InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ What to do about evil ❯ what to about evil 1 ( Prologue )

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

"What to do about evil . . . "

I do not own any of the characters in this story.

The group encounters evil men, but if these men are not after the jewel, what do they do with them?

My reading of Japanese history is showing through in this story.

Historical point of interest: Hojo was the family name for a very large family of samurai and daimyo's in feudal Japan. (At one point in time in the top five, if not, the one or two in power.)

'Thoughts'

Violence, rape, and evil things will happen in this story. If the following sentence offends, DO NOT read . . .

His free hand grabs his stomach, trying to hold in his intestines as they slide bloodily between his fingers.
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Chapter 1

"There he goes!"

"Get him! Sango!"

"Coming your way! Inu-yasha!"

"I got him!"

"Kagome! Move!"

Kagome manages to jump out of the way as the huge head of the snake demon Inu-yasha has cut into two pieces just misses her by only centimeters. She quickly reaches down and grabs the shard that was in the snake's forehead."I've got it!"

Inu-yasha leaps over, picks her up and quickly carries her away. "Inu-yasha! Why? It's dead!"

"Look! Idiot!" he points to the ground where the snake's poison is spreading. The almost ripe rice in the paddy is rotting before their eyes. Inu-yasha yells at Kagome. "You were almost standing in that crap!"

"How was I to know its poison was acid?!" Kagome screams back.

"Idiot! Look around!" Inu-yasha points to other rice paddies, many of which are full of dead and dying rice.

"I was busy! Trying to find this thing!" Kagome holds up the shard in front of Inu-yasha's eyes.

"Stupid wench! You always pay attention in combat!"

"Inu-Yasha! Kagome! The villagers!" Miroku shouts/hisses at them. He points with his staff at the assembled villagers, who are watching the fight between the two of them.

Kagome blushes, puts the shard behind her back and bows to the villagers, "I'm sorry."

Inu-yasha, glances at the villagers, "Feh," he growls out.

Kagome then looks at Inu-yasha, blushes, and whispers, "thank you for saving me from the acid, inu-yasha."

"Feh"

The entire group walks over to the nearby village and to the gathered villagers. In the background is a normal looking small village similar to many of the other villages the group has visited in the past.

As they approach them, the villagers, instead of the normal deep bow the group is used to receiving for stopping a demon, drop to their knees and bow from a sitting position.

"Please! That's not necessary! Get up!" Kagome calls out to them.

"Hell Yes! That's necessary! I saved their village! They should respect me!" Inu-yasha happily says.

"Inu-yasha. Sit, boy . . . "

Thump!

"Say a word, inu-yasha, any word . . . " Kagome growls out while staring at Inu-yasha, obviously threatening more sits.

"Feh" Inu-yasha defiantly spits out as he picks up his head and stares at her.

"Sit, boy!"

While this is going on, Miroku and Sango are talking to the villagers. "Please, all rise. This display of respect is far more than we humbly deserve" Miroku modestly says. "We are happy to have helped your village and . . . "
Sango interrupts, "It's not necessary."

The villagers get up and a man, who is about forty-five perhaps fifty years old, scared face, thin hair and who has a worn look about him, says, "I am the village chief. Thank you for destroying the demon. It had been attacking my village for the last few days and killed many of us. How may I help you?"

Miroku's eyes acquire a gleam. Sango, very accidently (she swears), steps on his foot and grinds in her heel. She looks at sky, the time by the sun's position is late afternoon very close to sunset, and she says, "If you could supply rooms for the night, a meal if possible, and perhaps some other supplies for travelers. That would be fine. We don't need anything special."

Miroku's expression shows that he is clearly disappointed.

The village chief is somewhat confused, he thought the monk was the leader, not the woman in armor with weapons. So he hesitates and then he says, "yes, mmm. I'll put you up in my house. My wife and daughter would be honored if." He is trying to find the right word, "If the Lord Monk and his party would like?"

"Lord Monk! Shit! Since when is he in fucking charge!" inu-yasha yells. He is finally distracted from the staring contest between him and Kagome.

"Sit, boy! Inu-yasha, do you enjoy eating dirt?" Kagome asks.

