Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha!
Author's note: This one-shot was originally posted under my old account Taney and takes place very early on in the series. Feedback is greatly appreciated, as always; I do so love hearing your thoughts. :) Hope you enjoy!
Subterfuge
"A week!? What the hell do you need a week for?"
Kagome's jaw clenched, a vein beginning to throb in her temple.
"I told you, Inuyasha. I have to study for my exams."
"So? You can study here," Inuyasha said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Isn't that why you carry around all those weird heavy scrolls?"
Kagome sighed in frustration. "Yes, but I can't concentrate as well here as I can at home."
"Why not?"
"Oh, I don't know, Inuyasha," Kagome bit out. "Maybe because by the time you finally let us make camp, I'm so exhausted I can barely keep my eyes open long enough to eat, let alone study."
Inuyasha's ears flattened to his skull. "Hunting for jewel shards is important, Kagome."
"So are my grades!"
"Kagome-sama, Inuyasha," Miroku interjected, his hands raised diplomatically. "Surely there's no need for you to yell at one another. There must be some way to calmly settle this dispute."
"Yeah. If she agrees to stay," Inuyasha retorted.
"Ugh, you're impossible!" Kagome exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "I'm leaving, and that's that. Hachi-san!"
From across the campfire, the tanuki demon tensed, looking fearfully at Kagome. "Yes, Kagome-sama?"
"You're taking me home. Right now."
Inuyasha leapt to his feet.
"No you're not! You'd better sit your ass back down, badger."
"I'm not a badger," Hachi whined. "I'm a raccoon dog!"
"Feh, close enough—"
"OSUWARI!" Kagome yelled, her anger at the pig-headed hanyou finally boiling over.
There was a loud thud as Inuyasha slammed into the ground, smothering the campfire beneath him. Without another word, Kagome snatched up her backpack and clambered onto Hachi's inflated form.
"What an idiot," Shippo said, shaking his head sadly at Inuyasha as Kagome flew away into the night sky.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, Inuyasha!
Still seething hours later, Kagome sat huddled atop Hachi's back, glaring down the horizon. The moon and stars shone beautifully that night, but her mood was so foul that she couldn't bring herself to enjoy the sight. It wasn't until the trees suddenly broke and a sprawling castle came into view that Kagome was pulled from her internal mutterings.
"Wow," she said, leaning over as much as she dared. "Hachi-san, could you fly a little lower?"
As they descended, Kagome was able to make out the details of the castle. She looked in awe at the many tiled roofs, the ponds, the gardens. Like most little girls, Kagome too had once dreamed of becoming a fairytale princess and living in a castle like this one. But so far her own fairytale had turned out to be nothing more than a tireless scavenger hunt, and Inuyasha was far from her idea of a prince charming…
"Demon! Demon in the sky!"
The sudden shout jolted Kagome from her musings. Dozens of torches had appeared along the castle walls, and there was the sound of horns, the gleam of armor in the flickering firelight.
"Hachi-san, get us out of here!" Kagome yelled as an arrow sailed past her face.
They began to rise until Hachi let out a yelp of pain, his inflated form vanishing beneath her with a small pop. In a split second Kagome was falling. She had barely begun to scream when she plunged deep beneath the surface of one of the castle ponds, striking her head on a rock at the bottom.
Then the world went black.
Naraku sat alone in his room, staring at the shards of the Shikon no Tama. They glittered darkly on his palm, a testament to his growing power. But these shards alone would not suffice. In order to defeat Inuyasha, he would need more. In order to become invincible, he would need them all.
The power and immortality of a true demon—that was what he sought, that was what the Sacred Jewel would grant him. And then the restlessness that had plagued him these past fifty years would finally subside.
"Kagewaki-sama."
With his "father" away from the castle, the guards and servants now reported to him. A minor annoyance, nothing more.
His eyes, now brown, flicked to the shouji screen. "Yes?"
"A demon was brought down over the castle grounds. The youkai escaped, but the young woman with him was left behind. I found this around her neck."
Naraku slid back the screen. In his servant's hand was a small pendant of Jewel shards, strung on a fine silver chain. Naraku recognized the necklace at once.
"Does the girl live?" he asked, taking the pendant.
"Yes, Kagewaki-sama. She's unconscious, but alive."
"Take me to her."
As the servant led him to the girl, Naraku could not help but smile at his good fortune. A sizable chunk of the Sacred Jewel had fallen, quite literally, into his hands, along with Inuyasha's only apparent means of shard detection. The only question was what to do with the girl now that he had her.
"Kagewaki-sama?"
He realized that he was standing before a door—perhaps had been standing there for a while now—and that the servant was looking at him in concern. He inclined his head, and the man bowed, retreating quickly down the hall.
Naraku entered the room, sliding the screen shut behind him. The girl was still fast asleep, the bandage around her forehead stained with a small spot of blood at her right temple. He approached her and knelt at her side.
Kagome, he believed, was her name.
When Kagome opened her eyes, the world was a blur. Pain lanced through her skull as she tried to sit up, bile rising in her throat.
