Bound by Corruption by BelovedStranger

The Price of Failure

AUTHOR'S NOTE: 

Word Count: 3,183

Glossary:

Tenshi—Angel, Or Celestial Being

Fundoshi—A Type Of Loincloth

KAGOME HASTILY PLACED a staying hand on Sesshomaru’s arm. “Wait! I think he’s telling the truth!”

“You defend him?” The look in Sesshomaru’s eyes was foreboding. He was angry at her. No, furious.

“I’m not defending him,” she refuted with forced calm. “You’re torturing him. Unnecessarily.” Couldn’t he see the difference?

Onigumo was a vile villain, but Kagome refused to be a participant in such inhumanity.

“I am interrogating him. For you. Or have you forgotten that you came to me for aid in locating your sister?”

“This isn’t what I want!” she hissed with a fling of her arm towards the injured man. Kagome found herself in a position she hated, where she was forced to protect the very man who’d condemned so many people to a brutal death, including her own village. However, what Sesshomaru was doing was wrong. “Two wrongs do not make a right. What’s more, he’s told us all he knows, so there’s no point harming him anyway.”

“No point?” He gave her an incredulous look. “After all the harm he’s done to you?”

Kagome felt the prick of tears. She didn’t need Sesshomaru’s constant reminders of all that she’d lost. How was she to teach ethics to a creature who held human life in such low regard?

“I care not for your paltry understanding of morality, miko.”

She bit her lip, knowing he’d never listen to her anyway. Not about her own morals, and certainly not human ethics. Not after she’d been a poor representation of virtue.

Why do I care anyway? she thought.

Being a miko, she sensed what he was: a youkai. Even looking at him, at the strange markings upon his face, those predator’s eyes, his silver hair, and impossible perfection, there was no mistaking him for anything human.

 Most humans expressed the same prejudice towards daemons that Sesshomaru demonstrated against humans. Especially those possessing a spiritual nature. The thought filled her with guilt, because was she so different? Had she ever met a daemon, or thought of them, in any high regard? The answer shamed her. And yet, she expected Sesshomaru to be different when she herself was just like him.

Just as prejudice.

Her own hypocrisy slapped her in the face.

No, she couldn’t teach this daemon anything. Nothing but the error of misjudging her. Despite coming to see that she possessed her own darkness, that wasn’t all that was there. What was more, her darkness did not match the depths he accused her of, and that she could show him. Starting now.

She leveled a calm look upon Sesshomaru, and repeated his words back at him with solemn acceptance. “Even after all that he’s done, I see no need in needless torture.”

“And you believe him when he says he knows nothing of your sister? You have not the keen senses to perceive truth from lie.”

Kagome’s stare became sharp, assessing. “But you do, don’t you?” As she spoke, she knew it for certainty. “You can tell when someone is being honest or not.” Sesshomaru didn’t refute her, solidifying her belief. “Is he being honest?”

Sesshomaru didn’t answer, which was answer enough.

Frustration ate at her. What had been the point of this…conversation? More like an argument. They were doing nothing but going around in circles, wasting time when her sister was in desperate need. Though it was a relief to learn that Kikyo might have escaped the bandits, her sister was still missing. She could still be in danger. Probably was. If Onigumo was right and Kikyo had not been in the neighboring village upon its destruction, she should have been home before their own village had been torched.

Something had prevented Kikyo from returning home. Or someone.

Fearing she might start screaming at the inugami, she turned away from him in disgust. Instead, her gaze fell on Onigumo, who appeared on the cusp of unconsciousness. Guild assaulted her anew at the sight of all his injuries. Would he live?

Grimly, she realized, and accepted the fact, that she did not care if he lived or died. But neither would she add to his injuries, or hasten him to death’s door.

“How fortunate for you to have a miko’s tender mercies.”

There was yet awareness in Onigumo’s gaze as he flickered a hostile glance at the inugami for his taunt. “Quite.” An uncommonly meek response for the arrogant warlord.

Sesshomaru crackled his knuckles menacingly. “Your usefulness has come to an end.”

Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat. Should she continue to intervene? She gazed down at Onigumo and inadvertently caught his eye. He must have seen her uncertainty. 

“Will you really stand by and allow this youkai to murder me in cold blood while I am defenseless?”

Sesshomaru snorted. “Not even she would be so foolish as to save the life of the man how’d had her family murdered.”

Kagome winced, knowing that last comment was directed at her—a warning.

“Is there no mercy in you, miko?”

Sesshomaru answered for her. “You speak of mercy. Where was your mercy when you sacked her village? When you butchered the old and frail? She is homeless—because of you. Orphaned—because of you. I tire of your useless prattle.” When Sesshomaru curled his arm, Kagome knew Onigumo’s death had come.

“Stop!” She lifted a staying hand but did not dare touch him as before.

“Miko.” A warning growl. There was no escaping the deadly glare he leveled upon her. The hairs on the back of her neck lifted, her instincts screaming danger!

Voice hoarse, she spoke softer than a whisper. “Killing him won’t change anything.” Amber eyes sharpened on her face, infusing her with a measure of courage. “Seeing him like this, beaten and broken, doesn’t make me feel any better than before. His death will not change that.”

Unwilling to look at the carnage, she indicated the dead around them with a small hand gesture. “None of this has made things right. The emptiness is still here.” She placed her hand over her heart. “Inside me. A hole where my home and family used to be is still there. Vengeance hasn’t filled the void or assuaged the pain. There is nothing, only remorse for my culpability in such senseless death.” Her voice was soft but filled with certainty. 

Sesshomaru stared at her without a word, eyes hard. Merciless.

Kagome licked suddenly dry lips. “I can’t just sit by and let you kill a defenseless man.” She couldn’t prevent a pleading quiver. “Hasn’t there been enough bloodshed and death?”

“Our contract—”

Kagome interrupted him with a loud declaration. He wasn’t listening to her! “You failed!” Now, she was the one who was angry.

Sesshomaru blinked at her outburst.

She waved her arm around them again with more force. “The ground is littered with the dead of your kills. For my vengeance,” she mocked with open disdain. “You wanted me to know the taste of revenge. Demanded it! Well, I’ve more than had a taste, and you want to know what I’ve learned? I haven’t the appetite for it, and one more meaningless death isn’t going to change that!”

She pointed a finger at his face. “And before you say anything, yes! I want him to pay for his crimes. But not. Like. This. I want criminals like him to be brought to justice, to be punished by the law. Our human laws.” Conviction blazed from her; though, she knew she would be unable to stop Sesshomaru should he choose to kill Onigumo regardless.

She could try and fight him for real, but Kagome refused to throw her life away protecting Onigumo. Especially when she still needed to find Kikyo. Would Sesshomaru continue to help her in that endeavor? Or would her defiance cause him to abandon the search?

What would she do then?

Kagome could almost feel his anger, but rather than argue with her or kill Onigumo, Sesshomaru turned his back and began striding away. “We are leaving.” His foreboding tone warned her not to argue further.

Relief swamped her. He wasn’t abandoning her. Then she stiffened at her wayward reaction. She’d only been worried for Kikyo’s sake, she assured herself, before moving to follow. 

Onigumo voice was faint. “Do you mean to abandon me, miko? If you turn your back on me now, you might as well have murdered me yourself.”

Kagome hesitated. Sesshomaru must have heard her lack of steps following after him, for he turned to her with a heated glare, daring her to defy him again. Looking at the inugami, Kagome knew fear.

Damn Onigumo, but he was right. She couldn’t just leave him. Animals and youkai would soon be drawn to the strong scent of blood in the area.

With a wince, she called to the inugami. “Um…Sesshomaru?”

His glare intensified, his youki flaring ominously. She swallowed thickly but dared to forge ahead. “I think we should take Onigumo to the village. Then we can leave!” she added quickly, as though that would make everything right despite her disobedience.

“No.”

“We can’t just leave him to die.”

Sesshomaru didn’t bother to respond. Instead, he turned away and began walking. Kagome knew he expected her to follow. Taking hold of her courage, her convictions, Kagome forced herself to stand her ground and turn back to Onigumo. Instead of following the inugami, she returned and took one step back towards the warlord.

