Settle the Score
by Chri
November 28th, 2009: Chapter finished.
Disclaimer:
Inuyasha and the other characters of Rumiko Takahashi aren't mine.
The chapter epigraph is from a song by Hypocrisy.
Special thanks to:
JMaxwell and dangersque for beta-reading.
Chapter 34
I'm squeezing it
I'll eat their guts
I'll remove your skin
I will never stop
Unleash the Beast
Miroku struggled against his bonds, but to no avail. With his arms behind his back and his feet bound together, all he could do was wriggle on the floor. "Sango!" he shouted. "Leave her alone. It was all my idea!"
Isobe looked in his direction. The bastard had a hand on Sango's shoulder, as if to console her. 'Get away from her!' Miroku thought with a mixture of anger and panic.
"I swear it's true!" he continued in a pleading voice. "She's got nothing to do with this."
"Shut up, you bastard!" someone shouted above him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move and then pain exploded in his chest. Miroku gasped, curling to lie on his side.
"You really think you can talk your way out of this, huh?" the voice continued. Miroku glanced up, finding a tall and rather lean youkai glaring down at him with cold blue eyes. "After killing so many?"
Miroku saw him strike out with his foot. All he could do was strain his body, but it didn't really help when the kick got him straight in the stomach.
"Aaargh!" Miroku's cry ended in a retching sound.
"Miroku!" he remotely registered Sango shout. He tried to tell her not to worry, but couldn't manage a single comprehensible word.
"That's enough, Nobu!" Masato's interrupted sharply, "I said I want to question them."
"Don't order me around!" the youkai shot back. Miroku saw another kick coming, and was hit in the chest. He thought he heard a rib crack; at least it hurt like hell.
He waited for the next kick, but none came. Slowly getting his stomach under control, he looked up and tried to follow what was going on above him.
Masato and Nobu were glaring at each other. "I left them alive to question them," Masato stated slowly. He demonstratively flexed his claws and said, "Hurt him again, and lose your head."
"You're not our leader!" the youkai replied. "You can order around your flunkies, except they're all dead now, aren't they?"
Isobe stood up. "Enough already! What's going on over there?"
Masato turned to the human and said, "I want to question them – maybe they know something of interest."
"Those kids?" Isobe asked disbelievingly. "They don't look like they have even a faint idea of what's going on."
Masato looked at Isobe, his expression completely neutral. "I can't rule it out. The whole business with the hanyou seems fishy. Why would he turn up all of a sudden?"
"I already told you," Isobe replied in an annoyed voice, "the hanyou and I have a score to settle. He's made a few friends, that's all."
"A very strange group of friends," Masato said.
Isobe shrugged. "They're strange beings, hanyou." He waved over Miroku and Sango. "You can have them, if you're so keen to have a chat with them. The girl and the fox are mine."
Masato nodded after a second. "What do you plan to do with them?" he asked.
"I can't accept the losses just like that, can I?" Isobe answered with a grin. He turned around to Nobu, who still stood over Miroku, looking ready to kill. "You and Ryota, help Masato. Carry them inside the tent."
Nobu gulped, his hands forming fists. After a second, he said darkly, "As you wish." He picked up Miroku like a sandbag and shouldered him.
The youkai who had tied Sango, obviously Ryota, did likewise with her. "Weighs next to nothing, the little killer…" he mentioned to Nobu. "How can she throw that giant weapon around?"
"I couldn't care less," Nobu said through gritted teeth. "Let's go."
The two set in motion. Slung over the youkai's shoulder, Miroku couldn't see where they were headed. He strained his neck to at least get a look at what happened to his friends.
A youkai was currently tying Kagome's hands. The girl was shivering, seemingly unable to put up a fight. Another youkai walked over to Shippou.
Then Ryota stepped into his field of view. "Curiosity killed the cat," he said lightly.
"It was all my idea," Miroku repeated. "They have nothing -"
"Do I look like I care?" Ryota interrupted. "It seems Masato wants to talk with you. Why don't you tell him?"
