AN: After some thought, I've decided to keep the rating PG-13. I don't think it steps into R territory just yet – though some scenes come close I reckon. I suppose an R rating would give me more freedom to go into darker country… but then again, I don't want it too dark, so keeping it PG-13 will keep me on the track I want to go along. Confused? Yes, I am too don't you know? I've gone past most of the dark stuff anyway, so changing the rating will be a little late and pointless. Though, this isn't the end of the creepy factor just yet ^_^
And by the way, I have now moved to the country for a few weeks. Thankfully I still have access to the Internet (otherwise I would have shrivelled up and died by now), but things have slowed down on the updating front. I intend to borrow a dog later today and worry the sheep across the road – they're keeping me up at night with their constant bleating. Very tired right now… but I'll be very happy once I strap that 'mint sauce prices fall' to the dog's back. That'll worry those sheep real nice…
Life Exchange
Chapter 12
Wedded Bliss
"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" Sango asked seriously as she busily swept Kagome's hair back into a smooth bun. "Marrying seems so… so final… are you sure this is what you want?"
"I don't want it." Kagome replied with a disheartened sigh. "I don't love Bankotsu and he knows that… and he promises that we can make a divorce when he's King."
"Don't you think Lady Inu chose you over Bankotsu for a reason?" Sango pointed out. "Yes, she's sick with fever, but she distrusts Bankotsu as much as me and Miroku."
"She's too sick with fever to know what she's thinking… maybe she made a mistake in selecting me?" Kagome shook her head, causing Sango to force it still again. "Anyways… he knows how to run a country better than me. I won't manage… but he can."
"And what if Inuyasha's ghost comes back to haunt you for marrying another man barely three weeks after he died?" Sango raised an eyebrow.
"I don't believe in ghosts." Kagome said… and after a moment they heard a clatter in the adjoining room. "What was that?!" she yelped, gripping the dresser as she whipped around.
"Just the wind." Sango reassured her and turned her back to face the dresser to continue on her hair. "You seem jumpy."
"I'm nervous."
"That's natural. You're marrying a man you don't love. A man you feel no affinity for. A man you barely know." Sango said breezily. "Of course you feel nervous."
"It's ok, though. The minute we marry, he takes over the throne and in a matter of days we'll go to the priest and get a separation. I'll be back to being ordinary, grieving Kagome, in love with a dead guy, and Bankotsu can carry on being a leader of sorts. It's only temporary."
"And what if he decides not to divorce you?" Sango asked quietly. "You said that he professed his love for you…"
"He sounded truthful when he said he would honour my wishes…" Kagome responded thoughtfully. "But there's really nothing more I can do. I have to marry or this job will kill me like it did Inuyasha."
"Hey, maybe we'll get lucky and it'll kill Bankotsu too." Sango sighed.
Kagome rolled her eyes and turned her eyes to her lap.
"The life expectancy of a King isn't very good, you know." Sango said in a conversational tone. "The most anyone has lasted is ninety odd years. That was Inuyasha's grandfather… Lord Inubiru."
"Lord Inu killed him, didn't he?" Kagome frowned at Sango's reflection in the mirror which nodded. "Ninety years? That's not so short…"
"Well… considering when an Inu Youkai hits his prime around thirty or forty years… they live like that for nearly a hundred a fifty years… and then the last twenty or so years are spent descending into senile times and wrinkly skin. The life expectancy is about two hundred… ninety years as King isn't that impressive."
"Inuyasha lasted three…" Kagome whispered. "Does that make him weaker than the others?"
"No." Sango admonished firmly. "He hadn't reached his prime yet… It just makes him unluckier than the others. They weren't entirely lucky either." She sniffed and scratched an itch on his nose. "They say there's a curse on the royal family."
"Since when?" Kagome had never heard such a thing.
"Since the first Lord took it in his head to rule over all other Inu Youkai. The curse is that the son will always kill the father." Sango said in a deadpan sort of tone. "I don't believe in it… it's just an unhappy coincidence that Lord Inu killed his father… and Lord Inu's father killed his father… and his father killed his father…"
"Inuyasha didn't kill Lord Inu." Kagome glanced up at her.
"Not directly… no…"
"What do you mean 'not directly'?"
"Well… the only reason Lord Inu left this island to go to Inaki was because he was collecting the jewel from Kikyo to deliver to Inuyasha… he was killed on his way back… if Inuyasha hadn't gotten involved with Kikyo then Lord Inu wouldn't have had to leave at such a-"
"Just stop right there!" Kagome half cried. "Inuyasha did not kill Lord Inu – however directly or indirectly! If anything it was Kikyo's fault."
