Disclaimer: InuYasha is the intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi, and The Count of Monte Cristo is a product of the brilliant mind of Alexandre Dumas. I own rights to neither and am writing this story for my own twisted amusement, not for profit.

Oh, and some of Naraku's lines are taken directly from the English dub of IY episode #18. I couldn't resist. Call it a small homage to the first time I ever saw Sesshomaru.

Rising Sun

Chapter Two — Those Who Betray Us

The wails echoing through the stone prison held a particularly gruesome timbre to them tonight, as though every demon in the place had suddenly slipped into frenzied despair. The countless moans vied with one another as the owner of each voice tried to make his anguish heard above the overpowering din.

The prisoner knew it was night, just as certainly as he knew another month had slipped by him. He felt his youki draining from him, the claws on his hands melting away into the rough, chipped fingernails of a human as his fangs and dog-like ears disappeared.

From an outside perspective, one might have assumed that in such a place he would be grateful for this brief deadening of his senses. True, the shrieks and groans of fellow prisoners became all but lost to his human ears, and he could even almost tolerate the overwhelming smells. But the truth was he dreaded this time of weakness more than all the hours in between each new moon.

He knew too well what lay in store for him.

Sure enough, the locks on the door slid out of place and the portal swung outward on screeching hinges. The feeble light of the torch-lined corridor flooded into the room, too much for even his weak human eyes to bear after sitting in the dark for so long, and he cringed away from it, away from the looming shadow silhouetted by the pale orange flames.

The caretaker had come for his monthly visit.

"So nice to see you again," the demon intoned in an oily voice as two spiritual guards rushed in and hoisted the prisoner up between them.

"Gatenmaru," he croaked in greeting, not bothering to lift his head. Hatred for the sadistic moth demon surged within his heart even though he knew that no means of retribution lay within his grasp. Especially in this weakened form, he reflected ruefully. He would have given anything to be able to tear that smug little sneer right off the caretaker's face and shove it down into his gut.

"String him up," the moth demon ordered while smoothing his inky black hair with one hand. In the other he mindlessly twirled a thin whip, the strap of leather at one end flipping carelessly through the air. "I do so love torturing humans," he mused as he watched his guards shackle the transformed hanyou to some wrist irons embedded high in the wall. "Too bad it's so discouraged these days, not like a century ago when rampaging through villages was part of a demon's everyday life. I'm just lucky to be in charge of a place that harbors a fair number of half-demons."

Inuyasha's ragged shirt had been stripped from him, and his long, black hair was shoved over one shoulder, leaving him helplessly facing the wall, hanging by his arms with his bare back exposed to the brutal caretaker. As the whip lashed over his skin for the first of many strokes, he couldn't help but hiss at the stinging sensation that coursed through his body.

Month after month, it was the same thing. He should have been used to it by now, but the fact was that his weaker human body, while less sensitive to sight and smell and sound, was far more sensitive to pain. When the night of the new moon finally passed, hours from now, the wounds he received would close up with little more than pale scars as testament that they were ever there. Until then, he would have to suffer in silent agony.

This one night always seemed longer than the twenty-eight previous combined.

………

………

"Damn that bastard Inuyasha!"

Hiten slammed his cup down onto the scarred wooden table, having drained it of yet another shot of sake. Several of the other patrons in the public house shot him apprehensive glances, and with good reason. He had come in almost an hour ago and had been drinking heavily ever since, his outbursts growing steadily louder with each fresh bottle brought to his little corner.

A few people quickly paid their bills and left, not liking the sudden surge of electricity in the atmosphere. The drunken elemental demon, meanwhile, merely fumbled to refill his cup, sloshing some of the liquor on his hands in the process.

"Did I hear you mention the name Inuyasha?" inquired a steely voice from behind him.

Hiten jumped, and his momentary surprise resulted in a ripple of lightning coursing through the air, mildly shocking the man at the next table over.

"Who the hell're you?" he slurred, ignoring the nearby yelp of pain as he turned to face the owner of the intruding voice. His slitted eyes narrowed to a squint, and he desperately tried to resolve the rotating triple image before him into one solid form. He could make out nothing more specific than long, flowing dark hair.

