Preview from last chapter:
"I love seeing them together," he thought, stepping into the Higurashi household silently, "it makes me so happy to know that Ookami-sama has found such happiness. I only wish I didn't have to eavesdrop on a scene like that."
Walking into the living room, Tora looked at Kagome and Inu-Yasha, both of them still asleep as well. Mrs. Higurashi, Kagome's grandfather, and Sota had all come home quite a while ago, and it seemed traffic had been horrible. They had all whispered how cute the couple on couch were, and asked where Leota was, but Tora had said nothing about his Ookami-sama's whereabouts. He was slightly envious of his friends, for all of them had partners except for him.
"Oh well, my happiness comes from seeing them happy and that's good enough for me." He thought, changing into his tiger form and curling up on the carpet behind the couch.
It would be very interesting to see the reaction the couple on the couch had when they woke next to each other the next morning, for at least this time the wolf and the tiger had nothing to do with it.
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Chapter Fourteen:
Getting Reacquainted
Tora, Kagome, and Inu-Yasha were all awoken by the sound of a slamming door.
"Where is she?" Came Kouga's voice, the wolf himself coming into view soon after wearing nothing but the blanket Tora had left and carrying his and Venita's clothing.
"Where's who?" Kagome asked sleepily.
"My bitch," he replied angrily, "I want to know where my mate is! Tell me now!"
The tiger, miko, and hanyou looked at him as though he were crazy.
"I don't know where she is." Tora said, changing to his human form.
"Me either." Kagome answered as she shook her head.
"Don't look at me." Inu-Yasha said, holding his hands up as though to defend himself.
Kouga sighed in what sounded like defeat, "I can't find her anywhere. I woke up this morning and she was gone. Her clothes were still there, but she was gone. I've looked all over the place, and I can't even catch a scent."
All three were startled. If Kouga couldn't find the elusive wolf woman...
"There's something wrong," Tora said, ignoring Kouga's look that said he'd be pummeled into the ground for saying something so obvious, "Ookami-sama doesn't get up and walk away without telling someone first. Did you find any notes?"
"No.Not a one."
"Was there anything different about the place you.... slept in?" Tora asked, trying to be careful about his word selection.
Kouga thought for a moment, "Just one thing. There was a symbol on a tree that hadn't been there last night. It looked like a snake."
Tora's eyes went wide at the information Kouga shared, "A snake?"
"Hai," Kouga nodded, looking at the tiger suspiciously, "you seem to know of it. Tell me."
Gulping, Tora looked at Kagome and Inu-Yasha, who had fixed their own gazes upon him as well, "All right, all right. All I can tell you for certain is that the symbol of the snake has always been associated with… with uh……"
"With?" Inu-Yasha prompted, holding up his clawed hand as Kouga bared his teeth.
"The snake has only ever been claimed by," Tora faltered once again, hating to have to say the cursed name, "Master Xavier."
Silence followed the name of Tora and Venita's former master and tormentor. Kouga's eyes had widened and his skin had paled. Kagome's mouth hung open in surprise, and Inu-Yasha was shaking his head in disbelief.
"Are you sure it wasn't a subordinate? A minion, perhaps?" Kagome asked after recovering her voice.
"No. The only one allowed to use the brand of the snake was Master Xavier himself. He had the only set of snake brands, which he used to mark houses of future targets, or brand lesser slaves. Higher slaves, like Sama-sama, myself, and the other eight assassins that make up the top ten, were branded with the 'X' upon our right hands."
"But Venita-san said Xavier was dead," Inu-Yasha said as he tried to be the voice of reason, "she said so."
"Ah, but what the wolf says and what she knows are two different things." Came a sly voice from somewhere within Kagome's house.
Already having targeted the source of the noise, Tora grabbed a dagger from his belt and threw it where he believed the head of the intruder to be.
A ripping of cloth was heard and soon a dark-clothed man appeared in front of all of them, holding Tora's weapon, "A fine aim you have."