"Lie back down," a voice said, as if from far away.
Then a pair of hands were on her shoulders, pushing her gently to the floor. Kagome closed her eyes and waited for the dizziness to fade.
"Where am I?" she managed weakly.
"You are at Hitomi castle," the voice answered smoothly. "I am Hitomi Kagewaki."
Kagome's eyes opened a fraction, and soon Kagewaki's face came into focus. He was a handsome man, with pale skin and sharp features. His eyes were a deep, dark brown, his hair cascading down his shoulders in inky waves.
And he had Jewel shards. Lots of Jewel shards.
"What happened to me? I—I feel awful."
"You suffered quite a fall, I'm told," Kagewaki replied. "Had you not landed in one of the deeper ponds, you might not have survived."
Yes, Kagome thought as her memories came rushing back. I was on my way home when I saw the castle and wanted to get a closer look. So I asked Hachi-san to fly lower and—
Her eyes shot open.
"Hachi-san! He—he was struck by one of the guard's arrows…"
"The badger youkai?" Kagewaki ventured. "My servant told me that it escaped shortly after being shot down."
Kagome's concern turned swiftly to anger. She sat up suddenly, her face red with indignation.
"And he just left me here!? That baka! How am I supposed to get home now? Inuyasha won't be expecting me for at least a week—maybe he won't even come after me since we got into such a huge fight. There's no way I'll make it back in time," she said in despair, holding her face in her hands. "I'm going to fail my exams. I'm going to be a middle school dropout. I…I'm…"
Kagome's face paled, her vision darkening. As she pitched to the side, arms went around her, easing her back to the bedroll once again. In her outrage at Hachi, Kagome had completely forgotten that Kagewaki was even there.
There was something strange about this man. It prickled at her senses, but her beleaguered mind couldn't quite puzzle it out. So she lay back, her eyelids heavy curtains coming to a close.
"Rest now," Kagewaki said, rising to his feet.
Before he turned to leave, Kagome caught a glimpse of his face. It must have been her foggy vision, but in that moment she looked up at him, she could have sworn his eyes were red.
When Kagome finally woke, sunlight was streaming through the windows of her room. She yawned, stretching her arms. The pain in her temple had dulled, and she actually felt refreshed. It seemed like an eternity had passed since the last time she'd slept in an actual bed.
Slowly she sat up, rubbing at the stiffness in the back of her neck. Kagewaki was nowhere to be seen, and Kagome wondered if her encounter with him had merely been a dream. But the castle was real enough. The room around her was richly furnished, and she looked admiringly at the painted screens, the ebony tables, the benches with their cushions of embroidered green silk. On one of the tables sat a polished stone basin and a mirror with an ornate sliver frame. Kagome rose and approached the table, dreading what the looking glass would reveal.
Her hair was a tangled mess, as she'd expected, but the damage to the side of her face didn't seem to be too severe. Carefully, she unwrapped the bandage around her head, wincing as the dried blood tore at her skin. The gash above her right temple was ugly but shallow, a trickle of blood seeping from the wound now that the scab had been ripped away. Kagome dipped a cloth into the basin and dabbed at the spot until the bleeding finally stopped. She didn't doubt that the cut would leave a scar, but at least her bangs would hide it from view.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a tray of food next to the screen door and quickly padded over to it across the tatami mats, suddenly ravenous. The pork was a little cold from sitting out, but Kagome had never tasted anything so delicious. She had barely finished devouring the last of the rice when the shouji screen slid open, and an elderly woman appeared.
The woman gave Kagome a bow. "A bath has been prepared for you."
A bath sounded wonderful. Kagome followed the servant down the hall and a series of stairs until they reached the bathhouse. At the door, the woman bowed again and left.
The bathhouse was as beautiful as the rest of the castle. Colored lanterns hung from the ceiling, casting the room in a soft, otherworldly glow. The walls were made of rich brown wood and lined with candles and flowering plants. Carved wooden columns descended from the roof to the floor, surrounding the large circular bath in the center. Steam rose from the fragrant water, petals drifting lazily across the surface.
Stripping off her white yukata, Kagome slipped into the water with a sigh. For a while she simply sat there, letting the heat soothe her aching muscles. She wondered what Inuyasha and the others were up to and whether he was still angry with her. Sometimes she forgot that the worlds they belonged to were five hundred years apart. Naturally, he wouldn't understand the importance of her studies, and instead of trying to help him understand, she'd just yelled at him and sat him. Feeling guilty, Kagome sank lower into the pool.
By the time she'd finished washing her hair, the screen door slid open, and the elderly woman from before stepped into the room. At her heels was another servant—a young girl—carrying a pile of boxes in her arms. When the girl attempted to bow, the top box slipped from the stack and nearly fell into the bath, earning her a reproachful look from her superior.
"Kagewaki-sama wishes you to join him for tea," the woman said. "Your…clothes are being washed. Please choose one of these kimonos to wear instead."
