A special thanks to…
Remenescent: I love your hair.
elvira-inu-gurl
Ladeh Hitomi
alchemistgrl09
Avelyn Lauren
Miko no Kaze
Al: I'm in pain and it is all your fault.
Demon-dreamgirl
MeiunTenshi
Hearii-sama
Aria-wolfstar
sweetrosie
EBF: I know where you sleep…and if you ever call me that again sister dearest, you will find something unpleasantly slimy on your pillow. Don't think I won't do it. I also know where mom keeps the liver.
You guys rock.
Except Blobby. She called me that cursed name. And asked about Jenny. That upset me. Darn you Blobby! Darn you!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. Kizukuri Town in no way or stretch resembles the real Kizukuri Town as far as my knowledge goes, save one thing. A lovely Horse Market. But I don't think this is enough to go by. Also, I have never in my life been on a train, though I'd like to. So I'm making up the train rides as I go along. The reason for the name is that I wanted to use something real and, to fit the theme and everyone else's name, I decided to make it Japanese. On the whole, too many fanfic writers use English names. Myself included. It's a habit I'm trying to break.
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
The reason that this chapter, and probably the next couple chapters, are so late is because there is something BIG going around my school! Some really, REALLY bad flu! My friend has influenza, half the teachers are sick, on the first day it struck 120 kids went home, the kid's who aren't sick are threatening to wear gas masks and I could probably count the number of kids who aren't sick on one hand…this is my entire school! And a girl was sent to the hospital she had such a bad case.
Ever heard of Amherst MASS? We're in the news a lot…
…
…for being politically correct.
Well, anyone who got pissed at Amherstians for that whole mess with the West Side Story (apparently they heard about that way down in South America) then go ahead, laugh, we're suffering flu-ic plague. That's what we're calling this thing at school, the Plague.
The Stamp Of Gold
A Day Off
By Pwalefriend
Kagome was wearing a smart skirt and blouse and her hair was tied back with a green ribbon. She was sitting calmly at the train depot, waiting for the next train to come. Taking a glance over at a bulletin board off at the edge of the station Kagome figured that the train was due to arrive in a couple of minutes.
"Eh?" Kagome jumped at the male voice. "Miss Kagome?" Kagome whirled around to see, standing behind her, none other then Koga.
"Koga?" She said, standing up and offering him her seat as protocol demanded. He took it. "Are you going out today as well?" She asked with a frown. Protocol also demanded that he not take her seat and instead either sit beside her or stand. Clearly this man was not raised with manners.
"No." Koga shook his head with a sigh. "I'm off on business. Apparently Kanna's decided that one of the mares is lonely and has sent me off to get a new horse for the barn. Where that woman get this nonsense I just don't know…but she's Mistress Kagura's beloved little sister in-law so we all have to cater to her every whim."
"Mistress Kagura?" Kagome asked.
"Rin's adoptive mother." Koga explained. "Wedded to Master Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's half-brother."
"Where are Master Sesshomaru and Mistress Kagura?" Kagome asked, seeing her opportunity to find out more.
"On a world tour." Koga said, shaking his head. "Just showed up one day, dumped Rin on us and then hit the road, no warning and no way to contact them. No way to know when they'll be back either. Personally, I don't think they're coming back. But Kanna and Rin sure seem to think that they are." Koga frowned off into the distance and then smirked, standing. "Here comes the train." He told Kagome.
Kagome looked down the track as well and saw, sure enough, that the train was coming down the tracks, heading straight for them. And with it, came the dust clouds. Hastily Kagome pulled a handkerchief out of her sleeve and put it over her mouth and her eyes as Koga did the same with his own kerchief. The dust hit them like a wall and Kagome couldn't help but spare a mourning thought about her now dust-covered outfit.
When they got on the train Kagome and Koga split up, Kagome heading one way down the train and Koga heading the other. Of course Koga wasn't aware of this and Kagome had to stifle giggles as she watched him walk down the train talking to himself and thinking that he was talking to her. Some of the other passengers were eyeing him oddly. Kagome smiled triumphantly. Served him right too. Talking about Rin's beloved parents that way. Kagome may not have known the little girl very long but Rin quite often told Kagome stories about her parents and it was quite obvious that they were a loving family. And Kagome had only met Kanna once but the Horse Mistress didn't seem like the kind of person who would hold with any delusions. And both of the girls had seemed like decent people who could be trusted, unlike Koga.
