InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Antagonists Unite ❯ Chapter Ten ( Chapter 10 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Antagonists Unite
By: DarkCrystalis also edited by Jon04CTSV

XxXx

Chapter Nine re-cap…

“Now you owe me,” he said cockily, grinning.

“I'll pay you the money tomorrow,” I replied, turning back to the dance floor.

“No, I want you to pay me back the money; I want to be owed in a more, shall I say, enjoyable way.”

I felt myself gulp, feeling as if I'd been thrown into a hole and couldn't crawl back out.

“I want you to dance with me tonight, and be my date.”

XxXx

Chapter Ten

Rin's POV

“What?” I whispered, stricken and feeling my face pale more by the second.

“I said, I want you to be my date tonight. You know, in return for getting you the soda and all.”

I felt my heart tighten in anger—how dare he?

“So, the only reason I'm supposed to go on a date with you is because I owe you for a soda? If that's how you feel, I'll go home right now and get you the money, because I'm planning on having a good time tonight.”

His jaw dropped open slightly, but I was too annoyed to laugh. I wasn't about to let myself be used by an overly arrogant classmate.

“I don't want to `weigh you down' and all; the last thing I want to be is a bother to the high and mighty Lord of our high school,” I muttered sarcastically as an afterthought, doubting he could hear me anyway.

I sighed and turned around, fully prepared to tell my friends that I have to go home and collect the cash. At first, I thought Sesshoumaru might try and stop me by grabbing my arm or calling my name, but he didn't. When I turned around to see where he'd gone, he wasn't even in sight; it was like he'd run off somewhere.

When I walked into the decorated gym, I saw my friends dancing, each with a partner. A slow song was playing in the background, and I silently envied them. Their bodies were close; the girls' heads on the men's shoulders, their backs being gently cradled by strong, protective arms and hands—how could I not feel jealous and out of place?

The last thing I wanted to do was go and ruin their moment by saying “I'll be going home to pick up some money”; I know they'd insist on coming with me, telling me how unsafe it is and all. I can take care of myself, forget about them—I will let them be for tonight. I can always call them later on, if need be on their cell phone to tell them where I've gone and all…

As I walked out of the school, I couldn't help but be frustrated. Sesshoumaru confuses the hell out of me; one second he's semi-nice and seems interested in being friends with me—like when he gave me that ride home and earlier tonight with the soda,—but then the other times he completely turns around personality-wise and acts like an ass. I just don't understand…

XxXx

Sesshoumaru's POV

I walked away before Rin turned around, feeling more like an ass with every second that passed. She wasn't just a payback, she was so much more than that, but my foolish pride kept me from telling her the truth.

I wondered why I couldn't just tell her that I liked her, despite the fact that I wasn't even sure of my feelings. If anything, I wanted to befriend her and talk with her. However, going about things this way obviously wasn't working out in his favour.

How exactly does one as to be another person's friend? In all of Sesshoumaru's experiences, he was too used to people asking to be friends with him, not the other way around—this was something new to him.

Deciding that since his supposed-to-be-date was going home, he might as well also; there was no one else he wanted to be with.

XxXx

Rin's POV

As I walked outside, the cold breeze began blowing around me and I shivered. Maybe going home at night wasn't such a good idea after all, but even still, I kept walking.

The lamp posts lit the dark path as I walked, the stars hidden by dark clouds in the looming sky. The moon was in the shape of a crescent, providing only the barest minimum of natural light. The skirt I wore was tossed around against my thighs from the light wind as I precariously balanced myself with each footstep in the modest heals that I wore. At one point I almost fell over, but managed to catch myself before falling flat on my face.

When my house was in faint sight—five or so minutes away,—I felt slight relief—however, it was only minor. For the longest time I'd felt uncomfortable, walking down the sidewalk and continually looking behind me, having the feeling that someone was watching me close by. Nonetheless, I kept ignoring it, hoping it was just nerves in my stomach and the slightest touch of paranoia.

Cars passed me on the street, traveling slowly due to the speed limit in the residential area. However, upon looking in my peripheral vision, there was one car crawling slowly behind me, no others nearby it as it dragged forward. I could feel it more than see it; all I could tell was that it's colour was silver.

Biting my lower lip, I feigned the urge to run. If I ran, something could happen; the car could chase me, the driver could pull out a gun, anything—but, if I kept my pace slow and even, perhaps the car would just go on it's way and ignore me…

When it passed me, I let out the breath I'd been holding in…

…only to suck it back when the car stopped and the man driving got out.

