Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

A Fool's Redemption	By : Grumblebear Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > InuYasha/Kagome Views: 23728 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
Chapter
17 – Masquerade

“Ow.”

“Sorry,”
Sango apologized, readjusting the pillow beneath Kagome's leg.

“It's
alright,” Kagome said, gritting her teeth against the pain as
she shifted in the bed. She glared at the bruise forming just below
her left knee, the severity of which now easier to see in the
early-afternoon sun spilling through the windows of her old
apartment. Less than twenty-four hours had passed since her fall, and
the bruise had already completely wrapped it's way around her leg and
spread up under the kneecap. She didn't know which she found more
frustrating: the pain, the fact that she was basically bedridden
until she healed enough to be able to walk again, or the knowledge
that her accident hadn't really been an accident at all. Her eyes
wandered down her leg to the thin red line still visible across the
top of her foot. The leather of her boot had kept whatever it was
that had tripped her from cutting into the skin, but the mark
remained.

“So,”
Sango said, sitting on the bed and returning to the matter at hand.
“Will you help me?”

Kagome
sighed. Was there any choice? She'd suddenly found herself a pawn in
a game she hadn't realized she'd been playing. But after everything
that Sango had just told her, there was no way she could refuse.
Doing so would put the man she loved at risk, and she had worked too
hard for Inuyasha's safety to jeopardize it all now by refusing to
involve herself in something that she was evidently already involved
in.

“Yes,”
she answered, feeling an old familiar weight settle over her.

“Thank
you,” Sango said. She reached out and placed a hand over
Kagome's. “I'm sorry, again, for asking you to do this.”

“Can't
be helped,” Kagome replied. “Just as long as he stays
safe.”

With a
frustrated little sound, Sango leaned over and wrapped her arms
around Kagome's shoulders. But there was a smile in her voice as she
said, “I can't believe you're more worried about him than you
are about yourself right now.”

She was
right, Kagome thought, burying her face in her friend's shoulder. She
should be more worried about herself, especially now, considering
what she'd just agreed to.

With a
resolved sigh, Sango released her and stood. “I'll talk to you
again soon,” she said, heading toward the door. As she placed
her hand on the knob, she turned to add, “Be careful. Okay?”

Kagome
nodded. “I will.”

The door
closed behind Sango with a loud click, the sound reminiscent of a
bullet being loaded into the chamber of a gun. It was a fitting
analogy.

Now
there was nothing to do but wait. Kagome's leg ached terribly, and
she eyed the bottle of pain medication on the nightstand. Not
yet,
she thought, resisting the temptation. The pills would make her
groggy, and if she was going to do this right, she needed her head to
be completely clear when he arrived.

Turning
her head to the windows, she stared out over the flat landscape to
the mountains beyond. There was a layer of snow covering their peaks
now. It wouldn't be long before the snow made its way down to the
city as well. A sad smile pulled at the corners of her mouth as she
realized just how spoiled she'd been while living with Inuyasha. The
world outside didn't seem nearly as grand when looking at it through
these much smaller windows. The bed beneath her didn't feel as soft,
and the late day sun wouldn't fill this room the way it had the loft.
She would miss it all, but he was the one she'd miss the most.

A
half-hour turned into an hour, and the one hour turned into two. She
dozed lightly, the effects of the pain medication she'd received in
the city's hospital still working its way out of her system. The pain
in her leg was growing, and as it did, so did her impatience and
anxiety. She glanced at the pill bottle again. He needed to show
soon, or else she wouldn't have a choice.

Finally,
there was a knock at her door.

“It's
open,” she called.

The
door opened, but she didn't need to turn her head from the windows to
see who it was. She could see his reflection in the glass—long
black hair, with a natural wave to it, not straight, not white. His
eyes would be red, not gold.

“Kagome,”
he greeted her softly.

It was
harder than she expected, putting the mask back on, hiding her true
emotions away, replacing them with the emotions of someone she didn't
want to be, laughing when she wanted to be crying, loving when she
should have been hating. A noble mask of lies. But she'd done it
before for Inuyasha. And for him, she would do it once again.

