Disclaimer: Nope
A/N: Okay guys, in a hurry today...gotta get dressed (yea I know it's late and I slept in...) but I got stuff to do...family's yelling at me...also I gotta write stuff that's original so that I can get published...seriously...anyway, it's still warm here, had a wimpy storm that dumped rain and now our basement is spider heaven. Every minute there's another creepy crawly out grinning at you...seriously, my sister found two down there in one minute and then my mom caught one upstairs at the same time...it's ridiculous...THREE spiders in ONE minute's time...Anyway, this is all happening the same day as what happened last chapter (but in the evening)and I think that it explains itself...I don't know if Kanna's name is spelled right, is that how you spell it? Kanna? Well, enjoy, red and review!
Uncertainties(April 30th: two days after the murders)
Only a few minutes after her mother had finished talking to her, Kagome was bombarded by another call. She instinctively knew who it was without looking at the caller ID yet again, and when she pressed the glowing, red-highlighted "On" button she'd already formulated what her first words would be to her partner: "Sango, if you called Miroku and tried to rat me out for Inu—Mr. Aikenka following me home, I'm going to request a new partner."
The snort from the other end made her start breathing again, even though she hadn't really been aware that she'd ceased. It was a signal to her that Sango hadn't reported her brief run in with their hanyou suspect. "Kagome—I wish you didn't do that "I know who this is before you even say hello" garbage. It scares the heebie-jeebies outta me."
Kagome flinched, unaware that she had even been doing it. The intuition of the Higurashi clan strikes again! "I'm sorry Sango…I guess I just didn't want to waste time with hellos."
Another snort from Sango, this one more amused, "So you're that concerned about me reporting you and that sexy "Mr. Aikenka" to Kazana?"
Despite the blush that immediately filtered over Kagome's cheeks she tried to deny it, "No! He's not that sex—I mean attractive."
Sango sighed into the phone, making Kagome wince and pull the earpiece away from her a short ways, "Ah," she snickered, "Young lovers…"
"That's not funny, Sango!" too bad I couldn't say that I wish it were possible… "Do you know the amount of trouble I'd be in!" she hissed.
There was a pause from the demon slayer and Kagome immediately knew that she'd done or said rather, something horribly wrong. Finally: "You say that as if you could actually be stupid enough to even actually think about him that way, Kagome."
"No I didn't!" she tried to defend herself and was only too painfully aware of its inherent lameness.
"Yes you did. First of all, Kagome, you know what they teach us about demons and half demons. That Inuyasha guy you're getting all dreamy eyed about could be lying to you up one side and down the other and you wouldn't have one little clue about it!"
"I know, I know…" she muttered, hating the truth of her partner's words, "Half-demons can draw on miko energy because they're part human…" she only barely managed to stop herself from sighing sadly, not a good thing to do if one is trying to stop one's partner from believing that one does not actually have an enormous crush on the prime suspect in the case. Even so she couldn't stop herself from defending this hanyou from Sango's onslaught. "But this half-demon is registered with us and has been since birth. We know what he really looks like, so he can't fool any of the mikos or houshis that way…"
"True," Sango admitted, allowing Kagome that much, but her voice was still loaded with caution and disapproval, "But he can fool lie-detecting mikos and houshis, and even aura-readers…there are probably still a dozen other abilities they have that no one really knows about too! You are tangoing with one very serious problem, Kagome…"
"But I don't think he killed those kitsunes! Honestly Sango…"
Her partner scoffed, "He didn't strike me as obviously guilty but you know how hanyous are. Maybe the guy that we interviewed wasn't the killer, and maybe the one that followed you home was…you see where I'm going with this? Half-demons are two personalities, sometimes more than that even! He's innocent one moment and the next he's slitting you open from chest to navel and playing with your guts like party streamers…you gotta remember that Kagome, that's why these rules are in place…" (A/N: Party streamer guts! Ah! Oh the terrible visual! But I gotta love Sango's spiel, reminds me of someone I know but I'm not actually sure who…maybe my sister…?)
"I know—you're right! And it's not as if I was seriously thinking of talking to him, you know! I put a restraining spell on him even before I'd hung up on you."
