Thousandfurs
Chapter 11: And What Followed
She was shaking. She was blushing. Her only comfort was that she could feel Inuyasha shivering beneath her fingers and the heat from his skin. It felt as if her heart was splitting open and she was amazed that it had ever occupied such a tiny place as her chest. It was intertwined with Inuyasha's heart and they filled the courtyard, the castle, and the kingdom. The only other thing she could feel was her stomach twisting into deliciously coiled knots.
Kagome pulled away and took a sharp breath as a little smile turned up the corners of her mouth. She was still shaking and blushing. Inuyasha's eyes were glazed over and he was breathing heavily. "So, I'm guessing you do want me to come back?" she asked him softly.
He smirked and pulled her closer to his body. Kami, he thought. She may look like his past love, and she may even be human, but he would have cut off Sesshoumaru's left arm for another one of those kisses. "Or you could stay."
She lowered her eyes. "Perhaps," she lied.
Inuyasha frowned. "You're not the only one who can spot a bad liar. Why can't you stay?" he asked. He pulled away from her a little. "Are you a princess?"
Kagome closed the gap between them once again, holding onto the front of his haori with her hands. "Please, you have to understand. I can't…"
"Hey, mutt-face! Get your hands off of my woman!"
Inuyasha spun around and glared at the wolf prince, who was framed in the doorway. "What the hell are you doing here, Koga?" he snapped. "Get out of here before I rip your tail off."
Koga strutted forward into the garden, revealing his co-conspirator. It was no surprise for Kagome to see the smug face of Kikyo hovering in the corridor. "I'll leave when you hand back my woman," challenged the wolf. "Come on, princess."
"No, Koga," she replied flatly. She put a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder, which was quivering with his suppressed anger. "Please, Inuyasha-sama, let's go somewhere else."
"Hell no. He's been following you around all night," he said. "Let's get it through his thick skull that you're not interested."
Kikyo stepped delicately around the wolf prince. "Perhaps she is interested," she said, never looking at the other princess. "After all, she's hardly worthy of someone of your stature, Inuyasha."
Kagome's hands curled into fists. If it hadn't given her away immediately as someone who no longer moved through high society, she would have smashed Kikyo's nose in. "What makes you say that I am not worthy of Inuyasha-sama?" she asked harshly, placing stress upon the honorific that Kikyo so carelessly dropped.
"You have no family crest," observed Kikyo. "You have no one to verify that you are who you say you are. You have no attendants, no friends and no family. I see nothing that makes you worthy of even Koga. I am willing however, to overlook that considering the wolf prince's deep admiration of you. But I am not willing to let you lure Inuyasha into some sort of sadistic trap. He is a dear friend of mine, after all."
Even Inuyasha's jaw went slack at the princess's rude words. Kagome looked at Koga, who appeared confused at whether he should be insulted or pleased with Kikyo's little speech. "I don't see how it's any of your business," said Kagome stiffly.
"Leave us alone, Kikyo," said Inuyasha, squaring his shoulders.
The princess's face softened as she clasped her hands. "I only point these things out because I care for you, Inuyasha. I don't want you to be taken in by an imposter."
Kagome almost moved to actually strike Kikyo, but Inuyasha gripped her wrist. "The only fake I see here, Kikyo, is you. The day you care about anything or anyone but yourself is the day I fall on my own sword."
Kikyo pointed a finger at the hanyou, her eyes darkening. "I will find out who this tramp is! And when I do, I'll humiliate all of you. Your subjects will never follow you after I'm done with you, Inuyasha!"
"They practically don't already because of you," he snapped back. "I don't care if you prove she's the scullery maid, she's a thousand times better than you. What did you think this little stunt would prove? What do you hope to accomplish by coming back here all the time? I'll never take you back!" His tone was heated, a remnant from the kiss or perhaps repressed anger spilling over after its long imprisonment. Kagome wasn't sure which.
"I don't want a hanyou," she sneered.
"Then what do you want?" he yelled, his ears flattened against his head.
