Author's Note: I'm sorry I mut say that Inuyasha and Kagome are kind of ooc. I'm sorry. This idea just sort of pop into my head and while I was writting this chapter I realized they were out of character. If you want something with them more in character "Dark Secrets: Tears of The Heart" is the story. But this story is good in and of itself nonetheless...ENJOY!
Chapter Two: Winning Yet Losing
I watched, bored, as the men steadied their horses and prepared to charge at one another. The horses flared their nostrils dangerously, like sumo wrestlers. Their eyes, past their foolishly colorful masks, judged each other's strength, speed, agility, and endurance. They pranced eagerly and nervously, trying to see if they could win or not and whether or not the other would stand and fight. Their muscles rippled elegantly; sweat dripping down their fine fur. But each would not give in, each with their powerful, powerful strength…
The horses were more interesting than the men. Honestly, that's my interest level here.
The tournament was staged under a huge, loping tent, the tents safely inside where the men were preparing for their next round up. The referee seemed to be having a good time and the guards were having a difficult time pushing back the crowd, so cheerful and happy were they. They were barely contained into the box we pushed them in, with the pretty flags and such.
Rah.
I returned back to my book as the men began to charge.
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"Say here, young chap, tie the horse outside," the prince instructed, shaking off his coat as if it had gotten wet. Dumb and Dumber, the bodyguards, stood obediently outside the small tent. Luckily, the huge tent covered the entire tournament grounds so nobody—with the exception of the people who didn't have tickets—got wet.
"Yes, sir," Inuyasha stammered. The sights! The sounds! The big city was absolutely overwhelming in every single sense. Never before had he smelled such strange substances, nor such wonderful food! And so many people, exotically walking around as if they owned the place! Which they probably did! Princes! Royalty! Yes, oh yes, how many of them there were! Never before had he seen such a crowd or the horses or—
When he had first approached the city, he had just stood still and gaped. The buildings towered over everything and the people there were so plentiful…laughter rang through the air and everybody was running or playing or something. So unlike the place he came from.
And now he worked for the prince.
He wasn't really sure what happened, but now he was, and he would do his job correctly. Maybe Dumb could help him figure out how to saddle up the horse properly.
"Here, girl," Inuyasha murmured to the horse, leading it outside to tie onto the pole. The horse bent down to nibble some grass.
"Squire!"
"Yes, sir?" Inuyasha asked, ducking back into the tent. The prince was sitting on the cot, looking a bit green.
"How's the crowd?" the prince managed.
"Big, sire." Inuyasha's eyes grew huge. "I've never seen such a crowd."
"I've seen worse," the prince dismissed, "And how fine does the fair princess look?"
"Princess?"
"Never mind, you country yokel," the prince said loftily, smiling down at Inuyasha sickly. "But, as you can see, I don't think I'm quite up to being in the tournament."
"Shall we begin to pack up, sir?" Inuyasha asked, slightly bowing. He bit his lip nervously, waiting his prince's orders.
"No. My father would be angry if our kingdom didn't compete in such a prestigious event. Try to find a substitute for me, will you old chap?" the prince said with a wayward grin. Then he winced, clutching his stomach again.
"Prince, let me take care of you," Inuyasha cried, worry etched on his forehead.
"Never mind me. Get a substitute," the prince snarled.
"You'll still get the prize, right?" Inuyasha asked hopefully.
"Of course, not, you git, whoever wins the tournament gets it. It doesn't say whether or not you need to be royalty. Now get our kingdom's flag and ride the horse to find a good, young hard-working man to win our kingdom's honor," the prince gasped, lying back on the cot. Inuyasha worriedly moved towards him.
"NOW! GO NOW!" the prince howled, suddenly getting better and picking up a rock to chuck it at Inuyasha's head. Inuyasha scampered out quickly, untying the horse and picking up the flag. For the first time, he examined the flag closely.
It was a dark, rich purple with a…rabbit…in the middle.
Inuyasha stared at it blankly for a few moments.
Then he hopped on the horse, bareback, and patted the horse's hindquarters fondly.
"Hidey ho," he said charmingly, and the horse began to move forward.
