Title: Tie Me to the Future
Author
: Tsubasa Kya
Disclaimer: Just a crazed fan. Seriously now, this is the fiftyfifth chapter! You should realize this by NOW!


Chapter fiftyfive: The World Of Irony

Kagome shoved Yusuke backward with her arms and he nearly tripped over a stool. She let anger control her movements and words rather than thinking the lie out clearly. She didn't have time to think; right at that moment it was all or nothing, and she wasn't able to take the nothing option. She had to make up an excuse, one that he would believe, and hope against all hope that he would take it at face value.

His eyes were wide and she could practically taste the nervousness that was coming off of him in waves. No one had ever seen this side of Kagome—the side that having Ka as her opposite had kept away from the world. She had sat Inuyasha, true, but she had never really gotten physically violent on anyone. She slapped Miroku for his lechery, but never had it gone beyond that.

Perhaps, she thought ironically, that was why learning to fight and protect herself was so hard? Because she disallowed herself from truly showing her emotions. Because she hid behind a mask. Because she was an actor in a play and the world was her stage; life was her stage.

Shoving him again, this time he ran into the counter. Her eyes swirled with murderous red coloring. Yusuke couldn't find it in himself to fear her after he hit the counter. Here was his little cousin, quite clearly upset, but in his entire life he had never known her to be violent. Sure, she might have been involved in a gang, or a cult, or whatever she was into these days, but he felt no urge to cow to her. Beings such as Toguro had been more frightening, but he had endured that.

"You want to know where I was?" she snarled. "You want to know why I left? Let me see! Where to start?" She had pinned him against the counter, bearing down on him with every ounce of anger in her soul. Her voice was a mere hiss in his ear, her nose just a few inches from his. The eerie coloring of her eyes caught his attention. His eyes were locked on hers.

"How about at the beginning?" he suggested as calmly as he could. He had lived through hell in a near literal sense. Enduring whatever hiss fit his cousin threw at him would be relatively easy in comparison to dealing with the death of Genkai and the break up with Keiko—two major turning points in his rather pathetic excuse for a life.

Two of the far too few people who struck a chord in his heart he had lost and endured. He still had a chance to make things right with Kagome though, and right he would make them. He would not give up on her, no matter if she was in a dangerous gang or cult, or had witnessed murder that he probably should turn her in for, or committed murder which he definitely should turn her in for. Despite all that, he would endure and help her. She did, after all, help everyone else and he knew this. She always had.

"I was fifteen when I was first dragged into an alley." The seed of guilt was planted in her gut at the first sign of the lie, but she knew she couldn't just stop. To stop would mean to be caught in her lie and to destroy all trust, something she had to avoid. "Why was it me? Why did I have to be the one fated to be pulled in? If I knew at the time it would happen, I would never have approached even the entrance. I would have forgotten the damn cat that was in distress and just gone on my merry way."

To make the lie easier, she based the lie off of what had really happened, changing things to fit the situation. For making things up as she went along, she figured she was doing rather well. At the mention of the cat in distress, he seemed to be partially bought already. Saving a distressed kitten was most likely something she would do, he figured.

"And the craziest thing is, Yusuke that I was pulled in because of a marble that I had in my pocket." The marble was the Jewel of Four Souls, but it hadn't been in her pocket. It had been in her flesh, torn out by the centipede. The cat was Buyou, the obese cat who lived at the shrine which Inuyasha so loved to torture. "Then, an angry boy saved my life from my aggressor. From then on, I was officially a part of the so-called gang. Are you satisfied, Yusuke? Does it make you happy?" she all but spat on him.

Yusuke looked at the fiery girl. She certainly was roused up enough that it could be the truth, but why would she so willingly throw it at him? No, there had to be something more than just being in the gang. Something had happened. He thought back to the notebook. If he mentioned it, he could likely drag more out of her, but that meant admitting to reading what was clearly her journal.

With her supposed admission, he did feel a little edgy. There was a murderer in his house. A cold-blooded murderer. Would he be able to sleep? The descriptions of how she had killed those people in the notebook were gruesome. She had ripped a man's heart out of their chest with her bear hands. His Kags had done that.

Did he want to bring up the journal? Was she screening what she said? There was the implied tone in her voice that with a single phone call, her gang would come a-running. Did he want to call her word for a bluff? Did he dare to chance that? Was that Sesshoumaru in the notebook really a dog-demon?

So she wasn't running around with just any gang, then. She was running around with a gang of demons most likely. She was one of the bad guys who he, Yusuke Urameshi, spirit detective to the Underworld, fought against. She was one of the people who would have to be killed. How would he handle that? How could he handle that?

Why, oh why, did things have to come to this, Kags? He wondered silently.

Unbidden, his arms wrapped around her, pulling her close again. He ran his hands through her hair and marveled at the soft silky feel of her long raven tresses. Almost instantly, he had doused her anger. How would he deal with her now and what could he say to her? Did he want to call her word for a bluff? The choices were endless and everything he said would affect his relationship with her.

That, out of everything, made him the most worried. He just wanted to be sure she was taken care of. Perhaps if this gang made her happy, he should help her get back to them? Perhaps if she was willing to take the risk of being against the law, he should allow her to do so?

But what would he do when the time came and he was the one dealing with her because she had stirred up so much trouble? Would he be able to lift the guilt from his shoulders of all those people he would be condemning to death if he released her? What should he do?

How ironic it was that the only person who he thought could give him the answer truthfully was his cousin Kagome… except she was the one who couldn't know of his indecision. Truly the world was filled with irony, and it was now just slapping him in the face with an overly large rainbow trout, begging to be noticed.


Yes, I enjoy all reviews. But a few people's reviews stick out more than others. They deserve recognition. My best friend is top on my list, of course, for her ungodly humorous reviews that make me laugh on my worst and uncraziest days. The others made the list of recognition for continued support and helpfulness through the first 50 chapters! Perhaps in 50 chapters I shall do another list of recognition.

Jesi!
Iridescent Twilight!
Ryukotsusei!
Dark Inu Fan!

Thank you all for your dedication and support, please continue to review even if you did not make the list. I judged on content of the review and how helpful they are, but that doesn't mean I don't like your reviews. Thank you everyone! It's been a crazy ride. Let's make it crazier!

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