Inu-yasha stares at her, but otherwise doesn't say a word.

A short time later . . . almost sunset.

The group is at the village chief's house. It is bigger then Keade's hut. A main room, similar to Keade's, but it also has a couple of other rooms attached by covered walkways. One room is full of various supplies, but the other is quickly cleared out for the parties use.

The village chief's young, twelve or thirteen-year-old daughter, who is named Sakura, is excited by the girls in the group. In the short period of time it takes to get the meal ready, Kagome and Sango are bombarded with questions and they form an instant liking for the young girl.

Several village families have quickly put together a meal for the group. The village was about to eat. It was near sunset, and the villagers just created a pot luck type of meal. They are all about the start eating, when . . .

"Chief! Lord Hojo is coming! He and his samurai are coming from the castle!" they hear one of the villagers cry out.

"Lord Hojo?" the chief says in disbelief. He gets up and runs out to the door and rushes out.

"Lord Hojo?!?" various members of the group ask in various tones of voices.

Miroku quickly asks the village chief's wife, "Please Madam, could you explain this for myself and my fellow travelers?" the wife is about 30 years old, small in size with long black hair, but her eyes and appearance make her seem much older.

"Oh, when the snake demon first appeared, my husband sent somebody to Lord Hojo's castle to get help in killing the demon. You kind travelers showed up and defeated the demon before he could arrive."

"Ahh, remember we are new to this area so, could you please tell this poor monk, who this Lord Hojo is?"

"Lord Hojo is the daimyo of this area and this village pays taxes to him."

"So, as a good lord, he is helping his people." The woman looks at the ground and does not say a word. "Hmmm, if you could please, what is the tax rate that Lord Hojo charges for his protection?"

She quietly says, "six parts in ten . . . " (Authors' note five in 10 was normal for this time period. A 60% tax rate, would be considered a heavy tax)

"I see." Miroku bows to her. "I think I would be interested in meeting this Lord Hojo."

He goes to the door. Sango, Kirara and Shippo follow him. Inu-yasha and Kagome are already in the doorway.

Outside . . .

Two men on horseback wearing full samurai armor and about a dozen men on foot, they are wearing bits and pieces of armor and various weapons, are slowly approaching the village. One of the men, who is walking, has a pole with a square banner. A symbol with multiple triangle shapes is on the banner. The villagers are lined up alongside the trail leading into the village. As the men on horseback passes the villagers, the villagers go down to their knees and bow to him from that position.

"Now, I know where they learned that from." Inu-yasha harshly says.

"Inu-yasha, please correct me if I am wrong, but the heraldry on the banner would indicate an offshoot, a cousin perhaps, but not the main Hojo house." Miroku asks.

"Yeah. A distant cousin. This family has a tiny castle and about a half-dozen villages under its control. Wimps. I thought we were in that area."

"And the samurai approaching?"
"It's been fifty years, monk. The asshole in front looks like the bastard I remember. Probably a grandson or something."

"The other rider?"

"No idea." Inu-yasha growls. "The head of the Hojo clan might deserve the respect these idiots are showing, but these bastards are only a couple of steps above a common bandit."

Sakura, who has been hiding behind Sango, reaches pulls on Sango's armor. (Sango was planning on removing it after dinner.) "I know more" she quietly and hesitantly says.

Sango bends down and asks Sakura, "What can you tell us?"

Sakura, looks around, everybody is looking at her, she bites her lips, then in a soft voice says, "The one in front is Hojo Genan. He's the third son of Lord Hojo. He always comes by to gather taxes. My mother hates him. He always hurts her."

The group looks at each other, then glance at the samurai. They still have a few minutes before he reaches the hut. Kagome softly asks, "Anything more, Sakura?"

"The other is Kenji. He was a bandit chief. Then a couple of years ago he married into the Hojo family. My father once, when he was complaining about the taxes, said they needed money."

"So, this Kenji bought himself a respectable wife." Miroku states. Sakura nods.

"The bastards walking have that bandit look, so they're probably his men." Inu-yasha muses.

