AN: Yup, I know it's been a while and I suck. I don't really have an excuse other than the fact that my internet connection has been infrequent at best over the past few years. If you are interested you'll find a full explanation on my profile page. But here's a new chapter. It's short I know, but this is all that I wanted to happen in this chapter and I didn't feel like draggin it on longer than necessary. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and any and all reviews are appreciated which I promise to try to respond to. Emails are cool too :)
.
.
.
.
.
.
Plain Sight
New Connections
Despite the light yukata she had adorned early that morning, a thin sheen of sweat covered her skin. All though she was well versed in the care of horses, she still had to get use to manual labour. So when will I be able to do this without huffing and puffing, she thought as she moved around the stables, helping Yukio prepare the feeds. Caring the heavy wooden buckets loaded with the horses breakfast didn't come naturally to someone that had grown up surrounded with servants, but she was happy to learn and wanted to pull her own weight. Which is why she stuck around to help muck out the stables when Fusei and Sango showed up. They were almost done all the stables when Atsuko showed so Sango told her to be on her way. She'd yell when they needed her.
Kagome walked over to a water well and, pulling her sleeve over hand, pumped some water onto the cloth, which she then ran over her face and down her neck. She pumped a bit more into her hand, slurping up the small amout of liquid and stood up straight, not taking much notice of how disheveled she looked. It was mid morning by this time, having started the cores before the sun had broke, and she could here noises in the distance. Wondering what the commotion was she walked toward them.
She stumbled across a small group of women, young and old, most of home were servants in the castle, gathered at the edge of a field. It was what they were ogling at and whispering about that was the real draw. It seemed the Royal Guard had decided that because the morning was quite warm, they would train outside. There were currently a dozen men sparring in the field, all of them stripped of their armour and some were fighting topless. Everywhere she looked she saw well developed rippling under taut skin.
No wonder the group of women had abandoned their duties.
"They're quite spry aren't they?" said one old maid, a bask of washings abandoned at her feet
"By spry do you mean young?" her friend replied with a mischievous smirk spreading across her lips. "We'd better enjoy the view while we can."
"Mmm...this is the most entertaining thing to happen since the lord sons fought in the courtyard. And this entertainment we don't have to clean up after," she grinned back.
Kagome couldn't help but agree. It was quite entertaining. Her eye had been caught by great flashes of silver and looked to where she saw Barnabus sparring with an inu-youkai soldier. They had both abandoned their top layers, Barnabus his haori and juban, and his opponent his uwagi. Their movements were graceful, fluid, but the sounds coming from their wooden practice swords were fierce. She watched with rapture, noting that the graceful movements were like a dance, both opponents fainting and pairing in unison, as though they had choreographed the moves.
She wasn't entirely sure how long she had stood there, watching with rapt attention, when suddenly, with no signal, all the combatants broke apart, bpwed to each other and began to collect thier belonging, engaging in friendly conversation. She looked around her, realizing that most of the women had departed. Only two young girls remained, giggling and speaking in hushed voices as the looked over the men that seemed to be preparing to leave the area.
"Hold this."
She turned at the abrupt command and found a light coloured bokken dangling infront of her face. Reaching out for it, she moved it to find the hanyou looking down at her. He donned his white juban but left it hanging open, nicely framing his well-developed torso as he organized his things. She was much too busy following a particularly interesting trail a bead of sweat was making down his chest to notice him holding out his hand out to her. At least until he cleared his throat rather loudly.
"Sorry," she said, blushing as she handed back the wooden sword.
He flashed her a cocky smirk that let her know he knew exactly where her mind had just gone before turning on his heel and walking away, haori and gear draped over one arm. She trailed after him, as he seemed to be heading to a water well, and she could use another drink in this heat. Plus, she has nothing better to do.
"So are you a warrior, then? she asked, huffing to fall into step with him
"Sorry?"
"Well, you never said what you do here. Are you a soldier?"
"What's it to you? Do you think I just train with them for fun?"
"Maybe...I've heard crazier things. If you're a soldier then why are you dressed differently then everyone else? Are you a General or something?"
