AN: I now we're getting off the beaten path here, people, but this is much more exciting than having Miroku shot in the head. Besides, they didn't have guns back then {even if we do give then hoopskirts and suits once in a while :)}
Act Seven: Scene One.
Manten pulled up in his buggy with his brother Hiten beside him. They had come to Edo on the very last day. Kagome's two weeks were up now and they had come for her decision. One way or another she and Edo would be his. Manten looked around at the broken, boarded up windows and the vine covered pillars. They would all need to be cleaned up, trimmed, or replaced. He would enjoy restoring this grand old Palace to it's former glory.
"Well brother, shall we go inside and see what young Kagome has decided?" He asked.
"Let's, but don't get your hopes up little brother. The lady Kagome may be more stubborn than you realize." Hiten said as they walked up the steps and pulled on the bell to announce themselves.
Shippo answered the door.
"Oh, it's you two. Well, come on in. Kagome's been waiting for you to arrive." He told them.
"See brother, she's come to her senses." Manten said confidently as Shippo showed them into the parlor. They waited there for sometime when finally Kagome came out to welcome them with Eri following close behind with some fresh tea.
"Welcome back." Kagome said, offering the tea to her guests. "I've been wondering when you'd come back Manten. I've been wanting to see you again for some time."
"So may I take it my dear, that you've decided to accept my offer of marriage?" Manten asked her.
"Well, you see that's where it gets complicated. I can't marry you Manten, no matter how generous an offer you make me. You see it's against the law for one woman to have two husbands." She told him.
"What? Two husbands, you mean to tell me that you've already married?" He demanded from her.
"Yes, please come meet my new husband. Miroku darling!" She called upstairs. Miroku came down the steps dressed in his finest Kimono and slippers like the master of the house should dress.
"Yes my darling Kagome." He said taking her hands in his and kissing her passionately. It was more than either Manten or Hiten could bare. The insult of it all, the shear insult!
"This can't be, it's only been two weeks. How could you have found someone to marry you in two weeks?" He demanded to know.
Kagome turned to him and said sweetly. "My dear Miroku Kennedy is a family friend, and we've been sweet on each other for years." Miroku put his arm around Kagome and they stood there looking like quite the handsome couple. Manten simply could not bare to see it. He shrank away behind his brother and cried.
"This is an outrage. My brother's affections were plainly stated Mrs. Kennedy. His offer should have been considered first." Hiten stated.
"Oh but it was, and it was flatly denied." Miroku said. "Now I must ask you to leave and never darken the doors of my home again. Do I make myself perfectly plain?" He asked.
"You do sir. You most certainly do." Hiten replied. He took his brother by the arm and led him outside to their buggy. As they drove off, Kagome had a bad feeling about them. She wasn't sure, but she feared that they would be back for her someday.
"Don't worry." Miroku reassured her. "I'll protect you my sweet. I would die before allowing any other man to lay a hand on you." He had become quite devoted to her in such a short time. Maybe it was the fact that Kagome needed him, or maybe he'd secretly wanted her all along, but for whatever the reason, he was devoted to her. And deep down inside of herself, Kagome did feel some devotion to him as well. They had been good friends growing up and so maybe being married wouldn't be so bad. He was awfully good in bed and there was the fact that now, her beloved Edo was safe. With her family and friends in no further danger, Kagome thought she could at last settle down and turn her attention to more important things like Miroku's new store. Now that she was his wife, she had a vested interest in keeping it in business, and that meant moving from Edo to Kyoto. Kyoto was a much larger city than either Tokyo or Fuji. It was the heart of the Empire and living there would afford Kagome many more great opportunities than if she stayed at home.
"Well, things are really shaping up around here, aren't they?" Kagome asked one morning as she was packing.
"They certainly are." Songo replied. "But what will you do with Edo now that you're moving to Kyoto?" She asked, putting one of Kagome's dresses into a large trunk.
"I thought I'd leave it for you and Hojo to take care of, unless…" Kagome said, "Unless you two would like to come to Kyoto with me and become full partners in mine and Miroku's store?"
"Oh Kagome do you mean it?" Songo asked.
"Sure, why not, I know Miroku will pleased, won't you dear?" She asked him.
"Well actually sweety I was thinking…" Kagome looked at him with murder in her eyes. "Sure thing, I'd love to have a partner, means less work for me to do, and more time for us to spend in the sack."
"See." Kagome said to Songo. "We'd love to have you."
"I don't know." Hojo said packing away the dishes. "I'd really like to see about starting my own business. I was thinking about going into the lumber business. There is an awful lot of building going on now that the war is over."
"Hojo and I would love to go with you to Kyoto with you Kagome, it's really the best thing for us. Isn't that right, Hojo? You can start your lumber business in Kyoto next year after we've made some money." Songo looked at him with a similar glare of anger. He sighed and then walked away, knowing that he couldn't very well fight both Kagome and Songo. Once those two girls had their minds made up to do something there was no stopping them anyway.
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Act Seven: Scene Two.
