InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heartless ❯ Hostage ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the other characters from the anime/manga. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I suppose life would be easier if I made money by writing these stories, but unfortunately, I do not.

 

 

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Special thanks to my wonderful betas Ai Kisugi, Hedanicree, and JMaxwell for picking this story to pieces and making it a much more bearable read!

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`Thinking'

“Talking”

Dream or memories

 

 

 

Chapter 3: Hostage

 

 

 

She was getting nervous under the stares of the soldiers. She expected the looks of hostility, but was surprised to see several amorous gazes directed her way. She looked down at herself nervously. Her precious wedding dress was covered in blood in the front, and the hem of her skirt was tattered. However, she didn't see anything uncovered except her shoulders.

 

`What jerks! Haven't they ever seen a woman in a strapless dress before?' Her rising anger did nothing to alleviate her self-consciousness, and she tried to cover her shoulders with her hands. She freed her waist-length hair, let it fall in soft waves down her back and passed some of it over her shoulder to cover her front. `That's better than nothing.'

 

While she had been trying to cover herself, the soldiers began to disperse, their interest in her lost already. The only ones that remained were their leader and the monk who probably saved her life. They were arguing heatedly in hushed tones, occasionally throwing a glance her way. Try as she might, she couldn't hear what was being said. In the end, the monk was obviously the winner, for the leader turned and stomped out of the clearing. She watched the man's rigid form disappear behind the trees as the monk approached her, his gaze locked on the front of her blood-soaked dress.

 

“Are you all right?” he asked.

 

She smiled at his concern. Finally, someone was acting like a normal human being. “Yes, I'm perfectly fine. Thank you.” When he continued to gaze at her ruined clothing, she added, “It's not my blood.”

 

He looked relieved and smiled back at her. “I'm glad. I was so scared when I saw you out there.”

 

Talking to someone with gentlemanly manners made her remember her own. “Thank you, kind sir, for protecting me back there. For a moment, I thought they were going to shoot me.” She chuckled nervously before introducing herself, “I'm Kagome, by the way. And, you are?”

 

He looked surprised for a moment, and she couldn't help but think that what she had said must have seemed unusual to him. `What? Are the women around here as rude as the men?'

 

He composed himself in a few seconds and gave her a charming smile. “Call me, Miroku. And, don't even mention it. I'm just glad I was successful.”

 

She smiled back at him. Now that the adrenalin rush was over, she turned back to her real problem and asked him the first thing she wanted to know. “Umm, Miroku, could you tell me where this place is?”

 

Seeming intrigued, he cocked his head to one side and regarded her carefully. “You don't know where you are?”

 

She gave him a sheepish grin and confessed her stupidity, “Honestly? I have no idea.”

 

He didn't seem to think she was stupid, though. “We're in the Musashi region.”

 

“Musashi?” The name sounded familiar. She knew she had heard it before, but couldn't remember where.

 

Before she could ponder more, he continued, “How did you come here if you didn't know where you were going? Did you get lost?”

 

That was the strangest part, and she was sure he would think that she was crazy. “I'm not exactly sure. Now, it may sound weird, but I fell down a well at my family's shrine and I climbed out of the one out there. I guess there must be some sort of tunnel connecting the wells, but I don't remember going through one.”

 

He didn't seem to find that explanation as strange as she would have imagined he would. Instead, he simply raised his eyebrows at her. “That sounds interesting. I don't think there is a tunnel under that well, though. Trust me, I would know.”

 

There went the only explanation that didn't involve her being insane, but she tried to keep her hopes up. If there was a way here, there had to be a way back. “Do you know the way to the Higurashi shrine?”

 

“Higurashi shrine?” he asked.

 

The tone of his voice suggested that she was not going to get the answer she wanted to hear, but she pushed her luck anyway. “Yes, you know, the most famous shrine in Tokyo?”

 

He looked thoughtful for a moment, his free hand scratching his chin. When he spoke, she was not happy with what she heard. “Hmm, never heard of it.”

