InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Ultimatum ❯ Chapter 15 ( Chapter 15 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: BoxingKing 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 06.04.2008 | Pages: 5 | Words: 5.7K | Visits: 1.5K | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 06.04.2008 | Pages: 5 | Words: 5.7K | Visits: 1.5K | Status: Work In Progress
Ultimatum
Chapter 15
Boxing King
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Kagome gave him a look as if her were stupid. “I’ve already told you that I’m not handing over the Jewel. So stop asking, Kurama.”
“But, Kagome, we are not asking,” spoke Hiei.
She stiffened against the wall she was leaning on.
“We are taking.”
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Yusuke swiped a hand across his chin and refused to look at Kagome. “Give him the Jewel, Kagome.”
Her head swiveled around as her eyes opened wide in shock. Kagome looked at Yusuke for a long moment, and then slowly straightened to her full height. She thrust out her chin. “No.”
“Don’t make me force it from you, Kagome. You won’t like it if I do.”
“And how exactly are you going to force it from me, Yusuke? You read up on the latest tortured method. Waterboarding? Or maybe just a good sucker punch to the gut?”
His eye twitched as he suddenly found the table very interesting.
Kurama’s suave voice filled the silence. “Now, now, Kagome. We wouldn’t make Yusuke do something that could so obviously break him. Hiei and I, however, have no problem with any form of … persuasion.”
A small tremble gave away her fear. “Then by all means, Kurama, do your worst.” She turned to look at Kuwabara. “Are you going to let them stand by and do this, Kuwabara? You, who would never hurt a woman, are going to stand and do nothing?”
Brown eyes met brown eyes. “Kagome, this could mean the safety of all three realms.”
Disbelief colored her voice. “You, you Kazuma Kuwabara, are sacrificing your morals?”
He flinched and dropped her gaze. “This doesn’t have to involve torture, Kagome.”
“I agree, it doesn’t. The only reason torture is even being mentioned is because you four are bringing it to the proverbial table. Trust me, I’m all for no torture.”
“Save it, Kagome. If we can keep Yusuke in the dark and safe with his mental state, we sure as hell can do the same to Kuwabara.” Kagome jerked her eyes over to Hiei. “And it doesn’t even have to involve physical harm. What about your mother, Kagome? You have a family here. We can just as easily blackmail you with them.”
“You sound exactly like Naraku. You have stooped to his level. Are you proud of that fact?”
“We are separated from Naraku by the fact that we are saving the three realms from disaster, not pushing them into it. The same cannot be said for you, however.”
“Oh save it. I am the protector, therefore I keep the Jewel.”
“And how do you presume to do that, Kagome?” asked Kurama.
“Tell me, Kurama. You seem to know everything. Where is the Jewel now? Naraku doesn’t have it. What makes you think he hasn’t looked everywhere for it already. And, just in case any of you forgot, he did torture me. He took away my family. And I still did not give up the Jewel. If you can so easily kill innocent people, then you cement my decision in keeping it away from all of you.”
Yusuke threw up his hands. “Kagome, do you honestly think I could hurt my own family? I love Souta like a little brother.”
“I would believe the worst of you at this moment Yusuke. The regard you’re showing your family right now just plain sucks.”
“Give him the Jewel, Kagome.”
“Damnit, Yusuke, I am not giving up the Jewel!”
“Fine.” And Hiei moved before anyone could react.
Kagome’s eyes widened as she threw up an arm to deflect the hands suddenly reaching for her throat.
“Hiei, no!” shouted Yusuke as he lunged at the smaller man.
Hiei reached around her hand effortlessly as Kagome’s eyes flicked to Yusuke being held back. Kurama had an arm around his neck, pinned at the elbow. His other arm was wrapped around one of Yusuke’s arms. She looked at Kuwabara, standing there helpless to do anything in the situation.
Hiei’s hands locked around her throat, and he began to squeeze. She frantically beat at his head, fingers scrabbling for a purchase in the corner of his eyes. Hiei carelessly released a hand and backhanded her, before resuming the choke.
Kagome blinked, slightly dazed. This, this was the man she dreamed about. Christ, she had even begun to like him, and here he was beating her. What was wrong with her that she could begin to like a man like this?
“Just tell us where it is, Kagome. Tell us the location of the Jewel and all of this can end.”
Black dots began to dance in front of her eyes.
“Give me some clue that you want to talk, and we can stop this now.”
The room began to dim just as Kuwabara ran towards the two.
“Hiei, enough of this! You’re killing her!”
He was killing her.
He was a demon.
And he was killing her.
It was as if a switch had been hit inside of her. The door was open. Kagome closed her eyes against the encroaching darkness and let herself go. Magic suddenly filled her, from toe to the top of her head.
God, it was the most wonderful thing she had ever felt. A huge part of herself had been cut off, and now it was suddenly back. She felt whole for the first time in a long time.
She narrowed her suddenly clear eyes and focused on the demon in front of her.
The only suggestion she had that he knew he was in deep shit was the sudden widening of his eyes. Then she released the leash.
Her body burst into a brilliant pink glow and her neck blazed in a dazzling white.
Hiei’s howl filled the room until she felt the jerk as he was thrown away. Immediately the light dimmed and Kagome looked at the demon.
Kuwabara was thrown half on top of the smaller man as he cradled his burnt hands to his chest. They were blackened up to the wrist.
Her chilled voice filled the sudden silence. “Why did you move him away, Kuwabara?”
“Y-you were killing him.”
“As he tried to kill me.”
Her gaze whipped across to Yusuke. Kurama’s arms were slack around the astonished detective.
“You won’t have the Jewel, Yusuke. None of you shall. Not even in its presence, and two demons have suddenly become deadly in the search. Imagine what it would be like with the actual Jewel. Very few demons can be with the corruption, Yusuke. Inuyasha was but a half demon, not stuck with the full urge to take the Jewel. And Shippo was but a kit, unknowing of its true appeal. Your group shall never hold the Shikon Jewel, and nor shall the spirit ruler.”
She looked once more around the room, eyes settling last on the Koorime.
