InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 4: Justification ❯ Dealing with Her ( Chapter 35 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Kichiro didn't trust himself to speak to Bellaniece on the twenty minute drive back to the Zelig mansion.  Caught between irritation that she would be so stupid as to think she would be safe to walk home, the fear of what might have happened if he had been a little later, and the mind-boggling realization that the impetuous girl wasn't even wearing panties . . .

By the time he stopped the car in the circular driveway in front of the mansion, Kichiro was no closer to having control of his soaring temper than he had been when they'd started home.

"Stop," he commanded as she hurried up the stairs onto the porch.  Bellaniece did, mid-step, foot poised just above the top rise.  She cautiously set her foot down but refused to face him.  'Just as well,' he figured, scowling at the asphalt as he kicked his toe against it.  'What the hell do I have to do?  Beat some sense into her?'

Slowly, cautiously stepping toward her, hands buried in his pockets to keep him from grabbing and shaking her, Kichiro stopped at the base of the stairs and cleared his throat.  "Down here," he growled.

Bellaniece grimaced.  "I . . . I'm really tired," she mumbled.  "I want to go to bed."

"Yeah, you can," he agreed.  She started to retreat again, but stilled when he continued, "After you're done explaining yourself."

"Nothing happened," she whispered, shaking her head as she crossed her arms over her chest and shuffled her feet nervously.  "I'm fine."

He sighed.  "First, why did you leave the club?"

Bellaniece shrugged.  "I didn't  . . . I didn't think you'd notice.  I just wanted to go home; that's all . . . You looked like you were having fun with your girlfriends . . ."

"My what?"

She scowled at him.  "Your girlfriends."

"What are you talking about?"

Bellaniece wrinkled her nose and shook her head.  "The girls at the club," she bit out.  "Kendra and Missy and Jasmine.  They were all over you, and you . . . Whatever.  Add to your nameless conquests.  I don't care."

She whipped around to flee again.  Kichiro caught her wrist and held her back.  "What do you—? How could—? Those were your friends, not mine!"

"They weren't my friends!" she shot back, jerking her arm away though she stood her ground.

He snorted.  "Yeah, well, they said they were."

"Then they lied, because they're not!"

Kichiro rolled his eyes.  "Don't be stupid!  They said they used to come to your slumber parties and stuff!"

"Sure, Dr. Izayoi!  The key there being 'used to'.  Do you remember Cindy at the convenience store?  They were all just like her."

"I didn't know that, damn it, and that doesn't excuse the fact that you deliberately left!  You put yourself in danger!  What the hell were you thinking?"

She flinched at his gradually increasing volume.  "I told you: I wanted to go home!"

"Do you have any idea what they were going to do to you?  Do you?  Why didn't you fight them?"

"Fight them?  With what?"

"Damn it, Belle, with your claws!"

"I mean what I said, you jerk!  How am I supposed to fight them?"

"Easy," he snarled.  "You know how."

"No," she bit out icily, "I don't."

Kichiro started to scoff at that, but stopped, frown deepening into a suspicious glower.  "You . . . don't?  You're hanyou!  What do you mean, you don't?"

"I don't fight," she pointed out in a tone that assured him that she thought he was being dense on purpose.

His mind slowed as he shook his head and held up a hand to emphasize his words.  "You're telling me that your father never taught you how to defend yourself?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

"Why the fuck not?"

"I'm perfectly safe here.  I grew up here."

"Belle, people are crappy.   Haven't you figured that out yet?  They're not nice, they're not sweet, and there are some that would hurt you!"

"I don't want to talk about this," she insisted, stomping up the stairs and unlocking the door.  Kichiro caught the handle before she could slam it in his face, and he followed her inside.

"You're going to talk about it!" he growled, striding around her to block the stairwell—and her retreat.

"What does it matter?" she yelled.  "It didn't matter to you!  It didn't matter to you at all when you—"

Kichiro shook his head when Bellaniece cut herself off.  "When I what?"

Her cheeks reddened and she stubbornly refused to meet his eyes.  "Forget it."

Kichiro heaved a sigh as he fought to retain some measure of control.  "When I what?" he repeated.

"I've walked home alone lots of times," she pointed out.  "Tokyo is much bigger than Bevelle, and you don't seem to have a problem with me walking home alone there, do you?"

"Pardon?"

Bellaniece snorted.  "You've forgotten?  You made me walk home alone the night you left me at the restaurant, didn't you?  But I suppose that was okay since you were the one who walked out on me."

