Bold As Love by LoveNabokov

Orchestra of One

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of the characters herein, with the exception of a few originals, belong to Rumiko Takahashi.  I also make no money from this, I just do it for shits and giggles.

Summary : It is modern day, demons who were once feared and revered by humans are all but forgotten. They are a dying breed, the blood diluting every generation in full bred tai-yokai demons and mixing with humans was taking its toll. Without strong leadership all would be lost due to civil strife and infiltration from other factions. The elders of the council of tai-yokai are searching for their next supreme lord and the key to their survival, desperately clinging to the hope that the next tai-yokai lord of the council can be sired still. Kagome Higurashi is a shrine maiden who was blessed with the gift of music and a mysterious heritage. Sesshomaru Taisho is the refined son of the great dog lord of the west with a beast problem. Their paths collide when they end up attending the same university and things go from there......

Ch1: Orchestra of One

It started long ago when demons ruled the lands of Japan; there had been chaos at first. Bloody battles raged and clans were formed out of necessity but peace would come in the form of an alliance. Soon all of the great clans came together to promote peace and unity among demons and to co-exist with the growing number of humans.

The alliance was known as The Alliance of Demon Lords. Each clan in the alliance received a seat on the council and had a chance to place a member of their clan in the seat of supreme lord of the alliance. Few clans chose not to join this alliance, for they feared peace would benefit the humans too much and allow them to thrive.

Soon the council ruled all of yokai society in Japan even those who were not part of the alliance. However, those who did not join the alliance proved to be correct in their assumptions and though the great clans were at peace with one another, the human numbers grew and grew while demon birthrates stayed the same. Soon the world was overrun with humans and demons were forced to live in secret.

The alliance soon made peace treaties and agreements with the leaders of the spiritual human clans and humans and demons were able to co-exist. Though demons only made themselves known to select humans.

Everything went smoothly for a time. The supreme lord was born every few hundred years, chosen by strength. Each time a child was born to a lord of any clan he or she was taken to the council elders and they would examine the baby to see if it was worthy to be considered for the role of supreme lord.

The seat of supreme lord belonged exclusively to true tai-yokai beings. What most people didn’t know was that true tai-yokai were rare, their offspring up to the fourth generation were allowed the title of tai-yokai but their blood was dilute.

True tai-yokai were great and powerful demons, born sporadically. A mystery shrouded their true heritage.

Every few hundred years a true tai-yokai was born in Japan, it had started with the fox tribes several thousands of years back. Soon the dogs and dragons and tigers all welcomed the births of their own true tai-yokai.

True tai-yokai were awesomely powerful creatures capable of wielding jaki and spiritual ki. They were immune to everything and were said to be the most powerful beings on the earth.

However, even though the children of the true tai-yokai were strong they were not as strong as their great sires. The generations mixed and mixed until the power was all but mixed out. Until of course the next true tai-yokai of the clan was born to strengthen the blood.

The tigers, foxes and dragons had all had three true tai-yokai births in their clan's history.

The dogs had only ever had one true tai-yokai in the clan, he was an awesomely powerful ruler and had served in the seat of supreme lord, but like all others of his kind the blood was mixed out every generation.

The current leader of the dog clan , Toga was the great grandson of the first and only true tai-yokai dog and held a seat on the council of The Alliance of Demon lords.

The wolves had never birthed a true tai-yokai cub and several other clans were the same.

It had been far too long since the last true tai-yokai birth in any of the Japanese clans and with the only living true tai-yokai in Japan ready to pass to the next world, the leaders of the great clans were becoming frantic.

Bokusenou, the current supreme lord of The Alliance of Demon Lords and only living true tai-yokai in Japan, was a peaceful tree yokai who was ready to pass from a life of war and politics. He was eager for the next true tai-yokai birth. However, he harbored a secret, it was a secret his noble mother made him promise to protect with his very life.

OOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOO Modern Day Tokyo OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOO

"I have my scribes searching the ancient scrolls twenty four hours a day my lord" said a lesser lord in the council of the west as he regarded the other lords sitting at the circular table in the great hall of the mansion of the lord of the dog clan.

The hall was huge, large enough to hold several dog demons in their true forms. The tapestries depicting epic battles hung over the strong stone walls of the structure that was older than any human made building in Japan.

"I believe I may have a clue, discovered in one of the earliest scrolls of the fox tribe, the tribe to which the first supreme lord of Japan was born" said another lesser lord.

