This Rose of Velvet
Chapter Six: The Lines are Drawn
"Can I talk to you?" InuYasha's timid voice drifted into Sesshoumaru's room, and his eyes narrowed.
"Yes. Come in," he commanded brusquely.
"I heard you went to visit weir-- uhm, Kagome in the hospital today..."
"Yes."
InuYasha flinched as if struck. Folding and unfolding his hands rhythmically, he tried again. "That you skipped school and--"
"What do you want, InuYasha?"
The younger brother gazed into the glistening white hair of the elder. Mustering up what little courage he had when facing Sesshoumaru, InuYasha spewed the horrible inquiry out as fast as he could. "Are you going to help her?"
There was a dreadful pause. Sesshoumaru put down his pencil with great deliberation, staring at the wall ahead of him. "...Yes."
Something, most likely his last reservations, broke inside InuYasha. "Why? She's just a weirdo... If people find out about it, they could get deported... or put in prison, or... or... " Unable to get anything else out, InuYasha looked at his hands. "Kikyo said she was a whore... that she always stole her friends." He spoke quietly now, obviously unsure.
"Kikyo lied."
"She wouldn't!" InuYasha yelled, before he could help it. "She doesn't lie! You don't even KNOW her..."
"I know what she does to Kagome."
"Kikyo says she deserves it."
"Kikyo's a liar."
Clenching his fists, InuYasha took a step into the room, only to be confronted with an up-close of Sesshoumaru as he towered over him. Swallowing, InuYasha looked up at the face of his elder brother. "Kikyo said that--"
"Kikyo said, Kikyo said!" Sesshoumaru mimicked spitefully, snarling. "I don't give a shit what sort of infallible pearls of wisdom you're rowdy little bitch is spouting off! Kagome is in the hospital with bruises covering seventy percent of her body, and scratches lacing them all together like she's some sort of fucking doily! Her kneecaps are broken! Her kneecaps!" Sesshoumaru stepped forward, jamming his finger into InuYasha chest.
InuYasha, scared shitless, matched Sesshoumaru's steps with his own, backwards.
"Her shoulder was dislocated and she has a black eye. What's worse is, when you tried to rape her they beat her, as well!"
"It wasn't rape! Kikyo said--"
Losing control, Sesshoumaru felt his hand pull upwards, resting at his ear for a split second before backhanding InuYasha down the hall. InuYasha flew considerably, smashing into a vase and mirror at the end. His feet were velvet night on the carpeting as Sesshoumaru followed fluidly.
Stopping before his brother, Sesshoumaru leaned down and picked him up by the collar. InuYasha squirmed mildly, but was, for the most part, knocked unconscious.
He pulled InuYasha close to his face, his lips pulled back to reveal long, deadly fangs. "Kikyo is a liar and a slut. Side with her, brother, and I will kill you."
Dropped roughly on the shattered mirror, InuYasha watched his brother flow down the hall and into his room, his hair whispering slightly behind him as he moved. His tail had reappeared in his rage, and was wrapped about his shoulder haughtily.
===
Fori and Kikyo whisked into the hospital, an air of entitlement surrounding them like a dense fog. They were recognized and ushered immediately to Kagome's room.
Kagome was sleeping. But not for long.
Fori waited for the nurse to leave. She was obviously staying longer than she needed, and it took a rather pointed glare to remove her presence. When she had left, closing the door respectfully behind her, Fori strode the few feet to Kagome bed and grabbed her around the neck, hauling her upwards and into consciousness.
Kagome let out a strangled cry as her stepmother's hands closed on her bruises. Struggling feebly, a mewling cry escaped her throat.
"Don't think I don't know what you're up to, seducing that miserable Sesshoumaru Hizunuma!" the usually impeccable blonde gritted out. "If you think he'll come crying to your side, you've got another thing coming, you miserable waste of air!"
Fear created white dots all over Kagome's vision as she attempted to grasp at Fori's knuckles. Breath was becoming scarce.
