Summary: They were ordered to achieve untainted lives but she was too much—too tempting. For her he'd drowned himself in sins. But his temptress would only suffocate on the lie he forced upon her. Instead she ran into the arms of corruption… his arms and even his bed.
Warnings: Language, violence, attempted assaults, sexual tension (lots of it) and sex. And shikonism is a completely made up religion, obviously. Inuyasha's a bit OOC in this story, too. I'll try to get in In-Character the best I can but for the role he's in I've had to adjust his personality a bit (mostly, he's not going to curse as much). Everyone else should be In-Character.
Corruption's Captive
Chapter One: Years of Yearning
By the age of six anything reminiscent of a childhood would be gone for those elite children that were chosen to represent the best of their world's way of life, of its religion, of what kept everything in order —shikonism. Amongst the best, those who protected the lands, those who wrote the laws, within the Order of Shikon there are those who watch for signs of spiritual strength, of immense power, in the young throughout the land. At six, if they were deemed worthy, they were taken from their family.
Severed forever from what tied them to their blood.
They were raised within the Order, knowing each other as 'brothers' and 'sisters'. The children were taught the way of shikonism, the rules, their tasks in life, and the power within them are nurtured so that when they finally reach the age of ten they can commence learning how to fight properly. By fifteen they're forced to learn how to use their powers… and at age eighteen they're no longer safe.
By eighteen, they are assigned to their covenants, the places that they will learn to call home for the rest of their lives. By then, they finally will be thrown out into the real world… and fight their first battle against the creatures of blasphemy that they were raised to destroy. Those horrific monsters that lingered throughout the land, their only goal to prefer sin after sin, murder, rape, theft, the list went on.
They were far from professionals at such a tender age. Instead they were assigned to groups, and each group held a leader that would mentor them the best he could. It was always a father, never a sister, that taught the new members regardless of whether they were male or female. It was a prejudice that was forever overlooked.
Men were merely better at battle, stronger physically, and chosen by the superior spirit to be the better sex.
Two years. That was how long he had known her, when she was assigned to his covenant, when he was chosen to finally mentor a group. Her group, sister Higurashi Kagome's. At first he thought nothing of her, just as he thought little of the six other sisters he was meant to show the way of the covenant. But over those two years… there was something about her, something that made him pay more attention to her, and he couldn't figure out what it was.
Maybe it was her laugh, how it was so carefree and joyful, how sweet it sounded, how it could brighten anyone's day.
Or perhaps her smile, the one that was more brilliant than a sky full of stars.
If it was neither of those, then it might have been her general attitude. How even on the worst of days, she could find a way to smile, to laugh, to see the bright side to everything when he could only see the darkness. He was seven years her senior and had seen far more of the world than she had, he knew the horrors within it, he had witnessed some of the worst things imaginable… he couldn't find the happiness she held, and for that he was envious.
But being around her always made him feel lighter in a way, as if some of those horrors had never happened. In return for all that she did for him, without even knowing, he decided to protect her. Constantly when he was meant to bring his trainees with him on a mission he would find some reason to leave a couple of them behind, he always made sure that she was one. Over the two years he had gone out on too many jobs to count, he had spent so many days away from the covenant—mostly alone, as he preferred it. But she had only gone on a dozen, at most.
And those dozen he took her own were simple ones, such as getting rid of a goblin or purifying an ill spirit. She was very talented at the latter, whenever a purification had to take place she was the one he went to first. He wasn't good at it, his powers weren't pure like hers, he was better at destroying things.
He was actually the best in the covenant at killing things, and thus one of the most turned to members when something needed to be hunted down and annihilated. It wasn't something he thought much about, since it was necessary. Doing something such tasks were simply what he had to do… it was always a surprise that he had become a priest in shikonism. After all, he, like those creatures he so often was sent to kill, was a product of blasphemy.
From the very start he knew if he got too close he'd just drag her down with him into the pit of corruption he was doomed to… and though he didn't want it, he couldn't help himself. He was but a man. An untainted life could never be his.
ЖЖЖЖЖ
For two years she had been assigned to the Aigo Covenant of the west, for two years she had been in the same group of six sister being mentored by Father Taiko… and for two years he had treated her like an incompetent infant. Well, that was harsh, she supposed he didn't treat her exactly like that but there surely had to be a reason why he trusted the others more with missions than he did with her.
She only got to go out to purify things, the rest got to go on different types, but not her. Oh, no, she was stuck in the covenant most of the time just praying for their safe return, worrying herself over the prospect of all that could be happening, but they always came back safely because Father Taiko always protected them so well.
