up at the stars.

Slowly, Kiyomi sat next to him, her eyes locked on his hair and then his face. They sat like that for awhile, him looking up at the stars with his ears twitching and her just watching him.

“Are you going to get me in trouble?” She asked suddenly.

“What?” Inu-Yasha asked as he looked at the pint sized Kagome clone.

“Are you going to tell momma and papa I'm out here?” Kiyomi asked, her shoulders slumping slightly.

“Feh, Why would I?”

Kiyomi looked at him in surprise. “Cause you're an adult and adults are supposed to ruin all the fun.” Kiyomi said, quoting her brother Shippo.

Inu-Yasha rolled his eyes. “Feh, I don't care.”

Kiyomi continued to watch Inu-Yasha while she contemplated him and his ways. “You're weird.”

“Yeah well you're short.”

“You're a meany head!”

“You smell funny.”

“Yeah…well…” Kiyomi puffed out her cheeks in anger and suddenly pounced on his chest.

“The Fuck?!” Inu-Yasha yelled as the kid jumped onto his chest, trying to pin him down. Her small hands rolled into fists as she sat there. She gripped his red hitoe.

“I don't smell funny!” She said with an angry pout.

“Yes you do! All kids do. Now get offa me!” Inu-Yasha said as he sat up, knocking Kiyomi off in the process. She tumbled from his chest and onto the ground, rolling so she first landed on her head. She sat up and rubbed her head.

Kiyomi pouted and sniffed a few times. Inu-Yasha had a flash back of a similar pout and sniffle from the past.

“Awe shit!” he said as he hesitantly pet her on the head. “Don't cry!”

Kiyomi's lip shook as she whimpered a few times until finally she started to wail.

“PAPA!” Kiyomi yelled.

“Come on! Don't cry!” Inu-Yasha begged, nervous and unsure as to what he could do to get the kid to stop crying. He remembered when Kagome used to cry she would get angry and sit him. Granted she still could sit him, but how was he going to get her daughter to stop crying?

Nervously, he did the only thing that came to mind.

Kiyomi stopped suddenly as she felt arms go around her. She hiccupped a few times until it dawned on her it was Inu-Yasha that was holding her. She looked up at him in surprise. The look on his face confused her. He looked nervous and wary, as if he thought she might start crying again.

Inu-Yasha hadn't thought his plan would work, but Kiyomi had stopped crying. He relaxed a little and sighed only to stiffen as he felt her snuggle into his arms. He sat very still, his heart racing as he felt the small child relax in his arms. He remained still even as he felt her quickly fall asleep.

Inu-Yasha was unsure how long he sat there, just holding Kiyomi. When Kagome and Naraku arrived, he had just started to relax himself.

“What's going on?” Naraku asked seriously as he retrieved his sleeping daughter from the hanyo's arms.

Inu-Yasha stood and rubbed the back of his head nervously. “I noticed she was out here alone so I thought I'd watch her. We got into a…argument and she started crying so…” He shrugged and looked to Kagome for help.

Kagome laughed softly. “It's been a big day for her Naraku, she was probably really worn out.”

Naraku nodded. “I'll take her back to her room.” He turned and lovingly carried his precious daughter back towards the palace.

Kagome watched her mate as he carried their daughter away.

Inu-Yasha looked at Kagome for several minutes, longing for her too look at him the way she looked at Naraku. He knew she never could, like she once did, but he still longed for the feeling of being loved by another. He turned his back towards the palace and looked up into the sky again.

Kagome sighed and looked at Inu-Yasha for a few minutes. She saw the longing, the sadness, even the pain that filled him. `Once I would have done anything to make him happy…I still want to help him, but not the same way,' She thought as she reached out a hand.

Kagome's hand rested on Inu-Yasha's arm and he cherished the gentle touch.

They stood like that, until finally Inu-Yasha turned to look at her once more.

Kagome took a deep breath and sighed. She wanted to tell him about the wish that had been made on the jewel, but something held her back. “You'll find happiness one day Inu-Yasha, I know you will.”

Inu-Yasha just looked at his old love and sighed himself. “I don't put much faith in happiness anymore Kagome…” He admitted. He pulled away from her as gently as she had touched him. “I better go. It was nice seeing everyone again. That's one…interesting daughter you have now,” he said with one of his snarky smiles. “Maybe she'll mature faster then you did.”

Kagome went to hit him. For a moment, they went back in time to when they had been the closest of friends. Kagome sniffled and Inu-Yasha pulled her close. They hugged for a few minutes before pulling apart.

“You'll always be welcome here Inu-Yasha,” Kagome said as tears threatened to fall down her cheeks. “And don't wait seven years to visit either!”

Inu-Yasha smiled slightly. “I can't promise anything,” he looked off into the distance. “I'm going over seas this time. To the place you call America. Maybe I'll find what I'm looking for there.”

Kagome stared at her friend until finally she sighed and looked at the ground. “I get the feeling you're not going to come back for a long time.”

Inu-Yasha shrugged. “You'll hear from me, Kanna will make sure of that. I just…need to get out of Japan for awhile. I don't think…I'm ready to stay in one place yet.”