Throwing her down onto her hospital bed disgustedly, Fori paced. Returning to the bedside, she leaned in and pointed a finger into Kagome's face, her dangerously manicured nails inches from Kagome's nose. "If you spill one iota of lies about your sister and me... if you tell anybody, or do anything I forbid, I will kill your father."
Kagome's eyes widened in horror, and Fori cackled. "Yes, I'll kill him! Then I'll kill Manna. And no matter what you believe about me and my power-- " she gently brushed the pads of her fingers against Kagome's cheek, with something almost resembling tenderness. "-- I can do as I threaten."
Kikyo leaned against the wall furthest from Kagome, and wasn't wearing the expected smirk. Instead, she looked worriedly out the window, her countenance troubled. "If you get us deported, Worthless... if you get us deported, I will strangle you dead," she intoned, inflection lost in her voice as she chopped out the words, even as always.
"Believe her, Kagome," Fori murmured smugly, confident.
With that, both women walked out, their heels clicking down the hallway contemptuously. Freed to breath once more, Kagome fell back into the depths of her pillows, sobs strangling her oxygen-greedy throat. Feeling tears run down her face but too weak to wipe them away, she wept herself asleep.
For Kagome did believe. She believed both of them.
===
The phone rang four or five times before she gave in and picked up. "Hello?"
"Sango."
Surprised, Sango looked into the receiver curiously, wondering at the solemn tone in his voice. "What is it, Miroku?" The words came out rougher than she intended, but it didn't matter. "I'm not dating you. Ever!" she added, her anger coming back to her in a wave.
"I'm not calling to ask for a date. I'm calling to ask for a lawyer."
They had met at a multi-campus party a few years ago, when Miroku had been training for a career in education and Sango a career in law. Suspicious about his motives, Sango closed her refrigerator door, food forgotten, and leaned against it. "What for?"
"There's a girl in my class. She's thirteen, in the eighth grade. She comes to school almost every morning covered in bruises, and recently she's been hospitalized. I have information a-plenty. I suspect severe domestic abuse." He paused. "On the first day of school, her twin sister came in and demanded she sharpen her pencils. I didn't think too much of it until I heard the students talking about her.
"Sango, you have to help me help her."
Biting her lip, Sango paused. She stood straight and looked about for something to help her make a decision. Breathing deep to calm herself for what came next, she spoke. "Shall we meet at the café?"
The relief was apparent in his voice. "In twenty minutes, I'll be there."
"See you then."
She held the phone for a bit longer than normal as she pondered over what he'd told her. If they could get other students to testify, the case would be a strong one, even if it was based on gossip. The bruises themselves would make much of the deciding factor.
Hanging up, she emptied her can of cola and walked down the hall to grab her jacket.
===
"Sesshoumaru!"
He raised his head as he heard his name. The voice was his father's. The tone: angry.
Without knocking, InuTaisho burst into the room, his face red with rage. "What did you do to your brother?"
"He's not my brother," Sesshoumaru stated calmly.
In a few short strides, they were abreast of each other. InuTaisho grabbed Sesshoumaru by the shoulder, squeezing it uncomfortably as his gaze bored into his son's. "Why did you do it?"
"There's a girl at school named Kagome," Sesshoumaru said breezily, and InuTaisho stared, wondering what the hell this had to do with anything.
Trusting his son to get to the point, he nodded.
"She gets beaten by her stepmother and her twin sister. Almost every day. She comes to school bruised and cut by whiplashes. This morning she was hospitalized, with bruises covering a good portion of her body and bones broken. She was put on life support for hours before they trusted her lungs well enough to work on their own again."
Impatient, InuTaisho broke in. "What does that have to do with InuYasha?"
"He's dating her twin."
InuTaisho felt his lungs stop for a split second, wondering if InuYasha knew about this Kagome's predicament. "That's not a good reason to hurt your brother."
"No, it's not. The fact that he's sticking up for his bitch of a girlfriend is, as far as I'm concerned," Sesshoumaru added pointedly, his glare matching his father's. The hands on his shoulders tightened their grip momentarily before falling away completely. "He actually thinks Kagome is the one in the wrong. I'm trying to help her and he's getting in my way.
