InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Love's Smirking Revenge ❯ The Titan Falls ( Chapter 21 )

Love's Smirking Revenge

Chapter Twenty-Two

- The Titan Falls -

 

 

A/N: Hold on to your butts…

 

 

“Son of a bitch…”

 

Kouga muttered a string of foul curses under his breath as he made his way along the worn docks of the pier. The iron grip he had on his side arm was unbreakable, but that couldn't keep the damp cold from sending a shiver through his bones. He hated Tokyo winters. Temperature wise they were relatively mild, but once the damp air from the sea washed ashore it soaked into your skin in a way that just didn't quit. He'd never felt a cold as deep and aching as that.

 

Figures they'd pick the docks, he thought with a sour look. He'd already gagged twice from the smell. Typical choice for yakuza scum. For the moment, it wasn't them he was concerned with. The padlocked door of the third storehouse along the dock had caught his eye. He could smell the mutt's scent in the air. Inuyasha had definitely been here, and recently too.

 

Stepping in close to the wall, he kept his back to the metal sheeting and scanned the dock in either direction. He could sense their presence. Of course he wasn't alone, and hadn't been since the moment he'd stepped out of his car. He could feel their eyes watching him almost as much as he could smell the subtle odour of their sweat, cheap cologne, and the scent of what'd they'd eaten for dinner on their breath.

 

His brow furrowed with frustration as he scanned the rooftops of the storehouses on the opposite side of the dock. His keen sense of smell had kept him alive on more than a few occasions, but it was an absolute liability to him now. He could smell them, sure, but the pungent aromas of the ocean all around him confused his senses. He couldn't pin point where they were, or even how close. He just knew that they were there, and that there were more than a few of them around. More than he could handle on his own. He swore again and cursed the mutt for dragging him into this.

 

His life would be a whole lot easier if Kagome Higurashi had never walked into it. He'd tried to put his emotions on the back burner for this case, but the closer they got to finding her the harder it became. It was impossible to forget the way she'd smelled the first day he met her on the precinct steps. And he remembered all too clearly the softness of her skin as she'd placed her hand in his and the allure of her dark eyes when she'd subtly flirted with him. There was no sense trying to fight the attraction, or deny it for that matter. He understood what drove the mutt now, because in some way the same feeling drove him too. They'd find her in time because they had too, there simply wasn't any other option.

 

Thinking about it, he realized that there was no denying the change the girl had brought about in the mutt too. Inuyasha Takahashi - the impenetrable fortress - had finally been penetrated. For a while there he'd started to look alive again for the first time in years, and that was something worth saving. Though, the bastard might not live long after tonight if he had his way. He was still fuming about the incident at the park.

 

Muttering another curse, Kouga slipped discretely into the shadow of the building and made his way around the back side to the loading dock door. The mutt's smell was stronger here, more recent. It was obvious he'd taken this same path and as Kouga scanned the exterior of the building he wondered if he was still inside. He stopped outside the door that was left ajar and cast a discreet glance over his shoulder. He could feel them hovering, waiting. The question was, what were they waiting for? What was supposed to happen now?

 

His mouth turned down into a frown as he fished the cell phone out of his pocket and sent off a quick text message. With any luck the others would arrive in time. At this point he didn't give a shit what Takahashi wanted - he wasn't going to take any unnecessary risks or chances. He shuffled a little closer to the open door, gun still drawn, and tucked the cell phone into the inside pocket of his jacket.

 

Pausing at the threshold of the door, he checked himself and pulled in a deep breath.

 

Bingo.

 

The rich, coppery tang of her blood was thick in the air and knew without a doubt that the mutt had followed it inside. It was almost as though it'd been laid out - a perfect trap to lure him in.

 

Taking another deep breath, Kouga emptied his lungs slowly and composed himself.

 

And so, the lamb enters the lion's den…, he thought, and then crossed the threshold into the impenetrable darkness on the other side.

 

 

----

 

 

2276 days.

 

That was how long he'd waited for this moment.

 

He breathed in the scent of her fear and let his eyes drift closed as he savoured the exhilarating rush it sent through his veins. Homer's promise that revenge tasted sweeter than honey echoed in his mind, ringing with a certain modicum of truth. He smiled to himself. This revenge, the planning of which had consumed his every waking thought for half a decade, was far more potent and satisfying than the flowery sweetness of honey on one's tongue.

 

This revenge was ecstasy. It seeped into every pore, filled every vein and invaded every last crevice in his brain with a pleasure that couldn't be matched by even the purest shot of heroin. Thousands of men the world over had killed in pursuit of revenge before him, but he wondered if any had felt the same euphoria he did now. There was nothing to rival it, nothing whatsoever, and he was satisfied knowing that his efforts had not gone to waste.

 

Some had dared to question his resolve over the years. Some had even gone so far as to condemn him for devoting so much of his time and resources to finding one troublesome girl. Those vocal few had paid for their words with their lives; the rest had been wise enough to keep their thoughts to themselves. There was nothing in the world that could've kept him from this moment, except maybe death.