“Goodbye, Yusuke. Come after me and I will kill you all. Don’t bother going to my family. As far as they are concerned, I am settled safely here and will be for some time. The threat of taking them is useless. I’ve suffered through death before, and in doing so I made the decision that the Jewel is more important than family. You killing them would just be useless.”
She turned and walked out of the room. Walked out of the apartment. And walked out of the Spirit Detectives’ lives.
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“You have to get her back, Yusuke! She is the key to the three realms, and we just can’t have her walking about in the middle of Tokyo!” Prince Koenma had his hands stuck to the desk, palms flat, as he yelled at his team.
“I can’t believe you all just let her waltz out of there as she pleased!”
Collectively the group winced.
Kurama rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. “Frankly, Koenma, so are we. She stunned us with her little display of powers back there.”
“Oh, save it, Kurama. You’ve dealt with mikos before, and Hiei was barely wounded.”
“His hands were almost burnt off!” spoke a shocked Kuwabara.
Koenma waved it off. “He’ll heal. It’s just a paltry burn.” Koenma ignored Hiei’s snort of contempt in the corner.
“It is imperative that you get that Jewel and bring it here before Naraku does.”
“What do you suggest, Koenma. A miko is hardly defenseless. She already told us blackmailing her family would be useless. And we believe her.” Hiei sat in the corner, hands settled carefully on his knees.
The toddler settled back in his chair to think.
“You could drug her.”
“Ok, after that and we drag her here, how are you going to get it out of her?”
Furious sucking of the pacifier commenced. “Torture didn’t work?”
“She didn’t so much as twitch as she began to black out. I think it was a fluke that her powers came out, or she would have done it in the beginning and not waited until then.”
“Well, we could connect her to the TV and sift back through her memories. Unfortunately it would have to be done by hand. And she would have had to be watching what she was doing. If she had any idea of this procedure being possible, she would have blocked it easily.”
“It’s possible she doesn’t know of it. But we need other options.”
“We could try worse torture.”
“No.” Yusuke’s voice was just a rasp, but it was heard clearly in the room. “No more torture. I’m not going to torture my cousin anymore. And neither are any of you.” He glared at Kurama, sporting a recent black eye. “And none of you are going to be stopping me again.”
Koenma cleared his throat. “Yes, well.”
“Other options, Koenma.” Koenma eyed the talkative demon. Hiei usually wasn’t the one to plan so thoroughly. And he usually didn’t let a few wounds stop him, when in fact they usually goaded him on.
“Why do you need more than one, Hiei?”
“The odds of one thing simply working on her are practically nill. I don’t want to be dragging her here and then getting fucked up again because we don’t have a plane.”
“Koenma, why can’t we just lock her up? If Naraku can’t get to her, then the Jewel should be safe.” Kuwabara gazed inquiringly at the Prince.
“It’s not on her person, Kuwabara.”
“But clearly, no one can find it without her telling them where to look.”
Koenma gave a grunt of approval. “That actually sounds valid, Kuwabara. It shall be a last approach, I think. I doubt she’d take kindly to being kidnapped and held captive.”
“Yeah, cause drugs and an invasion of privacy are hardly any better.” Koenma glared at Yusuke.
“It is for the good of the three realms, Yusuke.”
“I know,” he sighed out heavily. “It’s never going to be the same between us after this. We had a special bond, and I think I’ve fucked it six ways to Sunday.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Yusuke.” Kuwabara moved over to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “She kept it secret from us. She talked to Naraku. She has the Jewel. She’s more to blame than you are, Yusuke.”
“The first course of action is just to get her here. We can take it from there.” Koenma turned towards Kurama and Hiei. “It might be best for you two to stay here until we have her under control.”
“No,” snapped out Hiei. “We are coming with. These two idiots can’t handle her on their own. She knows who has a sense of honor and who doesn’t. She tried to turn Kuwabara against us earlier. And all she had to do is look at Yusuke and he’ll cave.”
Koenma nodded. “Fine.”
Kurama agreed. “What kind of drug should we use? Something that can be administered from a distance, or something so simple as chloroform?”
“A swift whack to the back of her head would work just as well,” muttered Hiei from his corner.
Yusuke in turn glared at the smaller demon.
“We can just tranq her. Little bit of Thorazine. That’ll make her easy enough to grab.”
Yusuke rubbed his jaw and turned towards Kurama.
“Fine, tranqs. Fine.”
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Kagome sat on the rooftop of a nearby building. She didn’t have a clue where she was, just that she was high up and looking out on the nightlife of Tokyo. It had seemed like a decent idea at the time. She absently petted the pink bear in her lap. She sighed.
There was so much she didn’t understand right now. First and foremost in her mind was why had her miko powers returned? One would think it was due to being attacked by a demon, but really, she had practically kicked the bucket being attacked by those damn electric demons and her miko powers hadn’t even trilled then. She was pretty much clueless as to the reasoning behind it.
Second, and sadly almost tied for first place, was Hiei. The man was intoxicating. She was practically having sex with him in her dreams! She could admit to herself, in the quiet of her own mind, that she was attracted to him. No, she had been. Past tense, definitely past tense. Like hell did she like the little bastard now. He had almost killed her! Let the little bastard come into her dreams now, she’d gut him.
Kagome gave an annoyed grunt. She had better things to be thinking about than him.
Like Keiko. Their plans had ultimately failed at this point. She doubted the boys were going through with the originally rescue idea, probably figuring she had told it all to Naraku. She frowned. Which she hadn’t.
How had Naraku known to come to Yusuke’s? How had he known she would be there, after all this time? He had timed it perfectly. He had also known about Yusuke and the others. He had known more about Hiei than Kagome did. Was it possible Hiei knew him more intimately?
She dismissed that idea. She didn’t peg Hiei as a traitor of any sort. She frowned. Naraku seemed to know an awful lot of what was going on. The others would just attribute it to her telling him, but there had to be something more… A spy? Who would spy for Naraku? An ogre, perhaps? She had no idea how trustworthy Koenma’s people were. She frowned harder. She had no idea how trustworthy Yusuke’s friends were. She had thought she knew them, but how they had reacted to the Jewel made her doubt everything.
It didn’t really matter now anyways. It wasn’t like she could tell Yusuke and have him believe her. And they would hopefully figure it out soon enough for themselves once she wasn’t there to listen in and ‘coincidences’ kept happening.
