Chapter 97

An offer one can't refuse



Mai stretched her limbs lazily, as the firs rays of rising sun shone right at her face. She would love to sleep a little longer, but she had to get to work, before Sasaki pays her a wake-up visit. Anyway, she heard yesterday, that the brat was supposed to have his fencing lessons earlier today, so she had to wake him up, feed and generally get ready. With a impressive yawn, she pulled herself up to the sitting position and rubbed the sand out of her eyes. She took her time to stretch her neck and glanced at her roommate.

She tilted her head, finding Sesshomaru's position slightly strange. He was nearly glued to the wall like Spiderman, with his back to her. Why in the earth would he spend the night like that? Surely it must have been uncomfortable. Perhaps he did it for her sake, Mai thought with hope. After all, he could be nice in his own way sometimes. Regardless of his motives, she had to clean up here a bit.
She crawled from under the bedcovers.

"Get up, Sesshomaru." She said to the demon, trying not to sound like nagging. "I'll roll the futon."

The demon didn't grace her with a single look, laying motionlessly.

"I will stay here." He replied after a moment, his voice sounding as though he had some difficulty with speaking.

Mai furrowed her brows. She could tell, that something was seriously wrong. Sesshomaru was definitely not a person, who would have to stay in bed longer and sleep till noon. He would rather be eager to get out of the tiny closet as soon as possible. What was going on? The girl wrinkled her forehead, getting worried. Maybe he got into fight or other trouble yesterday? Maybe that's why he didn't want to leave the room… Mai decided to delicately inquire about this.

"Sesshomaru, is everything okay? You seem upset." She said, but talking to his back was like talking to the wall. She motioned herself closer to the demon. "Did something happen yesterday?"

Unexpectedly, the inu-youkai looked at her over his shoulder, but he didn't roll on his back. Mai flinched, seeing the wild expression in his eyes – he glared at her with such intensity, that the girl thought, he would fry her on spot only with gaze.

"Nothing." Sesshomaru hissed out, according to the truth. "Go away already."
Then, he averted his gaze and returned to glaring at the wall.

Mai narrowed her eyes at the demon. He was definitely upset. To be that rude to her without a reason… Something must have occurred the last night. After all, she had no clue, what was he doing after she fell asleep. She prayed silently, that he did nothing, that would cause trouble for both of them. She sighed. If Sesshomaru was in a mood like this, asking him about anything wouldn't make sense anyway. Perhaps she would find out soon, what was the reason of his strange behavior. She stood up, opened the actual closet and grabbed her day clothes. She glanced at the demon, who was still laying motionlessly, his arm bent at a weird angle. If he wanted to stay in bed, she had nothing against, but still… she had to change her clothes somehow.

"Sesshomaru, can you step out of this closet for a second? I'll just change the kimono." She said to him, snatching her sandals.
A low growl answered her.

"Just go away." Sesshomaru muttered.
Mai rested her hand on her hip, refraining herself from kicking him there, where his kidneys were.

"Sesshomaru…" she began, wanting to reason with him, but before she knew what was happening, the demon moved fast like a viper. The sliding door opened and he pushed her outside, slamming the door shut with a loud noise. Mai stood in front of the entrance to her supposedly-private-closet and blinked.

Was she just thrown out of it? She clenched her fists. That damn demonic asshole! She would deal with him later. She whirled around and stalked to Akira's rooms, cursing under her nose. The girl would have sworn, that she heard a low growling:

"Damn you, octopus-woman."



Mai managed to get the brat out of bed, despite his protests, bathe him and get into the training attire. The kid was trying to resist and started getting cheeky with her, making the girl blackmail him again with radish soup. Once he was all ready and had a full belly, she got him to take his wooden sword and leave the quarters.

However, once they got on the deck, the first sign of coming catastrophe appeared. The soldiers were whispering among each other fervently, discussing something exciting.

"The general fell from stairs and broke his leg!" Mai heard some military men informing the other.

She bit her lower lip. Fell from stairs? It's better than to stab himself accidentally with a sword thirty times. Still… The general's accident and Sesshomaru's foul mood… it seemed to be linked. It had to be linked. Crap, if he did something like this to the general, they were screwed. She shook her head. Didn't the idiotic youkai realize, that they had to keep a low profile? They had to endure only five more days!

Mai felt someone tugging her sleeve. She saw, that Akira was glaring at her impatiently, apparently hating being ignored.

