InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Chou Shoki I: Learning from Yesterday ❯ Chapter 40 ( Chapter 40 )

I have not loved the world, nor the world me;

I have not flattered its rank breath, nor bowed

To its idolatries a patient knee.

Lord Byron, Canto III, Stanza 113

 

 

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CHAPTER 40

 

If I had known that it was going to indeed take me almost six hours to get out of the Western Lands, I would have waited until morning. Not only was I lacking in sleep from the past two days, but the running had made me painfully aware of the soreness between my legs. The freezing air burned my lungs and the thin layer of snow slowed my progress. The only time I had stopped by a village, the daimyo had offered the `perfect killer' miko a room for the night. I politely declined explaining how I needed to return home with much urgency.

 

The daimyo insisted, even offering to let me have his quarters so I could rest more comfortably. In the middle of our conversation (and to my infinite luck) the village was attacked by five weasel youkai. Yelling at the villagers to go into their homes and running to the front of the few samurai ready to attack, I reached back for my yumi, when I realized that I didn't even have one. Procuring one out of my spiritual powers in my weakened state was out of the question. I cursed under my breath.

 

“Here you are miko-sama. They may not be as fine as you are accustomed, but I hope they will do.” The old samurai smiled and was about to return to the side when the ground began to shake.

 

It was too late when I turned. All I felt was the blinding pain in my side as I was thrusted against a sharpened-edge rock. I yelped at the pain. I would have stayed there but the painful screams of men forced me to open my eyes. Bloodied bodies, both men and women, were sprawled on the ground. I sucked in a breath that burned my lungs. The stench of their bloods made my stomach turn and bile rose to my throat.

 

Gathering my strength, I pushed myself off the ground only to be pushed down by a paw and nails that sank on my shoulders. Still dazed, I stared up at the weasel on top of me, its breath reeking of decomposed material, the bile in my throat rising again.

 

“The Shikon miko,” it hissed. “How fortunate for us that you came to us! We were just going to raid your village.”

 

“Get off me.”

 

“It would be my pleasure. Just give me the jewel. Maybe after I have the greatest power in existence, I can have its keeper, too!”

 

“In your pathetic dreams!” As hard as I pushed, I couldn't move the demon off of me. I felt so weak and pathetic.

 

It laughed at my attempts and they somehow seemed to encourage him. It lowered itself, digging its claws deeper. For a moment, a shiver ran up my spine. Then it licked my left cheek.

 

“You taste good - pure and untainted! Your taste is even more pure than any other miko I've had.” It gave a chilling laugh.

 

The weasel traced its tongue once again on my left cheek, down my cheek and to my neck and stopped. An invisible force several feet pushed it off me away as a pain twisted my stomach. I opened eyes I did not know I had closed. I used its temporary shock to lift myself, wincing at all the pain my body was suffering from. Locating the fallen bow and arrow, I prepared one and held it tightly against the string.

 

It made a shrieking noise before it yelled for all to hear. “You bear the scent of the Crescent Moon!”

 

My head was still spinning and it took a little more that it should have for his words to sink in. The sounds of screams and breaking huts dulled his words. I made no move to correct him but instead I kept my pose as unfazed as possible.

 

“It's impossible! You still taste so pure...” Shaking its head it yelled at me, “It does not matter, I will enjoy watching the face of the Daiyoukai twist when I tell him how tight you felt!”

 

I almost laughed at his conclusion. He thought it was the Inu no Taishou that marked me?! Eww, he could be my father!!! I closed my eyes and called upon all my existing power and a little of the Shikon.

 

I opened my eyes, heard a faint gasp before I whispered, “Oyasumi nasai.”

 

I watched as the arrow flew across the entire village and covered it in a bluish purple glow. The youkai were purified and the wounded and slaughtered villagers were bathed with the power. In an instant, they were returned to normal, all but the destroyed homes. My knees weakened and I fell on all four, catching my breath.

 

The samurai who had handed me his yumi earlier came to me and helped me up. He called the other village men to come and help him. “Miko-sama, we should get you to our miko. She is on the other side of the village. While she is not as powerful as yourself, I believe she might be able to prepare some herbal brew to help you regain your strength.”

 

Too weak and confused as hell, I only nodded, allowing one of the younger men to carry me. As we passed through the small furusato, I noted the extent of the damages. It would take at least a few months for only half of the village to be built.

 

The said miko met us outside the shrine where she resided. She ushered the man who carried me and pointed to a humble mat on the floor where he carefully laid me down and left hurriedly before I could thank him. Only he and I would ever know why he was in such a hurry to leave my presence. It was another `wonderful' gift from the damn gods I would forever serve. I lifted as much as my battered body allowed, which was no more than what my elbows could raise me, searching for the miko.

