Chapter Ten

Picnics and Graveyards

-x-X-x-

She leaned against the railing of the bridge gazing into the depths of the pond. Reflections of blank eyes stare back at her. A few strands fall over her shoulder as ripples formed on the surface of the pond. The soft pink of cherry blossoms tinted the water around them to be a light shade of pink. She shifted her gaze to her side where she met eyes with another.

Kagewaki, lord of the mansion smiled gently at her. She smiled in return, warming her face with her bright smile. "The blossoms falling look so beautiful." She heard him comment as he made his way toward her. She nodded in agreement shifting her gaze back to the beautiful sight.

"I always loved the cherry blossom festival in my village. My mother was so proud when I lead the festivities." She giggled into the sleeve of her long kimono, making the light pattern of blue bring out her eyes beautifully.

"Your village was a happy little one wasn't it?" Kagewaki asked, leaning toward her with curiosity.

"Yes, it was small so everyone knew one another. We were all related some way or another. Shindo village. My memories of that place were always the best I've ever had." She fondly gazed at Kagewaki. "Of course, it's not to bad here either. I enjoy being by your side too. I just miss Souta a little." Kagewaki made a small smile of pain, which she quickly noticed. "What's wrong?" She asked. Her eyes grew wide in shock. Her voice, it was gone. She quickly grabbed her throat as she tried to say short phrases, any sound that would pass her lips.

"But Kagome," Kagewaki said softly turning toward her with a malicious smile. "Your memories are dead. You have no voice to reclaim them."

Kagome sat bolt up in her bed, with beads of sweat running down her face. She felt as though she'd been running a marathon, and her lungs stung with each intake of breath. The room was dark however the sun shone brightly through a crack in the curtains. She slumped her head down onto her knees and pulled them toward her chest. These past few days had been full of death and destruction.

The "clean up" as it had been called by Miroku, commenced where anyone who didn't receive a high ranking was forced to search the palace for dead bodies and take them to the monk for a blessing of peace. Sango chipped in along with Aki and a few other devoted members of the staff who wished to find loved ones or pieces of them so they could be laid to rest with the others.

The funeral for Inuyasha's father was held a few days ago along with Sesshomaru's "funeral". As a son and betrayer of the throne he was now seen as dead to the Taiyokai bloodline. Kagome could still remember vividly the tall dark hooded figures of demons in grieving. Lady Taiyokai however, stayed stronger than ever and never cried in public once. The same went for Inuyasha who carried his father to the Black Tomb of rest. She still could see Miroku's figure at the entrance of the tomb, chanting prayers for laying spirits to rest, while Sango stood beside him, looking sadly on. These demons obviously had great respect for their fallen leader. He was given the utmost attention over all else. Everything in the palace seemed to stop. The walls and curtains had seemed to turn to black stone and the inhabitant's somber figures moving throughout its corridors.

And yet now she was haunted by memories of her foolishness and betrayal. She had tried so hard to forget about those painful memories of hurt that she had forgotten just about everything else. Her family's face was now hard to remember and was blurred through the darkened edges of her brain.

It was time to get up. Once again she had to go through another day of mourning someone she did not truly know, but felt that she should have the highest and utmost respect for.

-x-X-x-

Inuyasha had noticed an obvious change in Kagome. The hotheaded girl seemed to have transformed into a completely different person within the course of a night. She was more gentle and calm, as though the real Kagome had been unlocked during the chaos that occurred. He saw how her soul truly was a gentle one at heart and how much this whole scenario had changed and affected her. She was still slightly disobedient at times, however not to the extremes she was at before.

When morning finally broke through the tirade of that night he was 100 sure that she would have teased him for breaking down like that. But as time drew on, she never said a word. She just held him in her arms and quietly pressed her beating heart against his ears. The soft beat of life, calmed him. He no longer had any fears of what he had become and what he had done. Even when he gazed upon some of the corpses that he himself had massacred, ally and enemy, he was able to rest knowing that she had washed his hands clean.

He sat through meeting with his advisors where they accused all demon clans that were not allied with them, and even a few allies who had shaky pasts with the Taiyokai's. He never heard a word. These were all men who were just trying to point the blame at someone, not even caring that the enemies they had found belonged to any clan that they had ever encountered. He waited patiently through the accusations with his arms folded. "Is that all?" He asked coldly.

