InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Snare ❯ Capter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter 9

“And it was in the time following the destruction of the homunculus, Naraku, that it became clear that the foul hanyou, Nishigawa Inuyasha, was at the true bottom of all the destruction as he cleaved to man; taking a shrine maiden to wife. In the days following, he taught men to attack isolated and weakened daemons and kill them, eating their flesh besides along with many other abominations. Thus many of the best families were brought low.”

“Shut-up.”

Jukuryo carefully laid the paper down and adjusted his glasses. “That is what the record says, Sesshoumaru-Sama, and this is the oldest one I could find, dating a mere three months after the demise of Naraku.”

“I don’t believe it, it is all a pack of lies from beginning to end.”

“Do you dispute the age of the paper?”

Sesshoumaru frowned down at the ancient document as it lay upon an acid-free paper sheet on his desk He couldn’t dispute its provenance, he could smell the centuries upon it, “I deny its truth, not its age.” He looked around his study in frustration, his eyes lingering on the ‘Tang dynasty horse standing on his book shelves, the companion of which now stood again in his brother’s daemon house. “It’s not true, it can’t be.”

Jukuryo rubbed his nose between clawed thumb and forefinger, “Where is Inuyasha now, if I might ask?”

“Back in time in the Sengoku Jidai, you know that.”

“So, what if I do?‘

Sesshoumaru flashed golden eyes at him and tightened his lips before opening his mouth to emit a deafeningly loud shout, “Jaken!”

Jukuryo winced slightly but showed no other reaction. At nearly six centuries, old in his power, he was beyond being overwhelmed by such theatrics. The door from the living room behind him opened and he glanced over to see one who was not at all immune to the inuyoukai lord’s voice. Jaken stood there, in the shape of the toad imp that he was, holding a pair of slacks in his arms and swathed in a now over-sized white shirt. His eyes were round and glassy and Jukuryo could not help but feel a trace of pity for the insignificant fellow; this was sure to be hard on him.

“Come in, close the door, drop the pants and stand by the desk.”

Silently, Jaken followed orders and stood by his lord’s knee, waiting.

“Jaken, why did you attempt to kill my brother last month?”

“I-Inuyasha? My lord?”

Sesshoumaru gazed at him silently.

“I, I was having trouble with the staff of two heads, it was taking over my head.”

“But, why spy on the Higurashi Shrine without informing me? Without any orders from me to lay in wait for him much less an order to kill him?”

The toad began to sweat.

Sesshoumaru spoke again, the cool tone of his voice very nearly erasing the heat of his words. “It comes to my mind that there must have been some underlying reason, whether the staff had taken over your puny little brain or not.”

Jaken dropped onto his knees and burst into tears, “I did not know you had made peace with him my lord!” he sobbed. He paused for an instant, eyes covered, opening an eye after a moment to observe the impassive face of his patron. He was encouraged by the silence to venture further, “And, after the subway incident in which Rin was injured and you would not speak to me and I was still trapped in the form of a human I…I…”

Sesshoumaru drew back a bit and frowned and even Jukuryo drew his brows together. The little toad daemon was really making a spectacle of himself.

“I started frequenting youkai clubs, Sesshoumaru-Sama!”

The room was silent for a beat. Jukuryo spoke, “So? Ungrateful servant?”

Jaken turned to him almost thankfully, “It was companionship of a sort, you see? But some evenings the conversation would turn to the great devastation and I became curious. So I listened. The tales were about your brother, Sama.” Here he turned his head towards Sesshoumaru and relaxed a bit on the floor, “They said Inuyasha had destroyed all the old families in a fit of evil. I could not allow him to live after hearing that.”

“Naraku caused all that!” Sesshoumaru said sharply. “You were there.”

“I do not understand how it came about myself, Sama. I am only a poor old fool after all. But I could not allow them to drag your noble name in the dirt and they were starting to mention the clan Nishigawa. I could not let them do that. It seemed best to do away with Inuyasha so they would not make connections.”

“So, you watched for my brother, planning to kill him and did not inform me. Splendid.”

Jaken hung his head.

“Your attempt failed, as it was sure to do.”

Jaken subsided face first to the floor.

Sesshoumaru sat silent, his chin on his fist, and wished for a cup of tea in a yellow-walled kitchen and no more worries than that of a silly girl who had gotten herself expelled from school by marrying his brother, Inuyasha. Rin wouldn’t be so stupid and Higurashi-San would be soothing. He frowned. His businesses could be jeopardized by this and the shrine he had taken under his protection was in danger from these idiots…suddenly, his hand smacked down upon his desk, “I need you to watch the shrine again, Jaken.”

“My lord?”

“I need to speak to Inuyasha. As soon as he next comes through the well. Get out, return when he returns.”

