InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heart's Landfill ❯ Dissention ( Chapter 50 )

A/N: As always all characters will be walking that fine line called OOCness. Alright, people I just finished my math final and I got one more final to take this weekend and then I'm on to my last two classes before the summer! Yay, me!! Anyway, I'm going to be pushing to finish this fic within the next few months, because I've decided that I'd like to try my hand at something else. I don't want to jinx it; so, I'm going to keep it a secret for now. Anyway, thanks for your continued support! And an extra special thanks of appreciation and admiration goes out to my wonderful beta, Neko!! I love you, Lady.

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership to anyone with the exception of Nya, Nola, Moki, Maki, Dr. Aikio, Takira, and Gage.

Chapter 50:

Dissention

“I'm so sorry, Dalia. Please let me know if I can do anything for you.”

The clock over the mantle chimed twice, and he groaned inwardly as he leaned back in the high, leather back chair and closed his eyes.

“I know. I know. It just doesn't make sense.”

His claws tapped impatiently against the arm rest of the chair, but he didn't interrupt. He would be patient. He would act-as best he could-as if he truly cared. He would mourn; if only to show face.

“Don't you worry about a thing; I've talked to Kouga and he's going to handle everything dealing with the Memorial Service.”

Dalia, the rancid bitch that she was, was Dinshu's wife or mate, or whatever she chose to call herself and Kouga… He couldn't stand her ass. Maybe it was because she always disliked him, or maybe…maybe it was because when he'd tried to screw her that one time, she wouldn't let him.

Scandalous bitch!

He didn't really care which it was, he just wanted this farce to be over with. Sitting here listening to Ayame go on and on about how much of good person Dinshu was, and how sorry she was to hear that he was killed was actually starting to rile his last nerve!

It wasn't because she was saying that Din was a good person that got to him, because neither he nor any of the people he associated with were good in any sense of the word. No, there was something else all together that had him peeved to the point of losing control.

It could've been that he had to come back to Kyoto without so much as seeing Kagome in person, or it could've been the fact that ever since learning about that half-breed prick, Inuyasha, he'd been unable to control his thoughts about her.

He kept seeing her lying beneath that retarded freak of nature! He kept imagining her smiling at him, and he kept…he kept imagining her happy, truly happy and it wasn't with him. What made matters worse is that he'd actually went online and Googled the son of a bitch, and there he was with his older, tree-limb of a brother, looking like two washed out mops.

“Oh, Dalia, sweetie; it will be okay. He loved you, and I'm sure in his last moments you were the only person on his mind.”

Bull-fucking-shit, he hissed silently as he cracked one eye open and stared at the back of Ayame's head.

If Kouga knew anything about Dinshu, he knew that he didn't love Dalia. He was infatuated with her, maybe even cared for her a little, but love? Nah, that was one thing that Dinshu didn't feel for the cow.

If anything, it was one of the many things that he and Din shared. They'd married and pretended to be the mates of the weakest, softest, most apathetic women they could find, and it didn't hurt that money came along with it.

He figured, she'd be wondering in a few months why she was still alive, since her mate was dead. And with the whole mate thing, if it's your true mate, you're supposed to follow them in death, right?

Pfff, what fucking ever!

“I'll try to come by this afternoon, but Kouga hasn't really been in the best of moods-all things considered-so, I can't really promise. Yeah, I know, he and Dinny were almost inseparable,” he heard Ayame whisper as if she thought if he heard her he'd breakdown or something.

Whatever, good riddance to bad blood!

Outside of Moki and Maki, no one knew that he'd ordered Dinshu's death and no one…no one knew that it was a rotten ass, soar blooded, half-breed that actually took him down. He'd told everyone that they'd been tailing someone when Dinshu slipped off the edge of a skyscraper and fell to his death.

It was a crap story, he knew that much, but he didn't care. Who in hell were they to second guess him?

Hell, the only one that looked at him sideways was Hakkaku, but he'd brushed that off too, because he figured he was still pissed about the whole shooting Ginta fiasco. Speaking of which, he still needed to finish that fucker off for his inexcusable treachery.

Fuck'em, he thought coldly as he methodically raked his claws up and down the leather arm of the chair. Fuck'em all!

“You alright, honey?”

Kouga looked up, a glare on his face, but he didn't respond.

Ayame ran her clawed hands across his shoulders, massaging them and he leaned forward away from her touch.

“Kouga?”

He growled agitatedly and snapped, “Just leave me alone, would you?”

Ayame stepped back, he could feel her aura wrap itself tightly around her and he would've liked to say that he felt just a little bad, but he didn't.

He didn't want to be here being consoled about the death of a two-faced backstabbing prick! He needed to be coming up with a plan! He needed to be working on getting things together for when he got Kagome back! He didn't need to be here, catering to her or rather having her cater to him, because honestly, he was perfectly fucking fine!

Ayame stepped towards him, dropped to her knees in front of him and scooted forward so that she was basically kneeling before him, her hands resting lovingly on his knees. Laying her head one of her hands, she whispered softly, “No, I'm not going to leave you alone. I'm going to stay right here, because I know that this is where you truly need me.”

Kouga snarled and bit down on the inside of his jaw as his nostrils flared. No, you stupid bitch, I don't fucking need you here! What I fucking need is for you to take a flying leap off a cliff! That's what I need!

“Kouga, I know you haven't said anything about it, but you know what happened to Dinny wasn't your fault, right? It was an accident.”

The demon stood abruptly to his feet and stalked away from her, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. “Just leave me alone, Ayame. Just…just leave me alone.” He knew if he said anymore than that, nothing respectful was going to come out of his mouth, because right now all he could see is that she was holding him back.

She was no better than the rest of them, regardless of whether she was doing it willingly or not. She was keeping him from Kagome. She…she was the reason why he couldn't be with Kagome the way he wanted to.

