InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Love's Smirking Revenge ❯ The Deepest Blues Are Black ( Chapter 18 )

Note: This chapter contains graphic, violent imagery. If you are squeamish or sensitive please keep this in mind.

 

(I realize I originally said I'd title this chapter “The Devil You Know” but I had a last minute change of heart.)

 

-------------------

 

“Thailand is beautiful this time of year.”

 

 

She looked up from the Thai travel guide in her hands and took quick inventory of the man standing next to her. He was taller than her by a head or so, clean cut, with black hair and dark eyes to match. Attractive and trying to pick her up in a bookstore instead of a bar - for Kagome Higurashi the two were a winning combination.

 

 

Flashing a warm smile she asked, “Really? Have you been?”

 

 

“A couple times,” he offered with a simple shrug of his shoulders.

 

 

A traveller too. Her mind quickly added this to his running tally of worthwhile characteristics and she felt her features brighten in response. Feeling bold, she stepped a little closer and turned so he could see the page she had open. It was an extensive and rather uninspiring list of the country's popular tourist destinations. “Do you have any recommendations?”

 

 

She smiled inwardly as he casually bent his head to peruse the list. He smelled damn good too, like a real man - mature, confident…secure. After three years in college surrounded by boys who smelled like stale beer, or in the best case scenario cheap body wash and deodorant spray, standing this close to a real man was a welcome change.

 

 

His back straightened and she quickly darted her eyes back to the page to hide the fact that she'd been staring at him rather than the book. With a finger he tapped one particular spot and looked down at her with a small smile. Her eyes immediately settled on his finger and she nodded appreciatively at its clean, manicured look. A man's hands could tell a lot about how well he took care of himself and judging by the clean cut look of his, he was the kind of man who took pride in his appearance.

 

 

It took a moment for her to clue in to the fact that he was trying to answer her question. She tried not to blush when she lifted her eyes from the page to meet his. Up close they appeared so dark they were almost black. It was rare to see such dark eyes and she found herself drawn in by their uniqueness.

 

 

“…is a definite must see.”

 

 

Completely clueless as to what he'd been talking about, she nodded and offered him a grateful smile. “Thanks - Uh… I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name?”

 

 

Sure it was one of the oldest lines in the history of lines, but judging by the way his eyes creased into an easy smile he didn't seem to mind. With a slight bow in her direction he tilted his head towards her and replied with an air of confidence, “Takeda, Oniguomo. And you are?”

 

 

She bowed and replied, “Higurashi Kagome.” Heart fluttering, she closed the travel guide and held it against her chest. “Well, Takeda-san, thank you for the tip. I'll be sure to check it out when I'm there.”

 

 

She liked the way his name sounded rolling off her tongue. Takeda - simple yet refined and it more than made up for his strange first name. Oniguomo… She had to wonder what kind of parents gave a name like that to their child. He responded to her thank you with a gracious nod and leaned back so there was once more a polite distance between them. She felt distinctly disappointed by it but understood that under the circumstances, being that they were complete strangers and all, anything else would've been inappropriate.

 

 

“When do you leave?” he asked offhandedly.

 

 

Her eyes followed his hands as he shifted the small stack of books he was holding from one arm to the other. She only managed to catch a quick peek at one of the titles - Discipline and Punish. So he was a psychology buff? She supposed it fit, but somehow she'd expected an arm full of business books instead. With a light shrug she set her book down on the table she'd taken it up from.

 

 

“In a couple weeks I think. A fellow classmate of mine wants to go for a bit of a mini-vacation once exams are done.”

 

 

“Boyfriend?” he inquired without missing a beat.

 

 

“No, just a girlfriend.” She laughed and her knowing look answered his real question - I'm single.

 

 

He caught on quick and reached into the inner pocket of his sports coat with practised ease to produce a small business card. He offered it out to her and she accepted it with a tiny bow.

 

 

“I hate to cut this short but I need to head back to the office. If you have time before your trip I'd love to take you out for dinner.”

 

 

The breath caught in her throat and for a moment she simply blinked up at him. Things like this didn't happen to her. Random attractive men didn't suavely pick her up in bookstores. It was the kind of thing that happened in modern romance novels and TV shows - not to Kagome Higurashi!

