Thirteen: Whoso List to Hunt
"What the fuck did you just say?" Inuyasha stomped over to the bed, making his movements loud to make up for the fact that he had sounded weak and wounded instead of thoroughly pissed like he had intended.
"Are those ears of yours good for nothing?" Kagome hissed, kneeling on the bed and fixing him with a glare that was more vicious than what he had intended to use on her. "I. Hate. You."
He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
Kagome, wearing only a chastity belt and tears, ranted on, never noticing how her words were affecting him.
"I hate you! Wasn't it enough to kill everyone I knew and buy my only remaining family and coerce her into being your mistress? Can't you just leave me alone!?"
"No!" he yelled back. "Nothing is enough, Kagome, nothing. Not this palace, not Higurashi, not the rest of the world. And it never will be until you stop acting like a child and submit to me!"
"I'm not the child, you brainless dog! You're the one going around grabbing things, people, that don't belong to you and throwing tantrums when it turns out they have free will."
Inuyasha lunged and grabbed her by the upper arms, bringing her to him for a hard kiss. Kagome held her lips tight in a thin line, not wanting him to gain even the slightest bit of pleasure from her. But he persisted and grabbed her jaw until it hurt, and that was when she realized he wasn't trying to make either one of them feel good, he was trying to reinforce that he had bought her and conquered her, just like he had her land and her people.
With a growl, he tossed her away from him, nearly throwing her off the bed.
"I just took a fucking electric bomb for you yesterday, and this is how you repay me?"
"You took my very life from me, so in my eyes, that means you owe me yours. In fact, I wish you'd died then!"
Inuyasha gaped at her. Things had been going so much better lately between them and now here she was glaring at him like she wanted to kill him with her bare hands. The worst part of it all was that he had run out of anger. Kagome's venomous words had probed an area deep inside his heart that he hadn't even known existed, and now he ached there with the worst pain he'd ever felt.
"My prince, the crown prince is demanding that you renegotiate the staff and supplies for the voyage to Hekigan."
"Not now, Sango," he said, voice low and eyes remaining on Kagome.
"Yes now!" Kagome shouted, either unaware or uncaring of how dangerous a game she played with her captor. "Get that hideous dog out of my face. I never want to see him again!"
Inuyasha growled and almost lunged for her again, but Sango's calming touch on his wrist saved them both from his actions.
"You'll get your fucking wish, bitch," he said, purposely activating her collar. Kagome rose to her knees and opened her mouth, eyes glittering with spite. "When I get back—and believe me, I'll take my fucking time and have you catching flies—you're going straight to the dungeon, and this time I'm leaving your ass there."
And he left, shutting the door behind him with a slam so loud she would have jumped had the binding spell of the collar permitted her.
Kagome continued to kneel on the bed that even her human nose could smell their intertwined scents on. Tears ran down her face all in a rush. How could he have done that to her, exposed her so cruelly? Things had been going so well! She had become so good at lying to the dog that she'd even begun to believe her stories herself. Something stirred inside her whenever he was near, gave her a pleasant shock whenever she saw him, and continued to pulse until he left her lightheaded with longing staring at his back.
This was the kind of madness the foreign princesses in Kaede's stories had felt. The ones who forsook all for love. In Higurashi, stories of princesses were of their heroic sacrifices that almost always ended in their death. Kagome had never liked those. They had never really applied to her, either, since her deformity meant she could no more protect Kikyo than a peasant child could. At very best, she could be a human shield.
It wasn't fair. Kagome sobbed until she tasted nothing but salt and her tears bathed her naked body, staining the sheets beneath her. She hadn't been able to properly perform the duties of a Higurashi princess. She hadn't been a good sister. And here she was now, a horrible servant of the Queen of Higurashi, who wasn't even strong enough to use the only tool she'd ever had, her body, to defend everything she held dear. Why had she, of all people, been cast in this miserable role of cursed princess, stupid sister, and throwaway slave? Had the goddess made a mistake?
There was something like a pop inside her, like the picking of a lock she felt rather than heard.
Kagome's exhausted body dropped face down on the bed. It took her a second to realize that the collar was no longer holding her in that demeaning position. What the heck had just happened? Had Inuyasha changed his mind?
She waited for a few moments, teary eyes expectantly on the door. Inuyasha didn't come. Neither did his whore. Hesitantly, she poked at the leather collar, running her fingers over the chains woven throughout it. Had it run out of magic? She turned her eyes to the door again, still expecting to see Inuyasha's apologetic form filling the entrance. This time, she noticed something she hadn't before. Splinters. All up and down the door and its frame, splinters.
Inuyasha had been so mad when he slammed the door, he had destroyed its edges.
That meant there was no working lock. That meant she could get away.
Kagome threw herself out of bed and landed on her hands and knees, scrambling for the wardrobe. His cape was in there, the red one that he had wrapped her in for her protection. That seemed like so long ago now. Her heart ached when she remembered how frightened she had been that he wouldn't return, so unsure of what would happen to her if that were the case. And that kiss… She shook her head to clear it. If she started thinking of his kisses now, she'd never leave.
Rifling through every drawer and box and cabinet as quickly as she could, she was able to get herself some gold coins that had been carelessly tossed aside like they were copper, but no key to the damned chastity belt he had imprisoned her in. Oh well. When she finally left the palace, she'd just pay for someone to cut it off her and hopefully not lose a limb in the process. Hurriedly flitting back to her room, she grabbed several of her dresses and pulled one on, a red one with gold embroidery and sleeves the color of moonlight that she chose purely because it reminded her of him. Wrapped in his cape, she carefully adjusted the fine leather bag embroidered with golden thread she'd found that would have been more suited to literally anything else than a slave's escape, and calmly walked out Inuyasha's door.
Forcing herself to take deep breaths, Kagome only allowed herself to think calming thoughts as she carefully stepped through the halls. The slippers that paired with the outfit were good for stealth, and very pretty besides, but she doubted they were meant to ever touch ground that was not being constantly cleaned and polished and shined by an army of servants greater than the entirety of her kingdom. There were few people in the hallways, especially after the unexpected attack. Those who were up and about traveled in large groups, which meant she always was able to hear them coming.
