In the Locked Hut by LibraCourt

In the Locked Hut

“How many times have you been told to stay away from that hut outside?” The inu taiyoukai snarled to his eldest son. The boy was as bad as the woman who birthed him for listening.

“I’m a grown inu and your heir,” he glared back at his sire, “I am nearly 200yrs old, this is my home that I will one day rule yet I’m bared from areas. How am I suppose to rule this place when I’m treated like a pup?”

“You are a pup” his sire shot back, “for the last time. Stay away from the hut. Leave me now”.

The silver haired inu growled, but left.

“You should learn to listen to your elders, boy”.

He turned to look at the female inu he grew up calling mother standing outside the doors. Her silver hair, amber eyes, and single red strips on her cheek. The female was not the mothering type, cold hearted, and could care less if they got injured. He had a few siblings parish to a youkai attack that she didn’t protect them from or even mourn them as an inu mother should. Ignoring her, he went to his room and sat in front of his mirror, which he had been doing more frequently as of late. The woman he was raised to call mother…he looked nothing like her. He looked like his sire’s younger twin, except he had blue eyes.

Souta had noticed when he was about 10 that every inu he met had yellow eyes, but he didn’t. Some of his siblings had the yellow eyes, but some had blue. He had learned how pups were made and learned boy or girl you’d carry some traits from both parents. However, he saw no resemblance to the female inu. Not one of his siblings had bone structure or her colour strips either, all of them had their father’s colouring. He’d also learned that even as pups got older and carried their own unique scent, under all that though was the scent of the parents. When he had learned this, he had scented his siblings and all had the smell of their father, but none smelled like the woman that “raised” them. One thing he noticed was that who ever it was that birthed them, she’d birthed them all.

“Got caught near the hut again, brother?” The woman giggled from the door way, “seriously, why are you so obsessed with getting into that hut lately?”

Souta narrowed his eyes, “because Sakura, I feel that in that hut are the answers to the questions we’ve been asking for the past 150yrs since we found it”.

She looked at him with a frown, “do you really think so?”

“Think about it,” he insisted, “What is in that hut, father, would risk having it so close by, but no one is allowed to enter except him? Why is there a guard stationed outside it if it’s locked up? We’ve been told our entire lives the hut is off limits, but no one tells us why. We’ve also been told our entire lives that father’s mate is our mother, but why do none of us smell like her? And some of us have blue eyes? Someone else gave birth to us and I think she’s being kept in that hut”.

“Why would our sire have pups with some other female inu?” Sakura wondered, “and why would the female who birthed heirs of the west be treated like a prisoner instead of royalty?”

“I don’t know,” he grumbled, “but that’s why I want to get in there and find out”.

“Alright, I’ll help,” Sakura offered, now also quite curious if her brother was right. All siblings knew their father’s mate wasn’t their mother, so, where was she? Her father would insist that his mate was their mother and to listen to her as pups should. Every few years there would suddenly be a new sibling introduced, so it was obvious the female that birthed them was still alive.

The many siblings they had was another reason Souta was so curious. Female inus went into heat every 50 years or so, so how was there so many of them? Who was the female who birthed all of them? 40 siblings and if they included the dead there was another 10 of them. 50 total. It was a crazy amount of kids to have and he wanted to meet the woman. He wondered what she was like and was excited at the idea of meeting her, hoping she wanted to meet him too.

A week later, Souta watched as a couple of his younger sisters approached the guard, giving the inu male some of their sweets, which were laced with sleeping drugs. The girls then ran off to get ready for bed. Shortly afterwards, the guard slumped against the hut wall and then fell to the ground. He grinned as he slowly approached, making sure no one was coming to check on the guard. Standing the guard up against the hut and propping him up to look alert, Souta searched for the key to unlock the hut. Frowning, he tried not to panic when he could not locate the key. Surely this guard would have the key should he need to enter it for any reason, but he seemed he had nothing on him. Hearing something behind him, he turned around.

He was shocked to see his sister, Sakura, with a key, “where did you find that?”

“As a kid I remember seeing father holding this key,” she answered as she handed it to him, “he always had a sad look on his face”.

“Father doesn’t show any expression except anger,” he growled, “he doesn’t know happiness and sadness”.

She watched solemnly as he moved to the lock, “guess only a woman can see it. Whatever is behind this door…father cares about it greatly”.

“So where was the key?” He asked, wanting to get off the topic of his father and emotions. The taiyoukai didn’t have any or at least he never showed any of his offspring anything other then anger or stoic face

“He keeps it on him except when he has to see his mate,” she responded, “then he hides it in a book in his study” .

