Chapter 103

Confessing to Mai



Mai groaned, when the sun shone on her face. She dove under the covers and let out another pained sound, as her head felt like exploding and every little noise was an unbearable torture for her. To make the matters worse, the rocking of the ship made her brain ping-pong against the walls of her skull, making her feel horribly nauseous. The dryness in her throat wasn't helping either.

"Water." She croaked, her voice hoarse. The rocking made her stomach more and more upset. She kicked off the bedcovers and, shielding her eyes from the cruel sun, she pulled herself up. Just as she did it, a wave of nausea hit her with full force, making her want to throw up, so she laid back. Her throat was annoyingly itchy. Damn, where was Sesshomaru, when she needed him? The girl was afraid to sit up, but the urge to throw up was stronger with every ship's move. The inside of the closet seemed to unbearably hot and devoid of oxygen.

Suddenly, she got on her feet, wobbling, and made a run for it.



Sesshomaru observed, as his human pupil was swinging the wooden sword, practicing the new moves, the demon thought him earlier. The inu-youkai noticed, that the boy's motivation was bringing positive results, as there was considerable improvement.
Then, another thought distracted him – last night he made a decision and he wanted to fulfill his resolve swiftly as possible. He considered waking Mai up to share the news with her, but in the end he let her rest longer. Perhaps a suitable moment would present itself later.

It did sooner, than the dog demon expected – the woman dashed out of the superstructure.

A predatory gleam reflected in Sesshomaru's eyes, as he spotted his prey, his future mistress that is. With gaze locked on her, he left his disciple and followed the woman. He caught up to her, when she reached the wooden railing, leaning heavily on it. She graced him with a short look, the focused expression on her pale face. It appeared, that she barely took notice of his presence.

"Ugh! I should have listened to you." Mai muttered in a pained voice, confirming, that she was aware, that the demon was standing beside her.

"Hn. You are too disobedient." Sesshomaru stated the fact, earning a poisonous glare from her.

The inu-youkai's purpose for approaching her was to tell her, that she was his mistress from now on. However, when facing her, the task did not seem as simple. He furrowed his brows, weighing his options. Actually, he never had this difficulty before – when he used to have brief intimate relationships with females, they were always more than willing. However, Mai was different and the demon has not sure, how should he inform her of her new status.

Eventually, he decided to tell her this directly, here and now.

"Woman," he began, but after a moment changed his mind. "Mai, this Sesshomaru decided, that from now on you will be…"

The inu-youkai stopped in midsentence, as he saw, that the woman was not listening to him. More, her face was just changing its color from ghostly white to a greenish shade. Without any warning, she bent in half over the railing and threw up. Sesshomaru took a step back and turned his back to her, as the woman was emptying her stomach. Apparently it was not the best moment. He would try later.



Mai used the moment, when young Maeda was still training with Sesshomaru and decided to use his washroom. Soaking in the cold water for an hour made her nearly freeze, but she was feeling considerably better now. Once refreshed, she got dressed and went to boil water for the tea. As she was passing the big mirror by, she noticed something with corner of her eye. She stopped abruptly and made a few steps back. Her kimono was not wrapped too tightly around her skin and there was a little cleavage. She narrowed her eyes and came closer to the looking glass. She lifted her damp hair and examined the skin of her neck. Was it her imagination or her hickeys were much more visible than yesterday? She looked closer – the marks weren't pale, their color was most definitely red.

She paled. Last time she experienced something, she would rather forget. Actually she was horribly embarrassed now, that she managed to get so drunk yesterday, that she blacked out. The last thing she remembered was chatting with master Sekiguchi and drinking the damn sake. After that there was only a black hole in her memories – nothing. She didn't even know, how she got into her closet.
Mai stared at the horribly visible hickeys. Did something even more embarrassing happen yesterday? Oh shit, she had no clue. The worst was, that nearly anyone could be responsible for this. She ruled out Akira, as he was just a kid, master Sekiguchi – she trusted the man and Sesshomaru. The demon was probably the least suspicious of the three. However, that left her with about forty men, who could have done that.

But, after the closer examination, the girl noticed something more – the faint kiss marks were nowhere to be seen, so the distinct ones were exactly in their place. She furrowed her brows. Strange. There were two possibilities: either someone was aiming at the old hickeys to hide the evidence or it was just some weird skin reaction, like allergy, and nothing really happened. The first possibility sounded totally ridiculous, so she decided, that the other one must have been true. But, she was not hundred percent sure. She had to confirm it.