Kagome walked like she belonged there. Not at all like a runaway slave in a stolen cape. After all, Inuyasha had taken her through the halls himself several times, and she had worn his cape before at his command. And most of these courtiers were demons. No one was going to question her when she smelled like the prince and was obviously dressed like a whore in nearly transparent, clinging clothing and a collar. They probably all assumed she was meeting him for a rendezvous.
That was where her problem was.
Where in the name of the goddess was she going?
Whenever she had left the room before, at least while conscious, she had been with Inuyasha, and he was so distracting that she hadn't been able to notice anything but him. Consequently, she had no idea of the layout of the place, even when it came to areas she had already been. Where was the harem? Where was Ayumi? Would it be suspicious if she asked for directions?
Kagome turned a corner and nearly ran right into a familiar muscular body.
"Oof!" she said, just barely keeping herself from screaming aloud. Then her brain recognized the obstacle and turned to run.
"If you make me chase you, I swear to the heavens I will lock you in the dungeon myself," Sango said, voice stern but curiously low.
Kagome stopped and turned around, stomping back over to the guard.
"How much almost-freedom do I have before you turn me in to that bastard dog for good girl points?" she sneered.
The shadow snorted but made no move to apprehend her. "My prince is arguing with his brother in that room." She inclined her head and Kagome stared at the doors almost wistfully. "It'll be at least another twenty minutes before one of them maims the other."
"…If I went back to the room now, you'd tell him you saw me anyway, wouldn't you? Then he'd be really mad."
Sango studied the girl, how her big blue eyes continued to glance at the room where her owner was. The look on her face before she had noticed Sango had been one of extreme anxiety and fear, but now she seemed almost relieved. There was also something of desire there, lurking in the corners of her plush mouth and the depths of her striking eyes. In that moment, Sango knew her prince would never send her to the dungeon or anywhere else. The two of them had become tangled up in a toxic web.
"Keep going the way you came. After two intersections, take a right, then a left, then go through the glass doors to the gardens. Since the crown prince is otherwise engaged, his private apartments should be empty. From there, the stables are close enough to hear. Saddle a dragon and fly back to the ground and never, ever come back."
Kagome blinked at her. "But… But what about Inuyasha?"
"I won't tell. Just don't get caught."
She again looked at the door, jumping when it rattled violently. One or the other had thrown something at it again. Kagome bit her lip.
"Can you tell me where the harem is? Please, my sister—"
"Your sister made her choice," Sango said. "She chose to submit to the prince and be one of his women. You're the only one left fighting Higurashi's pointless war. Give up and maybe you can at least save your neck."
For a second, she thought the girl was going to cry. Then her shoulders squared in determination and Sango read in her face how she was going to march over to where Inuyasha was and start another fight with him like some kind of bizarre act of extended foreplay.
Kagome surprised the both of them by walking away down the hall. Her steps came easier the farther she got from Inuyasha, and then she was finally able to ease into a casual gait. The directions Sango had given her played over and over again in her mind and she forced them to be louder than her other thoughts. If she just concentrated on that, on getting out, then she wouldn't cry. Then she wouldn't turn around. Then she wouldn't want to have Inuyasha apologize and beg her to come back with him.
The farther she walked in the direction Sango had pointed her in, the grander things became. Kagome recognized the elevated surroundings as being where the majority of the royal family did their living, loving, and entertaining. Inuyasha's rooms were more opulent than anything she had dared imagine existing, but the gem-studded walls and gold-plated bricks made his area of the palace look almost humble in comparison. She wondered why he lived so far from the others.
"What're you doin' here?"
The gruff voice almost sounded like his, and in the time it took her to turn around and see who had accosted her, Kagome's heart beat like a trapped bird and her lips began to form the name of the prince of the dogs.
To her great and confusing disappointment, it was just some random demon.
"…The prince's shadow told me to go to the gardens."
The demon's electric blue eyes looked her up and down. "Are you the one he used his own body to shield from the Thunder Brothers' bolt? You must be. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
Before Kagome could even process what he had said, the demon was gripping her hands, his fingers caressing her skin in a way that made it crawl.
"I'm Kōga," he said, grinning at her in a way he must have thought was suave but only served to show off the bits of meat caught between his fangs. "Shadow to the crown prince and a prince myself of the eastern mountain wolves. I got enough pull with my charge that I bet he would free you from the mutt. Then we could get real friendly."
Just before he lowered his lips to the backs of her hands, she snatched them back.
"Uh, how kind of you to consider me," she said. "But I really need to get there and, uh, prepare before the prince tracks me down."
Kōga snorted. "The mutt won't give a fuck if ya don't have time to pick the bits of paper outta your pussy. After my lord is done with him, he'll be so fuckin' mad he'll barely spend the time to bend you over and take out his psychopath desires on you. C'mon, lemme take you to my chambers for a drink. You look thirsty."
"I'd really rather—"
He was already tugging her away. "That bastard may technically be a prince, but he ain't got no kind of idea about how to treat a real woman. As stingy as he is ugly and annoying. Once you come back to my place, you won't be leavin' anytime soon." The grin he shot her was full of charm and confidence, but all she felt was absolutely horrified. Was she being captured? Again?
"There you are!"
At first, Kagome thought the girl was talking to Kōga, but then she came up and grabbed Kagome's sleeve in a familiar and friendly way.
"I found 'er and that makes her my woman," Kōga said to the slight girl. "Run along, Rin. I don't want any trouble."
What kind of power did this girl have? By the look of the rich, expensive clothing she wore, she was a powerful lady indeed. Did Inuyasha have a sister? A human sister, somehow?
"She's not your woman, she's mine." She smiled, revealing dimples. "My lady bought her for me."
Kōga glanced warily at Kagome and released her. "The crown prince's wife bought her from that bast—the other one?"
Rin nodded and came to Kagome's side, easily taking her hand. "It's a secret. My lord is so busy and I am so small and worthless that he could not have possibly deigned to notice that I am lonely. My lady took pity on me and worked out a bargain with the young prince that he would loan one of his women to me whenever he wasn't using her. Please don't tell my lord, Sir Kōga! You know the fight between him, his brother, and my lady would be worse than any war."