Jaken scuttled out of the study backwards, without rising, past Rin’s slender ankles. She had been crouched near the door, listening all the while, the senseless babble from the television was running on in the far reaches of the apartment’s cavernous living room behind her to cover any noise. She now watched with interest as Jaken hurried to the front hall with its large pantry closet. The door to the study swung partially closed to Jaken’s hooked fingers and Rin weighed her options for a moment and opted for following Jaken as the more interesting party.

So it was that she was standing in the dimly-lit foyer, facing the pantry when he flung the door back open again in human form and dressed in a dark suit. “Eep!” he stumbled back, clutching the large, gun-like object to his chest.

“Jaken,” Rin said gently, the voices in the study rumbled on, uninterrupted by her soft tones. “Where are you taking that tranquilizer gun?”

“Tranquilizer gun? Do you mean this?’” He shifted the thing nervously in his hands. The glass cartridge visible in the open chamber of the gun sloshed.

“Yes, that. The thing that appears to have elephant-grade darts loaded in it.”

“I’m using it for it’s excellent spotting scope.”

She frowned, “The fairies don’t give gifts to those who lie.”

Jaken blinked his froggy eyes at her, caught up for a moment in their old children’s game, “What gifts? More flowers?”

“Crickets. Are you going to shoot Inuyasha with that?”

“Yes, No! Cut that out.” He moved to start fitting a carrying bag, padded out in the shape of an instrument case, over the gun.

“Right.” Rin sat down on the step and started pulling on her boots. They were surprisingly sensible boots under all the black snakeskin and pink leather insets.

“What are you doing, you stupid girl?”

“I’m coming with you.”

Jaken swung the gun down by his side, almost ready to call Sesshoumaru before he remembered the incriminating item that he was holding. He lifted his hand a bit and looked at the large bore rifle with a faint sense of surprise. Why had he picked that up? It wasn’t as if he could claim to be much of a marksman, but he sure did like the heft of the gun. He finished stuffing the gun in the bag and zipped the sides up, completing the illusion of a stringed instrument in a case.

Satisfied that the case was on properly he stepped briskly to the apartment door, Rin was right beside him. He sighed and stopped, “Rin…”

“Shall I tell Sesshoumaru-Sama what you are removing from his apartment or how much your gambling debts are and what you used to pay for them?”

“Rin.”

“You are right, that would be crass of me. Perhaps I should just mention whose silk socks you are wearing.”

Jaken stopped and goggled at her, dismayed, and then glanced down at his feet in guilt. Rin took the opportunity to step past him and open the apartment door herself.

“Perhaps I should merely inform him that I do not have any friends in Yokohama and that you ran up all those overage charges on the cell phone yourself.”

Affronted, he followed her out of the apartment to the elevators, “I never did! It was you who ran up those charges, calling that psychic! And Sesshoumaru doesn’t care about the phone bill at all.” With a melodious ‘ding’ the elevator doors slid open, they stepped in. Jaken continued heatedly as they descended to the lobby, “What do you need a psychic for, anyway? You don’t believe in them do you?”

Rin led the way out, past the concierge desk and onto the street, “Maybe they are the next best thing to seeing a psychiatrist. I’ve been through a great deal, you know.”

“A psychiatrist? In the name of all the kami, why?” He had to scurry to keep up, the instrument case banging painfully at his shins.

Rin fished deftly in her pocket and brought out a pre-paid rail pass, swiped it and stepped through the turn style to wait courteously on the other side as Jaken fumbled for his. He finally had to pass the instrument case over the fence to her for her to hold as he could not seem to get the proper angle to make the card swipe work.

After a couple of failed attempts and a triumphant, ”Ah” he got the card to operate and passed through the gate to board the Nambuka Line. They found a seat on the train as the hour was getting a bit late and Jaken continued his questions earnestly, “Surely, you could just speak to someone.”

Rin nibbled at a thumbnail thoughtfully, “Well, I really feel I need to have my thoughts and feelings validated. Not so much to have a conversation or a discussion of give and take, but to work things out on my own and have someone support me wholeheartedly. I need to tell my whole story without any reserve.”

Jaken’s voice took on a careful tone, ”Rin, any psychiatrist would lock you up if you told your true story.”

“Yes, I agree. Telephone psychics, however, are very skilled at the game of the verbal stroke. After talking to you a couple of times and having their fees paid without complaint they are willing to listen to you and tell you what a wonderful person you are and how bright your future is without any hesitation at all. It’s very consoling. You should try it.”

“But it’s all a trick!” he fumed.

“Of course, it is. My head knows that but my emotions buy it outright. It must be like a man visiting a prostitute, believing, at least for the moment, when she praises him for being such a great lover.”

