"Give it up, Sesshoumaru. You're only making it more difficult for yourself," Satsujin told him.
Sesshoumaru only glared at him, unable to respond. He was panting for breath, and his blood was seeping out from his wounds. The guards had beaten him nearly senseless, and had sliced at him with their swords and claws. He wouldn't have been able to stand if he was untied, he knew that much already. It was all he could do to keep his head up anymore.
"Continue," Satsujin ordered with a sigh. The guards resumed, and Sesshoumaru had to stifle a cry of pain as his arm was sliced to the bone. He passed out a few minutes later, allowing the sweet blackness to take over his mind.
"Drag him down and lock him in the dungeon again," Satsujin ordered. "He should come about eventually, so we need not worry about his wounds. He heals rather quickly."
The guards took Sesshoumaru out and carried his unconcious body back to his cell, setting him inside on the ground with his shirt thrown in the corner. He stayed unconcious for almost four hours, finally waking up with a groan.
"Egotistic maniacs don't know a damn thing about torture," Sesshoumaru mused as he looked at his healing wounds. "All the better, I suppose. They're the ones who won't get what they want."
"Ah, you're finally awake," his watch-guard commented. "Good to see that you aren't dead. They would have been disappointed if they hadn't gotten you to break before you died."
"Who the hell are you, anyway?" Sesshoumaru asked. "You don't act as if you hate me, and yet you watch to make sure I don't get away."
"I'm just a mercenary," the demon replied. "I work for whoever can pay me the most. I used to work for you, the last two battles you were in with one of the northern lords. I don't care one way or the other who controls what, so long as I get paid when I fight."
"Why are you guarding instead of fighting, then?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"Because that's what they're paying me to do," he answered simply. "I suppose they want to have somebody strong enough to hold you back if you try to break out, at least long enough for them to get here. I know I couldn't defeat you in a fight, but I would last for a while."
"You're a rounin, are you?" Sesshoumaru asked, conversational enough with a person who was not necessarily his enemy.
"In a manner of speaking. I have my commanders, but only for as long as they pay me."
"I can hardly recall any of the mercenaries I've hired," Sesshoumaru said offhandedly.
"I'm called Himitsu Hitokiri by my employers, and my real name is only know to myself and my parents. They will never tell," he grinned.
"I've heard of you," Sesshoumaru nodded. "You're supposed to be very good at assassinations."
"I'm good at anything that involves a weapon," Hitokiri replied. "But enough of me. Tell me, why are they usurping you? You seem a well enough leader to me."
"Because I took a human girl under my care," Sesshoumaru scoffed.
"Ah, the everlasting debate," Hitokiri nodded. "To some, humans are merely cattle. To others, they are beings of some sort of merit, although not necessarily as much as demons. And still others believe that they are at equal standing, save the physical powers. Oh well, I suppose that nobody will ever agree entirely on the subject."
"It's not as if I like all humans," Sesshoumaru said. "The girl died, and I brought her back with the Tenseiga. She tried to help me when I got hurt, so I returned the favor. When she started to follow me, I didn't stop her, and then..." the dog-demon's voice trailed off.
"And then you got attached to her," Hitokiri nodded. "It happens to even the most unemotional people. I've seen it many times before. That's why I try not to take sides; I don't have any experience in associating with humans, so I don't like to judge how others deal with them."
"She always seems to know how to handle my mood," Sesshoumaru said, talking more to himself than to Hitokiri. "If I was angry, she would try to give me a flower, and I would refuse...but it would make me feel better, for some reason. If I was trying to come up with a strategy, she would be drawing out lines with her fingers, and it would give me an idea. If I wanted to be alone, she left me alone. If I needed company, she talked to me. I never had to say a word, never once asked her to travel along with me, and somehow she still realized exactly how I felt. She never once refused anything I told her to do, not even if it meant going off by herself. I was drawn to her like a moth to a flame..."
"Well, you can't help that," Hitokiri said. "It's not your fault what you feel. I hope that they will understand that, in time. As far as I'm concerned, you weren't wrong at all."
"Glad that somebody thinks so," Sesshoumaru scoffed. "It doesn't help anything, but at least I know there's somebody who doesn't think I'm crazy."