So I didnt want to write a thousand chapters for my Sesshomaru fic Kagome Kagome to clog up my Document Manager until they'd be posted and I seriously hate twiddling my thumbs. My Death Note fic still isn't even close to being ready to post, so guess what? I'm attempting to write a fic for my all-time favourite InuYasha character.
Usually I don't write fics for my favourite characters. I'm always too scared that because I love them so much, I'll only show the wonderful side of them and make them so painfully OOC that theyre unrecognisable. Im seriously hoping I dont do this, but I'll only know if I give it a go, so here we go!
This isn't one of my more serious fics. I'll be updating irregularly, the chapters likely wont be as long or as detailed as other fics, unless I get a sudden burst of determination. I'm writing this fic for a bit of fun, and for something to do when I'm not feeling my other fics.
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha
Perfidious
Scroll One
Sunrise came with it what seemed like a thousand chores for a bleary-eyed young woman. In her ear, a dog barked.
Hoso groaned and buried herself as far under the haori laid out atop her naked body as she could. Gradually the weak sunlight filtering through her clenched-closed eyelids was rousing her from her must-wanted sleep. Each day she had this argument with herself - wanting deperately to sleep, but knowing that she had a stack of chores to get through.
Another sharp bark and a playful growl sounded in her ear before the haori was torn from her body. The cool mountain air caressed her body, coaxing violent gooseflesh from her tanned skin. "Tadao! I should skin ye alive and use ye to keep me warm." Thick with sleep, her voice cut through the quiet morning air.
A third bark shattered her brittle patience. A wooden bowl, not yet cleaned from her evening meal the night before, clattered against the far wall of the hut, missing her target on the throw, but bouncing off the dog's fluffy backside after ricochetting off the wall. A yelp filled the air. The sound drew a satisfied smile to Hoso's lips.
This was a morning ritual on the farm. The sole farmer was always awoken by a mixture of the sunlight and her furry companion demanding attention.
Hoso hefted herself into a seated position and glared tiredly at the dog sat next to the hut's genkan. His tail beat against the wooden flooring as Hoso's head dropped forwards. Her long black hair flowed over her broad shoulders, obscuring her small breasts. She pushed her feathery fringe from her black eyes and groaned, now fully awake and hating every moment of the feeling.
The chill of the air urged her to reach out for the kosode and hakama crumpled up at the foot of her straw mat. Tadao bounced forwards, shoving his wet nose against her rounded stomach and huffing.
As the woman heaved herself to her feet, she planted her hand on the dog's furry face and shoved. "Dumb beast," she muttered affectionately as her arms stretched above her head. Her back popped and she gave a loud, pleased moan. "Let's get to work. Time waits for no man."
She donned her clothing quickly, wrapping herself in her haori and tying back her sleeves as she emerged from the hut.
The noisy sounds of hungry animals demanding attention and food greeted her. She inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of fresh mountain air, of straw and dung and blossom.
It was a good day.
Her good day fell black when she spotted two travellers milling around at the fenced-in boundaries of her farm while shovelling dung from the cows field. Her eyes narrowed as she scaled the fence of the field and strode towards the two. Both men were carrying weapons, which immediately put the woman on edge.
She owned a weapon: a sword from a samurai that had travelled the mountain pass that connected her farm to the closest castle injured and half dead. Her father had cared for him for two days before he succumbed to his wounds and died. She had no training with the weapon. The only time she cared to use it was when unarmed travellers began to cause a ruckus for her. They were chased off quickly when they noticed her weapon and believed she knew how to use it.
The only way to deal with armed travellers that wished for something from her farm was to be polite and hope they would cause her no trouble. Many travelling men that found her farm treated her with the same politeness that she treated them.
"Ye be wantin' somethin' from my farm, travellers?"
The younger of the two, a man that looked as if he was just old enough to have completed genpuku, looked up from his conversation with the older traveller. Hoso's eyes narrowed and she paused in her approach. His face was tattooed. She'd met a handful of criminals in her time working on this farm and none were men that she could trust. He moved and Hoso's eyes followed the slight bounce of the incredible word on his shoulder. How could a single man carry a weapon like that? From the blade in place of the pommel to the tip of the main blade, the sword had to be longer than the man that carried it was tall.
"Where's your husband, girl?" the young man asked.
"No husband. It is just I here. What ye be needin' from me?"
He appraised the area with raised brows. "Just you, huh? That's gotta take some doing. Farms aren't easy to run." He sounded mildly impressed as he made the comment. Having been raised on a farm himself, the man knew the troubles farms - even farms with many workers like his own childhood home - suffered. To work a farm alone was an admirable trait to the man. It showed a good strength of character. "The way I remember it, farmers always have something on the fire. Have any to spare for travelling men?"
Her eyes moved slowly over the man's form, then the other's. Both were well dressed. The younger was dressed in the finest hemp she'd seen crafted, while the other wore silk. Silk! Their armour was well crafter and their weapons impressive. Yet, both were tattooed. "For compensation, I'll have enough to spare to send ye off with meals, too, men."
A single brow of the older man arched. His sword rattled in the sheath strung to his shoulder as he gripped the worn handle. "We could allow you to live." His voice was low in volume and high in pitch - almost feminine - but the threat was clear and soured what would have been a pleasant voice to listen to otherwise. "Is that compensation enough, wench?"
