InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Huge Book of Fairy Tales...Sort of ❯ Donkey Skin...Sort of: Part 5 ( Chapter 8 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

AN: Heya. I’m really, really, really, really, really, really, sorry I haven’t updated lately. I got piled under all this work and I haven’t even been able to breath in weeks. (I know, I’m a horrible evil geek who hasn’t found time to update her stuff in two months.)
Wow, gee what a shock NO ONE REVIEWED ON MEDIAMINER.
Ok becasue the file is to big i had to break it into two parts. the 2 chapter is not the last chapter, it's juts part of this one, alright?
Disclaimer- I don’t own Inuyasha and I don’t own Donkey Skin. Seriously, I don’t own the story or a actual donkey skin. (You think I should go buy one?)


Kagome~
I glared down at the turkey as it started to peck at my donkey ears and kicked at, not actually touching but threatening to. The turkey squawked and moved out of my foot’s range.
“Dumb bird.” I muttered under my breath. I stood up and kicked at the dirt field. Seeing it was nearly sunset I led the turkeys back into their cages and trudged off toward the main house to help the cook start dinner. Well...more like help the cook vent out her anger on rich people by boxing my ears or letting the other servants make fun of me. Seriously, if she hits my ears one more time they’re going to fall off.
I walked around the back of the main house, keeping away from the entrance so the rich guests wouldn’t be offended by my donkey skin. I stepped through the back door into the kitchen, wishing I could run out when I saw the two people at the servants table.
Wakana and Satsuki were the two servants that enjoyed tormenting me the most, along with the cook Kikyo. I tried to creep in quietly so I would only have to deal with Kikyo, but Satsuki has the ears of a old gossiping villager, she hears and knows everything.
“Say Wakana, can you tell me why Kami decided to turn a jackass into a human? The result is rather ugly.” They laughed loudly, knowing I hear them but I just walked by, wishing my miko powers effected humans as much as demons.
I walked deeper into the kitchen and moaned to myself when I heard the cook bang her pots and pans around, knowing she was in a bad mode.
“Donkey!” Kikyo screeched and threw a rotted turnip at my head. I ducked and winched when I saw the fat, old cook glaring holes in me. “You should have been here 5 minutes ago you filthy rat!” She screamed and slapped me along the ears. I hissed and held my ear, knowing if I hid my pain like pride told me to do it would only get worst.
“Clean the dishes before I take away your dinner!” She pointed a fat finger at the sink filled with dirty dishes and stated to chop up vegetables, muttering under her breath, “Damn rich people, they expect me to make dinner for eighty people with that donkey ass as a helper.” She snorted and wiped her nose with the back of her hand and went back to chopping.
I turned away from her and filled the sink with using a bucket of water already laid out for me. Kikyo was a unpleasant, old, fat bitter woman who enjoyed to torment most of the servants, the only people ignored by her wrath was Wakana and Satsuki, because they always sucked up to her and would give her the dirt on the other servants. Rumor was that she was so bitter and hated rich people so much because as a girl she had a rich lover who ruined her, and left her for a richer woman.
I was thankful she didn’t know who I really was or my life would be worst then it already was. I started to scrub the dishes and wondered how long it would be until Sango came to get me. I’d been on the road...a week or so? And I’ve been here for about a week, so that’s almost two weeks and I haven’t heard anything from Sango.
I scowled and placed the clean dish on the counter and started the next one. Sango better not have left for Europe to watch men tan naked without me.
Sango~
“You pervert! NO I DO NOT WANT TO TAN NAKED WITH YOU!”
Miroku pouted as he lied on the grassy hill. “But Sango look at how sunny the day is, don’t you want to take advantage of the precious sunlight Kami gives us? And what better way then enjoying the way the sun caresses our bare bodies?” He sat up and breathed lightly on Sango’s ear. “While I caress yours.”
Sango bit her lip and whimpered a little when he started to press soft kisses to her neck and chin. Her eyes flashed when he pressed his hand against her ass and raised her hand to slap him across the face. He backed away and rubbed his sore face.
“Sango. My intentions were honorable.”
Sango rolled her eyes. “Yeah, groping me is really honorable.”
His eyes turned dark and a slow grin spread on his face. “I was talking about my honorable intention to fuck you so hard you can’t walk for days.” he purred and leaped on her.
