Chapter 16: Taken
Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Do you think I should more omakes from now on, or are they so lame that I should stop them? It's your choice on whether you want them to continue or not. Enjoy the chapter, and by the way, the first bit is in Naraku's hideout place. Also, I'll try and add a bit of fluff.
Kagura groaned as another wave of pain went through her. What had she done wrong to deserve this? If she was so 'bad', 'disobedient' and 'weak', then why didn't Naraku send Kanna out instead? Of course, the answer lay with her master, who was not interested in talking; only shouting obscene curses at his servant.
"Why couldn't you defeat those useless b……?" Naraku hollered, filling the whole room with his voice and the cracking of his whip.
"I-they-they were prepared for battle, and I-" Kagura was still searching for an excuse that would get her out of this beating, but of course, as she knew, Naraku never took excuses, regardless of how good they were.
"So are you implying that my own flesh is too weak to defeat two HUMANS? Are you implying that you want me to melt you back down into my flesh and kill you forever?"
"No," Kagura flinched as her red, bleeding back was hit again.
"THEN WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME?"
That tone of voice meant that Naraku was on the verge of losing patience. Blinking her red, pupil-less eyes, Kagura stayed silent, pretending to ponder. This method was the only way of getting Naraku to cool down and let her live.
This time, however, Naraku was not in one of his best moods. Normally he would have forgiven the one angering him right now, but two targets like Koga and that other man were too good to let go. He felt like killing his own flesh right now, but something held him back. Letting his whip drop to the floor, Naraku stared at Kagura, with what seemed like hatred burning in his eyes.
"I'll let you off this last time, but if you fail again, I shall kill you," Naraku warned Kagura, who had picked herself weakly off the floor and was nursing her tender wounds. "Get out of my sight now, before I change my mind."
Knowing when enough was enough, Kagura hurried out of the room, deciding to find her older sister.
She was sick of everything. She was tired of the forever shouting voice of her master, the pitiful cries of her younger sister, the walls and room she seemed to be forever imprisoned in, the pursue for her master's worst enemies, but though her mind was constantly telling her this, she could not feel anything at all. She was the master of having no emotions, feeling nothing when she was beaten or hurt in any way at all.
Kanna sat, staring at the wall, for there was no window to look out to. All her room consisted of were two beds, one for herself and Kagura, a tiny cupboard for putting valuable objects in, and a tatami (spelling error?) mat on the floor for sitting on. Although Naraku was the one who planned the layout of each room in this dreadful hell-hole, Kanna didn't see why he had to be so old-fashioned and keep Japanese antiques in this place. She noticed her younger sister staggering in, wounded badly, both from her punishment and from her previous battle, and emotionlessly rose to help her sit down on the tatami mat.
"Stupid Naraku, always so unfair," Kagura winced as Kanna produced a tiny bottle of ointment from the cupboard that she had stolen from Naraku's unending supply of medicines and rubbed some on Kagura's back, helping her youkai sister to heal easier.
"You must not hate master so openly, sister, or he will kill you; then where will I be?" Kanna said softly.
"Easy for you to say, you've got no feeling whatsoever," Kagura said, not knowing how much it hurt her sister. "Naraku made you like that."
"At least I try to sympathize," Kanna said.
"Why doesn't he send you instead of me, anyways? If I'm so WEAK," Kagura snorted. "I wish master were kinder about his punishments."
"Maybe because I can only capture people's souls, but not kill them," the elder sister replied softly, closing the ointment jar and placing it back in its hiding place.
"But all Naraku wanted to do was to capture them, not kill them," Kagura objected, fanning herself. "Boy, it's good to have somebody to confide in. Without you, big sis, I don't know what I'd do."
Kanna felt her insides warm slightly when Kagura said that, and wondered if this was what it was like to feel good. Naraku then came inside, and Kagura quickly put her kimono back on and the two sisters looked up at their master.
"Kagura and Kanna, maybe there is still something you can do for me right now…" Naraku muttered softly.
With InuYasha
"You're sure you're okay?" Kagome did not trust Koga any more than she did InuYasha. The pair were just too shifty to trust.
"Of course I am, don't worry about me," Koga smiled reassuringly.
Miroku snorted, resisting the urge to grope Sango, who was nearby. "Last time we trusted you to take care of yourself you nearly got yourself killed."
"That was a one time thing, and don't open your big fat mouth; you couldn't protect yourself either," Koga retorted. "And what was that blood-stained dagger doing inside your jacket, pray tell? Were you trying to murder me in broad daylight or something?"