She decided to puzzle over what she should do with Keiko? Should she try and rescue her herself? Kagome seriously didn’t think she was up to it. She hadn’t been able to save anyone else before Keiko. What would make this different? Pretty much nothing, as far as she could tell. She didn’t even know where Keiko was being held. Hopefully, that trick of Botan’s would work. She could only hope.
In either case, Keiko wasn’t her priority. Just like her family wasn’t. If she could sacrifice them, she sure as hell could ignore Keiko in danger.
Even if she lost a little bit more of who she was.
Just like she had before. She suddenly wilted. She hated herself, hated what she had become. What kind of decent human sacrifices others? She loved her family. Kagome raised a hand to her breast and pressed slightly, feeling her heart beat rapidly against her hand. She could feel herself slowing slipping into the abyss that she had come home with. She was just as bad as in the Feudal Era, if not worse. There, her comrades had understood what was happening, but here her family was clueless. They wouldn’t understand anything.
At first she hadn’t understood Kikyou. But now, now things were different. She understood the cold, hard façade that she had had to put up for others. She understood all that Kikyou had given up. And she understood why she had reached out to someone, seeking love and attention. Seeking forgiveness and understanding. A demon would understand better than a human what she had had to give up.
Was she like Kikyou? She was losing herself in the protection of the little sphere. Was she also reaching out? Was she letting herself open up to a different demon, trying to share the burden? Kagome suppressed a shudder. She knew what a bad idea that was – had seen firsthand what happened when the protector let herself have a weakness for another.
Kagome heaved out a sigh. That was the first time she had thought of Kikyou in such a long while. What had happened to the undead miko? She hadn’t gotten the rest of her soul back… but did that necessarily mean Kikyou was alive? She had no way of finding out in either case.
Would she fall back into depression?
Perhaps this was a bigger question than she had thought, it popping up randomly and all in her thoughts.
Kagome began twisting one of the ears of the little bear in her lap. She didn’t really think so. Coming back from the Feudal Era, she had thought things were over. She had thought she was done being a protector. Now, she was once again needed. And that solved the question right there. She wouldn’t be committing suicide while she was needed.
Of course, death was always easier on the dead one anyways. That had been what Yusuke had said, when she had run away. Could her life suck enough that she just didn’t want to live anymore? It was possible – why live when you hated what you had become? Making the decisions she had, sacrificing the ones she loved, they changed a person. And once you changed in such a monumental fashion, you couldn’t ever go back. The hard truth that had been learned and accepted would always be there waiting in the background, waiting to pop back into her life. Every time she looked at her mother, she would think that she could kill her, in a roundabout manner. That was how much her mother meant to her – little enough that she could kill her.
She began picking at one of the little bead eyes. Death was always easier on the dead one, but perhaps in this case it would save the ones alive as well. With her dead, no demon would ever need come and attack her family.
Kagome began pulling on the tail. Damn little bear. She had no idea why she even grabbed the thing on her way out. Such a sentimental motion that had been. She didn’t need to be that weak.
She set it down on the ledge beside her and stared at it hard. It gleamed happily back up at her. Kagome scowled.
She grabbed the teddy bear and drew her arm back. She’d just throw it over the edge, and then the problem would be solved. No more teddy, no more weakness.
She tensed, preparing to throw, then just gave a defeated sigh and hugged the damn bear.
She couldn’t throw it away. It meant to much to her. It was pretty much the only family she had now anyways.
Besides, Naraku could torture the teddy bear all he wanted and it would never be in pain.
She set it carefully down on the ledge beside her and petted its little pink head.
Then she turned straight into Naraku’s arms.
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Yusuke was slowly meandering down the street after Kuwabara. He had fallen back to think. Or rather, to not be there when Kuwabara drugged his cousin.
It had shocked him slightly when Kuwabara had taken the dart gun with little distaste. At an inquiring look, all Kuwabara had said was, “Keiko comes first for me, Yusuke. And if that means taking your cousin out of harm’s way, then I can do that.”
Kurama and Hiei were even farther behind him. While Hiei had practically pitched a fit at being left behind, he had succumbed to logic. It had apparently been a huge sacrifice for the little demon to give up being the one to shoot Kagome. But they had no idea what kind of skills Kagome had with her powers. It would just be their luck that she sense Hiei coming with the gun and fry his ass.
Yusuke kicked a pebble. Would it have been better to leave Kagome in the state that she had been? Alone, but safe? Naraku had only attacked her once she had gotten together with him.
He dismissed that idea almost as fast as it had come into his head. He had no regrets about saving Kagome. Hopefully, he could even help her now. Though she probably wouldn’t see it that way.
Yusuke sighed. What did it matter anyways? It wasn’t like she was ever going to accept him with open arms again.
Keiko would, though. She wouldn’t hate what he had done, what he would have to do. She understood his job, his duties. She would take him back after he drugged his cousin.
He didn’t stop walking as he considered Keiko.
To tell the truth, he had forgotten about her for a bit there. He didn’t feel ashamed at that fact. It wasn’t like they hadn’t had other shit happening at the same time. It didn’t change the fact that she was still in that bastard’s grasp, though. From what Hiei had told him, Naraku was one sick puppy. Or rather spider. Half spider… maybe. Whatever the hell he was.
Botan hadn’t been able to locate Keiko’s spirit waves. For some reason, they weren’t appearing at all. Which meant Naraku was blocking them. How he had known to do that was beyond him. But it had meant their plans were at a standstill. They had no way of locating her. But he had been assured by a panicking Botan that her spirit was not in the Spirit Realm.
Which didn’t mean shit, if the eating souls bit were true. While he may have doubted just Kagome’s word, Hiei had backed it up. It made him cold to think such a thought. Botan had told him that even though Naraku ate the souls of his victims, they could still locate the soul at any given time – and in turn, Naraku. Obviously, the demon had known something about locating spirits since he had blocked their attempts.
Or had he… Had someone told him all about their plan? Someone like Kagome?
Yusuke hated to think that she could really be a spy, but he couldn’t actually dismiss it without taking a careful look at the possibility. He would be a shitty detective if he did.
He kicked another pebble. It soared clear across the street.
