I am SO sorry this took so long. I can only throw up school, sickness, and computer troubles as my defense, and what a piss-poor one it is, too. Anyway, this chapter was slow, and refused to be written properly, and even with the ever-glorious Sashlea's help, I still hate parts of it. But, whatever. The next one will be better and hopefully will get the story moving in a forward direction. Until then, I'm always open for glorified praise (i.e., R&R pro favor).
And, in response to some questions, this is a Kag/Inu story, because anything else makes me very sad. And this is not an original story. If you don't read my author notes, don't yell at me for not saying I stole it. I DID. Alanna, blah, blah, blah… First chapter.
"Dog youkai are a very rare breed. The only other one I know of is Inuyasha's half brother, Sesshomaru, and he lives far across the seas in the Western Lands."
Inuyasha snorted, "Let's not bring that self-possessed jerk into this."
"Yes, well…" Kaede cleared her throat uncomfortably, "Such facts serve Inuyasha fine, for no one knows how a full dog youkai looks and thus knows that Inuyasha is..." She gave him a quirked look, "abnormal."
Kagome looked Inuyasha over. She wasn't an expert on the world's population of youkai, but he didn't look any different from any other one she'd met. They all had some characteristics of the animals they were supposed to personify, and it made her wonder just what this Sesshomaru looked like. If he was anything like Inuyasha, she imagined he was stunning.
Almost as if he could read her thoughts, Inuyasha simultaneously glared at her and color flared in his cheek. "Stop staring at me, wench." She smiled, blushed as well, and looked away.
"Well, you've both worn this old woman out." Kaede said, standing. "I do have other things to be done today, and I think I shall conserve my strength for them."
Kagome dragged her feet a ways back from where Inuyasha was kicking up dust, leading them back to the castle. She stared at the back of his head, trying to burn a hole through it. If Inuyasha sensed her eyes on him, he did not react in the least. He seemed to her to be a dubiously sympathetic guy for having the kind of power he claimed to have. Cocky? Yes. Jaded? Yes. Insufferably annoying and one-sided? Most definitely. But none the less, unquestionably too kind hearted to be a Head of Thieves. What sort of director of murderers would care if he had jostled a little girl's injured shoulder?
They were half way back to the palace when Kagome broke the silence. "You're awfully nice for a murdering thief."
Inuyasha jerked to a halt, turned around, gave her a stunned look and stuttered for a moment. "I don't...well, I mean…that's…Keh!" His ears flickered back and forth in such a nervy way that she suspected he wasn't even aware of it, and he turned back to face the road, stomping forward resolutely. "I," he said in a very clear voice, obviously meant to carry as far as it would go, "am not a nice guy. If you're getting some delusions of a soft-hearted Romeo who just needs a little love from a good woman, I suggest you reevaluate what's in front of your face princess."
"Gods, take it easy." Kagome soothed, a little offended. "You act like you've never been complimented before."
He didn't say anything, didn't turn around, didn't react at all except a slight stiffening of the muscles in his back and the quickening of his pace.
It then occurred to Kagome that he may never have been.
The day progressed slowly. The shrine was a complete loss, and much of it was going to have to be torn down and rebuilt altogether. Sango had gone to her room after breakfast and had not come out for the rest of the day. As much as Miroku appreciated her company, he couldn't say that he was entirely unhappy. Hachi had been injured by flying debris and Miroku had spent most of his day alternating between taking care of his friend's needs and helping to clear away the wreckage of the east wing.
Myoga, while obviously not, as Nobunaga had put it, "the bravest knight in the kingdom," he was surprisingly powerful and wise. He had done half of the work himself, and had kept tight control of the reconstruction efforts. It was easy to see why he was the shrine master and throughout the day, Miroku's respect for the old man grew considerably.
