Blanket Disclaimer: The writer does not own any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi but like everyone else wishes she did. All original characters or concepts are the author's Inuma Asahi De's (with the exception of historical figures).
***PARTIALLY EDITED***
Chapter Fifty-Eight
His Decision
Inuyasha stared at Miroku his eyes wide as his mouth dropped trying to comprehend what his son was saying. "What the fuck?" He thought as his mind ran blank not even able to process any of the words. "Court her?" He blinked a few times tearing his gaze away from Miroku hoping it would help him think. "I'd never thought about it—," He wrung his hands together absently. "Not really—courting her?" He frowned and tore his hands away from each other so he could bury one hand in his hair to help him think. "Would I?" The question was almost lost among the jumble of other questions that were running in his head. "Ano—," He started to say but the word dropped off his lips and he glanced back at Miroku with an opened mouth. "Nani?" He whispered in Japanese too stunned to think of any other language.
"It's a legitimate question." Miroku shrugged his shoulders understanding his father's question despite the different language. "Unless there's another reservation you have." He raised his eyebrows as he crossed his arms tightly over his chest, giving Inuyasha a firm look.
The older man drew his lips into a tight line and vaguely popped his knuckles as he looked away from Miroku his mind still not really working right. "Reservations?" He repeated the word trying to figure out what the sentence was implying. "Do I have any reason not to?" He asked himself running the question over and over again in his mind unable to think of anything that really went against her. "The kiss." It popped up in his head almost at the last possible second and he winced before his expression changed to that of memory. "She—."
He saw the flash of surprise that had been in her eyes when he leaned forward.
"She—."
He felt the softness of the doe skin covering her shoulders as he pulled her towards him.
"She—."
He felt her gasp against his lips as he drew her in and pressed them together, her surprise enticing.
"She—."
He felt her lean into him, felt her arms gripping his sleeves he felt her—.
"—kissed back." Inuyasha's heart pounded in his chest, he could deny it all day long but he knew it was true. "She kissed back." Kagome hadn't pulled away or hit him or resisted and he was sure at this point in their relationship that if she had wanted to she would have done it. She had done it before: she had fought back when he marked her, fought back verbally when he threatened her, taunted him when he made rash suggestions to her, stopped him when he had tried to kill the drunk man who had harassed her, and she had easily proven that she was willing to stop unwanted advances when she had destroyed Manten. And yet, she had done nothing to him this time, not a word, not a sound, not a slap, not even a scared scent.
Kagome Dresmont had kissed him, allowed their lips to mold together, had looked up at him with that spark in her eyes and afterwards the spark hadn't left. She had joked with him, talked with him, confided in him. She still trusted him, she still smiled at him, talked with him, shared with him, listened to him. She had stood on deck for hours watching him play, teasing him and laughing when he teased back, delighting in every sonata, solo, concerto, and whimsical fancy he could give her.
"Is that what someone would do if they—," He felt his own mind stutter over the very thoughts forming in his head, his heart not wanting to dare to hope. "If they regretted something," He closed his eyes seeing the kiss as if he was not in his body but hovering above it. He could see his arms on her shoulders, see her leaning forward into him instead of leaning away. "If they hated you for something, is that what they'd do?" The answer surprised him. "No." He opened his eyes to the early morning sun images of the very girl in question playing in front of him as if the scenery did not exist.
He could see her smile, see the little curls that danced around her face, her bright grey eyes shining with mirth and happiness. He could see her dancing in moonlight, holding onto the rail and leaning over the ship to peer at dolphins, he could see her doing a million things—sitting at his desk reading, writing, talking with Sango as she leaned against the rail of the helm's deck, he could see her telling Shippo bed time stories, see her tucking him in and whispering a sweet good night.
"Why wouldn't I?" He asked himself as he watched those images play before him constantly changing to other things she had done; other sights of her he had witnessed.
He saw her on the docks of Port Royal watching him as he watched her as they saw each other for the first time before the image flashed. Suddenly, she was kneeling before him as he tried to hide his face from her. His own black hair was taunting the side of his vision as she smiled at him with complete acceptance in her eyes.
"It's not the same." She whispered softly as she gazed at him seeing him for the first time for what he truly was—a half demon that must serve time as a human. "But you're still you, right?"
Her words rang true in his head, even though he had been human at the time and incapable of telling lies from truths, he knew that she had meant. "Kagome," Her name was like a palm to every pain he had ever known. "Her, me, us?" He blinked as the sun suddenly grew brighter almost blinding him as it rose into a morning sky. "Is there any reason why I shouldn't—why courting her would be bad?" He closed his eyes and opened his mouth all at the same time. "No." He spoke out loud as he dropped his hands to his sides.
Miroku raised an eyebrow his eyes watching Inuyasha carefully just as he had for the past two or three minutes during which Inuyasha had not spoken. "So," He pushed slowly as he watched his father stand there with his hands closed into tight fist at his sides and his eyes squeezed shut as well. "You do want to court her."
Snapping back to reality from Miroku's words Inuyasha growled, his eyes popping opened shining bright against the rising sun, and turned his head towards his son once more sending him a firm glare. "Miroku." He whispered out the word warningly his eyes narrowing to slits as his heart raced in his chest feeling exposed and very vulnerable.
"Wow," Miroku leaned his head back against the railing and closed his eyes. "You want to court 'er," He shook his head slowly back and forth. "The girl in your room right now," He opened his eyes and watched as Inuyasha's glare turned almost into a full out snarl. "That girl," He smirked. "Probably laying down in one of your beds."
Inuyasha bared his teeth at the boy his human mind feeling cornered and embarrassed not yet ready to fully admit out loud what was becoming internalized truth. "Pup." He growled low in his throat even as his mind struggled to make sense of everything. "Mate." The demon inside of him started to whisper seeing its chance to break free and finally convince the human of the possibilities.
"The one," Miroku tapped his chin thoughtfully as he watched the Captain closely for a reaction. "You marked."
The demon in Inuyasha seemed to laugh with delight as Miroku mentioned the mark his pupils dilating and his hands clutching and unclutching as he inhaled sharply through his nose.
"His demon's really reacting but that's to be expected it liked her first after all." He held the smirk at bay knowing better than to tease the demon—the half demon was one thing, the demon was totally another. "It all falls into place.
"Will you just—." He snapped as he turned towards the wheel and gripped it. The rope strained against him as he turned the wheel accidently causing the line to snag.
"The one you," Miroku cut him off easily as he rested his hand on his upturned knee. "Liked on Port Royal, who would have thought?" He playfully raised his hand as if to indicate himself.
"Urg." Inuyasha groaned and looked straight ahead. "Not that again."
Miroku snorted and pointed his finger towards Inuyasha from his knee. "You liked her," He brought the hand up to his face and waved it dismissively. "End of story."
Inuyasha sighed heavily, "I did." He admitted but only to himself. "But it's not like—," He groaned unable to say the word 'now' even in his head. "Back then I—I was just—she was just a girl, a beautiful girl and I was just a masked player in a poor game of chest." He huffed and leaned his forehead against the wheel not daring to look Miroku in the eye. "It's still like that." He told himself firmly as a voice in his head practically laughed at his denial. "Whatever." He spoke out loud keeping his thoughts close to his sleeve.
"You want to court her." Miroku crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head but a smile formed on his face none the less. "I'll be god damned you really do," He licked his lips as he held in a laugh. "I was bluffing."
"What?" Inuyasha's head snapped back up and he looked at his son once again his mind swimming as it tried to comprehend the words he had just heard. "He was bluffing so—he doesn't think it was a goo—he doesn't want me to, what the fuck!?"
Miroku ignored his outburst however, and glanced down at the bandages on his leg with a fond smile. "Sango was right."
Inuyasha blinked several times before scoffing and finally breaking down and undoing the rope on the wheel needing something to do with his hands. "What are you talking about?" He scowled as he spoke, dropping the rope back to the ground as he turned the vessel slightly starboard away from the coast even further.
Miroku continued to ignore him looking actually disappointed in himself. "She totally called it." He frowned deeply and lowered his hands to the deck to run over the wood absentmindedly. "Damn it I'm out five gold."
"Miroku!" Inuyasha automatically chastised for the unwanted attention and the fact that his son and daughter-in-law were betting on his private affairs.
"She said give it six months," Miroku continued to talk to himself as Inuyasha fumed. "Turns out we only needed about—," He leaned back in thought counting off on his fingers. "How longs it been," He touched his pointer, middle, and ring fingers hesitating at the pinky. "Four, five months?"
The dog demon gripped the wheel tightly and stared at the old wood. "Three and a half." He supplied without thought as he glared at the faded lumber dryly.