"That aside, I have something to ask of you."
Numbed by the onslaught information, InuTaisho just nodded.
"Kagome is my friend. I want you to help her."
InuTaisho felt his insides go a bit cold at that. He had been involved with the Yakuza before, and Sesshoumaru obviously thought he could pull some strings about his friend's situation. Yes, he was powerful, but only in the business world. "What's her stepmother's name?"
"Fori. Fori Higurashi."
"What?!"
Startled, Sesshoumaru looked up at his father's face. InuTaisho's mouth had gone slack in surprise, his eyes widened a bit. "What is it?"
"Fori... Fori Higurashi is..."
"She's what?" Sesshoumaru was almost yelling by this point. "Fori Higurashi is what?" A sense of foreboding niggled at the base of his ribcage, and he breathed deep to dislodge it. The breath calming him considerably, he grabbed InuTaisho's large shoulders and looked up into his eyes. "What is it?"
"She's... She is Youkai. And not only that... but she's become terribly powerful. Underground. They say she's using her husband's powerful name to elevate her to a high status in the Yakuza. Some are calling her the Black Queen. She had killed off her husband's first wife, Yatsuri Higurashi, a renowned Youkai slayer. And..."
It could get worse? Sesshoumaru wondered numbly. He then wondered if he was so far gone into a sense of unfeeling to actually feel amusement over the irony. "And?"
"I'll tell you later. We have to get downtown now."
===
Tsuma gazed at his scroll contentedly. He had created a perfect story about a princess and a prince, who lived a wonderful life in a beautiful castle surrounded by a forest in eternal spring. The princess gave birth to three children, two of them twin girls.
They had lived happily ever after.
===
Kagome had a momentous decision to make, and her insides were jell-o when she thought of the consequences of either choice.
Protect father.
Or protect herself.
IA/N. Christ. FORI'S A FRIGGIN' MANIAC! SHE KILLED YATSURI! Wake up, Tsuma!
Chapter Six: The Lines are Drawn
"Can I talk to you?" InuYasha's timid voice drifted into Sesshoumaru's room, and his eyes narrowed.
"Yes. Come in," he commanded brusquely.
"I heard you went to visit weir-- uhm, Kagome in the hospital today..."
"Yes."
InuYasha flinched as if struck. Folding and unfolding his hands rhythmically, he tried again. "That you skipped school and--"
"What do you want, InuYasha?"
The younger brother gazed into the glistening white hair of the elder. Mustering up what little courage he had when facing Sesshoumaru, InuYasha spewed the horrible inquiry out as fast as he could. "Are you going to help her?"
There was a dreadful pause. Sesshoumaru put down his pencil with great deliberation, staring at the wall ahead of him. "...Yes."
Something, most likely his last reservations, broke inside InuYasha. "Why? She's just a weirdo... If people find out about it, they could get deported... or put in prison, or... or... " Unable to get anything else out, InuYasha looked at his hands. "Kikyo said she was a whore... that she always stole her friends." He spoke quietly now, obviously unsure.
"Kikyo lied."
"She wouldn't!" InuYasha yelled, before he could help it. "She doesn't lie! You don't even KNOW her..."
"I know what she does to Kagome."
"Kikyo says she deserves it."
"Kikyo's a liar."
Clenching his fists, InuYasha took a step into the room, only to be confronted with an up-close of Sesshoumaru as he towered over him. Swallowing, InuYasha looked up at the face of his elder brother. "Kikyo said that--"
"Kikyo said, Kikyo said!" Sesshoumaru mimicked spitefully, snarling. "I don't give a shit what sort of infallible pearls of wisdom you're rowdy little bitch is spouting off! Kagome is in the hospital with bruises covering seventy percent of her body, and scratches lacing them all together like she's some sort of fucking doily! Her kneecaps are broken! Her kneecaps!" Sesshoumaru stepped forward, jamming his finger into InuYasha chest.
