Chapter Twenty-Six: Another Miyamota

The rattling of the carriage sounded in rhythmic sink sync with the beats of the horses' hooves as they traveled along the dirt road. None of the six passengers had said anything to one another for the past hour or so and the silence suited most of them just fine. However, Yuki was not among those that were comfortable with the situation though. In fact, she was the only one who felt a bit out of place.

She was a servant among betters and it felt unnatural to her that she was riding in a carriage alongside them. Even worse were the looks they sometimes tried to sneak towards her. There were only two people she knew inside of that carriage, and both were sitting on either side of her, looking out their windows and seeming not to notice anyone else, especially not Yuki or the gestures the others across from her were showing her.

The usual glance of the other three nobles had a hint of a sneer in it, as if Yuki was a filthy animal that needed to be disposed of. These unwelcome glances especially came from the two women sitting across from Yuki who knew exactly why she was tagging along at all and obviously, they didn't like it. It was in their silence that anyone could tell their disapproval for Sesshomaru's new "pet", but they of course said nothing about it and only pretended to endure the slave's presence.

It was the worst feeling! To her right was one of the last people that she wanted to sit next to at the moment: Gaitsuko. Even though all she did was look out the window, sneaking glances over to her fellow kith and sending her friends vague thoughts and messages with said expressions, Yuki could just tell that everyone's opinion of her was dropping by the moment. But far worse than sitting next to her enemy in a carriage full of skeptical nobles was sitting next to her 'secret' lover while sitting in a carriage full of skeptical nobles.

To Yuki's left was Sesshomaru: the man that had attempted to have his way with her… and of course the rest of the cramped cart knew it, even though everyone had silently agreed to pretend that it had never happened. But she could feel their thoughts of offense as she sometimes caught them looking at her from under their eyelids. And if it wasn't the event of Sesshomaru's bedroom that they were thinking of, it would certainly have been the bedroom event of 'another demon's' as they had come to refer to Naraku by, being since they had not specifically identified him yet.

It hadn't taken long for these whispers of this demon to convince Yuki to forget any idea of waiting another moment before going to the hot springs to bathe before leaving for the trek. Finally, she was rid of that rapist's scent, and yet she still felt so dirty. No matter how hard she would try to banish them away, the words of judgment stuck to Yuki's skin just as any filth would. She knew that no matter how hard she could ever try and scrub it away, that unclean and worthless feeling would continue to cling to her. She would probably never get rid of it now.

"Ah," said the only other male in the passenger's hold besides Sesshomaru, "We've arrived."

Hearing this, Yuki had to fight herself into not leaning over to look out of the window. If it was one thing that she had learned while occupying the presence of her betters it was to always watch her reactions. If she had bent to investigate what lay outside, she would have looked eager and childish. If Yuki was going to improve everyone's perspective of her, she would have to always keep a composed disposition.

The horses drew their burden onto a driveway and straight to the front entrance, which awaited the newcomers with doors open wide in welcome. The driver quickly dismounted from his seat and went to open the door for his passengers, but only after pulling out the step for them to use to get out. The other nobles were the first to get out, followed by Sesshomaru, Yuki, and finally Gaitsuko.

At first, Yuki's first impression was awe. But even though this place was by far grander in size than Sesshomaru's palace, it lacked in all of the beauty that the other domain held. Instead of breathtaking influence, the red, high walls of the castle of Lord Raikou gave off a much more official and structured impression. It was hard to believe that anyone could call this building a home. It seemed more like a fortress, really. But somehow, Gaitsuko managed. "Here we are!" she smiled, "It feels good to be back!"

Then slowly she took the first few steps towards the door, shortly followed by the others, leaving the driver and other servants to unload the second wagon of luggage. And as she was lead through the large, almost empty halls of this strange place, Yuki couldn't help but marvel at the contents. Chinese tapestries adorned the walls. Japanese dragons patterned the ceiling. The floors were marble, the candle and torch holders that aligned the walls were gold. It was obviously a very rich place. This Lord Raikou must have been even richer.

But finally Gaitsuko lead the group to none other than the throne room so that their presence could be known. Everyone bowed upon arrival and arose with the lord's permission. This was when Yuki took her chance to look around this room as she stood unnoticed behind the rest of the pack. "Gaitsuko!" Raikou called, arising from his platform to come down the isle to greet his daughter, "I was wondering how long you were going to stay behind!"