"Well, yes my lord. But we must take action! What would our allies think if we just let the aggressors get away with something like this?" The advisor said heatedly.

"Do you have any proof at all that it was them?" He glared at the lowly fox demon advisor who had spoken out.

"Well…no-"

"Then we will not take action!" Inuyasha interrupted loudly. "If we rush in there with our ears and eyes closed we'll never really figure out who the real enemy is! 'It might've been them!' or 'They could've done it!' and 'They had a grudge with your father!' are not what I want to hear. I want to know fully what bastard did this so I can give him back tenfold what he gave us! Understood you useless waste of air!" The advisors all shrank back against their chairs.

"Y-yes my lord." They all muttered in agreement afraid of the young Prince's fists.

"Then this meeting is officially over until you have evidence and know which bastard out of all the other bastards did this! And don't you come bothering me again until you do know!" He abruptly stood and stormed out of the room, growling at the guard posted by the door.

Miroku sighed from as Inuyasha banged the door against the wall on his departure. "Your mother isn't going to be too happy about your behavior, you know."

"I'll tell her I'm depressed about daddy's death and my big brothers betrayal, because we all know how much I looked up to them, don't we?"

"This isn't something to joke about, Inuyasha!"

"Give it a rest, Miroku!" With that Miroku stopped walking after Inuyasha as the demon stormed ahead. He stood behind; a solitary figure unsure of what to do about the sorry state his friend was in.

-x-X-x-

Izayoi was growing tired of hearing the advisors bicker about her son. For once she'd liked to be left alone to mourn her husband's passing and to try and rule this country on her own. But she heard the constant sound of their whining voices complaining about this and that. How did her husband ever get through a day without strangling someone!

Inuyasha was out of the question for ruling this Kingdom at once. He needed to be trained and guided so he could make the right decisions. He also needed to earn the trust and respect of his people, which would be extremely difficult for him, being a hanyou. She was also having difficulty with the people, she being completely human, however she did have respect to a certain degree from them. Their king wouldn't have chosen any woman under the sun. She was from a prestigious royal family and knew what it took to have power.

Izayoi couldn't help but let a brief smile cross her lips. She began to remember her youthful days, mostly when she lived in her family's palace. There she met her soul mate in the family's personal hunting forest. There she felt rebellious when sneaking out of the gates to meet him at the edge of their safety lines. The happiness she had felt when she realized she was pregnant and ready with his child was nothing compared to the sting she received when she was rejected by her father and was called traitor to her bloodline.

Now those days were long gone, and the memories that she could have still made with him were taken in a foul swoop of claws and blood. Still, she could not bring herself to hate her stepson. He was her son as much as Inuyasha was. Besides, if Sesshomaru truly was someone to hate, then she was positive that Lord Taiyokai would have killed him, or at least survived the night. No, her late husband sacrificed himself for someone or something. The trouble was figuring out what he was thinking. She would have liked to think their minds were one and the same, however she knew there was a realm that he never shared with her.

Izayoi sighed into her hand as she settled deeper in her chair. She would just have to sit back and watch. Her gaze fell upon the table to her side. Various reports and propositions were strewn about. She picked up the one atop of the pile and began to scan its contents. 'Hmm…interesting…'

-x-X-x-

Kagome was wandering the halls aimlessly, searching for something to keep her from thinking about that awful nightmare. She rounded corners and stared at the floor, not paying attention to anything or anyone as she passed. She kept walking staring at the bricks bellow her feet and counting them as she passed. She had become lost at a million. She then decided to start over from one thousand.

Bam!

Kagome met head on with a thick body standing before her. She fell backwards due to collision and stared up at the stiff figure. It was Miroku's back and he turned to stare down at her confusedly. "Oh, Kagome! How nice to see you! Sorry, I was spacing out there." He scratched his head with one hand and reached down to pick her up with the other.

She accepted the hand and was surprised at how much strength he held when he lifted her easily to her feet and against his chest. She looked up at his face with a slight flush to her cheeks. "Miroku…? What were you spacing out about-…" She glared up at him now as her had pinched his searching one.

