Disclaimer: No I do not own Inuyasha or any of the character associated with the show, HOWEVER, I do own Kira, and should you steal her you will pay. (Growls evilly)
Snapdragon: I take back what I said last chapter. Chapter FOUR is my favorite chappy so far. (smiles innocently) I hadn't written this chapter yet when I said that, so now I take it back because this one's better. Mwahahaha!
Shippo: (whispering) That evil laugh is kinda scary isn't it?
Kag, Inu, Mir, San: (nod violently)
Sesshomaru: I fear nothing.
Kira: (slides arm around Sesshomaru's waist) Oh really? (Raises eyebrow)
Snapdragon: (eye twitches at position of Kira's arm) 'he's mine…grrrrr'
Sesshomaru: Really.
Kira: You didn't seem so calm when I told you that you couldn't have…(whispers in Sesshy's ear)
Inuyasha gang + Snapdragon: (?)
Sesshomaru: (eyes widen)
Inuyasha: HE'S SHOWING EMOTION! IT'S A SIGN OF THE APOCOLYPSE!
(Insert Laveda laughing her ass off here)
Sesshomaru: (Runs off towards the kitchen) IT'S MINE!
Everyone but Kira: (?)
---
Previously…
Hana stopped at Kira's bedroom door, and turned to look at the younger inu-youkai.
"Hopefully I will be able to see you again soon lady Kira. Take care." With that, Hana bowed to Kira and turned to go back to her room somewhere in the depths of the castle. Kira smiled as the woman began humming to herself and was sad to see her leaving.
"Hana-san?"
Hana turned to look at Kira once again, her expression curious.
Kira hesitated a bit, but smiled gratefully and nodded her head.
"Thank you."
Hana smiled hugely and bowed once again before disappearing around a corner at the end of the hall.
---
As Hana disappeared around the corner, Kira turned away from the entryway to her room and strode down the hall contently, her bare feet making no noise as she padded down the long passageway.
She felt much better after finally allowing her emotions out after so long, but she couldn't help feeling that she had somehow betrayed herself.
She had managed to keep her composure, even during the tortures she had been forced through, for the last two hundred years. She never allowed tears to fall on any occasion, never allowed herself to get close to others, never let any one in, and had made absolutely sure that no emotions besides anger or indifference showed through her beautiful features. In truth, she had been proud of how strong she was, until today.
Today she had managed to be happy, frightened, desperate, uncertain, and unbelievably depressed. Worse yet, she had allowed herself to both laugh and cry, shows of strong emotions, a feat she had sworn away from her life, but more terrible still than these irreversible acts of shame, was the fact that there had been another present through her spontaneous flood of feeling, Hana.
Kira had seen first hand how opponents used their weaknesses against each other, using them to deflate the ego of their opponent to weaken them and use that opportunity to strike. Kira had seen this and more and had vowed against allowing herself to have weaknesses or feelings that put herself in that position.
And yet somehow, here she was.
Kira growled suddenly as she thought of Hana telling Sesshomaru of how the young demoness had broken down and how she had found her, huddled in a corner of the deepest level of the castle.
Baring her teeth to the empty hallway, Kira silently dared Hana to even try to take advantage of her. The old woman would be skinned and gutted before she finished gossiping of her disgrace to the lord of the western lands.
Kira stopped in her tracks and gasped at the horrific thoughts passing through her mind. Hana had been so kind to her, and here she was, plotting ways of killing the woman. Surely someone that had been so kindly and understanding towards Kira wouldn't betray her in such a way?
Kira started walking again, her legs feeling a bit numb after the shock of the thought of killing one of the very few people who had showed kindness towards her.
Kira's senses worked on full alert to warn her of everything around her as she treaded through the hall, but her mind was occupied with troublesome thoughts.
Even though Hana had been so kind to her, Kira couldn't help but fall back on her natural wariness regarding strangers as she tried to think of what to do to keep the woman from passing on her secret.
Kira replayed her conversation with the mouse youkai in her head, searching for any slip-ups on her part that might have told the woman about her past, but she came up with nothing useful and sighed in relief.
The entire time Kira had been with Hana, she had been the one asking the questions and Hana had simply been answering them, showing no interest in knowing of Kira's past until she was certain Kira wished to tell her. And needless to say, Kira didn't want to tell her. Kira was grateful on Hana's simple show of understanding, but all things considered, Kira still couldn't ignore her rebelling instincts. The instincts that were screaming at her to remember what had happened the last time she had ever trusted another, to remember that no matter what, she must stand alone, to protect herself and make her battle through life easier.
The thought of her past betrayals hardened her heart, as it had always been for the last two centuries, and Kira decided without hesitation not to trust the reassuring mouse youkai, no matter how kindly she had been.
Snapping herself angrily out of her thoughts, Kira focused on finding Sesshomaru. She wondered fleetingly if she would ever be able to make it back to her room without getting lost. She had been so preoccupied with her thoughts while walking through the vast mazes of hallways that made up the castle that she hadn't paid any attention to where she was going, letting her nose follow Sesshomaru's rather fresh scent for her.
