Freak Attraction
Chapter 3: A Village of Outcasts
Byakuya stood in the center of the now empty and silent arena, kicking absently at a pile of ash, mingling the remains of the centipede-woman with the rubble left over from the previous night's performance.
And what an unexpected performance it had been!
Nothing like this had ever happened with the other specimens.
The types of people who possessed enough spiritual power to actually see the hidden circus advertisements were usually men and women of some holy standing: priests, monks, exorcists, diviners and the like. Once the posters had worked their magic in luring such spiritualists and Byakuya had led them into Naraku's web, all the hard work was done. Most specimens were getting on in years, and all were sheltered by their sacred positions, lacking the skills or willpower to fight their way out of the circus enchantments or away from the hordes of hungry demons.
But not only had this black-haired young girl fought her way out, actually killing a demon she should have been a meal for, she managed to make off with one of the top attractions!
'Damn… I have more than just my job on the line now.'
The shuffling of dirt alerted Byakuya to another person entering the circus ring, and his expression went blank, quickly hiding any nervousness at the appearance of the Ringmaster.
"Quite the priestess you brought me this time, Byakuya."
Byakuya was a good actor. There wasn't a bit of shaking or nervousness in his voice as he responded "Indeed. She was sure a feisty one, wasn't she? Evidently it'll take more than a circus tent full of demons to scare this one into submission."
Naraku smiled dangerously, his eyes dark and blood red, and Byakuya felt his bravado slip at the look.
"Evidently so." He said in an amused, lilting tone. "But fear isn't the only way to get results. Someone as strong as that isn't ruled by fear, but I have a feeling she'll respond well to other… stimuli. She had a power I haven't felt in a long time. She's the one I've been waiting for, and I'm not going to let her get away."
Squirming slightly, but faking composure, Byakuya responded "They can't have gone far – the half-breed was injured, and the stench of dog is easy enough to track. I'll send out some scouts –"
"There's no need for that. You'd only ruin things by acting so hastily. What we need now is time."
Blinking slowly, Byakuya found himself without a response, confused as he was at the almost… pleased way his master was handling the quite alarming situation.
"Time?"
Naraku chuckled in a voice without humor, and responded "Yes magician, time. Give them as much time as they need to feel comfortable – to think they've got upper hand – and then I'll break them. Now go and bring me Kagura and the slayer boy. I've got a job for them to do."
Kagome awoke to the feel of wet grass against her cheek and a root along her back.
It took a moment for her memory to catch up to her waking mind, and when it did, the faces of innumerable demons, the giant centipede, the pink flash of light and subsequent race through pitch-black forest brought her back into a panic as her eyes shot open and she sat up to huddle against the tree behind her.
The slip of something soft down her shoulder caught her attention, and the sight of her green striped kimono draped over her body brought another memory to her attention: sleeping in the protective cradle of the dog-boy's arms.
'Not dog-boy… Inuyasha.'
She looked around the small clearing, which seemed even smaller now that it was swathed with morning light, but once again, he was gone. 'Guess he didn't want to wake me up…' she thought, rising to her feet and lifting her hands above her head in a long stretch.
She hoped he hadn't changed his mind and decided to leave her there.
A heavy thud elicited a surprised yelp from the young girl as something hit the ground in front of her, and she looked to see the dead carcass of a rabbit in the grass at her feet.
"Found some meat after all."
Craning her neck, Kagome was met with yellow eyes peering down at her from the dark canopy of the tree.
"Uh… thanks?"
The rabbit was soon followed by a white-haired young man as Inuyasha leaped down into a crouch, picking up the rabbit and holding it out to her by its neck.
Eyeing the floppy, furry thing which was thankfully blood-free, Kagome found she had no response but to look incredulously at its executioner.
He stared back, somewhat confused, and looked down at the rabbit before comprehension dawned on his face and he took it back, looking bashful, as if he had forgotten something which he didn't want to admit.
"I uh… I'll go start a fire for it…."
He awkwardly shuffled off to the edge of the clearing, draping the rabbit across one arm and gathering up sticks and brush with the other.
As he busied himself with building a fire in the center, digging up a patch of dying grass with his hands, she couldn't resist the urge to stare, finally getting a chance to really see just who it was she had saved.
Aside from the dirt clinging to his clawed fingers, the rest of his tan skin was clean, his dip in the river the previous night having washed away the grime that had seemed ingrained when she had first seen him. His mane of hair was gleaming almost silver in the early light, and its bulk indicated that it was in desperate need of a brush. The shackles that had bound his arms and neck were gone – he must have had enough strength still to break free of them.
As he reached for his pile of wood, his hair shifted and slipped across his back, and Kagome had to hold back a gasp as she caught sight of leathery scars crisscrossing the expanse of skin. Looking more closely, she noticed similar scars cutting across his arms and legs.
She knew in that moment she really had done the right thing in freeing him.
Inuyasha's eyes were scrunched in concentration and gleamed a pale yellow, looking much softer than they had just the night before when they were lit by circus fire. And his triangular dog ears, which she found fascinating now that they could be clearly seen, were focused forward on the work he was doing, occasionally flicking in other directions to catch sounds which Kagome could not hear.
She watched him work for a while, until with a tentative question and his curt directions she headed away from their small camp to the river nearby to wash up.
Sitting at the water's edge, she pulled off her heeled shoes and long white socks and dipped her feet in the water, releasing tension she didn't even realize she was carrying. As she sat, her thoughts drifted back to the previous night and her current situation.