Kagome~
I placed the next clean dish on the counter, while I wondered what could possibly be keeping Sango from getting me. Whatever it is, it better be good.
I cleaned the last plate and started to put them all away, and tried not to get in Kikyo’s way as she muttered under her breath spells to curse the food and spat on it just in case.
“Jackass!” The old woman yelled her favorite pet name at me. “Go feed this slop to the pigs.” She commanded and handed me a bucket of leftover pig guts that the butcher hadn’t found any purpose for it. I’m actually surprised Kikyo didn’t sneak the pig parts in the rich guests food. ...Oh wait she stuck the pig’s brain in the soup, never mind.
I walked out of the kitchen, grateful Wakana and Satsuki weren’t around to ask me if I was eating my dinner out with the other ass’s tonight. I walked outside, my bucket swinging and I dropped the pig slop in the pig pen. They happily ate it, and I wondered if they knew they were eating their brother or not.
I slowly walked back to the house, arms wrapped tight across my chest under the donkey skin. I looked up at the stars, felt the cold night air bite my face and was so glad not to be Hojo’s wife right now. No matter how hard the journey was, no matter how much I wanted to tear Wakana’s and Satsuki’s lips off, no matter how hard or boring servant work was I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, expect here right now.
Inuyasha~
Inuyasha moaned and rubbed his head when Shippo started to beg again to go back and see Donkey. “Inuyasha! When can we go back and visit Donkey? I miss her!” Inuyasha growled and tried to finish writing his letter to his older brother Sesshomaru, King of the West.
“We just left her a week ago.”
“But I miss her!” Shippo whinnied.
“I heard you the first 39,574,030 times runt.” Inuyasha growled, but Shippo went on like he hadn’t said anything.
“Because I really miss her. Don’t you miss her?” Shippo asked. Inuyasha got a faraway look on his face and was shocked when he almost told Shippo yes.
He scowled and didn’t look up at Shippo. “Feh, of course I don’t miss that wench. Why would I? It’s not like I’m in love with her.” Shippo cocked his head to the side, something he saw Sesshomaru do once when dealing with stupid people.
“When did I ask you if you loved her?” Inuyasha growled at him and left the room, thinking if he could find something to distract him he could get Donkey out of his head.
Kagome~
I walked back in, glad to hear Kikyo had stopped hitting her pots and pans around so it should be safe for me now. Kikyo only glared at me when I walked in and pointed towards the dirty dishes she had used to cook dinner with. I washed them, dried them, and quietly crept pass Kikyo when she feel asleep on her stood and began to snore.
I walked down the servant’s quarters into the small, dark room I had been given and laid down on the thin futon, wrapping my cloak around me for extra warmth and fell into a dreamless sleep.
Inuyasha (Night)~
The woman under Inuyasha moaned as he pounded into her. When her moans and gasps started to get louder, he slipped out of her quickly to flip her over unto her back, watching her breasts jump when he gave a extra hard thrust. Her eyes had been closed tight, but when she opened them as she neared her orgasm Inuyasha felt himself go soft.
Donkey’s sapphire eyes stared into his instead of the woman’s plain brown ones. Shaken he jerked out of the woman and stood up, gasping. “My lord, what’s wrong?” She asked, hoping she would still get her orgasm.
“It’s nothing, something’s come up.” Inuyasha said vaguely and started to pull his clothes back on. He stopped when he heard the woman whimper softly and looked over at her, and realized she hadn’t reached her climax. He sat back down on the bed and grinned charmingly at her.
“Sorry.” he said and plunged his fingers roughly inside her, pumping her until she came. She laid panting on the bed and Inuyasha pulled the rest of his clothes on and left, knowing what he had to do.
Inuyasha (Morning)~
Inuyasha walked slowly into the great hall for breakfast and sat across from Shippo. He was silent for a few minutes and Shippo stared at him, his checks stuffed full of eggs. Finally he sighed.
“Do you want to go see Donkey this afternoon?” Shippo’s eyes widened and he flung his arms around Inuyasha’s neck and nodded his head violently. Inuyasha pried his hands lose. “Will you calm down? If you choke me to death you won’t see Donkey for a long time.” Inuyasha warned.
He shook his head when Shippo started to do a strange dance on the table and left, not wanting to know what was wrong with his brother. And Shippo stared at his turned back and grinned evilly as he started to plot how to get Inuyasha and Donkey married together.
