a/n: Special thanks to Mangagirl4, Anya Hals, and the two guests who left reviews on the last chapter! To answer the question of one guest: Yes, I do plan for Kagura to be present (and play a pretty significant role) in this fic! We won't be seeing her for a while, however.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha.
SONG OF THE WEST
an Inuyasha fanfic
xi.
When Tōga had first came to the West from his hometown on the mainland, Inugawa and the villages surrounding it were experiencing more or less of a feral dog epidemic. Aside from the general danger of their wildness, a handful of the dogs were rabid, aggressing and contaminating any other animals or people who crossed their paths. This prompted his Lord Grandfather, who was naturally concerned about the welfare of his young grandson and sole heir to the Tokudaiji ancestral lands, to give him a piece of practical advice.
"Never try to corner a mad dog," the old man rasped to the young boy. "It has nothing left to lose."
So, he never did.
Eventually, the rabid dogs were pursued and exterminated. To ease his youthful ennui in the castle, Tōga himself had decided to re-domesticate a number of the non-diseased with the help of a few generous slabs of meat appropriated from the kitchens, earning him the somewhat derisive appellation "Inu no Taisho" from a few of his grandfather's courtiers. His father and those dogs were all long gone after thirty-five years, but he typically attempted to apply the old man's advice to a variety of different circumstances.
But this situation was less cut and dry. Corner one rabid dog at Asano castle, and you were at risk of being attacked from behind by its asymptomatic companion. Avoid it, and it'll infect its peers and innocents.
It was dusky when Tōga reached Lord Ikeda's manor. The elder's servants led him immediately towards the gardens where Ikeda sat in his teahouse with a simple set and a light meal already prepared. To Tōga's delight, Ikeda was one of the few courtiers he had ever met who knew how to get to the point.
"It's well-known in these parts that Lord Seikanji is a compulsive gambler," Ikeda divulged, setting down his cup after taking a sip. "Pitch-pot, horseracing, dakyu—he'll stake money on anything, simply to lose it. Anyway, he well-nigh gamed away most of his fortune and had begun to draw on a number of other sources in order to pay off his debts: other Lord's pockets, his wife and children's dowries, taxes—"
"He was embezzling funds?" Lord Tokudaiji interrupted, one thick brow quirked.
Ikeda nodded. "Yes. Lord Asano indubitably knew about it, but he would have been too demeaned to alarm you before contending with it himself. At all events, Lord Asano threatened to expel Seikanji from court if he didn't redress the funds, which gave him more difficulty.
"Despite the odds, it appears he managed to garner some funds. Recently, one of Lord Fujii's sons—the lad who happened to be rejected by Lord Asano as a match for Lady Sara, in fact—took Lord Seikanji's eldest daughter as his primary consort."
"Yes," Tōga considered. "A marriage between an aspiring merchant house and a declining noble clan is always a match made in heaven."
"Verily, but I'm not too sure it was the sole solution to his problems. Fujii is wealthy from his trade, yes, but not wealthy enough to absorb the whole of Seikanji's immense financial obligation. After all, the Fujii clan is of considerable size, with many mouths to feed, which now includes Seikanji's daughter, whose dowry had already been used up for gambling," Ikeda explained.
Though the opportune match had lifted some of Seikanji's financial burden in addition to satisfying Fujii's endeavor for status, it still wouldn't be enough to keep Seikanji's spot on the court. But if Asano were simply dead, there'd be no need to work any further to restore the lost funds.
Tōga put forward, "Seikanji is a fool, and Fujii, though savvy in business, is a coward regarding anything else. Would either of them have dared to pull off an assassination?"
"I've considered that as well," Ikeda stated. "Fujii certainly has the means and resources to hire an assassin, but none of the backbone. Either Seikanji came up short and the two mustered the courage to kill Lord Asano, or they were bribed with additional financial support by a third party who disliked Lord Asano. Of course, it's also possible that they miraculously did find more money on their own, and Lord Asano died naturally. But from the way Seikanji so flagrantly paraded his sudden affluence at the summer festival, I'd venture to say Lord Asano's death was not coincidental."
The storm clouds rolled in then, forcing the two men to move their conversation inside. By the time Tōga saddled his horse to return to Asano castle in the morning, he had his mind set on decreeing the engagement of Lady Sara and Lord Kikkawa as soon as possible.