"Save it, Jakotsu," the young man murmured, calling off his companion with a single wave of a tanned hand. The man whined a pitiful 'but, big brother' in response. "We'll compensate you if you put us up for the night."
Hoso hesitated, eyeing the hand still on the hilt of the older man's sword. She worried that the younger - clearly the authority of this pair - would allow the older to slay her if she denied them. A sigh escaped her as he bowed her head in a single nod. "There's enough room in the hut to take the two of ye." Hoso would find herself a place amongst the stored straw to sleep that night. There was nothing within the hut that could be stolen bar food. She had no trinkets of value, nor fine clothing that could bring a worthy price at a market. She had no fear for losing anything if the two stayed in her hut alone.
A grin, full of strong teeth, stretched the man's tanned lips. "I'm glad we could make a deal."
Bankotsu pitched his whistle low as he hoisted himself from the genkan and onto the wooden flooring of the hut's interior. "Big for a single woman," he commented. The hut would easily hold four or five grown men in its single room.
"Why did you stop me from killing her, big brother?" Jakotsu asked with a sharp edge to his voice as he followed his brother into the hut. The woman stayed outside, claiming she had shit to shovel. To demand compensation from them... It was unacceptable. They had gifted her enough to allow her to live and she demanded more from them?
"She's just trying to survive," Bankotsu explained as he dropped into a squat in front of the fire. He stirred the contents of the pot bubbling away. Pottage; no meat but plenty of vegetables. It'd be some time yet before it was ready to eat. With a roof over their head for now, Bankotsu was content to wait for the meal to cook. "It's hard on a farm. She'll fight for every mon she can to keep this place fed. We can spare a few coins for a roof for the night and a meal prepared for us."
Bankotsu grinned over his shoulder at his brother as he dropped backwards to sit instead of squat. The heat of the fire was pleasant after the bitter chill of the mountain air. He wouldn't move from this spot for a while. "It's a cattle farm, too. Plenty of saké stored somewhere around here."
Jakotsu huffed. "It better be some good saké to make up for not getting to kill her."
Hoso doled out three bowls of pottage as the sun began to set, handing them out in silence before taking a seat against the wall of the hut. "Ye'll stay in here and leave in the mornin'."
"Sure," the younger man replied. "We'll be requiring some of your saké for the night, then we won't disturb you."
"Saké's for the cows," was her sharp reply.
"The cows and us."
Her eyes narrowed. "I care more for the cows' needs than yers."
Banotsu laughed. "Sharp tongue on you, girl." His cheerful demeanour faded quickly and he was left with a hard stare directed right at the woman. "The saké wasn't a request. I'd go get it quickly."
Hoso eye the man warily before relenting and fetching the barrel she had opened that morning. She carried the half-empty barrel into the hut and set it down at his side. By her side as she returned was the dog, sticking closer to her and keeping his eyes trained equally between Bankotsu and Jakotsu.
"The wench is good for something," the older man commented. "You can pour our drinks, too."
Hoso smiled sweetly and reached for the one cup she owned. She filled the cup and pushed herself to her feet to walk over to the man.
Jakotsu screeched. Bankotsu roared with laughter. Hoso just dropped the now-empty cup in the man's soggy lap and huffed as she exited the hut.
"She's got fire!" Bankotsu exclaimed.
The next morning, Hoso awoke to a quiet farm. It would have been the same as any other day if she hadn't woken up surrounded by straw. The loose straw she'd slept on was more comfortable than the mat woven from the same produce. Perhaps she would take to sleeping out here more often.
As she picked straw from her long hair, she padded towards her hut to give the men an early awakening.
Tadao was sat by the doorway of the hut, looking up at her with his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth.
The hut was empty. Neither of the travellers were there and piled up just in front of the fire were a handful of coins.
Information time!
I said that this fic wasn't going to have as much research going into it as Kagome Kagome, but I still managed to do a lot of research for this chapter. Japanese farming was pretty damned interesting. Especially non-rice farming. Lots of strange things went into animal farming in Japan.
Sleeping naked, Straw Mat, Haori - Around the time that this fic is set (around 1535 A.D) peasants generally slept on woven straw mats, sleeping naked, and covered with their clothing; usually their kimono.
Genkan - the entryway of a hut or house, at the same level as the door, but lower than the rest of the house.
Genpuku - a traditional coming of age ceremony for boys. During the 16th century, boys perform this ceremony as late as twenty as families postponed their son's ceremony to postpone them going off to war. Boys as young as 15 could take the ceremony, however.
Tattooing - Tattooing a person's face during this time marked them as criminals.
Mon - A piece of old Japanese currency.
Saké - a Japanese rice wine. Japanese farmers fed their livestock saké or beer until fairly recently. That's why Bankotsu knew there was saké around.
And that's chapter one! For now there's no schedule for this fic. I'll be posting chapters as and when I finish writing them. Which means there could be hours between updates and there could be days. It all depends on how much time I have to write.
I really enjoyed making a character so different than my usual OC. I'm good at writing feminine and quite subdued characters. Writing a fairly masculine, loud-mouthed take-no-shit sort of woman was a very fun and interesting change.