In his mind, his twisted little world, it was her fault! All…her…fucking…fault!

“Kouga, honey,” she stated softly and she ran up behind him and threw her arms around his waist.

The wolf demon turned aggressively as if he'd just been attacked. He pushed her away roughly and back handed her across the face. “I told you to leave me alone! Just….Just…” He stalked towards her, his anger a violent thing bubbling over, festering like a cesspool filled with rotten flesh and feces. It was like a living breathing animal, inching out, devouring everything in its path.

“You needy ass bitch; didn't I tell you? Didn't… Fuck, Ayame!” he bellowed angrily as his fists clenched and released, promising violent retribution to the next thing or person that they came in contact with.

Ayame scrambled back away from him. Holding her hand to the cheek where he'd hit her, she started to cry as she screamed hysterically, “What's wrong with you? Why… How could you do-“

“I told you to fucking leave me alone, didn't I! I warned you, but you never fucking listen! You never fucking listen! Just go somewhere! Get out of my face! Dis-a-fucking-pear for all I care,” he hissed hatefully.

Everything that had happened in the past few months had pushed him…forced him to this point…the point of no return.

The anger that roiled up inside of him was a hateful thing that he could taste in the back of his throat, feel within the blood rushing through his body, and hear whispering in the back of his mind. It was telling him to kill her, destroy her, because without her, there would be nothing to stand between him and what he deserved.

He growled, stepped forward quickly and pulled her up by her neck, so that her feet were dangling off the ground. His iridescent blue eyes were glaring dangerously into her emerald green ones that were riddled with fear and pain. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that what he was doing was damn near depraved, but he couldn't stop himself. He…he didn't have the mental capacity at the moment to even want to.

Kill her, that damnable voice whispered seductively and his hand tightened around her narrow neck.

She coughed, squirmed and whimpered pathetic little syllables that resembled his name, but he heard nothing accept the voice in his head telling him to finish her and everything he wanted would be his.

Kill her. Kagome will want you if you kill her. Get rid of her! She's not your mate! She not my choice!

He growled, his claws digging into the side of her neck as his mind blanked and twisted into something so dark, so cold, and so desolate that the hatred he felt there, the pain, the agony, the desire to just become one with it was enough to make his mind clear momentarily.

“Ko…uga, I…I can't…breathe. St…o…p,” he heard her murmur breathlessly, and he froze, inhaled, and dropped her unceremoniously back to the floor as if she was a dirty bag of stinking socks, and regurgitated food.

Ayame stared up him from where he'd dropped her to the floor. Tears were streaming down her face, but she didn't say anything. The metallic scent of her blood was thick in the air around him as he stepped back slowly, rolling his neck in an attempt to loosen his muscles.

The pained expression on her face and the way she stared up at him helplessly as if she didn't know him was almost enough to make him want to apologize, but it just wasn't enough.

His anger blinded him to what he had done. He'd never once hit her, or so much as raised his voice to her, but now… Of course he'd hit other women, and if one of them were in front of him now, it would've taken all the hounds of hell to get him off the poor bitch!

Stepping back again as if he couldn't stand being anywhere near her, he snarled through clenched teeth, his anger…his rage a vibrant thing with a life of its own, “This is your fault! If you would've just listened to me! God damn it, Ayame, you made me do this! You…you fucking…cunt!”

Turning on his heels, Kouga stalked towards the door and through it without even a passing glance backwards. He'd find someone to take his anger out on, damn it! He'd find him, her, whoever, and when he was done, he would be able to think…to figure out his next move, but first things first!

Making quick work of running down the stairs of his mansion, he snarled to one of his many goons as he stepped out on the front stoop, “Get the car!”

He heard Ayame screaming his name, but he didn't care. At the moment, he couldn't even make himself pretend to care about her or anything else! Fuck everyone; from this point on, this was about him! It was about Kagome! It was about whatever he wanted! Everything else, and everyone else could just kiss his ass after he'd taken a good shit and before he wiped!

Cock-blocking bitch!

Simonkal of Inuy

“So, I turned to him and I told him if he accidentally slipped one more time, my ass would be the last piece of ass he ever got!”

The four girls erupted in laughter at the tale-end of their friend, Yuka's, story.

Kagome doubled over, clenching her stomach as she tried fruitlessly to catch her breath.

“I knew, I should've turned him down the minute I saw his little pencil inch dick, but by then I was so turned on, I didn't care!” Yuka continued callously. “Hell, I should have anyway, because every time I got close to cumming he'd slip out! After the fifth time, I pushed his ass off of me, got dressed, went home, and masturbated.”

“You're nuts!” Kagome exclaimed as she wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Please, sex with men is highly overrated,” Yuka quipped as she leaned in and picked up her glass of white wine she'd ordered a few minutes earlier.

“So are you saying, in a round-about-way, that you've slept with a woman before,” Ayumi questioned from her seat beside Kagome.

Yuka rolled her eyes and kissed her teeth before responding teasingly, her tone haughty, “It was the best cunnilingus I have ever experienced.”

“You're so full of it!” Eri interjected from her spot next to Yuka. “You've never slept with a girl before!”

“Like hell I haven't! And how the hell would you know; it's not like you would've been there!” Yuka defended, turning to face Eri.

“You're such a liar, Yuka! You've never-”

Cutting her off, Yuka snapped proudly, “Tuki! I met her at the rave we went to a few months ago.”

“Explain,” Kagome cut in as she leaned forward towards her friend, now totally intrigued. She knew out of all of them Yuka definitely had more of a hedonistic side when it came to sex and all things pertaining to it, but sleeping with a woman? She found that hard to believe as well.

“What's there to explain? I was drunk and horny and she was there,” Yuka offered offhandedly. “I didn't do her or anything, but I damn sure let her devour me, and I must say again that it was and is still the best that I have ever had.”

“You're so full of shit!” Eri bellowed again in disbelief.

