AN: Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay on this chapter. As you can tell, it's lengthier than most, so it took some extra time to finish. But on that note, I just got back from a four-day writing retreat where I wrote 26,000 words for this story and found myself a path to the ending! So let's make our way there!
Chapter 25: The Arena
"No, you're not doing anything to my babies!"
Izayoi jolted awake. The words spun in her mind, and she tried to make sense of them while simultaneously blinking her surroundings into existence. Her lids were still so heavy though, and bright lights made her wince.
"Unfortunately, that's not up to you," a quasi-familiar voice said. Izayoi turned her head, trying to see, but all she could make out through the haze of sleep was a woman with black, flyaway hair. She stood over someone else—another woman. "Zero and Naraku have plans for both of them. And as you're so obviously receptive to demon seed and carrying multiples, well…you'll make a lovely brood mare for the sanctuary."
It took a moment for the words to sink in, and then Izayoi forced her eyes open to clear them. The speaker appeared to be a nurse, and she was drawing blood from Sango's unconscious form, which was strapped into a chair. When Izayoi looked the other way, she found Rin similarly bound in another seat. Kagome sat slumped over between them. Just then, a dull pain registered in Izayoi's arm, and she looked down to find a band-aid over the crook of her elbow.
"I hear Zero is most zealous in drafting the waiting list for demons who want a turn with Sesshoumaru's mate," said the nurse—Princess Abi, Izayoi finally recalled.
Though her head throbbed as her brain worked overtime to make up for her grogginess, Izayoi managed to find her voice. "Abi, I…I can't believe you. That is…absolutely sick!"
Abi shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me—I didn't come up with the plans. I'm just in charge of seeing them through. And for right now, that means overseeing blood and body collection."
After she finished with Sango, she labeled some blood samples—likely ones collected from all four women, Izayoi guessed—then set them aside, tossed her gloves, and pulled out a cell phone. "They're ready," Abi said without introduction before ending the call. A moment later, two white-haired demons entered the room. Izayoi recognized one immediately.
"Good morning," Naraku's son, Hakudoushi, said in a soft but oil-slick voice. He smirked at Izayoi and inclined his head. "How nice to see you again, Izayoi."
"The pleasure is all yours, Hakudoushi ," Izayoi growled. She had met Hakudoshi on a few occasions when she was with Touga. He often met with businessmen on Naraku's behalf. She glanced at the other white-haired demon, who wore a mask that looked more like a muzzle than a medical one. She had only seen photos of this one. Touga made sure she knew what all of Naraku's offspring looked like, lest she ever come across them. "I don't believe I've met your…brother."
"Ah, yes, the resemblance is there, isn't it?" Hakudoushi asked. "This is my older brother, Juuroumaru. He's not very social, so he doesn't get out much." Hakudoushi then pulled out a few eye masks and some specialized, metal face masks similar to what Juuroumaru wore but perforated. He handed two of each to Juuroumaru and said, "Do pardon us as we put these on you. We're still finalizing the look of the sanctuary and wouldn't want to ruin the surprise for the grand opening tour, you see."
No, you just don't want us marking the pathways for escape.
"As for the face masks, well…the sanctuary is shrouded in a pretty potent miasma," Hakudoushi explained as he approached Rin. "Demons can withstand it, but humans? Not so much. It wouldn't kill you—probably—but you'd certainly never make it out on your own, should you attempt to escape."
Much as she hated it, Izayoi didn't resist as Juuroumaru fastened the masks over her face. Though she was feeling more awake now, she was bound and too sluggish to move well, nor did she have any weapons. She knew self-defense, of course, but against two demons of Naraku's ilk? They would knock her out just as easily as Kagura had. So, best to be patient, observe what she could, and plan their escape once she knew more about their surroundings.
Juuroumaru, she suspected, freed her hands from the chair arms only to cuff them again. Then one of the demons—blinded now, she couldn't tell who—led her and what sounded like Rin out of the room. Their footsteps echoed when they stepped out into what she assumed was a hallway, and as much as she tried to keep track of the twists and turns they took, after walking for ten solid minutes, she felt that the demons were messing with her and gave up.
Finally, a door opened, and one of their captors tugged her inside. When the door closed, Hakudoshi took off her and Rin's blindfolds and face masks. Once again, they were back in a cell. This time, however, there were four beds bolted to the wall as well as a toilet, sink, and a showerhead poised over a drain. A curtain was all that separated the "bathroom" from the rest of the cell. There were no windows—only vents in the ceiling, though they were too small to crawl through. Izayoi rubbed her hands over her arms as goosebumps formed—not from fear but from cold. Yet she felt no draft from the vents. Rather, the chill in the air felt natural, not air conditioned, as if it radiated from the stone walls themselves.
"Make yourselves comfortable," Hakudoushi said, taking off their cuffs as Juuroumaru dumped the unconscious Kagome and Sango on two of the beds. She didn't understand how the two of them could still be out cold, even after being pricked and dumped like sacks of potatoes. "And feel free to freshen up. There are new uniforms for you on the beds. Naraku will come by later to welcome you personally, and he'll expect you to look your best."
Hakudoushi and Juuroumaru left, locking the metal door—which had a plexiglass window on it—behind them. Their footsteps echoed down the concrete hallway. Rin went to the door immediately, stepping up on her tiptoes and peering through the window.
"From one prison into another," she murmured. "We're not the only ones here."
"I suspected as much," Izayoi answered, sitting down on one of the unoccupied beds. She lowered her voice. "These must be Naraku's human stock pens."
Naraku's aim was to sell human blood as a delicacy to demons, after all; he needed a constant supply of it.
Rin sat down next to Izayoi, covering her mouth and taking deep breaths. The poor girl looked nauseous, so Izayoi rubbed her back. Rin finally said, "How can someone be so cruel, treating humans like…livestock?"
