Ever closer to that real plot we come. Before we start, I want to give some time reference for this chapter. You won't actually be able to really tell much, but I think it's important to know. This chapter takes place parallel to episode nineteen through to twenty-one of the anime, when Naraku recruits Sesshomaru and has his first real confrontation with InuYasha's group. We're slowly getting to episode twenty-four. That mini-arc will be such a big turning point in this fic. Obviously, with the death of Kagewaki. That's going to be so heartbreaking, but so interesting to write.

I hope you're as excited as I am to get to that point.

Miasma

Here the power is restless and the truth is deaf. Here the air is filled with the miasma of sin
-Jean Racine

"Nori, are you alright?"

"Huh?" Blinking up at Kagewaki, I tried to register what he had said. "Sorry, what?"

With a concerned frown, he lowered his teacup. We were sat out on the veranda outside his chambers, sharing tea and chatting with each other in the warm morning sun. Or rather, he had been chatting to me.

For the most part, his conversation was about the plans he and his father had been making for our wedding. I didn't get much say in any of the matters of the wedding. It looked like I was just going to be showing up on the day and either disappointing my father-in-law or living up to his expectations. I didn't like either option, but one thing I was glad about was not having the stress of planning a wedding. Of all my friends that had gotten married in the years since high school, every single one of them complained about the stress of planning a wedding. I was used to high-stress situations, more so recently, but I always strived to avoid them when I could.

I didn't think I was cut out for picking out flower arrangements and invitation designs and bridesmaid dresses at any rate.

"You've been increasingly distracted over the last few days. Are you well?" His thin lips pressed together. "Is it our marriage? Does it worry you?"

Obviously. "Of course not, Lord Kagewaki." He levelled me with an exasperated look. Right, honorifics. "Kagewaki, I just- I have things on my mind."

Namely one thing.

Well, a person.

It had been three days since I had walked in on Naraku lying in wait in my room. I'd honestly expected the man to be constantly hanging around after that whole secret affair song and dance, threatening and alluding to everyone I was around. Particularly my fiancé. But I hadn't seen hide nor hair of him in three days.

Naraku could do a lot in three days, and I didn't trust that he would keep our secret a secret.

Terrible thoughts about what plans he could come up with to fuck with me were playing around in my mind. There was so much he could do, so many ways he could fuck me over. I'd rather have him with me, alluding to others in my line of sight than entirely absent. Who knows what he was doing? My mind was conjuring up far too many scenarios, and I didn't like a single one of them.

"Is it something you'd like to talk about?"

"No." Not a chance. Kagewaki was literally the last person on Earth that I wanted to talk about what was on my mind with. There wasn't a snowball's chance in hell of me talking to Kagewaki about this. "I'm fine, really, Kagewaki. I'll work it out eventually."

Or give myself a heart attack with the stress of trying to.

Whichever came first.

"Since we've begun courting, you've become distant, Nori." Don't look at me like that. He looked like I had kicked his puppy. It was heartbreaking. "Have I truly misread your desires?"

"No, Kagewaki. I care about you. You know I do." And it wasn't even really since the announcement of our wedding that I'd pulled away. It was the morning I realised I'd fucked up spectacularly by sleeping with Naraku. It was just an awful coincidence that both events happened on the same day. "I just... There are things I can't talk about, no matter how much I want to. Please be patient with me."

I doubted his patience would fix anything, but it'd make me feel less guilty if he didn't ask whether I was okay or not every ten minutes.

"Should you need someone to talk to, Nori, I am here. If not as your husband, then as your friend."

I gave Kagewaki a flimsy smile. "Thank you." Even anxious over my feeling about our marriage, he was offering himself as a shoulder to cry on, as a friend, someone I could confide in if I really needed to. That meant the world to me, even if I could never accept his offer.

You're such a sweet man. I am so sorry.

"Sitting here is doing you no good. Come." Kagewaki stood, wincing as he did so.

"Are you okay?" I hopped up to steady him as he straightened. "Is it muscle aches again? I thought they were doing away."