As the rain fell and the pale lightning gyrated through the night sky for the second night in a row, Rin assumed Lord Tōga was spending the night at Lord Ikeda's home, just as he had told her before his departure.
Strangely, she found herself feeling worried for the older man. It was nonsensical. After all, he was the great Inu no Taisho, the tall and strong Lord who traveled in a suit of armor with two great swords at his back. He wouldn't be vanquished by a simple thunderstorm of all things. Yet Rin couldn't prevent the twinge of fear that poked at her stomach with each roll of thunder.
Undeterred by the relatively scarce amount of time she had spent with the Imperial Lord, Rin had found herself quite attached to him, in the way a child would be to a parent. It was a sensation she hadn't felt since her true father's death so long ago. She didn't want it to end any time soon.
Lord Sesshōmaru and Seiten weren't worried at all. The Asano courtiers had elected to take dinner in their individual quarters due to the storm. With the torrential downpour, Seiten very well couldn't do any investigative work on his end. Thus, Rin ate with the two men in the guest wing, making use of the portion of food prepared for their absent Imperial Lord: a hearty platter of various meats and vegetables and fruits and grains. She still felt stuffed from the sweets Seiten had bought her earlier in the day but ate just enough of the decadent meal to lessen her guilt about squandering the rest of it. Not too long ago, she had been starving. She didn't want to appear to be taking her good fortune for granted so soon.
Dinner came and went in silence, save for Seiten and Rin's idle bouts of conversation. Neither of the men was as talkative as the Inu no Taisho. Seiten eventually retired to his rooms, and soon enough, Rin found herself dozing off in the makeshift bed that remained on the floor of Sesshōmaru's chamber, only to be startled awake by the slamming of the shoji, the hard thumping of boots, and Lord Tōga's booming voice.
"Sesshōmaru!" The man exclaimed.
Rin opened her eyes. It was morning. The rain had stopped again, and daylight wafted through the cloudy shoji screens. There was an eerily calm look on Lord Tōga's face that portrayed the seriousness of the unknown situation and made Rin shiver. Seiten followed close behind.
Lord Sesshōmaru stood, poised to jump into action.
"The stables," Lord Tōga said. "I've contained it for now but try to look as undisturbed as possible. I don't want anyone else in this castle to know about it quite yet."
Then, turning to Rin: "In an hour or so, go to the kitchen to retrieve breakfast. We must make our actions appear normal."
Rin gave a puzzled but obedient nod and watched as the three men exited the room.
The Asano stables were a surreal sight. On the herbage-covered dirt floor of the building, still confined in their sleek wooden stalls, four horses laid on the ground unmoving.
Lined near the walls were the Asano servants, bowing with their foreheads pressed into the brown dust. The stablemaster stood with a grim look on his face, along with another two servants who had taken the reins of the lone horse that survived the tragedy and was now threatening to lose control—whinnying, shaking its head, stomping, and the like.
If any other Asano courtier had found them, they'd have been brutally punished for damaging the property of a noble house. Thankfully, they were being questioned by the head of the Tokudaiji clan, a man who needed them alive to fulfill his purpose.
"Now," Lord Tokudaiji began, seated on a chair the servants had provided for him, "what exactly has happened here?"
The stablemaster fell to his knees. "Your Excellency, I truly have no idea! Everything was as usual—we let the horses out to stretch their legs, gave them water, cleaned their pens. It wasn't until that boy—" he pointed to one of the servants kneeling on the floor "—fed the horses that this disaster occurred."
Everyone's attention turned to the servant boy, who rushed to defend himself. The boy was young, not more than thirteen or fourteen, and quivered under the weight of everyone's stares.
Sesshōmaru huffed audibly. Hopefully, this wouldn't devolve into a blame-game.
"I did feed the horses, your Excellency, but I had no intentions of harming them. Someone had to have tampered with their feed," the boy said, waving his newly bandaged hands for emphasis.
Whoever had wrapped his hands had done so haphazardly to get the job done before the Lords arrived. Though they were a safe distance away from each other, Sesshōmaru could see the boy's red skin peeking through the holes in the gauze.
Just like…
Sesshōmaru's eyes narrowed as he walked towards the boy, who stiffened in response. "Show me your hands," he ordered.