She
filled her mind with a pleasant memory, one of Inuyasha sleeping in
his bed, warm and safe, in a city where he could live out the rest of
his days in peace, without fear of being judged or tormented for his
differences. It was the thought, the goal, she clung to as she
allowed the mask to slip in place.

“Naraku,”
she returned his greeting, turning to him and forcing a warm smile
onto her face, a smile that was not her own.

His gaze
was soft on her as he approached and said, “It seems I've
caused you a bit of trouble.”

*****

Gutless.

Stupid.

Stubborn.

Inuyasha
balled his fists against his eyes. Shut
up,
he demanded silently, knowing it wouldn't work. An entire month had
passed since that awful night, and he still couldn't manage to
silence the negative thoughts.

He
stood on the terrace, a thousand tiny points of white light filling
the air around him. It was snowing in the underground hall tonight, a
celebration of the season's first snow fall that occurred earlier in
the day. It had been barely enough to stick, but that hadn't stopped
people from rushing outside to scoop up what they could to pelt each
other with tiny balls of ice. He'd been standing in the rafters of
the new greenhouse, doing a final inspection of the electrical grid
when it started, and as he watched the fun below, he felt a strange
sense of loss that he had no urge to climb down and join in. It
seemed he felt that way about almost everything lately. Nothing
piqued his interest anymore, not even his piano. His days consisted
of little more than work, sleep, and lonely nights in his apartment
or on his terrace. Occasionally, when he didn't feel like being
social, he'd retreat to the giant tree in the eco-dome. His life had,
for the most part, gone back to the way it had been before Kagome
came, minus the sex. The urge for that hadn't returned either.

When
he did decide to go out at night, people still came to visit him on
the terrace, but he didn't enjoy their company. He would have rather
just closed the doors and kept the place to himself, but there was
his position to maintain, which prevented him from shutting himself
off from the world like he wanted, like he'd tried to do, beginning
with the night of Kagome's accident.

He'd
had no intention of letting Naraku carry her off. But when he'd tried
to stop them by grabbing her arm, she'd pulled away, refusing to look
at him.

'Please,
leave me alone,' she'd said softly, and that was all it took, like a
door slammed in his face. They hadn't spoken again since then. Sango
had shown up at his apartment the next day with a large moving
container. She'd wheeled it through the door to the bottom of the
stairs leading up to Kagome's side of the loft and begun the trek
back and forth, packing away her belongings an arm load at a time.
Inuyasha had watched her in
a dazed silence,
the knowledge that Kagome wasn't coming back slowly taking hold.
She'd meant what she said. She wasn't going to be his assistant
anymore.

He'd
taken his frustration out on Sango, who'd been working quietly the
whole time.

“You
don't have anything to say to me?” he'd finally snapped when he
couldn't stand the tension anymore.

“No,”
she'd said, and there was more sadness than anger in the one word.

“You
know she went behind my back with Naraku, don't you?”

“I
do.”

“And
you're still gonna give me this silent treatment bullshit over what I
did?”

“No,
Inuyasha,” she said carefully. “I'm going to stay out of
it. It's got nothing to do with me.”

He'd
turned away in disgust then, letting her finish and leave without
another word between them. Sango
may have been Kagome's friend, but he'd known her long before Kagome,
and still considered her a good friend of his own.
A part of him had been hoping for some kind of guidance, some words
of direction—even
if they had been angry words—from
her. He thought it strange that she hadn't yelled at him for what
he'd done to get back at Kagome for the kiss with Naraku, hadn't
demanded that he make up with her immediately. It was as if she
didn't care, or was waiting to see how things played out on their
own. The fact that she refused to talk to him about it only helped to
deepen his sense of loss even more.

When
the opportunity to leave the city for a while came a week later, he'd
jumped on it. The beginning of winter was always used as a time for
laying the foundation for new projects, and now that the greenhouse
was nearly completed, it was time to move onto the next phase of
growth. After years of relying on the costly use of jets that
consumed massive amounts of fuel and trucks that traveled over roads
badly in need of repair, the decision had finally been made to ease
the passage of cargo coming in and going out of the city by building
a rail system, connecting the city directly to the port town of Redan
twenty miles to the north-east. A new satellite city, much like Belle
Drift, was being planned as well, to act as a weigh station at the
midway point. But the land on which the station would be built needed
to be surveyed first, and it was this job that Inuyasha volunteered
to oversee.

