A/N: My life hates me and it is a conspiracy.


Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Inuyasha. I'll like to use him as a pillow though.






Behind the Masquerade

Venality






"You're actually doing something nice?" she questioned incredulously as she whipped slow, lazy swipes with her fan. Instead of a light shower outside, it was almost a monsoon here, considering how the kingdom was situated in high elevations. A lethargic crimson gaze glimpsed as her master performed the required enchantment to bring his desired prey back.


"It isn't something 'nice' when you have an ulterior intention, Kagura," he answered back coolly, waving a hand over the dead body as he recited an incomprehensible mantra under his breath.


"You're bringing the dead back to life? Wouldn't that make her an empty shell without a soul?" the minion continued asking, curiosity killing the cat. After all, her master would hardly help anyone out, especially one who was dead.


"She is gone, but she isn't dead. Now go outside and wait with Kanna, will you? Your lack of understanding irritates me." He shot the wind youkai an icy glare under his lashes before his concentration remained with the body.


Kagura narrowed her eyes and turned around to stalk out the door. So, she didn't understand what he had said or why he was helping out a girl who most likely considered him her enemy, but did that give him a right to treat her like an extra load? She supposed she was an extra load, but the bastard really needed to learn some respect for her. She was the one who did his dirty work.


"Whatever you say, Naraku…"



*~*~*



"Why did she keep all these useless things…" Sango picked up another item in Kagome's drawer: a stash of expired…something. She twitched her nose a bit as she dropped the old piece of food back into the darkest corners of the drawer. Closing that one, she opened another drawer and found that this one held more promising items.


Sango smiled as she picked up the mask her cousin had worn to the masquerade ball Kagome had told her about. How she wished she had been there.



***



"I met this one guy at the masquerade ball last night…he was nice. He never told me his name though," Kagome muttered on top of the horse as they traveled towards the Komiya kingdom. A bashful smile appeared on her lips and she directed it over to Sango. "I liked his eyes…they were beautiful."


Sango smiled too as she looked over at Kagome, watching the girl drift off in her thoughts. This was interesting. Was Kagome crushing on some boy she didn't even know? "What color were they?"


Kagome looked troubled there, as she lifted a finger up to her lips in thought. "I forgot…that's strange."


"You forgot the color of the guy's eyes in a day?"


Kagome frowned and stuck her tongue out at Sango. "It's not my fault! I went to sleep and you know…information just sometimes disappears when you're sleeping. What's so important about remembering the eye color of a man? I was beat anyway…" Kagome grinned as she took out a piece of jewelry from the folds of her kimono. "This necklace belongs to him. I think he dropped it when we were talking in the garden."


Sango wiggled her eyebrows suggestively as she eyed the dangling necklace Kagome was holding. "Talking in the garden, eh? Are you sure that's the only thing you both did?"


Kagome looked horrified before shooting Sango an angry glare. "I only met him! He had an attitude problem at first too! Why would I kiss someone like that?" To Sango, it looked like she was only mad to hide her embarrassment.


"Didn't you just say he was nice?"


Kagome blushed a bit, putting the male jewelry back into her folds. "Yea…he was nice to me…later. He talked to me and I realized he was almost similar to me. We both wanted something more than the average royalty life."


"Would you fall in love with someone like him then?" Sango glanced calmly at Kagome from the corner of her eyes, waiting for an answer. These two sounded like they would be perfect for one another.


Kagome laughed out loud at the thought. "Perhaps…only if I knew him. How could I say I could fall in love with the guy if I hardly knew him? But if given the time to get to know the guy, maybe I would give him a try…who knows? I don't want another man who was a lie underneath."


Sango thought about Naraku and grimaced inwardly. That man had always been a conniving and manipulative asshole for even playing with Kagome's feelings like that. If Sango was given the power, she would make sure Kagome was matched with a guy who loved her perfectly and would yield to her every desire. That was the least her cousin deserved. "Hey…who knows. Maybe you'll meet your prince again someday."


Kagome shook her head. "The world is a big, cruel place. Fate has a strange way of deciding who we end up with…I'll rather never meet him again. It saves a lot of trouble."


***


Sango smiled a bit as she put the mask gently back into the drawer. She spotted something else familiar and lightly picked up the necklace Kagome had told her about. She ran her fingers through the beads with them feeling cool to her touch. She lifted it up to her eye level and gazed at the shiny white fang-like teeth weaved between the teeth. They were rather fascinating and she closely examined each identical one in turn.