"Please enlighten us lord Toshiro" said Toga, the greatest and strongest dog lord of the west, as he listened intently to what his underling was about to say.

"The fox tribe documented the birth of their clan's first tai-yokai cub, the one who was later called upon as the supreme leader of the council of lords" said the lord as everyone's eyes were fixed on him waiting for him to continue.

"and how did his birth differ from the others?" asked Toga

The Council of Lords was a council made up of the strongest lords and leaders of each of the remaining yokai tribes from the original alliance. One lord ruled over this council as supreme lord, effectively the ruler of all yokai in Japan. There was one requirement for the occupant of the seat of supreme lord, he had to be a true tai-yokai.

"The scroll says the cub was birthed by a male fox demon and a female whose origins were not known....the scroll only states that she was not of their tribe and she was not a demon" said the raven haired lord.

"Not a demon?...then what prey tell was she?" huffed another lord

"She was not a demon......she could not have been human...then what?"

asked Toga

"I do not know.... And Bokusenou is not cooperating in our search... we all know he remembers his mother yet he will not speak of her " said the lord as he scowled.

"We shall gather more information , scour all of the ancient texts and scrolls. We must decipher the key to birthing strong offspring or our clans will all fall to the foreign demons who are still growing in number, stronger than ever" said Toga.

"Ryukotsusei and his clan of dragons would usher their kin in with open arms to take and exploit our lands" said Toshiro.

"The dragons are the only clan who have joined their foreign brethren, we all remain separate from the foreign factions of our species" said Toga.

"Why do we not join with the other dogs?" asked another lord.

"hmp, those arrogant American and European dogs believe they are our betters and I will not even begin to speak of the arrogance of the African dogs whose Egyptian heritage has made their heads swell to ungodly proportions. I would never give any of them the satisfaction of asking for their support. The relevant issue, however, is that the European dragon clan is the only clan who is still birthing tai-yokai, though they have not had a new birth for over six hundred years.This tells me those European dragons have discovered what we have yet to find and without it the Japanese alliance will be left leaderless." said Toga.

"And they have not shared the information with any of their allies in Europe, this is troublesome" said another lord.

"Yes Nobuko my friend, it is very troublesome because if this continues....they may very well be the only yokai left in this world" said Toga shaking his head in worry.

"Very well, we will keep pursuing new avenues in our search for the key to birthing true tai-yokai" said Nobuko.

"We shall meet in one month's time to gauge our progress, do not speak of our search to any other clan, we will sire the next supreme lord of the council. It has been far too long since the rule of my grandfather who ushered in a golden age for yokai. We will once again rule" said Toga as they all nodded and left the hall with haste, eager to return to the search.

"They are convening the council of lords in three months time , we must find the way before then." Toga muttered to himself before he made haste to his private study.

OOOOOOO Tokyo University for demons and spiritual humans OOOOO

Many miles away in the most prestigious university in Tokyo, Kagome Higurashi ran down the hall of the school, she was late to her 2:00 class. Kagome was a freshman but she was in advanced English because she was what was considered a "Native Speaker" even though she was born and raised in Japan.

She ran into the class head downcast and went to the first available seat. The seat was right behind Sesshomaru Taishou. Kagome had dated his brother, Inuyasha, briefly in high school but Inuyasha had taken a liking to Kikyou, Kagome's cousin.

Inuyasha broke things off with Kagome. Kikyou wouldn't date him because she felt like she would be betraying kagome even though she liked Inuyasha a great deal.

Finally Kagome told Kikyou it was ok for her to date Inuyasha and they'd been happy together since. Kikyou’s parents even expected an engagement anytime.

Kagome did have feelings for the half-demon boy but they'd changed. At first Kagome was taken with the boy and he with her but when their relationship began, things progressed oddly. Kagome began to care less for him in the sense of a boyfriend and more as a best friend. She then discovered the feeling was mutual.

Kagome knew Inuyasha and Kikyou loved eachother and she would not stand in the way. She was happy for her cousin and ex-boyfriend turned best friend.

Sesshomaru, a senior, was a business major, he was popular though a bit quiet and reserved. He'd been dating Kagura Tama a freshman political science major whose father Onigumo was a slippery friend of Sesshomaru's father.

Kagome heard that Sesshomaru and Kagura had broken up the week before but she didn't really care about the affairs of the rich, it wasn't her problem.

Kagome was a shrine maiden, her family struggled ever since her grandfather became ill and subsequently died of cancer. Her mother had taken out a mortgage on the shrine to pay for the medical bills and now everything was catching up. Kagome's mother worked two jobs and Kagome was going to have to get a job soon.

