Authoress' Notes: Whoo-Hoo! This is the newest chapter. I don't know if I'm happy with it or not. But it is done. I hope you all like it! Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews!! I've hit 100!!! YES!!! I'm so happy! This is the first time, I've ever gotten that many! Does a happy dance Oh yeah, I'm so cool!! Looks around and notices the strange looks she's getting Um...I'm gonna go now. Enjoy the chapter!! Please review!
Smiles - T.A.
Family Ties: Part 13
Michi paced her way throughout the house. She'd tried to meditate, but her mind wouldn't quiet. She walked to the front of the house and stood in the doorway. Forcing herself to be still, she listened to wind and caught the sounds of angry shouts from the direction of town. She wrestled briefly with the idea of running, figuring they wouldn't guess her direction, but promptly squashed it, knowing that with her luck, these men would find her daughter.
" Buddha, I don't mean to complain and I know that karma, is not always kind, but I really don't think this is necessary. I am already fully aware that killing is wrong and since I already know this, I did not commit murder." Michi sighed and shook her head. "I probably shouldn't spend these last moments being sacrilegious." She rubbed her temples, before dropping to her knees.
"To clear your mind; to be free of the sorrows of this world; to extricate oneself from the desires of the body and the mind; to be at peace; to be still..." Michi faltered as she tried to retain her focus. "Please...I don't..." Michi covered her face with her hands and wept until she heard the crowd gathering outside her home.
" Michi! Get out here and face us!" The loudest voice shattered her temporary calm.
Michi was flexing and un-flexing her right hand furiously, as she drew deep breathes. She knew that voice all too well, Yukio, Ryu's older brother, the youngest of the town's Elders.
A calm suddenly passed over Michi and she pulled herself up from the floor, wiped her eyes and whispered, "I will meet this with grace." She carefully removed the strand of prayer beads from her right wrist. Her motions were so slow, it as if she was afraid the beads would shatter if she moved too quickly. Michi held the beads in her open palms and closed her fingers over them, while trying to restore her calm.
" Wench, we know you're in there!" Yukio called out over the crowd again.
Michi's brown eyes were calm and sad as she set the beads on the floor, near Miroku's Shakujou. 'They must have forgotten it. I'm sure Miroku will come back for it when he knows it's safe.' A pounding on the door interrupted Michi's observations and she looked heavenward before whispering a quiet warning. "Don't look Mother; this is going to be ugly."
The door flew in and tall angry man reached for Michi's ponytail; he gave her hair a jerk, sending her crashing to the ground. Upon hearing her whimper he laughed. "I'm going to enjoy this, Wench."
" Shouldn't you be in mourning for your brother?" She snapped without thinking.
Yukio pulled Michi to her feet by yanking her hair. "I will mourn him once I've pissed on your worthless ashes." He gave her a shove, but kept a hold of her arm as they walked out of the house and into the light of the early morning.
Michi held her chin level and her appearance seemed calm as she surveyed the mob. 'Lit torches? Check. Sharp-pointy things? Check. Angry men? Check. Box containing the dead body? Check. Rope to tie me up? Check. I'm dead.' Michi thought miserably as she took note of everything.
" Where's my niece, Wench?" Yukio demanded, before adding. "She should see what her no-good mother did to her honorable father."
" She's not here." Michi told him flatly.
" Where is she?" His grip tightened on her bicep.
Michi looked up at him, her eyes shinning with hatred for this man that wanted to torment her child. "I turned her into a bird and she flew away." She let a defiant smile pass over her feature.
"Is that enough for you? Can't you see what a disrespectful woman this is? Do you need any more proof?" Yukio slammed Michi in the back causing her to fall face down into the dirt. He ground his foot into her back using his weight to hold her down.
" Yukio, do not let your grief blind you. We all know that Michi isn't a normal woman. But we must determine her guilt before we can punish her." Ran, an old wrinkled man, announced while squinting his eyes to get a better look at the Michi.
Koi the richest man in the village stood to his feet, "Present her to the bodies. Then we'll see if the guilt is in her."
'Bodies? As in more than one dead person? What, do they think I went on a rampage?' Michi complained inwardly, before being jerked to her feet and thrown towards the box.
Yukio grasped the back of her neck and forced her head inside the box.
The color drained from her face as Michi tried to push away from the shredded bodies. Their faces were slashed to bits; nothing could identify the two but the clothes they were wearing. Michi stumbled back and chocked out startled cry as she turned away from the corpses.
Yukio grabbed her arms and spun her back to face the box again.
