Title: Kagome, Kagome
Genre: Romance (Fantasy/Sci-Fi) and an attempt at Humor
Pairing: Kagome X Bankotsu with slight implications at Kagome X Sesshomaru and Kagome X Kouga and even Kagome X Miroku
Rating: T or M, depending on how far I want the chapters to go
Summary: Alternate Universe "What we call little things are merely the causes of great things; they are the beginning, the embryo, and it is the point of departure which, generally speaking, decides the whole future of an existence. One single black speck may be the beginning of a gangrene, of a storm, of a revolution." –Henri-Frederic Amiel
A/N: I don't care much for the Super Bowl (don't ruin my dream mellow by asking me, "Why not? How can you not like football?" I don't want to end up pissing you off, so don't ask.), so while my love interest was watching the game, I pulled out my "Fan Fiction Only" Journal and started writing. I came up with quite a few decent storylines, but I felt particularly connected to this one and another one for Vampire Knight, so I decided to spend a few weeks perfecting a relatively well-thought (ish) storyline for the 2. This is the end product, so I hope you like its ambiguity and strangeness!
Also, please forgive me if the characters seem very dark or OC. And please don't tell me how out of sync the time frame is; I know that certain characters aren't even alive yet at this time period in the series—seeing as it is set 40 years after Naraku first forms and 10 years before Kagome was suppose to have fallen down the well—but just pretend that they are. Since it is in an alternate setting and such, it'll just be easier if you just try to stick with what I'm trying to create, but, by all means, if that bothers you too much, then you can go read something else for all I could care. I'll bother you at the end of the chapter!
On with the disclaimer!
Disclaimer: InuYasha, InuYasha everywhere, but not a chapter to own…Tis sad beyond belief…
Chapter: 1; Diehard
-
The life of an assassin, of a mercenary, is a life filled with sins of the flesh. Assassins are greedy, lustful, vain, ill-tempered, gluttonous, jealousy prone monsters of darkness. We live on fear; we strive on death; we dine on misery.
This had become apparent back when I had first joined the ranks of the Shichinin-tai.
"Mercenaries do not fear death. We do not question where we shall go when we die because there is only one place that we can go, if you believe in such thing." Jakotsu had told me back then.
"So, we drink in as much sin as we can. We live as much as we can stomach and treat every day like it will be our last because, eventually, we will be right."
I had scuffed at such a concept back then.
Yet, now, after so many years of hardened training and brutal experience, after being faced with the certainty of death, the truth of his words seem scarily accurate. Death is something that simply doesn't scare me anymore and to watch the people I kill cower in fear of what will happen once it is all over almost makes me want to laugh (if only it weren't so pathetic).
That is probably the reason why love seems like such a crazy concept to me. How can you possibly love any sort of creature that tends to cower in fear of every shadow and dark force that floats past them?
In my mind, women were only good for fucking and then killing; no woman had yet proven brave enough to demand my attention and respect, and men weren't a part of my particular interest. The way I always saw it, I was bound to be alone forever and that was okay with me because, quite bluntly, being alone was far more attractive than being with a useless wench. Besides, I'm not the monogamist, family man type.
-
I stared blankly at a point in the distance, beyond the crowd of villagers that had come to see the beheading of the once great leader of the Shichinin-tai no Sharyou. My mind went blank, blocking out the annoying sounds of the chattering taking place near me. Some place off to my right, however, I could still faintly hear the sound of my executioner's voice naming off my most recent victims and the general crimes I had committed in my short career as a mercenary.
I felt myself smirk darkly.
It was odd how calm I felt with my neck bent the way it was, beckoning the final blow. I wasn't afraid; I was beyond that, obviously, and I wasn't regretful. I was simply serene, the definition of collected.
The whispered swoosh of my executioner's sharpened sword penetrated my thoughts and awaked my sleeping senses. I closed my eyes, waiting in tranquil silence for the ending strike; I knew when I was beyond hope and defeated.
My ears caught a faint rustling in the distance and then absolute silence; the beheading apparently was being stalled. I looked up quickly to track the disturbance. Instead, my eyes came in contact with another set of eyes at my level. They were a deep shade of purple.
I backed away in confusion.
"And you are the damned Bankotsu, I presume?" the man in front of me asked, a smile present in his eyes.
"Depends on who's asking…"
The man in front of me stood from his spot and moved to the side, allowing me to take a glance at the silent crowd.