“Why, because you don't have the balls to do it?” Yuka challenged.

“No, because you just make it up as you go along!”

“Alright ladies, enough,” Kagome interjected quickly, knowing that even though Yuka and Eri were the best of friends, their relationship was more on the combative side than anything else. She knew that if she didn't put a stop to this little argument now, they'd be ready to scratch each other eyes out soon.

Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi all turned to face Kagome with various looks.

“What? Am I suppose to sit here and just let the two of you argue? We all know how it's going to end,” Kagome defended with a giggle.

“Anyway,” Eri intoned exaggeratedly while rolling her eyes. “So, tell us what brought you home? I mean we didn't even know that you were coming until you were already here.”

Kagome glanced over at her friend before looking away and picking up her glass of white wine. She hadn't told anyone, not even her brother or her mother, why she had come back home for this unscheduled visit. She figured that it was over now, so there really wasn't any reason to worry anyone.

Not only that, but her family would probably get overly dramatic and try to demand that she move back home, which was not going to happen. Perhaps, she would've entertained the idea beforehand, but now… Well, there was no way in hell that she was going to just leave Inuyasha to his own endeavors.

Eyeing her friend's waiting faces, she came to a quick conclusion that what happened in Tokyo probably was best left there.

“Do I need permission to visit my best-friends? After all, it's not like any of you come up there to see me.”

Yuka was the first to respond, “Well, after you and Kouga broke up you were so withdrawn and despondent that it was almost crippling. Who would want to be around somebody like that?”

Kagome gasped, and snapped incredulously, “My friends?”

“Yeah, she was all, oh my God how could he do that to me! And crying every five seconds,” Ayumi teased, ignoring Kagome's rhetorical question. “I got to the point that when she called, I would send her calls straight to my voicemail.”

“Oh my goodness, I thought I was the only one that did that!” Yuka confessed happily.

“Hey, lay off of her! She was in love. We can't fault her for turning into a simmering ball of puss after being betrayed in such a fashion!” Eri added in Kagome's defense as she tried to hold in her own laughter.

“Wow, what great friends I have,” Kagome hissed derisively through clenched teeth as she tried to hold in her own laughter. She probably should have and would've been mad at their antics had this happened a few months ago, but now, it just didn't hurt as much as it use to.

“So, don't keep us in suspense; tell us about this new guy you've been obviously having phone sex with,” Eri stated, turning to face Kagome.

The woman in question blushed profusely and lifted her glass again in an attempt to hide her smile at just the thought of the man that was impatiently waiting for her to return to Tokyo.

In all actuality, she hadn't even told them anything about him, but when they'd come by to pick her up earlier that day, she'd been on the phone with him and they'd sort of overheard some of the intimate things that she was telling him, or rather promising him upon her return.

“I wasn't having phone sex, bakas!”

“So what's his name? What does he do? How long have you two been dating?” Ayumi questioned quickly, totally blowing off Kagome's previous claim. “What's his name?”

Eyeing her friends closely, she silently debated on whether she should or shouldn't tell them about Inuyasha and how much she should or shouldn't say. She didn't want to mention anything about his being a billionaire, so she knew she couldn't give them his last name otherwise they'd be able to put two and two together and all hell would break loose from there.

“Speak, bitch, stop trying to be sneaky,” Yuka quipped playfully.

Kagome glared at her, but decided that she wasn't going to challenge her about the name calling, because she hoped she meant it in a loving sort of way, if that was possible. “Well, his name is Inuyasha.”

“Inu…yasha? That's kind of exotic, isn't it?” Eri questioned quizzically.

“Doesn't it mean like dog spirit or ghost dog or something like that?” Ayumi interjected.

“I don't know, I never asked him what it meant, but dog spirit is what it translates to,” Kagome confirmed.

“Okay, so he's a dog spirit, what does he do? Where is he from, and how did you meet him?” Eri tossed back.

“Gods, Eri, one question at a time!” Kagome quipped before continuing, “He's in business with his older brother. Oh and he's a native of Tokyo.”

“Is he Asian or a Relo?” Ayumi questioned quickly, using the word `relo' as a shorter version of a person who relocated from elsewhere.

“I already said he's a native of Tokyo, Ayumi,” Kagome answered quickly then added, “Oh and he's a hanyou.”

The silence that fell over the table was an almost deafening thing, but the sound of a cackle coming from Yuka quickly broke that, and was the beginning of a torrential storm.

Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, Kagome sat back, her arms crossed beneath her full breasts. “What's so funny, Yuka?” she questioned defensively.

The woman in question continued to laugh, oblivious to the fact that none of her other friends found anything that Kagome had said even slightly humorous.

“What the hell, Yuka, do you know this Inuyasha guy or something?” Eri questioned.

“Yeah, let us in on the joke,” Ayumi added, a disappointed scowl falling over her face. “I know you've slept with half of Kyoto, but I had no idea your legs stretched as far as Tokyo,” she added spitefully.

As her laughter died down, Yuka rolled her eyes at Ayumi and stated while wiping at her eyes, “No, no, I don't know him, but…” She swallowed, and tried to catch her breath before starting again, “I mean damn, being hanyou makes him something of a mutt doesn't it?” Not waiting on an answer, and missing the way Kagome heckles rose dangerously, she finished, “I mean you went from being with someone that was a damn near God to being with a freak of nature? I mean come one, what the hell Kagome? You couldn't find a real man?”

“Yuka!” Eri and Ayumi reprimanded simultaneously, both unwilling to believe that their longtime friend would even open her mouth to say such a thing.

“Please, I'm not going to just act like it's okay just to make her happy! What the hell is a hanyou anyway; part this and part that, and a lot of nothing?” she finished bitterly.

“Yuka, take the bitch stick out of your ass,” Ayumi responded quickly while leaning back away from her friend. She didn't want to catch an ounce of the storm that was about to come down on her from Kagome, who was just sitting there staring at Yuka with a look of disbelief on her face.

