A:N: Actually, I agree, y. shiozaki. I'm sure it's tiring to the readers who don't know Japanese and have to look everything up and to the readers who do know Japanese and wince at my bad usage of the language. Most of it is garnered from a few fics and from one of my best friends (who, now that I think about it, isn't the best at English either…); I'm really not qualified to write it. Plus, it's easier to write full-time in English. Now that it's nagging in the back of my head, I'm probably going to go back, download all of the past chapters, and change everything back into English. ;;; Gomen nasai, minna-san. (Hey, I know a few basics, okay?) So! I apologize for my bad Japanese—onto business. This fic will certainly seem like a huge time jump, but I want everyone to know that time does pass. I don't want this thing to be set within a few months; rather, I'd like to be slightly more accurate and drag it out a few years. Rin and Kanna need to age, after all. .:covers mouth suddenly:. Spoiler!! Aack!
Disclaimer: I own nada. Except the plot, as you have heard. And that's only because I'm the only person to think up this, unless somebody steals my idea—in that case, your limbs shall be severed by hand. .:evil face:. Actually, I caught someone on another site that I'm posted on trying to copy this idea. I was… uh, let's just say slightly angered, so I reported them to the staff. I'm glad to say that the fic was taken off shortly. Basically, what I'm trying to say is: don't sue if it's yours and don't steal if it's mine.
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Kagome of Tokyo
Chapter 12
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You must sacrifice your own daughter, Kagura, to my daughter.
Naraku woke in a cold sweat. Of course, since he was Nakamura Naraku, after all, he didn't let it show. Kikyou slept beside him peacefully—indeed, the only time when she was serene at all. He looked at her blankly, his mind in inner turmoil.
Would he do that? Would he kill his eldest daughter so that his only brother could be avenged? Family honor, indeed.
Which family will I honor—my brother or my daughter?
He had been mulling this over for about a year now, perhaps a few months over a year. Kouga had been running frantic ever since Kagome's disappearance. He led search parties, he scoured the city. The unfortunate people who complained about the gang members searching their rooms were immediately tagged. Kouga brooded nearly all of the time, driving Naraku's ward Kohaku up a wall.
Kohaku was certainly progresssing well into his training, though. He was only surpassed by Kouga and Naraku himself. Naraku sat in silence for a little while, then abruptly leaped off the bed and headed swiftly for his office, where he could hopefully drown these worries in work, as he had been doing for over a year now.
No such luck awaited him.
As he slid the door open, a familiar young woman greeted him, sitting on his desk. "Kikyou has another child."
Naraku eyed the strange woman Hikari. "Yes," he replied simply, warily.
"Then you will have a daughter if you meet my daughter's demands. Why hesitate?" she practically demanded. Her dark eyes glittered coldly. "Ah, I see," she continued, goaded on by Naraku's silence. "You are afraid of what Kikyou thinks. Kikyou places her children far above her sister. Understandable, yes. Regrettable? Perhaps not. But if you want your brother to be happy, you will do as I tell you to."
"Silence!" Naraku roared.
A grim, sardonic smile flitted over Hikari's face. "What, Naraku? Are you so afraid of the truth? It won't bite you."
But Naraku thought grimly, That is not what I am afraid of. Calmly, he said aloud, "Which family should I honor then, o you who seems to know so much, Hikari-sama? Why do you not tell me? Kagura is of my own flesh and blood, conceived in the woman whom I love. Kouga is my brother, who shares blood and mother with me. Which, then, would you honor?"
He had trapped her then. Her face betrayed no emotion, but he could feel it in the air. A kindred spirit I have found indeed, he thought coldly. She is too like me. We could certainly have ruled together ruthlessly and conquered all of Tokyo.
"What I would do is not the question," she said evenly, obviously avoiding his question. "It is what you are doing that concerns me. Will you finally make this sacrifice to my daughter?"
"Why have you not asked this in over a year?"
Her eyes glittered again. "I gave you time to think, to realize how serious this threat is that my daughter is posing. If it has sunk in by now, you would be snapping up this proposal."
Naraku half-smiled, half-smirked. "I am not as cold as you would think me, Hikari-sama."
