InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heart's Landfill ❯ A Flicker of Hope ( Chapter 45 )

A/N: All characters will be walking that fine line called OOCness! Lemon Warning!! Alright, what is the deal with you guys? One minute you're up, the next, you're down? Damn, and people call me moody…lol!! Anyway, I'm updating early because, well, I love this chapter and just wanted to share it with you all!! It's been really nice and damn near flattering hearing from all of you new readers (keep it up, me likey), but I'm missing a few of my readers that have been with me from the beginning of time it seems, so if you're out there, drop me a line. Anyway, thanks my wonderful friends and associates for all of your outstanding reviews, and I seriously hope that you all enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!! To my gorgeous, awe inspiring, and patient beta, Neko, love you lady and thanks for your hard work and for putting up with my nonsense!!

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership to anyone with the exception of Takira, Gage, Dinshu, Nola, Nya, and Dr. Aikio. All others belong to the wonderful Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 45:

A Flicker of Hope

Inuyasha glanced over shoulder into the dimly lit living room where `the girlfriend' was sitting, typing away on her laptop to God knows who. However, he didn't attempt to get up and interrupt her, because he was fine with the quiet peace that had fallen over them in the past few days since the attempted break in at her apartment.

In that time, he'd had more than a few conversations with the head detective on Sango's case, which they believed was definitely connected to Kagome's case even though she, `the girlfriend,' still refused to believe it. He'd also explained to Nya, Rin and Sesshomaru that he and Kagome was officially an item now. He'd hired a private investigator to locate the whereabouts of one Nashitaku Kouga- of which `the girlfriend' knew nothing about- and doubled the security in his building in hopes of keeping her safe.

Picking up his bottle of Red Strip, the hanyou chugged half of it, and reached for a cigarette as he shifted and raised his legs so that his feet were balanced on the railings of his balcony.

As much as he wanted to deny it and just settle into the comfort that she offered, he just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Maybe it was the fact that during the police questioning when he brought up her ex-boyfriend, she was quick to defend him, or maybe it was the relief he saw in her eyes when she told him that it couldn't have been Kouga because of the color of the guy's eyes.

She was a little too relieved, wasn't she?

He pushed that thought away, because he knew he was about the make a mountain out of an ant pile. The truth of the matter was that had it been Kikyo that was being accused of something like this…

Okay scratch that, I would let them crucify her fucking ass and think nothing of it, he told himself as he took a strong pull off his cigarette.

No, there was something off about the way she acted when that bastard Kouga's name came up and as much as he didn't want to admit it, it bothered the Sam Hail out of him.

Flashback

“Is there anything else that you want to tell us,” Detective Shu asked, taking a seat on the couch closest to Kagome, but far enough away that he could see her face.

“No, that's it. That's all that happened.”

What the hell is she doing, Inuyasha thought as he stared at her, bewildered that she'd just avoid mentioning that prick altogether after what he'd already told her, and the fact that this prick that tried to break into her place knew her name.

“Alright then, I'll have a copy of the report couriered to you tomorrow afternoon, and we'll be leaving a protective squad with you until you vacate the building. If I heard you correct, Takahashi-sama, she will be staying with you, is that right?”

Turning his attention away from Kagome, who was standing there looking relieved and a little too innocent, Inuyasha replied, “Yeah, but there's something else that she didn't tell you.”

Kagome grabbed his arm, and whispered urgently, “Inuyasha, what you are talking about? What did I forget?”

Squeezing her shoulder reassuringly, he replied, “Your ex, Wench. They need to know about him.”

“I already told you it wasn't Kouga, Takahashi. The guy had powder blue eyes.”

“Yeah, I heard what you said, but that doesn't mean he didn't send him.”

“Yes it does, because if Kouga knew where I was, he would've been here! He's not some kind of coward, you know!”

Inuyasha looked at her, his eyes narrowed slightly as his head tilted quizzically to one side as if he couldn't fathom that she'd just said that. His eyes remaining on her, he started coolly, “As I was saying, she has an ex-boyfriend that you guys should probably check out. His name is Kouga and he's from Kyoto, but that's all I really know.”

She shot him a look that he swore would've killed if it could, but he didn't care because regardless of whether she agreed with him or not, her safety came first, he'd just deal with the repercussions later.

Detective Shu jotted down the name, and queried, “His last name, Higurashi-sama?”

She crossed her arms under her full breast in a rather childish manner and actually pouted, and for a brief moment, Inuyasha found himself wanting to lay her across his knee and spank some sense into her.

“It's not him, damn it! I already told you, I didn't know the person!”

“Humor us,” Sesshomaru interjected seriously from somewhere near the door.

Kagome glanced at him, her eyes narrowed dangerously as if she was wondering exactly why the hell he was in her house, let alone speaking, but she didn't respond as she turned her attention back to her boyfriend, who was staring down at her waiting.

“He's married, okay? He's…he's married and…” she started as she looked away from Inuyasha and back at the detective.

