The Bride Chapter 3

The Musashi Province consisted of what is now Tokyo, Saitama, and Kanagawa. In theory, this land was ruled by Onigumo. But Onigumo had barely survived the beheading of a certain miko. He had thought it a good idea to try to get her to murder her beloved half-demon so that he may take her to be queen. The miko's powers were great and Onigumo was left severely wounded and of unsound mind. These days he could often be heard mumbling to himself about the one that got away. As such, most of his important decision making was arbitrary, leaving the citizens of the province rather displeased.

As it was, Prince Muso actually ran things. And if Japan had been unified, Prince Muso would have been the most powerful man in all of Japan. Even in its broken war-torn state, few would willingly go against Muso, this was in part thanks to his retainer, Count Naraku.

Count Naraku was the prince's only confidant. Not much was known about him other than his name, that he was often with a woman, and that he had the title Count bestowed upon him by the Price some years back. Not even the Prince knew more.

The mysterious woman often in the Count's company was considerably younger than him and also bore an uncanny resemblance to the man. This caused uncertainty amongst the nobles of their particular relationship. Despite the age gap she appeared no less powerful and carried herself in such a way that her power and importance were conveyed by looks alone but should someone be unlucky enough to cross her they would learn of her passion, sorcery. This passion when paired with the Count's cunning made for a dynamic duo that was well known and feared throughout the province.

—-

"Kagome, come outside please." Kagome was reading when she heard her father calling her from outside.

When she walked outside Kagome was met by a large number of pages, soldiers, and servants along with a large carriage outside of her home. The scene itself was rather confusing, but not as confusing as the scene that was to follow. The closer she got to the large procession, the less things made sense. The well-dressed man from the carriage said not a word to her, just stared at her as she walked towards them. Kagome could feel his demonic energy dancing across her skin, and she knew immediately what he was and that she didn't much like him.

Understand now, Kagome was barely in the top twenty in terms of power; her skills were still lacking and no amount of cramming could offset years of slacking. Nothing more had been done in the way of redirecting her aura, and she still hated combat. But Count Naraku could feel her aura, and he could sense it when she was still in the house, which was quite a distance.

"Count Naraku would like to know the secrets behind our cows' greatness." Naraku only nodded in agreement, still staring as Kagome's father spoke.

Kagome was confused as to why her father would summon her to answer this question, as he had all but banned her from the animals since the half-demon complained. To be honest, Kagome was still a little bitter about that, so she had no qualms about passing the question off.

"Ask the farm help, he tends to them."

"And is that the farm help?" A new voice came from inside the carriage. And when Kagome looked toward the sound she saw a woman's face framed by the carriage door.

Kagome could only assume it was the woman that may or may not be the Count's wife. Without putting much thought into it she decided to refer to her as the Countess.

The Countess had perfectly painted red lips; her eyes lined in a matching red making her eyes appear all the more red. Red eyes alone seemed off-putting, but with the expertly applied matching make-up, she managed to make terrifying look classy. Her traditional dancers' kimono contained various shades of red, yellow, purple, black, blue, orange, magenta, and brown, the colors of fall. The brilliance of her appearance alone was enough to make one want to shield their eyes, but it was the demonic energy surrounding her which made Kagome uneasy, it seemed to rival that of the Count's.

Kagome's father glanced back toward a lone figure chopping wood in the distance. "It is."

"Bring him to me."

"He's got lots of work to complete and he's filthy. He is not proper to meet you," Kagome's mother interjected. As it was the half-demon was still in his typical red outfit but it appeared brown from the layer of dirt and sweat that currently covered it.

"I've seen a worker before," The Countess replied. Then she called out to him, "YOU!" She pointed at him and snapped her fingers, much like one would do to a dog. "Come here."

While he wasn't close enough for Kagome to actually see his face, she could all but imagine the look on it. He had stopped chopping wood, which was the only indication that he had heard the woman, as he made no attempt to move.

Kagome's mother made a quick excuse for the boy, something about his hearing being poor while her father gestured for him to indeed come.

When he was close, the Countess left the carriage.

When he was a few paces behind Kagome, he stopped, his eyebrows still raised, making the exact face Kagome had expected. This was the first time Kagome had actually felt his aura and know what it was. It felt different from Count Naraku's and the Countess's. Not less powerful, but different. Where their aura left her feeling discomfort, his wrapped her in a familiar warmth. It danced across her skin leaving her confused as to how she had ever missed that this was his aura in the first place.

The Countess, however, did not seem even the least bit fazed by his lack of manners or his aura and continued on as if stopping to talk to a farmer about his cows were the most natural thing for a noble to do.

"Have you a name?" The Countess asked.

"Keh."

This response from the half-demon elicited a snicker from Kagome and a sneer from her father.

"You will mind your tongue boy, now out with it!" Kagome's father's tone left no room for argument and the half-demons ears lowered to his head.

"Inuyasha." Kagome's father looked like he was about to address the half-demon again, but Kagura waved him off.

"Well, Inuyasha, perhaps you can help us with our problems." She crossed over to him, her movements graceful enough that to the untrained eye, she was floating. Kagome's parents were the untrained eye, they gasped. Kagura smirked at their response, then persisted.

"We are all practically reaching the point of frenzy, such is our curiosity. Why, do you suppose, Inuyasha, that the cows of this particular farm are the finest in all of Musashi? What do you do to them?"

"Feed 'em." His response was short, gruff. It made Kagome happy that he was treating the Countess the same way he treated her.

"Well then, there it is, the mystery is solved, therein lies the secret; we can all rest. Clearly, the magic is in Inuyasha's feeding. Show me how you do it, would you, Inuyasha?"

"Feed 'em?" The half-demon's mouth dropped.

"Bright lad." Kagura's tone let it be known that this interaction amused her greatly. This fact peeved Kagome.

Inuyasha growled. "When?"

"Now will be soon enough," She ignored his aggression and she held out her arm to him. "Lead me, Inuyasha."

This left Inuyasha little choice but to snatch her arm, while maintaining a distance between them, the scowl on his face expressed his displeasure. As he approached the house he stopped, "There's mud." He used his free hand to gesture to her kimono.

"I only wear them once, Inuyasha, and I burn to see you in action." Kagura dragged out the word burn ever so slightly.

So off they went to the cowshed.

Throughout all of this, Count Naraku was watching Kagome who was glaring at the Countess and Inuyasha.

Kagome, not liking the way Kagura had stressed the word burn followed behind them calling out, "I'll help you!"

"Perhaps I'd best see just how he does it," Count Naraku decided.

"Strange things are happening," Kagome's parents said, and off they went too, bringing up the rear of the cow feeding trip, watching Count Naraku, who was watching their daughter, who was watching the Countess. Who was watching Inuyasha.