Getting frustrated with her own carelessness, Kira took a deep breath to calm herself and cracked her knuckles absentmindedly, a habit she usually found herself fulfilling whenever she was feeling agitated.
Careful to keep her mind clear, Sesshomaru's scent eventually led Kira to a wide door at the end of a particularly wide and sunbathed hallway.
Instead of the usual Japanese styled sliding doors that separated the rest of the rooms from the halls, the massive double doors that led into the room that Sesshomaru now occupied were heavy and highly decorated, made completely from dark mahogany wood that shone from polishing.
It sounded weak, but Kira couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated by the enormous doors that reached almost to the ceiling and to either sides of the hall. She felt small before them, and the carvings of monstrous dog demons in their transformed states that adorned the solid masses only added to the alarming impact they left on their viewers.
Kira stepped closer to the carving of the demon nearest to the base of the doors and traced the line of its powerful jaws.
Her anger dissipated, she was drawn into the impressive piece of artwork. The demon's looked alive as their eyes seemed to glitter with the ferocity that was known with their kind and the strength they held.
Kira sighed dejectedly as she wondered if she still had the power to transform. The day before she had been captured had been the last time she had been in her true form, but attempting to transform would be useless, not to mention painful.
As she pushed herself deeper into depression, Kira's nose twitched involuntarily as she heard sounds filtering through the thick panel of wood. She didn't know how she hadn't noticed it earlier, and as she recognized Sesshomaru's low and even voice she remembered that he was the reason she was even standing outside the door in the first place.
'Why did I come here anyway? I'll only humiliate myself even more if I confront him, but I suppose there's no avoiding that, we'll have to see each other again eventually.'
Sighing, Kira tapped the door with a claw, only loud enough for Sesshomaru's hearing to pick up, and stepped back, preparing herself for what was sure to be an interesting visit.
'Better sooner than later.' Kira thought with an internal shrug, trying somewhat unsuccessfully to reassure herself.
"Enter."
Sesshomaru's deep voice made Kira cringe as she thought of facing the powerful demon Lord, but she pushed the resistant wooden doors open slightly despite her uncertainty and slipped through the gap she had made between them.
As soon as she had completely entered the room, she immediately closed the doors behind her, not trusting herself to stay in the room unless she did so.
Taking a deep breath, Kira slowly turned around to face the room's occupants, keeping her eyes firmly on the carpeted flooring.
Kira used her aura to discreetly probe the room, and Sesshomaru smirked as he felt her energy brush past him, pausing slightly to acknowledge him before moving on to map out the rest of the room's residents. Her ability to probe her surroundings did not go unnoticed by Sesshomaru as he watched her curiously. He had no power to do such a thing, and he mentally praised the girl before him for her capability to do so. The ability to probe with your aura was an extremely useful battle tactic, allowing you to know exactly where your enemy was without visually seeing them.
Clenching her jaw tightly, Kira found that there were more people in the room than she would have liked, and lifted her eyes to confirm her suspicions.
Two armed guards stood on either side of the massive doorway, watching her suspiciously as shifted their weapons threateningly, causing the blades of their katanas to catch the sun and glare angrily.
Kira growled low in her throat as the bull youkai to her left tilted his weapon in her direction. The guard, recognizing his mistake, hastily averted his eyes from the lady in the room.
Though unknown to Kira herself, her ranking as Sesshomaru's honored guest put her higher than any of the guards, and though she couldn't give them orders, they were still bound to concede to her wishes. Or in this instance – to leave her the fuck alone.
Snorting angrily at the bull youkai, Kira turned her gaze to the room she was in, and forcefully held back a gasp.
Cathedral ceilings towered high above her, crisscrossed with sturdy wooden beams to support the amazing architecture. Bookcases as high as the ceiling itself reached up majestically, thousands of books and scrolls held in their numerous shelves, the edging of each of the wooden shelf carved with vines and leaves. Ladders were placed in strategic areas, so books that sat on the highest levels of shelves could be easily retrieved without having to use precious energy to leap up as high as the bookcases did.
Sesshomaru's desk sat near a corner of the room, a wide bay window showing a vast green meadow outside the castle serving as a backdrop for the lavish piece of furniture and the throne-like leather chair that went with it. In this high backed seat was where Sesshomaru himself was seated, watching Kira contently as she took in her surroundings, at his right, a little human girl with a half ponytail and an orange and white kimono stood.
Kira eyed the girl for a moment before returning her gaze back to Sesshomaru. Without waiting for him to acknowledge her verbally, Kira crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the demon lord.
"I need answers."
Both of the guards flanking her sides raised their eyebrows at her demanding tone, and shifted their weight from foot to foot anxiously, not wanting to be the outlet of their lord's rage should this woman upset him by showing such disrespect. But if the guards had been surprised by her blunt order, it was nothing to how shocked they were at Sesshomaru's reaction.