Hojo Genan and the others stop perhaps twenty meters in front of the village chief's house. The armor he has on prevents getting a good look at him, but the face and eyes remind Kagome of various hard-eyed gangsters she's seen on tv. The village chief is already laying on ground prostrated in front of Hojo. "Lord Hojo! Please forgive me for not having everything prepared for you!"

Hojo glances over the village 'normal peasants' is his quick thought. He then looks at the group. They are standing in small line in front of the chief's hut. He thinks, 'Hmmm, Who is . . . A Samurai in odd armor. No. That is not a samurai. That is a woman!' his eyes harden as he stares at Sango.

'A monk, I do not recognize the face or the clothes' as he looks at Miroku.

'A man with a sword, a samurai, perhaps. No. Those ears . . . a demon.' he glares hard at Inu-yasha, then looks back at Miroku. 'He must be more powerful than I thought to have a demon servant.'

He glances at Kagome, then as he notices her clothing, a smile appears on his face. 'A whore. The monk has good taste in women. But those clothes.'

'The whore's child, wonder if it's the monks. No, that's a tail. A kitsune!' he glances back at Miroku. "Very powerful indeed. Two demons under his control."

"I was told that there was a snake demon here." He coldly speaks. "Where is it?"

"Lord! The demon has been killed already!" the village chief points to the fields. The long body of the snake demon is visible. The damage to the nearby rice paddies is also visible in the fading light. "My guests killed it, lord." He says groveling, still laying on the ground.

"Guests . . . So they killed it with your approval?" the village chief hesitates. "Answer me, or your head is mine."

"Yes, Master." The village chief squeaks out.

"Then you are responsible for the damage to my father's fields."

"Lord Hojo! No! They did it!" he points to the group.

Inu-yasha positions himself a couple of meters in front of the group and places his hand on his sword.

"Bastard! You were glad we did it a few minutes ago!" he yells at the chief.

"Lord Monk, this is not your concern. Keep your demons under control." Hojo orders Miroku.

"I'm not! Under his control!" Inu-yasha screams and gathers himself to charge Hojo.

"Sit, boy!"

Thump!

"I'm sorry, but he gets excited very easily." Kagome tries to apologize.

Hojo, a surprised expression on his face, orders Miroku, "Keep your group under control, Monk." Then he looks down at the village chief. "Get up!" he orders.

As the village chief gets up, Hojo takes his foot out of the stirrups and kicks the man to the ground. "Idiot! My father will get all of his rice this year! That damage will come out of your share!" Hojo then jumps down off his horse. He goes to village chief and kicks him again. "Do you understand?!" he kicks again. "Answer me! Scum!"

"Yes Lord! Please Master! Have Mercy!" the chief whines out, blood dripping from his mouth. He then spits out a couple of broken teeth.
"Mercy! I come all the way out to this shit-hole of a village and for what! Do I get the glory of killing a demon? NO! I get to tell my father that, one, or perhaps two parts in ten of his rice are missing! Mercy! I'm being merciful for not taking your head right now!" he screams at the village chief.

"I'm not going to tell my father about the missing rice, because you will supply all the rice I require." He pulls out his sword and puts it against the village chief's neck. "Do you understand?! Answer me!"

"Yes Master! Yes Lord Hojo!"

Hojo looks at the villagers, and growls out, "Do you understand?"

They also fall to the ground and grovel as they yell, "Yes! Lord Hojo!"

While this is going on, the group is basically staring in shock. Kagome has tried to run out to stop this, but Sango has grabbed her and covered her mouth. She whispers to Kagome, "Anything we do will only make it worse, Kagome."

Miroku, with very disgusted look on his face, whispers, "Bastard . . . I need to exorcize (Miroku's euphemism for stealing) your castle down to the bare walls."

Inu-yasha moves to keep himself between Kagome and Hojo, his hand on the sword and growls coming out of his mouth.

Kagome finally gets Sango's fingers into her mouth and bites down causing Sango to let go. "Lord Hojo! That's not fair! We did it! Don't punish them!"

"Monk, I said to keep the whore quiet." Hojo glares at Kagome

"I am not a whore!" Kagome screams! "I am a Miko! Higurashi Kagome!"

Hojo looks at her again then turns to Miroku, "I do not recognize the name."

"She is from the village of Keade in Musashi."

