Another's Name, But My Heart
By Lady of the Ink

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but you knew that . . .I hope. But I do own this plot and all the twists that it takes.

General Reminder: Kagome will now be known as Kagome and Kikyo will mean the real Kikyo, no matter whose POV it is.

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Chapter 25

One Way or Another
… … … …

The Great Hall was a room of massive proportions, designed to serve a dual purpose. The first was as the main dining area for almost everyone in residence of the castle, and even some who merely lived near it. The second use was as the place where much of the business of running a country was carried out. It was the room where the villagers came to petition or complain, and its dimensions seemed equal to the task of holding them all at once.

A cheerful, bustling place when it was full, when empty, it gave off a hollow, almost melancholy feeling. The somber air was a match to the mood of one of the room's current occupants. Inuyasha, finally past pacing, sat slumped in the Lord's chair at the head table. His anger had since turned into a burning resentment, fueled by a million small reminders of how he had been betrayed not once, but twice. Simply taking his seat had hammered once more into his mind that his claim to the traditional ruler's seat, both figurative and literal, was now in jeopardy.

Miroku stood before him, having chosen to remain on his feet in spite of the abundance of empty chairs. His hands were folded before him and he maintained an air of calm as he waited for Inuyasha to speak. It was clear the hanyou had a lot on his mind and just as clear that he wasn't ready to begin talking about it quite yet.

Shifting slightly, Miroku allowed his mind to drift back to the woman residing with him while he waited. Sango: just her name sent a thrill down his spine and he gave a mental sigh. After that first greeting and being on the receiving end of her own brand of welcome, he had been unable to get her out of his mind. The minutes and hours had seemed to drag on and on until it was time for dinner. Seizing the excuse, he had rushed to deliver her meal to her room . . .and get a chance to look at her while doing it, of course.

His fascination with her had only increased when she ignored him pointedly from the moment that he walked through the door. She had even gone so far as to turn in another direction, staring at the wall while offering him an uninterrupted view of her back.

It no doubt would have infuriated her to learn that he hadn't minded; for that reason alone, he was determined to tell her so. That would come later, though. As it was, he had spent the entire time it took to lay out her meal studying her. He memorized the straight line of her back, admired the shining fall of her silken hair, and focused intently on the soft curves almost hidden by the mattress.

A glimmer of the same smile he had worn upon leaving her room threatened to return, but he forced it down. Given the waves of anger he was giving off, he doubted Inuyasha would appreciate it.

Miroku changed positions again, feeling the first stirrings of impatience. While he was more than willing to aide in Inuyasha's apparent dilemma in any way that he could, the minutes had begun to add up with no hint of a conversation. Anxious to return to his guest, he decided to take the risk of nudging the talk forward.

"Inuyasha, I think that it's safe to assume that anything that would cause you to call for me and for us to meet totally alone must be a grave issue. You only have to tell me what you need from me, and I will do my utmost to deliver it."

A few more seconds passed before Inuyasha finally began to speak. The words started off slowly, but by the time he reached the part about the letter, they were almost tumbling out over one another. Anger was the most obvious emotion, but Miroku was certain he detected a bit of resentment-tinged hurt lurking behind the more volatile sentiment. Knowing that there was more to the situation then Inuyasha would ever outright admit, Miroku knew he would have to listen to the things that weren't said just as much as the things that were.

Inuyasha ended his explanation with a simple statement. "This is where you come in."

Suddenly fully alert, Miroku titled his head in question. Inuyasha continued.

"I can't tell all of this to my parents." He raked a hand through his hair. "This is the first big thing I've done on my own; it would be nothing short of pathetic if they find out how screwed up it all is."

"I don't mean to be rude, but I think they might notice that your bride has suddenly gone missing. That's bound to raise a few questions."

Inuyasha gifted him with a look of exasperated disgust. "I'm not just going to not mention her and hope they don't notice, you know. I'm going to tell them that there was a family emergency somewhere else and that she had to take an unexpected trip. I'll say she didn't know how bad things were there and so there's no idea when she might get back. If I were lucky, they would go back home and reschedule the visit for another time."

"But . . ."

"But I know my parents, and I know they'll want to stay anyway. Which is why I need your help."

Miroku nodded solemnly even as an unsettling feeling grew in the pit of his stomach. It was clear that Inuyasha was planning something bigger than just temporarily misleading his parents, and he had a feeling he wasn't going to like whatever that plan was.

He was right.

"I want you to be a liaison of sorts for a group of scouts I'm sending out. They'll bring their reports to you, and you'll hold them until I come for them. If I have new orders for the men, you'll be in charge of passing them along. It's nothing difficult, but everything must be carried out in secret, most especially from my parents. Do you understand?"

"I do, but I'm afraid I might not be the best person for this job. I know very little about war and the like. Perhaps one of your other men might be better suited to the task . . ."

"No. You're the only one that both the scouts and I could be seen talking to without raising any questions. You're also the only one who wouldn't feel an obligation to tell my father about what we're doing."

"And what are we doing, if I may be so bold as to ask?"

There was a slight pause as Inuyasha apparently considered whether or not to tell him. In the end he must have decided that he would figure it out sooner or later anyway, because he then explained his plan.

"Everything that I have here, I got through my 'wedding' to 'Kikyo'," Inuyasha said with sarcastic emphasis. "If anyone finds out that my claim isn't legitimate anymore, then all these lands would be in danger. Any number of greedy individuals, human and demon alike, would come to take advantage of the fact that Kikyo's gone and I'm not totally in charge anymore. Kikyo, the real one, has to be found and brought back, no matter what. That's what the scouts are going to be doing; looking for her."

