{.x.o.} | Throes of Passion | {.o.x.}
{x}| Chapter 9: A Use for the Useless |{x}
Groggily, the constant pang from within her head finally made her open her hazels up. At first, everything was but a blur, she barely even realized she was sitting up, until she blinked away the fog to see the dingy stone walls that surrounded her and realized her hands were securely tied behind her back. For a flash of a moment she couldn't remember how she got there until her scanning stare landed upon a displeased man whose eyes poured into her.
"Father…" she warily started as she swallowed back the lodge in her throat.
"You have been a horribly bad daughter," he countered with stiffly folded arms upon his chest, "what the hell were you thinking? Running off like that, with a dirty hanyou no less?"
She hadn't an actual answer to that but she parted her lips to try and come up with one only to hear a scream cascaded through the hallway outside, instantly she jerked forward only to realize the extent of her mobility, "what's that? Who is that?"
"That's nothing for you to concern yourself with," he cruelly asserted back as he walked up to kneel down in front of her, taking her chin forcefully into his hand, "you've been terrible lately. You've allowed yourself to be tainted, how could you? After everything I've done to keep you pure! You little harlot!"
"You aren't even my real father!" She shouted back, startling him for a moment, "you've lied to me about everything!"
"So you betray your own kind?" he hissed, "you are no better than that bastard Miroku."
"Is that him?" she asked after hearing another cry, her eyes frantically looking for the door to the room, "leave him alone! He was only trying to help me!"
"He was working with the dirty demons! He sold out his own kind! There's no lower form of filth," he growled, "it doesn't matter. The stars are now aligned, the sacrificial ceremony will commence at sundown."
"What?" she gasped, "but—"
"You may be too tainted, but we'll try anyway," he grunted as he let go of her to stand up, "you better pray you aren't. Your crimes will be punished by death at sunrise along with the other traitors if you are not able to function as a sacrifice. Pray that your death will mean something for your own kind instead of a symbol of heresy."
"But… I'm… your," she stammered only to see him shake his head.
"You aren't my daughter, remember?" That was all he had to say before making his exit.
|-{x}{o}{x}-|
Pain was something he was accustomed to throughout his existence, whispered ridicules of what he was always found their way to his not-so-perky ears, but none of that mattered to him in that moment. Escaping was the key; if he didn't then… then she would have no hope. She was but a mortal and he feared with all his heart what they were doing to her for her betrayal almost as much as what would happen at sundown that night.
"Now tell us, hanyou," the solider demanded as he poked him again with the scolding iron rod only to cause a muffled groan, "what has become of Ishii Genji? What did you monsters do to him?"
"Go to hell," Inuyasha growled back, as he always did only to feel them stab him with the rod enough to cause blood to start to spew out, if only it were not so hot. That time he could not withhold a howl of pain.
If it weren't for the constant torture or the uncomfortable way they tied the special restrains made especially for his kind he might have almost found it amusing that they were so determined to find him—Ishii Genji—but instead the sound of a scream from the cell down the hall caught his attention instead.
"What are you doing to Miroku?" he hissed.
"That's what happens to traitors," the solider grunted back, "he'll get far worse if the ceremony fails because of his deceitful acts."
That sparked his golden gaze to flicker to the slit of a window he had to see the sky's color had faded from blue to an orange… a coiled fear festered within his gut at the sight which gave him strength to try once more to break the restrains only to feel another jab of the iron rod.
"Take a break," a woman requested to get the man's attention, "no matter how much you pain you cause this creature it will not talk. Go watch the ceremony, it's about to begin."
The guard simply nodded before exiting the cell, he couldn't help but let his gaze glance over the curves of the woman that leaned against the bars before he headed for the stairs.
"Get me out of these things," Inuyasha ordered as his fiery stare shifted to Sango, "Kagome is going to die if the ceremony is successful."
"I wouldn't be too sure of that if I were you," Sango whispered back before walking away—ignoring every curse the hanyou flung at her all the while. She found her spot in one of the balconies to watch the ceremony commence just as the sun fell to give the sky to utter darkness.
