Welcome to Nama Yurushi, sequel to Raw Forgiveness!
If you haven't read Raw Forgiveness, I recommend that you do. This seamlessly flows from the last story, so I won't be explaining things that were talked about/explained before. Feel free to take a peak at this chapter to see if you like my writing, but don't read too much if you want to be surprised! Don't worry, I do believe you will enjoy it!
To those who have been with me for a while, welcome! As you can see, I'm a day late. I think I will start updating on Saturdays (who ever heard of being productive on a Friday night anyway?) because I either come home sick and exhausted or I have something going on. Is Saturdays alright with you guys?
Enough yapping. Enjoy!
Inuyasha and Kagome Taisho were disgusting people.
Nasty, dirty, nauseatingly disgusting.
It wasn't like Mei didn't appreciate a place to live, a bed to sleep in, food to eat. Her opinion of Kagome had drastically changed; she wasn't some idiot, nagging wife. She really cared about Inuyasha and, for some reason, for Mei as well, and she only wanted to help everyone. They had had a couple brief conversations about whether she should try to go to the police, and even though the longer she stayed with the Taishos the longer she didn't want to file a report, she still appreciated the consideration Kagome showed.
But, she didn't get to talk to Kagome much lately. She was always in bed.
Three days had passed since she moved in with them, and out of those three days she had seen Kagome… once? Twice? She had seen Inuyasha a couple times, running downstairs to get food, running out the house to pick up food…
No, wait. She did see Kagome three times. Yesterday she accidently saw her running from the bedroom to the linen closet in nothing but a towel. She tried to cover up, but the towel was way too small. It was a sight she could have gone without.
It wasn't like Kagome wasn't beautiful, or she was displeasing to the eye. Mei had no problem being around or seeing other women's bodies, and Kagome was no exception. It was just… knowing and hearing what those too had been doing for the past two days… all the thumps on the walls, the moaning, the dirty talk…
Who had ever heard of putting a guest room right next to the master bedroom?!
Mei shivered in disgust as she sat at the head of her bed, arms wrapped around her knees and chin resting on her arms.
Having to hear and see all that she had witnessed with these two? Not enjoyable in the slightest.
Last night, however, the two of them announced their arrival home with the slamming of the front door and what sounded like Kagome stomping up the stairs. Inuyasha was calling after her, demanding, then pleading that she talk to him. She heard the master bedroom door slam after that, and to her surprise heard Inuyasha sigh from outside the door and go downstairs.
Mei was a bit baffled. The two of them had been so disgustingly happy before; whatever happened had to have been serious enough to re-smash the foundation they had started to build back on.
Or… maybe their foundation wasn't as strong as it looked in the first place.
There it was, the next morning. Mei was still in her room, staring off into space as normal, trying to remember what happiness felt like. It had been so long, there were few memories she could dig up to base the emotion off of.
She heard some commotion downstairs, and figuring it was Inuyasha in the kitchen, she decided to head down there. Her stomach was getting the best of her, and she wanted to help if Inuyasha was making breakfast again. His cooking skills were okay, but… questionable.
The banging got louder as the young lady came down the steps, as well as the grumbling, accompanied by a bit of colorful language. She debated retreated back to the guest bedroom, but decided against it. She had been up since 5 a.m. and her stomach was angry for it.
She reached the bottom of the steps and rounded the corner. "Inuyasha-san, what are you-"
At first, she thought she was looking at an intruder, and out of instinct she jumped back slightly. But it only took a couple seconds to figure out she was wrong.
Inuyasha stood at the counter, profile facing her. But instead of the long, thick mane of hair he usually had, silver cascaded down his back and on his shoulders. A set of ten pointed, dangerous claws shredded a bag of ramen, while another set seemed to scrape at the hardwood floor.
And atop his head were two… dog ears swiveling in her direction and back towards the front.
Her entire body went numb when he turned to her, golden eyes seeming to pierce into her soul.
Is he… he's a… Mei desperately reached for a coherent thought.
Inuyasha's face light with alarm. "What? What's going on?!" he said…
With fangs accenting his lips.
Mei barely registered the hand she brought up, pointing accusingly at him, trying to understand his frightening appearance. "You… you're wearing… a costume… right?"
Her words hardly made any sense to her, but they seemed enough to make Inuyasha look at her as if he'd been found out.
It wasn't a costume.
He was a demon.
She went momentarily deaf, registering that he was saying something but not hearing a word of it. She couldn't tell if she was standing or sitting, falling or fainting.