 

 

Feeling light-headed and slightly giddy, she fished a business card out of her purse and handed it to him. Who said it didn't pay off to be prepared? Her journalism professors had practically beat her over the head with those very words since day one - Always have a business card on you! You never know when you'll meet a potential source! Well, Takeda wasn't a source, but at the moment she couldn't have been more thankful to her profs for their advice.

 

 

“Sure. Dinner sounds great.”

 

 

He flashed a brief, winning smile as he tucked her card into his wallet and she could've sworn her heart momentarily stopped beating. So that's what a killer smile looks like, she mused.

 

 

“Well Higurashi, it's been a pleasure. I'll give you a call later in the week.”

 

 

She'd nodded dumbly and watched him head off towards the cash register to pay for his books. Charming, forward, definitely employed and as - she pulled the card out of her purse and glanced at his title - a consultant. Well, `consultant' was a rather ambiguous title. His card didn't really say what kind of consulting he did or what company it was for, but for now the fact that he had a real job, read something beyond the daily sports scores and seemed to be well travelled was impressive enough.

 

 

Still feeling hot in the face, she tucked his card safely into her wallet. A dismissive glance was cast down at the travel guide she'd been perusing earlier and she decided against buying it. As she left the store she took a moment to glance at the cash register but was disappointed to see that he was already gone.

 

 

The disappointment didn't last long. He called, as promised, three days later to invite her to dinner.

 

 

---

 

 

The room, the chair, the pain in her shoulder, the stickiness of the sweat on her brow, the stench of rotting flesh, the overwhelming proximity of his body to hers - it all came roaring back in fighting form. She blinked slowly, pulled in a shuddering breath and let it out.

 

 

It was still far too real. Even as the memory faded the feelings associated with it lingered. He pulled away slowly and her eyes swept the familiar features of a face she hadn't seen in years. A lifetime had passed since the day Oniguomo Takeda walked into her life in that unassuming book shop three blocks from campus.

 

 

It hadn't been hard to fall in love with him. His confidence was attractive. The way he carried himself exuded a sense of self-worth, a surety in his own person that she found intoxicating. When he walked into a room people would stop what they were doing, look up and stare. He passed them by without a sideways glance as though things had always been that way and she couldn't help but be drawn to him.

 

 

He had a knack for making her feel radiant whenever she was with him. He lavished her with the kind of attention a rich woman bestows upon the miniature breed tucked inside her handbag. She was his favourite pet, full of sentiment and selfishness, primped and coddled and ready to be on his arm to show off when needed. At the time she never thought to be troubled by it. The gloating pride she'd felt at seeing the looks of jealousy on her friends' faces was a potent lure. They'd all wanted what she had and the pleasure of it spread through her chest like a shot of warmed sake.

 

 

If only she'd known then what she knew now, if only she hadn't been so blind; there were a lot of “if only”s when it came to Oniguomo, far too many to count.

 

 

His knuckles skimmed along the underside of her jaw, the pad of his thumb brushed across her bottom lip. It was still trembling in time with her hands.

 

 

“My beautiful Pandora…” His eyes swept over her battered face and a look of approval flittered briefly across his features, “I've been searching a long time for you.”

 

 

“I thought you were dead.” Her whisper was barely audible but he lingered close enough to hear it. A corner of his mouth lifted in a humourless smile and a dangerous look ignited his dark eyes.

 

 

“What do you want?”

 

 

She cringed at the way her voice audibly shook. There was no way to disguise the fear. He seemed to consider her question, the humourless smile still in place. He casually rubbed a hand over the stubble growing along his jaw and settled back on the chair. His throat uttered a thoughtful `hmmm' and he lifted his shoulders in a confident shrug before fixing her with a dark look.

 

 

“To finish what was started five years ago.” There was a taunting lilt in his voice when he added, “Don't tell me you forgot already?”

 

 

No… She didn't forget. There hadn't been time enough for that. Being with Inuyasha had helped but even he couldn't dispel the memories completely. How could he help when he didn't even know the ugly truth? She'd never found the strength to tell him. The risk of losing him forever had scared her too much. And now… now…

 

 

For five years she pretended that it'd only been a nightmare.

 

 

For five years she prayed to forget…

 

 

She was still praying, but the memories came back anyway.

 

 

--------

 

 

It was late, well past eleven when she finally slipped her key into the lock of the apartment door and pushed her way inside.

