Inu-Natsu
(The Summer Dog)

A Oneshot
by Cat Who

***

Disclaimer: Sesshoumaru isn't mine, and neither is the Inu-Yasha universe. I think everything else in this fic IS mine, though. Natsumi certainly is.

Author's note: I sure haven't written anything in a long time! Go read Under the Dog Star first, before you read this. I reread the last chapter and realized I never got anyone married. Well, this fic is their weddings, so go read it first, okay? And review! (shameless plug) And don't forget the lemon side story! It's the icing on the cake ^_~

Natsumi is like a cross between Faye Valentine and Mrs Dalloway to me. She may be more to you, too.

***

Ise on the sea is most beautiful in the summer, Inu-Natsu thought, leaning against the wooden railing of her castle home. Overhead the morning sunrise beamed down on her head, warming the day with the promise of heat to come. Their wedding should be soon, before the last greens of summer fade into the reds and golds of fall.

Several days before, Inu-Natsu's cousin Inu-Taisho had contacted her, asking her to arrange a double wedding for himself and Tomiko along with Sesshoumaru and Makoto. The idea of a double wedding was so romantic that Natsumi (as she was called by friends) nearly swooned in anticipation.

They would hold it in Ise, of course; no other city in Nihon was as safe from the prying eyes of humans as her own territory, and the ocean there would provide a beautiful backdrop. Inu-Taisho had requested that the ceremonies be small and without fuss, as the dragons still wanted him dead at all costs, and both dragons and bats would try to kill Makoto. Bounties on half the wedding party would make things difficult indeed.

But Natsumi embraced the challenge. She leaned her head back, feeling the gentle salt spray through the warm morning air as it hit her face. She loved the summer most of all, and the summer sea more than anything.

* * *

Inu-Natsu was the social queen of the youkai world. Half dragon, half dog, her human form sported bright magenta hair that fell to her knees and emerald eyes like glass in a pale, creamy face. She had carved out a small territory in the heart of Ise over the course of several centuries. She was almost seven hundred years old. She looked sixteen.

She would never die until she was killed.

It was a secret of hers that she feared death. In order to avoid it, she had striven to make herself indispensable to the youkai community. They could not afford to lose her now . . . she was the one who had kept the records of births, deaths, marriages, matings, and even formal territory for nigh on six hundred years, and if she died, all that information would be lost. No one trusted her. No one doubted her.

She held absolute power, but in a more feminine way.

Let the boys fight over land and honor. Let me decide who keeps it, she affirmed to herself.

* * *

Two white wedding haori and kimono, with hoods, and two incredibly festive wedding kimono. Natsumi ordered both through the humans who worked for her in Ise -- humans who appreciated the protection of a supernatural lord as opposed to a mortal one who would in all likelihood fail to save them. She also needed two black traditional haori and kimono for her first and second cousins.

The wedding would be in two weeks. Inu-Taisho and Tomiko looked quite impatient, and rumour had reached her that Sesshoumaru and Makoto had already anticipated their wedding vows several times. Makoto, even as a hanyou, was still too young to be able to give birth (although Natsumi could be wrong about that), but for Tomiko she had already started counting out nine months. Another hanyou to watch out for . . . another oddball like Makoto. Not that Natsumi disliked the brash young Seer; on the contrary, she admired her frankness, and they exchanged social news on a weekly basis even when separated by hundreds of miles. Natsumi of Ise had eyes everywhere, and ears, and mouths who only spoke when proper.

The ancient demon sported a bright blue hakama and haori outfit today, as she instructed human workers on how to set up the wedding reception area. The announcement party was technically open to all, but Natsumi had warned her socialites not to inform the dragons or the bats of the wedding. She would be obeyed.

The ceremony itself would take place at the small shrine in Ise, in the traditional style. Some humans might find it sacriligious that youkai wedded in the same ceremony as they did, but for all they knew, youkai and humans shared a common ancester. They still shared a common culture in many ways, so the wedding would be the human fashion.

After the ceremony, another open party would be help on the beach. There would be rows and rows of food, and penants flying in the wind . . . oh, Natsumi dearly loved the throw a party. It would be spectacular. It would be the wedding to end all weddings -- save, perhaps, her own, which she had been postponing for decades since she really didn't like the one her father had chosen for her. Makoto and Tomiko were lucky; they would have the one they loved most and best. Natsumi would never get that chance.

Quelling that moment of self pity, the Summer Dog went back to planning the weddings.

* * *

They would honeymoon on Hokkaido, all of them. They would be safe from the dragons and the bats there. Natsumi had warned the Dream clan to leave them alone or there would be hell to pay. Again, she would be obeyed.

Natsumi was sad that her brother would not be able to see it. Her heart squeezed; that pain was still too raw to deal with. To avoid it, she threw herself even deeper into the wedding plans. They would arrive tonight. She would not have to think; only be herself, and act.

* * *

"Kami-sama, onegai-gozaimasu, bless these couples. As they respect and honor you and the ancestors, so respect and honor their union."

The old Shinto priest was blind, so he did not realize that the marriage he performed in front of the knot of seven or eight witnesses was for two youkai, a hanyou, and a human. Natsumi had chosen him well.

The couples drank their sake, and then the girls went to change from their white haori to the bright scarlet wedding kimono. Natusmi had chosen them well.

Outside, the penants flew in the wind from the summer sea, and the crisp salty scent played around the enormous banquet for the reception party. The day was perfect; the weather flawless, the atmosphere relaxed and calm. Natsumi had chosen it well.

Natsumi made it a point to choose everything well, when it was in her power.

* * *

Now they were all married, leaving Natsumi contented to know that the social empire she ruled had become even more firmly entrenched in her grasp. She was the Summer Dog. All who knew her power feared her might and did all they could to stay on her good side.

She sighed and leaned on a chair on her deck, watching the sun set over the sea of Ise.

"I do love the summer best of all," she whispered to the seagulls, and smiled.

* * *

End