"What will he do to them?" Miroku asked, nodding at Kagome. Waiting for the reply, he mustered the youkai. He was smaller than Nobu, but a lot sturdier. His face only showing showing indifference, he was looking at him with his cat-like eyes.
"How should I know?" Ryota replied with a bored voice. "You killed quite a few of us, you know? Now shut up already."
They entered a tent, the fabric blocking Miroku's sight to the outside. Although he could only see part of it from his position, it seemed large – he guessed each side to be at least ten meters long. Somewhere in the back, a little lamp was burning, providing a gloomy lighting. Other than that, the tent was empty.
Suddenly, he fell to the ground. Miroku stifled a cry, falling hard on his hurt arm, and came to lie on his back.
"Oh, clumsy me, I'm so sorry," Nobu said, his voice thick with sarcasm. "Did you hurt yourself?"
Miroku swallowed, then shook his head. "No, I'm all right," he said as evenly as he could, unwilling to give the youkai the satisfaction. "Accidents happen."
He became painfully aware that he and Sango were alone in the tent and at the complete mercy of these two youkai. Their eyes glowed in the half-dark, hinting at how dangerous they were. He could only hope that they were too afraid of Isobe to try anything.
If he had to attempt threatening them, Isobe seemed to be the only name with enough weight. Why they were more afraid of the human than Masato, who was one hell of a fighter, was what puzzled him the most. Something was going on behind the scenes, and he better figure out what it was quickly. Isobe was the obvious leader, but Masato seemed to have a unique position.
"Come on, Nobu," Ryota said, Sango still on his shoulder. "Be glad you're still alive and cut the crap. Masato's already pissed at you as it is."
"The bastards killed four of us," Nobu replied. "And that's without counting Masato's men."
'Masato's men – there are two factions!' Miroku realized. He remembered that Nobu had already mentioned Masato's flunkies before. Maybe there was a leadership quarrel he could use to his advantage?
"So what?" Ryota asked. "Better them than us, eh?" he continued and gave Nobu a clap on the shoulder. "You need to relax a bit, buddy."
He finally heaved Sango from his shoulder and carefully set her on the ground next to Miroku. The monk didn't dare to speak, and just tried to catch Sango's eye. But she didn't look at him at all, crying silently, and turned over in the other direction.
"That damn Masato," Nobu continued, talking more to himself than to Ryota. "If he weren't here-"
Ryota laughed, interrupting Nobu. "You should be grateful to him, you idiot. If Masato hadn't stopped her, this vixen here might have killed a lot more. Like you and me." He stopped and looked down to Sango, saying, "Ain't I right?"
Miroku turned his head to Sango again, but she seemingly hadn't even heard the question. "Kirara…" she mumbled, crying, and curled herself together.
He gulped. He had only seen Kirara being slashed by Masato; but she had always been a tough one. She couldn't be dead, could she? Seeing Sango like this made him fear the worst.
"You can just forgive them like that?" Nobu asked heatedly. "I want to take revenge! We're living beings, damn it!"
"Shut up, you sissy!" Ryota laughed. "You know what? I have an idea." He turned around and went to take a peek outside the tent.
"Looks good!" he said and took his shirt off.
'What the?' Miroku thought as he watched the youkai tear it in two as he walked back.
"What's your name?" Ryota asked, kneeling down before Miroku.
"Wha-" His answer was cut short when Ryota quickly stuffed one part of his shirt into Miroku's mouth.
"What are you planning?" Nobu asked, voicing what Miroku no longer could.
"You said you wanna take revenge, didn't you?" Ryota asked while he secured the makeshift gag. "But Masato will get us if we hurt them."
Miroku tried to spit out the shirt, but couldn't. It tasted like it hadn't been washed in a while. Adrenaline surged through his body once more.
Ryota grinned as he saw the monk squirm. "There, finished," he laughed and turned to Sango.
Miroku tried to warn her. "Mmmmfff!"
He thought he caught her attention, but Ryota was quicker and started to gag her as well. "You know," the youkai said as he finished his work, "judging from how the guy started to blabber that it's all his fault – she's his girl."
