Love and War
Disclaimer: I do not own, or make any money from, the stories of Inuyasha.
All Inuyasha characters are the sole property of Rumiko Takahashi, Sunrise and Viz
All original characters belong to me.
Chapter Three
Taxation
The lord's army marched triumphantly into the castle town,
"My lord!", called out a young samurai, "The general has returned."
Nishimura exited a room and closed the door. He seated himself on the ornate pillow in his main chambers as Ashikawa entered with an object in his arms wrapped in red cloth,
"My lord,", Ashikawa bowed, "The head of Hojo Soun.", he said, opening the red cloth to reveal a severed head, "The Hojo clan are defeated."
Nishimura smiled, "Good work, Ashikawa. So the Hojo area is now under my control?"
"Yes, my lord, more or less.", answered the general.
Nishimura stood up and faced down the smaller man, "MORE OR LESS?? WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?"
"It m-m-means, my lord, that a few insurgent demons are still attacking the troops. Hojo was deeply aligned with the Eastern Demons, especially the wolves. We are still searching for the leader of the Eastern Wolf Tribe, Kouga. He has yet to be found. I am certain that once we find and destroy him, the rest fo the demons will fall into line, my lord."
"Demons, you say?", Nishimura appeared lost in thought, "Yes, you people do believe in such fairy tales, don't you?", he mumbled.
"Pardon me, my lord?", Ashikawa queried.
"Never mind.", Nishimura waved his hand, "What about Uesugi?"
"We are still locked in a major struggle with them, m'lord. Uesugi has amassed alot of troops and he will not give up so easily."
"He won't, will he? Hmph! We'll see about that. Wait here, general.", Nishimura disappeared into another room. He returned with a wheelbarrow. In it was a large, round object,
"Can you get close to the castle, general?"
"Y-yes, my lord. Why? What is that thing?"
"It is called a bomb, general. And you will use it on Uesugi castle. It would be best if you could get it inside the castle. You light it and then it detonates. It will destroy most, if not all, of the castle as well as every living thing inside and close by."
"Of course, m'lord. I will put it to good use."
--
"KAGOME!!"
"Sango ... what's up ... you look extremely excited.", said Kagome, reflecting her friend's joy,
"Kohaku and Rin are getting married!", Sango announced, merrily.
"REALLY? When??", asked an equally excited Kagome.
"In the fall. Oh, Kagome, it's so hard to believe my little brother is all grown up and getting married!", Sango gushed.
"Yea, kids do that.", commented Inuyasha on the sly, hauling feed into the barn.
"Ignore him.", Kagome said, "He doesn't know how to be happy for people. Isn't that right, Inuyasha?"
"Whatever you say, koi, you're the boss.", he replied, then added, "I gotta go. I have a demon slaying to handle in the marketplace south of here. Shippou's coming too. He's gonna use some of his new techniques."
"Yea, right, sure.", Kagome agreed, "You just don't want to fix the leaky roof in the barn, is all."
He kissed her cheek, "Way ahead of you, koi.", his eyes twinkled, "See ya at dinner. Bye, Sango.", he disappeared quickly.
Kagome looked at his retreating body in shock, "He FIXED it already? When?", she walked into the barn and looked up. Sure enough, the roof had a couple new panels, "I'll be damned.", she said softly.
"KAGOME!!"
Sango's voice had a sound of urgency to it. Kagome ran outside and saw why. Regally attired horses were entering the village. The leader called out,
"Who is the head of this village?"
Miroku stepped away from his hut. He had watched them approach,
"I am, my good man. Along with Kaede, our elderly priestess.", he kept Kagome's name clear. No need to involve her unless he had too.
"I am Captain Uchida. By the order of the new daimyo, Lord Nishimura, we are instituting a new tax. This tax will cover your protection by the daimyo's forces."
"I beg to differ with you, kind sir,", Miroku interupted, "But, we have never used Takeda's protection. We will not be using the new daimyo's protection either."
The captain urged his horse over to where Miroku stood,
"Perhaps you did not comprehend what I said, being a simple peasant monk. Let me explain it to you slowly so that your feeble mind can understand. There is no choice in the matter. The taxes are mandatory. Do you comprehend now, monk?"
Miroku stood his ground, angry at being talked down too, "I repeat, we refuse the daimyo's offer of protection."
Without warning, the captain lifted his sword and swung. Miroku fell to the ground,
"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh.", Miroku moaned.
"MIROKU!", Sango and Kagome called out together, as they both rushed over to him,
"DADDY!", Suki cried out,
"STAY BACK, SUKI!", Sango screamed, "KEEP YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS SAFE."
The captain laughed,
"The tax will be the cost of a bushel of rice and a bushel of vegetables per villager.", he announced.
Kagome stood up,
"That's thievery. There is no way these villagers can afford to pay that kind of ransom."
"If they cannot pay, then we will take what we want in place of it. We will be back tomorrow to collect."
The captain turned his horse around and led his army out of the village. Kagome knelt down,
"Miroku, can you stand?", she asked.
"Y-yea, I think so."
"Come back to my hut, I'll bandage your wound."
--
That night, Inuyasha was told of what happened and he was none too happy,
"That kind of tax will destroy this village.", he said to Kagome, after the children were asleep.