He rested a hand on my shoulder to stop my medical onslaught. "It's an unpleasant day. The first in a while. It's manageable. I am fine." His knuckle tapped my chin gently and he smiled down at me with such a heartwarming expression, I just couldn't help but smile back. He bowed his head for a kiss, and for the first time, I could only taste him and the sweet affection he had for me. "Now come."

"You'll let me know if the pain gets any worse?" I prompted, following him out of his chambers and into the hallway.

"You shall be the first to know. Now, no more talk on the subject."

I chuckled, falling in step with him. "Alright, my lips are sealed." For now. I hoped it was just a bad day, though, and not a real regression. He'd been doing so well. I didn't know what I would do if the diet changes I had made weren't enough. Kagewaki was starting to get a real appetite back. He was eating at last two meals a day regularly now. I didn't think I could get away with shoving more food down his throat to try and balance his hormones. What else could I do?

Kagewaki stopped in front of my room, sliding the door open and gesturing inside. "Make haste."

"Huh?"

He cupped my cheek gently, running the pad of his thumb over the apple of it gently. "You're tormenting yourself sitting in your thoughts. Perhaps some training will do you some good?" he hinted, tilting his head to the open door. "Make haste and you should have plenty of time before they break for lunch."

Training.

Now that would help.

How did Kagewaki come to know me so well without me realising?

I disappeared into the room with a smile on my face.

"Lord Kagewaki, Lady Masanori. A pleasure."

Fuck me. The Lady thing was already catching on? I'd get no peace from it, would I?

"Lady Nori has come to join you today. She has been burdened. Some time in the fields will ease her mind."

I did not like the uncomfortable look on the General's face. "Is something the matter, General?"

He shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "Well, you see- As a Lady, it may not be proper for you to-"

"As a Lady? I was a woman the last time I set foot on those fields, and I beat every man you threw at me. Nothing has changed." Not a single thing had changed about me that would suddenly make me unable to fight. The only thing that had changed is this courtship and I would be damned if my marriage to Kagewaki would stop me from being able to fight.

"Please, Lady Masanori, you must see how improper it would be for a noble Lady to fight."

"No, I don't. If anything else, I see more of a reason. Do I not have the right to train amongst my husband's men, to become an onna-bugeisha for the Hitomi name?"

Kagewaki rested a hand on my shoulder again. "Perhaps that is a little hastily spoken, Lady Nori. I would be loathe to send my wife into battle in my name, but I see no harm in her training, General Watanabe."

"Lord Kagewaki, please. Your father has my hands tied on the matter."

His father? Of course my sudden delicate nature would be his doing.

I knew exactly why, too. The man was trying to smoke me out. Make me as unhappy as possible in the situation so I would crack and hurt Kagewaki. I knew that game, and damn him, I was not going to let him win. If he wanted me miserable, I wouldn't show him so much as a frown.

Gathering myself, I bowed to the General. "If that is the case, then so be it. Thank you, General, for the chance I had to train before my betrothal. I hope that even if I cannot fight beside you, that I am still welcome to observe when I can."

The poor General looked relieved that I'd stopped going for his throat. "Of course, my Lady. I would be honoured."

"Thank you." With a tight smile, I turned away and stalked off.

Kagewaki made our excuses quickly and followed after me. "Are you quite alright, Nori?"

"Fine," I growled back through clenched teeth.

Fuck Nagasaki Hitomi.

The rest of the day was spent in brooding silence, caught between my worry over Naraku and my frustration with Nagasaki. Kagewaki, bless him, tried to keep me happy, but he didn't quite manage to succeed.

I dismissed myself early in the evening, not wanting to make Kagewaki any more distressed with my terrible mood than he already was. He wasn't quite ready to let me go, but I think the black cloud that was hanging over me was enough to warn him away from trying to keep me by his side tonight, so he let me go with a quiet wish that I feel better in the morning.

Instead of retreating to my room, I wander towards the baths.

A hot bath might do me good. I didn't often get baths. My own tiny apartment in Shinjuku didn't have one, and when I came home to visit the family, it was always a squabble with Botan to get the bath first. I don't know how he managed it, but Botan always used up all the hot water. Here, though, the baths were always hot and always at my disposal. It was probably my favourite thing about this place.

A good portion of my frustrations melted away as I sank into the hot spring. Now, this was what I needed. If I could spend forever in these baths, I certainly would.