Did she had that hickey on the top of her breast before?

Mai tossed the leaves to the boiling water and kept pondering. She bit her lower lip, coming to the conclusion, that she had to ask someone trusted about what happened last night. The most logical would be to ask Sesshomaru, but the mere thought made her face turn red. How the hell was she supposed to ask him with a straight face if she was making out with some guy?

Speaking of the devil, the door slid open and inu-youkai along with young Maeda came in. Both of them were soaking wet, as rain caught them during the training. They sat by the table and Mai proceeded with the stupid meal-ritual, pouring Sesshomaru tea first. She hated that approving gaze of his! Once they started the breakfast, the girl set her gaze on the food, all nervous and wondering, how should she begin her investigation. All the time Akira was babbling something, while both Mai and Sesshomaru were sitting still, tension nearly sparkling in the air.

When Mai gathered the courage and lifted her head, she met the demon's eyes – determination and predatory gleam in them. Immediately she forgot the question she prepared and shifted her attention back to her plate.

Young Maeda finally stopped sharing his story with his teacher and maid and looked at the pair. Both of them seemed… weird today. Mai was much less energetic than usually and his teacher also seemed to be a little bit nervous. Then the boy noticed something interesting.

"Teacher, how old are you?" he asked Sesshomaru.

The dog demon sent him a cold look, as he did not approve of discussing his private matters.

"It is not your concern." The inu-youkai retorted in a voice, that hinted, discussion was over.
However, Akira was just too curious for his own good.

"Please, tell me! Twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five?" he nagged, but Sesshomaru didn't answer. The boy wrinkled his forehead. "Teacher, how old?"

Mai stole the glance at Sesshomaru, who was beginning to look pissed. She decided to intervene.

"Akira, quit it and pay attention to what, you've got on plate!" she scolded the boy.
Young Maeda frowned.

"Hn." He snorted arrogantly, copying Sesshomaru. "Don't tell me what to do!"

Mai opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly Akira's head fell forward, as it slammed into the table. The girl blinked, staring at the dog demon, who was gripping the hair at the back of the boy's head and just made a bruise on Akira's forehead.

"Be respectful to this woman." He said harshly, before letting go off Maeda's locks.

"Sorry…" the kid mumbled, as he slowly pulled up, clutching his aching forehead. He glanced at Sesshomaru with slight resentment in his eyes, but kept his mouth shut, apparently knowing, that it was better not to anger him more. However, the moment of silence didn't last long. Mai thought, that the boy was even more talkative than Rin.

"Teacher," he said cautiously, slightly moving himself away from Sesshomaru. "you're not so young, aren't you?"

Mai barely managed not to drown in a cup of tea, as she began coughing uncontrollably, when she thought, that Akira was quite right – the demon was well conserved, but he was at least three centuries old. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes, sending his disciple a warning look.

"Why would you come to such conclusion?" he asked rhetorically, but the boy took it for real and offered him an answer right away.

"Your hair is graying." Young Maeda shared his observation.

Both Mai and Sesshomaru stiffened. The dog demon took a single strand of his damp hair between the gloved fingers and brought it to his eyes. The boy was right – the original silver color bean showing at the ends. A black drop tapped from it. The girl also saw it.

She barely refrained herself from cursing loudly. The things were going so smoothly, that something like this was bound to occur! Apparently the hair dye began wearing off already and the rain started to wash the black away. Crap, this could be problematic. Fortunately, today was the last day on board, so maybe they would manage somehow.

"Teacher, we're going to continue the training, right?" Akira asked, all fired up. The boy grew to like the dog demon and wanted to use the last day to the full, as he was aware, that tomorrow they would part ways. Mai discreetly shook her head. She and Sesshomaru exchanged glances.

"Akira, I heard from Sasaki, that you're supposed to have a lesson with master Sekiguchi earlier than usual. You shouldn't keep the old man waiting." She lied with a smile, trying to sound convincing.
The boy made an unhappy face, but listened to her and dragged himself towards the exit. Mai waited for him to leave.

Once the door slid shut, she circled the table and sat by Sesshomaru's side, staring at his hair. Generally it was still black, but silver ends were visible here and there. She reached to touch it. The girl captured a single strand of the demon's hair. When she released it, she hissed, as her action worsened the situation – more dye came off. She glanced at her palm and saw, that it was covered in black substance.

