Disclaimer; I do not own Inuyasha, nor the story of Esther.
Summary; There once was a peasant named Inuyasha, who was pulled into the competition for a new King unwillingly. As the competition continues, something happens that neither Inuyasha nor Her Majesty, Kagome expected. How will the two fair, as the rush and search for a new king becomes the only life they know?
The Story of a Peasant
Chapter Nineteen;
My fists were clenched together, shaking ever so slightly.
"WHAT?" I ground out.
"You heard me." Miroku said, sounding as chirpy as ever. He continued packing away his belongings into a simple bag, humming a chaotic tune.
"You can't be serious! She can't be serious! How could she not let you keep going in the competition?" I cried incredulously. Miroku just shrugged, switching from humming to whistling. He reached to the bottom of his trunk and pulled out the last item, a simple set of rosary beads. He slipped them over his hand without noticing the action, before closing the lid to his trunk.
"That's all of it." He said, clapping his hands together before staring up at me smiling.
No, not smiling. This man was beaming.
"Miroku.. what is your deal? Yesterday you were practically weepin' for nerves about not making it, and not it's happened, and you act like your rejoicing!"
Miroku pondered this a second, placing a curled finger under his chin. He opened his mouth to say something, and I waited expectantly.
"Yep." He simply replied. I deadpanned. My ears, with a will of their own, started to fall over themselves. Miroku seemed to notice the depressive action. His face became a bit more sympathetic.
"C'mon, don't be like that Inuyasha." He said. "Walk me out of here, will you?" He asked, picking up his bag. I just nodded.
"I just can't believe it." I murmured. Miroku clapped his hand on my shoulder as we walked out of the dormitory. "Don't worry Inuyasha, I'll see ya around one day." I nodded as I started to head towards the main gate before I realized Miroku wasn't following. Turning, I noticed him walking in the opposite direction.
"Hey, monk, where ya goin'?" I called out. Miroku just turned his head, peering over his shoulder. That same catty grin was still beaming.
"Never said I was leaving the castle, Inuyasha." He called back. He continued walking while my brain tried to process what he was saying. With a burst of demon speed, I caught up with his side.
"What do you mean?" My brain wasn't at optimum computing processes this morning.
"I mean I'm not leaving the castle." He spoke as if this should have been obvious. Finally, growing irritated, I grabbed his wrist and yanked him to a stop.
"Explain." I stated. I threw his hand away from me, crossing my own arms over my chest. Miroku's face was expressionless for a brief moment, before he finally grinned. He looked around before yanking my haori and tugging on it to force me to follow him into an alcove nearby.
"Alright," he began whispering, "but I'm not actually supposed to tell anyone! So you have to swear to keep it a secret that I told you, got it?"
I could tell from Miroku's childlike happiness that it didn't matter if I agreed or not at the moment.
"After the ceremony yesterday, her majesty caught up with me. She said she was very proud of all the accomplishments I had made during the time spent here, blah blah blah." Miroku rambled off a bit, using his hand to imitate a talking person. "Anyways, she said that she would be awfully sad to see such a person go, and offered me a role in the staff here." Miroku's eyes shined. I felt my brows pull together.
"What kind of position?"
Miroku took a deep breath. "The future King's adviser."
The breath whooshed out of me. "The adviser?" I exclaimed.
"That's not even the best part!" Miroku claimed, his face giving away his utter excitement. "Guess who I get to study under?"
I thought for two seconds before the answer was blatantly obvious. "Sango." I murmured. Suddenly all made sense.
"That's right. The royal adviser of the Queen." Miroku's face was flushed as he continued chirping on about the opportunities the job provided and how kind her majesty was for offering him a continuance in the castle.
"Oh shove it, Miroku. You could care less about the opportunities. You just wanna cozy up next to Sango."
"So?" He asked. I laughed outright at him. "I told you Kagome had a way of making things work out."
Miroku gave a small smile. "And it was a shame for me to doubt you. Perhaps you should've been the adviser."
I was still chuckling, shaking my head. "I'm no adviser."
"True. You have a bigger goal ahead for you to strive for." His words caused me to sober quickly.
