InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Destiny ❯ The Story of Hagime ( Chapter 7 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Here we go once again. This is my second chapter for the day. Finish
one chapter one day and start another the same day. Well, I have to go
make some coffee right now, so I'll just let you read. This shall be the
chapter that clears up any confusion of Hagime.
That is all. Sorry if it's no good. I'm trying to get over a recent breakup
of a nine year relationship of mine. Breakups aren't easy. Well, here we
go. And it wouldn't kill you to review. I can see how many people actually
read my story, read each chapter and it's a shame to see that so many
don't review. Any questions that you have, you can just as me in a review.
Well, on with the story.






He met her one stormy night.

The loud banging on the shrine doors told him
that somebody wished for entry. But who would be out in the middle of the
night during a terrible thunderstorm such as this?

He immediately left the shelter of his home to venture out into the storm. Kyo
opened one of the shrine doors and came face to face with a young woman.

Her beauty astounded him. Though drenched from head to toe, he could see
that her beauty was unparalled.
"Please. I require your help sir!" The woman said as she wrapped her
arms around Kyo. "If you give me shelter, you shall be well compenscated."

She appeared to be shaken up quite a bit. He patted her on the back as she
cried.

"Be not afraid. Why don't we get out of this rain and get you dried off? Then
you can tell me what happened to you."

She nodded in agreement.

Once inside, Kyo immediately supplied her with towels to dry off with and some

dry clothing.

He hung out her kimono to dry by the fire.

He could tell by her beautiful clothing that she was obviously of high stature, a
princess maybe, and yet all he had to offer her to wear was the attire of a
priestess.
She came out and began to spin around.
"This attire feels much more fitting than that of my regular clothing !" she said
as she spotted Kyo by the fire. "Thank you so much."
"It's no problem. Do you wish for some tea to help warm you up? Kyo asked
as he began to pour a cup.
"Yes. That would be quite lovely sir."
"Please don't call me sir. You don't look even a year younger than I. Call me
Kyo."
"Of course. You may call me Hagime."
"Well then Hagime. Would you like to tell me why you were out in this storm in
the middle of the night?"
Hagime nodded.
"Well, you see, my father and I were on our way back from visiting my uncle who
lives in the next region. But we got caught up in the storm and we got separated.
And that's when I came upon this shrine."
"I see. So it's safe to assume that your father shall be looking for you."
"That is correct."
"I shall allow you to lodge here for the night and then we'll see if we can find your
father tomorrow."
"You need not worry," she whispered. "If I know my father, he shall find us."
"What was that?" Kyo asked, having not quite heard her words.
"It matters not."
Morning came and when Kyo awoke, Hagime was gone. She left nothing behind
but the clothes he let her wear and a note which read.....
Kyo,
I would like to give you my undying
gratitude for helping me, but
I have left to find my father. I hope that the
currency I have left for you is enough to
commemorate for my burden. I shall never forget
you and I wish you the best in life.
Yours Truly,
Hagime

Kyo saw a reasonable size bag that must have contained money like she said
in the note.
He sighed. Kyo was all alone once again.

What was it about that young woman that seemed so captivating, so mysterious,

so different from other women? He had only spent a few hours with her, but he
thought her to be much more special than any other woman he'd ever met.
He began to wonder, did Hagime feel this 'connection,' too?