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"Excuse me," Inuyasha called out timidly, feeling sweat drip down the back of his shirt, "Excuse me, will you—excuse me—"
"No, I don't want anymore of your cookies!" the man growled, pushing the horse away as he continued to move forward. Inuyasha felt like fainting or something that would make him disappear from the horrible place. They were near the area where they prepared the men to start the tournament, a stable-like area behind where the King and his daughter sat so they wouldn't need to see the preparations.
Inuyasha wanted to try again, but he wanted not to. It was a twisted situation, actually. He was loved back at the monastery because he was so soft-spoken, but out in the real world, he was shamed for the same fact. Interesting.
"Excuse me," he said again to an official looking man holding a clipboard, "Will you—"
"Kingdom of Bunnies," the man read out, "Just in time, young man. Let's get you saddled up—did you bring your squire? No? No matter, we have some extras; just come right this way, sir, what armor do you want? No armor at all? Shiny? With your crest? Anything is fine, young man?"
Inuyasha found himself in the stables, the room full of equipment of jousting sticks and armor. He gaped as the horse began to get saddled up, cloaked in dark purple with gold fringes. And suddenly, he found people were beginning to attach armor onto him! Armor!
"Excuse me, but I'm not—you must be mistaken—hey, what are you---ow!" They clamped on the armor and quickly hoisted him on the horse.
The man with the clipboard handed him his lance.
"Have a nice day." And Inuyasha found himself holding a sharp pointy object, riding a purple horse, and somehow unable to see anything through the thick helm of his helmet.
Oh boy.
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"And now let's see if this daring newcomer can defeat our champion so far, La Rusty De Monet!"
La Rusty circled around again on his black, black horse, holding his black lance high up as his black armor dully glinted against the torches being lit up. He had defeated every prince so far and Father looked so happy…
"Toshi," I chanted, "Toshi, Toshi, Toshi, Toshi."
My father glared at me strangely.
"Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm not marrying someone with a name like La Rusty, especially when you give your own name," I defended, "Besides, what kind of guy wears black? And, by the way, what happens if it's a tie? I go off happily on my own without marriage?"
"Well…"
"If that's the case, I want the other guy to win," I said determinedly. I had put my book down, since it was getting to be nightfall. It was too dark to read now.
"No, you'll have to marry both." My father said that with such seriousness I wasn't sure if he was joking or not. I stared at him through the darkness.
"YOU CAN DO IT, LA RUSTY!" I screamed.
"Honestly, Kagome, calm down. Don't get overexcited about two guys trying to charge at each other," my father said mildly, putting his head back on the throne.
"Is this really going to take three days and three nights?" I sighed.
"Well, it's your choice. Three is a magic number. It's that, or midnight," my father said doubtfully, "And, well, I kind of like this match. But this will be the last guy up before we circle them around again."
"Yeah, everybody has an equal chance," I sighed. "Look, I'll succumb to my fate if you end this torture."
"You don't like watching sports, do you?"
"What tipped you off? The constant whining? Or the painful screams?"
"The latter." My father leaned forward, looking at the last contestant. "Hm. This looks new."
"Whatever. LA RUSTY! WHOO! LET'S GET A WAVE GOING OVER THERE, PEOPLE!"
Magic and Lemons, Break in the Story
It was too dark out. Inuyasha wasn't sure if that was the helm or it was just the night. Either way, he couldn't see a single thing. He was also having a hard time breathing, making strange sounds. And he also couldn't hear the other person talking to him, leading his horse somewhere. He leaned down.
"What is your name?" the man screamed again. Oh. Announcer guy.
"INU-YASHA!" he enunciated through the helmet.
"Mister Man?" the man screamed.
"Inuyasha! I N U Y A S H A!"
"Oh. Inuyasha. FROM THE KINGDOM OF BUNNIES?"
"NO! WELL, YES, BUT—"
"GOOD LUCK, Inuyasha OF BUNNIES!"
"WAIT!" Inuyasha swung around wildly, "I'm not from the Kingdom of Bunnies! I don't even know how to joust! I don't even know what jousting is! I'm from a monastery, for goodness sakes, and a monk-in-training! I got picked up by the prince one night and I had to travel as his squire ever since! And now my life is coming unattached!" He wailed the last word loudly.
