Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Blink 182's 'Asthenia'
Painted
VII. Deliverance
-
Should I go back, should I go back, should I?
I feel alone and tired
Should I go back, should I go back, should I?
This time I don't want to
-
February 1947
"Things have really picked up here in Kyoto," Kagome said softly as she walked through the market. "This city really was lucky, compared to the state of industries and transportation in most of the other larger cities. There's been food shortages and everything!"
"Be that as it may, I don't see why keep taking the risk of coming back here," a man walking beside her snorted, as he looked around at the passersby with narrowed eyes.
"I told you Inuyasha, we're looking for Sango-chan! I've been going crazy worrying about her!"
"We always come here to look for her. What makes today any different?" he scoffed.
She glared at him. "Why are you always so insensitive?"
"And why didn't you just bring her with you again?" he continued. "We could have avoided doing this all together."
Kagome looked away from him, suddenly picking at her nails. "Because...Naraku dislikes her the most...and she didn't want to risk jeopardizing my escape."
"So she'd rather stay there than get out?"
"Stop it Inuyasha...she did it for me...and I still feel guilty even to this day."
He pursed his lips, noticing her distraught expression.
"Well don't, it wasn't your fault," he said firmly.
"I'm not going to be completely happy until I know she's safe. I can't be with my parents, my brother and you at home in my village every without thinking about her," she confessed with a deep sigh.
"I hate war."
"I do too," he agreed with a shudder. "I don't think I'll ever forget what I saw out there. I should have died. I know it."
Kagome looked to his hands which were tightened into rigid fists.
"If this is about retreating...Inuyasha..." she said quietly.
"Don't blame yourself for wanting to live."
--
Sango lay sprawled across her bed in the late afternoon.
Rumours were circulating amongst the girls that Naraku was in an especially sour mood as of late. Of course, that wasn't very surprising news to her at all, although she was a bit curious about it. The reason didn't seem to be her for once.
She had a small break in which everyone was supposed to be preparing for that evening, but she opted for a nap in her kimono and doing a half-fast job of her makeup instead.
Although it was emphasized how she should look refined and dainty, she thought it was impossible to do that and be a whore at the same time.
Her cynicism had returned at full impact. She lived in an environment that preached that. Everyone was motivated by self-indulgent, base concerns, and most thoughts she had were negative and pessimistic. She had regressed back into the mind set that people were selfish, crude animals, who disregarded the well-being of others for the advancement and pursuit of their own pleasure.
At first, someone had tried to draw her out of this dark world, the best way he could, and succeeded. But that someone was quickly and abruptly torn away from her, in such a way that he could not return or else she, or even both of them, would die. She laughed bitterly at the fact that someone could actually come to care for her in such a way that her life actually meant something.
It had been over a year, but she still remembered everything about him. His name was Miroku. He stood a few inches taller than her, and had deep blue eyes that pierced her with his gaze. Whenever he was near, she felt nervous and excited, and when he touched her, it was as though warmth sprung from his fingers to her skin. When his lips touched hers, a thousand emotions rushed through her head at one time. She had almost forgotten his kiss. Almost.
She should be happy, really. He had the sense to not come barging in here and get himself killed. He was trying to protect both of them. Well, to the best of his ability anyway.
Thinking back to the last time she'd seen him, an immediate wave of sadness passed over her as she relived the way it had ended.
The cellar. If she had ever thought she was claustrophobic before, she was now. Just a mere mention of the word forcefully reminded her of the pitch black, dingy, dirty room below the ground, where rats ran over her feet and spiders crawled over her fingers. She had spent nearly two days in there before a bright light appeared above her and she was hauled, confused, weak and shaking, to the surface by Kagura and another girl she'd caught glimpses of during meal times.
From that day on, the fantasies that she would soon die and be rid of all this misery returned. Maybe that was Naraku's goal.
The truth, simply put, was that she was sick of the curve balls life continually threw at her. Being taken here in the first place. Being beaten and abused. She probably hated the blood most. The blood staining the water as she showered. The blood dripping to the floor after being hit in the stomach to prevent her from carrying a child. Blood in its entirety.