Thoughts came unbidden to my mind. Kagewaki relaxing beside me, his long hair flowing atop the water. His sweet addictive kisses, just rough enough to keep me interested.

My fingers slid down the uninked centre of my stomach slowly.

His fingers tracing over the koi across my body. Naraku's voice whispering dark things in my ear. His lips, his teeth on my-

I slapped the water hard in frustration breaking the spell of lust I'd been weaving for myself.

Could I not even think about Kagewaki without Naraku seeping into my fantasies now?

"You are so fucked," I told my rippled reflection. What the hell was I supposed to do? "You need to just forget he exists."

I was halfway through debating whether that would actually work or not - I was heavily leaning on the idea that it wouldn't because Naraku wouldn't let me forget about our deal no matter how much I tried to ignore him; in fact, I was sure that the more I tried to ignore it, the more he would remind me that we did, in fact, have a deal that I was pretty heavily bound to - when a loud crash sounded in the castle.

I jumped, splashing about in the water as I tried to right myself. "What the fuck was that?"

The crash sounded again, louder this time.

I scrambled out of the bath, snatching up my kendogi and tying it round myself. It stuck to my wet body uncomfortably, but I tried to pay the discomfort no mind as I hoisted my hakama up and bolted out of the baths, right towards the source of the sound.

General Watanabe was rushing outside with a handful of the soldiers that lived on the castle grounds when he caught sight of me. His expression pulsed with panic. "Lady Masanori, what are you doing out here?"

"What's going on?" I demanded, running past him and outside before he could even consider trying to block me and send me away.

I slowed to a stop, staring at the creature floating in the air above the castle. "What the fuck is that thing?" I croaked. It looked... It looked almost like a giant spider, like the Tsuchigumo my mother had tried to scare Tomo and I with as children. It had scared Tomo to the point where he still couldn't look at a spider. I'd always been fascinated by the demon myself.

Though, gotta say, not so much when I'm staring at it face-to-face like this.

"What the fuck is that thing?"

"Lady Masanori. Arm yourself or run." General Watanabe ran past me, brandishing a fierce-looking zanbato in his grip.

Arm myself, right. I turned back into the castle, and grabbed for one of the katana that were being passed out to the soldiers in the hallway.

I wasn't running from this one.

The battle was chaos. The spider demon was so much bigger than any of us. It certainly wasn't afraid to send any of us flying, either. I heard the crunching bones of a few men as they were thrown behind us. Still I stood beside the General, hacking away at the damned thing whenever it got too close.

"Fuck," I cried, when it shovelled a soldier into its mouth. I hurled myself forward, slicing at one massive leg. Half the soldier's body dropped to the ground beside me. I gagged.

Mouth full, the spider screeched, sending spittle and viscera spraying over me and the other soldiers, then turned tail, disappearing as fast as it came.

I dropped to the floor and emptied my dinner out onto the ground. I could feel blood and sweat streaking down my face.

"Nori!" Familiar cool hands pulled me up into a kneeling position, stroking over my face, pushing my still wet hair back. Kagewaki's concerned brown eyes bored down into mine. "Nori, are you alright? What happened? Why didn't you run?"

I couldn't catch my breath and, pushing Kagewaki to the side, I emptied my stomach again onto the dirt.

"She fought well, Lord Kagewaki," General Watanabe said as I wiped my mouth with the sleeve of my kendogi. "It was her efforts that send the beast back to whatever pit it came from. I think now you should get her back to her room so she can rest the shock off."

"No," I responded, spitting chunks of puke from my mouth. Lovely. "Right now you need a doctor. Get everyone that's injured gathered. Someone get me whatever medical supplies you have here."

I didn't have time to be in shock when there were so many injured men here. This was the sort of trauma I was trained to deal with. The aftermath I could deal with. It was the demon I couldn't believe I had fought. "Come on! I need rags, herbs, splints. Everything you can get your hands on," I yelled out when no one had moved to do as I'd ordered.

That sent people running.

I worked well into the night treating soldiers alongside the other healers employed in the castle. It was a gruelling task, but something I did with precision.

By the time I was done and ready to retire, Lord Kagewaki had long-since retired himself.