The wolf demon paused to think for a moment. He eyed Rin's earnest face, scanned Kagome's barely concealed body, and then looked back to the girl. His expression was as plain to read as a book. While he wanted Kagome badly, this Rin was somehow low enough for him to initially dismiss but powerful enough to stay his hand. Who was she? They had none like her in Higurashi.
"You shouldn't let her wander the halls," he said at last, frowning like a child denied dessert. "And you shouldn't be out here, either."
"Are you going to tell on us?"
Kōga looked at Kagome once more. "Not if you promise me that I will see you again, beautiful."
Her cheeks turned red, but not from any of the feelings like Inuyasha inspired in her. This was just weird and embarrassing. Kind of like Hojo. Before she had appreciated him, of course.
"Uh, yeah, I guess…"
The smile he gave them made her wish she had thought to bring a toothbrush or flossing thread with her.
"Then I'll be living only for the hope that I may one day be reunited with you." Before she could move, he grabbed her hand, laying down a wet smack of a kiss that made her shudder. "Until then, my love."
"How did you do that?" Kagome asked in awe as soon as she figured the wolf demon was out of earshot.
Rin smiled at her. "Do what?"
"Lie to a demon!"
The girl grabbed her wrist and tugged her down the hall. "Come on, we need to talk. If you linger out here any longer, someone with a brain might come by."
The two of them took off, not quite running but certainly going too fast for a courtly stroll, until they turned a corner and Rin opened a door so unembellished in comparison to every other that Kagome almost didn't notice it. Then she was in a lovely room that opened up to a garden full of sunlight and flowers. Like everything here, it was nicer than what she'd had as the princess of Higurashi, but this time in a different way. There was life here. There was love.
"Who are you?"
"Oops, I forgot you're new. Sorry for being so rude!" Rin dipped her head in a small bow. "My name is Rin. And you must be the Higurashi woman the young prince brought back with him. Everyone's talking about you. Did you know that? What's that like?"
Kagome was torn between appreciation that the girl had not called her a slave to her face and exasperation that she didn't recognize the depth of her question.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kagome, and that's all true. Do you know where I can find the stables? Inuyasha asked me to saddle a dragon for him."
Rin's smile widened. "He lets you call him by his name? Oh, my lord will find that so funny! Sit down and relax. If you want to run away, we have to get rid of your scent trail first."
"I'm not—"
Kagome was interrupted by Rin spraying her in the face with a perfume that made her cough. The girl darted out for a minute and then came back, cheeks flushed with the effort of her jog down the hall.
"They don't have demons in Higurashi, now I remember. Dog demons have stronger senses of smell than dogs do most of the time. I'm not sure about the young prince, though, since he's only half, even if he is astonishingly powerful. But don't worry, I sprayed all up and down the hall. It will be as if you just disappeared. Now let's work on that collar."
A shock of realization went through her. "The collar! Goddess damn him, he can find me no matter where I run." Her heart began to beat faster though she didn't feel the churning of dread in her stomach like she anticipated. Instead, it was something warmer and lower.
"Oh, don't worry about that. The problem with these is that they can't pinpoint your exact location. So like if you did run away and wound up in a village, he could track you there but not know which hut. The rest is up to his strong nose, but we took care of that already. Anyway, where are you headed?"
Kagome just stared at her. In the short amount of time since she had realized escape was possible, she hadn't even thought about it. All she had thought about was getting out. The rest would be decided by how the goddess had written her fate.
Rin frowned and put a hand on her shoulder. "That's okay." She brightened and pulled her over to the bed, sitting her down like they were close friends. "You can stay with me! That will drive the young prince crazy. He'll know you're here but won't know where. And by the time he loses interest in the search, we'll know exactly where you want to go."
The thought of Inuyasha losing interest in finding her made her insides twist in knots.
"But wouldn't he check every room?" she asked, unable to believe that after all he had gone through to have her he would let her go just like that. "That would be his first instinct."
Rin laughed and flopped down next to her. "No, the young prince's first instinct will be to interrogate and kill the poor guards and servants near where you were kept. Then he'll complain to the emperor and queen, and they will indulge him, as always, and give him a special task force to find you. The whole time, he'll know you're here, and he'll think some noble took you as a pet. His suspicion will grow and that's when things will get fun and he'll act out and maim some innocent. That will give us the opportunity we need to leave."
"We?" Kagome asked. "You're coming with me? And how do you know Inuyasha so well?" She wasn't jealous. No, she was never jealous, not where it concerned him.
"Of course I am!" Rin said. "You're not the only one trapped here by a prince."
Kagome gaped at her. "Are you the crown prince's woman?" she asked.
"I am a servant to my lord," she said with the same smooth voice she had used when lying to Kōga. "It's not that I want to leave him, Kagome, but it's better for him and everyone if I just disappear. The gods themselves must have brought us together. You don't know how relieved I am that I will not be alone."
The last part Kagome believed. Impulsively, she hugged her new friend. "Thank you, Rin. Really." If she were going to be on the run with anyone that wasn't Kikyo, it was going to be the girl who could lie to demons. "But how did you lie to that demon back there?"
"Oh, that?" She waved a hand dismissively. "Kōga is an idiot, so I think anyone could get away with it. But it's easy. Demons lie to other demons all the time, so why can't we? They can't really sense lies, they smell your nervous perspiration and hear your quickening heart. All we have to do is believe what we say. It's even easier if you sandwich the lie between truths."
"Wow!" Kagome thought of all the new ways she could use this information on Inuyasha before remembering she would never see him again. "How do you know so much about demons, anyway?" Specifically Inuyasha, she wanted to ask.
"My lord brought me to the palace when I was but a child. I learned the ways of the court and the world a same way a demon child would."
This puzzled her. "If you are a servant, why are you dressed like a lady and given a room this fine? What are your duties?"
"A lady?" Rin repeated with a laugh. "Kagome, my lord dresses me like a fancy child. But you, gods, the young prince has dressed you like a princess. Or more! It rivals the court clothes of the queen and empress."
Kagome looked down at herself and sneered. "These? Please, Rin, I know what I look like. Inuyasha has stripped everything away from me that made me myself and painted me like a whore, all to degrade me for his pleasure. I'm glad to finally be rid of him."
