A/N: Hm, this story seems to be going better than ACE is. Well, that's not surprising. I actually have a plot to follow! Then again, there really aren't as many reviews as ACE...but that's alright. As long as people read this and like it, then I feel like I've done my duty. After all, these are stories. Stories are meant to be read.
Okay, about the poll. It's going to be a standing poll that I'll keep people posted on. What is the poll, you ask? Well, it's whether or not Kouga or Inuyasha should stab the beast. As of yet, Inuyasha is leading one to zip. So, please vote. How can I make this appealing to readers if you don't let me know what you like?
KawaiiYuki: I don't know. I guess you'll have to wait for the fifth (or so) chapter. Really, this is going faster than I thought it would. An the only reason I added Kenshin and Kaoru was because I needed more people, and I couldn't think of anyone else that's easy to write. Thanks for reading this!
XxcutiekatxX: I'm planning on adding a little bit of my style humor when Kagome gets to the castle. Of course, she first needs to actually GET there. I'm glad you like it.
regretfully-yours-Cassy-chan: Yes, they are. I like how you refer to them, too. Hm, there seem to be many a Kouga fan to read my work. Unfortunately, because ACE has so many Inuyasha characters in play, this one is going to center around Yuyu Hakusho ones. Well, okay, there's one Inuyasha person at the castle. Care to take a guess? I refuse to abandon stories (unless it's like my Rin one. Which I find it tedious to type from the written out notebook pages) and I'm making it a personal goal to update once a day with this story. I have something to base it off of, so I don't have any excuses to not update.
Now, the continuation of The Truth of Beauty. (Title starting to make sense yet?)
As Kagome greeted the two women at the fountain, they slowly stood. Kikyo and Ayame, two women that no villager but Kagome dared to cross. That is, Kagome had no choice. They seemed to go out of their way to make Kagome's life utter misery. And it was because of something Kagome couldn't do anything about! How could she know that as soon as she moved here, the objects of the two maiden's affections would immediately latch onto her? Cursing her luck, she waited for the inevitable confrontation.
Kikyo was the first to start off. Her hair, so much like Kagome's yet so different, was held back in a delicate braid that trailed over her shoulder as if it were an expensive pelt from some exotic black animal. Her black eyes held no room for any warmth. She was the main object of most of the male population here, including old grandfather's and young boys barely past their teens. A pale beauty she was, and she damn well knew it. Her voice held malice in it as she spoke, enough to make even demons quake in fear. "Did ye see tha', Aya? This 'ere bi'ch done stole aur men!"
Ayame had the look that promised misery in Kagome's near future as she replied. "Tha' whore, gone an' stolen tha' thur lookin' from me precious Kouga." Standing slightly behind her friend, Ayame shook her hair away from her face. She obviously envied Kikyo; Ayame made sure to wear her hair the same way as the pale seventeen year old, even going as far in her emulations as to dress exactly alike. Today, it appeared that Kikyo had hoped to get the attention of Inuyasha. The scarlet, cotton skirt with matching bodice over a pale creme shirt complimented Kikyo's figure nicely. It also made it seem like she actually had color in her cheeks, whereas the same outfit clashed horribly with Ayame's red hair.
Kagome laughed nervously. Things weren't looking good. "Well, you see girls, I didn't know they were there," she tried to lie. Kagome had always been a horrible liar, and always would, most likely. It always hurt her to lie to anyone. Even if that person were a complete stranger, or even if it was someone that she couldn't stand to be around. "I honestly wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. Since I normally come to the fountain through the middle of the square, I didn't think that I'd be better off changing my route."
From the look on the two faces, neither of them believed her. Not that Kagome was really expecting much. She shifted a little as the two women advanced. She wouldn't back away, she wouldn't! She had at least a small amount of courage, didn't she? Somewhere? Oh, she hoped she did. What had started out as an alright day had already taken two dark plunges. She didn't need a third. She already had enough on her hands. Speaking of, the basket around her arm was getting harder and harder to hold. Of course, it did have food, cloth and sewing threads, her book and a few other random things inside. How did her mind get so far off track? She was supposed to be preparing for an early death.
Kikyo's evil eyes narrowed. "Methinks ye need t' be teached a learnin', y'hear?" Fisted hands reached for Kagome. "A purdy wench like yeh shudden wander alone, eh? Things culd be happenin' t' un'wares bi'ch's." Kagome shivered, a cold breeze flowing down her back. She was in for it, and she really didn't do anything to deserve it. She was a good, friendly girl. Right? Kikyo obviously didn't think so, because she was now reaching for Kagome. Her hand kept drifting dangerously closer to her throat. Kagome was too afraid to move, she had never been faced with a murderous crazy woman before. Somewhere in the back of her mind she registered that Ayame was cheering Kikyo on. The same part then realized that Kagome was going to die.
