AN: Hmm… a quick update. For me, at least. Unfortunately, my tongue is tied, so enjoy my lengthy update!
Pirate Pash
Chapter 12 – Pirates, Pubs, and Prostitutes
"Kagome…" He warned quietly enough so the words were only reachable to her ears. Inuyasha appeared strangely angrier than before, and she could feel each slow breath against her sensitive skin. "Don't do this now."
She would resist him. She had to. She was not going to let him harass those guys. Kagome whispered back sadly, "Only if you leave them alone."
"I can't!" He hissed, throwing his palms up into the air. Her breath hitched in her throat when his lips slipped next to her right ear. "Kagome…if these guys don't get punished I'll lose my position. I have to show them who's in charge and what happens if you break my rules…"
She desperately wanted to cower away from his authority, but somehow her body didn't move back an inch. She said quietly, "You don't have to anything you don't want to do."
He formed fists in both hands and stared at her. "Kagome, no one can stop me from doing this. Not even you. So move out of the way."
Kagome relented and shuffled forwards, further closing the gap between them. She ignored the stares of what felt like hundreds of crew members and brought her nose close to his. "I thought you would never do anything like this. Please don't…"
He wanted to push her back and tell her that what she was suggesting was insane! Absurd! The captain had to fulfil his duty, and he wasn't going to break that rule for anyone!
"Kagome, I really don't want to do this." He sighed and backed away from the determined girl, who had been a little too close a moment ago. Even the slightest move could have caused their lips to collide, and that was likely why he ran. He wouldn't have been able to control himself.
If his crew saw him…
"Sango! Miroku! Get up here!" His shout snapped everyone out of their curious stares, even the five cowardly men. Everyone wanted to know why the two were just standing next to each other for so long without saying a word. "Get her out of here!"
"Inuyasha!" She shouted in anger, surprised nothing she was trying to propose was getting through his thick skull. "I can't believe you! I begged you!"
The captain sighed tiredly and rubbed his head, suddenly glad there were only two women aboard. "Kagome, please. I'll talk to you later…"
"NO! I won't! You jerk!" She screamed and thrashed as the two escorted her a little too gently out of the way and towards the exit. "Don't you dare touch them!"
As soon as her screams were only faintly echoing in the hallways, Inuyasha turned his glare back onto the crowd. They were all staring at him as if he were an evil youkai in disguise.
He cleared his throat and pulled out a slip of paper from his clothing. "According to our rules, signed by all of us in blood before our voyage, a coward who runs away in battle shall be tarred and feathered by his fellow crew - they will then be attached to the main post for seven days consecutively without provisions. If they are able to survive the week, they are allowed back as an equal mate." Inuyasha paused. "If not, their body will be disposed of into the sea where cowards belong."
Fear crept into the eyes of the five men. They sent worried glances at one another but kept their heads lowered.
"Bring on the tar!" Manten screamed from the crowd, and he began to applaud. Hiten joined in eventually and soon everyone was clapping and hooting for the show to begin.
Inuyasha grinned but could still hear the quiet whines of Kagome from inside. Why had she been so eager to protect them? Hard-working? Kind? That was the last thing on Earth they were!
She was still a naïve little girl…
"Hojo!" He shouted, unable to get her cries off his mind. Yet unable to control himself, he looked at the skinny man and felt an urge to make him suffer for having a thing for the woman. "Bring on the fifteen buckets of hot tar and feathers from below deck!"
"Sango…" Kagome glared at her once she was brought to the kitchen, far away from the commotion. "How could you guys…?"
A sudden cheer from far away made Kagome shudder.
Sango dropped down next to her and rubbed her temples. "Kagome, you shouldn't have gotten involved in this." Her voice sounded like she was tired of dealing with Kagome.
"Why shouldn't I have?" She replied angrily, banging her fist on the table and staring at the young woman. "I talked to those men before and they were friendly toward me! They were accepting after a while and I felt like I belonged! I'm not just going to sit back and watch those people put up with that pain!"
