InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Fool's Redemption ❯ Masquerade ( Chapter 17 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

*NOTE – Guys, the formatting on MediaMiner is royally screwed up right now. I'm so sorry for the multiple uploads, but I've been trying to upload in various file formats and each time the paragraph formatting has been more screwed up than the last. I'm going to leave this one up just to have something here as a place holder. Hopefully they will fix these damn problems that have been going on continuously since the middle of last year. If not, I'm going to have to move updates permanently to the other 2 sites.
You can TRY to read it here, but the formatting will give you a headache. If you don't want to fight with it, the story is also posted at FanFiction.net and at AdultFanFiction.net. Please read and comment there, cuz honestly I'm just about done with MediaMiner at this point. Sorry again for the multiple update notices!!
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 yetshe 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—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.
Inuyas ha balled his fists against his eyes. Shut uphe 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—if they had been angry words—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 none 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 purposeby Naraku's design. Heturned 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—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—”
“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 verycreative 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 anythinghappens 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—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 commin 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 (againthis took so long (againThe 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 havestuck 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


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