"As do I Lady Kira, please sit down." He answered smoothly, gesturing to a seat placed in front of his desk.
Kira was taken aback by his formality, but blamed it on the presence of others in the room. As Lord of the Western Lands, he couldn't allow anyone to know of his close alliance with the Doberman demon before him, if you could call it an alliance at all. Both were bound to each other by debts that were yet to be repaid. Kira was grudgingly in Sesshomaru's dept for his rescuing of her and Sesshomaru for Kira's unnatural alertness and fierce hostility.
Sesshomaru hated to be in dept, and avoided falling into another's pocket as rarely as possible, but Kira had been a different matter all together. His past with the young demoness haunted him, and what made it worse was that she had never even met him, let alone heard of him before he had rescued her from her prison. She didn't know he was in her debt, for her rescue of him.
She had been exceedingly difficult to track down, therefore denying him the opportunity he needed to repay her.
Kira growled darkly again, causing the guards at the door to stiffen and snapping Sesshomaru out of his past memories and back to the present which involved a rather agitated Doberman bitch.
Kira sat down with her legs tucked underneath her in the western styled chair before Sesshomaru, her hands folded neatly in her lap.
She hated herself for listening to him, but the wounds covering her legs had begun throbbing painfully the longer she stood, and she could smell the masked scent of her blood as it leaked from beneath the bandages.
Everyone else in the room, save for the little human girl, noticed this as well, and where the guards cautiously inspected her for her injuries from a distance, Sesshomaru showed no emotion towards the obvious fact at all, and turned to the youkai at the door suddenly.
"Leave us."
As the guards scrambled to obey their lord's wishes, Kira fought to suppress her giggles at their pathetic state, and found her good mood returning.
Surprisingly, she had been rather content, maybe even happy, at the point in time when she had knocked on the door of the room she was now occupying, but when Sesshomaru's guards had dared to threaten her, needless to say, she got pissed. She could have killed the weaklings with out even trying for even thinking of challenging her, but out of respect for Sesshomaru (insert Kira gagging here), she had stamped down her rage and instead found herself wondering why he kept such weaklings with him, for protection of all reasons.
As soon as the heavy doors thudded closed behind the guards, Kira's anger had subsided enough for her to be able to look at Sesshomaru without feeling she wanted to kill him for being the arrogant bastard that he was, and her features calmed considerably, this fact happily noticed by the little girl beside Sesshomaru.
Now that Kira was calmed and less dangerous to be approached, the girl cautiously stepped around the side of Sesshomaru's desk and towards Kira.
Sesshomaru observed the two females' reactions toward each other with a wrathful eye, should Kira show any violent behavior towards Rin, he would personally remove her head, regardless of his debt.
But as Kira turned her attention toward the human girl, anything but violence showed in her expression, as a matter of fact, she looked as if she was cautious of the girl. Her gaze was harsh and calculating, but not as though she wished to harm the girl, if anything she was suspicious of why the pup was so damn happy.
As Rin stopped to stand next to Kira, she reached out and gently grasped Kira's tail, bringing her tiny hand slowly across the silky black fur. She studied Kira's extra appendage with a serious air, a comical expression on someone so young. As Rin looked at the brown tip of her tail, Kira suddenly withdrew her tail from the little girl's grasp and smacked the top of Rin's hand with its end sharply, a tiny red welt forming where it made contact. Rin cried out in surprise, and clutched at where Kira had hit her, her eyes wide. Sesshomaru stood in one swift movement and Kira found his energy whip around her throat before she had even noticed the demon lord had moved, the glowing weapon singing the soft flesh of her neck.
"You will not harm Rin." He threatened, his voice closer to a growl than anything else.
Kira turned her head calmly to look at him, ignoring the whip around her throat, as it burned deeper into her skin with every move she made. She hadn't flinched, but kept an eerily calm expression on her face that clashed dangerously with the waves of fury that radiated off of her.
"If you care to notice Sesshomaru, I haven't harmed the girl. In fact, the mark on the back of her hand is already gone."
As she finished her sentence, Kira turned to look at Rin, jerking her head towards Sesshomaru when the little girl's attention was once again focused on her. Rin nodded quickly, understanding what Kira wanted her to do, before scampering over to Sesshomaru's side and lifting her hand up for his inspection.
True to her word, the small wound that Kira left upon the girl's hand had vanished almost instantly and the human was in perfect health. Kira had only surprised her with the sharpness of her punishment, but Sesshomaru didn't understand why she would have just scared the girl when she had the perfect opportunity to kill her.
"Why?"
His question was simply stated not to mention downright vague, but Kira understood his meaning and focused her golden-rimmed gaze on him in a challenge, daring him to think her reasoning uncouth.
"It was not her place to touch me, let alone my tail, without my permission. I simply taught her a lesson when it comes to manners, nothing more."
Sesshomaru could see the truth in her words and understood the logic, but the fact that she had harmed Rin, though not physically, still irked him, and he released Kira's neck from his whip rather reluctantly, glaring at the woman the whole time.