Which was the only thing the man caught.
"Inuyasha FROM THE KINGDOM OF BUNNIES CHALLENGES LA RUSTY TO A DEATH MATCH!" the announcer boomed. Suddenly, the crowd fell silent.
"What? What did you say?" Inuyasha asked. All that could be heard was a faint buzzing around his helmet.
Magic and Lemons, Break in the Story
"What's a Death Match?" I asked mildly.
"Well, death is banned since way back when," my father said doubtfully, "But from what I can recall, it means he just challenged La Rusty to a challenge where the winner gets to decide on the other's life. Whoever wins is the ultimate winner. Most people don't call on it because they're princes, after all, with their young lives to live, but some…"
"Crazy person," I summed it up, "Who is it?"
"Mister Man from the Kingdom of Bunnies or something like that," my father shrugged.
Magic and Lemons, Break in the Story
Inuyasha began to breathe really hard now. The armor was too tight, the helm was shut tight, and everything was going badly for him. He didn't understand what the announcer said or what was going to happen, but he was pretty sure all he needed to do was raise his joust, get knocked off, and then go happily home to pray some more.
If all went well, he'd only break one limb.
He hoisted up his jousting stick, but nothing seemed to happen. He couldn't hear the outside crowd very much, just that they were cheering. Maybe he had time to open his helm…but one hand was holding the reins. Or what he thought was reins. Maybe it was just strings from his fancy armor.
Whatever it was, he was getting hot in there. It was like he was being fried in metal wrappings. He raised the jousting lance up, trying to open the helm. But the lance was so heavy! He could barely even lift it up, nonetheless keep it held. But he wanted the helm open and he wanted it open now.
The lance had other ideas, however, and gravity kept on pulling it back as his thickly gloved hand attempted to crack the helm. He shuddered, feeling the vibrations as the lance kept on banging on his head. Ow. Ow. Ow. Hey, why was the crowd cheering louder?
Magic and Lemons, Break in the Story
I leaned forward, finally getting interest sparked up. Huh. I liked this.
La Rusty was proudly waving to his fans, and blowing kisses at me, but I wasn't paying attention. Mister Man, with his bright purple armor, was trying to raise his lance. He looked like he was having trouble, as if the lance was much too heavy for him.
I watched with interest as Mister Man slowly raised the lance wobbly higher and higher, as if sending a greeting to La Rusty. La Rusty noticed, raising his lance in return. Then he got in the ready position by the fence-looking thing, where both would charge along to hit each other.
For once, I held my breath. I was interested. Would the purple bunny stand a chance against La Rusty? Only one way to find out…
Mister Man was fumbling with his helm. It looked stuck, but there was a catch on the side. Everybody knew that. All he'd have to do is flick it, and then slits would appear in the helm uncovered. Unfortunately, he couldn't find it.
"Somebody should help him," I murmured to my father.
"La Rusty already began," he said, alarmed and stood up abruptly. Oh, shoot. La Rusty was doing his awesome Terror of Death move, charging so quickly that he was almost a blur within a few seconds. It was a horror movie in slow motion. Too quickly, they would crash, and this would be purely murder.
Poor Mister Man…
I stood up, too, to get a better view. In the precious few seconds left, Purple Bunny did not move. He, instead, was trying to get control of the lance that was hitting him on the head again and again.
His horse was bent down, nibbling the grass, when it looked up to the black blur approaching it. It went back to eating, and then looked back up.
Then it happened.
It was like in super slow motion. La Rusty stretched out his lance…he was going to pierce the horse…the black horse was moving so quickly…the purple one was peacefully eating…Mister Man was hitting himself…when Mister Man lost control of his lance…flying out of his hand…and smacking La Rusty right smartly on the helmet.
La Rusty pulled on the reins abruptly with a somewhat hollow cry, Mister Man's lance landing solidly on the ground. Mister Man seemed confused, patting the horse strangely. La Rusty's horse rose up in a screeching neigh. Ordinary horses might have sprung back, but the purple horse calmly looked up, and then backs down as it continued eating the grass.