"It has only been a few days father," she replied, gentle modesty in her voice.

Yuki could not see father or daughter, so the only hint to what was going on was the tone in their voices. "It seems so much longer than that though," the cheery voice of her father replied.

Then, to the left a set of large doors slowly opened, the hinges letting out a large groaning sound. And entering the room now was a nicely dressed and armored youth well into his twenties. His raven black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, suggesting along with his attire that he had just finished a physical activity. But upon spotting the new guests, he stopped, his eyes instantly going to Gaitsuko. He then began walking towards them.

"It's been a while," the newcomer commented as he and Gaitsuko started off into conversation, he using laconic phrases much like the first. However, Yuki didn't have a chance to catch all of it as she leaned towards Sesshomaru and whispering the question, "Who is he?"

"Master Kazuhiko," Sesshomaru explained, "He is Lord Raikou's heir and Gaitsuko's half brother."

But as Yuki examined Kazuhiko's face more carefully, she also noticed something strange about his eyes. They stared with mature and emotionless comprehension of what others told him. His eyes were aged with wisdom and experience far beyond his years. But what shocked Yuki the most was the color of those orbs: a dark shade of Miyamota lavender. "Oh," Gaitsuko let out as she spotted Yuki hiding behind the gang of nobles, "Kazuhiko… I have a surprise for you; a relative."

With that, the demoness went to Yuki, grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the open where everyone could see her and where she could see everyone in return. The important nobles sat about ten feet away at a panel with a few empty seats. Raikou's seat on the platform among that panel was also empty, of course, as was the seat to his right and the spot next to that. The cushion two places down to his left was also empty, even thought the place directly next to his left was occupied by a woman, supposedly his wife.

"Ah… is this the young lady that we've been hearing about?" Raikou asked as he looked Yuki up and down, instantly identifying her as a human.

"She is, Father," Gaitsuko nodded, "But we'll get to those matters another time. Right now I want to introduce them to each other. Yuki, this is my brother, Kazuhiko. Kazuhiko, this is Yuki. I believe that she is the Fire of your generation."

Then, just when Yuki thought that the demon could never show any hint of emotion, she was proven wrong. She didn't know how, but she suddenly knew that Kazuhiko was frowning at her. This proved that he was very skilled at showing emotions because his actual countenance didn't appear to change in the least bit. Perhaps the sudden silence of the room that made her feel uneasy and caused her to just imagine this, but she finally decided to ask about it. "Excuse me," she began, "But is that a problem?"

"The fact that you are Disaster is bad enough," Kazuhiko replied, forming the longest reply that Yuki had heard out of him yet, "But the fact that you are Fire while I am Ice… well, it is not usually a good thing to have two opposites in the same place or there very well might be confrontation. Divinity and Disaster just cannot mix."

"But that aside," Raikou interrupted, "I believe we have other matters to attend to. Gaitsuko, if you would show our guests to their rooms… I'm sure that they are very eager to get settled. And Kazuhiko… go with them."

"Yes, my lord," Kazuhiko replied with a bow right before he left with the party.

But right before they exited the room, Yuki was able to cast a glance back at the royals on the panel. The woman to Raikou's left, his wife, surprisingly did not have purple eyes like she and Kazuhiko had. She was not Miyamota. Then why was Kazuhiko heir instead of her own son?

Yuki pondered this problem momentarily before banishing it from her mind. It was not any of her business, after all. And she put the thought away just in time too, because only seconds later, Kazuhiko came up beside her, gazing freely down at her as he meditatively examined her appearance.

But the way he did it showed not only interest, but curiosity and somehow, it did not bother Yuki as she looked to stare at him in return, only keeping half a mind on where she was going. "Try and stay out of my way," he finally told her as he returned his focus towards his front.

"Excuse me?" she questioned, hiding her offense.

"I told you to stay out of my way," he repeated simply, "Don't think that for one instant that because you are somehow my relative that gives you the right to even so much as acknowledge me in any way."

"That's really rude," Yuki told him as she turned up her nose at him.

"I just don't want this to get messy," he replied, sending a glance over towards her.

"Then why didn't you say that in the first place?"

"Because I really do want you to stay out of my way," Kazuhiko replied frankly, "I just want to be able to keep the peace at the same time."

Finally, they had come to Yuki's room and she was absolutely fuming at his bluntness with her. "I really don't think that that's going to happen," Yuki told him as she entered her room and nearly slammed the door behind her.