Kira didn't move to try to relieve the pain of her wound, but sat with her hands still folded in her lap before his desk, her posture set in an obvious challenge, and her eyes burning in rage. In whole, she looked extremely deadly and Sesshomaru had to admit, she was rather intimidating.
As the two dog demon's glared at each other, the blistered and burned line of skin around Kira's
neck that had been in contact with Sesshomaru's energy slowly healed, leaving nothing but a thin white scar just above her collar within a minute. The scar would disappear within a few days, but Rin, despite the fact that Kira had harmed her, still worried about whether the demoness was alright.
Sesshomaru and Kira continued to burn holes into each other with their death glares, and unnoticed by the both of them, Rin moved away from Sesshomaru and moved cautiously to stand in front of Kira.
Rin was nervous with Sesshomaru looking so angry at the female demon, and she didn't want him to be mad at Lady Kira. Rin now understood that Kira didn't like to be touched, and she had done it without asking first, which made Kira mad. Sesshomaru didn't like to be touched either, so Rin couldn't blame Kira for being a little mean.
"Um, Lady Kira?" Her voice was innocent and small, as though she was unsure of herself, and the sound immediately drew Kira's attention to the little girl.
Taking Kira's gaze as an answer, Rin swallowed and looked back up at the collared dog demon.
"May I touch your tail?"
Kira shot a suspicious glance at the girl's hands, as though wondering if talons would suddenly appear from the ends of her fingers, but nodded slowly before watching the girl move cautiously behind her so Rin could see her tail.
'Why does Sesshomaru keep a human child with him? He doesn't exactly seem like a people person, let alone one for children.'
Kira felt Rin's tiny hands once again around her tail, brushing gently against her fur as she pet her. When Kira didn't punish her for touching her tail, Rin gained her confidence back and played happily with Kira's tail, taking it in her hands to make it wag back and forth.
Kira allowed the little girl her fun for a moment before gently sliding her tail slightly from her grasp.
"That's enough Rin-san." Kira's voice was gentle but firm and Rin immediately dropped Kira's tail and stood in front of her, smiling happily at being allowed to touch Kira's tail.
"Thank you for letting me touch your tail Lady Kira. It's not as long or as fluffy as Sesshomaru-sama's but it's very pretty." She said politely, bowing to Kira as she had been taught to when thanking someone.
Kira smiled and nodded her head to Rin.
Sesshomaru watched as the ice in Kira's eyes slowly melted away the longer she looked at the little human girl, and eventually nothing of her earlier skepticism of the girl was left, leaving a remarkably beautiful smile in it's place.
Slowly sitting back down in his seat, Sesshomaru smirked at how hard Kira had tried to stay indifferent and angry towards Rin, needless to say, she had lost her battle.
Rin looked over her shoulder at Sesshomaru and he nodded his approval at her politeness before turning his eyes back on Kira.
"Kira-sama?" Rin asked turning back to look at Kira. "May I sit on your lap?"
Kira looked a little confused, but nodded and unfolded her hands from her lap as the little girl scrambled to sit on her legs.
When Rin finally made herself comfortable, curled up with her side against Kira's warmth and her head tucked under Kira's chin, Kira wrapped her arms around the little girl's body. Bringing one clawed hand up to stroke Rin's shoulder length hair, Kira carefully pulled her sharp claws through the coal black strands, brushing it smooth.
Rin sighed at the comforting touch and Kira smiled maternally. She knew what calmed her down, and it apparently worked on others as well, as Rin had fallen asleep in her arms, her light breathing warming Kira's shoulder.
Kira kept her eyes fixed on the floor as she brushed Rin's hair delicately, being frighteningly considerate at keeping her claws from cutting the young girl's scalp or of accidentally sheering off whole chunks of hair at a time.
As she felt the steady rise and fall of Rin's breathing against her chest, Kira's heart swelled in sadness and tears threatened to pool in her eyes.
She held herself firm, despite her emotions, and she effectively kept Sesshomaru from scenting out her tears, and she masked her aura against him so he wouldn't sense her grief.
Sesshomaru felt Kira put up a barrier against her aura, blocking him from her, and he wondered what it was that she didn't want him to know about. She looked so protective of Rin, with her arms wrapped around the girl tightly and her gentleness when handling her surprised Sesshomaru with how harsh she had seemed not ten minutes ago. He watched the girls contently and his inner beast growled approvingly at the sight. Kira would be a good mother.
Desperately trying to destroy the growing depression inside of herself, Kira tried to find a way to break the uncomfortable silence. Sesshomaru didn't seem fazed by how quiet it was in the room, but Kira couldn't stand it.
Finally looking up at Sesshomaru, Kira was instantly confused at the expression on his face. It wasn't the expression that confused Kira, it was the fact that he was actually showing an emotion, though she couldn't have, for the life of her, figured out what it was.
Finally succeeding in squashing her sadness, Kira removed the mask on her aura and smirked when Sesshomaru snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her.
