A/N: I'm so sorry that I forgot to update this past Sunday! I was really trying not to go longer than a week between updates, but life is just too crazy at the moment. Forewarning, updates will probably be slowing down a lot soon since I just really don't have the time! I promise I'll try my best though, and even if it takes a long time I'm not giving up on this story!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or plot lines of Inuyasha or Akatsuki no Yona.

Chapter 10

In Katan Village…

Crash!

Bits of pottery and ceramics broke loudly upon the dirt covered ground. Fire Tribe soldiers ransacked the village, barging into homes, and pushing the villagers around roughly.

"Look inside of the houses, too! If there's anyone suspicious bring them here!"

"What are you doing? Please stop it!" a villager pleaded.

"Move!"

Looking on in mild disapproval were two more men of high-ranking in the Fire Tribe based on their expensive attire.

The dark-haired one, Heuk-Chi, commented casually, "No elegance…"

Suddenly a small child confronted the two men throwing a well-aimed rock at the head of the one with long, steel grey hair.

"Get out!" the child yelled angrily if not intimidatingly. "Get out of Katan village!"

Yoon grabbed the kid shouting, "Don't! You have to go hide!"

The pretty boy tensed in fear. The soldiers would surely kill him and the child for the transgression against someone with such a status. To his great surprise however, the long-haired guy bowed shakily to Yoon.

"I'm sorry I was born…" Tae-Jun said despairingly.

Heuk-Chi supported him while saying politely, "This person is currently sensitive so please don't say mean things to him."

The child apologized in confused hesitation. "I'm… I'm sorry…"

"Don't worry, I also want to throw rocks at him sometimes…" Heuk-Chi confessed bluntly.

"What's with this conversation?" Yoon wondered aloud to himself.

"What's wrong?" the girl asked nosily now that her life wasn't in any immediate danger.

"Hey, you should go hide…" Yoon warned, "This is going to be annoying…"

Heuk-Chi stated dryly, "If I say it simply, he's lovesick… or so it seems."

"Who is lovesick?!" Tae-Jun shouted with more liveliness than he'd shown since entering Katan Village.

"It's not like that…" he insisted, "It's not love or any of those glittery feelings! Don't compare them! This feeling is…" He started crying. "This feeling is…"

"I don't even know myself!" he bellowed melodramatically.

Yoon gave him a deadpan stare. "To be honest, you're annoying."

"Please listen to this person's story in my place," Heuk-Chi propositioned.

"No way," Yoon shot him down vehemently. Turning serious again, he continued, "…We are barely getting enough food for each day. We can't afford to pay any more taxes. Please leave.

Heuk-Chi responded evenly, without malice, "Taxes are part of a citizen's duty."

Yoon's brow ticked. "It's our duty to pay outrageous taxes for nobles' luxuries and for a larger than necessary army?! Isn't it your duty to worry about our food supply and sick before your luxuries?!"

"Organizing the army is a way to protect the Fire Tribe's people," he replied calmly.

Yoon was convinced nothing could rattle this guy. He stated bitterly, "How misleading…"

"…Well, it doesn't matter. I didn't come here to collect taxes; I came here to capture the bandits."

Yoon's eyes widened. "Bandits…?"

He nodded. "Have you heard of them? It seems they are calling themselves 'The Hungry Bandits' or…"

"I found it!" a nameless soldier called out. "The taxes that the bandits have collected are here! Like we suspected, they hid the taxes! Doesn't that mean the village is harboring bandits?"

"Not necessarily," the black-haired official argued sedately.

"You said that you are here to capture the bandits, right?" Yoon asked rhetorically. "Then it's about time… to get our work started, isn't it?"

Heuk-Chi looked at him strangely, only having a second to wonder who the pretty boy was speaking to when a man dropped out of the sky.

"Thank you for your hard work…" Jae-Ha said sarcastically, "government officials."

He rained daggers down on the lot of them with deadly accuracy. One of the few who wasn't hit with Jae-Ha's initial attack started to back away from the gruesome scene on wobbly legs whilst crying out in fright.

"Where are you going?" Kija's voice took on a surprisingly eerie quality as he stopped the fleeing official by brandishing his giant claw threateningly. "Weren't you looking for us?"

The official stuttered, "They… They―They're hereee! It's the Hungry Bunch!"

Yoon yelled irately, "Who is that supposed to be?!"

"They're right to fear us," a feminine voice entered the fray.