The look Rin gave her was too piercing for Kagome's comfort. "I've told you about me, but what about you? You said Inuyasha took away all that was you, so who were you back in Higurashi?"
"A maid."
Rin waited but there was no elaboration. "…We're going to have to work on your lies. But first, change your clothes. You can pick anything of mine. I'll dump your clothes in the stables. That should confuse the young prince enough."
"Right now?" Kagome asked, clutching Inuyasha's cape closer to her.
"It's better to get rid of anything that smells like him and you, at least until we leave. Be quick about it. My lord will be expecting me for dinner in mere minutes."
Kagome didn't bother questioning why a servant dined with their master and turned her back, quickly shedding the clothes with clumsy fingers. Though Rin was much shorter and more slender than she was, she managed to fit into what looked like a loose nightgown. The garment fell at an awkward length below her knees and was far too tight across her chest, and everything else looked like it would explode if she tried to move her arms. Next to the dainty little fairy that was Rin, Kagome felt like a beast.
"I'll take these out to the stables quick," Rin said, grabbing the clothes. "What a pity. These must have cost a fortune!"
"Not this!" Kagome interrupted, grabbing Inuyasha's cape at the last minute.
Rin gave her a look. "Miss him already?"
"No!" She could feel herself blush. "I just… I'm cold?"
"Sure."
Making sure to spray the pile of clothes with an extra-large amount of whatever was in that bottle, Rin left the room and made her way to the stables. No one looked twice at her on her way there, which was just how she liked it. Even if she were caught, no one would question anything. She was simultaneously beneath their notice and above reproach. It was a unique position to inhabit, but she made sure to realize how valuable it was.
That status was exactly why that evil Naraku had asked her to do something as heinous as poison the emperor.
Rin wasn't stupid. Yes, she could be naïve, but she knew that she was just as disposable as she was convenient. Bad things would happen regardless of her involvement. This development only urged her to run away from the palace and everything she had ever known.
Ever since she had experienced her first snub as her lord's—property? Ward? Servant? Even she didn't know—she had dreamed about running away. Then when Kagura had fixated on her, she had even gone so far as saddling a dragon herself. But there was always her lord to think of, her precious master. There was no end of pain she could bear for his sake. Or so she had always thought. But for someone like her to become a pawn in a game that would change the entire world was too much. If she stayed and did as they asked and saw to it that her lord was crowned Emperor of Inu, she would hurt him, and that was the one pain she could not survive.
It was better this way.
Rin dumped Kagome's clothes on a particularly high pile of dragon dung. The stable lads were always lazy, and she knew the pile would double in size before they even thought of mucking it out. Giving Ah-Un an apple and a nuzzle, she hurried back to her chamber just in time to wash up for dinner. Only a few more days. A few more days with her lord after what had seemed endless but was really only the shortest of summers, as her entire life would be compared to his own. Rin knew it was ridiculous to think she was that important, but she worried how he would fare without her. At least her note would explain things and then perhaps Naraku's plot would be foiled.
"Here," Rin said, pulling some extra bedding from the chest at the foot of her bed. There was a flutter in her stomach. This would be the first time she felt bad about deceiving her lord. But it was also the first time she had a friend. "I'll grab you something to eat after I see my lord. Stay here and try not to make much noise."
Kagome was wrapped up in the cape and sitting on her bed. She looked so lost that for a second Rin wondered if she would even be up for an escape. But then she nodded and the moment was over. Releasing a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, Rin forced her posture to relax and headed to her lord's dining room.
Not even the emperor himself had the privilege of entering her lord's rooms without knocking, but Rin had long ago ceased to even notice the preferential treatment she'd been given. The table was set and she took her usual place as close to him as possible.
As the servants brought the first course out, her lord eyed her frankly. "For what reason were you delayed, Rin? Usually I am not the one kept waiting."
Rin flushed. She suspected her lord made a habit of rushing at the end of his workdays to be with her for their nighttime meal. For so long, her world had revolved around the incomparably bright sun that was him, and she doubted she had ever arrived to the table after him.
"My apologies, my lord. I stumbled upon a most interesting story and got swept up in it."
Sesshomaru scented the air discreetly. Rin smelled as perfect as she always had, as warm and welcoming as the embraces of childhood that he had always longed for and never received. There was something different about her, however. A new light in her eyes. It took him a moment to recognize it.
Rin was happy.
The realization that somehow, somewhere along the way in their life together, Rin had lost the very thing he had sought to bring her made him drop his fork. It clattered to his plate, making a noise that shouldn't have been as significant as it was. Rin tilted her head and eyed him while bringing her last hors d'oeuvre to her mouth. He picked it up again and robotically made his way through the rest of the first course, unable to meet her eyes any longer.
How had he missed it? The war with Higurashi had occupied him far longer than it should have, true, and their time together was shorter than ever, but that was no excuse. Sesshomaru recalled his suspicion that Rin had fallen in love. After that, he had ordered her followed, but when no lover appeared, he had been sure it was just another flash of jealousy on his part. But his relief was short-lived at this new discovery.
Sesshomaru did not want Rin to be happy unless it was because of him.
"Your mood has brightened considerably compared to yesterday," he said, making his tone as neutral as possible. "Is this thanks to the book or something else?"
Rin smiled at him and he tried not to be blinded by it. It was so easy for him to allow himself to be seduced by her, to be lulled by her scent and soft voice. From now on, he had to be sharp. Vigilant. Like he had been before the bastard mutilated him and he was reassigned to a palace position.
"I also found a beautiful flower today, one I had never seen before. It has brightened my chambers considerably."
"You know you can change anything about your rooms whenever you wish, Rin. Only say the word. It would be a nice project."
"They're the loveliest rooms in the palace already, my lord. I hardly think someone like me could improve upon them."
"I think it would be good for you to find something to occupy yourself. Things are becoming more complicated after the Human Alliance attack and I will not be able to spend as much time with you as I'd like."
"Really, my lord, you are too kind. I love my chambers just as they are because you gave them to me that way."
Sesshomaru found himself leaning towards her, hypnotized by her big dark eyes.
"Perhaps together, then, Rin."
Another smile was his gift. "I would like that, my lord."
The servants brought the soup course and the moment was shattered.