'How long is it going to take to get home? That Italian circus wasn't that far from the city, but I followed that Byakuya person away from it… and who knows how far we got while running away last night… if Inuyasha really was running for more than an hour, we could be miles away in any direction!' Her chest tightened as she thought of her mother, face etched with worry as she waited back home at the shrine for her daughter to return. Had Yuka, Eri and Ayumi told her yet that Kagome was missing? And how would they have explained it, when no one knew what had really happened, and when they were the ones at fault for her disappearance? Kagome felt her face heat up in anger as she realized that their 'birthday surprise' had ended up getting her lost and almost killed with no guarantee of ever getting back home.
'But at least I'm not alone…' she thought, her gaze drifting back to the line of trees hiding the strange boy with dog-ears.
The savory aroma of cooking meat wafted towards Kagome, and she smiled softly before lifting herself off the grass and going to join Inuyasha for breakfast.
The near-empty arena echoed with thuds and whooshes of air as a young woman stood in the center, body twisting and stretching as she systematically caught and released a bone-colored boomerang which was almost as tall as her.
Sweat dripped into her eye as she lifted her head to look above her just in time to see a giant white and black cat swoop down upon her in a blaze of fire. She side-stepped the aerial attack with ease, swinging her boomerang under the creature's feet as it pranced off of the projectile to once again take to the air. The woman smiled as she watched it fly off and flip dramatically before bursting into flames and dropping back to the ground as a tiny kitten.
Meowing softly, the now miniature animal bounded happily to the center to jump on the young woman's shoulder, its red eyes bright and trusting as it contentedly rubbed against her face and accepted the rat-tail she offered with a thankful purr.
"Careful Sango, or people might start to think you've gone soft."
The woman turned around to regard her audience with an annoyed expression.
"Miroku, don't you have other things you could be doing with your time rather than watching me rehearse?"
The young man she addressed smiled charmingly at her, standing up from his seat on the arena wall and brushing off his purple monks robes.
"Really my dear Sango, I can think of no greater past-time than watching such poetry in motion as you."
She rolled her eyes but couldn't help a slight blush lighting her cheeks.
"C'mon Monk, even I know you wouldn't waste so much of your day just to see me get all sweaty. Are the fox-women not humoring you this morning? You're not usually so generous with your time."
Sighing sadly and shaking his head, Miroku responded in hurt tones "I get so little respect around here Sango, I would think a friend such as you would be more understanding."
Sango colored even more at that, ducking her head as she realized she had taken her bantering too far. It was bad enough that he was made to be a comical side-show just for being a Buddhist –she didn't have to go and be rude on top of the rest of the abuse he got every day.
Her melancholy thoughts prevented her from realizing her now too-close proximity with the man, until a gentle stroking against her bottom drove all the pity from her thoughts as she grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm behind his back.
"Now I get why you're here."
Smiling despite his pained grimace, Miroku carefully extracted his arm from her grasp and put his hands out before him in a pacifying gesture.
"Now now Sango, there's no need for violence! As much as I truly love our time together, I really did come here for a specific purpose not involving your lovely form."
She leaned back to regard him skeptically, arms crossed over her chest while her feline companion blinked lazy from its perch on her shoulder.
"It better be good Miroku – you know how important it is for me to train. If I don't do something to improve our act, Master Naraku's going to make good on his threat against Kohaku."
"And it is about this very subject I wish to speak with you. Your brother's not here."
Sango paled. As much as the monk liked to tease, she knew he would never outright lie to her.
"What? Where's he gone?"
The fervor in her voice caused Miroku to frown. He hated having to worry her like this, but she deserved to know what her brother was doing, no matter how hard Master Naraku tried to keep them apart. "I'm not sure exactly, but Kagura came to fetch him early this morning. Byakuya was there too."
Anger laced Sango's tone as she ground out "That damn moth… if he puts one more spell on Kohaku, I'm gonna – "
"Starting a fight with the higher-ups isn't going to get you or your brother out of here any faster Sango. I understand how you feel, but please trust me when I say that Naraku is not someone to be taken lightly. He's good at putting on an innocent act, but he's more aware of us all than you'd think."
Sango said nothing, but her eyes were steely as she gazed across the arena into the darkness behind the terraced rows of seats.
Hesitantly, Miroku reached out to take her hand, lifting and grasping it in a reassuring manner as he said "I meant what I said before – I'll help you and your brother to get out of this place, but you need to be patient, and have faith in me. And besides," his voice dropped lower, and Sango turned to face him curiously as he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, "they're saying that someone broke out last night."
Sango's eyes grew wide, her mouth hanging open slightly before she gasped out "Who was it?"
"The half-demon."
She was stunned. She had only seen the half-dog-demon's act a few times when it preceded hers, and he had always seemed so… collared. She couldn't imagine a creature that was so closely and carefully controlled being able to escape.
"How did he do it?"
Miroku shrugged nonchalantly, but his face had caught a nervous tic as he responded "I uh… didn't see it myself. I had been entertaining some guests who seemed interested in my act, and uh… didn't stick around to see the rest of the show after my bit was over."
Sango's hands clenched into fists and she ground her teeth angrily, knowing just what sort of 'entertaining' the degenerate monk was doing with his so called 'guests'.
"Well great, Miroku, your womanizing just cost us some valuable clues as to how to escape."
The monk had the good graces to look guilty as he hastily tried to rectify the situation by adding "I did hear a bit more though! They say he had an accomplice."