Many months passed after Kagome and Miroku had moved back to Kyoto with Hojo and Songo. She'd left the care of the house in Edo to her sisters who were more than willing to be left on their own to entertain new prospective husbands. Keada and little Shippo, along with Eri, came with Kagome and Miroku to work in their new Palace on Omura street. Everything seemed to be going well until one day when Kagome was working the storefront on her own. Inu-yasha walked by the new Kennedy and Wilkes General Store and Lumbar Yard and looked inside the windows. Things seemed to be doing well for the Kennedy family and the Wilkes'. He laughed actually to see Kagome behind the register counting money. Just then however, she saw him and came running out to him in her store keeper's outfit.
"Well, pleasant day isn't it Mrs. Kennedy?" Inu-yasha asked her. "Things certainly seem to be going well for you."
"Stop it Inu-yasha now what is it that you want?" She asked him.
"Maybe you can clarify something for me." He replied. "Do you never shrink away from marrying men whom you don't love?"
"What business is that of yours?" Kagome wondered.
"Oh it's not really, just wondering myself why you wouldn't have waited a few days is all. My brother is out of jail now and Kikyo's left me. We had a big fight after we last spoke and she took off back to Fuji. Just think, all my millions could have been yours if you had only waited a day."
"What do you mean?" Kagome demanded.
"Well I was so upset that I went looking for you to ask you to marry me, myself, but by the time I learned where you were staying, you were already married to Mr. Kennedy. " Inu-yasha told her. Kagome couldn't believe what she was hearing. The thought of having missed out on being with Inu-yasha was enough to enrage her. Though she didn't show it of course, she simply turned around long enough to compose herself, then she looked up at him.
"I suppose that's just what happens in life sometimes You snooze, you loose." Kagome said to him.
"Well, that's just fine. There's nothing that money can't buy, even the love of a good woman. I expect that's one of the reasons that you married this Miroku Kennedy. Seeing as how you're still so in love with that fellow Hojo."
"Oh don't you worry about Hojo, he's got Songo to keep him company. Miroku and I are quite happy together. He's a rocket in the sack, and as it turns out he's very well endowed" Kagome smirked. " I have absolutely everything that I could possibly want with him." Inu-yasha sniffed her hair, then he sniffed her neck while she bragged to him.
"You still smell like the same old Kagome to me." He told her. Just then it hit him. "You do smell the same, you don't smell different at all!"
"What do you mean?" She demanded to know. "What difference does it make what I smell like?"
"Well you're not exactly reeking of the odor of motherhood. It's been how many months now and he's still not knocked you up?" Inu-yasha asked. "Or can he. Having a huge pen doesn't matter quite so much if there's no ink in the well." Kagome slapped him for being so vulgar.
"He's more of a man than I'd wager you are down there." She told him.
"Come over tonight and find out what kind of a man I am. I've been with married women before and it's no skin off my nose. Kikyo's been married three or four times and each time she's always been accommodating to me." Kagome could have murdered him for that remark. "You can't be very happy with this guy otherwise what I say wouldn't bother you so much."
"I'm not Kikyo!" She shouted at him. "I'll never allow myself to fall into your bed Inu-yasha, so just get lost!" She stormed back into the store and went back to counting money while Inu-yasha stood outside and laughed at her.
"What a woman." He said and stuck a cigar in his mouth to chew on the end of it while he lit it. "What a woman."
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Act Seven: Scene Three.
Kagome, Hojo, and Miroku inspected their new mill with careful eyes. They took in every detail as they toured the new facility. It had all the latest mechanical equipment and western overseers to make sure that the convict workers they had brought in would put in a hard day's labors for them.
"Here they are." The Head Overseer said as he paraded the lowly looking human skeletons in. They were dressed in rags and they were all dirty, underfed, and near death it seemed. "The best convicts in all the city. And if you'll just give Jaken here a free hand then you won't be sorry with the load of lumbar they put out of this place."
"Yes, I'll make sure these lousy retches work hard for you." Jaken said as he took a whip to one of them. Kagome shuttered but it was the only way that they could turn a profit out of the place. To hire free men would break them as little business as they were doing in the lumbar yard at the moment. Once they had a finer selection though, she was sure that business would pick up.
"Fine, just deliver the lumbar on schedule." The stench of the prisoners was making them all sick. Kagome couldn't bare it any longer, she went back inside the office with Miroku and Hojo. "I think that I may faint." She said to her husband. He put his arms around her.
"Go home love, I'll take care of things here." Miroku said to her and kissed her cheek.
"Thanks but don't let up on those men, they're dirty, filthy bandits all of them and never forget that they deserve what they get." She said trying not to seem weak.
"Some of those men served under me." Hojo said suddenly. "Kagome, how can I whip them and starve them now?" He demanded. "Those aren't bandits those are men who surrendered after the war rather than die. Some of them look half dead already. Kagome, these men will look to me for better care. How can I let them down?" Kagome walked over to him.
"Oh, Hojo, sweet, Hojo, you're a business man now, don't let it bother you so much. Just do as Miroku and I do and everything will be fine." She told him then she went out to her buggy and climbed up. "I'll be fine once I get home." She told Miroku, "Just see to it that things get underway here and everything will be fine." She kept saying that over and over again in her mind as if things really would be okay as long as she believed it. She didn't believe it though. Not really.