Kagome was an extremely intelligent woman, she’d graduated from high school a full year early and received a full ride scholarship to the demon university, something that was almost unheard of as the university only gave scholarships to demons, they’d made two exceptions throughout history. The first was for a powerful priestess named Midoriko and the second to Kagome.

She didn't know much at all about her father only that he'd never married her mother, he was not Japanese and that he'd died when she was almost three. Three months before Souta was even born.

Her mother never talked about him and kagome knew better than to ask. She was dying to know something about her father's family but she would wait until she could find out on her own.

Kagome looked around the classroom while humming to herself. One thing she did appreciate was music.

Kagome loved music, she played Piano beautifully, she also had a vintage Gibson guitar that belonged to her father and she played that with equal fervor.

Kagome was self-taught on the guitar, copying the stylings of Jimmy Hendrix and Bob Dylan but also The Beatles and The Doors. She loved the old Britpop, American classic rock and blues that she'd discovered in the garage piled amongst the old things her father left behind. She also explored Japanese grassroots and acoustic.

Kagome was a very gifted pianist. She’d trained since the age of three and was recognized with awards and sought after solo performances in the junior orchestra throughout her youth. She'd finally been offered a scholarship to one of the most prestigious music schools in Tokyo but she turned it down to stay home and care for her grandfather. She used to spend hours in her garage on her father's old piano writing sonatas and experimenting.

Unfortunately her father's precious heirloom was sold to buy her grandfather's medication a few months back, just before he died. Kagome was not sorry to have to sell her most precious possession, she was happy to be able to help her family in any way she could.

She was lucky that the young woman two houses from the shrine was a Julliard educated Japanese-American woman who was born and raised in Southern California. Tsubaki Tsukihara was a typical California beach girl with some New York sophistication thrown in from her time at Julliard. She was a world-renowned pianist and dancer who taught Kagome everything she could about her craft.

Though Tsubaki had been quite famous as a youngster in the junior orchestra, she found that when she grew up, her competition was much stiffer. She was trying to get a seat on the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra but it proved to be a very difficult task. Tsubaki had to pay the bills so she gave dance, piano, English and Spanish lessons and baby-sat kagome and Souta for eleven years until she received her spot on the Orchestra.

It also happened that Tsubaki was a dominatrix on Friday and Saturday night. She had quite a reputation in the Tokyo underground amongst wealthy demons and humans with fetishes and gave classes on Sunday mornings to bored housewives who wanted to heat up their sex lives.

Kagome smiled reminiscing about her teacher who taught her to hear music everywhere....not just in the instruments but in every sound...even in silence.

Kagome was a duel major in astrophysics and music. It was a strange combination but her dream, as she put it, was to “sit around and look at stars all day” and eventually teach at a university.

Today Kagome hummed the simplistic beauty of the second movement of Beethoven's 5th symphony; a piece she was experimenting with on piano. Though the piece was written for an entire orchestra, her music teacher was a firm believer that if someone was passionate enough they could move music beyond the need for an entire orchestra. Tsubaki would often challenge Kagome to become an orchestra of one.

Kagome loved exploring music with her own experimental twist. Currently she'd been visiting Sango's house a lot since Sango had a plain upright piano. Honestly Kagome was a Piano slut, it didn't matter what make or how old it was as long as it was tuned and had all the keys, she’d been saving up to buy one but most of her money went into the shrine and to help her mother with the bills but she didn’t mind.

She performed with the school orchestra every now and then as a guest but it was hard because her major was a demanding one and she didn’t have the time to regularly devote to orchestra. She was also never formally trained, her mother could not afford to send her to music school and when her grandfather fell ill she had to turn down several scholarships to help with his care. She didn't regret it for one minute, she knew that the music never left her soul and those special schools and expensive instruments weren't everything.

Kagome was stirred from her thoughts when someone sneezed. She tapped her pencil lightly and hummed a bit harder.

The soft soothing hum caught HIS attention; the silver haired demon  looked at the little human female with the bright blue eyes who exuded innocence. She was annoying at first, she followed his brother around and they even had a little romance.

She was willful and extremely innocent; she blushed at the stupidest things and was too nice for her own good....yet something about her always made his beast stir which is why he decided he hated her.

Though his beast had never made himself known as of yet, he could feel it stirring in it's chains, however, it had only been violently active when the girl was near him. She was not powerful at all, she was beautiful yes....but she was human and a miko.

