Authors' Note: Good to be back everyone. Enjoy.

Author's Note v.2.0: This chapter was edited and uploaded on 10/28/17. Please bear with me as I slowly update each chapter. My goal is to have a final edit by the time the final chapter is posted.

Awesome Betas: Penthesileia, Not_Towa_Wakasa, Jennie Johnson

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Chapter 2: Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall.

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Kagome

Oh, Hiromi was going to pay.

Kagome wasn't sure how exactly. It was a little hard to think with her arms tied behind her back and her ankles knotted together and duct tape pressed over her mouth. But once she got out of there, once she escaped, she was going to formulate a plan, and Hiromi was going to pay.

Kagome was normally the forgive-and-forget type. She wasn't prone to holding grudges. But who in their right mind did things like tied people up and shoved them in janitor closets? This whole ordeal was unforgivable.

She really, really hoped dating Hojou was worth it.

She groaned, thinking of Hojou. Stupid Hiromi. After instructing her minions to tie Kagome up, she had sent a lovely text to Hojou on Kagome's behalf.

'Never talk to me again, you ugly piece of shit. I fucking hate you,' the text said. Kagome had rolled her eyes at first. Anyone that knew her understood she would never say anything like that. But her heart sank after realizing that Hojou didn't really know her, not like Sango did. He might take one look at that text and decide he didn't like her so much after all.

And after he'd called her beautiful and everything…

Kagome's back was pressed up against the shallow shelving that ran along all three walls of the cramped closet space, her knees were bent in front of her, her feet on the bottom shelf stuffed between assorted cleaning supplies. She wiggled around, trying to get into a more comfortable position and knocked over a broom. The collapsible handle hit her in the head, and she let out a pitiful groan, trying to reach up and rub the sore spot on reflex.

She just wanted to scream. Her arms ached, her back ached, and crazy Hiromi had been right – no one had come down this way. Not one single person had walked by, and she'd been listening intently for a chance to make some noise and clue someone in that she was there.

Kagome didn't know how long she'd been in the closet now. The girls had stuffed her phone back into her back pocket where she couldn't reach it, her butt was going numb and she was hungry. Had a few hours passed? It felt like it, but without knowing the time, she might have been stuck in there for only a few hours.

God, she was so pissed off. More pissed off than she'd ever been in her entire life.

"Don't worry, we won't let you starve," Hiromi had sneered down at her. "We'll be back sometime tomorrow to set you free," that slow, twisted grin returning to her face. "That should be enough time to think things over."

And with that, she shut Kagome off from the rest of the world.

Forget it. Kagome refused to give Hiromi the satisfaction of still being tied up when she came back to get her. But how to break free? Her stupid gang of stupid girls knew their knots. She'd been struggling against the ropes since they'd thrown her in.

Think, Kagome. Think! She berated herself. She was smarter than Hiromi was, she could think of a way out of this!

She moved her fingers, trying again to pull against the ropes, and she felt a sharp sting on the tip of her index finger. "Ouch!" she cried, although it came out sounding like "Mmmph!" What the heck had cut her? She felt around, a bit more cautiously this time, and her fingers came in contact with her ring.

It wasn't an expensive ring. It didn't have diamonds, or fancy carvings. It was made crudely of some sort of metal, maybe copper or tin. But it was special to her, because her little brother, Souta, had made it for her fifteenth birthday, all by himself. He'd gone through a creative stage at that point, and had crafted a lot of little things, all of it kind of forgotten and packed away with the rest of their childhood memories. Souta hadn't been very good at it, and he moved on to obsessing about drifting and cars instead. But that ring he made her was special, and she hadn't taken it off since he gave it to her.

Tears pricked at her eyes at the thought of what she had to do to that ring now. She hated Hiromi even more for making her destroy something that was so special to her. Hoping that Souta would forgive her, Kagome wiggled the ring off her finger, and squeezed it with all the might she could scrounge up in her current predicament. Her heart broke a little when she felt it give under pressure, and it's sides pushed together to form a nice, sharp little point to work with.

It took a while. The ring was small and she had to cut through a couple layers of the rope before her hands finally broke free. She quickly reached up to rip the tape off her mouth, and swallowed her rage as the tender flesh around her lips screamed in protest. Without wasting time, she moved on to her ankles, making quick work of the ropes now that her hands were free.

Slowly, slowly she stood up, her body screaming in protest from being in such an uncomfortable position for too long. Now to get out of this stupid museum and hope her teacher didn't kill her for being gone so long. She opened the door, slipping out as quietly as possible, hoping no one was there to catch her.

The cave was eerily quiet. No soft murmurs bounced off the rocky walls. No shuffling feet on the floor save for her own. She made her way down the hall, hoping that there were some visitors in somewhere. The thought that she was trapped inside was not one she wanted to entertain.

Half the spotlights that had lit up the torches had been shut off, casting even creepier shadows than the last time she'd walked through. She slowly made her way towards the opening of the cave, her heart sinking. No one was down here. She was alone.