Sango grunted. "I totally agree. Everything got screwed up when that 'pure' miko came along. If you ask me – if she was so pure, how come Naraku's influence managed to brainwash her into thinking Inuyasha was out to get her? Some great miko she was…"
Kagome gave a small smile, inwardly voicing her agreement. If Kikyo hadn't met Inuyasha first, then maybe he wouldn't have had his hang-ups about falling in love again.
But then again… if she hadn't met Inuyasha first, then Kagome wouldn't have been led to him, and she wouldn't have fallen in love with him and had her chance with him… She'd probably be stuck, alone and exiled the way Naraku found her. He wouldn't have come for her if Kikyo hadn't met Inuyasha. Kouga would still be dead, her family would still hate her (they still hated her anyway) and she probably would have caught cholera and died on some street corner, being passed off as a beggar.
Maybe she could thank Kikyo in a way for leading her into such a comfortable life?
Kagome snorted, surprising Sango. The day she thanked Kikyo for scarring Inuyasha's emotions was the day she sprouted wings and flew with the pigs.
Not happening.
"I'm going to ask you again…" Sango sighed as she moved around to kneel before the younger girl. "Are you sure you want to do this? I'm sure we'll find a loophole in the law that says you can choose an heir that isn't related to you."
Kagome shook her head. "I talked to the advisors… they knew the laws better than anyone… I can't just give up this throne… I have to give it to someone I apparently trust enough to marry. Meaning I would have to prove that trust and marry them to get them the title of King."
"But… of all the people… Bankotsu?" Sango grimaced.
"Can you think of anyone else who could be King?" She asked.
"Well…" Sango thought hard… but came up with nothing. "But can't you wait a while? Maybe someone more trustworthy could come along and win your heart?"
Kagome shook her head once more. "I can't love again… and even if someone did come along who was more trustworthy than Bankotsu… I'm sure I would have been driven to an early grave. And who's to say someone won't come and assassinate me whilst I'm waiting for that 'special' person to come along?"
"But… Bankotsu?" Sango said again in the same tone as before.
"I know! I don't exactly trust him either… but he's my only hope for freedom!" Kagome grasped her friends hands. "If I marry him I'll be free to be myself again! We can spend time together… something I think we both need since Inuyasha… and if I was Queen, then I would miss this next little bundle of joy entering the world." She smiled as she placed their hands on Sango's stomach. "How much more time do you have left?"
"A month or so…" Sango smiled fully for the first time in a while. "Me and Miroku are making bets on the gender."
"I say it'll be…" she laid her head on Sango's stomach and listened. All she got was a light kick in the head. "It's kicking…!"
"It does that a lot." Sango grinned.
"Then it's obviously a girl. She'll take after you. A boy would take after Miroku and sit quietly in there and meditate." Kagome grinned back.
At moments like that it was easy to forget that in a few hours Kagome would be getting married… and making the greatest mistake of her life.
^_^
"So what was her name?" Shippo chirped from Inuyasha's shoulder.
"Broomhilda."
"I don't believe that." Shippo retorted. "The most beautiful girl in the world cannot be called Broomhilda."
"She was!" Inuyasha shot back. "The oracle told us that statistically, the most beautiful girl in the entire world was named 'Broomhilda'. Doesn't sound that bad…"
"Because you're probably pronouncing it wrong." Shippo snorted.
"Whatever… I only speak my mother tongue, I don't know any other languages."
"Mother tongue? What language is that?"
"The one I'm speaking right now, birdbrain!" Inuyasha poked him angrily. "And you aren't being much help you know – you're supposed to be directing me to the silver mines!"
"Why direct you? You're going the right way anyway." Shippo shrugged and fell quiet. It was a long time before he spoke again, whilst they were travelling over some random bridge over a river. "Can we stop for a drink?"
Inuyasha was about to refuse, when he noticed that the horse needed a drink too… he was about to refuse anyway, just to spite the kistune… but decided he needed his ride more than his stubbornness.
He sat on the grassy verge patiently while the horse refreshed itself and nibbled at some greens… Shippo did very much the same. "So what was her name again?"
"I told you – Broomhilda!" Inuyasha snapped.
"No – I meant the dead girl back home you're trying save." Shippo furrowed a frown on his forehead as he chomped on some berries. "How does that work anyway? Saving a dead girl? I thought there were points when things became impossible."
Inuyasha rumbled a sigh. "My brother has a sword that revives dead bodies."