"Listen, Kagome. You don't have much of a say in that, no matter how close you are to the captain."
She lifted her head up despite the cold comment. "Even if I don't, don't you guys?" Kagome pointed to Miroku, who was leaning against the door without speaking. "Miroku's one of the men with some power, right?"
Miroku sighed. "That's true. But Hiten and Manten are still above me."
"That doesn't matter. You can still attempt to do something - "
He cleared his throat. "Miss Kagome, we were so against your punishment at first because of the simple fact that you were a woman. However, when a crew member breaks the rules, you must sit back and keep your mouth closed like all the others."
"What?" She stared at them bug-eyed as she reran the comment in her head. "So that's why you helped me? Because I was a woman?"
"Of course we got to know you afterwards and wanted to help you…"
"Forget it." Kagome sneered and got up, heading towards the door. "If you guys are going to be useless about this, then I'll do somethin-"
She was yanked back by Sango's arm abruptly. "You can't go, Kagome. They're not finished."
"Sango, what are you doing?" She looked on with surprise at her friend's arm holding her down. "I - "
Her eyes seemed frightened but her grip didn't loosen. "I'm sorry, Kagome. But this was Inuyasha's orders and… and I can't let you go back there now."
Kagome's face paled and she began to struggle, pulling against the girl's hold but Sango was obviously stronger. "Sango! What are you doing?! Let go!"
Miroku could watch this no more and walked over to latch onto Kagome's other arm. "Miss Kagome. Please don't take this the wrong way…"
"Aren't you guys my friends?" She screamed deafeningly and pulled against both of them, barely able to keep back the frustrated tears brimming in her eyes. What in the world were they doing? "Didn't you guys used to help me against him? Why are you doing this now?"
"Kagome, think clearly. This is a direct order from the captain. He knows we're responsible if you show up back there." He gestured towards the door and frowned at the girl. "If you go back there we'll have to deal with him too."
"Please, Kagome." Sango pleaded with her, her fingers interlaced. "Can you please just try to not interrupt just this one time? Please?"
"But the guys - "
Miroku assured her calmly. "Inuyasha won't do any serious harm to them. But they won't run away again, that's for sure."
"…" She paused and considered it. She really didn't want to admit it, but they were most likely right. If she were to go up to Inuyasha again he'd probably just penalize them harder because he was in a foul mood. Kagome sighed and loosened her tugging. "Fine."
The two smiled and let her arm go hesitantly. "Thank you. But you know, Kagome, we're sorry about this…"
"It's okay." She interrupted, dropping down into a chair and looking away purposely. A nice silent treatment might make them rethink this. "Just leave me alone."
Neither pirate had an audible response for her, but they nodded nonetheless and exited out the door. They knew better than to mess with Kagome when she was ticked.
'I can't believe this.' She stood up and wandered through the kitchen slowly. The nice homely food smell of bread and potatoes had disappeared and what remained was a dull wooden smell of the cupboards. They had finished most of the food for the feast. 'Inuyasha acted like he didn't really know me on deck…and Sango and Miroku just treated me like a prisoner…'
She gulped and rested her elbows on the counter. Kagome whispered to herself, "Why did they all lie to me? Their behaviour was believable…"
One thing Kagome unfortunately did not possess was the ability to deal with someone she knew well hurting her. When she actually let another person into her bubble – her bubble of trust – she always expected them to treat her as she treated them: like friends.
So she was not at all expecting the sudden backlash from the captain and his two assistants.
She rubbed her tired arms and felt a tiny bruise start to form in the crook of her arm. 'They actually dragged me from deck with some force…'
Suddenly, a grumble and a loud shout sounded from above. What followed after were heavy footsteps and a scream, but they were soon covered by the men's mumbles and claps. Kagome's arms lined with goose bumps and she shuddered.
'What is he doing…?'
She stared at the door calmly. She had promised she wouldn't go back on deck, and she would keep that promise. Besides, she didn't think much she did now could help the men any from the tyrant Inuyasha.