The crowd roared in excitement, the adrenaline pumping like crazy.
Magic and Lemons, Break in the Story
Oh, shoot. Shoot, shoot, shoot. Where'd his lance go?
Magic and Lemons, Break in the Story
"Is that horse crazy?" I screamed over the rush of sound.
"The horse? What about that man?" my father yelled back, leaning against the balcony as he tried to squint against the darkness.
"I like that horse," I muttered to myself. And I really did. Anybody who would continue eating through danger and so forth earned my respect.
La Rusty had managed to stay on his horse, clutching onto his black steed like there was no tomorrow. But Mister Man from the Kingdom of Bunnies—well, he was just ruthless. He fumbled with his sword, beginning to chop at the grass unevenly. That too seemed to be too heavy for him and he almost dropped it more than once.
And that more than enough time for La Rusty to grab his sword and begin a wild charge at Mister Man.
"La Rusty is using his FAMOUS move, the Slam-Dunkin' Sword Slammer!" the announcer guy boomed out, waving his torch around furiously. The crowd screamed.
"He hasn't done that since the eighteen eighties!" my father gasped, leaning forward even more. The balcony started to tip from his weight. I eyed it nervously, decided that it was going to fall sooner than later, and stood carefully away from it.
"Sports. I so love them," I said dryly, "What is the Slam Dunk of a Sword, anyways?"
"Slam-Dunkin' Sword Slammer, dear," my father corrected.
"Yeah, same thing."
"Well, honey, it's where the knight shoves the sword very nicely into the other knight's armor and injures them to death," my father said, looking at me with light in his eyes. I stared openly at him.
"Did you just—did you—"
"Yep. Mister Man will die," my father predicted, leaning even more. The balcony creaked.
"No, hold on, back it up here," I demanded, stomping my foot, "Did you just call me 'HONEY'?"
"Uh…yes, this will be a brutal loss of life," my father said, not looking at me in the eye.
"HONEY is for WIMPS! Honey is the evil offspring of bees! Honey is so sickeningly sweet it's like the sweetdom of the sickeningly sweet! And you DARE call your FAVORITE DAUGHTER by that name! I'll have you know that I'm Princess Kagome Hana Higurashi The First , thank you very much, and all six prestigious names CANNOT BE CALLED HONEY!"
"Your name is Kagome Hana Higurashi, actually," my father managed meekly.
"THAT'S WHAT I SAID! DO YOU HEAR A 'HONEY' IN THERE? NO! THERE IS NO SICKENINGLY SWEET FOOD IN MY NAME!" I screamed. I was throwing a temper tantrum, I know. But I just found out I was getting married to a guy named La Rusty. Come on—what would you have done? Reasonably sat down and convinced my father that you were way too young?
…That probably would have worked, it occurs to me now.
Magic and Lemons, Break in the Story
Inuyasha cursed in his head. Spirit of Morgana, what have I gotten myself into?
He had a dooming feeling in the pit of his stomach. For one thing, he hadn't eaten breakfast that morning. Well, the prince did throw a chicken leg at him, but it had hit him on the head and fallen into the mud. He still would have eaten if the cannibal chickens hadn't come and taken it away.
Using whatever was attached to his belt, he waved the strong object through the grass, still searching for his lance. He needed his lance, especially if La Rusty or whoever it was began charging. He poked again. Nothing. Again. Nothing.
The horse moved somewhat, as if helping him search.
"Thank you," he mumbled, but all that came out was "mmm mm."
Stupid helm. Why'd they have to seal him in like baked potatoes? It was HEAVY for one thing. Raising his arm was a task turning more and more difficult for him. Hot and sweaty, and getting sweatier, he dragged the thing through the grass. Then he felt a clunk.
It must be his lance! But how was he supposed to get it? If he got down, he knew for a certain fact that he would hug the ground whimpering and never get back up. Groaning in frustration, he put his head into the horse's mane. Why wasn't anybody helping him?