Kikyo relaxed with a smile and tossed her hair. "I told you what I wanted when we were engaged, Inuyasha. I want you to be human. I want you to be mine, but human." Her dark eyes glittered as Koga and Inuyasha both stared at her, trapped by her outrageous statement. "What? I never made it a secret that I thought you were a freak of nature. If you ever wanted to really marry me, you would have become human for my sake."
"What the hell?" murmured Koga, still staring. "No one can change mutt-face to a human."
"Actually, my dear prince Koga, there is a way," said Kikyo sweetly. "The Shikon no Tama grants a wish to its bearer. And I believe that Inuyasha should have used it to correct the mistake of his unnatural birth."
Kagome looked at Inuyasha, who finally released her wrist and closed his eyes. "I tried to find it. I told you, the other half is missing."
Kikyo's smile turned malicious at the other princess's shocked expression. "If you loved me truly, you would have found it. You would have done that for me."
"I gave you everything you asked for! And you just left!" he snapped. He turned his head and looked at Kagome, smelling the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. His shoulders relaxed and he took a step towards her. "I didn't do it," he said softly.
"But you would have," Kagome replied. "If you had found the other half of the Shikon, you would have become human for her." She reached out and touched the velvety white ears on top of his head. His eyes drifted closed for a moment as she stroked them.
Kikyo scoffed loudly, drawing the two out of their brief moment of peace. "Yes, he would have become human for me, but do you really think he hadn't thought of it a million times before he even met me? He told me that was his greatest wish, to not be a hanyou anymore. To be normal."
Inuyasha's golden eyes met Kagome's gaze. "She's telling the truth," he said flatly.
The princess looked down on the ground. "I guess that answers my question," she said after a moment. She brushed back her hair from her face and fixed him with her stare. "There are two sides of you. And you don't want one of them."
He shrugged. "Why does it matter?"
"Because I don't know which side of you actually cares for me," she replied softly. "And because I can't love half of a person like she can." She shot a deadly glare at the self-satisfied Kikyo. "What if you found that other half of the Shikon no Tama? Would you go to her then?"
"I don't know," he admitted, his ears flattening again.
Kagome stroked his ears once more and let her fingers weave through his long, silver hair. "I would have loved you as you are," she said, untangling her digits.
Before anyone could reply, she turned and fled from the garden, shutting the door behind her before running down the halls. She knew that Koga or Inuyasha could catch up with her in a moment's time, but she felt with a certainty that the two males were still standing in the garden, with a triumphantly evil princess.
How she hated that woman! Kagome wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her delicate kimono. She had thrown away Inuyasha's affections and now only sought to destroy any happiness he might attain again. Who could be so cruel? Even Naraku didn't have the capacity for such soulless devastation.
And Inuyasha! How could he take that abuse? How could he stand there with his greatest enemy watching the woman who had humiliated him once humiliate him yet again? Certainly, Koga had simply been a pawn for Kikyo to get her way, but it was adding insult to injury that Inuyasha had allowed the wolf prince to remain during that painful scene. Kagome had never known such a stubborn creature to bend so willingly to the manipulations of another. Kikyo had truly damaged him. He must be used to it, she realized. It was second nature for him to weather Kikyo's comments. In a way, he still loved her.
She sniffled. Of course he still loved Kikyo. He had practically said so, when he admitted that given the choice, he didn't know who he would pick. His reaction put everything under a shadow of doubt. Had he really been attracted to her? Or had he simply been looking for a replacement? A girl to toss aside as he had been tossed aside by Kikyo. She knew from handmaids' stories about the men in the Nakao court that this was not uncommon, this need to inflict the same sort of harm that had been suffered on another innocent. It was a cycle, and a harsh one at that.
She exited the castle and made her way across the frozen gardens, towards the barrels that held her fur cloak. She would get her bag, find the Shikon shard and throw it at the bottom of the compost heap, she decided. Or a lake. Or off the top of a cliff. Inuyasha could never get hold of it. She feared what he would do more than she feared for her own life at the moment. Even if it had been his plan, subconscious or not, to hurt her, she could not allow him to turn human. It would erase him. The prince would be gone and only a dog of a man would remain.
