My Beloved Savior Chp. 8

Chapter Eight "Missing"

They arrived in a village called Shi the next day. They would reach the Northern Palace in a little over a week if Sesshomaru had estimated right.

He had Koga ride with Kagome until they reached the village. He didn't trust Miroku alone with her, and he certainly didn't trust himself alone with her.

They settled for rooms at the local inn. As they sat down, they were served some miso soup and some water. As Sesshomaru watched her eat, he remembered that she loved little cakes. He stopped one of the lady servers, and she had remembered him from his last visit.

"Oh, Lord Sesshomaru," she said with a giggle, "I could stop by your room later, if you want."

"Sorry, not tonight. Bring some cakes," he told her.

As she walked off, she gave Kagome a dirty look that made Sesshomaru want to rip her head off. He started to question his actions. Why had he turned a perfectly willingly woman away? That was definitely not like him. He could have any woman around him, except for the one he truly wanted. Kagome. He knew that she saw what transpired between him and the lady server, but she acted like she hadn't seen a thing. That caused him to really be irritated.

The lady server soon returned with the little cakes. Sesshomaru watched as Kagome waited. It seemed as if she didn't know if she could have one or not. Soon, Miroku grabbed three, and as Koga reached for a few, Kagome grabbed two for herself. Sesshomaru had to hold back a smile that would have spread across his face.

He was still watching her when a man and a woman walked up to him.

"Prince Sesshomaru? Forgive me, but the owner told me that you sometimes find people for money," said the woman.

"Yes, but I can't help you. I have a mission that I must complete before I take on any new assignments. Sorry," he replied.

"Oh, but please sir! She's been missing for almost a week! I don't know if we'll ever find her now!"

"My party and I are leaving tomorrow morning, and we can't be delayed. Come sit
down and tell me what you can. I'll try to help you tonight."

"Oh thank you so much, Your Highness! I'm Kanna and this is my husband
Hakudoshi. Our daughter, Rukia, was helping some of our neighbors with their daily tasks. The last time I saw her was when she left to help them. When I went to the neighbors to fetch her, she wasn't there." As she continued to talk, more tears streamed down her face. "She's only 13, and we've never had any problems with her. Hakudoshi thinks she ran away with Renji, one of the neighboring boys."

She held up a piece of cloth for them to see. "I found this outside at the back of our hut. I figure that she must have come home at some time."

"So, this Renji boy is missing, too?" asked Sesshomaru.

"Yes. I've seen her talking to him, and have heard her talking about him before, too," said Hakudoshi.

Kanna seemed shocked. "Why would she not tell me about him? We talked about who she would like to marry, but she never mentioned Renji."

"Have you talked to Renji's parents?" asked Sesshomaru.

"Yes. They haven't seen him either. It seems they disappeared on the same day, but I don't think that the disappearances are related. They just can't be…"

"What kind of boy was Renji?" Sesshomaru asked again.

"He was a good boy!" "He was trash," said Kanna and Hakudoshi at the same time.

As they continued to argue amongst themselves, Sesshomaru took this time to notice that something was not right. But with the small amount of time they had at the village, he knew he couldn't help them much. He looked at Kagome and found that she was staring at Hakudoshi with narrow eyes.

"Are you Rukia's real father?" Sesshomaru asked.

"No, he's not," answered Kanna.

"Did she get along with him?" he asked again.

"She didn't like the fact that I married him after her father died. She just didn't understand how much I love Hakudoshi."

"So, she didn't like him then?"

Kanna just shrugged.

"Well if you keep wasting my time, I can't help you. And I really can't help you if you are lying to me," said Sesshomaru.

"You accuse us of lying?" Hakudoshi asked him angrily.

"No. I just think that there are some things that are not being said out in the open," he replied seriously.

It was then that Sesshomaru noticed that Kagome had taken her gloves off. He didn't know what she had up her sleeves. What he didn't know caused him to worry.

Sesshomaru shook his head at these thoughts. She just took them off, what was the big deal? Her hands were just probably hot in the stuffy room.

He saw her hands inch ever-so-slowly towards Rukia's piece of cloth that lay on the table. Her hand made a fist around it when she finally got a hold of it.

Sesshomaru's face went instantly to hers, but she didn't look at him. Kagome was entrapped in another vision. He saw her beautiful blue eyes turn into a hazy white color, like she was blind. As he looked around the table at everyone else, he noticed that they hadn't seemed to notice Kagome's current condition.

He didn't want to cause any attention towards Kagome. He extended his leg, and tried to kick her but kicked Miroku instead.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Miroku yelled.

Then the worst possible thing happened.

"He did it," whispered Kagome. Her face was drained of her natural color which caused her blue eyes to stand out. She was looking directly at Hakudoshi. Kagome started sweating and shaking. Sesshomaru tensed. He had been thinking the same thing she just said.

"What did she say?" asked Hakudoshi.

Miroku glared at him and said, "She said you did it."

Sesshomaru asked Kagome, "Why do you think that he did it, Kagome?"

Her hand tightened around the piece of cloth. "She was coming home from the neighbors. She knew not to go out alone, or he would find her. Rukia usually asked Renji to accompany her. But Renji didn't show up. Hakudoshi would never bother her if she was with another person. She made it home but Kanna wasn't there so she went to look for her."

Sesshomaru's worst fears were coming true. Kagome was indeed a witch. A seer to be exact. She continued to recant the story, only to have her voice get higher and higher.

"He was angry with me. I ran from him. He caught me in the woods and beat me. I heard Renji call for me. I yelled back for him. Renji attacked Hakudoshi, but-but he killed Renji instead. And then…"

Carefully Kanna removed the piece of cloth from Kagome's hands. Kagome looked at Sesshomaru with tears streaming down her face as she mouthed, "He killed them both!"