"What are your plans once she's found?" Miroku asked, unable to curb his curiosity on the matter.

"There are only two possible actions that I could take. The first is start back where I left off: army versus army with the winner taking all. That's not what I want to do anymore. These people trust me; thrusting them back into a war they thought had been avoided will destroy that trust. I don't want them to suffer for something that wasn't their doing, either. Which leaves the second option.

"Once Kikyo is found and returned, I'm going to marry her. Again."

Miroku felt his eyes widen and his jaw loosen in shock. That was the last thing he had been expecting to hear. While they had had something of a rocky start, it had to have been clear to anyone with eyes that the lord and lady had formed a bond between. No matter who she was or wasn't, Inuyasha had clearly come to care for the woman he called his wife. For him to so callously speak of marrying someone else so soon was nearly unthinkable.

Unknowing or uncaring of his companion's shocked reaction, Inuyasha continued with his explanation. "It's past time that she took responsibility for the people who are under her control instead of running off like a spoiled child. Once we're wed and my claim to these lands are undeniable, I'll be able to pack her off somewhere where she can't do anymore harm with her immaturity."

"But . . .but what about Ki-Kagome?" Miroku asked, having to pause a moment to recall the name Inuyasha had spoken but once during his accountings.

Golden eyes flashing, Inuyasha rounded on him before he could blink. His hands were fisted at his sides and his voice dropped to a low growl as he replied. "I told you all of this because I had to have someone else's help, but that doesn't give you the right to question me. I'm going to tell you this once and then it never comes up again. That girl," he spat the word like an insult, "is meaningless to everyone here. From this moment on, she as good as never existed. In fact, it'd be best if everyone forgot she was ever here. I know I have."

Miroku bowed slightly in acceptance and left, but not without noticing that Inuyasha had been unable to meet his eyes when he said it.

…

The sun had reached and passed it's highest point before Kagome felt confident enough in the distance between herself and the village to stop. Breakfast had been an early and rushed affair, as her grumbling stomach had been reminding her for the past several hours. The cloak she'd donned, although perfect for her goal of obscurity, was also doing an excellent job of building up and trapping heat beneath it.

Catching sight of a small, clear area beneath a tree just down the path, Kagome trudged wearily towards it. Not daring to remove the cloak entirely, she settled for spreading the generous material at the hem out like a miniature picnic blanket. She also pushed off the hood, but kept her head continually bowed just in case someone should come along down the trail.

She was midway through her meal of bread, cheese, and dried meat when some instinct caused her to glance up. As soon as she did, a gasp was wrung from her throat and her food dropped into her lap unnoticed. Standing directly in front of her, his feet planted firmly on the path not two steps away, stood a rough looking man. As soon as he took note that he had her attention, a cold smirk twisted his lips. Blue eyes glinting down at her, the smirk transformed into a smile, but not anything close to a comforting one.

Kagome was unsure about how to react. She had never been confronted with such an openly aggressive attitude before, and so had no experience in dealing with it. The closest she had ever come was during the beginning of her time with Inuyasha, but even he had never seemed so threatening without having to say a word. One of her hands inched upward to close the neck of her cloak; the other dropped to grasp the straps of her pack. Both gestures were useless, since he was close enough to have both noted her gender and to grab her in seconds if she tried to run, but she gained a small bit of comfort from them, anyway.

"Well, hello." The stranger's voice was as cold as his eyes and came rumbling from deep inside his chest. Kagome had no doubt it was an effect he was using to add to her discomfort rather than his usual tone.

A spark of anger bloomed in her chest as she realized she was being played with. No matter what his intentions were, and she had little uncertainty that they weren't of the friendly kind, she refused to be treated in such a way. A scowl tipped her lips and her hands moved from their previous perches to cross over her chest. Mimicking his stance, she glared up at him, determined not to cower as he so obviously wanted her to.

The smallest twitch of his eyebrow was the only sign that her action had any effect on him, but she took pleasure in it nonetheless. He had clearly been expecting her to cringe with fright at his intimidating approach.

"What do you want?" she snapped, her frustration and pain of the past few days coming to the surface to be vented. She could almost pity him for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, thus receiving a level of animosity that he didn't entirely deserve.

Maybe it was her waspish attitude, or maybe the man before her was just having an equally bad day. Whatever it was, her question brought about an immediate reaction. His lips pulled back from his teeth in a snarl, revealing their pointed quality that had been hidden up till then. Kagome's eyes inched upward, locating his ears beneath the fall of dark hair. Her worst suspicions were confirmed when she saw their pointed state, so much like Sesshomaru's had been.

She had just aggravated a full-blooded demon.

In a move too fast for her eyes to follow, Kagome found herself swept up into his arms. The cloak that she had been using for protection soon became a hindrance as it was swathed around her head and upper body. Not only did it cut off her view of what was happening, it also pinned her arms tightly to her sides. There was a sensation of weightlessness that ended quickly when her stomach came into contact with something hard and unyielding. Kagome could only guess that she had been flung over his shoulder in much the same way as Inuyasha had carried Sango not so long ago.

There is no ground so fertile for growing fear as the unknown. Trapped in a position where there was nothing but blackness and even sound was muffled, Kagome felt her throat begin to close. Her breath came in shorter and shorter pants and her head began to swim. The last thing she heard before everything went dim was the man's cold voice next to her ear.

"Inuyasha took something that should have belonged to me; now I'll take something that belongs to him."

Chapter Twenty-Five