OMG!!! I do believe that this is the most reviews I've ever received for any one chapter. Thank you all soooooooooooo much. BTW I also posted my Samurai Deeper Kyo fic. It's called "Midori No Me" and as promised, it's going to be long Kyo/Yuya story.
No real notes for you guys this time but I do have a treat. For those of you who might wonder just who the "Dias" is in my nickname vegita-dias, just copy these two (without the spaces of course) links for two different pics of my all time fav video game/manga character.
Headshot of Mr. Hotstuff number one:
http:www. Dcarpenter. Com/christi/starocean/images/mangadias1. jpg
Numero Dos is:
http:www. Dcarpenter. com/christi/starocean/images/mangadias2. jpg
He has blue hair too, (I'm such a sucker for that color). I am such a softie when it come to bishonen (I know of well over 300 gorgeous guys from video games and anime going way back. I've been watching anime for over fourteen years, since I was four in fact and I have A LOT in my head.)
Anyways, here I am with the latest chapter and you guys made me crack a big 'ol grin with every review. Sorry it took me so long and I really hope this makes up for it. We're going to find out a bit more about Kagura in this chapter and I've decided to make Naraku a semi-permanent/main character. Others from the series will also put in an appearance later, even Jakotsu and Bankotsu although I won't do much with those two because I haven't seen nearly enough of them to make them major charcters. Also I'm pretty sure that Sess and Inu's dad is named Toga since Inutaishou is just a title.
Yakuza is the word for the Japanese mafia and for those of you who don't know what the word "koibito" or koi for short-which I used last chapter- means, it translates into "lover."
Everyone gets a really special thanks because I am so very, very happy that this story is well liked and not the utter flop that I thought it would be at first.
Here's a letter to everyone who reviewed:
To my readers:
So much love and thanks goes to each and everyone of you. Whether you're KitKat 07 (who I am soooooo going to zing back when I R&R her next chapter :evil grin:), or sweet Lady Friendlyreader (who really lives up to her name and makes me smile everytime), or the wonderful Rikou Suiyou (who helps me with my grammar and spelling by BETA-ing and was kind enough to compliment me on my weird poetry, not only that but she blessed me with a link to an image that I shall burn into my head and dream about for years to come hehehe), or aishiteru-inu (who sometimes makes me feel as if I have another sister and understands best what I want to express), or The J-man (who is a great friend in real life who makes me laugh)...whether you're any of these people-there are truly too many to name all at once-or someone who just says "I like your story" or prompts me to update soon. To all of you, I want to express my deepest and most sincere thank. Thanks for the support, thanks for the patience, thanks for the many kind corrections you've given me, thanks for teling me a little bit about yoursleves, and most of all thank you for taking the time out to read AND review. I have a lot of things beneath the surface that I can only express through my writing and I have not a single regret. I apologize for being so sentimental but that's just me.
Love, hugs, and kisses
Ms. Vegita-dias
P.S. For the four people I almost missed 'cause they reviewed while I was typing this up. Thank you power2thepink (I'll try not to disappointand I completely agree with you that the song "hey Jude' goes really well with this story :the Beatles are awesome), Athar-Luna (not only did you review almost every chapter but you gave me long reviews and, thank you soooo much. How in the world can I make it up to you for taking the time out to be so kind to me?), Sakura Baby (thank you so much and you made me laugh 'cause I just finished this chpater right before you reviewed and the encouragement you gave me is truly appreciated), and ultra, ultra, wonderful thanks to my beloved big sister (in real life) and very best friend Xyjah I'm so sorry for not getting to the rest of your fic yet, please yell at me to keep me on track and thank you for the wonderful support.
This chapter doesn't have as much as I wanted to put in to advance the story but it does build it up some, leading to the big she-bang later on.
Disclaimer: I will never have the honor and privilege of owning, so I implore you not to sue.
Thread Bound
Chapter Sixteen
The Pain of One-Sided Love
"We have made it at last to the other side, Sir," said the girl as she pulled the puppet from the river.
"I can see that, silly girl," he replied quickly, shaking himself off.
"Oh my," she exclaimed, ""what is that on the other side? I do believe it is a girl puppet."
"I do believe you are right, my silly girl."