Fiddling with the lock, Souta questioned, “what book?”

“His journal,” she said, holding up a black, leather bound book.

He paused and looked at his sister a moment, surprised his father even had anything like that and then he decided he really wanted to see what was inside. Hearing the lock sound that it was open, he felt his heart pounding as he opened the door. Slowly he walked inside and let his eyes adjust to the dim candle light. There was nothing in this hut except a futon in the corner, a pissing pot, and a rocking chair facing a wall with a woman gently rocking. She made no motion that she even heard him enter and he carefully approached her.

“H-hello” he said.

The black hair woman didn’t acknowledge his presence.

Souta walked a little closer to her, sniffing the air and recognizing the scent that ran through his and his siblings’ blood. This woman was their mother, but he was slightly alarmed when he realized she wasn’t an inu. She smelt human, but that was impossible. She couldn’t be. He and his siblings were full inu so how? Plus, he was 200 years old and no human could live that long…how was this possible? Yet there she sat and she had the blue eyes some of he and his siblings had he noticed as he moved into position to see her properly. She even had the bone structure that some of his siblings had. This was their mother. But something was wrong with her. Her eyes were hollow and unseeing, but he could tell she wasn’t blind. It looked more like her mind had checked out and she wasn’t fully aware of everything around her.

“Hello,” he said again, “uum…I just wanted to meet you…mother”.

She shook her head, vehemently, “no, no, no. Not a mother. All gone, everyone is all gone”.

“Who’s all gone?” He asked out of confusion.

“Everyone,” she responded and then rubbed her stomach, “this one will be gone soon too”

Souta’s eyes glanced down to her stomach and noticed it was sticking out, “you’re pregnant”.

Her eyes grew soft, a slight smile on her lips and she continued to rub it, “yeah, so happy” her eyes dimmed, “he keeps taking my babies though”.

He didn’t want to ask because he knew the answer, but it still left his mouth, “who?”

“Father,” Sakura responded, sadly while holding the journal open. Tears threatening to fall, “it’s all written here. From how they met to every one of our births”.

Souta took the journal and read the first entry about how their sire met her in his father’s tomb and how she was a miko. The battle of an evil hanyou and it’s defeat. How his parents got closer from meetings when their father came to visit his human ward in a village. It spoke of the two becoming lovers and how quickly his mother fell pregnant. As he read further it mentioned how the taiyoukai’s mother found out and forced their father to mate a full-blooded female inu. The female threatened to kill the miko and so to protect her the taiyoukai built the hut to protect his love. She ended up giving birth to a full-blooded pup to the surprise of everyone while it was later found that his father’s mate was barren.

Rather then being allowed to be with his love since she could produce pure blood pups, the taiyoukai was forced to stay with he barren female because she was a pure inu. However, he still needed heirs so he would be allowed to have pups with his love every few years. The pups were to be taken and raised without knowing the human bore them. Each pup was written in the journal from when they were born to names chosen and the word deceased was written next to the ones who perished. It was thought the human would only live 50years or so, but time kept moving and she didn’t seem to age. It was believed the Shikon jewel she had housed within her body played a part in her now seemingly immortality. But she was a social person and thrived being around friends and family. The years of solitude and babies taken had taken its toll on her spirit and caused her to escape into her mind, making her become a shell of her former self.

Souta looked at his mother sadly and moved the rocking chair to face away from the wall, “hey, look at me…please”.

Her unseeing eyes seemed to twitch in his direction, but never focused on him.

“Mother,” he called softly.

“No, not a mother,” she stated, “he keeps taking my baby”.

Sakura sniffled as gently placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder, “he won’t take this one, we promise. Come on Souta, we should get back before anyone notices”.

He nodded and gave his real mother a hug, “we will fix everything and you will be a mother to your children like you were meant to”.

“No, no, not a mother,” she repeated, shaking her head, “he keeps taking my babies”.

The two siblings left, locking the hut and returning home. Sneaking into their father’s study to return the journal and key as if it never left. They then gathered up their siblings to tell them what they found and learned. Everyone was shocked to learn their true mother was human and sad to hear her mind was not all there anymore due to the isolation she was in and her children being taken from her. However, it made them feel better that they weren’t given up willingly and were excited to learn a new sibling would soon be born and all agreed they did not want this sibling to suffer without a loving mother like they had. It was time for their mother to take her place by their side.

In the morning, Souta and siblings decided to put their sire’s mate in her place. During breakfast they gave her the cold shoulder, which while their sire didn’t react, his mate voiced her displeasure at their rudeness. The pups brushed it off and voiced the fact she was not their biological mother. This angered her a great deal and she looked to her mate to back her up, however his comment only infuriated her more.

