Kagome lies there on the bed, her arms outstretched, as she stares up at the ceiling. It doesn't surprise her that Satoru hasn't found her yet, not that she is placing any kind of blame on him. No, if anything, it just shows how much planning Yumi went through to pull this off. She turns at the sound of the door. Yumi wisely keeps a distance between them. At least the guards are gone, or at least not inside the room with her. They were kind of unnerving with how still and statuesque there were. And what was up with them eating their own tongues? Surely there were less permanent methods to prove one's loyalty.
"Is this chain necessary?" she asks. Yumi glances at her leg and then sets the package down on the vanity. It's the only furniture in the room that isn't black. It speaks to Yumi's own vanity that to have it be the only thing in white in the room. Which works out for her as Yumi's own hubris will be her downfall.
Yumi pulls out a key from her pocket, runs a claw-tipped finger down it, and then places it back into her pocket. "I think it's a nice decoration. Your leg was so plain without it." Yumi smirks, her lips painted red. In a green top and jeans, it's the most casual that she's seen Yumi in. Almost makes her seem normal and not so regal.
"And that lipstick clashes with your hair, but okay." Kagome smiles back at the enraged look on Yumi's face. "For one so proud, I'm surprised that you would align yourself with Naraku and some curses." She sits up, dangles her legs over the bed. At some point, the chain will have to come off, unless they really expect her to wear the same clothes. Kagome shudders. Nothing worse than not being able to bathe. She couldn't stand it in the Feudal era and she won't go for it now.
"The other foxes are... enamored with you." Yumi opens the package and sets out the items. "Yakeru especially. It's sickening how he and the others fawn over you. Though, if they didn't, I wouldn't have known about your young one."
Hairpins? Kagome leans forward but does not move from the bed. She isn't worried about Yumi doing anything to her at the moment. Harming her would mean harming the baby. She places a hand over her stomach. "You know, stress isn't good for babies. I'd feel much more at ease if I didn't have a chain on me like some animal. You, of all things, should know how stressful that can be."
Yumi twirls a gold hairpin in her hand. There's a fox and moon hanging from the end of it. "The six eyes will not find you."
Kagome shrugs. "And if he finds me, it'll be much harder to plead on your behalf if he finds me like this. Just something to consider."
"Humans and their need to cling to false hope." Yumi sets the hairpin down next to the others. She presses her lips into a firm line, but there's fear etched into her eyes. "You talk to me so harshly when I come bearing gifts."
"I'm just speaking facts. The only gift I want from you is to be let free." Kagome pushes herself off of the bed, comes to a stop right before Yumi. It's too bad, they could have been friends. "Let's pretend for a moment that you manage to keep me hidden away until my child is born. Then what? A newborn can't help you with whatever plan you have cooked up, that's just more chances for you to slip up." False hope is not something that fills her—no, she knows Satoru will not stop searching for her; however, she is not some damsel in distress and will not sit around waiting for him like some old cattle going out for slaughter.
Yumi sneers, her claws digging into her palms. "Demons do not screw up. What're twenty years to us? Nothing."
"And yet, your numbers are dwindling. Humans and curses alike outnumber you despite being so superior to all of us." Kagome laughs, shaking her head as she steps around Yumi to pick up the hairpin with one, two-tailed fox dangling from it. "You think that you're getting one over on Naraku when it's really you that's been caught in his web." She grips the gold pin in her hand. She hopes her words strike a nerve.
Yumi is a proud demon, but her arrogance overshadows her intelligence. And that is the slip-up that Kagome wants.
Yumi grips Kagome's hair, pulls her face to face. Kagome grit her teeth, determined not to let out any sounds of pain. "Don't think that just because you bewitched the others and the six eyes, that you can trick me too." Yumi bares her fangs. "As if I or any other demon should be content to be cast in the shadows for some mere humans." She jerks Kagome's head back. "You will not rule over me just because you have some jewel."
"No one said anything about–" Yumi digs her claws into the back of Kagome's skull, the tips prick at her. The hairpin in her palm grows hot.
"The Shikon priestess will bring about a new world. A world in which demons will once again rule over everyone, and your child is the perfect weapon to see that come to fruition."
"I won't let you do that," Kagome rasps out, her face scrunched up in pain.
"You don't have a choice, Gome-chan." Yumi snaps her fangs at her.
"Not even a whole day in, and you've already slipped." Kagome swings her arm and jams the hairpin into Yumi's neck. Yumi lets her go with a yelp, her hands trying and failing to pull out the pin as the purification spreads. Kagome rubs the back of her head, soothing the pain as she towers over the fallen demon.
"B-bitch," Yumi says, as her skin blackens. Kagome crunches down and grabs the keys from Yumi's pocket. Yumi swipes at her, but her efforts are weak. The purification must be speeding up.
"Really, you should have known better." She shakes her head as she unlocks the chain from her leg. "As if I was going to stay here and be okay with you threatening my child." The door swings open, prompting Kagome to rush for the other hairpins. She throws them with everything she has towards the center of their foreheads, silently praying that it works like she needs it to. The Shikon pulses from within her.
"Where were you when I was getting kidnapped," she mutters, not really expecting an answer back. The Shikon sends a warm wave of power to her stomach. She places both hands on her stomach. The smell of burned demons fades away as she takes a moment to take in her new reality. She smiles and then quickly grimaces as the smell does, in fact, get to her. Kagome presses one hand over her mouth as she picks up a dagger from the pile of ash.
A twinge of guilt flashes through as she looks back at the remains of Yumi. Under any other circumstance, they could have gotten past this. It wouldn't be the first time that she had befriended her kidnapper. But, she looks down at her flat stomach, grips the dagger handle tighter. Some things, not even she can look over. Kagome rolls her shoulders, sticks the other three hairpins into her hair, and walks out of the room.
She just needs to find her way back to Satoru, try not to run into any more trouble in the process, and somehow break the news to Yakeru.
A/N: Thank you everyone for the kind reviews :) I had so much fun reading all of them. As nice as it would have been to have Satoru break in and rescue Kagome, I think it was more important to show that Kagome isn't helpless. I hope everyone gets lots of rest and has a great week! Probably be more casualties in later chapters :)