"We've been waiting for this for a long time," Takeda Kuranosuke grinned as his hand moved to squeeze her thigh, which she completely ignored, "my beauty, will you—?"
"I'm not in the mood for your idiocy," she snapped back to hush him as her mahoganies watched over the scene below them. Her stare shifted from each of the players, the sacrifice, the priests, and the so-called holy father before they ventured up to the starry sky. It was not until a pink glow caught her attention they it returned to the sacrifice as she fell to the ground, motionless.
"Did it work…?" the boy beside her whispered.
"It worked," Sango responded before standing up only to feel her hand get snatched.
"Where are you going? Should we not celebrate?" he requested with a grin, "now that you are no longer needed as her personal guard you could come with me and—"
"I haven't the time for you," Sango rejoined as she ripped her hand away from his to quickly start through the castle to make her way to her room. Once she reached it she closed and locked her door to pick up a wide yet shallow black bowl that was already filled with water, she set it down on her table before flinging a few herbs into it and whispering a small chant. The water went fogy before she heard a what she sought.
"Did it work?"
"Just as you had planned," Sango assured.
"Thank you for a job well done," the man chuckled, "I knew with the right incentive you would be the perfect one for this assignment."
"Now that I've kept up my half the deal," Sango swiftly asserted, "it's time you do the same, Naraku."
"I no longer feel obliged to," he rejoined and though she could not see his face as she clenched her fists she was certain that he was showing his despicable smirk, "I've grown quite attached to what you seek. I think I'll just keep it."
"You said if I did all this that you would return him!" Sango shouted as she slammed her fists upon the table.
"I'm a demon, you fool," was all he said before the water cleared up. She couldn't help by cry out as she hit the thing over to allow all the water to cascaded out and even the black bowl to shatter upon impact with the ground.
It was true, she should have known but… that didn't stop the festering fury from finding its way into her heart to eat away at the small hope that it once had held. What was she to do now?
|-{x}{o}{x}-|
Her heart had been pounding so hard that she could hear it in her own head as she was walked out into the cold concrete courtyard with her hands shackled together. All the while her hazels wandered every which way to catch a glimpse of a friendly face, hoping for one silver haired hanyou in particular to come save the day. He just had to… didn't he? Was she truly about to die?
Without telling him that it was okay? That she forgave him? That she didn't care he was a hanyou?
That... she loved him all the same?
She was stationed in the middle, her chains locked down to make sure she could not make a run for it like she so dearly wished to. Her so-called father standing aside as the priests circled her to commence the ceremony that all had been waiting since she was an infant to finally see… she swallowed back the fear that had began to fester once the chants of those around her found their way to her ears.
It was really happening… she was going to die so she looked up to the starry sky. At least something beautiful could be the last thing she'd see. She could feel something happening, a sensation so similar to the one that she experienced whenever she made a barrier so the sudden jolt of pink energy from her to shoot up into the sky was no surprised, nor how it began to drain her in mere moments… but just as soon as it started it stopped so she could drop to the ground from lack of strength to stand.
"Did it work?" whispers had begun around them until she heard a curse from her father as he grabbed her.
"The demon we captured to see if this worked is still alive! You are too tainted!" He hissed as he smacked her across the face. "Take her back to the dungeon, lock her away; I'll deal with her later."
|-{x}{o}{x}-|
Pain and pleasure generally came hand in hand in the young man's experience; a delightful grip of a maiden's plump bottom was usually followed by a smack across his face. Sex with someone he only meant to use once generally led to angry women throwing things at him as he made his escape. So what pleasure could possibly come from the pain he felt then? His body badly bruised, bones broken, and skin sliced.
It was all for nothing, he had only worked with the demons to save Kagome and the sun had disappeared from the sky. He had seen the glow of pink… he knew the ceremony had occurred. It had to have succeeded, didn't it?