"You've been keeping track?" Miroku clicked his tongue much to Inuyasha's annoyance.
"I just know how many moons it's been," Inuyasha fired back with a shrug of his shoulders although his grip did tighten even further. "Self preservation."
"I see." Miroku nodded his head as if humoring him. "So what brought all this on?"
Inuyasha turned towards Miroku planning on giving the boy a piece of his mind but stopped when he noticed the strange seriousness that had taken over the boys features. His own son was now not looking at him with humor or jokes but instead with a strict firm gaze that seemed to suggest something unpleasant was about to be addressed.
The boy narrowed his eyes when Inuyasha didn't speak and leaned back further on the railing watching his father with a cryptic and barely concealed glare. "It's not—," He hesitated only a second appearing to gather his thoughts before he posed the question. "That other thing is it?"
"What other thing?" Inuyasha practically snapped every hair on the back of his head standing on end as his instincts told him trouble was forming in the other man's head.
"You know—," Miroku worded delicately not wanting to get his head chopped off in the next five seconds. "Miss Kaede's sist—."
"No," Inuyasha spoke before he could even finish, his eyes staying on Miroku for only a second before he turned away and directed his gaze straight ahead. "It's not her." He spoke slowly but there was no lie in his voice or in his posture, it was honest completely honest. "They're two different people I've already explained that." Inuyasha paused and looked around him, the ship was starting to come alive now and he frowned deeply as he licked his lips. "I don't wanna fucking talk about this." He thought to himself as he gripped the wheel and watched the men coming to stand on deck, taking in the morning air after a long hard night in the forecastle. "This is my business and my business alone no one needs to be involved with this fucking conversation."
"I know they're different," Miroku posed as he licked his lips watching the Captain as he seemed to grow more and more anxious, looking around with his eyes darting this way and that, his hands gripping the wheel tightly. "That's not good." He told himself watching the man's poise start to dissipate. "Why is he getting agitated—did I hit a nerve?" He thought as he chewed the inside of his cheek opening his mouth only to take a chance. "But Miss Kaede said," He began watching as Inuyasha's shoulders tensed. "They look—."
"Enough." Inuyasha cut him off as he grabbed for the rope again. "The men are awake."
"Oh," Miroku acknowledged believing the conversation to be over. "Okay—."
Inuyasha's loud sigh stopped Miroku's words as the older man held onto the rope with one hand and the wheel with the other. He fingered the rope slightly running his thumb over the course fibers for a second as he thought. "This is my fucking business, its effects me and only—," He felt the thought start to die in his head as he turned and looked over at his son who waited patiently on the ground. "—Miroku." The name was loud echoing all around his mind as he looked at the child he had raised from an eight year old beggar to a man.
There had been a time he told him everything. He told him about his mother who gave him the shikon jewel, told him about his father (in very few words yes, but told him none the less), he had told him about Calico Jack and Charles Vane, he had told him about some of the most important people in his life, so what was any different now?
"Should I—should I tell him?" He wondered to himself as he thought of Kikyo and Kagome, two women from one soul but different times and worlds. "He's my son," The logic in his brain argued back. "I've always trusted my son."
"You didn't trust him yesterday."
The voice came so quickly into his head that he almost wasn't sure it was his own. "I didn't did I?" He drew his lips into a tight line. "And yet I know—I can trust him with my life," He brought his head up to look at Miroku watching as the man waited with such patience for him to continue that he almost felt undeserving. "If I can trust your life then I can trust your mouth." Inuyasha's inner voice trailed off as his thumb ran over a particularly rough piece of rope allowing it to dig into his skin. "Met me," He felt the words slip from his mouth. "In my cabin."
"What?" Miroku said surprised as he looked at the older man.
"Twenty minutes." Inuyasha clarified as he put the rope into place holding the wheel tight until he could force Myoga to take over the job. "Met me, we'll send Kagome," His lips hovered over her name for just a second. "To Sango, tell her that um—," He cleared his throat loudly. "We have to chart some stuff and if she wants to sleep she should go bunk with her."
Miroku knitted his eyebrows as he looked at the older man as if he couldn't possibly believe the words coming out of his mouth. "You sure?"
"Yeah—," Inuyasha inhaled deeply through his mouth gulping down the air as if it were water. "You know what—tell it ta Sango," He amended his earlier directions knowing that Kagome at the moment would want nothing to do with Miroku or even himself—she would be far too embarrassed. "Have her go get Kagome."
"Okay—," Miroku agreed and stood up reaching for his crutches just as he heard footsteps on the stairs. He looked towards the top of the stairs asking one more question hastily before the person came to stand on deck, "Why can't you do it?"
"Miroku." Inuyasha's voice was filled with warning that Miroku heard clearly.
"I know: Don't push your luck." He translated it as he watched the head and shoulders of Myoga come into view. "I'm going."
Inuyasha sighed heavily as he glanced at Myoga looking at the little old man with a warning glare as if to tell him not to say a word. "Take the wheel—head fer Boston." He commanded as he moved away from the wheel without another word leaving a stunned Myoga to gape at him.
"Captain?" The man managed to question but couldn't form another word before Inuyasha was simply gone having jumped from the quarterdeck all the way into the bird's nest in one giant bound.
He landed in the familiar hide out easily his hands grabbing for the side of the wood as he pulled himself up over the side and sat down comfortably hiding himself from the rest of the crew, needing to get just a moments peace. Crossing his legs and leaning against the sidewall he sighed heavily bringing his hands up to hold his head, burying his fingers in his bangs as he shut his eyes tight.
"Fuck." He whispered out as images of Kikyo, his lover from so long ago, entered his mind once more. "I hadn't even thought of her." He spoke softly into the air his hands still in his hair and his eyes still squeezed shut. "Not even a little—she, Kagome—I hadn't even—." He opened his eyes and slowly brought his hands out of his hair. "I had forgotten about her again." He told himself and groaned. "It doesn't make a difference, does it? I mean—I know they're different." He told himself but for some reason a doubt popped up in his mind that he couldn't even explain. "Damn it Miroku." He growled angry at the insecurity he thought he had successfully destroyed. "I didn't want to remember that now!"
He snarled and slammed his hand beside him into the sidewall of the crow's nest—a faint rattling sound, so quiet he should have missed it, catching his attention. Surprised, he turned and glanced at the sturdy wood coming face to face with a section that was slightly discolored. For a moment he narrowed his eyes looking at it as if it was nothing particularly special but interesting none the less. Slowly, he brought one hand forward touching a claw to the edge of the discoloration his eyes widening in surprise as it slipped into the wood just slightly.
"What the hell?" He mumbled before realization dawned on him. "Oh wait—Captain Roberts put this here." He told himself as he shook his head and brought his clawed hand away dropping it in his lap. "I forgot—leave it to me to forget where he kept all the important papers." Inuyasha huffed feeling slightly stupid as he relaxed eyes still staring at the discolored wood. "If I hadn't heard the rattle I never would a noticed it." He thought to himself as he smirked his eyes filling with curiosity. "I wonder what rattled?"
Unable to deny himself the chance to quell his curiosity, Inuyasha reached forward sticking his claw back underneath the wood and with some effort using it to pry the small trap door opened only to have a wooden box immediately fall out. It bounced against the side of his leg and then his knee before hitting the ground with a light thud. Despite the gentleness of the landing, the impact still caused the lid to separate from the container its contents spilling out onto the wooden floor. For several seconds Inuyasha sat frozen, his hand still posed in midair, as he looked down at a piece of parchment he hadn't seen in fifty years.
-break-
"Are you sure Kagome?" Sango asked as she hovered behind Kagome who was sitting in front of her in the desk chair before the mirror.
The two girl's had been sequestered into Miroku and Sango's cabin sometime ago by none other than Miroku. The man had given the excuse of "business" something to the effect of charts but nothing of too much importance. In the end however, neither girl had objected to the somewhat strange request, Sango because she enjoyed Kagome's company and Kagome because she had no desire to be trapped in a room with Miroku and the Captain both.
"Yes Sango," Kagome replied as she reached up and twirled a hair around her finger gingerly. "I'm sure."
"But—," Sango protested as she reached for a lock of hair herself pulling it straight to show how long the hair had become. "It grew so much and you want to—."
"I already explained myself," Kagome cut her off and closed her eyes in frustration having thought the discussion was long since over. "It's easier this way."
"But you could let it grow," Sango presented her argument once again as she dropped the little hair and motioned towards her hat that rested on the desk. "And stuff it."
