Ugh. I know I haven't updated regularly, like I (stupidly) promised. It was a very futile attempt. But here's a chapter. I tried to make it a decent length, and wound up with this. Hope it isn't so daunting for all of you. It's a bit confusing for me, since I've written the plot out with characters with different names and such. Well, read on and enjoy.
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CHAPTER IV: In Spirit of Victory
Inuyasha had woken up early-earlier than usual, in fact, to the sound of raucous thuds thundering on the wall at his feet.
His eyes burst open and his body snapped up to a rigid upright sitting position. He swept away the blanket, then grasped the rough texture of his fire rat haori, rolled up next to his black sleeping mat.
While he pulled it on over his off-white shirt he wore to sleep, he crawled to the wall, where his neighbor in the next room was pummeling himself against it.
Other students were waking up, as well; he heard them get up angrily, roused from sleep they did not wish to wake from, and begin railing at whatever creature lay thrashing in the next room.
Inuyasha looked warily at the ceiling; dust from in between the cracks of the wall had been knocked out into the room.
He had a feeling that spells were cast to keep the rooms from being demolished; the keepers of the seminary would probably have to do such things to keep powerful demons in check.
While they were at it, he thought, they could have put in a sound barrier.
The noise had eventually snared the attention of a passing teacher. The loud talk of the students halted in a decreasing swell like the swift breath before harbor waves come crashing down.
Inuyasha slid his door open to see what ensued.
"Azakeru," said the young woman teacher sternly, her lips pursed. "Do you have an explanation for this behavior?"
"Pardon, a terminal disease of mine it is, Master Herbal," the boy said mock-meekly, bowing his head.
The students gathered around Azakeru's room had begun to look strangely at Inuyasha, who carefully avoided their demon gazes.
"And what would this disease be?" the woman raised her eyebrows.
She had, no doubt, heard numerous student excuses over her allotted years. Anyone who thought she was the age she looked was a simple fool.
"The wasting sickness, from the continent," supplied someone from the crowd, laughing.
"From Europe?"
"It's called the Plague, isn't it?"
"Something…"
Enormous amounts of chatter surrounded the subject.
"Enough!" said the woman.
It surprised Inuyasha that she could quiet the whole mass of students with her small voice. Perhaps it was the strict tone that did it.
"Allergies," replied the boy.
"And to what, Azakeru?"
Azakeru ceased to pretend to be apologetic any longer. His humbled face split into a smile.
"Hanyou," he said, roaring with laughter.
The growing number of scrutinizing eyes glancing at Inuyasha had increased immediately. The smart ones, or at least the ones with better senses of smell, had noticed it long before, and had pointed him out to their friends, but now he felt overwhelmed.
He had gotten used to the scornful stares at Hosusori Court, but it compared to nothing here, where he now stood under the glares of his peers, and perhaps superiors.
The best he could do was return the glower, but hardly any backed away from it, as the courtiers sometimes did.
The talk was permeated with rumors, and it did not go away quickly, even after Master Herbal had chastised Azakeru, but Inuyasha stayed at the door until every one of them had left.
He was not a coward. He could prove that much now.
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Miko came around less than half an hour later, knocking on the screen door of Inuyasha's room. He rolled over, got up, and slid the door open.
"You could just come in," he said sullenly. She remained standing by the door in a scarlet hakama, the type shrine maidens typically wore. Her hair was free, not tied at the nape of her neck or swept away into her hood, like last night.
"Can't. There's a discontainment spell over all the rooms. Only you can go into your own."
"Well, it wasn't like I was sleeping or anything."
"I could imagine. I heard the racket in my room, and that's near the other end of these dormitory cells."
"There're more?"
"Yes. The mages have dormitories on the other side of the school, and the edge-masters take residence near the teacher's private rooms."
"Are they always like this?"
"The dogmatists? Usually." Inuyasha glared at her, eyes seething. "Sorry for the bad pun, Shijou."
"Just promise to try not to be funny anymore."
"Oh, bring your sword," she said promptly.
He initially was surprised- but then it occurred to him that nobody knew anything about him here, and the teachers must have a way to determine the strengths of a student.
It was then that he noticed that Miko had a longbow in her right hand and a quiver full of wooden arrows strapped to her back.
Inuyasha picked up his sword from where it lay next to his sleeping mat.
He stepped out of the room and thought crossly about his peers, contemplation clouding his face. "I thought I was doing myself a favor, coming here."
"Don't worry, it can't be worse than getting caught up in war back home." They began walking down the empty corridor.