Lord Tokudaiji watched his son, intrigued.
The boy hesitated for a moment before carefully unwrapping the bandage on his left hand. It was an awful sight: the skin on his knuckles, palms, and fingers was a flaming, irritated hue and peeling as if seared.
"How did this happen?" Lord Tokudaiji asked, leaning in closer to inspect the boy's hand.
"When I stuck my hand in the feed bag, something felt slick. I assumed some water had spilled, as always," the boy explained. "But as time passed, my hand started to sting, and then…"
Sesshōmaru recalled the appearance of Sara's hands during their meeting. The wounds seemed an exact match for this boy's, save for its freshness. She was presumably also exposed to an amount far lower than the boy was, explaining its lack of severity.
"Approximately how much time passed between the horse's feedings and deaths?" Lord Tokudaiji turned to the stablemaster.
"About an hour and a half, I'd say," the stablemaster responded. "One moment they were fine, and the next they were dead."
Sesshōmaru peeked into the horse pens. Aside from their lack of life, they looked eerily peaceful. They bore none of the sick, foam, or contorted features usually found amongst victims of poison.
The old man had expired peacefully from senescence in his bed during third watch.
"And what of that one?" Seiten inquired, gesturing towards the horse the two servants were tending to in the background.
The stablemaster shrugged. "Thankfully, that one ate very little this morning. But it's been bellicose ever since. I guess it was spooked. Would've killed one of us if we hadn't gotten it under control in time."
"None of these horses belong to the courtiers, correct?" Lord Tokudaiji asked.
"No, your Excellency. These were merely Lord Asano's horses. The horses of guests are kept in an alternate stable."
The Imperial Lord nodded. "Good. Cover up the horses and prevent anyone else from entering this stable. Keep this confined to here for now—I'll have my man make sure you do. Tend to the boy's wounds as thoroughly as you can, so that they won't fester."
The servants bowed and, in solemn chorus, stated, "Yes, Imperial Lord!"
Sesshōmaru and Tōga exited the stables, leaving Seiten to oversee the workers. When the noble pair were a safe distance away with no one else near, the father pulled his son to the side.
"You've come to some conclusion," Lord Tōga pronounced knowingly.
"Lady Sara had similar wounds on her hands when I saw her yesterday," Sesshōmaru shared.
Lord Tōga furrowed his brow. "You suggest Sara killed these horses?"
"No. I'm suggesting Sara killed her father."
The Imperial Lord was taken aback by this.
"Lady Sara came into contact with the bane and is not dead, which means she merely had cutaneous exposure," the young Lord elucidated hastily, his voice low. "Those horses had no outward sign of poisoning, and perhaps might've been declared to have expired naturally if not for their simultaneous deaths. Four perfectly healthy horses, dying so suddenly—Lord Asano was in perfect health when he fell from his horse and died. Additionally, that lone horse who survived is well-nigh rabid. Sara acted neurotic yesterday, and Lord Asano was allegedly raving about ghosts before his death. Perturbation showed up in all three; all were exposed to the poison."
"What reason would Lady Sara have to murder her father?"
Once again, Sesshōmaru's explanation was quick and clever. "She's abhorred her father for years. Perhaps she finally had enough of his over-attention."
Still, even he had to admit the strangeness of Sara's decision to murder the only man who could prevent the marriages she was so eager to avoid right at the moment she needed him most.
Unless, of course, she had intended to get rid of those proposing the marriages by poisoning them as well. Perhaps she could even frame them for her father's death.
"What a conundrum we've found ourselves in, then. Lord Ikeda and I had come to an entirely separate conclusion last evening." Lord Tokudaiji chuckled darkly. He relayed the information he'd received from Lord Ikeda—Seikanji's extravagant debt, the marriage between his and Lord Fujii's houses, a mysterious third party—with expert succinctness.
"Ikeda admitted he had no chance to speak with Lord Asano's doctor or view his body himself as we were discussing the possible means of his death," the older man said. "But if we're dealing with a virtually undetectable poison that only displays burns is in contact with skin, that would have been useless anyway. Asano most likely ingested it."
Sesshōmaru ruminated on his father's retelling. "Lady Sara mentioned Seikanji and Fujii, but Lord Higashikuze was brought up as well."
"Lord Higashikuze?" Lord Tokudaiji repeated, surprised.
