Chapter Text
“Please!” The prince was literally eating dirt while he begged. “She is my beloved, my betrothed! I cannot be without her!”
Inuyasha had to hold in his growl as he looked down at the prone Prince Hōjō. How could a man who was inheriting a kingdom look so goddamned pathetic? It was truly mind boggling.
“Tell me again what happened?” When Inuyasha had arrived, Hōjō had been incoherently babbling, which the prince seemed to believe was some form of language that people could understand.
Inuyasha had been summoned. He fucking hated being summoned, because being in the castle just reminded him of all the goddamned things he could not have. And everyone seemed hellbent on reminding him that his brother Sesshōmaru was a dead-raising warlock that had signed a pact with the devil.
“My Kagome, my dear Kagome, has been taken!” There were tears in Hōjō’s eyes. He was a prince, and yet he mostly looked like an overgrown baby.
Hōjō’s dear Kagome, Kagome Higurashi, had been kidnapped.
“By whom?” Inuyasha tried to keep the worry out of his voice. He had to get himself under control right now.
“Your brother and his evil witch wife!” Hōjō howled, pulling a letter out of his robes and throwing it at Inuyasha, before collapsing back onto the ground in a pile of sobs.
Fuck.
Of all the goddamned things in the fucking universe that could get Inuyasha to do whatever that feckless prince said, it was an announcement that his fucking brother had kidnapped… Kagome. The fucking flower princess who actually cared about things that were not royal.
“Fine.” Inuyasha wasn’t going to say no, but if he was just blasé enough about it, he could probably double or triple the size of the prince-baby’s purse. “But it’s gonna cost ya.”
“Anything.” God the baby was whiny.
“I need a sack of gold, a fire-cat mount…” Inuyasha was officially not very good at negotiating. “And uh.” He had the only sword he would ever need, and his father had left him the finest armor: light and versatile. “And… a squire—yeah—a loyal squire who will carry my stuff and cook my food.”
Was Inuyasha done? He probably should be done.
The problem was, it was Kagome that he was being sent to save. From Sesshōmaru, the biggest dick of a brother that ever existed on earth.
“And you’re gonna legitimize me right now! My dad and my mom loved each other and would’ve married before he died!” Inuyasha apparently did have other things he wanted. “And uh…” Did he dare? “If I rescue the Princess, she gets to pick whomever she wants to marry.”
“Done!” Had Hōjō even been listening?
Because Hōjō had just freed Kagome from her marriage contract to him.
And Hōjō had just promised to let Inuyasha inherit his Lordly father’s status.
And Hōjō had promised a fire-cat and gold and a squire.
“Do you vow to rescue my princess, or die trying?” Hōjō asked, the tears finally clearing from his eyes. Apparently he had been listening.
“I do.” Inuyasha bowed slightly.
“Then go! Sir Inuyasha! Take back your brother’s land and rescue my Kagome for me!” Hōjō declared. “You will set off tomorrow. We will have your squire and your mount prepared.”
“And my gold,” Inuyasha reminded him.
“And your gold,” Hōjō confirmed.
Inuyasha bowed and took his leave. He was going to have a nice bath and probably yell at the servants who had turned their noses up at him. Sir Inuyasha got the fuckin’ good chicken and the nice quarters, now. And he was going to take full advantage.
After all, the true treasure of this quest did not lie in the gold or even the title. It laid in the little princess that he was going to rescue. And it laid in getting to go and tell his asshole brother off.
Who raises the dead anyway?!
Then again, Sesshōmaru was always creepy, with his unmoving face.
And Inuyasha had never actually met Kagura, but… if she actually liked Sesshōmaru, then there was definitely something wrong with her too.
Inuyasha laid in his bath and sneered at the snooty humans who now found themselves in the role of his servants and he pondered.
Yes, it was definitely time to pay his dear old brother a visit. Preferably with a reunion that involved swords and probably a bit of punching.
The following day, Inuyasha was summoned at the first crow of the rooster. The attendants led him out of the castle and toward the stables.
Guess they want me out of here and my quest to start immediately. Not that Inuyasha was complaining. The sooner he could get away from the clueless prince, the better.
...the clueless prince that was currently staring him in the face.
“As you requested,” Hōjō moved out of the way and revealed a short red-haired kitsune child with sharp green eyes, who rolled said eyes the moment that he saw Inuyasha, and a small two-tailed cat, with bright intelligent eyes. “Your fire-cat, and this fine youth, who will serve as your squire.”