For
three weeks, he, along with his team members, had camped out in the
arid brushlands of the proposed site, carefully planning the building
layout. Each night they would take turns patrolling the camp, keeping
watch for any signs of the occasional gangs of marauders and drifters
that still roamed the wastes, humans who had refused to integrate
themselves back into cities once the war had ended. He had to admit,
there was a certain appeal to the lifestyle. There was a stillness,
an absolute calmness to the land around him, that one couldn't find
in any city. It was this kind of environment humanity had once
inhabited, before they'd learned to construct cities of stone and
steel and glass. He'd often wondered what it would be like to live
roaming and wild, like the animal he'd used to think he was. But no
matter how wistful being out in nature made him feel, he'd already
made his home among the stars, both real and illusion, and that was
where he ultimately wanted to stay. Besides, the bedroll hadn't been
nearly as comforting as his bed back home, and with winter setting
in, it was freezing, even during the day. More than one morning he
woke and emerged from the tent to find a dusting of ice across the
ground.

It
had been a relief to pack everything up and start back for home, the
shining towers a welcoming sight as they cleared the rolling
foothills of the mountains surrounding the city. He'd been eager to
get back and start on the building plans. It would help fill the void
he still felt, help keep his mind from wandering back to things he
didn't want to think about. Like Kagome. The only reminders of her
that remained in his apartment were her furniture and the fabric
walls. It was the sight of that empty room, not her, that greeted him
when he walked through the door, and he still hadn't been able to
bring himself to have it all taken away yet. Even her bench was still
just outside the terrace door, sitting empty and useless tonight, as
it had for so many nights now.

In
the week that followed his return, no one tried talking to him about
what had happened. He hadn't seen
Kagome since the incident with Naraku, and no one mentioned
her, or asked why he no longer had his assistant by his side. By this
point, it was common knowledge that there had been a falling out
between the two and, curious or not, people knew better than to go
nosing around in his business, especially to his face.
Pieces of conversation his ears had caught told him she'd spent most
of her time holed up in her room, nursing her injured leg, emerging
infrequently first in a wheelchair and then on crutches.

A
few people had proven brave enough to ask if he was looking for a new
assistant, but he shot each inquiry down with a solid “No.”
He didn't need someone to help him dress, or help him up the stairs
when he got a little too drunk, didn't need anyone to do his dishes,
make his food, or pick up the clothes he left laying around. He'd
never needed anyone to do any of those things for him, not even
Emory. It was a perk of his position, but not a necessary one.

Inuyasha
passed his eyes across the smiling faces scattered around his
terrace, feeling a profound disconnect from the high-spirits that
surrounded him. A few people had tried earlier to engage him in
conversation, but he just wasn't in the mood, and after a few
minutes, they'd given up. Alone once again, he leaned his arms on the
railing and considered another stealthy escape to the branches of the
tree in the eco-dome. But it was cold out there. If he went, he'd
have to grab a jacket first.

He
was still in the process of weighing the cons of the cold against the
pros of solitude when a voice greeted him from behind.

“Inuyasha.”
A woman's voice, one that belonged to someone he really didn't want
to see at the moment.

Rolling
his eyes, he turned his head. “Kagura,” he returned
flatly.

“Oh,
he's a grumpy prince.”

He
instantly regretted not making a run for the tree sooner. The lady
had great timing when it came to serving her own whims. Gritting his
teeth into a smile that wasn't entirely friendly, he said, “Probably
best to stay away, then.”

Strangely,
the mirth seemed to fade from her eyes. “Straight to it, then.
Alright,” she muttered, as if to herself. She looked down at
her hands and said, “I would leave you alone, but I have
something I think you'll want to see.”

Inuyasha followed her
eyes with his own and saw she was twirling something between her
thumb and forefinger.

