Into the Arms of a Mercenary {Complete} {InuyashaWattyAwards 2014}

Chapter 20

ANOTHER UPDATE FOR THIS STORY I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE IT.

"Are you planning on getting rid of Inuyasha?" Hakudoshi asked. He and Naraku were staring through Kanna's mirror, observing Inuyasha and his friends. Naraku remained silent as he thought over what Inuyasha had done to Izayoi the last time he had come around the castle. "What I need is to make sure that Inuyasha won't be able to harm her if he ever comes across Izayoi." "Don't you have Bankotsu in charge of that?" Hakudoshi asked. "I've noticed she sees him as a lover not as a guardian," Naraku replied. Hakudoshi was quiet as he thought about how to approach his idea without the possibility of angering him. "Well, I have a suggestion. Maybe you should...give his job to someone else. That way she wouldn't be allowed to see him any longer," Hakudoshi said. Naraku stared intensely at him.

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Hakudoshi looked down as he spoke,"I...fell in love with your daughter the first time I saw her. She is aware of it. And...I think she deserves to be with someone worthy of the demon blood in her. Even if she is...a half-demon." "So you are saying that you want to look after my daughter?" Naraku asked. "Yes," he replied shortly. "And why do you think that you will make a better guardian than Bankotsu? Either way, the point is that I don't want Izayoi to see her guardian as a lover," Naraku said. "But wouldn't you trust me to be her guardian and lover more than Bankotsu?" Naraku didn't reply. "Getting to the point, I...want to ask you for Izayoi's hand in marriage," Hakudoshi ended. "It's fine by me." "I promise I will protect her with my life. And as for Bankotsu, I suggest that you forbid her from seeing him any longer." "Don't worry about him. I'll see to that myself," Naraku replied. Hakudoshi smirked to himself. "Izayoi, soon you will be my beautiful wife."

Izayoi and Bankotsu arrived at the castle and went inside to her room without making a sound. "So what do you wanna do now?" Bankotsu asked randomly. Bankotsu picked up Izayoi, carried her bridal style to her bed, and gently placed her down. Izayoi embraced him, simply wanting to spend time with him. "Now, where did we leave off?" Bankotsu asked. "Right about here," Izayoi said, kissing him softly.

Kagura was roaming the halls when she overheard some servant girls talking. She decided to go find out what all the commotion was about. "Oh, did you see how she cut her hair?! She said that she cut it herself. I didn't tell her it looked horrible though," one of the girls said in a snobby way. A older looking girl said,"Yeah, I know! What the hell was she thinking?!" The girl with short brown hair said in know-it-all voice,"Did you heard about the princess?!" The oldest girl asked,"What? What happened?" The short-haired girl said,"The princess is going to marry some guy."

The other two servants became even more interested."Really? Do tell!" The short-haired girl quickly said,"The incarnation of Master Naraku's, Hakudoshi, told me himself. He informed me that I was going to help out in the preparations with all of the other servants." "Really? How come we didn't know?" "Beats me. They probably expect for the word to spread." Kagura walk up to the group. "Oh, Kagura. We didn't see you there!" they said in a flustered way before bowing to her. Kagura disregarded this and asked,"Tell me, what's this commotion that Izayoi's getting married?" One of the girls replied,"All I know is that she's getting married but I don't know with who exactly." Kagura put her fan up to her lips and said," Hmmm...I guess I'll just have to figure that out myself." With that, Kagura left the girls alone and continued to walk the hallways. "So, I guess I'll have to get Hakudoshi to tell me."

Izayoi and Bankotsu were standing at the door of her room, finishing up their kissing session. "Tonight will be a night I'll remember forever!" Izayoi said, caressing his face. "Glad you liked it," he replied, hugging her closer to him. Bankotsu moved down for one last kiss before leaving. Izayoi stared at him as he left. "I wish there was a way to show you how much I love you Bankotsu," she whispered quietly.

