InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Small Moments ❯ A Child's Deception ( Chapter 9 )
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By: ladygriddlebone 
With the group not quite hired, mysteries are unraveled and distractions arise.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.14.2010 | Pages: 1 | Words: 697 | Visits: 547 | Status: Completed
With the group not quite hired, mysteries are unraveled and distractions arise.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.14.2010 | Pages: 1 | Words: 697 | Visits: 547 | Status: Completed
The thought flitted through Miroku's head that this was probably not a good idea. They were in unfamiliar territory, in the dark, and following a child they did not know to be truthful. On top of that, they were burdened by the stolen goods said child had just used to bribe them into helping him. In the thick grass, there could be a trap anywhere; thanks to Inuyasha's nose and keen hearing, they did not have to worry about an ambush, but Miroku was still on high alert.
Something just felt wrong.
He could hear voices off in the distance, a quiet, murmuring backdrop to the boy's hastily spoken instructions. "There's a ship that takes the sacrifice to the Suijin's island," he was saying, "So we'll follow the ship and then you guys beat the Suijin up."
Leave it to a child to think beating someone up was ever the solution to anything. It might work, he supposed, if the Suijin were actually a demon and it was Inuyasha that did the beating. But if they were truly dealing with a god, as the villagers seemed to believe...
"Say," Kagome was saying, "just whose child are you?"
The boy froze up at that, and the whole group came to a stop. Miroku had been wondering much the same thing. Finally the boy managed a shaky, "I-it's none of your business! I just hired you to help me. You don't need to know who I -"
"Now listen up, kid," Inuyasha said, bopping the child on the head, "We haven't actually agreed to do anything."
"If we don't hurry, the whole village might be destroyed, not just the sacrifice," the boy said, frazzled and stuttering a bit. He had fully expected them to obey him after the bribe. And, clearly, there was something more at stake here than he had originally led them to believe. "Because the sacrifice is..."
"You're the village headman's son, aren't you?" Kagome asked gently. The boy nodded.
"Now that you say that, it makes a lot of sense," Miroku said, considering. It probably should have been more obvious.
Inuyasha, of course, chose to see the negative. "It also explains his arrogance."
Unperturbed, and carefully ignoring Inuyasha's grumpiness, Kagome continued, "So the one inside that palanquin is a substitute."
The gentle approach worked; Miroku glanced at Inuyasha, but the hanyou seemed to be as oblivious as ever, even as the boy began to tell his story.
"I am the heir to the village-head, Taroumaru," he explained. "My father... when the Suijin demands a village child for a sacrifice, it's what must be done. But when it was his own child that was chosen... He made me hide, and he took a servant's child.
"You could almost say that your father is stupid, or at least blind," Miroku mused.
"He is a stupid father." Leave it to Inuyasha to just bluntly say it like that.
Kagome sighed, but she had a kind smile on her face when she turned back to Taroumaru. "You want to save that child, don't you?"
"We're friends," the boy confessed.
As the conversation carried on without him, it occurred to Miroku that he knew what was wrong. They had lost Sango somewhere. He hoped she would be able to find them again, but it would be no easy task in the dark and surrounded by such tall...
There was a rustling in the grass behind them, and as he turned to look his thoughts ground to a halt. It was Sango, returning to the group, her mask around her neck and her weapon at the ready, clad in her battle armor. That armor... he'd almost forgotten. Black, supple, and skintight. It was a shame, he thought somewhat dazedly, that all the other Taijiya women were dead, and that more women did not choose to take up the mantle in their place.
The world could use more women dressed like that.
Something just felt wrong.
He could hear voices off in the distance, a quiet, murmuring backdrop to the boy's hastily spoken instructions. "There's a ship that takes the sacrifice to the Suijin's island," he was saying, "So we'll follow the ship and then you guys beat the Suijin up."
Leave it to a child to think beating someone up was ever the solution to anything. It might work, he supposed, if the Suijin were actually a demon and it was Inuyasha that did the beating. But if they were truly dealing with a god, as the villagers seemed to believe...
"Say," Kagome was saying, "just whose child are you?"
The boy froze up at that, and the whole group came to a stop. Miroku had been wondering much the same thing. Finally the boy managed a shaky, "I-it's none of your business! I just hired you to help me. You don't need to know who I -"
"Now listen up, kid," Inuyasha said, bopping the child on the head, "We haven't actually agreed to do anything."
"If we don't hurry, the whole village might be destroyed, not just the sacrifice," the boy said, frazzled and stuttering a bit. He had fully expected them to obey him after the bribe. And, clearly, there was something more at stake here than he had originally led them to believe. "Because the sacrifice is..."
"You're the village headman's son, aren't you?" Kagome asked gently. The boy nodded.
"Now that you say that, it makes a lot of sense," Miroku said, considering. It probably should have been more obvious.
Inuyasha, of course, chose to see the negative. "It also explains his arrogance."
Unperturbed, and carefully ignoring Inuyasha's grumpiness, Kagome continued, "So the one inside that palanquin is a substitute."
The gentle approach worked; Miroku glanced at Inuyasha, but the hanyou seemed to be as oblivious as ever, even as the boy began to tell his story.
"I am the heir to the village-head, Taroumaru," he explained. "My father... when the Suijin demands a village child for a sacrifice, it's what must be done. But when it was his own child that was chosen... He made me hide, and he took a servant's child.
"You could almost say that your father is stupid, or at least blind," Miroku mused.
"He is a stupid father." Leave it to Inuyasha to just bluntly say it like that.
Kagome sighed, but she had a kind smile on her face when she turned back to Taroumaru. "You want to save that child, don't you?"
"We're friends," the boy confessed.
As the conversation carried on without him, it occurred to Miroku that he knew what was wrong. They had lost Sango somewhere. He hoped she would be able to find them again, but it would be no easy task in the dark and surrounded by such tall...
There was a rustling in the grass behind them, and as he turned to look his thoughts ground to a halt. It was Sango, returning to the group, her mask around her neck and her weapon at the ready, clad in her battle armor. That armor... he'd almost forgotten. Black, supple, and skintight. It was a shame, he thought somewhat dazedly, that all the other Taijiya women were dead, and that more women did not choose to take up the mantle in their place.
The world could use more women dressed like that.