" Stop. I've seen enough." Michi gagged, while fighting her stomach's desire to relieve itself of its contents.
" Can't stand to see what you've done in the light of day?" Yukio gloated.
"I could not and did not do that." Michi looked to Ran hoping to find sympathy in the man's eyes, but he wouldn't look at her.
"Who is the woman?" Koi asked.
Michi dug her feet in the ground as Yukio shoved her towards the box. "I do not need to look again. The woman is Nia, I recognize the kimono, I made it for her."
" That's a very nice kimono for servant. Why did you make such a thing for her?" Koi continued his questions.
"I made it at my husband's request." Michi admitted subdued.
"Did it make you angry that he was sleeping with your servant?" Koi stepped forward and pointed for Yukio to sit down in his seat.
Yukio brushed by Michi, sat down and smiled, satisfied at the job the Koi was doing.
Michi knew she was trapped; however she answered, she was dead. If she said 'no' then she was really in trouble, but if she said 'yes' she had motive for murder. "I didn't know that they were sleeping together."
" Michi, you expect us to believe that, when the whole town knows you delivered their child?" Koi arched his eyebrow and circled Michi. "You knew, Michi. And I think, you were angry about it. Angry enough to kill."
"I would not kill, it's wrong. And I could not kill like that, I'm not strong enough." Michi defended.
"You killed my brother's son!" Yukio yelled out.
Michi glared at the man, "I did not. The baby was born dead, there was nothing I could do."
Koi held his hand up for Yukio to relax. "You say it's wrong to kill. But isn't it wrong to lie as well, Michi? What does the Enlightened One say about that?"
"It is also wrong to attack a defenseless woman, why does no one defend that?" Michi bowed her head, trying to at least appear submissive.
"Good point." Koi applauded and walked over to the body. "And I think you're right, you couldn't have killed Ryu like this. You're much too weak to fight him... Unless... Unless you poisoned him..." Koi looked at Michi, than turned to the Elders. "We know this woman is fluent in the ways of healing herbs, and with the power to heal comes the power to kill."
"No! I did not do this! I would never use what I learned for harm." Michi dropped to her knees before the Elders. "When have you ever seen me cause harm?"
" Weren't you caring for Nia, when she was bearing a child for Ryu?" Koi thundered over Michi.
"I didn't do anything to her, the baby just wasn't strong enough to live!" Michi argued.
"But were you caring for Nia?"
"Yes, but I've cared for many women during their pregnancies and they and their children are fine.
Koi hoisted Michi to her feet. "Woman, I believe that you are lying. How could you care for the woman who was taking away your husband?"
"It is my duty to care for..." Michi started quietly.
"But it didn't bother you to watch them together? To know that she'd replaced you in his heart."
"I didn't let it affect the way I treated..."
"But the unfaithfulness in your own house, under your roof; that didn't eat away at your soul?" Koi leaned in closer to Michi.
"No. I didn't let it..."
"The fact that she received his affections and you didn't; that didn't bother you?!?"
Michi lost her temper, "What affection? The man nearly killed me when I bore him a daughter! He never cared for me, why should I have feelings for him!?!"
Koi smiled cruelly and looked at the Elders, "My fellow Elders is that enough proof for you? I know it is for me."
Michi blinked. 'What just happened? I didn't like him so I killed him?'
" Michi, step forward." Ran called to her. "I will give you one last chance for some form of mercy in death, if you will take responsibility for your crime."
Michi felt tears gather in her eyes at the loss of her hope. "What mercy would you give me?"
"We would allow you to die as a lady. Your body would remain hidden from the eyes of men." Ran answered and glared sharply at Yukio's attempt at an argument.
Michi shook her head and chuckled humorlessly. "What is a body; but a temporary shell. Besides, you've all seen my body before, when Ryu whipped me in front of you. I committed no crime; Buddha knows it and so do you." Her eyes narrowed at the men.
" There you see what my brother was cursed with?" Yukio jumped to his feet. "I say death by fire. We shouldn't suffer this witch's bones in our soil. Who agrees?"
Michi watched the men, whose children she'd delivered or healed, one by one vote her to death by fire. 'Really ugly, Mother.' Michi thought miserably.
Yukio strode up to her and grabbed her hair. "This way the gods will know a whore is being offered to them." He drew his dagger and sliced her hair off at the hair band.
Michi's now less-than-shoulder length hair fell around her face, sticking to the streaks of silent tears. "I can't believe, you're doing this to me." Her voice barely above a whisper as the Yukio tied her hands behind her back. "After everything..."
Yukio and Koi dragged her to a pole and tied her hands over her head.