"Kag'me! Wat'cha doin' wi' them there gurls?" Kikyo's hand snapped back. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief as her brother came upon the scene. "Ur yeh done wiv yer shoppin'?" he asked innocently. Kagome wanted to throw her arms around her brother as Kikyo and Ayame tried discreetly to disappear into a non-existant crowd. "I wanna go an' be askin' pop summit." His hand reached out to grasp Kagome's. Still numb at what might have been, Kagome let her brother lead her back to their house.
The sun had set some time ago. Inside the little farm cottage, a fire blazed happily as Kagome tended to the pot over it. It was pleasently warm, what with the windows open to tempt a small breeze into the would-be stiffling room. Kagome rotated her wrist, the wooden spoon in her hand following the movement obediently. Kagome's mind was completely blank as she watched the boiling stew cook. Her father and brother were still out, finishing chores that were too manly for Kagome to help with.
Kagome knew they would be done soon, and it was just as well. Too much longer and the stew would become mush. Not a pleasent kind, either. The kind of soggy stuff that was barely fit for hog slop. If it came to that, Kagome would get in trouble. Never mind that her dear family had stayed out later then normal and not warned her. No, as a good housekeeper, it was supposed to be in Kagome's instinctive nature to know when to start supper preperations that would bring out the best flavor in a meal.
This had never been Kagome's strong suit. Her mother had been much better at that sort of thing than Kagome could ever aspire to accomplish. A rare gem indeed, Kagome's mother had been the ideal wife. Perfect body for bearing children, perfect skills in the home, perfect knowledge of her place, perfect everything. There was hardly anyone that could or would have faulted Kagome and Souta's mother in the home.
Her father had been different, then. Not the hard, pushy, tempermental man he was now. Madam Higurashii had some small amount of control that allowed her to keep her daughter in her husbands favor. Even when this same daughter went out in breeches like some boy, playing in the mud and shirking her lessons in lady-ness. Those were the better days. Her father actually laughed and spent time with Kagome. She could still remember the winter before her mother took ill.
Souta had been but a babe in his mother's arms. Madam Higurashii had been sitting in a small rocker that had lived near the fireplace. Her brunette hair bad been draped carelessy across the back of the chair, her naturally pale face cooing at her baby son. Kagome herself had been sitting on her papa's lap, listening to a story as the wild winter wind howled its rage at the family inside. The fire had been built as high as they could've made it and kept that way, keeping the cold at bay and providing a soft glowing light for them all to see by. Kagome, even though she had been a young girl of seven years, still remembered that time as clearly as if it were yesterday. And she held it closer to her heart than anything, for that was a happy time when everything had been right in her young world.
Alas, luck had never favored Kagome. Just that summer, a strange new fever had gripped the town. Kagome could clearly remember being in the village when people all around her began to collapse. Panic had seized the town and refused to let go. The head of the village had sent for a nearby physician. There had been no answer. They were an abandoned village, and treated the situation as thus. At least one in every family was ill with what would come to be known as the Cold Fever. Kagome herself remebered being struck down with the illness.
She had been playing in the barn when she suddenly began to shiver. She was frightened and didn't know what was going on. Immediately running to find her mother, she collapsed just inside the house. Her mother and father had been frantic with worry about their precious daughter. The fever took the weak, the elderly, and the children. If they were lucky, they fought it off and made it through. Few did, but it was a small hope that Kagome's parents clung to in the darkest night, when Souta was coughing from the common cold and Kagome was writhing in pain from the fever dreams.
Madam Higurashii had stayed by her daughter's side all that summer. That was the summer that her mother learned to read, if only to bring Kagome small amounts of comfort in her times of fogged awareness. She scoured all of the places she could think of in order to find things to read to Kagome. She would stay up late, reading into the night while Kagome whimpered in fear of her demons. No one seemed to notice that with each passing day, as Kagome slowly began to recover, her mother began to deteriorate.
Finally, when Kagome awoke one morning to find that her fever had broken and dreams no longer plagued her sleep, her mother had been slumped over in a cold sweat. It had shaken Kagome's father. First her daughter was stuck down, and then his wife. Only this time, the ill didn't recover. Madame Higurashii continued to fade despite the best efforts of her beloved husband. She was constantly in pain and nobody would give up on her. It was cruel of Kagome's father to keep his wife alive when he knew she would just continue to fade until there was nothing left.
Then, one night, it happened. Everything changed so fast. Kagome's mother sighed her last sigh as she passed into the next life. Her father roared his sorrow into the night, keeping both children awake. Kagome had taken it upon herself to care for her younger brother in wake of her mother's sickness. She had been surprised to hear her father voice his sorrow, for wasn't her mother still breathing? She had trotted cautiously into her parent's room to find her proud, strong father bent over her mother's motionless body.