There was a pause and when Sango spoke again she sounded distinctly relieved, "Really? What was the keyword?"
"Sit." She blushed at her own dangerous pun. She knew that it'd upset the hanyou a lot and almost regretted being unable to remove it…
The demon slayer burst out laughing. "That's priceless! Kagome I thought that Kouga's Stay command was perfect enough, but the half-demon is a dog!" her laughter choked the line and made Kagome feel miserable.
"He didn't like it too much…" she mumbled unhappily.
"Who honestly cares what he thought?" Sango chuckled, too amused to scold Kagome for her conscience seriously. "Just remember, like I keep telling you, they teach the slayers this very early on…repeat after me, Kagome: Demons are not human. They do not deserve humane treatment. They do not give humane treatment. Feel no guilt and have no mercy…feel better yet?" (A/N: Hehe! 'Feel better yet?' Can you tell I'm having way too much fun with Sango's character right here?)
Kagome scowled at her phone, "Yeah, Sango, lots…"
"I'm sorry, Inuyasha," the snooty secretary blinked at him, "You're just going to have to wait—like everyone else." She picked up her nail file and started to rub it against her nails again, the scratching sound made Inuyasha grind his teeth, ready to tear her apart.
"Look lady," he snarled, leaning closer to her over the desk, "It's my father and my brother in there meeting together. Half the time they drag me in their right after their lame-asses as it is, and you know that, damn it!" he pounded one fist against her desk for good measure in the brute force area, and enjoyed her flinch at the noise a little too much. The demon was stirring too easily just beneath his skin…
"Now—let me the hell in there!" he growled, pulling away just enough to cross his arms over his chest as he glared at her.
Lindsey Hickson—that was her name—opened her mouth to speak, but never quite got the chance because at that moment her intercom bleeped and she jumped at the sound, tense. Her face flushed when she noticed that Inuyasha was smirking at her reaction, clearly enjoying her discomfort. She scowled and pressed the red responding button, waiting for her boss's message.
"Lindsey?" came Inutaisho's gruff voice, to her surprise, not Sesshomaru's.
She held down the button to answer, "Yes, Mr. Inutaisho Aikenka?" she swallowed nervously. Dealing with Sesshomaru was bad enough! At least her boss was quiet when something ticked him off, Inutaisho and Inuyasha were both open hotheads…she avoided Inuyasha's drilling gaze as she listened to Inutaisho's response.
"Is my son out there?"
Lindsey threw the aforementioned second born a calculated, vengeful glare and leaned forward to answer quickly before she lost her nerve: "No, he's in his office with you, Mr. Inutaisho Aikenka."
Inuyasha snarled and lunged for her fingers. Lindsey squealed and jumped backward, relinquishing her hold over the intercom easily enough, despite her audacity. The hanyou pressed down the button and growled into the thing, "Fire this secretary's snooty ass, will ya Dad?"
Lindsey blanched noticeably. "Why you little son of a bitch!" she muttered, only to cover her lips with both hands in shock at her outburst.
Looking up at her insult Inuyasha frowned, shook his head once, "Nope lady—you got the wrong brother. Talk to Sesshomaru if you want a son of a bitch." The intercom buzzed and fuzzed out for a second, reminding Inuyasha that he still had his finger over the button. He pulled back from it just in time to hear Sesshomaru's voice come over the line.
"I fail to find your crude jokes humorous, little brother." He muttered in a monotone, though Inuyasha smirked when he noticed that Inutaisho apparently did find it humorous: his laughter could be heard in the background, undermining Sesshomaru's seriousness.
"So can I come in now, Dad?" he made sure to address his father and not Sesshomaru, though it was actually his older brother's office, and his older brother's secretary.
"Can it wait?" Came Inutaisho's voice again, smoothed and clear cut, straight back to business after his quick laugh.
Inuyasha felt his ears flatten in irritation, and couldn't help but look to Lindsey, praying that she wasn't some latent miko and could see his white dog ears…fortunately he saw that she was focused on his face, glaring at him as if she thought she could make him spontaneously combust if she thought hard enough at him. He smirked, irritation gone when he took one look at her and thought about torturing her some more.