“What the hell ever! All the hanyous I know are impotent anyway! So, what do you plan on having with this guy, Kagome?” She didn't wait for a reply as she answered cantankerously, “Nothing? Because it sure won't be a meaningful or long term relationship!” She then went on, “If I were you-”

“I'd shut the hell up,” Kagome stated almost too calmly, cutting her off.

“Yeah, shut up, Yuka! Besides, hanyous are the best of both worlds, aren't they Kagome?” Eri questioned in hopes of quelling the fight that was brewing right before her eyes. “They're like everything that a human will never be, and everything a full demon could only hope to be, right?”

Snarling at Eri, Yuka bit out as she picked up the cloth napkin that was lying in front of her and threw it at Eri, “You might want to use this to wipe some of that shit off your nose!”

Eri picked up the napkin and threw it right back at her. “I'm not brown nosing; it's the truth!”

Turning her fevered attention to her other companions, Yuka snapped, totally ignoring Eri altogether, “No, I will not shut up! You two always go along with Kagome's asinine plans when we all know that this is going to go absolutely nowhere! In the end, we're going to be the ones on the other end of the phone telling her how stupid this Inu-sterile-freak is! Well, I'm not going to do it! She tried dating a full-blooded youkai and we all see how that turned out! Now she's dating a fucking hanyou; get real!”

Kagome stood abruptly to her feet, her hands slapping against the table loudly. “You jealous bitch,” she hissed. “You don't know a goddamn thing about Inuyasha or fucking hanyous, but yet, you sit here slapping your gums like you're the all knowing God of hanyous and men.” She glared at Yuka, her nails raking over the tabletop milliseconds before they formed fists. “Inuyasha is more man than you've ever had a day in your life, and if you say one more derogatory thing about him or hanyous, for that matter, I swear I'm going to climb over this table and plant my foot so far up your ass, people are going to think that we're Siamese fucking twins.”

Yuka stood up as well, she and Kagome eye to eye. “You can make all the idle threats you want, Kagome; but the fact remains that what you're doing is damn near foolish! After what you went through with Kouga, why would you even want to put yourself back in the same situation?” She scoffed dryly, in Kagome's face and continued, “You keep chasing after what you can't have.”

“What I do or don't do with my life is my business, Yuka, not yours,” Kagome retorted too calmly.

Yuka laughed in her face. “Yeah, I remember you saying something like that when you first started dating… I mean letting Kouga fuck you, and we all saw how that ended!” She laughed chillingly and finished, “He left your ass for a fucking youkai because you weren't good enough! When will you get it through your thick head, Kagome, you're out of your league!” She scoffed again and finished coldly, “Oh, but maybe you are in your league now. After all, you are just dating a hanyou, aren't you?”

Kagome's mind blanked, her hand came up with the swiftness of a cat and she slapped Yuka hard across the face. “You fucking bitch! And you call yourself my friend? How dare you throw something like that in my face,” she hissed as she stepped out from behind the table and towards Yuka's side.

“Kagome, Yuka stop!” Eri shouted as she ran around the table and forced herself between her two friends. “Kagome, Yuka's just being a bitch as usual, she doesn't mean anything by it!”

“Like hell I don't! I'm glad Kouga left you! You always thought you were better than the rest of us, because you're some big time lawyer. Well, fuck you and the goat you road in here on! You might be an attorney, but that little pricey piece of shit degree can't keep your lonely ass warm at night, can it? You suck at relationships and this is going to end no better than the last one, you sniveling bitch!” Yuka shouted, as she stepped back away from Kagome while rubbing her left cheek that had just been slapped.

Kagome pushed past Eri, her arms reaching desperately to touch her dear friend in a not so loving way! How dare she speak this way about what she and Inuyasha had? How dare she say such spiteful and hateful things! How dare she…she call Inuyasha a pathetic hanyou, when he was anything but that!

That was the problem, wasn't it? She'd always known that Yuka was jealous of her. So, the things that she was saying about her, really didn't surprise her that much. But for her to talk about and bad mouth Inuyasha was another beast all together!

He was a good man, a damn good man and he didn't deserve it; regardless of whether their relationship worked out or not! He didn't deserve any of her mean-spirited comments, and she'd be damned if she stood here and allowed this bitter woman-friend or not-to talk about him in such a way.

Ayumi tugged Yuka to the other side of the table away from Kagome in order to help keep the two friends further apart. “Yuka, shut up! What's your problem anyway?”

The whole restaurant was watching the altercation at this point, but none of the girls paid that any mind.

Pulling her arm out of Ayumi's grasp, Yuka hissed, “I'm done with this bullshit! Just because I happen to not agree with the almighty Kagome, I'm wrong? Well, that's bullshit! You all know that I'm right! She always does this same crap and we're the ones left picking up the goddamn pieces!”

“That's what friends do, Yuka,” Ayumi offered quickly in hopes of getting it through her friend's head that she was being unreasonable.

“It's not about you not agreeing with what Kagome is doing, Yuka,” Eri interjected, turning away from Kagome, who finally seemed to be calming down, “It's about how you disagree, baka.”

“Just apologize, Yuka. She's only here for a few days and we have plans tonight remember?” Ayumi added.

“I'm not doing shit with her; she hit me!” Yuka defended dismissively as if she'd done and said nothing to warrant such treatment.

“Well I'm not doing shit with you either! As a matter of fact, forget that we're even friends!” Kagome shouted out of anger.

“Forgotten,” Yuka bit out as she turned and stomped towards the exit.

“Yuka, don't go,” Ayumi shouted desperately, but she didn't move to follow her friend. “Yuka, just apologize!”

