Chapter 46

That evening, when they had all returned to Sesshoumaru's shiro, Sesshoumaru locked himself in his study and pulled up the information he'd been dying to see all day: his online bank statement. The police had requested those records and he flatly refused, telling them to come back with a warrant, which, of course, was highly unlikely to happen. First, he was the victim and second, his family held sufficient wealth and power, both in spirit and clout, that no judge in his right mind would issue that warrant.

He rapidly typed his ID and password and navigated to his statement page. 'Thank gods. There she is.' His hand reached out to the screen and touched the line items he was looking for. He saw Kagome had paid for her rental car and hotel room with the card, just as they had agreed. He called the hotel and confirmed that Kagome was still in residence. They rang her room and covertly asked if she would like a fresh fruit basket delivered to her room as Sesshoumaru had instructed. She refused politely, thanking the concierge, and asking him instead for the Crispy Duck from the room service menu before hanging up the call. The concierge picked the outside call back up and told him she refused the fruit basket. Sesshoumaru asked if she ordered anything from the menu, and was told that she did and what. Sesshoumaru thanked the man and disconnected the call.

He sat back in his leather office chair and heaved a sigh of relief. Kagome was alright and her plan was working. He just had to wait a few more hours.

….

Sesshoumaru had a lot of explaining to do and it wasn't going to be fun. He had initially thought to wait until after dinner, but as everyone was merely pushing their food around on their plates, he knew now was the time.

He cleared his throat, garnering everyone's attention. "Kagome is safe and well."

Everyone spoke at once.

"Thank gods!"

"You heard from the police?"

"I didn't hear a call, when did they call?"

"Are they bringing her or are we going to get her?"

"Fuck. I don't think I can wait for those idiots to bring her, I'm going to get her. Who's with me?"

"Wait, what if the detective was right and she doesn't want to come back?"

He cleared his throat again, louder. All eyes focused on him. "Everything has happened according to our plan. The police are imbeciles and know nothing."

Confused and concerned looks abounded and Inuyasha was about to speak up again when Sesshoumaru raised a hand to hold him off so he might continue. "Two months ago, Kagome and I formed a plan. We felt it best to keep it secret to preserve everyone's honest reactions when the time came to elevate our game. For the past two months, Kagome has been leaking information to Naraku, some of it real, some of it staged, through her bond with him. We have arranged arguments for his benefit in the privacy of our rooms at night and made sure he bore witness. Our discussion last night, brother, about Kagome's surprise wedding present was staged. Kagome snuck up to the door while keeping her aura shielded, overheard us just as you warned me against keeping secrets from her, packed a bag and ran away, taking my car."

"You sneaky bastard. So you weren't being an obtuse prick, you just needed me to freak out at you. So where is she? Without her old apartment, she really has no place to go but the shrine, right?"

He chose to ignore the insults. "No, indeed. Kagome did not want to involve more people than necessary. After we kill Naraku and his minions, the investigation will be far easier for having told the police that he was after Kagome. She purposely paid for a rental car and a hotel room with our bank card so I would know how to find her. Now that she is away from this Sesshoumaru's presence, her every moment is projected to Naraku so she must be very careful. He must believe she has left me and is completely despondent or he will not reveal himself to her. When we devised the plan, Kagome surmised that since we have not seen or heard from Kagura that she must either have been eliminated for her deceit or her leash has been shortened to where she is unable to sneak away."

"I called the hotel while I was in my office and confirmed, through use of code and the hotel concierge, that Kagome was well and that she had been contacted by Naraku. Her next step is to let him arrange a meeting. He will do this because he thinks Kagome is just a little push away from committing suicide and then he will have the corrupted Jewel to himself. But that is not all. If it was, he could simply arrange to steal the Jewel from her corpse; he is absolutely obsessed with my chosen. Instead, Kagome has seen through her time meditating with Kaede that Naraku's endgame is to revive his fallen daughter by having his pet, Kanna, trap her soul in her mirror at the time of death, then implant it back in her body after he has harvested the Jewel. He plans to keep Kagome as his mate and to breed her so that he may have a supply of children/grandchildren with which to enact his deepest, darkest fantasies as he moves his army led by the corrupted Jewel to take over the world. It is his hope that she will breed children with strong spiritual powers so that he might siphon energy from them as well, furthering his goals."

The room sat in shocked silence for several moments as they comprehended the level of depravity to which Kagome's father would aspire.