"Well, yeah.. I guess I do." Miroku placed a hand on my shoulder, and looked me straight in the eyes. I vaguely remembered his easy acceptance of my hanyou blood, how he always seemed to be there to help me out. He would make a good adviser for whomever won the kingship.
'Maybe even me.' My mind dared to hope.
"This challenge is simple." Sango declared. She stood before us with her hands on her hips and a glaringly cool expression on her face. "You have many times been expected to be able to mingle with royalties and dignitaries. Today you will mingle with your people."
She let the statement fall on our ears for a moment before pacing towards her right. "As a king, you must be able to understand the problems that they face. You must listen to each and every citizen that comes to you for help. Offer assistance where assistance can be helped. The greater problems you will take with you back to the castle where you will create a plan to help your village." She paused and turned around her direction of pacing.
"These plans you create are important, for the greatest plan will be implemented for the village. It will also allow you a closer step towards becoming king. Do I make myself clear?"
All the men, including myself gave a shout of 'Yes ma'am!'
Sango nodded to herself. "Remember: A government is absolutely nothing without its people. If you have not your citizen's trust and respect, then you have nothing."
Sango turned her head up towards the sky, gauging the sun in the sky. "You have until dinner this evening to return back to the castle. Now, go and remember what has been said here." And with that we scrambled through the gate, walked a short path, then landed in the village. We dispersed quickly, noticing the glances the people gave us as we heaved ourselves through the immediate crowd.
Suddenly I felt lost. How was I supposed to approach these people? Especially considering most had detested me before this competition had begun. Would they even appreciate me any more now than they had?
My internal conflict was brought short when I felt my sleeve being tugged on. I peered down and saw a small child of no more than 4. His black shaggy hair nearly covered the bright green eyes underneath.
"You're one of those king-guys, right?" He asked in a small voice. I raised a brow and lowered myself to one knee to look into his face.
"Yeah, I guess I am. What'cha need kid?" My voice sounded odd even to myself. The kid attempted to wipe his hair out of his eyes to no avail. I noticed in his other hand he held a small stuffed animal.
'Oh great, it's a stuffed dog.' I thought in passing amusement. One leg was beginning to fall off, the stuffing beginning to puff out.
"Our garden fence wa' smashed up in the last storm. Mama said she could fix it, but she hasn't had the time. Since yer here, d'ya thinkya can help Mama?" The kid brought the stuffed dog to his chest and gave it a squeeze. "She won't ev'r ask fer help. But ami'nals keep gettin' in teh garden. They eat our food." The kid was on the verge of rambling so I put on a smile, and let my hand fall on his head. He peered up at my hand, seeming surprised for a moment.
"Show me where you live, kid."
The kid led me away towards a small but well kept hut. Instead of going through the inside, he led me around towards the back where I immediately noticed the bashed in fence. Two sections were completely obliterated, the wood for the fencing completely gone. Two lone stakes stood naked where the beams would have been. I thought quickly before bringing my attention back to the kid.
"You have any wood... uh...?"
"Kiro. I'm Kiro." He said, jutting his thumb to his chest. "And we ha's some wood ov'r there." He said, point over a ways. I spotted a hammer and some nails as well, and smiled.
"Alright then. You wanna help me out?" I asked Kiro. The child nodded, and set his stuffed dog down before waddling over with me. I picked up the wood panels with ease and bent again to pick up the hammer. Kiro knelt and picked up the nails.
"Be careful with those. Don't want you to get stabbed or nothin'." I said, keeping an eye on where he held them.
"Kiro? Kiro, what are you doing?" I heard a feminine voice call out. We both jumped and looked up and saw a woman coming across the garden from a back door of the hut.
"Mama, he's helpin' fix the fence!" Kiro said cheerily. The woman, who I only knew as 'Mama', looked over at me warily before asking her son, "Yes, but who is he?"
Kiro looked up at me to answer. I placed the wood down before giving a slight bow, trying to find my manners.
"Ma'am, I am Inuyasha. I represent those in the competition to be king." I waved my hand over where Kiro was. "Your son asked me for some help. I hope I'm not intruding." The woman had one defiant hand on her hip. The pose vaguely reminded me of Sango.
