With no ado, here you are:
This Rose of Velvet
Chapter Four: Awaken
Kikyo flipped her passenger seat mirror down and pretending to put on lipstick so she could get a good look at her twin.
She hated Kagome almost to a distraction. She had no idea why, really. Probably something to the effect of feeling less than a person because of her twin, the fact that her twin looked just like her; like she had something stripped away when Kagome formed next to her in the womb.
Kagome seemed oblivious to her injuries. She stared out the window blankly, her dull listless gaze staring at the scenery without taking any of it in.
Her coat was hugged to her front as if to protect herself, and she leaned against the window, taking comfort in the loss of the feeling on her forehead due to the cold. Her lashes fluttered to her cheek slowly, softly, and in that single blink the memories flashed in front of her.
His hands were on her face. He was holding her up.
Shutting her eyes almost desperately, she pleaded mentally. 'Don't let me go, Sesshoumaru. Don't ever let me go.' For she knew that if he did, she would fall. Possibly to never awake again.
Sesshoumaru's hands were soft and gentle, contradictory to his callous demeanor. When she opened her eyes again, their gazes met once more. When she looked into his sweet golden eyes, she wondered at the suddenly-strong emotions she saw there.
A friend, she realized. She had made a friend today.
Finally, a friend.
Kagome hadn't ever had friends. Kikyo had made sure of that much. She relished the feeling, held it to her so she could drink of its noxious scent. Cradling her heart to her breast, the youngest of a series of sisters found herself.
Kikyo glared at the reflection of her sister's serene look. Snapping the mirror up, she folded her arms and contemplated angrily. She wanted to hurt Kagome again.
She wanted to hear her scream.
==
He had done the unthinkable. He had willingly made contact with a weak human female, had put his own hands on her face and... and kept her standing. Frowning, Sesshoumaru wiped his bangs out of his face, only to have them fly down and settle there again. Kept her standing. Of course he had.
He snorted indelicately. 'I would show this weakness to a female who... a spineless female who ignores me most of the time!' Sesshoumaru really had sunk to a new low.
His palms didn't look any different, however. They sure felt different. He glared at his hands.
"You traitors." The clawed fingers waved back at him delicately.
A human school. His father had always told him the benefits of human education, but Sesshoumaru had never truly believed that he would be forced to partake in it. Of course, the humans didn't know he was a Youkai; he didn't go about spouting it, and InuYasha was ashamed to.
InuYasha blinked at his brother, who was currently giving his hands a good, hard glare. He shifted his hands, which were holding a drink, and sipped. "Yo."
Sesshoumaru started and flicked his eyes up to take in the other white- haired boy. "What do you want."
"Depends. Whadda YOU want?"
"The reason I'm forced to put up with the misfortune of being related to you."
InuYasha stopped sucking on his drink and looked into the liquid, frozen in time. Sesshoumaru hadn't made that jab at him in a long time. Why, after that talk a few days ago, InuYasha had almost been hoping... hoping that they could go back...
Screwing up his face in rage and an effort to hold back tears, InuYasha threw the glass on the floor, shattering it against the carpet. "You fucking... fucking pansy!" With that, he ran up the stairs to the sanctuary of his room, and Sesshoumaru looked after him listlessly.
He didn't even get satisfaction from causing his brother emotional pain anymore. What was wrong with him?
"That wasn't nice," rumbled a voice from behind him.
The boy jumped guiltily, and lanced his attention at the doorway. He hadn't noticed the presence of another, so caught up was he in his emotional turmoil. When the voice registered and was recognized, Sesshoumaru stiffened unnaturally and turned.
"What does it matter to you?" he spat with loathing, then followed his brother's lead and ran up to his room.
A middle-aged man with white hair and golden eyes stood there, looking at his eldest with regret. He felt a small, tender hand land on his forearm and turned to face his wife.
Hirano was a petite, pretty woman. She used to be the maid of the house; now she was the mistress of it. InuYasha was her child.
What was worse was that InuYasha was only a year younger than Sesshoumaru, therefore Sesshoumaru undoubtedly knew that his father was having an affair with Hirano while he was married to Sesshoumaru's mother.