“Let her ass go! If she can't be happy that I'm happy for once in my miserable life, then I don't need her around me at all,” Kagome hissed. “I don't need this shit! After everything that I've been through, I don't need this shit!” Glaring up at Yuka's back as she quickly made her way past the matre'd, she shouted maliciously, “Don't forget to pay your bill, you broke bitch, because I'm not paying it!”

Yuka spun around angrily and stuck her middle finger up at Kagome before turning and storming out the front door without another word.

Kagome tried to step in the direction of the door, but Eri blocked the way. “Just let her go. She'll calm down and she'll call and apologize like she always does.”

“Yuka can go to hell. She crossed the line this time. What she just did and the things that she said about Inuyasha when she doesn't even know him are unforgivable,” Kagome replied tightly.

“I've never seen her be so mean before. Sure, she's an outright bitch with strangers, but not with one of us,” Ayumi acknowledged, “The things that she said were just…well, mean.”

“She's just jealous,” Kagome intoned flatly as she stared at the door of the restaurant waiting for her wayward friend to come storming back in.

“Regardless, she was wrong, and I'm glad you stood up to her,” Eri quipped, handing Kagome her purse. Leaning down to pick up her own purse, she finished, “That girl really needs to learn to think before she speaks.”

“Yeah, and she'll actually do that when pigs stop stinking,” Ayumi quipped jokingly as she shouldered her purse and waited for her friends to head towards the door.

Reaching into her purse, Kagome pulled out one of the ten 100 dollar bills that Inuyasha had shoved in her hand before she got on the plane and dropped it on the table.

Initially, when he'd forced her to take the money, she'd told him that she didn't want it because she had her own in the bank and only needed to go to an ATM when she got to Kyoto. Of course, he insisted by telling her to leave her money where it was and let this trip be his treat. She still didn't feel good about taking money from him, but when he said that it's what `the boyfriend' does-take care of the girlfriend-she felt obliged to at least humor him.

Hell, up until now, she'd just been using her credit cards and had planned on sneaking the money back into his pocket when she got back the Tokyo.

“Okay, so let's go. You can tell us all about your new boyfriend at the spa,” Ayumi whispered, snaking her arm into Kagome's. “So if he's a hanyou what is he mixed with?”

Kagome smiled at her two friends as she pushed her thoughts of Yuka and Inuyasha to the back of her mind. “He's half dog, hence, the Inu part of his name.”

The girls laughed as Eri added, “So, does he hump like a dog too?”

Kagome swatted her friend playfully and smiled genuinely, but didn't respond as they stepped out the door of the restaurant and into the sunlight, intent on not letting one jealous friend ruin their time together.

Simonkal of Inuy

 

The artificial lights hummed quietly, annoying the hell out of him, but Ginta didn't move from his position on his back, his arm bent comfortably behind his head, though comfortable was the last thing that he was.

He'd been held up in the tiny windowless room since the one-sided fight that he'd had with Kouga. He figured that he was supposed to be Kouga's prisoner or something, but he didn't really care about that; what was going to happen was going to happen, wasn't it?

In the days, weeks-he didn't know which-that had passed, the only thing that had seemed to be going right for him was that he appeared to finally be getting through to his brother, Hakkaku. Well, that and based on what he'd heard, Kouga had actually returned without Kagome, which was a definite plus.

Gripping his stomach where he'd been shot, he rolled slowly over on his side away from the door, and sighed. Kouga had yet to come down to see him or rather finish him off, but he was okay with that too.

He'll be here, he told himself.

For all intents and purposes, he should have been dead by now, he knew that. After all, the bullet was still lodged in him somewhere between his spine and kidneys. At least that's what the doctor, who Hakkaku had paid to check on him had said.

He could feel his innards attempting to heal itself around the bullet, but it wasn't working. He could also feel his body growing weaker and weaker with each passing day, but for some reason his soul wouldn't let go of this world…this place; it was almost as if he had unfinished business or something.

Only thing was, he hadn't a clue as to what that was. He'd warned Kagome's boyfriend, and it appeared that he'd done a damn good job of protecting her, so that was done, right? He also didn't have a mate or kids or anything along those lines. So, it honestly confused the hell out of him as to why he was still alive.

He quieted his thoughts as he heard the slow gait of shoes against the tiled floor outside his door. Sniffing lightly, he gripped his stomach and pushed himself into a seated position, and then shifted so that his back was against the wall. His knees were raised slightly, allowing that the balls of his feet to hang over the edge of the twin bed.

Running his clawed fingers through his tangled hair, Ginta tried to listen to what was being said to the guard on the other side of the door, but he couldn't make out anything with his current weakened state.

The knob turned and the door opened, revealing his brother, and he relaxed just a little.

“Oi, get your stuff, we're out of here,” Hakkaku advised quietly while leaning against the door jam, his hands shoved in the pockets of his baggy jeans.

“What? Why?”

“Do you want to stay here?” Hakkaku asked rhetorically as he reached up and brushed an invisible piece of lint off his spotless thigh length black leather jacket.

Pushing himself to his feet, Ginta stepped quickly into his shoes and reached for his sweatshirt as he questioned, “Did Kouga say I could leave?” He didn't ask because he cared, he just wanted to know, because there was something about the way his brother stood by the door staring into the hallway that unnerved him.

“Do you want to stand there asking questions, or do you want to get the hell out of here?” Hakkaku questioned again. Glancing over at his brother, he finished, “Besides, since when did you need Kouga's permission to do anything?”

Ginta stopped moving and stared at him, his eyes asking him questions that he wasn't totally sure he wanted to know the answers to. Just as he started to toss another question at his brother, Hakkaku's cell phone rang, so, he quieted his thoughts and decided that he'd listen instead and maybe…just maybe he'd get an answer.

“Okay, we're on the way up. I owe you for this one.”

Stepping towards Hakkaku as he flipped the phone close and slid it in the pocket of his jacket, Ginta questioned, “He's coming to kill me, isn't he?”