"Oh, this is bad." She muttered, now seriously worried. What should they do? If it turned out suddenly, that Sesshomaru had silver hair, they would be in deep shit. There wasn't any dye on the ship, so they had to do something, so that more of it wouldn't come off. Mai had an idea. "We have to dry it quickly."

The inu-youkai agreed with her and stalked towards the washroom, as the girl ran to get a fan and change of clothing, as the demon's current kimono began changing its color to black. When she was back, Sesshomaru seated himself on a stool, why Mai began fanning his horribly long hair, to make them dry faster.

The girl thought, that it was the best opportunity to begin the investigation – now, when she was with the dog demon alone. She bit her lower lip, gathering the courage to ask the embarrassing question.
Sesshomaru thought similarly. The time was now right to inform Mai of his resolve. He set his gaze in front of him, avoiding to look directly at her face.

"Sesshomaru…"

"Woman…"

Both of them looked at each other, as they spoke simultaneously.

"You first." Mai said quickly, looking away to hide her slight blush.

The dog demon also averted his gaze from her.

"State your matter first." He insisted.

"No, you can first." The girl said, suddenly not so eager anymore to ask her question.

"Do not try my patience, woman. Speak." Sesshomaru demanded, his tone growing harsher, as he began losing patience.

Mai tensed, knowing, that it would be best just to agree with him and get over it.

"Umm… about last night…" she began unsurely, fanning faster from nervousness. "I kind of… don't quite remember some things and was just wondering… how I got to the room…"

Mai closed her eyes, angry at herself for, how stupidly she sounded, stuttering.

"I carried you." Sesshomaru replied, stealing a suspicious glance over his shoulder, wondering if she truly had absolutely no recollections of what happened in the cabin.

"Oh." The girl answered with some relief. At least the demon stayed with her till the end of the unlucky party. The probability of that something nasty happened was decreasing. "Did you notice by the chance, if any men were around me?"

Sesshomaru attempted to relax, so as not to let her see him tensing.

"No human male touched you, if that is what you are asking about." The dog demon responded diplomatically. This was not the whole truth, but he did not lie either. The very man touching her last night was not a human.

"Oh, that's good." Mai sighed with relief. She was worrying for nothing. Maybe she was just allergic to alcohol… Anyway, she felt more at ease now. The girl continued fanning Sesshomaru's hair energetically.

The demon glanced at her again, deciding, that the moment was right.

"Okay, it's dry more or less." Mai interrupted him, just when Sesshomaru was about to proceed. The girl put away the fan and handed the inu-youkai a fresh kimono, saying: "You have to change, the old one is stained. People might get suspicious."

The dog demon narrowed his eyes at her, displeased, and took the cloth. He stood up and began unfastening his sash. Mai gawked at him with wide-opened eyes. Did he want to… She whirled around just in time to save her innocent eyesight. Her face flushed, as she hear the rustling of fabric, when Sesshomaru's kimono fell to the floor. The girl clenched her fists, horribly embarrassed. Didn't the demon have any sense of shame to undress in front of her?!

In the meantime the inu-youkai calmly changed his clothing, feeling absolutely no need for hiding his body from his mistress, even though she was not yet aware of her new role.

Once it appeared to be safe, Mai cautiously turned around and glared at Sesshomaru as best as she could, considering her flushed face.

"Sesshomaru, what the hell are you doing?! Do you want my eyes to fall out of the sockets?!" the girl began fussing.

"Quiet, woman." The demon said calmly, but such words had rarely effect on the stubborn and feisty female. She was already sending him a disapproving look and opened her mouth to begin one of her tirades.



Once the pair began arguing, the main door closed soundlessly, as Sasaki stepped out of the room, undetected, for his footsteps were silent like those of a cat. He furrowed his brows, as his suspicions had proven nearly confirmed, when the woman had voiced her worry about raising somebody's suspicions. So he was right – the two had something to hide, but what exactly? From the moment they stepped on "Gorouza's" deck, he was sure, they were a suspicious element. Somehow they managed to gain the young master's full trust, what worried Sasaki even more. The daimyo's son was fascinated with the former mercenary, who fought like a demon. The noble saw much in his life, but such skill was extremely rare to come by. There were only few swordsmen in all provinces, who could be considered great, but the one called Sesshomaru wasn't one of them.