Kagome leaped into the fight with an ostentatious show of acrobatics and grace, her sword lit with her spiritual powers. Of course her powers were useless against regular humans, but the Fire Tribe lackeys didn't need to know that. There's nothing more frightening than the unknown.

A couple of officials who apparently had encountered The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch before gaped fearfully.

"Mo-monsters…"

"Didn't we say so?!"

Tae-Jun on the other hand, was entirely unafraid. He was struck by the unearthly beauty of the being before him. The entirety of her seemed to almost be exuding an otherworldly light. He fell to his knees in front of Kagome, arms spread wide and eyes closed like he was waiting for something. Kagome was startled by his odd behavior and just stood staring at him bewildered. After a moment, he peeked one eye open and when he saw that she was unmoving; he grabbed her hand holding her glowing sword and held it to his neck.

"What's wrong, Death Goddess? Can you please hurry up?!" he begged like a crazed psychopath.

"What?" she questioned him completely taken aback. She pulled on her wrist in a futile attempt to make him let go of her. "No! Who are you calling 'Death Goddess'?! My name is Kagome!"

"You can only take me with you right now! Tomorrow I might be too scared to go so you have to take me now!"

"Who are you?!" she tugged on her arm more fervently. "Let go of my hand!"

"Gykk!" Tae-Jun made a strangled choking sound as Jae-Ha squished his head into the hard-packed earth using his dragon's leg.

"What are you doing, 'Death Goddess'?" Jae-Ha taunted Kagome teasingly, "He's asking you so nicely, so why don't you send him off happily?"

She glared at him and protested, "I can't seriously attack an unarmed person!" She whispered furiously, "A priestess is supposed to help people, not kill them for no reason!"

He smiled in a way that told her he wasn't at all persuaded despite answering, "Yes, yes."

"Ugh…" A fallen official stated, "As I suspected, Katan Village is harboring bandits!"

"You idiot," Jae-Ha insulted him coolly correcting, "This area is our turf. Of course we would protect what we've stolen!"

The two dragons and Kagome leaned on one another in a pose that was clearly meant to be evil and intimidating looking.

"We have friends all over the Land of Fire," Jae-Ha added while pressing down on Tae-Jun's head a little harder.

"Lord Tae-Jun. Lord Tae-Jun. Are you alive?" Heuk-Chi asked with less concern than he probably should have had for his supposed friend.

"You brats! Hurry up and throw those guys out! The people in the village are afraid," Yona's voice rung out.

Lord Tae-Jun, as Kagome had just learned, stiffened instantly at the sound of the princess' voice before somehow managing to lift himself from Jae-Ha's foot.

"Oh," Jae-Ha commented in surprise, "It looks like he still has some energy left, Captain."

"Hey you officer, stop resisting!"

Yona's command only seemed to spur his struggle on more though.

Jae-Ha was merely amused by the sudden show of strength remarking, "Heh… Didn't know that there was a person that could get up after being pinned down by my foot."

Even his soldiers were shocked.

"Hey look…"

"Lord Tae-Jun is…"

"No way…"

"That useless Lord Tae-Jun is… overpowering that monster's strength?!"

Lord Tae-Jun then let loose an alarmingly loud battle cry as he pushed against Jae-Ha's foot with inhuman strength and stood up unsteadily.

"Ooh, Lord Tae-Jun!"

"Lord Tae-Jun!"

Some of the soldiers were actually flushing in awe and admiration of their lord. Kagome sweat-dropped at all of the theatrics.

Kija came up behind Lord Tae-Jun, picked him up with his clawed hand, and tossed him out of the village as easily as a normal person can throw a ball.

"You're in the way!"

"Lord Tae-Jun!" his officers cried desperately.

Kagome turned to her companions curiously. "Who's Lord Tae-Jun?"

The next day…

"They're persistent," Kija commented off-handedly as he chucked Tae-Jun and his officers out of the village.

"You're pretty stubborn too, aren't you?" Jae-Ha shot back at him mockingly.

"You're both pretty pig-headed in my opinion," Kagome stated dryly.

And the day after that…

Kagome was playing with Zeno and a couple of the village children when Kija walked up carrying a 'villager' over his shoulder.

"Yoon isn't here?" Hakuryuu asked a little disappointedly.

Zeno nodded easily. "Yep. He left."

Kagome elaborated after rolling her eyes at Zeno's answer. "He went to another village with Jae-Ha, but if it's not too serious I can take a look," she offered.

