"Strength shows not only the ability to persist, but the ability to start over."

-Unknown

A Tall Tale

By the time Sesshomaru had brought the cups of coffee over, it was nearly 4:30 in the morning. Kagura cupped the mug in her hands, warm and smooth against the callous of her palms. She gazed down into the blackness before gazing back up at the young man.

"Are you sure this can't wait 'til morning?" The man stared her down, looking down at the coffee and then back up at her, as if to speak without moving his mouth. She understood loud and clear, and she sighed before she bit her lip, staring down at her twitching toes and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. The young woman was stalling, but it was a hard story to recount, and not one she enjoyed remembering either. She owed it to him, though, for inviting her into his home. "I… I'm not sure where to begin." She felt her body begin to tremble, the coffee making waves in the cup, and felt unable to stop as she struggled to find a pattern of breathing in and out. She was shocked to feel his hand on her shoulder, it was placed awkwardly: bringing comfort was not his strong suit, but it helped her continue either way.

"I was very young when it started out," Kagura began.

"How young?"

"I was about fourteen, I think. Maybe younger. I was too little to really understand what was going on, but my family needed money. I needed money, so that I could go to school. So I could do big things, like I was meant to," Kagura sighed and took a sip of her coffee, hoping that the warmth it brought her would somehow make the memories seem less distraught. "If I could go back…" she shook her head, that wasn't possible, it was easier to remove any fantastical thoughts. "...Anyways, I was fourteen and I needed money, so one of my friends helped me out by helping me get a job. It wasn't exactly legal, he told me, but that I'd be well paid and that I'd be protected… But it wasn't what I thought it would be… They took me from my family, and I ended up all the way here, and they made me…" she stopped, taking a deep breath in, shaking her head, leaning up into her knees, her chest heaving as she tried to stop herself from crying. She felt the supportive arm on her shoulder enclose her in a blanket before returning to his lap.

"I'll get you some water," the surgeon's voice was calm, but Kagura reached out and grabbed his wrist with a strong grip, she was surprised he didn't yelp out in pain.

"Don't. I can do this." She let him go, and her hand wandered back up to her knee caps as her eyes bore holes into the floor.

"It was a yakuza1?" Sesshomaru questioned. Kagura nodded her head, swallowing hard.

"I suppose you could say that, I wouldn't exactly use that term too loosely, though. It was sort of based around those principals; it was more like a 'wannabe' yakuza. It didn't exactly follow all of the rules. The boss… My boss… He created his own, and the clans didn't acknowledge us at first… But... It's hard to explain, I don't even understand it, to be honest. I'm not exactly part of the hierarchy. I'm just… Just a…" she brought her head back against the sofa and held it there, "I'm not sure that I can tell you this."

Sesshomaru looked down at her hands, her fragile fingers barely holding onto the cup, the bags under her eyes expressing the years worn down. She had to be in her early twenties, but she braced a maturity beyond that. Life had clearly worn her down. "You don't have to explain in detail. I understand."

"For years, I was stuck in that tier, but eventually my boss let me stop. He was my pimp at the time, so that meant that he was the one that would guard me and the other girls. He started to refer to us as his daughters, it was disgusting. He loved spiders, well; he loved how terrified most of the girls were of spiders, especially the younger ones. He would stick them in our sheets, I would watch in the corner of my eyes as they'd run out of their sheets screaming while he'd laugh at them. We all lived in a basement of this dark and murky building, it was always cold, and I never think I had a night of sleep where I felt warm. Sometimes, we'd try to huddle for warmth, but my boss would always split us up. I remember the first night, how terrified I was, the other girls had told me that they'd been there for years, that there was no escape… And I was starving. I was used to eating well enough, my family was poor, but I could at least still have something to eat. I was rarely fed, all of us were. And he told us the reason. He said it was because they wanted us to be skinny, the skinnier we were, the younger we looked, the more successful business would be." Kagura took another deep breath and pressed her head between her legs, trying to get some air into her lungs. The story was full of holes, full of details she wasn't allowing herself to recall; memories that she had tried to destroy that were blasting back full-speed. The young woman took a few more sips of her coffee. Sesshomaru's cup sat on the table, empty.

"Should I get some more coffee?"

The young woman nodded her head, thankful for the break. She followed Sesshomaru like a puppy into the kitchen, not wanting to be alone after recounting the story, even in the bare bones of it. He didn't seem to mind, however, he simply cast his eyes over to her, she was grateful that there wasn't pity in his eyes. It was her biggest fear in telling the story, besides being out-casted for it. She would find out that aspect later, when she finished telling her story. Kagura placed her hands upon the counter, pushing herself up next to the sink. Sesshomaru handed her a second cup of coffee.

