Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Saimu no Ken	By : Gothic_Lust Category: InuYasha Crossovers > Het - Male/Female Views: 1973 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: All characters and plotlines from InuYasha and Rurouni Kenshin belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Nobuhiro Watsuki respectively. I don't make any money off the writing of this fiction.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
Chapter 6:
A House of Cards
Kenshin twisted the cloth napkin into a tight cord as silence stretched between him and his dinner mate. He hadn't meant to cause her undue nervousness, but maybe answering a question or two too honestly was bound to get them into some sort of social snags. He watched her chew lightly at the corner of her bottom lip, and when she bit a tad too deep, took a sip of her water to save her from worrying something else.
It wasn't difficult for him to understand her hesitance to start up the conversation anew; it would be difficult for almost anyone to pick up after speaking about his troubled past. Granted, he was brief and rather vague with most of his life as a child, but they both understood how to read between the lines, and maybe in hindsight, they should have abandoned that topic into the much more sociable waters of their classroom experiences.
Glancing to his right, Kenshin briefly scanned the crowded restaurant. He could see from the corner of his eye, Kagome following his line of sight, shifting her weight to scan with him. His hyper vigilance was causing her even more stress, and Kenshin forced himself to relax against the booth's cushioned back, pinching himself on the thigh forcefully to turn his head away from the mass of people, if only for the moment.
Though the act of continuous surveillance calmed him and reinforced his knowledge of their safety- her safety—however Kenshin couldn't very well do so in good conscience with the understanding that it caused Kagome to view her world differently than she had previously accepted it to be. It was enough to enlighten her to the horror of his world at a some-what first hand basis, but to cast even more doubt into her already unsettled mind did not sit well with him.
Without thought, Kenshin's free hand stretched across the table, searching for the warm bread Yahiko had set onto their table while they waited for their meal. Instead of the lightly textured surface of the yeasty bread, Kenshin's fingertips brushed across the smooth skin on the back of Kagome's hand. Within the seconds it took for him to politely retract his hand to allow hers escape from the bread basket, Kenshin took note of her paleness and the unnerving cold that had been her skin.
Reaching again for bread, he considered her slow, shallow breathing, and the water she couldn't help but continue sipping frequently as she lightly tore the bread into small pieces, not even bothering to reach for the butter that also sat in the middle of the table.
Her nervousness had turned into a fear of something he could not understand. Though his lack of social graces probably contributed to most of it, he wondered if it was not just the conversation that unsettled her.
Chewing a bit longer than necessary on his piece of bread, Kenshin wondered how to strike up an acceptable form of conversation.
He doubted starting up again with school would bring about much of a response. Time for that conversation had come and gone, killed effectively with the silence that remained. Childhood experiences were out of the question, as it had been the cause of their tension, and mention of any sort of work or romantic relationships was just taboo. He'd rather the awkward silence and rising tension than deal with that minefield.
They had already gone through the basic twenty-one question routine. Favorite color, number, band, and board game were covered rather lopsidedly, as Kenshin had never truly thought about any of the normal musings and hobbies that were associated with his generation.
The most he had contributed were stabbed guesses at something that may please him, or would strike her interest to continue the conversation. Music was just about the only thing he knew enough of to elaborate on, if only just long enough for Kagome to take a few good breaths before steering their conversation again.
Damning himself for his social ineptitudes and lack of political tact, Kenshin returned to twisting his napkin in silence, wondering if this awkwardness would last through their marriage.
XxxxxxX
The next morning started silently, both of them brushing sleepily against one another as they packed and sorted themselves out for school. Leaving Kenshin's home without breakfast, the two got into the car idling in the driveway.
Behind the wheel was the tall man that Kagome remembered from the other night, still imposing even as his height was folded business like in his seat. As Kenshin greeted the man, taking the cup of coffee offered to him, Kagome was reminded of the man's name.
She leaned against the back seat, surprised when Aoshi turned around, offering her two cups and a rolled up brown paper bag.
"I didn't know if you liked coffee or not," he explained as she took the coffee cup and paper bag. "There's a plain bagel and cream cheese inside."
"Not toasted, unfortunately." Kenshin sighed from the front seat after a deep drink from his own travel mug.
