Kagome paced her room briskly. It took only a few strides to get from one end to the other, but she'd work with what she had. When she first awoke in this barren, desolate room, she had thought she had nothing. The room was completely empty and she was alone. But she'd come to appreciate the things she did have. Her own body. Her own mind. A bit of space. Privacy, as far as she knew. Time. She'd never had so very much time.

And she was trying to use it to her advantage. So he took her powers? Fine. She'd work on her physical strength. After completing her fiftieth lap of the room she dropped and started doing push-ups. She still wasn't physically strong enough to fight Naraku without magic, but maybe one day she could be. Or at least she could be strong enough to run away before she was caught if she was ever given half the chance.

On her fiftieth push-up, she flipped and transitioned to sit-ups. Her whole body was burning, but she pushed through. This was nothing compared to the other pains she had been experiencing lately.

Naraku was coming more and more. She tried to use those times to her advantage, too. He was always careful not to give her any indication of where they were, but he didn't mind talking about other things. Bragging obviously gave him satisfaction, so she tried to appeal to that with her questions. She learned that the potential marriage with Hojo was never real, but only an effort to cause her distress strong enough that she would reach for the necklace for comfort. It was charged with some vaguely comforting charm to entice her. Obviously, he had never intended to actually let her go. His abuse initially was for the same reason, but it had become something more. He had grown to enjoy it. And she learned that he killed the life slaves to cause her distress, too. Currently, she was trying to figure out how he got the tentacles when he wasn't a demon. The most she had been able to gather was that it was the result of a past attempt at power that had somehow gone wrong. He wouldn't tell her more, and he wouldn't tell her what he was trying to do with her powers or how it was going.

She stopped doing sit-ups and started methodically kicking and punching the air. She could feel her powers a little. They were tucked in a ball somewhere in her vicinity but out of reach. It was frustrating to be aware of their presence but be completely unable to access them. She knew she still retained some residue of power. At least, she had the mind links with her life slaves. And she still healed. She wasn't sure whether Naraku had left her that intentionally so he could continue his abuse or if it was so inherent in her nature that it couldn't be taken. She hoped it was the latter. If some things were inherent, then maybe others were as well. But so far she'd found nothing in hours of attempts.

Exhausted, she collapsed on the floor for a short rest.

Inuyasha? she called with her mind.

Yes?

How are things over there?

You know how I told you we found the third mansion? Well I'm there now. But you're not. None of the scents are even remotely fresh. There's no way he could have gotten you in without leaving any trail at all.

So how many are left to find?

Three.

Good luck…

She felt him snarling in frustration, and she didn't blame him. If it were up to her, she'd be out of here and right next to him in a heartbeat. And Naraku would be dead. The only reason she didn't share his disappointment at the latest failure is that she'd stopped getting hopeful. That made it less awful when a lead didn't pan out.

Do you have any siblings, Inuyasha? To pass the time, she'd started asking him personal questions about his life, his past, his hopes. It was at least interesting.

A half-brother, he responded.

What's he like?

I don't know him well. I don't think he likes me.

Why?

I'm half-human. He hates humans.

Well, you can't blame him…

They were interrupted by the ominous click of the door unlocking.

I have to go.

Damn it! I hate him. I hate this!

I know. I'm sorry. I'll try not to let you hear it this time.

That's not what I mean. Don't feel like you have to go through it alone. I just hate that you have to go through it at all.

She tried to block her thoughts from him anyway. It wasn't fair to force him to endure it, too.

"Hello, pet." Naraku entered the room. "I've noticed you've been training. Are you hoping to one day fight me?"

So she didn't have privacy after all. She wondered how exactly he spied on her. There weren't any cameras in the room. She knew that for a fact; she'd searched every inch.

"Maybe," she replied, jutting her chin up in defiance.

"How about today? I'd like to try something new."

That couldn't be good.

Naraku held out a hand and summoned into it a small ball of power, obviously disgustingly pleased with himself about it. Kagome's stomach filled with dread. Did this mean he was making progress with her powers? As she watched, the ball lengthened and stretched itself into a sword. It was her usual electric pink sparky color, but tinged with veins of deep, sickening-looking purple. She tried to reach out to feel whether it was hers, but she couldn't tell. She still felt her powers in a ball somewhere else, but it was undeniable that the ball was linked to the sword in front of her. Still, the sword felt wrong somehow. Twisted.

She was studying it so closely that she didn't have time to dodge. Before she knew what was happening, he had plunged the sword into her heart.