With that Inu-Yasha jumped away, using his demonic speed to carry him away from the woman who had given him her heart, only for him to have lost it to another. He wanted her to be happy, knowing he could have never made her as happy as she was now. `One day,' he thought `Maybe I'll be lucky enough to find someone to make that happy…and this time, I won't be so stupid as to loose her.'

 

Years passed by and Inu-Yasha continued his travels throughout the new world, contacting his friends through the mirror Naraku had given him that could connect to Kanna's mirror.

Shippo mated with Kanna, though Naraku and Kagome had suspected they would. Kohaku asked for Rin's hand in marriage, much to the surprise of Sesshomaru, Kagome gave birth to twins, and Kiyomi grew into a beautiful young woman.

Much to Naraku's resentment, Kiyomi's beauty attracted more then just admiration and compliments; it also attracted many male's looking to take his daughter away from him. One day, it grew to be too much.

 

“Kiyomi, father wants to speak with you,” A young boy said as he ran up to his older sister. Behind him was his twin sister.

Kiyomi smiled and put the drawing she had been working on down. “Did he say why Kibuki?”

Kibuki scratched then shook his head. Kamori walked up shyly behind her brother. “He's in his study. Father seems very serious today. Something seems to be bothering him.

Kiyomi examined her younger siblings. All three of them were different.

She herself was a mix of both their parents, Kibuki took after their father, and Kamori was a miniature of their mother. The twins both had brown eyes, much to the happiness of their father.

Kiyomi sighed and nodded. “Alright, I'll go see what father wants.” She stood and bopped both Kibuki and Kamori on the heads, something Shippo had done to her when they were young.

`Shippo…' Kiyomi smiled slightly. While she was just turning 16 he was already an adult and had mated with Kanna. They weren't having kits for awhile, since they were both still rather young as far as demonic age was concerned. After mating, they had moved out into their own home just a few miles away. Father had said it was so Shippo could get used to taking care of his own village and grow up a little more. She missed her older brother, wishing he had chosen to have stayed home in the palace they had grown up in. She missed Kanna, with her quiet calmness, giving her advice and showing her basic sorcery her father said she shouldn't learn.

Just thinking of her siblings made her think about their friends. Uncle Miroku and Aunt Sango lived in the small village her mother would tell stories about. They had four children now, three boys and a daughter. Their oldest, was just a little older than she was. The two of them were friends, but for the last couple years he had been acting…strangely whenever he had been around her. Kiyomi shrugged it off as being a boy thing.

Kohaku had recently asked Uncle Sesshomaru for Rin's hand in marriage, which Uncle Sesshomaru was still contemplating. Last Kiyomi had heard, Sesshomaru was testing and training Kohaku to be sure he could take care of Rin.

Deep in her own thoughts, she didn't realize she was in front of her father's study until she heard his voice within. He was talking to someone.

Kiyomi pressed her ear to the door, curiosity getting the better of her just as it had always done in the past.

“Naraku, I still don't see why we should be concerned with this now. Just…Just send the suitors away,” Kiyomi heard her mother say.

Kiyomi heard a soft sigh from her father. “I have been doing just that, but the suitors are no longer lower nobles. The son of the southern clan's Lord has asked for her hand now.”

“She's too young!”

“I know that! Do you think I want my daughter, my first true child, to be taken away by some male just because she's of mating age?” Naraku demanded. Kiyomi heard something slam and she hesitantly knocked on the door.

Her parents grew silent. “Enter Kiyomi,” Naraku said tiredly. A moment later, his oldest daughter entered. He looked at her, seeing what other males would see. She was about the same height as her mother, her hair falling in graceful waves just as her mothers did. Kiyomi had filled out quite generously, her curves giving her a very feminine appearance. Her skin was pale and smooth looking, her movements graceful. Her eyes were a shade of red that would make rubies dull in comparison. Her eyes, which Naraku had hoped to have been brown when she was born, were her most captivating quality. She unconsciously carried herself with an air of power and confidence. Her eyes though, were the windows into her heart. Her emotions were open to the world through her eyes, and right now he could see she was worried and upset.

“You wanted to see me father?” Kiyomi asked, using the more formal title than her usual name of papa.

Naraku nodded and motioned for her to sit down. He sighed before saying anything. “Kiyomi, you know most demons don't take makes until their at least half a century years old correct?” Kiyomi nodded, that had been apart of her many lessons over the years. “That mostly pertains to male demons.”

Kiyomi nodded, knowing full well what her father was talking about.

“Female demons on the other hand either take a mate when a male proves themselves worthy, when their dominant parent chooses one, or when they themselves choose.” Naraku watched is daughter closely.

“Have you chosen a mate for me then?” Kiyomi asked hesitantly.

Naraku shook his head, his mate gripping his arm gently. “No. I won't force you to mate with a male that you might disagree with.”

“Sweet heart…we want the best for you, just as any parent wants the best for their child.” Kagome said carefully.