Sesshōmaru shared Sara's tale.
"That's Ikeda's third source then," Tōga considered. "Higashikuze comes from a wealthy noble family, as did his mother and wife. He'd have more than enough money to cover the remaining balance and entice Seikanji and Fujii, as well as the gall to kill someone to accomplish his goals."
The pieces of the puzzle were finally coming together. Still, the loss of the horses remained an outlying factor. Who would be so sloppy as to leave evidence of poison in a place where anyone could access it? And why would Sara and Higashikuze collude to kill her father if she despised him?
"We won't be able to directly compare Higashikuze's tea with the poison used on the horses, but if we call the doctor who observed Lord Asano's body, he can glance into the stable and give us a secondary opinion. Then we'll be able to accuse them formally," Lord Tōga muttered. "Well done. I'll ask Lord Motozawa about him, and then send you to the city to fetch them. For now, go back to the room and enjoy breakfast. There's no need to cause a fuss just yet."
Without another word, the two diverged from each other's paths.
About an hour later, Rin tidied herself and left the guest rooms to retrieve breakfast. Whatever the urgency was, the noble trio of men had done an excellent job of keeping it under wraps. Except for the birds that flew overhead and the insects that wriggled about in the dirt, the castle seemed utterly lifeless.
Rin was relieved. Unlike the day before, she wouldn't have to be fearful of the prying noblewomen. Lord Tōga's reassuring words echoed through her head. I wouldn't worry too much about their tittle-tattle…They don't have the authority to confront me or you.
Yet there was something off when she arrived at the kitchen. When she entered the small room, a wave of silence fell over the previously active servants like yesterday's rain upon the manor.
Rin pouted slightly but maintained her faux poise. "Is the Imperial Lord's breakfast ready?"
One kitchen worker merely nodded and gestured toward a table off to the side of the room. On it sat two weaved covered baskets meant to keep the food warm and make transport simpler. Rin gave them a slight bow of gratitude, grabbed the baskets, and went about her way.
The young woman wasn't dense despite the impression her fragile appearance might have given off. She had undoubtedly been the topic of the kitchen maids' conversation before she walked in. Her overall presence in the manor outside the guest wing had been scarce due to Sesshōmaru's lack of faith in her, so she could only conclude that certain illicit information had trickled down from the noblewomen to the help. Alone on the garden path, Rin allowed herself the mercy of an annoyed groan. It wasn't like she was unused to the idle chatter. The villagers would circulate all sorts of things about her, some true, some false, to humiliate her in public whenever they got the chance. At least she knew she was innocent this time, but in some way, that made it worse. Why should she have to suffer through rumors? She'd thought traveling with Lord Tōga would be a new chance at life. Would she have to bear the burden of a whore forever?
Rin took the short way again, lugging the containers across the garden in the direction of the picturesque bridge and creek since it was still a bit too early and damp for the noblewomen to take their morning tea.
Or at least that was what she had assumed based on Lord Tōga's words. To her surprise, Lady Sara was perched in her usual spot under the decorous pavilion. She looked awake and as beauteous as ever: her long brown hair cascaded unbound and unadorned across her delicate shoulders, merging into the silhouette of her pink and green hitoe. A large wooden instrument with strings lay before her as if she were about to practice.
Unfortunately, the two young women noticed each other at the same time. Before Rin could give a respectful bow and scurry away with the heavy food baskets, Sara rose from her seat and beckoned to her in an elegant voice that matched the clarity of her flute.
"You there! Come here."
Rin blinked. Why the Lady of the manor would need her for anything, she did not know. But she gave her obeisance as not to embarrass her Imperial Lord. Rin noticed Sara's flock of maids were nowhere to be found.
"That is Lord Sesshōmaru's repast?" Sara inquired softly, glancing at the baskets Rin held in each hand.
"Yes, your Grace," Rin chirruped.
Seiten had allowed her to accompany him while he acted as a sanctioned spy during Sesshōmaru and Sara's forbidden meeting as a way to free herself from the prison of the young Lord's rooms. She had been too enthralled by other matters, namely the sweets Seiten gave her money to purchase, to hear any of their dialogue. From the far-off glimpse she had gotten of Sara's face before the Lady disappeared into the crowd of commonfolk afterward, Rin was slightly aware the meeting hadn't gone as well as it could have.