"Are you back yet?"
Sesshomaru didn't catch the sarcasm in her voice, or he did and didn't approve.
"I never left Lady Kira."
Kira scowled and looked away, missing the smirk that flashed over Sesshomaru's features before disappearing.
"I do believe you wanted to talk to me? However, you do not seem very talkative at the moment, would you like me to start?"
Sesshomaru didn't wait for an answer and settled down for a long chat with the Doberman demoness. Before he could begin however, Kira's voice sounded, and though her voice was clear, Sesshomaru found himself wondering if she had actually said it.
"I'm sorry."
Kira stubbornly refused to look at him, but her eyes were full of guilt, and she had stopped brushing Rin's hair in anxiety.
"I accept your apology lady Kira, however, I know not what you are apologizing for."
"For running." she answered simply, her eyes downcast and her voice barely a whisper.
"I see not why you feel you need to apologize, though I admit to being rather curious about your actions."
The stress she was feeling and Sesshomaru's curt replies put Kira on edge, and her defensive anger kicked in.
"For my own peace of mind Sesshomaru, that is why I am apologizing." She snapped, loud enough to wake the dozing Rin who looked up at Kira almost fearfully.
"Rin." Sesshomaru said tonelessly.
Rin turned to face him timidly, her focus settled on the anxiety Kira was feeling that caused her aggression.
"Yes Sesshomaru-sama?"
Sesshomaru kept his eyes locked on Kira threateningly, but Kira refused to back down and doubled the challenge in her eyes when he dared to look at her in such a manner.
"Go play, I must speak with Kira alone." His tone was icy and set Rin sliding off of Kira's lap and to the door immediately. She knocked on one of the heavy doors, and disappeared through the opening made when the bull youkai pushed it open. He paused after opening the door, curious to see what was going on inside the room, but a fierce growl from Kira set the door slamming shut behind him.
When the resounding thud of the door slamming shut made itself known, Kira found her anger slipping dangerously out of control, and her eyes were tinged once again with a bloody red.
"It was not your apology of which I was speaking of." Sesshomaru said suddenly, continuing their topic of conversation, easily ignoring Kira's blood-shot eyes and the merciless way in which she was shredding the cushioning of the chair she was sitting on beneath her claws.
Kira paused in her unstuffing of the chair and her eyes cleared, leaving them feigning confusion. Kira knew exactly what he was implying towards, but she wasn't about to willingly tell him of her reasoning behind her actions.
Sesshomaru fought the urge to roll his eyes at her childish actions. She knew exactly what he had meant and he knew it, her playacting didn't work on him as much as she wished it to. He waited patiently for her to answer him, but the long he waited, the more agitated the bitch got.
Kira's anger bubbled once again as her anxieties grew in the silence and she found herself on her feet and making her way towards the door. Just as she reached out to open it, stubbornly ignoring the fact that the guards could do it for her, Sesshomaru's low voice rang out, the tone revealing that he was a little more than miffed.
"We have not finished our conversation pup. You were not dismissed."
Kira swallowed down a scream at his arrogance, and gritting her teeth she closed her eyes tightly, clenching her fists in an attempt to dampen her rage. She couldn't get angry now, she had to save her energy for keeping herself from transforming into her demon form.
Releasing a breath in an angry huff, Kira turned to face Sesshomaru, who watched her inward battle with annoyed amusement. Truthfully, he had doubted her ability to contain herself, and had watched her victorious attempt attentively, studying with pleasure how deadly the clash between her beautiful exterior and burning interior made her.
"What do you want Sesshomaru?"
"Answers."
'I was the one who wanted answers first.' She thought sourly.
Kira wasn't surprised that he had turned her own demand against her, but his curt answer only served to infuriate her further.
Acting as though she hadn't heard him, Kira crossed her arms and looked past him, her gaze settling on the view of a grassy meadow outside the window.
"Do not ignore me pup, you will answer me, and you won't leave this room until you do."
Kira snorted indignantly. On one hand, he couldn't possibly keep her in here forever, but on the other, his very presence pissed her off and he would surely stay in the room until she answered him. She could always just leave and suffer the consequences, but she wanted answers as well. Weighing her options in her head, Kira's claws bit into the skin of her palms, causing them to bleed, as bitter thoughts of Sesshomaru passed through her mind, and she couldn't help the low growl escaping her throat.
Sesshomaru caught the fresh scent of her blood with satisfaction. Surely if she was angry enough to cause herself pain at her thoughts, then she had decided to answer him, either that or she was plotting ways of killing him, but he seriously doubted she would be stupid enough to do so when he had the major upper hand.
Growling angrily, Kira met Sesshomaru's gaze with what could only be described as pure and utter loathing. She couldn't have hated anyone more than she did Sesshomaru at that moment, and he acknowledged this obvious fact with a smirk.
"Sit down Lady Kira." His tone was slightly mocking, and held obvious amusement at her predicament.
