Oh wow guys, I'm so sorry. But I had come down with the biggest case of writers block I have ever known for this story. I seriously didn't even know who else to have it focus on besides Sess, Rin, and Yura. And I never knew this story would be so hard to write. But I suppose have multiple storylines, an actual time scale, and the story itself being dark and twisted would kind of kill me after awhile. Well, hopefully I have recovered from writers block for a little while. But sadly this chapter is a little shorter than the recent chapters have been. For that I'm sorry, but at least there's a chapter…right?
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The Reluctant Gladiators
Chapter 14: Emotion Overload
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September 24, 2004; 3:00 AM
20 Students Remain
The moment Yura pounced and began to bring her hammer down in the direction of Sesshoumaru's head a loud rustling in the bushes behind her prey sounded. Fuck, she cursed to herself, immediately dropping to the ground and hiding the hammer behind her back. She had done it not a moment too soon for Sesshoumaru's eyes snapped open.
The first thing Sesshoumaru saw upon waking was an absolutely livid Yura. Without even thinking he grabbed his shotgun from where it had been leaning against his shoulder and pointed it directly at Yura. His finger rested on the trigger and he and Yura silently challenged one another.
Rin had been daydreaming peacefully when the rustling was heard. She jumped and when she turned to Sesshoumaru she saw him with his shotgun almost thrust in Yura's face and his finger itching to pull the trigger. Yura's face was impassive, not even an ounce of fear showed. Rin rushed to Sesshoumaru and grabbed his arm.
"Sess! What are you doing?" she demanded angrily.
Sesshoumaru ignored her anger. "What does it look like? I wake up and I see her practically in my face. And I'll bet you that her intentions weren't pure."
Time to put my acting to the test again. Let's see if I can again fool the stupid girl. Yura let out a shaky sigh. "I'm sorry Sesshoumaru, I didn't mean to frighten you. But I heard some rustling which woke me up and I was going to wake you," she said earnestly.
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes distrustfully at the girl. "So tell me Yura, how exactly did you plan on waking me up?" he remarked snidely. "By bashing my head in? Stealing my gun and shooting me? Or perhaps just strangling me with your pack's straps?"
Fuck you Sesshoumaru thought Yura savagely. Just you wait. When I finally kill you you'll see who's the better one.
Rin couldn't contain her anger and frustration at the situation any longer. "Enough!" she cried while jumping to her feet. "Will you just stop it Sess? Ever since Yura's joined us you've been nothing but hostile to her. I'm getting tired of it. Just, stop it. Stop being so damn paranoid." Rin stood between Sesshoumaru and Yura and glared down at Sesshoumaru with an anger that had never been directed at him before.
It hurt. Sesshoumaru defeatedly dropped his shotgun to the ground. He bowed his head under Rin's anger and stared at the ground. "I'm sorry Rin," he said softly.
Yura smirked. She had won. Rin had successfully protected her against Sesshoumaru. Stupid pathetic girl. You have no idea what you've just done. But don't worry, you'll realize it soon enough.
Kneeling in front of Sesshoumaru Rin spoke softly. "I'm sorry I got so angry but you have to understand. We don't need senseless tension. This situation is horrible enough without distrusting those who should be trusted."
Sesshoumaru nodded. You don't get it Rin. Yura is the fuckin enemy. What will it take to get you to realize that? Physically seeing her attempting to kill one of us? I'll always protect you but it's so much harder to protect from within than without.
Another, this time louder and closer, rustling was heard. Sesshoumaru jumped to his feet and pointed the shotgun in the direction the sound was heard. A moment later some bushes were parted and out walked another student.
Jaken couldn't believe his luck. He had found his idol. It was too good to be true. He dropped to his knees in relief. "Sesshoumaru!" he said in an awestruck voice. "I've found you! I can't believe I've found you! You're still alive!"
Sesshoumaru looked at the practically groveling kid in contempt. He had always been annoyed with his coach for making Jaken his own personal assistant. He couldn't understand why the coach would torture him so much. Jaken never left him alone. It was always 'Sesshoumaru! You look thirsty! Here, have some water!' or 'Sesshoumaru! You're all sweaty, here's a nice cool towel!' but the worse by far was 'Sesshoumaru! Please give me the honor of washing your uniform for you!' Sesshoumaru groaned under his breath. This was the one person he hoped to never cross paths with on this island.
Jaken stared up at Sesshoumaru, admiration clearly shown in his eyes. Then he switched his gaze to Rin and his eyes clearly darkened. Shit, that damn brat is still alive. I would have thought Sesshoumaru would have realized by now that she is nothing but a hindrance. No matter, I will correct that problem soon enough.
"What are you doing here Jaken?" asked Sesshoumaru tightly.