 

Here it was within his grasp, vivid and real; tangible and absolutely, in every part, his to embrace. And he would embrace it. He would take his time breaking her before he killed her. It was a process he would thoroughly enjoy and one he was glad the good detective was present for. Breaking her would be so much easier with him present. He'd tear the man apart, piece by piece, and watch as every last vestige of hope faded from her eyes. And when the time came, in the moment when she finally accepted that there was no one left to save her, he would wrap his hands around her narrow throat and squeeze until the light in her dark eyes was permanently extinguished.

 

His hand on her shoulder twitched with anticipation, eager to feel the frantic pulse of her last heartbeats against its palm. Instead, he grazed his fingertips along her throat and revelled in the quickening of her pulse at his touch.

 

A quiet growl from the detective drew his eyes upwards and he couldn't help but snicker. The poor bastard was sitting ramrod straight in his chair with his hands wrapped round the seat in a futile attempt to control his aggressive impulses. Were it not for the gun, the man would've already launched himself across the space between them to forcefully pry his hands off the girl.

 

Detective Takahashi - what a basal creature, he thought with a sentiment of disgust.

 

His coal black eyes scanned the detective's dishevelled appearance with an expert attention to detail, noting the bags under his eyes and the facial hair shadowing his jaw. He looked rough. He looked like a man who was barely whole; who struggled daily just to keep the parts of him that were there from slipping away. Such a pitiful sight…

 

He didn't need to wonder about the closeness of his relationship to the girl - it was written all over his face. From the anger swimming in his amber eyes to the anxious way his body shifted in its seat, every part of him spoke loud and clear, screaming out exactly how important the whore was to him. He'd tried to feint that she was no one special - that she was only as important to him as any other hostage would be - but the truth was painfully obvious. He loved her.

 

It was a disappointing revelation, to put it mildly. He'd expected better from the detective, but then, the girl did have a certain knack for sinking her talons into unsuspecting men's hearts. He almost pitied the poor bastard, but tonight there was no room in his heart for mercy.

 

Wearing a feral smile, he deliberately grazed his lips along the shell of the whore's ear and waited for his reaction. The chair creaked and another growl escaped from the bowels of the detective's chest. His jaw was clenching and unclenching, working overtime to stymie the string of curses and threats that wanted to escape his lips. All in an effort to keep from betraying how important she truly was to him. What a joke.

 

“Temper, temper, Detective. Squeeze any harder and that chair will fall to pieces,” he warned, his tone underwritten by a playful lilt.

 

Takahashi's eyes narrowed but his hands eased up all the same as though he'd only just become aware of them. He sat back against the chair and pulled in a quiet, calming breath. He seemed in control of himself when he crossed his arms in front of his chest and levelled a cold glare.

 

“You're full of shit,” he determined, speaking louder than was necessary.

 

“Am I?”

 

He'd expected that defiant little outburst. The truth was staring the detective in the face, yet he'd rather defend the girl, believing her utterly incapable of murder. There was a glimmer of doubt in his eyes though, even as he'd said those self-assured words. Stubborn as he was, he knew truth when he heard it. It was another thing entirely to accept it.

 

Accepting it would mean breaking down every pedestal he'd ever placed her on. It would mean re-evaluating all that he knew about her and their relationship. Accepting the truth was far more difficult than simply shutting your eyes to it and blindly clinging to the fallacy.

 

The lie is easy; truth is what's hard to live with. Truth brings pain and suffering. Truth crushes hope and love and dreams of a happy future. Tonight, the truth would be the detective's greatest enemy, just as it was hers.

 

Did you really think you could hide from it forever, my sweet Pandora? he wondered while studying her profile with a careful eye. He followed the movements of her tongue as it darted out to lick at the blood on her split lip. Beneath his hand her frame trembled. It didn't matter anymore whether it was from pain, or fear, or a combination of the two. What mattered was how much further he could push her beyond this point and how much pleasure her suffering would bring him.

 

A shot of malice surged through his thoughts and he tightened his hand over her injured shoulder, hard enough to make her gasp. The satisfaction he got from that one, minute cry of weakness was immediate. Feeling empowered by her pain, he regarded the detective with a hard, calculating look.

 

“You disappoint me, Detective. I must admit, I expected better from you. Are you telling me you never once did a background check on her?”

 

He clucked his tongue and shook his head in mock disappointment.

 

“Shut up.”

 

The bitterness underlying the detective's retort was all the incentive he needed to pour more salt in the wound. How far could he push him? How long would it take before the link between him and the girl was broken?

 

“I bet you wish you could go back,” he taunted, sounding sympathetic.

 

“Just think - If you'd only known the truth about her all those months ago! How much time have you wasted believing her lies? How much pain has she caused you - this Pandora - this curse on all mankind! She's made a fool out of you, Detective, and now she's dragged you down with her.”

 

The girl whimpered pitifully and shook her head from side to side in a futile attempt to deny the validity of his words. She knew. The way her shoulders had begun to sag wasn't from exhaustion, but from the weight of her own guilt. He ran the barrel of the gun along the side of her cheek in a gentle caress, silently promising he would soon release her from her burden.

 

Fixated, he listened as she held her breath while he made another pass with the gun down the length of her face. The audible gulp that sounded from her throat made him smile.

 

“I said shut up. You don't know what you're talkin' about.”

 

The detective's voice drew his attention away from his prize once more. He was starting to find the man annoying. He'd expected their little tête-à-tête to be entertaining, but each time he spoke it only seemed to pull him further and further from his goal. It was hard to hide the irritation in his voice when he spoke.

