Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that I claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:
Broken Mirrors, chapter 54
Monday, March 14th. Hikaru Gosunkugi's room.
As the time neared, Gosunkugi and Kodachi finished each of their best individual preparations for what they were sure to encounter. For Gosunkugi, it meant preparing a series of wards and talismans, and focusing and purifying his mind. He was sure that the succubus would take the necessary steps to protect herself, but it was always best to prepare yourself in whatever way you could.
And that had included helping Kodachi into the dress she had chosen.
Kodachi stretched in a way that was meant to be indecent, and it showed. The sheer dress clung to her body like a second skin, and left little to the imagination. The asymmetrical fall of the skirt was offset by a slit that climbed high enough on the opposite hip that it was obvious that there was little else covering her body. Her hair was in a complicated updo, a pair of jade pins holding it in place with a single long fall of hair swept over her shoulder that had a string of black jade beads woven into it.
Gosunkugi made sure to not let his gaze linger for long. He had been serious when he had told Kodachi that no mortal woman could tempt him, not even one on the verge of sliding into being something inhuman. Kodachi though, she was the real deal. Sex and sensuality personified. A walking example of every temptation that a mere mortal could never truly resist.
In the upcoming fight, her natural traits would be a big advantage to them. It was possible that they would be what would win the day for them.
When the time came for the pair to leave for the meeting place, Gosunkugi helped Kodachi into her coat and felt himself relax a little once she had been covered. A taxi took them to the place, and without any hesitation they entered the massage parlor that stood before them.
They were met inside by the same woman that had delivered the invitation, who raised an eyebrow at Kodachi before the succubus smiled at her. After a moment, the woman shook her head and led the pair through a series of doors, and into a room towards the back of the establishment.
"Change into the robes, please." She said as she pointed at the robes that hung on hangers next to the door.
The woman stepped back and watched Gosunkugi as he turned his back to the two women and undressed without any hesitation. Kodachi was sure that the other woman was disinterested in the thin, almost gaunt, form of the man before her. To Kodachi though, she had never seen anyone as beautiful or handsome in all her years of sleeping with some of what others would consider the most beautiful people in any world.
It wasn't until Gosunkugi was dressed that the other woman looked at Kodachi and frowned. "You need to change as well." She stated even as she fought to keep her eyes from roaming the form of the succubus.
Kodachi smiled at her and wanted her head to the side slightly. "I don't think that will be necessary, do you?" She said in a sultry voice that dripped with raw sexuality. She reached out and brushed the side of the other woman's face and that was all it took.
"Of… of course it is…" the other woman gasped out, and had to be silently urged twice to lead Kodachi and Gosunkugi out the back and into the waiting limousine.
"You could have done that before she made me undress." Gosunkugi stated as he sighed.
"What would have been the fun in that?" Kodachi purred as she poured herself a drink.
Gosunkugi sighed. "I would ask if you enjoyed the show, but I don't think I want to hear you say it "
Kodachi just smiled in response and savored her drink.
They both knew that things would get messy from here onwards.
Nabiki took a long, slow breath as she forced herself to calm again. Madam K had come to check on her and gloat about having a special guest on the way. Nabiki just could only assume she meant either Gosunkugi or Kodachi, and that meant that if something was going to happen, it would be happening sooner rather than later.
The middle Tendon sister looked over at the young woman who had knelt down to scrub at a stain as she carried out the orders that Madam K had given her. Nabiki still couldn't believe that the frail, bedraggled woman before her was only a teen. A young flower that had been plucked, and would be discarded if she didn't do anything about it first.
Nabiki flexed her hands where they were tied to the arms of the chair, and continued to try to find any slack she could. When she had insisted that the siblings and their immediate circle had undergone training on how to handle kidnapping attempts, she had taken the courses as well. She had never thought that any of them would need it, but still it was always best to be prepared.
If she found any chance to escape, she would. If she could get Becky out as well, she would. She didn't think that the young woman had any idea at all about what she had been tricked into, or what the true costs were sure to be.
The worst thing was that they might have to force Madam K to break the contract on her own, since Becky was not a practitioner.
It wasn't like her to get attached to strangers. She had always kept a degree of separation from outsiders, since she knew what was truly important to her. Regardless, there was something so distraught and lost, so forlorn, about the young woman that some part of Nabiki that she had long since thought dead and gone had stirred awake. A maternal instinct that she had not really felt since Akane had been little.
A crack in the Ice Queen's facade.
Nabiki subtly twisted a little and got a better feel for how she had been tied. The person who had tied her up knew what they were doing, but she would guess that they tied people up for other reasons than detaining them. She should have expected as much, with who and what Madam K was.
It also meant that she had a better idea of how to get out of her binds, because of some…. Experimentation…. That her husband and her had done.
A glimmer of hope. Sometimes, that was all you really needed to turn any situation around. If she had learned nothing else from her time with the Saotomes, it was that a single glimmer of hope could carry you through the darkest of times.
"Becky? If you could do anything, or go anywhere, what would it be?" Nabiki asked as she started to make subtle movements to test the knots a bit more thoroughly.
Becky blinked and looked over at Nabiki as she brushed a stray strand of her hair out of her face. "I .. I don't know? Maybe…. Maybe see more of the world? Maybe learn some new things?"