Quickly she whipped out her cell, berating herself for not looking at it earlier. She flipped it open and frowned. No reply from Hojou. Great. And it was now 11:15 pm. The museum had long since closed down. She was stuck.

Why the hell didn't Itou-sensei come looking for me? she thought, Or Sango? Surely her friend would have noticed her absence. Quickly, she dialed Sango's number, placing the phone up to her ear.

She answered on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Sango!" A wave of relief washed over Kagome.

"Kagome! What the hell happened?" her friend asked, the same note of relief evident in her tone. "Hiromi told everyone you'd slipped out to meet Hojou, Itou-sensei was pissed."

Argh, stupid Hiromi. Kagome was going to kill her. "Sango, I didn't sneak out to see Hojou, Hiromi and her friends freaking jumped me in the bathroom."

"What?" Sango shouted. Kagome moved the phone away from her ear so as not to go deaf. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine now that I got out, but they tied me up and shoved me into the janitor's closet."

"And you've been in there all this time?" She asked, then: "I guess I should have come looking for you myself."

"Gee, you think?" Kagome snapped, testier than she usually was. She let all the air out of her lungs. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. I'm not having a good day." She said.

"Seriously. Want me to come and get you?"

"Ummm…." Kagome glanced around. She was in a museum. Midnight was fast approaching. She was closed in. "That might not be a good idea." She said. "The museum is closed, it's not like I can just walk out."

"I hadn't thought of that," Sango said, then cursed. "Well, why don't you just go to security and tell them what happened?"

"Are you kidding?" Kagome hissed into the phone. "No way they'll believe me! They'll think I'm just some stupid juvenile delinquent trying to steal one of these stupid artifacts! I have college to think about, I can't get a record!"

"Okay, calm down. Listen, just hide out somewhere for now. I'll be there first thing in the morning to come in and get you."

"Okay," Kagome said, loving Sango more and more every second. "Thank you."

"When I see Hiromi…" Sango replied. She let the threat hang.

"You and me both." She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

After hanging up with Sango, and a promise that she'd bring something to eat with her when she came in the morning, Kagome looked around, trying to figure out her next move. It was cold in the cave, and it had been a warm, 80-degree day outside. She hadn't thought to bring a sweater along. Who knew she'd be jumped and hog-tied? She rubbed her hands quickly up and down her arms, trying to warm herself up.

Okay girl, get it together! Heat rises. If I can find a place upstairs to hide out in I'll be warmer. Mentally patting herself on the back for coming up with such a good plan, she made her way towards the stairs.

Something moved in the corner of her eye, and she whipped around to follow the movement.

It looked like it had come from the mirror. The youkai one. But as she scanned the area, nothing was there except for her own reflection. She rolled her eyes. Don't freak yourself out, Kagome. It's just a stupid mirror. She shrugged off the eerie feeling that tried to make its way up her spine and continued towards the stairs, slowly tiptoeing up and up and up. When she reached the mouth of the cave she peeked around the corner, scanning the much more modern room. Just as she took a step out she saw the bobbing of a flashlight and heard the jangling of keys.

Oh crap! Security! Without thinking twice she turned and hurried back down, searching for a place to hide. The only thing big enough in the room to conceal her was the mirror, which wasn't hanging, just leaning nicely propped up against the wall. Quickly she stepped over the red velvet ropes, ignoring the 'do not pass' sign, and dove behind the mirror. She tried to scrunch up into the smallest ball she could, and held her breath as the security guard ambled down the stairs she'd just come from.

He took what seemed like forever to make his sweep of the room, and then turned to go back and hopefully spend a lot of time checking out the rest of the building.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Kagome stepped out from behind the mirror and back over the ropes. She turned and bowed to whatever spirit was supposedly taking residence inside. "Sorry museum gods," she said, humoring herself. "I'll stay on this side of the ropes from now on. …Unless the guard comes back." She added after a thought, feeling only slightly ridiculous for talking to herself. It made her feel better though. She took a few steps back from the mirror and gave it a good look.

What was it about that mirror? She felt like it pulled her in, like an insect being drawn to a flame. Kagome felt unsettled and uneasy every time she looked at it. It was hard to look away. Sighing, she walked back up to it and took a good look at herself.

Kagome knew she was pretty enough. Average in looks, killer in school, save for math, and she thought she had a decent personality. She leaned in closer, her blue eyes and fair skin striking a sharp contrast with the bluish-black color of the mirror.

She smiled, shrugged at herself, did a full turn, and instantly felt like she was the wicked stepmother in Snow White. Laughing at herself and thankful that no one was around to watch her acting so stupid, she walked up and placed her hands on the mirror.

"Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" She grinned, waiting for a reply.

"Dammit wench!" came a deep, rough, angry voice, "could you be any more vain?"

Kagome reared back and let out an ear-splitting scream.

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As always, comments and critiques are welcome. Hope you guys enjoyed! See you in the next chapter.

~SugarRos