"Unfortunately, that was largely how demons regarded humans back in the day," Izayoi replied, tracing shapes on the linoleum floor with her shoe. "When I was growing up, for instance, we had a strict curfew. Demons were known to roam at night, so my father locked the gates at sunset. Even during the day, we had to be careful. 'Don't ever go into the forest alone,' my father warned over and over again. 'Lest a demon snatch you.'" She huffed a laugh. "I don't think either of us guessed his words would come true."
Rin grinned. "Let me guess: Touga snatched you?"
"In a manner of speaking," Izayoi answered, a small smile blooming as she leaned back and reminisced. She started recounting for Rin exactly how she had met Touga—from her foray into the forest to look for gekkabijin flowers to him saving her from the snake demon and her subsequently patching him up. Rin appeared to be so absorbed in the story that Izayoi retold more than she had anticipated, going all the way to the point where Touga had "kidnapped" her on the way to her betrothed's and mated her.
"Of course, when he realized what he had done…Touga was understandably distraught. I thought it was just about sleeping with me and that he feared the repercussions for being unfaithful to his wife. I didn't realize that in mating me, he had created an everlasting bond between us—one he could not pretend had never happened. Here I was, high on post-orgasmic bliss and half delirious with joy knowing he had chosen me of all creatures to be his mate…and yet I was also devastated to know that my mere existence was causing him such agony on what should have been a joyous day. It took him a couple days to cope with it, but eventually, he brought me to the Sky Palace to inform Inukimi of what had happened. He didn't want to bring me, but…he feared that without the proof of the mark on my neck, she wouldn't believe him."
Even now, it feels like she still doesn't believe it, despite centuries of evidence. Somehow, she's gotten it into her head that Touga will go back to her. Although…I suppose she had reason to, given what happened between them a few months ago….
Izayoi blew out a breath. "I was…shocked at how placid she was when Touga told her. Naively, I thought that meant she didn't care, like he feared she would. Perhaps she would even let me stay there as his mate and concubine, so he needn't be separated from his wife and son. I never meant to destroy his marriage. As for Touga…it was as if he took all the emotion she wouldn't show and added it on top of his as he poured his heart out to her. In the end, she just told us to leave. I always wondered about her, of course, but I didn't realize until much, much later how much that day hurt her."
Though Touga's betrayal with Inukimi was still relatively fresh, it was so far removed from the enormity of their current situation that Izayoi almost felt like she had made a mountain out of a molehill about the affair.
I suppose, in the face of imminent death, one tends to gain perspective on these things.
While Izayoi hadn't given up on escaping just yet, a grimness wrapped its claws around her heart.
Kami-sama, I swear that if we get out of this alive…I'll talk things over properly with Touga and Inukimi. We'll figure out some way forward instead of staying stuck in this rut.
After all, whether they liked it or not, the three of them were family—not just two families connected with Touga in the center of them but an actual family unit. They had lived together for a century and a half. Perhaps to Inukimi, that felt like no time at all, but for Izayoi, it was more than long enough to feel some sort of comradeship with—dare she say it?—her sister-wife.
I'd still prefer she keep her hands off Touga—but as Bokusenou said, there must be compromises.
Sniffles and stifled cries caused Izayoi and Rin to look over to the opposite bunk, where Kagome was lying, facing them. Tears dripped down her cheek onto the bed.
Oh, thank the gods—she's awake!
"Kagome, are you alright?" Izayoi asked, rushing over to check on her.
Kagome nodded. "Y-Yes. I'm s-sorry. I don't know why I'm c-crying. It's just…that was such a sad way to end the story, e-even though…I know it's a happy ending! Or at least…it was. Now? Now we're stuck…stuck somewhere."
Izayoi smiled patiently and smoothed back her hair. "There, there. Don't count us out of happy endings yet." She looked over at Sango, whose back was against Kagome's. "Is Sango awake yet?"
"I am," Sango answered in a subdued voice.
"How long have you been awake?" Rin asked.
"…Long enough to hear most of the story."
Izayoi hadn't realized that. Why did she stay so quiet? Then again, as a demon slayer, perhaps Sango had found it difficult to reconcile what she thought she knew about demons with the way Izayoi had portrayed them in her story.
Kagome wiped her eyes. "Where are we?" she asked.
"Naraku's sanctuary," Rin said.
Kagome then noticed the bandage on her arm. "And what's this?"
Rin explained how Abi had siphoned blood samples from them—ones she would use to determine how best to fit them on Naraku's "menu" at the sanctuary.
That finally got Sango to sit up. "So, there is still a need for demon slayers after all."
Kagome grabbed her hand in sympathy. "Sango…I'm sorry we kept all this a secret from you, but…you understand, right? And you can see that not all demons are bad, right? Of course, I totally agree: Naraku has to be stopped! And if demon slaying is what it takes, then so be it."
Sango sighed then reached around to her back, feeling around. She frowned, then cursed. "Damn it, they took my gun."
Rin's eyes widened. "You were carrying a gun? I didn't think concealed carry was permitted by law."
"The DSC gets some leeway on that," Sango answered. "Not that it does us any good now, since they took it while I was knocked out."
"We'll think of something," Izayoi said. "But for now, we should play pliant. I may not know Naraku well, but I know him better than any of you. That man is calculating. He's always thinking ahead. We need to let down his guard by pretending to be mere sheep he can herd."
"And what if becoming a sheep simply leads us to the slaughter?" Sango snapped.
Izayoi winced. "Then we fight if it comes to it. But first, we should gather information. We've barely been here. We don't know if there are guards outside, what their rotations are, how often we'll be brought food. This is all critical to planning an escape."
Sango sighed again. "You're right. I'm sorry. I just feel so damn helpless."
"We all do, Sango," Kagome added, squeezing her friend's hand.