Throwing off the cover of one of the barrels, she dove in and pulled out her furs, which had survived the evening. Just as she pulled the heavy cloak over her shoulders, there was a crunch of snow behind her. Kagome's heart stopped for a moment, but she managed to pull up her hood before turning around. "Inuyasha-sama?" she whispered.
"So this is how you've been hiding from me."
Kagome's head snapped up. The voice was not Inuyasha's, nor even Koga's, and the robed figure that moved in the moonlight was distinctly human. "Who is it?" she asked.
The man moved out of the shadows, revealing a face with heavy scarring and greasy hair. "Your father has been searching everywhere for you," he growled. "You've given me a lot of headaches, little girl."
Her nostrils flared in annoyance. "I am a princess. Don't you dare forget it."
"Little slut," the man snarled. "You were stripped of your title long ago, even before you left. Don't try to pull any crap with me about your noble blood, because I have no patience for it. As far as I can see, you're no more than a thorn in His Majesty's side. And you will be dealt with accordingly." He drew a long, thin blade from beneath his robes. He was dusted in snow and Kagome realized that he had been waiting for her a long time.
Her eyes flashed across the grounds, but no shadow moved with approaching guards. She was helpless and her heart slowed in acceptance of this vital truth. This was one of her father's assassins and she had no defense against him. Screaming would only spurn him to slit her throat faster. She wondered if the king would investigate the death of a lowly servant, if he would go so far as to discover her true identity. Then Inuyasha would know. But she wanted to tell him herself, with her own voice, not with a pool of blood beside her cold body. Her eyes burned as they looked back at her killer. "I don't want to die," she said.
The assassin cocked his head. "How surprising," he spat. "Unfortunately for you, I have more allegiance to my king than some whore daughter of his."
Kagome backed up against the wall of the servants' quarters as he began to advance. "But there! You said it!" she cried, her heart coming to life again. "He's my father! You know what he did and you defend him! You're killing me for him, a sick pervert!"
He lifted his chin. "Be quiet," he said with a roll of his eyes. "I don't like to listen to this sort of thing. It only angers me." He raised the dagger and Kagome turned her head away.
"Then I wonder how this'll make you feel!" called a new voice. "Fox fire!"
The assassin went rigid as blue flames erupted over his back. A moment later, he was on the ground, yelping in pain as Shippo threw the incendiary bombs at his prone body. Guards began to shout in the distance, their attention drawn by the unusual light source. Shippo finally tired himself out and fell back onto his haunches in the snow. Kagome's would-be killer lay before her, smoke rising from his body and twitching in pain, although his voice had escaped him. "Is he dead?" she asked softly.
The fox kit breathed heavily. "He probably will be soon," he said. He saw her shocked stare and shrugged helplessly. "You were in trouble. I saw the knife."
"Yes," said Kagome, nodding several times. "Thank you."
He turned his head and looked at the figures of the guards growing closer. "You should close your furs," he suggested. "That will cause a lot of questions." He gave a pointed stare to the silver peeking from her collar and the line of glittering fabric through the inch wide opening down her front.
Kagome grasped the garment close to her body as the fox kit fell backwards into the snow, sending a wave of white dust up around him. "Shippo!" She moved forward, gingerly stepping over the steaming body of the assassin and scooped the little demon up into her arms.
The guards converged suddenly and swiftly, bending over the assassin and surrounding Kagome and the kit. "What happened? Who is this? What's wrong with the fox?" The questions were fired at her with such force that she stepped back.
"He attacked me," she finally said, nodding towards the body that two of the guards were now carrying away. "Shippo saved me."
One of the sentinels rubbed at the back of his neck when he saw who it was that she held in her arms. "Aw, shit. The king won't like this," he said. "Give the boy to me. I should take him to the infirmary. He might need help."
She clutched Shippo to her chest. She didn't know if it was because he had saved her life, or because he had seen what she was wearing beneath her cloak, but she had to be near the little fox. "Please. He tired himself out, that's all. I'll take him to his room," she said, gesturing to the building behind them. "I'll take care of him."