Hagime sipped the tea as her parents watched her closesly. They obviously
had something on their minds and she knew that she wasn't going to like it.
"Is there something that you wish to say mother, father?"
Her father cleared his throat. "Yes my dear, there is. We have a young lord
in mind for you to be wed to."
"What? I shall not. I don't even know the man!"
"You can and you will."
"I won't and you can't make me."
"That's what you think. Everything that you do is controlled by me and this shall
also be so!" Her father roared.
"Hagime. What your father is trying to say is that you are eighteen. You should
have been married by the time you were of age, sixteen."
"And?"
"And we have been patient enough with you. You will marry him and that is final!"
her father said as she glared at him.
"You can't make me. I am a grown woman and I will do as I please."
"You are my daughter, the princess, and you shall do as I allow you to."
"I hate you!" Hagime yelled as she opened the door and slammed it shut behind
her.
"Well, that could have gone better, difficult girl," her father said as he slammed
down his cup of tea, spilling some of it on the floor.
"No. You are mistaken. It could have gone much worse," her mother interjected.
Hagime ran to the stables after changing into more normal clothes, commoners
clothes her mother called them, and readied a horse, immediately climbing on.
Ever since she first learned to ride, they had insisted that she ride side sadle.
She despised that. She thought it to be a sexist belief. She had always been
defiant. If her father thought he'd get his way with her now, he was seriously
mistaken.
She left the castle grounds, left the place she hated, but didn't know where to go.
She remembered the man from last week, the kind man who sheltered her from
the storm. She was sure that she could trust him.
Hagime rushed to the shrine doors and banged on them. Like before, Kyo
answered.
"Forgive my intrusion. I know not if you remember me, but...."
"Of course I remember you, Hagime. Come in."
"I give you my thanks."
She rushed under the shade of a tree and sat down before wrapping her
arms around her raised knees and crying. Her hair spilled in front of her
face, hiding it from his view.
"What's wrong, Lady Hagime?"
She shook her head, took a few deep breaths, and finally spoke once she
calmed down.
She took another deep breath for good measure before she said, "My parents.
They wish me to be married soon. But I don't want to. I don't even know the
man. I always told myself that I would marry for love, but they're taking that away
from me."
"Do they know where you are?"
"No. I ran off right after they told me and they had no clue."
"Then anytime you need to talk, just come to me, okay?"
She nodded as she began to cry again.
That's where it all began, the relationship of Hagime and Kyo. She took him up
on his offer, of course. Anytime her parents angered her, she sought tranquility
from his company. Sometimes, they'd meet by the lake. Other times they'd meet
at the shrine. Lots of times he'd take her to her favorite place, a big sakura tree
that rested in front of a big flower bed on a hill over looking a lake. They would
meet there in the morning before the sun came up and watch the sun rise
together. They would also meet there late at night and gaze at the moon as
they talked about whatever they desired. What surprised her was the fact that
not once did he ask her of her parentage. Hagime always dressed as a
commoner would whenever she met with him. Maybe she was deceiving him?
Lying to him? But how could she lie to him when he never asked her of her
lineage?
She kept telling herself that if he never asked, then she technically was never
fibbing.
But one day, her parents brought her husband to be to the castle, .
That's when everything started to go wrong.
"Hagime. This is Kurosuke, the one we have chosen for you to wed."
"But he's a demon."
"Yes. He's the younger brother of the powerful youkai lord of the west. We hope
that your marriage will help establish a bond between human and demons."
"I told you! I refuse to marry him!"
"Be not a fool, Hagime! You shall do as I command and marry him. It is
futile to object to things that you have no control over."
She ran from the room and left on her horse as fast as she could. There was
only one place she could go, wanted to go, and that was to Kyo.
She reached the shrine in record time, but he was no where to be found.
She then knew that there was only one other place that Kyo could be, their special
spot by the lake. She got back on her horse and rushed there, praying that she
was right. She had to tell Kyo everything. Hagime had to tell him the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Kyo was under the blossoming tree as pink petals fell around him. She thought
that he'd never looked more handsome as she approached. A smile immediately
formed on his face, but was replaced by a confused look. She kneeled down in
front of him. Kyo saw her beautiful, fancy clothing and was obviously confused.
"Hagime. Why are you wearing those clothes?"
She looked so sad to him, almost as if she were going to cry.
"Kyo, my dear Kyo. I have deceived you thus far. I kept telling myself that as long
as you didn't ask me, then it really wasn't a lie, but I can't help but feel that it is.
You see Kyo, I'm no mere commoner, I'm a princess, the daughter of Lord
Tomei."
Kyo sat in silence for a few minutes.
"All this time and you...you never told me?"
She flinched at the raw hurt tone of his voice.
"You must understand Kyo. I didn't tell you because I just wanted to be treated
like a normal person for once, because deep inside, I'm just a normal woman.
And you treated me normal, just like I always wanted. I didn't want to lose that."
"And you actually believed that I would judge you by what you are instead of who
you are?"
"I did, because that's the way it's been my whole life. I've never had any real
friends. Anybody who was ever nice to me was only like that because I'm a
princess. They wanted their fifteen minutes of fame. 'Oh I know the princess, I
know her!' Not one of them actually ever knew me. I didn't want you to be the
same way."
"I believe you, but why tell me now? Why rush here like this?"
She hung her head low.
"I just met him, the one I am to marry. He is a demon, the younger brother of the
lord of the Western Lands. His name is Kurosuke. But I won't marry
him. I can't. He's not the one that I love."
Kyo sat in silence for a while, thinking it all over.
Night had fallen by the time he told her his plan. He told her about Ichimori.
"Ichimori?" she asked as she looked up at the stars.
"Yes. She is a demon, but a wise one. People call her the wise one. If anybody
will know what to do, then it's her."
"And where does this Ichimori reside?"
"She can usually be found in the Mikino forest by the Crystal Lake. Meet me there
in a week. I won't let you marry him. I won't let you wed one you don't love."
She smiled at him as tears streamed down her face. She understood his silent
message, his eyes were telling her, 'I won't let you wed one you don't love
because you love me, and I love you, too.'
"Thank you, Kyo."
She looked off towards the shrine and her eyes widened. Smoke. Clouds of
smoke bellowed from above the trees.
"Kyo, look!" Hagime said as she pointed towards the shrine.
"No!" Kyo said as he pulled Hagime to her feet. "Stay here while I fetch the
horses!"
She merely nodded as he ran off towards the lake. When he was heading back to
the bottom of the hill, he called to Hagime and she met him there.
Getting on their horses as fast as they could, they took off towards the shrine, full
speed ahead.
"Kami, no!" Kyo shouted as he saw the shrine in flames. "I left my little sister in
there!"
"What?! You have a little sister?"
They reached the shrine.
"Miza! Miza are you in there?"
He jumped off of his horse and took off towards the flames. He looked back in
time to see men on horses come. One with long black hair on a black horse came
by and pulled her up. She was stuggling before he whispered something in her ear
Her face took on a look of absolute terror as she called to Kyo.
"Kyo! Don't worry about me! Go save her! I'll be alright. Just, please, be careful."
He nodded as he ran into the flames, calling his little sister's name.
"You made a wise choice, my dear," Kurosuke said as they rode away towards the
castle.
"I did what I had to. I did it to protect him from you."
"Well I suggest that you get over him because you shall never see him again. I've
already made sure of that."
"What does that mean?"
Right after those words left her lips, the shrine, already engulfed in flames, blew
up.
"No! Kyo! NO!"
Hot tears of hurt, sadness, and anger poured from her eyes as she watched,
unable to go to him, to save him.