Five kimonos were paraded before her, each more lovely than the last. Kagome finally settled on one that was pale green, with a dusting of blue and silver flowers on the skirt and sleeves. As the servants dried and dressed her, Kagome couldn't fathom why she was being given such royal treatment when she was essentially a trespasser.
After cinching the blue obi around her waist, the servants proceeded to brush her hair and argue over which set of jeweled combs would best suit her. If Kagome didn't know better, she'd say that the two were enjoying themselves immensely.
When at last they were finished, the girl took her by the hand, leading her over to a tall mirror in a corner of the room. Kagome's eyes widened at her reflection—she looked like a figure from a painting.
"Wow," she breathed, turning to the servants. "I don't know what to say…."
The older woman smiled. "It has been a long time since we had a lady to serve."
"You look so pretty!" The young girl exclaimed, beaming.
Kagome returned their smiles. "Thank you."
As the girl hurried away with her pile of boxes, Kagome followed the older servant outside to a covered patio where Kagewaki sat waiting. After dismissing the servant with a nod, he gestured to the cushion opposite his.
"Please sit."
Kagome knelt down, folding her hands in her lap. So he was real after all.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, reaching for the kettle atop the small table between them.
"Much better, thank you," Kagome replied. She swallowed slightly. "Kagewaki-sama, I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you…"
Kagewaki's sudden laughter startled her into silence.
"Trouble? No," he said, pouring them both a cup of tea. "Nothing could be further from the truth. However, I must ask you…"
He handed her a teacup.
"…What is your name?"
Kagome's cheeks burst into flame. She couldn't believe she'd been so rude as to not introduce herself—not only to Kagewaki but to the servants as well.
"Higurashi," she replied. "Higurashi Kagome."
His lips curved into a smile. "Kagome…such a lovely name."
Somehow, her blush managed to deepen.
"I believe I have something of yours, Kagome-san," he said, placing an object on the table.
When he removed his hand, her necklace was revealed, the pendant of Jewel shards completely intact. Kagome felt incredibly foolish—she hadn't even realized her shards were missing until now. Inuyasha would have been furious.
"My servants took it upon themselves to confiscate your possessions," Kagewaki explained. "Please understand that this was not done on my order. Your belongings are being returned to you as we speak. Although I must admit, I'm a bit curious as to why you possess such a large fragment of the Shikon no Tama."
Kagome looked at him in surprise. Not many humans were aware of the Jewel's existence. Less still could identify it on sight.
"My friends and I have been collecting the shards in our travels," she said carefully, returning the pendant to its place at the base of her throat.
"A very dangerous item to collect," Kagewaki said, his eyes sharp. "Could one of these friends be the youkai that abandoned you here?"
"More of an acquaintance, actually," Kagome muttered. "He's a terrible coward."
"And your other friends? Will they search for you?"
Kagome's eyes fell, her hand rising unconsciously to her necklace.
Of course Inuyasha will look for me, she thought with a stab of bitterness. Even if he cares nothing for me, I'm the one who holds the Shikon shards.
"They will," she said. "It could be a while before they start looking, though. I was supposed to be going home for a week. That was where Hachi-san was taking me when we flew too close to your castle."
"And do you live very far from here?"
The corner of Kagome's mouth twitched. "You could say that."
"Then perhaps it would be best if you remained at my castle and waited for your companions to arrive," Kagewaki said graciously. "In the meantime, you can rest and recover from your injury."
"Kagewaki-sama…" Kagome began uncertainly. "Not that I'm ungrateful, but why are you doing all this? The room, the servants, the kimonos…I just don't understand."
Kagewaki set his empty teacup down on the table.
"Visitors have become scarce here," he replied amiably. "We have more than enough resources to accommodate a single guest. But that aside, I suppose it's because…"
He paused, an unreadable expression in his eyes.
"Because you remind me of someone. Someone I haven't seen in a very long time."
Naraku found that it was always best to temper lies with the truth—and Kagome did look remarkably like Kikyo. But hours after his admission, he still felt strangely unsettled. So many years had passed since he'd last thought of that woman. Her death had angered him greatly. Instead of using the Shikon no Tama to heal herself, she'd chosen to have it burned along with her body, sacrificing herself in order to keep the Jewel from becoming corrupted. In doing so she had denied him of everything he had desired, leaving him utterly bereft.
Alone.
He pushed the thought from his mind. He told himself that he had only gone to such lengths to accommodate Kagome so that she would be more inclined to remain here until Inuyasha's arrival. Chaining her in the dungeons would have aroused suspicion amongst his servants; perhaps one of them would have been tempted to help her escape. No, it was easier to let them all think that she was an honored guest—Kagome herself included. In the meantime he could question the girl about his enemies and prepare for the battle to come. With Kagome's shards easily accessible, his victory against Inuyasha was all but guaranteed.
It was only a matter of time now.
As Naraku rounded the corner, he suddenly saw her. She was leaning against the balcony railing, staring up at the night sky. Her hair had all but escaped from the jeweled combs and now fell about her back and shoulders in a tumble of black silk. The neck of her kimono had been opened slightly, and her pale skin glowed in the moonlight. Drawing back into the shadows, Naraku let his eyes roam from her collarbone to the delicate angle of her jaw. He traced the curve of her lips, the tip of her nose. Her eyes glittered in the darkness, reflecting the light from the stars.