"I know.", answered Kagome, "The thing is, I have never heard of any Nishimura in any of my history lessons. Who is he?"
"I dunno. But, he seems determined to rule with an iron fist. I may have to kill him."
"I wouldn't resort to killing just yet, Inuyasha."
"Oh, Miroku, still alive and kicking, I see.", Inuyasha joked.
"Nice to see you, too, my friend.", Miroku responded.
"So, if you don't want me to kill him, what do you want to do?", Inuyasha asked.
"Let's see if we can talk to him.", said Miroku.
"Always the pacifist.", mumbled Inuyasha.
A faraway explosion disturbed the peaceful night,
"WHAT THE HELL??", yelled Inuyasha, "I haven't heard anything like that since ..."
"The Band of Seven.", finished Miroku.
Villagers began leaving their huts, curious as to the sound,
"Big sister ... what was that explosion?", Kohaku came running up to her.
"I don't know.", said Sango, softly.
"It sounded like a ... bomb.", commented Kagome.
"A bomb?", queried Inuyasha, "What's a bomb? Is it like those fire bombs that Renkotsu had? That's the only kind of bombs I ever heard of. And that explosion sounded to big for fire bombs."
"Sort of.", Kagome answered, "But, these are bigger. More dangerous. And more deadly."
"I wonder what exploded.", Miroku mused.
--
The next afternoon, the army of horses entered the village again. The captain came forward and met with Miroku,
"I see you're still alive, monk."
"HMPH! You don't know who you are dealing with. We have a very experienced healer living here.", Miroku explained.
"It wouldn't have anything to do with that ridiculous shrine at the entrance of your village, would it? Something about a living deity?"
"It might."
Inuyasha stayed back, listening intently to the exchange. He looked back at Kagome,
"I want you to stay in the hut. I don't like the looks of this guy."
"Ok.", she agreed, taking the children with her inside.
"Shippou.", Inuyasha saw the kitsune close by. Shippou hopped on Inuyasha's shoulder,
"Yea, Inuyasha?"
"Protect Kagome and the pups. Protect them with your life. Got it?"
"HmHm. Right.", Shippou entered the hut.
Inuyasha walked into the center of the village where the exchange was taking place,
"You can take your thieves and leave this village and don't bother coming back. I protect this village. You can tell your moronic daimyo I said that.", Inuyasha informed the captain.
"Who the hell are you?", the captain asked, his eyebrows raised.
"Someone you don't want to mess with.", Inuyasha responded, standing in a defensive positon.
"HMPH! As if you could defeat me.", the captain taunted.
"Is that a challenge?", Inuyasha responded.
The captain turned to his men,
"Raid this village. Take whatever you can to pay the tax. I'll deal with this cretin."
The soldiers began to dismount their horses,
"Don't waste your time.", Inuyasha taunted, "It'll be over soon."
The captain sneered,
"You think so, do you?"
He headed his horse towards Inuyasha,
"What? Too afraid to face me on the ground? Are you that chicken in front of your soldiers?", Inuyasha sneered back.
The captain seethed at Inuyasha's imputance,
"You filthy beast. I will teach you a lesson you'll never forget."
The captain dismounted and drew his sword,
"Aren't you gonna draw yours, beast?"
"I don't need it. I don't believe in overkill."
"You talk big, don't you? Time to bring you down to size!"
The captain swung his sword, aiming to slice Inuyasha in half, but, Inuyasha nimbly grabbed the sword in his bare hands and flipped the captain over his head, separating the sword from its wielder. Inuyasha quickly broke the sword in a few pieces and tossed them aside, as the captain watched in disbelief,
"WHY YOU! That was my great-great grandfather's sword! How dare you destroy it!"
The man charged at Inuyasha. The half-demon actually appreciated the man's tenacity,
"One reason I like having a human side ... it's why I don't give up.", he said to no one in particular, "But, in this case, for you, it's USELESS!", he yelled at the human, as his fist made contact with the raging man's head, sending him flying.
The soldiers stared in disbelief at what occured,
"Get your captain and return to the daimyo!", ordered Miroku, "And tell him, we will not pay his taxes."
The men did as they were told and grabbed the unconcious man, laying him across the saddle of his horse, before heading back to the castle,
"I wonder how many other villages they're stealing money from.", Inuyasha wondered as they left.
"We should find out.", agreed Miroku.
--
Nishimura destroyed a vase in the main chambers,
"YOU WERE DEFEATED! YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE A FEARLESS BANDIT WHEN I RECRUITED YOU!"
"My lord, he was very powerful. He broke my sword into many different pieces. He ... he was a demon of some kind ... maybe even a half-demon."
Nishimura was completely enraged,
"YOU FOOL! YOU WERE DEFEATED BY A FUCKING FAIRY TALE!"
"My lord, please, listen ..."
Nishimura unsheathed his sword and sliced. The captain's head rolled on the floor towards the window,
"I will take care of this myself, you imbecile. I will not stand for a mere village to oppose me."
A young samurai walked in, pulling a young girl beside him,
"My lord, your consort for the evening.", he advised.
Nishimura turned and grabbed the young girl by the hair and dragged her screaming into his bed chambers.