They looked at one another and wordlessly made their decision. "Alright," another one said. "If he doesn't wake up within an hour, take him to the hospital wing of the barracks. We have enough to deal with here, with an armed intruder and all, so the boy is your responsibility." They turned and left, trailing behind the two demons carrying the human body.
Kagome ran into the servants' quarters. She didn't know which room Shippo occupied, so she took him into her own and laid him on her futon. He was breathing easily now, deeply asleep, and so she shed her cloak, changed out of her glittery garment into her winter yukata, and lit the tiny oil lamp that she saved for the darkest of nights. After a moment's thought, she slipped the sword hilt into her sleeve, leaving the last Artifact, the Shikon half-orb, to be dealt with later.
Kneeling down beside the fox kit, she felt his forehead. No fever, she observed with satisfaction. Even as she thought of waking him, he stirred and opened his green eyes. They sharpened into focus when he saw the sparkle of her kimono that lay folded on top of her yellow bag. "You're the princess," he murmured. "The one everyone has been talking about."
She nodded solemnly. "Yes, I am."
He grinned and let his head fall back onto the summer yukata she used for a pillow. "Awesome," he said. He looked at her again, the smile evaporating. "Are you really a princess? Is your name really Kagome?"
She settled back onto her heels and folded her hands across her lap. "I'm really a princess. And my name is Kagome. I'm from the Nakao kingdom and I ran away."
"From your dad," said the fox flatly. "Your dad is that monster that wanted to marry his daughter."
"Yes," she replied softly. "He sent that man after me. I guess he wants to kill me now."
Shippo sat up slowly and stared at her with large eyes. "Who knows about you being here?"
"Myoga does," she replied. "He was the diplomat from the youkai territories for my father's court and he helped get me out of the kingdom safely. But aside from him and you, I hope that no one knows."
The little fox demon nodded. "I won't tell anyone, Kagome."
She smiled at him. "I know you won't. I trust you, Shippo. I just feel bad that you've been involved in this situation at all. But I'm going to stay here as long as I can, if that's alright."
"What about Inuyasha? He would protect you, if he knew who you were, wouldn't he?"
The princess shrugged. "I'm not sure. I can't tell him though. I can't risk a war between the kingdoms just because I ran away from home." She lowered her eyes. "And I think he wouldn't be too happy about finding out who I was. Who I am."
They sat in silence for a few moments. "I'm sorry, Kagome," he said finally. "I won't tell Inuyasha or the king." For Shippo, 'anyone' meant something quite different that keeping it from the royal family.
She nodded, realizing what a promise like that meant to the little fox. Loyalty to the king was paramount for Shippo, who had lost everything else. "Thank you," she said. She stood up as straight as possible in the cramped quarters. "I have to go. I've been away too long and Kagura will get angry if I'm not back to prepare the prince's soup in time. Stay here and rest, alright?"
Shippo closed his eyes and curled up into a ball. Kagome watched him for a moment and then tucked him under the silver kimono she had just been wearing. It was still warm and the fox began to snore softly as soon as it was around his shoulders. The princess pulled on her cloak, covered her skin in ash from the fire and hurried out the door.
As soon as she arrived in the kitchen, however, she wished to be back in her little cupboard under the stairs with Shippo. Naraku stood by the fire, his spine tall with the joy of punishing Sango, who was lying on the floor in front of him. The terrible cook held his favorite weapon, a riding crop whose leather had become stiff with dried blood over the years. He brought it down on Sango's back again and again, forcing her to punctuate her sobbing with little gasps of anguish. Thin lines of red liquid blossomed from underneath her yukata. "Enter the castle again without my permission," he was saying, "and your life is mine." He spared a gleaming red eye for his audience, the silently flinching kitchen staff who were watching out of the corners of their eyes as they worked. Kagura was the only one not watching - her back turned completely to the scene as she marked in her ledgers.
Suddenly, he spotted Kagome and the riding crop froze two inches from Sango's raw back. "The filthy little creature is back then," he sneered. "And where have you been?"
"With the bakers, helping in the kiln," she replied immediately, knowing that hesitation could spell death.
"Lying cheat," he replied with a cold twist of his lips. "I was there an hour ago and you weren't."