 

 

“Baby? I'm home!”

 

 

Her voice resonated down the darkened hallway and echoed back to her in a lonely way. It seemed strange that there weren't any lights on. Wasn't he home? Setting her knapsack down by the door, she slipped her feet into a well-worn pair of slippers and shuffled towards the living room with her purse slung over her shoulder.

 

 

“Baby?”

 

 

The darkened emptiness of the hall carried into the sitting room and the kitchen as well. There was no sound throughout the entire apartment but for the quiet scrape of the soles of her slippers against the matted floor and the rhythmic tick of the clock over the sink in the kitchen. Convinced he must have gone to bed early, she only popped her head into the dining room for a quick glance. A flicker of movement in the shadows by the table caught her eye. Brow furrowed, she flicked the light on and let out a gasp of surprise.

 

 

“What are you doing sitting in here with the lights off?” she admonished gently.

 

 

She took a step towards the table and stopped. Something felt…off. It wasn't like him to sit in the dark like that and she couldn't understand the anxious, wary feeling that was suddenly swimming around in her gut. The man who glanced up at her from the table was a stranger. There was something dark and base staring back at her from behind his eyes. They almost looked animalistic, tempered with a wildness she didn't recognize or understand.

 

 

“Where've you been?” he asked in a deceptively calm tone. She swallowed and took a nervous step forward to set her purse and keys on the table.

 

 

“What do you mean? I've been at the library studying.”

 

 

“DON'T LIE TO ME!”

 

 

She jumped when his palms crashed loudly down against the tabletop. The centrepiece vase filled with rose coloured chrysanthemums wobbled and threatened to topple over. With wide, incredulous eyes she stared at him and found herself at a complete loss for words. He'd never raised his voice to her. He wasn't the kind of man who lashed out when he was angry. His emotions were always tempered by logic and maturity. Even upset he was quiet and refined. The sudden change caught her completely off guard.

 

 

“What do you mean? I'm not lying,” she tried to reason, “I told you I had a test to study for tonight. Don't you remember?”

 

 

He sneered and nodded towards her purse. “Then why'd you turn your cell phone off?”

 

 

“My cell phone?” She glanced down at her purse and curiously fished it out only to realize that the battery had gone dead. “Oh, the battery... I guess I forgot to charge it.” She laid the phone on the table and frowned. “Sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry.”

 

 

Feeling guilty, she made her way over to him and began to rub his shoulders. The muscles felt tense beneath her fingers, but they relaxed somewhat under her gentle ministrations.

 

 

“Are you hungry? I could make something,” she offered tentatively, still wary after his earlier outburst. She hadn't expected it and it'd scared her more than she wanted to admit. She kept her fingers kneading deep into the muscles of his shoulders to hide the fact that they were still shaking.

 

 

“No, it's fine. Let's just go to bed,” he relented sounding somewhat defeated. She stepped back so he could push out his chair and offered him a quick apologetic kiss once he was standing in front of her.

 

 

He returned it, slowly at first. The touch of his lips was light and tender before it grew steadily more demanding. She bowed beneath his power and found that she was barely able to keep pace as his lips crushed against hers and his tongue plunged into her mouth. When her knees gave out he held her up with a hand propped under each thigh. Despite her tentative pleas that they move to the bedroom, he took her hard atop the table.

 

 

She fought it at first since his outburst hadn't exactly put her in the mood to do much of anything intimate, but he wouldn't relent. For whatever reason she sensed that he needed this, so she let him have his way. She wouldn't have classified what followed as making love. He'd always been a little bit kinky in the bedroom but this was different. For the first time he didn't seem concerned about her pleasure or desire. His movements were selfish and self-gratifying. He dominated her body every way he could, growling out demands, thrusting into her as hard or as gentle as he saw fit. It was like he was trying to stake a claim on her, re-possess her somehow through touch alone. In the animal kingdom it would make sense, but not here and not with him.

 

 

He didn't let her sleep at all that night. He kept her awake with his incessant demands for her body and never once seemed satiated. The sky was light when he finally came for the last time and rolled over in their bed so sleep could claim him. She distinctly remembered glancing at the clock next to their bed. It was 5:30 - her test was in three hours.

 

 

She failed it.