 

“Answer me this, Detective - When I killed that girl, Kikyou, did you make a promise to avenge her?”

 

The expression on the Detective's face visibly darkened. “Yes,” he rasped out, suddenly seething with anger at the reminder of her brutal execution.

 

“Did you want to kill me for taking her life? An eye for an eye?”

 

“I figured I'd let my conscience be my guide where her killer was concerned. Now that you're here, all I can say is you're lucky that gun's in your hand instead of mine.”

 

“Then we're not so different, you and I,” he conceded, cocking the gun. “I, too, made a promise.”

 

The Detective's body visibly tensed in the chair, much to his satisfaction. Smile unwavering, he asked, “What would you do if you were in my shoes, I wonder?”

 

I'd kill you.

 

The silent admission was written clearly across his features, as was the guilt that followed it. It was hard to be righteous when the shoe was on the other foot. Watching the Detective's expression morph from guilt, to confusion, to understanding in the seconds that followed was immensely entertaining.

 

“My point, exactly.”

 

The Detective's amber eyes widened with shock as he realized that he was the one now staring down the barrel of a gun.

 

Victorious, Naraku smiled and fired.

 

--------------------

 

BANG!

 

It felt like the world was moving in slow motion as his body was thrown from the chair. Snippets and fragments of awareness were all that made it to his mind - Kagome's stricken features, the smoking end of the gun, the ringing in his ears, the smell of gunpowder in his nostrils, and the awful stench of blood.

 

At first he thought Kagome had been shot. Her scream had been filled with enough anguish that he just couldn't fathom any other reason for it. He lay with his back against the floor, blinking quietly at the ceiling while he collected his thoughts. He'd failed another woman he loved. Talk about a screw up. He was a real piece of work - apparently he couldn't protect a woman to save his own life. The irony of that statement almost made him smile.

 

He blinked up at the hand in front of his eyes and stared at the blood covering it, wondering how he could've possibly injured himself. Then, as the shock wore off, realization struck. The bastard had shot him.

 

Well, so much for keeping things predictable.

 

Uttering a pained groan, he put a hand to his injured shoulder and slowly rolled into a sitting position. His head was already spinning as the blood from his wound gushed against his hand. He blinked to bring the room into focus and shook his head a little, but neither helped much. Everything was still blurry around the edges and his damned ears wouldn't stop ringing. Experience told him they'd be ringing for a better part of the next week. As if he needed another reason to be pissed off right now.

 

Determined and annoyed, he sucked in a sharp breath and dragged himself to his feet. Feeling a bit unsteady, he fixed his eyes on Takeda and growled.

 

“Takes a certain kind of coward to shoot an unarmed man,” he muttered and struggled to stand up straighter.

 

Takeda responded with a bored look. Sighing, he cocked the gun and aimed it at him a second time.

 

“You think I give a damn what your opinion of me is? It's time you learned your place. You were a corpse the moment you stepped onto my pier. Did you really think that the absence of guards outside was a stroke of luck?”

 

He barked out a sharp, humourless laugh. “I've had every detail of this encounter planned from the beginning and you've played right into my hand, each and every time.”

 

Inuyasha growled quietly and waited uneasily for his opportunity to strike. As annoying as it was to hear his incessant gloating, he needed the bastard to keep talking. The longer his lips flapped, the more time he had to figure out how to disarm him without getting Kagome killed.

 

“Explain this to me then, `cause I'm havin' some trouble understanding your logic. She's the one who killed your brother but you're takin' shots at me. Did you get confused somewhere along the way?”

 

Takeda sighed again and rolled his eyes as though he were dealing with a petulant child.

 

“Detective, Detective… When exacting revenge, you always dig two graves.”

 

He held up two fingers and pointedly counted them down as he spoke. “The first is for the one who offended you, and the second is for the person they care for most in the world.”

 

So that was it…, he acknowledged quietly to himself. Scum sucking bastard!

 

Leave it to a yakuza Boss to double the score and call it even. This was exactly why smart people didn't mess with them. There was no getting out of it once it got personal. The motto was even the odds or die trying, and here he'd walked right into the middle of it. He might as well have painted a giant target on his back and called it a day.

 

He frowned and shifted his attention to Kagome. She looked gaunt and pale, but most of all tired. Her eyes pleaded with him, looking so dark and wounded that his stomach twisted with guilt when he looked away. There was nothing he could say to comfort her or alleviate her fears. They were in deep shit - no doubt about it. The best he could do was offer her a tentative smile. With the blood from his shoulder now dripping loudly off his fingertips onto the floor, the gesture seemed to bring her little comfort.

 

“Why now?” he asked, determined to stall for as long as possible.

 

“I mean, you've had five years to kill her. Why wait? Why didn't you go after her once you realized you'd killed the wrong girl?”

 

Takeda's eyes narrowed into slits. “I was busy,” he bit out, his voice filled with venom.

 

“Too busy take revenge against the woman who killed your brother?” Inuyasha retorted with a lift of his eyebrow.

 

When Takeda went silent, he offered up another question, eager to see if his hunch was right.