Her earlier ire was forgotten as she parroted in confusion "Accomplice?"
He nodded eagerly, glad to distract her from her anger. "Yes, and rumor has it that it was a human who just wandered in– a young woman to be exact."
Sango couldn't help her dubious frown at his statement. Sure Miroku wouldn't lie to her, but still… his sources had to be wrong.
It could only be a rumor.
After all, what normal girl would willingly help a side-show freak?
"So… where is it exactly that we're going?
Inuyasha ignored her question, as he had done many times already that day, in favor of dropping to all fours once again to sniff the ground. He cursed under his breath and shot to his feet, closing his eyes and smelling the air with long, deep breaths.
Kagome rolled her eyes, realizing he probably hadn't even heard her question.
They had been walking since morning, and the sun was now high overhead, offering some warmth during their walk despite the autumn winds. Kagome wondered how Inuyasha could stand it in his scanty attire, but decided not to ask. She didn't think he'd be willing to wear her kimono again, and besides – he wasn't listening to her right now anyways.
He stopped sniffing the air, his eyes opening and narrowing again, and in a few long strides he was through the tree-line again, making Kagome jog to catch up. She nearly collided into his back when she did catch up to him, and looked to see him deep in concentration again, his nose twitching wildly.
"Um… Inuyasha? What are you smelling for anyways?"
"Leather tanning."
There was no further explanation, and suddenly his nose stalled and his eyes opened wide. He looked back at her appraisingly, and whatever she had planned to say died in her throat as she tried to dissect his expression. Before she could figure it out however, he was kneeling on the ground with his back to her as he barked out "Get on."
She just stared at him and arched an eyebrow.
"… Seriously?"
He growled back at her, saying gruffly "Look, if we wanna make it before nightfall, we're gonna hafta run, and I'm not waiting on your lazy butt."
Kagome bit back her own growl of annoyance, not having anything witty to retort, but decided to find some way to pay him back for his insult later as she hesitantly wrapped her legs around his torso as her hands found purchase on his shoulders. With almost no effort he stood again, grabbing the undersides of her legs and shifting them slightly to get a good grip, before taking off into the light-speckled forest at a speed which surprised the girl on his back and caused her to cling tighter, her head pressing into his mane of hair to keep the wind from stinging her eyes.
He ran over fields, leapt bushes and shrubs, scaled trees to get a clearer view of the landscape and then jumped gracefully back down them again, and all the while the girl on his back tried to ignore the voice in her head which laughed in exhilaration.
'Well I don't think I'll ever be scared of heights again….'
For hours he ran, and Kagome was more than happy to sit back and enjoy the ride, but as the sun began to set just left of them, she wondered when they would be reaching their mystery destination that apparently smelled of tanned leather.
By dusk they had reached a hilly area of forest, beyond which Kagome caught glimpses of rice paddies and wood houses. She knew there were still many rural villages near the mountains and far from the bustling towns, but she had never been.
It wasn't exactly the kind of society she was expected to mingle with.
Inuyasha slowed to a stop just at the edge of the wood, awkwardly dropping Kagome from his back as he peered between the trunks. Regaining her footing, Kagome followed his gaze to see a modest sized village, where the only identifying factor was a vine-covered shrine gate at the base of a small hill.
She took a deep breath and gagged almost instantly on the smell of tanning chemicals and the sweaty tang of curing meat. She almost found herself wishing for fumes of locomotive exhaust instead.
Inuyasha turned to face her in the dying light, saying with some trepidation "I'm gonna need your help."
Kagome perked up, scrambling to his side, eager to be of some assistance.
"I need you to cause a distraction."
A vein throbbed in her temple as she responded somewhat angrily "What for?"
He growled and gestured to his nearly bare body, saying tersely "Nevermind the ears, I can't exactly waltz into the village in just my fundoshi now can I? I'm gonna go find some clothes."
Kagome frowned, saying "you mean you're going to steal some?"
He looked angry, but his anger didn't seem directed at her. "What choice do I have? Unless you've got some money stashed away in your kimono, I doubt anyone here's gonna be feeling too charitable."
Her frown only deepened as she realized the logic in his argument and at the same time mourned that she seemed to be becoming more of a criminal every day.
Noting her lack of argument, Inuyasha said brusquely "I'll get us to the tailor's place, and you distract him – talk to him, break stuff, I don't care, just keep him occupied."
Pursing her lips, Kagome climbed once more onto Inuyasha's back as he snuck around the village just behind the line of trees. Reaching the back of what looked to be a large wooden store-house, Inuyasha let Kagome down, gesturing with a nod of his head that this was their target. She sighed, but trudged forward, unsure if she could really pull this off or not.
Approaching the heavy wood door at the front, she knocked on the lintel, calling out as pleasantly and unassumingly as she could. There was movement from inside, and she saw a flicker of light through a nearby window before the door slid open and an old, weathered man stepped into the door frame holding a lantern. Kagome's resolve dropped at the thought of tricking such an old man, but she reminded herself that she had little choice in the matter. At least she could make this a pleasant conversation.
"Young miss, it's quite late. Are you in some need of assistance?"
Thinking on her feet Kagome responded in a flustered tone "Actually, I am. You see… I was travelling through these parts with my school friends – we're on holiday – and well… we were separated in the woods and I'm afraid I… got lost. Um, could you please tell me where I am?"
She prayed that the old man would swallow her story and not ask too many questions - already she could see the flaws in her cover-story, and she didn't know how long Inuyasha would take to pick out his new wardrobe.
