InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kagome: Goddess of Japan ❯ The bath of Kagome ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Kagome: Goddess of Japan

Chapter 6: The bath of Kagome.



Inu-yasha slaps his thigh as he begins to laugh, "She got you!"
He says between the laughs.

Kiyoko turns to face Inu-yasha.

Kagome allows a giggle to escape her.

Kiyoko turns to face her mother. "You!" she exclaims.

"I won't," Kagome says, between her giggles.

Kiyoko breathes a sigh of relief. Hoshi reaches over and gives
her a pat on her back.

"Although, I should." Kagome says.

Kiyoko jerks as if she was stung by a wasp.

"You do need to have some hands on experience dealing with
bureaucrats, whose purpose in existence, is to keep everything
the same. Bureaucrats hate change, and so even if a good plan
comes up, they will delay and obstruct it, if for no other reason
then they didn't come up with it, and if it succeeds, someone
else will get the credit."


the horrified expression on Kiyoko's face grows . . .

Inu-yasha, Sesshomaru, Rin and Hoshi all nod at that statement.

Kagome sighs, "Of all the battles that I've fought." She looks
around at others. They all nod. "Of all battles that we've
fought, that is the one in which we've succeeded at the least."

"You mean lost." Inu-yasha grumbles.

Kagome nods. "Yes, I mean lost. That is one battle that cannot be
won."


A pause.

Kiyoko looks around the room. Inu-yasha, Sesshomaru, Rin, and
Hoshi all meet her eyes and nod.


Rin, her fingers tapping the low table in front of her, says,
"Making sure the bureaucracy works is an ongoing war, in which,
it is all that we can do is not to lose."

She pauses and looks at Inu-yasha. "And speaking of war, since
that strike team, will in all likelihood cause a major war, how
are we situated?"

Everyone looks at Inu-yasha.

He shrugs. "They and us are at a high level of readiness. And
we've both been that way for years."

Rin nods, as does everyone else at the table.

"I could order attacks to begin, and the first explosions would
begin within a few minutes. They are at a similar level of
preparedness." He rubs his chin. "Short term and longer term, now
that's a different story."

"And we are at?" Rin asks. ‘The longer term problems have always
caused problems. We've always done well at first, but, then the
problems come.' She thinks.


"Short term, there are some logistic problems. The ammo and
maintenance dumps directly behind the lines still have lower
stocks than needed. We've keep them lean, as policy." He nods to
Kagome.

Kagome nods and she says. "I had been trying to be diplomatic,
and moving the stocks up to the front line, instead of near the
factories was not diplomatic. You can begin to move the stocks
into immediate use areas."

Inu-yasha grunts. "Tomorrow?"

Kagome nods. "Today is a day for celebration."


He continues, with, "And, there are some ships that will need to
be resupplied and using them we'll reposition some troops. It'll
take," he purses his lips, "A couple, three months to have every
in place for a major offensive. But, if we're fighting
defensively, even with a couple of limited offensives, we're
ready."

"And longer than that?" Rin asks.

Inu-yasha shrugs. "Everything past that is on plan. The problems
that stopped us the last time, won't happen this time."

"I'm counting on that." Kagome says.

Inu-yasha nods to her. "It'll work. Although, I don't like the
projected causalities." He finishes in a hurt tone.

Kagome grimaces, "I know." She sighs. "I've never liked ordering
men and women to die. But, sometimes it's necessary."


"And the European and the Ottoman empires?" Rin asks.

"About the same," Inu-yasha replies. "Although they can begin a
major offensive before we can. They simply have more troops on
the front lines, and the distances that they need to move men and
materials are less than we do."

"Will that cause problems?" Kiyoko asks in a quiet voice, her
eyes wide. She's known, that even before her birth, that the
tensions between the Japanese Empire and the other two empires
were at high levels, but, Inu-yasha and Kagome had, normally, not
mentioned operational military details to her.

Inu-yasha shakes his head. "Not really. We've known these
problems for years, Kiyoko." He grins, "those figures assumed
that we're not bombing them. The air force has strike plans
against their trains and roads, and that will slow them. And our
current positions are designed for the defense."

"Don't be surprised, though, if they have some successes."
Sesshomaru says. "They've been putting a lot more men, trucks and
tanks along the eastern front near the Urals than we thought."