"You wish," Miroku laughed bitterly. "I don't get how I conjured it up." And with that, Miroku began to tell everyone about what had happened. Everyone was staring at him as if he were an alien when he had finished.
"Miroku-what did Kagura say again?" Sango breathed.
"Something like 'Do you know anything about alchemy'?" Miroku repeated wearily.
"That must mean he thinks that you know something about alchemy," Kagome concluded. "But why is he suddenly interested in alchemy? Surely InuYasha's life is greater than something related to alchemy." InuYasha glared at the high-school girl, slightly offended. Sesshomaru yawned in a bored manner and stared out the window. From all the books on alchemy he had read, he had a hunch that he knew what Naraku was after. But of course, the youkai would not stoop down to help a bunch of clueless 'lowly human beings' in their quest for knowledge.
"I would think that the answer was obvious," Kikyo said. "Assuming Naraku's a baddie, and he suddenly takes interest in alchemy that must mean that there's some kind of powerful artefact involved in the whole thing. In other words, it looks like Naraku's found himself something that'll help him become the most powerful being on earth, or something stupid like that."
Koga pondered for a moment. "I wonder, if I had such power…"
"Stop fantasizing, you dreamer," Kagome said grimly. "We're going to have to think of a way to stop Naraku from getting what he wants from alchemy, if that's the case…"
"Right, SHERLOCK, you're so smart," InuYasha said sarcastically, and Kagome glared at the acrobat. "As smart as a brick wall, I'd say."
Kagome finally lost all patience with InuYasha. She hurled herself onto him in anger, before a random thought popped into her head. Her anger dissipated.
He's got a nice, muscular chest, and he smells good…
"STOP!" Kagome screamed at herself out loud, and some patients in the ward, including Miroku, glared at her, angry at the girl for disturbing their much-needed 'beauty sleep'. But all Kagome could think about was how idiotically random she was, and about how wonderful InuYasha smelt.
"I told you-I'm just a natural," she heard InuYasha mutter, and she could almost see him smiling. Cursing in anger, Kagome picked herself off the polished floor, trying to hide her blush, and excused herself for a quick toilet break.
With Kagome
"What is WRONG with me?" Kagome muttered as she stared at herself in the mirror above the sink. "Is the reason why I'm like this because…" Kagome couldn't think of the perfect reason.
For once, Kagome paid close attention to her face. Soft brown eyes, slightly curly black hair, and a pimple-free face stared back at her. What did those soft brown orbs hold? This was a weird question that Kagome sometimes asked herself when she was feeling down.
Kagome saw the usual features: determination, a hard-working person who was like a daredevil, but something else she'd never seen before also lingered, something she'd sometimes seen in her other friends' eyes: the hints of a slight crush. Kagome winced, knowing only too well who it could be. Not wanting to face the truth, the high-school girl rushed out of the bathroom, only to bump into the last person she wanted to see.
"You just realized?" InuYasha smirked, grinning at Kagome's blushing face. "I'm actually surprised that you caught on so quickly."
That was when Kagome had remembered something Sango had said when some boy in grade 5 had annoyed her badly: pretend that you can't hear the guy, pretend as if he isn't even there. Eventually, he'll stop bugging you.
Kagome's crush half, however, contradicted: Sango hadn't even had a crush on the boy; she did. Luckily for her, however, the impatient hanyou had considered her behaviour silent treatment. Sounding slightly hurt, the acrobat said, "You're no fun to tease. I'm going to bug someone else now," before leaving. Even more confused than ever about her thoughts, Kagome sat down right in the middle of the corridor (and gaining a few glares) and pondered about everything that had happened: how her opinion about InuYasha had changed, how she had suddenly become involved in Naraku's business, how she had become chief planner, how Miroku was suddenly related to alchemy, what Naraku wanted from alchemy.
That was when the high-school girl heard a shuffling from a dark corner. Before she could react, however, she could hear the same, dreaded whisper she'd heard when she first encountered Naraku.
"Give me…your soul."
Kagome felt her body go rigid, and as she fell to the ground, lifeless, she thought, InuYasha, please help me, before passing out.
And two nurses, one holding a mirror, hurried away out of the hospital.
A/N: Cliffy! MUAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm sorry I didn't update for so long, and you'll have to wait for a week before I can update again, because I'm off on a school trip. Please review…reviews make me happy!