“Higurashi-sama, that means absolutely nothing. Your friend was attacked, someone tried to break into your home that you believed had the intention of raping you, surely-”

“No!” she shouted cutting him off. “The Kouga I know would have never done anything like this! Sure, he was a piss ass boyfriend, but he's not a rapist or a burglar! He's just not!”

Sesshomaru stepped through the police officers standing in front of him and intoned softly, “Then humor us, Higurashi, give the detectives his last name so they can clear him of any wrong doing.”

She stared at Sesshomaru for a long moment before she looked back up at Inuyasha, who still had his arm around her, and she sighed heavily. “You'll see that he's not involved in this, but I don't want to cause any problems with his marriage. I…I don't want him to know that this has anything to do with me, do you understand?” she stated, turning her attention back to Detective Shu.

“Of course.”

“His last name is Nashitaku.”

“What kind of work does he do?” Shu questioned.

“I don't know. I think he's a contractor or something like that, but I haven't spoken to him in almost a year.”

“What's his wife's name?”

“I…I…think it's Ayame or Ayamu or something along those lines. Why is that even important?” she snapped irritably.

“We just want to make sure that we have the right person when we speak to him,” Shu answered quickly. “Do you have a number for him?”

Inuyasha stared down at her waiting on her answer, because if she did, he would have to wonder exactly why she still had his number after all this time. After all, when he and Kikyo broke up he did his damndest to delete her from his entire life, not to mention his cell phone.

“No, I don't have a number for him. I changed my cell phone when we broke up and I deleted it from my phone book,” she replied, and the hanyou visibly relaxed.

Inuyasha knew he could've told the detectives that Ginta had informed him that Kouga was looking for her, but he decided against that because it would lead to a lot of questions he didn't want to answer and probably an assault charge.

After the detective seemed to have gotten all the information he needed, he declared, “Well, we'll let you all know what we find out.” Turning his attention to Inuyasha, he finished, “Takahashi-sama, there's a matter we need to deal with in regard to the assaulting of two of my officers.”

Inuyasha glanced away from Kagome and up at Shu. “Yeah, about that-”

“I noticed that the current training facility is in desperate need of new equipment,” Sesshomaru informed from his spot slightly behind Shu. “Perhaps on the way downstairs, you and I could discuss it?”

End Flashback

A couple of fucking Stairmasters, a few Elliptical machines and just like that, it's forgotten, Inuyasha thought with a smirk as he glanced back over his shoulder at `the girlfriend' who was so into whatever she was typing that she seemed millenniums away.

He'd taken to calling her `the girlfriend', because, well, he absolutely loathed the juvenile labels of girlfriend and boyfriend. So when they went somewhere and he had to introduce her, or someone would ask who he was with, he'd introduce her as or say, `the girlfriend' instead of `my girlfriend'. Of course, Kagome didn't like it one bit, but he refused to cave on that.

Besides, Kikyo couldn't even get him to call her his girlfriend-not even by accident. She was, up and until they became engaged, just Kikyo. No more, no less. Therefore, he figured that Kagome should consider herself damn lucky that he'd even allow `the girlfriend' to fall from his lips.

Flicking the butt of his cigarette over the ledge, the hanyou downed the rest of his beer and sat forward so that his elbows were balanced on his knees.

In the past few days that they'd been basically shacking up at his place, it had been more than cool; peaceful, and downright serene. Waking up with her in his arms, taking showers together, and just shooting the shit, but he never missed the forlorn looks that she tried so hard to hide from him from time to time.

At those times, he didn't know if it was because she missed her place or if she was thinking about that bastard, but he never asked her about it. He'd always pretend as if he hadn't seen it, in hopes that one day; he wouldn't have to wonder at all.

The sound of his cell phone ringing cut through his thoughts, and the hanyou stood to his feet, reentered the Condo, and made his way down the long hallway and into his bedroom.

“Oi,” he stated after glancing at the caller id.

“He's in Tokyo.”

“How long?”

“As best as I can guess, since his people are rather tight-lipped; he's been there maybe a week and a half or so, maybe more.”

“Is he by himself?”

“No. He has someone by the name of Dinshu with him, but in the past two days he has requested that two of his other cronies come out that way.”

Inuyasha swallowed that slowly, since he clearly remembered the name Dinshu as the guy that Kouga had passed Kagome off to as a wedding gift, but cronies, that word just didn't sit right with him. Normal people didn't have those.

“Cronies?”

“Yeah, Nashitaku Kouga is a wolf youkai and the head of the Kyoto Syndicate. He married the retiring head's daughter, Ayame, another wolf youkai.”

“The what?” Inuyasha questioned, his face set in a deep scowl as he pushed the door to the bedroom close.

“It's like the yakuza, just not as wide spread. However, I will say that they pretty much own Kyoto.”

“You're fucking kidding me, right?”

“No, I'm not and that bit of information cost me a pretty penny. The only people that know that he's the head of the syndicate are his wife, and the people that work immediately under him.”