"Cool." Shippo nodded. "But what if the soul has left the body and reincarnated as someone or something else?"
"That…" Inuyasha frowned. "… would only happen if I waited too long to revive her."
"And how long have you been waiting?"
"A few weeks…"
"Maybe her soul's still sticking around." The Kitsune shrugged. "But maybe not."
Inuyasha fell silent, watching the grass between the fingers splayed across the ground beside him. Shippo noticed his thoughtful look and swallowed his food to talk again. "So what was her name?"
"Kagome."
"What did she look like?"
"What does that matter?" Inuyasha said tersely.
"I just want a mental image, that's all." Shippo said defensively… before adding under his breath. "Butt muncher…"
He was pelted with a rock for that comment, but Inuyasha seemed to decide to humour him anyway. "She was… pretty."
"Was she really pretty, or are you just saying that because you liked her and she's dead?"
"No. She wasn't pretty." Inuyasha resolved. "She was beautiful. She had these beautiful blue eyes… the colour of…" he looked around before looking up at the sky. "That shade of blue up there."
Shippo looked up and noted the colour… not incredibly blue, since it was slightly overcast… but still a grey kind of blue. "What else?" he asked, taking another handful of berries into his mouth.
"She has hair… down to about here." He gestured below his shoulder. "It shines in the light and turns wavy about halfway down… and when you touch it, it feels like feathers… really soft."
Shippo stopped chewing slowly and stared at Inuyasha reproachfully. This didn't quite sound like the description of a girl he was merely just acquaintances with. This sounded interesting. "What else is so pretty about her?"
"Her lips." He said in a vaguely indifferent way, but the way he stared off into space as he spoke told otherwise. "Two full lips… One of her best features I think. The way she smiles and her lips curve just the right way to lift her cheeks… and her teeth are straight and perfect." He pointed to one of his fangs. "Her canines are small… but they're cute – and when she gives big smiles I always seem to notice the one on the right… I don't know why…"
"Because you have a fang fetish."
After lobbing another rock half-heartedly at the kid he continued. "She has a little toe exactly like mine on her left foot." He wrinkled his nose as he wriggled his toes experimentally. "Her feet are small… and she always curls them when she puts them in cold water. She does that a lot, wouldn't you believe? When she goes outside she always goes barefoot… and my mother used to make her wash her feet in water before she came back inside the palace… She chews her nails when she's anxious… but they're still perfect… but when she gardens she always gets dirt under them."
"She gardens?" Shippo asked.
"Whenever she can." He nodded. "Most of the time I find her walking in the forest. She collects flowers and herbs and stuff… she keeps lavender in her room and the place permanently wreaks of the stuff."
"I like lavender." Shippo smiled.
"Mm. It's like… Kagome's personal smell. I smell lavender and I think Kagome." He scratched his head absently.
"So she has a pretty face… has soft hair and smells nice." Shippo jerked his chin up. "What's the catch?"
"What?"
"What's her flaw? Her quirk? She too skinny or too fat?"
"She's got a perfect little body." Inuyasha growled. "She doesn't have a flaw!"
"Everyone has a flaw." Shippo scowled. "I'm lacking on the magic front – you're lacking in the personality front. Is she just lacking in the front completely?" he gestured to his chest.
Inuyasha raised another rock threateningly. "I said she's perfect!"
"Of course you'd say that because you love her." Shippo snorted, not intimidated one bit by the stone in his hand.
"Love has nothing to do with it! If she's perfect she's perfect and that's all there is to it!" Inuyasha snapped, lowering the rock anyhow. "She's lovely… so I guess her only flaw now is that she's dead."
"You sure think highly of her."
"Of course I do." He snorted. "I always have." Though there had been times when he'd thought less of her…
"You hear that?" Shippo suddenly perked his head around and watched the other side of the river. Inuyasha frowned and listened too… and heard the sound of far-off footfalls racing along the ground. Footfalls of a small person or creature.
"What do you-" Shippo started to say – but he was cut off as somebody came charging through the bushes on the opposite bank.
It was a small, rather scruffy looking girl. Both Inuyasha and Shippo just stared as she trotted over to the bank, fell to her knees and put her lips to the water's surface to drink like some kind of deer. She wore terrible little rags… and her face was either dirty of bruised… probably both…
She finally seemed to drink her fill before straightening and wiping her mouth on her sleeve. She spotted Inuyasha and Shippo at last and stared a moment back before breaking out into a big smile with a hearty wave.