His finger squished the red button again, "Nope, it can't Dad. You and Sesshy have some stuff you need to explain to me, pronto…oh, and I wasn't kidding when I said you should fire this secretary…" he threw Lindsey another mischievous smirk, "Unless Sesshy has a thing for her anyway…"
"Shut up and get in here." Inutaisho again, and this time he had stifled the laughter.
The hanyou pulled back from the intercom and saluted it silently, "Yes sir!" he mumbled and stomped past Lindsey's glares to the office door, which he forced open with one sure bump of his hip. The office was dimly lit, Sesshomaru's eyesight was delicate and he liked things dim if he could get it that way. It was times like that that Inuyasha was very thankful that he wasn't a full inuyoukai. Human eyesight had some advantages: like daylight didn't always give him a splitting migraine. It was a wonder, Inuyasha thought in a rare moment of compassion, that Inutaisho didn't act like he had a stick shoved up his ass too…Mother's influence? He wondered idly, and then erased all thought as he met Sesshomaru's very angry glare.
"Say what is it that's so important, Inuyasha," he half-growled, a rare show of emotion from the usually so frigid inuyoukai, "And then get out or I'll kill you."
Inuyasha snorted, unimpressed. "Same old promise, Sesshy, but you never pay up!" he stepped past his half-brother and faced his father instead, giving s small bow of respect—something he never offered Sesshomaru despite the fact that his sibling was also a clear elder…by how much was it again? 200 years? Or had it been more like 400? He'd forgotten ages ago.
"Father." He mumbled the formal greeting, face still lowered.
"Inuyasha." Inutaisho nodded once, acknowledging his second born. "Have you come merely to trouble your older brother, or do you genuinely have news?"
When the half-demon looked up at his father now his face was twisted in the beginnings of anger. "Dad, do you remember my dream in the hotel while we were on our way home?" he watched Sesshomaru stiffly walk to stand beside but just behind Inutaisho as Inuyasha spoke and felt his face contort into yet another smirk, "You know, the one I had right after we were done visiting Mother…" it had always been a sore topic between Inutaisho and Sesshomaru: Inuyasha's human mother, Izayoi Aigyou.
Inutaisho narrowed his eyes knowingly at Inuyasha, abruptly hating his second born son's cleverness. Sesshomaru's expression was particularly cold and unmerciful that night, and Inutaisho could sense it growing steadily worse. "Yes, Inuyasha," he half growled, letting the half-demon know that he had caught onto his mischief. "I remember it."
The hanyou glared suddenly at Sesshomaru. Though none of them could see it Inuyasha's ears folded backward in irritation. "Can I talk to Father alone, Sesshomaru?"
Now the ball was in Sesshomaru's court and though he never really showed it, the inuyoukai was wallowing in the reversal of positions. "Whatever you have to say to Father in my office can be done while I am present, little brother," his voice clearly smirked though his face showed little, if any, change, "Or it can wait until later."
Inuyasha stiffened, scowled at Sesshomaru, "It's seven o'clock already you bastard! Don't you have some bitch to go home to, even if you have to pay her megabucks to stay?"
Two sets of golden eyes narrowed at him now and Inuyasha glanced to his father in mild confusion. "What?"
"Speak your mind, Inuyasha, and leave your brother alone. This is his office." Inutaisho chided, sighing tiredly as he settled into Sesshomaru's very plush executive's chair.
Damn you, Dad! "I met the woman." He blurted, unable, and unwilling, to elaborate with Sesshomaru so near—and for good reason!
"I suppose you had to pay her with our father's money to get her to even meet you, Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru snarled, noticeably sneering this time.
"Fuck you!"
"Inuyasha!" Inutaisho bellowed furiously, glaring in warning. A steady pain was beginning to build behind his eyes watching his offspring bantering. God help me—Izayoi, did I single-handedly teach this pup of ours all this language?