Inuyasha sighed, he hadn't expected this. An obsessed ex-boyfriend, sure, but a fucking crime syndicate boss? Well that was just… Well that was just beyond fucked up.

“Oi, did the name Higurashi Kagome, ever come up?”

“Higurashi Kagome?” the guy replied as he seemed to flip through his memory files. “Nope, sure didn't. Do you want me to do some more research on her?”

“Nah, find out where he's staying here in Tokyo.”

“You're the boss.”

With that, Inuyasha hung the phone up and deleted the number from his call log. The head of a crime syndicate? What the fuck, Kagome? Who the hell is this guy and what the fuck were you doing with someone like that?

Sitting down on the foot of the bed, the hanyou stared at his phone as his mind tried to make sense of the information that he'd just heard.

The head of a crime syndicate would definitely be able to order a rape or two. He'd definitely be able to… He shook his head. But if he's the head of a syndicate and he's mated why the hell would he be running behind Kagome?

It wasn't making any sense to him. He was sure that the head of a crime syndicate, even though illegal, held quite the prestige. Not to mention, if he was mated to another youkai, exactly what the hell was he planning on doing with Kagome? He damn sure couldn't take her as his mate! What the fuck did he want with her? It didn't make any sense!

Hanging his head forward so that it was resting on his balled up fist that was balanced on his knee, he sighed heavily and closed his eyes as he tried to tell himself that this situation really wasn't getting as fucked as it appeared to be getting.

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't hear the door push quietly open.

“Is it really that bad?” Kagome quipped, her hands balanced on hips.

Glancing up at her, Inuyasha smirked as he took in the loose ponytail she wore, and the way his sweatshirt that she had on seemed to swallow her. Reaching out and grabbing her, the hanyou retorted huskily, “If it was, it sure isn't now.”

Kagome giggled as he pulled her down on his lap so that she was straddling his hips.

“I thought you were in there texting or IM'ing or something like that.”

“I was. Why, you jealous?”

He grinned and leaned in, kissing her lightly. “Just a little. Why, you going to make it up to me?”

Kagome snaked her arms around his shoulders and smiled as she retorted, “I would love to, but I can't.”

Staring at her quizzically, the hanyou asked, one eyebrow quirked higher than the other, “Why not? Do you have other plans or something?”

She shook her head and sat back, a shy smile on her face.

Inuyasha stared at her for a long moment before lightly sniffing the air around her. “Oh…that,” he stated with a grimace. “You're not about to become all psychotic and bitchy are you?”

Pushing up off of him, she rolled to the side so that she was beside him, her head lying on his shoulder. “If I did, would you put me out?”

The hanyou chuckled as he reached down and pulled his tank top over his head. “Depends on how bitchy you actually get.

“I don't know, maybe I'll start breaking things, screaming profanities at you for no good reason, and my head will start spinning around.”

Settling back down on the foot of the bed, Inuyasha reached back and grabbed the pillows from the head of the bed. Situating them so that he could lay down, he queried, “That bad, huh?”

“Yep, my family would always go stay at a hotel when I got my period.”

Inuyasha's movements stilled as he glanced up at her, searching her face for some hint that she was lying. Finding none, he questioned unsurely, “You're fucking joking, right?”

Kagome laughed heartily and he relaxed as he watched her take the pillows from him and make quick work of stacking them before she laid down on her side, her head propped up on her raised fist. “Are you tired of me, yet?”

The unexpected seriousness in her tone caught him off guard causing him to turn and look at her. “Surprisingly, no. Why, should I be?”

Silence descended between them before she broke it as she stretched out her legs and placed her feet in his lap. “I know I'm not here, because you want me to be.”

“Feh, if I didn't want you here, Wench, trust me; you wouldn't be here.”

“No, that's not what I mean. I…I-”

“Wench, your ignorance is blocking us,” the hanyou quipped beginning to soothingly massage one of her feet.

“My…ignorance…is blocking us? What hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you're acting really dumb right now about things that you should already know the answer to.”

A frown marring her brow, she queried as his fingers rolled against the ball of her foot, “Like what? I was just trying to say that I know I'm not basically living with you because you want it that way. You're doing it because you feel like you have to.”

“I know what the hell you're trying to say, but what you should know without having to be told is that should `the girlfriend' ever need to be protected there isn't a question as to where she'll find that protection. I mean come on, its common sense, right? `The boyfriend' protects `the girlfriend',” Takahashi advised conversationally. “And if he had any doubts about protecting her, then maybe they shouldn't be `the boyfriend' and `the girlfriend'.

“So you have doubts?”

Staring at her, the hanyou blustered exasperatedly, “Once again, your ignorance is blocking us, Wench!”

“Inuyasha, I don't think I like that statement.”

“Well, stop making me have to say it,” he retorted in a matter of fact tone, which resulted in her pinching the shit out of his side.

“Ow, Wench, what the fuck?”

She rolled her eyes at him, but didn't respond since he should have known why she did it.