Covering her ears with the palms of both hands, Kagome crouched lower in her seat and tried to block out the screams that followed after. Her humming managed to somewhat block out the noise.
"I think that's enough, captain." Hiten pointed out.
Inuyasha stared up at their work, a smirk lining his face. The five men were tightly bound to the main pole, their bodies unharmed but tarred and feathered. They looked like a row of large, hideous seagulls. "I think so too. I hope you all see what happens when you act like a coward."
At first the crowd remained silent… all until one man shouted from the crowd. "Three cheers for our captain! We - "
The man did not get to finish his sentence, because somebody else had punched him quickly in the noggin', sending the poor man flying to the floor.
No one spoke after that.
"Shippou," Inuyasha walked over the boy who looked obviously steamed at him, judging by the way his head bobbled when he was speaking. "Do you think my crew are angry with me?"
When he was walking off deck a moment ago, he had caught more than one instance of someone shooting him down with a disgusted glare. While this had happened before, he had rarely seen everyone so pissed off at him.
"No. They love you." Shippou replied sarcastically, his back still facing the captain. "What do you think?"
"I think they all want to wring my neck."
Shippou scoffed and turned back to staring at his knees. "I don't know what to suggest."
"Why are they so upset?" Inuyasha paced around the room, his anger rising quickly. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore. "It's not like they've never seen me hand out punishments…and they know all the rules…and - "
He sighed. "It's Kagome."
"What?" Inuyasha ran to the front of Shippou's chair, glaring the child down. "What the hell does Kagome have to do with this?"
"Even I saw how she was begging you not to hurt them. And look what you did."
"What I did!" Inuyasha stared amazedly. "I told Sango and Miroku to remove her while I carried on with my job! If I hadn't done something she would have gotten in the way and maybe cried or something! What else was I supposed to do?"
Manten entered the dim room, his bald head shining off the candlelight. "Captain, if I may say so, I believe it is also the girl."
"Manten. You think this is my fault too?" He sneered at the fat man who had just walked in. Shippou was still refusing to look at him. "I didn't do anything!"
"You may not have done anything, Inuyasha, but the woman did." Manten spat out the last words like poison seething his tongue. Memories of that woman made him want to strangle something until it died. "She made it appear as if you were the devil, and she was the angel trying to free the crew. It was beautifully played by that bitch."
Inuyasha turned to face him with a scowl. "Say that again."
Manten sweat dropped. He caught the: you-should-have-kept-your-mouth-shut grin from the brat and stepped back. "I – I didn't - "
The captain stepped forwards again and cracked his knuckles loudly, his temper getting to the better of him. And right now, this guy was sending him off the edge. "I SAID, say it again."
"I'm sorry, Captain Inuyasha!" Manten backed against the wall and held his arms in front of his face. "I didn't mean to call her - "
He did not have a chance to finish, because the peeved captain had already punched him several times, enough to have him crumble to the floor pathetically. "I - I'm sorry…"
"Call her a bitch again and you'll see your ranking disappear before you can open your mouth!" Inuyasha seethed before hurrying out the door. One thing he found he despised more than anything was insults about Kagome. How dare they even speak like that…
"Very nice, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha spun around when he was further down the hall and when he saw no one, stared down. "Shippou, brat. What do you want?"
"I liked that little display back there. And since I don't like Manten, you did me a favour. So I forgive you."
Inuyasha faked a smile. "Thank you so much. What do you want?"
"You seem a little confused about what to do, so I'll help you out. The last thing you want is your crew planning behind your back to attack you, so…" He stared at Inuyasha, awaiting his answer.
"How am I supposed to know?"
"Think Inuyasha." Shippou tapped the captain's ankle. "I may just be a kid, but I know what men like the crew enjoy."
This kid was sometimes too smart for his own good. "I have no idea."
Shippou beamed and tapped his foot against the floor. This was bound to cheer everyone up and make Inuyasha the favourite around here again. "The town Bisuko of the Coast of Nabaya Island… know what I mean?" He raised an eyebrow.