Sometimes, at night, she would close her eyes and trail her fingers over her lips, remembering him. It was sad, because (and an absurd thought this was, really) she thought she could actually see herself falling in love - true love - with Miroku. If she hadn't already.
--
"Inuyasha, do you think Mother would like this?" Kagome asked, showing him a hand painted set of plates.
"I thought we were looking for your friend?"
Kagome sighed, putting the plates back down on the display, much to the disappointment of the vendor.
"Night is almost here. That's when we'll look for her. I'm just trying to get my mind off of worrying. And mother always said she wanted some nice china from the city," she added as an afterthought.
"Whatever," Inuyasha rolled his eyes. He shuffled over to another display when suddenly someone pushed past the thinning crowd and bumped into him.
"Hey - what the hell?" Inuyasha said rudely at the offender, who was another, slightly taller man. wearing worn and slightly dirty robes.
"Apologies, my good man," he said in a deep baritone, with a hand on his shoulder which Inuyasha eyed warily.
"Yeah, whatever," he replied, backing up.
The man quickly made his way past Inuyasha, suddenly in a rush. Inuyasha simply stared after him in disbelief, when he realized something.
"Hey, come back here!" he shouted, shaking his fist in the air. "You damn thief!"
Inuyasha pushed past the crowd, the thief hadn't got that much of a lead on him. "Move it!" he said as he shoved someone else aside.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, running through the dent, apologizing to people that were unfortunately in his path of destruction. "Sorry about that," she said to another shocked civilian. "He gets like that sometimes."
By that time, Inuyasha had managed to catch up with the pickpocket, tackling him to the ground. He turned him over roughly and grabbed him by the collar, preparing to punch him squarely in the face when Kagome's screaming in the background stopped him. Luckily they had run into a less busy part of town where onlookers quickly shuffled away with a meaningful glance (or glare).
"Wait, Inuyasha! Don't do anything yet!"
"Why not?" he retorted, shaking the man by the front of his robes.
Kagome didn't answer, and instead wedged in next to Inuyasha to scrutinize the offender at a closer view.
"He looks...familiar..."
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes to slits. "If he's one of those bastards from when -"
"No, no..." Kagome quieted him.
"Hi there," she said, finally addressing the defeated victim. After staring at him for a long time, Inuyasha began to get impatient.
"So?"
"I know his face," she said strangely. "I've seen him before...I just can't place it."
"I'll say it again Kagome, if he's one of them, I'll beat him to a pulp."
"Inuyasha, calm down! You think every man who looks at me is 'one of them' " Kagome sniped.
"You tell him that!" he argued. The man was still trying to get out from under him.
"You do know that you are committing a violent act against a holy man!" the captive was insisting.
"A holy man..." Kagome repeated. "He - he's wearing the robes of a monk...but not exactly...perhaps one in training?"
The thief looked up at this. "Your female companion has more sense than you, animal, please release me."
"More sense than I do, huh?" Inuyasha muttered. "I bet you are one of them," he growled in a low voice. "Bastards picking up whores."
An unreadable emotion flashed through the man's eyes.
"Ah, you're hesitating!" Inuyasha declared triumphantly. "Kagome, he's one of them!"
As he pulled his arm back to punch him, a hand closed around his fist, catching it inches from the man's face.
"If I knew any better..." he said through gritted teeth. "I'd think that your lady friend over there was a whore."
"You take that back!"
"But I don't care if she was or not, because she has more manners than you."
Inuyasha began to curse under his breath. "Why ... you -"
"Furthermore," he added with a dark smile. "I have seen a prostitute....once...and I fell in love with her."
"Why? Because she'll actually - "
"Sango-chan!" Kagome gasped.
Three things happened at once. Inuyasha tried to punch the man, Kagome rushed to stop him, and the receiver looked up in surprise at Sango's name.
Luckily, she managed to shove Inuyasha to the side and he ended up punching dirt.
"What the hell!" he groaned.
"You - you know Sango-chan! I remember...What's your name?" she asked frantically, ignoring her companion's complaints.
"Miroku," he said quickly, sitting up. "But more importantly, do you know how Sango is?"