Placing his hand on his brother's shoulder, Hakkaku pushed him gently ahead of him and out the door as he replied, “Not today, Ginta, not today.”

Stepping towards the elevator at the end of the hallway, Ginta couldn't shake the feeling that this was some kind of jail break, but he wouldn't ask questions about it again. He would trust his brother to take him wherever it was he was supposed to go.

The elevator dinged, the doors opened and the two brothers got on. Hakkaku pushed the button for the lobby and stepped back deeper into the elevator. His hands were shoved deep within his pockets, his head held high as he inhaled and exhaled deeply as if internalizing something.

“Hakkaku, you remember when we were little? The kids on the playground and at school would always pick on me.”

“Yeah, you never would fight back.”

Ginta laughed and retorted, “I never had to because you always did it for me.”

Hakkaku chuckled dryly, and nodded his head understanding his brothers thought process. “Only difference between now and then is you didn't used to pick the fights.”

Ginta stepped back, so that he was shoulder to shoulder with his brother. “You don't have to fight this battle for me, Hakkaku. I did this, knowing what the outcome would be. I'll face my judgment. I…I don't care if Kouga kills me.”

“I know you don't,” Hakkaku replied softly, and finished in his head, but I do.

Ginta glanced at him out the corner of his eye, but didn't say anything as he turned his gaze to their reflections. They were so much alike and yet so damn different that at times he found it quite funny that they had actually shared the same womb.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened.

Stepping off, Hakkaku stated offhandedly as if he was just finishing a conversation that was happening in his head, “I'm the oldest, I'm supposed to protect you.” Draping his arm around his brother's shoulders, he finished, “I failed you once, I won't do it again. Now come on, Mom's waiting for us.”

Ginta chuckled and replied as he watched his brother scan the lobby area quickly as they headed towards the back door, “By two minutes, baka.”

Unfortunately, the mood…the camaraderie vanished as the sound of a voice filled with rage, an aura dripping with venom and overflowing with hatred roared up around the two of them.

“E'tu, Hakkaku?” Kouga bellowed from across the lobby.

Simonkal of Inuy

 

Kouga glared at the back of Hakkaku's head as he came to a stop a few feet away from the two brothers.

He couldn't really say that he was surprised by what he'd stumbled on, but damn didn't it still piss him the fuck off! Was no one trustworthy anymore? Did none of these bastards that he surrounded himself with understand that nothing…abso-fucking-lutely nothing went on around here without his knowledge and say so?

Cracking his knuckles eerily, he hissed, “Oi, you don't hear me fucking talking to you?”

Hakkaku rolled his shoulders slowly as he allowed his arm to fall from his brother's shoulder. After receiving a call from Tito, Kouga's new driver, telling him that Kouga had attacked Ayame and was currently on the warpath. He'd broken every speed limit to get to his brother in order to avoid the carnage that was sure to take place.

He knew why Kouga was coming in. He knew what his plan was and damn it, he just wasn't going to stand idly by any longer and let him use his brother as a punching bag, or worse. Yes, Ginta was wrong for going to Tokyo and keeping information from Kouga…from them, but damn it, he hadn't done a damn thing that was worthy of his death!

Giving Ginta a not so gently shove towards the door, Hakkaku turned slowly, his hands shoved deep within his pockets. He'd never outright challenged Kouga before, but he supposed, as with everything else, there was a first time.

“What exactly do you think you're doing, Hakkaku?” Kouga questioned, his face set in a deep scowl, and his eye's flickering hatefully between Hakkaku and Ginta.

“I'm done, Kouga,” Hakkaku stated as he watched 4 or 5 of the guys that he and Ginta ran with, come up behind Kouga as if they were some sort of lynch mob just waiting for their boss to say the word, so that they could attack.

Kouga took a half step forward and turned his right ear towards the demon. “Excuse me, what was that?”

“I said I'm fucking done!” Hakkaku shouted. “You've lost it! For god's sake, Kouga, you attacked your mate!”

Kouga chuckled chillingly and stepped back, his hands shoved in his pockets. “You ain't fucking done until I tell you you're done!” he declared brusquely, ignoring the second half of the younger demon's statement altogether.

“Nah, you've lost your mind. This…what we had here is falling apart because of a piece of pussy that you don't even really want! And I'm… I'm not going to stand here and let you drag me and my brother down with you.”

“You and your brother?” Kouga scoffed sardonically. “The two of you would be nothing if it wasn't for me! I dragged your sorry asses, and your drug addicted mother out of the fucking ghetto! I did that! And this is how you two pricks thank me? You…you were supposed to be my damn right hand, Hakkaku! But when I needed you where the hell were you, huh? And him, I gave him one…one measly fucking job to do and he backstabbed me!”

“You shot my brother, Kouga! You shot my only fucking brother! What the hell did you think was going to happen?” Hakkaku snapped quickly. “Did you think that I was going to side with you over him? Did you seriously think that I'd be alright with that?”

“I backstabbed you?” Ginta shouted incredulously, stepping around his brother quickly. “You let him rape her! You let that asshole rape her, and you actually expected me to find her for you so it can happen again? You stood there that night and you laughed about it like it was some kind of fucking joke! You actually stood there laughing while he was fucking her! Fuck you, Kouga!”

“I should've shot you in your fucking head when I had the chance,” Kouga ground out between clenched teeth as he took another step forward, his hands still buried deep within his pockets. “She was my fucking woman; I could do with her as I chose!” He laughed and finished snidely, “You're just mad that I didn't give you a chance to fuck her!”

“Stop talking about her like she's a fucking piece of meat, you bastard!” Ginta roared angrily. “She's not some toy you can play with whenever you get bored with Ayame! You never deserved her! You…You…” His fist clenched and unclenched repeatedly as he gripped his side and sneered hatefully, “You don't deserve either of them!”

Kouga laughed at that. “Maybe not, but they're mine, aren't they?”