 

“Oh.” She dropped her eyes to the ground, feeling helpless.

 

He must have felt bad for her, for he continued in an apologetic tone, “Look, we're very close to the village I live in. Why don't you come with me? We can ask the villagers if anyone knows the way to this Tokyo place.”

 

That did not sound like a bad suggestion, but in spite of what he said about the well, she still wanted to see it for herself. “I would like to see this village of yours, but I want to check the well first.” She gave him an appeasing smile before continuing, “There must be a way in there. After all, most of the time the exit is the same place as the entrance, right?” Convinced by her own words, she was eager to go back and find her way back home. “Well, it was nice meeting you and all, but I have to get back home. Bye, Miroku!” She turned around in the direction of the well and started walking away at a fast pace.

 

She was stopped by a strong hand gripping her arm. When she turned back, she saw the monk looking at her with a serious expression. She was surprised to say the least. Did he finally remember something that would help her? “What?”

 

“I'm afraid I cannot let you go,” he said. Gone was the kind monk she had been talking to for the last ten minutes, and in his place stood a menacing man with a hard edge to his voice.

 

“What?! Why?!” she cried out.

 

He didn't seem to be affected by the fright in her voice, nor did he appear to care about the fact that his grip was bruising her arm. “Because I have to bring you back to the village. You helped the enemy escape, and you'll need to be questioned.”

 

“Enemy? What enemy? Let me go!” She struggled to free herself futilely. “You can't make me stay here! I don't care about your business! I have to go home!”

 

“I'm sorry, my lady, but my life is at stake if I let you go. So, please forgive me for this.” With that, he touched her neck with two fingers. The last thing she saw was the ground coming closer to meet her face.

 

 

~*~

 

 

“Why did you bring her here, Miroku?”

 

“I didn't have a choice, my love.”

 

The first thing Kagome noticed when she came to was how loud the voices sounded. She wanted to tell them to stop talking but she found herself unable to open her mouth.

 

“What are we going to do with her?” It was a woman's voice.

 

Kagome tried to open her eyes to see her surroundings but failed in her attempt. She realized she didn't have control of her body for some reason after trying to move her arms to sit up. Having no choice but to lay there motionless, so she decided to pay attention to what was being said. After a few seconds, the other person in the room, whom she could make out to be Miroku from his voice, decided to answer the woman's question.

 

“We'll do what we have to. She's a priestess and she helped Inuyasha escape. We can't let her go. Lady Keiko will want to see her.”

 

It was obvious that they were talking about her. `They really won't let me go, will they?'

 

“You think so?” The woman sounded uncertain.

 

“I know so,” replied the monk. “I believe she already received the news and she will want to question her.” There was silence for a few seconds, then he spoke again with a certain authority in his voice. “Be prepared, Sango. We'll travel to the castle tomorrow.”

 

Kagome was getting more agitated by the second. `Castles, ladies, priestesses? What the hell is going on here? What do they want from me?!'

 

“Travel? I don't like this, Miroku.”

 

The woman, Sango, sounded scared, and it angered Kagome to no end. `Why the hell is she scared?! Hello! I'm the one being kidnapped here!'

 

“Neither do I, my love.” From the affectionate tone of his voice, and the sound of someone moving, she guessed the young monk was trying to comfort this Sango woman, who was obviously his lover.

 

“How will we pull this off?” asked Sango. “You know that anything can happen on the way!” Apparently, Miroku's attempt did nothing to cool the woman's nerves, for she sounded even more panicked now.

 

“We'll just need to be extra careful.” The monk's voice softened as he continued, “Don't worry. He was severely wounded, and I believe he'll need a few days to heal. He won't be around to cause trouble and he wouldn't send his troops to attack us.”

 

The only `he' Kagome knew to be wounded was the dog-eared god she met earlier. Inuyasha, as the monk called him. `She's scared of Inuyasha? Does she think he will attack them?'