"You didn't listen to me." He complained and pointed something with his finger. "I said, that your betrothed is there."

The girl followed the boy's gaze and, really, Sesshomaru was standing by the railing, observing the sea. Mai saw him from the back, but there was no doubt, that it was him – his long hair, although they were black now, and the empty sleeve were billowing in the wind. She furrowed her brows. How did he get here so fast? He shouldn't have come here. It was begging for the trouble.
Of course, she was right. The young Maeda wasn't the only one, who spotted the demon. The sailors and some of the soldiers also noticed him and decided, that the inu-youkai was an easy prey.

"Look, if it isn't the cripple!" one of the men called, laughing. His companion also grinned.

"Oh, he's not hiding behind his woman's back today?" the other one mocked Sesshomaru.

The demon didn't even look their way. He clenched his fist, using all his willpower to pretend, that he was deaf to the insults. However, ignoring the bullies didn't have the positive effect. It only encouraged them to mock him more, as they took it for the sign of weakness.

"Look, he's frozen from fear!" one of the men said, showing all his teeth in the grin. His companions laughed loudly.

"Not so cheeky, when your woman isn't around to defend you, huh? She has more balls than you!" a soldier mocked Sesshomaru. Then, his smirk widened, when he noticed something. "Speaking of the devil… looks like your savior is coming!"

The men burst out laughing, seeing Mai stalk towards the commotion with determination on her face, dragging the young master behind herself. She approached Sesshomaru and gently entwined her fingers around his wrist.

"Come." She whispered to him, trying to discreetly pull him away from the crowd, but the stubborn demon didn't budge and glared at her in a hostile way, as though she was the one, who was his enemy. Mai barely refrained herself from yelling at the idiot. Geez, what was wrong with him today? She came closer to Sesshomaru and whispered: "You shouldn't have come here. Why didn't you stay somewhere else?"

"I go, where I please." He retorted, refusing to look at her.
Mai glared at him. This conversation resembled arguing with a five-year old.

"So want to come with me. Please." She said, looking at him with begging eyes. The situation was a tad awkward now. Finally, her plea reached his brain through the thick skull.

"Hn." He muttered, but followed her, as she was still holding his wrist. Finding it humiliating to be led by a woman, he jerked his arm free from her grip. When Mai looked over her shoulder, about to question him, Sesshomaru swiftly snatched her wrist, as though reversing the roles and they were walking side by side. Mai turned her head slightly away, wanting to hide the blush adorning her cheeks.

Akira rolled his eyes, as he was still dragged behind Mai.

The girl, along with two equally stubborn and stupid creatures, made her way to the fairly secluded spot on the deck, where she was supposed to wait for young Maeda's instructor. She thought, that since the general broke his leg, the lessons could not take place at all. Then, she saw Sasaki approaching them, followed by the majority of soldiers. The noble bowed respectfully before the boy.

"I am terribly sorry, young master," He began in a humble tone. "but due to the unfortunate accident, general Shimada cannot attend. However, captain Izumi, as an excellent swordsman, is a fitting teacher for you."

Akira only nodded, observing, the theatrical bows of Sasaki. Then, a well-built soldier stepped out of the crowd and also bowed.

"I am at your service, young master." The one called Izumi said, making it sound like he pledged allegiance to his ruler.

The boy waved with his hand impatiently and looked at Mai, making a smug face.

"You should observe my training. I'm really good." He boasted.

The girl frowned, as she wanted to leave the deck as soon as possible, but she met Sasaki's harsh gaze. She knew, what was expected of her.

"Sure, why not?" she replied to the kid, forcing a smile on her lips. She noticed Sasaki nodding with approval.

Soon enough, the training began. After a while, the girl was constantly changing the leg, on which she was leaning. She glanced at Sesshomaru with mix of jealousy and anger, for the demonic asshole was comfortably leaning against the mast, his eyes warily observing the brat's lesson. Mai sighed and looked at Akira too.

Captain Izumi was showing the boy proper battle stances and moves, practicing with him with wooden swords. Around the two a rather large crowd gathered, consisting mainly of the soldiers, who seemed to cheer on their captain.

"Excellent, my lord. You are a natural." Izumi praised Akira again, making the boy swell with pride. With a corner of her eye, Mai noticed a growing frown on Sesshomaru's face.