He sat sideways in his desk and bent down to his book bag. He couldn't help himself so he stared at her for a moment.

Her eyes were on her paper, the rich cerulean hues highlighted by icy tones dancing in her iris were like no others he'd ever seen. Her soft pale skin glowed beautifully and her pouty pink lips looked so kissable in that moment. His beast snarled inside of his head and roared out a lustful cry.

'why does this beast call out to her... the one who smells of ice' he thought before she looked up and he looked away.

She hummed the beautiful little melody; it was familiar to him, something that played on his I-pod often. Not many people especially females could appreciate fine music.

Kagura listened to the trash they called pop, AKB48, EXILE and Arashi dominated her ipod and she had little interest in anything else. Yet this female was clearly a trained musician by the control of the tone and the pitch of her humming.

She was in advanced English, which told him either she was a native speaker or she was a genius. She was intelligent but clearly not a genius so he settled for the former and also attributed her ability to her obvious mixed lineage giving her at least one English speaking parent.

Being required to take a few courses in biology for his minor had sparked his curiosity in genetics. He loved to decipher genetics in humans and demons alike. He was currently doing an experiment about genetic mutations and mixing, he was going to enter it into the All Japan University Science Competition.

His brows drew together for a moment and he nodded. He saw the opportunity to question a new subject and became a bit excited at the prospect.

She was mixed race, it was clear, her eyes were very large and light blue indicating that her Japanese parent must have also had some mixed lineage to carry the gene for such eyes. Though she was clearly a mutt of western mix, she was definitely Japanese. Her skin was milky and pale, her hair pitch black and straight and her cheekbones high. Her eyes, though very large, still had a slight almond shaped pull at the edges and her countenance was that of any Japanese girl.

American or British?' he asked himself trying to determine where her origins lay. He knew by her nose and bone structure she was not eastern European as her face was slender and heart shaped, her nose was dainty and doll like and her lips were pale pink, very soft looking and puffy. She was not too tall; she was a bit above average height for a Japanese female, not mammoth and certainly still short compared to demon females from any region. She was quite thin though not disgustingly so.

She could have been Nordic for such as brilliant color of blue in her eyes. Though most true Nordic humans carried the gene for light hair. Since both parents carried western genes, a blonde parent would have made her hair take on more of a chestnut color than the deep inky obsidian hue she had.

He could tell by the silky texture that the hair was not dyed and he was puzzled. He'd studied the differences in humans due to their region and it was always fun for him to decipher the mixes of human mutt.

He considered himself a bit of an expert, though he hated mixes, due mostly to his brother's existence. He had to admit most of the mutts he'd come across, human and demon alike, especially those Asian mixed with Caucasian were beautiful and genetically strong.

"British" he muttered to himself as he figured she was a descendant of the Nordic invaders of the British isles and may have received the darker brown hair from Roman or Spanish mixture in her heritage.

Her body was lithe, slim with just enough muscle, her legs were long and shapely, definitely not stumpy like a lot of human females. She had a very slender waist and her breasts were a nice size, huge for a demoness who tended to be a bit flat chested and also quite large for a Japanese girl but he knew that Japanese females tended to be les curvaceous than their western counterparts, he couldn’t help but admire her perfectly rounded hips, large enough to birth healthy pups but slender enough to be sexy.

She had beautiful long fingers with neatly manicured fingernails, just long enough to make her hands exquisitely feminine. Her neck was long and sensuous, very kissable and lickable but he tried not to think on that.

Her clothing however, was plain and somewhat worn. Being a very old and very traditional school, they were required to wear uniforms.

Her uniforms were faded and old but still tidy and pressed. When the school awarded the student body with a free dress day for holidays or good test scores she would dress in plain casual wear that was obviously fished from a clearance bin.

For the most part the miko's clothing was very sad especially when compared to the beautiful clothing Kagura and many of the other demonesses would wear. Even the other mikos had nicer clothing, her cousin Kikyou who was currently dating his annoying half brother dressed quite well.

"Higurashi, the answer to number six" said the teacher in broken English.

Sesshomaru smirked when she readied to speak. He was so sure that he that he was right. He looked on smugly as he expected a middle British drawl to escape her lips but his eyes narrowed into a scowl when she began to speak.

"The answer to number six is "Yes Mr. Namagata I would Love to go to your house for some tea" she answered, speaking in perfect American English spoken in a slight southern California drawl ,the same one her English tutor spoke with.