"Thank you, I manage to get a little practice in every-now-and-then. All depends on whether or not Ookami-sama beats me to the draw or not. And besides, you're pretty damn lucky she isn't here right now. She aims to kill; I don't."
"Then indeed lucky I am," the figure said as he pulled back the cloth that covered his hair and mouth, "my name is Tatsukichi, and I am but a messenger from Master Xavier to you."
Tora shook his head, "That's impossible. Master Xavier died years ago, and you're just a lesser slave, at that. You bear the symbol of the snake upon your neck."
"Hn, I would rather have this snake burned onto every inch of my skin than go through what your dear wolf must bear."
Before Tatsukichi could blink, Kouga had pinned him facedown onto the floor, "Explain yourself! What have you done with my Koishii?"
"Me? I have done nothing. All I did was deliver your dear wolf to the Master."
"I'm telling you Master Xavier is dead!" Tora yelled, "I saw Ookami-sama kill him! I watched as his head rolled from his shoulders onto the ground and down the sewer! I saw it all, damn you!"
"Fool!" Tatsukichi spat, "If you think Master Xavier could be killed so easily, then you do not deserve to be one of his higher slaves! Your dear 'Ookami-sama' killed a subordinate, a look alike to the Master. Master Xavier himself was spending a long-earned vacation in Hawaii at that time!"
"Hawaii...?" Tora breathed, not believing a word he was hearing.
It seemed Inu-Yasha didn't believe any of it either, "Bullshit! I don't care who this Xavier thinks he is, but nobody is gonna have Venita-san but us... well, Kouga. But you know what I mean!"
"Do you really believe that? Master Xavier lost his precious wolf once; he won't lose her again. She's under lock and key," Tatsukichi laughed, "in more ways than one."
Tora thought for a few moments, "Where do you stand in Master Xavier's line-up? How many drive-bys have you been on? How many group assignments have you had? How many solo jobs you got under your belt, eh?"
"Heh, that's quite a list of questions you got. I don't know where I stand with the Master, but I've been on twelve drive-bys, twenty-three group assignments, and I haven't gotten a solo yet," Tatsukichi answered, watching Tora's serious face break into a smile along with hysterical laughter, "what's so funny?!"
"You can get off of him, Kouga-sama," Tora said, laughing so hard that tears fell from his eyes of jade, "he's no threat to any of us! Hell, even Shippo could beat this guy!"
Kouga, Inu-Yasha, and Kagome quirked eyebrows at Tora, believing he'd finally fallen off his rocker.
"Mind explaining yourself?" Inu-Yasha asked.
Trying to calm himself enough where his speech was comprehensible, Tora said, "Master Xavier doesn't care about this guy. How old are you, Kichi?"
"My name is Tatsukichi!"
Tora dismissed him with a wave of his hand, "Just answer the question, Kichi, how old are 'ya?"
Growling, Tatsukichi replied, "Twenty-one."
This caused Tora to laugh yet again, "This is too funny! Hell, I'm nineteen and Sama-sama's seventeen!"
"So what?"
"From where I stand, I don't think you're in any position to make any demands of me," Tora smirked, "I've been on four drive-bys, I been on two group assignments, and I've gotten one hundred ninety-two solos."
"Big deal! Master Xavier's..."
"If you think Master Xavier has ever dirtied his own hands, then you're on fuckin' cocaine!" Tora yelled, his eyes pulsing with anger, "How much do you really know about Ookami-sama, huh? How much do you know about her?"
Tatsukichi and everyone else in the room cringed at Tora's tone. He never yelled like this, and most certainly didn't cuss, either.
"Listen, all I know is that I delivered her to Master Xavier's hands, told him what she'd been doing before I captured her to explain why she was sweating and naked, and then I went to my quarters, all right? That's all I know!"
Tora was nothing short of seething at the end of Tatsukichi's exclamation, "Now you listen: when I was stolen by Master Xavier, I was twelve and she was ten. I later learned that she had been there for four years already, and was soon to be turning eleven and also going to be going after Hakura, Takeda, the number one assassin at that time.