It took the captain a minute to figure it out, but when he did, he smiled a wide smile. "Good idea, Shippou." They also needed to pick up some rations; the kitchen was getting quite bare. "I want you to give directions. We're pulling in at Nabaya Island as quickly as possible."
When it was pitch black outside, Kagome decided the coast was clear to creep out of the kitchen and head toward deck. Finally she could go see what the ruckus she was hearing earlier was about.
She scampered up a long set of stairs and peered both ways, making sure no one like Inuyasha or the two assistants were hopping about. Kagome was going to deck no matter what they told her.
What if the men were not there? What if he had thrown them into the water? 'If Inuyasha killed them, I'm going to…'
Kagome hoped it wasn't what she was predicting and finally pushed past the door that would lead to her destination. She stopped and stared in awe as the sight blinded her.
The manly men were all tied up on the main mast, their eyes closed and their bodies coloured in some dark… was that tar? Not only that, but there were bundles of white feathers glued onto them, enough so that only their faces remained uncovered.
"Oh god!" Kagome gasped and hurried over. Their eyes were closed. Had they been beaten and feathered to death? "Oh dear god! Please don't be dead!" She shouted and ran hurriedly over.
They were tied so high onto the mast that she had to balance a few barrels to reach them. It was terribly difficult with only a few lanterns shining light onto her, and when she had managed to stack enough of them to crawl high enough, she shook the face of one of them. They did not stir, so she slapped his face lightly. "Wake up! What happened to you?"
They all seemed to hear her voice because at once all five pairs of eyes snapped open. They seemed to cringe when they saw her worried face. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh… thank god…"
The first one to open his mouth spoke hurriedly. "Ma'am! Please leave!"
She was confused. "Why?"
"This…" One man called Sogo turned his head over his shoulder, a feather unintentionally scratching against his nose. "This is humiliation! We do not wish you to see us in such a disgusting state!"
"Please leave, Miss Kagome." The moustached man who had looked so respectable moments ago now looked like a big bird. It would have been quite comical if not for the situation.
"But…"
"If you could do us a favour, it would be to leave us alone. Thank you for being such a dear…" His stomach stopped him because it suddenly growled a low rumble. Embarrassed, he turned his head away from the saddened woman.
She closed her eyes with disappointment. "I'll go… but only if you tell me that Inuyasha did nothing more to you guys." The barrels started to wobble and she steadied herself by placing both arms by her sides. "Er… so this was all he did?"
"We're fine, miss. Now hurry away before someone sees you talking to us." Spoke the chubby man who had laughed with her only hours ago. "We'll be fine for a week."
"Fine… what? A week?" Kagome spun around and her entire barrel ladder almost toppled over. She had to lean against the mast to avoid tumbling the five feet to the floor. "How are you guys going to eat?"
"We won't."
"So you're going to starve for a week?" She gaped, her eyes wide open and disbelieving. So this was his little evil scheme - to starve his crew to death. This was getting a little out of hand. "Don't tell me the captain wanted this."
None of them replied, probably because they understood she got along well with him, and if they were to badmouth him it could possibly reach his ears.
"That's it!" She slowly crouched down and brought her legs around the side, her fingers gripping the top of the barrel and letting herself plop onto the floor. She was going to clear some things up with that insane man. "I'm going to go talk to that idiot!"
"Wait - " Sogo paused.
Kagome heard him, but did not slow her pace a bit. Her feet continued to bang against the wooden floor as she ran, and she was destined to stop him. Sure, the punishment was not half as bad as she had pictured in her mind, but she still needed to tell him straight.
She arrived at the familiar door and barged right in, at the moment feeling no need to knock or be polite. "HEY!" Kagome walked straight in and yelled to the man with his back facing her on his bed. "Look at me."
He spun around, and immediately the first thing that registered in her mind was how stunningly handsome he looked when he grinned like a teenager.
But the dangerous question was… why was he smiling like that after what he had just done?