Rin cleared her throat. "How are things going with the Higurashi war fallout? Are you permitted to discuss it?"
It was all he'd been talking about all day, but for some reason, that which had exhausted him earlier was no longer as tedious and infuriating when Rin asked.
"We are all but certain Hekigan funded and orchestrated this latest attack. There would be more concrete evidence, but it appears Izayoi's son has at long last mastered the Tessaiga, and thus all witnesses who would have been cowardly enough to talk were turned to ash." Sesshomaru took a sip of wine to avoid Rin seeing him sneer. "The idiot even destroyed a sizeable portion of the palace. Father had to bring in terrestrial masons and sorcerers. We don't know if even their combined efforts will work to satisfaction. No one alive remembers how the Inu palace was built."
"Will there be war with Hekigan?" Rin knew just enough about the world to know that a war with Hekigan would be devastating.
"Perhaps," Sesshomaru said. "I would not worry overmuch about it, Rin. Hekigan proved themselves to be allies in the war with Higurashi."
"Wasn't their prince betrothed to one of the Higurashi royals?"
"Indeed." He intentionally did not elaborate. Rin did not need to know of treachery on that scale. "Inuyasha is set to sail to Hekigan and discuss both the matter of locating the Higurashi royals as well as the Human Alliance attack. The only reason he hasn't so far is because of some issue with his newest slaves."
"Oh?" Rin said, dragging her spoon through her soup but not eating it. "Are they particularly rebellious?"
"Not that I've heard of. There are rumors that he is unbecomingly attached to one of them."
"How so?"
"I did not care to hear the details." Sesshomaru did not like discussing such things with Rin. He resented his brother all the more for perpetually being the talk of the court with his scandals. "Let us talk no more of all the unpleasantness that has resulted from Higurashi. Tell me of your day, Rin."
After that, it was almost like the old days when Rin had been a child and he had been first confined to the palace. The small girl child she was had been the one visitor he had allowed during his recovery. Her eyes had done more to brighten his rooms than any open windows or burning orbs. Her voice left no room for doubts, for negativity, for anything but her.
Sesshomaru allowed himself to be just another demon for a while. There was no Higurashi, no Hekigan, no collapsing palace, no bastard half-brother, no miserably heavy future hanging over his head. Just him. Just Rin. The vague, unformed, shudderingly pleasant fantasies he had of touching more of her than he had even seen.
One of these days, his sickness was going to get the better of him.
By the time Rin got back to her rooms, it was much later than she normally returned. Tonight had been different. Her heart swelled just remembering. Her lord had been so kind. He was always kind, but there was something special about tonight. Maybe it was her. Had he become even dearer to her now that she knew she would do what before had been unthinkable, unbearable, and leave him? Even now Rin could not foresee a future in which she was without the future emperor. In every scenario her mind could conjure up, her lord was by her side.
The escaped slave was still on her bed wrapped in the fire rat cape when Rin opened the door. Kagome jumped, cringing away from the sound.
"Sorry!" Rin whispered. "Dinner doesn't normally take this long. Did I wake you?"
Kagome shook her head, face pale and obviously tear-stained. "N-no, it's just—I thought—I'm sorry."
"You thought I was the prince?" Rin had heard many stories about how the young prince played with women. Even the tamer tales made her blush.
"He's looking for me, isn't he? Are you going to take me to him?" Kagome's voice almost sounded like she wanted Rin to give her up.
Rin shook her head. What in the world kind of madness had the young prince forced this girl into?
"I haven't heard anything about the young prince. He's probably locked himself in the harem. That can only be to our benefit." With a yawn, Rin began to change into her nightgown, completely missing the look of fury on Kagome's face. "We'll leave tomorrow. The last supply delivery this week is around midday. The young prince will still be nursing a hangover, my lord will be deep in his work, and the rest of the palace will be at luncheon. No one will notice when we sneak out."
"You know your way around the city?"
Rin paled. "I thought you did."
"I had hardly left Higurashi before the dog captured me," she said.
That was just great. A foreigner and a shut-in trying to navigate their way through the largest city in the world whilst trying to outrun the most dangerous demons in existence who would hunt them for better or for worse. Rin took a deep breath. It wasn't impossible. There were many scents in the city, and it was so large there had to be places to hide. She would take her jewelry and they would sell it. And if her lord read her note then perhaps he would make quick work of the evil advisor and she could come back and he would forgive her and everything would be good.
"Don't worry, Rin," Kagome said. "We can get a map and a couple horses and go to Higurashi. I have people there."
Rin tried to think of the best way to say it. "Higurashi is very far away, Kagome. And I don't think we'd fare very well there."
"It's not how everyone says!" Kagome protested. "We're not barbarians. The people are good."
"That may very well have been true at one point, but the Inu army is still occupying the area. There's been a stubborn resistance by your people and the Inu don't like that. Right now, Higurashi is the most dangerous place on earth."
There was silence and Rin was afraid Kagome was going to cry again. "I don't know anywhere else. My sister… My sister traveled more than I ever did. If we got her, she would lead us. Kikyo always knows what to do."
"Where is your sister?"
"Inuyasha's harem."
Rin sighed and flopped down face first on the bed, fighting the urge to scream into one of her overstuffed pillows.
"The harem is the second most dangerous place to be after Higurashi. The guards have orders to kill anyone on sight who isn't the young prince. Even the servants within the harem are harem girls. They have their own baths, their own kitchens, their own system. No one goes in or comes out but the young prince."
"An inn," Kagome said. "We'll find an inn, then. One on the outskirts of the city. My sister took me to one when we escaped Higurashi. We can figure things out when we get there. The most important thing now is that we get out."
Rin nodded. "I'm glad it's you, Kagome," she said quietly, grabbing the other girl's hand. "I think we're going to work well together."
Kagome smiled. "And I'm glad I met you, Rin. You're the first friend I've ever had besides my sister."
"You're the first friend I've had ever." Her lord didn't count. He was so much more than a friend, he was like—well, he was her lord.
"Tomorrow," Kagome said, laying her head down on the pillow. "I can't wait for tomorrow."
"Tomorrow, we'll be free."
O\o/O
There was nothing that Inuyasha wanted more than to hold Kagome down and fuck her until she admitted she didn't hate him. But every time he tried to get to his feet, he fell back down again.