"The notion of leaving was completely eradicated the moment you've been tossed through those doors. And that's how it's done, too. One second you're waking up in someone's trunk and the next, you're being holstered out and tossed down into a room where you're surrounded by strangers… Anyways, the moment you arrive, you're constantly told that if you even think about escaping, if you even think about telling anyone that you're not doing this of your freewill, they'll kill you. And they won't do it quickly either. It doesn't matter how much protection from the authorities you have, how far you go, they will find you and kill you. There's no escape. I asked the other girls if it were true, and they all knew one time or another where a girl had mentioned that she was going to be free and that she'd never return, except perhaps a lock of bloody hair that the pimp's would take as evidence of the girl's disappearance. Even with all of that, I had nowhere to go, I had no money, all of the money I made went to the boss, I had no friends to help me out. The only friends I had were the other girls and then some of the lower men. I started getting into things I had no business getting into.

"I was surrounded by temptations and I was resisting none of them. I felt so trapped, I needed an escape. So I started drinking and smoking, anything that would help me forget what I was I was going through." Her eyes shut tightly, her lips smacked as if she could taste the memories, feeling the distaste swell up inside of her, "I was getting too old," she chuckled leaning up against her legs, "how disgusting. I was twenty, so I was too old for most men. I want to throw up right now just thinking about it… I wasn't allowed to leave. If I left, that meant I could tell. To them, it was better that I was dead. That was the threat, that I would end up in the ocean and no one would bother to look for me," her eyes welled up again; she took the heel of her hand and quickly swiped away the tears. "They were going to kill me, right there and then, I should've let them. Instead, I begged that they let me stay, that they give me other work, that I would do anything. I was on my knees, pleading for a life that wasn't worth living. So my pimp gave me a choice. He told me that I could be his to do with what he wants, to make money off of me however he feels, that I would be his own personal pet, or that I could die. I choose life. So he marked me, he had one of those prodders, you know, like they use on cattle, but instead of a number or a letter, he had this horrible makeshift spider, it barely looked like that was what it was supposed to be. So he… He has one of his men come over and rip open my shirt and strike me down to the ground, the next thing I knew, they're holding me down by both of my arms. I didn't know that that was how he marked his 'territory', I was terrified. They only took you to the doctor to make sure you weren't sick for sex; they didn't care about anything else, so whatever that was on that chunk of metal was going to be going into my skin and my blood and I could've just died from that alone. I don't really remember the actual burning sensation though, what I really remember is the sound of it hitting my shoulder," she motioned up over to her left shoulder, "And I remember screaming out in pain, and that he dug it deeper into my skin, shouting at me to stop because people would hear, so I had to bite my tongue to the point that I could taste blood. When he was done, they let go of me and left me alone crying against the pavement, and I could still hear it... I wasn't the only one, though. He had somehow found a way to manipulate several of the others, including most of the lower-tier men to follow him. He did the same thing to everyone."

She stopped, taking a minute to gather her own recount of the story. Her face was far off and distant, as if she had been able to cut all emotional ties to the horror she'd experienced, but the young man knew that deep down, there was an abundant amount of sadness that she was masking: her calm was her façade.

"…So he let me continue to do my 'work', he gave me other tasks, too. He started having me make drug runs; I was getting involved in all kinds of illegal activities. But as long as I was allowed to live, I was okay with it. That didn't last long, though," Kagura stopped, staring down at the coffee table in front of them. She could see Sesshomaru still staring intently at her, waiting for the rest of it, but she couldn't bring herself to tell the rest. "I can't…"

"Perhaps another time," Sesshomaru sighed. "It's late, and I still have to get up early to spend time with Rin." He stood up, collecting the mugs and heading over to the sink to wash them. Kagura would've simply put them in the sink, but Sesshomaru began to wash them immediately, the sink on the lowest speed it could be as to not awake any one. Kagura could barely see him through the cabinets and with his head turned away from her, but enough to wonder what was going through his mind.

"Don't you have to go to work?" Kagura stood up again, draping the blanket around her shoulders and shuffling over to the surgeon. She couldn't imagine that he wasn't a workaholic of a sort.

"I work at nights, that way I get to spend time with my daughter during the day. I barely sleep, but I don't need much of it."

"I'm guessing I didn't help that tonight," Kagura smirked, leaning up against the drawers along the island. The clock now read 5:30, she had been speaking to him for about an hour and he hadn't seemed to mind.

"Not really, no," Sesshomaru stated as he dried the cups and put them back where the cabinet they originated from. He stopped before he went to close the cabinet door, a looking of ponder on his face. "The whole story… It still doesn't explain why you'd want to end it all."

Kagura swallowed hard and her eyes widened with a neck that craned forward, all in a response of shock. "Really? None…? None of that?" she drew her hand over her shoulder, motioning to the couch, "Wow, I mean… I would've thought you'd pick up on the fact that… Well…"

"Well, what?"