She waited silently for a response: a note, a verbal message to Sesshōmaru, another present of tea, anything. Instead, Sara surveyed her with empty rich blue eyes. Then, she sat down in seiza behind the wooden instrument.
How odd. Awkwardly, Rin bowed and turned on her heel.
"I didn't dismiss you yet," Sara said simply, much to Rin's disquiet. Adjusting her long sleeves, the noblewoman began to pluck away at the koto's various thirteen strings. They made lovely slow tinkling sounds as they stretched and returned to tautness against Sara's fingers. She played beautifully, but if an audience was what she needed, she would've summoned the other court ladies.
Before Rin could say as much in the gentlest, most courteous way possible, Sara started to speak again.
"Do you know 'The Chrysanthemum and the Field Fox'?"
Rin had no idea what she was talking about. The Lady let out a sound of graceful amusement at Rin's ignorance.
"A court lady in Inugawa taught it to me during my stay at Tokudaiji castle," Sara explained.
"It's very beautiful," Rin replied softly, a friendly smile on her face. She was being sincere.
Sara glanced at her sharply and then shrugged as she continued to play.
"Her Imperial Highness hates it," she responded, referring to Sesshōmaru's mother. "I've always been ambivalent about it. It's remarkably challenging to perform, and I must admit, I'm not doing it justice. Lord Sesshōmaru can perform the piece wonderfully on the shitsu. It's not the most frolicsome arrangement, but it holds many indispensable truths about the verity of our temporal concerns."
Sara didn't elaborate on what those truths were or provide any further context as to why she mentioned the song in the first place, much to Rin's continued bewilderment. More music-filled moments of wordlessness passed. Rin gave yet another bow and, adjusting the burdensome baskets in her hands, turned to leave the clearing again.
"When did you come into the young Lord's service?" Sara asked brusquely.
Rin tensed. "A few years ago, your Grace," she lied gently.
"Yet you've never heard him play 'The Chrysanthemum and the Field Fox'?" Sara asked with a withering look, still plucking away.
"His Grace is always busy with the Imperial Lord now," Rin clarified. "He doesn't have much time to play at all anymore."
It was another falsehood, of course. Rin didn't realize Sesshōmaru was the type to enjoy arts, much less play an instrument himself.
Sara finally quit plucking and took a lingering glance at the nervous laborer.
"Don't be affronted by my questions. I'm simply curious, that's all. I had believed Her Imperial Highness didn't employ servants—excuse my familiarity—who have had their menarche, since she believes young children are easier to house train. But you're unfamiliar with that basic song, so you must be new. And you can't be younger than perhaps sixteen, presently. Certainly old enough to be married off if your low-class family needed one less mouth to feed," Sara reasoned, sizing Rin up with her gaze.
Rin honestly didn't know how to respond to that. She hadn't realized what all went into becoming a maidservant at a noble house. No one was supposed to ask so boldly about her status.
It was over; Sara had realized she wasn't a maid. Perhaps Lord Sesshōmaru was right to keep her sequestered within his rooms.
"It's really not my affair, I suppose…" Sara trailed off, languidly standing and stretching her hands above her head. She strolled closer to Rin. "You and the young Lord must be rather intimate—"
"We aren't, your Grace," Rin rejoined.
Sara's palm struck her hard across the face. Shocked, Rin dropped the baskets to the ground and stumbled backward.
"Don't interrupt," Sara snapped. "As I was saying, you two must be rather intimate, since he scarcely makes you do any work, save for running to the kitchens. And you seem quite comfortable riding his horse…"
Rin had been on his horse when they entered the city, though she remembered being uncomfortable with the whole ordeal. There were spies, then—who else would've cared enough to inform Sara of such dull information?
The young woman weighed her words carefully to avoid another abusive outburst.
"His Excellency wanted the horses to take a break from riding double," Rin explained softly. "I had just finished riding with His Excellency, and Master Seiten before that."
"And what of you staying in his rooms all night, bedclothes in tow?" Sara demanded.
Rin quickly came up with an excuse. "This servant is a coward, your Grace. The wind was blowing, and I was afraid."
