But I Like My Guards!

Chapter 2

firefox369

The woman looked back, twisting her spine to gaze past the taiyoukai. When she saw that none of the guards had suddenly sprouted wings and that they were, indeed, gone, she relaxed and slowed her two-tailed steed to a stop. The cat looked up curiously at her master, waiting to be told some commands.

"Over there, Kirara" the young woman whispered, pointing to a small clearing in the expanse of forest beneath them. A rivulet of sparkling sapphire glittered through the thick undergrowth. "We'll land there and rest."

The feline purred in agreement and began the descent, crimson eyes shining with joy. After landing, the girl gracefully hopped off the feline's back. Inutaisho mimicked her movements and stepped away from the cream-furred beauty. A burst of flames consumed Kirara, and died to reveal a small kitten, barely the size of his head. The girl looked at the prince and saw the awe on his face as he gazed at the demonic cat. She scowled. He may have changed his state of dress, but the way he moved…it was still obviousl that he was royalty. His hair was also a dead giveaway. She would have to do something about the long, silver locks. The way it was put up in a ponytail…that wouldn't do at all, nope. The hair would need to be let down. And those marks on his face…that wouldn't do either…

Inutaisho noticed her staring at him deep in thought and he turned to look at her, confused. She scowled when he stared at her; at least that's what he thought she was doing because he could only see her eyes.

"We need to make you look like a commoner; so much that your own father won't be able to recognize you, Inu-chan."

"What's with all this informality? You should be addressing me as-"

"Prince, I know, but you won't last a day if I call you that everywhere we go. Lots of people want you dead. Inu-chan will have to suffice for now."

Inutaisho blanched.

"Can't you come up with some other pet name?"

"Oh, don't tempt me Inuyasha."

Inutaisho scowled. "Alright, alright, no need to start calling me a girl."

The girl smiled at her victory before hardening her eyes in contemplation.

"Now…about your looks…"

Inutaisho smirked and closed his eyes, hiding his demonic features with a sealing spell. He opened his eyes and the girl nodded.

"Turn your hair brown."

Inutaisho obeyed and she nodded. He wondered why he was following the ningen's orders, but quickly shrugged it to the back of his mind. He could handle a few days of having his position changed. The prince was starting to get sick of commanding the servants day and night, anyway. Except for Jakken. Oh, Jakken... the male thought fondly, snickering at the latest prank he had pulled on the poor retainer. Imagining the toad's expression was almost enough to make him want to go back to the castle. Almost.

"Are you listening?" the girl demanded, arms crossed.

"Huh? Oh, no…not really."

The woman growled her frustration and stomped over to him, yanking the cloth out of his hair so it fell out of its high ponytail and flowed down his back to his waist.

"Why'd you do that, you hag?" he exclaimed, trying to get the cloth back.

"Hag…? You called me…a hag…?"

"You've got a problem with that, wench?"

"Ohhhhhh, damn straight! I'm going to kill you, you stupid excuse for a-"

Taisho clucked his tongue. "Such bad language for a woman…" he sighed, shaking his head. The woman growled and tackled him to the ground, dagger at his throat.

"Stop before I kill you."

"More empty threats? I know that you wouldn't."

"I killed your guard, didn't I?"

"But that's the thing, you didn't kill the guard. You shot him with an arrow, sure, but don't think I'm stupid. You aimed to make it seem like a death blow even though it wasn't." Inutaisho flexed his hand, letting the spell down as poison dripped from his claws. He held his hand to the woman's throat, the acid dangerously close to her throat. "Now let me up before I kill you" he commanded.

She pressed down with the blade, drawing a thin line of blood.

"And if I refuse?" she taunted, eyes alight with mischief.

"I'll slice your head off."

"I'd like to see you try, Inu-chan."

Inutaisho was tempted to burn through the girl's throat, but, to his horror, found that he couldn't. His fingers were just short of touching her neck, but the thought of marring the flawless skin there made him hesitate. Grudgingly, the taiyoukai lowered his hand and bared his own neck in submission.

"You didn't have to submit" the girl mumbled softly, sheathing the blade and lifting herself onto her feet.

"What's your name?" Inutaisho suddenly asked as he sat up. The wound was already beginning to heal, the blood dry and the scratch fading.

"What's it to you?" she wondered aloud, looking at her nails.

"I'd like to know the name of the person I'm traveling with. Its a preference of mine. Selfish, I know, wanting to know the name of-"

"Kagome" she interrupted. Kirara hopped onto the young woman's shoulder and purred from her perch.

"What?"

"My name, it's Kagome."