"Oh goodness, that's quite the predicament; here, come inside and have some stew and I'll see what I can do to help."
Kagome almost panicked, but managed to say in not too urgent a voice "Er, no! That's alright. I'm worried my friends might pass through this village sooner or later, and if I miss them, then I don't know if I'll ever find them again. If it's all the same, I'd like to remain out in the open, just in case."
The old man stared at her for a moment, and Kagome held her breath, but then he smiled and said "Of course miss, I understand" and she allowed herself a sigh of relief.
Now she just had to wait and hope Inuyasha would bail her out before she got in too deep.
Getting inside the building was not a problem – the wood framed window squeaked as he slid it open, but it was faint enough that the two people in conversation on the other side of the house would not hear. Dropping to the dusty floor of the storehouse, Inuyasha's inhuman eyes quickly adjusted to the moonlit glow in the room, allowing him a fair view of his quarry.
He needed to do this quickly – the less time he spent standing in here and battling with his conscience, the better. Besides, who knew how long Kagome would be able to keep up her end before breaking down and turning him in as the thief he was. He berated the reassuring voice in his head that said she wouldn't betray him like that after risking her life to save his; he just couldn't afford to trust anyone like that, no matter how odd and how kind they seemed. He didn't have much experience with kindness, and wasn't sure how far it could stretch before it ran out.
Setting to work, he began ruffling through piles of cloth, searching baskets and boxes… for what, he wasn't sure. After not too long a search he found something promising: charcoal colored hakama, loose but not too wide, and tapered at the calf, with ties to keep them bound around his ankles. They were thickly woven of some coarse thread, and felt sturdy enough to withstand a good fight and come out no worse for wear. Without a thought he undid the obi holding on the scrap of fabric which was once his uniform and pulled on the pants, tying them securely and already feeling much safer.
Picking up the discarded fabric, he held the back up before his eyes to look at the weathered embroidery of a black spider, encased in a circular crest along with Naraku's signature kanji. He ground his teeth in anger, fangs pulling dangerously at the skin of his lip, but refrained from letting loose the growl building in his chest. He would have to keep the thing with him until it could be destroyed to avoid leaving a trail.
But that was fine – he'd enjoy burning it.
Tucking the fabric into the belt of his new hakama, Inuyasha resumed his searching, now daring to slice open a few paper parcels placed on shelves along the wall. In one such parcel he found a supply of dark leathers, and his interest piqued. Leather was a good travel armor. Encouraged, he ripped through a few more packages, before finding a set of leather underclothes, close-fitting and suited for stealth. He fingered one of the shirts, testing its elasticity and sniffing it to gage its age and condition. Using a scrap of the same fabric from another package he cautiously tested its strength against a sharp claw, pleased to find that it took considerable pressure to tear. It was probably a bit… pricier an item than he wanted to take, but from the dust on the shelves, it seemed these parcels had been sitting there for quite some time. Evidently the one who commissioned them never came to purchase. Or perhaps they were experimental and just never sold…. Whatever the case, he hoped they wouldn't be missed.
Grabbing a clean length of white cloth for a fundoshi, as well as a small leather pouch, Inuyasha slunk back out of the window and into the night. He stopped just outside and listened carefully; Kagome was still conversing with the tailor, and she didn't seem under any duress – he could leave her a while longer.
His eyes shifted to stare across the village at a small hut against the tree line, and his chest tightened painfully. They should really be moving on; this village wasn't what it used to be, and he couldn't risk being seen.
But… he was actually here… after so many years.
Reason warred with a devastating pining, and before he could stop himself, he was racing from shadow to shadow towards the small wood hut.
So far, Kagome hadn't found out much.
They were North-West of the capital, but by this point they were closer to Nagano than they were to Tokyo, not to mention on the opposite side of the mountain range. The old man had lived there his whole life, and had seen the village progress from a rundown Burakumin village to a thriving community (Kagome humored his evident pride, even though she could see no signs of the 'progress' he had mentioned). The strong smells of leather and meat hinted that the 'Eta' population that had once made this an outcast village had not changed.
Kagome wondered why they had journeyed so far to come to this village specifically, when there had to be countless other inconspicuous villages between the two cities. If all he was worried about was getting a change of clothes, shouldn't he have tried somewhere bigger where the garments wouldn't be so readily missed?
Her conversation with the old man was getting strained, and Kagome found her neck craning to try and catch a flash of silver hair. She really hoped he had some way in mind to contact her without having to reveal himself or his conspicuous dog-ears.
But when she heard a shrill feminine scream followed by a crash and the thud of something metal and heavy hitting wood, she figured that was as good a signal as any.
She turned quickly to the source of the noise, seeing a small, aged hut where a woman stood outside frantically calling out for the help of her neighbors. For an instant she thought she saw a black and white something flash across the ground near the hut and dash into the tree-line, and she headed for it, ignoring the frightened shrieks of 'Bakemono' coming from the huts owner. Stepping under the forest canopy, Kagome was instantly enveloped by night. The sun had already lowered behind the hills, and any lingering light was choked by the twisted boughs above her head.
How was she supposed to find Inuyasha now?
Her pondering was cut short as something grasped her upper arm, and she would have shrieked had a warm hand not covered her mouth and muffled the sound. She struggled, distantly registering the feel of leather against her cheek, before a harsh whisper met her ear.
"Shut up idiot! It's just me."
Kagome instantly stopped struggling, but the moment he released her she turned angrily to swat at his arm, hissing "What do you think you're doing?!"
