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Strangled Time
Chapter 15
They needed rice. The supply was running low and there was no getting around it; they needed that filler carb to keep their meals sustainable. Which meant a trip to the marketplace.
Ever since that day with the seamstresses, Kagome couldn't help but notice the eyes that began to follow her everywhere. From the moment she stepped into the village until the moment she left, the priestess felt like a colorful little beetle squirming under a microscope.
It was uncomfortable.
Even without the bag of money at her hip, people continued to watch her. Togashimaru had become her official keeper of the purse strings whenever she left, keeping the majority of their funds on his person. Kagome made sure to take with her only a small cord of bronze coins, so that if anything did happen, it wouldn't be too big of a loss. Even so, it was no longer her money that people noticed. It was her face that people recognized, and the metallic shimmer of the silk embroidery on the clothes she'd been pressured into purchasing. It was her trademark simple hair and unique blue eyes.
They knew her now.
Rumors had spread faster than the flames that one day claim that city again and again, dubbing it the city of fires.
It was one thing when they stared. The stares she could deal with. She'd received plenty of stares during her past travels, wearing the shorter skirt of her middle school uniform.
Kagome paid the merchant across from her for the bag of rice that she hefted into her arms, enough to last them a month, at least. Then she offered him a curt bow to finalize the transaction. The bow he gave her in return was much deeper than necessary.
She turned away, avoiding the looks. Her eyes trained to the dirt of the street. She tried her hardest to keep her distance from the other passing pedestrians, but it was impossible. The road was too busy. The people too dense.
When she got too close, they stopped.
When she passed, they bowed.
Like gawkers at some sort of royal procession, they bowed, some in silence, others offered greetings.
Every now and again, a few asked for blessings.
Kagome's face burned red as she scuttled along the path. Yeah. The stares were nothing compared to that sort of extra attention.
...
Togashimaru watched lazily as Kagome stormed up over the hill. His eyes followed as she stomped across the clearing, leaving thick clouds of annoyance in her wake. The heavy rice sack was dropped carelessly to her bedroll and she walked around the fire to grab her kettle. Her hand ripped the poor metal container from the ground, its handle creaked in pain at the hinges.
It swung round and pointed at him, a threatening extension of her arm. He didn't doubt her ability to perform impressive feats of blunt force trauma armed with such a kitchen utensil.
"Stop. Staring." The girl from the future growled.
Vaguely, Togashimaru wondered if she had picked up that habit of growling from his son.
Not one to back down from a challenge, the intensity of his gold eyes held firm. He raised a single eyebrow.
Kagome kept her stance for five seconds, then eight. And then the kettle fell to her side with a loud and exasperated groan. Free hand raked through her hair and caught on a snare. The noise she made at that was a little more helpless.
"You are upset." The dog demon stated the obvious, and before her anger could ignite against him once more he added, "Would you like to talk about it?"
In a tiny, embarrassed motion, Kagome nodded. She knelt down in the grass across from him and hugged the steel water kettle to her chest. The look on her face went through a range of emotions—frustration, annoyance, humiliation, anger—before finally settling into a placid and flat disgruntlement.
Her lips practically pursed when she finally admitted to him what had her in such a poor mood, eyes askance.
"The people in the village think I'm some sort of undercover princess or something."
Togashimaru blinked.
Surely she wasn't serious.
But there was no trace of a lie in her scent and her mood told of the utmost severity.
The dog barked with laughter, uproarious and deep. He had to physically hold his side to keep his humor from injuring himself further. It hurt like hell, but the joy it gave him was well worth it.
"You," He said between what little breaths he could find, "Are certainly no princess!"
The light flickered back into Kagome's eyes as the hilarity of it infected her. "I know, right!?" She found herself grinning to the gums. "That's what I'm saying!"
Kagome joined in on his amusement, laughing at the absurdity of it all. But it was only funny for a little bit. It was at her own expense, after all. The moment his laughter carried on for longer than what would have been appropriate—he couldn't help himself, it had been too long since he'd truly found something so hilarious—she snapped.
He caught the kettle a moment too late. The large demon curled over the metal orb, shaking from both pain and the coattails of his mirth.
"It's not that funny, Toga!" She bit.
And then, once more, she was off in a huff.
He regretted nothing.
...
Kagome didn't mind sharing an afternoon tea with Saburo. In fact, she rather enjoyed it. It was usually really relaxing to shoot the breeze with the scruffy blacksmith.
However, that outing was much different than the others they had before.
"You need not look so distressed, Miss Kagome."
