"At the time, my brother was in his last year of high school. He was constantly going back and forth from school and home, to work, to cram sessions. He didn't go out often, but it was enough. Jirōbō had pictures; from Souta walking down the shrine steps to walking back up them at the end of the day." Kagome bit her lip and turned away; she wanted to keep something, even the small spurt of fear, to herself. She was already bearing her soul to the Daiyoukai and it was only fair that she kept something for herself.
Once she had control of her emotions again, she took the few small steps to the window and looked outside it. "Jirōbō made it frighteningly clear how easy it was to get to my little brother. As a cop, he could have complete access; as my husband, he would have trust." She pressed her forehead to the clear, cold glass and noticed for the first time that it was dark out and that it was raining. It was fitting, she thought, that the sky cried for her when her own tears were well past spent.
"I tried to be smart about it. I've been trained as a miko and as a minor exterminator; I knew about youkai, about their instincts, their cultures." The cold glass cleared her mind, allowed her to think clearly, emotionlessly and to speak without inflection. "I told him I was worried he was getting bored with our marriage, that I was only trying to make things more interesting, by making him chase me. I repeated what he'd always told me, that I knew he would always find me."
o.O.o
Word Count: 280