"But didn't you leave your family behind to deal with the problems?"
"Family? What family?" Miko asked bitterly.
"So you don't have any, either," Inuyasha was secretly just a little bit relieved.
"No. Only the man who raised me in the village shrine, claiming he found me washed up in a straw basket in the local river."
"Do people normally talk about their homes here?" he asked curiously.
"No. But I'm not really normal."
"I could tell."
"A fine nose the doggy has."
Inuyasha growled in protest of being called a "doggy."
Miko laughed.
"It's only natural that you and I be friends, don't you think? You're an inu-hanyou with an inferior complex, and I'm a weak human priestess."
"Inferior complex!" he nearly shouted.
"Oh, please. 'Shijou?' It's obvious to me."
"But then again, you're not normal," Inuyasha said, gritting his teeth.
"Don't you dare make me eat my own words," Miko replied.
They continued talking as they walked along the corridor. A figure came into sight at the end of a darkened hallway.
Inuyasha recognized Sesshoumaru in an instant. He was the spitting image of Inutaisho, his father. He had pieces of spiked stone shoulder guards extending from shining breastplate armor. Sesshoumaru went out of his way to look elegant and noble; he wore the finest white hakama with red patterns of the nightshade flower running along the edges his hemmed sleeves. The whole outfit was brought together with a yellow sash embroidered with black sewing of rivers and storm clouds.
He had with him two contemptuous-looking subordinates who wore the same sort of clothing as him, but also a woman. Inuyasha eyed her closely. She had an aquiline face, dangling bead earrings, and two gray feathers in her hair, which he could see when she turned and held up an oversized fan over her crimson lips.
To both his and Miko's surprise, it was not Sesshoumaru who spoke first; it was the woman.
"At home in Hokkaido I heard much about hanyous, and never in praise." The woman lowered her fan to reveal a derisive smile. Here now we have a half-breed, so yearning to prove himself...All weapon spells are strong here, puppy. Show us a trick, if you will."
"You should not talk to him like that. Shijou has either skill or power, else the doorkeeper would have kept him out," protested Miko, impatient to move on. At the same time she tugged on Inuyasha's sleeve in order to subdue him, sensing his pent-up anger.
"Then why should he not show it?" Sesshoumaru spoke, his voice loud and deep.
"Yeah, now seems like a good time," said Inuyasha, gripping the hilt of Tetsusaiga.
Miko now gripped his arm. "Good time or not, our agenda doesn't permit us to play games right now."
"Why not?" Sesshoumaru challenged.
"Sorcery..." Kagome began determinedly, "is not a game. I don't play it for praise or for pleasure, and neither should Inu-Shijou."
The woman stepped forward, smiling wider.
"What do you play it for-money?"
Seeing that a further exchange of harsh words could result in nothing better, Miko moved on, dragging Inuyasha with her, and leaving Sesshoumaru and his friends laughing their scorning laughter.
-
Miko clearly did not wish to give up a fight, either. She looked stubborn and angry the rest of the time she guided him around Goshinboku.
"Your brother…" she said, "he is an ass!"
"How did you know?" Inuyasha asked. "I didn't talk about my home."
"Oh, it's something I can't explain. You two, you're both made of the same fire. I just happen to see it." Miko blushed, and he didn't know why. Most likely she was embarrassed about her odd "gift." But it soon turned into a cheerful smile.
"What's his name? Here, I mean?"
"Seishou," she replied.
Inuyasha thought it was odd how his assumed name should sound so similar to his real one.
"And the people he was with?"
"The two men, Taka and Kurohyou."
"They're not really the ones I'm worried about."
"Fair judgement. They're really just brute strength. They don't know a spell from sandstorm."
"What's the woman's name?"
"Tatsugami."
"Any relation? To Taka, I mean."
"No…Taka and Kurohyou are brothers, though. We never talk about home, though, so I don't know much more about them. Tatsugami's dangerous, though."
"As is Sesshou-"
Inuyasha stopped short. It occurred to him at once that his brother's name was different here, so he should not use it. But he also noticed that he could not pronounce "Sesshoumaru" any further.
This was strange to him. Somehow, had his brother's name been stolen from him? The doorkeeper must have had some sealing spell in order to protect the students of the school.
Miko didn't notice. How convenient it was that his brother's name meant victory. (A/N: Read the footnote to see what I mean.)
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Miko left him in the room with the old man, seated and silent, meditating on a mat at the other end of the room.