Calm down, calm down; maybe he lives here, this could be his house, he could be visiting a friend, don't jump to conclusions…

“Hey, you,” he called, but I ignored him. Maybe he was talking to someone else? That wasn't even a possibility, seeing how there wasn't anyone around…

“How much do you cost?” He asked, waiting for a reply as I kept walking away, not responding and not planning to.

When the footsteps increased, following behind me, I froze in my path, unable to move or speak due to my fear. His hand pulled my arm, tugging me around roughly but not painfully, scaring me nonetheless. He titled my face up to his as he inspected it and I flinched, slowly backing away.

His hair was dark and short, his frame thin but semi-muscular. Some women would probably call him dashing, but his reddish contacts made him look devilish—in a disturbing way. He wore a black, long coat that went down to his black shoed feet; his pants were a khaki material and colour, not suiting the hellish man which stood before me. I couldn't find him any less unappealing…but weirdly enough he looked just the slightest bit familiar…

“You're a beauty, I bet you're expensive.”

“I'm not a whore,” I managed to whisper as I turned around and ran as quickly as I could to my home. He followed me, running after me for a good minute before he stopped, having grown tired from the chase.

He called out as I kept running, but I heard his words.

“I'll see you again soon; I promise we'll have fun together next time.” His tone was sickly sweet, but there was an undertone which was malevolent and dark; I was afraid of this man. If I were to see him again, alone…I don't even want to think about it.

I could hear his car start up in the distance as I ran, making me think he would drive after me. However, when I was out of breath I stopped and turned around, watching the car drive away and out of sight. When I was sure he was gone, I took deep breaths, feeling my own tears sting my eyes. I held them back the best that I could as I began running again towards my home.

As I entered the house, I had to keep fighting the tears that pricked my eyes. Something could have happened; something almost happened…

When Koji saw me walk in, he frowned and studied me closely from his spot on the couch. He was watching T.V., some sort of cop show…

“It's still early; barely after eight, what are you doing home so soon? Is everything alright?” I nodded my head, afraid to speak.

“I'll see you tomorrow Koji, I'm going to get some sleep. Goodnight.” I didn't care if it was eight at night or two in the afternoon—I was going straight to bed.

Koji didn't say anything in response; he was too engrossed in the program to have noticed something was seriously wrong with his sister…

XxXx

I kept looking around my room, paranoid that the mysterious man had somehow crawled into my room through the window and was now waiting for me in my closet, or on the floor beside my bed.

After having checked every corner and crevice, I kept the light on—for safety and reassurance—and went towards my safe-looking bed. Collapsing onto it after locking the door and the windows' latches, I cried into my pillow, trying to be as quiet as I could. I was so scared, so very scared…

The phone rang and my heart nearly bounded out of my chest. I was so unprepared that the loud, abrasive sound shook my entire body, sending it into a bout of shivers. Koji brought me the phone seconds later, telling me it was Kagome.

“Hey chicka, where have you been? I couldn't find you anywhere!”

“Sorry, I wanted to tell you that I was feeling tired, but I saw you and Inuyasha dancing and you know…couldn't bother you and all. Are you having a good time?”

Although I couldn't see Kagome, I knew she was blushing profusely.

“A great time, but things would be better if you were here. But gods, Rin, you shouldn't have walked home yourself! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? You stupid girl, that was a very idiotic thing to do! What if something had happened to you? Do you know what could have happened?”

A part of me wanted to scream “I know exactly what could have happened,” but I knew better than that. I wouldn't tell her anything about the incident, of course.

“I have a vague idea…anyway, the most important thing is that nothing happened and I'm at home, safe and sound.”

I could hear her sigh from the other line and I smiled the tiniest of smiles. She cared a lot about me; it made me feel good knowing that she cared for my welfare.

“Anyway, you have a good time and tell me all about it tomorrow—every last detail!”

Kagome giggled and promised she would, hanging up a minute later.

I suddenly felt a little better, but as images replayed in my mind from earlier tonight, as if tauntingly, almost promising that that wasn't the first time I'd see the devilish man that I'd seen tonight, I knew that the worst of my night had only begun.

Before I fell asleep, a strong vision of blood red eyes flashed through my thoughts.