“I noticed this
as I was coming up just now, caught on the corner of one of the
bottom stairs,” she said raising her hand to hold it up between
them, giving them both a closer look. It appeared to be a thin piece
of wire, warped as if it had snapped back on itself after being
stretched to the point of breaking. He reached up to slowly pull it
from her fingers, suddenly understanding. Kagome's accident hadn't
been the result of any ill-placed step, she'd tripped on the wire.
But what was it doing on his stairs?

“Funny,
isn't it,” Kagura said musingly, after giving him a moment to
ponder the object, “how Naraku was in just the right place at
just the right time.” Her tone was pointed, suggestive. She
wasn't just thinking out loud, she was giving him the final and most
important piece of the equation.

Time
seemed to slow and stop, along with his heart, as he realized what
she was saying. Kagome had been hurt on
purpose,
by Naraku's design. He
turned his eyes back to Kagura. There was no surprise in her
expression. She'd already known, and had come to deliver the message.

“Where
is he?” Inuyasha whispered through his teeth, not trusting his
voice to come out at a normal level if he didn't keep it under tight
control.

“Upstairs.
He's waiting for you.”

He
was through the terrace door and down to the ground floor in seconds,
tearing his way through the crowd as quickly as he could manage
without throwing people out of his way. The elevator would take too
long, so he chose the stairs instead, leaping them a handful at a
time, not caring about the startled reactions of those he passed.
Breaking into the expanse of the darkened atrium, his legs propelled
him across its surface, toward the elevators on the other side. There
was one waiting at the bottom, and he raced inside, barely managing
not to smash the panel of call buttons as he pressed the one for the
top floor.

The
doors slid closed and the elevator lifted, all of it happening much
too slowly. He needed to calm down. He might kill Naraku the moment
he saw him if he didn't. Watching the floor numbers tick by on an LED
screen above the door, he sucked in a deep breath, held it, then
exhaled slowly, putting all his energy into calming the fury inside.

No,
he wouldn't kill Naraku. But he'd leave the man wishing he had.

72,
85, 98... Almost
there.

He
placed a hand on the door as the elevator slowed to a stop and had to
keep himself from ripping it open, giving the panels time to draw
back just enough to squeeze through, then charged into the hallway,
his eyes fixed on Naraku's apartment door.

That
one, he would rip off its hinges.

But
he wasn't given the chance. A few feet before he reached it, the door
slowly opened on its own, revealing near-darkness inside. Caution
instantly overriding fury, he slowed and stopped before storming in,
noticing someone standing just inside. It was the larger of Naraku's
two assistants, more bodyguard than anything else. He said nothing as
Inuyasha stepped inside, the two men exchanging equally menacing
glares.

Most
of the loft appeared lost in shadows, but there was no need to glance
around to get his bearings. He already knew what this apartment
looked like. All the top floor apartments had been designed exactly
the same way: kitchen just inside on the left, sitting area in the
middle, loft rising beyond that against the windows. But a soft light
source pulled his eyes toward the center of the room, to the end of a
long L-shaped couch, where two figures sat, illuminated by the broad
circle of light cast by a nearby table lamp. The sight froze his feet
mid-step.

Naraku
smiled at him, lounging against the cushions, his feet crossed at the
ankles, his hand gently stroking the hair of the woman laying beside
him, her head in his lap. Kagome. Her eyes were dull, half-lidded as
she stared off into the surrounding darkness.

“There
he is,” Naraku purred, placing his other hand on her
collarbone, a spot just below her neck. There was a flash of silver,
something metal on his middle finger, sharp and vicious looking
against her pale skin.

“What
the hell is this?” Inuyasha asked, his anger suddenly turning
to cold dread. He heard the door close behind him, bolt locking with
a loud click.

Naraku's
smile widened just a bit as he said, “Please, come in,
Inuyasha.” It was an order, not an invitation. “Slowly,
please. No sudden moves,” he added when Inuyasha took a step
forward.

Carefully,
Inuyasha placed one foot in front of the other, his eyes never
leaving the sharp thing resting close to Kagome's neck. It was like
approaching a dangerous snake. Move slow, don't spook it. Maybe it
won't bite.