"But we're not. Sango, you and I are trained demon slayers," Izayoi said. At that, Sango's eyes widened in shock. Of course Inuyasha wouldn't have told her that; it was something they didn't advertise except to demons who they felt needed to know. And Sango had missed Kikyou's great realization at headquarters. "Kagome has spiritual powers. Rin is a medic. These are all strengths we can use to our advantage. We just have to find the opportune moment. But for now…let's get those uniforms on. The more we follow Naraku's directions without protest, the less likely he'll take out his anger on us. And between you and me…I'd rather not test out the limits of his anger."
As threatened, Hakudoshi came by later to check that they were all "ready for inspection," as he put it. All it meant was that the women had discarded their DSC prison jumpsuits and swapped them out for the ones he had provided. Once he was satisfied, he made the four women kneel on the floor with their faces cast down, as if they were servants waiting for a master's orders.
Izayoi kept her features carefully controlled when Naraku walked in. He appeared as debonair as usual—long, wavy hair tied back in a ponytail and wearing a stylish, traditional outfit—but the cruel twist to his lips and the ever-smarmy lilt to his rich voice soured his beatific image.
"Welcome, ladies. I heard we had an extra visitor," he said, approaching Sango and looking down at her. "A demon slayer—quite the catch. You'll make a fine addition to our arena roster."
"I'm not doing anything for you," Sango spat back, and Izayoi tensed. Yes, they had planned to play along with Naraku's innocuous orders, but anyone would have thought it strange if a demon slayer had not protested her captivity. Izayoi hoped that Naraku was going to treat them as property and not prisoners—if only so that he wouldn't be tempted to mar his merchandise.
"I'm afraid you'll find that you have no choice," Naraku said, grabbing her chin and forcing her to stare him in the eye. "You see, I run a special enterprise here—one that hearkens back to the ancient laws of this land. One that restores the world to its natural order. One where demons lord over humans. And if you disobey, you will be killed and eaten. It's really quite that simple." Sango's body trembled, though whether from fear or anger, Izayoi couldn't tell. Naraku smiled and let her go.
"Now, I'm not without some mercies. You must wonder what roles you all will be taking here, now that you've become part of my sanctuary. I'll gladly fill you in. Tonight, I'm hosting a preview event for our business partners and some projected VIPs, so I need to be sure to offer them a taste of what…pleasures they will be able to experience. I've decided our demon slayer here will play a starring role in a special arena performance. But I think it's not enough that you should be on your own, my dear. Demon slayers are meant to protect humans, are they not? So that's precisely what we'll do: we'll give you a human to protect. Izayoi, you should fall into that role fairly easily, shouldn't you? I imagine you're used to having someone do the fighting for you."
Keep thinking that, you sick bastard.
Admittedly though, it had been quite a few decades since she had last needed those skills. Her self-defense moves could only work so well against demons. Weapons were what gave humans their edge—and she didn't have any.
So she fell back on a threat that she knew would resonate.
"You can sit there all smug for now, Naraku, but when my husband and sons find out about this, they will tear through this sanctuary of yours until not even a single concrete block is left standing," Izayoi ground out.
Naraku chuckled. "Ah Izayoi, I count of them finding out. In fact, I will be making sure of it—although I'm afraid there will be little they can do, being confined to the DSC headquarters and all."
"You think you're safe here? Once the DSC finds out where we are, they'll be all over this place," Sango added.
"Ah, well, good thing I have a barrier that makes it impossible for humans to detect." Sango's confidence noticeably slipped with that.
Then Naraku turned to face Kagome and Rin. "As for you two, well…let's just say Zero's ideas for Rin inspired my own for you, Kagome. Of course, Abi didn't tell Rin everything…."
Izayoi's heart thudded. What Abi had revealed was bad enough. What more could there be?
Kagome spoke through gritted teeth. "What did she leave out?"
Naraku was only too happy to share. "Half-demon blood and flesh is a rare delicacy, you know. Once Abi returns with the results of your examinations, we'll see if we can induce Rin to safely deliver her twins. The safety is only for the one twin, of course. The other will be offered to our guests as a special treat for our VIPs."
"No!" The scream tore out of Rin's throat, but it was the shock of Naraku's statement more than Rin's cry that made Izayoi jump and her heart pound. Rin covered her stomach with her arms. "I won't let you harm them!"
"Rest assured that the other will live. We'll allow it to grow and provide us blood throughout the years. Of course, one half-demon isn't enough, so we'll need you to provide more. Kagome as well, assuming she's able. Why, we can get her regimen started tonight." He leered at the girl. "I'll even break you in myself, to make sure you're suitable for our guests."
Kagome's eyes widened as all the implications of his words sank in. She jumped up and tried to slap Naraku, but Hakudoushi rushed in and grabbed her arm, twisting it behind her back and forcing her down to the ground in submission. "You…you disgusting creep!" Kagome growled. "I will die before sleeping with the likes of you."
Naraku tsked. "Now, now, we can't have that. Your death would hurt Inuyasha, to be sure, but knowing you've been taken and impregnated by another man? That might just send him mad, and I would much rather draw out his agony than deliver only one blow."
Izayoi seethed. How dare he target my children.
If she could, she would offer herself up in Kagome's place to spare the woman the trauma. She had faced the prospect of loveless beddings before and steeled herself to it then; she had also been stabbed to death. She had been born into a bloody world and seen more than her fair share of terror over the centuries. Sad to say, she had hardened her heart to much of it.
But could bright, cheerful Kagome do so? The girl was strong, but any young woman would come out of such an event scarred for life.
And Naraku was right—Inuyasha would go mad. He tried not to show it in public, since demons were supposed to be strong and uncaring, but many times in the centuries since he had been born, Inuyasha had confided in her his guilt when he felt he could have prevented some tragedy and wasn't able to. It was one of the reasons he had taken an active role in saving Shiori and her parents from Taigokumaru; he felt he would regret it otherwise.
And then when he learned that Shiori's mother had died not long after, guilt still settled on him. He thought that if he had just stayed with them a while longer, he could have prevented the tragedy.
"What's your beef with him anyway? Why are you doing this to us?" Kagome demanded.
