Somewhere along the way, Inuyasha went to sleep. He didn't know how, he didn't know why, and he didn't know when—all he knew was that, when he came to, he was in an extravagantly decorated room, lying in a large plushy bed...alone.
Alone?
He leapt up, his face shining with barely suppressed excitement. He was alone. By himself. Sans Kanna! The dumb bitch had slipped up, just as he knew she eventually would. It must have been his comment about the light that finally persuaded her to trust him. What a twat!
With so much glee that it should have been illegal, Inuyasha jumped off the bed and bounded for the door, not noticing the short note on it until an electric zap from the doorknob sent him staggering backwards, staring at his now blackened palm.
"What the fuck kind of sick, twisted shit is this?!" He bellowed savagely, wanting to rip his hair out. Kanna wasn't dumb at all. He was for thinking she'd been. Angrily, he caught sight of the paper on the door and snatched it off.
Don't try to leave, "friend", or the girl will be seeing red.
Best regards,
The Management (a.k.a. Houjou)
Inuyasha crumpled up the note and chucked it across the room, wishing it would burst into flames. He knew a threat when he saw one, and fancily worded or not, that was a pretty severe threat. Looking around, he saw no windows, and the walls were wallpapered solid concrete, from what he could tell by running his hand along it. The ceiling was concrete as well. Kanna had made this room inescapable; a breakout was all but impossible. He felt as miserable as he did when Kanna wouldn't leave him alone, ironically enough, and plopped listlessly on the bed, burying his face into the annoyingly soft satin pillows. They reminded him of Kagome...
"Kagome..." He sighed, muffled. "Kagome, Kagome, Kagome...where are you?" It seemed as though he could see her mischievous smile in his mind as clear as a bell, her dulcet voice calling his name as he did hers.
Inuyasha.
Kagome...
Inuyasha...
Kagome...
Inuyasha...!
Kagome.
Damn it, Inuyasha, stop calling me and listen!
Inuyasha's eyes bulged out of his head and he jerked his head around wildly. Was he hallucinating or had he truly heard her voice?
"Kagome?" He whispered tentatively, wondering if he'd finally cracked up.
No, you're not crazy—yet. But don't talk to me aloud. Speak in your mind; that way, they won't get suspicious.
Suspicious? They? Wh—how are you communicating with me?! I thought Houjou kidnapped you!
Yeah, he did, but that fool just locked me up in this dungeon and ran after Kanna. I think he likes her.
I know he does.
A bit jealous, are we?
Not even. I've been worried sick off my ass about you and Phaidron.
We're fine. What about you?
Depressed. Pissed at myself. I can't fucking believe I let that asshole take you away! Do you even know where you are?
No. The last thing I remember is going to sleep in the park, and when I woke up, I saw Houjou leaving. I knew it was him because he kept thinking about Kanna.
...How do you know that? And for that matter, how are we talking like this?!
I have a mind link with you, Inuyasha. It's what makes our bond so strong. You've never noticed how I seem to be able to tell what you're thinking sometimes? It's also how I know everything Kanna said from the moment she touched you, as well as how bad you felt. And as for Houjou...well, he's just plain predictable.
No, I think you're psychic.
Always a possibility.
So what are we going to do? The room's sealed off with concrete and an electrocuting door, and I feel like a caged hamster.
So do I, but they're monitoring us—both of us. I was looking around, and spotted this tiny camera lodged in the corner.
So? Take it out and escape.
What an excellent plan that I hadn't considered upon my arrival. Yet there's such a tiny flaw, my love.
...There are cameras in every corner, aren't there?
Intelligent after all, I see. They probably think I'm dead, since I haven't moved in eight days.
Eight days?!?! How long have we been here?!
I presume ten days or so, but I've always had a terrible sense of time. I could be off by a week, give or take a day.
Inuyasha sighed wearily.
How do we get into this shit?
I can't say for sure. It may very well have been ordained at our births that we be captured by two desperately mad devourers with the intent to kill me. You've got it easy. Kanna's in love with you; she won't hurt you if she can help it. All both of them hate me.
Why do you think it's easy being obsessed over? I don't see Houjou fawning over you—although it'd be quite the extension of his already mile-long list of crimes. What do you think they're doing right now?
Well, if I'm not mistaken, Kanna's on her way to your room, but Houjou's still watching the cameras.
Sure enough, Inuyasha's pointed ears detected footsteps on the lust carpeting and he scowled into the comforter as Kanna sat on the bed beside him, stroking his back thoughtfully.
"You can stop pretending to sleep, sweetheart. I know you're awake." Inuyasha remained still and silent, effectively conveying to his incarcerated mate his hatred. He could see her amused smile in his head, and he sighed all over again. That smile...always with such hidden purposes. He loved that smile now.
"Oh, why so sad, Inuyasha? You know it renders my heart in twain to know you're so miserable. Is it that décor of the room that bothers you? If you like, I can have Houjou renovate."
"You know damn well why I'm miserable." Inuyasha grumbled. "So don't even try that bullshit." Kanna frowned sadly, and her motions stopped, surprising Inuyasha.