On the way home Kagome wondered about what this world she lived in had brought her to. She was making money off the misery and suffering of others now. She had married a man she did not love and was going into business for herself with another man who she did love but whom was married to her best friend. Then there was Inu-yasha and his vulgar advances towards her. Something about what he'd said to her the other day rang true. She wasn't very happy with her life right now. It seemed that every day was just surviving to her. Every day she did business with the very soldiers and demons who had ravaged her country and made war upon her people. She prayed twice a day like everyone else in the country did for an Emperor who was oppressing her, her family, and her friends by passing cruel laws that forced her to do things that she wouldn't otherwise do. What few friends she had left were only loyal to her because they knew what it was that she was going through.
Other people, ones she'd known, and still others whom she didn't know looked at her and thought of her as a harlot and a peddler of her soul. Her honor was gone in their eyes, so she'd do just about anything. But they were wrong. She still had some honor and there were still some things that Kagome would not do to survive. She most certainly would not go crawling back to Captain Inu-yasha Butler or to his brother, Colonel Sesshomaru Butler. Those two had used up whatever feeling she had towards either of them before now.
"Stupid Inu-yasha." Kagome said to herself as she cracked the reigns on her buggy and drove the horses hard to get home as quickly as she could. She was just coming out of the woods and rounding the bend when suddenly a group of armed ninjas came out of nowhere and captured her. They leaped up onto the buggy and took the reigns from her. "Someone help me!" She cried but then one of them sprayed some powder in her face. She dropped off to sleep almost immediately. She fell back into the arms of one of them who quickly removed his mask.
"My dear Kagome, I said I'd have you one way or another." Manten said as he placed her in the back of the buggy and drove away with her. The other Ninjas road with him to his palace where he paid them in gold. "Now go and make sure that her husband and the others all die. I want their heads when you return." He commanded. The Ninjas all bowed to their employer and then dashed off into the shadows.
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Act Seven: Scene Four.
Inu-yasha was waiting for Hojo and Miroku when they came pulling up in the yard of Miroku's house that night. Kagome was not with them, he saw.
"So where is she?" He asked them right off. "I asked around inside and they said that she was at the mill with you two." Miroku looked at Hojo.
"She's not with us. What do you mean she's now here now? She said she was going straight home." Miroku said.
"This doesn't make sense, Kagome wouldn't just run off to town, not when it's so late." Hojo agreed. "Something must have happened to her.
"We'd better go back and look for Kagome, she might be in trouble." Inu-yasha said as he climbed up on the buggy with them. Suddenly though, from out of nowhere, came a throwing star. It hit Miroku in the shoulder and sent him flying off of the buggy. Inu-yasha drew his sword just in time to catch the blade of an attacking Ninja. They came from out of the darkness in their black robes and masks. Hojo drew his sword and then the two of them began to fight back to back with their attackers. The two old veterans fought bravely while poor Miroku crawled underneath the buggy. He was bleeding pretty badly and it was all he could do to pull the jagged piece of metal from his flesh. Just then he saw another Ninja coming up to cut Inu-yasha down while he dueled with another.
"Watch out!" Miroku cried and threw the star at the Ninja. It lodged in his neck and he fell to Inu-yasha's feet.
"You're not so useless after all." He commented, then went back to killing Ninjas. They fell all about them. The three men were merciless and gave no quarter to any except one injured young man who tried to crawl away from underneath another of his fallen comrades. Inu-yasha bent down before his prisoner and looked into his eyes. "So let's see, what's the penalty for attempted murder these days?" He asked himself, thinking. "Oh yeah, it's beheading and I'd say you've got three counts of attempted murder on your hands here buddy."
"Do what you want with me. I have failed in my mission and have been captured. I must die anyway." The young Ninja said as Inu-yasha took hold of him.
"Fine, then I'll just get it over with right now, but before I do, tell me one thing. Does this attack have anything to do Kagome Kennedy being missing?" He asked. Hojo stepped on the young Ninja's back where his wound was and it hurt him.
"Okay, just make my death quick and painless." He said. "We took her, to Lord Manten's palace where he's holding her until you're all dead. Then he intends to marry her. We were supposed to bring back you heads as proof to Mrs. Kennedy that you were all dead."
"Fine, then here's you reward." Miroku said taking Hojo's sword from him. With one swipe of the blade the young Ninja's head came off and rolled down the path. "Inu-yasha, you care for my wife do you not?" He suddenly asked, clutching his wounded shoulder.
"Yeah, what of it?" Inu-yasha admitted.
"Then please help me to save her. I promise you a handsome reward." Miroku offered.
"No reward is necessary, I'll help save Kagome for her sake, not yours. I love her." He said then climbed up on the buggy. Songo and the others came out then and beheld the gruesome sight.
"Hojo, what happened?" She asked him.
"It's not safe here, go to my brother's house." Inu-yasha told them. "We've got to go save Kagome now."
