The air could be sucked through the narrowest of holes as everyone sat amongst eachother in silence. Chiho feared to react in any form or fashion. Jaken's yellowed eyes danced between Sesshomaru, Kojitsu and the maids who accompanied him with his meal. Sesshomaru, as neutral as he had been up to this point, seemed to show the most dissatisfaction between the parties.

He was a nomad at heart, even with a kingdom at his feet supplemented by his father. He didn't care to be tied down to the rules and regulations that came with maintaining a kingdom. He allotted delegation amongst eachorher with only occasional check is on his part and he saw this as the most beneficial method to maintain both his independence and his sanity. It absolutely riddled him with a feeling of annoyance to even think that someone, Kojitsu in this matter, would try to sweeten the pot with women and power. Something he knew that, in any beck and call, he could receive effortlessly. Why would he want from this stranger what he had in abundance back home when and if he was ever home?

This all seemed like too much of a nuisance to be bothered with. he thoroughly scanned Chiho's face for a reaction only to warily bounce back to Kojitsu who seemed to expecting a positive response from the entire situation.

He took this as an opportunity to study Chiho's restrained expressions. Her sullen, blue eyes focused downward at her untouched meal. Her manicured hands were resting on her lap. Her thick, bountiful locks remained in place in a near perfectionist matter. She didn't resemble a demon as much as she did a doll and to see the opposition reflect in their personalities made it all the more fruitless to even stay here.

He didn't need a bride. He didn't want a bride. He didn't want kingdom. And it offended him how he thought that Kojitsu's proposition not only slighted his profound influence thanks to his father, but deprecated just how powerful he was on his own.

"Lord Sesshomaru does not see fit to such offerings! He rules his own kingdom with just enough prestige on his own and doesn't see the reasoning to take on such an additional burden." Jaken waved his hand in front of his face in declination. He was already apprehensive at this sudden propaganda plastered in front of them. Albeit flattering and indulgent, it seemed to be too many mirrors and not enough smoke for him to feel fully convinced.

Kojitsu, his face aloof and impartial to the taunts from Jaken, closed his eyes and pulled in a breath to recollect his thoughts. He knew for himself that this was not going to be an easy task. His father would boast and brag on how difficult it was to convinve Toga to do anything out of the sort that he already made up his mind on. Apparently, the son wasn't any different.

Kojitsu took a sip of his wine, admiring its sharp yet sweet consistency. As Chiho continued to look forward, he glanced over at her neither in lust or rage, but as if he were overlooking a table for any missed streaks he didn't wipe up properly. He admitted to himself that she was in fact a beautiful demon. One too good to be handed over in his honest opinion. But, he knew that the only bargaining piece he had outside of his kingdom wa an actual demon girl. The same demon girl he bargained for so many years ago.

It was as if Kojitsu's hands hand a mind of its own. He stroked Chiho's chin back and forth to admire its smooth exterior. He took in her fragrance of rice wine and jasmine that combined with his aroma of cinnamon and tobacco. It made his carnal lust stand on edge like no other woman he's come across. Why wouldn't Sesshomaru want this one? What deficiency did he see on her that made her so undesirable to him? The very question riddled his mind and caused his blood to boil.

This has to work. By the gods this must work.

Sesshomaru watched the longing stare Kojitsu had for Chiho as he nestled her chin in his hand. It was almost a pitiful sight to see how easily one could be deterred away from an endgoal unlike himself. He watched Chiho's motions or lack thereof, her vacant stare, her quivering lips and the faded passion mark that rested on her collarbone that failed to disappear from sight.

"Jaken." Sesshomaru turned on his heel to announce their departure. "Let's go."

"Ha! Yes M'lord, right away." Jaken with slight regret pulled himself away from the concubines of the castle and stood next to Sesshomaru with pride.

"Just a moment, Lord Sesshomaru." Kojitsu stood to his feet this time. He looked over at the elders who followed suit to help Chiho up as well. Even when standing her vision remained affixed to the floor. She was not fully processing that she was to be potentially sold off to another demon but in her mind she buried herself far away from the present so she would not be triggered further. It was already detrimental enough that the anniversary of her leaving the village she grew up in was only a few days away and now she was away from Naomi. Her only friend who pulled her out of the darkness she fell into every year.

Her and the gardener. But she feared what happened to him since Kojitsu admitted proudly that he knew about the two of them. She just prayed to the gods that he was still alive.. she prayed the village to be okay. She prayed that she would see the freedom so rightfully snatched away from her.

It was then, in her mind, that if things were to go south in this negotiation, she would end her life.

A lifestime in the underworld felt better than spending a day in this living hell with this demon.

"There has to be some kind of agreement we can come together on. I, with my soldiers, women, and land, and you, your soldiers and land. We could be an unstoppable team."

There it was again. The frown in Sesshomaru's face embedded deeper this time. He took a single step forward before studying Kojitsu's overconfident disposition. He knew him to be a formidable foe but relied too much on the galivant gestures to determine his worth of a demon.

It was obvious he was nothing but a child in royal kimono.

"Heh."

Jaken looked up at Sesshomaru with worry. What was going through his Lord's mind!

"Heh he heh. This is all truly pathetic. For you to think that you can throw gold and women in my face and I hand over a part of my kingdom for you to so easily sink it into the depths for your vanity is laughable. So laughable, its sad. You can keep your kingdom. And you can keep your whores. I wouldn't want the smell of cheap rice powder and bintsuke oil to run away any formidable opponents and mistake it for a whorehouse. Jaken."

He had already spoken enough. He made it clear that his answer was a significant no and it angered Kojitsu. With a quivering hand, Kojitsu sneered as Sesshomaru and Jaken walked away. Around his hand reflect mini jolts of lightning that worried the elder concubines where they stood.

"M- my lord?" the eldest concubine tried to walk forward as the other soldiers and concubines looked onwards. They all feared the next step in this rejection but only the eldest sought it wise to attempt de-escalation. Chiho's eyes lazily motioned in Kojitsu's direction only to be abruptly caught off guard by a revolting slap to the face.

Chiho stumble backwards, taking silverware and wine with her. Laying in a puddle of rice wine, two pairs of concubines helped her up as she tried to soothe the stinging disgust litter across her face from Kojitsu.

"To hell with it," the lightning grew in capacity as his hands radiated a green light and circulated around and around, growing bigger in size as his anger continued to be fueled.

"If I cant take the kingdom peacefully, I'll rule it with your head on a staff!" Kojitsu whirled his hand upwards and cast a bolt of lightning to strike directly in Sesshomaru's direction while his back was still turned.

Sesshomaru, with a bemused smirk, jumped out of the bolt's direction and onto a statue, one of the castle walls to be obliterated and in its place leaving a gaping hole looking into the next room.

𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑

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ｄｉｓｃｕｓｓｉｏｎ ｔｉｍｅ
．．．

- 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛?
- 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝?
- 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚔𝚘𝚓𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚞/𝚖𝚎𝚒/𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚞?
- 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎?
- 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍?

𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭!
𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝!

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