 

“If you'd gotten it right the first time, all your problems would've been solved ages ago. How the hell did you screw that up so badly anyway? Sure they share a few similarities in the look department, but I'd hardly call her and Kikyou twins. Are you really that incompetent?”

 

“You should know a thing or two about incompetence,” was the cool response.

 

The calm, collected demeanour behind Takeda's tone didn't match the dark look that'd taken over his features. Inuyasha smiled to himself, satisfied that he'd hit a nerve. He was willing to bet the bastard had spent the better part of the last decade living outside of Japan, experiencing the hospitality of a foreign prison. It wasn't uncommon for yakuza, just inconvenient when you're trying to plan a revenge killing.

 

“I grow bored of these games, Detective, so I'm going to offer you a choice.”

 

“A choice?”

 

“Head, chest, or gut? Or perhaps you'd prefer dealer's pick?”

 

So this was it. Stalling for more time, he fixed him with a cold look and replied, “I don't particularly like any of those options. You got anything else to offer?”

 

Takeda chuckled humourlessly and shook his head. “Sorry, no. What will it be?”

 

Where the hell is Kouga?

 

It wasn't the first thought Inuyasha expected to pop into his mind, but then, his mind tended not to work in an orthodox fashion. He glared darkly at the bastard's smug expression and envisioned slashing it to pieces. The thought offered him little comfort.

 

He'd run out of time.

 

He was no good in these kinds of situations. His temper was too short and he didn't do well with people - and that was on a good day. Never mind a high stress standoff situation where the girl he cared for more than anyone was possibly minutes away from death. This was Kouga's area of expertise. That certain element of charm he possessed and his enviable smooth talking ways made him the top hostage negotiator in all Tokyo Prefecture - not a single life lost under his watch.

 

Those odds would've been comforting had he bothered to show his face.

 

Inuyasha strained his ears, listening for any sounds from outside that could give him hope, but all he could hear were the rhythmic crashes of the waves against the pier stilts. Without Kouga, he was utterly fucked. He lifted his gaze to meet Kagome's tortured expression and felt his stomach sink to the floor. Correction - if Kouga didn't show, they were both fucked.

 

He'd been so sure that he would follow. All he'd needed was a head start, just enough time to convince Takeda he'd come alone. The plan had worked, so far so good, but it would all fall to pieces if Kouga didn't show. He'd been relying on his negotiating skills to talk Kagome out of this, at least enough to get her out of harm's way. What happened after that didn't matter, just as long as she was safe.

 

He resisted the urge to glance back over his shoulder at the door on the balcony. Even one look would give him away. Takeda wasn't stupid and his eyes missed nothing - the yakuza were notorious for being meticulous. Frustrated, he growled softly, a low sound in his throat and wondered what the hell the hold up was. Didn't Kouga realize how short on time she was? No… probably not. Even he hadn't thought it would be this bad. He'd never thought…

 

He stared a moment into her tear-filled eyes, their watery depths silently pleaded with him for understanding, and felt his gaze drop to the floor. Why didn't she tell me?

 

The question hung in the air between them, silent and ominous. He listened quietly to her shaky breaths and near silent sobs. She was probably desperate for him to say something. Perhaps she was waiting for him to reassure her in a calm voice that everything was okay and he was going to get her out of this.

 

Instead, like the bastard that he was, he said nothing and looked away, not quite sure how he was supposed to feel. His mind was still processing, going over the facts one by one as it tried to come to grips with the “truth”. The truth changed everything.

 

He would've given anything to be back at the precinct so he could look her up in the system. He'd never bothered to before, convinced that nothing about her hinted at a dark and dirty past. And even if he'd had his suspicions that she had a few skeletons of her own hidden away, in his wildest dreams they'd never amounted to something of this calibre.

 

Kagome, kill a man? And not just any man, but a yakuza Boss's brother?

 

It seemed impossible, even laughable. Had he not seen stranger things during his time on the force he wouldn't have believed it at all. But the truth was that he had. He'd seen mothers drown their children in a fit of depression. He'd met more than a few “good boys” who'd raped innocent young girls. He'd watched, helpless, as a man threw himself and his toddler in front of the speeding subway train. He'd seen a lot of unfathomable things, which was why his logical mind accepted Takeda's words more easily than they might have and any protests of the emotional kind were silenced.

 

She'd… killed someone. And she hadn't said a word.

 

His eyes slowly lifted from the floor and trailed up her bruised and dirtied body until they came to rest on her face. The drum of his heartbeat in his ears was so loud that it blocked everything else out. Even if she'd tried to explain just then, he didn't think it would matter.

 

In the silence, he searched her eyes for the answers to his questions and found something else instead, or rather, a lack of it. There was no remorse. There was pain and torment and fear, but not a speck of guilt. That shocked him, probably more than it should have, and as he felt himself pull away from her he realized that this story was not a fabrication from a disturbed sociopath's mind. She'd done exactly what Takeda had said she'd done and he found that a difficult pill to swallow.

 

The only question left hanging was probably the most important - Why? What had Takeda's brother done to drive her so far into a corner that she thought her only way out was murder? He had a few theories already forming in his mind, and judging what he knew of Naraku Takeda he probably wasn't far off the mark, but that wasn't the answer that had him taking a wounded, figurative step backward.

 

He read the defeat in her eyes, even as his own communicated to her all the things he couldn't bring himself to say aloud.