"No," Kagome replied back as she lifted her hand and gently touched her hair once more watching the little curls that ringed around her head. There was something about the way they fell, something about their freedom that enticed her. "I never have to style it, I never have to stuff it under a hat to pretend to be a man." She thought as she smiled ever so faintly. "I can just let it hang free, do as it pleases, not make it answer to any style or anything." The smiled turned just a bit brighter. "It can be itself, I can be myself." Glancing at Sango or at least the mirrors reflection of her Kagome grinned. "I actually kind of like it this way."
Sango blinked and looked down at Kagome surprised by the girls admission, that wasn't something even a poor girl would say. "But—it's your hair?" Sango drug out the words wanting Kagome to understand the importance of it. Hair was a symbol among women, it showed ability and virginity and innocence. It was pride however arrogant and dignity however unnecessary. For a woman to be okay with the idea of having short hair was just unfathomable.
"I know it's my hair Sango," Kagome watched her reflection as she wrapped a little curl around her finger before looking once again into Sango's chestnut eyes. "But is it me?"
Sango made eye contact with the mirror Kagome watching as the girl tried to convey her message purely with her eyes. "What a thing to say," She thought as her mind wrapped around both the words themselves and Kagome's very serine expression. "Is it you? Is your hair part of you, of course." She thought to herself even as Kagome's true meaning drifted into her mind. "But can it define you? No, not anymore than a toenail would define a foot." She looked away from Kagome and down at the pair of scissors that rested in her hands already. "I can see that." Sango mumbled and bit her lip as she looked at Kagome's reflection in the mirror once more. "So just a little bit right?"
"No more than this." Kagome held up her thumb and pointer finger showing Sango about an inch of separation between the two. "That's not nearly as much as when I cut it myself but still not to my shoulders."
Sango pouted in the mirror as she ran a hand through Kagome's hair delighting in the little curls. "Can't I just trim it a tiny bit?" She asked playfully. "I don't want to kill your natural curls."
Kagome giggled at the puppy dog look on the other girl's face. "I've made up my mind Sango." She said in a sing song voice that made the other woman smile at her slightly in the mirror.
"I know." The older woman sighed the slight smile dropping from her face as she finally gave up her shoulders slumping as she huffed. "It'll grow back anyway—," She pouted before groaning heavily and waving her free hand. "So if you change your mind after, you'll just have to wait a few months for it to grow back."
Kagome grinned and clapped her hands together glad that Sango had agreed to the haircut. "Exactly," She nodded her head a few times before pointing at her head. "Now cut away!"
"Yes ma'am." Sango smiled as she spoke bringing the scissors up towards Kagome's head. She hesitated for only a moment as she opened the scissors slowly, hesitating as she gently maneuvered a piece of Kagome's curly black hair into position. "Last chance." She whispered as she looked at Kagome's calm and relaxed face.
"Go ahead Sango."
The older woman nodded and took one deep breath before she slowly brought the two blades of the scissors back together, the sound of the hair being cut strange in the quiet cabin. The little curl now separated from its owner's head drifted towards the ground unheeded before settling there quite innocently.
"See that wasn't so bad." Kagome joked as she watched Sango smile faintly.
"It's a shame but it's your shame." Sango joked as well as she calmed and continued to snip small curl after small curl, the sound of the scissors cutting filling the nearly silent room.
Kagome watched Sango's progress in the mirror vaguely her mind drifting to two men very much alone in the other cabin right beside them. "Are they really discussing charts?" She wondered as she thought about the occurrence this morning where Miroku had stumbled onto an innocent yet still scandalous scene. "Or something else—maybe—," She worried as she licked her lips. "Me?" She forced herself to stay still even as her own thoughts made her want to shift uncomfortably. Glancing at Sango in the mirror once more she bit her lip slightly in hesitation before opening her mouth. "Did Miroku say what they were doing?" Kagome ventured to ask her eyes staying on Sango's face that was drawn tight in a line of concentration.
"Something about charts," Sango replied as she focused on Kagome's head her hands running through the hair looking for strands that needed to be shortened to match her original cut. "They're probably mapping out our path." She offered somewhat distractedly as she grabbed a hair and cut into it another black curl falling to the ground.
"Oh," Kagome pursed her lips as she tried to remain still knowing better than moving. "So they know where we're going?"
"Boston." Sango informed as she stepped back a step and looked at Kagome's hair closely before stepping towards her once more and reaching for another hair. "I think that's what Miroku said anyway."
"Oh wow," Kagome felt a jolt of excitement go through her at the prospect. "I've heard a lot about Boston. There're many places I've wanted to visit."
Sango stopped cutting at the sound of Kagome's excited voice and lowered the scissors nervously. "We won't," She spoke evenly even as her hands started to twitch against the scissors apprehensively. "Be going ashore."
"Oh," Kagome whispered surprised as she glanced back at Sango an uneasy feeling in her gut as she watched the older woman fidget. "What'll we be doing?"
The other woman took a deep breath and offered Kagome a weak smile. "Raiding—," She spoke the word and looked away from the shocked face of Kagome in the mirror. "We need money." She continued trying to sound nonchalant but knowing it wasn't coming across that way.
"Raid!" Kagome chocked out as she turned away from the mirror to look at Sango dead on.
Sango took a step back at the sudden turn and looked down at her shoes before moving her head back up, lifting her chin with pride and dignity. "Yes," She spoke honestly wanting Kagome to see that she wasn't ashamed of it. "We're pirates."
Kagome felt herself blink at the phrase. "I know that." She thought even as her mind raced with one particular idea. "But this is the first time you've ever really done anything pirate like." In the time she had been on the Shikuro she had witnessed them selling, fighting in bars, threatening people for her well being, hitting people for her well being, attacking people for her well being, nearly killing people for her well being. But they had never done anything that would endanger people for no one's well being. "But—."
"We only go after the navy vessels." Sango cut her off before the girl could say anything. "Well, ever since I got here that is."
"But," Kagome tried again as she looked around her struggling with her own thoughts. "Navy vessels still have people on them—innocent people." She blinked remembering vaguely the cargo they had sold from the navy on the Port of Spain. "That wasn't so innocent."
"We need money." Sango cut her off again as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Stealing stuff from the navy is the only way we can get money without really hurting innocent blood." She stared Kagome down in the mirror as she thought. "And they're the better target."
Kagome started to open her mouth to say 'but' once again but failed as she looked at Sango's defensive posture. "Do their deeds make them truly better targets?" She found the question hard to even think let alone answer. "If you're going to steal from someone is it better to make sure they're corrupt?" She looked away from the girl down at the wooden floorboards. "Is that evil? Is stealing from a corrupt navy so decent people might survive evil?" Something in Kagome felt like it clicked at the words as she looked up at Sango who still stood tall and defensive. "Is this woman evil for wanting to live? Is the navy innocent just because it works with the law? Should the law dictate goodness and badness—does anything have that power?" She realized with a frown. "What's wrong with it, what's wrong with their philosophy?" In the end she could only think of one thing. "Will anyone," She started to speak softly. "Die?"
Sango felt herself pause at the question actually surprised by it. "I don't know." She offered as she watched the much younger girl wince at her words.
"I understand needing money and I understand that the navy isn't necessarily filled with good men." Kagome spoke as she brought her hands to her lap and clutched at the fabric of her skirt. "But I can't sit by and watch blood be spilt no matter the case." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "No matter the reason, even if it's one that keeps me alive." She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at Sango appearing almost desperate. "Blood spilt is still blood spilt—a vicious cycle."
The older girl looked on at Kagome stunned into silence.
"I understand that they have to do what they have to do but—," She looked down and sighed as her morals entered her completely nearly drowning her as she sat. "I don't want—I can't." She stressed as she imagined the mysterious figure that had given her the bow that now resided in the Captain's cabin.
"Hate only begets hate, violence only begets violence and you Kagome—are the only one who could possibly stop it."
"I can't be a part of that." She finished as the voice rung in her head loud. "It's not my nature." She whispered as pain filled her body, a doubt seeping into her heart as she wondered if she was right. "Is this wrong?" She still questioned. "Shouldn't I stop it? Isn't that what the voice told me to do, I'm the only one who can stop the cycle—isn't this part of the cycle, a bigger cycle with bigger hate. The crown hates pirates for raiding them and pirates hate the crown for forcing them. So shouldn't I stop this?"
"Is the orphaned beggar child to be punished for stealing bread?"
Kagome winced as the harsh voice filled her head. It was the voice she had always heard and knew very well but this time it sounded angry, pissed off for lack of better word that held a strong enough connotation. She blinked, her heart stopping in her chest as the answer filled her very soul. "No."