"She hatesh me," he slurred. "Kagome hatesh me and I'm too fuggin drunk to tell 'er to schtop that."
Kagura blew smoke rings in his face and his eyes watered, which was only because of the smoke and not anything else.
"Most people who know you hate you. How is this any different?"
Inuyasha turned reddened eyes on his bitch sister-in-law. "I don' care if the world hatesh me as long as Kagome doesn'."
Naked and almost as high as he was drunk, Kagura slid off the bed and sat on the floor next to where he was wallowing.
"You want her to love you?"
He scowled at her. "Thought I fucked the schtupid outta ya already. Need another dickin'?"
Kagura pushed his half-heartedly groping hands away. "You went soft and started talking about your slave before anything interesting could happen, moron. What's so different about this one that you're here crying on my floor over her?"
"I ain't cryin'!"
"I should just save myself the effort and have her brought here so I can taste your madness for myself."
Inuyasha growled at her. "She's mine, you bitch."
"Then why haven't you just taken her?"
"That's not how the game works!"
Kagura took another drag from her pipe and waited a long time before releasing it. "Inuyasha, it's no longer a game when you start having real feelings. And sweetheart, you're an emotional wreck right now."
The half-demon prince bowed his head, his silver locks obscuring his face. After a silence so long she thought he had fallen asleep, he whispered, "She told me she wished I was dead."
Even Kagura, long scorned and neglected wife, winced at that one.
"Things were so good," Inuyasha continued. "We were so close. She said she liked me." His ears drooped. "I took a fucking Thunder Brothers bolt for her!"
"How are you still alive? I thought that could kill even a full demon on impact."
Inuyasha shrugged. "Mastered Tessaiga. Now 'm stronger."
"You've had that sword for over a decade and could barely do more than party tricks with it. What changed?"
He shrugged again. "Now 'm stronger. But she doesn't care! Kagome doesn't even want to see me anymore. I can't even go back to my own fuckin' room 'cause it'll make her mad and then we'll be right back where we started and fuck, Kagura, it was so much work to get 'er to stop thinking of me as some fuckin' evil monster. Now I gotta put her back in the dungeon 'cause I said I would and what if she gets sick again? It's cold down there and she's so small and soft and—"
"Gods, I forgot what a chatty drunk you are." Kagura took another lungful of opium and released with a sigh. "Inuyasha, I'm going to teach you a new word: empathy."
Inuyasha glared at her. "Just 'cause I chose the military course in the academy instead of the other stuff doesn't mean I'm stupid, Kagura."
"Then you tell me about it, young prince."
His frown deepened. "…Don' wanna."
Another sigh. "Just take a second and imagine what it would be like if Kagome were the princess and you were the slave. What if she locked you up, took you away from—Sesshomaru is a bad example, I guess—but what about your mother? And she separated the two of you and taunted you constantly and forced you to expose yourself before a crowd of dirty old courtiers. What then?"
He snorted. "We wouldn't have any of that shit as a problem 'cause I would've fucked her the second she asked."
"Did you ever ask?"
"I told her I'd give her everything if she just gave in! And she already knows by now I won't force her."
"How about next time she lashes out, you try being even nicer than you were before? She's confused, Inuyasha. I'm sure she doesn't actually hate you."
The half-demon prince perked up a little at that. "That's stupid. I ain't gonna let her push me around anymore than she already has."
"Then you're going to follow through on your threat and send her back to the dungeon?"
"I…" He blinked slow and slightly out of sync. "She's scared of the dark. She doesn't know I know. When we're in bed together, I turn out the lamp after she goes to sleep, and it's like she knows because she clings to me. Even in her dreams. Sometimes, she says my name. And I think I turn the light out mostly because of that."
Kagura stared at him with an expression he had never seen before. It reminded him a little of what she was like before her marriage wearing her down and forcing her into the arms of addiction. Something deep in the shallow woman.
"I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you're in love with a slave. To the best of your ability, anyway."
"I am not!" he barked back. "It's just that she's the last one I'm gonna get to have and she's different from the others. More… More fun." The admission made his ears droop again. "But she hates me now. What if she hates me all the way until my wedding? Slavery's already mostly illegal and once it is, all of the harem will be again given the choice to stay or go once I have a wife. And then I'd still only be allowed to keep a few of 'em. I know Kagome would leave me and go off and never think of me again."
"Oh, she'd think of you. You'd be in every one of her nightmares."
"I came here to feel better, not worse."
"No, you came here because you didn't want to go back to your room and have your slave hurt your feelings again."
He grumbled something inaudible.
Kagura flicked his ear. "If you want to make her yours for a good, long while, you need to listen to me and be nice to her."
"I am nice! I gave her a room that's basically a museum, had my mother's own dressmakers fashion her a wardrobe, made my chefs cook her human food, imported chocolates from fucking Hekigan, saved her damned life—"
"And it's not enough. Try and figure out how her old boyfriends won her over."
Just remembering that Kagome had been promised to another made him want to go storming back and take her over his knee. Spank her. Shake her. Kiss her. Ask her why. He wouldn't force her, no, but this time he'd make her want him just as much as he wanted her. Then she'd be just as helpless as he was and the memory of that man in her past would be forever erased.
"She was just a fuckin' maid. It was probably some guy just trying to get underneath her skirts. I know that no one touched her before me." He recited it mostly to himself to make himself feel better.
"Then you've still got a chance to make yourself her type. Why don't you start treating her like the princess you keep complaining she acts like?"
Inuyasha stared at the floor. Like a princess. He'd have to be on his best behavior when the foreign royals came to compete for the chance to be his bride, so he had been trying to get all his basest urges out of his system before then. But what if he treated Kagome like practice? Sometimes he had those urges anyway, like when she was sick or when she cried or when she held him. It would be a pain, but if he pretended she was equal to him, then maybe she'd spread her legs soon and he could relieve himself of the torturous fire that replaced his blood whenever he thought about her.
"Too much trouble…" he murmured, leaning his head back and remembering what she tasted like.
"Your punishments have had the opposite effect, so I'd say it's worth a try." Kagura leaned her head on his shoulder. If he didn't know her so well, he'd think she liked him, but really she just could no longer keep her head up. "Will you make an official mistress out of her?"