Her features seemed to droop. "I used to work for Naraku as well, Sango was my closest friend."
"And?" he pressed.
"I escaped two years ago...she didn't come with me," she said, starting to unknowingly nibble at her thumbnail.
"Did you ask her to?"
"Yes."
"She said no?" Miroku asked in disbelief.
"Not really..." Kagome bit her lip.
"She's still there...Why didn't she go with you?" He struggled to keep his emotions in check.
"She refused!" Kagome exclaimed. "Because she didn't want to risk getting me caught!"
"Why would she have anything to do with getting you caught?"
"Naraku hates her, and - "
She drew a long breath.
"She told me that she was seen with you earlier that day by Kanna...Naraku's servant...and she was taken in for punishment before the time she was normally suppposed to...She couldn't have come even if she wanted to."
He almost collapsed onto the ground again.
"My fault again, isn't it...I can't stop thinking that she'd have been better off without me."
"No..." Kagome said. "Don't say that. Sango-chan, she was - you made her very happy. That's more than she ever hoped for."
--
"The new constitution is coming into effect in three months!" An outraged Naraku slammed his palm onto the desk, causing the papers on it to shudder slightly.
"Just look at these terms...Emperor loses all government power? Symbolic my ass. And this, sovereign power lies within the people?" He made a noise of discontentment.
"Division between the three powers...Judiciary, legislative and executive. Leading war and maintaining army prohibited..."
He threw down the thin stack of documents he had been holding, and they fluttered to the ground. "Pick those up," he added to Kagura.
The woman sitting in the corner of the room stood with a huff and bent down to pick up the fallen papers, whilst Naraku continued his raving.
"Kagura, this is an outrage! There has to be a way..."
She had begun to ignore him when she looked up, hearing a sound knock at the main doors.
Both just stared as another pounding shook the door in its frame.
"Masuyo Naraku, we have a warrant for your arrest. You are to be tried for war crimes.
"War crimes? This is hardly a war crime."
Kagura let a small laugh escape, as well as the papers she had just picked up. "Looks like it's the end Naraku. You can't buy them off any longer."
"You - " he spat, moving to grab her wrist. The door exploded out of place, a flurry of commotion erupting as they seized him and Kagura, snapping handcuffs around their wrists.
"Search the entire area! Get every last person in here - alive."
Another wave of pandemonium swept over the estate as the group of law enforcers fanned out in and around the building.
"Funny, though, isn't is Naraku? That when you're being brought down, so is everyone you forced under your will," Kagura said spitefully as she was pushed from the room.
--
"What's going on?" Sango asked from her spot on her bed, peeking through a crack in the dirty curtain that hung over the window. "Damn, I can't see a thing! How about you?"
A girl on her hands and knees peeking through a crack in the door made a squeaking noise with her throat.
"There's...there's officers all over! They're searching the cabins."
Sango jumped as there was a crashing noise and a scream.
"Are they helping or not?"
"It seems like they're arresting the girls...they're putting handcuffs on them," she said in her tense, high voice.
"What?" Sango asked, surprised as the scrambled across the room next to the other girl.
"Some of them are resisting..." she observed.
A few tense moments passed before the door was nearly slammed off its hinges as it was thrown open.
Sango quickly held up her hands and bowed as the metal cuffs were snapped around her small wrists.
She was hoisted to her feet and pushed outside, merging into a line of girls. It was ironic how they were bound with chains, while being led to a jaded salvation.
--
"That's the last time you saw her?"
Kagome and Miroku sat along a dirty bench at the edge of the square. Inuyasha had taken to pacing in front of them occasionally stopping to interrupt the storytelling.
"I didn't want to risk her life...she didn't want to risk mine..." Miroku explained as he recalled his last moments with her.
Kagome smiled slightly. "That is how Sango-chan is. She never wants to do something in expense of another person's well-being."
Inuyasha had stopped again, standing between them with crossed arms.
"Enough about your sob story, why don't we actually go and find her instead of talking about her like she's dead already?"
Both ignored him.
"So what have you been doing all this time?"