"After she'd killed Mr. Hakura, Sama-sama returned and killed Master Xavier by way of decapitation, which you disagree with, and packed her things. Before she left, however, Sama-sama freed as many slaves as she could, myself among them. I asked if she would allow me to come with her, which she did, and we've been together ever since. I asked her questions, none of them she ever answered until about five hours later when I wasn't expecting it. She told me that she'd never been on a drive-by, only one group assignment, and after seeing her great marksmanship, Master Xavier appointed her to forever go solo, until I came and she had to train me as best she could."
Once again, silence followed Tora's words. Kouga released Tatsukichi with a scowl and stood looking out the window. Inu-Yasha glared at the human on the floor, disgusted by his answers and intrigued in Tora's past. Kagome went up to Tatsukichi and kicked him in the side, not knowing what else to do in her anger. Tora sat on the arm of a chair, keeping a close watch on the older, yet inexperienced man.
Returning from the window, Kouga stood next to Tora, "Tell me, Human, where is this Xavier and how may I get my koishii back?"
"I thought I made myself clear," Tatsukichi said as he sat up and rubbed his neck, "you can't get her back. Once in the Master's hands, she won't be released for a good long time. I doubt you'll ever see her again."
This, of course, was the wrong thing to say to the already-angry wolf demon, "I don't care what you think! I will get her back! Even if I die trying, I will hold her in my arms again!"
Looking away, Tatsukichi decided being quiet was the best way to go if he wanted to keep his life.
"Yo, Kichi," Tora said, nudging the man with his foot, "look at me."
Tatsukichi did as he was told, not wanting anyone to get even angrier with him, "Hai? Whaddya want?"
"I just wanna tell you something, all right? I know Master Xavier doesn't care about you, so I also know he won't come looking for you, which then means holding you hostage is pointless; however, I'm gonna let you know that if I catch you so much as looking for a way outta here, I'll hang you by your balls from a streetlamp where everyone can see you. Got it?"
Gulping, Tatsukichi nodded, his eyes wide, "Y-Y-Yes, Tora-sama."
"Good," Tora said, looking over at Kouga, "do you see that guy over there with the dark hair? The one who asked you where his koishii was?"
"Hai."
"His name's Kouga, and if he doesn't see his woman in the next hour, he's gonna do one of two things: one, he'll go into a coma and try to bring her back; two, he'll go crazy and beat the shit out of you until you promise to show him where she is. Understand?"
Tatsukichi didn't trust himself to speak. He nodded his understanding as he curled into a ball on the floor.
"What do I do? These people are nutcases! That girl included!" Tatsukichi thought, a memory striking him at his mind's mentioning the word 'nutcase', "Oh, I just remembered something."
"What's that?" Inu-Yasha asked angrily, "The place you wanna be buried?"
"Now, now, Inu-Yasha-san, let's listen to what he has to say; perchance it's important." Tora said in Tatsukichi's defense, very interested in what could have made the young man want to speak after the tiger's threat.
"I have a message for the one named Kouga, if he wishes to hear it."
Kouga didn't turn from the window he'd returned to, "Depends on who it's from."
"It's from Leota-dono." Tatsukichi said softly, remembering to add '-dono' to try and get on the wolf's good side.
Immediately Kouga turned around, and within two steps he was towering over the frightened man on the floor, "What did she say?"
"M-M-Master Xavier had told me to come here, and once she heard that, s-she told me to give you a message. Leota-dono told me to tell you this: 'You! I want you to tell my Kouga-kun something, got it? Tell him: Norquiodam, arn tao mera urena ne urela Otama'. That's all she said, and I don't even know if I pronounced that right."
Knowing he'd heard all of those words before, Kouga looked to Kagome.
"She said all of that except the last word before she smacked you. And then Lunia-san said that 'Otama' meant 'dearest' or 'beloved', and was used very sparingly. Which means she told you, 'No matter what, you are still my one and only beloved'."
"I-I-I know, Kagome-san. I r-remember now," Kouga said, mentally growling at himself to stop the tears from forming in his eyes; he focused his attention on the messenger, "you will tell me where she is. Whether it's before or after Tora-san strings you up on that streetlamp doesn't matter to me. All I care about is knowing where she is and how I can save her."