Kija smiled gratefully. "That would be wonderful, Lady Kagome!"

She sighed in exasperation. "Kija, how many times must I tell you that you can just call me 'Kagome'?"

He shook his head adamantly even as he set the sick villager on the floor beside her. "I couldn't possibly! Lady Kagome is a holy being and deserves respect!"

She rolled her eyes, something that seemed to be happening more and more often around this group. She decided not to press the issue for now and instead turned to inspect the villager curiously. Her eyes widened minutely before she was able to reign in her shock. She did a double-take of his aura in her mind's eye and nodded to herself. It's definitely him. Kan Tae-Jun, the second son of the general of the Fire Tribe. What is he doing here… dressed like a commoner…?

Shaking off her thoughts, she decided that she wouldn't out him until she figured out whether or not he meant them any harm. Their previous meeting had more than proven that he was no threat to them by himself at least. She reached forward to place the back of her hand gently across his forehead feeling his temperature and smiled.

"Well, you don't seem to have a fever. Are you in pain anywhere?"

He flushed briefly after she pulled her hand back; she'd caught him by surprise. He couldn't seem to find any words as he took in the sight of her. She did have that ethereal glow around her like the last time he'd seen her, but her long, midnight locks and stunning sapphire blue eyes were unchanged and still managed to render him speechless. Shaking his head, he watched in no small amount of awe as she smiled that same smile at him again, the one that sent his heart fluttering almost painfully.

"That's good! In that case, it is my non-professional opinion that you are healthy if not perhaps suffering from a bit of stress," she joked, "but then, aren't we all?"

Tae-Jun was too stunned to reply. She was being so kind to him, a total stranger. He would have been even more shocked if he knew that she was aware of his true identity.

She continued on unaffected by his disquiet. "You should have Yoon check you out when he gets back if you're still feeling unwell though."

He nodded weakly and couldn't seem to stop his eyes from following her form as she rose with a poise he thought befitting of a noblewoman in his home of Saika.

"Here."

The general's son tore his gaze from the shoji door that Kagome had disappeared behind and stared blankly at the bowl of what looked like muddy water being offered to him. The small child proffering it smiled encouragingly.

"Wh…what's this…?"

"Ginger soup! It works well against illness. Warm yourself up!"

"Ginger…" he mumbled to himself distrustfully.

He then tipped the bowl to spill its contents onto the ground with a false note in his exclamation, "Oops! My hand slipped!"

His eyes widened in utter shock when Zeno dove with hands outstretched underneath him to catch the falling liquid.

"Wha… What are you―" he started puzzled.

"Hurry and get the bowl!" Zeno yelled sharply.

Kagome swooped in, seemingly out of nowhere, with an empty bowl and easily caught the soup from Ouryuu's waiting hands.

"Whew!" She smiled in relief. "That was a close one, wasn't it?" she playfully asked the children who nodded along eagerly.

"If only… these hands were as big as Hakuryuu's," Zeno mumbled to himself.

Kagome heard him and reached over to ruffle his hair lightheartedly. "You did good, Zeno!"

Tae-Jun looked at their interaction in wonderment. Was she this compassionate with everyone? And what was the big deal? To him, it was just a bit of food… If one could call that food.

Zeno smiled merrily, snapping back to his usual self. "Sorry. Some of it spilt," he apologized to the kids.

"What a waste."

"Right?"

Addressing Tae-Jun, Zeno asked politely, "Hey, is it alright to give this to them?"

"Eh… uh…" He looked too surprised to speak again. "…Yes…"

He watched in horrified amazement as the two children drank from the bowl greedily, and Kagome quickly left his side to stop them from getting into an argument over the costly bowl of soup.

"Even food that looks like dirty water seems like a treasured feast." Zeno interrupted his thoughts while licking his hands of excess soup. "Do you see the faces of those children? They're desperate. It's because that's the first meal they've had today."

Tae-Jun stiffened in disbelief. "That one bowl has to feed them both…?"

"That's right. That's a given here. Just one drop is a precious drop of life."

He watched as Kagome softly ushered the small children towards him.

"Mister," one got his attention by tugging on his sleeve lightly, "I'm sorry. We drank your ginger soup…"

"Are you okay?" the other asked worriedly.

Tae-Jun looked as if someone had physically struck him. "Oh… no, I'm already… fine. I'm the one who's sorry…"

"Do you still not understand, young lord?"