"Working - I've been doing some odd work - and collecting. I was trying to horde enough money that I'd be able to bribe some sort of official into finally shutting Naraku down. Other than that...I've been living above one of the merchant shops in the slums."
"You forgot to mention pick pocketing," Inuyasha interrupted dully.
"I also...tried to find Sango's family...and tell them that she's alive, and hasn't forgotten them. But I was searching with no direction. I couldn't find one person who knew a Taijiya -"
"What did you say?" Inuyasha spoke up from his brooding. "What's the surname?"
"Taijiya," Miroku repeated.
"Does she have a brother?"
"Yes, but he's still in grade school -"
Inuyasha's eyebrows furrowed. "It must've been her father."
Kagome looked to Inuyasha in surprise. "You know him?"
"You could say that." He looked away from her. "I was in his platoon in battle - he was a good commander, strong, doesn't let his emotions get in the way."
"You were in the military?" Inuyasha glared at Miroku and he held up a hand in defeat.
"Do you have a problem with that? I know what you're thinking, and the whole time I was in service, not once did I lower myself to accepting a 'comfort woman.' "
"Anyway," Kagome cut in. "What happened to him?"
His expression grew sombre again. "I knew we were going to be overrun - so did he. But he was a samurai...a servant of the emperor. And so he - "
Her mouth opened slightly as she sharply inhaled.
"He took his life. Out of dishonour," she said slowly.
Inuyasha nodded.
Miroku cringed inwardly. Sango loved her father. She always spoke of her admiration of his pride and wisdom. He shook the despair from his thoughts and focused on Inuyasha, who was still speaking.
"Most families were forced into slave labour or service to the military, and I was able to contact Kagome's when I returned. It also turns out that Naraku was involved in providing the military comfort women."
Kagome shook her head, not wanting to imagine her parents slaving in some dingy manufacturing plant.
"Do you know what happened to the slaves when the war ended?" she asked, hoping she would hear a good answer.
"I don't know much, but I do know that when the Allied occupation started, most were released, like yours. But there is a new constitution coming into effect...I don't know all of the conditions behind it though..other than the demilitarization of the country."
Kagome looked elsewhere, her gaze eventually travelling over to Miroku, in his worn robes fringed at the edges.
"The new constitution... Oh - I just remembered! With the new constitution coming into effect soon, you can start practising your religion again! It separates Shinto and the state."
She beamed at the realization in Miroku's face, but it disappeared a moment later.
He looked away. "I suppose. But, for now, she comes first."
There was a wave of silence as all simply thought about what they were to do, until Inuyasha looked up at the sky above them and the street lamps alight around the buildings.
"It's dark now..Kagome...why don't we do something about this?"
She ran a quick hand through her hair, pushing it away from her face. "Yes, we've done nothing long enough."
Her eyes looked up for a moment, lost in thought before she straightened and stood up.
"I know - let's go to the red light district...it's where I worked as a streetwalker, remember?"
"How could I forget?" Inuyasha said with a twitch. He began to walk away. "Well - then let's go!"
"Wait...I can't...if they're there they'll recognize me...Miroku can't either..." She slowly turned around to eye Inuyasha. "You have to go."
He looked scandalized. "There is no way I'm going to waltz in there whore shopping," he said indignantly.
"You did it before, you can do it again!" Kagome argued.
"But that was different, it was for you!" he said as if it settled the matter.
"How is it any different!"
He pressed his lips together making an incoherent noise of frustration.
"Fine. Let's just get going."
--
Miroku looked at their surroundings, a dimly lit, moderately busy street in the transition area between downtown and the slums. "Is this -"
"This is the place where we used to work. We were called streetwalkers," Kagome said, gesturing to the intersection. "People stopped in their cars to-"
"I don't see anyone working," Inuyasha interrupted, stating the obvious.
Just then, the threesome's attention was geared elsewhere as four or five vehicles with steel wiring across the windows roared past, bringing up clouds of dust.
Kagome coughed. "What was that?"
"More arrests probably. They're cracking down nicely," Inuyasha commented.
"Let's go to the brothel," Kagome declared determinedly. "If they're not here, they have to be there!"
"I'm not giving up yet, Sango-chan," she muttered under her breath.
