InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The King and I ❯ The plan unfolds... ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2

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"Do you think he'll really do it this time?"

Kohaku simply shrugged, spitting on the ground below him, then taking another sip of water.

"I dunno. Aneue says he has no choice anymore. Things are getting bad. Remember last week, when they arrested that Lord-what was his name?"
"Menomaru?"

"Yeah, him. Well, Miroku told me he was trying to get some of the other lords to join him in an uprising."
"I knew he was sneaky! He always called me a brat and stuff."
"So does Inuyasha."

"Yeah, but he doesn't mean it. He loves me, I know he does. He's just not very good at showing it in a normal way."
"Yeah, he is kinda anti-emotional sometimes." He agreed, punctuated with another bubbly spit. "Ugh…this tastes like shit!"
"OOO! You didn't learn your lesson, did you!" The young kitsune teased, pointing and poking him.

"Aneue is just over-protective. Besides, no one ever washes Inuyasha's mouth out when he curses!"
"If anyone did, he'd of been dead from soap poisoning long ago."

Both shared a chuckle as they looked out over the landscape before them. Sitting up on the roof gave them a perfect view of the town almost a mile down the hillside. It was one of Inuyasha's usual thinking spots, therefore the favorite of the two boys who looked up to him so much.

"So how did they catch him anyway?"
"The first guy he went to was actually a spy. I wonder if how they'll punish him?"
"You don't think they'll execute him do you?"
"Nah, I don't think that's ever happened since Inuyasha became king. They'll most likely end up exiling him."
Shippo nodded in acknowledgement, and Kohaku spit again, this time narrowly missing a guard walking by below them.

"Kohaku! Shippo! You two get down from there!"
"But we just got up here! You know how hard that was?"
"Yeah! I had to carry him up!" Shippo added.
"It's dangerous. Don't make me tell your sister!"
He'd barely had time to finish the threat before Shippo had transformed into his bubble form, and Kohaku was climbing atop.

Seeing that they were on their way down, he shook his head disapprovingly as he walked away.

"Damn kids…"

Moments later, the guard reached his destination, the king's chambers. He straightened his haori, cleared his throat, and lifted his hand to knock.

Instead, the door swung open, and there stood an annoyed Lord.

"What?"
"My Lord. You heard me?"
With a roll of his eyes, he simply pointed to the furry ears adorning his head.

"My apologies, My Lord."
"Whatever, just make this quick. I have a council to prepare for tomorrow."

"Very well, sire. I was told to inform you that Master Totousai has finished honing your sword." He handed him the sheathed katana that had been entrusted with him.
"Good, took long enough."

The door shut abruptly, and the guard found himself standing alone the dark hallway.

"Brat...," he mumbled, and turned to walk away.

"I heard that!"

He made a run for it, before the already angry lord decided to test the sword's sharpness on him.

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"You're a disgrace to this Kingdom! Your father was a sentimental old fool, to think a simple hanyou could rule this land!"

I made no move to reply, only watched as the traitorous lord was dragged out of the throne room.

He'd come under the guise of business, and the moment my back was turned, made his move. A dagger-a stupid dagger.

"More like a splinter…," I mumbled, casting a glance at the inferior weapon lying on the ground. But the sight of it on the floor was both symbolic and sobering-things were beyond bad.

This man had been one my father's more trusted Lords-to have him make an attempt showed that the court was starting to crumble.

A tentative knock on the door broke me from my thoughts.

"Who is it?"
"Me."
"Who's me?" I replied gruffly. The door edged open, and Sesshomaru appeared.
"Me."
"Well whaddya want?"
"I just heard what happened. I guess you're not dead then. Who was it?"
"Ryuukotsei."
The grim face he made told me he understood the situation. I sighed, and plopped down in the chair to my right. He bent down to examine my almost-murder weapon.

"He thought this was gonna kill you?"
"Yep. Probably thought he was just gonna stab me until a bunch of times instead of just lopping my head off or something."

"What are you gonna do to him?"
"Exile."
"Why don't you execute him? He tried to kill you."
I shrugged, and stuck my hands in my sleeves, directing my gaze to the window. It wasn't that I'd feared for my life. This was just getting ridiculous now. I had to do something and do it soon.