InuYasha, scared shitless, matched Sesshoumaru's steps with his own, backwards.
"Her shoulder was dislocated and she has a black eye. What's worse is, when you tried to rape her they beat her, as well!"
"It wasn't rape! Kikyo said--"
Losing control, Sesshoumaru felt his hand pull upwards, resting at his ear for a split second before backhanding InuYasha down the hall. InuYasha flew considerably, smashing into a vase and mirror at the end. His feet were velvet night on the carpeting as Sesshoumaru followed fluidly.
Stopping before his brother, Sesshoumaru leaned down and picked him up by the collar. InuYasha squirmed mildly, but was, for the most part, knocked unconscious.
He pulled InuYasha close to his face, his lips pulled back to reveal long, deadly fangs. "Kikyo is a liar and a slut. Side with her, brother, and I will kill you."
Dropped roughly on the shattered mirror, InuYasha watched his brother flow down the hall and into his room, his hair whispering slightly behind him as he moved. His tail had reappeared in his rage, and was wrapped about his shoulder haughtily.
===
Fori and Kikyo whisked into the hospital, an air of entitlement surrounding them like a dense fog. They were recognized and ushered immediately to Kagome's room.
Kagome was sleeping. But not for long.
Fori waited for the nurse to leave. She was obviously staying longer than she needed, and it took a rather pointed glare to remove her presence. When she had left, closing the door respectfully behind her, Fori strode the few feet to Kagome bed and grabbed her around the neck, hauling her upwards and into consciousness.
Kagome let out a strangled cry as her stepmother's hands closed on her bruises. Struggling feebly, a mewling cry escaped her throat.
"Don't think I don't know what you're up to, seducing that miserable Sesshoumaru Hizunuma!" the usually impeccable blonde gritted out. "If you think he'll come crying to your side, you've got another thing coming, you miserable waste of air!"
Fear created white dots all over Kagome's vision as she attempted to grasp at Fori's knuckles. Breath was becoming scarce.
Throwing her down onto her hospital bed disgustedly, Fori paced. Returning to the bedside, she leaned in and pointed a finger into Kagome's face, her dangerously manicured nails inches from Kagome's nose. "If you spill one iota of lies about your sister and me... if you tell anybody, or do anything I forbid, I will kill your father."
Kagome's eyes widened in horror, and Fori cackled. "Yes, I'll kill him! Then I'll kill Manna. And no matter what you believe about me and my power-- " she gently brushed the pads of her fingers against Kagome's cheek, with something almost resembling tenderness. "-- I can do as I threaten."
Kikyo leaned against the wall furthest from Kagome, and wasn't wearing the expected smirk. Instead, she looked worriedly out the window, her countenance troubled. "If you get us deported, Worthless... if you get us deported, I will strangle you dead," she intoned, inflection lost in her voice as she chopped out the words, even as always.
"Believe her, Kagome," Fori murmured smugly, confident.
With that, both women walked out, their heels clicking down the hallway contemptuously. Freed to breath once more, Kagome fell back into the depths of her pillows, sobs strangling her oxygen-greedy throat. Feeling tears run down her face but too weak to wipe them away, she wept herself asleep.
For Kagome did believe. She believed both of them.
===
The phone rang four or five times before she gave in and picked up. "Hello?"
"Sango."
Surprised, Sango looked into the receiver curiously, wondering at the solemn tone in his voice. "What is it, Miroku?" The words came out rougher than she intended, but it didn't matter. "I'm not dating you. Ever!" she added, her anger coming back to her in a wave.
"I'm not calling to ask for a date. I'm calling to ask for a lawyer."
They had met at a multi-campus party a few years ago, when Miroku had been training for a career in education and Sango a career in law. Suspicious about his motives, Sango closed her refrigerator door, food forgotten, and leaned against it. "What for?"
"There's a girl in my class. She's thirteen, in the eighth grade. She comes to school almost every morning covered in bruises, and recently she's been hospitalized. I have information a-plenty. I suspect severe domestic abuse." He paused. "On the first day of school, her twin sister came in and demanded she sharpen her pencils. I didn't think too much of it until I heard the students talking about her.