"Kagome" he repeated, feeling the name slide off his tongue. She started to walk off and paused to look back at Inutaisho, expecting him to follow her. He did and she continued to walk, not bothering to give him a second glance.

"Hey, Kagome" he said and she glanced at him to show that she was listening. "What if I want you to take me away?"

That made her stop. "You don't want to go back to the castle?" she clarified, hesitant.

"Yes. What if I don't want to go back?"

There was a long pause before she snorted and walked past him.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Inutaisho questioned. He was offended! How dare she snort at his question!

"The King is getting old" she replied loudly, spinning to face him. He was only a few feet away from her, and could see the small specks of silver in her irises.

"He's not that-"

"He won't be able to raise another heir."

Kirara mewed in agreement from her perch atop Kagome's shoulder.

"My father barely did anything to raise me, girl."

"He protected you as you grew, and that is more than enough."

"Even if what you say is true, him getting old has little to do with me returning to the castle."

"You are his only heir, Inutaisho. He will stop at nothing in order to bring you home safely" Kagome explained. "As good as I am at escaping your guards and hiding, he will find us. When that time comes... well, I'll have to let you go."

"What if we run away together? What if-"

"Are you courting me, Inu-chan?" the girl teased and Inutaisho tilted his head in confusion.

"No, why?"

"Think through your words before you speak. I could have sworn that you just asked me to run away with you."

Inutaisho stuttered as the color rose in his pale cheeks. "That was- I was just-"

"Come on, we're almost at my village. I need to show you some things" Kagome snickered, making her way past some bushed and onto a dirt path. Without the trees and other flora blocking their view, they noticed some smoke rising in faint plumes far off in the distance. Kagome fidgeted uncomfortably as they continued down the path. The smoke thickened. He could smell fear coming off of Kagome, now, and knew that this amount of smoke was not normal. The rising smoke got thicker and thicker, and their pace quickened and quickened until they were both running across the dirt, kicking up dust in their wake. Kirara had hopped off of Kagome's shoulder and was running beside them.

"Stay here!" she shouted before she raced into the flames.

"Wait!" he called after her. Just as he was about to chase after her Kirara roared and blocked his path. Her posture screamed for him to stay his ground. Silently, Inutaisho melded into the trees and watched the flames consume the village from afar.

"That's not good…a village being burned to the ground is definitely not good..." he whispered and Kirara growled.

Inutaisho heard galloping and he moved further into the greenery as some men rode by, roaring with laughter. A birlliant reflection of light caught his eyes and he gazed at the badge on of the men wore. The two-tailed cat watched as his eyes widened in understanding.

"I didn't think the prince would actually sign that stupid parchment!" one of the men chuckled, patting his pocket.

"I know!"

"What parchment…"'the prince mumbled, confused.

"He gave us permission to do practically anything we wanted!"

"He's such an idiot!" another man laughed, shaking his head.

"Well, I heard that he was kidnapped by a girl from this place, and because he signed the sheet the general gave us permission to burn the village!"

"…no…" Inutaisho breathed. Kirara narrowed her crimson orbs at the prince.

Minutes after the mob of bandits passed by, Kagome returned. One of her eyes was squeezed shut, and her face was deathly pale.

"…you did this…" she snarled and he noticed blood dripping from her shut eye.

"Kagome, it was an accident! I didn't read the stupid parchment! I never do!" Inutaisho tried to amend, but it only fueled her anger.

"Then maybe you should read the damned parchments for once!" she shouted, tears of fury mingling with the blood rolling down her face.

"…let me see that eye of yours…" he said softly but Kagome looked away with a sniff. She brought her hand up and healed the wound, then took the cloth covering her mouth and nose and moved it up to cover her recently healed eye.

"Let's go."

"Wait, Kagome!"

She ignored him and she strode off' Inutaisho struggled to keep up. They walked through the village and he felt himself wanting to gag, the last thing he ate threatening to come back out of his mouth. All that remained of the village were the burnt corpses of its residents and the blackened remains of the wooden houses. The smell of charred flesh permeated the air and invaded his nose.

Kagome walked ahead of him, her pace painstakingly slow as she looked for survivors in the village his keen eyes, the taiyoukai could see her body trembling as she stopped in front of what used to be a small hut. She stared at the bare, wooden frames with hardened eyes.

"After seeing this, I hope you realize how much your subjects dislike you" she hissed bitterly.

"I-"

"Kagome?" a voice called weakly and Kagome tensed. Upon seeing the person that had whispered her name, she raced into the hot ash and dropped to her knees. With a quick mumur under her breath, a large wind swept the ash away from the hut and revealed the form of a young boy.