A sigh escaped his parched lips before he groggily opened his lids to the sound of the door opening, surely for another round of punishment before his execution that morning. Instead, what he saw made him stir only to feel a spark of pain as he cringed and rested once more against the damp wall.
"Houshi… sama," Sango whispered as her brows bent together before she knelt down beside the man, "I had no idea… they'd do such damage."
He merely turned a cheek at her for that, the worst damage done to him was something she couldn't see—the crack in his heart that arose from her betrayal. Had he seen it coming? Yes, he knew that his affections was not her goal, not something she even truly cared for, that there was something she was aiming for the entire time. Still, when the time finally came for him to see the truth… it hurt more than any wound the guards could place upon him.
"You're upset with me," she guessed and supposed he held every right to be, "I'd hate me if I were you."
"Why… are you here?" he managed to inquire before he felt her hand gently take his so she could unlock the restrains around them.
"Houshi-sama," she murmured.
"The ceremony is completed, Kagome must be dead, are you pleased with yourself? I just… I can't understand why, Sango, why did you do it?" he asked as he felt the raw skin that was freed once the restrains clinked as they hit the ground.
"Don't seem so hurt," Sango ordered softly, "as if I were using you."
"You were," he asserted back.
"You got sex out it," she reminded, "what more did you really want, Houshi-sama?"
"You," he muttered. It was only fair, he supposed, that the one woman that did not want him back was the only one he ever truly desired. What goes around comes around, he surely made plenty of women feel the way he did in that moment… his attention returned to her when he felt her brush his somber strands out of a wound on his forehead, ever so gently.
"You are a dog, a man-whore, how was I supposed to know that you actually cared?" she whispered back.
"Why?' he asked again, "why did you do it?"
"I," she slowly started before sighing and letting her eyes meet his, "I need your help. I know I do not deserve it but I need it. I am not as awful as you may think I am."
He didn't know what to say to that but when she held out her hands to help him up, he took it, cringing all the while as he stood. In order to stay upright he had to slip an arm over her shoulder, she slid both of hers around his waist to help him.
"What are you talking about?" he finally questioned.
"You know of Naraku?" she waiting for him to give a weak nod, "all this time, he has had my little brother. I have done everything he asked so that I could get him back unharmed… if I deviated from the plan, if I disobeyed him, he would… he would hurt him. You must try to understand, I am the only family he has, he is all I have, it is my job to protect him. I had to do this to… I couldn't live with myself if something I did hurt him. And now… now that we have rendered Kagome useless he will not give him back…"
"You should have told me this from the start," he swiftly asserted, "I could have helped."
"I did not know who I could trust," she whispered back, "you were after all working for him as well."
"Only to save Kagome," he kept up as they exited the cell, "when you say we made her useless then does that mean…?"
"Miroku!" a sweet cry called out to force him to turn his head to see the hazel eyed damsel standing there, the silver haired hanyou leaning against her for support. "You look horrible… I am so sorry."
"You are alive," he sighed with a small smile, "thank Kami for that."
"I was going to be executed in the morning because I survived the ceremony," Kagome countered before her soft smile turned to Sango, "but she came to free me then we got Inuyasha and now we're here. Oh," she whispered when she heard Inuyasha cringe again, quickly her eyes shifted down to one of his wounds, "will you be okay? Do you want to rest?"
"I'll be fine," he assured—there was no better cure for pain then a girl that had been doting over his wounds the entire time. Constantly telling him how sorry she was, how worried, how it was all her fault, how she couldn't live with herself if something were to happen to him. It reassured him that she cared; even after discovering he was but a mere hanyou. The way she squeezed him as if scared that once she let go he would disappear was enough for him to ignore the pain that was sparked from it.
"We need to go before someone finds that you are gone," Sango said with her eyes upon Kagome, "there are two horses waiting just outside, if we hurry we can get a head start on them."
|-{x}{o}{x}-|
A crumbled and long ago abandoned cabin in the midst of a so-called haunted forest was the perfect place for the band to stop and tend to the wounded. The help that a barrier which Kagome could still create with ease helped to protect their location on top of that, it was, after all, the one thing she had been practicing to do since she was a child.