"That's a long way from here. I didn't realize they dressed their miko's up like cheap whores."

"Don't ignore me!" Kagome yells. Hojo glares at her again.

"Very well. How are you going to pay for the damage? While my men would, I'm sure, like you for entertainment tonight, that's not to be enough."

Kagome goes white as she realizes that Hojo still thinks she is a whore and assumes she just volunteered to sleep with his men tonight. Sango is still holding Kagome, and she whispers to her, "See, that's why I tried to stop you."

"Let me go, Sango, please." Kagome whispers back to Sango. "I have an idea."

Sango, pauses, then she releases her, "I trust you, Kagome, but it better be a good idea." Kagome runs into the house.

"Lord Hojo, If may it please you, Please allow that this humble monk to speak with you. Perhaps I and my companions can work out something . . . " Miroku begins to speak but Kagome has reappeared dragging her huge backpack.

She opens it up and starts to go through it, throwing a bunch of various items onto the floor. "Found it!" she cries in triumph as she stands up. She has in her hand a small yellow tube. One end slightly larger than the other and it is about two hand-breaths long. "Here Lord Hojo, a magic item that is worth more then this entire village combined. I call it a flashlight." She then turns it on. Light appears from the larger end. In the deepening dusk the light is plain to see. The villagers in the background start to "oh, ahh," and whisper among themselves.

"See, light without fire." She puts her hand on the end showing the light and covers it. "See, no harm" as she shows the palm of her hand. She then turns it off and on several times. "You can control it with just a touch. Very easy to use."

"I'll give it to you, but I want you to forget about the damage that was done to the fields." She begs as she starts to approach Hojo.

Inu-yasha gets in front of her and stops her. "You're not going any closer until the bastard agrees."

Hojo stares at Kagome, then glances at the pile she made next to bag with a gleam in his eyes. He looks at the group again, tries to look at the snake demon, but the light is too faded to see any details. "Villagers! Some torches! NOW!" He orders. The villagers scramble to get some torches lit and placed out in front of the chief's house so everybody can see. He looks at his men, many of whom look tried and winded from the day's journey. 'Attacking now, would probably not be good. It would be better to get that bag tomorrow.' He thinks.

"Hmmm, Perhaps, hmmm, I can take it to my father and let him decide. Yes, that is the deal. Give it here." He barks out as he holds out his hand.

Kagome, hesitates, and she looks at the group for support. Sango shrugs and mouths, "it's better then nothing" Miroku gives a slight shrug and mouths, 'your choice'. Inu-yasha whispers, "You either give it to him, or we'll have to fight, right now."

She licks her lips, looks at the villagers, many of which have hopeful expressions, and thinks 'I don't want to fight, if I give this to him maybe we can keep talking and work something out without fighting.' And so she says, "fine. I agree. Inu-yasha would you give him it. Please."
"Um mm, the magic doesn't last forever. So, please, don't have it on all night, just when you need it." Kagome hurriedly explains as she thinks about what Hojo's reaction might be if the batteries run out.

Hojo, after testing it a couple of times, carefully puts the flashlight into his saddlebags, then turns and he glares at Sango. "Woman! It is illegal for women to wear swords. Give it to me." He orders.

Sango puts her hand on her sword. "I am sorry, but I am not giving it to you, Lord Hojo."

Hojo glares at Sango an angry expression on his face. He looks around, the hopeful expressions on the villagers faces seem to upset him. He looks at his men and points to one of them and orders, "you there. The sword is yours. Take it from her."

The man he pointed to comes forward. He probably has the least amount of armor and weapons of all the men. He just has on some ill-maintained leather armor on his chest, a small knife, a club and a long spear. He's in his early twenties with hard eyes.

"Woman, just give me the blade and I'll go easy on you." He says as he closes on Sango.

Inu-yasha grabs Kagome, making sure she doesn't interfere. Miroku, Shippo and Kirara stand next them.

"Don't do it, sir. I do not want to hurt you." Sango pleads with the man as she steps away from her friends.

"Get her!" "Wenches don't need swords!" "Hey, Bitch! My huge personal sword would love to be in your sheath, woman!" "That little thing. Mine is bigger!" the other men yell as they form a loose circle around the man and Sango.

