Chapter 6: Horrible Confrontation

"There," Soledad whispered to herself as she applied some lip balm on, "I'm finally done." She closed the container and looked at the finished project on her face. She had applied eyeliner, eyeshadow, blush, mascara, and some lip balm on. It probably would've taken a regular woman only two minutes to put on the makeup she had done, but because of a suddenly shaky hand and because she never had the desire to put makeup on until then, it took her about a half an hour and a lot of thrown makeup products. She silently approved and walked to the balcony, where there was a splattering of pink blush on the floor. She now felt bad that she had thrown it out the window and that someone was going to have to clean it, but she got frustrated that after three attempts she still looked like a clown.

She had gotten everything else ready before doing her makeup, because she knew it was going to take the longest. She had a silver kimono that was a little higher than her knee, but it was the late spring and the night would probably be humid anyway. She fixed her hair into a loose, messy bun, which held her chocolate brown hair in two silver decorative chopsticks. She brushed one of the curls she purposely left to frame her face aside, and smiled. She knew it would not only get the attention of Shinto but also Sesshomaru's as well. She knew that her silly game might get her into a little bit of trouble, but she just wanted to see what would happen when he saw her like this. She heard a knock on the door, and quickly sprayed a vanilla perfume on her neck and hair before opening the door.

"Hello, Shinto." She said eagerly. Shinto was dressed in his usual armor, but had one a light green outfit underneath, which complimented his eyes. Shinto gave her a small smile, and she noticed how handsome he looked when he did.

"Are you ready?" he asked her softly. She nodded and smiled up at him.

"Yes, and I just wanted to thank you again for going with me to dinner tonight. It would've been very boring to not have anyone to talk to." She took his arm as they walked over to the dining room. They spoke about random topics on the way there, and as she got closer and closer, she found herself getting quite anxious to see Sesshomaru's expression when they got there. Luckily for her, the only other person in the dining room when the two got there was Sol, and she beamed when she saw them walk in.

"Hello, Soledad! Gosh, you dressed up today, huh? I love the silver eyeshadow you have on……." Soledad simply nodded and thanked her for her compliments, not really paying attention to what she said. She quickly took her seat and Shinto sat next to her. "Oh, hello Shinto. Are you going to stay with us for dinner?" Sol finally asked him. Shinto simply nodded and continued to look around. "I told you. He never talks to anyone but you and father. He must really like you or something." Sol whispered into Soledad's ear.

"Oh, you're crazy. We're simply friends. I invited him to liven things up. It gets boring around here." Sol raised her eyebrows as if questioning her before she spoke.

"Well, he may liven things up for you, because he's only going to talk to you this whole time. I don't have anyone to cheer me up. My fiancé won't be visiting until after I get my dress and flowers next week." Soledad nodded, but was kind of hoping that Sol wouldn't tell her what she was going to be wearing for the millionth time. She could probably be the tailor by how many times she's told her the details. Sesshomaru then walked in with Kagura. He was wearing his usual outfit, while Kagura was wearing a violet kimono with a gold obi. They both sat down with Sesshomaru at the end of the table. Soledad caught Sesshomaru's eyes staring at her short kimono, but he didn't say a word to eachother. Sesshomaru looked over to Shinto.

"I see that you have decided to come join us for dinner." he said simply to Shinto. Shinto cleared his throat.

"Why, yes, Lord Sesshomaru, Soledad invited me to join the rest of you here. I hope you don't mind." he said.

"Hmph." he said simply. He looked at the two of them and a smirk emerged. "I didn't know you were together."

"Well, heh, we're not a couple." Soledad said to him. "We are just friends. I just invited him along so that maybe it would liven the dinner up." Sesshomaru arched an eyebrow towards her.

"I didn't tell you to speak." Soledad looked taken aback.

"Well, I didn't ask you to be rude either, but we can't always have our way" she said, her head slanted slightly. "Now can we?" Sesshomaru gave her a glare.

"Don't use that attitude with me, Soledad. I don't like it when people disrespect me." Sesshomaru said harshly. Shinto and Sol looked at eachother nervously, knowing this was not to end well at all.