It was Ginta's turn to laugh. “You may have Ayame, but Inuyasha has Kagome now. And from the looks of it, you weren't strong enough to take her from him!”

Kouga took another step forward, his nostrils flaring angrily as he hissed with rage, “Before this is over and done with, Ginta, I will watch the life drain from eyes, you ungrateful bastard!”

“Whatever, Kouga, am I supposed to be scared now?” Ginta quipped mockingly.

Hakkaku stepped up grabbing Ginta's arm and pushing him back behind him. “Like I said, we're done.”

“And like I said, you're not fucking done until I tell you you're done,” Kouga snapped back as he pulled one hand out of his pocket and motioned for his cronies to surround the two brothers.

Hakkaku stared slowly around at the guys whom he at one time ordered around. He knew most of them were too young and too stupid to actually think for themselves, so if he was looking for any help in this bunch, he damn sure wasn't about to find it.

Stepping back, he hissed to Ginta, “Get out of here. I left some cash in the car for you.”

“No, I'm not going anywhere without you,” he responded, determined to see this through to the end.

Hakkaku growled low in his throat as he eyed the group that was slowly drawing closer to them. He knew he wouldn't be able to take them all on in a fistfight and win, so that only left one thing to do.

“You never fucking listen, Ginta,” he hissed quickly as he shoved his brother roughly to the side, pulled his gun from the back of his waistband and fired five consecutive shots to the right and left of him while diving to the side and landing on top of his brother.

“Stay the fuck down!” he shouted as he swiftly eyed his handy work. He had always been something of a marksman when it came to guns, so he knew he'd hit the targets.

He'd all shot five of the young guys, catching two of them that had drawn their weapons in their hands and the other three in their kneecaps incapacitating them quickly, which only left Kouga and two other youkai's that he knew wouldn't be that easy to do away with.

Turning his attention to Kouga who was standing in the same spot he'd been in before, looking less than impressed, Hakkaku pushed back away from Ginta and glared up him.

“So, this is what it's come to, Hakkaku? You're really a traitor? You're really turning your back on family…on the syndicate?”

Hakkaku stood slowly to his feet, his eyes trained on his former boss. “No, for once I'm not turning my back on my family. For once, I'm standing by it!”

“Bullshit!” Kouga bellowed angrily. “That sniveling bitch isn't your fucking family! Family takes care of family when they can't take care of themselves! Family is you and I, damn it! Family doesn't turn on family! Family-“

“Family doesn't turn on family?” Hakkaku questioned incredulously, cutting him off. “What the hell did you do to Ginta? He was family when you shot him, wasn't he? What about Dinshu, Kouga?” the wolf demon questioned. “Do you really expect us to believe that he slipped and fell off of a damn building? Come the fuck on, we all know that Dinshu had the dexterity of a cat; he would never have slipped off of a building! Did you kill him? Did he get between you and Kagome?” Hakkaku laughed dryly and finished, “Even though you let him fuck her once before, did he forget his place this time, Boss?”

Kouga growled in annoyance, but didn't answer as he lowered his head and glared back at the demon that was sorely trying his patience. He had no intention of fighting with Hakkaku, but Ginta… Lord knows he wanted to taste his blood on his tongue! He wanted to feel the warmth of it as it ran through his fingers! And damn-it, he needed to watch the bastard draw his last fucking breath!

However, he also knew that if Hakkaku didn't shut the fuck up, he'd have no problem substituting the two of them!

“I'm right, ain't I? You had him killed, didn't you? That's why you had Maki and Moki fly out there.” Taking Kouga's silence as all the answer he was going to get, Hakkaku continued as he watched the two remaining demons that were standing with Kouga step back away from him, their eyes filled with confusion and distrust, “You did it, didn't you? You had Din killed because of that bitch! What the hell did he do, Kouga? Did he look at her too hard? Did he tell you how fucking stupid you were acting? Did…did-“

“Shut the fuck up! You don't know what the hell you're talking about, Hakkaku!” Kouga growled as he took a step towards his one time confidant and best friend.

“I don't know what the hell I'm talking about?” Hakkaku stated quizzically. “I know that before you discovered this newfound obsession with Kagome, Din was alive and Ginta hadn't been shot! I know that before you started this asinine ass hunt for her, the syndicate wasn't the laughing stock of Kyoto! I know before you lost your fucking mind over a piece of pussy, we had a boss that we all respected and would've died for!”

As the last words fell from Hakkaku's lips time twisted unto itself, blurred into a million millenniums and slowed as the rapid sound of thunder echoed in the ears of the occupants and the smell of gunpowder filled the lobby.

Ginta screamed and charged towards his brother, screaming his name with an urgency that Hakkaku hadn't heard before.

Hakkaku looked at him quickly, and then back at Kouga and pondered offhandedly when Kouga had drawn his weapon and why he hadn't noticed it. Ginta's body collided with his, knocking him over and sending both of them tumbling to the floor roughly.

His head hit the floor hard and he had to take a moment to gather his bearings before he trusted himself to move. What the hell just happened? It only took him a moment to figure out that Kouga had shot at him, but he didn't feel any pain, so figured he'd missed, which was always a good thing.

“Ginta, get off me,” Hakkaku whispered quickly attempting to push his brother up off of him.

There was no response.

He shoved him again, but still he didn't move. “Ginta, stop playing, move your fat ass,” he ordered again in an attempt to keep the slimy fingers of trepidation from creeping up his spine.

It didn't work.

All at once the metallic scent of blood filled his nostrils and clogged the back of his throat almost to the point that he was tasting it as if he had just drank a glass of the stuff.

Everything around him melted away as he pushed his brother off of him and shifted so that he was kneeling beside him.

“Ginta! Ginta!” he screamed feverishly as he stared down at his younger brother. Blood was draining from the side of his mouth, and a large circle of blood was forming in the front of his chest. “No, no, no! Ginta!” he called frantically.