 

 

---------

 

 

No, she hadn't forgotten any of it. She remembered the first time as clearly as if it'd happened just yesterday and all the pain, self-depreciation and confusion that went along with it. What had made him change? Even now, she couldn't understand. Seeing his gloating look she was tempted to ask him on the off chance that he would answer. Before she had the chance he posed a question of his own.

 

 

“You hear that?”

 

 

Seeing her stricken look he made a pleased sound in the back of his throat and stood in one fluid motion. With one wrist clasped behind his back, he took to pacing slowly in front of her. She followed his every move, not daring to look away even for a moment.

 

 

With an air of quiet appreciation he studied the room while his steps slowly circled her chair. She could feel his eyes on her, studying her, analyzing her with a look so penetrating she felt violated right down to her bones. After a dramatic pause, his feet came to a halt and he lowered his gaze to settle on her face. She couldn't bear to meet it and quickly looked away.

 

 

“It's the sound of hope dying,” he explained and made a grand, arching gesture with his hand through the air. “Beautiful, isn't it?”

 

 

When she didn't respond he took careful note of the way her body had closed in on itself, as though she were trying to cower from his very presence, and a small, patronizing smile turned up the corners of his mouth. He drew closer and used the tips of his fingers to tilt her chin upward to force her to meet his gaze. There was triumph in his eyes and a glint of pleasure. He'd won.

 

 

“If I knew you were so sentimental pet I would've come to visit you sooner.”

 

 

Looking victorious, he pushed her face away and resumed his casual pacing. Her ears focused on the solid thud of his footsteps against the algae coated floorboards and just like that another memory took hold. Unrelenting and unforgiving it forced her back to relive the nightmare she'd tried unsuccessfully to bury. It was naïve of her to ever think she'd conquered the fear. What did her therapist know anyway? The fear had always lingered; she'd never really been free from it at all.

 

 

--------

 

 

Friday had come and gone in a whirlwind of textbooks and study notes. With midterms rearing their ugly head in a few week's time stress levels were high all round. So when Eri had suggested they go for a drink at the campus bar after a twelve hour marathon study session, she'd eagerly agreed without a second thought.

 

 

Seated at a small round table in the corner of the bar they'd sipped at cool pints of imported beer and spent the next few hours catching up on life outside of school. One round of drinks eventually became three and by the time she stumbled onto the metro she was more than a little tipsy. It was well past one when she arrived at her door, still buzzed and feeling blissfully happy.

 

 

It took a bit of fumbling around in her bag before she found her keys and after dropping them twice, eventually found her way into the apartment. With a sigh she dropped her bag on the floor next to her feet and lazily flicked on the hall light. She was surprised to find him standing there, just inside the door. Leaning her shoulder against the wall for support, she slipped off her shoes and offered him a watery smile. Maybe if she played her cards right she could get lucky before bed.

 

 

“Hey baby, how was your night?”

 

 

She didn't even see the first blow coming. His fist struck her hard across the jaw, snapping her head sharply to the right. Disoriented and already unsteady on her feet, she crumpled to the floor, just barely managing to catch herself on all fours. For a moment the hallway faded into the background, drowned out by the loud buzzing in her ears. She blinked slowly, her eyes straining to see past the explosions of white light that dotted the peripheries of her vision. It was like she was looking at the world with a set of blinders on and she couldn't seem to shake them off.

 

 

She felt his presence nearby and turned to see that he'd squatted down next to her. The expression on his face was strange - there was no emotion on it whatsoever. He didn't look upset, which made the fact that he'd just hit her in the face that much harder to comprehend.

 

 

“Where were you Kagome? Studying again?” he demanded harshly before fisting her hair and dragging her to her feet. She blinked at him, half dazed, and tried to shake her head `no' but found that she couldn't.

 

 

“Don't lie to me bitch!”

 

 

She felt the sting of the back of his hand before he shoved her roughly into the wall. Holding her there with the crushing pressure of one hand against her shoulder, he used the other to point a menacing finger in her face. “I can smell the booze and cigarettes all over you. Now where the fuck were you? Start talking!”

 

 

Her alcohol induced good mood died a sudden death and tears filled her eyes. This wasn't him. She never would've believed he was the kind of man who'd hit a woman before tonight. Her hand lifted to her swollen cheek and she could feel it throbbing beneath her cool fingertips. She'd be lucky if it wasn't bruised come morning. How the hell was she supposed to explain that away? It would be painfully obvious to anyone with a brain that he'd hit her.