There was a single woman dressed almost like a ninja, standing in front of the on-seers with a giant boomerang poised in her hand. Her back faced me while her boomerang was held in front of her, promising to injure anyone who dared to cross the invisible line she had created. The villagers looked at her with a mixture of shock and fear.
I turned to look to my side at my executioner. He stood stock still, his sword down in mid-swing. A woman—apparently demon—stood beside him, her hand outstretched toward his neck. Where her hand touched the skin a single sliver of blood ran down, creating a sluggish trail of red across his collarbone. Her piercing green eyes bore into me, not looking directly at me, but acknowledging my presence none-the-less.
It seemed that only after my observations the sounds around me came back in full force.
The crowd yelled angrily as one of the generals that had directed my death and the previous deaths of my brothers burst forth from a spot beyond them, cursing and yelling like hell was hot on his heels.
"Who dares to disturb my execution?" He yelled, pushing bystanders out of the way and coming into full view. The woman with the boomerang stopped him in his tracks, however.
I heard the voice of the violet-eyed man answer from behind me.
"Mirkou of the Higurashi Shrine and his comrades." He answered calmly. I could still here the faintest detection of a Cheshire-like grin in his voice.
"'We've come to take your condemned murderer."
Silence fell across the crowd once again like an air-borne illness; even I was a bit surprised (and believe me, it takes quite a bit to surprise me).
The general spoke once again.
"On what grounds?"
The answer this time came from the demoness restraining the executioner.
"On the order given to us by our mistress."
The general seethed, "Your mistress? What would she want with a mercenary?"
The ninja woman decided to take her turn at answering the general's intrigue.
"We haven't the slightest clue," She laughed, "And, if this is like anything else that our Lady does, then she doesn't have the slightest clue either."
The general sneered at the woman detaining him.
"Then I refuse to let you have him!" he stated quite bluntly.
At his statement, there was a gust of wind and a small tornado appeared. The villagers scattered and the general himself fell onto his rump at the sight of impending doom, but the three individuals that had been forced to save me held their ground. The tornado dissipated after only a few moments and in its place stood a wolf demon. His back faced me as he stepped in front the general, lifting him off the ground by the collar of his haori. He held him dangerously close to his face, a firm look of displeasure plastered on his features. His voice was low and angry, but clear enough to hear.
"We cannot deny our Lady what she wishes," he bit out. The general looked almost like he was about to die of a heat stroke, "If she wants a poor fated killer for no reason what so ever, we cannot deny her. And I, personally, will not let you refuse her either."
The general began to nod enthusiastically.
"Hai, hai! Don't let me stop you! Take him if you wish!"
The wolf demon dropped him quite violently at his approval and turned to face me. Ice blue eyes—so similar and yet so different from my own—stared back at me intently before breaking contact. He moved swiftly to stand behind me, aggressively yanking me up by the ropes restraining my hands. Only once I was safely on my two feet and on my way out of the village (not without being intensely stared down by every man, woman, and child in the vicinity) did his other three comrades begin to move.
We travelled a long distance in a short amount of time, heading over all sorts of terrain. My hands stayed tied behind my back the entire journey (based on the order given by the wolf demon), except for when it was necessary for me to eat.
Almost instantly I noticed that my saviors were particularly mismatched. The presumed Buddhist monk was an obvious lecher who seemed no better than myself, yet the ninja woman (actually, she was a taijia, but I still thought that she was secretly a ninja) was easily swayed by the words of the perverse monk. The wolf demoness was ridiculously in love with the male wolf, yet the wolf demon displayed absolutely no interest in her, only in making their Lady-lord happy.
It seemed to me that this strange partnership was only tied together by one common denominator; they all only wanted to fulfill the wishes of their mistress.
On the third day, the day in which we came into contact with the town just below the shrine that was our destination, I felt myself grow anxious. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of woman could possibly obtain the respect of both demons and particularly strong humans alike. I imagined her as a strong female demon that lived in a large estate, but was sorely disappointed when the shrine came into view.
It looked no different than any other shrine that I had destroyed.
There were priests, priestesses, monks, and even demons walking amongst the confines of the decent sized shrine grounds. Everything was peaceful and happy; I could feel myself getting nauseous.
The monk (Miraru…or was it Miroku?) took hold of my tied hands and led me away from the others that we had travelled with. He dragged me along an intricate maze of corridors and miniature gardens before stopping at a particular door. He turned to me with absurd speed and looked me dead in the eye, his expression serious for the first time I had witness since he and his companions saved me.
"I am all too familiar with the ways of sinners," he began, "so I know what I am saying when I tell you to watch your tongue. You are about to meet the woman that ordered to save you, so show her respect. She may seem fragile—she is—but she has a notoriously short temper and is known to become very violent when tested."