At
the edge of the sitting area, Naraku stopped him. “That's far
enough,” he said, using his free hand, the one that had been
petting Kagome, to place a cigarette between his lips. The spark of a
lighter followed, and the cherry glowed to life.

“What's
going on, Naraku,” Inuyasha demanded, his eyes straying back to
Kagome's languid form. “What's wrong with her?”

Naraku
grinned softly and pushed smoke out through his teeth—a
vicious, smiling dragon. “Drugged. Poor thing just doesn't have
a head for pills. She'll be in and out for most of our conversation,
I'm sure.”

Inuyasha
felt his stomach hollow and his fury reignite, his muscles tightening
with the renewed urge to hurt this man, severely. The only thing that
held him back was the unspoken threat pressed against Kagome's skin.
He raised his hand, holding up the thin wire. “What is this,”
he asked, struggling to keep his voice even.

“Bait,”
Naraku answered simply. “A means to an end.”

He was
being cryptic, and Inuyasha didn't have the patience for it. “You're
the one who tripped her. You could have fucking killed her!”

“I,”
Naraku said, putting emphasis on the word, “did nothing of the
sort. Why would I do something like that to someone who gave herself
to me so willingly just the night before?”

Inuyasha
felt his body go very still, anger threatening to turn to blind rage.

“Easy
now.” The hand at her neck shifted, bringing the bladed finger
closer to her carotid, a warning gesture for Inuyasha to keep his
composure. “I didn't call you here just to taunt you.”

“Then
what do you want?”

“I'll
get to that,” Naraku said, turning his eyes down to the head in
his lap. “For now, I want to set straight this little mess
between the two of you.”

Kagome's
blinked slowly as he traced his thumb along her jawline, her gaze
still distant. Was she conscious enough to understand what was going
on?

Naraku
smiled down at her. “She's very trusting. I suppose that's one
of the reasons you like her so much. It's easy to like those who only
want to see the good in others. But it can be dangerous to leave
oneself so open like that. It gives people the opportunity to take
advantage of weaknesses.” He looked back up at Inuyasha. “She
made it easy.”

“What
are you talking about?” Inuyasha asked.

“Clorish,
an extremely potent but short-lived hallucinogen,” he said.
“It's also known as the Black Hole drug, due to the peculiar
little side effect that can occur if you startle the user at the
height of the drug's effect. Put their system through a shock and
they pass out, loosing all the memories of the past few hours. Three
little drops in the glass of water I brought her to help her sober
up, that's all it took. Once her head was nice and pliable, I was
able to use a few sweet words to insinuate myself into her mind,”
he paused, his grin spreading, “playing the part of Inuyasha.”

Inuyasha
felt his stomach hollow.

“She
thought it was you there beside her, not me.”

“You
son of a bitch,” he whispered.

“As
expected,” Naraku continued, “she eventually realized it
wasn't you and blacked out. Once she was awake, she couldn't remember
what happened, so with a little acting, I filled in her blanks with
my own version, convincing her that she'd drunkenly instigated the
whole thing.”

“I'll
fucking kill you.”

“No
wonder she hesitated to tell you, considering your reaction hearing
about it from Kagura.”

“Don't
you dare try to turn this back on me,” Inuyasha snapped. “This
is all happened because of you.”

“Maybe,
but perhaps if you'd had a bit more trust, like Kagome, you wouldn't
have been so quick to believe she'd betrayed you. I guess too little
trust can leave you just as vulnerable as too much. You did exactly
what I'd hoped you would, and for that, I thank you. Things might not
have come this far if you hadn't escalated them by your own actions,”
Naraku said, his voice low and cunning. “You could have thrown
her out of the city for breaking your oath. I'm curious as to why you
didn't.”

Inuyasha
didn't respond, disgusted with himself that he'd been so easily
manipulated by this man.

“Love,
I suppose,” Naraku mused aloud, pulling deeply on his
cigarette.

“Why
are you doing this?” he asked quietly.

“My
business is my own, Inuyasha. The only thing you need to concern
yourself with right now is cooperating, for Kagome's sake. Can you do
that?”