Young Maeda repeated the attacking move, he was just shown, and hit the soldier. Even Mai saw, that Izumi lowered his guard on purpose, letting the kid win.

"What a move, my lord. You caught me off guard here!" the captain praised the boy one more time and the onlookers clapped. Akira smiled slightly, faking modesty, but he couldn't hide how much his ego was just boosted. Encouraged, he tried another kind of blow and hit his instructor this time too.

"What a pathetic farce." A deep voice commented.

It took Mai a while to realize, to whom it belonged. Abruptly, she looked at Sesshomaru, who was leaning against the mast with disapproval all over his face. Mai made a gesture to shush him, but it was already too late to stop the following events.

"A cripple spoke." Some voice from the crowd laughed.

"Shut up, you crybaby!"

The dog demon behaved, as though he didn't hear the insults and carried on with voicing his opinion.

"Praising the brat for his meager performance will lead him to his grave, once he faces a real opponent on the battlefield." Sesshomaru said loudly, gracing captain Izumi with a look full of disregard.

Now Mai could only witness silently, as the soldier took the bait and clenched his fist, angered by the remark. In his eyes was threat.

"What a cripple would know of swords fighting? You wouldn't last a minute on a battlefield, I'm sure of that!" Izumi returned the insult, speaking to Sesshomaru in a mocking way, while encouraging his fellow soldiers to support him – a laughter roared on the deck and further insults followed.
However, Mai was positively surprised by the dog demon, who didn't let those bastards provoke him.

"Hn." He muttered with a smirk full of arrogance, his posture showing, that he presumed himself better than the mob before him. Without gracing the captain with a response, he began slowly walking away towards the wooden superstructure.

The girl let out a relieved breath. She didn't really expected Sesshomaru to keep his cool in such a humiliating situation.

"Wait!" Izumi's sharp voice sounded and the dog demon stopped, not turning around. The soldier made a gesture to the one of his retainers to give him another wooden sword. The captain glared at Sesshomaru's back. "You think, you're so smart? That you're superior to us? I'll show you, that you're wrong. Take the sword and we'll see, who's better!"

The man reached out with the second wooden sword towards the inu-youkai, offering it to him. Sesshomaru glanced over his shoulder at the item.

"I do not need this." He said calmly.

Izumi furrowed his brows. Mai noticed, that everyone on the deck fell silent, there could be heard only the waves, beating against the ship. The captain lowered his hand and laughed shortly.

"So you're afraid to face me in fight? Surely you're a coward!" he called to Sesshomaru, causing loud applause.

The demon was standing still with his back to the man, who kept mocking him.

"Hn." He spoke after the laughter and claps died out. "I meant, that I do not require nothing but my bare hand to defeat an insect like you."

The inu-youkai slowly turned around, a challenging smirk playing on his lips.

Izumi let out an angry sound, feeling humiliated by Sesshomaru's cheeky remark. The soldiers were gawking at the two men with anticipation, holding their breaths. The captain looked around and saw the waiting stares of the soldiers. He had no other choice, if he didn't want to lose the respect among the comrades. He grabbed the both swords firmly, readying himself for a fight. He smirked. Defeating the unarmed cripple was a child's play, no matter how confident he seemed.

"You won't be so cheeky after I finish with you!" Izumi called to Sesshomaru.

The demon arched his brow.

"Hn. Do not hold back." Sesshomaru offered his sincere advice in a mocking tone.

That pulled the last string in the soldier and he attacked, holding the both swords. The onlookers stared with smirks on their faces, sure, that the captain's victory was unavoidable.

The dog demon waited, observing with mild interest, as his opponent was charging at him. When Izumi was about to strike, Sesshomaru merely stepped aside in the last moment, fluently avoiding being hit, when the wooden sword brushed against the fabric of his kimono, but didn't touch his skin. The soldier was surprised, but he swiftly whirled around and intended on hitting the inu-youkai with both swords at the same time in such way, it would be impossible for the demon to dodge the blow. However, when the swords began falling, Sesshomaru unexpectedly jumped forward, ducking under Izumi's raised arms. The soldier's eyes were following his movement. The captain was just whirling around to deliver the blow, but the inu-youkai was already a step ahead. Without a warning, he grabbed Izumi's face and forcefully pulled it back. The man wasn't expecting something like this and his balance was additionally disturbed by whirling around. Not being able to stand firmly on his feet, he fell back and with a loud thud crashed onto the floor. He tried to shield himself with the swords, but Sesshomaru kicked them out of his hands, breaking one wrist in the process. The demon stepped on his throat, suffocating his defeated opponent, as he glared from above with a self-satisfied face.