 

“I'm not so sure,” mumbled Sango. “It's Inuyasha, and if I know anything about him, things might get a little too bloody around here.”

 

That got Kagome's attention. Sango talked about Inuyasha as if he was some killing machine. `Is he really that dangerous? But, he didn't hurt me.'

 

“We'll do what needs to be done, Sango, and worry about the rest when it comes to it. You just be careful with her. We don't know what she might do.”

 

“I will.”

 

While she listened to the conversation, Kagome realized that she was now able to move her mouth. When she opened her lips to ask him what he meant by needing to be careful about her, a loud moan came out instead of words. A sudden stroke of pain ripped through her head, rendering her incapable of even thinking.

 

In an instant, she felt a coldness on her forehead. She opened her eyes with great difficulty, and was met with two brown eyes looking down at her with concern. “Are you okay? Where do you hurt?” asked the owner of those gentle orbs.

 

“It's my head. Gods, what happened to me?” Talking was not a good idea, Kagome noticed with regret when she was struck with another wave of pain.

 

“Don't force yourself to talk,” chastised the brown-eyed woman before offering her patient a cup filled with a strange, steamy liquid. “Drink this. It'll help you get better.” She helped Kagome raise her head to drink the hot liquid with a horrible smell. She didn't let her go until she finished the foul tasting mixture.

 

After she was done, Kagome had to force herself not to throw up. With a weak `thank you,' she closed her eyes and laid back. Her stomach felt like there were hundreds of worms dancing in it. `How is this supposed to help me?' However, she had to accept that her headache had already lessened significantly. A few minutes later, there was no trace of it.

 

“How do you feel now?” It was the woman again.

 

“Much better.” Kagome opened her eyes to look at the owner of the voice. She looked beautiful, this `Sango.' With the soft lines of her face, her waist-length brown hair flowing down her back like water and her shapely figure, she looked like a sculpture. After openly inspecting the woman for a few moments, Kagome's eyes fell on the other occupant of the small room. “You! You did this to me, didn't you?”

 

Miroku smiled at the sudden change in her attitude. Then, his face turned solemn when he spoke, but the strange twinkle in his eyes remained the same. “Unfortunately, yes. I hope you can forgive me. You left me no choice.”

 

Kagome tried to get up and failed. Finally, after rejecting the offered hands for a few trials, she grudgingly accepted Sango's help to sit up and turned back to the monk with all the dignity she could muster. “Why? What you did is called kidnapping! You can't force me to stay here. You have no right!”

 

“I'm afraid you're in no position to question my rights.”

 

This Miroku guy was confusing her. He was kind and nice one moment, and in the next, he would turn cold, distant and ... and ... `frightening,' she finished in her head feeling scared of the monk for the second time since they met. He must have felt her discomfort because he obviously tried to look apologetic before he continued.

 

“Look, we're in a war, and in war, you do what you have to. It's as simple as that.”

 

“War? Which war?” She was certainly missing something. Since when was there a war in Japan? If there was, she would have definitely heard of it. It was hard to miss those kinds of things thanks to the media. Even if she failed to hear about it in some way, wouldn't her family have mentioned it at least once?

 

Growing tired of her ignorance, the monk continued his explanation slowly, as if he was letting her read his lips in case she had hearing problems. “The war between the human race and the demons.”

 

“Demons?” At his nod, Kagome put her head in her hands supported by her elbows on her knees. What was this guy talking about? “Oh, my head is aching again,” she mumbled. She still didn't know where exactly she was, or how she came to be there, but she was now sure of one thing. Wherever this place was, it was filled with crazy people. Maybe it was some kind of asylum? “I don't understand what you're talking about.” She raised her head to look at the man in the eye, hoping that he would be able to understand her words. “First of all, there are no demons. You guys must have lost your minds.”

 

The monk snickered at that. Obviously, the delusional man found her quite amusing. “You're sure there are no demons? If I remember correctly, you just met one this morning.”

 

She gasped, remembering the dog-eared god once more. “He was a demon?”