She could hardly see him beyond a vague outline of his body and a slight shimmer of his hair, but the honest confusion in his voice put a dent in her anger as he responded "Well I tried to get your attention, but you freaked out. You want to be found by angry villagers?"
Huffing, Kagome was just working on a retort, when an old, cracked voice beat her to the punch.
"It would seem you have already been found."
Both Inuyasha and Kagome gasped, jerking violently as they turned towards the intruder's voice.
A hunched, round outline was all Kagome cold make out in the darkness – that and the sudden glance of light over a sharp metal arrowhead. Kagome froze in fear, but next to her Inuyasha seemed frozen with a different emotion.
"I-it's you!"
The figure before them in the dark spoke again, but this time, the aged voice was softer as she said "I never thought to see you in this village again, Inuyasha."
Seated around a low fire in the hut beside the red shrine gate, Old Priestess Kaede watched her guests over her cup of tea, hiding an amused smile at the varying looks of confusion and irritation.
"So… you're the Priestess of this village?" Kagome asked, needing something – anything – to break the tension exuding from her companion.
Kaede smiled, responding "Yes, but I am mostly the caretaker of Lady Kikyo's shrine."
Kagome looked intrigued. "Lady Kikyo?"
"Yes, the patron spirit of this village. She watches over us and blesses us; I don't have many duties, since her power is always protecting the village." She turned to give Inuyasha a piercing look, though Kagome thought it didn't look as harsh as she tried to make it appear. "I am surprised Lady Kikyo's spirit allowed you to enter, Inuyasha, after such breaking and entering and scaring that poor woman half to death."
Inuyasha snorted, but looked extremely uncomfortable as he answered "Yeah, well… what would you know about it?"
Kagome noticed him fidgeting in his new clothes, and suspected his squirming was in part due to a guilty conscience. She was pleasantly surprised to know his thievery bothered him.
"What I know" Kaede said, her voice even and direct, "is that you have not been to this village in over ten years, and yet you have already caused havoc. Circumstances as they now stand in the village, I must know the meaning of your coming here."
Inuyasha raised a dark eyebrow, saying arrogantly "What, having some trouble, ya old hag? Kikyo's ghost sleepin' on the job again?"
Kaede's eyes narrowed, and her voice was heavy with warning as she responded "Inuyasha, do not mock Lady Kikyo or her powers. Do not forget – she saved your life."
"Yeah, well, she didn't save Mother's."
Kagome had been trying her best to look small and unassuming during their conversation, but at the mention of 'Mother', her curiosity piqued, and she couldn't help asking timidly "Your mother lived here?"
Inuyasha turned his face away from her abruptly, scowling fiercely. "What's it to you?"
Despite her gut reaction of wanting to snap back at him, she held her tongue, willing herself to calm as she realized this was a touchy subject. "Is it wrong that I want to get to know you better? Besides, you brought me here. Don't I deserve to know why?"
His scowl softened, but he still seemed unwilling to be cooperative as he grumbled "It's not as if I had a choice…."
"Sure you did." Kagome said calmly, causing Inuyasha to gape angrily at her as she continued "You could have left me in the woods, or dropped me at some village, or we could have stopped at one of the countless other villages along the way, but you came all the way out here and dragged me along for the ride. So? Now I want an explanation."
Inuyasha could only sputter, seeming at a loss for how to form words.
Kaede, seeing that the dog-eared young man would not be forthcoming with information, said "Perhaps I can provide some pieces to this puzzle for you, young woman. You see, Inuyasha and his mother came to this village about seventeen years ago, right after Inuyasha was born. Back then this village was unrecognized by the government. The people here were Eta, outcasts and those found unclean, and we didn't get many visitors. But his mother came upon our village with her newborn son, seeking sanctuary, and I was more than willing to grant it."
She paused, and with wistful eyes looked off into the distance, in the direction of the Shinto shrine above them on the hill. "This place has always been a safe haven for those cast away from society. Centuries ago, the Priestess Kikyo lived here, and tended to and cared for all the unfortunate souls who crossed her path. She had a giving heart, and believed that all people deserved a second chance. After her death, the people who lived around her carried on her tradition, and for ages this place was home to those who were looked down on by others. A shrine was built, housing her bones and spirit, and my ancestors and I have tended to it all our lives. Although the Emperor no longer recognizes Burakumin villages, this place is still a place of safety for those who are rejected by society for their misfortunes."
Kagome nodded, then turned to look inquisitively at Inuyasha, asking softly "Is that why you wanted to come here? To find a place to accept you?"
Inuyasha scoffed, saying "Hardly. Did you miss the welcome they gave me?" He turned stony eyes on Kaede, saying loudly "You forgot something, Old Hag. They may be accepting of unfortunate humans in your little village, but I don't recall anyone giving a damn about how a half-demon was treated."
With startled eyes, Kagome caught Inuyasha's attention as she exclaimed "So you are part demon! Then you must also be part human!"
He just looked at her incredulously, saying "You just figurin' that out now?"
She colored a bit, but responded with a huff "Well I guessed as much, but like I said before, you didn't seem like those other demons. And besides… you never told me."
"Well you never asked."
Kaede's placating gesture stalled the coming argument as she continued "Indeed, Inuyasha is half-demon, and it is because of that that his human mother was cast from her home and ended up in our village."
"Hey! I don't see how that is anyone's business."
Kagome noticed the tense stiffness in his shoulders and the defensive curl of his back, and quickly jumped in "But Lady Kikyo's spirit let you come here, didn't she?"