There was a peacefulness in her expression, a lightness that Naraku could not place. Perhaps this is how Kikyo would have looked had she not been burdened with the task of protecting the Sacred Jewel.
"Kagewaki-sama?"
With a start, Naraku realized she had spotted him. He stepped from the shadows.
"Forgive me, Kagome-san," he said smoothly. "I didn't mean to intrude."
She gave him a small smile. "No, it's all right. To be honest, I'm not sure how long I've been standing here staring. Where I'm from you can't really see the stars—not like this, anyway."
Naraku's eyes narrowed a fraction. What place was there where one couldn't see the stars?
"Would you like to join me?" she asked.
Naraku nodded in assent. As he approached her, he noticed that she was barefoot, her sandals laying off to the side. Her obi had been loosened, and it hung seductively low about her narrow waist. Standing next to her, Naraku gripped the balcony railing a little harder than was strictly necessary.
For a while they stood there in silence, Naraku glancing at her from time to time. Once, he saw the breeze lift her hair, revealing the gash above her temple. The wound wasn't as severe as he would've expected, and he wondered whether Kagome's spiritual powers had prevented her from sustaining as much harm as a normal human would. When the time came for battle, he would need to be careful not to underestimate her abilities.
But somehow, in the calmness of her presence, the thought of battle wasn't as appealing to him as it had been before. He could feel the warmth that radiated from her body, detect the subtle fragrance of her hair. As he began to relax next to her, he sensed her eyes upon him.
"Kagewaki-sama, may I ask you a question?"
"Of course, Kagome-san," he replied absently.
"Are you a half-demon?"
Naraku tensed. Whatever question he had expected her to ask, it had not been that. He had been very careful to suppress his youki when he was around her. She shouldn't have been able to detect that he was not human.
He turned to her slowly. "Why would you ask such a thing?"
"When I first woke up here, I sensed a strange aura about you," Kagome said, holding his gaze. "I couldn't place it at first, but the more I thought about it, the more it reminded me of Inu—of the aura surrounding another half-demon I know. Also, the Jewel shards in your palm have a very dark glow, which made me think that you must have youkai blood."
Naraku said nothing. At some point he had let his control slip, and she had discovered his demonic nature. With that knowledge and the corrupted Jewel shards he possessed, he felt certain she was on the verge of uncovering his true identity. His plan had been destroyed. He would have to kill her now and find another way to defeat Inuyasha. He watched Kagome intently, waiting for his real name to escape her lips and seal her fate.
Instead, he felt her hand settle onto his own.
"I'm sorry if I've upset you," Kagome said. "You've been very kind to me, Kagewaki-sama. It doesn't matter to me whether you're a hanyou or not."
Naraku looked at her in disbelief. Despite all the evidence before her, she had failed to realize who he was simply because he'd treated her kindly. Such a naïve little girl. Kikyo would have never been so easily deceived.
Yet he was relieved. He still had a chance to salvage his plan if he chose his next words carefully…
"My mother, the lady of this castle, once fell victim to a spider youkai," Naraku said. "That youkai was my father."
Kagome's eyes widened. "And her husband never knew?"
"To this day he does not know," Naraku replied. "Nor do any of the servants. My mother loved me despite the circumstances of my birth and was careful to keep my parentage a secret. The lord of Hitomi castle is not a tolerant man. Had he discovered that I was not his son, he would have killed us both. He would kill me even now if he uncovered the truth."
"But you could defend yourself, couldn't you?"
Naraku smiled bitterly. "Not all half-demons are strong, Kagome-san. The spider youkai venom in my blood has weakened me since birth. Only Sacred Jewel shards have been able to restore my health. That's why the servants brought your necklace to me."
He could see the comprehension dawn in her eyes, his lies knitting neatly together the pieces of her own observations. Poor Kagewaki-sama, she must be thinking. Well she could pity him all she liked. Perhaps some of her concern might reach the real Hitomi Kagewaki in whatever hell Naraku had sent him to.
The sound of her voice drew him back from his dark recollections.
"Earlier today you said that I reminded you of someone," Kagome said softly. "Were you referring to your mother?"
Naraku hesitated. As he looked at her, he felt himself being transported to another time and place, to a small cave on the outskirts of a village. A priestess knelt over him, and his heart clenched as he beheld her face. The same face that was before him now, only inches out of reach.
"Yes," he said at last, barely resisting the urge to touch her. "My mother."
Kagome smiled warmly, and his image of Kikyo shattered, leaving him numb.
"Thank you," she said, rising on her toes to lightly kiss his cheek.
In a heartbeat she had withdrawn her hand from where it rested atop his own and retrieved her sandals. Naraku watched in stunned silence as she slid open the shouji screen and disappeared into her room. In the absence of her touch his hand felt so very cold, his cheek still tingling in the spot where her lips had brushed his skin.