"Didn't you hear what he—"
"You said almost the exact same thing to him a few seconds ago, Inuyasha." Now Inutaisho had buried his face in the palm of one hand, wondering silently if he had been so obnoxious as a pup too…
Sesshomaru, the hands down, wordless winner, stood near Inutaisho where he was sitting at his eldest son's desk, regretting his decision to allow Inuyasha in to speak with him. Across the expanse of the desk Inuyasha and Sesshomaru continued to exchange glares until the elder of the two seemingly lost interest and turned his eyes toward the ceiling, bored out of his mind.
Inuyasha let out a strangled growl, "Okay, whatever, never mind!" he slammed his butt down into one of the chairs that surrounded Sesshomaru's desk, which was currently occupied by their father. "I ran into the woman I dreamed about today at the Agency when they interrogated me…" he scowled at the memory of the event, his mind reabsorbed by the terrible images of blood and carnage, a bloodlust kill…he was so preoccupied that he failed to note the sudden change of expression that registered on his father's face. Even Sesshomaru turned his golden eyes back on his younger brother, intrigued in spite of his disgusted and utterly bored façade.
Before Inutaisho could speak up Sesshomaru did, asking: "Did they have a convincing case against you?"
Inuyasha looked up, blinking away his troubling memories and frowning deeply. "We all know I sure as hell didn't do it!" he looked to his father as if for further support, "I mean I wasn't even here when it happened…"
"They assured me that you were identified by a surviving eye-witness." Sesshomaru's eyes were narrowed threateningly at his younger brother, almost with suspicion.
The hanyou growled, low and dangerously. "Damn it you jackass! How could I have done it when I was all the way in San Francisco visiting Mom? Huh? Not such a smartass now, eh?"
"Perhaps, little brother, you have an identical twin…? Dare I suggest that we call the whore that you think of as a mother and ask her if she remembers?" Sesshomaru asked, his monotone now slightly sarcastic but still cold as ice.
Inutaisho lost his patience and abruptly stood up, his voice thundering over both his sons. "Both of you—silence!" Sesshomaru obeyed wordlessly, though his last comment was clearly what had made the patriarch of the family lose his cool. The eldest Aikenka was clearly walking on very thin ice…Inuyasha smirked across the desk, knowing full well that the tables had been turned yet again—Sesshomaru was now in trouble while he was home free.
Inutaisho turned first to Inuyasha, his lips in a white line, his jaw muscles taut, "Inuyasha, no one in this room is accusing you of anything. We know that you are innocent—your alibi is undeniable because not only was I with you, but your mother was there too. Plane tickets and hotel reservations should stop the Agency from having any suspicion…" when Inuyasha said nothing to protest, simply nodded once in understanding, Inutaisho faced Sesshomaru next.
"Sesshomaru." He said his eldest son's name in almost a grunt.
"Yes, Father?" the younger inuyoukai remained stoic and calm, but the golden eyes blazed nonetheless.
"Get out of this office, I must speak to your brother alone."
A muscle at Sesshomaru's temple twitched repeatedly. "Would it happen to be about this twin that his mother lost when he was born?"
Inutaisho's face was bright red with rage. Inuyasha, a short distance away, was trying to contain his snickering at his brother's stupidity. He'd thought that Sesshomaru would learn, over time, that insulting Izayoi never brought a good outcome for him. But rather than learn Sesshomaru seemed to be made of lead, so thick that the lesson never reached him properly. Perhaps his simple hatred of his father's love for a mere mortal woman, and his favoring of their resulting pup, had blinded the otherwise stoic inuyoukai.
"No—but if you don't leave soon and without another word it might well be about his replacing you as my heir."
That drew a real expression of hatred from Sesshomaru, first directed at his father and then pointed at Inuyasha as he turned on his heel and walked heavily from the room. When the door had closed behind him with an audible click, Inutaisho's posture finally relaxed and he turned slowly to align himself with Sesshomaru's chair again, collapsing into it with a heavy sigh of what almost sounded like defeat. After a long pause he finally looked up at Inuyasha, his face fatigued.
"Now…what was this about a woman you dreamed about at the…Agency…?"
Inuyasha nodded seriously, though his gaze lingered uncertainly on his human disguised hands in his lap. "Yeah, I saw her walking in just behind her partner and she stared at me and I—"
"What!" Inutaisho blinked, scowling openly, "Her partner, did you say?"