He had just swung his foot back to kick another when he heard a scream. A female scream.
Yusuke jerked his head up in a panic. He looked at Kuwabara, who had just picked up to a run, and he looked back at Kurama and Hiei, both quickly gaining on him.
Shit. Sounded like he was going to get the chance to save Kagome again.
And Yusuke took off running.
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Kagome jumped back swearing, trying to balance on the perilously close edge. She glared at the half breed in front of her. He stood casually in front of her, a mere foot away. He looked fulfilled, skin practically glowing. She figured that meant he had recently absorbed someone. The bastard didn’t look worried at all to be facing her. That was just aggravating as all hell.
“What the hell are you doing here?
“What do you think I’m doing? You are suddenly without protection of any kind. You ran away from the only people that stood a chance against me.” He leered down at her. “And now I am going to take my Jewel.”
Kagome swallowed and licked suddenly dry lips.
“What makes you think you can get it this time Naraku? Nothing has changed since last time.”
“I can take you with me, Kagome.” A strange light came into his eye. “Did you know there is technology that will allow me to sift through your very memories? All I need to do is sift through until I find the day you hid the Jewel, and then voila, I can get it.”
Kagome’s shoulders kind of hunched. Go figure that there would be something so dastardly in the spirit realm somewhere.
“Imagine all that I could see, Kagome. Have you been doing anything with your little halfbreed? You do look so much like Kikyou. It would almost be like having the real thing in front of me.”
Oh god, he was such a freak. A pervert.
“So you’ve stopped to the level of a peeping tom now, Naraku? That’s rather pathetic. Can’t get women on your own?”
His face stretched into a snarl as he suddenly kicked out, hitting Kagome square in the chest. She let out a small scream as the ledge suddenly disappeared from underneath her and she was falling through air.
At the last second, her fingers grabbed the stone.
She hung on with one arm, the other flailing in open air. Naraku leaned down and peered at her over the ledge.
“Want to tell me where it is now? A little step on your fingers, and you can go crashing to your death, Kagome.”
“And that would do you a hell of a lot of good, Naraku. Who you going to get to tell you where it is when I’m dead?”
“Why Kagome, didn’t you know? With the current protector dead, the Jewel would be reincarnated into the next defender. All I would have to do is find this young, unknowing girl, kill her, and dig around inside her until I find it. That really would be easier, you know.” He frowned mockingly down at her. “The only thing keeping me from doing that is the hassle of finding the new kid.” His voice turned hard and he suddenly ground his heel into her fingers, “But don’t think I won’t do it, Kagome.”
Kagome flinched as her fingers were ground into the cement of the ledge. Was it true, that the Jewel would be reincarnated? It had had to be burned in the past, and that certainly wasn’t the case right now.
Could she use her powers on him through his boot? Would it still hit his foot and burn the bastard? She sure hoped so, cause that was what she was about to try.
“I don’t believe you, Naraku. The Jewel had to be burned in the past for it to be placed in the next miko.”
And she opened the door to her powers.
At first nothing happened, and Kagome began to worry that her powers were once again gone.
Then she began to glow a white pink. Her power snaked up her arm and flowed to her fingers. It went over Naraku’s boot and began to wind around his leg.
He laughed. Naraku laughed as her priestess powers tried to burn him.
“Now, Kagome, you didn’t actually think that would work, did you? You didn’t think after all this time that I wouldn’t find a way to counteract your purification? Tsk, tsk.”
What? Her powers weren’t working on a demon? Why the hell not?
She wasn’t given time to think as Naraku grabbed her arm and hauled her up to face him, still hanging over open air.
“Let me take your powers once more, Kagome. Just like I did in the alley.”
Kagome’s eyes widened right before she began to scream as she was suddenly encased in a purple mist.
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The Detectives all reached the street right under Kagome at the same time. They looked up as she was hauled up to Naraku.
“What the fuck is happening?” Yusuke shouted.
Collectively, the group turned towards Hiei. He closed his eyes and opened the Jagan to see what was happening. He tried to see himself standing above the building, looking down. It didn’t work.
His eyes shot open and he looked at Kurama. “The Jagan isn’t working.” His voice was deadpan, but a fine tremble of his shoulders gave away his panic.
“What the fuck do you mean the Jagan isn’t working?” Yusuke looked up as Kagome began to scream. “Shit, we don’t have time for this. Kuwabara, I’m going to fire the spirit gun at Naraku. It probably won’t do anything more than distract him, hopefully enough into dropping Kagome. You are going to shoot Kagome as she falls to get her out of the way. Hiei, you’re going to grab her as she falls since you’re the fastest. Once you have her away and secure, come join the fight. Kuwabara and I will make our way topside after our tasks are done. Kurama you head to the roof and see if you can’t head him off as soon as I fire. Everyone got it?” He had fired the directions of in rapid succession, and he was relieved to see the group nod, if grudgingly, at his orders.
Yusuke ran farther out into the street to get a better angle. He took careful aim as a purple mist began to swirl around his cousin.
“Ready, Kuwabara?”
“Anytime, Yusuke!”
“SPIRIT GUN!” and Yusuke let his weapon fly. Bright blue light filled the air as energy suddenly rocketed towards Naraku.
The demon looked up in surprise, right before he jumped out of the way. Dropping Kagome.
Kuwabara shot the tranq and hit her dead in the back. Hiei leaped forward and grabbed the miko as she fell.
Yusuke and Kuwabara didn’t wait to see if Hiei had caught her, trusting in their comrade. They took off for the top of the building, where Kurama was awaiting backup.
They missed the Koorime falling after a few steps of holding the miko. He collapsed onto the ground in convulsions as the Jagan began to glow purple once more. Both Kagome and Hiei began to writhe on the ground, backs arching, bodies glowing.
A small pop rocked the duo, and Hiei sat up as Kagome settled into a drug induced slumber. He looked up and could suddenly see everything. The fight was in full swing on top of the roof. And the Dragon was eager to join in to the fight. Hiei stood, black flames twirling around his right arm, and raced towards the top of the building, Jagan glowing.
Kagome was left on the street, unconscious of all that was happening around her.