“You aren’t their real mother,” he commented as he looked over a scroll.

“How dare you!” She snarled, “I raised them!”

He glanced at her, unbothered, “but you did not birth them and they are now becoming old enough to realize it. You knew it was only a matter of time, besides you left their care to wet nurses and tutors”.

“I raised them; I am still their mother!” She growled, “I let them in this home and provided them shelter and safety”.

Souta glared at her, “say that to the ones you didn’t bother to protect when they needed you. You’re no mother to us”.

“How dare you, you ungrateful brat!” She screeched as she stood up, “I could have had you killed from the moment you were born as is my right!”

“But you couldn’t,” he shot back, “father needs an heir and you are barren”.

Her eyes widened as she gasped, “how did you find out?”

Sakura answered, “wasn’t hard to figure out. You have no blood related offspring and Souta is the heir to the west. Any kid you had would have rights first since you are father’s mate, but it’s been 200yrs and you haven’t conceived once”.

The female shrieked and looked to her mate, “Sesshoumaru, will you allow these mongrel offspring talk to me that way?”

The taiyoukai growled a warning, “if you want respect from them then behave as someone who deserves it and not a shrieking banshee” he then returned to his scroll “you are not behaving of one of your station”.

Souta watched as she released another snarl and then left the room. He then glanced at his sire, but the inu was stoic. Waiting for a few moments, the pup left the room. He attended a few of his lessons and waited for the right time to get the key again. By night fall the opportunity came and so not to draw suspicion he had another of his little sisters feed the guard and then entered the hut. The chair had not moved from the time he touched it and it made him frown. Did she sit in that chair all day?

“I’m back mother,” he greeted.

“No, not a mother,” she stated, “all gone, he keeps taking them away”.

He knelt down in front of her, “do you want to see your children?”

She was silent a moment, eyes still not focusing on him, “can’t…he keeps taking my babies”.

“I know where your babies are,” he spoke softly, hoping to reach her, “I’ll take you to them”.

“No!” She said in near panic and for the first time she was looking at him, “not safe!”

He placed a hand over hers, “we can protect you,” he assured, “you’ll be safe”.

“They won’t be,” she commented solemnly as her eyes became distant once more.

Is that why she stayed in the hut and never tried to escape? Were they threatening to kill her pups if she didn’t cooperate? This was her way of protecting them. A whimper escaped his lips and he placed his head down in her lap. His mother had suffered silently for so long and sacrificed so much for them. He wished he had tried sooner to get into the hut and perhaps if he had, he could have saved her before she fell into her mind. He could only imagine what it may have been liked to have her raise him and his siblings with her love, he bet her smile would’ve been bright and beautiful, and he could tell she was a fierce protector and would do anything to keep them safe….even give up her freedom…her life.

Her hand suddenly started stroking his hair and her soft voice filled the hut, “you are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey, you’ll never know dear…how much I love you, so please don’t take my sunshine away”.

Souta felt an overwhelming calm wash over him and they stayed like that for a few minutes until he knew he couldn’t wait anymore. The guard would be waking soon and they needed to leave. Standing up, he took her hands and had her stand up with him. Deciding not saying anything would be better, he quietly led her out the door, pausing outside the door so he could re-lock the hut before guiding her towards what would be her home from now on. Arriving at the entrance of home, he felt her stop and turned to face her.

“No, no,” she shook her head, frightened and started to back up, “not right. This is wrong”.

“No, it’s not wrong,” he insisted as he took her hand to prevent her from leaving, “this is where you are suppose to be”.

“Not safe” she said once again and tried to back away, “they won’t be safe”.

His face was full of sorrow, “do you know who Souta is?”

She paused, “m-my brother”.

“Brother?” He breathed in shock.

“Yes,” she said quietly, “and my baby”.

“She named you after her brother,” Sakura commented as she appeared beside him, and asked, “your first baby is named Souta right?”

A sad smile appeared, “yes”.

The female approached her and took her free hand, “Souta is all grown up now, but still needs his mother…so do all your children”.

Something seem to flicker in her eyes, “they need me?”

“Yes, come on,” she coaxed the woman forward, “lets go see them”.

The woman seemed hesitant, but ended up following them. Every step she made was with a sense of caution and she remained silent, seemingly ready to bolt back at a moment notice. She allowed them to lead her down the halls to large room that was used when the pups wanted to gather together at one time. It was considered their private room and no one was permitted to enter except their sire. This was a place where the pups practiced changing between their true self and their human forms. They also practiced using, what they now knew, were miko abilities. Something they had yet to show anyone beyond themselves.