 

How do you share a bed with someone and never tell them something like that? they asked.

 

I trusted you completely, that night I told you I was a hanyou, and you couldn't trust me with this?

 

The truth hurt in more ways than one. From her dejected expression she understood just how bad this was for them. No matter what happened after tonight, things would never be the same. She'd killed a man and Kikyou had paid the price with her life - her innocent life. His own words, the vow of revenge that he'd made while sitting alongside Kikyou's corpse, tauntingly echoed back to him.

 

In what way was he different from the man standing before him now? He'd meant every word of that vow when he'd made it and Takeda had made a similar one. The look of determination on his face said it all. He'd set all of this up for a reason, lured him here so that he could understand why he wanted her dead.

 

He hadn't expected to wind up in this position. Five minutes ago he would've taken the first chance he got to put a bullet between the bastard's eyes, but now...

 

If their roles were reversed, what would he do?

 

“So, what'll it be Detective?”

 

Naraku's cold voice cut cruelly through his heavy thoughts. He scowled at the hollow end of the gun and narrowed his eyes at the face of the man holding it. There wasn't any other way this was going to end. He'd already lived through one near fatal gunshot wound. Contemplating the gun pointed at him, he wondered what the odds were that he could survive another.

 

Hopefully good.

 

“Go to hell,” he muttered, lowering his arm from his shoulder in preparation.

 

This was gonna hurt like hell.

 

 

---------

 

BANG!

 

The sound of the second shot was as deafening as the first. He cringed reflexively and waited for the pain to ignite his insides. He waited one second, two seconds, three seconds...

 

No pain.

 

Cautiously, he opened his eyes and watched Naraku fire in the direction of the balcony. Kagome screamed and the heavy thud of a body hitting the floor echoed through the room. Seeing her stricken features, he could only assume it was Kouga. Stupid bastard had to go and get himself killed.

 

Dammit!

 

There was time to be angry and grieve about it later. For now, Naraku was distracted and it was all the opportunity he needed. Ignoring the jarring pain in his shoulder, he sprang forward catching him around the middle and tackling him to the floor.

 

The bastard tried to get his gun between them for one lucky shot but he wasn't fast enough. The impact of their bodies hitting the floor was enough to send the gun scattering across the floorboards. Naraku wasted no time reaching for the stolen piece he'd tucked into his belt and Inuyasha found himself in the unenviable position of once again having to struggle for his life.

 

They rolled across the floor in a grunting, cursing heap of flying fists. A part of him relished in the opportunity to give back some of the blows the bastard had dealt to Kagome. She was behind them now, probably still tied to the chair helpless, but he didn't have time to check on her. He was too busy avoiding fists (and sometimes, rather unfortunately, not avoiding them) while trying to get back his gun.

 

Kouga's loud curse from somewhere in the vicinity of the balcony caught his attention. He was alive? Luckily it caught Naraku's attention too and his momentary lapse in concentration was enough.

 

Swearing a foul curse of his own, Inuyasha managed to wrench the gun from his hands and sent it flying. He made sure to get in one last solid hit before he succumbed to the pain tearing through his shoulder and rolled away into a crouched position. Leave it to Kouga to wait until the very last possible second to save the day and be the hero. Gods - his shoulder was screaming at him! Screaming and throbbing and making his stomach churn.

 

Wearing a pained grimace, he pressed his hand hard into the wound to stay the bleeding and swallowed down the bile that'd risen into the back of his throat. He just hoped it was a through and through - nothing worse than having a bullet dug out of you, that was for damned sure.

 

He sent a dark glare Naraku's way, then hazarded a glance over his shoulder to check on Kagome. What he saw made him pale as a wave of dread sapped what was left of his strength.

 

Somehow during their struggle she'd managed to free herself from her bonds. The rope that'd been used to tie her hands dangled loosely from one wrist and the gag hung around her neck. Though her one arm was limp at her side from some injury he hadn't noticed before, the other held firm as it pointed Naraku's own gun at him.

 

For his part, Naraku looked genuinely surprised. Despite his expression, he was stretched out on the floor with his weight resting on his elbows as though he were lounging on the grass at a Sunday afternoon picnic. He fixed her with a hard look, one that was underwritten with nothing but derision and contempt.

 

“You don't have it in you,” he determined evenly before sucking at his bloody lip and spitting a watery pool of crimson onto the floor beside him.

 

Without hesitating she cocked the trigger with a steady hand. “What was that? I didn't hear you the first time.”

 

Her voice was strong and steady. She was terrified of his man, and for good reason, but not an ounce of it showed. As he watched her, Inuyasha realized he was proud of her, damn proud. Inside a part of him was dishing out `whoops' and high fives, but outside he was all business. Quietly seething with pain, he rose unsteadily to his feet and fixed her with a stern look.

 

“Kagome.”

 

He called to her in the most placating voice he could manage under the circumstances. “Give me the gun.”

 

She didn't look at him, but there was a waver in her voice when she shot back just as surely, “I can't.”

 

He was tempted to roll his eyes and sighed inwardly with exasperation. She picked a hell of a time to be her usual stubborn self. Typical Kagome though, always making things complicated. He took a second to gather his patience before trying again, this time taking a step towards her.