The teacher looked down at her and frowned "Miss Higurashi, just because you are a native speaker, it does not give you any right to criticize the author of our text" said the old woman arrogantly in Japanese.

Kagome’s brows synched as she’d not said anything to criticize anyone, all she did was answer the question.

"but..." began Kagome but a glare from the teacher caused her to simply shrug and move on.

Sesshomaru looked at her in wonder as he thought about how he could have been wrong.

'American?...perhaps a Nordic-French/ Italian cross, though by her accent she speaks southern Californian English. She could be mixed with Anglo-Hispanic as those humans are so mixed that it very hard to decipher what their origins are...no she does not hold the spicy scent of a Hispanic human...her scent is crisp....icy definitely Nordic in origin...though interestingly enough her scent does not hold the stench of body odor, urine and death like all other humans' thought Sesshomaru as he looked on at her

The human smell was very distinct and was quite unpleasant, even his step mother and younger adopted sister reeked of human filth.

'This bitch doesn't even smell human' he thought looking at her in a puzzled way....her scent carried the icy scent  though the human scent was decisively not there which made him narrow his eyes a bit as he savored the floral hints on her scent. It was like a bouquet of flowers in ice water, crisp clean and beautiful. He'd never smelled anything so delicious in all of his life.

'She is a spiritual human....I have heard of powerful spiritual beings form the northern European lands who do not hold a human scent because they are immortal but share other traits with humans such as the rounded ear and the lack of markings but this bitch does not exude very much power. Perhaps she is a cross-breed' he thought cocking his head a bit more

'Her name is ....Higurashi...so it is her father who mated a Caucasian female, not very common as the common thought is that Caucasian females tend to be put off by Japanese men. This mixture would explain her fire, though it would not explain too well why she acts so Japanese.

This Sesshomaru has never met a human mutt with a Caucasian mother" he thought as he continued to study her.

Kagome tapped her pencil against the desk. She was doing her history homework last minute, as she had to help her mother with the preparations for the festival at the shrine that weekend. She felt the pressure since a good celebration meant more desperately needed revenue for the shrine.

She was excited because she and Kikyou always had so much fun during festivals. Kagome was actually quite popular, known as the best miko dancer in the region.

Sesshomaru had made up his mind. He needed a Human subject for his experiment since he already had a hanyou and a demon. He'd decided Higurashi, Kagome would fill the position as his human subject.

She'd just finished her work when she felt a tap on her shoulder , she looked up to see the enigmatic older brother of her ex-boyfriend staring at her.

"yes?" she said in English as they were only allowed to communicate in English in that class but the teacher was not paying attention and Sesshomaru replied to her in Japanese.

"Higurashi, I am doing an experiment for the All Japan university science competition and I would like to ask you a few questions about your foreign heritage as some of my research is about human mutts" he said rather coldly

Her eyes widened and her brow furrowed at the rude way he asked her for her participation.

"No you may not" she said simply in English as she looked back down at her work hoping he would leave her alone.

'The nerve of this guy, calling me a mutt' she thought angrily as she wrote a bit too hard.

He could feel the anger radiating in her aura and decided to ask again a bit more tactfully. After all she was half American and Americans tended to be a bit hostile and crude in his experience yet they expected to be finessed in return.

" Excuse me Higurashi, they are only a few questions and they will not be invasive" he said in a softer tone

She rolled her eyes a bit

"fine, ask" she said simply in Japanese this time

"Who is the Caucasian parent, your mother or your father?" he asked

"My father" she said simply

'hn, wrong...again' he though quirking an eyebrow.

"Why is your last name not American?" he asked

"be..because he never married my mother" she said softly

'she is a bastard, born out of wedlock no doubt, or born to an American soldier who simply used her mother for pleasure and went home when he was done. He did not care for his pup...shameful' he thought as he curled his lip at her.

"Have you ever met him?" he asked.

"He died when I was two and what does me having met him have to do with genetics?" she asked heatedly.

"hn , now then, you do know his origins? Most American Caucasians are a mixture of different European blood with a touch of Native American...also, was he a spiritual human?" he asked.

"I don't know...for both I don't know" she said sheepishly looking down.

"Did you know his hair color?' asked Sesshomaru.

"Blonde....light blonde almost like yours but golden not silver" she said softly.

"hn, and the eyes?" he asked jotting down notes.

"Blue...just like mine" she said looking away.

"Your mother, she is Japanese?" he stated more than asked.

"Yes" she bit out shortly.