Next Morning~
I walked beside the lamb I was leading to the pasture, and wished I had a better walking stick. The dumb animals kept wandering all over the place and it was hard to get them in the pen where they could eat their grass and stay in one place.
I mumbled curses under my breath when one of the damn animals stepped on my toe, not afraid of me at all even when I waved the stick around, and just looked at me like I was crazy. I glared back at them, “Stop staring at me you stupid animals!” I hissed under my breath.
Half a hour later I finally got them in the dumb pen and went out to a nearby lake. I looked at my face in the water, and shuddered when I saw how ugly the skin had become, and how dirty my face was. I don’t consider myself vain but when I saw my face...ew.
I looked around to make sure anyone wasn’t looking and pushed my hood down, and started to wash my face, thinking no one would see it anyway under my hood. After a few minutes my face was the pale cream it had always been and I was tempted to wash the donkey skin to. Instead I slid my donkey skin and simple kimono off, slipping into the lake and washed all the dirt and sweat off my body. When I was done, I climbed out of the lake and washed my kimono. I looked down at the donkey skin and it looked dirtier then it ever had before. I cursed under my breath and stomped my foot on the ground like a spoiled child, I don’t want to-
My thoughts stopped when one of the kimono’s Hojo had made for me was starting to come up from the ground. It was the kimono of the sky and I stared at it while it laid on the ground in front of me, waiting for me to put it on. Hesitatingly I stomped my foot again on the ground and watched as the kimono of sunlight pushed itself off up from the ground and sat next to the kimono of the sky. I stomped my other foot and instead of seeing the kimono of moonlight come up I saw the jewels that went with each kimono come up from the ground also.
I bit my lip and told myself not to put it on but I never said I had a lot of will power. I gently picked up the kimono of the sky and slid it on, and sighed as I felt the clean cool silk against my body. I picked up a jeweled comb and using that brushed my hair free of all it’s tangles and knots. Just for fun, I put the necklace around my neck that went with the kimono also. I stared at the other dress and jewels on the ground and wondered how to put them back. And then I wondered how I even had my kimono and jewels.
Well, Sango had tried to tell me something before she was sucked into that vortex thing, maybe how to get my kimono and jewels was it. Telling me how to put them back would have been nice to through. So I just stared at them and wondered if there was a way to unstomp your feet and watched as the kimono’s and jewels just sank back down into the ground. “Well that answers that.” I muttered to myself.
My head shot up when I heard voices coming from over the hill and I struggled to undo the kimono and put on the donkey skin again but the kimono wouldn’t have enough time to sink into the earth and the kimono’s ties were so big you would be able to see them if I wrapped the skin around me.
I looked frantically around, but the voices were getting closer so I just pushed the donkey skin under my kimono and sat on my plain kimono near the lake, hoping to appear just as a woman who was enjoying the day. I clasped my hands together and looked across the water’s surface, praying the people coming by would just go somewhere else and pass me by.
I felt my face turn red when I heard Inuyasha’s and Shippo’s voice auguring as they reached over the hill.
“Let’s ask that lady right there if she’s seen Donkey, please Inuyasha?”
“Fine, only because it will get you to shut up.” Inuyasha muttered and I felt something tap me on the shoulder. I turned around and stared into Shippo’s green eyes. His eyes widened and was about to say something when I put my finger over my mouth.
“Shippo! Please, don’t tell Inuyasha it’s me!” I begged him and noticed that Shippo must have run ahead of Inuyasha because he was still back on the hill.
“But Donkey...” He started to say.
“Shippo please, don’t tell him! Pretend you don’t know me, promise me you won’t say anything!” I demanded and saw he was started to weaken. “My life depends on it.” I said further, even through all the searches for my ‘killer’ had probably been over back at Hojo’s palace, but better safe then sorry.
Shippo nodded, his green eyes wide, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you Shippo.” I said quietly so Inuyasha wouldn’t hear us.
“Shippo! Did you ask her yet?” Inuyasha asked.
“Yes I did, you interrupted her!” Shippo accused Inuyasha.
“Whatever. Hey wench, you gonna turn around and face me or are you gonna hide your face?” Inuyasha asked rudely.
I gritted my teeth and snapped my head around to face him. “Excuse me? I was not hiding my face, why would I? I have no reason to hide it!” I taunted, daring him to insult me back. But his eyes were glued on my face, and he looked like he was about to start drooling.