He shook his head.  "I left you money for a taxi."

"You didn't."

"Oh, yes, I did!  I left it on the table with the money for dinner."

"And I knew that?"

His retort died on his tongue.  He hadn't told her that, had he?  No, he hadn't, and she had every right to be angry at him for that, too . . .

'Hmm, Kich . . . You don't suppose . . . I mean, she had to be wearing panties then, didn't she?'

'What?  What's that got to do with anything?'

His youkai sighed.  'Balls, she's reckless . . .'

Kichiro sighed, too.  "Belle . . ." he began, steadying his tone as he narrowed his gaze on her.  "Tell me something?"

"What?"

"Your lack of undergarments . . . Was that a onetime thing tonight?  Please tell me it was . . ."

Bellaniece snorted.  "Don't flatter yourself, doctor.  I don't wear panties."

'Oh, damn . . .'

"What do you mean, you don't wear panties?"

The heathen girl didn't even have the grace to blush.  "I would think that would be a fairly straightforward statement, don't you agree?"

"No . . . No, I don't think I do . . ."

"All right, then, I'll say it in simpler terms: I don't own panties.  There.  Did you catch that?"

"Kami, Belle!  How stupid are you?"

"Oh, please!  You act like it's a travesty!"

"It is!"

"It's not!"

"It's—"

"—Panties!"

"Damn it, it's more than that!  At least panties provide a little protection!"

"Protection?" she echoed with a terse laugh.  "Against what?  And you're one to talk, Mr. I-Lost-My-Pants in the tournament!"

He snorted.  "That's completely different!"

"How so?"

"Because, wench, I'm a male!"

Bellaniece shook her head and sucked in her cheek as she regarded him speculatively.  "Spoken like a true butt munch."

"Listen, little girl—"

"No, you listen!  I was fine!  As much as you don't want to accept facts, nothing happened to me—nothing at all!  I could have handled those boys!  I've handled boys like those before.  Do me a favor and leave me alone, all right?  No one is going to do anything to me.  There's no one out to get me or hurt me!"

"You're so sure?" Kichiro countered.  "You don't think that they were a threat?  Why is that, Belle?  Why?"

"For the same reason no one would mess with your sister!"

"Your father has Tetsusaiga and a short fuse?"

Bellaniece rolled her eyes.  "Of course not!  No one would be stupid enough to mess with me!  My father is Cain Zelig, the North American tai-youkai, just like your uncle is the Japanese tai-youkai!  No one wouldn't dare touch me!"

Kichiro dragged his hand over his face, his level of exasperation reaching fevered heights.  "Oh, yeah?  Well, I got news for you, princess.  Your daddy isn't here to save you, and even the all-powerful North American tai-youkai wouldn't have gotten there fast enough to save you tonight.  Now I'll ask you again: do you know what those guys would have done to you if I hadn't gotten there in time?"

Bellaniece paled as the implications of his words sank in.  Hand shaking as she smoothed her dress, she spared him a momentary glance before she quickly looked away.  "They . . . They said they'd take me home," she murmured.

He grimaced inwardly.  He didn't want to scare her any more than she was already, but he couldn't let her endanger herself anymore, either.  At least she was listening, even if it wasn't something she wanted to hear.  "Belle . . . they wouldn't have bought you home, and by the time they were finished with you, getting home would have been the last of your worries.  Do you understand me?"

She shook her head, as if to refute his claim.  Biting her lip, she hugged herself tighter.  "No, they said—"

"I know what they said.  You couldn't fight me off, could you?"

She swallowed hard.  "You're hanyou . . ." she muttered.

"Yeah, I'm hanyou, but there were three of them, and you said, yourself: you can't fight.  All they'd have had to do was pin you down—maybe—and push up your skirt, and then there wouldn't have been a damn thing that I could have done to save you.  What if even one of those guys had been youkai?  What then?"

"They wouldn't . . ."

"Belle, you can't believe that, can you?"

She winced.  "My daddy—"

He sighed, unwilling to listen to any more of her assurances when he knew in his heart that she was just grasping for straws.  The entire situation sickened him, and he couldn't help but feel just a little sorry for her, too.  "Look, just don't do it again, okay?  Don't . . . Don't take off like that again, all right?"