Inuyasha nodded again, sensing that something was quite wrong.
"So she's an agent? The woman you dreamed about is an agent…?"
"Yes." Another nod and a nervous shifting in his chair as he met his father's intense, golden eyed stare.
"She wasn't one of those who interrogated you, was she…?"
"Yes, actually she was…one of the mikos."
Inutaisho pounded one fist against Sesshomaru's mahogany desk. "Shit!" realizing what he'd said Inutaisho swiveled—once again in Sesshomaru's chair—to hide the red creep of a blush that swarmed over his face. I'm sorry Izayoi; I suppose it really was me that taught him how to curse…
"Dad…?" came the confused question from Inuyasha behind him.
Inutaisho rose to his feet, straightened his shirt and his tie as he planned out his next words carefully. "Inuyasha—I suppose your mother has told you of how she and I met each other, am I right?"
The hanyou was blinking rather stupidly, "Uh…" he searched his mind, trying to remember his earlier, childhood years when Izayoi had been the only thing in his world, when his father and older half-brother had been things she'd whispered as bedtime stories…before Inutaisho had come back for his second born a few years previously, as he had promised Izayoi he would…
He scowled, the white dog-ears turned backward, though his father was unable to see them through the shielding spell that hid his real features. "Mom said it was in an airport, waiting for the next flight to LA—she was traveling with that weird guy her grandparents betrothed her to for the sake of their business…" he scowled, having actually seen numerous pictures of that "weird guy" a few times.
Inutaisho settled into Sesshomaru's plush executive's chair once again, sighing heavily as the air in the cushions of the black leather-stuff whooshed out like a thundering ox exhaling. Slowly his golden eyes met up with his son's—which were, of course, identical. "I suppose she didn't tell you that she'd been dreaming about me in the nights…"
His son blinked, again, confusedly. "No…" a furious frown stole over his face then and Inuyasha growled irritably, "Damn it Dad! You know I've lived my whole life with you pulling this sorta crap on me! Why don't you ever tell me about this stuff when it happens?"
His father sighed, regretting his choice of silence in the hotel now but unwilling still to admit it. "Inuyasha, I don't tell you everything that could happen to you because it is exactly that: only a slight possibility. How was I supposed to know that you would actually meet the woman?" he scowled suddenly, remembering the full details, "A miko…"
Inuyasha groaned, "You still haven't quite answered my question Dad: What does it mean?"
Golden eyes met golden eyes. Father and son stared each other down for a moment, waiting for the other one to make a move…finally Inutaisho sighed and looked away as he spoke. "Your mother and I shared prophetic dreams of each other just before we met. We were in the right position at the right time, and we could both gain from the other. She needed to escape her grandparents' foolish marriage arrangement and I needed to disappear from Japan…" Inutaisho regularly faked his own death, changed his last name and started all over in a new city or, sometimes, in a new country. It just didn't seem natural to humans when another seemingly normal man lived for hundreds and hundreds of years…
"…So…?"
"So when we happened to need each other the dreams ensured that we met."
Inuyasha snorted, "That's lame! What does it have to do with Kagome and I?" when his father stared at him incredulously at his use of the miko's name, Inuyasha grumbled incoherently under his breath and blushed unrestrainedly.
Before he spoke again Inutaisho watched his son's reaction and, though he didn't smile outwardly, inwardly his amusement was unrestrained. Wow he's sure moving in on her fast…so much for her miko training from the Agency…
"It would be my guess, Inuyasha, that you have need of her and she has need of you…" he shrugged, assuming the colder, Sesshomaru-like mask again.