Sitting cross-legged, the man wore a indigo besuto vest over a dark gray hakama with short sleeves. His whitened hair was tied high on the back of his head with a black ribbon. His face sagged a little and his black eyes seemed to be lost in all the creases of skin around them. He looked at Inuyasha with an expression that spoke only apathy.
Inuyasha looked at him expectantly, expecting him to speak. He said nothing. Inuyasha then sat down across from him, continuing to stare. He wasn't content to let the man keep his silence.
He had long since learned that when something was going on, and he didn't know what, that he could find out more by waiting than by asking.
However, patience wasn't a part of Inuyasha. He went to the door to leave the room, seeing that sitting here would do nothing but waste time. The door knob would not budge.
He looked back at the old man, then decided to try again.
"All right," he said, giving up. "Why's the door locked?"
The old man continued to look at him blankly.
It seemed to go on for hours. Inuyasha refused to speak and the old man seemed to be a mindless mute. The longer it went on, with no one coming to the door, the more certain he became that this was something deliberate, meant to disconcert him.
Inuyasha did not want to give the man the victory.
Suddenly the old man's hand shot out and caught Inuyasha's ankle just as he was walking around the large room, pulling him off his feet and landing him heavily on the floor.
Inuyasha leapt to his feet immediately, furious. He found the old man sitting calmly, cross-legged, not breathing heavily, as if he had never moved. Inuyasha stood poised to fight, but the man's immobility made it impossible for him to attack. What, kick the old man's head off? And then explain it to the other teachers. Oh, the old man tripped me, so I had to get even.
Finally, tired and angry at this wasted hour, two hours, day, a prisoner in this room, Inuyasha sat down in a chair so he wouldn't have to face the old man. He set his sword down.
He suddenly felt a hand jab roughly into his side and another hand grab his hair.
In a moment he had been turned nearly upside down. His face and shoulders were being pressed into the floor by the old man's knee, while his back was excruciatingly bent and his legs were pinioned by the old man's arm.
Inuyasha was helpless.
"All right," he gasped. "You win."
The man's knee thrust painfully downward. "Since when," asked the man, his voice soft but rasping, "do you have to tell the enemy when he has won?"
Inuyasha remained silent.
"I surprised you once, Inu-Shijou. Why didn't you destroy me immediately afterwards? Just because I looked peaceful? You turned your back on me. Stupid. You have never had a teacher." The old man sighed.
Inuyasha was angry now, and made no attempt to control or conceal it. "I've had too many teachers, how was I supposed to know you'd turn out to be a-"
"An enemy?" whispered the old man. "I am your enemy. There is no teacher but the enemy. And from now on I am your teacher."
Then the old man let his legs fall, which hit the surface of the wooden floor with a loud crack and sickening pain. The old man stood and let him rise.
On all fours, Inuyasha lashed out with his right arm, reaching for the man, who quickly danced back and shot his leg forward to catch Inuyasha on the chin.
Inuyasha's feet smashed into the old man's other leg, who fell in a heap. Inuyasha got up and kicked the man square on the spine of his back. The old man rolled over close enough to land blows on his back and arms.
And I thought he was senile, Inuyasha thought.
Finally he managed to pull away and scramble back near the table, grabbing his sword sheath.
"Oh, ho. Better this time, boy. But slow. Lesson learned?"
Inuyasha nodded slowly. He ached in a thousand places, all at once.
The old man got up and walked to the door, his face contorted with pain. He seemed disabled, but Inuyasha still didn't trust him. Yet in spite of his suspicion he was caught off guard by the old man's speed.
Ina moment he found himself on the floor near the chair, his nose and lip bleeding where his face had hit the floor. He was able to turn enough to see the old man standing in the doorway, wincing and holding his back. The old man grinned.
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Ah, yes. The time has come again for footnotes.
"The Plague." The Black Plague, The Bubonic Plague, whatever. This story happens in about the same time period.
Just a tidbit. "Azakeru" is a derivative of the Japanese word for "scorn." Thought it would apply.
Scarlet hakama. This is the costume that Kikyou and all other priestesses of the time wear.
For Sesshoumaru….
"Seishou" means "victory" in Japanese. Or, "He Who Is Victorious." Or something like that.
For Sesshoumaru's goonies…
"Taka"…"Hawk" in Japanese.
"Kurohyou"…"Panther" in Japanese.
"Tatsugami"…"Tornado" or "whirlwind" in Japanese. This is important! This woman is KAGURA!
Maybe you don't understand the importance of the struggle between Inuyasha and his new teacher. If it makes you feel any better, neither do I. :)
Alohaturtle
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