Inuyasha and Shippo just stared. Who the heck was she? A little girl out in the middle of nowhere drinking from a river? What the hell had happened to her parents?
Shippo just shifted in mild wonder, looking at the happily waving girl like she was some kind of alien. "Just smile and nod and maybe she'll just leave."
"That didn't work with you, so I doubt it'll work with her either."
"Yes, but you didn't smile or nod at me – you hit me."
Inuyasha stood bolt upright suddenly… realising that the little girl wasn't as alone as she looked. What confused him most was what on earth he was doing with her…? His hand went to his sword slowly as he felt the enormous presence behind him.
"Sesshomaru…"
^_^
Kagome walked up the aisle made by people on either side of the throne room. She walked with her arm looped through Bankotsu's… it was all so eerily quiet… even though there was soft music playing and a few people having coughing fits in the background… but the roaring in her ears was so loud, it drowned out everything else.
And everyone looked so sad… she gazed around at all the faces she passed… they weren't looking at her, but they weren't supposed to be looking at her. They were supposed to look formal… but was it possible to look formal and saddened at the same time?
The Shinto priest was beginning the blessings… Kagome vaguely saw his mouth moving but didn't hear the words. She looked around her and saw Sango and Miroku standing on one side of the gathered guests, Fushi holding his father's hand and Reiko asleep in her mother's arms… Sango and Miroku looked pale and anxious like usual… and Fushi was glaring at the floor before him.
Kagome turned her eyes to the man beside her, and no longer felt that sinking feeling when she saw Bankotsu… mostly because her feelings couldn't sink much lower. Any minute now Inuyasha would burst through those doors and stop the ceremony…
Wouldn't he?
She'd pictured how this day would go when she was a little girl. When she'd first understood the concept of love and marriage, she had imagined first that she would marry a handsome man who was kind and sweet… her dream man had been faceless back then. Then she'd grown older, and prayed that a passing lord would see her working in the fields and notice her amongst the other girls and marry her – taking her away from her family and away from poverty… her dream man had still been faceless, but he'd be wearing the clothes of a very rich man at their wedding.
Then she'd found Kouga… and all of a sudden her faceless man had been a wolf demon… Ok, maybe that had sounded less glamorous than it actually was… but Kouga had been loyal, sweet, heroic, romantic, and always showered her with praise and adoration.
Then he'd been killed.
She'd found Naraku to revive him… lost her soul to that monster and then Kouga had deserted her in favour of pursuing a war with the Inu Youkai – or more specifically, with Inuyasha. At that point her dream man had still been wearing Kouga's face, even though she knew that she never wanted to love him or marry him in the future.
But for a while there, she'd been able to picture herself marrying that wolf…
And then she'd met Inuyasha. After a while her man had become him. He was the man who would be beside her when she pictured her wedding. He was the one she would want to wake up beside every morning… the one she wanted to share the rest of her life with. But why? Her dream man had been kind, eloquent, loving and romantic. He would bring her flowers and praise her and tell her how much he needed her.
Inuyasha was nothing like that. He was abrupt, rude, at times selfish, irrational, unreasonable, aggressive, violent, disconcerting, condescending and allusive. He'd never brought her flowers, he'd never told her that she was attractive, or nice, or how lucky he was to know her. He was in no way loving or romantic or eloquent – despite being a King.
So why did she love him?
Well it wasn't like she could just tell her heart to stop caring. If it was that easy she wouldn't be in love with him any more. If she had a choice… she would have chosen not to love him.
Stupid fool…
And now here she was… marrying a man she had never pictured as her dream man, and was wishing with all her heart that he was Inuyasha… or the former King would at least come rushing in to save her.
The priest finished his blessings and started on the vows.
No sign of Inuyasha yet.
Kagome went through her rehearsed vows, if not slowly and jerkily… she kept forgetting her next line. But she stumbled through them, all the while keeping a vague eye on the throne room doors, waiting for Inuyasha to arrive. He wouldn't miss her wedding would he?
Then the ceremony was over, she was being led away from the priest and towards the doors. Her head swum as the people around her bowed in respect to a new King and his new wife. She stopped, forcing Bankotsu to stop beside her… she was going to pass out… or throw up… either way, she didn't feel too good.
The doors ahead of her opened and she, along with everyone else in the throne room, looked up as a strong light shone through. A shape was forming out of the light, someone was coming through the doors. Kagome heard the audible gasp around her as they recognised him. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Bankotsu's hands were steadying her… she couldn't keep from slumping to the side, her legs refusing to hold her up. Sango was there as well at her side, and Miroku behind her. That roaring in her ears was getting louder… but she doubted if she would be able to hear anything anyway… everyone looked silent.