It seemed to have the opposite effect she had hoped for however, as his gaze darkened even more. "Yeah, well, she's not too picky about who she lets in."
"Inuyasha, I must warn you –"
"What?! Not to tell the truth? You were there when those men invaded the village! They killed my mother, and your precious Kikyo didn't do a damn thing to stop them! So much for her 'powers'!"
The tang of salt hit Inuyasha's nose, and he turned to see Kagome watching him with watery eyes, her voice wavering as she said softly "Your mother was murdered?"
His eyes widened in surprise at her concern, and his voice was softer as he said "Yeah… families don't take too kindly to lettin' demon blood get in the line."
Kagome gasped as the meaning of his words hit her. "You don't mean… you don't mean your own family –"
"My family? I was never a part of them, and I never wanted to be. Neither did mother. And when she gave birth to me and they saw what I was… well, they didn't want her to be a part of them either. We were okay for a few years after coming here, but then… they found us again."
"Inuyasha," Kaede began, her tone firm, "what befell your mother was not the fault of Lady Kikyo. The actions of wicked men cannot always be stopped – we each have the freedom to act as we wish – "
"Don't you dare talk about freedom, old woman." His eyes flashed dangerously, but Kaede was unfazed.
She looked at him perceptively, and finally said "I take it that your long absence from this place was not of your own doing, then. You were unable to come back earlier."
He nodded once, brusquely, but said no more on the subject.
Kaede's shoulders drooped with a heavy sigh. "Well, I suppose it is enough that you've come back at all."
Inuyasha held her gaze for a moment, but then his eyes fell to the floor, and a weight seemed to press on him as he said "Yeah, lot of good it did me. I don't know what I was expecting… s'not like there's anything left I guess… they probably raided the place after… after…."
"Wait here a moment."
Kaede rose slowly, and Inuyasha looked affronted at her interruption, but Kagome caught a gleam in her eye, and just the faintest hint of a smile, before the old woman had turned away and crept through a doorway behind them into an unlit room.
The two sat in stifling silence waiting for their host to return.
Kagome was overcome by the tragedy of this young man's past, almost feeling guilty over the happy life she shared with her mother and brother and grandfather back in Tokyo.
Inuyasha was on the verge of jumping out of the hut and into the nearest tree to avoid having to face his emotional companion after blurting out the whole sob-story of his pathetic life. Well, she'd already seen him at his lowest back at the circus. How much lower could her opinion of him really get?
The creaking of floor-boards broke the silence, alerting Inuyasha and Kagome to the reappearance of the old priestess. Kagome watched as she stepped into the glow of fire light, now with a black lacquered box in her weathered hands. She stopped beside Inuyasha, and placed the box on the floor in front of him.
He looked intently at the box, which was without ornamentation aside from the reflected tongues of orange light dancing across the polished surface, and his gaze rose to meet Kaede's.
Seeing the unspoken question there, she said in an almost reverent tone "I have been keeping this safe many long years, in the hopes that one day it would be claimed again."
Kagome caught the slightest shift in his eyes as he looked back at the box – there was an emotion there that she remembered seeing back when he had been locked in a cage, when she had first seen him, and she realized what it was – painful, suppressed hope.
Ever so slowly he reached for the lid, and lifted it with obvious trepidation.
But the moment he glimpsed what was underneath, the black lacquer lid was thrown without ceremony against a far wall, falling back to the ground with an ominous crack. His hands dove for the object in the box, but stopped just short, before slowly resuming their path and reaching in to tenderly, gently, lift a bundle of bright red cloth from the surrounding blackness. The square of folded cloth was stiff in his hands – it had not been handled in… well, over ten years. Imperceptibly he raised the cloth nearer his face and took a long whiff, but his gaze became melancholy as he realized it had been far too long for any sort of scent of her to remain.
Kagome peered at the bundle, noticing a somewhat faded crest embroidered into the fabric. The workmanship was very fine, and the cloth looked expensive. This was something from a noble household, not a Burakumin village. As she examined the fabric, Kagome became aware of something else – Inuyasha's hands were shaking. Surprised, she looked to his face, but his expression was blank. His eyes though… his eyes had grown glossy, their yellow color turning to deep amber – whether from the firelight or some deep emotion, she wasn't sure.
The vulnerability she saw there scared her. Even locked in a cage, beaten and bruised, he hadn't looked so… young; so lost. Unable to bear the look any longer, Kagome opened her mouth, not really caring what she said as long as she did something to snap him out of that dazed state he was caught in.
"What does the crest mean?"
He blinked rapidly, seemingly coming back to his surroundings, and with a slight shake of his head he spoke in a surprisingly steady voice "It's a clan emblem. The Setsuna clan. They're not much of anything anymore; not like they ever really were. It's there so no one mistakes just who the wearer belongs to."
She opened her mouth to ask what he meant by 'belong', but before she could he gently lifted the cloth and shook it out, revealing it to be a short coat with half sleeves.
'A Happi coat…' Kagome thought, seeing it in a whole new light. This was not the kind worn by workers, advertising their employers names upon their backs – this was the uniform of a house-servant, from a time not far gone when clans ruled the lands and put everyone lower than them to work.
A lump caught in Kagome's throat and she didn't want to ask, but she had to know. "Inuyasha… was this –"
"It was my mother's, yeah."