 

“Kagome, you need to give me the gun.”

 

“Don't.”

 

She was breaking. Her hand holding the gun trembled as her body shook. It must've taken every ounce of strength in her to stand after what she'd been through. At this rate, she wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. She needed a doctor, any idiot could see that. She had to know it too, so why was she being so damn stubborn about it?

 

He took another step towards her, hand outstretched to take the gun from her. She shook her head.

 

“Please, don't come any closer,” she begged without looking his way. “I won't let you stop me.”

 

“Kagome-,” he tried again, taking yet another small step. She rounded on him in an instant and he blinked bewildered at the weapon pointed at his chest. It wasn't the first time that day he'd stared down the barrel of a gun, but it was the first time one had ever been turned on him by someone he cared about. It was a new and entirely unwelcome experience.

 

Tears streamed down her mottled cheeks but there was determination burning in her eyes. She wasn't going to be persuaded easily.

 

“I swear to Kami, if you take one more step I'll….”

 

“You'll shoot me?” he finished, his voice ringing with disbelief.

 

Her eyes had the wild look of a trapped animal, one that was desperate to escape by any means possible. Not willing to push her when she was already unstable, he put his hands up in surrender and tried to stifle a wince when his shoulder burned in protest.

 

Her visage melted instantly into a look of sympathy. Her dark eyes flickered between the creeping blood stain on his shoulder and the patient expression in his eyes. She watched him just long enough to make sure he wasn't going to make any more moves towards her before her jaw set with determination and she turned the gun back on Naraku.

 

“Don't you understand? I have to do this,” she reasoned, her voice barely above a whisper. “I'll never be free if I don't.”

 

She was silent a moment, perhaps thinking over the scenario they all found themselves in before adding, “Besides, he deserves this. He's earned the right to be shot like a dog and left to die in the gutter.”

 

Inuyasha wasn't sure what to make of that particular analogy, being half-dog demon himself, but either way he didn't get the chance to respond. It was Kouga who spoke next, from much closer than before. While they'd been making nice, he'd crept his way toward them and now stood just off to the side of their little group.

 

Inuyasha took in his uninjured form and lifted an eyebrow. So if Kouga wasn't dead, then whose body had fallen from the balcony and hit the floor? He moved his head to look, but the movement of Kouga's gun caught his eye. Why was the bastard aiming at the wrong damned person?

 

“Kagome, I need ya to give the gun to Inuyasha. I don't wanna have to shoot ya,” he pleaded in calming tones, even as he cocked his trigger.

 

What the hell?!

 

He shot Kouga a dark look and snapped his attention back to Kagome so fast it made his head swim. She was shaking all over now - from the fear, from the pain, from the hunger. He knew desperation when he saw it and she was so dangerously close to going over the edge. All it would take was one wrong move and Naraku would have a bullet between the eyes and so would she. Like hell he was going to let that happen!

 

Ignoring her earlier warning, he moved in slowly until he was close enough to wrap his arms around her. The smell of her was overwhelming. He breathed her in greedily and took a moment to rest his forehead against the back of her head. Despite being held captive in this place for days on end, she still smelled so familiar that it made his heart ache. Gods, it felt good to be close to her again. Ever so slowly, he tightened his arms around her.

 

“For once, just listen to me.”

 

She immediately stiffened in his embrace and he breathed a sigh of regret.

 

“You don't want to do this. You don't want his death on your hands. This kind of thing - it haunts a person.” Her shoulders sagged and a quiet sob hiccupped in her throat.

 

“If you kill him, they'll hunt you down and they won't stop until they kill you. I can't protect you from all of them,” he warned, sounding both apologetic and frustrated.

 

“So don't,” she answered feebly.

 

“What?”

 

“It's useless anyway to try and protect me. Just look what's already happened! I thought I was free after…” She paused and he could smell the tears coming from her eyes. When she breathed out, her breath wavered in a quiet sob.

 

“And, well,” she continued, “just look where we are now. It's never going to stop. I'm never going to be rid of him because he will always, always be there waiting for me. He'll lie in wait until I forget how bad it was, until I forget how to be scared. He'll wait until I've lowered my guard enough to let someone into my heart and then… he'll…”

 

Her voice faltered, unable to finish her thought. Inuyasha's arms tightened fractionally around her.

 

“I'll keep you safe,” he promised. “I won't let something like this happen to you again.”

 

She smiled; a sad, worn looking expression. Her free hand lifted until her fingers hooked around the sleeve of his jacket, seeking comfort. They both knew he couldn't shield her from the world and she couldn't hide from it either.

 

“Thank you,” she whispered, sounding sincere, “but you can't know that for sure. I don't want you involved in this. I don't want you to get hurt any more than you have.”

 

“Damn it Kagome, stop being such a martyr! Trust me to take care of this for you. Let me deal with him.”

 

He moved slowly, ghosting his hand down the length of her arm until it overlapped hers. He realized as he touched her that it was probably the first gentle caress she'd received all week and the thought didn't sit well with him. He gently pried the gun from her fingers and surprisingly she offered no resistance.

 

Breathing an inaudible sigh of relief, he planted a secret kiss against the back of her head and tucked the gun into his belt. He turned her slowly by the shoulders and studied the various bruises and cuts on her face. Her bottom lip trembled and her eyes were dark and vulnerable when they lifted to meet his own.