Kira huffed again, forcing herself to refrain from going on a bloody rampage, and plopped back down in the, now unrecognizably mutilated, chair that she had occupied earlier.
As soon as Kira had sat back down, Sesshomaru immediately began his questioning, starting with the beginning.
"Why were you at the estate?" He began, taking note of how Kira stubbornly refused to look at him.
"Danshka wished me to be his pet." She spat it like it was a curse and crossed her legs angrily.
"Danshka?"
"My language."
Kira sighed when Sesshomaru didn't understand and glanced at him before fixing her gaze back out the window.
"Danshka is from the Doberman demon language, it means lowest breed. That is what I referred my captor to."
"And he allowed this?"
"He didn't know what it meant, but no, he didn't allow it."
"He punished you for calling him this?"
Kira snarled dangerously and blood once again made itself known as it dripped to floor from her palms.
"What do you think?" she whispered, her voice close to sounding beaten down and broken, but she veiled her true feelings with her anger.
Sesshomaru didn't say anything, but studied her reactions closely.
"You let yourself be captured by a lowly hanyou?"
"OF COURSE NOT!" she screeched, reaching her breaking point and jumping up from her seat, her fists clenched at her sides as she glared down at Sesshomaru who remained in his seat during her outburst, watching her calmly.
"HE WAS A COWARD! HE DRUGGED ME AND DRAGGED ME TO THAT HELL HOLE, I HAD NO CHANCE TO FIGHT BACK BEFORE HE PUT THIS DAMN THING ON ME!" she yelled, grabbing at the spiked collar around her neck and attempting unsuccessfully to pry it off.
"And what exactly is so bad about that?"
"I don't know exactly what it's supposed to do, but I do know that every time I try to transform or disobey a direct order, it shocks me." She said sighing, and sat back down in her seat.
"Interesting."
The glimmer in his eye unnerved Kira and she eyed him skeptically, as he seemed to drift off into his thoughts. Her thoughts confirmed when she saw him smirk; Kira sighed and closed her eyes to control her anger.
"Don't you dare Sesshomaru." She growled dangerously.
Sesshomaru's mask snapped back into place seamlessly and his eyes feigned innocence.
"Merely an idea lady Kira, nothing more."
"Better be just an idea or you might find yourself missing an arm when I'm through with you." (Couldn't resist lol) She said dryly, her words betraying the sense of unease that had settled in her stomach at the thought of Sesshomaru ordering her around without her being able to resist him.
Silence settled between the two and Kira shifted uncomfortably as Sesshomaru watched her, contemplating his next question.
As he studied her, she found herself wondering if Sesshomaru, the cold demon with an icy heart that sat before her, had ever smiled in his life. The more she thought about it, the more she doubted it. The more she thought about it, the more she tried to think of the last time she had smiled herself. Other than her time with Hana, Kira honestly couldn't remember the last time she had smiled, let alone laughed. The last time she could remember was when she was seven (in human years, ten in demon years) that was before he father had tried to kill her, and before her life had been forever tainted.
Sesshomaru's voice startled her out of her thoughts and she realized she hadn't heard anything that he had said.
"What?"
Sesshomaru fought the urge to sigh in impatience and his eyes burned in annoyance at her inattentiveness.
"I asked you how long you had been held."
"Oh. Almost a month I suppose." Said Kira shrugging
"How many others were there?"
"Not counting me, there were two other girls being held as well."
Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at her statement.
"I believe there were more than two others Lady Kira."
Kira frowned in confusion.
"Nope, there was just me, a deer youkai, and that rabbit youkai who killed herself."
"I'm sorry to inform you, but there were at least nine others being held other than yourself, I simply wanted to know exactly how many others there were."
Kira shook her head in disbelief.
"I would have scented them out, how could they have hidden them?"
Sesshomaru shrugged, and Kira raised an eyebrow in surprise that he had actually done the act instead of looking down on her like he always did.
Sesshomaru ignored her surprised expression, knowing full well of his mistake and settled down to interrogate her some more.
"Your scent was all over the guards, how exactly did they punish you?"
All the blood drained from Kira's face and her wide-eyed gaze immediately flicked to the door, contemplating whether she would be able to make it out before he caught up to her.
Her eyes flickered a desperate red as they settled back on Sesshomaru. He remained calm as he studied her reaction to the question.
Kira fought to keep her fear under control and forced her expression to turn icy.
"That is my business."
Sesshomaru eyed her dangerously, looking her up and down and wondering why she was suddenly so defensive.
-Flashback-
Sesshomaru sat at the end of Kira's bed, watching as three healers wrapped her wounds after covering them with medicinal pastes. He turned his nose up at the stench and was amazed that the scent alone didn't pull Kira back to consciousness. Most of her wounds were just bruises and had to heal on their own, but it disturbed him that they nearly covered her entire body from her chest down to halfway down her thighs. All of her other injuries were rather large lacerations that covered her entire body, save for her face, and those were the wounds that the healers were working on. The bruises would disappear in just a few days, and he hoped she didn't wake up to see them before they healed, she might just pass out again from the sight.