 

Pleased that he hit the mark, Miroku's smile got wider, showing most of his white teeth. “Of course, he was. How else can you explain what you saw back there?”

 

“Ummm, special effects?” asked Kagome.

 

At the blank looks she received, she rolled her eyes. “Never mind.” Getting tired of arguing with these people, she decided to go with their explanations. “What exactly is a demon? I mean, you're not talking about creatures from hell, are you?”

 

Sango, who had been silent for a long time, jumped at her question. “Oh, no, no, they're not from hell. Although, some of them would suit there better, I guess. They are magical creatures, some of which possess immense power to destroy humans.”

 

“Magical?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Sango sounded confident in her answer, but Kagome couldn't stop herself from expressing her doubt. “Are you telling me that magic exists?”

 

“What? You thought it didn't?” asked Sango with a hint of amusement in her voice.

 

Kagome didn't answer, but her face betrayed her disbelief.

 

This time, Miroku spoke up, “Surprising from someone who possesses magical powers herself.”

 

Now, that was funny. The girl couldn't hide the laughter in her voice as she asked, “Who? Me?”

 

Miroku didn't seem to be having fun, though. “Yes, you. Don't you know you possess spiritual powers?”

 

The seriousness in his tone and the agitated look on his face forced Kagome to re-evaluate her conclusion about him making fun of her. “I do?”

 

“Yes, you do,” supplied the monk. “But I'm guessing you don't know how to use them, since you didn't even know you had them. Am I right?”

 

She nodded her head sheepishly. `Spiritual powers? How can I have them when I don't know what they are?'

 

He sighed exasperatedly, leaning his head back against the wall behind him and closing his eyes in the process. “Perfect, just what we needed.” His voice dripped with sarcasm. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke again in a tired voice without opening his eyes. “Well then, let's hope you won't need to use them at all.”

 

Sango chose that moment to get up. She left the room, saying that she needed to check the children. Before she was out the door, she threw a warning glance at Miroku and told him to behave himself. The monk rolled his eyes.

 

`Behave?' Kagome wanted to ask what that was about before another question invaded her mind. “Children? Does she have children?” she asked Miroku.

 

“Yes, in fact, we do have children.”

 

“So you guys are married?”

 

“Yes?” He looked surprised for a moment, then his face lightened in understanding. “Oh, I didn't introduce her at all, did I? Forgive my rudeness. That beautiful lady was Sango, my beloved wife of fifteen years.”

 

Kagome noticed how his expression softened when he talked about Sango. `He must love her so much.'

 

“Oh, that's nice,” she said. Having nothing else to add, she opted to stay silent for a while, which gave her the chance to think through the strange situation she found herself in. Her mind was being bombarded with questions, but there was something particularly important she needed to know to evaluate her situation more clearly. “Hey, Miroku?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“You didn't tell me why you can't let me go. What did I do? I don't have anything to do with this war. I didn't even know there was a war!”

 

The monk looked at her with pity written on his face. “Now you know, and I'm sorry to inform you that you got yourself involved in this war as of this morning.”

 

Her chin dropped at his words. `Involved in a war?! What the hell!' Her mind was screaming at her, and she found herself unable to speak. With great difficulty, she uttered the only thing she could manage to get out of her trembling lips. “H-how?”

 

Sighing, he decided to let her know how she got herself into this mess once and for all. “First of all, and I'm saying this for the last time, you helped the enemy escape.”

 

“You mean Inuyasha? He is your enemy?”

 

“I just said that, didn't I?”

 

Sensing his irritation, Kagome kept herself from snapping back at him in case he would change his mind and leave her in the darkness.

 

“That man is a very critical element in this war,” he continued. “You just saved the general of the demon armies, and the prince of the Inu clan from us.Taking him down would be a great victory for the human army.”

 

She was surprised to hear those words. `He is a general? But ... but ...' She couldn't help but voice her thoughts in spite of her fear of angering him, “He didn't seem dangerous to me.”