"Sesshomaru, don't kill him!" the inu-youkai heard Mai's voice, that made him reconsider. He stepped back from the unconscious man.

"Look, what he did to the captain!" someone from the crowd screamed.

"Let's avenge the captain!" someone else screamed.

In a matter of minute the mob divided in half – between those, who weren't eager to get in Sesshomaru's way and the ones, who wanted to gang up on him, so that they could beat the demon. About eight men rushed on the inu-youkai wielding the wooded swords and waving with them. The dog demon furrowed his brows and swiftly picked up one of Izumi's weapons. He weighed it in hand and jumped forward to meet his opponents.

Sesshomaru was in his element. With amazing speed, considering that his youki wasn't at his disposal at the moment, he disarmed first opponents, sending them flying to the floor. In no time he confused the attackers, using the fact they were rushing at him in a group. He danced around them, making them to change the direction they were swinging their wooden swords, so that the most blows landed on their comrades. The soldiers managed to knock out themselves half of their number. When their confusion was reaching its peak, the demon swiftly finished them off, making the unconsciousness embrace them. Once done, he dropped the wooded sword and casually stepped over the knocked out and moaning opponents.

Mai gulped. Something like that was destined to happen – she knew, that it was a matter of time. Crap, what now? She was sure, that this time both of them were done for.

Young Maeda, who was standing not far from her was staring at victorious Sesshomaru with his mouth opened agape and eyes glistening with awe. The kid never saw anyone fighting like that and he got really impressed by the excellent show.

The other onlookers were also staring at the dog demon in shock. The relief was all over their faces – they were glad, that they chose to watch from the sidelines, unlike their knocked out comrades.
"Amazing!" Akira exclaimed, clapping his hands with enthusiasm, as his eyes were glued to Sesshomaru. "I've decided! You will become my new fencing instructor!"

Everyone's eyes turned at the boy, who had the confident look on his face, when he was waiting for the demon to thank him for the honor, he was just graced with. However, the youkai looked at the child with his usual stoic face expression, not showing any emotion whatsoever.

"No." He replied shortly.

The smile fell from Akira's face and the boy frowned, angry, that Sesshomaru just refused.

"Don't turn your back to me, when I'm talking to you!" the young Maeda screamed at the dog demon, returning to his bratty ways. He folded his arms and spoke in a commanding tone: "I order you to teach me fencing."

The inu-youkai didn't answer, but one look was enough for Mai to recognize the nearing danger – Sesshomaru's patience was wearing thin. She had to intervene. The girl stepped closer to the daimyo's son.

"I don't think, it's a good idea. You should reconsider." She said to the child hastily.
The reinforcements came from the most unexpected person – Sasaki approached the young master from the other side and bowed respectively.

"Young master, I agree with her on this matter. I shall find someone more suitable to be your teacher right away." The noble was trying to convince the boy, but he simply wouldn't listen. He shook his head.

"I don't want anyone else. I want him!" he exclaimed in a way a spoilt five-year-old would. The boy narrowed his eyes at Sasaki, set on using the ultimate argument. "If my order is not obeyed, you'll pay with your head, Sasaki."

Sasaki paled, as the little tyrant blackmailed him. The noble clutched Mai's sleeve and tugged it, his eyes glistening with fear.

"Convince him!" he hissed out nervously, pointing at Sesshomaru.

The girl sent Akira a disapproving look – apparently it was still a long way before the kid would learn. Anyway, the situation was getting worse and worse. She glanced at the dog demon pleadingly, wordlessly telling him to do agree on the farce before blood would be spilt.

The inu-youkai frowned, visibly displeased. However, besides eliminating everyone on the ship, there was no alternative. He stalked towards the little group. He glared down at the daimyo's son, who tried to return the glare, but lost some of confidence, while confronted with Sesshomaru's intimidating stature.

Everyone held their breaths, waiting for his reply.


Author Note:

Hello, everyone. Sorry for the lack of updates but I just got back from an internet-less place, so I couldn't upload chapters. Now I'm back and ready to update! Have fun reading and don't forget to write me a comment!