"I've told some servants about the preparations." Kagura was looking for Hakudoshi to question him when she heard him talking to Naraku. "I think we have sufficient amount of time until your wedding. There's no need to rush the servants," Naraku replied smoothly. "Hakudoshi's getting married too? I wonder who the 'lucky' girl is!" Kagura thought as she hid slightly behind a wall. "I know. I just...can't wait until my marriage with Izayoi. She is, if I may say, very beautiful," Hakudoshi replied in a silky voice. "What?!" Kagura thought. "He's getting married to Izayoi!" Kagura then walked to Izayoi's room, hoping that she was there.

Izayoi was lying on her bed listening to music when she heard Kagura call her. She got up and went to go see what she needed. "Oh, hey Kagura! What's wrong?" she asked, noticing the worried look on Kagura's face. "I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news but I think you really need to know this," Kagura said quickly."What?" Izayoi asked, getting worried herself. Kagura sighed and said,"You're getting married." "What?!" "And that's not the worst of it." "What could be worse than getting married even if I don't want to?" Izayoi asked walking over to her window.

"You're getting married to...Hakudoshi," Kagura said in a low voice, sitting down on the bed. It took a while for Izayoi to realized what Kagura had just said. "WHAT?!" she yelled. "Why am I getting married to him?! I hate him!" "I know but apparently Naraku's fine with the marriage. Remember when you told me that Hakudoshi bit you?" "Yeah." "Well, when a male demon does that to a female, he marks her as his mate! I didn't tell you, because I didn't think Hakudoshi would actually get this far," Kagura confessed. Izayoi was speechless and stomped out of her room to go look for her father. "What ever you say, you didn't hear it from me, okay?" Kagura called after her. "Okay!" Izayoi yelled back.

Bankotsu was just climbing down the steps at the entrance of the castle when he heard Naraku call his name. He turned around and, before he could say anything, Naraku said,"Bankotsu, I don't want you seeing Izayoi again." "But I'm supposed to look after her," he replied, somewhat angry. "This is...only temporary. I'm dismissing you from your job for a couple of weeks or so," Naraku said coolly. "How come?" Bankotsu asked. "Family issues," Naraku said shortly. "I would...appreciate it if you don't come around here any longer. Not until I inform you it is okay to do so." Knowing that Naraku was a powerful demon and the one who resurrected him and the rest of the Band of Seven, Bankotsu didn't argue. He only slightly bowed before leaving the castle grounds. "Did he find out about my relationship with Izayoi?" he thought. "Nah, he didn't seem angry or anything."

Izayoi was still looking for her father. She didn't find him in his room and was now roaming the halls hoping to bump into him. Izayoi then spotted him walking in her direction. "Why are you making me marry Hakudoshi?!" she asked as he got nearer. He didn't reply, but merely continued walking. "I'm pretty sure you're smart enough to realize that I hate him, so why the hell did you agree to the marriage?!" Naraku still remained silent. "I bet you did this 'for my own good'. You hardly even know me. You weren't always there for me! So what makes you think that you can make decisions for me without even telling me?!" Izayoi persisted. "Do not question my authority, Izayoi!" Naraku replied angrily.

"You are still my daughter and you have to obey what I say. Do you understand?" Izayoi suddenly looked taken aback. "Yes, sir," Izayoi replied looking down. She was so angry at the whole marriage prospect that she didn't realized that she had crossed the line when speaking to Naraku. "Then, you are not to argue against it. Is that clear?" he asked, still in a cold tone of voice. Izayoi didn't look at him. She had never angered her father before and didn't want to meet his eyes. "Izayoi, look at me," Naraku added. "I said: do I make myself clear?" Izayoi looked at him and replied,"Yes, sir." With one last look at her, Naraku left Izayoi and went to his room. Izayoi started to cry silently to herself. She couldn't even rely on her father for support. "I wish I had my mom here with me," Izayoi thought. It took her a while to remember that her mother was still alive. "Wait a minute, I can talk to Mom about it! I'll go see if I can find her tomorrow!" And with that thought in mind, she went to her room and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.