Inuyasha did not like the way either of them looked at him. Like he was the one being assessed, not the other way around.
“The squire has my letter declaring Princess Kagome allowed to choose who to marry,” Hōjō walked up to Inuyasha, and handed him a fat bag of jangling coins. “Finally, your gold, Sir Inuyasha.” Then, another bow, and the scent of salt in the air from Hōjō’s tears. “Now go get my Kagome!”
“You have my vow,” Inuyasha pressed his hand to his heart. “I will rescue Kagome or I will die trying.”
He didn’t miss the scoff coming from the fox. He was gonna set a thing or two straight about who was in charge the very moment that Hōjō was out of earshot. Finally, blessedly, Prince Hōjō receded into the distance, leaving Inuyasha alone with his mount and his new “squire.”
“Let’s get one thing straight, fox,” Inuyasha pointed his finger at the red-haired child, who at least had the good sense to widen his eyes. “I’m in charge here. So no sass.” Then Inuyasha had the good sense to… try not to be a complete dick. He didn’t want a trusty squire who was… not to be trusted. “What’s your name?”
“Shippō, sir.” The sass was still there, but the fox—Shippō—smiled. “And this is Kirara. She’s a nekomata. She can shift forms depending on if you need her. I’m a shapeshifter too!”
The immediate change in the little fox’s attitude nearly knocked Inuyasha on his ass.
“Okay. Uh… great.” Inuyasha probably should attempt to sound a bit more authoritative. “Sooo… I guess we get… on our way.”
Shippō nodded vigorously, then whispered something to the cat—Kirara, who mewed pleasantly. Then, in a flash of fire, the nekomata had morphed to the size of a horse, with a long and lithe body and fangs that extended past her mouth. Finally, her paws were orbited by rings of fire. She was an impressive damn fire-cat.
“Kirara is not some stupid animal, so just talk to her. She understands you,” Shippō said, and he scampered up onto Kirara’s shoulders. “So, where to?”
Apparently Prince Hōjō had not explained to his new (and surprisingly enthusiastic) squire exactly where they were going… He wondered if the squire and the fire-cat would quit the moment he revealed the destination.
No time like the present…
“To… Mt. Azusa.” Inuyasha only stuttered a little bit. “To see why my brother kidnapped the Princess Kagome…”
Yeah… they were definitely gonna abandon him immediately.
“Oh.” A shiver sent a wave of Shippō’s hair standing up on end. “We’re going to the Dead Kingdom?”
Leave it to everyone to have a flair for the dramatic. It wasn’t like Sesshōmaru lived only among the dead, he and his witch wife just… reanimated some of them sometimes. Or so that was what Inuyasha was told.
Okay fine. The Dead Kingdom had earned its name fair and square.
“Yeah. To rescue a princess.” (A pretty princess. A pretty beautiful gorgeous princess.)
“Wow. I don’t think Hōjō paid you enough.” Shippō crossed his arms, “What do you think Kirara? Are we gonna carry Inuyasha to the Dead Kingdom?”
“You fuckin’ better. That’s what the deal was, fox…” Inuyasha saw that Kirara was also glaring. “And cat…”
“This is what I get for begging to become a squire…” Shippō meant to say it under his breath, but Inuyasha had dog ears.
Inuyasha groaned and turned away from the duo and started walking.
“Where are you going?” Shippō called.
“To fucking Mt. Azusa,” Inuyasha answered, and he didn’t turn back. He was fast. Maybe not as fast as Kirara, but honestly? He really, really didn’t need this shit. Having a necromancing brother was bad enough.
A necromancing brother who had taken Kagome Higurashi.
The princess that could make Inuyasha feel like a King, like he mattered.
To say there was history between Inuyasha and Kagome was an understatement. Saying that Inuyasha was hopelessly in love with Kagome was an understatement, too (and those two things were definitely connected).
When Inuyasha was young, back when his mother and father were both still alive, he visited the Higurashi castle each summer. And each summer, there Princess Kagome was, with the brightest smile on her face and the most luminous sparkle in her eye.
“Inuyasha!” Kagome would shout, and then she would gallop toward him and give him the most affectionate of hugs.
He would carry her on his back and jump into the trees, and he would let her squeal at the feel of the wind through her hair. It didn’t hurt that bad, and the ringing in his ears went away after an hour or two!