Inu-yasha shrugs. "That really doesn't matter, they could push us
back hundreds of Ri in places because there is nothing important
there to defend." His mouth twitches into a smile, "And if they
want to send more men and equipment into the middle of nowhere,
hell, I'll help them. The war won't be won on that front."

Sesshomaru's raises his eyebrow, "And they can't move them south,
and attack our northern flank, once we show our hand?"

Inu-yasha looks at Sesshomaru, narrowing his eyes, "Then, they'll
have to move them while our planes are bombing them. Whatever
makes it through that gauntlet, we can take."

Sesshomaru nods, although everyone can tell that he is not fully
agreeing with Inu-yasha.

"We can finish this discussion, later." Kagome says, stopping
what is an old argument between the two, as she pushes her plates
away from her, signaling the end of breakfast.

She says, looking from Inu-yasha and Sesshomaru, "No war plan
survives, intact, after the first contact with the enemy. They've
decided to put those troops east of Moscow for a reason, sooner
or later, we'll find out why."

Inu-yasha nods, accepting Kagome's statement.

Sesshomaru raises an eyebrow, obviously still unconvinced. ‘They
are hiding something in those massive and still basically
uncharted forests. But Inu-yasha is convinced that it doesn't
matter, so he doesn't pay attention to it. Kagome knows better,
but she also knows that the battle line from the top of the
Caspian Sea to the Urals is the least important of our plans, so,
she's willing to give them some successes there to draw forces
from the rest of the plan.'


Kagome stands up and looks over the room, "Unless something
happens, we will continue as scheduled, today. I hope that we'll
find that strike team before they can hurt anyone."

She pauses, "If they do strike." She stares at Inu-yasha and
Sesshomaru. "Remember that the city is full on innocents, and
they come first. I will be watching and I may, and I probably
will, intervene."

Inu-yasha and Sesshomaru nod.


Kagome nods to Hoshi, as says, "In that case my schedule is
normal, until the parade."

Hoshi, stands up, "yes, Mother. Your body servants are waiting at
your bath, now. And, then, like normal via the underground
subway, you are scheduled to appear at the temple for your
customary morning service." She says.

Kagome looks around the room one last time, ‘please Sesshomaru,
please tell me that you want a few minutes alone with me.' she
silently begs.

Nothing.

After a pause that is just noticeable, she walks to one of the
walls, the sliding door opens and she leaves the room.


Kiyoko takes a couple of steps and whispers to Rin, "I've never
seen Mother like this."

Rin looks at Kiyoko. Her eyes flick to Sesshomaru and Inu-yasha.
"That's because you've never seen her during a real war. All she
wants is the world to be better, but she has to send men and
women to their deaths. It eats at her."

"And me." Inu-yasha says, as he silently moved near Kiyoko. He
places a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Kiyoko. Right now,
she's hating herself, blaming herself."

"Father?" Kiyoko whispers as she turns to him.

"She feels that she's made a mistake and if she did things
differently, then there won't be any war."

"But, she always says that." Kiyoko says in a surprised voice.

Inu-yasha nods. "It's just affecting her more than normal. Most
days she can pretend otherwise. But, today, and until things
settle down, she'll be like this."



"How about you?" Kiyoko whispers.

Inu-yasha sighs, heavily, "wars are hell on earth. And I have to
start and finish them." His eyes look off into the distance,
Kiyoko gulps at the sadness she can see in them. "I want the
world to be peaceful, Kiyoko. I don't want to lie to a family
about telling them that their child died suddenly, without pain,
when I know that he died in horrible agony."

Kiyoko gulps and her eyes try to look through the walls, but they
fail.


Sesshomaru, stands, silently in the background, unmoving.

In another corridor.

A painted wall section opens up for Kagome and she steps into her
bath area.

It is a large area set up in a modified traditional Japanese
pattern. There is a large sunken tub full of water, hot steam
rises from it. There is a white tiled area with a drain in it for
scrubbing. There is also a padded table, for massages.

One of the walls is a floor to ceiling mirror, and wall is
covered in drawers of various sizes, where various cosmetics and
other items are stored.

And, separated by a partial screen is the area where the toilet
is.