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(Ha – thirteen freaking pages and over 5000 words! Take that for a chapter after a long delay! Let me know what y’all thought of the chapter. The ending seemed a bit forced/rushed to me, but I liked it anyways. Read, Enjoy, and Review!!)
Chapter 15
Boxing King
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Kagome gave him a look as if her were stupid. “I’ve already told you that I’m not handing over the Jewel. So stop asking, Kurama.”
“But, Kagome, we are not asking,” spoke Hiei.
She stiffened against the wall she was leaning on.
“We are taking.”
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Yusuke swiped a hand across his chin and refused to look at Kagome. “Give him the Jewel, Kagome.”
Her head swiveled around as her eyes opened wide in shock. Kagome looked at Yusuke for a long moment, and then slowly straightened to her full height. She thrust out her chin. “No.”
“Don’t make me force it from you, Kagome. You won’t like it if I do.”
“And how exactly are you going to force it from me, Yusuke? You read up on the latest tortured method. Waterboarding? Or maybe just a good sucker punch to the gut?”
His eye twitched as he suddenly found the table very interesting.
Kurama’s suave voice filled the silence. “Now, now, Kagome. We wouldn’t make Yusuke do something that could so obviously break him. Hiei and I, however, have no problem with any form of … persuasion.”
A small tremble gave away her fear. “Then by all means, Kurama, do your worst.” She turned to look at Kuwabara. “Are you going to let them stand by and do this, Kuwabara? You, who would never hurt a woman, are going to stand and do nothing?”
Brown eyes met brown eyes. “Kagome, this could mean the safety of all three realms.”
Disbelief colored her voice. “You, you Kazuma Kuwabara, are sacrificing your morals?”
He flinched and dropped her gaze. “This doesn’t have to involve torture, Kagome.”
“I agree, it doesn’t. The only reason torture is even being mentioned is because you four are bringing it to the proverbial table. Trust me, I’m all for no torture.”
“Save it, Kagome. If we can keep Yusuke in the dark and safe with his mental state, we sure as hell can do the same to Kuwabara.” Kagome jerked her eyes over to Hiei. “And it doesn’t even have to involve physical harm. What about your mother, Kagome? You have a family here. We can just as easily blackmail you with them.”
“You sound exactly like Naraku. You have stooped to his level. Are you proud of that fact?”
“We are separated from Naraku by the fact that we are saving the three realms from disaster, not pushing them into it. The same cannot be said for you, however.”
“Oh save it. I am the protector, therefore I keep the Jewel.”
“And how do you presume to do that, Kagome?” asked Kurama.
“Tell me, Kurama. You seem to know everything. Where is the Jewel now? Naraku doesn’t have it. What makes you think he hasn’t looked everywhere for it already. And, just in case any of you forgot, he did torture me. He took away my family. And I still did not give up the Jewel. If you can so easily kill innocent people, then you cement my decision in keeping it away from all of you.”
Yusuke threw up his hands. “Kagome, do you honestly think I could hurt my own family? I love Souta like a little brother.”
“I would believe the worst of you at this moment Yusuke. The regard you’re showing your family right now just plain sucks.”
“Give him the Jewel, Kagome.”
“Damnit, Yusuke, I am not giving up the Jewel!”
“Fine.” And Hiei moved before anyone could react.
Kagome’s eyes widened as she threw up an arm to deflect the hands suddenly reaching for her throat.
“Hiei, no!” shouted Yusuke as he lunged at the smaller man.
Hiei reached around her hand effortlessly as Kagome’s eyes flicked to Yusuke being held back. Kurama had an arm around his neck, pinned at the elbow. His other arm was wrapped around one of Yusuke’s arms. She looked at Kuwabara, standing there helpless to do anything in the situation.
Hiei’s hands locked around her throat, and he began to squeeze. She frantically beat at his head, fingers scrabbling for a purchase in the corner of his eyes. Hiei carelessly released a hand and backhanded her, before resuming the choke.
Kagome blinked, slightly dazed. This, this was the man she dreamed about. Christ, she had even begun to like him, and here he was beating her. What was wrong with her that she could begin to like a man like this?
“Just tell us where it is, Kagome. Tell us the location of the Jewel and all of this can end.”
Black dots began to dance in front of her eyes.
“Give me some clue that you want to talk, and we can stop this now.”
The room began to dim just as Kuwabara ran towards the two.
“Hiei, enough of this! You’re killing her!”
He was killing her.
He was a demon.
And he was killing her.
It was as if a switch had been hit inside of her. The door was open. Kagome closed her eyes against the encroaching darkness and let herself go. Magic suddenly filled her, from toe to the top of her head.
God, it was the most wonderful thing she had ever felt. A huge part of herself had been cut off, and now it was suddenly back. She felt whole for the first time in a long time.
She narrowed her suddenly clear eyes and focused on the demon in front of her.
The only suggestion she had that he knew he was in deep shit was the sudden widening of his eyes. Then she released the leash.
Her body burst into a brilliant pink glow and her neck blazed in a dazzling white.
Hiei’s howl filled the room until she felt the jerk as he was thrown away. Immediately the light dimmed and Kagome looked at the demon.
Kuwabara was thrown half on top of the smaller man as he cradled his burnt hands to his chest. They were blackened up to the wrist.
Her chilled voice filled the sudden silence. “Why did you move him away, Kuwabara?”
“Y-you were killing him.”
“As he tried to kill me.”
Her gaze whipped across to Yusuke. Kurama’s arms were slack around the astonished detective.
“You won’t have the Jewel, Yusuke. None of you shall. Not even in its presence, and two demons have suddenly become deadly in the search. Imagine what it would be like with the actual Jewel. Very few demons can be with the corruption, Yusuke. Inuyasha was but a half demon, not stuck with the full urge to take the Jewel. And Shippo was but a kit, unknowing of its true appeal. Your group shall never hold the Shikon Jewel, and nor shall the spirit ruler.”
She looked once more around the room, eyes settling last on the Koorime.
“Goodbye, Yusuke. Come after me and I will kill you all. Don’t bother going to my family. As far as they are concerned, I am settled safely here and will be for some time. The threat of taking them is useless. I’ve suffered through death before, and in doing so I made the decision that the Jewel is more important than family. You killing them would just be useless.”