"Kagome? You mean that someone has taken her?" Songo asked. She handed her son over to Keade. "Well you're not going without me. I'm going to go with you." She grabbed up one the Ninja's swords and stuck it in her kimono. Miroku did the same then the four of them were off, or rather the five of them. Shippo hopped on at the last minute and road with them all the way to Manten and Hiten's Palace near the river. They road right in through the front gate and fought their way into the house. There were soldiers everywhere, all dressed in the black uniforms of the Imperial Guard.
Finally, Songo thought, a chance to get rid of some of this pent up anger that I've been saving since the war. She slashed and hacked away at the soldiers. Inu-yasha slaughtered them without mercy, while Hojo and Miroku stayed behind with Shippo to hold down the entrance which was now their only means of escape.
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"The Rebels are coming this way." Manten told his soldiers as he fortified his bedroom door. "Don't let them get any further." Down the hall his brother Hiten waited patiently for his enemies to come. He was glad finally to have worthy adversaries to fight. He'd had nothing to do during the war except clean up after the Emperor's army of Wind Demons. At last, he would get to see actual combat. When Inu-yasha and Songo came running up the corridor, he leaped out and with his sword in hand he stood face to face with Captain Inu-yasha.
"So you're the famous blockade runner who killed so many of the Emperor's army to get your goods through from the South to the former Emperor's strong holds. I must say that I'm impressed." Hiten said to Inu-yasha.
"I've always hated Tax collectors, killing you and your brother will be a pleasure." Inu-yasha replied. With that they had at each other, cutting ripping, and dodging. They exchanged blows and nearly cut each other to pieces before Songo's eyes.
"Inu-yasha!" She cried.
"Go, save Kagome!" He told her as he struggled against Hiten. Songo was hesitant but she went on without him. The few guards left to defend Maten's room were no match for her. They fell before her blade and then the door came down. Manten looked up and gasped.
"You, but I was expecting …" He cried, before Songo sliced his head off of his shoulders. Kagome lay underneath his body, now covered with blood, with her Kimono ripped from the hem up.
"Oh, Songo!" Kagome cried as she embraced her friend.
"Kagome did he…?" She started to ask.
"No, he didn't, but he would have!" Kagome grabbed the sword and stabbed the headless body in the less modest areas of his person. "Let's go." She said then. She and Songo rushed out the door and into the hallway where Inu-yasha was just finishing off Hiten. He was pulling his sword out of Hiten's guts when Kagome and Songo came running up to him. "Inu-yasha, you're cut to pieces!" She exclaimed.
"Don't worry about it but we had better get out of here before the authorities show up. Too many questions left to answer and I don't think that your modesty would survive a formal inquiry." They ran down the steps were almost to the door when more guards came from around the back of the Palace.
"Kagome!" Miroku ran to her and grabbed her up in his arms. "Kagome." He hugged her and held her while the others fought off the impending danger.
"Oh Miroku." She said. "I'm so sorry that I left you today. I'll never leave your side again." She said to him.
"Later dear, let's just get out of here." He said. The guards fired arrows at them as they all ran to the buggy which Shippo was getting ready to take off in.
"Hey, wait for us!" Inu-yasha shouted. Shippo halted and waited for them while arrows rained down upon them. Kagome, Songo, Miroku, and Hojo climbed on while Inu-yasha covered them. He was just climbing up when suddenly an arrow struck just above him in Miroku's side. He cried out in pain and Inu-yasha and Kagome gasped. Another arrow came and then another and another. The struck Miroku in the chest. He fell forward into Kagome's arms. She could barely believe it but she let out a cry like nothing ever heard before.
"MIROKU!!!" She wept over his body and Inu-yasha turned around, enraged, and ran to the guards. He drew his sword from its bloodstained sheath and slaughtered them with no mercy. He killed every living soul on the grounds and he did it all for Kagome. Seeing her cry over the body of her dead husband had been the last straw. He could bare this no longer. Inu-yasha was like a demon from the depths of Hades unleashed. And when he was done, he mutilated their bodies so that no matter how hard they tried, even their closest relatives could not identify them.
As he stood, panting from the boldly battle, he turned around to where Kagome, now with Songo, Hojo, and Shippo beside her, was crying over the fallen Miroku. Inu-yasha made to go to her, comfort the woman he cherished more than anyone else, but Hojo bent down and hugged her first. Kagome wept in his arms, wrapping her arms tightly around him… And Inu-yasha was disgusted at the sight. He sheathed his sword, walked over to them, and picked up Miroku's body. It was curiously light, now that it no longer carried his spirit.
"Let's go," Inu-yasha said coldly. "We haven't got time. We'll mourn later." No one said anything. He took the reins, cracked them, and they sped away. Not five minutes later, the Emperor himself rode up with his best cavalrymen to the ransacked palace. They looked in every room and hallway, and found nothing but the gruesome sight of death.
"What inhuman monster would slaughter so many?" One of the men said. Emperor Kohaku looked at a crack in the molding around a door. Caught in it was a single strand of silver white hair.
"It wasn't human," Kohaku said, taking the hair between his thumb and forefinger. "At least, half anyway. Go and find Inu-yasha Butler. Tell him that I remember his name, and wish an audience with him at his earliest convenience."