"I understand how you're feeling." Sango whispered as she looked at that pain as it mounted in Kagome's eyes not knowing of the true inner monologue that was occurring. Slowly, she walked around the chair and knelt down before Kagome placing her hands gently on the younger girl's knees. "I'm not one for the raids either." Sango admitted as she looked at the fabric of Kagome's pants, technically her pants. "But I know they have to be done—you know these men Kagome," She looked away from the fabric into Kagome's eyes almost sadly. "They're good men they'd die for you for me and we know it." She smiled faintly but the expression looked very strained. "They'd do anything to keep us safe and happy and this is part of that." She sniffled and brought her hands off of Kagome knees to rest on her own as she knelt down in front of the other girl. "This is what keeps us alive and I know the Captain doesn't just kill for the hell of it." She pursed her lips and turned back to Kagome. "It's something he does only when he has to."
Her words caught Kagome off guard.
"He's a good man and not a true killer." She looked Kagome straight in the eyes as she spoke, holding the younger girls gaze firmly wanting her to understand what she was saying one hundred and ten percent. "He'll beat the shit out of someone, he'll kill when provoked, but he will never kill just over some fucking gold or poppy.
Kagome felt guilt suddenly form in her heart as she took in Sango's words and realized they were words she should have already known. Sure, she had only known the man for a few months but she had gotten to know him in that short amount of time better than anyone. He was a kind, honest, and decent man who had acted violently in the past but had always stopped when his point was made. She had never seen him kill in cold blood, in fact she had seen him wound men on purpose, seen him take bullets and hits so others might not know pain. She had seen him shrug off all his actions, modest, or at least not accepting of praise. He was not the kind of man to kill for the sake of killing and he would never allow his crew to take that ideal either.
He was not the man she had thought he was. He was not the man that had marked her coldly—he was the man who had done it to save her life. He was not the man who attacked another for only blood—he was the man who did so to defend her or others honor. He was not the man who killed at random—he was the man who carefully aimed to wound not kill. He was everything she had not expected. He was everything she had not expected to encounter as a child sitting in her bed at night afraid of the demon lurking outside her window.
"It's strange." Kagome whispered into the air looking at her lap deliberately. "When I was little my mother told me bedtime stories about Captain Inuyasha."
Sango looked up at Kagome completely stunned. The girl had never said a word about hearing bedtime stories of the Pirate Captain Inuyasha. She had always thought Kagome hadn't really been aware of his title and purpose until after they all had met. "I didn't think her mother was one to tell stories especially not those stories."
"She said—," Kagome looked at her fingers watching as they touched each other as if they were on another person's hand. "Captain Inuyasha was as bad as pirates came—." Her voice faulted but she continued. "A phantom, lurking in the waters of every coastal town." Kagome continued watching her hands her eyes looking farther and farther away. "No one knows what he looks like—descriptions of him are rare but of those who had seen him and lived, Kagome." She spoke as her mother had spoken. "Of those brave enough to speak of him in dark taverns deep at night," She blinked slowly as if coming back to herself. "One thing is certain," She lifted her head and looked straight at Sango. "He was no human."
"Kagome?" The other woman started to speak but stopped short when Kagome started to smile almost sadly.
"A strange thing, a demon pirate." Kagome continued chuckling to herself. "Most pirate's are human, being a pirate is a human trade and demons, Kagome, see it below themselves to spend their lives scraping for food upon the whirlwind waters of an opened ocean." The girl blinked as the last phrase left her tongue. "Scraping for food?" She repeated her own words before seeming to scoff and continue on with her point. "She always finished the story by telling me Captain Inuyasha would get me if I wandered from my room and went outside."
Sango frowned in surprise having heard a very similar thing from her mother as well, only it didn't involve Inuyasha but instead a group of rouge wolf demons that often terrorized the French coastal town she had grown up in.
"I often did that you know," Kagome spoke up over Sango's thoughts as she looked down at the floor where one of her hair clippings lay. "Wandered from my room and went outside to play in the sea but after she told me of Captain Inuyasha who lurked underneath the water's surface," She smiled faintly and reached down to pluck the hair from the ground, twirling it in her fingers as she brought it back to her face. "I stopped going at least," The girl chuckled. "For a little while but still his legend scared me that much back then but—." Her eyes became distant as the man in question formed in her head.
His boyish grin, his sweet gold eyes, his honest face, his gifted violin playing fingers, the way he could sound like a noble one minute and then a brash brute the next, the way he recited Shakespeare, the way he spoke of "Comus" and Swift, the way he danced, the way he sang, even his words about the very hair she held between her pointer finger and her thumb right now: "You—well—um—look good," He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Either way." All of it contradicted everything she had just said.
"The legend is a lie." Kagome spoke but whether she was telling herself or Sango remained unknown. "All a lie." She turned her eyes and finally looked at Sango sadly. "He's a better man than that. He's a better man and I trust him to do what needs to be done so that I—you—might live a happy and safe life."
The older woman still kneeling on the ground looked at Kagome amazed as she took in the look on the other girl's face seeing in it everything she had thought would be there one day but not this soon.
-break-
Miroku sat in Inuyasha's cabin watching as the Captain sat silently in front of him at his desk hunched over the table looking at one of the last parchments that was left as if it was a three headed falcon that spat fire. "He's been staring at it for—," Miroku paused in thought as he watched the Captain tap a claw against the paper. "At least five minutes." He frowned and chewed on his lip. "I wish the silence would just break already—I wanna know what this is gonna be about."
The young man inhaled deeply at the very thought of the possible topics of this particular conversation. They had never really discussed the woman who was Kagome's incarnation; it had been a forbidden topic since day one. He knew virtually nothing about her either accept that she and his father had been intimate long ago and that Kikyo had been ashamed of it, so ashamed in fact that she had decided upon her death to erase the relationship from the Captain memories: the ultimate form of showing regret.
"And now," Miroku shifted from his spot on Inuyasha's bed the other chair he normally would have sat in currently in his and Sango's room for whatever reason. "He's interested in another version of her." The boy winced at his thoughts immediately taking them back. "No—Kagome's Kagome, Miss Kaede told us so much when we saw her in New Orleans." He nodded his head firmly not wanting to think anything else on that particular nasty topic. "Still—does he know that?" Miroku questioned as he brought his eyes to Inuyasha once more watching as the man stared at the parchment, its contents purely unknown. "Parchments pretty interesting?" He ventured to speak wanting the silence to end so his own anticipation for the conversation could be satisfied. "Huh?"
Inuyasha didn't say anything right away as he continued to stare at the parchment, his ears not even twitching as they normally would. "Kikyo." He thought to himself stuck in his own mind and his own memories of the past.
He was stretched out on Kikyo's bed his hands behind his head supporting his neck so he could look up and watch her as she sat at her vanity. She was beautiful and naked in front of her mirror her hard yet somehow soft eyes looking at herself as he gently ran her brush through her long straight black hair. The dog demon smiled to himself the reflected expression catching her eye and causing her pause as she looked at his mirror image.
"Yes?" She asked as she sat the brush down almost silently on the vanity and turned in the chair, her long hair covering her perky breast much to his disappointment.
"Nothing." He replied evenly as he turned on his side, the sheets that still covered him up to his waist shifting as he did bundling up around his stomach even higher. "I was just admiring you." He admitted just as she brought her hand up to her own neck and fingered the jewel he had given her not a month before on this same moonless night as a promise gift—a courting gift.
She looked away from him as she touched it and turned back to the vanity reaching for the top drawer on the right. "I have something for you." She whispered out as she opened the drawer and reached inside pulling out a small piece of parchment. "A painter who comes to the tavern made it for me one afternoon—," She whispered as she turned towards him and handed him the paper. "I thought you could use it when we're apart to remember me." Her words sounded fragile but not from shyness—no, not from shyness at all.
The dog demon blinked as he came back to himself surprised when his eyes seemed moist. Anger welled in him and he resisted the urge to snarl before slamming his hand against the parchment that rested in front of him. Behind him he heard Miroku jump and frowned feeling slightly guilty as he realized how long the boy had waited in complete silence.
"I have to just—I have to just talk. Sitting here brewing won't do anything." He told himself as he pulled his hand away from the parchment and looked down at the contents. He was staring at the face he hadn't seen in years and had only remembered recently. "I couldn't tell you," He began his voice causing Miroku to jump just as his slamming hand had. "Who drew this—I didn't even remember it existed until our conversation what—an hour ago, thirty minutes ago?" He reasoned as he stared at the picture almost feeling disgusted with himself as he did. "I guess I had blocked it out until then." He chuckled and finally pulled his eyes away from the parchment to look at Miroku. "It was hidden in the crow's nest—can you believe that?" He questioned his face looking completely flabbergasted. "Small panel up there." He answered the question even though it hadn't even been implied through words or body language. "I can't even remember putting it there. I remember getting it but I don't remember putting it up there. Didn't even remember it existed—damn."