Inuyasha
looked again at Kagome's face, her eyes staring at him across the
short distance, eyelids narrowing a bit, as if she was trying to
focus her vision. There was no other choice. He gave a stiff nod.

Giving
him a pleased smile, Naraku raised his cigarette hand and twitched it
forward. As if on cue, there was movement in the shadows beneath the
loft behind him, and his other assistant, the one with the glasses,
stepped into the light.

“I
want you to keep very still, Inuyasha,” Naraku instructed. “Not
so much as a muscle twitch, understand?”

He
nodded again, and the assistant started toward him, fingers closed
around something concealed in his hand.

“Eyes
on the girl, please. Remember why you're doing this,” Naraku
said, tapping the bladed finger against her neck.

As the
assistant stopped beside him, Inuyasha felt the fight go out of him.
He was completely trapped. He felt his throat convulse with a heavy
swallow, and hated that it betrayed his nerves.

There
was a sharp sting at his neck, and Naraku said, “You're going
to sleep for a while, until the sun comes up. I'll tell you what I
want from you then.”

Inuyasha's
legs gave out suddenly, and he fell to the floor, trying to catch
himself with arms that were just as weak. Locking his elbows, he
succeeded in keeping himself upright for only a few seconds more
before finally collapsing against the cold tile.

“Don't
fight it, Inuyasha. Rest,” Naraku said. “You're going to
need it.”

The last
thing he saw, as his consciousness slipped away, was Kagome, still
staring at him from Naraku's lap, tears rolling down her cheeks. Then
his mind went dark, and the world faded away.

Seconds
passed before his eyes opened again. At least, that's what it felt
like. But as his vision adjusted, he realized the loft was now
faintly lit by sunlight. It was early morning. He was still on the
floor, and Naraku was still on the couch with Kagome, the sun the
only indicator that any time had passed at all. Wincing, he tried to
sit up, his muscles stiff from sleeping on the hard ground for what
must have been hours, but a solid hand between his shoulders pushed
him back down.

“Welcome
back.”

Inuyasha
returned Naraku's greeting with a furious glare.

“I
trust you remember your agreement to cooperate,” Naraku said.

“I
wouldn't be letting this meat head think he was holding me down if I
didn't,” Inuyasha shot back. The hand pressed a bit harder.

Naraku
smiled, giving a nod to his assistant, and both the hand and its
owner moved away. Carefully, Inuyasha sat up, trying not to let the
residual effects the drug was still having show in his movements. He
heard the assistant move toward him again, and then a heavy jacket
and a small hiking bag were dropped next to him.

“It's
time to go,” Naraku said.

Inuyasha
turned his eyes from the items to Naraku. “Go where?” he
asked.

“Where
ever you want, so long as it's not here. You're going to leave the
city, and you're not going to come back.”

“What
the hell—Why?”

“Again,
my reasons are my own. Ezra here,” he motioned to his large
assistant, “will escort you down to the entrance. You're not to
speak a word to anyone you encounter. You're not to stop if anyone
asks you to. If the guards at the door ask you where you're going,
tell them that you're going out hiking for the day. With the pack and
the jacket, they should believe you. If they pry, tell them not to
follow or send anyone after you, and nothing more. If you do anything
other than what I say, I'll know the moment it happens, and Kagome
here will be the one who pays the price for it.”

Inuyasha
looked at Kagome again. Her eyes still held a glassy appearance, but
she looked more awake than she had before, and fearful as well, as if
more aware now of the blade at her neck.

“Once
you get outside, start running. Don't look back, and don't stop until
you reach the mountain pass to the southwest. Where you go once
you're through the mountains is up to you, but make sure it isn't
Belle Drift, or any other cities affiliated with this one. You're to
have no more contact with anyone who has anything to do with this
place ever again. You're going to disappear, completely. Understand?”

Inuyasha's
fingers curled against the tile floor, forming tight, angry fists as
he nodded once.

“The
pack there has enough food and water for a few days. Some money to
keep you on your feet for a while. The jacket will keep you warm.
Small generosities, in addition to waiting until the sun began rising
to release you. I could have sent you out into the freezing night. It
would have made things a bit easier, but I'm not completely without
mercy. Besides, it's still early enough that you shouldn't run into
anyone until you get to the doors.”