The man sticks the point of his spear in Sango's face. "Give me the sword, woman." He orders.

"No. Just leave me alone and I will not hurt you." Sango stares at him.

Something in her stare gets through to him. He stops and pulls back the spear.

"He's a coward!" "Backing away from a woman!" "Hey, Lord Hojo, I'll do it!" the men yell. When he hears the jeers from the other men, he thinks, 'I can't back away from a woman. I'm not a coward', so he reseats his feet and repositions the spear in Sango's face.

"I will not ask again, woman!" he yells and then lunges forward trying to hit Sango. Sango quickly ducks under the spear, grabs the spear and jerks it out of his grasp. While he is looking at his hands, trying to figure out how a woman got so fast and so strong, she brings the butt of the spear down hard against his head. The spear breaks from the force used and the man slumps to the ground unconscious. Sango tosses the broken spear away and looks without expression at Hojo.

"..." the yells from the men stop and they look at Hojo. His face purples from his anger and he yells out, "Wake that weakling!" some water is thrown on the unconscious man's face and he wakes up and starts to stand.

"Weakling! Beaten by a woman!" Hojo yells at him. Hojo pulls his sword and attacks the man's neck trying to cut off the head. "If you're that weak you don't deserve to live!" he yells as he attacks. Hojo does not do a clean job and it takes a couple of swipes before the head is cut off. He turns to Kenji and says, "you're training methods need to be improved."

"Yes, Lord Hojo! I did not realize he was that weak, or I would have killed him myself."

As this is happening Inu-yasha has Kagome in a full body hug as Kagome starts to cry into his chest. Miroku is covering Shippo's eyes and whispering, "you shouldn't see this" Sango turns away grimacing, she tried . . .

Lord Hojo grunts thinking, 'Tomorrow, I will get that bag and kill that perverted woman. The men are tried and it's too late to do it today.'

He then turns to the village chief, ignoring the group. "Now! I require rooms for myself and my men. Your house will barely do for me, find space for the others. Food, now! And my men will need some female company tonight. I want them to prove to me that they are strong men, not weaklings!" he says as he spits on the body of the man he just killed. "Now!"

"Yes! Lord Hojo! Right away!" the chief whines as he runs away to do his masters bidding.

Hojo calls over his men to the dead body and lectures them saying, "Those who gang rape are better off because they have virility. They are closer to normal." (Authors' note see the end of story note for where I got this quote) "So, tonight, prove to me that you are men!"

After a minute or two, Kagome goes over to her bag to put everything back in, the rest of the group surrounding her. Sango whispers, "I thought you did not want anybody else to have any of your future devices."

Kagome whispers back, "I thought this was important enough."

Inu-yasha while looking at Hojo as he talks with Kenji about the future training of his men, says, "you know, Kagome, he's not going to show his father that thing. And he'll still want the full rice amount" Kagome stiffens and she glares at inu-yasha. "What benefit does he gain by giving that to his father?"


"At least I'm trying to fix things, Inu-yasha! We could have driven that snake demon off and not hurt the fields, so this is our responsibly!" Kagome yells at Inu-yasha and starts warming up for a fight with him.

The chief's wife comes up, interrupting the fight, and says, "I'm sorry, but somebody else in the village will put you up for the night. Lord Hojo . . . "

"We understand, madam. We'll wait by the edge of the village until things get settled." Miroku says as he looks to group. They nod. The party leaves the house still a state of borderline shock. This feeling gets worse as they walk through the village.

Lord Hojo's men are going through the village and getting the best of the cooked food for them and their boss. They are not asking. They are just taking. "Thank You" in a female voice is heard from one house as the group passes. Kagome breaks down into more tears, thinking, 'they are thanking the thieves as they steal. How oppressed they must be'

Then the group sees, a young woman leaving her house with the village chief beside her. "You've got to entertain them. If you don't, they'll burn down the village, I'm sure." He says to her. "Yes, I know. It's my turn . . . I'll do it." She says with resignation in her voice.

Kagome stops for a minute, then numbly continues. 'This is so common place that the village women have scheduled when they have to sleep with the . . . ' she thinks.

When they get to the edge of the village, "Do we stay or go?" Sango asks.