"Ow, ow, ow! Please Miss Kagome, do not misunderstand me! I was only checking your well being!" She shoved his hands away and her glare intensified.

"My butt is fine! I just fell over, nothing serious!" Kagome paused noticing Inuyasha's presence disappearing around the corner. "Was that Inuyasha?"

Miroku's eyes softened as he made a small smile. "Unfortunately yes. And now he's blazing through the palace in a tirade." Miroku scratched his head and let escape an exasperated laugh. "I haven't seen him act like this since he was twelve."

Kagome stared up at Miroku, sensing the change of tone in his voice. Something sounded pained. "You sound really close to him." Kagome said softly.

"Me?" He pointed at himself and began to laugh. "Well, I've been here since I was five. I was brought here to be Inuyasha's playmate because none of the demon children would play with him!" His laughter began to die down as he remembered his days of youth with Inuyasha. "He was hopeless back then. Always getting into trouble, fighting with the guards, he was harassing the two head priests and my master Mushin, getting a beating from Sesshomaru if he rubbed him the wrong way…" His laugh had died down and his smile became depressed. "He refused to play with me at first, but after awhile he realized I was the perfect slave." Miroku did chuckle but then sighed.

"It sounds like everyone here has had a good experience with the Taiyokai's, except me." Kagome said trying to lighten the mood. Miroku glanced at her with a genuine smile. He reached out and his fingertips brushed against the necklace around her throat.

"I don't know what was going through the heads of those priests, Kagome, but the Taiyokai's would have never done this to you directly." Kagome nodded her head.

"I know. I also know Inuyasha has been through a lot at the moment. You described his childhood for me. Lonely. For some reason I can't ask him to take these things off, no matter how happy that would make me. For some reason it feels like he's still a child and doesn't want to let go of a chance to have someone around." She glanced at her wrists covered with the heavy metal. "Then again I might be reading to far into this. He's probably laughing at me right now!" She said in a slightly annoyed voice. "Oh well, what will be will be…"Kagome trailed off as she stared at Miroku. The slapping sound echoed through the hallway and ringed throughout his ears.

"You pervert!" Sango yelled as he grabbed the monk by his ear lobe. "Kagome tries to warm up to you and you use that as a chance to feel her up! You have no decency as a man!"

"Ouch! Sango, wait- I can explain- Ow!" Miroku desperately tried to struggle away from her grip.

Kagome couldn't help but giggle at the way the two interacted. She followed Sango and the flailing Miroku down the corridors. She stopped for a second and glanced to look behind her. Maybe she could outrun her demons here. She might be able to find the strength within her and get back home. She'd just have to get these shackles removed. Stopping she remembered her dream and a chill ran up her back. The same presence she had felt nights ago. Then again, perhaps she would only destroy her demons of the past, leaving the phantoms of the present to haunt her life.

The trio caught up with Inuyasha who was sitting on the steps of the stairs to the main hall. Kagome had remembered her first time here with her grand escape. Her wrists and neck began to throb slightly at the thought of the beginning of this captivity beginning.

Miroku and Sango paused a few steps behind him. Kagome watched their pained expressions. She could tell this was difficult for them to bear. She remembered being in their shoes once when she had to explain to Souta that their father was never coming home. The apprehension, the doubt, and the fear. But she was able to sit down next to Souta then, she could do it now, no?

She pushed forward sitting down next to Inuyasha. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his two, white dog-ears twitch. "Sulking again, hm?" She rested her elbow on her knees and placed her chin in her upturned palm.

Inuyasha's hand twitched. "And what the hell would you know of it, wench? I don't give a damn about what happened! I don't give a damn about his people or this damn castle!" He said coldly. She answered with a deep sigh. That threw him over the edge; he sharply turned to yell at her. "Leave me the hell alone you troublesome-" He abruptly stopped when he saw a smile on her lips. "What're you happy about?" He demanded.

"Well, that you're angry. That shows that you do care about what happened, right?" Inuyasha began to growl. Kagome shot back a glare. "What I mean is, look at how pathetic you're acting! If you sulk about this thing than you'll never move on, and you'll be pitiful. People will give you what you don't want, concern and pity."