"Why would you think I could do this?" Michi's voice was getting steadily louder.
They secured her feet to the pole and Yukio raised his dragger to her throat, than slowly began to cut away her kimono.
" Don't do this! Please! I sacrificed my blood to the hawk-demon for you! I risked my life for you! Please don't do this! I'm begging you!" Michi screeched throwing her body from one side to the other trying to get away from Yukio and his merciless cutting.
Koi held Michi still for the most part as Yukio finished cutting away Michi's kimono and two of the other men stacked dry wood around her feet. Yukio laughed as he pulled the fabric away from Michi revealing her scared flesh to all the men in attendance.
Michi choked out another sob, but couldn't force any words to come out of her mouth.
" Death for death." Yukio set fire to the kimono and threw it into the pile of wood, which caught the small sticks on fire instantly.
Miroku was not light. That was Inuyasha's opinion of the monk at the moment. When Inuyasha said he was going back for Michi, Miroku wouldn't be left behind. Too bad the idiot couldn't quite walk yet. It made sense; Miroku hadn't really moved in three days, his muscles were stiff and unresponsive. Inuyasha paused his race back to Michi's and sniffed the air.
"I smell smoke." He stated in a deadpan tone.
Miroku held on Inuyasha's shoulders, "Then don't stop. I'll be able to walk once I have my staff."
Inuyasha nodded and sped down the hill towards the back of the house. He looked at the crowd and noticed that they were dragging Michi to a pole. Shit. They were running out of time. He got them in the back of the house, without the crowd noticing them. "I don't see why I can't just kill 'em."
Miroku slid off Inuyasha's back and caught his breath. "Michi would be heartbroken if people were killed because of her. I'd like to do this my way." Miroku reached for his staff and noticed Michi's prayer beads on the floor. He stuffed them in one of his pockets.
" Whatever. We try it your way, but I'm saving her one way or another. I'm not listening to that brat cry anymore." Inuyasha looked at Miroku's unsteady stance. "Can you even stand long enough to pull this off?"
Miroku nodded. "Have faith."
" Don't do this! I'm begging you!" Michi's scream impaled the men's ears.
Miroku and Inuyasha walked out of the house and into the crowd in time to hear Yukio's announcement. "Death for death."
"May I ask what is going on here?" Miroku requested of the Elders, purposefully keeping his eyes away from Michi, fearing he'd lose his temper.
" Hello Houshi-sama." One of the older men greeted him. "I am sorry you've come upon us at this time. We are putting a murderess to death."
"I see." Miroku scratched his chin and looked at Yukio noting that the other man didn't recognize him. Miroku walked over to the box and looked down, steeling himself not to react. "I do hope that she's not being killed over these two." He gave a pitying look to the Elders.
"Why, yes, Houshi-sama. That is her husband and her husband's lover." Another man answered.
Miroku forced himself to ignore Michi's whimpering as the fire licked her feet and lower legs and continued to address the Elders. "She didn't kill these two, a hawk-demon did. I saw it with my own eyes."
Yukio examined Miroku more seriously. "You lie."
Miroku arched his eyebrow and looked at Inuyasha. "You see I told you, we should have asked the village for help when we hunted the demon. Now, they're going to kill this woman over our mistake."
"It's your karma, not mine. Demons don't have souls." Inuyasha cracked his knuckles.
"You saw the hawk-demon kill these two; than pursued it?" Ran asked.
"No, we killed it." Inuyasha snorted.
"You rid us of the hawk-demon? Then we are most grateful." Ran smiled and rose to shake Miroku's hand, but the monk didn't accept it.
"I'm afraid that I'm not allowed to touch anyone until I've purified myself from this action." Miroku folded his arms inside his sleeves.
"Of course. What can we give to you for doing this service for us?" Ran offered.
"A life for a life." Miroku pointed to Michi and felt his heart drop. He had to force himself to stay focused and not kill the men in front of him. ' I should just suck them all in the wind tunnel; no one would miss them. Bastards.'
"Of course. Houshi-sama." Ran snapped to the men. "Men put out the fire."
" Don't bother." Miroku waved his hand. "Inuyasha?" He motioned his hand towards Michi.
The hanyou nodded and leapt to the back of the pole. He sliced the ropes, ignoring the sting of the fire and appeared around the front of the pole in time to catch Michi safely in his arms. He walked back to Miroku, with the whimpering woman, keeping her hidden with the sleeves of his kimono.
Miroku had taken part of his robe off and motioned for Inuyasha to set Michi down. After she was on the ground, Miroku wrapped the cloth around her and whispered in the scholar's tongue. "Say the word and none of them live."