Kagome nodded, surprising her audience. "I know. I was coming back but that man that has been lurking around attacked me. Shippo and the guards saved me, but Shippo was injured and the guards allowed me to take care of him." She saw that Naraku had faltered. He hadn't expected the truth in any shape or form. "You may ask them, Naraku-san."
He stepped around Sango without a glance and advanced upon the fur-covered princess. He appeared to have words in him, begging to be said, but instead he drew back the crop and hit her hard across the face. Kagome cried out, along with several of the kitchen staff. She staggered on her feet as the world seesawed beneath her, but she remained upright. Naraku turned and went over to Kagura as Kagome pressed her hand to her cheek. It was tender, so tender that she could barely touch it without hissing in pain, but the skin had miraculously not been broken. She would have a hell of a bruise though.
Trying to ignore her throbbing cheek, Kagome went to Sango, who was still curled up on the floor. The spread of blood had stopped, but she knew that the girl wouldn't be able to lie on her back for weeks. "Come on," she said softly, taking the girl's arm.
Sango sobbed again and remained dead weight. The princess leaned over her and brushed her hair back, revealing the demon slayer's reddened eyes. It occurred to Kagome that Sango hadn't been crying about the physical pain. She was too strong for that. But to cry about the loss of Miroku was a different matter. Sango hadn't had a lot of luck in keeping loved ones around. Kagome could have smacked the diplomat if he was there, damn the consequences. "Don't worry," she said. "It'll be okay."
After tugging on the limp servant for a few moments, Kagome quietly called two of the more responsible youkai over. A male and a female, Kagome had always suspected that they were mates, but had never asked them because of the embarrassment such a term still triggered within her. They had completed their work for the night, they said, and they would take Sango to her room. It was rare that Naraku beat someone so hard that they were unable to work, but it was clear that, in the kitchen, all Sango could do was take up floor space. The male scooped the slayer up into his arms and followed the female, who opened the doors for him.
It hurt to see her strong friend so crippled with pain, but she couldn't think on it and risk her own breakdown. Kagome put her hand to her cheek again and felt the tremendous welt forming beneath her fingers. It would do no good to moon over it, she decided, pushing herself to her feet. She had to make the prince's soup, so that Naraku would not have more of an excuse to hit her.
As she prepared Inuyasha's meal, the youkai silently pitched in, bringing her the utensils and ingredients needed and tending to the soup as it simmered over the fire. They said nothing to her, but she saw that they were finally taking notice of the little human girl. She decided that the wound Naraku inflicted was worth it in order to receive the respect and concern of these powerful creatures. She wondered what they would be like if Naraku was not there. Would they be friends? Would they talk to her openly as they talked to each other each night outside of her door?
She busied herself with these thoughts as she worked, trying to ignore the memories of Inuyasha's defeat at the hands of Kikyo, the way he admitted wordlessly that, in a way, he still loved the cruel princess. But she found herself pulled towards these thoughts anyway, as she fixed the tray up with the tea and soup. The others were ignoring her now, for the most part, since Naraku had began to give them dirty looks. She pulled the sword hilt from her sleeve and looked at it for a moment.
It was a relic from a time long past, that much she knew, but the details surrounding its significance beyond that were sketchy. The gilt arrowhead was the weapon of one of her ancestors and the Shikon no Tama, however much it lacked energy now, was said to be once so powerful that demons lost their minds because of it. But the sword hilt was enshrouded in rumor. It was from the Fang, the legendary Tetsusaiga, whose blade was lost long ago in some war or another. Some courtiers' children, knowing that Kagome would once inherit the guardianship of the Artifacts, whispered to her that a hanyou possessed it. She had never realized that this could possibly be a bad thing – she had become even more enchanted with it.
But this was all speculation. It was ancient and it was once full of magic. That was all that was certain. Kagome hoped though that Inuyasha would realize the meaning of this second gift. The gilt arrowhead had pierced a hanyou's heart, but who said the hanyou didn't have his own weapon? She felt a sort of peace as she dropped it into the soup. If it had belonged to a half-demon in the past, surely it didn't belong with her, the eldest child of a king that was infamous for his hatred of youkai. Inuyasha had more claim to it than she did.