After a fitful sleep, I woke and immediately tended again to the wounded, changing bandages and doing more thorough checks on some of the soldiers that weren't looking too hot. While some of the injuries were grave, we'd only lost two men, one to the demon and one to the wounds he'd received overnight. I bowed my head in respect as his body was taken away.

"It damaged one of the storehouses, but otherwise, we were lucky," General Watanabe was telling Lord Hitomi as I approached.

I bowed my head to both. "Very lucky," I agreed. "We have seven men with broken bones, but the rest are just flesh wounds, a few cuts. I had to stitch two wounds, but otherwise, all we have to worry about is infection. Everyone should be fine, given time to heal." One kid had a particularly nasty shattered wrist. He'd survive it, but his days as a samurai were likely over. The boy had squared his shoulders and nodded with watery eyes, but he hadn't cried over the fact. That poor kid was strong.

"Are we likely to see the beast again?" Lord Nagasaki asked.

"I think so, my Lord," the General responded gravely. "It was clearly looking for food, and only suffered a flesh wound itself at the hands of Lady Masanori. I fear it'll be back again sooner than we'd like. It'd be prudent to ready more men, keep more soldiers in the grounds until the beast is slain."

Lord Nagasaki nodded slowly. "So be it."

I was very nearly asleep that night when the door of my room slid open and closed again with a bang.

The glow of the jewels gave the figure away before I even saw the familiar purple and blue clothing, though it was shredded almost beyond recognition. "Naraku, what are you-" I inhaled sharply when I caught sight of his face. He wasn't wearing a mask, for the first time, I could see him without his mask.

It couldn't be...

"Where the fuck were you?" I sat up in bed, glaring up at him. His face could wait. This couldn't. "This thing, this demon, attacked the castle last night and you weren't here to help. What the fuck was that about?"

My yelling didn't deter his advancement, and that was made abundantly clear when he dropped to his knees, straddling my body and leaned in. His hair slipped over his bare shoulders.

"What the-" I shoved him away. "Seriously, where were you?"

He bowed his head to my neck instead of answering, nipping and licking the skin there with an astounding amount of vigor. I'd never seen Naraku so worked up. I gasped, a shaky sound as his hands found the sash of my yukata. My hands came up, wrapping around him, feeling the gnarled scar on his skin that I remembered from the last time. His hair flowed around us, loose of its tie, curtaining us as he laid me back, tongue tracing up the centre of my throat.

"Naraku-"

"Be-"

"What were you-" I cut off with a sharp gasp when his teeth sank into my neck harshly.

"-quiet," he hissed lowly against my stinging skin.

Silently, I reached for the ties of his hakama as his fingers delved between the folds of my open yukata.

Information!

Onna-Bugeisha - These women were incredible. Noble Japanese women that trained alongside the samurai that served their husbands or fathers. There was a huge surge in mentions of the Onna-Bugeisha in the Warring States era, and man I could talk about these women all day. These women played a crucial role in Japanese history and it always hurts me that they're not very well known. They were fierce and Nori would absolutely take up arms and slay alongside other Onna-Bugeisha if she could. They were actually mentioned way back in the beginning of this fic. Do you remember?

Zanbato - Zanbato's are beautiful swords. They're absolutely massive and could reach well over two metres in length, with the majority of that length being the blade alone. They're called the horse-slaying swords. They were the big guns of Japanese swords. While generally they were constructed like Tachi and katana, the fantasy genre got hold of them and bastardised them in their designs. Swords like Cloud's buster sword from Final Fantasy or Zabuza's seversword from Naruto, and even Bankotsu's Banryu from our very own InuYasha are advertised as zanbato. I have to say, the closest thing I've seen to a traditional zanbato design in modern media is Sephiroth's sword.

Reviews!

Guest - I'll always come back to this beautiful fic. It's far too much fun. I'm not sure I can promise you a tonne of fluff as this fic progresses, but it'll definitely get darker. But who knows? Maybe Naraku will surprise us. I'm sure there'll be little bits of fluff. Nori is quite a cuddly person when she wants to be, after all.

This chapter was fun. Particularly that last scene. I'll never not love the sexual tension between the two of them.