Miroku winced at the curse but not because it was a course but because it had a duel meaning. "Does he regret not knowing it was there?" The boy questioned himself before shaking the thought away and choosing to focus on something else. "There's a panel?" He whispered. "In the crow's nest?"
"Yeah—my Captain, well Captain Roberts not my Captain no more." Inuyasha amended with a frown and a far off look in his eyes. "He put a safety panel for maps and shit like that up in the crow's nest in case we got raided. Totosai waterproofed the little door so nothing we kept in it would get wet." The demon shook his head back and forth. "Important stuff went up there back then but I stopped using it long before I had you. Maybe when she took my memories," He reached forward and touched the parchment gently indicating who he meant even though Miroku still couldn't see the parchment from his place on the bed. "She took that as well."
"Otou-san?" Miroku whispered as he heard some of the old pain in his father's voice, loud and clear.
Inuyasha only snorted in response and dropped his hands to his sides letting them dangle on either side of the wooden chair. "They have the same face," He whispered as he looked at not the picture but the wall where some of his weapons had been hung up once again. "But different features."
"Huh?" Miroku muttered wanting clarification. He thought he knew what Inuyasha was talking about but it was so out of the blue that he couldn't quite follow the Captain's words.
"Kikyo's hair was straight," Inuyasha began again his eyes looking distant as he spoke. "And her eyes were black you can't tell that in the picture though cause its black and white." He moved his focus from the wall to the picture in question reaching forward to pick it up and then turning it so Miroku could see the woman from so many years before.
The younger man blinked as he took in the picture. It was beautifully done even though it had been created using nothing but black charcoal as a medium. The woman's features were sharp and distinct but somehow sad and obedient all at the same time. Her hair was as the Captain had said, straight—even her bangs straight—as if they had grown to match her very nature. Her eyes were harsh, narrowed, solid, and sad as if she somehow had encountered every evil the universe had to offer and all that evil had broken her, hardened her, and filled her. Despite that however, one thing remained in her stern yet saddened countenance: beauty. She was beautiful, "Absolutely beautiful." Miroku thought. "But nothing like Kagome."
" Kagome—," Inuyasha began as if sensing the pattern of Miroku's thoughts. "You've seen her," He glanced at Miroku ever so slightly. "Her hair's all curly and her eyes are that strange grey color," He looked away and continued speaking so softly Miroku had to strain to hear. "Not white but not black but not both. They're so—they're Kagome's eyes." He spoke as if Miroku wasn't there and he was only talking to himself. Carefully, he lowered the picture and turned it back towards him so he could look at it as well.
Miroku watched as he stared at it faintly his eyes filled with memories that only he would ever know. "Otou-san." Miroku whispered but not to get attention, no, it was to release his own pity.
A faint smile crossed Inuyasha's face suddenly and he reached his hand forward to barely touch the picture knowing that the charcoal would smear. "It's not just their faces though." He spoke but it wasn't certain if he was talking to Miroku or himself. "Their personalities are nothing alike." He continued absently as he reached forward and gently sat the parchment back on the desk. "Kagome's bright and vibrant." He chuckled to himself before suddenly going nearly expressionless. "And Kikyo was cold—," The word sounded bitter and lonely as it left his lips. "I mean she was beautiful," He looked at the picture wrinkles Miroku had barely ever registered showing up on his face. "But she always looked," He brought his head away from the parchment and leaned back to look at the ceiling. "Sad, depressed, lost. She always looked at me with this mixture of disappointment and," His voice trailed off and he finally seemed to come to himself looking over at Miroku his eyes conveying a message the boy recognized easily. "And shame."
Miroku frowned at his words as they brought back even more memories from the conversation nearly two months prior in Kaede's tavern.
"Wouldn't want her to tarnish her dying reputation," He threw his hands in the air his voice just as sarcastic as the look on his face. "By telling the world about me, the fucking," He stopped just short of saying what he wanted to. "Demon pirate she bedded!"
Kagome didn't even have time to acknowledge the meaning behind those words as realization struck her. "That's it." She thought everything coming together just as the words left the Captain's mouth. "That's why—she—she was ashamed." Kagome blurted out, instantly bringing a hand to cover her mouth in horror.
"She didn't—," Miroku whispered as the truth about his father's relationship with the woman from so long ago finally started to make perfect sense. "She was ashamed of who you were?" It sounded like a question but it was one Miroku really didn't need an answer to. "And not just about being a pirate—." He let it hang in the air wanting to hear the truth from the horse's mouth.
The man in questioned sighed heavily and brought his lips into a tight firm line. "Kikyo hated my demon blood." He spoke truthfully even as his hands shook with both anger and betrayal. "She would only see me during the new moon," He continued causing Miroku complete pause as his father reached for the parchment and gripped it tightly some of the charcoal smearing onto his fingers. "Never a minute before the sun went down would she see me," His voice was strained. "Or a second after it came up."
"Wh—?" Miroku practically scowled at the words hating that someone would treat his father like that.
"She hated me when I was in this form—detested really," Inuyasha spoke words he had never told anyone—releasing anger he had forgotten he even had. "She wouldn't even see me, only did maybe once," He thought for a second. "Maybe twice besides when I first met her." He closed his eyes tightly and nearly allowed himself to bang his head on the desk. "And even when I was human she brought it up sometimes." He let go of the parchment watching as it remained crumbled on the desk. "It always bothered her."
Miroku clutched his hands into the unused bed sheets of his father's bed, anger at this woman he had never met forming in his heart.
"But you're right," Inuyasha continued talking ignorant to his son's current state as his own heart began to calm: the image of a very different woman replacing the parchment before him. "It doesn't bother Kagome."
Miroku's hands went slack on the sheets as he blinked surprised in the sudden turn around. "What, when I say that?"
The half demon man knitted his brows turning towards Miroku with a dark frown. "We talked about that not even an hour—," He snapped his fingers as if to tell Miroku to wake up. "Probably more like thirty minutes ago."
Miroku had the decency to look away and laugh slightly. "Oh yeah," He said as the memories of their previous conversation came back to him. "Got kinda sidetracked and forgot."
Inuyasha leaned back in his chair ignoring the crumbled parchment in favor of harassing his son for a moment. "Sometimes I seriously wonder," He began with a straight face. "How you made it to adulthood."
Miroku's head snapped up his embarrassment replaced by a dry frown. "I'm sure it had nothing to do with you." He groused as he crossed his arms over his chest in a huff.
"Of course." Inuyasha replied a slight smile coming to his face that made Miroku smile as well.
Seeing his father calming the boy sensed that the storm of Kikyo's past deeds was something they would probably never need to deal with together. "They anger him, hurt him even." He nodded to himself. "But he knows that she's his past and that now—." The boy smiled to himself and looked at his father expectantly. "So Kagome doesn't mind your blood?"
"No—," Inuyasha confirmed that same smile on his face that always seemed to form whenever he was near Kagome. "She doesn't mind at all."
"Wow." The son whispered to the father as he stood from the bed and walked over to the desk pausing as he reached Inuyasha's side to look down at the crumbled drawing. "So—they're really different?"
"They are." He confirmed as he too looked at the old picture noting absently that it had yellowed with age. "Kagome and Kikyo are nothing alike and I—I—." His voice trailed off for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. "I wanted you to know—I needed someone to know." He looked over his shoulder at his son. "And you're my son and I trust—I trust you with things like this."
Miroku nodded his head in understanding as he looked at the balled up paper absently. "Thank you." He spoke softly but Inuyasha merely shrugged before giving Miroku a thoughtful smile.
"What's in the past is in the past though." He spoke somewhat cryptically as he reached for the left hand drawer, nudging Miroku backwards with his elbow as he rummaged inside of it. "Stupid things unorganized." He groused as he pulled the drawer out further and continued to dig before finally getting a hold of what he had been looking for. Pulling it out of the drawer he held it in front of his face listening to the change in Miroku's own heartbeat as the boy took a step forward once more shutting the drawer for him.
"Are you sure?" Miroku asked but his voice wasn't really pressing as if he already knew that the Captain was indeed sure.
Inuyasha didn't respond right away as he looked to the picture balled up on the desk. He could see one eye peeking out behind an edge of rumbled yellowed paper: it was hard and sad and cold and beautiful and a memory he had once cherished but now no longer needed. It was a memory long forgotten by both force and necessity. "Kikyo." He thought the name as he let it all slip away: the anger, the hatred, the things she had made him do or made him say or made him think.