Inuyasha was the only one capable of words. "So, what? You really just let our Kagome offer herself up as bait to this fucker? Are you fucking crazy? She can't tell us where she goes because she's being watched so how the fuck are we going to find her? Forget it, I'm going to this hotel right now and dragging her ass back here. Where is she?"

"Inuyasha, please be silent. There is more to explain." He explained the significance of Inuyasha, Shiori, Toga and himself in the prophecy and that they must take their places at her side. He told them about their theory of a second prophecy, strengthened by Onigumo's desperation to have Kagome born on his birthday, and how they believed that they must follow their prophecy so that the battle takes place on the eve of Kagome's birthday, the first of September, tomorrow. This was why they had to ensure they brought the battle to Naraku on the appointed day, because deviation may just mean an outcome in his favor and that was something they just could not risk.

"Now, we have the name of the rental agency where Kagome got the car she is driving. She will have specifically asked for one with GPS and will have checked off the box on the rental agreement that agreed to her location being tracked by the parent company in case of emergency. After dinner, and you all will eat as we will have long hours of fighting ahead, the four of us will find this agency and obtain Kagome's final location."

Determined eyes met across the table and nodded their acceptance to Sesshoumaru. They were ready.

…..

Kagome couldn't believe it. She was in the foothills less than ten miles from her family's shrine. She had followed the directions her father had given her, following dirt roads and paths so narrow she was sure the car wouldn't get though to arrive at a large home done in the traditional style. She parked the car, checked the incongruous divers' watch on her wrist and got out, popping the trunk to remove her bag. After slinging it over her shoulder, she closed the trunk and turned from the car only to find herself face to face with a man who looked like her father might have in his late 20s-early 30s. Her father was 12 years older than her mother and had lived a life full of alcohol and recreational drugs. He had looked older than his 58 years at the time she had seen him at her graduation party and should be 71 now.

The man before her was darkly handsome with long, black, wavy hair cut in parted bangs in the front framing his brilliant blue eyes with a set of long forelocks. The sides of his hair were pulled up into a high ponytail. Seeing him reminded her of all the people always pointing out when she was young how alike their faces were. He had a masculine version of her face. The same eyes, though hers were his color sprinkled with ice blue sparks from her maternal grandmother and his were narrower, the same high cheekbones, his jawline was stronger, but they had the same chin and the same pouty lips. The only difference, really, was her distinctive nose, which came from her mother's side. He wore an indigo, lightly patterned kimono on top of a white inner kimono. These were layered underneath a dark purple vest which tied in the front with indigo hakama. On his feet were black tabi and flat sandals. He stood a couple inches taller than herself though they were level with her heels and projected an aura of benevolence, which didn't fool Kagome for a second.

She blinked, unsure what she was seeing, and backed away when the man—no, hanyou—extended his arms to welcome her into his embrace. "Daddy?"

"Yes, little one. Don't you recognize your own father? Have I changed so much?"

She twisted her lips as she contemplated a diplomatic answer, settling on, "Yeah, you really kinda have."

He laughed a deep chuckle and pulled her into his arms. She didn't return the embrace, just stood there stiffly as he buried his head in her neck and breathed deeply of her scent. It was a gesture she loved and reciprocated coming from Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru, but coming from him, it made her skin crawl. She didn't know how to act and all she could think of was how desperately she wanted to get in the car and drive until she found Sesshoumaru.

Luckily, he gave her an out, "I am so sorry that arrogant dog has hurt you, little one. Don't you worry. Daddy will take care of it and you'll never have to see him again."

She broke down in easy tears imagining never seeing her beloved again and crumpled into his hold. "Easy, baby. I know it hurts, but it won't be for long," he soothed, rubbing his hands over her back. It would have been a perfect imitation of how a loving parent would soothe a distraught child if his right hand didn't keep rubbing over the curve of her backside while pressing her against him as well. In that moment, she felt sick to her stomach as the physical evidence that this man had missed her very much pressed against her lower abdomen.

Needing to break free from his hold, she dried her tears and appeared to try to collect herself, wiping underneath her eyes with her fingers and rubbing her wet nose. She straightened and stepped back from him, surreptitiously watching his face.

He took a deep breath and offered her his arm in his usual mockery of gentlemanly manners. She meekly took it, lowering her eyes and channeling the feeling of being distraught. "Come inside with me. I got your favorite foods special for the occasion.