He was a good man, though she was aware he didn't think well of himself. He was kinder to her than the rest of the girls, which only meant he wasn't mean to her most of the time. There was something about his personality that was so different than most, he had a short-temper and would snap at any of them if they were doing something wrong. But he snapped the least at her… was that because he thought she couldn't handle it?
Yet again she found out four of the sisters in her group would be going on a mission with their mentor, but she wasn't one of them. They were going to go track down three vampires that had been wreaking havoc on a village not far from their covenant. That was something she had never had to deal with, she never got to do the truly dangerous things like the others. It wasn't fair. He was supposed to mentor them all for three years so that once they reached the age of twenty-one they could go out on their own.
How was she supposed to do any of the more skillful acts of slaying on her own if she never got to practice with her sisters or with Father Taiko? That was the last straw, she had been patient with him, hoping he'd finally let her go out with him but… now she had to confront him. She had to prove she was strong enough that she could do the mission, too.
So she put on her light pink neck gaiter that extended enough that it could cover all her hair and fit snuggly against her forehead so that her ebony strands could not be seen. Then she put her black wrap on top of it before she put her matching dress on top of her white under layer. It was the traditional outfit for sisters of shikonism.
And, just like the rest of her sisters, the last time anyone saw her hair was when she was six. It was a part of their religion to be as plain as possible, to provoke little to no sensual desire, they were to hide all that could possibly spark the opposite's sex interest in them. It was their task in life not to tempt men into sin.
"Father Taiko?" Kagome called out to catch his attention as he was passing through a hallway, most likely on the way to the mess hall for lunch.
"Sister Higurashi," he replied while he walked up to her, "what is it?"
Yes, she could tell from his tone that he was surely on his way to eat. He always hated to be interrupted, food was probably the only thing he indulged himself in, even though what they were forced to eat was ever so plain. White rice and beans, a piece of completely bland fish, tea and water. That was all that any of them had eaten since they were six.
Gluttony, after all, was a sin, and indulging in exotic or flavorful food could lead to other unsavory ways of life. She wasn't sure how, but if the higher ups said so then it had to be true. They knew best, after all.
"I," she cautiously started, clearing her throat briefly to get rid of the shakiness in her tone, "would like to discuss the upcoming mission with you. Can you please explain to me, Father, why you think I'm too inapt to ever go on the complicated ones…? Why I only ever go on the simple ones? How am I to learn if I never experience difficulties?"
He had never thought about it like that… in just a year she would be out of his grasp, an official sister, and able to get assigned to missions on her own. He could no longer protect her… "I suppose you are right," he acknowledged reluctantly, "and it is not that I think you aren't capable, Sister, just that…"
"What is it?" she asked with a bit of a pout, she hated thinking that Father Taiko thought less of her than the others. He was her mentor, she merely wanted to please him, to impress him some. He was special to all the sisters he taught.
"It's," he paused, unsure of how to word it exactly, so he ran his hand through his short black hair and turned his honey-brown gaze away from her. How exactly could he explain it without it sounding wrong? "I just… would hate for something bad to happen to you."
Her brows bent together lightly, "but bad things could happen to the others."
"Yes," he supposed that was true, and he did have a soft spot for them in comparison to the others in the covenant, but the weakest part of him worried the most about her. He could hardly say that. "But… I would rather… nothing…" he glanced about quickly, verifying that they were alone. There was nothing wrong with caring for one's sisters or brothers but caring too much was a problem. He didn't think he was at that point. Certainly he didn't care that gravely.
"You would rather nothing…?" she coaxed out with a small tilt of her head, "please finish, Father."
"I would rather nothing happen to you," he finally stated fully, sighing some at the end.
In a way that was sweet, but in another way it wasn't. "So you think I am less capable than the rest, that something would happen to me when I go on a mission?"
"No," he grumbled, that wasn't it. She was capable, equally as much as the rest, she wasn't the best fighter but she had good archery skills tied with her spiritual power. "No, it's not that, Sister Higurashi, it's… I worry most about you. If something were to happen to you I would be most upset."
Blankness fell upon her face at that and instantly he wished he could take back his words. She could take that the wrong way, think he did care less like family about her and more like a man cared for a woman. They weren't meant to have such feelings. When they were but children they took vows of chastity, all their lives they were meant to never have sex. It would interfere with their spiritual powers, it was said that if they were to break their vow they would lose their powers all together.