He knew it was selfish, but one of the darkest things looming over Miroku was the fact that he had used kazaana. He had used it in front of everyone and now they knew. No one had mentioned it at all, but every moment he expected someone to walk up to him with an enraged face and demand that he be sent back to his father. To yell that a freak like him did not belong in a holy school of learning. What would he do if that happened? If he was sent back, his father would know about Kagome. He would have let down both himself and his beloved sister. Everything they had worked toward would have been –
"Miroku! Quit your daydreaming and help us out here!" He shook his head and went to help his classmates levitate the boulder that had crashed through the room where, ironically, his levitation classes had been held. No one had even looked at him in an unfriendly way, but the paranoia stayed with him until long after he went to sleep that night.
The next few weeks crawled by at an agonizing pace. The professors had all heard about Eshi and did not appear terribly sympathetic. Kagome had expected them to have an alternate assignment for her concerning swordsmanship, and when she asked Kouryu for it, he had given her a crusty look that made her feel no better then a common beggar and told her to switch hands.
Beyond that torture, Kagome had received a letter from Miroku saying that the shrine had been attacked. He assured her over and over that no one had been seriously injured, least of all him, but the way it was worded gave Kagome the distinct impression that he was hiding something from her.
Kouga had returned, but their majesties had not. Their sickness was not improving and, with Kouga's return, was not even a secret anymore, and the entire kingdom seemed to be walking on pins and needles, unnaturally quiet. Kouga himself seemed distracted, but otherwise back to the overconfident prince that she remembered from her first day. Kagome could only hope that meant that he knew something the rest of them didn't.
Hojo came to be her replacement running partner and, while she absolutely despised getting up any earlier then was absolutely necessary, she started to notice, after a few weeks, an increase in her stamina and muscle tone. It was an advantage she was happy to obtain after what seemed like months of falling behind, and it was her only motivation for dragging herself out of a warm bed at a wicked hour of the morning.
Inuyashsa had dropped her off at the castle after their visit with Kaede and she had not seen him since. She did sometimes spot, out of the corner of her eye, Bankotsu, Inuyasha's spy that had kidnapped her so many nights ago, lurking in the shadows, watching her. She had a feeling that she was going to be under watch for quite a while if the hanyou had anything to say about it. She was, after all, officially a threat to his position.
The only positive part of the last few weeks was the fact that she had not run into the Duke at all. No one had mentioned Eshi's fate, but there was a general undertone among her peers that he would never be seen again, at least not by any of them. The Duke had since become absorbed in some kind of project, even to the point of, thankfully, handing over his classes to another professor in favor of locking himself in his room at the end of the hall. Kagome only saw him once, right before he shut the door, with an arm full of medical supplies.
Kaede had been writing her letters twice a week, mostly in response to whatever problem Kagome had been complaining about in her letter before. In the last letter, Kagome had told Kaede of the duke, and the strange feeling she got when she looked into his eyes.
Dearest Kagome,
The Duke Naraku is a dangerous man. Please stay as far away from him as you can. I shouldn't tell you this, but he has a history of dark magic and treason toward his country. This isn't common knowledge and certainly no one in the castle is privy to it, so be careful whom you share your concerns with. We will talk more of it when I see you again, but when it comes to matters of Naraku, the walls have ears.
Burn this letter once you read it.
Kaede
It was information like this that made Kagome feel more alone then she had before. She was grateful to learn anything she could in defense against the duke, and she now had more substantial reasons for her dislike of him, but while Kaede became her confidant outside the castle, she remained inexorably alone inside their walls. Several times in casual conversation with the boys she had hinted to the abnormality of the duke, trying to goad someone into expressing some kind of aversion for him, but no one ever had. It became painfully clear that she was unaided in her fight.
The jewel, also, had proven utterly useless in the past few weeks. When Kaede had said it would amplify the power of the bearer, Kagome assumed she would become stronger, faster, smarter. So far she only felt weaker, slower, and more absent-minded then she could ever remember feeling. The bloody thing was of no help at all, and she began to feel less and less privileged to have it.
Slowly things had gone back to normal at the shrine. It had taken a few days for everyone to get back into the swing of things after everything had been rebuilt, but classes had started up and the injured had almost recovered, all of which made it easier to pretend that nothing had happened. Or, at least, that's what Miroku would have loved to do, had it not been for Sango. She'd locked herself into her room for two days after their breakfast, refusing even food left at her door. She'd eventually come out in the middle of the night and woken him up while standing outside his window and beheaded a tree her hirikotsu. It had been worrisome, to say the least, but as she continued to mope around the shrine, even Myoga became concerned. While he didn't want to push her, Miroku couldn't let her do this to herself anymore and he found himself at her door.