"Sesshoumaru! Are you not happy to see me? I am loyal to you!"
Damn you Coach.
Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes. "Swell," he remarked sarcastically. "Is that supposed to make me happy or something?"
Rin jabbed Sesshoumaru in the side with her elbow. She looked at him expectantly.
Sesshoumaru couldn't help the growl of frustration from sounding in his throat. "I am happy you're safe. Would you like to join us?" he asked with absolutely zero emotion in his voice. It sounded like a robot had taken over his body for a few seconds.
Jaken looked like someone had just told him he had won the lottery. "Sesshoumaru! You have made me so happy!"
Yura eyed the bumbling kid with a calculating gaze. She couldn't perceive him being much of a threat to her, or anyone for that matter. Just another enemy for her to kill. Sesshoumaru still had to be the first to go, but once he fell the other two would be easy.
Sesshoumaru didn't like it one bit. Now not only did he have to keep an eye on Yura without Rin getting mad at him he also had to put with the most annoying kid in existence. "What weapon did you get Jaken?" he asked, not really caring what the answer was. With Jaken's tendency to trip over his feet any weapon in his hands would be a bigger threat to himself than anyone around him.
"I got an axe Sesshoumaru!" said Jaken brightly, holding up said weapon with a flourish. The first thought that crossed his mind was slamming it into Rin's face.
Sesshoumaru suddenly grew interested in Jaken. It wasn't the weapon that brought about this newfound interest but rather Jaken's face. When he had held up the axe a flicker of some darker emotion crossed his face for a split second. Sesshoumaru couldn't tell if it was anger, hate, or simply a thirst for blood, but in any case he didn't like it. Fuck it all, now I've got to keep an eye on this damn kid as well. Something's not right in his mind. Yura and Jaken, who is actually the most dangerous? Shit, this situation grew from bad to worse. This is not good.
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"Kouga, where the fuck are you leading us?" growled Hakkaku, pushing his pack's strap into a more comfortable position on his shoulder. His friend had been practically jogging ever since they left Ginta's body. And so Hakkaku had been forced to keep up. And unlike his friend Hakkaku was not a long distance runner. He knew Kouga could jog for hours and it wouldn't even bother him. It was quite unnatural how much Kouga enjoyed running.
Hakkaku on the other hand was ready to collapse. In fact, he was done. Hakkaku slowed to a stop and immediately bent over, grasping his knees with his hands. He started coughing in an attempt to catch his breath. Surprisingly Kouga heard his friend and came back to join him.
"You all right?" asked Kouga, breathing heavily. He didn't know why but he just felt like he had to run. Once he left Ginta's body he couldn't just walk, somehow it felt wrong to him. Like he wasn't trying hard enough to find Kagura. He had wanted to run but for Hakkaku's benefit he had slowed it to a job. And it looked like even that was too much for his friend.
"Fuck Kouga," gasped Hakkaku. "You really know how to wear me down." Hakkaku finally gave up his silent battle and flopped to the ground. His knees felt like jelly.
"But I was going slow for you," grinned Kouga, not able to resist the thought of teasing his friend.
"You're a fuckin lunatic," groaned Hakkaku. "Something seriously had to be wrong with you."
"Thanks man," replied Kouga. "You're an awesome friend too." Kouga held out his hand for Hakkaku. His friend looked at him like he was insane.
"No way. No fuckin way. We are not going farther tonight."
Kouga grinned. "Relax, we'll rest now so the weakling can recover his strength. But I'd much rather rest in a more secluded area."
Hakkaku looked around and realized Kouga was right. They were in a pretty open area. Reaching into his pack he pulled out his map. "Where do you think we are? F7? F8? All I know is that we've been going west and we're not in hills anymore."
Kouga crouched down and peered over his friend's shoulder. "Let's go to the doctor's office. We'll be able to rest there reasonably safe."
"Sounds good to me," said Hakkaku while pulling out his compass. He fiddled around with it for a bit before pointing off in one direction. "That way. And with luck we'll see it really soon."
Jumping to his feet Kouga nodded in agreement. Once Hakkaku had put everything away he grabbed his friend's outstretched hand and hauled him to his feet.
"Ugh, I think I could sleep for a whole fuckin day and still be tired," complained Hakkaku.
"Poor baby," said Kouga in an overly exaggerated sympathetic voice.
"Asshole," grumbled Hakkaku before trudging off in the direction he had earlier pointed. "And if you even think of running I swear I'll make it so you can never run again," threatened Hakkaku dangerously without even looking at Kouga.
Kouga chuckled and quickly caught up to his friend. They walked together side by side in silence. They were both on lookout for anything that could be perceived as dangerous but the only sounds they heard were a few crickets.