"Are you sick?" She scorned, walking quickly up to him to wrap her hands around his cheeks to see if he was burning up. "You don't feel sick…"
"I'm anything but sick." He smirked again, his fang-like tooth revealed. Inuyasha patted the seat next to him and smiled again. "Sit down."
"No…that's all right. I'll stand." She snapped although it was forced. The captain's sudden kindness was throwing her off again. 'Stop it, Kagome! Stop falling for it!' He was just trying to cover up his crime. "I – I want you to explain why you're starving them! I… I want to know!"
She did not sound intimidating after witnessing his cheerful grin.
"Starving who?" He shrugged at Kagome's decline to sit next to him and he dropped his back onto the comfortable sheets.
"You know who I'm talking about. Don't act stupid now. Those guys tied up to the mast like birds!" She pointed to the ceiling and cried, "It's inhumane! They need food, and water, and…"
"Alcohol." He filled in for her, his hands patting at his sides. "I remember the last time I fed you some."
Suddenly picturing the memory, he began to chuckle lightly.
"Stop…stop changing the subject! What's wrong with you? I'm trying to have a serious conversation here and you're acting like a goof!" Where in the world was the strict and rude captain? "And if you're already in such a good mood, won't you just let them go?"
"No." He answered briefly, but casually changed the subject. "But tell me this, Kagome. I came up with a great idea. I'm going to take the crew to the town of Bisuko…"
"Oh no…" She groaned, rubbing her head with her hand. "Don't tell me you're planning another attack - "
"…it's got the greatest beer in the world. And we won't risk being caught because I know the man that owns it; he's like a brother to me. That way we can relieve some stress."
"We're going to have drinks?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "Now? In the middle of the night?" The feather issue with the crew had long flown from her head.
"There's no better time." He grinned again, and Kagome had to force herself to look away. When he did that…she didn't like it much…she knew she would be embarrassing herself by blushing like a beet.
And sometimes it could clear her mind of his wicked ways. Like now.
"Hey Kagome?" He asked suddenly. "Good thing you came yourself, because I was going to go get you later. I want you to take off your clothes."
In no time at all the captain found a red mark smack across his face. Kagome was panting, her face pale from the jolt she felt when she heard those words. Was he honestly serious? What kind of a girl did he take her for?
"Ow! What the hell, woman?" He felt his sore cheek but did not seem that disturbed by it.
"Well," She gasped, "That's what you get for being a pervert!"
"Pervert!" He sat up straight in bed and glared at her. Finally, some of the sensible Inuyasha was returning. "I'm not Miroku! I wanted you to take off your clothes so that you could go put on one of Sango's nice ones! You look like you've got a rag on!"
"Oh…"
She looked down and noticed the truth in his words. Her poor dress was probably destined to fall apart soon anyway, and there were dirt patches and small holes that she hadn't even realised were there. "Sorry about that."
Oh dear… she was turning into a man.
"Feh! Forget it!" He turned away and began to mumble something that she couldn't hear. "Stupid woman…"
She sighed and walked next to him, surprising the pirate quite a bit. Kagome sat down in the seat he had motioned earlier and reached for one of his larger hands. "Why?"
"Why what?" He choked.
She grabbed his hand in both of hers and felt the warmth seeping through it. "Are you angry with me for doing this?"
"N – No… why would I be?" He had no idea was this woman was plotting.
"Because I remember," she stroked his hand in several massaging motions, "when I first arrived you wouldn't let anyone touch you. But how come now even when I slap you, you don't shout at me like the jerk you are?"
He looked her in the eyes. "You just caught me on a good day, that's all." Inuyasha grinned at her and tightened his grip on her delicate fingers. "I guess I feel like I can trust you to touch me…I sound like a pansy, don't I?"
"No… not at all." She smirked and suddenly felt some of her anger stored up toward him disintegrate. Why did he have to say such a touching thing while holding her hand?