"You came…" she whispered, or at least felt herself whisper. "Inuyasha…"
His outline was still unclear… his whole body shrouded in shadow despite how much light spilled around him. He started forward, his hand moving to his sword. A few steps into the room and he'd drawn it completely. A few more steps and he was standing over her crumpled form, Toukijin high above his head with a furious look on his face. She was suddenly alone with him… there was no one else there in the throne room to help her.
"And what is the meaning of this?!" she clearly heard him grind out over the roaring blood. "What does this mean?!"
"Inuyasha?!" The sword came down on her head and she screamed.
"Kagome!"
She snapped her eyes open and found herself staring up at Bankotsu's worried face. Miroku was pushing people back to give her air whilst Sango crouched on her other side, looking even more anxious than before.
"What… what happened?" Kagome rasped out, still feeling light-headed and like her limbs had turned to lead.
"You fainted." Bankotsu told her.
"Oh…" she responded in dawning realisation. She'd just imagined the whole thing. Inuyasha hadn't come… because he was dead… why didn't she understand that yet?
They helped her up and started to lead her out of the throne room. She noticed that she hadn't imagined the wedding… she was married to Bankotsu now, something that would literally stick in the history books forever. Bankotsu was King… and she was still Queen, but not in charge anymore.
She leaned on her new husband for support as he led her off in the direction of the royal suite. There would be another catch to this marriage now… she'd have to share a room with Bankotsu… but at least he'd promised to only sleep there whilst she was elsewhere. How nice of him…
"You were calling his name." Bankotsu told her gently as he set her on the bed carefully.
"I saw him…" she said quietly, nearly ashamed of herself for doing this to him. "I'm sorry Bankotsu, I didn't mean to-"
"It's ok. You're weak and still grieving." He patted her knee compassionately with a pleasant smile. "You need your rest."
"Thank you." She watched him leave before she got up to clean her face of all the make-up, and change out of her wedding kimono into her sleeping yukata.
She'd expected marriage to feel different. Like she'd finally stepped out of childhood into womanhood and become an obedient wife to a lord, graceful and ethereal like in all the stories and pictures.
But she didn't feel that way… it just felt like another day… another day without Inuyasha.
She cried.
^_^
"It's done." Bankotsu smirked as he entered Renkotsu's underground study room. "Suikotsu rules the North and I am now ruling the South. The Shichinin-tai rule the Inu island now."
"Congratulations." The monk looked up evenly to regard his leader. "And now that we are finished with the preliminaries, I suppose this is where we get over this revenge business and concentrate on… resurrected the others."
"The revenge isn't over until Jakotsu returns with Tessaiga and his sword stained with Inuyasha's blood." Bankotsu picked up the talisman that incurred the last ruler's madness, tossing it lightly in the palm of his hand. "But with Jakotsu on his tail he's as good as dead anyway I suppose."
"And what if he bests Jakotsu and returns?"
"Then this will keep everyone from believing anything he says." Bankotsu flung the talisman to Renkotsu who watched it flatly as it landed on the futon beside him. "He's a raving madman remember."
"Whom your wife loves and will believe in no matter what." Renkotsu turned a cool look on Bankotsu. "So when do you kill her?"
"Kill her?" he snorted. "Who says we're going to kill her?"
"After the wedding, I though that was part of plan."
"Like hell." Bankotsu folded his arms and looked down on the monk. "She's going to play a vital part of reviving the last three of the Shichinin-tai."
"Indeed?"
"She has visions. She sees things that have already happened. And her ability to manipulate nature is incredible. Have you seen her little garden in the forest."
"Sorry. Don't get let out much." Renkotsu replied dryly.
"Well anyway. If she can see the past with these small visions, then she can witness the curse that was cast ten years ago. We need to hear the words that were spoken to condemn us so that we can reverse the effects of the curse and effectively make all seven of us stronger, instead of weaker."
Renkotsu narrowed his eyes. "She can watch the curse take place and hear the incantation?"
"The one that was cast by the dark miko to weaken our strength each by half." Bankotsu nodded. "If we know what curse she spoke then we can counter curse it and make us all stronger by double – and any dead Shichinin-tai come back to life."
"Interesting. And your new wife is willing to do all this?"
"Not yet." Bankotsu smiled slowly. "But she'll come round."
AN: Nevermind. I'll make it all up to you later on. Next chapter – 'The Kotsu Truth'