New Pattern

Sesshoumaru glowered at the scene he had just witnessed from his perch on the castle wall. He had been near enough to pick up on most of the conversation, and it completely rubbed him the wrong way.

'Insolent, foolish old man… You grow weaker by the day.'

He let his eyes trail after his father as he disappeared into the hunting grounds with the gamekeeper, rage ringing sweetly in his ears.

Sesshoumaru blinked.

It wasn't his own rage he was hearing, but his hanyou's voice. The creature was singing softly to itself as it harvested the herbal supplies. His chest burned and clenched just slightly, uncomfortably so, and Sesshoumaru drew himself away and into his quarters as soon as it began. He would not endure such discomfort again.

He called for Kazawa as he settled at his writing-table, growling when Aoiki appeared instead.

"I sent for Kazawa, female."

"It is Kazawa's day of rest, my lord," she responded with her usual pathetic hesitance. "please allow this one to –"

He did not let her finish.

"Never mind; ink, now."

She bowed once more and scurried to obey.

As he waited, he turned his preferred comb over in his fingers, shoving the previous scene out of his mind and forcing himself to focus on his current business. He had two correspondences that still awaited his reply. They were from lesser lords, beasts with nothing to offer this Sesshoumaru that he did not already possess. He had no use for their influence or lands, their petty resources, or their daughters.

Matters of the flesh were far from his concern and would remain so for some time. His would not allow such things to even be considered until he was secure in his own might and reputation as a singular power, greater even than his father.

He rested his knuckles against his lips as he pondered his response to the lords, catching the scent of his hanyou that still clung to the comb; rich and molten. A shiver swept up his spine, crawling through his hair like its fingers. He growled, shaking the sensation off, and forced himself to focus once again.

As Aoki arrived and set up his writing supplies, he tossed the comb at the door.

"Get rid of that."

***

It took Kuroihi a of couple weeks on foot to arrive in the territory she had been instructed to visit, but not long to find the manor in the shallow valley. She found a perch in one of the nearby hills and set up a darkened camp where she could observe the people below. The manor belonged to one of the lords trying to mate his daughter to Sesshoumaru, probably to secure a higher rank for his own family through the connection. She spent several days taking notes on the people that lived there; what they wore, how they behaved, everything Sesshoumaru had asked for.

Luckily, she didn't run into any issues during this simple task, and soon enough she was on her way back home. As she made her way, she felt the foreign youki in her belly thrum, pulling gently to make her hasten her steps.

'This is what it feels like, then.'

Sesshoumaru was calling.

It was a simple trick, as she understood it, similar to how some demons could hide their demonic traits. The small pearl of energy remained exactly where Sesshoumaru had placed it, neither trying to consume nor destroy her; for now. He'd promised that, should she ignore the pull of his call for too long, she would certainly be made aware of his displeasure; something about bleeding to death from the inside out. He had to make sure she wouldn't run off on him again, after all.

'Sadistic control freak.'

She picked up the pace to heed his call, gladly making use of the now master-less horse from one of the ronin that had been silly enough to challenge her.

***

She arrived sometime in the late afternoon, finding Kaijou snoozing in his stable area, covered in the pups of his favorite hunting hound. He sneered when Kuroihi woke him and scoffed at the inferior creature she now handed off to him, but he tended to it nonetheless. Kuroihi, herself, went to clean up before changing to present her findings to Sesshoumaru.

It wasn't difficult to find him as he lounged atop one of the three-tiered yagura tucked into a corner of the castle grounds; it was one of his favored meditation spots. She approached him leisurely, ensuring he was aware of her presence before leaping gracefully to kneel on the scaffold below him. She watched him and he watched the moon. They existed this way in silence for a time.

Finally, he tilted his head to blink down at her, the waning moon high above shrouding his face in ominous shadow as golden eyes glinted. His voice was low and soft, the barest whisper on the wind and her ears strained to capture every exquisite note.

"And what have you brought tonight, my little hanyou?"

"Information on the Hiwa manor and its residents, as requested."

He seemed to size her up before returning his attention to the expanse above them.

"Are they so worthy of the attention of this Sesshoumaru as they fancy themselves to be?"

She hesitated.

"Such an opinion is not for this one to voice, my lord. Your vassal brings only information."

"Are they or are they not?"

He ignored her attempt to avoid answering him. It was clear she wasn't getting out of this.

"This one is of the opinion that they are not."

"Explain."

"The lord's holdings and resources are quite inferior to those of your honorable self and father, with little to indicate any hope of ascension outside of a favorable family alliance. The princess herself is not as skilled or educated as one would expect from one of her rank, and possesses an unjustified arrogance. There is also sufficient reason to believe her to be sickly in nature."

"I see. Cretins grasping for any vestige of power and significance they can manage to capture, then," he summarized, "not so unlike another creature I've encountered."

Even as she ducked her head in the expected gesture of shame, Kuroihi had to bite her lip to keep from smiling.

"Can your vassal be of any further use this evening, my lord?"

His silks rustled slightly for a moment, a comb dropping to the scaffolding in front of her. Without a word he rose from his seat, swooping to the ground with unparalleled grace before making his way inside.

Kuroihi gathered the comb and bounded to fall in line behind him. It would be a long night of tea, scrolls, and his falls of silver. Despite her fatigue, she didn't mind. There were worse ways to spend the night.