Hakkaku breathed a sigh of relief when 30 minutes later he saw a building in the distance. He unconsciously sped up and the two friends reached it ten minutes later.
"I never thought I'd be so happy to see a doctor's office," said Hakkaku while opening the door.
"Same here," agreed Kouga as he stepped into the building and looked around. He wasn't surprised to find himself in the waiting room. A few comfortable looking chairs lined the walls and a coffee table was strewn with a collection of magazines. A receptionist's desk was along the back wall with a door leading to the back room behind it. A small TV in one corner completed the standard waiting room look.
Kouga took a few steps further inside when his arm was grabbed by Hakkaku. He looked at his friend questionably.
Hakkaku pointed to the floor with his free hand. "Look," he whispered.
Kouga looked. And immediately tensed up. Dirt was imbedded in the short carpet; the outline of a footprint could plainly be seen.
"You think they're still here?" asked Hakkaku softly.
Kouga shrugged his shoulders. He gripped Ginta's butcher knife tighter and walked towards the back door, Hakkaku a few paces behind him. Each of them stood on one side of the door. At a signal from Kouga Hakkaku reached out and turned the doorknob. He pushed the door open and quickly retracted his hand.
When neither heard anything Kouga chanced a look into the room. He relaxed immediately when no one greeted him. The room was empty. But he could tell that a student had occupied it at one time.
Hakkaku entered the room and couldn't prevent the gasp from escaping his lips. Drops and smears of blood were on the floor, at some points a bloody footprint could be seen when the person had most likely unknowingly walked through the spilt blood. The chair that was in the middle of the room was where most of the blood was centered.
"Oh shit," mumbled Hakkaku as he took in the scene in front of him. "Wonder which poor classmate was killed here."
Kouga had been investigating the room but stopped when he heard Hakkaku. "You think someone was murdered here?" he asked incredulously.
"Look at all the blood. What else could it be?"
Shaking his head Kouga said, "No, when you really look at it it's not really all that much blood. Like someone was injured. Not killed though."
Hakkaku sighed in relief. "So perhaps the person escaped before the other one could finish the job."
"Why are you bent on it being bad?" asked Kouga. "To me it looks like someone was injured. A friend brought them here and bandaged them up."
"What makes you think that?"
Kouga nodded his head in the direction of the trashcan. "If someone was trying to kill the other why would they worry about wearing gloves and throwing their trash away? And there's no sign of a struggle. Wouldn't you think if two people were fighting there would be a mess in here? But there isn't. Nothing turned over, nothing on the floor. One of our classmates was injured but luckily they had a friend with them."
Kouga suddenly grew silent. Ginta had two friends with him but that didn't matter at all. Ginta died just as easily as he would have if he had died alone. He suddenly reached out and grabbed a jar of cotton balls that was sitting on the counter and flung it as hard as he could into the wall. The resounding crash almost made Hakkaku jump out of his skin. Kouga stood still, gazing emptily at the shattered glass.
Hakkaku rushed forward and grabbed Kouga's upper arm. He pulled his friend out of the room and shut the door. He pushed Kouga into a chair and stared at his friend in anger.
"What the fuck is wrong with you Kouga?" he said furiously. "You want to give away our location to every goddamn person on this island?"
"Forget it," said Kouga listlessly. "You were tired. Go to sleep."
Hakkaku growled. "What. Was. That. For," he asked through tightly clenched teeth.
"Why the fuck do I need a reason?" shouted Kouga. "Shouldn't the fact that we're here playing this fucked up game reason enough? Or how about the fact that Ginta died. How's that for your fuckin reason?" Kouga's eyes blazed with unrestrained anger. Hakkaku met the heated glare head on with one of his own.
"Quit using Ginta's murder as your excuse for doing something stupid," said Hakkaku in a low voice brimming with anger. "You don't think I keep thinking about it? I do Kouga. Just about every damn minute. But I don't throw stuff into walls."
"Shut the fuck up," said Kouga, his voice tight.
"Not until you tell me why you did it."
Kouga was up in a flash. Before he knew it Hakkaku was sprawled on the floor, his jaw throbbing from where Kouga had punched him.
"You want to know?" said Kouga angrily. "Fine. I'll tell you. Ginta was with two friends when he died. Friends didn't help him at all. This poor soul who was injured had a friend with him. It helped him this time, but how much longer will that friend be around? Who's to say if that friend isn't already dead? We're still together, but for how much longer? How long til another attack comes? How long til one of us dies and leaves the other behind? It's bound to happen. No way off this fuckin island except through death. And you know what Hakkaku? If one of us dies I sure hope to god that it's me. It had better be me who dies next. I can't stand by and watch another friend die with me helpless to do anything about it."