A tall and slender lizard youkai turned away from Kira and faced Sesshomaru, her steely eyes boring into his.
"Most of her wounds are in rather intimate areas my Lord, if you would kindly remove yourself until we are finished?"
Sesshomaru nodded and left the room, sliding the paper door shut firmly behind him. As the healers wrapped the unconscious Kira's wounds, they talked amongst themselves, and the conversation drew Sesshomaru's attention, making him curious to hear what they were talking about. Focusing his hearing on the three voices of the woman inside, Sesshomaru concentrated on deciphering their mumbled conversation.
"I would be amazed if she ever woke up." Said a rather bossy voice, one Sesshomaru recognized as the lizard youkai who had asked him to leave.
"I wouldn't want to wake up if I were her, if what these wounds are telling me is true, she had a terrible life wherever it was that she got them." This voice belonged to a butterfly demon, who was rather skilled in treating poisons. She had treated Jaken many times when he had stupidly gotten in the way of Sesshomaru's acid claws.
"You don't think it was Sesshomaru that did this to her do you?" Asked the third voice, a badger youkai who was too assertive for her own good.
Sesshomaru fought down a snarl at her words, but remained listening to the conversation.
"Don't be stupid." Snapped the lizard demon. "Sesshomaru is merciless in his ways, but he would never lower himself to rape a woman. Honestly!"
Sesshomaru nodded to no one in particular at the truth in her words, he would kill any female who opposed him, gender never made a difference, but he would never dishonor a woman by forcing himself upon them, that was just sick.
As dark thought reeled through his mind, Sesshomaru found himself suddenly shocked as he recalled exactly what the lizard youkai had said.
Kira had been raped.
Sesshomaru had killed everyone living in the estate except for Kira, but as he reflected on it he remembered the fact that several of the guards had been covered in Kira's scent. Sesshomaru regretted not taking longer in killing them, he should have made them suffer, let them bleed to death before him or force them to succumb to the slow and painful effects of his poison claws instead of just slicing off their heads. Anything to make them suffer as they had forced Kira to.
-End Flashback-
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed angrily as he remembered the day he had brought Kira back to the castle and had given her over to the healers.
'So she had been raped.' He thought bitterly. 'One hell of a punishment. Judging by the number of guards her scent had been lingering on, not to mention the intensity her scent was, she had been punished rather frequently.'
Sesshomaru couldn't stop the terrifying growl that tore from his throat suddenly, but Kira didn't flinch. She knew he had figured it out, and she lowered her eyes to the carpet in defeat.
"Do not be angry Lord Sesshomaru. I scented their blood as we were leaving, you killed them all didn't you?"
It was more of a statement than a question, but she waited for his answer despite the fact. Her voice was quiet and sounded broken from the inside, and her eyes kept flashing between agony and shame as she fought to contain her raging emotions.
Sesshomaru didn't trust himself to speak through his fury and nodded briefly. Kira wasn't looking at him to see his gesture, but felt his movement out with her aura and sighed brokenly.
"Then they are dead and my pain avenged. There is nothing more for it. I will heal." Kira was so ashamed of herself that she couldn't stand being in the same room as Sesshomaru. He knew her secret, and her worst fear had been realized.
Standing up stiffly, Kira made her way to the door, and reached out to knock for the guards to open it. Sesshomaru's voice caused her to stop however and without turning around, she acknowledged his call.
"Yes Sesshomaru?"
"There is no need to be ashamed. There was nothing that you could have done to have made it any different." Sesshomaru paused and Kira forced the lump in her throat down, wanting him to continue to reassure her. His deep voice soothed her broken soul and angry heart and she wanted nothing more but to be held in his arms as he comforted her while she cried, but she stood firm against her fantasy and waited for him to continue.
"I understand why you ran from me Lady Kira, and I apologize for not realizing my mistake sooner."
Kira's knees buckled and she grabbed the door handle to support herself but as Sesshomaru got up to help her, Kira held up a hand to stop him, still refusing to look at him.
"It was not your fault, everything would have caught up to me eventually, do not blame yourself for pushing it along a little faster." She smiled weakly looking at Sesshomaru's shoulder instead of his face; she wouldn't be able to bear it if he showed pity towards her. "The faster I accept the facts, the faster I get over it right?" Kira's eyes fell once again to the floor as she knocked quietly on the door, causing the bull youkai to once again open the door.
As Kira left silently, Sesshomaru still stood behind his desk, trying to erase her begging gaze. It was as though she wanted nothing more than comfort after suddenly suffering from the full effects of her 'punishments'.
When her tail disappeared around the edge of the thick wooden door, Sesshomaru felt Kira's aura once again probe the room. It moved slower than it had before, almost hesitant in its movements, as though ready to retreat at any moment in time. When the gentle aura found Sesshomaru, it lightly pushed against him and brushed its delicate fingers along the edge of his mind, silently seeking reassurance and binding itself with his own energy.