"I believe you and I may have something in common," the man dodged the question while gingerly slipping into another chair at the table. "Tell me, what is your grievance with Inuyasha?" The name left his tongue like an obscenity.

"That bastard," Hiten snarled, flinging his drink from him with rage. It smashed against the wall in a spray of strong-smelling sake. "The cargo steward outranks a first mate in this shipping company! I was paid more than he was! And that stupid flea didn't even offer me the Teiou! He handed it over to that... that worthless half-breed without so much as a second thought!" He paused in his rant, helplessly looking around for his missing cup.

His guest motioned a passing server to fetch another, then prompted, "What exactly are you talking about?"

"I'm a full-blooded youkai!" the demon blurted, slamming his fists down on the table. A few sparks crackled around him, lightly scorching the wood. "I deserve to be captain! Instead that mangy hanyou gets the job!"

"Inuyasha has been made captain of the Teiou?" This was unexpected. It could change everything...

"Complete with captain's salary," Hiten snorted, snatching his new cup from the server and quickly filling it. "So now not only does he outrank me, he can also marry his precious miko and live his perfect life forever!" He tossed the sake back, swallowing it in one gulp, completely oblivious that his uninvited guest had suddenly tensed.

"Is that so?" The man's tone of voice caused Hiten to pause in the act of refilling his cup, turning bleary eyes curiously in his direction. "Tell me," his guest continued slowly, "if Inuyasha were to suddenly—say—disappear, would the captaincy fall to you?"

The elemental demon gaped. "I-I'd be a shoe-in," he managed.

"Then why don't you eliminate him?"

"Eliminate him? Just who the hell are you?" he inquired, his alcohol momentarily forgotten.

The wavy-haired man sat back in his chair with a cynical grunt. "Like you, I am one who despises Inuyasha. Now surely between the two of us, we can come up with some plan to dispose of him."

"A name," Hiten prompted stubbornly.

A short, bitter laugh escaped the man's thin, twisted lips.

"Call me Naraku."

"Hiten," he returned, settling back in his chair. "But you can call me your partner in crime."

………

"Myoga! What the hell are you doing here?"

The flea demon glared up from the palm of the dog-eared hanyou; once again he had been flattened in an attempt to suck some of Inuyasha's delicious blood. Of all the selfish nerve! It wasn't as though losing a few drops would kill him…

"I came for your wedding," Myoga huffed, crossing his arms in an injured manner. "Or don't you think it's proper that your employer attend the nuptial ceremony of his newest captain?"

He noticed, with some amount of satisfaction, that the young hanyou flushed a delicate shade of pink beneath his tan.

"H-how'd you find out?" he demanded awkwardly, looking around the shrine grounds for any prospective eavesdroppers.

"A town miko decides to give up her position to marry a hanyou?" Myoga retorted. "By now everyone knows about it! News like that travels fast, you know. So when is the ceremony to take place?"

"Dusk," the half-demon replied, swallowing nervously.

"Well, you two certainly aren't wasting any time, are you? Inuyasha, you sly dog..."

"What the hell are you talking about!" he exploded. "We've been planning on getting married for more than a year now!"

Myoga waved four placating hands in front of himself as though to fend off the verbal assault. "I didn't intend any disrespect, I promise you! But you have to admit, this wedding ceremony is rather sudden. You only just returned from your voyage yesterday. All the preparations are so rushed..."

"What preparations?" Inu-Yasha demanded naïvely. "We're just getting married. All the ceremony needs is me, Kikyo, and a priest. And what's wrong with doing it today? Kikyo and I both decided it would be pointless to wait any longer."

The flea youkai, though, didn't immediately reply, being too absorbed in a sudden coughing fit that had seized him. "When was the last time," he wheezed at last, "that you attended a traditional Japanese wedding?"

Inuyasha raked his claws through his short, silver hair, averting his eyes. "Well, I... I don't think I've ever actually been to one," he admitted quietly. "I'm not exactly the type of person people invite to those sorts of things."