His first wife, his first love... what a spitfire she had been. He truly had loved her, whether or not Sesshoumaru believed it. But when she died... he had been relieved, in a way, to be rid of her. She was temperamental much of the time, being a Youkai woman of high breeding.
Hirano was human, and InuTaisho was sure that was the reason for much of Sesshoumaru's fury.
"He will... forgive you, given time," Hirano said, but without conviction. "And me, too."
When she had been the maid, Sesshoumaru had adored her. By accident, he had found out about her hidden child, and, not noting the appearances of the little boy, had played with him often.
When his mother had found out about InuYasha from Sesshoumaru, he didn't know the reason for her sudden rage, and ran away from her. She scared him when she was angry. She had confronted InuTaisho, then run out of the house, her frenzy blinding her to the dangers of the outside.
She had been hit by a truck. She died on impact.
Sesshoumaru had eavesdropped on her final argument with InuTaisho, and understood. Finally.
And he had never forgiven any of them, InuYasha included.
==
"Why hasn't the walk been swept yet?" Fori inquired calmly at the dinner table.
Kagome felt her shakes start up, and bravely quelled them. "It has." Kikyo, no doubt, had sabotaged her work.
"It doesn't look swept."
Kagome felt her courage return to her in one foul swoop, and stood, overturning the chair she had been sitting on. Fori simply blinked in response, looking up at her calmly. Kikyo looked interested. "Maybe that is because Kikyo keeps kicking dirt back on it after I sweep it!"
Her twin gasped in shock. No surprise there; Kagome had never stood up for herself before. Gathering her wits, Kikyo stood and faced Kagome challengingly. "That's a lie!"
"It's not!" Kagome returned readily.
"Enough," Fori interceded smoothly. Kagome deflated visibly. All of her courage left her to return to where ever it hid when she was being whipped. "Kagome, you know it's wrong to tell lies."
Kagome's father simply sat there, staring at nothing. She knew better than to look for him for help, but she did anyway. Manna wasn't here anymore, no hope from her.
Tsuma took out his scroll and started writing, his hand gnarled from the acid marks. His quill scratched on the paper, making Kagome wince. She forced an impassive look on herself.
"For that, and the walkway, I'm afraid you'll have to be Punished."
It was so hard not to shake now. The Punishment had increased in cruelty as time went on. Now, more often than not, it involved hammers and whips with broken glass on the ends. Sometimes, they strapped her to a wall and made her stand for hours.
"Father," she whispered, knowing Tsuma could not hear her. She burst out of her seat and knelt next to him, looking up at his dull eyes. "Father!" Her cry was broken and sad, like a seagull's.
"Kagome!" Fori said sharply, standing and looking, for once, angered.
"Father! Please!" Kagome wept into his lap, then grabbed ahold of his hand and held it to her face, to her tears. "Help me!"
She was wrenched away roughly by her hair. She screamed through gritted teeth at the pain, writhing. Fori dragged her across the room and threw her against the wall. Kagome hit it with her right shoulder, and screamed as her arm disconnected from the socket. She managed a look at her stepmother through her hair.
Fori's perfect hair fell about her shoulders crazily, and her eyebrows came together sharply, creating rough furrows all down her perfect, elegant forehead, distorting her image horribly. Violet eyes held an insane glint as she advanced on Kagome. "This is what happens to bad little girls," she purred menacingly.
Kagome cried brokenly into the carpet until Fori grabbed her by the hair again and dragged her into another room to commence the Punishment.
Kikyo followed eagerly.
Tsuma's hand had stopped writing. His mouth slack and open, he gazed ahead at the wall across from him. His lower jaw trembled as he started hearing his daughter's screams. He had become so used to them, so desensitized, he had forgotten.
His eyes squeezed shut as he remembered Yatsuri. She had loved the children so much... if she could see them now...
No! I won't think on it, he reminded himself. Slouching over his scroll once more, he started writing. He wrote a story.
A happy story, with a happy ending.
And tried to forget that his daughter lay, broken, on the other side of the wall.
The screams fell down into whimpers, and finally, the night was silent, but for the scratching of an old quill on rough paper.
A/N There you go. The rebellion. GASP. Tsuma almost came to! ALMOST! DAMN IT, TSUMA!