"Are you crazy?" Nobu asked after a moment. "She's human, for fuck's sake! Can you never think of anything else?"
"Oh, come on," Ryota said. "Ever since Atsuko and Chika never returned from that castle lord, I haven't been together with a woman. Curse Haruka for being so picky."
"You're disgusting!" Nobu said. "Do you honestly want to screw her right here?"
"MMMFFFFF!" Miroku cried into his gag, struggling with all his might. "MMMF MMMMFF!" He jerked with his arms and kicked with his legs, experiencing a kind of fear he hadn't known before.
"Lord Isobe will be furious!" Nobu continued. "Stop it!"
"You said that you want revenge!" Ryota replied sharply. "If you have a better idea, just let me know. Technically, it's not hurting them, is it?"
Nobu contemplated for a while. Sango had started to struggle as well, finally having snapped out of her stupor. Her muffled shouts thundered in Miroku's ears. 'Stay away from her!' he thought.
"All right. But he has to watch it," Nobu finally said and pointed at Miroku.
"If it turns you on," Ryota laughed.
"It doesn't!" Nobu hissed angrily. "But it's the only revenge I can think of."
Sango was still trying to free herself with all her might.
"Come on, calm down," Ryota said to Sango, inching closer. "You might be dead in a few hours…. Let's have a good time while we still can! You'll like it, I promise!"
'What can I do?' Miroku thought desperately. He tried his best to make noise and grab someone's attention. 'Sango! Leave her alone! She's my girl!'
This earned him another kick in the stomach. "MMFFFF!" Air! He needed air! He breathed as fast as he could through his nose. Sango!
"Shut up, you bastard," Nobu said. "Nobody can hear you like this, anyway."
Ryota grabbed Sango's bound legs and held them against his chest. Sango struggled and kicked, but Ryota didn't seem to care and just held her legs in place with one arm. "She was so sad a moment ago.... Look, she has already cheered up!" He gave Sango a clap to the behind and laughed at her muffled cry.
"When you look at her like this, she's cute, isn't she?" He grabbed one of Sango's breasts and started massaging her through the fabric of her battle suit. Sango cried into her gag and continued struggling with her feet.
Miroku felt tears of anger well in his eyes. He wrenched at his ties so hard they were biting into his wrists, but they wouldn't budge. All the while he continued trying to make noise, but nobody came to help. Even the youkai just ignored him, their eerily glowing eyes fixed on the struggling Sango.
"She's a human! And a freakin' youkai slayer to boot!" Nobu said exasperatedly. "Just get it over with."
"Hey, she's not in the mood yet!" Ryota said defensively, still fondling Sango.
"And I doubt she'll ever be!" Nobu replied. "What if Masato comes in?"
"I guess you're right," Ryota said and looked at Sango. "Seems like the two of us don't have a lot of time, eh? Those pants are very hot, really, but they're kind of in the way. What? You want to get rid of them? So that's why you're kicking so much… I'd be glad to assist you! Yes, yes, I'm a very helpful gentleman. You need not thank me."
He grabbed towards her waist and, with a jerk, pulled Sango's pants down.
Miroku would have given anything to murder Ryota on the spot.
Sitting on the ground, Kagome glanced down at her hands. She had to look like a picture of misery - they had only bound her wrists together, not bothering to restrain her as much as her friends. 'What has Isobe done to me?' she wondered, feeling cold and nauseous.
Trying to stay focused, she looked over to Inuyasha. He lay on the ground twenty meters away. Over the last minutes, he hadn't moved an inch. 'They wouldn't stand watch over him if he were dead,' she told herself once more. Yet her anxious feeling wouldn't vanish - he was seriously hurt and she couldn't even look after him.
She had tried to crawl over, but the youkai looking over her hadn't let her. She glanced up to her guard out of the corner of her eye. He wasn't even looking in her direction, instead following the two youkai that were carrying away the dead.
The security over Inuyasha was much stricter: four youkai formed a circle around him. So far, she hadn't noticed even one of them take their eyes off him for a single second.