But during this, something soon caught her attention and she widened her eyes. "What the…?"


Narrowing her eyes, Sango realized that there was kanji engraved almost imperceptibly into one of the teeth, spelling out a word. She stared at it for a moment, trying to read the small kanji before whispering the word out breathlessly, "…Ikari…?" Sango frowned slightly. Why would a word like that be engraved upon a necklace?


She was interrupted from her scrutiny though. "Sango…what are you still doing in Kagome's room?" a voice asked by the doorway and Sango dropped the beads to the ground as she whirled around to face Miroku, whose eyes were wide open when he saw the necklace.


Sango looked away as she answered monotonously, "Just looking through her memories…"


Miroku seemed to have lost interest in his own question however, and he only asked, "Why are you holding Inuyasha's necklace?" He moved his gaze from the necklace to Sango, who looked as confused and bewildered as a lost lamb at his words.


"What are you talking about?" she questioned, not comprehending what Miroku meant by Inuyasha's necklace. This wasn't Inuyasha's necklace…It was the guy at the masquerade's necklace. Unless Inuyasha had the same exact necklace as the masquerade guy's necklace…


Miroku nodded subconsciously. "That's Inuyasha's necklace."


Sango shook her head. "Are you sure?!" She was sure this was the same exact collar Kagome had shown her that one day on the horse. If Miroku was sure this was Inuyasha's necklace, and she was sure this was the masquerade's necklace, then Inuyasha and the masquerade guy would have to be the same person. That was absolutely absur----Wait…oh no.


Sango turned her own gaze to the necklace as she picked it up and held it out towards Miroku. "This is Inuyasha's necklace?" she whispered in a weak voice while everything started hitting her like a ton of bricks as she put one and two together.


"Yea…he thought he had lost it at the masquerade or on the beach or something. How'd you get it? Don't tell me you were the girl he met at the masquerade…"


Sango shook her head defiantly as her own eyes widened, enlightenment shining through and uncovering the ironic lie. "Of course not!" She searched her mind for an answer that wouldn't sound suspicious. It wouldn't do any good for Inuyasha's cousin to find out about this…secret, if it was indeed true. "I…umm…found it on the beach the other day…" Oh yea, great, Sango…at the place Inuyasha thought he had lost it. Things are never where you think they are…


"Oh." Miroku's tense posture lightened a bit and he smiled slightly at her. "I personally thought he lost it at the masquerade we attended at the…" He stopped, wondering whether Kagome's surname would affect Sango or not. He decided to continue anyway when she stared coolly up at him. "---Higurashi kingdom…because I don't remember him wearing it on the ride home. It was probably my imagination."


She bit her lower lip in thought. "Yes…your imagination…" Sango mumbled, her attention now on the necklace instead of the lecher. This was utterly ludicrous…Sango had never known a situation more ironic…


After that little exchange, silence stretched throughout the room as Sango lowered the beads to her lap and stared up at Miroku, who stared back at her. His eyes seemed to say something to her, but she refused his consolation. She didn't need his shoulder to cry on anymore and least of all, she didn't want to understand why she had cried on him.


"So…you okay?" he asked, taking a step towards her.


She instantly frowned a bit and that caused him to stop in his strides and keep his distance. She gazed down at the ground and her clenched fists, as she gritted out, "I'm fine…"


Miroku continued to look down at her, disbelief clearly etched on his expressions. She was pretending again…did she really think he would believe such a lie? "You've been in Kagome's room all day…looking through her stuff…sitting for hours staring off into space…you even skipped lunch, Sango. I don't think that's fine."


"What does it have to do with you?" she hissed, fingers clenching deeper into her palm. "What do you know? You don't even know me, houshi. Stop acting like you do."


"But I do know you, Sango," he answered back, taking two steps towards her and causing her to whirl her head up to glare darkly at him and his words. "I know you more than you think…"


"You don't know the first thing about me…"


Miroku stared gravely at her. "Oh? And what is that?"


She gnashed her teeth together hard, almost causing them to chip as she said the next words. "I don't love anyone other than my family…"


He gazed intensely at her, the words burning deep into his mind. "Why is that?" he asked carefully, realizing what she was getting to. She was lying to herself.


"Loving someone other than family is overrated. People marry because they're in 'love' but can you truly say it isn't lust? 'Beauty is only skin deep.' Then why do men marry the beautiful women, even if there are others with better personalities out there, albeit not the perfect face? Lust, houshi. Love is the essence of lust." She turned her face away, refusing to meet his skeptical eyes.