 

There was so little of what he remembered of her left that he wasn't sure what to do, or say, to make it right. He didn't recognize this wounded person in front of him; this fragile thing. Sounding unsure he called to her gently, not giving a damn for the moment that the others were watching.

 

He combed a section of hair behind her ear in a tender gesture and held her face between his hands until her eyes lifted to meet his. Somehow, he thought, maybe if she could see that it was him standing there he'd be able to reach her wherever she was and bring her back.

 

“You're safe,” he promised. “No one's ever gonna hurt you again.”

 

“I've heard that one before.”

 

Her acerbic remark caught him off guard. His brow furrowed as he thought out the best way to reassure her. How could he convince her that this time was different? Frowning, he held her gaze and shot back.

 

“This is me we're talkin' about. When've I ever lied to you?”

 

She closed her eyes and lifted her hands to enclose his wrists. Overwhelmed, she nodded as tears seeped out from beneath her swollen eyelids.

 

“Okay,” she conceded, her voice cracking. “Okay.”

 

Inuyasha pulled her to him and shared a look with Kouga over her shoulder. He nodded, understanding completely, and holstered his gun.

 

“I want you to go with Kouga,” he urged, gently pulling her away from his chest. “He's gonna take you outside so you don't have to put up with the stink of this place any longer.”

 

She nodded slowly, automatically, and stumbled forward into Kouga. He slipped a supportive arm around her waist and began to direct her towards the door. With a glance at her dishevelled attire, Inuyasha slipped off his blood stained jacket and held it out his partner.

 

“Here, put this on her. It's cold out.”

 

“Yeah, and don't I fucking know it?” he shot back, rolling his eyes.

 

Inuyasha snickered and reminded himself that when all was said and done he owed the guy a drink, or a few. Maybe a trip to the nudie bar too. Truth be told, Kouga was about the only guy in the world he trusted to take care of her right now. After all these years, it seemed the guy had his uses after all.

 

He watched the slow moving pair like a hawk, his every sense on alert. He flinched when she suddenly collapsed near the door, next to the body on the floor. Kouga sent a confused look over his shoulder, silently asking who the guy was. Inuyasha shook his head just as confused. Frowning, Kouga turned back to her and scooped her up off the floor, not willing to waste any more time on her emotional outbursts.

 

Puzzled, Inuyasha's eyes switched from Kagome to the body on the floor until she was out of sight. Who the heck was that guy? With Kagome safe for the moment, he was free to turn his attention back to Naraku. The bastard had his eyes glued to Kagome's retreating form with a look that made even his toughened skin want to crawl.

 

There was something animalistic about the way he stared at her. It was like he wanted to devour her whole and savour every bite. His expression told him just about everything he needed to know. If he was allowed to live, Naraku would come after her again. And again. He would pursue her until she was dead, either by his hand or her own, and he had no intention of letting that happen.

 

When Kagome was finally out of sight, Naraku spared him a contemptuous glance.

 

“I pity the man who lets a woman stick his balls in a vice.”

 

Ignoring the jab, Inuyasha walked to the far side of the room to retrieve his gun from the floor. He looked it over and ejected the clip to count the bullets.

 

“I pity the bastard who has to beat on a woman to feel like a man,” he shot back evenly. Satisfied that his gun was in order, he rammed the clip back into place and cocked the trigger. The other gun he tossed to the floor and kicked in Naraku's general direction.

 

“I think you lost something,” he pointed out with a nod.

 

Naraku scoffed at the piece but his eyes lingered on it greedily.

 

“The moment I touch that you're dead,” he warned. “I'm not some spineless peon who shits his pants at the thought of killing a cop.”

 

Inuyasha smiled. “Good. Let's see how big your balls really are. Pick up the gun.”

 

It'd been a good long while since he'd been given the opportunity to have it out with a perp. There were so many rules to follow, so many lines he wasn't supposed to cross. Out here though, no one was watching. There was something so liberating in the knowledge that he could literally beat the bastard's face into an unrecognizable pulp and no one would stop him.

 

He knew what he should do. The rulebook said he should haul the bastard in for the biggest collar of the year, book him and do everything legit. Perhaps if he was a patient man he might have. Hell, if he'd spent a single day of his life abiding by the rules he might have then too, but he was neither of those things.

 

Instead, he watched with a careful eye as Naraku Takeda, most intimidating yakuza Boss in all of Tokyo, stretched his hand out and pulled the gun towards him. Thinking he'd won, Naraku laughed as he levelled the gun and pulled the trigger.

 

Click.

 

It was so damn hard not to smile at the look of utter disbelief that washed across his face. Inuyasha didn't waste any time. He fired once, lodging a single bullet right between his eyes. With a grim nod of satisfaction, he tucked his gun into its holster and out of sight and then stepped over to the body. Crouching down onto his haunches, he took a moment to inspect his handiwork.

 

“You see what just happened right there?”

 

He spoke in a casual tone, determined to enlighten his deceased rival. “Down at the precinct we call that firing in self defence. Give Satan my regards will ya?”

 

Wearing a satisfied look, he patted Naraku on the chest and rose to his feet. It was time to check on Kagome. He was already starting to feel antsy and she'd barely been out of his sight five minutes.