"That," she started slowly, her natural smile surfacing to reassure him, "is sweet, Father Taiko. But… I want to go on the next mission, please? I want to be prepared for in a year when I will no longer have you to protect me."
That was true, in a year she'd be on her own, and he had to prepare her for that. So, a bit begrudgingly, he muttered, "fine, you can come with, then. Be prepared to leave at dawn tomorrow."
"I will!" She giddily asserted before she turned on her heals to surely rush back to the room she shared with two other sisters in order to prepare for tomorrow. He just shook his head as he returned to his journey to the mess hall. Not even he got excited over the idea of going to the Shi Forest to seek out three rouge vampires.
ЖЖЖЖЖ
If he was going to take Kagome with him then he figured he might as well take all six, that way none of them felt left out. Though, she had been the only one to ever assert something of the sort to him. He got the feeling that most of them were perfectly fine with the prospect of staying at the covenant instead of going out on a mission but… he only had a year left to train them. He would hate to see one of them die shortly after they were left to serve on their own because he didn't teach them well enough.
All things considered, still having all six of his trainees after two years was impressive. He hated to think like that but by then most had at least lost one. It was after all their first attempts at hunting down the monsters of the world, surely some would falter and get themselves killed along the way. While that was a tragedy, the Order was hardly upset over that happening. It weeded out the weaker ones that way.
"Stay close to me, all of you, and be very quiet," he ordered while he motioned for them to follow him into the dark forest. It was the perfect hiding places for vampires, even on a bright day the tall, thick, trees would protect their sensitive, grey, disgustingly slimy skin from the sun. It was originals that they were going after, not the human-hybrids that existed.
Human-hybrids, the vampires created by blood fusion from the originals and the pathetic humans that would rather live as servants to the creatures than as mortals. He couldn't stand them, he couldn't stand any form of hybrids. For many it was harder to kill them, since they looked human. It was easier to destroy monsters, they didn't look human.
Obviously they shouldn't exist…
When he glanced over her shoulder most of them were constantly on the lookout of something, grasping whatever weapon they were skilled within their hands tightly, but Kagome… she seemed to be in her own little world, mesmerized by the forest. He could understand that inclination, after all she had spent most of her life in one location while being raised by the Order and greenery of any sort was rare in their barren world.
So to see such a lush forest, one of the few left in the land, must have been a treat for someone like her.
"Tell Higurashi to focus," Inuyasha whispered to the closest sister to him, Aoki Ayumi, who passed on the message to the girl behind her, Chiyushu Eri, who then told the girl next to her, Miromoto Yuika, and she finally got the message to Higurashi Kagome.
A flash of pink crossed her cheeks before she flashed Inuyasha a sheepish smile, she knew she should have been focusing but getting caught staring at the forest in amazement was embarrassing. He just shook his head some while he turned his attention forward again. His hand grasped to his sword's handle in preparation to draw it at any moment.
A ruffle in the bushes to the right of them startled a few of the sisters enough that they leaped away. Briefly he looked over to see that it was nothing more than an animal, again he shook his head. It would have been so much easier if the Order had just sent him to do this job on his own.
"But one again three originals, Taiko, is hardly wise," the eldest at their covenant had said when he proposed that idea, "take a few of your trainees with you."
"They'll only get in the way," he grumbled back, but once the elder made his decision there was no arguing so he decided to take only a few. But then Kagome had to go on ruin that plan. He should have left her at the covenant, told her he'd take her next time, but it was too late to think like that now…
A scream forced his attention to the back of the group where a sister had been pinned down on the ground by one of the grey, grotesque, creatures with a mouth full of dripping fangs. Before she could be bitten Ayumi swept her spear down to stab the creature through the head—one of the fatal points—and flung the creature's body to the side so that it could shriek in pain before Eri took her double blades and severed its head from its body.
"Good job, girls," Inuyasha couldn't help but praise which gained two earnest smiles from the two since it was such a rarity.
"Are you alright, Sister?" Kagome inquired as she knelt down to Kobayashi Koharu, one of the girls that had been pinned down by one of the originals.
"Yes," Koharu managed to reply as she flashed her sister a smile and began to get up. "I didn't bite or scratch me, luckily."
"That is so good," Kagome answered with utter relief as she, too, got to her feet then allowed her hazel gaze to shift around in search of anything else that was going to come at them.
That was one down but they had been warmed about at least two others in that region. Quiet quickly, her eyes landed on father Taiko. Mostly due to the fact that his gaze was already on her, as if he was searching her body to verify that there was no harm to her.