Naraku shrugged. "Inuyasha took someone that belonged to me. So now, I've done the same to him."
"Who?" Kagome asked.
Just then, someone knocked on the door, and Naraku frowned. "Enter." The door flew open, and Abi rushed inside. She shoved some folders into Naraku's hands and whispered in his ear. Izayoi tried to make out what she said but couldn't. Naraku's eyes narrowed, and he flipped open the file. After looking over it for a moment, he snapped it shut and tapped it against his hand, thinking.
"It would appear there's been a change of plans. Or a delay, rather. …But no matter. Yes, this should still work nicely. If the idea of his wife and mate being in my hands is not enough to torment him…the knowledge of his mate and child being here will." Izayoi's mouth dropped open, and Kagome gasped, but Naraku wasn't paying attention to them. "Has there ever been such a thing as a quarter-demon, Abi? What do you reckon the price of blood would be for that?"
Abi smirked. "For the rarity alone? Astronomical."
Naraku smirked. "Then it's settled. See to it she carries the child to term. I'm sure we can still have our fun without endangering the fetus, however. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and inform some others of this…development. Abi, come with me. You can examine them later."
With that, he left, Abi and Hakudoushi following him out and shutting the door.
Izayoi turned to Kagome and grabbed her hand. "Sweetie, you're pregnant?"
Kagome was still staring at the place where Naraku had been standing in shock. Rin asked, "You didn't know…did you?"
Kagome shook her head. "No. I mean…it can't be true, can it? Inuyasha would have known, right? They can sense these things, can't they?"
"Eventually, yes, but early on, the signs are very subtle," Izayoi said, smoothing Kagome's hair. Or if they do, they don't say anything until we ourselves are sure. She still recalled that final pregnancy—how Touga had calmly held her hair back the moment she got sick, no trace of surprise on his face to mirror hers. But Touga by then had been well-versed in scenting pregnancies. Inuyasha had never had reason to. "And if he didn't know what to look for, he might have just dismissed any changes in your scent as a change of shampoo or something," she added.
"Do you have an idea how far along you could be?" Sango finally chimed in.
"It…it can't be more than a month," Kagome answered, counting on her fingers. "I know I started getting a little baby fever around the time of Rin's shower, and I might have started pushing Inuyasha to just…let loose and see what happened. But I didn't think it'd actually happen this soon. I know my period's late, but it's only been a week, so I wasn't exactly worried yet." Tears sprang to her eyes, and she covered her face with her hands. "I…I know I wanted this, but…why did this have to happen now of all times?"
Izayoi pulled Kagome into her arms and shushed her, rubbing her back. Oh, how she commiserated with her daughter-in-law! She was going to be a grandmother—something she had dreamed about but had lost hope in for so many years. They should have all been reveling in such news. But because of Naraku, it was tainted.
"Kagome, I promise—we're not going to let him do anything to your or the baby. And the same goes for you, Rin," Izayoi said.
"Then we don't have time to waste. We have to get out of here before tonight. That's when he said everything begins," Sango stated.
"B-But how?" Kagome hiccupped. When no one said anything, the mood deflated even further.
Her question was mirrored on everyone's face. Izayoi knew she needed to be the leader here. She was the oldest and most experienced. But she didn't even have the beginnings of a plan. Even if they could escape the cell, a debilitating miasma waited right outside their door.
Was she really going to be that helpless princess again who could only wait on Touga to save her?
The next time their cell door opened—how many hours had they been here now?—Hakudoushi walked in carrying four bags. The women all froze on their bunks, watching him warily. "Glad I have your attention," he said. "Tonight's festivities are due to begin within the hour. You each have a particular dress code. Be dressed within ten minutes, or else," he said, dropping the bags on the floor. "The bags are named, so you'll know who gets what." Then he left. Sango jumped down from her top bunk and walked over to the bags.
"W-What do you think he meant by 'festivities?'" Kagome asked.
"Whatever it is, we're the entertainment," Sango said, pulling a black uniform out of her bag. She frowned as she looked at the cloth, then she dug further into the bag.
"Sango, what is it?" Rin asked, scooting to the edge of her bunk.
Sango pulled out what looked like pink shoulder pads—a familiar accessory Izayoi recognized. "This is a legitimate Demon Slayer uniform. It's a little old-fashioned…but it's real. It even has all the accessories—right down to the mask," she said, pulling out a metal mouthpiece.
Kagome grabbed her bag and peered into it. She scoffed, pulling out what amounted to little more than a metal bikini. "What the hell is this supposed to be? A Princess Leia costume?" she asked, holding up a diaphanous skirt.
Rin dug through her bag and pulled out a black geisha's kimono. Izayoi, by contrast, had a multi-layered juunihitoe. Though she hadn't worn such a garment in centuries, it still felt quite familiar in her hands.
Kagura had called her "princess" earlier—quite derogatorily, of course—but now coupled with this garment fit for a feudal princess, Izayoi wondered what Naraku was playing at. Sango's outfit also reflected her status; it was only Kagome's and Rin's outfits that didn't seem to mesh with their backgrounds. Otherwise, wouldn't Kagome have been given priestess robes?
"What's going on?" Kagome asked, echoing Izayoi's thoughts. "Are we putting on a play or something?"
"If only it were that innocuous," Izayoi answered. She might not know what Naraku's plans were, but she knew they were being set up as entertainment—and the type of entertainment Naraku had proposed for his sanctuary was not in any way enjoyable for humans.
"What should we do?" Rin asked.
Izayoi frowned. "There's nothing we can do but play along. It seems like we'll be let out of the cell at least. If you can find the opportunity, run for it."
The women were just making final adjustments to their costumes when Hakudoushi , Juuroumaru, Kagura, and Abi walked in without warning—accompanied, Izayoi noted by Byakuya, Naraku's spymaster. Hakudoushi looked around at them and nodded. "Good. Juuroumaru, you take Izayoi. You know what to do."
Before Izayoi could protest, the silent demon snatched her up like a snake, throwing her over his shoulder. Izayoi lost her breath as his shoulder dug into her stomach. Juuroumaru went for the door.
"What are you doing? Put her down!" Kagome cried out, moving forward only to have Abi block her way.
"Pipe down. You'll see her again soon enough," the demon nurse said.
"Where are you taking her?" Kagome demanded.
Izayoi craned her neck to see Abi's cruel smirk. Hakudoushi, meanwhile, was looking at Sango, apparently unconcerned with Izayoi now that his orders were being carried out. "Demon Slayer, you'd better put that mask on, if you know what's good for you."
Sango glared at him. "Why?"
Juuroumaru opened the cell door. A waft of foul air filtered into Izayoi's nose, and she tried to blow it out, but it persisted. She took a deep breath and held it, but her hand over her nose.
Hakudoushi shrugged. "Because I'm not giving you an extra one when we leave the room. So if you want to suffer from Naraku's miasma, then by all means, do so. But you might regret it." Sango tsked but put on the mask.
Rin frowned. "Wait…you didn't give Izayoi a mask."
Hakudoushi grinned. "I know."
Izayoi's eyes widened as Juuroumaru shut the door. Her lungs were already aching from holding her breath, and the way Juuroumaru's shoulder dug into her stomach as he walked begged her body to exhale.
Finally, she could take it no longer and let out her breath. No sooner did she suck some air back in than she started coughing—and she couldn't seem to stop. Her cough grew so horse, it felt as if it were raking claws down her throat, and her eyes watered from the stress. Hanging upside down sent blood rushing to her head, heating her cheeks as with fever and making her dizzy. She tried to take shallower breaths to take in less poison, but her lungs still seemed to ache. Her cough only subsided when a malignant lethargy spread through her limbs. The poisonous air was making its way through her system. Her eyelids trembled as she tried to stay focused and awake.
But it was easier to succumb to sleep as the regular rhythm of Juuroumaru's gait soothed her.
It felt like only seconds later that he hauled her off his shoulder. She woke with a start, but her head spun as the blood rushed back down her body, and she started coughing again.
Juuroumaru took her arms and held them above her head, clamping something around them. When he let go, her arms fell only a short distance before chains clinked and what had to be cuffs dug into her wrists.
Izayoi blinked, but the room was dim, lit only by a single light. Juuroumaru looked her over before heading to a switch panel. He leaned against the wall and waited.
Izayoi glanced around, knowing she should be finding a way to escape, and yet…the dimness called her to go back to sleep. Her body sagged, and it was only the sharp bite of the cuffs into the thin skin of her hands that jolted her back awake.
Escape…escape….
She hardly had the brain power to think of more than one word at a time. As her head lolled forward again in drowsiness, the chains pulled, and she jerked back up as the pain shot from her wrists down her back.
Of course! Pain could keep her awake.
She let her body sag, and though her arms burned and the cuffs cut into the palms of her hands, at least now she could stay semi-conscious. But the air still itched going into her lungs, and she could only imaging what black sludge was sticking to them now.
There appeared to only be two exits. Juuroumaru was standing next to one; the other lay on the opposite wall. But Izayoi didn't see how she could get out of these chains to even attempt an escape.
With what little sense of urgency she had left gone, she let her head fall forward and her eyes close, finally releasing herself from the strain of keeping them open. She didn't know how long she had been out before a loud hum filled the air and the ground trembled beneath her.
Izayoi jerked back awake. Bright light opened above her, and with a hiss, something thin and coarse trickled over her. She blinked down at her feet as the stuff collected there.
Sand?
She glanced over at Juuroumaru, who was operating some controls by the door. When he pushed another button, the floor beneath Izayoi's feet shifted, and her knees wobbled as the little platform she stood on rose. Izayoi rolled her head back to look up but twisted away all too quickly when bright, focused lighting stabbed at her eyes.
The chatter of multitudes filled her ears, and she struggled to peer at her surroundings, but the light was just too bright after being in darkness for so long. The floor stopped moving, and Izayoi told herself to open her eyes no matter what, because she couldn't even try to protect herself if she didn't know where she was or what she was up against. But a headache was pounding in her temples now—perhaps due to a lack of oxygen?—but the more she tried to breathe, the more toxins filtered in, and her limbs started to shake uncontrollably.
Then a booming voice that her foggy mind recognized but couldn't quite place through the filter of the loudspeaker announced, "Please give a warm welcome to our first player of the night, Princess Izayoi Nishikuni!"
Izayoi jerked up as soon as she heard her name. The light was still bright, and she winced, but she appeared to have adjusted better. But the violent spasm of her body sent her into another coughing fit. But the more she tried to clear her airways of the noxious miasma, the more she breathed in as she heaved. The cheers of a crowd faded in and out of her ears. She tried to open her eyes wider, but everything was getting hazy, and her head was killing her….
"Now, every princess needs her hero—or should I say, heroine? Just as I've procured a live princess for you, dear guests, I've also found a modern-day demon slayer. Give it up for our lovely Sango Fukushima!"
The audience booed.
That voice…. I know…who that is. Why can't I…remember? The name was on the tip of her tongue, but her mind was so befuddled, she couldn't think straight.
"Oh dear, the heroine of our match doesn't seem to be very popular. Perhaps you'll prefer her opponent…."
Just then, a bestial roar echoed through the arena, and Izayoi's body seized in primal fright. The column to which she found herself bound shook as something massive rammed itself against what sounded like metal bars.
The jolt of adrenaline cleared her mind just long enough for her to realize three things.
The voice belonged to Naraku.
She was tied up in front of a crowd of demons sitting in stands for what appeared to be an arena.
Naraku was about to let loose a monster on her.
In fact, as soon as she looked to her left, she found a pair of red eyes glowing through a metal gate. Every time the beast rammed itself against it, Izayoi caught sight of more of its features: a dinosaur-like body, a crystal-plated head, a line of spikes along its spine, and a mouth full of serrated teeth between reptilian lips.
"Oh dear," Naraku spoke up again. "It looks like our resident demon slayer is starting to regret her choice of weapon—and we did give her a choice, by the way. Except…there was one type of weapon we didn't offer her." There was a dramatic pause. Izayoi lifted her head to the right to try to see into a box where Naraku stood, but it was too far for her to make out anything with her vision so blurred.
"However," Naraku continued, "I hear that one hundred percent of bets have been placed against dear Sango. With such odds…it seems unfair not to at least give her a sporting chance, right?"
The crowd heckled, and Izayoi caught words like "gun" and "too easy."
Naraku chuckled. "Of course, I hear you. I don't want to give her too much of an advantage. So I'll tell you what. I'll give her back her gun, but only with a single bullet. Let's hope she has good aim."
Suddenly, there was a static thump, like something hitting the microphone, and someone else—a woman?—seemed to murmur into it, but Izayoi couldn't make out the words.
"What was that, my dear?" Naraku asked. "A thousand apologies, dear guests. It would seem my companion is having an abnormal reaction to her drugs. I promise I didn't slip her an aphrodisiac," he said with a chuckle.
"Hmm le mrk," the woman mumbled, Naraku's mic barely picking it up over the chatter of the small crowd.
In the far-reaches of Izayoi's mind, the voice registered.
Ka…go…me?
"Kagura, deliver this to Sango, would you?" Naraku said. "Ah, one more thing. I almost forgot. This will unlock the chains around Izayoi's wrists. Give this to Sango as well."
Give…what? A…key?
"Of course…she'll have to race to get to Izayoi before the demon does. Now, are we ready for the show to begin?"
The crowd erupted with the strength of a full arena and not just a small section.
"Good. Then let's count down."
The audience roared and then began chanting like it was New Year's. "Ten, nine, eight, seven…."
All too soon, the countdown timer buzzed, and Izayoi's body seized again. That moment of clarity had her looking on either side of the arena, where two doors rose. On Izayoi's right, Sango, dressed in the old demon slayer's uniform, slipped out under the gate as soon as she could bend down and fit. She took off running straight for the column in the center of the pit where Izayoi was tied up. Izayoi then looked over to the left.
In the back of her mind, she knew she should be trembling with fright. Her scant time with the Demon Slayer Corps hadn't prepared her to face off against such a creature. When giant demons had been a threat in the past, Touga always took care of them—and then Inuyasha helped once he was old enough. But the miasma had fogged her mind so much, she just felt…detached. It wasn't that she had given up. It was more like she noticed the creature but didn't acknowledge it.
Kinda like what Inukimi does, Izayoi thought with a very untimely sense of humor. Wow, is this miasma a poison or a drug? I guess drugs can be poisons though….
She got so lost in thought that she didn't even noticed Sango had slid to a stop in front of her until the woman slapped her cheek. Izayoi grimaced, but she didn't have energy to do more than that. Honestly…the pain wasn't as bad as she had expected. The coughing was far worse.
Izayoi stared at Sango's mask, wanting nothing more than to wear it. Perhaps her unrepentant desire showed on her face, because Sango ripped it off and tied it around Izayoi's face. Izayoi took a deep breath of beautiful, clear air, coughing only once to rid her lungs of some excess poison.
Sango held her breath, but as soon as she had secured the mask, the demon roared, shaking the arena, and Sango jumped, letting loose her breath. She started coughing.
The demon charged out of the gate on all fours. While it wasn't terribly fast, its size helped it cover more ground as it ran. Now fully revealed, it resembled a cross between an ankylosaurus with plates of crystal covering its rounded back like armor and a stegosaurus with spikes of crystal jutting up along its spine and at the end of its tail.
Izayoi's heart pounded as the demon approached, and Sango thrust a key into Izayoi's palm, then ran away from her, waving and yelling at the demon.
Izayoi was so stunned, her miasma-affected mind still fogged and body still twitchy that she didn't grasp the key in time.
It dropped to her feet.
Shit! Sango had given her this chance, and she blew it!
A quick glance to the side showed Sango waving a sickle and chain around her head. She then released it, aiming for the beast's unprotected legs, but her throw was too short, and the demon trampled on it instead.
Sango rolled out of the way as the demon barreled past her towards the wall of the arena. Though it turned early enough to avoid hitting its head, its spiked tail slammed into the side, leaving gouges in the fresh cement walls. Sango didn't look after it though. She coughed as she rose from her crouch and then ran for her fallen sickle and chain.
Izayoi turned back to stare at the key on the ground. She couldn't afford to get caught up in Sango's battle. The demon slayer was managing to keep the monster occupied for now, but taking in more and more miasma with every breath, she wouldn't last long. Izayoi had to escape—now. But the only limb even remotely close to the key was her foot.
She kicked off her sandals and then stretched out her leg as far as the chains would allow her, trying to hook the key in the sand and kick it back to herself. Come on…come on…. She was so close, but the restrictive kimono made it difficult, as did the weight of all the fabric, tiring her out. Her arms were already going numb from being held aloft, and as she balanced on one leg to try to get the key, its muscles trembled.
She was just about to grab it when the demon pounded past, the ground shaking with every step, and the key bounced atop the sand.
No, no, no! Come…here!
Perhaps the gods were on her side, because the tremors pushed the key in her direction. With a grunt, she stretched her leg forward and scooped the key towards her with her toes. After pulling it closer, it was easy to grab between the gap of her socks between her big and second toe.
But how was she supposed to get the key up into her hands?
Izayoi looked up at her chains, testing them. They held fast to the column, but they were loose enough that her arms were dangling above her head, not completely outstretched. In fact, if she slid the cuffs down her arms, she could wriggle her wrists just enough that her fingers nearly touched her mouth….
That's it!
She had to get the key to her mouth.
But when she looked back down at the key in her toes and the kimono she was wearing, doubt overtook her. Even in pants, it would be difficult to maneuver her foot up to her mouth. She was no acrobat!
But she had to try.
First, she had to escape the confines of this darn kimono. She shimmied the leg holding the key through the flap of the robe, baring it to the audience. But that didn't matter in a game of life and death. Once her leg was more or less free, she twisted it at the knee, trying to bring her foot up towards her face. Good thing eternal youth had not come with trade-offs, like everlasting beauty but arthritic knees. She rubbed her cheek against her arm, pushing the mask down to expose her mouth so she'd be able to bite down on the key.
But her foot went no further than just above her other kneecap.
Izayoi coughed as she inhaled more miasma, and her heart pounded as it tried to keep up with less oxygen—as well as in response to the demon's roar behind her. How much longer could Sango hold out? Were they both going to die here—all because she had dropped the damn key?
Focus, Izayoi! Focus. Now's not the time to panic.
She took a deep breath on instinct, coughing again. She knew she could bring her foot up to her mouth. It was just all a matter of positioning….
Of course! I just need to free both my feet. Meaning….
She wrapped the chains around her hands and then lifted her other leg, taking the weight off it. Her arms strained, and the chains bit into her fingers, feeling like they were going to crush them. But she could deal with that pain for a few seconds. She had to.
With her right foot—the one holding the key—resting on her left thigh, she leaned back, pulling up her left leg and pushing her right foot atop it. She bent forward, as if she were doing crunches.
It was within centimeters of her mouth now! Surely she could reach it!
She stretched her head forward, trying to catch the key, but it was still just out of reach. On instinct, she darted forward, trying to nab it.
The floor shook again, causing her chains to rattle, and she missed. Her arms shook, and her fingers had lost all feeling. She couldn't handle this much longer.
Try again.
She did—another miss.
It's not far. I almost had it!
She wiggled her toes, scooting the key out further.
And with one last dart, she got the key between her teeth.
Biting down hard on it so she wouldn't let it go, Izayoi dropped her feet back to the ground and moaned as she unwrapped the chains from around her throbbing hands. She wiggled her fingers to get the blood flowing back into them. She couldn't afford to drop the key again.
Satisfied that her fingers were working properly, she lifted her chin. Her right hand grabbed it, and she let out a sigh of relief. But that exhale forced her to take in more air, and she started coughing again. Her vision spun, and her eyelids grew heavy once more.
No…! I'm almost…there….
She tried to fit the key into the hole on her left manacle, but her hand shook from a combination of nervousness and numbness. She stared up at the cuff, trying to make sense of it from upside down as her vision blurred, so it was only by sheer luck that the key finally slid into the lock.
She twisted it and let her freed arm drop. It tingled and burned as blood rushed back into it, but she ignored it and turned around to free her other hand. It was much easier to unlock her cuff when she was looking at it right-side up.
As soon as her second hand was free, she pushed the mask back over her mouth and took a deep breath of filtered air. With the mask secure, she shed the heavy outers layer of her juunihitoe until she was wearing only the thin juban that left little to the imagination.
Izayoi peered around the column and took in the scene. Crystal spikes littered the arena, broken off from the demon's back. As she watched, Sango taunted the demon, throwing her scythe and cutting off another spike as it charged towards her, then dodge-rolling away before it could crush her. Even so, Sango stayed on her knees seconds longer than Izayoi thought she would before pushing herself to her feet and running across the arena.
She's losing stamina—and the miasma has to be affecting her abilities. I have to help her!
But there was only one mask between the two of them. What could she do? She didn't have a weapon, and even if she did, what use would it be against such a creature? It was like a rampaging bull, plowing into the sides of the arena and chasing after Sango with single-minded desire.
Maybe I could use one of those broken crystal spikes. They're certainly sharp enough, but…can I even hold one properly? It looks heavy.
Suddenly, she had an idea. Maybe she didn't need to hold it. Maybe she only had to drag it.
In all the time Izayoi had been married to him, Touga had only gone to war in the modern era under a human guise. But the tactician had never left him. He had studied the humans wars happening around them throughout the centuries, using his brilliant mind to foretell when their family might need to up and move. But it also became a hobby of his to try to guess how armies might attack each other and who might win. He made many a strategic bet—and earned quite a sum for his gambles.
She had listened with half and ear as he prattled on about battle tactics, recounting his own glory days as well. And unlike many of the men who had come back from World War II, he had not stayed silent about his service and the horrors he saw. He was a demon over two millennia old, after all. He had seen more war—though certainly not at that scale—than any human alive. It had simply been a new field with new technologies for him. He reveled in it—and he told her all about it, even when she didn't want to know.
So she could only imagine it was his influence that led her to think of creating a cheval de frise—a defensive fortification of spikes meant to impale calvary.
"Sango, I've got a plan! Keep it distracted while I set everything up!"
Though Sango didn't take her eyes off the beast, she nodded in acknowledgement. Izayoi calculated exactly where to set up her defensive line. Something was telling her that the column would be critical to the formation. She didn't know why yet…but she decided to stay close. So she grabbed the nearest crystal spike, which was heavier than it looked, dug through the sand, and staked it in. Luckily, the sand appeared deep enough to support it. She supposed Naraku couldn't have his entertainers slipping and sliding on sandy flooring; they would need a deep enough covering not to hit solid floor. When she was done, she ran for the next spike and set it up less than a meter away.
"It would appear our princess has a bit of fight in her," Naraku announced over the loudspeaker. "Things just got interesting."
Izayoi ran around the arena, fetching all the spikes Sango had cut off and the demon itself had smashed in its collisions with the wall, building a semicircle of sharp crystals near the metal pillar. She was constantly checking on Sango and the demon—and with every moment, Izayoi noticed Sango's body dragging. Her sickle-and-chain rotations were slowing, and she was also missing both spikes and legs more often than not.
When Izayoi got the last spike in place, she quickly surveyed her work. Dear gods, I hope this works. She wasn't confident the spikes would hold against a rampaging demon, given that she hadn't had the equipment or time to bury them in the sand as she would have liked…but she hoped they at least injured the creature and slowed it down.
Izayoi had left an opening just large enough for a human to run through in the center of the semicircle. She retreated to the column at the end of her trap, then yelled, "Sango! Run this way—straight through the barrier!"
Sango nodded, slowly maneuvering herself in line with the opening Izayoi left in her barricade. The demon came racing again, but instead of dodging, Sango turned and led it straight into the semicircle. Once she exited the other side, she turned in a U and headed for the pillar and Izayoi.
Izayoi tore of the mask, holding it out to Sango as soon as she stopped in front of her.
Wordlessly, Sango grabbed it as the demon bore down on the trap. It was a runaway train that couldn't stop in time, especially on the sandy floor. It plowed through the spikes, which gouged its unprotected belly and legs, causing it to rear back in fright and pain. It thrashed its head and tail, dazed and agonizing.
Sango wasted no time, twirling the chain on the end of her sickle and letting it fly. Whether by sheer luck or the fact that she was able to breathe normally again, it hit its mark, wrapping around the neck of the monster. Sango then ran around the pillar and looped the sickle around the chain, effectively leashing the demon.
Dear gods, we did it! We stopped it!
Shocked, the beast yanked at its leash, and for a second, Izayoi feared the pole would give. But it was solid steel, and it wasn't going anywhere. The beast only managed to choke itself, but in its blind panic, it didn't seem to know what else to do. Sango took out the gun Naraku had given her approached the demon, aiming for its eye.
Of course. Standard demon slaying procedure. If the demon has an armored hide, go for the eyes. A bullet to the brain will kill anything, no matter how large. That miasma must have really messed with me if I couldn't remember that.
But the demon was thrashing so much, Sango was having trouble lining up the shot. She drew closer and closer.
Too close.
Izayoi barely had time to scream, "Sango, watch out!"
The beast's tail lashed out, catching Sango in the side and flinging her halfway across the arena.
"No!" Izayoi shrieked.
The audience cheered.
Izayoi ran after Sango, checking her over. She turned Sango onto her back and felt for her pulse.
Yes, yes, she's still alive.
"Sango? Sango, say something."
Sango groaned, her eyelids barely fluttering.
"Sango, stay with me," Izayoi murmured. "We're going to get out of this. I'm coming back for you. I promise."
She checked Sango's hands and around her body, but she didn't see the gun anywhere. As her breathing quickened in panic, Izayoi's vision tunneled as the miasma messed with her, but she didn't take the mask back from Sango. Sango needed as much clean air as possible now that she was injured.
You've got to do this, Izayoi. You're the only one that can save us now.
Sango had done her part. Now she had to do hers.
Izayoi scanned the arena. Specks of blood littered the sand in the direction Sango had flown, and it was slushy and crimson beneath the moaning beast.
But then she spotted the lone black lump sticking out of the sand and ran for it. She scooped up the gun—a Hirakotsu model, she noted—and approached the demon with caution.
This was an older model—not a standard issue. Was this Sango's personal gun? Whatever the case, Izayoi had some familiarity with it.
The problem was, she hadn't shot a gun in fifty years. And she only had one bullet.
You can do this, Izayoi. Inuyasha helped you practice all those years ago. You were good. No, you were a crack shot. He even said you were better than Touga. …Touga denied it, of course, but that's just because he can't stand the idea of someone being better than him with a weapon. You've got this.
She circled the beast, looking for an opening while staying well away from its tail. Luckily, the beast had lost so much blood and choked itself so much on Sango's leash, it was winded. It fell to its knees, panting.
It's down. Now's my chance.
Izayoi knelt down. She was further away than Sango had been, wanting to keep away from that tail in case the demon lashed out again. But could she hit a literal bullseye from this distance?
Breathe, she told herself. But that inhale just caused her to cough and shake her concentration. So she lined up her shot and held her breath.
Focus. You've got this. You can hit the mark.
Izayoi pulled the trigger.
It was only when the crack of gunfire echoed across the arena that Izayoi realized the audience had gone completely silent. To her surprise, the bullet glowed a sparkling pink as it hit the beast in the head, and the demon froze.
A spirit bullet? How? Those can't be used in personal guns.
In the ensuing explosion of spiritual energy, it was difficult to determine if she had blown out the beast's eye or not. As the light faded, Izayoi strained to see.
The demon's red eye had been replaced by a crimson hole that wept blood.
Then the monster collapsed and lay still. Izayoi sank to her haunches in relief. She glanced back at Sango and noticed then that the woman tilted her arm up, raising a clenched fist—a sign of victory—before letting it fall back into the sand and closing her eyes, though her body still moved with breath.
A weak sign, but a victory nonetheless.
The arena remained absolutely silent.
After a moment, Naraku started laughing.
And then he began to clap—slowly at first, then with increased tempo. Murmurs filled the audience.
"Well done," Naraku intoned. "A most unexpected performance: the princess saved the demon slayer. I suppose that is fitting of a modern, feminist narrative."
Shouts rang out from the audience. "Kill them! Sic another demon on them!"
Dear gods, no. I can't. I…I need…sleep….
With her adrenaline rush fading, so was Izayoi's vision. She needed pure air….
"Guests, please, settle down," Naraku said. "You have witnessed an unbelievable spectacle tonight! I realize many of you are upset. Many of you have lost a fortune on tonight's gamble. But is this not exciting? We have a real gladiator show on our hands! How long can our demon slayers keep this up? Stay tuned for the next performance! And, of course…place your bets. It's more exciting when you aren't assured of the outcome, isn't it?"
Though Izayoi's lungs burned and her limbs protested, she dragged herself back over to Sango to make sure the woman was okay. Sango's chest rose and fell, but blood stained the sand around her, leaking out from her side and leg, it seemed.
I should…do something….
But then Izayoi's body gave out, and she collapsed. The last thing she felt were hands grasping her and lifting her up.