Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

Chapter Seven: September 3rd

She seemed to rather enjoy fucking with me.

In just the four days that had passed since she left that initial note, she'd planted several more, inexplicably knowing exactly where to place them to ensure I would be the first and only person to see them.

Did you miss me?

You suck at hide-n-seek. You still haven't found me yet.

If I thought I was losing it before, I was so far gone now I couldn't think straight. I still held firm to the promise I'd made myself not to inform Inuyasha or Kagome-chan of her now apparently frequent visits and they still remained in blissful ignorance while I sunk further into paranoia and insanity. And it certainly didn't help that I awoke yesterday morning with another note taped to the inside of my door:

Tonight's the night, Tsujitani.

I stayed up late into the night, staring at my door apprehensively. The next thing I remember, I was waking up this morning, confused as to when I'd fallen asleep. And there was another damn note, a post-it stuck to my bare chest.

Just kidding!

I hated her. This was beyond fucking with me, this was torture. What was worse what's that I couldn't get her eyes out of my head; they taunted me endlessly, full of anger, confidence and pain and I just couldn't stop thinking about her. It was sick, the way I fixated on her. I was desperate for a distraction, but with Inuyasha and Kagome-chan quickly falling into their own little world, I was alone to stew in my torment.

Luckily, later today, I got a reprieve. It wasn't exactly what I'd hoped for, but I was determined to be thankful for anything at this point. Sesshomaru-san had sent Kikyo-san for a check up on Kagome-chan and I. I was a little surprised to see she'd been blindfolded for the ride over, though I quickly remembered Sesshomaru-san had wanted to keep the number of officers that knew our location as limited as possible. They kept the blindfold on until after the alarm code had been punched in, and as she entered the cabin she looked mildly irritated as the officers escorting her finally removed it from her eyes.

Quickly recovering, Kikyo-san smiled at Kagome-chan and I brightly. "It's been a while. How have you been?" She addressed us simultaneously.

"Fine," I responded mildly from my spot at the kitchen bar while Kagome-chan waved cheerfully from her spot next to Inuyasha on the couch.

"It hasn't been too bad, actually," she said coyly, her hand settling comfortably on Inuyasha's knee.

Kikyo-san got a very peculiar expression on her face, though it went unnoticed by anyone else but myself. "Good," she said, nodding enthusiastically. It almost seemed like she was trying to convince herself instead of consoling us. "That's really good. I'm glad to hear it."

I remained in the kitchen while Kikyo-san took a seat in the dumpy chair across from Kagome-chan and Inuyasha. She seemed to have a hard time looking either them, preferring to keep her head down towards her notes. I watched her curiously; there was something off in the way she handled their budding relationship. I almost wondered if she disliked Kagome-chan before I realized that her awkwardness was directed at Inuyasha.

I guess because I hadn't seen the two of them together before, I hadn't realized it: Kikyo-san had feelings for Inuyasha. By the looks of things, Inuyasha either wasn't interested or didn't realize for himself what she felt, though I was more inclined to believe the latter. It had taken Kagome-chan quite some time to get him to react to her at all, and she was persistent. Kikyo-san didn't exactly strike me as the stubborn type.

As it was, watching her struggle through a session with Kagome-chan was almost painful, and despite my reluctance towards the psychiatrist, I did feel bad for her. She was very careful to avoid Inuyasha's eye, though again, I didn't think anyone but me noticed. I wondered how long she'd harbored feelings for him; judging on the brief expressions of pain that would flicker across her face every time she couldn't avoid looking at the rather comfortable looking pair on the couch, it probably had been for a while now.

I kept quiet for most of the session, even though Kikyo-san and even Kagome-chan did their best to try and lure me into being talkative. Kikyo-san's own struggle to accept Inuyasha and Kagome-chan's relationship, however young it was, made me think about Koharu-chan, left behind in Tokyo. Whether or not Inuyasha knew of Kikyo-san's feelings, it was obvious that they were one-sided, similar to my own fiancée's feelings. I tried to justify; at least I cared for Koharu-chan, maybe not enough to want to marry her, but enough that I felt bad about my hesitations.