"Sango, you have to help me help her."
Biting her lip, Sango paused. She stood straight and looked about for something to help her make a decision. Breathing deep to calm herself for what came next, she spoke. "Shall we meet at the café?"
The relief was apparent in his voice. "In twenty minutes, I'll be there."
"See you then."
She held the phone for a bit longer than normal as she pondered over what he'd told her. If they could get other students to testify, the case would be a strong one, even if it was based on gossip. The bruises themselves would make much of the deciding factor.
Hanging up, she emptied her can of cola and walked down the hall to grab her jacket.
===
"Sesshoumaru!"
He raised his head as he heard his name. The voice was his father's. The tone: angry.
Without knocking, InuTaisho burst into the room, his face red with rage. "What did you do to your brother?"
"He's not my brother," Sesshoumaru stated calmly.
In a few short strides, they were abreast of each other. InuTaisho grabbed Sesshoumaru by the shoulder, squeezing it uncomfortably as his gaze bored into his son's. "Why did you do it?"
"There's a girl at school named Kagome," Sesshoumaru said breezily, and InuTaisho stared, wondering what the hell this had to do with anything.
Trusting his son to get to the point, he nodded.
"She gets beaten by her stepmother and her twin sister. Almost every day. She comes to school bruised and cut by whiplashes. This morning she was hospitalized, with bruises covering a good portion of her body and bones broken. She was put on life support for hours before they trusted her lungs well enough to work on their own again."
Impatient, InuTaisho broke in. "What does that have to do with InuYasha?"
"He's dating her twin."
InuTaisho felt his lungs stop for a split second, wondering if InuYasha knew about this Kagome's predicament. "That's not a good reason to hurt your brother."
"No, it's not. The fact that he's sticking up for his bitch of a girlfriend is, as far as I'm concerned," Sesshoumaru added pointedly, his glare matching his father's. The hands on his shoulders tightened their grip momentarily before falling away completely. "He actually thinks Kagome is the one in the wrong. I'm trying to help her and he's getting in my way.
"That aside, I have something to ask of you."
Numbed by the onslaught information, InuTaisho just nodded.
"Kagome is my friend. I want you to help her."
InuTaisho felt his insides go a bit cold at that. He had been involved with the Yakuza before, and Sesshoumaru obviously thought he could pull some strings about his friend's situation. Yes, he was powerful, but only in the business world. "What's her stepmother's name?"
"Fori. Fori Higurashi."
"What?!"
Startled, Sesshoumaru looked up at his father's face. InuTaisho's mouth had gone slack in surprise, his eyes widened a bit. "What is it?"
"Fori... Fori Higurashi is..."
"She's what?" Sesshoumaru was almost yelling by this point. "Fori Higurashi is what?" A sense of foreboding niggled at the base of his ribcage, and he breathed deep to dislodge it. The breath calming him considerably, he grabbed InuTaisho's large shoulders and looked up into his eyes. "What is it?"
"She's... She is Youkai. And not only that... but she's become terribly powerful. Underground. They say she's using her husband's powerful name to elevate her to a high status in the Yakuza. Some are calling her the Black Queen. She had killed off her husband's first wife, Yatsuri Higurashi, a renowned Youkai slayer. And..."
It could get worse? Sesshoumaru wondered numbly. He then wondered if he was so far gone into a sense of unfeeling to actually feel amusement over the irony. "And?"
"I'll tell you later. We have to get downtown now."
===
Tsuma gazed at his scroll contentedly. He had created a perfect story about a princess and a prince, who lived a wonderful life in a beautiful castle surrounded by a forest in eternal spring. The princess gave birth to three children, two of them twin girls.
They had lived happily ever after.
===
Kagome had a momentous decision to make, and her insides were jell-o when she thought of the consequences of either choice.
Protect father.
Or protect herself.
IA/N. Christ. FORI'S A FRIGGIN' MANIAC! SHE KILLED YATSURI! Wake up, Tsuma!