"Eh…?" Tae-Jun looked away from where he'd been watching Kagome leaving again. Somehow his eyes always seemed to zero in on her, like a moth to a flame. It took him another minute to realize that Zeno had just addressed him as 'lord'.

"Well, coming here was a good opportunity, right? You should take time to look around. So the next time you come… you can bring candy for everyone, too!" Zeno patted him on the back enthusiastically.

Tae-Jun froze at Zeno's words, sweating bullets. Zeno stood and wandered off to somewhere behind the hunched over form of the anxious lord.

"Huh?" Zeno's curious voice rung out, "Are you going to sword practice, Miss?"

"Yes. Although I'm still practicing with a wooden sword," a feminine voice answered.

"It's better to be cautious, especially at the beginning." Tae-Jun heard Kagome's lyrical voice answer wryly.

Tae-Jun whirled around with his mouth gaping when he finally placed the sound of the mystery woman's voice only to see nothing and no one around.

Kagome looked up slightly in surprise as Shin-Ah sat up slowly, his face up-turned as if looking at something outside the tent.

Kija questioned, "What's wrong, Shin-Ah?"

"The sky… just lit up…"

Kagome asked both bewildered and impressed, "You can see the sky lighting up when you're in a tent?"

"Ah. Hey!" Kija called out to the blue dragon as Shin-Ah bypassed him to make his way out of the tent.

Yona was just outside and asked inquiringly, "Shin-Ah?"

He looked out into the distance. "Soldiers… Many soldiers are… heading this way…"

Kagome's eyes widened fractionally.

"This guy is a spy. He revealed our location to his allies." Kagome heard Hak's voice just as she pushed passed the foliage surrounding the make-shift camp.

"Now that you mention it, Seiryuu said there are a ton of soldiers marching towards the village!" Zeno announced cheerily.

Yoon glared at him. "Say those things sooner! We figured something like that was going to happen…"

Kagome joined them noticing Tae-Jun being held down by Hak and knelt beside him.

"So I'm guessing you weren't feeling sick earlier?" she asked him rhetorically, but more in an ironic sense of humor than actual offense.

He flinched and averted his eyes from hers anyway though. He felt ashamed that he'd deceived someone as considerate heart. Her deep blue eyes staring at him with anything less than the hatred that he felt he deserved was still too much of a kindness in his mind.

"This is bad." Yoon worried while bringing a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Jae-Ha's not in the village right now… and Shin-Ah's still injured…"

"Even though he's a pervert, it's inconvenient when he's not here…" Hak admitted in a back-handed manner. "White snake, Sparkles, and I are just going to have to take care of it ourselves…"

Kagome felt her brow twitch. "Who are you calling 'Sparkles'?" she asked with a familiar eye-tick forming.

The corner of Hak's lips lifted in the beginnings of a similarly familiar smirk.

"Zeno will also try his best!"

"Yeah, yeah have fun with your competition," Yoon remarked sardonically.

"What are we gonna do with this guy?"

"Well for now he's our hostage…"

"P-please!" Tae-Jun begged emphatically. "Please! Release me! Shooting the signal flare was an accident! I'll go stop the troops, so please! Release me!"

Hak and Yoon smiled down at him with matching grins practically dripping with honey.

"You should've said that sooner! Sorry for everything! We leave everything in your hands!" Hak said, pretty convincingly in Kagome's opinion.

"Did you seriously think we would say that? You halfwit!" The former general's hand gripped the nervous lord's head harshly.

Yoon crossed his arms. "There's no way we'd release you… We're going to negotiate with you as our hostage! Luckily, since you're a big shot, as long as you're here… those guys probably won't attack the village recklessly."

"This guy tried to kill us before. If we return him, he'll tell the Fire Tribe Chief and Hiryuu Castle that we are alive. Before that happens, I'll kill you without hesitation!" Hak said in a deadly serious tone.

Tae-Jun's eyes swung up to meet Hak's desperately. "…Just now… Did you say 'us'… Is… Is that person… Is Princess Yona… Is she still alive?!"

"Tell me! Please! I promise! I won't tell anyone! I don't have to see her… I don't even have to speak to her! That person is…!" he begged, bordering on delirious.

"Alive!" Zeno informed him happily. "The miss is the liveliest of us all!"

