AN: Well. Sorry about the delay, but for those of you who didn't know, I made a bet on Saturday night that I could go without the Internet for a whole week. I buckled today – Wednesday – and I just had to update a story. But shhhh! My cousin doesn't know I'm online so hopefully I can make it another three days without the Internet and win that twenty five quid from her! She'll never know ^_^
Life Exchange
Chapter 10
The New Ruler
She was so lost in fever that she barely knew where she was anymore. It would be lucky if she knew her own name. And so getting her to pronounce him King would be child's play.
"Your Highness?" he called gently as he entered Lady Inu's chamber, followed by the three royal attendants to witness the declaration. "Lady Inu, can you hear me?"
Through the dim gloom of the chamber, the human woman stirred and muttered something incoherent. Bankotsu moved closer to the edge of the bed, contriving a look of worry and sympathy on his face. "Lady Inu, I'm sorry to disturb you, but as we've said Lord Inuyasha is gone… we need to select a new King."
"King…" Lady Inu tossed her head slightly, pushing at her heavy covers.
"Yes. You are regent again. It is up to you to select the new King." Bankotsu pressed. "Your son has died, the throne has reverted back to you. Choose the next leader, your highness."
"Inuyasha's gone…?" Lady Inu frowned, blearily trying to focus on the man beside her bed. "Where's he gone?"
"Land of the dead, your highness." He responded calmly. "Please, it's important. We need a new leader – tell us who it is?"
They waited a few moments for her to process these words. "You…" she eventually said. He had to keep from grinning in triumph… until she said… "You don't understand… I'm not regent… it doesn't work that way here…"
"What?" Bankotsu demanded, somewhat sharply.
"Miss Kagome… she's Inuyasha's intended… when he goes… she takes over until he returns… or until she… she produces an heir that comes of age… she's regent… not me…"
There was a long pause, during which Lady Inu drifted off back into her fitful sleep and the advisors glanced at each other with firm nods. "That settles it then." One of them said.
"Lady Kagome is queen." The second nodded.
The royal advisors left, leaving Bankotsu alone with the queen. He glared at her sleeping form before snapping a seething look on the trinket beside her bed. She hadn't drunken it… she wasn't nearly as drugged as she should have been.
"Stupid bitch." He snatched the glass and threw the contents into the base of a flower pot as he passed on his way out of the chamber. He headed straight out of the royal chamber corridor, down the stairs, bound for the basements near the dungeons and pantries.
He stopped outside one rather unimpressive door, and pushed it open without bothering to knock. "Increase the dosage in her medicine." Bankotsu barked at the monk sitting cross-legged before a low table. "I want her dead and buried by the end of the week. And make sure she drinks the poison this time!"
Renkotsu flicked him a blank look. "I hope you realise that I can't exactly go out and force feed it to the woman. I'm not supposed to exist, remember?"
"Whatever. Just keep slipping it into her water and she'll die soon enough." Bankotsu growled as he began pacing the room. "Any news from Suikotsu's end."
"None."
"What about Jakotsu?"
"He has yet to return with Tessaiga."
Bankotsu gave an angry sigh. "He better kill Inuyasha soon. I don't want that guy returning and ruining everything!"
"Even if he did return, he wouldn't ruin much." Renkotsu pointed to the small headless wooden statue that sat on the table before him. "The talisman will take away his sanity the minute he steps within six hundred yards of this palace. He'll be as crazy as ever."
"Is he crazy now?" Bankotsu wanted to know.
"I doubt it. If he's off this island then he's out of the six hundred yard range, isn't he?" Renkotsu responded with only the slight hint of patronising.
"Well let's hope he doesn't figure things out. We have a problem."
"Oh?"
"Kagome is the Queen. Not me."
Renkotsu smiled mildly. "I see. That is a bit of a problem isn't it."
"Mm."
"Why don't you kill her?" the monk suggested.
"And make everyone suspicious. Inuyasha dies, shortly followed by his mother, shortly followed by the next queen – Kagome – all to make room for me to fit on the throne. They'll know if I kill off the entire royal family." Bankotsu stopped his pacing to sit across the table from Renkotsu. "But I do have a plan that means we can get what we want without having to kill the girl."
"Really?" Renkotsu asked flatly.
"The only way a new ruler will come into power whilst she still lives, is if she marries. Her husband will be the new King or if she has a son of her own that brat will be heir to the throne when it comes of age."
"Seeing as I don't think you plan to become her long lost son, as you are much older than she is – I suppose you're thinking of marrying her." Renkotsu looked slightly ill.
"Either that or kill her. And marrying will be less suspicious." Bankotsu smirked. "The people love her, they'd hate it if she died."