 

 

“What's wrong with you? Why are you being like this?” she demanded, obstinately refusing to answer his question. He growled and struck her across the mouth. She could taste blood when she turned back to face him. The warm wetness pooling at the corner of her mouth suggested he'd split her lip open.

 

 

“Answer the fucking question Kagome. Where. Were. You.”

 

 

There wasn't even a hint of apology in his dark eyes. Perhaps it was the alcohol still messing with her inhibitions, but instead of getting scared like any rational person would in that kind of situation she got angry. Glaring at him, she lowered her hand from her cheek and used the back of it to pointedly wipe the blood from her lip.

 

 

“I went to the campus bar with Eri for a few drinks after we studied! Happy? What the hell's wrong with you?!”

 

 

Pushing away from the wall, she brushed past him on her way to the living room. She was too riled up to go to sleep now and didn't particularly like the thought of sharing a bed with him at the moment. She needed some time to cool down and watching mind numbing, late night talk shows seemed like the perfect solution. She'd only gone maybe three paces toward the living room before she found herself face to face with the wall.

 

 

The pain of the impact ricocheted through her brain and for a moment she was certain she would pass out. The sharp pain she felt when he used a fist full of hair to half drag, half carry her toward the living room kept her conscious. She wasn't sure what possessed her to start struggling, but she was suddenly all flailing arms and legs. When he refused to drop her, she sunk her teeth into his arm until she drew blood.

 

 

The reaction was instantaneous. He howled in outrage and threw her to the ground. She didn't waste any time. Her limbs moved on their own, on hands and knees she crawled towards the door, towards freedom. She wasn't sure where she was going to go - maybe to Eri's, maybe to her family's place - but that didn't matter. All that mattered was getting the fuck out of that apartment and as far away from him as possible.

 

 

He was fast though, faster than she'd expected him to be. He pounced on her from behind and flipped her over onto her back so he was straddling her hips. She only had a second to study the face she'd grown to love, contorted by an expression she couldn't decipher, before the next blow landed.

 

 

“You BITCH!”

 

 

Slam.

 

 

That was the sound her head made when it bounced off the wooden floor. Her hands lifted to cover her face but that didn't dissuade him in the least. When her face was hidden he aimed well placed blows against her body instead. Liver, stomach, breast - his fists found purchase on every area that would hurt. He continued to scream at her the entire time but the actual words faded in and out. Every so often she'd catch a phrase here or there. Ungrateful bitch. Whore.

 

 

The entire experience was so surreal that for a time she felt like she was watching it happen from somewhere outside of herself. It took five minutes before she mercifully lost consciousness and he relented. Her face was mottled with blood and her body red with deep bruises left by his angry fists. He'd left her like that, prostrate and bleeding in the hallway, while he went to take a shower. He'd returned some time later, clean, calm and freshly changed. After a thoughtful glance at the mess he'd made, he retreated to the bathroom and emerged a few moments later with a bowl of water and a facecloth.

 

 

She'd drifted in and out of consciousness for the rest of the night. One of the times she stayed awake long enough to open her eyes, she was stunned to see him looking down on her wearing a tender expression. Her face was numb, but she could see the red stained washcloth he was using to clean the blood. His tone was soft and gentle when he spoke to her.

 

 

“Baby, this is what happens when you're disrespectful to me. Just learn to keep that mouth of yours in line and things like this won't happen.”

 

 

So this is my fault?! her mind screamed but her mouth refused to form the words. She wanted to lash out and wipe that stupid pathetic look from his face but her body felt like it was weighted down with lead. The best she could do was moan softly and loll her head to the side so she stared at the wall instead of at him. Just the sight of him made her sick. Had she the strength, she would've told him to go to hell and crawled out the door. Anything would've been preferable to being within touching distance of such a monster.

 

 

She felt him tuck her into bed at some point during the night and woke up in the morning to find her purse and keys gone and a near-empty bottle of pain killers on the bedside table. The pain in her head had been almost unbearable when she'd first opened her eyes. She barely had time to feel her way to the bathroom before she was sick in the toilet. A part of her wished it'd been from the drinks she'd had with Eri the night before but the memories that drifted back to her while she was hovering over the toilet told a different story.