XxXx

As I walked, I felt unsafe, even though it was early in the afternoon. Ever since the incident with that man, I didn't feel safe walking anywhere alone. I'd always look over my shoulder every second;not feeling the slightest bit better when there was no one nearby.

When I finished shopping inthe grocery store, I carried the grocery bags in my hand tightly, using them as a means of releasingmy pent-up stress as I walked out. It was dusk now, not dark but no longer light; I desperately wanted Koji to come and pick me up, but he'd told me he wouldn't be home until later tonight.

Quickening my paces, I began to half-walk half-run on my way home. Once I was near the door I unlocked it, stepping in and immediately locking it behind me.Once I made my way into the kitchen, I began to unload the packages, cans and boxes of food I'd bought, putting them where they belong in the cupboards and in the fridge.

Deciding to watch some mid-nightly televisionafter popping some buttery popcornand placing it into a bowl, I walked into the family room, only to freeze in my tracks.

“I told you I'd see you again, beauty.” His red eyes bore into mine and I dropped the bowl, a scream emanating from my throat.

XxXx

I awoke abruptly, frim yet loving arms shaking me awake. I continually screamed, even though it was only my brother waking me.

“Don't touch me, don't touch me!” I yelled, backing away from him and curling into a ball against the headboard of my bed, tears streaming down my face.

“Rin, it's just me,” Koji whispered hoarsely, his voice deep and gruff from having not talked for a few hours. “You were screaming and I thought something was wrong, so I came into your room. I saw you were having a nightmare and woke you up; are you alright?”

Taking deep gulps, I sobbed into my curled-up body, feeling shivers coarse through me. Koji hesitantly embraced me, his hug strengthening as I continued to cry.

“Shh, it's alright; it was only a bad dream.” He spoke as though I were ten, waking from a nightmare consisting of closet monsters, but it didn't matter; I could feel myself getting better as he kept talking to me in the soft tones that he used.

I nodded my head against his chest, grateful that he was here. I was so glad, so very glad.

“Are you okay now?” He asked me about ten minutes later, after my sobs and shaking had ceased.

I nodded my head again, not trusting my voice to speak.

“If you need me, I'll be in my room. Don't hesitate to wake me up if you're not feeling okay—I don't mind one bit.”

I nodded my head a third time, feeling a bit like one of those bobble head toys which just bob their heads up and down consistently and nearly smiled at the thought. But when a vision of the man in black appeared in my head, I shivered and curled under the warm covers of my bed.

I stayed awake the whole night, too fearful of closing my eyes and seeing those awful, hellish red eyes and the face of the man dressed in black.

XxXx

Author's Note

Angel: This chapter is over 2,300 words, not including the Author's Note or the re-cap of chapter nine—by far the longest chapter yet, I'm pretty sure.

I'd like to, firstly, thank all of the reviewers from chapter nine. I'm glad to see that I haven't lost all of my reviewers (assuming that all of you are still around, somewhere) and I hope to hear from all of you again for this chapter. If I counted correctly, there were twenty nine of you, and I greatly appreciate all of your support. It seems that all of you haven't vanished, after all, hehe.

Secondly, I know I'm super, super, super late with this chapter. I changed the updates from one to three weeks for Antagonists Unite (I don't know if all of you noticed or not) but with good reason.

Jon: And we've been “busy” lately too, right hun?

Angel: YEAH, in NIAGRA FALLS! We saw the Canada Day fireworks there!

Jon: …………That's what I meant, but it works.

Angel: It was a LOT of fun.

Jon: Yeah, it was -winks-

Angel: What are you thinking about?

Jon: Uh…nothing much…you know…Just…that thing…

Angel: Anyway, I'm sorry for the late update. The thing which really got me writing this chapter was someone sending me a PM, telling me not to give up on this story.

A note to everyone: I am NOT giving up on this story. This story, just like my other story “Eyes Like Yours” WILL be finished; it'll just take some time.

I don't give up on my stories; it isn't one of my beliefs. It isn't fair to attract people to a story, get them into it and then suddenly stop writing. There's no excuse; if you don't have the time or will to write a story, in my opinion, don't begin writing one. However, if you're like me, (willing to write a story but a little short on time/motivation on occasion), then write when you can.

Anyway…

Until chapter ten! (There WILL be a chapter eleven, and an twelve, and a thirteen…)

Sincerely,

Angel
and
Jon