"And are you afraid to love because you believe loving someone is only lusting after them?" he shot back, the wheels turning faster in his mind. "Or…is it something else?"


She seethed below her calm façade. He was accusing her of being afraid? "I'm not afraid. To me, it's survival. I don't need the tears…I don't need the heartbreak. I've seen it happen with Kagome, and I don't need to see it happen to myself."


He frowned, passion igniting his words as he answered, "You can say it's survival, Sango. You can deny your fear of loving someone. But you know that deep down inside, it's only because you're afraid of the consequences in love. You're afraid of getting hurt. You're afraid that once you depend on someone, they'll only leave you…"


"That's not true!" Sango raised her voice, angry magenta eyes locking onto passionate violet orbs. "I'm not afraid of getting hurt. But loving someone does have its consequences as you say, and look what happened to Kagome. This is why I hurt. I'm not afraid of it, I just don't want it. The more people I allow myself to so call 'love,' the faster they'll go away. But that's love for a family. I've seen the consequence of loving one who's not blood-related…I just don't need it."


" 'You don't need it' 'You don't want it' That's fear, isn't it?"


"It isn't, houshi! It isn't…"


Miroku stopped, watching as the girl looked perplexed to the point of anger at his accusing words. He knew she was only denying everything. She was fearful of love itself, and she didn't want it so much, she actually made herself believe it didn't exist and was only another form of lust.


There was another uncomfortable silence as Sango looked down hard at the ground, biting onto her lower lip as she fought the feelings and accusations overwhelming her.


"Leave me alone," she managed out, lifting a finger and pointing to the doorway. "You could never understand what love is anyway…you only lust."


He narrowed his eyes at her, catching his own breath as her words repeated in his head. He only lusted…? "How can you say I never loved anyone…taijiya."


Sango's eyes widened considerably as she snapped her wide-eyed gaze to the houshi, wondering if she had heard him right. For the first time in her life, had Miroku called her…taijiya? Instead of Sango…had she called him by her title instead of her name? …Just like she had been doing with him? Why did that seem to hurt?


He smiled bitterly at her befuddled appearance, turning around and taking slow strides towards the door. "You don't know me either. Everyone has their masks…and yours is hiding the fact that you're afraid of love..." He turned around to send her one last lingering gaze, trying to force his emotions over to her in that one single look. "…You're afraid of loving me."


He walked out, disappearing from the door as she listened to his sandals click down the corridor. Her heart was beating at an outrageous rate and she lifted a hand to her heart to stop its wild pounding, as the words he had just said resounded in her skull.


You're afraid of loving me…


Loving me…


"You're wrong, houshi. You're wrong," she whispered repeatedly, clenching the material of her kimono as she slowly closed her eyes. "I'm not afraid…Miroku…" A strange rock had suddenly lodged itself in her throat as she fought to push it down, biting her lower lip.


"I'm not afraid…" she repeated once more, trying to believe her own words.


"…I'm terrified."


*~*~*


"So…Kanna…why is Naraku trying to bring a person back from the dead?" Kagura asked casually as she leaned against the wall, clicking her fan closed and staring at her technically older sister, who was standing against the opposite wall with her usual mirror.


Kanna raised her head to stare at Kagura, not moving from her place. "Kagome…isn't dead."


Kagura lifted an interested eyebrow. "Of course she's dead. She was battered up so much her body is broken. Along with that, a sword had been run through her stomach, and she isn't breathing. That all concocts the fact that she is a dead person." Kagura ignored the rough howls of wind outside the castle as it blew leaves, dust and almost rocks around in a fanatical typhoon. It seemed to be only a small cry of the wind from inside the castle and a deadly calm silence was covering the corridor Kanna and she currently inhabited.


"Her soul hasn't left her body…the pall-bearers have not come for it…she is holding illogically upon it…Naraku will bring her back before her soul gives up to death…" Kanna explained in sentences divided by short silences. Her ebony gaze looked to the wall Kagura was leaning against, as if she could see what was happening behind it. "And he will make sure she stays alive by tying his life upon hers…"


Kagura frowned instantly. "Tying his life upon hers? Why would he do that?"


Kanna took one step forwards as she slipped her glance back to Kagura. "Her body and everything else other than her soul has died…she needs a supplier to keep her life force going. Naraku will keep her heart beating when her soul reenters its shell."