"Wait a second…" Inuyasha leaned forward, his eyes narrowed suspiciously as his father, "You're saying you and Mom started off as sorta…" he scowled, trying to find a good term for it, "Business partners?" he choked on the words, incredulously. He'd always heard it indirectly from his mother that Inutaisho and she had more or less been set on becoming lovers from the moment they laid eyes on one another in that Tokyo airport. The way Inutaisho now made it sound suggested that it had been a relieved sort of partnership. He was starting to get a headache…
Inutaisho's lips thinned to a hard, white line of stress. Izayoi I know that you gave our pup the birds and the bees talk—so is he just doing this to embarrass me? Sometimes I wish he were Sesshomaru's twin, not so obviously my son. Sesshomaru would've never made me elaborate on something like this…
"I was explaining to you why the dreams attach two people together…"
This time Inuyasha didn't miss the discomfort in his father's face, in his position. He realized with a jolt that although Inutaisho obstinately refused to admit more to the "prophetic dreams" business, there was more to it, and Inuyasha had already felt it himself. He swallowed nervously, remembering the way the miko's scent drove him crazy…likely the matured, stoic Inutaisho, looking to start over in the U.S. had been so wild about the innocent, young, and reluctantly betrothed Izayoi that he'd dragged her away caveman style over his shoulder.
Abruptly Inuyasha averted his eyes from his father's, paling a little and shuddering inwardly at the thought—though he had to thank them for it, he did owe his life to their affair.
"So what do I do?" he mumbled, more to himself than to his father.
Inutaisho shrugged. "Talk to the miko…what was her name?" I'll probably have to remember it because if it's like I think it is she'll make me a grandfather…
Without even thinking Inuyasha replied, in a warm, almost sleepy voice, "Kagome…"
He missed his father's smirk—which Inutaisho was very much grateful for. Sure enough—just as I thought…he sighed, moving on to darker dealings. "I'm going to call your mother in to testify that between the both of us you were in San Francisco when this murder happened, and no matter how much the killer looks like you, you're innocent …"
Inuyasha's face was stern and somber again. "Damn straight! Stupid assholes in the Agency…"
Inutaisho growled tiredly, "Clean up that mouth."
"Yes sir."
The hanyou rose to walk toward the door just as Inutaisho called after him, "Find Sesshomaru and send him back in here Inuyasha!"
"Okay, I'll track the son of a bitch down…" the door opened and closed before his father could correct his "language" again and Inuyasha stormed off down the hall, throwing Lindsey Hickson one last glare as he sauntered past.
She stared down at the young miko, her face tight, unhappy. A part of her envied the unconscious mortal woman—scratch that thought—all of her envied the miko. The young woman had lived a life of freedom up until now and her unfortunate run-in with Naraku, and that she envied, greatly…even the woman's mortality she could desire…
Kagura looked up, her gaze become unfocused as she allowed herself to voice the thought: If I were mortal I would've long ago died of old age and Naraku would never be able to bother me once I'm dead and rotting…
Or—the afterlife? She stilled her features, thinking of it. Death: the surest way to freedom. If she died by her own hand she'd be spared whatever horrible things Naraku had planned for her. All his twisted schemes to make others suffer for his own enjoyment or personal gain…perhaps her death might even stall his games for a short time; she might be doing the world a favor, no matter how brief. Certainly at the least it was noble, and far preferable to sitting about what had once been her sanctuary, her freedom, her apartment, her home.
It was the right thing to do.
Kagura rose slowly up from where she had been kneeling on her living room floor beside the young miko woman that Naraku had carted back with him from wherever he'd gone. For a last, lingering moment Kagura took in the miko and wondered vaguely why her brother had taken a sadistic interest in the agent. This miko was not stunningly beautiful, but she was good-looking. Kagura hadn't seen her eye-color—she'd been passed out cold the whole time—but the woman did have a finely shaped body, a nice, oval-shaped face, and long, straight black hair. Asleep she had a cold, serene stillness to her that Kagura doubted most people bore while in such a state. She wondered if it reflected the woman's waking expressions at all.
When Naraku had carried the girl in, bridal style in his arms, like a lover or a caring father, Kagura had felt ill to her stomach. Seeing her expression Naraku had only smiled at her cunningly and announced that he had brought her a miko to keep her company. Silently glaring, though she knew Naraku got nothing from it but amusement, she'd watched as he set the young woman beside her and vanished once again to pick up 'Little Sister.' He'd been gone ever since, which was a good ten minutes.
It wouldn't last much longer…
Kagura slipped out of the living room, silent as a wraith. Her feet were bare; her toes gripped the carpet. Each step was both a dream and terror. Her eyes—red as her miserable brother's now that she had removed the charm spell in her earrings—were glazed with grim determination as well as fear.