I rolled my eyes and waved my hand in front of his face. “Hello? Are you going to rejoin the world of the living anytime soon?” I asked.
He blinked and scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. “Feh. Whatever wench. Did you see a girl wearing a donkey skin by any chance?”
I nodded. “Yes, I saw her toward the main house a few minutes ago, maybe you could try to catch up with her.” I suggested.
He looked at me and then Shippo. “What are you two hiding?” he asked and Shippo squirmed under his intense glare.
I raised a eyebrow, playing the haughty heiress role. “I’m not hiding anything. I answered your question, now go find your friend and leave me in peace.” I ordered and turned my back on them.
I heard a thump on the ground next to me and I saw Inuyasha so close he almost crawled into my lap. He started to sniff along my neck and I prayed he wouldn’t recognize my scent without the donkey smell, because I sure as hell couldn’t mask my scent with him this close.
“What are you doing?” I asked blushing when his nose slightly tickled the soft part of my chin.
“You smell like someone I knew.” he said and turned my head to look into my eyes. “Your eyes are so familiar to.” He said almost to himself and lightly stroked the skin under my eye. I felt it wasn’t even possible to get any redder.
He put his mouth close to my ear and asked, “What’s your name?” He pulled back and looked at me with his melting gold eyes.
“Kagome.” I said without even thinking.
He smiled slowly. “Well Kagome, I have to go catch up with my friend, I don’t suppose I’ll see you here later?”
I swallowed and nodded without thinking first. “Good, same time and place tomorrow.” He purred and walked away, scooping Shippo up on his back.
I stared after him for a minute, still in shock. I gasped and struggled to get out of my kimono and back into my donkey skin before Inuyasha could come back, because Donkey was not at the main house and he was going to be pissed at walking all the way back here.
I threw the kimono off finally, laid it on the ground and put the necklace down next to it. With a quick snap my plain kimono was free of any dirt that might have got on it and I put it on, throwing the donkey skin over me. I made sure the kimono was sinking back into the ground before I pulled the hood up and ran over to the sleep pen, knowing that would be where Inuyasha showed up.
I barely had time to make sure the hood covered most of my face and to calm myself down so it didn’t look like I was running before I heard Inuyasha grumbling loudly with Shippo coming towards me.
“Hey wench! Where the hell were you?” Inuyasha yelled at me when he got close enough. Shippo ran ahead of him and leapt into my arms, shouting over and over again, “Donkey, Donkey! I missed you so much!”
“Hey Shippo! I missed you to!” Quietly so Inuyasha wouldn’t hear us I whispered, “Thanks for not telling Inuyasha who I was Shippo.”
Shippo nodded at me solemnly and I didn’t get the chance to say anything else to him before Inuyasha got to us. “Hey wench, I through you were at the main house?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “You know I had to walk here, walk back and walk all the way here again when I didn’t see you there?” he scowled at me.
I scowled back. “Oh poor baby, did little doggy get tired of all that walking?”
“Shut it wench. I didn’t have to come here you know.”
“So then why are you gracing me with your presence oh almighty dog God?”
Inuyasha jerked his thumb in Shippo’s direction. “The runt wanted to see you again for some reason.”
“So you made Inuyasha take you all the way over here? That’s so sweet Shippo.” I cooed and hugged him again.
“Hey! He didn’t make me do anything! I did it because I wanted to come- um I mean-” Inuyasha started to stammer.
“Are you saying you wanted to come see me?” I asked, a evil smile spreading across my face.
“No! I mean, who would want to see you? Kikyo just makes really good soup.” Inuyasha defended. Out of politeness I didn’t tell him Kikyo had probably mixed her saliva in it.
“Oh, that’s all? Then why didn’t you let Shippo come over himself? After all, you got so tired just walking back here.” I mocked lightly. “You could be at the ranch eating as much of Kikyo’s soup as you could stuff in your mouth right now. Why bother coming here?”
“Well sorry for wanting to make sure my little brother got over here ok without him falling into a... a ditch or something.” I stared back at him (I don’t know why I do that since he can’t see my face in the hood’s shadows but whatever).
“Sheep graze here, do you think the owners are really going to risk one of them falling in a hole and breaking something?”
“Well um what if a demon tried to attack him?”
“This whole place is blocked with barriers to keep wild demons out. I doubt the owners want a demon to eat their animals.”