 

“It's been a while since I've seen you around here, hime. I was beginning to think that the rumors of your death that began circling four days ago were indeed true,” came an all too familiar voice.

 

A straw door on my right opened to reveal the face of my late mother's best friend, Xiao Mei. I noticed that the years had not affected her at all. In fact, she could easily pass as someone just two or three years older than me. She was a beautiful woman. Her dark brown hair, which she still held in a braid, was almost past the small of her back. She had a light tan skin, not too dark, but not too light, just enough to accent her hazel eyes, a trait of her mixed Chinese-Japanese heritage. Of course, she, being a miko, trained everyday - evident in her very well kept and curved body. It was a shame that her beauty was wasted behind a shrine.

 

Not that I ever thought that being a miko was something bad, its just that, it was, in reality, something that required so much more than it actually offered. Regardless, miko were never given a choice. You were born into it as everyone was to his or her positions in life. Or so I thought then.

 

Xiao Mei asked again, a little annoyed that I had not answered. “What are you doing around this part Kagome? It isn't like you to wonder into villages with their own miko or priest.”

 

“I was heading home.” It was a clipped and a much edited explanation but the truth nonetheless.

 

“Then, it is fortunate of us that you happened to be passing by. As much as I hate to admit it, your presence couldn't have had better timing.” She kneeled in front of me and gave me a small cup filled with tea.

 

When the smell hit me, I immediately scrunched my nose in recognition - ginseng root. “Good. You know what it is. Now, drink it up.” I glared at her command, but drank it anyways.

 

“Argh! If I'd known how horrible it tasted, then I'd never given it to anyone, even if it meant faster healing!” I put the cup down. “Arigatou.”

 

She nodded and continued separating the herbs she had probably collected early in the morning. I watched her while I began to feel the numbing effects of the tea. I thought about what the weasel youkai had told me. My hand instinctively went to the mating mark on my neck, which was covered by the cloak I still wore. I realized that I was going to have to find some way of concealing it as well as Sesshoumaru's scent on me. I had been in such a hurry to leave that I failed to disguise my own mark and scent. With the masking spells, a gift was always required. The sash I had given to Sesshoumaru was perfect, but he had not given anything to me, except the kimono I wore. It was not a suitable gift for it was not really a gift but a loan.

 

“What happened to your robes?” Xiao Mei's question snapped me back.

 

And so the dance began...

 

“I had a run in with a youkai a few days ago. My clothes were ruined in the process. I was offered this kimono since they didn't have proper miko garments. Something is better than nothing.” I had not looked at her throughout the explanation, afraid she could read between the lines.

 

I hadn't sensed her movements until she was touching the kimono I was wearing. “Interesting... Well, you sure know how to pick them,” she smiled, feeling the texture of the cloth between her fingers.

 

“Nani?”

 

“You mean you don't know?” I shook my head. “This is made from Silk of the Dead.” Upon seeing my further confusion, she gave a light chuckle and sat back to explain.

 

“Silk of the Dead is made from a very powerful and poisonous black widow youkai that lives near Fujiyama. It was said that many years ago, the spider youkai was in danger of loosing her eggs to some lizard youkai that wanted to eat them. She turned to the Daiyoukai of the West for help and he came. He destroyed the intruders, mainly because he had had some problems with them in the past. Any ways, in return, she offered him her loyalty. She also promised him and only him, that she would make a different kimono for his wife, every week. I don't know if she still did after she died, though.” She looked thoughtful.

 

“Who died?”

 

“The Lady of the West, of course. Have you not been paying attention?” She demanded.

 

“Hai.” I looked at the kimono and realizing for the first time that Sesshoumaru must have given me one of his mother's kimono. I felt honored but at the same time, I felt horrible for ruining such beautiful clothing.

 

“I'm sorry,” I whispered catching her somewhat off guard.

 

“Sorry for what? You didn't kill her.” She sighed. “Nevertheless, I still don't understand how a kimono made of that material found its way to a human furusato. Well, whatever the reason, I'm sure that it's not longer important.”

 

I remained quiet as I sat there watching her separate her herbs. I pulled the cloak tighter around me as I stood. I put on my geta, pulled open the straw door and stopped when she called.

 

“Are you leaving so soon?” She had not even ceased her work nor turned.

 

“Hai. My otou-san will be worried. Besides, the longer I stay, the easier it will be for the furusato to once again be attacked.”

 

She stiffened at the mention of my father. I knew how she felt about him. Why she felt that way, was something that I had yet to discover. But I refused to question her now. The inquisition would come at a better and chosen time. Now, I needed to hurry.