"Yes, your Excellency," said the men, placing one arm across their chests and bowing. Three riders left to do their master's bidding, while the rest gathered the dead.
AN: Please review
Act Seven: Scene One.
Manten pulled up in his buggy with his brother Hiten beside him. They had come to Edo on the very last day. Kagome's two weeks were up now and they had come for her decision. One way or another she and Edo would be his. Manten looked around at the broken, boarded up windows and the vine covered pillars. They would all need to be cleaned up, trimmed, or replaced. He would enjoy restoring this grand old Palace to it's former glory.
"Well brother, shall we go inside and see what young Kagome has decided?" He asked.
"Let's, but don't get your hopes up little brother. The lady Kagome may be more stubborn than you realize." Hiten said as they walked up the steps and pulled on the bell to announce themselves.
Shippo answered the door.
"Oh, it's you two. Well, come on in. Kagome's been waiting for you to arrive." He told them.
"See brother, she's come to her senses." Manten said confidently as Shippo showed them into the parlor. They waited there for sometime when finally Kagome came out to welcome them with Eri following close behind with some fresh tea.
"Welcome back." Kagome said, offering the tea to her guests. "I've been wondering when you'd come back Manten. I've been wanting to see you again for some time."
"So may I take it my dear, that you've decided to accept my offer of marriage?" Manten asked her.
"Well, you see that's where it gets complicated. I can't marry you Manten, no matter how generous an offer you make me. You see it's against the law for one woman to have two husbands." She told him.
"What? Two husbands, you mean to tell me that you've already married?" He demanded from her.
"Yes, please come meet my new husband. Miroku darling!" She called upstairs. Miroku came down the steps dressed in his finest Kimono and slippers like the master of the house should dress.
"Yes my darling Kagome." He said taking her hands in his and kissing her passionately. It was more than either Manten or Hiten could bare. The insult of it all, the shear insult!
"This can't be, it's only been two weeks. How could you have found someone to marry you in two weeks?" He demanded to know.
Kagome turned to him and said sweetly. "My dear Miroku Kennedy is a family friend, and we've been sweet on each other for years." Miroku put his arm around Kagome and they stood there looking like quite the handsome couple. Manten simply could not bare to see it. He shrank away behind his brother and cried.
"This is an outrage. My brother's affections were plainly stated Mrs. Kennedy. His offer should have been considered first." Hiten stated.
"Oh but it was, and it was flatly denied." Miroku said. "Now I must ask you to leave and never darken the doors of my home again. Do I make myself perfectly plain?" He asked.
"You do sir. You most certainly do." Hiten replied. He took his brother by the arm and led him outside to their buggy. As they drove off, Kagome had a bad feeling about them. She wasn't sure, but she feared that they would be back for her someday.
"Don't worry." Miroku reassured her. "I'll protect you my sweet. I would die before allowing any other man to lay a hand on you." He had become quite devoted to her in such a short time. Maybe it was the fact that Kagome needed him, or maybe he'd secretly wanted her all along, but for whatever the reason, he was devoted to her. And deep down inside of herself, Kagome did feel some devotion to him as well. They had been good friends growing up and so maybe being married wouldn't be so bad. He was awfully good in bed and there was the fact that now, her beloved Edo was safe. With her family and friends in no further danger, Kagome thought she could at last settle down and turn her attention to more important things like Miroku's new store. Now that she was his wife, she had a vested interest in keeping it in business, and that meant moving from Edo to Kyoto. Kyoto was a much larger city than either Tokyo or Fuji. It was the heart of the Empire and living there would afford Kagome many more great opportunities than if she stayed at home.
"Well, things are really shaping up around here, aren't they?" Kagome asked one morning as she was packing.
"They certainly are." Songo replied. "But what will you do with Edo now that you're moving to Kyoto?" She asked, putting one of Kagome's dresses into a large trunk.
"I thought I'd leave it for you and Hojo to take care of, unless…" Kagome said, "Unless you two would like to come to Kyoto with me and become full partners in mine and Miroku's store?"
"Oh Kagome do you mean it?" Songo asked.
"Sure, why not, I know Miroku will pleased, won't you dear?" She asked him.
"Well actually sweety I was thinking…" Kagome looked at him with murder in her eyes. "Sure thing, I'd love to have a partner, means less work for me to do, and more time for us to spend in the sack."
"See." Kagome said to Songo. "We'd love to have you."
"I don't know." Hojo said packing away the dishes. "I'd really like to see about starting my own business. I was thinking about going into the lumber business. There is an awful lot of building going on now that the war is over."
"Hojo and I would love to go with you to Kyoto with you Kagome, it's really the best thing for us. Isn't that right, Hojo? You can start your lumber business in Kyoto next year after we've made some money." Songo looked at him with a similar glare of anger. He sighed and then walked away, knowing that he couldn't very well fight both Kagome and Songo. Once those two girls had their minds made up to do something there was no stopping them anyway.
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Act Seven: Scene Two.