Kagome turns and looks at Sango, with surprise on her face and in her voice. "Sango! How could you?! We can't leave them!"

"Lady Kagome," Miroku starts, but he notices Sakura approaching. Her head is down and the excited girl from earlier is gone, the girl is walking toward the group shows her very obvious her depression.

Kagome bends down so she can look Sakura in the eye, and she asks, "What's wrong, Sakura?"

"My mother told me to take you a house you can use for the night." She says dispiritedly, looking at the ground.

"Why the long face, then?" Kagome asks softly.

"I, I . . . just let me take you to the house." Sakura softly whispers, still looking at the ground. She begins to walk toward the section of the village the snake demon had attacked earlier, before the party arrived. They group looks at each, shrugs, and then they follow her.

After a short walk, she stops at a hut. The hut is damaged, but still liveable. The major damage is a big hole in one wall. The hole is covered by a blanket. The group enters the hut. "The family that lived here didn't survive the demon. The demon was very small, until it ate them, then it grew to the huge size you fought. My mother told me that somebody will bring you something in a little while, probably just rice and maybe something else, but with the samurai here . . . I'm sorry." She says as she shows the group inside of the house.

She starts to leave, but Kagome grabs her arm and stops her. "Sakura, please tell me what's wrong? Is it because your father was hurt?"

Sakura finally looks at Kagome in the eyes and says, "No. It's not my father getting hurt, but it is my father's fault." She stops, gulps, and continues, "L.. Lord Hojo wants me to sleep with him tonight." She stops there because Kagome has started to hug her, very tightly.

"And your father won't stop him?" Miroku asks/states. Sakura nods her head.

"Stay here or, or we can take you into the forest and guard you." Kagome starts to offer, but Sakura starts to violently shake her head.

"No. I have to go back. If I don't, he'll hurt my mom even worse then he normally does." She says with tears in her eyes.

"He normally has her sleep with him." Miroku states. Sakura nods again.

"If we don't give him what he wants . . . "

Sango interrupts, saying harshly, "He'll start hurting people in the village." Sakura nods.

Kagome looks at the others, "What do we do?"

Miroku raises an eyebrow, "We either let him do as he wishes, or attack him. And that means killing him."

"Must we kill him?" Kagome asks quietly.

"Lady Kagome, let us assume we do something similar to what Sango did earlier and just knock him out. Once we leave, and we have to leave to get the shards and we have to get Naraku, what will stop him from coming back and hurting this child and this village."

Kagome puts her hands in her face and tears start welling up in her eyes. Miroku continues in a cold tone of voice. "And, even worse, Lady Kagome, we would have humiliated him in front of these villagers. As long as these villagers live, they will remember that. A person like this, this, I cannot find a term that is low enough for him . . . he will not accept that. He would return and remove any memories of his humiliation." Kagome looks at him. "And, yes, I mean he would kill the villagers, instead of just robbing and raping them."

"Wrong, Monk." Inu-yasha interrupts. "Killing all the villagers is wasteful. He needs them to grow rice. He'll just take a family member, probably a kid, from each family and then torture and kill the kids in front of the village." Inu-yasha says in an ice-cold tone of voice. "My father did that once to a village that insulted my mother." Kagome shudders and puts her head in her hands again. Sakura takes advantage of the group's discussion to silently leave.

"What do we do about this . . . these . . . " Kagome starts but cannot finish. She looks at Sango with that question in her eyes.

Sango grimaces and looks away, "My father always told me not to get messed up with things like this. To avoid situations like this. Once we," she licks her lips, "We were in something similar to this and as soon as possible he and I left as quickly as we could."

Kagome looks at Miroku. "You wish my opinion? Sighs, attacking him would be enjoyable, but if we do, we must attack and kill him." Kagome shudders. "Even that has horrible consequences, his father would find out what happened and since we've not around to punish, he could and probably would, take out his anger on this village."

"Why? The villagers didn't do anything?"

"He would want revenge and he would not want to show any weakness. With us not being here and the villagers are here and defenseless, punishing the villagers would be most likely."

Kagome grimaces and she hesitantly says, "is there anyway else, like capturing them and holding them in jail like we do in the future."