All she knew was that all demons who weren't kitsune were bad. They were angry at humans, and only wanted to take over the world and use humans for their slaves and meals. All demons who tried to look like humans were the most intelligent, and the most dangerous, demons in the world. They would look and sound like humans, but on the inside they were monstrous, blood-thirsty villains waiting to take her and everyone else's life.
After all… that's all she had been taught to believe.
Suddenly, he was closer to her than he was a second ago. She jumped back, protecting her weak human flesh from the demon she had let become close enough kill her, at time welcoming his presence while he lay in wait, taking his time before he slaughtered her.
Maybe that's why he wanted her to stay… to fatten her up and then serve her to Kagome for dinner.
Before she had time to register her own movements, she was out of the door.
"What are we going to do?!" Kagome exclaimed for maybe the tenth time, bare legs pacing the kitchen in panic and confusion.
"I… I don't know, Kagome," Inuyasha whispered, face in his hands where he sat on the floor by the counter, ramen forgotten.
"How do we fix this, Inuyasha?! What will we do if those… people come and… and…"
Inuyasha looked up at his panicking mate for the first time since she started having her nervous breakdown. She looked completely frazzled, wringing her hands together, eyes darting around the room as if she could find the solution in the sink with the dirty dishes.
"We can handle this, Kagome," Inuyasha said finally, trying to soothe his crazed wife.
Kagome stopped. "No. No, we can't," she whined, tears in her eyes.
Inuyasha leapt from the floor, intent on stopping those tears before they progressed into an inconsolable tantrum. He reached her and tugged her arms, gently but firmly stopping the abuse on her hands and bringing her attention to him.
"Yes, we can. We've dealt with worse. We've dealt with my cover being blown plenty of times before. We've dealt with mobs of angry humans, mikos and monks trying to kill me. It'll be fine; we can handle this."
Kagome peered up at Inuyasha, eyes losing some of their frenzy, but still unbelieving. "No, Inuyasha. It's not the same! In those times, if someone was trying to kill you, you just kill them. You runaway and you stay away from that area and it's fine. But this isn't just some village that will be after you, Inuyasha. The entire country's militia will be on the lookout for you; we couldn't be able to just flee. We can't go anywhere that has Japan as an ally, or probably anywhere else where people won't be able to spot you! You have silver hair, for goodness sake, and they have your picture because of you work IDs. What are we going to do when they come to take you away from me?! What if they try to torture you, or they kill you, or -"
Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's face and pressed his lips roughly into hers. It wasn't very comforting and pleasurable; it was meant to silence her.
When he pulled away, tears were streaming down her face.
Inuyasha hated the smell of her tears, but the smell of her fear was nauseating.
He kissed her again, briefly and gently trying to ease her pain.
"I don't know, Kagome. I don't know how we're going to get through this. But I promise you that whatever happens, I will protect you. If they come for me I will make sure that there is no way anyone will hurt you. If I have to fight till my death…"
For a moment, Kagome's brown eyes stared at him in wonderment, then a watery smile overtook her face. "That's… that's almost that same thing you said before we defeated Naraku…"
Inuyasha searched her eyes, realizing she was right. It was almost like they were back in his native forest, fighting for their lives, losing hope as they watched their comrades perish around them.
"Inuyasha, do you remember what I said back to you?"
Of course. He could never forget that.
"'I'd rather spend an eternity in hell than be without you.'"
It had hit him so fiercely in his chest, hearing those words and comparing their intensity to that of Kikyo's words every time she reminded him of his own promise to go to hell with her. Kagome's had been so full of life, so full of a love he had never felt when thinking about death.
It was in that moment that he knew he would mate her.
"And it's every bit of true now, Inuyasha, if not more. If you die, I will literally die with you. And I wouldn't have it any other way."
But, the thought of Kagome perishing because of him put such a sour taste in his mouth that he refused to think of it as a prospect. He pulled her body close to his, wrapping his arms protectively around her.
No. He had to live so that she could as well. He had to protect her.
Both deep in thought and distracted by the soothing smell of being close to one's mate, they didn't hear the car pull up to the front of the house, or any of the voices of the people approaching the door.
When the doorbell rang, both nearly jumped. They glanced at each other as they pulled apart, concern on their faces.
"I'll… I'll get it," Inuyasha muttered. Kagome nodded.
Inuyasha approached the door, half expecting someone to bust through it and attempt to take him away. Who knew how long it had been since Mei left? 10 minutes? An hour? 30 seconds?
Inuyasha sniffed as he approached the door, eyebrows scrunching when he realized he recognized the faint smell. He couldn't point from where though.
"This door needs a damn peephole…" Inuyasha muttered, grabbing the door knob.