Sesshomaru was before her in an instant, blocking her path. “You dare defy me. Our contract—”

Sick and tired of having that flung in her face, she interrupted him. “Does not state that I must do everything your way.”

“You would choose him.” Over me, went unsaid but was heard.

Kagome sighed, her anger deflating. Now, she was just weary. It had been a long, grueling day. Physically. Emotionally. “That’s not what this is.”

“His life is so precious to you.” A sneer.

When he put it like that, Kagome winced, but she did not bend. “Your ridiculousness does not change the fact that I cannot leave him here.”

She should not have said that first part, sensing another flare from Sesshomaru. His dark aura licked along hers, almost burning, and she was hard pressed to keep her reiki leashed when it wanted to rise in her defense. Why couldn’t she control her wayward tongue? Insulting him would not help the situation. Thankfully, the flare of youki was fleeting, her reiki returning to submission before it could get out of hand.

Seeing her resolution, Sesshomaru was silent for several long seconds. When he spoke, his voice was devoid of emotion. He was colder than ice. “You have two choices, onna. Come with me or stay with him.”

An ultimatum? Kagome blinked in confusion.

“But…our contract…” it was her turn to bring up, feeling uncertain. Did he mean to abandon her if she continued to stand her ground? Was she to be free from her obligation to their contract?

“Make your choice.”

Angered by his unreasonable attitude, Kagome glared up at him. “I’m staying.” Without another word, she turned away from him, and went back to Onigumo.

Only when she was by the warlord’s side did she covertly glance over at Sesshomaru, but the inugami was gone. Looking around, she didn’t see him anywhere. He’d left her. Her heart stuttered in her chest. Kagome’s anger and indignation melted away under an unreasonable feeling of hurt.

“You’ve returned,” Onigumo greeted her with a small, relieved smile.

Gritting her teeth against a welling of tears she refused to shed, Kagome focused on her unwanted patient. “This is going to hurt, but I need to remove your armor, and use your haori as bandages. It’s mostly ruined, anyway.” Her tone was brisque, conveying her displeasure. Even when knew she’d made the right choice, she wasn’t wholly happy about it.

“Do your worst.” Onigumo gave her a crooked grin, seeming oblivious to her dark mood. Or, he merely chose to ignore it. Instead, he teased her, dared to attempt to charm her.

She stifled the urge to smack him across the head. Ignoring him, Kagome went about stabilizing him.

Removing his armour jostled him, and soon, he passed out. A blessing for them both. Despite her ire, she tried to be as gentle as she could. After his armour was removed, she went about undressing him from the waist up, revealing a heavily muscular chest.

Grudgingly, she admitted his physique was a work of art, yet an even more traitorous thought compared him to another, and found the warlord lacking. An unfair comparison. No human could come close to the ethereal beauty some daemons possessed. They were almost celestial in their perfection, a deception that hid their dark and perves nature. 

Shoving unwanted thoughts aside, she inspected Onigumo’s many injuries. Knowing he’d taken brunt force to the back of his head, she was gentle when she probed her fingers through his hair, and found a large bump, along with blood, mostly dried. Unable to evaluate the damage despite the glow of the mood and stars, she used the strips she’d torn of his inner haori to wrap around his head.

She hesitated at the two punctures in his right shoulder. The flesh around the holes was blackened, the flesh melted. There was no blood, the wounds cauterized at the same instance of their affliction. After lowering his hakama, Kagome was relieved Onigumo wore a white fundoshi. She’d cared for many of the sick and injured and had seen both women and men in all manner of undress, and most humble villagers went without undergarments of any type.

Her sensitivity towards nudity was minimal. However, she was coming to realize that even she was not immune to a finely formed male.

Shaking herself, she noted that the single acid burn on his left thigh was the same as the punctures on his shoulder and did not require her immediate attention. The knee was a whole other problem, however. Even in its swollen state, she knew the joint was completely shattered. Even if he were to survive, he’d never fully recover from the injury. Sesshomaru had crippled Onigumo for life, and part of Kagome didn’t feel sorry for him.