All of it went away as he stood from the desk, as he grabbed the old yellowed picture, as he walked past Miroku, past the bed to the window. It dissipated as he stood there between his and Kagome Dresmont's bed, Miroku standing behind him as he leaned out the window and brought the match he had managed to find in the drawer in front of his face. He stared at it for several seconds as he felt the cool breeze of the Atlantic rush around him enveloping him in a part of Kagome's very scent, the part that had once been Kikyo's but now was Kagome's. Closing his eyes he leaned his head back and allowed it to rush over him as he breathed in feeling calm, collected, and oddly whole.
Slowly, he opened his eyes once more looking at the match and smiling somewhat sadly. "I'm sure." He finally answered the question as he brought match to the back of his hand and ran it against his tough skin so it would light. It came to life in a loud hiss of fire and he stared at it for only one small second before he brought it to the parchment and watched as the highly flammable paper began to burn. The yellowed edges immediately went brown then black then disappeared as the fire's angry red flames advanced to consume the whole piece. The charcoal that made her face eaten as each little flame advanced closer and closer to Inuyasha's hand.
He felt the heat of the flames threatening to blister his skin as the fire inched closer and closer, eating away at every memory, at every moment of pain, at every moment of rejection, hurt, and humiliation. "Goodbye." He whispered into the air as the last of the parchment started to be consumed his fingers seconds away from forming blisters as he leaned out the window and finally let completely go.
The last of the paper fluttered in the breeze, bits of ash flying off of it as the flames accelerated from the rushing wind causing the image to disintegrate before it even touched one particle of sea. Neither man said anything as they looked out the window, Miroku coming to stand next to his father's side as he watched the waves tumble against the bow the burning parchment now no longer in existence: not in the sea or otherwise. Carefully, Miroku brought a hand up to rest on his father's shoulder knowing that the moment needed some brand of comfort even if it had been done for reasons that were comfort in themselves.
"So," Inuyasha whispered against the air as they both inhaled the sea breeze together, Miroku's hand squeezing his shoulder in reassurance to speak. "I can't just walk up to her and say I'm courting you, can I?"
"Not very romantic." Miroku replied as he dropped his hand and looked at Inuyasha with a bright smile.
"I'm a pirate." Inuyasha fired back as he walked away from the window and scratched the back of his head with one clawed hand. "We're not romantic."
"But she's a lady." Miroku fired back as he turned away from the window as well. "You have to be romantic with a lady."
Inuyasha snorted but didn't deny it. "Maybe I should get a courting gift?" He threw in the air as he plopped back down in his chair and threw his legs on the desk.
Miroku nodded at the idea before hissing slightly. "We'd need money for that to happen."
"Oh." Inuyasha frowned and bit the inside of his cheek. "True that."
"I think you'll have to put that aside for now," Miroku informed as he practically fell onto the bed, laying down more comfortably now that the conversation was officially on a more laid back topic. "At least until after Boston."
"I can wait—," Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders and gave his son a loop sided smile. "She's worth it."
Miroku smirked and stuck out his tongue. "You sure you can handle it?" His voice was teasing but his expression was done right provoking. "I mean when was the last time you had a woman in any sense of the word?"
The dog demon didn't answer as he crossed his arms over his chest, his eye twitching. "Maybe Kagome should go stay with Sango until after Boston," He threatened with a dry glare that soon turned into a smirk to rival Miroku's. "You can bunk with me till then."
"That's not funny." Miroku fired back his eyes burning with wrath at the very suggestion the smirk now a scowl.
"But my control?" Inuyasha whined trying to keep a straight face as a snicker bubbled up from his chest to his throat. "I'll be so tempted, that sweet thing right there." He pointed at the bed beside Miroku. "Whatever will I do, now if it was you in the bed—."
"Jump in the sea, cool off but leave me out of that bed!" Miroku snarled back as he jumped out of the bed and took a playful swing towards Inuyasha that the man easily deflected by jumping out of the chair just in time causing it to clatter on the ground.
"Fuck no!" He hollered over his shoulder as he jumped for the door knowing Miroku would have to behave if they left the room. Before his hand even made contact with the door handle however, the younger man managed to grab him by the back of the collar yanking him backwards.
"This is not over." Miroku got the words out as he tried to strangle the older man with his own jacket.
"I'm the Captain you have to listen to me!" Inuyasha fired back as he easily pushed Miroku away.
"That doesn't mean shit." Miroku threw back the smile on his face wide as he threw a light punch into his father's stomach.
"Ow." Inuyasha complained even though the hit hadn't hurt in the least. "You can't hit me," He pointed at Miroku accusingly. "I'm your father."
"All the more reason to hit you." Miroku laughed hardily as he crossed his arms over his chest trying to look defiant but failing.
"What the fu—." Inuyasha couldn't even get the words out as he laughed his heart feeling so much lighter in his chest than it ever really had before. "Matter of fact," He managed to think even as the room grew loud with mirth. "I haven't felt this way since I was a very small boy."
-break-
Kaede sat on the small bunk she had been offered in the tiny room that was situated just underneath the Captain's courters. Once upon a time the room had probably belonged to an officer of the navy, officers were allowed the privilege of a bed away from the A.B.S. after all and this room, which consisted of nothing more than two beds and a desk with chair, was perfect for a small time navy mate. Its current use, before even Kaede and Kagura took up residence in it, had been nothing better than a overflow for the Orlop of the Thunder however; leaving a faint smell of mead and rotting fruit throughout the chamber.
Staring into that room, sightless, upon the bed which held cotton sheets and a feathered pillow was Kaede. The old woman's hands shook in her lap the smell of mead and fruit alike not reaching any of her senses; not even her nose. Her one good eye looked vacantly at the floor seeing not wood nor rug but instead a man, right in front of her blood dripping from the wound in his chest. She could see the trail of blood that ran from chest down to floor, she could hear each droplet of moist hot death hitting against the wood as if it had been the loudest sound ever made:
Drip—she watched the blood pool on the ground. Drip—it fell not from chest but mouth as he began to suffocate. Drip—the pool of blood became a stream trickling down the wood of the tilted deck.
"Richard." Kaede whispered as she looked at the scene before her somehow knowing it was real and knowing it was fake all at the same time. Carefully, she reached forward to touch her hands to the pool of blood but hesitated as her fingers neared.
Drip—another droplet this time from her own fingers. Drip—her hands were strained in blood. Drip—his blood.
"Why?" She whispered as she looked at the blood on her hands as if it was not real—it was not real. "Why Richard, why did you—." She cut the thought off, she knew why Richard Dresmont had done what he had done. He was a good man underneath his haughtiness, underneath even his opinions on his daughter. "Is it so bad to simply want your daughter to want the life you set up for her?" She asked the air.
Drip—the sound of this drop mocked her.
"Does wanting that make him a bad man?" She closed her one good eye. "No, a bad father yes but a bad man," She shook her head slowly back and forth before opening her eyes again staring at the red hand which rested right before her face. "No."
Drip—this droplet was somehow soothing.
"Poor man," Kaede whispered into the small room. "In the end, you only realized your mistakes by living the life you wanted your daughter to live." Kaede sighed deeply and allowed her hand to drop from her face turning her attention away from the image of death and towards the small port hole to her right. Staring out, watching a seagull fly by she blinked slowly with her one good eye, reaching up to touch her covered one with surprisingly steady fingers. "I've found myself in a very dangerous game." Her voice was even as she spoke. "Naraku wants the jewel." She frowned darkly and slowly licked her lips. "But if he possessed it for even a second the world will undoubtedly go to hell."
Drip—the droplet confirmed her words. Drip—the droplet rejoiced in understanding.
"It needs to be destroyed," Kaede bit her lip as she thought the sound of his blood dripping really starting to get under her skin. "I've known that my entire life."
Drip—this droplet seemed to dance in happiness and hopefulness.
She sighed heavily and rubbed the patch over her eye. "I had thought I had found the solution." She looked upwards towards the very cabin where Naraku now rested. "I had thought Inuyasha and Kagome could finally end it."
Drip—this droplet remained silent.
"Will Naraku destroy that chance?" She fingered the patch for only another second before dropping her hand down to rest at her side. "There's only one way to fix this," She realized as she gulped down a lump building in her throat. "Inuyasha. I must talk with him somehow I must talk with him."
The sound of the door handle turning stopped Kaede's muttered conversation and drew her eyes away from the porthole to the small brown door to her left. She watched as the brass doorknob turned and narrowed her one good eye apprehensively as the door swung opened to reveal the tiny, short figure of Kagura. The wind demon hesitated coming in as she made eye contact with the old human woman. Her ruby eyes looking at Kaede with a mixture of pity and understanding.