He lowered the garment and peered closely at the seams, no doubt checking the state of the threads. "When she first got pregnant, they didn't know whose it was, and she wouldn't say – guess she wanted to keep my old man safe or something. She was a member of the clan, but since she was carrying a bastard child, they couldn't just let her go on living like she was. At least they didn't kill her, but… they gave her a servant's status. Probably thought it was some great mercy or something; at least until they found out her baby was part demon."
He stood abruptly, still clutching the fabric in his hand, and headed for the door.
"Inuyasha? Where are you – "
"I need some fresh air – it reeks of old hag in here."
He stopped at the doorway, just about to push the woven mat aside, and said over his shoulder "Quit worrying – I'll be back later."
Kagome watched the mat fall back into place with heavy eyes. What he must be going through right now…. A rustle of fabric next to her caught her attention, and she turned to see Kaede seated beside her now, stoking the fire.
"Your name is Kagome, correct?"
At the younger girl's nod, Kaede continued "I perceived from your first arrival in this village that you held spiritual power. Tell me, are you a priestess as well?"
Kagome was taken aback. She had forgotten all about the strange incidents of her reaction to demon barriers and the surge of energy that had caused the centipede-woman's demise; those events were quickly brought back to the forefront as she pondered Kaede's question.
"I… I don't know. My family owns a shrine, but… I… just a few days ago, I thought priestesses and spiritual powers and demons were just, well… bedtime stories."
Kaede seemed surprised by her admission. "Indeed? Then you were not aware of your own abilities?"
Shaking her head emphatically, Kagome said "I don't even know how I used them! I just… I was trying to save Inuyasha, and… they sort of came out of nowhere. I killed a demon with those powers, and I don't even know how!"
Kaede nodded sagely, taking in the information but not having any immediate answers.
"So you rescued Inuyasha you say. Quite a bold and daring move!"
Kagome reddened, but responded quickly "I couldn't help it! He was locked up, and treated like an animal… no, like dirt! And no one cared… it just wasn't right!"
Kaede smiled, saying softly, "I agree. Such injustice should not be tolerated. It is exactly that type of thing against which Priestess Kikyo fought so long ago." Kaede paused then, looking into Kagome's face with an appraising eye. "You remind me of her, you know. Your power feels similar, and even your look…."
Raising an eyebrow, Kagome asked "What do you mean by 'look'? You talk as if you've seen Kikyo."
Smiling even wider, more mischievously, Kaede answered "But I have! There are many who have seen the spirit of Lady Kikyo wandering this place. She does not show herself to everyone, but to those in need, she will appear to offer what help she can. She appeared to Inuyasha's mother, to lead her to this place when she was lost and all alone, with a newborn son and no way to care for him."
Kagome's eyes were wide with awe. Regaining her voice, she marveled "Lady Kikyo must have been really powerful in life, if even now her spirit can still do so much.
"It was once much stronger" Kaede said in a somber tone, "Even when I was a young girl. But almost fifty years ago, it felt as if her spirit weakened."
Sitting rapt with attention, Kagome listened as Kaede went on "Back then I had not seen the spirit of Kikyo. It was a sacred experience that the Priestess of the village alone was privy to, unless some poor soul was in desperate need which could not be met otherwise. There were many Eta and Hinin villagers back then, and many people of ill repute, young and old. But all were welcome in the village guarded by the benevolent priestess, so there was relative peace."
Kaede paused, shadows and memories passing over her eyes. With a weary hand she smoothed some of the lines across her face before continuing "There was one boy though… well, a young man really, who seemed even dirtier and more ill-favored than all the rest of the village put together. He was a thief, and very odd: he had some sort of fascination with spiders, and most of the villagers stayed far away from him. But one day… one day he attacked the village priestess, saying he had seen Kikyo's spirit, and that she had promised him power and status, and that the priestess was to hand over Lady Kikyo's remains. We all knew that Lady Kikyo had once held immense power, and it was rumored that in her bones that power still resided. But with this young man's reputation, he was not believed."
Kagome nodded, saying "He doesn't sound like the kind of person who should be given such power."
"No, he wasn't." Kaede poked at the fire once more. "He was cast out of the village for his blasphemy against our beloved guardian spirit, but before he left, he had time to commit one more heinous act. He stole bones from Kikyo's grave."
Kagome gasped, her heart going out to the deceased priestess who surely didn't deserve such disrespect.
"Not all of them, but… apparently it was enough. Her spirit's influence weakened, as if it was spreading, no longer anchored just to this one place… whatever happened, it was surely the fault of that young man, Onigumo."
'Onigumo… demon spider'. The name brought to mind her nightmarish experiences with the fake circus, and she shivered violently.
"Are you alright, child?"
At Kaede's kind, concerned voice, Kagome was able to push away the images, and replace her grimace with a soft smile. "It's nothing! I just… that's not a very pleasant name, is it?" Shifting her legs beneath her slightly to put some feeling into the unused limbs, she smoothed down the pleating in her hakama and said in as casual a tone as she could "Is that what you were talking about before? When you talked about 'circumstances in the village'? Is it Lady Kikyo's spirit weakening?"
Kaede's brows drew together, and she sighed heavily. "Yes… and no. About twenty years ago, we began to notice signs of the grave having been tampered with, ever so slightly. As if something was being moved, piece by piece."
"You don't think it's… Lady Kikyo's bones?"
With weary eyes, Kaede answered "Indeed, I believe so. The latest theft happened not but two nights ago. You can understand my wariness over welcoming strangers, especially ones with a violent past and connection to this place, such as Inuyasha."