Aoshi ignored him, turning around with the orange juice still in the tray. He dismissed her meek thank-you as well with a sharp nod, turning out of the driveway and towards their school.
Much like her first drive to Kenshin's home, the rear windows blacked out, leaving her to the emptiness of the back seat alone. Deciding to focus on her breakfast, Kagome tried desperately not to look at the blacked out window that divided the driver's cab and her own seat. It reminded her rather horribly of a hearse, and though morbid, the thought amused her enough to finish her breakfast, glad that the emptiness allowed her to compose her thoughts.
At one of the few longer stops the car made, Kagome chanced fixing her coffee to her liking, finding the cream and sugar packages inside the brown bag with her bagel.
Revitalized, if only for the moment, Kagome began the long process of arraigning herself to a somewhat normal state before arriving to school, she did not want to repeat the awkwardness from last night. She knew her friends would question her absence and unprecedented melt-down from earlier in the week, however, thankful that today was Thursday, Kagome looked greatly forward to her time at the range, imagining the targets her arrows were to pierce in the lovely shape of Hiko's head.
Nearly a block from the school, the car pulled over and dumped Kagome and Kenshin off on the sidewalk, idling only long enough for Aoshi and Kenshin to have a quick departing word, and so Aoshi could toss a silent nod her way.
"So this is why I never see you dropped off at school." Kagome yawned and took a sip of her cold coffee. She didn't really mean for Kenshin to hear her, or to start a conversation with him. She had decided last night not to get further involved with him than she already was. It was best for both of them.
"Ah, yes." Kenshin hummed, pulling out his phone from his back pocket. "I already have enough attention from my hair. I'd like to leave out the fact that I'm supposedly rich and chauffeured places in expensive cars."
And a notorious, blood-thirsty, killer, Kagome added silently, remembering his handling of the Yakuza group, and his jumpy nature at the restaurant. Why couldn't I marry a normal boy?
They split off near the school gates where Kenshin was immediately caught up by Miroku and Misao, the young girl with black marker in hand.
"That's what you get for skipping school yesterday." She laughed, drawing the characters for 'baka,' and swirls onto the patch on his cheek.
Tossing her empty cup in the trash, Kagome found her locker and quickly changed her shoes, ignoring the two love notes within. She was tapping her toes into the front of her indoor shoes when Ayumi entered with a pink umbrella in hand.
"Good morning, Kagome." She said, placing her umbrella and shoes in her footlocker.
"Please don't tell me it's going to rain!" Kagome lightly placed her head on the cold metal of her locker door and groaned. "Why me!"
"I'm sorry." Ayumi rubbed her back good-naturedly. "It was on the news this morning. Didn't you see it?"
Kagome's eyebrow twitched and sighed a heavy, drawn out, "No."
"Oh, well I can always walk home with you." She offered, the end of her words lightly lilted as she hobbled to balance as she placed on her right shoe.
"Can't, I have practice today." Kagome snipped a bit as she shouldered her bag.
"Oh." Ayumi hummed and lifted her bag as well. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I'll figure something out." The words were grumbled out quickly as they entered the main hall. Kagome scanned for Kenshin briefly, wondering if he knew about the rain. The hallway was empty of the red haired swordsmen, and Kagome thought it served him right to drown in the rain, if only at the very least to make her feel a bit better. "Maybe I can borrow a school umbrella, or something." She tried to sound calm and unaffected.
"I'm sure it'll be fine." Ayumi smiled and they entered their class with Yuka waving at them from behind the teacher's desk with their other class representative.
"I hope so," Kagome whispered and waved as well, though less cheery. She blamed her increasingly bad mood and ill-luck on Kenshin.
XxxxxxX
The door to the classroom opened halfway through the lecture, stopping the group discussions of the Meiji Restoration. Kagome looked up from her note-taking, chancing a glance at Kenshin before joining the rest of her peers with their eyes at the front of the room. Speaking in hushed whispers with the teacher, a young woman stood proud, ignoring the dress code with jeans and a simple tee. Her heavily distressed canvas duffle bag was also not school approved, carrying more holes and patches than seemed reasonable.
The woman ignored the teachers request to introduce herself, indulging only in a brief 'hey', before taking the only available seat at the front of the class, swinging her bag around loud enough to cut the silence that followed her.