--
They had just pulled up a few yards away from the house, hoping the darkness of the night concealed their vehicle well enough.
"It's awfully dark...and there are no lights on..." Kagome said worriedly as they approached in the dark, leaving Kagome's family truck on the side of the path.
She poked Inuyasha in the back. "Well, go on!"
"I am," he said with a huff before stalking off in the direction of the dark house.
Miroku waited uncharacteristically impatient beside Kagome, who also was unable to keep still. They heard footsteps and saw Inuyasha's frame trudging towards them, and she ran to meet him.
"There's no one in there," he said shortly.
"What?" Kagome gasped.
"There's nothing in there. It's completely totalled. Everything."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Miroku asked, frustrated. "Did he move them?"
"No, that couldn't be it," Inuyasha said. "If he did, then why? And why destroy the entire place in the process?"
"Well, maybe he knew that arrests were being made..."
"Wait," Kagome interrupted. "Maybe they raided this place. The cars we saw earlier - "
What will happen to them though?" Miroku interrupted, tired of asking questions. He just wanted to know if Sango was alright.
"I - I don't know. When I left, Inuyasha took me to a hospital, and then to my home. But they are really not at fault. There's no reason to imprison them."
She tapped a finger to her chin. "Most likely, they'll be vaccinated and tested...check their records...then released. I hope. They will probably want to get them out...the hospitals are still incredibly busy dealing with the aftermath of the bombing, believe it or not."
"Will we be able to get in to the hospital?"
She sighed heavily. "I don't know Miroku."
"But where will she go when she's released? Back to her village? Do you know where it is?"
Kagome squeezed her temples between her fingers. "All I know is that she's from a rural area. The outskirts of the city. A farming village."
"There are hundreds of those!"
"Exactly."
He turned away sharply, shutting his own eyes closed in the dark.
"But at least we know she's safe now, Miroku!"
"I know," he whispered, "and I'm thankful for that."
As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he looked towards the house, unsettling as it was when full of people as it was when dark and deserted.
"Still...I want to see her again."
Painted: Deliverance - July 27th 2004
Sorry for any 'errors' and review responses that make no sense but I'm really, truly, panicked and rushing now. As you read this, I'm probably pounding my keyboard frantically. As always, thank you and much love to you all.
Lady Sango 7 - That review was perfectly fine. It didn't seem short at all... compared to...my reviews...Ugh. Anyway, thank you for all your comments, as usual. You know I love reading your reviews. Oh, and I was planning to maybe do an Inu/Kag side story one day, as a one shot, key word 'planning,' so ...when it comes to me you know what that means.
Katrina5 - Hmm...it's winding down, as anti-climatic as it is. But I'm really really panicked now because I have less than a week left to wrap up. And since it's mostly happy goings on for the duration of the ending, well, there goes all the angst. You know I can't believe some of the dumb mistakes I made on the draft, I'm so glad you caught them. I guess that's what happens when your peak writing hours are at 2 - 5 AM. Thank you as always.
Kitten Kisses - Thank you so much! I appreciate every review I get for this story. They make me all...happy. And you saved it on your favourites too! You are automatically super-cool.
Fireblade K'Chona - Still hope you love it. Until the very, very, anti-climatic end. And a very cute quote at the end...I always have to say it out loud, with the w's and everything. Thank you for reviewing!
animefreak808 - Damn you just reminded me to check the date...and I saw that it was the 27th today. I'm panicking now. But thank you for reviewing...and reminding me of the few days I have left to finish this.
pNay iN a b0x - Haha, thank you for your vote of confidence...but I have so...little time left. It's dwindling away. I knew I shouldn't have wasted all that time killing that spider. My pop-up blocker blocked the review box as well...bah.
Rin the Kitsune - Let's hope that they torture him in prison! Heh, for me that would be a bit...morbid to write. I write too much torture already. I don't need to start writing and enjoying it too. Thank you for review! I appreciate every last one.
I just realized I never indent my paragraphs. It's too late to fix for this story but for any new ones I start...I will actually remember to indent. Even if I never do it for school. Hopefully it's not too...unsightly.