Shuffling to her knees, Kagome turned earnest, pleading eyes on Kaede as she said fervently "You don't think Inuyasha had anything to do with it, do you? He's innocent! He talks tough, but I can't imagine he'd do something so cold-hearted."
At the girl's enthusiastic defense, Kaede couldn't help but smile. "No, I do not think Inuyasha is behind this, nor even connected with what has happened. He has grown colder and seen too many evil things, but underneath, there's still the little boy I used to watch chase crickets in the tall grass. I must insist though that he not disrespect Lady Kikyo with his words – it is a sensitive topic at present."
Kagome smiled, relieved, and said with a nod "I'll talk to him about it. I'm sure if he knew what had happened, he'd be more sympathetic."
Kaede smiled back somewhat wryly, saying "How long have you known Inuyasha?"
Trying to hide her blush, Kagome managed to stammer out "Uh… not very long…" unwilling to tell the old priestess that they had known each other the whole of a day and a half.
It felt like so much longer.
"Well" Kaede began, an amused smile on her face, "You seem very dedicated to him."
Kagome did her best to think loosely on that statement – it was opening the door to an area she wasn't quite ready to explore yet.
"It's… a long story."
Kaede just smiled knowingly, and Kagome resisted the urge to hide her face in embarrassment. "Well, it is certainly too late for any more stories, and I'm sure your friend would like to get an early start tomorrow. I can't imagine him wanting to stay here much longer, with such memories as he has. I'll go fetch some spare bedding for the both of you."
Watching the old woman disappear into the other room, Kagome missed the entrance of another person, until a rough voice sounded right beside her "We'll leave at dawn, before the villagers wake up."
She was startled to have missed him coming through the door, but as she turned to look at him, she was stunned into silence by what she saw.
He was wearing his mother's coat.
Approaching the discarded box on the floor, he retrieved a thin strip of fabric, the same color as the coat, and tied it around his waist, securing the servant's coat against himself with a small knot. He turned on his heel and marched off towards the far wall, sitting against it with a heavy sigh and leaning back, his eyes closed with his legs bent before him, arms draped across his knees.
The familiarity of that pose reminded Kagome of the previous night, and how she had sought comfort from him – that was to say, warmth….
Kaede returned then, arms full of blankets and rolled mats. Kagome helped her place them beside the fire, before Inuyasha cracked open an eye to watch and said tersely "I don't need it." With a shrug, Kaede placed the extra blankets on Kagome's bedding.
The fire had died to embers as Kaede excused herself to lie down in the adjoining room, but despite the quiet darkness, Kagome found sleep evading her. Images of a hellish circus and a sadistic grave-robber cycled through her mind, and no matter how tightly she squeezed her eyes shut, they would not go away.
She shivered.
And suddenly, she could hear something. There was a noise on the wind – a faint chanting.
It sounded like a woman.
Unease settled on her, heavier than any of her blankets, but still she strained her ears to listen.
"… gonna slip and fall…."
"… behind you now… big or small…."
"Kagome, Kagome, you are no more than a bird in a cage…."
With a wrenching gasp she sat up, her chest heaving as she fought to regain control of her wildly pounding heart.
"What's with you?"
Her head whipped around to face the shadowy figure of Inuyasha against the wall.
"Did you hear that?"
His confusion was evident, even in the dark, but he managed to refrain from commenting further than "I didn't hear anything. You musta been dreaming."
With a nod, although she knew she had been wide awake, Kagome laid back down, drawing the blankets up over her ears in a futile attempt to keep the sound from returning.
It didn't work.
The woman's voice was clearer now, and she could hear something else in it – a sad, sorrowful yearning that chilled her very bones.
"Kagome, Kagome, you are no more than a bird in a cage."
Her breath was shuddering and her hands shaky as she slowly pulled back the blankets, crawling away from the mat on the floor, away from the heat of the fire-pit, towards the solid figure against the wall. She couldn't see Inuyasha's face until she was right beside him, but was not surprised to find his eyes open and watching her. She was too shaken and terrified to care what this might look like to him.
For a moment they just watched each other, before Inuyasha's lip quirked into a teasing smirk, and he said quietly "Cold again, huh?"
She could do nothing but nod.
He lifted his arm and she quickly dove against his side, one arm reaching across him to grasp his shoulder, the other tucked between them. His arm went across her back, and she felt his head lean, ever so slightly, until it was pillowed atop hers. It wasn't until she literally felt the tenseness leave his frame, her cheek rubbing against the heavy weave of his mother's coat, that she realized he had needed comfort and reassurance as much as she had. He would have never admitted it out loud, the stubborn fool, but his actions weren't so guarded as his words.
And although she had abandoned a pile of thick blankets and he had none at all, Kagome found that her shivering stopped, and her hands and heart felt safely anchored against the sturdy half-demon who had become her pillow.
There was no further singing as she drifted off to sleep.
*Author's Note:
Oooooooh that was fun to write. Took forever, but it was fun.
It's kind of obnoxiously long and full of exposition, but stuff needed setting up, and now we're getting to action again.
I really want to take this fic into… darker territory. Not outright horror, but like… spooky, gothic horror? Kinda like how the Inuyasha manga was at the very beginning, but… spookier. It's my first time writing something like that, and I'm excited to try.
*edits: I've fixed some spelling errors, even though I know there are still some I missed. Also, Burakumin villages and Eta and Hinin were all real things from Japanese history - you should look them up!
Anyhow….. next chapter is all planned out, so….. stay tuned!