Nabiki nodded and smiled. "Then, let me teach you some Japanese. 生きたい. Or, in Romaji it would be Ikitai."
"What does that mean?" Becky asked as she stopped to look at Nabiki
"I want to live." Nabiki answered as she felt the knot loosen a little.
A glimmer of hope.
As the limousine came to a stop, Gosunkugi and Kodachi exchanged another set of looks while they waited for the door to be opened for them. Kodachi was the first one out of the car as she leaned close to their guide and whispered something in her ear as her hand traced over the other woman's back. Gosunkugi felt an odd stirring in his chest, and shook his head.
There was no way he felt jealous. It was impossible, right? It clearly was simply because he had spent too much time around the succubus, and she had clearly affected him. That was all it could be.
Right?
Kodachi shifted a little as she walked behind their guide, and shivered at the heavy feel of sex and power that hung over the elegant mansion they had ended up at. The simple ward of twisted cords that Gosunkugi had placed around her right ankle constrained most of her power, and served to hide her true nature but it did little to dampen the feel of this place. It reeked of sex and magic, and the scent of pain and death lingered in the background.
This place had been turned into something that should never have been allowed to exist in this world that was hidden behind the barrier of the Mirror. It had become a little pocket of the literal hell that Kodachi had escaped from.
A foul place that called to the most primal aspects of her demon soul. A den of sin and hedonism that felt like home.
A gentle touch pulled her back, as she looked down at where Hikaru had touched her hand, then back at his face. The brief look of worry and concern that he quickly hid served as just the balm that Kodachi had needed to throw off the effect that this place had exerted on her.
It reminded her of who she was, and what had brought them both here. That she was no longer a part of that world. She was part of this world, she was here now. And she was going to do whatever it took to make sure that this world would never end up like that place. That it remained the kind of place that people like the Saotome's could live in. That wonderful people, wonderful friends, like Akane and Ukyo could live in.
That could contain someone like Hikaru Gosunkugi.
Kodachi smiled over her shoulder at Hikaru, then leaned in and whispered some more meaningless words to the other woman.
Meaningless because the only person she wanted to say those words to was Hikaru.
Hikaru Gosunkugi took a breath as he walked behind Kodachi, and calmed himself again. Even after all this time, she still had a profound effect on him. Honestly, he knew that a person would have to be dead to not be affected by Kodachi. He used to assume that was because she was a succubus, but as time had passed and he had met her once more, he came to a realization. It wasn't what she was, but who she was that drew people to her. That bound them in knots around her little finger, if that's what she desired. Yes, her nature as a succubus instilled desire in those around her, but it was who she was that truly stirred people to acts of passion that surpassed all reason.
That had made him fall for her, all those years ago. And that had driven him to push her not only out of his life, but out of this world. That he had been overwhelmed by feelings and emotions that he just didn't know how to deal with.
Oh, and he had been afraid that she would literally eat him. There had been that worry, as well. The look in her eyes, after they had… Been intimate… Had scared him. It had overwhelmed him, and he had pushed her away and hidden from his feelings.
Now, he had really started to question what he had been thinking, and wondering what things might have been like if he had just talked to her first.
But now, he had to face what they had walked into, and make sure that not only Nabiki made it out okay, but Kodachi as well. He was the reason that she had come to this place, and he would do his best to make sure that she walked away from this little piece of hell.
And maybe, just maybe, he would finally be able to face his feelings head on.
Madam K sat in her chair on the dais and drank from her wineglass as she waited for her guest to arrive. Once she had all of them in hand, then it would be a simple matter to get her hands on the Saotome's and extract their secret from them. On top of that, she would have that weak, timid reflection of herself under her boot as well. And then, she would make sure that she was the only one in this world. After that, it was only a matter of time until she ran this pathetic little world. Until all of the energy of this world would pass through her. Until she could feed on all of the delicious vital energy of this world.
And if it eventually ended up like the world that she had fled? Well, what would it matter as long as long as she was the one that sat atop this world and benefited from all the energy of this world? She would take the place of that hateful little troll. That foul mouthed, demented lecher.
Grandpa Happosai.
She sat back and savored the fine wine, and relished the even sweeter feast that would soon be laid out before her. She was pulled from her ruminations as the outer door was pulled open by some of her attendants, and the priest walked in. Who, or what followed him in made her bolt from her chair as she pointed an expertly manicured but sharp nail at the woman who walked in behind him. "What? What! Who are you and what are you doing here? Wait… Wait.. No. No, it can't be!" Madam K stumbled back as she yelled for help, and commanded those that had most deeply fallen under her thrall to action. "Kill them! Kill them both now!"
Kodachi smiled as she stepped from behind Gosunkugi and reached up to start to undo her hair. "Do it, Hikaru. It's time for us to do what we decided on."
With only a moment's hesitation, Gosunkugi stepped up and quickly slid the zipper all the way down, and let it fall from Kodachi's body as the talisman that was on her back was exposed. As Kodachi freed her hair, the string of prayer beads fell into Goaunkugi's waiting hand.
With confidence Kodachi stepped forward as her naked body took on its true form, and the power of Gosunkugi's sutra washed over her as the priest began to chant.
It was time to take care of the trash, as the peals of Kodachi's laughter echoed in the room.