The Ninja Princess and Her Knight
Chapter Three
…
"…you are the Ninja Princess…"
Inuyasha's voice echoed in Kagome's mind. She was kneeling in a small park area where she could hear children laugh and play. She was under a tree, trying to meditate to clear her head but it wasn't working. Her eyes were unfocused and she did not pay attention to her surrounding for the first time.
She let out a small sigh when she remembered Inuyasha's hands touching her. She questioned his actions from left to right and wondered why Inuyasha was sentimental towards her all of a sudden.
Kagome shook her head in hopes to get Inuyasha out of her mind and stood up.
She rested her hand on a tree and she softly smiled when she saw three small children laughing from chasing each other. She loved watching the children having fun because it reminded her of her little brother.
She clenched on the chest of her kimono and her body shook. She missed her family so much that her heart aches in great pain. She missed how her grandpa scolded her during training. She missed the sound of her mother's sweet voice calling out to her. She missed her father and brother's laughter when they ran around in the courtyard of her estate. She was even missing her maids and missed helping them out with the chores.
A tear slowly trickled down her face and she was about to wipe it but someone else did it for her. When Kagome looked up, she saw Sango and she was somewhat disappointed but yet somewhat relieved it wasn't Inuyasha this time.
"Princess Kagome…" Sango whispered.
Sango held her arms opened and Kagome walked towards her like a saddened child walking towards his mother's arms. Kagome started to cry and quietly said, "Sango, I really miss my family."
Sango did not say anything and let Kagome cry out her pain.
For some time, Kagome finally let out a small laugh, "I really need to pull myself together. I am the Ninja Princess after all. I should not let my emotions get the best of me…"
Sango frowned, "I understand that it's your duty as the Ninja Princess but you're only human, Princess Kagome. You were torn apart from your loved ones before you could realize it. It's okay to cry."
Sango's words made Kagome's heart smile. It was the complete opposite of what Inuyasha had said to her the night before. She took a deep breath and pushed her feelings aside once more.
"How are Inuyasha and Miroku handling Guyu?" Kagome said with a stern look on her face.
Sango shook her head, "Not so well, milady."
Exchanging looks, Kagome and Sango headed towards the forest where they kept the ninja named Guyu held captive. They arrived in the middle of the interrogation and Guyu spat blood at both Inuyasha's and Miroku's feet.
His expression showed pain but his attitude was the complete opposite and somewhat cheerful, "Ha! I'm not telling you worthless pieces of crap anything!"
Inuyasha's face was calm and narrowed his eyes, "You have put the princess in danger. I am not letting you go until you tell us who hired you."
Guyu laughed, "Hahaha! You're an idiot… I don't care if you kill me. I guess you could say it'd be an honor to die in the hands of Takahashi Inuyasha, himself!"
Miroku sighed and turned to Inuyasha, "This is becoming useless… we have been at this for hours. What should we do?"
Inuyasha still remained calm and pivoted around walking passed Kagome and Sango.
"Inuyasha," Sango called out, "what are you planning on doing?"
Inuyasha did not say anything and continued to walk towards the village.
Kagome stared at Guyu who only chuckled at her, "You know, you're pretty cute, Ninja Princess. I can see why you are very valuable to the Agoshi clan."
"So you were hired from Master Agoshi then?" Kagome asked.
Guyu smirked, "No, I am from the Agoshi clan, if that's what you were truly wondering. I don't understand why though. You're just a kid."
Kagome looked down and quietly asked, "Do you have kids, Guyu?"
Kagome patiently waited for Guyu to respond. His head fell forward and his mouth released some weird foam.
"Shit!" Miroku pulled Guyu's head by the hair and let it go quickly; his expression was full of disappointment. "He bit into a suicide capsule."
Kagome's eyes widened, "What? Why?!"
"He sacrificed himself just so he won't let us know who hired him by accident," Miroku tightened his fist. "By the looks of it, he seemed as if he was opening up to you, milady."
Sango nodded, "I noticed that too. He probably saw that as well and finally bit into the capsule."
Kagome's eyes rested on Guyu and she stared at him with a blank expression. She turned to Sango and Miroku, "but why did he wait so long to commit suicide?"
Miroku responded, "earlier, he mentioned that we will be seeing an even bigger group who will try to kidnap you, milady. I am going to take a wild guess that Guyu thought that he will be saved by this so-called group."
"Ugh, it's frustrating that we don't know who it was…" Sango sighed.
"Indeed, it is," Miroku sighed too. "We can't know for sure that it was Agoshi, himself…"
They burned Guyu's body and headed towards town to look for Inuyasha.
…
The day after Kagome found Inuyasha's cold body in the pouring rain, Kagome paid him a visit at the hospital. As she entered his bedroom, it was empty and the bed was neatly kept as if no one was sleeping on it the night before.
"If you're looking for Inuyasha, milady, he just left," the doctor from yesterday called out to Kagome.
"Huh?" Kagome looked out the door, "how? He was covered in cuts and badly wounded! Miroku said he was even poisoned!"
The doctor smiled, "the cuts are practically gone and the antidote worked so he is no longer poisoned. It was truly a miracle at how fast he healed! He wanted me to tell you how much he appreciates you finding him. Because of you, he's out there somewhere alive. He even wanted me to leave this with you."
The doctor pulled out a necklace and handed it to Kagome. Kagome looked down at the necklace and was fascinated by it. It was an angel wings pendant on a thin white gold chain. She lifted the pendant up in the air using the light to get a better view of it. She smiled at the gift.