Kagome gave one final smirk in the wolf youkai's direction before entering a compartment to her left.
G
A few hours later the train pulled into the station at town.
"Kizukuri Town…final stop! All passengers off!" Cried a young pimply conductor :P Had to do it mate. Had to do it. "Come on, you lazy louts. Off!"
If the boy hadn't been so rude Kagome would have felt sorry for him, working on a second rate train company when he should have been in school.
"What's the matter with you? Got the pox! Stand up old man and get your reeking ass of the train already."
But he was just too rude and the last one hadn't even made sense.
G
When Kagome got off the train she immediately called over a carriage boy and paid him for his services for the entire day. Well, she paid him half.
"You'll get the rest at the end of the day." She told him. The boy looked at her gratefully, this was more then he usually made in a week, and he took her arm and led her gracefully to the carriage. Kagome giggled a little, it was nice to be treated like a lady.
The first stop was to the news dealers, where Kagome proceeded to buy some fine (though cheap) stationary and a pen as well as some new art supplies for the children. She went to the cashier and, ignoring the odd looks she was receiving from the other clients, dipped into the wages that Miroku had given her just yesterday.
"Thank you ma'am." Said the chashier when Kagome had paid. Kagome nodded and then left the store, hard put not to glance back behind her.
"Well…that was odd…" She said to the carriage boy. He shrugged.
"Well…" he told her. "We haven't had anyone as finely dressed as you since the last time Miss. Sango came into town with Mr. Takahashi." Said the boy. Kagome glanced at him sharply. "And that was several years ago. Nowadays it's just that Koga fellow who comes in from the ranch, and nobody likes him much mum." The boy smirked knowingly at her and sidled a little. "'Cept some of the girls…but they ain't the nice ones who a fine upstanding lady like yourself should be worrying about. I'm sorry to offend you, mum. It's just, well…this is that small of a place. Please excusse me."
Kagome blushed. It sure was nice to meet a young man who knew how to have some manners even though people of his class weren't supposed to have any. The boy took her reaction the wrong way.
"Oh!" He cried, perturbed. "I really am sorry to have offended you! I really am! Me own mother always did tell me that I didn't know when to stop talking. I'm truly sorry!" He paused a moment, looked at his feet and bit his lip. The perfect picture of an apologetic youth. Then he looked up with nervous eyes. "…where to next mum?" He asked.
"The green." She said, and got into the carriage. When she felt them begin to move she finally allowed her self to laugh. The boy was just so funny! He would probably be shocked solid if he ever found out where she worked…or some of the things she had heard. But how was the poor thing to know that she wasn't scandalized by the mere mention of a loose woman? She supposed that she shouldn't tease him about it later. Kagome sighed. Oh well…
At the green Kagome found a bench by a water fountain, took out a piece of stationary and the pen, and proceeded to write a letter to her family back home.
My dear family…
I am writing you from the green in Kizukuri Town. I'm so sorry that I have not written before this, but it's been very busy.
I am happily settled in my new position. Sango and I have reacquainted and I was pleasantly surprised to find Kohaku here as well. I am looking after three children, two girls and a boy. The girls are called Rin and Satsuki and the boy Shippo. They are all perfect dears, especially little Shippo. But they are about as mischievous as they come! Satsuki and Shippo are orphans that Mr. Takahashi has taken in and Rin is Mr. Takahashi's neice. Her parents are on a world tour, as far as I can tell, and Mr. Takahashi is no help. But she does seem close with her aunt, Kanna, who works in the stables.
The valet, Miroku, is…an interesting fellow. He seems particularly attracted to Sango, though he is quite…eloquent about his appreciation for the female body. He's in the infirmary a lot of the time. But besides this character flaw he is a perfect gentleman and has proven to be a wonderfully clever friend.
I'm afraid that I can't say the same for the rancher, Koga, who-
And so the letter went on. Kagome gave a description of everyone at the ranch, except for Inuyasha Takahashi himself, who she tactfully avoided mentioning. She knew that her mother would catch that, but Kagome figured that by the time Mrs. Higurashi got the letter and replied to it Kagome would have figured out something to tell her.