He slowly opened the door, tense and alert, keeping all options of sabotage and surprise in mind. He could feel the anxiety of his mate behind him.
He peeked through the crack…
To see a shaggy head of dark hair.
"…Souta?" Inuyasha fully opened the door.
The boy, now appearing to have grown into a young man, stood proudly at the door with a grin on his face and an arm around the blushing girl standing beside him. He wore a bright blue polo shirt and khakis, pressed and studious-looking, and the shy girl beside him wore a flowy, green sundress.
"Inu-no-oniichan!" Souta exclaimed.
Kagome rushed to Inuyasha's side, slightly nudging him to move out of the way. Then, she stopped, eyes falling on her little, but taller, brother. "Souta…" she said, awe and nervousness overcoming her.
Souta's smile was sad as he looked at his sister, and he let go of the girl at his side. "Kagome-neechan… I missed you…"
Kagome's face reddened as her lip quivered and tears welled in her already-puffy eyes. They both approached each other at the same time, hugging each other fiercely, burying their faces in each other's shoulders.
Inuyasha smiled softly, watching the rare display of sibling love. And as Kagome's soft cries filled the silence, Inuyasha glanced at the girl that had appeared at the door with Souta. She looked near tears herself, but wore a smile of pure happiness as she watched the embrace. Her eyes gazed on knowingly, almost as if she knew that it had been so long since they had hugged, and even longer since he called her sister.
Longer than before he left for college. Longer that before they came back to the modern era.
Inuyasha's musings were cut off by the sound of a door closing from outside, the sound loud enough to distract Kagome and cause her to look out the door as well.
Souta, who obviously knew who had just exited the car, glanced from Kagome to Inuyasha sheepishly. "Uh… surprise!" He chuckled, nervously.
All Inuyasha had to see was the flash of silver hair, and a scowl overtook his face.
"Hello, little brother," the tall, almost unrecognizable man said, smirking.
Inuyasha looked the man up and down, taking in the dark washed jeans, the cream-colored and fitted blazer, the skinny red tie, the pale blue shirt, the aviator sunglasses and the long braid of shiny, silver hair.
"…Half-brother," Inuyasha growled.
She didn't know how long she had been running. All she knew was that she wasn't in the suburbs anymore.
People bumped past her as she slowed to a fast walk, glancing behind her, making sure Inuyasha wasn't following.
He might be hiding on top of buildings…
He might be peeking through store windows…
He might be blending in with the crowd, changing his appearance every time she tried to look for him…
That last thought had Mei looking at strangers with fear, searching for a reason to suspect them. They could all be demons! They could all be waiting to kill her!
With a whimper, she picked up her pace, not even hearing the cries of outrage from the bystanders she shoved in the process.
When she finally slowed and looked up, she realized she knew where she was.
"Oh, no…" she whimpered, recognizing the bar right down the road and seeing Kuro's car parked in front of it.
She immediately turned around and headed in the opposite direction, head down, trying to maneuver the people she was suddenly aware of on the street. It wasn't long before she bumped into someone.
The collision made her a bit off-balance, and as she was about to trip backwards a pair of strong hands caught her and steadied her before she could fall.
Flustered, Mei said, "I'm so sorr-" before looking up...
And seeing that it was Kuro that had her in his clutches.
"No!" Mei shrunk into herself, trying to pull away, but not being able to budge an inch.
Kuro gripped her arms painfully tight, pulling her closer. His expression would appear blank to anyone else, but Mei recognized the look on his face.
Pure rage.
"Shut up, you dumb bitch," He hissed at her, lips hardly moving, voice low. "Where the fuck have you been?!"
Mei said nothing and continued to struggle, trying to get away but to no avail. Kuro quickly got fed up with her struggling and released one arm to grip her hair.
"Ah!" she cried.
"Shut the hell up!" he hissed again. He turned her around and started to push her forward. "I'm going to kill you right now if you don't shut your sluty little mouth…" His whispers tickled her ear, sending shivers of terror down her spine. She realized that if she got in that car with him, she would never be a free woman again.
Mei stopped struggling then, frantically looking around to see if anyone saw what was going on. Anyone that could save her from what would ultimately be her demise.
No one was watching.
No one ever was.
With his hand fisted tightly into her hair, they marched toward the car.
"We are going to get in this car, and you're gonna get the shit beat out of you until you tell me where you were!"
He wouldn't wait until she tried to tell him. He would start the abuse before the words could come out of her mouth. Hit first, ask later.
As the car came into arm's length, she realized how this might look to anyone watching. His back so close to hers, her arm reaching back toward him, him reaching toward the passenger door to open it.