"I'd appreciate it next time Miss Yamanaka, if you entered my class on time and in proper school-issued attire."
"When it's issued to me, I can assure you I'll wear it within school-accepted conduct." She grinned, leaning back against the chair heavily enough that it creaked with distress.
With a shake of his head, the teacher resumed his seat, resigned no doubt to the added delinquent on his roster. "Just make sure you're caught up with the chapter, and stop by after class for additional instruction."
The class resumed their individual discussions, or at least, pretended to continue with the required assignment.
"What do you think about the new girl?" Eri whispered behind her raised notebook, conveniently placed on the side where the new student sat leafing through the textbook pages, uninterested.
"Shut up Eri," Yuka hissed, quickly raising her notebook to block her response from the back of the transfer's head. "She might hear you."
"From the front of the class?" Ayumi chimed in, without bothering to block potential lip-readers as she had her back to their subject of gossip.
"Who cares about that!" Eri leaned forward across their connected desks, disorganizing the handouts they arranged between them previously. "Did you see what she was wearing?"
"Jeans and a tee-shirt." Kagome replied coolly, without looking up from her own text. "Just like anything you'd wear on any other normal day."
"Not that," Ignoring her friends' attempts to stop her, Eri turned a bit more to view the new student unabashed. She turned quickly when the girl looked back. "Her shoes! They're totally outdated."
Kagome's head fell hard onto her desk. "Who the hell cares Eri!"
"I do, no woman in her right mind would wear combat boots after the 90's." Eri pouted. "No need to be so snippy."
Kagome tried desperately to ignore her friends in favor of her work. At least the textbook wouldn't mind her glaring. She didn't want to upset her friends more than she already had, and they were being rather nice not to call attention to her foul mood.
"Ever thought she'd just like durable shoes?" Yuka sighed leaning back softly and picked up the handout that managed to crawl across her desk.
"It's not like she's going to run a marathon, Yuka." Eri huffed and fixed her self-made mess of papers. "High school is the epitome of a young girl's social career. You need to look your best to snag the right guy before he goes off into that big ol' world of College Socialite."
"Eri, you're not going to end up alone. Face it; you'll be married with kids before Kagome here gets her first crush." Yuka grinned, bumping Kagome's shoulder lightly in good-humor.
Gasping at the tease, Eri balled up a torn out page from her notebook and threw it at her friend. "Are you calling me easy?"
"No," Yuka didn't even bother to dodge the missile, Eri was rather well known for her lack of grace when it came to sports. However, she could walk miles around the track in heels if she so chose, and as Kagome remembered fondly, Eri tried to convince their physical education instructor to swap the mile run for just that. "Just goal oriented."
"Meaning simple minded." Ayumi added to the teasing, pausing long enough in her notes to smile up at the two of them.
"I am not simple!" Eri shouted, a bit too loud, and blushed as the class' attention was drawn to her.
Ducking her head back into their circle of tables, Eri's blush grew darker as she pulled the text forward and flipped the pages quickly. "So, back to the construction of the Meiji's central government," she mumbled, stopping on a page with a rather large picture that had absolutely nothing to do with their topic of discussion, and pretended to read.
"Sorry Eri," Ayumi whispered from over her notes, grasping her friends hand lightly before resuming her work. "but you might want to turn to page 73."
The rest of their discussion had nothing to do with the new girl, or Eri's odd priorities. Kagome, however, glanced at the new girl, and then back at Kenshin, who not once looked up after the girl's initial entrance. He huddled with Miroku over their text, neither of them seemed to be reading the material, but looking at something over their textbook.
Kenshin glanced up from whatever it was he was doing towards her, gave her a small, half-hearted smile, before turning down again to Miroku and the page they were looking over, whispering in hushed tones.
What are those two doing? Kagome had difficulty concentrating on their assignment from then on.
XxxxxxX
"This," Miroku whispered to Sango as he passed her in the hall, "is his number, in case you ever need anything. I've also taken the liberty to add my number and Kenshin's on there as well." He shoved a piece of notebook paper into her hand quickly, and before she could say anything turned and made his way back to the redhead waiting patiently by the lockers farther down the hall.