"But why does her face look so very sad, dear sir. Is there nothing we can do for her?"
"She isn't worth it," spat her companion. "Besides, there is naught to be done for someone like her."
"Any why, pray tell is that, sir?"
"Silly girl, can you not see? Do you not see that she is bound ever so much more tightly than ever I was? A puppet with no one to help her dance or make her smile. Too bad, too bad," he began to cackle, wooden limbs waving to and fro as he laughed at perhaps the saddest sight of all.
On the other side a single tear slid from the lonely puppet girl's painted eye as she watched a friendship she could never have.
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"What did I tell you about that temper of yours, Kagura-chan?" The voice that came from the darkness behind her sent a chill down her spine and she saw something flash in the half-light before she felt a searing pain followed by darkness.
The sound of the heart monitor beeping steadily brought her out of sleep. Lids opened to reveal hazel eyes framed by long lashes, and she reached up to rub the sleep from her eyes, wincing when the movement pulled the muscles around the wound on her back. She attempted to sit up and white, hot pain stabbed her behind the eyes, pulling an involuntary moan from her lips. Quickly laying back down on the bed, she contented herself with taking as much in as possible with her limited field of vision.
"I see you're finally awake," said a voice from beside the bed and she stiffened briefly, quickly sliding her face into the mask of superiority that had served her so well all these years.
A face came into her field of vision and she relaxed slightly, letting out a tiny sigh. It was Souten, Hiten and Manten's little sister. She was a pretty young woman with strong features. In fact, she was like a female version of Hiten, but more sensible with a much stronger desire to be monogamous. She frowned, recalling many a time when he had openly admired other women, although he knew better than to touch.
"What am I doing here, Souten?" she asked, annoyed that her voice came out so weak. The young woman let out a sigh of relief, apparently glad that Kagura hadn't snapped at her.
"You were stabbed three days ago in your own home, then you were rushed here by an ambulance and I switched places with another nurse when I found out that it was you. Both Hiten-nii-chan and Manten-nii-chan have been here to see you and Shippo says that he needs to talk with you urgently concerning Sesshoumaru-san."
That got her attention. Shippo was the publisher for her ex-spouse's novels as well as Souten's husband, and Sesshoumaru only contacted him for two things: (1) to let him know when he was going to be sending in a new novel or (2) to let him know about any changes in their business agreement—with Kagura's approval of course. The threat of ending his writing career had been a major reason why he gave in to her wishes and didn't end their marriage sooner, but things had changed a lot since she came in the picture. She had completely forgotten exactly who his step-mother was and relied too much on his self-imposed estrangement from the woman to keep her out of their affairs. It also didn't help that Inuyasha's mom knew a great deal about Kagura's background and the vast number of illegal activities and murders that could be brought to light and tossed into her lap.
She shivered, remembering the cold look on Izayoi's face as she explained in her kindest voice that if she didn't stop screwing up her step-son's life more than it already was, there was a high probabilty that ceratin things would be brought to light, things that would have her rotting in jail for the rest of her days. And it wasn't an idle threat either because it was well known that Toga, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's father, had taken the Prime Minister's beloved daughter as his second wife and retired with her to an out of the way place before his death. Someone as important as that, was the bane of people like Kagura who had their roots deeply entrenched in the Yakuza. Messing with that woman was a bad, bad idea.
"Are you alright, Kagura-san?" the concerned voiced pulled her out of her turbulent thoughts and she nodded.
"Do you know what Shippo wanted to tell me, Souten?"
"A little. I think he said that Seshoumaru-san was terminating his contract with the company because he found someone else to send his books to with his mother's help. From what I gather he wants get away from...from..." she trailed off, apparently unsure as to whether or not she wanted to tell Kagura the full message. Sesshoumaru, of course, hadn't put it nearly as nicely as she did.
"From what, Souten?" she growled out, even though she knew full well that he'd done it to get away from her.
"From you...Kagura-san." That last bit came out as a whisper and she backed away quickly, fearing her lady's wrath.