I began rethinking my theory of what this woman-creature was really like; she definitely sounded like she was a demon, but, then again, what sort of demon was "fragile?" What did he even mean by that?
He slid open the doors with the type of caution only expected from trying to avoid stepping on an ant. He led me in and then sat me down in a corner close to the door before sliding it closed once again. I hadn't been expecting the room to become as dark as it had (seeing as it was only mid-day), but there was still enough light present for me to make out a basic shape in the darkness. In the middle of the fair sized room, there appeared to be a lump of fabric lying on the floor. It only took me a quick moment to register the fact that it was moving.
I sat up as straight as I possibly could.
The monk moved toward the lump and then knelt beside it, placing a hand gingerly on it.
"Milady…" He whispered.
There was a rustle of fabric and than a small mewl of surprise. I held my breath at the sound; it was absolutely erotic.
"Miro…ku...?" She muttered sleepily.
There was more rustling of fabric as a small hand reached up and grabbed the monk's robes. He moved downward, getting in the line of my view of the Lady-lord that had ordered my survival. My ears detected the slightest sound of the moist contact of skin pressing against skin; I felt myself grimace at the realization that this woman had kissed the lecher.
The monk Miroku moved back into a kneeling position before gently grabbing her hand and helping her to sit. My eyes tried to adjust to the poor lighting to get a better look at the woman, but to no avail. I saw the woman flick her free wrist ever so gingerly causing the room to illuminate almost instantly. I blinked at the sudden onslaught of light.
"I'm very pleased that you could join us, Bankotsu." She muttered quietly, almost like she was nervous.
I looked up then, my eyes finally clear and focused. I felt my breath hitch.
She wasn't what I had been expecting (and not in the bad way).
She sat there, rubbing her eyes (obviously still a bit tired) like some sort of innocent infant, yet she didn't look anything like a small child. She had one of the most gorgeous faces I had ever seen; her skin was a luscious tone of cream making her look almost luminescent in the firelight. Her eyes were an amazing hue of metallic blue, like a dark, midnight sky lit unwillingly by the most vicious of thunder storms. She had the most perfect looking lips I'd ever set eyes on; they were ever so slightly red-tinted in color and looked like they would be absolutely kissable (for a quick moment, I was very jealous of this Miroku fellow). Her head was topped with messy looking strands of glossy, ink-black hair that fell in perfect waves down her back and across her shoulders making her look more like a seductress than someone who had just rolled out of bed. I couldn't really see her body under the multiple layers of clothing she was wearing, but what was exposed from the slightly limp articles of her kimono proved to be promising.
She rolled out of the monk's embrace and lifted herself up off the ground, making her way towards me. When she came within arm's reach she fell to her knees in front of my erect form, before reaching her hands out and gently cradling my jaw with her thin fingers.
I involuntarily flinched at the contact.
"Don't worry," she said quietly, "I won't hurt you. I probably couldn't even if I tried."
She tinkled out a small, humorless laugh at her silent joke, returned to my face once she was done, and began to stroke my cheeks with the padding of her doll-like thumbs. Her eyes scanned my face deeply, scrutinizing my every feature and boring into my person. I gulped uncomfortably, but silently none-the-less; I wasn't use to being so nervous and uncomfortable in front of women who were obviously weaker than me. Yet, there was something about her that screamed "DANGER!" at an unnaturally high volume…
"Who…what…are you?" I finally asked.
There was the slightest edge of hostility in my voice.
She laughed again before propping herself up slightly on her knees and gently laying a kiss on my amethyst, cross-shaped tattoo. I closed my eyes unknowingly at the action, crooning my neck to try and deepen the meaningless kiss and taking in a deep gulp of air in an attempt to taste her. She eased away slowly, her breath still brushing against the smooth skin of my forehead.
"I am your Lord. I am your Savior. I am Kagome. Don't forget that."
-
It was the screaming that originally woke me from my deep slumber. The sound of a blood curdling, shriek.
It was a sound that I knew so well.
At one point my being strived to produce that sound—hell, to some extent my body still yearned to hear the sound of absolute terror and agony—but this sound was so heart wrenchingly wretched, that even I couldn't tolerate it. It seemed to reverberate all throughout the walls of my cubicle type space and bounce off my eardrums, producing a mild headache. I lifted my hands, first placing them over my ears to deafen the sound; instead, my hands seemed only to intensify the screams of pain. My digits slowly worked over my temples before finally reaching my eyes and then resting on my forehead.