She looked me over once before sighing.
"Alright, fine, very well. Been trying to get around to fix it anyways." She waved me off, and I assumed that as my cue to continue. My ears swiveled when I heard her begin talking to her son.
"Kiro, hunny, what have I told you about talking to strangers?"
"T'not'ta." Kiro whimpered.
"So, why did you?" The mom's voice was quiet, and I realized I had paused in my work to listen for a brief moment. I tried to push it off as nothing, and continued trying to size the wooden beam in my hand.
"He looked like he could 'elp." The boy whimpered. The mom sighed frustrated.
"Just go inside Kiro. We'll talk about this later." The woman sounded tired, as if she had said this phrase many times before.
"'Kay mama." He replied quietly before walking inside.
The mother was silent for awhile before I heard her approach me.
"I'm sorry that my son bothered you. I'm sure you have better things you could be doing." I peered up and saw her arms were crossed and she was staring just over my head at my ears. Her expression didn't seem disgusted, but rather neutral towards the appendages.
"It's nothing. This is what I'm supposed to be doing anyways." I led my ears swivel for a second, amusing myself with her widening eyes. She looked down at my face then and seemed to flush for a second.
"What, fixing fences?"
I chuckled. "Helping the people."
I picked up a hammer, and within seconds had the first beam up on the fence. The woman looked over at my work, before kneeling down next to me.
"At least let me help you then." She said, picking up the next beam of wood. She held it up to the fence post where I quickly nailed it in as well.
"Your son..." I started. The woman laughed before I could say anything else.
"He's a handful." She shook her head. A few loose tendrils of hair came over her shoulder, obscuring her face. "He's much like his father."
"Where is his father, if you don't mind me asking?" I asked. 'If there was a father around, I would think this would've been fixed by now.'
"Oh, he died a few years back. When Kiro was only two years old." The mother sighed and brushed her hair over with her hand quickly. "I've wished many times that he was still here. There's so much to do, so much to handle. Sometimes I don't think I can do it all myself."
She turned her face upwards towards mine and smiled in earnest. "But I don't mind too much. I have Kiro at least, and that's all I need."
I nodded, keeping my eyes on the work in my hands. With one last slam of the hammer, the fence was finished.
"Done." I said calmly.
We sat in quiet for a few minutes before I stood up. The woman followed me, standing as well. She bowed once before saying "Arigato, Inuyasha. You have been most kind to my son and I." She pulled herself back up and placed her hand back on her hip. "To be honest, I wasn't sure I was ever going to be able to fix that fence. I really do appreciate it."
I just scratched the back of my neck, not used to the praise. "It was nothin'." I mumbled. I noticed a small face appear out of the doorway and I gave a small wave. Kiro came running out then, grabbing his mother's hand.
"Thank you, 'yasha!" He said, his voice high and cheery yet again. I knelt down in front of him, ruffling his hair.
"It's not a problem, kid- Kiro. Stay out of trouble, and listen to yer mama." I told him, giving him a stern look. He smiled and pressed his face into his mother's leg.
I walked back towards the marketplace, watching the hustle and bustle around me. No one seemed to pay me any particular mind, although I did notice some of the stares and a few glares from those passing by. I tried my best to appear nonchalant and out of the way.
The sounds of crates falling and crashing, a male voice yelling, and a child's cry forced me to whirl around.
"What do you think you're doing?" The man yelled, standing over a cowering figure. "You should watch where you're going, you filthy mongrel!" The man's face was red. Wooden crates were smashed all around him. Fruits and other varying food items were strewn across the lot. I felt a sense of déjà vu from the situation.
"Well? Do you have anything to say for yourself?" The man nearly screamed. The small child cowered further in on itself. A demon child.
My feet were moving to place me between the man and child before I had even had time to think about it.
"Leave 'em alone." I stated calmly when I had made it between the two. The man took one look at me before his face grew redder.
"Who are you to think you can stand up to me, half-demon?" His voice was so loud that I could feel my ears attempting to try and shut him out.