The woman was suspicious, but she seemed more like an accomplice to the nobleman. However, she appeared to be more than just a village girl. None of the commoner's women had such confidence she did. Instead of being humble and submissive, she had no respect for anything and anyone, voicing her opinion, without listening to orders.

But, it was her lover, who drew Sasaki's attention. Not only his fighting skill was extraordinary, but he gave off an air of a noble – the way he spoke was similar to that of a daimyo, a person used to have their orders obeyed without questioning. Earlier he made a little investigation and noticed one more peculiarity – according the young master, the ship's cook and other witnesses, the former mercenary wasn't eating food. Everyone ate, but he didn't.

Sasaki stopped, having made a decision. He had to find out more about his suspects, so he would follow them. The nobleman turned away to be near the young master's quarters. Discreetly lurking from around the corner, he saw the daimyo's son leaving master Sekiguchi's quarters and heading to his own chambers. Then the maid went through the door and downstairs, presumably to the kitchen. Sasaki pondered if he should follow her, but she returned not long after, carrying a meal, she prepared. She knocked on the Sakiguchi's door and quietly said something to the man, before going into Maeda's quarters.

For some time nothing happened, when all three left the chambers, splitting up. The maid and young master went to the deck, carrying umbrellas, while the former mercenary slowly made his way towards Sekiguchi's quarters. Officially he was the scholar's assistant, but Sasaki smelled a rat. Indeed, the man didn't go in, but waited, till his betrothed vanished behind the door. Then, he turned around and stalked downstairs. The nobleman furrowed his brows – his first reaction was to follow him, but he decided against it, as the man was too aware of his surroundings.

He spend over an hour behind the corner, waiting for something to happen. In the meantime master Sekiguchi came out of his rooms, clearly searching for someone. When he went through the door, leading to the deck, Sasaki slipped into the chamber and began roaming through his belongings, searching for some clue. The scholar seemed to cooperate with the pair, so maybe some evidence was here. The nobleman was reading some personal letters, laying on a desk, when he heard footsteps. He tensed and managed to hide in the closet in the last moment to avoid being spotted.

"Master Sekiguchi, Sesshomaru!" he heard the maid's voice, as the girl slid the door open, looking inside. Carefully, Sasaki looked through the crevice – the woman was frowning, obviously displeased.

"Where are those two?" she asked aloud, sighing. Then, she went inside and began scribbling something at the piece of paper. The nobleman narrowed his eyes at the sight. If she was a village girl, she wouldn't know how to write…

"Oh, hello." Now the second actor appeared – the elderly scholar.

"Where's Sesshomaru?" Mai asked, getting straight to the point, as Sekiguchi closed the door. The man sighed.

"He didn't come. I went searching for him, but he isn't either on the deck nor below it." The scholar replied, his face expressing worry.
Mai waved with her hand.

"I know, where he is." She said, resting her hands on the hips. "Damn, why must that stupid demon make my life so horrible? I should just quit working for him."

Master Sekiguchi laughed, grabbing an umbrella.

"I still do not understand, how you became his servant, princess." The elderly scholar said with a smile on his wrinkled face.
Mai rolled her eyes.

"He made me. The asshole just kidnapped me and ordered to take care of the kid, who's travelling with him." She said, ignoring the amused look on Sekiguchi's face. "It's time for me. I have to get him, before he gets himself into some trouble again."

Mai left. The scholar shook his head, grinning to himself and went after the girl.

Once the door closed, Sekiguchi let out the breath, he was holding. He smirked to himself. He just gained so much vital information, that it got him excited. Having a sharp mind, he linked the pieces of puzzle immediately. Apparently he underestimated the new maid – he expected her to aid the mercenary, what turned out to be true, but in his wildest dreams he didn't suspect, that the most wanted woman was on his ship. The infamous Amayami-hime, the woman who caused the war between two provinces, led to the destruction of Kanazawa and eloped with the demon was within his grasp. More, her youkai lover was on board as well. Once Sasaki brought their heads to the daimyo, he would be promoted, perhaps he would become the second most powerful man in Kaga.

With a self-satisfied look on his face, Sasaki made his way to pay a visit to general Shimada. If he played that out well, the power would be solely in his hands.


Author Note:
Sorry, that it took so long, but I was busy this weekend. Review, please!