"Good." He looked at her as if he were a dog and she were a juicy piece of raw meat, and she scooted back an inch on his bed. Inuyasha was being sweet, a fishy kind of sweet. "Kagome, are you mad at me or something?"
"Yes, I told you I was. And you were ignoring me. I want – can you please let those guys go, please?" His face seemed expressionless so she continued to try. "I'll do anything, I - "
"Anything?" Inuyasha smirked again and leaned forward slightly. "What do you mean by 'anything', Kagome?"
"I… I - " He was doing it again. Getting too close for comfort and driving her to the brink of insanity. It wasn't that she was completely against it… because while her body mentally scolded her for being a wimp, her brain kept her face a distance from his. "I don't know… but you have to stop doing that to the men - or"
"Or what? What are you going to do to me, Kagome?" Inuyasha grabbed her chin and dragged her face forward, despite her sad attempt to pull away. He loved playing with her like this; she was adorable when she got so frightened.
"Inuyasha…" She was starting to think she was getting addicted to his face, with his cheekbones carved into perfection like that. "I told you- "
"Shh." He leaned forward a bit more, until his lips were a mere inches from Kagome's. Her delicious scent was driving him mad, and her pathetic anger only sparked it further. "I wanted to do this today on deck."
Her knees had softened into mushy cotton, and she had difficulty breathing normally. Every kind word out of his mouth was dragging her one step further from her childish innocence, and into the world of men she didn't quite want to explore yet.
"Wait…"
It was too late. She had fallen into his devious trap. She was actually giving in to him. Kagome gave in to his gentle grasp and slowly brought her face closer to his…
But before her lips could reach his, she saw a sudden glimpse of someone she had forgotten about for a month: Souta.
All of a sudden Inuyasha's face faded into her sweet little brother's face.
She screamed and leaped back.
"What's wrong, Kagome?" Inuyasha grabbed her shoulders in a rush and held her still, a little insulted by that little display. "Are you okay?"
The girl before him began to shake, her shoulders rising and lowering rapidly, her hands covering her chest. It was as if she had seen a ghost in him or something. Kagome's face paled from her usual tan colour and she barged her eyes shut. "I'm – I'm sorry, Inuyasha… I just saw my brother…and he was crying…and I've -!"
He sighed. So that was why she stopped? Because she saw her brother? He didn't know whether to be insulted or irritated. "It's alright, Kagome, calm down. He's not here…"
"I know, but that's why…I've, I've completely forgotten about him! I'm a terrible person! An awful sister! My god!" Her shoulders shook as she covered her face with her small hands.
He couldn't bear to watch this girl whimper again. And this time he didn't even do anything to set it off. "Kagome…"
She glanced up through damp eyelashes and spotted his hurt look. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha… I didn't mean that… really," For once she wasn't lying and he didn't believe her. Had she not seen her brother who knows what she would have been doing with him now? "But I can't do that kind of stuff yet…"
Inuyasha sighed. "It's okay. Kind of hit my self-esteem though, but it's fine. Try not to think of your brother, okay?" He got up and dusted himself off before sitting in a nearby chair. "Go find Sango and get some new clothes."
She nodded and he watched solemnly as the girl walked out of the room completely different from how she entered.
That damn woman didn't have the slightest clue how much power she really held over him…
'I'm a horrible woman. First I don't get to tell him straight about the tarred men because he somehow managed to surprise me, and now I forget about Souta for a month. What's wrong with me?' She stumbled behind another door and began to change into her next wardrobe choice. 'I'm a heartless bitch.'
"Kagome, you okay in there?" Sango called over in the next room, having seen the girl coming in here in tears. "We're leaving soon so let me see it!"
She swallowed thickly and leaned against the door for support. "I've never worn such a nice…thing…before… I don't really know how to walk in it."
"Come out! I'm sure you'll look great."
Kagome lifted her heels and rounded the corner, smiling softly when Sango's eyes widened. "Does it look that silly?" She carefully rubbed her hands down the soft fabric of the black corset.