Myoga released a sympathetic sigh. Even under the new regime where demons and humans were supposed to live together in harmony, half-demons were still greatly ostracized from the society of both. "No, I suppose not," he admitted reluctantly. "Let's just say there's a little more to it than the exchanging of vows, all right?"

The hanyou's gaze jerked down to him in alarm. "What do you mean?" he demanded apprehensively.

"Don't worry," his employer flipped his two right hands in a dismissive gesture. "Kikyo will be there to make sure you don't make an idiot of yourself. Speaking of which, where is the blushing bride?"

Inuyasha lifted his head, his triangular white ears swiveling around as he sniffed the air. "She's coming," he finally announced, a softness entering his voice. "She said she had an errand to run and told me to stay here. She's probably about—" he paused to sniff the air again. "Probably about five minutes away," he pronounced. He turned in the direction of her faint floral scent, detecting another mixed in with it, a darker, sharper scent that he recognized all too well. With a low growl, he promptly headed in the direction where the two scents mingled.

"Where are you going?" Myoga demanded, hopping up his arm to rest on his shoulder. "Didn't you just say she told you to stay here?"

"I'm going to meet her," the hanyou snorted. "There's no crime in that, is there?" He picked up his pace, a jealous flare surging through his veins. What was that bastard doing with Kikyo? She said they were only friends, but Inuyasha had seen the hungry glances he threw in the miko's direction when he thought no one was looking.

Naraku, he thought with disgust. The man had appeared out of nowhere almost a year ago and always seemed desirous to claim Kikyo's attention. And despite the shrine maiden's continued avowal that their relationship was purely platonic, Inuyasha couldn't help but feel that the dark-haired man was little more than an undeclared rival.

He heard her voice long before he saw her, the low, throaty tones reaching his ears like an elusive caress.

"...plan on travelling to Kyoto for a week. Inuyasha says he has an errand to run there, so we're leaving tomorrow. Then, when we return, we'll set up house in the north quarter of town. By then, Myoga will probably have scheduled the Teiou for another journey. I'm still trying to convince Inuyasha to let me come along."

"It seems you have everything planned out perfectly," came the deep tones of that hated man. Inuyasha suppressed the growl that involuntarily bubbled up within his chest, instead lengthening his stride a little more. "It must be nice to see all your dreams finally coming to fruition."

Kikyo sighed deeply, and he could imagine the contented expression that must have been on her perfect features. "It really is. It seems I've waited so long for this day to come. I'm so glad you're here to share it with us, my friend."

A bend in the road brought them into sight, walking side by side. The miko in her red-and-white garb carried a couple of large, tightly wrapped packages while her male companion merely kept pace with her, his hands tucked into his dark sleeves.

"He could've at least offered to help her carry her things," Inuyasha grumbled under his breath. "Kikyo!" he hailed aloud, breaking into a run.

Both people turned their attention in his direction, Kikyo with a joyful gleam in her eyes and Naraku with quite the opposite in his.

"You came to meet me," the miko spoke softly. Inuyasha took the parcels from her and intentionally fell in step between her and Naraku. A smirk crossed his features as he observed that man move back to a more appropriate distance from the couple.

"Keh. I heard you coming a mile away," he stated brashly. "Where'd you head off to, anyway?"

"I had to find a wedding kimono," she answered motioning to the packages in his arms. "There's no time to have one made, so I borrowed one from a recently-married young woman. I got you some wedding clothes while I was at it," she added with one of her rare smiles. "I only hope they fit. The previous wearer was not quite the same… physique as you are, shall we say?"

"I have to have special clothes to get married in?" Inuyasha inquired in confusion, glancing down at the worn haori and hakama in which he was dressed. His expression clearly denoted that he found nothing wrong with this current ensemble.

"Of course you do!" Kikyo retorted, her smile extending even to her usually somber eyes.

"You must forgive Inuyasha, Lady Kikyo," Myoga spoke up from the hanyou's shoulder. "He's not well versed in such traditions."