If I make it into that bedroom…can I do it? Will it work? Could I really end it all? And…do I want to?Despite her fears she pressed onward, the need, the longing for freedom too powerful for Kagura to resist, no matter what terrors clutched at her chest, stealing her breath away.
She opened the door to her bedroom. The wooden dresser and nightstand, the closet full of clothes, the red and purple covers, the yellow pillows and the laptop plugged in and still charging next to one wall…they were all things of a dream now, lost to her. Utterly useless. The pain that stirred inside her at seeing them for what they now were: freedoms she would never truly possess, made her bite her lips and look away.
The nightstand beside her brightly colored bed—another thing she's made sure was showy and vibrant, an example of how she wanted to be alive and free, and she wanted everyone to know about it—was the destination she'd wanted all along. She tenderly slid the first drawer open and dug through the notebooks, bottles of make up and some aerosol spray deodorants until she caught the dull gleam of something black and sinisterly beautiful just underneath.
Her long, supple fingers wrapped about the thing and gingerly pulled it out. It was heavy in her hands, it sunk straight to her lap and rested there like a stone: black, cold, solid and the ultimate symbol of finality.
It's the only way out…Kagura took a deep breath in, savoring the feel of it in her lungs for what she hoped would be the last time.
She lifted the gun, parted her lips, and accepted the nozzle, cold and foreign, into her mouth. Her fingers shifted, slid along the length, found the trigger's home…one, two—
Pain coursed through her heart and Kagura gasped, tearing the gun away from her, throwing it onto the bed. She clutched at her heart, feeling the breath-stealing, mind-twisting pain that writhed there, and thought that, just maybe, she might die of it and be saved after all…but she was wrong, as usual.
Naraku's feet appeared within her line of vision as the pain left her in a cold, numbed, paralyzed sweat of cold dread. I failed…
"Sister!" his voice came, feigning concern though it came out in a dull monotone. "What's going on here?"
"You…" she coughed, struggled to breathe in again, "…Bastard."
He laughed, enjoying her suffering. "How noble of you, Kagura. Same old story with you then, is it? Haven't had enough of a taste of freedom yet?" he sighed, as if he truly cared, though she knew better, "I'm afraid that I can't let you exorcize that ultimate display of freedom just yet."
She didn't miss the sadistic smirk in his voice and knew, without a doubt, that he would not let her survive whatever his latest fiasco was. He would let her be one of his victims this time, not just a pawn that he allowed to live for a later date. Her eyes settled close as evil fate closed his hands over her throat, squeezed her into submission.
"Get up, Sister." He ordered above her, though all she could make out were his shoes, the top of a pant leg. "I've brought Little Sister and the miko needs a little…" she heard his voice twist, hissing with enjoyment, "…Surgery, I'm afraid."
"I was a journalist, not a surgeon." She reminded him, bitterly.
He chuckled, "Oh Kagura, there you go—that's the spirit. You don't get to do that much yet, you just get to watch…" she felt his cold hand on her shoulder, shuddered under his unnatural touch, "Get up."
Like the slave that she was she followed him back into her living room, glaring at his backsides with every atom of hate that she had within her, though she knew it did nothing but inflate his ego, was merely another sign of his victory over her…the miko was still peacefully, blissfully unaware on the floor, passed out. A little, seemingly helpless form was crouched at the young woman's side, blonde hair spilling over her shoulders and blue eyes directed at the floor, a lost, saddened expression there. She wore a pretty, frilly little girl's dress that made Kagura scowl.
"You've changed Little Sister's charm spell, Naraku?" she growled behind him, watching as her brother coldly took a position opposite their youngest sister, on the other side of the unconscious miko. He never bothered to answer Kagura's question—she had become suddenly unimportant.
"Kanna," he murmured, "Does she have it?"
"Have what, Naraku? Why are you interested in this poor stupid woman…" Kagura added the last of her thought internally, her face twisted in hatred: Why are you interested in making me miserable as well? Isn't the miko enough? Me or the miko you bastard…
Again, probably only because he knew it annoyed her, Naraku ignored her, narrowing his eyes at their youngest sibling instead, demanding an answer out of the little girl. "Does she have it? Is she the one?" he blustered, frustrated.