Inuyasha's face became a deadly warning. He could see a younger version of him wiping the blood from his mouth. "I don't want their damn pity! They can just shove it up their ass! They only care because that's their job! I don't want them, I don't need it! Just go away!" Inuyasha grabbed her wrist sharply. "You just don't know when to shut up, do you?"

The beaded hand of Miroku then smacked his head. "She's right, Inuyasha. You are being pathetic." Inuyasha was tempted to punch Miroku.

"Shut the hell up, Miroku! I don't need to hear this from an ass wipe like you!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking you're the only one who's hurting here!" Miroku yelled back. "We're all feeling sad! You're not the only goddamn person this world revolves around!"

Inuyasha grabbed Miroku from the front of his robes, pulling his fist back to throw a punch at Miroku. "I told you to shut up!"

"Just stop it, Inuyasha!" Sango too yelled, he stopped and stared in surprise at her. "We're all upset. We all feel bad about what happened! But sitting around and doing nothing isn't going to change anything about what happened! You just don't realize that you're friends' get sad too! When you are sad, you make the people around you sad too. We all just want to be happy, but we can't do that if you don't let your father and Sesshomaru go!"

"Just shut up, all of you!" He threw Miroku against the stairs and covered his ears.

"You can try to ignore this, but it will still be here for you when you take your ears off your head." Kagome said. "If we run away from what we are scared from, and hold on to the things that haunt us, then we never grow. Humans, demons, people are like that." Kagome reached out and touched Inuyasha's sleeve. "These people care about you." Inuyasha's hands came down from his ears and rested at his sides. "If you run away and don't look back while holding on, you won't even realize the world changing around you. You'll be empty and useless. Because, in the long run, you'll get tired of running and will have to catch your breathe. Once you do, you'll be suffocated by the corroding smell of the fear that you tried so hard to run away from." He looked down at Kagome's calm face. She spoke with experience; he could tell she was talking about herself. Sango and Miroku stood in awe, listening to her speech. "They care about you Inuyasha, you going to keep them in pain, you sadist?" She smiled up at him.

He let out an insane chuckle. "Sadist? Ha!" He continued until his chuckle turned into a laugh of insanity. He stopped, gritting his teeth hard. Why were they still standing beside him? Of all people, why was Kagome giving him, her proclaimed enemy comfort. He stood stark still as he felt all his anger and fear well up in him. He had killed people, and was too weak to protect his own family! No one in their right mind should be by his side. He then realized, that they weren't beside him out of obligation. Miroku had been his friend since childhood, and Sango had been his best warrior. They stood beside him because they believed in him. And Kagome? Well he would have to figure her out. He didn't understand her sudden change in attitude, but he'd figure it out, sooner or later. "Hn. Where do you get off calling me that?" He looked up, his eyes now full of confidence.

"You, my sir, are not one to talk." Kagome lifted a finger and shook it at him. "I'm not the one with a bondage frenzy." He spotted her wrists and necklace and immediately his joking exterior was smashed and he blushed.

"Well maybe if someone hadn't tried to kill me, then they wouldn't have to deal with my "bondage obsession"!" He yelled back.

"If you hadn't kidnapped me, I'd have been fine!" Kagome shot back.

The two were interrupted by the laughs of Sango and Miroku. "That's what we need!" Sango clapped her hands together. "We should go for a picnic on your fathers grave!" She said excitedly.

"What!" Inuyasha yelled. She wanted to desecrate the dead!

"That certainly would do us some good I think." Miroku chimed in. Miroku cheerfully began to walk down the stairs with Sango by his side.

"Hm…well I didn't know him that well, but I'd be honored to have a feast with someone who earned their respect." Kagome followed after them as they left Inuyasha behind.

"Hey wait a second!" He stopped when Kagome looked over her shoulder.

"Well what do you say, Inuyasha? You coming or not, sadist." He was taken aback slightly by the composure everyone had. Then he too smiled.

"You watch your mouth, slave girl. You can't go outside without my permission, remember?" He fell into place next to the rest of them as they walked down the steps towards the large doors.

"You're still a sadist." All three said in perfect unison.

"Well, guess what? Since I'm such a sadist, you'll all be paying for the offering to the old man and the picnic." Sango and Miroku groaned.

