Summary: After being raped and beaten for five years, Rin is finally free. At least, that's what it appears at first. When the community, and many people around the world, band against her and the other victims, it's not freedom she's been given, it's just another punishment for something that wasn't her fault. At least there's the cop that saved her, her angel Sesshomaru.

AN: I'm sorry about the cliff-hanger ending here! Please don't forget to tell me what you think of this story.

-[Chained]-

Rin sits quietly on the couch, fingers trembling as she holds onto the remote, mouth agape as she stares at the TV. Not that she is watching the TV, watching whatever story they have moved onto. No, she is still hung up on a story. Still left in the wake of that story, trembling in it's aftershocks as Sesshomaru bustles around the kitchen.

Ishida Onigumo got out on bail, and then proceeded to disappear.

Who is Ishida Onigumo, one might be wondering. Ishida Onigumo was the leader of the human trafficking ring that held Rin captive for five years, caused her to miss out on her birthdays, not be by the side of her grandma when she was dying of a terminal illness, and prevented her from graduating from the art college. Ishida Onigumo is THE monster, THE big bad, THE beast with a billion backs. Ishida Onigumo is the subject of her nightmares.

She has met Ishida Onigumo. Like so many other men, he visited her when she was chained to a bed in her dank prison. He made her do vile acts, hurt her, beat her, and all for his sick pleasure. She hates Ishida Onigumo, but she is more terrified than hateful now. What if he comes after her? What if she cannot hide from him? What if he hurts her again? What if he hurts someone else again? The horror, it is too much for her mind to comprehend.

Sesshomaru brings out lemonade, and instantly notices Rin's shaky, scared demeanor. He sets down the glasses and rushes to her side, his hand on her arm as he stares into her with golden depths full of concern. She is shaking so bad. The remote drops from her hands and clatters against the floor. Her brown eyes flick to the pieces of shattered plastic as Sesshomaru begins to pick it up.

"What happened?" he asks as he drops the pieces of the remote on the table. Time for a new remote, he muses, before turning back to Rin full of concern for his roommate. She shakes, arms crossed as she begins to rock back and forth. Instantly he is holding her, his strong arms wrapped around her. She stills in his grasp, and the tears begin to fall.

There are so many what ifs swirling around her mind. What if this and what if that. Her mind is a mess now the she knows the man who truly victimized her is out there somewhere, possibly headed straight for her. What if he hurts her again? What if he rapes her again? What if he victimizes her again? What if he kills her? So many what ifs; it's just a chaotic vortex of what ifs in her mind.

"Rin," Sesshomaru murmurs as the story repeats itself on the TV. Her ears prick towards the sound, the voice of the female reporter drifting to her as the words that haunt her fill her again. When the story is done, Sesshomaru turns back to her and pulls her into his lap, cradling her.

She is so scared, so terrified. The what ifs loom over her, as the shadow of her tormentor lingers around her. She is certain he will come. She is so certain, to the point that it is horror that makes the blood in her veins turn ice cold, and the sweat sticking to her skin to be less than room temperature. Her heart is pounding in her chest, pulse beating frantically as Sesshomaru attempts to calm the whirling storm inside of her.

This can't be happening, this just can't. This isn't supposed to happen. She was saved, she has her angel. She's possibly engaged. She has a freaking wedding dress. This is supposed to be her happy ending. No more angst, no more drama, no more heart break, no more terror. The monsters are supposed to be locked away, the key flushed down the toilet. That they're not supposed to have even the slightest chance of hurting her again. It's not supposed to be like this. This isn't how it's supposed to play out. Onigumo should be rotting in his cage, not possibly hunting her down.

She knows that it's all a what if, a possibility. Nothing is certain, he may just leave her alone. But she remembers how cruel he was, how sadistic. He would never leave her alone, he'd come after her. He'd come after them all, her first though because of how involved she is in the investigation, because of how much media coverage she has received. He won't let her have a happy ending, even if it's the last thing he does.

She knows he has deep ties too. He talked to her when he was torturing her. He was connected to Yakuza, to Triad, to the Mafia, to every organized criminal organization in existence. He knew all the worst of the worst, drank with them like they were old pals because they were. He could stay hidden if he wanted and it wouldn't take him long to find her. She has maybe four days if she is lucky, and then it's Rin pie.

"Rin, it'll be okay," says Sesshomaru, resting his chin atop her head. She sobs, and he wipes away the tears, the pads of his fingers surprisingly soft against her cheeks. "Shush," he hushes. She can't hush though. She sobs and sobs for that's the only thing she can do when facing death now. Finally she has a reason to live, and then her life is marked with an expiration date. It's unfair.

He sets her down gently on the couch and stands. Through her tear-blurred vision, she sees him walk towards the hallway. Is he going into the kitchen? She is confused. But then she sees him stop, and bend down. The swishing sound of plastic bags being moved meets her ears, and she realizes his is digging into their purchases from the bookstore. When he returns to the couch, he is holding the purple fairy tale book. He will comfort her with a fairy tale? How childish, yet appealing.