"Sorry?"
"You sure do apologize alot."
"I'm not apologizing bitch. I'm trying to figure out what tactic to use to get you to go away."
"Well for starters, you might want to close your juban. What kind of woman would I be if I walked away from a sight like that...you should see your face right now," she giggled when he whirled on her, his incredulous look only outdone by the light rouge staining his cheeks. "So are you?"
"Am I what?"
"A general? A high-ranking officer of some kind. Is that why you aren't dressed in the training gear everyone else was wearing?"
"Yeah...something like that. Why are you so curious?"
"Why do you answer questions with questions? That's a highly unattractive quality, you know."
"Keh"
He turned again, closing the short distance between them and the water pump. Dropping his belonging on the floor before retreiving a tin cup and filling it with water. She skipped over to him and peered up at him, widening her already large eyes and fluttering her lashes. Inuyasha wasn't fooled, he knew that look as he'd seen it on Sango's face plenty of times. "What do you want?"
"Well, I was wondering if you'd let me use your cup to get a drink. It's rather hot out here and I didn't think to grab mine when I got up this morning."
"No way! You could be diseased with some...peasant disease."
"Hmm...yes, that...peasant disease that's been going around. Could be, but I promise to clean it when I'm done. Please! I might die of thirst and you wouldn't want that to happen on your watch would you? People would have to clean away my carcass and-"
"Okay!" he grunted cutting her off as he thrust the cup into her hand "Just stop talking so much."
"Arigato!" she shot him a brilliant smile, disarming him for the moment it took her to step around him and fill the cup to the brim. She brought it to her lips and drank eagerly, not taking much care as small rivlets seeped out of the sides of the cup, streaking down her chin.
Inuyasha was mesmerized. With the simple action she had exposed the majority of her throat to his sight and small streams of water were streaking down her throat and disappearing into her yukata, her throat moving languidly as she sipped at the water. His mind was suddenly occupied with wondering how far into her yukata the water would go and where exactly with land and nestle.
She waved the cup in front of his face, bringing him out of his trance as she stared at him quizzically. He retreived his gear, bending over to cover the blush that had once again taken over his cheeks. "So what're you up to now?"
"I'm taking this back to the armoury," he said indicating the breast plate in his hand, "And then food and more training."
"Mind if I tag along? I haven't really got anything to do right now and I don't know my way around yet. I promise I'll try to keep my questions to a minimum. Besides, I'm famished."
"Keh," he said before walking off at a more sedate pace then before.
Blinking, watched him walk away before hurrying after him. "Wait! Was that a yes?"
...
.
.
.
.
.
.
Seated with his legs crossed in front of him, Lord Tai was carefully studying the drawn map before him, his face becoming gloomier the longer the silence dragged on. His generals sat silently, waiting for their lord to speak. Only his son, seated to his right, was not watching him, perusing the map as well and ignoring the generals all together. "This will not do."
Lord Tai looked at his son, irritation clearly etched in his face as he apparently blamed his son for their current predicament. "You don't say. Our coalition with Kikkawa is tenuous at best. Their land borders the eastern ports and without them we are vulnerable to attack. Perhaps if you had married their daughter like I told you to..."
"There is nothing to do for it, my lord," replied one general, "Their daughter appears to have been kidnapped and while they have many in the field looking for her, a ransom has not yet been sought. They are currently...occupied, and it appears until their daughter is found, the ports will be poorly guarded, as it is not a priority for their own security."
Lord Sesshoumaru eyed the general that had spoken. "Thank you for your report. Of course as you well know, me and my lord father are invalids and can not read a simple map," he spat out, ice edging his tone.
"My apologies my liege, I did not mean..."
Lord Tai waved him off, not caring for the arguement, brought them back to the business at hand. "Perhaps we can send a few of our own sentries out into the field to search out the girl. The sooner she is found the better for everyone, herself included, I'm sure."
"But sir, we cannot afford to weaken our strength right now. The courts-"
"Quite so...we will request the help of the Urufu nation. Prince Kogo is much more willing to do us a favour then Kikkawa, I'm sure. We'll ask him to spare a few soldiers, and then send out our own."