"What?" It wasn't rude, but he found himself insulted all the same.
"I want you to tell me what happened at your village."
She laughed, but it held no mirth. "What's to say? I'm sure you've heard the stories."
"I have. Which is why I want you to tell me what happened."
She stepped back into her room, leaving the door open. He took this as an invitation and followed her inside.
The room was sparsely furnished, but Miroku could see bits and pieces of Sango in it. A thick quilt folded on the mat, the ever-present boomerang leaned against the far wall, a tea pot and cup steaming on the small table. Sango motioned for him to sit. The cut on her forehead had scabbed over and stood out on her white skin like a badge. Whether of courage or ruin he couldn't say.
"Where do you want me to start?"
"Well, I know you had a village, a family. Obviously a brother." She flinched and he rushed to continue, "What I don't know for sure is what happened to them all. To your life. What drove you here?"
She turned to look out the window and didn't speak for a long time. When she turned to face him again, she seemed to have aged twenty years. "My family slew youkai as a profession. We had for generations. My father taught me, he was taught by his father, who was taught by his mother, and so on. Our entire village was skilled at it. We had to be." She seemed to be struggling with something. Miroku got the sense there was something she didn't want to tell him.
"You don't have to tell me everything, you know."
"I want to tell someone. Myoga-sensi is the only other person who knows now, and as you can imagine, he's…less than reassuring." Miroku smiled, but said nothing. "Anyway, long ago, a very special artifact was brought to our village. A jewel, called the Shikon no Tama."
"I thought that was a myth!"
Sango shook her head. "It was brought to us for protection. The priestess who was in possession of the jewel could no longer purify it, so she left it in the caves near our village and set up a barrier. When youkai came looking for the jewel, we were there to keep them from it. We performed that task. For over a hundred years." He could tell that she was proud, and he was glad to hear in her voice that she still carried that pride. At least she still had that. "But the jewel disappeared long before I was born. No one knows what happened to it, but the village continued the tradition of fighting youkai."
She stopped and sat down, looking very small. "My brother…Kohaku. He was younger then I. He was in the middle of his training when…" She stopped for a moment and changed tactics. "Kohaku was special. He was…gentle. He was worried that father was disappointed in his progress. Violence wasn't in his nature, and father took a firmer hand then…" She stopped again. Miroku had a hard time believing she was describing the boy who had demolished the shrine only days before.
"Anyway, one day, a giant youkai showed up and…well it…did something. It took over Kohaku somehow. It made him-" Her voice broke and buried her face in her hands. He could barely make out what she said when she spoke next. "It made him slaughter our family."
Suddenly the pieces fell into place
Hachi at the table. She showed up on the shrine's doorstep with a scythe in her back…
Kohaku's scythe hitting the ground to their right, spraying them with rocks.
Miroku's eyes were instantly brought back to the scratch on her forehead, now at eye level as she continued to sob into her arms.
"Oh, Sango…"
Kouga cornered Kagome in her room before she'd had a real chance to get breakfast and asked if she'd meet him in the city. She agreed and he gave her directions and an hour to get ready, leaving another bottle of oil on her dresser. She bathed and dressed, and ran into Hojo on the way out, who insisted she join him for horseback riding with him and his cousin the next afternoon. She hastily agreed and set to work on finding the place where Kouga wanted to meet her.
It was a small and dirty place down a back ally near the bar where Inuyasha lived. Kagome wondered why the royal prince would even know such a place existed, much less why he would want to have a meal with her there. Then she remembered that the two princes were working in tandem. She wondered for the millionth time just what was going on in this kingdom. When she entered, a man approached her and led her to a private back room where Kouga was waiting for her. Of course he would have a private room. The servant left them.
"Kagome, I wanted to thank you. You held to your word far beyond what you agreed to and I'm extremely regretful that you were injured. I know you were just doing what I asked of you."