Six women bow to her. They are all wearing a plain white silk
robe, so they can get wet, without it harming their clothes. Two
of the women are pure-blood Japanese, both of them are older
women, in their fifties or older. The other four are all younger
women, in their upper teens to lower twenties, of various races.

Kagome nods to them and as they raise from their bows, she says,
"the schedule today is tight, ladies, so, if you could, please,
keep things simple today."

"We understand, mother." At least a couple of them says, while
the other nods.

Kagome moves to the white tiled area and spreads her arms.

Her body servants strip her and begin to lather up some delicate
floral smelling soap and they begin to scrub her.

Kagome closes her eyes, and as her servants begin their daily
rituals, she thinks and remembers.


‘In Europe and in the Ottoman empire, my bathing routine is
considered a lesbian orgy.' She mentally sighs, ‘how many of
their hate movies and novels begin with me, as some sadistic
bitch, raping my servants as I bathe?'

Kagome remembers that, soon after the end of the quest for the
jewel, as she and her friends began to gain in power, she would
be invited into various castles. And the owner of the castle, as
a common courtesy would have the hand maidens of the castle help
her bathe. The first couple of times, Kagome, more or less
politely, declined the help. But.

When she did, the owner of the castle would become more distant
and less helpful. Miroku, though, explained why, and after a
couple of discrete checks with her telepathic powers, she
confirmed his reasoning.

They were declining to help her, because they felt that her
refusal to allow the hand maidens to do their duty, cleaning her
and helping her dress, was an insult to them. (The women of the
castle especially would think this. And with the women of the
castle were against Kagome that made it a lot easier for the men
of the castle to be against her, or just not treat with her.)

After Kagome learned this, she did start to allow female servants
to help clean, bathe and dress her.

"Mother?" one of the younger servants asks, breaking Kagome's
thoughts. "If you could, please?" She waves Kagome to the area of
the room with the toilet.


Kagome nods, smiles politely at the young woman, and goes to that
area of the room to use it. A couple of the youngest women follow
her, to help her and to clean her.


Kagome mentally sighs as she watches and feels the touch of the
silk cloth and soft hands of the young women.

She remembers . . .

The first castle that she allowed the body servants to do their
job, everything went smoothly, even if Kagome was very
embarrassed.

The second castle, though, one of the hand maidens, a young,
earnest girl-child named, Aya, wanted to do her duty, even if
that meant cleaning Kagome after she used the toilet. Kagome,
very embarrassed, of course, refused.

That night, though, Kagome awoke with due to a nightmare. By
following her mystical senses she found Aya. She had gotten a
knife and cut her wrists, so she could commit suicide. She told
kagome, as lay dying, that she was doing this to atone for the
earlier embarrassment that she caused Kagome to feel.

Kagome healed her, preventing her from dying.

Aya became the first of Kagome's permanent body servants. Her
family, still, washes and cleans Kagome.

(The current body servant from her family is one of the older
women in the room, supervising the others. The family, by the
way, is very rich and powerful. Over the years, they would marry
into rich families. It looks good to have as your wife, someone
that talks to Kagome on a daily basis.)


Kagome moves back into the tiled area for more cleaning.


Kagome thinks, ‘now, becoming one of my body servants is
considered a great honor.' She looks at the four young women that
are cleaning her and talking among themselves.

Her mouth quirks into a smile at she glances at one of the
younger servants, Desak Putu from Bali, ‘that is why some of my
servants are orphans, like she is. They become part of my
household. There is school that is part of my house, and they
will attend that school, and since the teachers here are some of
the best in the world, they get the best education there is.'

Kagome reaches out and brushes a strand of wet hair of Desek
Putu's forehead.

"Mother?" she asks. ‘The goddess Kagome is normally more
talkative than this. There are rumors, but none of us wanted to
ask her directly about them.' She thinks.

"Nothing." Kagome sighs, "I was just thinking about your parents,
and how your life would be different if they were killed in that
flood."

Desak Putu bows her head. "my mother and father were police
officers, Mother, helping people, even in the middle of the flood
that killed them was their duty."

"I know." Kagome whispers. "Have you thought about your life
after you finish schooling here?"

"I will return and become an officer, like my parents." She says
instantly. "But, Mother's we've talked about this before."

The other young servants nod their heads. Kagome takes an active
interest in their lives, normally, during the morning the bath,
there is a lot of gossiping and talking. Today has been very
quiet, all the girls knew that Kagome s' schedule has been
changed, and that today would be a special day, so they are being
quiet, allowing Kagome to lead.