I didn't understand why it was so important to these people that I had a queen. As far as ruling went, I'd done pretty well- no wars, no famines. Nothing serious had happened here since before my father died.

So what the fuck was the problem? Just because I didn't have some twit sitting in that chair next to mine? That made me a bad ruler?

"You know you have to do it right? Get married?"
I nodded. He leaned against the table, and began twiddling his thumbs again.

"Myouga says it should be someone from the North. Says it'll help our relations with Naraku if he sees were trying to reach out to them."
"Yeah. Maybe if I grab some woman from there and put a crown on her head, he'll get off my ass about what Dad did. Like it was my fault I was fucking born."
"Mom was beautiful-it probably really hurt him when she left."

I looked at him, noting the thoughtful expression on his face. He was no doubt entertaining some random memory of her. It always made me curious why he referred to my mother as "Mom", while his own was simply called by her name. He'd never had a close relationship with her, and I had to admit, from what I'd heard, she'd never been much of a parent to him. My father had been contracted to marry her, but she'd died six years after she gave birth to Sesshomaru. He got her gracefulness, but certainly not her confidence or harsh tongue. Maybe she was the key to his shyness.

"I heard most of the princesses there are ugly. That's what Shippo said."
"He would know, wouldn't he? That's where he's from."
"Yeah. Maybe there's a pretty one, though. Even if you don't want to marry her, the least you could do is find one easy to look at."
I chuckled, enjoying the wit he usually hid behind his social phobia. When it was just him and me, he spoke more animatedly, more freely and honestly.

"What about you? You should've been married off a long time ago. What's your excuse?"
He blanched at my question, and looked away.

"Well, I …just haven't found…you know, the right girl."
"You haven't found any girl. In fact, you've never even bothered looking."
"Neither have you!" He grinned with self-satisfaction when I didn't bother denying it.

He sat down in the throne, then. I watched as he ran his hands over the rich exterior, the smooth wood of the armrests.

I had the sudden urge to tell him how right he looked sitting there. He was the perfect image of regality, there on my father's throne. That was where he really belonged, if only he could get passed his insecurities.

I didn't get the chance, as at that moment, Myouga burst into the room.

"Lord Inuyasha, this is the last straw! I refuse to wait any longer for an answer!"

I couldn't help it-I burst into a fit of laughter at the mere sight of him. Both eyes were twitching like mad, and it didn't help that his face was as red as a cherry.

He slammed his fist down on the table.
"If this continues, I'll be the next one trying to stab you to death! Lord Sugimi, Kami rest his soul, never treated his responsibilities so casually!"
Finally, my laughter died out, and I began to regard his words.

I knew he was right. Things had escalated to the point where I could no longer waver. This was going to happen, and it was going to happen soon.

Suddenly, his twitching wasn't so funny anymore. He seemed to calm some, and spoke more softly.

"My Lord, This is simply in our best interest. And not just this house, but for your people. What will become of them if you are assassinated, and the throne is up for grabs? Can you imagine the bloodshed? And if Naraku were to invade…"

"He won't get the chance. I'll do it."

He looked torn between being shock and elated. His eyelids did a dance in pure mirth, and he bowed profusely.

"My Lord, I'm so relieved! Let us make contact with the other kingdoms right away, and find your queen. I hear the North has some of the fairest princesses in the whole of the Land!"

I glanced at Sesshomaru. Shippo had snuck into the room a few moments ago, and was currently making cutting motions from atop my brother's shoulder.

"No, no that's not necessary!" I said quickly. Myouga furrowed his brow in confusion.

"My Lord, it's all in the interest of peace. If you were to marry into the Northern Kingdom-"
"Look I know, you've told me for the past seven years!"

"Then what is the problem?"

I was silent for a moment. I wasn't sure what to say. I knew that no matter what I did, I wasn't going to come out of this a winner. I could just let Myouga have his way, and marry into the North, or contact the other kingdoms. Either way, I was going to end up with a wife I didn't know, and would probably never love. I should have been used to not having any say in things that concerned my personal life, but for some reason…I just couldn't do it. I couldn't let it go.