 

That obviously sounded amusing rather than irritating to him, for he gave a loud laugh before continuing, “Ask that to the others around you. He's the most dangerous one for them, because he's the hardest to catch. The methods used to capture demons do not work on him.”

 

“Why not?” she asked.

 

“First of all, because he's not a full demon, he can't be killed by purification alone. The few times in the last few years they were able to purify him, he always managed to escape. Second, he's an extremely skilled fighter, maybe the best out there. Finally, there's one way that works on every demon you can corner, but he's immune to that too, because he has a spell protecting him.”

 

Silence. So, she was involved in a war for protecting the humans' most wanted enemy. She knew that there were neither rules nor rights in a war. And above all, she knew that people would become merciless not to be defeated by their enemies. She was in some serious trouble, wasn't she?

 

“What will you do to me?” She felt strangely ashamed of the tremor she couldn't keep from her voice. After all, Kagome wasn't some brave warrior who fell hostage to the enemy while fighting for a cause she believed with all her heart. She was only a normal woman who just learned that her life was in danger. So, it was normal to be afraid, right?

 

Nevertheless, the compassion in his face did nothing to make her feel better. “Don't be scared,” he soothed. “We will take you to the castle. You will see Lady Keiko, a powerful priestess who has done a lot in this war for the humans. I don't think she will be too harsh on you. You're lucky that you're a priestess. She'll probably prefer to use your help instead of imprisoning you.”

 

Silence again. Miroku didn't even mention the possibility of her being executed. That was a good sign. Maybe she really didn't need to worry about her life. She would just need to see this Lady Keiko and explain herself. If she was lucky, Kagome would convince her to let her go home.

 

Feeling much better, she slid back on the mattress she had been sitting on and leaned back to the wall. Sighing, she started exploring the room she was in. Almost everything around her was wooden: the walls, the floor and the small cup she drank from. There wasn't much else to see. The room was small, with the futon under her being the only furniture in it. There was a door on the opposite wall, covered with a kind of mat. To her right, she could see a small window with no glass covering it. That was interesting.

 

She could understand people having simple tastes and wanting to live in such places with only the required things around them, but a window with no glass? That was taking it a bit too far. How could they stay in this room in winter? Were the other rooms in this house just like this one? Come to think of it, she didn't see the rest of this place. The monk must have carried her here when she was out cold right after the ordeal with Inuyasha.

 

Inuyasha. Wasn't he a dilemma? Despite what she had been told about him, she felt strangely proud of herself for saving him. After all, he did not do anything to hurt her, did he? She wondered what would have happened to him if she hadn't been there when the soldiers arrived.

 

Her eyes fell on the monk sitting next to the door. As much as he irritated her by holding her there, she couldn't deny that he had saved her life when he stopped the soldiers. She remembered what he said to make Inuyasha go away. `Wait a minute, go away?' Her eyes widened when she realized that Miroku saved not only her life, but Inuyasha's as well when he forced the soldiers not to attack her and discreetly advised Inuyasha to run away without her.

 

“Miroku?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“You didn't seem eager to see him dead back there.”

 

He did not answer her right away. At his silence, she began to think whether she had been dreaming things. Then, he sighed and looked at her with a tired expression.

 

“Because I wasn't.”

 

So, Kagome was right! He saved them both, the little cunning monkey... and he was accusing her of protecting their enemy! But, she was the only one that realized what the monk had done, wasn't she? All the soldiers knew was that she had been the one who caused them to lose their prey. Shoot! Why would Miroku do that, though? Didn't he just say Inuyasha was their enemy? Seeing that he wasn't going to continue otherwise, she asked, “Why?”

 

He closed his eyes again and was silent for a few moments. It was as if he was contemplating whether to tell her. Finally, he spoke, “He was my friend once.”

 

`What?!' Wasn't this guy full of surprises? “He was? What happened?”

 

His eyes still closed, he answered her question without thinking. “The war.”

 

 

End of Chapter 3