She turned and walked out of the room. Walked out of the apartment. And walked out of the Spirit Detectives’ lives.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
“You have to get her back, Yusuke! She is the key to the three realms, and we just can’t have her walking about in the middle of Tokyo!” Prince Koenma had his hands stuck to the desk, palms flat, as he yelled at his team.
“I can’t believe you all just let her waltz out of there as she pleased!”
Collectively the group winced.
Kurama rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. “Frankly, Koenma, so are we. She stunned us with her little display of powers back there.”
“Oh, save it, Kurama. You’ve dealt with mikos before, and Hiei was barely wounded.”
“His hands were almost burnt off!” spoke a shocked Kuwabara.
Koenma waved it off. “He’ll heal. It’s just a paltry burn.” Koenma ignored Hiei’s snort of contempt in the corner.
“It is imperative that you get that Jewel and bring it here before Naraku does.”
“What do you suggest, Koenma. A miko is hardly defenseless. She already told us blackmailing her family would be useless. And we believe her.” Hiei sat in the corner, hands settled carefully on his knees.
The toddler settled back in his chair to think.
“You could drug her.”
“Ok, after that and we drag her here, how are you going to get it out of her?”
Furious sucking of the pacifier commenced. “Torture didn’t work?”
“She didn’t so much as twitch as she began to black out. I think it was a fluke that her powers came out, or she would have done it in the beginning and not waited until then.”
“Well, we could connect her to the TV and sift back through her memories. Unfortunately it would have to be done by hand. And she would have had to be watching what she was doing. If she had any idea of this procedure being possible, she would have blocked it easily.”
“It’s possible she doesn’t know of it. But we need other options.”
“We could try worse torture.”
“No.” Yusuke’s voice was just a rasp, but it was heard clearly in the room. “No more torture. I’m not going to torture my cousin anymore. And neither are any of you.” He glared at Kurama, sporting a recent black eye. “And none of you are going to be stopping me again.”
Koenma cleared his throat. “Yes, well.”
“Other options, Koenma.” Koenma eyed the talkative demon. Hiei usually wasn’t the one to plan so thoroughly. And he usually didn’t let a few wounds stop him, when in fact they usually goaded him on.
“Why do you need more than one, Hiei?”
“The odds of one thing simply working on her are practically nill. I don’t want to be dragging her here and then getting fucked up again because we don’t have a plane.”
“Koenma, why can’t we just lock her up? If Naraku can’t get to her, then the Jewel should be safe.” Kuwabara gazed inquiringly at the Prince.
“It’s not on her person, Kuwabara.”
“But clearly, no one can find it without her telling them where to look.”
Koenma gave a grunt of approval. “That actually sounds valid, Kuwabara. It shall be a last approach, I think. I doubt she’d take kindly to being kidnapped and held captive.”
“Yeah, cause drugs and an invasion of privacy are hardly any better.” Koenma glared at Yusuke.
“It is for the good of the three realms, Yusuke.”
“I know,” he sighed out heavily. “It’s never going to be the same between us after this. We had a special bond, and I think I’ve fucked it six ways to Sunday.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Yusuke.” Kuwabara moved over to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “She kept it secret from us. She talked to Naraku. She has the Jewel. She’s more to blame than you are, Yusuke.”
“The first course of action is just to get her here. We can take it from there.” Koenma turned towards Kurama and Hiei. “It might be best for you two to stay here until we have her under control.”
“No,” snapped out Hiei. “We are coming with. These two idiots can’t handle her on their own. She knows who has a sense of honor and who doesn’t. She tried to turn Kuwabara against us earlier. And all she had to do is look at Yusuke and he’ll cave.”
Koenma nodded. “Fine.”
Kurama agreed. “What kind of drug should we use? Something that can be administered from a distance, or something so simple as chloroform?”
“A swift whack to the back of her head would work just as well,” muttered Hiei from his corner.
Yusuke in turn glared at the smaller demon.
“We can just tranq her. Little bit of Thorazine. That’ll make her easy enough to grab.”
Yusuke rubbed his jaw and turned towards Kurama.
“Fine, tranqs. Fine.”
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Kagome sat on the rooftop of a nearby building. She didn’t have a clue where she was, just that she was high up and looking out on the nightlife of Tokyo. It had seemed like a decent idea at the time. She absently petted the pink bear in her lap. She sighed.
There was so much she didn’t understand right now. First and foremost in her mind was why had her miko powers returned? One would think it was due to being attacked by a demon, but really, she had practically kicked the bucket being attacked by those damn electric demons and her miko powers hadn’t even trilled then. She was pretty much clueless as to the reasoning behind it.
Second, and sadly almost tied for first place, was Hiei. The man was intoxicating. She was practically having sex with him in her dreams! She could admit to herself, in the quiet of her own mind, that she was attracted to him. No, she had been. Past tense, definitely past tense. Like hell did she like the little bastard now. He had almost killed her! Let the little bastard come into her dreams now, she’d gut him.
Kagome gave an annoyed grunt. She had better things to be thinking about than him.
Like Keiko. Their plans had ultimately failed at this point. She doubted the boys were going through with the originally rescue idea, probably figuring she had told it all to Naraku. She frowned. Which she hadn’t.
How had Naraku known to come to Yusuke’s? How had he known she would be there, after all this time? He had timed it perfectly. He had also known about Yusuke and the others. He had known more about Hiei than Kagome did. Was it possible Hiei knew him more intimately?
She dismissed that idea. She didn’t peg Hiei as a traitor of any sort. She frowned. Naraku seemed to know an awful lot of what was going on. The others would just attribute it to her telling him, but there had to be something more… A spy? Who would spy for Naraku? An ogre, perhaps? She had no idea how trustworthy Koenma’s people were. She frowned harder. She had no idea how trustworthy Yusuke’s friends were. She had thought she knew them, but how they had reacted to the Jewel made her doubt everything.
It didn’t really matter now anyways. It wasn’t like she could tell Yusuke and have him believe her. And they would hopefully figure it out soon enough for themselves once she wasn’t there to listen in and ‘coincidences’ kept happening.