Remembering my fascination with the female intruder did not help matters any, especially when I realized that I was more attracted to her than I had ever been to Koharu-chan. I groaned inwardly and buried my face in my hands. Here I had a perfectly fine fiancée waiting for me at home and I'm having fantasies about a woman who's been sent to kill me. Not to mention the fact that I didn't even know what her face really looked like.

"Miroku-san?" I heard Kikyo-san question worriedly, and I raised my head to look at her unwillingly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I insisted tiredly. "Just stressed."

Kagome-chan nodded in agreement, looking bummed for the first time during our session. "I miss Tokyo, my family, my friends," she cut me a bittersweet look. "I even miss my job."

I chuckled. "Think of it this way, Kagome-chan: it's a vacation. I mean, when was the last time you took any time off?"

"Not since I started working for you," she snorted, but she laughed all the same. "A vacation," she repeated, settling back into the couch and resting her head on Inuyasha's shoulder. I didn't miss Kikyo-san hurried move to look down at her notepad. "I guess you do take vacations to get away from it all."

Kikyo-san nodded, her cheeks slightly red as she kept her gaze studiously lowered. "That reminds me," she said softly, flipping the paper of her notepad up to reveal five separate envelopes. She passed them out, two to me and three to Kagome-chan.

"Sesshomaru-san allowed these letters to be delivered to you," she explained, a small smile returning to her face as she watched Kagome-chan eagerly rip into her first envelope.

"It's from Sota!" Kagome-chan announced, her pleasant surprise causing tears to form at the corner of her eyes. She read a little into the letter, her smile growing wider and wider the further she went.

I looked down at my own envelopes, not even needing to open them to see who they were from. Judging by the way they were addressed to me, I could tell that they were from Hachi and Koharu-chan. I set them on the counter, not too eager to read them in front of everybody.

"Well," Kikyo-san said, getting to her feet. "I think that's all the time we have for today." As if on cue, there was a warning knock on the front door before it opened, revealing the same two officers who had accompanied her to the cabin. She frowned as they raised the blindfold silently. Turning back to Kagome-chan and I, she said, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Nodding, Kagome-chan went on reading her letters. I noticed that Inuyasha had his arm stretched out across the back of the couch, and as Kagome-chan settled back in next to him, his arm slid down from the couch to around her shoulders. Morbidly curious, I whipped my head around to see how Kikyo-san would take this, though the officers had already secured the blindfold around her eyes. As Kagome-chan excitedly showed Inuyasha her second letter and informed him it was from her grandfather, and as the corners of his mouth edged up into a small grin as he kissed her forehead, I suddenly wondered if it was better that Kikyo-san hadn't seen them. If she had a hard time accepting them just sitting next to each other on the couch, I couldn't imagine how she'd react to seeing this decidedly more affectionate display.

After making sure Kikyo-san was sufficiently blinded, the officers nodded once to Inuyasha and took their leave, unnecessarily slamming the door behind them.

"This last one's from my mother," Kagome-chan read aloud from her third and final letter, unperturbed by the officer's abrupt departure. She read a ways into the letter, her eyes fogging with tears all over again. "Oh, Inuyasha," she whispered sadly, "I miss them so much."

"I know," Inuyasha said, his normally rough voice sounding uncharacteristically gentle. I felt a little awkward from my seat in the kitchen. If they were going to continue much further down this path, I definitely did not want to be around to witness it.

I tried clearing my throat to dispel the atmosphere. "Hey, guys," I called over to them, "It's getting kind of late, maybe we should get some dinner or something?"

I was ignored. Kagome-chan set her letters aside as she leaned further into Inuyasha's embrace, his free hand coming up to settle on her thigh as she rested her leg across his. That was more than enough for me. I hightailed it out of the kitchen, hastily making an escape to my room. It was like they thought they were the only two in the room when they were together, a fact that made me hypocritically angry. Except for Koharu-chan, I had no qualms being overly romantic in front of others; if they were uncomfortable with it, that was their problem. Yet seeing Inuyasha and Kagome-chan together for some reason made me almost jealous, as if I wanted my own relationship to rub in their faces. I thought of my female assailant again.