"Hold them in jail." a pause, the he continues, "Lady Kagome, who would watch them? We can't drag a dozen prisoners around with us. The villagers are going to need everyone in the fields to harvest the rice to recover from this demon attack. So they cannot do it, and even if they would, all Hojo's father would have to do is to send a few samurai and they would release the prisoners."

"Bring them to the daimyo?"

Inu-yasha answers this time in a cold tone of voice, "You mean the father of the man who just killed that soldier and will be raping that young girl tonight?" Kagome goes white, she forgot about that. "He would probably reward his son for eliminating a weakling and say that the village chief's family should be honored that his son considers the girl worthy of the attention."

"Bring them to another daimyo or perhaps Keade?" Kagome quietly asks, trying to find something that might work.

"Why would another daimyo care about what happened in this village? Another Daimyo who would release them once Hojo's father ransoms them or comes to some sort of military treaty with the other daimyo. As far as Keade goes, do you think she would be happy if we left a dozen men for her to hold and watch. Who would watch them and where would the food needed to feed them come from, Lady Kagome? Not to mention, Lady Kagome, how long would they be watched and who would decide that?"

"..." Kagome doesn't say a thing.

"As much as I would love to kill this lord Hojo, and I think he deserves it at least as much as the snake demon we killed earlier, killing him would cause more problems than letting him do as he wishes tonight." Kagome looks at Miroku who is speaking. "And, Lady Kagome, if you think I'm happy about this, you are wrong." Miroku says in very stern tone of voice. " I would dearly love to take his sword, stick the hilt in the ground and force him to sit down on the point. But . . . I will forgo my personal pleasure, since it would cause these innocent villagers more trouble."

Kagome looks desperately at Inu-yasha, hoping. "Do look at me like that, bitch. They're just doing what comes naturally. Men, strong men, take what they want. If that is food, room, or sex, it doesn't matter. The strong make the rules and the weak obey. That is the only law that works." Inu-yasha harshly says. Kagome's head dips and she stares at the floor.

"The weaklings in this village deserve what is happening to them. There are plenty of adult men in this village. More than enough to kill the bastards, especially when they're drunk and asleep, like they will be soon. It's easy to slice a man's throat when they're asleep." He smiles, obviously remembering something pleasing.

"Can we organize them? Help them stop the samurai?"

"Lady Kagome" Miroku starts but . . .

"I'll handle this, monk." Inu-yasha interrupts. "Teach them to fight? Huh. Stupid idea. They're farmers, not warriors. It takes months, years of training to handle weapons right. Farmers need to be in the field all day, every day. If they are not, then they starve."

"We could . . . "

"What we could stay and protect them? Even stupider idea. Once we leave, and due to your mistake with the jewel and the fight with Naraku, we have to leave. The samurai will come back and do it all over again."

Inu-yasha goes over to Kagome, gently grabs her chin and lifts it so she has to look at him. "But, I would waste months here, while Naraku does who knows what type of horrors and he is more powerful than any punk samurai, IF I knew that you would be here all the time." Kagome's eyes widen. "Yes, The main reason helping these wimps won't work is you have to leave all the fucking time. IF you can stay on this side of the well for months on end, then maybe we could do something . . . " he wishes softly.

Sango hand appears and covers Kagome's Mouth. "Don't answer him, Kagome. We can't stay here that long, he knows it, and he will hold you on this side of the well if you say you can stay that long."
"Bitch! Let her answer me!" Inu-yasha yells into Sango face. A murderous expression is on his face. He releases Kagome's chin while doing this.

"I will not allow you to trick her into staying on this side of the well that long!" Sango yells back.

Inu-yasha lifts his clawed hands into an attack position. Sango's hand goes to her sword, releasing Kagome's mouth. "I'm not half-dead like I was the first time, Inu-yasha. And I've got a lot of frustration to take out." She growls out as her hand whitens due to the tightness of her grip on the hilt.

"Nor would she be fighting alone, Inu-yasha." Miroku states.

Inu-yasha glances over at the monk. The monk is standing with his staff held ready for combat in one hand. In his other hand is an ofuda. When he glances at the scroll, it hurts Inu-yasha's eyes. "What the fuck is that?"

