The Inheritance by thetroll

Chapter 1

A/N: This particular Sesshomaru, like Kagome, is a lot less mature in this particular fic. He is based on the early manga/anime and still has some growing to do. He may or may not be the best most positive person yet, and Kagome may not be the most mature, either, but they'll get there.

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"No." The refusal was adamant. Sesshomaru had absolutely no intentions of raising his infant half-brother and adoptive sister himself.

"Then I'm afraid you'll forfeit your inheritance as well," Bokuseno said nonchalantly, shuffling the papers of Sesshomaru's father's extensive will on his desk. "Your father was quite adamant about this requirement, young man. Whoever cares for them both will receive his entire estate, aside from the portions set aside for the young Rin and InuYasha."

Sesshomaru closed his eyes as he leaned back against the wall in Bokuseno's office. He'd come for the will reading, but he hadn't expected what his father had dictated. He was still considerably young for an inuyokai and had no interest in settling down any time soon, let alone being saddled with his father's pups.

He wished once more that his father and Izayoi had not gone diving while on vacation. There were few things that could kill a powerful daiyokai, but water pressure in a sub malfunction was one of them.

"Well, do not look at me," his mother stressed and he opened his eyes to find her sipping her cup of tea calmly. "I have already done my duty in raising the heir. I have little interest in raising any other children, particularly those not mine by blood. As it happens," she added, setting her cup down on the coffee table before her, "I am pleased with what was left to me. I have no interest in anything more. But if you refuse your father's bequeathments, my son, do not come to me. You are beyond the age of hanging on your mother's teat."

His lips thinned at his mother's sardonic manner. If she mourned the passing of her first husband, she showed no signs of it.

Not that he expected any. Momoirobara had been raised in the age of the Heian courts and practiced the noble arts still in spite of how much time had passed. She had never been one to show vulnerability, not even to her own son.

There were a few other extended family members in the large office, though Sesshomaru paid little attention to them. He had no interest in Izayoi's human family members nor his mother's younger brothers, all of whom had their own families to contend with. The next in line if he refused would not be any of them, but rather his cousin and son of his father's only surviving brother who himself had recently passed on after the loss of his mate.

Itachi had made it no secret that he wanted Sesshomaru's inheritance, believed it was owed to him since he was Sesshomaru's elder by several decades. Until Sesshomaru had been born, Itachi had been the heir, but Itachi was the son of the younger brother and he'd lost his primary status upon Sesshomaru's own birth.

How vexing, Father, he thought to himself in wry frustration, recognizing the corner he'd been backed into. His father—ever the avid Go player—had known what he was doing by naming Itachi the secondary heir.

"Normally, of course, I would advise you to take time to think this over," Bokuseno continued evenly, setting his reading glasses on the desk. "However, the Caribbean government has made it clear that they will not keep the children in their care. They want their guardian to fly out and pick them up immediately, which escalates the timetable. I'm afraid. The guardian will need to fly out tonight."

Everything came down to this, Sesshomaru knew. His father's fangs and armor, the business empire he'd spent over a hundred years founding and growing, as well as the lands that had been purchased to keep their kind away from mortal eyes and free to live in their true forms if they so chose.

Itachi would be a poor guardian to all of that. He was as undeserving of the position as he was of the fangs Sesshomaru had wished for since he'd come of age, let alone the authority that came with being the heir of Sesshomaru's father.

No doubt his father had withheld all Sesshomaru was owed for this express purpose: to force Sesshomaru's hand if the need arose. After all, Sesshomaru had not been pleased to learn of his father's remarriage so soon after his divorce, let alone to a mortal woman already pregnant with another man's child. Izayoi, he'd believed, had seduced his father for the power and wealth he could offer and he'd had no interest in getting to know her or the children she'd brought into the mating, even if one was related to him by blood.

Worse still, his father had spent all of his attention and time with his new family, eschewing his older son in favor of his second as he'd become the doting father Sesshomaru himself had never known. In doing so, he had only fueled Sesshomaru's ire and his unwillingness to have anything to do with his father's second family.

And now, he was to have no choice in the matter. He would be at the very forefront of the pups' lives.

He grit his teeth. Within him, resentment seethed at his father's underhanded tactics, tempered only by the fact that his father was dead and thus beyond any mortal censure. If fate were kind, however, his father would not entirely be beyond reproach either in the afterlife or his next life for the actions he'd undertaken in his will and the events leading up to it.

"I can fly out within the hour," Itachi boasted, giving his cousin a pointed look.

"There is no need," Sesshomaru said through gritted teeth, wishing there was any other alternative to satisfy his father's will that required not only that he take in the pups but actively raise them himself. He could not simply ship them off to boarding school or the like. "I will be on the first flight out, Bokuseno."

Bokuseno's smile was knowing as he leaned back in his chair. "Very well, Sesshomaru," he said as though he expected that answer, pulling out a stack of documents and sliding them across his desk. "If that is what you truly wish, you simply need to sign these forms and then a packet will be provided to you containing all of the pups' medical and legal forms, along with duplicate passports so you can bring them home."

Itachi's look of displeasure was palpable as Sesshomaru stepped forward to accept the proffered fountain pen from the old yokai and sign his name neatly on the forms. He hated being forced into this position but, for now at least, there was no viable alternative. 

Bokuseno had his glasses back on as he reviewed the documents that Sesshomaru silently handed to him. "As part of the will and as its executor, I will ensure the will is carried out in both spirit as well as form," he cautioned Sesshomaru as he reached for the packet he'd spoken of. "I truly hope that you intend to honor the will in every aspect, Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru did not dignify that with a response. 

"It looks like everything is filled out." Bokuseno slid the documents in to a folder in his filing cabinet. "I am happy to say that you've been officially recognized as your father's heir, Sesshomaru. I will have the house prepared for your arrival, though some of the other transitions may take time. Shall I inform Totosai that you will be taking a small leave of absence to allow the children to adjust before you take up your father's position as the chairman?"

"That will not be necessary." Sesshomaru ignored Bokuseno's obvious displeasure at his words. It could not be too hard to manage two pups with his new work as a chairman, in particular because he fully intended on maintaining his focus on his other occupation. The company, after all, had its own CEO and COO who managed the day-to-day operations without the need for direct oversight. His father had chosen his personnel well and Sesshomaru saw no need to oversee his father's former vassals turned employees and micromanage them.

Not when he had ambitions of his own.

"I will hold a board meeting on Monday and allow a smooth transition as well as ensure the company's public image remains strong," he said, eying his watch. It was Thursday and he suspected that would be plenty of time to situate the pups and allow them to adjust before he returned to his normal duties. In the meantime, he would have his own assistant manage things.

It would only be a few days, after all. Jaken could certainly manage to contain things at least that long.

It wasn't as though anyone in his pack knew of his ambitions and he intended to keep things that way, so he would not involve any of them. Jaken could be trusted if only because he feared the consequences if he spoke out.

"Very well." Bokuseno clicked his tongue. "I suggest you go catch your flight then, young man. I will inform the authorities that you are on your way to collect the children."

Sesshomaru ignored the rebuke as he collected his jacket and left without so much as a goodbye. The sooner he got on the flight, the sooner he could return and find some way of returning his life to normal.