Shutting the screen door behind her, Kagome slid to the floor in a heap of mortification. She could not believe what she'd just done. Any second now the guards would surely barge into her room and arrest her for acts of unwanted physical contact against their young lord. Maybe if she begged hard enough she could get them to just kill her on the spot.
She groaned in embarrassment, dragging herself over to her bedroll and burying her burning face in the soft, cool fabric. Never in her entire life had she kissed a guy like that. But he'd looked so vulnerable in that moment of hesitation, so…
She sighed, rolling over onto her back. Her fingers closed lightly around the pendant of Jewel shards that rested below her throat.
Even though his youkai blood causes him pain, he returned these shards to me freely…
Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice at the other screen door.
"Kagome-sama, we've come to help you undress."
The shouji screen slid open, and the two servants from earlier stepped into her room. As Kagome rose to greet them, she noticed that the younger servant was carrying her own clothes in a neatly folded stack.
"Thank you," Kagome said as her uniform was placed into her hands. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself to you earlier. Will you please tell me your names?"
The older servant smiled, bowing to her slightly. "There is no need for you to apologize, Kagome-sama. My name is Sachiko."
"And I'm Miyu!" the younger servant said excitedly, pushing her short brown hair out of her eyes.
"It's nice to meet you both. Have you always served here at the castle?"
"Yes, since we were both very young," Sachiko said. "Although for me, that was a very long time ago."
Miyu laughed. "Sachiko-baa-chan is older than most of the trees that grow in the gardens."
Sachiko gave Miyu a halfhearted glare. "Some, perhaps. Not most."
"And how old are you, Miyu-chan?" Kagome asked.
Miyu grinned widely. "I'm eleven-and-a-half years old!"
"Wow, that's practically grown up!"
Miyu nodded enthusiastically. "My mother says she'll have to find a match for me soon. I hope my husband is tall because most of the boys I know are shorter than me. There is this one boy, Muharu-kun, who—"
"Miyu," Sachiko interrupted, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It is getting late. I'm sure Kagome-sama is very tired."
Miyu blushed, clapping her hands together and bowing her head. "Gomen nasai, Kagome-sama."
"No, it's all right, really—" Kagome said, before her own yawn cut her off.
She grinned sheepishly. "I guess I am kind of tired..."
In a matter of minutes, the servants had removed and boxed her kimono, and Kagome was dressed in a soft white yukata once again. As the two set to work removing the jeweled combs from the tangle of her hair, Kagome reddened, wondering what Kagewaki must have thought of her disheveled appearance. Her hair had always had a will of its own, and though she found kimonos incredibly beautiful, Kagome also found them incredibly uncomfortable, so she'd loosened it a bit. But if she'd had even the slightest idea that she was going to run into Kagewaki, she would've made some effort to appear more refined.
I must have looked like an absolute train wreck to him, Kagome thought in despair.
The young lord was a very elegant man. Every wavy lock seemed artfully placed, from the bangs that touched below his brow to the strands that framed his face. His manner was so gentlemanly, and he carried himself with the kind of confidence and grace that Kagome suspected only a noble man could. In short, he was the exact opposite of Inuyasha.
But although Inuyasha was brash and ill-mannered, there was a warmth in him that Kagewaki lacked. A chill that hung in the air around him. Though he had confessed his secret to her, Kagome sensed that there was still much more that she did not know. There was a turmoil in him, a war that he had been waging his whole life. Like Inuyasha, he could choose whether or not to give in to his demonic nature, but in Kagewaki's case, Kagome could not quite fathom how far the scales had already tipped.
She remembered the dark glow of the Jewel shards embedded in his palm. Would Kagewaki, like Naraku, become a slave to their promise of power?
"Kagome-sama, are you feeling well?"
Kagome blinked, turning toward Sachiko with a smile. "Sorry, Sachiko-san, I tend to get lost in thought."
"Kagome-sama," the older servant began a bit uncertainly, "although we have given you back your own clothes, would you mind if we returned tomorrow morning to dress you in another kimono? If you'd rather not, I understand…it's just that I used to help Lady Hitomi dress everyday, and, well, when she passed away so suddenly, I…"
Kagome's eyes prickled as she stepped forward, clasping Sachiko's hands in her own. "I'd be honored, Sachiko-san."
The two servants bid her goodnight, Miyu loitering at the door until Sachiko took her by the arm and led her away. Exhausted, Kagome sank gratefully into the softness of her bed. She closed her eyes, and in her dreams she met a spider who had a human face.
Kagome spent the better part of the next day avoiding Kagewaki. In the time that had passed since their encounter, her embarrassment had only grown, and she was torn between her desire to see him and her fear of how he might act towards her if they crossed paths again. So when she'd seen him walking down one hallway, she'd changed paths. When she'd heard the servants say that he was going for a stroll in the western gardens, she'd headed east. It was just too beautiful of a day to sit inside.
She leaned against the trunk of a Japanese maple, wiggling her bare toes in the soft grass. Propped open in her lap was her English textbook. Her yellow backpack lay off to the side, next to an aged stone lantern that seemed to sprout up from the ground itself.