"Hey, she's breathing," she heard a voice from the side. The two youkai assigned with cleaning up stood over Haruka. It seemed they had just wanted to drag her off. "Our big sister's still alive!"
"She's like a cockroach," the other grunted, but smiled as well.
They dragged her to a hut and propped her up against the wall, quickly checking her. She still seemed to be unconscious, not having moved an inch since her fight with Sango. The two youkai made sure she sat upright and then went back to continue their work.
Kagome returned to looking about. At first sight, the youkai looked like they were between twenty and thirty years of age. Apart from Haruka, only one of the youkai was female, one of those watching Inuyasha. They were all wearing inconspicuous clothing so that they could have been mistaken for human peasants. It was creepy to watch them, as if she had stumbled upon a cursed village whose inhabitants turned into monsters by night to feed upon any unlucky travelers.
Every time one of them looked at her, she had to suppress a shiver. 'This can't be happening,' she thought. All of them captured. Kirara, dead. Tears formed in her eyes again.
She looked over to Isobe. He was still talking with Masato, though too quietly to follow. 'It's all his fault.' If he hadn't followed them and fought with Inuyasha….
If only she had hit him with her arrow, back in Kaede's village! None of this would have happened.
She heard something and slowly looked to the side, still crying. She saw about fifty villagers, armed with bamboo spears and torches, quickly marching in their direction.
'I'm saved!' was her only thought. A girl captured by youkai – they had to help her.
Isobe and Masato stopped their discussion. The youkai stepped back, leaving the field to Isobe, who went to meet the approaching mob.
"The danger is averted!" Isobe said solemnly when he met up with the villagers. "My youkai have defeated the attackers."
The words invigorated the people, some of them cheering loudly. One man stepped forward. "A great victory!" he said enthusiastically. "Surely, this village has nothing to fear while you reside here."
Isobe bowed. "That's too much of an honor," he replied humbly. "I only did what I could."
Kagome stared at the scene with disbelief. "No!" she shouted weakly. "It's him who -"
This caught the attention of the human leader. "Hey, there is still one alive!" he shouted.
"Wait!" Kagome exclaimed and coughed. "You've got it all wrong! It's him who attacked us! It's not our fault –"
Isobe looked at her sadly. "Why do you keep spilling your lies? Can't you just leave these hardworking people in peace? Your plot has failed."
Kagome stared at him, hearing approving whispers from the humans. She desperately turned to them and shouted, "We helped you two weeks ago! The magpie youkai, you can't have forgotten."
The human leader stepped closer and illuminated her face with his torch. "Really, it's you…" he said.
"Don't let yourself be fooled," Isobe said. "It was all just an act to prepare this attack. You know that I traveled after them, but couldn't find them anywhere. They must have hidden themselves in the forest, waiting for the right moment."
"That's a lie!" Kagome said, the feeling of dread in her stomach growing.
"Yes – your story is all a lie!" Isobe replied. "You may think that you can fool us, but the people living here are smarter than that. Everybody saw that we were attacked. Am I not correct?"
The humans murmured comments of agreement. Isobe turned to them. "My youkai were just giving a performance, and suddenly that hanyou attacked us with that crazy sword of his. It's clearly evil sorcery, changing its shape in the blink of an eye."
"It's a sword that protects humans!" Kagome shouted, starting to cry. "Unlike yours!"
A silence ensued. Then, a human suddenly stepped forward. Kagome thought that she'd seen him before, but where?
He stopped right in front of her. "I don't really understand the situation. But I know one thing: I don't want to be protected by the likes of you," he said, his fists shaking besides him. After a second, he spit at her. "Youkai whore."
With that, he turned around and left at a brisk pace. Kagome stared after him. 'This can't be true...' she thought in terror. She turned to the others who were all staring at her. "Help me!" she shouted, her vision wavering. "For heaven's sake!"
Nobody moved. "Poor Gihei," somebody said in the back rows. "He never was the same after his family was killed..."