This Rose of Velvet
Chapter Four: Awaken
Kikyo flipped her passenger seat mirror down and pretending to put on lipstick so she could get a good look at her twin.
She hated Kagome almost to a distraction. She had no idea why, really. Probably something to the effect of feeling less than a person because of her twin, the fact that her twin looked just like her; like she had something stripped away when Kagome formed next to her in the womb.
Kagome seemed oblivious to her injuries. She stared out the window blankly, her dull listless gaze staring at the scenery without taking any of it in.
Her coat was hugged to her front as if to protect herself, and she leaned against the window, taking comfort in the loss of the feeling on her forehead due to the cold. Her lashes fluttered to her cheek slowly, softly, and in that single blink the memories flashed in front of her.
His hands were on her face. He was holding her up.
Shutting her eyes almost desperately, she pleaded mentally. 'Don't let me go, Sesshoumaru. Don't ever let me go.' For she knew that if he did, she would fall. Possibly to never awake again.
Sesshoumaru's hands were soft and gentle, contradictory to his callous demeanor. When she opened her eyes again, their gazes met once more. When she looked into his sweet golden eyes, she wondered at the suddenly-strong emotions she saw there.
A friend, she realized. She had made a friend today.
Finally, a friend.
Kagome hadn't ever had friends. Kikyo had made sure of that much. She relished the feeling, held it to her so she could drink of its noxious scent. Cradling her heart to her breast, the youngest of a series of sisters found herself.
Kikyo glared at the reflection of her sister's serene look. Snapping the mirror up, she folded her arms and contemplated angrily. She wanted to hurt Kagome again.
She wanted to hear her scream.
==
He had done the unthinkable. He had willingly made contact with a weak human female, had put his own hands on her face and... and kept her standing. Frowning, Sesshoumaru wiped his bangs out of his face, only to have them fly down and settle there again. Kept her standing. Of course he had.
He snorted indelicately. 'I would show this weakness to a female who... a spineless female who ignores me most of the time!' Sesshoumaru really had sunk to a new low.
His palms didn't look any different, however. They sure felt different. He glared at his hands.
"You traitors." The clawed fingers waved back at him delicately.
A human school. His father had always told him the benefits of human education, but Sesshoumaru had never truly believed that he would be forced to partake in it. Of course, the humans didn't know he was a Youkai; he didn't go about spouting it, and InuYasha was ashamed to.
InuYasha blinked at his brother, who was currently giving his hands a good, hard glare. He shifted his hands, which were holding a drink, and sipped. "Yo."
Sesshoumaru started and flicked his eyes up to take in the other white- haired boy. "What do you want."
"Depends. Whadda YOU want?"
"The reason I'm forced to put up with the misfortune of being related to you."
InuYasha stopped sucking on his drink and looked into the liquid, frozen in time. Sesshoumaru hadn't made that jab at him in a long time. Why, after that talk a few days ago, InuYasha had almost been hoping... hoping that they could go back...
Screwing up his face in rage and an effort to hold back tears, InuYasha threw the glass on the floor, shattering it against the carpet. "You fucking... fucking pansy!" With that, he ran up the stairs to the sanctuary of his room, and Sesshoumaru looked after him listlessly.
He didn't even get satisfaction from causing his brother emotional pain anymore. What was wrong with him?
"That wasn't nice," rumbled a voice from behind him.
The boy jumped guiltily, and lanced his attention at the doorway. He hadn't noticed the presence of another, so caught up was he in his emotional turmoil. When the voice registered and was recognized, Sesshoumaru stiffened unnaturally and turned.
"What does it matter to you?" he spat with loathing, then followed his brother's lead and ran up to his room.
A middle-aged man with white hair and golden eyes stood there, looking at his eldest with regret. He felt a small, tender hand land on his forearm and turned to face his wife.
Hirano was a petite, pretty woman. She used to be the maid of the house; now she was the mistress of it. InuYasha was her child.
What was worse was that InuYasha was only a year younger than Sesshoumaru, therefore Sesshoumaru undoubtedly knew that his father was having an affair with Hirano while he was married to Sesshoumaru's mother.