She gave the tray to another servant and went to her corner, to begin washing the pots used during her absence. She worked quickly, because she expected to be called to Inuyasha's room once again. After she had run out on him, he wouldn't be able to help himself from latching onto her little gift.
Soon enough, one of the castle staff came in and spoke with Naraku. As soon as he began to glower in her direction, Kagome put down her crockery and stood up. "Naraku-san?"
"Go. See. The prince," he breathed, his face turning red. Kagome could practically see the flames in his eyes.
She turned left before he could recover from his paralyzing anger. Her cheek still throbbed in memory as she escaped across the grounds and into the castle. Once she reached the royal family's apartment corridors, she lingered. She didn't look forward to returning to Naraku, of course, but she was equally unsure about going to Inuyasha. His anger and frustration would rival the cook's in a few moments. Despite her unease, she knocked softly on the door.
"Come in."
Kagome opened the door and the light of the hallway spilled into the room. She blinked and stepped inside. "Inuyasha-sama?" She stood in the rectangle of light left by the open door and frowned. "I can't see in the dark like you can, Your Highness."
A single lamp flared to life and the prince was suddenly there, his face etched in shadow. "There's a lot you can't do," he growled. "For instance, you seem incapable of making a simple bowl of bread soup without letting something valuable drop into it." He nodded towards the table nearby and Kagome could see, as her eyes grew adjusted to the low light, that his soup was untouched. He had simply gone to the bottom to see if there was another 'gift'.
"I don't know what you mean, Your Highness," she said quietly as she slid the door closed behind her.
He curled his hands into fists. "I already questioned the servant that brought it here!" he snapped. "He said that no one else came near the tray between the time he picked it up from you and when he brought it to me. So someone here is lying. I think it's you."
The princess turned her eyes down to the floor. "There is magic in this world that I cannot know, my prince. Perhaps you should consult with others on this matter, because I cannot help you."
Ears flattened, the hanyou stalked up to her. "You're lying. No one is using magic, you stupid human!" He froze for a moment and then grabbed her shoulders, pulling her close. She could no longer see his face, the light only coming from behind him, but she could hear him sniffing at her. "You smell like her! How could I not notice that you smelled like her!" he demanded, shaking her.
"I don't know who you mean!"
"The princess!" he snapped. "I know you know who that is!"
She pushed at him and turned her head away. "You're hurting me!" she cried out, as his claws dug into her arms. "Stop it!"
He released her and stepped back, as if he had put his hand into a fire. "Just… tell me," he said softly. "I have to find her." He opened his palm to display the sword hilt and leaned forward with a terrifying eagerness. "This is from Tetsusaiga, a sword that has been in my family for years. It was broken a long time ago and now it can be repaired. If for nothing else, I must know where she got this. Tell me if you know anything!"
Kagome shook her head, her eyes still welling up with tears. "I wish I knew something for you, my prince," she said, rubbing at her arms. "But why would anyone waste their time on a servant like me?"
"But you smell like her!" he snapped, his ire rising again.
Her heart leapt to her throat but she managed to fix a steady glare on the prince. "She smells like me? How unfortunate for her! A princess that smells like soot, grease and unwashed vegetables? Who has ever heard of that?"
Inuyasha snapped his mouth shut and shook his head, looking confused. "Well, I thought that…" He growled again. "Well, that just means that you were with her! You are holding back on me!"
She twisted away again. "No. I promise you, Your Highness! I have never seen your princess and no one has given me anything to drop into your soup."
The prince snarled and clawed at his ears. "I can't tell if you're lying in order to drive me insane or you're actually telling the truth!" He came towards her. "Wash off the soot! The smell of dead fire is overwhelming! Wash it off and I'll be able to tell who is the liar!"
"You have no right," she hissed. She bowed and moved away. "Forgive me, Inuyasha-sama, but I must leave before I do or say anything that will land me in prison. I don't know what else I can tell you because I've said all that I can."
Kagome made it to the door before Inuyasha comprehended her words. "I haven't dismissed you!" he snapped. He grabbed a sandal from his bedside and threw it at her, easily striking her just above her ear. He lost his breath as he watched her cry out and fall to the ground.