"Oh, Myoga! Hello. I didn't see you there."

"He came for the ceremony," Inuyasha volunteered apologetically, then added with a sheepish glance, "Is that all right?"

"Yes, of course. That's why Naraku has come as well. You remember Naraku, don't you Inuyasha?" She motioned to the dark-haired man who had fallen back a few steps behind them.

Inuyasha turned, his golden eyes fully meeting his rival's dark gaze. "Oh yeah," he said knowingly. "I remember Naraku all right." He didn't bother to bow in greeting.

Tension mounted in the air as the entire party stopped in the road, the two males locked in a mute power struggle with Kikyo glancing suspiciously between them.

"Inuyasha," Naraku at last conceded, breaking eye contact as a small smirk graced his lips, "allow me to wish you every happiness in your upcoming marriage."

The hanyou nodded curtly. "Thanks," was all he said, knowing that if he allowed his tongue free reign it would only upset Kikyo. The miko grasped his sleeve, silently motioning for them to continue on the road to the shrine.

………

"Let me get this straight." The sun-bronzed sailor paced the length of the small room, one clawed hand on his chin as he clenched his jaw. His brow furrowed in a thoughtful scowl, and Myoga watched his movements with open curiosity. "I have to wear this damned stupid costume," he gestured to the dark, short haori and matching pleated hakama that he had just donned.

"Yes," said Myoga.

"Even though it doesn't fit properly?" Thrusting one leg up in front of the chair upon which the flea youkai currently perched, he motioned to his ankle. The pants were fully three inches too short.

"There's nothing we can do about that at this late hour," Myoga shrugged.

"The haori's too tight in the shoulders as well," the inuhanyou complained. "I can barely move!"

"Just try to make the best of it."

"And the ceremony itself — purifying rituals, vows, sake exchanges, offerings…"

"Yes?"

"Why's it gotta be so damned complicated?"

"That's the traditional ceremony, Inuyasha."

"This is ridiculous!" he exploded. "Why the hell would anyone go to all this trouble?"

"That's what you have to do if you want to get married," Myoga answered with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. "Your other option would be not to bother with the ceremony and just live with Kikyo outright, but do you really want to take the woman you love and defile her in the eyes of society?"

The hanyou's mouth opened and then snapped shut again. "Stupid society," he muttered under his breath in a sullen surrender.

"So are you ready to go yet? The hour is getting late."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm ready. Monkey suit and all."

He reluctantly trudged out into the late afternoon air, heading toward the main shrine where he would wait for Kikyo's arrival. Naraku was already there, he noted with distaste, eyeing his approach with open contempt. Inuyasha glared a challenge, daring the man to say one word. He'd gladly rip his voice box out and stomp on it.

Naraku wisely kept his mouth shut.

The sun was sinking beneath the horizon when Kikyo finally appeared, accompanied by a couple of her fellow shrine maidens. Inuyasha felt his jaw go slack when he saw her approach, breathtaking in the pink light of the dying sun. The white wedding kimono suited her in its pristine simplicity, and her long, dark hair was dressed in an intricate manner, with combs and ornaments adorning it. He had never seen her look so beautiful, never wanted to forget this moment.

Kikyo shyly stepped next to him, gently taking his hand in hers. "Do I look all right?" she inquired a little timidly, her eyes shining.

He felt himself nodding, having too much trouble remembering to breathe, let alone having to grapple with actual words.

"You look very nice as well," she stated simply, her gray eyes fixed steadily on his face.

Inuyasha nodded again, still tongue-tied.

"Are you ready?"

Mentally beating himself, he nodded one final time, trying to swallow past the dry lump that had suddenly lodged itself in his throat. The bridal couple turned to enter the doors of the shrine, wherein awaited the priest and their future. This was where their life together would officially begin…

"One moment, please!"

The voice called out from the shrine gate, and the members of the wedding party turned in confusion to see five law officers striding toward them, the lead man holding up his hand in a gesture for them to stop. Kikyo and Inuyasha exchanged a curious glance but arrested their progress all the same, waiting to hear what the man had to say to them.