She peeked up at him finally, eyes bright, shimmering, and he sighed.  He wanted her to understand the danger she was in.  He hadn't wanted to hurt her.  "I . . . I need to go lie down," she told him.  He stepped aside and watched as she ran past him up the stairs.

'That really sucked.'

Snapping the deadbolt lock on the front door, Kichiro shook his head.  'Yeah, it did . . . I had to tell her, right?'

'Sure you did.  She was careless and impulsive.  Reminds me of your brother and all the hell he raised.'

'Uh huh, and look how that turned out.'

'Yeah . . . that's true.  If you'd have been a little later, it could have been Belle, and that would have been worse.'

'Damn . . . I can't fix this, can I?'

'You could try.'

Kichiro started up the stairs.  'How's that?'

'She said she needed to lie down.  Do you really think she's sleeping?'

'I doubt it.'

'She was scared, Kich.  You know she was.  Remember when Gin was younger, and she'd get scared?'

Kichiro paused on the landing.  His bedroom was down the hallway to the right.  Bellaniece's was to the left.  'Gin used to try crawling in bed with anyone who would let her.'

'Yeah, she did.'

'I hardly think—'

'Not that, baka!  Maybe she just needs you to hold her.  Maybe that would be enough.'

Kichiro considered that for a moment, staring down the hallway at the darkened window on the far end.  Bellaniece's expression, the late fear that had swelled around her as he explained to her, just what risks she was taking . . . He shook his head and strode down the empty corridor.


'That wouldn't have happened!' Bellaniece told herself as she smashed her face into her pillow and squeezed her eyes closed.  'It wouldn't have!  Things like that . . . They don't happen in Bevelle . . . maybe in Tokyo, but never in Bevelle . . .'

'He's right, you know.  You were careless, and you were in over your head.'

Bellaniece sniffled and groaned softly.  'You would take his side.  This is stupid . . . They wouldn't have . . . they wouldn't dare . . .'

'I'm not taking sides, Belle, and you know Kichiro was right.  Your father would have a fit if he knew you'd deliberately left that club alone at night, and you know that, too.'

' . . . I don't want to talk to you.  Leave me alone.'

'Why are you crying?  You're fine, right?  Kichiro got there in time to stop them.  No use crying now, is there?'

She whimpered into her pillow and clenched her jaw so tightly that it ached.

"Belle?"

She stiffened at the sound of Kichiro's soft tone.  "Your room's at the other end of the h-hall," she informed him without unburying her face, grimacing as her voice broke despite her resolve not to let it happen.

He sighed.   "Listen . . . I, uh . . . I wasn't trying to upset you.  I just . . . I wasn't."

She hiccupped.  "Go away."

The soft click of his shoes on the hardwood floor came nearer, and Bellaniece stubbornly fought to blink back her tears.  "Don't cry . . ." he said quietly, his voice registering a hint of panic.

Bellaniece winced.  "Just g-go away, Dr. Izayoi."

The bed lilted as he sank down beside her, and he cleared his throat.  "I wish you were right, you know," he told her.  "I wish the world was a perfect place where you'd never have to think of ugly things.  It's not, and . . . and when I think about what might have happened if I'd been any later . . ."

"Why?" she rasped, throat aching from the tears she held back.  "Why do you care?  You don't . . . even like me, so why?"

"I . . . like . . . you," he grumbled.  "Why would you think I don't?"

She choked out a hoarse, incredulous laugh.  "Maybe because you're n-never nice to m-me.  You've never liked m-me."

"Belle . . ."

She sat up, dashing the back of her hand across her eyes as she glowered at the hanyou.  "I hate you!" she yelled, scooting away from him as she sniffled.

He winced at the venom in her tone.  "What?"

She shook her head.  "I hate you!" she blasted him again.  "I never cry, you stupid man!  I never, ever do, and y-you made me do it!"

He reached out to touch her face.  She jerked away from him.  He let his hand drop and sighed.  "Yeah, I'm an ass, and you should hate me."

She blinked, shoulders slouching as she glared at her hands.  "Yes, exactly."

"And I'm a jerk, too."

"Uh huh."

"Don't forget mean."

"There's that."

"And grouchy."

"That, too."

"You, uh . . . You want to hit me?"

Bellaniece's chin snapped up, shaking her head in confusion.  "Why w-would I do that?"

He shrugged, not meeting her gaze as he stared at the wall with a concentrated frown.  "It'll make you feel better to hit something."

She wrinkled her nose.  "I can't hit you," she grumbled.

