Trophy

Though he was as impassive now as he was at the beginning of her tale, Sesshoumaru was surprised. He had known she was intelligent, knew she possessed a great deal of power and yet the thought that she had the knowledge of youkai had never occurred to him. "Hn. It could have backfired," he said carefully, making sure there was no inflection of his impression in his voice.

"Ha! Trust me, I knew that then just as I know now what I'm telling you could and probably will backfire," she said, turning around now to look him in the eye with a tad bit of dry humor lacing her soft voice. "I don't trust well, Tashio-san. I knew that if he were to take me up on my offer of chase, that if I had not out run him, I would be forever lost. I was very luck that he took my excuse but not the bait. It didn't save me a beating but I survived through the night and at the time; that was all that mattered."

She moved back into the living area and picked up her cup, draining the last few dregs. "I was three years into the marriage before it was finally possible to get away without getting caught. Jirōbō had to leave town for a case, a murder that crossed state lines. It was the chance I had been waiting for, the only chance I would have. I knew that if he found me after that then I would not survive again." Kagome cleared her throat and on a deep breath, turned back into the kitchen to make more tea.

"I was a very good little house wife; home cooked food, spotless home. I handed over every paycheck, every responsibility. He thought he made a trophy wife out of me. I think he forgot that he's the one who taught me how to lie. It wasn't hard to pretend that everything was normal. I waited two hours after he left, after he called me and told me what time he would be back the next day. And then I ran."

o.O.o

Word Count: 355