"Jakotsu would hate it if you married the girl." Renkotsu pointed out.
The leader shrugged and smirked. "He can throw his tantrums and fits in private. I have revenge to exact, and Kagome is part of it."
"As you wish."
^_^
"Ok… the sun rises in the east and sets in the west… so…" Inuyasha looked around the sky and spotted the sun dead overhead. "It's midday… which means…" he pointed in a random direction. "It'll set over there – which is west – and so over there…" he looked to his right. "Is where the silver mines are!"
He stood in the middle of the road, wondering if he should just take another wild guess to the direction of north… before sighing and giving up. "Just keep going." He urged the horse to start walking again, heading towards god only knew where. Perhaps he was heading north anyway… perhaps he wasn't… he's just keep going and find out.
The most interesting thing he's come across so far was an old desecrated castle that sat on a mountainside somewhere at the edge of Kozushima. Nothing much happening there apart from a few fallen trees, some old graffiti in the dirt and lots of empty disturbed graves. Like he said. Not much happened there anymore.
Though at some point he thought he'd seen the character 'Inu' scratched into the dirt, near the graves… he'd quickly left at that point in case his mind was beginning to betray him again.
He'd find his brother eventually, but by now he had severely lost the scent trail and had no idea where he was going. But determination for Kagome's sake spurred him on, and so he kept going, even though hope of finding the fleeing Inu Youkai was fading… he had to keep going.
"Stupid Sesshomaru… stupid… smelly… smug… sarcastic… silly… sappy… soppy… snotty… cynical… does cynical begin with an S?" he asked the horse who didn't answer. "Anyway… why can't the stupid, sleazy snotbag go somewhere obvious? Why can't he just stay in one place? Why can't he just be a none-coward for once and stay and fight!"
Why did life have to be so hard?
"H-Help me!"
Inuyasha drew to a halt and listened again… he was sure he'd heard a cry for help just then.
"Somebody! Anybody! Help! Me!"
Inuyasha sighed and with a resigned sigh he slipped off the horse unsheathed Tessaiga. He rested the sword against his shoulder in its raw form, before setting off into the trees without much hindrance. He didn't normally do the hero thing. He had once, and that had landed him with Kagome. What was it going to land him with this time?
By the sounds of things, an annoyingly high voiced Kitsune kid.
^_^
Behind the palace was a secret garden of sorts. Well, less secret and more secluded. Everyone knew about it, but hardly anyone went there… unless they specifically wanted to pay respects to past kings.
The garden was more of a circular clearing amidst the trees, hidden from view of the palace, and hidden from view of anything else as well. It was a nice place to go when you wanted some peace or quiet. Wild flowers grew around the edge of the clearing and in the clearing itself were currently six statues, each with its own urn of ashes at the base, accompanied by an engraved name plate behind it.
The first statue was of the first Inu King to rule the island. The second statue was of the first King's son. And the third statue was of the grandson of that first King. The fourth statue was the grandson's son… also known as Inuyasha's grandfather. The statue after that was of Lord Inu himself. And the one after that…
Kagome made her way slowly towards the last statue and gently laid her carefully gathered bunch of flowers against the urn of ashes. Somehow… even though she knew it was just a slab of rock that stood before her… it was like she was really kneeling before Inuyasha. She couldn't find the courage to raise her eyes to meet his face.
"I had a dream last night…" she told his knees instead. "It was nice for once… but I think it was more like a nightmare than anything else." She lapsed into silence for a moment, thinking over the dream slowly. "We were all happy. Me and you were married. We didn't have kids… you didn't want them still. But we were happy because we were together."
She fiddled with the folds of her yukata and gazed stonily at the urn before her. "But you wouldn't have been happy if we were together. Deep down you probably still loathe me."
She rose to her feet and had to crane her neck to see his face. Not only was the statue standing on a… stand, but it was also slightly larger than the real King. "Well since you're dead and you can't protest or complain I'll tell you again… because maybe you forgot how I felt during the past three years… I love you… and even though you never said or did anything that made me think you felt the same… I loved you more for each day that passed." She sighed and braced her hands against his shoulders, leaning against the stone chest. Inuyasha was firm… but not this firm… and not so cold either. "Did you ever notice…? Or did you just ignore it? Were you excessively shy? Or were you politely refusing me?"
She sighed and for a moment wished his arms would close around her in an embrace… but it was just a statue. The only thing of Inuyasha that remained… was the dusty ashes in the urn at her feet. She knelt down again and pulled the lid off to look at the ashes inside. They didn't look very Inuyasha like… just like ordinary ashes…
And in this short line of statues, he looked like just one small man that would be lost in history. There would be another statue after him when a new ruler was selected… probably Bankotsu. He's be just another dead ruler. Ruled for a minor three years… the world wouldn't stop to grieve him, would it? They were all too busy searching for the new King.
