He laughed.

And laughed.

Ringing throughout the recently vacated temple, the ghostly walkways and deserted rooms echoed back his dark and hopeless laughter that fell upon Kagome and her captor. The gloomy chuckles carried along with it the sadness of the building that had witnessed its owners' heartless slaughtering and faded into am anguished silence.

"Have you ever experienced sadness, girl?" Bankotsu inquired betwixt his empty smiles his tone mocking, "You think you know what despair feels like?" He leaned backwards from his upright sitting position upon the floor and now reclined pensively upon his elbows, his gaze directed towards Kagome in a challenging manner as he eyed her still form that was but an arm-length away.

Kagome said nothing. Her lips pursed slightly before deciding that it would be unwise to respond and instead kept a steadfast gaze on the floor in front of her. Her breathing was slow and purposeful as she sought to calm the suddenly erratic heartbeat that knocked within her chest, in attempt to maintain her appearance of tranquility.

The questioning tone of Bankotsu's last words trailed out of the air, leaving the two of them once again, in utter silence.

Bankotsu eyed her. His stare tinged with irritation, as she did not stir: she sat upright and unmoving, her small and chafed wrists cradled calmly on her lap, and an unaffected countenance that was as unresponsive as it was emotionless. Neither her mind or body granted him any acknowledgement and it roused his desire for domination of her—in both mind and body.

"You think you know what it means to be hopeless?" he continued, his eyes narrowing as he spoke, "You think you know what it means to hate?"

Kagome's jaw twitched. And Bankotsu noticed.

With a devilish smile of the cat that caught the mouse, a grin crept on to Bankotsu's face as he eyed her smugly while still lounging in his outstretched position.

"Ah, so you are familiar with the feeling?" he asked, taking pleasure in observing Kagome's nostrils beginning to flare with frustration and the loose fists her hands were balling upon her lap, "Or so you think" he added in a purposely provocative tone.

There was a brief pause before Bankotsu continued as he savored his victory of eliciting a reaction out of his prisoner.

"You're welcome", he said with a mocking nod in her direction that was coupled with the grin that had never left his face. Outstretching a muscular arm, Bankotsu placed a patronizing finger under her chin as he tilted her downward-facing visage upwards. A seething huff escaped her nostrils as Kagome's lips strained to refrain themselves from spitting out the fiery rebuttal that was bubbling inside her. Her fists clenched in fury upon her lap and nearly buzzed in anger—yet she continued to restrain them to her person, and once again, said nothing in reply to Bankotsu.

Releasing her chin, Bankotsu's blue eyes glittered with a gleeful malice.

"Hate is powerful" he stated, "it gives you a strength and willpower that no other emotion comes even close to. Thanks to my men and I, you have now been introduced into the singularly great force that taps into your deepest and darkest potential"

A seething Kagome could restrain herself no longer.

"I know hate" she spit out bitterly, teeth clenched and her gaze sightlessly glaring into the space before her "I've known hate for far longer than when you captured me, Bankotsu" she loathingly hissed his name as it left a distasteful lingerance in both her mouth and her mind.

Her previously placid face was now being contorted by detestation: pale cheeks now burned with her rising ire, eye contact was made impossible as she was stricken immobile by her insurmountable anger. Bankotsu had caused the rage of emotion behind her calm façade to break through her barriers of restraint, and coupled with her acceptance of her grim fate, Kagome no longer feared the shortening of her already numbered days.

"However much you think you've made me feel" she hatefully whispered, "it is nothing compared to…"

Kagome trailed off. Her anger eclipsed by a sadness inflicted by betrayal and heartbreak that left her unable to speak and her mouth agape. Bankotsu's eyes bore down on her demandingly as his eyebrows furrowed in a puzzled fury.

His arm shot out from beneath him and he roughly seized Kagome's heaving shoulder. Twisting her body to have her face level with hers, he yanked her until they were eyelevel, his furied gaze meeting her despising own.

"WHO" he demanded, "Who is this person you speak of that could possibly make you hate more than me—" from his steadfast grasp he pinched her delicate shoulder in a manner than sent an excruciating pain screaming throughout her arm—eliciting an anguished cry from her that he ignored as he continued menacingly, "—your captor, the one whose hands you will probably be dying by"

His rage-filled words echoed throughout the still empty temple, his chest heaved and his entire frame shook with a promise of violence. Silence overtook them; the only sound to be heard was the impassioned breathing of them both as they bore into each other unwaveringly.

Kagome's weakened body was helpless in his unforgiving grasp but still she gave a defiant jerk against his hold on her. Kagome sneered as she stared into Bankotsu's glaring blue eyes and peered into their inhuman depths, imagining a thousand deaths upon him before answering.

(Flashback)

She had run away to escape; her legs carried her past the familiar towns and lakes she knew, her tears blurring friendly faces as they passed, and she pushed her body to the point of breaking. Shortly ahead she saw the small wooden bridge that she was told separated the outskirts of the civilized area into the unknown wilderness. The pounding in her head and heart blindly sought refuge and allowed her no feelings of hesitation or fear as her feet clattered over the rickety wood. Her stride was unabated as she plunged into the eerie darkness. The thorns that tore at her skin went unnoticed; the snaps of breaking branches and the crunching of dead leaves behind her urged her forward.

Finally she stopped.

A bitter wind swept through the unfamiliar trees. Dry leaves rustled in agony before being wrenched from their branches and falling—lifeless—to the ground. The sound reverberated briefly against the heavy canopy of the unknown forest until the dying wind left the two figures standing in a dulled silence. Kagome's stood with her back to InuYasha, her trembling frame leaning on the biting bark of gnarled black oak.

"Why the hell do you keep sticking around!" she screamed.

Her breath was ragged, gasping in between her tears, her eyes shut in agony as every heave left her feeling as if her heart was trying to lurch out of her body. She couldn't see him, but she knew her was there.

"You don't have to pretend anymore! GO! I know where you really want to be, I won't hold you back anymore"

Angry tears were streaming down Kagome's pale face, leaving glistening trails down her face as proof of her emotional distress. Kagome's eyes, reddened from crying, were fixed onto InuYasha's own, golden and perplexed.

"Kagome…" InuYasha let his voice trail off as the guilt cut off his ability to speak. The things that were said and heard could never be undone…and it seemed that it would cost him the girl that he cared so much about.

Calling her name was all he could do as all their memories, shared triumphs, and longing glances, deteriorated before him—the distance between them growing so much larger than the mere feet that she stood away from him.

"Kagome…"

(End Flashback)

"The deepest hate" she said with deliberate articulation, "only comes from someone that you used to love", she said scornfully, her eyes now looking upon his with condescendence.

"The deepest levels of my hate are reserved, and will forever be consumed by, InuYasha"