She decided to puzzle over what she should do with Keiko? Should she try and rescue her herself? Kagome seriously didn’t think she was up to it. She hadn’t been able to save anyone else before Keiko. What would make this different? Pretty much nothing, as far as she could tell. She didn’t even know where Keiko was being held. Hopefully, that trick of Botan’s would work. She could only hope.
In either case, Keiko wasn’t her priority. Just like her family wasn’t. If she could sacrifice them, she sure as hell could ignore Keiko in danger.
Even if she lost a little bit more of who she was.
Just like she had before. She suddenly wilted. She hated herself, hated what she had become. What kind of decent human sacrifices others? She loved her family. Kagome raised a hand to her breast and pressed slightly, feeling her heart beat rapidly against her hand. She could feel herself slowing slipping into the abyss that she had come home with. She was just as bad as in the Feudal Era, if not worse. There, her comrades had understood what was happening, but here her family was clueless. They wouldn’t understand anything.
At first she hadn’t understood Kikyou. But now, now things were different. She understood the cold, hard façade that she had had to put up for others. She understood all that Kikyou had given up. And she understood why she had reached out to someone, seeking love and attention. Seeking forgiveness and understanding. A demon would understand better than a human what she had had to give up.
Was she like Kikyou? She was losing herself in the protection of the little sphere. Was she also reaching out? Was she letting herself open up to a different demon, trying to share the burden? Kagome suppressed a shudder. She knew what a bad idea that was – had seen firsthand what happened when the protector let herself have a weakness for another.
Kagome heaved out a sigh. That was the first time she had thought of Kikyou in such a long while. What had happened to the undead miko? She hadn’t gotten the rest of her soul back… but did that necessarily mean Kikyou was alive? She had no way of finding out in either case.
Would she fall back into depression?
Perhaps this was a bigger question than she had thought, it popping up randomly and all in her thoughts.
Kagome began twisting one of the ears of the little bear in her lap. She didn’t really think so. Coming back from the Feudal Era, she had thought things were over. She had thought she was done being a protector. Now, she was once again needed. And that solved the question right there. She wouldn’t be committing suicide while she was needed.
Of course, death was always easier on the dead one anyways. That had been what Yusuke had said, when she had run away. Could her life suck enough that she just didn’t want to live anymore? It was possible – why live when you hated what you had become? Making the decisions she had, sacrificing the ones she loved, they changed a person. And once you changed in such a monumental fashion, you couldn’t ever go back. The hard truth that had been learned and accepted would always be there waiting in the background, waiting to pop back into her life. Every time she looked at her mother, she would think that she could kill her, in a roundabout manner. That was how much her mother meant to her – little enough that she could kill her.
She began picking at one of the little bead eyes. Death was always easier on the dead one, but perhaps in this case it would save the ones alive as well. With her dead, no demon would ever need come and attack her family.
Kagome began pulling on the tail. Damn little bear. She had no idea why she even grabbed the thing on her way out. Such a sentimental motion that had been. She didn’t need to be that weak.
She set it down on the ledge beside her and stared at it hard. It gleamed happily back up at her. Kagome scowled.
She grabbed the teddy bear and drew her arm back. She’d just throw it over the edge, and then the problem would be solved. No more teddy, no more weakness.
She tensed, preparing to throw, then just gave a defeated sigh and hugged the damn bear.
She couldn’t throw it away. It meant to much to her. It was pretty much the only family she had now anyways.
Besides, Naraku could torture the teddy bear all he wanted and it would never be in pain.
She set it carefully down on the ledge beside her and petted its little pink head.
Then she turned straight into Naraku’s arms.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Yusuke was slowly meandering down the street after Kuwabara. He had fallen back to think. Or rather, to not be there when Kuwabara drugged his cousin.
It had shocked him slightly when Kuwabara had taken the dart gun with little distaste. At an inquiring look, all Kuwabara had said was, “Keiko comes first for me, Yusuke. And if that means taking your cousin out of harm’s way, then I can do that.”
Kurama and Hiei were even farther behind him. While Hiei had practically pitched a fit at being left behind, he had succumbed to logic. It had apparently been a huge sacrifice for the little demon to give up being the one to shoot Kagome. But they had no idea what kind of skills Kagome had with her powers. It would just be their luck that she sense Hiei coming with the gun and fry his ass.
Yusuke kicked a pebble. Would it have been better to leave Kagome in the state that she had been? Alone, but safe? Naraku had only attacked her once she had gotten together with him.
He dismissed that idea almost as fast as it had come into his head. He had no regrets about saving Kagome. Hopefully, he could even help her now. Though she probably wouldn’t see it that way.
Yusuke sighed. What did it matter anyways? It wasn’t like she was ever going to accept him with open arms again.
Keiko would, though. She wouldn’t hate what he had done, what he would have to do. She understood his job, his duties. She would take him back after he drugged his cousin.
He didn’t stop walking as he considered Keiko.
To tell the truth, he had forgotten about her for a bit there. He didn’t feel ashamed at that fact. It wasn’t like they hadn’t had other shit happening at the same time. It didn’t change the fact that she was still in that bastard’s grasp, though. From what Hiei had told him, Naraku was one sick puppy. Or rather spider. Half spider… maybe. Whatever the hell he was.
Botan hadn’t been able to locate Keiko’s spirit waves. For some reason, they weren’t appearing at all. Which meant Naraku was blocking them. How he had known to do that was beyond him. But it had meant their plans were at a standstill. They had no way of locating her. But he had been assured by a panicking Botan that her spirit was not in the Spirit Realm.
Which didn’t mean shit, if the eating souls bit were true. While he may have doubted just Kagome’s word, Hiei had backed it up. It made him cold to think such a thought. Botan had told him that even though Naraku ate the souls of his victims, they could still locate the soul at any given time – and in turn, Naraku. Obviously, the demon had known something about locating spirits since he had blocked their attempts.
Or had he… Had someone told him all about their plan? Someone like Kagome?
Yusuke hated to think that she could really be a spy, but he couldn’t actually dismiss it without taking a careful look at the possibility. He would be a shitty detective if he did.
He kicked another pebble. It soared clear across the street.
He had just swung his foot back to kick another when he heard a scream. A female scream.
Yusuke jerked his head up in a panic. He looked at Kuwabara, who had just picked up to a run, and he looked back at Kurama and Hiei, both quickly gaining on him.