I didn't get around to reading my letters until after my shower that night. I stayed holed up in the bathroom, straining my eyes to read the words through the steam still weighing down the air. Starting with Hachi's, I ripped a corner of the envelope off, sliding my finger through the edge and tearing the rest of open.

The letter looked relatively short, though still I felt a small grin cross my face. I felt especially grateful for Hachi's friendship right now; both of my parents died when I was pretty young, and without any siblings my family was limited to just me. I suppose that's why I was so fond of Hachi—he was there for me even when I was alone.

Miroku-sama—

How have you been? Are you alright? The police refuse to tell me much, and anything they do say they swear me to secrecy. And while it hasn't been too hard to satisfy the demands of our most devoted clients, I have been having some trouble keeping Nanako-san happy.

I winced. I had suspected that Koharu-chan would give Hachi some trouble; though I had hoped it wouldn't be too much.

But please don't worry too much about the company, wherever you are. I'm doing my best to keep everything in order for your return. I hope you get this letter soon, and I hope you're able to write me back, though I understand if Yamaguchi-san doesn't approve. Take care of yourself, Miroku-sama, and please come home soon.

—Hachi

I smiled again and refolded the letter, carefully tucking back into the envelope for safe keeping. Reaching for Koharu-chan's letter, I hesitated before I slowly opened it as well. I was somewhat more reluctant to read hers, though my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to tough it out.

My darling Miroku—

Why haven't you called me? It's been nearly a month and I haven't heard from you at all—not even a single text! You do know we're supposed to be married in ten days, don't you?

Shit. This was going to be harder than I thought. I took a short break before letting myself continue on, only taking the letter in one bit at a time. For starters, I rather resented the way she started her letter in the first place; her address was nice enough, if a little clichéd, though she immediately started with her complaints. I would've thought she'd be a little more worried for me until I remembered that Koharu-chan's knowledge of current events was even more limited than Hachi's—she still thought I was on an extended business trip.

I've tried talking to Hachi-san, though he only tells me that he doesn't know when you'll be home. Which I can't understand because he is your business partner and all, so why doesn't he know? I'm so confused, Miroku, and I just miss you so much—

I couldn't bring myself to read any further. I don't know if it was leftover guilt from thinking about her earlier today or just general disappointment in her rather scathing letter to me. Out of passing interest, I flipped the page over, my eyes widening a bit to discover that she'd filled both sides of the paper entirely. I skimmed down the page, scoffing mutely upon reading her sign-off:

—With all my love, Nanako (almost Tsujitani) Koharu.

Well that was a little weird. Remembering the hurt in Kikyo-san's eyes at seeing Inuyasha and Kagome-chan earlier today, I decided that, even if I was home just in the nick of time, I would not go through with the wedding, stockholders meeting be damned. Maybe it was horrible, but I knew I at least cared enough about Koharu-chan to not want to see that same look of depression and longing in her eye. And I really, really did not want to marry her anyway. I was sure at least Hachi would understand.

I stood up from my seat on the toilet and threw Koharu-chan's letter away, self-consciously burying it the best I could in the trash to avoid suspicion and inquiry from either Kagome-chan or Inuyasha. I stowed Hachi's letter in my suitcase before cautiously wandering into the front room, wary of interrupting a make-out session or worse between my lovebird roommates. Upon finding the empty front room, I let out a sigh of relief before I frowned in confusion. If they weren't still out here, then where the hell were they? Did I miss them in the hallway or something? The cabin wasn't that big; surely I would've passed them between the bathroom located at the very back and the front room.

Shrugging it off, I ambled into the kitchen, randomly opening and closing cupboards until I found myself something quick and easy to make. Dinner was a little forlorn all by myself, though I found myself not particularly wanting to disturb Kagome-chan and Inuyasha, wherever they were and whatever they were doing.

I ate slowly, never minding the late hour and took a break from stewing over hard and difficult thoughts. It was a little after eleven when I finally made it back into my room, stretching and heading over to the bed to pull my suitcase out from under it. I got three feet into the room when I felt a slight, yet somehow forceful pinch on the back of my neck.

I saw black.