"You are Inuyasha, formerly first mate of the Teiou?" the officer inquired, eyeing the hanyou's ears suspiciously.

"That's right," he answered in a defensive tone of voice. "What do you want with me?"

"By order of the Republic, you will come with us for questioning!"

"Like hell I will!" he retorted, raising his claws in a threatening stance.

Kikyo stepped between him and this new opponent. "There must be some mistake," she told the officer, her smooth voice bearing a slight edge to it. "Can't you see we're about to be married?"

The man shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his expression nervous as he eyed the angry groom standing behind his graceful bride. "I'm sorry, miss, but this is a matter that cannot wait. We were instructed to collect this hanyou immediately."

"For what purpose?"

"Merely for questioning," came the evasive response. "He is to come with us to my Lord Kagewaki's offices to answer some questions."

Inuyasha scowled. "What the f—"

"Inuyasha," Kikyo interrupted his obscene rant, turning her calm gray eyes in his direction. "You should go with these men."

"Wha...?" he intoned, looking at her as though she had just grown a second head.

"Just go and answer their questions. We can have our wedding tomorrow when this dark cloud of contention no longer hovers over us. Please? For me?"

His claws dropped again to his side in silent acquiescence. "All right," he grunted to the guards. "Take me to this Kagewaki so I can answer his damn questions."

He felt her eyes on his back as he was led away, could practically feel the sadness and apprehension rolling off her in waves. He would be back soon, though. It was only a few questions. He would be back soon.

………

………

The whip cracked one final lash, tearing another wound into an already intricate pattern of flesh and blood; the prisoner hung limply suspended from the irons now, his strength having long ago abandoned him. His back blazed with pain, a mesh of gore and torn skin.

"You never give me the satisfaction of screaming," Gatenmaru observed with a disappointed grunt as he recoiled the whip. He motioned the two spiritual guards to release the prisoner from his bonds, adding, "I'll break you yet, hanyou. One day your wails will echo through every stone in this building, putting all the other prisoners to shame. Until then, I'll have to settle with enjoying the anguish you cannot hide from me."

He took two steps forward as the guards roughly jerked the prisoner around to face him. A light smirk graced his effeminate features as he took in the sight of the hanyou-turned-human's pain-ridden face. Inuyasha was far too wasted to attempt hiding even this much.

The moth demon extended one gloved hand, tracing a line down his victim's jaw. "Delightful," he murmured in sadistic pleasure. "It won't be long before you break. I can see the hopelessness in your eyes. Filthy half-breed," he spat out in contempt, suddenly backhanding the prisoner across the face. Inuyasha slumped to the ground as the guards released him, barely conscious enough to land on his stomach rather than the ruined flesh of his back.

A low laugh rumbled from Gatenmaru's chest as he advanced from the room. "See you next month," he called back, his words floating to the prisoner's weak human ears only a moment before the cell door slammed shut again, drowning him in darkness.

Inuyasha lay heaving on the stone floor, its coolness a boon to his sweat-laden skin. Numbly, he reached one arm up to shift his long, dark hair away from the open wounds on his back, praying for the morning and his demonic powers to return.

An image of Kikyo standing before the shrine flew unbidden into his mind; she was so beautiful, dressed in that pristine bridal kimono and looking after him wistfully. It had been the last time he had seen her, a picture he was sure he would carry with him forever.

He had known back then that the day was a pivotal one, but he had failed to recognize which direction Fate would steer him. He thought his life would begin anew with her by his side; instead he had been thrown into this hellhole, the future he had anticipated nothing more than an illusion. If he had had any inkling that this was how things would turn out, he would have slain the five soldiers and fled the country with Kikyo thrown haphazardly over one shoulder. Instead, he had played by the rules of the law.

If he were ever given a second chance, he would know better.

The seconds ticked on, and the hanyou waited for the phase of the new moon to pass and relieve him of his wounds, knowing full well that only the external ones would heal with the unseen rising sun. He would probably carry his internal ones until the day he died.

A/N: I love my reviewers! Um, in a non-creepy way, that is.