The teen bristled when Ichiro spoke up from the bench beside her. Serenely, the much taller man brought his porcelain cup of hot tea to his lips and smiled against its warmth. Across from them, Saburo was a stiff board, full of split hairs and splinters. Young Shiro completed their party. The leaner boy was at the very end of Saburo's bench, glaring at any who dared to look towards their table. That included their poor hostess.
The eldest of the brothers continued on, as if blissfully unaware of the awkward tension building around him. "None of them shall be a bother to you." He nodded in the direction of the gaggle of strangers sitting at the table over from them who kept stealing glances at her. "Not while we are here. A young princess must have a dutiful guard, must she not?"
Saburo choked on his tea.
Shiro rolled his eyes.
Every single person in the establishment flinched when Kagome slammed her hands down on the table. Every single person except Ichiro. The outburst knocked over her cup.
She turned to pin him to the wall with an accusatory look.
"You did this."
His easy smile wasn't the least bit phased as he took a sip from his tea.
"I can assure you, Miss Kagome, that this was not of my doing." There was a dangerous spark of humor in his charcoal eyes when he added, "At the very least, not intentionally. I should have clearer with Tabenosuke, regarding the terms of his silence."
...
"Miss Kagome, I'm sorry 'bout that." Saburo said as they crested the first part of the hill on the outskirts of the city. "My brother, he's a bit of a..."
"Snake? Weasel? Smartass?" She stopped before the thin corpse of trees that hid the rest of her path from view. She'd started going the long way around between the well and village a few days prior. Not only was it slightly less steep, but it also brought less attention to herself than walking straight up the bald face of the hill. Boy was she glad she decided to do that. The last thing she needed was nosy villagers wondering where in the forest their mysterious princess was going.
God forbid a stranger followed her to the well.
"I was gonna say a mover and shaker." He continued, tickled pink from hearing her more colorful descriptors. "He's a taste that's gotta settle on yer tongue, once ya see past that charm of his. Heart's in the right place, promise."
"He paraded me around town on purpose. Just to get people to talk!"
"Intrigue is worth th' investment."
Kagome spun and shot him a pointed look. "What's that supposed to mean? You think I'm some sort of investment?"
"Not me!" The big guy stumbled over himself trying to find all of the pieces of the landmine he'd unwittingly stepped on. He looked honestly distraught by her accusation; there was no way he'd been in on it. "lchiro. It's somethin' he says a lot; intrigue is worth the investment. It's how he turns the markets in his favor. That's not the kinda stuff I deal with. I make tools. My brother makes money. Not actual coin money. Nothin' in shop like that, nothin' illegal. He flower-talks the gossips and somehow the prices change. If I'da known what he was up ta-!" His large hands ran from the stubble on his chin to the roots of his hair as he stared up at the sky. Then he gave a soft groan, as if his next words were causing him physical pain. "And he only targeted ya because I—"
"Saburo." The young woman put a stop to his train of self-blame. He probably hadn't yet cashed in that coin she'd given him. "It's alright. I'm not mad at you."
Relief poured over him like a bucket of cool water in summer. "Yer not?"
She offered him a haggard grin. "No. I'm mad that it blew up so much, yeah, but none of that was your fault. Ichiro was the big mastermind behind all this, right? Think I made a big enough scene back there to make him learn his lesson?" At that Kagome laughed. Saburo flushed; embarrassment still fresh in his memory. He practically had to carry her out of the teahouse kicking and screaming. Not exactly the picture of royal grace and dignity. "Sorry to drag you into that."
His blush deepened until the bridge of his nose looked like he'd stayed out in the sun a few hours too long. Looking away over the village, he rubbed the back of his neck, over his hair that had fallen loose in the scuffle. "I'll talk ta my brother. See he sets stuff straight. I tried tellin' him you weren't like any other woman. Yer a fighter, not a doll, and I didn't think you'd take too kindly ta bein' taken fer one."
Saburo paused to glance up the hill. "But even so. Strong or no, the nights are gettin' cold. Are ya really still campin' up there? Yer gonna get yourself sick; you should really be stayin' at an inn or somethin'. I could set ya up with my sister. She'd treat ya real well, getcha fed and safe."
His words faded away as a flurry of leaves passed them on the breeze.
Her smile was soft, but he had trouble meeting her eyes.
A grey storm of resolve raged within them.
"I won't leave him alone out here." Kagome told him. "Toga and I... we're not here because we want to be. We're in this together. I made him a promise; we're going to find the woman he loves most and their son before... Before destiny sinks its claws into him. If keeping him safe and helping him get strong enough to do that means camping out on the ground and working a little harder for dinner, then I'll be camping on the ground. When you really care about someone, or if it's just the right thing to do, you make sacrifices."