Though she hated how he had come by his injuries, that darkness inside herself reared its ugly head. Kagome shook her head, refusing to let that newfound awareness take her identity from her. There was goodness inside her, not a bottomless black pit of vindictiveness fueled by the need for self-gratification as Sesshomaru claimed.

Kagome moved quickly as she stepped away from her patient and went in search of two sturdy branches without going far into the trees. Though she was surprised that she had yet to sense the approach of any youkai, she knew it was a matter of time. There was too much death to go ignored for long. Even by wild animals. Moving fast, but being gentle, she put his hakama back to rights, tying the strings at his waist, before she went about using the strips of cloth to wind around his mid-thigh and calf, securing the two branches on either side of his leg to immobilize his knee.

Once that was done, she allowed herself a moment’s break with a weary sigh. Kneeling beside him, Kagome closed her eyes—just for a moment. A touch to the back of her hand startled her. Wide-eyed, she stared into dark brown eyes. Onigumo had regained consciousness.

“Thank you.”

She frowned at him, pulling her hand away. “I don’t seek your gratitude.” Glancing around, she located his horse. The beast had come back during her quick field dressing. “I’m going to help you mount. Luckily, your horse came back.”

“I’d be shocked if he didn’t. As a warhorse, he’s been well-trained.”

“Do you think you can stand?”

“Do I have a choice?”

Kagome helped Onigumo to his feet with her shoulder pressed hard into his armpit. She had her arm wrapped around his torso and gripping the wrist of the arm she had over her shoulders. Using her as a clutch, Onigumo whistled, which brought his horse to stand next to them.

Eyeing the beast, Kagome became nervous. A warhorse was no docile animal. Trained for battle, the beast might bite at her, or kick.

“He will not harm you,” Onigumo assured through clenched teeth, in pain, having rightly guessed her hesitation.

“Right,” she remarked, dubious. “I’m not sure how we’re going to get you astride him.” The beast was tall and massive.

Onigumo fixed that problem by having his stead kneel. Kagome blinked, surprised. It took several tries, but they eventually succeeded in getting Onigumo on the horse’s back, and surprisingly, the stead was passive, patient.  As soon as he was as secure as he was going to be, lying flat across the back of the horse, Kagome scrambled out of the way when the beast lurched to his feet at another command from his master.

The jerking motion caused Onigumo to cry out, then silence. Checking on him, she noted that he’d passed out again, which was probably for the best. The town ahead was not far, but she was sure the horse’s steps would jar each of Onigumo’s wounds, especially his knee. Even unconscious, his breathing was too labored, his skin a pasty hue, with sweat dripping down his face.

He was wearing nothing but his hakama. Taking the time to fully dress was too much of a risk. They’d already lingered too long. She wasn’t sure why she decided to bring his sword with, but she abandoned his cumbersome armour. Immediately, another problem presented itself. The warhorse refused to budge, even when she grabbed hold of his reigns and tried to pull him down the path.

Kagome was forced to wake Onigumo. Barely lucid, his words were garbled, but the horse headed his command, and they were off.

All of a sudden, she felt her braid being grabbed. Jerking her attention towards Onigumo, she found him kissing her hair. “The heady smell of a woman,” he breathed. “Enjoying…being so close to you, sweet tenshi.”

Kagome blushed at his words, before becoming angry. She yanked her hair out of his weak hold and ignored him. The warhorse allowed her to lead it; though, she kept a wary eye on its mouth, unable to relax around the intimidating beast. As she walked, her thoughts raced.

What was she to do when she dropped Onigumo off at the village? Sesshomaru was gone, and she was no closer to finding Kikyo. Worse, she had no clear direction to even begin her search. Nor did she have a home to go back to to regroup and plan.

Her thoughts scattered. Had Onigumo moved? He’d lost consciousness again a little while ago. “Onigumo?”

She gasped when he shifted sideways. He was falling! She tried to right him, but the horse was too tall and Onigumo too heavy. He fell from his mount in slow motion. He didn’t move, didn’t cry out, or react in anyway at the hard landing.

“Onigumo!”