Pushing her feet out of his lap, the hanyou snapped as he turned his back to her and rubbed the little patch of skin that she'd pinched, “You know, you better be glad my mother taught me not the hit women, because I'd fuck you up for that.”

Kagome giggled and reached out, catching a snippet of his back between her thumb and forefinger and twisted it roughly.

“Shit!” Takahashi bellowed, jumping up from the bed. “Stop doing that! I hate to be fucking pinched!” He figured that his annoyance with her pinching him had little to do with her and the pain associated with it, and more to do with the fact that during his earlier school years that was the type of punishment doled out by his teachers.

“I'm sorry, I didn't know it bothered you that much, but you really deserved it,” Kagome offered sitting up, an apologetic smirk on her beautiful face.

“Whatever, just don't do that shit again, seriously,” he advised, his tone almost a whine as he tried to reach the spot where she'd pinched him the second time.

“Come here; I'll rub it for you,” she offered contritely. It didn't look like he trusted her to not pinch him again, so she added, “I promise, Dog-boy, I won't do it again…tonight.”

“Never again,” he corrected, glaring at her, his jeans riding low on his well chiseled hips.

“What?” Kagome questioned as she dragged her eyes up his partially clad body and spared just a little too long gazing at the way his abdomen dipped into the front of his jeans.

“You heard me! Promise me you'll never ever pinch me again, damn it! Or I swear, I'll never let you touch me again.”

“You can't be serious,” Kagome choked out incredulously, unable to believe that he was really this serious about a little pinch. Hell, he was Takahashi Inuyasha; pinches weren't supposed to hurt him.

“Oh, but I am,” he reassured her as he took a step back his arms crossed over his bare chest and his back against the wall.

Kagome stepped quickly off the bed and jumped at him, but he dodged to the left so quickly that momentarily he appeared to have vanished and reappeared across the room.

“Inuyasha, you're my boyfriend, I can't not touch you!”

“Keh, try me,” he intoned from his spot near the bedroom window. He shifted the crotch of his jeans jostling his balls and just stared at her.

“You can't be serious!”

“There's still so much you need to learn about me, Wench,” he advised seriously, his arms once more crossed over his bare chest.

Kagome sat back on the bed, a frown marring her brow as she stared at him unable to believe that he was actually acting like this. “Inu-”

“Kagome,” he interrupted cutting her off.

“Fine, I promise I won't pinch the little whiny baby Inu ever again,” she stated sarcastically.

“Good, now if you break that promise you won't like me.”

“Really?”

“Test me,” he challenged.

Fanning her hand dismissively, Kagome patted the bed in front of her. “I guess we all have buttons that shouldn't be pushed.”

Sitting down in front of her, the hanyou hung his head as her smooth hands ran over the length of his back, massaging his muscles and the spot where she'd pinched him. He knew that whole spew he'd given her about not letting her touch him was pure bullshit, so he was damn glad that she didn't call his bluff because he figured within the hour he would've probably caved.

Moaning lightly as he melted into her touch, the hanyou queried softly, “Kagome?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you really concerned about whether I want you here or not?”

“No, well, kinda. I just don't want to be a burden to you. Especially with us just recently becoming an official couple and all. It just seems like a strain on you and our relationship.”

Inuyasha cogitated over that for a few moments before he glanced over his shoulder at her and smirked. “You know, truthfully, it is kind of a burden, but I tell you what, it's the best burden I've ever had to carry. And Wench, if you try to take it from me, I swear you'll pay for it with your ass.”

Kagome leaned forward, hugging him from behind. “You're seriously an asshole, aren't you?”

Inuyasha chuckled as he pulled her around so that she was sitting in his lap. “Yeah, I am, but you knew that way before you agreed to be `the girlfriend,' didn't you?”

Laying her head in the crook of his neck as he tightened his hold on her, she smiled as she twisted one of his forelocks around her finger. “Of all the assholes that I've known, you're definitely my favorite.”

Inuyasha chuckled lightly, but he didn't respond verbally. Instead, he placed a gentle kiss to the crown of her head in an attempt to let her know that her roundabout compliment was well received.

And you're my favorite bitch, Wench.

Simonkal of Inuy

He was so tired, so exhausted that half of the time he couldn't think straight. He'd tried taking naps here and there, but it was futile because as soon as he'd start to drift off, she'd wake up fighting against the darkness or screaming at the top of her lungs for someone to save her.

He didn't blame her for his exhaustion, not even a little bit, because after what she'd been through it was to be expected, wasn't it? And in return, he was expected to support her through this, to lose sleep, to be exhausted, and to be angry.

And above everything else, he was definitely angry, infuriated, and enraged.

Working in the hospital, he'd seen rape victims and their spouses come in on one too many occasions. He'd examined some of them, spoke to their family members and their significant others, and promised them that it would be okay in time. He actually told them that rape wasn't the end of the world, but not until now did he realize just how much bullshit that really was!