 

 

Stomach empty, she swallowed down the painkillers and kept her fingers crossed that they would do the trick. She slept away most of the morning and afternoon, only waking occasionally to use the bathroom. It hurt too much to be awake or move around. Not just her body, but her heart as well. Awake, she had time to dwell on what'd happened the night before. She couldn't understand it and the more her brain tried to figure it out the less sense it made. It made even less sense when she finally found the courage to stand in front of the bathroom mirror and survey the damage.

 

 

She must've stood there ten minutes studying the half-closed eyes of the unrecognizable face staring back at her. The person behind the mirror wasn't her. She wasn't the girl who had an abusive boyfriend. Her boyfriend was perfect - everyone thought so. She could vividly remember touching the glass, since it hurt too much to touch her own face, and watching the tears slip from her eyes.

 

 

In the hope that it'd all been a bad dream, she'd gone back to bed only to be sadly disappointed when she awakened a few hours later to find her body still aching and him standing next to her.

 

 

“How do you feel?” he asked gently. He brushed fingertips along her hairline in a soothing gesture that matched the patient look he was giving her. Revolted, she jerked her head away from his touch and narrowed her eyes at him.

 

 

“Fuck you,” she whispered hoarsely.

 

 

He frowned but didn't comment further before stalking out of the room. She'd half expected him to come back and beat her but he hadn't. He'd slept on the couch that night and in the morning there weren't any painkillers left on the bedside table. She spent the entire day searching every cupboard in that apartment. He'd removed them all.

 

 

------------

 

 

Her hands shook in her lap until she curled them into tight fists that left crescent shape impressions on her palms. As the memories of that night seeped back, so did the feelings of anger and the utter sense of betrayal. He'd made a fool out of her. For months he'd pretended to be something that he wasn't and deceived everyone, including her, into thinking he was a great guy, a genuine winner. What a fucking joke.

 

 

Her gaze lifted from the floor to follow his slow, confident movements. Dark and turbulent, her navy eyes narrowed, repulsed at the very sight of him. Hate was a strong word but to describe how she felt toward this man, it wasn't strong enough. She loathed him. Every fibre of her being wanted to destroy him, cut him into little pieces and then spit on his ashes. Her hands shook but it wasn't from fear; when you hate someone that much, there just isn't any room left to feel anything else.

 

 

Sensing her gaze on him, he turned to fix her with a patronizing look that made her skin crawl. Her spine straightened in response and she returned his smile with a determined glare.

 

 

“What the fuck do you want with me?”

 

 

Her voice was hoarse but it was stronger than either of them had expected it to be. His eyebrows lifted slightly in surprise and he turned bodily to face her.

 

 

“You've been grandstanding since you got here so get to the point already,” she prodded before tossing her hair out of her face with a quick shake of her head.

 

 

He seemed to like that comment, smiled a little at it actually. He took a step closer and then his feet slowed to a stop. His hand didn't slow down though. It struck her sharply across the mouth. The slap resonated through the charged air between them and the room fell silent.

 

 

“Didn't anyone ever teach you any manners? It's not polite to swear,” he admonished.

 

 

With a quiet snort she turned away to stare at the dirty bank of windows and hide the tears stinging her eyes. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he shirked off his jet black designer sports coat, folded it once and draped it over the back of his chair. He loosened the tie around his neck next, followed by the top two buttons of his starched collar. They were twisted with a crisp `snap' and left to hang open. It was only once he'd neatly laid his tie across his jacket over the back of the chair that he continued.

 

 

“Five years is a long time to look for any one person,” he mused sounding somewhat thoughtful. “Five years, seven months and twelve days. You have to have a lot of drive to search for someone that long.”

 

 

“It hasn't always been easy,” he continued, now methodically rolling the sleeves of his indigo dress shirt to reveal the powerful corded muscles of his forearms. “A lot of money went into finding you, a lot of manpower too. More than a few lives had to be sacrificed, but it was all worth it now that you're here.”

 

 

Shooting her a pointed look, he lowered himself onto the chair once more and rested his chin atop his fist. “Do you know why you're here Kagome?”

 

 

He leaned imperceptibly closer, just close enough to set her on edge. Her eyes fell to the black and red inked dragon tattoo snaking down the inside of his forearm. Its fanged face leered at her, frozen in a silent howl. Despite the situation, she found it strange that all she could think was, `That's new.'