Slowly, the wind demon stepped into the room closing the door behind her with silent precision as she kept her eyes on the older woman. "How are yuu?" She asked calmly. "Enjoying freedom?" She spoke the words of Naraku feeling the irony in them role off her tongue.
"Very much." Kaede responded evenly as she looked at the woman cross the room and sit on the bed that had been brought for her. "And this," She thought to herself as she watched the girl situate herself on the bed slowly, tucking her feet underneath her body in that strange knell. "Is another problem all together." She narrowed her eyes at the other woman. "Why does she want the jewel so badly that she would take a death god's eyes just to see it?"
"It seems—," Kagura frowned unsure of the English word she was looking for. "Dresmont-sama death—it seems, ano—." She paused the small Japanese term leaving her lips without care.
"Unfair." Kaede offered the other woman ignoring the strange word in favor of watching as Kagura looked up at her almost apprehensively.
"Yes." She agreed slowly her eyes studying the other woman, watching her and wondering. "Why—does she want-to the jewel?" She leaned back on her bent knees and gently rested her back to the wall. "His death was unfair." Glancing this way and that the wind demon slowly licked her lips. "In a room like this I can safely find out-to."
"I assume," Kaede whispered as she watched the younger girl fidget where she rested looking anxious and paranoid. "You came here for a reason."
Kagura looked at her just out of the corner of her eye, the rubies in them seeming to flash. "The walls," She spoke evenly. "Do not hear-u so well in here." Her voice carried in the small room but still not anywhere near loud enough to draw any attention, even from a demon, to the two of them from anyone outside.
Kaede nodded her head firmly in agreement as she eyed the girl. "Then perhaps," She spoke as she leaned forward resting her elbows on her knees and her chin on her hands. "Now would be a good time to speak."
Kagura gave her a slow smile and pushed herself further back onto the bed trying to get more comfortable as she braced herself with one hand so she could lean slightly to the side at ease. "I want-to know," Her voice was as much leisurely as it was intense. "What yuu know Kaede-sama."
"I know many things—," The old woman spoke cryptically as she listened to the other woman not just her words but the sound of her voice as well. "I need her to listen to me and to do that I need her to trust me." She told herself as she leaned back moving her hands from her knees as her back began to ache. "What exactly should I confide first?"
Kagura narrowed her eyes at the question and brought her hand away from bracing herself so she could cross her arms over her chest. "What-to should I ask?" She wondered to herself as she kept a close eye on every movement Kaede made from breath to subtle shift. "There are many things—demo what's the most-to important." She frowned, licked her lips and opened her mouth. "How," She began slowly watching to make sure Kaede took in every word. "Do yuu know Inuyasha-sama?"
"Right to the meat hum?" Kaede replied softly as she licked her lips before answering a question with a question. "How do you know him?"
The wind demon frowned deeply and pushed herself away from the wall so she could sit up a little straighter. "I think-u it not best-to play games now Kaede-sama." Kagura replied her eyes dark blood red as she glared at the older woman. "Yuu noticed the dangers of games."
"I have." Kaede replied evenly as she drew her mouth into a slow smile. "And that is why," She closed her eyes the smile growing. "I want your game to stop as well."
Drip—it was a sound only Kaede heard.
The older woman opened her eye wide looking at Kagura whose own eyes had grown huge with her own confusion at the sudden change in demeanor. She sighed as the magnitude of the situation hit her even harder. "A man is-u dead." She spoke a grit in her voice Kagura had never heard. "I understand why Dresmont-sama did what he did," She moved her eyes away from Kagura back to the porthole hoping the guilt in her face would not be seen. "But it-to could have been prevented."
"It was his decision." Kagura spoke easily as she watched the older woman, the scent in the air telling her what the turned face could not. "She rearry does feer bad—I knew she would—but to smerr it means a lot more than to assume." She closed her eyes not wanting to disturb the mourning before her with embarrassment.
Drip—Kaede wasn't the only one to feel that guilt.
"I know." Kaede said as she looked away from Kagura and took a deep breath. "Many things are going on now, dangerous things," She turned her attention back to the more prudent conversation at hand. "There is a goal we both have now that I think needs discussing." She spoke bluntly and honestly, one of her better qualities.
Kagura gave the other woman a scrutinizing look as she tilted her head to the side. "What-to," She posed as she rested her hands in her lap. "Should we discus first?"
"Why did you come here." Kaede phrased the question delicately. "Why this ship?"
"Accident." Kagura's voice was honest, completely honest. "I was flyin' in the storm," Her eyes seemed to become far away as she thought of that cold wet night. "I saw a shard growin' in the night-to like a beacon on this ship-pu." She ran her hand over the material of her dress absently. "But before I could even think-u I was nearly hit-to by lightnin' and I crashed." She shrugged and gave Kaede an appraising glance. "When I noticed-u the shards on board I decided it-to was best-to stay here. It-to was safer to be on a ship-pu than flyin' in thunder storms." She finished her explanation with a roll of her shoulders and a fixated stare as if to say: what's next, I dare you to give me something else.
"I knew you were looking for the shards." Kaede nodded her head tapping her fingers against her leg as she spoke. "But you still have never confirmed as to why."
"Why?" Kagura narrowed her eyes. "There is-u only-y one reason and one reason only." The wind demon licked her lips as if still debating with herself about what she should say. "Should I tell her?" She frowned slightly. "Kaede-sama knows his name, if-fu she knows his name then maybe she can be of more help-pu than I thought." The wind demon pushed herself to the edge of the bed before dangling her feet on the side and bracing herself with a hand clutched to the mattress on either side of her body. "To find Inuyasha."
"To find Inuyasha." Kaede repeated even though the news was somehow not all that surprising.
"Yes," Kagura nodded firmly to confirm what she had just admitted to. "Yuu have-e met Inuyasha-sama, yes?" She waited for the old woman's nod before continuing. "He has one—a shard of the jewel."
Kaede frowned as her mind slowly began to process what exactly Kagura was saying.
"I got-to these eyes," She brought a hand up to emphasize her words, running it in front of both ruby irises before lowering it slowly down to the ground. "To see the shards-u to find him."
"That's the only reason?" Kaede tried to confirm
Kagura's eyes flickered with something but whether it was honesty or lies was hard to tell. "Yes—," She gave one more affirmative nod before bringing an elbow to her knee so she could rest her chin against a supported hand. "Now yuu tell me," She stressed each pronoun as if to gather more importance for them. "Why yuu know of shikon shards."
Drip—
The old woman gave the girl a soft smile that soon turned into almost a look of a tortured soul. "My family was meant to destroy them." She replied without preamble.
Kagura's eyes widened the surprise on her face completely apparent. "Destroy them?"
"The mission was given to my great grandfather," Kaede continued to explain as she watched the girl for any hints, even the most understated ones, as to whether this information posed a threat to her or not. "And passed down from generation to generation until it came to me."
"Is that-to still yuur mission?"
"Yes, that is what I want." Kaede nodded her head firmly. "And I sent Inuyasha to complete it."
Kagura's jaw dropped, literally dropped, as she stared at the woman in front of her with complete surprise, "Impossible." She thought to herself as she looked down at her lap a million things running through her mind.
She knelt on the ground, her knees under her as she leaned forward, her hands touching the ground as well as her forehead as she bowed to the man before her.
"Raise your head." He spoke in English as he always did to her since she had been hired nearly ten years ago for the mission she was finally going to undertake.
Carefully, she did as she was told looking at the man who sat cross legged on a small elevated platform before her a servant at his side serving him sake in a small glass that he delicately held in one clawed hand. "What-t is it-to you needed sir?" She whispered being careful what words she used knowing he would grow angry if she mispronounced even one.
"His mother had a shard Kagura—," The man brought the sake cup to his lips and gently sipped at the drink. "Upon her death she would have bequeathed it to him." He finished and handed the cup back to the servant waving him off with a rash hand before turning back to her and narrowing his golden eyes expectantly at the woman kneeling before him.
Kagura blinked under the stern gaze and resisted the urge to lower her head back to the ground in apology despite having done nothing. "So yuu want-to me to use-e my eyes to see the jewel?" She forced herself to pronounce the foreign letter but it still stuck on her tongue.
"Pronounce your words correctly." The tall demon man commanded darkly as he tapped his claws against the ground beside the soft pillow he sat on.
"Sorry sir." Kagura looked down at the ground not daring to even utter the tense man's name knowing that would only make him angrier—he hated when anyone said his name.