How was a person supposed to get over something like this? How were they supposed to forget that some fucking monster had taken advantage of the person that they'd loved and cherished?

How were they…he supposed to look into her eyes, knowing he had failed her? How the hell was he supposed ever make her believe that he would protect her when the one fucking time that she needed him, he was nowhere to be found?

No, this shit…this bull shit was not something that anyone would ever get over! This shit…

Miroku gritted his teeth and stood to his feet as he glared around the living room of his and Sango's apartment, looking for something to break or someone that he could take his anger out on, he found no one.

Stepping over to the window, he pulled back the blinds and stared out at the darkened sky, his mind racing, his heart hammering erratically within his chest.

He needed to make this right. He needed to make this…this situation disappear, but he knew that was something that could never happen, but still, he silently wished on the stars that this ordeal would just evaporate.

Miroku ran his hand down his face, and then rubbed at his eyes lethargically as images of his broken fiancé on the floor of the stairwell danced within his mind.

I'm sorry, Sango. God's I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you, he whispered silently as her words…the words that haunted his waking and sleeping dreams played within his mind, “Why me? Gods, why me? Why didn't you help me? Why didn't you stop him?”

He shook his head in an attempt to silence her voice, but it was of no use.

“Why me? Gods, why me? Why didn't you help me? Why didn't you stop him?”

Running his hands through his disheveled hair, Miroku turned in a slow circle, his eyes closed, the palms of his hands covering his ears as he whispered desperately, “I…I didn't know, Sango. I…I'm so sorry; I didn't know. I'm so sorry I wasn't there.” His heart burned within his chest as he tried to bite back the tears that wanted to fall.

Wiping feverishly at his eyes with the backs of his hands, he began quickly pacing the length of the living room. His fists clenching and releasing repeatedly, his anger…his rage a force to be reckoned with; the desire to hurt someone for what happened to Sango a harsh thing to ignore.

“Why me? Gods, why me? Why didn't you help me? Why didn't you stop him?” her voice whispered in his head repeatedly.

Miroku stopped, spun around, picked up a large vase off of one of the end tables and threw it against the wall, causing it to shatter. He turned and growled furiously into the darkness surrounding him as he began throwing vicious punches into the air, trying desperately to connect with something or someone that he'd be able to make pay for this atrocity against a woman that would and could never hurt a fly!

“I hate you! I fucking hate you for what you've done!” he hissed as tears of anger poured from his eyes while he continued to combat with his unseen foe.

He hated feeling like this! He hated feeling helpless and worthless! He hated carrying around this much hate, anger, and rage! He hated the thoughts he'd been having lately! He hated, absolutely loathed, the person that this ordeal was turning him into! And he hated and despised the fact that there wasn't a damn thing that he could do to help her…help Sango when that was all he wanted to do!

Falling to his knees, he brought his hands up to his face and began to openly weep as what was left of his heart shattered within his chest. His shoulders shook as his soul quaked against the door of darkness. He didn't want to think anymore, he didn't want to feel! He didn't want… He couldn't take anymore!

He didn't want to live another day like this. He couldn't… He just couldn't live another day like this. His mind was so muddled with a million different thoughts of loss and despair that as he doubled over, his forehead hitting the floor, he could do nothing more than continue to sob and cry as if he were a mere child.

He wasn't sure how long he'd sat there on the floor of his living room, but as his tears slowly began to dwindle down the fatigue of the last week became too much to bear.

He found it hard to keep his eyes open, and almost impossible to lift his head up. So, he shifted slightly, stretching out on his side on the floor, his arms wrapped around his mid-section.

He tried to tell himself that he just needed a few minutes of sleep because Sango would be waking soon and would require his help, his attention. His mind however, wouldn't allow him to form any rational thoughts or plans; the only thing that greeted him was silence and welcomed darkness.

As he laid there, his body laden with desolation and regret, and emotionally weak, he missed the way the woman he loved stared at him, her hand covering her mouth as she tried to hold in her own pain while tears trailed down her face.

She'd heard him…she'd heard everything he said, and it only served to break her heart, because this man before her was not the loving man she adored.

He was filled so much anger, so much rage, and so much pain that he appeared to be just as broken as she was if not more so. It was because of that that she desperately wanted to reach out to him to let him know that she was there and that they would somehow get through this together, but…but she couldn't make her feet move.

She wanted to go to him, to give him the support he so desperately needed, but she didn't know how to reach him. There was something within her that just wouldn't allow her to go to him no matter how much she wanted to, or how desperately he needed her.

She wanted to go lay beside him, wrap her arms and the blanket she was holding around the both of them, and just hold him until the world was right again. But something dark and untrusting stopped her, and made her second guess herself. It caused her to second guess-if only for a moment-the love he held for her and the trust…the unfailing trust she had in him.

She knew that what happened to her was by no means his fault. She knew that he'd been with her this entire time, never leaving her side for anything.