"That's not fair, Inuyasha! You have the most money!"

-x-X-x-

Bunnyasha: Wow…I changed so much from what I was originally going to do with the story… I hat the way this ended…Oh well I just wanted to get this all out to you guys as a personal birthday present to myself! Happy Birthday to me! Thank you all for reading this far. Trust me there will be A LOT MORE! Hope you can all sit through this insanity and stick with it!

Inuyasha: This chapter pretty much made you the sukiest writer out there. You probably lost all of your readers by now. You never update.

Bunnyasha: I know, but I-…you don't really think I lost them all, do you?

Inuyasha: Uh oh. She's depressed. Oh well, on to the review responses.

-x-X-x-Review Response-x-X-x-

Kisshu-luv: Thank you for the review. Hope you haven't come to dislike my story because of this chapter. Don't worry, there will be plenty more fluffy (to Sesshomaru Ow! Stop hitting me!) in the future chapters, so if you stay with, you'll see more, kay? Thanks for your kind words!

Inukensgurl: Thanks for your kind words! I've updated, and hope to do it more often in the future. Keep with it, even if it gets a little crazy in the future!

unhealthy-addiction-to-mang...: Hi! I like your username! Really creative! Anyway, the truth is I'm really lazy. gasp I know what a big surprise. Actually I had serious writers block for a long time and just didn't have the inspiration y'know? Then I watched an episode of Inuyasha and was typing like the devil. Thanks for the kind words. I hope you continue to stay with me, and I do hope to update more often.

LonelyxSoul: Thank you so much for the kind review! I hope you continue to enjoy in the chapters to come!

Inashosetai: Sorry! I know I take forever, I'm really lazy and had real bad writers block. Forgive me, k? I hope you enjoyed the update and will stick with the sorry no matter how crazy it gets. Yes the water prank will be forever in my heart as well. I really wanted to have the brothers have a closer relationship, but my sister who's a Sesshy fan (to Sesshomaru Ow! Stop hitting me!) told me very angrily that he's not in character when they act like brothers. sigh I hope to write another story in the future that expresses Inuyasha's and Sesshomaru's childhood. Wait for it to come out, k?

KagiHime: Thank you so much! (blushes) Although I wouldn't say it's the best story out there. Rozefire-sensei will always be my idol that I will look up to! She is an awesome writer! Thank you for your kind words though! They were greatly appreciated! (hugs)

WitchyGirl99: Thank you for the compliments! I hope to entertain you with more of my chapters in the future! Cheer for me!

hanyouxmiko990: You're right, where would we be in the world if not for a little drama? (giggle) I'm happy to meet another Inuyasha x Kagome fan! I hope I can continue to satisfy your love fro the pairing! Root for me in the future!

haunting hanyou: I hope you enjoyed the bonding in this chapter! Don't worry there will be PLENTY of bonding in the future. That previous chapter was really long though! I had to stop somewhere! Thanks and please continue reading!

Hikari Fushicho: Well they did do a clean up! (laughs) Of course the monks and priests were left to blessing all the corpses and bits and pieces that were left behind. Ew… Anyway glad you liked it!

BitcheyBabe66: Sure, I'd love to e-mail you! That'd be great! I also have AIM. I'm TsukinoShino or You should feel free to e-mail me too! Glad you enjoyed!

FaiaTenshi: Yep that is a pretty long engagement. I had actually hoped to fit Kikyo into this chapter but lost track of the time and wasn't able to squeeze her in. Oh well… maybe next time! Glad you enjoyed!

Inu'sHardcoreBitchThatLoves...: I'm glad you enjoyed the theatrics! (laugh) Please continue to support me in the future! (hugs)

-x-X-x-

Bunnyasha: Well that's all the reviews I've gone through for now. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I just wanted to send out a big thank you to all of you who have been supporting me and have started to. You're all great! I love ya! Stick with it and enjoy what comes in the future! Hopefully I'll update sooner! (sweat drops)

Inuyasha: Stop! Don't read any further! Don't support her fantasies people! She'll only drive me crazier!

Bunnyasha: As always, don't listen to him! Thanks once again! (blows out candles on birthday cake) Cake anyone?