Kouga dropped back into his chair and buried his face in his hands.
Hakkaku stared at his friend in shock. He had never expected Kouga to say something like that. He stood up and sat in the chair beside Kouga.
"Hey man," he said softly. "Don't even think of dying on me. We're in this together to the very end. Don't do anything stupid that causes you to die. You're not the only one who'd rather die before their friends."
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Poor guys, seems Ginta's death really screwed them up. And now Sess and Rin are in the midst of two traitors. And again, I'm really sorry for taking so long to update. I'll try not to let it happen again. But then again, you guys have been with me long enough to realize that I'm probably full of shit when I say that. Hehe, writers block seems to hit me good on this story.
Review Responses:
Tsuki no misu: Hehe, yes, damn Yura. She should die. Hehe…but…will she? And yup, the girls are fine…at least for now…Hehe, I love being this one…will they die? Won't they? Will they? Won't they? Heh, well, thanks for the review, hoped this chapter was at least a little worth the wait!
Silverbell91: Haha, "eerily fascinating in a twisted sort of way". I like that description! Very fitting for this story. And yeah, Miroku and Inuyasha are really the main source of the little humor you can find in this story. I can't have it dark and gloomy all the time. Thanks for the review!
Shadow-Wolf-Jedi-Demon: Hehe, your little 'evil cliffies precious' made me think of something. Is it just me or is the Sess-Rin-Yura thing kind of like the Sam-Frodo-Gollum thing in LOTR? Rin protects Yura like Frodo protects Gollum. Sess and Sam know Yura/Gollum are traitors…yet it doesn't matter, the traitor stays. Heh, guess I truly am a LOTR freak if even stuff like that is entering my stories!
Ryuu no Taiyo: Sesshy plushie! I love my sesshy plushie. Haha, now Rin is in double the danger with Yura and Jaken being there. Poor girl. Heheh. Will she live? Won't she? Hmm, who knows! Well, hopefully my lack of updating didn't turn you away and you still like this story!
miSS-yUnz: Heh, I love the Sess/Rin parts too. I just find their relationship cute (esp in the anime). Um, sorry for taking so long to update! I know, evil of me especially with how last chapter ended. Hope you'll forgive me!
Luckykittykagome: Don't worry about missing a chapter. You've been here for just about every other one so I can forgive you this once…just don't let it happen again…hehe. jk. And I can definitely sympathize with you on the busy and stressed part. Ugh, this semester is going to be hell and it's really just picking up now. Perhaps I'll take my stress out on this story. Perhaps there will be some rather vicious deaths coming up sometime…hehe.
Moonglow gal: Wait, this could get ugly? Isn't it already ugly? Hehe. And hm, why haven't Mir and Inu caught up with the girls. Well, let's just say another big event is going to happen before they find them. And I can't resist giving a hint…it has to do with Naraku…hehe, worried: )
Draconic Ban-sidhea: Hehe, I think I was very cruel to you guys. Leave it at a cliffie and take forever to update. Sorry! Hope you'll forgive me some day. Hmm, and as for Mir and Inu meeting up with the girls…look at the review response right above yours…your answer shall be there. : ) Psh, you only scare yourself sometimes? I scare myself most of the time. And all I have to do is look at this story and wonder what possessed me to write a story like this. Hehe, but I love scaring myself. Oh wow…I just sneezed 5 times in a row…6…I've never sneezed that many times in a row. Hehe, sorry, just had to share that. I'm a very random person.
Misguidedangel: Haha, fluffy in a mudbath? Wouldn't that be a sight to see. But of course, that's assuming the lovely Sess survives this little game. Hmm, will he? Won't he? Well, thanks for the review, hope you liked this chapter!
Naomi-Starcloud: Haha, 3:45 AM? Yeah, that's kind of late/early to be reading a story. But I've done it more than once. And will do it again. Hehe, is Sango's dream a premonition? Hmm, that's a good question. One that we'll just have to wait and see! Hope this long wait didn't get you too annoyed with me!
Keirra-Shadowcat: Haha, don't worry about taking so long to read last chapter. As you could see from my prolonged absence you had plenty of time! Sorry for taking so long to update and hope you're still with me!
Hart: Hehe, oh yes, the lovely doctor chapter. That chapter was actually kind of entertaining to write (yes, I realize I'm a sick individual!) even though I had no idea what I was doing in it. And thanks for the new medical knowledge, I can always use more of that for this story. Hmm, and will Miroku die? Perhaps…perhaps not…let's just say I know how the story is going to end…but no one else will ever know until it's over. : )
Darkdivil: Here's your update, a little late in coming, but it's here! And thanks for saying it was great in a sick and twisted way. I love those kind of compliments in this story! Well, hope you liked this chapter!