 

“Very well. Have a safe trip.” She faced me and offered a smile, which was full of pity. “I suppose its better that the Shikon no Tama leave our furusato. I certainly don't know how much more rampaging it could take.”

 

I nodded and bowed. “Arigatou, Xiao Mei-onee-san.”

 

“We are sisters. It is only natural that we help each other out.” Without a second glance, I left.

 

I ran as fast as my two legs could until I was but a few hours from my home. I had stopped twice to rest but it had been only short moments. For they had been interrupted by ronin (wandering samurai; those without masters to serve) and youkai attacks that limited my sleep. By the fifth day, I was standing outside the palace, dreading the ever-present darkness that awaited me.

 

However, before I could take a step closer to the castle, the air around me chilled. It was the ever-familiar feeling of their presence. Summoning the powers of the jewel, which I had never dared to do, I bathed myself in them to cover all trace of Sesshoumaru.

 

Biting winds whipped around me before the usual band around my neck scalded me and I was thrown roughly against a hard wall. I stood in the center of a cell I knew even better than the back of my hand. Over the years, I'd counted every grain of sand. Had saturated all of them with my blood.

 

The chains came out of the ceiling and wrapped themselves around my wrists while my clothes were ripped from my body. For once, I didn't fight as they lifted me off the ground. My arms burned from the combination of the freezing air and the weight of my body.

 

But the pain was nothing compared to the one aching in my chest at the thought of what they could do to Sesshoumaru.

 

Now that I was mated to the inu youkai, there was no telling how they would make me pay when they discovered it. And make me pay they would. In the most agonizingly painful way imaginable.

 

The door to my cell opened. “Have you thought about our offer? And do appreciate we don't just take from you. After all, a whore like you doesn't deserve all that we have given her.”

 

Given to me? Yeah, right! They knew they never asked much less give. All they knew how to do was make my life miserable one damn second after another. I lifted my head to look directly into blood red slits. Its face was only an inch from mine. The smell of sulfur reached my nose and made bile rise immediately in my throat.

 

Instant fury filled my blackened heart. However, what I hated more than them was myself. I was the one that had gotten myself into this. There was no one to blame. It had been me that had stupidly sold myself. And damn them for reminding me of it every chance they got!

 

I turned my head in disgust for a moment before I leveled them with my own glare. “You made no offer to me.”

 

I felt the vicious sting of a slash on the back of my thigh. Gritting my teeth, I spat in their direction. Another slash, to the small of my back, followed. I held back my reaction this time as I realized that this would only anger them more. I needed to play my cards right. They knew that no matter what, I had to do their bidding. It had been their rules.

 

Before another thought could enter my mind, the chains were loosened. Yet, they only pulled me forward as my arms were wrapped around a stump. Immediately, one of them, in grand show of reminding me of my place, hovered millimeters from my back and blew air at my nape. They alone knew how much it degraded me.

 

Again, just to remind me of my inferiority, they did another thing that struck a painful chord deep within my soul. They pulled back my hair. “We didn't think even you would be heartless enough to put those mongrel dogs before your precious humans. Then again, you have always had a soft spot for such worthless things. Do you truly wish to keep those insignificant worms alive?”

 

I said nothing as I hesitated. If I accepted readily, they would definitely add to my already ever-lasting sentence. It had been, in the end, for another man that I had ended up as a slave. Still, if I didn't…

 

Sesshoumaru.

 

I'm protecting him. I repeated those words over and over again and they alone gave me comfort. I would rather suffer eternal torment than see him hurt.

 

He was worth it.

 

“I'm in no mood to talk, my lord. Just tell me what else this is going to cost me and start the torture.”

 

They let go of my hair. “Interesting. You have so seldom asked us to hurt you. And to think right now, you could be enjoying time killing those four abominations and not lying here like so much meat. You do tend to enjoy your hunts a little more than you should.”

 

The faces of father and sons surfaced quickly.

 

“Leave them out of this,” I spat.

 

“That, unfortunately, we can't do.”

 

Fear gripped my heart. “What do you mean?”

 

Disembodied laughs echoed in the damp cell. “You know, Kagome. We really hate you. Truly. We have to say that torturing you has been one of our greatest pleasures. And now, just like always, you're making us mad.”

 

Yeah, well, tell me something I don't know.

 

“I'm tied down here like an infectious animal, waiting to be beaten. Tell me, how in the hell could that make you angry?”

 

“Because we have to lift the sentence on the Western curs, you cyprian. Despite our great displeasure, the dogs must live. For now.”

 

Disbelief wracked through me. “What?”