"His number, huh." She mumbled to herself, stuffing the note into her pocket without bothering to read it. Glancing around, Sango inspected her young charge as the girl interacted with her friends.
Normal. That is how she would describe Kagome Higurashi. A normal, frilly, high school girl, with average beauty and exceedingly average intelligence. The girl was plain, except maybe for her eyes, considering they were an unnatural shade of blue for an Asian; and to add to her plainness, the girl was clumsy, careless and so exceedingly ordinary that even her three friends managed to come off as eccentric.
Besides the girls strong case of two left feet during gym, Sango noted the girl's unfortunate episodes of bad luck. Aside from her engagement to the world's most prized killer by chance, Kagome had managed to trip over a rogue dodge ball during lunch, spilling the entire tray onto herself and a passing student, misplace her math notes, and earn a detention for that very afternoon, forcing her to skip club activities.
Yes, normal, no matter strong her ill-luck may have been, fit the girl well. Sango, as she continued to observe the girl, loathed to even speak to her, hoping beyond hope that their interactions would be strictly distant, lest that bad luck fall onto her instead. Her brother didn't need that sort of trouble, and the last thing she wished to do was associate with a girly high school student with nothing but boys and makeup on the brain.
Was her assessment unfair, maybe, but Sango's understanding of the girl's relationships, especially those with her three friends, was subpar, and by association, the girl was subpar and a liability to Sango's skill sets and networking. And she wasn't convinced that Miroku or Kenshin were going to be of any use either. Idiots, the lot of them, really.
'Yes,' Sango though as she watched the girl trip over air when Kenshin passed her with a timid smile, 'strictly no contact sort of business.'
XxxxxxX
"Kagewaki-san, it's me." Sango whispered into the phone, "How's he doing?"
"He's stable, but still unconscious." A deep voice from the other end responded with a soft sigh. "There hasn't been as much as a blimp on the monitor."
"Sorry Sango, I wish I could give you better news." He added after some time, the soft sound of a page turning filled her silent mind. Kagewaki-san was no doubt looking at her brother's charts, searching for any good news to share.
"No, it's alright," her voice was thick but otherwise strong. "He'll pull through this. I know he will."
"Of course, Sango." He wasn't very convincing in his certainty.
"Thank you anyway, Kagewaki-san."
"You know, the best thing you could do for him, is to visit." If he were standing in front of her, no doubt he'd be smiling that lopsided smile of his. "I'm sure he'd like that."
"Maybe when I get some time off work."
"You're always working," He bit out, then added quickly, "It's not good to be under such stress."
"You're the doctor." Sango picked at her nails nervously. "Good evening Kagewaki-san."
"Take it easy, Sango, for Kohaku's sake." He was smiling again, she knew it. "Good evening Sango."
Her phone buzzed just as she hung up. Flipping to her new messages, she read:
Watch over the girl. –Hiko
On assignment. Watch over Higurashi-dono. I'll notify you when you're relieved. –X
Hi my little cupcake! 3 X is on assignment tonight, so you'll have to follow Kagome-chan home. I wish I could keep you company, but I'm needed at base. Have fun. Kisses. Chuuu~ -Miroku
"Retards,"Sango muttered lightly, snapping her phone closed. Her eye twitched as she leaned against a school column, waiting for the brat's detention session to end.
She caught the girl with one of her friends, the curly haired one, about an hour later near the gate of the school.
"Hey, Higurashi, wait up." She called out, jogging towards the two girls quickly.
The little thing turned, big blue eyes blinking owlishly at the informal address.
"Sensei baldy told me to ask you for help catching up with the class." Sango grinned, stopping in front of them. He told her no such thing, but honestly the twit didn't need to know that. All she needed was an excuse to spend time with the girl.
"Bald—" The two girls laughed when they connected their Japanese History teacher with the new nickname.
"If you have time tomorrow, I can help you then." Higurashi said politely.
"Can't, today's my only free afternoon." Sango pushed her bag higher onto her shoulder to hide the strong shrug she wanted to make.
"Oh, well, give me a sec to call my folks." A lame excuse really, the girl was probably asking for permission to stay from the Battosai. The Higurashi girl stepped away from them, speaking softly on the phone too far away to properly hear the conversation.