Kagome bowed at the doctor and rushed out. She leaped onto her horse and took off to find Inuyasha. For some reason, she needed to give him a proper goodbye. She had sensed that he was headed towards the border and guided her horse to that direction.
As the horse moved forward, Kagome saw a figure slowly walking at a distance. She smiled as soon as she clearly saw his white hair and dog-like ears, "Inuyasha!"
Inuyasha stopped and turned to look at Kagome. She got off her horse and she bowed to him. She playfully punched his arm and laughed, "You know, the least you could do is tell me your appreciation face-to-face! I did find you after all!"
Inuyasha blinked many times before responding, "Milady, how did you know where I was?"
Kagome shrugged her shoulder, "Eh, just a hunch!"
Inuyasha gave her a small smile, "you truly are the ninja princess."
Kagome smiled back, "that, or I'm just lucky!"
Inuyasha bowed, "What you said before… You are absolutely correct, princess. I should have thanked you myself but I wanted to leave before I could cause you or your village any trouble. I honestly do not have my memories and I have a bad feeling there's a reason why I do not remember…"
Kagome's heart sunk and she tugged at his arm, "Then please come back and stay at the estate until your memories return. I feel terrible letting a man leave who probably does not even know where he's even going!"
"I mustn't trouble you, milady… I deeply appreciate your hospitality but I do not wish to be a burden to you any longer," he gently took her hand off his arm and tried to walk away from her.
Kagome nodded and grabbed the reins to her horse and started to walk next to Inuyasha. She started to hum a cheerful tune with a huge smile on her face.
"Milady, what are you doing?" Inuyasha's brows furrowed.
"What does it look like, silly?" Kagome grinned, "I'm going with you!"
Inuyasha let out a small, frustrating sigh. He looked at Kagome and gave her a gentle smile, "It seems like I can't win with you - such a persistent princess, indeed."
Kagome chuckled, "you sound like my grandfather! Except he says I'm stubborn."
Inuyasha nodded in agreement, "yes, I apologize in advance, milady, but I agree."
Kagome laughed.
Inuyasha adjusted the bag he was carrying and said, "It appears that I cannot refuse the princess's request. Let us head back then…"
Kagome flashed him a smile of victory and he shook his head with that same gentle smile.
As they were heading back to Kagome's village, Kagome showed the necklace to Inuyasha, "thanks for the gift, Inuyasha! It's beautiful."
Inuyasha said, "It is only a sign of my appreciation. I found it in my bag and I sense that the necklace is important to me. I thought it would be the perfect gift for you, princess."
"If you feel like it's important to you then I should not keep this, Inuyasha!" Kagome tried to hand the necklace back but Inuyasha took the necklace and put it over her head.
"Please, it would mean a lot to me if you accepted it as token of my appreciation. You saved my life."
Kagome looked at the pendant and smiled, "Thank you, Inuyasha! I will wear it all of the time."
…
Kagome fiddled with the pendant that was around her neck as she sat in a tub of hot water. She laid her head back and deeply exhaled. She closed her eyes and mumbled to herself, "I can't believe how much time has flown by since I have met Inuyasha…"
Kagome rinsed and dried herself off. She carefully put on her kimono and dried her hair with the towel. She walked out of the bathroom and saw Sango kneeling next to the balcony door. Kagome called out to Sango, "Has Inuyasha returned to his room yet?"
Sango shook her head, "No, Miroku is still out looking for him."
"I wonder where he went."
"Who knows with Inuyasha?"
As if on cue, Kagome and Sango heard footsteps in the hallway. Kagome peeked out of curiosity and saw Miroku and Inuyasha heading to her and Sango's room.
Miroku looked troubled, "Milady. Sango. It appears that our enemy is headed towards this village… As Guyu mentioned, I am afraid it is a large group. We must head out soon."
Without questioning, Kagome and Sango packed everything in their bags and headed out the room. Kagome and Sango hurried to Miroku's and Inuyasha's room to see that they were already waiting outside their door. They exchanged looks and headed out to retrieve their horses.
Miroku and Inuyasha helped the girls onto the horses and Inuyasha hopped on the horse behind Kagome as Miroku hopped behind Sango. They kicked the horses lightly so that they walk a bit faster. As they were about to head out of the village, a huge gust of wind that almost looked like a fan blew hard towards them. Both of the horses bucked and Inuyasha and Miroku held on tightly so neither of them would fall off.
"Whoa… Steady now…" Kagome leaned forward to pat the horse's neck. She looked around to see what caused that huge wind.
"I'm not letting you go anywhere!" A woman called out. She was walking through the dusty fog and she held a fan close to her face. Her eyes were black and gave a piercing look towards the four ninjas. "I knew I couldn't trust Haiko and Guyu to capture the ninja princess!"
The woman raised her hand that was holding the fan and quickly slammed her hand down to her waist. When she did that, another huge gust of wind pushed against the horses causing them to buck and runaway. Kagome jumped off the horse and removed the top layer of her kimono to reveal her shinobi shozoku (ninja suit). She can sense that Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango did the same and the four of them were in a battle stance.
The woman laughed and her face was finally revealed.
Kagome blinked hard and recognized the woman who stood before her, "You're… you're the girl from the inn! Mizuki!"
The girl from the inn chuckled louder, "Don't be stupid. That's not my real name…"
"Then who are you and why are you trying to capture the princess?" Inuyasha called out, readying his tessaiga.
She looked over at Inuyasha and smiled, "My name is Kagura… and I am here to take the ninja princess's head!"
…
To be continued!