Well her world would stop for him…
It would probably never start again…
A burst of light shattered in her eyes and she straightened quickly, taken by surprise. But soon her vision cleared and she could finally see again… in black and white of course. She frowned lightly as she looked at her grey hands…
It was just another vision. She was looking into the past again…
"I don't want children."
Kagome spun in surprise upon hearing the distorted, almost inaudible voice behind her. Her gaze fell on the two figures standing beside the fourth statue in the row of kings. The last two statues had disappeared from view… obviously they hadn't been built yet in whatever time she was looking into.
It was lord Inu. She'd seen him in visions enough times to recognise him… and beside him was Inuyasha… twelve years old maybe… or older – apparently he'd been short for his age for quite some time until he'd had a growth spurt. She smiled and haplessly moved forward to see them better… Inuyasha alive and well wasn't something she was going to see a lot of in the future.
"Of course you don't." was Lord Inu's scratchy reply, she couldn't hear them very well, but it was a wonder she was hearing anything at all. Usually these visions were silent.
"You killed him didn't you." Inuyasha was leaning against the statue of his grandfather with a scowl on his face, arms folded in his classic pose. His father gave him a sharp look for what he'd said, but Inuyasha only turned his glare to the statue of his great grandfather opposite him.
"I had to, Inuyasha. You'll understand when you're older…"
Kagome smiled faintly when she saw the boy roll his eyes and mime his father's words as they were spoken.
"It was a mercy killing." Lord Inu went on. "He wanted me to kill him."
"Just so you could take the throne."
"There was no other way. He was weak."
"Why don't we just assign kings the human way? Instead of the barbaric way?" Inuyasha pushed away from the statue, with a serious look on his face.
His father only smiled, in that grown-ups-know-better way. "You're only saying that because you're a Hanyou."
"SO?!"
Obviously that was a tender nerve at age twelve. Kagome watched as the boy stomped his foot and circled around the back of his father who was laying flowers down to his own father's grave the same way she'd lain flowers down to Inuyasha's. When Inuyasha spoke, it took both Lord Inu and Kagome by surprise.
"Does this mean I have to kill you too?"
Lord Inu looked around at him warily, almost as if he was expecting his son to strike a death blow there and then. "Not necessarily."
"It might be easy. If you got on my nerves. If you stuck around too long and I wanted the throne for myself. If you were weak and I was strong and I was a better candidate for King. I'd kill you without hesitation."
Kids could be so cruel.
"But that's only if you wanted the throne." Lord Inu pointed out. "Do you want the throne?"
"No… but I might one day." Inuyasha replied sullenly, unfolding his arms by his sides. "And if I do become King one day then I wouldn't be stupid and have kids like you did. I wouldn't have someone like Sesshomaru – who wants to kill me for my title."
"What if you had a child that turned out like you? The perfect son?" The old King commented with dry sarcasm.
"I'm not gonna take that chance."
"And what if you have a girl? All this talk about sons – you'll curse yourself into having daughters for eternity." Lord Inu smirked.
"I won't have kids, full stop!" Inuyasha snapped. "I won't marry! I won't fall in love with any stupid girls! Girls suck! Why would I wanna fall in love?! And become a sop like you?!"
"You wound me." Lord Inu straightened and glared at him. "And what did I say about language? Stop slurring words together – you sound like you're drunk – or worse – a peasant!"
"Better n' sounding constipated…" Inuyasha retorted snidely. His father cuffed him round the ear and started off, leaving Inuyasha growling and rubbing his ear.
"Don't be so pessimistic, Inuyasha. Hey, maybe you'll get lucky and I'll die before you have to kill me." His father laughed as he walked away. Kagome was the only one who saw the look on Inuyasha's face when he said that… fear and dismay…
Then the vision ended and colour was back in her vision. The last two statues of the deceased Lord Inu and Inuyasha popped back into view… and once more the grass was green, instead of pasty grey. The young Inuyasha disappeared from view and she turned back to look at the twenty year old version immortalised in stone. She shook her head sadly.
"I wish you were-"
"Talking to statues again?" Bankotsu's voice sounded behind her and she clicked her mouth shut, embarrassed to have been caught in a private moment. She turned as casually as she could and shot him a fake smile. "Hello, Lord Bankotsu… are you here to pay your respects?"
"Yes." He nodded calmly and walked forward with his hands clasped behind his back to stand beside her. "Even though his rule was short… he was a good King…"
Kagome hummed in agreement, still feeling as though her privacy had been violated.
"I…er… saw you just now…" he sent her a quizzical look that made her freeze. "You seemed to be watching something… is it possible you see things I cannot?"