"Bloody bastard. He'll just probably use her to his advantage then." Kagura snorted in a rather unladylike way as she snapped her fan back open to cool her face. Naraku was so irrational at times. For instance, he had wanted to kill both the wolf and the dog demon army at the Battle of the High Plains in order to exterminate any defense between the jewel and he. Stupid asshole used too much energy and had to spend a good time recuperating in his little hole only to find out later when he was cured that they had all been revived somehow. So much for his plans to assault the kingdom without an army guarding it.


So then, the bastard had visited the wolf kingdom and somehow convinced the king to attack the dog demons and relayed all the battle strategy they needed. The wolves were as rash as the dogs in battle, so with the brains and intellect of Naraku, the man was sure they would achieve victory. Who would have counted on Inuyasha busting out the full youkai blood and murdering all the ambushers and causing most to retreat? So without the dog demons vanquished the road between the jewel and Naraku was still blocked with obstacles.


Kagura rolled her eyes.


She rather wished he would just go rush the kingdom and take the damn thing by himself, but Kagura guessed that when King Komiya was provoked, even he would be a formidable enemy in his full youkai form. Naraku, being a half youkai (although he tried to hide that fact), would be no match against the complete fury of King Komiya.


So how did the little worm want to get his grubby little hands on the jewel? By sending out his little one woman force called Kagome and swiping the Shikon no Tama from under their noses. It must have seemed perfect in his mind, but Kagura wondered whether he comprehended the fact that Kagome might have actually resisted his demand and died during the whole ordeal with the wolves.


Hence now, Naraku was trying to bring his little manipulated fool back into the dangerous game of betrayal and send her out in another attempt to snatch the jewel when everyone trusted her with their lives. Poor fools. They were all just digging their own graves, making it deeper and deeper and falling into a web of lies and deceit. Naraku was such a scheming bastard…


Kanna looked up at Kagura as she relayed more information to her younger sister. "Naraku instructed us that when her soul returns to her body, we are to take care of her wounds for five days…then send her back for her mission."


Kagura hid her exasperation behind a calm mask at the additional bad news. "Whatever." She frowned internally though.


Now she was being forced to babysit?


Great.


*~*~*


She looked around, wondering where the exit was. So she hadn't become a lost soul, but the black cloud had wrapped around her and healed her of her wounds. Then it had conveniently dumped her in the middle of some place where all she saw was black and patches of white. It didn't look much different from the last place she was in because she still didn't know who she was, what was happening and why she wasn't dead or a lost soul.


"Hello?" she called out timidly as her voice echoed into the darkness. There was no reply and she frowned, wondering if this was where she truly went after she remembered too much. As if readying herself for an impact, she whispered, "Inuyasha…" and shut her eyes tight, waiting for the pain to hit her.


Nothing happened.


"What the…" she said out loud as she looked at her body, seeing no blood splattered against her kimono, no pain hitting her like a cyclone, or any type of horrible occurrence. "What's happening…?"


"Hello Kagome."


She whirled around at the name, remembering that people had called her that in her memories. She came face to face with an older man, who looked---she couldn't deny---beautiful, but only in a dark sense. Reflexes kicked in and she took a step away from him, regarding the man with a questioning glare. "Who are you?" she whispered, trying to find a name in her thoughts to fit with the person.


"You forgot me already, hun?" he asked tauntingly, a grin escaping onto his lips. "Well, I suppose you're holding so pitifully onto life that forgetting me can be overlooked. How does the taste of death fit you?"


She was still reproachful as she answered slowly, "Death is…" She stopped to find the right word, "…cruel."


"Life is crueler," he answered back as he continued observing her with a nonchalant gaze on his face. "Life causes the pain in death."


She frowned, although she didn't correct him. She wasn't even sure how to correct him because in a sense, he was right. Life was the pain prior to death. But his words seemed wrong to her.


"Do you want to continue your life?" A shadowy glint appeared in his eyes as he took one step towards the girl. "Do you want a second chance to continue from where you left off in a rush?"


Her frown deepened as she considered his words. "No mortal can acquire a second chance in life. I'm dead, whoever you are. I don't wish to be a zombie or roam the earth as a lost soul. I remember bits and pieces of my time…the people…but the pain overrides all other emotions." She took one step back.


"Does it supersede your feelings for a certain boy?" Naraku challenged, his grin turning into a wide smirk. "Is Inuyasha less important than your pain?"