“Not safe”.

Sakura places a reassuring hand on the woman’s back, “it’s safe, no one is allowed in here, but the children”.

“Come, they have gotten jealous of me and Sakura,” the heir spoke.

“Sakura?” She repeated, sounding confused yet knowing, “my baby?”

Both pups glanced at each other. Had their mother been involved in naming all of them? Sakura stood in front of her and nodded, “yes, I’m Sakura and he’s my brother…Souta”.

The woman slowly turned to look at the male inu, “S-Souta?”

He nodded, “hi mother,” he re-greeted quietly, tugging her hand gently, “come meet the rest of your children”.

That evening was the night none of the pups would forget. While their mother still didn’t seem all there, she did shed tears as each pup introduced themselves. Some of the younger ones were so excited they took to their true forms, tails wagging as they yipped and danced around her. The older ones were more happy to get the chance to finally wrap their arms around the woman who birthed them as their desire to protect her grew. As the night wore on, slowly each pup surrendered to sleep, keeping a protective circle around their mother as she slept.

“What the hell is she doing here?!”

All the pups were startled awake the next morning by a familiar shriek and immediately growled at her when they sensed their mother’s fear. Souta was up and before the bitch, snarling at her. How dare this female enter their territory! This was their personal space and she had been told to never enter. He could see having 40 growling inus gave her pause and he hoped she was reconsidering her decision to try and shriek at them. However, it seemed to be a fleeting moment as she regathered her wits and scowled at him with a growl of her own.

“Well?”

“Well what?” He said, lips curled up to show his fangs, “this is our territory and we have every right to do as we wish in here. You, however, are trespassing or have you forgotten that no one is to enter here without our permission, father being the only exception to that rule”.

She glared harder, “you brought that filth through my halls! Her stink is everywhere, put her back where she belongs immediately if you value your lives!”

Sakura joined her brother with a snarl, “she is our mother and you will treat her with the respect she deserves. She belongs with us, now leave immediately”.

“I mean it you ungrateful whelps,” she continued, uncaring for the rule she was breaking, “your father only needs one pup to take over these lands. The rest of you are just a waste of space. I’ll kill the lot of you and that whore so your father can’t-”

Souta lunged. Trespassing and threatening his siblings and mother. He knocked the bitch down, noticing fear enter her eyes as she realized her error now. Too late and he was well within his rights to take her life and he knew she knew it. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his brothers and sisters starting to circle them, waiting for a turn. He smirked at the woman and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

“You may have used your social standing and pure lineage to force our sire to mate you, but we could always see it,” he sneered, “you never had his loyalty, his trust, his respect…nor his affection. I think I get why he gave us this room, put the rules in place to keep you out, and had so many of us which you stupidly allowed just to keep our sire under your thumb…it was all for this moment”.

Sakura had a dark smirk, “it was to give us the ability and right to kill you without any repercussions”.

The female was in near panic as she looked around at all the bared teeth. This was more then displeasure they were displaying. They meant to kill her. With a quick shove, she managed to free her self and stand up. She snarled fiercely at them.

“You are just a bunch of mongrel pups!” She screeched, “I am far stronger than you!”

“Guess you didn’t realize what our mother was,” Souta chuckled darkly.

“She’s just a human”.

Sakura and a few other pups laughed, “she’s not just human, she’s a miko. Ever see what the results are of a youkai breeding with a miko are?” She allowed her holy energy to come out “it creates us”.

The inu woman gasped as she realized just how much trouble she was in as the other pups also allowed their energy to come forth. She knew she could defend against one or two, but 40 of them with the ability and none of them were on her side. Even as she turned to escape, she knew she was going to die. Her mate’s promise that he’d made the day he was left no choice, but to take her, came to her mind as she felt her skin starting to burn and crumble.

“You win…for now, but I will see to it I get my life back and you will regret crossing me”

The pups let out a cheerful howl and some hugged their mother. Now they could be with her forever and no one would ever take her away. A powerful energy coming their way reminded them quickly there was someone who could. They watched the doors with anxious eyes and some of the younger pups whimpered in fear of losing their mother so quickly. Soon their sire appeared in the door way and they watched with baited breath as he eyed the dust pile on the floor then turned his eyes on them.

Sesshoumaru looked among his children till he spotted her black hair. Without hesitation he walked until he was in front of her, ignoring his pups growling in warning to him. He noticed how she didn’t acknowledge his presence and he couldn’t hide his sorrow as he placed a hand on her cheek and softly called her name.