Kagura leaned up against the island, looking back down at the floor before taking a deep breath. "I was trapped. It was like being in prison, but worse. I think I would rather have been in prison… You don't have any choices, there's no free choice, it's their way or death, and I was thinking about escaping… They would've found out sooner or later, I would've been killed, so that time on the roof, that was my way out. It was the one time I was in control, and if I could at least control the circumstances of how I died… That would be fine with me."

"So these people… They're looking for you right now?" Sesshomaru leaned up against the sink, his eyes sternly following Kagura's. She immediately broke eye-contact as she bowed her head in shame with her eyes shut tight. "Is that a yes?"

"Probably," Kagura heard Sesshomaru sigh and she immediately opened up her eyes to look back at him. "Listen, you can throw me out now, that's fine. I'd understand it if you did, it's just that—"

"I'm not going to do that," Sesshomaru remarked, that sharp callous returning to his voice, "But you have to leave in the morning."

Kagura nodded her head slowly as she processed his sentence. If she had been a mother, and had a stranger enter her home with the potential for dangerous followers, there was no way she'd allow said stranger to stay the night, but perhaps that was because she knew what was in store in the case that they found her.

"I really should contact the authorities," Sesshomaru began; Kagura immediately gulped down air in horror, "I know you said that the authorities can't help, but that's a scare tactic. You should know that."

"There's a difference now, I've… I'm not just a victim any more, I was an active participant in some of the activities," Kagura explained in a low hum as she tightened the blanket around her shoulders.

"You said there were no free choices," Sesshomaru threw the words back at her, cold and abrasive like a knife.

"There weren't—"

"So then you can go to the authorities."

"But I—"

"You have to do this either on your own or go to the authorities and get help. If you go to the police, they have to believe you. I'm not going to be able to help you in the morning," Sesshomaru argued, a hint of aggravation in his tone at her hesitation. Kagura could understand him from a logical stand point, she really could, but for years she was under the abuse of her 'owners', and the kind of power she had still felt to be the size of her pinky toe in comparison to the body that was at work.

"I don't expect you to understand, I don't," Kagura started, "For the last ten years, I've been beaten, neglected, degraded and used like a human doll. The only option I have now is to hide or they'll kill me."

It seemed as though the surgeon was going to comment, his face lost in the process of mid-thought, but he held his tongue and exhaled before patting his hands up against the edge of the counter. He brushed past her, heading back out toward the living room and walking steadily over to a trunk. The young woman turned around to lean in against the wall that connected the kitchen to the living room, watching as Sesshomaru knelt over the trunk and input a code that resounded with a soft click as it opened. He pulled out an old, rusted broad sword, seeming fragile enough that if dropped it would shatter, but he held it as if it were in mint condition. Kagura strained her eyes, finding it remotely familiar, but casting the idea off: she'd seen several swords before, she was confusing herself. It was early in the morning.

"I'm taking this to my room, just in case," Sesshomaru explained, "If someone comes through; I want you to run away from Rin's room, towards the kitchen."

"They're probably not going to be able to track me down here," Kagura reassured as she walked over, reaching her hand out to touch the blade. Sesshomaru immediately drew it away from her, as if her touch would dirty it. "Where did you get that?"

"I found it in a pawn shop," Sesshomaru explained, drawing his finger over the blade, "It has a whole story, I'm not exactly sure the details of it, but it's not supposed to be a good blade; supposedly, it has evil aura: it had to deal with a demon and a vendetta, I didn't really catch what the man said, I was too focused on the sword."

"Isn't it dangerous to own objects with bad auras?" Kagura sat down on her makeshift bed. She noticed the smallest glint of a smile flash up along the corner of his mouth, but he didn't respond.

"Sleep well, if you need anything, wake up Jaken."

Before Kagura could thank him once more, Sesshomaru was already down the hallway and in his room, leaving the free woman alone with her mind. The memories were still flowing through her mind with the same ferocity of a white water rapid, crashing against the deepest banks of her mind, filling her with the turmoil she desperately tried to run from. The young woman didn't know what she had planned for the next day; she didn't know where to go. Her purse was on the roof, that's where the money was, so she couldn't afford to get a bus ticket, and she wasn't sure how far the surgeon was willing to help her anymore, especially based on his earlier statements. The thoughts continued to flow through her mind, flooding to the brim as she tossed over to face the back of the couch, resting her nose up against the soft material. With the smell of the sheets and the couch, she began to feel her body relax, never had she felt so alienated and so at home at once. At least, for the first time in years, she was comfortable. Her mark was still there, and so was her past, but at least for now she had a warm blanket enveloping her, and the cushions beneath her felt as soft as a cloud in comparison to the hard, cold floor she had slept on for years. The stream of anxiety simply ebbed away as the minutes passed and she fell into a restless sleep, the first in years.