Who was making such a sound?
I almost felt pity for them.
The sound of scurrying feet permeated the still night air as the ear-piercing sound of pain intensified in frequency and length. I pulled the thin fabric of my blanket up to cover my head in an attempt to go back to sleep.
It was no use.
After what felt like hours, the screaming stopped, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief before finding a comfortable position to sleep in; this shrine seemed awfully unusual.
-
She looked like a goddess.
A pure, innocent goddess.
Her hands were pressed together in a prayer type fashion, her head was bowed in respect, and her eyes were shut tight. The priestess garbs, although very average looking, made her look almost iridescent in the thin rays of the morning sun that peeked through the windows as they sagged and sighed against her lithe frame and the wooden floor she knelt upon. Her long, silky midnight locks were tied back in a way that was custom for the average priestess. Her lips moved almost invisibly as she chanted the daily prayer.
I strained my ears to listen.
"—Shishikisha Chichi to Ko to Seirei ni eikō are. Kaishū Hajime ni ari, ima ari, yoyo kagiri naku aru nari. Amen.—"
The words came out in a tumble and I found that, despite my sharp hearing, I was having a hard time keeping up. Everyone else in the Prayer-designated hall seemed to be having no problem keeping in pace with her "Amen's" and for the first time in a long time I felt ridiculously incompetent.
After letting out a long sigh and mumbling out a final "Amen," I was yanked up to my feet by the wolf demon. I found it ironic that he still didn't trust me enough after a week to untie my hands unless I was in my cell. Yet, I couldn't blame him; in all truth and honesty, the moment my hands were free and my Banryuu was within range, I was planning on destroying this sickeningly happy place for good.
He was smart to be cautious.
He led me out of the room, behind the quickly depleting congregation of people, most likely to take me back to my dungeon-esque chamber when he abruptly stopped. I looked around, expecting there to be people in the way of our escape, but was only slightly surprised to see that the wolf and myself were almost the only ones left in the open-air corridor.
ALMOST the only ones.
At the other end of the long expanse of support beams, stained wood, and rice paper screen doors, there stood another male demon. His aura screamed power and I felt myself grimace at the feel of it pulsating through me and the fact that I hadn't immediately sensed it; I seemed to be losing my touch. His hair was long and silver, falling far past his waist in bone straight tendrils. His eyes were a piercing shade of golden honey that seemed devoid of any emotion except superiority. He stood completely erect at the far end of the corridor, his pristine white hakamas, haori, and bushy tail (I imagine) making him seem even lengthier and paler than he probably was naturally.
After a moment, he made his way towards us.
The wolf demon fell to his knees instantaneously, pulling me down with him by my bound hands. He bowed his head deeply, motioning for me to do the same. I blatantly refused; curiosity had always been a bad habit of mine.
The demon stopped directly in front of us and directed his icy gaze at me. Instinctually, I realized my inferiority and bowed my head quickly, focusing only on the sound of movement.
"Lord Sesshomaru..." the wolf stated calmly.
I could feel the anger under his skin; there was something about this particular demon lord that he didn't like.
"Why are you here, milord?"
This Lord Sesshomaru seemed to scoff at the question with little interest.
"That doesn't seem to be any of your concern, is it Kouga?"
I could hear the cracking of the wolf's fingers as he balled them up maliciously. He wanted to lash out at this higher up demon, but knew that he couldn't because of "Demon Code." His self-control was actually quite impressive.
The demon lord's voice rang out once again.
"Where is she?"
"She should still be in the Prayer Hall; she just finished giving the daily, Morning Prayer…"
I heard the slightest swoosh and decided that the demon, Sesshomaru, must have nodded at the wolf, deciding not to dignify him with an answer. I caught a glimpse of silver flutter past my head and looked up from the corner of my eye; this demon was actually quite intimidating so up close (if that was even possible). After he had departed and disappeared behind the door down the hall that we had just exited, I decided to ask some questions, even if the wolf didn't like me.
"Who was he and why is he here?"
The wolf yanked me up quite viciously, obviously still peeved about the dog's surprise appearance.
"That mutt is the Lord of the Western Lands…"he muttered almost inaudibly, "He only comes here for one of two things: to see the Princess or to see the princess' heir."