“It’s no such thing! Now, I insist you stay here at home and stop acting so recklessly, you stupid girl!” At this point the train rounded a corner rather sharply and Jaken had to lean against Rin to brace himself. He looked about at the partially filled carriage and back to a slowly smiling Rin.

“They may not be very truthful Jaken-San, but I find their methods very effective. It’s an interesting study, don’t you think?” The train dipped at this point into the underground, the girl’s laugh caught up in the rushing wheels.

~*~

It was during the morning‘s travel that Kagome saw it. Her excited pats to Inuyasha‘s shoulder drew his attention and he slowed his pace to look. Over the tops of the trees of the hill next to the one they were on loomed the partially gilded face of a giant bronze Buddha. Kagome was excited, “That’s it! That’s what I wanted to see. The Daibutsu is still famous in my time. We could eat lunch there couldn’t we?”

Inuyasha shrugged in response, He still was rather quiet this morning, stewing on the fact that there were men that were eating youkai.

With a faint jingle of his staff Miroku stepped up even with them, “You have heard of the Daibutsu, Kagome-Sama? Remarkable, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it would be wonderful to take a break there.”

“Err, no, I doubt that.”

“Why, what do you mean? It’s a great tourist destination where I come from and it’s so much newer-looking. I can even see the gilt on its cheeks from here.”

Miroku blinked a bit, “Well, there was a temple there once, quite a nice one. But it was destroyed in an earthquake almost one hundred years ago. No one has rebuilt a new one and the place has developed an evil reputation as the haunt of beggars and thieves.”

“Oh?” Inuyasha showed a faint spark of interest, “Where are they?”

“Huh?”

“Where are they, Bouzu? I smell no smoke from cooking fires and normally, I’d be smelling unwashed human too. All I smell is the sea and the trees even with the breeze blowing in in this direction.”

“That’s right, we’re near the coast,” Kagome chimed in. “Can we see it from here?”

Inuyasha pointed out a patch of deeper blue to her, just visible between the hills and urged Kagome onto his back. Even as Sango was stepping up, shielding her eyes from the morning light, they set off, leaving everyone else behind. Sango stood next to Miroku, Kirara on her shoulder, and followed the pair’s headlong bounds towards the patchily burnished head of the great bronze Buddha.

She spoke with some surprise, “They’re going there?”

Miroku turned his head and smiled at her, “Apparently, it’s a great spot to eat lunch.”

~*~

Sango and Miroku had opted for continuing down the path on foot while Kohaku, with Shippou clinging to his shoulder straps took a more direct route down the slope to finally end up in a skidding run when the bottom of the slope proved to be unexpectedly steep. In a few forced hops Kohaku cleared a line of fallen scree and leaped the narrow brook that wound its way at the bottom. Shippou leaped off and skittered ahead, allowing himself of using both hands and feet heading up the next hill.

Shippou’s tail bushed out as he sprang along ahead, letting his palms feel the textures of fallen leaves and twigs with the faintly moist kiss of dirt in between. He never let himself do that in front of Kagome, not if he could help it, it was too undignified. But Kohaku wouldn’t care, having developed a catch-as-catch can attitude to life that was a relief to the heart-sore kitsune.

Casting all such concerns aside he scooted to the verge of the animal track he was following as Kohaku surged up past him, breaths coming deeply and evenly in a precise rhythm he had learned as a very young child under the stern tutelage of his father. Shippou sped up, gathering his haunches and sprang to land neatly on the boy’s strong shoulders to ride part of the way up.

Kohaku was heading into a growth spurt. He had been rounding slowly out for weeks in the easy life at the village and his clothes were looking a little worn, the chest closure no longer quite covering the areas between the frogs. Soon, the suit would no longer fit.

Kohaku took a leap over a log in his path and landed badly, his forward foot striking something that rolled out from under his heel and sent him down with a grunt and a flurry of kicked-up leaves. Shippou leaped clear with a startled yip and tumbled into a pile of stiff, curved branches that snapped as he struck against them.

Shippou shook his head and hopped back upright, suddenly enveloped in a smell which made him unknowingly lift his lip. He reached to yank at one of the slender branches from its resting place inside of one of the armholes of his fur kataginu and stared at it. It was kind of brown and gray and stank of human.

“Shippou?” Kohaku’s voice sounded a bit tense. Shippou tossed the human rib bone aside and found Kohaku balancing a human skull on his fingers. The young taijiya stood partly delineated by sunlight as he contemplated the stinking thing. His companion held his breath as his fingers tightened about the jawless skull. Kohaku moved as if he were about to throw it. A tense moment, and it was gone, “This just never stops does it?”