"But sir-"
"Prince Kogo has always been a strong ally and I certainly don't expect that to change anytime soon. Send a messenger to their nation with out request today. Send another to Kikkawa, requesting a portrait of their daughter to disribute to our sentries." And that was that. The finality in the lord's tone was taken for what it was and all the generals stood and bowed deeply, before backing away a few steps and retreated from the room, one rolling up the map and taking it with him. The king turned his attention to his son. "Where is your brother? He is suppose to come to these meetings."
"Most likely with that human girl." At his father's inquiring look, he elaborated. "He has reeked of the same human girl the past few days. I believe she is one of the servants."
"Your brother is going around with a servant? This I have to see."
"Yes well, seeing and smelling are two different things."
"She smells that bad does she?"
"Hmph...she smells human."
Lord Tai chuckled, "So I suppose you don't approve then?"
"Well the fact that she is a servant does not help. He shouldn't be going around with someone so below his own class."
"Hmm...where exactly did you say he was?"
...
.
.
.
.
.
.
He spotted him quite easily. His son was down at the stables, of all places. Seated on the wooden fence, he appeared to not be doing much other than watching a young raven-haired girl groom one of the horses. The girl was talking animatedly to his son, who seemed to actually be responding with more than his usual 'keh's. Suddenly the girl trew a grooming brush at Inuyasha, taking him by surprise and knocking him off balance. The girl stood their for just a moment, as his son fell to the ground devoid of the grace usually coursing through the blood of an inu-youkai, before bursting into laughter. She clutched her sides and doubled over, before regaining enough composure to walk toward the hanyou, giggling all the while. The most unusual thing about the whole scene was that his son was also laughing lightly, his usual embarrasement apparently gone as he allowed the girl to help him up.
"Interesting..."
.
.
.
.
.
.
...
"I'm sorry," she said through her giggle, "I thought you'd duck."
"Well, I didn't think you'd throw a damned grooming brush at me."
"You called me a bitch! Again! It's not very nice you know. Can't you refrain from calling me that?"
"No, bitch, I can't," he smirked, "It just comes out, unbidden."
"Well, it's very rude. What if I called you some unwanted name all the time. You wouldn't like that very much would you?"
He stared at her with an incredulous look on his face, wondering if she realized what she had just said. "Um, you do, like every day..."
"Do I?" she said distractedly as she retrieved the brush and walked back to the horse who was waiting patiently for her to continue her ministrations.
Inuyasha walked back with her, patting the horse lightly on his hind quarters, "So, where is Sango? Haven't seen her all day."
"She's been sent on another errand for the king. She won't be back for a few days."
"What errand?" he asked, his curiousity piqued
"I'm not sure exactly, she just said she had to deliver a message on behalf of Lord Tai, so it must be important." She looked up when he was silent and took in the contemplative look he wore. "Why does it matter to you?"
"It doesn't really it's just...well, I skipped a meeting earlier today with...the army generals and-"
"You said you didn't have anything to do today," she said quietly, takin a keen interest in the movement of the brush going back on forth over the horse.
"Sorry?"
"You said you didn't have anything to do today," she repeated, "You lied..."
"Well, I didn't really lie so much as-"
"You lied because you wanted to spend time with me. You know what that means?"
"It doesn't mean anything, bitch!"
"Sure it does, I see right through you!" she declared triumphantly, causing him to flash back when he had glimpsed the soft curve of her legs, and when her yukata had gaped open slightly in the front...
"There is nothing to see through. I just didn't feel like going to the stupid meeting!" he practically roared
She smiled up at him mischieviously, "Uh uh! You can't fool me! You lied so that you could hang out with me and that can only mean one thing. You and I, Barnabus...are friends!"
"Oh Kami..."
...
.
.
.
.
.
.
In case anyone cares, here a few definitions
uwagi - the upper clothing most often worn by martial artists. it is paired with a zudon and obi, and for the purposes of this story, is worn by the soldiers.
bokken- a wooden practice sword, usually the length and shape of a katana
urufu- means wolf, that's all :)