Kagome bowed the best she could while sitting across from him. "Not at all, Highness. A knight's duty is to her Prince, is it not?" It shocked her when he started laughing.
"I'm sorry. I've never heard a knight's duty used in the feminine sense. I guess I'm not used to it."
She tried to hide how insulted she was, until he added, "I hope to hear a lot more of it." She smiled. "And please stop calling me Highness."
From then on, the breakfast was easy and entertaining. They joked about Professor Kouryu, apparently Kouga had him for Intermediate Swordsmanship and liked him just about as much as Kagome, and Kagome let slip how glad she was to be getting away from the palace food, to which Kouga responded that for the prince it wasn't so bad, but for a paige, he knew how awful it could be. He could only promise that it would get better as she progressed in years and that he would try to sneak her something tasty every now and then.
"How are the King and Queen?" Kagome asked during a lull in the conversation.
Kouga grew somber. "Not well, I'm afraid. The healers have been able to at least stop the progression of the illness in father, but mother…" He trailed off. Kagome was reminded yet again that the man sitting in front of her was really just a boy, barely a year older then herself.
"I'm sorry."
He smiled at her. "So am I. But, it's not over yet, right?" She nodded.
Kouga was called back to the castle, but Kagome had the whole day off of classes, so she decided to wander the city. She visited the fruit stands the longest, picking out snacks for Kaede in thanks. She was just heading back when she spotted a pair of familiar, white triangles in the middle of a crowd, heading in her direction. She stopped, wondering if she should wait for him to see her or slip away and avoid him altogether. In the end, her hesitancy made the decision for her.
He broke through the crowd and looked up. She half smiled, unsure of what to do in this situation. Be polite?
"Oy, bitch."
That answered that question. She glanced around. No one seemed to be paying any attention. "Would you mind being a little quieter? Or you could just call me Kag, like every other human being in this kingdom."
"Yeah, yeah." He mumbled.
"What are you doing?"
He started walking down a side road and she fell into step behind him. "Working."
She glanced down to see his pockets, bulging and with a suspicious jingling coming from inside. "Oh."
He gave her a sidelong glance. "Is there a reason you're following me, wench?"
"No. I just…" She stopped, and he took a few more steps before stopping as well and turning to face her. "You know, you are the most infuriating…Gha!" She turned to leave.
"You smell like Kouga."
She turned back. "What?"
"You smell like Kouga. It's disgusting." He sneered at her. "You should take a bath. A young boy wandering through the kingdom smelling like the Prince…" He feigned a feminine voice, "People will talk."
Her mouth fell open. He sniggered and sauntered away. By the time she came up with a proper response (throw a rock at his head), he was already out of sight. She threw the rock anyway, to get out her aggression, and turned…just in time to bump into a very solid wall of purple silk.
"Kag." It was Naraku. This realization sent her heart pumping and she very suddenly realized how secluded they were back in the dark ally. She backed up several paces and, remembering herself, bowed somewhat stiffly and shallowly.
"Duke Naraku."
"What are you doing back here, Kag? This is no place for a representative of the crown."
She bit her tongue till she tasted blood in an effort not to spit out that he was a Duke of the crown, and just as far down this shady street as she was. "My apologies. I must have taken a wrong turn in my effort to get back to the castle."
He stared at her for a long minute, and she met his eye defiantly. A pleasant warmth was penetrating the skin just over her heart, but she didn't dare break the stalemate to see what it was. She saw a glint of surprise mixed with suspicion in his eye before he stepped aside and gestured with his hand. "Then you'd better be on your way before someone starts to miss you."
She bowed quickly again and hurried past him, breathing a sigh of relief as soon as she hit the throng of people in the main street. She pushed a hand against her chest and felt the lump of the Shikon no Tama just above her heart just about the time she realized that she had stared the Duke down and hadn't felt that sick feeling from before. Well, she though, maybe it's good for something after all.
Will Kouga steal Kagome's heart (fat chance)? Will Inuyasha ever not act like a seven-year-old? Will Kagome ever figure out what the hell is going on? Will Kaede get some hot Sesshomaru action?
…too far? Ah, well. You…know what I mean.