Michi shook her head and pleaded in the same tongue. "All I want is my daughter."
Miroku nodded and stood up straight as Inuyasha gathered Michi up in his arms.
" Gentlemen, you should be more careful with your judgments. You almost killed an innocent woman." Miroku warned.
" Houshi-sama, I hope you will bring this woman back when she heals. For it is custom here for the wife of a fallen man to be taken into the house of the fallen man's brother." Yukio called to Miroku.
Miroku narrowed his eyes, than got a more passive look before turning around to face Ryu's brother. "This woman will be better off with me."
Inuyasha was still walking and Miroku fell in step with him and gloated. " See that wasn't so hard."
"I can't believe that worked." Inuyasha shook his head not believing their luck.
" Miroku! You liar! You're Michi's cousin!" Yukio screeched.
"Run. Fast." Miroku found his running legs in nothing flat and two sped off towards the woods.
Original Reviewer Responses:
Review Responses:
Neatobeans: Here you are. New chapter. Yup I woke up Miroku, though he was kinda grumpy about his wake-up call. So I guess I answered your question right off the bat! Thank you so much for the wonderful review! I always appreciate them! Hope you liked this chapter too!
The perpetually perky GC-anime frEAK!: Okay first of all thanks for the review! I so appreciate it! As far as I know its Kirara in the original anima and manga and Kilala in the dubbed version, which shows on Cartoon Network. That's all I know anyway. Hope it clears things up. Love the new name, very cute! So glad you liked the chapter...yeah I thought that last bit was funny, that's how I wanted it. I hope you liked this part as well.
Nuklear Firefly: Thanks for the welcome back and your review. I so appreciate you taking the time to write it up! Well Michi's not too happy with me, of course that's nothing new. Hope you liked this part too!
Incoherence: I loved writing up that whole last scene I thought it would be nice little humor bit to break up all the drama in the story...though Kagome isn't too thrilled. Thank you so much for complimenting my writing skills, I'm so glad you're enjoying this piece. And thank you for complimenting my use of the spiritual stuff, I wanted to keep it as accurate and interesting as possible, Mythology classes so come in handy!!!
I'm sorry about the long wait between chapters, but I was up to neck, with homework. I still am, but muse got to me and kicked me into gear. See Michi's still alive...I may not be once she gets a hold of me, but I'm sure I can out run her...maybe. No Sango/Miroku this time, but it'll be their in the next bit, I promise. Thanks again for reviewing. I hope you liked this chapter as well!
Lachesis: Thank you for your very kind words, I'm so glad you're enjoying the story. Thanks so much for taking the time. I hope you continue to read and enjoy the piece! By the way you were my 100th review...THANK YOU!!!
WildfireDreams: Yup he's awake. Ryu is not. And Michi...well I think she needs therapy after all I've put her through....Thanks so much for the review. I hope you liked this part too!
Araki-chan: Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you liked this chapter too. You'll have to keep reading to see how it turns out.
Blades of Ice: Well yup he's awake. A little grouchy about being dropped on his head, but okay. Thanks so much for writing a review for me!! I hope you liked this chapter too!
Dreamseeker: "Stay out of trouble or get into lots, whichever comes first!" Look see Michi's fine...um Yeah I'm so on her hit list!!!! Thanks so much for taking the time to review and tell me what you liked. And of course I'll write another story. I always have another up my sleeve I just have to pound an idea into a plot. I always love getting your reviews they are always so neat. Love ya, sweets!!
Jaid Skywalker: Ack! Yes people are very strange. Glad you liked the chapter. Michi's always in danger; have you checked out her famliy? LOL I love, LOVE the little scenes you come up with they are so great! This one was so funny! I'm still partial to the other one, but this is so great too! Thanks for taking the time to review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.
Hikari: Yes, yes...the Miroku is awake, but he's a bit on the grumpy side after that rude awakening. Tanaya's still quite upset, which really has Michi pissed at me.
Ah, so that's where she got too the other day! Taylor has a tendency to wander here, there and everywhere. Looks over her shoulder Thought she's really mad at me over that last scene...but hey, she'll relax soon enough...maybe. Her and Michi were munching on the brownies, but Taylor kept stealing all the walnuts...Oh well. Glad you and Taylor are friends. Hope she doesn't cause too much trouble in your neck of the woods!
Ack, it was job and I'll find a much better one!!
Thank you so much for as always, wonderful reviews!!! They so brighten up my day. Thank you for taking the time that you do. I hope you enjoyed this part as well!!