“I needed the exercise?”
“Wasn’t it you who said demons are so much powerful then us weak little humans? Why would you need exercise then?”
“...because I felt like it damn it! Why the hell are you interrogating me? I felt like walking with my little brother, alright? I barely ever get to spend a lot of time with him and though if we came here we could hang out a little. Is that a problem for you?”
“Ummm Inuyasha? Didn’t you just say that if I talked to you, you would kill me?” Shippo asked hesitatingly.
“That was only if we saw that hot bitch again. Any other time you can talk to me.” Inuyasha said, patting him on the head a little roughly.
“What?” I yelled, blushing a little that Inuyasha through I was hot, and wondering if I should feel that way. “It’s alright to want to spend time with him when he’s with me, but if you see this so called ‘hot bitch’ he has to stay away from you”? I asked angrily.
“Well if you didn’t cover yourself in that damn skin I might feel the same way about you.” Inuyasha shot back before he could stop himself. I gritted my teeth together and set Shippo down.
“You stupid...dog!” I shouted lamely. “I hope one of these stupid sheep step on your toe!” I said and spun around sharply.
“Hey wench, they can’t touch me if they’re in that pen!” Inuyasha taunted. I put a hand on the pen’s gate and slowly started to open it.
“Wanna bet?”
Inuyasha (Later)~
Inuyasha grumbled and complained under his breath as he and Shippo made their way back to the ranch. Those damn sheep had not only stepped on one toe but all ten of them. “Damn sheep, damn stupid wench.” He muttered under his breath and stepped through the ranch doors. He ignored the people who started bowing at his arrival and stalked towards the dining room, Shippo jogging to keep up with him.
“Inuyasha! Inuyasha! Will you slow down for a minute?” a high pitched and queer voice caused Inuyasha to groan and stop walking.
“What do you want now, Jaken?” Inuyasha growled at his brother’s short, green advisor.
The toad cleared his throat and tried to look important, “The Great Lord Sesshomaru has commanded you to attend the ball he will host here tomorrow night from eight pm, to two am.”
“What?” Inuyasha growled.
“The great lord-”
“I heard that part you stupid toad!” he snapped. “I don’t suppose the ‘Great Lord Sesshomaru’ will be coming?”
Jaken looked shocked. “Of course he won’t come! The Great and Wise Lord Sesshomaru has more important things to do then attend some silly ball.”
Inuyasha growled again. “Then why do I have to go?”
“Because the Great, Wise, Powerful Lord Sesshomaru commands you to.”
“That’s to fucking bad. I don’t want to go to some damn party that keeps me away from my bed and stand next to the ugliest and smelliest wenches around.” He growled.
“The Great, Wise, Powerful and Strong Sesshomaru says if you do not go he will get rid of all your Ramen, and not order any for six months.”
Inuyasha whimpered and hung his head.
Sango~
Sango was laying flat on her bare back, looking up at the blue sky, panting for breath while Miroku’s head was on her breasts and trailing a flower up and down her stomach. Kirara was keeping watch a few yards behind them, and making sure no one would come near them in their...defenseless state.
“Miroku, we really need to stop doing this out in the open, any demon could attack us right now and we wouldn’t be able to defend ourselves.”
Miroku brushed the flower a bit lower and Sango felt him smile. “We have nothing to worry about, Kirara’s keeping watch. And besides, I think we should do this as much as possible.” he said and lazily placed a kiss on the breast he was laying on. He rolled over to his side and propped his head on his hand, looking down at Sango solemnly. “Sango I want to talk to you about something.”
Sango swallowed and hoped he wasn’t about to tell her he wanted a long term relationship.
“Sango, I want this to be more then a one night, or two night stand.” Well at least he didn’t come out and say ‘long term relationship’.
She forced a smile on her face, “So how about a three night stand?”
Miroku sighed. “Sango I’m serious. Just let me talk.” he said when she opened her mouth to protest. He sat up and crossed his legs under him and because Sango didn’t want to be at a disadvantage she sat up across from him. “Why do you think I care so much about you?”
“Because I’m strong enough to handle rough sex?” Sango asked, half jokingly.
“That’s some of it, yes. You’re a battle hardened warrior, yet you’re so kind and warm at times I can’t help but think about what you would look like round with child. You’re as brave as the lioness protecting people you don’t even know and you’re even fiercer when it’s people you care about.” He smiled and reached over to brush some grass out of her hair. “And you’re more beautiful then Kami’s angels.”