I stopped in mid-stride and only continued walking once again after the enraged wolf tugged on my restraints. I hadn't known that the woman Lord of this place was a princess. And she had an HEIR? How was that even possible? Having an heir implied having birthed a child that could continue the bloodline, yet, in the week that I had been there, I hadn't seen the head of a single kid (let's not mention the fact that was probably because I wasn't allowed out of my cell except to go to the morning prayer, eat, or use the bathroom). And if she had indeed conceived a child, than she couldn't possibly be a priestess…
I sighed at the inconsistencies of this odd world that I had been forced into. The moment I had the chance, I would smother this dimension into smithereens…
-
He slipped.
That silly, mangy wolf had actually slipped. The surprise visit of the Western Taiyoukai had actually thrown his thoughts off so much that he had simply forgotten to check to see if my prison was locked.
He would pay dearly for his mistake.
I smiled as my eyes caught sight of the shimmering surface of my beloved companion, Banryuu, positioned against the far wall of the room I was currently in. It looked freshly cleaned and polished; I would allow a swift death for the princess as a means of thanks. Peeking my head out into the corridor, I scanned through the darkness to check for movement.
No one was awake; it was far too late for anyone to be awake at this time of night.
I stealthily made my way through the maze that was the shrine grounds, quickly looking for the room that I knew housed the princess when she slept. It didn't take me long to find it, thanks to my impeccable memory. When I reared upon the room, I immediately stilled; the faintest ray of light splattered across the wooden panels in front of the door. The Demon Lord that I had seen that morning was standing outside of the room, his golden eyes searing straight through me.
Apparently, he knew I would be coming.
He crouched down, taking a stance similar to that of a crouching tiger readying itself to strike. A low, rumbling snarl ripped from his barely moving lips, causing my own chest to reverberate from down the hallway. He reminded me more of a great, stalky wolf protecting its young than of the refined, cold and collected Demon Lord that I had seen earlier today.
I lifted my giant sword, ready to strike when necessary.
He made to lunge at me, but stopped almost instantly before even moving a foot. Two small, fragile looking hands encircled his chest from behind, seemingly coming from nowhere. A little mop of messy looking black hair peeked almost inconspicuously from over his shoulder.
The princess seemed to be restraining his movements.
"Don't…" she whispered, her cheek flush against the back of his shoulder.
"Kagome…" he muttered back.
His voice, although still a deep, monotonous baritone, held the slightest pinch of emotion; worry, reluctance, devotion. I took this distraction as an opening (even though it was completely against me to kill a man who wasn't trying to defend himself; it was the only way I would be able to defeat this demon and flee) and came after them, but stopped dead in my tracks as her small hands rose from his covered torso to face me, palms raised upward in a "stop" type motion.
I stared at her hands in confusion for a quick moment before looking up to her face. I still couldn't really see her features, but I did catch a glimpse of her eyes. They shimmered and looked translucent in the moonlight, the same way a dog's eyes looked when the light hit them just right. The shock of silver that was always so recessive in her eyes suddenly dominated her irises, causing me to shiver lightly.
"I would advise it wise for you to cease your actions, Mercenary." Sesshomaru voiced, his words even, but his eyes twinkling with a knowing smirk.
I stared at him hard for a moment, not completely comprehending; he didn't really think that a weak, woman-child like the one behind him was capable of stopping me, did he? I scoffed at his words and advanced despite his words of caution.
The room corridor began to swirl violently the closer I got to them; they were no longer coherent entities, they were more like blurred silhouettes. I blinked my eyes wearily, trying to break whatever was going on with my eyes, but found that it only threw me off balance even more. Dropping my Banryuu with a clatter, I fell to my knees, trying to focus on the figures before me; they were so close…I could probably just reach out and…
I felt my body hit the floor before everything smeared to black.
-
End Chapter 1
Word Count: 4,341 (including the setting breaks)
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A/N: Oh! What's this? Is Kagome packing or is it just Bankotsu's imagination getting the better of him!
Sorry this chapter kind of sucked (it's really difficult trying to break such a serious case of Writer's Block like I have). I really do not like this story so far, but, then again, I never really like the stuff I write. This is more like a story formatted Drabble than anything else; I'm not even sure if it has a real plot at this point (even though I've been working on the main plot for a while). I think this is just going to turn out to be a bunch of jumbled thoughts thrown together.
That's how it always turns out.
Anyway, let's drop my negativity and move onto the chapter preview for Chapter 2: Possession:
Being a mercenary, you learn to not fear for your life because you know that, at some point down the line, you will lose it. Yet, I had never feared for my life as much as I had the moment Sesshomaru threatened to take it.
See the button?
Press it.
Come on!
PRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS IIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTT!
It'll make me update faster (winkage)…