"No…Kagome, you look perfect." Sango said honestly, feeling even a twinge of envy. Behind all the dirt on Kagome's face, no one would have been able to tell that gorgeous person hidden under the rags was even more glamorous cleaned up. No wonder Inuyasha fell for her…
"Why are we dressing up so nicely anyway?" Kagome twirled in front of the reflection of the window, the bottom half of her dress poofing out and barely dragging on the floor. "I heard we're going to some pub."
"Who knows where we're going?" Sango shrugged and changed into her own purple number, a burgundy dress that flailed out at the knees. "But we've got these dresses as a disguise. We're giving off the impression we're rich women and not tough pirates."
"Rich women…" Kagome repeated softly and shook her head. "I wish he could have seen this."
"Who?" Sango asked lightly, combing Kagome's hair.
"My brother." She replied sadly as she adjusted the strings on her top. "He always loved it when I dressed up like a girl. Souta hated how I was so much like a protective older brother all the time."
"Yeah… I know how you feel."
"You know, Sango" Kagome asked, slipping into her shoes and making way for the door. "I'd be happy if I were to see him right now for only one second. Only one. To see if he was okay. I'd feel awful if I were enjoying myself while he suffered…"
"Oh stop with the mushy stuff," Sango coaxed. "Don't bother with that now. It sounds to me like your brother wanted you to have fun, so isn't that enough?"
Kagome swallowed and paused mid-step. Her little used to constantly batter her about going out and making some friends, going places, and now she was doing just that. 'Maybe… I shouldn't feel so bad?'
"You're right. I need to stop this. He's a grown boy I suppose…"
The other woman patted her back with a sound of support and together they stepped up the stairs in their 'disguise', ready for the darkness of the night sky. "That's right, Kagome. You'll see him when you're destined to see him. Oh!" Sango interrupted herself and pointed at Miroku. "He's ready too. Let's go."
Kagome shook her head of all her negative thoughts and latched onto Sango, huffing up the stairs toward the gathered crowd.
Everyone was already laughing and roaring with conversation, and she noticed they were all a little more dressed up than usual.
She was content for the time being – and she was going to savour every moment of it. Souta would have wanted her to.
"Another bottle, everyone?" A buxom brunette woman sauntered over in her petite fabric of a skirt and winked at Hojo, who was currently relaxing with the others on the patterned flooring.
They had docked the ship several miles from their location, and Inuyasha had told her it was simply to avoid being discovered. After all, they never knew when the navy could be about town.
"You look fantastic." He had said to her truthfully when she stepped onto the deck with Sango, and she felt quite uncomfortable when several other pairs of eyes began to leer. Even Manten's. "Let's go."
So they had walked a ten minute hike, all the while trying to preserve her shoes from skidding on the wet path. It wasn't raining out, but the dark grounds were still slimy.
"Doesn't Miss Kagome look exceptional in that black dress?" Miroku whispered to Sango a distance back from the woman. "She has the figure of a goddess! Heavenly!"
"Yea." Sango grumbled in response, dragging her feet.
"I mean, no wonder everyone stares! Kagome is naturally breathtakingly beautiful, and now that she's in that tight little thing I can appreciate how wonderful woman are."
Sango's face turned a pale green. "Hm."
"You don't look too well, Sango." His eyes quickly reverted back to Kagome. "I believe that Inuyasha is keeping her around for more reasons than looking like Kikyou. What do you think?"
When he looked at Sango, he realized she had long gone. Somewhere else, perhaps.
"Inuyasha, I don't want to drink anything tonight." Kagome pointed out at the front of the line where she was leading the pack alongside the captain. He seemed to be once again less conversable. "Can you hear me?"
"Wha - ? Yeah, I hear you. Feh! I'm not deaf." He snapped and turned back to face the large pack of crew following behind, not quite sure what was going on. "Men!" He shouted, holding his hand high. "We will be consuming alcohol tonight, and oddly enough I will permit it. However, if any of you act unruly because of too much, you'll regret it."
The crowd cheered and hooted at the captain's 'kind' comment.