 

His feet echoed across the floorboards as he made his way to the door, stopping only when he stood next to the other body on the floor. Tilting his head to the side, he stared down thoughtfully at the heavy set face of a man he didn't know. It made Kagome's reaction to his death all the more confusing. He'd have to ask her about it later, when she was feeling better. Or maybe Kouga could shed some light on who the mysterious stranger was? He scratched at the stubble along his jaw thoughtfully before taking a knee next to the body. His eyes gave it a once over before his hand came to rest on the man's back.

 

“I don't know who you are,” he muttered quietly, thankful for the moment that no one else was around to see his momentary display of insanity. “But something tells me I should thank you, so thanks.”

 

He hesitated a moment, deliberating, then added in a voice laced with regret, “I'm sorry things turned out this way. I'll make sure your family finds out the right way.”

 

He nodded once, satisfied that he'd said his peace. He pushed himself to his feet once more and grunted at the sharp pain that cut through his shoulder with the movement. He needed to get his arm checked out soon. His demon blood had stemmed the flow of blood, but the amount he'd already lost was starting to make him feel light-headed. The gruesome crimson stain taking up the right half his shirt reminded him of something far more important.

 

Kagome.

 

Functioning on a one-track mind he pressed forward, allowing her scent to lead him out of the storehouse and back to the salty, open air of the pier. The murky browns and greys of the storehouses lining the dock were bathed in flashes of red and blue. He squinted against the blinding white emergency lights and scanned the collection of emergency vehicles for her.

 

It looked like Kouga had brought the whole force with him. He took a moment to watch as body after body was tucked, handcuffed, into the back of squad cars. Had they taken down the whole gang? No, probably not, but they'd done some real damage and that was good enough for now. All that mattered to him was that Kagome was safe, everything else was just icing on the cake.

 

Speak of the Devil…

 

Her scent invaded his nostrils mere seconds before her body ploughed into him. He barely had the chance to get his good arm out to catch her in time.

 

“I heard a gunshot but they wouldn't let me back inside! I thought… I thought…” she choked out, her words barely discernable from her sobs.

 

“I told you I'd take care of it, didn't I?” he gruffed as he wrapped his arms around her. His shoulder screamed in protest but he blocked it out. Nothing was more important than this moment and he wasn't going to let something stupid like a bullet wound ruin it. He was still greedily breathing in her scent when Kouga interrupted.

 

“Sorry! Once she heard the shot she wouldn't stay in the damn ambulance. Damn, stubborn woman.”

 

Inuyasha smiled secretly with pride. Yeah. My stubborn woman.

 

He sent Kouga a look as if to say “What do you want me to do about it?”, making it plainly obvious that he had no intention of letting her go any time soon.

 

Kouga shrugged his shoulders and gestured to the ambulance. “She needs to go to the hospital. You can ride with her there; I already worked it out with the crew. Besides, you need to get that shoulder of yours looked at anyway. I'll take care of the clean up here.”

 

When he put it that way, it was just plain stupid to argue with him. Inuyasha nodded, conceding, and took a few seconds to absorb what he could of her warmth before he pulled her away. His body had already begun to shiver violently from the cold, a feeling made worse by the amount of blood he'd already lost.

 

“Kagome?” He called to her gently, waiting until she lifted her eyes to his before he continued. “Let's go home.”

 

She nodded silently and wrapped her arms around him once more, stubbornly refusing to let go. He wasn't surprised. After what she'd been through she deserved every ounce of comfort he could offer her.

 

Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he picked her up in his arms and carried her across the dock to the ambulance. She leaned her head against his shoulder as he walked, content to be protected in his arms. A part of him relished in the feeling and he lowered his cheek to rest it briefly against her forehead.

 

I'll always protect you, he promised her silently and she nodded as though he'd said the words aloud.

 

Behind him, the morning sun was already beginning to warm his back. It's soft, rosy glow signalled the end of the longest night of his existence. He hadn't escaped unscathed, not by a long shot, and there'd be hell to pay tomorrow, but glancing down at her features relaxed in sleep he couldn't help but think that somehow, it'd all been worth it.

 

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Author's Note: Hello everyone! This is my Christmas present to you - the longest chapter I have ever written… ever. I hope you enjoyed the read! Please feel free to leave a review and let me know your thoughts :)

 

For those who might be wondering - this isn't the end! There's still so much to the story and so many loose ends left undone. We've got a ways to go yet, so as long as you're up for the ride I'm willing to take you there.

 

I forgot to do this last chapter. I'd like a second to extend a very special thank you to LuxKen, doggieearlover and inuyashaloverr for nominating LSR in last quarter's IYFG Awards. And a very special thank you to everyone who voted in the FA Awards and gave LSR second place as best Dark Fic. You guys have my gratitude forever :) And because you're all so awesome, this chapter goes out to you. Many, many thanks. I hope it didn't disappoint.

 

- Langus

 

(I listened to a weird collection of songs while writing this. Feel free to take them for a spin.)

 

Song Selection

Placebo - Running Up That Hill

Muse - Supermassive Black Hole

Snow Patrol - Set the Fire to the Third Bar

Moneen - The Song I Swore to Never Sing

Maurice Ravel - Pavane Pour une Infante de Defunte

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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