Sara didn't seem satisfied with that defense, yet she laughed forcefully as if Rin had finished telling a chucklesome story. Sara's laugh—strong but fragile and wholly uncanny—was enough to sufficiently unsettle Rin. Quickly, the faux maidservant gathered the tousled baskets of food from the ground and turned to hurry away again. If Sara complained about it later, she'd just explain the situation to Lord Tōga.
"I don't hear Sesshōmaru summoning you," Sara called out. "Why this urgency to return to him?"
Rin quickened her pace. "My Lords are waiting for their breakfast, your Grace. Please excuse me!"
A slight, tinny sound rang through the tense air behind Rin's back. Thankfully Rin glanced backward to inspect the strange sound, for Lady Asano had her hand raised to strike her with something. With agility that surprised even her, Rin abandoned the baskets and caught whatever Sara was holding in her left hand.
Both of their eyes widened simultaneously. Sara's pale hand seemed to be gripping what looked like the hilt of a blade.
Beside herself with rage, Sara snatched the small knife out of Rin's grasp. It left a sharp, searing pain behind as it departed; a moment later, the blade and her palm were both dripping with gore.
The reputedly polished and graceful lady was trying to take her life for no reason at all! Rin screamed, half out of pain and half to call someone to her aid.
Sara lunged for her again but tripped over one of the ruined baskets of food. In all her fine fabrics, she plummeted to the earth with a thud and a yelp. Swiftly, Rin kicked the other basket at the fallen girl to slow her down. She turned to run, only to collide face-first into another person's chest.
It was Lord Sesshōmaru. If he was surprised to see Sara's squalid state, he didn't show it in his expression. His golden eyes displayed a hardness that let her know he regarded the situation with some solemnity.
"Lady Asano!" A woman's voice cried out. From the other direction, a group of maids rushed towards the scene, hurrying to help the noble lady from the ground. Rin rushed to stand behind Sesshōmaru out of caution.
"I knew it. Look how quickly you arrived," Sara said sardonically, observing the ill-assorted pair. She was back on her feet now, pointing the blade at both of them. To her credit, she knew better than to try to attack the young Lord. Rin wondered if Sesshōmaru would forget his propriety and dispose of her as easily as he did Kahei if she dared to move closer. The thought made her shudder again.
Even Sara's maids were wary of her now. They stood a decent distance away from her, eyeing the blade in her hand with shock emblazoned on their faces.
"Lady Sara!" The maid who had delivered the tea and received the message the day before cried out, attempting to calm down her violent peeress. "That's the young Imperial Lord; you can't threaten him!"
Sesshōmaru continued to observe her coolly. In a way, the whole scene was quite enthralling. Sara was frightening, but Rin had already seen what tranquil fury Sesshōmaru was capable of.
Rin's scream must've been more than sufficient. Now, other members of the Asano court, servants by their sides, were coming out to the garden to witness the scene. By the time Lord Tōga and Motozawa arrived, Sara was yelling incoherently about Rin, about Sesshōmaru, and about the courtiers.
"What on earth is going on?" Lord Tōga demanded, his voice reverberating through the open air. The courtiers and servants bowed out of reverence. Even Sara stopped her rambling at the sound of the rich, deep words.
Sesshōmaru retrieved a handkerchief from his sleeve. Like his clothing, the fancy fabric square was a silky white with red embroidery. He shoved it into Rin's good hand and instructed her to wrap her wound with it.
"Lady Asano is delirious," Sesshōmaru gestured toward the young woman. "She needs to be escorted to her rooms."
With the bloodied knife still in her hand and her disorderly appearance, there wasn't much Sara could say to defend herself against the statement.
"Well then," Motozawa said calmly, motioning for some servants to step forward with a flick of his wrist. "Escort Lady Sara back to her chamber. Drag her there, if you have to."
The servants, though slightly hesitant, rushed to carry out their duties, only for Sara to brandish the knife at them instead.
"I dare any of you to lay a hand on me!" Sara hissed.
As fast as lightning, Lord Tōga stormed to Sara's side and yanked the blade from her grasp. Even Sara was shocked at the speed and forcefulness with which the action was completed.
Now safe to do their job, Sara's maids and some guards began to grab her. Her screams echoed loudly as they struggled to drag her from the garden.
a/n: Well, that's that, lol. I originally had more planned out for this chapter, but I felt like this was a better ending point. Honestly, I feel like writing this fanfic has skewed my perception of word counts. This chapter really flew by!
Until next time!