He was there every time she closed her eyes, and whenever she awoke from one of her many nightmares and for that she was thankful and would be forever grateful. Yet still, something dark and sinister left over by that monster…that animal that had attacked her, stopped her from…from going to him…from comforting him when he needed it most.

Pulling the blanket she'd brought out of their bedroom a little tighter around her shoulders, Sango stared at his form, silently calling out to him, telling him that she was there and that eventually she would get better…they would get better.

“I…I didn't know, Sango. I…I'm so sorry; I didn't know. I'm so sorry I wasn't there,” she heard him say again, but she knew that was only in her head. She sighed, looked down and wiped at the tears that were trailing down her face.

“Miroku,” she whispered softly. “I don't blame you. I…I could never blame you. I know if you were there…” She sniffled quietly, wiped at her nose with the back of her hand and finished sadly, “I know you tried to get there, and that's all that matters, my love.”

He moved slightly and she shrunk back into the darkness of the hallway so that he wouldn't be able to see her.

In that moment she felt stupid and a little childish even. She was hiding. She was hiding from the one man that had never judged her or expected her to be anymore than she was. She was hiding and damn near running from the only man she'd ever loved and would ever love.

Wiping at her eyes again, she stared down at the trace wetness that covered her trembling hands. I'm better than this. I'm…I'm stronger than this. I…I have to be stronger than this, she told herself as she looked back up at his silhouette that was curled up in the fetal position on the floor near the coffee table in their living room.

Stepping back until her back pressed up against the wall of the hallway, she slowly slid down to the floor as she decided finitely that she wouldn't leave him…she would not return to their bed tonight.

He'd watched over her for hours on end without sleeping. He'd taken care of her when she needed him most, and made sure that he was always there to chase away the worst of her nightmares. And because of that… Because of her, she knew he was beyond exhausted. So tonight, for as long as he slept, she promised herself that she would watch over him-if only from a distance.

Sitting back, she squared her shoulders and inhaled deeply as she stared around the dark room. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she laid her head against her raised knees and eyed his still form as she intoned softly, “I love you, Miroku, I always have and I always will.”

Simonkal of Inuy

Staring down at the beach that sat just below the balcony off the expansive living room of her oceanfront home, she smiled sadly as she watched the waves roll in swiftly only to slowly trickle back out into the sea before her.

How many nights and days did she come out here in order to find a few moments of peace away from a world of deceit and lies…a world that she had somehow found a home in?

How many times had she found herself standing out here staring into the ocean only to see him staring back at her, his eyes swimming with unshed tears, his heart in his hands asking her silently, “Why? Why did she leave him? Why did she lead him on only to decimate his soul…his very being?”

How many times had she glanced up and down the beach below only to catch a glimpse of white and for a brief instance believe that he had found her? And in that instance, how often had her heart leapt with joy only to have it instantly replaced with dread and grief?

Gripping the polished stainless steel railing of the balcony, she sighed and narrowed her eyes as she imagined him walking out of the sea before her, his arms wide open beckoning her to him, his heart filled with forgiveness. She smiled sadly because she knew, like the million times that she had imagined that before; it was nothing more than a whimsical delusion of fools.

She'd crushed him, and made it so that he hated and despised her very existence.

He'd loved her with everything that he had in him, she knew that. He'd worshipped the ground she'd walked on and everyday that she spent with him, he made sure she understood that. He'd given her everything that she'd ever wanted, ever dreamed of and she…she took that unconditional love, that adoration, that…that…

She took all of that and threw it back in his face because she…because love just wasn't part of the plan…her plan…their plan.

She closed her eyes against the salty breeze and micro-grains of sand blowing around her as she reached up and pushed her jet black tresses back behind her ear.

She was good at what she did and had been for years until…until she forgot why she was with him to begin with…until she started regretting her decision to make him a pawn…until…until, he asked her to marry him and she foolishly said yes.

The sound of the front door opening and closing drew her from her musings and she quickly pushed her thoughts of him back into the dark recesses of her mind and wiped at her face. Inhaling deeply, she slowly exhaled as strong arms snaked slowly around her tiny waist.

“Out here again?”

She didn't deign to answer that, because the answer was apparent, was it not?

He smoothed her hair away from her right temple and placed a chaste kiss to her warm skin. “You know if I didn't know any better, I would think that you were depressed.”

“Don't be silly. What reason would I have to be depressed, Oni?”

He pulled her back so that she was flush against him as he replied knowingly, “Oh, I don't know, maybe you're still missing your hanyou?”

She swallowed, and then giggled in an attempt to pretend as if he was off target. “Miss him? Isn't the first rule of what we do, not to get attached?”

“Indeed it is, but you…you forgot that didn't you?” he replied cryptically. “It's been almost a year and still you are not back to your usual self.”

She ignored the second part of his statement and retorted softly, “I've told you a million times that I only said yes, because I thought he would give me access to his bank accounts.” Running her manicured nails through the fine hairs on her companion's arms, she finished, “If it wasn't for his brother, and that damn secretary, he would have too.”