"It's a good thing you read a lot," Inuyasha murmured after Kagome tied the knot of his last bandage, "your knowledge on herbs will help Miroku."
"It is," she chimed as her hand reached out for one of his, "and it should help you as well."
"Your brother, then," Miroku began as Sango sat down beside the lying man in the room beside the two others, "is the real reason you've been doing everything the way you have? I was under the impression you hated Kagome."
"I wanted to," she assured, "I told myself I did. It was easier if I did to do everything but… I don't know. I told her everything and without hesitation she said that it is alright, that she forgives me, how can someone do that?"
"That's the type of person she is," Miroku asserted with a smile.
"How do you feel?" she slowly inquired, "your arm will take the most time to heal."
"Broken bones are like that," he kidded only to make her pout transform into a full frown, "Sango… I wish you had told me about your brother from the start. I may have been able to help you. You didn't have to be alone in your endeavor."
"Translation, I shouldn't have trusted a demon to keep her word," she muttered.
"That's not what I meant," he assured as he reached out to grab one of her hands with his only function arm, "I do not have any siblings I can't imagine what you are going through or what you were thinking but I am certain you were only doing what you thought was best for him."
"Kohaku," she whispered as she squeezed his hand, "his name is Kohaku… he is only fourteen. I worry all the time what that man has done to him… someone so young so not have to experience any of this."
"I agree, you shouldn't," that was what finally earned her watery eyes to look up to his sincere violets, "I'm not sure what all you have done, Sango, but I know you couldn't have enjoyed it. How long have you been this miserable? I'm not mad at you; I'll do everything in my power to help you find your brother."
"Why?' she murmured as she blinked to let two tears trickle down, "I have been nothing less than awful to you, so why would you help me?"
"Because you matter a great deal to me," he answered as he lifted her hand up to his crapped lips, "a great deal, Sango."
"Houshi-sama, you have always been such a fool," she choked before leaning down to kiss his lips.
"It is better to be a fool in love than a wise man alone," he replied with a smile as she froze.
"Are you…" she stammered, "in love with me?"
"I believe it's a very real possibility," he nodded, "but for the time being I think we should put all that aside and decide on our next plan of action."
"I agree!" a shout from the next room concurred.
"Inuyasha?" Sango questioned, "are you eavesdropping!"
"I can't help that my hearing is better than your mortals," he countered as he pushed the bamboo dangling door aside to look in on the two.
"Are you upset with me?" Sango couldn't help but ask as she looked up to the hanyou, "I would understand if you were."
"In the end, nothing bad came of it," he shrugged, "maybe a few broken bones for Miroku, some wounds, and whatever else but it'll all heal up. Now Shizumi even knows that Kagome is useless, there's a chance he won't even pursue us."
"That would be wonderful," Kagome chimed as she popped up beside him, "do you think he'd really do that?"
"Maybe," Miroku answered, "if something of more importance arises."
"I hope something does then," Kagome murmured before asking the golden question, "so… what now?"
"We find Naraku, kill the bastard, get Sango's brother back, and then… figure out the next step when we're done with all of that," Inuyasha decided with a nod.
"Sounds good," Miroku smiled.
"But," Sango started shakily before her still stinging mahogany gaze shifted back down to meet a violet one, "we need to give you time to rest, Houshi-sama."
"I agree," Kagome assured, "Inuyasha and him are no good to use in this state."
"Keh," Inuyasha gripped, "I'll be better in three days, four max. It's going to take Miroku's arm at least a month and a half to heal up."
"We can't all have superior healing abilities, Inuyasha," Miroku argued with a heavy sigh, "in a week I'll be good enough that we can find a new place to hide. Do you think you will be able to manage to keep the barrier up for that long, Kagome?"
She nodded before saying, "I think so. You just focus on getting better, Miroku."
Finally, one nightmare could fade into the past... only for another to arise.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Please REVIEW.