"Once upon a time, in a land long forgotten by time," he begins, "there was a battle waged between two kingdoms that too are not recorded in the history books. Every day, many soldiers fell to the swing of enemy swords, and blood ran likes rivers on the battle fields. It was a gruesome era of fighting, where brother turned against brother, and neighbors fought. Bloodshed was on all the people's minds.

"There was a soldier named Katashi. He was the son of a farmer, though one could not tell when he was on the battlefield. He was decorated man, with land, honor, and pride. He had become someone because of the war, and he was intent on keeping it that way.

"He had four daughters. The eldest was Ai. The second eldest was Nozomi. The third eldest was Kaoru. And the youngest was Arisu. Of his four daughters, all but one of them approved of their father and the war for they had been raised and groomed into the belief that the war meant everything, and peace was an abomination.

"The eldest daughter though, Ai, was the odd woman out. On the cusp of womanhood at the ripe age of thirteen, she thought for herself, and she could see the world. When she stepped outside the grandeur of Katashi's manor, she saw the grief-stricken mothers praying over the pile of rocks that were the make-shift graves for their sons that had gone to war and never returned. She saw the beggar children left orphaned by the way. She saw the drunken men missing limbs who had turned to the bottle. She saw the pain of the people, and because of her heart so filled with love, she could not condone the practices of her father.

"One day, the father announced the betrothal of Ai to an up and coming warlord. She was quite disappointed in her father, for he gave away her freedom upon the first wisps of her disagreement.

"She refused to lay with the oafish man who had become her husband through means not of her free will. She slipped sleeping potions into his rice wine every evening, starting from their wedding banquet, so he would fall asleep before he could ever take off his trousers. Meanwhile, well the beast snored loudly, Ai plotted at a table kept in their bedroom on how to end the war. She was determined to bring peace to the land, not because of a desire for fame like her father who kept the war going, but because of the good in her heart.

"Finally, she figured it out, and for the cause, finally gave herself to her husband. She spoke to him daily of her desire for peace. At first, he would smack her when the words would leave her mouth, but day after day of hearing the same desire soon moved his heart. He too wanted peace.

"She used this same method on the servants of the castle. She would lead them in morning prayers for peace. At first, only one or two showed up for they were treated well by the warlord, but then more and more began to show. Even her husband came to them when he was not drafting peace treaties. When she saw how well the tactic worked, she used her prayers and shared them with the villagers who flocked to her in droves from all across the lands.

"Now Katashi was quite upset when word of this reached his ear. His own daughter was plotting to take away the means in which he elevated himself from being a poor farm boy with terrible land to an honored general. He sent assassin after assassin after her, but the good of her, her heart and her message, shined so brightly that each assassin put down their blade and never picked it up again. This made Katashi quite mad.

"So in one last attempt, he marched with ten thousand soldiers to the gates of Ai's manor. He was determined to burn it to the ground, but then his daughter showed her face. She wore the rags of a peasant, and she brought no men with her. Even her husband had been forbidden from following her to face her father. He was so moved by the gesture that he put down his blade, called for peace like his daughter, and returned to his roots and became a farmer."

When the story is done, Rin's tears have dried. Sesshomaru glances to her, and upon seeing that she is no longer sobbing and shaking, closes the book. He reaches towards the coffee table and takes a sip of his lemonade as Rin sits curled up in silence.

"He's going to come after me," she whispers. He wraps an arm around her shoulder as her lower lip begins to quiver once more. At least she is talking now. "And when he does, he's going to hurt me again. He's going to turn me back into the fantasy. He's going to chain me up again, make me a slave, hurt me and beat me."

"I will protect you," says Sesshomaru as he holds her, and she relaxes into his hold.

-[Chained]-

"Hello, this Matsumoto Rin," answers Rin as she plays with corner of the Suns Time magazine with the picture of chains on the cover. "What may I do for you?" She always answers the phone so politely, like she is working at a department store and is trying to make a sale. She's always wondered why she does it that way, but could never come up with an answer.

"I'm Nekotani Asuna, the founder of the popular talk show Yay or Nay and we would like to bring you onto our show for an interview," says the woman on the other end. Rin's mouth drops. She knows what talk show she is talking about, what talk show is calling her. It's the one that said just the other day that she was nothing but a PR move.

"What time?" she asks. She is curious. They seemed so adamant that she didn't exist, yet here they were, calling her, wanting her to come onto their show. While there, would they claim her to be an actress? Would they badmouth her on live television. She doesn't know, but she is excited for the opportunity for some reason. It's another platform for her to speak her mind, and she really has the hankering to give these women a piece of her mind.

"In two days we can have you on. The show starts at ten," says the woman, who continues on to detail the address and everything else Rin will need when going on air. "Thank you for your time," the woman finishes, and hangs up before Rin can say anything in return. With a shrug of her shoulders, her locks her phone, sets it down, and returns to the couch where Sesshomaru is reading one of his psychology books.