It was with a sigh of relief that Shippou watched his young friend place the scull carefully to the side of the path and gathered up the rest of the skeleton in double handfuls to place it on the same side of the path in an orderly arrangement. They quickly covered the bones with moss plucked from the ground and a few rocks for protection and sprinted up the path.

~*~

The party all met again at noon.

Inuyasha and Kagome had spent their time in exploration of the temple precinct and busying them selves with re-establishing a fire pit to use. Inuyasha cursed roundly when he saw the condition of the remaining court. It had obviously been the residence of a generation or two of squatters since the old temple blew down and was not rebuilt and he irritably gathered great armfuls of detritus to cast into a conveniently nearby ravine rather than hear one word about the thrice kami-damned mess.

Kagome, for her part, fashioned a broom made of twigs and swept the old, cracked, pavement clear and enjoyed the distant roar of the surf, even if it did make it a little chilly. She swept her way to the black opening in the foundation beneath the Buddha but did not venture inside as it smelled off.

Instead she settled for a spot just to the lee of the statue and paced across the tiles to where rank weeds were growing up into a huge bundle attached to an over hanging tree. She used a stick and pushed around a bit and then smiled a little sadly. Lady Inada’s cenotaph was still there, hidden in the kudzu vines and Kagome could not help but be caught by the difference between her time and this. After all, in her time the cenotaph glowed in the sun and only seemed a little worn. Here, five hundred years in the past, it seemed lost in antiquity.

“Oy!” Inuyasha’s voice called out irritably, “Can we get some food going? The others are coming.”

Kagome dropped her stick and let the weeds back where they had been, there were other things to do.

~*~

“Well, Kagome, this is all very nice, and there are no bandits, but we should be going, Sango said as she polished off a really excellent bit of fish cake.

Miroku dropped his horn spoon into his bowl, and looked about himself. “That is odd. I was told to stay away from here; the place was definitely a haunt of bandits after they came to prey on the poor mendicants, may Buddha bless their souls, who were left here after the third temple collapse.”

“Well, that shows what you know.” Inuyasha said easily. “There’s youkai around, I can tell that and I don’t see any bandits, and I don’t smell any ‘Holy Beggars.’”

“Inuyasha,”

Inuyasha concentrated on slurping the last of his noodles. Shippou spoke reluctantly. “There are some skeletons in the woods…Kohaku tripped over one of the skulls in the woods.”

Kohaku sat up, “No less than you sat in a ribcage and ended up with bones through your vest!” and flicked a bit of fish at Shippou.

Shippou picked straight up on this and flicked an acorn at Kohaku which was caught in midair by Inuyasha’s hand, which would have been fine if that had been the only consequence. Kagome had just dropped her bowl of miso soup down from her face when the trailing tail of Inuyasha’s sleeve caught it and sent it down her front.

Kagome gave an irritated squeal as she found herself sopped in cold miso and felt her saturated shirt sag against her stomach with it’s assorted sea food ingredients.

Inuyasha promptly reached over to pick up a shrimp off of her belly with his claws, “Inuuyaashaa…”

Inuyasha flicked his eyes up at her under his bangs “My, I’m “frightened,”” and reached for a ring of sliced fish cake.

“GEROFF!” And she swiped him upside the head with the damp towel she had beside her to clean the utensils off. “I’m going and changing!” with that she jumped up and grabbed for her spare clothes, and the spare water bottle and marched off in blind bravery down the steps and underneath the dark area of the Buddha to change in peace.

It was surprisingly bare in there, the walls were lined in blocks that none of the assorted dwellers had ever succeeded in breaking. It was a relief from the sea wind that had been blowing across the headland they were on all afternoon and Kagome wondered why she hadn’t ventured in before. There was no garbage or anything disturbing to be seen, and she could see surprisingly well in the darkness of the interior of the statue; straight up to the purest bronze gleams of its neck where the black hollow of its head rested above. She knew that at least in her time there was a ladder that was provided by the tourist board for those who paid and were fit to climb up and sit in the head of the Buddha.

She tried not to think about it and concentrated on stripping off her shirt and bra and dousing herself with the water from her bottle.

“Brr! Nasty! This stuff is so gross on you! Geh!”

Her voice was both deadened and reversed upon itself within the chamber that she was in and Kagome stopped herself biting her lower lip. But she was still covered in stuff, and as she looked down she saw another broad yellow streak of miso straight down the side of her skirt.

“You know what? I’m going to whip Inuyasha with a rattail for this! Disgusting! My poor clothes! Why do they *always* get ruined here?!”

There was a slightly grinding sound and dust sifted down from above, landing on her newly wet skin. She looked up. “Is there someone there?”

A bloated red face looked down, lights catching in it’s myriad eyes. “Hallo, lovely…”

____------____

TBC!!