Hakkaku stared up at Kouga, who was standing a few feet away from him staring back at him with a blank expression on his face and for a moment he forgot that he'd done this, that he'd…that he'd just tried to kill him and had instead shot his brother.

“Call an ambulance!” he shouted. “Please…Please, Kouga, call…call an ambulance,” he bellowed again as he felt a weak grip on the front of his shirt and heard a harsh whisper of his name.

“Hak…Kaku… Brother?”

“Don't talk, Ginta. Don't talk, okay? We're getting help. Kouga, he's going to get help. Just…Just lie still, okay?”

Ginta tried to laugh as his eyes stared vacantly up at the ceiling, his body sporadically shaking as if he was cold. “Late,” he whispered right before a ragged cough echoed through his parted lips causing blood to splatter from his lungs and onto his brother's worried face. “I have no…regrets,” he forced out weakly, “None.”

Hakkaku lifted his brother's head and laid it in his lap. He stared down at him with wide eyes as realization began to swallow him whole. Reality…the things that were happening around him were just too ugly. He didn't have the strength or the mental fortitude to face them right now…not now.

“Don't…don't talk, Ginta. Don't…”

“I…I did it. I…I protected you this time,” Ginta whispered as another cough ripped through him, sending a violent tremor throughout his body.

Hakkaku clutched him closer, pulled his head to his chest and hugged him. “Don't…don't you fucking leave me, Ginta! Don't…don't you… I… Mom is going to be so pissed at you if you leave! She cooked your favorite meal, Ginta. She…she cooked Crab Rangoon just the way you like it.” He was reaching for words that his mind couldn't quite grasp! He just needed him to stay…to hang on just a little longer!

Hakkaku looked up and glared at Kouga and the other two demons that were just standing there looking at him, all of them with varying expressions that he wasn't in the right state of mind to comprehend. “Please,” he begged as a tear slipped down his cheek. “Please, Kouga.” He choked back a sob as he felt his brother twist his fist into the front of his shirt and cough up another lung full of blood. “He's my brother! He's my only brother! Please, you can't let him die. You can't just stand there,” he finished weakly.

“Kakku,” Ginta whispered drawing his attention back to him. He wheezed heavily, gripped his brother's chin and used the last of his strength to pull his brother's face down to his, “I'm…sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't listen. I'm…sorry I wasn't stronger.”

Tears trailed down Hakkaku's face as he listened to his brother ramble on about nonsense, which could only mean that death was calling. “Shut up, baka, I…I'm the one that's sorry. I should've protected you. I…I wasn't strong enough! Damn it, Ginta, I should've never let you join! I should've…”

Ginta's body shook and quaked against his own, cutting him off as his eyes bulged in their sockets and the claws of his hand that was still holding Hakkaku's face dug into his skin as if trying to desperately hold on to what little life it could.

In that same instance, his body went limp, his hand slipped from Hakkaku's face to land on his bloodied chest as his eyes rolled to the back of his head for the final time, and his eyelids partially closed.

“No, you can't! You can't leave me, you idiot! We're twins! You and I, we're inseparable! You can't,” he mumbled desperately as he lifted his brother's lifeless hand a few times and tried placing it over his shoulder so that one would think that they were hugging, but each time it slipped back down fortifying the answer to the one question that Hakkaku didn't want to ask.

Hakkaku stared down at his brother's face, his chest heaving up and down, his blood thrumming painfully through his veins. He'd seen death before, he'd killed before, and he had no right to be feeling anything right now. But this… His chest…his heart, it ached painfully as he watched the life drain from his brother…his twin's eyes. He was the one person that had been with him from conception and now…now he was…

He pulled Ginta's body to him and cradled it close as he broke down, his shoulders shaking, tears draining from eyes. His very being…his youkai cried out in pain and agony.

This wasn't supposed to happen, not like this! He was supposed to just get him out of here, take him home to eat dinner with their mother and then put him on a plane! This…This wasn't supposed to happen like this! His brother wasn't supposed to die today! He wasn't supposed to die!

Not like this! Gods in heaven not like this!

“Don't leave me. Don't… You stupid prick! Don't… I'm supposed to protect you! You're not supposed to protect me,” he cried pathetically as he leaned forward protectively over his brother's body and continued to weep. “I'm sorry! Gods, please forgive me! I'm sorry! Don't take him! Don't take him!”

Somewhere in the back of his head, he knew he should've been paying attention. He should've been locating his gun and firing it at the bastard that had done this, but he couldn't find it in him to care.

He could feel the cold steel of the barrel against the base of his head, he heard the sound of a trigger being pulled and the click of the hammer that should've been followed by a loud bang, and damn it, it should've scared him. It should've made him sit up and say or do something, but as he pulled his brother's ashen body closer and wept into his unmoving and blood soaked chest all he could think was why, why wasn't he dead instead of Ginta. Why would he be given a second chance when he hadn't done a damn thing to deserve one?

Kouga stepped back, dropping the gun that had jammed, from that back of Hakkaku's head to the floor as he stated coldly while turning and starting towards the back door, “I told you, you're not done until I tell you you're done.”

Neither of the two parties noticed the fiery red head with the emerald greens eyes and a broken heart standing over in the far corner of the room, hidden deep within the shadows.

Her eyes were filled with tears and her heart was heavy with pain and grief as she stared at the bloody scene before her and tried to make sense of the things that she had just heard her mate say and the things she'd watched him do.

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

Next Chapter: Two Peas in Pod

Acknowledgements:

ILoveThisStory ~ Deipurple ~ Inyu01 ~ Animegirl ~ Little Red ~ Angel-up-above-heaven ~ Mynera ~ Niiicko ~ Miss_Marilyn69 (Tell her to send it, because it's definitely coming…lol) ~ Meru ~ Hentai Strumpet ~ Kagomerocks241