"That's a damn lie! Don't you listen to her, Kanna! She's a liar or a witch!" yelled Hakudoshi.

"No I'm not! I can show you were the bodies are buried!" Kagome yelled back.

Sesshomaru immediately stood up and took Kagome's hands into his own. "Come. Show me where they are, Kagome."

Kagome looked at Kanna and asked her, "Could you take me to the place where you found her cloth?"

She immediately stood up and said, "Follow me."

They followed Kanna through the town. To Sesshomaru's displeasure, they had drawn a small crowd of villagers. But he couldn't stop it. He didn't even believe that there were witches, until Kagome.

Kanna led them through the village until she reached the spot where she found the piece of cloth.

"May I please have it back?" Kagome asked. She was still gripping Sesshomaru's hand.

Kanna hesitated.

"If you truly want to know what happened to your daughter, you will give Kagome the piece of cloth," said Sesshomaru.

She gave it to her immediately. Kagome tried to take her hand away from
Sesshomaru, but he held on to her. "Do you need two hands?" he asked.

"No. But, we'll need shovels," she replied. Sesshomaru immediately sent Miroku to go get some. He watched her eyes go blind again. He was thankful to still be holding her hand. Kagome started walking into the woods. Miroku returned with shovels soon afterward. They had gone a good distance into the woods before Kagome made them stop. Sesshomaru looked at her face. It was covered with sweat. "Here," she told him.

Miroku tossed Koga a shovel and they started digging until Rukia's face was uncovered. Kanna immediately broke down into tears. Moments later, Renji's body was found, too. His mother also broke down crying.

Hakudoshi ran to his wife and tried to comfort her. "Please, Kanna. I didn't kill them! I swear! This has to be witchcraft! You can't believe these liars!"

Kanna didn't say anything.

Sesshomaru wished that he could rip out Hakudoshi's throat out so he would stop going on about witchcraft. Kagome hadn't done anything wrong. She had actually helped them, not harmed them in any way.

Hakudoshi quickly turned around and pointed his finger at Sesshomaru. "It was them! They were here when they disappeared! They came back to pin the murder on me, when they were the ones who murdered them! They knew where the bodies were because they did it!"

Sesshomaru tore the cloth from Kagome's hands and she fell limp against him and whispered something.

He leaned in closer to her. "What did you say, Kagome?"

"She-she…scratched him….on…neck. Renji…hit…back…tree branch…still bruised."
Sesshomaru's arms wrapped around Kagome protectively. "Remove you shirt, sir. Rukia scratched your neck and Renji hit you with a tree branch. If this isn't true, you'll be unharmed."

All of the villagers turned to look at Hakudoshi. As they did, Sesshomaru looked at Kanna. He could tell by her face that she would not betray her husband.

"He has no mark. I see him every night, and there is no mark on him. These men were here the day Rukia disappeared," she said.

"She's…she's lying…why?" whispered Kagome in a hoarse voice.

The headman of the village stepped forward and said, "Do you mind answering some questions, Your Highness?"

"We have answered all the questions we intend to answer. Now, we'll be leaving," interjected Miroku.

Their group jogged back to the horses with Kagome in Sesshomaru's arms and left the villagers to deal with Hakudoshi. "We have to hurry. Once they come to their senses, they'll be after us. Especially Kagome," said Sesshomaru.

Koga ran back to the inn and gathered everything they had brought. They saddled their horses and rode till they were very far from Shi. Kagome was still weak and rode in Sesshomaru's lap. They found an abandoned hut and decided to stay there for the night. Koga and Miroku stayed outside and scouted the area while Sesshomaru brought Kagome inside the hut. He laid her on some blankets that he had gotten from the saddles.

"He did do it, Sesshomaru," she whispered. He pushed her hair out of her face. She was so cold.

"I know," he replied.

"I am a witch, Sesshomaru."

"I know."

Suddenly, her hand shot up to meet his. "I'm not evil. I swear it!"

He gripped hers in response. "Kami, Kagome. I know. I know."

She looked into his eyes, "You…you don't want to see me burned?"

"Hell no, Kagome!" He kissed her forehead. His mouth still lingered there as he kept saying no over and over.

Koga and Miroku returned after Kagome had fallen asleep. Her body was still cold. Sesshomaru decided to sleep next to her to keep her body warm.

"They know who you are, Sesshomaru. You know that being royal will not protect you from being accused of witchcraft now," said Koga.

"I know," he replied, thinking of Kagome's own mother and how she was burned at the stake.

"I can't believe she knows everything about a person, just by touching something so simple," said Miroku.

"But look at her. Using magic…drains her life force," said Sesshomaru.

"So that's why she wears gloves," stated Koga.

Sesshomaru studied his comrades. Miroku was obviously fine with the fact that Kagome was a witch. Koga, on the other hand, was deep in thought.

"What's the matter, Koga?" asked Sesshomaru.

"It's just that Ayame has been worried about her sister. The letters she sends her makes it seem like she's troubled. But I wouldn't want to cause Kagome's suffering at my expense or that of my wife's," he replied.

Sesshomaru was generally shocked at Koga's reaction considering that he was superstitious, but glad that his friend would not betray Kagome. He had been worried that both of their reactions wouldn't be good, but they had taken this news with ease. At that moment, Kagome turned her head towards him. Her eyes opened, and she smiled at him. Then she went back to sleep.

Sesshomaru felt as if his heart was about to jump out of his chest. Just one smile from her could do that to him. And he knew he liked that feeling too much for his own good.