Many months passed after Kagome and Miroku had moved back to Kyoto with Hojo and Songo. She'd left the care of the house in Edo to her sisters who were more than willing to be left on their own to entertain new prospective husbands. Keada and little Shippo, along with Eri, came with Kagome and Miroku to work in their new Palace on Omura street. Everything seemed to be going well until one day when Kagome was working the storefront on her own. Inu-yasha walked by the new Kennedy and Wilkes General Store and Lumbar Yard and looked inside the windows. Things seemed to be doing well for the Kennedy family and the Wilkes'. He laughed actually to see Kagome behind the register counting money. Just then however, she saw him and came running out to him in her store keeper's outfit.
"Well, pleasant day isn't it Mrs. Kennedy?" Inu-yasha asked her. "Things certainly seem to be going well for you."
"Stop it Inu-yasha now what is it that you want?" She asked him.
"Maybe you can clarify something for me." He replied. "Do you never shrink away from marrying men whom you don't love?"
"What business is that of yours?" Kagome wondered.
"Oh it's not really, just wondering myself why you wouldn't have waited a few days is all. My brother is out of jail now and Kikyo's left me. We had a big fight after we last spoke and she took off back to Fuji. Just think, all my millions could have been yours if you had only waited a day."
"What do you mean?" Kagome demanded.
"Well I was so upset that I went looking for you to ask you to marry me, myself, but by the time I learned where you were staying, you were already married to Mr. Kennedy. " Inu-yasha told her. Kagome couldn't believe what she was hearing. The thought of having missed out on being with Inu-yasha was enough to enrage her. Though she didn't show it of course, she simply turned around long enough to compose herself, then she looked up at him.
"I suppose that's just what happens in life sometimes You snooze, you loose." Kagome said to him.
"Well, that's just fine. There's nothing that money can't buy, even the love of a good woman. I expect that's one of the reasons that you married this Miroku Kennedy. Seeing as how you're still so in love with that fellow Hojo."
"Oh don't you worry about Hojo, he's got Songo to keep him company. Miroku and I are quite happy together. He's a rocket in the sack, and as it turns out he's very well endowed" Kagome smirked. " I have absolutely everything that I could possibly want with him." Inu-yasha sniffed her hair, then he sniffed her neck while she bragged to him.
"You still smell like the same old Kagome to me." He told her. Just then it hit him. "You do smell the same, you don't smell different at all!"
"What do you mean?" She demanded to know. "What difference does it make what I smell like?"
"Well you're not exactly reeking of the odor of motherhood. It's been how many months now and he's still not knocked you up?" Inu-yasha asked. "Or can he. Having a huge pen doesn't matter quite so much if there's no ink in the well." Kagome slapped him for being so vulgar.
"He's more of a man than I'd wager you are down there." She told him.
"Come over tonight and find out what kind of a man I am. I've been with married women before and it's no skin off my nose. Kikyo's been married three or four times and each time she's always been accommodating to me." Kagome could have murdered him for that remark. "You can't be very happy with this guy otherwise what I say wouldn't bother you so much."
"I'm not Kikyo!" She shouted at him. "I'll never allow myself to fall into your bed Inu-yasha, so just get lost!" She stormed back into the store and went back to counting money while Inu-yasha stood outside and laughed at her.
"What a woman." He said and stuck a cigar in his mouth to chew on the end of it while he lit it. "What a woman."
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Act Seven: Scene Three.
Kagome, Hojo, and Miroku inspected their new mill with careful eyes. They took in every detail as they toured the new facility. It had all the latest mechanical equipment and western overseers to make sure that the convict workers they had brought in would put in a hard day's labors for them.
"Here they are." The Head Overseer said as he paraded the lowly looking human skeletons in. They were dressed in rags and they were all dirty, underfed, and near death it seemed. "The best convicts in all the city. And if you'll just give Jaken here a free hand then you won't be sorry with the load of lumbar they put out of this place."
"Yes, I'll make sure these lousy retches work hard for you." Jaken said as he took a whip to one of them. Kagome shuttered but it was the only way that they could turn a profit out of the place. To hire free men would break them as little business as they were doing in the lumbar yard at the moment. Once they had a finer selection though, she was sure that business would pick up.
"Fine, just deliver the lumbar on schedule." The stench of the prisoners was making them all sick. Kagome couldn't bare it any longer, she went back inside the office with Miroku and Hojo. "I think that I may faint." She said to her husband. He put his arms around her.
"Go home love, I'll take care of things here." Miroku said to her and kissed her cheek.
"Thanks but don't let up on those men, they're dirty, filthy bandits all of them and never forget that they deserve what they get." She said trying not to seem weak.
"Some of those men served under me." Hojo said suddenly. "Kagome, how can I whip them and starve them now?" He demanded. "Those aren't bandits those are men who surrendered after the war rather than die. Some of them look half dead already. Kagome, these men will look to me for better care. How can I let them down?" Kagome walked over to him.
"Oh, Hojo, sweet, Hojo, you're a business man now, don't let it bother you so much. Just do as Miroku and I do and everything will be fine." She told him then she went out to her buggy and climbed up. "I'll be fine once I get home." She told Miroku, "Just see to it that things get underway here and everything will be fine." She kept saying that over and over again in her mind as if things really would be okay as long as she believed it. She didn't believe it though. Not really.