Sango blushed and fought the urge to duck her head and tried to think of something to respond to that. “And I know the last thing you want is a man in your life right now but I just want a chance Sango. I promise I will never purposely hurt you and I won’t try to get anyone pregnant but you while we’re together. Somehow Sango I fell in love with and can’t seem to stop. Please, give me a chance to make you love me back unless you want me to spend the rest of my life alone and seeking one night stands.”
Sango scowled at him. “You would still sleep with other women even if you were in love with me?”
“Of course, I would miss you so much I would have to look for someone else. The only problem is that I don’t think anyone even comes close to you. Sango, I love you.”
Sango was speechless and stared at the grass for a few moments thinking deeply. “Miroku I don’t know what to say, you know how dangerous the life of a slayer is and it’s worst for a fairy slayer like me. It’s almost impossible for one of us to have a normal life with a spouse and children, no matter how much we try to make it work. It might just be better for to try and love someone else Miroku, because I won’t give up being a slayer for anyone, not even you.” Sango said, staring fiercely at him.
Miroku picked up her hand and twisted their fingers together and touched the side of her cheek with the other hand. “Sango, just give me a chance. Maybe I’ll find your to much to handle, or maybe you’ll fall in love with me. We’ll never know until we try. And do you really want to be alone the rest of your life without even having the chance to have a husband?”
Sango bit her lip and wondered if she could just get up and run away right now. The handcuffs flared up at her thoughts and Miroku shook his head at her sighed.
“Ah Sango, how is it you can face down evil demons that can flick you aside like a bug without even a fear, but when I’m done pouring my soul out to you on how I feel then you want to run away.” He muttered a few words under his breath and the chain started to drag Sango towards him. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck. “Promise me you’ll think about it at least.” he asked softly.
Sango hesitated but felt him grin when she nodded. She gasped when he flipped her over suddenly and laid her back against his lap and her head touching the grass, forcing her breasts to thrust out at him. He plucked another daisy out of the ground and grinned wickedly when she groaned as he teased her nipples with it.
“While you’re thinking I might as well have something to do to keep me occupied right?” his grin grew wider when he drew the daisy down over her stomach and just barely brushing it across her clit. “Or maybe I should say someone to do.”
Kagome (about sunset)~
I groaned when my overworked muscles cracked after I got the last of the animals fed and started to make my way back to the main house. Supposedly some prince or whatever was here and every servant here was needed to make sure his every need could be met without him lifting a single finger. I rolled my eyes at the through and hoped I had never been that lazy or spoiled when I was a princess.
I walked into the kitchen and luckily Kikyo, Satsuki, and Wakana were gathered around the kitchen table, gossiping with a young man. Kikyo used to go to other villages and get food that was rare here from him.
“So Sayo, what news is there from Hojo’s kingdom?” Wakana asked, fluttering her eyelashes at him.
“Oh yes Sayo, you must tell us what’s happening over there.” Satsuki pressed, holding his gaze a little longer then needed. The young man grinned and sat back in his seat, enjoying the attention.
I rolled my eyes and started to peel the apples Kikyo had left out for me, far away enough from the group they wouldn’t notice me unless I said something, but close enough I could hear everything that was being said.
“Well Hojo finally found himself a girl to marry.” I looked up a bit to see Kikyo’s face had turned red and she looked like she was keeping herself from hitting Sayo.
“Who’s the lucky girl?” Wakana asked as she got up to put a glass of tea at his elbow, making sure to press her breasts lightly against his arm.
“His daughter.”
Wakana’s and Satsuki’s eyes widened. “You mean...”
“Oh no! It’s not like that. She’s adopted.”
“Oh, well when’s the wedding date?” Wakana asked with little interest.
“There may not be one. Her bloody clothes were found in the woods.” I mentally sighed with relief. Good, at least he had found those.
“You mean she’s dead?” Kikyo asked, looking a little happy. Sayo leaned forward and looked at the women there intently.
“See, here’s the thing... no one knows. Only her clothes were found, but there was no body, just some blood and a trail, but there really wasn’t enough of it to actually say of she had died or not. Hojo had search party’s for days combing the woods to try and find her body or at least the animal who killed her but nothing was found. So he brought this really powerful miko in to see if she was really dead or not.”