"Sure, you can . . . probably hit like a girl, though."

"I am a girl."

"You are?"

"Why, you—"

"Your . . . father . . . paint that?" he asked, nodding tersely at the mural on the wall.

She glanced over her shoulder.  "Yeah, he did."

"Huh."

"What?" she demanded.

He shrugged.  "Pretty big castle," he remarked as he stared at the mural.

She sighed.  "It's my castle."

"Yours?"

"Yeah, mine.  I'm the fairy princess.  That's me, in the turret."

"You look pretty small there."

She rolled her eyes.  "What do you expect?  I was three when he painted it."

He digested that in silence then glanced at her.  "Looks like you're waiting for something."

"Not something," she corrected as she wiggled around to face the mural.  "Someone."

"Oh?"

"Mhmm . . . my prince: Prince Charming."

"Still waiting for him?"

She shook her head.  "No . . . not really."

"So . . . You've found . . . him."

"Sure.  He's my daddy."

Kichiro scowled.  "Your daddy is your Prince Charming?"

"Of course.  Who else would it be?"

A vaguely irritated look passed over the doctor's features.  Bellaniece's eyebrows drew together as she watched him.  "I don't know," he answered.  "I'd think your future mate would be your Prince Charming."

"No, just Daddy."

"Why your father?"

Bellaniece drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees.  "He always rescued me.  I'd climb up to the top of the castle—or a table, whichever was closest—to escape the fire-breathing dragons, and Daddy would come and save me.  He always came to save me."

'Except tonight, he didn't.  Tonight . . .'

Bellaniece grimaced, pushing the unpleasant reminder aside.

"You know, Belle, one day your daddy won't be there to save you."

"Daddy will always be there," she retorted before she could stop herself.

He seemed surprised by the vehemence in her tone.  "You're kind of old for that kind of hero-worship, aren't you?"

She blushed and scowled at the ruffled pink bedspread.  "It's not hero-worship; it's true.  Nothing's going to happen to him.  I won't let it."

"Belle—"

She shook her head furiously, pinning him with a dark glower to cut him off.  "He's my daddy.  I need him."

Kichiro sighed and hiked his leg up so that he could face her.  "Sure, but you know, someday you'll find a mate, and then you'll rely on him to . . . save you from fire-breathing dragons, right?"

Bellaniece snorted.  "No, I won't."

"I feel sorry for your future mate, then," he grumbled.

She shook her head again.  "No, I mean, I'm not going to find a mate."

"What?"

"I . . . I don't want one, ever."

He was quiet for a moment, probably trying to decide if he thought she was being serious or not.  "Why not?" he asked in a much-too-reasonable tone.

"I just don't."

She had a feeling that he knew better.  She tamped down a blush and shifted her gaze away.  "And you think you can stop it from happening?"

"I told you, he made a promise.  Well, so did I.  I promised myself I wouldn't let him die.  He's not the only one who keeps his word."

Kichiro sighed, rubbing his temple.  "I know it seems harsh, but you can't manipulate him into staying alive."

Bellaniece glared belligerently at him.  "You're wrong!"

"Am I?"

"You're such a jerk, you know it?"

"I'm realistic, Belle, which is more than I can say for you, at the moment."

"You want realistic?" she countered.  "When I was little, I used to think that I would grow up and find a mate, get married, have babies—all of that, but then I figured out that something was weird.  See, whenever I told Daddy that I'd have a house full of pups, he'd get this strange look on his face.  He'd smile and say that it sounded like a good plan, and for a long time I didn't understand.  I do now.  I'm not stupid.  Dreams have prices, don't they?  Well, the price of mine is my daddy, and he's all I've got."

Kichiro didn't respond to her speech right away.  Frowning at his fist that he idly punched against the coverlet, he considered what she'd said.

Bellaniece wiped away a tear that had escaped, glaring at the offending moisture before she stubbornly shook her head again.  "I don't have a mother or aunts and uncles.  I don't have grandparents or siblings.  I'm not like you, Dr. Izayoi.  My daddy . . . Daddy's the only one I've ever had. Sorry if that sounds selfish."

Kichiro slowly raised his head, golden eyes glowing in the softly lit room.  "It's not selfish, Belle.  It's not selfish, at all.  If it were my old man . . ." He sighed.  "I'd feel the same way."

"You . . . You would?"

He smiled wanly and shrugged.  "Yeah, I would."