 

 

His hand clapped suddenly over her injured shoulder and she cried out when his fingers bit cruelly into the swollen joint. Fighting back tears she shook her head `no' and he pulled her in close until his lips were nearly brushing her ear.

 

 

“Because mankind has enough miseries to deal with.”

 

 

The pungent smell of his expensive cologne lingered in the air and flooded her senses, leaving her feeling dizzy. She shook her head slowly back and forth as her mind tried in vain to piece together his cryptic words. While the fingers on his left hand dug further into her shoulder, the fingers on his right tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear in a gesture that was so gentle she almost laughed out loud at the irony of it.

 

 

“The world doesn't need another Pandora, Kagome.”

 

 

Her eyebrows drew together and she opened her mouth to respond but he stopped her with a sharp look and a subtle shake of his head.

 

 

“After all this time, you know what I really want to know?”

 

 

The gears in her mind were shifting and turning, analyzing every word that came out of his mouth in a hopeless race for understanding. It wanted to move forward to the answer but was stuck on his scent, bogged down by the pungency of it, the headiness of it swimming in her brain. He smelled of wealth, power and faintly of roses, but he didn't smell like him.

 

 

The realization slammed through her like a two tonne truck. She swallowed slowly and winced at the tightness in her throat. She could hardly breathe. His presence was suffocating and she could feel herself drowning beneath the weight of her new discovery. Her eyes shifted to meet his and she breathed out slowly as she realized she was staring into the eyes of a stranger.

 

 

There were things about him that were different of course, the tattoo for one, and he had longer hair as well, but five years was a long time. A person could change a lot in five years - she had, or at least she thought she had until his appearance made her doubt every inch of her progress. She had an inkling that she already knew the identity of the man sitting across from her, but boldly asked anyway.

 

 

“Who are you?”

 

 

He sneered, wordlessly mocking her ignorance. Ignoring her question, he posed one of his own.

 

 

“September 24, 2002. Do you remember that night?”

 

 

For an entire year, every time she'd closed her eyes all she could see was red. Each time she'd passed by the butcher shop on the way to class she'd nearly vomited from the stench of the coppery blood wafting out the open door. It'd taken four years of therapy to learn how to forget but mention of the date alone was enough to bring it all rushing back.

 

 

Her voice wavered when she answered, “Yes.”

 

 

Dark eyes narrowed at her with a malice she felt penetrate her to her very core. He wasn't playing around anymore. His faux carefree demeanour was gone without a trace and all that was left was a vicious thing that was a hair away from unleashing its fury on her like a tempest.

 

 

His dead eyes bore into hers and dug around in her heart without permission. She felt violated but no longer possessed the strength to look away. The realization that he wasn't Oniguomo had caught her completely off guard and she was still floored, floundering, trying to catch her breath.

 

 

“How did you feel when you killed my brother like a traitorous bitch?”

 

 

Brother.

 

 

That one word suddenly brought everything into focus. She understood perfectly why she was there and why he'd searched so long to find her. Perspective was everything. Knowing he expected an answer, she closed her eyes in resignation and braced for impact. The truth might not set her free, but she couldn't bring herself to lie - not when it came to him. Her eyes opened slowly and calmly held his gaze. Her mouth, with dry lips that tasted like blood, boldly uttered the ugly truth.

 

“Free.”

 

 

------------------

 

Author's Note: The plot thickens. Seems that even Kagome has her share of dark secrets. I kept my promise this time re: the speedy update :) I've been working on this chapter for a while now. It took a while because I had to go to a dark place before I could put the words down. I don't particularly like writing chapters like this one, but the story has a mind of its own and I needed you guys to understand where Kagome is coming from in all of this. She's not being a wimp or a wuss, she has every reason to be legitimately terrified of this man.

 

If I haven't scared you off with all this dark stuff please leave a review (I really love reviews. They inspire me to write faster). Inuyasha will be featured next chapter yay! I haven't written it yet so I can't say when it'll be posted but hopefully soon.

 

I'm dedicating this one to ElegantPaws and Kibo for all the support. You guys are awesome :)

 

Until next time…

 

Langus

 

 

Selected Listening:

Bach - Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G

Mogwai - I Know You Are but What Am I?

Mum - We Have a Map of the Piano