Kanna lifted her little girl's blue eyes, which were expressionless for the most part, wide and empty like the fathomless depths of an undersea trench, buried in miles of water, and slowly, almost imperceptibly, shook her head negatively. "No."
"What!" he hissed, snarling down suddenly at the miko's form in a rage that Kagura didn't understand, "Then why does the little whore have an aura that…" he stopped, his red eyes slowly becoming unfocused, lost in thought. Kagura and Kanna were silent, waiting for their master to come out of his trance of thought. When he did the only sign of it was a small blink as he raised one hand up and placed it almost hesitantly on the unconscious miko's side…
"What are you doing to her, Naraku?" Kagura asked, her voice low.
Yet again he didn't answer, just sneered after a moment and then lifted his hand, closing it in a furious fist. His red gaze was narrowed with rage; his body shook with it. Without realizing it, Kagura flinched a little at the intensity of her brother's emotion, feeling it as a wave of energy that tore at her through the thin air of the room. Finally he released his pent up emotion by slapping the sleeping miko across the face, so hard the woman's head jerked to one side and stayed there—she moaned in her sleep, cringed.
"Bitch." He spat and looked to Kanna again, eyes narrowed dangerously. "Show me, Kanna, show me the other miko that's so similar to this one…"
The little girl paused and then began, obediently, to dig in a small, child's purse at her side. She unclipped the thing and slowly, almost with reticence as if the thing she handled were holy, pulled out a small rounded vanity mirror…it was bright pink around the edges and sprinkled with sparkles, cursive handwriting revealed it to be "Barbie's Mirror."
Naraku's face contorted with disgust. "Remove the damned charm spell from the mirror, Kanna, before I kill you."
Without the slightest trace of fear, though Kagura had stiffened sympathetically where she stood some distance away, leaning against the back of the sofa, Kanna waved a hand over the pink thing and the bright, gaudy child's color vanished. In its wake the mirror was normal, completely unadorned. Naraku's face relaxed, as if "Barbie" had hurt him somehow before and now he could breathe easier, he sighed slightly and repeated his request in a gentler, more passive tone, "Show me the real miko, Kanna."
The mirror in the little girl's arms flashed, flickered. Kagura moved forward slowly, cautiously, hoping not to set Naraku's flaring temper off as she did so, but at once drawn by their littlest sister's display. Naraku showed no such eagerness, he merely waited, his face drawn taut, his red eyes unmoving as he stared…
In the mirror a face appeared, almost identical to the unconscious miko on the floor. She was pretty, but lighter, giddier than the miko they were currently torturing. Her hand clasped a cordless phone that she was speaking into animatedly, her cheeks brightened in a blush. Her brown eyes gleamed with light and the strong spiritual power that drove her through the world… Naraku smiled, sadistically satisfied.
"Very good, Kanna." He nodded once, red eyes heavy on her, looking between the mirror and the child, "What is her name?"
"Higurashi Kagome." Kanna murmured, her eyes clouded, unfocused, her voice was cold and without emotion.
Naraku smirked, "Kagome…" he purred, his lips opening up in a wide smile while his red eyes gleamed evilly, "I'll see you soon…"
Endnote: Gotta hurry...
THANK YOU: InuAndMiroku'sGirl Sango, NefCanuck, agent-doo, SlummyRedDragon, blackcoat-245, fanfiction1, toxiclollipop, fireofinuyashas (Hehe, yes i've run into numerous ppl who should've graduated but didn't...my locker mate was one of them actually. He'll return for a semester next year while I'm away at college to pass one class...dummy, that's all I can say...) Mad-4-Manga (yes, it was Naraku, and as for email: I have 61 email messages currently (grins) but it was 70 before I started going through the reviews for this story...must hurry...)
Well that's the end of that for now...no preview, I've been busily writing WOAWO trying to finish that one up, and I've been rereading my original novels and digging up publishers...gotta get published dang it! Money! Thank you all again! next chapter soon (probably 3 days maybe...?) Later!