"Let's see…The farmer taked—I mean, took—his cows and pigs to the market. He selled—no, wait—he sold them for four hundred and…seventeen?"
Kagome removed her hand from the English translation.
"The farmer took his cows and pigs to the market. He sold them for four hundred and sixteen dollars. Sixteen—not seventeen." She sighed in frustration. "I don't think I'm ever going to learn this…"
"What do those symbols mean?"
Kagome jumped in surprise, her stomach fluttering at the sound of his voice. She'd been so distracted by her mistakes that she hadn't even heard the pebbles crunch as Kagewaki approached her from the garden path.
She turned, looking back at him over her shoulder. He was leaning against the maple tree, staring at her book in mild confusion. Kagome rose to her feet to face him.
"These symbols make up a language called English," she explained, pointing at the letters in her book. "Where I'm from, it's very important that we learn this language."
He took the textbook from her hands, flipping through the pages with interest. "This is a very unusual scroll."
"It's actually called a book. I have several more just like it…"
She rummaged through her backpack, extracting her stack of textbooks. When she realized that Kagewaki was holding her Japanese history book, she paled. She couldn't believe she'd packed that one—she was usually very careful to leave it at home.
"Oh, that book's not very interesting at all!" she said quickly, snatching it back from him with a nervous laugh.
He raised an eyebrow but said nothing, moving on to her mathematics book. For the next hour or so, he read through it with her. Kagome was amazed by how quickly he grasped the concepts of algebra and geometry, and Kagewaki admitted that he'd always had a knack for numbers.
Eventually, though, the discussion of school subjects ended, and a tense silence reigned in its place. As the seconds ticked by, Kagome realized that she needed to say something—anything. If this tension didn't break soon, she felt certain she'd implode.
She took a deep breath. "Kagewaki-sama, about last night…"
"Why did you thank me?" he said abruptly, catching Kagome completely off guard.
"I…" she began, fighting the impulse to squirm under the intensity in his eyes. "I was thanking you for sharing your secret with me even though it must have been very difficult for you. And for complimenting me by saying that I remind you of your mother."
"And the kiss you gave me?" His voice was low, his face mere inches from her own. "Was that also just an expression of your thanks?"
Kagome blushed, her heart pounding in her chest. He was so close. She could feel his breath ghosting over her skin, his fingertips touching hers through the grass. His eyes were dark and bottomless, drawing her inexorably in.
"No," she said, her lashes lowering as she leaned in and pressed her lips to his.
At the contact Kagewaki went rigid, and Kagome quickly pulled away from him, feeling like a fool. She kept her back to him as she stood, her nose beginning to burn.
How could I have done something so stupid? she berated herself, stung by his rejection. I misunderstood him completely.
"I'm sorry that I've offended you," she said thickly, beginning to walk away.
She had barely taken a step when she felt his hand latch onto her wrist. Kagome turned to him, her eyes brimming. As he stepped forward and took her face in his hands, a few hot tears spilled onto her cheeks.
"No," Kagewaki said, tilting her head back. "You have not."
He slanted his mouth against hers, his fingers threading through her hair. Kagome tentatively returned his kiss, grasping his upper arms for support when her knees began to weaken. She could feel the corded muscle beneath his sleeves and found it vaguely odd that he doubted his strength. But then he slipped his tongue between her lips, and all coherent thought promptly ceased.
When at last they parted, breathless, Kagewaki's hands fell to her shoulders, his forehead resting lightly against hers. Kagome clutched his arms a little harder. It seemed to her that he alone was keeping her anchored to the earth. She'd felt her very soul awaken under his kiss. There had been a flood of inexplicable recognition, a thrill of fear.
"Who are you?" she breathed.
Kagewaki drew back, releasing her shoulders. His brow was furrowed in perplexity.
"Kagome, what's wrong? Did I…" He looked away, frowning. "Did I displease you in some way?"
Guilt stabbed through her at his dejected expression. She raised her hand to his cheek, and he turned, meeting her eyes once again.
"No, you were wonderful," she said, blushing. "It's just that I…"
His eyes were gazing so earnestly into her own. Kagome gaped, feeling like an idiot yet again. Perhaps what she had felt when they kissed had been nothing more than what anyone else feels when they're falling in love.
Wait…in love?
Her jaw snapped shut. Was it possible? Could she really be falling in love with him after such a short time?
Then suddenly she remembered that he was still waiting for her reply.
"Never mind," she said, taking his hands in hers. "It's nothing."
No, Kagome was nothing like Kikyo, though they shared the same face. Kikyo had been lovely in the cold, detached way that a statue is lovely. But Kagome's beauty was vibrant and warm, tangible. And ever since their encounter on the balcony, Naraku had been unable to think of anything else. He'd sought her out the next day, despite her rather obvious attempts at avoiding him. He had simply needed to see her, to be with her. That need had only become stronger once he discovered that Kagome returned his affections.
But he was growing tired of this charade.