"Inuyasha. I'm a competitor for the kingship." I internally smiled when the man in front of me paled slightly.
"You?" He cried incredulously. He gave a forced laugh. "I hardly believe it. No one would let a demon, much less a half-demon get this far."
I fake yawned as if this was old news. "There's a first for everything." I crossed my arms and looked at the child still curled up on the ground. "Now, what is the problem here?" My words were short where I cut the consonants.
The man seemed to deliberate whether I was speaking the truth or not before shrugging.
"That thing ran into me while I was carrying those crates. Stupid, wasn't watching where it was going! Made me spill it all." He gestured wildly to the mess around us. "Probably trying to steal a free meal off of me. It deserves to be punished!" He raised his hand along with his voice. I rolled my eyes.
"So quick to judge." I murmured too low for him to hear. I felt something warm press against the back of my legs, and I glanced down to see the small demon child working to press itself to my body. It's hand started to curl around my loose pants, knotting the fabric in its fingers. I raised my face back towards the man.
"As far as I see, this child deserves no punishment." I gestured to the kid. "It's still here, which means it hasn't stolen any of your food. And it seems you would not have crashed had you been watching where you were going as well." I felt myself straighten, abuse from when I was a kid pressuring me to speak up. "Don't punish a child for the ignorance of an adult." I concluded.
The man looked at me in sheer anger. "You mean you aren't going to do a thing to it?"
"That's what I said. And if you have a complaint, I would advise you to take it up with the palace." I smirked blatantly. I knelt down, turning towards the child. It turned it's face upwards towards me, looking up with wide reddish eyes. I noticed for the first time the girlish features of her face, her small petite body filthy with the dust from the ground.
"Let's go." I whispered. I offered her my hands and she took them hesitantly before I lifted her into my arms. Before standing, I grabbed up a few of the stray fruits.
"Hey," I said walking back over towards the man. He looked at me with a distasteful look, eying the fruits in my hand. I fished around for the small coin purse I had been equipped with before giving him ample payment for not only the fruits in my hand but for those damaged along the ground. The man looked at the shining coins in his hand before looking back up at me.
"It's called mercy." I said quietly. "You would be wise to learn about it."
The child had been quiet since we had walked away from the scene at the marketplace. Her head was tucked into my neck, her fingers curled around the fabric of my haori.
"It's okay." I murmured softly. "You're okay now."
She shifted so that her head was propped up. "Why did you help me?" She squeaked out. Her voice was very quiet, and she sounded a bit shy.
"I know what it's like to be in your position." I said without elaborating. She seemed to accept this and placed her head back down onto my chest. I handed her one of the fruits that I had bought.
"Here, eat. I know how it is to try and get good food around here." I ordered her softly. She rolled the fruit- I think it was an orange of some sort- in her hands.
"I don't want it." She said quietly. Her voice wavered.
"Why not?" I asked. I already knew where this was going.
"He was right. I was gonna try to steal it." I smelled the waterworks before they even began streaming down her cheeks. "I'm a bad person." She whimpered.
I sighed and walked over to a mostly empty area. I sat her down in front of me and forced her to look up in my eyes.
"Kid, I know what it's like having demonic blood and living here. I don't begrudge you anything for trying to steal to eat." But I gave her a hard stare and raised a finger. "But I probably should tell your mother. Where do you live?"
At that, she sniveled even more, the tears coming harder.
"I don't have a mom... or a dad. My parents are dead." She managed to blubber. She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms tight around herself. The orange dropped from her hand, and rolled a few inches before halting.
Never one to enjoy a crying girl, I awkwardly placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back into my chest.
"Ssh." I whispered in her ear. I pulled us even further away into the shadows so we wouldn't be noticed. On instinct I began stroking her hair. She whimpered again, and pressed her face into my chest. I could feel the tears as they started to soak through my shirt.
"I'm an orphan to. I know what it's like." I whispered to her. "Life isn't easy being a demon. It sucks worse when you don't have anyone to even take care of you."
Her tears were still coming, but her whimpering had ceased. I began rocking her gently.