Hikari reflected his smile, a female mirror of himself. "Oh, I think you are, Naraku. You just want to please your Kikyou too much." His lungs loosed the air in them as though he had been punched. She'd hit a sore spot apparently.
A thick silence fell, so thick that Naraku was sure if he pulled his knife out he could cut in neatly in half. He brooded; she glittered.
Finally….
"Fine," he said, the word reluctant to leave his mouth. The next sentence felt heavy to say and weighed his tongue down before he forced the words out. "I will kill my daughter in order to find Kagome."
Hikari smiled, and at her smile he shuddered inwardly. If this woman could make Naraku shudder, of all people, what was she fully capable of? he wondered. "Good," she said softly. "This afternoon, you will take Kagura outside. All of your men will be there. Then, you will take a knife to her and kill her swiftly, so that she not feel pain." He flinched at the words. "My daughter may hold a grudge against you, but she does not hate your daughter. She will make it as easy as possible for little Kagura." Her eyes retained that hard, cold glitter that betrayed nothing. "Sleep on it. Within the week, you will be able to find the Tachikawa gang hideout and retrieve Kagome."
He couldn't help but ask coldly, "You will not lead us to it?"
"Oh no," she seemed to enjoy saying. "You must find it on your own. But I daresay that you will find it easily." A light flashed in Naraku's eyes, and in the span it took him to blink, the woman Hikari had disappeared.
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Three-year-old Kagura toddled over to her mother. "Mama, mama, look!" she cried, stumbling.
Kikyou managed a smile. "You're getting better, Kagura-chan. Just keep practicing." As her daughter smiled broadly and continued to parade around, Kikyou sat in thought. This was ridiculous. Kouga was making a fool out of himself for her stupid sister. And what had she done to deserve it? Slept around like the common, frowsy whore she was.
At least no more must die for her sake, she thought angrily, outwardly modulating her appearance. She's already killed so many, it's amazing that there isn't a level of hell dedicated to her. Kagura clutched her leg again. "Mamaaa," she whined, her crimson eyes flashing. "Pay 'tention! You're not paying 'tention!"
"Kikyou," came a deep, solemn voice, "let me take Kagura off your hands for you."
Kikyou looked up, distracted from her thoughts. Naraku stood before her, Kagura safely collected in his arms. She stood. "No. I'll watch her. She barely knows you," she replied steadily.
Naraku didn't miss a beat. "She's my daughter as well as yours," he said calmly, his face expressionless.
Her eyes flashed. "It's a pity you never acknowleged that before now, Naraku. She barely knows you."
Kagura struggled in her father's arms. "Mama… want mama," she pouted. Her tiny arms went out for Kikyou, and this wrenched even her iced heartstrings.
Involuntarily, she reached for her daughter. "Give her to me."
He tightened his hold on Kagura. "I'll watch her. You rest. It's been hard, losing your sister. You need to get some sleep."
Kikyou laughed bitterly. "The sister I never wanted? The sister who murdered my family? The sister who sold herself to be a slut? Oh yes, I miss her dearly, Naraku. I haven't had a wink of sleep since she left your brother to whore around the town." Naraku didn't flinch as Kouga had done every time she made the remark. "I'd rather have my daughter to console me than your bed," she shot airily.
"Just let me get to know her this afternoon," Naraku insisted coolly.
"Why!"
It wasn't a question, and he knew it. Instead, he blatantly avoided the answer. "You have Kanna. Look to her." He swiftly headed off.
"Naraku!" she shouted. "Give me back my daughter!"
He ignored her as Kagura's arms reached over his shoulder. "Mama, mama," she sobbed. She began to beat at his shoulder and neck. "I want mama!" she shrieked inbetween sobs. "Leave me 'lone, bad man! Go 'way! Want… mama!"
Kikyou started to sob along with her daughter, who was quickly receding in the distance. "Naraku!" she shouted again. "Bring Kagura back to me! She doesn't know you!" But her cries were useless and she knew it. She dropped back into her chair, worn out. Kanna crawled up to her, solemn and curious of all the screaming. Kikyou scooped her up and held her. A chill of foreboding swept through her body, and she clutched her youngest daughter tight. "Naraku," she whispered. "Don't you dare hurt my Kagura."