"I thought it would make you happy if I spared their lives..." Inuyasha turned onto his back, freeing his muffled voice. If he was going to do this, he figured he should do it the right way.
"And it does make me happy that they're still alive. But being without my nyoubou for so long makes my heart crumble. Could you at least tell me how long I've been here?"
"Only a few days..." Kanna murmured guiltily.
"How many, specifically?" Inuyasha demanded firmly. "And I don't want to hear that you "forgot"." His captor sighed in defeat.
"Ten. Ten days."
You're pretty on-point with your predictions, girl. Inuyasha thought wryly, and his next visage of Kagome's smile was rather grim.
"Now tell me what you intend to do with me and Kagome, or I'll take this opportunity to be dirty and kill you, regardless of the consequences." By the fearful look on Kanna's face, Inuyasha had sucessfully intimidated her.
Nice fake-out.
Thanks. Inuyasha thought, satisfied with himself.
"You always did know how to coerce me..." Kanna smiled sadly. "You're here because I want you for myself. And she's here because I don't want to risk her getting Sesshoumaru to take you from me again." Inuyasha looked at her for a long time. That didn't seem very truthful, but he had to take what he could get.
"Are you at least feeding her?" He sighed, hoping so. Her thoughts were sensible enough for now, but how long would it take before she could no longer take the hunger.
"I don't know what Houjou's doing with her." Kanna shrugged.
It's plausible. Houjou's the only one to come in here.
If that's true, then she must not be monitoring you...
"Tell that stupid flunky of yours to feed my woman. If she's cranky, it won't be pretty for either of us." Kanna flinched when he said "my woman", but nodded flatly and left the room again.
Kagome, remember a while back when you started ranting about how I wasn't over Gingitsune?
...Vaguely...why?
You still don't remember what you said, do you?
Not particularly. Again, why?
I have an idea. But first, I have something to tell you...
"You seem happier." Kanna commented with a smile when she came back into the Inuyasha's room a few days later.
"I am happier." Inuyasha smirked. "Houjou came in to inform me that he was feeding Kagome. My son's a growing fetus, you know; can't have him starving to death, right?"
"Indeed." Her smile became more tight-lipped.
"But he said something else that disturbed me, Kanna."
"...Oh?" Kanna blinked, cocking her head to the side.
Ready, Kagome?
He's on his way now...I'm hungry.
Just hold on a moment, okay?
"And what might that have been?" Kanna questioned.
"He said something along the lines of..."You're lucky, asshole. If it were up to me, I'd bash your brains against this concrete. But Kanna loves you, and I can't imagine how she could feel for a callous murderer like you." What exactly does that mean? I'm almost certain he's killed more than I." Kanna looked a bit nervous, especially under Inuyasha's critical stare.
"Well, Kanna? Do you have an answer or should I find some way to ask him myself?"
"I...I..." Her lip trembled, before she dropped to her knees, sobbing. "Okay, fine! But I only tell you this because I know he doesn't monitor this room..." Kanna inhaled shakily. "You don't know the whole story, do you? Of how Houjou and I met."
"Enlighten me."
"Well...I knew I couldn't get you back alone, so I enlisted help...particularly Houjou's. Who better than your best friend? He was sad—you'd just been carted off by that irritating brother of yours, but sad wasn't what I desired. I needed him to be angry, motivated to help me find you. So I burned down his entire village and...blamed it...on you."
"Oh, did you now?" Inuyasha's smirk widened, and he actually laughed. Kanna's brows furrowed in frustration.
"Why is that funny?!"
"Because I didn't believe you were really that ruthless. What do you think Houjou will do to you if he finds out about this treachery?"
We got her now, Kagome!
...
Kagome?
"He will do nothing!" Kanna snapped. "I am his mistress and even if he knew of this, he would accept it and move on! Who cares of the life before now? What matters is that I kept him alive at all! He should be thankful for the opportunity to be helpful to me!" But Inuyasha wasn't listening anymore.
Kagome, are you still there? Kagome!
...
He was receiving no answer, and it worried him. Had her hunger finally taken its toll on her?
"I don't think Houjou would agree." Inuyasha mumbled, and Kanna huffed before stalking out of the room.
A loud scream made him jump up.
Black Ice: Ooh...who screamed?!
Blood Rain: I only wonder.
Black Ice: Can you believe we're in here watched taped reruns of Inuyasha? Goshes, we're such hypocrites! (blushes)
Blood Rain: (mutters) You're the hypocrite.
Black Ice: (ignores Rain) We've been talking about how much we hated seeing so much Inuyasha on TV, yet we're in here watching tapefuls of Inuyasha. Obviously, we're bored of real time TV.
Blood Rain: Not only that, but Inuyasha wasn't the only anime we recorded. There's a little Trigun, Full Metal...a bunch of other stuff. So we're just exploring.
Black Ice: But a bunch of the tape is all bunchy and screwed up. Probably 'cause tapes are almost obsolete now.
Blood Rain: But hey, nothing wrong with a blast from the past, right? Now if only we could start catching Hell Girl...