Shit. Sounded like he was going to get the chance to save Kagome again.
And Yusuke took off running.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Kagome jumped back swearing, trying to balance on the perilously close edge. She glared at the half breed in front of her. He stood casually in front of her, a mere foot away. He looked fulfilled, skin practically glowing. She figured that meant he had recently absorbed someone. The bastard didn’t look worried at all to be facing her. That was just aggravating as all hell.
“What the hell are you doing here?
“What do you think I’m doing? You are suddenly without protection of any kind. You ran away from the only people that stood a chance against me.” He leered down at her. “And now I am going to take my Jewel.”
Kagome swallowed and licked suddenly dry lips.
“What makes you think you can get it this time Naraku? Nothing has changed since last time.”
“I can take you with me, Kagome.” A strange light came into his eye. “Did you know there is technology that will allow me to sift through your very memories? All I need to do is sift through until I find the day you hid the Jewel, and then voila, I can get it.”
Kagome’s shoulders kind of hunched. Go figure that there would be something so dastardly in the spirit realm somewhere.
“Imagine all that I could see, Kagome. Have you been doing anything with your little halfbreed? You do look so much like Kikyou. It would almost be like having the real thing in front of me.”
Oh god, he was such a freak. A pervert.
“So you’ve stopped to the level of a peeping tom now, Naraku? That’s rather pathetic. Can’t get women on your own?”
His face stretched into a snarl as he suddenly kicked out, hitting Kagome square in the chest. She let out a small scream as the ledge suddenly disappeared from underneath her and she was falling through air.
At the last second, her fingers grabbed the stone.
She hung on with one arm, the other flailing in open air. Naraku leaned down and peered at her over the ledge.
“Want to tell me where it is now? A little step on your fingers, and you can go crashing to your death, Kagome.”
“And that would do you a hell of a lot of good, Naraku. Who you going to get to tell you where it is when I’m dead?”
“Why Kagome, didn’t you know? With the current protector dead, the Jewel would be reincarnated into the next defender. All I would have to do is find this young, unknowing girl, kill her, and dig around inside her until I find it. That really would be easier, you know.” He frowned mockingly down at her. “The only thing keeping me from doing that is the hassle of finding the new kid.” His voice turned hard and he suddenly ground his heel into her fingers, “But don’t think I won’t do it, Kagome.”
Kagome flinched as her fingers were ground into the cement of the ledge. Was it true, that the Jewel would be reincarnated? It had had to be burned in the past, and that certainly wasn’t the case right now.
Could she use her powers on him through his boot? Would it still hit his foot and burn the bastard? She sure hoped so, cause that was what she was about to try.
“I don’t believe you, Naraku. The Jewel had to be burned in the past for it to be placed in the next miko.”
And she opened the door to her powers.
At first nothing happened, and Kagome began to worry that her powers were once again gone.
Then she began to glow a white pink. Her power snaked up her arm and flowed to her fingers. It went over Naraku’s boot and began to wind around his leg.
He laughed. Naraku laughed as her priestess powers tried to burn him.
“Now, Kagome, you didn’t actually think that would work, did you? You didn’t think after all this time that I wouldn’t find a way to counteract your purification? Tsk, tsk.”
What? Her powers weren’t working on a demon? Why the hell not?
She wasn’t given time to think as Naraku grabbed her arm and hauled her up to face him, still hanging over open air.
“Let me take your powers once more, Kagome. Just like I did in the alley.”
Kagome’s eyes widened right before she began to scream as she was suddenly encased in a purple mist.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
The Detectives all reached the street right under Kagome at the same time. They looked up as she was hauled up to Naraku.
“What the fuck is happening?” Yusuke shouted.
Collectively, the group turned towards Hiei. He closed his eyes and opened the Jagan to see what was happening. He tried to see himself standing above the building, looking down. It didn’t work.
His eyes shot open and he looked at Kurama. “The Jagan isn’t working.” His voice was deadpan, but a fine tremble of his shoulders gave away his panic.
“What the fuck do you mean the Jagan isn’t working?” Yusuke looked up as Kagome began to scream. “Shit, we don’t have time for this. Kuwabara, I’m going to fire the spirit gun at Naraku. It probably won’t do anything more than distract him, hopefully enough into dropping Kagome. You are going to shoot Kagome as she falls to get her out of the way. Hiei, you’re going to grab her as she falls since you’re the fastest. Once you have her away and secure, come join the fight. Kuwabara and I will make our way topside after our tasks are done. Kurama you head to the roof and see if you can’t head him off as soon as I fire. Everyone got it?” He had fired the directions of in rapid succession, and he was relieved to see the group nod, if grudgingly, at his orders.
Yusuke ran farther out into the street to get a better angle. He took careful aim as a purple mist began to swirl around his cousin.
“Ready, Kuwabara?”
“Anytime, Yusuke!”
“SPIRIT GUN!” and Yusuke let his weapon fly. Bright blue light filled the air as energy suddenly rocketed towards Naraku.
The demon looked up in surprise, right before he jumped out of the way. Dropping Kagome.
Kuwabara shot the tranq and hit her dead in the back. Hiei leaped forward and grabbed the miko as she fell.
Yusuke and Kuwabara didn’t wait to see if Hiei had caught her, trusting in their comrade. They took off for the top of the building, where Kurama was awaiting backup.
They missed the Koorime falling after a few steps of holding the miko. He collapsed onto the ground in convulsions as the Jagan began to glow purple once more. Both Kagome and Hiei began to writhe on the ground, backs arching, bodies glowing.
A small pop rocked the duo, and Hiei sat up as Kagome settled into a drug induced slumber. He looked up and could suddenly see everything. The fight was in full swing on top of the roof. And the Dragon was eager to join in to the fight. Hiei stood, black flames twirling around his right arm, and raced towards the top of the building, Jagan glowing.
Kagome was left on the street, unconscious of all that was happening around her.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
(Ha – thirteen freaking pages and over 5000 words! Take that for a chapter after a long delay! Let me know what y’all thought of the chapter. The ending seemed a bit forced/rushed to me, but I liked it anyways. Read, Enjoy, and Review!!)