"This?" Miroku holds up the scroll. "Something special for Naraku, but it'll work just fine on you."


Kagome goes white while this is going on. She suddenly gets up and goes to the doorway, looks at the group and says, "I've got to think . . . " and she leaves the hut.

Sango starts to go after her, but Miroku grabs her arm. "I think she needs to be alone, Sango."

Sango grimaces, than looks at Kirara. "Protect her, Kirara." Kirara goes out the hut.

Inu-yasha also leaves the hut without a word, but with his hand on his sword hilt.

"What do you think?" Sango asks as she stares out the door.

"Think? Lady Kagome is a mystery. She wants, desperately, to help these people, but she doesn't know how. Unfortunately, neither do I. What she will decide . . . the gods might know, but for me to guess . . . I've done more foolish things." Miroku says as he starts to rub Sango's arm where he had been holding it.

"Remove your hand, monk, or lose it. I'm not in the mood tonight to deal with your impulses." Sango says. Miroku jerks his hand back. His never heard that much menace in Sango's voice before.

"You are very tense, Sango, a massage . . . "

"Will not be done by you, monk . . . "

"..."
"Monk, while you and Inu-yasha were arguing with Kagome, I was thinking." Sango coldly looks at Miroku and continues, "and you might be the right person to see if this dirty and underhanded plan I was thinking about might work."

"Tell me more"

Outside . . .

Kagome has only gone to the edge of the village. She finds a pile of cut wood and sits down on it. She is staring across the rice paddies. The nearly full moon is shining out of the clear sky.

"What to do . . . " she whispers. Then she feels Kirara brush up against her. "Kirara . . . Thank you. I could use some company." She says as she picks Kirara up and holds the demon cat against her chest. She starts to pet Kirara's head and upper back.

'What to do . . . ' she starts to think but her miko senses tingle. She looks around and spots Inu-yasha in one of the trees about twenty meters away. He is staring at her. She blushes and concentrates to petting Kirara for a few minutes. 'They do care about me. Kirara and Inu-yasha for protection." She shakes her head and continues to think, "And in the hut, Sango and Miroku . . . even against Inu-yasha . . . '

A woman's scream comes floating in the night sky. Kagome shudders. 'I need that protection tonight.' She thinks.

'What to do. I must do something to help, but . . . Miroku and Inu-yasha's arguments. What to do.'

She grimaces, 'knocking them unconscious would stop tonight, but not tomorrow or any time after that. Is stopping them only for tonight good enough?' she thinks.

"Jail." She whispers. She pulls out the shards hanging from around her neck. "While this is going on, we can't stay in any place." She closes her fist around the shards.

'Killing them,' she thinks, she shudders, 'Can I even think about killing people in cold blood. Is robbing and raping people a bad enough crime that they deserve death?' Tears start to fall from her eyes.

"Running away and not doing a thing . . . " she mumbles . . .

"Even if Inu-yasha thinks it's a bad idea . . . can I stay on this side of the well long enough to organize them . . . " she thinks.

"How can I look at myself in the mirror tomorrow?" she whispers into Kirara's back as she wipes her tears away.

the end chapter 1

What will be Kagome's decision?

1. Do nothing and leave

2. Knock them unconscious and stop tonight

3. Jail them somewhere

4. kill them

5. Stay and organize a peasant revolt.

I'm interested in your thoughts, dear readers.

While I have a good idea about Kagome's decision, my thoughts are still changeable. Sango's plan, while interesting and it will take care of Hojo, will not change the fact that Kagome will have to make a decision. A very hard decision. And the dialog of the group in the next chapter will depend upon Kagome's decision . . .

It will probably be a week or more before I post ch two. I want to see what the reader's reaction is . . . Once I know that, I'll work on ch 2.

Since the beginning fight with the snake demon is probably unclear. A general account of the events leading up to the start of the fic may be needed: The group, following Kagome's senses in tracking the shard, arrived at the village. They arrived at the same time the demon was attacking. The group started attacking the snake demon before they did any talking to the villagers. The fight wasn't a challenge.

While waiting to see what the reactions are to this fic, I will probably release a couple of spamfics.