Maybe it was because my mother's words kept floating back to me, echoing in my head. When I'd renewed the promise I'd made to my father on this deathbed, she'd made me swear something else as well.

She made me promise to be happy.

It sounded impossible at the time, mostly because I could tell she didn't have much time left. But I'd agreed nonetheless, wanting to deny her a peaceful and worry free passing.

I realized that if I simply picked some princess from a lineup, I would never fulfill that promise. I would be making Myouga very happy-but not me.

I had to do this my way.

"Myouga. I want to choose the woman I marry. I'm going to do this on my own."
"Lord Inuyasha-I don't understand."

"Don't contact anyone. I'm going myself to find her, and I won't take no for an answer. If I'm going to do this, I want to be happy with whomever I choose. You can't tell me that that's not my decision. This is the one thing that is up to me and me alone."

He nodded slowly, his eyes softening. He looked over his shoulder at Sesshomaru and Shippo, who had been watching the conversation with great interest.

"I know you never wanted this for yourself. To be honest, my Lord, I didn't look forward to this position when your father named you as heir. I knew I was going to have to keep you in line, to hound you for everything. You were a free spirit as a child, and not much has changed. I hated to wall you in like this, knowing you'd rather be out there," he gestured to the window, and its view of the horizon.

"Then you understand why I need this."

"I will do everything in my power to help you my Lord. Though I'm afraid you don't realize the great risks that this poses for us."

I frowned.

"What do you mean?"
He sighed, and sat down finally. Shippo scampered over to my shoulder, and Sess joined us at the table.

"This attempt on your life was not unforeseen. Almost every lord in your court has a problem with your lack of a partner. We've always known, the majority would love to take your place, to attain that throne. Lord, if you leave, even if to do this to appease them, your mere absence would create chaos. The throne will be empty, and in their eyes, since there is no heir, it is up for the taking."
"So you mean since no one can take my place while I'm gone, those bastards are gonna usurp me?"

He nodded grimly. I was crushed almost instantly, realizing that even though he'd agreed that I should be able to choose for myself, I didn't even have an opportunity to do so. If I left, my kingdom would fall apart.

"I'll take your place."

All eyes turned to the one who'd spoken.

"Sesshomaru, what the hell are you babbling about?"
He set his jaw, looking more confident than I'd ever seen him. It was confusing, but actual determination shone in his eyes.

"I'm not babbling. I'm saying I'll take your place on the throne while you're gone."
"But you can't even talk to your chamber maid without biting your damn nails off. How the hell do you think you're going to rule a fucking kingdom?"
"I can do it. I know I can. It won't be easy, but if Myouga can help me, I know I'll succeed. I'm not completely useless-this is my land, too. It's about time I earned my keep."

We continued to stare at him, bewildered and very surprised. Finally Myouga shook his head.

"I'm afraid we can't do that, Lord Sesshomaru. As honorable as your intentions are, I don't think that the court would accept your rule. In fact, it would only serve to endanger your life. To be blunt, Lord, you've never been seen as king material. For you to assume this power…I don't think you'd last a week."

Sesshomaru looked crestfallen. Glancing up at me, he smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to help you. I'm just not of any use."

I smirked wide, and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"A week is all I need."

It was my turn to be gawked at.

"My Lord!"
"Look, he wants to do it. And I know he can. I'm sure I can find someone decent enough in that amount of time to convince to marry me. Of course it'll be even easier for him to rule if he is me."
"What?"

I turned my gaze to the kid, who looked just as confused as the rest of them.
"Shippo-I know you can do this. Make Sesshomaru look like me."

The Kit seemed to swell with pride and nodded once firmly before hopping up onto the table. He pulled a leaf from his vest, and flung it at my anxious brother. Sesshomaru disappeared in a flash of smoke, and not a moment later, I was staring at myself beside me.

"How's that?" Shippo asked cockily, his smirk reminiscent of my own.

"Amazing! You can't even tell the difference!" Myouga excitedly examined my new twin, looking for any discrepancies.