Naraku set the screaming Kagura down and nodded to Daisuke. "Gag her," he said abruptly, turning away so he would not have to see it. As the intensity of the child's screams dulled, he thought sorrowfully, Didn't she see how this hurt me? I don't want to hurt you, Kikyou.
I love you too much.
He turned back to see a flailing Kagura. "Listen, Kagura," he said, leaning in so she could clearly see him, "if you are not quiet I am not afraid to strike you." He raised his hand to emphasize the point. "Do you understand me?"
Kagura stole a look at his outstretched palm and nodded, crimson eyes full of tears and anger.
"There now," Naraku said curtly. "If you are quiet, I will remove the gag. But if you cry out so much as once, I will hit you and then that is that. Be a good girl and I will bring Mama," he added on a sudden inspiration.
Sure enough, it worked. He noted coldly that she was silent after they removed the gag. It truly was well enough that he did not know any of his children, for if he did, it occurred to him, he would have a problem doing this. "Now lay down on the table," he ordered. With the silent trust of a child, Kagura obeyed.
Naraku took the knife. Hikari had made it obvious that it must be he who struck down this innocent girl. He quietly closed his eyes as the dagger bore down on his own child, his flesh and blood, his only eldest child and daughter….
A child's shriek rent the air.
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Kikyou bolted from her seat, still clinging to Kanna. "Kagura!" she screamed, a lone tear falling, the only amount she allowed herself to shed. Without even seeing, she ran, Kanna whimpering and clutching her mother's neck. Even if Kanna was only a year old, she had been silent for so long that Kikyou was starting to believe her a mute.
Kagura was her only source of laughter, her only smiles, her only salvation. If Naraku had done anything to her, he would pay, Kikyou vowed in her silent fury.
She arrived too late.
Everyone had deserted the scene when they heard her scream, obviously. After what Kouga had reported over a year ago, they were all ambivalent around her. But Kagura.... Kagura….
"Kagura," Kikyou moaned, falling to the ground. Kanna crept up to the low table and stared wide-eyed at her sister's body. Kagura's mouth was frozen in an eternal howl, a few tears still fresh on her cheek. Blood seeped out from her chest, staining her shirt a deep ruby-red.
As Kikyou lay sobbing on the floor, she heard a tiny voice say, "Kagura." She looked up, tears still fresh in her eyes. Little Kanna was still staring at the body, tugging at her sister's hand. "Kagura," she repeated, more insistent. "Kagura!"
Kikyou's eyes filled with tears again. Her heart felt ripped out, something she hadn't felt since Houjou died when she was twelve. Kagome's fault, of course, she seethed to herself.
And now Naraku had dared to take away her source of happiness, her very own daughter! Her bright little Kagura, so full of hope and joy. Kikyou had had hopes for Kagura that she wouldn't end up bitter and jaded like her mother. But now those hopes were destroyed, dashed on the rocks with the death of her little girl, her Kagura-chan. She stood, suddenly possessed with an inhuman rage. Kanna clung to her legs, eerily reminiscent of Kagura only minutes before.
"Naraku!" Kikyou screamed into the distance where she knew her daughter's murderor lay. "Naraku, you have crossed me for the last time! You and that bitch Kagome… I swear, you shall both die by my hand!" Never again would he cross her. This was the last straw. "Shin-e, Nakamura Naraku!" He had taken away her daughter… now she would take away his life.
"I tell you that I shall not rest until my hand has struck you down!"
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A:N: .:sigh:. Why do these chapters never come out as planned? I wanted Kohaku in this one. .:thinks:. But I think this was good on its own. What do you think? Are you rejoicing in my lack of Japanese? The only word used was "shin-e", and I always seem to have Kikyou screaming that. ((By the by, "shin-e" means "die!")) Review, please! I've suffered from a lack of reviews lately due to a lack of updating. Help me out!! ;; Please por favor! Muchas gracias por tú. I'm getting much better at fluency in Spanish. Visits to Mexico do that to you, ya know. Later, and pleeeeeeeeeease review!
Sayonara,
Akai-Sakura