The next stop was the post office, where Kagome mailed the letter and almost all her wages, keeping a little less then a third for herself.
After mailing the letter she got the boy to take her exploring. They had lunch at a small little restaurant and at the end of the day Kagome asked if they had time to go to the horse market before her train left. The boy shrugged and that's where they went.
Unfortunately, when they got there, the boy was called off by one of his peers, leaving Kagome to fend for herself.
And who should she meet as soon as she was inside the market?
Why…Koga, naturally.
Koga seemed to be in a particularly foul mood.
"Not a single one!" He told her angrily. "Not a single nag in this whole horse infested junk yard!" Several of the nearby horse merchants sent him nasty dirty looks. "I'm outta here!"
"Wait, Koga!" Kagome called after him, he turned around. "Can I give it a try?" She asked, holding out her hand for the money. Koga laughed.
"Sure girly." He said, handing it over. "Knock yourself out. I'll see you back at the train." And with that he disappeared into the crowd. Kagome stuck her tongue out in the general direction of his retreat.
"Um…excuse me, miss?" Said a horse merchant, hesitantly tapping her on the shoulder. Kagome looked at him questioningly. He gulped a little. "I…um…I know the mare that you want a friend for, I sold her to Miss Kanna a year ago you see…um…I have the one you want, right this way ma'am."
Kagome looked the merchant up and down a couple times and then smiled at him happily, staring him right square in the eyes.
"Show me." She commanded in her best academic voice. The merchant smiled slightly back, relieved.
He brought her to a young gelding. His coat was black and gray, his mane was grey. He wasn't especially tall or strong, he was mild mannered, nothing special.
"This is the one." The merchant said. The gelding didn't even look up at their voices, he merely continued to stare at the wood of a nearby stake. He looked like he was dying of a broken heart. "If it got any worse I was going to drive him over to the ranch myself. They're best friends, never were apart till a year ago. This fellow never was the same afterwards. Used to be a right fine horse, he was." The merchant shook his head at the tragedy of it all.
Twenty minutes later Kagome was riding the gelding to the train station, the carriage boy was paid off and her small parcels were tied to the side of the horse. Right before Kagome got to the station a carriage veered in front of her and the gelding, startled out of his misery, reared and roared an equine roar. Kagome uttered a soft scream and held on tight, her eyes shut.
"What's going on!" Snapped a feminine voice from inside the carriage. A graceful woman with long black hair stuck her head out the window and saw the mess. She immediately jumped out and grabbed the reins of Kagome's gelding. She jerked the horse's head down until the horse and the woman were looking each other square in the eyes.
"You will never do that again." She told the gelding quite clearly. Kagome stared down at the woman in alarm. Was she quite mad? "Any questions?" She asked the gelding. The gelding snorted and shook his head. The woman nodded and let go, eyeing the gelding coolly. Then she looked up at Kagome. "Are you hurt?" She asked.
"No miss." Kagome said. "I thank you for your concern." The woman nodded and then returned to her carriage.
"Onward!" She cried. The coachman snapped the reins and then the carriage went veering at a breakneck speed down the road.
"…definitely mad." Kagome said, staring after the carriage. The gelding snorted again as if in agreement.
G
Due to the adventure with the woman and her carriage Kagome almost missed her train, but she made it just in time and even managed to be allowed to stay with the horse in the back compartment. She had no doubts that if Koga found out that she had managed to find the right horse he'd get…temperamental.
When the train stopped Kagome rode the horse out to the ranch. She was surprised and relieved to see no sign of Koga anywhere. She handed over the gelding to Kanna, who was extremely relieved in her own quiet way, and then Kagome, finally realizing how late it was, stumbled off to bed without another word to anyone and completely forgetting about dinner.
But in a dark room high up in the mansion two golden eyes gleamed, silently plotting their revenge…
…
…
…they'd been at it all day and still had come up with nothing.
…
…
…but they'd figure something out!
And the golden eyes continued to gleam throughout the night as their bearer grew more and more frustrated. Revenge really was a bitch, not because it back fired, but because he just couldn't think of anything!
…
…
…
…oh for the love of-! He was going to bed.
Yay! So, how'd you all like this one? Please remember to review! Please remember to review! Can any of you guess who that woman was, and where Koga is?