On the way home Kagome wondered about what this world she lived in had brought her to. She was making money off the misery and suffering of others now. She had married a man she did not love and was going into business for herself with another man who she did love but whom was married to her best friend. Then there was Inu-yasha and his vulgar advances towards her. Something about what he'd said to her the other day rang true. She wasn't very happy with her life right now. It seemed that every day was just surviving to her. Every day she did business with the very soldiers and demons who had ravaged her country and made war upon her people. She prayed twice a day like everyone else in the country did for an Emperor who was oppressing her, her family, and her friends by passing cruel laws that forced her to do things that she wouldn't otherwise do. What few friends she had left were only loyal to her because they knew what it was that she was going through.
Other people, ones she'd known, and still others whom she didn't know looked at her and thought of her as a harlot and a peddler of her soul. Her honor was gone in their eyes, so she'd do just about anything. But they were wrong. She still had some honor and there were still some things that Kagome would not do to survive. She most certainly would not go crawling back to Captain Inu-yasha Butler or to his brother, Colonel Sesshomaru Butler. Those two had used up whatever feeling she had towards either of them before now.
"Stupid Inu-yasha." Kagome said to herself as she cracked the reigns on her buggy and drove the horses hard to get home as quickly as she could. She was just coming out of the woods and rounding the bend when suddenly a group of armed ninjas came out of nowhere and captured her. They leaped up onto the buggy and took the reigns from her. "Someone help me!" She cried but then one of them sprayed some powder in her face. She dropped off to sleep almost immediately. She fell back into the arms of one of them who quickly removed his mask.
"My dear Kagome, I said I'd have you one way or another." Manten said as he placed her in the back of the buggy and drove away with her. The other Ninjas road with him to his palace where he paid them in gold. "Now go and make sure that her husband and the others all die. I want their heads when you return." He commanded. The Ninjas all bowed to their employer and then dashed off into the shadows.
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Act Seven: Scene Four.
Inu-yasha was waiting for Hojo and Miroku when they came pulling up in the yard of Miroku's house that night. Kagome was not with them, he saw.
"So where is she?" He asked them right off. "I asked around inside and they said that she was at the mill with you two." Miroku looked at Hojo.
"She's not with us. What do you mean she's now here now? She said she was going straight home." Miroku said.
"This doesn't make sense, Kagome wouldn't just run off to town, not when it's so late." Hojo agreed. "Something must have happened to her.
"We'd better go back and look for Kagome, she might be in trouble." Inu-yasha said as he climbed up on the buggy with them. Suddenly though, from out of nowhere, came a throwing star. It hit Miroku in the shoulder and sent him flying off of the buggy. Inu-yasha drew his sword just in time to catch the blade of an attacking Ninja. They came from out of the darkness in their black robes and masks. Hojo drew his sword and then the two of them began to fight back to back with their attackers. The two old veterans fought bravely while poor Miroku crawled underneath the buggy. He was bleeding pretty badly and it was all he could do to pull the jagged piece of metal from his flesh. Just then he saw another Ninja coming up to cut Inu-yasha down while he dueled with another.
"Watch out!" Miroku cried and threw the star at the Ninja. It lodged in his neck and he fell to Inu-yasha's feet.
"You're not so useless after all." He commented, then went back to killing Ninjas. They fell all about them. The three men were merciless and gave no quarter to any except one injured young man who tried to crawl away from underneath another of his fallen comrades. Inu-yasha bent down before his prisoner and looked into his eyes. "So let's see, what's the penalty for attempted murder these days?" He asked himself, thinking. "Oh yeah, it's beheading and I'd say you've got three counts of attempted murder on your hands here buddy."
"Do what you want with me. I have failed in my mission and have been captured. I must die anyway." The young Ninja said as Inu-yasha took hold of him.
"Fine, then I'll just get it over with right now, but before I do, tell me one thing. Does this attack have anything to do Kagome Kennedy being missing?" He asked. Hojo stepped on the young Ninja's back where his wound was and it hurt him.
"Okay, just make my death quick and painless." He said. "We took her, to Lord Manten's palace where he's holding her until you're all dead. Then he intends to marry her. We were supposed to bring back you heads as proof to Mrs. Kennedy that you were all dead."
"Fine, then here's you reward." Miroku said taking Hojo's sword from him. With one swipe of the blade the young Ninja's head came off and rolled down the path. "Inu-yasha, you care for my wife do you not?" He suddenly asked, clutching his wounded shoulder.
"Yeah, what of it?" Inu-yasha admitted.
"Then please help me to save her. I promise you a handsome reward." Miroku offered.
"No reward is necessary, I'll help save Kagome for her sake, not yours. I love her." He said then climbed up on the buggy. Songo and the others came out then and beheld the gruesome sight.
"Hojo, what happened?" She asked him.
"It's not safe here, go to my brother's house." Inu-yasha told them. "We've got to go save Kagome now."
"Kagome? You mean that someone has taken her?" Songo asked. She handed her son over to Keade. "Well you're not going without me. I'm going to go with you." She grabbed up one the Ninja's swords and stuck it in her kimono. Miroku did the same then the four of them were off, or rather the five of them. Shippo hopped on at the last minute and road with them all the way to Manten and Hiten's Palace near the river. They road right in through the front gate and fought their way into the house. There were soldiers everywhere, all dressed in the black uniforms of the Imperial Guard.