At the name, Kagome took in a sharp breath as tiny, miniscule memories returned to her once more. She could almost feel a warm set of hands on her waist as she glided around on the ground, her dress swaying and a bright smile on her face…


Inuyasha…


"I don't know," she answered blandly.


A whiplash of smoke circled around Naraku and he instantly changed into the form and shape of the hanyou. Kagome recoiled in something close to agony as the place where her heart was supposed to be, slowly pulled. His golden eyes captured hers and she had to keep looking at them as she clenched her fists in her kimono folds.


"Inuyasha…" she whispered breathlessly, although deep down, she knew it was only the man in disguise. Her feelings were slowly tricking her though.


"Do you miss him?" Even his voice sounded like the hanyou's. "You know, dear, it's sad how you choose your men. They all turn out to be evil or out of your reach, don't they?" Naraku changed back into his real form as he viewed Kagome lift a hand up to cover her eyes. "I'm sorry to say, but your preferences of men suck."


"Who are you?" Kagome questioned forcibly, putting her hand down and glowering at the man. "Why do you all make me remember these things? I'm supposed to be dead."


Naraku shrugged casually as he took a few more steps towards the girl. "Your usefulness in life hasn't expired yet. I now offer you your second chance in life. Give or take."


She regarded him with a doubtful gaze. "What's the catch?"


"Oh nothing really." He shrugged again. "But in order to keep your body and soul together, I have to bind you with my life force. You know, only as a medium. When I die, you die. However, don't worry, hun, I don't die easily."


"So you're saying I'll be connected to you?"


"You have been connected to me."


Kagome narrowed my eyes. "Who are you…? What's my relationship with you?" she questioned, searching through her mind again to find a name to associate with the person. Who the hell was this weirdo?


"You really have forgotten about me? And I thought I had impacted you enough for you to remember me in death. I guess not? You prefer to think about your little hanyou…" He smirked at her constant frown. "Naraku…ring a bell anywhere?" At her blank look, he sighed in mock depression. "Just say I'm an old…friend…of yours."


"Really now?" she enunciated the sentence slowly, suspicion clearly on her expressions. "An old friend?"


Naraku smiled wickedly. "A good old friend."


She stared at him for a moment, and gently pondered what kind of person she had been to have had a 'friend' like him. By the looks of this Naraku guy, he wasn't even capable of being good, much less been a friend of hers. But, what did she have to lose? He was offering her another chance to live…another chance to set things right. He was giving her the alluring opportunity to remember, rather than forget. Could she pass something up like this?


"So the only catch to this whole deal is that my life force will be connected to you…and nothing else?"


Naraku mentally smirked as he chose his next words carefully. "Oh…along with retrieving a certain thing that belongs to me…or some people close to you die. Understand, I don't want to do this, but it's only a necessity."


Kagome bit her lower lips as she contemplated her options once more, half listening to his previous statement. Either she accepted this deal from someone who claimed to have been an old friend of hers, or she succumbed to death. It was a hard choice. She had to choose between life or death…


Naraku grew impatient at the time she took to think over the obvious choice. He didn't have that much power to contact with the half dead for an extended period, and she was wasting his precious time. "So, hun, do you accept this renewed deal or not?"


The word 'renewed' escaped Kagome's thoughts and she stared at Naraku's eyes as she slowly answered, "Yes…I accept."


Naraku cackled like the gleeful bastard he was. He snapped his fingers as he said, "Then it's sealed."


Kagome shuddered when she heard the noise and secretly wondered whether she had chosen the right option or not. Then remembering his previous words as a wind slowly picked up around her feet, Kagome gasped and struggled to say, "What do you mean people close to me will die if I don't retrieve something for you!?"


Naraku only shrugged as he watched the winds twirl themselves around Soul Kagome. "I'll only say it once again…it's a necessity."


Kagome opened her mouth to shoot something back, but the winds wrapped themselves around her form and disappeared before she could utter anything. Naraku only lifted an eyebrow as he remembered the look of horror on the girl's face before she vanished. He smirked more and twirled his cloak around himself, evaporating into smoke.


"Death would have been a safer choice…now life will only get harder for you, Kagome dear…"













A/N: I guess you all are wondering why my life hates me. I've just been having a lot of personal problems and breakdowns…I'm a bit unstable as some of my friends have noticed. But, I'm managing. ^_^ Sorry about the late update…and well, wait for the next chapter. In answer to some questions, no, Behind the Masquerade isn't ending soon.