His first wife, his first love... what a spitfire she had been. He truly had loved her, whether or not Sesshoumaru believed it. But when she died... he had been relieved, in a way, to be rid of her. She was temperamental much of the time, being a Youkai woman of high breeding.
Hirano was human, and InuTaisho was sure that was the reason for much of Sesshoumaru's fury.
"He will... forgive you, given time," Hirano said, but without conviction. "And me, too."
When she had been the maid, Sesshoumaru had adored her. By accident, he had found out about her hidden child, and, not noting the appearances of the little boy, had played with him often.
When his mother had found out about InuYasha from Sesshoumaru, he didn't know the reason for her sudden rage, and ran away from her. She scared him when she was angry. She had confronted InuTaisho, then run out of the house, her frenzy blinding her to the dangers of the outside.
She had been hit by a truck. She died on impact.
Sesshoumaru had eavesdropped on her final argument with InuTaisho, and understood. Finally.
And he had never forgiven any of them, InuYasha included.
==
"Why hasn't the walk been swept yet?" Fori inquired calmly at the dinner table.
Kagome felt her shakes start up, and bravely quelled them. "It has." Kikyo, no doubt, had sabotaged her work.
"It doesn't look swept."
Kagome felt her courage return to her in one foul swoop, and stood, overturning the chair she had been sitting on. Fori simply blinked in response, looking up at her calmly. Kikyo looked interested. "Maybe that is because Kikyo keeps kicking dirt back on it after I sweep it!"
Her twin gasped in shock. No surprise there; Kagome had never stood up for herself before. Gathering her wits, Kikyo stood and faced Kagome challengingly. "That's a lie!"
"It's not!" Kagome returned readily.
"Enough," Fori interceded smoothly. Kagome deflated visibly. All of her courage left her to return to where ever it hid when she was being whipped. "Kagome, you know it's wrong to tell lies."
Kagome's father simply sat there, staring at nothing. She knew better than to look for him for help, but she did anyway. Manna wasn't here anymore, no hope from her.
Tsuma took out his scroll and started writing, his hand gnarled from the acid marks. His quill scratched on the paper, making Kagome wince. She forced an impassive look on herself.
"For that, and the walkway, I'm afraid you'll have to be Punished."
It was so hard not to shake now. The Punishment had increased in cruelty as time went on. Now, more often than not, it involved hammers and whips with broken glass on the ends. Sometimes, they strapped her to a wall and made her stand for hours.
"Father," she whispered, knowing Tsuma could not hear her. She burst out of her seat and knelt next to him, looking up at his dull eyes. "Father!" Her cry was broken and sad, like a seagull's.
"Kagome!" Fori said sharply, standing and looking, for once, angered.
"Father! Please!" Kagome wept into his lap, then grabbed ahold of his hand and held it to her face, to her tears. "Help me!"
She was wrenched away roughly by her hair. She screamed through gritted teeth at the pain, writhing. Fori dragged her across the room and threw her against the wall. Kagome hit it with her right shoulder, and screamed as her arm disconnected from the socket. She managed a look at her stepmother through her hair.
Fori's perfect hair fell about her shoulders crazily, and her eyebrows came together sharply, creating rough furrows all down her perfect, elegant forehead, distorting her image horribly. Violet eyes held an insane glint as she advanced on Kagome. "This is what happens to bad little girls," she purred menacingly.
Kagome cried brokenly into the carpet until Fori grabbed her by the hair again and dragged her into another room to commence the Punishment.
Kikyo followed eagerly.
Tsuma's hand had stopped writing. His mouth slack and open, he gazed ahead at the wall across from him. His lower jaw trembled as he started hearing his daughter's screams. He had become so used to them, so desensitized, he had forgotten.
His eyes squeezed shut as he remembered Yatsuri. She had loved the children so much... if she could see them now...
No! I won't think on it, he reminded himself. Slouching over his scroll once more, he started writing. He wrote a story.
A happy story, with a happy ending.
And tried to forget that his daughter lay, broken, on the other side of the wall.
The screams fell down into whimpers, and finally, the night was silent, but for the scratching of an old quill on rough paper.
A/N There you go. The rebellion. GASP. Tsuma almost came to! ALMOST! DAMN IT, TSUMA!