Got derailed from updating because I was writing on To the Sick and Wanting. I've finally finished that, so now we are back to our irregularly scheduled programming.

Chapter 10

Kagome woke up in the hospital, groggy and confused. She tried to remember what could have possibly led her here, but she could only see and hear bits and pieces. Flashes of light and noise.

She remembered the launch party, it went smoothly. Did they go partying afterwards? Did she get alcohol poisoning and had to get her stomach pumped?

She paused and felt her stomach. No pain, no tubes. Other than some lethargy, she felt ok.

Looking around the room, she noticed someone in the chair by the bed, Sesshoumaru. Her heart fluttered and her stomach flipped uncomfortably at the same time.

She remembered his raised voice. But why? It doesn't make sense.

She must have made some noise because she got his attention. He stood quickly and leaned over her.

"Are you ok?" He whispered tenderly, cupping her cheek.

"What happened?" She croaked out. Her throat hurt, hell her cheek hurt.

He sighed deeply, looking away for a moment before, "Naraku drugged you and tried to force himself on you."

Kagome stiffened, not at all expecting that.

"Is.." she licked her lips, " is that why I don't remember?"

"Yes, Rohypnol is pretty much a black out drug. What is the last thing you remember?"

"The party. I think we were almost ready to leave? It's all fuzzy bits and pieces after that. I remember hearing screaming? Kiki and Sango were with me?" She listed off what she could remember, "I hear your voice, but I don't know what you were saying." Her eyes watered, scared something happened to her that she can't remember. She hoped nothing happened.

"Did he?" She whispered brokenly, unable to get the words out. 'did he rape me?'

"No. He didn't." Sesshoumaru replied strongly.

"Thank goodness" she wept.

"Why didn't you tell me that he was harassing you?" He asked after a moment, it was eating him alive, ever since InuYasha told him all the bits he knew, the harassment at work every week that she never mentioned. Even her reasoning and fear of retaliation. Did she fear that he, Sesshoumaru, wouldn't have done anything about it?

"I- I didn't want you to worry..I thought I could have taken care of it myself" she went quiet. "I guess I hoped he'd have just taken the hint and left me alone. And then I just got used to having to deal with it."

"I wish you had told me. I would have had him taken care of a long time ago."

"I didn't even want to tell InuYasha, he found out." She muttered.

He reached over and grabbed a bottle of water, placing a straw gently to her lips. "You shouldn't have had to go through that for so long." His free hand clenched in a fist when she gingerly shrugged then winced in pain.

"When can I go home?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Let me go find someone" he got up and left the room. She only just noticed that he was still in his suit.

.:o0o:.

Things were different after the launch and subsequent incident. It had only been a few days, but Kagome knew something was wrong. She was still trying to remember what happened during the fog of that night and no one wanted to fill her in, thinking it was better if she didn't remember.

Was it that traumatic? What were they hiding?

InuYasha spent at least a full day apologizing for not seeing Naraku, for not preventing whatever happened. And she eventually had to give him a task to get him to leave her alone.

Sesshoumaru, he would barely look at her now. He was always tense, she caught him staring at her with this odd look in his eyes. She felt like something significant happened and she was going to find out.

Waiting until he came back from a meditation session, she decided to corner him. He stopped abruptly when he saw her standing purposefully in the kitchen, staring at him. The bruise on her cheek was still an angry mark but a little more faded.

He signed, knowing he wouldn't be able to get away from the upcoming conversation. He sat on a bar stool resignedly.

"What happened after Naraku drugged me?" She asked directly.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes. If it was so terrible, I deserve to know. I need to process what happened so I can try to live with it or get over it. It's not for you, any of you, to keep it from me."

He nodded; she was right. It wasn't their place.

Running his hand down his face wearily, he started. "He had taken you from the ballroom and threw you on a table. You fell off and so he lifted you up and pressed you against the wall instead" he paused, noticing her white knuckled grip on the counter, and how her hands were shaking.

"Go on" she whispered, looking down. She needed to know.

Sesshoumaru sighed, continuing to relay what he saw happen from the security footage. "He slapped you because you were trying to fight him. Then he kissed you" he heard her sharp intake of air, "and started to feel you up."

He heard a small sob and looked over at her. She had her hand over her mouth, her shock apparent. He got up, walked around the island and pulled her into his arms. She sobbed again, clearly trying to hold it back before it overwhelmed her.

He just held her, stroking her hair in silence.

After a few minutes, she pulled away, wiping her eyes. "thank you" she whispered, sniffling.

"Were you the one who found me?" She asked, looking up at him. That had to be the reason he was beating himself up

"Yes" he said after a long pause. His hesitation was clear, and Kagome felt her heart hammer when everything clicked.

"I'm sorry for letting this happen. I should have said something. I'm so stupid." She whispered, mentally berating herself for getting into the whole situation. Of course, he would view her differently after seeing her get attacked by some guy. She couldn't even defend herself, she let herself get taken advantage of.

Is that the right sort of image for a Takeda Clan Head?

"Kagome" he started but she cut him off.

"No, it's fine. I- I understand. Fuck I ruined everything" she cried.

He realized what was happening, she was scolding herself, the victim, for allowing the harm to befall her because she feared the damage it would cause their families, their future marriage. He needed her to listen to him, to understand that she wasn't at fault.

He was.

He had left her there, essentially to be raped by that degenerate, all because he didn't look to see the signs of her ill state. He saw it clearly in the security footage, why couldn't he have seen it in the moment. This mistake was monumental, and it pained him to leave her there in the care of the EMT and Sango and Kikyo but he needed answers that only InuYasha could give.

His shame and fear kept him from reacting in the moment, so he did everything he possibly could after the fact. He reiterated everything he knew on the drive to the hospital in the ambulance, sat by her side the entire night, giving what information he could to doctors, police officers and parents alike. It was the least he could do after he just left her there and then waited to check in on her.

"Kagome" he said louder, grabbing her to him. She looked up at him, tears making her blue eyes glow. "You didn't do anything wrong," he said clearly, strongly.

"Then why?"

"It was my mistake. My stupid mistake" his head was bowed, hiding his face from her.

She was confused, "Sess..?"

"I found you in the room with him, drugged and struggling. But I didn't see that. I thought" He took a deep breath, "I thought that you were with him, having an affair. And I left you there. I assumed the worst in you at that moment."

He watched her eyes fill up with tears as her heart broke right before his very eyes. He wished he could take the words back, wished he could go back in time and fix the mistake all together.

She stepped away from him. Holding onto the countertop.

"You thought I was cheating on you?" She whispered, shocked and disappointed at his single nod. "Have I ever given you reason to? Did I ever do something that made you question my fidelity? My fucking commitment?" She was angry. So angry.

"No" he responded.

"So why the fuck would you see me in a room with someone and.. And why was Kagura there? I heard her voice. She opened the door. Did she lead you to believe I was cheating?"

She only waited a beat before deflating, "it doesn't matter." She whispered, sniffling in the quiet of the room. "Need to think".

"Kagome, I am sorry." He said.

"Thanks. But I still need to clear my head. I need to go to my parent's house; I need to be away." She murmured, agitated. Folding her arms as if cold.

He stepped forward to pull her to him again and she took two backwards. Stepping out of his reach.

"I'm sorry, but you hurt me. I need some time." She didn't look at him, couldn't. She saw his hands drop emptily to his sides and briskly walked around him and quit the room.

Sesshoumaru watched her go, devastated. He knew everything was over.