"How did you do this?"
"Keh-Kitsune are notorious for shape-shifting. We pulled a joke on Sango like this two months after I brought the runt here, so Miroku and me could confuse the hell out of her. Problem is-"

I was cut of by another cloud of smoke, and the reappearance of my brother.

"It doesn't last very long."

"Oh." Myouga looked disappointed.

"Although I'm sure I could remedy that."

A calm, confident voice called out from the doorway, and we all turned. There was Miroku, practically strutting towards us, a superior smile on his face.

"I can add some of my own power to his spell. I'm positive I can make it last for much longer than a single week as well."

"How long were you listening?"

"Long enough. So…when do we leave?"

"We?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Certainly you weren't thinking to go on your own? You've never been to the borders, much less past them. I happen to consider myself a worldly traveler, and could be very useful."
"Did you and Sango argue again? Is that why you're so eager to leave?"

He glanced over each shoulder nervously, before he composed himself again.

"Of course not! I'm simply extending my services to my Lord and friend. Needless to say being away from beautiful wife will be difficult, but she certainly would understand the importance of my accompanying you."

We all glared flatly at him, seeing right through his smooth talking façade.

"Whatever. Well, you and the runt work on this. Myouga and I need to teach my brother how to be an asshole."
"And a king!" Shippo chimed in, as he hopped up to Miroku's shoulder. I flipped him off as they walked away, and the brat just stuck his tongue out at me.

I turned back to Sesshomaru, and extended my hand. He shook it, and we both smiled.
"Welcome to my life-hope you realize what you've gotten yourself into."

"I'll make Mom and Dad proud. I promise."

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Everything seemed to just fit together after that day. I knew it would take some time to actually get Sesshomaru used to being me, but after only three days looking like me, he really got the hang of it. It was probably the first time in my life I'd heard my brother cursing-it was weird as hell to say the least.

Miroku and I made preparations for our trip into the North. The same change spell was used on me, granting me with my human appearance at all times. That was going to take some getting used to. I'd never had black hair during the daytime; I'd never had brown eyes in the sunlight. I'd never felt so common on a time other than the night of the new moon.

Shippo begged and pleaded, and even resorted to crying, wanting to come along. But I knew it would be too much trouble trying to look after him. I didn't have a fucking year to get this done with. Sesshomaru, as well as he was doing, would not last all that long in my place. Sooner or later, something would slip, or some angry lord would notice me not being myself-someone would catch on, and the whole damn kingdom would fall apart.

So he finally agreed to stay, if only to be the guard of my brother's appearance. If anything went wrong with the spell, Shippo would be the only one who could correct it. Sango was right-if you gave the Kit a damn title, he'd do anything you asked. Stupid kids….

Finally, on the fourth day, we set out for the North, on our way to finding my new queen.

Though it was tradition for me to marry into another ruling family, Myouga assured me that as long as the girl had at least an ounce of noble blood, I was in the clear.
Miroku actually did turn out to be extremely useful. He knew his way around as well as he'd said, even around the area of the border. Which was good, because I'd never been out that far in my life.

It was strange to see the people whom I ruled over, yet never laid eyes on or vice versa. I got to wondering what it felt like to be one of them. To wake up in the morning, knowing that if I didn't work, I wasn't going to eat.

My kingdom was in no way poor, but the needy would always exist in any society. From my point of view, it had always seemed very distant-but now I was right in the middle of real life.

Crossing the border itself was easy enough. The outer guards had been warned beforehand by courier, so they were prepared for my passing. I found it hilarious that they actually thought Miroku was the king, despite the obvious appearance of a monk. Well, you don't have to be a genius to swing a damn sword…

So almost six days after the last attempt on my life, I stepped onto Northern soil for the first time.

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I wanted the Sesshomaru in this story to be the antithesis of his actual characterization in the anime/manga. Don't worry, he'll eventually become a little more normal as he continues to pose as Inuyasha…things will get pretty crazy because of that too…

Anyway, this story makes me laugh, which is the reason why I kept writing it instead of scraping it. I hope you guys like it too.

Thanks so much for reading!

~Sabichan~