“Kagome”.

Her arms wrapped around her swelling stomach, “not yet, baby isn’t born yet”.

“It will be soon,” he said as he pulled her close and nuzzled her cheek.

She whimpered as tears began to fall, “don’t take my baby”.

“I won’t,” he promised her, kissing her forehead, “you will be in it’s life, I swear”.

Souta couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His sire was showing affection that was reserved for mates and it was clear the old inu had been doing everything in his power to keep their mother safe from those who wanted her dead. As he watched his sire nuzzle the miko calmly, a sudden realization came to him and his eyes widened. His sire had so many pups and gave them a room to gather without anyone allowed to enter, except him. Anyone else who entered were allowed to be killed without question, no matter of their station, and the children would receive no repercussions for their actions since the person would be considered trespassing and you don’t trespass into a canine’s territory.

“You planned this,” his stated to his sire, ignoring his siblings staring at him, “from the time they forced you to mate with that bitch, you planned for her to die by our hands”.

Sakura gasped as she caught on and looked to her father, “that’s also why you had so many of us. She would have tried to kill some of us, but she couldn’t take us all on”.

“There is safety in numbers,” Sesshoumaru spoke, keeping his female in his embrace.

“And why father didn’t want us to tell anyone about our abilities to purify,” a 10yr old female pup commented.

Souta smirked as his sister, “she sure was surprised when she realized we weren’t just simple pups”.

Sakura frowned as she thought of one more potential problem, “what about grandma? Won’t she still be a problem?”

“She’s been dealt with,” the taiyoukai commented, but didn’t elaborate. However, the kids seemed to get the understanding grandma wouldn’t be around anymore.

“Is mother going to get better?” One of the younger male ups asked, worry clear on his face.

Sesshoumaru gave a nod “she will come back to us; she just needs time and to know you are here”

And their sire wasn’t wrong. They called her mother despite the fact she would start denying she was a mom and someone was always with her. The younger pups tried encouraging her to play while the older ones would talk to her about their day and how happy they were to have her in their lives from now on. Slowly she began to acknowledge when they greeted her and then even started to engage with them when they attempted to play with her. However, the real breakthrough came when she went into labour. Everyone had noticed their sire seemed more excited and impatient, but then, they had never seen their sire when a sibling was born before and weren’t sure if he was like this with all of them when they were born.

A few hours into the labour and the wails of a little pup were heard and soon after the siblings were allowed to enter to see their new sibling, but they got a big shock when they looked at their mother. Her eyes were focused as she looked at the silver pup in her arms before lifting her head to look at them with a bright smile on her lips and greeted them. The room was silent as they stood in shock that she was physically and mentally there with them.

“Mother?” The eldest pup said, unsure.

She gave him a warm smile, “yes Souta, it’s me”.

“You’re here,” he stated, stunned that she actually was aware of who he was.

Sesshoumaru growled at him, “she’s been here for awhile now”.

“I mean mentally here,” he clarified.

The taiyoukai shot him a look, but then returned his attentions to his female and his new daughter, “be prepared to raise this one”.

She smiled at him, “only had to wait 200 years, I’m looking forward to it” she noticed the children’s confused faces and decided she needed to clarify “I purposely put my mind into a state so the grief of not having your father and having to give you all up for your protection wouldn’t actually destroy me, but I was coherent for everyone of your births and was active in naming all of you”.

“That explains why you acknowledged our names when we said them to you,” Sakura exclaimed.

“If I hadn’t escaped into my mind the way I had,” she explained, “then I knew when the time came to be with everyone…I really would be lost to all of you,” her eyes welled with tears, ”I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there for you”.

Sakura wrapped her arms around her mother, “it’s not your fault mother. You and father didn’t have a choice, but we will be together from now on”.

“No one will get in the way of our family anymore,” Sesshoumaru declared and he kept his word.

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Author note: Had this idea jump into my head during a writer's block with the 2 stories I'm working on, so I wrote it. How was it? I have a favor to ask those reading. I'm working on making Prison Love into a chapter story and it's progressing nicely, however my other story, set in mordern time, I'm trying to figure out a situation. Without ruining it or giving too much away there is going to be a time in the story where Sesshoumaru will be no better than a human due to a mistake he made. He will still be a youkai, but will have no access to his canine senses or youkai abilities. I plan for him to have an accident that will put him in hospital with his arm gone, but I'm having trouble thinking up of a situation/ accident. Would love to hear some ideas to help me as I'm getting close to writing that scene.