"Uh…" Kagome didn't want to go into any detailed discussions right then, but she tried to satisfy him anyway. "Visions. I get these visions… of the past… not often, but they're miko powers I seemed to have inherited off Kikyo."
"Oh." Bankotsu looked mildly surprised. "You can see the past."
"I was just watching someone pay their respects to Lord Inubiru." She pointed to the fourth statue – Inuyasha's grandfather.
"Amazing. Do you do it by will?" he asked.
"Um… not usually." She said quietly, wringing her hands together and chewing her lip. She was nervous. But she didn't know why.
Bankotsu sighed deeply with a warm sort of smile for her. "I'm glad you're finally out of your room. Everyone was very worried for you. You look thin… are you eating enough?"
"It's just the grief…" she waved off his concern with a shake of her head. "I'll recover… hopefully…"
"You loved him didn't you?" he said seriously.
Kagome hesitated a moment before slowly nodding once. "I do…"
"You still do?" he sounded surprised.
"Just because he is no longer on this earth, it doesn't erase my feelings for him." She told him. "I love him… I always will…"
Bankotsu seemed to contemplate what she said before sighing again and looking down. "I don't suppose… you'd be willing to hear the confession of a poor fool then…?"
"Sorry?" Kagome looked at him in confusion.
"Kagome… I know this may just sound like a man trying to pick up the pieces of what another man has left behind… or that I'm trying to move in on Inuyasha's territory now that he's gone but…"
"But?" Kagome edged back slightly… she wasn't sure she wanted him to go on though.
"But… from the first moment I saw you I knew you were something special. Not just because of your beauty or you're talent with nature and making things grow the way they do… I knew the moment I saw you that you had to be somewhat tougher than the average girl, to have remained here along such tough Youkai for three years… and when I first spoke to you I saw the fire in your eyes and I knew your inner beauty far surpassed your outer beauty."
Before she could protest he'd taken her hands in his and looked her in the eye, as though he was really baring his soul. Kagome was too speechless to do anything. No man had ever said these kinds of things… well… not recently. Inuyasha always arrived to thrash the man by the time he got as far as 'from the first moment I saw you-'.
"You're kind, you're gentle, you're intelligent and witty. You smile despite the pain you're evidently suffering. You're so strong, yet so soft." He squeezed her hands. "And I feel that I, like many before me, have just fallen head over heels in love with you."
"What?" Kagome stared at him, blinking as she struggled to process his speech. "Are you sure? I mean – you might just have a temporary crush!"
"But I have been here for a month… and I have only grown more and more in love with you between every moment that has passed. I thought I loved you when I saw you… but that's a joke compared to how I feel about you now."
"Bankotsu…" how to turn him down politely? Where was Inuyasha when he needed to thrash a suitor for her? Oh yeah… at their feet in that urn.
"I understand that you love Inuyasha… and that you still grieve and can't possibly love another… but I thought you just ought to know that I love you more than my sword."
"Wow… you love me a lot then…"
"Indeed. And even though I know I cannot have you… can you at least give me one thing to worship you further by?" He asked, stepping closer and bringing their joined hands up between them.
"And what would that be?" she asked, very, very nervous by now.
He didn't answer. Well not by using words at least. He leant down before she had a chance to protest and pressed his lips against hers. She gasped in surprise, and he took the opportunity to change the kiss into a not so innocent form of kissing. She was too surprised and unfamiliar with the feeling of his tongue invade her mouth, and she didn't have the heart to bite down on it. It took her a moment to settle down into the kiss… and it still felt unnatural to her…
It had been so long since her last kiss…
Her eyes drifted shut and she rather heartlessly imagined that maybe it was Inuyasha kissing her. Bankotsu kissed differently than Inuyasha… but then again, she didn't quite remember how Inuyasha's kisses went. Not like this… that was for sure.
She let him dominate it though, and only followed his lead and kissed him back adequately… but not exactly passionately. She just moved her mouth against his when it seemed appropriate and let her instincts guide her… though there was no spark, no real enjoyment. She could easily pass the opportunity by again. Only kisses with Inuyasha had blinded her senses and made her heart pound in her chest and her ears…
She couldn't stop thinking about Inuyasha.
After a while he pulled back and smiled sadly, as though he was accepting defeat. "Thank you." He kissed her briefly, one last time on the lips before turning and heading quickly out of the clearing.
Kagome subtly wiped her mouth on her sleeve and turned a guilty look on the statue beside her. "Don't look at me that way… I didn't enjoy it…" she hugged herself tightly. "I was just humouring him, that's all."
AN: I don't think Inuyasha will be incredibly pleased when he returns… Next chapter – 'An Auspicious Offer'