Naraku
paused for a moment, allowing his words to sink in.

“What's
going to happen to Kagome after I leave?” Inuyasha asked.

“She'll
be safe, I assure you.”

“What
guarantee do I have?”

“None.
You'll just have to hope I'm a man of my word. The only guarantee you
do have is that I will hurt her if you don't do as I've asked. And I
will be very
creative about it.”

“I
swear to God, you do so much as scratch her—”

“That's
enough,” Naraku said, cutting him off. “Can you stand?”

Slowly,
Inuyasha gathered his legs beneath him and stood, dizzy at first but
his equilibrium quickly balancing out. He picked up the items on the
floor when Naraku nodded at them, then turned murderous eyes at the
man, wishing his gaze alone was enough to kill him where he sat.
Speaking carefully, he said, “I'll do everything you ask, but
only because you're threatening someone who's very precious to me.
Know this: if she doesn't stay safe, if anything
happens to her, I'll find you and I'll kill you.”

“Completely
understandable,” Naraku said, nodding his acknowledgment.
“Please understand, this isn't personal, Inuyasha. You're just
in my way. Now go.”

Inuyasha
took a long moment to gaze at Kagome, trying to convey to her with
his eyes how sorry he was for not trusting her more, for his naivete,
his weakness, and for his part in allowing this to happen, hoping it
showed through the fury. She didn't move, didn't show any response,
except for her eyes, which held the softness of understanding,
sending a farewell of her own.

Almost
imperceptibly, he lifted his chin and gave her a faint smile. It was
the same gesture she'd once given him, so long ago in the lab, to
encourage him to be strong. Only this time, it was a gesture to say
goodbye.

Stay
safe.

He heard
the door behind him open. Turning away from her felt as if it was the
hardest thing he'd ever done, but left with no other choice, he did
so, and then stepped forward and walked out the door.

The
tower was quiet as Ezra accompanied him downstairs. The man stood
close enough to keep Inuyasha well aware of his presence, but wisely
just out of striking range. He was smarter than he looked. Neither
one spoke until the elevator reached the atrium floor, and as the
doors slid open, the assistant let Inuyasha step out first.

“Not
a word to anyone other than the guards, remember?”

“I
got it,” Inuyasha said through his teeth.

Their
footsteps echoed off the walls and high ceiling of the darkened entry
hall as they walked through, most of the room lost in shadows except
for the area around the sun sculpture, still lit, bathing the floor
in a soft orange glow. He wanted to stop, wanted to take a last look
around. It was in this room that he'd made his first coherent memory
of the city. From the moment he'd passed out just after leaving the
lab, his rescuers had kept him drugged for the entirety of the
journey from Eona to Alduray, for their own safety as much as his. He
had no memory of the trip, but as they'd helped him through the front
doors, up the stairs and into this room, the haze had lifted just
enough for him to look around and begin to absorb his new
surroundings.

Anyone
who'd grown up in a normal world would have found the room beautiful.
But he'd only known the white walls and the florescent lights of the
lab. The colors in the room, the paintings overhead, the sun
sculpture, the statues—all
of it had instantly overwhelmed and terrified him. Especially the
statues. The concept of people fashioned from stone was completely
alien to him. He didn't understand any of the things he saw, and it
had pushed his already weak state to a breaking point. He'd passed
out and woken two days later in a hospital bed, Kagome's uncle
sitting beside him. The tranquilizers in his system had kept him calm
enough over the next few weeks to allow him to begin gradually
adapting to and understanding his new home, and eventually he'd come
to love this room that had at first scared him so badly.

But
there was no time for a last look now. Not with Naraku's assistant on
his heels, pressing him closer to the doors he was about to pass
through for the last time. At the top of the stairs, Ezra stopped.

“You
go on your own from here,” he said softly. “Don't stop,
and once you get outside, you run.”

Inuyasha
didn't look at the man, not trusting his control to keep him from
taking a swing. Without a word, he began down the stairs. In the dim
light at the bottom, he saw the two guards standing off to one side.
Their conversation stopped as he emerged from the shadows and headed
toward the door.