"she harbors spiritual power?" he asked.

"Yes" she replied.

"You would need the blue eyed gene on both sides of the family to be born with blue eyes" he said simply.

"my mother...her grandmother on her mother's side was a priestess from Ireland....sh.. she had blue eyes...but not pale like me, hers were dark blue like cobalt" she turned a bit to look out the window.

"A Celt? Interesting....A Celt with a strong blue eyed gene on the bitch's side making the bitch a Celtic-Asian cross and a Nordic blonde, blue eyed male as a mate" he muttered as he jotted down more notes.

"Pup shows blue eyes but the dominant black hair of the Asian race, high cheek bones and an almond pull of the eyes" he muttered still scribbling.

'did he just refer to me as a pup?' she thought as she was about to ask if he was done when he asked another question.

"Siblings?" he asked.

"What?" she asked as she was caught off guard

"Do you have brothers and sisters?" he asked in a condescending tone

"One brother" she said ignoring his insinuation that she didn't know what the word sibling meant.

"older or younger?" he was jotting down his data at an alarming speed.

"younger" she replied quickly.

"same father?" he didn’t look up.

"Yes" she was glaring at him.

"what are his traits?" he looked into her eyes this time, catching her of guard.

"light brown hair and green-hazel eyes" she breathed.

"hn, any half siblings? From your father's wife perhaps? Did your father have any legitimate children?" he didn’t look up.

She gasped at his comment and held back the raw anger at the assumption that her mother was a home wrecker and that she was a bastard.

"I...I..." she stammered as he was oblivious to her state and then the teacher announced that class was over and she picked up her things quickly and was gone.

He smelled the anger in her scent and frowned at her sensitivity, she was clearly sensitive about her bastard status.

"Shameful" he muttered remembering his brothers own bastard status. A state, which changed of course as soon as Sesshomaru's own mother died, and his father brought home the human whore and her hanyou son. Inuyasha was only three years his junior, meaning that his father had been fucking the whore in question while his mother was still alive and ill.

He remembered being six years old and cleaning up his mother's vomit so his father wouldn't yell at her for not getting to the bathroom on time, even though she was too weak to move.

Sesshomaru's mother was a self-sufficient woman who did not require maids or cooks. She took care of the household well and took pride in her family. Toga paid no mind and when his mate fell ill, was too indifferent to hire a nurse for her as she kept insisting she didn't need one and he wasn't going to go out of his way.

Little Sesshomaru watched as his beloved mother deteriorated and slowly slipped away one night as he slept next to her. The little boy awoke when he felt his mother's cold hand against his little arm. He looked on at her, she looked as if she slept peacefully but the stench of death was overwhelming. Her once radiant skin was cold and her bright eyes would not open. It took four grown yokai to pull the pup from his mother's body. That was the day the light in his eyes dimmed and when his brother came home the light went out completely.

Their father was hardly home and when he was he was on edge and would yell and beat Sesshomaru for the slightest things. When Inuyasha misbehaved, Sesshomaru would get a harsh beating for not watching the boy closely. When Inuyasha would get hurt, Sesshomaru would get a brutal beating for not being an attentive brother. Sesshomaru was even beaten when Izayoi complained that he was boring and hardly spoke to her.

He'd always though it was the illness of his mother that had his father on edge but after he brought Izayoi home, Sesshomaru realized the truth. The petty self-absorbed bitch who'd even worn his mother's clothes and jewelry on occasion was stressful enough to drive anyone mad.

The reason his father was able to be the cheating bastard he was had to do with the way he marked his mates. He never allowed his mates to mark him or in the human's case drink of his blood, therefore leaving him free to philander while the female he was attached to was put through violent physical pain while her mate found comfort in the bed of another female.

Sesshomaru swore to himself that he would never do two things;One he would never half mate his chosen female. When he found a female worthy of marking he would make sure he marked her fully and would never stray.

Secondly he swore never to mark a female ,human or demon, that was as title hungry and despicable as the human whore who bore his half brother. The latter is why he'd broken up with Kagura

A.N.: For those of you who had read this fiction in its original form, you’ll notice a slight change. I decided to change it from a high school fiction to a university fiction for propriety’s sake. Also I’m having issues with my word program so the paragraph breaks might be off, I’ll try and fix that ASAP. Lastly, I am looking for a BETA, if you’re interested please PM me. Thank you, hope you enjoyed this revised version of Bold as Love.

 (Thank you SO much Diane, for the tips!)