She had tried to comfort him, as all young children try when their parents are shattered and broken. It was a major shock to her when her father turned his anger and bitterness onto her. She had been reaching out for his arm, intending on telling him that mommy was happy that we were all still alive, when her father had struck. He just hit with all his strength, backhanding the young child into the wall. To say Kagome was frightened was an understatement. She had held her sore cheek delicately, tears shining in her young eyes. He had risen and turned to her, his eyes filled with hate and resentment.
He had approached slowly, asking Kagome and God why his wife had to be taken. Why couldn't it have been his ungrateful daughter? Why did she have to survive while her own mother was sacrificed in her place? He had been reaching down for her, and Kagome had seen the murder in his once loving eyes. This, the same father who had just recently told her that she was the most precious angel he could ever hope for. This, the father who had been laughing and telling her stories on cold winter nights when they were stuck inside their small abode. Kagome had fled in fear that night, staying out until she knew that he had calmed. She had returned to find a home that would be forever different, a father that would never be the same.
Thinking of all this, Kagome absently heard the door open and her father and brother stride into the house. She payed small amount of attention the the conversation they were having, something to do with Buka, their stubborn donkey that helped the farmwork, that made Souta whine. As she began to spoon bowls of steaming food into wooden dishes, her father and brother took their seats at the table. She put a lead cover over the food, swinging it away from the fire so it wouldn't burn, and brought the food to the table. Picking up a knife and taking the loaf of bread from the middle of the table, Kagome began to slice peices off and pass them to the two men.
Just as she was ready to sit down to her own meal, her father cleared his throat. "Kag'me," he began. Kagome looked up and set hands that had been reaching for a spoon into her lap, placing all her attention on her father. "Buka jest split one o' 'er feet. Yer t' take 'er t' th' town o'er past that there furest t' th' an'mal doc, y'hear?" Kagome's jaw dropped. Her father began to spoon bits of potato into his mouth as Kagome processed this.
"B-but father! I have stuff that I need to do here, I can't go into the forest!" Her voice squeaked slightly at this. Nobody who went into the forest ever came back. There were legends there that told of man eating beasts, enchanting curse givers, even demons. Kagome wasn't stupid, she knew that she didn't stand a chance in a situation where trained mercenaries had disappeared without a trace. And her father was telling her to take their old donkey through there? They had something near enough an animal doctor in their village already. "Besides, Souta is old enough to go on his own. He doesn't need a babysitter anymore. Let him go!" Of course, the idea of spending nearly two weeks with only her father made Kagome frightened as hell, but it was more favorable than the hell that awaited her in the forest.
Her father slammed his spoon onto the table in anger, effectively splintering the wooden utensil into tinder. Souta winced as he slurped his supper. "Ye'll listen t' meh an' go, hear? Souta's been need'd 'round 'ere, not some stupid wench who don't know 'er place! Ye'll do as yer told, ur so 'elp meh, ye'll be married off ter th' firs' chap who catch's meh fancy!"
Kagome bowed her head as her father carried on his rant. If there was one thing Kagome feared, it was being tied down somewhere. Or to someone. She wanted to be able to leave this little town, see something of the large cities she heard about from traders. Getting married off would not only effectively tie her down, but she could have a worse situation than this. She had seen how violent many of the lads were in the village. Those were also the lads that her father favored over others. That would be the worst possible fate she could ever come across.
The room quieted as her father finished his speech. Not that she had been paying much attention, in favor of dreading a fate that was more likely to than not to come to pass. Silence blanketed the room, Souta having stopped eating in order to watch the drama unfold. Kagome held her breath, waiting for her father's final words. When they came, she was hardly surprised that they were filled with the same hate and bitterness that had been bourne ever since the death of Madame Higurashii. "Ye'll get to yer bed now, no supp'r or nothin', y'hear? T'morrow, if yer not outta this here house by th' time I git up fer meh work, ye'll be married off fastur then ye cun blink."
He waited a moment for effect. His voice didn't raise at all during this entire time, which scared Kagome more than it would if he had bellowed his lungs out. His eyes held her own frightened orbs in a hypnotized state, refusing to let her go lest she flee before she was told. Her father took a breath, and this time he yelled. "Git!" Kagome's chair scraped the paneled floor and fell as she fled to the safety of her room. Slamming the door shut, she ran to her bed and hastily threw a pack together for her trip the next morning. She waited a moment, trying to hold back frightened tears, before giving into sorrow. Throwing herself onto her bed, she wept herself to sleep.
End Chapter
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