“Inuyasha,”
one of them said. “What's up?”

Inuyasha
hesitated for just a moment, his mind racing for some way to maybe
tip them off about what was happening. But the looming presence at
the top of the stairs stopped him. He was still being watched.
“Nothing,” he said. “I'm just going out for a
hike.”

“Hiking?”
the other scoffed. “Dude, it's freezing out there. At least
wait until the sun comes up a little more.”

“I'll
be fine,” he said, pulling on the jacket.

“You
told someone where you're going, right?”

Inuyasha
nodded as he shouldered the bag and stepped up to the doors. They
slid open without a sound.

“You
got a comm
in case you get in trouble?”

“Yeah.”
He stepped out into the frigid air, then paused and said over his
shoulder, “If anyone tries to follow me, tell them not to.
Okay?”

One of
the guards cocked his head. “Sure. Everything alright?”

He
hesitated again, but realized his chance, if he'd had one at all, had
passed. “Yeah. I just want some time alone.”

“Okay.
Be careful out there.”

With
another nod, Inuyasha walked out of the city. His feet dragged the
first few steps, his mind still struggling to come up with some way
to stop whatever plan Naraku had set in motion. But he didn't stop,
didn't dare look back, afraid to give Naraku's man, or anyone else
who might be watching, any sign he was reconsidering. The full
realization that it was too late to turn back hit him as his feet
left the paved avenue leading up to the city's entrance and he
stepped onto the dirt.

The
sound of gravel crunching beneath his shoes was like a starting gun
being fired. Suddenly, the world stretched out before him, impossibly
wide and terrifyingly big; the mountains before him, and the city at
his back. And on the top most level of that city stood Naraku, most
likely watching him. The feel of the man's eyes on him, whether real
or imagined, was like being in the crosshairs of a gun.

Run.
Naraku's
infuriating voice echoed in his head, accompanied by an image of the
blade pressed to Kagome's throat.

Inuyasha's
pace quickened.

Run!

He
squeezed his eyes shut and began running, hair streaming out behind
him, feet pounding, tearing, at the dirt as he fled toward the
mountains in the distance.

Continued
in chapter 17 – Scatter the Shadows

Author's note - SO sorry (again) this took so
long (again). The past 6 months have kicked my ass up the
street and back down again. Some events have been good, others very,
very bad. In brief summation: got a new boss, lost my grandpa, passed
a class and failed a class, anxiety and panic = new meds,
Thanksgiving, hurt my back at work, lost a child of the feline type,
merry flippin Xmas, New Years, new man (who needs way too much
attention), increased hours at work, lost an uncle, car trouble and
$300 for two new tires, more cat illness, etc. All leading to
excessive Warcraft playing in my spare time for the brain numbing it
provides. Often I can barely think, let alone be creative. Needless
to say, I'm quite ready for things to calm the fuck down.

I think I've lost a good deal of my old readers, but
it's my own fault really, for not being more reliable about updating.
I'm the same way when it comes to keeping interest in things. Out of
sight, out of mind, I guess. But for those of you who have
stuck around, now begins the payoff! You'll like the last few
chapters. And that's all I'm gonna say about that. ;)

Regarding the various awards I've received recently...
HOLY COW THANKS!!!! Firsts in drama, AU, multi-chapter and angst?
Yeah, I just about keeled right over, twitching, with a stupid grin
on my face.

And regarding a possible continuation or sequel, I think
I'm going to wait until I'm closer to the end to make the final
decision. Judging from the declining amount of responses, interest
appears to be waning, not only for this story but the fandom in
general (naturally, since both the anime and manga have come to an
end).

Til next time!

Influential
music for this chapter

Someone to Trust – Bear McCreary,
Battlestar Galactica OST 3

Hikari – Elisa, Nabari no Ou ED 1

Kara's Coordinates – Bear McCreary,
Battlestar Galactica OST 4

A Distant Sadness – Bear McCreary,
Battlestar Galactica OST 3
- 16
- 17
- 18
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A Fool's Redemption