"ALSO," Inuyasha continued sternly but with a smile, walking backwards as he spoke. "There will be women present, so if any unwanted misconduct occurs there will also be a severe punishment. Understood?"
"YES SIR!" They all shouted in unison, and Kagome noticed everyone's face was filled with delight.
"Good. Because we've arrived." Inuyasha led them up the rocky path with a sign at the door that Kagome couldn't read, and he walked in. Everyone followed suit. Was this large house what a tavern looked like?
She was confused.
When she first stepped in, she found the place to be quite roomy and snug, but after a while there was something eerie about it. It seemed to her like bad karma.
So she sat there like a child, glancing about and watching the commotion occur around her. She recognized the huge group of men from their group, but also many other men scampering about.
It was then that she noticed all the women. All of them were wrapped tightly in kimonos that she had read of in books, and they all walked with grace and poise, something she herself was lacking.
However, the majority of them were not too good looking. A couple of them had wide-set faces and beady eyes, and they were swaying along tediously to the tune of the guitar strings. Men circling them cheered and clapped as if they were the best performers on earth.
'What is this…?' Kagome turned her head and spotted Miroku whispering secretly to an unfamiliar girl also in a kimono, but this one had a rather cute appearance. 'Why's he talking to that girl? Where's Sango?'
Kagome saw her moping in another corner, pretending to drink but peering through the crowd at Miroku every few seconds. 'This is a funny place. But where are those men going?'
She looked over and watched in confusion as a number of men she recognized were being dragged away by these kimono women, some of them giggling and some of them grabbing onto these men for dear life. They seemed to be enjoying themselves…
"Are you enjoying yourself?"
The captain just had to shock her from behind with a glass in his hand. He yelled, "This is some place, huh? They're famous for welcoming pirates into their business!"
"Oh." She replied dumbly. "But where are all those guys being led off to? Are they getting more drinks?" Kagome pointed as Hiten was being dragged off to a back room by a beauty with long curly hair and piercing eyes.
"You don't need to know." Inuyasha only chuckled at her and plopped down onto the patterned flooring next to Hojo, and Kagome soon followed. This was all too foreign for her…
Suddenly a chestnut-haired woman - possibly the prettiest woman of the evening – showed up with a bottle in her hands and grinned at the three of them. "Another bottle everyone?"
Hojo nodded and held up his glass nervously, slightly intimidated by the beautiful woman. She smiled seductively and poured his drink, before turning to Inuyasha.
'She's looking at him funny.' Kagome pointed out to herself angrily. 'And is she batting her eyelashes at him intentionally? Why is he responding?'
"Thank you." He nodded his head in thanks and held up his glass, not noticing the deadly stares being sent his way.
The pretty woman spoke again. "Hey, babe. Are you here for a good time as well?"
Kagome hissed to herself. Who did this woman think she was, talking to Inuyasha like that? Ugh. She was throwing herself at him like a –
She did not get to finish her thought, because two slender hands had suddenly wrapped around her chin and turned her face around.
Kagome threw up her arms in defence, but froze when she felt it.
A pair of soft lips brushed against hers, and she could grimly taste the alcohol lining the woman's lips. However, she was even more thrown off when her mouth was forced open and a pink tongue slipped into her own.
Inuyasha choked on his drink and began to sputter. Hojo coughed.
"Mmmmmmph!" Kagome pushed against the woman as best she could, sending her back a foot. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "What was that for?!"
She looked a little stunned by Kagome's reaction, but grinned anyway, revealing an attractive smile. She stared at Kagome and smacked her lips. "You're so cute."
It had been her first kiss.
Her first precious kiss.
One she was supposed to share with her husband under the dimly lit light of the moon and stars, gazing into each others eyes and him brushing back her hair as the perfect moment emerged…
She finally understood - she had just lost it to a woman in a whorehouse.
AN: I must say, that was unexpected! This chapter was another record long for me, and reviews will be greatly appreciated and used for motivation!