"Souta" she whispered lovingly, tears filling her eyes.

"Kagome nee-chan" the boy coughed, raising a burnt hand to carress the young woman's cheek.

"Don't, Souta. Rest."

"I waited for you…like I promised…" he gasped. A tear dripped from the corner of her eye and landed on the charred child's cheek.

"Sleep" she soothed as she took his raised, trembling hand. She drew her dagger and held it against her brother's throat.

"End it, nee-chan" the boy begged, smiling. "It hurts..."

"Forgive me, Souta!" she cried, squeezing her eyes shut and slitting the child's throat. The blood spilled from the wound with a soft gurgle. "Forgive me..."

Inutaisho watched the young woman mourn, not exactly sure of what to say to comfort her.

"I..." he began, but stopped when she whirled to face him. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears of anger and sorrow, her body trembled with the effort it took not to cry, her knuckles were white from the force of her clenched fists; she was the untainted image of heartbreak.

"See what your stupidity does…? You shouldn't rule the kingdom! You don't pay attention to anything that happens!" she screamed, throwing her hands to her side and shaking her head.

"I-"

"You don't know how we feel! You don't know how much we suffer for your damned wishes!"

"Kagome, I-"

"You killed my brother!" she sobbed, the tears falling freely and dampening the cloth that covered her face.

"…I'm sorry…"

Kagome remained silent for a few minutes before starting to wander the village again.

"It's too late to apologize now" she hissed, wiping her eyes and swallowing her emotions. They had been searching for survivors for hours, and it was nearly dark, when there was a groan. Kagome sprinted to the noise and laughed in happiness as she lifted an old man from the rubble.

"Kagome…" he questioned and she nodded excitedly. He didn't seem to be very injured. There was a slight head wound, but nothing worse. It was clear that he would live if he recieved medical attention.

"It's fine now, I'll heal you" Kagome stated as she began to heal the old man's wounds.

"Is this your boyfriend…?" he asked as he looked at Inutaisho and Kagome forced a smile.

"That old moron? He couldn't have me no matter how hard he tried."

'Old moron…?' Inutaisho thought, as his eye twitched but he held back his anger. He admitted that he deserved the 'moron,' but where did the 'old' come from? He was still in his prime, thank you very much!

"You two are perfect, when's the wedding?"

Kagome laughed more. "It's not going to be for a while; I'll send you an invitation if we figure it out." Inside, she grimaced. The head wound must have been much worse than she originally thought.

"Oh, okay. Don't forget!"

Kagome helped the man up and helped him get on Kirara, who had waited patiently beside Inutaisho. Kagome made conversation with the old man as they exited the village.

"How long have you two been together?" the man asked and Kagome thought for a while to make it seem more realistic.

"…a few months…" she lied and the old man smiled.

"I want to see your baby once you get one."

Kagome's eyes widened and she paled while Inutaisho blushed. "Whatever you say pops. I'll make sure to let you know when I'm pregnant…" she promised, hoping that the taiyoukai would receive her mental threats.

The old man then faced Inutaisho, a glint in his eye, and Kagoome covered her ears. It was never good when the old coot had that spark in his gaze.

"She's a good girl, but those royal bastards ruined her. Make sure to keep her out of their hands, 'kay?" Kagome's curiosity got the better of her and she dropped her hands.

"…uh…sure…" Inutaisho replied. If only he knew who he was talking to...

"Has she ever taken that cloth off in front of you before?"

"No" Inutaisho replied as he shook his head and the man sighed.

"It's because of those bastards," the man tsk'd, "Scarred at the age of twelve…it's a shame, she was such a beautiful girl..." The old man looked at Kagome for a few seconds, scanning her eyes. Then, he bowed. "Don't try to hard, ne?"

Kagome gave him a genuine smile. "Of course. Kirara will take you to the nearest village, and will help you find someone that will take care of you."

"Thank you, Kagome."

"You don't need to thank me" she sighed before sending the man off with a kiss to his cheek. Demon and human watched as the firecat gradually turned into a small speck in the distance. With a large sigh, Kagome looked down the path out of the village and began walking.

Inutaisho caught up to her and looked at her.

"How old are you? Am I really that old compared to you?"

"I'm 17" she replied.

Inutaisho stopped in his tracks. Barely an adult, and alone in the world he thought guiltily. She was alone, and it was all because of him.

"Kagome? I..." he trailed off when she made no move to acknowledge him. "Forgive me..." he mumbled.

The scent of her tears overpowered the stench of burnt flesh.

"Baka" he heard her sniff. Inutaisho couldn't help but smile.

He was forgiven.

To Be Continued...