Enemy of My Enemy by Loki

The Invitation

Kagura landed with a backwash of wind. No chit-chat, no preliminaries. She glared at the man who had previously turned down her plea for help and said, "You and my master have unfinished business. Come or don't."With that she flung a scrap of cloth at him. In the same motion she plucked a feather from her hair and launched into the once still night. The invitation given, just as Naraku had ordered---There was no point for her to stay any longer.

Sesshoumaru watched the wind-witch go, gold eyes beautiful, but empty of interest. He opened his clawed hand and looked down at the rectangle of cloth that lay innocently across his palm.

~*~*~*~

Kagura stood in the doorway, looking in on Naraku's turned back. She was nervous, had been since her foiled attempt at escape, but her pride wouldn't let her body betray her. So her chin was raised and her crimson eyes glared at the hanyou in that snide way she knew annoyed him. She leaned nonchalantly against the screen, her fan opening and closing in rhythm, like the wings of a feeding butterfly.

"The message has been delivered."To emphasize her cool and unscarred act, she added, "Do you really think he'll come?"

Naraku's lips turned up into a slight, self-pleased smile, though the gesture was not for his child's benefit. "He'll come he said, liking how the small creature before him tried to draw back from his voice, having not been prepared for it to be in such proximity to her. He reached up and traced cool fingers over the subtle line of her cheek, her jaw, feeling the way her teeth clenched beneath.

Kagura snorted behind him, though the sound was less-pronounced than it once had been. She had no idea what Naraku was up to, and she did not like that. She had thought she understood his recent actions pretty well, though he rarely told her the full of his plans anymore. And then he had sent her out to entice that cold bastard, Sesshoumaru. Try as she might, she could not see how the youkai Lord fit into the puzzle.

Not my business, she thought brusquely, pushing it all aside. My business is my self.

She snapped her fan shut. "If you say so."

"When he arrives, Kagura, I want you and Kanna well out of range of his sense."

The wind-user paused, half-turned in the doorway. Was he telling her to leave? Was all this some elaborate test to see how loyal she was? Her eyes narrowed. It would be just like Naraku to bring in that stupid dog-demon for the sole purpose of tormenting her. But she knew that couldn't possibly be it, he had to gain more than her pain...but what?

There was no way for her to ask, and nothing left that she could say. Kagura resigned herself to her ignorance and turned back to her original path. If Naraku said leave, she would leave. For now, her heart was in his hands, and his words were law. For now.

~*~*~*~

Kagura was thinking of escape yet again, but that was nothing new. Naraku left his underling to wallow in her silly fantasies and focused his dark eyes on the jewel before him. The one that would help him acquire all that he desired. In the continuing silence after Kagura's departure, he observed the girl as she began to relax again, her tense muscles uncurling and her delicate hands settling more quietly in their bonds. Her resemblance to Kikyou was really uncanny.

She hadn't talked much since the first hour of her arrival, but she did so now, turning her head in his direction as if the action made some sort of difference.

"I'll see you dead for this."She spoke calmly, with just enough conviction to let him know she believed her own words.

"Many have tried, and yet, here I am. I don't believe you are in any position to be issuing threats."To prove his point he absently pulled his hand through the soft waves of her hair, watching it spill like cool liquid silk from his fingers.

As expected, she jerked away from the offending touch, growling warning deep in her so fragile throat. It was a sound reserved for more threatening frames, but he had to credit her for her straight spine. Most in her position would have crumbled long ago, as the hours crawled by. But she seemed only to grow more level and determined, more certain in her own powers, and those of her companions.

It was admirable, to say the least. But an utter waste on her part. Nobody was coming for her. Or more, nobody that he didn't want to come for her.

Let Kagura have her doubts, Naraku had complete faith in the trap he had set and baited. For one reason or another, the great youkai lord would come.