It might appear that he cared for her. That he wanted her to be safe. That he was chivalrous and had manners enough to walk her to the passenger door and open it for her. His face was probably schooled into a calm look while she tried to school hers, trying not to draw attention to them for fear of pain, but trying to catch the eye of the one or two pedestrians that passed by.
Before she could blink, she had been shoved into the car.
"Kuro, wait! Don't-"
He gave her a look that made her want to scream. She knew what it meant. She had been too loud; someone could have heard her. She would pay for it.
Kuro slammed the passenger door then stomped over to the driver's side, getting in with a grunt.
Mei took a few seconds to look at the man who had been beating her on and off for a year. Overweight, sweaty, greasy… clothes that he had probably worn the day before without washing… a permanent grimace on his face and a balding, shiny head of thin hair.
It was no wonder he wouldn't let her go… no woman had probably given him any attention since his mother.
He turned on the car and drove down the busy road. Mei frantically glanced from him to the people on the sidewalks, the land marks she could recognize. Where were they? Where were they going?
They stopped at a stop light and Kuro was silent for a few seconds, breathing deeply in anger. Then he sprang a hand to the side and gripped her thigh, painfully.
"Mmph!" Mei grunted.
Kuro gripped harder at her sign of pain, but stared straight ahead. "Bitch… you better start talking before I find a place to pull over…"
The words sprang forth. "I w-was at Inuyasha place! I was at Inuyasha's and, Ah! H-his wife was there and they l-let me stay for a few d-days."
Kuro roared for the first time since he grabbed her from the street. "You were at Inuyasha's house?! How dare you, you little whore?! You would just run to anyone's bed, wouldn't you?!"
"His wife-"
"You probably slept with that little brat that came to the club that night too, didn't you?! That's alright… that's fine, I got something for you, bitch…"
Mei knew she had to do something, or she wouldn't live to see anything past what he had for her.
"Inuyasha's a demon!"
She said it before she could stop herself. Shocked silence blanketed the next few moments before Kuro broke the silence.
"…What did you just say?" he asked, quietly.
Mei swallowed, although her mouth was completely dry. "I-Inuyasha is a demon. I saw him. He's some kind of demon."
Kuro said nothing for a while longer, and Mei realized they had ventured into a more rural area. He suddenly turned off a side road, surrounded by trees. He came to a stop some ways down the dirt path and stopped, turning the vehicle off.
They sat for a minute, Mei watching Kuro from the side of her eye, Kuro staring face forward.
Pain blossomed on her left cheek before she could register that he punched her. He hadn't struck her in the face the first time he hit her, wanting there to be little evidence. The sensation of the impact was a fresh and painful one.
Mei gripped her face, sobbing loudly, pressing as close to the passenger door as possible. She didn't try to escape, open the door and flee. She knew he locked it. He always did.
"That's only a fraction of what I'm going to do to you when we get home," Kuro hissed. "But I sure will go easy on you if you tell me the truth."
He turned to her, glaring straight into her non-partially swelling eye.
"Inuyasha is… a demon?"
Mei nodded profusely, desperate for him to believe her.
"And… you saw him… you saw him as a demon…?"
Mei nodded again, her sobs having quieted to soft whines.
Kuro sighed, then whistled. "A demon… no wonder that man could drink so much… it must have been that asshole that called the officials on me, had my place shut down! I haven't had a liquor license for years, and all of the sudden now it's a problem!"
Kuro turned to Mei, smirk on his face. "I'm not too mad though. You're about to make me a very rich man. I heard the cash rewards for finding a demon went up so high that they had to stop advertising… they better still be taking them, because if they aren't, or I find out Inuyasha is not a demon, you're dead. You hear me?"
Mei stared at him, still holding her eye, depression taking its toll. Because she knew in that moment that whether he got rewarded or not, he would never let her go. She would never escape. She would never be saved.
And it was only fitting that she remained trapped in his apartment, the place where the rest of her innocence died.
Regret and shame washed over her as the re-ignition of the car sealed her fate.
"Inuyasha… Kagome…" Mei whispered. "I'm sorry…"
So, what did you guys think?! If I ever wanted reviews, I really want them for this chapter. This is the beginning of a new saga for this story.
To those of you that were unsatisfied with how the last story ended, I hope this filled in the blanks and satisfied you. That last chapter was a cliff-hanger on purpose, and I'm not sure everyone understood that. I wasn't completely satisfied with how I wrote it, but it ended correctly on my end.
And, btw, did any of you guess right? Sesshomaru as a professor has been done before, I know, but he has some surprises I don't think you'll expect.
I look forward to starting this new part of the rawfor universe with you all!