"You must give respect to recieve it, Sesshomaru. Of all the people, I would think that someone of your class would know more etiquette to not intrude on people's personal relationships." Soledad snapped. Sesshomaru stood up.

"Do not test my patience onna."

"Excuse me?" Soledad almost yelled, standing up as well to face him. "You have no-"

"Shinto, I would assume you can answer my question. Are you in a relationship?" Shinto shifted his eyes nervously.

"Well, uh I---"

"Or has she just given you a good fuck?" Sesshomaru said icily. Soledad froze, feeling like she couldn't breath.

"Excuse me?" Soledad asked softly, feeling tears coming quickly. She looked around. Shinto and Sol were just as shocked by the words that came out of Sesshomaru's mouth, and Kagura had her fan placed over her face, but she could tell in her eyes she was simply pleased.

"I would've thought so, especially by the way you're dressed." he said to her.

"I am in no way dressed like a whore! How dare you!" Soledad hissed.

"Oh, well I guessed you haven't told him about your past, eh, onna? That you let a man take you without a fight!" he said arrogantly. Shinto's eyes went straight to her.

"What is this about, Soledad?" he asked her. Soledad didn't bother turning to him, or rather that she couldn't turn to him. She couldn't believe Sesshomaru would say that, that she let the man who raped her just do it, because even though he didn't know what happened, he knew how much it hurt her, how long she held that secret, believing it was her own fault, that she couldn't get away. She felt herself still trying to breathe, the tears stinging her eyes.

"You know that isn't true, Sesshomaru." she said slowly. One tear escaped and she didn't bother to brush it away. "How could you say that?"

"Because it's true." he said in the coldest voice she ever heard him speak. She couldn't get anything out, and all she knew to do was to just run as she bolted out of the dining room. She heard Shinto call her name, but she didn't care. She just needed to get away from Sesshomaru. As Shinto ran out of the room to find Soledad

"Father, how disgusting of you." Sol said coldly to Sesshomaru.

"How dare you speak of your father that way?" Kagura told Sol. Sol looked straight at Sesshomaru.

"I don't know this story at all, but how could you say such hurtful things? You're disgusting." Sol said as she walked out of the dinning room.

---0---0---0---

"Soledad." Shinto said softly as he found Soledad on the grass in one of the gardens. Soledad looked up at him, with tears cascading down her face, leaving remnants of her mascara down her cheeks.

"Go away." she whimpered. Shinto sat down next to her and grabbed her hand.

"What is this about? Why did Sesshomaru say that at the table?" he asked her. He sighed as he got no response. "Please tell me, I'm here." he said softly. Sol ran into the garden and as soon as she saw Soledad in her horrible condition she ran down and hugged her.

"Aw, Soledad. Don't cry. You're face is covered in makeup. Here." Sol said, ripping a piece of her red kimono. "Let me wipe it off." Soledad pushed her hand away lightly.

"You just ripped that expensive kimono!" she said to her. Sol shrugged.

"It's a kimono, a piece of fabric I wear. I couldn't care less." Sol said, wiping the makeup off without Soledad's objection this time. She sat down on Soledad's other side.

"What is it that he was talking about? Is it about your past?" Soledad began crying even harder. "Shhh. I can tell you for a fact that Shinto and I couldn't care about what happened in the past....." she said. She crouched down. "Were you a pro---"

"NO!" Soledad shrieked. She sighed heavily. "I was...taken advantage of when my parents introduced me to a suitor." she whispered, not wanting to look at their reactions. "I held it in for years and years, feeling like it was all my fault for it. I should've had more strength to push him off, or I should've yelled louder............there was always a way for me to believe that it was my fault for what happened, and for years and years I couldn't tell it to anyone....." Shinto hugged her tightly and Soledad buried her head into his chest as she broke down and cried for what felt like forever to her. When she stopped crying she noticed that Sol had left and it was just the two of them. She sighed.

"Well, I guess you're going to have to wash your clothes, I soaked through them." she said, trying to laugh. Shinto simply touched her cheek gently.

"It doesn't matter, as long as I can make you happy." Soledad smiled slightly and allowed Shinto to pick her up bridal style, and sometime during the trip from the gardens to her room, she dozed off to sleep.