Her laughter, her smile, her touch—these were all for Kagewaki, not for him. How pathetic he felt, coveting his own disguise. But he knew what would happen if he revealed his true identity. He could see her brilliant eyes clouding with revulsion and fear, her pretty smile withering on her lips.
She would despise him.
"I finally convinced Sachiko to play 'Go Fish' with Miyu, Aki and I. She kept saying that she wasn't very good at games, but that was all false modesty," Kagome said with a grin. "She won five games straight!"
Three days had passed since their kiss beneath the maple tree. Three wonderful, agonizing days. Every afternoon he'd pretend to meet her by accident, and they would spend hours wandering through the castle and gardens together. He would ask her about her family, her friends. Sometimes she would talk about Inuyasha and the monk called Miroku, but Naraku now found himself far less eager to discuss the half-demon—especially when he saw the way her eyes lit up despite the long list of complaints she had against him.
"Inuyasha is just so stubborn," she said now as they meandered along one of the garden paths, her arm looped through his. "Once he's made his mind up about something, it's pretty much impossible to change it. Even if he's dead wrong." The corners of her lips rose. "In fact, it seems like the more wrong he is, the more stubborn he becomes."
And he will be determined to find you, Naraku thought, glancing at the pendant of Jewel shards that hung from her neck.
Soon enough Inuyasha would arrive at the castle, and Naraku would be faced with a choice. He could either let Kagome leave or reveal himself and kill the half-demon as he'd originally intended. No matter his decision, he knew he would lose her.
He opened his hand, studying the Jewel shards that had, for once, become an afterthought to him. Could he have been wrong in thinking that the Shikon no Tama could bring peace to his soul? For the first time in fifty years, Naraku allowed himself to doubt.
He clenched his fist, absorbing the shards into his skin. Across from him Kagome stood, leaning over the railing of the small arched bridge and looking down into the pond below. When he approached her, she turned slightly, smiling up at him, and Naraku had never been more unsure.
"Do the fish have names?" she asked.
"Not that I know of," Naraku replied, standing beside her.
"Well, they should. You should name them."
He laughed lightly. "Very well. I name them all 'Kagome'."
"What?—even that fat pale one over there? He looks more like a 'Kagewaki' to me."
"Such cruel words," Naraku said solemnly, despite his smirk. "You wound me."
She tilted her head to the side, a tiny smile playing at her lips as she regarded him. "Somehow I doubt that."
In the light of the dying sun, she was radiantly beautiful. Her eyes glowed with warmth and affection, her dark hair lit red as the kimono that clung to her frame. Could it be that the strange land from which she hailed was another world entirely?
Frowning, Naraku reached out, his fingers combing lightly through her hair. His change in mood seemed to startle her, and she looked at him in innocent confusion.
"Kagome, I…" Naraku began uncertainly.
"Kagewaki-sama! Kagewaki-sama!"
Naraku's hand fell to his side as he turned toward the sound, his jaw clenched in anger at the interruption. Four guards approached him, prodding along with their spears what appeared to be an overlarge badger.
"Hachi-san!" Kagome exclaimed.
"Kagome-sama, please help me!" the youkai wailed pathetically, earning him a spearpoint in the rump.
"Kagewaki-sama, we found this demon sneaking around the castle walls," said one of the guards. "He begged us for an audience with your lordship."
Naraku eyed the youkai's quivering form with disdain.
"Speak, demon," he said coldly.
"Please, my lord, I didn't mean to trespass! I only wanted to make sure that Kagome-sama was well and to take her home," the creature babbled.
"Well, it sure took you long enough," Kagome snapped. "I guess it finally dawned on you that Miroku-sama and Inuyasha would hunt you down once they realized I was missing."
The demon hung his head in shame. "Forgive me, Kagome-sama."
Kagome let out a weary sigh. "Okay, Hachi-san. Just let me gather my things."
Before Naraku could say a word otherwise, Kagome was sprinting off toward her room, leaving him with the guards and the demon.
"You are dismissed," he said to the guards. "This youkai is clearly not a threat."
The guards bowed to him and left the gardens. Rage boiled within Naraku, and as soon as they were gone, he let his youki flare out, causing the demon to yelp in terror. He could scarcely believe that such a worthless youkai had come to steal Kagome away. Worse still, he knew that he could not kill the wretch without endangering his own cause.
"Please don't hurt me," the youkai sobbed, lying prostrate on the ground.
Naraku ignored the sniveling creature, reigning in his demonic aura with difficulty as he made his way to Kagome's room.
As he approached her door, two servants emerged from her room, the younger one in tears. The older servant gave him a pitying glance as she hurried the girl along, and Naraku resisted the impulse to kill her for it.
He slid back the shouji screen and stepped into Kagome's room. She was wearing her strange foreign clothes once again and cramming her possessions into the large yellow sack she called a backpack. She looked up in surprise as he shut the screen behind him.
"Kagewaki?"
He folded his hands in his sleeves, hiding his clenched fists. "So you are leaving, then."
"I have to," Kagome replied. "I still might have a chance to pass the exams I told you about."