-[Chained]-

Sesshomaru kills the ignition as they arrive at the studio. With a shaky breath, she steps out of the car and onto her surprisingly sturdy legs. Here she is, facing the women who dared to call her a PR move. Here she is, for the first time, showing her face on television. Here she is, going fully public when in the past she had remained semi-anonymous. It is a scary feeling, but her adrenaline is pumping too and she is excited. This is what she wants to do.

When she gets inside, she is immediately rushed to hair and make-up. Brushes and curling irons, she feels like she is suffocating in the chair beneath all of their hands. She is then rushed to wardrobe, where they strip her out of the ankle-length skirt and turtle neck, and put her in an a business suit, the pencil-skirt that reaches her knees is orange, and the blazer over her white button-up shirt, green. She slips into a pair of black heels, and unsteadily walks to the curtains.

Sesshomaru stands beside her, holding her hand, wearing the same clothes he walked in here wearing. He points to a seat in the audience where he will sit during her interview, and she waves him away. She can do this. She wants to do this. This is what she needs to do. She knows that, and that is why she stands behind the curtains breathing slowly and she furls and unfurls her hands in an attempt to calm her poor nerves.

The hosts walk out onto the set, waving like beauty queens to the cameras and audience. The audience claps as they are supposed to, until the woman she knows to be Asuna shushes them. They talk about some stuff like they're supposed to, cut to break, come back and share cooking secrets. When she is finally called onto the set, her feet are throbbing in the heels.

"Ms. Matsumoto, it's a pleasure to meet you," says Asuna as she shakes Rin's hand. Asuna and Rin take their seats, and Rin brushes off the imaginary dirt from her skirt. "Previously on Yay or Nay, we've talked about the human trafficking ring that has been the center of all news reports lately. We dismissed it as the truth being stretched, and in a moment of I don't know what was going on, I came up with the theory that Ms. Matsumoto, the only publicly known victim, was nothing but a PR move on the part of the police," she recaps to the audience. "Here with us today is Ms. Matsumoto, and before we continue, I just have to ask, how wrong was my theory?" Asuna and the audience look towards Rin.

In the audience, Rin meets eyes with multiple different people, nerves on fire. But then she meets gazes with her angel and she calms herself. She turns back to Asuna, with a fake smile plastered on her face. "Very wrong," she says in a condescending tone. "There are plenty of records of me, the police report regarding my disappearance five years ago, school records, medical records. I'm a human being, and have been for twenty-five years now."

The smile on Asuna's face falters for a moment, but it is only a moment, and then it is back, her red lips spread wide. Her brown eyes are narrowed into a glare though as she looks at Rin, tension in the air. Rin looks at Asuna haughtily. She knows she's being a bit of a jerk, but these people said she was a liar, flat-out said it on live TV. They didn't really deserve niceties.

"Well then, I must apologize for what I said. I take it back, and I hope you can forgive me for having a moment of insanity." Rin just smiles at the woman. Asuna smiles back. "Can you detail to us your imprisonment in the ring?"

"Of course," Rin says calmly, evenly. "I was in a very small room that had one window, and a bed. The room was made of cement. I was chained to the bed. It had a mattress, but no sheets. I was underground mostly, the window was at the very top of the wall. I had to be good if I wanted food, a bath, blankets, even a heater. I had to go along with what the men wanted. The men that came to me wanted their rape fantasies played out, so it wasn't much of a stretch when I was acting. I mostly ate cold rice, cold fish, and cold steamed vegetables. The bath, since I was good, I got once every other day. It was very cold there." She is calm while saying her part, even though she is breaking inside.

"That sounds like hell," says Asuna as her smile falters again. This time the frown remains for more than a millisecond, though the fake smile returns. "What's life been like since you've been rescued?" she asks. Rin is almost duped for a moment into believing she is sincere, but she catches herself before she falls into that trap.

"Good. I've had a very good friend help me through this time, so though I've seen, heard, and met many people who shared the same opinions you do, I've survived. Though, it was very hard to learn that my grandmama, who was my only living relative before I was kidnapped, had died while I was imprisoned."

"I don't hold that opinion anymore," says Asuna. Rin is taken aback. "Just talking to you even as briefly as we have talked, I can see your pain. This isn't just an act. What you describe is beyond imagination. I know you couldn't have come up with it yourself. I'm voting yay for you already, nay for you being an actress and a liar."

Rin cannot help herself as she leans across and hugs Asuna, who hugs her back. She hugs the other women who have remained silent during this exchange. They vote the same way Asuna does. The chatter continues, she answers questions from the audience, and after about fifteen minutes, they say goodbye to her.

She is content with what has transpired today. She is beyond content, she is thrilled. She has changed the opinion of a group of influential women on TV, which means she will have changed the opinion of any people who believe the same things they do. That makes her so happy. She is practically skipping as she and Sesshomaru head for his car.

And then everything goes black.