…

They had made it to the auto rental office and convinced them that Kagome had called them, lost, with a flat tire in the middle of nowhere and her phone had died before she could reveal her where she was. The agent printed out a copy of her current location and took down Sesshoumaru's number in case the car moved after they left.

They were now making the two and a half hour drive to an area close to Kagome's home neighborhood, of all places. When they settled in, they'd do some reconnaissance. They prayed Kagome was able to hold out with the monster until midnight.

…..

Set out on the low table was a veritable banquet of all the foods Kagome used to crave when she went on an emotional food binge. There was Hawaiian stuffed crust pizza, cheese puffs, sour cream and onion ridged potato chips, potatoes O'Brian next to a giant bottle of ketchup, Italian bread sticks with marinara, fried cheese sticks, onion rings, and that staple of American Chinese food, Sesame Chicken. There were bowls of sweets like Starburst and orange slices and even her favorite dark chocolate covered dried cherries. Once, her mouth would have watered but since starting her new diet, she just didn't have food cravings like she used to and all she saw on that table was the derailment of all her hard work.

"Dad, it was thoughtful of you to go to all this trouble, but I can't eat any of this."

"That's right, your little diet. C'mon, baby, I know how food always makes you feel better. Why don't you just have a bite of the pizza? You don't want to hurt my feelings, do you, little one?" His eyes were kind and pleading, but her new, heightened senses could smell the arousal and deception on him.

Sesshoumaru was going to kill her. She picked up a piece of pizza and bit into it, offering him a reluctant smile.

….

Kagome was lying spread eagle on the floor, moaning pathetically in gut-wrenching pain. She had to hand it to him, he knew exactly what would happen if she started eating all those carbs: that she wouldn't be able to stop. It wasn't like her eating disorder went away, it was just controlled by a diet that kept her blood sugar from spiking and she was in a stable, healthy relationship that kept her stress to a minimum. Being alone with the man who had ruled her life and used her body mercilessly for her entire childhood, she was extremely on edge and once she started eating, there was no end until she couldn't swallow another bite. What had started with a piece of pizza hadn't stopped till well into the night, culminating in cherry Bordeaux ice cream sundaes that were so good, but she almost threw up in her bowl.

She wanted to vomit. Badly. Anything to stop this overfull, bloated feeling. She was disgusted with herself and couldn't believe she was so weak as to let this happen when she was supposed to be focusing on the battle that would begin shortly.

She rolled herself up because she couldn't sit up and made her way to the bathroom. There was one way to take care of this. Her father was an alcoholic and had always ingested his alcohol in many forms. One of them was cough syrup. If he had his usual brand, its licorice flavor would act like ipecac to her and force her body to purge itself, her sensitive gag reflex taking over from there, but she'd be temporarily weak as a kitten afterwards. If her father tried anything, she couldn't fight him off, but it would be a significantly shorter downtime than if she waited for her body to digest all she had eaten. She opened the medicine cabinet and smiled. Addicts were nothing if not predictable.

As she was convulsing, she felt cold hands in her hair, gathering it and holding it back. So he had followed her into the bathroom. She was dimly aware of the faucet for the tub turning on but didn't see how it mattered when she could barely stop heaving to breathe until she felt those same clawed hands shredding her dress. She tried to struggle, really she did, but it was all she could do to hold on to the cool bowl of the toilet. Unwelcome hands divested her of her clothing piece by piece until she was kneeling there naked and vulnerable.

When her stomach finally quieted, she went limp with exhaustion and nausea, laying her head on her folded forearm on the rim. She felt him picking her up and placing her in the tub, but was too out of it to do anything about it.

….

He was positively overjoyed. His little slut had done exactly what he predicted she would. She rejected his spread at first, but it didn't take much to get her to stuff her little piggy face. He encouraged her by moving more things on her plate and telling her how fat she still was, how her dog had only been humoring her, that no one would ever love her after what he had done to her. She was branded, she was his, and she would be his for all eternity. She just needed to do one little thing for him first: die.

He knew she'd eat too much and look for a way to end her suffering so he made sure he had a fresh bottle of NyQuil in the cabinet for her to find, complete with a special added ingredient of his own, remembering those few occasions when she was younger when she had turned to it to empty her stomach. And she had found it. Addicts were nothing if not predictable.

His little slut was kneeling on the floor like a good slut should, just waiting for him to take advantage of her. And he would, his little obsession needed to relearn her place, after all; he just needed to clean the stench of dog from her before he taught her her lesson.

…..