Then, a cry split the cool night air. It wasn't even remotely human. Bestial and high-pitched, it made Kagome's heart skip a beat.
She turned around, finding Inuyasha stand with his back to them. Blood dripped thickly from his claws. Two of his guards were lying on the ground, both missing their heads. The other two were running in her direction like the devil was behind them.
Inuyasha turned around, and the temperature seemed to drop. He looked like a monster, his face twisted into a mask of hatred. Malice and chaos lurked in his blood-red eyes.
A collective gasp ran through the humans. Seeing them, Inuyasha dropped into a crouch, baring his fangs and flexing his claws, and unleashed another of his unearthly screams at them.
Then he started after the two fleeing youkai. He took a few leaps on all fours, catching up with them quickly, and then jumped at the female youkai, slashing at her shoulder with a growl.
Kagome flinched when the youkai went down with a cry, Inuyasha coming to sit on her back. The scream ended abruptly when Inuyasha buried his fangs in her neck.
"Damn..." Isobe said with a shaking voice, taking a step back. He turned around to the humans. "Run!" he shouted. "Run as fast as you can!"
He didn't need to tell them twice. The first had already turned around, the others were quick to follow. A few stumbled, the others simply ran over them in a panic.
Masato stared at Inuyasha in disbelief. "What the hell is this?"
"Masato!" Isobe shouted. "Stop him as fast as you can!"
"Why me?" Masato asked. "He's your problem."
Having killed his victim, Inuyasha looked up and immediately hunted after the last fleeing youkai.
"You're the only one who can!" Isobe hissed. "Stop him! Now!"
After taking a deep breath, Masato ran to intercept Inuyasha. The other youkai ran for his life, crying for help. Inuyasha was only meters behind him, quickly catching up, growling loudly. With his face smeared with blood and the glowing red eyes, he looked like a spawn of hell chasing after a soul.
Masato made it in time. Right as Inuyasha was about to strike his prey, Masato crashed into Inuyasha with a loud bang. A cloud of dust raised from the impact, momentarily shielding the scene from view.
Kagome didn't know what to do. This was their chance to defeat them, but to what end? Inuyasha seemed beyond reason, and most of all, the youkai state was as dangerous to him as to those around him. Everything in her screamed to stop him.
She looked to the side, finding Tetsusaiga still sticking in the wall. It could turn Inuyasha back, but could he carry on the fight without borrowing the power of his youkai blood?
Suddenly, something tugged harshly at her hair, jerking her head up.
"Don't even think of running, you little bitch," Isobe whispered into her ear, his voice dripping with venom. "Stop him."
Author rantings:
A new chapter almost within a month! I'm actually very happy that I managed to post a chapter quickly, even if it's probably a bit short.
It's almost exactly a year since I took up this story again – time to reminisce. I guess some scenes turned out too long. From a cynical perspective, it looks like hardly anything happened and everything was just one big (and somewhat dull) transition. The plot had probably become a bit too complex for a beginner like me to handle. There were too many loose ends, and I felt like I had to tie them up at least provisorily. I maybe should have spent less time doing so.
Sometimes I wonder what the hell had gotten into me when I started this project. I had never written nor planned a story before, and to start with something so big was probably not the smartest idea.^^ What seemed cool and fitting back then, now seems unnecessarily fragmented. For instance, the Souta plot might have made an interesting story on its own. I'm looking forward to continuing it, but for the moment this part is put on ice and that still feels unsatisfactory.
I think I've lost a lot of readers due to my lacking expertise. The number of reviews has dropped considerably, mirroring this development.
However!
The last few chapters finally feel like they're back on track. They don't seem to drag on to me, and it was exciting to write them. I have a good idea of where I'm heading and I hope that this has led (and will continue to lead) to a more coherent reading experience.
There's this story I want to tell, and I feel like I've finally managed to pick up the thread again. I'm really looking forward to writing the next chapters, and I'm sure that they'll be thrilling to read.
In that light, thank you for sticking with me for this year, I'll do my best so you won't regret it. See you in the next chapter, "The frayed ends of sanity"!