"Why me?" he wailed in anger and frustration, throwing up the object with an openhearted wreck. And yanked the horse up. Either that or the Earth suddenly decided to tilt 23 ½ degrees with greater acceleration. He was sliding down, down, down…finally, he would sit down on the ground, never get back up, kiss it fervently with a newborn's carefulness and a fierce hug…
Oh, great. What now?
Magic and Lemons, Break in the Story
"In a remarkable turn of events, Mister Man has done a total 180 on La Rusty! La Rusty charges past! Oh! He just got—Oh!"
I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. If I had seen correctly, Mister Man had just thrown up his sword and pulled his horse back…and then swung around to the horse's belly just as La Rusty charged past! It was am amazing move!
"His foot seems to be stuck," the announcer called, "And his hand in the reins. But it was an absolutely AMAZING move! Let's see if Mister Man can continue to pull miracles out of that suit of his!"
"He's hanging by a thread," my father muttered fervently, rubbing his hands together.
And this is how my father contributed to my wedding. He broke the balcony.
Okay, yes, he leaned on the balcony and it had snapped, sending them both over the edge, but that was what made La Rusty look over, which was what made the purple horse sidestep neatly, and that was when the sword landed an inch from La Rusty's horse's face.
La Rusty gave a sudden cry again as the horse screamed in fear, pulling back quickly as it rose up. La Rusty slid down and landed on his butt. My father, lying on his stomach, looked up just in time as the announcer called out, "WE HAVE A WINNER!"
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NOW people were finally helping him off. Inuyasha wondered momentarily, dizzily, if he had just wet his coat of armor, but at that moment he didn't care. They were loosening his reins, saying something—he couldn't hear—and finally he managed to slide down. They were steadying him and someone was trying to remove his helmet.
Inuyasha let them unhook it and they yanked it off, letting him breathe fresh air for an instant. It was dark out with torches lit on the sides, and the royalty box seemed to have something missing, but at that moment, he didn't care.
"LAND!" he cried happily, flopping on the ground gently and hugging the grass tightly. "Oh, sweet, beautiful land…oh…I love you…never leave me…"
Magic and Lemons, Break in the Story
"It's Award Day, honey, aren't you happy?" my father asked, poking his head in. I was sitting on the chair, counting the holes in the wall. I had gotten to twenty-two.
"Happy? On a day I have to wear a DRESS? And what's with people and PUFFY shoulders, anyways? I happen to have nice shoulders that I like. I don't need to have puffiness to disguise my shoulders," I grumbled, "And what's this about youthful colors I hear? Can't I wear black? It's youthful. Happy. Cheerful."
"But you're meeting your soon-to-be husband," my father said with a mischievous wink. I groaned softly. My father was so clueless sometimes, like a five-year-old. Sometimes I had to be the adult in the family…
"NO! NO! NO! NO!" I screamed, throwing down my quill in anger as I trembled, "I will not wed a guy whose name is Mister Man! I refuse to! I call a strike! I HAVE RIGHTS!"
"You're handing him the trophy, dear," my father said distractedly, brightening his buttons on his tunic, "Be out in five minutes. We're holding the awarding ceremony right outside the castle." Then he disappeared from my doorway.
"I WANT MY LAWYER!" I yelled afterwards, shaking a fist. I could have put a whole lot more of a fight if I wanted to. But I didn't want to, at least not at the moment. If I married a big, fat, disgusting man with a slobbering double chin, then yes, I would pull out all stops and making life a whirlwind of horribleness for my family. But maybe this guy wouldn't be so bad…but I'm not letting anybody else know this.
"Kagome, duty check!" my nanny grumbled, poking into my room.
"Whatever, Kiku," I said casually, slinging my arm around her shoulders and leading her out, barely keeping from tripping over my own dress. "Now, you and me? I see a future. Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We got future. We got fate. We got chutzpah. Now, we have something." I spread a hand out as I led her outside, swishing against the air.
"Can't you see it?" I asked dreamily, "Together. Forever. We could be like Elmo and Louise or whatever."
"Kagome," my nanny said in a tightly constrained voice. Her face was turning a good shade of red.
"We'll start a sewing business. You sew, I watch. We'll make a fair living out in the woods together. We'll be happy, life loving, ba de ba baaaaa, you know?"