And then there was the one time, when they were 11 years old (not that Inuyasha remembered the exact date… which was July 14th…), Kagome had said: “When we’re grown-ups, want to get married?”
“Yeah! Then I can take care of you all the time!” Inuyasha probably should not have been so obvious, but he was a dumb 11 year old kid with big dreams and a big crush.
“And if you marry me, you can be a prince like you’re supposed to be!” Kagome had replied. Though that threw water on the fire.
Kagome Higurashi was going to have to marry a prince. Or a knight. Or something that came from a title and valor. And Inuyasha, being born of his father’s mistress (who cared that Izayoi was Tōga’s mate), did not come with any of those fancy things.
When Inuyasha turned 13, his mother and father died, and there stopped being visits to the Higurashi castle.
There stopped being… everything.
Being a bastard with dead parents has that sort of effect.
He did win valor, and as Sesshōmaru took their father’s seat, the whisperings about the Taishos turned to the strange way that Mt. Azusa felt when they traveled there. People were entirely too happy.
Then came the rumors of the wind witch Kagura who stole Sesshōmaru’s heart.
Then came the rumors of the dancing skeletons that brainwashed the villagers.
At least that stopped the whisperings of Inuyasha’s being the half-breed bastard younger brother (because apparently, being a bastard was a lot better than being a necromancer).
Honestly, it was Sesshōmaru and his Dead Kingdom that finally did begin to earn Inuyasha respect, because people started to see and believe that perhaps he could defeat his brother and the witch, and return Mt. Azusa to a respectable kingdom of the living.
Yet there was not a single complaint that came from the inhabitants of Mt. Azusa.
Sesshōmaru might be an asshole, but he was not a brainwashing asshole. And although Inuyasha might want to punch Sesshōmaru in the face (twice… three—thirty-two times…), he didn’t want to commit murder.
That was, until Sesshōmaru had the gall to kidnap Kagome Higurashi.
The girl he promised to marry when he was 11 years old.
The princess he had just set free from her betrothal to the clueless Prince Hōjō.
Yeah… Inuyasha was definitely going to Mt. Azusa, and Inuyasha was definitely going to rescue the princess.
“Wait!” Inuyasha heard Shippō squeak after him, then the soft pad-falls of Kirara trot up behind him. “Who said we weren’t coming with you?”
Inuyasha turned to face them. “I heard you, fox, under your breath.”
“No one walks willingly into the Dead Kingdom!” Shippō sounded frantic. “I was scared, okay? That I become your squire and we’re going to the Dead Kingdom.”
“You don’t have to come.” Inuyasha began walking again. He did not have time for a second-guessing runt.
The pad-falls behind him picked up again.
“You really care about this princess, huh?” Shippō stopped Inuyasha in his tracks.
Fuck. Apparently the fox had skills in sass and reading people.
“And she got taken by your brother. That’s rough, buddy.”
Inuyasha officially hated Shippō.
“I’m fine doing this quest all by myself,” Inuyasha snarled, unable to hold his outburst in. “It was stupid of me to ask for anything. I shoulda known better. Because it’s just my fucking luck that I get a mount who rolls her eyes and a fox that sticks his fucking nose where it doesn’t belong!”
Suddenly he was eye to eye with a fire-cat.
“Princess Kagome always treated me like I was one of the castle kids. She didn’t care that I was an orphan when I started working there. She would sneak me out to the gardens and let me play, because she didn’t think kids should just work all the time!” Shippō yelled. “I’m gonna be a good squire to you, dog. Because I want to rescue Princess Kagome, too.”
“Then get a fucking move-on!” Inuyasha snarled louder, mostly to cover his momentary stun at hearing Shippō’s words.
“Get on.” Shippō crossed his arms. “Kirara can travel at least twice as fast as you. And she can travel as the crow flies, because she can fly. We’d be able to get to the Dea—Mt. Azusa before nightfall.”
The damn cat nodded. Apparently she really did understand language. Inuyasha let out the most belabored groan that he could muster, then he hopped onto Kirara. As soon as he had steadied himself on the cat’s back, they were off, rocketing into the sky.
“So… your brother, huh?” Shippō whispered as they flew.
“My brother.” Inuyasha scowled.
Great. Inuyasha was destined to see his half-brother for the first time in at least a decade. Hopefully to save the Princess. Hopefully not to get attacked by an army of the dead. With a mouthy squire and a sassy fire-cat.
And they were going to do it before nightfall.
He probably should have thought to send Sesshōmaru a wedding gift.