"What area do you need help with?" The curly haired girl smiled at her. "I'm Ayumi, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Charmed." Sango twitched out, but took the offered hand anyway in friendly gesture. "Sango, and I'm finding the Feudal period rather difficult."
"Ah, yes, that could be a bit tricky." These people smiled too much. Annoyed with all the sparkle, rose colored fortune that these girls seemed to be buying into, Sango snorted and rolled her eyes when Ayumi turned to call the other one back to them when she hadn't gotten off the phone yet.
"We'll move this to the library. Kagome'll meet us there." Leading the way, Ayumi twirled and waved her to follow.
"Whatever you say." Sango turned enough to keep the corner of her eye on her charge, watching the girl sulk and murmur into the phone, one small hand covering her lips and the speaker to shield any potential lip-readers.
"You know, the school library is going to close soon, do you mind if we move to a café afterwards to continue?" Kagome asked as she made her way up the stairs to them. "My dad's got company over, and he doesn't want us over there."
"Oh, it's one of those nights is it?" Ayumi hugged her friend. "If you want, you could spend the night at my house."
"No it's okay, I just need to keep out of the way for a little while, you know, and I could use the company." Kagome's smile was so fake Sango could punch through it easily, but she ignored the temptation of popping little miss sunshine's bubble.
"Well, you could always use the time to get me caught up." Sango threw her textbooks onto a table and sat down, readying herself for a boring few hours.
"Right." Kagome said, and the other two joined her, turning to the section of Feudal Japan and began pouring over notes.
XxxxxxX
Kenshin stood next to Hiko as a middle aged man dressed in a white kimono stepped forward, his head shrouded in a black bag.
The man was forced to kneel on the dirt and breathed deeply when the bag was removed and his bonds severed.
The glow from several hung lanterns gleamed along the short blade tossed to the man kneeling before them. He straightened it with just his fingertips, but did not pick it up, and with a white cloth from within his robe, wrapped the heel of the blade loosely.
"You promised me Battosai would have the honor of being my second," the man spoke, gruff and sore from prolonged thirst. Whatever drink he requested with his final meal must not have satisfied the days he'd been without. "Where is this so called legend?"
"First," Hiko sneered. "The information."
"I've already given you everything." The man growled, affronted.
"Then for the sake of your honor as a warrior," Hiko's cruel smile pulled lightly to one side of his face as he leveled a barretta M9 between the kneeling man's eyes. "I'd humor me."
"You gave me your word-."
"For a warrior's death, yes we all know." Hiko snorted. "But as I said, humor me, or you'll depart to the afterlife with a nickel's worth of lead as a parting gift."
The man's lip curled, distorting the light shadow of his unkempt beard. Leaning heavily on his heels, the man let loose a sigh. "Very well."
"Excellent." Hiko replaced the barretta in his coat.
"I didn't know the man, never met him to be honest, but you already know that."
"I do." Kenshin nodded silently as Hiko spoke, hearing the man's confession for a second time.
"I was simply meant to spy from within the organization and provide essential Intel and details to my go-between." He continued simply.
"And the information you provided."
"Was mainly irrelevant. He wasn't interested in money usage, lower personnel gossip, or the otherwise small change that I was allowed access to. He wanted the big catch."
"Battosai." Aoshi spoke up from the shadows between the oil lamps. He was the only other person in the clearing besides Hiko, Kenshin, and their prisoner.
"Yes. But as you know, he's the phantom of all our deadly ghosts, so I couldn't so much as dig up his hair color. Hell, I didn't even know when he was in the building or not."
"Ghosts indeed." Hiko's laugh was dry. "But you do know where that go-between of yours is."
"Used to, the bastard probably high tailed it to Shanghai by know."
"Well, if that is all, then we have nothing more to discuss." Hiko leveled his barretta once more to the man's head.
"Wait! Wait, you trigger happy bastard." The man leaned back further, a hand outstretched as he begged for time. "I can give you his name. It's Byakuya!"
"No last name?" Aoshi took note of the name as he questioned for more information.
"No. And I doubt that's his real name too, sketchy bastard that he is. He's got long black hair, rather girly looking with a fascination for the color purple."
Hiko grunted and nodded to Aoishi as the man pulled out a phone from his pocket.
"That's all of it, I swear!" The man said. Sensing that Hiko was finished with the man, Kenshin began to prepare himself for the task ahead.