Moments ticked by and the two remained silent and still, Kagome clutching her head and Inuyasha watching from his darkened room. The prince suddenly took several fast breaths and moved forward to his doorway. He felt so removed from his body, like he was watching someone else using his body to injure a servant. That was something other youkai nobles did, but even his acerbic nature wouldn't allow it. He intended to help her, to take her to his personal physician, to apologize even.
But Miroku appeared and went to the girl first. "Kagome?" He gently pulled her hand from her head and made sound of surprise at the welt rising there. "Kagome, what happened?"
The princess shook her head slowly, feeling like her brain was rattling inside of her skull. Inuyasha had hit her. She expected it from Naraku, but from the prince? How could he have kissed her so gently as a princess and abused her so harshly as Thousandfurs? Tears welled up in her eyes. "I'm fine," she whispered. "I fell."
Miroku leaned over her and picked up the sandal nearby. "Tripped on this, I suppose?" he said evenly with a frown.
She stood up shakily. "Yes. If you excuse me, my lord, I must return to my duties in the kitchen," she said, bowing slightly. Her eyes remained on the floor.
"Only if you're certain you're alright. That's a nasty bump," he replied, keeping his eyes on the prince.
"Of course, my lord," she murmured.
Miroku watched as the girl scurried off and around the corner before turning on Inuyasha. "So, she fell?" he asked softly. The prince remained silent and a rare form of anger arose in the diplomat. "You hit a servant! I would have thought that even you would have more common sense than that! More compassion! Or have you completely lost your mind?"
Inuyasha's face twisted into life. "Hey! She tried to leave before I dismissed her! This wasn't my fault!"
"Oh? And you solved that problem by throwing a shoe at her?" the diplomat snapped back. "If I know you, Inuyasha, you were probably tormenting her in some way. I'm surprised she has the patience with you that she does! She even lies for you!"
"That girl has information about the princess!" yelled the hanyou. "She lies for me? She only lies to me! She does nothing else but interfere and stop me at every turn!"
"If Kagome is your only lead to the identity of your princess, then you need a new lead," Miroku replied, tossing the shoe to the ground. "Why don't you just leave the girl alone? You do nothing but make her life more difficult! And believe me, you know nothing about the difficulties of your servants' lives!"
The prince went back into his room, with the diplomat hot on his heels. "Like you know anything about it either!"
"You're right, I don't," he said. "I have lived a life of privilege almost equal to yours. But at least I'm aware that they do have hard lives and I try to not make it even harder for them. I don't know why you have singled out Kagome, but you have to stop! Not even your brother would have dreamed of striking a defenseless human girl."
Inuyasha burned red. "That big-tailed jackass wouldn't think twice about it!"
Miroku frowned. "Would he? Or are you just feeling guilty for what you did?" he asked. He sighed and folded his arms. "Apologize to her."
The prince sputtered and turned away. "Hell no! She's just a servant!"
"You were thinking of doing it anyway," pointed out the diplomat. He shrugged as Inuyasha shot him a surprised look. "What? Weren't you? Or did I misinterpret that lost puppy look you had when I arrived?"
"Shut up," groused the prince.
Miroku walked over to the door. "Well, this may be just pointing out the obvious, but perhaps if you treated Kagome less as a disposable servant and more like a human, then she would help you on her own. I agree that she must know something, but traumatizing her will only make that information more difficult to uncover." He slid open the door and stepped out. "Apologizing would be a good start," he suggested, as he left the prince in the dark bedroom.
Inuyasha sighed and sat down heavily by his table and the now cold soup. "Apologize," he muttered. "Whatever."
As the prince sat there, however, he could not shake the image of the soot covered servant girl, clutching her head on the floor with tears in her eyes.
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A/N: So Inuyasha has a bit of a nasty streak, eh? In the fairy tale, the prince was both dimwitted and violent – he threw boots at Thousandfurs' head. I told you guys at the beginning that I wasn't going to Disney-fy this, so no complaints about Inuyasha being unreasonable! Haha. Please review! Thanks!