By now I hadn’t even bothered to try and make it look like I was working since everyone else was paying attention to Sayo. I licked my dry lips and prayed to Kami the miko had told Hojo I was dead.
“So the miko did her thing and she came back and told Hojo his bride was still alive. Worse yet, she and another person set the whole thing up, and she left him willingly.” I felt my heart stop for a moment and prayed harder that Hojo had given up on me.
“So is he going to search for her?” Satsuki asked breathlessly.
Sayo looked to the side as if to make sure no one was listening and leaned even closer to them. “Well, what he publicly said is that he wants to find her and talk to her, and if she really doesn’t want to marry him he’ll let her go. But what I’ve heard is that he’s sending out these people out to find her, and there’s a reward for whoever finds her first. He says she cost him a lot of money so once he marries her and gets a heir or two, he’s going to kill her.”
I gasped and the knife slipped, cutting deeply into my palm. Kikyo spun around to glare at me. “You clumsy jackass! Get yourself over to the sink before you get any of your damn blood on the apples.” She shouted at me.
I nodded numbly and stumbled over to the sink. I found a few bandages and when I made sure no one was looking, cleaned my cut with a quick purification swipe over it. I walked back over to the apples I had to peel, barely feeling the throb my cut was making. I sat down and forced myself to peel and ignore the strange looks the rest of the group was sending towards me.
Finally Wakana broke the silence by snorting. “Well, good then, the rest of the world doesn’t need a little fool like her who would ran away from one of the most powerful kings in Japan. Who does she think she is anyway that she can turn down the attentions of a lord anyway? Did she have a more powerful suitor?”
“No one courted her, Hojo was her first one ever and no one challenged his claim to her.” I gritted my teeth but just kept on peeling apples.
“Has there been any signs of her?” Kikyo asked with a greedy gleam in her eye.
“Hojo thinks she might have gone South, one of the search parties found a piece of silk kimono hanging of a tree branch on a road heading that way.” Mentally I thanked Sango for thinking to do that before we had left.
“Enough about that baka, what about this prince who’s staying here?” Sayo asked. Wakana and Satsuki looked at each other before bursting out in giggles.
“Oh my Kami, you should see him he’s so handsome.” Wakana moaned.
“I know, those gold eyes make me feel like melting into a little puddle.” Satsuki said dreamily.
I almost cut myself again. Gold eyes?
“Oh what about that long silver hair? It’s so much prettier then my own.” Wakana said, running a hand through one of her short bangs.
Silver hair?
“You can’t forget about the cutest part of him Wakana!” Satsuki lightly scolded and they both looked at each other before squealing “His puppy ears!”
...Puppy ears?
Sayo rolled his eyes. “Prince Inuyasha is staying here then?” he asked annoyed that the girls attention had been taken of him.
Inuyasha? ...THAT FREAKING MORON LIED TO ME! Angrily I threw the knife at the wall, imaging his head was on it.
Sayo gasped and ducked before the knife could go through his head, and the knife buried itself hilt deep in the wall where it should have been his head.
“JACKASS! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?” Kikyo shouted at me, her hands clenching and unclenching. I stood in shock, trying to come up with something to say.
“Ummm, I saw a bee and I was worried it would string him.” I offered.
“WHAT? SO YOU THREW A KNIFE AT IT? THAT’S THE STUPIDEST THING I’VE EVER-”
“Well thank you!” Sayo said brightly. “If that bee had stung me I would be dead in under five minutes.”
“Well...your welcome.” I said weakly.
Kikyo glared at me and pulled the knife out of the wall examining it closely. “I don’t see any bee guts on here.” She said, the fat on her arms jigging as she waved the knife around.
“Oh calm down Kikyo, it’s probably lodged in the wall somewhere.” He said lightly and hopped off his chair. “Thanks again.” he said cheerfully and walked out the door.
Kikyo kept glaring at me when the door slammed shut behind him. “I don’t know what the hell’s a matter with you, but I’ll let it go this time.” she said and pointed a fat finger to her eye. “But know that I’ve got my eye on you.” she glared at me a bit longer before throwing the knife so it landed on the floor in front of me. “Now pick that up and get back to work! If those apples aren’t done in half an hour, I’ll make your ears turn black and blue.” she said and I lowered my head submissively.
I bent to pick up the knife and sat back down in front of the apples and she grunted and turned her attention back to Wakana and Satsuki.