Sesshomaru stood behind his desk, stone still, as Kira's scent slowly faded. He unhappily noticed that the more her scent faded the more her aura disengaged from his own and silently returned to Kira.
Sighing in defeat, Sesshomaru stepped around the side of his desk and made his way out the open door. The guard had left it open after Kira had left, and was gazing after her in confusion, wondering what his lord had done to upset her so.
Sesshomaru growled at the guard as he left, making him snap to attention and shudder slightly at his lord's ferocity.
---
Kira stumbled down the infinity of hallways, blinded by grief and shame, her chest feeling as though it was about to rip open and reveal her entire past to the world. Her head was pounding with emotional pain as her body suffered physically, but as merciless as her torture was, no tears graced her beautiful features.
Groaning, she fell to the ground suddenly, the throbbing pains in her legs and between them becoming too much for her to stand. Scooting along the floor she backed up against a wall, using it to support her body as she jammed the heels of her hands into her eyes, trying to rid her memory of the frightening visions that were plaguing her.
As she saw her past flash before her, Kira realized just how terrible her life had truly been. Her father's attack on her, her banishment from the pack and the loss of her title, her mother's protection for her that led to the woman's downfall, the years of running, the betrayals, the daily tortures of life in the estate. Everything that had happened in her life had been a living nightmare, and it had all started with her father. The day he had tried to kill her had been the day all happiness was lost from her life, and the moment she marked her mother with her claws was the moment she sealed her fate. Everything in her life had turned dark that day, as Kira's vision was in the present.
Pushing her fists deeper into her eyes, nearly gauging them out of the sockets, Kira tried to force herself to forget but the harder she worked to close off her mind, the clearer the images got.
Pulling her knees up to her chest, Kira wrapped her arms around them and rested her forehead against her knees, sighing in despair. Would she never forget?
Stiffening suddenly, Kira swallowed down a groan at the pain the jerk of her muscles made. Someone was coming, she could scent them, and she had been to wrapped up in her own self pity to have noticed them before she had time to flee.
Kira bit down on her tongue painfully, hard enough to draw blood, as her own self-punishment. She should know better than to let her guard down. She was still in unfamiliar territory, inhabited by the only one who knew the extremities of her pains and she hadn't even had the common sense to be alert to protect herself.
'Dammit, dammit, dammit!' she screamed in her head. Kira tried to get up, but as the numbing medicines covering her wounds wore off, she found her body paralyzed in pain.
Kira could handle even the worst of pains with barely a flinch, but the bad thing about the phrase 'paralyzed in pain' was the paralyzed part. Just because she could handle the pain, didn't mean that she could move, and she sat on the floor of the hallway, unable to move to try and get away from the newcomer, or even to defend herself should the need arise.
'It never hurt this bad before, why now? Of all times, why now?'
Reaching out with her aura, Kira swept her subliminal vision through each of her surrounding hallways, searching for the unwelcome visitor.
She pushed it farther and farther through the mazes, mapping out every turn and doorway she came across in her mind, but finding no one in the hallways she searched.
Kira snarled angrily as her aura rebelled suddenly, refusing to continue. She had never pushed it to travel as far away from her as she was forcing it now, and it couldn't go any farther. Growling low in her throat, Kira pushed it harder despite the whine of its resistance that reverberated in her head. It traveled another five feet before stopping again, unable to continue, but not from resistance.
She had found her stalker.
Kira made her aura follow the demon closely as he drew nearer, and realizing he was heading straight for her, she immediately called her essence back to her. It returned as ordered and slammed back into her body as soon as it had reached its host once again. She felt the strain she had put it through as it reunited with her, and Kira immediately felt drained, her vision going hazy in fatigue and over exertion.
Attempting to stand and face her opposer, Kira's legs shook violently as she dug her claws into the wall to support herself. Kira was never one to back down from a fight, but her body didn't agree and collapsed despite her efforts to remain fighting.
Sinking down involuntarily to her knees, Kira bowed her head in defeat just as Sesshomaru rounded the corner.
---
I love how much emotion Kira is showing in this chapter, and considering she's been an ice cube for two hundred years, I would say that she's making some progress. Sorry about the cliffy though, I thought I should stop at twenty pages so I would have more than seven really long chapters.
Snapdragon: (Smirks) I'm so mean. (Does the cliffy dance) Hahahahahaha!
Sesshomaru: (Face covered in whip cream foam) She has many issues.
Kira: Look who's talking (Points to beverage in Sesshy's hand)
Sesshomaru: My vanilla lattes have nothing to do this.
Kira: (rolls eyes)
Sesshomaru: (narrows eyes evilly) Are you implying that I, the great lord Sesshomaru, has issues?
Kira: When you start lapping up coffee like a dog, that would imply that you have issues, yes.
Sesshomaru: (growls)
Kira: (Licks some coffee foam off of Sesshy's cheek)
Sesshomaru: O.O
Snapdragon: ( ) 'must – learn – to – control – anger!'
Review or I'll unleash my rage upon you all!