“Then…what…” Kiyomi was starting to get confused. She knew she had suitors. She'd met a few of them even. They weren't subtle about being interested in her. She'd never really taken interest in males yet, having not gone through her heat yet.

“We want you to choose when you're ready.” Naraku said finally. “On your birthday, we will be inviting many Lords and Ladies to celebrate your coming of age. At this time we want you to announce whether or not you'll take a mate now.”

Kiyomi nodded mutely. They wanted her to announce what she wanted to do? Well, her parents had always let her do as she wished, to a certain amount of degree, but they were actually letting her decide what she was going to do about a mate?

`I'm not really interested in taking a mate right now, so I'll just tell everyone to back off.' She thought to herself as she considered her options.

“You're birthday isn't for a few weeks Kiyomi. You'll be expected to give a speech after dinner. It's best if you start preparing.” Naraku told his daughter. She nodded and rose from her seat.

“We have a seamstress here that is going to make you a new kimono,” Kagome said with a smile. She gently led her daughter towards the door, talking softly to Kiyomi as she did so.

Naraku watched them go sadly. He had expected males to take an interest in his daughter since the day she was born, what he had not expected was the amount of males. He thought that since her mother was mostly human, most demon males would be dissuaded from even looking towards his daughter. But ever since the jewel on the comb had broken, things had drastically changed.

Naraku laid his head in his hands as he considered his options. Even when Kiyomi announced her intentions of not taking a mate, there would be males that would insist he choose for her. It was normal for a demoness to refuse to mate, but only when lesser demons offered. If a high ranking demon were to offer, the least that could be done was to agree to a courtship.

If worse came to worse, he could at least accept a courtship for his daughter. That would stop most of the suitors. And it would give his daughter time to choose her own mate. It was possible she might fall in love with the demon courting her as well. `I'll make my decision when the time comes.' Naraku thought as he rubbed his eyes and then went back to reading the reports sent to him from various villages across his lands.

 

The ship moved up and down in the current, water splashing over the sides and onto the deck. “We're ye be headed too?” The captain yelled over the crash of the ocean and shriek of the sea wind.

The silver haired man shrugged, his bandana covering the top of his head. “Home I suppose, gotta visit some old friends of mine.”

The captain nodded, steering the ship as best he could in the weather. “Won't reach Japan for another week, if the weather improves we might cut that to five days.”

Inu-Yasha nodded and looked to the East. `Seven years,' he thought as he remembered the last time he had been home. `I wonder what she looks like now.'

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: hehe, shorter than most of my other chapters, but I'm happy with the results.

 

Gee…I wonder what will happen at Kiyomi's birthday celebration. Whatever could happen, mysteries upon mysteries…? ^_^

 

Preview of next chapter:

 

“My name is Haruko Kuma,” The bear demon said with a bow.

Kiyomi bowed in respect, but paid little attention to the older demon. He smiled subtly and nodded when it seemed appropriate. His voice grated on her ears and she was desperately trying to find a way away from him.

“Kiyomi dear, could you come with me for a moment?” Kagome said as she walked up to her daughter. She had noticed how unhappy her daughter was from across the hall.

Kiyomi would have almost cried out in joy if the look on her mother's face hadn't stopped her. “Yes mother.”

“Mother…do I have to meet with more people?” Kiyomi asked very softly once they were out of ear shot of the Lord Haruko.

Kagome sighed softly. “I'm afraid so sweet heart. They were all invited here to meet you and celebrate your 16th birthday. It would be rude to ignore them.”

Kiyomi felt like running to her room and hiding. This day was the worst day of her life. If she hadn't been taught restraint by her father, she probably would have killed or attempted to kill half of the assembled demons. It didn't help the matter that the majority of the males here were the sons of powerful Lords and Rulers. `Also doesn't help that most of them are a century older than me.' She thought, her heart sinking.

Just then, another male walked up to her. This one was one of the better looking demons there. “Hello,” Kiyomi said in greeting.

“Hello to you too. I am Kaito of the Southern clan,” the tall maroon haired demon said with a bow.

Kiyomi bowed in return, her back protesting slightly as she realized just how much she had been bowing today. `Worst. Birthday. Ever.'

“I am Kiyomi, eldest daughter of Lord Naraku,” She said in response. She rose from her bow and smiled her sweet, fake smile. Mentally she was thinking up all the ways she could kill, maim, and destroy every living male in her father's palace that didn't belong there.

“Sister!” Kiyomi felt like yelling in joy as her elder brother Shippo came up from behind her and lopped his arms around her shoulders. “What have you been up too tonight?”

Shippo's loud exuberance made Kaito irritated, from what Kiyomi could see. This pleased her greatly. Kiyomi turned slightly to give her brother her full attention, and to show Kaito he was excused from her presence whether or not he wanted to be.

“Just meeting people, receiving birthday wishes, and wishing I could destroy everyone here,” She said with false happiness.

Shippo laughed heartily and dragged her over to where her child hood friends were standing. “Well you've been neglecting your friends and family greatly! Why, poor Rin feels like you hate her!” Shippo exaggerated.