"And after that, will you return?"
She averted her eyes and began fiddling with one of the straps on her backpack. Naraku knew then what her answer would be.
"Yes," she said slowly. "But not here, not to the castle."
Naraku fought to keep the anger out of his voice.
"Why not?"
"My friends need my help. I can't just abandon them now."
Of course. Inuyasha needed her to locate the Jewel shards for him. But was it her sense of obligation alone that bound her to the half-demon? Naraku's eyes narrowed, a cold ancient jealousy overtaking him.
"Are you in love with Inuyasha?"
"What?" she exclaimed, reddening. "Why would you ask me that?"
"Why else would you be so eager to leave?" he retorted. "As if our time together has meant nothing to you. As if I…"
He stopped himself, gritting his teeth.
As if I mean nothing to you.
"This isn't easy for me," Kagome said, her eyes taking on a peculiar sheen as she rose from the floor. "Being here with you…it's been like a dream to me. But I have responsibilities. And I…" She swallowed, turning away. "I have to go."
Naraku strode forward, taking her in his arms. He wanted to tell her who he really was, explain to her that she didn't need to continue on in this quest to defeat him. He wanted to tell her that she had eclipsed Kikyo in his mind, that he would not make the same mistake he'd made fifty years ago. But the desperation welled up inside him, and in the end all he said was: "Stay with me."
For her, he could go on pretending if he must. He could be her Kagewaki. He could be the man she wanted, he knew he could.
But in his arms she shifted, drawing back from him. Her fingers trailed down his arms as she moved away.
"I can't," she said tremulously.
He watched as she lifted the yellow bag onto her shoulders with shaking hands, watched as she lingered at the door, refusing his silent appeal to look back at him. Then she was gone.
He opened his hand, and the Jewel shards glittered on his palm, mocking him. Though he had begged her like a fool, she had still chosen Inuyasha over him, just like Kikyo had.
So be it, he thought as he closed his hand, savoring the rush of power he felt as the shards sank beneath his skin.
Then she can suffer Kikyo's fate.
The next few weeks proved very difficult for Kagome. Though she had managed to get in a lot of good study time at Hitomi castle, she had been so upset about leaving Kagewaki that she'd done poorly on her exams anyway.
Upon returning to Sengoku Jidai, her mood had only worsened, and she found herself crying over stupid things and snapping at Inuyasha more frequently than usual. She felt emotionally exhausted, heartbroken and guilty when she recalled the way Kagewaki had looked at her as she told him that she couldn't stay.
She missed her days at the castle. She missed the servants she had come to know as friends, the beautiful and serene gardens, the feel of Kagewaki's fingers threaded through her own. It would have been a perfect life, but deep down she knew that it wasn't for her. She couldn't pretend to be a Japanese noblewoman—she couldn't even pretend to be from this era.
But that realization didn't do much to lessen the pain she felt.
It wasn't until a young taijiya named Sango joined their group that Kagome was pulled rather violently from her grief. As it turned out, Naraku had tricked her into attacking Inuyasha by taking on the form of a young lord.
"He called himself Hitomi Kagewaki," Sango said. "His father had supposedly hired us to exterminate a youkai that was plaguing their castle."
The blood froze in Kagome's veins.
Kagewaki…Kagewaki is Naraku?
She gripped a nearby tree, afraid she might faint.
"Kagome-chan, are you okay?" Shippo said, tugging on her sock. "You look really pale all of a sudden."
She managed a shaky smile. "No—I'm fine, Shippo-chan. Really. I just…I'll be back in a minute."
Kagome pushed blindly through the trees, bile rising in her throat. Disgust, betrayal, horror and anger—all these emotions warred within her, overwhelming her. She collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.
Her first kiss had been wasted on a monster. How could she have been so blind to who he was?
"Kagome…such a lovely name."
"You remind me of someone…"
"Not all half-demons are strong, Kagome-san."
"Are you in love with Inuyasha?"
It was so painfully clear to her now. He'd been using her as bait to lure Inuyasha to him unaware. She had meant nothing to him after all.
She blinked, and her brimming eyes finally spilled over. He didn't deserve her tears, but they just wouldn't stop. She raised her hands, smearing her face with dirt as she tried to muffle her sobs.
Everything...everything had been a lie.
Two years later…
Just beyond Kaede's village they stood, watching as Naraku used the completed Jewel to transform for the last time. Kagome winced as tendrils of his youki lashed at her face. She'd never felt power like this before, and she prayed that Tessaiga would be strong enough to stop him.
He had finally gotten what he wanted. She expected to see triumph in his eyes—and it was there, but dulled somehow, as if he had been hoping for something more.
Before she could stop herself, she found the words spilling from her lips.
"What was your true wish, Naraku?"
His eyes met hers and suddenly she was fifteen again, sitting with him beneath the maple tree. Him—Naraku, not Kagewaki. The feel of his lips against hers was as real as it had been on that day, and she knew then what it was he truly wanted.
"Stay with me."
Phantom arms held her as she returned to the present, and Inuyasha raised his sword.