"Inuyasha," The man started softly his voice changing as he mentioned the younger man's name his eyes becoming almost lost for a second before he cleared his throat and become stone once more. "He will have that shard so you will use the Shinigami's eyes and with them you will search the entire world to find him." He commanded her as he inhaled sharply. "—we have prepared for this moment for years—ten long years, I expect you to be able to accomplish that much."
Kagura nodded her head firmly in compliance before hesitantly asking one question. "What-to should I do when I find him?"
"Bring him here so he can finish the mission started so long ago." The man spoke sharply but not with reprimand as he huffed only to stop and glance over at the woman beside him who had made a soft sweet noise.
Kagura followed his eyes towards the beautiful raven haired woman watching as she reached towards her mate and gently rested her hand on his own. "Koi." She said softly in their native tongue having not understood the conversation held in English.
"Sore wa mondai arimasen." He mumbled back to her softly before moving his hand away and looking at Kagura once more. "I have taught you the language of the world Kagura—the language of his mother."
Kagura blinked up at her commander and frowned.
"Now find him," The man sighed deeply and closed his eyes. "So we can end this."
Kagura blinked as she came back the present looking at Kaede in a whole new light. They wanted to the same thing, in the end they had the same mission. "Inuyasha-sama is lookin' for the shards?"
"Yes."
The wind demon licked her lips and blinked a few times in thought before asking her next question. "How does Inuyasha-sama see them?"
"A very," Kaede paused as she eyed the eastern woman. "Gifted miko."
"Miko?" Kagura responded completely surprised as her eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yes," The aging woman stood at the confirmation her bones creaking like crackles of timber in a fire as she rose. "She is able to see the shards with the aid of a compass meant to find them."
"Konpasu." Kagura responded to the new word having never heard it before. "Konpasu? What is konpasu?"
Kaede froze at the obvious confusion at the foreign word and turned to look at Kagura with a raised eyebrow. "They are used to find directions north, south, east, and west."
"Oh, Rashinban." Kagura nodded her head in understanding as she said the Japanese equivalent to Kaede's word. "There is-u konpasu that can find the shards?"
"Yes but only a miko can use it." Kaede clarified as she watched Kagura narrow her eyes.
"Where," The wind demon said confused. "This miko get-to such a thing?"
Kaede hesitated before she spoke bluntly. "From me."
The other woman's eyes widened at the blunt statement as she leaned even further forward on the bed watching the other woman as she stepped towards the port hole to inhale some more fresh air. "You had a konpasu," She whispered in disbelief. "Just like that?"
"The compass," Kaede began as she looked outside at the seagulls that were flying behind the ship squawking happily back and forth as they beat their wings gently against the breeze before gliding for several hundred yards. "Was given to my great grandfather when the order to seek out and destroy the jewel was given to him," She frowned darkly and turned to look at Kagura over her shoulder. "But he could never use it. Whoever designed it made it so only a miko," She looked at the ground expectantly. "Could use it."
"That is-u very strange." Kagura frowned deeply as she tried to understand what was going on. "Her family-y was given a konpasu to find the Shikon no Tama when no one in her family-y was a miko at the time. Why would someone do that?" Kagura pursed her lips confused. "Where did the miko come from?"
"She is western." Kaede nodded her head firmly. "A priestess in our culture—they do exist but are very rare."
"I have-e heard of this." Kagura confirmed as she squeezed her eyes shut feeling a headache coming on. "So this miko help=pu Inuyasha-sama find the shards?"
"Yes." Kaede confirmed as she once again turned away standing on tiptoe so she could look down at the water through the small window.
"How long?" She managed to pronounce the 'l' even if it was with some difficulty.
"Only a few months." Kaede explained before her face turned serious. "But now I feel as if I made the wrong choice—as if I was hasty."
Kagura raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Why?"
The old woman turned away from the porthole and looked at Kagura with a large frown on her face. "Do you know of the power of the completed jewel?"
"I have-e heard the stories-u." Kagura supplied as she shifted on the bed anxiously.
"Imagine what would happen," Kaede requested as she walked towards the small desk and pulled out the chair so she could sit, hoping the better back support would do her good. "If Naraku managed to complete even a fraction of it," She groaned as she lowered herself slowly into the chair before looking at Kagura with dead seriousness in her gaze. "And use it?"
The younger woman's eyes went wide as the implications as such an action filled her heart with fear. "Kami-sama." She whispered as her fingers dug into the bed sheet's.
"Exactly," Kaede took a deep calming breath as her own heart beat just a little faster in her chest. "The miko with Inuyasha who can use the compass has the power to destroy the jewel," She informed Kagura knowing that this was her best option for completing her task. "We must warn Inuyasha of the danger and prudent nature of doing so as quickly as possible."
Kagura narrowed her gaze on the old woman for only a second before opening her mouth ever so slightly to speak. "It seems," Her voice was soft but still easily heard in the small space. "We are both-u after the same thin' then."
Kaede actually looked surprised at the other woman's sudden words. "Inuyasha, you mean?"
"Yes—," Kagura nodded her head before giving Kaede a stern look. "I think-u for now we should concentrate-e on that."
"On finding Inuyasha?"
"Of course."
"Kagura," The old woman narrowed her one eye the patch moving just slightly as she did so nearly revealing what laid underneath before Kaede brought her hand up to adjust it. "Why does he need to be found?"
The wind demon did not say anything for several seconds, which slowly ticked away into minutes as she looked at the other woman without blinking or even frowning. Her face was simply drawn into a blank line that almost seemed to look through Kaede and into someone else. "I do not-to know why," Kagura told the other woman finally every part of her from tone to body language coming across as completely honest. "All I know is-u that I was paid very well to do so."
Kaede felt a wave of protectiveness mount in her heart as she looked at the woman before her completely unsure of how she should go about interpreting what had just been said. "So she isn't necessarily looking for Inuyasha herself." She reasoned in her mind. "Someone else wants him but who?" Kaede frowned unable to think of anyone in this world who would want to find Inuyasha for a reason other than his death. From what she understood his mother had been human and so was long since dead if she hadn't mated his father that is. And she had always assumed his father was dead, she had no reason to think otherwise. "But if not his father and if not his mother—then who?" She played a few scenarios in her head before taking a deep breath and shutting down her thoughts. "For now I should let this one go." She told herself as she watched the naturally suspicious eyes of Kagura focus on her. "She's told me enough for today if I press farther I won't be able to guarantee her trust."
Closing her eyes Kaede let the room slip into silence, neither woman really able to form any conversation any longer allowing them to become lost in their own thoughts.
"It's so quiet." Kaede told herself before slowly opening her eyes in surprise. "Do you hear that Kagura?" She whispered as the feeling of guilt in her heart picked up causing the muscle to convulse faster.
"What?" The wind demon whispered into the air matching Kaede's own soft voice.
"The dripping stopped." The old woman whispered.
"Dripping?"
"Yes—," Kaede closed her eyes holding in her own tears as images of that kindly middle aged man filled her mind. "Mr. Dresmont's blood," She whispered as she strained herself to hear that sound but came back with nothing, not even one similar to it. "It stopped dripping."
Kagura couldn't tell if the old woman was insane, filled with grief, or merely starting another game.
End of Chapter
Please Review
Congrats Dev Li for being reviewer 1500! Edited for Accents 6/6/2013.
A note on accents: My personal preference when reading a novel is to have actual accents. I like the realness of the accent, I think it creates an authentic quality to the character's dialogue since in real life we do met people we have a hard time understanding. I know not everyone agrees with this but as some reviewers have noted I try to make my story read like it is a movie, every detail as pronounced as I can make it. I want it to feel real and to me, accents are a part of life and sometimes when you listen to people you have to do double takes or ask them to repeat things just like as you're reading you might have to do a double take when you encounter Myoga or Totosai or even Kagura.
Anyway, I just wanted to mention that real quick so on to the Bonus Points!
Bonus Point:
Has Inuyasha's Beads of Subjugation (Kotodama no Nenju) ever broken?
Last Chapter's Bouns Point:
I was referring to the ending song of the third movie: Sword's of an Honorable Ruler which is, "The Four Seasons!" Congrats to the winners...there's only a few, this must have been a much harder question to answer lol! Only reason I knew is because it's one of my favorite songs from the series!
AnimeNerd1, 14 Inu-Kag, HeavenlyEclipse, Dev Li, Elantina, chibiashie, L.C, Glon Morski
Translations:
Nani?: What?
Sore wa mondai arimasen: It is fine.
Ano: The Japanese sound for 'um.'
Next Chapter:
Boston
See you then!
UNEDITED
POSTED 8/19/2012