Kagura toyed with the idea of wringing the girl's neck just to get some type of stress relief and decided against it. She didn't have the energy. Her thoughts turned instead to wondering who it was that had snuck into her home and tried to kill her. Security was extremely tight, so it would have to be someone who was helped from the inside. Quite a few of her body guards were supplied from the main house of the Miyazawa family—her blood relatives and one of the more prominent groups in the Yakuza—and it would come as no surprise if they'd sent someone to take care of her now that she had failed to hold onto the heir of the Toyotomi family.
She wrapped her arms around herself beneath the covers, remembering the voice from that night three days ago, she recognized it now that her mind wasn't hazed with alcohol and tried not to shiver. Kagura knew exactly who had held the knife and worse yet she knew exactly who had ordered him to kill her in the first place. There was no room for failure in the Miyazawa family and she had done so miserably in both the endeavor to win Sesshoumaru Toyotomi's heart and in the secret desire to have him all to herself. A weaker woman would have cried, but those type of silly sentiments had been drummed out of her a long time ago, replaced with a strong sense of self-preservation, which demanded at this time that she confront him and try to find a way out the mess she was in.
Turning to look at Souten she said ordered coldly, "Get me a phone."
The other woman wrinkled her brow. "A phone? Whatever for, Kagura-san."
A humorless smile touched lips that were devoid of make-up for once, something that was a bit frightening in itself because their owner was particularly vain when it came to her looks.
"Get me the phone Souten. I need to talk to the man who wants me dead."
Souten shuddered before nodding quickly and getting up. Kagura's voice stopped her again.
"Oh, and Souten, if you want to keep this job I suggest you not question me again."
"Yes, Kagura-san," she replied, gripping her hands tightly to keep them from shaking as she beat a very hasty retreat.
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"Ah, Sesshoumaru-sama, it is such a pleasure to finally meet you. I am so glad that Izayoi referred you to me. I'll take good care of you and I just know that you'll write even more wonderful stories. In fact, I really love that one book you did about the young lord and his faithful servant. Did you know that he and I have the same name? Isn't that a wonderful coincidence? Not only that..."
Sesshoumaru quickly extracted his hand from the eager man's grasp and held it up, getting total silence immediately and resisting the urge to rub his temples. He was seriously considering going back to his former opinion of Izayoi after she introduced this clingy, annoying man to him. Taking a step back, he looked the man up and down, thoroughly unimpressed with his looks...well that wasn't quite true. this man, this Jaken that his step-mother had graciously introduced him to as his new publisher, was impressively ugly, impressively clingy, impressively emotional—almost as bad as Rin—and impressive in a good many other things that he hated and wouldn't tolerate in anyone besides his koibito. Then again, Rin could get away with murder and he'd probably pat her on the head and tell her how cute she looked as she shot so-and-so or such-and-such through the head, not that she would ever do anything of the sort of course. He would admit, though, that he quite enjoyed the ridiculous amount of obedience the man displayed and this was only their first meeting.
Taking a seat, he motioned for Jaken to do the same, mentally groaning when he pulled the chair out with a loud squeak, adding yet another strike to the man. They were in an out doors café and he waved a waiter over to ask for water.
He waited until the cool glass was set before him before saying in what Rin had termed his mean old business man voice, "Now then, if you don't mind my asking, would it be possible for you to give a date on when you expect my book to be finished? I am about half-way through and it's expected to total about three-hundred pages, maybe even four."
"Hmm, that depends. If you can have it done before winter begins that would be wonderful. I can just see it, curling up by a warm fire, reading one of Sesshoumaru's exciting books while the snow falls outside, and knowing that my company was the one that put it out on the street for people to read."The sigh he added on the end was nothing short of ecstatic and Sesshoumaru would have bet anything that if the short, annoying, bald man in front of him got his jollies from reading historical fiction then there was no way in heck the man was married. Then again, the first three reasons were enough to keep any sane female away.
"...and then, because Sesshoumaru-sama is so beautiful, I'm sure the lady readers will be so happy when they see what Mr. Kage Houshi looks like in person."
The words "Sesshoumaru-sama is so beautiful" brought him back to his present situation and he nearly choked on the water, putting it down as fast as possible before he somehow managed to drown himself. To be called beautiful by another guy, and a really ugly one at that...a really ugly, short man with an obvious inferiority/superiority (he wasn't quite sure) complex, and eyes the size of cue balls, was just about one of the most disturbing things he'd ever heard.