She could feel him staring down at her, looking for some sign that she was lying, so she made sure to remain impassive and as uncaring as possible, as not raise his ire with regard to the current topic.

“I suppose it doesn't matter now, does it? I got you out of there before you could really fuck up, didn't I? After all, how would it look for my wife to be known as a polygamist?”

She closed her eyes to that statement. Would it have really been so bad to have just left me with him? As quickly as that thought came, she pushed it away.

“I have absolutely no problem sharing your body if the end result is worth it, dear heart, but your heart, and your mind…your dreams belong to me, don't they?” he questioned, his arms slipping slowly down to her hips.

She closed her eyes and melted into his touch, silently wishing that these hands, these arms, and the voice belonged to a person…a man…a hanyou that was more than an ocean away, never to be reached or seen again.

“Of course, Oni, my body is merely a tool, but my heart and my soul, my dreams are things only you shall own,” she whispered, hoping that he wouldn't be able to see the deception in her words.

His arms snaked around her waist once more as he leaned in and whispered, “Is that a promise, Luscious?”

How she hated that pet name, but since the day she married him, he decided that if she were going play with men's feelings and if they were to call her Kikyo, he should have a name only for him. “Always, Oni.”

“Luscious,” he started, his cool hand slipping up under her linen shirt, “how would you feel about going back…seeing him again?”

Her breath hitched in her throat as he found her nipple and tenderly squeezed it. “Go…going back? Why? We…we got enough money out of him didn't we?” she questioned as a soft moan escaped her and her chest arched forward into his waiting hand.

Spinning her around so that she was facing him, he lifted her effortlessly and sat her on the top railing. Stepping between her legs, he pushed them apart so that they were open wide.

“Of all the pawns that we've had, he was the most lucrative one, wasn't he?” he questioned softly nibbling on her right ear, while his nimble fingers traversed the distance down to the insides of her trembling thighs.

She gripped the railing steadying herself as she tried to wrap her mind around what he was trying to say, but all she could feel was his hands, his fingers pushing the seat of her panties aside seconds before they started dancing within her wetness.

“He loved you?” Oni whispered as he leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth lightly.

She leaned back, arching towards him as one of his fingers slipped into her, but he was no longer the one she saw, his hands were no longer that of a human man; they had claws. All of a sudden his hair was unruly and white, hanging down pass the middle of his back nearly touching his buttocks, his eyes the color of molten gold, his skin golden bronze, and his body…his chest, the work of the gods themselves.

“Yes,” she hissed breathlessly. “He…he loved me.”

He slipped another finger into her as he watched her close her eyes and her head fall back, her waist length hair flowing out behind her. His eyes narrowed sadistically as he reached down and unfastened the buckle of his jeans. “Regardless of your reason for leaving him, he would forgive you, wouldn't he? He'd take you back, right?”

She swallowed convulsively as her heated core sucked hungrily against his digits. “You said we were done with him. You…you said-”

Pulling his fingers out of her slowly, he reached into his back pocket and retrieved a condom, which in the line of work that they were both in, they couldn't afford not use. After all, swindling a youkai out of their money would be rather hard to do if one smelled like a defiled whore.

“I know what I said, but the money is starting to run low,” he advised, pulling her down off the rail and spinning her around so that she was facing the ocean again.

Seeing Inuyasha again? What would I say? What could I say? Would he forgive me? Would he be that naïve to give me a second chance to rob him blind?she wondered as her husband pushed her top half further over the railing and plowed into her from behind, causing her to gasp and grip the railing. Her eyes closed slowly as he once again became the man whose heart she'd cruelly broken.

He pulled half way out of her only to plow back into her again. One of his hands was gripping the railing to the right of her while the other hand found its way into the roots of her hair. Pulling back, but not roughly enough to hurt her, he hissed, “Don't you want to fuck him again?”

She didn't answer as she bucked against him taking what he gave her, all the while imagining that it was him…Inuyasha, the man that had made her care about him, about things, and regret the life altering decisions she'd made before she even knew he existed.

He undulated up into her slowly, digging in deep as he leaned forward so that his back was flush against hers. “You dream about fucking him, don't you?” he whispered in her ear.

She reached back and palmed his ass trying to force him in deeper as she gyrated back on his pulsating staff, but she still didn't answer him.

“Did he fuck you like this, Luscious? Did he make you scream for mercy? Did he make your fat wet pussy call his name?” he questioned tactlessly as he pushed back and pumped into her with fervor as his end summoned him forward.

She held her own, pushed back against him, gritted her teeth, and bit down on her lower lip as she silently screamed, Yes, gods, yes, he did! But verbally his only answer was a low moan as her walls began to trembling around his member letting him know that she was almost there…almost at her breaking point.

He gripped her hips, pulled her legs up off the ground so that they were wrapped around his thighs, and continued to take long deep strokes, repeatedly burying himself into her as his head swam with pictures of her fucking the white haired hanyou that he knew she still lusted after.