Kagome sighs, "I know. Today, I'm just being reflective and
thinking about what might have been." She sighs, again.

The women in the room look at each other. One of the older ones
asks in a quiet tone, "Mother, can we do anything to help?"

Kagome shakes her head, "I'm fine. Today is just my day to be
nostalgic, girls, don't worry about it."


As Kagome settles into the warm tub for her soak, she watches
them begin to open up the make-up drawers, drag out the padded
stole for her to sit on, while they make up her face and hair.
Everything is perfectly professional.

She thinks, ‘while the stories in Europe and the ottoman empire
are wrong, there are times in which things do get sensual during
this time.'

She thinks, ‘During the quest for the jewel, Sango and I would
cry on each other's shoulders, especially on those days that
Miroku and Inu-yasha were being asses. We did, rarely, while we
were comforting each other, comfort each other in sensual, ways.
But, especially since we were always moving from combat to
combat, that did not become something that we did at every bath.'

Kagome conceals a sigh, ‘and then, when my powers as a goddess
began to grow, things began to change. My empathic powers were
and are still very sensitive to sensual feelings.'

A small smile appears on her face. ‘I can remember waking up, on
multiple occasions, with Inu-yasha, or Sesshomaru, or Miroku and
Sango in my futon. My powers would find a sensual dream and
broadcast it. Then, in a positive feedback loop, the sensual
feelings would grow, and we'd end up in an unplanned orgy.
Sometimes the whole village would be involved.'

‘I've learned to control that power, but, not before doing things
that I'd never have done on my own.' She thinks.

Kagome thinks, ‘over the years, I've decided that I will have
sex, but, unlike those stories in Europe and ottoman empire, it
was rarely spontaneous or private these days. As a fertility
goddess, sex is a part, not an everyday part, but a part, of my
worship. So, like the first time Inu-yasha and I had sex, I do
lead, in public, various fertility festivals.'


Kagome's directs her mental powers toward Inu-yasha. She can feel
that he is having his morning massage, and is turning down some
not so subtle hints of his female masseur about sex.

‘Tonight, after the grand ball, but before I meet with Kiyoko, he
and I will make love. Which is why he is turning her down, so he
can be well rested for tonight. But, everyone in the household,
and everyone that pays attention to our schedules, knows that.'

A semi-surprised look appears on Kagome's face, ‘I can't remember
the last time that I had sex that, at least, my servants, if not
hundreds of people, did not know about it.'

A thoughtful look appears on Kagome's face, as she thinks, ‘no
doubt the fact that I have no real privacy has twisted my life,
including my sex-life, into strange channels.'


the end of chapter 6


Authors' note: Ri is a little less than 4 kilometers or a little
less than 2.5 miles.


Authors' note: I had a reviewer ask about the word "itadakimasu"
means. It is the traditional word said before meals. Generally it
means something like "I humbly receive from you." Basically you
are thanking the owner of the house for the meal, or thanking the
god that created the food, etc. it can be used in other
situations where a person receives something from another person.



Authors' note: I will be taking a break after this chapter, so I can work on my other story A
Shard in Kyoto.

I will return to this story once I've got another chapter of Shard out.

I am interested in how you, the readers, feel about this story. What I might be doing right or
wrong. What needs to be improved, etc.

Since this is a huge project, I'll going to try something new.

I am creating a website for this story. On this website, I'll post some of my notes, explanations. (I
do plan, that during the story itself, these notes will be used, but, the storyline might hide some
of
the details.)

The site has a message board, and a chat room, so, fans of the story can post messages, etc. I do
plan on visiting the site, at least once a day and I will reply to the messages on the site.

(I have been slacking off of responding to reviewers. I am sorry about that. I fully intend to
better respond to reviews and comments on this story. Which is one of the reasons why I'm
trying this site, to see if this will help me.)

The site is at: (remove the spaces for the link)

groups. msn. com/ jeffsfanfic

On it, right now, sept 27, I've got posted a rough time line and 6 other small essays, and rough
maps showing the growth
of Japan's empire. There is still a lot of work to do on the site. I'm planning on posting additional
notes as time passes.

Thank you for reading
jeff shelton