Finally, Songo thought, a chance to get rid of some of this pent up anger that I've been saving since the war. She slashed and hacked away at the soldiers. Inu-yasha slaughtered them without mercy, while Hojo and Miroku stayed behind with Shippo to hold down the entrance which was now their only means of escape.
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"The Rebels are coming this way." Manten told his soldiers as he fortified his bedroom door. "Don't let them get any further." Down the hall his brother Hiten waited patiently for his enemies to come. He was glad finally to have worthy adversaries to fight. He'd had nothing to do during the war except clean up after the Emperor's army of Wind Demons. At last, he would get to see actual combat. When Inu-yasha and Songo came running up the corridor, he leaped out and with his sword in hand he stood face to face with Captain Inu-yasha.
"So you're the famous blockade runner who killed so many of the Emperor's army to get your goods through from the South to the former Emperor's strong holds. I must say that I'm impressed." Hiten said to Inu-yasha.
"I've always hated Tax collectors, killing you and your brother will be a pleasure." Inu-yasha replied. With that they had at each other, cutting ripping, and dodging. They exchanged blows and nearly cut each other to pieces before Songo's eyes.
"Inu-yasha!" She cried.
"Go, save Kagome!" He told her as he struggled against Hiten. Songo was hesitant but she went on without him. The few guards left to defend Maten's room were no match for her. They fell before her blade and then the door came down. Manten looked up and gasped.
"You, but I was expecting …" He cried, before Songo sliced his head off of his shoulders. Kagome lay underneath his body, now covered with blood, with her Kimono ripped from the hem up.
"Oh, Songo!" Kagome cried as she embraced her friend.
"Kagome did he…?" She started to ask.
"No, he didn't, but he would have!" Kagome grabbed the sword and stabbed the headless body in the less modest areas of his person. "Let's go." She said then. She and Songo rushed out the door and into the hallway where Inu-yasha was just finishing off Hiten. He was pulling his sword out of Hiten's guts when Kagome and Songo came running up to him. "Inu-yasha, you're cut to pieces!" She exclaimed.
"Don't worry about it but we had better get out of here before the authorities show up. Too many questions left to answer and I don't think that your modesty would survive a formal inquiry." They ran down the steps were almost to the door when more guards came from around the back of the Palace.
"Kagome!" Miroku ran to her and grabbed her up in his arms. "Kagome." He hugged her and held her while the others fought off the impending danger.
"Oh Miroku." She said. "I'm so sorry that I left you today. I'll never leave your side again." She said to him.
"Later dear, let's just get out of here." He said. The guards fired arrows at them as they all ran to the buggy which Shippo was getting ready to take off in.
"Hey, wait for us!" Inu-yasha shouted. Shippo halted and waited for them while arrows rained down upon them. Kagome, Songo, Miroku, and Hojo climbed on while Inu-yasha covered them. He was just climbing up when suddenly an arrow struck just above him in Miroku's side. He cried out in pain and Inu-yasha and Kagome gasped. Another arrow came and then another and another. The struck Miroku in the chest. He fell forward into Kagome's arms. She could barely believe it but she let out a cry like nothing ever heard before.
"MIROKU!!!" She wept over his body and Inu-yasha turned around, enraged, and ran to the guards. He drew his sword from its bloodstained sheath and slaughtered them with no mercy. He killed every living soul on the grounds and he did it all for Kagome. Seeing her cry over the body of her dead husband had been the last straw. He could bare this no longer. Inu-yasha was like a demon from the depths of Hades unleashed. And when he was done, he mutilated their bodies so that no matter how hard they tried, even their closest relatives could not identify them.
As he stood, panting from the boldly battle, he turned around to where Kagome, now with Songo, Hojo, and Shippo beside her, was crying over the fallen Miroku. Inu-yasha made to go to her, comfort the woman he cherished more than anyone else, but Hojo bent down and hugged her first. Kagome wept in his arms, wrapping her arms tightly around him… And Inu-yasha was disgusted at the sight. He sheathed his sword, walked over to them, and picked up Miroku's body. It was curiously light, now that it no longer carried his spirit.
"Let's go," Inu-yasha said coldly. "We haven't got time. We'll mourn later." No one said anything. He took the reins, cracked them, and they sped away. Not five minutes later, the Emperor himself rode up with his best cavalrymen to the ransacked palace. They looked in every room and hallway, and found nothing but the gruesome sight of death.
"What inhuman monster would slaughter so many?" One of the men said. Emperor Kohaku looked at a crack in the molding around a door. Caught in it was a single strand of silver white hair.
"It wasn't human," Kohaku said, taking the hair between his thumb and forefinger. "At least, half anyway. Go and find Inu-yasha Butler. Tell him that I remember his name, and wish an audience with him at his earliest convenience."
"Yes, your Excellency," said the men, placing one arm across their chests and bowing. Three riders left to do their master's bidding, while the rest gathered the dead.
AN: Please review