"R-right." Saburo stuttered as though the priestess had reprimanded him. "'Course." He added, again unable to meet her gaze. He'd been acting strangely since she'd gone to the currency trader with Ichiro. Or perhaps it'd been since he'd met with the demon up at the well. Kagome noted that he didn't make a move to continue walking her to the top of the hill. Instead, he took a step back. He moved to bow, but thought better of it and gave a polite but friendly nod instead. "I should be gettin' back ta work." The blacksmith said tersely, and then he took his leave.
"Saburo!" Kagome called after him before he could step out of earshot. "Thank you for walking me back."
Pausing to look back at her, his eyes drifted over her shoulder to the path that would take her up to the well, her makeshift campsite, and her unconventional companion. Then he settled on her. The smile he offered her was threaded with concern, but warm all the same.
"Any time. You take care, Miss Kagome."
...
After the chaos of the day, the calm of the late afternoon was a welcome change of pace for the priestess curled up by the fire and wrapped in her little green blanket. She watched the rice bubble as it boiled down to a creamy porridge over the red hot embers; the onion, fresh poultry, and mushrooms made the clearing smell like her mom's home cooking. It was comfort food through and through. The pot would probably last them a couple days, too.
Good, because if the clouds on her breath were any indication, she'd be dedicating the next few days to collecting a cache of firewood for the nights to come. The clouds above them hung thick and heavy, and the air was frigid. The leaves hadn't all fallen from the trees, yet winter's kiss was already threatening frost.
Other than that, everything was good. Togashimaru had recovered from his laughing spree and was resting against the well with his eyes closed. Guard down and relaxed. He'd even apologized for being insensitive... after a little bit of prodding.
Kagome didn't think about the embarrassment that Ichiro and the villagers had caused her, instead she focused on bigger and brighter adventures, like the journey they had ahead of them.
Sure, she could out herself as a priestess on a mission from Kyoto instead of a princess, but even that came with its own set of problems. People would seek her out to heal every last sick and injured person in the village, they would beg for medicines and cures that she didn't have, and waste precious time wanting her to exorcise demons and monsters from their homes that only existed in their minds.
Never would she turn away somebody in need of help, but she wasn't about to invite them to flock to her, not with Togashimaru under her care and still in such a delicate state. If they knew that she was harboring a half-dead demon, knowing that one had ransacked their city's castle just a few years prior, there was no way they'd take kindly to either of them.
And if they ever found out that he was the same demon that had attacked, killing so many of their men...
No. Everything was good. Everything was fine. The only person who knew about Togashimaru was Saburo, and he was someone Kagome could trust.
Right?
Kagome bit back the strange wave of unease that filled her right then and forced herself to smell the porridge, to savor the comfort and memories of home it brought her.
At that moment, everything was good.
Togashimaru shifted behind her in a sudden movement, she heard the abrupt rustle of thick cotton and then a pause. Then silence. In the dying light of the day, Kagome twisted to look at him. He was upright and stiff, eyes trained to the shadows of the forest opposite the village. A flock of birds flew from the branches of the Goshinboku.
Without turning to face her, the dog spoke, his jaw tense. "Do you have the ability to create a barrier?"
The priestess's eyes wandered to walking stick in his hands, gripped tight by white knuckles. They narrowed.
That feeling of unease returned. Her stomach sank.
"Yeah, a decent one." She pulled away the blanket and shoved it into her pack, allowing the nip of the wind to bite at her exposed neck. Then she was on her feet. Food forgotten, quiver on back, bow on shoulder. The kimono she was wearing was adjusted, tugged higher and tucked beneath her sash so that the skirts reached the knee, granting her the freedom of movement.
Togashimaru had no such luxury.
When she stepped closer he held out his arm. Kagome took his forearm and helped the tall demon to his feet.
"What's out there?" She finally asked when he was somewhat steady.
His eyes darkened in a way she'd never seen before as he stared in the direction of the distant demonic aura.
"...My son."
Kagome's mouth went dry.
So much for everything being good.
End Chapter
[Author's note: Well that turned out to be a bigger cliff hanger than I intended. I'm sorry for leaving you hanging here for now, but I'm going to be going on hiatus for a little bit. This month is NaNoWriMo, and I've got a project that I am focusing on for the rest of November. Namely, schoolwork. Lovely project, right? But seriously, it's something I need to focus on. (My schooling will end someday, I promise) So, thank you to everyone who has reviewed, and be on the lookout for more updates in December! 3]