"As promised then," Hiko spoke as Kenshin pulled his hair off the nape of his neck into a high warriors' tail, and began to roll up the sleeves of his school shirt. "Battosai will be your Kaishakunin."
With a nod from Hiko, Kenshin pulled free the bandage that covered half his face, revealing the scar, and his identity to the older man.
"A child," He scoffed. "I don't know whether to feel disgraced or disgusted."
Kenshin stepped forward, ignoring the man's words and asked, "Do you have any preferences for when I should strike?"
The man ignored him, blatantly pulling his robes closed tighter as he stared at Hiko. "You don't expect me to believe that this brat can pull off the cut perfectly."
"Take it as you will," Hiko rolled his eyes. "I've allowed you this ceremony, do not assume that I would disgrace the noble ritual by cheating you in some way. Then again," Hiko smiled and waved his barretta around with a graceful swirl of his hand. "I could always off you myself."
"Boy, if you do this wrong, I will become your personal demon." The man spat at him, turned forward and grabbed the short sword, one hand on the hilt and the other on the cloth wrapped heel, preventing the blade from slipping. Stabbing himself quickly, the man drew the blade through his abdomen from left to right, the motion completed as an afterthought.
As the short sword was lifted, Kenshin shifted his stance and released his blade, cleanly slicing through the exposed neck of the man, making sure to leave just enough flesh for the head to fall forward, connected, as if embracing his departing soul.
Whether the man had any qualms with his quick decapitation or not was to be seen. They waited briefly, either for the man's departed spirit to haunt Kenshin, or for the memory of the ritual that was seppuku, Kenshin didn't care. He bowed his head to the dead prisoner in respect.
Hiko nodded to Kenshin, and the two returned back to the car as the lights behind them were doused by Aoshi. "Let's hope that his information proves useful." He said as Kenshin opened the door for him.
"What would you have me do?" Kenshin asked as he sat beside him.
"For now, nothing. This is Aoishi's area of expertise." Hiko's frown was partially covered by his sake cup. "Settle in your new wife, I'll deal with this information. If anything comes up, you'll be the first to know."
Kenshin nodded his acceptance and pulled out his phone, sending Sango a text that he, Battosai, was on his way home, and that Himura-kun was going to pick up Kagome from where they were holed up studying, relieving her for the night.

Lols. Sango's quite the bitch isn't she? She's generalizing most of her perceptions of Kagome that she doesn't notice what's really going on with the poor kid. She'll learn, eventually, but much like the anime, Kagome and Sango didn't just become fast friends, and even less, Sango didn't trust the men of her little camp. I want to showcase that this is no more than a means to an end for Sango, much like it had started in the manga/anime, so too will Sango's character grow and change in this fic as well. :D
I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry it took me to so long to write, I've been busy and my artwork has been calling my attention lately. If anyone of you'd like to see it, I'm on Deviantart, my penname there is Evil-Toilet-Paper. (Yea, not pretty! A haunting streak of dirt from my rather odd youth. I can't change it, and I'm too lazy to change accounts… so I'll keep it. If my artwork takes off or something, I'll change it, but for now, it's going to stay the way it is.) There's also links on my bio page here, but I think has broken them, something about spam and viruses? Anyway, please feel free to check out my artwork on there! I do take commission for really cheap, if any of you are interested (cough, I really need the money! cough).
So this chapter, we got a few good bits of information about characters and future plot challenges. I hope you liked it. I'm getting a bit better at planning out my chapters.
I know that this chapter was shorter than the others, but It didn't want to work with me, and this is all I could possibly squeeze out.
Next chapter there should be more information. Aoshi will have his own little scene, and Tomoe should pop up again. Maybe in a flashback, or maybe in Kenshin's head again? Who knows… I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Anyway. Until the next chapter then! Please review! If anything is confusing you, please let me know! ;D
PS. Please ignore the mention of Kohaku-kun in the first chapter. We'll make it Shippo's house, or something. I'll change it later. I forgot that I had different plans for him and just added him in the spur of the moment. So in that chapter, he was at a different friend's house as the time of the kidnapping. Sorry for the confusion!
-Gothic Lust
- 5
- 6
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Saimu no Ken