"Is anyone taking care of you?"
She shook her head. "My last caretaker kicked me out.." She mumbled from where her face was pressed into the cloth of my shirt. "'Thought I was too much to handle." Her knuckles were white where they clutched my shirt. "I hated it there. I don't wanna go back."
She sniffed and looked back up at me. "I don't have to go back there, do I?"
'It's not like I even know where 'there' is.' I thought briefly.
"Don't worry, I've got a place you can stay for awhile." I said, thinking of Kaede. She was never one to begrudge an orphan child. I picked the citrus fruit back up and placed it back in her hands.
"Now, buck up and eat. Okay?" She sniffled once, but nodded and took the fruit and took a bite out of it, her sharp teeth immediately breaking the thick skin of the orange. I hoisted her up while she ate and began walking towards the old hag's hut.
"Can you take care of her for just a little while Kaede?" I whispered. Shippou and the girl- I had learned upon reaching Kaede's that her name was Mizosumi, had gone off to sleep after the excitement from me showing up had dwindled.
"Aye, but I hope ye are not making a habit of leaving me with thy children." She had a twinkle in her one good eye that let me know she was teasing.
"Hey, they ain't my children hag." I replied. I ran my hands through my hair and looked out the small window to see that darkness was beginning to approach. "I need to be going. Thanks again, Kaede." I reached for my coin bag and tossed it onto the table.
"For taking care of 'em." I said as explanation, exiting before the old woman could argue.
I ate dinner quietly, mostly picking apart the food in front of me, rather than eating it.
"Aye, what's got you so blue?"
I looked up to see Nida sitting down in front of me. I gave a small smile.
"Long time, no see." I replied. "Lookin' good." I said, gesturing to her bump of a stomach. She rubbed it affectionately.
"Still got a ways to go." She said in response. "But you're avoiding the question."
"What was it again?" I asked. She glared at me, reaching into her water pitcher and flicking some at me. I chuckled darkly.
"I'm fine. Just don't have Miroku around, ya know.." I rolled my eyes. While it was true that I still saw him plenty around the castle, he was usually too busy drooling over Sango to give me much of the time of day.
"Aye. True. But it's more than that yeah?" Nida said.
"Always the perceptive one, aren't you?" I asked sarcastically.
"I try." She said, leaning back into her chair, throwing one arm over the back of it. I just raised a brow before shaking my head.
"It's this challenge. I'm trying to think of my plan. I don't know how well it's going to go over though." I shook my head as I peered down at my food again. I resumed picking it into smaller pieces.
"Why wouldn't they accept it?" Nida asked. She reached over with a rolled up napkin and smacked my hands, forcing me to stop picking at my food.
"Integration of demons has never been an easy goal." I stated simply. Nida 'ah'd.
"You want to help your kind." She didn't ask, but stated.
"I want them to be accepted." My hand ran through my hair for the umpteenth time since I had made my way back to the castle. The sad eyes of Mizosumi haunted my mind. I felt a hand pat mine and I looked up to see Nida giving me a soft expression.
"Then you tell the council that." She pat my hand once more. "That's all they need to know. What you stand for."
I took a deep breath. I knew that this challenge, and what I would tell council today was something more than just another trial for the competition. For once I was working for something that I truly believed would be better for the people of this village.
The entire night before, I had planned out an outline of what I wanted. It was by no means perfect, but I had felt that what I had to offer was acceptable, and most importantly from the heart. My heart to be exact.
And so I stood and paced outside the council doors, a small notepad in my hands. My plan was short and concise. 'Acceptance' was what I had termed it.
The doors to the council opened, and Miroku and Sango both came to call my name. I slid my hands across my pants once to make sure they were free of sweat.
'Damn nerves.' When was the last time I had gotten this nervous? I didn't bother to try and answer that.
I took one more deep breath, stood up straight, and walked through to present my plan.
A/N;; Well, when I started writing this chapter, I was by no means planning this. I think this might be the longest chapter yet.
Review, seriously. Tell me what you think, what you like and dislike, some things you might want to see. It won't change the end of this story, but I might find some new chapters to throw in before the end.