That was strange, wasn't it? She hadn't been attacked like the others. He probably looked over the rest of them, too. It wasn't like she was special to him… they were all of equal importance or, rather, equal annoyance to him. Though he was a good teacher, it was apparent that he preferred to work alone.
Rumors rang through their covenant, even though gossip was frowned upon it still happened. There were many, many rumors about Taiko Inuyasha, not the least of which was that he was a loner. That it was actually a punishment from the elders for something he had done to be forced to be a teacher to six new sisters.
"Should we split up?" Hiyashi Kanna inquired, softly, to their leader. "There are two left, wouldn't we find them faster that way?"
"I would rather not have any of you out of my sight," Inuyasha replied, "get back into formation and follow me."
"He is kind in his own way," Eri, the sister that Kagome was closest to both emotionally and physically at the moment.
"Yes, he is," Kagome whispered back. She had never doubted that, while he could be rude at times he was never uncaring. He would never let anything bad happen to one of them.
That was, as long as he could prevent it. In a sudden burst two originals leaped out of the tall trees to begin an attack on them. That assault tore the group apart. Growls, screams, and slashes of weapons sent echos through the forest. Somehow, in the midst of such chaos, Kagome found herself lost in the dark huddle of trees all alone.
A part of her wanted to call out, but realized what a poor idea that would be… it might attract the attention of her friends but it also, equally as easily, attract the attention of one of the originals. She wasn't the best fighter and wasn't delusional, she knew she could not kill one alone.
Do not freak out, was what she told herself while she tried to calm her breath and hitched an arrow in her bow to prepare herself in case someone attempted to attack her. As quietly as she could, she began to walk around in an attempt to find someone else. Instantly, she jumped up when she felt her back against something… something not hard like bark, but soft like another body.
She took a deep breath in as she swirled around to look at who it was. It didn't matter that she had her bow ready to shot, since they were so close, the person in front of her knocked the bow out of her hand and grasped her wrist to pull her close. The man in front of her had piercing eyes… but those eyes that glowed red from bloodlust meant one thing.
He wasn't human. He was one of them those who were turned into vampires by the originals, hybrids that were the originals' slaves. Fear festered within her gut at that prospect… he could bite her, taint her.
"Hello, sister of Shikon," he greeted with a toothy grin, that gave her a flash of his sharp fangs.
"Let go," she ordered as she tried to pull always only to fail. In retaliation, he just pulled her closer.
"I can hear your heartbeat quicken, you are afraid, aren't you?" he taunted while his calming eyes, which returned a midnight blue, glanced over her with a look she had never seen. At the time it wasn't anything she knew of at the time, it was lust.
"Maybe," she confessed, "let me go, hell creature."
"Ow, what a terrible title," he teased with a wicked smirk.
"Leave me alone," she ordered back as she tried to pull away but he just held her tighter.
"Settle down," he requested, "I won't eat you as you might fear."
"Then let me go," she ordered with narrowed eyes. Much to her surprise, he let her go so she could stumble away. Confusion flashed across her face as she looked over the taller man better. He had long black hair, braded, with a mark on his head. Hybrids always had marks on their faces. "Why did you do that…?"
"Because you asked me to," he answered.
"Sister Kagome!" Eri called out which got her to turn her head to look to where the voice came from. Then her senses got the better of her, she knew she shouldn't take her eyes off of the hybrid but when she turned her gaze back the man was gone.
"Hey!" snapped her head back in the direction of the voices. Father Taiko was walking through the trees with his gaze hardened on her. "Don't you ever run off like that again!"
"I'm sorry," she muttered back while she waited for him to finish his trek over to him. "I didn't mean to… is everyone else alright? Are the other originals dead?"
"Yes," he assured her with a nod of his head as he grabbed one of her arms. "Everyone is fine, the two originals are dead. Are you alright?"
"I am, perfectly fine, I just got turned about when that all happened and a little lost," she apologized, as she would for the entire return journey.
"It's fine, just don't let it happen again," he requested with a nod of his head to lead her back to the others. "I was worried," he whispered, almost so low that she didn't hear it. But… she did, and for that she smiled. Maybe he worried about all of them equally, but at least he worried about her. It was always nice to know he cared.
She just… had no way of knowing how much he cared.
A/N: Yep, I'm starting a new story. I have this idea fully planned out but I'm not sure if I'm going to continue it yet... I don't foresee it being too popular.
I hope you enjoy the story all the same. I should know by the next chapter whether I am going to make this a short story and finish it quickly or finish it in a fifteen chapters I have planned.
Please review.