 

“The deal we struck with you… remember? We can't very well change the rules this far into the game. We are perfect. We make no mistakes. We know everything. That is why we will watch them very closely.”

 

“They're names will not be on my List?” I asked still incredulous, not daring to lift my eyes to them. They were backing off too easily. Surely, they were planning something.

 

“Let's just say, that you have shown us how much they are worth to you. You have foolishly sacrificed your life for those disgusting creatures on several occasions. And to think that it didn't take more than a moon's cycle since you met them to soften you. A task no other creature, human or otherwise, has ever accomplished.”

 

A horrible feeling of dread ran down my spine.

 

Great! Another reason to punish me. Well, technically, four of them.

 

One of the ones that usually whipped me, the one that never said a word, pulled my hair back hard enough to pull some of them out, and whispered, “We will enjoy the day we write their names on the List. I, personally, will savor it. As for now… payment is due.”

 

I still couldn't believe what I was hearing.

 

Once more, the chains pulled me up. The winds shifted to let me know that they were getting ready for my usual lashing. No sooner had the links been pulled taut, when the first one caught me on my left side. Wincing and closing my eyes, I willed my mind to travel back in time to the days spent with my mother…

 

 

 

The chains uncoiled so fast I fell forward on my face.

 

“Get out of here, Miko. We can't hold you here any longer.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Yuriko watched her leave.

 

She had not failed to notice how much Kagome had grown to resemble her mother. The hair and eye color were different, but the air with which Kagome carried herself was the same as Midoriko's. Their reiki was almost the same. Yuriko dared say that Kagome's had far surpassed her mother's some time ago and was, apparently, still growing.

 

However, she had not failed to notice the change in her reiki. It was not a big one but that had surely been the cause of the injury. She was no fool. She had seen that fault those many years ago. It had been the fault that had brought the most powerful miko down. By all the Kami, she prayed that it was not the same this time around. Surely, the fates would not lay upon daughter the same path they had laid for the mother.

 

“Please, Kagome. Be safe.” The whispering words would be carried unto deaf ears. Unfortunately, the strings of fate had already been woven and now...

 

Now, the wheels had been set in motion and there was no turning back.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Sesshoumaru sat on the ledge of the balcony in his heya. He watched the full moon shine down upon him. His surrounding was at its greatest. He noticed how everything now was much more crisp ― the colors, the shapes, the sounds, the smells. Could such a strong feeling as love make everything feel better?

 

Yes... he knew it could. But, it seemed to him that it all came from something else. He felt everything. It was an indescribably powerful feeling. As if everything came from inside him, from the blood that coursed through his veins. Blood that was both his and his mate's - Kagome. Sesshoumaru had always known that his family bloodline was powerful and had created some of the most powerful and bravest inu youkai ever to walk this world, but now, to have it combined with the purest and strongest spiritual blood, was beyond anything possible.

 

He smiled to himself. He couldn't help but wonder what his pups would be like. They'd probably have his youkai strength and power, but they'd have their mother's pure heart and wisdom. They'd be fast, holding the best of both worlds. They'd be feared. They'd be...

 

Hanyou!

 

He straightened at that last thought. He hadn't thought of that. He had nothing against them, but he'd seen all that they suffered. Being half-human and half demon, but never really a part of any. The demon prince halted all thoughts and focused on this last one. He shook his head and smiled again.

 

“It does not matter. They will be ours. Ours to love, ours to protect.” After a moment, he lifted himself and with every intention of going back to his futon, he froze mid way. Something - no SOMEONE - was in his room. He remained still, his eyes searched and his ears attuned to all the little sounds around him. Nothing. There was nothing. Yet, the feeling that he was being watched was there. He lifted his head to catch the smell of the thing that watched him.

 

At first there was nothing but the scents of him and his mate. But then, there it was - a mere whiff of graveyard soil. It reached his inu nose and made him want to empty his stomach contents. And just like it came, it disappeared. Sesshoumaru did not move for a few more minutes, but then relaxed and convinced himself that it was his growing conscious.

 

Yet, the revolting smell was one that would remain with him forever, marking his future and that of his mate's.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Have you heard any news of her whereabouts?”

 

The kneeling samurai didn't lift his face. “Iiee, okami. We have inquired in the surrounding villages, but no one has seen nor heard of her.”

 

“Very well. As soon as anyone knows something, have it reported either to Hiroyaki or myself immediately. Understood?”

 

“Hai, Tenno.” The samurai stood and left the okami's throne room.

 

Lord Seiwa stared outside. `Where are you my jewel?' There was no worry for well being only for shift of power. The fates, it seemed, were once more trying to take from him. But once again, he would make sure that the odds would turn in his favor.