He thought about it. She wasn't noble and wasn't even born an Inu citizen. It was unheard of, but not illegal or anything. Anxiety threaded with something sweet filled him. Inuyasha needed to make Kagome his before slavery was outlawed all the way and she was free. Being his mistress would bring yet more attention to her and would possibly make her a target if his future wife was the scheming sort. But it would also keep her tied to him and allow him to go places with her in his official capacity as prince of Inu, conqueror of realms, ambassador to subjected territories, blah blah blah.
As a slave, he could take her to the field with him while he fought. But as his mistress, she could have everything he gave a wife and more, the only difference being if they ever, somehow, through some terrible oversight, had children, they would not inherit his titles or be included in the line of succession. His wife could be packed up and shipped off to some country estate or remote room of the palace, like Kagura, and then there was no reason he and Kagome couldn't continue on as they were, with the difference of her actually submitting to him.
Nothing like this had ever occurred to him before because Inuyasha didn't do relationships. The closest he'd ever had to a love affair was with Sango, but that was different.
"You know," Kagura said, "if it's not you, it'll be someone else. From what you've told me, she's very popular. You should keep that in mind."
"…So you think if I treat her like she's worth somethin', she'll like me?"
"She is worth something. To you. Your life, apparently."
He stayed quiet for a bit. Maybe dozed.
"How do I make her love me?"
Kagura laughed. "If I knew how to make someone fall in love, we wouldn't be here."
Inuyasha frowned and shrugged his shoulder, making her nearly fall over. "For real! Come on, Kagura. Tell me."
His sister-in-law stared at the wall, but he knew she was seeing something else from the pain on her face.
"Kind words. Touch her. Not like that. Hold her hand. And when you look at her, think of how you feel about her and it'll show. Then she'll love you. Maybe she already does, but now she'll know it's okay to love you."
"…No dungeon, then?"
A gust of wind blew his clothes back to him.
"No dungeon. No punishments. No being the way you are around everyone else. Apologize, dry her tears, kiss her feet. Keep doing that and she'll be yours by tomorrow. Now get out, I've got another dick appointment."
It took him a couple times, but eventually Inuyasha got his pants on the right way. After he kissed Kagura goodbye, he carefully made his way out, feeling a little unsteady after all the demon-strength alcohol they'd had. No matter how much he practiced, he had yet to outdrink Kagura. It was like fucking water for that woman. He laughed quietly to himself. He was acting like Kagome that time he had slipped her some liquor. That was the first time. The first time he'd ever felt—
"You're going the wrong way, my prince."
"Sango," he said, turning very slowly to face her. "You were waiting?"
"Like always."
"Kagura gave me some good advice."
His shadow raised a brow. "…That's all?"
He nodded. "I'm gonna go back and tell Kagome she can stay with me."
There was a flash of something like surprise in her eyes that his current state made difficult to track.
"How merciful. Are you sure, my prince? I did hear a little of what that slave said, and after seeing how things have gone thus far, I would recommend you let me take her down myself. I fear your honorable heart is being taken advantage of by her."
Inuyasha blew a raspberry at her and took off down the hall he was pretty sure led to his quarters. How long had he been gone? There was the meeting with Sesshomaru that had gone way overtime and resulted in no resolutions and a black eye, then Sango had made him handpick the men they were taking to Hekigan even though he couldn't care less, then she had suggested he take a look at the work being done where he had blown out the palace walls, then she reminded him of a "meeting" with Kagura that he hadn't known he'd had, and it was kind of a blur after that.
"My prince, you still haven't met with your mother to discuss the balls—"
"Hard pass. She's just gonna do what she wants anyway."
"And then there's interrogating the captive from Higurashi and checking on her sculpting progress. That would be quite valuable once we're in Heki—"
"She's Kagome's friend, so now I know she's just dumb an' not hiding anything. Pass."
"Our Lord Emperor also wanted to meet with you to discuss the upcoming visit to Hekigan and review proper protocol and—"
"Pass."
"The harem has been restless—"
"I've done enough work today."
All he wanted was to go back to Kagome and lay down beside her, bathed in her scent. The longer he was away from her, the more on edge he got. Something had changed between them and it was unlike anything he'd ever experienced with the others. Kagome was different and it was making him different. Inuyasha was glad he hadn't ended up giving the key to the chastity belt to Sango. To show her he had cooled down and was willing to overlook what had to be her mistakes, he would undo the belt. Then they would kiss and make up and maybe he would finally be rid of the fiery yearning that overtook him whenever he thought of her.
Inuyasha nearly walked right past his own door.
"…Sango, why is my door open?"
"Did you not shut it before leaving, my prince?"
Her tone coupled with how wide and innocent her eyes were tipped him off to the fact that something was very, very wrong. Inuyasha's brain, sluggish under normal circumstances, was further hampered by the alcohol and stress. When he realized it was dark in his room and what that meant, the alarm bells went off. He rushed into the room and let instinct take over, scenting the air for the only thing that had made him want to come home.
It wasn't like before. Kagome didn't come out and yell at him. She didn't throw herself into his arms. There was no sound of her excited heartbeat. That alluring scent of hers was hours old. It was like she had disappeared right after he left.
"Where's the fucking guard!?" he roared.
"You mean Miroku?"
"I don't give a fuck what his name is; he's a dead man!"
"He's been training with the other harem guards. Since your dwelling is impenetrable and the Room of Hidden Beauty is practically a prison, I saw no reason for him to be wasting time when the locks would do his job just fine."
"I got a fucking guard for a fucking reason! Fuck, Sango, someone fucking took her and now we don't even have a fucking witness."
Sango watched her prince react. For the first time, Inuyasha was very still. Like he didn't know what to do. No matter what he was going through or feeling, he was always a man of action. They were alike in that way. Sango chose to believe it was the alcohol, which he rarely imbibed, that made him that way and not his feelings for the slave. The half-demon just stood there and stared at the bed, not stomping around or barking orders or throwing things or even something as simple as turning on a lamp.
"Someone fucking took her," he repeated, mostly to himself. To her relief, he began to pace. "One of the nobles that saw her on that fucking stage and wanted to buy her from me just went and fucking took her."