"Ka-go-me." Uh-oh. Choppy words. Not good.
"Just hand over the key and we'll live happily ever after, just like in all those stupid soppy books you used to read to me as a kid," I said soothingly, putting my other hand on her other shoulder. "Now that's what I call a good ending.
"KAGOME HANA…"
"A simple yes will suffice. And the key. Then we're good, best buddies, friends to the end," I winked.
"KAGOME!" she screamed, lurching at me with the cane raised up high.
"Lookatthetimegottarun!" I sprinted past her, hoisting up my plentiful skirts out the door.
"YOU COME BACK HERE, MISSIE!"
"Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah!" I said back, sticking out my tongue. I skidded past the guards, almost losing a shoe, and continued down the stairs. My ankles were killing me, honestly, but there was no way that for once in my life I would let my nanny catch up to me.
"KAGOMMMEEE!"
Magic and Lemons, Break in the Story
Inuyasha never felt more overwhelmed in his life. If possible, there were more people than last time! More and more! They went on for miles! Oh, my.
He inched back from the platform, still watching as the King—the King! The actual KING—talked majestically to the crowd.
"We are here today to award this bright young man from the Kingdom of Bunnies the well-deserved award for winning the jousting tournament. But it is not only that the trophy represents. No, it represents…"
Inuyasha tuned the King out. He would love to listen to him reverentially, but he started to see stars again from all the people. And for once in his life, he had nice clothes! They had shiny buttons, too. He toyed with one of them, but then left it alone. They were so bright! He was wearing green and purple and red and oh so many colors! He looked out nervously to the crowd, watching the sea of faces look boredly up at the King.
They were all here to watch him get the trophy. The Prince was out there too, somewhere, watching him. The Prince was kind, saying that if the trophy was nice he would take the trophy from Inuyasha and give it to the King of the Kingdom of Bunnies. The Prince said that if it were really nice, he'd take the extra step and say that he'd won it. How kind the Prince was!
Inuyasha swallowed, touching his buttons again. The clothes felt nice, too. Not like the coarse woven clothes back at the monastery, but silky nice. He smiled to himself. All this for being unable to see through his helmet.
"And this trophy," the King said, swelling him with pride, "Is a representation of the honor of this Kingdom. Honor is followed closely by the respect, and maturity, that our kingdom so stands for!"
"Can't catch me can't catch me!" a girlish voice was heard.
The King froze and the audience chuckled appreciatively as a girl jumped on stage, her tongue sticking to somewhere out by the sides. An old woman hobbled up after her with amazing agility, waving her cane around.
"Kagome Hana Higurashi, get back here right now or you'll get the worse spanking of your life!" the woman cried out in a croaky voice.
"Spank me? Woman, you need to catch me to do that and you're not even close to me!" the girl taunted, dancing back. She licked her finger and pressed it against herself, making a hissing sound while doing so. "When you're hot, you're hot!"
"Kagome," the King muttered darkly, his eyes flashing embarrassedly to the girl. Inuyasha watched with interest. Such strange customs of the land!
"Oh. Hi." She suddenly became aware of the audience. She stared at them for a moment, and then shrugged. "Okay, Dad, what do you want me to do?"
"Take the trophy," my father muttered, "And hand it to him." He jerked a finger my way. Oh! Appreciation from none other than the KING! Inuyasha blushed a deep beet red, shuffling his feet.
"Sure." She grabbed a gigantic golden trophy and staggered under the weight, nearly, and slowly tottered my way. Unsurely, I approached her and gently got the trophy from her. The hand-off was pretty quick. But before the audience fully began its roar of approval, the King stepped forward.
"Not only do you get this wonderful trophy," the King cried, "But you also receive…a life time supply of chocolate!"
Inuyasha felt a smile growing on his lips despite his best attempts against it.
"And my daughter's hand in marriage!"
Inuyasha felt a smile stop growing on his lips. The audience began its wild scream of happiness, but they all suddenly stopped as Inuyasha's words echoed through the trophy and resonated throughout the stadium.
"I won WHAT?"
Magic and Lemons, End of the Chapter
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed!