Inuyasha grasped Kagome's hand as they darted along the scarlet bridge. The mist in the air prevented the few pedestrians on the road from seeing their trespassing. It helped that her husband wasn't wearing his normal red attire. Her heart raced as she kept up with her husband, who had scoffed at her warnings about police and the stupidity of wasting money on an entrance fee. The excitement made her giggle. The beautiful Nozura construct loomed above them in the mist. The land was covered with blooming cherry blossoms whose color shone through the overcast day. They passed the twin stone constructs that connected the bridge to the castle grounds. Inuyasha was unimpressed with the fish teaming in the moat when Kagome pointed at them. The doors to the castle were locked shut.
"No – don't break them!" Kagome wrapped her arms over his biceps and locked them over his chest. Her husband's first instinct had been to break the locks. He blinked, claws raised in the air. When he nodded, she dropped her guard. Instead, he crouched low for her to climb onto his back. She looped her purse over her neck before he leaped upwards. The tile roof clattered from the impact but held. Inuyasha looked for a window. Of the 5 structures, the moon-viewing tower looked the most promising. Inuyasha landed on the outer porch of Tsukimi Yagura gracefully. Curved platforms were opened to the exterior for viewing the full moon. The hall was long with dark wood overhead. Pale white panels decorated the top half of the wall. The groomed landscape outside was visible at several angles. A sturdy wooden staircase led to the rest of the castle.
"I can't believe we're doing this!" Kagome hissed.
"What's the big deal? We've broken into castles before." Inuyasha dropped her to the floor. She patted his shoulder as she moved around the room admiring the view, the woodwork, the history. He dropped onto a wooden viewing bench while she opened up her guide book to read about the castle. The book was shoved into his chest when Kagome fished into her purse for her clicking picture taker. Before he could flinch, she pointed the camera in his direction.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm taking pictures! For souvenirs." The girl's bright smile calmed him. He leaned against the wall as his bride showed her age. Her little yellow boots smacked against the wood as she raced back-and-forth to examine the architectural wonders of the castle. Babbling about breaking the law with him! The beautiful dark-haired girl was infinitely more interesting to him than the castle; her bright blue eyes glittered in the gloom and shadow. She read each of the directional scrolls displayed meant to guide the humans through the structure. Several old-looking paintings hung above at the height of the giant wooden support beam.
"Want to take a picture with me?" Kagome waved the little device at him. His ears perked. His wife plopped on the bench beside him and leaned against his side. She put her arm around his shoulders and leaned her head against him. The little device made a clicking sound when she pushed a panel on the exterior.
Kagome is pretty cute when she's excited.
Inuyasha followed Kagome down the unpainted wooden stairs that somehow excited her. The castle interior seemed rather plain to him compared to the polished, gleaming grounds he was familiar with wandering. Now on the second floor of the Keep, she stopped to read every informational plaque framed in glass. Every fuzzy picture in black-and-white captured her attention. While she bounced between informational scrolls, he gazed at a stone rendering of a 'killer whale', a fish with a small dragon's head. He glared at it suspiciously and leaned forward to flick its snout. The stone did not come to life or react.
Kagome seemed fascinated with the vertically latticed windows placed for archers to fire from. The warrior windows were plain wood, evenly spaced, but she darted between them. Inuyasha stayed out of her way while she raced past. He caught up to her in a room marked as a 'museum' that displayed human weapons. Kagome peered close to examine the matchlock guns and reach the plaques describing how each one fired, how they were found in a broken state. Inuyasha shrugged and turned towards the samurai armor on display. His wife was amazed by the baked salt pots. They were expensive but they were nothing to crow about! He scoffed at the samurai's sword. It was nothing compared to his Tetsusaiga, just another polished human blade. Armies in his time had started to wield the odd metal poles that fired metal rounds but the one behind the glass looked different.
Kagome's breath fogged the glass while she examined the materials in the Excavations case. She explained to him that people were digging in the area around the castle to find relics, 'antiques' that would help piece together the history of the castle. Broken pottery rested on a plate. Cups. Small daggers. He looked at her sideways. This is what humans consider relics in this era? It looks like garbage.
"This is the stuff your grandfather collects?"
"Sort of! Grandpa prefers weird things like mermaid scales and old medicine." Kagome shrugged.
"Does he collect fish bones too?" His thumb pointed at the weirdest display of all. Different remnants of fish from different areas lined on red cloth like gold and jewels. Kagome giggled but went to peer into the case. She tried to explain how it shows how varieties of fish were traded at the castle, pointing at the different shapes of coins that were minted in the area.
The third floor was nothing more than a storage section. Kagome seemed equally unimpressed. Inuyasha followed her up the stairs to the fourth floor. The stairs were increasingly steep and he feared her losing her step. The lord's bedchambers were decorated with vertical wooden panels. The light color floor was streaked with dark sections. Inuyasha grumbled internally about the expense while Kagome took her photographs. She seemed to like the floors and the large open space. The beautiful human girl smiled at him when he growled about the stupidity. Her arms wrapped around his waist and she kissed him. It was a nice distraction from the smell of dust and old, moist wood that grew stronger the higher they climbed.
"I don't want a castle, Inuyasha. Think how much work it would be to clean this place!"
Ego soothed, he let her hold his hand while they wandered. She forced him to pose for another shared photograph by the stairs. The stairs to the next floor were less steep but he kept his hands on her hips nonetheless. Knowing his clumsy wife, it was only a matter of time, not that it bothered him to hold her hips. The same compound wood decorated the lord's meeting area. Warrior windows decorated each of the four walls to allow the lord to look outside during a siege. Inuyasha snorted when he imagined the human lord that had proposed to Sango peering fearfully onto the grounds. Miroku might be glad to hear that the lord that had proposed to his future wife had probably spent his final hours holed up in this prison, pretty as it might be. Kagome was still yammering on about the gables and the high ceiling!
Their house was comparatively simple to this multi-building, multi-storied castle but it was surrounded by flat land. It was defensible. If trouble came, he could run Kagome to the Bone Eater's Well and drop her to safety. No matter how stupid the builders had thought his patchwork flooring, there was a stone-faced cellar in their kitchen. He had dug the dirt out himself and helped lay the stone on the walls. Dark and moist, it would hide Kagome and several others. If they had children, their children would have somewhere to hide if their father was missing during an attack. If bandits burned down the house, Kagome would have a chance. The tunnel ran underneath the little hill that bore their house and overlooked the village. A boulder hid the external exit. His family might have to crawl through dirt but they would be safe! Not trapped in a tower with only one way down, forced to surrender or starve to death when there were no more dogs and horses and rats to stave off the siege.
"Why do you look so sad?" Kagome lowered her camera.
She loves this place. Don't tell her how the Takeda clan probably died. She's having fun.
"I-I was just thinking about the house. This wood is nice." He gestured at the gleaming, polished floor. His young, happy wife rolled her eyes and continued trying to convince him that she didn't want to live in a palace, although he no longer felt jealous. A castle was dangerous. A castle or a fortress invited contest and greed. A tower left women and children stranded with no escape. She had mentioned secret passageways beneath the castle. Perhaps they had managed to get their families to safety before the battle? If bandits attacked the village, their house was the grandest.
Sango had promised to teach Kagome to defend herself. He certainly didn't understand how to use a tiny knife, with his claws. If bandits came across Kagome in the yard or in the fields before he could reach her, she would have to fight or run. There wasn't much in the way of defensible shelter in the village. There were no stone caves in the area to hide within. Inuyasha crossed his arms and leaned against the wall while he considered how badly an attack from an army could fare without him present. Miroku and Sango were good fighters but they couldn't stop an entire armed force. Perhaps Totosai could fashion an early warning system for the village? An object that could lift a barrier for the women and children. Miroku could cast a barrier but it relied on his human strength.
Knowing the badger, he'd require something ridiculous as payment, like another stupid bath!
"Earth to Inuyasha!" Kagome's face swam into vision. He shook himself out of his musings. Another click of the camera went off while she giggled at his 'spacey-ness' and balanced on her toes. Innocent. Happy. It's my job to protect her.
"There's supposed to be a shrine to Tsukuyomi on the next level. Want to see?"
"The moon guy?"
"The moon-reader. Born from a copper mirror in Izanagi's right hand. The myth says that he killed Uke Mochi, the goddess of food, and angered Amaterasu. That's why the moon and the sun are separate." His knowledge of the kami was hazy at best. A half-demon living in the forest didn't encounter many gods or shrines. Kagome, daughter of a famous shrine, knew many of the stories. He'd listened to her talk with Miroku too many nights to count about the differences between Shintoism and Buddhism.
"Let's go – watch it!" Inuyasha caught her arm when she nearly slipped on the stairs. He grumbled but said nothing as he followed her swaying backside up the stairs.
"Tsukuyomi is the son of Izanagi and Izanami, making him one of the three divine children. The legend says that Tsukuyomi granted this castle to the Toda clan for their worship. That's one reason why there are six stories to this part of the castle, to put the clansmen higher to the sky. The moat outside reflects the moon. They presented live horses to Tsukuyomi annually at a special festival. Sometimes he's shown as a mirror, other times he's pictured as a man riding a horse in purple with a golden sword!"
"Don't those cards also say this place is haunted by a dead princess and cursed to lean sideways?"
"It's an old castle! Of course there are different legends."
The room at the top of the stairs was substantially smaller than the lord's military council chambers. The room itself was bare, plain and covered in a permanent layer of dust and encroaching spiderwebs. The smell made him sneeze into his elbow. Within the exposed beams of the ceiling was a white shrine. Kagome immediately clasped her rooms respectfully and bowed her head. He mumbled quietly while his wife ushered a quick prayer. The hanegi structure kept the small shrine from moving out of place. Assuming the shrine was to the moon god, its place at the highest point in the castle made sense.
Inuyasha stretched his arms over his head before folding them behind his shoulders. The stretch felt good after their relatively peaceful traversal up the stairs. While Kagome finished her prayer to the moon god, he moved to the other side of the room. A spider was busy in his efforts to repair his torn web. A particularly large fly had met its end in the sticky webbing. His lip curled but he resisted the urge to crush the spider. Killing something in a shrine was probably bad, right?
"Skipping school, children?" The voice made him jump. Kagome turned her back to the shrine. An older man with a white beard in a uniform stood at the top of the stairs. He tipped his hat playfully as he surveyed them. "Matsumoto Castle is closed to prepare for the festival. Trespassing is a crime."
"S-sorry. We just wanted to look around!" Kagome shot him a look warning him to be respectful. He rolled his eyes. Authority figures held greater sway over his wife.
"That's understandable, but I must escort you off the property." The guard gestured. Kagome nodded and reached for his hand. The journey down the stairs was short while they waited for the guard to follow. The portly, older gentleman came down the stairs without a sound. The scent of Kagome's fear put him on edge. What was she so scared of, this old man? As if a single elderly human could hurt him! She swallowed visibly. When the old security guard passed, Kagome tugged on his hand to follow. The old man had no problem descending the steep, wooden stairs but he insisted on going ahead of Kagome. If she fell, at least she would collapse on his back.
Inuyasha glared when the old man looked over his shoulder to confirm their presence. The elder smiled back at him. He couldn't put his finger on what was wrong, but his instincts were suddenly screaming at him. What is it? What don't I like about the old geezer? He slowed their pace. Out of habit, he inhaled to complete his picture of their escort. Kagome jerked to a stop when he refused to proceed. The old man turned the corner.
The fucker doesn't have a scent! Not a sound! No human can sneak up on me!
"What are you playing at?" Inuyasha pulled Kagome closer.
"Inuyasha, how rude!"
"Oi, show yourself!" His voice bounced off the walls. Getting the idea, Kagome's posture straightened. She stayed at his side when they rounded the corner to the next hallway. There was no sign of the bearded guardian. Chills crawled up his arms when a distant laugh echoed down the hall.
"It wasn't human, Kagome. He didn't have a scent!" Inuyasha kept one hand on Tetsusaiga's handle as he turned.
"A ghost?" Strong little fingers gripped his arm.
"Something. Let's get out of here." After years of practice, it was easy to pull Kagome onto his back. He dropped through the next flight of stairs onto the floor. Spirits and dead things were beyond his role of expertise. Angry spirits and the like were Miroku's style. The idea of an entire castle of haunted spirits rushing out of the walls unnerved him. They had no scent and no physical form to defeat.
"A security guard?"
"Playing with us. It might have wanted us to follow somewhere." Inuyasha hitched her legs higher on his hips. He tried to remember how the hallway split on this floor. It didn't help that the sun was going to set early. The castle had grown dimmer in the hour or so since their arrival. Kagome's knees pressed against his ribs when another laugh echoed from their right. He scowled into the dark corners and made a decision. Sprinting forward, he ducked through a storage area for the museum.
"Duck your head!"
"Inuyashaaaa!" Kagome's voice pitched. She buried her face against his collar before he reached the wooden window. The crossed thin beams would be easy to crash through. A human heartbeat raced against his back.
"Aaaah!" A section of the wooden floor opened. He barely skirted out of the way. The same creepy laugh echoed from the pitch darkness. Trap doors, secret passages? A castle this old and this famous attracts curious humans. A steady stream of food. So what if a couple of visitors go missing?
"We haven't seen your kind in years," the voice echoed. The words were practically dripping with anticipation. Kagome's arms squeezed his neck.
"Show yourself, coward!" Inuyasha was hesitant to move. Kagome's book had mentioned secret tunnels and passageways. Without knowing where to step, they could accidentally fall into the creature's trap. There was a glimmer of sunlight from behind the clouds. Experience told him that they didn't want to be in the castle after nightfall. Ghosts and spooks were stronger in the dark!
"A delicious offering she will make!" Harsh, loud, close. Inuyasha raged when he realized what it wanted. Drawing Tetsusaiga, he ignored Kagome's previous warnings and aimed the Wind Scar at the window. He followed the golden blaze into the open sky. Debris fell around them as he landed in the grass. He turned to do battle but there was silence. Shards of wood fell from the blast hole.
A demon, probably confined inside the tower.
"Kagome, you ok?" His left hand touched her wrist at his neck.
"It's l-leaning." The scared whisper fueled his rage. The tower had lost one of its main joists that supported the central load. A dark aura began to leak into the night. The Daitenshu seemed to lean angrily. There was a wooden groan that forced him back a few steps.
"We'll come back in the day. It's stupid to fight that thing at night." Inuyasha wanted to go back into the castle and find the creature threatening his wife but her safety came first. He stepped backward through the grass until he was sure the creature couldn't give chase. As quickly as he could, he darted into the safety of the cherry blossom trees. Miroku would be able to force the creature out of the wood. If it had a sensitive nose, Sango's pellets would push it out of the building. He grumbled when Kagome buried her cheek against his neck.
If Kagome IS losing her powers, its madness to bring her into a battle. She'd be defenseless.