“Hey Kikyo? Are you alright, you looked kinda upset earlier when Sayo was talking about Hojo.” Wakana asked, fake concern written all over her face.
Kikyo growled under her breath. “I just hate rich people, but I really hate Hojo’s father.”
Satsuki looked confused. “But isn’t he dead?”
“Of course he’s dead you moron, I knew him when he was alive. Stupid cheating worthless bastard.”
“What happened between you two?”
“He’s the scum who ruined me! I was the most beautiful girl in our village and I still remember the day he rode through, coming back from a hunting trip.” Her voice turned light and for the first time since I had came here she almost sounded happy. “Our eyes met and something passed between us, and I don’t know about him but I couldn’t stop thinking about him. A few days later he came back to take me to his palace and he promised me he was going to marry me.
“I was so happy, I had beautiful clothes to wear, rare jewels to display on my body, and the nights we spent together are some of my best memories.” she sighed wistfully but then started to scowl. “But after a few months some princess from the mainland showed up and I was sent back to the village, ruined, poor, I was even forced to come back in the clothes I had left in! I was shunned by my home until I finally left and found a job here instead. All because of that stupid bastard who wanted someone rich.” she hissed and spat on one of the apples I had peeled. She sighed wearily and stood up. “Go start setting the tables you two, I need to start cooking.”
Wakana and Satsuki obeyed and sent looks to each other behind Kikyo’s back that said they couldn’t wait to start spreading this around. They left and Kikyo passed me, giving me a halfhearted swipe across the head.
“Work faster.” she said gruffly and started cooking a boar over the fire, spitting on it every so often.
Later~
I screamed when two burly guards started to drag me towards a shrine, with two people waiting at the head of it. I tried to fight the guards off but I could even shake them lose. They walked me closer and closer and I started to drag when I saw a priest and Hojo standing there. He grinned at me and pressed a small kiss on my cheek.
“Hello wife.” he said and held up the bloody knife that had been used to kill the donkey, still dripping its blood, slowly down towards my neck.
I gasped and shot up in on my futon, my heart pounding and sweat covering my body.
Damn it, I hate nightmares. My head spun around to where the door was when I heard it slam open. “Donkey? Are you alright?” I gasped and threw the covers over my head so Inuyasha wouldn’t see my face since I didn’t have the donkey skin on me.
“Inuyasha.” I hissed. “What are you doing here?”
“I heard someone whimpering, and will you take that damn blanket off your head, it’s to dark to see anything.” he snapped.
“Do you think I’m stupid? You’re a demon, you can see in the dark better than most humans.” I snapped back.
He sighed and I heard the door shut. “Happy? It’s totally dark, and even demons can’t see a whole lot without a little light.”
I slowly started to pull the covers down. “Why are you still here anyway?” I asked, hoping he wasn’t lying and he really couldn’t see me. I heard him walk over and sat down close to me on the futon. “I just wanted to make sure you were alright.” He explained, and I waited for several moments from him to add on to that.
“Aren’t you going to add you wanted to make sure I was fine for Shippo’s sake?”
He chuckled softly. “Would you feel better if I did wench?” He reached out and I softly gasped when his clawed fingertips met my sweat covered face. “What happened? You’re sweating for some reason.” he asked and lightly stroked my skin. I swallowed, trying to ignore how good his fingers felt.
“I had a bad dream.”
“Poor baby.” he said and I got the feeling he was serious. His fingers moved lightly over my hair. “Wanna talk about it?”
I shook my head and his fingers moved back over my face. “I can’t feel a single scar or imperfection that would cause you to hide under a donkey’s hide. So why do you?” he asked and his fingers moved gently over my lips.
“I have my reasons.” I muttered and slowly reached up to where I hoped his ears were. I started to rub them and almost laughed when he started to purr. “Are you a cat or a dog demon?” I teased him.
He just mumbled something and dug his face against my neck, and drawing my scent deep into his lungs. “You smell so good without that damn skin.” he sniffed harder. “You kinda smell like-“ I rubbed harder on his ears and he stopped talking and started to moan. “Ohhh Donkey-“
The damn rooster woke me up, and I shot up straight in bed, one hand clutched the edge of my blanket and the other hand stroking my neck. I scowled and shoved the blankets aside to stand up and throw on my donkey skin. “Damn dreams.” I muttered and stalked out of my room.