"I beg your pardon," he said, but Jaken just kept on going.
"Why yes, you're pretty, just like someone in a shoujo manga—my company publishes those as well—in fact why don't we get another pretty man and have you two..."
He forced himself not to growl and strangle the man for suggesting such a thing. Think happy thoughts...think Rin...skipping through a field of flowers...wearing a flower in those beautiful raven locks....and only the flower. That image gave him an automatic grin and he calmed down after deciding to do something about that lovely thought when he got home to his koi.
"...And then after the kiss...you and he can..."
"Jaken," he growled, letting some of his irritability show through.
"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama."
"If you suggest that I debauch myself just to sell books again I will be sorely tempted to wring your neck and I will have to find another person to publish my work. Am I clear?"
Jaken shrunk back into his seat and folded his hands neatly into his lap, much like a child would after being punished.
"You didn't answer my question, am I clear little toad?"
"Crystal," the 'toad' croaked out and Sesshoumaru decided that he had found "likeable personality trait number two" which was the fact that Jaken was easily cowed.
"Is there anything else you wish to talk to me about?"
"Well...that is, do you have a cover in mind for the book?"
"I already have someone working on that."
"But we have a famous artist who can probably do it better..."
The sharp look in the quiet man's eyes brooked no argument. "I assure you that the girl I have doing my cover art will create something that you have never seen. I do not want anyone's drawing but hers, am I understood?"
"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama."
"Is that it all you have to say to me?"
"Ah...um...er, yes, there will be a party to celebrate our company, The Western Lands, twentieth year of publishing. All new novelists are required to attend and you are allowed to bring an escort with you. In fact," he bent down to fish around in his briefcase before pulling out an invitation on fine paper in a flowing calligraphy, "it's going to be held in two days at the Houshi Ballroom in the middle of Tokyo. Naturally this is a formal affair but there will be many people there that it will be beneficial to know."
Taking the invite from the nervous man, he looked it over and considered declining the offer, not really caring whether it was mandatory or not, then an image of Rin flashed through his mind and he thought about the fact that they hadn't really gone anywhere as an official couple. Besides he was curious as to how she would look in a gown and she was far more likely to enjoy it than he was. The thought of how she would smile when he told her was what made him decide and he nodded.
"You have my word that I'll be there," he said calmly and Jaken let out the breath that he'd been holding.
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Naraku struggled against the ropes keeping him in place. For days now, he'd been locked up in this room. It was a dusty place full of bad memories and he struggled not to give into the fear that was threatening to choke him. He knew this place well...too well in fact and he closed his eyes against the memories of him being beaten and locked here in the dark as a young man in the Miyazawa household. He had thought he was free, but of course that was foolish thought. He would never allow him to leave and he knew full well that he had been imprisoned like this to break him down.
I shouldn't even matter. I'm just an illegitamate child, what does he want with me?
It was a constant struggle to keep the fear down, to hope that he was imagining the creaks and groans of the old house, to ignore the childish cries that echoed in his head. Screams from when he was a child in this very room.
"Don't hurt me Nii-sama. I'll be good. I promise. I won't disobey again if you'll please stop. Please...please."
He covered his ears, remembering all too vividly the feel of the cane on his back and the words that came from a mouth shaped just like his own "so you think you can look above yourself?! Huh, bastard child?!"
He shivered and rocked himself a little, trying to force the memories away.
Almost distantly, he heard the door open and he turned to look at the newcomer. Taking in the polished shoes, then up to the tailored suit and tie striped in navy blue and red, his favorite colors. Up past the white collar of his shirt to red eyes, set in a face that was nearly the mirror of his own. White teeth flashed and the voice that had given him nightmares for years upon years said pleasantly, "Hello Naraku-chan, how are you doing today? I do hope you enjoyed your stay."
He was stricken for a moment at seeing his worst nightmare before managing to gasp out one name, "Onigumo."
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Ahhhh, another chapter under the old belt. Sorry for taking so long, hope this made up for it some. Please read and review and give me something to do while I wait down here in Florida and hope that the hurricanes heading this way don't kill us all.