Tae-Jun stared at Ouryuu for a moment in pure shock, and then his eyes started welling up with tears. Kagome looked at the pathetic sight he made in surprise. She figured that he must have been holding onto a lot of guilt over his past actions in regards to Yona, and only now was relieved to find that his crimes weren't actually as horrible as he'd feared. She would've had to be made of stone to not sympathize with him on some level. After all, no one is immune from making mistakes, and guilt… is a powerful thing capable of tearing a person down and making them question everything they've ever done.

"Is that so… She's lively… Is that so… She is… alive…" he mumbled to himself repetitively, holding his hands up to cover his face.

"Hak," Yona called as she entered the loose circle they had formed around the crying noble. "Hak! Yoon. Come quickly, there's an emergency."

Kagome was shocked even more when upon hearing Yona's voice Tae-Jun immediately positioned his body into that of a deep bow, sobbing all the while.

"Eh… Um…" Yona looked down at him and up around at everyone else in puzzlement. "Who are you? Please, raise your head." She commanded softly, but Tae-Jun refused.

The princess looked at everyone in silent askance.

Kagome answered in a gentle tone, "The second son of the Fire Chief, Lord Kan Tae-Jun."

Her eyes widened comically. "What?"

She looked at the others as if to ask for confirmation before turning her sights back to the noble still bowing on the ground.

"…Tae-Jun…"

Kija looked at the man with a displeasure Kagome had not seen on the white dragon's face previously in their travels.

He spoke harshly, "Kan Tae-Jun is… the one who sent his soldiers after the princess, right?"

It was a rhetorical question. Kagome understood why Kija would hate such a man. Kija hated anyone who attempted to bring harm to the princess, but it has always been her personal belief that everyone deserves a second chance in life, no matter the crime committed or the person who committed it. If she condemned everyone based on first impressions alone, she wouldn't have any of the friends she values most.

"This person shot up a flare to call the soldiers," Yoon replied, "But he's also saying that the flare was a mistake and that's why he wants to be released. It's to tell the soldiers to stop."

"How ridiculous!" Kija balked at the proposition. "Normally, you would've had your head chopped off by now!"

"I―" Tae-Jun hesitated. "I know that… I know that asking you to understand is ridiculous… But, among the soldiers that are currently surrounding the village, there are bound to be a few that would recognize the princess… If that many troops report it at once, my― my father, Kan Soo-Jin will find out that you are alive!"

Hak looked down at the man discerningly. "Wouldn't you be the first one to report it?"

"I will not report it to anyone!" Tae-Jun refuted adamantly.

"You mean to tell us that you would betray your own clan?" Hak goaded. "How are we supposed to believe that?"

The noble's form on the ground seemed to tense up at the question.

"I… I don't know… I don't know, but… I― I am going to stop the soldiers, and then… if for some reason I cannot keep my promise, no… even if you think I am suspicious at all, please kill me! If it's you, then… I don't care if I am killed!"

Everyone stared at him taken aback at the conviction that clearly rang through his vow.

"…Why?" Yona asked him softly. "You damaged the capital, Fuuga… and even tried to kill Hak… Why are you saying these things now? Lift your head. Look into my eyes and tell me."

Kagome barely managed stop turn the startled 'eww' into a startled cough when the lord raised his head to address the princess. The once dignified noble made quite the pitiful sight with tears and snot running tracks down his face making his eyes and nose red and swollen.

"I'm… I'm so sorry… My… My vision is… distorted. I- I don't know… where… your eyes are… princess. I don't know… why I'm saying these things… or why I'm doing these things… I'm so confused... It's just that… I'm so fortunate… For a sinful person like me, to once again, be talking to you like this. I can't help but feel… so fortunate! Thank you so much… for being alive! Thank you!"

"Pft―" Kagome couldn't stop the sound of amusement from slipping out.

Yona was laughing uncontrollably.

"Princess," Hak said sternly.

She giggled for another moment before saying, "…Sorry, Hak… Can we release him?"

He looked at her already resigned. "Does it matter what I say?"

She smiled at him and then turned to address the fallen noble confidently. "Tae-Jun, we'll release you. Your troops are already in our line of sight. If they continue forward, there will be casualties even among the villagers. If it comes to that, we will have to crush the soldiers with all of our strength. This does not exclude you since you are the leader of our enemy. If you don't fulfill your promise and the villagers get hurt, I will shoot you down without mercy. If you are prepared for that… go and stop them with all of your might!"

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed it and as always, I love to hear any feedback you may have!