“Tell me, Kikyo, do you want to fuck him again; one last time? Do you want to give him another chance to make you cum?” he purred softly, sadistically.

And she bit down on her lip, telling herself that she wasn't going to answer that question, not now, not ever. But as the gates opened…as the ties that held her sanity together loosened… As images of a man that she wasn't supposed to love danced before her closed eyes… As she imagined that it was him plowing into her, making her beg for more, making her plead with him to stop teasing her, she screamed as her body trembled and quaked while undulating back against her husband's, “Yes, yes, yes, yes one more time! Gods, one more time!”

I knew it. Oni smiled as he took a few more hard pumps into her before his semen burst free, leaving him breathless and leaning heavily on her back. After taking a few silent moments to allow himself a chance to calm down, he pushed up off of her, staggered over to the patio chair, and sat down after halfway pulling up his Doce Sanara jeans.

Straightening her skirt, Kikyo sighed lightly and turned to him. “This isn't going to work. He'll never trust me.”

“Why not?”

“Onigumo, I hurt him, and you know men don't forgive easily. I married him and left him that same night!”

“Please, that wasn't a wedding that was a four ring circus; I'm just upset that I didn't hang around to see the look on his face after you told him. Besides, you were already fucking married, or did you forget that?”

She rolled her eyes. Of course, she hadn't forgotten, but for a while she truly had wanted to. “This will never work,” she mumbled more to herself than to him.

He smirked at her as he reached down, pulled the condom off and tossed it in the waste basket in the far corner of the patio. “You don't give that pussy of yours enough credit,” he started. “Just trust me, if you get him in the right position to remember how wet, hot, and sweet your cunt is, he won't be able to tell you no.”

She frowned and turned away. Why does he have to be so damn crude! A few minutes passed before she heard him slide back from the table and walk over to her.

Slipping his arms around her waist once more, he offered reassuringly, “I tell you what. This time I'll go with you. I'll work it out so that all you'll need to do is get his information, and I'll do the rest. How's that sound?”

“You're not hearing me,” she gritted out between clenched teeth. “I don't want to hurt him again. I… You didn't see his face when I told him-”

“No, Kikyo, I don't think you're hearing me!” he growled agitatedly. “You didn't do the job right the first fucking time, so it's only fair that you go back and fix it! And this fucking time, I'll be there to remind you that you already have a fucking husband!”

She lowered her head despondently and sighed. “Can't we just find another target? There are hundreds of lonely rich men out there.”

“True, but he's the 3rd richest man in world and only second to his brother and that gay Microsoft freak. Besides, you already have an in with him, do you really want to start all over?”

“Oni, it's not right. I-”

“Since when did you care about what's right,” he snapped. “You sure didn't seem to care when we were buying this monstrosity of a house, or any of the 7 fucking cars we have parked in that fucking garage!” Smacking her upside her head with his open palm, he finished, “So don't act like you have a fucking conscious now! Hell, you're trifling ass was doing this way before I met you, so please save me the self righteous act!”

Kikyo had no response for that. Instead she reached up and rubbed lightly at the spot where he'd hit her. It didn't hurt, but she knew a little too well how much his hits could hurt if he wanted them too.

Turning her to face him, he lifted her chin so that she was looking at him. “If you do this right, we won't have to ever do this again, okay?” Not waiting for a response from her, he pulled her to him and continued as he ran his fingers through her hair soothingly, “Besides, I've already started working on a story for you to use. You know, to gain some sympathy from him…when you go back?”

“Wha…what?”

“Those credit cards you were hiding in your bottom draw; the ones with your name changed to Takahashi Kikyo…”

She pushed back away from him, knowing that he'd caught her in a lie, because she'd told him that she'd destroyed them before they left Tokyo. She honestly hadn't meant to lie to him, she just wanted to keep them as a reminder of the one time that she'd truly felt like she'd been loved.

“Oni, I-”

“I don't need any of your excuses, Luscious, I just need you to do this one last trick for me, and that will be apology enough for your betrayal.” He smiled down at her, lightly kissed her forehead and questioned seductively, “Can you do that for me, Luscious? Can you be a good wife and do your husband this one favor?”

She sighed heavily. There was no way out of this, was there? But at least she would be able to see him, touch him, and hold him one last time. Closing her eyes, she pushed her feelings aside and sighed again before responding sullenly, “Okay, what's your plan?”

Until Next Time…(Your .02 cents are greatly appreciated!!)

A/A/N: Umm, yeah, the bitch…I mean Kikyo is back…lol.

Next Chapter: Open Doors

Acknowledgements:

Deipurple ~ Nicc85 ~ Madmistress65 ~ Lilsweetpea011 ~ Lostgirl1 ~ Melony922 ~ Mynera ~ Xyanblue ~ InuGoddess715 ~ Miss_Marilyn69 ~ ThisIsMeSmiling ~ Niicko ~ Tueske ~ Ai Kisugi ~ 1love1 ~ Zetsuii ~ Meru