"That's the thing, though," Tatsukichi said, trying not to anger the dark-haired one again, "she also said for none of you to come after her. She didn't want any of you getting hurt, or worse, captured."
Closing his eyes and telling himself not to tear the throat out of the youth before him, Kouga walked off, going outside and heading towards the place he and his love had shared the previous night.
"Poor guy," Kagome said once Kouga's footsteps couldn't be heard, "he must really feel horrible about not hearing this guy coming to take Ota-chan away. I know I would, too, and I hope he doesn't do anything drastic."
Inu-Yasha, who had been silent since his retort, glanced at Kagome out of the corner of his bang-covered eyes, "I wonder how I would react if something like this happened to Kagome or Kikyo? Dying is one thing, but being kidnapped and knowing that she was alive would be unbearable. If they were both taken, who would I choose to save if I could only bring one back with me? Who would I save from the undeniable torture the other would have to go through?"
His decision finally made Inu-Yasha also went outside, found the God Tree, and hopped onto one of its lower branches so Kagome could see him if she came out looking for him.
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Kouga sat on a fallen log, trying to catch the scent of the woman he loved; however no matter how hard he tried, all he could smell was their lovemaking from the night before.
"I won't let you suffer alone any longer than you have to, Koishii," he thought, clenching his hands into fists, "everything you see I will see, and if you try to close it off, I'll make sure to glance in the window of every pastry shop I walk by."
Through the link he and his mate had made seemingly months before, Kouga felt a smile. It was a small one, but still there nonetheless. Determined to latch onto the aura he could feel, Kouga wasn't too surprised to discover that Venita's aura was being suppressed by an outside force, meaning that she was trapped in her human body just as she had been before breaking free of Lunia's curse.
Suddenly, Kouga heard a whistling sound, followed by a loud crack. The sound vibrated in his sound-sensitive ears, and he knew that his mate, called Leota in her human form, was in a prison-type cell if sounds could echo. The sound that disturbed him most, however, was the feminine yell he heard following the cracking of the whip.
"That's only number seven, Chan-chan," a cruel masculine voice said with a tone of amusement, "if you're making noise now, I wonder just how loud you'll be after ninety-three more? You've been a bad girl, Chan-chan, and I intend to make you realize just how much you have displeased me after being gone for all these years."
Startled when the whip struck again, Kouga held on tightly to the link as he jumped in the air a few inches, "Koishii? Koishii I want you to know that I'll come for you, I swear it! However if my efforts prove futile, I want you to know that I'll bring you here. Please, Koishii, know that I'm with you whenever you need me, and don't be afraid to let me know how you're feeling."
"N-N-No, Kun-kun, I can't let you go through it."
"Why not?! I won't let you go through this alone! Please, let me help you!"
There was a long pause as three cracks of the whip were heard all in a row, "It hurts, Koishii, it hurts a lot. I-I-I can't see anymore…… everything's blending together…"
"Chan-chan? Leota-chan? Answer me!" Kouga yelled, begging for her to say something, anything.
"Hm," came the voice of the man Kouga guessed was Xavier, "seems she's passed out already. She's grown weak over these years, but we'll help her with that, won't we? Take her to her room and bring her down here the instant she wakes so that we can continue her punishment. For passing out, make the total two hundred!"
Nothing short of horrified, the link Kouga had slipped away from him, leaving him to faint just as Leota had.
Above him, Inu-Yasha shook his head, not even able to imagine what sorts of things Kouga was seeing and hearing, "I just hope Leota-san comes out of this okay. I'd hate for something like this to change her. Kouga'd be heartbroken if she suddenly refused him. I've gotta think of a way to make him feel better about all of this... but, how?"
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((December 19, 2004)) A/N: Yahoo! Another chapter finished! I'm so happy, how about you? Many thanks to all of you who have review, keep it up, all right? ;-)
Thank you!
Ookami-chan