"…My prince, I don't think the slave was taken."
He threw out his arms and yelled, "Then where the fuck is she!?"
Sango lit the lamp. "Take a look around."
Inuyasha did. The bed was just as he'd left it, still smelling strongly of the both of them and Kagome's tears. Drawers and his wardrobe were open. Most conspicuously missing was his cape of the fire rat, one of the Inu Empire's treasures given to him at his birth by his father. Some loose change and an old dragon hide travel bag with a worn strap were gone. In a daze, he walked to the room he had given her, the one that had sat uninhabited for years full of everything a woman could possibly want. None of the multitude of expensive trinkets were missing, only a few dresses. When he walked back out to his room and took a deep breath, he noticed how his door was little more than a pile of toothpicks held together only by whatever magic remained inside it.
"No," he said, shaking his head. "Kagome wouldn't leave me. You said it, Sango. You're the one who told me she loved me."
"She fooled me. Fooled us both." She put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll assemble a task force. They'll find her, put her in the dungeon, and then we can just forget about her. She was just one girl, my prince, and if it was meant to be, she would be by your side. Like me."
Inuyasha shrugged her off.
"I can feel her. She's still here." His nose worked like mad without his conscious knowledge. "Just because there's no scent of someone taking her doesn't mean it didn't happen. I have enemies. Higurashi has enemies. So many lost sons. And she's beautiful." He shook his head. "No, they took her. They had to have taken her. She was under the collar's command. And I can feel my yōki in her collar. She's still in the palace. Someone stole her."
Sango laughed out loud in exasperation and maybe a little heartbreak.
"What makes you so sure that she didn't run off? This is the same girl who has struck you and I both on multiple occasions and refused even the simplest order. Why would she sit around and wait for you when she had an opportunity to leave?"
"Because!" he shouted. "Kagome… She… It's different now. She wouldn't run from me. Someone had to have taken her!"
His thoughts began to show on his face in a way his shadow was not accustomed to. Rage was familiar, but the fear she saw mixed in made her want to both run into his arms and take a step back.
"What do you plan to do, then?"
The emotions left his face and eyes both and then he was just steely determination.
"I'm going to find her. I'm going to make sure she is unhurt. Untouched. And then I'm going to kill whoever has been keeping her." Tessaiga hummed at his side. "No matter what."
LONG ASS NOTE:
Sorry for the short/lame chapter. I kinda wanna just get to the fun stuff and my brain is just not there rn so like it's just not a good chapter, okay? Don't yell at me, okay?
Let me clear up some common misunderstandings I've been seeing appear in reviews and have been too lazy to address due to a novela coma/also maybe I wasn't clear when writing/I contradicted myself because I am the big dumb.
Sesshomaru doesn't smell what Kagura is doing to Rin due to Kagura being a wind witch who, at least in this fic, has complete control over air flow, even when it's in your lungs. Also, there was a reason why that scene took place in the bath. Also, the abuse is only ever so often.
Sango and Inuyasha's affair has remained undiscovered since returning to the palace. When they were together in the dungeon, Inuyasha made sure the observation orbs were turned off before they headed down (it's there, I wrote it, I checked). When they were onstage, they were behind a curtain until Inuyasha took off Kagome's blindfold and forced her to display herself. Until that moment he realized he was horny to the point of insanity and becoming far too involved with Kagome, Inuyasha's intention was to only make her think she was being exposed, but then he did it for real to squash his feelings of possessiveness and to show her who's boss, because he is a massive douche rn.
Inuyasha doesn't know Kagome is the Higurashi princess and is being like uncharacteristically cool about it. He thinks she is the bastard daughter of the general (who he thinks is the king because he does not understand Higurashi culture) and some rando maid. He thinks Kikyo is only her half-sister and this is the reason for the differences between them, both physical and in their life experience.
(This is from me after a reread) Inuyasha had absolutely told Sango to shut up before, my bad. Let's just say he had never done it with tone or whatever.
Update schedule? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH—
I do have a tumblr. On rare occasions, I lurk and laugh. The blog has nothing on there except for a couple Inuyasha memes and a couple posts from like 2014 and a rare picture of my filtered face and cleavage. If you find me, you get one (1) free cyber high five. My former pen name might help.
Lmk if there's anything else you want clarified.
Just to give you an excuse for delays, I recently lost all the writing I've done in 2020 when something happened with my OneDrive. No idea wtf is going on there and I'm just gonna assume I've offended the fair folk by being fine af and this is how they got back at me. A mostly completed Loverboy 7 was completely lost along with an entirely reworked plot which I now don't remember because I changed everything pre-pandemic and a lot has happened since (was let go from my job due to Covid, undertook another cross-country move, got a new job making more money than ever yayyy, 3 fucking pandemic break-ups because I am the once and future novia tóxica pero I'm 2-1 so it's fine, developing an autoimmune disorder during a fucking viral pandemic, a fire a few miles from my house destroying homes/lives and making it so I can't breathe, this freaking election, etc.). I'm working on a new version of chapter 7 and trying to piece together where I wanted to go from there, but it's been a frustrating process.
Anyway, I'm here to write fic and call randos cunts, and I'm all outta fic, sooo...
When a fic writer tells you to give them a certain amount of reviews for a chapter, do not enable them.
When a fic writer tries to turn themselves into a brand and market themselves, do not enable them.
Don't reblog them. Don't review them. Don't donate to them.
Ignorar todos los pringaos.
This is fanfiction. You are not a celebrity. You don't have "fans". We are all the fans, whether artist or audience. This is a community because we share a love of something. People only read your work because of the characters they love. It's not about you. Stop trying so fucking hard to make it about you. None of you are queens. None of you are goddesses. You're a bunch of weird losers and it's time you embraced it.
We can talk about plagiarism, too, while we're at it. How people are "inspired" by someone else's art/stories. Then they draw/write something and present it to their far more numerous followers, who will then go on to attack the original artist for "copying" their fav. Your (probably) fav artist in this fandom does it. And we let them get away with it because we're so desperate for content.
So not punk rock.
And if you got the main people I was talking about due to my more-than-hints in this dissertation, congrats, you spend too much time online and that makes us blood brothers.